trinacriabob

Just flew back up from LaLaLand about an hour ago.Yeah, those damn La Brea tar pits and what's underneath them is a main reason that the Wilshire Blvd. subway can't be extended westward without big problems!

Most of the Pontiac names are "Frenchy" but the only 2 Cali ones I can think of are Catalina and Ventura. Are there others I've missed?

Our very own Flybry said it best: "f@#k you, I'm the Grand Prix." A keeper!

Yes, indeed, a Happy B-day to you in the "Republic of Texas"

Kevin Spacey(also from the movie Se7en -- he makes a good sicko, doesn't he?)

I have had one all week. I'm feeling the same way. I, too, might pop for this one before the curtain falls if I don't really like the LaCrosse "adjustment" Can't get enough of the dashboard and rocketing across the desert from Las Vegas to Los Angeles really gives one the idea that this is a confident and competent road car.

You...you...you SNOB. There, I said it. Funny you mention this since I drove my rental from LV to LA 2 days ago and had to go through Victorville, Fontana, Pomona and others ... somehow, I don't think living there would be a lot of fun...

Agreed. I just don't like it. Some of the overpowering Buick grilles look more like the front of sperm whales. Sorry.

When I've "test sat" them at the dealer, the seats seem to lack good ergonomics and contours. So they are comfortable, eh?Also, all the mags stress that the handling is floaty and not communicative. Is it more vague than taut?

the "QE2"

Yes, in the immediate city area: Santa Monica, Westwood Village, Century City, the South Bay (Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach), and possibly Malibu Outside the city area: Santa Barbara, Solvang/Buellton and San Simeon (you will pass through ALL of these on 101 up to SF)

You know, Greece isn't that bad. Of the choices, though, I prefer Northern Italians, followed by Greeks and Southern Italians being about equal. I found Northern Italians to be more polite and restrained.I like Rome but you can only see the monuments so many times. I do not like Florence much at all. Landlocked, humid and with a dirty river running through it, it is way too full of itself and so are the Florentines (I have cousins who live there and the stories I hear about their pretentious friends and neighbors, I say "feed them to the lions"). It is expensive and, if art and fashion don't interest you (they don't), move on. Venice has that constant sea breeze and the atmosphere. The atmosphere alone is the reason to go. You are absolutely correct. The very top of Italy (that is, the lakes) such as Como are the pinnacle. So incredibly beautiful. I've been to Garda, too, though it's not as "genteel" as Como. One day, I took my rented "Smart" from Verona up to Bolzano (almost Austria), then across the winding road through the Dolomites and back down to Venice. I no longer go to Italy for the monuments. I go for the scenery and either the mountain or seaside relaxation areas....the Dolomites, the Lake District, Venice, Sardinia and Sicily. Everything else is WAY too much work.

soup (shark fin soup...sounds gross)

Yes. Agreed. I never liked it to begin with, but I respect its high level of fit and finish. Possibly, it might also be a very nice vehicle to drive. I have never liked the overpowering front grille. I have also never liked the "Lexus-y" styling cues. I was looking forward to something new and fresh but still identifiably as a Buick for the next decade. Case in point: the new Aura looks like nothing else. It is clearly a Saturn Aura. I wouldn't buy one after acquainting myself with it at the Saturn dealership but, my God, kudos for pulling off an "original car' job to Saturn designers.

cartilege

I land in Las Vegas and as I am walking out of the MAUVE colored concourse (the whole friggin airport is mauve inside), I see a poster for DAVID HASSELHOFF (your buddy) at the Paris-Las Vegas. And I think of Reg. Evidently, he is performing there, for a while. Looks like he's had some "nip and tuck" as he doesn't look a day over 35. But that's Vegas for you. What a nutty place. No wonder my friend from LA (she's 100% Italian) moved there, she's kind of...ehm...unique. Stayed the first night at her new cookie-cutter house in a new SW neighborhood, then onto the Excalibur the second night, and finally onto the Orleans for the next 2 nights (price drop). I need a "Vegas fix" once a year. It's such a weird place. I only spent ONE DOLLAR in a casino, the rest of the time was going to the pool, swimming, buffets, driving around the illuminated Strip and driving to both Lake Mead and Red Rock Canyon. You know you go there enough when you start to say "it's on Trop" -- meaning Tropicana Avenue. My God, one morning I took my friend out to breakfast and sitting right across from us was a TRANSSEXUAL .... unbelievable. In Kansas or Alabama, that person might not be around to the next day. He had masculine face and, though slender, veined and very muscular biceps and calves; HOWEVER, he had a sundress, nail polish, lipstick and breasts. He/She/It was sitting there with this beer bellied middle-aged guy. I went to one of the two 24-hour Starbucks in the city to do some reading. There is evidently a contingent of regulars. This one seems to be a hangout for a lot of Chinese chicks who must be students at UNLV. This one dude was there both nights, talking up a storm in a very Brooklyn "howyadoin' " kind of accent. (Shut up, please). For some reason, LV has a real magnetic attraction for foreigners (largely Filipinos, Latin Americans), LA "equity refugees" and NY Italians and Jews. Those groups seem to flock there in big numbers, giving it a real interesting atmosphere; however, because it's Vegas, they are not among the finer specimens of those ethnic groups. And you gotta love the Las Vegas motto: "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Befittingly tacky.

Venice - otherwordly, isn't it? Just amazing. And Northern Italy and Northern Italians are so much easier to deal with. Athens - aren't the Greeks generally pushy? I went to a Greek restaurant last night. Once I told the waiter I had been to Greece and he saw that I could pronounce everything correctly, he wouldn't leave me alone. The 3 most common English words in a Greek's vocabulary: "Yes, of course" Naples - isn't it a pitiful $h!-hole? What's around it may be nice, but Naples itself, oh $h!! Was that 40 Euro for 1 day in the car? Geez, I've got a fire engine red GP for $ 252 (incl. tax) for a week which I just drove from LV to LA. Have fun. Your reports are interesting.

olfactory

It's an actual place in Thailand...on the beach, I think...kind of a resort.Too bad I won't go anywhere near Thai food...twice was enough...give me Greek or Italian food, anytime.

See, I was close. A finger of your country goes way down toward Albania and Greece.Those pictures are awesome. My cousins (who live in Northern Italy) went to the Croatian coast last summer. This summer, we are going to Sardinia. Both Corsica and Sardinia look a lot like that.

baked potato

OK, I went back to Saturn today. I like the "no pressure" approach. I saw the Aura and sat in it. It's nice but I wouldn't buy one. It is in the Malibu/G6 league as opposed to the GP/LaX league. It felt too small. I'm sure it's a wonderful sled, but I decided to cross it off the list.

lethal

Well, I suppose I could bleach the red in the Italian flag a little bit and I'd be Irish. But I'll settle for some green apparel for the day. I am such an ethnocentric WOP, but the funny thing is I'm told I look "dark Irish" way more than I do Italian....as I got off the plane in Sicily in 1998 and met one particular cousin for the first time, he said "You look Anglo!"

...or Greek or Spanish or Maltese or Jewish or Middle-Eastern...kind of multi-purpose.So GMan, what nationality are you?