Archive for January, 2006

31
Jan

Highlights from the 2006 Detroit Auto Show (Part 1)

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Cars

One thing about this job is that you get the chance to see a lot of different things for free. Yes, I blew it when I was in London, staying at the hotel for most of my stay - but it’s different now. I was recently at the 2006 Detroit auto show, supposedly out there to view the new cars GM had to offer (as they were my client). But of course, that’s not what I paid $12 for.

Fj_blog2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser
When I was a wee lad back in the old country, there used to be a white Toyota Land Cruiser that the nuns owned. And I would see it everyday parked in front of the steps leading to my Kinder 1 class. After 20 or so years, Toyota brings back the retro design of the original into an all-new, affordable heavy-duty SUV. If I were in the market for such a vehicle. This would be it.

2007 Saturn Sky RoadsterSky_blog
Saturn’s version of the Pontiac Solstice, it has a much more angular and aggressive shape. This should start at around $25,000. The dual blisters on the back (which you dint see in the picture), reminds me of the Batmobile circa 1970’s.  I’ve always wanted a small roadster for myself, but my practical self always wins sadly.

Rapide_blogAston Martin Rapide Concept
A sedan version of what is probably the most handsome luxury GT car ever built. Would this be the car that James Bond drives in when he finally settles down with Miss Moneypenny? Doubtful that I will ever be in the market for such a blue-blooded vehicle though.

Mazda Kabura ConceptKabura_blog
If there is something that I would like better than a 2-seat convertible, is a small 2-seater coupe. The Mazda Kabura is as short as a Miata, and has the profile of a squashed Aston Martin! It is definitely drop-dead gorgeous! Mazda, please build this and sell it for $20k! I will be the first in line to buy!

Cx7_blog2007 Mazda CX-7
I’ve been watching this car go through the development process from its inception as a concept car at the NY Auto Show 2 years ago. It’s crossover SUV with the looks of a sports coupe. It mostly succeeds in looking the part, except for the unavoidable hatch in the rear, which spoils the look. Still, its the sportiest-looking SUV I’ve seen, next to the Infiniti FX (but of course, at a much cheaper price point).

More to come in the next post.

30
Jan

TV as a Chore

By jjao 1 Comment
Categories: Musings

I have recently realized that watching TV and DVDs have slowly turned into a chore, instead of entertainment.

It all started when I bought my Series 1 TiVo back in 2000. With TiVo, I could record every show that I wanted, without having to wait for it to air live.  Back then my Series 1 had a 14-hour capacity, meaning I could record 14 hours of TV at the basic quality, or 3.5 hours at best quality. 14 hours wasn’t a lot of capacity, but then I was able to watch whatever was recorded whenever I plopped into bed at the end of the day. TiVo then was something of a short-term buffer. You could watch whatever was recorded when you were out during the day.

I then made the mistake of hacking my TiVo, installing a 2nd hard drive that boosted its capacity to 160 hours at basic, or about 40 hours at best quality. This meant that I could work out of town during the week and when I come back home, 7 days worth of my favorite shows would be recorded for me to catch up on. Since I always recorded at best quality, I only got 40 hours of content, and maybe 1/2 of that would be reruns. That was still OK.

For the next couple of years I had lived with this routine of watching TiVo at home after work, slowly erasing the shows that I watched to make room for more. Back then I only followed my favorite TV series like Babylon V and the like. But then I moved to White Plains.

When I bought my own place, I swore to myself that I would cut down on watching TV, so I got myself only broadcast basic cable i.e. only the channels you would be able to see using a rabbit antenna. There were a couple of unintended side-effects.

Because of the lack of fiction content, I watched, and gained a taste for, nonfiction shows - particularly the newsmagazine and interview formats like 60 minutes, and Charlie Rose, many of which aired a new show daily instead of weekly. So in effect, I was watching more TV now that I had lesser channels.

The second side effect was that the new cable company, Cablevision, had HD service. I had recently bought a large HDTV set independent of this information, so of course, I subscribed the service. HDTV of course produced incredible pictures that were so addictive I literally watched grass growing on rocks in high definition, and enjoyed it.  The service also included a non-TiVo DVR, so now I had 2 DVRs that recorded my TV shows. Again, more TV.

Finally, just late last year TiVo introduced TiVo to Go. This was a service that let you download shows on TiVo to your laptop through the home network. I could actually watch TiVo on the plane or in my hotel room after work. This in itself would have eased my TV watching schedule during the weekends, but the problem with transferring TV shows was that the files were extremely large, depending on the quality the shows were recorded in. And since it took at least 2 hours to transfer 1 hour of programming to the laptop for the most basic quality, I started to stop recording in the best quality which, yes, boosted the TiVo’c capacity to 160 hours. TiVo was now more like a stockpile of TV content to watch. I could watch TiVo for all of my waking hours 10 days straight and I still would not run out things to watch.

After a few months of this, I realized that I was spending a lot of time just trying to catch up on what was recorded on my DVRs! I had to schedule time to watch TV becuase of the overload of content - it had become a chore!

Now I just let it go. I just watch the most interesting of the newsmagazines. I dont even record "Lost" anymore. I got only 3 series that I watch faithfully - "Surface", "Invasion", and "24". One of these days I’ll again stat to feel  that TV is recreation.

25
Jan

A Day in Detroit (Part 2)

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Work

Img_1096_blogAnother strange looking concept car, on the left is the Cadillac IMAJ, supposedly a station-wagon/SUV. It reminds me of the Chrysler Pacifica and the Mercedes Benz R-Class. Distinctive, yes, but this one is hardly attractive.

Img_1097_blogOn the right, this one is a full-size truck, the GMC Terra 4. Very good looking. Given the fact that both Toyota and Nissan are making inroads into the full-size pickup market, the last bastion of American auto manufacturers, GMC will need the best designs they can put out.

Img_1100_blogFinally, right in the lobby of the GM Renaissance Center is this gorgeous concept car, the Cadillac Sixteen. It’s named after the fact that it’s engine has SIXTEEN CYLINDERS and generates 1000 horsepower! Thats the power of 2 Ferarris, 3 Porsches, 6 Honda Accords or 9 Scion xA’s! The proportions are also amazing! They should build it and sell it as the American answer to Bentley and Maybach!

But of course, the people upstairs who makes the decisions will rather give us a hardtop convertible pickup truck.

24
Jan

A Day in Detroit (Part 1)

By jjao 0 Comments
Categories: Work

Img_1101_blog2My gig in Detroit is a pretty amazing experience, when I can find time to appreciate it. My day starts off in my hotel room at the Detroit Renaissance Center Marriott, the tall silver building on the left.  They usually book me between the 40th and the 70th floors.I go down an elevator, walk a few steps, and go up another elevator to one of the GM towers on the 26th floor. I can actually look down at my office building from where I’m staying. Click on the thumbnail on the left to see the relationship more clearly.

Img_1099As I walk to work, the first floor of the complex is actually "GM World", a sort of auto show cum showroom, where every couple of weeks, they display new cars, concepts, and classic cars. This week they were displaying concept cars from 2-3 years ago. Many were actually quite interesting.

Img_1092_blogOn the left is a Hummer H3T, the baby Hummer, but with a truck bed. This one’s gorgeous. If I were buying a pickup just for the looks, I would buy an H3T. They will probably have this for sale in the next couple of months.

Img_1094_blog_1On the right is a Cadillac EVOQ, a concept car which I thought was the one they used in the movie "The Island". Turns out it was a different concept car in the movie, the Cadillac Cien. Very handsome though. They built this back in 1999. I wonder why it never made it into production.

Img_1095_blogThe truck on the left, on the other hand, I wonder how that made production. It’s the Chevy SSR, a power hardtop convertible truck! Yep, a hardtop folds out from the trunk, just like a Mercedes SLK. Who in his right mind would buy something like that?

Thats probably why they have me around, to help them make money inspite of the production decisions they have made that are, to say the least, strange.

23
Jan

Adventure at a Lexus Dealer

By jjao 2 Comments
Categories: Cars

LexusisMy brother-in-law was as much a car guy as I was, and he had been egging me to go to the Lexus dealership with him. So we went. But they stopped at a Jennifer Convertibles store first to buy a sofabed. As the light started to fade, we reached the the Catena Lexus dealership.

Now, you had to present yourself correctly in these types of dealerships. Lots of salespeople wont even bother with you unless you looked ready to buy, and was in the correct demographic. In this case, it meant that you had to look loaded. My brother-in-law, the metrosexual that he was, was once ignored at a Volvo dealership, even though they were seriously looking for a new SUV. Now I’m the furthest person anyone would think of who "dresses for success", and I was definitely not buying a car from a dealership, but I managed to lift my nose up a bit after getting out of the car in jogging pants, a t-shirt, and a bubble jacket.

The receptionist at the dealership hooked us up with a salesman named Gregory. He had a baltic accent and the whole time I was tempted to call him "Grigory!" with a fake eastern european accent. He offered us coffee and biscuits while he started asking me some questions, which went something along these lines:

"So, what made you decide to get a new car?"
"Oh, my brother-in-law just bought a (Jennifer) convertible earlier today, and I thought it was time to get my own car."

"What sort of car do you drive now?"
"A Honda"

"Honda or Hyundai?"
"H-O-N-D-A"

"Do you plan to lease or buy?"
"Oh, leasing is a bad long-term financial move, I’m here to buy"

"Do you need financing?"
"No, Im paying with cash"

"OK, I’ll get the car"
"Excellent"

I had to keep the smile off my face as I, Mr. Gusgusin, successfully bluffed Grigory into letting me test drive the hottest Lexus in quite a while. We all hopped into the car, oohed and aahed at the handsome good looks and the gorgeous interior (though a little cramped), and drove away.