Last week at the gym on Tuesday my friends and I tried an event that was brought to our attention by my friend Carl at my birthday party last month when he handed me a DVD of the Monster Box event. We all watched it that night and decided that of course we had to try it ourselves. What is the Monster Box? This YouTube video will demonstrate:
The Box in this video is 9.4 feet high from the base (2m 86cm). Now lets see how we do:
Okay so the players in the video are me, Anthony, Sasha and Edmund – in that order at the beginning. This video shows us taking on the ~8′ Box. We started with the red trapezoid removed from the top, so the Box was ~7′ high. Eventually we all made it over the ~8′ box and then placed panel mats under the table trainer the trapezoids were placed upon to jack it up to around 9 feet (I did use a tape measure to confirm the height at the end, it was hard to get an accurate measure due to the slope of the mats). Then we all had trouble, and the only one who came close to making it all the way over was Edmund – he scraped a butt cheek coming off the back. I managed to at least get a clean up to sit on top about halfway over.
Note that we are using a mini tramp and not a springboard, so we had it a lot easier than the guy in the first video. But we used the mini tramp because 1) it was our first time trying it and 2) Sash’s knees can’t handle a springboard anymore.
There are a lot of crazy folk at the gym that night since it’s an adult open workout. We had hoped more would try it and mangle themselves in the process but after we went from 7′ to 8′ no one seemed to want to play with the big boys anymore. Although at 7′ one guy took the whole stack down after him when he slid off the end, hahahah.
The plan is to set up and do it again next week, with a springboard this time, starting from 7′ again. We’re going to place the springboard on the spring floor to still give us a little help. I’ll also have my own camera. Thanks tho to Carl for taking these clips!
Cruise Night is an event held once a month during the main season at Raceway Park. This year they only had three – one each in June, July and August. I wish I had looked into them sooner to find out what they were because it’s a pretty cool event – you get free admission to the raceway and you get one free timed run down the 1/4 mile drag strip. Note that the free admission applies to everyone and anyone, so lots of spectators come too in order to check out the cars and watch people drag down the strip.
It was a good time, went with my friend Andrew and saw a lot of cool cars on the lot. Took a run down the strip against a 350Z with lots of mods – however the guy (Carlos) got a bad launch and I smoked him. Wish it could have been a closer run. Here’s my time slip:
While this is my fastest time yet, it’s still nowhere close to what I should be getting. I should be pulling down 13.5 easy. I got wheel spin off my launch this time so I’m almost at the chirp point. Somewhere between 3000 and 3500 RPMS seems to be the sweet spot, I just have to find it. Maybe next Friday I’ll visit the track again for 3-4 timed runs.
I’m definitely going to try and hit every Cruise Night next year, it was a good time!
It’s time for some more meteor shower action! This upcoming shower, the Perseids, is one of the more spectacular showers you can see throughout the year so you don’t want to miss it. Even better is that forecasts are predicting a higher than average number of meteors will be sighted during the peak period of Aug 11-12. The bad news though is that a nearly-full moon will spoil some of the fun. Another good reason to see the Perseids is that it’s really the only meteor shower worth watching when it’s still warm out. That’s right – the others like the Leonids and the Lyrids happen in the colder months. So go to bed way early and wake up around 12-1 in the morning or just stay up and set up the lawn chair and gaze up at the sky. If you’re a meteor-watching newbie, be sure to check out my tips for meteor watching to make sure you’re all prepared.
My friend Andrew works for the folks over at FCP Groton, which is a European car parts distributor. They held a car show in Old Saybrook, Connecticut mainly to feature European cars but ended up gaining enough momentum to allow pretty much anything to roll in and set up on the show lot. So Andrew invited me and the 370Z along with his Volvo 850 sport wagon to roll on up and look pretty. The trip up to CT for us only took a little over 2 hours thanks to the wonderful Interstate 95, which had a ton of volume on it heading northbound on a Saturday. Luckily it never really stopped, but a few times it slowed to a crawl and for the most part it was around 65mph.
The show was fun, mainly because everyone is happy to talk about their cars and there are always plenty of cool cars to be seen. Notable standouts include the longest-running production car on record, a Ferrari Testarossa, a GTM kit car, a Lucra LC470, and even a Noble showed up briefly but did not stick around for some reason. Which sucks because those are rare cars here in the US and it would have been awesome to see one in person. I must say – not bad for a first car show by FCP Groton! They obviously did a great job getting the word out.
I enjoyed sitting around next to my car and having people come walk around and appreciate it. Of the ones that I talked to, more than half told me this was the first time they had ever seen one in person, which was awesome. A lot people of course asked about the Rally, and many thought I was on the TV show, which I find most people don’t realize is totally different from the actual rally. There was also a GTR, a 240SX and a 300ZX that showed up. The owner of the 300ZX happened to be the leader of the Connecticut Z Car Club.
Coming home from the show (Andrew stayed to hang with the FCP crew) a Pontiac G8 tried giving me what-for, but I lost him behind me in traffic. A Scion Tc managed to give me the slip by being a lot more willing to squeeze in between cars and jink and juke all over the damn place. What looked like a Honda Prelude chased me a good 12 miles until finally getting ahead of me for a brief moment, then I passed him back up at around 120mph. As I exited that freeway he flashed me his lights, and I put on my hazards and waved. Then on the parkway home a Porsche Carrera 4 tried to play, but hung back after I passed him. I kept an eye on him though and when he broke out of traffic I shifted to 4th and put the pedal to the floor – he still almost caught me. Almost. Again, flash of the headlights and a wave from me as I exited a few seconds later. It’s nice to engage in a little friendly competition to liven up a drive – so long as you know when to let the crazy people (like that Scion) just go on ahead. When I wasn’t chasing/leading, traffic was heavy volume again – going 60-80mph on a highway for me is like taking a mild sedative, and I almost fell asleep a few times.
At the end of this month, the local Z community here in Jersey is having a car meet/show that I plan to attend – there I’ll be able to see more than just my 370 on display 😛 Looking forward to it.
Here’s the final Bullrun video, day 3. Since the rally switchbacked towards the coast, we were much closer to home after the second day. Whether that was by design, since several other rally participants had to break off for NYC that day as well, I don’t know, but it was a great chance for us to have been able to stick around an extra day without significant cost (i.e. being stuck further west towards Austin by now). The launch was also one of, if not the, earliest starts of the rally, at 8am – which meant we were able to start with everyone else and still have plenty of time to make it home before Sasha had to be at work.
I didn’t cut much from the tapes from this day other than long-winded cockpit conversation between Sasha and myself. A few things had to be dropped because there wasn’t enough supporting footage – at two points you’ll hear us talking about Rob’s oil problem and me saying he doesn’t want his engine to explode – this was in reference to a cut clip where at the gas station he had to get more oil for his engine before we could roll out.
Sasha and I definitely want to try and do the whole rally next year, it will depend on whether we can wrestle up enough money in sponsorships to allow us to race. If we make it I have a much better idea of what we’ll need in documenting our travels. For example I wish I could time stamp all the various cuts in the videos to give a better sense of progression throughout a day. I’ll also plan to have Sasha drive the majority of the time so I can document and twitter and stuff from the passenger seat. Of the two of us he’s the better and more experienced driver anyways, so it makes sense. Plus I’ll be able to properly navigate with both a GPS, my phone and a good ol’ road atlas, the vital tool we were missing that caused us to get lost on Day 2. Apparently all the Bullrunners got one at the start of the race but since we were never officially part of it… yea.
It was as awesome an experience as I imagined it would be, can’t wait for the 2010 rally to roll around. Where will we be going? It’s anyone’s guess, but a trip up or down the East Coast would be awesome.
Benefits of Affiliate Marketing for Everyone to Know
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There are hundreds of ways to make money online, but affiliate marketing is one of the most influential and sustainable methods. With affiliate marketing, you can earn a commission on every product or service you refer to your customers.
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The full beard is considered one of the most classic beard styles for men. This beard style never grows old and is surely a distinct style statement. No beard styles for men can beat a thick, luscious full grown beard. If you have a full beard, you would know that growing it was no cakewalk. It required a lot more than just sitting around and waiting for it to grow. From checking your diet to maintaining a good grooming routine, growing a beard is surely a commitment. From learning how to grow a beard to choosing the right beard grooming products, here is an all round guide for your full beard, for more professional tips visit blackmenbeards.com.
Like we mentioned, growing a beard requires a lot of patience and even more hard work. Firstly, you will need to invest in some good beard grooming products like beard growth oil and beard shampoos. They are necessary for maintaining cleanliness and health of your beard as it grows. You will also need to add a lot of biotin and protein to your diet. Maintaining good levels of testosterone and DHT is of utmost importance for a good beard growth.Watch your sleep routine, exercise and stay stress free if you want the hormones to be on your side. You can read our detailed guide on How To Grow A Full Beard for more in-depth knowledge on the topic.
After growing out your beard to a desired length, you will have to maintain it. Maintaining a full beard can be intimidating. This is why most men do not want to indulge in full beards. Well, maintaining your beard is not going to be as hard as it sounds. All that you need to do is invest in the right men’s grooming products and make your own men’s grooming kit. Here are all the men’s grooming products that your full beard needs:
Beard Shampoo
Beard shampoo is the most crucial product for a full grown beard. The denser your beard is the more chances it has for getting acne, dandruff, and in-grown hair. The oil and sweat accumulation needs to be cleansed off if you want a clean and itch-free beard. Wash your beard with a beard shampoo twice or thrice a week. If you live in extremely hot weather, wash it every alternate day if needed.
Facial hair tends to be hard for obvious reasons. A beard conditioner will help soften your beard. This step is important because a hard and rough beard can get extremely uncomfortable. It will also not look as stylish. Use a beard conditioner after a beard wash to soften it up.
Beard Oil
A beard oil is a must for any man with a full beard. It will nourish your beard and even enhance the growth. A beard oil will furthermore soften your beard and keep it shiny. You can use beard oil every single day after shower. It also makes styling your beard super easy.
I took the 370Z out to Raceway Park (watch your volume if you visit the site) for the first time to see how she performed on the drag strip. Being that I was still wearing my Bullrun livery, they were able to use my number 727 for my time slips. Awesome. I got to the track an hour late, but due to threat of rain, or perhaps it was just a slow week, there were maybe only 15 cars total lined up to go. While I was hoping we would get in 4 runs, and I was in fact set to go for my fourth, the skies did eventually open up and ruin the remainder of the evening. Still, I got three runs in, which was what I had paid for.
The times? Pretty crummy. While I should be somwhere in the mid 13’s, I couldn’t break lower than 14. I just couldn’t work up the nerve to properly launch the car. Perhaps it’s still too new for me to really beat on it, I have no idea, but letting out the clutch at 5k RPMs scared me, I imagined smoke pouring from under my hood. I’ve had the car for a little over 4 months now and my fears of damaging it even slightly are still very great. Hopefully next time I’ll be able to drop the hammer properly.
I had my buddy Dizzle along to film, but none of the runs were memorable enough to warrant posting. Here are the times:
Check the first two legs of Bullrun 09 that we tagged along for. Three things to note:
The GPS didn’t track consistently, which sucked. It cut out to and partway from Monticello, and again on our way to Pittsburgh (and coming out of Pittsburgh)
Where the track picks up south of Monticello is actually right where we caught up to Team Solstice and Team Autonet (Audi R8 Raptor)
Check the road we took from Pittsburgh to Staunton on day two. Sick!!
As usual you can click the image to view the full track in your browser or you can get the Google Earth track data to view offline.
I’ve also got a full Facebook album of photos from the adventure!
I wanted to have the day 1 video diary edited and uploaded tonight but that’s most likely not going to happen. Tomorrow!
So things went a little differently than planned, and my friend Sasha and I ended up doing a full 2 days of the actual Bullrun road rally. It was totally awesome. Everyone in Bullrun is a car aficionado in some shape or form. Some just like cars, others can tell you every little detail about their ride and everyone else’s. In the end though the common demoninator is that we all love cars, having fun and driving fast. The fact that Sash and I were just tagging along was lost on no one – I never tried to hide the fact that we had never officially entered the rally, and yet no one cared. We were into cars too, we liked to party and have fun, and we liked to drive fast. We fit right in and everyone was happy to have us along. When I tried to drop out the first day, one of the main event organizers, Andy Duncan, screamed at me in the club “No mate, no! You have to stay and do tomorrow, you won’t be dissapointed!” He was so right.
So I have a LOT of work to catch up on since we ended up being gone for 3 days instead of 1 – therefore my full report on the rally may not be up until this weekend (when the main rally is over, actually). I’m going to definitely get pictures up on Facebook first, then I’ll blog in peices about the 3 days, and finally I’ll have a complete video diary up for download of the whole trip.
The highlights? Well, getting to meet all the great people who I will continue to stay in touch with; Parking next to Lambos, Ferraris, Maseratis, Porches, Mercedes and all manner of exotic cars – and still standing out and drawing attention from people; Keeping up with a Shelby GT500 on twisty mountain roads topping 110mph (that video is definitely going up first and by itself); Pacing a Lambo Gallardo Superleggera at 140mph; Not getting stopped by any cops, although we passed a fair number and were tailed by one once; Having no mechanical issues the entire trip – which was good because I didn’t come prepared for any; Eating good food and partying at crazy clubs with Maxim girls in tow.
Let’s just say this small sampling has left me hungering for much, much more. So much in fact that I’m going to have to drum up some sponsorships for next year.
Photo: © T-Series (Main Image)
