Robert Hall

I had a colleague w/ an Discovery II that he traded on an LR3 a few years back..the LR3 was decent, but the interior really didn't seem any more lux or nicer than an uplevel Explorer Limited circa 2006..don't know if the LR3 is considered more reliable than the Disco, would think so..

I've only heard bad things about the Discovery.. but a Defender, I'd buy..

Don't forget New Jersey also.

The one I'd want to have isn't new, but relatively recently out of the production--a Ford GT. Love. This. Car. The styling, the performance, the whole package. As far as new cars go, +1 on the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. And the DB9. Both gorgeous cars with fantastic performance. As far as luxury cars go, I'm fond of the Mercedes CLS, S-class, and SL, both in regular (550) and AMG 63 forms. All 'executive' cars I'd love to drive, and that are attainable (at least in CPO form) in a few years... Another that is older (that I should have bought new 10 years ago) that I'd like to have is a Land Rover Defender.

I'm sure Toyota can crush Paice...it's a small operation know one has ever heard of--is it just a scam/shell operation that creates patents but no product? Their website is a joke.. Paice LLC I'm no Toyota fan, but I despise scammers, esp. patent trolls.

Almost got hit twice today, within 5 minutes of each other. Was driving down a street in my neighborhood...came upon an intersection w/ a two way stop for the cross street...I was on the street that doesn't have to stop...what looked like a teenager in a Tahoe slows at the stop sign, then starts into the intersection just as I'm entering it from her right...I lay on the horn and she stops...was yakking on a phone, of course. Get out onto a major street (4 lanes, come up to a light and start turning into the left turn lane, when a dumbass turns onto the 4 lane street from the intersecting 4 lane street (from my left) and swerves into my turn lane, maybe 20 feet in front of me...talking on the phone w/ a coffee...I swerve to the right, layed on the horn and screamed at him (both had driver's windows down)--my sister said it looked like he spilled his coffee all over himself... Going to stay inside the rest of the holiday weekend..

Ya, doner can be delicious. I have a friend who's wife is Turkish. She can cook...I've had some incredible home cooked meals w/ them. I like Persian also.

My interests are all over the place, w/ strong concentrations of British invasion, classic rock, post-punk Big 80s and '90s 'alternative rock'. I have a thing in particular about soundtracks...I love soundtracks to Michael Mann movies--lots of good stuff on his soundtracks, as well as music from Martin Scorcese movies....lately, I've listened a lot to the work of Clint Mansell (music from Darren Arronofsky films plus great instrumental work from Joe Carnahan's 'Smokin Aces'--great soundtrack... I listen to some electronica / dance when driving--Paul Oakenfold and various Perfecto compilations, The Chemical Brothers, Moby, Paul Van Dyk, BT.. I like post-rock also---really enjoy M83, Mogwai and Sigur Ros in particular. My favorite musical decades are still probably the '70s and '80s, followed by the '90s and today, with some late '60s. Still love to listen to a lot of vintage Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Cream, Traffic, Steve Winwood, The Who, Rush, Bad Company/Paul Rodgers, Queen, Rolling Stones, U2, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, etc. Guitar, guitar, guitar.. As far the '80s to today---I enjoy everything from Def Leppard to Tori Amos, Depeche Mode, New Order, The Cure, The Cult, NIN, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, The Call, The Replacements, Audioslave, Oasis, The Verve, Coldplay.. Lately, been familiarizing myself w/ some newer bands like The Hold Steady, The Gaslight Anthem, and Kings of Leon. Also like a lot of the blues--Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, BB King, Luther Allison, Robert Cray, to name a few. I've dabbled in jazz, but not so much..want to explore more...have seen Charlie Hunter in concert a couple times w/ friends in Boulder, Co. Dabbled in folkish pop music as well---Richard Thompson, Dan Fogelberg, Bruce Cockburn.. About the only country I've really liked is Johnny Cash and some Lyle Lovett. I've dabbled in hip-hop--like some Eminem, Dr Dre, Ice Cube, NWA, Snoop Dog, Tupac, some Wu-Tang Clan. Other than an isolated song here and there (Usher's 'Yeah') there isn't much in recent hip hop that I like. I like vintage R&B--Issac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, etc. I also like Leonard Cohen.

Sometimes I just love the simple stuff...bread and olive oil to dip it in.

Haven't tried them, but looked it up and there is one right down the street from the Israeli place I ate at tonight...will have to try them. Yes, lots of similarities across various Med. cuisines (hummus, pita bread, etc) but lots of differences. There is a Moroccan place in the Denver burbs that I love, have been eating there for over 10 years now, has the best spicy chicken shwarma w/ yellow rice that I know. Great lamb kabobs also. There was a great Israeli place up in Scottsdale that I got take out from last year when I was working there, alas, they are out of business now.

+1. Really like that, or ranch. Speaking of salads, I tried a new Israeli restaurant in the Chand (Chandler, AZ--suburb where I work) tonight--had a tasty Medterranean salad (aka greek salad) w/ taziki sauce, some of the best hummus I've had in a while, and a delectable chicken sharma plate.

Saw several interesting personalized plates stuck in traffic this afternoon: On a silver late model Viper roadster, 'THKUGOD'. On a orange Cobalt SS, 'ENRGZR'. On a black Merc SLK 'ERGHTHR' (?) And the best I've seen in a while, on a screaming yellow Porsche 911 GT3 (996 era)--- 'BITEY'.

At lunch today, I saw a black '09 Vibe with the 'Vibe' badge on the rear hatch replaced with a vintage style 'GTO' badge. That's different...

I heard a variation on that recently (in a movie, maybe, don't recall the source)---'What doesn't kill you makes you stranger'..I like that. I do love bacon and scrambled eggs at least once a week...w/ pancakes, biscuits, or toast. Once in a while, I go out and have a huge weekend breakfast at Cracker Barrel (love the country ham), Original Pancake House (bacon pancakes--delectible), or local places...love crepes once in a while also.

I drink it for the taste...Tropicana Pure Pomegranate Blueberry juice..love the taste..alternate it with OJ in the mornings.

Yesterday was my accident day..walking into the post office w/ a stack of boxes, I stepped into a curb cut that I didn't see and went down. hard. skinned both knees, hitting the left one hard, big bruise, skinned my right elbow, and hit my head on a wall. Been popping Aleves since then.

Saw today a '10 V6 Camaro in gray w/ the base wheels, first I've seen like that. Had a white pinstripe down the beltline. Saw a couple personalized plates--an Infiniti Q56 (I think that's what the 3rd gen Q was called?) w/ the plate 'PAPAJHN'...thought he had a gold 2nd gen Camaro? Saw also a dark blue Acura RL w/ huge chrome bling wheels that had the plate 'GO N LO'..not really..more of 'GO N HI' with those big wheels.

Ya, I have no idea what the 0-60 of my Jeep (195 hp, 4500lbs) is, and I don't care...it's a comfortable daily driver commuter wagon...0-60 doesn't matter in city and suburban stop-and-go traffic.

During the week, I usually drink a bottle of cold Starbucks iced coffee (Vanilla, Coffee, or Mocha) or one of their doubleshots w/ a bowl of cereal or bagel, and a glass of pomengrate juice or OJ. Then at work another 1-2 cups of hot coffee. Occasionally, I skip breakfast at home and go to Einstein Bagel or get a breakfast burrito at the office or a local taqueria. On the weekends, I either brew up some coffee or go to the Starbucks drive thru. If I skip breakfast, I get a headache and hungry by 10am...if I skip caffiene, I get a headache.

Looks like a late '80s-early '90s Nissan Silva (240SX) w/ a C5 arse.

I couldn't imagine driving a '91 Corolla 50 miles, let alone 595k miles. What a miserable life he must have lived...

Unthinkable..Toyotas with problems? I thought they were supposed to be perfect and cure global warming, halitosis, sleep apnea, etc....

GM is addressing the soft lux market w/ the LaCrosse, taking the same approach Toyota does with the Avalon and ES and Lincoln with the MKS, basing it on a mainstream platform. It's an approach that's been very successful for Toyota. Cadillac has the performance lux market covered w/ the CTS..

Didn't 60 Minutes or Dateline have an expose show on this topic (specifically called out the '90s 4Runners) 5 years ago or so? I thought it was common knowledge that BOF trucks and SUVs in general (not just Toyota) have weak body construction and collapse in a roll over.. I specifically remember the late '90s F150s also being shown...big turds rolled over and the roof collapsed down to the tops of the doors...weak junk. Are the pillars made out of recycled pop cans or what? Or is just that trucks and SUVs are too heavy?

Beatles ('Yesterday' song) (Speaking of merry-go-rounds, this reminded me of childhood--ALL of the playground equipment at my elementary schools were metal...monkey bars, slides, swings, merry go round, an actual old American La France firetruck to crawl over and in and out (with rust and spiders), a forest full of trees and pine cones behind the playground, etc. It's amazing more of my generation didn't get maimed in elementary school in the late '70s-early '80s.