trinacriabob

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

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

olfactory

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

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

baked potato

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

lethal

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

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

I stopped by the Saturn dealership tonight to look at the Aura. It is attractive and nicely proportioned. I will go back to see it when they are open so I can sit inside. I don't think I'd want one because it didn't possess the "gotta have it" factor for me. I, too, read the 4 out of 6 ranking. I was expecting 2nd, but no less than 3rd. It's about time they acknowledge the Camry is as bland as the day is long. This isn't the first time that a Japanese product is eclipsed by GM. When the Olds Intrigue hit the scene is 1998, it nudged out Camry AND Maxima according to Road and Track who tends to be kind of high-brow anyway. Have never driven a Maxima, but, in the late 1990s the Intrigue tracked so much more reassuringly than the Camry...by a noticeable margin.

OK, so there is some resemblance to some current VW products. It's not extreme, it's just that most of us (who have design sense or we wouldn't post on C&G) might pick up on this.I am not saying it's bad. I hope the car is successful. It's a turn in the right direction for GM. I think the ultimate test will be seeing it in person. I came onto the forum/site when the LaCrosse was being unveiled and the "Taurus/not a Taurus" debate was heated. When you see the LaCrosse, then you realize there's a lukewarm resemblance to the Taurus, but it's pretty clearly a mid-sized Buick.

LOL. I think the area you speak of is "sensory overload." Too funny, TYD.I think I told you I stayed at the Days Inn (Carlton and Yonge) next to the Maple Leaf Gardens when I was there. It was convenient with the subway entrance smack in front of the hotel. One day, I went around the corner to the CAA office (AAA for us) on Yonge to get some maps. This obviously (bitchy, I might add) male homosexual was at the counter. When I asked him for maps to get to some Toronto suburbs, he got all pissy as if I was a loser that had no life. It's amazing how some in-town types have a disdain for the suburbs. Maybe THEY need to get a life.

Thanks to all of you guys for the advice.I went to the hospital tonight and he was happy to see me. I stayed about 45 minutes and he talked "shop" a lot...I told him, when he gets home, he needs to just hang out and get his strength back up, so he needs to FORGET about work for a while. As I approached the room, his MD was in there talking to him and it looks like he has been through a lot and that he will be looking at some recovery time. Yikes. As for something to read, I went to Barnes and Noble afterwards looking for a pictorial book I could buy for him - he's thinking of retiring Idaho or Montana way.

leprechaun

Muito obrigado, o minho amigo! O ultimo test e o 14 de Maio!A verdade e que eu aguardo o minho viagem pela Europa no verao mais...ya tenho os minhos bilhetes transatlanticos e tamben os bilhetes Europeos com a Iberia Linhas de Espanha: ida Roma-Porto e voltando Valencia-Roma...eu vou ir a Madeira e Valencia (Espanha) pela primeira vez. Quando volto na Italia, vou con os minhos primos a Sardenha, Bolonha, Veneza e Alemanha (Munich). Nao posso aguardar!

jackpot

I loaded up on THREE night classes (9 semester credits) and should wrap up this degree in mid-May. Last night was my last mid-term. Kind of tough, actually. So, now it's time to go away. I leave for Las Vegas on Sunday (should be toasty) and then for LA on Wednesday, triangulating back up next Saturday. Booked a while ago so I got real cheap fares (each leg under $ 100). I am itching for some poolside r & r and sunshine. How about those of you celebrating Spring Break? Any plans?

obtuse

stunned

I keep seeing the new Jetta around. As much as I would not own one, it is much improved. That being said, I cannot help but notice too much Jetta in the new Malibu: overall side profile, greenhouse and door shapes, and trunk height and contours. It really jumps out at me. I think the Malibu will be a hit and I hope so. However, GM needs to stop siphoning some overall design themes (Malibu from Jetta and Enclave from Lexus). That's my humble opinion, anyway. Obviously, I voted yes.

Agreed. They are dip$h!s. A metallic light steel blue is also a great car color, having had several. It may not work for the GP, but it belongs on the Impala and the Buick stable (LaX, Lucerne, etc.)

I want to know about the chicks you've met there that Mama was inquiring about, possibly because she wants you to bring them to her place to meet her. :AH-HA_wink:Seriously, the gym is a big anti-depressant and, after the endorphin high, there's a mellowing period where the heart rate comes down. That's a real nice feeling. I've lost 5 lbs. in the last 2 weeks, but that's because I ain't on the job where the candy bar jug was always stocked and the kitchen always had some type of a spread present.

WMJ: 3.5 Impalas w/o flex fuel also make it to 31 mpg on the higway. Same rig as the MC. I'm so tired of the knee-jerk "write-off" of American cars by idiots in the market.

verbatim