What Was Old...

Prior to the disc golfing adventure, I stopped into a Gamestop to check out what was new. The moral of that story is: with classic games receiving exclusive release status on the various consoles, I'll have to buy one of each. This would happen right after I bought a TV, so I'm looking at $1000-$1500 outlay to play video games. This makes me a sad puppy. :( What tempts me anyway: Sega has remade Alien Syndrome, a game I fed far, far too many quarters back when I was riding bicycles to the arcades. Between this, and the Wii's innate awesomeness, I might go splurge anyway. This is where yard sales come in handy.

posted at: 18:10 | permanent link to this entry

First Impressions: Disc Golf!

Continuing on the "try new things" theme for this weekend, I played my first 18 holes of Disc Golf yesterday, for a round score of +19. The course was cut through a wooded hill, and involved what I thought were very tight (5'-8') fairways and some semi-rugged, stump-covered terrain. Each hole was listed at par-3, for simplicity. "Golfing discs" are now on the want list. I actually hit a string of pars in the middle holes, and let a few easy putts get away from me.

posted at: 18:00 | permanent link to this entry

Test Drive: VW New Beetle, Toyota Prius, and Ford Falcon

This extended weekend has seen quite a few firsts, starting with the test drives of 2008 Toyota Prius and 1964 Ford Falcon. I've rented the Prius, and my friend owns the Falcon. Prius It's the future, and so far, I like it. I still haven't quite wrapped my mind around the concept of starting a car via "Power" button. 44MPG in traffic is f'ing wonderful, by the way; my current ride (the beloved Crown Vic) gets 18 in those conditions, on a good day. It sits too high, and has several annoying "dumb driver" features that may be standard on new cars these days. The selection of which features were implemented as powered/electronic or manual seems a bit schizophrenic; for example: the windows, locks, and shifting is electronic, but the cruise, wipers, and lights have the same manual control found in the smaller cars for the past 20 or 30 years. I'll complete this review once I return. Falcon Old-school cruising: The 289 V-8, 3-speed column-shifted, 2-door Falcon Futura, fully restored to former cruising goodness. It has manual steering and brakes, bench seats, a steel body, dual-pane windows, and dual exhausts. The field of view of the rear-view mirror is actually smaller than the rear glass. That's something you never see anymore. It's a reminder of what it's like to drive a heavy car with a real motor, and a definite throwback to a simpler time. Find a drive-in! New Beetle This car was ok to drive, and awesome to sit in. I have never driven a car with so much visibility that wasn't a convertible. It's like driving a spaceship of some sort. The 5-cylinder engine sounds like a regular engine with a timing problem, so that could take some getting used to. Also, there's no diesel option available until at least '09. After these drives, I'm officially in the market for either (a) Prius or (b) diesel Bug.

posted at: 17:19 | permanent link to this entry

Today's topic for discussion is:

Naugahyde.

posted at: 17:13 | permanent link to this entry

Sweep!

Ah, the good times. The Dodgers played in town this past weekend, and the Braves swept the weekend series. It's like having one's cake and eating it, too. The offense is starting to click on all cylinders now, and the bullpen is looking highly resilient. Now, we get the Nationals for a few games; let's see four or five in a row from the home team.

posted at: 17:13 | permanent link to this entry