Sitcoms are in their worst state ever. EVAR!!! how so? Is anything funny on TV anymore? If you say Raymond I’ll beat you with a pool cue. For the last time RAYMOND IS NOT FUNNY. And, it’s off the air. The cartoons are the only funny things on in the evening (Family Guy). Other than that, it’s all crap. Except for the UK shows. We don’t get it here but The IT Crowd is great on 2 levels. First, it’s well written comedy that average joe will get as will the nerdy pop-culture guy. My Family, also a BBC show is quite good as well. And, of course, Spaced which is on BBC America sometimes is worth time on the Tivo.

You might also be able to watch it on 4oD if you can trick it into thinking you’re IP is from the UK…

Ok, I got on Skype and woooo it’s cool. Yep, I like it. Sure, the explorer and outlook plugins crash my mail and browser apps but so what. The actual video is decent and I use it quite a bit but Skype is missing out on a HUGE deal here, multi-party video conferencing. All the plumbing is there, they just need to whip up that option. I’d even pay for it, it’s a great business tool for me to talk to my colleagues. Then make a cordless skype / land-line phone with multi-participant video and speakerphone and I’ll be very happy. So, Skype, please just go ahead and get on this ASAP, I’d be quite appreciative.

I never watched that “to catch a predator” show. I never knew it was even on and even if I did, those shows are 40% commercials, 90% overly dramatic lead-up and then you see some creep who gives you the jeebies. No thanks, I’ll watch Family Guy.

Apparently David Spade thought a take-off would be funny and he, as usual was right. Damn he’s funny. Here’s the video and I assure you, no one caps themselves in the process. His other related videos are hilarious too. His Hollywood show he had for a while was hysterical I wonder why it’s not on anymore… To smart for most people I guess.

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There are a number of people who have decided that the old Smokey & The Bandit Firebird is cool. It is many things, cool is not one of them. It’s a hulking piece of slow 1/4 mile junk. What’s worse, people went and made them uglier, if you could imagine, by customizing them. This particular specimen, and I do mean specimen is some of those things where I just wince and try to hold back the little bit of bile creeping up my esophagus.

What I find amusing and somewhat settling is that it’s not getting many bids. There is hope for humanity. That said, if you’re the kind of 70′s muscle car degenerate that likes this kind of garbage, there are bonus goodies that come with a winning bid:

The winner of this auction will receive the following items:

• The Travolta Fever Firebird (with Clear California Title)
• www.travoltafever.com website (includes domain name)
• Revell’s Firebird Fever Scale Model Kit (Still in the Box & Signed by Barris)
• 1983 Auction Program & Poster from the George Barris Collection Sale (Signed by Barris)
• B&W Photo of John Travolta standing with the Travolta Fever Car (Signed by Barris)
• Photo Library of Car (Recent Magazine shoot plus other photos on 2 CD’s)
• Barris TV & Movie Cars book (by George Barris & David Fetherston, Signed by Barris)
• Travolta Fever album (deluxe 2 record set)
• Pontiac Enthusiast Magazine (Nov/Dec 2007 Issue Featuring Travolta Fever)

Oh joy.

I’m a frequent flier on American Airlines. Their service is so-so and the food in the air is south of terrible but… it’s a decent airline and I get a decent number of upgrades. International flights are ok with then although I prefer their partner BA and I think Air France is in their family as well.

One thing they have never shown is a human side. Their ads have always been kind of cardboard-esque. I got this link from them today and laughed out loud. Still, I think they dont need to be bailed out by the government (out tax dollars at work) when things get tight. So, make it funny but figure out how to make money too…

These people have no reason to be cohabitating.
Roomie one who leaves condoms around obviously still imagines he’s still at his frat house
Roomie number two is incapable of even the slightest human interactions and may kill roomie number one in a sudden rage.

Rules on car customizing:
1. Rainbows are reserved for Benneton themed VWs
2. Pot leaves are NOT decorative even if you’re the editor of High Times
3. Other than contrasting stitching, no other stitching other than that to keep seats held together are needed

Your privileges regarding car customization have been revoked. Enough said.

Bathtubs are wasteful and gross. As soon as I was old enough to not require a parental unit monitoring my cleaning rituals (2 or 3 years ago) I quit using the bath tub. It wasn’t some sort of political stance, it just took too long and sitting in gray water was kind of nasty. Showers made sense to me and I didn’t think much of it until I moved out and started living in apartments and ultimately, houses. I thought it was insane to waste so much space to have both a shower and a bath or even worse put the shower IN the bath so i had to climb in and out of a slip-and-fall hazard every morning.

Even in hotels I thought it was silly, why would I run a bath in a tiny hotel room? Or even a big one for that matter. When we went out looking for a house to buy 2 years ago I was adamant that we’d only buy one that had a shower and separate tub that I could ignore. We lucked out and found this place that has the tub off on the side of a massive bathroom with a built-in tile shower.

What’s the point of all this? Apparently, I’m not alone, in fact tubbers (my new word for tub bathing people) are a tiny little minority and in hotels 2% of people take baths. 2%!!!
So, a number of hotels are remodeling and building new properties sans-tub. In my opinion, tubs should be an exception where in a home you put one somewhere, like a kids room so they can be bathed but even then, I’d sooner just buy some portable tub and ditch it when the kid is old enough for a shower.

What annoys me is that relators tell you that people EXPECT bath tubs in every bathroom and if you dont put them in the house wont EVER sell. I call BS on that and stand by my 1 tub per home.

So, rather than have this combo tub / shower which is a safety issue, I have a new idea, a more compact tub that has a lid so when it’s not in use it can be a bench or something else other than a gaping container for silverfish to party in.

Oh man, this is prophetic! I can see it now, people holed up in their house playing Halo 7 while my wife and I have the golf courses to ourselves. We might even be able to play Pebble Beach as walk-ons!

Bring it on.

Halo Takes Over The World – Watch more free videos

It’s not possible for my wife or I to keep a car for more than 2 years. I’ve had a lot of cars since first getting my license (and one or two before I had it) and no matter how much I loved a car, in about 24 months it was being wheeled into the dealership for something new and quite often, completely different.

In the last month or so Wifey has been growing weary of the FX35 that graced our garage. It was a spectacular little beast that had gobs of power and blingy 20″ rims but she had shaken the SUV bug and wanted to go back to her European roots. She’s a bit of a fledgling car nerd so the option pool had already been thinned out to just a few possible car makers.

The requirements:
No sedans, they look too ‘boring’. The more interesting ones are expensive and still have a silly trunk
Must seat 4, so no coupes, not even a sweet Grand Tourer (I wanted a CLK in the garage)
No more SUVs
Oh, it has to be sporty

Where everyone sat:
Go USA!… No, all US cars got an immediate veto for the usual reasons

Asia? No Nissans or Toyotas (their dealerships are CRAP here). I suggested the Toyota FJ but she’s over the SUVs. She’s not down with the Subies or the Mitsus. The Infinities are great but the G35 is a touch snug for me (I DO have to ride in it). The only close contender is the Lexus IS350 which is… a sedan.

Europe:
Porsche: Cayenne is too big, Roxter is still unannounced, and we already have a coupe so 2 911s would be great but not useful for hauling more than a few sacks of groceries.
BMW: No, she hates Bangle’s design language as much as I do, possibly more.
VW: Cool but a little too university for her
Volvo: No, just no
Jaguar: She’s pretty hot on the XJR after seeing it on Top Gear. I voted yes on this one.
Land Rover: We have both had them and they make great 5th cars.
Mini: Too small, cute and the interior is horrid
Saab: I hate the way they look in spite of her liking them. The agreement is, we both have to like it.

So, with every other brand or continent completely dismissed, we were looking at Mercedes and Audi
Mercedes: The new C Class is a sedan but it’s looks trumped the sedan rule. Still, the car is a bit expensive and optioned with the sport options we’d like it ended up being close to 40K.

Audi was always on the top of the list but, we do have a process, one where we eliminate everything else and get down to options. In this case there was only one, the A3. We flirted with it on-line for a few weeks and yesterday headed down there with an empty FX35, all it’s keys and accessories, ready for a goodbye and hello.

What transpired was one part luch and one part experience gleaned from purchasing and selling dozens of cars.

The FX was a dealer demo so we got a rocking deal on it 2 years ago.
It held it’s value and is not up for a re-design this model year
We kept it in perfect condition
It was a flawless trade-in as a very sellable car that no dealer could possibly complain about.

Wifey and I strolled around the lot and once we homed in on an A3 she latched onto it with all tentacles. It was true love, on the spot. We did discuss that no matter how much either of us liked a car we’d be completely blase about the whole thing or we’d lose some negotiating power.

She wanted a red one so it eliminated all but 3 cars on the lot. The salesman brought us over to a red 06 dealer demo with a nearly perfect option selection:
Manual seats (lighter and more legroom / headroom)
NO SUNROOF – I’m 6’5″ sunroofs are my enemy and they add 50lbs of steel to the roof which is BAD for handling
Black interior which is cool
Sport package – nice wheels, 160 treadwear W rated tires, stiff springs, roof spoiler and general hotness

We would have liked the NAV / Bluetooth and the conveneince package but all those things add 3-4K to the final price of a car and while it’s nice and all, its not important to us.

The test drive was better than I had imagined. She could hardly (and didnt) contain herself. There was no turning back.

It was time to wheel and deal. I was a little surprised by how they pretty much gave us KBB ‘Good’ value for the trade, no negotiating needed there. They knocked $1000 off the Audi and threw in new floormats (Hey, thats $130). The whole thing took about 30 minutes and it only took so long because he was trying to get his manager’s attention away from 3 other sales people who were also closing deals.

Since we were in a good position on the trade and the dealer demo was about 6K under sticker, we ended up getting a $500 CREDIT. Imagine that, they gave us money and we just refinanced the Infinity loan which was lower and now the payment is lower by $100 a month.

The car is called Moe. He was named for being a bad MoFo. So, since it’s hard to tell her parents the car is called MoFo and going to the dealer “Hey, I’m here to drop this Mofo off for service” might get us kicked out (or void the warrantee) he’s just Moe.

Moe gets tint, Sirius and a proper detail next week.

Welcome to the fold Moe.

I’m familiar with SCA folks, even went to high school with some serious blacksmith / renfair types. I didn’t dig all that pretend fake olde English stuff. Seemed contrived (good word for malcontent Sartre reading teen agers). Oh, and how is the SCA website so bad when half the membership are probably developers…

I’m not bashing anyone here, let me make that perfectly clear! But, let’s face it, Box Wars terribly nerdy. That said, I’d TOTALLY do it. And my wife would shame me for years.

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