SMART, Emeka Okafor and Me

 

I must admit, that when Emeka asked me to take him for a spin in SMART, I was not sure if he would fit.  The Charlotte Bobcats Team Roster lists Emeka as being 6′ 11″ tall.   And, even though he does not look that tall in person, I did have my doubts.  But, I thought we could always open the back window. 

Anyhow, before we could even exit the McDonald’s parking lot, SMART and I were stopped by the K-Town police on suspicion of driving with an expired Happy Box driver’s license.  The matter was quickly cleared up when I promised the officer that I would let him look under SMART’s hood, as soon as I came back from taking Emeka on his spin. 

P.S.         The engine is not under the hood. 
P.S.S.         Look at Emeka’s big shoes. 

 

Condo Shopping

I never thought it would be so hard finding the right pad.  After trips to Sam’s Club, CostCo and Home Depot, I finally settled on a once used model from the Lowes Home Improvements store in Kannapolis.  It is the blue one with the For Sale sign on the door.  It has indoor plumbing, a rear entrance, and yes, it does have a fire escape. 

 

Cart Return

I got busted by the store manager as I was setting up for this shot.  However, once he saw that SMART was the celebrity on location for the shoot, he helped me set the scene.  The crowds of on lookers were tremendous, and lent their encouragement all afternoon. 

Kannapolis, NC is a real photographer’s dream. 

Viva La Food Lion! 

 

Twins

This is the photo that I submitted back in April ‘08 to ‘America’s Most Compatible Couples’ reality television show.   While it is a great shot, we did not get chosen as participants for the show. 

Apparently the twin on the left lacked originality in looks, and his facial tone was too black and white.

I am thinking about colorizing SMART, yellow above his grim, and red on his chin.

 

AirCar

My new SMART had been on the street for almost two weeks, when I noticed that the fuel gauge was getting low, so I pulled into a filling station for a fill up.

Three minutes and 5 lbs of compressed air later, SMART and I were on our way to the local hot air balloon show.   SMART and I had booked a ride on Big Bad Bully.   SMART was extremely excited as he had never been in a hot air balloon before.

‘Up, Up and Away’ we whistled, as we breezed down the highway.

 

Two Toys

Both vehicles are staged at the start – finish line ready for a drag race.  As you can see, SMART Jr. has given SMART Sr. an 18 inch handicap.  The race, which was to the next driveway, was not finished as we went to press for this early edition report. 

We will publish the results in tomorrow’s paper, including all of the key statistics of the race, or if the suspense is killing you, you can drive into town and purchase the Metro Edition of the paper to see which of your SMART favorites won.

SMART Sr. went off at 7 to 1 odds.

 

Behind my work car

I am the worst of all drivers when it comes to parallel parking.  Consequently, I have been practicing curb-in parking in SMART’s home driveway. 

I executed this shot by backing into the drive, and making a sharp left turning motion that eased me behind the Trailblazer with SMART’s rear wheels just touching the grass.

In the past fourteen days, I have found nine different driveway parking positions, all of which I believe are completely ’street legal.’

Way to go SMART!

 

With Jack

SMART is the ultimate NASCAR fan, and the 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet driven by Clint Bowyer is SMART’s #1 car, even though Clint refuses to take SMART up on his ‘Fastest to 30 MPH’ challenge.

This photo was taken at the May race in Charlotte just after SMART had exited from the 07 limo.  It had been a hard night of entertaining the night before.  SMART Jr., and all of his friends, are in the JACK LIVES HERE hauler.