Finally on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joeyredmond

So I am slow to act on Twitter I know but I am making a large effort to spread my social imprint here on the Internet so I have been quickly working on covering a ton of sites. Everyone I know on Twitter has been talking about the new layout and how amazing it is so I figured I mine as well join. Hopefully my twits go out to people!

Follow Me: www.twitter.com/joeyredmond

Rosa Mexicano - Atlantic Station - Atlanta, GA

WOW so I found the worst Mexican food in Atlanta hands down. Living within a mile of Atlantic Station I have been eager to actually find a place that serves good food inside Atlantic Station but that has yet to happen. I kind of ignored some negative reviews I read on Yelp and we ventured to Rosa Mexicano anyway.

So our dining experience started off around a 5 star rating and then everything went horribly wrong. I ordered a side of plantains and they were terrific. Then I ordered some strange chicken enchilada item that had some stupid name that no one could ever pronounce and didn't even seem very Mexican but who am I to say being I was in Monterrey, Mexicolast month but hey, I am pumped on the dish before it comes so far.
I get it and it tastes like some strange lemon chicken thing that is far from perfect. So I bail on my dinner plate and move towards the tortilla's which are DISGUSTING. How do you call yourself a Mexican place with bad tortilla's, bad beans, AND bad rice. I think we are still okay and they have salvaged around 2 stars at this point until I have a conversation with our waitress.

So I kindly ask her where the bathroom is and she cannot tell me in an around the corner fashion. She is like well it's behind the flying man waterfall blah blah but be careful because their are pictures on the door and the girl one is a woman but she kinda looks like a man so it could be confusing. Just when your walking straight make sure you walk into the door to the left. So I am feeling pretty intimidated here waiting to experience the horrible feeling of walking into the women's bathroom but it never happened. For starters they have letters on the door that are M and W but clearly letter recognition was a little over my head? And the female picture is the famous Frida Kahlo, like come on!? All in all the food sucked but it wasn't the worst stuff I have ever had. Where they manage to lose the last star was this stupid experience cost $64 (for 2 people)! I am going to stick with La Fonda. Sorry for the drawn out description here but yea, Atlantic Station is clearly good for movies and not food. I give up!

Find Wrecked Magazine's videos in Google Video Search

After some re focus of Wrecked Magazine in recent months and the new 2.0 launch we have been looking for ways to help optimize our videos and our clients work that is featured up on our website. We are now optimized and searchable in Google video. Our whole library currently can be found and searchable within the Google video software which should provide huge traffic to our website. Each video even has a link straight to www.wreckedmagazine.com under the player that fans can click to drive direct traffic. It looks like Google reads our sitemap about once a day to add new photos into this program. We are very excited about this marketing implementation we did this week and will update soon on the success of this program. Thanks to the team for all the hard work we have put in to make this happen over the past few weeks.

Fat Matt's Rib Shack - Atlanta

After having my friend Kelly yelling at me for months upon months I finally decided to visit Fat Matt's and I didn't even go with her, haha. The one thing was the line was very long (it was worth the wait) but they seemed to have no system for a long line and I would assume it's like that quite often. I was wedged in line between the front door/porch door/people trying to leave and kept getting body checked in every direction, haha. As for the food, it was amazing and I cannot wait to go back and try more. It has this very authentic southern BBQ feel, the place is quaint and homely and I loved the outdoor dining area as well.

Parking is not the best right where the area is it but you can make it work it seems, just a little bit of patience. The menu is very simple and straight to the point which I love and is very much how every dining establishment should look to serve you, a blatant quick easy to read menu with a few specialty items. If you don't like meat then don't bother coming in here.

www.fatmattsribshack.com
Yelp Review
Style: Dine In/Take-Out
Type: BBQ
Location:
1811 Piedmont Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30324
(404) 607-1622

The Monster Mile takes another one!

The fall race at Dover ended up being a very different song from the Spring race for the few Kyle Busch fans in the world. With the worst start for him since the Chase began in Loudin I just cannot even bring myself to admit what has happened. Our empire on top since Atlanta was whipped clean two weeks ago and it appears Jack Rousch has been feeding lady luck. The only enjoyment really from the whole Dover race was when Kyle's motor blew he radio'd his spotter Jeff in a comical fashion and just started yelling "were on fire....we are on fire, WOOOOOOOOOO." They tried to ride the damaged piston out but shortly after the car was pulled into th garage and Busch finds himself 12th in the Chase.

This has to be a frustrating time for everyone at Joe Gibbs and KBM as the perfect season has quickly become anything but that. I will admit watching the whole Rouch team battling at the end was some of the best racing I have seen out of NASCAR in a long long time, it's just a shame they all didn't crash on the last lap in a blaze of glory taking out the whole field allowing Michael Waltrip to take home a win, that would of been the most amazing evening in NASCAR history for sure. Hopefully Kyle can change the karma up for Kansas this weekend and start gaining ground back in the Chase!

2008 welcome to 1973

Clearly it's not important to learn anything from history.......so 1973 Oil Embargo welcome to the 2008 let's all go buy gas for no reason and get rid of all the gas in the metro Atlanta area! Oh well.......after hours of exploring I finally found a place to get gasoline tonight. +10.

Formula 1 Singapore Preview

Sorry for you non F1 fanatics out there but I am victim of being a huge one! This is a great little video for the F1 Singapore race this weekend. This weekend in Singapore will not only be the first street circuit ever run in Asia it is the first night race in F1 history! Check out this simulator drive through with Mark Webber.

Zeitgeist - Dive Bar - Mission - San Fransico, CA

While trolling around Mission after a day of work up north we needed some food and our friend recommend Zeitgeist....how that made sense I have no idea but we went anyway. Grilled cheese sandwiches baby at a great price with some home fries that were a tad spicy but still delicious for a dive bar by all means. The one funny thing about the food system is I watched a girl in front of us take someone's food that wasn't hers, then I stole the girls food which I figured out later.....very confusing delivery process I guess? Luckily they have two things on the menu so just steal your food early.

Drinks very good and fairly priced for SF and I loved the outdoor patio. I definitly had plenty of SXSW flashbacks while inside this place. Although much of my SXSW experience can be written off a a blur I want to say the place has a vibe very similar to Emo's which hosts some of the biggest bands all week in Austin, Texas.

Parking wasn't even that horrible as we found a place right under the 101 next to Black Heart Tattoo which is right next door.
Yelp Review
Style: Drink/Random Food/Eat Outside
Type: Dive Bar
Neighborhood: Mission
Location:
199 Valencia St (at Duboce Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 255-7505

Las Vegas Ferrari Drifting

Read more: Drifting through Las Vegas in a Ferrari

My review featured at G37driver.com

If you read my blog frequently you read my comparison of my old G35 coupe to the G37S coupe I now drive. NICO contacted me and asked if they could feature it on the main page of G37driver.com! The piece came out together looking great so make sure you swing by G37Driver.com if you have any interest in the Infiniti coupe. I just got home from San Francisco and will provide some updates as soon as I get some free time!

Kennedy Brothers NOS Energy Drink Ad

This ad was actually shot by Gene Tjin but I was able to setup the lightning for the shot. We were on site doing a video shoot and Gene asked us to help him out to nail a perfect shot. This was the end result! The only thing that I wish we could of done differently was we tried running an ARRI constant light that was hidden inside the car to give it some back light but we could never really get it to work. I was able to do it for the video we put together at their shop so it ended up working out.

Comparison: My Infiniti G35 to the G37

My old Infiniti G35

My old Infiniti G37


I definitly like the G37 more as an overall package. I will give you a rundown of my review between the two. I just made a post at G35club.org reviewing my thoughts between the G35 and G37, below is what I had to say:

Factory Options: This is the big winner between the G35 and the G37. Each car I have owned came with every factory option and the G37 takes the cake in the fun toys department.
For audio/visual fiends the G37 winds hand over fist. The navigation screen is finally touch screen and Infiniti manged to integrate the radio into the screen display. The G37 will allow you to rip CD's to your Music Box Hard Drive and you can also load music in from a Compact Flash slot on the dash. I have to admit I don't use either of these but they seem like cool options. My big winner is the iPod plug-in that let's you browse your iPod on the screen and control your iPod with the steering wheel controls. This was a huge plus for me as it allows me to play my iPod and keep it charged with clear music. In my G35 I used a FM modulator which was horrible sounding with that great Bose system. I live in a downtown area and my condo is in a tight parking complex so I love the back up camera they added for the G37. Wrapping up the factory options section the auto tilt headlights are cool and the laser guided cruise control works upon testing in my area but I haven't taken it on a decent road trip yet to really put it up to the true test. I do live in Atlanta which means traffic is horrible and the NavTraffic is a pretty cool feature but it seems to fail me 80% of the time. It will tell me traffic is in the area when it isn't or it won't warn me of traffic ahead, in the systems defense Atlanta traffic is ridiculous!

Power: The G37 has some decent pep to it over the G35 but it's nothing that is going to blow you away by any means. The powerbands between the two cars seem to act differently however. The G35 seemed to have this strong low end almost like a V8 in the way that you could drive it and it pulled. The G37 has much more of an across the board pull with a strong finish in the RPM's (similar to dare I say a VTEC motor) which I tend to enjoy since I am a former Honda owner ten times over. The G37 wins this section as well.

Suspension/Braking: This by far is where the G series will win any automotive fan over. The G37 added the 4 wheel active steering which the first time I really did some spirited driving it kind of freaked me out as it is adjusting your steering angle, ratio also your rear wheel angle which sometimes you can feel. It almost gives a simulated feeling that your car is starting to slide out deep into a turn and then just get this feeling that the turn isn't being over driven at all. Kind of a creepy feeling but you can easily disable the 4 wheel steering with a button next to the VDC if you must. I love it but I would say the cars are equal in this point. Regardless of tweaks that the G37 made over the G35 both cars are equipped with overkill for street performance and I just love it!

Trunk Space: No more hope in the G37. They both lose in this category.

Overall Review: With all this being said the car is generally the same, especially for an "average" driver. I am a huge sucker for cool electronic options and horsepower so the G37 heavily wins my heart on that note. If you just want the basic mid range luxury ride then the G35 should fit your own needs just fine. The extra money for the G37 really comes down to the little add-ons and cool features and if you think they are worth it.

Formula 1 Belgium at SPA

I finally am getting caught up on my TIVO and I just watched the Formula 1 Belgium race at SPA and it has to be the most amazing motorsport races I have seen in my lifetime! Even dismissing my favorite team out of the factor I was truly blown away at how much action this race has. I won't provide any spoilers for those of you who haven't had the pleasure at watching it but wow.

The rain kicked in with two laps left and really put a mix up in everyone's plans. Tons of lead changes, cars spinning on the track, slamming into the walls, people not switching to wet tires as the rain comes pouring down! Wow this was an amazing race let me tell you! I probably watch a good 40 hours of motorspots a week between NASCAR Craftsman/Nationwide/Sprint Cup practice, qualifying, race and the other organizations I tune into like IRL, LeMans, and WRC. With that being said this race got me more excited than I have been in a long time. So excited that at 6:08am I decided to hop out of bed and make this blog post instead of closing my eyes.
I have never seen that many lead changes in the last three laps of a F1 race since I have been following F1 in a very hardcore matter. Spa always seems to entertain the crowd and wow this really put a crazy mix up in the Ferrari x McLaren show down. I cannot wait to see how the championship plays out this year.

The 1998 Spa race was a crazy one too, check out this track layout they run in Belgium. It is so large than when weather becomes a factor it only effects certain parts of the track resulting in confusion in tires and how the track will wind up.

Atlanta Braves Fireworks Photography

I got a call to do some firework photography at the Atlanta Braves games on Friday night and I couldn't turn down a chance to get out and do some work over the weekend. For those of you not from Atlanta or if you have never been to a Friday night game the fireworks setup is very unique. Every Friday night home game the Braves pick a theme like 80's night or James Bond and they play music for 6-10 minutes accordingly. Then they sync the fireworks show to the music selected to meet that theme giving the fans a great production after a game.

You can click on any of my fireworks images to get a larger 1024x version.



Check out all of our pictures: Atlanta Braves Fireworks Photography

Holy Taco - East Atlanta Village - Review

I went to Holy Taco last night with some friends and it was my third visit to this location so I figured it was time to start reviewing this place already. For atmosphere, cool look, and a great padio they get a 5 without a question. If you don't have taste buds and want somewhere awesome to go then this is your destination without hesitation.

Moving onto the non ascetics the chips are my favorite thing to eat here by far, they are amazing and fried and just good. Wow! The few food items I have sampled are not terrific and the portions of almost everything here seem to be a little small. Keep in mind that the food is very cheap (price wise) here and I have to say it wins my vote for bargain Mexican food any day of the week. The only time I would pick Taco Cabana over Holy Taco is Holy Taco eventually closes at night and Cabana is 24 hours.

Info:

Holy Taco
Yelp Review
Style: Dine In/Take-Out
Type: Mexican/Bar
Neighborhood: East Atlanta Village
Location:
1314 Glenwood Ave SE
Atlanta, GA 30316
(404) 230-6177

Spotted: Vert Lamborghini

I was on my way to the grocery store yesterday afternoon and spotted this right by my house on Piedmont. Nice ride, I think he should of went with all black on the wheels though and it would of made this car a huge +1.

Rice Box Atlanta - Review!

If your on Yelp make sure you add me: My Yelp Account. I ventured out to a new place in midtown called Ricebox right by the MAC theater. Here is my review that I posted on Yelp.

I think a few people have been a tad rough on the review they gave Rice Box but by all means this place doesn't win 5 stars. Walking into the place is a tad strange feel (not very take out Chinese style, which is a good thing) but the place is incomplete or almost under construction. One wall is all ripped up like something was missing and half the lights on the back booth wall were out. The last issue before we get into the food is they don't have a menu posted up on the wall which yet to makes no sense. You kinda walk up and prey you can figure out what your ordering quickly before you feel dumb. I failed at this but threw a friend under the bus to order first while I spied at a take out menu.

The food was decent but very underwhelming. For under $4 I was able to score a huge blow of fried rice and eggs which blew me away and filled me up but I was a tad upset that it had just that.....eggs and rice. No carrots or the other typical items that are mixed in with fried rice but what can you do? I tried a friends beef lo mein which was pretty yummy of the dishes I sampled from friends. Tons of noodles and not so much beef so be forewarned. The orange chicken is blah, hands down. Enter at your own risk but keep in mind it's a great place to score some cheap Chinese food in Midtown.

Info:
Ricebox
Yelp Review
Style: Delivery/Take-Out/Dine In
Type: Chinese
Neighborhood: Midtown
Location:
931 Monroe Drive
Atlanta, GA 30308
(404) 685-8655

Disc Brakes Australia Ad for Wrecked Magazine Issue 6

So we picked up a new advertiser in Disc Brakes Australia for Issue 6 of Wrecked Magazine and Yoni called on me to shoot the photography for the spread featuring their sponsored driver Tony Angelo from the Drift Alliance. We actually shot the photo in the pre grid section of Evergreen Speedway right before qualifying at the Formula D Seattle event. The photo was created with my Canon 30D hand held with a Speedlite 580EX remotely fired on a stand next to me. The sky and some other elements really helped this piece come together. You can also click on the images below to open up a higher resolution version



Yoni then took that photograph along with a shot of Tony Angelo ripping it off the bank at Seattle and put some great design behind the ad to make it flow very well! If you want to see the ad in the magazine click here.

My Infiniti G37

I have had my Infiniti G37S for a little bit now but I haven't gotten around to posting it up on the blog yet.



Check out the full story here: www.wreckedmagazine.com/joeyredmond/2008/09/my-infiniiti-g37s/