Issue 16, Volume 1
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Our first picture relates to our article, obviously, but our on the streets section shows definitely the end of Halloween, fall, and the beginning of winter (even though winter doesn't come until December 21st, giving us a chance for a fall fashion issue later in the season) expecting the snow to fly soon. That's why when I took my own 5.0 Mustang in to get my winter tires put on, I was astonished to see so many in the showroom, including the two Laguna Seca Boss cars, and a 2012 5.0L GT Convertible, complete with a 'winter ready' advertisement on the hood. No Mustang is every truly winter ready. I can attest to the fact that 412hp doesn't adhere to any surface easy, and even on winter tires it's never really ready - just a compromise at best...like as if you were to ride a lion, I'm sure you'd be extremely cautious not to get bitten. One car you're not likely to see many of is the Mustang Laguna Seca edition. Every dealership has a Boss or two sitting out front, but the Laguna Seca edition (named after Laguna Seca raceway in Southern California - a place where in the 1970 SCCA trans-am series, the original Boss Mustang won Ford a constructors' championship) is truly a rare animal, even in silver. It was voted the 5th best driver's car in the world by Motor Trend, beating out cars like the Mercedes AMG coupe, the Corvette Z06 Z07 package, and the Audi R8 supercar AGAIN (the first time the regular Boss put two full seconds over the Lamborghini based supercar at Laguna Seca raceway). One of the salesman here described it as a 'racecar' with plates. In fact, the car has no back seat, just a metal cross brace between the two rear shock towers to give the car better chassis balance and stiffness. The Boss story starts pre 2005, when the S197 Mustang was being developed. Everyone remembers the 2005's release - the new-retro look that started Dodge and Chevrolet following. And 315hp? It was an every day muscle car for the masses, even though it was based on Lincoln/Jaguar underpinnings. Over time the suspension would be revised, and in 2010, so would the exterior. Finally, for the 2011 model year, the car got the awesome 412hp 'coyote' modular dual cam 5.0L engine, essentially a race engine developed for IMSA use put into a Mustang. Suspension, chassis and brakes were all revised to make the car the best handling, fastest Mustang ever built. But special editions drive sales, and Ford knew that with Camaro and Challenger breathing down their neck, a simple GT version (as amazing as it was) would never fly on it's own. So having already revived the California Special, the Bullitt, the GT500, the Mach 1, and all sorts of other special edition Mustangs, they took one name that personified Mustang performance: the Boss. The car features a revised intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, exhaust cams, transmission cooler, and of course, stiffer suspension and bigger brakes, and a wicked looking exterior exhaust package. The car also features some neat tricks; like the engine management computer, that recognizes when a special 'red key' is inserted that tells the engine to advance timing, and open secondary exhaust cutouts on the side of the car that boost power, and shut off the traction control. It is, truly, a racecar for the street. These cars will sit in the dealership for a while yet as the snow flies. After all, no racecar (save for the ones they use in ice racing - and these aren't them) are winter ready.
ZOMBIES! And easy Halloween Costumes...
Chances are you might still have a Halloween party coming up this weekend, and you might be wondering what to do. Well, now's your chance. Most stores have deeply discounted their stuff, and a Zombie makeup kit is only about $20.00 at the most, and comes with all the makeup you need, including this peeling-stick on flesh that really works (see above). The great thing is, that you can recycle old costumes.
Zombies come from all walks of life, because they are, after all, the undead, and the undead could be a construction worker, a salesman, a nurse a la silent hill or what you have above - WWII air force. Essentially Sarah and I recycled our costumes from the year before for an easy party fix before heading out to Fort Edmonton Park's 'Spooktacular' event. We have other costumes for this year, but we didn't want to bring them out just yet. So $20 of makeup later, and the Halloween costumes we had from the year before worked well.
Don't have a party to go to? Didn't get to go to one or have one? Throw one!
It doesn't have to be expensive, either. Right now, decorations and candy are cheap. Stores are clearing it out. But you pretty much have until the end of the week before everything has been replaced with Christmas stuff. Invite a few friends. Feel free to name a theme, or just let them know you're having a late halloween party. You don't have to invite a huge number of people, maybe just a few. Have them bring their own booze or snacks for an easy Halloween get together.
We will be having ours this weekend, and of course, we'll post all the tips and tricks, so you have everything to go on for next year.
Stop Talking About It: It's Not News
The Kardashians.
Remember that Treehouse of Horrors episode (Halloween I know) of the Simpsons where the signs of the city come alive and terrorize the citizens of Springfield, and Lisa realizes that if you don't look at them 'just don't look' they stop terrorizing people? Whilst I realize that talking about it is part of the problem, there must be some sort of protest writing relating to what the media talks about. First of all, think about entertainment news in the first place. Why there is an entire hour devoted to talking about celebrities immediately after the news on almost every television station is beyond me. Do we need to devote an entire hour of our day, 32,850 hours, or 1368 full days, or 3.75 years of our lives to talking about celebrities? Maybe if you were in prison, and there was nothing else to do.
The Kardashian wedding - and the amount of money and attention that went into it - really shows how much our priorities are screwed up in the western world. While the focus is off things like possible war between Syria and Lebanon, or the second coming of a recession, and the fact that the Bank of Canada is continuing to discuss how dire economic things might be, some of the 1% feels they need to throw a $10 million wedding, make $17 million of royalties, and then get divorced 72 days later. What does this say to the gay and lesbian community fighting to be seen as equals in marriage? What does this say to new married couples, or prospectively marrying couples? That the sanctity of marriage is based on money? Prenuptuals, publicized reports, and how much jewelry you can stuff into it. Kim, who is famous for nothing, basically had a pretend wedding for fun and profit.
The major problem is we keep paying attention to it. Or is it? Did you pay attention to this? Did you google the Kardashian wedding or pull up an entertainment website, or watch it on television? If you did, stop being part of the problem. Just don't look.
If you didn't, somebody must be, because I don't think journalists talk about these things unless they think someone will be interested in it. Hence, unless newswriters feel this is news, and will write whatever they feel like, we are giving them something to talk about. It isn't a slow newsday. There are protesters everywhere talking about wealth distribution, in every city, while our economy takes a nosedive. We're all in trouble, and all we can focus on is the 1% that has enough money to get married for $10 million, make royalties off of that (WHY AND HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE) and get divorced 72 days later, for no reason, the people are rich and famous for no reason. That's the 1%, and yeah, they should be stripped of their wealth and have it redistributed.
ARTISTS used to make royalties...musicians, painters, writers...not famous-for-nothing-reality-TV plastic idiots. We sure need a lot of changes to society. If you're wondering what the occupy protesters have to protest about, it is A LOT.
White Lies: Ritual
Although they've been around since 2007, you've probably just been hearing the latest single from the 2011 release of White Lies Ritual, entitled, "Bigger Than Us." It's probably because they're from over the pond, in London.
While White Lies won 'Best Push Artist' in 2009 at the MTV Europe music awards, and also took home a 2009 award for Best New Band at the NME awards, we haven't heard much from them here. But now, hey, we have 'satellite radio' and radio on our cable television, and finally, with 'Bigger Than Us' this band is making some headway. And like 'Sex On Fire' made Kings of Leon a household name, this, I'm predicting will make White Lies a household name, at least among alternative rock fans.
Harry McVeigh, along with Charles Cave and Jack Lawrence-Brown originally started the band as 'Fear of Flying' in 2007, originally a 5 piece. They lost the other two, and in 2009 released their first album, an indie release, under the name White Lies, entitled To Lose My Life.
Thus far, Ritual has only made it up to 95 on the Billboard chart, but is sitting at 3 on the UK album chart, not bad considering its' release on January 17th...it takes time for these bands sometimes. Think of how long Foster The People had until it really caught on. Strangely enough, the initial single from the album, "Bigger Than Us" never even charted in the US. Why? I'm not sure. But I feel big things from this band coming. The album feels complete, the songs are good and solid, and I can listen to it all the way through. Plus "Bigger Than Us" is a tour de force track that I can play over and over and over again. Check them out!
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