Short-reviews - we sat in them at the Chicago Auto Show (part one)

GMC Terrain

Likes: Styling inside out has been drastically improved. You can now option for a 1.6 diesel engine.

Dislikes: We loathe the push button gear selector and how its awkwardly placed in the dashboard.

Overall: It looks better than an Equinox but it still feels like one.



Volkswagen Jetta

Likes: We love the new digital display. The rear seat is even roomier than the current form. The interior build quality has been dramatically improved.

Dislikes: Typical Volkswagen play it safe styling.

Overall: Looks like another winner from Volkswagen.



Jaguar XF Sportbrake (sedan shown above)

Likes: It's the Jaguar Wagon we've been hoping to see again. The boot space and rear seat space is much better than the sedan.

Dislikes: Americans (most not all) hates wagons. We can't afford it and we're sad about that.

Overall: There will be a cheaper version coming soon with a 2-liter turbo engine.



Ford Eco Sport

Likes: Mini-Escape looks (which isn't a bad thing), the interior is spacious for five.

Dislikes: The boot door swings out instead of upward like most crossovers. We're not entirely sure about the 1-liter eco-boost three-cylinder engine overall flexibility.

Overall: It's another crossover (yawn) and it's starting to get a little boring at this point.



Smart Fortwo ED

Likes: An affordable electric car with decent range. The Smart Fortwo should've been electric only from the beginning.

Dislikes: Limited appeal.

Overall: It maybe the smartest Smart you can buy.

Pathological responds to Homophobic Pastor

"Are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today?" Um no. I think that’s great. I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Florida, is a little safer tonight. The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die. The tragedy is I’m kind of upset he didn’t finish the job — because these people are predators. They are abusers. I wish the government would round them all up, put them up against a firing wall, put the firing squad in front of them and blow their brains out."

"As far as the Bible is concerned, they crossed a line. The sin they performed is worthy of death," he said. "I realize our society doesn't take that, but that's what the bible says. If someone does something that's worthy of death and they end up dying, I'm not gonna mourn them."

"I think [Orlando is] safer now because of these deaths, and the reason I think that is because I believe all of these homosexuals are pedophiles, and the Bible — see our culture and our society puts them in these categories — gay, lesbian, whatever, but that's not found in scripture. And I understand the world does not want to accept that, that's fine. I'm saying as a Christian, the Bible puts people in two categories: normal/natural, unnatural."

It took every fabric of my being to sit there and listen to the things this pastor had to say about the LGBT Community. I am part of this community, and it really was hurtful to hear these things. How is it so easy to wish death upon innocent people and yet say your religion is so much better than let’s say Islam? Any ideology that promotes you to mentally/physically harm other people isn’t an ideology worth following, plus it is illegal to murder people! Society cannot function if people have to worry about being killed by insane individuals that want to push their ideologies down other people’s throats.

{Um no. I think that’s great. I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Florida, is a little safer tonight.}

No, the streets are not safer. It is quite the opposite in fact. You have a person who walked into a club and shot 50 people. What is safe about that? People lost their lives just going out and having a good time. ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?!!! It is not normal to wish death upon people who haven’t done anything to you. It is also not normal to be proud that innocent people died and say that the streets are now safer. Why is it so easy to deem gay people as rabid animals that need to be hunted and killed? The LGBT Community is not animals, we are people and we don’t deserve to be hunted down and killed for living peacefully.

{The tragedy is I’m kind of upset he didn’t finish the job — because these people are predators. They are abusers. I wish the government would round them all up, put them up against a firing wall, put the firing squad in front of them and blow their brains out.}

The tragedy here is that you are saying these awful things and have no remorse whatsoever! Those people were not predators, they were not abusers and they didn’t deserve to die! People who advocate for the deaths of innocent people should be locked away, and this applies to you because there is something seriously wrong with you! If your god and your bible are the only reasons you are not out murdering people, you seriously need to seek professional help IMMEDIATELY!!!

{"As far as the Bible is concerned, they crossed a line. The sin they performed is worthy of death,"}

As far as I am concerned you and your bible have no place to dictate anyone’s life. Especially towards those who aren’t harming other people. My life is not in your hands and it is not in your jurisdiction to dictate. You cannot tell me who to love and you cannot tell me how to live. I am not going around harming other people, all I want to do is live my life get married and share my love for someone else who so happens to be of the same-sex. This is my life and not yours, what I do in my bedroom with another consenting adult is my business so fuck off!

{"I realize our society doesn't take that, but that's what the bible says. If someone does something that's worthy of death and they end up dying, I'm not gonna mourn them."}

I’m glad our society doesn’t listen to your bible and the awful things that it promotes. What the fuck did any of those people do that deserved to be killed? Again, we are not animals and we don’t deserve to be rounded up and killed. Why can’t you get that through your thick fucking skull? You won’t mourn their deaths because your bible tells you to be a complete asshole. It’s almost like the bible and god’s word is all a personal opinion don’t you think? Besides, spending eternity with people like you would be the real version of hell.

{"I think [Orlando is] safer now because of these deaths, and the reason I think that is because I believe all of these homosexuals are pedophiles, and the Bible — see our culture and our society puts them in these categories — gay, lesbian, whatever, but that's not found in scripture. And I understand the world does not want to accept that, that's fine. I'm saying as a Christian, the Bible puts people in two categories: normal/natural, unnatural."}

Please define ‘normal’, because everything you have said in this statement is not normal at all! You aren’t even in the borderline of normal. You are so far from normal that you are in your own country on the other side of the fucking planet. Secondly, the government deemed it unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage, let’s just say most of the arguments were on a biblical stance and we all know the government shouldn’t be promoting any ideology of any sort. Third a pedophile can be both men and women and it isn’t exclusive to the LGBT Community; labeling us as pedophiles is highly unfair and just stupid. During the time in which the bible was written, the topic was much more taboo; especially when Christianity began to spread and stoned people to death for being fucking human and having natural urges. We’ve moved forward as a nation and also scientist have proven being gay is not something you ‘choose’. The bible says that rapists, murders, pedophilia and slavery are perfectly normal and there are rules on how to enslave someone as well as murder someone; in fact there are rules on what to do if you rape someone! ALL OF THOSE ACTS ARE ALL ILLEGAL AND YOU WILL GO TO JAIL!!!! Being gay is perfectly natural and has been proven in science with the animal kingdom where there are 450 species that are known to have same-sex partners. If that’s not natural then god has a lot of fucking explaining to do!

I still don’t understand why you’re so worried about what two adults do in the privacy of their bedroom. It’s one thing to have your religion and you can wear it proudly, but the moment that you try to enforce your religion onto other people that’s when it becomes a problem. I am a gay male and I am not an animal nor am I a second class citizen. Those who harm other people are a detriment to society and should be locked away. It’s sad when all you want to do is live your life peacefully and you have so many people that want to tell you how to live it and control whom you fall in love with. The validity of your religion falls under personal opinion and isn’t one that you can enforce. The law protects us from your religion for a reason just like it protects your right to practice it freely. It’s really sad that you can’t show any kind of remorse for people who were killed for just being at a bar and enjoying themselves; none of those people deserved to die. Many of the families are already going through a great deal of stress and pain from the loss of their loved ones. How can you sit here and say that it’s okay to murder innocent people and applaud a man who had a series of mental issues and wasn’t happy with his sexuality.

Weird Phobias

Bolshephobia: Some people are afraid of meeting or hearing about Bolsheviks, and their disorder is called Bolshephobia.

Apotemnophobia: People with amputations cause fear and anxiety in those who suffer from apotemnophobia.

Walloonphobia: This disorder refers to the fear of Walloons, a group of people of German and Celtic origin living in Belgium.

Parthenophobia: Those who are afraid of virgins and young girls suffer from parthenophobia.
Ephebiphobia: This term refers to the fear of teenagers.

Pedophobia: Children are actually frightening to people with pedophobia.

Dutchphobia: Some people believe that the Dutch are upsetting, perhaps because of their traditional costumes.

Heterophobia: Homophobia is a well-known, though controversial, phobia, but heterophobia refers to the fear of heterosexuals.

Transphobia: The fear of transsexual or transgender people is called transphobia.

Hoplophobia: The fear of people who own firearms is called hoplophobia.

Iatrophobia: Those who are afraid of or discriminate against doctors have iatrophobia.

Ablutophobia: Ablutophobia is the fear of washing or bathing.

Amaxophobia: The fear of riding in cars is referred to as amaxophobia, and can cause problems especially for those living in suburban areas.

Agyrophobia: Even if there are no cars around, some people still suffer from the fear of crossing roads.

Chorophobia: Weddings, prom, and parties must pose lots of problems for those who suffer from the fear of dancing.

Ergophobia: If you miss a day at the office, you could try telling your boss that you’ve suddenly developed ergophobia, or the fear of work and/or functioning.

Kyphophobia: Being in the stooping position causes too much anxiety for people with kyphophobia.
Mageirocophobia: Cooking is a source of anxiety for people with mageirocophobia.

Scriptophobia: A common phobia is the fear of speaking in public, but scriptophobia is the fear of writing in public.

Sitophobia: The fear of eating is called sitophobia, and can become very serious.

Basiphobia: Those who are too afraid to walk or stand because of the possibility of falling have basiphobia.

Cathisophobia: Conversely, this is the fear of sitting down.

Blog (responding to articles via internet)

In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.

I decided to respond to an article that lists twelve things you should never ask your boyfriend. I find many of these quite funny actually, as I can see the situation being played out. However, I will explain why some of these situations showcase insecurities in a person and how some of these may signify deeper problems than just a mere ‘question’.

"Should I get my hair cut?"
I can understand this one being a legit honest question. I’ve asked my partner this a lot and I get a straightforward honest answer. “No, I think your hair looks great” or “yeah, maybe you should consider getting it trimmed”. I don’t see how this is a question that can’t be asked altogether? I don’t understand how anyone can get mad if they get an honest answer, and to say that well you didn’t like my hair prior to it getting cut signifies you really didn’t want an opinion, you just wanted to pick a fight.

"Which dress looks best?"
(Again) you ask for an opinion and get mad at the answer you get. I never get mad at the answers I get from my partner because I asked him and he answered it to the best of his ability. Not all men are afraid of giving their honest opinion on fashion, but to get mad at the option they choose is just annoying. I may not like the shirt that my partner likes, but I’m not going to make that the option if I’m seeking opinions. I will pick the two I like and decipher from there and if I need his opinion I’ll ask and lean into the direction of the opinion that was given.

"Do you want to come to my mom's birthday party?"
I do this a lot to my partner but he mostly just either says ‘yes’ or if he really can’t participate he will say I have plans. I’m perfectly fine with it. I have gone to functions without him and vice versa. I feel like asking your partner to participate and not forcing them is so much better. You wouldn’t want to be forced into a situation you didn’t want to be in, and it should be reciprocated.

Literally anything about your weight. Anything.
This is a question I literally don’t touch with a six foot pole. It can get quite sensitive for me and my partner knows not even bring it up, even though time to time I’ll weigh myself and he’ll try to comfort me when I get depressed about my slow progress of losing weight.

"Did your ex do this better?"
This is also a big ‘no’ in my books as well. I would never ask anything about my partner’s ex and ask if I’m better than that person. I’m not a direct comparison to someone else. I want to be the person that he became attracted to not a direct comparison or competition.

 "Do find Jennifer Lawrence attractive?"
There’s a difference between saying hey I think this person is attractive vs hey want to get with that person. I’ve told my partner that I’ve seen guys I think were attractive looking and vice versa. It doesn’t mean we are lusting over that person, it just means that we have ‘eyes’ and we aren’t dead!

"How often do you masturbate?"
Some couples like to masturbate together. Some couples like to watch porn together. My partner masturbates but I don’t ask him about it because it makes for such a weird conversation.

"Notice anything different?"
I’ve never said this ever. I’d just show off what I bought or if I did something to alter my appearance in anyway shape or form, my partner will notice right away. After all, we look at each other (literally) every single day. He will notice if I bought a new shirt, got my haircut, shaved etc. It’s a little unfair however for those who aren’t as observant, it’s not that they ignore the little things it’s just they don’t notice them right away.

"Was that the best sex you've ever had?"
This is another one I wouldn’t ask my partner because it makes for awkward conversation. I like all the times we have sex because we are in a relationship and we are going to have to have some form of sexual attraction towards one another, otherwise we are just friends playing house. I can understand talking about things that turn you on sexually and wanting to try new things in bed but not ‘yeah was this better than the other times?’ and jumping down the road of argument.

"What are you thinking about?"
I’ve never asked my partner this and vice versa because we tend to be very open about our feelings. He knows when I’m upset because I wear my heart on my sleeve and I know when he’s upset because he’s very vocal about it. It’s all about keeping communication open between the two of you.

"Can we talk?"
This could mean anything. I wouldn’t take it as if oh yeah we are about to break out spill. It may seem a little daunting but at times in relationship the ‘serious’ talk does happen and well you have to be prepared for it. It’s like ripping off a bandage, once you’ve gotten over the sting the rest can just flow. I have pulled this card with my partner on several occasions and mostly they were about other scenarios and not us, it felt like a serious discussion so I used a serious tone. Communication in a relationship is important otherwise you won’t have a relationship.

"Are you still going to the gym?"
I wouldn’t bother ever asking this question unless I was looking for my partner to work out at the gym with me.

"It was twenty years ago today"

The Beatles --Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Remastered)

*****

It was more than forty-three years ago today when “Sgt. Pepper” took the world by storm, eventually becoming the most important album release ever--unsurpassed in concept, sound, songwriting and studio technology, put together by one of the greatest rock groups of all time. When it was first released on June 1, 1967, it kicked off what was considered the “Summer of Love.” With vivid tracks that were about non-violence and an extreme push towards peace and love, “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” is a concept album that sort of takes a wild turn into its own world. The eponymous first track starts off with a live audience then kicks into gear with Paul McCartney playing the electric guitar eventually giving way to their alter-ego band. “Billy Shears” (also known as Ringo Starr) lends his vocals to "With a Little Help from My Friends.” This song is a somewhat entertaining listen, but it comes off rather boring and a little basic in song structure. “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was the song that still, to this day, causes controversy. Many people believe it was inspired by a popular drug in the sixties called LSD. Also if the song is initialed, you'll spell 'LSD'. Although John Lennon has said many times this song isn't about LSD, people to this day believe it to be true. However the song is still amazing whether inspired by drugs or not. The whole structure of the song is very ahead of its time. Giving a vivid picture of a child's imagination put into a very musically complex song. “Good Morning, Good Morning” is one of those songs that is usually ignored and it is often considered a throw-away song, with loud horn section and overly loud brass. The song doesn't come off pretentious more like a loud wake up call. The album sums up with “A Day in the Life”; one of the best on the album. It starts off with a slow yet steady beat, but mid way into the song the beat sort of rises and gets louder and louder. Sort of like an innocent dream turning into a nightmare. The sound then fades away and goes into Paul's vocals. Originally his part of the song was supposed to be for another song, but it was ultimately included in this song. It does sound somewhat out of place here, but when listening to it, it does make sense. With much ties to the legendary “Paul is Dead” hoax that caused everyone to back mask much of their music. This lasted until a special interview was conducted that proved Paul really wasn't dead. “Sgt. Pepper” (Remastered) brings the sound quality to a new, more exceptional standard. Each song is clear and the vocals and instruments can be heard more clearly than ever. These few tweaks have made an album released nearly forty-three years ago sound just as good as its first release in 1967. That kind of achievement is not very easy to obtain.

Devon M

Pathological hate debunks anti-gay marriage arguments

Once again debunking terrible arguments used against gay marriage. Yes they are all terrible!


'Homosexuality injures the fabric of society, especially children.'
Allowing two consenting adults the right to get married is going to injure society how? Telling someone who they can and can't love is harmful to society because it ruins morale. Especially if that love isn't harming other people. What two adults do in the privacy of their bedroom is none of anyone's business but their own. Stop using your religion to shame people just because of your bible.


'Homosexuality is anti-procreation.'
What about the couples who can't have children, or the couples who don't want children? What you basically are saying here is the only reason for two people to get married is to have children. The bible says that man is robot and woman is baby factory and marriage is not to be expressed for the love between two individuals. It's sad that we have to use our religion to discriminate against other people because they don't follow your religious dogma. It's one thing that you have your ideals of marriage and no one is trying to take that away from you, but when you are trying to take the rights away from other people please do expect to be heavily criticized because what you are saying is wrong! Marriage should be between two people who love each other whether it is two men or two women. We should not be shaming people with our religion and saying you can't get married because its for children and not out of love.


'Homosexuality does not offer the stability of a traditional family.'
Do you have any proof of this? I've seen many same-sex couples with children and the children are happy and grow up like every other child. Just because it takes man and a woman can create a child doesn't mean they have what it takes to raise that child. Science even proves that a child can be raised by a single parent or even by a same-sex couple and grow up just like every other child. Denying a child the chance to have a loving and supportive family because it doesn't follow within your guidelines of what a family should be is just plain cruel.


'Homosexuals have a higher incidence of infidelity.'
And heterosexual couples are just the poster children of what a real marriage should be right? Wrong! They are heterosexual couples who are in open marriages there are heterosexual couples that cheat as well. Get off your high horse and use some common sense! You put heterosexuality on a silver platter like it goes with no flaws when in reality there many flaws, especially those who use their bible to try and make themselves look better than they are.


'Homosexuals have a shortened lifespan.'
Do you have any proof of to back such a radical claim? No I don't think you do and you can't use AIDS/HIV because it isn't something only gay people get. Heterosexual couples can spread it too you know, this is why they say always wear protection. Your bible is the reason why so many gay people have short lifespan because it tells you to stone people to death for being gay!! It's your bible that leads to people of the LGBT community to taking their own lives because some people rather be dead than to be who they are. It's sad that as a society if you are in the LBGT community you are frowned upon for something you can't control. You can control being an asshole and this statement further proves that!


'Homosexuals have a much higher incidence of domestic violence.'
Again where is the proof? Your bible surely doesn't say you shouldn't beat your wife. In fact there are tons of religions that say that it is okay to beat your wife if she doesn't submit to you sexually or if she doesn't do what you tell her to. There are heterosexual couples who exhibit domestic violence and often display it in front of their children and it has a negative impact on them because they see this and think that it is perfectly okay to do when they are older and in a relationship with someone. Domestic violence is not okay in anyway shape or form, but to blame this on same-sex couples and say they are most likely to exhibit this is just down right cruel. You really do have your information completely obscured and just want to make your religion and bible look so much more better than it really is.


'Homosexuals have a much higher rate of molestation than heterosexuals.'
This statement really does make me angry because it is completely and utterly untrue. Just because someone is gay doesn't mean that they want to molest children! I've seen so many heterosexuals exhibit molestation and even in the bible men were allowed to take young virgin girls as their wives and they had to submit to them sexually. Please do tell me how only gay people molest children and heterosexuals don't do any of the such. Yes you really are delusional aren't you?


'Homosexuality is not condoned in the bible.'
You can't eat shellfish. You can't mix fabrics. You can't trim your beard. You must honor Sabbath Day. You can't commit adultery. You can't go to a fortune teller. You can't eat pork. Shall I say more? We all know that you can't get your morale from the bible it isn't a good source of that. Otherwise we'd stoning people to death and reverting back to the dark ages. Jesus never preached against gay marriage!


'Homosexuals want to redefine marriage, changing the uniqueness of heterosexual marriage.'
If you believe marriage should be between one man and one woman that's fine! No one is trying to take your opinion away from you, however when your opinion infringes on the rights of other people then it becomes a problem. Why do you care so much that two men or two women are getting married? You don't have to get married to someone of the same-sex unless you are hoarding feelings for someone of the same-sex.


'Homosexual marriages will lead to other unnatural unions.'

Object sexuality does exist and there are tons of people married to landmarks, inanimate objects and including themselves. Polygamy does exist as well. Please don't tell me that your marriage is will be ruined when there are couples who get divorced right after getting married and having the whole marriage annulled like it never happened. It's one thing to want to protect your ideals on marriage and it's another to infringe on the rights of others who have no direct correlation to your life. Gay people deserve the right to be married like everyone else. Marriage is a human right. Bestiality will never be accepted because it is not two consenting adults and to say that this is your way of justifying your hate of others who aren't harming people really shows your ignorance on the subject.

Toyota 86 my rear-wheel-drive coupe

The Scion FR-S is now the Toyota 86, along with the name change the 86 has 5hp more and a slightly more updated interior. All we could say at this point is hand over the keys.

Performance: The sole engine choice for the 86 is the shared 2-liter Boxer four-cylinder which produces 200hp (205hp with six-speed manual gearbox). On paper the 86 lightweight rear-wheel-drive layout means that this engine is all you’ll really need. In reality however things aren’t even close. You’ll have to thrash the engine to get the most out of it unless you stick with the manual gearbox which seems to really work well with the engine (and also gets the horsepower boost). We wish that the FR-S had more power to play with.

On the road: The ride is firm but far from uncomfortable. The trade-off is that handling is really good. The lightweight design of the chassis means that the 86 has real agility and loves to kick its tail out at any given bend or corner you hurl it into. Steering feedback is what you’d expect from a sports car. It’s quick, precise and agile. The engine sounds good when you thrash it. Wind and road noise will enter the cabin at high levels.

Behind the wheel: We found it quite easy to get comfortable behind the wheel. There’s plenty of adjustments for the driver’s seat and the switchgear used is simple. The touch screen infotainment system is just too fiddly to navigate through with confusing menus and small on-screen icons. The front seats offer plenty of space while the rear seats are completely useless. Headroom and legroom are way too tight for an adult passenger and foot space is almost nonexistent. You’re better off using the boot space for extra luggage space.

Equipment: The 86 offers plenty of kit for the money. Alloy wheels are standard as well as cd-player, electric windows, keyless entry and cruise control. You’ll have to pay extra for a touch screen infotainment system which we say its best avoided because it’s just too fiddly to operate while on the go. But it’s the cheapest option for one we’ve seen so far.

Buying & owning: The 86 seems like a good bargain on paper. A lightweight rear-wheel-drive coupe with decent turn of pace and overall satisfying driving experience; it’s hard to justify one when you’ve got so many indirect rivals that are more refined interior wise and have more power to spare. Resale value should be good as these vehicles have been selling quite well.

Quality & safety: All you need to know is Toyota builds both the 86 and BR-Z with Subaru supplying the engine. This combo of excellent engineering should give you piece of mind. Although the interior is drab and feels very cheap in places. Stability control, anti-lock brakes with traction control are all standard. Plus smart stop technology as well to help aid in braking. There are front and side curtain airbags standard as well in case you do find yourself in an accident.

Overall: The Toyota 86 is a great lightweight rear-wheel-drive coupe that’s fun to toss around and even more fun to thrash that great sounding engine. However, there are a few negatives and these really make it hard for us to justify buying one. The interior is just too drab for our taste and the engine output is modest best unless you can drive the manual gearbox, which we think is the only way to make the most of the engine. If you like a rear-wheel-drive car for cheap this is your ticket.

Likes: Loves to be tossed in corners. Engine begs to be thrashed and when it does the engine soundtrack is lovely. Manual gearbox is the only way to really enjoy it.

Dislikes: Interior quality is rubbish. More power please. Rear seats are utterly useless. The 5hp boost really doesn’t make much of a difference.

The worse cars of 2017 (with our critique of course!)

Worse cars of 2017



Mitsubishi Mirage
Likes: It’s cheap to buy and cheap to run. The hatchback has a decently sized boot and the standard kit list is generous.

Dislikes:  Dislikes: It's rubbish to drive; engine is weak and has idle vibration. Steering feedback is almost nonexistent and the styling (in sedan form) is a little too goofy for our tastes.

Overall: This is the vehicle for someone that wants to get from point A to B. Everyone else will benefit from the second-hand car market.



Mitsubishi i-MiEV 
Likes: Cheap electric car that’s easy to live with.

Dislikes: It takes literally forever to recharge. The range is not even great compared to the Nissan Leaf. It’s clumsy to drive on faster paced roads and its interior is cramped.

Overall: The only reason to buy this is because it’s cheap. Everyone else will benefit the most from the Nissan Leaf.



Fiat 500L 
Likes: It’s roomy interior with attractive starting price. Standard features are pretty generous.

Dislikes: The sole turbo engine isn’t up for the job. Running costs are so-so and reliability is very iffy.

Dislikes: You can get a 500L with a nice discount but it doesn’t seem worth it.



Chrysler 200
Likes: The exterior styling is very sleek. The 3.6 engine is the sweet spot of the range. It’s not as bad to drive as the previous generation.

Dislikes: The transmission is too jerky and build quality is iffy. Fit and finish is worrisome as well as resale value.

Overall: The 200 is no longer in production and you can pick up many with deep discounts. Despite the deep discounts your investments aren’t well protected and reliability issues should be factors to consider before buying.



Mercedes CLA 
Likes: It’s more stylish than the Audi A3 and certainly roomier as well. AMG version has incredible power, while the entry-level four-cylinder is flexible enough.

Dislikes: The larger alloys produce an overly firm ride. Mercedes is stingy on standard kit and a well kitted CLA is overpriced. Interior fit and finish isn’t even up to Mercedes standards, not to mention the interior is just way too cramped.

Overall: Stick with the Audi A3 which is a more compelling package. It may not have the appeal of the CLA but you get more bang for your buck with the Audi.

The 5th Dimension Song Facts

AQUARIUS/LET THE SUNSHINE IN by THE 5TH DIMENSION

This was written for the rock opera Hair, where it became an anthem for young people who grew their hair out and protested the US government. In the book By the Time We Got to Woodstock: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Revolution of 1969, Bruce Pollock writes:

Among the many people calling the publisher in 1968 for a lock of Hair's mystique was the L.A. producer Bones Howe, who'd been working with the 5th Dimension since engineering "Up-Up and Away" for their first album in 1967. He'd produced hits for the Turtles ("It Ain't Me Babe") and the Association ("Windy"); he'd been a personal guest of Lou Adler at the Monterey Pop Festival where he was perhaps the only West Coast guy in attendance to appreciate Laura Nyro's gruesome performance. Later he delivered Laura's "Stoned Soul Picnic" to the 5th Dimension, for which it was their biggest R&B hit. He was shuttling back and forth between his home in L.A. and the studio in New York working on the vocals for the Stoned Soul Picnic album when the group told him they wanted to do "Aquarius."

"The thing that bothered me about it was that there'd been other releases of 'Aquarius,'" said Bones, "and none had done anything, so I was concerned about what we would do that would be any different. I went to see the show and there's a place where they do "The Flesh Failures" and at the end of the song is just a three bar repeated thing of 'Let the sunshine in' where Ragni was swinging across the stage on a chandelier and there was all kinds of craziness going on. That really stayed with me and I came out of the theater saying, I wonder if I could stick that on the end of 'Aquarius' and make that the ending. So I went back to the hotel and I called the publisher. I mean you don't mess with the music from a Broadway show. I started my professional career in 1956 and I knew a lot about what you can and what you can't do with songs. I said, look the 5th Dimension would like to record 'Aquarius,' but I'd like to make it a medley and I'd like to use the last three bars of 'The Flesh Failures' and I don't want to do it without permission. So he said okay, you can go ahead and do it."

The next problem was to go ahead and do it. "The record was plotted in the fall of '68 and more or less finished in January of '69," Bones said. "I had to do a lot of work with my vocal arranger, Bob Alsivar. Because they couldn't sing both songs in the same key, we had to do a modulation; we figured out how I was going to do the instrumental arrangement so we could change keys. The record itself is the result of a conglomeration of things. I began as a jazz musician and I know the standard repertoire pretty well. I kept thinking about a song called 'Lost in the Stars' and trying to find something to give you that kind of impression. I described it to Bill Holman and he wrote that beautiful woodwinds and strings part that's in the intro. We did the track in L.A. and the vocals in Las Vegas where the 5th Dimension were opening for Frank Sinatra. We were working in that studio in Las Vegas where you used to have to stop when the train went by. Once when we were doing practice runs while the train passed Billy started that riff at the end 'oh let the sunshine…' so I said, wait, let me put that on a separate track at the end. There were a lot of happy accidents making the record."

That the Age of Aquarius (harmony, understanding, sympathy, trust, mystic crystals, revelations) announced to mainstream America by the song had already irrevocably given way to Richard Nixon's vision of law and order troubled Bones Howe not in the least. "I was in my thirties then; I was never part of that culture," he said. "But I made records they liked. I spent my life in the studio. Sometimes I went to the Trip and the Crescendo and all of those places on Sunset Strip because I worked with so many of those people. I was the engineer on 'Eve of Destruction' when the Mamas and Papas came to sing backup vocals. I was there the first night they were there and did their first three albums."

The 5th Dimension was a highly popular ensemble group during the late '60s and early '70s. It originally consisted of Billy Davis, Jr., Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore, and Ron Townson, who were quickly joined by Florence LaRue. They at first called themselves the Versatiles, and owed their rise to Motown Records and Johnny Rivers, who had just started his own record company. This song turned out to be their biggest hit, staying at #1 for six weeks. The 5th Dimension performed several more hits over the years until 1975, when Davis and McCoo got married and left the group. The original group reunited in 1990 for a tour, capitalizing on the growing nostalgia for the music of its era.

The Age of Aquarius is when the sun is in the constellation Aquarius during the springtime. The next time that this will happen is 2448. We are currently in the age of Pisces.

This song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1970. It was the second time the group won the Record of the Year, two years previously they won the award for "Up-Up and Away."

This appeared in the movie Forrest Gump, and has a big part in the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin, where at the end of the movie the cast performs the song in Hippie costumes to celebrate the de-flowering of the virgin.

In he movie Apollo 13, there are some scenes where the astronauts are filming live feeds from space from inside the spaceship for viewing on television (the live feeds were commonly featured on network TV in the early days of space flight). In the movie, the astronauts play Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky" as the background music and theme song for the TV appearances. Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell has since stated that the real song used as the "Theme Song" was "Aquarius," as Aquarius was the name of the Lunar Landing Module that ultimately served as the crew's lifeboat when the mission went awry.

Ex-Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty used the "Let the sunshine in" refrain as the chorus for "Fort Hood," a song from his 2008 album Golden Delicious.

ONE LESS BELL TO ANSWER by THE 5TH DIMENSION

This Burt Bacharach/Hal David song was originally written for Keely Smith (Louis Prima's ex-singing partner) but she never recorded it.

Hal David on how he came up with the lyrics for this song: "I paid attention to what people said. One time I was at a dinner party when it was announced someone wasn't turning up, and the hostess said: 'that's one less bell to answer'. I went home and wrote 'One Less Bell To Answer' - 'one less spells the answer. One less egg to fry.'" (From the Independent newspaper May 9, 2008)

This song is about losing your love, and the sadness that follows the loss. The lead vocals were by Marilyn McCoo, who was the 5th Dimension's featured vocalist at the time. She sings that she should be happy that her man is gone but all she does is cry - no more laughter.

In November of 1970, the group were guests on the television series with Robert Wagner called It Takes A Thief and performed both "Puppet Man" and "One Less Bell to Answer" on the show.

UP-UP AND AWAY by THE 5TH DIMENSION

Jimmy Webb wrote this song. He was a prolific songwriter who wrote "MacArthur Park," as well as many of Glen Campbell's hits. In our interview with Jimmy Webb, he said of recording this song, "It was the greatest experience of my life in a way, because it was the first time I had been really set free. I had been working in the studio with Johnny Rivers and Mark Gordon co-producing, and I was just kind of a gopher. I went around and did everything. I did rhythm parts for my songs. But I had a good friend in Marty Paich, and he was teaching me the basics - I guess you would say the fundamentals of orchestration. And finally when we got in to do (second album) Magic Garden with Bones Howe that was the first album that I was ever given complete freedom to do my own orchestration. And it turned out great."

Webb was inspired by a balloon that his friend William F. Williams flew on promotions for radio station KMEN. Both men thought the song could be used in a planned documentary, which never panned out. This song, more than any other, is associated with hot air ballooning.

This song was first released by a Los Angeles Pop group called The Sunshine Company (best known for their #36 charting "Back On The Street Again"), who included it on their 1967 debut album in a version that used the "Up, Up and Away" saying from a Superman broadcast at the end. Around this time, the song was also recorded by Linda Kaye Henning, star of the TV show Petticoat Junction, with The Sunshine Company singing backup. This version was not released until November 2011 when it appeared on the album The Girls From Petticoat Junction. Later that year The 5th Dimension issued the song as a single, and it became their second Top 40 hit after the #16 "Go Where You Wanna Go."

This won four Grammy awards: Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, Other Pop/Rock&Roll/ Contemporary Awards or Instrumental, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo of The 5th Dimension got married in 1969. In 2004, they released a book called Up, Up, and Away: How We Found Love, Faith, and Lasting Marriage in the Entertainment World.

Bones Howe was the engineer on this track. Over the next few years, he produced most of their hits.

According to the Grammy Foundation's January 23, 2014 A Song is Born show, the tune initially met some resistance at radio, especially in Jimmy Webb's hometown of Oklahoma City, as programmers thought it was about drugs.

Desmond Carrington presented a music programme on BBC Radio for 36 years.

When Desmond Carrington launched his BBC Radio music program All Time Greats (later re-named Desmond Carrington: The Music Goes Round) on October 4, 1981, the first song he played was "Up-Up and Away." It was also the first song he played on October 28, 2016, the last time he presented the show before retiring at the age of 90.

SWEET BLINDNESS by THE 5TH DIMENSION

This is another one of the 5th Dimension's hits that was written and originally performed by Laura Nyro. When she sang it in concert, Nyro would introduce it as "A little drinking song I wrote."

The 5th Dimension sang an abridged version of this song with Frank Sinatra on one of his television specials in the 1960's. Marilyn and Florence looked right at Sinatra and smiled during the line "You're a good lookin' riverboat."

STONED SOUL PICNIC by THE 5TH DIMENSION

The members of the 5th Dimension loved this song and were shocked to find out it was written by a Caucasian 20-year-old girl from New York City named Laura Nyro. After this song became a hit, they recorded several other Nyro songs, including "Sweet Blindness," "Blowin' Away" and "Save The Country."

Bones Howe, who engineered the 5th Dimension track "Up-Up and Away," became the group's producer and introduced them to this song. Howe explained in the book By the Time We Got to Woodstock: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Revolution of 1969: "Laura (Nyro) was a good friend and I used to visit her in New York whenever I was there and she made me tuna fish sandwiches. She was great and I was a huge fan and I recorded enough of her songs so that there could be a 5th Dimension album of all Laura Nyro songs. I believe she was really an important songwriter and brought poetry to her work that kept it from being just pop. But she went where she went and the world didn't follow."

"Stoned" doesn't always mean getting high on marijuana. In this case, it refers to drinking alcohol and having a good time at a glorious picnic - Nyro mentions wine and moonshine in the lyrics as the beverages of choice. Two years earlier, Ray Charles released "Let's Go Get Stoned," which was also about alcohol.

Nelly Song facts

GRILLZ by NELLY

This song is about the cosmetic dentistry that many rappers get to show off their wealth. This dental work is called a "Grill" because it makes their mouth resemble the grill of a car. Grills became popular among the "Dirty South" rappers in the '90s.

A breakdown of some of the lyrical references:
"I'm changin' grillz everyday, like Jay change clothes" - Jay-Z's 2003 track "Change Clothes.

"VVS studded, you can tell when they cut it" - a high quality diamond (Very, Very Slightly Included)

"Poten' oil" - poten' - A drink popularized in Houston made from cough syrup.

"Call me George Foreman 'cause I'm sellin' everybody grillz" - Former boxing champ George Foreman endorsed a line of indoor cooking grills.

"You can catch me in my Too Short drop" - The rapper Too Short's 1995 song "Top Down."

"Got a Bill in my mouth like I'm Hillary Rodham" - Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband Bill Clinton.

'Tippin' on some 4's" - Mike Jones' 2005 song "Still Tippin.'"

The song features Paul Wall and Ali & Gipp and was produced by Jermaine Dupri.

Nelly told the story of the song in a 2010 interview with XXL magazine: "I called JD like, 'Yo, what chu doin', I'm gonna come down and f--k around with you for a couple days'…We just sat in there and we tried to think about it and we ain't come up with nothing. So he was like, 'I'll tell you what, let's go to Magic City.' So we just sitting there chillin', doing Magic City s--t and we got to drinking, and the more I got to drinking–I forgot who was playing, but it was somethin' that just set me off–and I was like [(humming) smile for me daddy/I wanna see your grill] and I just kept sayin' it, sayin' it, sayin' it, and I was like, 'Oh, s--t' and I was in his ear, and I was like, 'Shawty, I got it,' and he was like, 'Aaahhhh!' And he was like, 'Let's go,' and we was out. We packed that s--t up and went back to the studio, you know what I'm sayin'… us and half the muthaf--kin' club! …We went back to the studio and we hammered that s--t out, and I was like, 'Yo, we need to get Paul Wall on this s--t. And Gip was one of the first ones to have the white grill, way back in the day so I was like we gotta get Gip, too."

The song's ascent to the #1 position meant that Nelly had achieved a unique 1-2-3-4. His first chart-topper was solo ("Hot In Herre"), his second was a collaboration with Kelly Rowland ("Dilemma"), his third, a trio effort with P. Diddy and Murphy Lee, ("Shake Ya Tailfeather") and his fourth, a quartet single featuring Paul Wall, Ali and Gipp (this song).

COUNTRY GRAMMAR (HOT S--T) by NELLY

Nelly (born Cornell Haynes Jr.) had an itinerant childhood, moving to Spain and then to the ghettos of St. Louis, Missouri. He achieved local underground success with rap outfit St. Lunatics in 1996, before going solo in 1999. This Country-meets-Hip-Hop tune was his debut solo single.

The song's melody was taken from the playground song, "Roller Coaster".

Nelly told the story of the song in an interview with XXL magazine: "It was a beat that I had got from one of our producers at the time JE. I loved the beat but I don't think everybody in the group was as excited about the beat as I was. So I took it to one of the most historic clubs in [East] St. Louis. It was called Club Casino. I took it over there the same night and we had a DJ that had been supporting us previously up to that point and his name was DJ 618. He put it on right away and from that moment, you know what I'm saying, people was like, 'Boom, boom, boom' and the s--t just blew up from there, you know."

A radio friendly version was also recorded, in which the word "s--t" is backmasked, and most of the explicit words are replaced by cleaner versions and/or bleep-related sound effects.

HOT IN HERRE by NELLY

The extra "R" in "Herre" is there to indicate that it is really hot. Definitely hotter than just one "R." It's also a written expression of the St. Louis accent, where Nelly is from. Christina Aguilera did the same thing on her song, "Dirrty," which needed the extra "R" because it was really dirty. Another rap hit from the time, "Right Thurr" by Chingy (also from St. Louis), used the extra R as well.

This was produced by The Neptunes, who are the team of Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams. In addition to their own group N.E.R.D., they produced for Jay Z, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and many others, specializing in high-energy hip-hop beats. Nelly makes reference the producers in the line, "Nelly took a trip from the Luna to Neptunes."

The groove is based on "Bustin' Loose," a huge go-go hit for Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers released in 1978. Nelly's line "I feel like bustin' loose" also comes from that track.

In the summer of 2002, this was a huge hit. Listening to it didn't require a lot of thought, and Nelly had already established himself as a rapper focused on enjoying life. These kind of songs tend to do well in the summer, like "Summertime" by D.J. Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (summer of '91) and "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin (summer of '99)

This won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rap Solo Performance in 2003. Nelly performed part of the song at the ceremony, and was then joined on stage by Kelly Rowland so they could sing "Dilemma," their duet that took the award for Best Rap/Sung Performance. Nellyville was nominated for Album of the Year, but lost to Come Away With Me by Norah Jones.

Nelly performed this at halftime of the 2004 Super Bowl, which is where Janet Jackson caused an uproar by exposing a breast.

Nelly recalled recording the song in a 2010 interview with XXL magazine: "I did that in L.A… I remember 'cause Busta was in the same studio and he came through and he heard the beat and you know how Busta is, you know he's over the top. He's life, 'Yo, god! What is that sound?!!?!? [Laughs] What is that sound coming from here, god? Oh my, god! Pharrell, where was that beat at? Where was that? You were hiding that from me!' It was a little unorthodox for the time definitely coming out from 'Country Grammar' …to a Pharrell [beat], that 'Hot in Herre' sound. But, it worked and it helped me too 'cause it helped me show versatility, not just having to do one angle on some s--t."

Weird Al Yankovic recorded a parody of this called "Trash Day," about a guy who refuses to take out the trash and then describes it.

San Francisco's Latino Mix 105.7 played this for 18 hours straight on a continuous loop starting at 3 p.m. (PDT) on March 14, 2014. It was reportedly an act of stunting to promote the radio station's branding change to "Hot 105.7."

The song featured in ads aired during the summer of 2016 for Bud Light's Lime-a-Rita line.

Nelly got some heat from the IRS in 2016 when the agency hit him with a tax lien of $2,412,283. Fans responded by throwing an online streaming party for this song, hashtag

#HotInHerreStreamingParty, to help out with his tax burden. Unfortunately, royalties from streaming services are in the $0.006 range, meaning it would take about 400 million steams to erase his debt.

AIR FORCE ONES by NELLY

This song was written and performed by the St. Louis hip hop artist Nelly, from his 2002 album Nellyville, and features Kyjuan, Ali and Murphy Lee from his Hip-Hop group St. Lunatics. The song finds Nelly and his crew purchasing Nike Air Force Ones footwear.

Nelly recalled to XXL magazine how joking around with his partners spawned a hit tune: "We had got the beat from some producers back home and we had heard it—we were playing it in the dressing room as we were getting ready for the show… We had just talked about leaving the mall and my sister who used to do my styling at the time was getting things for the show—mighta been some fresh new Air Forces—and Murph [Murphy Lee] was like, 'Man you shoulda got me like two peerrr or somethin'' like that you know what I'm sayin' [laughs] and we just started playing with that and integrating that into the hook. It's funny with us, we're family first so I guess when you get around family they tend to bring out certain things in you. I don't wanna say you act more goofy or whatever, but you more relaxed around your family so things like that come out."

Nike Air Force Ones was the first basketball shoe to use the Nike Air technology. The name is a reference to Air Force One, the plane that carries the President of the United States. They were originally considered the favored shoe of inner-city youth, before Hip-Hop artists and streetball players adopted them.

DILEMMA by NELLY

Featuring Kelly Rowland from Destiny's Child, this song is about a girl who thinks about another guy even when she's with her boyfriend (thus the "Dilemma"). Nelly and Kelly act this out in the video, but also in the song, as they sing to each other by name.

This was the first big release for Kelly Rowland away from her group, Destiny's Child. Nelly was an established star and hot on the charts, but Rowland was not widely known on her own. This was a good (and very safe) way to introduce her as a solo artist and get her ready for her first album.

The chorus is based on Patti LaBelle's 1983 song, "Love, Need And Want You." LaBelle is in the video.

Nelly heard a tune written by his friend Bam (Antoine Macon), and wanted to include it on his album. Bam recalls: "We sat down at the keyboard and just messed around. Then we added some drums and Nelly began to write some words." It was almost finished when Bam put on the Patti LaBelle album I'm In Love Again and started humming one of the tracks, "Love, Need And Want You." Nelly was not familiar with the song but liked it and insisted they use the "I love you" hook. When Nelly heard the finished track, he said, "I wanted to do something that nobody would think of, and that's why I bought in Kelly Rowland. I thought she would be better on her own as opposed to Destiny's Child." (Quotes from 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh. Thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)

This prompted rumors that Nelly and Kelly were dating. They maintained that they were simply good friends.

This spent 10 weeks at the top of the American chart in 2 runs. It paused for a couple of weeks to allow in recent American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This."

The duo recorded an update of this song titled "Gone," which was a track on Nelly's 2010 album, 5.0.
Nelly recalled collaborating with Kelly Rowland on this song in a 2010 interview with XXL
magazine: "I did the Nellyville album in Miami, recorded the songs and all that [short pause] and we kind of felt like we needed a couple more songs on there. So, the last two songs that we put on Nellyville were 'Hot In Herre' and 'Dilemma.' At this time we had been on tour with the girls from Destiny's Child so we had become, fairly close to the girls and all that and I was like, 'What do you think about Kelly?' but at this time she was dating someone very close to me, I should say that, and we was like, 'Yo, fam, this would hot.' So you know we got her in the studio and s--t was magic."
This replaced "Hot in Herre" at #1, making Nelly the fifth artist in Hot 100 history at the time to succeed himself in pole position, following the Beatles, Boyz II Men, Puff Daddy and Ja Rule.

Devon picks his favorite Beatle songs from 1963 - 1970

1963 "Love Me Do" is a simple love song. The instruments are basic with only two chords used through out the whole song. The blues-like harmonica played in the song really gives the song a distinct sound.

1963 "Don't Bother Me" was written by George Harrison. Being the first song ever written by him, he regards this song as the worst song he ever written. "Don't Bother Me" was written while George was in the hospital sick.

1964 "A Hard Day's Night" "We went to do a job, and we'd worked all day and we happened to work all night. I came up still thinking it was day I suppose, and I said, 'It's been a hard day... and I looked around and saw it was dark so I said, '...night!' So we came to 'A Hard Day's Night.'"

1964 "No Reply" The song is about a young man who is unable to contact his apparently unfaithful girlfriend, although he knows she is home ("They said it wasn't you, but I saw you peak through your window".)

1965 "You've got to hide your love away" It was rumored that this was the first gay rock song, a message to Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who was gay. In the part of The Beatles Anthology, that covers Epstein's death, this song is played, giving credence to the idea that this song was indeed a song about hiding one's homosexuality.

1965 "Girl" This was one of John Lennon's favorite Beatles songs. He revealed in the January 1971 edition of Rolling Stone, that in this song he was, "in a way, trying to say something or other about Christianity" which he was "opposed to at the time." He explained: "I was just talking about Christianity in that - a thing like you have to be tortured to attain heaven. I'm only saying that I was talking about 'pain will lead to pleasure' in 'Girl' and that was sort of the Catholic Christian concept - be tortured and then it'll be alright, which seems to be a bit true but not in their concept of it. But I didn't believe in that, that you have to be tortured to attain anything, it just so happens that you were."

1966 "She Said, She Said" The song was inspired by actor Peter Fonda, who was dropping acid with John Lennon while they were together at a party at the Playboy Mansion. John was trying to take in the beauty of the girls and the atmosphere, and Peter Fonda was whispering, "I know what it's like to be dead man." John originally wrote it as "He Said He Said" because it did come from Peter, but felt it didn't sound right, so he changed it to "She."

1967 "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" The "Lucy" who inspired this song was Lucy O'Donnell (later Lucy Vodden), who was a classmate of John's son Julian Lennon when he was enrolled at the private Heath House School, in Weybridge, Surrey. It was in a 1975 interview that Lennon said "Julian came in one day with a picture about a school friend of his named Lucy. He had sketched in some stars in the sky and called it Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds." The identity of the real Lucy was confirmed by Julian in 2009 when she died of complications from Lupus. Lennon re-connected with her after she appeared on a BBC broadcast where she stated: "I remember Julian and I both doing pictures on a double-sided easel, throwing paint at each other, much to the horror of the classroom attendant… Julian had painted a picture and on that particular day his father turned up with the chauffeur to pick him up from school." Confusion over who was the real Lucy was fueled by a June 15, 2005 Daily Mail article that claimedthe "Lucy" was Lucy Richardson, who grew up to become a successful movie art director on films such as 2000's Chocolat and 2004's The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers. Richardson died in June 2005 at the age of 47 of breast cancer. Many people thought this was about drugs, since the letters "LSD" are prominent in the title, and John Lennon, who wrote it, was known to drop acid. In 1971 Lennon told Rolling Stone that he swore that he had no idea that the song's initials spelt L.S.D. He added: "I didn't even see it on the label. I didn't look at the initials. I don't look - I mean I never play things backwards. I listened to it as I made it. It's like there will be things on this one, if you fiddle about with it. I don't know what they are. Every time after that though I would look at the titles to see what it said, and usually they never said anything."

1967 "I Am the Walrus" Lennon explained the origins of this song in his 1980 Playboy interview: "The first line was written on one acid trip one weekend. The second line was written on the next acid trip the next weekend, and it was filled in after I met Yoko. Part of it was putting down Hare Krishna. All these people were going on about Hare Krishna, Allen Ginsberg in particular. The reference to 'Element'ry penguin' is the elementary, naive attitude of going around chanting, 'Hare Krishna,' or putting all your faith in any one idol. I was writing obscurely, a la Dylan, in those days." The idea for the Walrus came from the poem The Walrus and The Carpenter, which is from the sequel to Alice in Wonderland called Through the Looking-Glass. In his 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon said: "It never dawned on me that Lewis Carroll was commenting on the capitalist and social system. I never went into that bit about what he really meant, like people are doing with the Beatles' work. Later, I went back and looked at it and realized that the walrus was the bad guy in the story and the carpenter was the good guy. I thought, Oh, s--t, I picked the wrong guy. I should have said, 'I am the carpenter.' But that wouldn't have been the same, would it?" This song helped fuel the rumor that Paul McCartney was dead. It's quite a stretch, but theorists found these clues in the lyrics, none of which are substantiated:

"Waiting for the van to come" means the 3 remaining Beatles are waiting for a police van to come. "Pretty little policemen in a row" means policemen did show up.

"Goo goo ga joob" were the final words that Humpty Dumpty said before he fell off the wall and died.

During the fade, while the choir sings, a voice says "Bury Me" which is what Paul might have said after he died.

During the fade, we hear someone reciting the death scene from Shakespeare's play "King Lear."

In addition, a rumor circulated that Walrus was Greek for "corpse" (it isn't) in Greek, so that is what people thought of Paul being the Walrus. Also, in the video, the walrus was the only dark costume. 

1968 "Happiness is a warm gun" The title came from an article in a gun magazine John Lennon saw. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" was the slogan of the National Rifle Association. It struck Lennon as "fantastic, insane… a warm gun means you've just shot something." Like the composer Wagner, Lennon felt that a song must have increasing excitement, climax and redemption. The song is built from pieces of several different little songs, with different melodies and rhythms, and one after another, the excitement is increasing. The climax is the falsetto, and finally the redemption is in the continuing call and answer.

When The White Album was released in 1968, it was not commonly known that Lennon was a composer, as many people thought that he was only a lyric writer. After The Beatles broke up, their individual songwriting contributions were revealed in greater detail. 

A popular theory is that Lennon meant for this to be a drug metaphor for doing heroin:

-"Needing a fix"

-"Jump the gun" meaning to cook it up

-"Bang, Bang, SHOOT, SHOOT"

-"When I hold you in my arm, nobody can do me no harm" - heroin addicts tell how when you're on it, nothing can do you no harm and Lennon's overall nature seem to point to this.

1969 "I Want You (She's so heavy)" John Lennon wrote this about Yoko. Lennon was experimenting in heavy rock, so the song has few lyrics and long stretches of repeated chords. John Lennon sang this monofonic, as some of the troubadours sang in the Middle Ages: There is no chord behind the melody, but an instrument follows the singer's melody. The song ends with an orchestra arrangement, which was Lennon's idea, and is very much similar to the end of "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla" in "Das Rheingold" by Richard Wagner. The rhythm was based on Mel Torme's "Coming Home Baby."

1970 "Dig a Pony" There is a false start in this song that was caused by Ringo, as you can see Lennon looking back at him to make sure he's ready before they start again. What caused the hiccup is unclear: if you watch the clip, just as they are getting ready to count into the song, you see Ringo blowing smoke out of his mouth. There is a hesitation and you see him bending over, but it looks like he's already put his cigarette down prior to that. In the 1988 film Imagine: John Lennon, home video footage reveals Lennon being asked about several lines from this song by a young man who was found hiding on the property surrounding Tittenhurst, Lennon's home in Ascot, England. Lennon assures him that the song refers to no specific person and that the lyrics are "nonsense," a lyrical technique he also attributes to unspecified Bob Dylan songs. John stated in 1969 about this song, "I just make it up as I go along."

Pathological drives the benchmark 3-series (340Xi)

The old argument of young wine vs old wine certainly doesn’t apply to the BMW 3-series. Whether it’s young or aged, the 3-series sedan really is the crème de la crème of the luxury sport sedan segment. The only car that has come close to beating it is the Jaguar XE.

The 3-series offers several engine options. We are only going to focus on the mainstream forms. 320 trim gets a 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder pumping out the least powerful 180hp. 328d uses a 2-liter turbo diesel pumping out 180hp. Our favorite 330 trim uses an updated 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder pumping out 248hp. The 330e hybrid uses the same 2-liter turbo engine with an electric motor to pump out 248hp. Top of the range 340 trim gets a silky smooth 3-liter turbocharged six-cylinder pumping out 320hp. We managed to test drive both the 330 and 328d engines on the 3-series touring which we loved very much so on this 3-series sedan we managed to get our hands on the 340 trim which came with all-wheel-drive and the M-sport package.

It’s hard to fault the 340 driving dynamics as it is sheer perfection. Steering feedback is communicative and the chassis blends comfort and agility so well that it can shame some expensive key rivals. We do however wish that it didn’t come at a cost, the Adaptive M Suspension (which our tester car came kitted with) is only optional kit and well at this price point it should be at least standard. You can adjust the suspension however way you’d want it. We had ours in comfort mode because well the ride is just way too harsh in sport mode but the tradeoff is that it handles superbly and with such finesse. The only other car that would leave it shaking in its boots would be of course the Jaguar XE.

The 340 interior is typical BMW minimalistic. It’s not as plain as the XE but you’ll appreciate the British understatement that the Jag has over the BMW. However, the Jag infotainment system is a complete and utter disaster while the BMW’s iDrive is so much easier to navigate through. The controls and dials don’t feel as fiddly to use and the overall quality feels a step up over the Jag. The interior doesn’t feel as narrow either with plenty of space for four, while a fifth person could fit abreast in the rear seat, it does feel like it would be a bit of a squeeze. The boot space is about the same as in the XE.

Our 340 came equipped with heated steering wheel, heated front and rear seats. Adaptive full-LED headlights, automatic high beams, Harman Kardon surround sound system, rain sensing windshield wipers and dual-zone climate control. This and the XE are pretty much tied when it comes to standard kit. We were surprised however that we found a 340 on the dealer lot with a manual gearbox which seems to be a class rarity these days.

The 340 is probably one of the best sedans you can buy and the only other rival is the XE which does give the 340 a real run for its money. You’ll have to really want a 3-series to overlook all the rivals that offer similar performance for way less money, but not many of them hold their residuals as well and not many of them are as poised as the 3-series. The only other car that can even come close is the XE and that’s it.

Likes: The turbo six-cylinder engine is silky smooth and the driving experience is simply superb.

Dislikes: The best engine is the most expensive. Plus our tester car which was kitted out had a price tag that induced sticker shock.

Pathological reads awful tweets from awful people

The patrons in that bar were innocent and didn’t deserve to die. How would you feel if someone you loved was in that bar and they were killed? Would you go on Twitter saying the things that you are saying now? It’s really sad and disgusting to wish death upon innocent people all

because you are an ignorant homophobe.

 
Gay people are not animals and don’t deserve to be hunted down and killed like they are. Why are people applauding this man like he did such a good deed? He walked into a club and he killed 50 innocent people all because he seen two men kissing. This is the worst massacre in U.S. History! We should be shaming people like this because society can’t function properly if people have to worry about being killed just walked down the street.

There was nothing good about the Orlando Shooting. Innocent people were killed! I honestly wish there were less homophobes like you in this world. It’s really sad and disturbing that two consenting adults can’t be in a loving relationship without other people trying to dictate their happiness. Maybe we should put all the hateful homophobic people on one little island so you all can be hateful together and let society function with less hatred.

God’s moral code is completely fucked up. He allows innocent people to die and does nothing! You cannot sit here and use your god as a justifiable reason to say the deaths of 50 people is okay.

God finds gay people offensive, while people are dying every day and he has the power to stop it? But does he? No he does not! He does absolutely nothing. Again, you are using your god as a justifiable reason to hate those in the LGBT Community.    

As an ‘individual’ you are disgusting and foul. How are you able to find happiness in the deaths of innocent people? YOU are the filthy one here because no honest loving person would sit here and say these things about anyone whom hasn’t harmed or hurt others. Two consenting adults should not be killed for being in a consensual and loving relationship.     

You’ve got a twisted sense of humor. I don’t find anything funny about 50 people being killed. Maybe I missed the punch line here? Yes, most Republicans have anti-LBGT stance and most Democrats are Pro-LBGT. I still can’t see the humor in it. It doesn’t matter if he was a Muslim, Christian, atheist whatever! The point is the man went into a club with the intention to kill and that’s exactly what he did. I find nothing about that humorous. You are vile for finding this funny!

‘There’s nothing wrong with shooting a few gays?’ Let me tell you something, yes there is something wrong with shooting ‘a few gays’ in fact there is something wrong with you if you think that shooting innocent people is perfectly okay thing to do! You really do need help if you can sit there and laugh at the pain and suffering the families of the victims are going through. It’s mind boggling that some of you people have no kind of remorse and are quick to spew their hatred to fit their biblical agenda. Disgusting!

‘Disrespecting natural order?’ What in the flying fuck does that even mean? Scientists have proven that being attracted to the same-sex isn’t something that you choose! In fact you don’t choose what gender you are attracted to, so can we please stop with this lie that everyone is born heterosexual! Yes the gunman was right about one thing and that’s exposing the truth about most religions and how some people are so indoctrinated into them, that they are willing to take the lives of other people because their ‘holy text’ tells them to do so. Any religion that tells you that it is okay to physically or mentally harm someone isn’t a religion worth following. No religion should encourage harm towards those that don’t deserve it.

Gay people are not sick. There is nothing wrong with being attracted to the same-sex. You may not understand the attraction but that doesn’t give a right to judge someone harshly. Please further educate yourself it will get you far you know.

Again, some of you are perfectly okay with the fact that people have been murdered for being who they are; and it’s just disturbing as fuck. I don’t understand how two men or two women in a consenting relationship affect your life so much that you have to wish death upon them. LGBT Community contributes just as much as the rest of society. We take their money in taxes, they work like everyone else and all they want is to be treated like everyone else. Basic human rights! You may not contribute anything to society but don’t label every single person in a community as worthless when you have no idea how large and influential this community has been.

The patrons in that club all were innocent! I fail to find the humor in innocent people dying. How would you feel if someone you loved were in that club and were killed? You wouldn’t be on Twitter making this dumbass comment.

Okay, not only are you demanding the deaths of innocent people because your religion says so; but you are asking that the police get sued because they did their jobs in stopping a maniac who had already killed nearly 50 people? Are you fucking insane!!! This is why we have a separation of church and state. You can have your religion and you can practice is as much as your heart desires, but the moment you try to infringe on other people rights that’s when it becomes a problem. The government can’t support an ideology but it can support your right to practice it as long as it follows within the law of the land which is the constitution!

There are literally 4,000 religions out there with so many gods to choose from. How do you know that you picked the right one, and how do you know if that really is the word of god? I can say that every single comic book is proof that superman exists.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t give a fuck what your god thinks because his moral code is awful. I really don’t think he exists and this is just your own personal opinion which is a hateful one at that. You’re an abomination for writing this tweet.

Hey everyone this guy has it all figured out. You aren’t born gay, you are born hetero and it’s all your parents fault because they didn’t properly raise you and this is why people turn ‘gay’. Yep, I guess that means we can just toss all the science research that has concluded your sexual orientation isn’t a choice. Good job man! What are we going to do with the people who didn’t get ‘properly raised by their parents’? Kill them all? Yes we are going to shove millions of people into bars and blow them up. It’s nice to hear how you are such a good Christian and how loving and tolerant you are of other people who aren’t even harming anyone.

The reason I decided to write this post was to display the type of hatred that the LGBT Community faces on a daily basis. There is nothing wrong with loving who you are and being attracted to the same-sex. We as a society need to stick together more than ever, especially in the light of the massacre that took place in Orlando. None of those people deserved to die, and it’s tragic that even if we have gradually moved forward. There are still people who truly believe that this was the act of god and this was a just act. These people support terrorism and hatred, we as a society cannot function properly if people have to worry about being killed just going to a bar to have a good time.

Please remember you can have your opinion and you can wear your opinion but you cannot enforce that opinion onto others.  

Weird phobias

Allodoxaphobia: If you like to voice your thoughts on a particular subject, you may want to stay away from people with allodoxaphobia, or the fear of opinions.

Porphyrophobia: The color purple causes some people to be very afraid and develop this condition.

Arachibutyrophobia: If you’re desperately afraid of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth, you have arachibutyrophobia.

Blennophobia: Unless you’re in a science fiction movie, you probably won’t come into contact with slime, but some people are afraid of it anyway.

Cardiophobia: Although the heart is your lifeline, some people are afraid of it.

Coprastasophobia: Some people are actually terribly afraid of becoming constipated.

Didaskaleinophobia: If you’d rather skip class, just claim this phobia, which refers to the fear of going to school.

Nomatophobia: This phobia refers to the fear of names.

Lipophobia: The fear of fats in food may be blamed on the red meat scare of 1977.

Hormephobia: Hormephobia refers to a person’s fear of experiencing shock, which is probably made more likely after an anxiety attack.

Sesquipedalophobia: This term refers to the fear of long words, and seems like a cruel joke.

Phobophobia: This condition is described as a rare disorder and refers to the fear of having a phobia.

Hellenologophobia: Confusing, highly technical terminology — including Greek terms — make those with hellenologophobia anxious.

Cymophobia: It’s understandable that some people might be afraid of waves, but this phobia also refers to the fear of "wave-like motions."

Pteronophobia: The idea of being tickled with feathers is upsetting for those with pteronophobia.

Optophobia: Opening one’s eyes is just too stressful for some individuals.

Albuminurophobia: This very specific phobia refers to the fear of kidney disease.

Aeronausiphobia: Phobialist.com describes this phobia as the fear of vomiting due to airsickness.

Amychophobia: People who suffer from amychophobia — the fear of scratches — are probably very protective of themselves and their skin.

Anklyophobia: Some people are actually afraid that their joints will stop working, and this fear is called anklyophobia.

Blood-injection-injury type phobia: This odd phobia group includes trypanophobia (the fear of injections); hemophobia (the fear of blood) and the fear of invasive medical procedures.

Body dysmorphic disorder: Also referred to as BDD, this body image disorder causes people to imagine that they have or will develop physical deformities.

Ataxiophobia: The fear of not being able to use your muscles properly is called ataxiophobia.
Injury phobia: If you’re afraid of being injured, you have injury phobia.

Syphilophobia: One hopes that having a fear of syphilis would inspire more responsible romantic encounters.

Chemophobia: Those who get too carried away with organic diets or going green may be at risk for chemophobia, a condition that refers to the fear of all chemicals and preference for natural elements.

Rhypophobia: People who are afraid of defecation have rhypophobia, and are at risk for other health problems.