I'm Famous!

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
10/12/2018 at 09:49 • Filed to: 15 seconds of fame

Er, n ot quite. Appearing on BBC Two is hardly the peak of stardom. And I’m not appearing at all; rather, my truck is.

I recently learned about a show called “AutumnWatch” that they do over there in BBC land, where they discuss all things relating to the change of seasons from Summer to “Fall” or “Autumn,” which is pronounced, “al-you-minium” I believe.

Why did this show come to my attention? T hey’re doing it in New England this year, specifically based in my town, as it happens. A nd they wanted a cool vintage truck to drive around in while looking at foliage. I presume they’ll be using the resulting video to fill in times between the more interesting segments, because come on, the leaves are pretty, but how much leaf-peeping can you cram into an hour show?

After a bit of back and forth, I now have in my hands a piece of paper saying the BBC is insured for - now, I think this might be a standardized form, because I know classic cars are up in value right now, but it seems high - $350,000 (!) with me as the “Certificate Holder.” And they have my truck. I gave them a few notes, but really, it’s easy to drive. It’s just hard to drive... smoothly.

If you have access to BBC Two and also have a thing for colorful leaves, New England wildlife, and maybe a few seconds of seeing my truck on TV, well tune yourself in (or watch it on the internet like a normal person) next week. I’m sure Google can point you there, but here’s a nice clip they shot this week.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Side note: If I had known they were shooting the above video, I for sure would have arranged to go waterskiing by the camera. I go by that spot every day, and have a friend with a ski boat just a half mile from there.

DISCUSSION (28)

Just Jeepin' > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 09:55

That’s awesome!

Future next gen S2000 owner > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 09:55

I saw the headline and thought your truck had come to life like C ars. A cousin of Mater had a kinja account. Or has that been the case all along........

functionoverfashion > Future next gen S2000 owner
10/12/2018 at 09:57

[they’re onto me! quick, park me back in the garage for the winter, they’ll forget by April]

vondon302 > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 10:02

Neat!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 10:11

Cool!! Make sure to post the link once it’s online somewhere.

functionoverfashion > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
10/12/2018 at 10:21

Will do. I don’t know whether we’ll be able to watch it here in the US via their website. I guess we’ll find out.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 10:24

How did you find out they were shooting in your town?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 10:25

There’s always ways around these things...

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 10:31

Brilliant mate, I'm chuffed for you!

functionoverfashion > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
10/12/2018 at 10:33

Well, it’s a small town. They’re based at a summer camp in town, which I happen to be closely connected to, and they’ve been filming at the local nature center where my kids go to school - I heard about it from 5 different sources - but none of those have to do with the truck . Basically someone who knows me and the truck randomly ran into me and said, “hey the BBC people are looking for a truck like yours, but I have no idea why. If you want, you should go talk to them.” So I did!

They said they didn’t want a perfectly mint antique car or truck, but rather something “with some character, preferably from the 50's or 60's.” Hit the nail on the head with that one.

functionoverfashion > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
10/12/2018 at 10:37

Truth be told, I used to use a VPN to access the BBC iplayer for Top Gear. But recently it stopped working, as in, the VPN puts my IP in Manchester, UK or whatever, but the BBC’s software I guess can detect the VPN or something. I may try a different VPN service, because this is how I watch the World Cup ski races all winter, and there’s no other way to do that in the US. No TV provider offers all the races, for any amount of money. Eurosport, however, has fantastic coverage. And it also happens to provide excellent coverage of the Dakar rally, and ERC races, along with lots of other things I don’t care about like Snooker.

Svend > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 10:42

Very nice. I’ve worked with the BBC a few times open air concerts, and Time Team archaeology show when they did a few days at Birdoswald and Vindolanda. Professional bunch (though they did take a wing mirror off of a hire LR Discovery on a dry store wall as they drove through a boggy gate).

ALSO: I couldn’t talk to Tony Robinson, (sorry, Sir Tony Robinson) , I could never remember his name and kept going to call him Baldrick. Doh.

Kinja'd!!!

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 11:27

Dude that’s so cool!

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 11:32

or we can get Svend or someone from the UK to send it to us!

functionoverfashion > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/12/2018 at 11:35

Or he can set up his router to allow us all to VPN through his house. That shouldn’t be a problem.....

functionoverfashion > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/12/2018 at 11:40

Now that they have it, I’m quite nervous. I explained that it’s not a modern car, and anyone driving it must understand that. You can’t ride the brakes down a 3-mile hill, for example. And the places they’re going include some very large hills. If something happened to the truck, that’s one thing, but I really don’t want anyone to get hurt because of it. But they know what they’re doing. I guess.

Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 12:04

Very cool.

shop-teacher > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 14:10

That’s pretty freakin’ cool!

functionoverfashion > shop-teacher
10/12/2018 at 21:26

The production manager told me things went well today, they loved the truck. I guess that’s good! They’re bringing it back tomorrow.

The thing is, what could they really do to it? It’s not original, but it’s also not restored. They actually said they didn’t want a “polished diamond” or some such term, I forget what they said. Basically they didn’t want a chrome-laden garage queen. Well Boy do I Have Your Answer! haha.

I hope it comes back in one piece tomorrow.

shop-teacher > functionoverfashion
10/12/2018 at 22:42

Yeah like you said, as long as it comes back in one piece, and I’m sure it will, there really isn’t anything they can do to it. It's a really cool rig.

functionoverfashion > shop-teacher
10/15/2018 at 11:50

Thanks yeah. It did come back in one piece. The brakes feel a little soft, but I know it needs a new master cylinder, maybe that time will come sooner than later. I probably need to bleed the brakes at minimum. I drove it a bunch yesterday and it was fine, but needs a little attention.

I’ll be watching the show in any case, because they’re doing so much right in my area, in my hometown even. They’re based at a summer camp I attended as a kid; I worked there for years, too. My father worked there in the 70's and it was the reason he moved to this area. The “studio” is in a main building of the camp where I’ve spent countless hours.

They’re also working closely with the nature center in town, where my kids go to preschool.

I can’t say I’d otherwise be eagerly awaiting a show like this, but with this much of a connection (and especially now, the truck of course) I’ll have to check it out.

shop-teacher > functionoverfashion
10/15/2018 at 12:50

I’d be ea gerly awaiting it too, if I had that much connection to it. That’s all pretty cool. I don’t have cable anymore, but I’d probably watch it a bit just to see a truck I “know” in action.

functionoverfashion > shop-teacher
10/15/2018 at 13:04

Well I’m curious if the BBC version will be available online. When I go there, it doesn’t say I can’t see episodes because of where I am (other parts of the BBC site do say that). But there aren’t any old ones available to click and try, so maybe when I click, it will bring to the iplayer, which knows I’m not in the UK. This may give me reason to try a new VPN service.

The PBS version will be on later this week, too. I could wait for that. I don’t know how much overlap there is, but there are fewer episodes of the PBS version. And we “cancelled” our cable but still get a bunch of the regular channels somehow. It’s been almost 2 years now. And PBS is one thing we do get - probably 3 different versions, at that.

shop-teacher > functionoverfashion
10/15/2018 at 13:14

That’s cool. Being in a major metropolitan area, I can get PBS and all the networks on an over the air antenna. I don’t bother doing that terribly often, but it’s there when we want it.

Cé hé sin > functionoverfashion
10/15/2018 at 16:11

It’s just been on! Got quite a good airing.

functionoverfashion > shop-teacher
10/15/2018 at 21:18

Well I can’t promise when it might be on the show itself, but PBS is broadcasting live from here Wed, Thurs, Fri of this week I believe, 8:00 EST. You can learn a lot about native New England wildlife while you wait to see the truck, haha.

I did catch the BBC version tonight and the bit with the truck was really cool. Bizarre to see it driving around, drone shots of it rolling along, etc. I’ll probably post something or other here shortly...

shop-teacher > functionoverfashion
10/15/2018 at 21:33

Cool!

functionoverfashion > Cé hé sin
10/15/2018 at 21:57

Nice! Glad you caught it. Yeah, it was like a 5-minute bit! I was impressed.

I like the line about, “some of it works, some... not so well.” Accurate. But also might have been a veiled jab at her co-host. Hard to say, I don’t know them at all.