Monday, March 22, 2004

The New Ride Over the last week, we sold the VW and leased a new BMW. I test drove an Acura TSX a few weeks ago, and left rather unimpressed. With 200 horsepower but only 4 cylinders, it just didn't jump when I said boo. It certainly has a ton of features standard, and the price is good... I just didn't love it. Fortunately, while my heart and my mind argued, BMW started advertising an aggressive lease offer for their 325i model. With the VW was sold, we decided to lease for a few years, then re-evaluate our car needs, rather than committing to a 4-5 year loan and 6+ years of ownership. (That's not to say we won't need a car in 6+ years, we just might not need two cars.) Plus, we'd need less money up front, and our monthly payments would be lower. And so, with J & P out in NY, and my heart and mind in agreement, this last weekend was the perfect time to go get a car. I went down right at their open, and found a nice enough salesman to test the car. One word: sweetbutter. OK, I cheated, that might be two words, but goddamn it is sweet like butta'. Sure it has less HP than the TSX, but it is, by far, much more nimble and responsive. The interior is plush, and the body lines are sexy. It purrs in idle, and growls in the acceleration. It handles like taffy on shoes, which is in wild contrast to the Jeep. So far, I love it. For the first time in a long time, driving into work today was actually fun. Imagine that! I can hardly wait until P & J get back to see it. 10:34:51 PM    trackback []

Stuart vs Miller Like many of you, I'm a big fan of the Daily Show. And like NJ, I sometimes get my news there first. The first fifteen minutes are always great, but I usually tune out of the interviews. Occasionally, Jon can get some serious political guest, someone who is actually involved in the political scene. These interviews are always more interesting. I've also been trying to give Dennis Miller a try. Whooof... the show is struggling to find itself. After only a few weeks, they zagged hard and added a live studio audience. Now, Dennis is struggling to remember how to work an audience, and it shows. Dennis is also painfully republican, the kind that can't clear their eyes long enough to admit that there has been some questionable behavior in the Bush II administration. (I'll need to take some notes to find a specific example. Ping me if I go to long). Anyway, my point here is that Jon writes/delivers really good political satire, whereas Dennis is a better interviewer. Stuart does a better job of pointing out the conflicting statements among politicians of all stripes, while Dennis is getting some serious guests and asking them politically topical questions. Now if these two pieces could be put into one show... I think the ratings speak for themselves, though. Jon is clearly on top in this matchup. And unfortunately, I think Miller is going to have a hard time establishing himself. When he first started advertising for his show, the GOP was looking strong, the Demos had their hat presupposed on a crazy Dean, and it seemed like a great time for CNBC to take on the right-wing Fox. Now, however, after Dean gave us permission to be mad enough to nominate Kerry, Dennis finds himself ill-prepared to answer legitimate challenges from the left. For instance, his punchline to the Clarke allegations runs the line of "Well, you weren't a very good counter-terrorist, were you?", alluding that Clarke himself failed to stop 9/11. This completely ignores all the facts coming out and takes that blind defensive position that occasionally makes Dennis look apathetic. If only he could aim his superior intellect at all politicians, he'd take Jon in a heartbeat. 10:00:52 PM    trackback []

WARNING: Assertion of First Amendment Rights fuck. 7:00:17 PM    trackback []

Breasts Article on SFGate today about a woman who was breastfeeding at the Marin JCC, and was asked to cover up by the staff. This is illegal. Gessner insists the center's policy is consistent with the law. "We just requested that she cover up," Gessner said. "If she didn't want to comply, that's her decision. We didn't ask her to leave the building or go somewhere else. I breast-fed my child both in public and in private. There is a discreet way to do it. We feel our policy is a responsible position." Here's the answer: your policy should be to tell patrons who complain about breastfeeding that "It is legal, and encouraged, to breastfeed children. Period." If the complaining patron doesn't like it, the complainer can leave. As the articles noted, what's most disturbing is that this happened in a health and fitness JCC. The irony... 11:12:00 AM    trackback []

Live for the moment Reflecting on a friend who has passed on, Jack Harrington writes about the importance of the here and now. Kids understand. They live for the moment. It's adults who learn to glide through the years. [Driving Sideways] Well said! 10:11:13 AM    trackback []