Gizmodo: Lexus LS 460L Self Parking Car Backs That Ass Up
Lexus LS 460 parallel parks itself using sonar, cameras, and a ginormous computer brain. More photos, and how this car works, at gizmodo.com
Guy Nicolucci: Going Native in Los Angeles
#2 "I worked all week and I need to rest (in front of the TV)."
Now that I've been drafted into the army of the unemployed, #1 and #2 have lost their magical powers, which means I've actually had to leave my house and do things. Last weekend, my wife signed us up for a two-day self-guided tour of the Native Plant Gardens of Los Angeles.
If you're like me, you think a native plant in Los Angeles is medical marijuana, and that its natural habitat is a storefront clinic in a strip mall next to a Foster's Freeze and restaurant that sells Chinese food and fried donuts.
It turns out that in order to save water and otherwise encourage a Green lifestyle, many homeowners are planting only flowers and trees that are originally from Los Angeles. In other words, plants that thrive in an atmosphere of ambition, bitterness, envy and car exhaust.
The first garden we stopped at was at a chateau in the hills that give Beverly its last name. We wound around twisty canyon streets that seemed to go nowhere, until we reached a house with row of Priuses parked along the curb. We walked through the house, which the owner had graciously opened for the tour, and I started wondering if there was an episode of "Law & Order" in which the burglar cases his victims' houses by signing up for a native plant garden tour. (If not, look for my spec script next week.)
The crowd visiting the native plant garden apparently all shopped at a the same clothing store. You know the one where if you buy his-and-her clogs the salesman throws in a fleece windbreaker. The rest of their outfits ran the gamut from from cargo pants to cargo shorts.
The garden was in the backyard, but you have to remember that what's called a backyard in Los Angeles is known in the rest of the country as a "cliff." The plants didn't grow, they clung to the side of the hillside waiting for a search-and-rescue team to lower a ladder from a chopper.
The garden/cliff looked a little weedy and sparse to me. I asked my wife, "When are they going to finish planting their garden?" She shot me the don't-embarrass-me look. "This is what it's supposed to look like," she said.
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Racing Dynamics Lowering Springs - w/o Self Leveling Rear Shocks [82-88 528/535i (E28)] (Andy's Auto Sport) Price: $265.00 This spring kit lowers the car down about 1.5"" (40mm)" |
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Racing Dynamics Lowering Springs - w/o Self Leveling Rear Shocks [6/82-89 633/635i (E24)] (Andy's Auto Sport) Price: $265.00 This spring kit lowers the car down about 1.5"" (40mm)" |
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