#2019 Lincoln Navigator Concept

[t100ficrecsblog]

an interview with @changingthefairy-tale​

What are you working on right now? Right now, I’m focused on BellarkeFic-for-BLM (I just got an amazing canon prompt I’m really excited to finish). I’ve also been participating in this round of the Chopped Challenge, which has been fun and challenging. In between prompts, I’ve got two WIPs that I’m slowly cranking through. Shoutout to every single reader who’s been incredibly patient while I’ve been so slow on those updates — though, reminder that you can donate to a BLM organization (even a $3 donation works) and request an update to get those higher on my prio list while I’m focused on that initiative.

What’s something you’d like to write one day? My absolute dream job and the ultimate goal is to become a showrunner for a prime time TV show. I love TV shows — I love the way actors and directors and crew take a script and breath life into it, I love how you take a general idea for a story and mold it into something amazing as you go, I love how a series gives a story more time to be fleshed out and explored, I love the concept of a writers room and collaborating on a story. It’s a different ballgame from fic writing (which I do for fun) and travel writing (which I do for a living), but I’m determined to make it happen. JRoth, I’m coming for your job, babe. 😉

What is the fanwork you’re most proud of? I’m still really new to fic writing, especially compared to some of the powerhouse writers in this fandom. And I’m sure one of my WIPs (when finished) will probably supersede this. BUT, my one-shot about Madi calling Bellamy on The Ring (She called you for 2,199 days) is something I’m really proud of. I’m a long-winded writer, so one-shots have never come naturally to me. This one just…clicked. It’s got some good lines in there that I’m proud of, and based on the feedback I’ve gotten, it really made readers feel something and connect to the story. It’s not my longest story or my most thought-out. But it shows my growth as a writer these past few months, and I’m proud of that.

Why did you first start writing fic? I started writing fic as a creative outlet for my writing. My day job is writing about travel and credit cards. And while I enjoy that, it’s just not as creative. My dream is to write for a TV show though, and I was craving a way to flex my creative writing muscles in a low-stress way. I started watching The 100 when it first came out, but I didn’t really get into the fandom until I came back to the show during the S5/6 hiatus. That’s when I started reading fics and reblogging stuff about the show on Tumblr. During the S6/7 hiatus, I had this idea for a Greys Anatomy AU, and my sister (who is also a major fan of the show) was like, “You literally write things for a living. If you want to write a Grey’s AU for t100, there is absolutely nothing stopping you.” I published my first chapter on that The Choices We Make in Dec. 2019, and the rest is history.

What frustrates you most about fic writing? For me, I think that the most frustrating thing isn’t even about fic writing itself; it’s the fact that it’s a side-hobby and not something I can dedicate my full attention to. When you write all day for your day job, then do some for your freelance gig, and then turn around and try to write for a few hours every night for fic… that gets hard sometimes — especially since starting quarantine where I’m not traveling, going out with friends, getting a break from it, etc. Fic writing is a creative release for me, and I absolutely love crafting and writing these stories that involve some of my favorite fictional characters. And I love interacting with other writers and fic readers, I love talking about ideas and exchanging headcanons and fangirling over my favorite writers’ works. But (because there’s always a but), sometimes I just don’t have the mental energy or capacity to write at the end of the day when I’ve turned in 3 deadlines for work. I’ve got all these ideas floating in my head, but only so much time and mental energy I can dedicate to it.

What are your top five songs right now? Oh boy. So I live alone, which means I’ve got either music or Netflix on in the background 24/7 because ya girl doesn’t like silence. I have a different playlist for different moods. I’ll share my fav song from each of those playlists. Lol Fvck Somebody by The Wrecks (On my “Summer state of mind” playlist for when I wanna dance it out in my kitchen like an idiot)

Don Quixote by Drapht (On @talistheintrovert​’s “My Good Bitch Murphy” playlist for when I’m feeling *edgy*)

that way by Tate McRae (On my “Pandemic Jams” playlist bc I like angsty music and this song is a Bellarke MOOD)

Washington on Your Side from Hamilton (On my “Feeding my Broadway Obsession” playlist for when I wanna sing show tunes and plot overthrowing the government)

Tea by Noah Davis (Shameless plug for Noah bc it’s a bop and I literally dated Noah’s older brother in junior high — so proud of this kid for making his dreams a reality)

What are your inspirations (books, songs, other fic, really good cake)? All of the above, except I like pie more than cake. lol But really, I kind of use everything around me for inspiration. “The Choices We Make” is inspired by my love of Grey’s Anatomy. “Intertwining your soul (with somebody else)” is inspired my the first draft of my YA novel (though the setting was adapted to a grounder canonverse AU). “The Day He Shut That Rocket Door” and “She called you for 2,199 days” were inspired by @historyofbellarke‘s headcanons that were brought up in S7 speccing conversations (shoutout to her for enabling my angsty ass). My most recent WIP “There are some things written in the stars” that I started as part of Chopped (but will continue because I’m obsessed with the idea) is inspired by my love of Timeless. And I have an entire Notion database filled with fic ideas — some one-shots and some multi-chapter fics — that are inspired by quotes, songs, conversations with friends, books I love, shows I adore, random HCs that pop into my head while I watch, my own life experiences, etc. I take inspiration in any form it decides to come in. 💕

What first attracted you to Bellarke? What attracts you now? I’m a ho for enemies to lovers — the idea that you can put your worst foot forward and show someone all the ugly parts of you… and that they’ll see that and somehow look past it to see the good stuff too, falling in love with your whole self instead of just the pretty parts. Yeah, it’s my favorite romance trope. And that tension is what originally drew me to Bellarke. Now, it’s a combination of things. I love each of these characters in their own right. I relate to Clarke in a lot of ways, and I aspire to be her level of badass. I straight adore Bellamy Blake (flaws, stupid decisions, and all) and would marry him in a heartbeat if he were real — I’m not even kidding. lol But I also love their dynamic. They are partners, best friends, perfect compliments to the other. They see each other in a way no one else does, and they are the one person the other constantly risks everything for. They are both so driven by their responsibilities to their people, yet that all typically goes out the window the moment the other is at risk. I don’t believe in soulmates in real life, but it’s nice to get to believe in this fictional world that they are just made for each other.

BESIDES Bellarke, what character or pairing do you like best on t100? My favorite character besides Bellarke is John Murphy. His arc has been BY FAR the best on this show, going from that little shit in S1 to this “asshole we love” in the middle to now a true hero in this final season. And through it all Richard Harmon has been amazing to watch on screen.

My favorite pairing besides Bellarke is Linctavia. Yes, that ship is problematic in a lot of ways, but I still loved their dynamic. Lincoln helped Octavia navigate this new world that she was so desperate to be apart of while being mindful of her safety. And I thought they were a good match — he helped tame her fire without putting it out, and she helped challenge the way he was raised. Given time, I think they could have become one of the most stable and loving relationships on t100. Of course, that couldn’t happen because Jason needed Bell’s actions in 3A to have heartbreaking consequences, O to spiral for her own character journey, and whatever mess happened off-screen between Ricky and him. But they still remain my favorite ship aside from Bellarke.

Why did you decide to start writing for bellarkefic-for-blm? The second I saw that Sam was planning on doing this, I reached out to ask how I could help/write/be involved. The BLM movement is so important, and this is an amazing way for me to contribute while pursuing my passions. It’s a way for the fandom to get involved and do something good. And ultimately, this helps organizations that need donations. Shameless plug for everyone to please go check out the Bellarke Fic for BLM page — check out the many amazing writers and artists we have participating, and send in prompts. Most of us are allowing WIP chapter update requests, and there are a number of us (myself included) who are matching donations made! No donation is too small, and you’ll be supporting a movement that is a necessity in the U.S. and beyond.

What’s your writing process like? My mind is literal chaos, so I plan and outline like hell in order to make sense of everything. When I get an idea for a fic, it goes on my Notion database. Within Notion, I write down my inspiration for the idea, and a pretty in-depth summary of where I want the fic to go — dialogue ideas, any feelings/emotions I want to invoke, literally just a brain dump of all my ideas. From there, I’ll arrange that brain dumb into an outline. If it’s a one-shot, I’ll generally write the whole thing in the Notion doc. But multi-chapter fics will get a checklist within Notion for me to keep track of progress, and I’ll actually write the fic in Google Docs. I generally start writing from the beginning of a story, but if I get stuck or have an idea for a later scene, the fact that I’ve outlined heavily allows me to jump around as ideas come to me. I’ll read each one-shot or chapter after I’m done to make sure it flows before publishing. I post chapters for my WIPs as I write them, which I should really stop doing. lol For my readers’ sakes, I should work ahead and publish on a schedule rather than making them wait for my slow ass to finish chapter to chapter. But right now, that’s my process!

What are some things you’d like to recommend? Oh goodness, too many fics to possibly name. Instead, I’ll link to my AO3 rec bookmarks (which isn’t all-inclusive of the amazing fics I’ve read in this fandom, but it’s got some good favs in there) and shout out all of our awesome Bellarke Fic for BLM writers. Y’all should check out their work (and send in prompts)!

Where’s the best place to find you (twitter? tumblr?) I’m @changingthefairy-tale on Tumblr and @changingthefairy_tale on AO3! My ask box is always open for anyone who wants to scream about the show, ask about specs, talk about my fics, etc. Come say hey!

[enginerumors]

2019 Lincoln Navigator Concept, Reserve, Release Date, Price

2019 Lincoln Navigator Concept, Reserve, Release Date, Price

2019 Lincoln Navigator Concept, Reserve, Release Date, Price– The 2019 Lincoln Navigator is set for a redesign, the Lincoln Navigator 2019 judged when many of the categorized suburban aspects of United States, although the current variation is made for the buzz of your commencing just before rugged competitors of Cadillac, Infiniti, but additionally not taken care of as Mercedes. This will…

[aroundtheworldinsearchofcoke]

Day Twenty-Seven: Up and Down

https://aroundtheworldinsearchofcokev.blogspot.com/2019/07/day-twenty-seven-up-and-down.html

Today we left Dudley a little later than normal after a nice sleep in, arriving in Cosford just after ten.

Cosford is the home of the northern branch of the Royal Air Force Museum (the other being in Hendon near London.) It’s also right next to an active duty RAF base so, y’know, don’t get lost. It’s the home of the National Cold War Exhibition, a number of rare test planes, and that one-to-one scale Airfix Spitfire that James May built that one time.

Notable aircraft in the collection include the oldest surviving Supermarine Spitfire, an Avro Lincoln bomber, all the V-bombers and, of particular interest, the last Mk. I Bolton-Paul Defiant left in the world. The Defiant was an interesting concept – instead of having forward-firing guns under the wings, it carried them in a turret in the back, the idea being to catch out German fighters who tried to come up behind the aircraft, as was standard practice in fighter combat. It worked – at first. Then the Germans caught on, and the poor manoeuvrability and complete lack of frontal armament on the Defiant led them to be absolutely massacred in the early stages of the Battle of Britain (made worse that a Defiant, in the worst case scenario, went down with twoprecious aircrew rather than just one.) It wasn’t all bad news though – later Defiants, equipped with air-to-air radar, found success as night-fighters defending Britain during the Blitz.

After the museum we headed to the historic town of Shrewsbury, not too far from the Welsh border. There stands what remains of Shrewsbury Castle – duh – which now houses the regimental museum of the Kings’ Shropshire Light Infantry. The KSLI traces its lineage to the 53rdand 55thRegiments as well as a number of volunteer and yeomanry formations, elements of which fought in the American Revolutionary, Napoleonic and a number of imperial wars before being amalgamated in 1881. As far as regimental museums go, it’s quite extensive, and there’s a lot of very interesting artefacts in their displays, but I must confess, it was perhaps a smidge too focused on officers rather than enlisted soldiers. Still very well worth a look, though!

Following this, we had lunch and explored Shrewsbury. It’s an absolutely lovely town, a mish-mash of Tudor, Stuart, Georgian and Victorian architecture nestled on the River Severn. Of particular interest is the English Bridge, which gives good views of the town and river, and the big statue of Robert Clive, which gives good views of contested history.

We crawled home – even though we’re not in Birmingham proper, navigating it’s fringes at rush hour remains a nightmare – and I had a quick McDonalds for dinner. Tomorrow we leave Dudley and England altogether, crossing over the border toward the wilds of Wales…

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND June 28, 2019  -  YESTERDAY, ANNABELLE COMES HOME, MAIDEN

I’m going to do things a little different again this week, because while I normally would begin with the bigger movie of the weekend, I actually have a lot of stuff about ANNABELLE COMES HOME (New Line/WB) over at The Beat, as you can see below, so instead, I’m going to put a little more focus on Danny Boyle’s YESTERDAY (Universal), because... well, read on...

It’s not often a movie comes along that combines all of my favorite things into a completely unexpected movie that works, but Yesterday, written by Love, Actually’s Richard Curtis and directed by Danny Boyle, does just that. It takes a fairly high concept premise of a world without knowledge of the Beatles and their music and turns it into a hilarious comedy about fame and love and plenty of other things.  Maybe that’s to be expected when it comes from a writer who has helped define British comedy and one of my favorite directors, but that doesn’t always mean that it will always work.

We meet Himesh Patel’s Jack Malik as he’s doing his regular busking around Sussex at any gig his best friend and manager Ellie (Lily James) can get for him, but it’s not going well and Jack is ready to give up. One night, after coming back from one such bad gig, the lights go out across the globe for 12 seconds and in that 12 seconds, Jack’s bike is hit by a bus. He ends up in the hospital with two missing teeth but when he gets out he starts playing “Yesterday” on an acoustic guitar bought for him as a gift by Ellie, and realizes that none of his friends realize who the Beatles are. Jack immediately realizes that it’s up to him to preserve the songs so he tries to remember them and incorporates them into his shows, at which point he suddenly starts getting more attention.

The first thing about Yesterday that’s immediately apparent is the talent and charm of Himesh Patel who really carries the film and has you constantly rooting for him. I’ve long been a fan of Lily James, especially after her turn in Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, but I feel like the role of Ellie allows her to be more of herself than some of her other ones.

There are quite a few other levels to the humor, the first one being when Ed Sheeran, played by the real Ed Sheeran, contacts Jack Malik about his music and becomes involved in his story. The next level is when Kate McKinnon enters the picture as Sheeran’s manager who wants to turn Jack into a money-making superstar ala Sheeran. Sheeran ably makes fun of himself and his own talent as a singer/songwriter, but McKinnon takes her character so far into the world of sleaze that she’s hysterical (especially to someone who has worked in the music biz and has seen this first-hand). It’s also good to mention Joel Fry as Jack’s bumbleheaded friend/roadie Rocky and Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal as his parents, all who bring even more laughs to the movie.

Probably the most interesting turn is when Ellie is ready to say bye to Jack as he heads off to L.A., and she suddenly realizes that she’s in love with him though those feelings aren’t reciprocated. As Jack tries to navigate the music business with his sleazy new manager, he realizes that he has to go to Liverpool if he wants to remember the last of the Beatles songs, and once there, he reconnects with Ellie as they try to sort out their feelings.

That’s all I’m going to say because the last act is so full of surprises that really helps bring the whole thing home. And then on top of all that, you have the music of the Beatles, which still gives me goosebumps as performed by the talented Patel. (Once I buy this soundtrack, it will be the second record this year I’ve bought of an actor performing classic pop/rock songs and selling them as well as the original artist(s).)

I don’t think you have to be a Beatles fan to appreciate what Curtis and Boyle done with this premise, and maybe it’s because I’ve been in Ellie’s shoes, falling in love with a friend who just sees me as a friend that I really connected with the romantic angle of the film, one that really pays off.

Yesterday is just wonderful, and it’s easily one of my favorite movies of the year.

Rating: 9/10

Interview with Writer Richard Curtis over at The Beat

Getting back to Annabelle Comes Home, I’m sure that New Line’s latest entry into the ConjuringVerse is going to prove popular, especially with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Larraine and Ed Warren. It’s screenwriter Gary Dauberman’s directorial debut and it stars the amazing McKenna Grace (Gifted) as the Warrens’ daughter Judy, as it shows what happens when the Annabelle doll is released in the artifact room, drawing a gaggle of malevolent spirits to the Warren home as Judy and her babysitter (and friends) fight them off and try to figure out how to stop them.

My Review over at The Beat

Interview with Writer/Director Gary Dauberman at The Beat.

LIMITED RELEASES

Another movie I’m really excited for people to finally see, one which I saw way back in January around when it premiered at Sundance is Alex Holmes’ doc MAIDEN (Sony Pictures Classics), which tells the amazing story about how Tracy Edwards put together an all-woman sailing team to race in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Race despite all the odds against them. I loved this movie, not only because it’s an amazing story but also I’m a sailing enthusiast who sadly has not been able to get out and go sailing as much as I’ve hoped. But Edwards’ story and what she and hew crew 

Over a year since it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley stars as OPHELIA (IFC Films) in Claire McCarthy’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamletwith Ophelia taking center stage as the lady-in-waiting to Queen Gertrude, played by Naomi Watts. George MacKay from Captain Fantastic plays Prince Hamlet, and the movie will open at the IFC Center as well as select theaters across the country.

Also opening at the IFC Center on Friday (and then in L.A. on July 12) is Jan Zabelle’s Three Peaks (Greenwich Entertainment), starring Alexander Fehling and Bérénice Bejo (The Artist). Fehling plays Aaron who wants to be a family with his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in the Italian Dolomites, but has trouble gaining the boy’s acceptance.

Opening in select cities is Mitch Davis’ THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN 2: FIRE OF FAITH (Artaffects), a sequel to the 2001 faith-based film which grossed $4.7 million.  Christopher Gorman returns as the missionary John H. Grober who returns to Tonga with his wife and five daughters, where they have a sixth child who is suffering an illness.

Opening at New York’s Film Forum is Lila Avilés’ The Chambermaid, set in a deluxe Mexico City hotel where chambermaid Eva spends her days making beds and dealing with needy clients, partially inspired by Sophie Calle’s The Hotel.

Opening at Film at Lincoln Center is James N. Kienitz Wilkins and Robin Schavoir’s experimental film The Plagiarists (KimStim) starring Lucy Kaminsky and Eamon Monaghan as a couple stranded by a snowstorm while visiting a friend in upstate New York and are put up for the night by a strange guy named Clip (Michael Payne from Parliament) only to discover that his hospitality was not what it seems. The filmmakers will be on hand for QnAs after the screenings Friday and Saturday night.

Opening at the Quad Friday is Eddie Mensore’s Mine 9 (EmphatiCinema/Levey Distribution)about nine coal miners in West Virginia trapped underground after a methane explosion.

Also opening at the Quad (and at the JCC Manhattan) is Avi Nesher’s Israeli film The Other Story (Strand Releasing) about two rebellious young women from Jerusalem who clash in unexpected ways.

From China comes Derek Tsang’s thriller Better Days (Well GO USA), opening Thursday in select cities, about a female student preparing for the important “gaokao” college entrance exam tests, who teams with a small-time criminal named Bei when she’s being bullied over a classmate who committed suicide. (NOTE: I just read that Better Days was pulled from Chinese release a few days ago, so I’m wondering if maybe it’s U.S. release will be delayed accordingly, as well.)

Alicia Vikander and Eva Green star in Swedish filmmaker Lisa Langseth’s English-language debut Euphoria (Freestyle Releasing) as two sisters travelling to a mystery destination in Europe. It also stars Charles Dance and Charlotte Rampling and opens in select cities.

Last, there’s Martin Owen’s Killers Anonymous (Grindstone Entertainment) about a support group for killers, which stars Gary Oldman, Jessica Alba and Suki Waterhouse. This is probably a mostly VOD movie that might be released into a few theaters.s

LOCAL FESTIVALS

I had to omit this section last week due to time constraints, but this weekend begins one of my favorite annual New York film festivals, and that is the New York Asian Film Festival, mostly taking place at Film at Lincoln Center and then the SVA Theater.  This is the 18thannual festival, dubbed “Still Too Young to Die,” and I have to admit that over the past few years, I’ve been somewhat neglect in my attendance and coverage of the festival. I hope to change that as there are definitely some things I’m hoping to catch. You have to remember that many of the films that play this festival NEVER receive U.S. distribution so NYAFF is the only chance to see some of them.

This year’s festival opens with Bernard Rose’s Samurai Marathon, a period piece set in the 1850s with an all-star cast and a Philip Glass score. This year’s centerpiece is

Eguchi Kan’s The Fable, adapting the Manga about a Yakuza hit man trying to lead a “normal life.” For a third year in a row, NYAFF has a competition for the Uncaged Award for Best Feature Film with seven films from different Asian countries in competition, many having their North American premieres:  Moon Sung-ho’s 5 Million Dollar Life, Kim Yoon-seok’s Another Child, Huang Chao-liang’s Han Dan, Nojiri Katsumi’s Lying to Mom, Kenneth Lim Dagatan’s Ma, Yi Ok-seop’s Maggie and Wu Nan’s Push and Shove.

Legendary martial arts choreographer and director Yuen Woo-ping will be receiving the Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award, and they should be showing some of his best work at this year’s festival including Donnie Yen’s Iron Monkey, The Miracle Fighters and more.

This year’s festival will run until July 14, although the Closing Night film has yet to be announced.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Streaming on Netflix starting Friday is Paul Thomas Anderson’s musical short Anima, starring and scored by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. 

REPERTORY

Before we get to the individual theaters, be aware that Spike Lee’s all-time classic Do the Right Thing will be receiving a 30th anniversary rerelease both in a new 4k digital restoration and in some cases, on an archival 35mm print. Check your local theaters to see if it’s playing near you, and if you haven’t seen it yet after 30 years, then you have no excuse not to go see it this week.

METROGRAPH (NYC):

When it comes to music docs, Les Blank is one of the pioneers and thankfully, Les Blank Films (along with Argot Pictures) is issuing two restorations of the ‘70s films he was involved with including Chulas Fronteras  (1976) and Del Mero Corazon  (1979) that look into the amazing music crossing the border between Mexico and Texas. Chulas, translated as “Beautiful Borders,” is a fascinating hour-long film that uses the music as a backdrop to show the everyday lives of those who live on the boarder. Del Mero (“Straight from the Heart”), co-directed with Maureen Gosling (who will be on hand Friday and Saturday night), Guillermo Hernandez & Chris Strachwitz is a shorter film mostly about the romantic songs from Mexico. Honestly, as someone who frequently has to listen to Mexican “mariachi” music on the subway while I’m trying to relax and listen to my own music, I wasn’t sure whether and if I’d connect with either film and while Chulas is definitely a stronger overall film, they both offer some great insights into the Tex-Mex music and musicians that have paved the way for others.

The Metrograph joins other New York arthouse in closing off Pride Month with Films of Pride and Protest: Stonewall at 50 with two series of films by various filmmakers documenting the groundbreaking rallies and protests that have helped the LGBTQ movement get to where it is today.

This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph  screening is the Safdie Brothers’ Heaven Knows What  (2015) while the Playtime: Family Matinees  offering is Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921) in 35mm!

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

This week’s Weds. matinee is Alfred Hitchcock’s Topaz from 1969 – I guess the new Bev is still going through the movies of the late ‘60s, a running theme the last couple weeks. Weds and Thursday’s double feature is Krakatoa, East of Java and The Boston Strangler (from 1969 and 1968, continuing that theme); Friday and Saturday sees a double feature of Steve McQueen’s Bullitt (1968) and George Sheppard’s Pendulum (1969); and then the Sunday/Monday double feature is Liza Minnelli’s The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) with 3 in the Attic (1968; in 16mm, no less!). The weekend’s KIDDEE MATINEE is another Steve McQueen movie, The Reivers, also from 1969, and then the midnight movies are Tarantion’s Inglourious Basterds on Friday night and Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant(1969) on Saturday night. Chris Nolan’s Inception (not from 1968 or 1969!) will screen as a matinee on Monday and then next Wednesday’s matinee is the James Bond film From Russia With Love  (1963).

FILM FORUM (NYC):

On Friday, the Film Forum begins screening the Coen Brothers’ 1998 comedy classic The Big Lebowski for a week for no particular reason… but who needs a reason to catch up with Jeff Bridges’ The Dude and friends? It will also screen Elaine May’s classic bomb Ishtar, starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman, again for no particular reason. Maybe because it’s summer? This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is the 1982 John Huston musical Annie, and then on Sunday, the Forum will screen Otto Preminger’s 1954 film  Carmen Jones, introduced by Donald Goble.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Cinematic Void presents a double feature of Ti West’s The House of the Devil(2009) and Wolf’s Hole (1987) on Thursday and then on Friday, the Egyptian goes further into the Czech New Wave with The Anarchic Cinema of Vera Chytilova, a double feature of Daisies (1966) and Fruit of Paradise (1970) as well as a couple shorts by the Czech director. The series continues on Sunday with a double feature of Panelstory and The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun. I honestly don’t know much about the Czech New Wave (or actually, nothing) but it certainly seems to be back in style. Also Sunday is a Barbara Stanwyk double feature as part of The Style of Sin, showing Ladies of Leisure (1930) and Baby Face (1933).

AERO  (LA):

Thursday, there’s a screening of the new The Doors: The Final Cutwith director Oliver Stone and Val Kilmer in person, and it isn’t sold out, as of this writing! Friday is a screening of Charles Shyer’s Irreconcilable Differences (1984) with special guests and then the weekend is all about one of my favorite filmmakers, Lynn Shelton! After a preview of her excellent new movie Sword of Trust on Saturday, there’s a TRIPLE feature of Your Sister’s Sister (2011) on 35mm, Touchy Feely (2013) and We Go Way Back (2006) on Saturday and then a triple feature of Humpday (2009) on 35mm and 2017’s Outside In.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

The Quad continues to show its 2k restoration of Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg’s Before Stonewall (1984) through the weekend

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

On Wednesday, the Roxy is screening Humphrey Bogart’s classic Casablanca on a 35mm print, then Thursday, it’s showing the 2002 dark comedy The Rules of Attraction. Getting into the Pride spirit, Saturday sees a 35mm screening of the 2000 lesbian comedy But I’m a Cheerleader, presented in conjunction with Flaming Classics, as well as a 35mm print of the 1969 doc Portrait of Jason about black, gay sex worker Jason Holliday, which will screen one time on Saturday and Sunday.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance wraps up with Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie (1976), Weekend Classics: LoveMom and Dad is Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata (1978) while the Late Night Favorites: Spring concludes with David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001). The IFC Center will be one of the theaters showing Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing on an archival 35mm print, but only for the 7pm showtimes for the next week. Also in celebration of Stonewall (just a few blocks away), the IFC Center is premiering a 4k restoration of Frank Simon’s 1968 film The Queen (a Cannes selection), which looks at the 1967 Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant, organized by LGBTQ icon Flawless Sabrina with judges including Andy Warhol, Larry Rivers and Terry Southern. It will be shown with the 1967 short Queens at Heart.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

On Thursday, BAM and FAB Flicks will show the 1961 musical classic West Side Story outdoors at the Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center. On Friday, BAM joins the celebration of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing with a 30thanniversary rerelease. The Beyond the Canon series continues on Saturday with a double feature of Dibril Diop Mambety’s 1973 film Touki Bouki with Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960)

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

Astoria, Queens’ premiere arthouse continues its Grit and Glitter:��Before and After Stonewall series this weekend with John Waters’ Multiple Maniacs (1970) on Friday, Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon (1975)and Stephen Frears’ My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) on Saturday. Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2004 film Tropical Malady will screen on 35mm on both Saturday and Sunday. The See it Big! Action series will screen Pam Grier’s Coffy (1973) in 35mm on Saturday and Sunday.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

Lincoln Center’s 50thanniversary celebration continues with 50th Mixtape: Free Double Features with Agnes Varda’s Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) and Jane Campion’s The Portrait of a Lady (1996) on Thursday night.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (1997)… subtitled!

Next week, it’s the extended 4thof July weekend and Sony’s seventh Spider-Man movie Spider-Man: Far from Home will go up against Ari Aster’s sophomore effort, Midsommar.

[thejoeywright-blog]

YEAR IN REVIEW : Film 2018

Good evening/afternoon/morning,

A few notes on the breakdown on my year at the movies. I saw a grand total of 134 films released in 2018. A fair amount thanks in great part to MoviePass and various streaming services. If you are a fan of comic book movies, I would like to extend to you a personal thank you as you kept the movies theaters afloat this year. However, with the exception of Black Panther, I was located in the auditorium just down the hall. Full disclosure: I did actually try and see Avengers : Infinity War, but two four year-old’s were not being parented correctly and I ended up walking out. I hope they enjoyed seeing their favorite heroes turn to dust. I also most notably missed Mary Poppins Returns, Aquaman, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Spider-Man:Into the Spiderverse, Oceans 8, and Fifty Shades Freed. One film I did have the privilege of seeing and would surely be in my top ten, Under the Silverlake, is technically not scheduled for release until the Spring of 2019. So look forward to hearing about it next year. All that being said, here is how I saw the movies this year. Enjoy.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Black Panther, Bodied, Boy Erased, First Reformed, Hearts Beat Loud, Hot Summer Nights, If Beale Street Could Talk, Isle of Dogs, Minding the Gap, Mission Impossible:Fallout, A Quiet Place, The Rider, Thunder Road, Tully, Won’t You Be My Neighbor

THE TOP TEN

10. The Miseducation of Cameron Post

This is the “other gay conversion camp” movie that sadly was overlooked in place of Boy Erased. I saw both, and while the latter packs some excellent performances, judging by my exposure to Christian camps, this was the one that rang most authentic.

9.  Suspiria

Coming on the heels of Luca Guadagnino’s masterpiece Call Me By Your Name, there was no other film I was looking forward to more in 2018 than Suspiria. I also wouldn’t believe they had the same director. This heavy on style remake of the 1977 horror classic of the same name is truly made in Guadagnino’s image. It was vile, erotic, funny, beautiful, and captivating often in the same breaths. The buzzed about “contortionist dance sequence” from CinemaCon lived up to its vomit inducing hype reminding me while I liked the film a great deal, it’s not for the squeamish.

8.  Vice

Some are saying it lionizes former Vice President Dick Cheney. Others are saying it runs his name through the dirt.Part biopic, more parts political satire. It is definitely more Dr. Stangelove than Lincoln in terms of story and tone.  In a somewhat packed theater, those looking for a straight biopic, who I imagine missed director Adam McKay’s previous works Anchorman and The Big Short were seen heading for the exits due to the amounts of silliness. Amy Adams gives a downright diabolical performance as Lynn Cheney often overshadowing that of her on screen husband. 

7.  Annihilation 

Alex Garland’s follow-up to Ex Machina is much bigger film which in his hands is not a bad thing. Natalie Portman plays a biologist looking for answers after her presumed dead husband suddenly returns from secret military assignment.Your typical “journey into the unknown” story is enhanced with amazing visuals, intriguing scientific concept, and chilling horror. I’m still haunted by the sounds coming out of that, uhh, lets just call it a bear.

6.  Burning

An American remake of Burning would clock in at 92 minutes and be forgotten immediately upon leaving the theater. This is why I’m glad this was in the hands  Chang-dong Lee, a director who focuses greatly on the human condition. Large amounts of the run time of Burning is dedicated to the emotions, reactions, and exploration of our characters. The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun gives the supporting performance of the year as the mysterious Ben. A love-triangle, a missing girl, and burning greenhouses amount to the most rewarding cinematic experience I had in 2018. 

5.  Roma

Roma is a film that asks of its viewer to almost meditate within it. Those familiar with director Alfonso Cuaron’s other films, Children of Men and Gravity, will find a more reserved and personal picture. The story of a maid and the middle class family she cares for in the Colonia Roma neighborhood of Mexico City is the most relatable and touching film of the year. First time actor Yalitza Aparicio gives one of the most award-worthy debut performances in recent memory as Cleo. Scenes have lingered in my mind since my viewing almost a month ago now, particularly a single-shot sequence of a family swimming into the ocean with no realization of how powerful the surf can be. 

4.  The Favourite

This cheeky period COMEDY, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, had me laughing harder than any other film in 2018. The story of Queen Anne’s two most trusted advisers battle for her commendation is delicious and diabolical at every turn. The film relies strongly on the equally grand performances it’s three ladies Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone, but DO NOT, I repeat do not sleep on the duck races.

3. A Star is Born

A Star is Born has been a social and commercial juggernaut with hefty box office sales, record sales, music award nominations, and memes beyond galore. However, it’s also an excellent example of Hollywood at its nostalgic best. There are easy avenues director, star, screenwriter, songwriter, catering manager Bradley Cooper could have taken with the thrice revamped story, but he plays it very close to the chest. It’s well known within my circle of friends and family how much I truly adored Cooper as the burning out rock star Jackson Maine.. Or Jack as you told me at the bar you wanted to be called... Every line of dialogue. Every smirk. Every caring gesture to Allie, Lady Gaga in frankly the best thing she’s ever breathed life into. Everything works here. See it the biggest and loudest way possible. 

2.  BlacKkKlansman

Here is my pick for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It checks all the boxes. Great performances, screenplay, and direction with a great message tied in. I used to hold issue with Spike Lee’s political and social statements book-ending his films, but here it really works. Ron Stallworth, the excellent John David Washington, is Colorado Springs first African-American police officer, who on whim manages to infiltrate the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. He works as the voice on the phone while his partner is the nice upstanding wh-ite man they are seeing. What follows is a wild, funny, thrilling, and cautionary tale that rings truer in 2018 than its setting of the 1970s.

1. Sorry To Bother You

I saw Sorry To Bother You on July 16, 2018. It has held my number one spot for almost seven full months. Leaving the theater I had a feeling I have not had in a movie since 2003, “Well I’ve never seen anything like that before!” That alone holds a lot of weight after watching 133 other films this year that I could compare to something previous. The feature film directorial debut from The Coup musician Boots Riley ten years from now, much in the same way Pulp Fiction and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are viewed, will be seen as “the norm” and a turning point in the way movies in its genre are made. I realize that is high praise, but risks are taken here where lesser films have flown off the rails. Somehow Riley takes what many would deem “absolutely insane” and makes it work. The performance of Lakeith Stanfield has been grossly unmerited all award season and is one of the best of the year. No other performance this year is asked to navigate the varying levels of despair, satire, and rage than Stanfield. Sorry To Bother You arrives without training wheels or a brake, possibly even handle bars. Enjoy the ride because you’ve never been on one like it before. 

YEAR END AWARDS

BEST FILM: BlacKkKlansman

BEST DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuaron for ‘Roma’

BEST ACTRESS: Olivia Coleman for ‘The Favourite’

BEST ACTOR: Bradley Cooper for ‘A Star is Born’

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams for ‘Vice’

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Steven Yeun for ‘Burning’

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: ‘Burning’

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: ‘Sorry to Bother You’

CINEMATOGRAPHY: ‘Roma’

BEST SCORE : IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK’

BEST ANIMATED FILM: Isle of Dogs

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Minding the Gap

BEST FIRST FILM: Boots Riley for ‘Sorry To Bother You’

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Jim Cummings in ‘Thunder Road’

SCENES OF THE YEAR:

“Shallow” from ‘A Star is Born’

“Breaking the Waves” from ‘Roma’

“What’s On the Menu” from ‘Vice’

“Eulogy” from ‘Thunder Road’

Final scene from ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’

“The Contortionist” from ‘Suspiria’

[patriotsnet]

Who Gives More Democrats Or Republicans

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/who-gives-more-democrats-or-republicans/

Who Gives More Democrats Or Republicans

Crime And Capital Punishment

Who LIES More- Republicans or Democrats?

Republicans generally believe in harsher penalties when someone has committed a crime, including for selling illegal drugs. They also generally favor capital punishment and back a system with many layers to ensure the proper punishment has been meted out. Democrats are more progressive in their views, believing that crimes do not involve violence, such as selling drugs, should have lighter penalties and rehabilitation. They are also against capital punishment in any form.

Bloomberg Lp Gave The Most Money

In total, nearly 600 financial-sector companies and trade associations spent at least $500,000 on contributions and lobbying across 2019 and 2020, per the report. It added that there were more than 2,000 registered lobbyists working across the sector.

These are the 20 companies and associations who spent the most, according to the AFR:

Bloomberg LP $158.9 million

Mike Bloomberg briefly ran for president before pumping his fortunes into helping Biden beat Trump.

Political Competition Decreases Giving

The concept of redistribution of wealth through taxes and charity remains polarizing. And for groups that want to continue to receive generous donations and organizations that want to be funded by government money, knowing how to navigate that polarization may be a good thing.

When counties are split evenly between the political parties, both donations and the tax burden go down.

Or in the studys terms: Political competition decreases giving.

Dr. Nesbit said the findings called to mind the research by the social scientist Robert D. Putnam on racial diversity. Exposure to different people especially in a homogeneous community that became more diverse caused people to keep more to themselves, she said.

That argument can be extended to philanthropy as well, she said. This high level of political competition decreases trust. Thats tied to all kinds of possible outcomes. And in these counties, people are keeping to themselves more.

The studys findings may be a resource for understanding philanthropic patterns in the United States and a guide to where people will tolerate higher taxes. But those homogeneous communities will do little to get people from different political parties giving, let alone living, together.

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Republicans Give More To Charity But Not Because They Oppose Income Redistribution

Who gives more to charity Republicans or Democrats? Michael Sances and Michele Margolis found that conservative Americans donate more, even when socio-economic differences are taken into account. Could this be because they support a smaller role for the state, or as an effort to signal their philanthropic credentials? In fact, it is because Republicans attend church more frequently and donate through their congregations. If Republicans and Democrats are culturally divided, these divisions appear to have little if anything to do with disagreements about public policy.

Photo: Joshua Morley via a CC-BY 2.0 licence

It seems as if Democrats and Republicans cant agree on anything, even when it comes to decisions that have nothing to do with politics: where to live, what television shows to watch, and even what to name children. How far do these differences really extend, and to what extent are they driven by policy disagreements? In a recent article in Political Behavior, we explore these questions by looking at partisan differences in an important, yet relatively unexamined apolitical activity charitable giving.

Having established the difference, we next wanted to know why a partisan gap in giving appears. We tested three potential explanations religious identity, political beliefs, and economic status.

This post represents the views of the authors and not those of Democratic Audit.

Can A Religious White Republican Party Survive

The partisan gap between black and white voters is the most durable and powerful split in modern American politics. Soon after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, he remarked, I think we just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come. He wasnt wrong. Afterward, the Republicans courted racist white voters by opposing school and housing integration.

Among white people, religion is the most stable and important determinant of party choice. But the way religion shapes party attachment has changed. Today, the best way to sort the population of white voters is not by which religion they belong to, but by how religious they are.

Among white Americans:

else

Religious

The number of religious white Americans is plummeting. In the long term, that spells disaster for Republicans. I dont think the Republican Party right now has a sustainable business model, said Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University.

The party knows this. Or at least it should. After Republicans lost the 2012 election, the party leadership commissioned a report on how to move forward. One answer was clear: appeal to nonwhite and less conservative voters. But in the years since, the Republicans led by Mr. Trump have doubled down on white identity politics and seem to believe that their path to a majority is through gerrymandering, voter suppression or attempts to skew the census.

Recommended Reading: Do Republicans Or Democrats Give More To Charity

What Is The Difference Between Republicans And Democrats

Republicans and Democrats are the two main and historically the largest political parties in the US and, after every election, hold the majority seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the highest number of Governors. Though both the parties mean well for the US citizens, they have distinct differences that manifest in their comments, decisions, and history. These differences are mainly ideological, political, social, and economic paths to making the US successful and the world a better place for all. Differences between the two parties that are covered in this article rely on the majority position though individual politicians may have varied preferences.

History Of The Republican Party

The Republican Party came into existence just prior to the Civil War due to their long-time stance in favor of abolition of slavery. They were a small third-party who nominated John C. Freemont for President in 1856. In 1860 they became an established political party when their nominee Abraham Lincoln was elected as President of the United States. Lincolns Presidency throughout the war, including his policies to end slavery for good helped solidify the Republican Party as a major force in American politics. The elephant was chosen as their symbol in 1874 based on a cartoon in Harpers Weekly that depicted the new party as an elephant.

Also Check: Did Republicans And Democrats Switch Names

Republicans Winning Money Race As They Seek To Take Over House In 2022

The National Republican Congressional Committee announced Wednesday that it had raised $45.4 million in the second quarter of 2021, the most it has ever raised in three months of a non-election year, as Republicans seek to take over the House in 2022.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy This story has been updated with additional developments Wednesday.

Does Partisanship Influence Charitable Giving

Whos More Corrupt, Democrats Or Republicans?

America is one of the most generous countries in the world. According to the 2017 CAF World Giving Index, the US ranks fifth globally in charitable participation and giving, and in 2017, donations reached a new height of $390.05 billion.

As a whole, its clear that Americans are incredibly philanthropic.

But what if we looked at things through a political lens? Americans are divided by partisan lines on many issues, and as we head into 2018 the divide continues to grow. Has this partisanship carried over to philanthropy?

Democrats and Republicans believe that it has. Recent survey results show that 95% of Democrats believe Liberals are a more charitable group, while 81% of Republicans believe Conservatives are more charitable. Are they right?

Taking a closer look

In a survey conducted using SurveyMonkey Audience, we asked 2,073 adults and found out that in reality, neither are quite right.

Even with different views on many issues, Democrats and Republicans are equally generous in their giving habits.

In fact, the majority of Republicans and Democrats have already donated money to, or volunteered with, a nonprofit organization in 2017 and many still plan to contribute before the year ends.

The largest proportion of both groups have donated money, and more than half of each group has volunteered their time. Its inspiring to see that Americans, regardless of political stance, are incredibly driven to support nonprofits.

A different divide

Looking forward

Read Also: Should Republicans Vote On Super Tuesday

Democratic Party Enters 2021 In Power And Flush With Cash For A Change

The Democratic National Committee has a roughly $75 million war chest, raising the partys hopes of keeping power in 2022 and accelerating a Democratic shift in the Sun Belt states.

After years of flirting with financial disaster, the Democratic Party entered 2021 not only in control of the White House, the House and the Senate but with more money in the bank than ever before at the start of a political cycle.

The Democratic National Committee will report to the Federal Election Commission on Sunday that it ended 2020 with $38.8 million in the bank and $3 million in debts, according to an advance look at its financial filings. In addition, there is roughly $40 million earmarked for the party, left over from its joint operations with the Biden campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. This gives the Democrats a roughly $75 million war chest at the start of President Bidens tenure.

This is a number that is unimaginable, said Howard Dean, a former party chairman.

Party data, resources and infrastructure undergird candidates up and down the ballot, and Democratic officials are already dreaming of early investments in voter registration that may accelerate the political realignment Democrat are hoping to bring about in key Sun Belt states.

We had to juggle who we were going to pay, Tom Perez, who until earlier this month was the chairman of the D.N.C., said of the early part of his tenure, which began in 2017.

Which Party Is The Party Of The 1 Percent

First, both parties receive substantial support. Much of it comes from registered voters who make $100K+ annually. However, Democrats actually come out ahead when it comes to fundraising for campaigns. In many cases, Democrats have been able to raise twice as much in private political contributions. But what about outside of politicians? Does that mean Democrats are the wealthier party? Which American families are wealthier? Republicans or Democrats?

Honestly, it is probably Republicans. When it comes down to it, the richest families in America tend to donate to Republican candidates. Forbes reported out of the 50 richest families in the United States, 28 donate to Republican candidates. Another seven donate to Democrats. Additionally, 15 of the richest families in the U.S. donate to both parties.

Don’t Miss: Who Has More Billionaires Democrats Or Republicans

Republicans Give More To Charity Than Democrats But Theres A Bigger Story Here

November 3, 2018; New York Times

The political differences between Republicans and Democrats dont play out solely at the ballot box; they also predict how likely people are to donate to charity. This finding from a newly published research project reflects a key difference, one tied to political affiliation, about how our nation should take on critical social issues like homelessness, poverty, and health care. The data also suggest that in times of political strife, both parties supporters pull back, making problem-solving harder.

Using voting and IRS data for the residents of 3,000 counties across the nation, the four-professor research team found, according to the New York Times, that counties which are overwhelmingly Republican report higher charitable contributions than Democratic-dominated counties, although giving in blue counties is often bolstered by a combination of charitable donations and higher taxes. But as red or blue counties become more politically competitive, charitable giving tends to fall. The full study was recently published in the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.

Importantly, the study did not find that in Republican counties, private funds replaced public funds so that social services were equally supported.

How Come We Are Red And Blue Instead Of Purple

Republicans to live outside of urban areas, while Democrats tend to prefer living inside of urban areas.

Rural areas are almost exclusively Republican well strong urban areas are almost exclusively democratic.

Republicans also tend to stress traditional family values, which may be why only 1 out of 4 GLBTQI individuals identify with the GOP.

63% of people who earn more than $200k per year vote for Republicans, while 63% of people who earn less than $15k per year vote for Democrats.

64% of Americans believe that labor unions are necessary to protect working people, but only 43% of GOP identified votes view labor unions in a favorable way.

The economics of the United States seem to have greatly influenced how people identify themselves when it comes to their preferred political party. People who are concerned about their quality of life and have a fair amount of money tend to vote Republican. Those who have fallen on hard times or work in union related jobs tend to vote for Democrats. From 2003 to today, almost all of demographic gaps have been shifting so that Republicans and Democrats are supported equally. The only true difference is on the extremes of the income scale. The one unique fact about Democrats is that they are as bothered by their standard of living as Republicans tend to be.

Read Also: How Are Democrats Different From Republicans

Biggest Influencers: Democrats Or Republicans

To understand who influences politics, you can easily find out who the wealthy support. For example, the Walton family, the owners of the retail giant Walmart, has traditionally donated to Republican candidates. Alice Walton, the daughter of Walmarts founder, hasnt strayed from that too much. That is, until the 2008 election. In 2008 and 2016 the Walton family donated to Hilary Clintons campaign.

She isnt the only person from a wealthy family to change tradition where politics are concerned either. Many of the younger individuals in Americas richest families have begun to sway from their familys political associations as well. Below youll find the affiliation and overall net worth of the top 10 richest families in America.

Congressional Staffers Can Take Trips Funded By Foreign Governments

After the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, Congress put several new restrictions on gifts that could be offered to members of Congress or their staffers. Yet theres one significant loophole that remains Congressional staffers are allowed to take trips abroad funded by foreign governments.The Washington Posts TW Farnam reported on paid trips taken by Congressional staffers last year, and the map here is our depiction of Farnams findings. Between 2006 and 2011, 226 staffers took trips to China, 121 to Taiwan, and 65 to Saudi Arabia where those countries governments footed the bill.

You May Like: How Many Registered Democrats And Republicans Are There

Democrat Or Republican: Who’s More Charitable

J. Hugh Liedtke Professor of Marketing

Lay belief suggests that Democrats are more charitable than Republicans because of a more community-minded orientation. However, surveys of giving show that Republicans give more to charity than Democrats, though the charitable giving also includes religious organizations. A careful reading of the evidence precludes strong conclusions.

A recent study by WalletHub;compiled charitable giving data from different states. When combined with state-level political identity data from the American National Election Studies;a simple analysis was conducted. A simple regression suggests a positive association between charitable giving and being a Republican. You can find your state in the graph above.

This simple analysis, however, does not tell the whole story. Understanding charitable giving by Republicans and Democrats is more complex than portrayed in this graphic. My colleagues Karen Page Winterich at Penn State and Yinlong Zhang at UT-San Antonio conducted a series of controlled experiments to investigate this issue. The study published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing;can be downloaded here:

Specifically, the study showed:

Overall, Democrats and Republicans are equally likely to be charitable.

In another study, we created two descriptions of “Children’s Advocates”. They started with the same introduction, but had two different descriptions, one republican-oriented and another democrat-oriented:

versus

Americas Top 10 Richest Families

Who Do YOU Think Is More Racist, White Democrats or White Republicans?

Walton;Republican; The family owns the Walmart corporation.;The Walton family fortune is estimated to be about $130 billion.

Koch;Republican; Businessmen, owners of Koch Industries, a manufacturing company.;Koch brothers have a net worth of about $41 billion each .

;Republican; Own the Mars candy company.;The three children of founder Forrest Mars are worth about $78 billion together.

Cargill-MacMillan;Republican; The Cargill-MacMillan family owns 90 percent of the largest privately-owned corporation in the U.S.;The family, as a whole, is worth about $49 billion.

Cox;Democrat; The Cox family owns a number of auto consumer sites and services . They have an estimated net worth of $41 billion.

Johnson ;Republican; The Johnson family is known for their cleaning products and hygiene products.;They are valued at $30 billion.

Pritzker;Both; Founders of Hyatt.;The family has a combined value of $29 billion in 2017.

Johnson ;Republican; Overseers at Fidelity, ensuring the cash of millions of Americans.;The family has a combined net worth of $28.5 billion.

Hearst;Republican; The Hearst family owns one of Americas largest media companies.;The family is valued at $28 billion.

Duncan;Republican; The Duncan family works mostly with oil and pipelines.;The family is valued at about $21.5 billion.

Recommended Reading: Why Are The Republicans Protecting Trump

Who Is Richer Democrats Or Republicans The Answer Probably Wont Surprise You

by Jenny Smedraon ~

Which of the two political parties has more money, Democrats or Republicans? Most would rush to say Republicans due to the partys ideas towards tax and money. In fact, polls have shown about 60 percent of the American people believe Republicans favor the rich. But how true is that? Assignment help;can help you write about the issue but read our post first.

[tigerstrikesasteroidnetwork]

PHL / Where Are You Now / Alejandro T. Acierto

Back to exhibition info

alejandro t. acierto is an artist, musician, and curator whose work is largely informed by legacies of colonialism found within human relationships to technology and material cultures. He has exhibited and performed projects for the 2019 Havana Biennial in Matanzas (Cuba), the Film Society of Lincoln Center (NYC), Radialsystem (Berlin), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), MCA Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, the KANEKO (Omaha), and Rapid Pulse Performance Art Festival (Chicago). Recent curatorial projects have been presented at Vanderbilt University (Nashville), Coop Gallery (Nashville), and online for the Wrong Biennial. acierto has held residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Banff Centre, High Concept Laboratories, LATITUDE, Chicago Artists' Coalition, and Digital Artist Residency. A 3Arts Awardee, he received his undergraduate degree from DePaul University, an MM from Manhattan School of Music, an MFA in New Media Arts from University Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and was an inaugural Artist in Residence for Critical Race Studies at Michigan State University. He is currently an Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Digital Art and New Media and a Mellon Faculty Fellow in Digital Humanities at Vanderbilt University.

"These matters of possession" is an interventionist project of digital harm reduction, a two-part project where I invest in the removal of violent material culture found online through auction sites and use it as source material to produce lens-based performance works, (alternative) material cultures and ephemera, and databases that open conversations around the entanglements of networked culture, tourism, prisons, and image technologies. Focused on ephemera made during the US colonial occupation of the Philippines in the early 20th century, this project scans online retailers for images, objects, and ephemera that continue to sustain multiple formations of Pilipinx constraint, in what Catherine Ceniza Choy refers to as “corporeal colonization”, and remove them from the online marketplace through purchase. As image-objects that normalize the consumption of violent histories and spaces, ones developed under white supremacist values of settler-colonial possession, this project of removal continues the work of what Neema Githere calls “data healing” to respond to the “compounded effects of navigating digital infrastructures created to exploit, categorize, and discard personhood.” While material cultures of Pilipinx constraint are suspended indefinitely in servers online as digital images, they live in the purgatories of search results and haunt our queries with jpegs of abjection. While retailers are frequently unaware of these violent histories, they inadvertently contribute to the circulation of these formations of constraint through the digital imaging process needed to authenticate the objects as part of any online sale. In the project of reclamation and repossession of this material culture from the trappings of online circulation, I want to have the ability to shape how these images are used in the future and build different models for engagement through the screen. To reclaim these histories, I have begun to create images and performances for the camera – or in this case, the scanner bed – where I am mindful of the humans often excluded from the labor of imaging. As caretakers for these objects bound for digital transformation, the image of the hand begins to pull back the fourth wall, shaping how the image of the object is read, shifting the context altogether. No longer a singular object of study, the hand intervenes on historical anthropological practices that placed objects within neutral-toned settings for the sake of categorization and identification, further complicating the frame and focus of intention. In some ways, the hand becomes a different kind of metric, an alternative method of calibration that traces an object with its impact upon the body. In layering objects as assemblages that redact or obscure the violent content of the images purchased, I can construct a different kind of narrative to reveal broader networks of power that sustain today. Made in parallel with the movement for the removal of racist monuments in public space and with calls to end the circulation of mediated spectacles of Black death, this project extends the work of data healing through removal and recontextualization. It insists on locating other strategies for the futures of digital harm reduction while speculating alternatives for critical engagements with history.

in caring for horrific pasts, part of these matters of possession, archival inkjet print /.jpg, 12″x15″, 2020

"in caring for horrific pasts" is a work that gestures to the archival caretakers and speculates on ways history can be kept without inflicting harm. This particular object held by the gloved hand is part of a series of 8 postcards depicting the same event in a prison yard in a southern island in the Philippines. In many ways, it shares a parallel history and aesthetic to the lynching postcards that permeated the continental US at the same time. Noting these recurrent themes between racialized images across the Pacific allows for a broader, more nuanced understanding of the formations of militarized aggression and narratives of possession. Images like these remind us of the colonial legacy entangled in contemporary prison systems while refusing to engage in the sensationalization of Black and Brown death. Critical to this work, seen here with the hand, is to develop strategies for viewers to understand these complex histories without needing to experience violence without consent.

Index (working title), from these matters of possession, archival inkjet print /.jpg, 16″x20″, 2020

Excerpted from the series "these matters of possession", this image offers an initial contextualization of the source material from which all of the other images emerge. Noting how colonial images have and continue to do violence on people of colonized ancestry, this work highlights the entanglements of tourism within diasporic images. By reifying racialized tropes of savagery or reiterating power through images of militarized control and identification, image-objects such as these postcards helped establish the racial matrix of of posession, further justifying the project of manifest destiny. While these relics were made a century ago, they still manage to hold a peculiar power as they are able to continue to inflict harm, particularly as they permeate and circulate within auctions sites such as ebay. Thus, to turn over the front of the postcard is to refuse the harmful impact of its content while offering viewers a context under which to understand their existence.

yet untitled [eBay listing], ongoing performance, 2020-ongoing

As part of this ongoing work, I have turned to the site of circulation directly by refiguring the images of picture postcards purchased on eBay and have begun to redistributing them in the same ways they were sourced. Interrupting the feedback loop of continual sales that profit from Brown death, I instead offer curious consumers images of refusal that appear original but are otherwise digitally processed images. No longer imaged or captured, sought after moments of execution are covered, removed, displaced and transformed (in custom software) and printed on cardstock paper similar to their original counterparts. As interruptions on the materiality of constraint, these newly devised "picture postcards" gesture to the originals without allowing the viewer the capacity of a colonial gaze. Enacting a proactive form of digital harm reduction whereby consumers may be disuaded from future purchases of this material, this work ideally begins to complicate collectors' intention to collect.

current workspace image

I've had to rethink how I approach making and what my relationship is to material objects in relation to digital projects. With so many exhibitions and spaces migrating to online platforms, I had to really spend more time thinking through the logistics of file sizes, web-compatible formats, and the extent to which viewers would be able to experience the work.

[adventuresinlibraries]

Work with Simple Machines

Photo from Winkbooks.net

DK How Machines Work: Zoo Break 

Written and Illustrated by David Macauley

Published by Penguin Random House 

2015

Won the Royal Society’s Young People’s Book Prize

American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award for Writing for Children (2016)

Meet Sloth and Sengi, two zoo animals who are bored with captivity. In this ingenious introduction to simple machines, kids can use pop up components to conduct hands-on-experiments and engage in scientific inquiry while they help the main characters escape. 

The characters in the story experiment with creating different devices to free themselves, first trying to wedge open a door, then trying to get over the fence with a lever and even later, building a flying machine! This problem and solution structure is enhanced by the hands-on attributes and allows children to extrapolate, asking questions and running their own experiments with Sengi and Sloth.

This book is directed toward children in grades 2-5. That is about right. The introduction of the manipulative elements will attract children in the younger grades who need a kinesthetic experience in order to grasp how these machines work. Here, readers can use a pop-out plank and a pop-up fulcrum to build a simple lever and pop Sengi and Sloth over the fence. 

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

And the American Institute of Physics reported that  “Readers interact with the characters and the different types of simple machines. We especially liked the pop-up and removable interactive components in this book, which can be used to introduce children to basic physics and engineering principles or to introduce inquiry science lessons involving simple machines.” 

This interactive narrative non-fiction picture book meets the criteria for non-fiction in the way only David Macauley can. The organizational structure is simple and easy to navigate. Big headings in the top corners of each page like “Inclined to Escape” on page 4 introduces scientific vocabulary children need to know.  The heading is followed by expository text and the language is sophisticated, geared toward the older readers in grades 4-6.

“An inclined plane is essentially a sloped surface. It makes climbing easier by making the climb less steep. Even though the distance is increased, the         effort needed is much less.”

A full-bleed glossary is included on pages 28-29 in case readers need clarification about these terms.

While the language and the story are a key component for the reader it is the pictures and layout that really make this book effective for a wide variety of readers. Information is delivered in small chunks across richly illustrated pages. Small circles and squares are set out from the text and contain illustrations that offer close up details for the reader to analyze such as on page 20 when the concept of a screw is explained in words and pictures. An oval inset shows how to wrap a length of hose around a stick, taking advantage of the qualities of the inclined plane to make an Archimedes Screw that moves water. The simple illustration makes the complicated concept clearer. 

The illustrations are whimsical, with lots of little lines to demonstrate detail and movement and a muted palette of colors, greens and greys and browns that keep the busy pages from becoming overwhelming.

Photo: Hadley Roberts, (2019)

The other reason I love this book is the subtle payoff kids get from lifting flaps and digging deeper into the content. On the page about the Archimedes screw, the name Archimedes is only found by lifting up a flap that looks like Sloth. Inside a fold-out explains how screw pumps have been found throughout history, designed by Archimedes but also possibly found in Babylon.

On the page before a similar flap uses tiny pictures to explain exactly how fluid functions in a hydraulic pump.

The simple text reads “Fluid is pumped from the top of the hydraulic cylinder. The piston is shortened by the fluid which moves the boom down.” Arrows guide the reader through the process, offering further visual clues, even though the language is fairly simple and the glossary exists to clear up the more complex terms.

Yet another booklet explains gears. And in this one, a subtle background of graph paper lends a feel of authority and a dash of the engineering environment to the concept.

But the characters of Sloth and Sengi lend whimsy and fun to the serious concepts. Sight gags like Sloth explaining that he’s  “not cut out for this” while he is pictured sawing a board adds age-appropriate humor to the mix.

The characters are pretty flat, They have simple personalities. Sengi is the brainy one who always innovates and Sloth is the funny, one but this is done intentionally so that the reader doesn’t get too wrapped up in the narrative and instead focuses on the machines and their own interactive role in the story.

The book culminates with Sengi masterminding a major build, a complex machine that combines all the elements discussed throughout the book. The foldout drawing of Sengi’s machine is enormous, About two feet by one and a half feet. It uses numbered arrows to direct the reader and though it lacks text this encourages the reader to think carefully about each aspect of this giant device. 

This book would be a great addition to a center in a classroom and could be further enhanced with the edition of a table full of objects, Keva planks, twine, pulleys, cardboard and pegs, sticks, and Lincoln logs that could be used to extend the play this book encourages. 

Books to pair with this include:

Gizmos and Gadgets: Creating Science Contraptions That Work (And Knowing Why)

by Jill Frankel Hauser

Williamson Books, Nashville Tennessee 

1999

  This is an older book but science never goes out of style. An activity book with instructions for 50 working contraptions to play with. I love this book because it uses simple everyday objects to explain science concepts, like on page 32 “You can learn a lot about friction by exploring the soles of footgear. Check out these shoes and think about their uses: basketball shoes, hiking shoes, cleated shoes for baseball and soccer, ballet slippers, rain boots, and skates.”

The black and white illustrations are simple and easy to follow. An index and back matter suggest more books to turn to for ideas.

Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant

By  Songju Ma Daemicke

Illustrated by  Christina Wald

Best STEM Books of 2018 for K-12 Selection by NSTA, ITEEA & CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books Selection of 2018 by NSTA & CBC Notable-Social-Studies books of 2018 selection by NCSS &CBC A Mathical Honor Books of 2018 by MSRI, NCTM & CBC< Children's Book Council "Book Power" Showcase selection

This book tells the classic Chinese tale of a child prodigy and his unique solution to a scientific problem.

The Frank Einstein Series

Author: John Scieszka

Illustrator: Brian Biggs

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Science-tinged fiction for the 7-10 set

Kid inventor Frank Einstein and his two robots, Klink and Klank mix science, adventure, and slapstick into this entertaining set of six books.

For older kids who are exploring these concepts this YA biographical fiction about Archimedes sounds like a snorer. but it is really not!The Sand Reckoner by Gillian Bradshaw is worth a look! I read for two days straight and couldn’t put it down.

[arplis]

Arplis - News: Virtual reality pops up at Denver museums, festivals and even VR escape rooms

Samantha Doerge was shutting down the Denver Film Festival’s virtual reality floor last fall when a woman shuffled in with her elderly mother, asking if Doerge would run the hour-long, three-part “Spheres” program one last time. ” ‘We’re sorry to be here so late,’ ” Doerge, a programming coordinator for the festival, remembers the woman telling her. ” ‘But my mother has wanted to be an astronaut all of her life and couldn’t because of an astigmatism. This is as close as she’ll ever get.’ Of course, I was more than happy to stay open for her.” “Spheres,” which has captivated audiences and critics at the Telluride, Sundance and Venice film festivals, invites viewers to don the now-standard virtual reality goggles and take a celebrity-narrated trip through the cosmos. Created by Eliza McNitt and executive produced by Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”), “Spheres” employs digital animation to render the big bang and other astronomical events in spectacular detail, bringing participants as close to space travel as they’ll likely ever get. The effect of narrative experiences like “Spheres” is uniquely powerful, said Doerge, who has helped program the Denver Film Festival’s virtual reality offerings the last couple of years. She also assisted with the debut of “Spheres” as Telluride’s first-ever VR offering in 2018. “When this woman, who had to have been 85 or 90 years old, came out of it, she was just crying,” Doerge said. “The word she used was ‘magical.’ “ Long in the wings, VR has increasingly inched into the spotlight at festivals, museums, theaters and bars as its complex technology — bulky headsets, servers and software — has grown rapidly cheaper and more compact. When it returns Oct. 30-Nov. 11, the Denver Film Festival will offer eight separate virtual reality experiences at its Festival Annex at the McNichols Building, with another four provided by its VR sponsor, Boulder-based Reality Garage, a lounge and makerspace that produces its own VR content. In recent years, the entrance of Facebook, Microsoft, Sony and other global players into the industry has rapidly accelerated VR’s consumer-friendliness while spurring artists and programmers to dream up new interactive concepts. Investors are also licking their pixelated chops at forecasts that predict the global market will increase from about $8 billion in 2018 to $44.7 billion in 2024, according to a recent report. And as Doerge knows, virtual reality isn’t just for gaming and entertainment. Her husband, a technology specialist for Children’s Hospital Colorado, uses VR to transport sick kids from the confines of their beds to Altspace, a social platform that offers simulated meet-ups and activities. “It’s there so kids can do things like have dinner with their families,” Doerge said. “These are mundane things we take for granted, but sick kids can check into Altspace and no longer feel this alienation from their childhoods.” Of course, that requires the other participants to don VR headsets, too. But as people get used to seeing VR at places such as Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum (which offers simulated plane rides), the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (in its new “Extreme Sports” installation), and the casino-like environs of Dave & Buster’s, the idea of bringing it into the living rooms gets less intimidating. In other words: Much like table tennis or life-sized Jenga, it’s another trendy entertainment — albeit a pricey, fast-evolving one. Related Articles “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson will be at opening night of Denver Film Fest “Knives Out,” “Marriage Story” will bookend Denver Film Fest’s 2019 red carpets Denver Film Festival reveals 2019 dates, tribute to late artistic director Brit Withey “There’s no headset at home, but that’s been a request for Christmas,” said Mandi Hoffman, a Denver mother overseeing nine middle-schoolers last week at VR Social, a virtual reality arcade in Broomfield. “We don’t have a lot of space, so I’m a little worried about how it would work. But we love VR. We visited a VR art exhibit in Montreal, which was incredible, and we like to do the VR games at the Punch Bowl Social on South Broadway.” Hoffman’s son, Henry, was there celebrating his 11th birthday with school buddies — all of them playing a sci-fi combat game and loosely tethered to the ceiling by cords on their headsets. The scene prompted Hoffman’s daughter Millie to acknowledge a common criticism of VR: Why should kids hook themselves up to machines for entertainment, even in poor weather, when indoor playgrounds, trampoline parks and “American Ninja Warrior”-style obstacle courses are so widely available these days? “Clearly from the outside, when you don’t have the headset on, it looks completely different,” Millie, 14, said as she stood in the bare-bones, LED-lit arcade space. Next door, a quintet of near-motionless people sat in a darkened room playing a virtual escape-room game. “But once you get inside it’s a heightened reality — fantasy games, fighting off robots, things you don’t get to experience when you go to (a business like) Jump Street or Lava Island.” Basic VR emulators such as Google’s Daydream Viewer, which mimics the look of VR by turning your phone into a display screen, retail for about $100. Gaming-friendly VR headsets, like the new Oculus Quest, range from $400 to $1,500 for crisp, stereoscopic imagery that offers the illusion of three-dimensional interactivity. Provided by Wings Over the RockiesVisitors to the Blue Sky Gallery in Centennial experience a virtual plane ride as part of Wings Over the Rockies’ VR programming. (Provided by Wings Over the Rockies) That’s a pricey buy-in compared to a board game or night at the movies, but nothing can match the experience, proponents say. Blotting out natural stimuli with eyepieces and headphones is one thing, but adding to the sensory immersion with physical elements, motion-tracking, controllers and other features can take something like a video-game escape room to new heights of interactivity — and meaning. “As a technology, it’s extremely exciting for us,” said Lauren Cason, creative director of Interactive at Santa Fe-based art company Meow Wolf. “If you’ve ever been to a VR exhibit or seen a demo, you’re going to be sitting in a blank room with a thing on your face, and it might not have much to do with the space you’re in.” Meow Wolf, however, has been busy researching and developing new XR (or “extended reality”) concepts that will allow guests to blur the lines between their physical and digital worlds at the company’s interactive art-playgrounds. That includes its forthcoming Denver location, a 90,000-square-foot, $60 million, four-story complex under construction at Interstate 25, Colfax Avenue and Auraria Parkway viaducts. “There’s technology out there — like HoloLens, Magic Leap, Spark AR, Apple’s AR (augmented reality) kit, ARCore and others — that allows you to superimpose three-dimensional digital objects onto real-world objects, and then have an interplay between those real and fabricated worlds,” said Cason, a veteran of MIT and Apple. “We believe that’s the future of these immersive, experiential spaces.” Or the present. Last week, the Washington, D.C., location of Madame Tussauds wax museum announced its new “Alive in AR” augmented-reality experience that uses smartglass technology to animate its celebrity and historical statues. That includes everyone from Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. to Tyra Banks, who come to life with the aid of 360-degree video, holograms and custom soundscapes. “While some attractions have experimented with AR on handheld smartphones, Madame Tussauds D.C. is embracing the more immersive and hands-free smartglass technology,” said ARtGlass founder and CEO Greg Werkheiser in a press statement. So how long will it be before we see that in Denver? Possibly sooner than you think, Meow Wolf officials said, although they declined to reveal specific details about Denver-based XR offerings, or say how much the company is investing in those technologies. “We’ve had several interesting tests and successes that are pointing toward something larger,” said Emily Montoya, a co-founder of Meow Wolf. “A couple of years ago, we took a VR experience called The Atrium to South by Southwest, which allowed people to experience our (Santa Fe-based) House of Eternal Return. And last year we took Navigator (a ‘mixed-reality sculpture’) to L.A.’s L.E.A.P. Con, which was sort of a giant-robot headset experience.” Navigator, which invited participants to climb behind the controls of a car-sized, spider-like robot, combined VR, AR and physical features to create the experience of operating a giant robot in real time. This sort of “spatial computing” is a clear emphasis for the company moving forward, Montoya said. “One of our biggest interests is incorporating theatrical storylines into the technology,” she said. “We already have the capacity to create such fantastic physical spaces and controls, so why not start there?” The same criticisms that detractors have for VR — its largely sedentary nature, its contrived imagery and sound — could just as easily be leveled at all manner of film and gaming, defenders say. And VR’s unlimited adaptability in the virtual space means, for example, that deaf people can use sign language to communicate with one another, or that wheelchair-bound people can fulfill dreams of walking, running and even flying. Recent advances have broadened VR’s applications to the point of mainstream appeal, from VR headsets going wireless to virtual learning, workplace training and even theater –  such as last month’s “Virtue of Reality” production from the University of Colorado’s Experience Design MFA students. There’s limitless room for experimentation, backers promise. Just not, you know, in the literal sense. “At my core, I am a cinephile and I love movies,” said Denver Film Fest’s Doerge. “But one thing that’s so exciting about VR is that your brain doesn’t make a distinction between what’s happening to you and what’s happening in the headset, so the emotional response you can get from a VR experience is very powerful. I have watched grown men burst into tears because it was so captivating.” She hopes to further evangelize for the format at the Denver Film Festival’s VR-focused panels at Civic Center’s McNichols Building on Nov. 9. One is a general creator panel, while the other explores its uses in pediatric health care. Both are fundamentally rooted in storytelling, she said. “One of the most successful and basic VR experiences out there is called Job Simulator,” Doerge said. “It’s also the first one I ever tried about four years ago. In it, I was basically a 7-Eleven cashier, but what shocked me was how consuming it was, because I almost had to reintegrate into my own reality after taking off the goggles. It’s been an uphill battle with VR into the film world, but whether it’s storytelling or escape, it has this unique ability to transport you, even when you’re fully aware that you’re wearing the headset.” Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox. #TellurideFilmFestival #Museum #ThingsToDo #News #MeowWolf

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/virtual-reality-pops-up-at-denver-museums-festivals-and-even-vr-escape-rooms

[baldwinlincoln]

2020 Lincoln Navigator vs 2020 Mercedes GLS in Covington LA has begun. With their different concepts of luxury, which will consumers choose?

[blogueericdescarries]

Lexus UX 200 et Sommet des Légendes

Le 17 juillet 2019

Il faut dire que je ne m’y attendais pas. Lorsque j’ai demandé un Lexus UX 200 à Toyota Canada, je croyais voir arriver un VUS un peu plus gros que le NX. Pourtant, j’avais vu le UX en première au Salon de Detroit ou New York, je ne me souviens plus. De plus, j’ai eu comme l’impression que Lexus n’avait pas fait une trop grosse cabale pour le UX à ses débuts.

Lorsque j’ai pris livraison du UX la semaine dernière, ce fut une vraie surprise. Le UX est PLUS PETIT que le NX! Un peu plus gros que la défunte CT200h, peut-être mais nettement plus petit que ce que j’espérais. On dirait presque un Toyota C-HR «glorifié»…(Je ris chaque fois que je dis ou que j’écris cela car je possède une ancienne Lincoln Versailles, une auto que l’on a souvent qualifié de Ford Granada-Mercury Monarch «glorifiée» ou «saucée dans l’or» alors qu’aujourd’hui, plusieurs constructeurs, surtout japonais, n’hésitent pas à «glorifier» un modèle de base de marque inférieure en voiture de luxe d’entrée…un peu comme le UX…). Vous souvenez-vous du petit prototype Lincoln Concept C d’il y a quelques années. On ne lui donnait pas d’avenir…Et pourtant, aujourd’hui, il aurait pu donner la réplique à ce Lexus!

Et si Lincoln avait décidé de produire le Concept C….? (Photo Ford)

Donc, on voit bien que le UX se place au bas de l’échelle de la lignée des VUS de Lexus. Si on le compare au petit NX, il est environ 13 cm plus court, une douzaine de cm plus bas et 2,5 cm moins large. Il joue un peu dans le même créneau que le NX (celui qui inclut les Audi Q3, BMW X1 et autres dans leurs versions de «luxe») mais j’ai l’impression que Lexus est à établir un créneau encore moins élaboré, question de s’attirer de nouveaux clients (ce que Lincoln aurait pu faire avec le Concept C). Toutefois, il faut mentionner ici que le UX est moins coûteux au départ que certains concurrents nommés plus haut. J’y reviens.

Le Lexus UX 200 est plus petit que le Lexus NX…(Photo Éric Descarries)

Vue de l’arrière du Lexus UX 200. (Photo Éric Descarries)

Comme vous pouvez le constater, le Lexus UX est un petit véhicule urbain à quatre portes avec hayon. Il peut transporter de quatre à cinq passagers selon le besoin. Évidemment, il affiche la calandre typique aux véhicules de Lexus. Lorsqu’on s’y arrête, le design du UX peut être discutable. Certaines lignes sont plus osées, plus élancées mais, à mes yeux, elles forment un ensemble homogène. Comme on peut le voir, le contour des passages de roues a une décoration de plastique qui devrait nous rappeler les extensions d’aile de VUS tout-terrain. Cependant, l’effet peut porter à confusion alors que certains observateurs croyaient avoir vu un produit Hyundai et non un Lexus!

Mais une fois que l’on se glisse derrière le volant, on se pense dans une automobile plus grande que prévu (je dis «automobile» car j’ai un peu de difficulté à considérer le petit UX comme un VUS tel que le veut le constructeur). Une fois au volant, on fait face à un tableau de bord relativement simple mais aussi élégant que celui des Lexus plus grands. Tout y est à la portée de la main avec une instrumentation numérique facile à lire et un petit écran au centre de la planche verticale. Seul problème, cet écran est relié à des commandes à la console, les mêmes commandes que j’ai critiquées (les autres chroniqueurs aussi) sur les autres modèles Lexus. Il s’agit, vous l’aurez compris, de ce «pad», cette souris que l’on doit déplacer du doigt pour choisir une commande, surtout la radio. Je trouve ce «pad» distrayant, voire même enrageant par moment car il faut y aller à tâtons…sans quitter la route des yeux! Impossible! Pour la radio, Lexus a doublé la commande par une autre commande, cette fois manuelle, mais toujours au centre de la console qui peut demander de quitter la route des yeux! Au moins, il y a la commande du volume au volant…et il reste les commandes vocales (mais il faut en apprendre les phrases clés…qui sont à l’écran). Ah! Surtout ne pas oublier de mentionner que la compatibilité Apple CarPlay y est (un accessoire utile car il n’y avait pas de système de navigation à bord).

Le tableau de bord est agréable à l’œil mais le volant est surchargé de commandes . (Photo Éric Descarries)

Je ne comprends pas que Lexus (Toyota) insiste pour commercialiser ce «pad» pour plusieurs fonctions au tableau de bord. Sa manipulation n’est pas facile à maîtriser et elle peut causer de la distraction au volant. (Photo Éric Descarries)

Autrement, les sièges (chauffants) avant sont confortables alors que ceux d’arrière peuvent être accueillants si les passagers ne sont pas trop grands. Toutefois, le choix des matériaux n’est pas si mal et la finition y est sans reproche. Mon véhicule d’essai avait un toit ouvrant en verre qui ne «volait» pas trop de débattement pour la tête. Quant à l’espace de chargement atteignable par un hayon arrière, il n’est pas des plus généreux, comme c’en est le cas pour la majorité des véhicules de cette catégorie. Mais une fois les dossiers d’arrière rabattus, il devient plus utilisable. Toutefois, la lunette arrière n’offre pas la meilleure des visibilités.

Les places arrière sont un peu à l’étroit mais accueillantes pour les enfants. (Photo Éric Descarries)

Le coffre du UX peut s’agrandir en rabattant les dossiers des sièges arrière. (Photo Éric Descarries)

Question mécanique, le UX 200 repose sur des éléments Toyota connus. Le moteur quatre cylindres de la version F Sport qui m’a été confiée affichait une cylindrée de 2,0 litres et il produisait quelque 169 chevaux. Il était combiné à la seule boîte de vitesses disponible, soit une transmission automatique à variation continue (CVT) et à la traction avant. Il existe une autre variante de UX, la 250h à configuration dite hybride. Dans ce cas, le moteur fait 175 chevaux et il y a un petit moteur électrique au pont arrière. Celui-ci sert à transformer le UX en véhicule à traction intégrale mais il ne faut pas se leurrer, les moteurs électriques sont neutralisés au-delà de 70 km/h! Ce n’est certes pas un «quatre roues motrices» mais cette forme de «motorisation» pourrait devenir utile en hiver.  

Peu visible vu qu’il est caché par le couvercle de plastique, le petit moteur à quatre cylindres développe 169 chevaux. (Photo Éric Descarries)

Qu’est-ce que ça donne sur la route? Le Lexus UX 200 est un intéressant petit véhicule urbain. Ses dimensions réduites viennent en aide au stationnement même si j’aurais voulu un rayon de braquage plus serré. En ce qui a trait aux performances…il faut être indulgent. Les 169 chevaux peinent un peu à faire mieux que neuf secondes pour atteindre le cap des 100 km/h et les reprises ne sont pas aidées par la boîte CVT qui demande au moteur de tourner à plein régime pour dépasser. J’ai utilisé le UX pour un court voyage de Laval à Tremblant et le petit véhicule semblait, cependant, bien à l’aise sur l’autoroute. Il fallait insister un peu sur l’accélérateur pour grimper les côtes mais pas exagérément. La direction, par contre, m’est parue très précise et le freinage adéquat. Sauf quand le moteur était sollicité, il n’y avait pas de bruit envahissant dans l’habitacle.

La conduite d’un UX est plaisante. Il s’agit presque d’un véhicule sportif. S’il est vrai que ce ne soit pas un foudre de guerre en performances, il reste que son comportement routier en étonnera plus d’un. En ce qui a trait à la consommation d’essence (régulière), j’ai obtenu une moyenne de 6,8 l./100 km (alors que l’ordinateur de bord indiquait 7,0).

Là où le petit Lexus UX 200 peut surprendre, comme j’avais commencé à en parler en début de texte, c’est au niveau du prix. Un Lexus UX 200 de base débute à 37 100  $ (ce qui peut sembler assez cher mais si on le compare à la concurrence, il est abordable). Mon véhicule d’essai avait la finition optionnelle F Sport Series 1 avec roues d’alliage de 18 pouces, sièges avant chauffants, feux de virage à DEL et phares antibrouillard à DEL (mais pas de ventilation aux sièges avant). Celle-ci ajoutait alors 2300 $ à la facture en plus de la (toujours aussi ridicule) taxe d’accise pour la climatisation, les 20$ de taxes pour les pneus, les 6,25 $ de frais de l’AMVIC et les 2075 $ de frais de transport et de préparation et le total final en arrivait à 41 601,25 $.

Je l’avoue, je ne suis pas un amateur de petites voitures (trop) économiques. Mais dans le cas de ce petit Lexus UX, j’ai eu plus de plaisir qu’attendu. Le style, c’est une question de goût. Mais l’exécution, c’est un élément à considérer si l’on recherche un petit «VUS» avec un peu de luxe!

Le Sommet des Légendes

Chaque année, plusieurs amateurs de course automobile attendent avec impatience le retour des anciennes autos de course au Circuit du Mont-Tremblant avec l’évènement du Sommet des Légendes. Les voitures étaient de retour le week-end dernier à ce mythique circuit alors que plusieurs propriétaires américains de légendaires autos s’y étaient donné rendez-vous. On y trouvait aussi quelques valeureux pilotes canadiens et québécois qui ont su affronter les pilotes américains malgré les coûts élevés d’inscription…

Ce collectionneur américain était au volant d’une Formule Atlantique déjà pilotée par le regretté Gilles Villeneuve. (photo Éric Descarries)

Cette Corvette 1969 était équipée d’un V8 «Big Block» qui tonnait dans la montagne! (Photo Éric Descarries)

Il y avait beaucoup de petites allemandes en piste dont des Porsche et des BMW d’époque. (Photo Éric Descarries)

Cette voiture, c’est une Panoz Esperante 2005 à moteur Ford V8. (Photo Éric Descarries)

Quel plaisir que de voir évoluer de belles anciennes comme cette Talbot des Grands Prix des années cinquante ! (Photo Éric Descarries)

Il en a fallu du cran pour piloter et garder le contrôle de cette ERA de grands Prix d’avant-guerre! (Photo Éric Descarries)

Une magnifique Jaguar de Type D de 1955 ! (Photo Éric Descarries)

Plus récente, cette Coyote Corvette DP de 2013 a quand même impressionné les spectateurs à tremblant. (Photo Éric Descarries)

Il y avait quelques Formules Un sur place dont cette March 751 de 1975. (Photo Éric Descarries)

Le vétéran pilote québécois François Audette ne manque jamais une opportunité d’attaquer le Circuit du Mont-Tremblant avec sa Camaro. (Photo Éric Descarries)

[aion-rsa]

The Umbrella Academy: Gerard Way Takes Us to the Hotel Oblivion

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Gerard Way takes us to the Hotel Oblivion and beyond in our chat about the return of The Umbrella Academy and the upcoming TV series.

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John Saavedra

The Umbrella Academy

Feb 14, 2019

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Dark Horse

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This article contains Umbrella Academy spoilers.

Gerard Way is a bit tired on the third day of New York Comic Con. He'd stayed up late for a Netflix cast dinner the night before (he's in bed by 9:45 most nights) and had overslept this morning. Worst of all, he'd been forced to skip his morning meditation.

"It's kind of throwing my whole day off," Way tells me as we sit together in a corner of the Dark Horse booth at the Javits Center, hidden from the masses. The writer/musician is dressed in a big fatigue jacket, hair long and shaggy. He's starting to show hints of a shiny gray. Once impeccably clean-shaven, he now sports a mustache and beard. 

Gone are the days of bleached hair, marching bands, and eyeliner. The force of nature who belted out songs about wasted youth, love lost, and doom as the frontman of My Chemical Romance is dead (like the Black Parade itself). Three cheers for the next life of Gerard Way, one of the best comic book writers currently working. 

In October, following his excellent work on DC's Doom Patrol with artist Nick Derington, Way finally returned to his original comic book creation, The Umbrella Academy, after an almost ten-year hiatus. The new story arc, Hotel Oblivion, is a grand return for the series as well as for Way and the brilliant Brazilian artist Gabriel Ba, who first collaborated on the series in 2007 and won an Eisner for Best Limited Series in 2008.

The Umbrella Academy is the story of an estranged family of superheroes, years past their prime, who must navigate a nightmarish family reunion, prevent the end of the world, and deal with their traumatic pasts at the hands of their cold (and sometimes abusive) father. In the series' first arc, Apocalypse Suite, the team must stop one of their siblings, a classically trained violinist, from bringing about the end of the world with her evil orchestra. The follow-up, Dallas, is the story of Number Five, a time-traveling assassin who's hired to go back to 1963 and kill John F. Kennedy. It's up to his siblings to either help him or thwart the assassination from ever taking place.

Just three issues into Hotel Oblivion, Way and Ba have laid the foundation for another epic story, this time spanning not only time but also space. At the center of this tale is the titular hotel, a purgatorial prison located in an alternate dimension meant to house the world's worst criminals. The secrets of this hotel and the family's connection to it are the focus of the arc, but there are also plenty of other strange shenanigans along the way.

You have to read it to believe it: 43 superpowered orphans are born around the world at the same time to women whom just seconds before hadn't been pregnant. This is the big bang of Way and Ba's outrageous comic book universe, an alternate version of our reality where Kennedy wasn't assassinated and wrestlers wage war against giant space monsters in the ring. Seven of these orphans are adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, a rich scientist who also happens to be an undercover alien, and turned into the world's most famous superhero team, the Umbrella Academy. Together, these extraordinary kids have stopped the Eiffel Tower from taking over the world, defeated a rampaging Lincoln Memorial, and put all manner of costumed villains behind bars. 

But those were the good old days.

By the start of the story, one of the orphans is already dead. You quickly find out he was the lucky one because the remaining six siblings are seriously fucked up, thanks to their manipulative and emotionally unavailable father, who's very good at saving the world but terrible at giving the kids what they need the most: love and support. 

When the remaining members of the team -- Luther aka Spaceboy, Diego aka the Kraken, Allison aka the Rumor, Klaus aka the Seance, Number Five, and Vanya aka the White Violin (but only after discovering her apocalyptic powers as an adult) -- return home for Sir Reginald's funeral, things only get more complicated. Spaceboy struggles with depression, Kraken is unable to get close to anyone, Rumor's marriage is breaking down, Seance falls deeper into drug addiction, and Number Five...well, he's actually doing alright...

By the end of Dallas, the team is more broken than ever before and it seems that only distance from each other can help mend these characters. Well, a decade was plenty of distance, a lot of time for Way to consider what came next for his children. By the time Way started working on Umbrella Academy again in 2014, he found that the way he thought about these characters had changed. 

"I think I understand them in different ways now," Way says. "I think I'm less hard on them. I think I've found more compassion in dealing with them. I've put them through some really hard things and sometimes I feel bad about it."

These days, Way is interested in really digging into the trauma these characters have faced and maybe even giving them some space to heal.

"Trauma is a very intense thing and a very real thing and everybody experiences it in some way. I obviously did not have a childhood like these kids. But I did have a childhood in which I needed to escape a lot."

Hotel Oblivion certainly feels like an escape for the Hargreeves siblings, who are spread out all over the globe (and in the afterlife because that's how the Seance rolls). The first four issues are a sort of exhale for these characters, who are still recovering from major losses, heartbreak, and the whole JFK business.

After all the blood, explosions, betrayals, and deaths, Hotel Oblivion is meant to be cathartic, according to Way: "It's about the past. It's about mistakes. It's about fathers. It's about redemption. It's definitely a therapeutic series."

At the center of the story is still the concept of family. The Rumor is trying to help Vanya recover from the injuries she suffered in Apocalypse Suite while also trying to reconnect with her civilian family and working with the ultra-violent Number Five on his latest gambit.

Most surprising is the mending relationship between the Kraken and the team's former leader, Spaceboy. While stuck in an eternal sibling rivalry in the first two arcs -- Kraken challenges Spaceboy's leadership, Spaceboy condemns Kraken's impulsivity -- these scarred heroes start to reach out to each other in Hotel Oblivion. It's a change in the dynamic of the team that didn't seem possible back in 2009.

"Kraken's interesting and his relationship with Spaceboy changes in this series," Way explains. "A lot of it had to do with the fact that I was tired of writing that type of character, that rebellious fool, that Wolverine kind who always gives the leader shit. I never saw Kraken always being that way. I thought he was gonna be that way in the beginning and then he would grow."

Kraken, the loner who most resembles the "Batman" of the group, is actually the one trying to reunite the superhero team. Meanwhile, an overweight Spaceboy, who fled to Tokyo after the events of Dallas, is dealing with an existential crisis and no longer interested in leading his siblings.

"He's searching," Way says of Spaceboy. "I like the idea of a lost leader. A leader that doesn't have the answers anymore. Who's maybe not even a leader anymore. So I loved exploring that with Spaceboy."

Spaceboy isn't the only leader in need of redemption, though. Even Sir Reginald deserves a re-examination, according to Way.

"I learned more about him. I learned more about his history in working through this stuff, and I can't reveal any of that, obviously. But I've learned to find even compassion for him. Like there's a reason he is the way he is. Over the course of the series, you discover that reason of why he is this kind of ruthless person."

For these heroes, their father remains the catalyst for their problems. Will these characters ultimately find peace (and maybe even love) where it previously eluded them? It's too early to say, but at the very least, the search for the Hotel Oblivion gives them a new place to inevitably find and help each other. 

"The story at one point was gonna be a little bit less about the people that live in the hotel, but over time I found that I really wanted to tell their stories, so there are a lot more characters in Hotel Oblivion than there were nine years ago."

The Hotel Oblivion, with its faceless bellhops and cockroach entrees, might remind one of Captain Willard's stay in Saigon in the opening minutes of Apocalypse Now. Willard's hotel room is a sort of purgatory before his journey back to hell, a way station where he's left to relive his trauma over and over until he's lying naked on the dirty carpet, crying, bleeding, and a bit mad.

Way's prison isn't quite as dramatic as that, but it's doubly as terrifying. When Sir Reginald sends the villainous Murder Magician to the hotel, we get to see firsthand the lengths to which Sir Reginald will go to "save the world," letting the bad guys rot in a TripAdvisor hellscape without a trial.

"The concept of Hotel Oblivion deals a little bit with capital punishment," Way explains. "I think in terms of current events and the state of our world right now, in future Umbrella Academy volumes, we'll see a little more of that creep its way into the book. But right now I really wanted to explore capital punishment because we know what a super prison is."

Watching the villain watch a grotesque Lynchian cartoon about mice on the hotel television with nowhere else to go for the rest of eternity, you even start to feel for him. In one panel, he looks out his window at the desert beyond the hotel, surrounded on all sides by desolation and the bony carcasses of animals. This place could break him, the villain's face seems to say (Ba's pencils bring depth and emotion beautifully to this book).  

"You don't really see mainstream comics exploring the ramifications of somebody having to live in Arkham Asylum and what that does to somebody psychologically. Or if the Phantom Zone is ethical punishment. So it deals a lot with that." 

Way took inspiration from his real-life travels when creating the titular hotel, which he based on the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon where he stayed while working on the original Umbrella Academy stories.

"It's a very old hotel and it's kinda classy, but it's also a little bit old. From the outside, it kinda looks like the Hotel Oblivion," Way recalls. "I would be really isolated in that room just writing. I started to become inspired by the environment that I was in."

There was a time in Way's life when the writing didn't come so easy, though. Way told EW back in October that writing Umbrella Academy while on the road with My Chemical Romance became more difficult, describing the twilight of the band during that final tour as "really taxing." The band broke up in 2013 and Way jumped straight into a solo album, Hesitant Alien, soon after, further delaying his comic book work.

Way has a steady place to work now, a studio separate from his house. That's where the magic happens.

"I wake up really early, I hang out with my daughter, get her ready for school, I take her to school, I come back, I meditate, and then I start writing. And that takes up most of my time. I only make music on Fridays."

Since our chat, Way has released two groovy new songs, "Baby, You're a Haunted House" and "Getting Down the Germs," which show the artist moving away from both his emo pop roots and Britpop revival sensibilities to a more psychedelic sound. "Germs" even has a flute solo courtesy of renowned flutist Sara Andon. A third song, "Dasher," is a lovely Christmas ballad about a girl who falls in love with a reindeer, with backup vocals by Lydia Night of The Regrettes. Yeah, this is Way like we've never heard him before.

Way is also working on the upcoming Umbrella Academy Netflix series. The first season, which is set to debut on Feb. 15, will adapt both Apocalypse Suite and Dallas. That's quite a bit of ground to cover (across at least three different time periods), but Way, who has spent a lot of time on set as an executive producer, says that the series is going deeper into certain parts of the story than the comics did.

"Since they have more time, they can get deeper into things that may only be like two pages in the comic. And that's been really cool. They explore the characters a lot more." Way teases that both arcs "were expanded for the TV show. There are new elements in there. They've kind of enhanced the experience of those two graphic novels."

Beyond Hotel Oblivion and the Netflix show are more comics. In fact, Way is already developing the fourth arc with Ba.

"I'm putting all my notes together. So basically I know that there are eight volumes of Umbrella and I know what happens in each of them. I know what happens in the fourth. We're basically gonna take about three months between Hotel and when we start series four."

What can Way tease about series four? The arc will explore the biggest mystery at the center of their superhero universe, according to Way.

"We're finally gonna get to see some more of the 43 individuals." But he won't say any more about that.

Don't worry, though. The writer knows that you've been waiting a long time to learn more about these characters, to spend more time in their world. At the end of our chat, he opens up about how much it means to him that fans continue to ask for The Umbrella Academy.

"I just really appreciate them sticking around," Way says. "If people didn't care about it, I don't know, maybe I would have moved on to something else. But they still really want to know the whole story and so it's my duty to tell that story. I'm gonna give them what they want."

The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion #1-5 are out now. Issue #6 is out on March 27. The Netflix series premieres on Feb. 15.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9. 

from Books http://bit.ly/2ToQmXL

[nicholerestrada]

The 15 Craziest Cars and Futuristic Vehicles of CES 2019

There were a ton of sleek next-gen cars at CES, from snazzy luxury vehicles to eye-popping concept cars.

January 10, 2019 8 min read

This story originally appeared on PCMag

CES is a dizzying experience that takes over the entire Las Vegas Strip, but within the bedlam is a mind-bending glimpse into the future of transportation. This year we saw a slew of ;self-driving cars, new in-car ;mixed reality experiences, and even a new concept car with modular robotic legs that’s as close as we’ve seen to a real-life Transformer.

There’s a flashy tech product at CES for every kind of transportation scenario, from the most futuristic science-fiction concept cars to next-gen electric vehicles and even motorcycles, not to mention last-mile solutions like ;electric skateboards ;and ;scooters. Many of the snazziest concept cars were focused on high-tech amenities and interiors designed to keep humans comfortable and relaxed as their autonomous car cruises.

We also came across some other eye-popping smart vehicles, like a flying drone helicopter taxi and a smart yacht. We threw those in just for fun.

Nissan IMx Kuro

Image credit:

PC Mag

Nissan’s IMx Kuro concept vehicle is a fully autonomous electric crossover with zero emissions. We likely won’t see it in production until at least 2020, but the Kuro’s simplified exterior and spacious interior wowed on the CES show floor; not to mention the car’s panoramic OLED display on its dashboard. A separate, wood grain-patterned display wrapping around the interior door trims bring an extra sense of zen to the in-car experience.

Mitsubishi Emirai 4

Image credit:

PC Mag

Mitsubishi showed off the latest version of its Emirai 4 smart mobility concept car, which it has brought to CES with flashy new upgrades for each of the past few years. It’s got a heads-up augmented reality display with 3D mapping, as well as a half mirror with a diagonal LCD panel to give the driver 3D images of the environment. There’s an autonomous mode too, and plenty of other interior bells and whistles, like haptic feedback control, smart home and mobile payment integration, and biometric authentication.

Mercedes-Benz CLA

Image credit:

PC Mag

The highest profile vehicle reveal for a car you can actually buy was the debut of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz CLA. The second-gen coupe comes with a bevy of digital features and in-car improvements, as well as Mercedes’ first semi-autonomous driving system with a hands-free mode, and the auto maker’s new MBUX voice control system. It also syncs with the newly announced Mercedes-branded ;Garmin Vívoactive 3 ;smartwatch. The 2020 CLA will go on sale later this year; official pricing has not yet been announced.

Mercedes-Benz Vision Urbanetic

Image credit:

PC Mag

Mercedes also had a futuristic concept vehicle of its own, the Vision Urbanetic autonomous driving platform with switchable bodies. The vehicle’s Tron-like exterior houses a fairly simple urban transportation concept: it can be fitted with a passenger module with room for 20 people (8 sitting, 4 standing) as a sort of ride-sharing taxi, or a cargo module for transporting freight goods or package delivery. The base of the vehicle is the part that’s doing the autonomous driving; it also houses the electric batteries, motors, and the Urbanetic’s propulsion system. It’s an adjustable minibus (for either people or cargo) in a trippy body on a self-driving base.

Harley-Davidson LiveWire

Image credit:

PC Mag

The maker of American muscle hogs has released its first-ever electric motorcycle. The ;Harley-Davidson LiveWire, built in partnership with Panasonic Automotive, has built-in GPS and LTE connectivity with up to 4G LTE speeds, as well as a 4.3-inch liquid crystal touch-screen display built into the dashboard with integrated navigation and music. The LiveWire bike itself has a muscular build and a lightweight body, and goes from zero to 60mph in under 3.5 seconds. It has a high-voltage battery with an estimated range of 110 miles per charge.

BMW Vision iNext

Image credit:

PC Mag

One of our favorite concept cars of CES, the BMW Vision iNext is a ;sci-fi living room on wheels. The autonomous, electric luxury vehicle has hidden touch interfaces in wooden and cloth surfaces, an intelligent voice assistant, and screen projection anywhere in the chic interior. With an intelligent voice assistant built in, a roomy, carpeted back seat, and a smart wood coffee table that responds to touch gestures, it’s a palatial ;Jetsons-like experience for a future when humans are lounging in their cars instead of driving.

Waymo One

Image credit:

PC Mag

Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving car service was showing off an autonomous minivan on the show floor, outfitted with Lidar arrays and a camera installation on the roof. The offshoot’s new ;Waymo One ;is the autonomous division’s first commercial self-driving service offered to hundreds of early riders who have been helping to test the technology.

Audi Aicon

Image credit:

PC Mag

First unveiled in 2017, this electric autonomous vehicle was one of the sleekest we saw on the show floor. The concept car, which Audi hopes to turn into a production vehicle by 2021, has four motors and a range of 435 to 497 miles per charge. Audi said it can charge up to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes wirelessly. The interior showcases a fully self-driving future — there are no pedals or steering wheel visible, just luxurious indoor seating and a transparent roof.

2020 Lincoln Aviator

Image credit:

PC Mag

Lincoln was at CES with the 2020 Lincoln Aviator, a 450-horsepower plug-in hybrid crossover. There’s a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine, and a host of tech improvements and smart user interface upgrades. Drivers can unlock the vehicle with their smartphones rather than a key fob, and the owners can tap into features like traffic jam assist, park assist, adaptive suspension, and drive modes like Conserve and Excite to add some automatic controls to the manual experience. It’s also got a 28-speaker Revel Ultima 3D audio system.

Nvidia Drive Autopilot

Image credit:

PC Mag

Nvidia showed off a souped-up autonomous vehicle with its new Drive Autopilot system at CES. The graphic card manufacturer’s Xavier automotive-grade hardware can be integrated throughout the vehicle — including a heavy duty computer in the trunk — to enable Level 2 autonomy, meaning it has driver-assistance systems to control acceleration, braking, and steering to help out human drivers.

Byton M-Byte

Image credit:

PC Mag

Tesla competitor Byton showcased two different autonomous, electric models this year. The M-Byte prototype, which debuted at CES ;last year, is the less expensive of the two, a $45,000 electric crossover that goes into production this year. It has a 48-inch touch screen stretching across the entire dashboard, a small touch display in the wheel, and an array of cameras all housed in a luxury SUV body.

Byton K-Byte

Image credit:

PC Mag

The Byton K-Byte premium sedan is coming in 2021 with Level 4 autonomous driving, meaning it can drive without human oversight. The K-Byte features similar interior touch screens plus a digital grille on the exterior. Unlike other self-driving cars, the Byton’s side “LiGuard” sensors are retractable when it’s not in autonomous mode. Both cars will have Amazon Alexa integrated into the Byton OS.

Hyundai Elevate

Image credit:

PC Mag

The ;Hyundai Elevate ;is the closest we’ve gotten to a real-life Transformer. The concept car can walk or climb over obstacles with extendable robotic legs on a modular, multi-use chassis that shrinks down into driving mode. The car can swap out different attachments, and is capable of climbing a 5-foot vertical wall or over a 5-foot gap while keeping its passengers level. By blending electric car and robotics technology, the Hyundai Elevate feels like a step toward sci-fi.

Bell Nexus Air Taxi

Image credit:

PC Mag

One of the most unconventional, eye-catching concept vehicles at CES this year was the ;Bell Nexus Air Taxi, a massive flying hybrid of a drone crossed with a helicopter. Bell describes this behemoth as a rideshare in the air, and is testing it in Dallas, Dubai, and Los Angeles. The electric hybrid has a range of 150 miles, but don’t expect to see it flying around anytime soon. Bell hopes to release it in 2025. Sitting in the high-tech cockpit flanked by high-res touch screens and control sticks, the Bell Nexus feels like it’s dropped straight out of a futuristic fleet on its way to drop off a squadron of Darkseid soldiers.

Furrion Adonis Yacht

Image credit:

PC Mag

We had to include the yacht. The 78-foot Furrion Adonis towered over the CES show floor, showing off a high-tech luxury cruiser that Furrion calls a “smart yacht.” The Adonis has an onboard, voice-activated AI called Angel, who can control electronics, entertainment, kitchen appliances, the yacht’s facial-recognition camera system, and more. The virtual concierge can be summoned by saying “Hi, Angel” to order food from the kitchen, control music, get news and weather updates, or shop. The Adonis is also packed with smart interactive mirror displays throughout the yacht and cabins and Furrion Sense TVs with built-in soundbars. It’s even got a drone and drone port on the top deck. If PCMag gave out a Bougiest Tech at CES Award, the Furrion Adonis would be the runaway winner.

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[perksofwifi]

One Week With the 2020 Lincoln Navigator: Still Impressing Us

I remember like it was yesterday, when I climbed inside the then-newly launched Lincoln Navigator at the 2017 New York Auto Show. It was one of the best in show with its modern and elegant exterior and a plush cabin with a new design language that we had only seen in the concept the year before. More than anything, the Navigator marked a new era in American luxury. Instead of copying what the European and Asian car brands were doing, Lincoln came up with its own formula.

The Navigator has been around for the past three years, but it seems like it hasn’t aged a bit. In fact, the small updates Lincoln adopted have helped improve its flagship SUV. It keeps impressing us with its astonishing cabin, technology and safety updates, and a new monochromatic package. There’s no doubt the Navigator continues to rule with authority.

2020 Lincoln Navigator: What Has Changed?

Lincoln added more standard features to the 2020 Navigator to make it more compelling. The base model now has the adaptive suspension and power running boards as standard equipment. The adaptive suspension is a big win for 2020, as it improves the ride significantly. On the technology side, Phone as a Key is now standard on Navigator, allowing the driver to literally use a personal smartphone as a key—locking, unlocking and starting the engine all from the phone.

2020 Lincoln Navigator: American Luxury

Open the doors, and a sea of black leather and wood will welcome you into the cabin. Everywhere you look and everywhere you touch, there’s a premium feel to the interior. From the floating screen to the full digital display in the instrument cluster, the 2020 Navigator delivers a first-class experience. Although I’m not a huge fan of combinations like black leather with brown wood, this interior is the exception. The chrome accents add to the clean look of the center console, and the blacked-out instrument panel adds to the affluent ambiance.

Our Reserve model sits between the base trim and the Black Label, but with the 30-way Perfect Position seats and the Revel premium audio system with 20 speakers, it ups the wow factor. These two features are part of the Luxury package, which adds $2,500 to the price, but every penny is worth it. The seats are extremely comfortable, and the audio system will have you singing your favorite songs without feeling embarrassed.

Compared to other models in its class, the Navigator really stands out. Although the 2021 Cadillac Escalade looks like it will give the Navigator a battle, the Lincoln is far superior to the Infiniti QX80 and the Lexus LX 570. Newer models like the BMW X7 and the Mercedes-Benz GLS give the Lincoln a good fight, but the Navigator stands out with its greater value and outstanding proportions.

2020 Lincoln Navigator: Ride and Handling

Handling is not a big priority for full-size SUVs, but the Navigator delivers. Powered by a 3.5-liter twin turbo V-6 that produces 450 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque, this big Lincoln feels healthy all the way around. Its 10-speed automatic is quick to downshift, and the upshifts are done smoothly. Press down the throttle and the engine will get the Navigator up to speed effortlessly. Despite its large size, the Lincoln feels confident and doesn’t disappoint when pressed hard.

Although we didn’t get to try it this time, our Navigator came equipped with four-wheel drive, allowing this beast to cruise through dirty trails. A drive mode selector makes it easy to choose the correct mode depending on the conditions you’re driving in. The modes include Slippery, Excite, Conserve, Deep Conditions, Snow, and Normal. Each mode is programmed to change the throttle mapping, transmission behavior, and the suspension and stability control responses. Our week in the Navigator had no rain, but we were able to test its performance off-road during our 2019 SUV of the Year program.

Our model was equipped with the 22-inch monochromatic wheels, which look excellent in the black trim. But there’s bad news: The ride becomes a bit busier with them. The broken pavement causes harsh impacts in the cabin when traversing poor quality LA freeways. Still, the adaptive suspension does a reasonable job isolating the cabin from the impacts the low-profile tires are sending it. On tight turns, the 2020 Navigator’s big body doesn’t feel as large; its chassis leans in nicely without disturbing the ride.

Although its steering is light, it still delivers a nice feedback of what’s happening on the road. You don’t feel like you’re driving a big body-on-frame SUV, and its relatively small turning circle will allow you to make most U-turns without backing up.

2020 Lincoln Navigator: Safety

With Lincoln Co-Pilot360, every Navigator comes standard with key safety technologies like adaptive cruise control with stop and go traffic, rear view camera, etc. But for 2020, Lincoln is adding auto high beams, blind-spot detection with cross-traffic alert, lane keep assist, automatic emergency braking, and a rear view camera washer to Co-Pilot360.

2020 Lincoln Navigator: Should I Buy It?

The Navigator keeps impressing us. Although it’s been around for three years, its style, driving manners, and value within its segment get our attention. As a family luxury SUV, the Navigator brings a ton of standard features that make it attractive. And with its mid-century modern cabin, premium leather, and spacious cabin, it’s an enticing offering.

2020 Lincoln Navigator 4X4 (Reserve) BASE PRICE $85,695 LAYOUT Front-engine, 4WD, 7-pass, 4-door SUV ENGINE 3.5L/450-hp/510-lb-ft* twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6 TRANSMISSION 10-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT 6,100 lb (MT est) WHEELBASE 122.5 in L x W x H 210.0 x 78.8 x 76.3 in 0-60 MPH 5.9 sec (MT est) EPA FUEL ECON 16/21/18 mpg* ENERGY CONSUMPTION, CITY/HWY 211/160 kW-hrs/100 miles CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 1.08 lb/mile ON SALE Currently * Horsepower and torque values derived from 93-octane fuel; EPA fuel economy from 87-octane fuel 

The post One Week With the 2020 Lincoln Navigator: Still Impressing Us appeared first on MotorTrend.

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/lincoln/navigator/2020/2020-lincoln-navigator-first-drive/ visto antes em https://www.motortrend.com

[michaeljtraylor]

The 15 Craziest Cars and Futuristic Vehicles of CES 2019

There were a ton of sleek next-gen cars at CES, from snazzy luxury vehicles to eye-popping concept cars.

January 10, 2019 8 min read

This story originally appeared on PCMag

CES is a dizzying experience that takes over the entire Las Vegas Strip, but within the bedlam is a mind-bending glimpse into the future of transportation. This year we saw a slew of ;self-driving cars, new in-car ;mixed reality experiences, and even a new concept car with modular robotic legs that’s as close as we’ve seen to a real-life Transformer.

There’s a flashy tech product at CES for every kind of transportation scenario, from the most futuristic science-fiction concept cars to next-gen electric vehicles and even motorcycles, not to mention last-mile solutions like ;electric skateboards ;and ;scooters. Many of the snazziest concept cars were focused on high-tech amenities and interiors designed to keep humans comfortable and relaxed as their autonomous car cruises.

We also came across some other eye-popping smart vehicles, like a flying drone helicopter taxi and a smart yacht. We threw those in just for fun.

Nissan IMx Kuro

Image credit:

PC Mag

Nissan’s IMx Kuro concept vehicle is a fully autonomous electric crossover with zero emissions. We likely won’t see it in production until at least 2020, but the Kuro’s simplified exterior and spacious interior wowed on the CES show floor; not to mention the car’s panoramic OLED display on its dashboard. A separate, wood grain-patterned display wrapping around the interior door trims bring an extra sense of zen to the in-car experience.

Mitsubishi Emirai 4

Image credit:

PC Mag

Mitsubishi showed off the latest version of its Emirai 4 smart mobility concept car, which it has brought to CES with flashy new upgrades for each of the past few years. It’s got a heads-up augmented reality display with 3D mapping, as well as a half mirror with a diagonal LCD panel to give the driver 3D images of the environment. There’s an autonomous mode too, and plenty of other interior bells and whistles, like haptic feedback control, smart home and mobile payment integration, and biometric authentication.

Mercedes-Benz CLA

Image credit:

PC Mag

The highest profile vehicle reveal for a car you can actually buy was the debut of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz CLA. The second-gen coupe comes with a bevy of digital features and in-car improvements, as well as Mercedes’ first semi-autonomous driving system with a hands-free mode, and the auto maker’s new MBUX voice control system. It also syncs with the newly announced Mercedes-branded ;Garmin Vívoactive 3 ;smartwatch. The 2020 CLA will go on sale later this year; official pricing has not yet been announced.

Mercedes-Benz Vision Urbanetic

Image credit:

PC Mag

Mercedes also had a futuristic concept vehicle of its own, the Vision Urbanetic autonomous driving platform with switchable bodies. The vehicle’s Tron-like exterior houses a fairly simple urban transportation concept: it can be fitted with a passenger module with room for 20 people (8 sitting, 4 standing) as a sort of ride-sharing taxi, or a cargo module for transporting freight goods or package delivery. The base of the vehicle is the part that’s doing the autonomous driving; it also houses the electric batteries, motors, and the Urbanetic’s propulsion system. It’s an adjustable minibus (for either people or cargo) in a trippy body on a self-driving base.

Harley-Davidson LiveWire

Image credit:

PC Mag

The maker of American muscle hogs has released its first-ever electric motorcycle. The ;Harley-Davidson LiveWire, built in partnership with Panasonic Automotive, has built-in GPS and LTE connectivity with up to 4G LTE speeds, as well as a 4.3-inch liquid crystal touch-screen display built into the dashboard with integrated navigation and music. The LiveWire bike itself has a muscular build and a lightweight body, and goes from zero to 60mph in under 3.5 seconds. It has a high-voltage battery with an estimated range of 110 miles per charge.

BMW Vision iNext

Image credit:

PC Mag

One of our favorite concept cars of CES, the BMW Vision iNext is a ;sci-fi living room on wheels. The autonomous, electric luxury vehicle has hidden touch interfaces in wooden and cloth surfaces, an intelligent voice assistant, and screen projection anywhere in the chic interior. With an intelligent voice assistant built in, a roomy, carpeted back seat, and a smart wood coffee table that responds to touch gestures, it’s a palatial ;Jetsons-like experience for a future when humans are lounging in their cars instead of driving.

Waymo One

Image credit:

PC Mag

Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving car service was showing off an autonomous minivan on the show floor, outfitted with Lidar arrays and a camera installation on the roof. The offshoot’s new ;Waymo One ;is the autonomous division’s first commercial self-driving service offered to hundreds of early riders who have been helping to test the technology.

Audi Aicon

Image credit:

PC Mag

First unveiled in 2017, this electric autonomous vehicle was one of the sleekest we saw on the show floor. The concept car, which Audi hopes to turn into a production vehicle by 2021, has four motors and a range of 435 to 497 miles per charge. Audi said it can charge up to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes wirelessly. The interior showcases a fully self-driving future — there are no pedals or steering wheel visible, just luxurious indoor seating and a transparent roof.

2020 Lincoln Aviator

Image credit:

PC Mag

Lincoln was at CES with the 2020 Lincoln Aviator, a 450-horsepower plug-in hybrid crossover. There’s a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine, and a host of tech improvements and smart user interface upgrades. Drivers can unlock the vehicle with their smartphones rather than a key fob, and the owners can tap into features like traffic jam assist, park assist, adaptive suspension, and drive modes like Conserve and Excite to add some automatic controls to the manual experience. It’s also got a 28-speaker Revel Ultima 3D audio system.

Nvidia Drive Autopilot

Image credit:

PC Mag

Nvidia showed off a souped-up autonomous vehicle with its new Drive Autopilot system at CES. The graphic card manufacturer’s Xavier automotive-grade hardware can be integrated throughout the vehicle — including a heavy duty computer in the trunk — to enable Level 2 autonomy, meaning it has driver-assistance systems to control acceleration, braking, and steering to help out human drivers.

Byton M-Byte

Image credit:

PC Mag

Tesla competitor Byton showcased two different autonomous, electric models this year. The M-Byte prototype, which debuted at CES ;last year, is the less expensive of the two, a $45,000 electric crossover that goes into production this year. It has a 48-inch touch screen stretching across the entire dashboard, a small touch display in the wheel, and an array of cameras all housed in a luxury SUV body.

Byton K-Byte

Image credit:

PC Mag

The Byton K-Byte premium sedan is coming in 2021 with Level 4 autonomous driving, meaning it can drive without human oversight. The K-Byte features similar interior touch screens plus a digital grille on the exterior. Unlike other self-driving cars, the Byton’s side “LiGuard” sensors are retractable when it’s not in autonomous mode. Both cars will have Amazon Alexa integrated into the Byton OS.

Hyundai Elevate

Image credit:

PC Mag

The ;Hyundai Elevate ;is the closest we’ve gotten to a real-life Transformer. The concept car can walk or climb over obstacles with extendable robotic legs on a modular, multi-use chassis that shrinks down into driving mode. The car can swap out different attachments, and is capable of climbing a 5-foot vertical wall or over a 5-foot gap while keeping its passengers level. By blending electric car and robotics technology, the Hyundai Elevate feels like a step toward sci-fi.

Bell Nexus Air Taxi

Image credit:

PC Mag

One of the most unconventional, eye-catching concept vehicles at CES this year was the ;Bell Nexus Air Taxi, a massive flying hybrid of a drone crossed with a helicopter. Bell describes this behemoth as a rideshare in the air, and is testing it in Dallas, Dubai, and Los Angeles. The electric hybrid has a range of 150 miles, but don’t expect to see it flying around anytime soon. Bell hopes to release it in 2025. Sitting in the high-tech cockpit flanked by high-res touch screens and control sticks, the Bell Nexus feels like it’s dropped straight out of a futuristic fleet on its way to drop off a squadron of Darkseid soldiers.

Furrion Adonis Yacht

Image credit:

PC Mag

We had to include the yacht. The 78-foot Furrion Adonis towered over the CES show floor, showing off a high-tech luxury cruiser that Furrion calls a “smart yacht.” The Adonis has an onboard, voice-activated AI called Angel, who can control electronics, entertainment, kitchen appliances, the yacht’s facial-recognition camera system, and more. The virtual concierge can be summoned by saying “Hi, Angel” to order food from the kitchen, control music, get news and weather updates, or shop. The Adonis is also packed with smart interactive mirror displays throughout the yacht and cabins and Furrion Sense TVs with built-in soundbars. It’s even got a drone and drone port on the top deck. If PCMag gave out a Bougiest Tech at CES Award, the Furrion Adonis would be the runaway winner.

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The 15 Craziest Cars and Futuristic Vehicles of CES 2019

There were a ton of sleek next-gen cars at CES, from snazzy luxury vehicles to eye-popping concept cars.

January 10, 2019 8 min read

This story originally appeared on PCMag

CES is a dizzying experience that takes over the entire Las Vegas Strip, but within the bedlam is a mind-bending glimpse into the future of transportation. This year we saw a slew of ;self-driving cars, new in-car ;mixed reality experiences, and even a new concept car with modular robotic legs that’s as close as we’ve seen to a real-life Transformer.

There’s a flashy tech product at CES for every kind of transportation scenario, from the most futuristic science-fiction concept cars to next-gen electric vehicles and even motorcycles, not to mention last-mile solutions like ;electric skateboards ;and ;scooters. Many of the snazziest concept cars were focused on high-tech amenities and interiors designed to keep humans comfortable and relaxed as their autonomous car cruises.

We also came across some other eye-popping smart vehicles, like a flying drone helicopter taxi and a smart yacht. We threw those in just for fun.

Nissan IMx Kuro

Image credit:

PC Mag

Nissan’s IMx Kuro concept vehicle is a fully autonomous electric crossover with zero emissions. We likely won’t see it in production until at least 2020, but the Kuro’s simplified exterior and spacious interior wowed on the CES show floor; not to mention the car’s panoramic OLED display on its dashboard. A separate, wood grain-patterned display wrapping around the interior door trims bring an extra sense of zen to the in-car experience.

Mitsubishi Emirai 4

Image credit:

PC Mag

Mitsubishi showed off the latest version of its Emirai 4 smart mobility concept car, which it has brought to CES with flashy new upgrades for each of the past few years. It’s got a heads-up augmented reality display with 3D mapping, as well as a half mirror with a diagonal LCD panel to give the driver 3D images of the environment. There’s an autonomous mode too, and plenty of other interior bells and whistles, like haptic feedback control, smart home and mobile payment integration, and biometric authentication.

Mercedes-Benz CLA

Image credit:

PC Mag

The highest profile vehicle reveal for a car you can actually buy was the debut of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz CLA. The second-gen coupe comes with a bevy of digital features and in-car improvements, as well as Mercedes’ first semi-autonomous driving system with a hands-free mode, and the auto maker’s new MBUX voice control system. It also syncs with the newly announced Mercedes-branded ;Garmin Vívoactive 3 ;smartwatch. The 2020 CLA will go on sale later this year; official pricing has not yet been announced.

Mercedes-Benz Vision Urbanetic

Image credit:

PC Mag

Mercedes also had a futuristic concept vehicle of its own, the Vision Urbanetic autonomous driving platform with switchable bodies. The vehicle’s Tron-like exterior houses a fairly simple urban transportation concept: it can be fitted with a passenger module with room for 20 people (8 sitting, 4 standing) as a sort of ride-sharing taxi, or a cargo module for transporting freight goods or package delivery. The base of the vehicle is the part that’s doing the autonomous driving; it also houses the electric batteries, motors, and the Urbanetic’s propulsion system. It’s an adjustable minibus (for either people or cargo) in a trippy body on a self-driving base.

Harley-Davidson LiveWire

Image credit:

PC Mag

The maker of American muscle hogs has released its first-ever electric motorcycle. The ;Harley-Davidson LiveWire, built in partnership with Panasonic Automotive, has built-in GPS and LTE connectivity with up to 4G LTE speeds, as well as a 4.3-inch liquid crystal touch-screen display built into the dashboard with integrated navigation and music. The LiveWire bike itself has a muscular build and a lightweight body, and goes from zero to 60mph in under 3.5 seconds. It has a high-voltage battery with an estimated range of 110 miles per charge.

BMW Vision iNext

Image credit:

PC Mag

One of our favorite concept cars of CES, the BMW Vision iNext is a ;sci-fi living room on wheels. The autonomous, electric luxury vehicle has hidden touch interfaces in wooden and cloth surfaces, an intelligent voice assistant, and screen projection anywhere in the chic interior. With an intelligent voice assistant built in, a roomy, carpeted back seat, and a smart wood coffee table that responds to touch gestures, it’s a palatial ;Jetsons-like experience for a future when humans are lounging in their cars instead of driving.

Waymo One

Image credit:

PC Mag

Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving car service was showing off an autonomous minivan on the show floor, outfitted with Lidar arrays and a camera installation on the roof. The offshoot’s new ;Waymo One ;is the autonomous division’s first commercial self-driving service offered to hundreds of early riders who have been helping to test the technology.

Audi Aicon

Image credit:

PC Mag

First unveiled in 2017, this electric autonomous vehicle was one of the sleekest we saw on the show floor. The concept car, which Audi hopes to turn into a production vehicle by 2021, has four motors and a range of 435 to 497 miles per charge. Audi said it can charge up to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes wirelessly. The interior showcases a fully self-driving future — there are no pedals or steering wheel visible, just luxurious indoor seating and a transparent roof.

2020 Lincoln Aviator

Image credit:

PC Mag

Lincoln was at CES with the 2020 Lincoln Aviator, a 450-horsepower plug-in hybrid crossover. There’s a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine, and a host of tech improvements and smart user interface upgrades. Drivers can unlock the vehicle with their smartphones rather than a key fob, and the owners can tap into features like traffic jam assist, park assist, adaptive suspension, and drive modes like Conserve and Excite to add some automatic controls to the manual experience. It’s also got a 28-speaker Revel Ultima 3D audio system.

Nvidia Drive Autopilot

Image credit:

PC Mag

Nvidia showed off a souped-up autonomous vehicle with its new Drive Autopilot system at CES. The graphic card manufacturer’s Xavier automotive-grade hardware can be integrated throughout the vehicle — including a heavy duty computer in the trunk — to enable Level 2 autonomy, meaning it has driver-assistance systems to control acceleration, braking, and steering to help out human drivers.

Byton M-Byte

Image credit:

PC Mag

Tesla competitor Byton showcased two different autonomous, electric models this year. The M-Byte prototype, which debuted at CES ;last year, is the less expensive of the two, a $45,000 electric crossover that goes into production this year. It has a 48-inch touch screen stretching across the entire dashboard, a small touch display in the wheel, and an array of cameras all housed in a luxury SUV body.

Byton K-Byte

Image credit:

PC Mag

The Byton K-Byte premium sedan is coming in 2021 with Level 4 autonomous driving, meaning it can drive without human oversight. The K-Byte features similar interior touch screens plus a digital grille on the exterior. Unlike other self-driving cars, the Byton’s side “LiGuard” sensors are retractable when it’s not in autonomous mode. Both cars will have Amazon Alexa integrated into the Byton OS.

Hyundai Elevate

Image credit:

PC Mag

The ;Hyundai Elevate ;is the closest we’ve gotten to a real-life Transformer. The concept car can walk or climb over obstacles with extendable robotic legs on a modular, multi-use chassis that shrinks down into driving mode. The car can swap out different attachments, and is capable of climbing a 5-foot vertical wall or over a 5-foot gap while keeping its passengers level. By blending electric car and robotics technology, the Hyundai Elevate feels like a step toward sci-fi.

Bell Nexus Air Taxi

Image credit:

PC Mag

One of the most unconventional, eye-catching concept vehicles at CES this year was the ;Bell Nexus Air Taxi, a massive flying hybrid of a drone crossed with a helicopter. Bell describes this behemoth as a rideshare in the air, and is testing it in Dallas, Dubai, and Los Angeles. The electric hybrid has a range of 150 miles, but don’t expect to see it flying around anytime soon. Bell hopes to release it in 2025. Sitting in the high-tech cockpit flanked by high-res touch screens and control sticks, the Bell Nexus feels like it’s dropped straight out of a futuristic fleet on its way to drop off a squadron of Darkseid soldiers.

Furrion Adonis Yacht

Image credit:

PC Mag

We had to include the yacht. The 78-foot Furrion Adonis towered over the CES show floor, showing off a high-tech luxury cruiser that Furrion calls a “smart yacht.” The Adonis has an onboard, voice-activated AI called Angel, who can control electronics, entertainment, kitchen appliances, the yacht’s facial-recognition camera system, and more. The virtual concierge can be summoned by saying “Hi, Angel” to order food from the kitchen, control music, get news and weather updates, or shop. The Adonis is also packed with smart interactive mirror displays throughout the yacht and cabins and Furrion Sense TVs with built-in soundbars. It’s even got a drone and drone port on the top deck. If PCMag gave out a Bougiest Tech at CES Award, the Furrion Adonis would be the runaway winner.

Source link

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