trinacriabob

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

He has a really creepy voice also. 

I'll have to give a listen.  I would imagine.

Two words say it all:  Mary Richardson (Kennedy).  I learned of this in the last 6 months or so.

This is what I refer to when Americans, and others, should NOT forget and forgive easily.

Good afternoon:

Is this one ugly s.o.b. or what?  (Not political.) It's all those years of "clean living "

- - - - -

I found this under RFK Jr. laser eyes ... like something out of the "Twilight Zone."

On 5/13/2025 at 10:26 PM, regfootball said:

ah, the elusive 'wheat' interior!

totally gets rid of the dreariness of the usual all black.

and unfortunately, with the CVT.  The Malibu CVT is actually fairly responsive, but it didn't get better mpg than the 6 speed (I had a leased  6 speed and had rented a CVT).

If you can ever find a 2.0 turbo with 9 speed auto and the wheat interior with sunroof, just like this one in the blue, that would the ultimate Malibu find.  There is a very few out there!

I wouldn't have changed to my TourX if this car would have offered an all wheel drive solution somewhere in the model run.

I'm glad you like the color combo like I do.  Plus, it's two-tone inside.  It was a welcomed difference.

I'd prefer the larger displacement and the 6 speed automatic.  I don't need 9 gears!  

Also, the only thing I hate is the kink in the rear C-pillar moulding.  It looks like a fabrication mistake and could have so easily been designed out of the car.

@G. David Felt

I agree with this broad rule of thumb.  I once tried octopus in a seafood salad at a Y2K celebration.  I thought it was chicken.  I kept chewing and it was weird and rubbery.  With my mouth full, I again asked what it was.  I was told "polpo," initially misunderstanding it to be "pollo." I went to the bathroom and spit it out.

I now do eat things I didn't like before - lamb, pork chops, and more shellfish.  The few times I've had lobster lately, the quality seems to have gone down, so I'm not as impressed as I used to be.

- - - - -

What I was going to say ...

People love to talk about cars. 

What may initially start out as a tentative (parking lot) conversation turns enthusiastic when it's genuinely only cars that you want to talk about.

An oldie but a goodie.

It could almost run on just its instrumentals.

Thank you for the responses.  Yes, it's near the sea and seafood is big, but octopus wouldn't go to the top of their list.  Cuts of bigger fish and shrimp would be considerably more common.

I would think ahead and realize that some food is visually off putting, such as octopus and, in the States, alligator or rattlesnake, even if the latter supposedly taste like chicken.  The hostess was of the sort who would be too obtuse to ask.

I worked around the octopus and only ate the rice and condiments in the risotto, so the main dish was not filling.  

A family invited people to dinner.  You didn't ask what they're making.

The main course is an octopus risotto.  And not much else.

I would think that's inappropriate.  I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't want to eat snails in someone's house in France or gator steaks in someone's backyard barbecue in Florida.

Your thoughts on serving a "polarizing" dish like that.

I think that Americans should not forgive as easily as they do.  Forgiveness is overrated.  And that's me speaking as a Catholic.  Those people will continue to pull the same $hi+.

Musk's weirdness and nastiness should not be forgiven and forgotten.  He should have stuck to being a businessman, if you even want to call him that.  People should walk away from products and services offered by rotten people, and that would even include changing doctors, for example. I had a real "winner" of a doctor 3 years ago, as in one rude mofo.

3 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

 

Nicely composed photo.

- - - - -

White smoke ... and I'll never forget where I was/am.  

I am in disbelief.  The new Pope is American.  (There's a reason for everything.)

I could put this in the joke thread, but won't ...

Q:  What do Trump*, Elon Musk*, Luigi Mangione*, and the new Pope** have in common?

A:  Their college degrees (baccalaureate) were all granted in ~ Philadelphia.

* UPenn

** Villanova

About food and the "boot country," there have been some changes due to globalization.  By that, I mean much more interest in fast food, candy bars, and bad snacking.  In the last 20 or so years that I've been coming here almost annually, I can see that the Big Mac attack (translation:  bigger butts) has been more pronounced, and "growing."   The people, primarily younger women, used to be very thin, and now I'm seeing some of the bigger rumps, and jeans to accommodate them, that are part and parcel of Americana.

I love me a Big Mac meal about once a month, wherever I may be, but not much more than that.

32 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I have a really crappy Italian restaurant here in Columbus where you can get much less for a much higher price.

Oh yes.

Also, this way, I skip dinner and/or just eat a snack.

I know most of us here love food.

Here's what €14 got me for lunch:

4 spinach and ricotta cannelloni tubes, a nice piece of swordfish, steamed spinach with tasty garnishes, and a bottle of ice cold water.  Delicious ... and good for you.

I went here yesterday and they didn't have pasta and main choices that were as good.

Big supermarkets tend to have a large cafe' section that features good lunch specials and the locals gladly go there.  And I tend to be cheap, so ...

20 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Electric yes, gasser no, Hyundai can't seem to build reliable gasser engines.

South America is so on my bucket list....

I didn't realize Hyundai ICEs are not reliable.  I thought they were in it for the long haul.

I have trouble with the desert aesthetic for long periods of time.  I have friends in the urban area near PSP and also in the High Desert.  It's sunny and dry, but driving across all the emptiness can become depressing after a while.

The southern part of South America was to my liking.  Chile's capital of Santiago was very, very safe and I've heard it has more crime now.  Its seaside town of Vina del Mar was something.

The south of Chile begins to look like Scandinavia.

Uruguay was my favorite country.

Some songs are timeless and some of the older ones are so honest in their lyrics:

"L.A. is a great big freeway 

Put a hundred down and buy a car

In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star

Weeks turn into years, how quick they pass

And all the stars that never were

Are parking cars and pumping gas"

Classic!

Buona domenica!

Beach of the small town of Donnalucata, Sicily

On 4/30/2025 at 5:36 PM, Robert Hall said:

A coworker recently bought one of these... after seeing them in person, I'd characterize the styling as if Lamborghini made an economy hatchback.  It's a sleek shape with a lot of Lambo in the profile and front.  

My coworker is 5'7", we had an local happy hour a few weeks ago I drove down to Akron and met up w/ my coworkers I hadn't seen in 6 months (as we all work from home), and I rode a few miles in his new Prius..at just under 6'0" my head was right into the roof glass...tight inside.  Neat looking little car, though. 

Ditto to both ...

I have heard one person make the comparison to the Lambo and it was during the time I had the rental.

It's not very upright and I had my issue with the height of the door opening when entering and exiting the car.  It initially was VERY upright and kind of frumpy looking.

MECHANICAL PHOTOS

This is an overall view of the engine bay

This is the placard describing conformance to emission requirements

Yep, count 'em ... there are 4

- - - - - 

END OF PHOTOS

INTERIOR PHOTOS

View of the front of the cabin from the driver's door ... this gives a clearer view of how the 2 main screens are placed on the dashboard

View of the front of the cabin from the passenger's door

This is the main instrument pod and, around the speed readout, the distribution of important data is clear (which seems to be how many pods are now organized, which is appreciated because setting up Bluetooth and all the controls takes a slight amount of time).  There are also green indicators for "ready" and "EV" mode

At times, I did not care for the race car type vantage point from where seated and it took adjustment of the seat and the tilt steering wheel to get it closer to one's comfort level

The console is clean and simple in its layout

It's a tug to the left and forward for reverse ... and a tug to the left and rearward for drive

This is the rear seating area of the passenger cabin

I do like the roofline and the gullwing feature in the rear door ... this shows what over the shoulder visibility looks like

The rear storage area is respectable and, with the roofline, it seems a little more vertical, so it was advantageous to put luggage on its sides

Thankfully, there is this cover over the rear and its texture and attachment is similar to other cars ... and, in Toyota, it was similar to the one in their economy car Aygo that they sell in Europe

EXTERIOR PHOTOS

Side view ... and some palm trees

Angled front view

Angled rear view ... note the interesting taillamp arrangement

Low-slung, sports car appearance, yet it's a practical small HEV sedan that's come a long way

Today I'm deep fried in "trinacria" ...

Three days of this.  I didn't want to leave and go to a more rural place with no view in another area.  The outline across is the Italian mainland, so I'm about 30 miles south of Messina, where the distance across the strait is about a mere 1.5 miles.

As I'm traveling south on the autostrada after checking out, this pullout with an Autogrill has a nice view of Mt. Etna.

I went into a store to pick up some groceries and saw this:  Fonzies and Cipster!  Cipster is spelled for Italian phonetics because Chipster would be pronounced "Keep-stare."

While going for a haircut based on Google reviews, I passed by this place. I had to take a photo showing the "team spirit."

I learned of this today.  This is interesting and even hilarious.

https://news.delta.com/media/image/60136

Delta will soon start flying from JFK to Sicily daily through early fall.  It makes sense and eliminates that extra step.  Instead of Palermo, the island's capital, it will go to Catania, the second city but busier airport, since the beach resorts and Mt. Etna are on that side of the island.

I'm betting the passengers will be quite a bit more colorful than on the JFK to Rome flight.

I don’t know if this vehicle, a Toyota Prius Hybrid HEV, represented an upgrade.  It’s just what I was assigned as a mid-size rented vehicle for 3 days. 

I had a general idea that this vehicle was recently refreshed and that it looked a lot better.  As I got closer to it and got into it, I was able to get a better look.  The new Prius looks a lot better than I recall a Prius ever looking.  It looks sleek, sporty, and even sort of low-slung.  Interesting exterior features show that they made this a priority.  The front lights and fascia are thin and understated, working well with the more unified exterior.  The rear fascia is definitely Prius’s own and it gives the car some interesting, angled vantage points.  They even incorporated gullwing handles into the sedan’s rear doors and, having once had these in the last rendition of the W-body Buick Regal coupe, I like their look and just plain using them.

Its low-slung aspect can present a slight demerit.  The windshield and profile of the front doors is very raked and, as a person of average height, I had to duck a little more than usual to enter the car.  Similarly, the rear backlite borders on almost being horizontal.  This does give the rear storage area a little more usable height.

Inside, the front pillars’ rake is mitigated by fixed renditions of what used to be vent windows in older cars.  However, they still seem to block an instinctive sight line compared to more upright vehicles like the current Camry and Corolla.  Inside, the feeling is more cockpit-like.  Similarly, the rear view has the thicker pillars and flatter backlite that require more proactive work – looking over the shoulder attentively and using the amber traffic monitoring warnings in the outside mirrors.  A complementary feature is the chime that assisted lane changes.

The Prius has a 4-cylinder engine that seems to spend more time in EV mode than did the hybrid Camry.  That means good fuel economy and, over 3 days, I only added 6 gallons for between 200 and 300 miles of motoring. 

In terms of power, handling, and roadability, the Prius gets mixed comments from me.  It does have agility when the pedal is pressed and it moves from eco to power mode.  It also eases upward to higher than anticipated highway speeds if not paying attention!  The transmission is a CVT with a “faux” first gear and it works well.  The Prius has a more noticeable wheezing sound when in reverse gear, which actually advises those inside the car and near it.  However, when pushed, the powertrain gets buzzy, as in noisy.  But at steady speed, any engine noise is not that noticeable. 

The vehicle’s handling, smoothness, and quietness vary.  Handling is always nimble and, even at highway speeds, it maneuvers adeptly.  The ride is mostly smooth.  However, noise control could use some improvement.  Some of that can come from the tires they equip the car with, fitted with aluminum wheels that hearken to the ones on Tesla products.  That said, it’s hard to tell if the drone is tire thum or wind.  However, if you prioritize handling among these, I was surprised to see how well the Prius handles … on the highway, on city streets, and even in tight parking spaces, where 3-point attempts are rarely necessary.

The cockpit is unusual and very different from yesterday’s Priuses, which I’ve only seen and never driven or been a passenger in one.  I remember how the first model had an oval main instrument pod set up on the cowl in the middle of the dashboard but angled toward the driver.  Today’s Prius has thin and smaller pods, almost set on ledges that seem to staircase down as the cowl approaches the driver.  The main panel looks like a small tablet that is set quite far from the steering wheel.  Depending on how the wheel is titled, there could be some visibility issues seeing all the information.  This required adjusting the wheel and the seating height.  Also, the front seat can be very far from the pedals.  So, while the door is low, taller drivers might like this potential distance. 

The infotainment center sits slightly forward of the main instrument screen and is conventionally placed atop the center stack.  Thankfully, it continues with touch operation as opposed to being operated via a remote dial.  Most functions are the ones you’ve known for a while, so setting things up doesn’t take long.  I did struggle a little with the Android Auto, even though the Bluetooth pairing was quick.  Note that, while the Camry has USB-C ports, the Prius does not.  Further down on the center stack, the climate control is easy to work with (not the 3-dial type that so many exports and even domestics have) and the A/C blows colder a little quicker than in the last Camry I drove. 

The console deck is about the right height and its overall dimensions, including the box, are generous.  The compactness of the shift lever is sort of fun … think of a small underpowered low-cost EV Corvette! When going into gear, it’s not about moving the selector linearly.  A quick jog to the left and up toward the instrument panel is for reverse while that same quick jog followed by a rearward move puts the vehicle in drive.  It doesn’t take long to get used to this.  Also, the park feature is easy to work with.  Just push in P when stopped and, whether in reserve or drive, the gear selector goes to park.  The only thing is that it is not forgiving when shifting the lever … your foot must be firmly on the brake, so no slipshod maneuvers. 

The seating is comfortable and the buckets seem a little high, but this offers support from top to bottom.  The same is true in the rear of the cabin and the headrests do intrude with an already thicker rear sail panel / C-pillar.  Legroom in the rear also seems good and the length of the vehicle allows for that.  Space is sensibly distributed in the 3 volumes from front to back.

I always thought a Prius would have something daunting or different about it.  Its look is different in that it lost its first-gen look that looked like an upright Nissan Versa of 2016 … sort of like the runt of the litter that is on the run because it has been kicked in the rump.  This Prius looks planted.  Upon pushing the prominent and easy to use “power” button on the dash, there will be no noise and the dash will literally tell you when it, and you, are “ready” to go.

It's a smaller but roomy vehicle where the price isn’t a bargain, but not that steep in today’s terms.  I find there are a few things that I wasn’t crazy about – the height, the main instrument pod sitting in the distance, and not the best noises suppression – but I liked most other things about it.  With so many Priuses going the long haul, this one will probably do the same … and look a lot more presentable while doing it.

- - - - -

PHOTOS FORTHCOMING

3 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Houston strikes me as one of the last places I would want to live in the USA. 

I'm laughing.  

There are always reasons why things are "discounted."

With me, it's DFW and Austin that give me heartburn.  San Antonio, too, even though I don't know it as well.  I just don't like the look of the DFW area, whether natural or built.  I don't like Austin for being the governmental engine of a big red place next to a massive university with over 50,000 students that is a big blue place.  I'm more of a moderate and don't want extremes in either element.  I also don't like the "way cool" leanings in Austin.

Houston has its negatives, but I'd take it for nearby Galveston, and water in general, the extensive pinewoods, the dark red brick homes, an attractive downtown, and for being America's most ethnically diverse city that has always rolled with that spirit.  There is no "you shouldn't be here" factor.  IIR, I've heard of a saying about Madrid that goes, 'When you're in Madrid, you're from Madrid.'  Having lived in various places, I pay attention to those subleties.

Just now, Robert Hall said:

My sister used to work out there at Conoco Phillips...did a consulting contract for a couple of years that had her flying between Phoenix, Bartlesville, OK (in and out of Tulsa airport) and Houston most every week.  Said the drivers on I-10 outside Houston were among the worst she'd seen.. 

For being a large metro area, people are unusually nice at restaurants, stores, etc., and even strike up conversations with you in coffee places, but they become demonic on their big freeways.  I'm put into high defense mode when I drive there.  Add the big highways and multi-lane boulevards in big Florida cities to that.

23 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Having worked in energy not long after this happened and going through SOX audits was..... fun

I remember a little about oil and gas among energy segments.  So much of it relies on estimates to account for DD&A (depreciation, depletion, and amortization), which can really change the financials.  But I'm sure they can audit a lot of things in energy - financial, operational, and more, as in many ways to skin a cat and a lot to look out for. 

When I've flown into Houston and you fly over the renowned insanely wide I-10 between the Galleria and Katy, that's now known as the Energy Corridor, it reminds me of these topics ... and how many of those people may occupy the nearby newer McMansions out that way!

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I will definitely have to look into that movie. I watched a documentary on Enron on Netflix a few years ago. I think it may be this movie, but I don't 100% recall the title, so I'm not sure. That whole situation is incredibly interesting to me and I love to learn more about it. 

It very well could have been.  There's a lot of recounting personal experiences and mini "interviews" in the film.  I liked it more than I thought I would.