December 19, 2012

My new Fiat 500 Abarth

At around the end of Aug 2001 I purchased my 2002 Beetle; around five years later I paid it off (not long after I got a surprise in the mail). Even with 6 years of no car payments, 10+ years with the same car is my limit. I went shopping two weeks ago before our trip to Austin, found this 2013 model, and quickly made my decision. My original choice was between a Fiat and a Mini which, one of Lisa's coworkers commented, are often compared in Europe. The test drive convinced me what a solid car the Fiat is, and it's nice not to add to the crowd of 7 or 8 Minis that are already parked near my parking spot at home.

First addition was a bluetooth receiver to stream Internet audio from my phone (found in this thread). Works well. Car-wise, the first week-and-a-half has been great. We have two trips to Knoxville coming up in the next week, so the trunk/back seats will be put to the luggage test.

posted by sstrader at 8:13 PM in Personal | tagged beetle | permalink

December 1, 2012

British crime dramas we watched in 2010-2011

Was remembering these recently for some reason.

First, Wire in the Blood about a slightly eccentric psychologist who helps the police with their more disturbing cases. This is the common outside specialist trope that, if it isn't present, is replaced by a detective with equally obscure specialties. Second, A Touch of Frost about an older, unorthodox detective working in a small town. Because of his age, this had a bit of a "Murder, She Wrote" feel for me. Both series worked nicely with the relationships of a core three or four characters. Wire lasted 6 years and ToF a full 18, yet with some seasons consisting of only 1 or 2 movie-length episodes. They were a nice diversion to watch periodically since, like other crime dramas, they lacked any cliffhanging addictiveness between episodes. It's odd how long we lived with these characters in the background.

posted by sstrader at 3:09 PM in Cinema | permalink