Humans Everywhere

Lots happening in the world right now. The Atlanta Hawks look like a top-4 Eastern Conference team with only four good players. Jamal Crawford looks like an all-star. Ziller reports that the Kings tonight will be starting Mikki Moore, Brad Miller, AND Jason Thompson.

And yes, we're still basking in the glow of the book. I want to thank the countless people who have given positive comments on the web today. I also found it appropriate that our first Amazon comment was by someone named J. Williams (Jay? Jayson? Jason?). Promises that all of this will end at some point and we will get back to strictly business, but for now it's still serious. We're promoting a movement. If you check the Freedarko book page, you will see that we are hitting the ground on the East Coast in early December for a slew of readings. Our West Coast and Midwest offices, however, are going to celebrate sooner.

First, Brown Recluse, Esq. & I (Dr. LIC) will be hosting the official Chicago FD Book Blast THIS THURSDAY at 7PM at

Pequod's Pizza
2207 N. Clybourn Ave.
773.327.1512

We're gonna have some sort of room to ourselves, but this is by no means a private event. Come out, drink a lot with us, the TNT games will be on plasma-screens, we're gonna hopefully have books for sale, and we're going to stage some sort of Lion's Club-esque tribal/communal reading where we Xerox a bunch of copies of the FD Manifesto and have you read along with the Recluse and me, call and response style.

Also, the pizza at this spot is no joke:


















THOSE EDGES ARENT BURNT--THATS CARAMELIZATION!!!!

Then, next Wednesday, November 19, Bethlehem Shoals will be holding it down for the entire Northwest coast at our Seattle event. He and Sports Northwest cordially invite you to an evening of basketball, drinking, and buying the book if you haven't already. There will be special guests, seventeenth-century relics, and a fun viewing menu of Mavs @ Rockets and Derrick Rose @ Portland. Also, you can watch Shoals try and figure out what the autograph of a fake name looks like.

Venue/time is as follows:

Redwood
514 E. Howell Street
5 p.m. till

As usual, email freedarko (at) gmail (dot) com with any info, and try to bring everyone you can to these events.

We All Are Columbus Day

The book is here! In stores now, out on the display tables in some, but still we thought we'd hit you with one more batch of excerpts. This one, on NBA players as city mayors, might be of especial interest to our core audience. Visit the book site for T-Mac and Amare chapters, and check out our fresh slide show on Slate. And even then, you'll barely have scratch the surface of our tome, so go cop that!

A few other things:

-I am kind of annoyed at my friend Paul Slocum for not mentioning to me this Dream Team vs. Croatia/Jesus and Mary Chain sound assemblage he's been working on. So up our alley it makes me faint.

-Watched the first three quarters of Suns/Grizzlies last night, after which it apparently got close. But I do feel qualified to state that teams seem to tire from playing Phoenix even though they shouldn't. Ty Keenan suggest it's Amare fatigue, and it's true, Amare is really a holy terror these days (even if only for half the game). However, I think it's most muscle memory, reflect brought on by the sight of Steve Nash dribbling down the court. Mayo, he's for real like Beasley and Rose. I like that, despite his profligate scoring, he also makes smart plays, resourceful plays, almost mature-beyond-his-years plays that bespeak a certain calm and wisdom. Maybe it's just the beard, which frames his face in way that's anything but post-Bron. I just get the feeling that he's never really in a hurry, and that when he starts going off, it's because he's decided the time is right. There's something Joe Johnson-esque to it.

(I haven't watched nearly enough of him this year, though, so rip away at that. I just can't begin to explain how thrilled I am at what impact him, Rose, and Beasley have made already. In a weird way, it sort of brings down Durant's luster—partly by association with last year's disastrous, over-hyped class, partly in that they've burst upon the scene in true phenom style. Though KD did have quite a game last night, a effortlesly inflamed as ever).

BUY THE BOOK!!!!

Opel Insignia by Irmscher

Prior to the new Opel Insignia's European market launch on November 22, 2008, it's no surprise that long time Opel tuning partner (40 years to be exact), Irmscher, is the first to present a styling package ready to go. Available from the beginning of Insignia sales through Opel dealerships, the package consists of the a honeycomb grille with or without a stainless steel upper bar molding, front lower spoiler, side skirts, deck lid spoiler and rear diffuser fitted to the standard bumper fascia which accommodates quad exhaust. Lastly, 20-inch Irmscher wheels available in various designs add the final styling touch.

Porsche 911 Bi-Turbo by DKR Tuning

Those owners of the Porsche 911 Turbo who aren’t entirely satisfied that their car really is the powerhouse Porsche claims it is, can turn to German tuner DKR for a €5,529 power upgrade. DKR Tuning optimises the ECU software and fits a new sports exhaust system to garner a forceful 540 bhp/ 402kW and 775Nm from the car’s twin-turbo 3.6-litre boxer engine.

After having upgraded the engine one might feel a little more adventurous and go kit mad. For that DKR provides 19-inch Cargraphic RS alloy wheels on 235/35 tyres in front and 305/30 at the rear. A functional front lip spoiler and larger rear wing gives that macho appearance that accompanies all this power. It’s a 911 so handling needs no introduction, even at full 540 horses on the throttle.

Mercedes GLK by BRABUS

Tuning firm Brabus is preparing a set of styling and performance add-ons just in time for the launch of the Mercedes GLK.

The big news comes from reworking the GLK’s engine range in order to produce more power and torque. The range topping GLK 320 CDI 4MATIC BRABUS features ECO PowerXtra tuning which produces an additional 48 hp and 590 Nm of torque. 0-62 mph takes just 6.9 seconds and allows it to reach a top speed of 142mph.

GLK 350 4MATIC owners can equip their vehicle with the BRABUS B7 power kit which produces an additional 15 hp for a total of 287 hp. Available on both the GLK 350 and 280 is the BRABUS 4.0L engine which produces 332 hp and 420 Nm of torque, allowing it to reach 62 mph in 6.1 second and a top speed of 155 mph.

Brabus has also developed an extensive range of body components meant to put the sport back into sport utility. Up front is a Brabus apron which features daytime running lights and optional auxiliary high beams and fog lamps. A two piece roof attachment that features integrated LED position lights is also available. The rocker panels feature integrated LED lights which illuminate the ground to ease exit and entry at night. The rear apron features a centrally located reflector and cut outs for the stock exhaust or the optional BRABUS quad sport exhaust system.

In terms of handling, the new Brabus GLK will be offered with wheel sizes from 17-21” in a variety of different designs. To lower the ride 35 millimeters a set of sport springs should do the trick, but if you want to ratchet things up a bit Brabus offers a complete suspension for a firmer ride.

For the interior, Brabus offers a wide range of accessories including stainless-steel scuff plates with an illuminated BRABUS logo, an ergonomically shaped sport steering wheel, and interior trim sets in either wood or carbon fiber. Owners with kids might want to select the company’s front seatback mounted consoles which hold a 7-inch LCD screen and an integrated DVD player.

SEAT Ibiza SC by JE Design

Back in June JE Design wasted no time in styling the new Seat Ibiza 5-door just after its debut. Now, following the debut of the Ibiza SportsCoupe 3-door in London this past July and recent market launch, JE Design have done it again.

The kit includes a front spoiler, sport radiator grill, headlight eyebrows, side skirts, roof spoiler and a rear bumper apron attachment with a carbon look. Furthermore, the Ibiza features LSD wing doors, center-mounted trapezoidal tailpipe and special matte black acrylic sheets (see red Ibiza 5-door photos) which help replicate the look of the Bocanegra concept look.

Additional touches include 35mm lowering springs (see blue Ibiza 3-door photos) or even lower KW coil-overs with a 65mm drop plus JE Design wheel sets in either 7x17 ET 35 or 7.5x18 ET 35 with tires 215/40 R17 or 215/35 R 18. The customer has an additional choice between "shadow silver" or “black matte / lip silver” finish.

Finally, under the hood for the 1.9 TDI engine, an upgrade is made to give 130 hp (90hp series) resulting in increases in performance from 0 to 100 km/h in 10.0 seconds (series: 11.1 sec.) and a top speed of 198 km/h (series: 186 km/h).

Porsche 997 V-GT Coupe by Vorsteiner

Vorsteiner’s work is to be found in brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. The specialists in carbon fiber fittings are proud of their contribution in shedding off some useless kilos from a standard production car to make something light and agile. Presenting now a Porsche 997 V-GT Coupe, Vorsteiner has made some modifications to the 997 911 icon by placing a full carbon fiber front bumper. This unit has an integrated carbon fiber inlet with an upper radiator vent grille. The front carbon fiber chin spoiler is an attachment that is replaceable. At the rear is a vented bumper with integrated carbon fiber diffuser, complete with aero fins.

The name Vorsteiner is all over the door sills as a logo marking, leaving no doubts as to who worked on this car. For running shoes the Vorsteiner Porsche 997 V-GT Coupe has a specially-designed forged aluminium 3-piece five spoke wheels in 19-inch reverse lip, 20-inch reverse lip and 22-inch reverse lip, with widths that range from 8” – 13”.