myMiniCooper

See this MINI2 thread for details and to sign up

See these previous years: 2006, 2007

This is a repost from WRR that will be going up later today. Just wanted to make sure everyone got the word.

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As we mention in Woof 274, it is time for White Roof Radio to take a break.

We’ve been going almost non-stop since July of 2005 covering MTTS (twice), MoTD, AMVIV and traveling to Europe to cover MINI United, not to mention the latest news in the MINI world from Motoringfile.

In the over 400 episodes we’ve uploaded you’ll find interviews with the who’s who in the MINI Community like Randy Webb, Peter Horath, Fireball Tim, the guys from Alta, Chad Miller and others. Plus interviews with Rauno Aaltenon, Dr. Kay Segler, Gert Hildebrand and others from MINI and MINI USA.

Our plan is take a few weeks off in October, re-group and start working on what I will call WRR v2.0. We want to freshen things up a bit, replace the worn out stripes on the bonnet, fix those rattles that have been around forever and have the power steering looked at. Oh, and maybe finally get that damned airbag light turned off!

I will be posting updates here throughout the month to keep you up-to-date on what is going on and how the conversion to v2.0 is going. We will be looking to you, the fine WRR listener, for feedback and opinions as well during this time, so keep an eye on this space for those updates!

Things you can expect to be different with v2.0:

• Updated show format
• Going back to 1 show a week
• Resurrecting the Eventcasts!
• More interviews
• More/better event coverage
• More Todd making funny noises!
• Fine tuning of the website and feed

And, to make sure you still have something to listen to and to show off a little, I will be putting The Best of White Roof Radio episodes in the feed. 1 a week until we get back.

Finally, thanks for sticking around this long and helping to spread the word. Without you we wouldn’t have done this little dog and pony show for as long as we have, we wouldn’t be world famous and we certainly wouldn’t be the #1 Independent Automotive Podcast out there!

“We will make it better than it was. Better…stronger…faster!”

Stay tuned!

The Waterloo-area chapter of the Southern Ontario MINI Club meets weekly. A small group of us get together for a quick MINI fix. This particular week, Mike joined us with his lil Austin Mini Van/Clubman. It was amazing to sit in it. To see how this inspired the new Clubman and to explore this chapter of Mini/MINI history among my fellow MINIacs. More pictures of the meet, and more angles of the Austin Mini are in my Flickr.

This is a great shot that shows the size difference!! R53 on the left side, R56 on the right. Plenty of space in the parking spot!

I have tons to update you on/post:
- Stella and I won first place in the BMW MINI category at the Bronte British Car Day last Sunday!!
- MINI Day at Batavia in NY state... Imagine taking your MINI around a go-kart track! It was my first time on the track so this was a new experience for me. I had amazing improvement from the first run to the last. I'm excited to try it again.
- Various monthly meets, MINI get-togethers, MINI sightings, fun downtown Toronto with a young guy in an Aston Martin who was sad to see my Stella got more attention than his car on Yonge St!
- Etc!!

Happy Motoring!!!

When I saw the story about Chrysler’s Peapod on Engadget this morning - and in more detail on Register Hardware - I immediately thought of MINI’s “Spiritual” concepts from the 1990s …

MINI should take a lesson from Chrysler about interior design too - see how important the iPhone / iPod is in this Peapod

Another Mickey & MINI is in the record books and this year was the best one yet!! With 300 of the best MINIacs this side of the Mississippi, Orlando was THE place to be this weekend. It was so nice to see familiar faces from last year and so cool to see so many new faces who, for some, this was their first MINI event ever! I plan on having a full weekend recap once I get my photos retouched (darn camera lens got mucked up and now there are spots on most of my photos ).

1280 x 1024

1920 x 1200

I am also working on a video from the weekend as well. For now, enjoy the group photo from our Saturday Morning Motoring adventure which led us to the main EPCOT parking lot in front of Spaceship Earth. There were 68 MINIs/Minis that made up this photo. If you look close, you will see we had to double them up and create a second row. Sadly, I am short and did not have a tall platform to get an aerial shot to get all the cars in both rows in the shot (hmmm…. there is always next year ).

Our leading minds explain:

BARACK OBAMA:
The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN McCAIN:
My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON:
When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure — right from Day One! — that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me…….

GEORGE W. BUSH:
We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL:
Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road…

JOHN KERRY:
Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

PAT BUCHANAN:
To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY:
To die in the rain. Alone.

JERRY FALWELL:
Because the chicken was gay! Can’t you people see the plain truth? That’s why they call it the ‘other side.’ Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white-washes with seemingly harmless phrases like ‘the other side.’ That chicken should not be crossing the road. It’s as plain and as simple as that.

ARISTOTLE:
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON:
Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES:
I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra…#@&&^(C% ……..reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN:
Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON:
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE:
I invented the chicken!

DICK CHENEY:
Where’s my gun?

AL SHARPTON:
Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

COLONEL SANDERS:
Did I miss one?