Walking on the clouds

Walking on the clouds, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

Won't be many posts this week as I'm trying to get away from the online world for most of the week, but just uploaded the photos from our trip up Mount Evans at the weekend and there were some good ones in there.

If you've never been up there, it's around 14,200 feet above sea level, so you do actually feel like you're walking around in the middle of the clouds (as well as completely out of breath). You drive pretty much to the top, and then there's a bit of a hike up another 100 yards or so to get to the real top. I imagine later in July, this is relatively easy, but with snow on the ground, and me in my Vans, it wasn't the easiest stroll I've ever done.

Everyone enjoyed it, and Dad got to chase a wild animal up the side of the mountain. I was a bit worried he'd been chased off, but he turned up 10 minutes later with a big smile and some great close-ups.

There are plenty more photos on Flickr if you want to check them out.

One Day......

IMG_4100, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

I might own one of these. I've been dreaming about it since I was about 15 (but then again, there's the Ferrari and Porsche that also fall onto that list - these are slightly more affordable though..).

Anyway, I was lucky enough to see one up close and personal at the recent car show. Although it didn't get as much attention as the Enzo in the post below, it might be the closest car there in terms of speed around a tight track....

Real or Fake? Schumacher 'revealed' as the Stig

Not 100% convinced, but definitely got everyone talking about the new series of Top Gear that started back home yesterday



BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Schumacher 'revealed' as the Stig

Happy Father's Day

Dad's Birthday 016, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

Birthday Pleasures

Enzo Front, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

So apart from getting to stuff my face at possibly the best all you can eat brunch this side of the Rocky Mountains, I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours at a local car show as well.

I think most of the local clubs were represented, but the highlight of the day was the Ferrari Enzo shown above. It's the closest I've been to a live one, and even was lucky enough to be around when it arrived - hearing it was almost as good as seeing it.

There were plenty more cool cars, and all the photos are up on Flickr if you want to take a look.

Evo vs Focus

Tiff and the Fifth Gear team provide the review

Photographing Cars

It's one of my fave things, and part of the reason is I one day hope to get some shots like the ones included in the Jalopnik link below. Of course, I'd rather be driving, but if that doesn't pan out, I still have an excuse to be there, right?

24 Hours Of Le Mans 2009: Stunning Mega-Gallery

Saab just got harder to spell

There had been rumors, but wasn't sure exactly how this would all work out. I guess someone thinks tying together a bespoke sports car maker (45 people producing 18 cars a year) with what was once a fun and quirky car maker before it got sucked into the GM machine (employing 3400 people) was a good idea. Only time will tell if the Swedes lost their marbles - I have this feeling that it might just work out though...

BBC NEWS | Business | GM agrees Saab sale to Koenigsegg

Baseball Night

P1000407, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

Last night I managed to score some great tickets for the Rockies (against Seattle Mariners) for me and my Dad. We were a little worried about the weather situation, as we've had a week of pretty stormy week, a couple of tornadoes and some very heavy thunder flying over. As it turned out, we got a few spots of rain around 8pm, but nothing too bad, despite all those impressive looking clouds in the photo.

The Rockies are on a bit of a streak after 8 straight wins on the road, and this was their first night back at Coors Field. It all turned out good - a game that had everything (pitcher got a complete game and made some key hits as well), and getting to hang out at a sporting event with my Dad is always good.

Someone asked about cricket in the office yesterday, which reminded me of my first live cricket match, up at the Jesmond ground, just out of Newcastle. My Dad took me there - it was straight after school one night - an exhibition game with an England 11 against the local county team. What stood out was that I was only 15, but the event was sponsored by Strongbow Cider (the alcoholic version for you Americans), so everyone (over 18) got a couple of free cans. My Dad gave me his, and I sneaked an extra one or two from the nice lady giving them out, so this was the first time I was ever a little tipsy in front of the parents. There's been a few times since of course, so he's used to it now....

BBC - Pissing me off today

It hasn't been a good day today (for some many different reasons that you don't even want to go there).

And now I find out the BBC won't even let me choose the UK version of their site now. I have to go through the International version, so seeing the local news and sport on the front news page is no longer an option. And "technically complicated" isn't a reason to piss off all the ex-pats around the world.

The BBC just rose above the Microsoft rebooting my computer while getting coffee this morning in terms of how pissed off I am today (and still got a dentist appointment to come). If you see me today, I'd suggest running unless you've got a million bucks for me (or something comparable). You have been warned.

BBC - The Editors: Changes to international pages

Jump Street

This place is local, so it's just been added onto my list of places I need to go visit

Post-It Perfection

via Grace Happens, comes the best thing I've seen done with Post-It notes yet

Real People doing Real Work

P060709PS-0186, originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream.

Love this shot

Songkick

Here's something to try out - Songkick came out of secret stealthy mode recently, so it's time for everyone to try (but I'm looking at you Mr Stone specifically).

Focused on concert go-ers, you can add photos, videos and set lists from concerts you were at, track artists to make sure you don't miss a concert and even create your own gigography of every concert you've ever been too.

Songkick - Concerts, tour dates, and festivals for your favorite artists

Happy Birthday Dad!!

P1000316.JPG, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

Glad we're finally in the same country to celebrate 8-)

That was some weekend

So we managed to pack a few things in this weekend. Saturday morning we headed up just north of Loveland to a hot rod/custom car show.



We had planned on just an hour or two, but there were fields and fields of pretty amazing cars, so we obviously blew way past the initial time we allocated (and we had to stand in line for about half an hour to get something for lunch). It was worth it though, as there were plenty of top notch cars there.



Then after a quick blast back down I25, and a shower, we grabbed a couple of drinks and headed over to Neil and Lauren's Housewarming Party. It must be the summer for parents, as Neil's Mam and Dad are across as well, so I think that was the highest Geordie concentration in Denver for a while.



There was definitely a lot of bouncy castle action (and some of it not even involving any kids).



We actually managed to stay out until midnight, along with a few other likely suspects, and I think everyone had a blast. I know we did...

Ken Block Gymkhana Two

If you thought the first one was good, just wait for this one. Action really starts about a minute in. This is worth your time......

Deadly Shakers

Life getting a little too boring? Your salt and pepper shakers no longer doing it for you? Here's the solution - just make sure you fill with non-deadly salt and pepper.....

Air Force Cars?

I presume this is all part of a recruitment drive, but the Air Force is building cars now, fully equipped with radar absorbing paint and proximity sensors. This looks like it came straight from the set of Mad Max (and I think I want one).

Red Neck Limo's

Jalopnik has 10 of them for your viewing pleasure. The General Lee was my personal fave, although not sure it will have the same jumping ability as the original....

Worlds Biggest KFC Logo

KFC is known in this house as my other woman - she always moves in (in bucket form) when the wife goes out of town. So, the fact that this could be the largest KFC logo I've ever seen obviously has a special place in my heart.

Bike Control

I normally don't put many bike things on here (they scare the shit out of me to be honest - much prefer 4 wheels when I'm going fast), but this was too good to resist....

Hello Kitty Helmet

What every bike reader dreams of (I imagine). And only 225 Euros....

(via Likecool)

Limo Track Rides Anyone?

IMG_3634.jpg, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

Gareth was very fast for his first day on the track, and his A8 performed admirably. I kept expecting to see Ronin appear from around the corner, but no such luck.

Track Days without the Track

Once you get your car on the track, you're kind of addicted for what I presume to be the rest of your life. Not a week goes by when I don't think about lines around the track, what it feels like to get that super smooth trail brake rotation at the perfect moment, or how to eek out another couple of milliseconds off a lap time.

Given I can't be on the track every day (or week, or even month), something has to fill the void. A few drives in the mountains, and the occasional early morning heel-toe downshift coming in to work help, as does video games. Not just any video games, but car racing games. And this year looks like it's gonna be an epic.

There's two main franchises in the racing world that go more for the realistic approach to driving (than a pure arcade, blast around having fun approach) - Forza and Gran Turismo. Forza 3 and Gran Turismo 5 are both coming out this year, and with this weeks E3 conference, a couple of trailers were released. Check them out below, and see which one you fancy.....

Oh, and my name is Aaron, and I'm a car loving geek.....

Music Company's Suck

So I have an amazing wife who got me Sirius a few years ago as a birthday present, so I get to listen to Radio 1(BBC) on the way into work every morning. It makes me smile (lots). It also highlights (at least for me) how stupid music companies are these days, and how far they've fallen behind the rest of the world in globalization and customer service.

So, for the last two weeks, I've had Calvin Harris's "I'm not alone" song going around in my head. I love it, think it's perfect for the start of the summer, and lets me pretend for a brief minute that I'm in Ibiza, rather than Denver. I obviously wanted to buy it - searched Amazon (US), not there, not on iTunes either, or any of the other places I normally buy music. It's on the UK versions of these sites, but because I didn't log in from the right country, they won't take my money......

Now, I can listen to it 24/7 if I'm at my computer - Hype Machine has 50 million different remixes, and I can even post the official video on this site. But that doesn't help me when I need that extra bit of boost at the gym - I'm not taking a laptop and aircard with me everywhere I go just to hear music - that's overkill even for me.



So what did I end up doing? I called in a favor from my brother, got him to loan me the 79 pence until I can pay him back, he bought it in the UK, and then emailed it to me. How convoluted is that? I'm sure there's some random law that I've broken along the line as well, but I tried to do the right thing. Wouldn't it be easier if you could just buy records you like when you like them?

Techstars making Movies

Techstars 09 has started once again up in Boulder, and I'm sure we'll hear a lot more about the companies involved over the summer. To wet your appetite a little, the first in a series of videos is below, so check it out...

The Founders | TechStars Boulder | Week 1 "The Selected Few" from Andrew on Vimeo.

You are the controller

Welcome to the future, courtesy of the XBox 360. (and thanks to Tonks for showing me this)

Pueblo Track Day

IMG_3534.jpg, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

This past weekend was another BMW Drivers Education Event down at Pueblo, where we get let loose on the track under the watchful eye of some very decent instructors.

After many attempts at persuasion, Mr Ash and Mr Thompson finally agreed to join up with Mr Wallace and myself for the day - I don't think they regretted it.

Luckily my Dad was on hand to wander round for the two days with a camera, and there's plenty of decent shots up on Flickr now if you want to check them out. The one above happens to be my favorite - Mr Wallace finally putting his foot to the floor on the back straight, and entering warp speed.