A Busy Weekend: EW4 and MN Furs Picnic

Whew, what a weekend!  I experienced all sorts of new things this past weekend since it was full-up with events and activities.  Good times, with good friends, and some amazing cars.

First up on Friday was the Eurowerks 4 pre-show party which kicked off with a car wash at SCI Performance followed by the traditional parking lot show at Kim Huoy Chor on University Ave.  Of course, the parking lot was PACKED despite the looming weather.  It was great seeing all of the out-of-towners who made long journeys to be at the show.  With the quality of the cars at the pre-show get-together, the actual show itself was shaping up to be a blast.

Saturday brought a lot of exciting things and a lot of rain.  First off, my good friend Howlie came down Friday night, but spent it with his family.  I picked him up Saturday morning and we were off to St. Paul for the MN Furs summer picnic.  First, we stopped at Cecil's Deli for a good breakfast though, haha.  Anyways, I was both excited and nervous about the picnic.  I had heard a lot about the event from a few of my friends.  These picnics (there are two a year I believe) are the closest thing to a convention that we get in MN with the turnouts being pretty big.  Of course, it was raining all day Saturday so who knew.  I was excited to really get a taste of hanging with a big group of furs, but nervous at meeting so many new people.  I am relatively new to the community, and if it wasn't for my friend Howlie, I probably would have been extremely shy all day.  In the end it was a good experience overall.  I got to see a lot of cool things and learned a lot.  I still feel very new to the whole community, but hopefully I will open up more and so will the community.  All-in-all, a great bunch of furs.

The picnic ran all day, so I took a leave to head to the old Grainbelt Brewery for the Eurowerks 4 show.  This is by far my favorite show to hit all year, and I can't even participate!  Some of the best Euros around gather here to show off.  Despite bringing out some top-class cars, the show remains very relaxed and welcoming with the annual trike-race and cup-cake eating contests.  Despite the weather, the show was great and I had a lot of fun taking pictures.

Expect a separate entry for the Eurowerks event covering both Friday and Saturday with pictures from both.  It was a great weekend though, and I spent it with an awesome friend.  It was a great experience, taking in both of my passions on the same weekend.

Oh, and I really, really want a suit now!  How can you not find this adorable?

Wish I took more pictures of the suiters, but I was too shy, even with the camera! 

Kaien's FBM Built IS300 on the Dyno

Well, not the first appearance of my Lexus IS300, but it's first stand-alone feature...well sort of.  I brought the car down to Full Blown Motorsports the other day to finish up tuning it on E85.  I finally made the switch this year, and after a few minor issues needing to be worked out, the car got strapped down to see what we could make.

Big thanks goes out to LJ and the whole crew at Full Blown Motorsports.  They have helped me so much over the years and without them, the car would not be were it is today.  Also, many thanks to Zohair and the guys over at Boost Logic in Austin, TX, for the awesome turbo.  Finally, a big shout to Guillermo over at GPR Auto for being a big inspiration and help in changing the car for 2010.  The support means a lot!

Full Blown Motorsports

Boost Logic

GPR Auto

RKC MN Monday Night Meet 6-7-2010

Another decent turnout this past Monday.  Good weather, some nice cars, and good food afterwords at Bdubbs.  Some good variety showing up in Fridley.

RKC MN Monday Night Meet 5-31-10

Another good showing, even for Memorial Day.  It was a goodnight with a good mix of old faces and a lot of new ones.  BWW afterward was great too.  The meets are rolling right along.  Now if we could just get the weather to cooperate for Tuesdays.

Album:  Photos by Kaien

University Ave: 5/29

Good way to welcome myself back home.  Friday at University Ave was packed.  Euro lot was hopping as usual with some awesome cars.  Eurowerks 4 is coming up and I am looking forward to that.  The lot will be PACKED that whole weekend, so stay tuned.

Check out the rest of the pics here:  Photos by Kaien

NC Trip: Rally Cars and Street Cars

There are first times for everything and yesterday was my first time up close and personal with a full blown rally car.  One of Foxglove's good friends races local rallies and has a pretty awesome car to do it in.  Being a Toyota nut, I was very pleased to see that the car of choice is a st165 All-Trac Celica.  Completely decked out for rallying, I couldn't even tell you everything that I saw.  Besides the spec-suspension and the intricate roll-cage, the rest was beyond me.  I was very impressed to say the least.  Unfortunately, the head is being worked on so I was unable to get a ride this time around, so you all will have to deal without seeing a video of me screaming my lungs out.  I was promised next visit though.

Of course there were a few other cars there.  His other toy was a rather mild looking 5th gen F-body, that is until you looked inside.  Completely stripped to the metal (that includes no glass either), this car is all business with a single OMP seat, 10-point cage, oh and the big bottle mounted in the hatch compartment.  Running a stock bottom-end with a nice sized cam and some heads, this nitrous-fed Camaro can certainly get down (a little demonstration proved that).  Surprisingly though, the car is used for road-racing.  I heard some great stories from the owner about some track experiences.

The other car was of course Foxglove's SBM IS300.  At the beginning stages, but I'm sure that he will turn it into something special (with a little help from this husky!).  You know, it's nice to be able to ride in something so mild compared to mine.  I forget how nice these cars are.  Foxglove has a great example and I can't wait to see how it changes over the coming months.  Hopefully soon our two IS300s will finally meet in the metal.

Southern Hospitality: North Carolina Trip

So, I am writing this from my friend's house in Cary, NC.  Why am I in Cary, NC?  Why not?  Since I am finally done with school, I want to do some traveling.  I was having a conversation with my friend Foxglove where he stated he would be home alone for a week and I playfully replied, "I should come and keep you company."  Well, here I am!  Kind of a spur of the moment decision (finding last minute flights was fun!), but I was planning (and still am) to come and visit in June.

A little back-story then on how Foxglove and I first met.  You know, you meet some of your best friends in the strangest of ways, but this one is quite the interesting (at least to me) story.  You see, I never expected to meet many furs being active on car forums.  It just goes to show that everyone has their interests.

I post over on a large IS community board and posted up some new pictures of my car.  I have Fur Affinity tagged on my hood, and while no one took notice, one person did.  I received a message from Foxglove asking about that tag, and I was really quite surprised.  well, after a few messages, we're talking online, and before we knew it, I'm on a plane heading for North Carolina.  Yeah, not as fancy as you would think, but hey, I thought it was pretty darn cool!

I arrived yesterday and he picked me up from the airport.  I had never been to the Carolinas, or this part of the country before, so I was looking a bit curious.  First impressions?  I like it!  Reminds me a lot of Minnesota, but a lot warmer, haha.  Really, the scenery is not so different.  One thing he heard me comment on a lot was the style of the houses.  They are very...southern!  Sorry for the lack of a better description.  I like seeing how housing design changes in different parts of the country, but something about these houses, I just really like.  He showed me around Cary, taking me to some cool car dealerships.  Also checked out downtown Raleigh which was really cool.  Minneapolis and St. Paul are very old, so it was quite exhilarating to see a "new" downtown.  I will bring the camera and tripod next time out!

Today, when he gets home from work, we are planning to visit a good friend of his with some cool toys, including a st165 rally car.  Apparently, I will be given a ride against my will, haha.  I love rallying, but you could not get me into one of those cars to go ripping down a tree-lined trail.  Expect pictures and most likely a video of this husky screaming for dear life.  Oh, and we're going to go to dinner at a place called Bojangles!  Seriously, BOJANGLES!  Yes, I like the name.

No pictures to add right now, I didn't bring the camera with last night.  It's going to be a fun trip and the second round in June will be equally as good.  I like it here, and with a good friend like Foxglove to hang out with, I don't need much to come and visit...although he pesters about me bringing my IS300.  I should though.  Two friends, two of the same car, and a passion for two unique lifestyles.

The picture that sparked a friendship