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Car & Driver has launched an ambitious campaign to Save the Manuals! And since I am a proponent of the manual transmission and all it merits, I wholly endorse it.

My friend Eric and I are members of the automotive enthusiast fringe. The weirder, harder to find the better. This is an absolutely hilarious text message exchange we had the other day regarding one of my favorite websites, Bring a Trailer.
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Eric: Dude, what have u done? Bringatrailer.com is cocaine. I Keep telling myself I have it under control.

Me: Yes… Yes it is. That Cosworth gave me a redwood.

Eric: Oh yeah! and the 953 Rally! Boing! I can stop any time.. I can stop any time.

Me: Snooort.

Eric: Oh yes… (wipes blood from nostril) thats it right there

Me: Rusty pipe? Been awhile since you thought about buying a 30 year old 25k garage find?

Eric: Apparently. I usually fap to the stuff on hemmings site, but this stuff is more kink… I mean unique

Me: Its kinda like 8mm snuff films, I know. The stuff on Hemmings is so pedestrian and clean. You have to be really out there to like BaT.

Eric: Oh yeah. It makes me feel so dirty.. and I love it. I also love our seemless transition from drug to sex innuendo

Me: Sex, drugs and rusty cars baby!

I’m proud to announce that I have just launched a new website called Import Relics. Most who read this site are surely aware of my near clinical obsession with the automobile and in particular imports. Import Relics is where I intend to collect my photographs, musings and research regarding significant or interesting imports from our past.
Check out the first post on the original ricer, the Datsun 510.

Those that know me and frequently tolerate my futurist rants know that for many years I have mused about the end of television as we know it. That eventually everything will be distributed free online. Yes, I know that you can already go to Hulu or YouTube and watch your favorite sitcom or webisode, but even there, it’s not free. You have the website littered with ads and there are still those annoying commercials. No, the day is nigh where people with an idea, passion and desire will create high quality entertainment for the masses and distribute it freely without the confines of the studio system, advertisers and Nelson ratings.

The most recent in this burgeoning market is Pioneer One. A sci-fi web series that is rather X-Filesesq, but with a much more interesting twist on the extraterrestrial life part.

Not to spoil the whole pilot episode, but basically an unknown object enters the atmosphere over Montana and leaks radiation on it’s way down. The Department of Homeland Security suspects a dirty bomb and investigates only to find it was an old Soviet spacecraft. What is in the spacecraft is the mystery.

This show plays to all my loves. Sci-fi, Cold War intrigue, the possibility of life on other planets (notice, not aliens) and mystery. The quality of the show is good for a totally independent production. And when I say totally independent, I mean totally (stuff it Sundance). The project is completely funded by public donations. They filmed the pilot episode for only $6,000, and its pretty good for that. The picture is high quality, the acting by the main characters is good and they keep the effects to a minimum, letting the lighting, music and dialog carry the show. Something that is so rare in sci-fi today.

If you’re interested in taking a chance on something a little different, I would highly recommend downloading it over at VoDo.

There are few bands that just wow me. Early Guster, The Sounds and Tally Hall are the short list. About a month ago I discovered another band that I can add to that list:The Indelicates.

Wonderful guitar rock mixed with brilliant lyrics shared between Simon Indelicate (Clayton) and Julia Indelicate (Clark-Lewis). Simon’s voice is just angry enough to make you feel like perhaps what he has to say is important even though it’s laced with humor and Julia’s dreamy voice takes you back to when female vocalists knew how to do something other than just scream.

Their first album American Demo is one of those perfect albums, where every song can be listened to multiple times without finding it boring. Stand out songs are “Julia, We Don’t Live in the 60′s” and “The Last Signifigant Statement…”.

Their second album Songs for Swinging Lovers is good, but not quite as thoroughly perfect. “Sympathy for the Devil”, a twangy countryesq number, is the standout on that album.

If you want to take a chance, pick up their albums over at Corporate Records where you can pay what you feel like (awesome), you won’t be sorry. Here is a sample of what you can expect: