#renegade- 7.5/10

[livegrenade]

alright time to listen to that five leak :^) (how i feel about the songs [we haven’t heard yet] under the cut; “ratings” are how i feel about the songs)

bad moon:

creepy vibes at the start, a demonic voice kinda thing.

kinda sounds poppish. reminds me of chase atlantic and palisades. chill and creepy. i dig it. i love funny’s part. some electronic elements.

7.5/10

ghost beach:

i’m feeling a ton of the neighbourhood vibes (reminds me of female robbery in terms of the instrumental and the way the lyrics are said). this is “danny’s song”. absolutely great.

8.5/10

broken record:

charlie’s anger in his verse makes it so good omg. switches to a “hopeless” kind of mood in the chorus. lots of emotion in j3t’s verse too. i love the tune going on in the verses but not a fan of the tune in the chorus. 

6.5/10

nobody’s watching:

sounds like a song on the radio. instrumental especially. i don’t really think jdog fit in this song. gets really repetitive. not really into it.

4/10

black cadillac: 

eerie and dark mood. j3t’s verse is aggressive, like dead in ditches and undead angry. jdog’s verse references bitches and also mentions live grenade ayy. b-real’s verse is the third one, not bad. a chorus with funny is always a good chorus. 

8/10

pray (put em in the dirt):

HEAVY. j3t’s aggressive as fuck. danny in the chorus is a great addition to the song. there’s this “now is your time to die” thing that’s a bit weird but when you hear the outro it kinda fits. they pulled off the whole “electronic vibe” much better here than in does everybody in the world have to die.

9/10

cashed out:

instrumental sounds great. it has hardcore trap vibes. you’d definitely play this song at a party. not my thing but it’s not bad.

7/10

riot:

the “war child” of the album; misleading edgy title is actually a party song. chorus is screaming “let’s start a riot” with danny and jdog. charlie’s voice is autotuned. instrumental isn’t anything special. sounds like a coming in hot v2. 

5/10. gotta be in a certain mood to get into it imo.

bang bang:

*clap clap clap* bang bang bang. beginning is alright but J3T’S PART. HOLY SHIT. guitars kick in full blast. kinda don’t like the chorus at all (they say “bang” twelve times per chorus) but the way danny says “like a bullet” is sooo good.

6/10

your life:

ok so i’ve already heard the 1m 30s snippet before so let’s see how it sounds in full. guitar sounds great. the gang vocal thing going on is great too. great song for the end of the album.

7.5/10

so favorite songs from this list: pray (put em in the dirt), ghost beach, black cadillac

[asselinssatan]

rating each Abandoned Pools song by album because i wanna:

1. Humanistic

The Remedy: 8/10

Really good song to start off the album! I really like this song's sound, i feel like it's one of the heavier songs by AP

Mercy Kiss: 5/10

I like this song as well, but it doesn't attach to me like The Remedy does. Also "Yeeeeah you lead me on" gets a little bit annoying idk why.

Start Over: 6.5/10

"It was at it's best when you and i were only three"

Monster: 3/10

boring.

Blood: 7/10

The flutes(?) in the beginning and the end are really nice. And the lyrics are stuck in my head 25/8. also i really like that in the end it has a transition into...

Suburban Muse: 9/10

... this song! I really love this one, it makes me feel like I've fallen in love! sounds strange, i know.

Sunny Day: 10/10

my introduction to AP and simply the catchiest and most fun sounding song on this album.

L.V.B.D: 5.8/10

"welcome to the world my little virgin baby doll, can you save me? ill set you off with the tip of my tongue..." sounds kinda ew but this song slaps anyway

Ruin Your Life: 8/10

LA LA LA LA LA LA LA

most of the people think this song is cruel without looking into the lyrics. i think this song is about a person who helps out to their significant other to start over their life and tries to make them happy again. it's cute

Never: 6/10

i get it. this song is beautiful. but it's boring n ngnn.

slow tempo acoustic song? me no likey, hurr-durr >:(

Seed: 7.5/10

i feel dirty after listening to this but it slaps so hard oml

Fluorescein: 9.5/10

GIVE ME A PLATE OF FLUORESCEIN

IM GONNA PAINT A TRIBUTE TO THIS GREAT SONG

2. Armed To The Teeth

Lethal Killers: 8/10

dont care about religion and the conflicts around it, i just really like the song

Rabble: 8/10

THE BEGINNING

The Catalyst: 8/10 (can you tell this album is my favorite lol)

i made a cover for this song. i really like the lyrics, they're pretty romantic.

Tighter Noose: 9.5/10

this song means so much to me. I've struggled before with the issues mentioned in the song and i think this one is very beautifully written.

Waiting To Panic: 9/10

:(

Hunting (The Universe Breaks My Heart): 6/10

i--

Armed To The Teeth: 4/10

boring. don't remember the lyrics, maybe they are meaningful, but eh

Sooner Or Later: 5/10

the so-o-o-ner part at first put me off but i kinda grew to like it.

Sailing Seas: 8/10

im always sailing seas of regret :)

Renegade: 7/10

WHO WANTS TO GET STOMPED???

this one is also one of the heavier AP song so ya know your girl is gonna rate it higher.

Maybe Than Someday: 10/10

beau

3. Sublime Currency

Goodbye Song: 10/10

tiful

Sublime Currency: 5/10

it has really good and meaningful lyrics..... yeah....

Hype Is The Enemy: 5.3/10

e

Unrehearsed: 6/10

THE BEGINNING 2

Behemoth: 8.5/10

i heard someone said that tommy said that he thinks this is one of the best songs he wrote.

i like it.

9 Billion: 7/10

kinda heavy, me likey

LIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFE---

Autopilot: 10/10

just listen to it, you won't regret it

In Silence: 6/10

Marigolds: 8/10

like blood, the lyrics are stuck in my head 24/7

Legionnaire: 5.5/10

meh

From Long Sleep: 4/10

meh 2

4. Somnambulist

In Shadows: 7/10

the r e v e r b, bruuuh

Focus: 6/10

i! can't focus! :))

Occupy: 10/10

my headphones are Occupied by this song blasting on full volume and on repeat

Compass: 6.3/10

for some reason this song is cute to me lol????

Breaking Horses: 5.5/10

boring

If Only: 6.5/10

If Only i could remember the lyrics to this song. I remember the melody, and it's nice.

Pep Talk: 8/10

another cute song.

Arms Race: 8/10

lol what does "arms race" mean, can someone explain? english is not my first language

Red Flag: 7/10

catchy

I See The Math: 5/10

Walking Disaster: 9.5/10

another song that makes me feel like im in love and the lyrics are also stuck in my head 24/7 AND the melody is really nice.

i don't see

In conclusion: ATTT is the best AP album.

[forzafinally]

what do u think is the best album of 2021 so far?? i’ve only heard 2 from this year (sour and nil) ans none really got me hooked like few songs were good from both but nothing very big yet so wbu?? also recommend some albums from 2021 pls i’m stuck in the past

I kind of agree with you. Tbh none of the albums of 2021 have given me the life changing experience that folkore did last year. The most decent album I've heard so far is Teatro d'ira: Vol. I by måneskin in the terms of something new and different. It's very new rock. I would rate it a 7.5/10 (for comparison NIL is probably an 8 for me and Sour a 6.75)

However I did hear Sawayama, Plastic Hearts and Last Young Renegade this year for the first time and really liked them (not as much as folklore which was a 9.5 for me but they're all a solid 8-8.5) so you may want to give them a try. Also After Hours if you haven't already. That album is pure genius. 9.5/10 for sure. It's pretty much a whole story in the form of an album

I am waiting for Halsey's and Lorde's albums in August because I am hoping that they will be good (though I don't have very high expectations from lorde because idt it's going to be my vibe but I guess we'll see)

[degenderates]

Tagged by @luciferge Thanks for the tag! 💚💚💚

Rules: name ten favorite characters from ten different things (books, tv, film, etc.) then tag ten people

1. anakin skywalker - star wars

2. aleksander morozova - the grishaverse

3. honey harper - renegades

4. jest - heartless

5. severus snape - harry potter

6. mr mistoffelees - cats

7. erik - the phantom of the opera

8. vanya hargreeves - the umbrella academy

9. ze’ev kesley - the lunar chronicles

10. aidan - the illuminae files

notice how 7.5/10 of these are villains...HMM

Im tagging: @thechosen-wan @sirsparkzalot @reylo-is-my-solo @a-tardis-at-downton @ohhdaisy @kyrrens @rubys-finger-cymbals @theguywhoreallylikescats @aleksanderisdaddy @seleyyn

[equilibriumhindidubbed]

Equilibrium (2002) Hindi Dubbed Download 720p GDrive

IMBD Score: 7.5/10 Language: Hindi Equilibrium (2002) R | 1h 47min | Action , Drama , Sci-Fi | 6 December 2002 (USA) Director: Kurt Wimmer Writer: Kurt Wimmer Stars: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson

Click Here To DOWNLOAD NOW

Storyline In a futuristic world, a strict regime has eliminated war by suppressing emotions: books, art and music are strictly forbidden and feeling is a crime punishable by death. Cleric John Preston (Bale) is a top ranking government agent responsible for destroying those who resist the rules. When he misses a dose of Prozium, a mind-altering drug that hinders emotion, Preston, who has been trained to enforce the strict laws of the new regime, suddenly becomes the only person capable of overthrowing it.

ReviewSometimes it can actually be worthwhile diving into indie films, which are usually characterized by being much cooler and smarter. The Lord of the Rings, for whom there was little to expect, my husband and I decided to embark on an inexpensive sci-fi adventure. In the near future, under the dictatorship of Librium, humanity has discovered that intense emotions such as jealousy and anger are the real enemy and people wage war. In an effort to create a peaceful, deaf utopia, a new world order has been established that requires everyone to dampen such feelings toward government - the drug prozium. Of course, there are those renegade art and music lovers who refuse to take medicine and realize that the suppression of anger and hatred also suppresses love and joy. I must admit that this is certainly the case - or is the case - but I digress. An elite troop of clergymen has been tasked with rooting out the senseless, and their team consists of a group of dedicated criminals who are so committed that when they arrest their executed wives, they do not recoil. After his partner revealed herself through poetry, Preston remains steadfast in his faith in God even after the death of his wife. After reading about the accident of the traitors, he experiences his own God in the form of his Son, a man with a heart of gold and a soul as strong as his own. To be fair, sometimes its clumsy plot and absurd matrix - esque shootings drag on a bit too long for my liking. One of the film's contemporary themes is that peace at all costs can be evil and violent war. Not all anger (righteous anger, for example) is wrong, but it can harm the people around him. If the film argues anything, it is this power - crazy dictators will resort to anything to maintain popular loyalty. The sophisticated mockers who see it as a source of cynical humor insist that trying to topple a murderous, rapist regime could be more than a political ploy. But after this film, I couldn't help but believe that it lived up to its title, and not just in terms of sound. I have no way of knowing the real intentions of the filmmakers, but their story has definitely led me to consider the effects of drugs on the human body and, in particular, the use of procium. Without delving too deeply into the debate, Equilibrium seems to question the wisdom of giving overly energetic children and despondent adults a drug that could hamper their needed emotions. There is, of course, no evidence that this drug, known as ProZium, has significantly changed the lives of children or adults, or even their mental health.

Click Here To DOWNLOAD NOW

[i-need-a-second-library]

Reading List 2019

So I thought to celebrate the fact that I actually read 100 books this year, I could list them all, give them a short raiting and quickly summarise my thoughts (as far as I remember them, my memory is terrible). So strap in, this is gonna be a looong list.

(The formating is gonna be: Title, Author, Language I read it in (D = German; E = English), rating, short thoughts)

1. The Toymakers, Robert Dinsdale, D, 3/5, Wants to be The Nightcircus but fails. Still sweet and thoughtful.

2. Deadly Sting (Elemental Assassin 8), Jennifer Estep, D, 4/5, Don’t remember specifics just that I was impressed the series was still this good.

3. The Labyrinth of Magic Volume 1, Shinobu Ohtaka, D, 1/5, Note to self: I don’t like Mangas (The Anime is fantastic though).

4. The Labyritnh of Magic Volume 2, Shinobu Ohtaka, D, 1/5, See 3.

5. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman, D, 3/5, Not my style but I can see what others like about it.

6. Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman, D, 4/5, Very informative and entertaining.

7. The Master Magician (The Paper Magician 3), Charlie N. Holmberg, D,3/5, Adequate ending, I absolutely love the magic system.

8. The Plastic Magician (The Paper Magician 3.5), Charlie N. Holmberg, D, 4/5, Great spinoff, better story than the original with exactly enough cameos.

9. Heart of Venom (Elemental Assassin 9), Jennifer Estep, D, 3/5, see 2.

10. Inkdeath (Inkworld 3), Cornelia Funke, D, 5/5, Always a favourite, read it because I was feeling down cheered me right up.

11. The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus 5), Rick Riordan, E, 4/5, Why did I wait so long to read this?

12. Vulkanjäger, Katja Brandis, D, 3/5, Good adventurebook for younger readers.

13. Double Crossed: A Spies andd Thieves Story (Heist Society 2.5), Ally Carter, E, 3/5, Should really have read Gallagher Girls first.

14.  Wizards: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, Aubrey Sherman, E, 4/5, Very interesting, smiled everytime Harry Potter or BBC’s Merlin was mentioned.

15.  Vampires: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, Aubrey Sherman, E, 3/5, Not really a fan of Vampires but if you are you have to read this!

16. Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers 1), Rachel Aaron, E, 3/5, Amazing worldbuilding!

17. The Tomb, H.P.Lovecraft, D, 2/5, I don´t even remember it.

18.  All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella's Stepmother, Danielle Teller, E, 3/5, Great new perspective, unfortunately not enough magic.

19. Stars Above (Lunar CHronicles Short Stories), Marissa Meyer, E, 3/5, I would read anything in this universe no matter if it´s good or not.

20.  To Kill a Kingdom, Alexandra Christo, E, 4/5, Really good, always love a dark fairytale retelling.

21. Her Royal Spyness (Royal Spyness 1), Rhys Bowen, E, 3/5, Expected more, it´s a bit slow.

22.  Mein Reckless Märchenbuch (Mirrorworld Readalong), Cornelia Funke, D, 5/5, It`s Cornelia Funke of course it´s brilliant. Also, everyone needs a collections of fairytales at home, just for refference. I have gotten into many a discussion about the specifics of a classic story that we needed to look up.

23. Air Awakens (Air Awakens 1), Elise Kova, E, 5/5, Fantastic read, couldn´t put it down.

24. Renegades (Renegades 1), Marissa Meyer, D, 4/5, Marissa Meyer writing about Superheroes? More please!

25. Fire Falling (Air Awakens 2), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, see 23.

26.Tales from the Front (Air Awakens 2.5), Elise Kova, E, 3/5, Kind of unnecessary, didn´t really add anything.

27. Earth´s End (Air Awakens 3), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, See 23.

28. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars 1), Rob Thomas, E, 3/5, Was good when i read it but now after season 4 it just makes me sad.

29.  Mr. Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars 2), Rob Thomas, E, 3/5, see 28.

30. China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians 2), Kevin Kwan, E, 4/5, A LOT of Characters but otherwise really great.

31. Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians 3), Kevin Kwan, E, 3/5, see 30.

32. Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle 1), C.L.Polk, D, 5/5, Won it on lovelybooks (thanks again for that), amazing queer fantasy (often shelved as YA, it´s NOT, the protagonists are like 30 it´s not YA).

33. Water's Wrath (Air Awakens 4), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, see 23.

34. Crystal Crowned (Air Awakens 5), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, I read this and Water´s Wrath in one night, couldn´t put it down for the life of me.

35. Vicious (Villains 1), V.E.Schwab, E, 3/5, Do you know the kind of book that while you´re reading it is like meh but then you just can´t stop thinking about it?

36.  A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers 1), Brigid Kemmerer, E, 4/5, Great retelling, love the mix of modern and fairytale worlds.

37. Ninja: First Mission, Chris Bradford, E, 1/5, Just makes me want part 9 of Young Samurai even more.

38. DOORS: Der Beginn (Doors 1), Markus Heitz, D, 2/5, Love the idea but couldn´t really convince me.

39. Heartless, Marissa Meyer, E, 4/5, Really heartless, in the sense that it rips your heart right out of your chest and then crushes it, I think I cried... a lot.

40. Truthwitch (Witchlands 1), Susan Dennard, E, 4/5, Great start to a series, didn´t manage to read the sequels this year will try again in 2020.

41. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman, D, 3/5, A classic of the genere for a reason.

42. A rumor of Dragons (Dragonlance Chronicles 1), Margaret Weis, D, 1/5, Boring.

43. A Discovery of Witches (All Souls 1), Deborah Harkness, E, 4/5, The love story is a little rushed, still loved it though.

44. A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic 1), V.E.Schwab, E, 4/5, Why didn´t I read this years ago? I mean it´s been on my shelf? And it´s so good!

45. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games 2), Suzanne Collins, D, 5/5, Couldn´t stop even at 4am.

46. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games 3), Suzanne Collins, D, 4/5, I think I read this and 45 in one night (Yes I didn´t sleep).

47. Wicked Fox (Gumiho 1), Kat Cho, E, 3/5, Was in a Fairyloot box, underused setting therefore very interesting.

48. The Glass of Lead and Gold (Mirrorworld short story), Cornelia Funke, E, 3/5, Lovely but when are we finally getting book 4?

49. The MirrorWorld Anthology (Mirrorworld Readalong), Cornelia Funke, D, 4/5, Turns out we´re getting book 4 in 2020. FINALLY!!!!

50.  The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman, E, 2/5, Meh...

51. Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, Stephen Fry, E, 3/5, Informativ but I prefer the ones by Riordan.

52. Shadow of Night (All Souls 2), Deborah Harkness, E, 3/5, Love the timetravel but like the first one it felt a little rushed.

53. James Acaster´s Classic Scrapes, James Acaster, E, 2/5, I really like his stand up but didn´t really enjoy this book.

54.  The October Man (Rivers of London 7.5), Ben Aaronovitch, E, 3/5, It´s always funny to read foreigners writing about your culture, if you like the other rivers of London books you will like this one.

55. A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magyk 2), V.E.Schwab, E,4/5, As good as the first one but with Pirates!

56. Caraval (Caraval 1), Stephanie Garber, E, 3/5, It´s ok but I can´t really understand the hype.

57. Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars 1), Elizabeth Lim, E, 4/5, I love this one, the writing is so beautiful.

58. Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days 1), Susan Ee, E, 3/5, The Story is ok, but I absolutely love Penryn.

59. The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman, E, 4/5, Great story with amazing illustrations.

60. World After (Penryn and the End of Days 2), Susan Ee, E, 3/5, see 58.

61. End of Days (Penryn and the End of Days 3), Susan Ee, E, 3/5, see 58.

62. Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer 1), Laini Taylor, E, 4/5, Lovely Story with great Characters.

63. Pan´s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun, Cornelia Funke, D, 3/5, I read it while listening to the movie soundtrack, can reccomend.

64. Kill the Queen (Crown of Shards 1), Jennifer Estep, E, 4/5, How does she write this many books in so little Time? And how are they all so good?

65. The Return of the Warrior (Young Samurai 9), Chris Bradford, E, 4/5, Noooo its over, I could cry this series was one of my favourites as a kid.

66. Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik, E, 3/5, Good retelling that gets a little over-complicated sometimes.

67. Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer 2), Laini Taylor, E, 3/5, Wow this turned very dark very fast.

68. Skyward (Skyward 1), Brandon Sanderson, E, 5/5, Spensa and M-Bot are deffinetely some of my favourite characters ever.

69. The Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon, E, 5/5, Very long but deffinetely worth it.

70.  The Test, Sylvain Neuvel, E, 2/5, Very relevant but not really my style.

71. Archenemies (Renegades 2), Marissa Meyer, D, 5/5, Love it.

72. Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy 1), Leigh Bardugo, E, 4/5, God I just love the Setting.

73. Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy 2), Leigh Bardugo, E, 4/5,  I know it´s not a very popular opinion but Mal is my favourite.

74.Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and bone Trilogy 3), Leigh Bardugo, E, 3/5, Bit disapointing as an ending but a rollercoaster in terms of feelings.

75. The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn 1), Reneè Ahdieh, E, 5/5, I think this is the 3rd time I read this it´s so good.

76. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Hogwarts Library 1), Newt Scamander, E, 3/5

77. Quidditch Through the Ages (Hogwarts Library 2), Kennilworthy Whisp, E, 5/5, I love this one it´s so funny.

78. The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Hogwarts Library 3), J.K.Rowling, E, 3/5

79. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Pottermore Presents 1), J.K.Rowling, E, 4/5, It´s about McGonagall and Lupin of course it´s good.

80. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (Pottermore Presents 2), J.K.Rowling, E, 2/5

81. Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (Pottermore Presents 3), J.K.Rowling, E, 3/5

82. Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts, J.K.Rowling, E, 2/5

83. The Traitor´s Kiss (The Traitor´s Circle 1), Erin Beaty, D, 2/5, A friend of mine realls loves this but I thought it was quite boring but I think that was just the translation that didn´t sit right with me it was kind of weird.

84. Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, Skye Alexander, E, 2/5, Not as good as Vampires or Wizzards.

85. The Rose and the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn 2), Reneè Ahdieh, E, 3/5, Disapointing after the brilliant first one.

86. All Fall Down (Embassy Row 1), Ally Carter, E, 3/5, Didn´t really like it.

87. The Book of Life (All Souls 3), Deborah Harkness, E, 3/5, Good Ending, again very rushed.

88. Supernova (Renegades 3), Marissa Meyer, E, 4/5, God I love Simon and Hugh so much Spoilers!: I didn´t like that Ace turned out to be evil after all, I thought we would get a story with respectable leaders on both sides  which is really rare. Really loved the ending when we learned more about Magpie (i really hope there will be a Sequel or Spin Off).

89. Starsight (Skyward 2), Brandon Sanderson, E, 5/5, It was amazing but I missed the  original Crew.

90.  A River of Royal Blood ( A River of Royal Blood 1), Amanda Joy, E, 3/5, So many unanswered questions left!!

91. + 92.  The Grift of the Magi (Heist Society 3.5), Ally Carter, E, 4/5, Read it twice this year once in spring and the again before Christmas.

93. Red, White & Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston, E, 5/5, Maybe the best one this year, reads like really good FanFiction, it´s sooooooo good why aren´t you reading it right now?

94. Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society 2), Ally Carter, E, 5/5, Always fantastic

95. + 96. Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society 3), Ally Carter, E, 5/5, So good I read it twice in a row.

97. Doctor Who: The Legends of River Song, Multiple Authors, E, 3/5,

98. Winter´s zerbrechlicher Fluch, Julia Adrian, D, 3/5, Only read if you really know your german fairytales it´s really confusing even if you know a lot about them.

99. Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle 1), Amie Kaufman, E, 4/5, “They are not the heroes we wanted. They are just the ones we could find.”

100. Palace of Glass (Reckless Readalong), Cornelia Funke, D, 4/5, Can´t wait for Book 4!! Untill then i love everything that even mentions Jacob and Celeste.

Did you read any of these this year? Or any other year? Do you want to? What were your favourites of this year?

I hope you all had a fantastic 2019 and will have an even better 2020!

[paleorecipecookbook]

Weekly Workouts

Hey lovely!! Apologies to anyone out there that came to the blog this morning ready for a new post and had nothing to look at. My husband and I have been traveling in California and I took a little break from my computer to really relish in everything Santa Barbara has to offer and enjoy some time away together. It was been so nice, it’s been eye-opening and I feel like a lot of growth has occurred in our relationship in these few days. It’s so important to get time away and reflect.

I feel like self-care is the new word of the year. Well, two words of the year. People are all about self-care because duh, it’s important. We workout, we get massages, we take baths, we vacation, we meditate, etc. So today I’m going to switch it up a bit and remind you to “self-care” your relationship. I get it, that may not sound like it really goes together, but it does!! I don’t even have children and I still have to check myself sometimes and remind myself that relationships take work. They take care and heart and trust and about a million other things. And it can be hard to get for yourself when things are in line in your relationship. This may all sound dramatic but it only takes a few small things to throw a friendship or relationship off, and in turn, throw your own self-care plan off.

So today, reflect. Reflect on what is important in your life and how to make sure those important things are nurtured and cared for. That way, you’ll be able to live your best life, day after day. And once those things are in order, everything else will fall into place. Including your own self-care regimen. I hope all this makes sense. I’m feeling all the feels after this weekend. Now let’s go crush some tough workouts this week!!

Sunday – Boxing Class at Fly Kickbox through Class Pass

Monday – Workout by Myself – see workout here

4 rounds of:

8/8 Single arm kb swing to Lunge @ 15#

10 Banded jumping squats

8/8 Staggered RDL @65#

10 Banded jump to duck walk

8 Kang squats @ 50#

4 rounds of:

10/10 Single leg extensions @ 10#

10/10 back and fourth side bounds

10/10 Single leg DB hamstrung curls

20 Banded kb Swings @ 35#

20 Total Adductor slides @ 10# plate

Then glute finisher – 1 round of: (see movements here)

20/20 Single leg glute Bridges

20 DB hip thrusts

20/20 Single leg hip thrusts

20 Band abductors

20 Table top glute raise

20 rounded back extensions

Tuesday – Workout by Myself – see workout here

3 rounds of:

10/10 Bottoms Up Presses @ 15#

20 Kettlebell Pull Through Planks @ 25#

14 Renegade T Planks @ 7.5#

3 rounds of:

10/10 Kettlebell Pull Throughs @ 15#

20 Cross Dumbbell Front Raise @ 10#

30 Reverse Planks with Knee Ups

3 rounds of:

10/10 Kettlebell Snatch @ 25#

20 Forward Kick Sits

10/10 Landmine Bent Over Row @ +15#

Then ab finisher – 1 round of: (see movements here)

20 Slider Knee Tucks

10/10 Slider Single Leg Mountain Climbers

20 Slider Pikes

20 Total Alternating Slider Spider-Man Planks

20 Slider Plank Jacks

Wednesday – Workout by Myself – see workout here

12 minutes – 30 sec on 30 sec rest

Switch Feet to Jump Lunge (switch feet at the 15 sec mark)

Quick Feet to Burpee

4 Oblique Crunches into Side Lateral Jump

Mountain Climber Taps

2 minute rest

12 minutes – 30 sec on 30 sec rest

180 Rotational Squats

Swift Feet with Oblique Twist

Double Unders

Plank Jack Shoulder Taps

Thursday – Rest Day

Friday – Rest Day/Travel Day

Saturday – Workout with my husband in Los Alamos, CA

1 mile run

15/15 Side Lunge with Oblique Twist

15/15 Side Plank Toe Taps

50 Mountain Climber Taps

1 mile run

15/15 Side Lunge with Oblique Twist

15/15 Side Plank Toe Taps

50 Mountain Climber Taps

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Lolë Tank Top (40% off)

Crop Leggings (40% off)

Nike Tank Top (40% off)

Carbon38 Sports Bra (30% off)

Nike Pegasus Sneakers (15% off)

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[cjostrander]

Papa Roach: Who Do You Trust?

Hi everyone! It’s been a few weeks since my last review and it will likely also be my last review for the year as well. Because of that i had gotten my hands on the latest albums by Papa Roach and The Smashing Pumpkins and was rather happy with both albums. I really do suggest checking out Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1. It is a very nice surprise for the mostly reunited classic lineup and showcases a surprising sense of harmony between the bandmates. It was meant as a combo of eps at the time of recording but fits together rather nice and trims a lot of the excess fat in the last two albums. Because Papa Roach’s newest album isn’t out till mid January and leaked real early I want to get this one out so that they can get a little extra publicity. As is typical with them; it is a bit over a half hour long and should be a straightforward release in terms of bloatedness. It features more focus towards a late night type club sound without necessarily being pop. It features a fair amount of rock and from my first few listens works well due to its simplicity and relaxing mood that is perfect for days when you want to take it easy without going to sleep. It also has four singles out already so they seem to be getting some extra label push this time. Let’s see how it goes!

The Ending: We start this album off with a track that is labelled to better be a finale piece but when the lyrics rise it delivers a more rising from the ashes feeling. The instrumentals begin with an interestingly soothing synth start before they establish a rather firm sense of tension. The guitars arrive to give them some rather tasteful riffs before drum loops signal for Jacoby to enter with very compelling rap verses. Lyrically it moves quick but provides a fair amount of substance for the listener to follow along to. The guitars keep a relaxed flow that supports the vocals perfectly and keeps the song moving with a very calculated energy. I could see it being an easy track to dance to and play live and works rather well as the opening piece due to its firm tension build for the listener to latch onto. 9/10

Renegade Music (Single): This first of four following singles arrives with spaced out but aggressive guitars that bring a sense of fire to the atmosphere and the drums keep a steady beat for Jacoby’s vocals to echo along to. He is a good focal point due to how smoothly the instrumentals format themselves around him. The chorus is full of rage and fire that could bring back fond melodies of their infest days without trying to reach for it. The subtle rap essence in Jacoby’s delivery helps to stretch things out fairly well so that the listener can remain engaged throughout the song.As a live piece; it has the energy to be pulled off easy so as long as the audience isn’t overly harsh then it should be a success. Realistically though if you were enjoying their last three albums then this is only a natural companion piece verses their straight forward rock era albums. 8/10

Not the Only One (Single): This song starts with a nice island style guitar melody and the drums create a very nice groove to dance to that is perfect for a late night drive. Jacoby thrives on this instrumentals support and really makes for a cheery and relaxing song to drive to at nice. The guitars arrive to deliver a rather fresh guitar style to join with manipulated vocal samples. It creates a rather nice texture to change up the album and is one of personal favorites on the album that was a nice surprise when first hearing. It also did the crucial job of fully getting me into this album’s style.The jam instrumentals in the latter half are another highlight to focus on as well. 8.5/10

Who Do You Trust? (Single): This title track begins with a simple guitar rhythm before they pick up the volume a bit for Jacoby to warm his vocals up to. He does a decent job of keeping a nicely atmospheric texture during segments where he is alone. The chorus is a bit repetitive and does open itself to some criticism but could pretty easy at getting a live audience engaged if done right. This one definitely showcases some of the experimental elements that they played with on Crooked Teeth. Other than that i can’t knock this because it is another good piece to get up and move to due to the surprising strength/simplicity of the instrumentals. Also a good driving tune as well! 8.5/10

Elevate (Single): This final single begins with backing gang vocals to set up a sense of ambition before Jacoby arrives to deliver some firm rap verses that remind me of Ronnie Radke’s own style. Instrumentally it stays very simple and gives Jacoby a lot of space this time around before the chorus. The chorus is very basic but shifts focus to the guitars that constantly chime in and out with rather solid riffs that continue to stand out surprisingly despite their simplicity. I remember criticizing the guitars in the past for mainly being along for the ride but they definitely have shown growth over the years and this album is a prime example of how their cohesion has grown together. 8/10

Come Around: This track concludes the first half of the album and begins with very soft and melodic guitar riffs. It has a little more of a airy pop atmosphere but Jacoby’s softer melodic style helps to keep things focused firmly on the uplifting nature of his lyrics. It is definitely going to be a track that will give them a very firm access to a more pop centric audience. It might of been a wise choice to pick it as another single just so that they could try and stick it on a pop station and see if it clicks. For me it’s one of my less favorite tracks but only because i’m a rock/metal guy at heart. However; i have to give it credit for succeeding at its intended sound and trying to appeal to a wider base as a result. 7/10

Feel Like Home:  Drums start off with a nicely energetic rhythm and the guitars infuse a cheery melody that Jacoby arrives with an easygoing vocal tone that is reflective in nature. It’s lyrics are decent to follow along to and the substance in them will be simply straightforward but very full in meaning. The instrumentals keep things feeling rather basic but effective in presence. For people in a rough point of their life this album as with any Papa Roach album will lyrically be a good choice for a therapy session. Though this album definitely going to match that positive tone instrumentally as well so this will be especially suited for your more vulnerable days. 7.5/10

Problems: Interesting synths start off with a very soothing foundation and Jacoby arrives to deliver very soft spoken rap style verses. The lyrics are a very strong focal point in this song and the chorus is pulled off rather refreshingly. It is very basic but its lyrics can hit home emotionally with the listener on a state of being relatable with ease. The instrumentals do rather well with keeping the atmosphere relaxed and soothing but firmly supporting the vocals as well. This will succeed in keeping empty moments from popping out to the listener and may make this a favorite among listeners. I could see this as a finale piece or a concert closer as well due to its intimate nature with the listener. 8.5/10

Top of the World: This song has a more pump up nature lyrically but experiments very heavily with synths and backing harmonies. It works decently with Jacoby’s soft rap delivery and flirts with their pop side without attempting to alienate their rock fanbase. I’m not even going to bother comparing it their Infest days because the fact that they have brought rap vocals back is all you are going to get since they aren’t metal anymore. The guitars make a decent towards the end and should give some needed energy to keep the listener from getting much at risk of sleeping. 7.5/10

I Suffer Well: Now this song is a real quick minute and a half piece that seeks to rev the listener back up with some of the most aggressive material on the album; similar to the title track on their last album Crooked Teeth. It has a bit of a punk vibe that reminds me heavily of Linkin Park’s sound on their album The Hunting Party. It probably could of gone longer but does very well at jolting the listener back into a state of life. 8.5/10

Maniac: Guitars arrive with a nice show of force than is balance by very melodic loops before Jacoby arrives with a more wounded vocal tone. It evokes a sense of emotional despair that showcases ample substance in the vocals.The chorus is an easy moving piece that uses simple lyrics to get the point across without boring the listener too much. The instrumentals do a fair job of keeping things going but other than that its a hit or miss. 7.5/10

Better than Life: This finale track starts off with nicely electronic infused guitar riffs and Jacoby arrives with his poppy vocal style that places high focus on his lyrics. It keeps a very simple atmosphere going on for the listener to ease in to before the chorus arrives. Jacoby and the instrumentals showcase a firm use of power and high notes that will present a sense of ambition to the listener. Overall it’s a fairly decent way to end the album due to it showcasing the new elements on this album and leaving the listener with an energetic sense of farewell. 8/10

Overall album rating: 8.0/10

Well this album scored appropriately for what it was. I definitely recommend checking it out because it showcases continued growth for the band and further experiments with the band’s pop side. For the next album i’m hoping they infuse a little more aggression into it similar to crooked teeth but this album plays a crucial role in adding new sound elements into the band’s backlog. Hope you guys enjoy this review and take time to check the album out. I’ll catch you guys later so enjoy your day everyone!

*Reviewer’s Pick*

[overthinkingkdrama]

Jona Spoils Chicago Typewriter

[The following review liberally spoils the ending a plot details of Chicago Typewriter. I recommend watching the drama before reading.]

Yet another drama that I took my sweet time finishing after it had officially stopped airing, and yet unlike with MoonClouds or Goblin,  I really felt like CT was worth my time. At the very least, an interesting break from the norm, and one that deserves a bit of a closer look.

Chicago Typewriter is a supernatural reincarnation romance that spans over two timelines. The majority of the drama focuses on Han Se Ju, a novelist in modern-day Seoul, his devoted literary fangirl, Jeon Seol, and a quite literal ghost-writer, Yoo Jin Oh, who has been haunting the titular typewriter for the past 80 years. In their former lives the three were passionate freedom fighters in occupation-era Korea. The hypersensitive, hopelessly self-involved Se Ju as gotten himself a wicked case of writer’s block right at the beginning of a hugely lucrative project. Yoo Jin Oh offers to assist him in finishing his book through supernatural means, but that will mean compromising his principles and passing off someone else’s work as his own. It will also mean drawing closer to Jeon Seol, as the three are pulled further into the web of memories from their past lives, toward a shared fate.

When we were still in the early buzz phase, the first thing I noticed about this drama was the casting, which is fantastic. Im Soo Jung is an actress I’ve only seen twice. Once in the movie Time Renegades and once in the perennially relevant I’m Sorry, I Love You. The idea of a Kim Go Eun-esque advent on television after a career that’s focused largely on movies I’ve historically had a hard time watching through legal means was exciting to me. Add to the fact she would be playing opposite the exquisite Yoo Ah In and rising star Go Kyung Pyo who very recently upgraded in my estimation cute to smoking hot, and I was totally there for this. Plus, the story boasted a novelist entangled in supernatural events and occupation era period elements. All of which is very, very much my speed.

Then I found out who the writer was and had to backpedal a little bit.

CT comes to us from the same writer as Kill Me, Heal Me a melodrama with a psycho-fantasy premise which I wasn’t precisely thrilled with. I don’t think KMHM represents everything wrong with this world or anything like that, but it’s one of those vastly popular dramas within fandom that I had a lot of issues with. From a story and pacing perspective I found it to be quite messy. Adding pacing issues and a writer with an inability to edit her ideas to the all too prevalent tvN bloat is a recipe for disaster. *cough* Goblin *cough*.

While CT does fall into some of the same pitfalls as KMHM, I think the material plays more to the writer’s strengths. Jin Soo Wan is better suited to out and out fantasy with a dash of period romance than psychological dramas. Her flair for the melodramatic felt somehow more appropriate paired with the fantasy premise of CT, and thus while far from perfect it felt more refreshing and frequently less forced than her previous drama.

So now to get down to the nitty-gritty, starting discussing the details of the drama…

The biggest strength that this show has, I believe, is its casting. A good performance and a charismatic lead can cover a multitude of sins, and nowhere is that more apparent than with our leading man, Han Se Ju. Se Ju as a character is at times so insufferable that I think in the hands of anyone less capable than Yoo Ah In, I would have been forced to hate him. But YAI’s intensity, grin, almost whispering line delivery punctuated by frequent freak outs, made the character more appealing and sympathetic than he otherwise would have been. There’s just something about that boy.

Go Kyung Pyo does smoldering and mysterious very well, as he demonstrated in Jealousy Incarnate, and he’s pulling out a somewhat similar performance here, but to his credit it works very well for his character. Im Soo Jung switches between bright and bubbly to soulful very well, though I can’t help but wish that she had been given a little bit more substantive to do as Jeon Seol. Other than acting as a walking a plot device, occasionally disseminating key information regarding her past life, and being thrust into unlikely situations with Se Ju, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of reason for her to be involved in the plot.

This criticism does not extend to her 1930s persona. Ryu Soo Hyun is so much more interesting to me than her modern day counterpart that it’s really a shame that the format of the show didn’t allow us to explore her character a little more thoroughly. What we get of her is so intriguing. Her loyalty, her ruthlessness, and her commitment to the cause rivaled that of either of her boys. The drama spent so much time building up the mystery of who Jeon Seol had killed in her past life that I was worried they wouldn’t be able to make the scene as impactful as it needed to be. Boy, was I wrong.  And then her cold-blood rampage at the end of the drama absolutely caught me off guard and gave us a far darker and more poignant ending than I had ever imagined.

And that’s basically where we start running into problems with this drama. The 1930s segments of this show are so much stronger on the whole than the modern day stuff that it really makes you wish the entire drama had been a period piece. Or at the very least there had been a little better balance between the two. The lion’s share of the last two hours of this drama take place in the past, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they are two strongest episodes of the show. With the exception of Yoo Jin, all of the characters in the present were weak and unsubstantial compared to their 1930s counterparts. Han Se Ju isn’t a terrible character in my estimation, but he becomes so much diminished when you hold him up to his Scarlet Pimpernel-esque resistance leader, Seo Hwi Young.

^^YAI somehow managed to upstage himself in his own drama.^^

And it was clear also that the writer didn’t know what she wanted Jeon Seol to be, other than love interest. She couldn’t even settle on one occupation for her (Olympic marksman, delivery girl, veterinarian, editor). The modern day stuff lacked focus and direction.

Another issue is the fact that there are once again too many characters in the drama and not all of them have a clear function in the story. Why is the Italian chef even in this drama? Why did we spend so much time with shaman and her daughter when they have so little impact on the story? Did the writer not think we had enough comedic elements in this drama?

^^This drama?^^

As for the modern thriller aspects: Why did we both with the copy cat killer/revenge crazed stalker character arcs? Was Tae Min and his dangerously sociopathic behavior not enough? There was a perfectly viable subplot about a sibling rivalry between two writers–the legitimate heir unhinged by jealousy vs. the gifted son of his fathers mistress who will always outshine him–that could have offered more than enough suspense and interest if it had been developed better. Not only that, but Tae Min’s character has a connection to the 1930s setting that those other character I’ve mentioned don’t. That plagiarism plot and family drama should have been the main source of conflict in the modern day, but it often got lost in the shuffle of stray subplots. It’s this everything-and-the-kitchen-sink style of writing that I had problems with in KMHM.

That being said, there’s still a lot here to appreciate here, and I’m not ready to throw out the baby with the bath water. At it’s heart, this drama is about the bond between our main triad, and their love and sacrifice for each other is what holds the story together. 

I remember when my mother was watching this, she was far more diligent about watching week to week and finished it before me. When we discussed it afterward she said that she found the ending somewhat confusing in that, “It was hard to tell who was in love with whom.” And I told her that was because the three leads were all in love with each other.

There are several points at which lip service was paid to a traditional love triangle, but it came across as equivalent of pasting a hasty no-homo over a poly relationship. “This is totally binary, guys, we swear!” I didn’t buy the binary relationships they were peddling, and I don’t think the writer’s heart was in it either. It was everywhere evident in the writing that the only happy ending for these characters was one where all three of them were happy in one place, with no patriotic duty to sacrifice for and nothing forcing them apart.Together as friends and–yes, I do believe–as lovers. A true 0T3.

Their tragic fate in the 1930s and the bitter sweet one in modern day was really sold me on the show. And the way that the leads played it with such warmth and sincerity absolutely struck me to the heart. When they were hurt and broken, I cried with them. And that’s what I think makes this evidently imperfect drama something truly special. There are some really good ideas here and if there had been a little more focus and some paring down of ideas, CT would have made an even bigger splash in the fandom.

I give Chicago Typewriter a strong 7.5/10 along with my recommendation to give it a try. It’s flawed, certainly, but it breaks away from the typical and ending sings. It’s really ambitious, and that alone made it worthy of my attention.

Jona

[thehallofgame]

Review: Mass Effect

Release: 2007

My Rating: 7.5

              After reading the initial reviews of Mass Effect Andromeda I was disappointed by what I heard and resolved not to buy Andromeda until after a price drop or several. To replace the loss of a expected new Bioware game I decided to do a run of the original trilogy during my stay overseas and revisit some choices I hadn’t made before. It turns out playing Renegade is just as excruciating as I’d imagined it would be.

Review under the cut,

              Mass Effect was basically built to appeal to players like me. I’ve always dreamed of setting sail to the stars and not coming back, and at the same time I wanted to be Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. This game is happy to let you do both. Bioware’s first truly original property may not have aged well or gracefully, but it did lay the groundwork for a golden age at Bioware and spawned a much beloved series and characters people will adore long after the games fade into software incompatibility and obscurity.

              Unfortunately it seems that slow and inevitable slide has already started. After my computer updated itself to windows 10 without asking I’ve had to add this game to the list of games that Microsoft’s newest OS has wounded. For me this has mostly manifested as lag, audio glitches and the game occasionally forgetting to supply audio to my headphones. These problems are in addition to Mass Effect’s inherently buggy nature. Crashes, glitches and corrupted data caches are common occurrences. None of them break the game but can be serious annoyances when the player gets stuck in a piece of scenery or trying to load a map causes the game to simply shut down. No matter what version of the game you’re sitting down to it’s my strong suggestion that the player update their console versions and immediately scan PC copies for repairs. Odds are good whatever version you have has some bug or another it’ll be less stressful to eliminate before starting. (I happen to have the Amazon download version, which is pretty well known for having an entire star system that won’t load until the game is scanned and those files repaired).

              Mass Effect attempts a difficult thing: being a shooter/action-rpg. Those three genres don’t always mix well and Bioware did a decidedly ehhhh job with Mass Effect. Combat is structured around fairly standard cover based shooter fare, with characters ducking in and out of hiding to take potshots at one another. The PC version does an acceptable job of this but I personally prefer the console edition when it comes to combat. The player character, Commander Shepard, and two additional characters form a three-person squad. Each character has access to four weapon types: pistols, assault riffles, shotguns and sniper riffles. The main character can also fling grenades. There is something of a class system that effects combat and what abilities and weapon specializations the player has access to. The class system is basically built on a triangle. One point would be the basic soldier who can learn every weapon and equip all three (light, medium and heavy) armor types. The second extreme is composed of tech specialists who are focused on out of combat skills like hacking terminals or repairing electronics, though they also access strong combat abilities that allow them to sabotage mechanical enemies, weapons and armor. Finally the third point of the triangle are biotics, which fill the role of mages in this game. They are telekinetics who can augment their defenses with force fields or use their abilities to harm or crowd control enemies. Most of the games’ classes are a combination of each of these specializations and with each comes some unique combination of weapon specializations.

              Unfortunately the implementation is somewhat sloppy. All characters have access to all weapons at all times, even if they aren’t trained in them. The game’s AI both keeps the party tethered closely to the player character and changes their weapons to match range of enemies rather than what individual characters are trained in. This means that without micromanaging weapons team members can be extremely ineffectual, especially if the player prefers to play a close-quarters fighter or a sniper. Additionally, while the game can be paused and some commands issued, the commands aren’t very useful. Notably there’s no option to tell squad mates to take cover, which sometimes leads to them standing in doorways and getting mowed down. Additionally, if the player sees an obvious ambush and wants to order the squad to wait in cover while they go ahead to spring the ambush, they are also out of luck because the squad will follow the player anyway. In the end other than being able to point specific ally abilities at certain enemies the party commands are largely useless.

              This is exacerbated if the player chooses to auto-level up their party, or their party and Commander Shepard. This was probably an attempt to reduce the roleplaying game elements for those who want to focus on the action elements. However, the auto-levels tend toward balanced character growth, which will hamstring the party because it’s almost necessary to develop the squad to complement the player character’s skills and lacks because Commander Shepard will ALWAYS be in the party. If the player isn’t playing a Shepard with hacking skills and uses the auto-level the squad may not have high enough levels in hacking in late game to open computers and supply caches, likewise they may not sink enough points into healing or armor to keep up with a player who likes to wade into enemies.

              Speaking of armor, the game is filled to the gills with lootable armor, weapons and upgrades. There is little to no balance to these drops though, so the party’s small inventory will repeatedly be filled with gluts of useless and repetitive gear. Despite that it can be hair pullingly frustrating to find armor for some alien crew-members, who despite hundreds of collected sets of armor, are not provided with adequate options.

Exploration is another focus of Mass Effect. After the early stages of the game the player is given a ship and loosed upon the galaxy to travel where they will and advance the plot, which is thankfully clearly marked on the map, when they feel like it. There are dozens of individual star systems to travel to, though they all follow the same format. Several planets, and often asteroid belts, conceal collectibles and resources that can be identified by clicking on them. It’s repetitive and exploring every system is a slog only occasionally broken up with a really intriguing planet description or a quest giver beaming a message to the ship that always boils down to going somewhere and shooting a swathe of enemies there. It seems in every system there’s a ship, station or planet that can be landed on. The ships and stations are all repetitions of the same areas, as are most buildings of the game. Planets are almost all non-vegatated, ridiculously mountainous sandboxes with a few areas to explore and resources to trip over and recover by completing the frogger-style mini-game that also serves for hacking in the game. The planets sometimes have a barren, haunting beauty to them but by and large are merely repetitive and frustrating to traverse. The all-terrain vehicle, the Mako, the party uses to drive around planets handily climbs near vertical cliffs, but also enjoys gymnastics routines, flying off into space and getting stuck in crevasses. Whether you love or hate the driving and vehicle combat segments in this game a lot of frustration could have been avoided by lowering the mountains and finding another way to artificially extend the small maps.

              Mass Effect’s real selling point, and third gameplay hook, is its’ story which is mostly told through dialogue. The player clicks their way through conversations with NPCs and crew mates on their quest to prevent a genocidal super spy’s rise to power, earning exposition and making decisions. Most of the big decisions are split between three themed choices. The themes are Paragon, Renegade or neutral. Paragon dialogue/choices are generally level-headed and concerned with doing the morally correct thing regardless of the consequences. Renegade options tend to be more emotional, impulsive and embody the phrase ‘the ends justify the means’. Neutral, while technically a choice, isn’t a viable game strategy. Paragon and Renegade scores are used to bolster one of the two social skills, charm and intimidate respectively, and without moderate to high scores in one or the other persuasion attempts will become increasingly less effective in late game. Playing Paragon is a great time and basically feels like embodying a slightly grungier Captain America. Renegade is more poorly balanced. Where there’s a lot of flexibility to play a paragon with a dash of edginess or sarcasm most Renegade options force the player to be somewhere between unbelievably cruel and a war criminal. Trying to tone that down often results in no Renegade point gain or a net gain of Paragon points. And ultimately, point gain is the end goal of either play style. The largest choices in the game are permanent story decisions which can be imported into sequels to tweak the world state to the player’s choices, but by and large most dialogue choices do nothing to change the outcome of conversations.

              The game features several crew members the player can get to know over the course of the game. After recruiting all of them each character can be approached on the ship and spoken to. They all have pretty small dialogue pools, and typically one or two new lines of inquiry open up after every story mission. Some characters are much better written than others. One alien mercenary reveals a past full of adventure and conflicted feelings about his cultural heritage, but another crew member only speaks about her species’ history and family without really imparting much about who she is. This can be exacerbated depending on whether the player initiates a romantic relationship with one of three crew members. All three follow the same basic structure with a lot of variance in quality of the writing of each romance. Depending on dialogue choices and character chosen the romances often feel stilted, or like they’re progressing jerkily and unnaturally. Even if the player decides to skip the kissing portion of the story the game will still catch the player in a love triangle no matter what. The whole situation is frustrating and a pain because the player has to shoot down at least one character they have made absolutely no romantic advances toward.

              Meanwhile, while individual conversations don’t seem to do much to crew perception of Commander Shepard, the backgrounds chosen in character customization do. While building their character players will be able to construct an origin story for their Commander which changes how NPCs react to them and leads to one of three personal quests for Shepard. That was a nice touch, and all the background related quests felt emotional and meaningful. Luckily this helped a lot to save character individuality because the physical aspects of commander Shepard are harder to customize than they might seem. The player gets to customize Shepard’s face, skin and hair color but the options are limited and slanted very white and European. Skin tones only extend to medium-dark tones and there were comparatively few options to build Shepard as a person of color. No matter how his features are set they’ll be blurry and doughy anyway, though.

Even at maximum graphics settings the decade old game hasn’t aged well. Characters are blurry and their faces look poorly defined. Textures and assets are repeated constantly, and even with the optional film grain filter over the game it can be a little hard to look at. That’s in sharp contrast to some of the big story mission maps, which felt more lovingly developed and had a unique visual style to each. Some of the later game maps are downright haunting and some of my favorites of all time.

In the end Mass Effect becomes something much greater than the sum of its’ parts. It’s a space opera married to a war epic and even the limited sense of player agency impart something magical on the game. The glitches and repetitiveness can make it a hard slog sometimes but it’s worth enduring at least once for the glittering moments that built the foundation of the Mass Effect series and would later be refined into Bioware’s signature genre.

Thoughts on Bring Down the Sky DLC:

              I’m glad I got this free because I didn’t think there was too much to recommend this DLC. Bring Down the Sky includes a new nebula and star system to visit with one of the largest human colonies ensconced in the center. Unfortunately this isn’t an opportunity for some shopping and side questing. Instead alien Batarian terrorists have hijacked an asteroid from a mining project and plan to crash it into the planet, killing millions unless the crew of the Normandy arrives conveniently in the nick of time (The DLC can be played at any time after the introduction though so that falls a bit flat). Bring Down the Sky is the only opportunity to encounter Batarians in the first game, but otherwise it’s just a cool conceit and another excuse for Shepard to be a big hero, earn experience and a pile of renegade/paragon points. It’s very nice if the player feels they’re a little short of either at the end of the game but it doesn’t add much to the story. The DLC implies the final boss of the level will return in later games as an adversary if they survive but when they do it is only in a brief cameo. It was fun to play, and the name is particularly cool, but ultimately felt like just another average mission in the dozens in the base game.

[isearchgoood]

March 22, 2020 at 10:00PM - The ‘Choice of Games’ Interactive Story Bundle (30% discount) Ashraf

The ‘Choice of Games’ Interactive Story Bundle (30% discount) Hurry Offer Only Last For HoursSometime. Don't ever forget to share this post on Your Social media to be the first to tell your firends. This is not a fake stuff its real.

Choice of Robots is an interactive sci-fi novel by Kevin Gold, where your choices control the story. Text-based and powered by your imagination, this interactive story has you experience the life of a brilliant robot maker, stretching from graduate school to a future shaped by your robotic creations. Play again and again with four alternate climax chapters and over seventy achievements to unlock.

Play your way through an epic 300,000-word interactive story

Create a unique robot character

Choose to instigate or prevent a robot uprising

Shape your robots’ view of humanity

Choose to marry a human or robot & start a family

Play through four alternate climax chapters

Written by Joel Havenstone, Choice of Rebels: Uprising is an interactive fantasy novel in which your decisions guide the story. Text-based and without graphics or sound, this interactive story is powered by your vast imagination. Take on the role of an outlaw leader as you rebel against an oppressive empire and fight to survive your first brutal winter. Guide the direction of your rebellion and save your homeland from oppression!

Guide the story of a 637,000-word interactive fantasy novel

Fight against the oppressive Hegemony as a renegade aristocrat or defiant slave

Choose to lead your group as a self-taught mage, general, or mystic priest

Find romance amongst your fellow rebels as you progress through the story

Avoid betrayals as you root out spies & stop a mutiny

Prove that you’re a true hero in Heroes Rise: The Prodigy! This interactive story takes place in Millennia City, where powered heroes are celebrities. Aspiring to join their ranks, you’ll have to show them you have what it takes by fighting powered gangs, teaming up with champions, and more as your decisions impact the story. Text-based and without graphics and sound effects, Heroes Rise: The Prodigy is fueled entirely by your imagination as you choose your adventure.

Make decisions that guide 100,000 words of interactive fiction

Become a legendary hero in Millenia City

Fight against powered gangs, compete with rivals & more as you progress through the story

Play through again & again to experience multiple endings

Reviews

TouchArcade: ★★★★★

Romance, mystery, and demonic litigation run rampant in Choice of the Deathless, a text-based interactive story by Campbell Award-nominated author Max Gladstone. Set in a rich fantasy realm, Choice of the Deathless has you working at the elite demonic law firm of Varkath Nebuchadnezzar Stone, where you’ll build your career, find love, and uncover a world of scheming magicians and devious monsters.

Immerse yourself in a rich fantasy realm filled with intriguing characters

Choose to build your undead legal career or party all night w/ your skeletal friends

Look for love & find romance in a unique world

Reviews

TechRaptor: 7.5/10

Unleash your inner swashbuckler in Choice of the Pirate, an interactive novel by Alana Joli Abbott. Set in the tropical paradise of the Lucayan Sea, this text-based adventure has you progress through 5 years of piracy as you go from deck-swabbing sailor to seasoned fleet commander. Your decisions shape the story as you decide to work for the Crown Navy as a privateer, team up with the Pirate King to defend the sea, or take him on to claim his power for yourself!

Choose your own adventure across 165,000 words of interactive fiction

Quest for buried treasure & duel pirates across a chain of tropical islands

Take on pirate curses, haunted ships, terrifying monsters & more challenges

Work for the Crown Navy or side with the Pirate King

Reviews

TouchArcade: “…fans of fantasy pirate stories and those who enjoy lighthearted adventures will likely get their kicks out of this story. Its zippy pace, variety of scenarios, and multiple endings make it worth playing multiple times, and the light tone and overall solid writing quality ensure that it’s a pleasure to do so.”

Enrich your Heroes Rise: The Prodigy experience and live up to your full heroic potential with this complete guide. Filled with detailed instructions for achieving the maximum legend score, this guide is your ticket to getting the complete Heroes Rise experience as you make your way through the interactive story.

Follow along detailed instructions

Get the maximum legend score in Heroes Rise: The Prodigy

Enrich your Heroes Rise experience

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[itsworn]

A 2000hp steel-body 1967 Mustang Fastback Built for Grudge Racing

Southern eighth-mile grudge-match staging lanes are often filled with LX Mustangs, G-bodies, second–generation Novas, and fourth–generation Camaros. They’re inexpensive and feature tons of room for performance upgrades. Buried in those lanes, you may discover this gem: an original 1967 Mustang Fastback. It’s a steel-bodied car with immaculate paint and stellar craftsmanship designed to turn heads and blow the tires off the competition—and it doesn’t have a LS under the hood.

Powered by a 600ci big-block Ford, it made 1,800 hp at 7,900 rpm to the 275 tires, on what the owner calls the mild tune. It only took nine months to complete and has a best eighth-mile pass of 4.70 e.t. at 150 mph. Owned by Chris Cantrell of Anderson, South Carolina, it��s currently maintained by Stallion Autosports in Greenville, South Carolina.

The car was completed in January 2018 after only nine months under the knife. While it’s street-legal, the car has mostly seen eighth-mile tracks, with a best e.t. of 4.70 at 150 mph.

To build a street-driven 1,800hp Mustang, you don’t need just money, you need a team. It’s important to have friends who share your dream and passion. For the large group of friends that make up All Business Racing, they had enough of the formula to make it happen.

It all began—as any good project does—with the group of friends bench-racing. Member Jeremy Pearson purchased a mint 1969 Camaro, and the guys talked about building an equally nice Ford. But the “body–shop jail,” as it was coined by the crew, usually slows down a project so much that it kills the fun. Fellow member and fabricator Craig Owens had the bright idea to buy a finished car and rebuild it. They decided to buy Jeremy’s brother’s beautiful pro-touring Fastback Mustang. The car featured a custom-built 408ci stroker, a five-speed, nine-inch rear axle, and a complete Total Control Product suspension package. But more importantly, it had finished paint.

The group of friends that make up All Business Racing set out to build a high-quality, grudge-match Ford for facilities like Atlanta and Charlotte dragstrips. The car debuted at the NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, running in the Radial vs. the World Class.

“Within 24 hours, we had the car stripped down to nothing more than a roof and two quarter–panels,” said Jonathan Bridwell, friend and owner of Stallion Autosport. “Everyone thought we lost our minds when we told them we were cutting it up.”

Craig and Jeremy, of JP Automotive, built the double framerail chassis and SFI 25.5–certified rollcage. Allen Pittman of AP Race Cars in Greenville, South Carolina, did the custom carbon–fiber floorboards, and Got-U–Covered built the headliner and dashpad.

The Mustang is fast, but not yet consistent. The nitrous formula allows the team to dial it in as track conditions change. “When to bring the nitrous in, and how much- that’s the learning curve,” said owner Chris.

In order to keep this freshly–painted car in good condition, the team covered everything with 3M Welding and Spark Deflection Paper. “We built the entire chrome–moly chassis between the factory rockers and never put a scratch on the car,” said Jonathan. “It was a lot faster than we could have sent the body out for bodywork and paint.”

Chris owns a few different race cars, including a four-speed, straight–axle gasser, but this one was intended to be different. We were able to achieve it without manipulating the body,” he said. All the glass is factory, the bumpers original, and even the stainless–steel trim remains. “We emphasized on keeping the body as correct as possible.”

From the front, there are only a couple giveaways to the car’s true potential: Weld Racing spindle-mount wheels, header collectors extruding from the fenders, and the drag radials hidden between factory quarter-panels.

The jewel of the build is the monster big-block Ford built by C&R Machine Shop with a C&C Motorsports Boss 429/427 aluminum, six-bolt-main block that’s been punched out to 600 ci. It features Oliver Racing Parts rods and Diamond Racing pistons. Topping off the short–block are Kaase Boss 9 heads that were ported by C&R Machine Shop. A custom-built COMP solid–roller camshaft and T&D rocker arms round out the valvetrain.

The engine alone makes more than 1,100 hp, but that doubles when you add the nitrous. The system consists of two custom-built nitrous fogger systems. Hogan’s Racing Manifolds in Mooresville, North Carolina, built a custom aluminum intake, and the team assisted in developing the two foggers with Dave Basher of Nitrous Outlet. Dave then flow–tested the intake to calibrate a true 550 shot from each system. The magical 1,800hp dyno run featured two shots of nitrous pulled back to around a 300 shot each. 

The Mustang rides on Weld Racing V-series two-piece billet wheels measuring 17×4 inches up front, and the 15×12 inch rears are wrapped in Mickey Thompson 275/60/15. While the carbon-fiber wheeltubs and narrowed framerails will allow for a pair of 315-wide tires, the team only plans to run the smaller 275 tires.

A MagnaFuel 750 fuel pump supplies fuel to Holley injectors and an Accufab 105mm throttle–body. Despite the over-the-top nitrous system, there’s no separate nitrous controller—everything is run on a single Holley Dominator ECU. The big-block is backed by a TH400 two-speed custom–built by TCS Products. It features a transbrake and a B&M Pro Bandit shifter. 

Chris’s days of driving his four-speed gasser have spoiled him. What’s it like to drive the Mustang? “To be honest, it’s awfully boring to drive,” he said, with a laugh. “It’s such a smooth–driving and fun car, but once you get used to racing a low-5-second, four-speed, straight-axle gasser, you have to go really fast in an automatic car to get exciting.”

It’s occasionally street-driven, but with 15.5:1 compression you won’t see it at the local 7-Eleven gas station. The engine runs on VP Racing Fuel C16 or the Renegade Nitrous Pro 120+; both are leaded race fuels that feature 120 octane ratings and are designed for nitrous applications.

You may have already guessed the team’s biggest problem with the combination of big power and small tires on eighth-mile tracks: traction, or lack thereof. Blowing the tires off the car is common, but “if we can get the car to 200 feet, it’ll go straight every time,” said Chris. “We can show up at any track and can get consistent within a few hits, but getting it to go down every surface consistently—that’s the real challenge.” The huge amounts of nitrous allows the team plenty of room to dial in the car on any given run.

As the crew dials in the car for consistency, they’re still scheming about the future, making plans to attend HOT ROD Drag Week, competing in the Unlimited Class. The plan is to drop the compression and cubes to 10:1 and 500 ci and compensate with turbos. They’re also considering the construction of two separate injector systems: one for pump gas and the other methanol. Craig, the lead fabricator who had the idea for the build, lost his life in a severe drag-racing accident in 2016 and never saw the Mustang race. “Craig was extremely talented, and we miss him very much. Anytime we have the car out, we are always racing in his honor,” said Jonathan. We hope, they are able to attend Drag Week, honoring their friend on every pass.

Nitrous Outlet helped the team bench-flow the 1100hp worth of nitrous through the custom-built Hogan’s Racing Manifolds. It’s a custom-designed dual-fogger system worth two 550hp shots of nitrous.

The Kaase Boss Nine cylinder heads are topped with Kaase valve covers. The headers are custom-built by JP Headers with 2 1/4-inch primaries and high-temp coating.

The front suspension consists of a Strange Engineering Aluminum Strut package. Strong and lightweight, the system was designed specifically for drag racing, with the spindle cast into the bottom of the strut. The kit includes Strange Engineering hubs, springs, 11.25-inch rotors, four-piston calipers, and lower control arms.

The front suspension consists of a Strange Engineering Aluminum Strut package. Strong and lightweight, the system was designed specifically for drag racing, with the spindle cast into the bottom of the strut. The kit includes Strange Engineering hubs, springs, 11.25-inch rotors, four-piston calipers, and lower control arms.

Although it was built as a grudge-match car, it’s legit with a NHRA 6.50–certified rollcage.

A 7.5-inch Holley Digital Dash sits behind a RJ Racecars Max Lightweight steering wheel. A Halon fire suppression system keeps the driver safe in the event of a fire.

A Holley Dominator runs everything on the car, even traction control.

The car’s two 15-pound nitrous bottles are refilled after every pass, as it consumes roughly 10 pounds of nitrous on a single eighth-mile pass. The 600ci Ford has never been on an engine dyno outside of the car, but it’s estimated to make about 2,070 hp.

This build started with a completely restored, show-quality Mustang that was then built into this monstrous drag racer. “We cut that car up,” said Chris. “From rocker to rocker, bumper to bumper. It was [a] tedious and nerve-racking process.”

FACTOIDS Purchase Price: $32,000 Invested so Far: $180,000 Engine Size: 600 ci Compression: 15.5:1 Nitrous Wheel Horsepower: 1,800-plus at 7,900 rpm Engine-Only Wheel Horsepower: 1,100-plus Best Eighth-Mile Pass: 4.70 at 156 mph Best Quarter-Mile Pass: Ain’t Tellin’ Build Time: Nine Months

Mustang Vs. Sports Car 2016 McLaren 570S Suggested MSRP: $184,900 Eighth-Mile Lap Times: Low-7s Engine: Twin-Turbo 231ci V8 Seats: 2

1967 Mustang Fastback Cost Invested: $180,000 Eighth-Mile Lap Times: Mid-4s Engine: Nitrous-fed 600ci V8 Seats: 1

The post A 2000hp steel-body 1967 Mustang Fastback Built for Grudge Racing appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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[uptownboogiebicycle]

Social Bike Ride: #WashingtonHeights meets #theBronx! We are riding from Washington Heights to the new @gunhillbrewery located in the Bronx to participate in the #boardgames hosted by @theboardgamerenegade Game Time: 12PM Board Game Day at the brewery is an event held at the Gun Hill Brewing Co hosted by Jeremiah Acevedo (The BoardGame Renegade) of the Bronx. Admission is #free and all are welcome to attend. Must be 21+ to drink. Some empanadas are sold at the venue and there are plenty of local eateries to eat at. . . Personal bikes ONLY! NO Citi Bike Arrival Time: 10:30AM Rolling Time: 11AM Miles: 7.5 miles to Brewery Meeting Point: Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling 898 St. Nicholas Avenue @ 155th Street New York, NY 10032 Price: FREE (bring cash and/or card for outdoor event, food and drinks) Neighborhoods: Washington Heights and the Bronx Age: 21+ | Drink Responsibly Non-alcoholic drinks available Bike Lights: YES . . End Point: Gun Hill Brewery 3227 Laconia Ave., Bronx, NY 10469 Come out and support the community! Link: ubbicycle.org/events #bronx #washhts #uptownmanhattan #biking #cycling #bicycle #bikeartbeer #landmarks #beersofinstagram #beerpics #beeroclock #beertasting #lovebeer #goodbeer #ilovebeer #beerlover #beertography #beerpairing #beerstagram #cerveza #community #gunhillbrewery #nycbrewed (at Upper Manhattan)

[robertkstone]

August 2017 Auto Sales: Slide More Than Expected

Between 300,000 and 500,000 vehicles were damaged in the Houston market alone from Hurricane Harvey, Cox Automotive projects. While the devastating hurricane and flooding certainly brought car and light truck sales to a standstill in that part of the country before the end of August, the inference is that there will be a bump in sales in the coming months as those vehicles are replaced.

Across the country, car and truck sales continued to level off, and a projected Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 16.1-million appears to be a few hundred thousand below analysts’ projections. Incentives were up slightly, according to TrueCar.com.

Some automakers did pretty well as others languished. General Motors had a particularly good month thanks mostly to several new Chevrolet and GMC sport/utility models, while Ford Motor Company continued its slide, mitigated only by a very good month for its highly profitable F-Series pickup trucks. GM’s long-term goal is for Chevrolet to eventually become the nation’s number-one car and truck brand, and in August, it was just 817 units short of number-two Toyota, though still 5,182 behind number-one Ford. Chevy surely will need those new ’19-model pickup trucks before it gets close to Ford.

Subaru had its best month ever with strong Outback and Crosstrek sales, though Forester suffered. It outsold Hyundai, which declined 25 percent compared with its best ever August in 2016, by 8,905 units, and Kia by 9,892 units. Subaru is now up one spot, to eighth place, behind Hyundai and ahead of Kia, for the year so far.

And so, to the numbers …

1. General Motors: 275,552, up 7.5 percent.

Chevrolet was up 11.4 percent, to 196,007, GMC was up 12.4 percent, to 47,718, Buick fell 22.5 percent, to 16,811 and Cadillac fell 8.1 percent, to 15,016.

Fueled by the new model, the Chevy Equinox jumped 84.9 percent, to 28,245. Malibu was up 35.9 percent, to 22,725.

Chevy Cruze dropped 26.1 percent, to 16,500.

Silverado was up 3.9 percent, to 54,448 while GMC’s Sierra was off 1.3 percent, to 17,254. Combined sales totaled 71,702.

Colorado sales rose 11 percent, to 10,256 and Canyon dropped 19.8 percent, to 2,698, for a combined 12,954.

Buick Envision was up 78.1 percent to 2,726 and Encore sales rose 31.5 percent, to 7,682, though all other Buick models were down, including LaCrosse, off 25 percent, to 1,198.

Cadillac XT5 was up 46.8 percent, to 7,236 and Escalade ESV rose 1.8 percent, to 1,191, though all other Caddys were down, including Escalade, off 3.4 percent to 1,803, and CT6, which plummeted 31.1 percent, to 856.

Corvette was nearly halved, off 42.9 percent to 1,748. Chevy Volt was off 30.6 percent, to 1,445 and the brand sold 2,107 Bolts. Sales of the Bolt EV, at 11,670 year-to-date, are catching Volt sales, at 13,895 so far.

2. Toyota Motor Sales: 227,625, up 6.8 percent.

Toyota division was up 8 percent, to 196,824 and Lexus was off 0.4 percent, to 30,801.

With a new model hitting showrooms, Camry jumped 12.7 percent to 37,051, though Toyota moved a whopping 43,265 RAV4s, up 30.4 percent.

Corolla slid 14 percent, to 27,644 and Prius fell 26.4 percent, to 9,551.

Toyota 86/Scion FR-S was off 8.2 percent, to 586.

Tacoma was up 13.1 percent, to 17,394, while Tundra was up 4.5 percent, to 10,320.

Highlander was up 25.9 percent, to 18,845. Toyota sold 2,901 C-HRs.

Lexus ES was up 9.7 percent, to 6,404 and IS dropped 30.6 percent, to 2,445.

Perennial Lexus bestseller RX was up 7.1 percent, to 10,391. NX ticked up 2 percent, to 5,517.

3. Ford Motor Company: 209,879, off 2.1 percent.

F-Series is Ford sales, and reported a steep 15 percent gain, to 77,007. The Ford brand sold 201,189, off 2 percent, and Lincoln was down 5.8 percent, to 8,708.

Mustang ceded Pony Car Wars to Dodge Challenger, which reported sales of 6,253, up 19 percent. Ford Mustang sales dropped 33.3 percent, to 5,535 and Chevy Camaro slid 10.5 percent, to 5,017.

Escape sales were down 15.8 percent, to 23,631 and Fusion was off 8.8 percent, to 17,378.

Focus sales rose, though, by 9.2 percent, to 12,850, as Explorer fell 0.9 percent, to 18,125.

Transit sales slid 15.2 percent, to 10,172.

All Lincolns were down, with sales leaders MKX of 10.3 percent, to 2,371, MKC off 4.4 percent, to 2,343 and MKZ down 21.6 percent, to 2,160.

Lincoln sold 816 Continentals, 40 fewer units than Cadillac CT6.

4. FiatChrysler: 176,033, off 11 percent.

Jeep took a 15 percent hit, to 73,191, though sales of the outgoing Wrangler were up 10 percent, to 16,808. Grand Cherokee was up 28 percent, to 23,572 while Cherokee fell 50 percent, to 11,874.

Compass was up 5 percent, to 9,305 and Renegade was up 10 percent, to 8,974.

Dodge was off 2 percent, to 43,608, ahead of Ram by 286 units. The holdover Caravan minivan was up 62 percent, to 17,109.

Charger sales rose 11 percent, to 9,589, Durango was off 13 percent, to 4,522 and Journey fell 52 percent, to 5,665.

Viper was up 2 percent, or one unit, to 59.

Ram was off 2 percent, to 43,322, with Ram pickup off 7 percent, to 37,608. ProMaster was up 45 percent, to 4,589.

Chrysler dropped 33 percent, to 12,652. Pacifica was up 2 percent, to 7,621, and 300 was down 23 percent, to 4,073.

Fiat dropped 23 percent, to 2,120, with 500 off 25 percent, to 937.

Fiat 500X was off 27 percent, to 660 and the 124 Spider fell 17 percent, to 382.

Alfa Romeo was up 2,981 percent, to 1,140, consisting of 916 Giulias, 203 Stelvios and 21 4cs (off 43 percent).

5. American Honda, 146,015, off 2.4 percent.

Honda fell 1.8 percent, to 132,883, while Acura was off 7.8 percent, to 13,132.

Civic was up 11.2 percent, to 36,482. CR-V, off 15.2 percent to 30,960, edged Accord, off 0.3 percent, to 30,019.

Pilot was up 3.2 percent, to 9,568 and Odyssey was off 12.8 percent, to 8,709.

RDX was Acura’s bestseller, up 11.2 percent to 4,679, while MDX was off 11.7 percent, to 4,532.

TLX was off 33 percent, to 2,410. ILX was up 17.7 percent, to 1,380.

6. Nissan Group: 108,326, off 13.1 percent.

Nissan division was off 14.8 percent, to 97,340, and Infiniti was up 5.2 percent, to 10,986.

Bestseller Nissan Rogue dropped 9.5 percent, to 29,84 and Altima lose 25.2 percent, at 14,694. Sentra was up 7.2 percent, to 15,285.

Pathfinder plummeted 35.7 percent, to 3,726. Titan was up 182.1 percent, to 3,521.

QX60 led the Infiniti division, up 13.1 percent, to 3,697. Q50 fell 32.1 percent, to 2,541. Q60 was up 308.3 percent, to 690.

Infiniti sold 806 QX30s, compared with 74 shortly after its launch last year.

7. Subaru: 63,215, up 4.6 percent.

Outback was up 17.1 percent, to 20,327.

Forester took a 21-percent hit, to 15,528.

Crosstrek, bolstered by the new model, was up 45.9 percent, to 12,823.

Legacy was off 27.4 percent, to 4,210, and WRX/STI was down 20.9 percent, to 2,528. Impreza was up 40.3 percent, to 7,462.

BRZ sales rose 11.6 percent, to 337. Combined sales for the joint-venture sports car, with Toyota 86/Scion FR-S, was 923.

8. Hyundai: 54,310, off 25 percent.

Though this is coming off a record August in 2016, it’s losing ground to Subaru, which is 31,005 units behind Hyundai for the year-to-date.

Hyundai brand sold 52,507 last month, off 25.5 percent, and Genesis sold 1,803, up 20.4 percent over Genesis/Equus models last year.

Cars still lead Hyundai. Its bestseller was the Elantra, off 27 percent, to 15,127.

Santa Fe was next, though also off, by 24.4 percent, to 11,474.

Sonata was down 27 percent, to 10,886.

Tucson was up by 28.2 percent, to 9,757.

Genesis G80 was off 0.9 percent, to 1,484. Genesis sold 319 G90s.

9. Kia: 53,323, off 1.7 percent.

Forte had its strongest August ever, up 28.7 percent, to 10,693.

Soul was bestseller, though, up 15.5 percent, to 14,151. Sportage sales dropped 12.7 percent, to 6,014.

Sorento was up 4.7 percent, to 8,934 and Optima dropped 25.3 percent, to 7,072.

Kia sold 2,677 Niros.

10. Volkswagen: 32,015, up 9 percent.

The new Atlas SUV continues to ramp up, with 2,807 sold last month.

VW sold 2,516 of its new Tiguans and 1,005 of the old ones, the latter down 69.6 percent.

Jetta had a very good month, up 5.9 percent, to 12,409.

Golf was up 23.2 percent, to 5,951.

Passat dropped 22.7 percent, to 5,714.

11. Mercedes-Benz USA: 29,183, off 8.5 percent.

The Mercedes brand was off 10.7 percent, to 25,373, while Benz van sales rose 13.6 percent, to 3,581. Smart shrunk 35.1 percent, to 229.

Mercedes cited shortages of several models. C-Class was off 13.4 percent, to 5,304 and E-Class/CLS was down 26.8 percent, to 3,710.

GLA-Class jumped 88.5 percent, to 1,994, while GLC slid 4.6 percent, to 4,498. GLE was off just 0.2 percent, to 3,750, and GLS was down 10.4 percent, to 2,610.

12. BMW Group: 28,001, off 8.2 percent.

BMW fell 7.7 percent, to 23,553. Mini was off 10.5 percent, to 4,448.

The 3-to-4 Series shift continues, with 3 Series off 8.6 percent, to 5,379 and 4 Series jumping 49.3 percent, to 3,412.

The 5 Series rose 37.6 percent, to 3,587.

X5 sales dropped 25.3 percent, to 3,079, and X3 plummeted 37.5 percent, to 2918.

Countryman was Mini’s bestseller, up 4 percent, to 1,365. Clubman dropped 28 percent, to 1,103.

The Mini 2-Door Hardtop was up 10.1 percent, to 848 while the 4-Door fell 23.9 percent, to 639.

13. Mazda: 25,846, off 4.7 percent.

CX-5 was up 9.6 percent, to 11,631. CX-9 was off 3.3 percent, to 1,801.

CX-3 sales slipped 3.8 percent, to 1,436 and Mazda3 was off 7.4 percent, to 6,754.

MX-5 Miata had another strong month, up 9.5 percent, to 901. Combined, the Miata/Fiata combo totaled 1,283.

14. Audi: 19,811, up 2.8 percent.

Q5 is sales leader again, up 7.9 percent, to 4,767.

Q7 had a 35.2-percent gain, to 3,174.

A4 was off 7.4 percent, to 2,746 and A3 fell 29.1 percent, to 1,904.

A3 e-tron, counted separately, was off 63 percent, to 129.

A5 jumped 207 percent, to 2,603.

A6 was down 29.6 percent, to 1,380.

15. Jaguar/Land Rover: 9,421, up 1 percent.

Land Rover was up 5 percent, to 6,320, while Jaguar slid 6 percent, to 3,101.

Range Rover was up 14 percent, to 1,409. Range Rover also sold 413 Velars.

Discovery Sport was up 17 percent, to 1,211.

Jaguar F-Pace was up 38 percent, to 1,681.

16. Mitsubishi: 8,164, up 11.3 percent.

Outlander Sport was up 12.7 percent, to 2,898, and Outlander was up 29.4 percent, to 2,730.

Mirage was up 1 percent, to 1,557, and Lancer was off 10.1 percent, to 979.

17. Volvo: 7,994, up 4.1 percent.

The XC90 continues to lead, up 0.3 percent, to 2,869.

XC60 was up 20.1 percent, to 2,218.

S90 was up 373.2 percent, to 918. Volvo sold 32 new V90s and 253 V90 Cross Country models.

18. Porsche: 4,709, off 9.1 percent.

Macan sales dropped 28.8 percent, to 1,641.

Porsche’s second-bestseller last month was the 911 line, up 35.6 percent, to 1,016.

Cayenne was off 28.1 percent, to 869 and Panamera was up 25.2 percent, to 557.

Cayman/Boxster sales rose 32 percent, to 626.

Luxury/Premium Brands, YTD:

1. Mercedes-Benz 213,242 2. BMW 194,604 3. Lexus 193,463 4. Audi 141,606 5. Acura 101,180

Sports Cars and EVs, YTD:

1. Chevrolet Corvette 17,385 2. Chevrolet Volt 13,895 3. Chevrolet Bolt 11,670 4. Nissan Leaf 9,685 5. Mazda Miata 8,871 6. Toyota 86/Scion FR-S 4,977

Midsize cars, YTD:

1. Toyota Camry 238,373 2. Honda Accord 221,013 2. Nissan Altima 183,292 4. Ford Fusion 138,489 5. Chevrolet Malibu 117,173

Compact CUVs, YTD:

1. Toyota RAV4 269,835 2. Nissan Rogue 257,958 3. Honda CR-V 249,997 4. Ford Escape 208,303 5. Chevrolet Equinox 185,233

<img class="size-content-width wp-image-1187497 aligncenter" s

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[jesusvasser]

August 2017 Auto Sales: Slide More Than Expected

Between 300,000 and 500,000 vehicles were damaged in the Houston market alone from Hurricane Harvey, Cox Automotive projects. While the devastating hurricane and flooding certainly brought car and light truck sales to a standstill in that part of the country before the end of August, the inference is that there will be a bump in sales in the coming months as those vehicles are replaced.

Across the country, car and truck sales continued to level off, and a projected Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 16.1-million appears to be a few hundred thousand below analysts’ projections. Incentives were up slightly, according to TrueCar.com.

Some automakers did pretty well as others languished. General Motors had a particularly good month thanks mostly to several new Chevrolet and GMC sport/utility models, while Ford Motor Company continued its slide, mitigated only by a very good month for its highly profitable F-Series pickup trucks. GM’s long-term goal is for Chevrolet to eventually become the nation’s number-one car and truck brand, and in August, it was just 817 units short of number-two Toyota, though still 5,182 behind number-one Ford. Chevy surely will need those new ’19-model pickup trucks before it gets close to Ford.

Subaru had its best month ever with strong Outback and Crosstrek sales, though Forester suffered. It outsold Hyundai, which declined 25 percent compared with its best ever August in 2016, by 8,905 units, and Kia by 9,892 units. Subaru is now up one spot, to eighth place, behind Hyundai and ahead of Kia, for the year so far.

And so, to the numbers …

1. General Motors: 275,552, up 7.5 percent.

Chevrolet was up 11.4 percent, to 196,007, GMC was up 12.4 percent, to 47,718, Buick fell 22.5 percent, to 16,811 and Cadillac fell 8.1 percent, to 15,016.

Fueled by the new model, the Chevy Equinox jumped 84.9 percent, to 28,245. Malibu was up 35.9 percent, to 22,725.

Chevy Cruze dropped 26.1 percent, to 16,500.

Silverado was up 3.9 percent, to 54,448 while GMC’s Sierra was off 1.3 percent, to 17,254. Combined sales totaled 71,702.

Colorado sales rose 11 percent, to 10,256 and Canyon dropped 19.8 percent, to 2,698, for a combined 12,954.

Buick Envision was up 78.1 percent to 2,726 and Encore sales rose 31.5 percent, to 7,682, though all other Buick models were down, including LaCrosse, off 25 percent, to 1,198.

Cadillac XT5 was up 46.8 percent, to 7,236 and Escalade ESV rose 1.8 percent, to 1,191, though all other Caddys were down, including Escalade, off 3.4 percent to 1,803, and CT6, which plummeted 31.1 percent, to 856.

Corvette was nearly halved, off 42.9 percent to 1,748. Chevy Volt was off 30.6 percent, to 1,445 and the brand sold 2,107 Bolts. Sales of the Bolt EV, at 11,670 year-to-date, are catching Volt sales, at 13,895 so far.

2. Toyota Motor Sales: 227,625, up 6.8 percent.

Toyota division was up 8 percent, to 196,824 and Lexus was off 0.4 percent, to 30,801.

With a new model hitting showrooms, Camry jumped 12.7 percent to 37,051, though Toyota moved a whopping 43,265 RAV4s, up 30.4 percent.

Corolla slid 14 percent, to 27,644 and Prius fell 26.4 percent, to 9,551.

Toyota 86/Scion FR-S was off 8.2 percent, to 586.

Tacoma was up 13.1 percent, to 17,394, while Tundra was up 4.5 percent, to 10,320.

Highlander was up 25.9 percent, to 18,845. Toyota sold 2,901 C-HRs.

Lexus ES was up 9.7 percent, to 6,404 and IS dropped 30.6 percent, to 2,445.

Perennial Lexus bestseller RX was up 7.1 percent, to 10,391. NX ticked up 2 percent, to 5,517.

3. Ford Motor Company: 209,879, off 2.1 percent.

F-Series is Ford sales, and reported a steep 15 percent gain, to 77,007. The Ford brand sold 201,189, off 2 percent, and Lincoln was down 5.8 percent, to 8,708.

Mustang ceded Pony Car Wars to Dodge Challenger, which reported sales of 6,253, up 19 percent. Ford Mustang sales dropped 33.3 percent, to 5,535 and Chevy Camaro slid 10.5 percent, to 5,017.

Escape sales were down 15.8 percent, to 23,631 and Fusion was off 8.8 percent, to 17,378.

Focus sales rose, though, by 9.2 percent, to 12,850, as Explorer fell 0.9 percent, to 18,125.

Transit sales slid 15.2 percent, to 10,172.

All Lincolns were down, with sales leaders MKX of 10.3 percent, to 2,371, MKC off 4.4 percent, to 2,343 and MKZ down 21.6 percent, to 2,160.

Lincoln sold 816 Continentals, 40 fewer units than Cadillac CT6.

4. FiatChrysler: 176,033, off 11 percent.

Jeep took a 15 percent hit, to 73,191, though sales of the outgoing Wrangler were up 10 percent, to 16,808. Grand Cherokee was up 28 percent, to 23,572 while Cherokee fell 50 percent, to 11,874.

Compass was up 5 percent, to 9,305 and Renegade was up 10 percent, to 8,974.

Dodge was off 2 percent, to 43,608, ahead of Ram by 286 units. The holdover Caravan minivan was up 62 percent, to 17,109.

Charger sales rose 11 percent, to 9,589, Durango was off 13 percent, to 4,522 and Journey fell 52 percent, to 5,665.

Viper was up 2 percent, or one unit, to 59.

Ram was off 2 percent, to 43,322, with Ram pickup off 7 percent, to 37,608. ProMaster was up 45 percent, to 4,589.

Chrysler dropped 33 percent, to 12,652. Pacifica was up 2 percent, to 7,621, and 300 was down 23 percent, to 4,073.

Fiat dropped 23 percent, to 2,120, with 500 off 25 percent, to 937.

Fiat 500X was off 27 percent, to 660 and the 124 Spider fell 17 percent, to 382.

Alfa Romeo was up 2,981 percent, to 1,140, consisting of 916 Giulias, 203 Stelvios and 21 4cs (off 43 percent).

5. American Honda, 146,015, off 2.4 percent.

Honda fell 1.8 percent, to 132,883, while Acura was off 7.8 percent, to 13,132.

Civic was up 11.2 percent, to 36,482. CR-V, off 15.2 percent to 30,960, edged Accord, off 0.3 percent, to 30,019.

Pilot was up 3.2 percent, to 9,568 and Odyssey was off 12.8 percent, to 8,709.

RDX was Acura’s bestseller, up 11.2 percent to 4,679, while MDX was off 11.7 percent, to 4,532.

TLX was off 33 percent, to 2,410. ILX was up 17.7 percent, to 1,380.

6. Nissan Group: 108,326, off 13.1 percent.

Nissan division was off 14.8 percent, to 97,340, and Infiniti was up 5.2 percent, to 10,986.

Bestseller Nissan Rogue dropped 9.5 percent, to 29,84 and Altima lose 25.2 percent, at 14,694. Sentra was up 7.2 percent, to 15,285.

Pathfinder plummeted 35.7 percent, to 3,726. Titan was up 182.1 percent, to 3,521.

QX60 led the Infiniti division, up 13.1 percent, to 3,697. Q50 fell 32.1 percent, to 2,541. Q60 was up 308.3 percent, to 690.

Infiniti sold 806 QX30s, compared with 74 shortly after its launch last year.

7. Subaru: 63,215, up 4.6 percent.

Outback was up 17.1 percent, to 20,327.

Forester took a 21-percent hit, to 15,528.

Crosstrek, bolstered by the new model, was up 45.9 percent, to 12,823.

Legacy was off 27.4 percent, to 4,210, and WRX/STI was down 20.9 percent, to 2,528. Impreza was up 40.3 percent, to 7,462.

BRZ sales rose 11.6 percent, to 337. Combined sales for the joint-venture sports car, with Toyota 86/Scion FR-S, was 923.

8. Hyundai: 54,310, off 25 percent.

Though this is coming off a record August in 2016, it’s losing ground to Subaru, which is 31,005 units behind Hyundai for the year-to-date.

Hyundai brand sold 52,507 last month, off 25.5 percent, and Genesis sold 1,803, up 20.4 percent over Genesis/Equus models last year.

Cars still lead Hyundai. Its bestseller was the Elantra, off 27 percent, to 15,127.

Santa Fe was next, though also off, by 24.4 percent, to 11,474.

Sonata was down 27 percent, to 10,886.

Tucson was up by 28.2 percent, to 9,757.

Genesis G80 was off 0.9 percent, to 1,484. Genesis sold 319 G90s.

9. Kia: 53,323, off 1.7 percent.

Forte had its strongest August ever, up 28.7 percent, to 10,693.

Soul was bestseller, though, up 15.5 percent, to 14,151. Sportage sales dropped 12.7 percent, to 6,014.

Sorento was up 4.7 percent, to 8,934 and Optima dropped 25.3 percent, to 7,072.

Kia sold 2,677 Niros.

10. Volkswagen: 32,015, up 9 percent.

The new Atlas SUV continues to ramp up, with 2,807 sold last month.

VW sold 2,516 of its new Tiguans and 1,005 of the old ones, the latter down 69.6 percent.

Jetta had a very good month, up 5.9 percent, to 12,409.

Golf was up 23.2 percent, to 5,951.

Passat dropped 22.7 percent, to 5,714.

11. Mercedes-Benz USA: 29,183, off 8.5 percent.

The Mercedes brand was off 10.7 percent, to 25,373, while Benz van sales rose 13.6 percent, to 3,581. Smart shrunk 35.1 percent, to 229.

Mercedes cited shortages of several models. C-Class was off 13.4 percent, to 5,304 and E-Class/CLS was down 26.8 percent, to 3,710.

GLA-Class jumped 88.5 percent, to 1,994, while GLC slid 4.6 percent, to 4,498. GLE was off just 0.2 percent, to 3,750, and GLS was down 10.4 percent, to 2,610.

12. BMW Group: 28,001, off 8.2 percent.

BMW fell 7.7 percent, to 23,553. Mini was off 10.5 percent, to 4,448.

The 3-to-4 Series shift continues, with 3 Series off 8.6 percent, to 5,379 and 4 Series jumping 49.3 percent, to 3,412.

The 5 Series rose 37.6 percent, to 3,587.

X5 sales dropped 25.3 percent, to 3,079, and X3 plummeted 37.5 percent, to 2918.

Countryman was Mini’s bestseller, up 4 percent, to 1,365. Clubman dropped 28 percent, to 1,103.

The Mini 2-Door Hardtop was up 10.1 percent, to 848 while the 4-Door fell 23.9 percent, to 639.

13. Mazda: 25,846, off 4.7 percent.

CX-5 was up 9.6 percent, to 11,631. CX-9 was off 3.3 percent, to 1,801.

CX-3 sales slipped 3.8 percent, to 1,436 and Mazda3 was off 7.4 percent, to 6,754.

MX-5 Miata had another strong month, up 9.5 percent, to 901. Combined, the Miata/Fiata combo totaled 1,283.

14. Audi: 19,811, up 2.8 percent.

Q5 is sales leader again, up 7.9 percent, to 4,767.

Q7 had a 35.2-percent gain, to 3,174.

A4 was off 7.4 percent, to 2,746 and A3 fell 29.1 percent, to 1,904.

A3 e-tron, counted separately, was off 63 percent, to 129.

A5 jumped 207 percent, to 2,603.

A6 was down 29.6 percent, to 1,380.

15. Jaguar/Land Rover: 9,421, up 1 percent.

Land Rover was up 5 percent, to 6,320, while Jaguar slid 6 percent, to 3,101.

Range Rover was up 14 percent, to 1,409. Range Rover also sold 413 Velars.

Discovery Sport was up 17 percent, to 1,211.

Jaguar F-Pace was up 38 percent, to 1,681.

16. Mitsubishi: 8,164, up 11.3 percent.

Outlander Sport was up 12.7 percent, to 2,898, and Outlander was up 29.4 percent, to 2,730.

Mirage was up 1 percent, to 1,557, and Lancer was off 10.1 percent, to 979.

17. Volvo: 7,994, up 4.1 percent.

The XC90 continues to lead, up 0.3 percent, to 2,869.

XC60 was up 20.1 percent, to 2,218.

S90 was up 373.2 percent, to 918. Volvo sold 32 new V90s and 253 V90 Cross Country models.

18. Porsche: 4,709, off 9.1 percent.

Macan sales dropped 28.8 percent, to 1,641.

Porsche’s second-bestseller last month was the 911 line, up 35.6 percent, to 1,016.

Cayenne was off 28.1 percent, to 869 and Panamera was up 25.2 percent, to 557.

Cayman/Boxster sales rose 32 percent, to 626.

Luxury/Premium Brands, YTD:

1. Mercedes-Benz 213,242 2. BMW 194,604 3. Lexus 193,463 4. Audi 141,606 5. Acura 101,180

Sports Cars and EVs, YTD:

1. Chevrolet Corvette 17,385 2. Chevrolet Volt 13,895 3. Chevrolet Bolt 11,670 4. Nissan Leaf 9,685 5. Mazda Miata 8,871 6. Toyota 86/Scion FR-S 4,977

Midsize cars, YTD:

1. Toyota Camry 238,373 2. Honda Accord 221,013 2. Nissan Altima 183,292 4. Ford Fusion 138,489 5. Chevrolet Malibu 117,173

Compact CUVs, YTD:

1. Toyota RAV4 269,835 2. Nissan Rogue 257,958 3. Honda CR-V 249,997 4. Ford Escape 208,303 5. Chevrolet Equinox 185,233

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[eddiejpoplar]

August 2017 Auto Sales: Slide More Than Expected

Between 300,000 and 500,000 vehicles were damaged in the Houston market alone from Hurricane Harvey, Cox Automotive projects. While the devastating hurricane and flooding certainly brought car and light truck sales to a standstill in that part of the country before the end of August, the inference is that there will be a bump in sales in the coming months as those vehicles are replaced.

Across the country, car and truck sales continued to level off, and a projected Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 16.1-million appears to be a few hundred thousand below analysts’ projections. Incentives were up slightly, according to TrueCar.com.

Some automakers did pretty well as others languished. General Motors had a particularly good month thanks mostly to several new Chevrolet and GMC sport/utility models, while Ford Motor Company continued its slide, mitigated only by a very good month for its highly profitable F-Series pickup trucks. GM’s long-term goal is for Chevrolet to eventually become the nation’s number-one car and truck brand, and in August, it was just 817 units short of number-two Toyota, though still 5,182 behind number-one Ford. Chevy surely will need those new ’19-model pickup trucks before it gets close to Ford.

Subaru had its best month ever with strong Outback and Crosstrek sales, though Forester suffered. It outsold Hyundai, which declined 25 percent compared with its best ever August in 2016, by 8,905 units, and Kia by 9,892 units. Subaru is now up one spot, to eighth place, behind Hyundai and ahead of Kia, for the year so far.

And so, to the numbers …

1. General Motors: 275,552, up 7.5 percent.

Chevrolet was up 11.4 percent, to 196,007, GMC was up 12.4 percent, to 47,718, Buick fell 22.5 percent, to 16,811 and Cadillac fell 8.1 percent, to 15,016.

Fueled by the new model, the Chevy Equinox jumped 84.9 percent, to 28,245. Malibu was up 35.9 percent, to 22,725.

Chevy Cruze dropped 26.1 percent, to 16,500.

Silverado was up 3.9 percent, to 54,448 while GMC’s Sierra was off 1.3 percent, to 17,254. Combined sales totaled 71,702.

Colorado sales rose 11 percent, to 10,256 and Canyon dropped 19.8 percent, to 2,698, for a combined 12,954.

Buick Envision was up 78.1 percent to 2,726 and Encore sales rose 31.5 percent, to 7,682, though all other Buick models were down, including LaCrosse, off 25 percent, to 1,198.

Cadillac XT5 was up 46.8 percent, to 7,236 and Escalade ESV rose 1.8 percent, to 1,191, though all other Caddys were down, including Escalade, off 3.4 percent to 1,803, and CT6, which plummeted 31.1 percent, to 856.

Corvette was nearly halved, off 42.9 percent to 1,748. Chevy Volt was off 30.6 percent, to 1,445 and the brand sold 2,107 Bolts. Sales of the Bolt EV, at 11,670 year-to-date, are catching Volt sales, at 13,895 so far.

2. Toyota Motor Sales: 227,625, up 6.8 percent.

Toyota division was up 8 percent, to 196,824 and Lexus was off 0.4 percent, to 30,801.

With a new model hitting showrooms, Camry jumped 12.7 percent to 37,051, though Toyota moved a whopping 43,265 RAV4s, up 30.4 percent.

Corolla slid 14 percent, to 27,644 and Prius fell 26.4 percent, to 9,551.

Toyota 86/Scion FR-S was off 8.2 percent, to 586.

Tacoma was up 13.1 percent, to 17,394, while Tundra was up 4.5 percent, to 10,320.

Highlander was up 25.9 percent, to 18,845. Toyota sold 2,901 C-HRs.

Lexus ES was up 9.7 percent, to 6,404 and IS dropped 30.6 percent, to 2,445.

Perennial Lexus bestseller RX was up 7.1 percent, to 10,391. NX ticked up 2 percent, to 5,517.

3. Ford Motor Company: 209,879, off 2.1 percent.

F-Series is Ford sales, and reported a steep 15 percent gain, to 77,007. The Ford brand sold 201,189, off 2 percent, and Lincoln was down 5.8 percent, to 8,708.

Mustang ceded Pony Car Wars to Dodge Challenger, which reported sales of 6,253, up 19 percent. Ford Mustang sales dropped 33.3 percent, to 5,535 and Chevy Camaro slid 10.5 percent, to 5,017.

Escape sales were down 15.8 percent, to 23,631 and Fusion was off 8.8 percent, to 17,378.

Focus sales rose, though, by 9.2 percent, to 12,850, as Explorer fell 0.9 percent, to 18,125.

Transit sales slid 15.2 percent, to 10,172.

All Lincolns were down, with sales leaders MKX of 10.3 percent, to 2,371, MKC off 4.4 percent, to 2,343 and MKZ down 21.6 percent, to 2,160.

Lincoln sold 816 Continentals, 40 fewer units than Cadillac CT6.

4. FiatChrysler: 176,033, off 11 percent.

Jeep took a 15 percent hit, to 73,191, though sales of the outgoing Wrangler were up 10 percent, to 16,808. Grand Cherokee was up 28 percent, to 23,572 while Cherokee fell 50 percent, to 11,874.

Compass was up 5 percent, to 9,305 and Renegade was up 10 percent, to 8,974.

Dodge was off 2 percent, to 43,608, ahead of Ram by 286 units. The holdover Caravan minivan was up 62 percent, to 17,109.

Charger sales rose 11 percent, to 9,589, Durango was off 13 percent, to 4,522 and Journey fell 52 percent, to 5,665.

Viper was up 2 percent, or one unit, to 59.

Ram was off 2 percent, to 43,322, with Ram pickup off 7 percent, to 37,608. ProMaster was up 45 percent, to 4,589.

Chrysler dropped 33 percent, to 12,652. Pacifica was up 2 percent, to 7,621, and 300 was down 23 percent, to 4,073.

Fiat dropped 23 percent, to 2,120, with 500 off 25 percent, to 937.

Fiat 500X was off 27 percent, to 660 and the 124 Spider fell 17 percent, to 382.

Alfa Romeo was up 2,981 percent, to 1,140, consisting of 916 Giulias, 203 Stelvios and 21 4cs (off 43 percent).

5. American Honda, 146,015, off 2.4 percent.

Honda fell 1.8 percent, to 132,883, while Acura was off 7.8 percent, to 13,132.

Civic was up 11.2 percent, to 36,482. CR-V, off 15.2 percent to 30,960, edged Accord, off 0.3 percent, to 30,019.

Pilot was up 3.2 percent, to 9,568 and Odyssey was off 12.8 percent, to 8,709.

RDX was Acura’s bestseller, up 11.2 percent to 4,679, while MDX was off 11.7 percent, to 4,532.

TLX was off 33 percent, to 2,410. ILX was up 17.7 percent, to 1,380.

6. Nissan Group: 108,326, off 13.1 percent.

Nissan division was off 14.8 percent, to 97,340, and Infiniti was up 5.2 percent, to 10,986.

Bestseller Nissan Rogue dropped 9.5 percent, to 29,84 and Altima lose 25.2 percent, at 14,694. Sentra was up 7.2 percent, to 15,285.

Pathfinder plummeted 35.7 percent, to 3,726. Titan was up 182.1 percent, to 3,521.

QX60 led the Infiniti division, up 13.1 percent, to 3,697. Q50 fell 32.1 percent, to 2,541. Q60 was up 308.3 percent, to 690.

Infiniti sold 806 QX30s, compared with 74 shortly after its launch last year.

7. Subaru: 63,215, up 4.6 percent.

Outback was up 17.1 percent, to 20,327.

Forester took a 21-percent hit, to 15,528.

Crosstrek, bolstered by the new model, was up 45.9 percent, to 12,823.

Legacy was off 27.4 percent, to 4,210, and WRX/STI was down 20.9 percent, to 2,528. Impreza was up 40.3 percent, to 7,462.

BRZ sales rose 11.6 percent, to 337. Combined sales for the joint-venture sports car, with Toyota 86/Scion FR-S, was 923.

8. Hyundai: 54,310, off 25 percent.

Though this is coming off a record August in 2016, it’s losing ground to Subaru, which is 31,005 units behind Hyundai for the year-to-date.

Hyundai brand sold 52,507 last month, off 25.5 percent, and Genesis sold 1,803, up 20.4 percent over Genesis/Equus models last year.

Cars still lead Hyundai. Its bestseller was the Elantra, off 27 percent, to 15,127.

Santa Fe was next, though also off, by 24.4 percent, to 11,474.

Sonata was down 27 percent, to 10,886.

Tucson was up by 28.2 percent, to 9,757.

Genesis G80 was off 0.9 percent, to 1,484. Genesis sold 319 G90s.

9. Kia: 53,323, off 1.7 percent.

Forte had its strongest August ever, up 28.7 percent, to 10,693.

Soul was bestseller, though, up 15.5 percent, to 14,151. Sportage sales dropped 12.7 percent, to 6,014.

Sorento was up 4.7 percent, to 8,934 and Optima dropped 25.3 percent, to 7,072.

Kia sold 2,677 Niros.

10. Volkswagen: 32,015, up 9 percent.

The new Atlas SUV continues to ramp up, with 2,807 sold last month.

VW sold 2,516 of its new Tiguans and 1,005 of the old ones, the latter down 69.6 percent.

Jetta had a very good month, up 5.9 percent, to 12,409.

Golf was up 23.2 percent, to 5,951.

Passat dropped 22.7 percent, to 5,714.

11. Mercedes-Benz USA: 29,183, off 8.5 percent.

The Mercedes brand was off 10.7 percent, to 25,373, while Benz van sales rose 13.6 percent, to 3,581. Smart shrunk 35.1 percent, to 229.

Mercedes cited shortages of several models. C-Class was off 13.4 percent, to 5,304 and E-Class/CLS was down 26.8 percent, to 3,710.

GLA-Class jumped 88.5 percent, to 1,994, while GLC slid 4.6 percent, to 4,498. GLE was off just 0.2 percent, to 3,750, and GLS was down 10.4 percent, to 2,610.

12. BMW Group: 28,001, off 8.2 percent.

BMW fell 7.7 percent, to 23,553. Mini was off 10.5 percent, to 4,448.

The 3-to-4 Series shift continues, with 3 Series off 8.6 percent, to 5,379 and 4 Series jumping 49.3 percent, to 3,412.

The 5 Series rose 37.6 percent, to 3,587.

X5 sales dropped 25.3 percent, to 3,079, and X3 plummeted 37.5 percent, to 2918.

Countryman was Mini’s bestseller, up 4 percent, to 1,365. Clubman dropped 28 percent, to 1,103.

The Mini 2-Door Hardtop was up 10.1 percent, to 848 while the 4-Door fell 23.9 percent, to 639.

13. Mazda: 25,846, off 4.7 percent.

CX-5 was up 9.6 percent, to 11,631. CX-9 was off 3.3 percent, to 1,801.

CX-3 sales slipped 3.8 percent, to 1,436 and Mazda3 was off 7.4 percent, to 6,754.

MX-5 Miata had another strong month, up 9.5 percent, to 901. Combined, the Miata/Fiata combo totaled 1,283.

14. Audi: 19,811, up 2.8 percent.

Q5 is sales leader again, up 7.9 percent, to 4,767.

Q7 had a 35.2-percent gain, to 3,174.

A4 was off 7.4 percent, to 2,746 and A3 fell 29.1 percent, to 1,904.

A3 e-tron, counted separately, was off 63 percent, to 129.

A5 jumped 207 percent, to 2,603.

A6 was down 29.6 percent, to 1,380.

15. Jaguar/Land Rover: 9,421, up 1 percent.

Land Rover was up 5 percent, to 6,320, while Jaguar slid 6 percent, to 3,101.

Range Rover was up 14 percent, to 1,409. Range Rover also sold 413 Velars.

Discovery Sport was up 17 percent, to 1,211.

Jaguar F-Pace was up 38 percent, to 1,681.

16. Mitsubishi: 8,164, up 11.3 percent.

Outlander Sport was up 12.7 percent, to 2,898, and Outlander was up 29.4 percent, to 2,730.

Mirage was up 1 percent, to 1,557, and Lancer was off 10.1 percent, to 979.

17. Volvo: 7,994, up 4.1 percent.

The XC90 continues to lead, up 0.3 percent, to 2,869.

XC60 was up 20.1 percent, to 2,218.

S90 was up 373.2 percent, to 918. Volvo sold 32 new V90s and 253 V90 Cross Country models.

18. Porsche: 4,709, off 9.1 percent.

Macan sales dropped 28.8 percent, to 1,641.

Porsche’s second-bestseller last month was the 911 line, up 35.6 percent, to 1,016.

Cayenne was off 28.1 percent, to 869 and Panamera was up 25.2 percent, to 557.

Cayman/Boxster sales rose 32 percent, to 626.

Luxury/Premium Brands, YTD:

1. Mercedes-Benz 213,242 2. BMW 194,604 3. Lexus 193,463 4. Audi 141,606 5. Acura 101,180

Sports Cars and EVs, YTD:

1. Chevrolet Corvette 17,385 2. Chevrolet Volt 13,895 3. Chevrolet Bolt 11,670 4. Nissan Leaf 9,685 5. Mazda Miata 8,871 6. Toyota 86/Scion FR-S 4,977

Midsize cars, YTD:

1. Toyota Camry 238,373 2. Honda Accord 221,013 2. Nissan Altima 183,292 4. Ford Fusion 138,489 5. Chevrolet Malibu 117,173

Compact CUVs, YTD:

1. Toyota RAV4 269,835 2. Nissan Rogue 257,958 3. Honda CR-V 249,997 4. Ford Escape 208,303 5. Chevrolet Equinox 185,233

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