Project Scrambler: New Interior!

Talk about getting a lot accomplished this weekend. I have a lot to show for it, including black-stained hands that I CAN'T clean.

Friday night I finished prepping the interior of Margaret. I took everything out. I vacuumed, brushed and wiped the whole thing down with Acetone. This cuts any residue that may be there to inhibit the proper adhesion of the Herculiner. Included in this photo stream you'll also see the body work I did. The major rust areas I cut out and replaced with new steel plates.

I then rolled her into the garage and began applying the herculiner. I love that stuff. It's messy though. You have to first cut it in in the corners with a brush, it's much more accurate. Then you can roll in the larger places. I applied one thin coat and took a break for dinner around 7:30 p.m. After dinner I applied another coat, this time laying it on real thick. Those two coats were about 7/8s of a gallon. Saturday morning I applied the last coat (a whole quart) and rolled it out into the yard to let the sun speed up the drying process. Saturday afternoon it was rock-hard dry and amazing. I am so pleased with the outcome of it. I bolted back in the seats, installed new seat belts and went for a cruise. It's definitely a little quieter with that rubberized layer. I love it.

I got a Tuffy Overhead console that's only made to fit Jeeps with the common 2.5 inch rollbar. The Scrambler has a beefed up 3 inch rollbar. I've always liked the overhead consoles, and decided to attempt a fabricated bracket to install it. I got 3.5 inch u-bolts from the hardware store and made a bracket out of 3/4 inch plywood. I bolted this to the back of the tuffy box and then, with new holes drilled for the new u-bolts, I bolted the tuffy box to the rollbar. It worked like a charm! I love it. Now I'll have a secure place to store my electronics and be able to lock them.

Next task is body work. I'll spend the next several hours grinding all body rust, replacing where necessary and bondoing a lot. I hope to be painting in 2 weeks max!

Friday Foto: Reflection

There are certain times in which one can step out of your life just for a second and take a look back in. I've had one of those experiences this week.

In the midst of being so excited about my new jeep (see last post), it's odd that I actually can find a moment to reflect. Not having a radio (yet) has given me the time to think (and sing loudly to myself) as I travel from point A to B. I think it's in these times that I find reflection.

I am truly blessed (or 'bleesed' as one of Kelly's student's tattoos reads, no lie). I like this picture because, in some way, it reminds me of that. It's friendship that I am must thankful. It's the love. It's the opportunities I have. It's my wife, who is so caring and has been oh so patient in my Jeep project. It's my friends that gather for poker on a "school" night and drink gallons of amazing margaritas. It's my folks who have planned laser eye surgery for me. It's the fact that I now own my dream car.

I often wonder why I have these opportunities. Do I work hard for them? Do I deserve them? I know one thing, regardless, I can be thankful for them. And I am.

This picture was taken about a month and a half ago on my buddy's bachelor party weekend. We built a huge fire, smoked cigars and drank beer (just one, hehehe). It's times like that though, looking back on this picture, that I am thankful for.

My Scrambler is coming along nicely. I feel like I have been working real hard on it for two weeks now and have nothing to show for it. Well that will change this weekend. I've been spending all my free time prepping the inside of the jeep for the paint-on bedliner. I am using a product called Herculiner. It's a rubberized paint-on bed liner much like Rhino Liner and Line-X. It's all ready to go and I will be putting it on this afternoon/evening. It will instantly make Margaret look a million times better. After that I'll start on the body rust and prepping her for a new paint job. I'll put up before and after pics here after the weekend.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Friday Foto/Project Scrambler: Margaret

I want to address something real quick. I don't plan to double-up on Fridays and cop-out on y'all, combining the Friday Foto entry with a Project Scrambler. It's just that this week has been hellacious. Poor Kelly has been bed-ridden since Sunday night with the flu. She has gotten out of bed maybe once or twice, and probably eating about as much as I would eat for lunch when I'm NOT hungry. Poor thing. I've been leaving work from time to time to check on her and bring her things. I think she is beginning to feel better; slowly coming out of it. Problem is, my throat's a feeling a little dry now. But I'm gonna beat it.

So, if you didn't know, I got the Jeep. Let's back up and tell the whole story. Two of my buddies and I drove down on last Friday afternoon, heading to Daytona to check out this Scrambler. Traffic was bad, as it always is, going through Jacksonville, and as I slammed on my brakes to avoid running up on a recently-stopped semi-truck in front of me, I was rear-ended. I saw it coming a split second before it happened in my rear view mirror. This is a good time to point out the amazing quality of a 3/16 inch box steel bumper. I have a custom fabricated rear bumper on my Cherokee, and when that Corolla hit me doing close to 35 mph, not a scratch could be found on my car. Not a scratch. Her car? Ummm, well see for yourself.

Problem was though, the girl was so scared. Here she is, driving to Orlando from Missouri, on her way to take her first job after college at Disney World. She's all by her self, has made it all the way so far safe, and now, 90 miles from her destination, this happens. Oh, by the way, she was cute. Lucky for Margaret, she couldn't have run into three nicer guys. We calmed her down, determined that her car was drivable still, decided against calling the cops and sent the only single guy amongst us in the car with her to drive to the nearest gas station to make sure everything was OK. It was. We said our goodbyes and she called us when she safely arrived in Orlando.

Buying the Scrambler was nerve-racking. I did have buyer's remorse, which I usually don't. However, now? Now I am in love. I see the Jeep not as it is now- rusty and paint chipped- but as it is going to be. Beautiful paint, restored interior, freshly lined interior and shiny. The Scrambler runs like a dream. Shifts smooth, rides solid, handles great at highway speeds and is pretty damn nice offroad. Boy, do I have plans though... I won't list them all here. I am starting restoration this weekend, so I will post progress as comes. The pictures below are of Margaret (I named the Scrambler) as she stands now. I have ripped out the carpet and the back seat to begin work this weekend. Take a look now, because it won't be this way for long.

Friday Foto: Snow and a Jeep

First thing, let's get into the Friday Foto. As you know, last weekend I was back in the mountains at our cabin. It snowed, and not just a little. For me, coming from St. Simons Island, the snow was amazing. For a Virginian, it would have been just annoying...

I like snow. We had a snow ball fight that lasted a good hour and a half. We ate lots of good food and I drank my fair share of beer and scotch. I went out for a walk around 7 a.m. on Sunday morning to take some photos. One of our "neighbors" at the cabin used to be (he's since moved) a crazy mountain man. I say that conservatively too. Often times I'd drive by to see him in his little cave-in-the-mountain turned meth-lab doing some shady deal that involved a piece of crap car, lots of bare chests and always a revolver strapped to his leg. Yeah, crazy. Anyway, the sign was just a little taste of his "free-spirit" and I find it so contradicting to the aura that surrounds the Galland cabin; one of welcome and love. The other photo is a little further up the road. We probably got a total of 3 inches of snow.

And now, without further ado, I write to you a dream come true.

When I was 12 I used to ride my bike and play around the parking lots off of Slyvan Street, back there where Bird Legs used to be. Their used to be an auto chop-shop back there and I used to always peer inside and check out the cars they had. I love cars, if you didn't know. I rode by one day and saw it. A 1980-something Jeep CJ-8 Scrambler. The CJ model Jeeps are the predecessor of the current Wrangler. The Scrambler version is the predecessor of the newer Wrangler Unlimiteds (the longer ones). From that moment on, I fell in love. I researched them and this was BEFORE internet! I checked out books and read old magazines to learn as much about these Jeeps as I could. It was hard. They only made 27 thousand of them from 81-85. When I turned 16 I wanted one, but my parents deemed it impractical. Our relationship from then on (with the Jeep, not the folks :)) dwindled, but the love never died.

It has been rekindled my friends. This afternoon I am driving down to Florida and buying one, that is, as long as everything checks out. I'm selling my current Jeep Cherokee and buying a 1985 Scrambler. Words and free beer to all could not show how excited I am. This is truly a dream come true. That may sound silly, and no, not all my treasures lie here on earth, but this is one that does and it is being manifested finally! Below is a picture of the Jeep that I am buying. Yes, it looks a little shady now, but do not be deceived. That is part of the dream, a rebuild. I wanted one that was mechanically sound (as is this one) but that needed cosmetic work so that I could build it the way I wanted to. Below the silver one is an example of how it may look when I am finished. So, starting soon, I will not only feature the "Friday Foto" on my blog, but also "Project Scrambler". I will document the progress from the very beginning of the work that I have done with lots of photos. To some it may be boring, but to others it will be great. I'm involved in a lot of online Jeep forums too, and I will send the link to them as well. So, enjoy and I'll be seeing you all soon!

Friday Foto: wedding photo stream

Today's Foto is thrown together, sorry about that. Above is one of my favorites, sure captures the moment of having a lot of fun at a wedding. Here is the link to see the rest of the photos from that wedding. Speaking of weddings, I just got a HUGE wedding for May. A local real estate tycoon's daughter is getting married and I'm shooting the whole wedding weekend. I'm pretty excited.

So, I'm leaving today to go, once again, to our cabin in the mountains. I'm so excited. I love going up there. We are going with another couple and my brother-in-law is driving down from Nashville for the weekend too. It should be really cold, possibly even a little snowy. Gwinny was flipping out this morning as I was packing up Kelly's car. She really thought we were going to leave her.

Anyway, one main objective of going to the cabin, as always, is to get some new photos. I'll be showcasing them next Friday, so stay tuned.

A little shout-out to some damn-good BBQ real quick. Southern Soul BBQ, located on St. Simons Island, is amazing. I just finished their web site, check it out. Next Saturday they are having a big party with live music and specials all day long. If you are in town, do your ole' buds a favor and get a pork sammich. Oh man... amazing. Cornbread and Brunswick stew rock too.

Friday Foto

Good morning to all. What a nice morning it is. We have been having some amazing weather lately and that always puts me in a great mood. This weekend will be the first weekend since Thanksgiving (yes, that long) that I have had nothing to do. I'm so looking forward to it. Might go to Jacksonville, do some house projects, work on my latest wedding photos, do a little work here at the office, all in all, a much anticipated and needing weekend.

First things first, today's fotos. The two bridal portraits I took a couple of weeks ago. They are of the bride from the wedding I just shot this weekend. She wanted to have bridal portraits up at her wedding. I though that was a nice idea. I love this photo. She is a great gal, known her all my life, and I really think these two photos capture her ambiance. The third one is a shot I've always wanted to take. I've always been a fan of the informal posed group shot, when done correctly and with the right crowd. This was definitely the right crowd. I also posted this one to show you all that my remote from Hong Kong worked just fine. I'm in that picture, see me? What do you think of the foto? Oh, and btw, I'm on a black and white kick here at the moment... expect some black and whites in the near future.

Next weekend we are going to our cabin once again in the North Georgia mountains. I can't wait. I love that place.

I've been on this music binge lately, searching for new stuff. I just stumbled across "Endless Highway- The Music of the Band". It's a tribute album with The Band covers by little artists like: Allman Brothers, Guster, Lee Ann Womack, Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, Jack Johnson, Jacob Dylan, etc.... the list goes on. Get it. It's an amazing album. Anybody heard Norah Jones' new album?

That's about all I have to say. I hope to start posting more here in the near future. So, don't fall out of your chair if you come here on a Wednesday and find that I've posted something new. Have a great weekend.

Friday Foto

Yo... last week I went to Dublin for a bachelor party weekend, as I wrote last week. It was fun. We really had a great time. It was a big open farm where we drank, made big fires, drove cars through mud and shot guns. Ohhhh, the life. Today's foto comes from there. This is the shelter we all congregated around. It's a great little pavilion filled with a hodgepodge of knick knacks, from mailboxes to coolers and fishing poles to lawn chairs. I love clutter, it's so interesting.

This weekend is my best friends' wedding. I've known the bride and groom my whole life and they couldn't be more perfect for each other. I'm in the wedding and shooting it and looking forward to it. How am I going to achieve such a feet you ask? eBay to the rescue! I found a wireless remote for my camera off eBay. Canon doesn't make one for my model, but some dude in Hong Kong does, and for the low price of $12.99 plus shipping, I'm going to be in the photo and shooting it at the same time. It's great!

I'm only working a little bit today, so I need to get gone... Hope you all have a great weekend!

Friday Foto: Sunset

Good morning to all. Another week has gone by. I can't believe it. Last weekend was fun, had lots of family in town celebrating my Grandmother's 86 birthday.

Today's fotos are from last night. I had a shoot yesterday evening for work. On my way home I saw the beautiful light through the trees and just had to stop for shooting, but what I got was more than just a couple photos.

Do you ever get so busy, your mind in so many places, that you forget to reflect? I mean, take time to just breath, take inventory of how your life is going? We work so hard trying to get places, become these identities that we have in our mind, while all along we are, and find ourselves wasting time not enjoying what we have. It reminds me of a scene in one of my favorite movies, "Joe Dirt". Joe spends the first 25 years of his life looking for his parents that abandoned him when he was a child, all the time pining for a family. It isn't until he's about to kill himself that his girlfriend enlightens him that he has had a family all along, he just didn't realize it. I know, quoting "Joe Dirt" is on the way to absurdity, but it holds true the point I'm trying to make. Reflection is key.

Anyway, tomorrow I am going up to a farm in mid Georgia to help celebrate my best friends bachelorhood. His wedding is next weekend. We should all have a grand time. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Friday Foto: River edition

So last weekend I went on the Altamaha River. Probably one of my favorite places in the world, and to be more specific, Lewis Creek which runs off of the Altamaha. I don't know why I love this place so much. I've seen prettier places, but maybe it's more than just the sights. It's the feelings associated with it. Off Lewis Creek is Lewis Island, home to the world's largest un-cut Cypress trees. Back in days, when they were pulling these trees for lumber, they eventually stopped because they couldn't get the machines any further back into the depths of the tree-populated island. So here today, they sit, monster trees. Trees so big it would take 5-6 grown men to wrap their arms around one trunk.

We got on the river to catch some of the morning light for photographs, then on to Lewis Island to hunt for the trees. See, they are kind of hard to find. This was my fourth trip to look for them, and each time we get a little closer. This time we actually found one, a dead one, but all the same. I can't wait to find the live ones. According to our calculations, next time we should find them. GPS's are great.

This weekend should be fun. I have a lot of family in, celebrating my Grandmother's 86 birthday. I am cooking Italian food tonight for the whole lot of them (around 25 or so!). Tomorrow we are all cooking lobsters.

That's about all I got this morning. I'm taking a half day so I can begin cooking, so I'm pretty excited. Hope you guys have a great day and weekend.

Friday Foto: YOB Pt.2

The YOB (Year of Ben) is upon us now. I'm more so than ever pumped about 2007. I found out this week that my boss/manager is leaving the company for better options. So now it will be just me and the owner/boss. This can only be good news for me. Possibly more money and definitely more control and responsibility. So, that's a good start to the YOB.

So, today's Foto comes at you from our own backyard. The St. Simons Land Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving land on our beautiful island, has just constructed a new nature trail located off Frederica Road next to the blinking light. I encourage everybody to go check this out. It's about .5 mile long and goes to a beautiful overlook on the marsh with benches. I went out there last weekend and took some shots.

I'm pretty pumped about this weekend. It will be nice to relax. I've been spending a lot of my free time building this coffee table for our house. I acquired some real nice marble tile and I wanted to inlay it into the top of a coffee table. I think it came our really nice. Kelly is very happy with it, which really, is all that matters. She helped too; was a good worker. Anyway, so this weekend I am relaxing. Sunday I'm hitting up the Altamaha River really early for a little photography adventure. I'm really excited... Definitely my element.



And, now to bore you all, I must mention the Apple iPhone that was announced this week. For extreme fans of the Apple company like myself, this announcement has been more than two years in the waiting. It will be released in June of this year and be provided with Cingular. The phone, just slighty larger than an iPod but thinner than a Razr, does it all. It's an all-touch screen, that is an iPod, web browser and phone all in one. I could go on and on about how cool it is, but I won't subject you to that. Follow the above link for photos and more info if you want.

Something you might find interesting is this though... Close to six years ago Cisco Linksys, a big tech company I'm sure you've heard of, actually trademarked the name "iPhone". Everybody new that if Apple ever made a phone that they would name it the "iPhone". Well, about a month ago, Cisco released an internet phone called the "iPhone". On Tuesday, when Apple's Steve Jobs unveiled the new cell phone, he said "...and we're calling the iPhone." It's a blatant request for civil action from Cisco and they took the bait and have already filed suit against Apple. Who will win? My money's on Apple for sure. The "i-whatever" naming scheme has been in public conscious for way too long now. Good luck Linksys, you're going to need it.

Hope you guys have a great day and an awesome weekend. Peace.

Friday Foto: New Year and Poi.

Poi (pronounced 'poy') is the art of spinning fire. My cousin, who has been and still is in the Peace Corp down in Belize has picked up this little sport. Him and his wife were home for the holidays and we got to hang out for a couple of days while I got these shots. What could be more fun then spinning balls of kevlar soaked in Coleman fuel on 18 inch chains? Not too much I tell you.

So yeah, it's the new year. I'm not giving myself any new year's resolutions, because I usually fail at them. I have, however, coined 2007 the Year of Ben. Life is about being, I know. But I can't help but look back on 2006 and ask myself what did I accomplish that really matters? A couple of things granted, but this year will have more. The Year of Ben is going to be a bountiful harvest, full of changes for the good of me and my family. Hobbies I've neglected, projects I've half started, time I've neglected to spend, etc... watch out! I'm coming for you.

My holiday break was great. I had a wonderful extended break that had me back in the office just Wednesday. Every year since I was born my dad has taken off the week between Christmas and New Years. It's always been a special time in my life, a time to relax and spend time with family and friends. Two Christmas's ago (2005) was my first year ever working during that time. It killed me, as I'm sure I posted here. This year I had enough time and was given a little extra, to enjoy that week once more. Now I'm hooked. After working through it one year, I'm never doing it again. I'll save my off days if I have to. It's too special to me.

So that's about it. My best friend Whit is having some wedding shower parties (notice the plural tense) this weekend, so I'm pretty excited. I love not having to worry about what to do. I hope everyone of y'all had a great weekend. Get ready, The Year of Ben is upon us all now. Don't be surprised.

Friday Foto: Christmas Edition!!!

Christmas is here! Probably my favorite time of year (except for those mornings that you wake up and you can tell it's cold outside, that might be my favorite...). Christmas time has changed for me. I used to be all jacked up on getting presents (still am of course), but it's changed. For one, I'm paying for those presents now. But what's really different is the meaning. I'm looking more forward to spending time with family and friends this Christmas than ever before.

When I was younger, all my friends were always home, family time is abundant and I took for granted the fellowship enjoyed with family and friends. As I got older, friends moved away, I got married, people went to college, I went to college and my time seemed to be slightly consumed with the real world. I have a sister and two sibling-in-laws in town that I get to spend time with. My best friend from Annapolis will be home today, I haven't seen him in a year. My other best friend/cousin and his wife will be visiting next week too. They've been in Belize for 2 years with the peace corps, and they are home for the holidays. We are throwing a big party Saturday night. We do it for one reason only... fellowship. I can't wait to see everybody, after all, that's what Christmas time is really all about.

On to the Friday Foto... last week we went to Rafters for a concert. Peter Rowan, legendary bluegrass musician and friends Larry Keel and Natural Bridge. Above are pictures of Rowan (the first one) and the rest. We had a great time.

Anyway, Merry Christmas. Hope to see you all Saturday night.

Friday Foto: New stuff!!!

First thing, here's today's Foto... I wanted to save this one for closer to Christmas. I like it. It puts me in the Christmas spirit (as if I wasn't already). This was taken in Rockefeller Center, and that's the Rockefeller building you see. The famous Christmas tree is right there. We actually went up to the top of the Rock to a place called the Rainbow Room, where I enjoyed a nice scotch on the rocks overlooking all of the city. Very nice place, I recommend hitting it up next time you venture to the big city.

So, all this week I have been busting my butt to redesign my website completely. Not this, this is a blog, but my photography site. I'm please to announce it's 99% complete! That one percent is hardly noticeable to anyone but me... and, I'm waiting on the names to transfer over, so until that happens (couple of days) you have to access it at its temporary address of: www.benjamingalland.netfirms.com. So, I encourage you all to go over there, check it out and let me know what you think. I've built it to really push my business, incorporating all the wedding and promo shooting that I do. You can even buy prints off my site now! I'm really excited about that. The design is completely different than the old site, and I think it is far better. Please, let me know what you think... again, it's not 100% complete, so I'm looking for critique.

Also, we are 10 days away from Christmas! But, more important, we are 8 days away from the Holiday Soiree. Who is excited about that? Man, I can't wait... it's gonna be better than the last one. Why you ask? Because Kelly's not going to make me tuck my shirt in, that's why. See y'all soon.

Friday Foto!

This is Hell's Kitchen in New York City.

This is walking outside of the NBC building next to Rockefeller Center.

This is me, sitting outside the Public Library.

Kelly smiling for the camera. It was cold.

Saturday night I had my uncle drive me to the waterfront on the Jersey side to get these shots. You should see them blown up, they are pretty slick.

In the good ole NYC subway. Waiting for the train to take us from Greenwich Village back to Columbus Square.

My favorite photo from the trip probably. I took this in the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) in NYC. This little girl was hanging out next to the Egyptian Tombs that they had moved from Egypt and put back together inside the museum. I love the contrast of big and small and old and young.

Obviously I took more photos, but I have to save some for future Friday Fotos right? We had a great time though. We really caught the weather at a perfect time. It wasn't too cold, but just enough to really make you feel like you were up north.

We are decorating our house and Christmas tree this weekend. We usually do it much earlier -after Thanksgiving- but with going to NYNY and all, we decided to wait. But now, it's on. The Crimus Cree is going up. The spirit is on. The Holiday Soiree is just around the corner!!! December 23rd, mark you calendars! This one will be even better than last one.

Merry Christmas!