It's finally here! For photos and the full article go HERE
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
A success story.
There is a long story behind this car and its owner, such a story that it has been tough for me to post about it because I don't really know where to start. The few loyal folks that follow the blog probably remember seeing pictures of this cars engine bay being worked on, and crappy camera phone shots of it hiding in a garage underneath a rack as it was being prepared for the Annual Eibach meet. It all came down to the wire with many long nights in the garage as Joe, his crew and I seemed to work endlessly on the bay. A few of those nights I had given up on his car, driving home feeling like it was not going to happen, but to my surprise, two nights before the event the car was getting its final details and was ready to load up.
When we arrived at Eibach with the car on the trailer I honestly didn't know what to expect. My personal style of "builds" is much more boring and understated, so the thought of bringing the "Skank Build" (formally named by S3 Magazine) into the event had me on edge, I seriously had a knot in my stomach. I just didn't know how people would react. Joe and I both had the "HELL YEAH" look on our faces as he drove up to the gates and the only thing we could hear was "OOOOHHHHHH!!!!", "FFUUUUCCKKKKKKK", "HOLY SHIT", "DAT SHIT IS HAAAAARRRRDDDD", a few people jumped up on the trailer while it was still moving, NO JOKE! Then the rain hit. The possibility of the event being rained out, the uncovered engine bay being drizzled on brought on that same tense, edgy feeling we had while working on the car came back full-swing. Eventually the sun would peak through the clouds as if god himself was looking down on us. That is the point were the blessings seemed to begin raining down on my buddy Joe instead of the dirty California rain. He was later approached by a few photographers and had a crowd around his car at all times, so many people I would go check on him from time to time to make sure everything was okay....did I mention this was the first time Joe had ever had one of his cars inside the meet? I can't go into all the details or tell how everything ended up coming together, but by the end of the day the car was sitting on the backside of the Eibach facility being shot by the S3 Magazine crew and us driving away into the sunset, potentially ready to break down into tears like a couple of pansies.
A few months later Joe is notified that his car will be on the cover of the f'ing magazine! Crazy? Yes! Out of the box? Uumm, yes! Not what all the "heavy hitters" are into? Duuuuhhh, yes! I've heard some mean and hateful stuff said by people that I thought could think outside of the box, clearly many of them are actually in a box of their own. Congratulations Joe, you did it man and I'm glad I was able to be experience all this happening for you. I never thought I'd see somebody's dreams come true all in one day... thanks for letting me be there. So like those other blogs say "SUPPORT PRINT" by showing some love to a builder and a magazine that simply didn't give a damn.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Kern River
Some of you may have heard your common fool make comments about what black people do and don't do. Shit like "black people can't swim", "they all like watermelon" or "they don't go camping". Well for the record, we do swim, we don't all like watermelon, and we do camp. And it's not some lame camping with bathrooms and a Park Ranger that comes by at 10pm to tell you to turn your music off, it's REAL camping.
Here is the trusty CRV loaded up. No, we don't have the roof basket for extra JDM points, we actually use it to carry stuff. Believe it or not the CRV is one hell of a vehicle. It carried three full-size men, a petite young lady, packed coolers, and a completely packed rear hatch area. After dragging us up near Bakersfield, it then took five miles of treacherous off-road driving like a champ! We are proud of this little vehicle. People are always blown away that is makes it out to the camp spot.
A crooked shot of the river... the camera operator must have been a little "tipsy"...
The fellas and I got down on some two hand touch football. It was serious business, my team won...of course. We all woke up the next morning walking around like we had been ran over by a tank. "Dude, are you sore? What did we do yesterday?!" The pain didn't kick in for me until the second day. It was good times for sure.
Ramon Briones in S3
Some people may remember this car from the Eibach Meet a few months ago. It belongs to Ramon Briones. He brought the car out from the wild streets of El Paso, TX. Taking a break from the cartel "taking care of business", he and his crew hit the road to chill in Cali for a few days. During his visit I was lucky enough to meet him. While my buddy Joe's wild yellow EK with the ever so hated graffiti engine bay was being shot by S3 Magazine, Ramon, his crew, and I spent a little time chatting and getting to know each other. Don Napier from Import Alliance was also at the meeting of the minds. I must say the events that took place after the Eibach Meet really made me remember what I liked about the industry. The sun got a bit too low to shoot Ramon's car, so I offered up a location to shoot the car the next day...Skunk2's "backyard". The next day the S3 fellas, Don, Ramon and his bunch showed up bright and early. It was awesome, stuff was just HAPPENING and it was ALL good! Magazine shoots, video shoots, new contacts...you name it, it was talked about.
A moving shot of Ramon's car capture from Don's rental. The car looked right at home on the California roads. With +380hp most people would have trouble keeping up with it.
People always preach about supporting print, so SUPPORT PRINT and go get yourself a copy of S3! They do whatever the hell they wanna do, and talk about whatever they want to talk about. Congratulations Ramon! 
I had the video camera on deck, documenting the moment. No slider or DSLR... I used a video camera, which is pretty much unheard of. My arm was getting tired in this position, but I considered it my workout for the day. I think the wind is blowing up my shirt because I look fat in this shot for some reason.
Keep an eye out for the a new Street Team Elite video featuring Ramon and his CRX. Yes I just plugged the video, it's my f'ing blog plus nobody is going to do it for me, so if you're mad, go ahead and be mad, shit I'll probably post it all over too, "YOU MAD?" HA!
Caught in the Act: Eibach 2011
Stolen from Canibeat, this is a shot of "your dude" caught shooting a couple of rad bikes at the Annual Eibach Meet. The homie Nit from Dude Blvd. was standing next to me, he also has a passion for bobbers and cafe racers. I know it's called "AutoLife" but I honestly don't give a damn, it's not like anybody reads this shit anyway. There will be a day when a bunch of my boys and I will cruise down Coast Highway on some of these, that day will probably come before I finish my Hondas...
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