Sunday, June 07, 2009
Halfway there!
4 out of 8 chapters are written and need to be reviewed.
We're at Beef 'O' Brady's, which is a wi-fi hotspot for free!, in Clemson and I'm surrounded by TVs. J is at the bar for a better view and I'm in a booth working, and honestly I'm ashamed to move because I'm working on J's pink Dell laptop. There I said it. It's yet another personal motivator. Plus I want her to be able to be the primary user instead of me.
The job search has been unfruitful so far. It will kicked in to hyper-drive once writing is done though.
Congrats to Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel on 2nd and 3rd for Team Red Bull in Istanbul, Turkey this morning. Nicely done! Huge congrats to Jenson Button and Brawn GP on their 6th win out of 7 races!
We're at Beef 'O' Brady's, which is a wi-fi hotspot for free!, in Clemson and I'm surrounded by TVs. J is at the bar for a better view and I'm in a booth working, and honestly I'm ashamed to move because I'm working on J's pink Dell laptop. There I said it. It's yet another personal motivator. Plus I want her to be able to be the primary user instead of me.
The job search has been unfruitful so far. It will kicked in to hyper-drive once writing is done though.
Congrats to Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel on 2nd and 3rd for Team Red Bull in Istanbul, Turkey this morning. Nicely done! Huge congrats to Jenson Button and Brawn GP on their 6th win out of 7 races!
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Last things first
We bought the cats an early Christmas present! 6 feet of cat insanity! Check it:
That would be around $300-$500 in a store and we got it for much less than that on eBay of course!
To recap the last race of the 2008 F1 season, first a little background. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro is ahead in the manufacturer's championship followed closely by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. (Got to keep those sponsors happy!) Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes is ahead in the driver's championship by 7 points over Ferrari's Felipe Massa. The only way Felipe can win is if he finishes first, and Lewis finishes 6th or lower, or if Felipe finishes 2nd, if Lewis finishes 8th or lower, so it's basically Lewis' championship to lose but Felipe is racing in front of his hometown crowd in Sao Paolo, Brazil! He literally grew up racing go-karts in the shadow of the race track they will race on. Qualifying is going well with fast times being traded back and forth in the 2nd session. But in the third session, you cannot add fuel to the car so you must start the race with that amount of fuel on board, so the cars are slower and strategy is all important.
Felipe qualifies on pole! In front of thousands of screaming Brazilians! And his family! Jarno Trulli does an amazing job for Panasonic Toyota to get 2nd. Kimi Raikkonen (Felipe's teammate) puts his Ferrari right behind Felipe in 3rd. The Mercedes boys are right behind them in 4th and 5th for Lewis and Heikki Kovaleinen. The amazing young German Sebastian Vettel puts his Ferrari powered Red Bull in 7th and proceeds to have an amazing race. His teammate Sebastian Bourdais starts in 9th and doesn't have a great race.
The race start is delayed because of an out of nowhere storm that soaks the front stretch and starting grid, so the FIA pushes the start back so the teams can put on some rain tires. But then the race starts and poor David Coulthard, in his last career race after 246 F1 starts, was knocked out by a combo of Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima both of AT&T Williams Toyota. In the following interview David commented on how he started his F1 career with Williams and it was kind of fitting that they would end his career too. His car wore a special livery (the car color and sponsors) that all the teams OK'd for the race to support the Wings for Life spinal cord research foundation. Tough break DC and good luck next year commenting for British TV. Hopefully you can maybe do a guest appearance for SpeedTV's coverage so we can hear your charming Scottish brogue once again.
The race progresses and Felipe is off like a bandit with Jarno and Kimi in hot pursuit. Lewis is chugging along in 4th. Everyone is on dry tires now and at 17 laps left, I think the race is over with Felipe winning but Lewis winning the championship. Then the weather report comes in. Rain in the next 10 minutes. Everyone waits for the rain and see who will flinch first and dive into the pits for wet tires. There they go! Most everyone pits and Felipe retains his lead. The Toyota boys, Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, stay out on their dry tires in hopes that the rain stays soft and then can eek their way to a couple higher positions. Everyone comes back out but wait! With Timo Glock not pitting, he's now in 4th, which means Lewis Hamilton is in 5th and that is the lowest position he can finish and still win the driver's championship. No big deal, but here comes Sebastian Vettel in his Scuderia Toro Rosso! He's in 6th and chasing Lewis down. There are 4 laps left and Sebastian gets by! Lewis got stuck behind some lap traffic and Sebastian pounced! Lewis is now losing the championship! Sebastian tries to pull away but Lewis keeps it close. 4 laps left, 3 laps left, 2 laps left, white flag, one lap left! Lewis NEEDS to get by Sebastian. The rain is starting to pick up which suits their rain tires just fine but where is Timo? He's still on dry tires and is struggling to stay in 4th. Lewis must get by, he must. Sebastian rounds the last turn before the long pedal to the metal (or carbon fiber) straight away followed closely by Lewis, but who is that white and red car slip sliding around? It's Timo!
Lewis passes Timo on the absolute last corner to regain 5th position and the world championship. I was on the edge of my seat with my mouth agape. I couldn't believe what I was watching. Unbelievable season for Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes so congratulations to him and congratulations to Ferrari for they won the manufacturer's championship and can still claim to be world champs.
Good luck practicing in the off-season, hiring and firing drivers, and developing cars for the new 2009 rules. See you in March in Australia!
That would be around $300-$500 in a store and we got it for much less than that on eBay of course!
To recap the last race of the 2008 F1 season, first a little background. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro is ahead in the manufacturer's championship followed closely by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. (Got to keep those sponsors happy!) Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes is ahead in the driver's championship by 7 points over Ferrari's Felipe Massa. The only way Felipe can win is if he finishes first, and Lewis finishes 6th or lower, or if Felipe finishes 2nd, if Lewis finishes 8th or lower, so it's basically Lewis' championship to lose but Felipe is racing in front of his hometown crowd in Sao Paolo, Brazil! He literally grew up racing go-karts in the shadow of the race track they will race on. Qualifying is going well with fast times being traded back and forth in the 2nd session. But in the third session, you cannot add fuel to the car so you must start the race with that amount of fuel on board, so the cars are slower and strategy is all important.
Felipe qualifies on pole! In front of thousands of screaming Brazilians! And his family! Jarno Trulli does an amazing job for Panasonic Toyota to get 2nd. Kimi Raikkonen (Felipe's teammate) puts his Ferrari right behind Felipe in 3rd. The Mercedes boys are right behind them in 4th and 5th for Lewis and Heikki Kovaleinen. The amazing young German Sebastian Vettel puts his Ferrari powered Red Bull in 7th and proceeds to have an amazing race. His teammate Sebastian Bourdais starts in 9th and doesn't have a great race.
The race start is delayed because of an out of nowhere storm that soaks the front stretch and starting grid, so the FIA pushes the start back so the teams can put on some rain tires. But then the race starts and poor David Coulthard, in his last career race after 246 F1 starts, was knocked out by a combo of Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima both of AT&T Williams Toyota. In the following interview David commented on how he started his F1 career with Williams and it was kind of fitting that they would end his career too. His car wore a special livery (the car color and sponsors) that all the teams OK'd for the race to support the Wings for Life spinal cord research foundation. Tough break DC and good luck next year commenting for British TV. Hopefully you can maybe do a guest appearance for SpeedTV's coverage so we can hear your charming Scottish brogue once again.
The race progresses and Felipe is off like a bandit with Jarno and Kimi in hot pursuit. Lewis is chugging along in 4th. Everyone is on dry tires now and at 17 laps left, I think the race is over with Felipe winning but Lewis winning the championship. Then the weather report comes in. Rain in the next 10 minutes. Everyone waits for the rain and see who will flinch first and dive into the pits for wet tires. There they go! Most everyone pits and Felipe retains his lead. The Toyota boys, Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, stay out on their dry tires in hopes that the rain stays soft and then can eek their way to a couple higher positions. Everyone comes back out but wait! With Timo Glock not pitting, he's now in 4th, which means Lewis Hamilton is in 5th and that is the lowest position he can finish and still win the driver's championship. No big deal, but here comes Sebastian Vettel in his Scuderia Toro Rosso! He's in 6th and chasing Lewis down. There are 4 laps left and Sebastian gets by! Lewis got stuck behind some lap traffic and Sebastian pounced! Lewis is now losing the championship! Sebastian tries to pull away but Lewis keeps it close. 4 laps left, 3 laps left, 2 laps left, white flag, one lap left! Lewis NEEDS to get by Sebastian. The rain is starting to pick up which suits their rain tires just fine but where is Timo? He's still on dry tires and is struggling to stay in 4th. Lewis must get by, he must. Sebastian rounds the last turn before the long pedal to the metal (or carbon fiber) straight away followed closely by Lewis, but who is that white and red car slip sliding around? It's Timo!
Lewis passes Timo on the absolute last corner to regain 5th position and the world championship. I was on the edge of my seat with my mouth agape. I couldn't believe what I was watching. Unbelievable season for Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes so congratulations to him and congratulations to Ferrari for they won the manufacturer's championship and can still claim to be world champs.
Good luck practicing in the off-season, hiring and firing drivers, and developing cars for the new 2009 rules. See you in March in Australia!
Labels: cats, F1, Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull
Monday, October 27, 2008
1946 feet straight up!
J and I conquered Table Rock Mountain (3124 feet) yesterday. It's an elevation change of 1946 feet from the nature center where the Table Rock Trail starts. It is of course in Table Rock State Park, right off scenic SC 11. The trailhead sign says to allot between 2 and 3 hours one way. We did it in just under 2 hours. For reference a particularly in shape and virile Russian faculty member did it in 1.5 hours. We had lunch overlooking trees as far as you could see.
Yes my legs are a tad sore today, not as bad as I was expecting halfway up though. I also rode my "new to me" bike into work today. I paid $40 for a used Specialized Hard Rock and it's in pretty good shape. It could probably use some new tires and a decent cleaning but we can worry about that later. The derailleurs (metal things that change gears, pronounced de-rail-yours, thanks Clemson Cyclery!) work pretty well and I was shifting gears like mad.
The traffic was fairly heavy and I rode on the sidewalk for a bit but decided I should use the bike lanes and force the traffic to acknowledge my presence. Yes I was wearing a helmet. I would rather not but J told me horrible head injury statistics and I like my melon in one piece, plus it's another use for my all purpose skiing/climbing/bicycling helmet.
I need to work on luggage carrying capacity though. Ideally I would like to ride to the grocery store and pretty much anywhere in a 2 mile radius and the laptop, lunch and some papers pretty much maxed out my backpack. We'll see. It's okay for now and I need to prove to myself that I will use it regularly before I go dropping money into it. The locking chain and cordless air compressor I bought about equal the cost of the bike but I can use the air compressor for the car too so that evens out.
The last F1 race of the 2008 season is in Sao Paolo, Brazil which means it will be on at a reasonable hour! I'm guessing 11 am or noon on Sunday. The driver's championship is almost locked up by Lewis Hamilton but he has to finish the race Sunday in a decent position and Felipe Massa must win to even have a chance. Good thing Felipe likes racing in front of his home crowd.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Yes my legs are a tad sore today, not as bad as I was expecting halfway up though. I also rode my "new to me" bike into work today. I paid $40 for a used Specialized Hard Rock and it's in pretty good shape. It could probably use some new tires and a decent cleaning but we can worry about that later. The derailleurs (metal things that change gears, pronounced de-rail-yours, thanks Clemson Cyclery!) work pretty well and I was shifting gears like mad.
The traffic was fairly heavy and I rode on the sidewalk for a bit but decided I should use the bike lanes and force the traffic to acknowledge my presence. Yes I was wearing a helmet. I would rather not but J told me horrible head injury statistics and I like my melon in one piece, plus it's another use for my all purpose skiing/climbing/bicycling helmet.
I need to work on luggage carrying capacity though. Ideally I would like to ride to the grocery store and pretty much anywhere in a 2 mile radius and the laptop, lunch and some papers pretty much maxed out my backpack. We'll see. It's okay for now and I need to prove to myself that I will use it regularly before I go dropping money into it. The locking chain and cordless air compressor I bought about equal the cost of the bike but I can use the air compressor for the car too so that evens out.
The last F1 race of the 2008 season is in Sao Paolo, Brazil which means it will be on at a reasonable hour! I'm guessing 11 am or noon on Sunday. The driver's championship is almost locked up by Lewis Hamilton but he has to finish the race Sunday in a decent position and Felipe Massa must win to even have a chance. Good thing Felipe likes racing in front of his home crowd.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Are you threatening me?
Ugh. I just read that Montreal and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve lost their Formula 1 race for 2009 which means no F1 in North America! Boooooo! For those keeping score, now the only worldwide top tier FIA series that races here is the World Rally Championship who races down in Mexico. So now the closest F1 race is...Brazil? Spain?
I saw GayWheels.com (via Jalopnik.com) came out with their "Top 10 Most Researched Vehicles - 3rd Quarter 2008". I went over their 2nd quarter list here. So let's compare and highlight any movement.
1-4) VW Rabbit and Eos, Mazda MX-5 Miata and Audi A3, all unchanged and still awesome (except for the Eos which is not designed for nor marketed towards my demographic).
The #5 Toyota Yaris dropped a few spots but the hatchback is still an unstoppable choice. (I truly loathe the sedan version; it's just so dull and uninspiring) I saw a blue hatchback yesterday that almost brought a tear to my eye. Also I would demand a manual transmission so I could keep the 1.6 Liter engine revved to where I want.
6-7) Saab 9-3, Dodge Caliber, Volvo C30 - The C30 is a very well made and designed smallish hatchback and between Smoove D and I we have seen a total of 2 of them on the road, so if you're looking for exclusivity, look no further than the C30.
8) Smart Fortwo! Hooray for Smart cars! Designed and made by Mercedes but marketed under the Smart brand. It's a 2 seater "city car" designed for shorter commutes although one did compete in One Lap of America this year. Obviously it gets great gas mileage with its 3 cylinder engine and is wicked easy to park. Also starts right at $12,000.
9) Tie for Toyota Matrix and Mini Cooper - I'm pretty sure I've professed my love for all things Mini before so I'll let Mini's amazing website speak for itself.
10) Maserati Gran Turismo! Damn! I guess this economic crisis isn't hitting everyone. And what a wonderful way to show it! Designed and owned by Ferrari with Ferrari engines but without the Ferrari pricetag! ($200,000+) The Gran Turismo is their grand touring 2 door coupe and starts at $110,000. Highly customizable for the discerning eye and the traditional gaping Maserati grille set this car apart from the industrial BMWs and Mercedes. If you have the means, I highly recommend you pick one up.
Maserati's Gran Turismo website (with video so turn your speakers down if you're at work)
The Clemson Tigers lost to Wake Forest last night so all hopes of a decent bowl game and ACC championship are now completely gone and everyone is calling for the coach's head.
Also let's introduce some "new to you" characters. There is Yaris (co-worker) and Hyundai (another co-worker). So Yaris made some cool crystals that jump when they're near a magnet. She was playing with them and Hyundai's wife said they reminded her of the toy where you could move the metal shavings around a bald guy's head and give him hair. I also remembered that, mostly because I could never get him to look like any of the suggestion pictures, but neither of us could remember the name of it. Google hooks us up with Wooly Willy Magnetic Face! Then we talked about other games we played on road trips. The Alphabet Game and the State License Plate Game were played by most. Then I found a Jalopnik post posing the same question "How Did You Survive Long Childhood Road Trips?" My brother and I played those and also had the travel checkers (magnetic and small), books, staring out the window, sleeping and those electronic handheld games (not Gameboy or Sega Game Gear, the cheap ones from Radio Shack and Wal-Mart). My favorite was our trip from The 'Ham to Seattle in my mom's full size van. Dad hooked us up with a TV and VCR that plugged into the car. Those 3 days on the road just flew by. Now I feel sorry for Mom and Dad having to do all that driving but at least they didn't have to break up any fights. Another "game" I played was imagining that I had a sword or laser and would chop everything that our car passed in half. Telephone poles, houses, billboards, trees, nothing was spared the wrath of my mind sword as I left a path of destruction in my wake! I don't think I had an evil intent and probably wouldn't have done it if I had really had a laser sword aka light saber.
Enjoy your weekend and remember since the F1 race is in Japan, live coverage starts late night. Practice aired at 1 am on Speed last night and I think the race starts at 12:30 am on Saturday (technically Sunday) on Speed.
I saw GayWheels.com (via Jalopnik.com) came out with their "Top 10 Most Researched Vehicles - 3rd Quarter 2008". I went over their 2nd quarter list here. So let's compare and highlight any movement.
1-4) VW Rabbit and Eos, Mazda MX-5 Miata and Audi A3, all unchanged and still awesome (except for the Eos which is not designed for nor marketed towards my demographic).
The #5 Toyota Yaris dropped a few spots but the hatchback is still an unstoppable choice. (I truly loathe the sedan version; it's just so dull and uninspiring) I saw a blue hatchback yesterday that almost brought a tear to my eye. Also I would demand a manual transmission so I could keep the 1.6 Liter engine revved to where I want.
6-7) Saab 9-3, Dodge Caliber, Volvo C30 - The C30 is a very well made and designed smallish hatchback and between Smoove D and I we have seen a total of 2 of them on the road, so if you're looking for exclusivity, look no further than the C30.
8) Smart Fortwo! Hooray for Smart cars! Designed and made by Mercedes but marketed under the Smart brand. It's a 2 seater "city car" designed for shorter commutes although one did compete in One Lap of America this year. Obviously it gets great gas mileage with its 3 cylinder engine and is wicked easy to park. Also starts right at $12,000.
9) Tie for Toyota Matrix and Mini Cooper - I'm pretty sure I've professed my love for all things Mini before so I'll let Mini's amazing website speak for itself.
10) Maserati Gran Turismo! Damn! I guess this economic crisis isn't hitting everyone. And what a wonderful way to show it! Designed and owned by Ferrari with Ferrari engines but without the Ferrari pricetag! ($200,000+) The Gran Turismo is their grand touring 2 door coupe and starts at $110,000. Highly customizable for the discerning eye and the traditional gaping Maserati grille set this car apart from the industrial BMWs and Mercedes. If you have the means, I highly recommend you pick one up.
Maserati's Gran Turismo website (with video so turn your speakers down if you're at work)
The Clemson Tigers lost to Wake Forest last night so all hopes of a decent bowl game and ACC championship are now completely gone and everyone is calling for the coach's head.
Also let's introduce some "new to you" characters. There is Yaris (co-worker) and Hyundai (another co-worker). So Yaris made some cool crystals that jump when they're near a magnet. She was playing with them and Hyundai's wife said they reminded her of the toy where you could move the metal shavings around a bald guy's head and give him hair. I also remembered that, mostly because I could never get him to look like any of the suggestion pictures, but neither of us could remember the name of it. Google hooks us up with Wooly Willy Magnetic Face! Then we talked about other games we played on road trips. The Alphabet Game and the State License Plate Game were played by most. Then I found a Jalopnik post posing the same question "How Did You Survive Long Childhood Road Trips?" My brother and I played those and also had the travel checkers (magnetic and small), books, staring out the window, sleeping and those electronic handheld games (not Gameboy or Sega Game Gear, the cheap ones from Radio Shack and Wal-Mart). My favorite was our trip from The 'Ham to Seattle in my mom's full size van. Dad hooked us up with a TV and VCR that plugged into the car. Those 3 days on the road just flew by. Now I feel sorry for Mom and Dad having to do all that driving but at least they didn't have to break up any fights. Another "game" I played was imagining that I had a sword or laser and would chop everything that our car passed in half. Telephone poles, houses, billboards, trees, nothing was spared the wrath of my mind sword as I left a path of destruction in my wake! I don't think I had an evil intent and probably wouldn't have done it if I had really had a laser sword aka light saber.
Enjoy your weekend and remember since the F1 race is in Japan, live coverage starts late night. Practice aired at 1 am on Speed last night and I think the race starts at 12:30 am on Saturday (technically Sunday) on Speed.
Labels: cars, Clemson, F1, GLBT, story
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Curly is the new funny!
As someone with curly hair, in an interracial and intraspecies relationship, I have really enjoyed following the exploits of Abbi Crutchfield, comedienne extraordinaire at her blog Curly Comedy. She is a frequent visitor of Cynical Chris' blog and that was my first exposure to her. I still have yet to see any video of her stand-up but I'm sure it's side splittingly hilarious.
She was recently in a sketch with Tracy Morgan for the 2008 VH1 Hip Hop Awards. Unfortunately all her speaking parts were cut out of what was actually aired but she was on TV!
In other Viacom media conglomerate news, South Park and The Sarah Silverman Show have their season premieres tonight. I should have reviews later this week.
The 2nd round of the presidential debates happened in Nashville last night. J and I once again fled to BBC coverage, thumbing our noses at the Big 6. We haven't actually watched it yet but will soon and then I can give you my 2 cents.
This weekend is the Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway. The driver's championship is coming down to the wire!
She was recently in a sketch with Tracy Morgan for the 2008 VH1 Hip Hop Awards. Unfortunately all her speaking parts were cut out of what was actually aired but she was on TV!
In other Viacom media conglomerate news, South Park and The Sarah Silverman Show have their season premieres tonight. I should have reviews later this week.
The 2nd round of the presidential debates happened in Nashville last night. J and I once again fled to BBC coverage, thumbing our noses at the Big 6. We haven't actually watched it yet but will soon and then I can give you my 2 cents.
This weekend is the Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway. The driver's championship is coming down to the wire!
Labels: Big Media, blogs, Cynical Chris, F1
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Albequerque Freak-out!
That was one of the card games Tracy Jordan (played by Tracy Morgan) played with his grandmother on Tina Fey's show "30 Rock". It's really interesting watching a show on GE's NBC that features both brands so heavily. Most of it is really funny but I did notice during one of Tracy's trademark freakouts that he said he voted for Nader, Nader! Which the conspiracy theorist in me recognizes as further proof that Big Media doesn't want third party candidates to debate or get any significant portion of the vote because they might actually change something. I stumbled across this article written by the one and only Ted Turner about media conglomerates and how the FCC is squarely under their control. If you want to hear some more opinions and want an ACTUAL choice for the presidency, then by all means go to ThirdPartyTicket and put your name on the list (don't worry, I didn't pledge any money either). Look at Ralph Nader's comment on it also.
Okay, back to corporate sponsored sporting events: the inaugural Singapore F1 Gran Prix, oh sorry, the Singtel Singapore Grand Prix. One of the few street circuits on the F1 calendar and F1's first race at night under the lights. They race under the lights so the poor Euros don't have to wake up early to watch a race and so the broadcasters can charge primetime rates for advertisements. Us not important Americans get races no later than noon and no earlier than Japan's upcoming race that starts at 12:30 am. American viewers just aren't as important as European viewers, even though Honda, Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes and Toyota's biggest market is here. I also know that most Americans don't care because major network stations (CBS-Viacom and Fox-News Corp.) only carry 4 out of the 17 races. Sorry, 18 races. Nice. Don't even get me started about American's attitudes towards rally racing.
Enough soapboxing, let's get to race reporting. Qualifying was tough and exciting. Fernando Alonso (2 time world champ) had trouble in his ING Renault and qualified 15th. Ouch. The Scuderia Ferraris looked unstoppable and qualified 1 and 3 (Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikonnen respectively) split by driver championship points leading Lewis Hamilton in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel coming off his first career win at Monza qualified his Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari in 7th. Full Quali results.
It looked like a solid win and a driver championship were in Felipe and Ferrari's grasp.
Then the race started. Felipe is off like lightening! Lewis is in pursuit but falling back. Kimi is hot on his heels. Then, just as the first pit stops need to come, Nelson "Don't call me Junior" Piquet smacks his Renault into the wall which brings out the gorgeous Mercedes AMG SL 63 safety car (pace car) and also the awesome "you can't have it America" C63 AMG medical wagon. They close the pit lane but Nico Rosberg (Williams Toyota) and Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) come in anyway and both suffer 10 second penalties (which is actually longer since they have to serve it in their pit stalls and with the slow 80 kmh (50 mph) speed limit, that's a long time). Nico takes his penalty after laying down some very fast laps and eventually finishes the race in 2nd! Great job Nico! They open the pits up and guys are running on fumes. Since the lap is so long (almost 2 minutes) most teams decide to stack their cars up and let the 2nd car wait while the first one gets gas and tires. Several teams do this, Ferrari being the most prominent. Felipe is in the pits from first, tires go on, he's getting gas, then he takes off! But they didn't unhook the fuel hose! He bowls down 3 or 4 pit crew and stops at the end of the pit lane! Kimi comes in, gets tires and fuel from the back-up fuel rig and then the pit crew runs down to help out Felipe. The fuel nozzle is stuck but they get it out and get him going but he dropped from first to 16th. Yikes. Looking at the replay he did get a green light from his pit stop light, so it was a team error or an electronics error. Not Felipe's fault. Scuderia Ferrari's dreams come crashing down. Tough break guys. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.
The rest of the race was just as exciting. The exact same thing almost happened to David Coulthard. He was in for his last pit stop and the guy holding the lollipop (the sign that tells him he can leave, they don't use lights like Ferrari) completely spaces out and lifts it up too soon! He luckily puts it down quickly and the crew is able to get him out after a couple more seconds of struggling. In the replay you can clearly see the lollipop guy's head look at the fuel hose, then he looks down at the front of the car and then for no reason decides that it's time for DC to leave. Aaaaaah! What happened Red Bull Renault lollipop guy?
Excellent race by Fernando Alonso, he improved 15 spots from his 15th grid spot to finish first! Great job Fernando and Renault!
Lewis hung on to finish third and get some much needed driver's points to increase his lead over Felipe Massa. David Coulthard finished 7th and his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel finished fifth. Full results.
Only 3 races left, the driver's championship is far from over with Lewis Hamilton having 84 points and Felipe Massa 7 back with 77. Robert Kubica is 13 back from Felipe with 64 points. The next race is October 12th in Japan, then Oct. 19th in China, then the last race is home turf for Felipe in Sao Paolo, Brazil on November 2nd. Who has nerves of steel to put the championship race out of the mind and just drive? We all get to find out in a couple weeks.
Okay, back to corporate sponsored sporting events: the inaugural Singapore F1 Gran Prix, oh sorry, the Singtel Singapore Grand Prix. One of the few street circuits on the F1 calendar and F1's first race at night under the lights. They race under the lights so the poor Euros don't have to wake up early to watch a race and so the broadcasters can charge primetime rates for advertisements. Us not important Americans get races no later than noon and no earlier than Japan's upcoming race that starts at 12:30 am. American viewers just aren't as important as European viewers, even though Honda, Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes and Toyota's biggest market is here. I also know that most Americans don't care because major network stations (CBS-Viacom and Fox-News Corp.) only carry 4 out of the 17 races. Sorry, 18 races. Nice. Don't even get me started about American's attitudes towards rally racing.
Enough soapboxing, let's get to race reporting. Qualifying was tough and exciting. Fernando Alonso (2 time world champ) had trouble in his ING Renault and qualified 15th. Ouch. The Scuderia Ferraris looked unstoppable and qualified 1 and 3 (Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikonnen respectively) split by driver championship points leading Lewis Hamilton in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel coming off his first career win at Monza qualified his Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari in 7th. Full Quali results.
It looked like a solid win and a driver championship were in Felipe and Ferrari's grasp.
Then the race started. Felipe is off like lightening! Lewis is in pursuit but falling back. Kimi is hot on his heels. Then, just as the first pit stops need to come, Nelson "Don't call me Junior" Piquet smacks his Renault into the wall which brings out the gorgeous Mercedes AMG SL 63 safety car (pace car) and also the awesome "you can't have it America" C63 AMG medical wagon. They close the pit lane but Nico Rosberg (Williams Toyota) and Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) come in anyway and both suffer 10 second penalties (which is actually longer since they have to serve it in their pit stalls and with the slow 80 kmh (50 mph) speed limit, that's a long time). Nico takes his penalty after laying down some very fast laps and eventually finishes the race in 2nd! Great job Nico! They open the pits up and guys are running on fumes. Since the lap is so long (almost 2 minutes) most teams decide to stack their cars up and let the 2nd car wait while the first one gets gas and tires. Several teams do this, Ferrari being the most prominent. Felipe is in the pits from first, tires go on, he's getting gas, then he takes off! But they didn't unhook the fuel hose! He bowls down 3 or 4 pit crew and stops at the end of the pit lane! Kimi comes in, gets tires and fuel from the back-up fuel rig and then the pit crew runs down to help out Felipe. The fuel nozzle is stuck but they get it out and get him going but he dropped from first to 16th. Yikes. Looking at the replay he did get a green light from his pit stop light, so it was a team error or an electronics error. Not Felipe's fault. Scuderia Ferrari's dreams come crashing down. Tough break guys. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.
The rest of the race was just as exciting. The exact same thing almost happened to David Coulthard. He was in for his last pit stop and the guy holding the lollipop (the sign that tells him he can leave, they don't use lights like Ferrari) completely spaces out and lifts it up too soon! He luckily puts it down quickly and the crew is able to get him out after a couple more seconds of struggling. In the replay you can clearly see the lollipop guy's head look at the fuel hose, then he looks down at the front of the car and then for no reason decides that it's time for DC to leave. Aaaaaah! What happened Red Bull Renault lollipop guy?
Excellent race by Fernando Alonso, he improved 15 spots from his 15th grid spot to finish first! Great job Fernando and Renault!
Lewis hung on to finish third and get some much needed driver's points to increase his lead over Felipe Massa. David Coulthard finished 7th and his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel finished fifth. Full results.
Only 3 races left, the driver's championship is far from over with Lewis Hamilton having 84 points and Felipe Massa 7 back with 77. Robert Kubica is 13 back from Felipe with 64 points. The next race is October 12th in Japan, then Oct. 19th in China, then the last race is home turf for Felipe in Sao Paolo, Brazil on November 2nd. Who has nerves of steel to put the championship race out of the mind and just drive? We all get to find out in a couple weeks.
Labels: Big Media, educating consumers, F1, racing, Red Bull
Friday, September 26, 2008
When the lights go out in the city
F1 this weekend is in Singapore. Practice might be going on right now. I know qualifying is at 10 am tomorrow morning. Wouldn't that make it nighttime in Singapore? Yes it would! That's why this is a very rare street circuit and the first ever night race for Formula 1 and should be an amazing race. I can't wait. The cars actually drive under the grandstands. Just imagine the sounds of 20 V8 engines revving to 19,000 rpm and then all that sound bouncing off the walls. I'm really looking forward to the race live at 7:30 am on Sunday.
This weekend is my lone autocross. I have taken time off from it because of the writing but am taking a break on Saturday. It is at the Michelin test facility near Greenwood, SC and it's called the Black Lake. It's 1400 x 400 square feet of perfectly black asphalt. It's basically the biggest and flattest area most of us have ever driven and for me might be a once in a lifetime thing, so I couldn't pass it up.
I'll let you know how it goes and I might actually remember to bring the camera and take some pictures. Michelin is so great (merci!) for letting us use part of their tire testing facility and have a few rules to protect their baby. No sharp metal touching the surface. No direct canopy legs on the pavement, no jacking a car up directly on the pavement, etc... Hopefully everyone cooperates and we are allowed back again.
I've been busy at work and didn't get much writing done this week. We did learn that Protege and Acura are coming back for a visit! Hooray! They didn't suffer too much damage to their house but there was some flooding to the first floor. Remind me again why there aren't more houses on stilts in low-lying states? I'm looking at you American coastal areas.
Tonight is wrenching on the car a bit, just checking bolts and replacing some suspension bushings. I need to order a timing belt for Focus. Ford says I can wait until 120,000 miles but I don't trust them and have heard of them snapping soon after 100,000. She hit 99,000 on the way to Ikea ATL last weekend. The new shelf is awesome but it was a tad long and had to jam its way between the front seats for the ride home, so I had to lean forward if I actually wanted to see J.
This weekend is my lone autocross. I have taken time off from it because of the writing but am taking a break on Saturday. It is at the Michelin test facility near Greenwood, SC and it's called the Black Lake. It's 1400 x 400 square feet of perfectly black asphalt. It's basically the biggest and flattest area most of us have ever driven and for me might be a once in a lifetime thing, so I couldn't pass it up.
I'll let you know how it goes and I might actually remember to bring the camera and take some pictures. Michelin is so great (merci!) for letting us use part of their tire testing facility and have a few rules to protect their baby. No sharp metal touching the surface. No direct canopy legs on the pavement, no jacking a car up directly on the pavement, etc... Hopefully everyone cooperates and we are allowed back again.
I've been busy at work and didn't get much writing done this week. We did learn that Protege and Acura are coming back for a visit! Hooray! They didn't suffer too much damage to their house but there was some flooding to the first floor. Remind me again why there aren't more houses on stilts in low-lying states? I'm looking at you American coastal areas.
Tonight is wrenching on the car a bit, just checking bolts and replacing some suspension bushings. I need to order a timing belt for Focus. Ford says I can wait until 120,000 miles but I don't trust them and have heard of them snapping soon after 100,000. She hit 99,000 on the way to Ikea ATL last weekend. The new shelf is awesome but it was a tad long and had to jam its way between the front seats for the ride home, so I had to lean forward if I actually wanted to see J.
Labels: Acura, F1, Focus, Ikea, J, Protege, writing
Thursday, September 18, 2008
We do not like Ike.
I've been a tad remiss in my obituary and natural disaster duties lately, so we'll be catching up today.
Drs. Protege and Acura moved to Houston about 4 months before Ike. Their house looked to be a little higher than most but Houston is still known for flooding. I hope they are doing okay along with their 2 cats and their worldly possessions. We heard from Dr. Acura on Facebook awhile ago but trust their busy getting adjusted to living in Texas, which is where Protege is from. I'm sure Acura is going through culture shock moving from Connecticut to Texas via Clemson.
In obituary news, Bernie Mac, comedian, father, movie star and great man, passed away on August 9 died from pneumonia and complications due to his diagnosed condition of sarcoidosis, a rare autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in tissue. He was only 50. One of the first times I saw Bernie Mac was on the Original Kings of Comedy. He came on with his big eyes, foul mouth and poignant observations and I was blown away. You could tell Bernie didn't take any guff and would make damn sure you knew it. Years later J and I had the pleasure to watch him play himself on the Bernie Mac Show. He might be more well known for his movie appearances, Friday, Oceans Eleven and Twelve.
Bernie is survived by his wife, Rhonda McCullough; their daughter, Je'Niece; and a granddaughter, Jasmine. You will be sorely missed, Bernie Mac.
In racing obituary news, the first American to ever win a Formula 1 race and Formula 1 driver's championship, Phil Hill, passed away on August 28. He was 81 and passed due to complications with Parkinson's disease.
Drs. Protege and Acura moved to Houston about 4 months before Ike. Their house looked to be a little higher than most but Houston is still known for flooding. I hope they are doing okay along with their 2 cats and their worldly possessions. We heard from Dr. Acura on Facebook awhile ago but trust their busy getting adjusted to living in Texas, which is where Protege is from. I'm sure Acura is going through culture shock moving from Connecticut to Texas via Clemson.
In obituary news, Bernie Mac, comedian, father, movie star and great man, passed away on August 9 died from pneumonia and complications due to his diagnosed condition of sarcoidosis, a rare autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in tissue. He was only 50. One of the first times I saw Bernie Mac was on the Original Kings of Comedy. He came on with his big eyes, foul mouth and poignant observations and I was blown away. You could tell Bernie didn't take any guff and would make damn sure you knew it. Years later J and I had the pleasure to watch him play himself on the Bernie Mac Show. He might be more well known for his movie appearances, Friday, Oceans Eleven and Twelve.
Bernie is survived by his wife, Rhonda McCullough; their daughter, Je'Niece; and a granddaughter, Jasmine. You will be sorely missed, Bernie Mac.
In racing obituary news, the first American to ever win a Formula 1 race and Formula 1 driver's championship, Phil Hill, passed away on August 28. He was 81 and passed due to complications with Parkinson's disease.
Ferrari’s president Luca di Montezemolo sent his condolences: “I, as well as all employees of Ferrari are extremely saddened by the news of the passing of Phil Hill, a man and a champion who gave so much to Ferrari and who has always greatly represented the company’s values inside and outside the racing track. Phil Hill raced and won many competitions both with prototype cars, like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring, won three times each, as well as with F1 single seaters.Here is the memorial booklet (in pdf) from his website. Phil Hill is survived by his wife Alma, son Derek, daughters Vanessa and Jennifer, and four grandchildren. I hope today's American drivers carry on your legacy of racing all over the world as fast as they can go.
With our car, Phil won the Formula One Championship title in 1961 as the first American-born to reach this result. Phil and I have always kept in touch throughout the years and I know I will miss his passion and love for Ferrari very much. My deepest sympathies are with his wife Alma and son Derek in this sad moment.”
Labels: Acura, F1, natural disaster, obituary, Protege
Monday, September 15, 2008
Scuderia Toro Rosso!
Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull and Ferrari engines! Sebastian Vettel became the youngest person to win a Formula 1 Gran Prix yesterday and did it in grand fashion on his team's home turf in Monza, Italy. Sebastian is 21 years old and living the dream. He has a bright future ahead of him as does Red Bull Racing in Formula 1.
It was a wet Saturday for qualifying and a wet Sunday for the race. Sebastian looked great during both. In fact, Red Bull had 3 of their 4 drivers qualify in the top 4! Sebastian Vettel took pole, Heikki Kovaleinen of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was 2nd on grid, Mark Webber of Red Bull Renault was 3rd with Sebastian Bourdais of Scuderia Toro Rosso rounding out the top 4. Unfortunately Sebastian Bourdais stalled at the beginning of the race and had to be pushed into the pits and started his race one lap down. Mark had a good pace and finished 8th, last point awarding position, but just couldn't keep up with the pace of the Ferrari engined Italian Red Bull Sebastian Vettel.
Writing is still coming along. I'm still shooting for December but am starting to prepare people (J) for a possible May graduation date, just in case.
It was a wet Saturday for qualifying and a wet Sunday for the race. Sebastian looked great during both. In fact, Red Bull had 3 of their 4 drivers qualify in the top 4! Sebastian Vettel took pole, Heikki Kovaleinen of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was 2nd on grid, Mark Webber of Red Bull Renault was 3rd with Sebastian Bourdais of Scuderia Toro Rosso rounding out the top 4. Unfortunately Sebastian Bourdais stalled at the beginning of the race and had to be pushed into the pits and started his race one lap down. Mark had a good pace and finished 8th, last point awarding position, but just couldn't keep up with the pace of the Ferrari engined Italian Red Bull Sebastian Vettel.
Writing is still coming along. I'm still shooting for December but am starting to prepare people (J) for a possible May graduation date, just in case.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Spa-Francorchamps
The F1 race in Belgium this weekend was pretty amazing. Qualifying happened on a drying track and both Scuderia Toro Rosso cars made it into the last session for the first time this year, the cars expertly driven by Sebastian Vettel and Sebastian Bourdais. Mark Webber of Red Bull Renault also made it into that session with his teammate David Coulthard not quite making it and being relegated to outside the top 10.
Spa is located in the Ardennes Forest and has wonderful elevation changes and some very interesting corners. Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes took pole followed by Felipe Massa of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, then Lewis' teammate Heikki Kovaleinen and then Felipe's teammate, Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the top 4. Heikki had a bad start (they do standing starts in F1 and I wish other series did that too, World Challenge does) and was basically playing catch up all race. Lewis and the two Ferraris were off to the races but coming around the first turn (La Source) it was still a bit damp and Lewis spun, but was able to keep the car running but now had Kimi hot on his tail once he got around Felipe. Sidenote, of the 3 times Kimi has finished the race at Spa, he has won 3 times, so he knows his way around. It's a drag race to the next corner between Lewis and Kimi, Mercedes vs. Ferrari, and Kimi takes it! Kimi and Lewis exchange fast lap for most of the race with Felipe several seconds behind them overall.
Then it happens. The unthinkable but always expected in the Ardennes. It started raining! With 2 laps to go! The teams are torn between heading to the pits and getting some wet weather tires or staying out and risking it. The lead guys can't afford to pit now so they bravely head on. Lewis passed Kimi into turn one but there is lap traffic (turn 6 I think) and Kimi gets passed Lewis. Kimi gets too anxious with the throttle and spins out on the next turn! Lewis gets past Kimi again but the Finn is right behind, until it happens. Kimi really spins out and crashes, ending his race and maybe his dreams of repeating the driver's championship. Lewis is first, Felipe is 2nd and for a short time Sebastian Bourdais was 3rd but he stayed out on his dry tires and Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber has intermediate wet tires on and is flying! He passes 4 or 5 people on his last lap and a half and puts his BMW on the podium (his 11th in his career) and takes 3rd. Sebastians Bourdais and Vettel did score points coming in 7th and 5th respectively. Great job Toro Rosso and Red Bull! Mark Webber snagged the last points position in 8th.
Whoa! Update: I just saw that they penalized Lewis 25 seconds (putting him in 3rd) for slightly cutting a corner short while racing with Kimi. I watched it and he did cut the corner and did let Kimi back in front but might have had a slight advantage over Kimi, but certainly not 25 seconds. And it looks like Timo Glock was passing under yellow flags, so he was also penalized 25 seconds, giving 8th to Mark Webber.
Also congratulations to Scott Dixon for winning the Indy Car championship! Danica Patrick finished in the tenth spot. I'm sad to say I took a nap during the last race (an oval in Chicago) but I hear there will be more road courses next year! Hooray! My next question is, why is your season over in early September? All the tracks booked in October? Don't want to fight NASCAR for TV coverage? Ah well, hopefully people remember your racing series next year. Hopefully you'll have some ads during college football bowl games to remind people that America does indeed have an open wheel race series.
Update: (Oh, apparently there is another race on the Streets of Surfer's Paradise in Australia on October 25th, but the championship is already decided. It should still be a great race.)
Next F1 race is at Monza in Italy, Ferrari's home turf, this weekend and then a night race street circuit in Singapore on Sept. 28th. That will be F1's first night race and I'm really looking forward to it.
Spa is located in the Ardennes Forest and has wonderful elevation changes and some very interesting corners. Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes took pole followed by Felipe Massa of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, then Lewis' teammate Heikki Kovaleinen and then Felipe's teammate, Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the top 4. Heikki had a bad start (they do standing starts in F1 and I wish other series did that too, World Challenge does) and was basically playing catch up all race. Lewis and the two Ferraris were off to the races but coming around the first turn (La Source) it was still a bit damp and Lewis spun, but was able to keep the car running but now had Kimi hot on his tail once he got around Felipe. Sidenote, of the 3 times Kimi has finished the race at Spa, he has won 3 times, so he knows his way around. It's a drag race to the next corner between Lewis and Kimi, Mercedes vs. Ferrari, and Kimi takes it! Kimi and Lewis exchange fast lap for most of the race with Felipe several seconds behind them overall.
Then it happens. The unthinkable but always expected in the Ardennes. It started raining! With 2 laps to go! The teams are torn between heading to the pits and getting some wet weather tires or staying out and risking it. The lead guys can't afford to pit now so they bravely head on. Lewis passed Kimi into turn one but there is lap traffic (turn 6 I think) and Kimi gets passed Lewis. Kimi gets too anxious with the throttle and spins out on the next turn! Lewis gets past Kimi again but the Finn is right behind, until it happens. Kimi really spins out and crashes, ending his race and maybe his dreams of repeating the driver's championship. Lewis is first, Felipe is 2nd and for a short time Sebastian Bourdais was 3rd but he stayed out on his dry tires and Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber has intermediate wet tires on and is flying! He passes 4 or 5 people on his last lap and a half and puts his BMW on the podium (his 11th in his career) and takes 3rd. Sebastians Bourdais and Vettel did score points coming in 7th and 5th respectively. Great job Toro Rosso and Red Bull! Mark Webber snagged the last points position in 8th.
Whoa! Update: I just saw that they penalized Lewis 25 seconds (putting him in 3rd) for slightly cutting a corner short while racing with Kimi. I watched it and he did cut the corner and did let Kimi back in front but might have had a slight advantage over Kimi, but certainly not 25 seconds. And it looks like Timo Glock was passing under yellow flags, so he was also penalized 25 seconds, giving 8th to Mark Webber.
Also congratulations to Scott Dixon for winning the Indy Car championship! Danica Patrick finished in the tenth spot. I'm sad to say I took a nap during the last race (an oval in Chicago) but I hear there will be more road courses next year! Hooray! My next question is, why is your season over in early September? All the tracks booked in October? Don't want to fight NASCAR for TV coverage? Ah well, hopefully people remember your racing series next year. Hopefully you'll have some ads during college football bowl games to remind people that America does indeed have an open wheel race series.
Update: (Oh, apparently there is another race on the Streets of Surfer's Paradise in Australia on October 25th, but the championship is already decided. It should still be a great race.)
Next F1 race is at Monza in Italy, Ferrari's home turf, this weekend and then a night race street circuit in Singapore on Sept. 28th. That will be F1's first night race and I'm really looking forward to it.
Labels: Danica Patrick, F1, Red Bull
Friday, August 22, 2008
Usain in the membrane
Maybe Barack should change his middle name to Usain. I've never seen anyone that blindingly fast before. His 100 meter performance blew me away. He kept getting faster and faster. Way to go Jamaica!
I know what the 4 x 100 meter men and women's track teams need to work on for the next 4 years.
Congrats to Shawn Johnson and "Nasty" Nastia Liukin. They are absolutely the pinnacle of American gymnastics. Nasty was straight nasty on the uneven bars and Shawn was all over that beam. Great job ladies!
Also huge congrats to Togo on their first ever Olympic medal in the men's K1 whitewater kayaking final. Congratulations to Benjamin Boukpeti on his bronze medal!
I'm really looking forward to watching the Jamaica 4 x 100 relay track teams and the BMX racing finals also.
Have you noticed Red Bull's presence at the Olympics? Sure you've been beaten over the head with all the corporations sponsoring the Olympics, but by sponsoring individual athletes and smaller events, Red Bull still had a presence at the Games this year. The American Red Bull athletes are Amanda Beard, swimmer,
I also saw some international Red Bull athletes too. The Greek women's beach volleyball team had a very familiar silver and blue colored water bottles. Check out all of Red Bull's athletes who made it to the Olympics.
Also in Red Bull news, congrats to Scott Speed, former F1 driver, who is really coming into his own on ovals. He's #1 in driver points in the ARCA stock car series. Brian Vickers (#83)and AJ Allmendinger (#84) are doing very well in NASCAR with Brian getting the team's first pole position in their 2nd year at Michigan. If you don't want to actually watch them race around in ovals, be sure to check out the Team Red Bull blog, Stock Car Ticker, Red Bull Racing's blog.
Pics coming this weekend. Don't worry.
Damn, almost forgot. I ordered a pair of shoes online. They're Blackspots, from Adbusters and use an organic hemp upper, made in a union fair wage shop in Portugal and none of the money goes to the big shoe corporations. Plus as an added benefit, I'm now a stockholder and get to vote on future designs and what to do with profits. Sure it's just one pair of shoes, but it represents a lot more.
I know what the 4 x 100 meter men and women's track teams need to work on for the next 4 years.
Congrats to Shawn Johnson and "Nasty" Nastia Liukin. They are absolutely the pinnacle of American gymnastics. Nasty was straight nasty on the uneven bars and Shawn was all over that beam. Great job ladies!
Also huge congrats to Togo on their first ever Olympic medal in the men's K1 whitewater kayaking final. Congratulations to Benjamin Boukpeti on his bronze medal!
I'm really looking forward to watching the Jamaica 4 x 100 relay track teams and the BMX racing finals also.
Have you noticed Red Bull's presence at the Olympics? Sure you've been beaten over the head with all the corporations sponsoring the Olympics, but by sponsoring individual athletes and smaller events, Red Bull still had a presence at the Games this year. The American Red Bull athletes are Amanda Beard, swimmer,
Other Red Bull athletes off to China include: Mike Day, who’s part of the first Olympic BMX team; Jill Kitner, who overcame two knee injuries to become the first American woman to participate in BMX racing; and Todd Rogers will partner with Phil Dalhausser in beach volleyball.
I also saw some international Red Bull athletes too. The Greek women's beach volleyball team had a very familiar silver and blue colored water bottles. Check out all of Red Bull's athletes who made it to the Olympics.
Also in Red Bull news, congrats to Scott Speed, former F1 driver, who is really coming into his own on ovals. He's #1 in driver points in the ARCA stock car series. Brian Vickers (#83)and AJ Allmendinger (#84) are doing very well in NASCAR with Brian getting the team's first pole position in their 2nd year at Michigan. If you don't want to actually watch them race around in ovals, be sure to check out the Team Red Bull blog, Stock Car Ticker, Red Bull Racing's blog.
Pics coming this weekend. Don't worry.
Damn, almost forgot. I ordered a pair of shoes online. They're Blackspots, from Adbusters and use an organic hemp upper, made in a union fair wage shop in Portugal and none of the money goes to the big shoe corporations. Plus as an added benefit, I'm now a stockholder and get to vote on future designs and what to do with profits. Sure it's just one pair of shoes, but it represents a lot more.
Labels: educating consumers, F1, Olympics, Red Bull
Monday, August 04, 2008
Let me tell you about TPS reports.
My brother's wedding was nice and festive.
Quick and dirty version for the impatient:
Flight from Greenville left at 6 am which meant leaving the house at 3:45 am which meant we didn't start packing until midnight and sleep is for the weak. Detroit, St. Louis, lunch with parents and grandparents, suckered into helping move tables and chairs, wishing I was taking a nap at the hotel with J, rehearsal, dinner in Louisiana, Missouri, drive to the wedding, wait around, they "do", clap, drive to reception, eat a pork burger, try 4 types of cake, dance, sleep, St. Louis, wait 3 hours for new tire and brakes, Detroit, Greenville, home, cats, sleep
Favorite parts:
Seeing my brother and meeting my new Sister-in-law and her family.
Hanging out with J my parents and grandparents.
The nicest Super 8 Motel EVER! It's in Troy, Missouri and they have a salt water pool (the manager told us it's more eco-friendly because it needs less chemicals), a Continental breakfast to put all other continental breakfasts to SHAME! Make-your-own-waffle with syrup, blueberry preserves/syrup, strawberry syrup/preserves, 2 types of bagels, donuts, danishes, cereal, orange grape and apple juices, coffee, milk, fresh fruit, AND I got to enjoy all of that while watching Formula 1 qualifying in Hungary (Great job Mark Webber in 8th, and Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovaleinen for making it a Benz front row). Glorious racing and then got to watch my grandfather makes friends with the sweet old lady who was cleaning up the breakfast area named Ruby.
Hearing the mid-west accents with their super nasal "a" sounds. Bag, lack, hat, cat, all sound very funny and strange to my deep South drawl trained ears. There might be an "o" that sounds like that but further research is needed (or that might just be Wisconsin or Minnesota). If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch that new Denise Richard's show on E for a few minutes, you can hear her midwest accent shining through (she's from Illinois). Most of the time you can't tell, but ask them to say something with lots of "a"s and you'll hear it. "Do I have an accent?" would be a pretty good one.
Meeting another guy at the wedding sporting a handlebar mustache. His was awesome and white. Very cool. Nice guy. I wanted to get a picture of us both but he didn't go to the reception. Blast! Lost my chance.
More later. Happy Monday!
Quick and dirty version for the impatient:
Flight from Greenville left at 6 am which meant leaving the house at 3:45 am which meant we didn't start packing until midnight and sleep is for the weak. Detroit, St. Louis, lunch with parents and grandparents, suckered into helping move tables and chairs, wishing I was taking a nap at the hotel with J, rehearsal, dinner in Louisiana, Missouri, drive to the wedding, wait around, they "do", clap, drive to reception, eat a pork burger, try 4 types of cake, dance, sleep, St. Louis, wait 3 hours for new tire and brakes, Detroit, Greenville, home, cats, sleep
Favorite parts:
Seeing my brother and meeting my new Sister-in-law and her family.
Hanging out with J my parents and grandparents.
The nicest Super 8 Motel EVER! It's in Troy, Missouri and they have a salt water pool (the manager told us it's more eco-friendly because it needs less chemicals), a Continental breakfast to put all other continental breakfasts to SHAME! Make-your-own-waffle with syrup, blueberry preserves/syrup, strawberry syrup/preserves, 2 types of bagels, donuts, danishes, cereal, orange grape and apple juices, coffee, milk, fresh fruit, AND I got to enjoy all of that while watching Formula 1 qualifying in Hungary (Great job Mark Webber in 8th, and Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovaleinen for making it a Benz front row). Glorious racing and then got to watch my grandfather makes friends with the sweet old lady who was cleaning up the breakfast area named Ruby.
Hearing the mid-west accents with their super nasal "a" sounds. Bag, lack, hat, cat, all sound very funny and strange to my deep South drawl trained ears. There might be an "o" that sounds like that but further research is needed (or that might just be Wisconsin or Minnesota). If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch that new Denise Richard's show on E for a few minutes, you can hear her midwest accent shining through (she's from Illinois). Most of the time you can't tell, but ask them to say something with lots of "a"s and you'll hear it. "Do I have an accent?" would be a pretty good one.
Meeting another guy at the wedding sporting a handlebar mustache. His was awesome and white. Very cool. Nice guy. I wanted to get a picture of us both but he didn't go to the reception. Blast! Lost my chance.
More later. Happy Monday!
Labels: Breakfast, F1, family vacation, mustache
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Welcome to the Smokeys!
Gatlinburg, Tennessee is a bustling little tourist destination nestled about 40 yards from the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. There is one main road in and out of the park and if you drive it on the weekend, especially in the summer, you will hit traffic, traffic will be slow, you might go crazy.
We left Clemson around 9 am Fri. morning since J had the 4th off and I wasn't going in to work that day (yes technically the university was closed but that doesn't stop grad students!). So we set off towards Greenville, which is the wrong way but J had to stop by work for a second, we ate lunch at Jersey Mike's (non-vegetarian, sorry animals!) and then headed out! I'll spare you the details but we went through some gorgeous scenery and followed some incredibly slow cars, SUVs, and motorcycles. Coasting downhill, I would usually put it in 3rd and literally only use the brakes. I had no need for the accelerator, gravity was my accelerator! I would normally use the gas but traffic prevented any of that nonsense.
Up through South Carolina, past Caesar's Head State Park, into North Carolina through lonely Cruso, NC and stopped for lunch and snacks in Waynesville, NC at their Bi-Lo. The downtown area was packed with pedestrians and shoppers! I suppose it was July 4th related but as soon as we set foot in Zaxby's for lunch, the bottom fell out and it rained pretty hard; not for very long but long enough to spoil a few people's day.
Back on the road and the last town we went through was Cherokee, NC. It was bumper to bumper traffic. It was nice though getting to see what the modern day Cherokee Indians have done with their land and town. We just saw the main strip but they have decided to allow Harrah's to open a casino on their land and it seemed to be doing well.
As we passed through the Smokeys, we detoured and hiked the half mile up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smokeys. Lovely views and the Appalachian Trail goes right past it, so we hiked about 80 feet of the 2000 miles of the AT. Hooray for us! We didn't see any thru-hikers on their way up or down but they were out there somewhere.
We made it without me going crazy or smashing into the rear end of a car in front of us and check into the Americana Gazebo Inn, which was just bought by the Super 8 Motel (a quick google makes it seem like this is a new Super 8 location, but the one we stayed at is by traffic light #8). We missed the turn but luckily had their number in my recent calls list and got directions to turn at traffic light #8. Huh? #8? Oh wait, this traffic light has a number, #6, so I turn right and whip a u-turn real quick. I really liked the numbering of the traffic lights. More towns with one main road should do that. Driving on the main road in Gatlinburg is pretty crazy. It's slow bumper to bumper with no turn lanes, so you have to get a little nuts to turn across traffic. I expertly threaded through traffic and pedestrians to make the turn.
We checked in and since the 3 hour drive took at least 5 1/2 hours with traffic, I decided to hop in the pool to cool off. J grabbed some local attractions books and I grabbed my beach towel and we enjoyed the cool mountain weather for a while. We changed clothes and walked around G'burg checking out the sights and shops and people. A healthy mix of white trash, foreigners and they all looked like tourists, as were we. We walked down to the aquarium (traffic light #5 if you're wondering) because we heard rumors of a fireworks show. We weren't really sure where they were happening so the bench we picked out didn't feel right to us so we kept walking down (east I think). We stopped near a big group of people and it turned out that we had a pretty good view! Some of the lower ones were blocked by a building so we went to the sidewalk in front of that building and it seemed like the entire sky would light up! Their display put Clemson's to shame. So many colors and shapes and late cracklers and random spark directions and the smoke during the grand finale was so thick, we couldn't even make out the last few. Wonderful! Great job Gatlinburg! With all the hotels emptied of occupants for the fireworks, the walk to dinner and back to the hotel reminded me of New Orleans, lots of people moving slowly, but less nudity, vomiting and public urination. We found a wonderful little pizzeria to grab dinner. We ordered a large half cheese, half pineapple to go and carried it back. Blast! I can't remember the name, Julian's? I think it was Julian's Pizza in an out of the way, but still right off the strip, plaza. It's actually for sale if you've ever wanted to own a pizza place in a popular tourist destination right next to a national park. Ha! It was Julian's pizza! Don't be swayed by the $3.99/slice. It's literally a quarter of a pizza.
We walked back to the hotel, up the stairs, through the sickly sweet cloud emanating from a room about 7 down from us (get 'em DEA!) and into our room for some rest and pizza. The hotel only had double bed rooms left so J and I actually slept in separate beds for that night. It was weird but we both enjoyed the extra room to sprawl out.
When checking in I asked the desk clerk if they had Speed. He said they did! I didn't really believe him but there it was! You know what that means right? Yes, I woke up about 7:30 am (my natural alarm goes off around then), I throw on some shorts, shirt, and flip-flops and make my way to the continental breakfast! Woo-hoo! Big money bagels! And they had bagels! The smorgasbord entailed donuts, bagels with cream cheese, mini muffins (blueberry and chocolate), 2 types of cereal, OJ, apple juice and coffee! Hooray! So I popped 2 bagels in the toaster and made some coffee while I waited patiently. Grabbed a couple mini muffins and an apple (they had apples too), a couple knives, 2 packets of cream cheese, DING!, grabbed my toasted bagels and went back to the room because.... Qualifying for the British Gran Prix at Silverstone! F1 on vacation! With bagels!
J woke up when she heard me come in and grabbed her bagel and a muffin and went back to sleep. I watched Heikki Kovaleinen of Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes nab pole, but even better Mark Webber of Red Bull Renault was second! That's incredible! Kimi Raikkonen sealed up 3rd in his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa had some car issues so they qualified their BMW Sauber 10th and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 9th. Full qualifying results.
After that I got some work done and then shared a couple Marlboros with our Harley Davidson riding neighbors. They had already ridden 1400 miles through 5 states and had another 400 or so to get back home to Ohio. Nice guys. We chatted about motorcycles, why people ride trikes (for stability but they're much slower in turns because they can't tilt), what kind of gas mileage they get (around mid 40s to low 50s depending on how giddy they get with their right hand). As it neared 10:30, I bid them farewell and went inside to take a shower and pack up. And wake J up too. If you didn't know J was a sleeper, she is, I put her sleeping ability up against anyone. I used to be able to sleep like that but just can't do it anymore.
We moved Focus from the hotel to the Aquarium of the Smokies parking deck, behind traffic light #5 but instead of the packed main strip I took the super secret parallel road and saved a few minutes. We parked and then walked around some more and had brunch at Shoney's. There is also some Pancake Cabin or something but I heard it gets a bit crowded. A little more shopping and then to the aquarium! Hooray! It was really cool and I'll share more once we get pictures uploaded but the one with me and the horseshoe crab is pretty cool.
The drive home was straight toward Clemson so we stayed on 441 all the way and once you get past Cherokee, it's 4 lane pretty much all the way, which was nice for making good time but lame for driving pleasure.
We should've hiked in the Smokies but didn't because we're lame. Next time though.
We left Clemson around 9 am Fri. morning since J had the 4th off and I wasn't going in to work that day (yes technically the university was closed but that doesn't stop grad students!). So we set off towards Greenville, which is the wrong way but J had to stop by work for a second, we ate lunch at Jersey Mike's (non-vegetarian, sorry animals!) and then headed out! I'll spare you the details but we went through some gorgeous scenery and followed some incredibly slow cars, SUVs, and motorcycles. Coasting downhill, I would usually put it in 3rd and literally only use the brakes. I had no need for the accelerator, gravity was my accelerator! I would normally use the gas but traffic prevented any of that nonsense.
Up through South Carolina, past Caesar's Head State Park, into North Carolina through lonely Cruso, NC and stopped for lunch and snacks in Waynesville, NC at their Bi-Lo. The downtown area was packed with pedestrians and shoppers! I suppose it was July 4th related but as soon as we set foot in Zaxby's for lunch, the bottom fell out and it rained pretty hard; not for very long but long enough to spoil a few people's day.
Back on the road and the last town we went through was Cherokee, NC. It was bumper to bumper traffic. It was nice though getting to see what the modern day Cherokee Indians have done with their land and town. We just saw the main strip but they have decided to allow Harrah's to open a casino on their land and it seemed to be doing well.
As we passed through the Smokeys, we detoured and hiked the half mile up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smokeys. Lovely views and the Appalachian Trail goes right past it, so we hiked about 80 feet of the 2000 miles of the AT. Hooray for us! We didn't see any thru-hikers on their way up or down but they were out there somewhere.
We made it without me going crazy or smashing into the rear end of a car in front of us and check into the Americana Gazebo Inn, which was just bought by the Super 8 Motel (a quick google makes it seem like this is a new Super 8 location, but the one we stayed at is by traffic light #8). We missed the turn but luckily had their number in my recent calls list and got directions to turn at traffic light #8. Huh? #8? Oh wait, this traffic light has a number, #6, so I turn right and whip a u-turn real quick. I really liked the numbering of the traffic lights. More towns with one main road should do that. Driving on the main road in Gatlinburg is pretty crazy. It's slow bumper to bumper with no turn lanes, so you have to get a little nuts to turn across traffic. I expertly threaded through traffic and pedestrians to make the turn.
We checked in and since the 3 hour drive took at least 5 1/2 hours with traffic, I decided to hop in the pool to cool off. J grabbed some local attractions books and I grabbed my beach towel and we enjoyed the cool mountain weather for a while. We changed clothes and walked around G'burg checking out the sights and shops and people. A healthy mix of white trash, foreigners and they all looked like tourists, as were we. We walked down to the aquarium (traffic light #5 if you're wondering) because we heard rumors of a fireworks show. We weren't really sure where they were happening so the bench we picked out didn't feel right to us so we kept walking down (east I think). We stopped near a big group of people and it turned out that we had a pretty good view! Some of the lower ones were blocked by a building so we went to the sidewalk in front of that building and it seemed like the entire sky would light up! Their display put Clemson's to shame. So many colors and shapes and late cracklers and random spark directions and the smoke during the grand finale was so thick, we couldn't even make out the last few. Wonderful! Great job Gatlinburg! With all the hotels emptied of occupants for the fireworks, the walk to dinner and back to the hotel reminded me of New Orleans, lots of people moving slowly, but less nudity, vomiting and public urination. We found a wonderful little pizzeria to grab dinner. We ordered a large half cheese, half pineapple to go and carried it back. Blast! I can't remember the name, Julian's? I think it was Julian's Pizza in an out of the way, but still right off the strip, plaza. It's actually for sale if you've ever wanted to own a pizza place in a popular tourist destination right next to a national park. Ha! It was Julian's pizza! Don't be swayed by the $3.99/slice. It's literally a quarter of a pizza.
We walked back to the hotel, up the stairs, through the sickly sweet cloud emanating from a room about 7 down from us (get 'em DEA!) and into our room for some rest and pizza. The hotel only had double bed rooms left so J and I actually slept in separate beds for that night. It was weird but we both enjoyed the extra room to sprawl out.
When checking in I asked the desk clerk if they had Speed. He said they did! I didn't really believe him but there it was! You know what that means right? Yes, I woke up about 7:30 am (my natural alarm goes off around then), I throw on some shorts, shirt, and flip-flops and make my way to the continental breakfast! Woo-hoo! Big money bagels! And they had bagels! The smorgasbord entailed donuts, bagels with cream cheese, mini muffins (blueberry and chocolate), 2 types of cereal, OJ, apple juice and coffee! Hooray! So I popped 2 bagels in the toaster and made some coffee while I waited patiently. Grabbed a couple mini muffins and an apple (they had apples too), a couple knives, 2 packets of cream cheese, DING!, grabbed my toasted bagels and went back to the room because.... Qualifying for the British Gran Prix at Silverstone! F1 on vacation! With bagels!
J woke up when she heard me come in and grabbed her bagel and a muffin and went back to sleep. I watched Heikki Kovaleinen of Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes nab pole, but even better Mark Webber of Red Bull Renault was second! That's incredible! Kimi Raikkonen sealed up 3rd in his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa had some car issues so they qualified their BMW Sauber 10th and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 9th. Full qualifying results.
After that I got some work done and then shared a couple Marlboros with our Harley Davidson riding neighbors. They had already ridden 1400 miles through 5 states and had another 400 or so to get back home to Ohio. Nice guys. We chatted about motorcycles, why people ride trikes (for stability but they're much slower in turns because they can't tilt), what kind of gas mileage they get (around mid 40s to low 50s depending on how giddy they get with their right hand). As it neared 10:30, I bid them farewell and went inside to take a shower and pack up. And wake J up too. If you didn't know J was a sleeper, she is, I put her sleeping ability up against anyone. I used to be able to sleep like that but just can't do it anymore.
We moved Focus from the hotel to the Aquarium of the Smokies parking deck, behind traffic light #5 but instead of the packed main strip I took the super secret parallel road and saved a few minutes. We parked and then walked around some more and had brunch at Shoney's. There is also some Pancake Cabin or something but I heard it gets a bit crowded. A little more shopping and then to the aquarium! Hooray! It was really cool and I'll share more once we get pictures uploaded but the one with me and the horseshoe crab is pretty cool.
The drive home was straight toward Clemson so we stayed on 441 all the way and once you get past Cherokee, it's 4 lane pretty much all the way, which was nice for making good time but lame for driving pleasure.
We should've hiked in the Smokies but didn't because we're lame. Next time though.
Labels: Breakfast, F1, family vacation, motorcycle, restaurant reviews
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Bart, commence Operation: Crazy Plan!
Homer Simpson to his son Bart in the Simpsons episode where Lisa starts ballet under Marge's pressure and realizes that cigarettes are what keep ballerinas slim and attentive. That may or may not be true. Homer's Operation Crazy Plan involved a cigarette stealing racoon.
Congrats to Ferrari on a 1-2 sweep during qualifying and the race. Kimi Raikkonnen took pole with Felipe a hair off in 2nd and the race finished with those positions juxtaposed. Kimi's bad luck struck again with a broken exhaust pipe but he was able to hang on for some much needed points. HUGE congrats to Jarno Trulli and Toyota for coming in 3rd against many odds. Molto bene Jarno!
I'm halfway through the NASCAR race but so far Brian Vickers is holding on at 23rd or so and poor AJ Allmendinger is 2 laps down because he couldn't get his car started after a pit stop so his pit crew had to push start him in the length of 3 pit stalls, not an easy proposition. The race coverage is 3.5 hours and I'm not used to that much racing with F1's 2 hour time limit. More on that later.
Cynical Chris shared with us a list of the Top 10 Obscure but Superb Science Fiction Novels. Some of them are available used on Amazon but being a poor grad student, I'll wait until later in life to purchase these, so I've been trusting Clemson's InterLibrary Loan to track them down for me. Don't bother asking them to find them for you unless you're a Clemson faculty/staff/student. But I'm sure your local library has a similar program!
I skipped down the list a bit and started with #2, William Tenn's "Of Men and Monsters". The book opens with the statement that all of Mankind contains 128 people. Whoa. That's bleak. Then we find out that we live in caves in the wall of a structure that houses horrible grey Monsters. We steal food from the Monsters to survive and hope to one day strike them down and take Earth back. An expedition goes out and all hell breaks loose. Our protagonist is forced to seek out others on his own. It reminded me of the ending scene from Men in Black where our galaxy is in a marble and a monster has a whole bag of marbles. I won't give away the ending but it's good.
Then I read #1 Wasp by Eric Frank Russell. This one is very exciting with seat of your pants action and suspense around every corner. We're introduced to the idea by reading about 3 separate events. #1 involves a single Roumanian (yes I spelled that right) who looked up in the sky and yelled "blue flames!" occasionally and a crowd formed which became a mob and the army was brought in to check out what was in the skies. #2 is a story about 2 convicts who escaped and were caught 14 hours later after being chased by a police force 27,000 strong. #3 centers around an automobile accident that killed 4 but not before one occupant related a story of a wasp getting into the car, distracting the driver and causing the accident. Our hero is recruited to be a wasp on a Sirian planet, who are currently battling the Terrans. His activities, which can only be considered terrorist, have an amazing and profound effect on the plant and the war overall. The Kaitempi, Sirian secret police, are around every bend and I think we're on narrow escape 7 or 8 by now. I only have 10 pages left but it has been a thrilling incredible ride. Plus the planet he has infiltrated is inhabited by bow legged purple people. His phase one propaganda stickers with hydrofluoric acid, HF, on them so they etch the glass when someone tries to remove the stickers with water, has been my favorite terrorist activity so far. His disguises and identities are imaginative and varied also.
I would highly recommend these 2 books and I'll go out on a limb and go ahead and recommend the whole list too. I'm thinking Bloodworld might be next.
Congrats to Ferrari on a 1-2 sweep during qualifying and the race. Kimi Raikkonnen took pole with Felipe a hair off in 2nd and the race finished with those positions juxtaposed. Kimi's bad luck struck again with a broken exhaust pipe but he was able to hang on for some much needed points. HUGE congrats to Jarno Trulli and Toyota for coming in 3rd against many odds. Molto bene Jarno!
I'm halfway through the NASCAR race but so far Brian Vickers is holding on at 23rd or so and poor AJ Allmendinger is 2 laps down because he couldn't get his car started after a pit stop so his pit crew had to push start him in the length of 3 pit stalls, not an easy proposition. The race coverage is 3.5 hours and I'm not used to that much racing with F1's 2 hour time limit. More on that later.
Cynical Chris shared with us a list of the Top 10 Obscure but Superb Science Fiction Novels. Some of them are available used on Amazon but being a poor grad student, I'll wait until later in life to purchase these, so I've been trusting Clemson's InterLibrary Loan to track them down for me. Don't bother asking them to find them for you unless you're a Clemson faculty/staff/student. But I'm sure your local library has a similar program!
I skipped down the list a bit and started with #2, William Tenn's "Of Men and Monsters". The book opens with the statement that all of Mankind contains 128 people. Whoa. That's bleak. Then we find out that we live in caves in the wall of a structure that houses horrible grey Monsters. We steal food from the Monsters to survive and hope to one day strike them down and take Earth back. An expedition goes out and all hell breaks loose. Our protagonist is forced to seek out others on his own. It reminded me of the ending scene from Men in Black where our galaxy is in a marble and a monster has a whole bag of marbles. I won't give away the ending but it's good.
Then I read #1 Wasp by Eric Frank Russell. This one is very exciting with seat of your pants action and suspense around every corner. We're introduced to the idea by reading about 3 separate events. #1 involves a single Roumanian (yes I spelled that right) who looked up in the sky and yelled "blue flames!" occasionally and a crowd formed which became a mob and the army was brought in to check out what was in the skies. #2 is a story about 2 convicts who escaped and were caught 14 hours later after being chased by a police force 27,000 strong. #3 centers around an automobile accident that killed 4 but not before one occupant related a story of a wasp getting into the car, distracting the driver and causing the accident. Our hero is recruited to be a wasp on a Sirian planet, who are currently battling the Terrans. His activities, which can only be considered terrorist, have an amazing and profound effect on the plant and the war overall. The Kaitempi, Sirian secret police, are around every bend and I think we're on narrow escape 7 or 8 by now. I only have 10 pages left but it has been a thrilling incredible ride. Plus the planet he has infiltrated is inhabited by bow legged purple people. His phase one propaganda stickers with hydrofluoric acid, HF, on them so they etch the glass when someone tries to remove the stickers with water, has been my favorite terrorist activity so far. His disguises and identities are imaginative and varied also.
I would highly recommend these 2 books and I'll go out on a limb and go ahead and recommend the whole list too. I'm thinking Bloodworld might be next.
Labels: book, Cynical Chris, F1, The Simpsons
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Must, not....look....at F1 results
Update #2: Tragedy struck the racing community Saturday. Scott Kalitta perished inside his Top Fuel dragster. These are Scott's final moments on this earth. He was 46 and is survived by his father, his wife Kathy, and his two sons Corey, 14, and Colin, 8. Our hearts and thoughts go out to them.
The F1 Gran Prix at Magny-Cours is almost over by now. However, Fox has decided to show their local Sunday morning programming (it's all churches here, how about you?) and are taping the race to be shown later today at 1 pm. Hopefully they have a bit more (read: any) pre-race discussion and Peter Windsor interviews on grid but I'm not holding my breath. For some reason they have decided to show it against Danica, Graham and others in their Indy cars who will be going around in ovals in Iowa starting at 1:30 pm.
Qualifying was mildly exciting yesterday. Kimi Raikkonen locked up 1st and dove into the pits at the last second and saved himself an extra lap of gas. (After the 3rd and last qualifying session, the teams cannot add gas until their first pit stop in the race) Felipe was a hair off but still came in 2nd for a Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro front row. Lewis came in 3rd but with his 10 spot penalty will actually start the race back in 13th. Ouch but it will be a good test for the driver in his 2nd year to see if he can pull off some passes on track and in the pits and score some points. Fernando Alonso gets bumped up to 3rd spot on grid and the Red Bull Renault boys are starting in a healthy 7th and 8th for Aussie Mark Webber and Scot David Coulthard (who is coming off a great 3rd place podium in Montreal). The lone French driver, Champ Car phenom Sebastian Bourdais, starts his Scuderia Toro Rosso in 13th behind his faster teammate Sebastian Vettel. Go Red Bull! See you at 1 for the start of the race (5 hours after the ACTUAL start of the race of course)! No cheating to get the results early!
In NASCAR left AND right news, some of the top drivers...I'll finish this after taking Leon for a walk because he just usurped my lap from J's new laptop, more on all that later.
Update: Okay, I'm back after a lovely stroll outside, some bug chasing, grass eating and some rolling around in dirt. All cat activities; I just brushed him off a little before he went inside.
It turns out that some of the top drivers can drive pretty damn well and their teams can set up cars to go left and then left AND right the next week. Kasey Kahne (#9) clinched the top spot with Kurt Busch (#48) and Bobby Labonte (#2) rounding out the top 3. Robby Gordon (#7), one of my favorites who is one of the few, if not only, NASCAR driver to even attempt the famed Paris-Dakar rally, will start in 8th. Team Red Bull qualified in 26th and 34th for Brian Vickers (#83) and AJ Allmendinger (#84) respectively. I'm excited to watch my first full NASCAR race ever and cheer them on.
I'll be back on later today or tomorrow for race results.
J and I were in the Hard Labor Creek State Park yesterday for a Newsom family reunion. I'm the grandchild of a first cousin, apparently. It was a fun day hanging out with my aunt and grandparents, all on my mom's side. The day was not all fun and games with someone's wife passing away last Tuesday and the funeral planned for Monday. He gave part of the eulogy he had planned and only choked up once or twice. It was beautiful and compared his marriage to a bed of roses. You had to climb up past the thorns to get to the flowers. It was quite lovely and both J and I had tears in our eyes.
Now to get some writing done before RACING!
The F1 Gran Prix at Magny-Cours is almost over by now. However, Fox has decided to show their local Sunday morning programming (it's all churches here, how about you?) and are taping the race to be shown later today at 1 pm. Hopefully they have a bit more (read: any) pre-race discussion and Peter Windsor interviews on grid but I'm not holding my breath. For some reason they have decided to show it against Danica, Graham and others in their Indy cars who will be going around in ovals in Iowa starting at 1:30 pm.
Qualifying was mildly exciting yesterday. Kimi Raikkonen locked up 1st and dove into the pits at the last second and saved himself an extra lap of gas. (After the 3rd and last qualifying session, the teams cannot add gas until their first pit stop in the race) Felipe was a hair off but still came in 2nd for a Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro front row. Lewis came in 3rd but with his 10 spot penalty will actually start the race back in 13th. Ouch but it will be a good test for the driver in his 2nd year to see if he can pull off some passes on track and in the pits and score some points. Fernando Alonso gets bumped up to 3rd spot on grid and the Red Bull Renault boys are starting in a healthy 7th and 8th for Aussie Mark Webber and Scot David Coulthard (who is coming off a great 3rd place podium in Montreal). The lone French driver, Champ Car phenom Sebastian Bourdais, starts his Scuderia Toro Rosso in 13th behind his faster teammate Sebastian Vettel. Go Red Bull! See you at 1 for the start of the race (5 hours after the ACTUAL start of the race of course)! No cheating to get the results early!
In NASCAR left AND right news, some of the top drivers...I'll finish this after taking Leon for a walk because he just usurped my lap from J's new laptop, more on all that later.
Update: Okay, I'm back after a lovely stroll outside, some bug chasing, grass eating and some rolling around in dirt. All cat activities; I just brushed him off a little before he went inside.
It turns out that some of the top drivers can drive pretty damn well and their teams can set up cars to go left and then left AND right the next week. Kasey Kahne (#9) clinched the top spot with Kurt Busch (#48) and Bobby Labonte (#2) rounding out the top 3. Robby Gordon (#7), one of my favorites who is one of the few, if not only, NASCAR driver to even attempt the famed Paris-Dakar rally, will start in 8th. Team Red Bull qualified in 26th and 34th for Brian Vickers (#83) and AJ Allmendinger (#84) respectively. I'm excited to watch my first full NASCAR race ever and cheer them on.
I'll be back on later today or tomorrow for race results.
J and I were in the Hard Labor Creek State Park yesterday for a Newsom family reunion. I'm the grandchild of a first cousin, apparently. It was a fun day hanging out with my aunt and grandparents, all on my mom's side. The day was not all fun and games with someone's wife passing away last Tuesday and the funeral planned for Monday. He gave part of the eulogy he had planned and only choked up once or twice. It was beautiful and compared his marriage to a bed of roses. You had to climb up past the thorns to get to the flowers. It was quite lovely and both J and I had tears in our eyes.
Now to get some writing done before RACING!
Labels: Danica Patrick, F1, family vacation, obituary
Friday, June 20, 2008
Randy Pobst wants you to race with honor
Randy Pobst is a racecar driver. He started out as an autocrosser with the Sports Car Club of America and worked his way up to road racer and then eventually made enough contacts and friends to get a job getting paid to drive a racecar. He is definitely a "gentleman racer" and races clean every time I see him get behind the wheel. Randy also writes a column in the SCCA's periodical and racing with honor was this month's topic. Days of Thunder was mentioned and has seemingly influenced many racers who actually think that "rubbin' is racin'". Randy has the opposite opinion. If you can't make the pass clean, then you didn't deserve the pass.
Formula 1 and their billion dollar operation is in France this weekend at Magny-Course. I caught a little bit of practice this morning and it should be interesting although the course looks tight and not many chances for passing which should be a good challenge for Lewis Hamilton who is receiving a 10 spot penalty for crashing into Kimi in Montreal last race. So the best Lewis can hope for is to start the race in 11th. Qualifying starts at 8 am on SpeedTV tomorrow morning. The race will be broadcast on Fox at 1 pm on Sunday with the race taped and delayed. Last race Fox had zero pre-show which is usually Peter Windsor walking around grid and interviewing team principals, drivers and other notable people and is great and really sets up the show and mood for the race. Fox also cut out most of the awards ceremony and all but 2 questions of the post race interviews. All of this pre and post race coverage is important because it really lets people see more of what goes on in Formula 1 and is very entertaining.
NASCAR and their billion dollar operation will FINALLY turn left AND right this weekend in California at Infineon Raceway, formerly known as Sears Point. Some teams bring in "road course specialists" aka racecar drivers to replace their oval specialists(?) so they stand a better chance of getting a good result. It seems that the Red Bull team didn't do so hot at Infineon last year, so they've been testing at VIR and some Road Atlanta testing coming up in July. I guess they either can't afford to hire drivers (ha!) or they actually want all around drivers in their cars. Take your pick. Personally I would like to know that my driver can race well on ovals and road courses but maybe that's why I'm not a team manager of a NASCAR team. I'll have to look into when qualifying is and what channel but I do know that the race is on TNT this Sunday at 3:30.
The Indy cars are going in ovals somewhere this weekend. Good luck Danica! You too Graham Rahal!
J and I are going to my grandmother's family reunion this Saturday down in GA and then climbing at Adrenaline Climbing in Suwanee on the way home.
Check ya on the flip side!
Formula 1 and their billion dollar operation is in France this weekend at Magny-Course. I caught a little bit of practice this morning and it should be interesting although the course looks tight and not many chances for passing which should be a good challenge for Lewis Hamilton who is receiving a 10 spot penalty for crashing into Kimi in Montreal last race. So the best Lewis can hope for is to start the race in 11th. Qualifying starts at 8 am on SpeedTV tomorrow morning. The race will be broadcast on Fox at 1 pm on Sunday with the race taped and delayed. Last race Fox had zero pre-show which is usually Peter Windsor walking around grid and interviewing team principals, drivers and other notable people and is great and really sets up the show and mood for the race. Fox also cut out most of the awards ceremony and all but 2 questions of the post race interviews. All of this pre and post race coverage is important because it really lets people see more of what goes on in Formula 1 and is very entertaining.
NASCAR and their billion dollar operation will FINALLY turn left AND right this weekend in California at Infineon Raceway, formerly known as Sears Point. Some teams bring in "road course specialists" aka racecar drivers to replace their oval specialists(?) so they stand a better chance of getting a good result. It seems that the Red Bull team didn't do so hot at Infineon last year, so they've been testing at VIR and some Road Atlanta testing coming up in July. I guess they either can't afford to hire drivers (ha!) or they actually want all around drivers in their cars. Take your pick. Personally I would like to know that my driver can race well on ovals and road courses but maybe that's why I'm not a team manager of a NASCAR team. I'll have to look into when qualifying is and what channel but I do know that the race is on TNT this Sunday at 3:30.
The Indy cars are going in ovals somewhere this weekend. Good luck Danica! You too Graham Rahal!
J and I are going to my grandmother's family reunion this Saturday down in GA and then climbing at Adrenaline Climbing in Suwanee on the way home.
Check ya on the flip side!
Labels: autocross, climbing, Danica Patrick, F1, Red Bull
Monday, June 09, 2008
Why is that car stopped? Oh no!
I imagine that's what went through poor Lewis Hamilton's head as he slide into the back of Kimi Raikonnen's Ferrari yesterday. The wreck took Lewis and Kimi out of the race and Kimi dropped from 1st to 4th in the driver's championship points. But he is the Iceman, so I'm sure that won't faze him. It was the 2nd rookie mistake I've seen Lewis make and I'm sure he just got too excited to get back on course and didn't see the red light. His first ever win came at this very same race just last year and I'm sure he doesn't remember Felipe Massa and Fisi getting black flagged for disregarding the red light at the end of the pits.
With that said, HUGE congratulations to Robert Kubica and Poland for their first ever F1 victory! Also congrats to BMW Sauber for taking advantage of Lewis' mistake and getting a BMW Sauber 1 and 2 which brings us to David Coulthard bringing his Red Bull Renault in for his first podium since Monaco 2006. Mark Webber had a tough day and finished out of the points. Better luck in France Mark!
The Indy Racing League was down in Texas at the Learjet 550. I caught the highlights and it looked very exciting as they condensed the 3-4 hour ovalfest down into 3 minutes. Scott Dixon came away with the win and Danica had another top 10 finish slotting into the tenth spot.
The NASCAR Sprint (formerly known as Winston) Cup went around in ovals at Pocono. I can't recall who won but Brian Vickers in the Red Bull Toyota got 2nd. Way to go Red Bull! Excellent race weekend. I also heard that Scott Speed won his first Craftsman truck race in Dover, so congrats to Scott Speed! He's figuring out this "turn left only" racing pretty well.
The Euro 2008 competition is also getting some TV time in our house. We watched the almighty Germans take down Poland 2-0 and then watched our US men tie the number one Argentinians in a friendly in Giants Stadium last night, a scoreless tie but still a good game. Today in the "group of death" the French take on somebody and Netherlands battles Italy. I'm tivoing the Dutch/Italy game for obvious fighting orange vs. defending world cup champs reasons.
You can follow the exploits of Red Bull Racing, mostly stock car with some trucks and F1 tossed in for good measure, at the Team Red Bull Blog "Stock Car Ticker".
With that said, HUGE congratulations to Robert Kubica and Poland for their first ever F1 victory! Also congrats to BMW Sauber for taking advantage of Lewis' mistake and getting a BMW Sauber 1 and 2 which brings us to David Coulthard bringing his Red Bull Renault in for his first podium since Monaco 2006. Mark Webber had a tough day and finished out of the points. Better luck in France Mark!
The Indy Racing League was down in Texas at the Learjet 550. I caught the highlights and it looked very exciting as they condensed the 3-4 hour ovalfest down into 3 minutes. Scott Dixon came away with the win and Danica had another top 10 finish slotting into the tenth spot.
The NASCAR Sprint (formerly known as Winston) Cup went around in ovals at Pocono. I can't recall who won but Brian Vickers in the Red Bull Toyota got 2nd. Way to go Red Bull! Excellent race weekend. I also heard that Scott Speed won his first Craftsman truck race in Dover, so congrats to Scott Speed! He's figuring out this "turn left only" racing pretty well.
The Euro 2008 competition is also getting some TV time in our house. We watched the almighty Germans take down Poland 2-0 and then watched our US men tie the number one Argentinians in a friendly in Giants Stadium last night, a scoreless tie but still a good game. Today in the "group of death" the French take on somebody and Netherlands battles Italy. I'm tivoing the Dutch/Italy game for obvious fighting orange vs. defending world cup champs reasons.
You can follow the exploits of Red Bull Racing, mostly stock car with some trucks and F1 tossed in for good measure, at the Team Red Bull Blog "Stock Car Ticker".
Labels: Danica Patrick, F1, Red Bull
Monday, June 02, 2008
Turn left, another left, one more, last one, one lap down, 199 to go!
Yes I watched the IRL, Indy Racing League, at the Milwaukee Mile yesterday (cue Wayne's World Alice Cooper scene flashback). Congrats to Aussie Ryan Briscoe for bringing it home for the Penske team. Danica Patrick finished in 9th. The other two women were nowhere to be found. Graham Rahal was doing well until he made a rookie mistake (he is 19) and tried to pass some lap traffic in the wrong place, got too far outside the turn into the "marbles" and smacked the wall, ending his day.
Formula 1 is still bringing their whole operation to this continent for this weekend's Montreal Canadian Gran Prix! Hooray, no more ovals!
The reason I have been watching IRL is because I still feel (and now have some concrete evidence) that NASCAR prospers at the expense of other racing series and they only have 2 road courses a year. IRL has at least 3 or 4, the next one will be Watkins Glen in NY on July 6th. Just for the record, Formula has ZERO ovals, the way it should be, in my humble opinion.
This is pretty cool. It's a graphic that shows where IRL will be racing and the track maps, so let's see how many non-ovals we can find. Ifineon Raceway, Streets of Long Beach, Streets of St. Petersburg, Edmonton, Mid-Ohio, Streets of Detroit (that should be cool, assuming they repave the roads or are potholes just extra obstacles?), and Watkins Glen, so that's 7, hooray! Okay, so it looks like it's the Raceway at Belle Isle Park near Detroit not the streets of Detroit.
I would go over Formula 1 sites but they're all awesome and unique and amazing. Montreal is this weekend AND it's in North America which means that the race will be on at a reasonable time instead of 2 am or 8 am! Noon F1 here we come!
As far as I know, NASCAR has two races that turn left AND right. They race in Watkins Glen and Infineon also. But that's it. Twice a year does the NASCAR "turn left oval fest" get to balance out their set-ups and make them turn left and right equally well. Now let's check the schedule to see when those are June 22nd at Infineon (on TNT) and Aug. 10th at the Glen (on ESPN). That's pretty funny. Fox will show the crap out of the ovals but want nothing to do with road courses. Maybe there are bigger sporting events that day that Rupert wants to show.
So non-oval race fans, have no fear! There will be much turning left and right this summer from all race series. And to all those who claim it reduces passing and will be boring, take a page from our "what to do while everyone turns left all the time" playbook and take a nap or two. The roar of the crowd will wake you in time for the good stuff. We'll be enjoying the cars and trees as they go up and down, left and right.
Also in linkish news:
Confused by Christian cliches and phrases? Fret no more! Here is a handy guide!
21 best mug shots ever
Follow Jon Dyer on his quest for every beard type.
All links are of course stolen from Cynical Chris.
Formula 1 is still bringing their whole operation to this continent for this weekend's Montreal Canadian Gran Prix! Hooray, no more ovals!
The reason I have been watching IRL is because I still feel (and now have some concrete evidence) that NASCAR prospers at the expense of other racing series and they only have 2 road courses a year. IRL has at least 3 or 4, the next one will be Watkins Glen in NY on July 6th. Just for the record, Formula has ZERO ovals, the way it should be, in my humble opinion.
This is pretty cool. It's a graphic that shows where IRL will be racing and the track maps, so let's see how many non-ovals we can find. Ifineon Raceway, Streets of Long Beach, Streets of St. Petersburg, Edmonton, Mid-Ohio, Streets of Detroit (that should be cool, assuming they repave the roads or are potholes just extra obstacles?), and Watkins Glen, so that's 7, hooray! Okay, so it looks like it's the Raceway at Belle Isle Park near Detroit not the streets of Detroit.
I would go over Formula 1 sites but they're all awesome and unique and amazing. Montreal is this weekend AND it's in North America which means that the race will be on at a reasonable time instead of 2 am or 8 am! Noon F1 here we come!
As far as I know, NASCAR has two races that turn left AND right. They race in Watkins Glen and Infineon also. But that's it. Twice a year does the NASCAR "turn left oval fest" get to balance out their set-ups and make them turn left and right equally well. Now let's check the schedule to see when those are June 22nd at Infineon (on TNT) and Aug. 10th at the Glen (on ESPN). That's pretty funny. Fox will show the crap out of the ovals but want nothing to do with road courses. Maybe there are bigger sporting events that day that Rupert wants to show.
So non-oval race fans, have no fear! There will be much turning left and right this summer from all race series. And to all those who claim it reduces passing and will be boring, take a page from our "what to do while everyone turns left all the time" playbook and take a nap or two. The roar of the crowd will wake you in time for the good stuff. We'll be enjoying the cars and trees as they go up and down, left and right.
Also in linkish news:
Confused by Christian cliches and phrases? Fret no more! Here is a handy guide!
“Hate the sin, love the sinner.”
Translation: “I’m a flaming fundamentalist.”
Acceptable Response: “Amen.”
Unacceptable Response: “That’s a relief, because I’m a homosexual transvestite in an interracial relationship.”
21 best mug shots ever
Follow Jon Dyer on his quest for every beard type.
All links are of course stolen from Cynical Chris.
Labels: Cynical Chris, Danica Patrick, F1, racing
Monday, May 26, 2008
Racing is a cruel mistress
What a great weekend of racing! The awe inspiring Grand Prix of Monaco, the Indy 500 and the NASCAR guys and gals? going around in ovals in Charlotte.
First off, a big "fuck you" to Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi, I like you and you're a great driver but that shit was not cool. There is a small team that is fast and full of heart but just can't compete with the leading teams of Scuderia Ferrari, Mclaren Mercedes and BMW Sauber, but they're go out every weekend and drive their hearts out. Adrian Sutil is one of their drivers and he's good but he's driving an inferior car so he is seemingly slow, but still has yet to start at the back of the field of 20 cars (an impressive feat when 15th on grid is considered a huge accomplishment for that team). His team was bought by Indian billionaire, Vijay Mallya, and he has dedicated millions of dollars to help get his team up towards the front. The GP of Monaco begins and Vijay's Force India Ferrari team gets off to a good start. Adrian has qualified 19th, but is bumped up to 18th because of someone else's penalties. The race starts in the damp and then the rain comes. Most teams started on the intermediate wet tires and some head to the pits to get full rain tires. Adrian is driving brilliantly, smooth on the throttle, being patient with passes, staying away from the walls. He's passing people and with pit stops, safety cars and everything else, Adrian Sutil in the Force India Ferrari is up to 4th! And he's ahead of the factory Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen. The track (closed public streets) is starting to dry and now everyone is on dry tires. Nico Rosberg dumps his AT&T Williams Toyota into a wall and brings out the safety car. The race is drawing to a close and it goes green flag for the last 10 minutes of the race. The cars are now close and racing can happen. Out of the tunnel at 180 mph and Kimi decides to take a run at Adrian in 4th, because obviously he can't drive in the dry and now Kimi should be in front of the lowly Force India car, so Kimi comes flying down the outside, but there is a bump there! Kimi hits the bump, the rear tires get light and Kimi does all he can to stop his out of control Ferrari. Unfortunately what ultimately stops him is the back of Adrian Sutil's car knocking him out of 4th position and what would probably be Force India's best finish of the year, all because Kimi's ego couldn't wait another lap or two to make a clean pass. Shame on you Kimi.
Congrats to Lewis Hamilton in the Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes for taking first, Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber for taking 2nd, Felipe Massa in the Marlboro Scuderia Ferrari for taking 3rd and a HUGE congratulations to Mark Webber for taking 4th in his Red Bull Renault and Sebastian Vettel for taking 5th in his Red Bull Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari. Also, nice driving to Rubens Barrichello in his Honda so close to his 36th birthday; I hope 6th was a nice birthday present to yourself and your team.
Roughly the same thing happened to Danica Patrick, 30 or so laps left (out of 200) and she's driving out of the pits, having gained a position and was up to 6th, when some guy named Briscoe powered out of his pit box, got sideways and slammed his rear tire into Danica's snapping her rear suspension and putting her out of the race. Sarah Fisher, the only woman owner/driver in the Indy Racing League, crashed and I'm not sure how Venezuelan Milka Duno ended up (she finished 16th) but she was the 3rd woman in the field for the Indy 500. Congrats to Scott Dixon from New Zealand for winning the Indy 500. I didn't watch all of it because I find oval racing dull. I'm sure if I was there or ideally in the car, I would have a different opinion, but I really don't care to watch oval racing on TV. It's just a personal preference.
Remember all who have died for this country on Memorial Day and be safe out there!
First off, a big "fuck you" to Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi, I like you and you're a great driver but that shit was not cool. There is a small team that is fast and full of heart but just can't compete with the leading teams of Scuderia Ferrari, Mclaren Mercedes and BMW Sauber, but they're go out every weekend and drive their hearts out. Adrian Sutil is one of their drivers and he's good but he's driving an inferior car so he is seemingly slow, but still has yet to start at the back of the field of 20 cars (an impressive feat when 15th on grid is considered a huge accomplishment for that team). His team was bought by Indian billionaire, Vijay Mallya, and he has dedicated millions of dollars to help get his team up towards the front. The GP of Monaco begins and Vijay's Force India Ferrari team gets off to a good start. Adrian has qualified 19th, but is bumped up to 18th because of someone else's penalties. The race starts in the damp and then the rain comes. Most teams started on the intermediate wet tires and some head to the pits to get full rain tires. Adrian is driving brilliantly, smooth on the throttle, being patient with passes, staying away from the walls. He's passing people and with pit stops, safety cars and everything else, Adrian Sutil in the Force India Ferrari is up to 4th! And he's ahead of the factory Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen. The track (closed public streets) is starting to dry and now everyone is on dry tires. Nico Rosberg dumps his AT&T Williams Toyota into a wall and brings out the safety car. The race is drawing to a close and it goes green flag for the last 10 minutes of the race. The cars are now close and racing can happen. Out of the tunnel at 180 mph and Kimi decides to take a run at Adrian in 4th, because obviously he can't drive in the dry and now Kimi should be in front of the lowly Force India car, so Kimi comes flying down the outside, but there is a bump there! Kimi hits the bump, the rear tires get light and Kimi does all he can to stop his out of control Ferrari. Unfortunately what ultimately stops him is the back of Adrian Sutil's car knocking him out of 4th position and what would probably be Force India's best finish of the year, all because Kimi's ego couldn't wait another lap or two to make a clean pass. Shame on you Kimi.
Congrats to Lewis Hamilton in the Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes for taking first, Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber for taking 2nd, Felipe Massa in the Marlboro Scuderia Ferrari for taking 3rd and a HUGE congratulations to Mark Webber for taking 4th in his Red Bull Renault and Sebastian Vettel for taking 5th in his Red Bull Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari. Also, nice driving to Rubens Barrichello in his Honda so close to his 36th birthday; I hope 6th was a nice birthday present to yourself and your team.
Roughly the same thing happened to Danica Patrick, 30 or so laps left (out of 200) and she's driving out of the pits, having gained a position and was up to 6th, when some guy named Briscoe powered out of his pit box, got sideways and slammed his rear tire into Danica's snapping her rear suspension and putting her out of the race. Sarah Fisher, the only woman owner/driver in the Indy Racing League, crashed and I'm not sure how Venezuelan Milka Duno ended up (she finished 16th) but she was the 3rd woman in the field for the Indy 500. Congrats to Scott Dixon from New Zealand for winning the Indy 500. I didn't watch all of it because I find oval racing dull. I'm sure if I was there or ideally in the car, I would have a different opinion, but I really don't care to watch oval racing on TV. It's just a personal preference.
Remember all who have died for this country on Memorial Day and be safe out there!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Why don't more people listen to Warren Buffet?
Warren has been quoted saying that he would rather have a Democrat as president. The article I was reading didn't go into details, but I for one agree with him. Although I would rather see a Libertarian, Green, or Independent president but honestly don't see that happening any time soon, if ever. Warren did say he's a bigamist when it comes to politics, which I'm not at all. The more parties, the better. Force people to really research what the parties stand for and who their precious vote should go towards.
I haven't mentioned it before but please keep China and Myanmar (Burma) in your thoughts and donations as they struggle with horrendous natural disasters and the death tolls just keep climbing.
In the other side of the news, the greatest F1 race is happening this weekend in the great principality of Monaco. They're finishing up practice now, so the streets should be open and you can walk or drive the circuit today and tomorrow, which is quiet day. You can drive the circuit? Why yes, you can. What makes this race so unique is that it is a true street circuit. The 20 F1 cars are racing on public roads that anyone can drive on most any day of the year. Monte Carlo erects walls and stands and converts their small country into the world's premiere racing circuit. I heard one of the announcers state this morning that the 3/4 square mile (485 acres) that is Monaco could fit inside the Indy 500 or the Coca-Cola 600 complex where the Indy cars and NASCAR cars are this weekend. Check out the course for the Gran Prix of Monaco.
If you only watch one F1 race this year, I would highly recommend this one. Trust me, I don't think Prince Albert will be watching the Indy or NASCAR folks go around in ovals but he will be trackside for the Monaco GP.
I haven't mentioned it before but please keep China and Myanmar (Burma) in your thoughts and donations as they struggle with horrendous natural disasters and the death tolls just keep climbing.
In the other side of the news, the greatest F1 race is happening this weekend in the great principality of Monaco. They're finishing up practice now, so the streets should be open and you can walk or drive the circuit today and tomorrow, which is quiet day. You can drive the circuit? Why yes, you can. What makes this race so unique is that it is a true street circuit. The 20 F1 cars are racing on public roads that anyone can drive on most any day of the year. Monte Carlo erects walls and stands and converts their small country into the world's premiere racing circuit. I heard one of the announcers state this morning that the 3/4 square mile (485 acres) that is Monaco could fit inside the Indy 500 or the Coca-Cola 600 complex where the Indy cars and NASCAR cars are this weekend. Check out the course for the Gran Prix of Monaco.
If you only watch one F1 race this year, I would highly recommend this one. Trust me, I don't think Prince Albert will be watching the Indy or NASCAR folks go around in ovals but he will be trackside for the Monaco GP.
Labels: capitalism, F1, natural disaster
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