Last Monday night I was driving in rural central WA listening to the Rams game on AM. It took me a while to figure out that I was listening to a local broadcast coming from about 1000 miles away. I hadn’t encountered that for a while.

Not too terribly long ago, SI was linking to Fansided stuff directly off their homepage without clearly labelling it as such, especially slideshows (maybe they still do it; I don’t visit there often enough to keep track). I had no idea what Fansided was until reading this article. Now I feel kinda bad I was actively…

The back seats of my Festiva came out with two 15mm bolts. That can be spun both ways.

Good day for Latavius Murray, though.

Whoa, brings back some memories I’d totally forgotten. My Dad was a huge Studebaker guy. I’ve been to more than my share of Stude shows and swap meets. Back in the day, at least, Stude guys were cool with kids touching their cars. Maybe not the Avanti guys, and some of the Hawk guys, but everyone else let us sit in…

Yep, I still see a couple of Festivas buzzing around town. I loved mine back in the day. I can’t remember the last time I saw an Aspire.

Jesus, people can be cruel.

Sure, adjustments in leadership, that will fix the rot.

Yeah, that jacket... first you’re dumb enough to pay $450 for a Steelers jacket, then you’re dumb enough to burn it out of pique. I’m no slob, but I’ve never spent anywhere close to $450 dollars on any single piece of clothing. The laptop I’m using right now, the television, major appliances, cars, those are the $449+…

The difference between a new car and one that is 10 years old is narrower now than it ever has been. In 1960, the difference between a ‘50 and a ‘60 was enormous. Smaller difference between a ‘60 and a ‘70, but still awfully big. Then we enter Malaise and there’s not a huge difference, but it’s because a new ‘80 and a…

Yeah, I’ve always had a hard time telling the difference between the Titans and Jaguars, and sometimes the Panthers get lumped in there, too.

About that same time ago, I had a six-speed diesel Mazda 6 in the Lofoten Islands, Norway and I enjoyed it. The torque was great for powering up mountain roads and I never felt like it was gasping. I wasn’t constantly shifting. It was a family trip with my mom and my sister to the homeland, though, so I wasn’t trying…

I rented scooters for my time in Thailand (an Asian 125 for the city and a 250 for the countryside, I have no idea what brands or models). Driving on the wrong side of the road is super-easy to get used to on two wheels. Getting used to squeezing that 125 into any gap where it would fit was much more challenging: lane…

Just on music and cinematography, Utopia is fantastic. Great story and great conspiracy, too.

Zip codes are “designed by the post office for efficient delivery” Exactly.

Everything (except the electrics) has that <90 degree big V-twin. Whatever bike they build, Buell included, they cram the same (or similar) big buzzy motor into everything. It’s not a good street-fighter motor, it’s not a good ADV motor. The last thing I want in dirt or sand is something really heavy with gobs of…

Suzuki’s 650 is a gem: sedate but workable at low RPMs, but lots of room to open it up; it’s a different motor over 5K RPM. Consider also the DL650 (V-Strom 650). Not as cheap as the SV, probably, but great for commuting. The 19" front wheel is smoother over bumps and not quite as twitchy (but slower turning overall,…

I have to say that seeing a bald Russian guy just being goofy and fun is heartening. That Lada’s not a bad looking car, in a utilitarian kind of way. It would be fun to have one to do this kind of stuff with. And it’s got the killer feature the Kia Stinger lacks.

I had a ‘78 Aspen wagon with a 318 and 4-speed manual as a winter beater for a few years in college. Strange beast. Biggest plus: no matter how cold it got (Minnesota winters) it *always* started ridiculously easy. Biggest minus (tie): the front passenger door latching mechanism would get more dodgy the colder it got…

The kids in high school that play with cars aren’t playing with new ones, they’re playing with cars 10+ years old. That math checks out.