Crimson Sundown

Maybe we can bring back the light

I don’t know what happened to me.

I mean by all accounts I love watching the Discovery Channel. Lord knows that when they use to have Fabrication Monday (Monster House, Monster Garage, and American Chopper) I was in heaven. Then we branched out to Tuesdays with Dirty Jobs. It may have been disgusting but I laughed so hard and it truly was an interesting show to see what other people did for a living. Finally there was Wednesday and the Mythbusters. A show so great, that anytime there is a marathon, long or mini, I sit my ass down and watch it for as long as it goes.

That was all just fine and dandy. I mean these doesn’t even take into account the other shows I watch, like Man vs Wild, Future Weapons, or even It Takes a Thief. All of which I watch if they are on.

Yet one of the new staple shows for the Discovery Channel has been the ever popular Deadliest Catch. Now for some reason, for the past three seasons that it has been on, I didn’t give a flying fuck about it. I mean don’t get me wrong, it was still on Discovery Channel so I would watch a few minutes here or there, but I never got into it. That was until this past Sunday night.

In anticipation of the fourth season of Deadliest Catch, which premieres on April 15th, Discovery did a full marathon of pretty much all the episodes they had shot. By the time I started watching, it was the middle of third season. I put it on because nothing else was on that night and I was in the bed working on a few website issues. I just needed to be distracted, a noise in the background. As I started watching though, I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t get enough of the stories, I was enthralled by the fantastic camera work being displayed.

This made me feel kinda odd. I mean let’s put this all in perspective. You can watch Mythbusters because it gives you information on things that you may not have been dying over, but still stuff that you were curious about at one point. Dirty Jobs I feel is a great show to make you appreciate all the hard working people out in the world who make life easier for all of us. Monster House / Monster Garage were both good because it either gave you ideas for what you could do in your own home, or you got to see really cool cars. Heck even Man vs Wild is useful because G-d forbid you get stuck out there in the wilderness, at least you’ll have a friggin’ idea about what to do.

Yet Deadliest Catch doesn’t really do anything like that for you. It’s just a show about guys who risk their lives navigating some of the coldest and worst conditions on Earth, so that my Dad can eat his stupid crab legs. Yet as I said that statement to myself, that’s when it hit me. That’s why the show is so successful; the real life or death feel that it has, all in an effort so that fat people can eat.

So then I start thinking deeper about what would make these guys risk everything. Then I see that on average, a crew member makes $40,000 – $50,000 for 2-4 weeks of work. It’s like something out of a movie; risk your neck, don’t shower, don’t sleep, work 30 hours straight, and don’t get a good meal for 2 weeks … and I’ll pay you as much as Joey Valenti makes in an entire year. It’s dangerous and crazy … but just for a split second you start to feel like maybe it’s worth it.

Anyway I will be watching Season 4 of Deadliest Catch. I hope that some of the rest of you, will do so as well.

As many people who know me can attest, I have wanted a new Ford Mustang for quite some time now. Ever since my family saw the new 2006, 2007 and 2008 models, our interest in the muscle car franchise has been extremely high.

My brother and father saw a few 2006 and 2007 GT’s as they took their 1968 Mustang and 1966 Corvette respectively out to car shows during the summer. They liked it even more as they saw it up close. It had a bit of the old 1960′s style to it, with all of the advancements that 40 years of automotive engineering had provided us. The desire to get one, and more importantly, the idea that I should get a new Mustang was starting to take a great hold on me.

My brother then went to California and Las Vegas for a vacation, and of course he rented a 2007 Mustang Convertible to be the car that drove him between Anaheim and Sin City. He spoke very favorably about it, citing that it looked great, drove fantastic, and was an attention grabber. My brother has been telling me to get one ever since.

The past year has been an interesting one for me. One in which I finally realized how much money I had saved over just a few years of working. This realization, combined with my highly materialistic nature, resulted in me getting a lot of great items that I normally wouldn’t have procured for myself. Three Warhammer armies, a Nintendo Wii with many games, Xbox 360 with even more games for the library, an iPod Classic 160 GB, more fancy dinners than I’ve ever been to, and much much more.

After all of that, there was still one thing left to get, and that was the Ford Mustang. As of Monday, March 31st though, I took that off the list as well. The last big toy that I’m allowed to have before the Wedding next year.

Now the question is, was it worth it? From a pure fun standpoint, oh yes! I was used to driving a very small car with front wheel drive, a V4 engine, and butt ugly. I now have a great looking car, that is rear wheel drive for better handling, and a 210 horsepower fuel-injected V6 engine. Also going along with it is a 6-CD changer, Sirius Radio, and an Aux Input Jack for my iPod. It’s quite amazing to say the least, the jump that I’ve made. Not to mention that now I don’t get yahoo’s almost crashing into me on the highway; they see the Mustang from a mile away now, and they rightly stay the hell away from me.

But there was another thing that happened that I wasn’t prepared for but I suppose I should’ve been. That would be the community of drivers that the Ford Mustang has. On Wednesday as I’m going to work, I look in my rear view and see a 2005 Mustang Convertible. This guy gets into the right lane, and drives up right along side me. He looks over to me, and gives me the thumbs up, and then backs off so I can take the lead. Also on Wednesday, this time lunch time, there is a 2007 Black GT that I see coming in the opposite direction. As we pass, he honks his horn and flashes his brights. Ok … interesting. Finally this morning I’m driving to work and before I get in, there is a 2006 Yellow V6 and HE flashes the brights at me as I pass. Ok downright creepy … or is it?

When you buy a car that has a beloved name, do you gain automatic entry in the club? Do you become the cool guy then? There are already 3 Mustang events and cruises coming up in the year. Do I know go, because I have a car that people like to see? Is this an actual activity that I can do with both my brother AND my Dad? That would certainly be a first.

I’ll have to post my thoughts in a few months, after I’ve had it longer and I’ve convinced myself to go to a few of the car shows. After that I should have more thoughts on the subject. Truth be told though, it thus far the attention feels rather nice.