The Newest Additions

This Christmas, I introduced two new members to my photography collection. First, I would like you to meet my new tripod, in all of its carbon fiber glory.

I have been wanting a tripod for a long time, ever since the last one that I stole from my parent's ancient camcorder broke. And it's carbon fiber!!! What's not to love about that?

The next member of my photography collection is very special to me. I have been eyeing new lenses for years now, just to be disappointed by extravagant price tags. I think that Canon felt my long draught in purchases and decided to take corrective action. I give you the EF-S ultra wide 10-18mm IS STM.

I absolutely love how much I can fit into a picture. This lens came just in time for me to take some pictures of some of the other things that I love. See for yourself.

(Mmm.... Jaguar F-Type. I need to fit one of these in my garage. The crackle that comes from the exhaust during a downshift is such a heavenly sound)

(Audi A7. My personal favorite sportback. I'm going to need a very large garage)

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Life has been busy.

When is it not busy?

I'm scrambling to finish my Master's.

I spend far too many hours watching Top Gear and dreaming about cars.

I miss playing with my camera.

(taken in the beautiful fog from this evening)

The Volkswagen Scirocco

The new Volkswagen Scirocco. The hatchback that sticks out from all the rest. It's nimble, quick and sleek. Its smoldering grimace catches the eye of any passerby. It is the best small hatchback I have ever seen in my life.

Why am I so obsessed with the Scirocco? Maybe it's because I saw the diesel version reviewed on Top Gear, my favorite car show. Though that review was not in the positive for this wonderful little car, it was the diesel version. The gas (or petrol, as Europeans call it) version offers a lot more satisfaction. For one thing, it does not sound like a canal boat barreling down the road. Also, it's faster, more responsive and better sounding than its diesel friend. 

Another reason I'm obsessed with it is because no one has one. There are a few in Europe, but in America, we don't even know what this car is. Who knows anyone that has one of these? If you know someone, tell me. I'll buy it off of them. 

I'm actually not that big a fan of the hatchback. I've never actually understood the concept or appeal, but the Scirocco... The Scirocco has changed my mind. It makes the hatchback appealing and cool.

Not mention it's called a Scirocco. How cool of a name is that? Doesn't get much cooler than that. Except maybe the Lamborghini Aventador, but that's a whole different league of car.

Well, back to Scirocco. I get distracted so easily. The name Scirocco has an interesting meaning. It is a term used to describe a wind that blows from the Sahara Desert over north Africa, southern Europe and the Mediterranean. It's a particularly strong wind that often causes extreme sandstorms. The Volkswagen Scirocco indeed flies like the wind, unless you have the diesel version. Then it's a canal boat puttering it's way down the river. But it's not a diesel. Because I wouldn't buy a diesel. Because I like to fly like the wind.

Spring Break

This year marked the first time I have had a Spring Break in 9 years. I still can't figure out why BYU doesn't give us a Spring Break because it is the greatest thing ever. Here's just a little glimpse into what I did for Spring Break in Germany.

--Also, you can expect my blog to shift focuses from Vienna to Germany for the next little while. I did so much and it will take a lot of posts to cover.--

The first place in which we (Paige, Teancum and I) arrived was Salzburg. Technically, still in Austria, but not Vienna. We spent the evening there exploring a beautiful castle at the top of a hill. It was a perfect way to spend our Sunday evening and a great beginning to my Spring Break. 

View from the castle

The castle

In the morning, we made our journey to München (Munich). We explored the Deutches Museum, which was massively huge and spent the remainder of the evening wandering, exploring and finding whatever München had to offer.

View from top of Deutches Museum

Church at sunset

The next morning, we got up early and caught a train to Neuschwanstein Castle. There was another amazing castle in addition to the main attraction. The Neuschwanstein Castle is famous because it was used as a model for what we know as the Disney Castle. It was an amazing site to behold. The other castle was Hohenschwangau Castle.

Hohenschwangau Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

We spend nearly the entire day up at those castles. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and it was really nice to see gigantic mountains in the background.

The next day, we headed to Ingolstadt. I was so excited. If you want to know how excited I was, just ask Paige or Teancum. I may have been a little too excited for this part of the trip. We went to Ingolstadt to see the Audi Factory and Museum. I love cars, especially Audis. The museum and tour of the production factory completely made my day. You'll definitely see a post about this.

At the Audi campus

The glorious museum

Our trip then took us to Frankfurt. This place was enormous, compared to where we had been. We went to the Frankfurt Temple and had a lovely time there with other members of the Church. We saw some amazing old church buildings, an airport protest and the city climbing into the clouds.

Must be in Europe. Graffiti. 

Clouds touching the tops of buildings

To top off the trip, we made our way to Berlin. All I can say is heaven on earth. I loved this city the most. It even beats out Ingolstadt, and that is a tough thing to do. This city had the X-factor for me. That was the Berlin Philharmonic. I saw them perform. It was beyond amazing.

Part of Berlin from atop a church

Beautiful night scene

Black Beauty

My friend has a beautiful car and I have been wanting to drive it for a long time. Finally, I had an opportunity to do it and I was not going to miss this chance. First off, you have to see this thing. Good thing I had my camera with me (it's basically a new appendage that is always with me), so I snapped a shot.

(I specifically edited this to look like it came from Top Gear) 

(The British one. Not the American one)

It is very nice to look at, but looks are nothing compared to how it drove. If you had a Black Audi A4 whiz passed you sometime today, bets are, that was me. I have never driven anything like this. Then again, I have never driven a car anywhere close to this new and amazing. 

The acceleration is so addicting. I literally wanted to hit every red light just so I can feel the rush of the acceleration, especially when the turbo kicks in. So much fun. 

I took it cruising up Provo canyon where there are some fun curvy roads. It handles like a dream. So smooth and tight, without any slipping, thanks to the quattro all-wheel drive. I wanted to just continue all the way to Park City, but I didn't want to use all the gas. 

The Man Files

I was enjoying my day just doing the same things I normally do each day. I composed a little music, played my horn, went to rehearsals and even went to a class. I did this for the entire month of September. I had gotten into my groove and was pretty comfortable where I was. 

However, as September turned to October, I realized that something was different. I tried to place my finger on it but could never figure it out. As I was driving up to campus to do some homework in the library, it suddenly dawned on me. "Umm... you could get in a lot of trouble. Your car registration has expired."

Oh no! How could I let this happen? I had all of September to get my safety and emissions done and renew my registration. How embarrassing. 

Without any delay, I canned the library idea and set off for the nearest mechanics shop. I took it in and they said it would be 45 minutes. "That's not too bad," I thought to myself. Indeed, it took about 45 minutes, but again, I could sense that something was wrong. "What now?!" Everything on my car had passed except for the brakes. Dang it.

Without any delay, the mechanic began punching in all sorts of numbers into his computer. "If you want, we can fix them for you today. It will take about 3 hours." In my mind I was thinking, "I don't really care how long it takes. How much money are you going to charge me?" I waited for an answer... ... $450. Wait, what? $450? I don't think so! I'll do it myself, thank you.

So, I stormed out of the mechanics shop with the determination to change my own brakes. Problem: I've never changed brakes before. Spark plugs - yes. Oil - yes. Brakes - not a clue. But $450? I don't think so. I could figure this out to minimize the cost.

Cue call to dad. He's a smart guy and has changed brakes before. He went by the store to grab the brakes we needed and decided that we would get the job done on Saturday between LDS Conference sessions. 

I've never felt like such a man before. Getting dirty, using power tools and lifting jacks. You know. Man stuff. Check it out below.

(Dirty, greasy man hands!)

Overall, this was a great experience and I had a blast doing it with my dad. It was well spend, male bonding time (not to mention that we went out to eat after the priesthood session of conference. I've never eaten so much Indian food in my life. So good).