Gainsaid
On just about everything, which probably amounts to nothing.Silent Scream
I feel so crushingly alone. In over my head, navigating through life with a broken compass. I have no idea who I am anymore. I don’t do any of the things I like these days. There’s just no time, too much noise and demands from everyone. Maybe this prolonged navel gazing will help. Just wish I could get the taste of my foot out of my mouth.
Friends or footstools?
Lately I have been spending what I guarantee you to be an inexcusable amount of time contemplating what I suppose is the folly of a modern marriage but then again, all marriage regardless is folly. That I engage in this the highest of intellectual pursuits largely on my employers’ time should quite obviously be cause for alarm but that is only until one considers that if I were ever to present a paternity leave form for approval, then certainly a great deal of thought would have preceded the filling of it. Anyway, the institution that is a modern marriage now holds what can only be described as a morbid fascination for me ever since I took up wearing rose-coloured glasses to enhance my imagination as one half of a happy couple. Marriage to me is a little too much like buying an 11 year old boy a chemistry set and then sitting back to see just what happens. In my case, the boy is Crompton’s William and the chemistry set of a variety that contains the necessary ingredients for the manufacture of nitroglycerine in large quantities.
Take 2 people, preferably of opposing sexes, as alike as kindergarten chalk & a well-ripened Camembert. They hardly know each other as well as they ought to and in a fit of absolute lunacy clouded by clumsy passion, proceed to fool first of all themselves and then the rest of us into believing that they are going to make it to their 40’s without inflicting grievous bodily harm, bankrupting or generally pissing on each other on the way. “Those 2? PAH! They stand about as much chance as a butterscotch sundae in the bowels of hell’s infernal forge. We’d be better off backing a 3-legged rocking horse at Ascot”. Sometimes however, poor old broken-down Pollyana her legs bound together with lashings of epoxy glue and masking tape does go on to occasionally take the cup.
Some of my friends are married; invariably to women of whom much is expected, perhaps more than is human…………………..or prudent to give. The women, turned wives whom I have had the privilege or misfortune if you like, to observe fall broadly into two categories; the charming, witty ones who make for delightful, if challenging companions and the dreary ones whose dim view of marriage likens it to a chore that one must dispense with all the grim efficiency of a German stationmaster armed with a large bar of carbolic soap.
How Dull.
There’s a third, hidden category …….the shrews, but that is a can of worms for another day. Do put away your silly placards and constitutional court summonses O Ye guardians of all virtues feminine. Yes, I am perfectly aware that my own mother and sister are in fact, women but this is a discourse on personality and that is where objectivity flies out of the window. Save the slogans for a cause that counts.
I digress. Right, where was I? Ah yes, friends and footstools. The tragedy for some women is to get caught somewhere in between……….forever in the transit lounge between a warm embrace and a lip curled in distaste. It’s all quite confusing really. Some men make an art out of keeping the women in their lives seesawing helplessly in the playground of their affections. Until inevitably, she falls off and with all the fury of Congreve’s scorned woman (which hell hath not)……..proceeds to eviscerate him, preferably with a firearm.
Audiophile: Asa – Subway
Off my shelf: A woman of no importance – Oscar Wilde
Midday Matinee: No country for old men (2007)
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson and Kelly Preston
Directed by: Joel Cohe, Ethan Cohen
Here’s $1; Don’t go spending it all at once
I got me one of these……….
I’ll be in splints for the rest of my life.
Good thing I can still use my thumbs.
Audiophile: The Skids – The saints are coming
Off my shelf: Golden Fox – Wilbur Smith
Midday Matinee: The Bridge on the River Kwai [1957]
Starring: William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Alec Guiness and Sessue Hayakawa
Directed by: David Lean
Shafted
My boss is screwing me out of a trip that I rightly earned.
Fuck him.
Audiophile: Miles Davis – A Night in Tunisia
Off my shelf: Bill Watterson- Calvin & Hobbes Vol I
Midday Matinee: Patton [1970]
Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates
Directed by: Franklin J Schaffner
Who’s your daddy?
The world is changing perhaps much faster than one can keep up. Growing up, I remember the victorian outrage that inevitatbly accompanied the prospect of any young lady (a somewhat loose term there) that was expecting a child out of wedlock. I suppose the cause of the indignation wasn’t just the issue of a ‘fatherless’ child (or bastard if you will) but rather the irrefuatble evidence of ‘damage’ to the lady’s virtue. Fertile imaginations aren’t neccesary to guess at the goings-on in the subjects free time. Interestingly, the ‘gentleman’ responsible would be at best an afterthought or at worst conspiciously absent from the collective psyche of the affronted.
Hypocrites.
These days the chap’s role in these affairs has diminished, single-moms are less of a taboo subject and that, I suppose is good news all round. Except maybe for the children growing up in a single-parent environment. But then I guess, it’s better than growing up in an abusive household with both parents are there, sets a bad example you see.
Bloody hell, everything’s a mess these days.
Audiophile: Asa – Fire on the Mountain
Off my shelf: Ivanhoe – Sir Walter Scott
Midday Matinee: The Good Shepherd [2006]
Starring: Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, Robert DeNiro, Angelina Jolie, Tammy Blanchard, Joe Pesci, Billy Crudup and Michael Gambon
Directed by: Robert DeNiro
Runaway Applecart
My Mom’s in hospital.
The old girl’s feeling a bit poorly I’m afraid. Blood clot in her leg. Sawbones said she’d have to take a load off her feet for a bit so she’s now laid up in a rather nice private room with a couch for visitors (that’s me) and Cable Television (flowers not supplied). I’ll see her everyday and read to her when I can. It’s rather unsettling for me to be the one taking care of her for a change.
I hope she gets better soon.
Audiophile: Pink Floyd – The Wall
Off my shelf: Yann Martel - The Life of Pi
Midday Matinee: Raging Bull [1980]
Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty and Frank Vincent
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Comments off
Losing Track
Those blasted race stewards. Where the devil were they with their time penalties in Valencia when Felipe Massa exited dangerously from the pits? Clearly they seem to want to hand this season’s championship to the Brazilian on a silver platter rather than have Hamilton bag it. Oh yes, those sodding spoilsports really know when to pick their moments, don’t they? Ruining one of the most spectacular F1 races we have seen in a long time.
To fans worldwide, F1 seems really bent on promogulating this self-destructive streak it has been on for a while now. All we want to see is a good race, a memorable race a fantastic race. Spinning & crashing is allowed getting hurt or dying isn’t and that’s what safety technology is for. It should free up the drivers to take more risks like their real racing predecessors did until the early 90’s. After the bittersweet dominance of Michael Schumacher and the Ferrari team, the brief entry of Renault with Fernando Alonso and the rise of McLaren Mercedes team under Lewis hamilton comes as a breath of fresh air.
Hamilton’s a talented, daring, exciting driver who pays for his mistakes on track like any other with spinning and crashing and engine failure. He’s taking the sport back to a higher level challenging and dragging the other other drivers to realise their potential. What happened on Sunday was a disgrace and only serves to dampen the spirit of fair play in the sport. Winning in formula 1 should be taken out from the boardrooms and courtrooms and back to where it belongs: On the race track.
Audiophile: The Hives - Hate to say I told you so
Off my shelf: Goshawk Squadron – Derek Robinson
Midday Matinee: Gone with the wind [1939] Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Hattie McDaniel and Leslie Howard Directed by: Victor Fleming
The Outrage
It was intermittently wet at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium and with that came the promise of a dramatic race. Lots of spinouts and agonising tyre choices to look forward to then. And indeed the race did not disappoint.
- www.f1.com
Lewis Hamilton took pole position in the qualifying stages ahead of Felipe Massa and Heikki Kovalainen and a harried Kimi Raikkonen who seemed overwhelmed by having to contend with both his team mate Massa and the sophomore driver.
The Briton was in bullish mood following an early spin in the race that lost him the lead. Thereafter he was constantly on race leader Raikkonen’s tail badgering him to let him by. Then the heavens opened and sprinkled the track to make for a wet race and here Hamilton came into his own. Risky maneouvre, diving past Raikkonen on the bus stop chicane two laps to the end Hamilton went over the grass and took an unfair lead.
He then did the gentlemanly thing and surrendered the lead by allowing Raikonnen to pass him on the home straight. It was gloves off again as they went into the final lap and the ‘iceman’ cracking under the strain of keeping Hamilton at bay, spun and crashed into the wall. Hamilton kept his cool and passed through to take the chequered flag and (ostensibly) win the race.
Two hours later after all the bubbly had been drunk and the post-race conference wrapped up, Hamilton was slapped with a 25 second time penalty which effectively snatched the win from him and handed it to the eager clutches of Felipe Massa. Hamilton wound up in 3rd place after they were done with the beatdown.
- f1.com
Audiophile: The Shins – Pink Bullets
Off my shelf: Goshawk Squadron – Derek Robinson
Midday Matinee: Lolita [1962]
Starring: James Mason, Sue Lyon, Shelly Winters and Peter Sellers
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Motorsport roundup
It’s been a bit since I’ve posted on the goings-on in motorsport but I have been somewhat busy with our own racing circuit to comment on what the big boys have been up to.
MotoGP
There have been 4 meets since my last post here The riders went on to Donington Park for the British Grand Prix, Assen for the Dutch TT and the Alice Motorrad for the Grand prix Deutschland. Team Ducati’s top rider Casey Stoner managed a clean sweep of all 3 with Rossi coming in a close 2nd in Britain and Germany.
The doctor stumbled in Assen to come in 11th but returned rejuvenated from a jaunt with a hot brunette on his boat to claim 2nd place in Germany and successive 1st place finishes in the United States and the Czech republic to stand 50 points clear of Stoner’s tally of 187 points.
Still, it’s early days with 6 meets still to go, Stoner luck could turn after crashing out in Brno and he could whittle away at Rossi’s lead in time to take the title in Valencia in October but that’s on a long shot. Dani Pedrosa only 15 points behind is the real threat to Stoner in spite of being in poor form since Catalunya.
Pedrosa has been in steady decline since his win there, something he attributes to his tyre sponsor Michelin. The tide seems to have turned against the French tyre manufacturer with Bridgestones claiming the top 8 places in Brno. With the debate on the prudence of adopting the F1 approach of all race teams using a single tyre brand still raging it would seem that Bridgestone, whose Potenza tyres are on every F1 vehicle are transferring the gains on that circuit on to MotoGP.
Away from the track and on to the paddock, there’s more than just exhaust fumes to make a man all hot and bothered, take a look.
excuse me Miss…..
Guilty as charged
This just in: ROSSI WINS AGAIN AT MISANO (SAN MARINO) AS STONER SLIDES OUT………….AGAIN!!!
Rossi has just led a Fiat Yamaha one-two finish in the 2008 GP CINZANO DI SAN MARINO. Rossi edged out team mate Jorge Lorenzo by 3 seconds to take the top of the podium and break out the bubbly. Toni Elias claimed the last place on the podium to round off the top 3.
Casey Stoner has had a disappointing weekend. The defending champion’s race became unstuck in the 6th lap after a fairly good showing during both practice and qualifying where he set a blistering pace, probably rekindling memories of his epic win there last year. in the the push for pole position, Stoner is said to have unfortunately inflamed a pre-existing injury to his left wrist. In spite of this and wobbly Michelins, he managed to lead the race until the 6th lap when he again spun out.
This pushes the doctor 75 points clear of Stoner in the championship standings. It looking like he may just have this seasons’ trophy on his pillion. Stoner in the meantime has to worry about Dani Pedrosa only 2 points behind him. The Repsol Honda team have decided to put Pedrosa on Bridgestone tyres for the rest of the 2008 season after a remarkable performance during his first time out on them.
See you in Indianapolis on 14th September. Visit MotoGP for more.
The weather in Valencia was fantastic but the European Grand Prix itself was a bit dull with most of the action taking place in the pit lane. Both Ferraris were involved in separate incidents in the pit lane with eventual race winner Felipe Massa dangerously exiting from the Ferrari garage onto Adrian Sutil’s path on the pit lane. It cost him € 10 000 in fines, something to be grateful for as it could have very well cost him the race had the verdict from the race stewards been a time penalty. Kimi Raikonnen then pulled early out of the pits before he got the green light from his lollipop man. He took the fuel hose which was still clamped to his car and knocked down his own mechanic Pietro Timpini in the process. Signor Timpini is said to be all right following the incident.
Any penalties that may have applied were mooted when the scarlet Ferrari blew her engine 11 laps to the finish. This unfortunate incident sees Raikonnen fall 7 points adrift of his team mate and 13 short of championship leader Hamiltion. It may just be the push that will force Ferrari’s hand to choose Massa as the lead driver to take the championship fight to Lewis Hamilton and McLaren Mercedes after all.
Takuma Nakajima would have been a popular target in the La Tomatina tomato throwing festival in Buñol’s Plaza del Pueblo, 25 miles west of Valencia this weekend after he ran into the rear of local favourite Fernando Alonso’s Renault in the 1st lap. The drive of the day undoubtedly went to Robert Kubica who has been in consistent form lately, definitely a man to watch as the series moves to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium on 5th September.
WRC
With 10 rounds completed so far, the WRC season has only 5 more to go. Sebastian Loeb took with him a slim 4 point lead over Marco Hirvonen as the WRC went to New Zealand over the weekend. Loeb, who has won all but 2 of the 10 rounds so far, has been matched in consistency closely by Hirvonen who’s had 8 podium finishes as well.
BP Ford World Rally Team lead driver Miko Hirvonen built an early lead over Sebastian Loeb as day 1 of the rally came to a close. Loeb came in second after a suffering a 30 second time penalty at the end of stage 2 whilst grappling with an electrical fault in his car. The Citroens and Fords dominated the top 6 places in the overnight standings with Loeb’s team mate Dani Sordo coming in 3rd closely followed by Ford’s Jaari-Mati Latvala.
Day 2 saw the Fords switch places with Latvala leapfrogging Loeb on the leaderboard by 13 seconds to claim the lead. Loeb had been whittling away at the 27 second gap between himself Hirvonen band by the end of the day his doggedness paid off leaving the gap between himself and the Finn down to only 4 seconds. Breathing down Loeb’s neck 2 seconds away was Dani Sordo.
The Subarus remained out of contention with Petter Solberg down in 7th. The Lad from next door, Chris Atkinson dropped from 5th to 30th place suffering an overheating radiator after he tipped his car over. and was forced to retire.
Day 3 saw a double shot of bad luck for the Ford team as both their drivers first Latvalla then Hirvonen spun out on the gravelly tracks, effectively breaking the Ford team’s 1-2 formation lead. Latvalla’s car was unable to recover from an oil leak but Hirvonen recovered to finish in 3rd place all whilst battling a slow puncture on his rear right hand side tyre. Dani Sordo who was waiting in the wings pounced to capitalise on the Finn’s ill-luck to take 2nd place in the final standings. But it was Sebastian Loeb once again who stood tall to claim victory in New Zealand even after having dramatically suffered a spin out himself in the opening stages of the last day.
Loeb now moves 8 points clear of Hirvonen in the championship standings which is a two-horse race between himself and the Ford driver. The next rally will be in Spain from 2nd – 5th October.
visit the WRC and Rally New Zealand sites for more details.
Subaru images courtesy of the Subaru World Rally Team site
Audiophile: Electric Light Orchestra – Evil Woman
Off my shelf: Goshawk Squadron – Derek Robinson
Midday Matinee: Spartacus [1960]
Starring: Kirk Doulas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov and Charles Laughton
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Baby Shower
I finally said goodbye to penelope about 3 months ago but I’m still not over her yet. A friend of mine who runs a customs auto shop took her off my hands and promised to take good care of her.
I have a new car now but she still has no name.
I still feel like I’m cheating on Penny.
*slaps self and yells, “SNAP OUT OF IT, THEY ARE ONLY CARS!!! THEY RUST AND FADE AND COST A FORTUNE IN PARTS AND FUEL!!!……..and they’ll probably kill you”.
Ah well, you only live once right? (shut up you indians, I wasn’t talking to you).
The new girl’s a 2.0 Subaru Legacy RS type B. I was sorely tempted to plonk out on the RSK version with the twin-turbocharged engine but reason prevailed and I opted for one with a normally aspirated engine. Other than that, she’s got the same specs as the RSK; Bilstein dampers, HID lights, Full leather interior, 2-DIN Pioneer audio system.
Aftermarket bits are an upgrade from 16″ single-spoke Subaru alloys to 17″ twin-spoke Subaru alloys, I draped in 215/65/17 Bridgestone Turanzas. Upgraded the audio system with 2 pairs of 3-way Alpine speakers and fitted a new battery. Other than that, she’s stock.
Not as quick off the blocks as her predecessor but since she’s heavier, she’s a lot less twitchy at high speed. The Midnight Black paint gives her an imposing presence on the road whilst oddly enough keeping her quite demure. Only one person’s dared to try and race so far (fuel prices?). It was a squidgy Toyota so it became a tiny speck in the rearview mirror soon enough. Now, she’s by no means even nearly the fastest car on our roads but she can hold her own well enough and she’s fitting well into my new persona as Morgan Freeman in ‘Driving Miss Daisy’.
I’ll post a nice picture as soon as I get one to help with the christening.
Next stop? Subaru Outback or maybe a Range Rover.
Time to go find my own oil well.
Audiophile: The Doors – When the music’s over
Off my shelf: Black Skin, White Masks – Frantz Fanon
Midday Matinee: Key Largo [1948]
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall
Directed by: John Huston
