FUTURE_OF_GM

152-154 MPH in a F4 Camaro... A buddy and I were trying to peg the speedo. We let off of it because of an appraoching curve and because the nose was beginning to get a little light. 110 MPH in my 1973 Camaro.. I backed out of it there because at the time I ran 4 inch wide VW tires on the front (previous owner set it up that way, I personally didn't care for it) 110 MPH in a '73 Camaro with 4 inch tires on the front is 1) Pretty damn hard to keep straight, especially if you hit gravel (we have a lot of 'washes' here in the mountains and 2) Very unsafe for obvious control and weight reasons. I also was a little nervous because that's when I used to run the old Quadra Jet carb on it. The Quadra Jet had been known to "hang open" more than once and in one of my very first high speed runs it actually did "hang open" at about 95 MPH. After stomping on it (trying to jar the cable loose) and only making things worse, I eventually had to kill the switch and coast to a stop on the side of the road. NOT A GOOD FEELING! These days I hardly ever run the Camaros hard simply because I've tied too much $$$ and hard work up in them to take the chance of bending them up. That's why I want a newer Trans Am or something of that nature, so I can play around more.

A.K.A. The oil companies set the prices at whatever the hell they want... Which SHOULD be and would've been illegal back before our government became an arm of big business.

This is probably one of the funniest things I've watched in a VERY long time! It's very 'common sense'

Typical Califiornia liberals.... "Live FREE!!! as long as it's the way we want you to live" Unfortunately, our government tends to follow California on a lot of it's legislation. If bull$h! like this continues, we'll eventually be regulated into a communist state of living. What's next California?!?! A limit on how many children we can have? Then again, most of Cali is made up of pompous, 'control-by shame' fasion and trend ninnies anyway.

This is excellent! Chevrolet should not be OBLIGATED to stick with this agency just because of their history together. In fact, I'd say just change the damn account for the sake of change; 80 years worth of working together probably has STALE written all over it. Better yet; just shake up ALL of the accounts for the sake of new energy. Chevrolet hasn't had a decent commercial in this market in a long time... (The "Our Country" ads are decent, but not earth shattering and certainly NOT as good as the Toyota Tundra ads.) Pontiac's marketing has gotten better but it still isn't that impressive, yet more impressive than Buick's. GMC generally has good marketing, as does Hummer. I don't think I've seen a Saab commercial in years and NOTE TO GM: the new Saturn marketing sucks and the new Cadillac ads are so bad that they could be considered a crime against GM, the division itself nd possibly america in general.

I agree 100% I love old rap, you know, the rap that actually meant something unlike this 'hoes and slades' $h! that sells today. As far as MetallicA being gray; yep, they are, but that god-awful (Biff from Back to the Future) look James has going on now doesn't help any. Honestly, I don't really think James' voice has changed that much. What I think has changed is 1) The quality of the recordings--lets face it, James sounds better with some distortion. 2) The WAY James sings-- After he blew his vocal chords on the Black album he underwent vocal coaching for the first time ever and that resulted in the more melodic yell/sing style that has carried on since Load/Re-Load as opposed to the straight yelling of the first 5 albums. 3) The intensity of James in general is not what it used to be and he even admits it. One reason for this is simply age and another reason for this is sobriety. In the NPR interview he reveals that he is now a very different person on stage because he has a different (less angry/less negative) outlook on life. It's funny how metal singers voices change in short amounts of time. For example; listen to Corey Taylor of Slipknot on the first album and compare it to the most recent album. David Draiman of Disturbed is another person who has had a lot of vocal problems and sounds "just a tick off" where he was when the band started. Guess it happens to everyone.

Dude, you're gettin' a pink slip! I use a Dell laptop and I've been very happy with it. However, my GF uses a Mac and I really like it so I think I might make the switch in a year or so.

I agree that SOAD has a very robust sound (which is an excellent thing and probably contributes a lot to their success) I agree 100%... Metal is built on angst and strife (Just like a lot of rap) and once the band finds success or ages, it's extremely hard to 'follow up' with the same energy. Because of this, most metal bands do their best work in their first one or two albums (For example: KoRn) And subsequently, that's why a lot of metal bands are political as well, becuase it's always easy to find something in politics or religion that rubs you the wrong way. I am a fan of the 'Loads' more for the lyrics and vocals than the music. I think James voice sounded great (Not too thrash, yet still edgy) The lyrics are VERY dark and revealing. (Remember, James went through therapy at the same time these songs were written) and having been in that same situation where I'm trying to find myself and understand my feelings, the albums just really got me through a lot of hard times in life. For the record, I'm also a classical and bluegrass fan.

It's because we're HONEST and 'REAL' people. No bull$h!, no 'fronts' just straightforward; we know what we like people. I'm so jealous! I was front row in the pit for Summer Sanitarium 2003. They played all old stuff except the 3 "St. Anger" songs and 2 "Re-Load" songs. Then I caught them again in 2004 (with Godsmack) The line up consisted of ALL old stuff and the final encore (to my delight) was Damage Inc. They put on one helluva show, it's a little piece of heaven. LOL. Amen brother... It's almost like the record companies are "cheaping out" on the sound simply to make more money on the albums. The poor quality of some of the heavy metal bands today is just ridiculous. That's one reason I've fallen in love with Swedish Metal so much lately; the albums are so well done. I listen to a lot of In Flames, Soilwork and Children of Bodom (although I'm not sure that they're swedish--but it's the same sound) I agree 100%... Perfect example: Listen to "Live $h!; Binge & Purge" by MetallicA and then put in "S & M" by MetallicA; there is no comparison. "S&M" falls flat on it's face on the intensity and "rich-ness" (If you will) scale. Everything I've read about the forthcoming album gives me hope. It's supposed to be a lot like "Master Of Puppets" and they're perfecting the songs before they even begin recording them. They gave Bob Rock the boot (THANK GOD!!!) and hired Rick Rubin (Slipknot/Slayer) He told them to 'design an album that defines what MetallicA is. I personally love St. Anger for what it is which means I love it because of the brutal thrash sound, tempo changes, odd drums and raw nature. However, it IS NOT MetallicA and doesn't hold a can of worms next to their best work. I agree... It's become more of a business than an art. Nowadays bands go in and write 12 songs that have the same 'signature' sound and are constructed the same. That's why I, for one, love "Load" & "Re-Load" Sure, they don't represent what MetallicA was when it started, but each of the songs had it's own personality. I recently acquired "Cannibal" by Static X and I LOVE the album, but it's very generic and will not age well IMO because unless you're into the details of the music (as I am) it all sounds the same. Agree 100%... manufactured rock music that's made to play in clubs and on the top 20, just like MOST rap and ALL pop. Would LOVE to see Rammstein, that guy has one of the best voices in metal.

I vote Electra....

I find myself feeling that way too lately. It's like the last 5 years of my life just passed by in what amounts to a year. I'm starting to feel 'old' and 'un-cool' (*GASP!*) It's seems that "the kids these days" annoy the hell out of me and I'm beginning to feel that "pop culture" is stupid. Whereas not even a year ago I felt that I WAS "the kids these days" and WAS a part of "pop culture" Oh well, life goes on...

A supercharged Vette... A supercharged CTS-V... A new GOAT. I think it's safe to say the floods gates have opened at GM.

Wish I could go... Sounds like a blast.

LOL it's like you've been hiding in the corner at my GF's college of architecture and describing what you see. That's probably the best description of the kind of people in the program that I've ever heard. She's in an art based program and one of her instructors that I've kind of befriended on a personal level has mentioned his beliefs about the program not having enough "substance" Like me, he comes from a blue collar background and works with his hands a lot. He believes that all of the computer work and modeling is good for teaching, but he also firmly believes in 'hands on' and technical aspects of the profession as well. It seems that the college is trying to force him into retirement because he doesn't fit in. (Meaning he isn't effeminate, doesn't wear all black and techie glasses, doesn't hate the Bush administration and doesn't have a cynical/sarcastic chip on his shoulder at all times.) Grades are assigned based on how well the instructor JUDGES your work. No points, no semester progress updates, nothing. At the end of the term the instructor just decides A, B, C, D, F and as long as it is justified (Which is pretty easy to do because their work can be interpreted or picked apart easily) then all is fair to fail or pass.

Just from what I've gathered through my girlfriend being in an architecture curriculum; that career seems to be full of politics. I've had good and bad over the years. The investment job I scored was probably one of the best experiences I'll ever be a part of. I made my own hours, worked in an office of 3 people and my boss, a thoughtful and caring individual, was even kind enough to share his quarterly bonus with both of us (His 2 assistants) On the flipside, I worked for a parcel company. Now, I'm definitely a fan of heavy physical labor because I love being active and I love feeling a sense of pride in getting something accomplished, but this place was nothing but legalized slave labor. They were not compliant with OSHA standards, which put us at serious risk, we were talked to like a bunch of dogs and it was constant conflict. They deliberately hired 16-18 year olds so they could get young and naive people that they could 'scare' into doing whatever they wanted, physical risk aside. I spent many a cold night there on the docks, sick and sweating through 2 shirts and a coat. There was no such thing as a break and often people would be throwing up because of the heat in the summer. I'm not one to be pushed around and eventually one of the supervisors, whom I and my family had known for years before I worked there, decided that he could shout profanity at me like he had been doing to everyone else there. That resulted in my threatening him and telling him that I'd better never find him outside of work. He was a small guy, unlike me, so he threatened to "sick" his brother, who was well known for being a good fighter, on me. A week or so later I showed up at a party THEY had organized and he indeed told his brother what had happened. His brother would not speak to me and gave me a very hostile look the whole time. I've never been one to back down from a fight, and of course, I had made it a point to show up there on purpose. I was ready for whatever he had to offer, but 1) the brother knew how much $h! my supervisor had talked to me and 2) my co-workers were there to control the situation. When I finally left the company to take a retail sales job that paid $4 more per hour this jackass made it a point to belittle me in front of my co-workers, saying that I wasn't a real man because I was going to work in retail. But they all knew what had went down and they all knew how he was. After our union's failure to deal with that mess and having to pick up the slack of fellow workers who were a part of the union, yet couldn't be fired no matter how bad they sucked, it pretty much sealed my anti-union stance. Since then I've seen and partied with the guy who was the supervisor and his brother. We've pretty much reconciled our differences because neither of us works there anymore and we all realize that we have too much history to let a dump like that ruin things.

That Beagle is adorable.. And yes, I agree with DetroitNut90. Our Beagle knows how to do 3 things: 1) Eat A LOT! 2) Hunt and howl at random things during whatever hour of the day/night he deems necessary & 3) Act like he is way too cool to associate with you at least 35-40% of the time.

Our neighborhood is excellent. I had a very picture-esque childhood with all the nature and 'small town' feel. 2 of the 7 houses in the neighborhood, used to be 3 of the 7, are owned by my girlfriends family. All of the kids are roughly the same age and all grew up together as pretty much the same people have been here all of my life. However, now we are experiencing a population boom and at the same time, the deterioration of the middle class (which has happened since textiles got wiped out) The rich retirees are moving in and developing the mountains, while the middle class is falling further and further behind subsequently becoming more and more bitter. Crystal meth is a huge epidemic now, and all of the new 'developments' are loathed to the point of random acts of vandalism and arson. So it is not without it's problems, that's for sure. The neighborhood has a total of 12 dogs, counting inside and outside dogs, 3 of which are loose at all times. So we definitely know when someone drives or walks up. It's always such a great feeling to pull up in the driveway on a weekend visit home from my staid, boring college apartment only to be greeted with the "heroes welcome" from a flock of 6 or 7 dogs before we even get to the door. That's how my parents and her parents know we're home As for the second amendment; I've never been one to tote a gun for fun, but it's nice to know that you have something to fall back on at 2AM when the dogs spot something that is worth barking at (You know what I mean - when you KNOW they see something and aren't just chasing a Possum or Raccoon.)

LOL... I have a feeling that one day we WILL regret our dependence on China, sooner rather than later too. In the past China has repeatedly stated that they will surpass us as the global superpower. Whether that comes through military might (which they will eventually have) or the economic games they play with us remains to be seen.

Let me set the scene for you a bit.... We (My girlfriend and I) live in the mountains of NC when we're not at school; it's very rural. In fact, we actually live up on a mountain that overlooks a valley, while on the back side of us is a national forest, water reservoir and black bear habitat. My neighborhood is basically built in a network of old logging roads (which were cut in when our mountain still housed mica mines) one of which has been widened and paved up to my cluster of 7 houses where the road (meaning paved part) dead ends. My family and I live in one house and my grilfriend and her family have been our next door neighbors for years. (Way before we were an "item") We have several dogs in the neighborhood and we all know and love each others dogs, some of them just run free and visit every house or whatever vehicle comes to whatever house at the time. (And you'll understand why we 1) have a lot of dogs and 2) Let them run loose after this story.) Down in the valley is one of NC's youth prison facilities... Used to be a correctional facility for minor offenders but now it is for severely troubled youth. Usually things are pretty quiet and we kind of forget about the place. However, because of our close proximity and the OBVIOUS abundance of uninhabited land behind us, these youth usually "run the mountain" when they break out, which is not often. If they escape, they can hit the 4H Camp or high school grounds right beside the place and shoot right up into the forest behind us only to hide, theive, run, or whatever their troubled hearts desire. Fast forward to a couple of days ago when my girlfriend and I were arriving home with a load of rocks from the creek bed of our pasture. I had to back the Silverado in to our bottom parking place so that I could off load the rocks for my latest landscaping project. That meant we were facing the dead end and subsequently looking into the woods on the right side of the neighborhood. I noticed that one of our dogs, the beagle/basset mix, was just raising cane and looking into the woods with every hair on his spine standing up. As my eyes wonder upward I catch the face of some dude who is watching us from some underbrush. He sees that I've spotted him and quickly retreats further into the underbrush. I asked my girlfriend "Who the hell is that in the woods?" TIME OUT: Now, it wasn't a big deal, because obviously the logging roads connect to other neighborhoods on down the valley and a lot of times it isn't uncommon to have a random and curious hiker or 4 wheeler/dirt bike person wander out of the woods to try and find their bearing and take the pavement home. Or sometimes they'll just come out to look around and then back track wherever they came from... No big deal, right? BACK TO THE STORY: My girlfriend responded with "I don't know, maybe it's Stevie (her brother) and one of his friends or something, maybe they've just startled Buddy" (the afore mentioned dog) So, just for $h!s and giggles I walk up to the woods because I was curious, based on the duck and move reaction to me spotting them. Stevie is no where to be found and Buddy is sniffing around the bushes, still obviously upset and still yelling at whatever was upsetting him. I took a closer look, didn't see anyone and just figured that they had walked the other way back down the trail. (Or in retrospect, were hiding from me) Later that night I turn on the local news only to find out that 3 youth inmates had escaped from the youth facility earlier that day and were considered dangerous. My girlfriend and I immediately put it all together; the person we had spotted was indeed one of the inmates and he obviously didn't want to be seen in the first place and probably was hiding just a few feet away from us while we peered into the edge of the woods (Confirmed by Buddy's reactions) It's too bad I didn't know.... But needless to say, the shotgun spent a few nights beside the door and all of the dogs have been spending AMPLE time on the loose as of late (We personally have 2 LARGE dogs... If they encountered him one (Akita/St. Bernard mix) would lick him to death, however, the other one (Pit Bull/Chow mix) would probably NOT be so friendly. In fact, the other one probably wouldn't be friendly at all. They still haven't caught the one guy (The one we spotted, as ultimately they revealed that the other 2 had been apprehended close to the facility) but a couple of cars have been stolen, so I'm pretty sure he's long gone by now. End of story.... LOL.

I really hate to hear about a marriage breaking up, but for the sake of Sofia, you must go your seperate ways if you are unhappy. Any psychologist will tell you that it often isn't the divorce itself that harms the children, but rather the conflict and turmoil that the child is exposed to. Eventhough Sofia is pretty young it could still cause problems if you and your wife fight infront of her or fight over her. I'm living proof of this because my parents basically went through a divorce, but never divorced. Except, they did it when I was a teenager so it REALLY affected me. The fighting was constant, I always had to take sides and I had no one to go to (since I'm an only child) I pretty much watched everything that I loved fall apart right in front of me. I'll spare you the details, but it was not a good experience and I still feel the effects to this day. So whatever you do, whatever differences you have, you MUST protect your child.

Gorgeous dogs!

Then people like us can sit around... With our service jobs (That BTW pay A LOT less than the manufacturing jobs they're replacing) in our shacks driving our outdated domestics (Because there will be no domestic industry by then) and say "I told you so!"

Ahh... The joys of globalization! Who thought this was a good idea again?!?! To base our future completely on other countries? Excellent, upstanding american citizens those people were!

Looks like it will have the bubble-esque, stubby Altima ass syndrome. Complete with the HORRIBLE cut line. It's almost as if everyone has revived GM's late 90s plans of producing only '2 & 1/2 box cars' as opposed to '3 box cars'

I would reply, but 1) I'm sure I'm way past the point of you taking anything I say seriously. And 2) I don't feel the urge to move anywhere near Michigan. Interesting thread though!