Robert Hall

Those are cool..they also have a '70 Cutlass 442 2dr sedan coming soon.

Wild...can't imagine having a 70yr old car as your only car...brave man. Having an 8 yr old car w/ 95k makes me nervous.

Speaking of degrees of hot, usually Thai places have no spice, mild, medium, hot and Thai hot...I used to have a coworker that I was very competitive with--when i'd order hot, he'd order Thai hot. One time, I ordered double Thai hot---he ordered quadruple Thai hot...his whole noodle dish was covered in red. Don't know how he finished it. These days, I don't do Thai hot anymore--usually just mild or medium. Without downing a few Immodium before and after (and guzzling Pepto-Bismol afterwards), I can't handle really spicy food anymore. It's not much fun not being able to make it home without firehosing.

I've had a few dishes that were supposed to be Russian, didn't really care for it. Can't remember what was in it, some kind of cold soup that tasted like old socks, IIRC. One of my best friends is of Russian ancestry, but he doesn't cook any Russian dishes, just Jewish staples (matzo, corned beef, etc).

Top 15, in order of preference: 1. Thai 2. Italian 3. Mediterranean/Middle Eastern (Greek, Iranian, Lebanese, Israeli, Morrocan, etc---there are a couple great Israeli restaurants here in Phoenix that I like a lot). 4. American 4. Indian (both northern and southern, and Nepalese). 5. Vietnamese 6. French 7. Southern 8. S./Central American--Mexican, Peruvian, Argentinian, Brasilian 9. Japanese 10. German 11. Chinese 12. Sri Lankan (some of the spiciest and most flavourful I've had). 13. Mongolian 14. Korean 15. Ethiopean (I've never wanted 'keel over' walking into an Ethiopian, Indian or Thai restaurant--I love the scent of lots of spices and ingredients...then again, I have a very poor sense of smell, too much perma-congestion). I've also enjoyed Jewish, Carribean, West African (Ghanan), some Polish.... Not much of a fan of Russian dishes. I think my dislikes are not so much specific cuisines but certain ingredients---i.e. I won't touch eggplant or food made from internal organs.

I call BS...now you are contradicting yourself...you said previously the same standards that apply to cars shouldn't apply to trucks. If I bought a truck to commute in, I'd want it to be as nice inside as a car of the same price range, as most buyers would, I suspect, if they use them the same way. Therefore, the same standard applies. A $40k truck should be as nice inside as a $40k car.

Yeah, the market timing was all wrong on the G8...if it had been out in '05-06, who knows, it might have been fairly successful.

GM still plays to the mindset that Americans will only buy subcompact or compact cars if they are really cheap...really cheap translates into low content w/ nasty cheap interiors.

Remember the generic food movement? Cheapo groceries selling unbranded food in white cans/boxes with black letter labels like 'CEREAL', 'CHICKEN SOUP', 'BEER'? Maybe some retailer will market Chinese cars as generic brand cars...white with with black 'SEDAN' or 'SUV' logos.

That's a lot of empty cubicles and offices. Sounds like a lot of Not Good as far as GM's future.

Just anecdotal, based on the reality I've seen in suburbia, but also based on what I've read in the magazines. There are hell of a lot of people commuting to work in 'em.. Not talking about people out in the country that have horse trailers, travel trailers, etc to tow. Of course, your mileage may vary, things may be different in your reality.

My impression is the Central Valley has more in common w/ the agricultural Midwest than the rest of California.. I've been to Sacramento, the surrounding area strangely felt like western Ohio. Haven't been down to Fresno or Bakersfield...worked with a guy from Bakersfield, he described it pretty negatively ("hellhole", IIRC).

Speaking of plates, the latest state law here is it's now illegal to have the state name covered by a license plate frame, was a primary offense w/ a $135 fine at first. Last week, was reduced to non-primary w/ a $30 fine. So many lazy people leave the cheesy dealer plate frame on.

Yeah, I just can't get excited about a nose heavy V8 FWD car... great engine, wrong platform.

Yeah, lots of snow up in Flagstaff lately. But an 4WD SUV makes more sense up in the mountains. I've kept my Jeep registered in Colorado, though registration is about the same here (% value based) (and only 1 plate). Ohio is still the cheapest I know of (a flat $25/year, IIRC).

Nice to see a Camaro pace car, but the paint scheme is hideous, IMHO...I'd rather see white w/ orange stripes like the '69 IPC.

Or 3, a snowbird from Ohio or other frozen winter state. But it did have an AZ plate.

Umm...I haven't been to a BW3s in ages...they have some out here in the Phoenix area, but all out in the burbs. When I lived in Kent, Ohio from '88-94 I used to frequent the one there, was one of the original stores, when it was still Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck. There is a decent local wing chain called Long Wong's that I go to when I have a wing craving, also the Wing Stop chain has a few stores here. Some chains I miss from the Denver area are Noodles & C and Smashburger (though I hear they are expanding here)..

Actually saw a dark red Grand Prix GXP in traffic yesterday. What's the point of having a FWD V8 car in Phoenix??

Heh-heh... The Costco Kirkland sedan and Wal-Mart Sam's Pride coupe are inevitable... I predicted this a long time ago.

Maybe, but it was RWD. That fact alone made it infinitely better than the dozens of look-alike FWD medicore generics GM built from '80 onward.

Or change your line to end with 'for over 300 years.' or 'since before any of us were born', both of which are factual, yet not year-specific.

Interesting...didn't know that factoid about 1791...though I'm sure I read in history class in school decades ago.

Thing is, these magazines are aimed at the public consumers, not the commercial buyers... people in the burbs that buy loaded crew cab pickups that may go to Home Depot a few times a year want them as car like inside as possible. That's a large percentage of the truck buying market, at least in recent years. So the car mags are aiming their reviews at their demographic (like these 3 loaded trucks, definitely for suburbia instead of a construction site). I'm sure there are commercial trade mags that test trucks for truckish features.

I'm not a truck fan, but the '09 Silverado I rode in recently with the Tahoe style dash seemed quite nice.