Porsche Porn - The Singer 911

As technology continues to advance, the tuning and manufacturing of vehicles is at an all time high in the automotive industry. This also stands true for Porsche owners and enthusiasts alike. Of all of options when it comes to picking a Porsche tuner, Singer is one of the most sought after...if you can afford it. As Singer puts it, they took the best of the best from everything Porsche has done, put it all together and made it work. Sounds so simple right? Depending on the spec build you prefer, price will cost from the high $300,000 range on up to $500,000. But when in search for perfection, that's considered chump change. 

Chris Harris, of the DRIVE Network, couldn't have been a better choice to take on this segment. Watch as Chris gets an in-depth look at what goes into creating a Porsche masterpiece. This brings a new meaning to "attention to detail."

Florence In A Nutshell

Over the past several months as Brandi and I have been preparing for our big move, I've tried to find as many articles, videos and any type of review about Florence as possible. Although we feel plenty comfortable learning about the city, the people, the culture etc. as we go, we're trying to gather as many resources of information and tips as possible. I suppose you can never be too prepared when moving across the world. At the same time, there are certain things that just need to be learned as we experience it. That's all part of the fun!

There has been plenty of sleepless nights where Brandi wakes up to find me reading The Florentine at odd hours of the the night...or morning. The fact is, there's never a time when we aren't thinking about Italy. The Florentine is an english speaking monthly newsletter packed with all sorts of goodness about the city. Everything that they write about has definitely added some reassurance for us and excitement. We really don't know much about how the city functions and what it has to offer outside of the few days we spent there so this helps give us some insight on what else we can expect to do, see and eat.

I've also found a two part video titled 'Florence In A Nutshell' that walks you through the city with explanations of the most popular sites to see depending on how much time you have available.

For anyone planning on visiting us or just wants to see where we'll be for the next few years, I suggest checking these out as they've been very resourceful for us so far. It's also helped us find out about other places that are nearby and can make great weekend getaways. As awesome as Florence will be, there's a growing list of places we can't wait to visit. 

As the last few weeks for us here in the states wind down and we continue to check things off our massive 'Italy To-Do List,' we still pinch ourselves and wonder how we became so lucky. 

Every now and then, the stars align

Boy and girl meet by the great design

Could it be that you and me are the lucky ones

[Lana Del Rey - Lucky Ones]

In other news, we are going to pick up the only other girl Brandi will ever allow into our marriage...my Honda Civic. Within the past 2 weeks, she's been on the receiving end of more attention than she's had for the past few years. With the exception of being detailed, she's pretty much ready to be stored safely while we're gone.

Brandi and I have some pretty exciting plans for the near future (no, it doesn't involve having kids) and plan on continuing to share different tips and insight on how we've prepared for a trans-atlantic move. You never know, you may end up needing it one day. This time last year, moving to Florence was never even a possibility...now look!

Until next time...

One Step Closer To Italy | Moving On

For the past few months, Brandi and I have steadily packed, made countless trips to the Goodwill Donation Center, gone through who knows how many rolls of packing tape, kept Sterilite in business with our bin purchases and raided all of the boxes from her office. But this past weekend it hit us, it was  time to move. Fortunately for us, Brandi's parents have allowed us to to move in with them until we leave so that our townhouse can be remodeled for new renters. They've also allowed us to keep all of our belongings and my beloved Honda Civic there as well. Talk about life savers! I had looked at a few storage units to fit all our stuff / the Civic and lets just say the in-laws are saving us about $350/mo. for 2 years! 

I don't think Brandi or myself were really prepared to actually leave what we called home for the past 6 years. We've been so consumed with work, packing, holidays and focusing on all of the necessary things we need to do for our upcoming move that we forgot what was actually about to happen come last Sunday night. After 3 full days of moving our stuff, we were ready to go back to pick up our cats and lock up the house for the final time. The last 2 things in the refrigerator were 2 beers for us. Not only were they much needed after moving for so long but it would also be the final time we would cheers each other in this house. Tears were shed, memories were shared and laughs were had.

I wish I could count how many parties, dinners and different types of memories that had been created here. So many friends and family members had helped us create moments we'll never forget and hopefully they'll never forget either. From a random night by the fire to getting engaged, we did so much here. From good times to bad, this was our home and I'll never forget it.

As we inch closer to create new memories in a new home, I just wanted to take a minute to thank Brandi, our friends and family for helping us make the last 6 years in that house a wonderful experience!

Larry Chen - One Trillion Pictures Later

I first met Larry Chen when we hired him as the staff photographer while I was working alongside Redline Time Attack. However, I had been familiar with his work long before that through Formula DRIFT images he would post. 

Almost every Monday morning I would check his site (driftfotos.com) to see what photos had been updated from the weekends previous automotive events. Fast forward about 4 years and I am still lucky enough to work alongside Larry as he was the staff photographer for Formula DRIFT in 2012 and is now one of the primary contributors of Speedhunters.com

Of the thousands of images Larry takes at any given event let alone an entire year, I never get sick of his work. It doesn't matter if it's a car, a place or a person, he knows what it takes to capture you as the viewer and does a damn fine job at it. It's great to see the success Larry has had because anyone will tell you, Larry is one of the, if not THE, hardest working photographer in the automotive industry. 

He recently posted his 2012 Year In Review on Speedhunters but here are just a few samples to get you all buttered up before you check out his entire post.

I'm definitely looking forward to working more with Larry in 2013 and really hope that he is able to make it out to Italy for a visit! I can only imagine the photos he would capture in a place like Florence.

CLICK HERE to see Larry's entire post featured on Speedhunters.

Stephen Brooks Films Presents We Are The People

A few years back I stumbled upon the film work of Stephen Brooks. Since then, I followed along and can honestly say he is one of my favorite automotive film makers. Having met him during Round 4 of Formula DRIFT in 2011, I really hope he makes it back to film part of the 2013 season. Better yet, maybe I'll be fortunate enough to work with him while I reside in Italy since he is based out fo the UK. Only time will tell...

His latest piece of work, We Are The People, is a compilation of footage gathered from various drifting events from around the world. Enjoy.

For more of his work, visit his Vimeo page.

Stephen Brooks Films