“A” is for Albert.

So my friends know very well my phobia about eating at restaurants that aren’t graded an “A” – it’s been well documented, made fun of and publicly announced many a times. My buddy Arling sent me these shots from Beijing. He ate at a Yakitori place last night that he said “Totally reminded me of you…” LOL – see below.

front_ent
Front entrance – slightly suspect, no grade on the door…LOL.

menu
Pretty sure this is the menu…hmmm…

ordering
This is the “takeout” door…wow.

dining_room
This is the dining area…note the heater and the wonderful wainscoting (google that if you don’t know what it is)

kitch2
Behind these curtains is where the magic happens…GULP.

kitchen
Hmm…not quite the grill I expected….what’s that in the corner?

meat_storage
Oh! it’s the “Meat Storage” – Arling made a particular note on this one…BLECH!

food3
The food itself actually looks good – suspect, but good.

ugh
Hmm…what’s this>!?!?! Oh, of course he took a pic of the crevices and lack of trash cans…thanks Arling!! BLAEHCHCH!~!!!!

whoa
I have no idea what this is, but it’s grossing me out …Hit me up if anyone figures out what this is. LOL.

I hate to say it, but either I’m getting more lenient or just getting old because the food actually looked good. If you served me that food on a plate and I didn’t see the restaurant, I would’ve thought it was from Shinsengumi. LOL.

Have a safe trip back AW. Thanks for the pics…I’m gonna go wash my hands now.

Collections.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been around, sat shotgun, and even personally driven some of the most insane cars out in the past 9 years. I’m definitely jaded, lucky to have a great bunch of friends, family and acquaintances that have some incredible vehicles. Because of this, I guess I don’t get as impressed as the next guy when I come across some solid collections (short of the pic taken of me back in 2003 where I’m screaming like a girl in a garage that included an Enzo, F50, F40 and some “others”)

This past week I began putting together a shot list for a feature that I’m assisting Heavy Hitters with. I had a friend that seemed to be a good fit for a feature and I love what John and the boyz at HH are doing with the mag.  As I scouted the location and spoke with the owner, we both started laughing as we had both “forgotten” that he had a Carrera GT…good problem to have right? LOL. This IMO is one of the most solid collections that has been featured in HH and the owner even asked me “Are you sure I’ve got enough to be in HH?” – wow. I don’t want to spill the beans too much, but let’s just say the pic below has the most mellow cars in his collection LOL. Yes, I don’t get impressed much, but you have to take a second look when the shot list has 6 of the most influential cars of the past 10 years.

hh_f2

MHT down with OPP?

Coincidence? I might be trippin, but I have to throw it out there. Back in November I was approached by MHT Wheels to possibly shoot some vehicles for them. They were looking to create ads and they wanted someone local that could turnaround shots fairly fast that had a solid portfolio. I submitted 3 demo shots, met with them, even advised them on why certain shots they wanted wouldn’t work well with their wheels…we verbally agreed upon one “test shoot” to be paid and go from there. The test shoot never took place, I followed up a few times but it seemed as if the project had been left for dead, no big deal as it happens in business sometimes…

Yesterday I’m browsing the local Barnes & Noble and run across this in European Car mag…

mht_ad
Well waddaya know? They actually did do an ad…hmmm, it reminds me of something similar:

mht_demo
One of 3 demos I sent over to MHT! Except of course their picture sucks donkey balls a bit more…

I actually took time to edit an older pic and show that some of what they were looking for could be added in post…HDR style touches (click for the high res)LOL.!!

The irony of this is that I don’t even “do” automotive photography anymore…it’s a passion for me, I pick and choose my gigs – have the ability to turn down what I think is wack and move on. If I shoot something, it’s because I want to.  So am I bummed over this, not at all –  it happens all the time I’m sure. Just a little too coincidental for me not to say anything…
BTW, MHT produces the wheels for ADV.1

Duc Duc…

goose! Sick Single Speed Ducati roadbike that I’ve caught at C&C a few times – nice detail, down to the bronze Brembo 🙂 Too bad he couldn’t rock the matching marchesini wheels 🙂

duc

duc2

duc3

duc4

ASI 430 / ADV.1 @ Cars & Coffee

Saw this car @ Sema in the Eneos booth back in Nov- mean looking 430 wrapped flat back with the ASI kit, rear exhaust modded to look like a Scuderia. Nice setup, showed up today @ C&C. Car has the “Advance 1 / ADV.1” wheels – lightweight 1 piece…just a heads up, they’re manufactured by MHT 🙂

asi_430_cc3

asi_430cc

asi_430_cc2