ASM #85: the covers
Posted on March 31, 2010
Here are the three covers of Auto Salon Magazine Issue 85. Left and middle are the ones which will be distributed to newsstands, while the one on the right is the limited edition (1 of 150) cover that has already sold out. If you want to download the covers, follow this link.
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Where we’re going we don’t need roads
Posted on March 30, 2010
Once I’ve wrapped up some features for Auto Salon’s website and Speed Hunters I’ll be straight onto uploading the backlog of posts I have for my blog. In the meantime I’ve been sorting through the 8GB of photos/videos I took during my half day visit to Melbourne, and one of the cars I spotted at the F1 Australian Grand Prix was this awesome DeLorean.
Everyone knows of Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine and to see this Aussie replica made my day. A lot of the spectators around me were laughing at it, but in my eyes I give its owner my respect. While I would never build something like this myself, you have to appreciate the level of detail the owner has gone to. Check out the Mattel hoverboard and the McFly Nike Airs!
An exciting race
Posted on March 28, 2010
Occasionally I try my hand at live betting, which is basically betting on a sporting event whilst it’s unfolding. I’ve only done it a couple times before, with a mixed bag of results. The aim is to capitalise on those matches – or in this case a race – where there’s an upset and the bookies’ favourite doesn’t win. Of course betting on an underdog is riskier, but when other variables come into play your odds improve.
During yesterday’s qualifying session for the Australian Grand Prix, I thought I’d give it another go. There was an imminent threat of rain, a couple of underdogs had put in some impressive laptimes during the practice sessions, and I had a guy ‘on the ground’ (namely Garth, who was stationed at the back of the circuit) who could feed me weather information faster than the TV commentary. The moons were aligning so to speak.
The aim was to place small bets on the ‘peripheral’ drivers when their odds were high (with live betting the odds constantly change, and you should note there’s a momentary time delay before your bet is accepted). While rain did come during the final minutes of qualifying, it wasn’t hard enough to influence the pecking order.
I had better luck in today’s race though, having placed two $5 bets on Jenson Button to win at 17 to 1 and 21 to 1. My total betting spend on the race was $40 (spread across Button, Kubica, Massa, Hamilton, Schumacher, Rosberg and Barrichello) meaning a 400% net return. The reason why I didn’t place any contingency bets on any of the favourites was that the low odds simply wouldn’t cover the total spend. I admit I got a bit lucky there with Vettel’s brake failure though; it was looking like he was strolling to victory.
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A pause in transmission
Posted on March 25, 2010
Really wish I could make a full blog post now, but unfortunately my mind is mud at the moment. I’m struggling to even form sentences. So all I’ll say for now is:
* Lyddia Lassila (our very own gold medallist from the 2010 Winter Olympics) is super cool. Although we only spoke for a bit at the Australian Grand Prix, you could tell straight away that you can’t get any more down-to-earth than her.
* Paul Stoddart is the man. His absence is F1’s loss. A travesty.
• And to Stanley: I don’t know what I did to get this chance, but you made a childhood (and adulthood) dream come true. This was the one thing I resigned myself to never experiencing, but you ticked that box for me. Thank you so much!
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Location, location, location
Posted on March 23, 2010
Jotted down in an old notebook are a list of photoshoot locations I’ve found around Sydney. It’s a pretty substantial ‘black book’ that I’ve built up over the years. Finding a suitable location to shoot modified cars isn’t easy (probably why so many mags took the easy route of using boat ramps). You’ll attract a lot of (unwanted) attention, the location can’t have steep driveways or speed humps, and you want a background that compliments - rather than over-powers - the car.
Here’s one that we never ended up using. I really dug the low overpass and the way the lines would draw your eyes down to where the car would be positioned. As it was a public carpark, we planned to shoot at 2AM when there was the least amount of traffic; however when we did a recce we found it had been fenced off and converted into a garbage truck yard. There was another area a bit further down that looked similar, but the roof was higher, meaning this location lost its impact.
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Another reason why Japan rocks
Posted on March 22, 2010
Only in Japan can you walk into a convenience store and get a free Choro-Q with your can of WONDA coffee.
This one is the WONDA x NISMO R35 GT-R. In case you haven’t heard of Choro-Qs before, they’re miniature pull-back cars. The slot at the back allows you to attach a coin so it does wheelies. There were ten different Choro-Qs to collect including a Ralliart collab, the GT-R, S2000, Legacy/Liberty and FD RX-7.
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Carl’s Cars
Posted on March 22, 2010
After so many years in the publishing industry, it’s little wonder that my magazine collection is rather out of control (well over 500 for sure). I’ve tamed it down over the past couple of years, but I still frequent the newsstands regularly. A couple weeks ago I picked up a copy of Carl’s Cars.
Imported mags are always expensive in Australia (this was around $20). Loved this photo, although it needs a stronger step-and-repeat.
Carl’s Cars is a boutique title similar to Intersection. I love simple and clean compositions, something which we could never do with ASM as it didn’t suit our demographic’s tastes.
Another cool use of type and vector graphics.
Interesting installations.
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I actually won something
Posted on March 21, 2010
Seriously, does anyone actually know of someone who has won big with a scratchie? Up until today, the most I’ve ever won was $5. While picking up some magazines I bought a $10 scratchie as it came with half a dozen $1 scratchies for free. Total win was $82 across three tickets; not much, but by scratchie standards certainly not bad!
Lemongrass pork belly
Posted on March 21, 2010
Saturday’s dinner was lemongrass and pork belly cooked on the barbeque. Pork belly isn’t exactly the healthiest of cuts, but damn does it taste good.
Used a mortar and pestle to smash up lemongrass, chillis, olive oil and some other spices into a paste; then marinated the pork for an hour in the fridge (it should be longer but I was too hungry).
Took about ten minutes to cook on the BBQ.
This is a stroke of genius.
Posted on March 19, 2010
Usually I’m a hater of pre-mix drinks. But this… this is something special. Ginger-beer addicts unite.
In fact I loved Smirnoff’s Mule it so much I shot it a dozen times; this was the best photo. (I chose bottom-left).
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ASM #85 Pre-release sale (a shameless plug)
Posted on March 18, 2010
Last night the pre-release sale of Auto Salon Magazine’s final Issue went live on autosalon.com.au. Although we only announced the pre-release on Twitter, half of our Limited Edition copies sold overnight. And since I’ve received several emails from my blog about when it went on sale, I thought I better make a post before it sells out completely.
We’ve done something special for Issue 85 and it will be available with three unique cover designs:
* Collector’s Edition (A$9.99)
* Alternate Cover (A$9.99)
* Limited Edition (A$19.99)
Both the Collector’s Edition and the Alternate Cover versions will be available at all your usual stockists worldwide. Australian States will receive 50% of each version, however you may need to try a few different newsagencies if you want to grab both.
Only 150 copies of the Limited Edition have been printed and these are only available from the online pre-release. Each Limited Edition copy is individually numbered and personally signed by ASM’s editorial team.
While I’d love to show you what the three covers look like, you’ll have to wait for the official reveal on the 31st March 2010 on Auto Salon’s website. I have the iris proofs of all three covers on my work desk, and ever since we put #85 to bed I find myself staring at them. I can’t separate them; I dig all of them equally. I know that they’re not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think they all feel right.
You can buy your copy here: autosalon.com.au/issue85
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