This is the Genesis GV60 Magma, the first high-performance EV from the Korean (Hyundai) brand. Beginning earlier this year in Arjeplog, Sweden, the GV60 Magma faced formidable winter conditions before continuing through the searing heat of California, the high-altitude mountain ranges of New Zealand, and the diverse roadways of Spain. In September, Genesis engineers conducted the final stages of real-world assessments in Korea, driving from the Namyang R&D Center to Chuncheon and completing intensive laps at Inje Speedium Circuit. Set to be unveiled later this year, the GV60 Magma 'represents a pivotal milestone for Genesis as the brand marks its 10th anniversary," according to Genesis PR minions. As Genesis’ first high-performance EV, the model "combines a decade of innovation and luxury philosophy with cutting-edge performance engineering to deliver a truly distinctive driving experience," according to the manufacturer. Editor-in-Chief's Note: Until further notice, this is AE's first official entry to "The Answer to the Question That Nobody's Asking" Sweepstakes for 2026. Genesis operatives are aiming to have Magma become a brand that competes with BMW M, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. Talk about a giant "We'll see." -PMD

Porsche is touting this advanced interior architecture for the new Cayenne as carrying Porsche’s design DNA into the future. It features a newly developed operating concept called Porsche Digital Interaction - a higher degree of personalization than ever, with new material and accent packages, Innovative Flow Display as part of the largest ever display area in a Porsche – blending digital displays with physical buttons for key functions, and "Mood Modes" for immersive driving experiences. Editor-in-Chief's Note: Color us underwhelmed, as Porsche has gone down the road remarkably similar to every other automaker touting the "future" of their interior designs. But then again, maybe it's appropriate for the new buyers considering a Porsche these days. Most of them kinda-sorta-maybe seem to understand what Porsche is supposed to be all about. Nah, never mind. Most of them don't have the faintest of clues. At some point Porsche operatives will lose sight of everything including its soul, no matter how many $300,000 911 Turbos they crank out. -PMD


Editor-in-Chief's Note: How crazy is the retail sales environment right now? Experian is reporting that almost 1 in 5 new car payments are $1,000.00 or more, according to Automotive News. More than 53 percent of new-car buyers who committed to a $1,000-plus loan payment from January to July this year bought an SUV, according to Experian. About 37 percent bought pickups; more specifically, 5 percent of all those new buyers paying $1,000 a month or more bought a Ford F-150. For those of you out there who still don't think there's a burgeoning crisis in affordability, all I can say is, really? -PMD

"Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads, from the album "Remain In Light" (1980).* Written by David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Brian Eno. Watch the Official Music Video here.

*This song deals with the futility of not being happy with the things you have. Like trying to remove the water at the bottom of the ocean, there's no way to stop life from moving on. The forces of nature (like the ocean) keep you moving almost without your conscious effort - like a ventriloquist moving a puppet. David Byrne shed some light on his lyrical inspiration when he told Time Out: "Most of the words in 'Once in a Lifetime' come from evangelists I recorded off the radio while taking notes and picking up phrases I thought were interesting directions. Maybe I'm fascinated with the middle class because it seems so different from my life, so distant from what I do. I can't imagine living like that." Some of these evangelist recordings also made their way to a 1981 album called My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, by David Byrne and Brian Eno.

This song stalled at #103 in February 1981, but when MTV launched that August, they played the video a lot, giving the song much more exposure. David Byrne's choreography in the video was done by the Toni Basil, who had a hit as a singer with "Mickey." It was a very odd video, and for many viewers it was the first look they got at the Talking Heads (or at least Byrne - the full band didn't appear in a video until "Burning Down The House" two years later). 

As you watch David Byrne spasm like a malfunctioning robot interspersed with gesturing in Martian sign language, ponder this excerpt from the book MTV Ruled the World - The Early Years of Music Video, in which Toni Basil fills in some details about the choreography for this video: "He [Byrne] wanted to research movement, but he wanted to research movement more as an actor, as does David Bowie, as does Mick Jagger. They come to movement in another way, not as a trained dancer. Or not really interested in dance steps. He wanted to research people in trances - different trances in church and different trances with snakes. So, we went over to UCLA and USC, and we viewed a lot of footage of documentaries on that subject. And then he took the ideas, and he 'physicalized' the ideas from these documentary-style films."

Basil adds: "When I was making videos - whether it was with Devo, David Byrne, or whoever - there weren't record companies breathing down anybody's neck, telling them what to do, what the video should look like. There was no paranoid A&R guy, no crazy dresser that would come in and decide what people should be wearing, and put them in shoes that they can't walk in, everybody with their own agenda. We were all on our own."

Some critics have suggested that "Once In A Lifetime" is a kind of prescient jab at the excesses of the 1980s. David Byrne says they're wrong; that the lyric is pretty much about what it says it's about. In an interview with NPR, Byrne said: "We're largely unconscious. You know, we operate half-awake or on autopilot and end up, whatever, with a house and family and job and everything else, and we haven't really stopped to ask ourselves, 'How did I get here?'"

Brian Eno produced this song and wrote the chorus, which he also sang on. David Byrne wrote the verses, which he talk/sings in an intriguing narrative style. Remain In Light was the fourth Talking Heads album, and the third produced by Eno, whose artistic bent and flair for the unusual were a great fit for the group.

Unlike their previous album, the songs on Remain In Light were mostly written in the studio (Compass Point, the Bahamas) and all credited to the four band members plus Eno.

The video broke new ground when it was exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art as part of a 1982 exhibition called "Performance Video." The exhibit helped explain to parents what their kids were watching on MTV. It explained how the "Once In A Lifetime" video "expands upon the song's complex interweaving of moods and images as well as Byrne's interest in African music and percussion."

When Talking Heads toured to support their next album, Speaking in Tongues, in 1983, Byrne did the movements from the video when he performed the song. Not only that, he added movements to other songs they performed on that tour as well, making for some very unorthodox visual expression. Audiences were used to seeing pyro and flashing lights, but had never seen anything like the full band running in place ("Burning Down the House") or Byrne turning himself into a human corkscrew ("Life During Wartime"). The experience was so striking it got the attention of director Jonathan Demme, who filmed a few of the shows and turned it into the acclaimed concert film Stop Making Sense. (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)

 

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