F1 on TV: Belgium 2015

So the summer break for the F1 Circus is coming to an end.  The teams are putting their tents up, rebuilding the carnival rides, letting the efalumps out of their cages, and letting the clowns out of their cages.  Meanwhile, the drivers are returning from their vacation locations...  Jenson Button, for example, was in a villa in St Tropez during the break, and when thieves introduced knockout gas into the air conditioning they got about €300K worth of stuff.  Lewis Hamilton was spotted canoodling with singer Rihanna in Barbados and New York.  Kimi Raikkonen drank heavily, which means his break was business as usual.  And Fernando Alonso wore a hat.  But if we have to end our month-long slumber, there's no better place to do it than the track we head to now.  Here's the map for the Grand Prix of Belgium, at Spa-Francopants:

It's legendary.  It's fast as hell.  It's the longest circuit on the calendar.  It's steeply uphill from Turn 2 to Turn 4, then most of the rest of the lap from Turn 7 on is spent going downhill to Turn 17.  And it usually rains.  That's about all you need to know about Spa-Francoamerican, really.  It's a lovely, lovely track, a true classic, one the Circus has been coming to for hundreds of years.  They even raced here during WWII.  It's true!  In 1941, a Panzer III defeated two AMR 35s and a SOMUSA S35 in a rain-shortened race, and the 1944 race was won by a M22 Locust and a pair of M4s over German entries of a Panther, a new-model Panzer IV, and the very late entry of a Maus despite cold and snowy conditions.

I made that up.

In any case, it's the usual race schedule for us here in the US.  Let us take a look at what the Legendary Announce Team will be bringing us and when:
FRIDAY
Practice 2:  7a - 830a live on NBCSN
SATURDAY
Quals:  7a - 830a live on CNBC
SUNDAY
2015 Grand Prix of Belgium:  630a - 9a live on NBCSN

As is usual, I'll be watching everything, with a quals report sometime Saturday and a F1U! sometime on Sunday... however, I'm having brunch with six family members on race day, so I have no idea when I'll be able to watch, let alone write.  But we'll be here.  Eventually.  Look forward to it, won't you?  And if you aren't going to look forward to it, don't tell me.  Let me keep some of my illusions, 'k? 

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8/14/1945

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Not Giving Up On Gakkou Gurashi

Though to be honest I probably should.  Between work and life in general, I'm finding it difficult to crank out the writeups for Gakkou Gurashi... heck, I'm finding it difficult to generate the time to watch it, let alone spend the four hours-plus a good writeup takes.

But I want to do this so very much.  But, y'know: the spirit is willing, but.... Yeah, its kinda like that.  It's a LOT like that.  It IS like that.  Once I get a handle on everything, I'd expect regular programming to return.  I'm just not there yet.

The show's worth the effort, though.

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Random Anime Picture #100: Wha?

-Bubblegum Crisis 2040, Ep08

I may have been the only person who actually liked BGC2040 more than the original.  Actually, I may have been the only person who actually liked BGC2040, period.  That's okay, I can live with that.  It's an exciting show, and the music is top-notch stuff if you like electro-industrial-post-punk-ishly.  Which, as it turns out, I do.  The animation still holds up too, despite being nearly 20 years old.  And the character designs are a helluva lot nicer than the semigeneric '80s stylings of the original.

But maybe that's just me.

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Failing Twice

I've started two separate posts today.  The first was a true story about a time I impressed a date with my singing ability, and the second a humorous attempt to ask if any of my readers had a spare mp3 player they weren't using.  The first didn't... couldn't... capture the awesomeness of the moment, and the way I was going about the second just made me cringe (as does the need to ask).  So I've written about 1000 words today that nobody will ever see, and I think that's for the best.  So instead, I'm just going to post the music videos I was using in the posts because I like the songs.

Here's the one that I sang in an empty beer patio.

She knew I was a theatre guy, but she wasn't expecting me to have a singing voice.  Or to use the entire area as my personal stage... Vauc, it was the Olympic's, if you're curious.  In any case, it was a perfect night, and sometimes the heavens align just right.  Vocal magic ensued.

The second one was this:

The room I work in has somewhere around 100 people in it, and the background noise of 100 keyboards alone is enough to drive someone mad.  Earplugs don't work... all I can hear then is my own breathing, which is distracting as hell.  Most people have mp3 players or some variant thereof, but I can't currently afford one that can shuffle.  So if any of The Pond Scum has a spare mp3 player you're not using and would be willing to send me, let me know in comments.  I'm ridiculously embarrassed to ask, but there you are.  My brain does dredge up songs that it'll replay in memory, and this was one of them recently.  So was this:

Some years ago, an argument was posted at one of them there news aggregate sites that Eminence Front was the quintessential '80s song.  I disagreed, believing that Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight holds that title.  But I listen to Eminence Front a helluva lot more.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.  If you're curious about the first story, I can try to make it interesting enough to post.  If you're able to help out on the second, you'll have my undying gratitude.  And if neither works out, at least you've got these songs.

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You Can't Get THAT Lucky...

I haven't forgotten about y'all.  I know you're out there, looking for that Wonderduck Blend of entertainment and... um... y'know, stuff... that you've come to know and love enjoy like tolerate not despise experience.  I wish I could be giving it to you more right now, but it's very hard to sit in front of a computer for 8-10 hours a day working, then come home and... sit in front of a computer for a couple of hours.  I've found the two-or-three hour nap in the evening then up until 1or 2 in the morning works fairly well for me... but it does leave not as much time for blogging than I would wish for.  Until I can get my speed up over there, I need to be rested and rarin' to go in the morning... I'm not to the point where I can go on autopilot yet.

So until then, bloggin' might be a bit more hither and yon than usual.  Please forgive me, and I'll try to keep up with That There Zombie Show Writeups.  And other stuff, too, when I can.  As is, I've just gotten home from work and dinner with The Librarian, it's nigh on 9pm, and I need to get a nap.  Because I'm old and crotchety and stuff like that.

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Gakkou Gurashi Ep02

Hello, hi, and how are you?  A surprise shortage of work at work hied me home very early on Monday, so I thought what better way to celebrate not having to stare at a computer screen all day than by staring at a computer screen all day and being allegedly funny in the process?  Some time back, I did a little not-quite-a-writeup for Ep01, and decided that if Ep02 kept the energy and interest up, I'd make it a full writeup series.  It did, and I am!  If you're not familiar with the show, read that there linky to Ep01... it'll give you the basics  Or you can just be confused, one of the two.  Now, a word of warning to y'all... I haven't read the manga, and I'm probably not going to anytime soon.  What this means is that I am not interested in knowing what the manga does, says, doesn't do or say or hints at about characters, situations, or coming activities.  If you feel a burning need to say something in the comments about future events, don't.  This is a writeup of the anime series.  Okay?  We cool?  Don't make me be a big awful meanie.  I may be good at it, because I'm a rotten bastard at heart, but I don't like to be a big awful meanine.  So lets put all that behind us and get on with the recappin'!

We open with lovely watercolor-like memories narrated by Kurumi, aka "Shovel Girl."  She was the manager of the school's track team... not because she particularly liked running or jumping or throwing the discus or putting the shot or playing 47-man Squamish, but because she had a thing for a guy, one of the upperclassmen, on the team.  Yes, it's an honest-to-gosh case of "Notice me, Senpai!"

And notice her he does.  And why not?  She's a lovely girl with twintails and she's clearly crazygonuts over him, and even though his hair covers his eyes and really he should get that trimmed a bit, he isn't blind.  Late one afternoon, they're on the roof of the school...

...and he reaches for her.  Ah, young love... ain't it swell?   Even if you can't see his eyes through the thatch he calls hair.  His parents have often said "you really should get that cut, Skippy," because that's his name: Skippy.  "You look so much nicer with short hair.  And you'd be able to read the blackboard better, it'd help your grades."  But Skippy, being a rebellious teenager, and yes, even the Japanese have teenager problems, just keeps on growing his hair and saying "I'll live like I want."  And right now, it appears that what he wants is Kurumi.

Specifically, her brains.  I'll have you know that when Skippy's hand reached through the letterboxing, I actually jumped a little in my seat.  I may also have whimpered like a sad puppy as well.  The possibility even exists that I may have wet myself a tiny bit.  I'm not proud of that, but there you are.  And then ZombieSkippy eats her.  The end.

more...

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I'm A Little Peeved Right Now

I just lost about 2000 words for the Gakkou Gurashi Ep02 writeup.  It was done.  Complete.  All I had to do was add one picture and my final thoughts, and it would be posted.  Then my broadband connection died and when I tried to open the "paste picture" box the entire tab gave me the "session timed out" screen.  Of course, when the internet came back, I went back to the edit screen and everything was gone.  Every.  Stinkin'.  Thing.  Three or four hours of work, vanished.

Did I save at any time?  No, I was too busy having fun.  I want to swear SO badly right now.

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Best Thing I've Seen All Week

So a few folks in the city of Cesena, Italy, decided they really, really wanted the Foo Fighters to come play there.  They called some friends.  They practiced a bit.  This is what they ended up with:

1000 musicians, 350 of them playing guitars.  The drummers looked like they'd drilled together for a decade, not a few hours.  I'm not ashamed to say that there were some tears in this duck's eyes while watching the vid.

No way the Foo's say no to this... not after featuring it on their Facebook page.

EDIT: Dave Grohl said yes!  In Italian, no less.

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Random Anime Picture #99: Carnivale?

-Mnemosyne, Ep04
The day started out well enough.  Got to the office, had a nice pull on the whiskey bottle, patted the dog, molested the co-workers, y'know, the usual.  Then the mysterious armed men swung in through the window via helicopter zip-line, giving us just enough time to escape.  They shot the dog, though.  Then while we were making our escape in some french-looking peoplecarrier, a bunch of armored cars blocked our way.  They took one of my co-workers hostage, flew him away in a chopper.  Then they herded me and the other co-worker into the backseat of our car, shot us a dozen times each, chucked in a grenade for good measure, and drove away.

We got better. 

These were the only clothes we could find... why are you laughing?  Then I got sucked into a jet engine and turned into a fine red spray.

I got better.

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F1 Update: Hungary 2015

A beautiful summer day greeted the assembled masses at the circuit located just outside of Budapest.  A breeze was blowing, the sun was shining, the sky a brilliant blue.  Yet down on the starting grid, a completely different feel was being experienced by the men and women that make up the F1 Circus.  THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2015 Grand Prix of Hungary!

*JULES:  In the 11 seasons we've been covering Formula 1 for The Pond, the F1U! crew has seen members of the F1 Community participate in two moments of silence.  The first was in 2005, a tribute to the recently-passed Prince Rainier III, the long-time benefactor of the Monaco Grand Prix.  The second was a few months later at Silverstone, just three days after the 7/7 bombings in London.  In the first, the drivers were respectful and well-behaved.  In the second, the drivers were... to be charitable, boorish.  Jenson Button was smiling and laughing, and most of the rest of the F1 bunch were clearly not feelin' it.

But this time was different.  This time it was for one of their own.  Jules Bianchi passed away last weekend, nine months after his terrible crash in Japan last year.  Today, the drivers and teams said goodbye.  The drivers placed their helmets on the ground and formed an incomplete circle... a gap which was filled by Bianchi's parents and family, who placed their son's helmet in the center of the amassed helmets.  The team principles stood just outside the circle, while the rest of the team members stopped their labors on the grid as well.  Understated, yet very very effective.  And then it was past, the drivers decamped for their cars, and we'd like to think that Bianchi's helmet was the last one left.

*START:  Right from the beginning we had signs that this was not going to be the usual race at Hungary.  We don't often have blown starts, for example, but when Williams' Felipe Not Nasr Massa was unable to place his car in his starting box, the amber and green lights started flashing and the field perambulated around the circuit once again.  Massa was given a penalty, the Blundering Herd took its places on the grid once more, and when the red lights finally went out, chaos reigned.  Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo had a miserable start from fourth on the grid, then made contact with the Williams of Valterri Bottas and wound up somewhere near the Carpathians.  His self-removal from the front pack allowed the Ferraris of Seb Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen to just swarm over and around the front-row Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.  By the end of Turn 2, both Ferraris were ahead of both Mercs, with polesitter Hamilton shockingly in fourth.  It would get worse for the reigning World Champion when he dropped a wheel on to the grass outside the Turn 6/7 chicane and went off into the kittylitter.  Though he was able to extract himself, by the time he returned to the racing surface he was in 10th place.  At the end of the first lap, Vettel led his teammate by over a second, and was nearly four seconds up on third-place Nico Rosberg.

*AND THEN:  Things settled down a bit after that.  By Lap 25, Vettel had six seconds in hand over Raikkonen, who was 10 seconds ahead of Rosberg.  Ricciardo and Hamilton were both 30-odd seconds behind the leader, both driving well and quickly.  The fact of the matter was, though, that the Ferraris were looking crazy fast today and seemed unlikely to be caught without external forces coming to play.

*EXTERNAL FORCES: Force India had been having a not-so-great weekend.  They had brought their B-spec car to the Hungaroring, and were expecting big things.  They certainly got them.  On Friday, the rear suspension on Sergio Perez's chassis failed, sending him into a bouncing, tumbling wreck that came to a halt upside down.  During Quals, neither car could make it into Q3.  Earlier in the race Perez was mugged by Pastor Maldonado's Lotus, punting him off-track, airborne, and into a spin.  While he could continue, one could not be faulted for thinking "what else could go wrong?"  And then on Lap 42, Nico Hulkenberg's front wing fell off as he headed down the straight into the braking zone for Turn 1.  While it went right under the front tires, it did not tarry long, emerging from behind the Force India in a shower of carbon fiber shreds.  Hulkenberg speared directly into the tire barrier outside the run-off zone for the first turn, though with much speed scrubbed off... thankfully, the front wing did not keep the brakes from working for long.  Hulkenberg emerged unscathed, though shaken somewhat.  First a virtual safety car was called out while recovery efforts began, then the slumbering Berndt Maylander was awoken and sent out in the real safety car as cleanup of the huge amount of carbon fiber took place.  Indeed, the field was led through the pit lane as the front straight may as well have been covered in razor blades and caltrops.  But the arrival of the safety car meant that Vettel's lead, now up to 25 seconds over third-place Rosberg, was now gone.  However, with Raikkonen between Vettel and Rosberg, it didn't seem like there'd be much chance for a threat, even with a reborn Lewis Hamilton in fourth.

*MORE EXTERNAL FORCES:  Then the radio call came in from the Finnish Ferrari driver... there was a weird sound in the cockpit and he was down on power.  All too soon the reply came back: his MGU-K unit, previously known as KERS, had packed up and gone home.  This would leave the second-place Ferrari down about 150hp.  The stage was now set for an interesting run to the finish.

*NO MORE SAFETY CAR:  Raikkonen's job was now to hold up the silver cars as long as he could.  This wound up being about five seconds in the case of Rosberg, who blew the metaphorical doors off the Ferrari nearly as soon as the race restarted.  Behind them, however, chaos reigned again.  Ricciardo forced his way past Hamilton with the two making contact.  The Red Bull lost some bodywork, the Merc had a front wing so badly damaged that it needed to be replaced, and quickly.  Hamilton would also be given a penalty for sloppy driving for this.  In the meantime, the other Red Bull, driven by Kid Kvyat, also got past Hamilton, while Valterri Bottas took a Toro Rosso wing to the rear tire, leaving him with a slow puncture that got worse just as he tried passing the stricken Hamilton.  While there was no harm done as a result, it got dicey for a moment or two.

*TO THE END:  On Lap 51, both Ricciardo and Kvyat passed Raikkonen, who would retire his car shortly thereafter.  The two Red Bulls then set off after Rosberg, who had a windscreen full of Ferrari ahead of him.  Ricciardo's attempt to pass the Merc cleanly almost worked.  In what the stewards termed a "racing incident", the Red Bull gave Rosberg a flat tire at the cost of a nose.  In one of the stupider things we've ever heard, Rosberg after the race said that he had expected Ricciardo to give him space, despite the two of them fighting for position.  It doesn't work like that, Nico.  Both drivers had to pit for replacements of their damaged parts, and Kvyat moved into second place with five laps to go.  After his nose change, Ricciardo managed to haul himself up to third, while Rosberg had somehow contrived to fall back behind his teammate and rival.

*THE END:  When Seb Vettel finally made it across the finish line, he led Kvyat by five seconds (increased to 15 with the addition of a 10sec penalty), and Ricciardo by 25.  Fourth place was taken by the 17-year-old Toro Rosso driver, Embryo Verstappen.  And in a miracle comparable only to those of Saint Alexander Hergensheimer the Dishwasher, the newly renamed Fernando Alonso brought his McLaren home in fifth place.  Hamilton, Lettuce Grosjean, Rosberg, Jenson Button, and Sony Ericsson rounded out the top 10.

*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTE OF THE RACE:

"This hasn't been an easy weekend for anybody in Formula 1... the minute's silence for Jules was very emotional, and it was very tough to get in the cockpit straight afterwards.  But, today, we respected Jules and we respected the sport." - Fernando Alonso (note: real quote)

And now the F1 Horde goes on its mandatory Summer Break.  The next race will be August 23rd, in a little town in the Ardennes Forest.  We'll see you in one month at Spa-Francopants!

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F1 Quals: Hungary 2015

Hungary.  Joy.  Here's the provisional grid for the 2015 Magyar Nagydíj:

Pos.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:22.890	1:22.285	1:22.020
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:22.979	1:22.775	1:22.595
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:23.312	1:23.168	1:22.739
4	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:24.408	1:23.230	1:22.774
5	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:23.596	1:23.460	1:23.020
6	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:23.649	1:23.555	1:23.222
7	Kid Kvyat	Red Bull	1:23.587	1:23.597	1:23.332
8	Felipe Not NasrMassa	Williams	1:23.895	1:23.598	1:23.537
9	Embryo Verstappen	Toro Rosso	1:24.032	1:23.781	1:23.679
10	Lettuce Grosjean	Lotus	1:24.242	1:23.805	1:24.181
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:24.115	1:23.826
12	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:24.623	1:23.869
13	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:24.444	1:24.461
14	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	1:23.895	1:24.609
15	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:24.563	No Time
16	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:24.739
17	Sony Ericsson	Sauber	1:24.843
18	Felipe Not Massa  Nasr	Sauber	1:24.997
19	Roberto Merhi	Manor	1:27.416
20	Will Stevens	Manor	1:27.949

For what seemed the first time all season, the Mercedes were actually forced to use their soft tires in Q1, lest they be bumped from quals altogether.  There's a huge performance gap between the soft and hards this time, two seconds or so... it's usually half that.  Other than that, though, nothing particularly exciting went on.  Oh sure, Red Bull seems to have made good use of the past three weeks, looking awfully racy as a result, but with Merc domination it all seems somewhat futile.

Probably the highlight of the session was Fernando Alonso's car failing towards the start of Q2.  Feeling like he had a chance to make it to Q3, it took his lame car as far as it could go... just short of the pit-in.  When it stopped?  He hopped out and pushed.  Soon, he had an entourage.

Yes, that's Alonso waving to the fans while steering his car with one hand while at a fast jog in a firesuit on a 95 degree day with high humidity.  Yes, that's also a cheeky trackworker waving to the crowd, too.  It almost pains me to point out that the second his car came to a halt on-track it was ineligible to continue the session, but that's just me.

So.  Race tomorrow morning.  F1U! sometime after.  Then the summer break, one month until the next race.  See ya then!

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Random Anime Picture #98: Big Guns

I forgot how much I enjoyed Mutsu's smile.

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Apologies And Admissions

So.  Last week, I announced that Gakkou Gurashi was to be the subject of my next foray into Episodic Writeup territory.  Further, I declared that "I should have the writeup done on Saturday."  The sharper-eyed of you may have noticed that, in fact, no such thing has occurred.  There is, of course, an obvious and understandable reason for that bit of fail, but it doesn't explain the ever-increasing amount of time that a writeup hasn't been posted.

Part of it is the incredible mental exhaustion I feel when I come home from work.  Claims processing is hard... a lot harder than I expected.  I'm catching on, but it still requires a lot of concentration.  I've learned that a couple hours worth of naptime when I come home is nearly a must for me to have any sort of functionality in the evening.  There's also a general malaise that's come over me the past... oh, lets call it just under a week.  And by "malaise", I mean "screw everything." 

Does it sound like I'm making excuses?  I suppose it should, since I guess I am.  Sorry about all of it.  "Don't be sorry, just do the writeup."  Yeah, it works exactly like that all the time.

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F1 on TV: Hungary 2015

So.  Not only do we next travel to Hungary, my least favorite track on the Formula 1 calendar, it's going to be the site various Bianchi tributes.  It's going to be a long, sad race weekend.  Here's the track map:

"Monaco without the glamor", they call it.  Originally designed to be a street circuit running through Budapest, when that fell through the promoters reportedly just took planned circuit's layout and moved it to a natural bowl nearby.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, a street circuit without any streets doesn't, in fact, work all that well.  It's usually hot, often dusty, the track is boring, and it only coughs up a good race when it rains.  It's even better when it rains heavily here at Pond Central, because then there's a chance my satellite feed will go out.

Here's the alleged TV schedule for the coverage of the race.  I say "alleged" because I'm having problems figuring out just what's going on with it...
FRIDAY
Practice 2: 6pm - 730pm on NBCSN.  No, that's not a typo, I really do mean "PM".
SATURDAY
Quals: 7am - 830am live on CNBC
SUNDAY
2015 Grand Prix of Hungary: 630am - 9am live on CNBC

Check your local listings; all times Pond Central.

The FIA has announced that they'll be retiring car number 17 from consideration of future use, in honor of Jules Bianchi.  As you may or not be aware, as I've tended not to mention it much, F1 drivers now get to choose their car number when they join the sport; it then sticks with them until they retire.  So if you choose, say "23" when you're a Sauber driver, you're still 23 when you move to Ferrari.  The only variant to this is the reigning World Driver's Champion... he has the option of using number "1", and while traditional, it isn't mandatory; Lewis Hamilton, for example, is NOT using it this year.  Instead, he's using his #44.

There's a rumor that the paddock will do a minute's silence on race day in honor of their fallen comrade.  I'm sure that will happen; I'm wondering what else will be done.  The race after that Awful Weekend in 1994, the first two spots on the grid were painted in the national flags of Senna and Ratzenberger, and pole position was really #3 on the grid.  I like that idea, to be honest. 

Speculation is flying around what Ferrari will do.  In times of mourning, such as the death of Pope John Paul II, the team has raced a red car with no logos of any sort and a black nose.  As a member of their Young Driver's program and tapped to drive for the team a lot sooner, rather than later, I wonder if they'll do that again.  The black stripe on the nose is quite understated and classy, I think.  I'm sure the rest of the field will have the #17 on their cars, or some other similar tribute to Bianchi.  Manor, on the other hand, has been tight-lipped.  The team that owes its very existence to his driving, what will they do?  Guess we'll find out on Sunday.  See yo then.

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Jules Bianchi 1989 - 2015

Somewhat inevitable news from the Formula 1 community as Jules Bianchi, driver for Marussia last year, passed away at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire in Nice, France, today.  He was 25. 

As we all remember, he suffered massive head trauma in his terrible accident at Suzuka this past October.  He never regained consciousness after the crash.  In the months that followed, there had been some positive signs: taken off the respirator, breathing on his own, squeezing of hands, that sort of thing, but even the most optimistic thoughts on his recovery made for grim reading.

He was a better driver than the car he was given.  After being a karting champion, he won the French Formula Renault series in 2007, finished third in Formula 3 Euroseries in 2008, and in 2009 won nine out of 20 races to take the F3 championship.  When Felipe Massa had his accident, Ferrari considered having him fill the seat; instead, he wound up signing with their Young Drivers program and became a test driver.  In 2010 and 2011, Bianchi would finish third in GP2, while in 2012 he got his break in F1 as a Friday driver for Force India.  In 2013, Marussia picked him up and gave him a drive, for which act he repaid them with a 13th place finish that secured the team a 10th place finish in the Constructor's Championship and the prize money that came with it.
It was in 2014, however, that Bianchi showed his talent level.  Taking a lackluster car from 19th on the grid at Monaco, he wound up surviving the twisty, narrow streets and despite a penalty, finshed eighth.  Alas, another penalty wound up dropping him to ninth.  Either way, he still managed to do something nobody else had managed or has yet to duplicate: score points for Marussia.  These points would ultimately provide the team with enough prize money to continue into 2015.  Drivers that score points for backmarkers usually turn out to be something special, and there's no question that Jules Bianchi was destined to drive for Ferrari, possibly as soon as 2016.  Instead, he becomes the first Formula 1 driver to die from race-related injuries since Ayrton Senna in 1994.

We here at Wonderduck's Pond send our condolences to the Bianchi family, his friends, and the F1 paddock as a whole.  Next week's race in Hungary should be a somber one, to say the least.

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Announcing The Next Writeup Subject!

I've thought about it long and hard, and I'm pleased to say that I've chosen Gakkou Gurashi to be the subject of the next Episodic Writeup series!

The second episode aired earlier today, and I should have the writeup done on Saturday!  Sure, it may look fluffy, but there's more here than meets the eye.  A LOT more, and it's prime fodder for my writeup mill.  Look forward to it, won't you?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:59 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Content Free Posting!

Let me tell you a little something about not a whole lot.  Once upon a time, I was born a poor black child I was very very young indeed when my parents decided to get a pet.  Momzerduck, my father and I lived in an small-ish apartment, converted from the second floor of a house if I remember correctly, and I may not for I was very very young indeed.  Anyway, back then it was still safe to let kids play outside, and we did just that... I clearly remember Big Wheels races down the sidewalk, turn around in a neighbor's driveway, back down the sidewalk, then turn back using the inclined banking of a decorative hill leading into a garage... a dumbbell shape.  I have no idea how I used to do... I was very very young and was not into racing just yet, though one of my clearest memories of childhood was Evel Knievel's attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in his SkyCycle X-2.  He didn't make it.  I remember watching it on a black-and-white tv... it was 1974.  Kids, ask your parents what a black-and-white tv is.  Parents, laugh at your kids.  Anyway, I would have been six at the time, which gibes with my memory.  But none of this has anything to do with the story of the pet.  Or the Big Wheels races.  Those were fun, until one day a kid showed up with a brand spankin' new Green Machine.  Once he figured out how to steer without flipping over like NASCAR having a bad day at Daytona, nobody could beat him... the built-in "spin-out feature" made the turns a piece of cake, and the straightaways?  Man he was fast.

Yeah, like that.  For all I know the Big Wheels races are still going on back there, though I doubt it.  We moved to Evanston, then Des Plaines, then Duckford, all within the space of a couple of years after that.  But the pet!  Yes, yes, the pet.  We went to the Humane Society, or to the pound, or something like that, and we got a kitten.  Oh, yeah, I would have been even younger when this happened... four years old or thereabouts.  Yes, this is important.  Take notes.  I don't remember the criteria used to select said kitten, but very quickly it became clear that I was smitten with the kitten, and the reverse was more-or-less the case.  It was a kitten, they're really "too much fluff, not enough brain" at that age to be obviously smitten with anything other than food and sleep.  Come to think of it, that really kinda describes me right now.  Hm.  Anyway, it was on the way home that I got to name the kitten.  After looking at it for a little bit, my four-year-old brain sludged up "Marbles."  Because his eyes from the side looked exactly like... marbles.  Cat's-eye marbles, to be exact.  Kids, ask your parents.  Parents, sigh sadly and wonder where you went wrong.  Now, I'm never one to tootle my own horn vigorously, but looking back at my four-year-old self, I have to be impressed by the way I made that connection, even if it wasn't entirely intentional... y'know, four-year-olds are much like kittens: "fluff, brain".   But yet, there I was.  And there we were.

Very few, if any, photographs of Marbles exist, because he was just too awesome for film.  Or we didn't have a camera, one of the two.  Anyway, very quickly he and I became completely inseparable, a friendship that lasted until I was 21 and he was 17.  Marbles was not a "center of attention" cat.  Oh, don't get me wrong, he was more than happy to be skritched for extended periods of time, but he was perfectly content to just hang out with me while I did whatever it was I was doing.  Homework?  He'd be lazing on the table near the books.  Reading on the couch?  He'd be stretched along the top of the couch... or he'd force himself between my leg and the back of the couch, whichever.  Out in the backyard?  He'd be there, keeping an eye on the birds... just in case.  Of course when I went to sleep, he'd curl up against the small of my back.  And when I went to catch the school bus, he'd walk with me to the stop, wait with me until the bus showed up, and then watch the bus pull away.  He did this for years, to the point that I wondered what he did after the bus left.  So one day in my senior year of high school, I found out.  I made arrangements with the bus driver to leave the emergency exit at the back of the bus open.  Yes, it was a different time back then.  Anyway, he'd seen Marbles waiting with me for a few years himself, so he understood what I was talking about... so that day, I got on the bus as normal, walked the length of it, then got out the back door and hid behind a nearby car.  As the bus pulled away, Marbles looked totally normal, but when it turned the corner, he changed.  He got up, tail drooping and looking tired in general, and he walked... trudged... the two blocks back to the Old Home Pond, while I followed a discreet distance behind.  Eventually, he made it to our back yard where he made his way to the vicinity of the back porch and just laid down in a black and grey puddle.  He would have been 14, remember... pretty not young for a cat.  At that point, I stepped into the back yard and said "Hi, Marbles!"  Oh, what a transformation!  He snapped to his feet, his tail went straight up, and he jogged right to me and immediately headbumped my shin.  We spent the entire day in the sun, just doing Calvin-and-Hobbes-style things, with a couple of cans of tuna for him to boot.  It was great.  I was at work today, during a cigarette break (for everybody else... I just sat in the blissfully quiet training room with my eyes closed), when I realized that I missed him.  26 years, and I still remember the way he'd freak out over french fries, or the Great Thanksgiving Turkey Debacle... good times all. 

That's all.  No reason for it, just writing about Marbles.  Here's a cute girl for reading this far.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 07:23 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Maintenance Weekend

After the past week, I kinda needed a break.  Here's a little how it went.  First was studying for the  big certification test to become a claims examiner.  Next was actually taking the test, which took me seven hours and I was far from the slowest in the class.  Not only did I pass the darn thing, but I might have discovered an error in how a particular claims situation is handled in the process.  If so, it would save the client company about 1/3rd of the normal payout for this type of claim.  Which is nice, and might very well earn me a pat on the head, but I was more concerned about getting the question right.  So after we all passed the test, we were let loose on actual claims processing.

Four hours later, I had completed eight claims.  The target on the processing floor is about 30 per hour.  Looks like I've got a long way to go.  The second day was actually a little worse, doing 14 claims in eight hours.  The difference was that I was working through my problems on my own, trying to figure out answers to difficulties without asking the trainer... and largely succeeding.  All around me, my classmates were constantly barraging her with questions, and here I was, a pocket of quiet.  While it might have earned me brownie points with the trainer, it was hard.  The system is neither user-friendly or intuitive... for example, to most people "log off" means you're leaving the program altogether, but to this system, it essentially means "go back one page."  Not cool.  So after wrestling with that, the weekend was a welcome arrival.  And I slept.

I actually had stuff I needed to do... I have towels to wash, for example... but I could not bring myself to do them.  There was a four-hour long nap on Saturday evening, and an oh-my-heavens six-hour nap on Sunday.  If I didn't need 'em, they wouldn't have occurred.  Monday morning is coming quickly, with newly added pressure: we're supposed to be released to the production floor this week, and to do that you have to complete two groups of 10 claims perfectly.  And then we're on our own.

It could be worse.  I could be working retail.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:55 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Gakkou Gurashi!

One of the few shows I was honestly looking forward to this season was a little something called Gakkou Gurashi!, which more or less translates out to "Living at School!".  It follows the hijinks of four students as they make their way through their highschool years in a slice-of-life manner.  It had cute artwork, reportedly an outstanding story, and... well, heck, you know me: slice-of-life is right up my street.  And so are spoilers, but you probably realized that already.

This is Yuki, our main character, and yes, she's supposed to look like that.  She's specifically designed to take most of the best (worst?) characteristics of the super-cute uber-moe school girl and package them all in one person.  Throw in "genki" and "bonkuras" and you've got Yuki.  You expect her to bonk herself upside the head while winking at any moment, and god help you, you'll enjoy it... you might hate yourself every second, but you'll enjoy it anyway.  Yep, she's like that.

These are her friends at school.  Yuri is the one in the sweater, Kurumi is the twin-tailed girl, and Miki is the blonde, who is Yuki's "protege".  The puppy up there is Taroumaru, and he's basically Yuki's.  Yes, that is spaghetti they're eating, and yes, it is the morning. 

And before you ask, yes, yes they are at school.  They're members of the "School Living Club," a bunch of kids who love school so much they never leave.  Uhhhhh... okay.  Though to be fair, I've seen stranger things in anime before.  Still, the handwritten sign is a little... odd?


more...

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:59 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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