Facebook Fights: Get over It!

As of this writing, the third in a recent string of fights via Facebook have taken place on my wall or others.

They typically go as follows, I post a slightly too cheeky comment on someone's status or write on someone's wall in a way that irritates them. The joke in my opinion is never by any means harsh or cruel. On the contrary, it is often lighthearted and sarcastic.

Said person then procedes to "retaliate." I use this word deliberately because he or she gets all up in arms. There is virtually nothing to stop this stack of bricks from falling. Once I commence the proverbial "rage mode" in said person, there is no turning back. No matter how many "sorry" responses I issue, how many times I retaliate or how many times I attempt to backpedal. At that point, the bricks have already fallen.

I think the source of this rage is how thoroughly serious people are in everything they do. There is no problem being serious and taking your life seriously with what your education, your career, love life, social life, hobbies etc. However, at a certain point, unless you happen to be the single dullest, most humorless person, you need to be able to laugh at yourself.

There is no better way to develop your careers and your relationships than to be able to laugh at yourself. People love self-deprecating humor. And if you take yourself too seriously to do so, you can roll over and die. Sure you have the "get it done" mentality so many people seek, you have no personality to go along with that. You need to be well-rounded in that you are willing to admit your faults every once in a while. And if laughing at yourself is so painful, you can go ahead and get your teeth pulled right now. Because it's not. Lighten up, and get over it!

Peoples' issue today is that they take themselves too seriously. You have no sense of humor if you can only make fun of other people and you lack any discernable amount of personal integrity if you can laugh at everyone but yourself.

If you are anything like the descriptions above, you need to stop getting your panties in a bunch any time anyone is even slightly impolite. The world is filled with constantly rude and harsh people. If a couple of jokey, non-serious words on the internet get you pissed off, you need to re-evaluate your life's values! If you then lack the imagination to consider, even roughly, the off chance that someone may be joking, then get a clue!

And then to allow the "perpetrator" no way out after committing such an unforgivable "travesty" (oh no!) is positively absurd. Give people some room to ask for forgiveness, pardon them for their unsavory actions, etc. It is draconian to say the least to offer no forgiveness to people who make even the subtlest of mistakes. If this describes you, then put yourself in his or her shoes.

Out of all of this, I hate how people are foolish enough to be fully convinced that what was once a joke is fully serious and intentionally mean-spirited. How do you get such idiotic ideas in your head?! Take into account, for one moment, how a given person behaves in person and when reading their internet contributions, say them in your head with their voice. Don't snap-knee-jerk-reaction-assume that they are being deliberately cruel and unfair! Give them a chance to be funny and redeem yourself.

Today, unfortunately, the internet offers none of this, what with the advent of the internet message board "troll" culture, where strangers are mean to other strangers. On Facebook, we're all friends here. Take it easy. Take a breather. Don't get all caught up!

Riding (S)low

It's my natural tendency to oppose popular culture, take a step back and say, "What's going on here?"

On the pulse of the auto industry is an upcoming style that emphasizes as low profile tires as possible, as large of wheels as possible, all the while riding on the lowest "stance" possible. The first time I witnessed this style, I didn't fully appreciate it.

What I did appreciate, however, was the video production quality that is being churned out by these low-riding fiends. I love the syncopation to the featured music, the panning camera angles of the cars as well as the emphasis on the details that set a given car apart.

This cinematographic style is reminiscent of skateboarding videos in that they are taken using fish-eye cameras and are meant to portray an action or object more so than a person or emotion.

If you have not yet had the opportunity to see one of these videos, view the one below to at least get a sense of what I'm referring to.

Despite the spectacular videos that are being created in lieu of this new style, it is evident this school of style is becoming overwrought. As a direct result of all the publicity these high-caliber videos are giving these cars, wannabe-boy-racers can be seen imitating the latest styles appearing on YouTube with their choice of wheels, cars, paint jobs and suspension setups.

This car "lifestyle" is being touted as something that is ever-evolving, "dynamic" and "flowing," as if it were a tapestry. With the growing amount of awareness surrounding it, its "dynamism" appears quite the opposite.

It is rapidly becoming stale and boring. The originators who set up their cars in such a way are failing to continue to innovate and further lead the field in design, while the imitators are already catching up, making everyone's car virtually the same.

You can witness this here:

So as you can see, there is a confluence of what's popular and what's new. And in truth, the "what's new part" about HellaFlush, Simply Clean, Stanceworks, whatever brand you want to label this new car culture/lifestyle smoothie as needs to continue more than it is already.

Everything is beginning to look the same, or as if it's derived from somewhere else. These rides need an injection of innovation before they become as peripheral as JDM cars are today. (JDM cars, or Japanese Domestic Market cars have recently had a resurgence thanks in part to these modern low-riders).

By no means am I casting aspersions, but rather, I hope this given culture can thrive as all car cultures deserve to. At the end of the day, the cars' styles will change, but the memories will last forever.

So I hit the road for Putnam Road Course...

I went to my first HPDE this weekend at Putnam Road Course in Mount Meridian, IN. As challenging as I found Putnam, I had a fabulous time.

However, I learned a number of lessons that I hope to take away from these past few days.

First of which, I thought that my dad's car (a 2007 328xi) would be fine on the track because of its ~230hp, and despite its all-season tires. Boy was I wrong.

I couldn't keep up with anyone but the Miatas. As hurt as my ego was by the end of the day (I even got passed by an E30 with no other performance parts than a chip!), I felt I learned more by being so humbled. By that I mean now I know there's a lot more for me to learn than I ever thought, which was evidenced by my total lack of smoothness through the corners. Sure, I can blame a million things on the car, but at the end of the day, I need more seat time.

Another lesson that I learned the hard way was getting to the track. From my house, Putnam is 202 miles, or three hours and 44 minutes away. I completely underestimated this journey. I was reluctant to rent a hotel for the night during the two-day event, and I paid for it in terms of sleep. Oh dear. I left my house at around 3:10 AM and didn't get to the track until about 7:30, no thanks to the time change, one of my Illinois hours evaporated before my eyes! (Cue: massive frustration) And after being away since 1 AM, the clock struck 9, and it was time for me to hit the track. I was tired and rugged. I truly should have thought ahead and left home the night before! I can't believe I wanted to go to Mid-Ohio this weekend! I must have been out of my mind!

So the plan went as follows: wake up at 2:30 AM, drive to the track for 3.5 hours, drive on said track, drive for another 3.5 hours home, glean as much sleep and food for the short time I had to myself as possible and repeat. This was far too demanding of a schedule! On the first day, I was up by 1 AM, only to sleep again at 5 PM, as soon as I hit my bed, I was out! I woke up to the sight of an alarm clock that read "12:50." I thought to myself, "Aww crap, here we go again!" So I ate as much leftover pizza and tortellini as I could manage. I thought carbs would be a good choice for their energy value, then I thought of the fun, yet bowel-loosening ride my instructor gave me twice in his Porsche GT3 RS. I probably should have brought SOMETHING to eat or drink during the first day. I was ever so slightly tempted to take a water bottle sitting on a trailer while no one was looking, because I thought my mental capacities could really use it, but my morals got the best of me (damn you, good upbringing!)

On the track the first session, I was nothing but nervous. Coming in to turn one, my confidence began to progressively decrease. I was super composed for the first few corners because I thought I knew the course like the back of my hand for the number of YouTube videos I watched of people driving on the track. The thing I couldn't get from all those videos was, as my instructor called, "camber," or as I would call, "topography." There was almost no way to make up for this other than plainly and simply learning the course like I would any other.

My greatest complaint the entire time was the artificial throttle feel the E90 sedan had. (I'm curious if E90 M3s have this same "issue"). It felt like it was either completely on or off, little modulation in between. Where the car is civil on public roads, when I drove the car on the track it was nigh on schizophrenic. For which I would receive multiple reprimands from my instructor for.

I never used the tiptronic transmission, nor switched off traction control (both of which, my ego would have probably profited from and thus, made me faster). Also, I sense driving with an automatic makes braking zones harder because you have control over only the brakes, whereas control over the transmission and brakes and using those in conjunction with one another can create far more controllable braking situations in my estimation. And the tires... Oh the horror!

But now on to me. I lacked consistency most of all. I found the course worlds more memorable than the maze-like Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL (good luck remembering which way to turn!) But nonetheless, I would confuse what I was supposed to do time and time again. I confused turn four with turn eight. But at my last session, I really showed improvement. What was most frustrating though, was that despite paying for the Sunday session, my dad didn't let him go (and thank God he didn't!)

I wasn't about to drive another 3 and-a-half hours and drive on a race track, only to barely avoid nodding off on Route 65 while driving for 3 and-a-half hours going home. With six hours of sleep no less, staying awake and alert on the track as well as public roads for a cumulative 14 hours for the day is absurd to say the least. To give myself some credit, let's say I would have done worlds better if I had proper sleep, and I did OK. I can only go up from there!

For such a wacky weekend, I met cool people. (PM if you want me to remove you from this name-dropping, but I'm sorry, credit is due!)

Marcelo Areal was an all-around friendly Argentinian who was the first one to greet me and direct me where to go. He and I talked great lengths about F1, WRC, Group B rallying, ALMS, WTCC and NASCAR. He was intriguing to talk to because he told me about his experiences walking out in front of the Group B rally cars when he lived in Argentina, how fascinating this 2012 F1 season is developing to be, what with Sebatian Vettel's absence from the podium and his newfound appreciation for NASCAR, which I found frankly bizarre.

Aaron Leichty was incredibly funny and charismatic. He showed that he knew a great deal about cars from when he spoke about his multiple S2000s and his current Miata. I really wish I had come on Sunday just so I could chat with this guy more! I can't say enough positive things about him!

Matthew R Edmondson was the owner of the E30, which I loved seeing! He was interesting to talk to about his Purdue business degree.

Finally, hats off the my instructor, Pervez Randelia. The owner of a sensational GT3 RS blew my mind when he displayed his driving skills. By the end of his session, I told him he needs to get into racing.

Despite being the only northerner there, I had an absolute blast!

Two Cars that Have Seen Too Much Coverage

The first car that has seen more than its fair share of coverage is the exclusive and limited-production 2011 BMW 1 Series M Coupe. I complain about this in the first place because fewer than 1,000 of these bad boys will ever be produced.

So why cover such a car? To get fans all riled-up? To inspire readers to take standard 1 Series models and convert them to the more aggressive-looking 1 Series M? I plainly don't get the purpose of the media's coverage of the car. Could it be the garish orange that graces almost every model you see the media types driving like they stole it?

Either way, some publications such as Road & Track, Car and Driver and Motor Trend have produced reviews of the car. I find this totally illogical. The chances of you even getting a chance to maybe even see this car are very unlikely. For all the public knows, these cars may be a mythical creation of the media and BMW's PR in order to rejuvenate enthusiasm in the brand.

This car is treated as if anyone could go out and purchase today. Or that they're readily available at BMW dealerships. They're not. They're extremely rare and hard to find. So while making a review for a unicorn is great and all, it's useless.

But don't it look pretty?

Next is the Nissan Juke-R, which isn't even being released, ever. Hence me not assigning it a year. So why are publications like Autocar giving it reviews?! I cannot provide an adequate answer.

In the same way that the 1 Series M takes all the quick bits and pieces from its older brother, the M3, the Juke-R takes the go-fast parts from the Nissan GT-R. So again, like the Bimmer, the Juke goes a lot faster than its platform is intended to. Meaning, the car is extremely impractical.

It is the size of a GT-R. Yet it doesn't look like a GT-R, go like a GT-R, handle like a GT-R, but it eats fuel like a GT-R. So in a sense, Nissan have taken all the good parts, and reduced their inherent goodness, put them into a tiny Juke, and ingeniously incorporated all the bad parts along with it. I'm almost convinced it's wise for Nissan not to release the Juke-R to the public, they couldn't handle its raw power and its lack of handling due to its high center of gravity and worse aerodynamics thanks to the people-carrier intent of the original car.

In fact, the Juke-R weighs 150 pounds more than the GT-R, paired with its worse aero, rendering even worse gas mileage. So it really is a black sheep.

The Fast and the Furious (1955): The Slow and the Cheerful

I recently watched the original The Fast and the Furious film and cannot begin to describe how disappointing it was. For the 2001 film to share the namesake is a travesty in itself.

The acting is dreadful and melodramatic. The cinematography is amateurish and unwieldy. The plot lacks common sense, and one plot line "magically" leads to another.

To give you a gist of the film, a vigorous man, a beautiful, young woman and a generously proportioned man find themselves in a cafe. The larger man offers the vigorous man a ride in his truck. He declines the ride as well as to exchange his name. The lady working at the cafe goes to retrieve the pineapple juice requested by the young woman, and the stern man knocks the fat man out. Suffice to say, the man of the vigorous persuasion goes to take the woman with him on a number of escapades, running from the police.

Throughout the film, it is revealed that the angry man has committed murder which is why he's running. The woman has a race to go to, but the man wants to go to Mexico to run away. Conveniently, the race is near the Mexican border.

But, because this film was produced in 1955, and men of that era had insurmountably large egos, it was concluded, rather logically, that woman could not partake in this race. So the man does driving the woman's car instead. Misogyny at its finest.

This film's plot is so ham-handedly thrown together that I don't care to give much more thought nor effort to describing it.

I had such high expectations for a film that shares the name with my favorite. I suppose Universal Pictures used the name because the public forgot how the horrible film the original was, owned the rights to the name or thought the name was markedly more evokative than any result of a word-combination game their marketing team could come up with using dart boards and post-it notes.

Do not see this film. You will thank me while you are not watching it, and say to yourself, "Wow, almost anything is better than not seeing that horrible movie!"

Porsche 918, Almost Here!

Here is an interesting article of how Porsche seeks to reinvent the supercar using electric technology to supplement combustion engines. This results in better fuel economy, lighter weight, higher performance and better weight distribution. All of which contribute to Porsche's new 918 to improve on the road as well as the race track.

This article notes that the German auto manufacturer will change the face of the automotive industry. The 918 can be selected to run solely on electricity, with only combustion or on electricity in conjunction with combustion power. For the automotive layman, this means better MPGs due to reduced weight. The car is currently in production, as evidenced by the incomplete body panels, and is slated to go on sale on Sep. 18, 2012.

Pardon the absurdly large images. Don't thank me, thank Jalopnik!

Source:

http://jalopnik.com/5894878/a-ride-in-the-worlds-first-plug+in-hybrid-supercar

Car Brake Manufacturers are like Snake Oil Salesmen

I have been on the hunt for the ideal (1) big brake kit, (2) rotor or (3) pad set up for my 1985 BMW 323i track day monster that will feature an S54 engine from a BMW E46 M3. Suffice to say, I need more than the OEM brake set up to deal with the extra (333hp) power.

I tell you, brake manufacturers are like snake oil salespeople.

There is not one definitive answer to be found anywhere. No objective means by which to measure one brake set up versus another. All brakes have to do with are word of mouth, and trusting one brand over another due to a number of factors like advertisement, branding, sponsorships, racing application, etc.

It is a minefield ready to strip you of your precious cash. As a teen, I have little of it to spend.

And as a college student, I have even less time to spend doing all this research.

And what's more, there appears to be no one reliable source by which to rely upon for consumer advice. Here I am, completely befuddled if I go with Brembo, StopTech, Wilwood, AP Racing, PFC, EBC, DBA, Hawk, Baer or Powerslot. Who am I to trust? The brands I've been told to trust? Or the brands I have a gut feeling to trust? It is senseless.

My intended application for these brakes go like this, intense club racing and autocrossing, and occasional street driving from event to event. So that means I need a fade-free pad that does not make excessive noise for road use. I would prefer a slotted rotor, because I hear those dissipate heat more effectively. However, I hear drilled do the same. And yet at the same time, I also hear drilled have a higher tendency to crack. To make matters worse, I have been told on Bimmerforums.com to ditch any worry about it and simply go with blanks. (I really know I should go with slotted because they don't crack and manage heat dissipation best, I mean, they are used by the pros).

Brake manufacturers are like snake oil salesmen because they will stop at nothing to deceive you. They are fully willing to take advantage of you precisely because there is [seemingly] no governing body nor regulation in place to keep companies honest about their products. They must be saying to themselves as they make off with your $1.5k, "Good luck getting them to work, buddy!"

Watch as this fine man tells you pretty lies. He does well, doesn't he?

It is becoming harder and harder to distinguish rip-offs from credible brands as well, which makes finding a good brand harder as well.

I was not expecting this to be a headache and a half.

In fact, I could be well satisfied with likely the most widely trusted brand, Brembo, and call it a day. But I am not. "Why," you ask? For I do not wish to be suckered by the big, name-brand company to shell out $1,500 that may do nothing more than look cool. I reason this because Brembo's primary market is posers who want to enhance the appearance of their car.

After all, I could get away with spending less than half of that on EBC pads, and DBA slotted rotors and perhaps stop even quicker than big-name Brembos or StopTechs.

I know what I need most of all. That is a reliable outlet than can review these products which have otherwise been purchased based on dodgy consumer advice from other message board users. I need experts to go to the track and find out the cream of the crop, no "ifs", "ands" or "buts." They do it for cars already, why can't they for auto parts?!

No advertising BS. I need unadulterated product reviews. There is a clear lack of auto product review sites out there, and somebody could go fill that void and make a killing!

JDM Lowrider Subculture

Recently, a whole subculture of "slammed rides, yo!" has been brought to my attention (in rather a stylish fashion). The once-totally unbeknownst to me hobby of capturing the beauty of cars by emphasizing their colorful paint schemes, their low ride; camber, wheels, and the closeness between tire and wheel arch.

Here are some choice examples of cinematographic glory. (Quality cinematography is one of the few reasons I'm willing to sit through Top Gear USA's drivel).

I'm a sucker for a great camera angle!

Addicted to well-placed lens flares!

Look at that! Man o' man! And listen how well they capture that exhaust note from that E36 M3!

(Above) has to be one of the best videos! I think that's the single one that got me hooked looking from link to link, subscribing to more and more YouTube channels, scouring day-in, day-out... Yes, I'm an addict.

The Saint John's Mentality

It seems the people I went to grade school with continue to hold their prejudices against me. Ten years ago, I transferred to a new grade school called Saint John of the Cross. Right off the bat, my peers were noticeably more snobby than my former, [seemingly] lower-income classmates of the year before. I had never experienced such an uphill battle with meeting friends before. The girls were stuck up, the boys had already formed their impenetrable groups, and there was no way of reconciling either without completely conforming. I was reluctant to do so.

Yet I believe to this day, even if I had attempted to alter my interests to theirs, I never would have received full acceptance. Partly because of my name (it was not Irish, and nor was I), where I lived (which was not in the tiny, encapsulated village of ignorance known as Western Springs), I did not have any older siblings, and I was shy and unfunny. So unsurprisingly, my experience was rocky. Although this flies in the face of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X's pursuits of yesteryear, ethnic discrimination is alive and not well publicized.

I may have never been approached with open arms because I transferred in, and the same goes for my high school experience.

My point then is, incredibly people that attended Saint John of the Cross with me behave just as stiffly as they did over ten years ago. Back then, they would never invite me to their houses, now they never spark up conversation that is more than slightly meaningful in any real way, or invited me to any parties. They are the same, overly privileged suburbanite elite that will ever let more than a few into their highly exclusive social circles.

I'm about to say "screw you" to any reunion with Saint John of the Cross.

What the World is Becoming: According to the Internet

The world is in total disarray. People don't believe in anything anymore. People are growing up skeptics, unhappy hedons who want nothing else but a lower drinking age, to have sex with whomever they may please, legalized drugs, to be removed from any sort of religious or cultural obligations and to access all media free. This emphasis on pleasure will yield unambitious individuals in society and result in a loss of ethical values. Technology will progress in accordance with the law of diminishing returns, and eventually plateau for this betrayal of goal-seeking behaviors.

The only arbiters productivity and advancement of society are those who disdain from said shallow activities. As society gives the norms of yesteryear a greater metaphorical middle finger as time goes on, and deliberately rebels, more are encouraged to join the revolution. And this is for worse. Little do people realize is that when they pursue unethical behaviors, the will go along a downward spiral of mediocrity, never advancing. Aldous Huxley predicted correctly in his novel, Brave New World, only in ours, soma can be equated to drugs, sex, alcohol, and a lack of order. It appears only the destruction of all establishment will satisfy the constantly complaint-laden cesspool of individuals who make up modern society.

Today, people don't live in the moment, they don't live to find love, or live a virtuous life. Rather, they live solely to experience pleasure.

Inspiration: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Atheist