Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM

Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM

Two months after checking out the A5 DTM racer concept, Audi has whipped out the production model at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. Internally named "R17," the Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM will replace the four-door A4 DTM with which Audi has won the DTM title four times since 2004. Codenamed the "R17," the Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM replaced the old A4 DTM and is scheduled for homologation on March 1, 2012. Until then, engineers will be busy putting it to some extreme testing. Referred to internally at Audi Sport as the "R17", the Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM features a unique hybrid construction coupling a carbon monocoque body and a steel cage forming the cockpit.

Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM

The new upgraded A5 that is will be arriving at dealerships shortly provides the basis for the new DTM car. “In 2012 new Technical Regulations will come into effect in the DTM,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “We’ve got exactly the right model for that in the A5. We’re convinced that we’ll be able to continue Audi’s success story with it in the DTM.”

Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM

The company was quiet on specifics, but said the Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM has a high-strength carbon-fiber monocoque with a steel roll cage that is fully-compliant with the latest safety regulations. Ingolstadt’s new touring model is based on the facelifted New Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM that was presented earlier this week and it complies with the new technical and safety regulations that will come in effect in the German touring model championship next year.

Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM

The New Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM Concept sports a high-strength carbon-fiber monocoque combined with a steel tube cage. The racing model adopts the current A4 DTM’s V8 engine with some minor changes and an output or around 460-horses. A six-speed transmission will continue to be used as well. Furthermore, power will be provided by a V8 engine - that is adopted from the A4 DTM - with approximately 460 PS (340 kW / 456 PS).

Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM

“Our engineers have been involved in bringing up safety in the DTM, which had already been high before, to the highest possible level,” explains Dr. Ullrich. “At Le Mans this year we learned again that our concept of designing safety structures is a very good and appropriate one. This is exactly what we’ve been trying to feed into the DTM’s safety concept together with our colleagues from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. This new principle is an outstanding example of what is possible when employees of three premium manufacturers try to achieve a common aim: to get the best possible, lowest-cost and safest vehicle – and a fantastic car in general – off the ground.”

Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM

The Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM is 5.01 meters long, 1.95 meters wide, and 1.15 meters low, and is completely made in carbon fiber. It is powered by a V8 engine mated to six-speed transmission, now pneumatically operated using paddle shifters in the steering wheel. The shifting events are more precise compared with conventional manual gearshifts and allow the mileage of the unit to be quadrupled to up to 24,000 kilometers. The whole setup delivers a total of 460 HP. The race car has also received a safety fuel tank with a capacity of 120 liters integrated with the carbon fiber cell of the Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM that allows the current distance of a DTM race to be covered without a refueling stop.

Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM

However, it’s under the skin that the biggest changes have been made. The new rules have been designed to cut costs (the main reason that BMW has re-joined the series) but also to make the cars even safer. Which means a carbonfibre monocoque (with an integrated fuel tank) and steel roll cage, together with sidewalls made of a carbon, Zylon and Rohacell hybrid, as the new DTM racers now have to be able to withstand a static load that is four times higher than before. And rather than just the front and rear crash elements of each DTM car being individually crash-tested, the whole vehicle is now fired against a wall to make sure the entire structure is up to scratch.

Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM

Given the rules of DTM racers, which all have to sport certain identical features such as the 2,750 mm (108 inches) wheelbase, Audi was able to lower costs on the Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM development by up to 40 percent. The model will be homologated for March 1st and will compete in the 2012 DTM series against German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz. While the renderings show a pre-facelift model, Audi says the production vehicle will closely resemble the 2012 A5 Coupe which is slated to go on sale later this year. Audi has shared a trio of renderings of the New Audi Sport Cars Concept Audi A5 DTM but we’ll get the chance to see the real thing at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome

Syfy has got an upcoming two hour pilot movie for a new series that takes place in the Battlestar Galactica universe. Called "Blood and Chrome". Production for it began in February 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia (the place where such hits as Supernatural are filmed). The movie focuses on the adventures of a young William Adama during the 10th year of the first Cylon war.

According to an earlier press release, here's what we have to look forward to:

"Ensign William Adama, barely in his 20's and a recent Academy graduate, finds himself assigned to the newest battlestar in the Colonial fleet ... the Galactica. The talented but hot-headed risk-taker soon finds himself leading a dangerous top secret mission that, if successful, will turn the tide of the decade long war in favor of the desperate fleet."

It is to air this October 2011. That makes the creepy month of October even better. I will be glued to the television for not one, but two series... the second being the second season of "The Walking Dead"...AMC's blockbuster zombie megahit that I've been slavering for almost a year now. So yeah...this Fall's television lineup is going to be frickin' AWESOME! And not to mention inspirational. Perhaps the writing bug will bite me as I've been mostly uninspired this entire summer :).

Here is concept art for Blood and Chrome. Enjoy!

 Are you as thrilled as I am?

A Frank Frazetta Movie

Frank Frazetta was an awesome painter and inspired the likes of Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, and other artists to give fantasy a look that would set it apart from other genres. I have been one of the people who wanted to see his work done well on the big screen as a live-action film. I mean, Peter Jackson did it for the Lord of the Rings artists Alan Lee, John Howe, and Ted Nasmith. Well, it looks like Robert Rodriguez is finally going to be the guy that completes the task for Frazetta.

Early next year, the director will start working on Fire and Ice, which you may recall was an animated film back in 1983 from director Ralph Bakshi. But this new film based on Frazetta's paintings will be live action, because Rodriguez wants it to look "like you just stepped into one of his paintings, where you get to see his world, and how he saw people, anatomy, and composition and color."

Here's the movie's official synopsis:

From his stronghold in Ice Peak, the evil Nekron sends forth a wave of deadly glaciers, forcing humanity to retreat to Fire Keep, a kingdom ruled by a generous king. When King Jarol's daughter Teegra is kidnapped, young warrior Larn teams with the mysterious and legendary Dark Wolf, to rescue the princess and the realm from Nekron's evil sorcery.

How would you feel if a movie was made that captured the essence of the concept art featured below?

Funniest Prayer Ever.

I laughed my ass off when I heard this. I think it'd make a great first paragraph to a book that had to do with racing cars.

Buying Too Much Computer

Back in 2009, I was a competitive gamer. So, I invested in a cutting-edge computer put together by this company named Digital Storm in California. They did an awesome job and I got an i7 chip overclocked with two monster video cards SLI-linked together so that I could play some great games.

Well...I've had nothing but trouble with this beast and I want to advise to any people out there...just stick with the regular computer companies. Dell, HP, etc. Just to be clear...this is not Digital Storm's fault. I bought a computer that I didn't understand with too many gadgets (like liquid cooling and overclocked RAM).

I had my motherboard fry out on this thing so had to have it shipped back. I also had a graphics card go bad and had that replaced by NVIDIA (great customer service). Well the latest thing that's been happening is I cleaned all the dust and gunk out of it yesterday and when I reconnected it, the RAID 0 solid state hard drives fell out of sync. I eventually got them resynced using an Intel program that does this kind of thing but now I occasionally get the blue screen of death. The only thing I can figure is that installing the new drivers for the video card might have done something that occasionally causes the desktop to crash.

I understand a lot about computers. But I don't understand RAID 0, AHCI, or some of the other error codes that I get. So yeah...lesson to learn from my mistake...avoid buying too much computer and you'll be happy. And always backup your stuff. I backup everything so am good even if my pc crashes for like two months and I have to ship it back to Digital Storm for them to fix. It just sucks being without your machine for that long.

I Wish I Had...

This much energy.
This much talent.
This much excellence.
Dudes with moves man... that's all I gotta say about that.

Happy Monday :)

Thoughts On Deathly Hallows, Part 2 O.o

Okay...first off, I did get my money's worth at the matinee. I know everyone that reads these words is thinking it is the best movie of your entire life, how will you ever live without another movie, the fact that you cried etc. for hours on end and yadda yadda yadda. I respect that and am not gonna even look at that. I just wanted to say that I didn't like it as much as everyone else but I have very solid reasons as to why.

SPOILER ALERT:

Okay...Just to be clear...I haven't read anything past Azkaban. I decided that it was dumb to do so when the movies were being made and I'd just watch the movies and read other books. So this is only movies I'm talking about here:

1) Bellatrix Lestrange. I've been following this character some eight or nine years. Great villain. "I killed Sirius Black!" etc. prancing around like a mad-woman, played by a great actress Helena Bonham Carter. I came to the movie thinking...this will be great. I get to see how this villain gets the kabosh. Okay the fight with her lasted maybe five seconds and the person that killed her was momma Weasley who had less lines than Darth Maul had in Phantom Menace. REALLY? So dumb. She even stole a line from "Aliens"... /facepalm. This is not how Bellatrix should have died.

2) J.K. Rowling's World. I have never seen a world so full of magic. Let me repeat that. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A WORLD SO FULL OF MAGIC ANYWHERE. Literally, anything is possible. We got resurrection, teleportation, giants, dragons...you name it. You could bust out anything and it would be believable. So why in the hell was the battle of Hogwarts so boring? I saw the sparkle effect on the wands and I guess that all you have to do when a wizard throws the lightning red death beam from the end of the wand is to raise your own wand to create this shiny plasma sphere for five minutes where no one gets hurt and everybody can sigh and think...how pretty. Additionally, the walking golems that Professor Minerva McGonagall summoned got completely owned by the giants. Did they kill anyone? When the death eater wizards attacked Hogwarts there should have been massive traps and all sorts of creative zappos, blips, and massive death everywhere. I saw nothing but the wand lightning things and a person frozen in the air and then tossed back out the window. How stupid.

3) Voldemort. He's supposed to be this all-powerful bad ass wizard. Yet, he can't figure out his own wand? Really? He thinks he figures it out but gets it all wrong. I honestly thought perhaps he was the wizard with downs. Then he lets Neville completely monologue. Why would you do that? If I was an evil badass wizard, as soon as Neville started giving his speech and rallying the kids out front of the ruined castle, I would have zapped him dead as a doornail. But nope. That didn't happen. Let's let the young man monologue and get everyone all rallied up with gusto!

4) The Goblin Banker. He wanted the magic sword of Gryffindor even knowing that it teleports around to give itself to a person that is in need of its power. Yet, he's supposed to be a curator of treasures. This is a bad bad investment and doesn't make sense. Also, he's too short to wield the sword. It would be like me wanting a trebuchet for my one-bedroom apartment. 

Anyway...don't egg me please. I got my matinee's money's worth and I know the movie is like 97% on Rotten Tomatoes so essentially it's considered a masterpiece. I just don't get it.

I don't. And that's my two cents.

The 2012 Song Of Ice And Fire Calendar

When I came across these last night in my internet wanderings I knew I had to blog about them. I love art so much and George R.R. Martin has enraptured some of the most outstanding artists in the industry. So without further adieu...here are the likenesses of the characters in his epic and I have to say, they match what I've been visualizing all along in my head. I can also pick out every scene...

For fans of the series, I'm not going to post any names. You can guess who they are in the comments.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

If you make a guess, just indicate the number and list who you think it is. I'll tell you which ones you got wrong (if any). Also note that some have more than one character. To get it right...you have to name both. Other than that, just enjoy the great art. I know I do. I'm so going to buy this calendar in December.

The artist's name is John Picacio.

Sport Car Racing in 2030 Project by Marco Sweston Touch Effect Motorsports Mercedes-Benz W25 inpired car

Sport Car Racing in 2030 Project by Marco Sweston Touch Effect Motorsports Mercedes-Benz W25 inpired car

Technology and design, nowadays are moving ahead at high speeds, thus the designers and engineers have to keep up with the alert rhythm. One such project that seems to define the tempo itself is the Touch Effect by Marco Sweston of the Munich University of Applied Sciences. The whole car was penciled as a continuation of the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows W25.

With the digital age in full swing, we no longer have to leave our homes to find new experiences. As powerful as alternative reality may be, by 2030 designer Marco Sweston expects to see a major shift in people’s attitudes, & imagines that many will not only abandon their controllers, but will seek even more extreme thrills than before the digital revolution. The Touch Effect racing event and vehicle is a result of this concept that puts the digitally stimulated user back in the driver’s seat.

Sport Car Racing in 2030 Project by Marco Sweston Touch Effect Motorsports Mercedes-Benz W25 inpired car, the progressive movement of digitalization of life has resulted in people who no longer have to leave their houses to experience something. They will spend their spare time alone at home and social contacts will only take place via online networks. The use of public transport and the simulation of all actions will raise a longing to sit behind a real steering wheel again. They want to really join the race, rather than simulating the trip digitally only on the screen.

The basic concept of the Touch Effect makes use of these developments. Based on the rental of racing cars for private persons on specially designed tracks the vehicle is used similarly to today's karting as a group activity, pushing them to their limits. The vehicle displays a continuation of the legendary Silver Arrows like the W25, carrying the tradition and the myth of these vehicles into 2030.

What will we all do for fun in the future when we’re bored with all the digital thrills we have sought indoors? Designer Marco Sweston has the answer: a track racer built from synthetic bone, muscle, and skin that runs in a pack on a custom-designed race course. The Touch Effect concept uses a carbon fiber frame reminiscent of a skeleton, which is surrounded by synthetic muscles that control the suspension, steering, and insulation of the vehicle. Topping it all off is an acrylic glass skin that is transparent to show off the muscles doing their thing underneath. The steering mechanism is an extension of the muscles, which functions like reins.

Designed as a continuation of the Silver Arrows like W25, the project has been to a large extent inspired by this model of Mercedes Benz. The vehicle thereby designed for this sport car has a light weight main body with a stiff carbon frame that imparts it ruggedness and an overall stability. The other core muscles for the motor-sport vehicle have been made from flexible synthetic that can be deformed using voltage difference.

Sport Car Racing in 2030 Project by Marco Sweston Touch Effect Motorsports Mercedes-Benz W25 inpired car

These have been covered partially using acrylic glass surfaces on the exterior thereby giving a visual feel of a merger of all parts into one volume. However, the hull has been kept a bit unveiled so as to convey the impression of being light-weight. In addition to the designing part, the vehicle has facilities for automatic ground clearance adjustment as well as a four-wheel steering.

The exterior acrylic glass surfaces partially surround the muscles. They represent the skin of the concept which merges all parts into one volume and make them visible underneath, showing off their function. All elements combined allow a directed and controlled motion. The two skin surfaces surround the driver like a brace to emphasize the seating position. The transparent hull is unveiled at areas which do not necessarily need a covering. This reduction and the see-trough appearance reflect the idea of lightweight car construction.

Eventually, the muscles flow into the interior and form a part of the steering. The vehicle is controlled by pulling the muscles - similar to the idea of reins on a horse. The muscles accentuate the shape of the frame and run into the wheels to accentuate their function.

There Are Days When...

I Weep For the Future...

Because more people watch this than know who the Speaker of the House of Representatives is.

Because these are the celebrity role models that the press writes about.

Because this is what your kids would rather do than read a book.

Because this man is a published author and on the most popular show on MTV of all time.

Because this is so so true.

Because I know people who feel that this really is being treated well.

Because wealth and beauty is all that matters.

I have no idea on what the fuck is going on here. But I do know that this is/was a POPULAR kids show.

...This needs no explanation.

Incoming Twitter/Facebook post and video uploaded to YouTube.

My Review of A Dance With Dragons

The Short Review: 3 Stars out of 5
5 = perfect
-1 for bad editing
-1 for no story, just people training and doing things.

Review Summary: This book is filler. George obviously needed his dragons to be bigger (Miracle Grow for Dragons might have been a better name) for the last two "planned" books in the series. Therefore he is taking us through the daily lives of all of his characters rather than just say "one year later". And it shows...painfully so...as much as those superhero movies that spend an hour of the movie explaining the superhero's powers.  Well, George has all of his characters learning new roles and building their "powers" so to speak.


NOTE: I don't think I spoil any great details in my review. I've read it carefully and talk about generalizations more than anything.


The Long Review and me bitching:
First off, to the standards of Bantam which publishes A Dance of Dragons (and is an imprint of Random House which is the pinnacle of the publishing industry)...the editing in this book is absolutely atrocious. Maybe it's because they wanted to rush it to print because it took George seven fucking years to write it and people are angry (they should be), or, because he's just too powerful and arrogant as an author to even try to edit. I've no idea what's going on.  But there are examples of, "The column of horses north rode along the highway..." Only to a dyslexic person is "north rode" acceptable. It should be "rode north".

I caught Tyrion spelled "Tyron" in several places. This could have been found out by a computer that was programmed to flag this name in a spell check.

In the chapter "The Kingbreaker" he writes:

Those had had a good acquaintance with sword and spear and battle-axe even before Ser Barristan got hold of them. 

There should be a "who" in there or at least to break up the "had had".

Then there's just examples of incredible wordiness. George must say more than 200 times "He was not wrong," or "she was not wrong" or "they were not wrong." This as opposed to: "he was right" or "she was right" or something along those lines. It's so frequent that it really does start to bludgeon you over the head. This book is ENORMOUS. It could go on a diet. I am not wrong! <==that is supposed to be clever. But literally, 70% of this book could be chopped off the front and you would never notice.

Every chapter is top-loaded with absolute worthless crap for the first 70-80% and then the last four pages are AMAZING. And yes...it is these last four pages that drive me forward in the narrative. It's like I'm being fed gruel and then suddenly a tiny morsel of the best tasting roast beef appears which explodes in my mouth with flavor and quickly disappears and then there is more gruel.

Additionally...nothing notable happened for the first 1500 pages. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No action at all (my ebook copy is 2700 pages long--yes I'm blind as a bat and I increase the font to make life easier--think of it as size 14pt font on my iPad). It kind of got frustrating lol. I wanted to speak with Bantam and say..."someone needs to reign this guy in. This is why we have to wait 7 years for a bite of creme brulee or chocolate mousse...he's busy writing thousands of pages describing women parts and food and figs and filling things with unpronounceable names." Literally, reading A Dance With Dragons is like having a conversation in a book that reads like:

"a;'lkdn;l ;lkbi;'k of clan ';lkb;lk rubbed his thumbs over the hilts shaped like naked women in an almost obscene way. He turned to ;alkcn b;lke cl;kenj who was so fat that sails of yellow silk must have been used to cover all his jiggling suet. They both laughed and ate figs, cherries floating in sweet cream, and talked of how they would rip the heads off their enemies and drape their entrails from the city walls." And blah blah blah blah blah.

ENOUGH. I wish Bantam had the nuts to have someone that checked up on George. A little conversation like "George...just checking up on you today. What have you got for us?"

George: "I'm so glad you called. I'm working on The Winds of Winter. I'm in the middle of typing the thirtieth page describing Asha's c*nt."

Bantam: "Okay...George...that won't do. You need to only spend one paragraph on Asha's c*nt and then move on with the story. Not a whole thirty pages needs to be devoted to how sweaty and wet it is...okay? Are we clear?"

Here's another example of bad editing from A Dance With Dragons in a chapter called "The Iron Suitor":

"The day before that, three ships had come out of the south together--his captive Noble Lady, lumbering along between Ravenfeeder and Iron Kiss. But the day before and the day before there had been nothing..."

This is just bad prose. "The day before and the day before"... This should have been edited. It's like a broken record skipping when it reaches a scratch.

Some of the dialogue made me shake my head. I don't think this is a spoiler but there is a scene where a warrior attacking a woman says nothing but line after line of "c*nt! c*nt! c*nt!" and this goes on over and over as he's hacking at her with an axe.  Really? George defends all of his language and misogyny in his books as "Westeros is a medieval world".

Did I enjoy the book? Yes. Obviously I did. I read it all weekend. I like living in his world even if it is to follow Tyrion while he eats, walks, eats, walks eats...talks stuff...talks more stuff...talks even more stuff. Perhaps I should be beaten with a stick because I'm enslaved to these books. Will I buy "Winds of Winter" when he manages to crap that out in five years? Yes. Do I recommend people read his books. Yes. But keep in mind that he's a genius author that has decided to sell out and be a bad writer. That doesn't mean that occasionally you won't catch glimpses of that genius before it gets buried in a landslide of shit.

However, I have this to say in speculation of Winds of Winter. With all of this buildup of nothing that happens in A Dance With Dragons, the payoff in Winds of Winter is going to be the biggest money shot in the history of fantasy fiction. Storyline after storyline is going to come to a head in that book. It has to. It will probably be the most epic fantasy book ever written because of the fourteen year slow-boil that George is giving us prior to it. If I'm wrong and it's like this book, you may read about me in headlines. "A Salt Lake City blogger was arrested today after harassing GRRM at a comic convention with a yellow paint bucket in hand and threatening to paint a stripe down the "American Tolkien's" back."

And just for the record...George...you are no Tolkien. You may have his talent when you try, but Tolkien could stay on target.

Guest Posting at Paranormal Pursuits

I'm guest-posting over at Alyson's paranormal blog about Tarot cards. 

Please go and have a look.

Tomorrow, I'm going to post my review of A Dance With Dragons O.o

An Attempt At Writing YA

Teacher: "WHOEVER ANSWERS MY NEXT QUESTION CAN GO HOME."

One boy throws his bag through the open window.

Teacher: "Who threw that bag?"

Boy: "Me. I'm going home now."

GENIUS.