I have to agree with you.
Actors that have been “de-aged” or simulated just don’t quite cross the uncanny valley for me. I loved Tron Legacy, but the de-aging on Jeff Bridges was just off. So those scenes with CLU and in the past just drew me out of the film.
It is a cinematic triumph. Peter Cushing himself called it his greatest role! Well, he might have said that.
Fun fact that I actually just learned today. The cast made from Mr Cushing’s face for his scene in Top Secret was used by the SFX wizards working on Rogue One to digitally recreate the actor for the movie.
Imagine that, a casting for a prosthetic made over 40 years ago was used to recreate the image of Peter Cushing so that he could appear as Grand Moff Tarkin again.
Have to admit, that rather stunned me when I read it.
Older Gen X’er here.
This list was basically a Tuesday for me back in the day.
SIR/MADAM! I call foul! Most foul!
Your list is horribly disingenuous, due to the absence of Val Kilmer’s greatest movie:
1985 Pontiac Sunbird and my parents had a 1986 Buick Skyhawk. Both were exactly the same car, just different front fascia. Same crappy 1.8L SOHC engine and terrible build quality.
Both cars blew head gaskets at 50,000 miles and my Sunbird blew it again at 65,000miles. Neither car were ever overheated. The A/C on both cars died at 60K. Various parts of the exterior and interior were just plain falling apart. The cars’ performance was absolutely abysmal.
The cars were so bad that I haven’t purchased another GM product since, nor will I ever buy another product from GM. My Dad had bought a mid-90’s Oldmobile 88 and it was actually OK for the most part. It just ate alternators, until I convinced him to put an upgraded aftermarket unit on and that problem was solved. Later he bought a Chevy Traverse and that thing was an absolute piece of trash. He had to put timing chains on it at 70k and that was a $2500 bill. The power steering also went out on it multiple times. He had the steering rack and power steering pump replaced multiple times.
I traded my old Sunbird in on a 1985 Toyota Corolla GT-S and THAT was my absolute favorite car of all time. I autocrossed it for several years and it never broke. I’d love to find one to restore. I have owned multiple Toyotas in my 39 years of driving. My current car is a Camry Hybrid.
This is exactly why an automobile should be treated as a depreciating asset, rather than an investment.
You fix a car if it will cost less than half of its value at the time of the repair. If it cost more than half, get rid of it at the first opportunity. There are caveats to that rule of course. So don’t fault yourself for buying another car.
You had some bad luck and that is just a part of owning a car. In commiseration, I invested $2500 into an Acura TL that I dearly loved for timing belt and some other 100K maintenance items. Only to have its transmission blow up less than 4 months later. The $2500, plus the transmission replacement would have been well over half the value of the car. I traded it. For a car that I still own and absolutely loathe, but it’s been reliable and I’ve put over 160,000 miles on it. My oldest kid now drives it.
The short answer is:
Keep your current car. It’s basically new. From a manufacturer that is notable for the reliability of its products. You also know its maintenance history, which is incredibly important.
Have your payments kept ahead of depreciation? Meaning, can you sell your car for enough to pay off your loan? Just so you know, that’s almost always “no”, but your results may vary. You would also be forced to buy another car. 7.59% APR sucks, but are you able to get a better rate now on another car? Do you have the down payment for another car? Again, you may not have any money left over from selling your current car and paying off the lien.
If you can refinance it at a lower the rate, then absolutely that is the path you should take. If not, then taking a more global look at your finances are in order to make the payment more palatable.
Been in a plane crash.
It was a Beech 18 that experienced fuel starvation on climb out. The pilot raised the gear and belly landed it in a freshly tilled corn field off the end of the runway. It was a lot like being in a car accident, just lasted longer with a lot more rending metal noises. The port engine was ripped off and was sitting about 50 feet behind where the plane came to rest.
It wasn’t cool, believe me…
When used properly, yes absolutely.
Vinegar is very useful in balancing flavors in recipes. Personally, I love balsamic vinaigrettes far better than other dressings. Malt vinegar on french fries is better than ketchup (and no I’m not British). Mario Batalli’s “Chicken in Cooked Wine” would be very boring without a healthy dose of red wine vinegar.
Everyone has different tastes. I personally detest olives, passion fruit, and rye bread. My wife absolutely loathes eggplant.
Random bonus content, mainly because I made this last night for dinner:
My Alabama White BBQ sauce recipe:
3/4c Mayo
2 TBSP Sugar
1tsp Prepared Horseradish
2TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2tsp Salt
1/2tsp pepper
1/4tsp cayenne pepper.
Throw all the above into a food processor and blend till smooth. Great on chicken and french fries.