Targa Newfoundland movie now available!

This is utter shameless self-promotion - but I know there are a few people here who will be interested. When I ran the Targa in 2011, there was a Kickstarter-funded film crew following me around. Adam Costa is a professional filmmaker who took this on as a personal project and pulled in others from all over the place. The fruits of his labor are now available.

Racing the Rock: 6 Days at Targa Newfoundland

I might be biased, but the audience at the premiere thought it was pretty darn good. Brandon and Zach (drivers of the other car) turned out to be a really funny pair. You'll get a bit of a taste of what it's like to horse a V8 Miata down some of those roads. Most importantly, Adam did a great job on the story so even non-car people will enjoy it.

Here's what it says on the back of the DVD case:
Five days and fourteen hundred miles of fierce competition on the public roads of Newfoundland. Drivers come from all over the world to race at this legendary event, spending tens of thousands of dollars to prove their worth in a contest that has no prize purse.

This is racing at its purest; car versus clock, man versus road. To the winners go the bragging rights - and a trophy if they`re lucky.

In 2011, Flyin` Miata took two of their fastest cars to compete in the Targa. This is the story of their race, and the incredible journey of getting to the start line.

You'll laugh! You'll cry. You'll get the whole seat, but you'll only use the edge!

In related news, the 2012 race starts in about a month. I won't be there, but I'll post daily updates on the race if I can put together a few sources.

Can you send one to your favorite magazine for review?

Per, I think I can do something about that.

If I buy a copy, will you autograph it and draw a picture on it?

Yes!

'Scuse my while I go dig in the seat cushions for change ...

Must buy!

My daughter and I were at the world premiere in Grand Junction, CO as Gromans Chinese was booked that night :P) and it was really good!

Will buy as soon as I pay back the savings account for the plasti-dip.

Jeebus! Why is shipping $14+ on a DVD and a large shift boot!? I am seriously considering not ordering.

EDIT: okay, shipping is free for just the DVD. FM really needs to consider something besides UPS for shipping... I would be ordering a large shift boot with the DVD were it not for the insane shipping cost (more than 50% extra on top of the part cost), but now I'm not.

On a positive note, I'm really excited to watch the DVD!

Shipping is getting more expensive, probably due to the price of fuel. Check around on the same part from other vendors, you might be surprised. If you want USPS, contact a Real Live Person at FM and we'll give you a quote for that boot.

Anyhow - the DVDs are going quickly. We'll get another duplication run done as soon as we can!

Oh, I know that you guys have the best price on the part (at least as far as I could find), but shipping costs claw some of that back. The small USPS flat rate box (which should work based on the size of this particular part) is only $5.xx. That should be a standard option for small parts. Delivery Confirmation is even free when you use online shipping. Thanks for the tip about calling. As always, your/FM's customer service is tops (eclipsed only by GRM's #kissinghiney)!

At any rate, glad that the DVDs are selling well!

Like everyone else, our shipping guys don't work for free. It even costs money to print an invoice - more than you might expect. And there are more supplies involved in a typical package than a free cardboard box - at least, if you want a high certainty that the part will arrive. Unlike Amazon, most of our parts are not nicely pre-packaged in boxes but are awkwardly shaped and tend to be dense with sharp edges so you can't just hump them in a box. We end up averaging these costs out a bit, so while a shift boot might only take a couple of minutes to pull, pack, label and ship other parts might take far longer.

So while USPS might only ask $5.xx, our total costs are higher than that. And that's reflected in our (and every other vendor's) shipping prices. Again, shop around and you'll see.

Just a peek into the reality of doing business versus what you might think. We have a shipping department full of rock stars, they know how to get an accurately inventoried, properly packed package to you at a reasonable cost. If we could ship everything for $5, we would. Thank you for validating my decision to roll the shipping costs into the price of the DVD, though :D even if it did detail a thread about a very exciting announcement into a discussion of why we are not greedy ignorant bastards.

Keith wrote: Like everyone else, our shipping guys don't work for free. It even costs money to print an invoice - more than you might expect. And there are more supplies involved in a typical package than a free cardboard box - at least, if you want a high certainty that the part will arrive. Unlike Amazon, most of our parts are not nicely pre-packaged in boxes but are awkwardly shaped and tend to be dense with shart edges so you can't just hump them in a box. We end up averaging these costs out a bit, so while a shift boot might only take a couple of minutes to pull, pack, label and ship other parts might take far longer.

Shart edges, eh?

Keith wrote: Like everyone else, our shipping guys don't work for free. It even costs money to print an invoice - more than you might expect. And... If we could ship everything for $5, we would. Thank you for validating my decision to roll the shipping costs into the price of the DVD, though :D even if it did detail a thread about a very exciting announcement into a discussion of why we are not greedy ignorant bastards.

Sorry to take a figurative dump on your exciting news; that was not my intention and I apologize for it. You're right, this is not the place to complain about shipping costs. For what it's worth, I was not trying to imply that FM is being greedy with shipping/handling costs. I assumed that UPS was the reason because whenever I've shipped things through them it always seems to cost more than with USPS.

Anyway, I still think that your announcement is very exciting! Hopefully nobody has been put off the side discussion.

Keith, I gotta have it!!!! I'm getting ready to click order on the FM site, could you please sign mine too?

thanks, mark

I'd be happy to sign any copies. Brandon, the driver of the other car, also works at FM. Send an email to keith@flyinmiata.com and let me know what your name is and if you want one or both of us to sign/doodle upon the case. I'll snatch them out of the hands of our shipping department and deface them for you. The DVDs, not the shipping department hands. I'm out of the office today, so it will delay shipping by a day or so.

For some reason, I feel the need to order a copy... Unfortunately, I've never been able to order just a single item from FM, so my credit card may melt again!!!

I make no apologies for that

I bought two.

mndsm wrote: If I buy a copy, will you autograph it and draw a picture on it?

Don't bother buying a copy, we'll send you one - thanks for being such a big supporter of the team.

I'm not good at doodles, but I have added some captions to the cover of yours.

Keith wrote:

mndsm wrote: If I buy a copy, will you autograph it and draw a picture on it?

Don't bother buying a copy, we'll send you one - thanks for being such a big supporter of the team. I'm not good at doodles, but I have added some captions to the cover of yours.

I want a racoon doodle on mine!!!

Ordered! Put me down for the GRM-Dork-Edition-personalized-doodle-option as well if you can.

Ian, drop me an email and specify Doodle Edition. Although you guys are going to be SO disappointed in my drawing ability.

I had to order one to go along with the cool T shirt.