So what did Santa bring you?
So, whatcha got?
This year Santa has been great to me. Among other things, I got the LEGO Unimog I asked about and an AUTOart model which you hoons helped me decide on – thanks for the suggestion FunWithBuns.
The LEGO Technic Unimog so far seems to be nothing short of amazing. The tires are about 6” tall and the instruction booklet has five volumes. It’s a motor, a compressor, and a million gears which I have not figured out yet. I could probably build it myself with a few hours but what fun would that be? I am building with my four-year-old daughter and we are taking it very slowly. I am taking pictures along the way which will hopefully make for a decent time-lapse-ish video.
More on the Unimog, its 2000 pieces, huge 20lb box, and all of its awesomeness later. Oh, and the damn thing has portal axles. I now want a real 4×4 with portal axles. Why? Because portal axles.
It did not take me that long to decide which AUTOart model to get. While I was never a huge fan of the short-wheel-base Audi Quattro, I couldn’t think of a more iconic racecar from my youth. The Quattro, with its incredible power and technology, revolutionized not only future racecars but street cars as well. For many, the Quattro name still conjures up images on that very car going around curved dirt road before catching air and nearly killing a dozen spectators. Group B rally, to me, has and will always be the quintessential and most amazing form of motorsport. This car is a timeless classic.
Supercar chocolates FTW!!!
Related posts:
Santa Hoon brought me a ton of car books (reviews and features coming soon), a Canon Telephoto lens, a GoPro HD (look for Project Hoonda video in the coming months), and a low mileage 99 Lincoln Town Car.
My girlfriend and I must have been especially good this year.
Which Canon lens?
75-300 w/ Image Stabilizer. Just in time to shoot the Daytona 24!
Fun, I had one of those for a bit. As it goes with lenses though, you will soon find yourself asking Santa for the 70-200 L series lens.
You know, I have a level for you so that your fancy photography/videography machines take straight pictures. I'll trade it for car keys…
Ages 11-16 huh?
I keed!
That's jealousy speaking, actually. I'm still working on my Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House, but I'd love to get a big giant technic set to play with. Minifigs don't fit the architecture series too well…
A Panther!!! Sweet!!!!
+ mini fridge for the fort
+ pliers & wire cutters
+ cash (already being spent on race car bits like fuel pumps, oil coolers, and camshafts)
I could use another four days off; preferably, the next four days.
<img src="http://www.kingsizebows.com/images/gallery/bu_lexus.jpg">
Just kidding, I would shoot myself.
<img src="http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/4852/img0371e.jpg">
Actually got this – Petzl Tikka XP2 "head-light." Super useful for working on cars; you can use both hands, and always have light where you look! Revelatory, frankly. Has white LED that does bright/dim/strobe, red one that does dim/strobe, and a diffuser that switches from a beam (close up) to a spread (walking.) It's awesome.
What a great idea! I'm going to remember that the next time I have to crawl around under the car. That, and it might eliminate all the broken bulbs from repeatedly dropping that health hazard of an old trouble light.
That dude in the Lexus commercial looks like Mayhem.
"I'm a spoiled teenage girl disappointed with her new Christmas Lexus. Now, I'm emotionally compromised. I'm all… OMG! I'm going to take it out on the everyone else and launch it through your gardenias and into your living room, setting your Christmas tree on fire, burning your house to the ground. So get Allstate, to protect yourself from Mayhem, like me."
Santa brought me a nice digital measuring caliper, which won't make me a more talented mechanic, but will at least keep me from having to do fractions in my head. Thanks, Dad!
I finally forced my girlfriend to watch "Cars" a few weeks ago, so she got me a die-cast Mater. I'm a lucky guy.
Not much car related stuff. A few small tools and a new fluorescent drop light and OBD scanner to replace mine that had previously been stolen. The scanner is pretty darn nice, has a graphing display, recording functionality, and you can upload results to a computer.
Well, not so much me…I got A LEGO book, Tom Clancy's newest book in the Ryanverse series, "Locked On" and a GI Joe T-shirt that says "And knowing is half the battle.
<img src="http://www.asdlabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/asdlabs-lego-book-2009.jpg" alt="LEGO_Book"/>
The kids on the other hand, ohmygodohmygodohmygod got the following sets. I only got them a few of these, friends and family really went over board for them this year which was a surprise that was appreciated.
4645 Harbor,
7939 Train, <<<<huge train, Power Functions capable, awesome
(2) 7936 Level Crossing,
(4) 7499 Flexible Tracks,
10219 Maersk Train,<<<<this is a very cool train
4439 Heavy Lift Helicopter,
Then there are a bunch of the Ninjago guys, 2272,2255, 2258, Then there is a odd ball set I havent seen listed, it was a "hard to find" white ninja that looks like Storm Shadow,
The LEGO "Heroica" series of Dungeon and Dragon style games
Then there are two Star wars sets, 8086, 8092 which comes with some nice figs.
There is also a PS3 sitting there that my oldest got from Santa, it is screaming for my to get Gran Tourismo 5.
OMG, City series FTMFW!!!
Make sure you don't let your kids play with it.
GT5, for sure… and take a week off work.
My wife got me a map of the world. I guess it's sort of car related, being a map. We put it up on a wall in the dining room and have been pinning all the places we have been with the kids. It's a very nice gift, I like it very much. We got a heated car seat pad from my aunt and uncle, plugs into the cigarette lighter. Whoa is it toasty, way faster than the ones that come built-in on the cars that I have tried like Volvo, MB, and Chrysler. It's in the minivan, that's a good gift as well.
Since it's better to give than to receive… I gave the gift of a bright and shiny brand new turn signal. And then I installed it. In the cold light of dawn. Christmas morn.
Nothing automotive related, but my favorite cologne, Prada. I also received gift cards and vino. It was a lovely Christmas.
<img src="http://fimgs.net/images/perfume/o.1045.jpg"width="500"/>
What a girl.
Am not big on Xmas. But my father in law just got back from a business trip to China and I got a knock off Rolex Submariner. Very funny.
Just as I opened this page in my browser, my HSNC package arrived at my office door! Now, I don't know whether my Secret Ninja-Claus wants to be revealed, so I'll just post the contents:
1. Chocolate Covered Bacon-English Toffee
2. Chocolate-Bacon Toffee
3. Chocolate-Chip Bacon Toffee
4. Super-Secret Fantasy Fudge
5. Traditional (Bitter) Orange Marmalade, made from fruit fresh off the tree ← Made from pure heroin (the fruit, not the marmalade). I mean the oranges are so damned good they are like pure crack-cocaine, impossible to stop eating, so consider yourself damned lucky, bub.
There. That should maintain anonymity. Thanks, Pete and Super-Spouse! I will in no way let this influence my HCOTY vote.
I don't do the Facebook thing, so I haven't been following the HSNC stuff there. My apologies to the person who got my stuff, however, as Pete's is way better.
wow, with that list I am guessing it was Mitch.
I hope people are are not disappointed with what I sent out… I think I'll send out a follow-up package tomorrow.
I thought I'd done a better job of disguising the sender. Sorry, Mitch. I tried.
We made like, 6 batches. The first I ate, the second I screwed up and also ate, the third was perfect so I only ate half before Super-Spouse took it away and boxed it up for gifts.
Then we hit the road to the PNW delivering said goodies, and upon arriving at my parent's place she presented us with bacon-caramel-chocolate bites. Then my aunt came over and surprised us with giant bacon-caramel pretzel-sticks and bacon fudge brownie-bars.
I. Can't. Breathe… Arm numb… heart-beat visible on forehead. Tears smell like bacon.
Best X-mas ever.
<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/398864_2924064425237_1369652107_3152421_998377780_n.jpg" width="650">
It was more of a beverage related Xmas at the hwyengr house. The lady got me a Sodastream and I got her an automatic tea maker. Both of these items have blown my mind. I was unaware that people were still making quality appliances, but the tactile feel of the buttons on that tea machine are the best since the HP-48 calculator.
Been a hoonlurker for a while, but this would be as good as any time for that all important first post!
I, having a understanding wife and daughter, recieved the "Boss 302" book, 4 Mustang hot wheel cars, long underware, a large format HP printer for my art (prints on canvas!!), a wallet, and a Mustang themed metal garage sign. Yes!!
Congrats, and congrats on stepping out from the shadows
I've wanted to start brewing my own beer, but I've never acquired the tools necessary aside from John Palmer's How to Brew.
Wifey surprised me with a Mr. Beer brewing kit and my first batch is now fermenting away!
On an unrelated note, quality of Jeff's posts maybe hittin' the shitter soon.
Perhaps a testing of your brewing talent will be soon in order?
Sanitize everything! That's the best advice I can give you from my beer brewing adventures from many years ago. You're dealing with a bunch of living things in a bottle and if they get infected you'll get all kinds of crap growing in there.
In addition to a couple games I wanted, and some quality time with family, I got a new razor. I have never had such a close shave since my beard went all old growth forest on me.
Suddenly, ingrown neck hairs.
So yeah, Santa got me a rash.
Thanks, Santa.
Welcome to my world. I look like a bum or I have ingrown hair. I guess I look like a bum anyway because I have a full forest back 4 hours after shaving.
Likewise. I had to shave for the first time at 12 y/o. Now I'm sporting a 60 grit by noon. Growing a full beard is tempting if only for maintenance reasons.
I'm currently sporting a full beard for exactly this reason. I have a permanent shadow (no matter how closely I shave, ever, thanks to having coarse, dark hair), and it grows back out immediately. Fortunately, I'm a unix guy in the Bay Area: the general expectation is ZZ Top in Birkenstocks.
I'm probably going to go back to regular shaving soon. Dust masks and respirators don't seal over beards.
What type of razor did you get?
I got the Philips Norelco Speed 8240. I had been thinking for a while about switching to a rotary style razor. I have been using a Braun 7000 series for years now, and never really got that close of a shave with it, mostly because the hairs on my neck go in all different directions… It took forever and a day to get them all. It wasn't too bad on the rest of my face though, and overall I liked it. The rotary style seems to be working a lot better overall so far.
lol at the bearded unix guy image. So true…
Ah, an electric man. Lucky. The only thing I've gotten to work consistently is old school double edge blades. Takes a bit of practice and pfaffing about, but they're nice (but they still take time, even if you're quick).
(Also, I have definitely done my share of damage to unix guys everywhere by living up to the stereotypes at least some of the time…)
Couple of books, Ross Bentley's "Professional Race Driving Techniques" and Brilliant-Savarin's "Physiology of Taste", bread box and a pack of new socks, exactly what I wanted. Oh, and my son received his slot car set on which we were turning in 100 lap races all day yesterday. He's starting to get the idea of driving smoothly and consistently. My two year old daughter loves watching the cars and just giggles and squeals with joy when she sees them going around the track.
The only thing auto related was the time to get to level 50 (and then some) on Forza 4.
Most of the gifts I got were for my fiancee and myself, mostly kitchenwares and travel books for our honeymoon later this year. Other than that, my in-laws got me a little remote control helicopter, which I'm starting to crash less. Oh, and my fiancee got me an Ork Poster of Toronto, to add to the minor collection of framed maps.
Those maps hurt my head.
Admittedly, Toronto's a little dense (supposedly by far the most neighbourhoods in any one poster), but at the same time, I can sort of recognize what boundaries translate to as roads.
Even Philly, with whom I'm quite familiar with, is a bit painful. Keep letters to at most two orientations I think.
He sounds like a Mopar guy to me.
This Book. Also, I'm getting myself a techshop membership for the new year. 2012 should be an awesome year. Goal: start 2013 a few seconds earlier than the rest of the world at high speed and on fire.
hey jeepjeff….did you get anything for Hoonmas?
I did! I did! When I posted, mdharrel was still trying to be coy about HSNC. I figured that this wasn't the thread for posting about that. (I thought there was going to be an HSNC roundup thread, but I cannot find where I read that… It could be that I'm crazy.)
Someone sent me an awesome assortment of stuff. Some of it even Jeep related. (Including a die-cast WWII Jeep and a 'Wagoneer' badge, not sure what to do with the badge, but that's a piece for 'later inspiration') I got pictures.
The Wagoneer badge would be garage art!! A bunch of us are FB members and there is a group there for Hoonmas participants. And that someone would happen to live here in the Birthplace of Speed. Glad you got it and enjoyed the pieces. LRF.
It's totally garage art! But what kind of art to turn it into? It could just go on the wall, or it could be made a part of a larger piece. Inspiration will come.
Now that I'm home, the whole truth can be told. As y'all might have guessed, our ol' longrooffan pulled me for the exchange.
The first thing was an M83 WWII Army Jeep die cast, which is totally awesome. I'll probably take it to work, so I can stare at it and day dream about horsing around in my Jeep in the mountains.
I also mentioned a love of mid-late 60's sports car racing, so he also sent a Corvette Super Sport diecast, which is also excellent (ugly Corvettes don't exist[*], and this one is a looker amongst lookers).
He also threw in a Pontiac coffee cup (yay dead marques!), an AC Delco cooler, a keyring with what I believe is a Model A hotrod, a bunch of candy (strangers have the best candy) and he packed it all up in a Motive Gear Ring and Pinion box.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/N0yJA.jpg" />
I'm saving the box. I'll use it for next year's shipment.
[*] Ok, ok, there's that one C6 that we're all trying to forget… I'm sure there are other aftermarket monsters, too. I really just meant stock 'vettes.
Hives, head to toe. Brought on by an allergic reaction to ‘Christmas scented’ incense. Still got’em too!
My Hooniversal Secret Ninja-Claus, The Professor, sent Randy and me lovely hand-crafted pens, an inlaid pencil box, and a silver M-B keychain for my collection.
And I wasn't even especially good during the past year…
Thank you so much, Professor. They are exquisite…!
<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/383864_2661830158438_1636488070_2463042_61155943_n.jpg" width="500/">
Classy!
The best part, The Professor's enclosure reads as follows:
Holiday Greetings, Charles and Randy!
I am your Secret Ninja Hooniclaus this year, and I hope you like the gifts that I came up with. I wracked my brain for at least fifteen minutes before I decided on these, so I hope that you appreciate the effort. Actually, I was a bit taken aback when I found that I had drawn you, Charles. I thought, "Good Lord! What on earth do I have that is perverse enough to amuse Charles?" Nothing, as it turns out, so I decided for a more mundane approach.
The pens and box are made by me. It's something that I do every year for friends and family. The pens are made of stabilized box elder burl wood in the natural 'flame' color. The wood is stabilized by forcing an acrylic resin into all of the water passages in the wood, under high pressure and heat. It makes what would normally be a fragile wood very strong, hard, and water resistant. They should serve both of you for many years. The box is made of inlayed black walnut.
I wanted to include something auto-related, and that's where the Mercedes key chain comes in. It's something that I acquired back in the '80s when I worked for a Mercedes-Benz dealership. MBNA had just come out with a new deluxe service program, I forget what it was all about, and these keychains were part of the materials that the dealership received. They were intended for our 'special' (read: wealthy) customers, so I grabbed a few of them. It's made of solid silver as I recall, and it might even have some sort of collectors value to it. I liked them because they were sharp looking, and I didn't want the rich bastards that I had to deal with every day to get them. And now you have one too. I hope that you find it somewhat interesting.
Have a marvelous holiday season!
Cheers, The Professor (aka DM) [name redacted]
My brother got me a ticket to see Roger Waters do the entire Pink Floyd album The Wall live. I actually saw it last December and am excited to be able to see it again. They build up the wall on stage and then project scenes from the movies and other images before they "tear down the wall". If the show comes near you and you are of a certain age, check it out.
http://www.roger-waters.com/
My buddy showed me video of the same concert (he saw it in NY last year) – looks AMAZING
I got nuthin from Santa Hoon this year. So, acting as my own Santa Hoon, I purchased a copy of this.
<img src="http://www.autoviva.com/img/photos/490/speed_reads_the_limit_by_michael_cannell_large_79490.jpg">
Haven't had a chance to open it yet…
<img src="http://www.tanshanomi.com/temp/IMG_0103_drill_press-cropped.jpg">
Oh, I see more "I fixed something" articles coming!
I have a similar but older machine. It is one of the most useful tool one can get. I might have to upgrade mine with a crank table and a freaking laser.
I have a smaller version that and it's worth it's weight in gold.
On the automotive front, a copy of Senna on Bluray and a Scalextric James Bond Aston DB5 slot car. Oh, and a Clive Cussler book.
I wasn't expecting the slot car so had already bought a Flyslot Lancia 037 as a gift to myself.
I got some cooking impliments that are welcomed in my kitchen, a handy dandy screwdriver/flashlight (thanks Santa) and a bunch of cool stuff for Hoonmas. The Street Machine longroof already has a home on the shelf along with a busted up bearing. The 66 longroof photo taken by my Secret Santa is on the wall and the R-134 fluid is going to be collecting dust for awhile. And a compliment on my "pseudo folksy" Hooniverse writing style. Thanks Michael. Happy Holidays to all my fellow Hoons.
<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6584812379_5be2d19907.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="1 011">
<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6584813987_7e2e382838.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="hoonimas2011 002">
My present to myself was a new digital camera (Canon S100), along with a proper tripod for it.
My wife got me a "Scottish Driving Cap" that was made in the USA… According to her admittedly biased opinion, I look sharp wearing it. I have yet to try wearing it while driving with the (car's) top down.
In addition to a couple of gift cards, I have one more present that got delayed due to bad weather on the East Coast…
Kamil: I bought a Lego Unimog when it first came out. I kept it stock for about two days and then did this to it:
[youtube KGEQcvXVInA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGEQcvXVInA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL youtube]
I got a compound sliding orbital saw (that is positively massive), a titanium spork, and a "free" shopsmith from a friend.
Hoonmas got me a super cool Forza 4 press kit, a trophy I am going to tell my coworkers I won fair and square, and a SRT hat. All very awesome.
Socks (standard gift each year), a USB flash drive and a bottle of wine.
Nothing car related (my car stereo doesn't take USB flash drives)
Socks, shirts, a Sony e-reader and books about hockey and one terrific coffee table book called "Muscle Cars" thats about three inches thick. Mrs. Target29 gets me.