There's a bakery in Morgantown that makes really good bread. It also has a reputation for being kind of a yuppie hangout. The last few times I've been in there, there has been a prominent sign advertising a vegetable-powered bus. The details behind this mysterious Veggie Bus were scarce until The Daily Athenaeum (WVU's newspaper) reported on the sale.The caption below the picture says: "California natives Brandi Chalker and Wes Middleton are selling their vegetable oil powered school bus after a three-month cross country adventure brought them all the way from their home in San Francisco, Calif. to Morgantown. The bus, which can run on either vegetable oil or diesel fuel, is one of a growing number of cars running on alternative, eco-friendly fuel sources."
First of all, does it surprise anyone that these two are from San Francisco? And this couple looks like every stereotype of hippies ever created. "Hi there! We're walking tropes who never bathe try to impress others with our stylishly low-class clothing."
Secondly... a three month cross-country adventure?? I suppose unemployment or tending the hemp gardens leaves a lot of time to cruise across the nation in a veggie-powered school bus. Either that or these two have very generous (and perhaps clueless) parents who are footing the bill, making their clothing choice all the more perplexing.
I also love that they're selling it. If it's such a great ride, why do they want to get rid of it? The bakery has been advertising this thing for months, and no one seems to want it. It couldn't be that the interior likely reeks of a hobo cleansed in patchouli oil?
It's people like this that give liberals a bad name. Using vegetable oil to power vehicles would probably be something to seriously consider, but when the children of love here are pimping their veggie-bus out to the locals, it makes everyone look bad. You want to convince people that this is a valid machine for the future? Then take a fucking bath and put on a suit or something. Do you two have any idea what kind of horrible cliche you look like?
Maybe these two should be advertising Brandi's ample veggie-powered bust. I'm sure it's gotten a lot more mileage than the veggie-powered bus ever will.
---------------------------------
Hippies: Making government oppression seem like a good idea since 1960.
9 comments:
The economist in me is dying to know exactly how much veggie oil it takes. Probably costs more to run a frickin bus on veggie oil than it would to run my little car on gas.
don't be hatin' on hippies now. And for the record, patchouli soap is good stuff. It smells good and it repels flies for up to 72 hours. haha.
Wow, you're an angry little person, aren't you? Funny that I just ran across this, and I can't help but respond.
We're not hippies. My husband hates that title, and it fits him even less than it fits me. We both worked at good-paying, skilled jobs- one management level- before leaving San Francisco, which is how we were able to pay for the bus and veg system ourselves. No parents involved. And I'm probably cleaner and smell better than you do! I just have this thing about showering...
Now, why are you so upset about people who do things a bit differently, and with a good purpose? Says something about your character, I'll bet. And the comment about my "bust"- you're not at all a chauvenist, I'm sure. Wait a second, am I being sarcastic?? For the record, it's not all that impressive. I guess the photographer was just at a weird angle or something.
Running on vegetable oil is cheaper than your little car's gas bill- and far better for the environment, I might add. And if your little car was a diesel, you could run it on vegetable oil or biodiesel as well. Do some research before making ignorant statements.
I personally know Brandi and Wes and they are not hippies and even if they were, that is no reason to say the terrible things that this petty person has said. Assuming that they are spoiled rich kids, assuming that Brandi is a slut because you notice her chest (your issue, not hers), assuming they don't understand hygiene ... where do you get off? I really think you should stay in West Virginia where prejudice is common and accepted because those kind of thoughts in a "liberal" society (such as San Francisco)aren't tolerated. You are a close-minded redneck and judging you on your words I think that you should go watch Nascar and eat some KFC and maybe chew some tobacci...
why does anyone read this blog?
Are you kidding me??? You own a VEGGIE BUS!!! You don't think this to be a hilarious concept?
If making fun of people who drive vegetable-powered school buses across the country is discriminatory, then I can accept the fact that maybe 20 people in the nation will hate me.
And I don't care if people do things differently. What annoys me is that this bus trip was clearly a publicity stunt designed to raise awareness of bio-diesel as an alternative fuel source, but your public image seems designed to appeal to a liberally-minded audience. Who are you going to convert?
Despite your protestations, I'm a fairly liberally-minded (if somewhat shallow and pompous) person. Read up on my posts where I lambaste religion, take racists to task, support gay causes, or give nothing but grief to rednecks. I spread my vitriol to everyone.
Why is it perfectly acceptable for far-left individuals to say the most derogatory things about conservatives and rednecks, but a few choice words about the left gets me labeled as an ignorant and close-minded bigot?
As I said, I'm fairly left-minded myself, but I find the positions of both the far-left and far-right to be patently ridiculous. Still, I'm relatively open-minded. If *I* can be put off by your public image, how will the hardcore conservative audiences react to your message? It's not that I found you two particularly objectionable. It's simply symptomatic of a larger problem with the liberal image. It annoys me because I support the causes, but I constantly see liberals shoot themselves in the foot in their publicity.
To be fair, the post was rather mean-spirited, but I still feel my points were valid. Granted, implying that you were a whore might have been uncalled for, but when I implied in another post that every redneck in my hometown has had sex with his sister, that might not have been the most sensitive thing to do either.
Look on the bright side. More people know about your bus now, and the harsh treatment of my blog from the last three comments here is probably the most significant contribution from the public-at-large that I've ever received. That means that your contribution has not gone unnoticed, as this lengthy reply should indicate.
And Anonymous: I have a readership of about 20 people. There is no mystery. No one reads this blog.
In addition to the above, might I add that your "biodiesel" plan actually harms the environment, albeit in a different way. The amount of land it would take to convert veggies to biodiesel is far worse than large scale corporate farming. But you'd have known that if you'd done some research, right?
And by the way, good job, numbnut, for putting their actual names in the reply post. I'm sure that has nothing to do with publicity, though. Deciding to make stereotypes right back at somebody really gives you the moral high ground, doesn't it?
Ha! I forgot about that whole "bio-diesel is worse for the environment" angle when I wrote my reply even though I blogged about it just two weeks ago. Good catch!
Get your facts straight! Biodiesel wouldn't work on a LARGE scale. That's probably why you DON'T hear folks like these two claiming that everyone should switch to biodiesel. For now, the few people who are using up waste oil from restaurants (and not buying new, uncooked veggie oil that takes great resources to produce) are helping the environment by using up a waste product and emitting fewer emissions while driving.
As for this being "clearly" a publicity stunt... can you explain why the only press coverage is from a university newspaper in West Virginia? Or why this story was written a year after they stopped traveling and in West Virginia? Either they suck at getting publicity, or (you're an idiot and) they just wanted to travel and happened to get noticed for their unique vehicle well after the traveling was finished.
Since this was clearly not a trip based around publicity, then get over the fact that they didn't wear suits for the photograph. They weren't trying to impress you, or any other judgmental bloggers. Perhaps you're just jealous that you haven't been asked to be on the cover of such a prestigious newspaper...
Post a Comment