trinacriabob

Y2K (cue the music from "Jaws")

I'm usually not a fan of things presented in posh English (think Robin Leach's "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"), but this is well done, as are the photography and the topic. In Florida, their population is such that there is about 1 alligator for every 20 people. Sink your teeth into that.

'77 was amusing, IIR (twinned with the Ford Elite coupe?) and I liked '90 somewhat, though I prefer the '94 to '96 for the sheet metal improvements. The latter was a nice coupe when outfitted with the 4.6L V8 - a decent combination of power, smoothness, and fuel mileage.

You did?!? I'm going to vote on the Monte Carlo with sideways squiggly Coke bottle headlamps. - - - - - You blink and you miss it or, should I say, you blink and things change. Since we've been discussing when the next Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 will arrive, I looked at the current website to see what these cars are up to. They pretty much continue as we know them. But I found something interesting. In both 2020 and 2021, the basic Chrysler 300 is back to standard cloth seats, in both black and tan. With tan, you still get a black dashboard and other trim bits. That's cost control at work. We saw the same thing with the very last Grand Prix sedan. Changing the entry level seat offerings to cloth probably enables them to keep the price point of around $30 K MSRP. If you think about, when you change the sofa you order from fabric to leather (not something I'd do), the price goes way up. Both still beautiful vehicles - inside and out - in my book.

Some of these cars were certainly hit with the ugly stick, with that Thunderbird and Cadillac Cimarron ruling the ugly roost. The Camaro was fine, but I preferred the same year's Firebird, and, for some reason, I sort of liked Pontiac's 6000, and certainly more so than either the Olds Ciera or the Buick Century.

Souvlaki

@David Thank you for all these great photos. Incredible. I've never been to Vancouver Island (and Victoria), yet I've been to Vancouver (city) between 50 and 100 times. I feel that the ferry ride from the principal ferry port (Tsawwassen, BC, I believe, south of the city of Vancouver) is a little expensive if you were to bring on a vehicle. It was to me. Sure, you can be a "walk aboard," but then it's a pain to get into Victoria and get around using transit. On the other hand, doing the "walk aboard" on the WSF system from downtown Seattle to either Bremerton or Bainbridge is an incredible experience and "reasonably" priced. You always want to take out of town guests on that for the incredible views and endless photos you can take. I've even brought on my car a few decades ago and it was doable ($). I haven't priced it lately. Wow, just like WA, the population of British Columbia has boomed. I remember when it had 3 million people. I'm being a geek now ... British Columbia - 4.6 million Vancouver metro - 2.6 million Vancouver city - almost 700,000, similar to Seattle Vancouver Island - 870,000, like you said, but look at that land mass! About 370,000 of those folks live in the greater Victoria area, meaning most of the island - about the size of Idaho's panhandle - is not populated.

Comment: this one isn't a household word; it was a transatlantic that sank near the Canadian coast, if I recall. - - - - - response to thread: Gelato

@riviera74 Another birthday greeting from me, with not much time left in the day but, nonetheless, still official and not belated. Hope you had a great day.

Vancouver Island is supposed to be incredible. It is not related to the city of Vancouver. That's why I've never been there. Vancouver Island sits across the wide Strait of Georgia and requires an expensive ferry ride to get there. The only recognizable names on the island might be Victoria and Namaimo (tasty Nanaimo bars were named after this town). The island is enormous and is hardly populated. One of its not so great aspects is a fairly high incidence of mountain lion and human encounters. Western Canada seems to have more of these than the Western U.S. Nanaimo bars! You can definitely get these when getting coffee in Canada. Not so much in most of the U.S.

I looked up the stats on this 2017 and 2018 truck and it was aluminium. I, too, was surprised. If a mainstream car maker is making an all cast iron engine for a vehicle at a good price point, someone needs to let me know!

Right. It lives on. An acquaintance has it in a basic Chevy truck. Like the last 5.7, it would be an all aluminum (block and heads) unit.

A very random thought: I can't help but wonder if AOC has AOL?

Ok, you look at current goings-on and see some shocking negative news about someone famous during this long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Four years ago on this same long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, there was high profile news about another famous person. Within the last few days, soccer star Diego Maradona of Argentina died. He died of heart failure and was 60. This is the guy who led Argentina to the World Cup victory in 1986 and was depicted on the side of an Aerolineas Argentinas 747. After his soccer career ended, he dealt with addiction, poor health, poor habits, significant weight gain, and a lot of drama. Before any burial, his casket was at the Casa Rosada, the one with the balcony from which Eva Peron addressed the people, so that the mourning fans of Buenos Aires and Argentina could pay their respects. At about the same time 4 years ago, Fidel Castro died. In contrast, Miami's Little Havana district was roaring with celebrations. I was in South Florida for Thanksgiving that year - booked months in advance - and happened to see it. Castro and Diego Maradona were friends. Castro invited Diego Maradona to Cuba and Maradona supposedly went there as his guest. I wanted to check the dates. They both died on November 25, though 4 years apart. Sad news about Diego Maradona. I wasn't expecting to come across something like this anytime soon.

An epic vehicle that made so much sense and that Cadillac dialed just right. As for this one, I prefer the stock grille to the one shown and think much darker burgundy leather seats would be better than these bright red ones. I would like to experience riding in one ... or driving one. It would be interesting to see how well Cadillac retained the Cadillac in a significantly smaller vehicle.

Anymore, these look like something from a communist country

Incredible. I would love to take ViaRail, Canada's national railway system, across Canada and through the Canadian Rockies and view a lot of it from the dome car. - - - - - I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Here's the drill: buffet - tryptophan - nap - rinse (decompress) - do not repeat, at least for a good while ...

Woodstock

It's definitely a Boeing 737. It also looks like this image piggybacks onto a Ryanair livery - they're the "Southwest Airlines of Europe," but there ain't no free 2 bags on Ryanair ... quite the opposite. I found this photo funny. Check out the front door, too.

I have never been to Montana. Love the photos of Glacier National Park with snow capped peaks and hillsides full of lupine and evergreens. I've been to the Idaho panhandle (Coeur d'Alene) and could have crossed over to Montana easily and should have done it. However, I have been to Sandpoint, Idaho on my way up to Canada to see Banff and Calgary. Little did I know at the time that Sandpoint was Sarah Palin's hometown. A friend of mine's sister lived in Montana for a while. My friend is Cuban and so is his sister. Her husband is Anglo and very pale. They lived in an area of smaller towns. She would go into small businesses and, in casual conversation, was asked what reservation or tribe she was from! She is very good at poking fun at herself and thought it was funny. It is, and so is her telling the stories. Only about 1 million people live in all of Montana. Californians got their share of flack when they started to move in. Some were equity refugees, some were retirees, and a smaller batch were Hollywood types who bought ranches to get away from it all. Not all the newcomers stay.

The 2005-2009 LaCrosse also pushed this design dynamic. With that inset lamp between the headlamps and the grille, and the rounded hood channel leading up to it, reviewers have made the comparison to Jaguar. The rear tail lamps on the car are trying to say Mercedes. Of the very last cars Buick put out, the Regal was definitely Euro-Germanic while the Verano and 3rd gen and final LaCrosse were unmistakably American.

Thank you, David. I didn't know if I'd like it but, aside from its not having a temperature gauge, it was sort of enjoyable to putt around in this little car.

Photo Gallery EXTERIOR View of the Spark with the Minnesota State Capitol in the background View of the Spark at the MSP viewing area - this unit had alloy wheels, but many do not Doesn't this take one back to the door handle for W-body coupes from 1988 to 1996? This is how the rear door handles are set up. The Spark is not very wide INTERIOR Overall view of the dashboard Angled view of dashboard, console, and gear selector Spark main instrument cluster - (from left to right) fuel gauge, tach, speedo, and info box, with warning lights for other functions This is the center stack; the vents are slightly low if air conditioning was being sought Here are the ubiquitous GM climate control dials, be it for this Spark or their upline vehicles. Maybe making so many of them and putting them into so many cars makes them more reliable? Here is the typical GM hardware for power windows, power door locks, and power adjustable outside mirrors This system of having both a shelf and a glove box is useful Cloth seating is black is standard in the Spark; this vehicle had an armrest, but note that there is no console with a storage bin This demonstrates rear legroom in this small 5-door hatchback and a trippy cup holder and other recessed area between the seating spaces; the seats on this one were 60-40 and can fold down to augment trunk space While it's a little chunky, visibility was adequate, partially because of the more upright rear back lite ... this is actually better than some rear pillars I've seen in many late model cars The trunk is on the smaller side and has the much needed cover. Suitcases can be put in on their sides to maximize space. Again, here you see the 60-40 split of the rear seats. GM got this right, and I like having that slot to insert one's hand to bring down the trunk or hatch door. It's even included on this entry level car. MECHANICAL We've known the Ecotec branding of (4 cylinder) GM engines for about 2 decades plus, if I'm not mistaken GM engine compartments are among the more cleanly and clearly laid out ones and, of course, a shroud over the top of the spark plugs and the manifold and intake area helps make them look that way - - - - - END OF PHOTOS

As we head into winter, the world down under (and I'm not even referring to Australia) is toward the end of spring and approaching summer. I couldn't help but think of Punta del Este, Uruguay again. I found a cool video about it and the lady highlighting its key sites in Spanish has an English translator talking over her. The English speaker doesn't conflict with the Spanish all that much and you can zero in on what you might have learned in high school or college. What a place, this Punta del Este. And she didn't even get to discussing more scenic places that are within short driving distance.

@David A predator is always more of a menace than an angry appliance, unless the angry appliance is inside your home ... and the predator is not.