Maybe they were right all along

Posted on February 28, 2010

During a lunch outing last week I noticed that as soon as everyone had ordered we all automatically whipped out our phones. Some were checking emails and BBMs on Blackberries while others were playing flick football on iPhones. I suddenly realised that to say the media landscape is changing would be an understatement. We’re witnessing a freakin’ revolution.

Over recent years the mainstream has been hit with live sports broadcasted in 3D, 1080P and Blu-Ray, USB sticks with 150 times more storage than my DX2/66 ever had (which cost $4k back in the day), wafer thin LED panels, lightning fast internet speeds, and iPhones that can do anything and everything you could possibly need. In the blink of an eye we’ve gone from 30sec Realplayer mosaics to streaming HD video.

When I was a kid, my dad’s OKI mobile phone was the size of a textbook; yet he was incredibly proud of it as it represented the next evolution from those shoulder pack phones. My dad was the Man as he strutted around with its antenna sticking out from the bulging bum-bag around his waist. It cost him a couple grand, was equally expensive to make calls (you paid for incoming calls too), and it had a battery life of around two hours (that’s standby mind you; talk time was something like 40 minutes). Fast forward to today and here I am, taking my Bold - which is more powerful than the computer I grew up with - for granted. And I know that in just a few years time I’ll look back at today and laugh at how impressed I was with such an unsophisticated, barbaric brick of a device.

Have you noticed that less people wear watches these days? And how many of us bother to have a home phone? Thank cell phones and affordable unlimited plans for that. Have you stopped to realise that with Google Maps we can now zoom and enhance on any street in any part of the world, just like that Gene Hackman hobbit in Enemy of the State?

Say hello to the future. Whenever I used to watch one of those popcorn sci-fi flicks set in the future, I would always think to myself how ridiculous it all was. Like that hologram computer Tom Cruise used in Minority Report. Pfffft! That shit would never happen. Tourists being able to visit outer-space like in Total Recall? Uh, I don’t think so.

During one of our many lunch debates we argued over Apple’s impending iPad and what influence it would have over all of us consumer zombies. A couple of people in the office think it will be a massive flop; and I can see the reasoning behind that. It really is, in spite of Jobs’ smoke and mirrors, nothing more than an over-sized iPod Touch. And it will never handle Flash for that matter (Kula pointed out that Flash would allow programmers to bypass Apple’s app store).

But my gut tells me that the iPad is going to change everything. Think about it; a couple of years ago we would’ve thought that watching videos and browsing the internet on a plate of glass would never happen. It would be impossible; mere fantasy. Yet today, loungers will no longer have to prop a laptop up on their knees. No longer will you need a magazine rack next to the shitter. You can now get rid of that bookshelf and hang that nice 50-inch plasma you’ve been brainwashed into buying. And for designers, photographers, creative agencies, artists, and pretty much anyone going for a job interview, massive portfolios will become a thing of the past. Just tuck an iPad under your arm and you’re all set. And hot on the heels of the iPad is Microsoft’s new Surface (which is pretty much an even bigger iPod Touch that’s mounted on a Frogger arcade machine).

I’ve only just come to the realisation that all of those whacky gadgets we’ve seen in futuristic movies are happening right before our eyes. And in just a few years, I’m certain we’ll see even bigger changes. It terms of media, it won’t be long before the internet swallows up conventional TV broadcasting in the same way as it has print.

My dad used to be (actually he still is) paranoid of all that Big Brother stuff. Over dinner he would always ramble on about how the Government has the technology to do this or that; that they could hear and see everything anyone ever did. I used to tune out and hope he’d shut up. Well Dad, maybe you were right all along.

I sometimes wonder who the Skynet equivalent would be in the real world, and I keep coming back to the same answer: it would have to be Google. They’ve snuck up in the shadows and cemented themselves as the spine of the internet. Nearly everything passes through their hands in one way or another, and that sort of information is priceless. Think about it. They can predict trends – in any field from real estate to fashion to entertainment – just by the frequency of searched topics. If Google were to create a magazine, it would be the most popular thing on Earth as they’d know exactly what the world wants to see at that particular point in time. And Google also has the capability to pinpoint potential sexual predators, pathological murderers and terrorists by analysing people’s search patterns. You really can’t help but be impressed.

But in the midst of this technological revolution, one question remains unanswered. Which movie got it right? Will our future turn out like ‘Mega-City One’ in Judge Dredd? Perhaps we’re headed towards the devastation in 2012 or the robot personas in Surrogates? Or maybe we’ll end up using the three sea-shells in Demolition Man.

Hmm… I better start liking Taco Bell.

Fail.

Posted on February 26, 2010

This made me laugh. My Internet Explorer crashed - rather ironically - when I tried to update from their last crappy update, while using Microsoft’s own search engine no less. I know, I know, I shouldn’t have been using Explorer in the first place. Nor Bing for that matter (which absolutely sucks). But Firefox seems to crash whenever I search Google too.

Edit: LOL IE crashes so much that when I previewed this post my cursor automatically dashed straight for the Cancel button in the screen grab!

Signing off

Posted on February 26, 2010

Today marked the day that I signed off on the proofs for our final ever issue, Auto Salon Magazine Issue #85. So as I type these words, the printers would have already spun into action and it won’t be long before it hits newsstands around the world. There were plenty of dramas in the last week before deadline so I kind of feel like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders.

Been with ASM since its inception and I must say 85 Issues worth is a very long time!

Visit to IS Motor Racing

Posted on February 24, 2010

Finally got around to servicing the Jazz, which I’ve been meaning to do for the past few weeks. It’s been a while since I last caught up with my good friend Indy from IS Motor Racing, so it was like killing two birds with one stone. The lil beater received a bottle of Mobil 1, HAMP filter, CVT fluid change and a set of NGK Platinum plugs.

Spotted a 2.3l stroker kit being fitted.

Some serious brake hardware too.

Hidden behind Indy’s bbq was this: my roll-cage from my old 350Z! I totally forgot about this and I think it’s been sitting there for two years now. Indy’s been super patient but as soon as he saw me spot it, he told me to get it out of his workshop! Alas, it’s still there…

Duff energy drink

Posted on February 23, 2010

Trace gave me this can of Duff Beer energy drink (there’s no alcohol in it) a while back but it’s been sitting forgotten in the fridge. She picked it up when she was on holidays in the States. I finally cracked it open and it actually tasted alright; kind of like Fanta. Thanks Tracy!

A month of food

Posted on February 20, 2010

Ever since 2010 kicked off I’ve been eating out way too much, and now that deadline’s over I’m looking forward to some good old home cooked meals. So anyway, here’s my month of food in review. First up was a get together at Jake & Jasmine’s place as Derek & Phuong came over from London. Phuong loves her chicken, so Mimi brought over KFC and I brought over some Lebanese charcoal chicken from El Jannah in Granville (highly recommended; make sure you get the garlic sauce).

Shalom’s a regular haunt of mine and more often than not I always get their grilled chicken (91B on their menu). It’s quite spicy, but I think they’ve recently changed to even stronger chillis so now it’s right on the limit of what my mouth can handle.

Sunday lunch from Hong Ha. Anna and I wanted to try all of the different rolls they sell, so we bought one of each. This is their meatball one which wasn’t very good. The schnitzel roll was decent, but none of them come close to their Viet pork roll.

Simon and Willy can’t go a week without eating pho, even if it’s a stinking hot day.

Jasmine celebrated her birthday at the Athenian Greek restaurant in Sydney’s CBD. Here’s their lamb souvlaki.

Their chef’s special of lamb and eggplant was absolutely enormous; probably enough to feed two people!

Vincent & Helen popped up from Melbourne for a holiday, so we headed to Koh-Ya for Japanese bbq.

Also visiting Sydney was my sister Caroline, who returned from London for her birthday and Chinese New Year. Celebrations were at Din Tai Fung in World Square.

Tofu, pork floss and preserved egg.

String beans and mince.

Perfectly made Xiao Long Bao dumplings. Although no one will dispute that their dumplings are great, for me the novelty of Din Tai Fung is wearing off and its hard to justify the expensive bill.

Green tea birthday cake. Happy bday sis!

Chinese New Year lunch at Food Garden. Mum made a special request to the chef for this dish (I can’t remember what it’s called unfortunately).

Hainan chicken from Malay-Chinese Takeaway on Hunter St.

Duck is one of my favourite meats, but I’ve been having bad luck whenever I order it from a Chinese restaurant. I think out of the last ten times I’ve ordered it, eight of them have been skin and bones. It’s like freakin’ Russian Roulette. This was one of the better servings.

Huge pieces of tofu in my laksa makes me happy!

Farewell Kuroi

Posted on February 19, 2010

(Photo copyright Mark Pakula)

Sadly the drifting community lost one of its figureheads when Atsushi Kuroi passed away. Two weeks ago I heard the news by email, but initially I thought it was just another of those sick rumours that circle around. It was confirmed by a friend in Japan, who informed me he was killed in a bike accident. Since then I’ve been meaning to make this post, but with the craziness of #85 this is my first chance.

Kuroi has long been a fan favourite both in Japan and around the world. He’s famous for his foot-to-floor drifting style and was one of the pioneers who elected for an RB engine conversion in his S-series drifter (back then many believed the extra weight incurred over the front wheels wasn’t ideal for drifting). He encapsulated everything that drifting is about: style, courage and skill.

(Photo copyright Mark Pakula)

Back in 2007 I met Kuroi and I can recall that day vividly. It was the Monday after the D1GP All-Star World Championship weekend had finished. Our S15 was being stored at Kure Motorsports’ workshop in Los Angeles, and we headed there in the afternoon to start loading our gear into the container to be shipped back to Australia.

(Photo copyright Mark Pakula)

When I walked into the workshop I was rather surprised to see Kuroi and his mechanics peering under our S15’s bonnet. We started chatting in English about the weekend (Kuroi had finished in second place in the Japan Vs USA grudge match) and he was keen to know more about the drifting scene in Australia.

He wanted to know everything about our car, from what suspension we ran to the chassis modifications we had done. Impressively, he correctly guessed that we were experiencing overheating issues; and told us that he too had similar problems which he rectified by changing the fan to a specific Nissan OEM fan from another model.

Unlike many of the other pro drifters I’ve met over the years – who closely guard their tricks and secrets – Kuroi was genuinely willing to help. A few days earlier he had also helped out Aussie drifter Christian Pickering and the CTS team (both Pickering and Kuroi were sponsored by Toyo Tires) with their alignment for the banked Irwindale oval, and here he was helping out someone he had never met before. Perhaps it’s because he’s been in the game from the early days and knows that helping each other out and growing the sport is more important than retaining a personal competitive advantage. We only spoke briefly, perhaps for 15 minutes, but I could immediately tell he was a genuine nice guy. And that would prove the first and last time I’d speak to him in person. Thanks Atsushi, I’ll never forget that day.

Done…

Posted on February 19, 2010

Finally it’s done. It felt like we would never be able to say those words. That’s right, the team has just completed Issue 85 – the final Issue of Auto Salon Magazine – and it’s being FTP’d over to our printers right now. Early next week I’ll do the final sign off on the proofs and then the printing machines will spur into action. Ticking off those final pages on the pagination never felt so good!

As this is our last Issue, we’ve changed from our usual format so that we could do something a bit special. It’s all hush hush for the time being, but all will be revealed in the lead up to its release. Auto Salon has been inundated with enquiries regarding #85, so I can confirm that a small number of advanced copies will be available for purchase online at autosalon.com.au during the month of March.

While I’m certainly relieved that we’ve finally finished it off, it’s still incredibly sad to see it end (at least in print form), especially since I’ve worked on it since Issue 1. The office is so quiet now!

From the archives: Club Corsa

Posted on February 17, 2010

Without doubt, #85 has been the hardest Issue I’ve ever worked on. We’ve all been doing 15-20 hour shifts a day for the entire month, and we’re all running on fumes at the moment. I think I pumped out 10,000 words of copy this week alone! We’ve also been spending quite a bit time sifting through our archives for the flashback articles, and I came across some of these unseen shots I took during our Club Corsa Ferrari shoot in Melbourne. This shot is from the black F430 that Willy drove.

Unfortunately (actually I should be grateful) I drew the short straw to drive the look-at-me red F430 Spider. I only made it 50m out of the dealership before I copped abuse from a courier driver!

Rental cars make good vantage points for photographers, although I think we’ve buckled around three roofs over the years. Thankfully rental car companies rarely check the condition of a car’s roof!

New rims for the Slider

Posted on February 15, 2010

During the chaos of #85’s deadline and all of the usual CNY obligations, I found some time on the weekend to start hunting around for the parts for my Huffy Slider. First on the agenda were some better rear wheels and I wanted to start off trying out the larger, cambered Green Machine rims. After searching Toys’R'Us high and low I came up empty handed (they only stocked the Green Machine trike itself, and the crappy V2 one at that); but I had better luck at my local K-Mart. They were hidden way back on a shelf in the back corner and I bought all four replacement wheels they had in stock. Hoping to fit them in the next couple of days.

The extended version

Posted on February 14, 2010

After three attempts, I’ve finally completed the draft for my final column in ASM. As you can see I’ve gone with a Director’s Cut for #85; it’s around 6000 words at the moment but I’ll be chopping it down and reworking the parts I’m not entirely happy with. I’ll do that tomorrow. Sleep time now.

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