Misc.

Nothing too exciting going on. But a lot of new "stuff" coming soon. Some custom kitchen chairs are coming in a few weeks (www.barsandbooths.com) so that's exciting, as well as new attic windows. It's also time to buckle down and put my freelance money to work and get a new Apple rig. Still debating tween a tower and an iMac. More later...

New Oktoberfeski Shirt!

Oktoberfest may be over but this shirt is great year-round! New design is up!

Brew City MINI Tour

Brew City MINI Tour
Originally uploaded by crustyjoe

We had a fun, sunny Saturday drive on September 9th with the Milwaukee MINIs. Thirty MINIs started at the lake with a photo at the Milwaukee art museum and traveled around the city visiting various Milwaukee historic icon and quirky sites, with samples along the way! Sites included Usinger's, Tulip Flower shop, Wisconsin Cheese Mart, the Chocolate Tree and Sciortino's Bakery on Brady Street. The best stop was Koz's Mini Bowl on the the South Side, that was a blast! Marcia made friends with the pinsetters. I designed a decal for the event, which turned out great! Photos of the event are here.

Mr. Weiner Shirt!

Hello! New t-shirt is online. Like camping? Like wieners? Why not both! Mr. Wiener is now on a t-shirt for your apparel enjoyment.... buy now while supplies last!

...another design to come soon.

Car Control Clinic

Wow! You never really know your car 'till you push it to the edge. We didn't go that fast, but I really got a feel of how to drive the MINI. This was a blast even though I probably took a year of rubber of my tires. In addition to classroom time we hit the pavement with these exercises:

Braking: Lets you feel your ABS brakes and know when and how to engage them and how to respond to them.


Skid Pad: Help learn throttle control which was driving in a circle while staying as close to the cones as possible, no brakes allowed. Took a little bit to master, but was pretty fun once I got the hang of it. (That's me taking some rubber off the MINI)


Slalom: Gives the opportunity to feel the side-to-side weight transfer in your car. I only hit cones once!

Accident Avoidance: Taught how to swerve to miss obstacles in the road while keeping your car under control. Pretty humbling.

Autocross: Combination of all the exercises, a twisty course that is low-speed but fun! This was a blast, had lots of encouragement in the way of an M3 up my tailpipe. (I got my chance to go after him tho.)

If you ever have a chance to take a course like this, I highly recommend it! As you can see below, there were quite a range of cars there, even two Honda Accords! The BMW M3s were pretty amazing tho, and of course the MINIs were too! (there were nine of us!)



(thanks again Dustin & "MOE4me" for the pics!)

Cafe Hollander

This place is great. After my visit the Belgian region last spring I was pretty excited to hear this place would have Belgian/Dutch inspired food. We have sample multiple burgers and sandwiches (Lion burger, Tulip Turkey burger, Curry chicken sandwich) so far and have not been disappointed with anything! The Frites are terrific, especially the sauces... the Thai sauce is our favorite. And then there of course, the beer. All of the Belgians are served in their appropriate glass and the selection is one of the best. For a real treat, the Tripel Karmeleit is a must! It's like drinking beer candy! Definitely will be a summer favorite.

Milwaukee Mile

Drove the Milwaukee Mile last Saurday with the Milwaukee MINIs group. Was pretty fun! There were over 30 MINIs there which was a pretty large showing. They told us we could only go 45, but the pace trucks got up to 70 on the last lap! Holy G-Forces!

(thanks to Dustin for the pic)

Mr. Toasty

In case you didn't know (or even care!) there's a new t-shirt design up... Mr. Toasty and his alter ego!

The Zalenski MINI

Never introduced our MINI! Picked her up in September and it's been a blast to own. Joined a MINI group in town and have been to a few events. Have a couple modifications in mind, hopefully will do them soon!

(thanks to Tom for the pic!)