American car companies are having a pretty crappy time these days – and most people you would talk to would tell you that the problems they face are mainly self-inflicted. Occasionally, an American car company will do something smart, and for better or for worse, making a smart business move becomes news. Want an example?

Saturn recently announced that it will let customers test drive Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys alongside the Saturn line up. I love this move by Saturn, since it shows that they are willing to put their product up against the supposedly “superior” cars from Japan.

I hope Hyundai is taking notes…their cars kick butt and a little head-to-head at the dealership should help push a few more of their cars.

Read the full article here from CNN. Hat tip to Seth for finding the article.

Posted by James at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My Canon SD750 (a.k.a. the sweetest camera on the planet) has a cool time-lapse feature that takes one frame every one or two seconds depending on how you set it. Today’s wild weather around Denver gave me a perfect opportunity to capture a little time-lapse action…

Posted by James at 07:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you have ever wanted to understand what is great about Formula One auto racing, you’re in luck. This weekend Formula One races in Monaco, the principality that reflects all that is glamorous and exciting about F1. So if you’re up for it, tune into the Speed Channel on Sunday morning…or set your Tivo, the race is on early.

Posted by James at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Don't do it unless it's fun.
Make it fun. (Always possible, per me.)
Make it fun for others. (Which makes it fun/more fun for you.)

Tarkenton, the NFL quarterback and wildly successful businessperson, gets it.
Sir Richard Branson "gets it."
So do I.
And you???????????????

See the whole post here.

Posted by James at 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I’m a big fan of travel shows, and new favorite is Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. Anthony is a skilled and entertaining writer, and it shows up on the screen in his monologues. My personal favorite episode is the one where he goes to Uzbekistan and gets a terribly painful “massage” from a short oiled-up Uzbek man in a small cloth speedo. Classic stuff.

If you have the travel channel, I highly recommend it.

Posted by James at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I took this picture in the Roman Forums on a rainy day…old German tourists are the best.

Posted by James at 08:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We’re back from Italy, getting read to go back to work tomorrow. The trip was an amazing experience. I spent a good portion of the day getting photos uploaded to Flickr…there are a ton of them, and I haven’t yet put them in any order, so be warned. Here are links to the sets from different cities:

Rome
Siena
The Cinque Terre
Florence
Venice
Last Day in Rome

Posted by James at 09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sorry about the lack of posting...been busy the last couple days and our useage of the internet in the Cinque Terre was stopped by a thunderstorm. We are on our last day in Florence, going to head out of town to escape the constant insanity that is Florence. Tomorrow morning we will be taking the train to our last city, Venice. Pretty excited about that. :)

I was hoping to upload a photo, but Flickr and Italy aren't playing nice today, so it looks like you will have to wait. When we get back a promise a four billion picture slide show to anyone who wants to see one. The counrty looks like a postcard in every direction you look.

Love to all.

Posted by James at 04:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is us at near the Coloseum in Rome...

This is the Trevi fountain the night we got engaged...

This is the moment Kristi realized she gets to buy bride magazines...

Kristi likes her magazines.

Posted by James at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here is a funny picture...2 minutes before I proposed at the Trevi fountain...this is where I blacked out.

Posted by James at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we are in Siena (we arrived yesterday at around noon)…tomorrow the Cinque Terre. We just finished climbing the 330 steps of the tower in Il Campo and the view was breathtaking. Here are a couple of photos from the top.

My plan to upload video as we traveled have been foiled by the lack of computing power at the Internet cafes here and the unusually slow internet connections. Ah well…trust me, we are having an amazing time.

Posted by James at 04:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This post is done Twitter style 'cause I've gotta go soon.

In Rome...heading to Siena tomorrow...

Kristi and I are engaged :)

If you don't rent a scooter in Rome, you're crazy. If you do, you're crazy.

The food here is amazing.

We've taken a lot of great pictures - hopefully we can get some up on Flickr.

Posted by James at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)