Looking to upgrade from TSX to TLX

The 3-year lease on my 2012 Acura TSX is coming to an end soon and there is a new Acura being unveiled soon in Honolulu.

At first, I was thinking about a hybrid car like the Chevrolet Volt or an SUV like the Mazda CX-5 or even the Acura RDX.  But, Acura is giving out pretty good lease options for their best lease customers, like myself, for its new Acura TLX.

I don't want to get all geeked out explaining to you some of the best features of the TLX.  Let's just say that this is the next generation of Acura vehicles and this will lead the way for the luxury brand for the next several years.

One of the considerations for my next car is the inclusion of CarPlay.  While the TLX does not come with CarPlay standard -- only a few cars do -- it does come with Siri Eyes Free and I'm hoping I will be able to use CarPlay in the future.  Of all the Acura vehicles in the current lineup, the TLX is most likely to have that as an upgrade in the future.

Why Your "Planet Of The Apes" Blu-Ray Set Won't Play

The "Planet of the Apes" 40-Year Evolution Collection on Blu-Ray is fantastic!  The video holds up well and the audio is top-notch!

However, many people have had problems, including myself, with playing the Blu-Ray discs. I had particular trouble playing Discs 2 and 3.  But, I found a solution! I wanted to document it here so that everyone can enjoy this epic movie series.

Remembering My Visit To The U.S.S. Ronald Reagan

Today is the one year anniversary of the day I visited the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ronald Reagan.  It was one of the most memorable days of my life!

My First Night At Eat The Street

Oink oink!

This was my very first Eat The Street event and last night's theme was PORK. It was a wild and crazy night of gorging ourselves silly. I just wanted to share some of the photos I took.

Eat The Street: Pig Out! Preview

Eat The Street has been going on since April of this year but I haven't had a chance to go because I usually work on Saturday mornings.  Eat The Street is a chance for the local food trucks to showcase their food for those who don't get to them during the week because of location and time constraints.

Thankfully, I have a chance to go today!

The theme today is "Pig Out!" and that mean PORK.  The full menu can be found here.

Here's a list of the food I'm looking forward to:

To iPad 2 Or Not iPad 2?

Now that I've had a few days for the features of the new Apple iPad 2 to sink in, it's time for me to give my two cents about the new tablet.

Although I've been telling most everyone that I don't plan to upgrade, I've been rethinking that now since this seems to be a good time when people are thinking about picking up the iPad 1 for reduced prices.  Still, in my mind it's NOT a done deal.

Let's take a look at the pros and cons of buying the iPad 2.

Photos courtesy of Apple

Blue Collar Super Bowl

Today is the Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers and the world will be going party crazy over this.

The headline on The Daily, the first iPad-only newspaper, says it best:  "Blue Collar Bowl."

For the last 25 years or longer, the Super Bowl and the NFL in general has been Hollywood-ized.  From the Super Bowl Shuffle to the Hollywood actor good looks of winning quarterbacks like Joe Montana to Tom Brady marrying a Hollywood actress.  And I think people are sick of it.  I remember a time of the Steel Curtain, the tough-as-nails Oakland Raiders and the bust-your-gut Miami Dolphins.  Football used to be a tough guy's sport.  Players you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.  Ugly guys spitting blood.  But, for better or worse, the league was invaded by players like "Neon" Deion Sanders.  I don't mean to disrespect players like Sanders, who is being inducted into the Hall Of Fame and deservedly so.

But, I think are gravitating to people they can relate to.  Who can relate to someone who goes to Hollywood parties and dates a star every week?  Sports figures like Tony Romo and Alex Rodriguez have felt the public's animosity toward them for that type of lifestyle.  That's also fueling the public's liking for Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers who is able to step out of the shadows of the more flashy Brett Favre.  Even Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger seems like your dumb cousin who, no matter how many dumb things he does, can't seem to figure out how to stay out of trouble.  The defense on both teams seem like throwbacks to the 1970s with the long-flowing hippie hair, the nasty beards and the ugly mugs (except for Troy Polamalu).

I'm going with the Pittsburgh Steelers but it will still be a great Super Bowl if Aaron Rodgers can pull it off.