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The Clowntown Roadshow runs a 24 Hour Race!

The Clowncar on the Pit Straight at Buttonwillow.

Buttonwillow last December (The 2011 Arsefreezeapalooza)
Infineon in March (The Sears Pointless)
and now, Buttonwillow again for the 2012 Arsesweatapalooza.

The Clowntown Roadshow completed our third Lemons race, and our very first true 24 Hour event. We did “good” in that we all had two shifts at the wheel, and didn’t irreparably break the car. We made a bunch of mistakes, but also did some things right, and all had a ton of fun.

Donald Webster, known Clown, in our office for the weekend.

I flew down to the Bay Area last wednesday, and spent Thursday at Facebook HQ attending some meetings before hopping in our team tow vehicle – an un-airconditioned early 90s Ford F250 with utility bed, and driving south for Buttonwillow, which is near Bakersfield in SoCentralCal. Yes, it was HOT. Insult to injury was the 100+ minutes I spent in stop-and-go traffic due to some construction on I-5 about halfway there. I survived (barely) and enjoyed the combination of the best Carne Asada (I’ve had since La Hacienda in Arlington, WA) and the worst Motel 6 (ever on the planet) in the non-town of Buttonwillow, California. Friday was a practice day, and we had too much fun lapping the track, then put the car through Tech & BS Inspection – passing both easily. We enjoyed a team dinner at a small Italian place in Shafter, CA. Since I noted the place was owned an run by some Thais I ordered a Pad Se Ew off the back page of the menu and was blown away by how good it was. Pro Tip: If you dine at Giovannis in Shafter, go for the Thai!

Going through tech & BS inspection - our Head Clown Matt Kulka watches the Judges look for cheats on our stock beater E30.

Saturday at 10 am the race started. We ran the #15 config for the terminally curious. I volunteered to take the first shift to avoid the heat of the afternoon. Unlike previous Lemons races where the start is laps and laps of full-course Yellow the green flag flew on my second or third circuit of the track. At the start I was a few cars behind the infamous Rolling Chicane Limousine, this race in the guise of the Titanic. Thankfully I was able to pass it just past the start-finish line.

The Clowncar passes the Titanic on the pit straight. Yours Truly at the wheel. Photo by Donald Webster. Hey! Isn't that Kate Winslet?

Our little ’89 BMW 325i E30 wasn’t the fastest car on the track though. The field contained several faster cars, mostly BMW 3 & 5 series machines, along with a few fast oddballs like a 4th generation 300ZX and the Model T GT, which you can see passing me below:

Continue reading “The Clowntown Roadshow runs a 24 Hour Race!”

Christopher Graduates!

Chris shaking Rick Steves' hand after receiving his diploma.

It has been a very busy June and early July here at Chez Goolsbee, so apologies for the lack of updates. The day after Nick Graduated he and Chris hopped in the car and drove “home” to Washington state where they visited friends. Nick was able to attend the AHS Graduation ceremony where he would have walked across the stage had we not moved to Oregon. Christopher went to Seattle and took the LSAT test for entrance into Law School, afterwards he visited friends. Sue & I dashed up to Olympia on Friday, June 15th to watch Christopher participate in graduation at The Evergreen State College. He completed his degree in March, but the ceremony took place at the end of the Academic Year. Like all things at Evergreen the event was filled with unbridled enthusiasm and energy – along with a healthy dose of chaos. It was wonderful.

The scene as the graduates file in.

The day was sunny and beautiful, and we were all there to see Christopher receive his Degree.

A little creative chaos never hurt anyone.

Speedy the Geoduck makes an appearance.

TESC’s mascot is the Geoduck and the school’s motto is “Omnia Exteras” (look it up) and the day was as out there are unrestrained as every other graduation is dull and constrained. Everyone just smiled and enjoyed it, including the school administrators and staff. The commencement speaker was PBS travel show host Rick Steves (of Edmonds, WA) and he delivered a passionate oratory on living life and seeing the world.

Rick Steves speaks.

Continue reading “Christopher Graduates!”

Nick Graduates!

Nick Goolsbee, Graduate. Dynamics for the last time.

Sorry for the not so great audio on the last one. I was VERY far away (shot with a 600mm equiv lens) and there were people all around me talking away…

Nick will be attending Oregon State University in Corvallis in the autumn. Today he & Chris are driving to Washington – Nick will be visiting his friends in Arlington, and Chris will be taking the LSAT test at the UW in Seattle. On Friday we’ll all be in Olympia to watch Christopher graduate from Evergreen State.

Congrats Nick, we’re very proud of you.

Nick Goolsbee, Graduate.

Changes to the fleet…

As some of you know, digital.forest was acquired earlier this year. While my payout as a stockholder wasn’t “retire now” in scale, it has allowed us to upgrade the Goolsbee fleet. First and foremost I set out to buy Sue a cruiser to help her sore back and smooth out her hectic driving schedule with something super-comfy. We test-drove a lot of mid-range machines, and she settled upon a Mercedes-Benz C300. It took me a month or so to find the right one, at the right price. She now enjoys a 2009 C300-4Matic. It is hands-down the best car we’ve ever had in the Goolsbee garage. VERY comfortable, and drives super-smooth.

This means her 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD is now for sale.

Christopher finished school at the end of the winter quarter, and is now preparing for law school. Since he loves the car and learned to drive in it, I’m giving him the TDI. It for him will be like the ’80 Diesel Rabbit I drove when I was his age – a great, reliable, frugal first car.

“How about Chuck? What does he get?”

I wanted something fun for my new commuter car. My drive to work is actually quite enjoyable – a choice of twisty two-lanes, largely without traffic. I love to drive roofless. I like to shift my own gears. (In hindsight, I’ve never owned a slushbox for *my* daily driver.) I don’t need more than two seats. I didn’t want to spend that much. I started surfing Autotrader and eBay for used cars meeting the above criteria. After filtering out the Miatas (sorry – while I know they are GREAT cars, they are also nearly ubiquitous) my searches turned up a good selection of interesting cars. MR2s. TTs. S2000s. 350/370Zs. Boxsters. SLKs. Some 911s and Corvettes. Even a Jag (Holy depreciation Batman!)

After the wonderful experience of hucking the ClownTown Roadshow’s old E30 BMW around the track now twice – with every lap bringing a grin to my face, I figured I owed a look at the Z3/Z4 line of cars. A coworker at Facebook loaned me the keys to his 2006 M Roadster while I was in Menlo Park for meetings several weeks back and halfway through the drive I decided this would be my next car.

I decided upon a color & trim choice (blue exterior, grey/wood interior) and went hunting. Autotrader turned up a few, as did eBay, but then I was referred to a car broker in the Bay Area. The idea is you tell them what you want, and about what you will pay. I knew what I wanted, and my shopping gave me an idea of what the fair market value of these cars are now, so I laid it out for the broker. He found me one in SoCal within a few days, and now the car is mine. Totally painless process. I highly recommend it over trying to buy on your own.

The car is a 2007, has ~33k miles, and is REALLY nice.

the car d.f bought.

While I’m not a huge fan of the Z4 styling, the M version seems to tone down some of the more outrageousness, while upping the “ultimate driving machine” bit. It is very much a modern E-type: Classic “long bonnet, short boot” styling. Minimal interior, maximum driving pleasure. High horsepower & torque straight six. Laughable cargo space (though easily 3X what the Jag has!)

I’ve only has it a week, but every mile has been grin-worthy. The miles per gallon can’t touch the TDI, but the smiles per gallon is way past the redline. I can afford the gas now. 😉

My favorite car hack.

Wedging the alternator with a Chouinard Stopper

I was making digital copies of some old Bishop family slides for Sue when I stumbled upon some old Kodachromes of mine from my college days. I found this photo and had to chuckle. I was on a climbing road trip from Texas to Colorado (a trip I made many times) when a bolt fell out of my VW Rabbit Diesel in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. Despite looking for well over an hour, I never did find the bolt. My solution was to chock the alternator in-place with… well… a CHOCK.

A Chouinard Equipment #7 stopper if I recall correctly.

I limped into the next town, stopped at a NAPA, where they had no metric bolts, but I was able to make do with an SAE bolt (which eventually caused the alternator mounting hole to bell out before I could find a proper metric fitting in Denver.) I seem to recall having to have a machine shop enlarge the hole after a while – but that came later. I had forgotten the whole episode until I saw this photo.

Announcing: The Northwest Oil Leak Jaguar Tour 2012

Even more fun than it looks!

After the wild success of the Southwest Oil Leak 2011 E-type Tour, we’ve all decided to do it again. This time we’re heading up to the Pacific Northwest in September 2012, touring Oregon & Washington. Here is a rough map of the proposed route:

NWOL Route

We’ll be following twisty back roads, avoiding freeways, and looking for great scenery and awesome roads. Overnight stops will occur in Bend, Hood River, McMinnville, and the Oregon Coast. Highlights will include:

The Oregon High Desert
The Columbia Gorge
Mt. St. Helens
The Oregon Wine Country
The Everegreen Air & Space Museum (home of The Spruce Goose)
The Oregon Coast
Crater Lake National Park

What the NWOL Tour is: Fun, Friendly, Fun, Low-key, Fun, Low Budget, and Fun.
We all arrange, and pay for our own food, fuel, and lodging. A no-frills tour with the emphasis on FUN.

What the NWOL Tour is NOT:
Expensive. THERE IS NO ENTRY FEE. It is a group-organized thing – the amount you spend is a factor of how you want to travel. Some folks bring a tent and camp out, others stay at luxury hotels. HOW you spend is up to you. The route is picked with a range of lodging option available.
A Race. We’re taking a leisurely tour through a scenic area. No points are awarded for arriving first.
A Rally. No timing, scoring, or checkpoints are involved. If you are looking for a great rally in the same area, check out the Northwest Classic.
Fully Supported. We have no sweep truck stuffed with professional mechanics – just your fellow “leakers” and whatever tools they carry. Make sure your Jaguar is in good running condition before coming on the tour, and be ready to fix it if it breaks. Last year’s SOL had a few minor mechanical problems but they were all taken care of by the participants themselves. Bring your cell phone and AAA card!

If you and your Jaguar would like to come along (we’ll consider other makes, if you’re a fun person!) let me know and I’ll add you to the electronic mailing list for the event.

Wrong Lens, Right Place.

Nick Crosses the Finish Line

Last Saturday Nick’s Nordic Ski team had a Pursuit Race. We had to leave the house at the crack of dawn and I could not find my telephoto lens. All I could turn up were short focal length (7—14mm and 20mm, which in M4/3rds is similar to 14—28mm and 45mm in a 35mm format) lenses.

Shooting sports is always better with longer lenses – you stand off and track the action from afar, letting the long glass get you close to the athletes. Long lenses also flatten perspective and offer interesting bokeh (the unfocused areas outside of the depth-of-field) making for appealing images. I shoot the telephoto from a monopod, which provides me with a stable platform that still allows me to pan side to side to keep the action in-frame.

My 20mm prime is a fantastic portrait lens, and is very fast, meaning it is great in low light, but the focal length makes for “snapshot” looking shots of sports.

I love shooting with wide-angle lenses, but they are not my first choice for shooting sports. In the past I’ve used my wide-angle as a secondary lens while shooting sports, taking close-up shots from a very short tripod close to the ground with a remote shutter. This time however, I affixed the camera and wide-angle to my monopod I usually have the telephoto on, but used it instead like a boom – held low, or high in the track of the race course. I’m pleased with the results:

Pre-race wax