November 29, 2015
F1 Update: Abu Dhabi 2015
Night was falling as the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg led the assembled field to the grid at Yas Marina. Behind him was world champion Lewis Hamilton, who began complaining about that fact days earlier. Carrying the hopes and dreams of Italy was the third car on the grid, the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen. The oddball of the bunch sat in fourth position, the Force India of Sergio Perez. How would these worthies shake out at the end of the day? There's only one way to find out: THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2015 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi!
*OH JEEZ... REALLY?: When the lights went out, the usual headlong dive for the first turn began. Polesitter Nico Rosberg easily outpaced his rivals while Hamilton's poor start meant that he had to scramble to keep Raikkonen behind him. He accomplished this feat, which gave him a grandstand view of Rosberg galloping away. It wasn't a huge gap, only five seconds by the time first Rosberg, then Hamilton, pitted for new tires on Lap 10 and 11, respectively, but that would prove to be plenty.
*SO MUCH FOR THAT: The one true important contest remaining in the World Driver's Championship was for fourth. Williams' Valterri Bottas led Raikkonen by a single point... whichever man finished ahead of the other would take the position. Bottas and Williams took all the drama out of the duel early. First Bottas peed the start down the leg of his firesuit, dropping to 10th by the end of the first lap. Then during his first pit stop, the team released him just as the McLaren of Jenson Button angled into his pit box. The collision snapped the left side of Bottas's front wing clean off, and for whatever reason the team told him to leave the pits and return instead of stopping and having the mechanics pull him back. In any case, by the time he got his car around and the nose repaired he had dropped to last place and was never seen again.
*OH... HIM?: Due to a massive screwup in Quals by Ferrari, Seb Vettel started the race pretty much at the back of the field. He sure didn't stay there long; by the end of the first lap he was 12th, and then settled into tire conservation mode. While his rivals began pitting on Lap 9, he didn't make his first stop until 14 laps later, at which point he was in fourth place! After the stop, he had fallen to 6th, but by babying his tires he managed to work his way back up to fourth, practically without having to pass anybody on track. Maybe a boring strategy, but an effective one.
*BACK AT THE FRONT: The second stint was much more friendly to Hamilton, allowing him to close the gap to his teammate almost to DRS range. When Rosberg pitted on Lap 31, the entire race was there for Hamilton to take. He had been begging for an alternate tire strategy, any tire strategy, that could allow him to take the fight to the other Mercedes, and now he had the chance. The team left it up to him... and he let the team make the call. Rosberg would go on to win by over eight seconds, and Hamilton would go on to say that he "You have to rely on the engineers to give you the optimum strategy at that point," but that he "didn't understand it."
*IN THE END: The top three places were exactly the way the race began: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen. If it hadn't've been for Vettel getting in the way, it would have been the top five places, for Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, 4th and 5th at the start, ended up 5th and 6th. Yeah, it was that sort of "race"... and it was essentially the 2015 season in a nutshell. Only three drivers earned victories this year, Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel (Hamilton 10, Rosberg 6, Vettel 3). The same three were the only polesitters (Hamilton 11, Rosberg 7, Vettel 1). The German national anthem was heard during every podium ceremony in 2015.
*SO.: And thus does the 2015 F1 season come to an end. We're only 109 days away from the first race of the 2016 season, at Australia... but we'll start seeing the rollouts of the new cars a lot sooner than that. One of them will be the first design for the new official team of F1U!, HaasF1. We all hope that they'll be enough to make next year interesting.
Thanks for reading this year, and we'll see you soon enough!
*ALMOST FORGOT: Noah would be pleased with the final driver's championship standings.
Two by two... two by two.
*OH JEEZ... REALLY?: When the lights went out, the usual headlong dive for the first turn began. Polesitter Nico Rosberg easily outpaced his rivals while Hamilton's poor start meant that he had to scramble to keep Raikkonen behind him. He accomplished this feat, which gave him a grandstand view of Rosberg galloping away. It wasn't a huge gap, only five seconds by the time first Rosberg, then Hamilton, pitted for new tires on Lap 10 and 11, respectively, but that would prove to be plenty.
*SO MUCH FOR THAT: The one true important contest remaining in the World Driver's Championship was for fourth. Williams' Valterri Bottas led Raikkonen by a single point... whichever man finished ahead of the other would take the position. Bottas and Williams took all the drama out of the duel early. First Bottas peed the start down the leg of his firesuit, dropping to 10th by the end of the first lap. Then during his first pit stop, the team released him just as the McLaren of Jenson Button angled into his pit box. The collision snapped the left side of Bottas's front wing clean off, and for whatever reason the team told him to leave the pits and return instead of stopping and having the mechanics pull him back. In any case, by the time he got his car around and the nose repaired he had dropped to last place and was never seen again.
*OH... HIM?: Due to a massive screwup in Quals by Ferrari, Seb Vettel started the race pretty much at the back of the field. He sure didn't stay there long; by the end of the first lap he was 12th, and then settled into tire conservation mode. While his rivals began pitting on Lap 9, he didn't make his first stop until 14 laps later, at which point he was in fourth place! After the stop, he had fallen to 6th, but by babying his tires he managed to work his way back up to fourth, practically without having to pass anybody on track. Maybe a boring strategy, but an effective one.
*BACK AT THE FRONT: The second stint was much more friendly to Hamilton, allowing him to close the gap to his teammate almost to DRS range. When Rosberg pitted on Lap 31, the entire race was there for Hamilton to take. He had been begging for an alternate tire strategy, any tire strategy, that could allow him to take the fight to the other Mercedes, and now he had the chance. The team left it up to him... and he let the team make the call. Rosberg would go on to win by over eight seconds, and Hamilton would go on to say that he "You have to rely on the engineers to give you the optimum strategy at that point," but that he "didn't understand it."
*IN THE END: The top three places were exactly the way the race began: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen. If it hadn't've been for Vettel getting in the way, it would have been the top five places, for Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, 4th and 5th at the start, ended up 5th and 6th. Yeah, it was that sort of "race"... and it was essentially the 2015 season in a nutshell. Only three drivers earned victories this year, Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel (Hamilton 10, Rosberg 6, Vettel 3). The same three were the only polesitters (Hamilton 11, Rosberg 7, Vettel 1). The German national anthem was heard during every podium ceremony in 2015.
*SO.: And thus does the 2015 F1 season come to an end. We're only 109 days away from the first race of the 2016 season, at Australia... but we'll start seeing the rollouts of the new cars a lot sooner than that. One of them will be the first design for the new official team of F1U!, HaasF1. We all hope that they'll be enough to make next year interesting.
Thanks for reading this year, and we'll see you soon enough!
*ALMOST FORGOT: Noah would be pleased with the final driver's championship standings.
Two by two... two by two.
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While We're Waiting For F1U...
People have asked me, "Wonderduck, why do you like LeMans so much?"
THAT right there. That's why.
That's Audi's entry into the 2016 World Endurance Championship's LMP1 class (or whatever the top prototype class is called these days). My word, that's quite the looker. I mean, I love F1 cars, but c'mon, they haven't looked this good in years. And that livery! That's poster material right there.
I kinda geeked when I first saw the pictures.
THAT right there. That's why.
That's Audi's entry into the 2016 World Endurance Championship's LMP1 class (or whatever the top prototype class is called these days). My word, that's quite the looker. I mean, I love F1 cars, but c'mon, they haven't looked this good in years. And that livery! That's poster material right there.
I kinda geeked when I first saw the pictures.
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November 28, 2015
F1 Quals: Abu Dhabi 2015
Here's the provisional grid for the 2015 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi. Stop me if you've heard this one before:
Yup, it's another Mercedes 1-2, with Rosberg taking his sixth pole in a row. The big news, though, is that Ferrari's Seb Vettel never made it out of Q1. The team told him that he had gone fast enough to make it to Q2, so he backed out of his final flying lap to preserve tires... and then Jenson Button's McLaren bumped him. Oy.
Up at the front, Lewis Hamilton actually was quickest in Q1 and Q2; Rosberg just killed it in Q3, though, and that's the only one that really matters. There's actually a chance that the nearly .40 sec gap will increase, as Hamilton may have his fastest lap thrown out for violating track limits. He'd still be in 2nd, though.
Other than all that, however, it was pretty much bog-standard. Which is what I expect Sunday's race to be as well. But who knows? Maybe it'll rain.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:41.111 | 1:40.979 | 1:40.237 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:40.974 | 1:40.758 | 1:40.614 |
| 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:42.500 | 1:41.612 | 1:41.051 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:41.983 | 1:41.560 | 1:41.184 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing | 1:42.275 | 1:41.830 | 1:41.444 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:42.608 | 1:41.868 | 1:41.656 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:41.996 | 1:41.925 | 1:41.686 |
| 8 | Felipe Not Nasr Massa | Williams | 1:42.303 | 1:42.349 | 1:41.759 |
| 9 | Kid Kvyat | Red Bull Racing | 1:42.540 | 1:42.328 | 1:41.933 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:42.911 | 1:42.482 | 1:42.708 |
| 11 | Embryo Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:42.889 | 1:42.521 | |
| 12 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:42.570 | 1:42.668 | |
| 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:42.929 | 1:42.807 | |
| 14 | Felipe Not Massa Nasr | Sauber | 1:42.896 | 1:43.614 | |
| 15 | Lettuce Grosjean | Lotus | 1:42.585 | No Time |
|
| 16 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:42.941 | ||
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:43.187 | ||
| 18 | Sony Ericsson | Sauber | 1:43.838 | ||
| 19 | Will Stevens | Marussia | 1:46.297 | ||
| 20 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia | 1:47.434 |
Yup, it's another Mercedes 1-2, with Rosberg taking his sixth pole in a row. The big news, though, is that Ferrari's Seb Vettel never made it out of Q1. The team told him that he had gone fast enough to make it to Q2, so he backed out of his final flying lap to preserve tires... and then Jenson Button's McLaren bumped him. Oy.
Up at the front, Lewis Hamilton actually was quickest in Q1 and Q2; Rosberg just killed it in Q3, though, and that's the only one that really matters. There's actually a chance that the nearly .40 sec gap will increase, as Hamilton may have his fastest lap thrown out for violating track limits. He'd still be in 2nd, though.
Other than all that, however, it was pretty much bog-standard. Which is what I expect Sunday's race to be as well. But who knows? Maybe it'll rain.
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November 27, 2015
Long Weekend
It wasn't until sometime late last week that I discovered that the office was not going to be open on Black Friday. Four day weekend! Now, to be honest, I wouldn't have minded working today all that much... it's not like I have to deal with retail customers as a medical claims processor... but I'm not going to look a paid day off in the mouth of a horse of a different color.
Things have taken a distinctively positive turn at The Job. I cleared the first major hurdle of averaging 100 claims a day a few months ago. I then set a goal of averaging 20 claims an hour, or 160 claims per normal day. I've sunk that one a few weeks back, and set sail for 200/day. Almost immediately I reached that milestone. Even better, I've now worked at The Job long enough to be paid on merit for each claim. For the past three months I was locked at $.50/claim. Once you hit merit pay, the base amount per claim drops to something like $.34. However, you then get bonuses based on your accuracy levels on three separate categories. If you're not making too many errors, these bonuses add up to truly pleasant levels... like, twice as much as the base amount? Combining my recent speed boost with that means that my per-hour rate is looking truly inspirational.
There is one little problem though... I haven't worked a full eight hours in a day in two, maybe three weeks. There's some long-winded reasons for that that I'm not going to get into, but there's one smaller reason that just makes me facepalm so very hard. See, as you may remember, the medical industry recently switched from the ICD-9 standard of coding to ICD-10. This is actually one of those few changes that makes a lot of sense... ICD-10 allows for much more accurate coding of incidents. Just making up an example, ICD-9 would code for "broken arm, right." ICD-10 codes to "broken arm, right, upper, enclosed fracture, honey mustard sauce." However! The implementation date for the new coding had been pushed back multiple times, and it appears that a lot of medical facilities just assumed that would occur again. This means that it's taking longer for claims to get to us, as doctors' offices and clinics and all those sorts of places try to figure out software and codes they've been neglecting.
Other than that little problem, though? Things are okay. The mp3 player allows me to mostly tune out the world... except for one person. This person, who we'll call Louise because that isn't her name, is a talker. Worse, her voice has a lot of throw weight to it, much the way nuclear weaponry has throw weight. She doesn't ever whisper, so everything she says is quite audible, even when she isn't talking loudly. Remember, this is in a relatively quiet workspace as well. The job is hard enough without hearing her discuss her lunch in detail. Polite requests for her to be quiet had a couple hours' worth of effect. More formal complaints fell on deaf ears or worse, led Louise to complain to the manager of the entire office... "boo hoo, they're picking me." Frustrating. One feature of this job is that long-term people with good speed and accuracy are often allowed to work from home. Combine that with the usual workforce churn and open seats tend to appear. When enough of those occur, a reorganization invariably takes place. Remember, in the Duckford office, we actually work with four different medical insurance firms, and it's always best to get the workers for a firm in one place. New employees, for example, will always get put into The Big Room before they get shuffled to their real room. This reorg occurred on Tuesday... and Louise was moved from her seat in the cube directly in front of me to one literally as far away as possible from me and still be in the same room.
Things have taken a distinctively positive turn at The Job. I cleared the first major hurdle of averaging 100 claims a day a few months ago. I then set a goal of averaging 20 claims an hour, or 160 claims per normal day. I've sunk that one a few weeks back, and set sail for 200/day. Almost immediately I reached that milestone. Even better, I've now worked at The Job long enough to be paid on merit for each claim. For the past three months I was locked at $.50/claim. Once you hit merit pay, the base amount per claim drops to something like $.34. However, you then get bonuses based on your accuracy levels on three separate categories. If you're not making too many errors, these bonuses add up to truly pleasant levels... like, twice as much as the base amount? Combining my recent speed boost with that means that my per-hour rate is looking truly inspirational.
There is one little problem though... I haven't worked a full eight hours in a day in two, maybe three weeks. There's some long-winded reasons for that that I'm not going to get into, but there's one smaller reason that just makes me facepalm so very hard. See, as you may remember, the medical industry recently switched from the ICD-9 standard of coding to ICD-10. This is actually one of those few changes that makes a lot of sense... ICD-10 allows for much more accurate coding of incidents. Just making up an example, ICD-9 would code for "broken arm, right." ICD-10 codes to "broken arm, right, upper, enclosed fracture, honey mustard sauce." However! The implementation date for the new coding had been pushed back multiple times, and it appears that a lot of medical facilities just assumed that would occur again. This means that it's taking longer for claims to get to us, as doctors' offices and clinics and all those sorts of places try to figure out software and codes they've been neglecting.
Other than that little problem, though? Things are okay. The mp3 player allows me to mostly tune out the world... except for one person. This person, who we'll call Louise because that isn't her name, is a talker. Worse, her voice has a lot of throw weight to it, much the way nuclear weaponry has throw weight. She doesn't ever whisper, so everything she says is quite audible, even when she isn't talking loudly. Remember, this is in a relatively quiet workspace as well. The job is hard enough without hearing her discuss her lunch in detail. Polite requests for her to be quiet had a couple hours' worth of effect. More formal complaints fell on deaf ears or worse, led Louise to complain to the manager of the entire office... "boo hoo, they're picking me." Frustrating. One feature of this job is that long-term people with good speed and accuracy are often allowed to work from home. Combine that with the usual workforce churn and open seats tend to appear. When enough of those occur, a reorganization invariably takes place. Remember, in the Duckford office, we actually work with four different medical insurance firms, and it's always best to get the workers for a firm in one place. New employees, for example, will always get put into The Big Room before they get shuffled to their real room. This reorg occurred on Tuesday... and Louise was moved from her seat in the cube directly in front of me to one literally as far away as possible from me and still be in the same room.
I ain't even sad that she was there first.
That very Tuesday, I cranked out my best claims day ever... I was within spittin' distance of 300 when we ran out of 'em. Coincidence? Nope. I could listen to my music without fear of hearing her "huh?" rip through Athena's Barcarolle from ARIA... I have a four minute long live recording of it on the mp3 player that can manage to bring tears to my eyes. So work is okay. And it's not in a mall. No complaints at the moment. And hey, four days off!
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November 24, 2015
Visual Novel Review: Go! Go! Nippon!
I'm not what I'd call a "gamer" by any stretch of the imagination. Make no mistake, I do play computer games, sure, but I'm not one of those hardcore creatures who eat and sleep videogames all the time. We have a few of those at work actually, and they're great fun to talk to. They accept me as one of their own, ever since I recognized Vault-Boy on one of their cellphone's lock screen. I haven't been able to talk to them recently though, as the three of them are playing Fallout 4 like they'll die if they don't... and talking about spoilers. As I've managed to avoid all details of the game except those given in the first Official Trailer, their conversations tend to send me screaming from the break room. I have a feeling that I'll get into the game the same way I did Skyrim or Fallout 3 once I obtain a copy, though. But I'm not a heavy-duty gamer. One particular type of game that I've never really gotten into is the Visual Novel, though I've played a few. If you've never played a Visual Novel, understand that it's not a "game" the way, say, Mass Effect or Portal or Pong are
games. Most of the time, you're just reading words on the screen much
the way you read a book. Upon occasion, you have the ability to
influence the course of the story by making a decision ("Go to sleep" or
"Go out and party"; "Invade Russia" or "Invade Britain"... that sort of
thing). For the most part, VNs are distinctly Japanese, and some very good anime series have been made from them. Kanon, for example, was first a VN... I tried to play it, but I got a nasty virus from the copy I obtained. I did manage to play some of Clannad, but never came close to finishing. On the whole, in fact, the few VNs I've played, I've given up on long before I completed the storyline/s. Ironically, the two that I have finished weren't actually Japanese! Katawa Shoujo was made by a volunteer group from all over, and Sakura Spirit by an American company; both were written in English. Which brings us to the subject of this review.
Go! Go! Nippon! (GGN) was released in 2011 by Overdrive, a Japanese company. Unlike pretty much every VN ever, it was developed exclusively for the overseas audience... English speakers, primarily. Shortly after I was disassociated with my position at the Duck U Bookstore, I stumbled across a promo video for GGN on Steam. Amused, I put it in my Steam Wish List for later perusal... and then it went on sale last Thanksgiving. Five dollars later, it was in my library. I enjoyed it, but it was short... five hours got me through the entire thing. Eh, fair enough. I then put it aside and never touched it again. Until recently, that is. Y'see, about a month ago Overdrive released what they called DLC for the game. In reality, it was an almost complete rework of GGN. As it, too, was only a few bucks, I bought it. So what's it all about?
more...
Go! Go! Nippon! (GGN) was released in 2011 by Overdrive, a Japanese company. Unlike pretty much every VN ever, it was developed exclusively for the overseas audience... English speakers, primarily. Shortly after I was disassociated with my position at the Duck U Bookstore, I stumbled across a promo video for GGN on Steam. Amused, I put it in my Steam Wish List for later perusal... and then it went on sale last Thanksgiving. Five dollars later, it was in my library. I enjoyed it, but it was short... five hours got me through the entire thing. Eh, fair enough. I then put it aside and never touched it again. Until recently, that is. Y'see, about a month ago Overdrive released what they called DLC for the game. In reality, it was an almost complete rework of GGN. As it, too, was only a few bucks, I bought it. So what's it all about?
more...
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November 23, 2015
F1 on TV: Abu Dhabi 2015
And so we come, not to the end of the beginning, nor the beginning of the end, but just, simply, the end. The final race of the 2015 Formula 1 season. A season which started eight months ago in Melbourne. Along the way, we've seen one of the less-interesting seasons of racing in recent history. So what does this finishing contest promise? Let's take a look at the track map for the 2015 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi.
We've been here plenty of times before, and pretty much what we've learned is that this is a awful track to race on. Fun to drive, yes, but to contest position? There's one good place to pass, Turn 8/9, with Turns 5-7 being somewhat less swell. Remember, this is the circuit where they thought it would be a good idea to have the pit exit run underneath the track. I suspect it's merely luck that we haven't seen that idea backfire horribly.
So what's the point of this race? Well, Valterri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen in a fight for fourth place in the driver's championship, one point separating them. Lotus leads Toro Rosso by nine points for sixth in the constructor's championship. And... um... that's about it, really. Most teams will probably be using Abu Dhabi as an extended test session... remember, the 2016 season is only four months away!
Oy.
The Legendary Announce Team has the coverage, as usual. Here's the schedule:
Friday
Practice 2: 7a - 830a live on NBCSN
Saturday
Quals: 7a - 830a live on CNBC
Sunday
2015 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi: 6a - 9a live on NBCSN
We'll be along afterwards, of course, with the usual F1Update!. Join us, won't you?
We've been here plenty of times before, and pretty much what we've learned is that this is a awful track to race on. Fun to drive, yes, but to contest position? There's one good place to pass, Turn 8/9, with Turns 5-7 being somewhat less swell. Remember, this is the circuit where they thought it would be a good idea to have the pit exit run underneath the track. I suspect it's merely luck that we haven't seen that idea backfire horribly.
So what's the point of this race? Well, Valterri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen in a fight for fourth place in the driver's championship, one point separating them. Lotus leads Toro Rosso by nine points for sixth in the constructor's championship. And... um... that's about it, really. Most teams will probably be using Abu Dhabi as an extended test session... remember, the 2016 season is only four months away!
Oy.
The Legendary Announce Team has the coverage, as usual. Here's the schedule:
Friday
Practice 2: 7a - 830a live on NBCSN
Saturday
Quals: 7a - 830a live on CNBC
Sunday
2015 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi: 6a - 9a live on NBCSN
We'll be along afterwards, of course, with the usual F1Update!. Join us, won't you?
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November 21, 2015
Moses Supposes?
Erroneously? Magnificently!
Erroneously? Magnificently!
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November 19, 2015
Stagnant? Moi?
Not intentionally... at least, not since that last post. My internet connection has been completely down since very early Wednesday morning.
This is very very annoying. It's not like I need help in not blogging, after all. The connection has been up for only a short time... my modem fired up as I was looking at it, in fact... but I have no confidence in it staying up, so I thought I'd better get a notification posted. And when I clicked to finalize this post? The internet had gone down again. Guess I was right. Wow, five minutes of internet in over a day. Considering this provider's track record at times, I guess I should count myself lucky.
On the other hand, I managed to watch a few episodes of Sakura Trick, which I was told was really really good. I will never take this person's word for something ever again. However! Attention Steven! The character in the picture above normally wears red quarter-rimmed glasses! Even BETTER than half-rimmed! If you wanna see, check out Ep03 and beyond.
Just... don't pay attention to the show. Or be at risk of diabetes, and by "at risk" I mean "you once ate or drank something that had some sort of sweetener in it." And if you actually have diabetes, avoid Sakura Trick like the plague. Dear god, this series will kill you dead.
This is very very annoying. It's not like I need help in not blogging, after all. The connection has been up for only a short time... my modem fired up as I was looking at it, in fact... but I have no confidence in it staying up, so I thought I'd better get a notification posted. And when I clicked to finalize this post? The internet had gone down again. Guess I was right. Wow, five minutes of internet in over a day. Considering this provider's track record at times, I guess I should count myself lucky.
On the other hand, I managed to watch a few episodes of Sakura Trick, which I was told was really really good. I will never take this person's word for something ever again. However! Attention Steven! The character in the picture above normally wears red quarter-rimmed glasses! Even BETTER than half-rimmed! If you wanna see, check out Ep03 and beyond.
Just... don't pay attention to the show. Or be at risk of diabetes, and by "at risk" I mean "you once ate or drank something that had some sort of sweetener in it." And if you actually have diabetes, avoid Sakura Trick like the plague. Dear god, this series will kill you dead.
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November 17, 2015
Random Anime Picture #105: Such A Day
-Hibike! Euphonium Special, Ep05
Frustration abounds. I can't get a grip on blogging for length right now for whatever reason, despite having two projects I want... need... to finish. Meanwhile, it feels like The Pond is stagnant, like a tiny Minnesota lake filled with muddy water and ice fishing equipment.
I hate this.
-Hibike! Euphonium Special, Ep05
Frustration abounds. I can't get a grip on blogging for length right now for whatever reason, despite having two projects I want... need... to finish. Meanwhile, it feels like The Pond is stagnant, like a tiny Minnesota lake filled with muddy water and ice fishing equipment.
I hate this.
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November 15, 2015
F1 Update: Brazil 2015
Here's what sort of race we had today from São Paulo: we spent the entirety looking at the sky, praying the distant clouds would make their way over the circuit and drop just a little bit of rain. Anything. Please. We beg you. THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2015 Grand Prix of Brazil!
We watched the race live. We've read a bunch of post-race reaction. We even went back and watched the 15 or so laps we missed when we dozed off (the F1U! team slept neither long nor well last night; by the time the 10am start came around, we'd already been up for four hours and were running on a similar amount of sleep). We cannot come to any other conclusion but this: the 2015 Grand Prix of Brazil was a dud. The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg led wire to wire except during the pit rotation, and even then he was out of the lead for a total of two laps. Teammate Lewis Hamilton had nothing for the polesitter, unable to mount a substantial challenge at any time. This includes the start, where Rosberg simply got off the line better and faster and held a gap into the first turn... no pushing and shoving beween teammates this time around! The closest we came to a Hamilton challenge to Rosberg's dominance was late in the race. The reigning Champion cut the lead down as close as 1.3 seconds with something like 10 laps to go. It was a false image however, as Hamilton had to light his rear tires on fire to accomplish it. He wound up nearly eight seconds back when the race finished.
Which put paid to the so-called storyline of the race. In the runup to Brazil, the F1 press was full of Hamilton's desire to win at Interlagos, home of his hero Ayrton Senna. He's never won in Brazil, though it's the home of arguably his greatest moment, his first world championship. On and on they went about Hamilton wanting THIS victory. And he didn't get it. And nobody really is surprised by this. Hamilton is a great driver, maybe the best on the grid right now, but he's not so much better that he can will himself to win. When Hamilton is behind Rosberg, he needs his German teammate to make a mistake. Sometimes Lewis can force that mistake, often he can't. This isn't a knock on Hamilton, nor praise for Rosberg. It's just an observation. Today, Rosberg didn't make a mistake that Hamilton could exploit.
Rosberg's victory also locked up second place in the driver's championship for him. Seb Vettel, who finished third in the race, had very little room for error today. He was 21 points behind his countryman, but with only 50 points left available he had to make sure he kept that gap from growing. The Mercs were too good today, however, and he should be commended for only being 14 seconds behind Rosberg at the end. His teammate, Kimi Raikkonen finished in fourth, and how dominant the Mercedes were should be evident by the information that he was the last driver on the lead lap. That's right, the silver cars lapped the field up to Valterri Bottas's Williams in 5th today.
We also saw the Constructor's Championship pretty much finished up to 5th place today as well. Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull and Force India are locked in, and how amazing is it that Williams is in third? Two years ago, they had a grand total of five points, good for 9th place in the constructor's championship. It's great that the second most successful team in F1 history is back... now if only they could challenge for wins.
If it sounds like we're struggling to find things to talk about regarding the 2015 Grand Prix of Brazil, it's because we are. This wasn't just a bad race, it was a boring race. Particularly when compared to the two that came before it, Mexico and the US. Hopefully the finale in Abu Dhabi will be better, but we have our doubts. And then the season will, mercifully, be over.
We'll see you in two weeks!
We watched the race live. We've read a bunch of post-race reaction. We even went back and watched the 15 or so laps we missed when we dozed off (the F1U! team slept neither long nor well last night; by the time the 10am start came around, we'd already been up for four hours and were running on a similar amount of sleep). We cannot come to any other conclusion but this: the 2015 Grand Prix of Brazil was a dud. The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg led wire to wire except during the pit rotation, and even then he was out of the lead for a total of two laps. Teammate Lewis Hamilton had nothing for the polesitter, unable to mount a substantial challenge at any time. This includes the start, where Rosberg simply got off the line better and faster and held a gap into the first turn... no pushing and shoving beween teammates this time around! The closest we came to a Hamilton challenge to Rosberg's dominance was late in the race. The reigning Champion cut the lead down as close as 1.3 seconds with something like 10 laps to go. It was a false image however, as Hamilton had to light his rear tires on fire to accomplish it. He wound up nearly eight seconds back when the race finished.
Which put paid to the so-called storyline of the race. In the runup to Brazil, the F1 press was full of Hamilton's desire to win at Interlagos, home of his hero Ayrton Senna. He's never won in Brazil, though it's the home of arguably his greatest moment, his first world championship. On and on they went about Hamilton wanting THIS victory. And he didn't get it. And nobody really is surprised by this. Hamilton is a great driver, maybe the best on the grid right now, but he's not so much better that he can will himself to win. When Hamilton is behind Rosberg, he needs his German teammate to make a mistake. Sometimes Lewis can force that mistake, often he can't. This isn't a knock on Hamilton, nor praise for Rosberg. It's just an observation. Today, Rosberg didn't make a mistake that Hamilton could exploit.
Rosberg's victory also locked up second place in the driver's championship for him. Seb Vettel, who finished third in the race, had very little room for error today. He was 21 points behind his countryman, but with only 50 points left available he had to make sure he kept that gap from growing. The Mercs were too good today, however, and he should be commended for only being 14 seconds behind Rosberg at the end. His teammate, Kimi Raikkonen finished in fourth, and how dominant the Mercedes were should be evident by the information that he was the last driver on the lead lap. That's right, the silver cars lapped the field up to Valterri Bottas's Williams in 5th today.
We also saw the Constructor's Championship pretty much finished up to 5th place today as well. Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull and Force India are locked in, and how amazing is it that Williams is in third? Two years ago, they had a grand total of five points, good for 9th place in the constructor's championship. It's great that the second most successful team in F1 history is back... now if only they could challenge for wins.
If it sounds like we're struggling to find things to talk about regarding the 2015 Grand Prix of Brazil, it's because we are. This wasn't just a bad race, it was a boring race. Particularly when compared to the two that came before it, Mexico and the US. Hopefully the finale in Abu Dhabi will be better, but we have our doubts. And then the season will, mercifully, be over.
We'll see you in two weeks!
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November 14, 2015
F1 Quals: Brazil 2015
Decent weather at Interlagos today, more's the pity, but the track is still naturally slippery. So what's the grid like for Sunday's race? Take a look:
Not much to say about this, really. Rosberg has taken his fifth consecutive pole, Alonso's McLaren died on track with yet another bum engine.
And the president of the FIA, Jean Todt, didn't so much step on a landmine as jump up and down on a landmine when he said to French TV station Canal+ "do you realise that the number of people killed in road accidents is by far bigger than the number of people who died in Paris yesterday?" I understand he took the opportunity to promote the FIA's road safety program, but that was not the time.
Jean Todt is French, by the way, and the FIA's headquarters are in Paris. Just saying.
Race in the morning.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:11.746 | 1:12.213 | 1:11.282 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:11.682 | 1:11.665 | 1:11.360 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:12.240 | 1:11.928 | 1:11.804 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:12.934 | 1:12.374 | 1:12.085 |
| 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:12.185 | 1:12.243 | 1:12.144 |
| 6 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:12.595 | 1:12.485 | 1:12.265 |
| 7 | Kid Kvyat | Red Bull Racing | 1:12.730 | 1:12.527 | 1:12.322 |
| 8 | Felipe Not Nasr Massa | Williams | 1:12.980 | 1:12.858 | 1:12.415 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing | 1:12.639 | 1:12.825 | 1:12.417 |
| 10 | Embryo Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:12.824 | 1:12.712 | 1:12.739 |
| 11 | Felipe Not Massa Nasr | Sauber | 1:13.111 | 1:12.989 | |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:13.267 | 1:13.045 | |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:13.140 | 1:13.147 | |
| 14 | Sony Ericsson | Sauber | 1:13.346 | 1:13.233 | |
| 15 | Lettuce Grosjean | Lotus | 1:13.056 | 1:13.913 | |
| 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:13.385 | ||
| 17 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:13.425 | ||
| 18 | American Rossi | Marussia | 1:16.151 | ||
| 19 | Will Stevens | Marussia | 1:16.283 | ||
| NC | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | No Time |
Not much to say about this, really. Rosberg has taken his fifth consecutive pole, Alonso's McLaren died on track with yet another bum engine.
And the president of the FIA, Jean Todt, didn't so much step on a landmine as jump up and down on a landmine when he said to French TV station Canal+ "do you realise that the number of people killed in road accidents is by far bigger than the number of people who died in Paris yesterday?" I understand he took the opportunity to promote the FIA's road safety program, but that was not the time.
Jean Todt is French, by the way, and the FIA's headquarters are in Paris. Just saying.
Race in the morning.
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November 12, 2015
Please Consider This A Teaser
Uh... huh.
Just a little something I picked up via Steam a few weeks ago... well, actually, it's the new extended version of something I picked up on Steam back when I booted from the bookstore. Since it was selling for less than the cost of a couple of Chicago Style hot dogs (hold the peppers and cucumber slices, please!) and fries, I figured what the hell.
In a lot of ways, that's still my reaction, though it's more like "what the hell?!?" now. We'll see when I'm done and get it written up.
Uh... huh.
Just a little something I picked up via Steam a few weeks ago... well, actually, it's the new extended version of something I picked up on Steam back when I booted from the bookstore. Since it was selling for less than the cost of a couple of Chicago Style hot dogs (hold the peppers and cucumber slices, please!) and fries, I figured what the hell.
In a lot of ways, that's still my reaction, though it's more like "what the hell?!?" now. We'll see when I'm done and get it written up.
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November 10, 2015
F1 on TV: Brazil 2015
The fact of the matter is that I hate Interlagos, the site of the 2015 Grand Prix of Brazil. I always have, and though I know it's an irrational hate, I probably always will. Even though the circuit has been upgraded to fix the ridiculous pit-in that nobody paid attention to and therefore it always looked like they were going to pile into the wall of the pit lane at 200mph, the memories remain. Here's the track map for the place:
Really, I'm just about the only F1 fan out there who doesn't like Interlagos. The drivers adore the place (except for the occasional attempt at armed robbery), the Brazilian fans (that's a lot of fans!) are both well-versed in the sport and insane, and it's uncommon to have a poor race. Even the part that I used to hate the very most, that it was the last race of the season, has changed, with that title now in the oil-stained hands of Abu Dhabi. So why, exactly, do I still hate Interlagos?
Because I'm a stubborn mule of a lifeform that refuses to allow such things as logic to get in the way of my peccadilloes when it comes to F1. Enough of this place, I hope the two manmade lakes that give the place its name overflow their banks and flood the whole kit 'n' kaboodle. Safely, of course.
Despite my loathing of the place, the Legendary Announce Team (which does not, in fact, respond to my every whim, unlikely as that seems) will be doing their usual outstanding job at coverage. Here's the schedule for the broadcast weekend:
Friday
Practice 2: 10a - 1130a live on NBCSN
Saturday
Quals: 10a - 1130a live on CNBC
Sunday
2015 Grand Prix of Brazil: 930a - 12n on NBCSN
This actually surprises me somewhat; even though they've done four races on NBC already, for whatever reason I thought Brazil would be on the Mother Network. Wow, look at me, I'm wrong, perhaps for the first time this post. Anyway, that's it. I've given enough of my attention to this... place... for one day. Of course, I'll force myself to cover Quals and the race this weekend, so I don't get to escape completely! See ya then!!!
Really, I'm just about the only F1 fan out there who doesn't like Interlagos. The drivers adore the place (except for the occasional attempt at armed robbery), the Brazilian fans (that's a lot of fans!) are both well-versed in the sport and insane, and it's uncommon to have a poor race. Even the part that I used to hate the very most, that it was the last race of the season, has changed, with that title now in the oil-stained hands of Abu Dhabi. So why, exactly, do I still hate Interlagos?
Because I'm a stubborn mule of a lifeform that refuses to allow such things as logic to get in the way of my peccadilloes when it comes to F1. Enough of this place, I hope the two manmade lakes that give the place its name overflow their banks and flood the whole kit 'n' kaboodle. Safely, of course.
Despite my loathing of the place, the Legendary Announce Team (which does not, in fact, respond to my every whim, unlikely as that seems) will be doing their usual outstanding job at coverage. Here's the schedule for the broadcast weekend:
Friday
Practice 2: 10a - 1130a live on NBCSN
Saturday
Quals: 10a - 1130a live on CNBC
Sunday
2015 Grand Prix of Brazil: 930a - 12n on NBCSN
This actually surprises me somewhat; even though they've done four races on NBC already, for whatever reason I thought Brazil would be on the Mother Network. Wow, look at me, I'm wrong, perhaps for the first time this post. Anyway, that's it. I've given enough of my attention to this... place... for one day. Of course, I'll force myself to cover Quals and the race this weekend, so I don't get to escape completely! See ya then!!!
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November 08, 2015
The Four Faces Of Kei 'n' Yuri
In the comments of the last post, friend Ben asks what anime series I'd like to see get remade due to age or quality. While I didn't type my answer immediately, the second I saw the question I knew how I'd be replying: The Dirty Pair. If not the actual first "girls with guns" series, Dirty Pair was certainly the first to be hugely popular. The adventures of Kei and Yuri have been around for nearly 40 years, and I've been a fan since sometime in the '90s. Light novels, one 26 episode TV series, three movies, two completely different OVA series, and even US comic books cover most of the source material of these great characters. Along the way, only two things have stayed more or less constant with the visual designs: Kei has red hair and Yuri dark hair, and the two are female. Obviously one of the most important aspects of a remake of such a legendary franchise would be the updated character design. With any luck, the production company involved would pay attention to what had come before. With that in mind, let's take a look at the evolution of the best known 3WA Trouble Consultants, shall we?
more...
Mughi changed, too!
more...
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November 06, 2015
I... Uh... Hm. Well.
Frighteningly accurate representation of Wonderduck blogging these days
Blogging is not happening. I'm trying, but nothing's happening. Sure, I've got things to write about, Gakkou Gurashi Ep06 first and foremost, but everytime I sit and begin to type, it all comes out... boring. Dull. Insipid. Uninteresting. How in the world do you make the zombie apocalypse boring? I dunno, but I'm managing to pull it off! So I'm not going to blog tonight. Do you have anything you'd like to hear me pontificate upon? Or, conversely, not talk about because you don't want it ruined by a boring blogger? Let me know in the comments... or don't, if you think that's a safer option.
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November 04, 2015
Random Anime Picture #104: A Different Gate
-GATE, Ep03
There's an awful lot to like about last season's GATE... I mean, who doesn't like the idea of fighting dragons with attack helicopters, or taking on an army of orcs with a swath of .50cal machineguns?... but to my mind Rory Mercury, demigod and Oracle of Death, heads the list.
Just don't get on her bad side. Or be nearby when she gets hungry.
I want a crossover with Rio: Rainbow Gate! now... call it Rio: Rainbow GATE. Oh, the joy I would feel seeing Rory Mercury let loose on Casino Island, or the JSDF shooting down Sky Resort with a few F-4 Phantoms. This needs to happen.
-GATE, Ep03
There's an awful lot to like about last season's GATE... I mean, who doesn't like the idea of fighting dragons with attack helicopters, or taking on an army of orcs with a swath of .50cal machineguns?... but to my mind Rory Mercury, demigod and Oracle of Death, heads the list.
Just don't get on her bad side. Or be nearby when she gets hungry.
I want a crossover with Rio: Rainbow Gate! now... call it Rio: Rainbow GATE. Oh, the joy I would feel seeing Rory Mercury let loose on Casino Island, or the JSDF shooting down Sky Resort with a few F-4 Phantoms. This needs to happen.
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November 02, 2015
F1 Update: Mexico 2015
Here's the thing: we here at F1U! don't particularly want to do our usual update. Instead, what we're going to do is something a little more free-form, step aside from our usual bullet point format with generalized info about the race as a whole. We've realized that unless we're going to write 2500 words, there are plenty of better places to get lap-by-lap coverage. We digress, however... THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2015 Grand Prix of Mexico!
We had another Mercedes 1-2, with Nico Rosberg beating his teammate Lewis Hamilton (who did, of course, win the Driver's Championship at the US Grand Prix) rather handily. Williams' Valterri Bottas took the third step on the podium, followed by the Red Bulls of Kid Kyvat and Daniel Ricciardo. For the first time since 2006 neither Ferrari finished the race, and more about Seb Vettel's day later. However, on the whole the race was something of a disappointment. After Friday and Saturday's sessions, we were expecting to see cars slithering around like "grip" was a four-letter word. Which it is, but not that sort of four-letter word. Tails stepping out, slow speed spins, that sort of thing. Instead, we got very little of that. The reason for that is fairly obvious: the sun was out and the track surface was some 30°F warmer than it had been on Friday and Saturday. Warm pavement equals warm tires which means more grip... apparently just enough to keep cars glued to the surface. As a result, the race ended up much like any other, though the high altitude did limit the usefulness of the DRS. We saw very few DRS-related passes down the 1.2km long front straight... when you're already down 20% on drag due to a lack of air in the air, losing a bit more doesn't make that much of a difference.
One thing that didn't disappoint were the 115000 Mexican fans that showed up. From cheering insanely whenever Sergio Perez did anything (and practically having orgasms when he executed a pass at the above turn!) to chanting "Nico Nico Nico Ole Ole Ole!" just before the podium ceremony, they put on a show that was at least as entertaining as the race itself. It's no stretch to say that, at least for one race, the lunatic fans at Monza were given a run for their money. If they're always going to act this way, we here at F1U! don't care if the race is humdrum... the fans were incredible.
"Incredible" would be a good way to describe Seb Vettel's day. Filled with confidence that his Ferrari would be able to hang with the Mercedes, he had a less-than-stellar getaway from the start, was passed by Kid Kvyat almost instantly, then had a run-in with the other Red Bull that resulted in a punctured rear tire. It took only a short distance for the tire to fail completely, forcing him to finish the rest of the lap at a walking pace. Once the tire was replaced, he set his cap to make up for the delay. For a while, all looked fine. Soon enough it became obvious that the three-time Driver's Champion wasn't so much driving his car as he was over-driving it. An unforced spin that luckily ended without hitting anything brought frustrated radio calls. A pitstop that saw the Ferrari put onto the medium tires instead of soft brought another hail of radioed complaints. Things got so bad that he was lapped by Rosberg and he impeded Hamilton enough for blue flags to be thrown in his direction. The pit wall had to get involved, telling him to let the Mercedes by... to which he replied "I'm faster than him!" While perhaps true, he was still a lap down. His miserable race came to an end some 20 laps early, embedded in the wall on the outside of Turn 7. He escaped injury, but the Ferrari was toast. So, too, are his hopes for second in the driver's championship as it was his chief rival who won the race.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton seemed to be in something of a complaining mood during the race. From disobeying an order to come into the pits for new tires to disagreeing with tire choice, he certainly seemed to be feeling his oats as a new repeat champion. Or perhaps he realized that he wouldn't be able to pass his teammate on track so trying a very long one-stop strategy was his best shot. As it was, the team thought his his tires were being worn to the fabric backing, but that wasn't good enough for Hamilton. "I still think this was the wrong choice," was the call to the pit wall after the tire change in question. Understandably, the pit wall's response was brusque: "We can discuss it later." It's almost like he doesn't trust his team...?
The penultimate race of the season is in two weeks at Brazil. We'll see you then!
We had another Mercedes 1-2, with Nico Rosberg beating his teammate Lewis Hamilton (who did, of course, win the Driver's Championship at the US Grand Prix) rather handily. Williams' Valterri Bottas took the third step on the podium, followed by the Red Bulls of Kid Kyvat and Daniel Ricciardo. For the first time since 2006 neither Ferrari finished the race, and more about Seb Vettel's day later. However, on the whole the race was something of a disappointment. After Friday and Saturday's sessions, we were expecting to see cars slithering around like "grip" was a four-letter word. Which it is, but not that sort of four-letter word. Tails stepping out, slow speed spins, that sort of thing. Instead, we got very little of that. The reason for that is fairly obvious: the sun was out and the track surface was some 30°F warmer than it had been on Friday and Saturday. Warm pavement equals warm tires which means more grip... apparently just enough to keep cars glued to the surface. As a result, the race ended up much like any other, though the high altitude did limit the usefulness of the DRS. We saw very few DRS-related passes down the 1.2km long front straight... when you're already down 20% on drag due to a lack of air in the air, losing a bit more doesn't make that much of a difference.
One thing that didn't disappoint were the 115000 Mexican fans that showed up. From cheering insanely whenever Sergio Perez did anything (and practically having orgasms when he executed a pass at the above turn!) to chanting "Nico Nico Nico Ole Ole Ole!" just before the podium ceremony, they put on a show that was at least as entertaining as the race itself. It's no stretch to say that, at least for one race, the lunatic fans at Monza were given a run for their money. If they're always going to act this way, we here at F1U! don't care if the race is humdrum... the fans were incredible.
"Incredible" would be a good way to describe Seb Vettel's day. Filled with confidence that his Ferrari would be able to hang with the Mercedes, he had a less-than-stellar getaway from the start, was passed by Kid Kvyat almost instantly, then had a run-in with the other Red Bull that resulted in a punctured rear tire. It took only a short distance for the tire to fail completely, forcing him to finish the rest of the lap at a walking pace. Once the tire was replaced, he set his cap to make up for the delay. For a while, all looked fine. Soon enough it became obvious that the three-time Driver's Champion wasn't so much driving his car as he was over-driving it. An unforced spin that luckily ended without hitting anything brought frustrated radio calls. A pitstop that saw the Ferrari put onto the medium tires instead of soft brought another hail of radioed complaints. Things got so bad that he was lapped by Rosberg and he impeded Hamilton enough for blue flags to be thrown in his direction. The pit wall had to get involved, telling him to let the Mercedes by... to which he replied "I'm faster than him!" While perhaps true, he was still a lap down. His miserable race came to an end some 20 laps early, embedded in the wall on the outside of Turn 7. He escaped injury, but the Ferrari was toast. So, too, are his hopes for second in the driver's championship as it was his chief rival who won the race.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton seemed to be in something of a complaining mood during the race. From disobeying an order to come into the pits for new tires to disagreeing with tire choice, he certainly seemed to be feeling his oats as a new repeat champion. Or perhaps he realized that he wouldn't be able to pass his teammate on track so trying a very long one-stop strategy was his best shot. As it was, the team thought his his tires were being worn to the fabric backing, but that wasn't good enough for Hamilton. "I still think this was the wrong choice," was the call to the pit wall after the tire change in question. Understandably, the pit wall's response was brusque: "We can discuss it later." It's almost like he doesn't trust his team...?
The penultimate race of the season is in two weeks at Brazil. We'll see you then!
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November 01, 2015
F1U! Mexico Delayed Because Of Idiot
After the race, I took a nap. The race ended around 3pm, and I went to sleep around 6pm-ish.
It's almost midnight. I only just now woke up. I'm an idiot.
It's almost midnight. I only just now woke up. I'm an idiot.
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