McQueen was a true aficionado of America's legendary motorcycle manufacturer, once driving 700 miles to view a rare 1915 model. He built up a collection of around 120 classic bikes.
McQueen pictured with Charles 'Red' Wolverton (r.) and (l.) Sammy 'Mr Indian' Pierce. Sammy Pierce was full-time restorer to Steve's vintage bike collection. 'Red' Wolverton, a top racer from the 20s and 30s, was flown by Steve to be able to ride one of his former bikes in Steve's collection one last time.
Unlike what happened in virtually all other European countries, the Portuguese Communist Party was not created as a result of a split in the Socialist Party. It was essentially set up by militants from the ranks of revolutionary trade-unionism and anarcho-syndicalism, who represented the most active, militant and revolutionary sections of Portugal’s working-class movement.
The party was founded in 1921 as the Portuguese section of the Communist International (Comintern). Made illegal after a coup in the late 1920s, the PCP played a major role in the opposition to the dictatorial regime of António de Oliveira Salazar.
Despite being less influential since the fall of the Socialist bloc in eastern Europe, the party still enjoys popularity in large sectors of Portuguese society, particularly in the rural areas of the Alentejo and Ribatejo, and in the heavily industrialized areas around Lisbon and Setúbal.
Watch Seasick Steve’s blues, that old man in a vest; listen to the story coming out of his long, white beard. When this American dude landed in Paris in the ‘70s with $10 in his pocket, several things saved his life: nights under bridges, police vans, women, alcohol, and, above all, his guitar and his blues. Look at this former hobo who behaves the same whether he’s in a room at the Hôtel Concorde in Paris, in the streets, or on a stage in front of some 65,000 people. I can picture him in front of his label’s executives (Warner) just as well as I can envision him in front of the guy who, years ago, sold him the worst guitar in the whole world. I can also picture him being as simply captivating as the time he laughed for a good fifteen minutes with the wild crowd of the ATP Festival because he broke a string and didn’t really know how to change it.
We could tell you "The amazing story of Seasick Steve, a poor man who became rich and famous thanks to his music", but he doesn’t need that. The first of his albums that Warner released was recorded in his kitchen with an old four-track. There’s no amazing story, there’s better: this white bluesman’s ballad in the world and in life. He performed both in the Parisian subway and at Glastonbury. Who knows what he’ll meet on the next corner? Anyway, he keeps a rhythm, and it’s this very rhythm that compels us to walk with him for hours. So we did just that on a May afternoon, immersed in Seasick Steve’s freedom.
Yes, it does back flips. It is a Eurocopter BO-105 CBS 4 Twin engine helicopter. Stock model with a Rigid Rotor system, the fixed rotor is why it can do aerobatics.