What a clever headline on this picture... the text that they'd inserted below it was
"I love Jesus, an amazing person with a very important message. It's too bad so many "Christians" ignore what he preaches.
You know, the stuff about turning the other cheek, loving one another, and camels going through the eyes of needles. "
And who knew that Jesus was American?
And blue eyed?
And kinda blonde?
That's the kind of retouching Cybil Shepherd prays for.
The kind of makeover the Oprah Audience would scarifice a larynx for
Taking a 2000 year old Jewish Arab and somehow turning him into a cross between Farrah Fawcett and the bass player of the Beach Boys circa 1965 seems to me to be just a little close to Blasphemy.
How did the blog get here? Because I'm wearing a "What Would Batman Do?" T-shirt to work today in a bid to cancel out one of the "What would Jesus Do?" bangles that proliferate - strained around the bloated wrists of women who seem to think that Jesus would try to pillage the buffet table, sipping on high fructose corn syrup filled buckets whilst bemoaning the cost of gas and mourning the fact that you have to move in order to find food.
Feisty day today - bring 'em on.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Walking the tightrope
So today I'm walking the tightrope between brilliantly simple and blatantly simple minded.
You see I'm all for purity of thought. But I am kinda opposed to the idea of nuance being something that should be avoided.
I've written before around the idea that while the French are taught in school to argue both sides of an argument and the British to make the case for one side over the other the Americans are taught that one of the four answers suggested is absolutely correct.
It's a very 'black or white' system that leads to election of people who are absolute in their beliefs ('you're either with us or against us' being a famous Bush version) and who see the world without shades of gray (Axis of Evil, Evildoers etc.) spring to mind. IT also leads to vilification of people who admit that the world is complicated, that their are shades of gray and that perhaps positions should change as circumstances change.
The idea of Antinomy really doesn't fly in American politics... even the word would have you branded an 'intellectual elitist'
And that's kind of what's killing me on a presentation today. I want to be single minded. I want to be straightforward and I want to know that what I'm saying is easily understood and executable... but not at the cost of nuance, depth and richness.
It's tough this 'writing your thoughts for the consumption of others' business, isn't it?
You see I'm all for purity of thought. But I am kinda opposed to the idea of nuance being something that should be avoided.
I've written before around the idea that while the French are taught in school to argue both sides of an argument and the British to make the case for one side over the other the Americans are taught that one of the four answers suggested is absolutely correct.
It's a very 'black or white' system that leads to election of people who are absolute in their beliefs ('you're either with us or against us' being a famous Bush version) and who see the world without shades of gray (Axis of Evil, Evildoers etc.) spring to mind. IT also leads to vilification of people who admit that the world is complicated, that their are shades of gray and that perhaps positions should change as circumstances change.
The idea of Antinomy really doesn't fly in American politics... even the word would have you branded an 'intellectual elitist'
And that's kind of what's killing me on a presentation today. I want to be single minded. I want to be straightforward and I want to know that what I'm saying is easily understood and executable... but not at the cost of nuance, depth and richness.
It's tough this 'writing your thoughts for the consumption of others' business, isn't it?
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Hmmmmm IceCream
I'm not sure why I find sticking to a diet as hard as I do. I think that it's an aversion to deprivation coupled with a natural gluttony overlaid with a mechanism that fills in moments between things happening with cookies.
For the last part I blame the UK. It's a place where people used to fill in the awkward social moments with tea. Which then became with Tea and KitKats. After all a KitKat says all that we're too repressed to say.
People arriving the the US are astounded by the size of the muffins, cookies and cakes here but whenever I'm in the London office the thing that astonishes me is the number of times the 'refreshment trolley' comes trundling into view buckling under the weight of something small but moresome. Our office there runs on KitKats, pots of tea and tiny sandwiches filled with minced wotnots scooped from a tin.
I am sticking to the diet though - and feeling good about doing it. Even though taking my rest day from the gym (and filling in the time with Pilates) does have me feeling a little guilty. One to watch I think.
For the last part I blame the UK. It's a place where people used to fill in the awkward social moments with tea. Which then became with Tea and KitKats. After all a KitKat says all that we're too repressed to say.
People arriving the the US are astounded by the size of the muffins, cookies and cakes here but whenever I'm in the London office the thing that astonishes me is the number of times the 'refreshment trolley' comes trundling into view buckling under the weight of something small but moresome. Our office there runs on KitKats, pots of tea and tiny sandwiches filled with minced wotnots scooped from a tin.
I am sticking to the diet though - and feeling good about doing it. Even though taking my rest day from the gym (and filling in the time with Pilates) does have me feeling a little guilty. One to watch I think.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Thinking Time
I'm always amazed by the way the brain works. Last night for instance I made myself a mental (and a physical) note to make a call by 10am this morning. As a result I woke up every 2 hours thinking about the fact that I had a call to make.
Then after looking at a brief for the 134th time today it suddenly became very clear what the underlying thought was. Just a single word actually that summed everything up. And it came while I was thinking about something else.
So maybe overtiredness and distraction really are the best way to work. I used to live on a diet of not enough sleep, too long a commute and constant new ideas. Sure it almost killed me (I wholeheartedly buy into the 'lack of sleep and gum disease' theories of cancer causes) but man was I lateral.
Anyway have to talk cars to a bunch of men over a pig's stomach burrito now... should be interesting
Monday, July 28, 2008
Don't let this happen to you
.... in a bid to save myself from the 'droopy camel toe of beelzebub' I've been keeping a food diary recently. And it showed what I knew to be true... my diet was fantastic up to around the time of the first glass of white wine after which I turned into Betty Bulima without the moderating gag reflex.
Luckily this morning I got the advice that I needed to stop the bingeing, Yup, cut back on the drink. Switch wine out for gin - or at least for red. Up the grain content. Increase the protein and eat as little processed food as possible.
Coupled with the diet this should see me raring to go for the Naked Uganda Project rather than looking for the shadows and begging for over exposure.
Exercise is going well - though the 5.30am starts soon become a drag... thinking of 7am starts this week; see what a difference that makes.
Okay - cats and dog working together to open pet food cupboard and bags contained therein - must dash.
Luckily this morning I got the advice that I needed to stop the bingeing, Yup, cut back on the drink. Switch wine out for gin - or at least for red. Up the grain content. Increase the protein and eat as little processed food as possible.
Coupled with the diet this should see me raring to go for the Naked Uganda Project rather than looking for the shadows and begging for over exposure.
Exercise is going well - though the 5.30am starts soon become a drag... thinking of 7am starts this week; see what a difference that makes.
Okay - cats and dog working together to open pet food cupboard and bags contained therein - must dash.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Greenfield Village
So today was spent at Greenfield Village.. .well at least the part of the day where we weren't stuck in terrible traffic was spent there. It's a testimony to the vast wealth accumulated by Henry Ford and to the awareness that he had.
See Henry realized that his Industrial World would wipe out the rural world and so set about buying as much of the past as he could - in order to preserve it. The result is an extraordinary village and a series of "how rich was he?" oddities that defy logic (the chair that Lincoln was shot in, the car that JFK was shot in, the car that Reagan was shot in, a piece of the Kitty Hawk, Edison's last breathe, Henry Ford's place of birth, slace houses, a Cotswold tearoom and a series of engineering marvels)
It's a good excuse to spend time outside in the sun - and as the horses and the model T Fords whiz by it's easy to forget that you're yards away from the factory that today churns out Trucks by the 100,000.
Worth a visit
See Henry realized that his Industrial World would wipe out the rural world and so set about buying as much of the past as he could - in order to preserve it. The result is an extraordinary village and a series of "how rich was he?" oddities that defy logic (the chair that Lincoln was shot in, the car that JFK was shot in, the car that Reagan was shot in, a piece of the Kitty Hawk, Edison's last breathe, Henry Ford's place of birth, slace houses, a Cotswold tearoom and a series of engineering marvels)
It's a good excuse to spend time outside in the sun - and as the horses and the model T Fords whiz by it's easy to forget that you're yards away from the factory that today churns out Trucks by the 100,000.
Worth a visit
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Freedom
There's something about summer that really opens you up to a sense of possibilities.
Right now we're facing down the barrel of uncertainty. Jude doesn't know where her career might take her, I don't know where mine will allow me to go but we're kind of certain that when you offer things up to the universe they have a way of settling that just works.
Were all of this "where are we heading next?' stuff going on during the winter I'm sure that we'd be feeling a little weighed down by it, a little daunted, a little tired of the thought of another book cull, another moving company rip-off, another new town to negotiate.
But it's summer. And that means that what this is now all about is possibility. We're thinking about which places have the longest summers, the closest proximity to beaches, which have the most fabulous houses, the most amazing people, the most opportunity for growth. And it's actually all pretty spirit raising.
Who knows. We may stay in the US, we may head back toward familiar Asia, we may move to strange new Asia but the great thing is that with the decision will come some certainty. It will have been six years of living out of a metaphorical suitcase. First "here until the PhD." is over. Then "here for the length of a post-doc" contract. But with the next move comes - "here for as long as we want to be" - which temporally may be no different, but emotionally makes all the difference in the world
Right now we're facing down the barrel of uncertainty. Jude doesn't know where her career might take her, I don't know where mine will allow me to go but we're kind of certain that when you offer things up to the universe they have a way of settling that just works.
Were all of this "where are we heading next?' stuff going on during the winter I'm sure that we'd be feeling a little weighed down by it, a little daunted, a little tired of the thought of another book cull, another moving company rip-off, another new town to negotiate.
But it's summer. And that means that what this is now all about is possibility. We're thinking about which places have the longest summers, the closest proximity to beaches, which have the most fabulous houses, the most amazing people, the most opportunity for growth. And it's actually all pretty spirit raising.
Who knows. We may stay in the US, we may head back toward familiar Asia, we may move to strange new Asia but the great thing is that with the decision will come some certainty. It will have been six years of living out of a metaphorical suitcase. First "here until the PhD." is over. Then "here for the length of a post-doc" contract. But with the next move comes - "here for as long as we want to be" - which temporally may be no different, but emotionally makes all the difference in the world
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh
Just got a call to ask whether I wanted to head out to Cedar Point and ride some of the biggest rollercoasters in the world. To which I said "Hell yeah"....
It's a two hour drive but it should be worth it - the thing looks completely insane. 17 Roller coasters is just the start. And they have names like Mantis, Raptor and Mean Streak. Yessss!
I've not been this excited since Britney first checked outta rehab
It's a two hour drive but it should be worth it - the thing looks completely insane. 17 Roller coasters is just the start. And they have names like Mantis, Raptor and Mean Streak. Yessss!
I've not been this excited since Britney first checked outta rehab
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
What were they thinking?
1982 Ford Promo - California Highway Patrol Special Service Mustang Ad
Originally uploaded by ssp.vortech
I did just that on Mustang this morning. Of course Mustang is odd in that its story runs much deeper than anything it's ever said... it's as much an icon of America as it is an American icon and that's as much down to Bullit, to racing, to father and son driveway moments and things like Farrah and Charlie's Angels as it is the advertising. And it's just as well. Because the ads spent decades talking about room for dogs, shagpile carpet and the fact that the dashboard is badded and the seats were vinyl.
But there were some threads in there. Basically Mustang ran the Smirnoff strategy for a long, long time, Mustang is transformational - it allows you to cast off your dowdy accountant self and embrace your uninhibited, sexy self.
Smirnoff does it by making you so drunk that you don't care (the world looks different through the bottom of a bottle) Mustang did it by making you feel so cool you took on a new persona.
The other story in there was that this release was the attainment of the dream. Mustang was about escape for a very long time. Whic h makes sense when you think that the original buyers were in a buttoned up world where self expression was frowned upon.
There was a lot about heritage too. About how each generation was related to the previous generation (and how it had improved). This communication split into two real camps. There was 'approval from a father figure' in which a new Mustang pulls up alongside an old Mustang and the older driver passes positive comment. And there was trans-generational transfer in which a father passes on the feeling of a Mustang to his son. I found the latter more powerful.
Best of all though was the MadMen style sexism of the times.
"Should a single gal buy a 1968 Mustang? Sure - it's a sports car she can afford even on her secretary's salary"
Or the woman who begins her test-drive with the words
"I really should be in the kitchen"
Hilarious but all a part of the legend. Mustang it seems has always been an invitation to show your sexier side --- what that means in a world full of college jazz mags, explicit blogs, high street sex shops, hardcore downloads and teen hypersexuality is the big challenge.
But it's great to be thinking about something that has real cultural currency than trying to work out something new to say about a new watermelon flavored yellow fat.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Weird but true
So yesterday at around 4pm I head down for a coffee and hear the sounds of a band who seem somehow familiar... walk around the corner to the meeting room best known as Boffo and who should be playing?.... Supergrass
Yup - the monkey resembling pop combo from the late 90s were all set up and rocking a select crowd of Detroit office drones on a Monday afternoon.
And that's why I love this business.
Yup - the monkey resembling pop combo from the late 90s were all set up and rocking a select crowd of Detroit office drones on a Monday afternoon.
And that's why I love this business.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Much happening
So the posts recently have been thinner than a Bullemic's tooth enamel (my fave phrase at the moment) - partly because I've been stupidly busy. Partly because I've been knackered from being so stupidly busy. Which isn't a bad thing.
The gym continues - and the weight keeps rising; which has to be a good thing.
The mosquitos keep biting and the lumps keep getting bigger and uglier (which can't be a good thing, can it?)
The dog keeps getting walked longer and seems to be coping (yesterday's doggy companion got stung by a bee, bitten by bugs, developed diahorrea and seemed quite burned, Velcro just smelled a little worse)
People are still filling our days and spare rooms - we have Zenu for another week, then Bonnie and Lorraine and then my parents.
Work continues to focus on the launch of new cars, the putting together of a plan for new product for a toy company and the task of persuading more people to eat more cheese (or similar numbers of people to eat a lot more cheese)
So nothing major but the minute hands are moving fast at the moment.
The gym continues - and the weight keeps rising; which has to be a good thing.
The mosquitos keep biting and the lumps keep getting bigger and uglier (which can't be a good thing, can it?)
The dog keeps getting walked longer and seems to be coping (yesterday's doggy companion got stung by a bee, bitten by bugs, developed diahorrea and seemed quite burned, Velcro just smelled a little worse)
People are still filling our days and spare rooms - we have Zenu for another week, then Bonnie and Lorraine and then my parents.
Work continues to focus on the launch of new cars, the putting together of a plan for new product for a toy company and the task of persuading more people to eat more cheese (or similar numbers of people to eat a lot more cheese)
So nothing major but the minute hands are moving fast at the moment.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Today's mission
I have today off... which in 90f (32c) is a good thing.
Gonna spend the day on a photo safari.
Start with the art fair as it opens
Move on to the weird and wonderful things around us (like the anti-gravity hill)
Before finding myself a beach spot somewhere near a lake where I can sweat off some poundage.
Then tonight - if we can get tickets - Batman!
Good day, Good day
Gonna spend the day on a photo safari.
Start with the art fair as it opens
Move on to the weird and wonderful things around us (like the anti-gravity hill)
Before finding myself a beach spot somewhere near a lake where I can sweat off some poundage.
Then tonight - if we can get tickets - Batman!
Good day, Good day
Thursday, July 17, 2008
A good drive - a good day
So today as the sun beat down and the temperature climbed into the mid 30s I headed for America's 30th best small town, Bryan, OH to talk to the very lovely people at Ohio Art. And they really are very lovely people.
Ohio Art are the people that brought the world Etch-A-Sketch and while the manufacture of the toy may have moved overseas they're doing all that they can to keep the brand, the company and the people who rely on it healthy.
Right now I have everything crossable crossed (I've tied knots in the rest) that we're going to be able to figure out a way to work with them. Partly because I love the toy. Partly because I'd really love to work with the people there. And partly because I love the idea of helping come up with the next generation of Etch A Sketch toys and games.
Plus the drive home - through cornfields on roads that narrow enough to make overtaking a rush - is enough to make you want to holler.
Ohio Art are the people that brought the world Etch-A-Sketch and while the manufacture of the toy may have moved overseas they're doing all that they can to keep the brand, the company and the people who rely on it healthy.
Right now I have everything crossable crossed (I've tied knots in the rest) that we're going to be able to figure out a way to work with them. Partly because I love the toy. Partly because I'd really love to work with the people there. And partly because I love the idea of helping come up with the next generation of Etch A Sketch toys and games.
Plus the drive home - through cornfields on roads that narrow enough to make overtaking a rush - is enough to make you want to holler.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
A 'merican Hybrid
This is the2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid AWD.
It does 20mpg in the city (that's 24 mpg to the UK gallon)
And a whopping 20mpg (24mpg UK) on the highway
Choose the 2WD and you can get 21mpg highway (25.2mpg UK)
I couldn't tell you what it's CO2 emissions are... mainly because nobody lists them here. Hybrid here is about MPG and nothing else. Mainly because the only disincentive to pollute is the price of fuel.
In the first three months of this year GM, the maker of the Yukon and the world's biggest car manufacturer (Toyota just overtook them) sold less than 850 hybrids in the US in total.
I guess you can see why.
It does 20mpg in the city (that's 24 mpg to the UK gallon)
And a whopping 20mpg (24mpg UK) on the highway
Choose the 2WD and you can get 21mpg highway (25.2mpg UK)
I couldn't tell you what it's CO2 emissions are... mainly because nobody lists them here. Hybrid here is about MPG and nothing else. Mainly because the only disincentive to pollute is the price of fuel.
In the first three months of this year GM, the maker of the Yukon and the world's biggest car manufacturer (Toyota just overtook them) sold less than 850 hybrids in the US in total.
I guess you can see why.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Body Dysmorphic?
I was watching a show on TV last night that dealt with Body Dysmophia and it started me wondering - what if you got past the fact that you didn't look the way that you thought you did in the mirror; but then realized that you were still hideous?
A childish thought I know - but while the show concentrated on beautiful people who could only see ugliness in their own reflection I couldn't help but feel for the dysmophic mingers out there - the ones who occasionally had their own self image re-inforced by the reactions of others.
Maybe dysmophia is my issue after all???
A childish thought I know - but while the show concentrated on beautiful people who could only see ugliness in their own reflection I couldn't help but feel for the dysmophic mingers out there - the ones who occasionally had their own self image re-inforced by the reactions of others.
Maybe dysmophia is my issue after all???
Monday, July 14, 2008
What a morning
So having gone to bed so early last night that I missed Ms USA falling during the 'walk and talk and chew' test on Miss Universe I then slept way too long - getting up for the gym an hour or so late and having to fly down there in the car (the rest of the week will see most of the roads closed as a million people flood in for the Art Festival so flying anywhere won't be possible)
At the gym a bunch of guys from the car industry were exhibiting admirable gallows humor against a background that might see this being the bloodiest of days. All of the big 3 US makers are looking to cut staff and many of those staff will find out this morning. Two of the guys even insisted on paying their membership fees today - so that the money was spent and they wouldn't have to cancel. It's that kind of a day. Still it was done with grim humor and good grace.
Work for me at the moment is still busy. Cars, toys, cheese, the future of transport and a host of other bits and pieces all seem to be occupying bits of my mind - and random pieces of solved puzzle keep emerging at unusual moments. Making me appear more 'rain man' than ever.
Phew... fun though
At the gym a bunch of guys from the car industry were exhibiting admirable gallows humor against a background that might see this being the bloodiest of days. All of the big 3 US makers are looking to cut staff and many of those staff will find out this morning. Two of the guys even insisted on paying their membership fees today - so that the money was spent and they wouldn't have to cancel. It's that kind of a day. Still it was done with grim humor and good grace.
Work for me at the moment is still busy. Cars, toys, cheese, the future of transport and a host of other bits and pieces all seem to be occupying bits of my mind - and random pieces of solved puzzle keep emerging at unusual moments. Making me appear more 'rain man' than ever.
Phew... fun though
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Another one bites down hard
One of the things with having been through cancer treatment and emerged flabbier but still intact is that you become a bit of a touchstone for other people. People that you don't really know. Friends of friends call a lot and say thing like "My neighbor's daughter has leukemia; would you talk to them?"
You know that they're looking for empathy, advice and most of all hope. You're the embodiment that all might be well after all. Like the 98 year old marathon running grandpa who smoked 60 a day.
I try to listen. And what I usually hear is simplicity. I want to live. I want to have more time with the people that I love. I want to enjoy more.
Of course it takes 6 weeks to turn back into the asshole you always were once cured but that doesn't matter.
I've watched people go through this. I've talked to them as they've had organ after organ hacked away - their bodies like Russia being burned ahead of the enemy. And while I want to be free of it I'm glad that I can help. I've said before that I'm not much of a candle carrier... but the responsibility for hope I can bear.
All of that said am allergy cough and swollen gland has me looking up chemo phone numbers today. The fear it seems takes a greater hold than a cancer ever could
You know that they're looking for empathy, advice and most of all hope. You're the embodiment that all might be well after all. Like the 98 year old marathon running grandpa who smoked 60 a day.
I try to listen. And what I usually hear is simplicity. I want to live. I want to have more time with the people that I love. I want to enjoy more.
Of course it takes 6 weeks to turn back into the asshole you always were once cured but that doesn't matter.
I've watched people go through this. I've talked to them as they've had organ after organ hacked away - their bodies like Russia being burned ahead of the enemy. And while I want to be free of it I'm glad that I can help. I've said before that I'm not much of a candle carrier... but the responsibility for hope I can bear.
All of that said am allergy cough and swollen gland has me looking up chemo phone numbers today. The fear it seems takes a greater hold than a cancer ever could
Friday, July 11, 2008
I love my job
Yesterday I was looking at the future of mobility (it's personalized mass transit btw) and at the way that 'Engines' are becoming 'Energy transfer systems'.
The next Prius for example will be a Tribrid - adding solar panels to run things like the a/c.Then there's an engine in a car that can create enough energy in its batteries during the day to power the lights in your house at night - a car you plug into.
So I was there sketching out a future where pods take you from mode of mass transport to connection point and train schedules are managed by the Blackberry in your pocket - so that you get delivered to the train about to leave. And it was all very Tom Cruise in a Spielberg movie and it was all very cool.
Then today I'm looking at cheese consumption. At why Americans are aftraid of real cheese and in love with creme cheese. And at snacking and the way that American sport is an excuse to eat uninterrupted for a couple of hours - from tailgate to hotdogs to drive-thru on the way home.
And the people are smart. And the data is good. And there's resource. And opinion. And suddenly I'm engaged. And smarter. And more engaging. And I love it. All over again.
The next Prius for example will be a Tribrid - adding solar panels to run things like the a/c.Then there's an engine in a car that can create enough energy in its batteries during the day to power the lights in your house at night - a car you plug into.
So I was there sketching out a future where pods take you from mode of mass transport to connection point and train schedules are managed by the Blackberry in your pocket - so that you get delivered to the train about to leave. And it was all very Tom Cruise in a Spielberg movie and it was all very cool.
Then today I'm looking at cheese consumption. At why Americans are aftraid of real cheese and in love with creme cheese. And at snacking and the way that American sport is an excuse to eat uninterrupted for a couple of hours - from tailgate to hotdogs to drive-thru on the way home.
And the people are smart. And the data is good. And there's resource. And opinion. And suddenly I'm engaged. And smarter. And more engaging. And I love it. All over again.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Crazy Busy today
I'm crazy busy today... so this is going to have to be shorter than Mariah Carey in flats. Even though see only ever takes her heels off to go to bed. If it's a water bed. Sometimes.
What am I up to?
Just been to a 7.30am meeting to talk Trucks
Then have to put together a proposal for building a toy shop.
After which I have a 'propulsion' strategy meeting
Then brief some people from digital on a new car
Before signing off on a brief for another car brief
A call in the afternoon on quant' researh
Then a 7pm meeting with the guy from 7.30am
Rush down to Ann Arbor, switch cars, get Jude's new plates, dinner with a friend, time with the dog.... and dog food, I need dogfood.
Damn
What am I up to?
Just been to a 7.30am meeting to talk Trucks
Then have to put together a proposal for building a toy shop.
After which I have a 'propulsion' strategy meeting
Then brief some people from digital on a new car
Before signing off on a brief for another car brief
A call in the afternoon on quant' researh
Then a 7pm meeting with the guy from 7.30am
Rush down to Ann Arbor, switch cars, get Jude's new plates, dinner with a friend, time with the dog.... and dog food, I need dogfood.
Damn
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Upside down
So with all the talk about how Gas Prices are turning America into a nation of truck hating agrophics forced to stay home eating economy tins of catfood (man that $4 gas... it's costing me an extra $15 a week over last year... best cancel the vacation) I thought that I'd take a look at what's happening with car sales.
Well of course they're down. But that has less to do with the cost of gas (people are still driving, they haven't abandoned cars - just the buying of new ones) and more to do with uncertainty in the economy. If it really is about to tank and with it take your job you don't buy a new car.
And if building stops then the construction industry starts to cut back and you see a slump in truck sales. So far so obvious. And looking at the top 20 sales chart born out by the data. Silverado down 25.6%, F series down 22.7%, Dodge Ram down 30.4%
So who else is losing? Well people are still trading in their minivans for something a little cooler... so the Dodge Caravan is down 26.8%. Probably not a fuel economy story per se, more a 'more modern ways to tote around the kids' story.
More interestingly are the small losses for Toyota Corolla and Camry and the big gains for Honda Civic and Accord. It seems that when faced with the stark option of a new, more efficient car people would rather go for the one with a hint of style and flair over the 'durable appliance' offering from Toyota. Honda have a lot right at the moment... though I'm no fan of the Accord which seems over big, over veloured and over rated.
Ford Focus and Chevy Cobalt also up. Cars in the smallest segment most people consider. The Focus is a 2.0L sedan or coupe here and that's about as small as the majority are willing to go. There's no room for Fit, Yaris or any 'B' cars in the top 20 yet.
This is dull for non-car people I know but the only companies that saw CAR sales increase in June 08 over June 07 were
Honda
Hyundai
Mazda
Kia
Mercedes
Audi
Mini
Maserati
Rolls Royce
Which leads me to believe that people are in the market for
- Luxury
- Fun
- Bargain Basement offers
If only British Leyland still existed... an Allegro Vanden Plas with lots of chrome, a mini chassis and kia price tag would go down a storm
Well of course they're down. But that has less to do with the cost of gas (people are still driving, they haven't abandoned cars - just the buying of new ones) and more to do with uncertainty in the economy. If it really is about to tank and with it take your job you don't buy a new car.
And if building stops then the construction industry starts to cut back and you see a slump in truck sales. So far so obvious. And looking at the top 20 sales chart born out by the data. Silverado down 25.6%, F series down 22.7%, Dodge Ram down 30.4%
So who else is losing? Well people are still trading in their minivans for something a little cooler... so the Dodge Caravan is down 26.8%. Probably not a fuel economy story per se, more a 'more modern ways to tote around the kids' story.
More interestingly are the small losses for Toyota Corolla and Camry and the big gains for Honda Civic and Accord. It seems that when faced with the stark option of a new, more efficient car people would rather go for the one with a hint of style and flair over the 'durable appliance' offering from Toyota. Honda have a lot right at the moment... though I'm no fan of the Accord which seems over big, over veloured and over rated.
Ford Focus and Chevy Cobalt also up. Cars in the smallest segment most people consider. The Focus is a 2.0L sedan or coupe here and that's about as small as the majority are willing to go. There's no room for Fit, Yaris or any 'B' cars in the top 20 yet.
This is dull for non-car people I know but the only companies that saw CAR sales increase in June 08 over June 07 were
Honda
Hyundai
Mazda
Kia
Mercedes
Audi
Mini
Maserati
Rolls Royce
Which leads me to believe that people are in the market for
- Luxury
- Fun
- Bargain Basement offers
If only British Leyland still existed... an Allegro Vanden Plas with lots of chrome, a mini chassis and kia price tag would go down a storm
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