November 07, 2009
Random Anime Picture #50: I Call It A Teaser For A Reason
-The Cockpit OVA, ep02
Say what you want about Leiji Matsumoto (and I will!), but he does do "fetishistic detail" very well.... One of the least-loved planes of WWII, the SB2C "Helldiver" earned every bit of its nickname: "Son of a Bitch, 2nd Class". It was big, unmanueverable, underpowered, and a handful to fly. Worse yet, in its first iteration it was actually banned from dive bombing due to structural weakness.
On the plus side, though, it was fast enough to keep up with escorting fighters, carried a bombload almost twice that of the plane it replaced, the Dauntless, had a heavier armament and a longer range. Eventually, over 7000 copies of "The Beast" were built.
It barely appears in The Cockpit ep02; it takes longer to read this post than it's on screen.
-The Cockpit OVA, ep02
Say what you want about Leiji Matsumoto (and I will!), but he does do "fetishistic detail" very well.... One of the least-loved planes of WWII, the SB2C "Helldiver" earned every bit of its nickname: "Son of a Bitch, 2nd Class". It was big, unmanueverable, underpowered, and a handful to fly. Worse yet, in its first iteration it was actually banned from dive bombing due to structural weakness.
On the plus side, though, it was fast enough to keep up with escorting fighters, carried a bombload almost twice that of the plane it replaced, the Dauntless, had a heavier armament and a longer range. Eventually, over 7000 copies of "The Beast" were built.
It barely appears in The Cockpit ep02; it takes longer to read this post than it's on screen.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:48 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 146 words, total size 1 kb.
November 06, 2009
Remember That Torpedo 8 Detachment?
The first combat experience of the Grumman TBF (latter named the Avenger) came at the Battle of Midway, with a detachment of planes from Torpedo 8. We all know how that turned out: five TBFs shot down, and the sixth a flying sieve.
The pilot of the surviving TBF was Ensign Bert Earnest. He later went on to fight with VT-8 at Guadalcanal. He retired from the Navy as a Captain. Along the way, he earned a Purple Heart, two Air Medals, and three Navy Crosses.
Albert K Earnest, CAPT USN (RET) passed away on October 26th at the age of 92.
May he rest in peace.
The pilot of the surviving TBF was Ensign Bert Earnest. He later went on to fight with VT-8 at Guadalcanal. He retired from the Navy as a Captain. Along the way, he earned a Purple Heart, two Air Medals, and three Navy Crosses.
Albert K Earnest, CAPT USN (RET) passed away on October 26th at the age of 92.
May he rest in peace.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
06:23 PM
| Comments (15)
| Add Comment
Post contains 112 words, total size 1 kb.
#USS_RobinNovember 04, 2009
Toyota Quits F1!
In a perhaps not so shocking announcement, the Toyota Motor Company, parent of Toyota F1 Racing, declared that they were withdrawing from Formula 1, effective immediately.
The images above are from the promotional video ToyotaF1 put out in the preseason, ironically entitled The 2009 Contender. In truth, they were anything but. Their best race of the year was the first one in Australia, where they were one of the Diffuser Three (along with Brawn and Williams) and finished third and fourth despite starting from the back of the field. I honestly expected that they'd break through for their first ever win some time this season.
Instead, they slumped. Seven races without scoring any points at all. After Australia, the most they scored in one race was eight points (three times: Bahrain, when Jarno Trulli was on pole, Singapore, where Timo Glock finished second, and Japan, where Trulli finished second). Four races, 35 of their 56.5 points for the season. Not good. In all, the Toyota team had 13 podium finishes in their eight years in the sport.
It'd been rumored for some time that Toyota needed to get a win this year or they'd quit F1. After all, they've been racing since 2002, reportedly had the largest budget in the sport every year, and they still couldn't get it done. Considering the competition in that category (a bigger budget than Ferrari or McLaren?) that's pretty impressive. But then throw in the huge hits the automotive industry has been taking recently, and something had to give... and it wasn't going to be Toyota's NASCAR teams (they actually win). I thought that their back-to-back second place finishes might be enough to keep the team going but, alas no.
The writing was pretty clear on the wall, however, when Williams announced they would be going with Cosworth engines in 2010. They'd used Toyota engines since 2007, and seemed perfectly happy with them during that time. That was a pretty clear indication that something was up; it's not like Toyota couldn't supply enough engines.
So now both Toyota and Honda are gone from the sport, meaning that for the first time since 1983, there won't be a Japanese manufacturing presence on an F1 grid, and given that Kazoo Nakajima hardly tore up the track this year (except when he crashed) and Kamui Kobyashi is under contract to Toyota Racing (as opposed to Toyota F1), there may not be ANY Japanese links in 2010, other than the Grand Prix of Japan. Considering the fanaticism that country has towards F1, that's rather shocking.
But so it goes. If there's any good to come out of this, it's that the former BMW-Sauber team will now have a space on the grid for 2010.
In a perhaps not so shocking announcement, the Toyota Motor Company, parent of Toyota F1 Racing, declared that they were withdrawing from Formula 1, effective immediately.
The images above are from the promotional video ToyotaF1 put out in the preseason, ironically entitled The 2009 Contender. In truth, they were anything but. Their best race of the year was the first one in Australia, where they were one of the Diffuser Three (along with Brawn and Williams) and finished third and fourth despite starting from the back of the field. I honestly expected that they'd break through for their first ever win some time this season.
Instead, they slumped. Seven races without scoring any points at all. After Australia, the most they scored in one race was eight points (three times: Bahrain, when Jarno Trulli was on pole, Singapore, where Timo Glock finished second, and Japan, where Trulli finished second). Four races, 35 of their 56.5 points for the season. Not good. In all, the Toyota team had 13 podium finishes in their eight years in the sport.
It'd been rumored for some time that Toyota needed to get a win this year or they'd quit F1. After all, they've been racing since 2002, reportedly had the largest budget in the sport every year, and they still couldn't get it done. Considering the competition in that category (a bigger budget than Ferrari or McLaren?) that's pretty impressive. But then throw in the huge hits the automotive industry has been taking recently, and something had to give... and it wasn't going to be Toyota's NASCAR teams (they actually win). I thought that their back-to-back second place finishes might be enough to keep the team going but, alas no.
The writing was pretty clear on the wall, however, when Williams announced they would be going with Cosworth engines in 2010. They'd used Toyota engines since 2007, and seemed perfectly happy with them during that time. That was a pretty clear indication that something was up; it's not like Toyota couldn't supply enough engines.
So now both Toyota and Honda are gone from the sport, meaning that for the first time since 1983, there won't be a Japanese manufacturing presence on an F1 grid, and given that Kazoo Nakajima hardly tore up the track this year (except when he crashed) and Kamui Kobyashi is under contract to Toyota Racing (as opposed to Toyota F1), there may not be ANY Japanese links in 2010, other than the Grand Prix of Japan. Considering the fanaticism that country has towards F1, that's rather shocking.
But so it goes. If there's any good to come out of this, it's that the former BMW-Sauber team will now have a space on the grid for 2010.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
08:07 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 459 words, total size 3 kb.
November 03, 2009
A Celebratory Double Ducks In Anime
I can't believe it, but it's true! The Ducks In Anime show of shows, Hidamari Sketch, has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks/Section 23 and will be available here January 10th, 2010. Many times I've said that there was no chance in the world that the series would get picked up, what with the state of the industry being what it is and all. I'm deliriously happy to be wrong, though.
In celebration, it's time for a double-shot of Ducks In Anime!
-Hidamari Sketch x365, Broadcast Special 02
We had what was, in HidaSketch terms, an action sequence for the duckie when it actually turned a full 360 in response to Yuno's moving her arms in the tub... and had the screen entirely to itself in the process! I swear, SHAFT must be catering to the duck lovers of the world.
The next pic is behind the NSFW tag, not because it is, but because some workplace somewhere would probably look askance at it:
-Hidamari Sketch x365, Broadcast Special 02
I don't think I've been this happy to hear about a license being picked up since Funimation took over Kanon 2006 from the corpse of ADV, when the latter went down before releasing the final DVD of the series!
It only makes sense that Sentai would grab HidaSketch, though... in my mind, it's absolutely an ADV kind-of show.
In celebration, it's time for a double-shot of Ducks In Anime!
-Hidamari Sketch x365, Broadcast Special 02
We had what was, in HidaSketch terms, an action sequence for the duckie when it actually turned a full 360 in response to Yuno's moving her arms in the tub... and had the screen entirely to itself in the process! I swear, SHAFT must be catering to the duck lovers of the world.
The next pic is behind the NSFW tag, not because it is, but because some workplace somewhere would probably look askance at it:
-Hidamari Sketch x365, Broadcast Special 02
I don't think I've been this happy to hear about a license being picked up since Funimation took over Kanon 2006 from the corpse of ADV, when the latter went down before releasing the final DVD of the series!
It only makes sense that Sentai would grab HidaSketch, though... in my mind, it's absolutely an ADV kind-of show.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:11 PM
| Comments (12)
| Add Comment
Post contains 234 words, total size 2 kb.
November 01, 2009
F1 UPDATE!: Abu Dhabi 2009!
The final race of the 2009 season has come and gone, but who got the honor of being the first ever winner of the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi? THIS is your last F1U! for the year!
*NO SURPRISES: When you combine what is probably the best car on the grid with one of the best drivers, it's a hard combination to beat. Unsurprisingly, that combination was Seb Vettel and the Red Bull RB5, and he pretty much had a runaway victory today. At the start, you knew he had a good chance when Lewis Hamilton's McLaren, beginning the race on pole with less fuel and KERS, just could not pull away. Lewis' lead topped out at 1.8 seconds after a few laps, then steadily began to decrease. When Hamilton dove into the pit lane for his first stop, the lead was down to under a second. When the McLaren withdrew a few laps later with impending brake failure, Vettel's only realistic challenger was his own teammate, Mark Webber, who wound up nearly 18 seconds adrift with Jenson Button crawling all over him. Pretty much the entire season in a microcosm, right there.
*NOT BAD: Last night as we watched Quals over at the Old Home Pond, Ph.Duck asked the chief of F1U! if he thought the Yas Marina Circuit was a good track. At the time, the answer was "It's nice to look at, and probably fun to drive, but we won't know if it's good to race on until tomorrow." Now, post-race, the answer has to be "Not Bad." It has its moments, that's for sure, but the race did eventually turn into a processional. That might have been because the cars are all so close in performance, or the double diffusers ruining the airflow, or maybe just because the track doesn't lend itself to passing, we're not sure. We lean towards the first two. We will say that it's the best of the three new tracks we've seen over the past couple of years, and probably the best circuit that Hermann Tilke has designed for F1 (not saying much).
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Nope, not Seb Vettel. Once Lewis Hamilton withdrew, he drove his usual excellent race with no challenges. No, today we'll give this coveted award to Kamui Kobayashi of Toyota. In Brazil, the rookie, filling in for the injured Timo Glockenspiel, showed that he wasn't afraid to race with the big boys. Today, the reigning GP2 Asia champion ran as high as third place while his teammate Jarno Trulli gurned his way around in his usual mediocre style. Kobayashi finished in sixth, earning his first F1 points in only his second race ever, and made a case for a drive in 2010. Please note that his countryman, Kazoo Nakajima, scored a total of ZERO points, despite running in every race this season. Nicely done, Kobayashi, we hope to see you next year!
*TEAM OF THE RACE: It's hard to think that Red Bull won't be favored to win the 2010 championship. They probably have the best car on the grid, one of the best drivers in Seb Vettel (and teammate Mark Webber ain't exactly chopped liver, either), came in second in the constructor's championship (and Vettel finished second in the driver's championship), and had their fourth 1-2 finish of the season today. Not bad for a team that hadn't won a race before this year!
*MOVE OF THE RACE: On lap 18, new world champion Jenson Button exited the pits just ahead of Kamui Kobayashi. The Toyota driver harried the Brawn Champion all the way through the hairpin. At the beginning of the lonnnnnnng back straight, the rookie stuck himself right under the rear wing of the white car to take advantage of the slipstream. About 3/4 of the way down, he popped to the outside of Button and pulled alongside as they came to Turn 8. Button, concentrating on defending his position, held off on his brakes a moment too long and wound up taking a little too much turn. Kobayashi, apparently expecting this, immediately turned underneath the Brawn and took the position from the champ. While we understand that Button was heavy on fuel, and the Toyota was running light at this point and therefore had something of a speed advantage, it was still an impressive move for the fearless rookie, and one that's good enough to be a winner of the MotR.
Honorable mention goes to THIS BrawnGP employee:
Good luck, mate! If she says no, however, this'll change to the Moooooo-oove of the Race.
*MOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: In our years of watching F1, we at F1U! have never seen this one before. Lap 22. Toro Rosso's NKOTT heads into the pit lane and pulls in to get fuel. The only problem is, he had missed his box and was attempting to stop in the Red Bull pit stall, who's mechanics were waiting for race leader Sebastian Vettel! Cue frantic scrambling by the crew to either get out of the way of NKOTT or to wave him through. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in this massive screwup, nor did it affect the leader's race. NKOTT, on the other hand, ran out of fuel somewhere around Turn 15 on the next lap as he tried to get back to the pits. In an attempt to be fair to the young'un, he claims that he actually had a gearbox problem and the Toro Rosso pit wall had told him to come in. When he got there, there was nobody waiting so he assumed that the Red Bull pit crew was actually his. Uh-huh. Here's your Mooooooo-ooove, NKOTT. Hope you didn't take out a long-term lease...
*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
*NO SURPRISES: When you combine what is probably the best car on the grid with one of the best drivers, it's a hard combination to beat. Unsurprisingly, that combination was Seb Vettel and the Red Bull RB5, and he pretty much had a runaway victory today. At the start, you knew he had a good chance when Lewis Hamilton's McLaren, beginning the race on pole with less fuel and KERS, just could not pull away. Lewis' lead topped out at 1.8 seconds after a few laps, then steadily began to decrease. When Hamilton dove into the pit lane for his first stop, the lead was down to under a second. When the McLaren withdrew a few laps later with impending brake failure, Vettel's only realistic challenger was his own teammate, Mark Webber, who wound up nearly 18 seconds adrift with Jenson Button crawling all over him. Pretty much the entire season in a microcosm, right there.
*NOT BAD: Last night as we watched Quals over at the Old Home Pond, Ph.Duck asked the chief of F1U! if he thought the Yas Marina Circuit was a good track. At the time, the answer was "It's nice to look at, and probably fun to drive, but we won't know if it's good to race on until tomorrow." Now, post-race, the answer has to be "Not Bad." It has its moments, that's for sure, but the race did eventually turn into a processional. That might have been because the cars are all so close in performance, or the double diffusers ruining the airflow, or maybe just because the track doesn't lend itself to passing, we're not sure. We lean towards the first two. We will say that it's the best of the three new tracks we've seen over the past couple of years, and probably the best circuit that Hermann Tilke has designed for F1 (not saying much).
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Nope, not Seb Vettel. Once Lewis Hamilton withdrew, he drove his usual excellent race with no challenges. No, today we'll give this coveted award to Kamui Kobayashi of Toyota. In Brazil, the rookie, filling in for the injured Timo Glockenspiel, showed that he wasn't afraid to race with the big boys. Today, the reigning GP2 Asia champion ran as high as third place while his teammate Jarno Trulli gurned his way around in his usual mediocre style. Kobayashi finished in sixth, earning his first F1 points in only his second race ever, and made a case for a drive in 2010. Please note that his countryman, Kazoo Nakajima, scored a total of ZERO points, despite running in every race this season. Nicely done, Kobayashi, we hope to see you next year!
*TEAM OF THE RACE: It's hard to think that Red Bull won't be favored to win the 2010 championship. They probably have the best car on the grid, one of the best drivers in Seb Vettel (and teammate Mark Webber ain't exactly chopped liver, either), came in second in the constructor's championship (and Vettel finished second in the driver's championship), and had their fourth 1-2 finish of the season today. Not bad for a team that hadn't won a race before this year!
*MOVE OF THE RACE: On lap 18, new world champion Jenson Button exited the pits just ahead of Kamui Kobayashi. The Toyota driver harried the Brawn Champion all the way through the hairpin. At the beginning of the lonnnnnnng back straight, the rookie stuck himself right under the rear wing of the white car to take advantage of the slipstream. About 3/4 of the way down, he popped to the outside of Button and pulled alongside as they came to Turn 8. Button, concentrating on defending his position, held off on his brakes a moment too long and wound up taking a little too much turn. Kobayashi, apparently expecting this, immediately turned underneath the Brawn and took the position from the champ. While we understand that Button was heavy on fuel, and the Toyota was running light at this point and therefore had something of a speed advantage, it was still an impressive move for the fearless rookie, and one that's good enough to be a winner of the MotR.
Honorable mention goes to THIS BrawnGP employee:
Good luck, mate! If she says no, however, this'll change to the Moooooo-oove of the Race.
*MOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: In our years of watching F1, we at F1U! have never seen this one before. Lap 22. Toro Rosso's NKOTT heads into the pit lane and pulls in to get fuel. The only problem is, he had missed his box and was attempting to stop in the Red Bull pit stall, who's mechanics were waiting for race leader Sebastian Vettel! Cue frantic scrambling by the crew to either get out of the way of NKOTT or to wave him through. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in this massive screwup, nor did it affect the leader's race. NKOTT, on the other hand, ran out of fuel somewhere around Turn 15 on the next lap as he tried to get back to the pits. In an attempt to be fair to the young'un, he claims that he actually had a gearbox problem and the Toro Rosso pit wall had told him to come in. When he got there, there was nobody waiting so he assumed that the Red Bull pit crew was actually his. Uh-huh. Here's your Mooooooo-ooove, NKOTT. Hope you didn't take out a long-term lease...
*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
Posted by: Wonderduck at
04:09 PM
| Comments (6)
| Add Comment
Post contains 1491 words, total size 10 kb.
October 31, 2009
F1 Quals: Abu Dhabi 2009!
A quals session without surprises. Let's take a look as the grid, shall we?
The top five positions are held by five of the six race winners this season, which is exactly how it should be for a race that, effectively, means nothing. Only Kimi Raikkonen, winner at Belgium, is out of the fun.
Which, for Ferrari, is a disaster. One of the few worthwhile things still up for grabs is third place in the Constructor's Championship, between McLaren and the Prancing Horse. The two teams are separated by one point, and with Lewis Hamilton at the head of the grid, Kimi's 11th is not what they needed. The only saving grace for the Red Team is that Heikki Kovalaineninninnie, Hamilton's teammate, has to take a five-spot grid penalty after changing his gearbox. That'll drop him down to Giancarlo Fisichella territory, so they might have a little struggle. For what it's worth, the financial difference between third and fourth in the Constructor's standings is about $5million... not chump change, not even for a F1 team.
Second in the Driver's Championship is still up for grabs, and other than having Seb Vettel and Rubens Barrichello 1-2 on the grid, this is probably the best way for the two of them to line up. They're both on the dirty side of the track, neither have any experience with the circuit, and they've both got teammates nearby. The only difference is that Seb's got more fuel on board, by about 8kg. That gives him the advantage, but it'll be close either way.
Spare a second and feel bad for HWMNBN: this is his worst qualifying position (pre-penalty) since 2001, when he drove for Minardi.
I take it back. Don't feel bad for him in the least. When he was interviewed by Peter (Smarmy) Windsor after he was eliminated in Q1, he sounded exactly like a man who didn't give a damn. And why should he? He's going to Ferrari next season for a lot of money. A demonic convergence, right there... it'll be SO easy to hate them.
And let's talk about our polesitter, Lewis Hamilton. He pretty much dominated Quals today, setting fast time in all three sessions, and blowing everybody out of the water in Q3. Hell, he was almost three-quarters of a second faster than second-place Vettel; it was impressive enough that Sebby even made mention of it in the post-qual interview session ("I think both Mark and I were surprised by the gap to Lewis."). Now, to be fair, he does have less fuel on board, but not THAT much less: 658.5kg to 663kg for Vettel. Nope, he just had a fantastic lap, simple as that.
Gonna be a fun ending to a bizarro season... see you tomorrow!
The top five positions are held by five of the six race winners this season, which is exactly how it should be for a race that, effectively, means nothing. Only Kimi Raikkonen, winner at Belgium, is out of the fun.
Which, for Ferrari, is a disaster. One of the few worthwhile things still up for grabs is third place in the Constructor's Championship, between McLaren and the Prancing Horse. The two teams are separated by one point, and with Lewis Hamilton at the head of the grid, Kimi's 11th is not what they needed. The only saving grace for the Red Team is that Heikki Kovalaineninninnie, Hamilton's teammate, has to take a five-spot grid penalty after changing his gearbox. That'll drop him down to Giancarlo Fisichella territory, so they might have a little struggle. For what it's worth, the financial difference between third and fourth in the Constructor's standings is about $5million... not chump change, not even for a F1 team.
Second in the Driver's Championship is still up for grabs, and other than having Seb Vettel and Rubens Barrichello 1-2 on the grid, this is probably the best way for the two of them to line up. They're both on the dirty side of the track, neither have any experience with the circuit, and they've both got teammates nearby. The only difference is that Seb's got more fuel on board, by about 8kg. That gives him the advantage, but it'll be close either way.
Spare a second and feel bad for HWMNBN: this is his worst qualifying position (pre-penalty) since 2001, when he drove for Minardi.
I take it back. Don't feel bad for him in the least. When he was interviewed by Peter (Smarmy) Windsor after he was eliminated in Q1, he sounded exactly like a man who didn't give a damn. And why should he? He's going to Ferrari next season for a lot of money. A demonic convergence, right there... it'll be SO easy to hate them.
And let's talk about our polesitter, Lewis Hamilton. He pretty much dominated Quals today, setting fast time in all three sessions, and blowing everybody out of the water in Q3. Hell, he was almost three-quarters of a second faster than second-place Vettel; it was impressive enough that Sebby even made mention of it in the post-qual interview session ("I think both Mark and I were surprised by the gap to Lewis."). Now, to be fair, he does have less fuel on board, but not THAT much less: 658.5kg to 663kg for Vettel. Nope, he just had a fantastic lap, simple as that.
Gonna be a fun ending to a bizarro season... see you tomorrow!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
08:58 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 596 words, total size 15 kb.
Halloween 2009
Booooooooooo...
Booooooooooo...Trick or treat!
Thanks to the Duck U. Business Office!
Happy Halloween to all the readers of The Pond! Make sure you're stocked up on rye bread for all the scary lil' ducklings!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
12:06 AM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 36 words, total size 1 kb.
October 30, 2009
Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory Of The Coming Of The Ducks In Anime
-A Certain Scientific Railgun, ep03
I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of the rubber duckie icon is on this workspace, but I want one anyway. We do see in ep04 that it moves, so it's not part of the wallpaper... maybe some widget. Don't care, want one.
-A Certain Scientific Railgun, ep03
I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of the rubber duckie icon is on this workspace, but I want one anyway. We do see in ep04 that it moves, so it's not part of the wallpaper... maybe some widget. Don't care, want one.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
08:32 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 62 words, total size 1 kb.
F1 Practice: Abu Dhabi 2009!
Evening at Yas Marina... actually sounds kind of nice, has a ring to it. Kinda like 'chupathingy.' As with most practice sessions, this one was rather dull and boring. To be honest, the only reason I watched the whole thing was to get used to the new circuit.
Interesting to watch the way the falling of night affected the lighting across the track. Unlike Singapore, which uses light trusses that follow the layout of the circuit, Abu Dhabi is using the more familiar (and permanent) light standards, much like you'd see in a baseball stadium... just a lot more of them.
I think I actually prefer Singapore's truss system over Abu Dhabi's towers, but only because it looks cooler, like a ribbon of light taking the shape of a racetrack.. Functionally, there doesn't appear to be any difference, though; the track was brightly lighted and visibility appeared to be excellent.
I find it somewhat amusing that the system in Abu Dhabi was designed and built by Musco Lighting of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Or at least I did until I took a look at their website and saw that Musco may very well be the company for motorsports lighting setups in the world. Learn something new every day.
On track, the only real news was that McLaren was 1-2 on the timesheet, Ferrari was lousy, and Robert Kubica's engine done blowed up reeeeal good. That'll pose an interesting quandry for him, as it was the last of the eight engines he was allowed for the season. He can either install a pre-raced one and suffer no grid penalty (since it occurred on Friday), but then have to worry about reliability issues, or put in a new one and take a 10-spot penalty.
Please note that Seb Vettel has been dealing with this problem for the past three races; he's been using his Monza and Spa engines. Lord knows which he's using for here.
The last thing I'll mention here is how amazing the Yas Marina Motorsports complex is. Air-conditioned pit stalls, a first for F1. Two full sets of pits on opposite sides of the track, so the GP2 boys finally get a first-class pit lane (instead of using temporary trailers and tents, essentially). Hell, two full race control towers, which are fairly impressive structures:
And, in another first for F1, all the grandstands are covered, which makes sense considering that Abu Dhabi is kinda warm... the yearly average high temperature is 88 degrees, and humid. Of course, the race is sold out.
Which isn't all that impressive, when you realize that this multi-billion dollar facility seats fewer than 50000 people... 41093, to be exact. Wrigley Field in Chicago, one of the smallest ballparks in Major League Baseball, seats 41118 for baseball, and sells out 81 times a season.
Quals tomorrow.
Interesting to watch the way the falling of night affected the lighting across the track. Unlike Singapore, which uses light trusses that follow the layout of the circuit, Abu Dhabi is using the more familiar (and permanent) light standards, much like you'd see in a baseball stadium... just a lot more of them.
I think I actually prefer Singapore's truss system over Abu Dhabi's towers, but only because it looks cooler, like a ribbon of light taking the shape of a racetrack.. Functionally, there doesn't appear to be any difference, though; the track was brightly lighted and visibility appeared to be excellent.
I find it somewhat amusing that the system in Abu Dhabi was designed and built by Musco Lighting of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Or at least I did until I took a look at their website and saw that Musco may very well be the company for motorsports lighting setups in the world. Learn something new every day.
On track, the only real news was that McLaren was 1-2 on the timesheet, Ferrari was lousy, and Robert Kubica's engine done blowed up reeeeal good. That'll pose an interesting quandry for him, as it was the last of the eight engines he was allowed for the season. He can either install a pre-raced one and suffer no grid penalty (since it occurred on Friday), but then have to worry about reliability issues, or put in a new one and take a 10-spot penalty.
Please note that Seb Vettel has been dealing with this problem for the past three races; he's been using his Monza and Spa engines. Lord knows which he's using for here.
The last thing I'll mention here is how amazing the Yas Marina Motorsports complex is. Air-conditioned pit stalls, a first for F1. Two full sets of pits on opposite sides of the track, so the GP2 boys finally get a first-class pit lane (instead of using temporary trailers and tents, essentially). Hell, two full race control towers, which are fairly impressive structures:
And, in another first for F1, all the grandstands are covered, which makes sense considering that Abu Dhabi is kinda warm... the yearly average high temperature is 88 degrees, and humid. Of course, the race is sold out.
Which isn't all that impressive, when you realize that this multi-billion dollar facility seats fewer than 50000 people... 41093, to be exact. Wrigley Field in Chicago, one of the smallest ballparks in Major League Baseball, seats 41118 for baseball, and sells out 81 times a season.
Quals tomorrow.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
12:32 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 474 words, total size 3 kb.
October 28, 2009
FWIW
It's been a bad couple of days, emotionally.
Here's Yotsuba! and some penguins.
Sorry.
Here's Yotsuba! and some penguins.
Even she hasn't been able to cheer me up.
I'll be back on Friday with coverage of P2.Sorry.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
07:24 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 33 words, total size 1 kb.
October 26, 2009
F1 on SPEED!: Abu Dhabi 2009!
And so we come to the end. The final race of the 2009 season is upon us. The F1 Circus is packing up its tents for the year. Unlike the past couple of years, though, there's little to race for at the top of the grid. The drivers' championship has been clinched and the constructors' championship is decided. Certainly 2nd place in the DC is up for grabs, with Seb Vettel leading Rubens Barrichello by two points, and the fight between McLaren and Ferrari for third in the constructors title has only a one point difference, but for all intents and purposes the season is over. In the old days, it wasn't unheard of for a team to skip the final race if they had nothing to gain or lose (Ferrari and Phil Hill in 1961, for example). Now, however, the teams are contractually obligated to run the whole season.
But there's another reason to run the final race this year, that being the location. Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit is a brand new track, one the teams have never turned a wheel on. So what mysteries will the fresh asphalt reveal? Let's see what we can figure out with the track map for the 5.5km long circuit:
The first thing that leaps out at a casual glance is the long, long back straight from turns 7 to 8. At 1.2km, it becomes the longest in Formula 1, and after a chicane, is followed by another high-speed stretch. The next thing one notices is the dual nature of the circuit. No less a personality than David Coulthard's Chin himself, one of the only F1-experienced drivers ever to run laps on the track, says it feels like both a modern (read 'Hermann Tilke') track and a street circuit.
The GP2 series ran a weekend's worth of test sessions here this past weekend. This allowed the FIA to get a sense of how the track runs, and the organizers to stage a dry run for the race weekend. Both groups came away satisfied. The GP2 drivers praised the layout, complementing the wide turns and the long straights, saying that they should be quite conductive to on-track passing. They also suggested that it'll be hard on the brakes.
A closer look at the circuit reveals an odd feature of the pit lane. The exit appears to cross the track at turn 1... and for once, appearances are NOT deceiving. The pit lane exit actually runs through a tunnel under the track! Here, take a look:
...and yes, that IS a two-seater F1 car; I suspect its the former Minardi 2-seater that the team ran as a funds-raiser, but I don't know for sure. Just pay X amount, and a driver would take you on a couple of laps at speed around the circuit. In this video, the driver is Bruno Senna, the soon-to-be F1 driver and nephew of the late Ayrton Senna.
I think the pit exit will be only a minor concern only after the first couple of practices and the drivers get used to it. It is narrow, for sure, but not unduly so. It'll sure cut down on pit lane speed violations! I wonder what'll happen the first time someone breaks their suspension in the tunnel... I also wonder what the lighting is like in there. After all, this is going to be F1's first day/night race, beginning around 5pm local time. Like Singapore, there's a high-powered lighting system around the circuit, so the drivers probably won't have any difficulties with visibility, but that tunnel makes me nervous.
Bridgestone is bringing their medium and soft compound tires, so they don't appear to be too concerned about the abrasiveness of the circuit. They are worried about the track surface temperatures, though, and fully expect the tires to blister during the first practices until the teams get used to the layout.
Initial reactions make it look like a medium downforce circuit, at least for this race. As usual, it's all a trade-off between the high-speed first half and the low-speed second half. You can't crank on a lot of wing, otherwise you'll compromise the car down those long, long straights, but if you take off too much wing, you'll be hurt from turn 11 thru 21. I'm going to guess that most teams'll sacrifice top speed... sometimes you've got to go slow to go fast.
Finally, one may notice that, like Brazil, Abu Dhabi runs counter-clockwise. There's only a few tracks in F1 that are run that way, so there'll be some extra stress on the driver's necks. It's expected to be warm, but not excessively so, on race day... maybe 90 degrees F.
All in all, Abu Dhabi seems to be an interesting track to end the season with. As usual, the good folks at SPEED will be bringing us their usual stellar coverage from their high-tech headquarters in Charlotte, NC. There, the Legendary Announce Team is waited upon hand and foot in their palatial studios...
I must admit, I expected something more. Other than all the TVs, this looks like something you'd find in someone's basement. Well, no matter, they still do a great job! Friday's Second Practice comes to us from 8am to 940am, LIVE. Quals will be from 8am to 930am on Saturday, plausibly live.
We here in the US go back to Standard Time early Sunday morning, so don't forget to set your clocks back an hour! You'll mess up your recording times otherwise, and with the race coming to us LIVE from 630am to 9am, you'll probably want to set the VCR. If you mess up, there's a replay from 330pm to 6pm Sunday afternoon, too.
Of course, F1U! will be here with all the usual coverage. Don't miss it!
But there's another reason to run the final race this year, that being the location. Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit is a brand new track, one the teams have never turned a wheel on. So what mysteries will the fresh asphalt reveal? Let's see what we can figure out with the track map for the 5.5km long circuit:
The first thing that leaps out at a casual glance is the long, long back straight from turns 7 to 8. At 1.2km, it becomes the longest in Formula 1, and after a chicane, is followed by another high-speed stretch. The next thing one notices is the dual nature of the circuit. No less a personality than David Coulthard's Chin himself, one of the only F1-experienced drivers ever to run laps on the track, says it feels like both a modern (read 'Hermann Tilke') track and a street circuit.
The GP2 series ran a weekend's worth of test sessions here this past weekend. This allowed the FIA to get a sense of how the track runs, and the organizers to stage a dry run for the race weekend. Both groups came away satisfied. The GP2 drivers praised the layout, complementing the wide turns and the long straights, saying that they should be quite conductive to on-track passing. They also suggested that it'll be hard on the brakes.
A closer look at the circuit reveals an odd feature of the pit lane. The exit appears to cross the track at turn 1... and for once, appearances are NOT deceiving. The pit lane exit actually runs through a tunnel under the track! Here, take a look:
I think the pit exit will be only a minor concern only after the first couple of practices and the drivers get used to it. It is narrow, for sure, but not unduly so. It'll sure cut down on pit lane speed violations! I wonder what'll happen the first time someone breaks their suspension in the tunnel... I also wonder what the lighting is like in there. After all, this is going to be F1's first day/night race, beginning around 5pm local time. Like Singapore, there's a high-powered lighting system around the circuit, so the drivers probably won't have any difficulties with visibility, but that tunnel makes me nervous.
Bridgestone is bringing their medium and soft compound tires, so they don't appear to be too concerned about the abrasiveness of the circuit. They are worried about the track surface temperatures, though, and fully expect the tires to blister during the first practices until the teams get used to the layout.
Initial reactions make it look like a medium downforce circuit, at least for this race. As usual, it's all a trade-off between the high-speed first half and the low-speed second half. You can't crank on a lot of wing, otherwise you'll compromise the car down those long, long straights, but if you take off too much wing, you'll be hurt from turn 11 thru 21. I'm going to guess that most teams'll sacrifice top speed... sometimes you've got to go slow to go fast.
Finally, one may notice that, like Brazil, Abu Dhabi runs counter-clockwise. There's only a few tracks in F1 that are run that way, so there'll be some extra stress on the driver's necks. It's expected to be warm, but not excessively so, on race day... maybe 90 degrees F.
All in all, Abu Dhabi seems to be an interesting track to end the season with. As usual, the good folks at SPEED will be bringing us their usual stellar coverage from their high-tech headquarters in Charlotte, NC. There, the Legendary Announce Team is waited upon hand and foot in their palatial studios...
(L to R: Matchett, Hobbs, Varsha)
...oh. I must admit, I expected something more. Other than all the TVs, this looks like something you'd find in someone's basement. Well, no matter, they still do a great job! Friday's Second Practice comes to us from 8am to 940am, LIVE. Quals will be from 8am to 930am on Saturday, plausibly live.
We here in the US go back to Standard Time early Sunday morning, so don't forget to set your clocks back an hour! You'll mess up your recording times otherwise, and with the race coming to us LIVE from 630am to 9am, you'll probably want to set the VCR. If you mess up, there's a replay from 330pm to 6pm Sunday afternoon, too.
Of course, F1U! will be here with all the usual coverage. Don't miss it!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
11:02 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 977 words, total size 6 kb.
October 25, 2009
My Fourth Birthday
October 25th, 2005 dawned cool and clear. My alarm clock went off at 730am, as I was scheduled to open at the Duck U. Bookstore, but I just couldn't manage to wake up. Even a good shower couldn't manage to clear my head. Well, I'd been up late the night before, I just needed more sleep, right? I got dressed and drove to work.
I assume. Even at the time, I couldn't remember doing so. One of the store's part-timers, who worked with me that morning, said that I seemed really out of it that morning, and I'm sure that's right. But I was at work, and I had some stuff to do: a stack of invoices and credit memos that needed to be sorted and matched to their respective store-generated paperwork.
In the middle of doing that, however, something happened. Something bad.
My heart gave a huge grinding thump. Then it felt like it was tumbling down a flight of stairs for a moment, and then... it began to race. I felt a cold sweat forming on my forehead and was, suddenly, very very warm. I got up from my desk in the back room and walked unsteadily to the bathroom, wondering just what was happening.
When my heart kept racing, and seemed to be going faster and faster, I began to get scared... which, of course, made my heart go even faster. I staggered back to the store and asked my co-worker to call 911.
A lifetime (or maybe 10 minutes) later, two EMTs showed up. One of them starting asking me questions ("How do you feel?" "Tired." "Do you know where you are?" "Duck U." "Do you know who you are?" "I'm Batman."), while the other began pumping up a blood pressure cuff on my arm and holding my wrist. After a second, he said "I can't get a pulse."
My heart was going so fast that the EMT could not distinguish one individual beat from another. My blood pressure was too high for the cuff to read. They got me on a stretcher and began to roll me out of the Bookstore, just as my boss walked in. "Are you okay, Wonderduck?" "I'm going to the Hospital, Andi."
In the ambulance, the EMTs hooked me up to high-tech sensors and discovered my pulse was around 250bpm, my bp was a number I can't remember now, but was something like 300/200. Ook. Fortunately, they knew just what to do. "We're going to give you a drug that'll stop your heart for a real short time. It might be a little uncomfortable."
Yeah. Uncomfortable. Go ahead. Zap. Yup, he was right... a brick rested on my chest, but the heart didn't slow down. Zap again. Bigger brick... and my heart slowed down. Ahh.
In the ER, they discovered my magnesium and potassium levels had cratered. Since these control the heart AND brain function, which explained my fuzzyheadedness and my heart going faster than a dance club on speed.
They kept me overnight, and the only thing on the TV was a World Series game that had gone into extra innings... which the hated White Sox won, dammit. A bad day all around.
I had suffered something called Superventricular Tachycardia. It isn't usually life-threatening, but that hardly matters when it's happening to you... and the longer it lasts, the more dangerous it gets. In my case, it had gone on for nearly 45 minutes before they dropped the bricks on my chest, which is plenty long enough. I now take a medication to hopefully prevent it from ever happening again, and potassium and magnesium supplements, just in case. I've also stopped drinking caffeine (coffee or colas) and alcohol completely since the former is a stimulant and the second fights with the preventative medication.
So today is the 4th anniversary of my first brush with mortality... and what could have been my last, too, if I hadn't done one simple thing. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if you feel something odd going on with your heart, CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY. You might think "eh, it's nothing", but you'd feel really dumb if it stopped altogether, wouldn't you?
So, please, if you get nothing else from The Pond, ever: call 911.
I can't afford to lose more readers.
I assume. Even at the time, I couldn't remember doing so. One of the store's part-timers, who worked with me that morning, said that I seemed really out of it that morning, and I'm sure that's right. But I was at work, and I had some stuff to do: a stack of invoices and credit memos that needed to be sorted and matched to their respective store-generated paperwork.
In the middle of doing that, however, something happened. Something bad.
My heart gave a huge grinding thump. Then it felt like it was tumbling down a flight of stairs for a moment, and then... it began to race. I felt a cold sweat forming on my forehead and was, suddenly, very very warm. I got up from my desk in the back room and walked unsteadily to the bathroom, wondering just what was happening.
When my heart kept racing, and seemed to be going faster and faster, I began to get scared... which, of course, made my heart go even faster. I staggered back to the store and asked my co-worker to call 911.
A lifetime (or maybe 10 minutes) later, two EMTs showed up. One of them starting asking me questions ("How do you feel?" "Tired." "Do you know where you are?" "Duck U." "Do you know who you are?" "I'm Batman."), while the other began pumping up a blood pressure cuff on my arm and holding my wrist. After a second, he said "I can't get a pulse."
My heart was going so fast that the EMT could not distinguish one individual beat from another. My blood pressure was too high for the cuff to read. They got me on a stretcher and began to roll me out of the Bookstore, just as my boss walked in. "Are you okay, Wonderduck?" "I'm going to the Hospital, Andi."
In the ambulance, the EMTs hooked me up to high-tech sensors and discovered my pulse was around 250bpm, my bp was a number I can't remember now, but was something like 300/200. Ook. Fortunately, they knew just what to do. "We're going to give you a drug that'll stop your heart for a real short time. It might be a little uncomfortable."
Yeah. Uncomfortable. Go ahead. Zap. Yup, he was right... a brick rested on my chest, but the heart didn't slow down. Zap again. Bigger brick... and my heart slowed down. Ahh.
In the ER, they discovered my magnesium and potassium levels had cratered. Since these control the heart AND brain function, which explained my fuzzyheadedness and my heart going faster than a dance club on speed.
They kept me overnight, and the only thing on the TV was a World Series game that had gone into extra innings... which the hated White Sox won, dammit. A bad day all around.
I had suffered something called Superventricular Tachycardia. It isn't usually life-threatening, but that hardly matters when it's happening to you... and the longer it lasts, the more dangerous it gets. In my case, it had gone on for nearly 45 minutes before they dropped the bricks on my chest, which is plenty long enough. I now take a medication to hopefully prevent it from ever happening again, and potassium and magnesium supplements, just in case. I've also stopped drinking caffeine (coffee or colas) and alcohol completely since the former is a stimulant and the second fights with the preventative medication.
So today is the 4th anniversary of my first brush with mortality... and what could have been my last, too, if I hadn't done one simple thing. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if you feel something odd going on with your heart, CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY. You might think "eh, it's nothing", but you'd feel really dumb if it stopped altogether, wouldn't you?
So, please, if you get nothing else from The Pond, ever: call 911.
I can't afford to lose more readers.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:34 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 723 words, total size 5 kb.
"Band Geek" My @$$.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
01:21 AM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 4 words, total size 1 kb.
October 24, 2009
Another HidaSketch Ep, Another Duck In Anime!
-Hidamari Sketch x365, Broadcast Special 01
This hasn't been a good day at all. Ph.Duck and I had to begin trying to decide what our plans for the Holidays are going to be, and without Momzerduck around, it's going to be a very, very bad time.
When I got home, though, I found a new episode of HSx365 waiting on the torrent site, and I knew that, whatever else, there'd be 24 minutes where I'd be able to not think about the bad stuff, and that there'd likely also be a Duck In Anime entry tonight.
And lo, there is. Good ol' Yuno... I can always count on her to put a smile on my face, even if for a short time.
-Hidamari Sketch x365, Broadcast Special 01
This hasn't been a good day at all. Ph.Duck and I had to begin trying to decide what our plans for the Holidays are going to be, and without Momzerduck around, it's going to be a very, very bad time.
When I got home, though, I found a new episode of HSx365 waiting on the torrent site, and I knew that, whatever else, there'd be 24 minutes where I'd be able to not think about the bad stuff, and that there'd likely also be a Duck In Anime entry tonight.
And lo, there is. Good ol' Yuno... I can always count on her to put a smile on my face, even if for a short time.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
11:02 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 129 words, total size 1 kb.
October 23, 2009
Hotblack Desiato Called
...he wants his car back:
The limited edition Lotus Exige Scura.
"It’s the weird colour scheme that freaks me. Every time you try to operate one of these weird black controls, which are labeled in black on a black background, a small black light lights up black to let you know you’ve done it..."
- Zaphod Beeblebrox, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
The limited edition Lotus Exige Scura.
"It’s the weird colour scheme that freaks me. Every time you try to operate one of these weird black controls, which are labeled in black on a black background, a small black light lights up black to let you know you’ve done it..."
- Zaphod Beeblebrox, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:47 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 68 words, total size 1 kb.
Aw, Crap: Todt Elected FIA President
Ladies and Gentlemen, your new President of the FIA, Jean Todt.
It's gonna be like the Emperor Mosley never left.
Ladies and Gentlemen, your new President of the FIA, Jean Todt.
It's gonna be like the Emperor Mosley never left.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
07:49 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 26 words, total size 1 kb.
October 22, 2009
Stark, Raving Sane
As long-time readers of The Pond know, in my prior life I was involved in the theatre... or should that be The Theatre? In amongst all the myriad shows I worked on or performed in (somewhere close to 200), there had to be a favorite, right?
Well, yes, but nobody's ever heard of The Mating Rituals of the Male, which was a one-man show/senior project that a friend of mine wrote and starred in. After that, however, I find that I have to go with a pair of plays that will be forever joined at the hip.
The first, everybody knows... or, at least, they should: William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The second is not so well known, Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. For those of you unfamiliar with it, R&GAD is about two minor characters in Hamlet, characters who are confused about why they're in the play Hamlet, and confused about what's going on in Hamlet, since all they see of it is what occurs in the precious little time they're in the script.
It doesn't so much "break the fourth wall" as not believe the fourth wall exists in the first place; the play is, the audience is integral to the existence of said play, and that's that. While the titular characters don't ever actually dialogue directly with the audience, they quickly realize the situation they're in, and therefore there must BE an audience, Q.E.D. ("We're actors-- we're the opposite of people!" is a line that will never fail to make a theatre person laugh)
The movie of R&GAD is a minor masterpiece in and of itself, starring Tim Roth and Gary Oldman as the two leads. As indicated in the play, however, neither is entirely sure which is Rosencrantz and which Guildenstern (though the credits reveal Oldman is Rosencrantz, Roth Guildenstern). Richard Dreyfuss, as the scenery-masticating Player King, is also present to good effect.
I bring this up because this evening, I stumbled upon a short story that is brilliant in concept: what would happen if Shakespeare managed somehow to see R&GAD? Fortunately, the author of this work is up to the challenge, but then Harry Turtledove does have a thing for alternative history, doesn't he?
SF publisher Tor has made the entire short story, "We Haven't Got There Yet", available on their website, for which fact I am eternally grateful.
Well, yes, but nobody's ever heard of The Mating Rituals of the Male, which was a one-man show/senior project that a friend of mine wrote and starred in. After that, however, I find that I have to go with a pair of plays that will be forever joined at the hip.
The first, everybody knows... or, at least, they should: William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The second is not so well known, Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. For those of you unfamiliar with it, R&GAD is about two minor characters in Hamlet, characters who are confused about why they're in the play Hamlet, and confused about what's going on in Hamlet, since all they see of it is what occurs in the precious little time they're in the script.
It doesn't so much "break the fourth wall" as not believe the fourth wall exists in the first place; the play is, the audience is integral to the existence of said play, and that's that. While the titular characters don't ever actually dialogue directly with the audience, they quickly realize the situation they're in, and therefore there must BE an audience, Q.E.D. ("We're actors-- we're the opposite of people!" is a line that will never fail to make a theatre person laugh)
The movie of R&GAD is a minor masterpiece in and of itself, starring Tim Roth and Gary Oldman as the two leads. As indicated in the play, however, neither is entirely sure which is Rosencrantz and which Guildenstern (though the credits reveal Oldman is Rosencrantz, Roth Guildenstern). Richard Dreyfuss, as the scenery-masticating Player King, is also present to good effect.
I bring this up because this evening, I stumbled upon a short story that is brilliant in concept: what would happen if Shakespeare managed somehow to see R&GAD? Fortunately, the author of this work is up to the challenge, but then Harry Turtledove does have a thing for alternative history, doesn't he?
SF publisher Tor has made the entire short story, "We Haven't Got There Yet", available on their website, for which fact I am eternally grateful.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
11:51 PM
| Comments (5)
| Add Comment
Post contains 397 words, total size 3 kb.
October 21, 2009
Random Anime Picture #49: THAT'S One I Haven't Heard Before
-Kiddy Girl -and, ep01
I lasted about seven minutes before I couldn't take it anymore, but really, how could you expect me to pass that screencap up?
-Kiddy Girl -and, ep01
I lasted about seven minutes before I couldn't take it anymore, but really, how could you expect me to pass that screencap up?
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:16 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 37 words, total size 1 kb.
October 20, 2009
We Gots Photos!
And how! Take a gander at this baby:
That's the TF108 Jarno Trulli drove at the 2008 Grand Prix of Japan, near as I can figure... that's certainly the one-off helmet he wore. It's probably sans engine, and is on slicks as opposed to the grooved tires they used last year, but it's one helluva looker!
Pete Z kindly sent this to me a couple of days ago. He's over in Japan and visited a place called Toyota Mega Web, the website for which describes it as "Look! Ride! Feel! Car Theme Park!"
Sounds like a fun way to kill a few hours to me... particularly in "motorsports square", where this picture was almost certainly taken, or in the "history garage", with the GP Archive (with replicas of old F1 cars) or the Alessandro Nannini Cafe. The whole place is located on the manmade island of Odaiba, in Tokyo Bay. Tokyo Big Sight is located there, too, so it becomes a complete geek haven for a while, what with Comiket and all.
Hmmm... Formula 1 and anime/manga... sounds kinda familiar...
Thanks, Pete!
That's the TF108 Jarno Trulli drove at the 2008 Grand Prix of Japan, near as I can figure... that's certainly the one-off helmet he wore. It's probably sans engine, and is on slicks as opposed to the grooved tires they used last year, but it's one helluva looker!
Pete Z kindly sent this to me a couple of days ago. He's over in Japan and visited a place called Toyota Mega Web, the website for which describes it as "Look! Ride! Feel! Car Theme Park!"
Sounds like a fun way to kill a few hours to me... particularly in "motorsports square", where this picture was almost certainly taken, or in the "history garage", with the GP Archive (with replicas of old F1 cars) or the Alessandro Nannini Cafe. The whole place is located on the manmade island of Odaiba, in Tokyo Bay. Tokyo Big Sight is located there, too, so it becomes a complete geek haven for a while, what with Comiket and all.
Hmmm... Formula 1 and anime/manga... sounds kinda familiar...
Thanks, Pete!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
08:34 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 185 words, total size 1 kb.
October 18, 2009
F1 UPDATE!: Brazil 2009!
The rain held off, but could Button hold off Barrichello and Vettel? THIS is your F1 UPDATE! for the 2009 Grand Prix of Brazil!
*YEP:
Congratulations to Jenson Button, the 2009 FIA Formula 1 Driver's Championship winner. His fifth-place finish clinched the title; Seb Vettel managed to finish fourth, Rubens Barrichello a sad eighth after a late tire puncture.
*OH, THE REST OF THE RACE: A few more races, and Red Bull might have caught BrawnGP for the Constructors' Championship. They certainly gave it their best shot, with Mark Webber winning his second race of the season and Vettel turning in an excellent fourth after starting 15th, but it was not to be.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Lewis Hamilton started 17th after the confused and delayed Quals on Saturday. The confusion of the first lap brought out a safety car, which allowed Hamilton to get into the pits, get off the bad supersoft tires and load up with gas without losing much time, switching on the fly to an early-stopping one-stop strategy. He then managed to drive a fine race, ending up with a VERY impressive third-place podium finish. Ohbytheway, with the six points he earned, McLaren has moved into third place in the Constructor's Championship, just ahead of Ferrari.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: BrawnGP. Under a year ago, the team known as Honda was dead. Purchased by Ross Brawn with barely enough time to get any testing done, they dominated the first half of the season. While the other teams caught up with rookies in the second half, they had enough of a lead to make it a mere formality. A formality that was confirmed today when BrawnGP clinched the 2009 FIA Formula 1 Constructor's Championship.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: There were a ton of good on-track passes today, but the one that lept out at us here at F1U! was on lap 6. Jenson Button, knowing that he had to score points if he wanted to win the Driver's Championship today, found himself behind Kazoo Nakajima's Williams heading down into turn 1 just after the restart. He held off on braking as long as he could, then slipped nicely inside Kazoo, who did try to slam the door on the Brawn. Realizing that by doing so he'd wreck them both, Nakajima quickly gave up on that plan and tried to outdrag Button through the Senna Esses, but couldn't make it happen. Button pulled away, a clean pass for sixth, another standing point, extra pressure on Vettel and Barrichello, and a declaration that he wanted the Driver's Championship over. Gutsy move, and an important one, to boot.
*MOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: While Jarno Trulli's dumb attempt at a pass on Adrian Sutil, and his subsequent playground-class temper-tantrum, was a solid contender for today's Mooooo-ooove, today we're giving the award to the McLaren lollypop man. When Heikki Kovaleinninninnie came in for fuel and tires during the safety car period caused by Trulli's Mooo-contender, the Lollypop Man was more concerned with getting him out ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who had also stopped. When Lollypop Man saw Ferrari release Kimi, he lifted the lollypop... and Heikki, as he was trained to do, hit the gas and left the pit... knocking two mechanics to the ground and pulling the hose off the refuelling rig. That's bad enough, but what happened next was worse:
Fortunately there were no injuries, but I suspect Kimi might have had to change his fire-resistant underwear. Nice job Lollypop Man! A Moooo is you!
*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
*YEP:
Congratulations to Jenson Button, the 2009 FIA Formula 1 Driver's Championship winner. His fifth-place finish clinched the title; Seb Vettel managed to finish fourth, Rubens Barrichello a sad eighth after a late tire puncture.
*OH, THE REST OF THE RACE: A few more races, and Red Bull might have caught BrawnGP for the Constructors' Championship. They certainly gave it their best shot, with Mark Webber winning his second race of the season and Vettel turning in an excellent fourth after starting 15th, but it was not to be.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Lewis Hamilton started 17th after the confused and delayed Quals on Saturday. The confusion of the first lap brought out a safety car, which allowed Hamilton to get into the pits, get off the bad supersoft tires and load up with gas without losing much time, switching on the fly to an early-stopping one-stop strategy. He then managed to drive a fine race, ending up with a VERY impressive third-place podium finish. Ohbytheway, with the six points he earned, McLaren has moved into third place in the Constructor's Championship, just ahead of Ferrari.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: BrawnGP. Under a year ago, the team known as Honda was dead. Purchased by Ross Brawn with barely enough time to get any testing done, they dominated the first half of the season. While the other teams caught up with rookies in the second half, they had enough of a lead to make it a mere formality. A formality that was confirmed today when BrawnGP clinched the 2009 FIA Formula 1 Constructor's Championship.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: There were a ton of good on-track passes today, but the one that lept out at us here at F1U! was on lap 6. Jenson Button, knowing that he had to score points if he wanted to win the Driver's Championship today, found himself behind Kazoo Nakajima's Williams heading down into turn 1 just after the restart. He held off on braking as long as he could, then slipped nicely inside Kazoo, who did try to slam the door on the Brawn. Realizing that by doing so he'd wreck them both, Nakajima quickly gave up on that plan and tried to outdrag Button through the Senna Esses, but couldn't make it happen. Button pulled away, a clean pass for sixth, another standing point, extra pressure on Vettel and Barrichello, and a declaration that he wanted the Driver's Championship over. Gutsy move, and an important one, to boot.
*MOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: While Jarno Trulli's dumb attempt at a pass on Adrian Sutil, and his subsequent playground-class temper-tantrum, was a solid contender for today's Mooooo-ooove, today we're giving the award to the McLaren lollypop man. When Heikki Kovaleinninninnie came in for fuel and tires during the safety car period caused by Trulli's Mooo-contender, the Lollypop Man was more concerned with getting him out ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who had also stopped. When Lollypop Man saw Ferrari release Kimi, he lifted the lollypop... and Heikki, as he was trained to do, hit the gas and left the pit... knocking two mechanics to the ground and pulling the hose off the refuelling rig. That's bad enough, but what happened next was worse:
Fortunately there were no injuries, but I suspect Kimi might have had to change his fire-resistant underwear. Nice job Lollypop Man! A Moooo is you!
*DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
Posted by: Wonderduck at
01:46 PM
| Comments (11)
| Add Comment
Post contains 1100 words, total size 8 kb.
134kb generated in CPU 0.6189, elapsed 0.7329 seconds.
60 queries taking 0.536 seconds, 381 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
60 queries taking 0.536 seconds, 381 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
