McCain veep shocker!

My compliments to the McCain camp. His pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was such a surprise, that it finally got the media attention away from Obama. As much as I like Obama, I believe the press has a duty to cover both candidates equally, and they haven't been doing it. Until now.

The skeptics are saying McCain is a hypocrite because he has cited Obama's lack of experience, then picks a two-year governor of a small state who has zero foreign policy experience. I still think it's a smart choice. Vice presidential picks have usually had little to no effect on elections, and unless your name is Lyndon B. Johnson or Dick Cheney, the vice president really doesn't do all that much. Harry Truman said the role of the VP was "to go to weddings and funerals." I think Palin can do nothing but help the ticket. It brings some much needed youth to the party, which has to overcome its image of being a bunch of rich old white guys. Also, McCain may even be able to bring over some feminists who are miffed that Hillary isn't on the Democratic ticket.

Palin also has a strong personality. She is a successful opponent of pork barrel politics and earmarks. She has taken on fellow Republicans in Alaska, even the infamous Ted Stevens, halting construction of a $398 million "bridge to nowhere," one of his pet projects. She is also a hard-line conservative, pro-life, anti-gay marriage, and a lifelong member of the NRA, so she will please the right-wing social conservative whackos. 

All I can say is buckle up, because it's going to be an interesting two months. And Gov. Palin, if you're reading this, all I can say is start studying for the debate now, because you have to face off with Joe Biden and his 30-plus years of experience in the Senate.

Huh?

So, a movie like "No Country for Old Men" can get all sorts of praise from critics, and win Best Picture (over "There Will be Blood?!"), even though the movie ratchets up the tension for an hour and a half only to reach no climax? The Coen Brothers have made some great movies, but this wasn't one of them. Critics universally overpraised this movie. Technically, it was a beautiful film with great cinematography, acting and directing. But you have a really tight, well-paced action movie that completely unravels into self-important drivel in the third act. I can't remember a movie fall apart so quickly since Roman Polanski's "The Ninth Gate." And maybe "Jurassic Park III." At least Jurassic Park III had an excuse... The studio wanted a movie released in the summer, and it just wasn't finished. Here, it's all part of the story. I don't know if this narrative was more effective in Cormac McCarthy's book, but it sure didn't work here.

Suggestions for car dealerships...

I had an interesting experience helping my brother buy a car on Monday. We were at four different dealerships, and I experienced four different approaches to selling a car. Here's how it all broke down:

Nissan: Salesperson was straightforward, talked about the car's strong points and its price advantage over its competitors. All of his claims about the car were 100 percent true. Did not come off as sleazy or scripted.

Honda (CR-V): Salesman was laid-back, but came right out and said "Our car is the best." He didn't like the Rogue, because he was 6'1" and said it was too small for him. The Honda drove nicely, and had a well laid-out interior. It wasn't as peppy as the Rogue, and was about $1-$2,000 more than a comparably equipped Rogue. The salesperson had no argument for this. And I stand by my opinion that the CR-V looks like a chick car.

Toyota (RAV4): This salesperson claimed to have been in the business for 30 years, and it showed. He also didn't hesitate to say "our car is the best" and was very slick. I honestly couldn't tell what was real and what was bullshit with this guy, and it was very off putting. The vehicle drove very nicely, but Adam echoed my complaint about Toyotas.. it has no personality. I like to call Toyotas "transportation appliances." We deliberately didn't bring the trade-in along for the test drive, and he picked up on that tactic right away. He somehow figured out that I was a former car salesperson. I don't know if that came from 30 years of intuition, if he overheard me, or if I ended up being heard on an intercom somewhere (remember, in a car dealership, someone's always listening). He and his sales manager were both asking very smart open-ended questions, and were trying to get as much information out of us on what we wanted to pay and the condition of our trade-in. Finally, he gave us a long-winded speech on how Kelley Blue Book values were inflated and how they would offer the "wholesale" price for the car, which was an obvious attempt to condition us and deflate our expectations before working the numbers. Even if Adam decided to go with the RAV4, I would have insisted that he get it at a different dealership, because I am certain this guy would have stopped at nothing to screw us for every last dime.

Subaru (Forester): Subaru is more of a fringe player, and doesn't move quite the volume of cars that Honda and Toyota do, so they weren't nearly as aggressive. Our salesperson was the most easygoing out of the four of them. He didn't brag too much about the car, instead letting the car prove itself during the drive. The car drove very competently. The interior looked nice, but the exterior styling was a bit oddball, like most Subarus. 

So, it was pretty much a toss-up between the Nissan and the Subaru. Adam decided to go with the Nissan, because he liked the styling and overall packaging of the car, the peppy engine and decent fuel mileage. The Subaru was a close second, and we very well may have gone with it if things went south at the Nissan dealer.

Fortunately, everything worked out with the Nissan. Unsurprisingly, they lowballed us on the trade in at first, but that ended promptly after I threatened to walk. After a few more minutes of back and forth, we made what I think is a good deal, and Adam is now the proud owner of a new Nissan Rogue.

Overall, here's what I liked about my experiences in the car buying process:

- The Nissan salesperson and the Subaru salesperson both talked about the strengths of the car, but did not come across as arrogant. They allowed the cars to do the talking during the test drives. The Nissan salesperson printed out some comparisons between the Rogue and its competitors, showing an obvious price advantage.

- We were very clear about our intentions during the first visit- test drive only, and no dealers kept us waiting or tried to make a sale.

- When I was haggling down the price of the Nissan, the salesperson took everything I was saying seriously, and didn't feed me lines like "Your information from the internet is false," and "We have to keep the lights on in here." He listened to what I had to say, and brought my concerns to the manager. I'm glad he did, because we would have walked otherwise, and I think he knew it.

- The Nissan dealer not changing the price of the vehicle, even though they only one they could locate was a car with a sunroof, which we didn't ask for.

- When Adam took delivery of the Nissan, no one tried to offer him worthless crap like undercoating, service plans or pinstripes.

- All four vehicles we drove had a full slate of safety features standard. It's about time.

- I would recommend any of these vehicles depending on someone's personal preference. They all are well-engineered, safe and drive nicely.

- Only the CR-V has seats that tumble forward. The rest have fold-down seats only. Honda is very clever when it comes to practical features.

- All four of these vehicles have enormous glove compartments and tons of storage space. The CR-V and RAV4 even have two glove compartments.

Here's what I didn't like:

- The arrogance of the Honda and Toyota dealer, saying their cars were the best. The Toyota dealer didn't even say why the RAV4 is the best, he just said "I've been in the car business for 30 years, and I know what's good and what isn't." Well, that clears everything up for me. And every Honda dealer I have gone to over the years has constantly said how their cars are so great and every other car sucks. IMHO, a good salesman, like the Nissan salesman who sold Adam a car, will emphasize the car's strengths, and allow the customer to form his own opinion during a test drive and detailed look at the car.

- The fact that Honda and Toyota charged $1-2k more than Nissan and Subaru for comparably equipped vehicles. Consumer Reports constantly reminds us how Hondas and Toyotas are the greatest cars ever built, so more people buy them, their resale values are astronomical, and these two manufacturers are able to get away with doing this. Note to car buyers: CR is a good resource, but it is not the Holy Grail, and there are other companies out there, even American companies, that are putting out cars every bit as good as Honda and Toyota.

- Constant lowballing of trade-in values everywhere. The only dealer that didn't do this was when we bought my wife's car from a small-town used car lot. 

- The fact that the Nissan dealer didn't put the trade-in value on the sheet with the payments. I told the salesperson we wouldn't even look at payments until I saw a trade-in value.

Overall, this was an interesting and entertaining experience. I enjoy the psychological games that go on at car dealerships, and how you can get eaten alive if you don't know what you're doing.

He has chosen... wisely

Now for some political commentary... I think Barack Obama was smart to choose Joe Biden as his running mate. Obama's critics said his foreign policy and national security experience is limited, and this addresses his potential shortcomings. Also, Biden could help Obama capture some key states on the East Coast like Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, which could go either way. And don't forget Delaware's whopping three electoral votes. Finally, and most importantly, this ensures that Hillary Clinton is completely out of the picture. The only drawback to this choice is that Obama said he was the "change" candidate, and Biden, a six-term senator, is viewed by many as a Washington insider. I think Biden's experience will help Obama more than it will hurt him. Hopefully, Biden won't pull a Cheney and turn into the fourth branch of government who thinks he's above the law and wipes his ass with copies of the Constitution. 

This is shaping up to be an interesting election. I think both of these candidates are more qualified than either candidate in 2004. I already think the ads are getting too personal. First there was the ridiculous ad comparing Obama to other "celebrities" like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, obviously designed to appeal to ignorant voters who won't vote for Obama because they think he is a Muslim. Obama counters with an equally ridiculous ad that McCain can't keep track of how many houses he has, labeling him as another rich white guy. In defense of McCain, he grew up on Navy bases, earned an appointment to the Naval Academy, and did not have the same priviliged childhood that Bush had. His wife has most of the money and the houses, and Cindy McCain is supposedly very generous, donating a great deal of her money to charitable organizations. Either way, I won't not vote for someone because I think they have too many houses.

Finally, this will be another close election, because just about everyone over 65 seems to back McCain, and most people under 45 seems to back Obama. And we all know the people who vote the most often are those over 65. I think the recent announcement that most troops should be out of Iraq by 2011 (yeah, right), will boost McCain, and I personally think this charade was manufactured by the Bush administration to do exactly that, because most Americans oppose the Iraq war, and this will be McCain's biggest hurdle. 

As for McCain's choice of running mate, it's looking like it will be Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, or the current favorite, Mitt Romney. I personally don't think it will be Romney, because McCain and Romney supposedly don't like each other. I am pulling for Tom Ridge, because he's from Pennsylvania, and he is pro-choice, and will piss off the religious right wing of the party (the reason I left the Republican party a few years ago).

I am looking forward to how this all plays out, and I think the debates will be interesting, because, unlike our current chief executive, I think both of these candidates are intelligent and can think on their feet.

DVD review: "21" busts

It seemed like a great premise- Smart college students go to Vegas to count cards and get rich. It was even based on a true story. However, the screenplay uses every cliche in the book, the characters are one-dimensional, and you knew how every scene was going to play out within the first few seconds. My wife and I had the whole movie figured out at the 35-minute mark. My wife quit watching at that point, and I made it through the whole thing. The movie wasn't quite unwatchable, but it was a major disappointment. 

Still, I'd like to read the book, written by one of the former MIT students who counted cards. Incidentally, the book was written by an Asian, but the main character in the movie was total whitebread. Gee, I wonder why...

More DVD reviews and random thoughts

Don't expect too much from "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay." If you liked the first one, you will probably like this one, but I thought there were fewer funny jokes. It had its moments, particularly any scene with Neil Patrick Harris, who reprises his role as himself. On the other hand, I think the movie relied too much on shock value, with raunchy sexual and potty humor and lots of nudity (Booger from "Revenge of the Nerds" would love this movie, if you know what I mean, and I think you do, gentlemen!). All in all, not a high recommendation from me.

I kind of wanted to see "Clone Wars"... until I read about the plot! So Anakin (not voiced by Hayden Christensen) is mentoring a teenage female Jedi-in-training who calls him "Sky-Guy" and their mission is to protect Jabba The Hutt's baby, who is named Stinky! The reviews say the movie is a steaming pile of Bantha fodder. Entertainment Weekly gave the film an F, and it is the first movie to ever receive a 0/10 from Joblo.com. Another critic said that it makes the Ewok TV movies look like "Citizen Kane." The movie made a mediocre $15 million over the weekend, overshadowed by "TDK" which has already passed Star Wars Episode IV as the second highest-grossing movie of all time. Back to "The Clone Wars," One of my main complaints about the new trilogy, and even parts of "Jedi" was the childish slapstick humor that completely didn't fit the tone of the story, and it looks like it was taken to extremes here. So we have this, an upcoming "Clone Wars" TV series, another live action  TV series and yet another re-release of the original trilogy, this time in 3-D. Hear that thumping sound? That's George Lucas beating a dead horse. You won't find a bigger "Star Wars" fan than me, but Lucas needs to move on or retire with the billions of Republic credits he has amassed over the years. And one other thing.... HAN SOLO SHOOTS GREEDO FIRST! 

Finally, Rock Band is the greatest party game ever invented... My wife's work friends were over, and we took out all of the instruments and jammed... Even for a novice, the game is pretty easy to pick up. Most people had no problems on the easy level, and some people even moved up to medium. Most importantly, we all had a great time.

Attack of the summer movies: Shake n' Bake edition... and other thoughts

Shake n' Bake is back! In "Step Brothers," Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are two fortyish men who still live with their parents. Will Ferrell's character's mother and John C. Reilly's character's father get married, the two "kids" become step brothers, and comic mayhem ensues.

Not too much to say about this movie. It was very funny and really raunchy. Well worth seeing for a few good laughs.

How about "The Dark Knight?!" 4 weeks, $441 million, and it looks like it will beat the original "Star Wars" to become the #2 top grossing movie of all time behind that movie about that boat.

And for this week's stupidhead award, the groups protesting "Tropic Thunder" need to lighten up. Apparently, certain groups who are advocates for the disabled take offense to the movie because Ben Stiller's character plays an actor whose previous role is "Simple Jack," a mentally challenged man, and because the word "retard" is offensive. These people need to take a chill pill and realize that this movie is making fun of the shallowness of movie stars, and take it all with a grain of salt. Also, over the years, no one seems to get the fact that protests and boycotts only draw attention to the movie and inspire curiosity, which leads to more people seeing the movie, and the studio making more money. Quite counterproductive, if you ask me.

The latest waste of time from Netflix

"The Bucket List" is a Hallmark Channel movie with A-list actors on a big screen. My wife couldn't make it through the movie, because she thought it was overly sentimental, predictable, and was not a realistic portrayal of cancer patients. I at least wanted to see how it ended. It was indeed predictable, and very manipulative. Your typical John Q. Moviegoer who likes just about everything and is easily manipulated by artificial emotion and treacle will like this movie. Yes, we all know people like this. They are the same folks who liked Patch Adams and Stepmom. However, more savvy moviegoers should steer clear.

The drive home from hell!

We didn't feel like braving the Friday crowds at Busch Gardens, so we headed home early, and planned to stop at Potomac Mills for some shopping. 

We got out of Williamsburg, and drove north on the ever-popular I-95. A flashing overhead sign says "Accident ahead - 30 miles." So, we bail at the next exit for Fredericksburg, VA. We hit a lot of traffic lights, stop-and-go traffic, and a bottleneck on an old bridge that took 10 minutes to get through. Then, north of Fredericksburg, in some town called Stafford, lots of other traffic bailed on I-95, and Route 1 was crawling for 10 miles. 90 or so minutes later, we finally made it to Potomac Mills. We didn't stay too long because we wanted to get home. I didn't want to go through the Washington-Baltimore megaplex on Friday at rush hour, and the radio said the Beltway was moving at a brisk 17 m.p.h., so I had the trusty GPS find an alternative route avoiding the urban areas. So, it takes us on a bunch of suburban roads to Dulles Airport. We then head northwest on the Dulles Greenway to Leesburg on the outer suburbs of D.C. We sit in traffic for 15 minutes as U.S. 15 shrinks to one lane.

We then cross the Potomac into Maryland and get to Frederick. Then, we sit in traffic for another good 30 minutes in the middle of nowhere on I-70 between Frederick and Hagerstown for no apparent reason other than a broken down car and construction on the shoulder. No lanes were blocked. I think "The Blair Witch Project" was filmed around here somewhere. We stop for a quick fast food meal in Hagerstown, then take I-81 into Pennsylvania, and we made it home without further incident at 9 p.m., ending our vacation and bringing us back to reality. A rough and long drive, but, as a roadgeek, I am glad I got to see new roads like the Fairfax County Parkway and the area around Dulles Airport.

The highlight of this trip for me was definitely getting over my phobia of roller coasters. I am already looking forward to visiting other parks and trying out other coasters. Also, someone needs to loan me money so I can buy the Lego Eiffel Tower...