A Nightmare on Elm Street remake?

Supposedly, a remake of the film is going to be partially shot at Elk Grove High School, where I graduated from some four to five years ago.  With the school having spent millions on a new (I believe to be olympic-sized) swimming pool — the year after I left — it’s the perfect candidate for the pool scene.

Some 200 students will have the opportunity to participate as extras in a few scenes taking place in and around the school, according to an article about it featured in the Daily Herald:

Here’s the lede from the article:

“Students at two Northwest suburban high schools will have the chance be in the remake of a classic horror movie, with filming to be done on both campuses, an official said Sunday.”

OooooOOooo, I hope I have ‘the chance be’ in a classic horror remake.  It’d be neat if it were to be filmed there, but I hope they don’t butcher the original as much as the lead has been.

King of the Jungle

As an ever-evolving and aspiring motor sports driver, there are many professional racing drivers that I look up to for inspiration.  But of them all, none other has the same outlandish character and all-out time attack style as the legendary, Eiji “Tarzan” Yamada.  Having built a reputation as a great grip/drift driver in Japan, he has had numerous regular appearances on the popular Option and Best Motoring International videos.  Yamada also maintained a successful career as a driver in both Japan Touring Car Championship, as well as the now defunct JGTC.

Currently, Tarzan is mostly known for his participation in, and judging US drift events, along with his seemingly undying passion for Time Attack.  In the following, rather nicely shot/editted video he is seen doing what he does best; this time piloting a high-horsepower, yellow R32 Nissan Skyline around Silverstone Circuit at a recent event:

SILVERSTONE from Clashproduction on Vimeo.

I had the chance to meet Tarzan a few years back, at a local drift event.  I can’t tell who’s more excited, or more insane looking here (note* - after a second look, it’s most definitely me, but to my disadvantage he had sunglasses, with lenses the same shade of orange as his hair, blocking his eyes):

I can only hope that one day our driving capabilities one day closely mimmick each other’s as much as our crazy faces.

-Nick

“Do you drift?”

…asked my Advanced Magazine Writing professor while I was giving the latest news on an article revolving around a Chicago drift club that I’m writing for class.  The answer was, and is to everyone that asks, no. I don’t.  But only because I’ve never had the proper chassis, or even drivetrain layout for that matter, to get some seat time and start practicing.

But drifting is very alluring to me.  I often dream of creating the perfect blend of power, finese in a street-drift car in conjunction with discovering my own personal style and ability to control angle, entry speed and depth.  How could I not want to?  Honestly though, with the automotive-related goals I have in mind, I don’t know if I’ll ever have a purpose-built drift machine.  Grip running at the circuit and heart-dropping Kanjo and high-speed Wangan are how I see my future panning out.  But drifting is very exciting to watch, or ride along with and the draw will always be there, even if only from a spectators’ standpoint.

I chose to share the following clip because it showcases some of the best drivers on a closed touge, running full-speed — something you don’t get to see very often. Not to mention that when they normally use this location it’s for grip and not drift, which is what makes this clip particularly nice.  Orido in the pink Nissan S15 from Yashio Factory (which I would kill to drive on the street) and Kazama in the blue S13 from G-Corporation (and later the Toyota JZX90 sedan) attack the Gunsai touge.  Tsuchiiya is piloting the Toyota AE86 behind them as the designated camera car.  All are famous professional grip and drift drivers in Japan who have immaculate control over their vehicles.  So much smoke billows out from the fenders in this video that at times it’s hard to see what’s going on.  And keep in mind, this is all along a relatively thin mountain pass.

[Since I’m posting this for a class blog, those watching a “touge battle” for the first time, don’t be discouraged, the rules on this touge are simple.  The two cars line up with one leading the other. If the lead car pulls away, or the following car spins, they win the round.  If the following car passes, or stays close throughout, they win the round.  There are two rounds, and possibility for more if it’s a close battle.  And for reference, this is a completely sanctioned event/recording for a DVD. If anyone shows interest I’ll post up some street action.]

Check:

Tough break for Kazama, spins in the first battle for the loss and goes slightly off-line during the final round of the second battle and just can’t catch Orido in the S15.

And here’s a little bit of music featuring some Bosozoku guys who made it into the ‘Nothing to Worry About’ video, by Peter Bjorn and John.  Almost makes you want to grow your hair out, and learn some…. Japanese country line dancing?

Check:

Maybe more on Boso-style later,

-Nick

TOKYO!

I thought this movie looked rather interesting.

Check out http://tokyothemovie.com/ for more info.

-Nick

ECHOing disaster.

Group work in school often goes pretty well for me.  In most cases, people are seemingly more than willing to do their share, work together in effort of thoroughly completeing the task at hand and getting a good grade in the process.

Why doesn’t this situation ever seem to transcend into the workplace? How many times have you noticed/caught/been fed-up with co-workers for not contributing their fair share.  Students must care more because it’s their education at hand, or perhaps because they’re paying for it.  Or maybe, as my worst group experience finally comes to mind, not.

Okay, this post was going to be on co-workers dropping the ball rather than students, but it just occured to me that it’s actually something more closely related to actual the actual student presence in the workplace being the cause of it all.

Example: Echo magazine, the Columbia College Chicago student publication.  So, here I am at late registration in August of ‘07, where it all started and I first met Sharon, the head of the magazine dept. at Columbia.  As a transfering journalism student, my pre-reqs. were all done, and I couldn’t possibly sign up for all J-classes without taking a few basic ones first.  Talking to Sharon, I expressed a love for photography and a desire to include it with my studies.  That’s when she informed me of an open position as Photography/Illustration Editor for Echo that semester.  Seeing as how I had already put together a full schedule, I applied for and eventually took the position as a (under)paid part of the staff.

As Photography/Illustration Editor I had many responsibilities regarding visuals within the issue, one of which included the task of assigning each of the image concepts — for the respective stories/sections of the magazine — to be produced by Columbia students studying said field.

Working with the writers and editorial/faculty staff creating the ideas for each story was always an enjoyable and productive creative brainstorming endeavor.  Finding people that showed interest in creating these photos/illustrations was challenging in it’s own right, but I normally had a good initial response from those considering.  I mean, you’d get your own work, in the field that you’re currently studying and trying to make a name for yourself in, published, for free and 30,000 copies are to be distributed throughout the Loop to — in essence — get your name out there.  Potentially for the first time, depending on experience/past work.  So, why not, right?

A lot of people jumped at the opportunity.  In some cases two or three people at the same storie’s visual concept.  But when it came down to actually doing the work assigned and turning it in, I came to be astonished at the number of people that “never got around to it” or “couldn’t make the time to complete the task.”  More often than not, this was occurring within my pool of freelancers; over and over again as the semester went by.  I even randomly ran into one of them on the sidewalk who had been ignoring my calls and not responding to my emails, even though he had expressed a decent amount of interest in helping out.  I offered to reassign this person — including others who were either struggling or losing interest — in effort of finding something they’d be more interested in working on for the issue. I truly wanted to help all of them get involved, and namely gain exposure.  So, I talked with this person for awhile about personal style and interests, and we came to agree on another assignment, which eventually was unfortunately added to the long list of those that would remain incompleted and not turned in.

Semesters’ may have been busy, or potentially more important homework took the cake for most.  Regardless, working with a group of unreliable student freelancers was extremely frustrating and forcefully put me in the position of creating multiple images in a very short and hurried period of time.  *Note, not all of the freelancers fit this mold, but it was a majority of my original list of those who’d qualify for contributing.  And it was rather hectic, to say the least, during the last few weeks leading up to turning in all the media-related files for that semester’s issue.

I can only hope that people within the working industry — whom I’d assume (although you never should) would care more about their work — will be much more reliable than my past experiences, but I’m not going to get my hopes up by any means.

-Nick

(Sidenote - I went to the Columbia website to find photos of the issue I worked on [Fall 2007] to use for this post, and although I couldn’t find a photo of the cover, I did discover a bunch of the stories I shot for that issue now online accompanied by my photos.  BUT THERE’S NO ATTRIBUTION TO THE PHOTOGRAPHER(S), ONLY THE WRITER(S)!  What the <expletive>!?)

Tramontana R

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/02/2…in-turbocharged-v12-tramontana-r/

A quick snippet from the AutoBlog article on this recently released crossbreed between Maverick’s Top Gun and Christian Bale Batman’s Tumbler; the new fiercer looking, and performing, Tramontana R:

“The R is an evolved version of the standard open-wheel two-seater, packing a Mercedes-sourced 5.5-liter V12 available in either naturally aspirated, 550 hp guise or a twin-turbocharged 760 hp version that dolls out an astonishing 811 lb-ft of torque. The Group claims a 0-100 time of 3.6 seconds and a 10.15-second run to 200 mph.”

More specs/info/photos after the jump, but whatya say?  Clear to buzz the tower, Goose?

Yay or nay, this is one radical auto, kind of ridiculous actually.

Update: Video!

-Nick

2009 CAS (coverage/comments)

The following are some photos that I took at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show last week:

It was spacious inside this year — with not nearly as many vehicles as usual, there were random large empty spaces in some places with groups of tables for visitors to use.

The Hyundai Genesis R coupe from Rhys Millen Racing (RMR) was one of the first displays inside. From the sponsors, for the sponsors; if you catch my (Formula D)rift.  Although, I do like the aggressive aero up front.

A new Saab concept car that caught my eye, even though it’s one of the many car-makes being cut back severely, if not completely, in the next few years.

Chevy Volt, not a bad looking car until you look closer at this one.

I’ve heard of ‘stretch and poke’ before, but these tires don’t even look like they’ve actually been mounted. And look at those brakes, or, cardboard-slotted-rotors? Hmm, perhaps they’re on to something revolutionary in light-weight braking components over there at GM.

The Bat-mobile, err, Stingray concept. My mother owned a ‘71 Stingray at one point along the line. It was black on black leather, with chrome-lathered-accents all over. This car is far from that version, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m attracted to the aggressive curves and lines of this car, but I don’t think it’s seen here in it’s best color. Maybe the equivalent chrome hue/color mix of black will give it that sinister look it needs. We’ll have to wait and see where this one goes, it could look good in Gotham.

This one actually stood out to me, I really like the idea of this as a efficient daily driver. I’d like to see one sitting a little lower (slammed-out, who am I kidding), and the price tag (if it ever makes it on the market). Way to go, a valid attempt at a new focus on car making.

Cadillacs are always going to be really nice cars. Converj, a concept — with a lack-luster name — as far as I know, is a stunning looking coupe. I wouldn’t mind one of these with the 550hp motor from the Cadillac CTS-V. But, if I’m going to be spending that much money, and I’m looking for a coupe and performance, do I really want to buy a Cadillac? That’s all I’m saying.

The future. Well, the Toyota Prius is semi-sorta old news, but the new version features many small upgrades over the latter. And this year at their display, they had a middle-aged man telling you all about them. I’m pretty sure it’s a ploy to gain interest from a different age-demographic. “Hey, that guy looks like me, but is standing by the Japanese car. Maybe, I, too, should care about fuel-efficiency.” Maybe it’ll work, hopefully it’ll work. The replacement for displacement. (And, just maybe this nicely cropped photo will help, too).

Ford’s attempt at an American-sized Scion Xb for American-sized people?

Nissan GT-R, R35, was released and shown at last yeas CAS, but this year it can be seen on the street at the same time. Still lots of people around this car, and why not? It’s one of the fastest production cars available right now, and at a fraction of most of it’s competitors prices.

From the GT-R, to the Dodge Circuit — an early attempt at an electric sports car. Half Toyota MR2, half Dodge Viper, half Acura RSX. Wait, three halves? Yes, because there is too much going on on this small electric go-kart. The body lines are all over the place.

Fatlace (the guys who’ve featured a bunch of my close friends’ cars on their west coast-based site, HellaFlush)? At the Chicago Auto Show? I didn’t expect/believe it, but randomly in the Scion booth I noticed the window banner on this Scion TC designed by Fatlace’s own, Mark Arsenal.

As fuel-efficiency was a big topic/aspect to this years show, so was luxury. We’ll get to more examples shortly, but I had to snap a shot of the F-sport brakes that come as a factory option on most of the new Lexus sedans; including the GS pictured above.

As Jalopnik reported, it was the Miata’s 20th birthday bash. I wasn’t particularly expecting anything over the top, but was pleasantly surprised when I came across this pristine original. Such successful simple and subtle body styling from Mazda.

Smart Car, stupid people. While at the Chicago Auto Show, it’s not uncommon to hear a lot of ignorantly false information being uttered by the other by-standers within McCormick Place. Most times I can ignore it, just phase it out and easily not feel the urge to respond/correct those who are mistaken factually. But at the Smart display, oh my. I heard people saying some of the most ridiculous things — one person even exclaimed that the frame was made of plastic. After sitting in one, noticing that they’re actually quite roomy within and biting my tongue firmly to ignore the masses, I walked quickly away. As I stood back and quickly snapped these photos, I couldn’t help but feel bad for the people behind the Smart desk who probably had to deal with that all week.

This newer VW sedan was another that stood out and begged for a couple of photos. Normally I don’t go for the VWs, — except for maybe the R32, but still rather pricey — but I like the aggressive front fascia and lip on this car.

Mercedes Benz will always shock and awe; always. Till the end of the planet, they will be producing high quality luxury auto(until the next technological innovation)mobiles.

A few more examples from MB.

This is my brother taking a photo of me taking a photo of him taking a photo of me. I’ve got the reverse side to this, and another he took of me taking photos of the white coupe above, in an email. I’ll post them here soon.

The closest thing to anything potentially Crazu-related, the RealTime Racing TSX time attack car. From what I know, RealTime Racing is serious business only; it’d be much more entertaining to watch this car in action, listening to the high-revving motor run through the gears. (Maybe this will lead to a follow-up post).

And what Chicago Auto Show would be complete without some exotics? Lamborghini is always a crowd favorite, and these specimens are no different. Twin satin/matte purple Gallardos, and a white Murcielago. Yum.

You’ve got to love Spyker. I can’t remember their presence at CAS in past years, but definitely diggin’. Beautiful cars, but what’s up with the fuselage in the background?

The F430, one of my favorite Ferraris. Kind of almost dull seen here; but only compared to seeing one in black ripping threw third down Congress Parkway during rush hour last semester.

This last one is of my father and brother taking a break from walking around to look out from McCormick Place at the city.  We’ve been going to this show annually as a group for just over 15 years; and the 2009 Chicago Auto Show wasn’t as much of a let down as I was expecting. It wasn’t a crazy year for debuts in the market, outlandish concepts were (and should be) at a lull, especially at a time when the automotive industry is in such a big hole — not just in North America. However, even though there were a lot of innovative, ‘Eco-friendly’ concepts and ideas brought to this year’s show, I think the truly monumental changes we have still yet to see. Soon though, hopefully.

-Nick.

Television.

I was introduced to the Internet at a young age, when 28.8k was considerably fast and the movie “Hackers” didn’t seem too far fetched.

I had a LiveJournal throughout high school, and caught the first wave of Xanga, Friendster and Myspace.  I played the original CounterStrike on 56k without any lag.  I caught the initial music sharing revolution with Napster, and watched it happen over and over again with Kazaa, Morpheus and Limewire (I didn’t use them though, ofcourse; I have good morals).  I joined various automotive forums, even became a moderator for one. I’ve met countless other motorists with similar, or contrasting interests, many of whom I’m still friends with, or argue with, till this day.

And then along came YouTube, probably one of the most powerful Internet forces to date — next to it’s parent company Google most likely.  But, not until recently (late last summer I’d say), has YouTube affected me so much.  I (one who doesn’t enjoy the amenities of, how do you say, cable/dish/Comcast/etc in my home) have stopped watching television almost completely.  Average, run of the mill, network television is awful.  Maury?  Court shows?  Cheaters?  Soup Operas?  No, thanks.

Although, even the shows during prime time don’t grab my attention, I found that some YouTube user channels do pique my interest.  And I came to realize that I’m not the only one.  For example: The Phillip DeFranco Show, YouTube channel ‘sxephil’ (or http://www.youtube.com/user/sxephil).  The Phillip DeFranco Show, is updated/uploaded five days a week on YouTube where the 23-year-old host, DeFranco, presents his opinion on recent news/pop culture (links to each story can be find in each video’s sidebar), complete with a ‘deuschebag of the day’ award in every episode.

In a recent episode he talks a bit about his show being studied in a media-related class, not his best by any means, but fairly good. Enjoy, maybe:

At first, watching a show created and uploaded daily by one person, five days a week, seems a bit odd.  But with over 300,000 channel subscribers and most episodes reaching over 500,000 views a few days after being uploaded, something must be going right.  And it is, I’m hooked; it must be something about the quick radio-style audio edit, the thick sarcasm, the commentary news-related aspect to it, or potentially it’s just the style in which he meshes it all together.  I don’t know, watch a few episodes a make your own decision.

Like this post, often the web can lead you down random tangents that will eventually bring you somewhere entirely new, and often unexpected  In short: The Internet, it amazes me.  I’m addicted to my daily fix.

-Nick

Bombing Hills.

Often when people think of longboarding, they think of some guy they might’ve seen on a college campus, cruising through the ‘quad’ on the way to class.  Flat land travel, although relaxing and entertaining to do in groups, was the least of my interests.

That was up until last summer, when I had unfortunate circumstances that left me without a car for slightly over two months.  In the city this wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but in the suburbs — where things are further apart — I travelled longer distances than I had ever considered doing before.  While I was sweating my ass off during a traditionally humid mid-August in Chicagoland, I started to grow attached to my board.  While I was travelling lengthy distances during the day, hunting for hills ever larger and faster became an every-other-nightly endeavor amongst friends.  It got to the point where the speed going downhill was often so great that the wind would cause tears to streak horizontally from the corners of my eyes, and back into my hair.  Having the concious thought that, “I couldn’t possibly run this fast if I needed to jump off/bail right now,” was fairly common and the possibility for disaster was high.  That being said, safety gear and some slide gloves are definitely in order for next season.

Regardless, here are a couple videos of inspiration and to help me get through the winter.  They’re both shot very well and feature a different take on the downhill/hill bombing aspect of the sport.  Not to mention that they are probably my two favorite videos I’ve come across on longboarding, perhaps you too will enjoy them.

These first two guys are potentially insane; the first time I saw this video my verbal reaction was, literally, “And I thought I was a bad ass.”  The speed at which they are traveling at is truly astonishing, let alone the way they film the excursion:

Adam Kimmel presents: Claremont HD from adam kimmel on Vimeo.

The following is a group of sponsored longboarders doing a few canyon runs together; lots of style in the way these guys move that make them stand out from the rest:

I almost feel like I should include a “don’t try this at home” type message.  So just don’t, or feel free, but be sure to take the time to practice first,

-Nick

2009 Chicago Auto Show

So, 2009 CAS is in town this upcoming weekend, but the gates have already been open to members of the media for early debuts and new releases.  Jalopnik was one of the websites featuring advanced coverage with an article published on Wednesday of highlights from day one, but of what?

8) 2010 Acura TSX

7) Modified Suzuki Equators

6) 2010 Kia Forte

5) Mazda Miata’s 20th Birthday Bash

4) 2009 Hyundai Genesis Coupe R-Spec

3) How To Build Bumblebee

2) 2010 Ford Taurus SHO

1) Corvette Stingray Concept

I’ve been attending the Chicago Auto Show annually for quite some time now, since the age of seven if memory serves me right, but if this is all there is to look forward to, then pish-posh.  I’d rather not waste my time on:

8) A car that will likely be driven by average businessmen with less than average driving skills.  And it will show.

7) Modified trucks from a company that was failing to stay afloat well before the US automotive industry’s inefficiency was exposed in light of the downward spiraling economy.  No thanks.

6) Kia’s take on the Ford Focus?

5) I actually like the Mazda Miata, but normally only after about $5,000 spent on upgraded suspension, lighter/wider wheels, R-compound tires for some serious grip and potentially some go power blasting out of a set of sharp turns in second gear.  In factory form, no “20th Birthday Bash” necessary.

4) Yes it’s RWD, turbo-charged and relatively cheap.  The folks over at Hyundai must have one hell of a PR campaign management team over there, because the new Genesis Coupe has got to be the most over-hyped new model release as of late.  However, I am interested in how it stacks up to the cars it’s attempting to target, which seems to be the Japanese RWD/turbo makes/models that were revoked from the US-market in the mid-90s.

3) Instructions on how to make a Michael Bay film; blow shit up, but blow it up bigger than originally pre-conceived.  Then add in some American cars as one last sure to fail effort in saving General Motors.  Done.  Hopefully Transformers, and the demise of the industry, will be entertaining to watch at least.

2) But how’s Ford going to fail at saving itself?  With the revival of the SHO?  Seriously, why?  Inefficient pieces of garbage.  Sorry, it just doesn’t add up.

1) Ah yes, a return to Michael Bay, but with a glimpse of a dying breed; the American super car/exotic.  My mother once owned a 71 Stingray, it was black on black leather, with chrome accents all over and a set of t-tops for nice days.  Somehow I don’t think the Stingray of today will ever be as cool and something tells me it has to do with the fact that Corvettes are everywhere on the road.  They’re not a rarity by any stretch of the imagination, and it kind of takes away from it’s ability to leave other motorists in awe.

The line-up from day one is rather bleak, and has left me feeling the least anxious to go to this year’s show I’ve ever been.  Hopefully day two, and the rest of them once the show is open to the public, has something better to offer.  For the sake of the American automotive industry, please have something better to offer on day two.

-Nick