Growing up, there was this commercial that used to play what seemed like every commercial break. It was for a car insurance company called Survival. If that name hasn’t instantly jogged your memory, allow me to clarify. This commercial and its numerous iterations would feature a guy walking along a road, jacket held over his shoulder by a finger or two. That makes you cool, or so I was led to believe by these commercials. The commercial would cut between Mr. Cool and, usually, a woman with bright lipstick driving a sporty car. When she saw how cool this guy along the road was, she would pull over and offer him a ride. Who wouldn’t? At this point he would lean onto the door and ask two questions – “Are you insured?”…(yes)…”By Survival?”…(no). To which he would respond, “I can’t take that ride.” I haven’t seen that guy in years. I assume that after turning down so many rides he probably died along the side of the road from dehydration or starvation or something. Seeing people wait in line for Autopia always seems to make me think of seeing those commercials growing up.
Tracking Tomorrow
The Autopia track is one of the neat things that lights up Tomorrowland with its trademark glow. It curves up, down and all around, winding through trees and over the lagoon. Because it was twilight, I had to let my camera shutter stay open longer to better expose this scene. It led to none of the cars showing up in my exposures. Instead, I got neat reflections off of them and wobbly blurs along the track that you can see if you look closely.
Afternoon at Autopia
Autopia. It’s one of those rides at Disneyland, not unlike Peter Pan, that always seems to have a line. Hot or cold. Rain or shine. People are always in the queue for their opportunity to get into a go-kart that features possibly the stiffest gas/brake pedal in existence. What makes us love this classic attraction so much? Well, it helps those of us who drive remember that driving is fun. For kids, it presents that exciting prospect of something they’re not yet old enough to do. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it’s in Disneyland.