Author Archives

Nick

A pair of oddities

Cars, General Entertainment, Television, Unexplained by
  • Comments Off on A pair of oddities

Chestertown is a strange place. People here are both trusting and fearful in ways I’ve never quite experienced in all my living environments and all my travels. There are both extremely posh, jaw-droppingly charming parts of town and absolutely destitute, crack-selling alleyways. You will never find the inhabitants of one area in the other but there are only two shopping plazas so inevitably they mix. And ignore one another. All this within a few blocks and encapsulated in farmland.

The people of Chestertown do strange things, considering their surroundings and social situation. For instance, Kate and I went to JBK today (no, this is not the strange thing) and noted that a maroon, mid-nineties Mercedes C-Class was sitting in the parking lot with the windows down, a kiddie pool in the back and the driver’s door completely open. Now, someone evidently had the wherewithal to purchase a Mercedes at some point in their lifetime which means that they were either wealthy and/or smart. Why this would then lead them to leave their door hanging wide open and their car unattended is not within my comprehension. The fact that we then went into the store, spent half an hour there and returned and STILL found the car in the exact same state is even more perplexing. Did the owner forget? Was the battery dead? Wouldn’t you still want to lock your car or at least make it look like it could have been locked? Where were the thugs or miscreants to abscond with this free Mercedes?

WHAT GIVES, Chestertown?

The second oddity for the day was seeing none other than Shauna Sand in the background during HGTV’s House Hunters. The episode focused on a dimwitted (aren’t they always?) lawyer’s search for a condo near Beverly Hills. Cut to random footage of Spago, Rodeo Drive, the usual. And there, outside the Van Cleef & Arpels storefront was the Empress of Lucite herself. In exquisite lucite heels, as need be. It lasted but a few seconds but our sighting was real and so helpful in brightening the evening.

Listen to this: Junior by Röyksopp

Music by
  • Comments Off on Listen to this: Junior by Röyksopp

I have to say, I’m delighted with Röyksopp‘s newest release.

I liked The Understanding just fine but it was primarily a “couple of tracks are excellent and the rest is meh” kind of affair. “Follow My Ruin,” “49 Percent” and, of course, “What Else Is There?” being the real standouts in my book. An album that I wouldn’t shy away from hearing on random but nothing mind blowing. Album art was awesome, though.

So, when Junior reached my attention, I was skeptical. The video for “Happy Up Here” convinced me to download, though. I first perked up when I heard “Girl and the Robot” featuring vocals by Robyn.

“What’s this? Collaboration with a Swede?” I thought.

And then they did it again with Karin Dreijer of The Knife on both “This Must Be It” and “Tricky Tricky.” Lykke Li finds her way onto the disc, too, offering vocals for “Miss It So Much.” Brilliant.

Combine a good Norwegian electro duo with some of my favorite female artists and you’ve got a recipe for success any day of the week.

Coolest. Scar. Ever.

General Entertainment by
  • Comments Off on Coolest. Scar. Ever.

You know, there’s the old idea that scars are sexy. Scars are cool. They show you where you’ve been and what you’ve done in a really unique and lasting way. I have a scar or two. They are tiny.

I hate them.

And I’ve never bought into this notion.

Until I read this story in The Telegraph: “14 year old hit by 30,000 mph space meteorite”

This kid now officially has the only scar I would want.

TV train wreck: “Expedition Africa”

Television by
  • Comments Off on TV train wreck: “Expedition Africa”

Thank you, Mark Burnett. Not only did you give us “Survivor,” but now we have a second pile of crap to go with it. “Expedition Africa” follows the totally real-life journey of four “elite modern-day explorers” as they retrace Stanley Livingstone’s journey into the heart of Africa. And fight. Constantly. About everything.

Expedition Chill the Fuck Out

The first was between Pasquale, an expedition leader and Kevin, a journalist (his elite skill: typing articles on his MacBook) who could not agree on how much water to carry. Kevin won the argument (why?) and they ran out moments later. Everyone gets cranky. Mirayaeayeea, the wildlife expert (and sun-ins expert from the looks of it) got upset and started talking about Pasquale hurting her feelings. And then Benedicte (who either wants to bone her or cook her like his dog – yes, he revealed he ate his dog on a past expedition) decided to start getting pissy equal opportunity-style.

In one hour of TV, we watched a team of supposed gung-ho, capable adventurers turn bitchy, ornery and useless. Now, certainly, in the humidity, heat and fetid conditions of the mangrove stands of Tanzania, I’d have been a sniveling baby. However, I’m not exactly someone that would SIGN UP FOR THIS SHOW. So, I’m completely flabbergasted as to how these four dimwits are going to make it a thousand miles when their party has nearly devolved into chaos after only NINE.

Yes, thank you, Mark Burnett. So very much.

Moving on up…

News by
  • Comments Off on Moving on up…

…to the “Hilltop” of Chestertown, if you will. Kate, Doug and I made a massive push to get everything redundant, unwanted or otherwise unworthy into storage this weekend, marking the official beginning of the 2009 move. I was exhausted by the end of Saturday, but pleasantly surprised by how much the three of us accomplished. Kate watched me run around like a total nutcase on Sunday, as I attempted to find a place for everything that had suddenly materialized. (On this, I think I was successful.)

So, Monday the 15th is the BIG stuff. Owen is going to take off work with us and we’re going to load up a U-Haul and be done with everything. Hopefully before the temperature reaches the customary mid-June 400º. I’m praying that my landlady continues her complete disregard for the fact that I’m moving out/haven’t paid rent for June. If I could save $425 for two weeks, I’d be thrilled.

Wish me luck. Photos to follow, rest assured.

Want: Mercedes E-Class shooting brake concept

Cars, Unexplained, Want by
  • Comments Off on Want: Mercedes E-Class shooting brake concept

You are all well aware that I have always felt that the compact car should also be a sporty & luxurious car. I voted this way with my own dollars, even (see image at right.) I’ve never really understood why Europeans get to have vehicles like the:

And we are stuck with the Yaris, the Fit, the Xb and other such econoboxes. I love that they exist, but they also serve only to make all small cars seem cheap or disposable. While they can be fun, they are definitely not something you WANT to drive.

So I’m glad Mercedes is seriously considering bringing their E-Class shooting brake concept into reality. I highly doubt that the teak accents, glass bar and champagne holder will make it to production, but the elegant body lines, oodles of toys and overall air of Mercedes quality should with no trouble.

Perhaps the public is coming around to my way of thinking? I sure do hope so. If for nothing else than to vindicate the casualties of lardy American misconceptions along the way like the BMW 318ti and the Mercedes C-Class Sportscoupé. May their brave little souls rest in peace.

Mini-review: Terminator Salvation

Movies, Reviews by
  • Comments Off on Mini-review: Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation was on tonight’s agenda for Kate, Owen and I. I’m not sure what brought me to the theater for this particular installment in the series. As a kid, I found the Terminator films to be rather trashy and T3 was a god forsaken disaster in a lot of ways. I actually avoided that most recent film until just last summer, when it seemed determined to be on TV while my defenses were down and boredom was up.

But, as with any movie you weren’t planning to see, the trailers got me. And the fact that a decent director was at the helm. With Helena Bonham Carter on the bill to boot.

My impressions after seeing it? Don’t go if you expect a fresh plot. It’s basically Battlestar Galactica circa the first time Boomer loses her shit (so, like Season 1.) The action was what you would expect for the Terminator family: car chases, explosions, molten metal. Helena Bonham Carter is hardly in it, which is disappointing and Christian Bale is shouty again a la Batman.

All that being said, it’s worth $8 to meet Marcus, the Terminator who cries when you shoot him. (It’s endearing, really.) Sam Worthington did a fantastic job of making the most advanced killing machine in the film the most human of all the characters on screen. As a technologist, I desperately wanted his whole consciousness sync with the supercomputer inside SkyNet. And his metal hand. He totally gets hosed at the end of the film, but you’ll have that.

One lasting thought that has followed me home is that the general attitude towards machines has shifted a lot since the 1984 beginning of this franchise. I think the paranoia and fear of the mechanical has given way massively over the intervening 25 years. Frankly, the idea of being half – or entirely – robotic is not terrifying in the least to me and I suspect the same is true for most of the audience. Even the T-whatever or others were not as menacing this time around. I guess a world with Asimo, EveR-2 and Cylons really leaves no room for fear of the artificial being.

In a weird way, I guess we have Terminator to thank.