trinacriabob

Really? It seems more difficult to "get off" in general with the passage of time.

Most people would not construe that comment as particularly inflammatory. It was a blighted casino that wasn't cutting it. Atlantic City, in general, doesn't measure up to what it should have been. Implosions are rare and complex events, requiring a lot of planning and with no room for error, so they're sort of nifty in a weird way. I've only seen one and it was that of the Kingdome in Seattle in 2000. Too bad, because I liked the Kingdome. Closer to your turf, the implosion of some stadium, possibly where the Eagles once played ... not sure, on the south side of Philly along the Delaware River was one of the more interesting ones, with the collapse following the circular form of the stadium. And you took my last comment incorrectly. It applies to a lot of people who react the same way when they can't back up anything discussing a weighty topic. So, in addition to you, it would be some ridiculous and not very enlightened friends of my late mom, a few clueless neighbors of mine, etc. I agree, Olds. It's that it's done consistently, as is the situation with the confused vote, and with no added commentary, which doesn't have to be present, but NEVER is. And it's done in a little kid, "cat ate the canary," smart-alecky sort of way.

The reactionary down votes on here are both perplexing and interesting. I'm not advocating extended dialogue on this venue, but if people are going to disagree with you, both parties should have at least 10 to 15 minutes worth of relevant, detailed, and factual back up at hand. Reactionary people don't seem to grasp that. That's why they resort to being reactionary.

Some implosions are better than others ...

I wake up every February 9 and realize that's an important day in the history of the city if a person is an Angeleno. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the big 1971 Sylmar quake. The original movie "Earthquake" with Charlton Heston and Genevieve Bujold was based on this event. The Northridge quake of 1994, aka the MLK quake of January 17, also had its epicenter nearby in the San Fernando Valley, but was stronger. One thing these quakes had in common is that the especially high and long span ramp from the California 14 freeway to I-5 collapsed. They are bizarre events. There's a muted rumble like a distant freight train in addition to the shaking, and you instinctively run to put yourself under a door frame or something structural. They're definitely working on it, but we really need some think tanks like Stanford, Caltech, and Berkeley to come up with more reliable seismic prediction technology.

Sheez, I would have liked to have a photo upon starting this month's car spotting thread, but I was driving on the freeway a ways behind it. I saw a '95 or '96 Buick Riviera in a candy apple red metallic color which may have been an extra cost color that year. There's nothing really off the charts about such a sighting except that you don't see them that often, it was in excellent condition, and, from the rear, and rear 3/4, views, the strong fender flanks and the almost oval shape of the slightly inset rear fascia and tail lamp assembly make a pretty strong (and good) statement. (I am definitely not a fan of what I call its preying mantis front end.)

Not this movie, but another movie ... It's amazing how powerful Hollyweird can be, though. BBHC (Before Beverly Hills Cop), a Chevy Nova was a Chevy Nova. ABHC, they were epic. You would look to see who was driving one ... and why. If they ever rebooted the Chevy Nova, they can run an "Axel Foley edition." Two likely drawbacks to that: 1) it may not be politically correct, and 2) it is more and more conceivable that larger swaths of the vehicle buying public may not be familiar with, or get, the "once in a decade" movie that is "Beverly Hills Cop."

Right now, my random yet persisting thought is this: And, you can think about it all you want and never have to think of "Oc(ea)n Blu(e)" because it is not an ocean, but a gulf. Pensacola Beach, FL for the win!

More so than what kind of car to get next, I have been giving more and more ... and MORE ... thought to getting one of these:

Steel towns and coal mining towns equal tough lives. No doubt. But, my God, being surrounded by homemade and authentic Italian, Greek, Polish, and Slavic food would be way too tempting for me.

I'm going to guess that the proprietorship had some ties to the area around the Bay of Naples or they wouldn't have named the place that. Neapolitans make the best thin crust pizza. Here's an interesting tidbit: among Italian comedians who use Italian life as a basis for their jokes, about 75% of their material is based on the dialects and antics of Neapolitans and Sicilians, for being way out there compared to central and northern Italians. And, thankfully, the subjects are not at all uptight about it ... the Neapolitans and the Sicilians know they're goofy and really eat up this type of comedy.

God, I love some good grated parmesan/romano cheese over a nice plate of al dente pasta with a tomato-mushroom sauce.

In a weird way, this Riv looks good from that angle. I don't know why. This model of Riv photographs differently from various angles. The same holds true for the '92 Riv, for example. This same angle for that newer Riv looks very good, as do several others, while others look just ok. IMHO, it's sad that the artistry of sculpting sheet metal to make for interesting vehicle silhouettes has dwindled.

CREATE a PLATE The California DMV has special interest plates options including one series called "plates for kids." The symbols are 1) a hand (hello), 2) a heart (love), 3) a star, and 4) a plus sign (to do some math, I guess) - they take the place of 1 character Examples of them might be: Possibly: "Hello or hi SHYS" Definitely: "I love Cal State Univ. Long Beach" (I don't know why someone would) - - - - - So I thought of one: "(hand for hello or hi) NOW GFY" Peace.

Yikes, this gives "passing the sniff test" a new meaning.

This is already on YouTube in about 5 to 10 variations. Take your pick. And just because Ah-nold got his vaccine. He always says goofy sh!t. While not quite "Hasta la vista, baby," this "Come with me if you want to live" quip may also get bronze plated.

When I see sh!t like this, it makes me wonder who, among well known C&G members, are candidates to attend Burning Man ... and who are not.

My random thought is this beautiful photo while looking to find the timing of peak color in Quebec. This is the kind of stuff I dream of: Too bad it doesn't indicate which town in the Laurentian region this is ...

Looks like those ranch homes have some "ranch dressing." I notice the kink in the C pillar more than I notice the snow! But that's just me. As long as it's reliable. And, like the slogan under Gov. Jim Florio once said, "New Jersey & you ... perfect together."

I did not like the short, short Riviera. It didn't look like a lot of bang for the buck. They rectified the issue and cleaned it up a few years later. The version available in '92 looked plenty fine. A parallel analogy holds for the Toronado.

Love that view of Denver. I like it more when the trees are greener and the photos feature City Park and its castle-like building in the foreground. Also, I'm thinking that photographers work their magic with the zoom feature to pull in the Front Range beyond and make it look closer than it really is. Love any view of the long bridges on US 1 on the Florida Keys and all that warm, turquoise water. Haven't been south of Miami for a very long time.

Q: What do you call the person who graduated in last place within their medical school class? - - - - - A: "Doctor."

This I like. Some big time Parthenon action going on at its grille, which is interesting, but the C pillar and the landau roof are only "slightly" on the thick side. This Riv has to be given credit for venturing out onto its own, so to speak, and not scabbing onto the obscure "safety" of sharing a LeSabre platform and powertrain as it did in its previous iteration.

Right now, I have Florida on the brain. So, when I think of glass, I think of glass block, seen often in Miami Beach. I also think of this song, "Heart of Glass" ... one of her "top 3:" Then, as I was posting, a strange coincidence occurred to me. From what I know, Deborah Harry (Blondie) is native to Miami but, upon being adopted as an infant, was raised in New Jersey.

I just spotted these. What a hoot. As for the latter, students at Notre Dame could hold that opinion, much like students at Chico State in CA could and probably do. Voila ... where you can "theoretically" get a Bachelor of Arts in Party Attendance (a BAPA).