Hot laps in a Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin at Circuit of The America's

Skip to about the 3 minute mark to get to the good stuff. 

Valentine's Day | The Grove | Hollywood Hike

With our Italy departure being set back a few weeks, Brandi and I have been doing our best to keep busy and focusing on anything other than the fact that we are still here in California. Long story short, the paperwork that's required for us to be there long term and renting an apartment is a bit more strict in Florence than most places. That said, we're still here and hoping to receive the news we've been waiting for this week...the green light to buy our plane tickets to Italy! [Fingers, toes, arms, and legs are crossed] 

Anyhow, moving on...

This past Valentine's Day happened to be the 10th that Brandi and I have celebrated together. Valentine's Day is somewhat comical because on that very day, it's mind boggling to see and hear about how many people love the day, hate the day, don't see the purpose in the day, don't want to buy into the hype of the day etc. To me, it's all about what you make of the day with that special person. The day can have great meaning and be full of romance, without buying into the hype of spending a ridiculous amount of money on gifts or dining off a pre set dinner menu. Sure I get it, you're supposed to love that person year round and shouldn't need a day to remind them. I fully agree but at the same time, what's wrong with putting a little emphasis on the love you have for that person for an extra day? It doesn't need to cost and arm and a leg like people think it does. It just requires a little planning, creativity and knowing how to make that person happy. 

To start the day, Brandi and I visited Handsome Coffe Roasters in Downtown LA. She'd never been and with it being literally around the corner from my office, I figured it would be a nice treat before dropping her back off at work. 

Since I have yet to luck out with a delivery company who can actually drop the flowers off to Brandi on Valentine's Day between the hours of 8-5pm, she receives them directly from me. Let's just say there have been one too many instances where the flower company has failed me. As soon as I dropped her off at work, I made a quick dash to pick up some flowers and go right back to her office to deliver them. It's safe to say that she was surprised. 

For the past 5 or 6 years, we've made it a tradition to make sushi at home with each other and this year would be no different. 

Ever since we began packing for our move, I know it had been eating away at Brandi that we couldn't bring all of our pictures with us. I decided to make a mosaic picture using all of our wedding pictures to help solve that problem. The tears streaming down her face were a pretty good indication that she loved it. I can't wait to have this framed and on the wall of our new house in Italy! 

Saturday night we decided to get dinner at The Grove since they have a good selection of restaurants and so Brandi could check out the new Top Shop that just opened. 

We ended up eating at Marmalae Cafe and I ordered the Chicken Meatloaf [Homemade chicken meatloaf served on a bed of mashed potatoes with sun-dried tomato gravy and sautéed green beans with slivered almonds]. Maybe I was just craving meatloaf and mashed potatoes but this meal just hit the spot. According to Brandi, mashed potatoes are a stress cure and I'd have to fully agree with her. 

After a heavy meal like that, Sunday was spent trying to work it all off. We hiked up behind the Hollywood sign which is something we'd never done together. Apparently, this was the shorter but much steeper way up the mountain. Between warm temperatures and a steep ass hill, we were covered in sweat and I'm sure anyone behind me was asking themselves...did this guy eat chicken meatloaf for dinner? I'll let you figure out why. 

All and all, it was great weekend and although I'm going to miss the gorgeous weather we've been having in So. Cal, I really hope we're told to book our plane tickets this week. 

Until next time...

Porsche Carrera GT vs Koenigsegg CCR Evo

It's not often that a Koenigsegg CCR Evo and Porsche Carrera GT would meet face to face on an open runway. Thankfully, m5boarddotcom was there to document the race...not once, but twice from the passenger seat of each car. 

The stats of each car are enough to make any auto enthusiast's mouth water but the results of this race are quite staggering. It really helps put things into perspective on how fast the Koenigsegg is when put up against another supercar. 


Koenigsegg CCR Evo
Year:2011
Engine:Supercharged V8
Transmission:6-speed
Horsepower: 891
0-60 time:3.2 sec.

Porsche Carrera GT

Year: 2007

Engine: V10

Transmission:6-speed
Horsepower: 612
0-60 time:3.6 sec.

LIVE VIDEO: Ex-cop Christopher Dorner engaged in gun battle with authorities

A man believed to be accused cop killer Christopher Dorner has exchanged gunfire with federal authorities in Big Bear, California. Live video of ongoing gun battle.

Petrolicious | The Testarossa Presence

Growing up in the mid-80's wouldn't necessarily be my choice of eras to be born in if it was determined on what cars were out at the time. The 1980's were such an awkward time for cars. The style, appeal and performance from auto manufacturers just vanished. I guess the same could be said for 1980's fashion.

With such horrendous designs being pumped out of the factories at the time, this gave plenty of room for exotic cars such as the Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari Testarossa and Porsche Turbo to stretch their legs and show their true colors. Like most car-crazed kids born in the 80's, I too had a poster on my wall featuring such cars. Although, now that I'm older, I don't know if I'd actually buy one of those 3 cars if I had the opportunity. With the amount of options that now exist, it would be a tough choice. Then again, I'm no where near that point so who knows what would actually happen. Time will tell...

Here is another well done video by Petrolicious spotlighting one of the three iconic cars...the Ferrari Testarossa.

Off Seasons Two: Ryan Tuerck Drifts The Wild

There is a lot I like about this video and most of it is derived from it's chaotic simplicity. Formula DRIFT driver Ryan Tuerck rips his Nissan 240 through a narrow and windy area through the woods. You can hear that there are so many times where he is flat out on the throttle while the car is pitched sideways and hitting the edges of the road. 

Another thing I noticed was that there were no noticeable tire marks on the ground from test runs which leads me to believe this was shot in takes but all on the first run. 

It's a rare thing these days for an automotive video to not have any music. I actually liked the fact that I could hear nothing but the car, tires screaming and the echo of the car through the woods. 

Corey Hosford Teaches Matt Farah How To Drift...The Right Way

Formula DRIFT driver Corey Hosford gives Matt Farah some proper drifting lessons in this latest installment of Tuned. Corey also happens to be a driving instructor at Bondurant School of High Performance Driving located in Chandler, Arizona. 

An 800 horsepower Nissan 350Z drift car, an empty race track, Corey Hosford, Matt Farah and a few sets of Hankook tires all equal some serious fun...and a lot of tire smoke.