Monday, August 18, 2008

Vacationing in Long Beach California and new Tattoos...

Kat and I are in Long Beach California right now. We have been here for 3 days and we are having a great time! Started our journey in b-more, then memphis (which has some damn good ribs) and then off to LA. We picked up our rental car (toyota solara convertible) and hit the 405 freeway traffic at peak of rush hour. It was insanity (now i know why so much crazy shit happens in cali, it all stems from the traffic) We got off the freeway and hit up PCH (pacific coast highway) and drove along the water down into long beach. The weather is a gorgeous 75 degrees and slight cool breeze. Kat was taking video while i was driving when i decided to "test" the e-brake. Yea, it scared the shit outta Kat and the half dozen other people in a 4 block radius. I locked the rear tires up suddenly and let out a hella loud howl from them. It was hilarious and Kat's face was priceless. Our rental car kicks ass and is a PERFECT car for the beach. Its sporty and we have had the top down 90 percent of our drives.

The first full day(friday) we went down to the track, caught some sun, drank some beer and saw some racing. When i say "caught" some sun, i mean we got nuked. Kat and i are BOTH sunburned crucially, but it has not slowed our fun down at all. Kat found a pretty sweet tattoo shop in Long beach called "long beach ink assassins" and she got herself a BEAUTIFUL koi fish (lovingly named tina) on her left inner calf. It is very detailed and vividly colored. Its also pretty damn big, but looks very lady like and sexy when she dons some high heeled shoes.

The next day(saturday), we hit up the racetrack again to catch the celebrity pro race, lemans series race and then we headed back over to the long beach tattoo shop. Being jealous of kat's tattoo all day, i decided to get one myself. I picked out a pic on google images of a lotus (flower) and had mike draw it up for me. It is about 5" in diameter and is on the right side of my neck. Its big, purple n yellow and gorgeous. This guy can really tattoo. It hurt like a SOB, but all the artists, customers and friends that saw me getting it done "blew it up" (fist love) saying that i was "gangster" and "good job, manning up on that shit" for having my neck done with such a large tattoo. The tattoo kinda just peeks out from my shirt collar, goes on my clavical area as well. It was a bitch to get, but now me and Kat have some LA ink to remember our great trip by!

We have taken upwards of 300 photos and videos, the scenery and city are GORGEOUS, palm trees everywhere, bright blue empty sky, skyscrapers and harbor lining the tracksides, and tons of awesome people. Everyone here is really friendly, laid back and very stylish. I think it is a great place to be. The city of long beach seems like it is almost like paradise but "real". It is certainly growing on me, even though in the first 4 hours of being in LA i said i'd NEVER move out here...

Today, Kat and I woke up at 9:30 completely demolished feeling. We are both sunburned, sore from tattoos and didn't get much sleep. Kat is having a hard time walking around (which is not good considering that the big race is today this afternoon.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

This quote just about sums everything up.

It’s not about the end of the world. It's not about surviving a hypothetical plane crash.
It’s about the satisfaction you get knowing you can take care of yourself, friends and family in ANY SITUATION, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE!

That would probably explain my obsession with go anywhere vehicles, outfitting them with go anywhere accesories and stocking them with supplies, tools and weapons for anything i can think of.

Ps... I'm also hoping that zombies will be our demise.... that would be right up my alley :)

Thursday, May 29, 2008

New Jacket, boots and Helmet Review


So i just recently purchased some new motorcycle gear and decided to review it all for you.

The first and most important item is the Airoh S4 hooligan helmet. It is a cross breed between a MX style open faced visor'd helmet and a Closed faced, shielded street bike helmet.

The result? A very different style and a very distinct performance advantage. This helmet has it all, and can be set up in multiple ways. Mx with a visor and no sheild, street bike with no visor and a sheild, or neither.

The helmet is VERY comfy, although tight on my cheeks (which all good helmets seem to be) It has removable pads that can be washed, and seem to be well made and easy to remove. The strap is a clip type which is something i hated at first, but have learned to love. It makes taking the helmet on and off with gloves easy as ever. No more fussing with buckles and straps.

The fit and finish isn't bad at all for the price. My only complaints are as follows: the visor does not open more then about 4-5".. i wish it opened all the way up to the visor. The shield also does not seal very well against the helmet and gives a VERY atrocious whistle at speed if fully shut. If i open in even a mm, the whistle is gone and it still deflects 99% of the wind away.

The gripes are minor and i would easily recommend it.. if i wanted anyone else to have such a cool looking helmet as me! (note that my helmet has been modified with a red mohowak down the top to allow it to have more visibility, plus look EVEN more hooligan.


The next gear on review is the Joe Rocket Touring boots that i purchased on closeout for nearly 70% off. They are waterproof, side zippered with a huge velcro flap and are very light. The other nice thing is that they have a very aggressive yet comfy tread on them and allow walking in slippery mud with little traction loss. There is also reflective piping and panels located in strategic locations to provide protection to the bike's frame where boots typically rub.

They are VERY comfy, well made and are almost so light that i forget that they are on. After about 1000 miles on them, i was figuring that the boot would look like crap from the shifter rubbing on the toe, but it has NO wear whatsoever on it.

It seems like they are great for touring or adventure riding. They are warm in the cold weather and cool in the warm weather. So far i love them.


Last but not least, we have the Hein Gericke Timbuktu Camo Air jacket. This jacket i got for nearly 80% off due to its...... less then becoming looks. It honestly isn't as bad as i thought it would look, but it sure ain't the prettiest. I hope i have enough time to write up all the features of this jacket, i seem to find a new pocket or interesting feature EVERY time i put it on. (in the pic, mine looks like the lower right)

The coolest feature of the jacket is its versatility. With the waterproof and windproof THICK inner liner removed (which is held by no less then 10 snaps and 2 zippers) the outer jacket is so cool, that i walked around in the middle of an 85 degree day in the sun and felt as if i was wearing a t-shirt (not an exaggeration AT all), on the same day while riding, the wind just goes right thru it and cools you completely. On the other hand, this evening it was 45 degrees and chilllllly. I snapped the liner back in and went for a ride. Almost INSTANTLY after suiting up in the house, i was SMOLDERING hot. I started to sweat before i even made it a whole 60 seconds. Outside in the cool air, on the bike, i was completely warm, and could have ridden all night in such conditions. I felt no air thru the liners and it was so toasty that i could have halfway unzipped it to get cooled off a bit. with a heated vest liner, i think i could use this jacket from the arctic circle to the sahara comfortably.

It has all the armor you would expect (shoulders, elbows, back) and the material and jacket are very heavy duty feeling and thick. Overall quality is fantastic and couldn't find even one flaw in the jacket in build quality or construction.

This jacket has pockets ontop of pockets inside of pockets. There are so many pockets, i swear i haven't found them all. They are also pretty easy to open up with gloves on and they are also very large as well. The liner and jacket have seperate pockets so you can hold a lot of things, some on the outside, and some inside the waterproof area as well.

The other cool feature is that it is set up to accept a camel back H20 setup. It has straps, holes for hoses to sneak thru and a pocket on the inner/lower back of the jacket for the bladder.

For the price i paid, i would easily consider paying the retail price for the jacket if i ever replace it. The versatility of the jacket makes it worth the purchase alone. This jacket does all seasons well and is comfy, useful and actually the looks of it are growing on me. Honestly, i have gone over about 10% of the crap it does/has. It is absolutely an amazing jacket and is extremly comfy and i will be wearing it on my alaska trip. Although i will be taking a heated vest to go under (just in case)

I can EASILY recommend these products above, they are fantastic and i would purchase them all again if i needed to replace them.

Monday, April 21, 2008

1000 mile 2008 Kawasaki KLR650 review and impression


So i have been living with the 2008 Kawasaki KLR650 in Candy Lime Green for a little over a month and a half and 1000 miles. (my poor jeep has been parked since the day i picked the bike up) I am going to go through the good, bad and indifferent with my experience with the bike so over the period of ownership so far.

So first things first, lets get into my farkles. These should play a fairly important role in the way i love the bike or not. I have installed Sw-motech crash bars, Utah motorsports aluminum skid plate, galfer stainless steel braided brake lines, HID wholesalers h7 6000k hid setup, Dowco soft luggage set, Ram mounts for camcorder and blackberry phone (gps and mp3's as well from the blackberry) I have also added a 12v power plug in the right side fairing, use a xena disc brake lock with alarm.

These above mods make the bike better for the daily use that it gets, not to mention make it much nicer looking and more "me". With the above things, i feel the bike is more capable, safer and better equipped to carry my stuff around with me. So far all the mods have been welcomed additions, except for the rear stainless brake line, it feels much more stiff and has absolutely no braking feel or feedback when using the rear brake.


Sunday, April 6, 2008

Grand Cherokee ZJ: ARB Safari Snorkel Install Review Thanksgiving 2014 update!

***********************  Edit Thanksgiving 2014  ***********************


I did this install 5 years ago. I must get an email every week about if i have the original instructions...Sadly i don't. But i have sourced up some help for anyone looking for such.

FOUND THEM, HERE YOU GO!

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ARB PDF Install instructions from my Dropbox
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Imagine you are out on a backcountry camping trip in your fully equipped (or so you think) off road rig. As you are enjoying your day cruising the wooded ORV park, you sit, feeling mighty, without worry as you climb over boulders the size of Honda Civics and crawl up muddy/rocky inclines that would make mountain goats cringe. Your rig can do it all, you think to yourself. Suddenly, a bad storm comes in, much worse then what was mentioned earlier as you entered the park, talking to your buddies on the CB. As you try to get back to camp, the dry creek beds that you easily crawled thru earlier are now raging rapids, seemingly a few feet deep (at least). You start to cross without much thought or worry, knowing how capable your rig is. You put your front tires down the bank and dip your hood in to hear the unmistakable gurgle of your air intake slurping down gallons of water… Your truck stalls, and you are STUCK there with a hydro locked motor.

This situation may sound unlikely (or you are too man to admit that even the best of us run into big problems), but for the people that it has happened to, with and without warning, they would tell you otherwise. The way you can solve this problem is with a snorkel kit. A snorkel for a vehicle is the same idea as a snorkel for a person swimming. It keeps the air intake of your off-road truck above the roof, that way you can clear river crossings, the occasional mud hole your buddies dare you to cross (and don’t tell you that its actually 4 feet deep) or any other water situation you encounter. There are also other benefits to it. (besides looking absolutely awesome) They can provide you with cleaner air in dusty environments, cooler air with a ram type effect for better combustion and sometimes fuel efficiency and also it looks ABSOLUTELY AWESOME. (When something on an off-road vehicle makes a 65 year old woman in a car in the next lane at a traffic light, roll her window down and ask you what it does, You KNOW it’s pretty cool.)
If you are like me, and own a ZJ bodied Jeep Grand Cherokee, you may be surprised to find out that no one has designed a snorkel kit for them. Until now! (January 2008). For the last few years, many people including myself have been following the ARB press releases closely, awaiting the arrival of the Safari Snorkel Release for the 1993-1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Unfortunately the release was pushed back many times due to problems with ARB Australia actually finding a ZJ to get in their shop to get the product designed (apparently they aren’t very common over there). I sent many an email to ARB’s US division, asking for updates and information on the product’s release, pictures, pricings and info I could get my grubby paws on. Eventually I was in contact with Jim Jackson, the President of the US division of ARB. I exchanged emails with Mr. Jackson, and he updated me as he got information on the product. He also was kind enough to show support for the ZJ wheelers by sending me one of the first ARB Safari Snorkel kits to land on US shores, to demo on my own personal trail vehicle. He also put me into touch with his Tech Manager Marc Bowers. After going through the install process with Mark, I felt confident that my crack squad of mechanics and I could get the job done with no hiccups. Mark Also mentioned to me about the design and production process, telling me that every Safari Snorkel kit made is flow tested, and dyno’d to make sure that has no reductions in performance (and typically yields added performance). This alone shows the dedication to quality that ARB is known for.

After receiving the kit, I inspected the contents. Impressed to find a VERY thorough instruction and install manual, templates for drilling and all modifications to the factory airbox, and all the necessary parts to install. The only things I needed to install this kit were a 4 ¾” hole saw for making the large hole in the fender for the snorkel tube to pass thru. I actually found out that a 5” hole saw was MUCH cheaper (about 5 dollars) and worked just as well. The extra 1/8” of diameter was covered up by the snorkel assembly just fine. I also purchased a pop rivet gun because the install required the use of pop rivets for the windshield bracket and the airbox blank off plate for the existing air inlet. The last purchased item was some black automotive silicon sealant made by GE that was waterproof, flexible yet strong, UV resistant, oil/grease/dirt resistant and also resistant to varying changes in temperatures.
I was initially going to walk through the install step by step, but afterwards I feel that the install went more smoothly than ANY other modification I have EVER performed on ANY vehicle. This kit is so complete and the instructions are so detailed, that you’d have to be doing something very wrong to mess it up. Overall the fit and finish of the kit is Top notch and worth every penny that it costs. The installation took about 3 ½ - 4 hours with basic tools (drill, ratchet, sockets, air saw, tin snips, hole saw, pop rivets, silicon sealant). The kit looks like it was an OEM component and uses the factory parts making sure that you can continue to use either you OEM air filter, or an aftermarket drop in replacement like a K&N. Here are some pictures of the process throughout the installation. If you have any questions regarding the installation, either email me or you can view a PDF copy of the installation instructions here.

My first seat-of-the-pants driving impression is that you can hear the snarl of the intake when you step on the gas hard. It sounds like any other upgraded intake system, except this one uses about 4 feet more tubing to get the job done. Day to day driving, I have noticed that my MPG has slightly increased, by about .5-1.5 MPG better. I also noticed better throttle response and slightly more oomph on the hwy. It seems like the Jeep doesn't have to downshift on every slight uphill grade that I come to. I wouldn’t add this part just for performance benefits, but the benefits are welcomed.

Last weekend, I was able to attend a Maryland Jeep Club meeting at Rausch Creek Off-Road Park in Pennsylvania. Upon arrival, I noticed the weather was not in our favor. It was cold, rainy and foggy. Although these weren’t perfect conditions for rockcrawling, they could make a good test bed for the ARB Safari Snorkel kit. As our group aired down our tires and went over the game plan for the day, went over safety regulations and all synchronized cb’s. Everyone joked about seeing the snorkel in action. The mention of “Hummer Hole” and “Frog pond” kept getting tossed about, i guess trying to talk me into creating some sort of entertainment through carnage.

To make this post somewhat dial-up friendly, i have added links to some videos for the day.

In the woods

Rock Garden

Cresting a Good sized Hill

Runaway Rubicon

CJ playing + Hillybilly Fender Fixins

Fast forward a few hours, as we stumble across “Hummer Hole” I was delighted to see that someone else had already tried it for the day (without a snorkel, or good results). Their jeep wrangler sat helpless in the hole, sunk nearly to the hood on the drivers side. We lent a hand and after a while managed to scoop them out to safety. While their jeep was not hydro locked, it was damaged. They managed to rip off the evap canister, fry some wiring, and get water in the differentials. After seeing the hole (which was mostly a 2” layer of ice at the top of a mud hole that was 4 feet deep at least), we all decided it was a pretty sloppy hole and that nothing good was going to come of it, and wasn’t worth damaging the jeep just to try out the snorkel. We decided to look for a river crossing that may have cleaner conditions and allow for a little dip for the hood to sink under on the approach. Unfortunately, we were unable to find such a crossing (at least deep enough to realize the full potential of the snorkel) even though we did get to find some water crossings and puddles that were decent to splash around in.
Though I haven’t had the ability to go thru hood deep water to try out the kit in real life situations, I do know that the snorkel is fully sealed. After the install, before I put the top angled intake tube on, I was able to start the jeep, put my hand over the hole and was able to choke the motor out by doing so (which means no air is going to the engine from anywhere else) So basically I know the kit will do its job when the time comes.
The bottom line is this: If you want to protect your engine from water, you can do no better then the ARB Safari Snorkel kit. The quality, fit and finish is some of the best around and you will not be left with a bad taste in your mouth. The money spent on this system can save you LOTS of money down the road if you happen to catch yourself in deeper water than you should be in.
I would like to thank my Crack squad of installers as well as Jim Jackson and Marc from ARB USA for the snorkel kit for the review, the Maryland Jeep Club for the great offroading and my girlfriend for taking the pictures and video (and putting up with my ZJ obsession).
And for a closing picture, a playful pose from Sandy the ZJ.

Friday, March 21, 2008

New motorcycle!!!!

So As of March 27th, i now own a 2008 Kawasaki KLR650. I was able to get the price down to a reasonable deal of $5800 Out the door with all fees, taxes and registration covered.

So far i LOVE the bike, its fantastic. Very decent amount of power (not going to impress anyone that owns a crotch rocket) It has a plush ride and you can literally hit speed bumps at 20-40 mph and it feels like rolling over a pencil. It will happily cruise 80mph all day on the slab, but will also be just as happy riding dirt roads, wooded trails, or playing in mud.


To make the bike more "me" i have added some goodies that i think make the bike more useful day to day. I have installed crash bars around the lower plastics, that will allow the bike to fall over without damaging anything important. The crash bars also have Highway pegs that allow you to strech out on long rides. I have also added HID headlights to the bike, which turn night into day.... Literally.


Before Shot with stock headlights:
After Shot with HID's installed:


I also added LED piaa bulbs to the guages to make them light up the same color as the headlights (blue/white)

Before:
After:
I purchased some luggage to put on the bike so i can carry things without a backpack all the time. I got a Dowco Soft luggage set. It has a tank bag, tail bag, saddle bags, all with built in raincovers. The tank bag has a map/directions pocket on the front to keep info visible and safe, has wire entrance holes to run power into it for lighting or charging up cell phones or laptops/cameras. The saddle bags have aluminum heat reflective sheilds that keep them safe from the exhaust. The tailbag also has shoulder straps that can make it into a makeshift backpack and can hold a full sized helmet!
I also ordered a rain suit for riding in... well.. rain. Exciting i know.

There are a couple more doo-dads i would like to install on the bike including a power outlet for a heated vest. Maybe look into a custom exhaust that will make the bike sound meaner, while adding some HP to it as well. Otherwise the bike is fantastic, after reading one rave review after another in the motorcycle publications, i really feel like this bike was hyped up, but the bike lives up to its expectations. I am VERY happy with my purchase. These bikes are known to go to 100,000 miles before needing a rebuild, the marines use them for covert ops and scouting missions all over the world (including the arctic) These bikes have even been used for adventure riders to cirumnavigate the globe on.... Pretty amazing for a bike that has an engine as simple as a lawnmower and anyone who can pick up a basic hand tool can probably fix a broken one of these bikes. They are simple, haven't changed much in over 20 years and parts are aplenty.

You would be hard pressed to find another bike with such a following, with such charisma, and such usefullness for under 10,000. I could buy 2 of these bikes for the price of the BMW competitor, and the Bimmer won't be easy (or cheap) to fix.

I will be adding more to this post as time goes on. :)

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Le Hungover.....

So i visited my local ACE Hardware yesterday... never going to home depot again.. ACE has EVERYTHINGGGGGGG.. they have an aisle completely of bins with fasteners/bolts/hardware/clips/little cool things that i don't know what they do....

I went in there to get the parts to make my camcorder mount, after talking to a couple dudes about it, i came up with 2 approaches to make it. One involves pvc and it literally fits the flashlight great, i need to do some minor trimming to make it work.

The other was using a pipe clamp, and running a bolt thru it, i had the flashlight mounted on the camcorder before i left the store.. so far it works brilliantly.

I will make the other one just because i got the parts to make it, plus i like building things.

Total cost for parts to make both mounts, with all stainless steel bolts and washers: 4.97 would have been about 2 bux to use the one that i current am... i am VERY impressed so far with how it worked out. Will post pictures to the blog soon to show you how it looks, with video of it in action to follow that. Maybe later today, for now i am SLEEEEEEEEEPY.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Some upgrades to the Sanyo Xacti digital camcorder.

So i have been LOVING this new camcorder, its small enough to keep with me at all times (for catching pesky ufo's, or in case of major disaster in progress), with my sd card it will hold up to like 10 hours of video, i have 4 batteries for it, 3 of them are extended run time. It takes really decent photos and videos for the size, its completely waterproof.... i really have no dislikes about it... except for nighttime. This camera is small and pretty much seems like it was designed to be used for snorkeling, the beach, kayakers, canoe'rs, boaters etc.. it is almost like this is not intended to be used for night time at all.

The dillema is this: the camera is marvelous in the day time. As soon as the light level drops, the video and picture images get really grainy and when the sun goes down, the camera is almost completely useless besides the mic. This camera doesn't have a night light for the camcorder, it was left out to keep the size of the unit down. So i have been on a quest and have been playing around with settings, options, etc, to alleviate this problem.

My idea is this: The camera has a tripod mount on the bottom, in the same horizontal/vertical plane as the lens. I think that i may be able to take a led flashlight and create a mount to have it be able to thread into the bottom of the camcorder so that i can take night footage. I found a small gerber brand tactical flashlight that fits the bill. Its very small (3 1/2" x3/4"), uses 1 AA battery, yet gets approx 100 hours of light. It has 4 modes of illumination (red- keeps your nightvision(doesn't blind your friends while camping), not easy to spot from a distance if hiding. Green, good for reading maps, documents, or if you want to be seen with high visibility. Blue, good for fluid identification (did anyone think semen???) White, lights the area up bright as day. I figure i can build the mount using the included belt clip of the flashlight. All i have to do is make sure to use jamb nuts to allow the whole setup to be screwed into the bottom of the camera and it will stop where it should to be aimed correctly in relation to the lens of the camera (kinda like a scope on a gun). It will be something that should work FANTASTIC for camping or whatever tactical situations arise. (sounds crazy right? what is a crappy lil led flashlight going to do for this camcorder at nighttime?) In this video, i am going to show you the difference between no light, and different color lights while taping the results on the camcorder. you should see a remarkable difference. I do not have the Gerber Recon flashlight yet, so this is a video using another flashlight that i have which is not nearly as kick ass as the new Gerber.


Ps. I didn't bother editing this video.. it's me.. in all the rambling glory that i am known for.(plus i have been drinking wifebeater for a few hours) I still think the video does what is intended, and its just plain REAL. So enjoy and if you have a problem with my laziness for not editing this.. F off.. you didn't think up a cool idea which may in fact be immeasurably useful to hundreds or even thousands of people in the future. (i am pretty sure that this idea would work with any camera/camcorder that has a tripod mounting bolt in the base.) Oh and don't try to pull a P diddy and steal my cash flow, this shit is patented(pat# 3255145005, So suck it) Expect to see this shit on ebay in like 3 months.. lol.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Some funny pics i liked... Enjoy

So its been about a week and a half since i last posted, just been lazy really....
here are some funny pics that i wanted to share...













































































Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Shitty Movie Night #2




















So a new addition to my blog will be a weekly "shitty movie night".

This is the 2nd movie in such an idea, the first one was not documented unfortunately for you all.

The movie this week is called "Phantom Raiders" It was directed by a nobody, in 1988. It stars Miles O' Keefe as "python". It is so forgettable that i couldn't even find any relevant online info, and IMDB.com has only the director and main charecter listed.... thats pretty awesome!

The synopsis of the plot (if any) is as follows: Deep within the steaming tropical jungles of Vietnam is a Viet Cong terrorist training camp, run by an ex-Green Beret, William Marshall. A roving photographer stumbles upon the hidden camp and starts to take pictures. He is caught and summarily executed but the photos make it back to Washington. The CIA decide to send in an elite team of jungle warfare commando ninjas, the Phantom Raiders, to establish whether Marshall is a POW or has gone bad. But another element has been added to this dangerous game. One of the Phantom Raiders is Marshall's son. Now he must come face to face with the enigma that was his father. The Phantom Raiders is a non-stop film of explosive action, with enough mayhem to leave you breathless.

So can you figure out why i was drawn to it? It has Commie, viet-cong terrorists and an elite team of jungle warfare commando ninjas! Do you really need anything else?!

I would say that there is more killing in the movie then words spoken. I would guestimate the death count in the film in the upper 300's or more.. literally the whole movies is just gobs of viet-cong soldiers getting gunned down like they are helpless children by 5 "good guys" even a little boys mom is gunned down... "cause that bitch be actin up" If i were to come up with a tagline for promoting this movie it would be as follows. "Lets kill these bitches" or "porn where stuff explodes instead of sex!"

I don't have any manner to capture the dvd footage onto the computer otherwise i'd give you a snippet of what to expect.

Justin's thoughts: This is way better then modern action films.. At least they realize that people don't want to know the history of the characters, any kind of plot, much spoken words, or even love interests. They want one thing... endless amounts of killing, action from the opening credits till the end cred....... Wait.. this movie is so low budget, it doesnt even have end credits..... still... its fantastic action for 1 dollar... did i mention anywhere that it also has ninjas? i didn't? wow.. yea, well it has fuckin' ninjas man... ninjas.. do i need to say anything else? (some dumb whore gets shot the fuck up BADDDDD which made me laugh)

Kat's thoughts: The main characters look like Al borland, Jerry Garcia's brother Barry Garcia, Earl from the show "My name is Earl" and that gay guy from nsync. (they are all gay if you ask me - justin) The main character is pretty good looking (but not hot enough to let do anal -justin) they are all pretty much lousy actors, and are all easily forgettable..

(a sidenote to Kat's reaction to the movie.... Kat ALWAYS falls asleep through a movie about an hour into it, then wakes up and asks me what happened... ALWAYS. This is one of the first movies in a LONG time that i can remember that Kat didn't fall asleep during.. I think she really liked it a lot, she couldn't stop talking about how great it was)

The soundtrack in phantom raiders is on par with most average 70's or 80's porno flicks, heavy on synthesizers and drums... good rhythm for screwing or shooting apparently.

If you are ever perusing the value bins at your local dollar store, scouring the $1 DVD rack at walmart, or digging through a dumpster and come across this DVD, pick it up! The man in your life will love it.... unless hes a fag. Then get him brokeback mountain instead.

Thats my review of shitty movie night for this week! Expect a new shitty film soon.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

BURRRRNNNNNN..... The theme of my weekend.


So this weekend was good, i worked on the Jeep down at the shop on the eastern shore of maryland. We managed to replace my power steering box, do some standard preventative maintenance on the Jeep and also play around a bit with woogie.



The steering box replacement went without a hitch... until we tried to get the pitman arm off of the steering box to swap it over to the new one.. it took a 6 foot long breaker bar with a gear puller, blowtorch and sledge hammer to get it off... i couldn't believe that the puller didn't just shatter under the stress of it all...

I did have some bad news and some good news though..

The good news:

I finally got my Safari Snorkel from ARBusa. I am receiving it for a review on the part, free of charge. It is the Rolls Royce of snorkel kits for any off road vehicle(aka the 500 dollar retail price) It also happens to be one of the first ones available in the united states.(it was shipped in from good ole Australia I opened it up to get a view of the contents. Here are some pics of that process.

(by the way, the snorkel will allow me to cross water in my jeep that is as deep as my roofline. Although i doubt i will attempt to get it so deep, it is good insurance, plus it looks plain bad ass)


The box it came in :)


What's included in the kit. (note the really bad-ass jeep in the picture)



Thanks for the carefull packaging #70!

So it seems as though everything is in the kit that i needed, i will be doing the install and review next weekend hopefully. (pending the bad news below)

On to the bad news. I had what i thought was an ingrown hair on my abdomen wednesday night. Not uncommon for my hairy self. I treated it as i normally would, and expected it to be fine. Fast forward to sunday morning... (leaving out all of the wonderfully gross details) I wake up to a boil with an abcess about 2mm deep. It is oozing and disgusting and extremely painful. Not to mention that 4-5 more have formed as well. I get home from the shore, head over to Howard County General Hospital. They took great care of me, the doctor (whom was a young blonde) made it kinda awkward.. (lets just say it was cold, i was in pain and i was wearing a gown with my parts hanging out) So anyways, she injects a super-syrum and it feels like she may have filled me up with gasoline and lit a match, excruciating pain. Then she proceeds to cut the boil/etc's open and drain them. So i have tons of painful spots all over from the knee to the belly button..... (once again i will spare you) Turns out i may have MRSA which is like a virus type staph infection that will literally immobilize you if not taken care of..

A little back story on MRSA... where did it come from you ask?? Well, people use antibiotics for literally everything nowadays. This is the mutated form of a standard staph infection, which is now immune to regular antibiotics(and its extremely contagious, skin to skin...) So thanks a bunch you fuckin pussies that couldnt handle a cold for a week. You made a super bacteria because of your weakness as a human. (if you know me, then you know i rarely go to the doctor for anything, unless i'm in severe pain or dying basically)

So Dr. Mc. blondeypants gave me some feel good pills (percasets) and sent me on my way to rest up. I feel like i was set on fire and beaten up. But I'll be better soon, cause I'm not a mega-vagine like the rest of you ;-)

Oh and WORST of all... ARBusa didn't send me any stickers with my snorkel kit! Fuck. Another email will be sent out monday.

Of to drink a beer(thanks bud light), take a happy pill(thanks Dr. Mc. blondeypants) and eat some pizza.(thanks kitty) PEACEEE.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

I've been playing with the video editing software......

So i spent the last 45 mins dicking around with the Adobe Premier Elements Suite that came with my camcorder (which has pissed me off to no end, because there is no "Star Wipe" option) to try and figure out how to make my videos less or more horrible. As all other Adobe products, it is a pain to figure out, but once you get the hang of it, it seems like there is nothing you can't do.

The following video is a random, dumb video that i had shot the other night while playing with the camcorder. It is nothing special, but compared to the original video, i think the Adobe added some flair to an otherwise dull vid. I hope that you see at least a bit of progress on my part and i hope to get a better hang of it in the near future so that i may get into the nitty gritty of video making for this blog.

Here it is, in all of its Justin molested glory....... Ps. When i ripped this video from the original during editing, it lost like 80% of its quality during the process... I'll try to make it better next time, or maybe i need to actually go buy good software...




Just remember, it's your feedback that makes this stuff wayyyyy better. Tell me that my transitions need more star wipes, better music (although this was ripped at like 48kbits and sounds horrible, its just to get the hang of making stuff work right) more cowbell... whatever it may need to help me in the future.

Monday, January 21, 2008

My first Blogger blog post.....

So yea, i got a digital camcorder, its a Sanyo VPC-CG65.... hooray.. what the fuck does that mean? WELLLLL... it means that i can take hi quality videos of random crap for you all to observe and then send hate mail about due to my lack of even low budget porn editing skills. Hopefully as time goes on i will develop in a much better "ographer" that will allow you to watch my videos without taking acid or dramamine to watch them.

This video is just nonsense, there is not even an inkling of a point. I basically was just playing around with the cam and the uploading process. I have no clue how it is going to turn out. Please send me helpful or not helpful feedback on the process of making the videos easier to shoot/watch/upload/compress etc.

Oh and btw, did i mention that this camera is waterproof which allows me to wander off the 29% of area in which others can shoot from... For you retards, that means i can shoot UNDERWATER TOOOOOO... hooray. So watch the video, send me your lousy comments, and then expect some funny and or entertaining stuff once i get the hang of editing these things for your enjoyment!