Shuff's General Chat Thread ... #73 - Talk about anything and everything...  

Drag Week 2016 - Day 3 Highlights!
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Published on Sep 15, 2016
Thrashing continues on Drag Week 2016 as the competitors fight to stay in the competition and convince their street machines to play nice! Jeff Lutz is clearly being challenged by the Drag Week gods as he battles suspension and charging issues, while other races combat other minors hiccups.

1320Video provides the BEST street car videos from around the world! Drag Week, Streetcar Takeover, King of the Streets, Texas Invitational, Stockholm Open and a number of No Prep races to name a few! On our channel, you will see anything from a 2000+hp twin turbo Lamborghini Gallardos to 800+hp four cylinder Toyota MR2s! Car racing is a true adrenaline rush, and we’re here to deliver the most INSANE content on the web! Car crashes, turbocharged street cars, illegal street racing, busted by the police, Street Outlaws…you name it, we’ve got it! So sit back, strap in, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest and greatest automotive content on YouTube!

Top comments

mr2foryou1 day ago
Was that Brantner's ashes that came out with the parachute? Awesome

1320video1 day ago
Yes it was

1500hp Supra SLIDES Across Finish Line ON FIRE!
1320video

Published on Sep 16, 2016
JRod and Real Street have assembled the baddest street car Supra running in the 7’s and have taken it on Drag Week for the ultimate street car test! Unfortunately in racing, not everything goes according to plan…and this is one of those moments. With Jay from Real Street behind the wheel, the head gasket in the Supra decided it was done for the day and sent Jay into a slide across the finish with flames starting to emit from under the hood! What happened next is nothing short of pure insanity!

After two android phones and four years, I am back in the apple corner, otherwise know as the dark side. Hello Iphone7

Richard Carpenter's 1970 Chrysler Barracuda - Jay Leno's Garage
Jay Leno's Garage

Published on Sep 18, 2016
Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters takes Jay for a ride in his meticulously cared-for, original and unrestored Cuda.

Catching Up With Star Trek IV’s True Hero: the Unkind Punk on the Bus

THE ’80S WERE full of memorable big-screen punk-rockers, from the pissed-off pissants of Repo Man to the sullen squatters of Suburbia. But for lovers of gently comedic, sci-fi adventures, the Reagan-era rebel who looms largest is the mohawk-sporting punk who makes a cameo in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Though he’s on the screen for less than two minutes, the orange-haired rapscallion, played by Kirk Thatcher, made a big impression upon the Enterprise crew (and audience members) by giving Captain Kirk the finger, only to find himself on the receiving end of a Vulcan nerve pinch. It’s a knowingly goofy moment in what’s easily the most free-spirited Trek movie ever made—which may be why, 30 years later, Thatcher’s pissed-off urchin remains a fan favorite among punkers and Trekkers alike.

If you haven’t seen the movie in a while (and you should, it’s still really delightful), here’s a quick rundown of how Mr. Spock happened to come face-to-face with a boombox-blasting, never-named ne’er-do-well: At the beginning of Voyage Home, an exiled Kirk (William Shatner) and crew travel through time to circa-1986 San Francisco in an attempt to bring humpback whales back to the future, so their whale song can be used to communicate with a threatening alien presence (note we said “delightful,” not “wholly logical”).

While the Enterprise gang wanders the city, Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) wind up on a bus across from “Punk on the Bus,” played by then-23-year-old Kirk Thatcher, a former Industrial Light & Magic employee who’d been hired on the film to assist Nimoy, who was also serving as the movie’s director. Blasting a bratty number called “I Hate You” on his boombox—sample lyric: “Let’s just push the button/we’d be better off dead!”—Thatcher’s punk gives Kirk the bird when the admiral asks him to turn the music down. The result? A Vulcan nerve pinch from Spock that knocks out the punker, and elicits applause from the fellow passengers.

I told Leonard Nimoy, ‘Look, I used to have a mohawk, and I’ll dress the part—you won’t recognize me.’ Leonard said, ‘Huh, really,’ in that deep, basso profondo way. I couldn’t tell if he thought it was a stupid idea.

The role was an appropriate one for Thatcher, who’d played in bands as teenager before finding himself working in the creature department at ILM, helping out on films like Return of the Jedi, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and Gremlins (he also collaborated with future Oscar nominee David Fincher on the Rick Springfield video “Bop ‘Til You Drop,” in which Thatcher played a demonic-looking alien). It was while he was attending UCLA, where he was studying computer animation, that he found out Nimoy was looking for an FX-savvy assistant for The Voyage Home. “He said, ‘I want to hire somebody who knows this world,'” Thatcher remembers.

As it turned out, Thatcher wasn’t just an effects nerd—he was a devoted Trek-head, a guy who’d kept a Spock and Kirk poster over his bed as a kid, and who’d even worked on the gnarly ear-critter from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. And while he served as a sort of creative consigliere to Nimoy during production, he wound up playing a variety of roles on set: He helped write Vulcan dialogue, assisted in curating some of the alien creatures spotted early on in the film, and provided the high-speed voice of the Spock-quizzing computer.

The Logical Choice
But portraying “Punk on the Bus” would turn out to be Thatcher’s most lasting contribution to The Voyage Home. He and Nimoy had grown chummy during filming, so when the filmmakers were looking to cast the punk, Thatcher lobbied the director to get the role. “I told him, ‘Look, I used to have a mohawk, and I’ll dress the part—you won’t recognize me,'” Thatcher says. “Leonard said, ‘Huh, really,’ in that deep, basso profondo way. I couldn’t tell if he thought it was a stupid idea.”

Nimoy kept Thatcher waiting for more than a week before giving him the go-ahead, prompting Thatcher to dye his hair orange, shave the sides of his head, and go shopping for punk gear in clothing stores on Melrose Avenue and in North Hollywood. When he finally showed up to the set in costume—complete with dog collar, fake nose piercings, and leopard-print Converse sneakers—one of the first people he bumped into was Trek costar DeForest Kelley. “He looks me up and down real slowly, and with that kind of southern laconic drawl, he just says, ‘Nice shoes,'” Thatcher remembers.

Filming the scene wound up requiring two takes, thanks to a slight wardrobe-related malfunction. “I was wearing a cheap leather jacket, and it was very very stiff,” Thatcher says. “So when Leonard gave me the pinch [the first time], I couldn’t feel it. His hand was around my neck, but I was just kind of looking over, like, ‘What are you doing?'”

The Origins of ‘I Hate You’
The song itself came later. Paramount Pictures had a music-licensing deal that gave it to access to songs by new-wave artists like Duran Duran, but none of those bands seemed like a good fit for Thatcher’s snarling character. “I said, ‘Leonard, that’s not punk. I could write you a punk song and it will cost you nothing. I’ll do it for [a few hundred dollars],'” says Thatcher. He wrote out the nihilistic lyrics, which he brought to his friend (and future Mad Max: Fury Road Oscar winner) Mark Mangini, a sound editor who came up with the song’s snotty, simple guitar riff. Thatcher himself sang vocals, and the whole tune was recorded on a weekend night, in a hallway that would provide the necessarily shitty sound.

“My idea of punk at the time was the Dead Kennedys, Germs, Black Flag—real West Coast hardcore punk, that real raw sound,” Thatcher says. “I also wanted a Sex Pistols ‘God Save the Queen’ vibe, which is why I did the British accent.”

As for Nimoy’s response? “He came by, heard it, and said, ‘OK. That’s very punk.'”

I said, ‘Leonard, that’s not punk. I could write you a punk song and it will cost you nothing.’

Though Thatcher’s character is clearly a somewhat exaggerated take on ’80s punk culture, the song’s screw-it-we’re-doomed lyrics fit into the movie’s bigger message about ecology and Earth’s survival. “The end of the 20th century wasn’t a Mad Max dystopia, but it was headed in that direction,” he says. “Global war was still hanging over you, and you knew it could all end tomorrow because of some A-hole politician. So that existential angst or nihilism was not forced.”

Thankfully, mankind—and The Voyage Home—made it to the 21st century, where Thatcher still gets requests from modern-day bands to cover “I Hate You” (a few years ago, the song was finally remastered and given an official release). “It’s nice to be remembered,” says Thatcher. “I could win the Nobel Peace Prize, and my gravestone would still stay, ‘Star Trek IV: Punk on the Bus.'”

Post ‘Punk’
In truth, Thatcher’s post-Trek accomplishments are extensive: He’s worked for decades with the Jim Henson Company, writing feature films like Muppet Treasure Island, and directing TV movies like Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow (he also earned an Emmy for his writing on the short-lived ’90s series Muppets Tonight). In 2009, he directed the Muppets’ much-beloved, oft-forwarded “Bohemian Rhapsody” video, proving once again that he knows a thing or two about manic characters with spiky orange hair.

He also stayed in touch with Nimoy off and on for years after Voyage Home wrapped, eventually reuniting with the Trek star just a few years before Nimoy’s death in 2015.

“He was like an uncle to me,” Thatcher says now. “He was a very calming presence. He had his big office overlooking Paramount, and at the end of the day [after filming Voyage Home], he’d pour himself a big gin-and-tonic with a lot of ice, and we’d sit there and chat. It was one of the highlights of my life and career.”

Worlds Only PROCHARGED Ford GT!?
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Published on Sep 20, 2016
When the factory Supercharger just isn’t enough but you’re a diehard blower guy, you get ahold of the guys at Procharger and wind up with the worlds ONLY Procharged Ford GT. Making almost 900hp on a bone stock motor, this beast has supplied countless smiles for Dan as he drives it anywhere he can! Driving in a rally across the north, or driving all the way from Minnesota to Street Car Takeover in St. Louis, Missouri, he’s proven the build’s reliability. We can’t wait to see him make the journey to the mile, reach his target speed, and make it home without a trailer!

Genius Invents Bun That Holds BOTH A Hot Dog And Hamburger, Instantly Becomes The Archimedes Of Our Times

When you go to a cookout, there is always that one difficult and complicated question: Hot dog or hamburger?

But you don’t want everyone to know that you’re the gluttonous American that you are and you say, “I’ll just have a hamburger.”

Now there’s a reason to never be shamed into only having one grilled delicacy… thanks to the HAMDOG!!!

A bun that’s half hot dog, half hamburger and 100% glorious!

Australian Mark Murray originally invented the Hamdog in 2004, and secured a U.S. patent for the “combination hamburger hot dog bread bun” in 2009. He introduced his sandwich abortion to the world when it was pitched on the Australian version of Shark Tank last year.

“Everyone told me it wasn’t possible, because you’d need a patent lawyer and it would cost millions of dollars,” Murray told news.com.au. “Even [Boost Juice founder and Shark Tank judge] Janine Allis told me that it was impossible to patent. She’ll be eating her words now.”

In Australia, the Hamdog costs $8 and is made of a Bunbury beef patty cut in half, with a Hunsa hot dog inserted in the middle. It’s topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles and three sauces – mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise.

Ford Australia says factory closure clash with Bathurst 1000 is unavoidable

Wheels Magazine
Barry Park
24/07/2016

Ford has admitted it could have handled the timing of its factory closure – scheduled to occur on the same day Australian motorsport kicks off its most iconic Ford versus Holden battle – a little bit better.

An editorial published in the June issue of Wheels called out the carmaker for locking in its closure date of October 7, the same day as the Supercars run their qualifying sessions for the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama – one of the hottest and most sacred of rivalries in Australian culture.

A report in motoring.com.au said Ford’s decision to shutter the Broadmeadows assembly line on the opening day of the Bathurst contest was “an unavoidable clash, not an intended slight”.

“We will suffer the slings and arrows, we understand that somebody might consider that an affront,” Ford Australia president Graeme Whickman told motoring.com.au.

“There is no ill-feeling behind that decision. It’s not supposed to be inflammatory to Bathurst. What happens if we do it a week later, or two days after? I think there is going to be some energy around that, so it’s a no-win situation,” he said.

“It is not a negative flip of the cap towards our customers or Bathurst at all.”

The editorial in the June issue of Wheels took Ford Australia to task over its choice of dates to end its Australian production.

“Ford’s decision to close Broadmeadows on the Bathurst 1000 weekend shows scant respect for generations of Ford fans, or to the country that supported it for 56 years,” Wheels editor Glenn Butler wrote.

“Coincidence or ignorance? It has to be one of those, because I can’t imagine that Ford Australia deliberately scheduled the closure to coincide with Australia’s Great Race, on which much of Ford’s Australian spirit and reputation has been built.

“Or is there some kind of bizarre deference in shuttering six decades of Australian-made pride on the same day automotive gladiators fight for honour and glory on hallowed tarmac where Ford has won 20 times, all bar two in Australian-made Falcons conceived and created at Broadmeadows.”

Ford is yet to announce how it will mark its final day as an Australian manufacturer, and is yet to announce what will be the last vehicle – a staple Falcon sedan or ute – to roll off the line.

However, it has been confirmed that it won’t be a Ford Territory; the SUV that has done much to build precious scale, and save the Australian carmaking operations by winning the hearts and wallets of a new generation of Ford buyers, and that will live on with the badge in the guise of a fully imported replacement.

Ford’s Geelong-based engine-casting plan will close in September as part of the carmaker’s staged wind-down.

Disney confirms Star Wars anthology movie for 2020

Disney chief executive Bob Iger has confirmed that another entry in the Star Wars series of stand-alone “anthology” movies is set for release in 2020.

In remarks made to the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, and reported by Deadline, Iger said that a writer had been hired to work on the film. This would be the third in the series that will begin with the release of the Gareth Edwards-directed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in December 2016, and followed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s as yet untitled Han Solo film, due for release in May 2018. No details have yet emerged of the 2020 project.

Iger also said he did not expect Rogue One to be as successful as Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the box office. (The latter is the highest ever grossing film in the US, and third in the worldwide list.) However, he did say “the level of interest [in Rogue One] is as high as it was for Force Awakens”, and after viewing a rough cut, that “we love what we’ve seen”.

The Star Wars franchise as a whole shows no signs of slowing down: with episodes eight and nine of the main series due for release in 2017 and 2019 respectively, Iger said he had recently met Luscasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy and “started talking about what we’re going to do in 2021 and beyond”.

Iger also said a similar meeting with Marvel Entertainment, which Disney acquired in 2009, had taken place, where “we too are beginning to talk about what do we do in the next decade”.

First ep was good