Sorry about the very obscure reference to Felix La Poubelle in the title. I can’t help myself. I can see clearly now this was a mistake. It’s not my fault. I’ve always felt rather temporary about myself. The gross point I’m trying to make is that these are Basques. Cutting crappy econoboxes in half with an ax is apparently a sport there. But of course it is.

If you’re not familiar with Basques, why would you be? Perhaps I should explain who they are. I don’t want to be withholding. I’m very serious about this process. Anyway, Basques live in a tiny area between Spain and France and don’t like Spain or France. When I was a kid, the only time I ever heard anything from a Basque was when they were setting off car bombs next to French or Spanish Ultimarts, because they were “Basque Separatists.” For the longest time, I thought “Basque Separatist” was all one word. I didn’t know there was any other kind of Basque.

So they cut crappy cars in half with an ax for amusement. That strikes me as a pretty Basque thing to do. I love how they roll the car on its side to let Paolo Bunyan get a crack at the undercarriage, and gasoline pours out of the tank and makes a little puddle. Then a passerby stands in the puddle of gasoline and takes a picture like he’s at Disneyland or something. If he was smoking, it would have been perfect, but the scene was already perfect, so additional perfection would only detract from the Basque-ness of the whole thing.

Anyway, take care of yourself. Thank you for the pen.

(Many thanks to Johnny Glendale for sending that one along)