Coq au vin, c'est bon pour la femme...
Laura was suitably impressed that I came up with that one (less the "la", she had to give the grammatical assist) on my own. :) Saw an Alton Brown/Good Eats show (love that program!) on Coq au Vin, (literally, "Cock with wine") a classic French fricassee, traditionally made with aged/mature roosters...thought it a wickedly apropos subject heading and toast for the pre-weekend post, I'm sure y'all can piece together the rest of it... ;)
On a related note, last week's Foamy 'toon (Foamy's Rant V) talks about lame/annoying word play, much like I'm doing above, but I fully agree with the lameness of said behaviour as a comedic medium, and eschew it unless it's me doing it and its genuinely funny/clever, as here. (Or not.)
While watching a Modern Marvels episode on engineering disasters, I saw my first TV commercial for the upcoming new third generation Lexus GS. I initially disliked the car when I first saw it at last year's auto show in Chicago when I was there in February, but it has since grown on me. Both the auto show prototype and the photos I saw recently were of a silver car, and the one in the commercial was black. Oooh, the black makes all the difference! With some nice dark tint and some graphite eighteen or so inch wheels, this car would look nice. What's not to love about this car? It's totally me in vehicular form: Asian, gorgeous, muscular, understated, sexy, capable, confident, and exudes class. OK, how about just Asian? One out of eight isn't THAT bad. Here's a pretty thorough review. Unfortunately, they're not due out with a new engine or a high-performance hybrid version anytime soon, so until then, we're "stuck" with the same 300-horsepower, 325 lb-ft torque 4.3-litre engine that's in my car. Don't get me wrong, it's a damn fine engine, and I'm thrilled to death with it, but with the Daimler boys and the Bavarian brutes are all packing close-to-or over 500 horsepower in the top performance models, the M5 and E55 AMG, some added grunt would be nice. What IS exceptionally interesting is the addition of all-wheel drive. Toyota's been lacking an AWD performance car in its US portfolio for too long. That it's a 4-door luxury-branded sedan and not a 2-door sports car will sit well with both my attorney (driving record: extensive and not exactly glowing) and insurance agent alike. The Toyoda (not a typo, story for another day) family makes a world-class automobile in the Lexus marque, it's time they stepped up to the plate and gave us something to run against all those mid-life crisis-addled doctors and lawyers who are above owning a Corvette. I'd gladly pay $70-$80K (well, $30-$40K on ebay the year after, anyway) for a rock-solid-reliable-despite-how-poorly-I-maintain-it, 500hp (that I could then modify to 550/600HP), V10 or V8 high-performance hybrid, AWD, 7-speed, Lexus GS550/GS500h in a heartbeat. Crap, now that I read the website, the only version available as AWD is the 2JZ GS300, which is a typically Toyota bitch-ass play-it-safe move. On the plus side, the 2JZ is an infinitely flexible platform, proven to have the potential to make over 1000HP in gasoline applications. But who wants to crack open the engine of a brand-new $50K+ car and void the beloved warranty? Ugh...never mind again, one site says they've deleted the inline six in favour of a V6. Damn them!
(photos by yours truly)
Hrm...just spec'ed a couple out on the Lexus website, $62,829. Yikes. And that's for the 430 WITHOUT AWD. $54,599 for the AWD GS300, and that's with the anemic 245HP. Suck. That's a house in this part of the country...granted, not a nice one on the lake or anything, but a house nonetheless. I guess the ideal E55/M5 competitor I describe above would ultimately go for more like $90-100K. Frightening.
Guess I'll stick to buying a MotoRex-imported R34 Skyline GT-R if I absolutely have to have an AWD sleeper. Damn, it appears that a V-Spec II R34 has gone up from $60K a few years ago to around $90K too...guess that won't be happening anytime soon, either. In the meantime, the stability-controlled RWD in the current GS has saved my ass so many times that I should be grateful and not complain anyway.
Well, thanks for indulging, dorky diatribe over...I really try to not let the rabid car geek out that often, it seems to repel women, go figure.
Along that vein, I REALLY need to wash my car...damn, it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow...figures...hood is still all smudged too...[sigh]
What is it with magazine subscription management services that take goddamn 12 weeks to get a change-of-address in?! Of six magazines I called today (yeah, I know I moved well over three months ago, but hey I just got around to it, OK? Sheesh.) only PC Magazine said they'd have the April issue out to my new address. Everyone else said "maybe June/July". WTF? In this day and age?! Completely unacceptable. One even used an obnoxious marketing company that a) kept me on hold for like 10 minutes, THEN b) tried to sell me an extension at an exorbitant rate! (something like $0.99/week, I wasn't paying attention...WTF? That's higher than the newsstand price! Who the hell sells monthly magazines at weekly rates? What morons are saying "yes" to this? Never mind that my subscription to this particular piece of crap was paid through like 2009 or something. Bastards.) Hell, there were three more to which my subscriptions expire in the next three or so months, and now I'm thinking it's not even worth calling those guys, because they won't get it switched over soon enough to make a difference! Nor can I just go re-subscribe, as the new subs would probably start by the second month at the latest, and I'd no doubt overlap those issues. Not that I even read any of them regularly...Wired is the only one I read cover to cover the moment it arrives, and Automobile has some decent writing/format points, but all the other ones are basically just fluff. Ugh.
All you need to know about magazine subscriptions is relayed at the end of my January 7th post, "Schoolboy giddiness..." I'll definitely be going through them for my requisite renewals...quite a few of them expire this year.
Started watching CSI:NY tonight, and I have to say that I had high hopes for this, what with Gary Sinise starring and all. I was only able to get through a few episodes due to a some distractions here and there, and the rest of the first season could definitely get better, but so far, what a waste of talent. The writing's terrible and the plots are hackneyed and poorly-paced. I've never liked the CSI franchise as much as the Law & Order programs, but I thought I would because of the whole science geek appeal of CSI. I've seen a few episodes of each CSI serial, and except for an inexplicable attraction to Marg Helgenberger and the aforementioned respect for Sinise's talent, I don't care for any of the cast, where all the Law & Orders have at one time or another featured prominent hotties. So far, in the first two episodes of CSI:NY, I find the "Scientific" plot devices very thin and unbelievable. Unable to pinpoint where a crime takes place, they use "city maintenance databases" to determine where in the 800+ acre park the planted geranium, peony, and wisteria plants? come on, this is a public park, not a botanical conservatory! common plants like that would be EVERYWHERE, not just "five key locations", give me a break. and that's just one glaring example. Continuity isn't great, with blood-smeared handprints on cars changing location and orientation. Maybe they're just setting the stage for a "most-improved show" award next year...Gary, Gary, Gary...what are you doing? Never, ever follow David Caruso's career path! Duh!
I also really need to reiterate that I'm really liking this Superficial site...Keira Knightley is looking hot, Katie Holmes is looking hot, Krista Allen is hot, and in these photos sorta reminds me of Kel, and while the guy has in the last couple days gone on about Britney a little too much (suspiciously, if you ask me), his sense of humour is otherwise spot-on and occasionally tear-inducing.
Wow, this could well be the longest (and yet most boring to most) post yet...perhaps I should ponder the quality/quantity conundrum this weekend?
Have fun doing whatever you choose to be doing, see y'all Monday...
On a related note, last week's Foamy 'toon (Foamy's Rant V) talks about lame/annoying word play, much like I'm doing above, but I fully agree with the lameness of said behaviour as a comedic medium, and eschew it unless it's me doing it and its genuinely funny/clever, as here. (Or not.)
While watching a Modern Marvels episode on engineering disasters, I saw my first TV commercial for the upcoming new third generation Lexus GS. I initially disliked the car when I first saw it at last year's auto show in Chicago when I was there in February, but it has since grown on me. Both the auto show prototype and the photos I saw recently were of a silver car, and the one in the commercial was black. Oooh, the black makes all the difference! With some nice dark tint and some graphite eighteen or so inch wheels, this car would look nice. What's not to love about this car? It's totally me in vehicular form: Asian, gorgeous, muscular, understated, sexy, capable, confident, and exudes class. OK, how about just Asian? One out of eight isn't THAT bad. Here's a pretty thorough review. Unfortunately, they're not due out with a new engine or a high-performance hybrid version anytime soon, so until then, we're "stuck" with the same 300-horsepower, 325 lb-ft torque 4.3-litre engine that's in my car. Don't get me wrong, it's a damn fine engine, and I'm thrilled to death with it, but with the Daimler boys and the Bavarian brutes are all packing close-to-or over 500 horsepower in the top performance models, the M5 and E55 AMG, some added grunt would be nice. What IS exceptionally interesting is the addition of all-wheel drive. Toyota's been lacking an AWD performance car in its US portfolio for too long. That it's a 4-door luxury-branded sedan and not a 2-door sports car will sit well with both my attorney (driving record: extensive and not exactly glowing) and insurance agent alike. The Toyoda (not a typo, story for another day) family makes a world-class automobile in the Lexus marque, it's time they stepped up to the plate and gave us something to run against all those mid-life crisis-addled doctors and lawyers who are above owning a Corvette. I'd gladly pay $70-$80K (well, $30-$40K on ebay the year after, anyway) for a rock-solid-reliable-despite-how-poorly-I-maintain-it, 500hp (that I could then modify to 550/600HP), V10 or V8 high-performance hybrid, AWD, 7-speed, Lexus GS550/GS500h in a heartbeat. Crap, now that I read the website, the only version available as AWD is the 2JZ GS300, which is a typically Toyota bitch-ass play-it-safe move. On the plus side, the 2JZ is an infinitely flexible platform, proven to have the potential to make over 1000HP in gasoline applications. But who wants to crack open the engine of a brand-new $50K+ car and void the beloved warranty? Ugh...never mind again, one site says they've deleted the inline six in favour of a V6. Damn them!
(photos by yours truly)
Hrm...just spec'ed a couple out on the Lexus website, $62,829. Yikes. And that's for the 430 WITHOUT AWD. $54,599 for the AWD GS300, and that's with the anemic 245HP. Suck. That's a house in this part of the country...granted, not a nice one on the lake or anything, but a house nonetheless. I guess the ideal E55/M5 competitor I describe above would ultimately go for more like $90-100K. Frightening.
Guess I'll stick to buying a MotoRex-imported R34 Skyline GT-R if I absolutely have to have an AWD sleeper. Damn, it appears that a V-Spec II R34 has gone up from $60K a few years ago to around $90K too...guess that won't be happening anytime soon, either. In the meantime, the stability-controlled RWD in the current GS has saved my ass so many times that I should be grateful and not complain anyway.
Well, thanks for indulging, dorky diatribe over...I really try to not let the rabid car geek out that often, it seems to repel women, go figure.
Along that vein, I REALLY need to wash my car...damn, it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow...figures...hood is still all smudged too...[sigh]
What is it with magazine subscription management services that take goddamn 12 weeks to get a change-of-address in?! Of six magazines I called today (yeah, I know I moved well over three months ago, but hey I just got around to it, OK? Sheesh.) only PC Magazine said they'd have the April issue out to my new address. Everyone else said "maybe June/July". WTF? In this day and age?! Completely unacceptable. One even used an obnoxious marketing company that a) kept me on hold for like 10 minutes, THEN b) tried to sell me an extension at an exorbitant rate! (something like $0.99/week, I wasn't paying attention...WTF? That's higher than the newsstand price! Who the hell sells monthly magazines at weekly rates? What morons are saying "yes" to this? Never mind that my subscription to this particular piece of crap was paid through like 2009 or something. Bastards.) Hell, there were three more to which my subscriptions expire in the next three or so months, and now I'm thinking it's not even worth calling those guys, because they won't get it switched over soon enough to make a difference! Nor can I just go re-subscribe, as the new subs would probably start by the second month at the latest, and I'd no doubt overlap those issues. Not that I even read any of them regularly...Wired is the only one I read cover to cover the moment it arrives, and Automobile has some decent writing/format points, but all the other ones are basically just fluff. Ugh.
All you need to know about magazine subscriptions is relayed at the end of my January 7th post, "Schoolboy giddiness..." I'll definitely be going through them for my requisite renewals...quite a few of them expire this year.
Started watching CSI:NY tonight, and I have to say that I had high hopes for this, what with Gary Sinise starring and all. I was only able to get through a few episodes due to a some distractions here and there, and the rest of the first season could definitely get better, but so far, what a waste of talent. The writing's terrible and the plots are hackneyed and poorly-paced. I've never liked the CSI franchise as much as the Law & Order programs, but I thought I would because of the whole science geek appeal of CSI. I've seen a few episodes of each CSI serial, and except for an inexplicable attraction to Marg Helgenberger and the aforementioned respect for Sinise's talent, I don't care for any of the cast, where all the Law & Orders have at one time or another featured prominent hotties. So far, in the first two episodes of CSI:NY, I find the "Scientific" plot devices very thin and unbelievable. Unable to pinpoint where a crime takes place, they use "city maintenance databases" to determine where in the 800+ acre park the planted geranium, peony, and wisteria plants? come on, this is a public park, not a botanical conservatory! common plants like that would be EVERYWHERE, not just "five key locations", give me a break. and that's just one glaring example. Continuity isn't great, with blood-smeared handprints on cars changing location and orientation. Maybe they're just setting the stage for a "most-improved show" award next year...Gary, Gary, Gary...what are you doing? Never, ever follow David Caruso's career path! Duh!
I also really need to reiterate that I'm really liking this Superficial site...Keira Knightley is looking hot, Katie Holmes is looking hot, Krista Allen is hot, and in these photos sorta reminds me of Kel, and while the guy has in the last couple days gone on about Britney a little too much (suspiciously, if you ask me), his sense of humour is otherwise spot-on and occasionally tear-inducing.
Wow, this could well be the longest (and yet most boring to most) post yet...perhaps I should ponder the quality/quantity conundrum this weekend?
Have fun doing whatever you choose to be doing, see y'all Monday...
posted by Gene at 5:30 AM
1 Comments:
Uh dude...what you do with your "chicken" is subject matter inappropriate for this forum. Thank you, please drive through.
So let's have some photos of this vision of higher learning! Who was it that said if it ain't on video, it never happened [slash never existed]? Hrm? No one we know, I'm sure.
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