All right, then. I have to go there.

looks like that at Bryce Canyon too.

Most stars I ever saw was from the Joshua Tree monument on rte 10 outside Needles Ca. at 1am... Jinx and Iwere on our way back from Oakland to Tucson. Makes you feel small.

•spoken in to my phone

I can beat you all.

Look up some moonless night from more than 50 miles out at sea! Without the light pollution, the stars are AMAZING!

Right there with you Pam. The sky from the Baltimore canyon off the coast of DE/MD was, by far, the most amazing view of the stars I have ever seen.

"beat"... well... not a competition.

But I was on a cruise once through the South Pacific. Between Tahiti and Australia there were some lovely islands where we made port. There were also some "sea days" (and nights) where it was just our lonely tiny boat out in the middle of a LOT of water. On one of those nights at see, I went forward. There was one deck that ran around the ship including across the front of the ship. This is kind of unusual, most of the action is aft, or along the sides of the ship. On the back of the ship there are lots of lights, that's where the party is. But forward, they keep it dark so they can see the lights of any boat that might be ahead of them. It was a moonless night, and the sky was full of stars overhead. As I looked all around, I noticed that the density of the stars in the sky did not diminish as my my gaze moved downward from the zenith to the horizon. The sky at the horizon was just as dark as the sky overhead, and just as full of stars. I've never seen anything like it. Everywhere else I've been, the sky was lighter near the horizon, and consequently more washed out for stargazing. Not this night. It was awesome.

The desert night sky north of Tucson is like that, as long as you are not looking south towards the city. They work hard out here to control light pollution. It is amazing, so different from Indiana.

they work hard here to create light pollution. Bunch of scaredy cats afraid of the dark.

Well, yeah, some are here too. Like my Moms neighbor who has two house lights in the front and two in the back that they keep on ALL THE TIME. VERY aggravating.

CAMama's tigger pic

Attachment 40445

I won't show it large, as it involves nipples (albeit male).
But I like the colours and it reminds the 'rents of their most recent holiday.

A day in the sun.

Very relaxing.

Jim's bacon wallpaper on the puter, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, unimpressed, on the SimpleTouch.

Attachment 40808

World Book? We had a set when I was a kid. Every year, you could buy a yearly update

Pretty sure that Neil deGrasse Tyson image is a photoshop of this original image.

Smaller cropped original below. Sorry.
Attachment 40813

Attachment 40816

Just kidding. Good find. Looks like I wasn't the only one trying to wrap his head around the context of that (other) image.

:D

I love fractals.

Ahh, I still remember the first time I met the Mandelbrot set.

Awesome.

Never forget.

Attachment 45417

There's a new state law in Texas, which requires all schools to observe one minute of silence in the morning to commemorate Patriot's Day (9/11,) at least in every year where the date falls on a school day.

Attachment 45603

Extra points for guessing the car...

That's the Porsche Panama or something like that

You got it, glatt. Porsche Panamera.

I thought that was a Porsche front end, but didn't know the model.

I'm not sure what the purpose of the car is. It's 4 door. It's not a sports car.

I've seen one or two on the road, so I know people are buying them. Maybe lawyers with kids. But not little kids, because they will just throw up in the back seat. Lawyers with kids in middle school.

It was the first four door Porsche. And it's purpose is, it allows that lawyer to take his kids with him when he drives a Porsche, although, I don't know why he'd want to.

Limited top speed, 176 mph. I think.

I'm not wild about that back end, but, that's a purty car.

Yeah. I wouldn't kick it out of bed for eating crackers

Me neither.

I saw one on Top Gear the other night. James May and the short one were racing a Panamera against a post card mailed from Cornwall to the Orkneys via the Royal Mail, overnight delivery.

They lost.

...and Glatt gets 15 points, with 3 points deducted for derogatory wordplay, for a total of 12 extra points.

Wait, what? What do I get for not kicking it out of bed for eating crackers?

As for me, it was the back end that made it unmistakably Porsche. I think it's an ugly back end, but recognizable.

Make of that what you will. I still wouldn't kick it out of bed for eating crackers.

I never said I would kick it out of bed. It's just a little silly for a Porsche. Nowhere near as bad as that horrible Cayanne, which is useful for getting the kids to soccer practice at 80 mph through suburban neighborhoods.

glatt, your clubs won't fit in your Lambo, and you have to borrow your trophy wife's wheels to play golf at "the" club. You'd be the laughing stock of the 19th hole showing up in a minivan or domestic SUV.

If you can afford that Cayanne without selling a child, there's a good chance you are very class conscience. You also know any sign of status drop will cause your peers to go for the throat. :haha:

Not to be confused with the Cayman, which struck me as attractive. Looks like a toad.

I've ridden in a Cayenne, which outperforms the Cayman - but still struck me as the poor cousin of the BMW X5. Although I admit the Cayman is attractive. The toad thing adds to its charm. ;)

I don't think so, the Cayman gives up about 25 horsepower to the Cayenne, (although the Cayman S has 25 more than the Cayenne) but the Cayenne is 1400 lbs heavier.

That's why the Cayman can do a 5.4 0-to-60 and 165 mph, (4.7 and 175 for the S), opposed to the Cayenne's 7.1 sec and 142 mph.
Oh yes, I'm not a Porsche fan, nor sports cars in general, but took a liking to the toad style right away. :thumb:

I admit, the BMW X5 is heavy and has a 7 sec 0-60 and a limited top speed. Since no eastern US highway permits anything close to its top speed, that's a non-issue. The X5 has reasonable cargo volume and is quick enough to leave the fastest pickup in the dust, which is all that's required in Pennsyltucky. ;)

What I'd really love would be a vehicle that could go off-road across my property in the event of snowstorms and get me to sources of food and sand ... and also let me leave the bad boys sucking dust.

In fact I don't know of any road around here where you can do 142 and expect to not get arrested.

What I really need is my 2005 Toyota 4Runner back ... that was my baby. I drove her all over our property and down our front field when we were snowed in ... but now she's out in Colorado. The only way I'll get her back is to buy something else for my daughter and drive her back east. That would be an interesting drive.

I may still do that.

It's got a hemi.

Jim ... what is this bad boy/girl?

Whoa whoa whoa, I said absolutely nothing about any BMW, I was disputing your claim that the Cayenne outperforms the Cayman. It does not.

What you mean is, it goes fast enough for your driving style.

I do and have.

There are short stretches of road in between jurisdictions that have virtually no enforcement because there is nowhere for a cop to hide, and each jurisdiction just doesn't care. To patrol that area would take them out into the other jurisdiction where they would have to turn around and come back.

The 2 mile long bridge (and associated access ramps) between Lewiston and Aurburn ME is an example. I was in a 944 that got up to 120 or so in that two mile stretch. Never seen a cop on that stretch of road.

If you watch Seinfield's Comedians in Cars getting Coffee, he often gets on a bridge or something in NYC and opens the throttle. No shoulders. No cops. Speed cameras are always a threat though, in the cities.

Thats my Commander. 2006... Limited with the 5.7 Liter Hemi (350 ci).

11.4 mpg..... yeah. Not so great on gas, but when you put the pedal down, your neck muscles get a work out.

I lifted it 2", put 1.25" wheel spacers on each side, replaced the mushy factory shocks with high pressure Bilstiens, and put 31" Nitto Dura Grappler tires on the American Racing 'Fuel' rims. It used to have BF Goodrich Mud Terrains, but they were so loud, I couldn't hear my radio with the windows down.

It has heated leather seats, navigation, dvd player, automatic rain sense wipers, etc. All the buttons to push.

You can drive it through or over anything. Jeep only puts the Trail Rated badge on cars that can do the Rubucon trail in Stock set up. And even though its 5200 lbs, it gets to 60 in 7 seconds. 330 hp, 375 lbs ft of torque.

I love it.

Now we're talking. I like it! I haven't seen the Commander, but that's what I want - something I can drive over or through anything.

@Bruce - sorry about the segue from Porsches into BMWs. I'd mentioned that I liked the X5 better than the Cayenne in a prior post, but the discussion wasn't about BMWs. I had a lot of things on my mind last night ... got distracted.

Well, you'll have to go used cuz they don't make them anymore.

Check out the grand Cherokee srt8. Big $$, but Holy hell.... fast.

ROAD TRIP!!!

I call shotgun.

Yeah, that's why I brought it back on track. No harm, no foul, no malice, no apology needed. ;)

Grand Cherokee SRT8 used to be the fastest and quickest vehicle Chrysler made. I'm not sure anymore.

Are they making the Viper, again?

Does this mean I get to be Shrek?

ooh! a girl who likes roleplaying...

Well, Shrek isn't my usual thing, but ... I'm flexible

OMG, she's flexible, too!

Binge-watching 'Breaking Bad' lately...

Attachment 46042

Time well spent......

JR

1987 Buick Grand National

Attachment 46116

Buick Gran Sport

Attachment 46174

RFN

Mr. B, sir, that is an awesome pic!

Do you remember where you found it? I hope to God you didn't take it yourself, cuz, that would just be depressing today.



ETA: Nevermind, Buster, I found a copy.