Album of the Day 7/29

Of all my albums, besides The Smiths, this record came to define some of my younger years. I know this album front to back and Kitchens of Distinction eventually turned me on to lots of other great bands like Long fin Killie. If you like My Bloody Valentine or Echo and Bunnymen you will love this album. Put your dog in its little elevated dog bed, light a fire, relax and put this record on.

Album of the day 7/24/09

Album of the day July 24th, 2009

Pretty much a perfect album. This was the album that really showed that Bjork could do chilly, minimal, even sexy electronica that didn’t hit you over the head. There’s not a bad track on his album and it is perfect to chill to at night or even to put on at your next party. It’s almost as good as my new audi body parts and Ford F150 lift kits.

This is what swimming pools look like in communist China

You could drown and nobody would ever know. That is scarier than one of those cheap Mercedes body kits.

Kings

Take a break from installing your new Acura parts and tail lights. There is some good drama on network television afterall. If you’re looking for some interesting TV that’s not on HBO then you should check out “Kings.” I was instantly interested once I saw that Ian McShane from Deadwood was playing the role of King Silas and that the story was loosely based on the Biblical story of David. The acting is really good and the writing is smart and brighter than new xenon lights. Unfortunately, the show has been badly marketed and is already canceled after several timeslot changes and hiatuses. Check out the last couple episodes to see if it is something you might want to Netflix when it comes out on DVD. But enough TV, it’s summer! I’m going to go rc car racing.

Vaycay

So I’m off to Virginia Beach and New York City this weekend for a vacation to visit some family. I’ll be staying in Virginia Beach for the most part but I am taking the 6 hour bus ride up to Brooklyn, NY to stay with a friend for a couple days. I’ve never been to the east coast so it should be a fun trip. I’m excited to see New York since everyone always tells me that I’d love it. My sister even said she doesn’t expect me to come back since I’ll love it so much I’ll want to stay there. I don’t know, I’m sure it’s awesome but I’m so acclimated to the mid-size city-ness of Minneapolis. I always thought that the biggest city I’d live in would be Chicago, but who knows. Each city basically has its own little neighborhoods that in a way act as mini cities, with their own mix of people and places to sustain itself. Virginia Beach on the other hand I have mixed impressions about. My good friend was stationed there for a few years while he was in the Navy and he didin’t have too many good things to say about it. I’m keeping an open mind, though and all in all it should be a good time. Maybe they’ll have some cool fields with paintball gun packages. Readers, let me know if you have any suggestions of places to check out. I’ll let you guys know if I see any good deals on BMW aftermarket parts, fast rc cars or real clay poker chips.

Keep it real. When I get back I’ll talk about all the cool cars I saw and russian caviar I ate. Until then, later.

RC drifting

So you just caught Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift for the 100th time on television and you’re all hyped up about purchasing a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII and converting it to rear wheel drive so you can practice your drifting in an old abandoned warehouse parking lot, think twice. Maybe you should try it on a smaller scale first. RC drift cars are becoming more and more popular now that the drifting hobby has hit the mainstream thanks to movies like Tokyo Drift. Drifting your RC car is a lot like drifting a normal car but there are some subtle differences. Check out this how-to from rccartips.com:

For drifting, electric rc cars are better than nitro models. It is easier to control the throttle of an electric car during a drift. Nitro rc cars would probably burn out the clutch and overheat the engines if used for drifting.

It is recommended that you use a shaft drive rc car rather than a belt driven transmission for your drifter. The shaft drive provides good throttle response, whereas the belt drive cars might give some backlash due to the belt design.

Good news is a lot of people use belt drive cars for drifting without problems. But if you are starting from scratch, shaft drive cars may be the best drifters.

Also, use a 4 wheel drive machine if you want to go drifting. 4×4 is easier to control and drift.

For motors, you need high torque. The standard Mabuchi 540 works fine, and a lot of people also use 19 turn motors. Also gear your car for acceleration rather than top speed.

Did that get you interested? Make sure if you do drifting in a normal size car that you wear a protective full face motorcycle helmet. Tomorrow I’m going to talk about the difference between sturgeon caviar and red caviar, so stay tuned for that. You’ll be living the high life and impressing the ladies with your caviar knowledge in no time. Also, later this week I’ll talk about another cool RC hobby, rc helicopters.

Smoked tail lights

So the tail lights on my Mitsubishi Diamante went out this weekend. Not a big deal or anything, actually probably a blessing in disguise because now I have an excuse to upgrade my ride with smoked tail lights. While I am at it, I’m also tempted to go all out and get one of those HID Headlight Kits for my front headlights– you know, make the upgrade complete. My buddy linked me to a good site for aftermarket car parts and accessories, so I’ll have to check that out, see if I can come away with a steal.

Twin Cities biker bars

I’m not a “biker” by any means, but some of you readers out there might be. In any case, here’s a list of a few of the best biker bars/hangouts in the Twin Cities area. I know there are way more biker bars if you get out of the city going towards Wisconsin or up North, but for the sake of consistency, I’m going to limit it to the Twin Cities and close surrounding areas.

Whiskey Junction

901 Cedar Ave S in Minneapolis, MN

http://www.thewhiskeyjunction.com/

Biker friendly bar with lots of room to park bikes. Another biker friendly bar next door which is…

The Joint

917 Cedar Ave S in Minneapolis, MN

http://www.thejointbar.com/

Similar to Whiskey Junction but with a huge patio. Make sure to suit up appropriately; don’t forget your shoei motorcycle helmet.

Neumann’s Bar

2531 7th Ave E in St. Paul, MN

http://www.neumannsbar.com/

One of the oldest biker bars in the state. Historic, you’ve got to go here at least once if you’re a biker. You won’t find any dudes rolling up in their ride with porsche 911 wheels, that’s for sure. This is a truly old-school biker bar.

P.D. Pappy’s

422 E Mulberry St. Stillwater MN, 55082

http://www.pdpappysonline.com/

Just north of the cities in Stillwater, this bar overlooks the St. Croix river and the patio can get crazy busy on a nice summer day. Not a completely biker overtaken bar, you may see some high rollers pull up with Mercedes chrome wheels.

Top 5 Casino/Poker Movies

Rounders:

Not too much to say about this movie. For Texas Hold’em fans this is their filmatic-Bible.  Rounders is inescapable, and a bit overrated, but all around enjoyable, especially for John Malkovich’s great performance (and accent).  My friend works for a custom poker chip manufacturer and he says he gets at least a dozen orders a month from people asking to recreate the bear-emblazened personalized poker chips from this movie.

A little drunk on its own arcane exotica as a gambling movie, Rounders is a film that takes us inside a world of high-stakes card players but falls short on such essentials as character development, relationships, that sort of thing. Still, it is a real curiosity, written by a couple of guys (David Levien and Brian Koppelman) who appear to know something about the dark underbelly of card hustling for fun and profit.

The Cooler.

- I’m a bit biased since I’m a big William H. Macy fan. He does get somewhat typecast as the feckless loser too often (as he does in this film) but he does it so well. Alec Baldin is really good in this as well.

The unluckiest man in Vegas – a guy whose bad luck is contagious – is used by the last of the old time mob run casinos to kill high rollers’ action. That is, until he falls in love with a cocktail waitress and gets “lady luck,” which throws the situation into reverse. Things turn nasty when the casino director tries to break up the romance.

Croupier

- I’ve already written about this film, but it is really worth seeing especially if you are a modern film noir fan. This is a really dark, really well done film that doesn’t gloss over the seedy side of the Casino business. This movie makes me think of red caviar and stale Moët.

Jack Manfred is an aspiring writer going nowhere fast. To make ends meet, and against his better judgment, he takes a job as a croupier. He finds himself drawn into the casino world and the job gradually takes over his life; his relationship with girlfriend Marion begins to deteriorate.

California Split

- It’s by Robert Altman. An American treasure. What more can I say? See this before Atlman’s ghost rolls up in a Benz, Mercedes benz rims and all, and slaps you into it cognizance,

California Split’ directed by Robert Altman, revolves around two gamblers Charlie Waters (Elliott Gould) and Bill Denny (George Segal), bonding through their mutual love for gambling. Charlie is a witty, clever gambler while Bill is an amateur who works in a magazine. As the film progresses Charlie and Bill bond over the roulette tables and Bill slowly gets hooked to gambling and runs into debt with his bookie (Joseph Walsh).

Casino

DeNiro, Sharon Stone, Martin Scorsese. This movie is to gambling movies what Godfather is to mobster movies. DeNiro looks cooler than escalade rims in this.

This Martin Scorsese film depicts the Janus-like quality of Las Vegas–it has a glittering, glamorous face, as well as a brutal, cruel one. Ace Rothstein and Nicky Santoro, mobsters who move to Las Vegas to make their mark, live and work in this paradoxical world.

Top 3 most important Jeep models

Jeep Wrangler TJ

the awesome, classic TJ Jeep

Introduced in 1997 to replace the Wrangler YJ, the TJ model is considered a turning point in the history of jeeps. The basic YJ platform was kept intact but everything else was almost completely overhauled. The most noteworthy change was the updated coil-spring air ride suspension which greatly improved the vehicle’s ride and handling. The TJ opened the car up to a wide range of jeep wrangler accessories and other options. On the aesthetic side, the TJ returned to the old CJ model’s iconic round headlamps, which many Jeep aficionados were very happy with.

Jeep Rubicon rockcrawling

Jeep Rubicon 2003

Another huge event for Jeep was the introduction of the 2003 model Jeep Rubicon. One of the most popular Jeep models for off-roading, rockcrawling and road driving, the ’03 Rubicon was such a success because of its versatility. It is still extremely popular and likely will be for a long time. With the huge market for jeep parts, the options for what you can do with a Jeep Rubicon are endless.

Jeep CJ7

Old-school Jeep CJ-7

Before the Jeep Wrangler YJ replaced it, the CJ model, especially the CJ-7 model, was the most popular name in the Jeep franchise. The CJ-7 featured a unique all-wheel drive system called Quadra-Trac that is still extremely popular today in the mud racing sport and in rockcrawling. The modern jeep models are all based on the original CJ Wrangler and for that, it is one of the most important Jeep models ever.

Note: Yes, there’s a reason there are no Cherokee’s listed: I feel like the lack of jeep cherokee accessories and other options for modifiying the model make it less of an important part of Jeep’s history, although I do realize it’s importance in bringing the Jeep name to those unfamilar, or uncomfortable with Jeep’s off-road origins.