Katie's Cars and Coffee: August 20th, 2016

I'm slowly catching up on my backlog of personal work from this year; here are some pictures I took at Katie's Cars and Coffee back in August.

Yes, you saw that right; that last picture is indeed an LS swapped Polaris Slingshot.  The owner blew the original (tuned and modded) motor on a track, and dropped in an LS, doubling the cylinders as well as the batshit-insane-ness of this Slingshot - remember, all those 500+ horsepower are routed to a single rear wheel; better make that rubber thick and grippy, because this is a 24/7 smoky burnout machine.  Other mods beside engine and tuning include weight reduction, suspension, and big, beefy brakes to stop this beast.

2016 Waterford Fair

For several years now I've been making it a point to visit the Waterford Fair annually, although last year the Fair was cancelled due to flooding, but the town of Waterford, Virginia made up for it a month later with the Art Harvest.

This year was a little rainy, but that wasn't enough to keep me away, and it certainly wasn't a flood, even if it was caused by a hurricane just like in 2015.  My first stop was at a woodworker, who has begun making pens this year in addition to his other goods.  I bought my 6th fountain pen, and it's my absolute favorite, and my daily writer now; Hawaiian Koa with 24K Gold Nib.

Other stops I always make include buying honey from Loudoun Center Apiaries (1 bottle of their light honey lasts me the entire year!), the antique farm equipment display, the corner store to buy lamb sausage for slow grilling later on, and the beltmaker who I buy a belt from every year; he actually recognizes me now.

I always go through each art and photography gallery, mostly to admire the skills that other artists have that I lack - I so wish I could paint.  On this same note, I usually stop in on Katherine Riedel's studio for a moment or two, but this time we actually got to talking about my unexplored desires to learn to paint (specifically watercolors, if you're wondering).  Katherine and I spoke for about a half hour, and listening to her talk about art and paint and shape was so interesting I wish I'd been able to turn it into a full interview / spotlight.  I did ask if I could film her painting for a bit; the gourds and pumpkins in the video is what she was working on when I dropped by.

Finally, I always visit the wine tasting section (shocker, I know).  This is probably one of the best ways to go wine tasting for a beginner, because the 5 or 6 wineries that have booths all give an abbreviated tasting.  Most tastings at a winery sample ~6 - 12 wines, while each tasting at the Waterford Fair samples ~4 - 6; that means if you do the full tasting at Waterford of all the wineries, you're sampling ~25 - 30 different wines!  For $20 including a souvenir glass, this is an incredible bargain considering the amount of variety (and frankly, sheer amount, especially considering some of the wineries are heavy pourers); a full tasting at just a single one of these wineries including a glass will always run above $20, and here you're getting to try FIVE!  If you find a winery you especially like, you can buy bottles right at the tasting, or you can go visit their actual location some other day.  I've been to all but two of the wineries at the Fair this year, and with all the vineyards I've visited, I'm pretty well versed in Virginia wine (hint: I generally dislike Virginia wines - actually, I've noticed I generally dislike most American wines).  I have three favorite Virginia wineries, and unfortunately none of them display at Waterford - that is just personal preference and nothing against the wineries present at Waterford; most of them are very good and are highly regarded.  I even got a little something to bring back from Creek's Edge.

And don't forget to watch the video to see some of this stuff in action.

Senior Katie - Portraits In Virginia Horse Country

Summer has ended, the leaves are changing, and the hooves are galloping.  This Fall, Katie and her silly horse Retro shot senior portraits with me at their stable in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Like Savannah (who I photographed with her horse earlier this Summer), Katie has been riding horses for years, and now competes in equestrian showjumping events.  Katie is a Senior at my high-school alma mater, and will be graduating with the Class of 2017.

These horse themed portrait sessions are so much fun; I have so much respect for these beautiful animals and the people who love and take care of them.  I still, unfortunately, have never ridden a horse, but hopefully I will soon change that.  Who knows; someday maybe I'll be an avid horse person too!

Retro is another very well trained and obedient horse, and he was actually so comfortable during shooting that he even began to doze off with Katie on his back!  He and the other horses in the stable were very friendly, and between shots even nuzzled, licked, and followed me for a bit.  I felt right at home!

Regular Car Reviews - October, 2016 Car Meet

If you've never heard of Regular Car Reviews, well, first we need to get you up to speed.  RCR, as it's affectionately called, is a YouTube channel that started four short years ago, quickly gaining popularity in the car enthusiast blog circuit communities, namely Jalopnik.  Mr. Regular, the faceless (until last year) voice behind the reviews, along with music and filming assistant Roman, release a new "regular" car review each week, broken into seasons.

Regular has multiple meanings all used at once: RCR reviews "regular" cars for "regular" folks in a way a "regular" guy would see it.  In other words, RCR reviews pedestrian cars by means of pop culture references and fart jokes.  It's very popular.

Neither of my cars have been reviewed despite offering my 2001 Sebring Coupe (which DEFINITELY would have fit in perfectly) before I got rid of it, nor my G37S 6MT or Jake's Jaguar XF or Ford Cougar, but my friend Patrick's 2004 VW Phaeton was reviewed, and at the time Mr. Regular said it was a tie between the Phaeton and the Tesla Model S for the nicest "regular" car he's reviewed.  Here is the Phaeton video as an introduction.  The most iconic RCR video, however, is of modern motoring's most loved little sportscar, the answer to all questions, the Miata.

Headlights go up, headlights go down! Track day bro!

So, now you should understand RCR and the international following it's gathered.  While there have been two previous meetups, both at the same combination rec-center-and-bar (huh? small town) in Mr. Regular's hometown in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, those were both just pub nights - grab a few drinks and talk cars - I went to the first meetup this past January.  Mr. Regular is in fact in the picture below.

January, 2016 Regular Car Reviews meetup, posed with Silicone Sally.

This weekend was special though, because it was the first time Mr. Regular has organized a car meet.  I wouldn't miss it.

The meet started at 9AM, and Orwigsburg is ~3hrs away, so Jake and I hit the road before sunrise to get there on time, even stopping for breakfast at the same Sheetz we hit every time we make the trip.

As it turns out, I was the 2nd G37 at the meet - the other was a 2013 7AT xS.  Andrew, the owner, was a really chill guy I wish I'd gotten to chat with longer.  For full disclosure, there wasn't much chatter and I didn't shoot many pictures because I was so tired - I am *not* a morning person.  I've always liked the facelifted front bumper with lower foglights (my fogs are built into the headlights), but they didn't start using that bumper until 2011MY, and my 2010 was an incredible, unheard of deal for a 6MT in black with 33K miles.  No regrets.

A fun fact some DMV residents may not know; Pennsylvania does not require front plates, which is why many of the cars at this meet lack front plates without fear of a ticket.  My car was a former lease car in Allentown, PA, so when I bought it it had no front plate mount.  I actually am running an aftermarket mount that mounts under the bumper, so if I ever wanted to remove the front plate I don't have any unsightly holes.

The PugCityRacing bagged Mustang attracted a lot of attention thanks to its lowrider status and stripped interior - simplify and add lightness.

There were plenty of other regular cars on hand, including a few TDIs awaiting refund checks.

I was informed that caffeine adds +25HP.

You can never go wrong with a W10 or W20 MR2; I am wondering if they are undergoing some kind of revival, because this is the 2nd one I've seen in the last two weeks.

For me, the AE86s were the most interesting "regular" cars on hand... until the Infiniti M30 Convertible rolled in at the end of the show.  Apparently it shares engine, suspension, and electronic bits with the Maxima of the time, but has the frame of the previous generation Maxima (even though it looks like the equal gen Maxima).  I actually didn't know this car was made in drop-top form until this weekend.  The car was only produced for 3 years, and Nissan contracted American Sunroof Corporation to convert half of the M30s into convertibles brand new.  The 1992 M30 was Infiniti's only convertible until the G37 convertible was introduced in 2009 (one year after the G37 coupe and sedan were introduced to replace the G35 / 350Z platform).  I totally fan-girled over this car.  This is a car from the late 80s with an electronically adjustable suspension (Comfort / Sport switch on center console).

The star of the show of course was Mr. Regular's very own Vagabond Falcon, which if you follow Regular Car Reviews on YouTube, you've watched Mr. Regular complete a full restoration to the car.  Silicone Sally, the 2007 Honda Fit funded by RCR viewers was not on hand this time around.

I love Instagram Stories (hate Snapchat though), so here is my Story from the day; check out the crazy amount of play in the stick of this Ford... Fox Body(?)... ...Mustang???

Sorry for the long post; have a corgi!!!

Jaguar: The Audition

There are many car brands out there, but few are truly iconic marquees with a rich heritage.  Some are obvious stand outs; Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, my love Porsche.  But when you think England, there are two standouts; Aston Martin, the good-guy brand of 007 legend, and Jaguar, the British automaker who in recent years has made its name as the "bad guys'" transportation of choice.

Truly, it's good to be bad, and once again Jaguar has given the opportunity to experience its entire brand in one event, celebrating the release of the new XE, F-Pace, and F-Type SVR.  Several years ago I was invited to a similar event for the release of the F-Type and XFR-S, where the focus was on Jaguar's refinde driving capabilities.  In 2013 Jaguar let us autocross a 550HP XKR-S, and this year it was the new 340HP XE R-Sport.  I also drove the diesel models of the XE and F-Pace, which seemed to have a lot more ponies than their 180HP seemed to, thanks to the amount of torque on tap (although I'd still prefer the 360HP gasoline engine).  This all means that I've once again driven the entire Jaguar lineup except for the F-Type.

My takeaway from the F-Pace is that it's a fantastic driving crossover, with an exhaust note that will surprise anyone - SUVs simply don't sound like exotic sports cars, but this one does.  The interior was nice, but will probably get refined in a facelifted version several years from now.  The panoramic roof captures you in awe.  My only complaints are that the steering wheel is off-center, and the window controls are too high located on the door sill.  I do like the wide door sills though.

The real interesting part is that this time the focus was on being filmed for your own short film.  A small production suite, including MUAs, is on hand to film several cutscenes which are spliced into a pre-recorded action sequence, making you the bad guy who wins out over worse bad guys.  It's good to be bad.

The first step was to have makeup applied to even skintone and eliminate shine - this was the first time in my life wearing makeup - they even put me in mascara, but held short of lipstick.  Five cutscenes were filmed; three in an XE, and two on a soundstage.  The entire process is automated by software, which is outright fascinating to me.  Obviously I'm no actor, spending my time almost exclusive behind the camera, but the operators did give good direction, and even refilmed one clip, showing they are paying attention to the quality of recording (as much as possible with amateurs).

Jake was with me, and I later that day I brought my Dad back to come have the same fun.

Here's my finished product.

After the filming, which took less than 10min, test drives in the F-Pace and XE were enjoyed, followed by a painfully short track session in an XE R-Sport.  Only two measly laps - one to gain familiarity with the course (as much as you can in one lap), and one actually run with some gusto.  Barely any instructions were given by the driving instructor, which led to confusion, because this event was set up differently than the 2013 event (which was in stages, whereas this event was not), but I wasn't informed of this until I'd almost stopped the car on the course.  In summary, the track portion of this event was disappointing due to poor instruction and short duration - a stark difference between the 2013 event and this year's, though not surprising since the focus was on filming this year instead of track time (which was still short in 2013).

The whole event and resulting video was so much fun that upon leaving I asked the organizers if I could go grab my Dad to bring him over to surprise him with a bit of fun.  They were more than happy, so 2hrs later I watched him get filmed, run a few laps, and experience the Jaguar lineup.

I can't wait for next time!