If I got a new grocery getter...

I had a discussion with one of my best friends and told him that i'm still driving my Audi. I told him I'm going to drive my A4 / daily driver until it dies. It just wouldn't be right letting someone else put it to pasture. The audi has actually never left me stranded, only sort of close 2 times. First was at church when the ignition module that drives the coils literally melted (it turned into a plastic blob) and second at a business meeting in Paramus when a $15 dollar coolant sensor failed. Both times the car actually started and drove. I admit I had to remove the coolant sensor in the parking lot and put an open flame to it but that is a long story. Sounds dumb but I used to carry a PDA with an OBD2 sensor around with me so I knew what was wrong.

So since my car is 10 years old and has 144k its time to pick a new car. When I actually buy it???? This is what you get for being mechanically inclined and using Mobile 1. After some debate with my car loving buddies I've narrowed the choices.

#1 3 series wagon with M-sport package. Make as much fun of it as you want but it's hot. The only girls I get in my car I meet at gas stations anyways.



#2 Used 2005/2006 M5. I don't know about this one. Maybe after I'm 40. Too flashy, too fast, 17 MPG on the highway.

#3 S4 avant. I know, I know, another audi, but they make good daily drivers and I wouldn't need to get another set of BMW wheels. I think I have 5 sets of wheels for the M Coupe right now !!!

What the fuck? Is life in hungary really like this?

I spend of a lot of time in the off season looking for stupid car video's and found this BMW site in hungary. Seriously, you have to check this out.



Street Legal Drift @ Night - AutoExpo M1 Budapest Hungary

BMW drifting

I'll quote Danny...."hells yea kid"


Radir and his "Salamandra" BMW in 2007

The new 1 series is, uhm, expensive...

So for all you non-BMW drivers out there, itching to get into the ultimate driving machine the 1 series looks like the logical first choice. Small, good power, "fun" written all over it, must be affordable.

Let see, if we go to bmwusa.com (i visit this site everday looking for every stupid change) and "build our own" lets see what we come up with...

1. got to have the 3.5 TT - $34900
2. sparkling graphite metalic - $475 (montego is okay as well, but my friend already has a bimmer in that color and she is a beautiful asian woman which matches well with this "flashy" metalic blue)
3. destination - $ 775 (cheaper than driving it from germany yourself)
4. black leather with aluminum trim - $1450 (how could you order anything else?)
5. sport package which gets you the cool seats and steering wheel - $1000
6. Navigation, park distance, and the IPOD adapter - $3725
7+ 19 inch BBS LM-R's (this is the joonie option) about $5000

Grand total : $47,325

Chevy ZR1 the real deal?

In general terms the Corvette is in fact a Ferrari beater in Europe. If you are looking for the previously mentioned HLAM factor you'll get more looks on the streets of Fiorano in a bright copper Corvette than a Scuderia F430 reving at 8.5K putzing around town. So to put at 600+ HP motor with huge tires, and ceramic brakes on a $100K Corvette really isn't a stupid idea. Does it narrow the domestic market for the Corvette? Yes of course as your 30 something year old single ladies probably won't lease a $100K Corvette. But they priced it accordingly and like the older ZR-1 this car will carve it's niche in the mark known as america's only true sports car.



Okay now that I gave GM some props lets be serious here. It's still a corvette, 50+ year old white men will still buy 90% of these and will clog up your local track day as they CAN NOT believe a 1989 Civic with R-comps can carry more cornering speed. It will still be loud, feel american, and build by american's to our level of craftsmanship. But I have to admit, it is close to the best detroit has to offer.

Hey look at my bike...

And this would the the appropriate HLAM Spyker bike. Ironically I don't think think Spyker sells a bike rack so you can't carry your HLAM bike with your HLAM car. Sad if you ask me.

Hey look at me

This is my favorite hey look at me car. I think it is a close match to a Bugatti because once you get over a couple hundred grand, it really doesn't matter anymore.

All the stuff you don't need

Here's a picture of all the stuff inside the new Turner E90 racecar you don't need. It does make driving more comfortable...

3 rotor EM Nationals winner

This is a video of Kiesels 3 rotor Sprite at a San Diego event. I don't think Kiesel is actually driving it. I wonder what ever happened to that BP Rx-7? Anyway I think this was he event where the test drove the car before they purchased the car. I wonder what the gearing is in this thing, listen closely :)

One last comment

You know I seriously read my Xanga site and I have to comment on my whole sarcastic "sig other" chart...

Answer this question honestly...how much time may lapse between points of communication with your significant other before he or she is totally fucking tilted?
1+ week - you are one lucky bastard as you are in the casual dating domain and typically can date more than this one individual at this time. Reap the benefits.
3 days - most definitely on at least the 2nd date with some condition of exclusivity, I see trouble coming for you.
1 day - beginning stages of a steady relationship. I see trouble coming even closer. At this point you will begin to yeild control of your "free" time in exchange for "quality" time.
1 day but he or she knows exactly where the fuck you are - you are done buddy. This is the stage when you gals scare a lot of guys off :)
<1 full day - not engaged yet...hehe
6 hrs - damn, you're fucking engaged, if you're not engaged, your girl or guy is a fucking psycho and you should get a restraining order and run the fuck away
3 hrs - well its okay now since you must be are married. You drive a honda accord and no longer have any single friends. If you are not married please see previous matrix (6hrs)

Although I think it is fairly accurate as far as the time values, I think maybe I've changed my mind about the cost/benefit analysis of each of the circumstances, call me crazy.

Joon said

God my xanga site was odd...

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Currently Reading
Running with Scissors: A Memoir
By Augusten Burroughs
see related

Does anyone know the any of the lyrics from the Clash?
"So don't complain about your useless employment
Jack it in forever tonight
Or shut your mouth and pretend you enjoy it
Think of all the money you've got."
"All across the town, all across the night
Everybody's driving with full headlights
Black or white turn it on, face the new religion
Everybody's sitting 'round watching television!"
They're actucally pretty fucking good. The first verse is from Clash City Rockers and the second is from Londons Burning. I'm not exactly a punk rocker but I remember I had Combat Rock on cassette when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. By then it had already been out about 3 years since it first came out. I remember because Rock the Casbah was on that album and they were still playing it on MTV. You know back then they would show popular music videos for a few years like Lucky Star from Madonna, haha! Now you are lucky if they show a video more than 3 or 4 times.
I guess you have to grow up in Jersey or specifically in Nutley to understand my childhood. To THIS DAY I can still remember junior highshcool and people listening to Def Lepard and MC Hammer. I was always like WTF!!!! I mean c'mon, check this shit out...
"Now your party wasn't jumping and your DJ was weak
Instead of dope beats, he was spinnin them Z's
All the fly girls who came with a beat in mind
They all up against the wall like a welfare line
Do you think for one minute that this is it?
Your party is bogus, Yo it ain't legit
You better put on the hammer, And you will be rewarded
My beat is ever boomin, And you know I get it started
Get it started!"
You party is bogus, yo it aint legit??? Instead of dope beats, he was spinnin them z's??? HUH??? I think he wrote all the lyrics to his music in 1982 the 3rd time he took 5th grade.
I spent my child hood listening to the Police and The Clash and in junior highschool I was really into Green Day, No Doubt, Bad Religion, you know that overplayed pop-punk. I just thought it was fun to listen to and at the time it wasn't that popular.
You know back in 1991-2 in New York City there were still squatters in Alphabet city (I know because one of my friends used to be one, or course she then got her masters at Cornell and another at Harvard and last I heard she was writing speaches for some politician), in general it was pretty god damn dangerous down town, SOHO wasn't full of rich people, but poor artists, they let kids go into BCBG's (my first and only time inside was when I was 16 years old). I remember hopping on the bus after school, going to the Museum (I'm a biology freak and also into 30's pop culture) and then going record shopping in the Village and then talking to a squatter or two. Then we would call our parents on the payphone around 7:30 so they wouldn't worry about us. And I think at least every other time we tried to hop on a bus to get home we had to convince some Port Authority Cop that we were NOT trying to run away from home. I guess at the time a lot of kids were running away from home. That was life in the 90's. Everything seemed so hard core back then didn't it? Now I'm just a sell out because I used to be pretty fucking hard core. I think I was a teenage rebel longer then I was a teenager. I was a very independent thinker, probably uni-bomber caliber, except I have a profound respect for life that he lacked. High school friend that is still doing Peace Core after 5 years, told me after we both graduated college, and I'll quote..."dude, your a fucking sell out, what happened, blah blah blah, you didn't used to be like this."
Hey man, no duh, I sold it, sue me! I think when you get older you only have the energy to speak up for what you believe in. Of course when you get older you have to parse down the list of beliefs. I think I just need more "stuff" in my life to believe in, right?
11:56 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Thursday, November 24, 2005
Hey, you know what I am? Of all geeks on the planet I have the coolest car. For some reason that offers me no comfort. If I ever met a chick with a similar car as mine I would probably be too intimidated to say anything.
I did something really stupid the other day. Xbox 360 came out in the states, and although I had no intention of purchasing one, I stayed up anyway to watch the release on television just to take part in the festivities. I know, I know, not very cool, but I thought it was fun. Gamers are funny as they tend to come in all shapes and sizes. You have your super nerdy RPG types, jocky Madden types, "racers" like me, and the list goes on and on. I actually feel comfortable talking to the employees at the local Gamestop. Greasy hair, gothy, weird, socially innept, cashiers are actually pretty cool in my book. I have a friend at work that dresses up like anime characters and goes to those comic book conventions. She invited me to go but I said I had to do something, that is way too out there for me. I would have gone but I would have had to wear a Japnese school boy uniform and although I love wearing a lot of black wool I don't think I would have been into enough.
Okay, now I have to watch Michelle Wie play some golf on TV. By the way she is probably the most talented 16 year old athelete I've ever seen. I'm trying to tell my 13 year old cousin to email her and write some fan letters so he can hook himself up, haha!
bb!
9:31 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Currently Listening
In Search of Sunrise, Vol. 4: Latin America
By DJ Tiësto
see related

JEEZ...it's too bad I’m in the middle of pulling an all-nighter. You know I figured these days would have ended back in college but I think I chose the wrong career. By no stretch of the imagination is engineering at all glamorous, duh.
I think when it comes to my kids I'll encourage a different line of work. Crap, why raise a bunch of geeks right?
Let's get back on the subject of work life balance shall we? Hmmm...on average I work about 12 hours a day, about twice a quarter I work on the weekend, and about once a month I have one of those 16-18 hour days. Include that with the fact I have only taken 5 days off in the last two years not including my vacation means I'm feeling pretty burned out...
The hang-up is I could quit and change jobs very easily but I sort of feel like I need to settle down first. Problem is I don't have time to settle down. Can we say catch-22? Remember Austin Powers? "I'm unhappy because I eat. I eat because I'm unhappy.." I feel like Fat Bastard, except I'm not fat. I'm full of frustration and anxiety but that tends to make you thinner.
Maybe I should be fat. Problem Is I'm probably thinner now then when I was in college. You know sometimes change is good, maybe I just need some yummy foods to take my mind off work. However food offers me no comfort, boo hoo. Sleep is what I need, and maybe a vacation, oh and a sugar-mama to make all my problems go away. I should be targeting thirty something divorcé’s instead of reading up on video game reviews and cocktail recipes.
While we are on the subject of alcohol I decided my "drink" will be vodka on the rocks. It's the only drink that offers that good initial punch that initiates the buzz-making, yet still continues satisfy well after you lose consciousness, fantastic drink. You can enhance it additionally with some ice and maybe a lime.
Okay enough of the blah blah blah....cya :)
4:20 AM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Sunday, September 04, 2005
The sun!! Jesus, I got way too much. You know when you start feeling really trippy? So after I completely dehydrated myself I did the right thing and had a couple beers. This morning I was like duh!
1:11 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Ahh yes!! Autoxing sometimes pisses me off....but it is soo much fun. Similar to caffine except instead of the pencil, it is a tire iron that you bludgen people with.
Finished a double header this weekend and had a great time. This friday is our school and afternoon race which should be a great time.
I also realized that someone that races with use, who just happens to be a girl, can kick my ass. Luckily I have a faster car :)
10:35 PM - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it

Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Massive doses of caffine make you laugh uncontrollably. Then make you pick up a pencil and stab your work mates until they are dead.
10:31 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Sunday, July 10, 2005
It's too damn hot! I feel like an old Chinese guy doing wok duty at the Golden Palace. You know I have to wear a tie to work every day which again adds to the torture of my existence.
I starting doing something about a month ago which is I write down the oddest thing that happened to me that day. Why you ask? Good question.....
Well sometime after my 28th birthday I realized I work too damn much. And it doesn't take a genius to realize the most common byproduct of overwork is a life that passes you by. So in a futile attempt to put my finger on the meaning of my existence, I decided to write odd things down. I thought about saving one bite of every meal that I eat but that seemed a little unsanitary, also a little psycho. Writing things down seemed more practical not to mention much more orthodox.
Odd thing of the day was my Dad's belly. Scenes like this are often an undesirable byproduct of hot weather.

9:30 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Tuesday, June 07, 2005
I love vacations...
The only gay thing about free time is your parents often find it a prime opportunity to get "involved" with your life. Needless, korean parents are bizzare.

2:30 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Wednesday, May 25, 2005
You know what? While autocrossing in college I learned pretty quick that overdriving is the best way to go slow. Nowadays in an autocross I try to reserve myself from overdriving to only 2 or 3 of the runs then on my last couple of runs I back it down and usually post my best times. Even though it is really cool to look like a drift king and have plumes of white smoke billow from you car, it is SLOW. Give it a try.
2:40 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Sunday, May 15, 2005
Something I realized today. I don't think I like people anymore :) I'll just stick to cars and animals.
Hey, why is the world full of so many assholes? Most are quite nice to me but an ass is an ass. Therefore I will revive the "book of rules" so thoroughly criticized by my peers.
Rule 1: Kindness is always your best friend
Rule 2: Question authority.
Rule 3: Never date your friends
Rule 4: Never re-date your x-girl friends (maybe this should be rule 1)
Rule 5: When in mixed company drink one less than your minimum.
Rule 6: Never at any cost question the love of your friends or family
I think a couple of these are new for me and definitely hard to live by. By the way there are already at best count about 150 of these rules written down either in a journal, on a napkin, or in notebook somewhere. Some of the ones I remember include...white zinfandel is not real wine, don't drink and gamble, and don't allow email to be a primary method of communication. Damn I'm a hypocrite except for the white zinfandel thing. Shit, I won't even drink anything with at least a '98 vintage anymore. My most memorial rules were more of matrixes I created while dating one individual or another including the matrix of commitment and the matrix of intimacy.
Check this out....
Answer this question honestly...how much time may lapse between points of communication with your significant other before he or she is totally fucking tilted?
1+ week - you are one lucky bastard as you are in the casual dating domain and typically can date more than this one individual at this time. Reap the benefits.
3 days - most definitely on at least the 2nd date with some condition of exclusivity, I see trouble coming for you.
1 day - beginning stages of a steady relationship. I see trouble coming even closer. At this point you will begin to yeild control of your "free" time in exchange for "quality" time.
1 day but he or she knows exactly where the fuck you are - you are done buddy. This is the stage when you gals scare a lot of guys off :)
<1 full day - not engaged yet...hehe
6 hrs - damn, you're fucking engaged, if you're not engaged, your girl or guy is a fucking psycho and you should get a restraining order and run the fuck away
3 hrs - well its okay now since you must be are married. You drive a honda accord and no longer have any single friends. If you are not married please see previous matrix (6hrs)
...
2:37 AM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Tuesday, May 10, 2005
...where's the justice ?
There are a couple things I know are in my near future.
-some r-comps for the coupe
-a new flat to store all my junk
-possible suicide if I don't get some time off work

On a side note, the only TV I watch nowadays is 24. But c'mon already with the fucking plot twists. I mean how many stupid looks does Kiefer have to give before my television explodes. You wonder how spongebob gets so much viewership.
8:21 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Friday, May 06, 2005
ALMOST FORGOT!!!
Man, I have been so busy doing work stuff that I forgot about Limerock.
First and foremost I have to say I LOVE my car :) I think I'll date it for a couple more months and ask her to marry me !
Getting track time is really a lot of fun. In real life I have to say that I am a really conservative person for a 28 year old single male. I ridicule rude behavior, don't drink and drive, don't like speaking to really, really cute chicks ( I get very embarrassed ) but I am a fucking maniac in a car. My instructor was a guy named Fred who is one of those middle aged, nerdy, "number cruncher type" that has a beautiful family, pictures of grandchildren in his wallet and a beach house in LI. Usually conservative instructors are paried with folks in "fast" cars. This "old guy" had an IP BMW club race car that really rocked. I like old guys like that. For those that don't know I have a very small sports car with race seats. I'm like 135 pounds and I have trouble getting in and out of the fucking thing. It took like 10 minutes for him to get in and out. Sorry Fred ! But I had a lot of fun, didn't chuck my car off the track completely, (had one little moment) and got home safe. Our chapter really runs a very good event. NEwayz another autocross on Sunday. I'll try and get some pics this time.
6:19 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


I'm POOPED!!
Just finished preparing for a major corporate audit. I'm not going to speak too much about non-value added activities.
Well autocross season is definitely in full swing. Just so summarize some results.
1st M-club event finished 3rd in the rain behind an old 911 on R-compounds. I figured I would be quicker if it would just start raining!!! There was not enough standing water.
2nd M club event finished 3rd in some pretty darn nice weather. Thank god for sun screen right? I tan quite easily. Everyone at work asked if I went to the bahamas over the weekend :)
1st BMW CCA autocross I finished 3rd behind an old M3 and 3 series. The course was soooooooo tight! I hate those. I get flash backs from my old college autox's :) I met a lot of nice people too. BMW folks are sooo friendly.
This weekend is another M-club event and the weather is begining to shape up in the NE. Rain is predicted for tomorrow but Sunday should be fine. I am looking forward as a lot of people are coming out. Lots of cute "car-chicks" are beating the shit out of their S2000's and Mazdaspeed Proteges. Can't wait!
6:08 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Thursday, March 10, 2005
Totally non-car related but why is everyone so shocked that Mike Jackson showed up to court in his PJ's. And why is it so alarming that all he talked about was masturbation and having sex with animals?
Duh!
8:14 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it

Sunday, March 06, 2005
Funny dream. Just to share some shit, my sister is moving to Chicago in the next couple of months and I had this dream that I was in her basement apartment and the phone starts ringing while we're in the hallway. My sis is fumbling around looking for her keys, we go into her apartment and then I end up in my x-girlfriends apartment. I knew it right away as the decor was quite tacky. Lots of funny red lacey things and those beads that people hang in doorways and stuff, regardless there is this alarm clock that is ringing and I'm smashing the thing and it won't turn off. I pick the thing up and like all engineers do, examine the fucking thing to see what's wrong with it. I look at it, then at my x and I realize that this is a dream and what's making the noise is my alarm clock. I woke up and just laughed like a crazy bastard. I mean what the fuck? I always think about how much weird shit your subconscious makes you do in your real life, but if you think about that statement no duh right? I just wish you could control your dreams as well as you audit your thoughts while your awake. I also wish that the crap you dream up would just manifest themselves in real life. Whatever I guess.
Hey, just to keep this in the realm of car related things, and also feeling quite retrospective I managed to shrink myself down and figure out why I love cars more than people. My grandfather, although probably not mechanically inclined as like 99 percent of all Koreans are not mechanically inclined loved Harley Davidson motorcycles. And although he never had a real defined career at one point owned a limosine service and a trucking company. So first of all I figured my inclination toward mechanical ventures is somewhat inate. You know, sorta like birds flying south, or dogs sniffing poo. In fact I have one cousin (family genius) who is considered to be in the top 10 robotics experts in the world. Our family isn't really known for acedemics, mostly entrepreneurs. I can remember my first girlfriend and giving her rides home. Trust me it was a real plus being one of the few kids in high school with a car. When I was in college, even though I wouldn't really call it "parking", going on drives on back roades to a lake near school and just talking for hours. If you really think about it an automobile is a really inimate place to have a private conversation with someone.
It's sorta sad now but the only time I spend in the car is driving to work alone either listening to the radio or talking on the phone fighting traffic. What a waste right? For all of those that have never been in a car with someone you like in the middle of nowhere at night just talking with the gauges all lit up, you are missing out. We used to drive out Route 2 near school and the sky would just be lit up. You wouldn't even see another car going out or back. Here in Jersey with all of the air polution, light polution, people polution, you're lucky to see the fucking moon on a clear night. Yeah you can totally get your stoke on. But whatever, I guess you get older and stoke turns more into adrenaline or just a rush. Not to put my own community down but I meet a lot of speed freaks and stuff at auto-crosses and there is just no connectivity with anything except our own human propensity with danger. Oh well, maybe just the artist or wannabe surfer in me.
2:58 AM - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it


Saturday, March 05, 2005
Warm weather coming so autox season is starting. Hopefully my non-motorsports affiliated friends wont find my page too boring but you'll probably only find car stuff here :) Too shy to share other stuff going on in my life....ha.
Weather around here sucks and the M-club event this Sunday got pushed back another week. Funny how we call it the M-club and only a couple of bimmer-guys actually come. It's all good but I hate those little punks in STI's and EVO's. Those cars smell funny...
Only good news is that means 2 weekends in a row with the BMWCCA event on the 20th. Everyone has to come out and play, no excuses anymore.
10:12 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it

Boris Said...

I found some in car of Boris at Infineon. Notice how all upshifts are clutchless :) I've seen him drive at Limerock a few years back and he is a unique talent, the hair needs some work.

Uh...this chick is, i'll be pc, very attractive to me now !!!

I'm not really sure how a lap between an SR3 and Ariel are at all close but I assume she doesn't have too much seat time in a Radical. People think I'm nuts but I wouldn't mind taking a couple laps in an SR3 one day or buy one for myself. It's too bad it isn't BMW powered.



I especially like the "there is a bit of understeer, ahhhh!" part, sorta cute.

"fast...too fast...fast.....its fast"

This video reminds me of a road going into Mass back in my college days. Except I drove an Rx-7 that cost as much as an F430 brake pad...



I get stressed out watching this ;)

Club racers are quirky...

This guy spent 10 hours making this music video dedicated to his new C-mod racecar...I shed a tear :P

Okay, I WILL become Murray Walker in 30 years!

I can see it now, thick reading glasses, goofy superlatives...