March 24, 2014
F1 on NBCSN: Malaysia 2014
So I started writing a post about the upcoming Grand Prix of Malaysia, but after a little while, it disappeared.
Nope, not gonna apologize for that joke. There, I just provided you with more information about the missing airplane than the media did for two weeks. I won't even do more than mention in passing the ridiculous accusation that the F1 Circus is kicking grieving families out of hotels in Malaysia. Nope, I'll let Will Buxton, the fourth member of the Legendary Announce Team, deal with it.
As far as the track goes, I've written a lot about it in the past, and haven't been able to come up with much else to talk about regarding it, so we'll leave it be. Last year, we got the infamous "Multi 21" incident between Hannibal Vettel and Mark Webber. Two years ago was a one-hour long red flag due to rain... what will this year bring us? Well, it'll be hot and humid with a change of thunderstorms all weekend... in other words, exactly the same as always.
Whatever happens, the new-look Legendary Announce Team (minus The Varsha) will show us the usual good time... and here's when!
FRIDAY
Practice 2: 1a - 230a live
SATURDAY
Quals: 3a - 430a live
SUNDAY
Race: 230a - 5a live
Nope, not gonna apologize for that joke. There, I just provided you with more information about the missing airplane than the media did for two weeks. I won't even do more than mention in passing the ridiculous accusation that the F1 Circus is kicking grieving families out of hotels in Malaysia. Nope, I'll let Will Buxton, the fourth member of the Legendary Announce Team, deal with it.
As far as the track goes, I've written a lot about it in the past, and haven't been able to come up with much else to talk about regarding it, so we'll leave it be. Last year, we got the infamous "Multi 21" incident between Hannibal Vettel and Mark Webber. Two years ago was a one-hour long red flag due to rain... what will this year bring us? Well, it'll be hot and humid with a change of thunderstorms all weekend... in other words, exactly the same as always.
Whatever happens, the new-look Legendary Announce Team (minus The Varsha) will show us the usual good time... and here's when!
FRIDAY
Practice 2: 1a - 230a live
SATURDAY
Quals: 3a - 430a live
SUNDAY
Race: 230a - 5a live
Could be fun...will reliability still be the race-winning thing, or will speed and skill play their parts again? And will Red Bull continue their temper-tantrum all weekend? You cheated, you got caught, you got penalized... deal with it, Dieter.
That's all I gots... see ya on Friday!
That's all I gots... see ya on Friday!
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March 22, 2014
Fantasy Baseball: I'm Doing It Wrong
Right, let's get this part out of the way: no matter how much I am about to moan and whine, I'm still probably the frontrunner in the league. I know a few of the players expect me to run away with the thing, and I really should. But I'll be damned if I didn't pee the draft right now the leg of my uniform.
As a reminder, this is an American League-only league. Y'know, lots of big hulking power hitters, teeny-tiny ballparks, chicks dig the long ball, pitchers chuckin' and duckin', get out the rye bread and mustard, grandma, 'cause it's GRAND SALAMI TIME! Station-to-station and wait for the two-run jack, Earl Weaver-style of baseball.
So why do I have a team full of players that make speed the focus of their offense? Dear merciful heavens, it's like I've got... a National League team! Which makes sense, of course, being a National League fan. My entire roster has a permanent steal sign posted and notarized at all times. Which is great, except it's really hard to steal home plate.
Well, if you don't have offense, I hear you saying, you must have a pitching staff, right?
I have the only knuckleballer in the major leagues, a Mazda dealer, a guy who's never pitched in America before... and a guy who had his leg fall off. I just might be doomed.
On the other hand, it's baseball, and how cool is that?
Right, let's get this part out of the way: no matter how much I am about to moan and whine, I'm still probably the frontrunner in the league. I know a few of the players expect me to run away with the thing, and I really should. But I'll be damned if I didn't pee the draft right now the leg of my uniform.
As a reminder, this is an American League-only league. Y'know, lots of big hulking power hitters, teeny-tiny ballparks, chicks dig the long ball, pitchers chuckin' and duckin', get out the rye bread and mustard, grandma, 'cause it's GRAND SALAMI TIME! Station-to-station and wait for the two-run jack, Earl Weaver-style of baseball.
So why do I have a team full of players that make speed the focus of their offense? Dear merciful heavens, it's like I've got... a National League team! Which makes sense, of course, being a National League fan. My entire roster has a permanent steal sign posted and notarized at all times. Which is great, except it's really hard to steal home plate.
Well, if you don't have offense, I hear you saying, you must have a pitching staff, right?
I have the only knuckleballer in the major leagues, a Mazda dealer, a guy who's never pitched in America before... and a guy who had his leg fall off. I just might be doomed.
On the other hand, it's baseball, and how cool is that?
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March 21, 2014
Fantasy Baseball Draft Tomorrow...
...that must mean it's time for Wonderduck to get serious about getting ready for this.
This is, of course, the league that was set up with Ben from Texas Baseball Town, advertised here. We ended up with seven players, which should make for just enough for a bunch of rookies (even if a few of us aren't quite rookies). Goes without saying that I'm still the "old hand" at fantasy baseball in the league.
Which is why I haven't really worried a whole lot about studying and researching and stuff like that. I wanna have FUN with this one! I've got some cheatsheets, and that's all I need. I'll update the results after the draft (3pm Central time on Saturday).
If I don't decide to take a nap instead, that is. Baseball is back!
This is, of course, the league that was set up with Ben from Texas Baseball Town, advertised here. We ended up with seven players, which should make for just enough for a bunch of rookies (even if a few of us aren't quite rookies). Goes without saying that I'm still the "old hand" at fantasy baseball in the league.
Which is why I haven't really worried a whole lot about studying and researching and stuff like that. I wanna have FUN with this one! I've got some cheatsheets, and that's all I need. I'll update the results after the draft (3pm Central time on Saturday).
If I don't decide to take a nap instead, that is. Baseball is back!
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March 19, 2014
Awesomely Awesome Awesomeness
So dziban303 asked earlier if I "could clarify why the XF8U-3 looks so incredibly awesome." That's something I can do. If there's something I'm good at, it's being a judge of what's awesome.
So, being a judge of what's awesome comes naturally to me. But when you ask Wonderduck why a jet fighter looks awesome, you're treading on dangerous ground because I can go on for quite a long time about such awesome things. If you don't know of what dziban is referring, here is the XF8U-3 Super Crusader!
On first glance, one sorta has to wonder just what dizzyban is talking about. It's a tubby Crusader, big deal, so what? And isn't there some sort of unwritten rule that any jet fighter that flies for the French is automatically not awesome? Ah, but this isn't a Crusader... it's the SUPER CRUSADER, duhn-duh-duhhhhhhhhhh! See, someone decided that the original F8U, the "Last Gunfighter," wasn't awesome enough on it's own, what with a variable incidence wing and all that sorta good stuff, no. They had to make it SUPER awesome!
See, what they did is build a whole new airplane, stick a bigger engine in it, and say "you're gonna be faster than your cousin." And it was, by nearly .50mach. In fact, it went so fast that it needed an extra set of fins underneath to keep it from going all whackadoodle. But that wasn't awesome enough for the guys at Vought... nope nope!
See, what they decided was that going Mach 2.38 wasn't GOOD ENOUGH! So they made it possible to go all Kerbal on it by leaving space for a rocket motor to be jammed up its bippy! Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you that there is nothing that screams awesome more than having a rocket jammed up your bippy.
The XF8U-3 was awesomely developed to become the chief fighter for the US Navy, where it went head-to-head against the F4 Phantom II. As it turned out, it was even hotter than the Phantom, and it regularly out-dogfighted that worthy plane. However, that's all it could do, air-to-air, where the Phantom could do air-to-ground, too. As a result, the Phantom became a legend. But all was not lost! Three of the five XF8U-3s wound up going into service with NASA, since they could do things that almost no other fighters of the time could do... even without a rocket jammed up its bippy.
And for quite some time, the NASA planes would go out and pick on the Navy Phantoms in mock dogfights... and always, always hand them their lunch. Until the Navy pilots asked NASA to please stop.
Awesome. That's the SUPER CRUSADER, in a nutshell. THAT'S why it looks as awesome as it does: because it was built out of 100% Grade A USDA Choice Awesome!
So, being a judge of what's awesome comes naturally to me. But when you ask Wonderduck why a jet fighter looks awesome, you're treading on dangerous ground because I can go on for quite a long time about such awesome things. If you don't know of what dziban is referring, here is the XF8U-3 Super Crusader!
On first glance, one sorta has to wonder just what dizzyban is talking about. It's a tubby Crusader, big deal, so what? And isn't there some sort of unwritten rule that any jet fighter that flies for the French is automatically not awesome? Ah, but this isn't a Crusader... it's the SUPER CRUSADER, duhn-duh-duhhhhhhhhhh! See, someone decided that the original F8U, the "Last Gunfighter," wasn't awesome enough on it's own, what with a variable incidence wing and all that sorta good stuff, no. They had to make it SUPER awesome!
See, what they did is build a whole new airplane, stick a bigger engine in it, and say "you're gonna be faster than your cousin." And it was, by nearly .50mach. In fact, it went so fast that it needed an extra set of fins underneath to keep it from going all whackadoodle. But that wasn't awesome enough for the guys at Vought... nope nope!
See, what they decided was that going Mach 2.38 wasn't GOOD ENOUGH! So they made it possible to go all Kerbal on it by leaving space for a rocket motor to be jammed up its bippy! Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you that there is nothing that screams awesome more than having a rocket jammed up your bippy.
The XF8U-3 was awesomely developed to become the chief fighter for the US Navy, where it went head-to-head against the F4 Phantom II. As it turned out, it was even hotter than the Phantom, and it regularly out-dogfighted that worthy plane. However, that's all it could do, air-to-air, where the Phantom could do air-to-ground, too. As a result, the Phantom became a legend. But all was not lost! Three of the five XF8U-3s wound up going into service with NASA, since they could do things that almost no other fighters of the time could do... even without a rocket jammed up its bippy.
And for quite some time, the NASA planes would go out and pick on the Navy Phantoms in mock dogfights... and always, always hand them their lunch. Until the Navy pilots asked NASA to please stop.
Awesome. That's the SUPER CRUSADER, in a nutshell. THAT'S why it looks as awesome as it does: because it was built out of 100% Grade A USDA Choice Awesome!
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March 18, 2014
So...
...hi.
UPDATE: Kinda topic-deprived at the moment. Got anything you want clarified?
...hi.
UPDATE: Kinda topic-deprived at the moment. Got anything you want clarified?
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March 16, 2014
F1 Update!: Australia 2014
While there were clouds overhead at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, there was nothing but blue sky and sunshine in the hearts of F1 fans everywhere. As the purring herd formed up on the grid, one got the feeling that something exciting, something big, was about to happen at this, the first race of the new season. Did it? THIS is your F1 Update! for the 2014 Grand Prix of Australia!
*AND THEY'RE OFF... NOT SO FAST!: The way a F1 race begins is relatively simple. The cars perform a recon lap around the circuit and then takes their places on the starting grid. When the last of the 22 cars comes to a halt and the field is deemed ready, race director Charlie Whiting presses a button on his console which begins an automated process: five red lights come on, one after another. Once all five are illuminated, a computer-selected random amount of time passes before the lights go out. When the lights wink off, the race begins. Today, however, this didn't happen. Instead, the cars formed up, and just as the first red light began to illuminate, a track marshal began frantically waving a yellow flag towards the back of the grid. After a moment, Whiting pressed one of the other buttons on his console.
Two solid green lights and three flashing yellows designate an aborted start. Everybody went around for another lap while the second Marussia of the day was rolled off the track to start from the pit lane (the first Marussia didn't start before the first recon lap). So now we had to do it all over again. Little did we know that trouble was brewing.
*AND THEY'RE OFF... WAIT, HOLD UP...: This time, the red lights came on, stayed on for a decent amount of time, then extinguished, starting the 2014 F1 season with a loud-ish growl from 19 V6 turbo-powered engines, and a purr from the three cars starting from the pit lane. In the run down to Turn 1, McLaren's rookie Kevin Magnussen had a good start, diving from the inside of the track to the outside in a calm, controlled fashion... or at least, that was the plan. Instead, he wound up like this:
Amazingly, he didn't hit the wall, nor did the Ferrari of HWMNBN impale itself into the side of the McLaren. Instead, he gathered the car up and was threatening Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes by the time they reached the first turn. Further back in the field, though, F1U! favorite Gandalf Kobayashi was discovering that he had a problem. It wasn't that he was driving a Caterham, having turned down an offer from Ferrari to drive sports cars for them, but that his Caterham had no brakes. One can imagine how much of a disadvantage this could be for a F1 driver. Fortunately, there were convenient methods of slowing down right in front of him... a Ferrari and the Willams of Felipe Massa.
Both Gandalf and Massa were out as soon as they stopped bouncing. Up at the front of the race, though, things were proceeding apace... except that both Shiv Hamilton and Hannibal Vettel were complaining about their cars. Hamilton's Mercedes just sounded wrong, and was being passed with ease. Vettel's Red Bull didn't sound particularly unwell, but he was saying that he had "no K", meaning the new KERS-style hybrid system. Unlike the old KERS unit, the new one can't be simply switched off; it's an integral part of the Power Unit. The first lap ended with Nico Rosberg leading Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, Magnussen, a fading Hamilton, Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, and HWMNBN.
*...AND THEN: Two different radio calls left the F1U!'s coverage team stunned. Both Mercedes and Red Bull called in their lead drivers (Hamilton and Vettel, respectively), telling them their races were over. Hamilton was only running on five cylinders; Vettel was running on not much of anything at all. Both expected-to-be contenders for the World Championship were out of the race by Lap 5.
*SAFETY CAR: The race continued mostly as expected until around Lap 10, when the surviving Williams of Valteri Bottas, in a struggle for fifth with HWMNBN, gave the outside wall a nice stiff tap with the right-rear. A few moments later, a massive stroke of luck befell the Finn.
Yes, luck indeed. The whap broke the tire rim, allowing the failed tire to fall off altogether, as opposed to the more common "shred-and-flail" method of failure that tears up any nearby bodywork and often means the end of the victim's race. While in this case Bottas lost nigh on 10 positions, he was at least able to continue with no obvious damage. When the safety car was summoned so the tire carcass and associated debris could be recovered, the field was bunched back up, meaning it would be easier for the Williams to make an impact on the race.
*BACK TO WORK: To be honest, the rest of the run was something of an anticlimax. Nico Rosberg owned this race from Turn 1, and after the restart he was putting a second per lap onto his lead over Ricciardo, who was only a second or two ahead of Kevin Magnussen, who had decent gap back to his teammate, Jenson Button. The driver to watch, though, was definitely Bottas who quickly began to work his way back up the field. by Lap 35, he was up to 5th place, though a pit stop dropped him back to eighth. By the end of the race, though, he had managed to get back to 6th, the best finish for Williams since the 2012 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi. Nearly a half-minute up the road, however, Rosberg had finished first, followed by Ricciardo, Magnussen, Button, and HWMNBN. An easy and, really, an expected, victory for Mercedes, though a surprising result for Red Bull who just a few days ago were saying that they considered just finishing the race to be their goal.
*AND THEN: A few hours later came the news. Daniel Ricciardo's RB10 had been found to be running a fuel flow sensor that had been brought before the FIA and found to be giving invalid results. The FIA had told the team they couldn't use it and Red Bull used it anyway. They were then warned before the race not to use it and were allowed to change it... and they used it anyway. After the race, Ricciardo was duly excluded from the results, having his 2nd place finish stripped and promoting Button up to the third step of the podium. Red Bull is appealing the decision.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Nico Rosberg should probably be given this, considering his lights-to-flag win, but instead we'll give it to Valteri Bottas for his gritty drive. What would have happened if he hadn't've clonked the wall?
*TEAM OF THE RACE: McLaren. Last year was their worst season since 1980, with zero podiums and, indeed, never even looking like a threat for a podium. Today? A 2-3 finish, with their rookie driver on the higher step. That's gotta bode well for the team from Woking.
*MOMENT OF THE RACE: This new category won't necessarily be the most important moment, or the most dramatic, or even the most obvious, moment of a particular race, but the one that sticks in the head of the F1U! Team. Today's moment is brought to you by the front jackman / Mohel for Team McLaren's pit crew.
Ladies and gentlemen, the first circumcised F1 car.
*SELECTED DRIVERS QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
*AND THEY'RE OFF... NOT SO FAST!: The way a F1 race begins is relatively simple. The cars perform a recon lap around the circuit and then takes their places on the starting grid. When the last of the 22 cars comes to a halt and the field is deemed ready, race director Charlie Whiting presses a button on his console which begins an automated process: five red lights come on, one after another. Once all five are illuminated, a computer-selected random amount of time passes before the lights go out. When the lights wink off, the race begins. Today, however, this didn't happen. Instead, the cars formed up, and just as the first red light began to illuminate, a track marshal began frantically waving a yellow flag towards the back of the grid. After a moment, Whiting pressed one of the other buttons on his console.
Two solid green lights and three flashing yellows designate an aborted start. Everybody went around for another lap while the second Marussia of the day was rolled off the track to start from the pit lane (the first Marussia didn't start before the first recon lap). So now we had to do it all over again. Little did we know that trouble was brewing.
*AND THEY'RE OFF... WAIT, HOLD UP...: This time, the red lights came on, stayed on for a decent amount of time, then extinguished, starting the 2014 F1 season with a loud-ish growl from 19 V6 turbo-powered engines, and a purr from the three cars starting from the pit lane. In the run down to Turn 1, McLaren's rookie Kevin Magnussen had a good start, diving from the inside of the track to the outside in a calm, controlled fashion... or at least, that was the plan. Instead, he wound up like this:
Amazingly, he didn't hit the wall, nor did the Ferrari of HWMNBN impale itself into the side of the McLaren. Instead, he gathered the car up and was threatening Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes by the time they reached the first turn. Further back in the field, though, F1U! favorite Gandalf Kobayashi was discovering that he had a problem. It wasn't that he was driving a Caterham, having turned down an offer from Ferrari to drive sports cars for them, but that his Caterham had no brakes. One can imagine how much of a disadvantage this could be for a F1 driver. Fortunately, there were convenient methods of slowing down right in front of him... a Ferrari and the Willams of Felipe Massa.
Both Gandalf and Massa were out as soon as they stopped bouncing. Up at the front of the race, though, things were proceeding apace... except that both Shiv Hamilton and Hannibal Vettel were complaining about their cars. Hamilton's Mercedes just sounded wrong, and was being passed with ease. Vettel's Red Bull didn't sound particularly unwell, but he was saying that he had "no K", meaning the new KERS-style hybrid system. Unlike the old KERS unit, the new one can't be simply switched off; it's an integral part of the Power Unit. The first lap ended with Nico Rosberg leading Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, Magnussen, a fading Hamilton, Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, and HWMNBN.
*...AND THEN: Two different radio calls left the F1U!'s coverage team stunned. Both Mercedes and Red Bull called in their lead drivers (Hamilton and Vettel, respectively), telling them their races were over. Hamilton was only running on five cylinders; Vettel was running on not much of anything at all. Both expected-to-be contenders for the World Championship were out of the race by Lap 5.
*SAFETY CAR: The race continued mostly as expected until around Lap 10, when the surviving Williams of Valteri Bottas, in a struggle for fifth with HWMNBN, gave the outside wall a nice stiff tap with the right-rear. A few moments later, a massive stroke of luck befell the Finn.
Yes, luck indeed. The whap broke the tire rim, allowing the failed tire to fall off altogether, as opposed to the more common "shred-and-flail" method of failure that tears up any nearby bodywork and often means the end of the victim's race. While in this case Bottas lost nigh on 10 positions, he was at least able to continue with no obvious damage. When the safety car was summoned so the tire carcass and associated debris could be recovered, the field was bunched back up, meaning it would be easier for the Williams to make an impact on the race.
*BACK TO WORK: To be honest, the rest of the run was something of an anticlimax. Nico Rosberg owned this race from Turn 1, and after the restart he was putting a second per lap onto his lead over Ricciardo, who was only a second or two ahead of Kevin Magnussen, who had decent gap back to his teammate, Jenson Button. The driver to watch, though, was definitely Bottas who quickly began to work his way back up the field. by Lap 35, he was up to 5th place, though a pit stop dropped him back to eighth. By the end of the race, though, he had managed to get back to 6th, the best finish for Williams since the 2012 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi. Nearly a half-minute up the road, however, Rosberg had finished first, followed by Ricciardo, Magnussen, Button, and HWMNBN. An easy and, really, an expected, victory for Mercedes, though a surprising result for Red Bull who just a few days ago were saying that they considered just finishing the race to be their goal.
*AND THEN: A few hours later came the news. Daniel Ricciardo's RB10 had been found to be running a fuel flow sensor that had been brought before the FIA and found to be giving invalid results. The FIA had told the team they couldn't use it and Red Bull used it anyway. They were then warned before the race not to use it and were allowed to change it... and they used it anyway. After the race, Ricciardo was duly excluded from the results, having his 2nd place finish stripped and promoting Button up to the third step of the podium. Red Bull is appealing the decision.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Nico Rosberg should probably be given this, considering his lights-to-flag win, but instead we'll give it to Valteri Bottas for his gritty drive. What would have happened if he hadn't've clonked the wall?
*TEAM OF THE RACE: McLaren. Last year was their worst season since 1980, with zero podiums and, indeed, never even looking like a threat for a podium. Today? A 2-3 finish, with their rookie driver on the higher step. That's gotta bode well for the team from Woking.
*MOMENT OF THE RACE: This new category won't necessarily be the most important moment, or the most dramatic, or even the most obvious, moment of a particular race, but the one that sticks in the head of the F1U! Team. Today's moment is brought to you by the front jackman / Mohel for Team McLaren's pit crew.
Ladies and gentlemen, the first circumcised F1 car.
*SELECTED DRIVERS QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
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March 15, 2014
F1 Quals: Australia 2014
Before one can race at Australia, one must first qualify. Sound easy? NOT SO FAST! Let's take a look at the provisional grid for the 2014 Grand Prix of Australia:
Let's get the massive one out of the way: reigning four-time World Drivers Champion Hannibal Vettel didn't make it out of Q2, much to the delight of the rain-and-Fosters-soaked Australian fans. Meanwhile, his Red Bull teammate, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, managed to get his car on the front row. Eyewitnesses later said that there was blood trickling from the doors of the Red Bull mobile home, accompanied by loud screams of Germanic fury. These claims have yet to be verified.
Yes, it rained during Quals, starting towards the end of Q1, and not really stopping. I believe I called these new cars "twitchy". Boy, I didn't know what I was talking about... you haven't seen twitchy until you see them in the rain. Yeeeeeeeee-haw!
The drive of the day honors goes to rookie Kevin Magnussen, who needs a nickname badly. His first time in Quals, his first time driving the Australian circuit, and the first time running the McLaren in the rain, and he puts it on the second row? Spiffy job, that.
A big thumbs-up to the returning Gandalf Kobayashi, getting his Caterham into Q2... something that only happened ONCE last season. Meanwhile, neither Lotus made it out of Q1, and Williams Maldonado didn't manage to set a time at all. Dear lord, they're going to suck so hard this year...
So we've got a scrambled field, partially from rain, mostly from new rules. It's gonna make the race ridiculously fun, or just terrible, one of the two. Of course, the F1U! team will be all over it, beginning at 1230am Sunday. Writeup sometime after that... we're not as young as we used to be, after all. See ya then!
Let's get the massive one out of the way: reigning four-time World Drivers Champion Hannibal Vettel didn't make it out of Q2, much to the delight of the rain-and-Fosters-soaked Australian fans. Meanwhile, his Red Bull teammate, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, managed to get his car on the front row. Eyewitnesses later said that there was blood trickling from the doors of the Red Bull mobile home, accompanied by loud screams of Germanic fury. These claims have yet to be verified.
Yes, it rained during Quals, starting towards the end of Q1, and not really stopping. I believe I called these new cars "twitchy". Boy, I didn't know what I was talking about... you haven't seen twitchy until you see them in the rain. Yeeeeeeeee-haw!
The drive of the day honors goes to rookie Kevin Magnussen, who needs a nickname badly. His first time in Quals, his first time driving the Australian circuit, and the first time running the McLaren in the rain, and he puts it on the second row? Spiffy job, that.
A big thumbs-up to the returning Gandalf Kobayashi, getting his Caterham into Q2... something that only happened ONCE last season. Meanwhile, neither Lotus made it out of Q1, and Williams Maldonado didn't manage to set a time at all. Dear lord, they're going to suck so hard this year...
So we've got a scrambled field, partially from rain, mostly from new rules. It's gonna make the race ridiculously fun, or just terrible, one of the two. Of course, the F1U! team will be all over it, beginning at 1230am Sunday. Writeup sometime after that... we're not as young as we used to be, after all. See ya then!
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March 14, 2014
Horrible News!
I have it on good authority that the legendary Rio Rainbow Gate! has been released and has already been shipped to customers with standing pre-orders at Bob's place.
There are, I suppose, worse things to be known for. I didn't collectivize the Soviet agriculture industry, nor did I enforce the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, for example. No, I only blogged about an anime series. Is that so bad? Is it? IS IT???
Oh. Right. Holographic Space Sharks. You're right, it is that bad. I weep for what I have inflicted upon humanity.
Sorry 'bout that, everybody.
The Magnificent Seven (and Mint)
To make matters worse, I've been informed that mine was the first copy processed and out the door. I've been blogging for what, eight-almost-nine years now. I've written about a hundred different topics, from Formula 1 to WW2, and yet I have this terrible feeling that RRG! is going to be my legacy.There are, I suppose, worse things to be known for. I didn't collectivize the Soviet agriculture industry, nor did I enforce the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, for example. No, I only blogged about an anime series. Is that so bad? Is it? IS IT???
Oh. Right. Holographic Space Sharks. You're right, it is that bad. I weep for what I have inflicted upon humanity.
Sorry 'bout that, everybody.
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F1 Practice: Australia 2014 P2
What we had in P2 was quite a bit of P1 redux, with one major difference. This time around, we actually saw both Red Bulls on track for 30+ laps, perhaps for the first time this preseason, and they were both quick. Not as fast as last year, but they were putting in some good times. The same can't be said for the other Renault-powered teams, however.
Neither Caterham or Pastor Maldonado's Lotus set a timed lap at all. Lettuce Grosjean... well, you can see how he did. The Toro Rossos were... meh, but that's normal for them, isn't it? No, on the whole, Friday belonged to the Mercedes-powered cars, led by the Factory team. Other than Hamilton's sensor issue in P1, the two Silver Arrows have pretty much owned the entire lead-up to the race.
Will that domination continue? People were saying earlier that Mercedes could win this race by two laps... that's pretty clearly an exaggeration, but they do appear to be the odds-on favorites. But there are bigger concerns out there right now.
For example, Charlie Whiting, the race director for Formula 1, was saying that many of the teams haven't been able to practice race starts yet. He's also gone on record saying that the 107% Rule is essentially out the window for this race, and they're not even sure if ANYBODY will finish the race. Eep.
This should be a fascinating race, clearly... one way or the other. Either it's going to be high farce, or it'll be stunningly dramatic. It'll certainly be entertaining!
Quals early Saturday morning!
Neither Caterham or Pastor Maldonado's Lotus set a timed lap at all. Lettuce Grosjean... well, you can see how he did. The Toro Rossos were... meh, but that's normal for them, isn't it? No, on the whole, Friday belonged to the Mercedes-powered cars, led by the Factory team. Other than Hamilton's sensor issue in P1, the two Silver Arrows have pretty much owned the entire lead-up to the race.
Will that domination continue? People were saying earlier that Mercedes could win this race by two laps... that's pretty clearly an exaggeration, but they do appear to be the odds-on favorites. But there are bigger concerns out there right now.
For example, Charlie Whiting, the race director for Formula 1, was saying that many of the teams haven't been able to practice race starts yet. He's also gone on record saying that the 107% Rule is essentially out the window for this race, and they're not even sure if ANYBODY will finish the race. Eep.
This should be a fascinating race, clearly... one way or the other. Either it's going to be high farce, or it'll be stunningly dramatic. It'll certainly be entertaining!
Quals early Saturday morning!
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March 13, 2014
F1 Practice: Australia 2014 P1
There are two ways a Friday Practice 1 session can go. Either you get a lot of running, with every driver out on circuit pounding out laps while teams try to shake down the car, get everything shipshape as soon as possible, or you get 11 teams apparently sitting on their hands, cars up on jacks, drivers taking naps in the back of their garage. You would think that at the first race weekend of a new season with a whole raft of rules changes that you'd get the former type of P1 session over the latter.
Not so much. Four drivers didn't turn a timed lap, and Lettuce Grosjean never even left the pits with engine problems. Most of the rest turned around 25 laps, though there were quite a few who didn't reach double digits. Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes made it about 400 meters before it stopped on track with an apparent engine failure (it turned out to be a sensor issue, so he'll be back for P2). When cars were on track, they looked squirmy and touchy. And rightfully so: the cars actually have torque now. It looks like the cars are fishtailing out of every slow corner... just thinking about accelerating seems to send them sideways.
It was GLORIOUS.
P2 coming up in a bit... I'll watch most of it, maybe the whole thing, but the writeup will come Friday morning, like as not.
Not so much. Four drivers didn't turn a timed lap, and Lettuce Grosjean never even left the pits with engine problems. Most of the rest turned around 25 laps, though there were quite a few who didn't reach double digits. Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes made it about 400 meters before it stopped on track with an apparent engine failure (it turned out to be a sensor issue, so he'll be back for P2). When cars were on track, they looked squirmy and touchy. And rightfully so: the cars actually have torque now. It looks like the cars are fishtailing out of every slow corner... just thinking about accelerating seems to send them sideways.
It was GLORIOUS.
P2 coming up in a bit... I'll watch most of it, maybe the whole thing, but the writeup will come Friday morning, like as not.
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March 12, 2014
Wow, That's Kinda...Um...
Remember that story I mentioned a few days ago, the one I couldn't get out of my head, the one that I knew I had to get written?
It sucks.
Oh, don't get me wrong, the concept is excellent, top notch, perfect for a short-story. I've just discovered that I'm not entirely sure where to go with it. It isn't flowing the way the last one did. It's coming off really stiff, and while that's somewhat appropriate for one of the characters, I'm not managing to make it interesting at the same time.
Part of me wants to just bury it under a pile of kittylitter and leave it. Another part wants me to keep plugging away on it. Then there's the part that wants me to release what I've completed so far just to see how many of my readers go running for the hills, noses hld delicately betwixt thumb and forefinger.
We'll see.
It sucks.
Oh, don't get me wrong, the concept is excellent, top notch, perfect for a short-story. I've just discovered that I'm not entirely sure where to go with it. It isn't flowing the way the last one did. It's coming off really stiff, and while that's somewhat appropriate for one of the characters, I'm not managing to make it interesting at the same time.
Part of me wants to just bury it under a pile of kittylitter and leave it. Another part wants me to keep plugging away on it. Then there's the part that wants me to release what I've completed so far just to see how many of my readers go running for the hills, noses hld delicately betwixt thumb and forefinger.
We'll see.
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March 10, 2014
F1 on NBCSN: Australia 2014!
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, libbets and bunnymen, welcome to the 2014 Formula 1 season! The past few years have been a little... shall we say "dull"?... but this season should prove to be a little bit different. We'll get to that. But first, we need to look at where we begin. It isn't officially a tradition, but Australia may as well be the home of the first race of the season. What definitely is a tradition is that I now show you the track map of this week's circuit... and here we are:
Melbourne. Australia's cultural capital. Home of the style of dance known as Melbourne Shuffle, the birthplace of Australian film and television, Aussie Rules Football, and the country's oldest and largest public art museum. It's also the location of Albert Park, a public park turned into a world-class racetrack for one weekend a year. As I've mentioned in years past, it's also the perfect place for a F1 season to begin. Consider: it's a fast, but not too fast, circuit, with a nice mix of both quick and slow corners. It's not particularly hard on tires, nor is it particularly difficult for the driver to cope with. Air temperatures are usually right at the point you want them for a modern F1 car, except when it rains. When it does rain, the storms are rarely the type that will completely derail a session (like you can get at Spa, for example). No, the circuit at Albert Park is pretty much the best track on the calendar to start a season with.
Which is important this season, even moreso than normal. That's because of the raft of rules changes that came down the pike for this season, the most obvious of which is the new engine. Gone are the dentist-drill 18000rpm V8s of the past decade. In their place we now have a 1.6 liter turbo-powered V6 hybrid engine at 15000rpm. The hybrid part is interesting... previously we had the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, or KERS, a battery pack that gave the cars about 80hp for six seconds per lap. KERS has now been replaced by ERS-K, a waste-heat recovery device that will provide up to 160hp for 33 seconds/lap. Because of the way this system works, the rear brakes are now "brake by wire", instead of a direct physical linkage. Reportedly, some teams are having problem with this technology, but we'll find out about that later this week. On the whole, the changes seem to have been to the benefit for Williams and have hurt Red Bull... people are already declaring that Seb Vettel won't win the championship this year. I won't go that far, but Australia could go a long way towards telling us what's going to happen this season!
Fortunately for us, the good folks at NBCSN will be doing their level best to get us up to speed and fast! Here's their broadcast schedule:
THURSDAY
Practice 1: 830p - 10p live
FRIDAY
Practice 2: 1230a - 2a live
SATURDAY
Quals: 1a - 230a live
SUNDAY
Grand Prix of Australia: 1230a - 3a live
Here's the good news... this week is Spring Break at Duck U. As a result, the Duck U Bookstore will be closing at 1pm on Thursday and staying closed until Monday morning. That's right, the F1U! team will have the entire weekend free to concentrate on the race! It's been a while since we're found a F1 season to be this intriguing, so we'll be hanging on every rev this race!
We'll see you then, right here!
Melbourne. Australia's cultural capital. Home of the style of dance known as Melbourne Shuffle, the birthplace of Australian film and television, Aussie Rules Football, and the country's oldest and largest public art museum. It's also the location of Albert Park, a public park turned into a world-class racetrack for one weekend a year. As I've mentioned in years past, it's also the perfect place for a F1 season to begin. Consider: it's a fast, but not too fast, circuit, with a nice mix of both quick and slow corners. It's not particularly hard on tires, nor is it particularly difficult for the driver to cope with. Air temperatures are usually right at the point you want them for a modern F1 car, except when it rains. When it does rain, the storms are rarely the type that will completely derail a session (like you can get at Spa, for example). No, the circuit at Albert Park is pretty much the best track on the calendar to start a season with.
Which is important this season, even moreso than normal. That's because of the raft of rules changes that came down the pike for this season, the most obvious of which is the new engine. Gone are the dentist-drill 18000rpm V8s of the past decade. In their place we now have a 1.6 liter turbo-powered V6 hybrid engine at 15000rpm. The hybrid part is interesting... previously we had the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, or KERS, a battery pack that gave the cars about 80hp for six seconds per lap. KERS has now been replaced by ERS-K, a waste-heat recovery device that will provide up to 160hp for 33 seconds/lap. Because of the way this system works, the rear brakes are now "brake by wire", instead of a direct physical linkage. Reportedly, some teams are having problem with this technology, but we'll find out about that later this week. On the whole, the changes seem to have been to the benefit for Williams and have hurt Red Bull... people are already declaring that Seb Vettel won't win the championship this year. I won't go that far, but Australia could go a long way towards telling us what's going to happen this season!
Fortunately for us, the good folks at NBCSN will be doing their level best to get us up to speed and fast! Here's their broadcast schedule:
THURSDAY
Practice 1: 830p - 10p live
FRIDAY
Practice 2: 1230a - 2a live
SATURDAY
Quals: 1a - 230a live
SUNDAY
Grand Prix of Australia: 1230a - 3a live
Here's the good news... this week is Spring Break at Duck U. As a result, the Duck U Bookstore will be closing at 1pm on Thursday and staying closed until Monday morning. That's right, the F1U! team will have the entire weekend free to concentrate on the race! It's been a while since we're found a F1 season to be this intriguing, so we'll be hanging on every rev this race!
We'll see you then, right here!
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March 09, 2014
In The Pipeline
I've been oddly silent the past few days. To some of you, this would be a good thing: "thank VÃðarr for small blessings," you say. Others amongst you are probably thinking something along the lines of "Wonderduck's working on something that's taking a long time... there are many ways that can play out, and very few of them are good." There might even be a couple of you that are wondering just where the hell the decoys are.
The truth of the matter is that I do have a couple of things in the works. Of course, next Sunday is the first F1 race of the season, which means that we'll return to that routine beginning on Monday or Tuesday. Then there's a piece of fiction that's stuck in my head begging to be written... when I realized that I'm thinking about it in the shower, it's a pretty good sign that I've got to get it written up. Then there's installment #2 of the Eva 2.22 writeup that's gotta be done as well.
If this week goes the way I hope, at least two of those will be completed, maybe all three. If it doesn't, well, the F1 stuff'll be done.
See you soon!
The truth of the matter is that I do have a couple of things in the works. Of course, next Sunday is the first F1 race of the season, which means that we'll return to that routine beginning on Monday or Tuesday. Then there's a piece of fiction that's stuck in my head begging to be written... when I realized that I'm thinking about it in the shower, it's a pretty good sign that I've got to get it written up. Then there's installment #2 of the Eva 2.22 writeup that's gotta be done as well.
If this week goes the way I hope, at least two of those will be completed, maybe all three. If it doesn't, well, the F1 stuff'll be done.
See you soon!
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March 06, 2014
F1 Pr0n: Williams-Martini FW 36
Martini is more than just a drink, it's a company... perhaps you've heard of Martini & Rossi? Makers of the world's best selling vermouth? Yeah, that Martini! They've also long been a player in motorsports. They've often sponsored teams, including in Formula 1... and they're back. It was quietly announced last week that Williams F1 and Martini Racing have joined forces for the 2014 season, becoming Williams-Martini. F1 fans with a sense of history eagerly awaited the reveal of the new livery... and today, our patience was rewarded.
Holy crap, that's nice. The Martini stripes are just classy as hell, and the white... well, we haven't had a white car on the grid since the Brawn in 2009, and I think it's long overdue. Just look at it! Just imagine what that's gonna look like under the lights at Singapore!
Yup, that's just flat-out purty. I don't even mind the nose!
We're a week away from Practice 1 at Australia... can you imagine?
Holy crap, that's nice. The Martini stripes are just classy as hell, and the white... well, we haven't had a white car on the grid since the Brawn in 2009, and I think it's long overdue. Just look at it! Just imagine what that's gonna look like under the lights at Singapore!
Yup, that's just flat-out purty. I don't even mind the nose!
We're a week away from Practice 1 at Australia... can you imagine?
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March 04, 2014
To The Mun IV: Let's Go With That
Despite all the best efforts of my Chief Designer, no progress had been made on rescuing Bill Kerman from the surface of the Mun. Failed designs littered the landscape around the Space Center, often in tiny fragments. The problem, it seemed, was providing a seat for our misplaced kerbalnaut... I just couldn't figure out a way to get to the Mun with room to spare for Bill. The three-seat capsule was too big, and the various other passenger units were too heavy for my skillz. It looked like Bill was going to be staying at MunBase I for a while... until I stumbled upon a picture in a book that solved the problem!
This is the Gloster Meteor F8 Dual-Cockpit "prone pilot" test plane. In an attempt to allow pilots to endure higher G forces, the thought was that having the pilot lying down head first might do so. As it turns out, it did, but advances in G suits made the arrangement moot. Plus, the visibility to the rear was horrible, and ejecting added a whole series of problems. But that didn't matter to me, the dual cockpit arrangement triggered something in my brain. Away went the Chief Designer to the drafting table!
Take a Mk1 Cockpit from C7 Aerospace, attach it to a Mk2 Cockpit, and suddenly we've got a solution. The mission is flown from the pointybit, Bill will ride in the back seat, and it will still stack on top of an evolution of the original Mun Launcher I... which we know works. How hard can it be? As it turns out, the design could have saved a bit of weight by using a Mk 1 Capsule from Kerlington Model Rockets and Paper Products, Inc., but two things prevented that. First, aesthetics: the two bits we used are, stylistically, the same. They just look better together. Then, and perhaps more importantly, C7 Aerospace bought uniforms for the Space Center's kerball team.
more...
This is the Gloster Meteor F8 Dual-Cockpit "prone pilot" test plane. In an attempt to allow pilots to endure higher G forces, the thought was that having the pilot lying down head first might do so. As it turns out, it did, but advances in G suits made the arrangement moot. Plus, the visibility to the rear was horrible, and ejecting added a whole series of problems. But that didn't matter to me, the dual cockpit arrangement triggered something in my brain. Away went the Chief Designer to the drafting table!
Take a Mk1 Cockpit from C7 Aerospace, attach it to a Mk2 Cockpit, and suddenly we've got a solution. The mission is flown from the pointybit, Bill will ride in the back seat, and it will still stack on top of an evolution of the original Mun Launcher I... which we know works. How hard can it be? As it turns out, the design could have saved a bit of weight by using a Mk 1 Capsule from Kerlington Model Rockets and Paper Products, Inc., but two things prevented that. First, aesthetics: the two bits we used are, stylistically, the same. They just look better together. Then, and perhaps more importantly, C7 Aerospace bought uniforms for the Space Center's kerball team.
more...
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March 02, 2014
Argh, Feh, ETC
Two days is not long enough to recover from a long week. I need another week off.
Look, here's how tired I've been: I have a new graphics card for Nori, a GTX 650 (this one, as a matter of fact), and I haven't been able to generate the energy to install it, even though it should kick all sorts of asterisk.
Yadda yadda work, yadda yadda tired, yadda yadda blah blah blah. I know, I know, quitcherbitchin' Wonderduck. Sorry. I'm trying.
Look, here's how tired I've been: I have a new graphics card for Nori, a GTX 650 (this one, as a matter of fact), and I haven't been able to generate the energy to install it, even though it should kick all sorts of asterisk.
Yadda yadda work, yadda yadda tired, yadda yadda blah blah blah. I know, I know, quitcherbitchin' Wonderduck. Sorry. I'm trying.
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February 28, 2014
Coming Soon To A Mun Near You...
It's Mun Rescuer Whatever Number We're Up To Now, and I'll be durned if it doesn't seem to be workin' pretty well so far. Bill Kerman's been instructed to pack his stuff before his ride shows up.
Morale is still high.
It's Mun Rescuer Whatever Number We're Up To Now, and I'll be durned if it doesn't seem to be workin' pretty well so far. Bill Kerman's been instructed to pack his stuff before his ride shows up.
Morale is still high.
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February 26, 2014
Laughing Long And Hard
As you all know, I spent all of last semester (and the month of January) in a constant state of panic and fear. Things like "laughter" and "fun" were very far from my vocabulary during that time, to say the least. I spent many, many evenings in my office at the store until 8pm or 9pm, doing paperwork of one sort or another. Now, calling my work area an "office" is something of a misnomer. It's really a desk pushed into the corner of two cinderblock walls, server cabinet against the left end of it, and a cubical dividing wall next to the server to prevent people from just walking in and throwing things at me directly.
That server cabinet is home to an old Dill PickelEdge 2900, multiple rack-mounted thingies, a battery backup that's weighs as much as some of the students at Duck U, about ten miles of cabling, and approximately three thousand, four hundred and fifty four cooling fans. As the ambient temperature in the Bookstore is invariably a uniform 3454°F, those fans are running constantly. Need I say that no two of them alike, so none of them ever sync up, sound wise? Instead of a pleasing rumble akin to white noise, what I actually get from the server cabinet is something like what you'd hear if you shoved Justin Bieber into a woodchipper.
Other than applause, I mean.
If I'm back in my office for any length of time, I try to listen to music to drown it out. Last time I looked, I've got something like 130 songs on my LG dumbphone (it makes calls, it sends and receives texts, it's got a potato for a camera, and it's a mp3 player... and that's it, essentially. Oh, and it's my primary alarm clock, too), ranging from classical (well, orchestral) to rock to dance to electronica to I don't know what it is but I like it. Except there's one tiny problem, and I mean that literally... to whit, the speaker on my phone is approximately 1/37th of an inch in diameter. If you can imagine what it would sound like to have a mosquito singing blue-eyed soul, you've got an idea what my cellphone sounds like. I've tried all the usual tricks: toilet paper tube over the speaker, dixiecup, plastic cup, sheet of paper suspended an inch over the speaker, none of it made a bit of difference. Until, on a whim, I purchased a Xboom. Plugged it in, dialed up something with a large range of sounds, and waited. The result was too much for my fragile body to take, and I was shattered into my component atoms. However, the Xboom was so awesome that it reconstituted me back into my original form. Seriously, if you need a portable speaker system for your laptop or something like that, get a couple of these things.
So this afternoon, I'm back in my office, grooving to some music on the Xboom, when a friend from the staff of Duck U comes in. I didn't turn the music off for a few seconds because I didn't see her come in, but this is what was playing at the time:
My friend, who we'll call Gertrude because that isn't her name, says "Eh, I don't like that singer." Who, Hatsune Miku? "Is that her name? She's a horrible singer." Um, you don't... I mean... "How good can she be," asked Gertrude, "she's clearly got autotune turned up to the max."
Well, you're not wrong, Gertrude. "She just sounds fake."
After Gertrude left, I just laughed and laughed and laughed. And then I went back to paperworking.
Life is still a mess, but at least I had that moment.
That server cabinet is home to an old Dill PickelEdge 2900, multiple rack-mounted thingies, a battery backup that's weighs as much as some of the students at Duck U, about ten miles of cabling, and approximately three thousand, four hundred and fifty four cooling fans. As the ambient temperature in the Bookstore is invariably a uniform 3454°F, those fans are running constantly. Need I say that no two of them alike, so none of them ever sync up, sound wise? Instead of a pleasing rumble akin to white noise, what I actually get from the server cabinet is something like what you'd hear if you shoved Justin Bieber into a woodchipper.
Other than applause, I mean.
If I'm back in my office for any length of time, I try to listen to music to drown it out. Last time I looked, I've got something like 130 songs on my LG dumbphone (it makes calls, it sends and receives texts, it's got a potato for a camera, and it's a mp3 player... and that's it, essentially. Oh, and it's my primary alarm clock, too), ranging from classical (well, orchestral) to rock to dance to electronica to I don't know what it is but I like it. Except there's one tiny problem, and I mean that literally... to whit, the speaker on my phone is approximately 1/37th of an inch in diameter. If you can imagine what it would sound like to have a mosquito singing blue-eyed soul, you've got an idea what my cellphone sounds like. I've tried all the usual tricks: toilet paper tube over the speaker, dixiecup, plastic cup, sheet of paper suspended an inch over the speaker, none of it made a bit of difference. Until, on a whim, I purchased a Xboom. Plugged it in, dialed up something with a large range of sounds, and waited. The result was too much for my fragile body to take, and I was shattered into my component atoms. However, the Xboom was so awesome that it reconstituted me back into my original form. Seriously, if you need a portable speaker system for your laptop or something like that, get a couple of these things.
So this afternoon, I'm back in my office, grooving to some music on the Xboom, when a friend from the staff of Duck U comes in. I didn't turn the music off for a few seconds because I didn't see her come in, but this is what was playing at the time:
My friend, who we'll call Gertrude because that isn't her name, says "Eh, I don't like that singer." Who, Hatsune Miku? "Is that her name? She's a horrible singer." Um, you don't... I mean... "How good can she be," asked Gertrude, "she's clearly got autotune turned up to the max."
Well, you're not wrong, Gertrude. "She just sounds fake."
After Gertrude left, I just laughed and laughed and laughed. And then I went back to paperworking.
Life is still a mess, but at least I had that moment.
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February 24, 2014
Flummoxed
Entirely, completely flummoxed at the moment.
More when circumstances warrant.
UPDATE: Pixy fixed a comment problem, which is nice, but it wasn't the flummoxing problem. I don't think that can't be fixed with a HTML editor.
More when circumstances warrant.
UPDATE: Pixy fixed a comment problem, which is nice, but it wasn't the flummoxing problem. I don't think that can't be fixed with a HTML editor.
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February 22, 2014
Oh... THAT'S What That Is.
Have you ever missed something so badly that you didn't realize you were missing it? "Why, no, Wonderduck," I hear you say placatingly, air pistol full of tranquilizer darts at the ready, "I've never felt that way before."
I'm a reader. My apartment is full of books, only maybe a third of them in bookcases. There are books or magazines in every room of Pond Central save the kitchen (I don't count cookbooks as "books" per se). Reading for pleasure is one of those great luxuries that make living in an literate society such a wonderful experience.
And I haven't done it in well over a year. Don't get me wrong, I've read stuff... mostly MilHist books, looking for that next germ of an idea for a post here. Research on ridiculously esoteric topics that only a small handful of people might find interesting. That's not fun, it's studying. I do it because I want to learn, but it's different from what I'm talking about.
A week or so ago, I was going to leave a comment over at Brickmuppet's place, referencing my favorite science-fiction novel, Starship Troopers. I needed a specific quote, and while I knew it was towards the end of the novel, I didn't remember exactly where... so I began to flip through. In the process, I began to read, instead of skimming. After finding the quote, I shut down my computer, took my well-worn copy of Heinlein's classic book to the Official Comfy Chair of Pond Central, and began to read from the beginning.
After I finished the book a few hours later, I realized I hadn't read any new science fiction (ie - a book I didn't already own) in a very very long time. A quick run to Amazon gained me a few new books, and all I could do is wait for them to arrive. Once they did, I began to devour them... and loved ever second of it. A book accompanied me everywhere that wasn't the Duck U Bookstore (ironically enough). I just finished my third new novel, and it's been so much fun!
I've been so busy, so depressed, so completely wrapped up in everything else, that I simply didn't realize I missed reading for the hell of it. This from a person who used to have to read before he fell asleep at night. It's a bloody bedamned shame, is what it is.
I'm a reader. My apartment is full of books, only maybe a third of them in bookcases. There are books or magazines in every room of Pond Central save the kitchen (I don't count cookbooks as "books" per se). Reading for pleasure is one of those great luxuries that make living in an literate society such a wonderful experience.
And I haven't done it in well over a year. Don't get me wrong, I've read stuff... mostly MilHist books, looking for that next germ of an idea for a post here. Research on ridiculously esoteric topics that only a small handful of people might find interesting. That's not fun, it's studying. I do it because I want to learn, but it's different from what I'm talking about.
A week or so ago, I was going to leave a comment over at Brickmuppet's place, referencing my favorite science-fiction novel, Starship Troopers. I needed a specific quote, and while I knew it was towards the end of the novel, I didn't remember exactly where... so I began to flip through. In the process, I began to read, instead of skimming. After finding the quote, I shut down my computer, took my well-worn copy of Heinlein's classic book to the Official Comfy Chair of Pond Central, and began to read from the beginning.
After I finished the book a few hours later, I realized I hadn't read any new science fiction (ie - a book I didn't already own) in a very very long time. A quick run to Amazon gained me a few new books, and all I could do is wait for them to arrive. Once they did, I began to devour them... and loved ever second of it. A book accompanied me everywhere that wasn't the Duck U Bookstore (ironically enough). I just finished my third new novel, and it's been so much fun!
I've been so busy, so depressed, so completely wrapped up in everything else, that I simply didn't realize I missed reading for the hell of it. This from a person who used to have to read before he fell asleep at night. It's a bloody bedamned shame, is what it is.
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63 queries taking 0.4401 seconds, 409 records returned.
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63 queries taking 0.4401 seconds, 409 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
