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Green toys are some of my favorite toys to talk about.  I love the innovation by many of the toy manufacturers out there, and I love that we are trying hard to do something as an industry to create fun products that are a little better for kids, the environment, and even parents.  In putting together my green toy list this year, I have included some Amazon.com Frustration Free Packaging toys.  Not only are the toys great, the packing is a breakthrough for any parent who has ever cut a hand, tossed a package, or said some words not meant for children's ears- while opening a toy package.  (You can see all our Frustration Free Packaged items here).

And now onto the list, I hope it makes your holidays a little greener this year!

1. Sprig Toys Eco-Recycling Truck in Amazon.com Frustration Free Packaging.  - I wrote about this little wonder before, but I just adore this truck.  It is sturdy, it has a little recycling container that dumps into the back of the truck, there are no batteries to mess with because it is totally kid-powered, and the smell of Sprig Wood is just fantastic (because it is made out of recycled wood, combined with recycled plastic- it feels like plastic but smells like a forest!).  Also, because it is in AFFP, there are no ties, no extra cardboard, or wrap.  You simply open the box, pull out the truck, and play!

2. Idbid Waverly Eco-Friendly Starter Kit in Blue in Amazon.com Frustration Free Packing - Idbids are a darly way to teach your child about caring for the environment.  Made of organic cotton, these little plush friends come with a storybook, a field guide, and a cinch sack to carry everything in.  They also have an online component for more learning.  Again, because they are in FFP, they are open-and-go toys!

3. Plan Toys City Series Parking Garage - There is something about a parking garage that kids love.  My son still loves his that he has had since he was under a year old.  Plan Toys use rubber wood from trees that previously would have been burned after they were no longer producing rubber.  Plan takes these trees and makes fantastic toys that are simple and pleasing to even the adult eye.  

4. Planet Pixies, Kayla Doll - My daughter is just about as opposite as me as she could be.  While I was a tom boy who wanted to play with horses and He-Man figures, she is a princess-loving pink freak (and I mean that in the nicest way possible- she is an amazing kid).  I embrace this difference and have learned to love pretty, sparkly things (even Barbie!).  Something I know she loves are fairies of all kind so Planet Pixies are right up her alley.  These dolls are made out of organic cotton and teach kids about the environment with an earth-friendly message.

5. Eco Snoopers - Create Your Own Secret Diary Set - Need something for an older, maybe tween-age, girl?  The Eco Snoopers craft kits are made with recycled paper and are fun kits for some creative fun.  They come in a diary set, a scrapbooking set, and card making set.

6. Eitech Deluxe Solar Powered Metal Building Kit - Older kids will love this kit that helps them learn about alternative solar power.  This huge kit includes plans to build up to five models.  We have tested this kits before and found them to be very sturdy, and chanllenging to kids who love to build.  

7. Wonderworld Eco-Friendly Rainbow Sound Blocks - If you have a baby or young child on your list this holiday season, blocks are always a welcome gift.  Not only are these blocks eco-friendly and non-toxic, they are also fun for baby to discover the noises that they make.  Simple toys are usually the best and most used toys in the toy box.

8.ImagiPLAY Veggie Cutting Set - Kids love to pretend to cook.  These veggies are fun, eco-friendly, and also can encourage kids to eat healthy foods.  Chopping veggies is fun and safe with this preschool set.

9. ImagiPLAY Christmas Tree - I adore this natural wood puzzle.  It would be a great family tradition to bring it out every year and have everyone in the family help put it together.   

10. Green Sprouts Organic Cotton Splash Toy Set - Totally safe and non-toxic for baby, these organic bath toys will make quite a splash this holiday season. 

11.Under The Nile Jack Doll with Extra Clothes - Kids love to dress and undress dolls.  This cute organic cotton doll comes with an extra set of clothes.  it is hard to find boy dolls (I know from looking for one for my daughter when we knew she would have a new brother arriving soon) and this one is adorable, green, and soft.

12. Plan Toys Chalet Doll House with Furniture - I want to live in this house.  Seriously, I love modern design and this is just about the most perfect looking house out there.  Made from recycled rubberwood trees, this fantastic looking house comes with furniture and it ready for a family of dolls to move right in.

13. Classic ABC Blocks with Wagon by Uncle Goose - These blocks come from wood from a sustainable forest in Michigan.  They are very high quality and are hand painted with non-toxic paints.  They are beautiful, classic toys that will be passed down to many happy children.

14. Silk Dragonfly Wings by Sarah's Silks - Silk is a renewable resource, and makes a beautiful play material for children.  Sarah's Silks makes great dress up costumes that are 100% silk and itch-free.

15. Eco Kids Eco-Dough - Made from fruit and vegetable bases, this molding clay has no chemicals or artificial dyes.  Perfect for little hands (and curious little mouths!).

16. Wonderworld Eco-Friendly Wonder Work Bench - Your little builder can pretend the day away with the great little workbench just his or her size.  Made from rubberwood and painted with non-toxic paints, it is adorable and really works!

17.  Plan Toys The Green Dollhouse with Furniture - Remember how I said I loved the Chalet dollhouse?  Well it is only surpassed by my love for this green dollhouse that is not only made from green materials but also touts many "green" features.  There is a windmill, a solar panel, and a rain barrel.  There is also a "bio facade" used to give shade or adjust that amount of sunlight in the room.

18. Mary Meyer EarthMates, Fuzz That Wuzz 100% Recycled, Wee Pawzzzz Bear - he was once that plastic bottle of water you drank at the park on a hot day.  Now, he is an adorable stuffed animal. These cute and cuddly little guys are made from 100% recycled PET bottles.  

19. Sprig Toys Dolphin Adventure Playset - The Sprig guys are back at it with some really cool new playsets in the adventure series.  This set has two boats (that really float!), two dolphins and a captain that like to explore your bath tub, sand box, or even a local stream.  Made form Sprig Wood once again, this playset is ultra durable and totally green.

20. Wonderworld Eco-Friendly Cooking Center - This play center has plentry of room for multiple children.  Made from rubberwood and non-toxic paints, it will help your little ones cook up a pretend storm.

Hope you enjoyed this year's list and here's to another green holiday!

--Laura M.

You know how it goes...the moment when you're watching a movie and you're tearing up a little bit, attempting a quiet sniffle, averting your eyes or taking deep breaths.  But then something snaps and you decide to just ride it out, let loose and enjoy the cleansing catharsis of sobbing your heart out.  I'm an unabashed crier - overly emotionally responsive to everything...a movie, book, song...if I'm in the right (wrong) mood, just about anything can set me off, but it's a rare occasion when I experience that end-of-the-road-totally-lose-it-moment.  And I kind of love it...am I the only one?

The last time this happened to me was completely unexpected.  Heading into a weeknight 3-D showing of Up, I'd heard rumblings that it was a little emotional, but I certainly didn't expect to end up sobbing behind my awesome 3-D old man glasses.  And boy, did I sob.  I considered leaving the theater to catch my breath and my friend started giving me sincerely concerned looks.  Eventually I pulled it together and so thoroughly enjoyed Pixar's latest masterpiece that even before the Oscar-buzz season begins, I'm confident in saying it's my absolute favorite movie of 2009.  The really sad stuff is over in the first 15 minutes (but what a beautiful 15 minutes!) and the rest of the film is hilarious, moving, exciting and really, in my opinion, just about perfect. 

Amanda already blogged about the romantic films that make her cry like a baby, but I was curious about the other-non-Notebook-y type movies that destroy us (in the best possible way) and here a few responses from my movie-addict friends here at Amazon.

Angela: Million Dollar Baby
"I bought the DVD in the morning, watched it that night, promptly gave it away the next day because I knew I could never subject myself to that much of a sob-fest ever again."

Ellen:  The end of Schindler’s List, when Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) looks at the items of luxury around him (his car, his ring) and imagines how many more Jews he could have saved. It was me and four other people in the theater at a weekday matinee, so that gave me freedom to let the waterworks go. I don’t cry in movies that often, but this was like a heaving-shoulders-sputtering-using-sleeve type of crying, a level of cinematic reaction only matched by the end-title sequence of Philadephia, when home movies of Tom Hanks’ character as a happy (alive) boy play over the Neil Young title song.

Stephanie: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Yes, I am revealing the depths of  my geekitude here, but when Spock sacrifices himself for the Enterprise, his farewell to Kirk … well, I’m tearing up just thinking about it. The way he straightens his coat when he rises to greet his superior officer (a gesture you see echoed by Zachary Quinto in the new Trek). “I have been and always shall be your friend” he says, his voice reduced to a croak.

I completely echo Ellen for that end-title sequence in Philadephia - I've got to be armed and ready with tissues and twizzlers to make it through that.  The final episode of Six Feet Under also destroys me so completely each and every time that's it's become my go-to viewing for the random occasion I actually want to feel like that.  What's your "Lose It" movie or TV show? 

Up comes out tomorrow - order the 4 Disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack before Wednesday and get a second Disney Blu-ray movie for $10 off.  Check out all the details here and get your kleenex ready (though I readily admit that my reaction was probably not typical :) ---Kira

As always, this is the thread for any random, off-topic conversation that doesn't belong anywhere else.

I just returned from the SEMA/AAPEX trade shows in Las Vegas last week. If you're not familiar with SEMA, it's astoundingly large and vibrant event that features scantily clad models, hugely expensive exotic and custom cars, and large, flashy displays from most of the major car manufacturers and nearly every aftermarket parts, tire, wheel, and electronics manufacturer. Subtle it ain't, but it is an incredible spectacle.

Last year I wrote up a bit of a recap; I didn't have as much time for pictures of coverage this year, beyond getting a cell-phone snapshot of the lowered and customized Gremlin pictured here. Jalopnik has some coverage as well that is worth a look; apparently there was a 1984 Mugen CRX that I somehow missed. Ah, well.

--Chris H.

History in the cards: James McManus charts America's rise to wealth and power by looking at our most practiced poker players in an interview with NPR about Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker (one of our Best Books of the Month).

Temps perdu, indeed: Now, if someone could just take Middlemarch down next, I'd be eternally grateful.

If you've noticed there are no empty seats in your coffee shop lately... It may be a byproduct of NaNoWriMo, or of the just-announced (and seemingly much more doable) Fall 2009 Story Contest,  sponsored by Narrative Magazine. Deadline for submissions--"works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to as human beings, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total"--is November 30. [via The Millions]

Comic Strip Superstar, we know who you are: Congratulations to Dana Simpson of Kent, Washington, Grand Prize winner of the inaugural Comic Strip Superstar contest for her strip entitled "Girl." Dana's prizes include a publishing contract with Andrews McMeel Publishing, a development contract with Universal Uclick and syndication on Gocomics.

Selling books is good for the soul: Today we find both the audiobook and hardcover of bestselling author and healer Dr. Sha's Divine Soul Mind Body Healing and Transmission System leading our Movers & Shakers list. --Anne

NYT: Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2009. Every year, the New York Times pulls together a list of their ten favorite illustrated kids' books. Adam Gopnik (King in the Window) was one of this year's judges, and the NYT site has a great slideshow of the winners.

Riordan goes to Egypt. The man behind the Percy Jackson and the Olympians phenomenon has announced his next series, due in May 2010: The Kane Chronicles, based on Egyptian mythology, and revolving around (according to Cynopsis Kids) "what happens when a magical accident unleashes the Egyptian gods on the modern world, and siblings Carter and Sadie Kane discover that they are descendants of the greatest Egyptian magicians and thus the only ones who can put things right." Read more details at Publishers Weekly.

Publishers Weekly: Best of 2009. Speaking of PW, they just released their list of Best Children's Books of 2009, 30 titles in all, "from accounts of civil rights heroes, to harrowing (and hopeful) stories about contemporary teenagers, to picture books that perfectly capture friendship, curiosity, or flights of fancy."

Amazon: Best of 2009. Not to miss out on the fun, we also released our best kids' books of the year, as part of our big ol', not-to-be-missed Best of 2009 store. You'll find Top 10 Middle Readers as well as Top 10 Picture Books. (And as Heidi noted in YA Wednesday, you'll also find the Top 10 Books: Teens.)

"Running Wild with Michael Morpurgo." School Library Journal has a new interview with former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo, in which he talks about his upcoming book Running Wild. He also talks about getting kids involved in reading: "If boys don't want to read it's notoriously difficult to make them. The best way to get them interested in books and stories is for parents to read to them and share stories with them at every opportunity and try lots of different genres—classic adventure stories, fantasy, and funny stories. Hopefully, they will soon find something that appeals to them and that they will want to read themselves."

The Horn Book's best new holiday books. The Horn Book has pulled together a helpful list of their top picks for new holiday books, including What’s Coming for Christmas?, A Piñata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas, and The Gingerbread Pirates. ("On Christmas Eve, a pirate captain gingerbread man (with a toothpick for a peg leg) refuses to accept his crew’s fate on the plate of the season’s most notorious cookie eater, Santa....")

"How to Draw a Bear." A fun (and educational!) video from the illustrator behind The Terrible Plop:

(found via Fuse #8) --Paul

I'm looking for the cheesecake of my youth, dense, not creamy, and with absolutely no graham crackers!  Al Dente reader Marcy and I both had high hopes for a circa 1961 Craig Claiborne's Cheesecake recipe that she found the New York Times that she found. It calls for cottage cheese instead of cream cheese and uses zwieback for its razor-thin crust instead of graham crackers.

I had planned to try this recipe, or rather have my husband, the cheesecake enthusiast, try it last week, but finding zwieback, a crisp, twice-baked biscuit, proved impossible. With zwieback AWOL, I needed a substitute, and I spent all last week looking for it. My first thought was biscotti, the twice-baked Italian biscuit, but all the biscotti I came across had strong nutty flavor, which I thought would be overpowering in the cheesecake. I scanned the cookie aisle and finally settled on some crispy Italian ladyfingers. Not the perfect substitute, but I didn't want to wait any longer to try this recipe.

In the end, the results were disappointing. The cheesecake was watery, perhaps the cottage cheese should have been drained. The lemon juice and rind was overpowering. I'm still looking for my ideal recipe. Any suggestions for the cheesecake of my dreams?

Cottage Cheese Cheesecake

Ingredients:
1 6-ounce package zwieback
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 pounds cottage cheese
1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sour cream
Rind and juice of one lemon
Strawberry glaze (see below)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 325 degrees F. Roll zwieback into fine crumbs. Grease a nine inch spring form pan and dust the sides with zwieback crumbs. Mix the remaining crumbs with the one quarter cup of sugar and the butter and press onto bottom of the pan. Bake five minutes. Cool.

2. Press the cottage cheese through a fine sieve. Add half the remaining sugar, the flour, salt, egg yolks, sour cream, lemon rind and juice. Whip until thoroughly blended.

3. Beat egg whites until stiff, adding the remaining sugar gradually. Fold into cheese mixture.
Turn the mixture into prepared pan, bake at 325 degrees F about 1-1/2 hours. Cool in pan and glaze as directed.

Strawberry Glaze

Ingredients:
1 quart strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon butter

Directions:
1. Wash and hull berries. Crush enough berries to make one half cup.

2. Boil the crushed berries, sugar, water, and cornstarch two minutes, stirring. Add the butter, strain and cool.

3. Arrange the whole berries over the top of the cheesecake and pour the glaze over the berries. Chill.

--Tracy Schneider

I didn't tune in to see Taylor Swift hosting Saturday Night Live last night, but I hear one of the highlights was the Twilight spoof, called Firelight, and starring Swift as "Stella." Watch it below or on YouTube. --David

It may feel a little early for this sort of thing, but we on the Amazon music team have pooled our collective knowledge and taste to determine the best music of 2009.

We spent 2009 soothed by Neko Case's wail, moved to dance by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' turn towards big beats, intrigued by Somali hip-hop Troubadour K'naan, and ready to hear three key words from neo-twangsters the Avett Brothers.

On the songs side, French popsters Phoenix went nutty for a composer and we went nutty for Phoenix. La Roux made us feel invincible, Jay-Z officially crushed an awful trend, and Passion Pit sent us reeling.

Voting with their wallets, our customers told us they really like U2, as it was both our bestselling CD and MP3 album of 2009. Black Eyed Peas also popped up in plenty of playlists, as they locked down the top two slots on our songs chart.

Every year, great albums slip through the cracks. This year, our editors wanted to save some from that unfair fate. We shine a spotlight on excellent underheard CD and MP3 albums across all genres, and we've even made a playlist featuring a single song from each record, so you can sample 'til you find something you like.

Dig into the lists and see which lists line up most closely with your personal tastes:

Best Albums of 2009

1. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
3. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
5. the Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
6. Girls - Album
7. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
8. K'naan - Troubadour
9. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
10. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career

> See all top 100 best albums of 2009
> See the list at Amazon MP3

Best Songs of 2009

1. Phoenix - "Lisztomania"
2. La Roux - "Bulletproof"
3. Jay-Z - "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)"
4. Animal Collective - "My Girls"
5. Neko Case - "People Got a Lotta Nerve"
6. Passion Pit - "The Reeling"
7. Girls - "Lust for Life"
8. Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
9. The Avett Brothers - "I and Love and You"
10. Lily Allen - "The Fear"

> See all top 100 best songs of 2009
> Sample songs 1-50
> Sample songs 51-100

Bestselling CDs of 2009 (through October, including pre-orders)

1. U2 - No Line on the Horizon
2. Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream
3. Diana Krall - Quiet Nights
4. Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
5. Bob Dylan - Together through Life

> See all 100 bestselling CDs of 2009

Bestselling MP3 Albums of 2009 (through October)

1. U2 - No Line on the Horizon
2. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
3. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
4. Paramore - Brand New Eyes
5. Lily Allen - The Fear

Bestselling Songs of 2009 (through October)

1. Black Eyed Peas - "Boom Boom Pow"
2. Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling"
3. Flo Rida - "Right Round"
4. Miley Cyrus - "The Climb"
5. Pitbull - "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho"

> See all 100 bestselling songs of 2009
> Sample songs 1-50
> Sample songs 51-100

Outstanding 2009 Albums You Might Have Missed

1. Throw Me the Statue - Creaturesque
2. Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band
3. The Legends - Over and Over
4. Lushlife - Cassette City
5. Point Juncture, Wa - Heart to Elk

> See all 100 2009 albums you might have missed at Amazon MP3
> Sample songs from albums 1-50
> Sample songs from albums 51-100

Head over to our best music of 2009 store to find complete lists, plus the best in everything from Latin music to Gospel to comedy and all points between.

We're aware there's still a decent chunk of the year left. We'll be adding a latecomers and honorable mentions feature over the next few weeks. Hit the comments, let us know what we missed, and perhaps it'll make an appearance.

-- Jeff Reguilon

This is the third trailer for the new Sherlock Holmes movie, opening on Christmas Day 2009, and starring Robert Downey Jr. as the title sleuth, Jude Law as Dr. Watson, and Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, and directed by Guy Ritchie. I like Downey and McAdams a lot, but the trailer's mix of high-impact action and comedy seems like it could be really good or really, er, not good. For my money, Jeremy Brett is still the best Holmes, though I know Basil Rathbone has his fans and there's an intriguing Peter Cushing version coming out this December. --David

My friend Terry doesn't like the crisp amaretti you find in boxes and tins at specialty food stores, so when her neighbor in Spilamberto, Italy, Elisa, offered her some homemade amaretti, she was surprised at how delicious--and chewy--they were. She even asked for the recipe.

Turns out Terry liked Elisa's amaretti for more than just their texture. Elisa's recipe includes no almond paste nor almond extract, which Terry finds overpowering, just freshly ground almonds. I like Elisa's recipe because it has only four ingredients, and they're all kitchen staples.

Elisa's Amaretti

Ingredients:
100 grams sugar
1 egg white
100 grams almonds, preferably blanched
Salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Grind the almonds in a food processor, but be careful not to grind them too finely. Combine with sugar.

3. In another bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk the egg white with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. With a wooden spoon, thoroughly fold in almond mixture.

4. Using a teaspoon drop small balls of the mixture on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar on each and put immediately into the oven.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, less time if you'd like them soft and chewy, more time for crisper cookies.

Makes 15-20 cookies.

--Tracy Schneider

So what is the very first thing you would improve on your new vehicle? (New, of course, meaning a broad range of things to a group like us Car Lust folk.) For me, it is the sound system. There are many varied ways in which you can modify and personalize your ride these days. While the sound system may not be my personal favorite mod if money isn’t a concern, the reality is, for me at least, that money is always a concern.

Every vehicle I have had since my very first 1979 Toyota Corolla has received a stereo upgrade shortly after I have acquired the vehicle. In the early days it was a cassette player so I could plug my Discman in to listen to tunes. Then, shortly thereafter, I installed some new speakers. But these weren’t just any speakers, these were home speakers, still in the box. I was broke and looking for more volume, and honestly, I didn’t know any better  I had no clue about impedance and ohms and wire gauge, I just wanted more bump. Of course having speaker boxes sitting in your back seat is inconvenient for carrying passengers; since the speakers weren’t affixed to anything, stopping fast became an adventure in dodge-speaker, the cousin to dodge-ball.

My Frankensteining of vehicles with audio components didn’t stop there.

A few cars later came my beloved 75 Chevy Impala. This started out with a new cassette player, but this time it had RCA outs. I was looking forward to the day where I would be able to afford a sub-woofer and amplifier to make the thing go boom, but in the meantime I worked my way through the car replacing all the speakers and wiring. First, I put an improved speaker in the center of the dash. Then, wanting better stereo sound in front, I added some 5¼ component speakers up front. Then new 6x9’s in the rear deck. Eventually I added a subwoofer & amplifier in the trunk.

Now, you might think I’d stop there, but that wasn’t enough. Here I had one of the largest land barges on the road, with a trunk that could comfortably sleep three. Always being one to experiment, I decided that the whole trunk would be my sound chamber for my sub-woofer. I proceeded to seal any air leaks in the trunk, sprayed everything with sound deadening, and then cut a hole in the rear deck and dropped in a 12-inch sub. Remarkably, it sounded pretty good. It wasn’t until after this project that I bothered to learn about sound dynamics and many other things important to making a stereo sound good. But I was happy; you could hear me rollin’ two blocks away.

The vehicle I have put the most time, money and love into, though, is my 1988 Chevy S-10. I have an extended cab that over the years has held little other than stereo equipment. My truck has seen a half-dozen stereos, ranging from cassette to drop-down CD players (I’ve yet to move up the DVD players). I have run various configurations of multiple subs and amps. I have replaced each and every part many times over--high quality dash speakers, rear pillar speakers wiring, etc. I even removed a jump seat and added sound deadening in the hole that created and built a custom sub enclosure that would extend into this new-found space. You name it, I’ve tried it, to the point where today the dash is falling apart from being taken apart so many times.

But no matter what, when I get a new ride, it gets tunes. And for me, that makes this the single most important upgrade. The truck can run rough and need a tune-up, but the sound will come first. It might need tires, but I need my tunes. The window is cracked? With just a bit more bass we can get it to run all the way across. What's that you say? I can't hear you, but I'm turning it up anyhow!

--Big Chris

• In an effort to answer DROID's incursion into its territory, Apple may release an 8 GB version of the iPhone 3GS (which would most likely be $99) to AT&T in time for the holidays (via Electronista).

• Speaking of tethering, Harry McCracken at Technologizer reminds us that it was one year ago this week that AT&T declared that it would support tethering (using the iPhone's 3G cellular signal as a modem for a laptop) at an unspecified date... which we're still waiting for.

• The next iteration of the iPhone may include RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification) technology, which could make enable the iPhone to make payments to store checkouts as well as vending machines among other uses (via Roughly Drafted).

• The Macheist folks have released a small selection of free software titles that it's calling a nanoBundle, including Twitterrific, the Shove Box organizer and the Mariner Write word processor (TUAW has more on all the included titles and Apple Matters has a review).

• Apple's new iTunes LP feature was not ready for the prime time of last week's Apple TV 3.0 software update, but folks who have purchased iTunes LPs are starting to get emails telling them to redownload their purchases as they're now Apple TV compatible (via TUAW).

  

• Macworld magazine's editors submitted an iPhone app for its Macworld iPhone and iPod touch Superguide (link opens in iTunes), only to have it rejected because it included "iPhone" in its title. However, it was subsequently approved with no changes after the gadgetosphere started to get all up in arms (via Engadget).

• Apple is floating the idea of a $30 a month service tied to its Apple TV product that would see TV programs made available via iTunes in an on-demand basis (via The Apple Blog)

• And finally... a clever way to reuse an old iMac G4 as a lamp (seen at right, via Hardmac).

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

I can imagine that just about everyone has played Monopoly at least once in their lives.  It is a classic that keeps reinventing itself for new generations of players.  Did you know that there is also a Family Guy version, a Star Wars version, a Junior version, a Beatles version, and a Disney Cars version?  (and many more you can see here).

How about some toy history from Wikipedia (the story even comes with intrigue and spies!):

You can even enter the Monopoly Game Championship! 

For even more about Monopoly see the official Monopoly site.  You can also see all the Monopoly versions Amazon offers here. 

We even have the new Monopoly Deal Card Game and the Original is now on sale for $12.99

Have a great weekend!

--Laura McMullan

As we've done for 10 years now, our editorial team has compiled their list of the Best Movies & TV of 2009. Over the next few days we'll be publishing a number of our genre lists in this space, but we'll start with the basics: the top 100 DVDs of 2009 (in other words, DVDs that were released in 2009). Agree? Disagree? Post a comment and let us know. Our first 10 of the 100:

1. Slumdog Millionaire: The Oscar winner for Best Picture centers around a young Indian man competing on a game show with the highest possible stakes
2. Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood directed and stars in this riveting drama about racial tolerance
3. Milk:  Sean Penn won an Oscar for his portrayal of San Francisco politician Harvey Milk
4. Mad Men: Season 2: AMC's period piece is a two-time Emmy winner for Outstanding Drama
5. The Hangover: The raunchy comedy was one of the surprise box-office hits of the year
6. Star Trek: J.J. Abrams' reinvention of the fan-favorite franchise soars to new heights
7. True Blood: The Complete First Season: Compelling HBO series about the vampires among us, and definitely not for the Twilight crowd
8. The Wrestler: Mickey Rourke won accolades for his depiction of one man's professional and personal comeback
9. Up: Great as we've come to expect from Pixar; charming in ways we didn't expect
10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: The sixth film of the series is the darkest yet, as Harry and his friends confront He Who Must Not Be Named

See the rest of the top 100 DVDs, the top 100 Blu-ray discs, and many other lists at http://www.amazon.com/bestmovies2009.

This year was an invigorating one for Comics & Graphic Novels, marked, notably, by the debut of a New York Times Bestseller list for the medium. All of a sudden, comics went legit, extending beyond True Believers and into mainstream literary circles. Our editors' picks for 2009's Best of Comics and Graphic Novels showcase the wide spectrum of critical darlings and sleeper favorites that made this year a rewarding one for comics readers.

Kicking off our list is David Small's graphic memoir, Stitches, which recently caught a few eyes thanks to a National Book Award nomination. Amazon editor Anne Bartholomew, however, was an early fan and picked it as her Best of the Month selection for September. Stitches marks the first time an original graphic novel has ever cracked the Top 10 of Amazon's Best Books of the Year.

The medium, however, received no greater love letters than our No. #2 and #3 picks: Seth's George Sprott:(1894-1975) and David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp. Utilizing intricate and dizzying panel layouts as well as painstaking design--not to mention stories filled with heartbreak and challenging concepts, these are the graphic novelist's graphic novels.

This isn't to say that comics forgot where they came from, and 2009 had its share of superhero stories, including Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's end to their multiple Eisner-award winning run on All Star Superman. Together, they proved a Man of Steel can go home again.

But back on Earth, R. Crumb, underground comix extraordinaire, chose an auspicious subject for what many assumed would be his trademark ire: The Book of Genesis. What the project blossomed into, however, is a fairly straight-faced approach for Crumb, although it's told through his signature pencils. The Book of Genesis never looked so indie, yet it stays true to The Good Book's dense and complex storytelling. 

But our bookshelf runneth over. The Best of 2009 Store contains more graphic novels that made this a banner year for the medium, plus plenty of other top picks to explore.

Editors' Top Ten Picks in Comics & Graphic Novels

1. Stitches: A Memoir
2. George Sprott:(1894-1975)
3. Asterios Polyp
4. All Star Superman, Vol. 2
5. The Umbrella Academy: Dallas
6. Locas II: Maggie, Hopey, & Ray
7. The Photographer: Into War-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders
8. A Drifting Life
9. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
10. Masterpiece Comics

Customer Favorites in Comics & Graphic Novels

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
3. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
4. Mercy Thompson: Homecoming
5. Star Trek: Countdown
6. Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4)
7. Asterios Polyp
8. Batman: R.I.P.
9. Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
10. The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain

It's Friday again! Here are a few burger-themed links the Al Dente editors obsessed about this week:

• Emeril plans to open a burger restaurant called Burgers and More, aka BAM, in a Pennsylvania casino. (Restaurant News)
• Iceland has no navy, no army, no air force, and now, no McDonald's. (Wall Street Journal)
• Gastronomic goliath, Adam Richman, took a few bites out of a 190-pound burger. (MLive)
• Mmm...sweet potato oven fries. (Taste is Trump)
• A heart-stopping sausage and bacon burger with Velveeta cheese. (Foodista)
• Symphony bar brownies are like the burgers of the brownie world. (ButterYum)
• Now I'm really hungry. Green chile cheeseburger french fry casserole. (The Cooking Photographer)

Photo courtesy of The Cooking Photographer

And now that you're hungry, make your own burgers with Amazon.com's huge selection of griddles.

Did I miss a not-to-be-missed foodie link from this past week? Add a comment or tweet at me!

Have a great weekend!

--Spanno

Editor's Note: Marianne Szymanski is a leading expert in toy reviews, and the founder of the Toy Tips Research Institute.  She is the author of Toy Tips: A Parent's Essential Guide to Smart Toy Choices and also the editor of Toy Tips and Parenting Hints Magazine.

The toddler years  are age 1-3. Some argue these years start at age 2 but as preschool programs are focusing younger and younger these days, I think it is important to introduce new toys  because there is so much exploration. Don't expect much sharing though. It rarely happens. They have not fully developed that part of the brain yet so toys that encourage following instructions are not easy to do with toddlers.  Let them explore and learn on their own.

Children who have learned to identify their five senses now find an interest to use all of them. Learning to walk, speak and imitate sounds and words are the  skills to emphasize the most. Toys to choose include simple manipulatives that allow for interaction and self discovery. Musical toys that allow a child to repeat a number, letter and eventually words with sequencing are great choices. Push-pull toys enhance walking and puzzles, nesting blocks and other chunky building sets strengthen spatial relations and hand-eye coordination. Be aware that children at this age put mostly everything in their mouth so the toys should be LARGE in size.

Here are a few suggestions:



LeapFrog Scribble and Write
Radio Flyer Classic Rock and Bounce Pony with Sound
The Original Rollercoaster by Anatex
Fisher-Price World of Little People Spin and Crash Raceway
Playskool Chuck My Talking Truck
Green Sprouts Stacking Cup Set
Classic Embossed Alphabet Blocks ABC
LEGO Duplo My First Set
LeapFrog Fridge Farm Magnetic Animal Set

For new toy ideas, visit toytips.com and follow me on twitter.com/toytips for a daily toy tip!.

Happy Toy Shopping,

--Marianne Szymanski

To restore or modify, that is the question
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of authenticity purists
Or to take arms against a sea of old fuddy-duddies
And by slapping on new engines, trannies, steering and suspension, end them in a cloud of your dust. . .

We now take up the issue of restomodding, or restoration/modification, in which an old car is restored but with some modern equipment added to make it faster and/or better handling and/or more comfortable. Basically, to one extent or another, to make a modern car with the look of a classic. 

This isn't a new concept, of course--people have been modifying stock cars probably since the first one rolled off the assembly line (heck, probably before there were assembly lines) and the whole hod rodding hobby is built around modifying the snot out of dad's old Buick to make it into a mean street racer. At the other extreme are the concours-level restorations in which individual parts are compared to the original for authenticity and woe to he who has '57-style floor mats in his '56.

We'll ignore these established extremes and instead concentrate on the relatively recent "project car" phenomenon in which classic--and sometimes not so classic--cars are thoroughly upgraded to drive like an Accord while looking like a Matador. Why? As we here at Car Lust often say, old cars suck. They're generally slow, handle poorly, are unsafe, and often have all the creature comforts of a trip to the urologist. Still, many of them are achingly beautiful, and even if they're not, they very often have a hold on our psyche such that we long to see and be seen driving them as they were in the old days. So why not throw a few new parts in and make them drive like new? Well, to some it's like the old joke about owning an original walking stick carried by George Washington; except the shaft has been replaced three times and the handle four.

And so we convene another installation of the Car Lust Round TableTM in order to hash out this issue. Is it cheating to take an old car and turn it into the equivalent of a Hyundai? What about that feeling of nostalgia as you motor down the road feeling what your father must have felt when he bought a similar car new? On the other hand, many of those feelings amount to noise, harsh rides, lousy steering, and standing by the side of the road while the engine cools down. For some useful background, see this bit by the boys at Top Gear:

Anthony Cagle
I am a bit schizophrenic on this one. On the one hand, I have a great appreciation for cars kept to their original specs. Most of the reason I like old cars is because, well, they're old cars. They're history on wheels. They're a time capsule whereby you can hop in and really experience what it was like to drive it when it was new. And basically, they still do the job well, getting you from point A to point B. Not like most old stuff that either doesn't work or does the job poorly. I mean, I love old computers, but you can't do much with them anymore unless you're into writing simple Basic programs with lousy graphics. But yet, you can hop into a Pacer and drive it on the highway, on a date, to grandma's house, whatever.

On the other hand, I know firsthand the trials and tribulations of actually owning a typical Car Lust automobile. Especially if your objet d'Lust is, how shall we say, horsepower challenged, it makes it tough to keep up on todays 70 mph-plus freeways. If your pseudo-classic is your only car, it's tough for me to argue--having modified my own car--to keep the thing totally stock.

Cookie the Dog's Owner (below) and I are probably in the same chapter if not quite on the same page on this. Once a car gets to a certain age--say, 15 years old and unmodified--then it becomes something like a historical artifact and seems to me it deserves to be conserved as it is as much as is possible or feasible. When I see something like a 1959 Impala all tricked out as a low-rider, or chopped and rodded out to within an inch of its life, my first thought is "That poor car." Of course, my second thought is usually, "Well, better than being in a scrapyard, I suppose."

I prefer to think of myself as an idealist rather than a purist. When I was debating whether and how to restore and/or modify my own 1978 Mustang II (linked above), I wrestled with these same issues. Were it my second car, no question, I would have kept it as completely stock as possible. But it is my only car and thus needed to be as reliable and functional as possible. But apart from the engine and exhaust system, I've kept it pretty much original. I even repainted it in the same boring Dark Metallic Brown, even though I've always secretly (well, not anymore, I guess) wanted a car in British Racing Green. I love its squishy steering, soft suspension, creakiness, draftiness, and the all-around 1970s-ishness of it. And for some reason, my lower back likes those old lumbar-challenged seats much better than the new models. I guess I have a Classic Back as well.

My next Big Issue is the wheels. They don't make many 13" tires anymore and the ones they do make in that size are cheap budget ones (though I suppose they are arguably better than the originals). Even a few years ago you could still get performance tires in this size, but not anymore. The wheels are an important part of preserving the look of the car, so that will eventually test my preservationist resolve as well. But, eh, we'll see. By then I might have changed my mind and decided to turn it into some low-rider monster.

Cookie the Dog's Owner

Restore or modify? It depends on what you're starting with.

I have recently become the proud owner of a lovely postwar capital ship of a sedan , which the previous owner restored to nearly original condition. (The only modification is an aftermarket fuel pump; everything else looks like the day it left Willow Run.)  I plan not to change a thing, partly out of respect for the man who restored it, and partly because the car is as much an  historical artifact as a means of transportation.

Were my "new" ride not in such gloriously original condition, I would certainly give some thought to upgrading some of the mechanical systems to improve the driving dynamics--quicker-ratio steering, better brakes, a clutch that doesn't feel like it came off a Hoyt-Clagwell tractor, maybe even a small-block V-8 with fuel injection. I suppose I could do some or all of this anyway, but since the car is not going to be used  for much more than summer ice cream runs, I have no real need to compromise its historical accuracy.

If I were starting with a "barn find" with a seized-up engine, then so long as it wasn't a vehicle with particularly great historical value I'd be more interested in making it functional than in making it original. I rather like the idea of old-school wheels with modern drivetrains. One of my enduring daydreams is to find an Avanti with no engine or transmission, drop in a Mustang V-8 and a modern manual gearbox and sway-bar and coil-over the suspension to within an inch of its life. Even if I'm going all mad scientist with the drivetrain and suspension, I'd still want the  car to look absolutely stock--but that's a matter of personal taste.

Oh, there is one mod I could see adding to any older car--a well-concealed CD changer playing historically correct music through the original speaker.

Mochi Mochi

I'm all for restoration and I appreciate those who go to extreme lengths to return a car to it's pristine and original state. There's a real historic and cultural value to this kind of effort, and I'm glad that there are people out there who are this specific and detail-oriented, and willing to engage in this kind of project.

I'm just not one of them. Restoration without modification just does not make sense. Cars can be modified, so why not do it? Each original design is to some degree a compromise of cost, comfort, and function. What that means is that if you like a particular car, and a particular aspect of that car, then enhancing that effect just makes a lot of sense. The question is, how far do you go? With my Civic Si, I loved the look and the classic lines. Everything was visually perfect for me. So changing that did not make sense. It would have been like gratuitous plastic surgery for one's nine-year-old offspring. Even using
body parts from the JDM version would have been like giving my kid a nose job or something.

But modding suspension, engine, bushings, engine mounts, a very subtle drop in ride height while keeping the look stock--oh yeah, that works very nicely. While these mods did push things in a great performance direction, they also showed me the limit of how far I'd want to go. The original car had great smoothness and a lot of isolation. The modded Si has much less isolation. At first I was not sure how I felt about the change. The effect was like transforming the family dog from a gentle soft puppy to an assertive muscular alpha dog. The feedback to the driver is greatly enhanced, comfort is somewhat reduced, and sound levels are higher, mostly at low rpms. The car tracks and responds amazingly well, and at higher speeds and engine revs close to original smoothness returns.

In all of these mods I've kept a sense of the stock as a touchstone; I did not want to stray too far from that. There are a lot of highly modded Civics out there. There are few that look really stock and have a lot
going on under the radar.

One thing that is nice about getting a car that's modded to start is that one feels less attached to the original stock condition. If someone has, for instance, added a NACA duct for the intake, right there you are not stock.  Modding more extensively seems like less of a stretch.

One change I recommend as a real money and annoyance saver is a good stainless steel exhaust. Hondas (and other cars) tend to go through exhausts fairly quickly. The amount of money I spent replacing exhausts on Civics over the years amounted to way more than the cost of a good stainless exhaust. Get a good one that sounds nice; it will be a pleasure to listen to and it will last for a very long time. I'm not talking about just the muffler. Replace everything from the exhaust ports all the way back to the tip of the tail pipe. This is especially true for the rust belt, where exhausts go even faster.

Big Chris

Count me among those who are inclined toward restomodding.  I want to be able to drive my ride, and I want it to perform. I don't want something slow and sloppy that looks new--I already own slow, old and sloppy (a reference to my vehicles, not my hot wife!), and new-looking isn't enough of an upgrade for me to look past slow and sloppy.

I know I am not a purist. I want safety, power and comfort in my cars and trucks. I don't care if it came with an inline six that cranked out 142 horsepower. I want to know if I can shoehorn a big block in there. In fact, you can have the inline six if you'll get it out of my way. 

I want shaved handles and paint that pops. I want stereos that rearrange your internal organs and rims with bling. Give me fat tires and free flowing exhaust. I see the base car as a canvas for the artist, not the completed work.

Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame

David Drucker

A quarter-century ago, when I was a (very minor league) collector of roadgoing vintage cars, I cast a heavily jaundiced eye on any modification that compromised the originality of the objects of my lust. This was, it must be said, an era during which bone-stock older cars could be expected to be considerably more reliable and satisfying to drive than their modern counterparts. With that in mind, I bought those cars to enjoy, and despite keeping them in their original state, every one of them saw regular use, and none of them every left me standing at the side of the road. Today, by contrast, you can choose a ten-year-old car almost at random and be fairly certain that it will start, run, and drive with little or no indication that it's been around the block a few times. (This can be said, in fact, of my 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis.) In the mid-1980s, by contrast, even new cars hadn't reached that level of goodness. Those from the previous decade were--despite the oft-inexplicable love with which they're showered here at Car Lust--mostly craptastic in every respect.

Thus, when I bought a gently used 1963 Riviera, it was clear to me that a) it was much nicer than the shiny new 1983 model that was giving so much grief to my next-door  neighbor and b) any modifications I might choose to inflict on it would turn around and bite me on the keister. I was not alone in this opinion. Older readers might recall a succession of "Boss Wagons" featured in Car and Driver during its glory days. The first one was, I'm pretty sure, a '65 Plymouth Fury; another was a Volvo 265, and I believe a W123 Mercedes and Olds Vista Cruiser got the Boss treatment as well. More recently--within the last five years or so--David E. Davis Jr. admitted that every one of those wagons was, overall, a worse vehicle for having been modified.

And so, I must say, are many of the vehicles that have been subject to modification today. I can't imagine that even the most naive driver of a slammed Civic believes that a fart-can exhaust improves performance, or a spoiler that's all right angles enhances stability.

But what about that '63 Riviera I wish I still had? Or, for that matter, my neighbor's sad '83 model? What about any older car that's getting a little tatty but still has enough appeal to warrant thoughts of restoration? Some aficionados take the hard line saying "by virtue of having survived, this car has become a part of history, and nothing should be done that will compromise its originality." To them I ask, "Are you talking about one of the handful of remaining Duesenberg SJ roadsters, or are you getting your panties in a bunch about a '65 Mustang, of which there are countless examples spewing blue smoke through exhausts that are mostly old frozen OJ cans?"

I can get behind the notion of certain vehicles transcending their original mandates and becoming true museum pieces. But in the case of that first-generation Mustang it's a different story. A car like that, despite its age, can be used and enjoyed by its owner, and that enjoyment will only be enhanced by the application of judicious modifications to the drivetrain, chassis, and other components. Purists will point out, and quite rightly so, that those modifications might--no, will--reduce the car's value on the collectors' market. But the cost of a 99-point restoration to original condition will almost certainly exceed the finished car's market value, so that argument doesn't hold water. And, of course, once the big bucks have been spent on a "real" restoration, the car becomes too valuable to allow out of the garage unless it's going to be presented at a show.

In the end, we all get to vote with our checkbooks. If someone buys an old Mustang and decides that every nut, bolt, and body panel should be exactly as it was was when the first Mustang was unveiled at the New York World's Fair, more power to him. And if that someone's evil twin buys that old Mustang's own twin and retains nothing more than the sheet metal and VIN, I wish him nothing but happiness.

Of course, despite my attempts to live up to these laissez-faire sentiments, some modifications simply go too far. Here is a picture of a familiar-looking car--a real Cobra, not one of the replicas--that was involved in a fairly dramatic wreck. It could have been restored to its original condition. Instead, it became a cartoon character. Just looking at the picture makes me want to sit down and sip a small scotch, and that is just what I'm going to do right now.

Chris Hafner

I think all of the contributors to this round-table agree that there are some cars that are so old, rare, and significant that they simply should not be modified. These cars are historical artifacts, and owners have both a responsibility and a financial incentive to act as stewards of those artifacts. Just as one would not cleanse an ancient Mesopotamian bowl in a dishwasher, so should one not cut apart a Cisitalia dashboard to install a CD player. Happily, most of these truly historic vehicles are valuable enough that they are already protected and preserved.

Beyond those rare cases, modification is a matter of individual taste. And, for the record, my tastes indict most visually obvious modifications as tacky, pointless, and horribly gauche. Generally speaking, the more obvious and dramatic the modification, the less I like it. I have great respect for hot rodders who have the skill to perform wild modifications to make a car into an entirely new, strongly personalized creation--but I usually see the finished product as an expensive cartoon car about which I just can't quite be bothered to care. I applaud the enthusiasm of the guy--it's almost invariably a guy--who schemes and saves to put a custom body kit and exhaust on his Dodge Neon, but I wouldn't be caught dead behind the wheel. Like Anthony, I am bemused by classic American sleds that have been lowered, metalflaked, and installed with hydraulics. I'm glad the cars are appreciated and still on the road, but I mourn the fact that it's now almost impossible to find an unblemished vomit-green 1976 Chevy Impala.

Obviously these are fringe cases of dramatic modification; there are more subtle and less visible cases where modifications become, well, totally bitchin'. For me, the breakdown takes place based on the rarity of the car, tastefulness of the modification, and consistency with the car's original purpose.

As an example, I am in deep smit with resto-modded muscle cars; invariably my favorite part of SEMA week is gazingly lustfully at vintage 1960s and 1970s muscle cars redone with modern bucket seats, high-horsepower crate engines, gorgeously sinister paint, and imposing brake discs and calipers peeping out from behind modern rims. To me, these cars are the ultimate expression of the muscle car art--it's a classic shape wrapping modern hardware, and the package simply updates those cars' original mission to look stylish and menacing while eviscerating the roadway. Likewise, I love the resto-modded E-Type featured in the Top Gear clip above. It's more useful, faster, and completely consistent with the purpose of the car; it's a classic car you can actually drive.

And, frankly, unlike pre-war Packards, the muscle car population (and, likewise, the E-Type Jag population) can spare a few tastefully and aggressively resto-modded examples. While muscle cars are rare compared to, say, the population of Toyota Camrys, they are in no way an endangered species. I have attended several car shows across the country that have been absolutely stuffed with pristine muscle cars. One such show, held in the infield of the 1.5-mile long Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC, contained so many acres of absolutely perfect 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS454s, Mustang Boss 302s, and Camaro Z/28s that I hit stimulus overload and lost interest. We are in no risk of running out of meticulously restored muscle cars any time soon. Yenko Camaros, yes. Camaro Z/28s or clones, no. As a muscle car lover, I would enjoy the whole phenomenon more if there was a better mix of originally restored, clapped-out and well-loved originals, and kick-butt resto-modded muscle cars on the road.

Likewise, as a fan of international touring car racing and off-road rallying, I have an irrational affection for street cars that manage to pull off the purposeful, lowered, and aerodynamic look of those stock-bodied race cars. It's a look that fails roughly 90 percent of the time--sloppy or incomplete execution dooms most attempts--but when it's done right it's stunning.

That's what I like, but the my position gets even more conflicted and inconsistent when I think about what I'd like to own. For example, when I bought my 1983 Malibu Wagon, I was enthusiastic about the idea of keeping the car visually stock but dropping in a torquey crate engine that could turn it into a supremely under-the-radar sleeper that could stalk Porsches and move an apartment's worth of boxes at the same time. As I began to bond with the Malibu, though, I began to rethink that strategy.

You see, I loved the car's character as it was; I loved it because it was such a clean, stock example in a world in which most Malibus of its era have been turned into street racers. I loved it for its push-button radio. I loved it for its soft, pillowy ride. I even loved it for the gutless dependability of its V-6. That car and I created our own relationship, and that relationship wasn't about speed. From my post on that car:

"I've driven my share of performance cars, and the Malibu experience was just as intoxicating. It was made to cruise comfortably. I'd roll down the windows, instinctively assume the typical American car bench-seat slouch, and float along with the engine burbling happily. At night, the 'Bu would motor along placidly while I listened to the vintage radio, the warm yellow instrument lighting illuminating my smiling face."

After wrestling for some time with different scenarios--should I put in a beefier engine and keep the V-6 in storage? Would it be possible to get more power without changing the car's feel?--I just shelved any idea of modification. I loved the Malibu too much just as it was to modify.

I feel the same way about other clean older survivors, and that goes back to my point regarding rarity. It's much harder to find a clean, original 1983 Chevrolet Malibu Wagon, or 1986 Saab 900 SPG, or 1978 Volkswagen Scirocco, or a 1989 Audi V8 than a nicely restored 1960s Ford Mustang. This will seem batty to most, but I consider those cars actually more rare than the Mustang, and a greater shame to modify. As a guy who recently completed a used-car search--more on that next week!--I can also attest to the fact that finding original, clean examples of used cars that are generally unloved is incredibly hard.

I drove a 1990 Saab 9000 Turbo that was a nightmare of performance upgrades--some of which were functional, some of which posed a dramatic threat to the engine's continued existence--and that was graced with a rear wing and a shift knob. I passed up several old domestic cars that were botched or partial projects where the added modifications simply made me want the car less. Even if those cars had some modifications that I would consider myself, I didn't want them--a car that has already been modded brings that car into conformity with somebody else's vision, not mine. Their changes only limit my options.

So, what would I do? I am completely open to tasteful modifications to make a classic car more modern. Those might include an engine upgrade, changing drum brakes to discs, a decent paint job, a better sound system; any modification that improves the car's usability without blemishing its underlying personality or appeal.

With a car that I really loved, though, I would be incredibly careful and painstaking not to ruin it, following the example of Gimli the Dwarf in The Lord of the Rings when he describes the care he would take to protect and enhance some beautiful caves he encountered:

"No dwarf could be unmoved such loveliness. None (of us) would mine those caves for stones or ore, not if diamonds and gold could be got there. Do you cut down groves of blossoming trees in the springtime for firewood? We would tend these glades of flowering stone, not quarry them. With cautious skill, tap by tap--a small chip of rock and no more, perhaps, in a whole anxious day--so we could work, and as the years went by, we should open up new ways, and display far chambers that are still dark, glimpsed only as a void beyond fissures in the rock."

Mochi Mochi

The dividing line between a good and bad mod or restoration is good or bad taste. Who determines what's good or bad taste? I do. And when I'm not around, you do. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm the arbiter of
good taste.

Some believe that the original design of a car is and must be an optimal design. The belief is that "experts" designed the car so making changes or enhancements really just ruins the "purity" of the original and degrades the overall design. The problem with this argument is that it assumes that the original design is without flaw and that it was designed in an atmosphere that was "pure." Any car that is on the road is compromise before it ever hits the street. One could say that it's a "balance" rather than a compromise. But if I told you you could replace an OEM axle that had a tendency to fail with a lighter, stronger one, that would last four times as long, was less prone to bending, had a proven track record, it came with a 10-year, no-questions-asked warranty, and cost half as much as the OEM part from the dealer ... would you buy it? Of course you would. Welcome to the first step in modding your car! I don't think anyone would argue about the merits of such a modification to an original design.

If we think of good taste vs. bad taste we often associate bad taste  with a garish display of excess. Things taken to extremes don't often get associated with good taste and refinement. The garish is easily
identified by a lack of balance or good sense--a muffler that is loud but lacks a good tone, an enormous wing on the tail of a car that clearly does not need it, or worse yet a wing that is installed backwards, or angled in such a way as to provide lift instead of downforce. These are all things that lack sense, sensibility, or balance.

How one applies "sense, sensibility, and balance" to restoration and/or modification of a car is part of the creative challenge in a project car. There's also the question of what you are going to work on. There's a bit of a difference between an Aston Martin DB5 and a Datsun 510. Projects involving these cars have a different sets of constraints.

The DB5 is a car that is such a classic it's hard to imagine modding it, but given that this is a British car of a particular time it's hard to imagine that it could not use some improvements. There are those who actually race these cars. Whether you think that's right or wrong depends on how much cash you have. If you are going to race that DB5 then you better plan to do a lot of mods. The form that defines the car is very refined, that's part of being a "classic design," so changing the appearance of the car beyond a few subtle adjustments in the tire and suspension area would really be unwelcome.

The Datsun 510 is a classic in its own right, with its clean crisp lines. It is a car that looks good in its innocuous, friendly and cute stock family-car form, or as a nasty snarling little brute set up for the
track. I'm always happy to see a 510, stock or race. The canyon and track racing 510s I've seen have all the classic looks of an original but with an aggressive quality that extends from the functionality of
adhesion, transition, braking, and acceleration. There has come to be an aesthetic of minimalism in 510 modifications that is completely appropriate to the clean original lines of the car. That minimalist
aesthetic is something that is sorely missing from a lot of the modded rides one sees on the streets today. I wish Hondas were treated with the level of restraint that 510s are. Perhaps this difference extends from and reflects the personalities and cultures of the people who are doing the mods, the people who are crafting their personas in their cars.

I'm guessing that a lot of the differences we perceive in the appropriateness of mods to cars are associated with class, culture, and age differences. We all notice those modded cars we think of as
garish or wrong - they stick out in our memories. Subtle and refined mods require more of an "eye" to be noticed or appreciated. Everyone remembers the jerk who acts out on the road in a boy-racer-crap-bucket, but not everyone remembers that lovely glossy black 1967 GTO that is both beautifully restored and beautifully modified.

My preference for mods and restorations is for the aesthetic of the sleeper. Enough shows to let the intent be known but it's never more than is necessary to make the point. Keeping the visual cues below the
radar also gives the sleeper its ability to surprise and humiliate.

Cookie the Dog's Owner

Let me add to what Nathan and Mochi said.

I'm attracted to the idea of the "sleeper," and so my personal preference is for a modified older car to look stock or plausibly  stock, even if what's under the sheetmetal is anything but. I appreciate the craftsmanship and personal expression inherent in a  hotrod, lead sled, lowrider, or tuner car, I just don't particularly  want one for myself.

There's a '59 Plymouth Belvedere that shows up at the local cruise-ins that I've written about here a couple of times. The body and interior have been lovingly restored to honest-to-Virgil-Exner day-it-left-the-factory perfection. In the engine bay is a 413 "Max Wedge" engine with a  cross-ram induction setup--something Chrysler only put into the 300"letter cars."  I'm cool with that--it's got a little of that sleeper vibe going for it. What sort of bugs me about this car is that he has modern alloy wheels on it. The rims look nice, don't get me wrong, but they don't look like 1959. If it was my ride, It'd be wearing stock hubcaps.

Nathan

The Fiat 126 monster car is from BigFun.be.

The Impala low-rider is from the Italiano nel Frattempo blog.