The Solvang Motorcycle Museum

I wish I knew that there is a motorcycle museum in Solvang, CA. All those times that I've been in that town I never knew. Next time I pass by that town I'm gonna stop by (I think it's about 3 or 4 hours from north LA). If you haven't been in Solvang, I recommend you visit that town. It is an old Danish town where there is also another museum called "Mendenhall Museum of Gasoline" memorabilia, and other small additional museums The town is sort of like the little towns in fairy books.

Anyway, this museum has a collection of motorcycles from all over the world. The old ones were the best. Those always remind me of the Marlon Brandon movie "The Wild One".

The Solvang Motorcycle Museum
http://www.motosolvang.com/

A bit of information about Solvang's museums

The Museums of the Valley
http://www.solvangca.com/museum/index.htm

A Toy Store On Main Street

The "Main Street Toys" site has vintage toys for sale. They have the following vintage toys categories: Space Toys, Robots, Battery Operated Toys, Wind Up Toys and Other. They also have modern items in Pop Culture.

There are so many vintage toys that I couldn't decide which photos to post. I enjoyed browsing through the pages. I don't recognize any of the toys. But I do remember playing with the water guns that looked like xray guns. It was a lot of fun. Toys from the 80's and 90's are mostly in the Popular Culture section, but the 1950's -1970's decades seem to be largely dominant elsewhere. Many of these space and robot toys were made in Japan. There are some mighty expensive and rare toys. Some are even more than a grand! For example, the "Old Stock Flashy Jim Robot" (see above) is worth $3,400.00 and the "Vintage Taiyo Japan Blink A Gear Robot" is $1,500. Whew!

I did not checked all the links. I did see some nice links though.

Main Street Toys
http://www.mainstreettoys.com/

Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines

From Russia, the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines. It's in Russian.

Музей советских игровых автоматов
http://www.15kop.ru/

I Love Tonka!

I love Tonka! I remember we used to play with the cars back in the 1970's. There was something unique about the cars that appealed to me. This site displays them as collectibles. There are sure a bunch that I've never seen before. I am sure there are plenty other people who haven't either, since there are a few that are rare and are hard to find. Don't forget to check the FAQ page for interesting information. In case you are wondering, Tonka sold their first car in 1968. They stopped producing them in 1984. I'm baffled, I thought I bought a big yellow Tonka construction truck as a gift in the late 80's. Hmmm.

Tiny Tonka Toys
http://www.tinytonkatoys.com/

Huh? Why Is This Book Still In The Library?

I totally agree with the title of this blog, "Awfully Library Books". There sure some odd, silly, bad condition and totally out of date books displayed. There are books that just aren't fitted to be part of the library. It is the focus of the blog. Who is gonna read about careers or financial advice from decades ago? I wouldn't even donate them, I'd drop them in the recycle bin. But the question is, what do these books are doing 'resting' in the library? What a waste of space! Most of the books in this blog appear to be from the 70's and the 80's. There are books about how to do and such advices that are even much older from the 1950's and the 1960's. That's right, there are books from the 1950's. There are also books are the ones missing pages. Isn't that annoying when people rip off the pages, or don't take care of the books? It's a shame and sad when books get that kind of treatment. I can understand children doing this, but the adults should know better.

I enjoyed the short input by the bloggers and the readers who submit the picture of the books that they found in the library. They are funny and I can relate to some of the comments. As for the images above, the "WAX" is from 1966, "EASY DOS IT" is from 1985, "Book For Men" is from 1953. Yep, no mistake here. They ought to sell it in a the library garage sale or just recycle it.

Awful Library Books
http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com/

More and More Airships..

More hot air airships and blimps featured.

World Wide Hot Air Airship Reference
http://www.hotairships.com/

Be A Hot Air Sport Balloon Expert!

This is a good place to learn about the early years of sport ballooning. Apart from the information, there are also photographs of creative, old and unusual balloons. There is even a picture of the world largest balloon in 1966 which is feature in the top image above. It's absolutely grand! It is now extincted. Some of these balloons have interesting characteristics. You'll understand what I mean once you will see the photos. I love these 1970s and 1960's balloons. They are awesome. Notice that there some additional pictures within the text below the visible images on the page. You'll see the word "here" and such, when you click on them, you'll be led to the extra images. I missed that at first because I looked st the text too fast. Some images such as the chicken, will pop up further images if you click on them.

The rest of the balloons after the world largest balloons from the top are the KFC's chicken in 1976. The inventor of the KFC balloon, Mike Adams, was the first American maker to build a special shape. You can't see it in this picture, the basket is shaped as a promotional KFC basket with the logo on it. You can see it in other photos of this balloon. The balloon with the gliders set the record in 1977 for the most hang gliders dropped at once. In 1968, the clear balloon was taped together as a polyester-film balloon. The last one at the bottom, is the beaver. I like it because its face brought up a smile. It was introduced in 1974 as an A - Type balloon (see the 'Thunder' section for further info).

Early Years Of Sport Ballooning
http://www.ballooninghistory.com/

What Would Batman Think?

Have you heard of the Flatmobile yet? It's a real car that is the world lowest legal street car. The car has an official site plus a YouTube video. The site and the YouTube links are both posted below:

The Flatmobile
http://www.flatmobile.co.uk/index.htm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjpq1g6psKQ