Farewell, Stella

As a car enthusiast, you’d think it would be a difficult task to sell your beloved ride. It makes sense: the boatloads of money, time, and enjoyment spent with your own automobile create a sentimental value that rivals, and for some of us surpasses, the relationship between a parent and child. To let that go, and henceforth never see your beloved car again while being reminded of it every time you encounter the same model on the road, must be quite the arduous decision.

Turns out, it wasn’t; at least from my point of view. A few weeks back I sold my three-years-owned Subaru Impreza WRX STI to the local CarMax, and the decision process took less than a day. The lone point I agonized over was whether or not I thought the price quote given to me was a fair deal (it was). Not an ounce of agony or reflection was spent towards whether the decision to sell the car would come back to haunt me. In fact, I was actually relieved when I placed my signature on the final form, and a cashier’s check of considerable sum was handed to me in exchange.

I loved the STI: it was a great car worthy of consigning a great chunk of my monthly paycheck towards paying for it. It was the first automobile I purchased with my own money, and cause of that it will always hold a special honor in my CV of automobile ownership. In many ways the STI was my proverbial ‘dream-car’, a nameplate I’ve lusted after every since the earliest days of the Gran Turismo game franchise. The rally homologation special offered supercar-beating performance for the price of a compact luxury sedan. For a young petrol-head eager to sample the upper-echelons of speed and horsepower for the first time, it was amongst the very few cars perfect for the task.

You’ve only had to put the accelerator pedal all the way to carpet once to witness exactly why enthusiasts throughout automotive history constantly crave more power and faster velocity. The all-wheel-drive assisted launch of the 305 horsepower STI is absolutely intoxicating, with a pull that pushes you back onto the seats, and your passenger desperately grasping for the grab-handle. The car I drove previously presented only a meager 125 horsepower, so the jump to STI-class of forward propulsion was immense. The STI made passing other motorists on the freeway a simple matter of thought and immediate action, rather than precisely calculated maneuvers and holding your breath.

Subaru’s flagship product was also my first encounter with the wonderful world of all-wheel drive. It’s such an effective tool in the application of traction that it’s no surprise the drivetrain layout has been banned in all forms of motorsport, save the dedicated rally disciplines. All-wheel drive flatters the driver, no matter his or her skill level. Instead of finessing the throttle like a surgeon making a precise cut, power to four wheels allows the driver to prod the pedal like an on/off switch. Endowed with limited-slip differentials front, center, and rear, the STI offered so much grip that not once during ownership did I ever induce the tires to squeal, though perhaps that’s more commentary on me not having the requisite skills than anything.  

You haven’t experienced the joy of manual transmission until you’ve owned a car where the shifter is directly connected to the gearbox via rods, instead of the more common cable linkage. It’s been said the Aisin six-speed in the STI is one of the best manual gearboxes on the market, and after having one of my own to row, I can say those anecdotes are absolutely true. The STI has precise shifting action, excellent feel, accurately defined gates, and a sense of mechanical perfection that begs you to downshift just so you can upshift again. The gearbox never complained with jarring crunches or harsh metal-on-metal disagreement; it remained as slick as ever, no matter the countless high-RPM downshifts I threw at it.

I adore the feel and precision of a rod-actuated transmission so much that my car to follow the STI will also feature the same mechanical wondrousness.

Put all together, the STI is one of the best point-A to point-B sports cars for the money, the proverbial one car to do it all. So why on earth, you’d think, did I sell it? It’s simple, really: as a car enthusiast, my goal is to sample as much as possible the full spectrum of the automotive landscape. I’ve had the privilege to own an all-wheel drive turbocharged rally car facsimile, and previously, a front-wheel drive family sedan. It’s time to have a go at the rear-wheel drive experience, which is why the STI got sold a few weeks back.

Of course, that car was not without its faults. The STI may merely costs around the mid 30 thousands mark, but its supercar-rivaling performance equates to maintenance and upkeep costs that are also akin to sports cars many times its price. Equipped with a massively complicated all-wheel drive system and a turbocharged EJ257 motor renowned for its fickleness, keeping the STI on the road in top condition was an exercise in great damage to the wallet. Simple service costs $160 at the dealership, and major service is upwards of $700. Because the numerous amounts of horror stories with engines eating its piston rings and motor oil magically disappearing, I didn’t dare risk not following the prescribed maintenance schedules to the dot - an eye-wateringly expensive endeavor.  

Due to having aerodynamic properties of a brick-wall with smaller brick-walls appended on, the STI struggles to leave the mid-teens miles per gallon even if you were to put an egg under the gas pedal and your aim was to not break it. Automotive technology has gone far enough ahead where cars with considerable more horsepower can achieve significantly better fuel mileage. While no one should purchase these sorts of cars whilst paying mind to economy figures, I would be lying if I said I didn’t die a bit every time I visited a petrol station.

A car that’s so expensive to run forces you to find excuse not to drive it often, which is completely antithetical to what sports cars – and cars in general – are all about: the sheer enjoyment of getting out and driving.

The STI was a tremendous paradigm shift from my first car, with it having almost 200 more horsepower, two additional wheels providing forward momentum, and because of all that additional equipment, some 700 pounds heavier. Having sold the STI and gone back to driving the old Toyota Corolla, I’ve had quite a few astounding epiphanies:

1. Weighing in at around 3,400 pounds, the STI isn’t a porker by today’s standards - a rear-driven BMW M3 weights about the same. Stepping back into a Corolla that tips the scale at a scant 2,700 pounds however made me realize the laws of physics cannot be tamed by sheer mechanical trickery or engine prowess. Even though the Corolla lacks the superior all-wheel traction and quick-ratio steering of the STI, the fact that it’s got 700 fewer pounds to motivate reveals a surprising nimbleness that’s lacking in the Subaru. The STI never did hide its weight well; only through the bullish might of its engine and drivetrain combination did it manage to attain its famed agility and quickness - not unlike a Nissan GT-R. The mass is always there: an omnipresent dulling sensation seemingly tangible until you realize you’ve gone way faster through that corner than thought possible.

It’s a fast car for sure, but there’s no substitute for lightweight. Colin Chapman’s ethos is eternal.  

2. Through owning the STI, I found out that I much prefer atmospheric engines to turbocharged motors. Force-induction, an excellent technology to make massive amounts of power relatively easily, cannot match natural-aspiration for precision and sharpness. The STI’s considerable turbo-lag and power surge once the tach-needle sweeps past 4,000 RPM is indeed manic and giggle-inducing, but I find myself longing more for the crispness and one-to-one relationship between throttle and power that’s characteristic to atmospheric engines. While it may only be a meager NA 1.8-liter four-cylinder in a family sedan, my return to the Corolla immediately turned me towards the camp of enthusiasts whom are fervently against contemporary automobile’s shift to turbocharged engines. In a world where it’s increasingly difficult to find new sports cars with naturally aspiration, I will be amongst the crowd clinging on to them as long as possible.  

3. I don’t know what’s the appropriate amount of power for a street-driven car, but I do know that 305 horsepower in the STI is excessive (start your pitchforks and torches). Only on the brief highway onramps where I’m the lead car can I enjoy putting my foot down flat and winding it out through the first three gears - any gears more than that would land me swiftly in jail. Those scant seconds are absolutely bliss for sure, but the rest of the time I’m mired in the doldrums of infamous San Francisco traffic, unable to access any of the car’s substantial power reserves. Even on mountainous B-roads, opportunity to access the STI’s limits requires a kind bravery and recklessness that I’m far too reluctant to attempt. 305 horsepower isn’t a whole lot when you consider cars with 400-500hp can be bought for around $50,000. How owners of those cars have any fun whilst driving outside the confines of a racetrack is beyond me.

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Three years with the STI was a necessary tick on my list of automotive experiences. I found out exactly what sport sedans with appropriate amounts of turbocharged power, excellent steering, bulletproof manual gearbox, and sublime all-wheel traction are like to drive. It’s bloody spectacular, and everything I’ve read and expected. Having had a prolonged taste of an STI’s prowess, for its successor as my next car to be, I’ve decided to scale it back. Occupying soon the same parking space with is a car that’s only got 158 horsepower out of an atmospheric 2.0-liter inline-four. Power to the tarmac will be delivered via the rear two wheels. Most importantly, the new car will be some 1,000 pounds lighter. I’ll reveal and write about that car in a future post.  

In the meantime, I can’t say I’ve really missed the STI since selling it a few weeks ago. It took a few moments for me to cease giving the ‘Subaru wave’ to other STI drivers on the road when I encounter them (massively awkward with me driving the Corolla), but absent was any tinge of remorse or jealousy. I guess I’m just not the type of car enthusiast that hangs on to their cars forever, or would hugely regret a sale afterwards. There’s a new car to look forward to! And that’s a vastly more exciting prospect than wasting time lamenting the absence of a car.  

Farewell, Stella.  

Don't you wait no more - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. So the great Volkswagen automotive empire is in grave trouble after the EPA found its four-cylinder diesel products to have cheated the emission regulations. In what can only be described as a deception of the most wonton, it’s near unimaginable that a company of VW’s stature (currently the largest automobile manufacturer on the planet) needed to hide special software in its diesel cars to pass stringent pollution standards. Over half a million vehicles in the United States alone, and magnitudes more in Europe; surely they’ve got the engineering might to avoid such silliness?

We learned today that VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn has resigned (at the same time somewhere, Ferdinand Piech lit up a cigar), though in statement he claims he was personally unaware of any wrongdoing (sure…). It’ll be interesting to see just who within the company will indeed be thrown to the proverbial wolves, though a scandal of this scale (the company has set aside over 7 billion dollars to cover potential fines, fixes, and lawsuits) most certainly isn’t the act of one person.

German news sources have indicated that Volkswagen may not be the lone manufacturer to have cheated the emission systems, and if that’s true, the era of diesel engines in passenger cars may well and truly be done. Oil-burning cars have proliferated in Europe (and in America to a much smaller extent) with the promise of excellent fuel mileage and low emissions. However, the VW scandal has showed that perhaps diesel engines simply cannot be made clean if large number of automakers has to resort to cheating the tests.

Dirty diesel engines are unacceptable for use when the modern petrol equivalent (not to mention hybrids and pure electric) is vastly more advanced, cleaner, and in the case of hybrids, equally excellent on gas.

Criminal and congressional hearings are pending so the proceedings will get juicier yet. Pass the popcorn, Dr. Piech.

2. It’s barely two weeks old, but I have to say The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is absolutely brilliant. As an avid fan of his all through his Colbert Report years, I already had great expectations when it was announced that Stephen Colbert would replace the legendary David Letterman on the Late Show desk. I’ve watched every episode thus far, and those expectations have very much been met.

It’s great to see elements of Colbert Report carryover to the Late Show, likely bolstered by the fact we are deep amongst presidential primary season. Stephen forgoes the typical lengthy opening monologue that’s signature to late night talk shows. Instead, he says a few jokes, then transitions quickly to the desk and spends a few segments discussing current event, with graphic overlays on the screen. Fans of the Report will immediately recognize the similarity. It’s no surprise: the writing and production team (and Colbert himself!) is largely the same people transplanted from the old program to the new. I sincerely hope Colbert continues what is indeed his signature; leave all the goofs and role-play shenanigans to Fallon and Conan.

Colbert has shown to be an excellent interviewer as well, which should be of no surprise yet somehow it was still a bit of a shock to me. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that the interviews he has done the past decade, Colbert did it in his conservative political pundit character. Now that he has ask questions of celebrities and dignitaries as his true self, it’s definitely weird to see at first, but Colbert is indeed a natural. His command of the floor, the interviewee, and the audience is impeccable.

3. During the Labor Day holiday weekend, I made a trip to visit my friend in Dallas, Texas (thanks, Southwest, for the cheap flight). It turned out to be a massive mistake to choose that particular weekend, because it was absolutely boiling hot (the weekend after was some 15 degrees cooler). A person from San Francisco like me simply isn’t cut out for constant 100 degrees weather. The worst part is it never cools down; incredulous I was to come out of a movie theatre at two in the morning and the outside temperature was still a healthy 96 F. Shouldn’t it cool down more than that once the sun has disappeared from the horizon? Astrophysicists have got some explanation to do.

Okay, the heat wasn’t so bad really, partly because anywhere I went that’s indoors, there’s that lovely manmade invention called air conditioning. I think the reason San Franciscans can’t tolerate hot weather is because almost none of us have air conditioning, so when its hot, its hot everywhere - inside or out. That said, due to complications from climate change and the ongoing drought, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more and more Bay Area folks install AC in their homes. I certainly pine for a unit during these few weeks of Indian summer.

Anyways, the places and people of the Dallas area were lovely indeed. Once you get over (or used to) how incredibly hot it is, I can definitely see living there being a viability. One thing for sure that will keep me from doing so is how incredibly flat the area is. There’s no elevation or mountains in any direction the eyes can see. As someone who’s grown up on the coast with mountains everywhere, it was a bit disconcerting and disorientating. I literally could not have told you where north was. I wouldn’t dare look to the sun for direction because I would’ve burned to a crisp.

Of all the cities I’ve been to this year, nothing has yet to beat the sublime of Seattle. I may have to go back sooner than I thought.

4. After two years with my beloved iPhone 5S, I will bid adieu to it this Friday when I pick up the new iPhone 6S Plus. Long have I suffered from the constraints of a four-inch screen, so it’s quite exciting to go from that to a positively gargantuan (for a phone) 5.5-inch of the 6S Plus. Certainly won’t be able to put it in my pants pocket, that’s for sure (I’m patiently waiting for the fashion word to leave behind the skinny jean and embrace once more the baggy-style pants).

As a hobbyist photographer, more so than screen real estate I’m most anticipating the vastly improved camera (compared to the 5S). They say the best camera is the one you’ve got with you, and like most people I always carry my phone. Nobody does mobile camera quite like Apple: the quality and ease-of-use is unmatched. The 6S Plus has finally pushed the iPhone pass the 10MP threshold (12MP), which means I can now comfortably use it in place of my micro-four-thirds Sony NEX without worrying about pixel count (yes, I’m a pixel whore).

With Apple’s new upgrade program introduced for the iPhone 6S line, my soon-to-be 6S Plus will be carrier agnostic, which will make it massively easy to travel out of the country: all I’ll have to do is purchase a local sim-card and plug it in. AppleCare is included in the price so I’ll be covered if I ever feel impelled to angrily throw my phone in disgust or run the device over with my car.

5. Lots of discussion going round about who will succeed Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, even though Craig is signed for one more film after Spectre. Idris Elba seems to have received the most mention, while I’ve read recently that Tom Hardy might also be a candidate. Personally I would be fine with either of those two; both would bring a much-needed “bad-boy” edge to the role, in contrast to the clean-cut image of Daniel Craig and his predecessor Pierce Brosnan. I don’t think anybody will do “disdain for the suit” quite like Tom Hardy.

To me, Daniel Craig is the second best Bond only to the great Sean Connery. Craig’s slew of Bond films has put a more humanized spin to the spy, one that was previously made to look invincible by the likes of Brosnan (credit to the writers and producers as well, obviously). The same sort of connection to realism is what made Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy so endearing (and some of my favorite films).

6. Given the option to pick between rice or noodles as staple food for the rest of my life, I would pick noodles in a heartbeat. I may have grown up eating rice everyday, but as an independent adult, I’ve found I desire the taste of noodles that much more. Whether it is ramen, pho, or chow-fun: I would happily pick those options over rice any day.

Except for spaghetti. I’m just not a fan of Italian noodles.

7. Apple is often not the first to market with a particular technology (people like to think iPhone as the first smartphone, but it most certainly wasn’t), but when it does release a product, the company usually nails it like no other. Look at the newly introduced iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil for example: it’s an absolute game-changer for digital creatives that draw. Other companies have produced large tablets and styluses before, but none on paper has combined hardware and software so beautifully like Apple did with the iPad Pro.

The key, is the Apple Pencil. We knew from previous iPad products that Apple would have no issues engineering a proper slate of glass, and the iPad Pro looks very much to continue that excellence. Clearly, Apple has given thought to just what consumers can do with all that extra tablet real estate. The Apple Pencil and the iPad Pro represent (on specs at least) the complete digitization of the drawing fundamentals. How the basic pencil interacts with the paper surface, the nuances of force, and the angle of attack - the Apple Pencil offers the closest digital facsimile. If I like to draw or am otherwise proficient at it in the slightest, the iPad Pro would be top on my Christmas wish list.

The Wacom is obsolete now.

8. Lost amidst the diesel emission scandal is the strong rumor that the Volkswagen Group will takeover the Red Bull Racing Formula One team, with the Audi marque as the team name, and Red Bull staying on as the title sponsor. It’s a delicious rumor indeed, especially for fans like me that want more major manufacturers participating in the sport. Audi has utterly dominated Le Mans the past decade so they’ve got nothing more to prove in that arena; F1 is the logical next challenge.  

Prospects of the much-missed (by me, if not others) Stefano Domenicali being back in the paddock are also welcomed. Let’s hope Audi engineers can conjure up a better power-unit than the wretched job Honda and Renault has done thus far.

With the enormous scandal looming over the Volkswagen, chances are good the rumors of the takeover will stay just that. I don’t think the governing board will approve of such frivolous spending (as the saying goes, to amass a small fortune in motor racing, one must start with a bigger fortune) whilst it’s staring down a multi-billion dollar hole.

The timing really sucks.

9. I was reading about a shortage of teachers in the San Francisco public school district due to the high housing cost and the average teachers salary not coming anywhere close to being able to afford it. It’s satisfying to see these societal consequences of the tech-boom and subsequent real estate bubble finally manifest, because hopefully then the local politicians will take notice and finally do something to alleviate the glaring cost issues that plague San Francisco.

As a product of the same public school system, the service is immensely essential, and not having enough teachers is a serious matter that will affect the next generation of kids. Not everyone in San Francisco is wealthy enough to send their kids to private school, and even if San Francisco does become the Manhattan of the West (it’s fast getting there), there aren’t enough nor can the city build enough private schools to accommodate all the rich persons’ kids.

San Francisco needs to massively increase its new housing construction to bring balance to the market so the middle class can afford to live in it. Otherwise, public services like schools and parks will only continue to deteriorate.

10. Rest in peace to Yogi Berra, one of the most enigmatic (his many quotes are famous and they are baffling) yet beloved sports figures of our time. 90 years is a long life lived indeed, and I’d be so lucky to live as long and fulfilling an existence as he did. He was a hero of the Second World War as well; Yogi’s life is definitely one worthy of great celebration.

Matilda - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who continues to refuse issuing marriage licenses to gay couples - even with a Supreme Court mandate to do so, is really a laugh. How can someone who’s been divorced three times and married four times (including the whole mess of having the third husband’s twins while still married to the first husband, and the pair eventually getting adopted by the second husband) can possibly have any leg to stand on when it comes to the vaunted “sanctity of marriage”, is way beyond my levels of comprehension.

If we are to strictly interpret the Bible - as southern Christians are wont to do in regards to gay marriage, though curiously not when it comes to shellfish eating - Kim Davis has committed the act of adultery three times over! I don’t think issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples will condemn her to God’s consternation and a ticket to Hell; this harlot is already there.

2. The legendary broadcaster Vin Scully will be back for the 2016 MLB season, and us baseball fans are all the better for it. It will be an immensely sad day indeed when he does hang up the microphone, though I think the baseball world seems to shun away Scully’s mortality deep inside a locked closet, even as he creeps ever close towards 90 years lived. Don’t dwell over it; live it one season at a time. Enjoy the great orator’s voice and wonderful stories as long as it’s still here.

3. As seen in the tragic death of the Texas Sheriff getting gunned down while refueling at a gas station, a good guy with a gun can’t stop a bad guy with a gun (as NRA vice president Wayne LaPierre so famously state to the contrary a few years ago). The time for universal and comprehensive background checks for gun ownership is way overdue. A person with an unstable mental state shouldn’t be able to just walk into a gun show and purchase a weapon without any obstacles whatsoever.

What am I saying? The gun debate is already a lost cause. If dozens of elementary school children getting massacred on campus grounds did nothing to change the status quo, absolutely nothing will. Well, that’s not true: you’ll see new gun laws enacted real quick if a bunch of minorities started open-carrying guns in States that are legal to do so. There will be no fear in the hearts of the White establishment quite like seeing a bunch of Black guys walking around in public carrying AR15s - even when it’s perfectly legal to do so. But, if a Black man can’t traverse a Walmart whilst holding a toy gun without getting shot down by police, a group of them exercising their open-carry rights will most certainly not end well.

America doesn’t get to call itself exceptional as long as gun deaths each year dwarf all other developed nations.

4. If I woke up tomorrow without any of the obligations and restrictions of today, I would jump in my car and go on a perpetual road-trip to see the world, taking photographs and writing about it along the way. It may appear to be fantasy world, but even with the societal pressures of being an able adult (read: being gainfully employed), my free time preoccupied with traveling to places, practicing my photographic hobby, and writing on my blog.

Because when you ask yourself the “what if I work up tomorrow…” question, you’ll find innately what you want to do with your life. What happens next is the magical part: you simply go and do it.

5. It’s always funny to me to see San Franciscans complain about upper-70s as “hot weather”, even though I too live in the city. When had we gone so soft? Perhaps it’s the high real estate price round here that somehow makes us feel entitled to the constant mild mid-60s that was so promised in the brochure (bring a jacket!). New flash, San Franciscans: upper-70s and low-80s isn’t remotely what’s considered as hot (and not shorts weather, either). The rest of California laughs at our childish tantrum whenever the mercury crosses the 70 marker.    

6. If you haven’t please read Wright Thompson’s long-form piece commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans as it relates to sports, please do so right now. It’s fantastically written, and the stories within give you a slight glimpse of what life has been like in the Crescent City since the natural disaster.

7. It’s the year 2015, and yet Microsoft Word still isn’t smart enough to provide you with a sample revision when its grammar check finds that sentence of yours to be fragmented. How long has the venerable word processor been in circulation? We’ve got massive amounts of power and information in the palm our hands, and yet Word is still as archaic as that versions I used back in middle school. It's incredibly frustrating when an error is found, but Word doesn’t provide a suitable solution. What on earth am I using it for if it’s not capable of correcting my mistakes? I paid good money for Office! Okay, that’s a lie; I receive a hefty employee discount on campus.

8. It’s surprising how as people my age at the twilight of our 20s are still infatuated with the annual MTV Video Music Awards. To steal a line from the eminent John Oliver, how is that still a thing? I’ve cut cable television a long time ago, but I fairly sure MTV has ceased to play music videos on its channel completely (ah, those TRL days were simpler times indeed). Why, then, does it still host an award show dedicated to them? I’ve sort of answered my own question, haven’t I: people my age, and presumably people younger than us, still care.

Advertising capital rules the world, if you haven’t noticed.

9. Seeing one of my friends shopping for a car and another shopping for an apartment to rent makes me glad that I am doing neither of those things. Granted, I’ve only ever done the former, and it was a painless process as I essentially did the transaction over email. The first time I set foot in the actually dealership was to pick up the car. I expect apartment hunting to be a much more involved and stressful process, though I guess that’s why real estate agents exist (they actually help, unlike a dealership salesperson).

Of course, the worse time to shop for an automobile or a flat is when you’re in desperate need of one. Sellers can smell it like blood in water to a shark.

10. I hope the racist Jeb Bush develops an allergy to oxygen, what with his ridiculous comment about anchor babies and it being mostly prevalent in Asian immigrant communities. 

Don't be shy - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. Lots of false outrage going round over the University of Alabama’s Alpha Phi sorority recruitment video. Are people really pretending that sorority life isn’t exactly as it is depicted in the video? The University can’t actually be surprised that its campus Greek organizations are hugely segregated and homogenous. Ask most Americans what is their first image to mind when mentioned of Sororities, and I bet that picture is exactly as depicted in that Alpha Phi video. The only outrage should be towards the people who are in denial to the realities of Greek life.

2. I’m glad Fat Jew, a thief profiting off the works of others and none of his own, is finally getting his moment of scorn by the mainstream media. Good-bye, book deal. Farewell, Comedy Central Show. In today’s Internet landscape where content is absolutely everything, stealing the genuine work of other creators for your own gain is a cardinal sin. Josh Ostrovsky ought to just disappear and never come back.

However, let’s not kid ourselves: the issue of content thievery is much bigger than Fat Jew. Tumblr and Instagram alone are rife with accounts that do nothing but re-blog or straight up steal – accounts with immense following, at that. These swindlers make money off the backs of real content creators by selling ad space to companies eager to reach a vast and young audience, without a care for authenticity or originality, or by hawking their own merchandise.

The public prosecution of Fat Jew isn’t at all likely to change that status quo. Unfortunately, it’s up to artists and creatives to be vigilant about the work ending up elsewhere when it shouldn’t be, and to confront the thieves publicly when it does occur.

3. John Oliver’s establishment of Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption church just might be his biggest coup yet. In an attempt to point out the glaring exploitation and hypocrisy of evangelical churches and the IRS, Oliver set up his own place of worship to show just how easy - and legal – it is to cheat people out of their hard-earned money. 

The fact that all proceeds from the exercise will go to the Doctors Without Borders, one of the most impeccable humanitarian organizations in existence, is simply the best. If you got a few dollars to spare, I urge you to donate to Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption; it’s the proverbial killing of two birds (laughing at the IRS and contributing towards MSF) with one stone.

4. It’s been a horrible year for motorsport. Barely off the mourning period for Jules Bianchi, it’s devastating to lose Justin Wilson this past weekend. What’s most troubling and disappointing is that both incidents could’ve been very much prevented. I’ve been an avid fan of open-cockpit racing cars for the longest time (still follow Formula One religiously), but with the speeds reached with these modern cars, and the circumstances of Bianchi and Wilson’s death, the time has come to enact some form of head protection (beyond the lone helmet) for open-cockpit cars. 
I believe cockpit protection will happen within the next few years in all Grand Prix series, though it’s a continuing shame that lives need to be lost for motorsport to improve upon safety. Yes, it’s a dangerous sport, but the strive for better safety should be constant and proactive, rather than reactionary.

Justin Wilson donated six of his organs to save their respective recipients from meeting his same fate; a gentleman racer of the highest order indeed, right down to the very last moment.

5. I’m happy to support artists and buying their prints, but no way am I spending hundreds of a mere frame. Wasting money on such appendages is the domain of the one-percent, which I am most definitely not a part of. However, works of art - even the casual photograph or poster - should never go unframed. I simply purchase the cheapest poster frame on Amazon approximate to size and it’ll suffice very nicely.

6. I don't have much sympathy for people that leave expensive items in their car, and then subsequently it get broken into and the items stolen. I leave absolutely nothing in the car but the necessary documents and a pack of gum. Even a locked glove box or out-of-sight trunk isn’t comfortable enough for me to put anything of value whilst I’m away. For people that grew up in poor neighbors like I did, this is automatic: cars get broken into everyday in “the hood”. I suspect those that are cavalier with leaving their belongings in automobiles grew up in areas where they didn’t have to worry about such woes of society. Must be nice.

7. There was a sizable earthquake in the early morning hours a week back, and I slept through the brief entirety of it. This is not a good. Living in San Francisco, the BIG tremor is all but inevitability. I sincerely hope when it does arrive, it’s during the daytime, cause I’m going to be in a bad situation if it were to occur during slumber hours.

I don’t think it’s safe for me to live alone. I need someone more alert and aware than I to wake me to the danger.

8. Sesame Street has moved from PBS to HBO, so the first question should be: who’s going to get killed off?

9. If you’re the proverbial car-guy or petrol-head, the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca has got to be on your list. What a spectacular event! It’s chocked full of vintage racing cars in a full-access paddock, allowing you to be as close to these wondrous machines as you’d ever imagined. And the noise; a cacophony of mechanical whine, chatter, and screams can be heard all day long. You’ll need earplugs, but you won’t want them because the sound is that intoxicating.

And to see these priceless cars (A 250 GTO worth $25 million, as an example) on a race track, with their respective owners giving them the full beans, is just about the epitome of car enthusiasm. I will be back, if not next year.

10. Extremely happy and excited that this year’s Playstation Experience will be held in my very own city of San Francisco. It was in Vegas the previous year, and I had planned a trip this year thinking it would be back at the same venue. The switch to Moscone West convention center saves me the hassle and money of traveling, which is just lovely. I’m most anticipating towards more news of the forthcoming Final Fantasy VII remake come the event in early December.