11 posts tagged “2010”

The makers of Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei have a good relationship with many of the local car manufacturers. BMW débuted its X1 on the show, before it even appeared at the IAA (Frankfurt Motor Show), and since it is filmed in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Ford Köln is in the area. So, is this a Ford prototype? It looks like a stripped-down version of next year’s S-Max.

I’m having a hard time envisaging the New Zealand version of The Apprentice.
   I rather like the UK version of the show (above). Sir Alan Sugar gives a very different style to Donald Trump, and I hope we Kiwis will give our own take.
   The issue I have with the American edition is that the tasks are somewhere between seventh form and first-year uni in terms of complexity, yet egomaniacs who are not used to getting on with one another fail dismally at them. (This is me generalizing and I specifically exclude at least one friend who has been on this show. And I imagine I have just stated the formula behind the programmes.) All these years, I felt smug about how much better Kiwis—who celebrate teamwork more than individuality—would do given the tasks.
   Now my fears are coming to the surface for one reason: what if we suck just as badly? What if the folks who go on the show are picked because of some level of narcissism and the esprit de corps that Kiwis have as a default behaviour takes a back seat? And then, to make it worse, first-year B-school students think that being an uncooperative moron is de rigueur in the business world?
   And providing these guys are not hired for more than 90 days, I suppose the Kiwi Don will be able to say, ‘You’re fired,’ instead of, ‘We need to go into a consultation regarding your dismissal while you have a right to lodge a complaint with the Employment Tribunal,’ or whatever crap we are supposed to say as bosses.
   So, who will be our Donald? Thérèsa Gattung? C. Rankin? My former economics’ classmate Sir Bob Jones?
   My friend David suggested that Rob Muldoon, if he were not dead, would have been perfect for the role.
   We effectively need a rich guy who is cutting, and chances are the producers will want a white male as well. When I go through the potentials in my mind, there’s not a single person I am afraid of, or think, ‘I would feel intimidated in a meeting with him.’
   One of the few rich guys I admire in this country is Peter Jackson, but I can’t see him being enough of an ass to front this sort of show.
   Any former All Blacks at the top of the financial tree who could at least intimidate a few young Kiwis? Someone who can deliver some politically incorrect comments (which comes back to Sir Bob)? Or a big McDonald’s franchise holder who can assign losers to work on the chips with the phrase, ‘You’re fried’?

This post was cross-posted, if you prefer not to sign up to Vox to comment.

There will be a third series of Ashes to Ashes, the BBC has confirmed, and with Philip Glenister—putting to rest once and for all that an English tabloid’s published “facts” to the contrary earlier this year were total bollocks. For now, I will say that I predict that the DVD of this second series will have very good sales.

From Lucire TV: videos of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, on the Holden Commodore platform. The design is clearly inspired by the Chevrolet Camaro of 1967–9, but it is a striking, modern reinterpretation (unlike the Dodge Challenger, which I think looks like someone Xeroxed some old blueprints).

Not that I can see the article thanks to the Mirror’s redesign, but I take it that Philip Glenister will leave Ashes to Ashes after this second series. If the article ever loads from the ultra-slow Trinity–Mirror site, I’ll let you know what I find out.
   It’ll have been a good four years with the Gene Genie.
   The BBC may make it a three-series show, however, so how it will fare without DCI Gene Hunt for its final year remains to be seen. He is the star of the show and gets top billing.
   Hang on, it’s loaded, after four minutes.
   OK, the article seems to contradict itself as one paragraph begins:

Philip Glenister, who plays tough 1980s detective Gene Hunt, will be seen on screen with time-travelling cop psychologist DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) in a new series on BBC1 next month. And if that is as big a hit as the first—which got more than 7million viewers—he will make a third. But that will be the lot.

   So is he or isn’t he, or is his renewal conditional?
   Then the paragraph continues:

A BBC source said: “Philip has loved playing Gene and knows a lot of fans would like him to carry on. But he feels he's taken the role as far as he can. The makers were obviously disappointed …”

which suggests he is leaving.
   I guess it is a tabloid so we can’t expect any article to be in comprehensible English, but still, the Mirror has been pretty good on Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes gossip over the last few years.
   We need to wait for the Manchester Evening News’s Ian Wylie to give us a proper low-down.

[Cross-posted from Lucire] Lucire has a distinct Italian flavour at the moment, thanks in part to photographer Thomaz and his Milano shots from two fashion week shows so far: Byblos and Frankie Morello. Of the two, Morello is more newsworthy in its three-dimensional, origami quality; Byblos is more subtle, using silks and cashmere in showing off a structured, almost military inspiration.
   Stanley Moss, who gave us news of a special at the splendid Palazzo Magnani Feroni in Firenze, reports on more bargains in these budget-conscious times from Italy’s most artistic city. Whether you are shopping for gloves and handbags, ceramics, or a great-value meal that includes truffles, then his ‘Florentine Insider’ article has the low-down.
   The world does not revolve around Italy, as much as we would like it to: Elyse Glickman and Leyla Messian report from Hollywood on the Golden Globes’ suites, and we show off some beds that we spotted at a Design Mobel launch in Wellington, New Zealand last Wednesday.

Some 2010 models have made it into Autocade, because of the US practice of saying its 2009-launched cars are a year newer than they really are. (Whatever happened to the half-model years there?) It’s by no means comprehensive—the newly launched 2010 Cadillac SRX is not there, for instance—but a couple are.
   My rule for Autocade is that the years given for US-built models follow US conventions (and models built elsewhere use the calendar year, as is usually their practice). Hence, there are these three.
   The Buick LaCrosse entry below might cause a problem if Shanghai production is confirmed to commence in 2009, but since the US is the first market to build and receive the car, we will probably stick with the American convention and cite the first year as 2010. The Ford Fusion does date from 2006, but last year I decided to update the photograph to the 2010 model—the motive was that I did not want all current cars to have an image from the beginning of the model run. Finally, the 2010 Ford Mustang causes no problems in terms of indexing or imagery at this point.
   The only real problem is that it is impossible to note any driving impressions for models about to be launched—the Nissan Maxima (A35), Lotus Evora, Dodge Journey, Daewoo Lacetti (J300) and Mazda 6 (2009–) fall into this category.

Buick LaCrosse (Epsilon II). 2010 to date (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, 2994, 3564 cm³ (V6 DOHC). LaCrosse unified as a single model again, with American and Chinese designers working together on styling, and GM Europe on engineering. Moved to Epsilon II platform shared with Cadillac CTS (2008–). Styling has silhouette not unlike that of Opel Insignia; ‘sweep-spear’ feature on side sees waistline dip and rise suddenly forward of the rear door handle. Portholes on hood. The 1973 Riviera cited as one inspiration; Invicta show car clearly the other. Nothing that novel under the svelte skin, but tipped to be a staple seller for Buick on both sides of the Pacific.

Ford Fusion (CD338). 2006 to date (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, F/A, 2261, 2501 cm³ petrol, 2501 cm³ petrol–electric hybrid (4 cyl. DOHC), 2967, 3496 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Basically a new-generation Ford Telstar: Mazda Atenza platform, replacing Ford Mondeo Mk III (CD132) in most of Latin America (except Argentina) and providing Ford North America with a successor to Contour. Less advanced than comparable Mondeo (CD345), but conveniently and more cheaply put together in México. Attractive design, probably best of Ford’s mid-decade US sedans. Four-wheel-drive models a bit weighty, need good use of accelerator to get decent performance. Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ essentially the same car with better equipment. Facelift for 2010 model year shown at end of 2008, with more aggressive front end, new 2·5-litre four and hybrid, and Cyclone 3·5 V6.

Ford Mustang (S197). 2010 to date (prod. unknown). 2-door coupé, 2-door convertible. F/R, 4009 cm³ (V6 OHC), 4601 cm³ (V8 OHC). Carryover platform complete with live rear axle, but new sheetmetal to make Mustang appear more aggressive and compact. V8 has a power boost to 315 bhp. Styling by George Saridakis now inspired by 1970 model with shades of an earlier Mustang show car by ItalDesign. Interior quality improved.

At Judge Bob’s blog today (and no, I Don’t Know Why Every Word In The Video Is Capitalized Without Regard):

I post this not to say this is typical of Obama supporters—one could equally post one about McCain supporters and find some pretty weird things—but to say that voters are by and large uninformed. This is not an American phenomenon: go around and ask New Zealanders how National voted in the last Parliament, or who the leader of the Alliance is, or even what portfolio Phil Goff held, you will probably get more clueless than informed answers. There are still people who insist the New Zealand prime minister’s name is John Keys—I heard this only days ago on the radio.
   Many people, sadly, still vote on style and image and not on substance. And we really need to think about how we change this and get the issues out there for the next elections: here it’s the local body ones in 2010, and the Americans have their mid-terms the same year.

The Los Angeles Times believes San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom is considering exploring running for California’s governor when Arnold Schwarzenegger’s term finishes in 2010. Gov Schwarzenegger cannot run again due to his state’s term limits.
   Gavin—the fiancé of a friend of mine, and whom I had some dealings with when he was first elected (more specifically, our staffs dealt with one another)—is probably ideal from the Democratic side of things and could score a lot of votes on the coastal counties. Inland, I am less sure.
   Right now I say his profile is the highest of the likely rivals, even compared with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles.
   I know from many of our mutual friends that Gavin has considered running for the Governor’s office for years, though this is one of the few public articles about this ambition.
   I may not agree with all his policies but I believe he is faithful to his principles. And living in a place that has universal healthcare, I like the fact that Gavin has given that to the people of San Francisco.