ForbesOnTech

Dan Neil--Best Auto Writer and Blogger--Ever

Part of the reason I love reading blogs is exposure to great writing by people who are passionate about certain topics.  For example, I frequently read and comment on Dave Churbuck's blog (right here) and the blog written by Fake Steve Jobs (read and laugh)

    But the writer who really inspires me to go full Gonzo is Dan Neil at the sedate Los Angeles Times. Neil's specialty is all things automotive. He is also the first auto writer to win a Pulitzer Prize Accordingly, in the specialized world of auto buff writers, Neil is the king. He flat out pins you to your seat with tire-burning accelerated writing about cars and the car culture and he's funnier and more notable than a 68 Volkswagen bus turning a nine-second quarter mile.

  Right now Neil is in France blogging about Le Mans here. His direct coverage and observations are hootalicious. His notes on Audi's first-ever win at Le Mans last year with a diesel powered open cockpit racer should inspire any shade tree auto buff and is worthy of an award in and of itself. A diesel powered Le Mans racer?  You're kidding?  No he's not.

    In addition to his regular auto beat, Neil also has a column in the LA Times Sunday magazine called "800 Words." He's used the column to write about things as diverse as liberal Hollywood's love of the gun culture and -- one of my personal favorites-- his experiences dealing with a fertility clinic.

    Dan Neil, whose southern Humor makes his writing shine, is an American treasure. Add him to your link list soon. Do it for the laugh lines.--Jim Forbes 07/15/2007

SPice Up Your hunting--with FLavored Shot--Oh God, No!

Tired of bland tasting game birds or flat seasoned fowl?

Hey, here’s a new addition to add some taste to the results f your upland bird and waterfowl hunting trips:

http://www.seasonshot.com/

Oh lord, no!

Shot shells loaded not only with environmentally safe steel shot, but also pinches of savory seasoning so you can eat your prey without marinating them. Yum yum, hydrostatic delivered seasonings.

I have a politically incorrect confession to make.  I enjoy grilled quail. Not the kind you order at an upscale restaurant in Ketchum, Idaho, between runs on the slopes and tours of Ernest Hemingway’s death house.

No I’m talking the kind that comes bursts t from behind desert sage and from underneath juniper trees and then explodes low into the air with a strong thrumming of its wings. I like quail but to put a point on it I don’t like cleaning birds, although I do know hoe to debone them and grill them perfectly. I use what I think of as desrt seasoning—sage, salt and light pepper and a little olive oil and grill them quickly on my BBQ. Yum yum with aspagus or fresh yukonm gold potatoes for my gardem.

But shoot them with seasoning in shot shells?  I think not.

Now if they expand the product line with BBQ Boar or Jerked Elk seasoning in .45/70 govt. I might try it this fall when I head up north for a long awaited pig hunt.  45/70 govt. you say? Yup, 405 grains of stopping power and the trajectory of a 105mm howitzer with a charge five load.

Thanks to Paul Schindler at http://www.schindler.org for the link. Now back to Demo 2007.

Jim Forbes on 02/01/2007 from one of the California’s several deserts.