Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone. Thank you for your continued support. I have no idea what to expect in 2014, and that's exciting. Check the Twitter feed for pictures from tomorrow's Anti-Football Run. I'm taking a few days off for a little R&R and will blog again this weekend.

Inconsiderate parking (Ferrari edition)

Sent this morning by my friend down in Orange County. Note the 11-99 Foundation license plate frame.

DNA results are in

Nothing really earth-shattering. Not sure if I would recommend 23AndMe ($99), as now, due to an FDA edict, they can't give out health information anymore. I turned my saliva sample in just before the edict, so I got both health and ancestry information.

The ancestry info is given in three scenarios: conservative, standard, and speculative.

Conservative:

Standard:

Speculative:

Guess what? I'm Asian!

Not A Passat

Just got this from the current owner of the Popemobile.

Get well soon, Herr Schumacher

Gran Turismo 4

Over Christmas, I dug out my old PS2, dusted it off, and played the only game I own, GT4. The game is fun, but the graphics are awful compared to what's out there now. I'm having a good time driving this Mugen-powered Civic race car.

Chicken bus documentary on Netflix (La Camioneta)

Here's another gem on Netflix. The movie follows a Virginian school bus from an auction, to a drive through the U.S. and Mexico, to its conversion into a Guatemalan chicken bus.

1981 Honda Accord

My plan of visiting the shop containing six identical Unimogs yesterday fell through. The next car-related "event" is the Anti-Football Run on January 1. Rchen is kind enough, for the fourth year in a row, to let me ride shotgun and listen to me ramble non-stop for 3+ hours about my exciting life. The ride for 2014 is supposed to be this 1981 Accord, but there may be a glitch. Stay tuned...

Great geopolitical comedy/tragedy

I accidentally stumbled upon this while looking for depressing Danish films on Netflix. It's a documentary about a Dane who buys a diplomatic passport from a Dutch broker. He becomes the Liberian consul to the Central African Republic. He sets up a dummy company (a match factory) but in reality, he is trying to get into the blood diamond business. He sets up hidden cameras and talks to fellow diplomats (some of whom are dirty), government ministers, and the head of state security (who was shot and killed before the movie was released). It is a spectacular look at corruption in Africa.

Preliminary DNA ancestry results

More detailed information will be sent within the next two weeks from 23andMe. For now,...

My father's side is pretty clear.

My mom's side is a bit of a mystery.

President of Uruguay

He and Pope Francis are my favorite Heads of State. Go Southern Cone!

Wedge shaped garages/teepees/igloos in Triumph TR7 ad

NSU RO 80 video

DW TV's Drive It! series does the NSU RO 80. Fascinating and flawed car. 17 liter/100 km is roughly 14 mpg, BTW.

Merry Christmas

I want this IROC Camaro for Christmas

Check out the overhead console/manual calendar (at 6:00)!

Sochi on a map

Putin is releasing a lot of people on the eve of the Sochi Olympics-- Pussy Riot, Greenpeace protestors, and former rival Mikhail Khodorkovsky. But what he should really worry about is Caucasian terrorism.

AK-47 art

I must have this.

Geo Metro convertible ad

A girl in my high school had a new one. It literally looked like a roller skate.

Archival footage of Albert Camus's Facel Vega

Yesterday, I was watching an old episode of Bourdain's No Reservations, when Tony asked a Ramone (Marky?) what he wanted for Christmas. Marky answered-- a Facel Vega!

This morning, I saw The Stranger by Albert Camus lying around. Then, I vaguely remembered that Camus died in his a Facel Vega. Click here if the video doesn't work.

Toyota Prius hearse

Taken by rchen's friend, who saw this at a funeral parlor in LA.

Incredible pictures of an abandoned ZIL factory

Huge thanks to Tarlan! These are breathtaking.

More photos here and here.