The O.C.

See....in a sense, you have a point. I wouldn't have an issue with today's Malibu, and a RWD Alpha G6.....even if they were priced closely.....those would be two distinct products (theoretically) appealing to different parts of the same market segment. Where does that leave AURA? I don't know......

And when has that necessarily been a bad thing? For a good number of consumers around the country.....Honda is a well-respected manufacturer. So...."tarted-up" Hondas is not necessarily a bad thing in alot of people's eyes..... (To compare to a Cimarron....which was a "tarted-up" Cavalier.....which was a pretty poor product to begin with.....)

"You can call her Miss Jean" She calls the Patriot an "off-road terror...."

Anyone know what happened to her at Automobile Magazine? DED Jr. ripped on her pretty horridly on his Winding Road webazine....talking about her "ruining" "his" magazine, Automobile Magazine. Wierd because I always thought they were close....he hired her at C&D way-back-when....and took her with him in the mid-80's when he started Automobile.

Damn she's gotten some hips on her lately......and she's got that Michigan "twang" down pat......LOL I met her back at GMI in the late-80's....when she was alot younger, and was Jean "Lindamood." I was pretty impressed with her back then.....and have always enjoyed her writing. This Jeep crap does her no favors......

Yeah....but it costs GM 3-times as much (well, not quite...but you get my point) to market and advertise a Malibu, G6 AND AURA......just to sell X-number of cars (which is still less than Camry or Accord.) That's why it matters "how the numbers break down." As a consumer, and GM fan, you may like having the option of choosing between a Malibu, G6, and AURA.....all basically, more-or-less, the same car underneath....and with similar pricing. In the real world, out there, for a company like GM, it doesn't make ANY sense in the grand scheme of things.

Yeah....Portland is a HUGE hidden secret. What a GREAT city. Amazing a city less than half the size of Detroit (I think Portland is around 400,000) but with a city center/downtown as alive an vibrant as they come.....with people that live IN the city....with lots of restaurants, bars, shopping....IN the city.....and the city is clean and safe. Seatte downtown seems like it's 10-times the size of Detroit......yet that city is only 1/2 a million......and Seattle is even more alive than Portland.....like a Chicago or NYC.

Ya'll......

Even somewhere like Seattle, with it's depressingly gray and rainly weather has a WAY more lively and exciting feel than anywhere in the midwest.

I love it.....a very small, yet vibrant city.....Europe's financial headquarters too, I hear......(you can tell with all the skyscrapers.....)

And you have someone like Bush actually making an effort to make an amendment to the constitution to insure that gay people can never get married.....all in the order of "protecting the sanctity of marriage....." WTF.....? What about all the stupid f*cks like Britney Spears....who got married in Las Vegas to a high-school friend.....only to get it annulled 55 hours later? Yeah....we need to keep "The Gays" from getting married so more and more straight people can "uphold the sanctity of marriage." Oh and.....this gal not only got married a second time, had two babies, then got divorced....now I hear she's knocked up again....and unmarried..... And people like this senator are worried about GAYS and their "immorality?"

It's an interesting question.....PCS's suggestion they move from America.......but I agree with others on here that IF they move, they should stay here in the good ole USA. (Not that they'll ever move....) There's something to be said for the fact that I could see it would be difficult to attract talent to go to Detroit. I lived there and worked for GM for 7 years....and there's no way in hell I'd ever go back. No offense to our MI or midwestern friends.....but if you are not from there, don't have family there, etc., it's a horribly depressing place to live. In fact, you wouldn't catch me anywhere in the midwest. Maybe, just maybe, Chicago....but it would have to be a DAMN good reason to put up with the humid summers and cold, windy, snowy winters. It's not just the weather.....I could fathom living on the east coast WAY easier than somewhere in the midwest. It just seems to me that the midwest is one big, huge, cultural wasteland. And comparing anywhere in the U.S. "heartland" to London or Paris is just ludicrous......LOL

So is Seattle..... I've always wondered about the decision by Boeing to move.....(although they left the aircraft division headquartered in Seattle....)

That's one sucky thing about living in Southern California......(AAS and I were talking about this yesterday at the car show.) Because it's been SO import-dominated.....for SO long......you never see any GM cars, say from early-80's to mid-90's....that are in any good kind of condition. Cars like the 6000 STE....or the Skyhawk Sport/Hatch Turbo......or ANY Buick T-Type for that matter......or said Corsica or Beretta.....especially the Beretta GTZ. At one time, way back when, I had an Olds Achieva SCX W41.......remember that car? Limited production, track-tuned suspension (supposedly...lol) and the 190hp Quad4. I can't remember the last time I saw any Achieva, even a ratted-out Achieva here....much less a nice-condition SCX coupe....

How 'bout getting a bit more specific...... Not JUST the Beretta and Corsica, but the original dash/interior for the Beretta/Corsica (before they got the much-needed, and greatly improved, update.....) http://www.beretta.net/model_info/1990.htm

You know.....people like her are going to find it tougher and tougher to spread their idiotic, discriminatory crap....... Just think about how many people are on here at C&G.....from all different parts of the country......and anytime we have a "gay" thread, I'm so amazed (and proud) that so many people on here just consider it a "non-issue." (And I'm sure there are others on here that maybe feel differently, but they are respectful and don't try to rub their "opinions" in our faces....!)

Yeah....you get a pass....LOL....(we talked about that yesterday.) Someone will do it for me. I don't know if I'll go this coming Saturday, 'cause Joe gets here on Thursday night. But I told him I wanted to take him, so I'm sure we'll either go this Saturday or the following Saturday.

OK so maybe I was a bit drunk last night.....LOL..... Of couse C&G is GREAT for car $h!.....I meant car-magazine-type stuff.......

OK I misstyped..... But I think originally, the Legend was more of a competitor, price-wise, for cars like the G35 (if it had been around then.) Actually, the closest spiritual-successor from Acura for the legend is the TL......

Hey....hi there! Just saw you are from OK...! (btw....welcome, or welcome back to C&G) I was born in OKC.....moved away a bunch of times, (Dad got transferred) and ended up in Dallas for high-school years...... I would agree that the "bible-belt" mentality in Oklahoma is at time really overwhelming. However, that being said......none of my Oklahoma friends OR family has ever had the slightest problem with me being gay.....but my Oklahoma friends and family aren't the stereotypical "bible-belt, christian-conservatives" either.....

The bf told me to watch it....without telling me what it was......and I shut it off....! The funniest part, however, is watching the reactions.....that $h! is HILARIOUS....!

Good news is......as long as it's not raining (and we're moving out of the rainy season here) Cars & Coffee happens EVERY Saturday. So, I'll go in the next week or so and take pics either with my cell phone, or with my camera if I can find it. BUT....I'll have to email the pics to one of you guys and I'll let you guys f*ck around with imageshack and get them up on here if you want. I don't have patience for imageshack...LOL So someone volunteer for me......

It WAS fun, eh? Sorry the car show didn't start later....you would have enjoyed that too......

Oh....obviously another gay man...... I've messed around with a few guys that claimed they were "straight".....and even though they seemed "straight" I guess you really never know...... Perhaps the most interesting one was a friend of a former roommate.....now he worked at a gym, had a GREAT body, and always dated hot girls. He seemed the epitome of "straight".....and I had a huge crush on him anyways. (He was smokin') One day, my roommate was gone, and he called relatively early in the morning and wanted to know if he could come "hang out" and have some coffee before he had to go into work. I said "sure." (Not unusual as he had hung out at our place before....) Well, he came over and soon enough, the conversation moved into all about me being "gay." When did I realize? How did I "come out." All that stuff. THEN, (and I swear I never saw this comin') he told me he had thought about it before and wondered what it would be like to do stuff with another guy. I almost fell out of my chair....!!!!!! So we talked for a bit longer and I helped him "Frasier Crane-like" analyze his feelings. Then, at one point....he looked at me....and asked me if I "wanted to help him try?" Needless to say....we went upstairs and had a rock-roarin' time......!!!!!! (edit: I almost didn't do it....cause I didn't want to mess with his mind or anything, but he was insistent...and said he wanted his "first time" to be with someone that was a friend, at least friend of sorts.) He came over one more time for some more action a few weeks down the road. However, after that, I never talked to him again and I wonder if he is now dating guys, or if he's still dating girls. I don't know if he really is gay or just curious.....only time would have brought that answer to him. But it was probably every gay-man's dream......a HOT, smokin', gym-bod "straight" guy that ASKS you to have your way with him!

There's one good thing to being a gay guy....... ------getting laid is BEYOND easy..... LOL Guys are guys....whether they are gay or straight....we are ALL horny....!!!!! ....and guys wanna get laid..... LOL Girls just jerk you straight boys around.......<ugh>