OK, so a couple of you folks are fans of Top Gear. I tip my hat to your superior taste in television programming.

This show makes me despair for US car culture, US auto makers, AND US television, and it's great.

I love the Celebrity in a Reasonably Priced Car bit. I mean, who thought Dame Helen Mirren would take a spin around the track with such gusto?

I love how they relentlessly pick on American cars, because they can't take a corner. Seriously, I'm looking at the MINI, because for the money, there aren't a lot of "hot hatch" choices here and I like to take a corner with even more than Dame Hellen Mirren levels of gusto.

Then, there's the Trucking Hell challenge, where Clarkson ends up with his truck on fire. Then, there was that time they nearly got murdered in Alabama!

Seriously, I love this show.

The first Top Gear I ever saw was the one where Jeremy drives a Peel P50 through the BBC offices which was hiiiiilarious and then I think I saw a repeat of the American challenge which was incredible. After that I kept watching because the wacky features and challenges were always good, but I slowly realized over the breadth of season 12 that I was just tolerating the parts where they drive a supercar around a track and wax philosophically about it's brake-horsepower and traction control because really I don't give a shit about supercars in any way, shape, or form unless jokes are being made onscreen.

I always like it, but so far this season (which I think is actually "last" season) I've just been coasting.

I find the show generally pretty hilarious, and love the back and forth with the three. I most especially love the Celebrity in a Reasonably Priced Car bit. I admit I got very exasperated with the drive through the southern US bit, because really? I have so little patience for tired stereotypes being lazily exploited and passed off as good television.

Posted By: scotthen an entire season of more or less interchangeable things that cost more than my house made me realize that if I had that kind of money to spend on a car, I'd definitely buy 22 Yarises and play soccer with them instead.

Yes.

I've been watching James Mays' Toy Stories, where James takes classic toys from his youth, enlists some disaffected youth, and does crazy shit with them. It's good stuff.

Posted By: GeorgeOooohhh, I need to find this.

Let me know if you can't and I can hook you up.

was everybody pissed that a dude drove a car through the building that day? I imagine the offices all smelled like my jacket smells after running the snowblower.

Posted By: DorLet me know if you can't and I can hook you up.

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

this board needs a robot account that you can message with a date that you'd like a specific topic to be ressurected, like google calendar but stupider.

Posted By: scotthis board needs a robot account that you can message with a date that you'd like a specific topic to be ressurected, like google calendar but stupider.

NECRO BOT! NECRO BOT!

let's all agree to spend the next year taking up warhammer 40k and have the board suddenly turn into a warhammer 40k board like somebody flipped a switch.

#onlineexperiments #lifestylechanges

Posted By: GeorgePredictably, I will be distracted away from this for several weeks and then in, oh, June, remember and then proceed to harass you about it. You've been warned.

That'll give me time to redownload the episodes I've already watched and deleted and then upload them.

Sweet. Thanks!

Posted By: soleI watched the first one. I pronounce it awesome.

Watching it right now. OMG this is so good. Thanks again.

I think it's a very quaint show. I don't even care about all the references to British culture that I'm absolutely clueless about.

My server is provided by Site5.

I watched one of May's episodes and I was positively delighted.

Posted By: DorFor anybody who wants them, the first 6 episodes of James May's Toy Stories are availablehere.

I got distracted by things like WORK and LIFE and didn't download the last 4 episodes and how they are GONE and I am SAD.

Sorry I didn't avail myself of this opportunity properly.

I will be forever in your debt.

Thank you! Downloaded.

After watching that and realizing that I had partially seen it, I have figured out that one of my problems with Top Gear lately is that I get up to work out in the morning so I am tired and zone out or look at a laptop when it's on and miss the point. I need to make more of my brain available.

I wonder if Top Gear's budget is like and if they have to do some kind of financial load balancing between shows like that one where they demolish a mall and shows where they just race a used car on a track for 24 hours (zzzzzz).