bitbol

The Gumball coverage that I had planned is stopping here. I had a lot of enthusiasm when I started this, and made an abrupt change to the blog in order to do so, but I realized that I didn't genuinely want to do that.

After I went crazy with the Gumball coverage, I noticed that there was a significant drop to the visitors to this site, which may be chance, but I think it is because this wasn't the reason people came. People came for when I did technology and news, and that is where I am returning. Here are some links if you want to finish watching the series on you own: 2005, 2006.

Now back to tech: a guy makes a public rant about new computers and how they are filled to the brim with "craplets." My sister probably doesn't fully appreciate how much shit was on her computer when she got it because I spent about two hours removing the extra software.

Labels: Computer, Gumball 3000, Rambling

Just as an FYI, I won't do a per-episode post as I did with the 2004 ExtremeTV series. I found that it doesn't add any value to the blog and just detracts from the original focus of the blog. Tomorrow I will simply posts links to the whole series, as well as the 2006 series as well. From then on, I will return to the posting that I did prior to the Gumball. Here are the two videos:

Labels: Cars, Google Video, Gumball 3000, Video, YouTube

Gumballers are on their way to the ferry out of Africa. More carnage as they travel through the country. The roads prove difficult as multiple people lose their rides, but no one loses a life. Most Gumballers catch the ferry and are on their way back to Europe. (Part 4 of 6; 26 minutes 22 seconds):


More and more police as the Gumballers are not welcomed back to Europe. Many people are changing their routes to avoid being caught. Stickers are peeled off to avoid being noticed as Gumballers. All are doing their best to make it in time for the Grand Prix in Barcelona. (Part 5 of 6; 25 minutes 46 seconds):


The Gumballers are finishing the rally. Many are taping over their numbers, changing their plates, and doing everything they can to avoid being caught. Gumballers stranded in Africa chartered a plane to catch up with the rest of the rally and make the final party. (Part 6 of 6; 26 minutes 12 seconds)

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Labels: Cars, Google Video, Gumball 3000, Video

Gumballers arrive in Africa, where the police are much nicer. The Gumball rally was actually invited to Morocco. In this segment, you get a taste of real Gumball driving like passing on the shoulder at extremely high speeds. In Africa, you start to see the first carnage from the race. (Part 3 of 6; 25 minutes, 55 seconds):

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This post is part of a series. Continue following the rally by subscribing to the RSS feed, or bookmarking the label so you can easily find new posts. (Existing feed subscribers will already receive these posts.)

Labels: Cars, Google Video, Gumball 3000, Video

In this episode, Gumballers reunite at the end of stage one, party, and move onward toward Africa. They all load up and cross the straits to Morocco, Afirca. Next episode will have some interesting events. (Part 2 of 6; 22 minutes, 45 seconds):

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Labels: Cars, Google Video, Gumball 3000, Video

This episode starts with an introduction to the rally where you meet some of the "characters" of the rally as well as flip through segments for future episodes. The rally starts and the police are already after the Gumballers. (Part 1 of 6; 26 minutes, 32 seconds):

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Labels: Cars, Google Video, Gumball 3000, Video

This is the exact video that I was first exposed to that got me into the Gumball 3000 in the first place. In 2004, the Gumball rally covered Europe and also touched in Africa. The race started in Paris, traveled though France and Spain, ferried to Morocco, back to Spain and finished in Cannes (France).

While in Morocco, the prince personally invited the Gumball rally, which explains why the rally ventured to Africa. In videos that I will show later this week, you will see that because of this invitation, and general kindness of the Moroccan police, there were no tickets. In fact, some roads were closed to all other traffic so that the rally would not be obstructed.

France and Spain were not as welcoming, as the police targeted the Gumballers, impounding some cars and giving tickets to all they found. Here is some real driving:

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This post is part of a series. Continue following the rally by subscribing to the RSS feed, or bookmarking the label so you can easily find new posts. (Existing feed subscribers will already receive these posts.)

Labels: Cars, Gumball 3000, Video, YouTube

This is the start of a long-term series that will cover the Gumball 3000. Over the next four weeks, more posts will explain more of the rally, and will bring videos.

The Gumball 3000 is due to start in four weeks. I was first exposed to the Gumball rally earlier this year, and to be honest, it is one of the inspiring moments that pushed me to loving cars. In the rally, participants drive with celebrities like Bam Margera and Tony Hawk, among many others driving cars like Lamboghinis and Porsches.

This years rally is London to London, traveling through Europe:


For this year, the entrance fee for new drivers is £28,000 (about $55,000), which means that other than owning the car, you need to be fairly wealthy in order to participate. That's not to say it is a waste of money. The race has numerous parties throughout the rally, and all hotels are five stars. Not all people can enter, as you must be at least 21, which I assume is due to the amount of alcohol at parties.

One of my dreams is to participate in the Gumball 3000 someday. At the soonest, it would be 2011 or 2012, based on my age. Even then, I would need money to buy a suitable car and then more to enter, and that's not accounting for all the speeding tickets along the way. Some day, I will enter though.

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Continue following the rally by subscribing to the RSS feed, or bookmarking the label so you can easily find new posts. (Existing feed subscribers will already receive these posts.)

Labels: Cars, Gumball 3000