Something scratching in the catbox that used to be my mind suggests that the send-up of conceptual-art commercials in the movie Boomerang, the one with Grace Jones as “Strangé,” was based on an actual commercial for something or other, possibly a vehicle. Google defies me on this matter; anybody else ever encounter…

I remember seeing one of those excessively zen Infiniti commercials for the first time. I had no idea it was an car commercial for a while, and didn’t realize it was an Infiniti commercial ‘til the very end. In the moment, my initial guess was that it might be about that train with the observation-dome cars through…

Sometimes, if you can persuade the audience to take a good swig of willing suspension of disbelief and just come along for the ride, that’s okay. We all know that if caught in the open when a real tornado, especially a strong one, hit all those potential missiles, the lead characters would have been Salisbury steak…

They’re useful real cars. Trouble is, they’re a point design for downtown parking (when they first came to the US, New Yorkers debated the etiquette and legality of parking them two-up in a standard metered space) and solo commutes and urban errands. If, as with most Americans, those weren’t your main decision…

Great road (there are several to choose from in the general vicinity) with fantastic views, but I’ve only driven it in good weather, and am happy to keep things that way.

A cool weekend cruiser that you could daily, seemingly well kept, even if not an exciting performer in stock condition (there are obvious things you could do about that if you weren’t concerned about originality, at a quite decent price despite seemingly being in the hands of a curbside flipper, which usually would be…

Because it’s legally classified as a golf cart.

You’d want to look closely and give it a thorough test drive at $6k given the age and odometer reading, but this is potentially a great “stealth wealth” ski car, or maybe a way for an anthropologist studying the university perimeter to be accepted as one of the locals. And a decent looking and working car for $6k is…

The McDonald’s wrappers are important to prove that the seller is a human, since bots don’t eat. They also don’t have fingerprints, which is why you’re supposed to hold your thumb in the field of view over the license plate.

Even the money machine you describe might not justify the ask. As a recovering Jaguar owner, I am so over insane complexity and agonizing maintenance access, no matter how nice it is when it runs properly.

Throwing money at the problem might help some (as Brianorca mentions), but William Getz’s comment chimes with many things I’ve read in news venues — there’s simply a shortage of school bus drivers coast to coast these days.

As you found, it takes a bit of perseverance to find out why she’s acting like that, and to catch glimpses that there’s actually a good detective under the flamboyant dysfunction—but it’s worth the ride.  

The show is really carried by Delroy Lindo’s ability to charm everyone he meets.

I just think the front on this is too fugly to get past.

Without even half trying, I can find comparable ones for several thousand less or a true low miler* for about what this guy wants... and those are the usually higher dealer prices. Nice car (if you like these) at a no-dice ask.

Or, perhaps better, a soft disengage in which the car gradually slows and guides itself to the shoulder. Maybe it should even activate 911. Sort of a dead man switch: ignore enough of these periodic pokes to see if something is wrong, and it concludes that, yes, something is wrong, and takes protective actions.

I know someone who had such a thing, and there is nothing like them.... but suggest being a good all-around mechanic, and approaching ownership as a techno-hobby rather than as a means of getting around.    If you are dependent on authorized service, they will turn your hair grey and poop on your bank balance.  

I think of a prototype as something you don’t particularly want; the serial-production version is going to have any number of improvements baked-in that (depending on their magnitude) were either hacked onto the prototype as a result of testing or just written up as change orders.

Thanks for the TIL about The Michael Richards Show. It seems to have had a number of problems, one of which, implicitly, was that they didn’t publicize it very well. Another was perhaps the very title, which makes it a lot harder to watch the character rather than the actor.

Yeah, TV figured out a long time ago that there are eight million stories in the naked city and it’s a lot easier to tell them in an hour than just half an hour.   In fact, some of my favorite whodunnits and procedurals are one or more of: an hour and a half long long, two- or three-parters, or given to long plot…