Wek Fest Chicago 2011 Part 2: The Show

Alrighty back with part 2 of the Wek Fest Chicago coverage.  Sorry for the lapse there, dealing with family stuff.  I promised to keep updating regularly and I'm trying hard to hold to that.  This doggy will pull through!

Saturday morning came all too quick for some of us.  While a few got up bright and early, a few of us were not so keen to wake up after a night of partying and consuming adult beverages (read:  hungover).  After Nam and Jared came banging on our hotel rooms at 9am to add to our already head-splitting migraines, we attempted to roll out of bed and get ready.   Once outside, we were greeted by chilly temps and rain...good ol' rain.  Not just a little bit of rain either...we're talking like torrential down pour.  So, not only did we have to deal with downtown Chicago traffic, but the rain made it even worse.  Still, we made it to the convention center without any incidents, even after yours-truly got soaked helping prevent the registration tent from being blown away (why they had the tent outside, I have no idea).  Oh, and also for any that are reading this and attending Wek Fest Dallas (or any indoor show for that matter) please remember the gas rule.  They were checking vehicles.

Okay, enough talk, onto the pictures.  We showed up at the tail end of the roll-in so everything was pretty much setup.  We wiped down our cars quick (a good detail makes a world of difference), and did some last-minute detailing along with applying any necessary stickers before parking up and walking around.

View from the front of the venue looking back.  Pretty solid turnout. 

This FB was sick. 

Harlequin! 

 ProjectX line-up

 Seen It! brought out their crazy k20 swapped Rabbit truck and this dope Ruckus.

 Great fitment!

 Definitely digging the Hondas that came out.  Loved this EM1.  I'll have more Hondas in Part 3

 The i'mSTANCED line-up

 Drew's Mini filled in for Jared's i30 since it was rear-ended the week before  =(

 Andrew's G35 with freshly painted front and sides.

 Nam's tC rocking its new stance.

 My boring LS, haha!  Wanted to do a few things before the show, but it just didn't happen.

 Back to the other cars like this sick-ass Sorcery wide-body NSX.  It's turbo'd too.

 Euros were definitely well represented.

 Junkhouse

 Loved the Weds on this S13.5.

 Junkhouse had a huge section and took home best team representation.

 Good to see this matte orange GTI again.  Saw it a few years back at the Eurowerks show in MN.

 Because...

 Clean FC.  There were a lot of FCs at the show.

 Touge Factory x Rocket Bunny S13...teh sex.

Gonna close it out with a shot of Synth19's NSX from JDM Chicago.  Such a clean example of one of my favorite cars.

I'll have part 3 up tomorrow....promise.

Fast 5 Movie Release

Well, tonight marked the release of the 5th Fast & Furious movie.  With how popular the franchise has gotten, it wasn't a surprise when local shop, MAPerformance, and NOS Energy Drink got together to throw a little show before the movie.  Hosted at AMC Theaters at the Southdale mall, the event certainly brought out a good number of cars on top of the people just going to see the movie.  After helping my friend Jon install the suspension on his FB RX-7, a small group of us left from his house and rolled in about 9:40pm.  Since I used to be sponsored by NOS, I was able to get some VIP parking for the LS, Jon's RX-7, and Ivan's C30R right in front of the NOS tent.  It always helps to know people.  After snapping a few pics, I decided to put Kaien on and walk the lot.  He was very popular with the ladies.  After getting plenty of pics taken, it was time to just chill and catch up with people.  I decided to not go see the movie, so as everyone walked to the theaters, a few of us decided to head home.  I'm not looking forward to dealing with all the kids at work over the weekend.  Just part of the craze this movie franchise creates.  Enjoy the pics:

 Ivan's C30R

 Jon's RX-7

 Bagged 300C

 Very nice G37

 Clean Solara

 That Mini again!

 G37's rear

 Yeah, well I do...lol

 Fellow i'mSTANCED member Erik's EP3.

 The LS....

 Kaien on display after being worn for a bit around the lot

Some new stickers thanks to my friend Montana, aka StraitUp D

RKC MN Monday Night Meet 4-5-10

Well, at the persistence of my loving mate, I am here to bring you some coverage of the Ricekiller.com Monday Meets here in MN.  Despite the name, I started these meets 3 years ago in MN and they have been going strong ever since.  Even though I'm no longer running the meets, they are in good hands and I still stop by and kick it with my friends.  Hey, it makes Mondays that much more enjoyable.  The meets have a very laid-back atmosphere where all makes and models are welcome and the owners can just sit back and talk about whatever.  I brought the Lexus out and a lot of people got a kick out of the hood and some new things were added to it at the meet.  After standing around for a bit, we migrated to Buffalo Wild Wings down the street for some good food and drinks.

More pictures can be found here:  Monday Meet Photos by Kaiyin

If you are local to the Twin Cities, feel free to check out the MN section of RKC.

Cars and Cafe MN 2010 Kickoff

Well, Saturday, April 3rd, kicked off the 2010 season for the Cars and Cafe meets here in Minnesota.  Held at the AutoMotorPlex in Chanhassen, MN, the venue can accommodate a good number of vehicles and provide a rather nice backdrop.  The meet has grown from its humble beginnings to one of the largest regular gatherings in MN (if not the largest).  The events are held monthly on the first Saturday of every month.  An addition to this year is that there will be events following each meet (next month, there will be a cruise to Rockfalls Raceway in WI to participate in a Test-n-Tune event).

The meet brings out an eclectic mix of vehicles from exotics to classics, domestics to imports, cars, trucks, and motorcycles.  There is also a wide variety of styles represented.  Unfortunately, I slept in late and arrived to the meet later than I wanted, but there were still a good number of cars there.  Here are a few pictures that I took.  Unfortunately, my Adobe PS is not working at the moment so these are unedited:

This Miata had a great stance and is well tracked

a friend's 240 that he just picked up.  Isn't this hobby all about having fun?

monkey + ODB = ???

S2000 on chrome Regas...yes please!

this Bimmer was sitting right

the stance on this Impala is just perfect

Real Street Performance tuned R35 GT-R; 539awhp

some IS300 with a weird hood...just a shot of my car.  I got more compliments on the hood than I thought I would.

Stay tuned for next month's meet.