Lance Burton makes a Corvette disappear!

My friend insisted that we see magician Lance Burton at the Monte Carlo casino in Vegas.  Burton, 50, is about to retire.  The show was surprisingly entertaining, in a cheesy, campy, and perhaps ironic way.  He even made a C4 Corvette with the square-ish taillights (shows you how old that trick is) float and disappear.  I don't know how he does it but I could tell it's just a Corvette body with maybe a golf cart engine.

Spy Photos: Nissan Fuga, Infiniti M37/M56/M35 Hybrid

I saw this today near the Bay Bridge.  It's got Michigan manufacturer's plates, is right hand drive, and has the front end of a Maserati Quattroporte.

Obama and Clinton presidential announcements

I am capping off the summer reading season by reading Game Change.  It's about the 2008 U.S. presidential election.  It's an in-depth, thorough, and very private look into the Obama, Clinton, and McCain campaigns, the candidates themselves, and their families.

I'm not really a political junkie, but for all of 2008, I was glued to MSNBC (especially Chuck Todd and Chris Matthews), the Huffington Post, even the Drudge Report to get any snippet of gossip, factoid, or trend about how blue collar Neptunian-American females ages 19-35 voted in the last six elections in Polk County, Iowa.

Here are Obama and Clinton's "announcements".  First, look how young they looked in 2008.  Second, their styles and the messages they conveyed are so...disparate.

North Korean-built Mercedes 190E

North Korea built this in 1988.  It was alternately called the Kaengsaeng 88, the Pyongyang 4.10, and the Paektusan.  They lacked heaters, AC, and had mismatched windows.  Awesome.

Lamborghini Jarama

Via The Auto Insider.

Grace Jones Toyota Celica ad commercial

And you thought she only hucked Citroens:

Engine block coffee table: Diamond in the rough?

Click here for the completed table.

I went to check out the potential engine today.  I think it's got potential.  The engine's owner and I brainstormed a bit and it may just work.  We're still working out the details.  If it works out, I will post more pictures of the transformation.  *Fingers crossed.*

So we start off with a Maserati Biturbo engine.  (I know, that is a Lancia Montecarlo/Scorpion in the background.)  We are not sure if we are going to use this engine block or the much cleaner one that the owner also has.

Here's another view.  That's a Fiat racer in the background.  The very tentative plan is to just have a block, heads (x2), cam towers (x2), and either black or red "Maserati" valve covers (x2).  I won't need any of the extra doohickies you see attached here.

 
A few issues came up, and I think these are worth considering for anyone who wants to build a coffee table.

• Weight: It's not just about shipping/transporting a heavy object home.  Once it's home, it has to be relatively easy to move.  If you have company over and you want to whip out the Twister game, are you going to need four people just to budge the coffee table four inches?
• Center of gravity: V-shaped engines are inherently unstable.  Is a kid running at full steam going to be able to knock over the table?  You may want to do all you can to widen the base and/or concentrate the mass towards the bottom.
• Level: I plan to pick up a glass top from the local recycler.  Once you place the glass on top of the engine, is it going to be level?  This is going to be an issue with this engine, as the oil filler opening on the valve cover (the stripped engine's highest point) is half an inch taller than the other side of the valve cover.  Also, make sure the bottom of the engine block sits flush with the floor.
• Dirt/grime: It's filthy.  I am debating whether a once-over with a high pressure hose will do the job.  Or, will I have to spend my weekends with a gross of toothbrushes and a 55 gallon drum of brake fluid, like Edvin?

Formula 1 Datsun 280ZX Turbo pace car Las Vegas Grand Prix

I'm reading Analysing Formula 1 and lo and behold, there is a snapshot of the 1982 Las Vegas Grand Prix (in the Caesar's Palace parking lot) and the pace car is a 280ZX Turbo!

Image courtesy.

Maserati Biturbo engine block coffee table?

Will this engine block serve as the basis for my coffee table?  I will report back tomorrow after I check it out.

Bolivia lithium facts documentary

If you have not heard by now, a huge ($1 trillion worth) amount of lithium lies under a salt lake in Bolivia, South America's poorest country.  Here is some background from a 2009 piece.

Though President Evo Morales is keen to keep revenue from the country's mineral resources with its people, he needs outside capital and know-how to extract the lithium.  Being anti-yanqui means no American companies will be allowed in.  Venezuela, a close ally, doesn't even have the wherewithal to efficiently pump out its own oil.  And I think China has screwed over enough African countries for Bolivia to know better.

My bet is that Japanese, South Korean, and Brazilian firms will partner with Bolivia to exploit the lithium.

So what lies in the future?  What if lithium battery technology is replaced by a cheaper, better technology?  Will the Bolivian government be able to effectively modernize and enrich its poverty-stricken nation?  Will Bolivia use the money to build up its military and intimidate Chile into "returning" the strip of land around Arica so that Bolivia will end its landlocked nation status?  Only time will tell.

Here is a 26 minute documentary that came out a few weeks ago about Bolivia's challenges.

Let's hope this does not turn out to be another Potosi mine.  During the colonial period, Indians extracted 137 million pounds of silver out of a mountain.  It did nothing for Bolivia.