Random Stuff 2

Car Design:

There have been some wonderful car designs come out of Detroit the past few years. The Chevrolet Malibu, Camaro and Cruze are just a few of the top of my head. GM finally got away from the bland body styling that made it nearly impossible to distinguish one GM product from any other.  Ditching three divisions didn't hurt GM either, although it was disheartening to see Pontiac tossed away.

Chrysler, well they still chug along. The 300 is a styling masterpeice leading the charge back to large muscular Detroit iron.  The Sebring/200 though... yeesh! I've not driven the 200 yet but anything would be an improvement to what they last did to the Sebring. I owned a 2000 Sebring and loved it. Of course that model was based on the Mitsubishi Eclipse.  And while I can certainly see the inspirations for the last Sebring coming from the Crossfire, the translation to a four seater convertible was a disaster only surpassed by the four door hardtop model. Awkward styling, horrible finish materials and sluggish performance. Thank God I didn't have to drive it much as a vacation rental car.

Ford also continues to surprise with each refinement of the Mustang and Fusion while missing the mark with the fat ass on the Taurus.  The tail lights on that monstrosity, while elegant in their own right, are way too small for the caboose they rest upon. Now Ford has just introduced the restyled Focus for 2012. I'm not sure if the stylist was aware of their inspiration or if it was a quirky accident but I think if you get the car in black instead of

white you'll truly be able to see who it's father is.  Is it Darth Focus? Or Ford Vader? The Focus does have a pretty neat function where the grill shutters close to  make the car more aerodynamic. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself with a John Williams score running through your head whenever you approach it from the front.


What's in a Name?

I work for a company that I can't talk about. It's a national company and we as employees see confidential information as a matter of routine. The company is so sensitive about confidentiality that I'm not even allowed to look up my own information through their systems. But that's not what this is about. Instead it's about the names that cross my computer screen from time to time. I'm not able to give you specific examples but think of those childhood name gags we all laughed about: Seymour Butz, Ima Pigg, Dick Trickle and Jim Shue. Yes, the last two are real. Mr. Trickle is a famous stock car driver from 1984 to 2001. The last one would be a not so famous small town Hoosier boy. What I can say is that my co-workers and I get a chuckle or two everyday with some of the names we see.

I'm just constantly surprised by the names parents foist upon their children. There was a unusual name in the news here in Indianapolis a few weeks ago... a woman with the name Sparkle. If the first image in your mind was of a stripper I wouldn't be surprised. I have no idea what her profession was, but I'd almost guaranty most people will assume something besides attorney. What may sound like a cute name for a child turns out to an awful adult name. I'm imploring parents to think of how it's going to sound when their daughter is being called Desire' when she's 80 years old.

The final thing I have to say about names? Stop with the "unique" spellings. Dhe'bee is just wrong, wrong, wrong! You're just asking for your child to have a lifetime of correcting people. Or if they're smart, they'll change it as soon as they're legally able to.