[DC Shoes]

After storyboards are done, VFX artists move to a stage called pre-visualization — a crude version of the action. [PopMech]

Director Roland Emmerich shoots the limo — a Lincoln Town Car L — against a massive blue screen in Vancouver, Canada. [PopMech]

Next step? Rendering! [PopMech]

Better than the takes-a-couple-hours-per-frame renders is this. It's called a doughboy render that takes just a few minutes per frame. [PopMech]

The final result? Well, simply put, it's epic disaster porn. Want to know the rest? Head on over to Popular Mechanics.

The incident took place Sunday morning in Parklea, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, and the good news is that nobody in the house was injured when the "late model Commodore sedan" got out of control, hit a light pole, jumped a dirt mound, and flew about 90 meters through the air to land on the roof of a nearby house. The driver and passenger of the Commodore ended up in the hospital, where they're reportedely in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries. We're sure they're answering a lot of very pointed questions posed by members of Sydney's law enforcement community right about now. Thanks to Alf, In Pog Form for the tip!
[Herald Sun, full gallery]

Hakimullah Mehsud became the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban—the Afghan Taliban’s Pakistani franchise—sometime this fall, after his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud got the Predator treatment from the United States.

Baitullah left office similarly to how he had acquired it: the Pakistani Taliban’s founder, Nek Mohammad, met his fate in a very similar manner in the spring of 2004, handing over the reins to Baitullah, who expanded the insurgency into the very heart of Pakistan.

In a recent profile, the BBC’s Syed Shoaib Hasan recalls meeting Hakimullah in South Waziristan—the Pakistani Taliban’s heartland—in October 2007. The 28-year-old commander had already had a reputation with cars and guns:

[Hakimullah Mehsud] was already famous within the Taliban for his skills in battle – his ability to handle a Kalashnikov and a Toyota pick-up were legendary. “He is the best after Nek Mohammad,” our Taliban driver told us during a hair-raising journey before the meeting in 2007.

Of said hair-raising journey, the author offers a vivid recollection:

He took us for a drive. To demonstrate his skill with the vehicle, he drove like a man possessed, manoeuvring around razor sharp bends at impossible speeds. He finished the demonstration by braking inches short of a several hundred foot drop. While the rest of us sat in stunned silence, he just laughed chillingly and stuck the car in reverse to smoothly continue the journey.

To imagine that cruising in blood-curdling detail, remember that mountainous South Waziristan is not exactly known for its road network. In that tribal borderland wedged between Afghanistan and Pakistan, this is where you do your driving:

Source: BBC, Photo Credit: A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images, John Moore/Getty Images

This Escort gets some truly righteous air, and the scary backyard suspension mods plus the bumpy-ass dirt road leading to the jump makes that accomplishment all the more impressive. We've seen the work of the legendary Dave before, but this seems to be the best jump yet. Enjoy:

Yes, this '87 Accord (go here if the ad disappears) is now for sale, and it's a proven desert jumper! Why would anyone sell such a great car? According to the seller, "Reason for selling: it's too damn ballin for us. We want to tone it down a bit and maybe get a Rally Van." And there you have it! Thanks to LTDScott for the tip!
[KSL]

Add one part beat up 2004 Subaru 2.5 RS, one part spare set of donut tires, a flare gun, a dirt parking lot, a mobile home and whole lot of dangerous hoonage and you've got yourself quite a spoof on Ken Block's epic Gymkhana Practice videos. While shooting a video like this on public roads is probably not the smartest idea, it's pretty enjoyable to watch. Just make sure you skip ahead to the 50 second mark where the action starts. (Hat Tip To Matthew & Dave!)

A lack of supplemental information about the ticket other than it was received on the California State Route 73 toll road leaves us in question, but if it is indeed a true speeding ticket and not some ill-conceived joke, it may be the most epic display of supercar hoonage ever caught by the California Highway Patrol. And for those of you playing at home, here's what the California law for speeding above 100 MPH is:

"every person convicted of an infraction for a violation described in subdivision (b) of Section 22348 shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500)."

So, no jail time as far as we can see, but a fairly hefty fine. (Hat tip to Less Lincoln!) [via Flickr]

Pricey rally cars eating snowbank is a perennial favorite up here in freezin' Atlanta, Michigan at the Sno*Drift Rally. Consider this a teaser for the massive, steaming pile of coverage we're about to bestow upon the internets. At the moment, we're digging through the 10 gigabytes of tasty action shots and miles of HD videotape we captured in the past weekend. To whet your appetite for now, please accept this epic shot we've lovingly placed below for your consumption.

To follow all of our obscene coverage of Sno*Drift and the rest of the scene from here on out, hit the RallyAmerica tag.

Photo Credit: Alex "Chocolate Lovin" Conley

A police officer on the way to the graduation ceremonies at Fort Largs noticed a man doing a sustained burnout on a road near the police academy. The officer pulled the man over and let him off with a warning only to spot him later in the day, during the ceremony, doing burnouts in the parking lot of the academy. Needless to say officers were not amused and following the ceremony went to the mans house where they ticketed him and impounded his car under the hoon laws. Police also found the man was cultivating three cannabis plants. To borrow a phrase: "Here's your sign." [Adelaide Now]

The UAW could be heard heaving a sigh of disappointment as we're stopped by mini-Shaft just before we would've mowed down Senator Bob "Nissan" Corker. Oh well, maybe next time.

References say that Hoon stood for "man living off immoral earnings (i.e. a pimp)" at the turn of the 20th century. The term has evolved to encompass drivers of either sex "who drives any vehicle dangerously and/or fast." The term hoon is typically only used in Australia or New Zealand, but we're doing our damnedest to bring it front and center into the vocab of American gearheads everwhere.

This t-shirt worn at Summer Nats, an Aussie-flavored SEMA, wraps up the definition of hoon in a succinct, efficient manner. We're hoping this hoon-shirted bloke launched out of the parking lot after a smoky, tire-shredding burnout, gained enough speed to nail the perfect Rockford, thereby instantly attaining hoon-god status among his peers. A man's outfit says a lot.

Also, as an FYI to the world's laziest journalist, you don't need to name your post "photo for Ray at Jalopnik" to get our attention. Just wanted ya to know that.

[WorldsLaziestJournalist and Reference.com]

A man who was "tagging" along with a funeral service jumped in and stole the waiting hearse. He decided to go for a little scenic tour of Florida and "ironically" drives to his house to grab a bible, talk to his mom, then asks if anyone wants to go for a ride back to the church. What? The jokes just write themselves.

Sheriff Al Lamberti said:

"Just when you think you've seen it all, this is obviously a first for me. We've had hearses stolen before, but not in the middle of a service (What kind of place is this?). It's obviously a very strange situation."

The situation ended when the man, on his way back to the church, almost ran over a Sheriff's Deputy who in turn shot him in the leg. After a short foot chase, our Hoon of the Day nominee ran into the church, disrupting the funeral for the second time at which point he was placed under arrest.

Video and bonus joke below:

(Thanks for the tip Goatrope!)

Here's a bonus joke because there's no better time to tell it than when you're talking about a hearse, here goes nothing:

A man was walking back home when he noticed a most unusual funeral procession approaching the nearby cemetery.

A long black hearse was followed by a second long black hearse about 50 feet behind. Behind the second hearse was a solitary man walking with a dog. Behind that were 200 men walking in a single file.

He respectfully approached the man walking with the dog and said, "I am so sorry for your loss, and I know now is a bad time to disturb you, but I've never seen a funeral procession like this. Whose funeral is it?"

The man replied, "Well, that first hearse is for my wife. My dog attacked and killed her."

He inquired further, "Well, who is in the second hearse?"

The man answered, "My mother-in-law. She was trying to help my wife when the dog turned on her."

After a moment of silence he asked, "Can I borrow the dog?"

The man with the dog replied,

"Get in line."

[via Sun Sentinel]