Archive for July, 2009

Subaru AWD For Life Commercial

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Click image above to view video.

A couple months back, Amy and I got casted in a commercial for the new Subaru 2010 Legacy. I don’t know how else to put this: basically they were going to pay us all a good amount of cash to stand around as if we were at a typical Subaru meet. I guess the marketing folks at Subaru have a thing for the whole community aspect of owning a Subaru; kind of cool I guess. We each walked away $1200 less poor after 2 nights of standing around and eating free food somewhere in Long Beach.

I'd bent all 4 Advan wheels and was rolling on stock BBS for a while.

Honestly, I was stoked considering I’d just bent all of my wheels at Streets of Willow maybe a month prior and hadn’t located new wheels yet. This was before I’d upgraded to a Project Mu big brake kit, so I could still fit the stock wheels. Later on after the big brake kit, I could no longer fit stock wheels in the rear, but that’s another story. Anyway, Subaru made this YouTube video called “AWD For Life” and I happen to be in it here and there.

I’m the guy who says “With these cars they’re quick out of the box and if you want to make them even faster, it doesn’t take a lot.” At the time, I was still rocking Stage 2 (turboback exhaust and intake) but still managing a healthy 90whp gain over the factory. Since then I think I’m at 130 over the factory output and almost pushing 400wtq? Yeah, it’s quick alright! I think I’m past the “it doesn’t take a lot” though, oops. I can’t wait to get casted in another commercial or even a movie.

Posted in Auto, Blog, Subaru | No Comments »

Michael Schumacher Returns To F1

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Michael Schumacher will make a dramatic return to Formula One.

Ladies and gentlemen, seven time Formula One world champion, Michael Schumacher, is making a comeback. I get the chills just thinking about how the rest of the race season is going to unfold and let’s not forget, Hamilton just won the last race in Hungary. Schumacher vs. Hamilton? Let’s see it, I want to see it! At 40 years old, it’s hard to say whether he’ll be competitive, but I have faith in the legend.

I do feel bad for Felipe Massa, it’s truly regrettable what happened, and it’s said in the news that he’s making good progress. Still, for Schumacher to come back now, it’ll be exciting to watch him overcome the many challenges facing him. Assuming he’s not doping up, we’ll be seeing him in a month’s time in Valencia, a race I dare not miss! Stay tuned.

Posted in Blog, Motorsports | 2 Comments »

Nissan 370Z Woops BMW Z4, Duh

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

Click image above to watch video.

To be honest, I’ve never been a super big Nissan fan. Sure, I love the GTRs and the Silvias, but that doesn’t count. Everybody and their mother love those cars. The Nissan 350s, the Maximas, that’s what Nissan’s normal lineup consists of, and I can’t say I’m dying to get into the seat of any of those cars. Still, when I’d seen the latest Top Gear with good old Jeremy Clarkson matching a Nissan 370Z against a BMW Z4, I was a bit underwhelmed. I mean really, who ever thought a BMW “Zed” 4 would ever outrun a Nissan 370 “Zed”; it’s just not possible.

Sure the horsepower sounds the same, and the shape of the cars look around the same ballpark, but here’s why a BMW will lose every time. It’s heavy. It’s made for people who like to drive 90mph on the 405N, and feel like they’re driving 40mph. The BMW Z4 is a luxury car on Halloween with a sports car costume and it isn’t fooling a soul (some people like that sort of thing, so in that case, it’s consensual). Sometimes I think that’s why people speed on the freeway like it isn’t a big deal: suspensions that don’t have feedback.

I think if people could actually drive with what 90mph is supposed to feel like without all that soft dampening from the shocks and sound deadening material, they’d feel a little more weary about driving at speed and making illegal maneuvers. Imagine having to drive a stripped out Z4 with nothing but a cage and a race seat; I can only imagine.

Posted in Auto, Blog | No Comments »

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

If only it were longer.

A few years ago when Harry Potter first came around, I honestly thought it was just some little kid’s movie not worth seeing. I continued that thought until recently, as in last week. My curiosity got the best of me and my buddy Jon conveniently volunteered his collection for my viewing pleasure. I must say, I was rather addicted and watched a movie a night, watching two on Friday night. Having finished 1 to 6, I couldn’t resist; we had to watch the latest!

Last night after dinner at First Class Pizza in Irvine next to Woodbury (very good pizza by the way), we drove over to the Spectrum to catch a semi-late showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Without spoiling any of the plots, it definitely didn’t disappoint and maintained the Harry Potter standard. I’ve heard that it deviates significantly from the plot of the books, thereby upsetting some folks. Consequently, I’ve decided to take up to reading the entire collection so that I’m fully aware of all the miniscule details neglected in the movies.

I didn’t have the patience to acquire all 7 books by mail, so I conveniently acquired the collection via PDF. How, I cannot say, but it was rather convenient! I’m sure if you’ve expressed even a general interest in the series, your interest most likely has transformed itself into something much greater and you’ve already watched the latest as well as the others before it. However, I’ve written this post for those like me, who’ve never seen a movie or read the books; I encourage you to do so in the near future. You will be entertained.

Posted in Blog, Movies | No Comments »

Video: Marcus Gronholm At Pikes Peak

Friday, July 24th, 2009