The video revolution is here

Boxing Day stumper

Any ideas on this one? In one of the many big-box parking lots in White Marsh.

fearsome on the road

On the NJ turnpike:


And on a green Ford minivan in Baltimore:

VHICKL parked here

Sleuth and dear friend MP in Richmond, Va., spotted this one this weekend:

VHICKL

It was parked right in front of a newsroom, where, ostensibly, wordsmiths are employed.

Welcome to Balto

Jwer sent me an e-mail with these spottings:

- PQQDLES on the MD plates of some generic luxury sedan or other
- BALTO on some giant burgundy pimptacular Cadillac coupe. Like, from the 70's. Parked on the block of Cathedral right south of the Meyerhoff.

Anyway, presumably the second is relatively easy to spot in the area ... seriously, that car was like 20' long.

"C" is for

That's good enough for me, on the NJ turnpike.

flavors of being

Spotted several weekends apart. These folks should meet up:

(please excuse the sadly outdated NYS plates in the vanity plate generator.)

just 4U

This one is straightforward:


This one is not:


And then there was the truck with Virginia plates that read


with an unidentified image in the corner. I tailed it for a long time through the rain on Interstate 95 in Cecil County. Was it an owl? A cat? Oh, a horse. Right.

Trogdor, the burninator!

Yessssss. Seen in the Whole Foods garage at Harbor East.

one more South Asian name

or perhaps this driver, spotted on northbound Interstate 95, is just headed back from the temple.

conditions of life

So I practiced some extremely unsafe driving practices this week with a disappointingly low yield of quality images, so we'll have to rely on a vanity plate generator.



oh, and a HANDICAPPED plate that read




I say, "!"

plates as political speech

So a retired New York police officer has filed a federal complaint to keep his GETOSAMA plates.

See the plates and a follow-up at Newsday, which reveals that the Nassau County branch of the New York Civil Liberties Union has already defended a similar ban on MPEACHW.

supporting municipal lines

or perhaps enjoying underground spaces?


I got cut off as I was tailing this one for the shot, but it was okay, because that license plate was

attractive woman for president

Lil Kim: Ride or die

**BREAKING NEWS *** Lil Kim seen in Bel Air, Maryland, two summers ago *** BREAKING *** Rapper is much less rich than previously estimated *** MUST CREDIT PAT, BOYFRIEND OF NANCY *** BREAKING ***

When plates go bad

Vanity plates at their best are witty, clever and clear.

Vanity plates at their worst are offensive and rude, according to these pages, dredged up through public information requests and archived for your viewing pleasure at The Smoking Gun. Lists of banned plates, complaints and more.

Here's another link to a few defenses. The motor vehicle operator at page 16 is wise to start with a compliment for former NY Gov. George Pataki. But I'm not sure how I feel about his argument overall.

Open up

and


Along the New Jersey Turnpike? Maybe so.

More choice finds from my travels along the bedeviled I-95 corridor this turkey-consuming weekend, coming up.

Stumpers

Seen in White Marsh parking lots ...





Don't quite get these ... welcoming any and all assistance.

She's no Sandra Clark

You might remember her from the 80s sitcom 227 ... or you might not. But look for


on the streets of Baltimore. Spotted on Mount Royal Avenue.

A little Huey Lewis action (updated)

seen in The Sun's rear parking lot! Midnight Sun is my witness!

It's


on a boxy Honda Element.

Vanity plates, I am happy to be Stuck with You.

Hello, strranger: RRR

Justine sent this from her iPhone (JEALOUS), and the following e-mail conversation ensued.

Me: 'Reading, 'riting, 'rithmatic?
Justine: I was thinking more like he's a tiger in bed.
Me: Or that's the noise the engine makes?
Justine: Or maybe his name is Roland Roger Ridickerous IV.

One will never know.

I brought a CALQL8R for SHW & TEL

The unsurprising news (can we call it "news"?) that Virginia has the most vanity plates was announced last week. (Story tip courtesy of Erin. Thanks!) 1 in 10 drivers there has a personalized plate. Guess why? Because they're so damn cheap there! Let's consider all variables when doing such studies next time.

A road trip through Virginia this weekend, from Maryland to South Carolina, netted a few gems, but none were actually in Virginia. Go figure.

On the way to a football game came NFL BOYS.

In Columbia, I passed by SHW & TEL, which I particularly enjoyed, and AUSCFAN parked illegally directly outside the door of a bar. So appropriate.

And after eight hours of driving home, half a block from my apartment, I passed CALQL8R. Very cute indeed.

if found, please return to

OBX27959

seen on the northbound New Jersey Turnpike, near the IKEA.

Way too much lovin', and She Be Flo

Steve put up a few more observed plates in his Flickr stream, including D8 ME (no, thanks), HUG EVR1, (again, I'll pass) and [Heart]4U ALL (is there something in the water?!).

But I like this one best. Steve says: "Taken outside of a diner full of white-hairs in Bakersfield, CA."


It's so forceful! Yes, YOU BE FLO! You tell 'em! Ow-OW!

a medical theme

from my I-95 trip from Charm City to NYC:

XRAY 2 --- does this guy have an MRI in his other car?

and

REAL DR

Personally, I'd rather see a board certification or something. 

DRGNSLR! Reargh!

Homegirl Whiskeymarie, who lives in the Midwest, sent along this plate.


D&D knows no geographical boundaries.

some clarity but even more confusion

Allied to what?

and

1 4MUBA.

Any insight on the latter would be appreciated. Thank you and good night.

Plates from L.A,, and that damn Y chromosome

This Flickr photo set from my blogging friend Steve includes off-beat bumper stickers ("Tree-hugging dirt-worshipper" on a Prius), funny-lookin' cars (a Lincoln Navigator covered in spray-painted hearts) and a handful of very excellent license plates, all spotted since he moved out to L.A. from the Midwest.

Only in L.A.:



Why L.A., and not D.C., we shall never know:



But this is the one he e-mailed me about, and it's the one I seem to be stuck on. Anyone?

RIBBIT: Frog on wheels

Blogging friend Lara at Red Red Whine reminds me of the bright green Honda Del Sol she spotted with the plate: RIBBIT.

I love personified animals. Even if the personification is really more of carified.

Do WE57 HAM and AR53 NAL play each other?

No vanity plates in England + crazed soccer hooligans = 57,000 pounds at auction for the plate WE57 HAM.

That beat the previous record of 36,000 pounds for AR53 NAL.

"The atmosphere in the auction room was electric -- it was like a cup final," said Damian Lawson, Marketing Manager for Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency Personalized Registrations.

Yes. I'm sure.

OWNZORZ: That car is mine!

OWNZORZ

I love it when Internet-speak makes it onto license plates.

CAVEAT

On a red Honda Accord sedan. Spotted near the Rite Aid on Cathedral St. on the edge of Mount Vernon.

LIVER02

Is it an organ recipient, or Second Life fanatic?

4 AROSE

Would a plate by any other name smell as sweet?

Humdinger

Bloggy friend Don't Call Me Ma'am, who writes at Grumpy Frump, sent me this the other day.

"I'm such an idiot. I saw this license plate the other day and couldn't figure it out ... it was driving me crazy!

ILMHI SF (with a 49ers frame)

So, I share it with my husband, who says, "Wow. That's a tough one."

I say, "I'm sure it's 'something something San Francisco,' " which then causes me to hum "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" as I think to myself.

He looks at me and says, somewhat sarcastically, "Hmm. Do you think it's 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco'?"

I respond, "Good one! Wow, I never would have gotten that!"

He just laughed at me. I seriously had no conscious idea what it was, but apparently my inner humming personality did. ;-)

Thought you might appreciate that one."

Love, and live, to jam

ILV2JAM

And I live to eat it.