Oh, Heidi. Lieben Sie Mich? Nein? OK.

I somewhat despise the worship of celebrities. Many who know me remember me being an insane Sting fan, but as I've aged I more or less don't care about who celebrities are personally.

That said, Heidi Klum is pretty cool. She's gorgeous, of course, seems smart and personable (in spite of, or perhaps because of being a model), and she's got a great German accent. When she does speak German, she speaks it in that sauntering, effervescent and poetic way that Americans hear little of. She's also married to Seal, which seems like a sound choice if you're not married to me, to say the least.

She's appearing in an American VW commercial that's kind of odd, but I like it a lot. VW's ad agency Crispin Porter and Bogusky is the same one that does Burger King's strange commercials. This particular commercial shows her being interviewed by a classic 1950's Beetle. VW's "Das Auto" campaign is one being used all over Europe as well, though I don't know whether or not they are being done by the same agency. "Das Auto" in German simply means "The Car," of course, but in the context VW are using it, it means The Car.

Here's the American commercial she's doing:



But in Europe, she's doing a commercial for the VW Tiguan, an as-yet unreleased small SUV that will be in America shortly. This one features her and Seal, as the couple live in Germany half-time and are subjects of even more media attention than here. Here's the commercial in German:



And the same commercial, shot for shot, in English:



I guess what I'm saying is, Heidi, if things don't work out with Seal, the passenger seat in my Jetta is currently empty, and it reclines.

White Folks Like Macs

The 40th thing white people like, according to this blog titled Stuff White People Like, are Apple products.

That's hilarious. It's true, but hilarious. The blog is obviously tongue-in-cheek, but he does have a few lines that have me pegged:

"Apple products also come with stickers. Some people put them on their computer, some people put them on windows, but to take it to the pinnacle of whiteness, you need to put the Apple sticker in the rear window of your Prius, Jetta, BMW, Subaru 4WD Station Wagon or Audi."

Good thing I don't have an Apple sticker on my Jetta right now. Only my last 3 Jettas did. And the VW Rabbit I had before that.

Examples of other Stuff White People Like are Mos Def, The Idea of Soccer, Study Abroad, and Coffee, which is #1. Barack Obama, by the way, is #8. Hey, I like Mos Def, but I actually play soccer, damn it.

Anyway, back to the Mac thing. I don't think I've even mentioned it at length on this blog, but I'm a HUGE Mac-usin' guy going back to 1995 or so. Before the iMac and the iPod or iAnything I was in love with Apple's computers. I had the double influence of having to use them in my high school's graphics department, and knowing a guy who knew a lot about them (you should always know someone who knows a lot about computers). My Mac evangelism has become something of a cartoonish idiosyncrasy among my friends, but that's totally OK, as long as it's not my only redeemable trait (it isn't is it!?). Besides, several of my friends now use Macs, and so far I've got mostly good feedback even though they're all former Windows users.

I don't however, use my current machine, an Aluminum PowerBook G4 12" in cafes to look creative and unique. Well, maybe just a few times.

The new Scirocco

Over the weekend, LeftlaneNews.com posted leaked photos of the production version of the new Volkswagen Scirocco. I've been looking forward to a new one since the Corrado was discontinued in the early 90's (the Corrado was basically a more-expensive heir to the Scirocco concept, and was quite the screamer on the Autobahn), so this is exciting.

The old Scirocco of the 70's and 80's was a car I feel a deep love of; it was an aspirational vehicle for me as a child. We used to weave through rush-hour traffic like a hot knife through butter in that car. These cars were sporty, two-door "GT" cars that were in competition with cars like the more well-known Toyota Celica. My older brother had two Sciroccos, and the last one he had was the 16-valve Mark II in bright red with a black leather interior. I believe it was Road & Track magazine that referred to this version in 1986 as "a Volkswagen for the perpetually impatient."

The new Scirocco may not be imported to America because the GTI is selling so well here, and in many ways they are similar cars (they're both hatchbacks with similar engines and handling character). It's possible that the Scirocco will replace the GTI at some point during the product cycle, but it will likely be much more expensive, especially since it's a bit more luxurious.

Lately, I've sort of felt that my 2000 Jetta, comfortable and reliable as it is, has made me a bit complacent as a driver. The Scirocco, or GTI would be far more involving, although I've considered the Scion TC because it is spiritually much like an updated Scirocco in its character (and in price; $17,000 as a base price is more in the spirit of the Volkswagens of yore).

I have to say though, the new Scirocco pictures aren't that impressive. The car does not look as aggressive as the concept car, but I've said that many times before seeing the car in person, only to be impressed with how elegant it turns out to be in reality. The new mini-SUV Tiguan by VW may be the only SUV I'd own, now that I've seen it in person at the auto show.

Addendum: Wired News has this tidbit today about VW introducing a diesel hybrid Golf/Rabbit that gets about 70mpg, with lower emissions than either the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid. Looks promising. If only Americans were not so afraid of diesel. My father's non-hybrid diesel Jetta already gets 50mpg, and has actually seen its resale value increase every time the cost of fuel goes up.