VENTURA NATIONALS is this Saturday!
Fireball will be Vlogging from THE VENTURA NATIONALS this Saturday! SOme of the best cars on the planet, so BE THERE!
Classic 5MINUTE DRIVE PLAYLIST on FIREBALL MALIBU VLOG!
5MINUTE DRIVE was the original series that inspired “Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” and the very first in-car interview Series!
Fireball interviews GEORGE BARRIS, STUNTMEN, DENISE CROSBY, SYD MEAD, TONY DOW, MATT FARAH and even SANTA CLAUS!
BLUE BOMBERS on FIREBALL MALIBU VLOG…
Feel the need for the BLUES in your life? Well, these Vlogs in BLUE will help to alleviate your troublesome mind by bringing you just plain AWESOMENESS. CLICK AND WATCH your favorite cars in Blue!
From WIKI… Blue is the colour between violet and green on the spectrum of visible light.
The modern English word blue comes from Middle English bleu or blewe, from the Old French bleu, a word of Germanic origin related to Old Dutch, Old High German, Old Saxon blāo and Old Frisian blāw, blau.
The clear sky and the deep sea appear blue because of an optical effect known as Rayleigh scattering.
When sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the blue wavelengths are scattered more widely by the oxygen and nitrogen molecules, and more blue comes to our eyes. An optical effect called Tyndall scattering, similar to Rayleigh scattering, explains blue eyes; there is no blue pigment in blue eyes.
Distant objects appear more blue because of another optical effect called atmospheric perspective.
Blue has been used for art and decoration since ancient times.
The semi-precious stone lapis lazuli, coming from mines in Afghanistan, was used in ancient Egypt for jewelry and ornament and later, in The Renaissance, to make the pigment ultramarine, the most expensive of all pigments.
It is the most important color in Judaism. In the Middle Ages, cobalt blue was used to colour the stained glass windows of cathedrals. Beginning in the 9th century, Chinese artists used cobalt to make fine blue and white porcelain.
Blue dyes for clothing were made from woad in Europe and indigo in Asia and Africa. In 1828 a synthetic ultramarine pigment was developed, and synthetic blue dyes and pigments gradually replaced mineral pigments and vegetable dyes.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh and other late 19th century painters used ultramarine and cobalt blue not just to depict nature, but to create moods and emotions.
In the late 18th century and 19th century, blue became a popular colour for military uniforms and police uniforms. In the 20th century, because blue was commonly associated with harmony, it was chosen as the colour of the flags of the United Nations and the European Union.
Toward the end of the 20th century, dark blue replaced dark grey as the most common colour for business suits; surveys showed that blue was the colour most associated with the masculine, just ahead of black, and was also the colour most associated with intelligence, knowledge, calm and concentration.
Surveys in the US and Europe show that blue is the colour most commonly associated with harmony, faithfulness, confidence, distance, infinity, the imagination, cold, and sometimes with sadness.
In US and European public opinion polls it is the most popular colour, chosen by almost half of both men and women as their favourite colour.
AficionAUTO and Fireball hit the canyons in the MAZDA MX5 RF…
Great episode with Christopher Rutkowski and I, driving through Malibu in the 2017 MAZDA MX5 RF. Shot this a couple weeks back. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to Christopher’s YT Channel for Movie Car stuff too. It’s awesome.
PURPLE MEANS POWER on FIREBALL MALIBU VLOG!
If you’re a newcomer to the Vlog, it’s my job to keep you on your automotive toes by revealing NEW CARS, CAR EVENTS, CAR MUSEUMS and sometimes, THE WILD THING.
It’s Automotive Inspiration through CAR CULTURE as a whole.
Case in point, PURPLE MEANS POWER is known all too well here on FMV. This cover shot is the car I designed for the film “Son of the Mask“ and is now at the Volo Museum in Chicago.
But CLICK THE LINK and you’ll see the BEST PURPLE POWER VLOGS ever!
WHEELS AND WAVES is September 17th…
RESTORED 1952 CHEVY SUBURBAN WOODIE – FIREBALL MALIBU VLOG 688
RESTORED 1952 CHEVY SUBURBAN WOODIE – FIREBALL MALIBU VLOG 688 – Fireball and Kathie head to the Murphy Museum to return the ’62 Pickup, spot a fully restored 1952 Chevy Suburban Woodie. The next day, it’s off to Wheels and Windmills in Solvang!
From WIKI… The Chevrolet Suburban is a full-size, extended-length sport utility vehicle from Chevrolet.
It is the longest continuous use automobile nameplate in production, starting in 1935 for the 1935 U.S. model year, and has traditionally been one of General Motors’ most profitable vehicles.
The Suburban has been produced under the Chevrolet, Holden, Plymouth and GMC marques until the GMC version was rebranded as the GMC Yukon XL.
For most of its recent history, the Suburban has been a station wagon-bodied version of the Chevrolet pickup truck, including the Chevrolet C/K and Silverado series of truck-based vehicles.
Cadillac offers a version called the Escalade ESV.
The Suburban is sold in the United States (including the insular territories), Canada, Mexico, Chile, the Philippines, and the Middle East (except Israel) as a left-hand drive vehicle, while the Yukon XL is sold only in North America (United States and Canada) and The Middle East territories (except Israel).
This model 1952 generation was based on the Chevrolet Advance Design series of pickups.
Beginning in 1953, the Hydra-Matic 4-speed automatic transmission was available in GMC models and in the 1954 model year Chevrolet Suburbans.
Models with rear panel doors were designated “3106,” while those with tailgates were designated “3116.”
In 1952, the Suburban came with either a tail gate or panel doors. The front bench seat was split, with two seats on the driver’s side and a single seat on the passenger side, which slid forward for access to the rear two rows of seats.
The second row was a “2/3” seat, requiring occupants to move past the front passenger seat, as well as the second row seats to access the third row.
This was the last series to feature “Canopy express” models.
The design of the 1949 Suburban would inspire the design of the Chevrolet HHR over half a century later.
Coolest Vehicle Designs of the Week…
MAPLE SWEET HOMEMADE GRANOLA – MALIBU VEGAN KITCHEN 005
MAPLE SWEET HOMEMADE GRANOLA – MALIBU VEGAN KITCHEN 005 – In today’s episode of Malibu Vegan Kitchen, Kathie makes a maple sweet homemade granola from scratch.
From WIKI… Granola is a breakfast food and snack food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey or other sweeteners such as brown sugar, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until it is crisp, toasted and golden brown.
During the baking process, the mixture is stirred to maintain a loose breakfast cereal consistency.
Dried fruit, such as raisins and dates, and confections such as chocolate are sometimes added. Granola, particularly if it includes flax seeds, is often used to improve digestion.
Granola is often eaten in combination with yogurt, honey, fresh fruit (such as bananas, strawberries or blueberries), milk or other forms of cereal. It also serves as a topping for various pastries, desserts or ice cream.
Granola is carried by people who are hiking, camping, or backpacking because it is nutritious, lightweight, high in calories, and easy to store (properties that make it similar to trail mix and muesli).
As a snack, it is often combined with honey or corn syrup and condensed into a bar form that makes it easy to carry for packed lunches, hiking, or other outdoor activities.
The names Granula and Granola were registered trademarks in the late 19th century United States for foods consisting of whole grain products crumbled and then baked until crisp, in contrast to the at that time (about 1900) contemporary invention, muesli, which is traditionally neither baked nor sweetened.
The name is now a trademark only in Australia and New Zealand, but is still more commonly referred to as muesli there.
Granula was invented in Dansville, New York, by Dr. James Caleb Jackson at the Jackson Sanitarium in 1863.
The Jackson Sanitarium was a prominent health spa that operated into the early 20th century on the hillside overlooking Dansville. It was also known as Our Home on the Hillside; thus the company formed to sell Jackson’s cereal was known as the Our Home Granula Company.
Granula was composed of Graham flour and was similar to an oversized form of Grape-Nuts. A similar cereal was developed by John Harvey Kellogg.
It too was initially known as Granula, but the name was changed to Granola to avoid legal problems with Jackson.
The CARPOCALYPSE has begun… and it’s Cool
So there I was, coming out of Starbucks and heading to my daily ride when the corner of my eye dragged me to a down and dirty sight.
There in the Malibu Country Mart parking lot stood a 2012 Dodge Charger with some serious modification.
FADE IN: Christopher Rutkowski is a director/producer of cool car content. He loves cars and his passion is to film them not only in movies, but also on his Youtube Channel (theAFICIONAUTO and www.driveTA.com). He is a serious movie car fan and has owned many of them.
But this 2012 Dodge Charger (apocalypse edition) wasn’t just any movie car. It was fully armed with zombie-splattering mods and blunt force mods. Let me explain.
Under the dented, smashed and hammered skin lies a 3.6L Pentastar V6 with 290 horsepower — just enough to cross town and launch zombies into neighborhood yardage.
But the car also includes a defense exoskeleton, front ramming guard, extra large truck steelies, and Mickey Thompson Baja tires with lots of gross leftover zombie parts.
With real rust, fake rust and rusty rust, the car had an apocalypse wrap convincing enough that zombies would think it’s real (as they can smell fresh paint a mile away) and window cages that allow one to put their wallet in the dash with cash hanging out and no worries that anyone can do anything about it!
“I’ve had this car for about two years now,” Rutkowski started. “I got it in a prop auction online for the TV show ‘Defiance.’ It is the perfect car for me and my business, theAFICIONAUTO. I document and sell movie cars online, so when I was looking for a new business car to replace my ‘Jurassic Park’ Jeep, this was the perfect candidate.
“The show ‘Defiance’ itself wasn’t that popular so it can easily be identified with me and my brand,” he continued. “The fans of the show will love it when they see it. It’s robust and strong for a V6, and the cage keeps it secure and safe.
No one will ever be able to break in and steal my camera gear. It’s also pretty ideal for my dog to hang out in with all the windows open since the gates keep him from escaping.”
Sounds pretty frickin’ awesome to me.
According to Rutkowski, the best part of the car is the wheels matched up with the exoskeleton.
“[It] makes it look like the baddest thing on the road and people get out of your way,” he said.
Except for the zombies. Stupid zombies.
“It’s my daily driver, my camera car and I use it to go to Costco and for TV and film shoots,” Rutkowski said.
I’m pretty sure that taking this car to Costco would scare anyone. If I was in the driver’s seat, I’d just drive it right through the store and scoop up lots of paper towels for zombie cleanup.
The car was also recently the star of a ‘Mad Max’-style car chase in the deserts of California City.
“Just three weeks ago we had the ambitious idea to produce and shoot a large-scale chase scene with this car and many other apocalyptic cars in the desert,” Rutkowski said. “Twelve hours of shooting on the hottest day of the year and surprisingly the engine didn’t fail or overheat once!
“Other than that, everyday is a great story. People surround it at gas stations and parking lots and ask every question under the sun. Surprisingly, many think it’s a proper race car or some kind of dune racer.”
Nope, it’s a zombie killer and people ought to get that right off the bat.
The best thing about driving in Malibu for Rutkowski?
“The roads in the canyons coupled with the best weather in the region. It’s smooth and curvy and the community of auto enthusiasts is so strong here,” he said. “You don’t feel alienated by everyone for having an octane addiction. It’s my motor paradise.”
Well, I can appreciate that fact … and Rutkowski’s passion. But underneath all his kindness and movie-making expertise lies a zombie eradicating monster machine of death.
Oh, and it’d be a great car to have in the event of a mummy attack, too.
Want to be featured? Send Fireball an email at askfireball@fireballtim.com.
