a look inside my lexicon

whenever i see something silly and extraneous or needless i often exclaim:

"that's like putting mag wheels on a pinto!"

i belive my younger brother jim - the gearhead of the family - coined it many years ago. it's sort of an adaptation of the "lipstick on a pig" analogy. since it's been coined, it's sort of become a catchphrase that i'm known for amongst my friends. my brother and i do this quite a bit - rob and riff on the material that the other one comes up with until we end up with something that makes beverages spray out peoples noses or give them asthma attacks. "mag wheels on a pinto" sort of came out right away in it's pure crystalline form.

some of my favorite applications have been:

• "steak burritos? at taco bell? isn't that like putting mag wheels on a pinto?"
• "throwing a g4 upgrade in a 8500 is sort of like putting mag wheels on a pinto."
• "a windowed and cold cathode lit p2/400? what're you going to do next, put mag wheels on a pinto?"

actually, my point in explaining all this is skroo sent me a link to a set of pictures that include a pretty cherry 1974 pinto sedan with a set of mag wheels. of course, i'm probably the only person who'll find that slightly ammusing but then again you're also talking to the guy who says that shallow gestures are "deep... like a journey song."