Ale

Fact: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a decent brew, but it makes my urine smell funny.

Flashy

It's been said many times that the flashiness of a man's car is inversely proportionate to the size of his willy. While I do not believe the statement to be true-- confidence in oneself is measured by many factors, nor have I empirically verified (nor do I want to empirically verify)--the car above (and many of the pickup trucks in America that have been raised 14 feet off the ground) do make me wonder.

The car in question here is the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. I have no doubt that as a car, it is most extraordinary. I also think it would look great in black, silver, or white. You really have to wonder what thoughts go through someone's head before he (and it's invariably a "he") decides on that color scheme seen in the picture.

Of course, there may be the problem that Porsche only offers a minuscule selection of color options. The GT3 RS line in particular usually only has two options, and always with "GT3 RS" written in very large letters.

For a company from such a logically driven country, this doesn't make much sense. I don't need to advertise what sort of Porsche I've bought by having the model designation prominently printed on it. Those that have an interest will know when they see that body kit and huge rear spoiler. Those that do not have an interest will not care either way, so it's irrelevant.

Going back to how only men will buy this car: this is an unfortunate fact of life, that women do not buy such cars. It is unfortunate because it is an equally important fact of life that driving a hardcore car instantly makes a woman more attractive in a way that no dietary fad ever can.

A man driving a Subaru Impreza WRX STi? Immature, trying too hard, a bit of a cock. A woman driving the same car? Please marry me ASAP.

There are a few reservations to this rule. Choosing a Legacy B4 GT over an Impreza automatically make someone appear more sophisticated, and this applies to either sex.

The other automobile-related factor that makes a woman more attractive is having an old car. For instance, the woman in the MGA 1500. If you combine this with the earlier rule, then I couldn't ask for more. That would be the girl in the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16.

So, all other things being equal, which is more attractive: the girl with the rich dad that's just bought her a shiny new BMW 335i, or the girl with a 1982 Jaguar XJ-S? The one with the Jag, even if not all things are equal, if I'm honest.

I'm beginning to sound patronizing. All of the above is actually moot, because both of the girls would just tell me "no."

On Politics

I'm not particularly interested in politics in the United States, partly because I am not a U.S. citizen and therefore have no representation. This means I can complain as much as I want about policies from both the left and the right.

Elections are taking place in Japan today. And because the Liberal Democratic Party has demonstrated an uncanny ability to screw things up for no particular reason, and because mass media in Japan leans very much to the left, the Democratic Party of Japan is about to take control of Parliament.

It's actually a very peculiar situation. The internet is full of people that say the DPJ will ruin Japan. The television and newspapers are full of people that say that a change of regime from the LDP is what is going to save Japan. As you can probably tell, I am on the internet here, and not on the telly. It is therefore appropriate that I express my support for the LDP.

First of all, any party that cuts up the country's flag and stitches them together to make the party flag is simply unacceptable. Worse, the party only mentioned that it was inappropriate because the party's "sacred" logo should not be made in such a way.

This, combined with their plan of allowing 10 million people to immigrate into Japan and then giving them voting rights, leads me to believe that what they actually want to do is sell the country to Korea and China. In fact the Mindan, or Korean Residents' Union in Japan, is one of the larger supporters of the DPJ. Coincidence? I think not.

The United States does not form its policies for the benefit of Mexico. Nor do Canadian nationals residing in the U.S. allowed to vote. Whether you're allies or enemies, you can't cater to the interests of other countries like that. The only possible exception to this is the European Union, where a strong cooperative system exists and where people may have shared interests in other nearby countries.

This simply does not exist in East Asia. In fact opinion polls regularly show that a disturbing amount of Chinese and Koreans still harbor a deep hatred for Japan, although they are more than happy to make imitation products.

The DPJ's economic policies seems to depend on money that is drawn from thin air. Where on earth do they plan on getting $179 billion? China, I suppose. That's one of the many things they haven't made clear. And the Japan Teachers Union, whose policy on which the DPJ's educational policies are based, has has already started to wreak havoc in recent years.

I can only hope that the Japanese people are smart enough to not be misled by the media. The DPJ is composed of many former members of the old Socialist Party of Japan, acting under a more widely appealing name of "Democratic Party." I hope all of the reports that the DPJ will end up with 2/3 of the seats in Parliament are completely disproved.

Texts

"If a text is written in a text field for which no text group is defined, ERP LN uses the default text group that is defined for the specified text field in the text groups by text field template. If no default text group is defined for the specified text field, ERP LN uses the information that is defined in the default text group template."

I have absolutely no idea what they're on about.

74W

CA-74, or Ortega Highway, as it's called, is a bit of a mediocre road. It may be one of the more twisty roads in Orange County, but that's not saying much, and because it's slightly twisty it's always clogged up with motorcyclists on the weekends. On weekdays it's full of commuters instead. Overall, it's not very challenging, crowded, and only mildly scenic.

Mind you, there are far worse roads. Freeways, for instance. Or some local roads in and near Laguna Woods.

Anyway, about Ortega Highway. Driving eastbound from Orange County to Lake Elsinore in the late afternoon is a bit of a nuisance because studies have shown that you will most definitely become stuck behind a Hyundai Accent driving at eighteen miles per hour. Ortega offers little opportunity for overtaking, so if you're stuck, you'd better get used to it.

Driving westbound after dark, however, is another story. Because no one that lives in Orange County goes to work in Lake Elsinore, you will not be hindered by slow cars that refuse to pull off and let you by. "Excellent," you say. But you'd be wrong. It's bloody terrifying.

The Hyundai Accidents heading east have now slowed to twelve miles an hour, because it's gone dark. This obviously causes an enormous queue to form in its wake, and herein lies the problem. It seems half the cars heading this way have their high beams on, therefore burning a hole in my retina. I can't see the road while they stream by, and once they're gone, I still can't see the road because I've lost my eyesight.

Just enough time goes by for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, before the next group of held-up motorists come trudging along with their high beams and fog lights. Turn them OFF.

Combine this with flip-flop sandals that are not entirely suited for left-foot braking or, indeed, braking at all, and you have a harrowing experience that even Bruce Willis would be reluctant to face.

In the Sacramento Valley, where everyone feels the need to be constantly using high beams, driving at night is very annoying but at least there's nothing to crash into, or cliffs from which to fall. Besides, they're only really aggravating when they're behind you and they stay there, constantly blinding you through the rear-view mirror with no opportunity for retribution.

I've driven in fog on the Sonoma coast that was so thick the dotted yellow line was barely visible. Still, I'd much rather drive there than on Ortega, where I just have to sort of guess where the road is based on the stream of brightness coming my way.

On Typefaces

I have a friend who will go on and on about typefaces. Which, I suppose is fine and dandy considering I could go on and on about cars and cameras. Graphic designers and the like seem to have a certain amount of smugness about them when it comes to typefaces, much like how Mac users often view Windows users with scorn and contempt, believing they are morally superior. But more on that later.

It is my understanding that in the design community, it is a cardinal sin to use such typefaces as Papyrus, Comic Sans, and Times New Roman, apparently because they're overused by commoners and in the wrong contexts. This makes such fonts unsuitable for the elite class that these designers are. As a result, whenever they come across a sign in town utilizing one such typeface, they must point it out and scoff at the plebian nature of it.

Typefascists decided that Helvetica was a particularly excellent font. However, this eventually led to problems because all typefascists used it. Clearly, this was unacceptable. The super-elite typefascists therefore needed to find something different to use to distinguish themselves from the proletariat designers.

Nowadays, I don't know what the true snobs aristocrats use. In fact, I'm not entirely sure what I'm using here. Blogger gives me a choice of eight fonts, and I know it's not Webdings because I can read it. Little else is important because I'm not supplied with the annoying ones, like the one that looks like a worm covered itself in ink and then went on to squiggle around on the computer screen.

Anyway, this brings me to the banner seen at the top here, which uses a vaguely familiar typeface known as Trajan Pro. I inquired, and my typefascist friend sent me a YouTube video (for which he is not responsible) detailing why I've seen it before. Look at him, all smug and proud that he's pointed out something I don't really care about very important.

Now, I'm sorry, but of all the things that a human can do to pass the time, I think perhaps there are other things that ought to be prioritized before reaching "making a YouTube video about a typeface that is used too frequently." For instance, climbing Mount Everest comes to mind. Or jumping off the rim of the Grand Canyon.

An open letter to DPReview.com

Having read DPReview's review of the Sony A380, I fell into a ranting mood. So I wrote them a bit of a complaint suggestion.

Hello,

I honestly think it's time to revise the rating system a bit. It's virtually unheard of these days for a camera to receive anything lower than "recommended," which doesn't really help... To think that a "recommended" is one rating above the "above average" really makes no sense anymore, because that would imply that everything is above, say, the 70th percentile or so. Clearly, the definition of what is average needs to be revised.

For instance, having read the review for the Sony A380 that was just posted, I don't understand why the camera should get a "recommended" rating, or even an "above average." As you point out in the "Conclusion" page, "all of the competitors in the entry-level segment have inevitably moved on and not only caught up with the Sony but overtaken it quite clearly." This statement alone is enough evidence to show that, in your opinion, the camera is distinctly below par.

So why recommend it at all? "The Final Word" states, "If you shoot mainly at base ISO, in live view and Auto mode the Sony DSLR-A380 is worth a closer look," but that's like saying, "I recommend this car if you never drive faster than 40mph, or at night, or when it rains." You just wouldn't because there are other products out there that can do just that, and more. It's not like the Sony's image quality at base ISO is significantly better than the competition. It is merely average at that point, and everywhere else, it is below average.

You can't continue to recommend everything that lands on your desk. Granted, the Sony may not be horrific, but the overall impression I got from the review was generally negative. Consumers aren't looking for justifications for buying something they found interesting (which, on paper, the Sony might be perceived to be). What consumers want is genuine advice as to which is best in its class. It doesn't help one bit to say, "we recommend all of them."

Holiday

I have a three-day weekend coming up, much like the rest of the United States and Canada. I hate sitting at home letting time slip by like that, so naturally, I'm going to have to go somewhere. This presents me with an issue, however.

This summer, I have gone just about everywhere that is within driving range from Southern California. This means Northern California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. My other option is to fly somewhere. However, airlines, using some form of nefarious trickery, have figured out that I might want to utilize their services, and have increased their fares for the weekend.

Flying to the East Coast is out of the question anyway. Time differences, combined with flight time, would mean that of the three days, two would be spent traveling there and back. This does not make sense.

This leaves flying to somewhere nearby, but that undermines the whole purpose of flying. I'd much rather drive somewhere than fly there.

While flying somewhere like Seattle is still an option, I'm going to use the rest of this post to try to come up with somewhere I might want to drive.

I love the Northern California coast, but it is most likely out of consideration this year. Going there would require the same schedule as when I went there last year: leave on Friday night and drive through the night, get to the northern end of California on Saturday night, and then head straight back on Sunday morning. This leaves almost no time for, well, anything. Granted, the Pacific Coast is a destination unto itself--driving through is good enough.

San Francisco--Probably not, since I went there last week. Also, I don't approve of the 4% surcharge that I was charged at a restaurant that is supposedly required under the city's new Health Care Security Ordinance. Socialists.

Las Vegas--Too hot, and I don't gamble, although I guess there's more to Vegas than gambling. Drinking, for instance. Or prostitutes.

Mexico--No.

Kings Canyon--Everyone goes to Sequoia but no one ever goes to adjacent Kings Canyon. The reason for this is that pretty much everything worth seeing is very remote and only accessible after a long hike (read: multiple days). It also doesn't have the high-profile tourist attractions that Sequoia has. I suppose it could be worth it if I visit both parks. I went to Sequoia last fall but it was a one-day thing so I didn't have a whole lot of time there. Plus, Kings Canyon is, apart from Channel Islands, which can't be easily accessed, the only national park in California that I haven't visited.

Yosemite--worth consideration, although it will probably be very crowded. Which may not be too much of an issue considering I wouldn't be staying in the park itself. The plan would be to stay somewhere outside the park on Saturday night, drive through Tioga road to the other side of the Sierra Nevadas, maybe visit Bodie or Mono Lake, and then drive down. At this point this plan seems the most attractive.

Doors of Possibility

"NPR is playing sounds of doors opening."

Says a friend who lives in New York. "Better than a pledge drive," I said.
"It sort of sounds like farting, really."
"And what now sounds like duct tape being ripped off of mouths... Quite distressing."

It was later revealed that this work is called "Variations for a Door and a Sigh," produced in 1969.

Perhaps this is one of those expressions of "art" that I don't understand. But if it's going to spend airtime playing sounds of doors, I think I'm less likely to give them my money.

New inspiration for Bentley

I could have gone to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance last week, but I didn't because they wanted $150 per person for admission. I'm sorry, no.

Anyway, all is well because I was spared from seeing the above Bentley, which is the new Mulsanne. I've loved the recent non-Continental series Bentleys, such as the Brooklands. In fact I've liked just about every Bentley that wasn't a derivative of the Volkswagen Phaeton. Square, antique Britishness.

However. It seems now that the folks at Bentley have got it all wrong. It took me a while to figure out what the car pictured above reminded me of, but I think I've finally figured it out. The designers have been playing too much DragonQuest lately.

The inspiration for the new front-end look:


I did a bit of research and I've found out why they've got it all wrong.
"The Mulsanne is also notable as it is the first flagship car to be independently designed by Bentley Motors in nearly 80 years; the last being W.O. Bentley's iconic 8 litre model in 1930."
Basically, for the last 80 years, they've felt someone else can do the job better, but now they decided to do it themselves.

On a side note: ouch
That's not gone well.

I want this Lego set

Ideally, they would make a Chevrolet Lacetti and a set of cars from one of the challenges, such as the police car challenge with a Fiat Barchetta, Lexus LS400, and Suzuki Vitara 1.6 JLX with pink decal, or the Alfa Romeo challenge with a 75, GTV, and Spider. However, this is still quite awesome.

On Starting Blogs

Right. Starting a new blog is always a bit annoying because, well, where does one begin? Do I introduce myself? Do I throw a party? Do I tell all my friends?

The path I've chosen this time, as it turns out, is none of the above. I plan on starting this off as quietly as possibly and then sneaking links into various places just as quietly once I've accumulated a suitable number of posts because let's face it: no one is interested in reading a "new" blog with two posts on it. For now, hopefully the only people that see this are the poor souls that end up here by clicking on the "Next Blog" button at the top of another blog.

I plan on sticking with the minimalist template, and this blog probably will have fewer pretty pictures than can be found on that other blog that I run.