Goodbye 2008

Well another year winds down. The snow is finally melting in Seattle and my facial swelling is going down. Seems appropriate. At Christmas dinner I was chewing on a piece of our Traditional Christmas Salmon Dinner when my tooth popped and started aching. Had a hard time getting to sleep as the pain increased through the evening. The next day I had to pick up my Niece at Sea-Tac Airport and my face was on fire! I took some left over high powered prescription Tylenol from a previous tooth ache- which got me through the day. By Sunday I knew I had to see a dentist, but being a small business owner my wife and I have no dental benefits. I ended up going to a clinic which netted me a prescription of antibiotics. As I was watching the Clint Eastwood Marathon on AMC a big infection blister on my gums popped and I ran to the bathroom spitting out gobs of infectious puss in the sink. Lovely. Didn’t get too much work done this last week. Finished and uploaded The Invisible Surfers CD artwork and did a little to the Special Features Disc for version two of Hot Rod Girls Save The World. Lets see what happens next year...

And More Snow...

More snow yesterday. Our cars are trapped behind a three foot snow bank created by recent passes of the Snow Plows. So my wife and I went on foot to Safeway last night to buy the kids their stocking stuffers and rent a few movies. We rented the new Death Race- an excellent film, but it should have been called Twisted Metal Armageddon Prison. It had nothing in common with the original Death Race 2000 plot wise, other than the main characters pseudonyms of Frankenstein and Machine Lots of cars with guns action and even a cameo Mopar Billboard sign. Looks like Ford and Chrysler sponsored the film. I also started work on my new D.A. Sebasstian & The Inner demons CD. This one is a Punk, Blues and Surf mix that should be out sometime next year. I intend on using some of the tracks for my next film that we hopefully shoot next summer.

Winter Wonderland

Another night of snow in North Seattle- around seven solid inches of the white stuff. These two pics were taken from just outside my Recording Studio. Also got some time in on the new KsK music video for Killing Machine featuring vocalist Super Amanda. This song is featured prominently in Hot Rod Girls Save The World and the music video will be on the Special Features Disc of the Second Edition version of the film.

The New Invisible Surfers CD

The Invisible Surfers CD cover art with the lovely Melinda Miles on it is finished. Photo by the ever talented David Hickey who also shot the Wild Ride! CD covers. The music is a blistering mix of surf, rock, punk and a little metal. Very original stuff. "Till That Day" comes out March 2009 on Go-Kustom Rekords.

Another Snow Day In Seattle

Another heavy dumping of snow in Seattle. Nothing like other parts of the U.S., but Seattle doesn't have the infrastructure to scrape and salt the roadways and all major roads get heavy travel- so three inches of snow quickly turns to pure black ice. When I was living in Maryland, the winters were much more snow laden and I don't ever remember this kind of ice on the roads. Plus Seattle has massive hills so even 4x4's occasionally slide sideways and backwards into oncoming traffic. Fun.
Heard some dire predictions by Gerald Celente on Coast To Coast AM last night. America in a total Depression bigger than the last one, with a possible American Revolution and the break-up of the U.S. into smaller nation states. Everything he said makes complete sense and I guess only time will tell. Hmmm...the North West America (N.W.A.) Kinda like it. Oregon, Idaho, Washington, then maybe B.C. could break out of Canada and join. Celente's reasoning for America to break apart would be a total melt down of our central government from lack of money to pay the bills. Thus people seek help in State Governments and Coalitions. Do the States really need the Federal Government? Who would get the Nukes? Like when the Soviet Union broke apart, Russia and Ukraine got the bulk of the nuclear weapons. Interesting scenario.

Let it snow!

Another wave of snow hit North Seattle. This one is now on top of the ice from the last snow fall. Most people got a snow day. We took the dogs for a long walk and hung out.

Hot Rod Girls Save The World Original Movie Soundtrack

Just sent off KsK - Hot Rod Girls Save The World Original Movie Soundtrack to the CD pressing plant. This one is set for a Feb. 2009 release date.

Hot Rod Girls Save The World Now On Amazon

Amazon has just added Hot Rod Girls Save The World to the DVD & Movie sales pages. It costs a little more than buying direct from us, but they have great (for the most part) customer service. Amazon HRGSTW Page

Snow

Last night Seattle just got a little dumping of snow. We were sliding all over the icy roads on the way to picking up our Christmas Tree from Ye Olde Home Depot. Also watched a cool flick last night called Six String Samurai. Starts slow, but ends nice. This film would be a good double feature with Hot Rod girls Save The World.

America The Complacent

Help me!!! Help me!!! cried the greedy fat cats on Wall Street. And so the misguided American Taxpayers gave (not willingly) the banks and predatory lenders who had wrecked the worlds economy- big BIG money so they could have a good Christmas bonus after all. But that was not enough.
Help me!!! Help me!!! cried the mismanaged American Car Companies. But this time the Senate & Congress were a little less willing. They had seen the money they had given to the financial institutions had been spent on vacations and bonus packages. But then the lame duck American President gave the Auto Makers the money anyway.
Have you ever given money to a street person- damn well knowing that they were gonna spend every last dime on booze or drugs? Are you really helping that person? By the same means are we we really helping the economy? Not at all. We are only prolonging the inevitable collapse. We are in deep shite. We all know it- but want things to stay the same. Like keeping the cable on when you can't put food on the table. Like making retro cars when you can't think of anything new to build(don't get me wrong- I like the new Challenger and Mustang but much more is needed to make a viable car business). Like building SUV's and creating marketing campaigns to make people think they need one. Why? Because the mark up is greater, the profit is bigger for the Automaker. The larger the car, the more money there is to be made. It also becomes a safety issue. When one third of the cars on the highway are Trucks or SUV's that can crush a small car on impact, we all want one just to protect our family. Personally I feel safer driving our giant GMC 15 Passenger van than our Dodge Caravan. Especially when I'm in our Dodge and a fat chick with cell phone and latte in hand driving her Suburban or Escalade cuts us off laughingly at 70MPH! So everyone gets the SUV, everyone pays for the extra gas and when the credit crunch comes and the gas prices sour to $5.00 a gallon (because of quick fortunes made in oil futures trading) people can't buy the SUV or make the payments on the one they already have. Stumble. The American car companies can't make an affordable, gas miserly well built little car. Ohh well. Capitalism is still what we claim as our birth right. So now the hung over Big Three saunter over (in Corporate Jets no less) to Uncle Sam's house to ask for a quick handoput- "Just to tide me over for a few months Unc...then I'll be good. Trust me man, just trust me."

In 2005 our bought used 1987 Dodge Caravan (not the one we have now) was ready to go. Our mechanic had just fixed the water pump and said it was time for a new ride. Being a Mopar guy and wanting to test drive a new Dodge Magnum, the family headed over to our local Dodge Dealer to look- not to buy, just to look at a few cars. The seduction began the moment we touched the Dealership Parking Lot Pavement. After driving a fully loaded Magnum AWD SXT with the big six we knew we wanted one, but were shocked by the sticker price. $38,000! This wasn't even the high performance R/T. No DVD player, no nav system. We started to walk. Then we got handed over to the closer. "Just take it home for the night...leave your Caravan here. We will cut you a deal. How about a Lease?" After trying to leave twice, but still heavily under the Magnum's hypnosis (they are excellent cars) we signed onto a lease agreement. We went this route as the Dealership Financial Guy told us that if we ever needed to return the car under the lease we would only have to pay a "small fee" and all would be good. We quietly examined the paperwork and all looked as he said. Some predators are very good at exploiting their preys weaknesses. Fast forward two years. When our small school business started to have a downturn, we just couldn't afford the Magnums $680.00 a month in lease payments. As much as we loved the car we had to returned it. Chrysler Financial quickly informed us that we had to pay $11,000 to do so! I scoured the paperwork and could not find any mention of "paying the complete vehicle cost upon return." This was the last nail in our personal bankruptcy's coffin lid. Thank you local Dodge Dealership! Thank you Ma Mopar! That's what I get for brand loyalty and buying American!

Footnote: That particular Dealership lost it's Dodge franchise when Chrysler consolidated it various brands. Now it's a used car lot! Hallelujah! Chrysler Financial is in deep shite and had to stop doing their signature predatory lease deals. Karma can kill!

I say let the all lyin' bastards die! We need new blood, new car companies, new politics, new political parties (at least three more real contenders) and a new American attitude. Turn off the cable and buy some friggin' food for your family! For God's sake! Sacrifice- American was built on it. Go back to your communities. Pull your money out of the big corporations and put it into small, local banks and businesses. That is the only way we can survive this mess completely generated by high level, closed door greed and corruption. I think the only real out of the Auto Mess is to encourage the UAW to buy the big three, fire management and move forward. But that won't ever happen. Otherwise GM needs to file bankruptcy, Chrysler needs to partner with Nissan or Volkswagen and Ford...who knows, their complete financial situation seems to be a secret.

I know guys who build their own cars using parts from junkyards and Schucks. They are called Beaters and Rat Rods, they run decent and get their owners to work everyday. I know guys who make their own gas- out of old french fry grease and yard waste. Baby steps. Walk before you run. Back to the basics. You don't deserve that big house anyway, not when your neighbor is starving just two doors down bro. If you wait too long and let him suffer too long, he will get a gun and then take your house away from you. It is the American Way.

Hot Rod Girls Save The World DVD

Sold out of the first run of the Hot Rod Girls Save The World DVD in one week! More are coming in. Also finalized the KsK Soundtrack for Hot Rod Girls Save The World. We should have them in and ready to ship by middle of next month.

Hot Rod Girls Save The World First Review

First review for the Hot Rod Girls Save The World DVD. Also R.I.P. Miss Betty Page. You were the Goddess of the Pin-Up World Thank You Daniel Strohl! See below.

HEMMINGS eWEEKLY
Volume 4 - Issue 52 12/11/2008

Street Rods and Hot Rods
Hot Rod Girls Save the World comes to DVD
Hot Rod Girls Save the World has just been released on DVD. Maybe it should be seen on a drive-in screen, or maybe it should be broadcast on a public television station over rabbit-ear airwaves late at night to a late 1960s TV set that gets awful reception. Either way, if you intend to watch Hot Rod Girls Save the World, don’t expect your typical film viewing experience.


We mentioned more than three years ago in this space that D.A. Sebasstian, producer of the underground Seattle television show, Go-Kustom TV, was working on a B movie that featured female street racers, aliens, zombies and rockabilly music. Sebasstian, through his Go-Kustom Films, has now released Hot Rod Girls Save the World on DVD.


As Sebasstian notes in the press release, “We are a small film company (and real car guys) without a big Hollywood budget,” and the film follows along the same formula. If you prefer actresses who seem to have spent more time in a garage than a theater department, if you prefer gratuitous rockabilly scenes tossed into movies, and if you prefer your movies dance around genre lines between horror, sci-fi, mystery and just plain raucousness, then you’ll enjoy this film.

At least there are hot rods in it. For more information, visit www.go-kustom.com.
- By Daniel Strohl