American car maker that might actually survive: Ford
Ford had a lineup that didn't suck. Mostly. I'm not a Mustang fan, but that's me. A lot of people like them and that's their thing so more power to them. Talk to me when you get a most distinguished style and an actual suspension. The Focus, the Fusion and the new Taurus were all pretty sweet. Ford brought out some hybrids and downplayed the trucks except the F-150. Mercury and Lincoln made no buzz at all though. Ditch 'em.
More boring lineup ever: Toyota
The Toyota section was a sea of family cars and crossover SUVs. Not one sports car in their line. Closest thing to a sport car is the Tc. Okay, I guess. Spent less then five minutes before I walked away.Lexus was way on the other side of the convention center. Probably because IS-F was embarrassed to be related to the RAV-4.
God damn I want a: Mercedes-Benz C class. Especially an AMG.
Most likely to not be at next year's show: Chrysler
Okay Chrysler, have you ever heard of the 1970s? You know, the first time you had to borrow a ton of money from the federal government so you don't go bankrupt. Remember the cars you were building then? The Chargers and Challengers, etc. Why do you insult us by building the same cars and making them retro styled right before our tax money goes to keeping you afloat again? How about you just teabag me when I'm asleep and then stop making cars. It's less embarrassing for us both.
Wow, that looks awesome in real life: Nissan GT-R
Seriously, the media pictures do it no justice. See this car in real life, it has such a presence. It's like it knows it's faster then a 911 turbo and a lot cheaper. It's an $80,000 Japanese rocket and it's damn smug about it.
Car I spent 30 minutes drooling in front of: Porsche Carrera GT
Nuff said.
BMW's don't have cup holders: What the fuck?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
A Belated Farewell
Anyone that has any concern about this will know by now that John Updike has passed. The LA Times wrote an excellent obituary that is worth checking out here. The reason I bring up Updike is, from my perspective as an almost graduate with a major in Journalism and a minor in Creative Writing (probably not supposed to be capitalized but my stylebook is upstairs so suck it) I can't help but notice the impact he has had on my life.
Going back to my freshman year I remember wanting to start reading again. As a kid I loved to read and would go to the library to get books. My parents also bought me an amazing collection. It was all of the classic works of literature condensed and with the writing simplified so that children could read and appreciate them. From when I was around 5 to when I "outgrew" them, those books were read to me, and then I would read them out loud.
But now I was 18 and I had not read a good book in years besides books that were required from school. And here came in my friend Matt, who had recently started generating a great interest in reading and writing. I asked Matt if I could borrow a book to read and he handed me a copy of, "Rabbit, Run."
I was so engrossed that I couldn't put the book down. I needed to know everything that happened to Harry Angstrom. I was so starved for reading that I didn't mind Updike's perchance for paragraphs that might take up a page or more. This is not to say that I would have just read anything, but that it was the right book at the right time.
What John Updike did was make me realize that I always enjoyed reading and writing, I was good at reading and writing (still to be proven, but I'm working on it) and that those are two things that I always want to be a part of my life.
Forget the two Pulitzer Prizes, the numerous National Book Awards, the 50+ works of literature, the countless criticism, if a book that John Updike wrote in 1960 can unlock the passion in an 18 year old in 2004 then certainly he has achieved something with his life.
So it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. Farewell sir, see you on the other side.
Going back to my freshman year I remember wanting to start reading again. As a kid I loved to read and would go to the library to get books. My parents also bought me an amazing collection. It was all of the classic works of literature condensed and with the writing simplified so that children could read and appreciate them. From when I was around 5 to when I "outgrew" them, those books were read to me, and then I would read them out loud.
But now I was 18 and I had not read a good book in years besides books that were required from school. And here came in my friend Matt, who had recently started generating a great interest in reading and writing. I asked Matt if I could borrow a book to read and he handed me a copy of, "Rabbit, Run."
I was so engrossed that I couldn't put the book down. I needed to know everything that happened to Harry Angstrom. I was so starved for reading that I didn't mind Updike's perchance for paragraphs that might take up a page or more. This is not to say that I would have just read anything, but that it was the right book at the right time.
What John Updike did was make me realize that I always enjoyed reading and writing, I was good at reading and writing (still to be proven, but I'm working on it) and that those are two things that I always want to be a part of my life.
Forget the two Pulitzer Prizes, the numerous National Book Awards, the 50+ works of literature, the countless criticism, if a book that John Updike wrote in 1960 can unlock the passion in an 18 year old in 2004 then certainly he has achieved something with his life.
So it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. Farewell sir, see you on the other side.
Write, write, right?
Where is the point where a hobby becomes a chore? When a passion becomes a job? That's where I'm currently sitting with writing. I'm at the point where I need to write more, not that I want to write more. But what a journey to get to this point.
Writing and maintaining a blog is much harder then it initially seems. At least, depending on your goals. The housewife, the endless knitters; they have it so easy from my perspective, writing for hobby. They get to write about their hobby. To me, writing for the express purpose of communicating my love of writing and really, for the sake of writing itself, has proven a daunting goal.
Instead what we end up with are good intentions and a few brainstorms left floating around in my conscience. To really maintain an extended amount of creative output proved to be much harder then I ever expected. But then again, if I want to be a writer, this is what I have to do.
So, I'm going to write, and write and I'm going to get it right.
Woo puns. Let's have some fun.
Writing and maintaining a blog is much harder then it initially seems. At least, depending on your goals. The housewife, the endless knitters; they have it so easy from my perspective, writing for hobby. They get to write about their hobby. To me, writing for the express purpose of communicating my love of writing and really, for the sake of writing itself, has proven a daunting goal.
Instead what we end up with are good intentions and a few brainstorms left floating around in my conscience. To really maintain an extended amount of creative output proved to be much harder then I ever expected. But then again, if I want to be a writer, this is what I have to do.
So, I'm going to write, and write and I'm going to get it right.
Woo puns. Let's have some fun.
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