That’s a heck of a deal! Chris Smith, Carroll Smith’s son and the person managing the book business now since Carroll Passed 10 years ago, has recently had quite an ordeal. But he made it through, and Engineer To Win is back on the shelves!

To celebrate the re-release and having all books back in stock, Chris has dropped the price to an all-time low $89.95 for Tune To Win, Drive To Win, Prepare To Win, Engineer To Win, and Carroll Smith’s Engineer In Your Pocket.

This is the entire race car engineering library Carroll authored after his stellar racing career, from engineering the GT40s that won Le Mans, to winning Indy, Formula One, and everything in between.

Get your books now before the price goes up!

Allen Berg, former Formula One racer and chief of Allen Berg Racing Schools operating in Fontana, CA, Canada, and now Willow Springs, CA, is introducing a new program that joins his fabulous Formula Cars with FastLine Racing’s Scions. FastLine is famous for training the celebrities that race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach’s Pro/Celebrity race – and these are the same cars used for the training.

The Scions are okay cars to learn some racing with – manual shift, closed-cockpit and of course front-wheel drive. They are full-blown race cars used for racing, with roll cages, 5-point harnesses, and all of the things needed to make them safe and competitive in a racing environment.

Pair those cars with Allen Berg’s purebred open-wheel formula racing cars, and you’ve got a well-rounded racing experience.

Beautiful, sensual, engaging, and titillating. That’s what Curtis Weaver’s painting and sculpture brings to life for the modern art connoisseur. GARBOUSHIAN GALLERY is proud to present Weaver’s work in ECO – LIBIDO, beginning January 19th and running through February in their Beverly Hills studio.

This is an interesting exhibition that mixes media for a more involving experience. Fantastical creatures present whimsy and sexuality in a provocative manner – not controversially provocative, but biologically provocative.

Head to the Beverly Wilshire triangle and find the GARBOUSHIAN GALLERY, the home of the best up-and-coming artists in Los Angeles. After the success of the recent John Seery and Miguel Osuna shows, Curtis Weaver is a pleasant change of pace that showcases excellent taste and a versatile pallet for art. Until February, you’ll see Curtis Weaver’s ECO – Libido there, in all its sumptuous glory.

Our congratulations goes to Scott Martin, aka “Scotty Clause” for all of his hard work beginning to show fruit. His dream of taking The Living Christmas Company national is one giant leap closer to reality after Scott’s appearance on Shark Tank and his success courting Mark Cuban as a business partner and investor.

We helped TLCCo get off the ground many years ago, bringing Scott’s vision to reality through our work in the logo and his first operational website. We’re proud of our work (there was a lot of it) and we’re glad to be a part of this magical Christmas success story.

GO SCOTTY GO!

Well folks, that’s that! If you want to play in the NBA, Summer Pro League gave you a chance – and a couple of players look like they’re headed for the Pros.

On Monday, July 30th, the 39th Annual Southern California Summer Pro League presented by AND1 wrapped with an epic game between presenting Sponsor’s AND1 Select team and LA Loop. Both teams had exceptional records in League play, each going into the Championship game undefeated in six games. One of those teams was destined to finish the season 7-0, while the other would go home 6-1.

Play throughout the league games was at an extremely high, NBA level. Rising above the rest, AND1 Select and LA Loop aimed to set themselves apart so that agents and scouts would take notice and sign the players for their chance at stardom.

In an epic double over-time knock-down drag-out thrash, AND1 Select managed the win over LA Loop. AND1′s Franklin Session was matched by LA Loop’s Vince Camper for 27 points on the night. AND1′s Tremayne Johnson picked up a double double with 23 points and 13 rebounds while LA Loop had three players in double-digits for the night: Camper backed his shooting with 12 assists, Mark Dawson lit up the hoop with 18 points and crashed the boards for a game leading 21 rebounds, and Keith Davis hitting for 11 points and 11 rebounds.

In the end, AND1 won with 91 points versus LA Loop’s 86. All of the players deserve a second look from the Big Leagues, but a few used $150 and Summer Pro League to make a statement, “PICK ME, COACH. I have what it takes to get it done!”

And they certainly proved it.

Congratulations to all the players and coaches on an excellent season, and to the SPL Support Staff for making opportunities happen for serious players.

Some people dream about racing a historic Formula One car flat out. A select, lucky few others do it. One such gent is American Chris Locke, a Lotusophile from Northern California.

Chris is a busy attorney trying to make the world right, but in his spare time he uses what his hard work affords him to enjoy his historic Lotus race cars. Most recently, Chris headed to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a motorhead mecca in England, and followed his blasts up the hill with a trip to Silverstone to exercise his ex-Andretti Lotus 77 in a support race for the FIA Formula One World Championship British Grand Prix.

Check out Chris’ cars and exploits at CheckeredPastRacing.com, a site he had made up so his family and anyone else can follow along with his adventures.

Good on ya and well done racing, Chris!

Keep an eye out for another article in the coming weeks about Locke’s experience helping in the filming of Rush.

10 years ago, Eva and Helena Smith set out to make the world a better place. They started with a tiny office with one other employee, and by the end of the year, they had trained foster families and successfully placed nearly 60 foster children.

Fast-forward 10 years and Greater Hope now consists of 17 full-time employees (including employee #1, Jeannie) having placed nearly 2300 foster children. The friendly family atmosphere has yielded consistently positive results and the trend will definitely be continuing.

With the addition of AllClearLivescan.com last year and the June 1st opening of Greater Hope Preparatory School, the business will have doubled in size again by the end of the year. If you want to get in on something great, there will be a career fair for the new school on May 5th from 9am to noon.

A heartfelt congratulations comes from all of us here at WSmad to Eva, Helena, and everyone at Greater Hope Foundation for making it a fantastic and productive first ten years. And more importantly – for bettering the lives of the 2300 children and over 4000 foster parents that you have positively influenced.

The Summer Pro League announced that presenting sponsor “and1 basketball company” has joined the team.

The Summer Pro League has had some very enticing sponsorship positions available, and as the league takes shape for July 2012, one of the best places has been taken.

There are still sponsorship positions available, but And1 has definitely capitalized on a great opportunity.

And1 is a phenomenal business that has recently gone through reinvention. It’s hard to imagine a better way for a company to display its products than to the up-and-coming basketball stars of next year through a partnership with Summer Pro League.

And1, welcome to the team!

Commercial Real Estate Agent Sheri Messerlian is a Senior Vice President at NIA Capital and a member of the Company’s Elite Platinum Club. She also has 32,000 sqft available on Hawthorne Boulevard, in Torrance, CA – if you’re interested.

Sheri currently has about 100,000 sqft for sale around the South Bay, and about 75,000 sqft for lease. Recently, she’s leased over 62,000 feet and sold close to 40,000 sqft.

Among the more impressive properties that Sheri is brokering is 32,000 sqft of frontage on Hawthorne Boulevard near the intersection with Sepulveda. It’s a large retail space with a loading dock and more than ample parking. If you need something smaller, she’s leased spaces as small as 175 feet all the way up to the tens of thousands, and everything in between.

Perhaps the most impressive tell of her book is the demographics and the frontage she offers. She’s got a huge variety on offer for every budget.

So if you’re looking for a new office, or if you have a hot business plan for a great restaurant, or if you’re looking to open a large retail chain, talk to Sheri Messerlian. If somehow she doesn’t have exactly what you’re looking for, she’ll get you pointed in the right direction with her over 30 years of industry contacts.

Congrats on bringing your site up to date, Sheri!

Chris Locke of Checkered Past Racing has informed fans through his website, www.CheckeredPastRacing.com, that this year’s racing schedule will be nearly as ambitious as the Professional Formula One calendar, giving fans of the awesome Lotus 76 the opportunity to see the car in person from the middle of March at Laguna Seca all the way until the end of November at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX if the US Grand Prix is to happen there this year.

Fans of the Lotus 76 should be able to see the car… not in person, but greatly enlarged… sometime next year.

Chris’ stable of Loti now has an interloper in the form of a Formula 2 Chevron B39. Chris allowed the car to be campaigned last year its original driver Indycar racer Lyn St. James to the great delight of racing fans everywhere. Chris intends to use the car himself this year, not to the great delight of Lyn St. James. She may get another go if Chris gets too busy with his 76, or with Classic Team Lotus’ incredible Lotus 79.

A few highlights of the schedule include the normal races in Monterey and Napa, but also Monaco (pending acceptance), Portland, Limerock, both Goodwoods, and as mentioned before, perhaps the United States Grand Prix, if that event comes to pass.

We wish Chris luck in 2012!