Monday, June 16, 2008

2008 Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance

I've wanted to attend the annual Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance the past several years since it is so close to home but it always falls on Father's Day and I usually have family commitments. Well, this year our family decided to celebrate on Saturday so Sunday was left free and I decided to have a look. The Rodeo Drive show is rather small by concours standards and took up roughly the two blocks between Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards. However, the quality as you might expect from this show was very high. I had a nice time strolling amongst some really high quality automotive beauties and also had time to chat with the folks at Ferrari/Maserati Beverly Hills and with classic car specialists at Gooding and Co.

Ok, here are some pictures to give you a flavor of the event:

At the north entrance of the show

60's Vintage Cobra Daytona Coupe. Just lovely!


Ferrari and Pininfarina. Classic combination!


60's Ferrari 250 GTO. 'nuff said.

50's Mercedes Gullwing 300 SL... another timeless beauty



Classics sit right next to modern Audi R8


Hanging out with the good folks at Ferrari/Maserati Beverly Hills and talking about... cars 'natch! How could you not when flanked by a Ferrari 599 and a Maserati Granturismo?

Still talking cars...



...and more car talk with the Gooding and Co. representatives about the magnificent yellow 1914 Stutz Grand Prix racer.

What car show would be complete in Beverly Hills without at least one uber-expensive and uber-exclusive Bugatti Veyron????

The Rodeo Drive show was actually quite relaxed. Sure, there were a lot of "beautiful" people hanging out as well but the cars were definitely the stars. Maybe I should bring my Ducati MH900e to the motorcycle corral next year. Hmmm... we'll see!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Karmina's Debut Album Is Now Available


Ok, I know this is a bit off-topic on my site but I just had to post about my friends' new album that debuted yesterday. Kelly and Kamille Rudisill make up Karmina and both are supremely talented musicians/writers/singers. I've watched their careers blossom over the past couple of years and I am delighted that CBS Records has released their first album "Backwards Into Beauty" nationwide in the USA. Have a listen over at http://www.karmina.com/ or check out Amazon.com.

I also had the privilege to be on-set for part of the video shoot for "The Kiss", the first released single from the album. For those of you with a keen eye and know me well do you recognize someone in the video? Here it is:



Finally, here is a clip from CBS television's "The Early Show" that provides a short interview with Kelly and Kamille followed by a live in-studio performance.

Monday, June 2, 2008

News Flash! JCW MCS Takes a 1st Place Prize at Huntington Beach, California Concours d'Elegance on 1 June 2008!

On the lawn


Waiting for the judges

Nervous time... Judges at work!

Keith (Concours Class Winner) on the left and I (Street Class Winner and Mr. Jet Lag) congratulated by famed MINI Hot Rod and Hollywood Vehicle Builder Fireball Tim


Parade of winners. Good company! Notice Keith's 2005 MINI Cooper S JCW/Alta right behind me.


Getting ready to take the spotlight and receive my trophy!


The 2008 Huntington Beach Concours d'Elegance 1st Place Glass Trophy


Ok, I knew it was going to be tough to get to the Huntington Beach Concours d'Elegance Car Show this year. I've missed it in the past because of the need to travel for business but the event has become a fairly regular show to attend and/or show a vehicle for me. I sent in my registration and fee just in-case I still wanted to attend even though it was just a day after my return from Europe. I knew that I'd be in no shape whatsoever to self-detail my MINI as I usually do for these types of events, so I contacted my friend Bill Debever at Transhine in Whittier, California (http://www.transhine.com/) while in Europe to see if he could take my car in on Saturday and detail it for Sunday's show. The car was already in need of a good detail (I detailed it last November upon the car's return from Europe) and Bill was going to have a stand at the show as well. The crew did an excellent job and suffice it to say the detail helped me garner a 1st place trophy and a bucket of detailing supplies for Best Modern MINI Cooper S in the "Street" (vehicle regulary driven) class. I showed JCW MCS at the HB show in 2005 in the "Concours" class and managed a third place trophy. Many miles and kilometers later it is satisfying to achieve a 1st place trophy. Bleary-eyed and jet-lagged I drove JCW MCS up to the stand to take the prize. It was worth the extra effort this year. Definitely!





Charley Boorman's bike from his and Ewan McGregor's latest motorcycle adventure. Love those guys!



Mid-1970's vintage bevel drive, square case, Conti exhaust, Ducati 750 Supersport. Bellissima!



For more info on the Huntington Beach Concours d'Elegance go to: http://www.hbconcours.org/. It usually takes a few weeks before the full winners list is posted.

Video Impressions from Europe, May 2008

Here is a video that highlights just a few of the week's many events.

Vienna, Austria and Riva del Garda, Italy... and a review of the Skoda Roomster


Stunning Alpine Scenery


On the road in Bavaria

Not all of the trip was about sobering 20th century history. We did spend a pleasant couple of days in Salzburg in the beautiful Salzkammergut area of Austria. I almost consider this part of Europe to be a second home (in addition to the Netherlands) as each time I return I grow more fond of the area. The culture and natural beauty is simply spectacular. After the all too brief stay in Salzburg it was on to Vienna for my biannual law school international reunion. An event I always look forward to, this year's reunion was quite simply the best yet. Good friends and accomplished professionals in their home countries, it is always a pleasure to meet and network and enjoy an interesting European city. We had a great time enjoying the Viennese nightlife. Two of the hip clubs we went to: Bar Italia and The White Line. Bar Italia had a nice lounge feel and the White Line had pretty people and great dance vibes. Check out Bar Italia and click on the video link to get an impression of this fashionable lounge.



Welcoming new Austrian graduates into the extended law school family at the opening dinner at the Vienna Radisson Hotel


Bar Italia, central Vienna after the reception/graduation dinner. The middle point of a very long night!


The party continues back at the hotel as the sun rises... almost time for breakfast!


Reception later in the day (after very little sleep!) at a Viennese law firm overlooking the Danube River and the city of Vienna

At the law firm reception

Entrance of a Viennese Heurigen (vineyard), site of the second evening's dinner and wine tasting. Turned out to be the first stop and then it was on to the nightclubs of Vienna... and another morning watching the sun rise before calling it quits! Don't believe anyone who says that attorneys don't know how to party!

From Vienna it was time to head across Austria to the Dolomites of Northern Italy and Riva del Garda for a business conference. Instead of driving the quicker route back west to Salzburg and over the Brenner Pass into Italy, I decided to travel south on the A2 via Graz (my home state of California Governor Schwarzenegger's hometown), Klagenfurt, Villach, and over the border to Udine, Verona and on to Riva del Garda. The drive was beautiful, especially near Villach and the Slovenian border. Northeast Italy is very industrial especially the region surrounding Venice and the traffic on the roads reflected this. Lots of freight on the move! After the hard weekend of VERY late nights in Vienna I needed to take a couple of breaks to get some seriously needed rest on the approximately 8 hour drive.



Beautiful scenery on the way to Italy

On the shores of Lake Garda in Northern Italy. Spectacular location to do business!

Business discussion at Riva del Garda


Several days of serious business talks followed in the supremely beautiful setting of Garda lake in the Trentino area of the Dolomites Mountains. Then it was back up through the Brenner Pass and Innsbruck Austria and then on to Munich for the return home.

Skoda Update:


So how did the Skoda fare over the 10 days of travel? I was pretty unimpressed during my initial encounter with the car. Rubbery shift feeling, long throws and a long reach to the shifter, a lack of steering feel, a top heavy feeling, all of the foregoing did not bode well for the Roomster. However, the 1.9 liter twin turbo diesel proved to be a fairly peppy motor and allowed me to pass a fair amount of traffic with gusto. I adjusted to the steering and though not a precision tool, enough feel exists to give confidence within the car's performance limits. The small tires and top heavy feel made me refrain from making quick maneuvers in favor of smooth inputs, especially at speed. The center armrest was a pain when in the down position since my elbow would always hit when I wanted to shift.

I attained approximately 180 kmh (111 mph) at about 4000 rpms (max approx 4500 rpm) on a derestricted portion of the German autobahn. Pretty good for a fairly high profile vehicle. Sure, I had to move over quickly for the true performance vehicles but torque and decent speed allowed for fairly easy overtaking.

Final verdict: After well over a one-thousand miles behind the wheel I found the Skoda Roomster to be a competent vehicle with decent space for luggage, roomy rear seats given the vehicle's size with good visibility and lots of glass, good fit and finish with quality VW feel, awkward styling, decent power, smoothness, and good fuel economy with highest spec diesel motor. Definitely not an enthusiast car, but it is a competent European travel companion.

Final Note

Before I sign off on this post I have to thank Jennifer for taking most of the photos and video. She joined me on this trip and also reconnected with several of my friends she got to know back in my post-grad study days and also helped with the business conference. Without her camera I'd have a lot less to post about!