Season kick off preparations

A while ago we went out on the lake to check our slalom course and ramp, only to find out it was covered with weeds and all green and slimey. Last Saturday, Sasha and I went back to clean the ramp. Our initial plan was to clean the ramp and replace some buoys of the course but as we entered the competition zone with our green "working boat" we had to go through a layer of ice!

We changed the plan and only cleaned the ramp. It was very cold on the ramp, out in the open but we didn't go home until our ramp was nice and shiny red. Now we only need a Nautique banner on the side, maybe a fresh layer of wax and we can start hitting it hard!

We genuinely hope the weather will change very soon, so we can really kick off the season, with some actual skiing!

Until then, we'll keep you posted!

- PJ

Stickered up 2

Peter Swinnen from Billabong Belgium also sponsored my skiing buddy Sasha, he got exactly the same outfits as I got, pretty cool since we always go skiing together.

As a shoutout and a thank you to our sponsors we've put some stickers on our skis and helmets. Not only Billabong but also Nautique by De Mey Boats will get some visibility this season! 

Make sure to subscribe at the PJ's Random Stuff Channel on YouTube or like the Facebook page to stay tuned on the videos of the coming season! Don't miss out!
















- PJ

Stickered up!

The water skiing season is about to kick off here in Belgium (still waiting for it to stop freezing!!) and Peter Swinnen, Belgium's Billabong dealer, gave me and my buddy Sasha a pretty big sponsor package.

The package included a 5mm wetsuit, great for skiing in the cold, an impact vest, 3 shorts, 3 lycras, some T-shirts, sweaters, a (dressing) poncho and jogging shorts. Big thanks!!

New season means new stickers on the skis too, especially Billabong stickers! 

 I've put some Billabong stickers on my skis to display the sponsor, and some Nautique stickers too. Sasha's stepdad, De Mey Boats, is the one and only Nautique dealer in Belgium and let's be honest, is there a better boat than the 200?

We'll be posting a lot of new videos this season, so stay tuned at PJ's Random Stuff Channel on YouTube!

Now hopefully the weather will turn in our favor. Stop freezing dammit!!

- PJ

Rails, fails & freeskiing

I went to Vars/Risoul with some friends in February and we took 2 GoPro cameras with us, which resulted in a ton of footage and a couple of YouTube edits! We had 7 days of sunshine and good snow.
I'll let the videos do the talking :)

When you're filming almost everything, you get a lot of fails on camera too which makes for a very funny fail video! ;) 

- PJ

Twitter Fun

There is this Google-like search engine, which basically makes a parody of everything. It actually shows you everything how it would be pronounced by a slang-talking jamaican, african american, brother from the hood mix type of guy (no offence to anyone intended).

Here's what you've got to do:

1. Go to gizoogle.net
2. Type in your twitter name @name (for example, you can try anything!)
3. Read your tweets (or what you've searched for)
4. Laugh

You can thank me later ;)

Have fun!

- PJ

Harlem Shake YouTube Version

Everyone knows the Harlem Shake: the 30 second video where one person is dancing awkwardly while the others are just doing their thing when suddenly everyone starts dancing energetically, while dressed in a ridiculous costume.

Well, YouTube has made its own version of it.

Here's what you gotta do to watch it:

1. Go to YouTube
2. Type in "do the harlem shake"
3. Wait for it
4. Laugh

I found it rather amusing!

Now share this post with all your friends to make them laugh ;-)

- PJ

Changes!

Hi everyone,

So far I've been posting car related things (occasionally) on this blog but this will change!
As from now on I will only be posting car stuff on my new blog (PJ's CarChannel), and keep this one for random stuff!

Follow my other blog, or just like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter to stay posted if you're a car enthusiast! You may also want to subscribe on YouTube (youtube.com/vdvpj) :)

- PJ

Facebook Promoting: results

As you can read in my last post I tested the Facebook Promoting tool for my celebratory video (the video I made for reaching one million upload views). The video had 160 views and my channel had 975 subscribers prior to the promotion.

Now let's see the impact of the promotion.I chose to promote the video for 4 euros over a period of 3 days, reaching the fans of my page and their friends (= 334,708 people in my case). The estimated reach on Facebook would have been somewhere between 3K and 6K. The actual reach was 949 people. 949 people saw this post on Facebook. That's not too bad, however that does not mean that 949 people actually watched the video. The video now has 260 views, so that's an increase of 100 views, which is close to nothing. My channel now has 981 subscribers, but that doesn't mean that these subscribers come from promoting this video. My Facebook page increased by 5 likes, so no huge effect there either.

UPDATE: 1,486 people saw this post (not 949). The paid reach was 1,327 people (not 787).

Just to give you an example what a lot of likes/fans can do:
I spent 4 euros (no big deal, just for the sake of the experiment) and my video got 100 extra views. I uploaded another video of a Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG tuned by Brabus (a very famous tuning company specialized in tuning Merc's) and the official Brabus Facebook page shared my video. It got almost a thousand views overnight. Or GTSpirit.com once shared my video of a crashed Corvette and it got 5K views in less than 2 days. Building a crowd is very important if you want results.


As a conclusion I could say that in this case it has absolutely no impact. Logically this would only have a big impact if you have a lot of fans (and therefore an exponentially increasing reach when you choose fans and their friends). You only reach your fans and their friends unless they start sharing it and it spreads like an oil stain (it thus gets viral).

No more promoting for me. If the content is good, the video will go around the world just by people sharing it.

That's it for today folks!

- PJ

Facebook Promoting: tested

I've been wondering for a long time what the impact would be when you promote your post on Facebook. If you post a video, link or picture on Facebook you can choose to promote it. I chose to promote my 1,000,000 view special: Highlights of PJ's CarChannel wich you can see here:

This is a screenshot of the options you get when you click "Promote". It says your post will reach more people in the news feed once it's promoted. You can choose whether you only want to reach people who like your page or people who like your page AND their friends. Obviously I want to reach as many people as possible so I choose the second option.

Then you can set the maximum budget. I choose (to test it) for a max. budget of 4 euros. This would give me an estimated reach of 3,010 tot 5,590 people, which is not bad if they all would watch my video (which is probably not going to happen). You need to choose your payment method and give all the required information.

Facebook will then review the post you want to promote and once that's done the promotion will run for 3 days (if you choose 4 euros as a max. budget).

It's is very easy to do but I don't know the effect of it yet. I will have to see in three days if my video has a lot more views or not. I'll keep you posted.

- PJ

1,000,000

My channel (PJ's CarChannel) reached ONE MILLION views and that called for a celebratory video! This video shows everything I've been through qua carspotting, all the highlights! From supercarspotting in London, Paris and Berlin, going to several events to driving a Ferrari on track myself.

My best memories (regarding car spotting):

• Spending 3 months in London, filming some of the coolest cars in the world
• Driving a Ferrari F430 F1 on track
• Going to the Zoute Grand Prix in Knokke
• Being as excited as a child when spotting a very cool car when I do not expect it
• Becoming a YouTube Partner
• Monetizing my first video
• Getting published on GTSpirit.com & Shmee150
• Spotting the Audi R8 GT Spyder, and having the very first video of it on YouTube
• And so much more!

I would never have reached this without your support. You watching my videos keeps me motivated to make more & better videos. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

One million views is a very nice number to start the new year with. In 2013 I hope to offer you some of the best car sounds of the coolest cars out there! I'm planning to go to the Nürburg Ring, as well as many other events and maybe even stop by in Paris or London. So subscribe to stay tuned, it's free!

Enjoy the video and have an eargasm with this carporn.

YouTube How To: InVideo Programming

I recently changed some settings on my YouTube channels (PJ's CarChannel & PJ's RandomStuff). One of the main changes you can see in the videos is that my channel logo appears in the upper right corner of the video. It is somewhat faded when you're watching the video but when you hover over it with your mouse it becomes more visable and bright (just try it out in the videos below). When you click on the logo it will redirect you to my channel.

It is an easy setting, because you only have to do it once. When you click "save" it will automatically appear in every new video (and also in all your already uploaded videos).

There is one other "InVideo Link" you can add. I chose to put a video thumbnail on the left bottom corner in every video about 12 seconds before the end of the video. You can only chose one video, so pick your best video. It will appear in all your older videos and in your future uploads. The rules are the same as for the channel logo: it is somewhat faded but when you hover over it, it becomes more visable and of course when you click on it you will be redirected to that video.

Take a look at these videos, to check it out for yourself.

So how do you actually change these settings:
First you have to become a YouTube Partner. Once your partnership has been approved, you can click on the account logo on the top right corner of the page, and go to Settings. There you will find "InVideo Programming" on the left side, where you can change the settings how you'd like it.

Hope this was useful to you. See you on YouTube!

- PJ

2012 Recap

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great NYE with lots of friends, family, alcohol, good food, ...

I made two videos of 2012 highlights. The first one is a video with all the best Ferrari sounds I recorded in 2012.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/vdvpj

The second highlight video is one with all the best moments caught with our GoPro Hero2 camera. Mostly waterski, alpine ski and trampoline stuff:

Source: http://www.youtube.com/pjsrandomstuff

Best wishes for 2013!

- PJ

Merry Christmas!

The title says it all.

Hope you all had a lot of presents & stuff.

- PJ

39 supercars to be auctioned

I read an interesting article in the newspaper this morning. Last weekend the auction of (some of) the properties of former Tunisian President/ousted dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali started. The auction includes two golden miniature sphinxes, a diamond pen and 39 luxury cars.

 List of some of the cars:

• Hand-build full carbon fibre Mercedes-Benz (est. € 2 million)
• Ferrari 360 Modena
• Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder
• Modified Porsche Panamera and several 997's
• Aston Martin Vanquish
• Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
• Caddilacs and Maybachs

The auction is estimated to raise almost 10 million euros. If only they would give 1 car to me for Christmas!

Happy holidays!

- PJ

(Source: http://www.standaard.be/krant/tekst/index.aspx?oDay=24&oMonth=12&oYear=2012&articleid=DMF20121223_00412405)

I caught a burglar

Tonight (22/12/2012) I caught a burglar breaking in to a house just one street away from where I live. It was pretty scary.

It was about 8:30 PM, I left with my brother and his girlfriend to a Christmas party at my aunt's. Just one street away I heard this alarm and I started looking around to find out where it came from. All of a sudden I looked to the left at a house and saw this guy in a training outfit standing next to the house, rather suspiciously. I stopped and reversed. The guy ducked next to a car and ran off into the garden of the house.

I immediately called the police and told them what I saw. After a couple of minutes, while I was still on the phone with the officer, people came on the street to see what was happening. The owners apparently left just a few minutes prior to the burglary so they were at the scene quickly. They went inside to see if anything was missing and the burglars stole their daughter's laptop. They broke the lock on the door, got in and did not get scared by the alarm.

After making sure the owners were there and they had checked the house I went back home to check if all our doors were locked properly. I ran in to a police vehicle on my way so they were there very fast. Luckily we have good locks, a very angry dog and good neighbors.

It is Christmas time, so everyone has lots of presents under the tree. People get greedy this time of year. Make sure you lock all the doors securely before you leave and perhaps leave some lights on.

Anyways, I did not want to scare anyone but a warned man counts for two they say.

Happy holidays to everyone! I hope you all have a great time with your family and friends.

- PJ

Arabs in London

In places like the Kingdom of Saoudi Arabia (KSA), Dubai, etc it gets really hot during summer. Many (rich) Arabs come to the west of Europe to cool down, in particular: to London.

They love to spend money at Harrods or to sit in a quiet bar when it's raining outside. They don't just take their luggage when they move to London for a couple of months. Some of them even take their cars. Not just any cars though, usually the Arab super cars are the craziest in London!

Here's a compilation of the cars they fly over to London (only the ones I've recorded myself, there are many other even crazier cars).

I also recorded this Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. Fun fact: it's a German car, with American registration plates (from Virginia), driving around in the UK while the owner is from the KSA.

- PJ

(Please note that I generalized some facts here and that they don't always apply. I did not mean to offend anyone with this blog)

Afraid of heights?!

My brother asked me to come to the gym at the university. They have all kinds of gymnastics stuff like mini trampolines, springboards, uneven bars, balance beams, etc. My favorite is the indoor trampoline.

I'm used to jumping on my (outdoor) trampoline in the backyard. It is a round one and there's nothing but grass around it. I can do a 21 flip combo on it. An indoor trampoline is a rectangle and this specific one is rather narrow and it stands next to a wall. It is really fun to go really high, but I found it very difficult to do flips because of the air time. I was over rotating all the time and flip combos were really hard to do. It was pretty scare to perform flips indoors. The roof scared the sh*t out of me sometimes, as I thought it was the floor, and stuff like that.

I will go jumping on the indoor trampoline more often so that I can learn doubles (I need some time to get used to it). So if all goes well you'll get to see some double back- and/or frontflips in the next video!

Here's the video:

You can see more extreme sports like waterskiing, (snow) skiing, ... on my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/pjsrandomstuff

Have a nice weekend everyone!

- PJ

Facebook Year in Review

Facebook added a pretty cool new thing to the website. Users can now check their year of 2012 in review. This is a collection of their (20) biggest moments of the past year, including life events, highlighted posts and the user's most popular stories.

You can also click on "See Facebook Trends for 2012" to see the top stories and trends on Facebook from the past year in the USA or around the world.

Very nice touch, Facebook!


Check out your review here: www.facebook.com/yearinreview

12/12/12

You all know it's 12/12/12 today. That is December 12 2012. We are kind of "lucky" to witness this day, because it is the last time we can have the same three digits. At least for the next century.

Other "fun facts" are that this year we also had 10/11/12 and next year we can have 11/12/13 but that will also be the last time (at last for us Europeans, in the USA they can have 12/13/14 the year after because the month comes first).

Many couples get married today, because of the date. I think that's kind of silly, because it's winter...

My Facebook and Twitter timeline was full of pictures of clocks and what not.

Sorry to have waisted your time with this useless fact, but consider yourself very privileged to witness this (lol).

PS: I wrote this at about 12h12 so that's 12/12/12 12h12. 

- PJ

GOLD Lamborghini Aventador

What is 65 Lamborghinis? A very large amount of money! To be exact it's about 10,5 million euros. The price tag of this 1:8 scale model of the Lamborghini Aventador. It contains 1400 diamons, platinum and pure gold and is to be auctioned this month.

The designer is Robert Guelpen (German car model specialist). The value of the model is estimated at around 3,5 million euros, however, the buyer can modify the specification to make the model even more expensive. That’s almost 10 times more expensive than a real Lamborghini Aventador! It is expected to sell at 10,5 million euros. That's 65 times more expensive than a real Lamborghini.

Paying 10,5 million euros for a scale model of a car, isn't that just madness?

Do you think it will be sold for that insane price? Will it go higher?

I'll keep you posted.

- PJ


Source: The Supercar Kids & GTSpirit.com

New Year's Resolutions

The end of 2012 is near (no, not the end of the world) so it's time for New Year's Resolutions. Many people make a list of what they want to accomplish or do in the new year.
What's on my list for the new year?

- Pass my academic year at Leuven University (Business Communications)
- Citytrip to London/Paris (or both)
- Go racing on the Nürburg Ring
- Set new waterski PB's:
       - Pass 13m/32off in slalom (on competition)
       - Jump 40m/131ft
       - Get a score of 3000+ points in tricks

What do you want to accomplish in 2013? What will you do in 2013 that you didn't in 2012? Or what do you want to do better?

This was 2012:

Let's do better in 2013!

- PJ

This was 2012! #GoPro

The year is running towards the end. I was looking back on what we did the past twelve months and this is what came out. The best shots of 2012, with our GoPro HD Hero2 cameras. This video includes snow skiing, water skiing and trampolining. No need to describe it, just watch and enjoy :)

2012 was a pretty great year and 2013 will be even better! With even more GoPro footage!

(Locations, people starring in the video and more info can be found in the video description on YouTube)

- PJ

The accident

I recently had a little accident with my car. I was driving home from University when suddenly the car in front of me breaked really hard for 2 dogs running on to the street. I was on my summer tyres and it was a bit wet and slippery outside so I couldn't stop in time and bumped into the other car. The next day I had an appointment at the BMW dealership to put my winter tyres on... Oh the irony. They then told me my summer tyres were worn out.

Today I heard back from the dealership and they told me it will cost over 2.5K euros to fix it. The car needs a new hood, new front bumper, new headlight, new fog light, ... Really hate the owners of those dogs now. You don't let your dogs out to play, in the dark, at a busy street!

I had to use duct tape to fix my grill, because it would fall out otherwise... Pretty embarassing! I want to get it all fixed real soon!

- PJ

MADNESS in Knokke

Going to Knokke during the Zoute Grand Prix usually means "supercar madness". Well, this year was no different. Here are some of the world's fastest and loudest cars lined up, revving against each other.

Part one:

Part two:

Part three:

Part four: 

These beasts on the road:

Do you want to see more of these amazing, top of the line, supercars? Subscribe to PJ's CarChannel on YouTube and get all the updates in your YouTube feed. You can of course also like PJ's CarChannel's Facebook page and follow the channel on Twitter.

- PJ

SOS YouTube

SOS! Help!

My goal was to reach 1 million views on my YouTube channel (PJ's CarChannel) before the end of 2012. I'm at 930.881 total upload views at the moment (3 December) and I get about 67K views in 30 days. I've got 28 days left to get 69.119 views in order to reach my goal.

So, I need your help. I always post my channel and new videos on Facebook and Twitter. You can help me a lot by just clicking that share of retweet button. It takes only 1 click and you could help me reach my goal. It would be an early Christmas gift from you to me ;-) Also, if you share/retweet one of the videos, I will be happy to share/retweet your content in return!

Spread the word and help me out!

Thanks a million!

- PJ

iOS App review: Risoul

Winter is coming so many of us are planning or have already planned their skiing trips! I usually go to Risoul (station Vars/Risoul) in the French Alps because my parents have a little house nearby. I've been going to Les Orres (station closeby) and Risoul since the first time I skied (when I was about 3 years old).


Well, there is an app on iOS for Risoul, with all kinds of information on it. There's a map of the entire ski area, a weather tab showing you the number of open slopes and lifts, "after ski" tab, webcams and even an emergency tab.

You can see different webcams, giving you an update every couple of hours, which is very handy, when you don't have acces to a computer.

Cool feature: with My Ski you can measure your max speed, number of descents, distance, altitude etc. Could be quite fun on the slopes if your friends have the app to.

If you plan to take your iPhone on the slopes, there is a very useful tab in this app, called Ski Area. You can see the entire ski area (you can also download a high definition version) and check where the restaurants are, what time the lifts close or just where to go.

The emergency tab gives you a direct "call link" for when you're in trouble (e.g. caught in an avalanche, trapped in a valley, ...). It also shows you the latitude and longitude so the helicopter will know where to look.

If you're going to Risoul this winter, go ahead and download the app onto your iOS device. Enjoy your skiing trip, have fun and make sure you don't have to use the emergency call.

- PJ

Google Publisher Toolbar

I just downloaded the Google Publisher Toolbar (it exists since the beginning of 2012 I guess). It is a very useful tool to visualise data whilst browsing your own websites.

In the pop-up accountoverview you can see the following:

• overview of your revenue (today, yesterday, this month up til now and last month)
• Top 5 custom channels and Top 5 URL-channels (both in a variable period)
• Total revenue

You can also use it for ad-overlays to get information about the ads on your own website. This information contains size of the ad, ...

Example

It is very easy to install (Chrome does all the work for you) and you can even log in (and switch between) different accounts. 

Here's the link to the app: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-publisher-toolbar/omioeahgfecgfpfldejlnideemfidnkc/related

- PJ

Social media & AdSense

Since the beginning of this year I've been experimenting with social media and AdSense. I became a YouTube Partner in February 2012 and linked my AdSense account to my channel (you can take a look at it by clicking HERE).

My channel contains over 200 videos of exclusive super (and hyper) cars and I started earning money with it since February. As I was in London - super car heaven - from February until May my channel suddenly got a lot more popular. Since that time I've been earning about 100 euros every month (somewhere between €85 and €125 pm). That means I get about 1 euro for every 1000 views.

Last summer I filled in the form to become a YouTube Partner with my second, extreme sports, channel (which can you  find by clicking HERE). I don't get as many views on this one, but it only contains 44 videos. There's a lot more to come on this channel. Not many views means, evidently, not many revenue.

I also added this blog to my AdSense account, so the more you guys read it, the more I earn ;-). However I think I don't blog enough to earn a lot of money from it.

Friday I submitted a request to link my Razzi account to my AdSense and it got approved a few hours later. (FYI, Razzi is a social photo sharing network, where you can import photos from your computer, from your iPhone via the app or import them from Flickr). I will be posting good quality photos on Razzi and figure out what the views/earnings ratio is.

If you have any questions about AdSense, YouTube or so, just ask! Just remember I am not an expert.

- PJ

Drive Impression: BMW X1 20d sDrive

I drove the BMW X1 20d sDrive yesterday and to my surprise, it was very comfortable and fast at the same time.

My dad's X5 had to go to the BMW dealership for a maintenance and they gave the rear wheel driven X1 as a replacement car. It was a Sapphire Black X1, with an automatic gearbox, alloy rims, leather seats, navigation system, multifunctional sports steering wheel, and many more options.

I took the car out for a little drive on some smaller roads and it was very smooth and fast. The reaction time of the throttle was very immediate and I was almost pushed into my seat as I floored it. You can feel the turbo kicking in, and there is almost no turbo-lag. The brakes definetely sufficed, which is important for a slightly bigger car like this.


The iDrive system is, like in every BMW, fairly structured and user friendly. It has a good audio-system however I would advise the upgraded audio-system if you like to turn the volume to the max.

I would surely consider buying it, however it is quite expensive. The RWD 2 liter diesel is priced around 32K euros in Belgium. This model, with all the options was about € 40.000. That's a high price but you get a lot in return. A fast, comfortable car and loads of sheer driving pleasure.

Big thanks to BMW/Mini Patrick Smets Lier.

Some specs:
Model: BMW X1 sDrive 20d
Engine: 163/177hp - 350Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Fuel use, CO2 emissions: 5.9l/100km, 155g/km

- PJ 

How not to park your Corvette

This is not the way you'd want to park your 80.000 euro Corvette C6.

The driver probably lost control while coming out of the roundabout (drifting?) and ended up on the traffic barrier.

Luckily no one got hurt in the accident and the car isn't totalled. There is some damage, and it will cost the owner some serious money but it can be fixed and everyone's OK.

NOTE: Before everyone starts saying bad things, I did get out of the car to go see if they needed help, but everyone was fine.

Stonemile

My YouTube channel reached another milestone: the 200th video has been uploaded to PJ's CarChannel.

The next milestone will be 1 million upload views (this was my goal for 2012) and my channel should reach the 6 zeros before the new year breaks in! Subscribe to witness the milestone first!

Here's my 200th video:

In case you missed, here's my 100th video:

- PJ

8 x 100 + 50

8 x 100 + 50 = 850. That is how many people subscribed to PJ's CarChannel.

850 x 1000 = 850.000. That is how many upload views my channel counts in total.

Now let's get the number of subscribers up to 1.000 and the total upload views to 1 MILLION!

PS: My channel counts 199 videos, so the day after tomorrow I will be uploading my 200th video. You might want to subscribe if you want to see it! (Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/vdvpj to subscribe)

Special thanks to all of you who subscribed and/or watched my videos, really appreciate it!

- PJ

Most viewed video: BMW vs. Maserati

My most viewed video just hit 200.000 views. It's the video of the BMW F10 M5 (V8) doing a rev-battle against the Maserati Quattroporte S (V10). Both cars sound and look amazing in my opinion. If I had to make a choice, it would be the BMW M5 (not in this color though). The Maserati hasn't changed in years where as the BMW has a more revolutionary - if not innovative - design. 

What's your pick?

The n° 2 in my top viewed videos list - with 94.000 views - is the Porsche Mansory 970 Panamera "G-Force One". That's quite a long name! It is just a Panamera, tuned by Mansory and they called it the "G-Force One".

The video of the 690 horepower Nissan GT-R hits number 3 in my most viewed videos list, with 90.000 views, close to number 2. It has carbon fibre parts all over to reduce the weight and an Akrapovic exhaust system to add more power (as if there wasn't enough already) and a more brutal sound.

These are my 3 most viewed videos of al 196 videos on my channel.

Note: it is not at all my top 3 of favorite cars, just to be clear.

- PJ

Fails, bails and nails - a GoPro Hero2 edit

This summer, as some of you already know, Sasha and I joined the Belgian Water Ski Show Team. As we needed to learn a lot of new tricks we had to train properly. Here's a little edit of one of our training sessions: Fails, bails and nails. 

The video is shot 100% with the GoPro HD Hero2 camera, mounted on Sasha's helmet. Boats used during this training (and most training sessions at our club) were the '05 Nautique Ski196 and the '12 Nautique 200!

Enjoy the video :)

- PJ

Exploding tyre at 1000fps

For me, this is the video of the day. Hoonigan had the amazing idea to record a burnout at 1000 frames per second (most likely shot with a Phantom). There's not much to explain or to tell about this video. Only that I like it. A lot.

Just take a look for yourself and be the judge.

(My source: Shmee150)

- PJ

World's fastest convertible

Last weekend I was in Knokke for the Zoute Grand Prix. There was a large number of  expensive super- and hypercars such as the Porsche Carrera GT, Ferrari 599 GTO and many more. The most expensive hypercar however was the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse: the world's fastest convertible. This car can reach over 400 km/h (250 mph) and at least 360 km/h (224 mph) with the top down. That's impressive! It has the same engine as the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport and delivers 1200hp and 1490 Nm torque.

It was showcased in light and dark blue carbonfibre and dito rims which made it look genuinely epic! Check out the video to see more details of the Bugatti VGS Vitesse!

This might be my favourite from all the cars I've seen at the Zoute Grand Prix...

- PJ

Breaking the speed of sound without an engine

Felix Baumgartner is the man who will attempt to break the speed of sound in freefall. He will do this by jumping from a stratosperic balloon 39km or 120.000 feet up in the air.

You can follow Felix and the Red Bull Stratos mission live right here:

I think it is a really epic mission and a very good move from Red Bull (marketing wise) to livestream this!

Enjoy!

- PJ

Knokke Zoute Grand Prix - Belgian Premieres

Yesterday I went to Knokke for the Zoute Grand Prix. The high end (super)carbrands showcased their latest models on stage for the first time in Belgium. Some top brands that were present were (in alphabetical order): Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche and Rolls Royce.

If you missed it, here are the highlights (in my opinion) of the premieres:

Aston Martin Vanquish:

Ferrari F12 Berlinetta:

McLaren MP4-12C Spider:

Other brands and models that were present:
Audi R8 and RS4 Avant
Aston Martin Vanquish and Vantage S
Bentley Mulsanne and Continental GTC V8
BMW M6 Coupe and 640d M Sport Grand Coupe
Ferrari F12 Berlinetta and California
Jaguar XKRS and XF Sportbreak
Lamborghini LP560-4 Spyder and LP700-4 Aventador
McLaren MP4-12C
Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Break and A-Class
Porsche 991 Carrera 4S
Rolls Royce Phantom and Ghost

(Just to be clear: the cars listed above are the cars that were on the stages/podiums, there were many others present)

There will be more (and way more EPIC) videos online soon. I will keep you posted! :)

(Last year's playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA227F1D40EEE4BA7&feature=view_all)

- PJ

One Act Show - World Water Ski Show Tournament

One of our acts during the 2012 World Water Ski Show Tournament was the "One Act Show". This included a doubles act, a pyramid and a jumping act.

This video shows you how it goes on the dock and on the water, shot from Wout's perspective, the brave 11 year old who stands on top of the pyramid. He's also the one who stands on top of the 4 tier pyramid. Huge respect for that little guy! Unfortunately, in this video, one of the pyramid girls fell while they were building up. It is a very difficult thing to do, so skiers fall all the time doing this act. Lots of respect for that too!

The skiers in the One Act Show are Jürgen Van Der Heyden and Xante (doubles), Wim Debosschere, Sasha Hens, Sabrina Beun, Wout Vandeweghe, Fanny van Maele and Nico De Stoop (pyramid) and PJ Vandevelde (jump act).

Special thanks to the (co-)drivers Marc Verschakelen and Patrick D Hondt

Enjoy the video! :)

Did you like the bravery of Wout, the little guy? Then share this video with all your friends :)

- PJ

800K!!

Huge thanks to all the fans!

My YouTube channel vdvpj, perhaps better known as PJ's CarChannel, has reached 800.000 upload views. I never thought I'd make it this far, and it's all thanks to you guys. Thank you for subscribing and watching my videos.

Now let's get my channel to the big milestone of 1 MILLION views!

Your support is crucial :)

-PJ

Zuckerberg & Jobs

1.000.000.000

Yesterday Mark Zuckerberg's social network reached 1 billion monthly active users. A very impressive number. When the movie The Social Network hit the screen in 2010, Facebook had 500 million users. That number has doubled in the past 2 years!


On an unrelated note (however it stays in the internet/computer branche):
What really surprised me today, was the fact that Steve Jobs deceased one year ago. Has it been that long? It seems like just yesterday.

Speaking of Jobs, do you like the new iPhone 5? Is it worth the money?

GIFS and WEAVES

This week I liked these two websites the most: GIF CTRL and Weave Silk.

GIF CTRL is a website where you can see some hilarious GIF's and you can control the GIF with the movement of your mouse and by clicking on the background a new GIF pops up. Just go to the website to check it out for yourself!
You can also add your own GIFs!

I must warn you though: you will kill your battery as well as your productivity of the day.

(I found this website via Jan Govaert)

The other website, Weave Silk,  is a magical interactive artwork. If I'd explain it to you, it wouldn't be as cool as just clicking on the link and finding out for yourself. Same warning as for the GIF website though!


(I found this website via Jef Leysen)

EPIC FREERUNNING

This is one epic video by RedBull freerunner Jason Paul! It's called the "Human-Powered Freerunning Machine" and it is awesome!

This was something you could expect from no other company than RedBull!

Thumbs up!

-PJ

Water Ski World Records 2012

This year, several World Records were set on waterskis. Two of these records were fairly stunning if you'd ask me!

On January 27, 145 skiers were towed behind a single boat. An astonishing sight! This new world record eclipsed the 114 skier record set in 2010 and the Cairns Powerboat Club 100 Skier Record set in 1986. They started with 154 skiers, but 145 completed the full nautical mile. Amazing!

Another record I wanted to mention was set with a lot of skiers too, 54 to be exact. Although these 54 skiers didn't just ski next to each other behind the towboat, the made a pyramid. This record was set just recently, on September 8, 2012 on Lake Wazeecha in Wisconsin Rapids. Three teams (Mad-City, Badgerland and Must Skis) assembled this 4 x 4-tier pyramid.

And of course, let's not forget Jeff Rodger's new Masters Men Record in slalom, he ran 1,25 at 43' off. A stunning performance!

Hope you enjoyed these videos, I certainly did.

- PJ

Hail like tennisballs

Have you ever seen it hail like this before? I wasn't there to witness it but I received this footage from Sasha, who was in Viverone, Italy when the rain turned into huge hailballs!

This video - shot with the GoPro HD Hero2 - proofs that it was serious!

The hail apparently also killed some windows of cars that were out in the open... Never seen hail like that!

-PJ

Is our boat haunted?!

Is our boat haunted?! When we were in France with our boat, the steering wheel suddenly started spinning, so my brother grabbed our GoPro HD Hero2 camera. The steering wheel was spinning like crazy! It had to be paranormal activity! Check it out in the video below:

Did you think this was real?
This is how it works: while we were lying still on the water (with the engine off) I was swimming near the swimming platform. The rear of the boat is right under the platform so I dived and turned the rear. As a result, the steering wheel started spinning, logically.

-PJ

Knokke Zoute Grand Prix

Last year I went to the Zoute Grand Prix in Knokke, a wealthy coast city in Belgium. It was pretty cool to see all those exclusive cars on the road, the old timers as well as the newest productions of supercars.

Here's the playlist of last year's Belgian premiers (Ferrari FF and 458 Spider, Jaguar XKRS, ...):

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA227F1D40EEE4BA7

Next Sunday I'll be in Knokke again for the 2013 Zoute Grand Prix! I'm looking forward to it!

Stay tuned for the videos of the Belgian premiers of the most exclusive cars in the world!

- PJ

SUMMER 2012

Summer's over... And it was a good one. We had some good competitions, good skiing, a lot of fun.

I went to Savines, France for 10 days and made a lot of GoPro videos. I finally learned the toeside backflip on my trickski (landed the heelside backflip a couple of times already, but the toehold backflip fits better in my competition run).

Besides skiing, I did some MTB'ing too and reached over 70 km/h on my bike! Here's a little video of our stay in Savines where you can see us skiing, diving and going fast on a mountainbike!

Next year we'll make some more and better videos (we have a couple of GoPro HD Hero2 cameras, so we can shoot from different angles!)

Stay tuned :)

- PJ