So I was driving back from rehearsal down Hilltop in my subdivision, and I saw this car wrapped around a tree. Literally. Yikes.
Hmmm, I forget if there is usually a car parked there, perhaps nobody was in the car when it happened, and it was parked on the side of the road when a car at the T-intersection slammed into it, cause that would have been bad if people were in it. I couldn't even find the driver's seat in that mess.
Friday, 30th of March, 2001
Oh wow, I thought I was the only one in the world that believed in hot big station wagons. Apparantly that's not the case. The 1995 Caprice Wagons came with 5.7L V8s in them, weighed 6000 pounds, and still did 0-60 in under 9 seconds stock. You thought the Lincoln Navigator weighed a lot. Of course, there are tons of aftermarket parts for that Corvette engine, so these people totally deck out these wagons. I wonder how hard it'd be to install a 6-speed manual...
Thursday, 29th of March, 2001
Wednesday, 28th of March, 2001
We set off after a big breakfast back to St. Louis, but stopped at Meramec Caverns on the way back. I've lived in St. Louis for 7 years now, and I haven't seen Meramec Caverns, so I decided it was time to go. The historical significance of the place is quite interesting. I was also amazed at how long and extensive the cave is... though the tour only leads through a little bit of it, relative to how much is actually there. All those intricate passages and all that... tunnels are so much fun! But otherwise, it was just another cave... the "theatre" looked pretty cool. I'm also impressed by all the space for the ballroom at the front... some interesting events can be had in a cave! Apparantly, it will seat 1700 people.
Tuesday, 27th of March, 2001
15:00 I'm sitting on the Branson Scenic Railroad right now, it's interesting, there are some interesting historical landmarks and facts about the rail line that are really cool. The two tunnels are amazing, it's cool how tunnels and bridges that seem to be built with such little technology still hold up today! (Such as wood... thinking about rickety wood holding up the trains is kinda scary) And of course, there is scenery, without the interference of any roads or sign of civilization anywhere, so that's really nice.
23:03: Just got back from the Shoji Tabuchi show, wow. I've been there before, in the Spring of 1995, and stuff has changed. They have all sorts of tricks with the laser system now, wow. Amazing. And they have beefed up the acrobatics, tons of illusion-type show tricks, very elaborate. Shoji's crew is amazing, the dancers do everything, acrobatics, Asian drums, Hawaiian dances, trips with Cowboy lassos, you name it. I couldn't believe the same crew did everything. Talk about amazing training! And that's the thing... Shoji played music from so many different themes, wow. But I do kinda miss some of the stuff he used to play, like a little classical, and he also had that Fiddler on the Roof set, that's gone now. Some of the sets he played from this time were even a tad on the tacky side. Owell, the theatre effects, like I said, were just fantastic. Laser, smoke, lights, fireworks, all the stage work. But I was still very impressed, Shoji is awesome. It makes me want to go back and see it again, really. And I still can't get over how ridiculously furnished those bathrooms are.
Monday, 26th of March, 2001
I spent a good part of the afternoon playing whatever duets we could find with Andrea. We had to go borrow some from Natalie's violin teacher and I stopped by M-R Music to buy Mazas and Gemniani, so that should keep us entertained for a while.
Sunday, 25th of March, 2001
Woah, GM is getting the groove on with Subaru's new AWD technology that they've acquired. They teamed up with Toyota to make the replacement for the Corolla/Prism, and are coming up with the Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix. The Matrix will be pretty tight, it's supposed to use the Subaru AWD system, and the sport model will have the Celica GT-S's 180 bhp VVTi engine and 6-speed. WOW. Poor man's Audi, much? And it's a wagon, essentially, but the rear seats fold to the floor. That's European mini-MPV style! And this is built in Canada, so I expect high quality, not like certain Mexican-built autos.
They're also stealing the Subaru ST-X concept with the Chevy Borrego. It's essentially the same thing, with the Legacy platform, 2.5L turbocharged flat-4, and the mid-gate and all. Styling looks pretty nice.