Todd Lappin covers the 2008 Illegal Soapbox Derby
Todd Lappin took some great photos of the 2008 Illegal Soapbox Derby
Well, turns out there's a reason why it's called the *Illegal* Soapbox Derby.Photos of the Really Really Illegal 2008 Illegal Soapbox DerbyWhen we arrived at Bernal Speedway in San Francisco to take in the 2008 running of the Illegal Soapbox Derby, some unpleasantness ensued between the racers and several representatives of the San Francisco Police Department. It seems the Parks Department had received a pre-race complaint from someone in the Bernal Heights Temperance and Abstinence League, and the cops were under orders to put the kibosh on the event. (According to the police, San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano had attempted to intervene on behalf of the Soapbox Derby, but to no avail -- Ammiano was overruled by the bureaucrats at the Parks Department. Thanks for trying, Tom!)
Major buzzkill.
After some futile and frustrating attempts at negotiation, the crowd dispersed peacefully and relocated (no less peacefully) to an another gravity-rich location elsewhere in the city.
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WTH is a Bernal Heights Temperance and Abstinence League!?
Um, ok I'm all for soapbox racing (legal or not), but isn't the photo in this post a clear case of child endangerment? What would have happened if this soapbox racer had taken a dive? Nice that dad has a helmet on but junior is left to fend for his little infant self, and is going to have his soft skull making a 100' red and gray streak.
Hooray for Darwinian selection!
Claud9999, surely you see that's an 18 year old with 18 years experience, and a doll riding shotgun.
I think this is the sport that could bring Alaskans and San Franciscans together.
do it for Dale!!!
#2 proves the danger of reading Boing Boing in the middle of class: I nearly fell out of my chair, clutching at my mouth to contain giggles.
Look's like a real baby to me. If so, that's incredibly stupid.
Here's the link to the full-rez photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/2997769051/sizes/o/
OMG -- da baby is bleedin' from da ears!!
I don't know what the stuff in the ears is. It's just weird.
Now this is a sport that I could get into.
The photos prove it: that's not a baby, that's Kim Jong Il.
If it is a doll then it is one that's really not enjoying the ride.
That's no ordinary baby...its a soap box Derby(ing) ZOMBIE BABY!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/2998606740/in/set-72157608612558787/
How I miss the Bisbee race. Watching the idiots - I mean competitors - try and make the turn at Castle Rock with nothing between them and a 10+ foot drop into a concrete ditch but some lame straw bails. Good times.
Photos from New York City's illegal derby:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittenclaw/sets/72157594200862128/
Haha, I thought I recognized that street -- I just took another ride down it on the bike to make sure. It's such a white-knuckler coming down that I hadn't noticed many of the details in those shots.
My fondest memory of the midnight ride down the Manayunk wall portion of the Philly bike race was of a Cop leading a guy pulling a standard red wagon with a car battery attached to a screaming ambulance siren. My least fondest memory is of a guy with his head stuck in the sewer by the side of the road he did however only need stitches and resumed drinking the next morning.