Safekeeping

Warning: GEEK ALERT

My mission is to get ALL on the stuff I care about OFF my computer.

I am in the process of putting all my MP3s, Photos and Videos (mainly AVI copies of my DVDs) onto Network Storage device (AKA Portable hard drive hooked up to my home network). That way, PC's on my home network(up to 4: [1 decent one,1 semi decent, 2 shitters] in various places now) can access that stuff, which is pretty handy (think: choosing a DVD to watch in bed on the laptop wirelessly, accessing the whole MP3 library wirelessly, sharing some photos on the TV etc etc - all at the same time.)
So that is the media taken care of. What about emails? MS Outlook famously sucks at not easily allowing multiple machines to access a single Outlook account. I decided that online mail WOULD allow multi location (simultaneously if needed)access to a common email account, which is just one reason I have converted the whole Truant house to Gmail.
I have been raving about Gmail for a while and after 18 months or so of using it I am convinced that it's actually safer to keep stuff like emails and documents online as opposed to locally on your own computer. The main advantages for me is now I don't need to worry about backing up my data if/when my PC crashes. Sure, I could run RAID and be more diligent with backing up stuff, but after a while having DVDs of data sitting around isn't exactly ideal either - you could lose it, or it could fall into the wrong hands. Anyway, I digress.
But what about the OLD outlook emails? Wouldn't it be nice to put them on my Gmail so I can really get rid of all that old stored stuff?

After a bit of investigation I found out how to do it. I mean properly, not some half assed 'forwarding' type of solution.

Interesting 9/11 opinion

OK,OK I will try to not let conspiracy theories get too much more mention.....

A friend sent me this link to a youtube clip about a 9/11 theory. It's pretty interesting.


Here is the full 90min Documentary that clip was taken from:

Full length, High Quality 9/11 Mysteries Documentary
It's on Google video, which btw is better that you tube.

I just watched it, and I can't help thinking I wonder how long it will be before this is either blown wide apart, or explained....it's got to be one or the other, surely.

categories: [interests_][internet_][movies/TV_]

Conspiracy Theories

No one likes a good Conspiracy Theory more than I do. In fact, it's best you don't get me started cos it's one of those things I can talk about for hours.

Some of the more common conspiracy theories are the JFK Assasination, the Fake Moon Landing, 9-11 , The Da Vinci code, UFOs, The Iraq war etc, etc.

Ever watched "King of the Hill"? Well, the character Dale Gribble
is always obsessed by conspiracy theories. He's hilarious.

Here is a collection of Dale Gribble quotes from wikiquote:

• "I blame the media-blamers."
• "Hank, It's 3AM and someone invades your home. How are you going to shoot him?"
• (watching as Bill is pecked by dale's pet falcon) "Oh, he came home."
• "I killed eight gophers last year and a purebred Tennesse walking horse that was looking at me funny."
• (throws a knife and hits a mannequin) "Get away from my wife or next time I'll aim for the mannequin and hit you."
• "Boil up some Mountain Dew; it's gonna be a long night." ("Dog Dale Afternoon")
• "I know what's wrong with it. It's a Ford. You know what they say Ford stands for don't ya? 'Fix it again, Tony'." ("Chasing Bobby")
• (on the Hills' answering machine) "You don't know who I am, but I know where you live sex ed teacher and you better cut it out if you know what's good for you. Oh and Hank, we changed that tee off time to three o'clock." ("Square Peg")
• "I'm the albino indian, deal with it."
• "If you want to elect me, Dale Gribble, president of the Gun Club, running on the Save-Your-Sorry-Ass platform, say aye."
• (to Joseph) "You're like E.T., except E.T. was a purebred alien with a heart of gold. You're only half-alien and at times can be a tad self-centered." ("Of Mice and Little Green Men")
• "Hank, you were right! The Cubans have my mower!" ("Dog Dale Afternoon")
• "I've taken two oaths in my life: One to the NRA, and the other to Nancy Hicks Gribble, nee Nancy Hicks. I stood in front of God and all my friends, vowing to be an honorable and truthful man. So I'm not gonna lie to you, I have felt a small, insect-like attraction for you. But my wife is the greatest woman there ever was!"
• "... sounds like helicopters, UN helicopters". ("Pilot")
• "That's code for U.N. commissars telling Americans what temperature it's gonna be in our outdoors. I say, let the world warm up! See what Boutros Boutros-By-Golly thinks about that! We'll grow oranges in Alaska!" ("Pilot")
• "So it turns out I'm not the actual Dale Gribble, but a clone of him. The original Dale Gribble is a super-warrior from the year 2087. The second me, i.e. I, was created to help the first me fight the invading Mongol armies." ("The Incredible Hank")
• "Hey, I know what's wrong with your truck. It's your quote-unquote 'pollution control'. I heard on talk radio you don't even need 'em. They're just an egghead government plot." ("Pilot")
• "Open up your eyes, man! They're trying to control global warming! Get it? GLO-BAL!" ("Pilot")
• "Whoa! Hold on, son! I want you to keep an open mind so you can make an informed decision! If you want, you can read a bloated government report on smoking, or go straight to the horse's mouth and get the facts from the tobacco industry." (he reads the aforementioned tobacco industry-funded report on smoking)
• "Wingo!"
• "Wait a minute. Every time I leave, you call John Redcorn. I know what's going on here. Your headaches are a desperate bid for my attention. But what do I do? I pawn you off on some Indian healer so I can have my Dale time at the gun club, or breeding show turtles, or on the Internet investigating unexplained phenomenona. God, I am so selfish!" ("Nancy's Boys")
• "SHI-SHI-SHAAA!"
• "They wanted to see me wet my pants from fear... but they're too late!" ("Dog Dale Afternoon")
• "Guns don't kill people. The government does!"
• "Gentlemen, the crap has literally been scared out of me."
• (after drinking tainted beer) "Step on it, Bill! I don't know which way it's coming out, but it's coming out!" ("Beer and Loathing")
• (after a trampoline falls on his foot) "Aah! This is a sign that we have been playing God with Buckley's trampoline and now God is playing God with us and He's a whole lot better at it. I refuse to touch this porthole to hell!"
• (trying to open a locked door): "This door seems to be equipped with some sort of anti-opening device."
• (after seeing Willie Nelson knocked out): "Check his pockets for cigarettes." ("Hank's Got The Willies")
• (after having a muffin knocked out of his hands) MY MUFFIN!!!?!?!?!?!
• (after exhaling a puff of smoke) My throat's on fire!
• (after Dale tells his Falcon to retrieve him a vole, and it immediately attacks Bill)"...So Bill's a vole."
• (Seeing Hank come in with a food dish) Whatd'ya got under the foil Mr. Party Pooper, some party poop? ("A Firefighting We Will Go")
• "I'm too pretty to go to jail!!!"
• "S'GO!"
• (after Hank telling him to come down from a clock tower before someone gets hurt) "Too late, I killed Shackleford! No...wait, correction, Shackleford wants a pizza. (Dog Dale Afternoon)

I even found Fahrenheit 9/11 pretty interesting, although, what is just as interesting is the amount of people that HAVEN'T watched it because "oh that movie is just a load of shit". Interesting conclusions people make without actually seeing it themselves. I must admit, Michael Moore seems to rub most people the wrong way.

A few Christmases ago, Mrs T bought me a real high quality book of the NASA photographs from some of the apollo missions. Really interesting, I can stare at that stuff for hours, and now that so many people question if the moon landing was actually real, those pics are particularly interesting to look at.
One of the fascinating things about the internet is that people with particular interests in things find it so much easier to research and collaborate with others in pursuit of "The Truth". But, there is so much crap out there also, that we are bombarded with information to the point where basically anything can be proven via sources somewhere on the web.
For example, there are several sites detailing the Fake Moon Landing, such as Cosmicapollo. I was very surprised when I was googling this stuff to find NASA themselves have a fairly decent article on the alleged Hoax also: The Great Moon Hoax

Here is a particularly convincing fake moon landing site.

The most disturbing thing I find with NASA's version of events is the fact that they left 12 perfectly functioning Hassleblad 500EL bodies AND their lenses right up there on the moon. Those things are really expensive, so right there, you've gotta think that no one in their right mind would do that. So I reckon NASA must be full of shit.

Oddly enough, whenever I was researching Conspiracy Theories today using Google, my PC would slow right down......kinda like........I am being watched. Hmmm. Other searches were fine.
(you try Googling "Hasselblad" and then "Hassleblad Moon". Check out the time difference - Maybe it's just me). Hmmm.

Wait, there is a knock at the d

Conspiracy Theory wiki
King of the Hill Official site
King of the Hill fan multi-media site
Full Moon Book
Hassleblad site
Michael Moore's site

The Best Guitarist You've Never Heard Of

There's talent in them there hills. I'm not talking about Slash or Brian May, Clapton, SRV, Angus Young or The Chief. They are all show ponies, I am talking about these seemingly Joe Bloggs people that are better than them all.

Meet Rafael Moreira, he's the best guitarist you've never heard of.

Last year I watched every episode of Rockstar: INXS, which is a reality show of sorts created by Mark Burnett, the "Survivor" creator. I think I have cracked his secret formula: Elimination, I mean no one else has noticed that is the secret before have they?

Anyway, Rockstar: INXS was a show where they started with 15 Rocker wannabes who got to perform rock classics and INXS standards, and got eliminated one by one each week until INXS had a new lead singer. (For the record, I guessed JD from the outset, but that's another story)
After watching a few painful seasons of American Idol, I was beginning to think that I was the best undiscovered singer in the world.
I was expecting more of the same for Rockstar, but I was wrong - these contestants were really good.
Rockstar: Supernova is season two of the original, and is a new band formed by Tommy Lee (Most famously known as the self-camera-porn-dood of himself and Pamela Anderson, less famously as the drummer of Motley Crue), Gilby Clarke (GnR guitarist) and Jason Newsted (Bass, Metallica).
I've liked INXS since back in the days when "I send a message" was the first time I heard Michael Hutchence' voice. That was the 80's, and everyone was into 12" EP remixes. One of the most memorable EPs I heard was "Burn for you" which has a heap of distinctive but simple offbeat drumming by Farris.
I was pretty gutted when Michael went. Very talented guy who was always destined to die young I guess (that sounds really morbid, but can you imagine an 'Old' Michael Hutchence?)

So back to Rockstar. There is no doubt about it INXS is, or were, very good at their own genre and in hindsight were pretty innovative at the time. A lot of their songs only sound so normal because we have heard them so much, but in the 80s there was only one INXS sound.
I was a little disappointed when the format of the show relied heavily on the use of a House Band and INXS themselves just played a couple of times, but, I was quietly impressed more by the house band than anything else on that show. They are all really really good, and play all sorts of stuff seemingly with just a few rehearsals. Perfect covers or total rearrangements seem to be a cinch.

If you get the chance, watch this guy Raf on gat. Its been while since I've seen someone so relaxed play so brilliantly.

He's from Brazil of all places too.

Official Rockstar website (Lots of flash design)
Raf's Bio
Raf's own website
INXS.com
Wiki about Michael Hutchence
Official Gibson Les Paul site
...and as a very special treat to my loyal fans:
Google Earth placemarks for the Rockstar Mansion, and something else.

The All Blacks Haka

On Saturday, the mighty All Blacks crushed Australia. But what everyone was talking about was the 'new' haka, Kapa O Pango. For the benefit of those who didn't make it to the game, or those that missed the first half, here are a couple of Haka videos.
First the original, which Adidas did a nice job of overlaying Maori warriors...and second, the new haka. There is something really special about this unique part of NZ culture, which is taken to the world just a few times a year. (It'd be a shame to miss it eh?)
I've gotta tell ya, seeing Tana Umaga screaming like that at the opposition made me proud to be a New Zealander - and an All Blacks supporter....well I mean, who'd want to be the standing there on the field facing that?

Original Haka


Kapa O Pango


Allblacks.com

Frickin' Laser Beams

Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Number Two: Sea Bass.
Dr. Evil: [pause] Right.
Number Two: They're mutated sea bass.
Dr. Evil: Are they ill tempered?
Number Two: Absolutely.
Dr. Evil: Oh well, that's a start.

AustinPowers.com

Those who run seem to have all the fun

The other day I was in a club listening to the groove when I stopped and thought about the woman I was listening to. Here are some surprising facts/trivia about her:

She's almost 48.
Has an IQ of 140.
Height 5' 4½" (1.64 m).
Measurements: 34C-23-33.
One of 7 siblings. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was 5.
Was a cheerleader and member of drumcorps and marching teams.
She studied Dance and Drama in NYC in the 70s.
She shares a French-Canadian Ancestor with Céline Dion.
She's a distant cousin of Gwen Stefani.
She's good friends of Stella McCartney, Gwyneth Paltrow, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Björk.
She shares her birthday with Vanessa Carlton and Angela Bassett (born on the same day actually), which is also is the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.
She is a fan of Katharine Hepburn.
Turned down the role of Cristal Conners in Showgirls (1995).
Turned down the role of Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992).
Is strongly Pro-Life. She was even in anti-abortion ads in the UK.
Recently matched Elvis Presley's tally for top 10 hits - 36, the most for any artist in the rock era.

She is, of course....

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone.

Hung up

Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting for you

Time goes by so slowly for those who wait
No time to hesitate
Those who run seem to have all the fun
I'm caught up
I don't know what to do

Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
I don't know what to do

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Ring, ring, ring goes the telephone
The lights are on but there's no-one home
Tick tick tock it's a quarter to two
And I'm done
I'm hanging up on you

I can't keep on waiting for you
I know that you're still hesitating
Don't cry for me
'cause I'll find my way
you'll wake up one day
but it'll be too late

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing (Every little thing)
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you

Waiting for your call (Waiting for your call)
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Time goes by, so slowly.
Time goes by, so slowly.
Time goes by, so slowly.
Time goes by, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly.
I don't know what to do.

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing (Every little thing)
Im hung up
Im hung up on you.

Waiting for your call (Waiting for your call)
Im fed up.
(Fade until clock ticking)

Official Madonna Website
Madonna Discography, Filmography, Bio etc

I think I'm going Def

A while ago I was in a local watering hole here with a buddy when an acoustic version of a vaguely familiar song came on. I asked the bargirl if they had anymore from them and she told me she'd never heard of the band. The song was "Animal". She'd never heard of Def Leppard....man, I am getting old or what?
(I know I go on about music a fair bit, and while it is a big interest of mine, this won't turn into a music only blog ok?)
I remember cruising the streets of Rotorua, NZ, with my friend Tim, in his '76 Corolla SR coupe.
It was the ugly shape, a 1300 I think and a beigey-mustard color too - all n all, it was a fairly uncool car, but this was the mid 80s. Just having a Japanese car was cool then - no Mk 1 Ford Escort for us. We had metal hair yeah, and wore thin leather straps around our wrist cos everyone else did.
Tim had a Clarion Tape Deck in the Corolla, and it was auto-reverse...whoa. but underneath that was a graphic equalizer with a loudness button - and a red LED. wicked.
We used to cruise the streets of town thinking we were shit-hot listening to Billy Idol, Bon Jovi, a bit of ACDC, Simple Minds, and a whole bunch of other stuff I cant even remember unless i think about it for a while.
One day Tim put on a tape that I'd never heard of before. It sounded kinda like an evil machine talking or something - it was the beginning of "Love Bites".
Ok, I admit it, I was into hair bands. Shit, everyone was.
Then there was "Pour some sugar on me". Well, it's a classic now, but playing that loud thru open windows after youth group was some kind of sneer to all the chicks who'd normally listen to Alison Moyet or Cyndi Lauper.
"Animal", "Women", "Hysteria", "Armaggedon it" and "Rocket" were all on the same album, and looking back on it, Hysteria was absolutely Def Leppard's defining Album.
I thought they'd burst on the scene when I heard them back in 86 or whatever, but just reading their website now it turns out they started in the mid 70s as a band called "Atomic Mass" then becoming Def Leppard in '77(!).... and would you believe they are still touring right now?
I wouldn't recognise any of the band now(not like some of the other hair rockers like Jon Bon Jovi or Steve Tyler) but I do reckon if I saw a one armed drummer, I'd be certain he's from Def Leppard (Rick Allen).
Looking at their discography, I reckon they didn't really do much after the 80s apart from release some greatest hits albums a few times, but "Pour some sugar on me" was re-made and became the theme song for "Coyote Ugly"starring Piper Perabo (you know the face, not the name) in 2000. Looking at the credits there are some other names of note including John Goodman, LeAnn Rimes and Tyra Banks (What a bitch she's turned out to be on "America's next TOP model" pfff).
That movie spawned a trend in Bar Top Dancing, which IMHO is a bit of a yawn, but seems to be all the rage in Asia. When I lived in Singapore around 2003, the government passed a LAW finally allowing licensed bar top dancing after the scene was underground for a while...like, ooooh it's so naughty to dance 4ft off the floor. In Taipei there is one place that is fueling this hilarious activity for wannabe stars, which is a surprise considering the food there is usually not too bad.

Def Leppard released an "unplugged" album like everyone seemed to after Eric Clapton made shitloads doing it, and after hearing some of the unplugged tracks I am pleasantly surprised at how good hair rock can sound when it's stripped back and unplugged. Actually, 'unplugged' concert DVDs are fantastic, but lets not get started on that...

Def Leppard Official Website
Coyote Ugly

The Long Way Round

I bought this 3 DVD set a couple of weeks ago in Vancouver. It is 10, 1 hour episodes of "The Long Way Round" as produced for TV.
It is the best $24 I have spent in a while.

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are best mates, and they decide in April 2004 to set off on 2 BMW R1150GS's on an motorbike journey of epic proportions from London to New York overland going east. 115 days.

I won't say too much about the journey to spoil it, but there really are some remarkable and interesting places in far eastern europe. The "Road of Bones" for example, is a 2000km stretch of Siberia from Yakutsk to Magadan that was built by prisoners during the Stalin area. It is said that every meter of road required the death of a prisoner, and the bones of 100s of thousands to possibly millions of people's remains lie embedded in it today.

One thing that bothered me a bit about the journey is the amount of support they had. It really was a large team going across the world, but it was just those two guys that were filmed mostly. I have no idea how much that would have cost, but it would be in the millions, and that fact alone makes a trip exactly like that out of reach for most of us. Just having the crew behind them a couple of days made all the difference I reckon. I felt it would have been more incredible if they had gone it totally alone. I guess, Ewan doing that trip would have been a nightmare for his agent.
Count the times Charley says "Fantastic!"

My Singapore based mate Brent and I have talked about doing an epic Journey on bikes, but I think ours would consist of flying to Hanoi and buying 2 new Russian Minsk 100s (About $600USD new), and riding with all our gear down Vietnam, into Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and down the Malaysian peninsula to Singapore, where I think we'd set fire to the bikes on the causeway (I don't think they'd let us ride them in - it is Singapore, you know). I don't think we'd have cameras strapped to our helmets. Much.

Minsk Owner in Hanoi
Minsk Factory

Ewan is such a dude, he really is one of those guys that we all see part of ourselves in on this journey. Some times I found myself a little confused as to why people recognised him, he seems so down to earth you forget how much of a star he really is.
Talented guy too. I still think his version of "Your Song" in Moulin Rouge is one of the most passionate spine tingling songs I have heard, and considering he's not primarily a singer that is quite an achievement.
I recently saw him in "The Island" and while I am not big on sci-fi, I though that movie was great.
Oh, he's Scottish too, and most Scot's I have met are alright. (there you go Sandy)

Ewan's Bio/Filmography etc
Long Way Round Official Site

E30s, Clive Owen and 8 minute DVDs

I like BMWs.

In Taiwan, every 3rd car is a BMW, and it is usually black or a dark shade of something else. Apparently Black 5 series sedans are the car of choice of Taiwan Gangstas, so big ups for them.

I owned a BMW once. It was a 1986 E30, 325i with manual Getrag box. Anyone familiar with BMWs will appreciate that in the mid 80s, this car was a rocketship. 2.5liter injected 6 shoe-horned into tiny 3 series bodywork. To find one with a 5 speed Getrag box was a huge bonus.
I spotted the E30 at a car auction around '96, and no one was interested in it because a) It was a european car in a predominantly Jap import auction and b) BMW M20 6 cyl engines are very 'tappety' (girl's, that means a "tick,tick,tick,tick,tick....." sound) so if you are not used to it, it sounds wierd.
So I bought it for next to nothing. It had a fender dent and a lot of milage, but it was still tight to drive.

My other car was a series 1 RX-7 that was a sleeper (rough car, hot engine). Hot 12A ported Rotary (that I built myself from a box of bits that I picked up from an aborted recondition) and on the rice burner was a 48 IDA weber. The carb of choice for normally aspirated rotary's.
My point in mentioning the RX-7 is that at the time, I liked to drive cars with engines singing all day at 7000 rpm. Rotarys ruv that. Ruv it. Anyway, BMW E30s do not ruv 7000 RPM, so there was the transition problem right there.
On the drive home, my buddy Andy was driving the RX-7 and I was driving the BMW. It was a 3 hr coastal highway driven by 2 petrol heads so you can imagine what was going on. On the outskirts of the home town, once again I was extending the legs of the screaming 6 and admiring how it just seemed to be bullet proof when the car suffered a soft thud and dropped a cylinder. It was one of those experiences where I was grinning away at the mechanical music one second, and the next second I was wondering if I just hit a small dog or something.
When I lifted the hood, there was no conrod out the side of the block, no oil slickall over the engine bay, nothing. It idled ok, no vibrations, but just running on 5. Mmmm, well shit, it could be anything like a dropped plug or lead or whatever, so I limped it home the last 10 minutes.
I am not the kind of guy that takes a car to garage, even a BMW, and I figured I had nothing to lose by taking the Rocker cover off. Within a few minutes (gotta love working with German Engineering) the cause of the problem was plain to see: Broken Rocker...shit, how much is that going to cost I thought? A sheepish call to the BMW dealer surprised me. $23, for a genuine part. Man, is that right?
The nature of the failure meant that all the happened further down the head was the valve just remained closed, so no real possibility of any other damage like valve to piston contact or anything. What I should have done was buy the $23 part and put the weapon back into service, but being the paranoid, inquisitive soul I am, I figured the broken rocker was an indication to look further and harder. I decided to take the head right off, and see what else was up. and replace the Cam Belt. and put new manifold studs in. and plane the head. and replace a few rough looking valves. and get the cam nitrided and re ground a bit hotter. and bead blast the rocker cover so it was like new. and...you get the idea. As i didn't have a garage at the time, all the work was done in the lounge, on the coffee table covered in newspaper - rock on. My $23 fix turned into a $1000 piece-of-mind tinker with the big ass cylinder head.
That was the first and last time I had any trouble with that car. I put a Schnitzer Chip into it and a K&N Air filter, which nudged the HP towards 200, and that was fine by me.

The E30 to me is the classic BMW. Rear wheel drive, heavy steering and the model before ABS and electric you-name-its everywhere.
I am going to get another one at some point. The chip and filter are in storage, waiting. Tinkering in the garage is something I really miss living in Taiwan.

BMWe30.net
E30 Service Manual

I like DVDs.
A year or two back, a friend told me about the BMW movies online, www.bmwfilms.com: " Brace yourself for intricate plot twists, riveting car chases, and a dose of wit. All eight short films of The Hire, created by Hollywood’s finest talent, are available now for downloading and streaming.

These brilliantly produced films star Clive Owen as the driver. Hired for his superb driving skills and unshakable poise, the driver encounters unexpected obstacles that put his abilities to the test. Watch as each film reveals new depths of character, intrigue, and cinematography."

Yes, Clive Owen is Da Man in these 8 DVD quality short films. Obviously, they are funded by BMW so they showcase the various BMWs available at the time, but the driving and cinematography is fantastic. Each is unique in who directed and starred in it, and the style of filming and driving. Guy Ritchie, Gary Oldman, James Brown, Ang Lee and Madonna are some of the people that feature in the productions.

Below is a link to the movies for downloading. (the official BMW site above claims there are no more downloads, but they are still around)

The Hire