A few MORE years back, in 1997, Brad, Dave, Eric and I used my parents’ old VHS camcorder to do some stop-motion animation with my transformers over summer break from college. Tonight I put that part of that video to music, and here it is! See “Transformers Dance Video” on the Fun Stuff page. I hope you find it half as amusing as I do!
By the way, there are a couple of “inside jokes” in the video, so if something doesn’t make sense, don’t sweat it!
A few years back, after the Christmas party here at the house, a few friends and I stayed up late playing with my old toys. We made a short stop-motion animation using our friends the Autobots and Decepticons. See the results on the Fun Stuff page.
When I told my co-workers I planned to trade in my truck, I figured I’d get some grief. After all, we just traded our car a few weeks ago, and I’ve only had this truck for two years. I’ll admit, we do trade a bit more frequently than most… I didn’t really get any grief though. I think they feel we’re beyond help.
Up until two days ago, I drove a 2004 Dodge Dakota 4WD Club Cab with the V6. It served our purposes fairly well, especially pre-child. It had a small back seat which Dusty occupied when going somewhere with Evan. That seat was far too small for a child seat, and as we understand, even if we could fit it back there, he would likely be injured in a collision due to the lack of room for the car seat to move and absorb impact- basically he’d slam into the front seat or back window very quickly. So, Evan rode in the front seat (with the airbag disabled of course). That truck was also our tow vehicle for the camper, which it handled pretty well.
We spent most of the prior week test-driving all the mini-truck 4-door models (Tacoma, Frontier, Colorado, Dakota). With the exception of the Colorado, any of them would have made a suitable replacement. The Dakota was powerful and rode well, the Toyota was very refined, and the Frontier was amazingly quick (with it’s 265hp V6).
In the end, the Dakota broke the tie due to price. I will say that I got a very good deal. I was dealing with the dealer in Pekin on a 2WD truck in Ohio (it’s hard to find the strip-down models). We were $1000 away from making a deal, so I went up to Peoria. My saleman there (from whom I bought the previous Dakotas) showed me a 4WD very similar to the one in Ohio. In the end he gave me the 4WD for the price of the 2WD from Pekin.
What we ended up with was a new Mineral Gray 2005 Dakota Quad Cab ST 4WD with the V8. This truck has a full size backseat, which was truly the driving force for trading. Now Evan can ride comfortably (and safely) in the back seat. I think we’re in good shape now, even if another child is in our future. As a bonus, the stronger engine will tow our camper more easily and is rated for essentially the same mileage as the V6. This truck is about as stripped-down as they come in terms of amenities, but that’s the way I like them. It’s got the driveline options, but that’s it.
I know I’ve said it before, but we should be able to hang on to this one for a while… The next step is to get the Line-X spray-in bedliner again and figure out what to do with the bed.
We’re now officially minivan owners… arguably. No one seems to agree on what our new vehicle is. We traded our CRV on a Mazda 5 a couple of days ago. It’s a quirky little vehicle that not too many people are familiar with: two sliding doors, rear liftgate, three rows of seating, and front wheel drive. Sounds like a minivan so far. However, it weighs about the same as a Honda Accord, is only three inches longer than my sister’s little Saturn SL1, and I can look right over the top of it, which classifies it as a mid-size hatchback/wagon. Add in the 17″ wheels, low profile tires, auto/manual transmission, general sporty appearance, and handling no tall vehicle can match, and the issue is further confused.
Cross-shopping for competing models, we found that the price was considerably lower than most minivans, SUV’s and three-row wagons, and the mileage was considerably better as well. Admittedly, it’s a little small in the third row of seats, but the idea is to have a couple of extra seats when you need them, and a flat cargo area when you don’t. We took a short ride with Dusty, myself, Evan, my mom, my dad, and my sister in the car, and it was reasonably comfortable. I’ve ridden in the third row for a 1.5 hr drive and it was just fine- better than the back seat of my truck anyway.
Now, I know I’m going to get a little grief for trading cars again- with good reason. We had the Saturn for 2 years, the Mini for 6 months, and the CRV for just under two years. In our defense, this was the vehicle we were looking for when we got the CRV, except they didn’t make it yet. Coming from the Mini, handling was an important issue. Nothing against the CRV (it was a nice vehicle, nothing to get excited about, but a comfortable way to get from point A to point B), but we were really looking for wagon, and failing to find one we liked in our price range, we got the SUV. The new Mazda handles like a car (zoom zoom!) without the body roll, has more seating, and should get the same or better mileage. This is one “minivan” we don’t mind owning!
Oh yeah, a picture… well, we just left our camera at the in-laws after a visit, so I’ll just link to it on MazdaUSA.com.
Well, it’s been two weeks without any posts, so I figured I’d at least say something here. I do have another sort-of project I’m working on. In two weeks Dave and I are getting together down in his basement for a recording project. We’ve got a half a dozen songs picked out that we’re going to mess around with and record. None of them are original, none of them will be as good as Paul’s, but they should be fun to do.
I spent a good portion of the past two nights transcribing a song called “Splatter Splatter” by a unofficially defunct Canadian band called Moxy Fruvous. They’re a quirky quartet that puts a lot of emphasis on vocal harmonies, which may be why they’re my favorite band. This transcription was a challenge. The lead sheet and chords weren’t too bad, but there are a lot of backing vocals. Listening to each section about a dozen times, I think I got them. The little nuances and minor variations each time through the chorus make the song interesting to listen to but hard to transcribe. This may have been my first accordion transcription, now that I think of it (hmm… accordion – though ought to pique your curiosity…)
Some other songs on our list are “It’s Alright” by Huey Lewis and the News, some DaVinci’s Notebook, “Coney Island Baby”, “Sixty Minute Man” as recorded Rockapella, and the crowning glory, the Chipmunks Christmas Song.
You may notice a lot of a capella songs on the list. That’s because there’s less preparation required for those and fewer tracks to record. You may also notice a lot of lame songs on the list as well. That’s because I’m lame.