One bike I would be willing to ride

I've never really been interested in riding motorcycles. I have a few times but honestly they concern me a bit. Working cops shifts at the newspaper and just being around police scanners will do that to you. (Speaking of cops shifts, I have one this coming Saturday, so my weekend doesn't begin until about 11 o'clock that night. )

Still, I think my sense of caution w/re to motorbikes might be abated a bit if I had this sweet Orange chopper to call my own. I spotted it outside the Smoothie King in the Riverside section of Jacksonville a week or two ago. It might look a little on the Florida Gators red, but in real life it was much closer to pure (i.e., Tennessee) Orange.

Anyway, you just gotta admire the class and taste of anyone who'd choose such a beautiful color for an awesome bike like this. Hats off to you, sir or ma'am, whoever you are.

Jeff

This, my friends, ain't a vehicle

Already this evening I've had several replies to the most recent post about what is and ain't a vehicle and stuff.

Dedicated reader Sandy Strickland wrote in to say "why not?" to the question of whether wheels, by themselves, constitute vehicles. Another co-worker, Alison Powers, said the wheels in the photoraphs below can be counted since they make up PART OF a vehicle (in this case a skateboard).

But then I got two interesting comments via Facebook. One was from Eve Samples, who wrote:

"Wheels, my friend, don't even come close to qualifying. Please remove from blog, lest I launch a national boycott of TBOVB." (I told her go ahead and protest, that with close to a dozen readers, the BOVB cannot be stopped!)

Ike Crumpler then wrote in with this interesting brain teaser: "so wait, BOVB defines vehicle as 'transporting people to and from places'? Then I'm gonna extrapolate and say the most efficient vehicle -- for distance, speed, safety (and surprise) en route to destination is...The Mind." (I replied: show me an Orange brain and it will be posted on the BOVB).

So here is the ruling: Wheels (like the Jax Beach lifeguard stand above) do not constitute vehicles simply because they are Orange. But if they make up a part of a vehicle, then that Orangeness would qualify entire said vehicle for the BOVB.

The ruling has been made.

Jeff

Are wheels vehicles?

I'm just posting these skateboard wheels for fun. I spotted them at a skateboard surf shop in Jax Beach two or three weeks ago. The question is: are they vehicles? Do they qualify for the blog?

Shoes do, because the BOVB staff and researchers have determined that since they transport people from one place to another, they are vehicles.

And so do these wheels. But then again, should the entire board be Orange? After all, the skateboard is the vehicle -- not just the wheels and not just the board.

What do ya'll think?

Back to work

Well it's back to work for me today after being off on Tuesday.

But that's OK because I had a great day off. I ran some errands, napped and researched MTV's hit show "The Hills," which has come out of left field to totally enthrall me. Tuesday night I enjoyed a nice dinner at Jacksonville's swanky Bistro Aix.

But to celebrate returning to work, the focus of today's BOVB is work vehicles. The Bono's van I spotted on Riverside Avenue last week. The Edible Arrangements truck was seen (again by me) in the Avondale section of Jacksonville in early April.

Businesses that use Orange on their transportation fleets are awesome and hold a special place on the BOVB. In fact they have been featured here often (click here and here to see a couple past postings). I will be taking some of that high-vibrating Orange with me to the office today.

That said, it's time for me to pile into my red RAV4 and get to work.

Jeff

Big Orange . . . shopping cart?

I'm posting this week's blog a day early because Monday is looking to be a pretty hectic day.

Plus I couldn't wait to get this photo out to the world. My brother Rod sent it to me. It's a motorized shopping cart at a Home Depot in Knoxville. It's kinda dorky as vehicles go, but I like it because once again it breaks new ground, opens a new category, on the BOVB.

In fact that makes two Mondays in a row that new categories were created here. Last week, the nation and world were enthralled when the BOVB presented the first ever pic of an Orange baby carriage. Simply amazing.

Before that, Rod Brumley was first in presenting an Orange boat and an Orange space fighter. I was first in bringing the world an Orange-and-white fire trail from a Space Shuttle launch. My pal Larry Lyons snagged the BOVB's first airplane and helicopter pics.

Now welcome to the category of Orange shopping carts. Will the amazing wonders presented here ever cease?

The answer to that is "maybe, but now right now." Cuz on fasten your Big Orange seat belts for Wednesday, when yet another new category will be launched (it's a secret).

So folks, don't limit your photographs or imaginations to combustion engine automobiles and aircraft. Now you can also keep an eye out for shopping carts (and for that matter, we're still waiting for an Orange train).

Jeff

TGIF and TG for the USCG

It's been one of those weeks.

You know the kind.

One where all those old cliches/sayings come to mind. Like "when it rains it pours"; "can't win for losin'" and the like.

Oh, and how about "Thank God It's Friday."

Yes I need the weekend to rescue me.

If I were to put it in Orange terminology, I'd say I am looking forward to this weekend as much as, say, a stranded boater would be looking foward to the arrival of this awesome US Coast Guard MH-65C Dolphin. This particular aircraft was spotted by Larry and Kris at the Cecil Air Show last weekend. Cecil Field is where its squadron, known as HITRON, is based. (I got to fly with the squadron in 2005, when they used a different kind of helo. Read about it here.)

So let's give thanks to the brave men and women who fly these super cool, Orange machines, just as we give thanks for this upcoming weekend.

Jeff

My cup (of Orange) runneth over!

The gods are smiling up on the BOVB of late. Since the weekend I've been inundated with excellent, ground-breaking images of super sweet OVs of all kinds, from baby strollers (see post below) to airplanes to motorcyles (all still on the way).

And just when I thought I didn't need another pic for weeks, I spot this awesome older model BMW in downtown Jacksonville. It was parked in a fenced-in lot along Ashley Street.

I was drawn to it like a moth to fire. I diverted from my destination and snapped the shot of its rear end, then parked across the street from the lot for the other shots. As a result I had to walk several blocks to my destination, but the gorgeous weather and this sweet Beemer made it worthwhile.

Meanwhile, if anyone knows the year and model of this BMW, please e-mail me at orangevehicles@gmail.com or, better yet, post it here as a comment.

Jeff

Awesome week on the BOVB

Folks this is gonna be one of the best weeks ever on the BOVB. The pics I collected, both from my own efforts and contributors, are outstanding. So, just like the Tennessee Vols following Saturday's Orange and White game, we're ready to get right back at it.

So to start things off, I'm opening a whole new category on the blog: Baby strollers! Yes, we've had cars (duh), boats and planes. We've had motorcycles, bicycles, construction equipment and even shoes. 

But this double-wide baby stroller spotted on the sidewalk in front of Pete's bar in Neptune Beach on Saturday takes the BOVB to a whole new level. And for that matter, it takes Pete's to a new level, too. Sure, it's been open in that location since the early 1930s. And yes, Ernest Hemingway himself drank and (according to a sign on one of the urinals) peed there.

But now it's on the Big Orange Vehicle Blog, and THAT's an accomplishment, y'all!

Jeff

 

Send Orange & White pics!

If you're attending the Orange and White game in Knoxville today, you're bound to see tons of Orange vehicles around town. Please e-mail pics of them to

orangevehicles@gmail.com

I so wish I could be at the game, which, according to GoVolsXtra.com, promises to be the second biggest in UT history attendance-wise. It's Kiff's first "game" of sorts and will be the last hurrah until practice resumes in August.

I also wish I was driving this sweet Orange Ford Mustang captured by Bridget Murphy in Jacksonville recently. Good catch, Bridget, i.e., Mustang Sally. Hopefully, our receivers will be just as good in the O&W game today.

GO VOLS!

Jeff

Pressure mounting for nation's team

So Tennessee plays the Orange and White game Saturday. The nation will be turning its eyes toward Knoxville as America's team takes the field.

But the anticipation and pressure are also are building for the fall. Spring practice has sent mixed signals. Progress has been made in some positions but the QB and wide receivers issues are worrisome. The best news has been Coach Lane Kiffin and his awesome recruiting class have made for the most fun offseason that I can ever remember.

It makes me look foward to the 2009 season with touch of hopefulness and dread. After Saturday's O&W game, there'll be no more practices until August. It's going to be a long, suspense-filled summer. I hope Kiff will keep the barbs flying at Florida and the other whiners in the SEC.

In the meantime, the BOVB will be here to keep its nearly-dozen or so faithful readers awash in Orange.

So feast your eyes on this sweet Orange dirt bike captured recently by Alison Powers, who spotted it in the San Marco area of Jacksonville. Let's hope UT's receivers make such good catches and that our backs move as fast as this bike looks.

GO VOLS!

Jeff

(Almost) time to relax

Today is the last day of the spring semester for the class I teach at the University of North Florida. That means I can relax a bit between now and the beginning of summer term.

To celebrate this (short) period of taking it easy, I thought I'd share these cool Orange bikes. They were spotted at the blues fest thing at Jacksonville Beach a couple weeks ago. They are most definitely Big Orange Metaphors for the relatively chill life I'll be leading the next two or three weeks.

J

Sweet Hummer!

The news ain't all good outa Old Rocky Top here lately. GoVolsXtra.com, The Knoxville News-Sentinel's top notch UT sports site, has reported troubling signs from our football team's spring practice sessions:

@ QBs basically suck. Of course we knew that already.

@ Receivers are struggling. "Other than quarterback, receiver may be UT's most pressing concern this fall. Junior Gerald Jones is a proven commodity but otherwise inconsistency reigns."

@ Worst of all -- and this is my observation -- I fear that the hosebag offensive coordinator who helped get Phil Fulmer fired last year (who shall henceforth remain nameless on the BOVB) may have left his crummy residue all over our beloved football program.

When said hosebag was hired, he warned fans that his offense would take at least two years to take effect. He was wrong. It took effect immediately and resulted in the 5-7 2008 record. But what if it is a scheme that really will be around another year? Could he have messed with our players' heads that badly? Seems possible. Yikes.

So I reckon that, for the time being, we'll have to look to other sources for the Orange lining to those dark clouds.

One is the Lady Vols tennis team, which is rockin. GO VOLS!

Another is this sweet Hummer. I spotted it at the St. Johns Town Center in Jacksonville April 11. It's clearly not Tennessee Orange but it's sure as heck more fun to look at than UT's 2008 offense.

Let's try this again . . .

It's been a while since the BOVB has been updated. I apologize. I hope it hasn't been too crushing. The problem: I've been unable to get Blogger to  upload pics from my home computer. And without pics, the BOVB is pointless.

So I am trying it now at work. Hopefully, it will work and I won't be all frustrated and stuff.

Which reminds me, Coach Lane Kiffin seems to be getting fed up with UT's offense. After a scrimmage on Friday, GoVolsXtra.com said: "The Vols' passing game at times looked like   . . . the one fans quickly became upset with last season."

To that, I say: "Lord, please deliver us from any vestiges of the Clawson offense and any memories of last season. Amen."

Let's take our mind off that by focusing on this sweet Orange-and-black Mazda (I think it's a Mazda, anyway) I spotted in the Riverside area of Jacksonville today. 

Ahhhhh . . . that's better.

Jeff

Technical difficulties

Dear BOVB fans . . . I've been unable to get pics to upload to the blog this morning. My apologies. I will try again later today so look for another post.

Cheers,

Jeff