What I Learned From The Complimentary Copy of the Financial Times' "Fine Times: How To Spend It Special Celebration Issue" Table of Contents

(With due respect to Minor Tweaks)

• There is a "growing pressure to develop farmed caviar that's as delicious as the wild stuff"
• Velvet is a "sensuous fabric that's adding a decadence to men's daywear"
• "Diamonds now have more glimmer than glitz"
• There is "hot competition to buy cool, classic Aston Martins"
• The pocket watch is making a "21st century comeback"
• The heel has been declared "the latest focus for fancy footwear"
• Hong Kong has a "hip beating heart"
  

Tokyo Awesome List - Non Cars

(I'm going to be updating this as the mood strikes me)

• Uniqlo (I'm sure that's like saying The Gap is cool, but hey)
• Hakuhinkan Toy Park
• House Wellness C1000 Lemon Water
• Capybara-san
• The crows (I think they are awesome...but I guess they are a smart and territorial problem...which is being address by bees)
• Yatter-Pelican (from Yatterman)
• Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo
• The prevalence of R&B-esque smooth hits playing everywhere I go
  

Tokyo Awesome List - Cars

(I'm going to be updating this as the mood strikes me)

• The taxis (so clean and shiny and awesome)
• The trucks (so clean and shiny and awesome)
  
• The surprising number of Isuzu Piazzas (Impulses)
• The Toyota Yaris RS
• The Honda Stream
  
• The Honda dog
  
• The Honda Elysion
• Nissan Cubes (on the road)
• The Nissan Pino
• The BMW 1-series 5-door
• The fact that Dodge Magnums are all over the place (and done up nicely)
• The Bugatti Veyron parked outside the hotel
• Kei Vans
• The Mazda Demio
• The Mazda Scrum wagon (so vantastic!)
  

MC Squared

New England Auto Show - 2008 Edition

Yesterday, several of us made it out to the New England Auto Show, which, in context of the global crapconomic poo-out and "big-3 pleading to stay alive," was a funny choice of activity.  But I have been idly (or actively) mulling getting a new car (if, as my wife asks, a meteor were to strike my Protege5 in the driveway).

Overall, it was a decent affair.  The new(ish) Boston Convention Center is a massive, sprawling thing...the becarpeted main exhibit hall was a clean and bright change from the Bay Side Exposition Center's flea-infested abandoned bowling alley je ne sais quoi.  Company displays were, as reported, definitely toned down...gone were the angle rotating pedestals of never-to-be-produced 8,000HP concept vehicles...the only glitz I recall see (besides the cordonned-off Bently and Ferrari stalls) was a Ford robot (?) and an upturned GMC chassis.  The sales people were hovering as usual...but they were easilly sent on their way with a distracted glance at the next display.

What were my take-aways?

• Dashboard dashboards dashboards.  Companies seem need to focus more attention on the dashboard...where one rests one's eyes 98% of the time you interact with your car.  All but the highest end Volvos and Audis had this wrong wrong wrong...and we outdone by things like the Nissan Versa and Hyundais.  The "nubby hard black plastic" lobby must be powerful...barely beating out the "sharp unfinished edges" lobby.
  
• I was thouroughly underwhelmed by the Scion Xb
• I was thouroughly underwhelmed by the Audi A3 and A4 (including the Avant)...something about the interiors of these cars seemed so...puffy.  Like all the interior panels with 1/2" too...puffy.  Very cramped.
• If I had no materialistic self-image yearnings, I would absolutely buy a $17,000 Nissan Versa over an Audi A4.
• The new Nissan Maxima has a fantastic interior, but looks a bit like the 25-lb potato that was recently unearthed.
• I really really want to like Hyundais...they are inexpensive, well-made, efficient, solid cars...that are so unbearably boring.
• I, apparently, missed gawking at Stephen Tyler as he had a lunch of, I presume, $6 nachos.
• $67,000 for a Chevy Tahoe "Flex Fuel" mess is stupid.
• The Chevy Cobalt SS may be fast, but it is embarassing.
• The new Mazda6 is big and "flabby" (via Chris), and gets distressing mediocre gas mileage.