Gaywheels

Sometimes, a news item doesn’t require much explaining. This is one of those items. Behold a recent Australian commercial for the Honda Jazz, which is known in the U.S. as the Honda Fit. And in this case, our name is far more appropriate than the one from Down Under. Let the jokes about massive packing and stuffing commence! [...]

California might not be full-on pink like some other places on the big map of StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com, but it’s definitely rosier than it was yesterday. Of course, as a community, we’ve still got a very long row to hoe before we reach anything approximating “equality”, but U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker’s ruling yesterday came as very welcome news. Given the massive uncertainty surrounding the much-needed repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — not to mention the passage of ENDA — Walker’s lengthy and thoroughly decisive opinion has given us a welcome boost. It’s also dabbed a bit of salve on the heartbreak that millions experienced in November 2008, when, at the exact moment many Americans felt their country moving forward, the passage of Proposition 8 provided a bitter reminder that progress is never a straight line. (Double-entendre intended.) [...]

Looking for a new ride? What car nut isn’t? Like Simon Cowell or Gerard Butler, we’re always looking for the next Best Thing. But just like in any relationship, we have to ditch the old goods before sliding into the new. Thanks to Kelley Blue Book, we now have an easier way to do just that. Gone are the days of posting notices in the classified section of our local paper. These days, selling a car takes new tactics — ideally, tactics that leverage the many free social media resources at our fingertips. KBB’s new “Seller’s Toolkit” does exactly that, offering a one-stop shop to build your vehicle listing and share it across the interwebs. (And, if you must, in real space.) [...]

There’s a lot to love about the Ford Fiesta. It’s cute, that’s for sure. It’s compact, which is a bonus for urban-dwellers forever on the prowl for parking spots. It’s also supremely fuel-efficient, and it comes packed with high-tech goodies. Surely no one’s going to complain about that. But maybe best of all — at least on this Friday, when many of us are trying to slack off — is the Fiesta’s hunky, bearish, YouTube spokesmodel, Craig Benzine, who’s better known to his online fans as Wheezy Waiter. If you’re as desperate to dodge work as we are, put away the expense reports and check out these clips of the man in action. [...]

Once upon a time, vibrating things were awesome. There were vibrating mattresses at roadside motels, vibrating chairs at Sharper Image stores, and vibrating…well, other vibrating things. Now, Yale is out to change that. Associate Professor John Morrell from the Yale School of Engineering has developed a car seat that vibrates when a rear-end collision looms. (Watch it.) Morrell has tricked out a garden-variety driver’s seat with 20 motor tactors — the same devices that cause your mobile phone to vibrate when you’ve turned off the ringer at dinner or the theatre because you’re a thoughtful person and not some knuckle-dragging, loud-mouthed cretin. [...]

Need a break from the summer heat? Do you live in Los Angeles, or are you planning to visit soon? Then take our advice and set aside an afternoon to visit the Petersen Automotive Museum for a stroll through its newest exhibition, Automotivated: Streamlined Fashion and Automobiles. As you might have guessed from the snazzy shot above (or from the show title), Automotivated is all about wheels and wearables, centering largely on vehicles from the Art Deco period. The rides on display include a 1913 Mercer Raceabout, a 1938 Delahaye 135MS Figoni et Falaschi Roadster, and numerous sleek, exotic models made in-between. [...]