"Twilight" spoof on "Saturday Night Live" (Taylor Swift hosts)
by Armchair Commentary at 9:58 AM PST, November 8, 2009
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 The Best Music of 2009
by ChordStrike at 10:28 PM PST, November 7, 2009
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
> See all top 100 best albums of 2009 Best Songs of 2009
> See all top 100 best songs of 2009 Bestselling CDs of 2009 (through October, including pre-orders)
> See all 100 bestselling CDs of 2009 Bestselling MP3 Albums of 2009 (through October)
Bestselling Songs of 2009 (through October)
> See all 100 bestselling songs of 2009 Outstanding 2009 Albums You Might Have Missed
> See all 100 2009 albums you might have missed at Amazon MP3 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
Trailer Park: "Sherlock Holmes" (version 3)
by Armchair Commentary at 5:07 PM PST, November 7, 2009
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
Not All Amaretti Are Created Equal!
by Amazon al Dente at 12:05 AM PST, November 7, 2009
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 Directions: 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 The greatest car modification--Car Audio?
by CarLustBlog.com at 11:39 PM PST, November 6, 2009
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 Bites from the Apple: The Contender
by EndUser at 10:54 PM PST, November 6, 2009
--Agen G.N. Schmitz Monopoly - Flash Back Friday
by Toy Whimsy at 4:16 PM PST, November 6, 2009
"The history of Monopoly can be traced back to 1904, when a Quaker woman named Elizabeth (Lizzie) J. Magie Phillips created a game through which she hoped to be able to explain the single tax theory of Henry George (it was intended to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies). Her game, The Landlord's Game, was commercially published a few years later. Other interested game players redeveloped the game and some made their own sets. Phillips herself patented a revised edition of the game in 1904, and similar games of this nature were published commercially. By 1935 a board game named Monopoly was created much like the version of Monopoly sold by Parker Brothers and its parent companies throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st. The Parker Brothers' version was created by Charles Todd but sold to them by Charles Darrow. Several people, mostly in the U.S. Midwest and near the U.S. East Coast, contributed to the game's design and evolution. In 1941 the British Secret Service had John Waddington Ltd., the licensed manufacturer of the game outside the U.S., create a special edition for World War II prisoners of war held by the Nazis. Hidden inside these games were maps, compasses, real money, and other objects useful for escaping. They were distributed to prisoners by secret service created fake charity groups."
For even more about Monopoly see the official Monopoly site. You can also see all the Monopoly versions Amazon offers here. --Laura McMullan The Best Movies & TV of 2009
by Armchair Commentary at 4:16 PM PST, November 6, 2009
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:
See the rest of the top 100 DVDs, the top 100 Blu-ray discs, and many other lists at http://www.amazon.com/bestmovies2009. Crazy About Delancey's Clam Pie!
by Amazon al Dente at 9:39 AM PST, November 6, 2009
Graphic Novel Friday: Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2009
by Omnivoracious.com at 7:57 AM PST, November 6, 2009
 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
Customer Favorites in Comics & Graphic Novels
Friday Links for Food Lovers, Burger Time Edition
by Amazon al Dente at 7:30 AM PST, November 6, 2009
It's Friday again! Here are a few burger-themed links the Al Dente editors obsessed about this week:
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 Toy Tips with Marianne Szymanski - Preschool Toys
by Toy Whimsy at 12:27 AM PST, November 6, 2009
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.
For new toy ideas, visit toytips.com and follow me on twitter.com/toytips for a daily toy tip!. Happy Toy Shopping, --Marianne Szymanski Restomod Roundtable
by CarLustBlog.com at 12:26 PM PST, November 5, 2009
To restore or modify, that is the question 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 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 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 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. Restore or modify? It depends on what you're starting with. 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. 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. Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame Cars wear out. Do you restore the car to its original configuration, or do you change it?
If you have an old sailing ship from the 1800s and half the planks are rotted and you replace them, do you still have an old sailing ship from the 1800s? On the other hand, if you use laser measuring devices to get all the dimensions down perfectly, and use modern tools to make an exact replica, do you have a sailing ship from the 1800s? Does it make it less of a replica and more of a genuine sailing ship from the 1800s if you use vintage tools? Or, if you take the original 1800s sailing ship and put a plastic tarp over the helm, do you still have an 1800s sailing ship? What if you add a diesel engine, but change nothing else?
These are all questions of integrity, and these questions of integrity matter when restoring an old vehicle, too. Do you want a 1967 Mustang fastback, or do you want car that looks like a 1967 Mustang fastback? Or do you want to have a 1967 Mustang fastback built with 2009 levels of engineering and tolerance? Is it the history that matters, or the look?
You aren't going to have 1967 tires on that Mustang, right? So isn't it ridiculous to demand the rest of the car be original? If every single 1967 Mustang fastback had scabby, scaly, faded paint and plenty of rust, would it be a sacrilige to repaint one of them? Would it be a sacrilege to repaint one of them in a color not offered in 1967?
To tell the truth, I find it impossible to answer these questions hypothetically. Too much of the decision whether to restore faithfully or just come close depends on the condition of the car, its place in history, my memories of the car (if any), my financial situation, my age, my purpose for owning the car.
If I had a chance to buy a 1968 Pontiac Tempest Custom (the first car I drove regularly), I wouldn't care if the door was dented, the paint faded, and the interior dusty. Why? Because that's the way mine was when I drove it back then. Owning that car would be a return to the past; why would I want to return to a past I didn't inhabit?
Since I'm just over 40 now, however, by the time I'm 80 I would probably want to restore it to perfect condition just to have a pristine cruising car. If we still use gasoline by then, that is. If I had a shot at a 1960s Mustang, though, I'd want it to be as tough as it looks. If money was no object, I would want gleaming chrome, a wonderful paint job, and better handling, power, and braking than any original Mustang had. But I wouldn't want to change it too much. If it doesn't look like an original Mustang, there's no point, there's no cool. So the only changes I could bring myself to allow would be the changes that would enhance the vehicle, like chroming on the engine, and a wicked dark blue metallic flake with silver highlights that the originals never had.
Give me a '72 Plymouth Duster and I'd mod the heck out of it. Why not? It would be cool to have one, but I have never been a Duster enthusiast, so I have no reason to be a Duster purist.
Where I draw the line, however, is when the modding takes the car significantly away from its original configuration. I hate chopped tops, low riders, reconfigured interiors, 30" wheels (or whatever those monstrosities are). And the subset of that, I hate destructive modifications that can't be changed back later by swapping out a part: a cardinal sin, punishable by having to drive a Toyota Solara for the rest of your days.
That's my opinion, but I'll let anyone borrow it as they please.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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 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:
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 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 If I were in my late teens or early 20s in 1968, and sufficiently wealthy to own a 1967 Mustang fastback with the ability to sink more money into the car, would I spend money to improve it? You betcha.
I don't know what was available back then. I guess I would consider dropping a more powerful engine into it. Better tires, if that was understood back then, would also be a must. Maybe more comfortable seats, or a personalized shifter knob.
The point is, if I had that same car now, why would I hesitate to make historically consistent modifications to a stock car? If it is a change that was available and selected by the car enthusiasts of the time, does it harm the purity of the car to make similar changes now?
I would say it doesn't. Especially if the result is to make a great performing car an even better performer. And once you've crossed that line, it is harder to be a purist in other areas. I do still have my limit, however, on modifications that change the very nature of the car itself. Which I recognize is subjective...but that's where I stand.
The Fiat 126 monster car is from BigFun.be. The Impala low-rider is from the Italiano nel Frattempo blog. Trailer Park: 'Salt,' 'Avatar,' 'Prince of Persia'
by Armchair Commentary at 12:22 PM PST, November 5, 2009
Here's a look at upcoming movies. Click on link to sign up when they are released on DVD and Blu-ray. (Release dates subject to change). Salt (starring Angelina Jolie, dir. by Philip Noyce)-- Angelina is blonde! Angelina is brunette! Angelina does what she does best: kick ass. Here, a CIA official named Evelyn Salt is accused of being a Russian spy and goes on the run. This teaser doesn't show much, but Jolie took over the role after Tom Cruise(!) vacated the role (yes, Salt was supposed to be a guy), so it's a high-profile project regardless. (July 23rd)
Avatar(starring Sam Worthington, dir. by James Cameron) -- Terminator Salvation's Worthington goes front and center in Cameron's highly anticipated first theatrical feature since Titanic. Worthington is a wheelchair-bound Marine who must befriend the blue-skinned "savages" on a new planet via a created "avatar" so they can mine the rich resources of their planet. The end of the trailer splays all of Cameron's other achievements, reminding you that despite any hesitations you had about his crazy projects in the past, he's always delivered. (Dec. 18)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton; directed by Mike Newell & Alexander Witt)-- Jerry Bruckheimer defied the odds and made a Disneyland ride called Pirates of the Caribbean into a billion-dollar franchise and Johnny Depp into an Oscar nominee. While Prince of Persia is definitely full of the visual FX, it doesn't have the name recognition, and Gyllenhaal, all brawn, dirty and hewn and sporting a British accent, looks like he dressed up as a Spartan from 300 for Halloween. In other words, it'll take more than muscle to prove he works in this role. (May 28)
--Ellen
In topics: Action, Box Office, Digital Video, Fantasy, In-Production, Pretty People, Science Fiction, Time Wasters, Trailer Park, Watch this!
Make-at-Home Merguez
by Amazon al Dente at 12:06 AM PST, November 5, 2009
"Saveur magazine recently ran a cover story on lamb, which inspired us to do some lamb tasting. Our neighborhood butcher usually has fresh local lamb on hand, but they also get in lovely New Zealand lamb. (Can anyone tell the difference?) The first recipe we tried, 'Merguez,' looked like the most complicated of the bunch, but it turned out to be quite easy--a perfect mid-week supper. We used ground lamb from our butcher, instead of grinding lamb shoulder in the food-processor, and the recipe worked perfectly. We served the accompaniments suggested: chopped tomatoes (cherry or grape are best this time of year), red onion, and cucumbers. Instead of serving pita bread, we served hot buttered naan, which we prefer in both flavor and texture to pita. We're adding merguez to our list of recipes that fall into the hard-to-find category of 'fun-and-different' weeknight meals that are both easy and yummy." Once you try it yourself, I bet you will too. Merguez (Spiced Lamb Sausages) Ingredients: Directions: 2. Meanwhile, stir together remaining garlic and oil, yogurt, and basil in a small bowl to make a sauce; season with salt and pepper. Serve merguez on a platter with sauce, chopped vegetables, and flat bread. Serves 4 Saveur, No. 123, October 2009 --Tracy Schneider Tom Douglas's Epicurean Chef's Board Makes the Cut
by Amazon al Dente at 10:36 PM PST, November 4, 2009
Kathryn Bennett says, Really large, useful cutting board Looking for more details on this cutting board? Check out this video of Tom Douglas, showing off his chef skills--plus, get some nice tips on serving up a lamb roast! --KitchenMaus Amazon Vine is a program that allows real Amazon.com customers to review new products. Highly respected Amazon reviewers are sent products and asked to critique them. With reviews on the products' detail pages often before the items are on sale, you can purchase or pre-order with confidence, knowing you have honest, objective opinions from your fellow customers. Amazon does not influence the opinions of Amazon Vine members, nor do we edit or modify their reviews. (Learn more about Amazon Vine) YA Wednesday: New Moon and NaNoWriMo
by Omnivoracious.com at 7:28 PM PST, November 4, 2009
Only 16 days left until the release of New Moon (the movie!). If you can't wait, you can act out scenes from the book, or make up your own, with the Bella Barbie
and Jacob doll
Complete with romance, danger, insufficient parental guardianship, creepy stalker-like behavior, and a vampire prom, Nightlight is the uproarious tale of a vampire-obsessed girl, looking for love in all the wrong places. /Film reports that Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson) have cast the film version of Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story. (Thanks, KidsLit for the news on both these films!) School Library Journal honors Esther Hautzig, author of Endless Steppe, who died this week at 79. At Bookslut Kati Nolfi calls Going Bovine a departure for Libba Bray, "a contemporary dark comedy with supernatural elements ... no ringlet-haired girls and Victorian bodices are on the cover of this book." Justine Larbalestier is giving young would-be writers tips on how to get through this year's NaNoWriMo: "The world will not end if you don’t meet your daily word count. Nor will it end if you don’t have 50,000 words at the end of November." So is Maureen Johnson (Day 3: Points of view). Meg Cabot plugs the new Glee Cast Album. She's also doing NaNoWriMo. This week, the Amazon editors posted their Best of 2009 top 10 picks for teens, and the top 10 customer picks. What book do they have in common? (No surprise!) Catching Fire. Happy reading!--Heidi Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009)
by Omnivoracious.com at 6:16 PM PST, November 4, 2009
I mentioned the death of Claude Levi-Strauss in the Daily News this morning, and I'd love to be able to add a lot more to the story, but mainly I'll just link to some people who know him better than I. The Literary Saloon points to a few of the substantial obituaries that have already appeared, e.g. the LA Times, the Telegraph, and the WSJ. And Rob(ert) Mackey at the NYT's The Lede (who happens to be a great old friend who I'm still beholden to for, among other things, turning me on to Flann O'Brien), links to Edward Rothstein's NYT obit (which I think is the best of all these, if you're reading just one), as well as a number of French-language tributes and video clips. Here's a short snippet from Rothstein's piece:
--Tom 4 SALE - CHEAP
by CarLustBlog.com at 12:54 PM PST, November 4, 2009
This 1979 Dodge Magnum XE--the Dodge equivalent of Ricardo Montalban's B-platform Chrysler Cordoba--has been sitting in a parking lot on West Market Street in Akron for several months, with a for-sale sign on the dash and a suggested retail price on the windshield.
I hope the seller is willing to negotiate, because $1,950 seems wildly optimistic, considering that the car is probably a four-wheeled financial black hole. The trouble starts with the deteriorated paint, the bondo-and-primer job on the door, and the prominent cracks in the soft Corinthian leather seats. At the very least, it will need new upholstery, some significant body repair, and a new paint job before it starts to look presentable. Under the hood, you will likely find a smogified 318 V-8 with the infamous "Lean Burn" spark control computer--not one of Chrysler's better engineering ideas. Figure on some serious bucks to replace the fragile and inefficient Lean Burn with an ignition system that works--along with all the other mechanical gremlins you are likely to find on a thirty-year old car that wasn't all that well put together to begin with. Even if you restored it to better condition than the day it left Windsor, Ontario, it would still be a soft, mushy, oversized, underpowered "personal luxury" car of a type they thankfully don't make any more. There is no rational reason to restore a car like this. So why does a part of me want to go back and copy down the seller's phone number off the sign on the dash? --Cookie the Dog's Owner Omni Daily News
by Omnivoracious.com at 11:35 AM PST, November 4, 2009
Isn't the world ending in 2012?: On the day after an off-year election day, Marc Ambinder notes that the top three GOP frontrunners for 2012 all have books (and big book tours) on the way in the next six months: Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney. Speaking for all PWBJHTPMMATOK?s: At the NYT, novelist/ironist Colson Whitehead celebrates the one-year anniversary of Obama's election (and the apparent end of all racism forever) by offering to be the first secretary of postracial affairs: "Some changes will be minor. In television, 'Diff’rent Strokes' and 'What’s Happening!!' will now be known as 'Different Strokes' and 'What Is Happening?'" You think our Top 100 is long...: The longlist for the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award was announced yesterday. The award is notable both for offering the "world’s most valuable annual literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English" (€100,000), and for having the longest longlist imaginable (156 titles, based on nominations from libraries worldwide). 2008 Booker winner The White Tiger received the most library nominations. Trois livres puissantes: The big literary prize week in France continues, following the awarding of the Prix Goncourt to Marie NDiaye's Trois femmes puissantes, with the Prix Médicis prizes given to two North American writers: Haitian-Canadian Dany Laférriere for L'énigme du retour (available on Amazon.ca) and American Dave Eggers for the translation of What Is the What. (Interested Francophones can check out Amazon.fr's literary prizes page for more.) Moving and shaking: The death at age 100 of anthropology and cultural theory titan Claude Lévi-Strauss (more on that later) sends his books Tristes Tropiques and The Savage Mind to the top of our Movers & Shakers list this morning.
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