trinacriabob

chieftain

I am probably more of a ship freak than anything because, as a little kid, I got to go on the one pictured below. The Michelangelo, the pride of Italian Line, had an even shorter service life (1965-1977). When we went to see relatives in Europe, we would take Amtrak from LA to NY for 3 days and then board the ship in NY for another 7 days...in EACH direction...because my mother was afraid to fly! After being a war torn country, in about 7 years, the Italians produced the Andrea Doria. By today's standards, she was small but known for her clean proportions, appointments and art work. On July 25, 1956, she collided with the Stockholm in a fog off of Nantucket, Mass. The Stockholm survived but the Doria ended up at the bottom of the sea. The Doria was built in a set of twins, with her sister being the Cristoforo Colombo who served for more than 20 years. The Doria's replacement was the even sleeker Leonardo DaVinci. She was launched in 1960 and, sadly, in 1980 became a charbroiled carcass in the harbor at LaSpezia, Italy where she had been pulled out of service. The pinnacle for Italian Line was the 1965 launch of the Michelangelo and her sister the Raffaello. At 902 feet in length, they are only 61 feet shorter than the QE2. They were much larger the Doria, the Colombo or the DaVinci, but were not heavy in tonnage like the QE2 because they lacked the vertical height of today's liners who seek to maximize rentable space. Their production and launch was very heart-warming in that dinky little Italy, some 20 years after WWII, launched these stunning emissaries to the "New World." A childhood trip on the Michelangelo in the early 70s was the beginning of a love affair. While she does not have the history of the Cunard Queens or the United States, in the minds of most people who enjoy ship design, she is regarded as the most beautiful. 1. Decked out for maiden voyage departure from Genoa, Italy. 2. Leaving Genoa for the U.S. for the very first time...I am sure that this was a very moving experience for the citizens of Genoa, Italy's primary port and a shipbuilding center. 3. Arriving in the U.S. for the very first time with Statue of Liberty standing guard and fireboat escort. 4. The twins together (foreground - white hulls) with the SS United States (to the left) and the first Queen Mary turning in to her designated pier on NY's Hudson River. 5. A beautiful B-W shot of the twins in the port of Genoa showing their fine lines and shapely bows. If you want to see the whole gallery, including the construction, interiors and more exterior views, you cank link up to this really cool site some obvious fan put together. I visit it often. Project Michelangelo - photo gallery Check it out and rummage around.

When I hear SS United States, I think "fast." Like the list you showed, I think she was the only major liner to make it from the 2 checkpoints (Bishop Rock, UK and Ambrose Light, USA) in a few hours under FOUR days! The typical NY-Southampton crossing is right at FIVE days (such as on the QE2), at somewhere in the mid-20 knot range.The SS United States will appear in one of the five pics I am about to post immediately below.

Happy birthday to CARBIZ, our member who refreshingly is one of the most "no bull$h!" people on this forum. Enjoy your day up in T.O.! Any plans? BTW, have you seen that great video of that street interview gone south on a street in downtown Toronto? It was so funny, that about 5 of us watched it DAILY at work for about a month, almost like a ritual.

PMS

Given that it's a replacement for the similarly sized '67, probably not. I applaud the strides the '87 has made in technology and comfort. I am still a '47 freak through and through as no other aircraft is so photogenic. (Another 747 ride over the pond on Air France coming up this summer, BTW)Seriously, few things match the pomp and circumstance of the "maiden call" of a great liner into a major harbor. It stressed me at work and school the following week, but I will never forget this!

I think you are right. This new one you refer to has either been built or is under construction.I don't think they CARE much about getting through the Panama Canal much any more. QM2's "little sister" QE2, which I thought was the coolest thing since sliced bread throughout my entire childhood is 963 feet long and was made that length specifically to squeeze into the Panama Canal. I believe she is the largest vessel that can since, when they shut the lock gates, there is only 5 to 10 feet to spare.

Not possible at this time since she is the world's largest passenger liner. I think she calls on Boston every once in a while. You should check it out.

$22.95 rented Monte Carlo? Check. $39.95 Travelodge at San Francisco's airport motel strip? (Not a mistake, either). Check. Super Bowl that day? Meh. It can be taped and I don't care about Chicago or Indianapolis. Wouldn't have missed this for the world. It was worth the schlep down to SF and back to see this. This is truly the grand dame of the sea. 1. People waiting on the ocean side of the Golden Gate 2. You could catch her outline in the distance prior to this but, at last, she comes into view. Look at all the boats and helicopters circling her. 3. Made a run to the bay side of the Golden Gate to watch her pass underneath. She's big. 4. Wow! About 26 feet to spare and they had to watch the tides to accomplish this. Very majestic. 5. Fireboat salute and all. 6. Wall to wall people at the waterfront. One hour to drive out of the Presidio. 7. Alcatraz Island to the left. Her funnel/mast must line up with the prison up on "The Rock." Some of you will find this funny...one of the SF papers had a blog site as to how she would be the biggest of the Cunard Line "Queens" ever to come into SF's harbor. One guy wrote: San Francisco doesn't need any more queens! I about bust a gut. On a more reasonable note, one guy from the East Bay suburbs told the paper he brought his family because: "We are here to see this beautiful lady." He wasn't kidding. What an incredible experience! Here's a slideshow you can link to for professional grade photographs of this incomparable procession, complete with aerials taken from helicopters: YOU MIGHT HAVE TO HIT "Queen Mary 2 Sets" and THEN HIT view slide show in "new window" Slide show of QM2 entry into SF harbor by professional photographers ENJOY!

Remember, TYD, Vancouver is your Miami! :AH-HA_wink: 'Nuff said.

ENJOY! Let's see...if I was living way up in Mass., I think I'd celebrate my 21st birthday up in Montreal. So what are your plans? Happy birthday!

menopause Kathleen Turner has joined those ranks and gotten matronly!

Bible Thumper

INTRIGUE

The Fluorine I was talking about was a black girl in LA. Seriously. But it is element 9 (F) on the chemistry chart.Response to thread: Disco (as in "shake your...")

Fluorine

dud

O.C. speaks! So listen!Yeah, it's true. Those new subdvisions in Victorville and Moreno Valley look like utter $h! in no time. Why is that? Gee, it's WHO decided to buy in there. Sorry. I can think of nice manicured middle- to upper-middle class subdivisions in ATL that still look great 10 to 15 years after they were finished. Right. I think about "the APPROACH" to LA. Yeah, if you come in from the east (IE) on 10 or 60 and then see the backside of the downtown high-rises through all the warehouses, it is gross. Even 10 west of downtown is gross, for that matter. On the flip side, drive someone on Sunset from Hollywood to the Ocean, or Sepulveda through Sherman Oaks and into Westwood, or PCH from Playa del Rey down to the South Bay, or Ventura Blvd. from Encino to Calabasas and it's..."wow...this is nice." You didn't mean to rant? Why not, you're good at it! :AH-HA_wink:

Now, now, Moltie, I know you're a cutting edge techno kind of guy...but it's hard to diss a sled that, in base form, costs $ 20,000 out the door before taxes and fees AND can can easily last 15 years and/or 250,000 miles on its ultra-reliable all cast-iron base engine. Those kind of numbers sing to me.

I like what you have to say. One thing that could have softened it is not using such pronounced vertical bars; instead, they could have been thinner. The other thing with designing any object is that small dimensional differences make for a world of difference in final appearance. The previous grille was vertically too wimpy. On the current one, they could have made it a tad less tall and it might give the more "correct" appearance you might be referring to.

Thanks for stacking the images. Talk about how a minor adjustment can make a world of difference. I think I have about TEN posts, at least, to my name saying that the grille needed to taper back in or be sloped to get it away from that 2000 Le Sabre vernacular that was way too frumpy. Well, they made such a change. And it looks way better.I agree that they could have changed the lamp combo into a more striking and contemporary design; however, they probably didn't want to fuss with the hood and the front fender much, leaving us the little bump for the inboard Jagauresque lamps on top of the hood and the tear-drop shape at this side of the fender. Oh well, what they did is a marked improvement, though they could have inched a little farther along. Yep, the interior is still kind of eh. I don't like the austere clustering of the dash. Now, I don't expect all the dashboard panache of the GP (which I had last week on vacation), but something a little more exciting with more sculpted volumes might have worked. I would probably be kicking myself had I purchased a 2005-2007 LaCrosse!

couch potato

Yes, the Malibu, in any form, is attractive. I, too, will look at it but I think on too stuck on the W-bodies. At any rate, it's great to see that this change once again makes LaCrosse a contender!

No doubt, especially for the CX. All I really wanted from that big extra cost package was the leather wrapped wheel (really changes the feel of the driving experience for the better, IMO) and the telescoping feature.The only options I now see getting are the alloy wheels and the split rear-seats. Nice. So now that this way better looking grille is coming down the pike, let's you and I both get LaCrosses in 2008 since we've been drooling for about...what...3 years.

Most definitely. It was their boulevardier...one notch up from Bonneville, though much the same. And, like Bonneville, it has a "place" connotation.