May 08, 2011
Mother's Day 2011
I miss Momzerduck. Days like today suck.
I miss Momzerduck. Days like today suck.
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May 07, 2011
F1 Quals: Turkey 2011
Uh-oh. Let's look at the provisional grid for the 2011 Grand Prix of Turkey:
Yep, our first Red Bull front-row lockout for 2011, but that's not what prompted the "uh-oh." No, that was brought on by how they accomplished the feat. Both Seb Vettel and Mark Webber did one run in Q3, looked at their times and said, "Nah, we're done. Come and get us." So while everybody else went out and burned another set of their allotment of soft tires trying to catch up to the Bullies, Vettel and Webber sat in the pits, sipping tea in the Red Bull motor home. I suspect they could have gone even faster, but just didn't bother. Pray for rain, race fans, pray for rain... otherwise this one could be really, really ugly. I mean, Nico Rosberg had the qualifying session of his life today, is sitting third on the grid, and he's still a half-second behind our polesitter, with one less set of fresh soft tires.
At the other end of the grid, we may have our first Steward's Decision coming, as Gandalf Kobayashi's fuel pump died on his out lap for Q1. He needed help to make it back to pits, being pushed by track marshals the last couple hundred yards, and obviously never made it back out. With no time set, he obviously didn't meet the 107% time, and is therefore prohibited from starting the race. However, Sauber can (and certainly will) go to the Stewards, say "technical difficulties, you know what our pace has been all weekend, let us in." I fully expect the Stewards to agree, but you never know.
So there we are. Race on Sunday, F1U! sometime thereafter. See you then!
Yep, our first Red Bull front-row lockout for 2011, but that's not what prompted the "uh-oh." No, that was brought on by how they accomplished the feat. Both Seb Vettel and Mark Webber did one run in Q3, looked at their times and said, "Nah, we're done. Come and get us." So while everybody else went out and burned another set of their allotment of soft tires trying to catch up to the Bullies, Vettel and Webber sat in the pits, sipping tea in the Red Bull motor home. I suspect they could have gone even faster, but just didn't bother. Pray for rain, race fans, pray for rain... otherwise this one could be really, really ugly. I mean, Nico Rosberg had the qualifying session of his life today, is sitting third on the grid, and he's still a half-second behind our polesitter, with one less set of fresh soft tires.
At the other end of the grid, we may have our first Steward's Decision coming, as Gandalf Kobayashi's fuel pump died on his out lap for Q1. He needed help to make it back to pits, being pushed by track marshals the last couple hundred yards, and obviously never made it back out. With no time set, he obviously didn't meet the 107% time, and is therefore prohibited from starting the race. However, Sauber can (and certainly will) go to the Stewards, say "technical difficulties, you know what our pace has been all weekend, let us in." I fully expect the Stewards to agree, but you never know.
So there we are. Race on Sunday, F1U! sometime thereafter. See you then!
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May 06, 2011
Ducklings. Yo-yos. Wheeee!
Really, there's not much more to say.
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F1 Practice: Turkey 2011
The big news from today's practices at the Istanbul Otodrom was... the weather. We had rain throughout P1, and it made a huge impact on our World Champion. Or, rather, his Red Bull made a huge impact on the wall because of the weather. He got a little too wide on the exit of Quad-8, putting his right-side tires went over the back of the curb. This had the effect of skating the underside of the Red Bull over the curb, ruining the aerodynamics completely. The car spun back across the track and slammed into the barriers, deranging all four tires, breaking the nose, and jamming a couple dozen cubic yards of dirt and turf into the intakes in the process. It came back to the pit lane on the flatbed truck, went into the garage and never came back. Seb Vettel missed P2 as a result. Speculation from the Legendary Announce Team was that the chassis was damaged, which basically means it would be a writeoff and the mechanics would have to build up another car before P3 and Quals. We'll see how that affects Vettel on Saturday.
Other that that, there was no rain for P2, though the grass off-track was still soggy. This allowed Imam Maldonado to wreck his car three times during the two sessions... that takes skill. Can't imagine that Williams is too thrilled with him, but hey, $30million in sponsorship makes a big difference om a team's reaction when you bend the car.
HWMNBN had a grim-looking moment, when his Ferrari came coasting into the pit lane. A quick cut to the in-car camera replay allowed us the hear the problem: something on the Ferrari began to sound like an elephant with gastric distress after eating bad burritos for a week. Shift gears down, blaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Probably an exhaust problem (which does nothing to dispel the notion of the elephant), HWMNBN was back out after a few minutes, though driving gingerly. Understandable considering the... quality... of the sound. I would never want to hear that sound, ever, no matter the cause.
Finally, get well wishes go out to The Varsha, lead talker of the Legendary Announce Team. It appears that he's under the weather, and Lee Diffy will be filling in. Feel better soon!
Quals in the morning!
Other that that, there was no rain for P2, though the grass off-track was still soggy. This allowed Imam Maldonado to wreck his car three times during the two sessions... that takes skill. Can't imagine that Williams is too thrilled with him, but hey, $30million in sponsorship makes a big difference om a team's reaction when you bend the car.
HWMNBN had a grim-looking moment, when his Ferrari came coasting into the pit lane. A quick cut to the in-car camera replay allowed us the hear the problem: something on the Ferrari began to sound like an elephant with gastric distress after eating bad burritos for a week. Shift gears down, blaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Probably an exhaust problem (which does nothing to dispel the notion of the elephant), HWMNBN was back out after a few minutes, though driving gingerly. Understandable considering the... quality... of the sound. I would never want to hear that sound, ever, no matter the cause.
Finally, get well wishes go out to The Varsha, lead talker of the Legendary Announce Team. It appears that he's under the weather, and Lee Diffy will be filling in. Feel better soon!
Quals in the morning!
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May 05, 2011
Finishing Ga-Rei Zero
The Librarian and I watched another six episodes of Ga-Rei Zero tonight, which means we finished the entire series in two sittings. For us, that's a record... and it says something about how much she liked it. After Ep10, she asked what time it was, and how many episodes were left. Despite having to be at work early, she said roll 'em. I knew there was a reason I liked The Librarian.
Funimation did a decent job with the translation, near as I can tell. I think I prefer the fansubs I first watched, though to be honest that might just be because it's the one I saw first. Even having said that, I think "Bane Stone" isn't as ominous as "Death Stone." Calling the baddies "ghosts" and "phantoms" works, I suppose, but seems... clumsy. Worst of all, though, is that the people who fight the baddies are termed "Vanquishers," as opposed to "exorcists." That's just poor. It might be a literally correct translation, but it's dumb.
I haven't listened to the dub yet, though I suspect I will fairly soon. Nor have I watched any of the extras, and there Funimation gets bonus points. They put the extras on a separate DVD from the show, which is 12 episodes on two discs. While I'd prefer four episodes per DVD, I can't complain about the visual quality that we've got... everything is sharp, well-defined, and the colors are quite a bit better than the fansubs that are out there. The version I got is the "special" one, that also includes the entire series on Blu-Ray. As I have no BD player, I can't comment on their quality.
So Ga-Rei Zero, the package, contains five discs (three DVD, 2 BD) total... and a lot of fun. Obviously I like the series, otherwise I never would have done those writeups (or bought the DVDs!), but I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed watching it again. I might have to revise its position in my Favorite Anime Of All Time list, from "Honorable Mention" to a numbered position. I think I was unfair when I said that the series "just isn't that good." It's no classic, true, but it's well worth the six hours you'll spend watching it. And really, isn't that all you can ask for?
Funimation did a decent job with the translation, near as I can tell. I think I prefer the fansubs I first watched, though to be honest that might just be because it's the one I saw first. Even having said that, I think "Bane Stone" isn't as ominous as "Death Stone." Calling the baddies "ghosts" and "phantoms" works, I suppose, but seems... clumsy. Worst of all, though, is that the people who fight the baddies are termed "Vanquishers," as opposed to "exorcists." That's just poor. It might be a literally correct translation, but it's dumb.
I haven't listened to the dub yet, though I suspect I will fairly soon. Nor have I watched any of the extras, and there Funimation gets bonus points. They put the extras on a separate DVD from the show, which is 12 episodes on two discs. While I'd prefer four episodes per DVD, I can't complain about the visual quality that we've got... everything is sharp, well-defined, and the colors are quite a bit better than the fansubs that are out there. The version I got is the "special" one, that also includes the entire series on Blu-Ray. As I have no BD player, I can't comment on their quality.
So Ga-Rei Zero, the package, contains five discs (three DVD, 2 BD) total... and a lot of fun. Obviously I like the series, otherwise I never would have done those writeups (or bought the DVDs!), but I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed watching it again. I might have to revise its position in my Favorite Anime Of All Time list, from "Honorable Mention" to a numbered position. I think I was unfair when I said that the series "just isn't that good." It's no classic, true, but it's well worth the six hours you'll spend watching it. And really, isn't that all you can ask for?
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May 03, 2011
Guess... Really.
Throwing a curveball at you today. Why a pigeon?
Throwing a curveball at you today. Why a pigeon?
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May 02, 2011
F1 on SPEED!: Turkey 2011
Okay, vacation's over... everybody back on your heads. The F1 Circus trundles its way to the Istanbul Otodrom for what might be the last Grand Prix of Turkey. Let's take a look at the track map:
Yes, with a planned lineup of 19 races in 2012, and two new tracks debuting next year, three existing circuits are going to have to go away. Considering that Turkey's contract is up after this race, and Darth Bernie is saying that F1's fees for the race are going to double, it's a good bet that this will be the last we see of Hermann Tilke's magnum opus.
That this is Tilke's best circuit speaks poorly of the designer, but not the track. All in all, Turkey is a decent enough layout with one outstanding turn. I speak of Quad-8, of course. An increasing-radius four apex turn, it might just be the most exciting turn in F1's modern tracks, and it can at least stand in the same room with the classics without being made fun of.
Other than that, the rest of the circuit is decent, nothing amazing. Turns 2, 8 and 11 are quite hard on tires, as is the asphalt that makes up the track surface, so we should have a good ol' time trying to keep track of the pit stops on race day. Fortunately, the F1 Update! crew will have an intern for this race, as the Official First Friend of The Pond, Vaucaunson's Duck, will be visiting.
SPEED will be providing its usual sterling coverage of the weekend, of course. It all begins with streaming coverage of P1 on Friday, from 2am to 330am. P2 will be shown LIVE on SPEED from 6am to 740am on Friday as well. On Saturday, P3 will be streaming from 3am to 4am. Quals will be LIVE on SPEED from 6am to 730am.
Finally, the 2011 Grand Prix of Turkey will be shown LIVE from 630am to 9am on Sunday, with a replay from 1230pm to 3pm.
F1U! will be all over the race weekend, as usual. We'll see you here for all the festivities!
Yes, with a planned lineup of 19 races in 2012, and two new tracks debuting next year, three existing circuits are going to have to go away. Considering that Turkey's contract is up after this race, and Darth Bernie is saying that F1's fees for the race are going to double, it's a good bet that this will be the last we see of Hermann Tilke's magnum opus.
That this is Tilke's best circuit speaks poorly of the designer, but not the track. All in all, Turkey is a decent enough layout with one outstanding turn. I speak of Quad-8, of course. An increasing-radius four apex turn, it might just be the most exciting turn in F1's modern tracks, and it can at least stand in the same room with the classics without being made fun of.
Other than that, the rest of the circuit is decent, nothing amazing. Turns 2, 8 and 11 are quite hard on tires, as is the asphalt that makes up the track surface, so we should have a good ol' time trying to keep track of the pit stops on race day. Fortunately, the F1 Update! crew will have an intern for this race, as the Official First Friend of The Pond, Vaucaunson's Duck, will be visiting.
SPEED will be providing its usual sterling coverage of the weekend, of course. It all begins with streaming coverage of P1 on Friday, from 2am to 330am. P2 will be shown LIVE on SPEED from 6am to 740am on Friday as well. On Saturday, P3 will be streaming from 3am to 4am. Quals will be LIVE on SPEED from 6am to 730am.
Finally, the 2011 Grand Prix of Turkey will be shown LIVE from 630am to 9am on Sunday, with a replay from 1230pm to 3pm.
F1U! will be all over the race weekend, as usual. We'll see you here for all the festivities!
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May 01, 2011
Rio Rainbow Gate! The Lost Reviews: Ep03
So here we are: Episode 03 of Rio Rainbow Gate!. The second and last of the "lost reviews" for the series. Unlike the first of the lost reviews, for Ep02, Ep03 did get a little attention when it was first released, but nothing like what's about to occur. As you'll soon see, this particular episode is actually pretty important to the overarching plot of RRG!, as thin and watery as that is. The first time I watched it, I wrote it off as just another filler episode in a show chock full of them... now, with the benefit of knowing what happens, it becomes the catalyst for the rest of the series.
Which doesn't make it any better, mind you. It just makes it important that I inflict more psychic damage upon myself. Great. Well, without further ado, allow me to summon up the mind-flaying power of RRG! and Ep03!
A beautiful day on Casino Island! Quite the contrast to the constant thunderstorms plaguing the place in the later episodes, eh? Entirely created and totally owned by Our Heroine's boss, The Owner, who has just purchased an abandoned casino on the edge of the island. Wait, what? I'm confused. Casino Island and everything on it is 100% the property of The Owner, but he just bought a place that was there before the island existed? Logic, meet Rio Rainbow Gate!. I'm sure the two of you will attempt to murder each other within seconds get along famously.
Misery Castle was owned by a young woman who loved only two things in life: gambling and chicken wings. She ran a casino in the basement until she lost it all to a high roller. Since then, the Castle sat derelict on Casino Island (wha?) until The Owner took it over and decided to make it another of his classic attractions. The casino is in the process of being restored to its original condition, and he expects it to be quite the moneymaker.
Rio objects, pointing out that she's already working seven days a week and can't be expected to work here and at the main casino and train Anya too. No problem, because The Owner has hired another dealer, someone with experience. In any case, it's going to be a while before the place is ready to go. Our Heroine is somewhat taken aback... jealousy, Rio?... but doesn't complain. Much.
more...
Which doesn't make it any better, mind you. It just makes it important that I inflict more psychic damage upon myself. Great. Well, without further ado, allow me to summon up the mind-flaying power of RRG! and Ep03!
A beautiful day on Casino Island! Quite the contrast to the constant thunderstorms plaguing the place in the later episodes, eh? Entirely created and totally owned by Our Heroine's boss, The Owner, who has just purchased an abandoned casino on the edge of the island. Wait, what? I'm confused. Casino Island and everything on it is 100% the property of The Owner, but he just bought a place that was there before the island existed? Logic, meet Rio Rainbow Gate!. I'm sure the two of you will attempt to murder each other within seconds get along famously.
Misery Castle was owned by a young woman who loved only two things in life: gambling and chicken wings. She ran a casino in the basement until she lost it all to a high roller. Since then, the Castle sat derelict on Casino Island (wha?) until The Owner took it over and decided to make it another of his classic attractions. The casino is in the process of being restored to its original condition, and he expects it to be quite the moneymaker.
Rio objects, pointing out that she's already working seven days a week and can't be expected to work here and at the main casino and train Anya too. No problem, because The Owner has hired another dealer, someone with experience. In any case, it's going to be a while before the place is ready to go. Our Heroine is somewhat taken aback... jealousy, Rio?... but doesn't complain. Much.
more...
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April 29, 2011
Ga-Rei Zero ep04: How Could I Have Missed That Joke?
Last night, Pond Central had a visit from The Librarian for our not-quite-weekly night of Chinese food and Japanese animation. Instead of carrying on with Bamboo Blade (which we'll resume later), I kinda insisted that we watch a different series, one that we can finish in three or four sessions. That series?
Oh heck yeah! The Schoolgirl In Black, the Schoolgirl in White, the Rocket-powered Wheelchair of Awesome, Laser Weasels, Pocky, the works! It's finally out on DVD and Blu-Ray, and of course it joined my collection as soon as it was available. High art it's not, but it is a fun show.
What was really enjoyable was watching The Librarian watch it. From her questions before I hit play, it was clear that she hadn't read the episodic review I did last year (actually, she doesn't come 'round The Pond very often), so I was understandably curious what her reaction would be to Episode 01. For those of you who don't remember, that's the one where they introduce the cast, put them into two harrowing situations, have them work through the problems in a calm and professional manner, gets you to like them... then the Schoolgirl in Black kills them all off in about thirty seconds. The Production Staff for Ga-ReiZero even went as far as to make all their pre-airing promotional material focus entirely on the cast of Ep01, so to make their deaths even more of a shock. The Librarian's reaction when Ep01 faded to black? "Wait, that's it? That's the whole show? It's over?" I didn't get to have that experience the first time I saw the show as I knew that there was more show coming... if the Production Staff is reading, rest assured that your efforts did not go to waste. You done good.
Now understand... when Anime Night comes around, The Librarian and I usually watch two or three episodes of whatever show is on our docket, then we call it a night. This time though, when we hit the end of Ep03, she asked how many episodes were on the DVD. I said "six," and she replied "I've got time." We wound up watching all six episodes, which ties a record for us (we saw six episodes of Kanon '06 a few years back) and I suspect we'll finish up next week. Definitely a hit.
As we watched Ep04, it dawned on me that I had completely missed a gag in the show...
more...
Oh heck yeah! The Schoolgirl In Black, the Schoolgirl in White, the Rocket-powered Wheelchair of Awesome, Laser Weasels, Pocky, the works! It's finally out on DVD and Blu-Ray, and of course it joined my collection as soon as it was available. High art it's not, but it is a fun show.
What was really enjoyable was watching The Librarian watch it. From her questions before I hit play, it was clear that she hadn't read the episodic review I did last year (actually, she doesn't come 'round The Pond very often), so I was understandably curious what her reaction would be to Episode 01. For those of you who don't remember, that's the one where they introduce the cast, put them into two harrowing situations, have them work through the problems in a calm and professional manner, gets you to like them... then the Schoolgirl in Black kills them all off in about thirty seconds. The Production Staff for Ga-ReiZero even went as far as to make all their pre-airing promotional material focus entirely on the cast of Ep01, so to make their deaths even more of a shock. The Librarian's reaction when Ep01 faded to black? "Wait, that's it? That's the whole show? It's over?" I didn't get to have that experience the first time I saw the show as I knew that there was more show coming... if the Production Staff is reading, rest assured that your efforts did not go to waste. You done good.
Now understand... when Anime Night comes around, The Librarian and I usually watch two or three episodes of whatever show is on our docket, then we call it a night. This time though, when we hit the end of Ep03, she asked how many episodes were on the DVD. I said "six," and she replied "I've got time." We wound up watching all six episodes, which ties a record for us (we saw six episodes of Kanon '06 a few years back) and I suspect we'll finish up next week. Definitely a hit.
As we watched Ep04, it dawned on me that I had completely missed a gag in the show...
more...
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April 27, 2011
Status Check
I'm not feeling the whole blogging thing right now, I must admit. There's a part of me that sees this three week break between F1 races as a little holiday, one that lets me take a mini-vacation from having to spend long hours staring at the computer screen as I try to write something witty.
I know there's a number of you that, for some unknown reason, are eagerly awaiting my write-up for Rio Rainbow Gate! ep03, and I can tell you that I've completed the preliminary work on it... rewatching the episode, screenshots and so forth. I just need to clear an evening to actually write the darn thing... it'll probably be Friday or (more likely) Saturday.
Until then, however, I'm going to catch up on some of the other shows running, maybe watch a movie on the DVR, that sort of thing. I'm not going anywhere, I'm just not into slaving over a hot keyboard right now. Maybe you can go back and read some of my archives for a day or two? After nearly six years of The Pond, there might actually be something interesting in there somewhere!
I know there's a number of you that, for some unknown reason, are eagerly awaiting my write-up for Rio Rainbow Gate! ep03, and I can tell you that I've completed the preliminary work on it... rewatching the episode, screenshots and so forth. I just need to clear an evening to actually write the darn thing... it'll probably be Friday or (more likely) Saturday.
Until then, however, I'm going to catch up on some of the other shows running, maybe watch a movie on the DVR, that sort of thing. I'm not going anywhere, I'm just not into slaving over a hot keyboard right now. Maybe you can go back and read some of my archives for a day or two? After nearly six years of The Pond, there might actually be something interesting in there somewhere!
picture unrelated, but magical girls and explosions are always worth posting.
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April 25, 2011
F1 Tids and Bits
While we wait for another 12 days and a few hours to pass before the next race, here's some news from around the F1 world...
First off, excellent news! Robert Kubica was released from the hospital today, some 10 days earlier than was expected. While still using a walker from all reports, he's progressing so well that the doctors decided that the best thing for him was to go home for a few days before beginning a new round of therapy. It was just short of three months ago that he suffered the hideous crash that shattered his right leg, ruined his right elbow, and nearly severed his right hand. It's still too early to tell if he'll ever be able to get behind the wheel again, but hey, he's walking and his hand is still attached... that's pretty amazing right there.
There's some serious discussion occurring amongst the teams about banning the movable rear wing, aka Drag Reduction System (DRS), for the Grand Prix of Monaco. This actually makes a great deal of sense. There really isn't a straight on the circuit worthy of the term, after all. Further, the layout is so cramped that it's only just barely wide enough for two cars. Considering that Monaco is pretty much nothing but slow, tight turns, DRS would seem to be flat-out dangerous. I wonder if they're considering taking KERS out of the mix, too?
The organizers at Abu Dhabi are making some changes to the circuit prior to the race in November. Amongst other things, they're combining the two left-hand turns 13 and 14 into one big sweeper, widening the chicane at Turns 5/6 so as to allow different lines through the curves, and they're changing the camber on Turn 9. This is a big one as originally the camber ran opposite the way it should, i.e., the outside of the turn is lower than the inside. Now Turn 9 is going to be much more of a traditional banked turn, allowing drivers to drive around the outside without losing grip. Using my Crazy MS Paint Skillz, I've mocked up what the trackmap might look like.
Okay, maybe not, but you get the gist. Should give us a couple more passing areas, that.
Finally, Pirelli is telling us that if we thought the tire wear problems were bad now, just wait until we hit Turkey! According to the manufacturer, the Istanbul Otodrom's surface is made out of 2-grit sandpaper and broken glass, and the tires will last even fewer laps than normal. I guess that means the soft tires will last maybe six laps, the hards a dozen, and the super-soft tires would explode the moment the Pirelli trucks reach the paddock.
More as events warrant!
First off, excellent news! Robert Kubica was released from the hospital today, some 10 days earlier than was expected. While still using a walker from all reports, he's progressing so well that the doctors decided that the best thing for him was to go home for a few days before beginning a new round of therapy. It was just short of three months ago that he suffered the hideous crash that shattered his right leg, ruined his right elbow, and nearly severed his right hand. It's still too early to tell if he'll ever be able to get behind the wheel again, but hey, he's walking and his hand is still attached... that's pretty amazing right there.
There's some serious discussion occurring amongst the teams about banning the movable rear wing, aka Drag Reduction System (DRS), for the Grand Prix of Monaco. This actually makes a great deal of sense. There really isn't a straight on the circuit worthy of the term, after all. Further, the layout is so cramped that it's only just barely wide enough for two cars. Considering that Monaco is pretty much nothing but slow, tight turns, DRS would seem to be flat-out dangerous. I wonder if they're considering taking KERS out of the mix, too?
The organizers at Abu Dhabi are making some changes to the circuit prior to the race in November. Amongst other things, they're combining the two left-hand turns 13 and 14 into one big sweeper, widening the chicane at Turns 5/6 so as to allow different lines through the curves, and they're changing the camber on Turn 9. This is a big one as originally the camber ran opposite the way it should, i.e., the outside of the turn is lower than the inside. Now Turn 9 is going to be much more of a traditional banked turn, allowing drivers to drive around the outside without losing grip. Using my Crazy MS Paint Skillz, I've mocked up what the trackmap might look like.
Okay, maybe not, but you get the gist. Should give us a couple more passing areas, that.
Finally, Pirelli is telling us that if we thought the tire wear problems were bad now, just wait until we hit Turkey! According to the manufacturer, the Istanbul Otodrom's surface is made out of 2-grit sandpaper and broken glass, and the tires will last even fewer laps than normal. I guess that means the soft tires will last maybe six laps, the hards a dozen, and the super-soft tires would explode the moment the Pirelli trucks reach the paddock.
More as events warrant!
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April 24, 2011
Easter 2011
In your Easter bonnet / with all the frills upon it /
you'll be the grandest duckie in the Easter parade...
In your Easter bonnet / with all the frills upon it / you'll be the grandest duckie in the Easter parade...
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April 23, 2011
43? How'd THAT Happen?
April 23rd is the 113th day of the year. It is also International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day, Independence Day for the Conch Republic, the 351th anniversary of the Treaty of Oliva
between Sweden and Poland, and the birthday of Minoru Shirota, Max Planck, and Oleg Penkovsky. Youtube had its first video uploaded on April 23rd, 2005. The ill-fated Soyuz 1 mission launched on this date in 1967.
And a year later, in a hospital somewhere in Chicago, a Wonderduck was foisted upon an unprepared world. Who knew what that would lead to?
And a year later, in a hospital somewhere in Chicago, a Wonderduck was foisted upon an unprepared world. Who knew what that would lead to?
Birthday candles!
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April 22, 2011
Finally, A Gem For The Spring 2011 Season
A few days ago, I bemoaned how the Spring 2011 season was doing nothing for me. To be sure, there were a few series that had potential, but nothing had grabbed my attention and made me excited as of yet. Shows like Nichijou or A Channel, though they should have waist-high batting practice fastballs right down the center of the plate for me, had just failed to engage my interest.
Well, as of last night, that's changed. There is one show that was so entertaining that it made me I watched not one, not two, but three episodes back to back and make me immediately wish for more. That show is Hanasaku Iroha.
At its heart, HanaIro is a classic fish-out-of-water story. Ohana is sent to live with her grandmother by her dissolute mother. Grandma runs a old-fashioned hot springs inn out in the country, and has been estranged from Ohana's mother for some years. When Ohana arrives she's told that she's not a guest, she's going to have to work for her room and board. Our Heroine, a noisy city girl, immediately alienates the other employees with her graceless words and actions. Slowly coming to the realization that she has to make the best of the situation, she sets about making things right. Hijinks (and some Japanese rope bondage) ensue.
Obviously Ohana is the straw that stirs the drink, but unless her character has something to work off of, it doesn't much matter how engaging she is. Fortunately, HanaIro has secondary characters that are the equal to Our Heroine. An apprentice chef that seriously wants Ohana to die, a quiet waitress that thinks Our Heroine is scary, a martinet Grandmother, a prying head waitress, the heir to the inn (Ohana's uncle), the stoic head chef and his energetic assistant, even the required ancient handyman. Oh, and the guest that's a failed writer trying to make ends meet via erotic fiction, can't forget about him.
Well, as of last night, that's changed. There is one show that was so entertaining that it made me I watched not one, not two, but three episodes back to back and make me immediately wish for more. That show is Hanasaku Iroha.
At its heart, HanaIro is a classic fish-out-of-water story. Ohana is sent to live with her grandmother by her dissolute mother. Grandma runs a old-fashioned hot springs inn out in the country, and has been estranged from Ohana's mother for some years. When Ohana arrives she's told that she's not a guest, she's going to have to work for her room and board. Our Heroine, a noisy city girl, immediately alienates the other employees with her graceless words and actions. Slowly coming to the realization that she has to make the best of the situation, she sets about making things right. Hijinks (and some Japanese rope bondage) ensue.
Obviously Ohana is the straw that stirs the drink, but unless her character has something to work off of, it doesn't much matter how engaging she is. Fortunately, HanaIro has secondary characters that are the equal to Our Heroine. An apprentice chef that seriously wants Ohana to die, a quiet waitress that thinks Our Heroine is scary, a martinet Grandmother, a prying head waitress, the heir to the inn (Ohana's uncle), the stoic head chef and his energetic assistant, even the required ancient handyman. Oh, and the guest that's a failed writer trying to make ends meet via erotic fiction, can't forget about him.
l to r: prying head waitress, apprentice chef, ancient handyman, energetic assistant, stoic head chef,
Our Heroine, quiet waitress. Not shown: martinet grandmother, uncle, perverted writer.
Everybody can keep up, character-wise, with Ohana, a tribute to this effort by PA Works. Maybe the show as a whole won't be able to stay at the energy level its been at for the first three episodes, but it's gonna be a blast finding out. Heck, it made it me laugh out loud a couple of times, is what I'm saying. Highly recommended.Our Heroine, quiet waitress. Not shown: martinet grandmother, uncle, perverted writer.
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April 21, 2011
Trading Paint II: Coming This Summer
Some years ago, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon and then-F1 pilot Juan Pablo Montoya got together at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway... and threw each other their car keys. Gordon wound up giddy as a schoolgirl, Montoya wound up moving to NASCAR.
A month ago, it was announced that there's going to be a sequel this Summer. From NASCAR, Tony Stewart. From the F1 Circus... Lewis Hamilton.
A month ago, it was announced that there's going to be a sequel this Summer. From NASCAR, Tony Stewart. From the F1 Circus... Lewis Hamilton.
And this time, they're going to be at a real circuit: Watkins Glen. No word if they'll be running the NASCAR layout or the full F1-grade track (my guess is the truncated one), but either way, it's gonna be fun. I predict that Hamilton will suck, and that Stewart will be in F1 inside of three years.* As you can imagine, I'll be all over it as soon as it occurs... probably around the time of the GP of Canada.
*note: not really, but I've wanted him, Earnhardt Jr or Kyle Busch to drive in F1 for years, just to set foreign relations back a few centuries.
*note: not really, but I've wanted him, Earnhardt Jr or Kyle Busch to drive in F1 for years, just to set foreign relations back a few centuries.
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April 19, 2011
What's Wonderduck Watching? Spring 2011 Edition
Or, more correctly, "what's Wonderduck not watching?" I've been a fan of anime for a long time. I became a diehard fan maybe ten years ago, and was a casual fan for some years before that. Over the years, my desire to participate in this hobby has been universally high; shows may come and go, both good and bad, but I've always enjoyed the actual watching of them. Until now.
Which is weird. Readers of The Pond know my tastes: slice-of-life, romantic comedy, melodrama, that sort of thing. "Cute girls doing cute things in cute ways" would be a good description of the type of show I generally go for. Throw in the occasional action-based series that catches my eye at the right time, and you've got me pretty much covered.
Knowing that, the Spring 2011 season has a good handful of shows that may as well have been written specifically for me. Yet I find that, not only am I not particularly enthused about them, I'm having a hard time watching whole episodes at a time.
more...
Which is weird. Readers of The Pond know my tastes: slice-of-life, romantic comedy, melodrama, that sort of thing. "Cute girls doing cute things in cute ways" would be a good description of the type of show I generally go for. Throw in the occasional action-based series that catches my eye at the right time, and you've got me pretty much covered.
Knowing that, the Spring 2011 season has a good handful of shows that may as well have been written specifically for me. Yet I find that, not only am I not particularly enthused about them, I'm having a hard time watching whole episodes at a time.
Picture from The World God Only Knows II, which I'm probably not going to watch either.
Let's take a look at what isn't catching my fancy this time around, shall we?more...
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April 17, 2011
F1 Update!: China 2011
It was a beautiful day in Shanghai, absolutely perfect for a Formula 1 race. Would it prove to be so for the polesitter Seb Vettel? Or would one of his rivals prevent him from winning his third race in a row to start the season? You'll soon find out, because THIS is your F1 Update! for the Grand Prix of China!
*BEFORE: Prior to the start of a F1 race, cars form up on the grid after taking a "recon lap" of the track. To prevent teams from holding their cars in the pits until the very last possible instant before a race, they must be off pit lane by 15 minutes prior to race start. If a car fails to do so, they must start from pit exit and can't move until all the rest of the field passes that point on the track. Usually this is the home of cars badly damaged during Quals, or that had a last-minute engine failure, or teams like HRT or Virgin, for whom such a handicap will make no difference. You can imagine the panic felt by McLaren's mechanics, then, when they fired up Lewis Hamilton's car at 20 minutes to go, and fuel began spraying out from under the bodywork.
They had rip the rear panels off the car, figure out what was causing the leak, clean up the spilled gasoline, make sure the MP4-26 was safe to drive, then get Hamilton off of pit lane, all within five minutes. It turned out that there wasn't a leak; instead, the engine somehow flooded when they engaged the starter. A liberal application of paper towels to the inside of the car sopped up the fuel that dripped into the bodywork, they made some adjustments to the sprayer rail of the engine, and sent the 2008 World Champion on his way... with some 15 seconds to spare. They didn't put the rear of the car's body back on until it was on the grid. No, no stress there.
*DURING: When the lights went out to begin the 2011 Grand Prix of China, we knew immediately that this was not to be a repeat of the previous two races. Red Bull's Seb Vettel bogged down off the line, allowing McLaren's Hamilton and Jenson Button to get past him before Turn 1, and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg nearly did so as well. It took a heroic effort by Vettel to keep his German countryman behind him, fighting him all the way through the Turn 1-2-3-4 complex, and only on the straight before Turn 5 did he shuffle the Silver Arrow back. By the end of the first lap, Hamilton had opened a one-second gap to his teammate, and nearly three to Vettel. That's the way it stayed for most of the first stint, Hamilton's lead bulging up to three seconds to Button at one point, then slowly dropping away. Eventually, both Jenson Button and Vettel passed him, dropping him to third. However, the first strategic play came from the man in fourth place, Rosberg. He made what seemed to be an early pit stop on lap 13. Instead of being caused by worn-out soft tires, the team had made the call to bring him in before the soft Pirellis "fell off the cliff". Then, as everybody else made their first stops, Rosberg ripped off some blazingly quick laps and found himself legitimately in first place. Button and Vettel made their stops together. Vettel came out ahead, aided by a major brainfade by the McLaren driver.
"I was looking down at the steering wheel to adjust a switch: when I looked up, I thought I was in my pitbox, but then I saw the Red Bull pitcrew in front of me," said Button, who had to roll slowly forward into his own box while Vettel slid smoothly into his. That small delay was enough to get the Red Bull driver out first.
*MEANWHILE: Red Bull's Mark Webber started the race in 18th, after a miserable qualifying session caused by electrical, mechanical and KERS problems prevented him from doing much. Starting the race on the hard tires, he slipped back to 20th after his first pit stop on lap 11. However, one unexpected benefit of his problems in Quals was that he had a full three sets of completely fresh soft Pirellis to use in the race. Getting his required stint on the hard tires out of the way early proved to be a masterstroke, as Webber began to climb his way through the field. It became obvious that the fight up front was so intense that everybody else was going to be using their hards on their last stints, giving Webber an interesting advantage... if he could get close enough to the frontrunners to use it. That was a mighty big "if", however, being as far back as he was.
*MIDRANGE: Nico Rosberg had driven a fantastic race, leading the more heralded Vettel, Hamilton, Button and Ferrari's HWMNBN and Felipe Massa for a good spell on the strategic decision to pit "off-sequence," taking advantage of fresh rubber to slip past opponents who had dying tires. While that was a genius-level call, it would mean a longer final stint on the hard tires than the others, as his last set of softs would go away with more laps remaining. Realizing this, team principal Ross Brawn made another strategic decision: Rosberg would be on a two-stop strategy while all around him would be making three. This would, in theory, save him the 25 seconds needed for the roll down the pit lane and should give him a comfortable margin of error. Rosberg made his final stop from the lead on lap 40, coming out in third, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and just behind Felipe Massa, while Seb Vettel, fighting a dead KERS unit and unable to speak to his pit crew due to a failing radio, led the race with 16 laps to go.
*MEANWHILE PT II: Mark Webber was driving like a man pissed off at the world. By lap 40, he was in seventh after making his last pit stop for fresh soft tires. Sixteen laps on softs was proving to be doable, though there'd be something of a dropoff in grip later in the run. On the plus side though, they had proven to be just over a second a lap faster than the hard tires that everybody else was on. The angry Aussie set to work. By lap 51, the standings were Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Rosberg and Webber... a miraculous drive by any stretch. The top five positions were covered by only nine seconds.
*ENDGAME: One thing you almost never see in F1 anymore is a pass for the lead late in the race, unless there's a breakdown on the leader's car. While Vettel's KERS unit had died, it doesn't appear to have worked much during the race in any case, so we here at F1U! aren't counting that. So it came as a pleasant surprise when Lewis Hamilton swept past the 2010 World Champion on lap 52 for the lead, a lead he would never relinquish. It came as an even bigger surprise when Mark Webber, who you may remember started from 18th on the grid, caught and passed Nico Rosberg for fourth. To be fair, Rosberg's tires had given up the ghost, but still. Then our collective jaws dropped even farther when Webber set sail after Jenson Button for third. On lap 54, the dislocation of our mandibles became total when the Red Bull driver cleanly dispatched Button. The checkered flag flew with Hamilton five seconds ahead of Vettel, who was a mere two seconds ahead of his teammate, bringing to an end a frantically exciting race, one of the best dry races we've had in the seven year history of F1U!
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: From 18th to third and fast lap of the race? Oh yeah, Mark Webber gets this one going away. Considering the relative pace between Webber and winner Hamilton at the end, if the Grand Prix of China had been 60 laps long instead of the regular 56, there's very little question that we'd be talking about the greatest single race performance of all time right now. Instead, it's merely fantastic. Honorable mention goes to Nico Rosberg for nearly making a brilliantly flawed strategy work. Not his fault the tires fell off the cliff.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: Red Bull. While McLaren finished 1st-4th and Red Bull 2nd-3rd, that third place finish came from a driver who was as low as 20th at one point. Yeah, that worked pretty well, giving the team a huge haul of unexpected points. Now they've got until Turkey to figure out their KERS problem. That's a scary thought.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: While there were plenty of more exciting passes during the race, none were more important than Lewis Hamilton's against Vettel on lap 52. He'd been harrying the Red Bull driver for most of a lap, parking his McLaren right under the rear wing of the World Champion's car all the way through the Turns 1-2-3 complex. He then made his move on the short run to Turn 4.
It was almost as if Vettel wasn't expecting a passing attempt at that point, as it wasn't until the very last moment that he even reacted with a blocking manuever, and that came when it was too late to do any good. Hamilton swept past into the lead for his first win of the year.
*MOOOOOOO-OOVE OF THE RACE: Two candidates this time. The first, Jenson Button's attempt to become the third Red Bull car, we've already seen. While that cost him a place at the time, it probably didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. For Toro Rosso's NKOTT, a pit blunder ended his race. Pitting on lap 10 from 12th place, the pit stop seemed to be routine... indeed, we got to see all of it from the point of view of a camera looking back at the right-rear of the car, which was pretty neat. The director stayed with that view as the car rolled out and back onto the track, at which point, an eagle-eyed viewer might have noticed that right-rear tire seem to wobble... but it might have been the stripe Pirelli had painted on the soft tire. A few moments later, it was obvious that it wasn't the stripe.
No, the tire made a mad dash for freedom. Only a catch fence kept it from making its way into the wilderness outside of Shangahi. Upon reviewing the video, it looks like the tire-gunner for that wheel never engaged the locking pin that prevents the wheel nut from working free after the tire change. Some teams have gone to pins that are engaged by the gun itself so take care not to read too much into that, but either way it seems appropriate that Toro Rosso has earned themselves a Moooooo-oove of the Race. Olé!
*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
*BEFORE: Prior to the start of a F1 race, cars form up on the grid after taking a "recon lap" of the track. To prevent teams from holding their cars in the pits until the very last possible instant before a race, they must be off pit lane by 15 minutes prior to race start. If a car fails to do so, they must start from pit exit and can't move until all the rest of the field passes that point on the track. Usually this is the home of cars badly damaged during Quals, or that had a last-minute engine failure, or teams like HRT or Virgin, for whom such a handicap will make no difference. You can imagine the panic felt by McLaren's mechanics, then, when they fired up Lewis Hamilton's car at 20 minutes to go, and fuel began spraying out from under the bodywork.
They had rip the rear panels off the car, figure out what was causing the leak, clean up the spilled gasoline, make sure the MP4-26 was safe to drive, then get Hamilton off of pit lane, all within five minutes. It turned out that there wasn't a leak; instead, the engine somehow flooded when they engaged the starter. A liberal application of paper towels to the inside of the car sopped up the fuel that dripped into the bodywork, they made some adjustments to the sprayer rail of the engine, and sent the 2008 World Champion on his way... with some 15 seconds to spare. They didn't put the rear of the car's body back on until it was on the grid. No, no stress there.
*DURING: When the lights went out to begin the 2011 Grand Prix of China, we knew immediately that this was not to be a repeat of the previous two races. Red Bull's Seb Vettel bogged down off the line, allowing McLaren's Hamilton and Jenson Button to get past him before Turn 1, and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg nearly did so as well. It took a heroic effort by Vettel to keep his German countryman behind him, fighting him all the way through the Turn 1-2-3-4 complex, and only on the straight before Turn 5 did he shuffle the Silver Arrow back. By the end of the first lap, Hamilton had opened a one-second gap to his teammate, and nearly three to Vettel. That's the way it stayed for most of the first stint, Hamilton's lead bulging up to three seconds to Button at one point, then slowly dropping away. Eventually, both Jenson Button and Vettel passed him, dropping him to third. However, the first strategic play came from the man in fourth place, Rosberg. He made what seemed to be an early pit stop on lap 13. Instead of being caused by worn-out soft tires, the team had made the call to bring him in before the soft Pirellis "fell off the cliff". Then, as everybody else made their first stops, Rosberg ripped off some blazingly quick laps and found himself legitimately in first place. Button and Vettel made their stops together. Vettel came out ahead, aided by a major brainfade by the McLaren driver.
"I was looking down at the steering wheel to adjust a switch: when I looked up, I thought I was in my pitbox, but then I saw the Red Bull pitcrew in front of me," said Button, who had to roll slowly forward into his own box while Vettel slid smoothly into his. That small delay was enough to get the Red Bull driver out first.
*MEANWHILE: Red Bull's Mark Webber started the race in 18th, after a miserable qualifying session caused by electrical, mechanical and KERS problems prevented him from doing much. Starting the race on the hard tires, he slipped back to 20th after his first pit stop on lap 11. However, one unexpected benefit of his problems in Quals was that he had a full three sets of completely fresh soft Pirellis to use in the race. Getting his required stint on the hard tires out of the way early proved to be a masterstroke, as Webber began to climb his way through the field. It became obvious that the fight up front was so intense that everybody else was going to be using their hards on their last stints, giving Webber an interesting advantage... if he could get close enough to the frontrunners to use it. That was a mighty big "if", however, being as far back as he was.
*MIDRANGE: Nico Rosberg had driven a fantastic race, leading the more heralded Vettel, Hamilton, Button and Ferrari's HWMNBN and Felipe Massa for a good spell on the strategic decision to pit "off-sequence," taking advantage of fresh rubber to slip past opponents who had dying tires. While that was a genius-level call, it would mean a longer final stint on the hard tires than the others, as his last set of softs would go away with more laps remaining. Realizing this, team principal Ross Brawn made another strategic decision: Rosberg would be on a two-stop strategy while all around him would be making three. This would, in theory, save him the 25 seconds needed for the roll down the pit lane and should give him a comfortable margin of error. Rosberg made his final stop from the lead on lap 40, coming out in third, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and just behind Felipe Massa, while Seb Vettel, fighting a dead KERS unit and unable to speak to his pit crew due to a failing radio, led the race with 16 laps to go.
*MEANWHILE PT II: Mark Webber was driving like a man pissed off at the world. By lap 40, he was in seventh after making his last pit stop for fresh soft tires. Sixteen laps on softs was proving to be doable, though there'd be something of a dropoff in grip later in the run. On the plus side though, they had proven to be just over a second a lap faster than the hard tires that everybody else was on. The angry Aussie set to work. By lap 51, the standings were Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Rosberg and Webber... a miraculous drive by any stretch. The top five positions were covered by only nine seconds.
*ENDGAME: One thing you almost never see in F1 anymore is a pass for the lead late in the race, unless there's a breakdown on the leader's car. While Vettel's KERS unit had died, it doesn't appear to have worked much during the race in any case, so we here at F1U! aren't counting that. So it came as a pleasant surprise when Lewis Hamilton swept past the 2010 World Champion on lap 52 for the lead, a lead he would never relinquish. It came as an even bigger surprise when Mark Webber, who you may remember started from 18th on the grid, caught and passed Nico Rosberg for fourth. To be fair, Rosberg's tires had given up the ghost, but still. Then our collective jaws dropped even farther when Webber set sail after Jenson Button for third. On lap 54, the dislocation of our mandibles became total when the Red Bull driver cleanly dispatched Button. The checkered flag flew with Hamilton five seconds ahead of Vettel, who was a mere two seconds ahead of his teammate, bringing to an end a frantically exciting race, one of the best dry races we've had in the seven year history of F1U!
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: From 18th to third and fast lap of the race? Oh yeah, Mark Webber gets this one going away. Considering the relative pace between Webber and winner Hamilton at the end, if the Grand Prix of China had been 60 laps long instead of the regular 56, there's very little question that we'd be talking about the greatest single race performance of all time right now. Instead, it's merely fantastic. Honorable mention goes to Nico Rosberg for nearly making a brilliantly flawed strategy work. Not his fault the tires fell off the cliff.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: Red Bull. While McLaren finished 1st-4th and Red Bull 2nd-3rd, that third place finish came from a driver who was as low as 20th at one point. Yeah, that worked pretty well, giving the team a huge haul of unexpected points. Now they've got until Turkey to figure out their KERS problem. That's a scary thought.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: While there were plenty of more exciting passes during the race, none were more important than Lewis Hamilton's against Vettel on lap 52. He'd been harrying the Red Bull driver for most of a lap, parking his McLaren right under the rear wing of the World Champion's car all the way through the Turns 1-2-3 complex. He then made his move on the short run to Turn 4.
It was almost as if Vettel wasn't expecting a passing attempt at that point, as it wasn't until the very last moment that he even reacted with a blocking manuever, and that came when it was too late to do any good. Hamilton swept past into the lead for his first win of the year.
*MOOOOOOO-OOVE OF THE RACE: Two candidates this time. The first, Jenson Button's attempt to become the third Red Bull car, we've already seen. While that cost him a place at the time, it probably didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. For Toro Rosso's NKOTT, a pit blunder ended his race. Pitting on lap 10 from 12th place, the pit stop seemed to be routine... indeed, we got to see all of it from the point of view of a camera looking back at the right-rear of the car, which was pretty neat. The director stayed with that view as the car rolled out and back onto the track, at which point, an eagle-eyed viewer might have noticed that right-rear tire seem to wobble... but it might have been the stripe Pirelli had painted on the soft tire. A few moments later, it was obvious that it wasn't the stripe.
No, the tire made a mad dash for freedom. Only a catch fence kept it from making its way into the wilderness outside of Shangahi. Upon reviewing the video, it looks like the tire-gunner for that wheel never engaged the locking pin that prevents the wheel nut from working free after the tire change. Some teams have gone to pins that are engaged by the gun itself so take care not to read too much into that, but either way it seems appropriate that Toro Rosso has earned themselves a Moooooo-oove of the Race. Olé!
*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
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April 16, 2011
F1 Quals: China 2011
Well, that was interesting. A cloudy, chilly day greeted the teams as they got ready for the all-important Quals session at Shanghai. That'd make getting heat into the tires a challenge, something the Ferraris have been having problems with anyway. So how'd it work out? Let's take a look at the provisional grid for the 2011 Grand Prix of China:
The obvious shocker here is that Mark Webber was knocked out in Q1. He'd been having electrical problems during Saturday's 3rd practice session, his KERS system failed (again) in Q1, and he only used hard tires during the 20 minute session. Despite that, he should have been able to do better than 18th, but there he is. The cold temps never allowed his tires to heat up sufficiently, I guess. On the bright side, he'll have three untouched sets of soft tires for the race.
Then Quals got exciting for a different reason. With about three minutes left in Q2, Vitaly (The Red Menace) Petrov turned in the fourth-fastest time of the session when his gearbox suddenly contained nothing but neutrals and hate. Unable to get his car off the circuit, Charlie Whiting had no choice but to throw the red flag with 2:02 left in the period. Back in the paddock, consternation reigned. You see, a number of teams had kept their cars in the garage to conserve tires... including Petrov's teammate, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld. Felipe Massa also hadn't turned a lap yet. When the circuit was reopened, pretty much everybody other than the McLarens and Seb Vettel, all of whom were secure in their positions, poured out for one desperation hot lap. When it was all over, Grizzly Nick was on the outside looking in, unable to get his tires to heat up sufficiently.
Q3, of course, belonged to Vettel's Red Bull while his teammate fumed in the garage. After Vettel's lap, Button and Hamilton turned one hot lap each, then parked to conserve tires for the race... almost like they were conceding they couldn't catch the young German and the race would be for second place.
That's concerning. If the team with the best chance of catching Red Bull just gives up, what's to keep the season from turning into a complete rout? Eesh.
Race tomorrow, and F1U!'ll be all over it. See you then!
The obvious shocker here is that Mark Webber was knocked out in Q1. He'd been having electrical problems during Saturday's 3rd practice session, his KERS system failed (again) in Q1, and he only used hard tires during the 20 minute session. Despite that, he should have been able to do better than 18th, but there he is. The cold temps never allowed his tires to heat up sufficiently, I guess. On the bright side, he'll have three untouched sets of soft tires for the race.
Then Quals got exciting for a different reason. With about three minutes left in Q2, Vitaly (The Red Menace) Petrov turned in the fourth-fastest time of the session when his gearbox suddenly contained nothing but neutrals and hate. Unable to get his car off the circuit, Charlie Whiting had no choice but to throw the red flag with 2:02 left in the period. Back in the paddock, consternation reigned. You see, a number of teams had kept their cars in the garage to conserve tires... including Petrov's teammate, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld. Felipe Massa also hadn't turned a lap yet. When the circuit was reopened, pretty much everybody other than the McLarens and Seb Vettel, all of whom were secure in their positions, poured out for one desperation hot lap. When it was all over, Grizzly Nick was on the outside looking in, unable to get his tires to heat up sufficiently.
Q3, of course, belonged to Vettel's Red Bull while his teammate fumed in the garage. After Vettel's lap, Button and Hamilton turned one hot lap each, then parked to conserve tires for the race... almost like they were conceding they couldn't catch the young German and the race would be for second place.
That's concerning. If the team with the best chance of catching Red Bull just gives up, what's to keep the season from turning into a complete rout? Eesh.
Race tomorrow, and F1U!'ll be all over it. See you then!
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April 15, 2011
F1 Practice: China 2011
In the past, whenever there's been a Grand Prix approaching in Shanghai, the Chinese authorities have made the various factories in the area shut down. This year, that didn't happen.
That's not fog making things in the distance look all hazy and indistinct, it's air pollution. I can only imagine what it'd be like to breathe that when you're pulling 5Gs around a track... and what about the engines? They're normally aspirated, I'd assume that there's some small loss of performance involved.
Pray for rain, ere Vettel run away again. In P1, he was a half-second faster than his teammate Mark Webber... and two seconds faster than anybody else. In P2, he was only a couple of tenths faster than the McLarens.
I don't have a whole lot to say about the practice sessions, truth be told. Cars drove around, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld crashed his Renault twice (once each session), the tires look to be failing even faster than they did in Malaysia, and the smog makes it look like the racetrack was built on a moor.
Oh wait, it was. Well, swampland at least. As we've learned from tracks like Interlagos, when you build on or near water (i.e., filled swamp), you have problems with the track surface. I gather that they had some problems with subsidence over the past year, as there are new sections of asphalt scattered all over the circuit. Didn't seem to be causing any problems, though.
The tires seem to have picked up a new, unpleasant, trait: the rears seem to work great... right up until the point where they lose grip and snap the cars in random directions. We were seeing that all day; it looked like the drivers had no idea if or when they were pushing too hard. The first indication they had was when the car suddenly was pointing against the direction of traffic. Yeek. And, like in Malaysia, the soft tires may as well just be jelly-donuts after a couple of laps. The hard tires aren't much better. I suspect that Pirelli is gonna be hearing even more complaints right quickly.
Quals tomorrow.
That's not fog making things in the distance look all hazy and indistinct, it's air pollution. I can only imagine what it'd be like to breathe that when you're pulling 5Gs around a track... and what about the engines? They're normally aspirated, I'd assume that there's some small loss of performance involved.
Pray for rain, ere Vettel run away again. In P1, he was a half-second faster than his teammate Mark Webber... and two seconds faster than anybody else. In P2, he was only a couple of tenths faster than the McLarens.
I don't have a whole lot to say about the practice sessions, truth be told. Cars drove around, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld crashed his Renault twice (once each session), the tires look to be failing even faster than they did in Malaysia, and the smog makes it look like the racetrack was built on a moor.
Oh wait, it was. Well, swampland at least. As we've learned from tracks like Interlagos, when you build on or near water (i.e., filled swamp), you have problems with the track surface. I gather that they had some problems with subsidence over the past year, as there are new sections of asphalt scattered all over the circuit. Didn't seem to be causing any problems, though.
The tires seem to have picked up a new, unpleasant, trait: the rears seem to work great... right up until the point where they lose grip and snap the cars in random directions. We were seeing that all day; it looked like the drivers had no idea if or when they were pushing too hard. The first indication they had was when the car suddenly was pointing against the direction of traffic. Yeek. And, like in Malaysia, the soft tires may as well just be jelly-donuts after a couple of laps. The hard tires aren't much better. I suspect that Pirelli is gonna be hearing even more complaints right quickly.
Quals tomorrow.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:18 PM
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Rio Rainbow Gate! The Lost Reviews: Ep02
(Wonderduck's note: my internet connection went down again, just before I finished this. It was supposed to go up Thursday night... the best laid plans of ducks and men...)
I do not believe I'm doing this. I thought I had finished with these things, but somewhere in the back of my mind, there was a little figure in a shrimp costume that keep nagging me: "You've left something incomplete." Sure enough, back when RRG! first started airing, I reviewed Ep01, made a brief comment for Ep03, then carried on every week from there. But I never did a full writeup for Ep02, and Ep03 deserves one as well, if only because of that's when Rina joins the cast. So sit back, relax, buckle in and strap it down, because I'm going back into hell. I'm going back to Casino Island. I'm going back to...
Do not pray for my immortal soul, friends, for it's already been damned to suffer eternal torment by viewing this show. Just spare a thought for the agonies I am about to endure for your enjoyment, and when you think of me... think well.
more...
I do not believe I'm doing this. I thought I had finished with these things, but somewhere in the back of my mind, there was a little figure in a shrimp costume that keep nagging me: "You've left something incomplete." Sure enough, back when RRG! first started airing, I reviewed Ep01, made a brief comment for Ep03, then carried on every week from there. But I never did a full writeup for Ep02, and Ep03 deserves one as well, if only because of that's when Rina joins the cast. So sit back, relax, buckle in and strap it down, because I'm going back into hell. I'm going back to Casino Island. I'm going back to...
Do not pray for my immortal soul, friends, for it's already been damned to suffer eternal torment by viewing this show. Just spare a thought for the agonies I am about to endure for your enjoyment, and when you think of me... think well.
more...
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06:38 AM
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