Post something Weird or Random

[Judge]

Here Arcades were a very new and modern idea for shopping in the late 1800s. Like an old English High Street but roofed over and protected from the weather. Every major city had at least one, they were the greatest innovation in modern shopping in that era and changed the way in which people think about shopping.

And Australia tends to hang on to it's heritage and history rather than knocking it down and building over it.

But what operation goes on within one of your "arcades" ? Anything in particular, or just something general relative to retail.

Here arcades or penny arcades became gaming places. Usually associate with pinball machines evolving from mechanical devices to electronic ones. At least that's been my own observation from the east to west coasts.

I always remember "Seawalls" the most though. In downtown San Francisco across from Pier One. A seriously designed arcade rivaling ones at the beginning of the 20th century. All very old, and all mechanical machines to have fun with. I loved it. A true old-fashioned arcade.

 

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But what operation goes on within one of your "arcades" ? Anything in particular, or just something general relative to retail.

Just general retail, lots of little shops. Clothing, cafes, hair dressers, jewellers, etc. Here there was always a high end status associated with arcades and shops in an arcade end to be a little more upmarket than what you'll find in the streets.

 

[Cutesie]

British "mall" = American "promenade"
British "arcade" = American "mall" (usually) or "shopping center"
American "arcade" = British "amusement arcade" or "video arcade" or "penny arcade"

Do I have it correctly?

 

[Outdated]

British "arcade" = American "mall" (usually) or "shopping center"

You've got it mostly right, except an Arcade is just specialty shops at the higher end of the market where as a shopping centre includes everything from little $2 junk shops and supermarkets to large department stores, banks and restaurants.

 

[negative-speedforce]

 

[Luca]

Despite our "youthful" age, we are big fans of good old-fashioned farmhouse decor. Fitting considering that we live way out in the sticks.

 

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This is a short documentary about Australia's most famous road race - Bathurst. The commentator is Mark Larkham, a previous champion race driver.

When I was growing up the race was for production model cars only and any car that was seen on that track was also available for people to buy in showrooms all over the country. There was huge rivalry between Ford Australia and Holden, both these companies were US owned but they didn't make US cars, they made uniquely Australian cars and the muscle car culture here was huge, largely due to that one race.

All car manufacturing in Australia ended in the 2010s and that spelled the end of an era for Bathurst as well. It's still an incredible race that attracts drivers from all over the world but now it's more of a driver's championship using foreign cars built specifically for racing so it has lost a lot of it's popularity with the Aussie audience.

 

[negative-speedforce]

 

[Shevek]

This is a short documentary about Australia's most famous road race - Bathurst. The commentator is Mark Larkham, a previous champion race driver.

When I was growing up the race was for production model cars only and any car that was seen on that track was also available for people to buy in showrooms all over the country. There was huge rivalry between Ford Australia and Holden, both these companies were US owned but they didn't make US cars, they made uniquely Australian cars and the muscle car culture here was huge, largely due to that one race.

All car manufacturing in Australia ended in the 2010s and that spelled the end of an era for Bathurst as well. It's still an incredible race that attracts drivers from all over the world but now it's more of a driver's championship using foreign cars built specifically for racing so it has lost a lot of it's popularity with the Aussie audience.

Curiously, NASCAR never ran Mustangs, Camaros, and Barracudas, continuing with the largest cars. Maybe they were just easier to see. They were constantly fiddling with the rules to get the closest, most dramatic finishes.

 

[Outdated]

They were constantly fiddling with the rules to get the closest, most dramatic finishes.

That's also the case with what these days is called the Australian Supercar Championship. But here our racing started out as a production model touring car race and a lot of that heritage has stuck.

Nascars aren't real cars, they're just a very thin shell over the top of the chasis for the sake of aerodynamics and an absolute minimum of weight. Supercars are still 4 door production model cars although heavily modified and they weigh around 1.5 ton.

As for drama:

 

[Shevek]

That's also the case with what these days is called the Australian Supercar Championship. But here our racing started out as a production model touring car race and a lot of that heritage has stuck.

Nascars aren't real cars, they're just a very thin shell over the top of the chasis for the sake of aerodynamics and an absolute minimum of weight. Supercars are still 4 door production model cars although heavily modified and they weigh around 1.5 ton.

As for drama:

NASCAR had two roots. They started off running cars very close to stock to help sales, but there was also a long tradition of racing cars that looked stock but were built to haul a ton of moonshine faster than a police car could go.

 

[Outdated]

....but there was also a long tradition of racing cars that looked stock but were built to haul a ton of moonshine faster than a police car could go.

This was the side of things that I was taught, and that early races were actually clandestine meets between different grog runners. They'd get together to discuss different tactics and strategies to avoid detection and show off their cars while they were at it.

Car racing in Australia didn't really start evolving until the late 1950s.