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Post #2 of the day, this time for the ChampCar race:
3:07 – Back from the basement. Upside: there was still one Sam Adams Octoberfest in the beer fridge. Downside: the F1 season review is still going. With how often all of these clips are trotted out during the actual season, it seems like a bit of overkill to show them now. Shouldn't we wait a month or two for this, when we've actually forgotten some of it?
3:09 – A look at the Speed boys in Charlotte! Everybody's dressed up for the occasion today. Frankly, I usually imagine these guys sitting around in the studio watching the race in PJ's and slippers. Maybe that's just me.
3:13 – Now is the time for the Speedy Awards? 10 minutes after the season is over? Nothing like a little instant history.
3:14 – Can't take much issue with any of these, except that Matchett has given the "Technical Achievement Award" to the Ferrari gearbox. Too bad this had to be taped before hand, since I'm still convinced it was acting up today, and cost Michael about three positions.
3:16 – Also, "Best On-Track Pass" could have had another contender today with Schumacher going inside Fisi into the Senna Esses. That said, Alonso's pass of Schumacher at Hungary was pretty awesome.
3:17 – Driver of the Year to Schumacher? After purposefully blocking the track in Qualy in Monaco and losing points from wrecking at Hungary while trying to hold off two clearly faster guys? I don't know about that. I've gotta go with Freddy here.
3:22 – Wow, a pretty even-handed retrospective of Michael's career. Nice job by the Speed crew. Plus, we get some great footage of Mike in the Sauber Mercedes sports car and the Jordan F1 car in 1991. Oh, plus the Foo Fighters. Kickin'.
3:25 – And just as I think we're about to head to Surfer's…it's a visit from our friend Sam Posey! Ugh. Shoot me now.
3:27 – At least we get some more Foos…
3:29 – Off to Surfer's! And it's time for the most jarring contrast of the year: not the performance of F1 vs. ChampCars, but the quality of the F1 booth crew vs. Derek Daly and Rick Benjamin. The over/under for mispronunciations plus mis-identified drivers plus inane comments? Vegas has the line at 124 ½. I'll take the "over."
3:32 – Aaaaaah. The grainy footage we always get from Down Under always makes me feel good. Makes me think of John Andretti, and of Senna winning at Suzuka and Adelaide.
3:33 – Yikes. A couple big practice crashes for A.J. and Bourdais. Were the tire barriers placed for maximum carnage potential?
3:34 – And now, we get a graphic for "Final Race Title Surprises." Uh, guys? This isn't the final race. I think if Bourdais starts the last two races, he wins the championship. Even if he's last today, he'll only need like a 14th or so in Mexico to clinch. I wouldn't exactly start talking about championship drama right now.
3:35 – Does it make me a bad person that I chuckle whenever I see Erin Crocker in commercials for the Truck Series? I don't care. Anytime you can make a joke about somebody sleeping their way into a NASCAR ride, I'm laughing. It's something I'm not sure you could accuse Jimmy Spencer of doing…at least I hope not.
3:38 – Time to get some more mileage out of Katherine Legge's massive crash at Road America! Apparently, she made appearances on 10 talk shows. OK, we've got that out of the way for today, now let's let that go.
3:44 – Hey! Mario Dominguez! On your third team this year! Having a great season, though.
3:46 – NASCAR results on my phone! Great. Delete. Note to self: disable NASCAR results text messages before next season. I probably waste 3 whole minutes a year looking at those.
3:47 – What is this paddock profile with the Rocketsports guys? It started as an interview of Wario and his race engineer, and now it's devolved into an explanation of what the buttons on the steering wheel do. Anyway, that was meandering and far-too-long bit. Less pointless stuff, more Bronte Tagliani, please.
3:51 – Now we've got Jon Beekhuis doing his poor man's version of Peter Windsor. It's kind of hard to take him serious, when instead of Flavio Briatore and Rubens Barrichello, we get interviews with Jan Heylen and a very-bummed-out Justin Wilson, missing the start today with a broken wrist. Whoever designed the tire barriers that he crashed into should be fired. Now.
3:56 – Bourdais is the only repeat pole winner this year? These are the things I forget when we go 3+ weeks between races. Let's just say this hasn't been a banner year for the ChampCar series.
4:00 – Good aerial view of Surfer's. Too bad ChampCar will NEVER appear in high def. This would look 80 times better than Martinsville would.
4:01 – Will Power is on the pole today with an on-board camera that looks like it's hanging from a crane that's mounted on his roll hoop. Weird.
4:03 – No start? The first 5 rows looked perfect. When positions 11-17 are inhabited by Heylen, Pizzonia, Zwolsman, Wirth, Legge and the like, I'm afraid that's as good as it's going to get.
4:06 –And now we get a single-file start. The fix is in! There's no other way Power leads through the first chicane over Bourdais if there's a two-by-two start. Can somebody check Tony Cottman's passport to see if he's actually Australian?
4:13 – We learn from Daly that Will Power won "some very big races in Europe" before coming to ChampCar. Of course, it would be too much to ask for the commentators to do any research and find out what those races might have been. This is only their job, after all.
4:18 – A.J.'s on the juice and gets by Servia, but only after doing a little wheel banging at the first chicane. That was less than elegant.
4:19 – Katie is out. Well, I guess that the plus side of her retirements is that it ensures that she'll get some camera time. To say that she's been a little disappointing this year would be a slight understatement.
4:20 – OK, Will Power came from the Renault World Series. Thanks, Derek. I think it's a fair thing to say that no NASCAR commentator would come into a broadcast and not be able to recite the past career stats of that day's polesitter. This is why I should be calling these races remotely from my living room instead of Daly. Not because I'd be a whole lot better, but I'd definitely be cheaper. OK, plus I'd be better.
4:26 – PT past Bourdais, like Sea Bass was tied to something. Uh, oh.
4:26 – Shock of the day: "Sh***y" Dan Clarke is in the tires. Betting on that in Vegas would have won you, um, probably a hand shake.
4:30 – Good lord, melee on pit road. Fire in the Forsythe pits after A.J. takes off with the fuel hose still connected, Briscoe hits somebody coming out of his box, and Paul Tracy spears into Will Power trying to take the lead on pit lane. Moron. Shades of Cleveland in '93 or '94 (I forget) when he did the same thing to teammate Al Unser Jr. (taking both out), or when he did the same to Castroneves at Laguna in about 2000 or 2001. We'll see if Paulie does the same this time around and blames the other guy.
4:33 – Let me get this straight: Tracy is allowed to come in and take tires and fuel under caution and avoid a penalty? No penalty for a malicious attempt to chop the leader in pit lane, and causing damage to another car? Sure, that makes complete sense. I thought Paul was under probation through this race. Apparently, in ChampCar, that means "do whatever you feel like, and we'll just reprimand you again". I think PT would have to stab somebody on the podium to get suspended for a race. At least Daly just called him "an idiot." That cheers me up a little.
4:39 – Apparently, according to Benjamin, "Speedy" Dan Clarke has been "a thrill a minute all year." That's like saying Terrell Owens has "had a few personality differences with some teammates."
4:42 – Points as they run now: Bourdais wins the championship, and Nelson Philippe and Will Power are 4th and 5th. Did my head just spin completely around? What year is this? Where am I? I think I might have just blacked out for about 4 months.
4:48 – What the hell is Katherine Legge doing? Isn't she about 3 laps down after stalling? What business does she have muscling her way past people who are on the lead lap? I've got to say that this is the most disturbing trend with the latest crop of rookies in ChampCar: they have no qualms with racing with people when they are laps down. This is just unacceptable. It's going to take somebody taking out a race leader before anything happens in the way of disciplinary action. Oh, except that Marcus Marshall took out da Matta at Cleveland last year (right in front of where I was sitting) and nothing happened. Good precedent.
4:53 – Daly calls Bourdais "un-champion-like" for his move on Will Power for the lead, damaging Power's car. If Tracy had made that move, Daly and Benjamin would be chuckling and making jokes right now. Sure, it was dumb, but uh, guys? It's racing. That happens. And the championship is clinched, so what did you expect from The Bass?
4:56 – Power is out. Too bad. Good drive by him.
4:56 – Footage from the Atlantic banquet. Thankfully, it's only about 30 seconds worth, as opposed to the seven hour marathon that the NASCAR banquet has become. Who the hell watches the whole thing? I use it as a sleeping aid.
5:00 – We are told by Daly that he expects "Nelson Philippe to hit the front here." He means "take the lead," but I think "hit the leader" might be a little more likely.
5:02 – OK, we've seen Bourdais hit Power about six times now, but could somebody talk a bit more about Tracy and his non-penalty? If he doesn't hit Power and knock off some of Power's aero pieces, maybe Bourdais doesn't have enough speed to get close enough to make a move. Also, Tracy is running 4th and might have a chance at the win on an alternate fuel strategy. I'm going to go throw up now.
5:04 – Philippe proves me an idiot by taking the lead and we get another helping of "what was he thinking of?" from Daly when Servia loses downforce, locks up, and nudges Philippe under braking. Derek, calm down. That was clearly not on purpose from Oriol.
5:07 – We go to commercial and find out that Andreas Wirth is in 7th. Wha? He had a decent year in Atlantics, but I don't think anybody thought that this was going to happen. You might want to pick up some Powerball tickets when you get back to the states, Dre.
5:13 – A.J. accepts at least half of the blame for his accident that was assisted by the gearbox acting up. I'm not sure that that interview would have gone quite the same with someone like Tracy.
5:17 – Tracy appears to have pitted and rejoined in front of Philippe. Now he's in the catbird seat for the win. I may protest and not watch Mexico City if Tracy is allowed to win this race.
5:21 – I'd like to point out that we're almost 90% of the way through the Surfer's Paradise ChampCar race and we haven't seen a single shot of a bikini clad girl on the beach. Have the political correctness police gotten to the SpeedTV guys, or have they just forgotten who their target audience is?
5:22 – A flurry of activity during the commercial: Servia has retired with a gearbox problem and Heylen and Katherine have hit various things. Daly: "I think Katherine's had about six incidents today." Ladies and gentlemen, ChampCar's answer to Danica Patrick!
5:23 – Look, don't get me wrong, I like Katherine Legge, and I think she's a decent driver, but she clearly came up to ChampCar at least a year too soon. She's been in way over her head all year, and the improvement I've been hoping would be gradual over the course of the season has been non-existent. She's just as capable of rearranging tire barriers at any given moment now as she was at Long Beach. I can only hope that they can give her about 10,000 more testing miles over the winter, and maybe some time doing wheel-to-wheel stuff in a shifter kart or something.
5:26 – We learn that Derek Daly gets all of his "insider information" from autoracing1.com. You've got to be kidding. Why bother earning your salary as a TV personality by talking to actual people in the paddock, when you can sit in your hotel room and surf the 'net?
5:28 – For the record, I'm very excited about the new Panoz ChampCar. It looks great, and should put on some fantastic racing next year. It's just too bad that there might only be a few legit championship contenders left (Tracy, Bourdais, Wilson) after Allmendinger goes to NASCAR and Bruno gets fired in favor of Graham Rahal.
5:33 – Huh? Tracy and Wario have to trade places? Too bad we don't have any footage of the pass under yellow. And why isn't Pizzonia getting out of the way of the leaders here?
5:35 – Daly claims that Wario is one of the "great late brakers." Ha! Can we just simply call him a "late braker," please?
5:37 – Philippe, Dominguez and Tracy do their best to make a three car pile-up and give the win to Tags, but fail and continue driving. Too bad.
5:38 – Tracy has to get behind Tags to "give back the time"? What? Since when is this a rule? Tracy short-cutted the chicane, and fell back in behind Dominguez, exactly where he was before. Believe me, I'm not bashful about asking for Paul Tracy to be penalized for things, but this is bullshit.
5:41 – This race has officially attained "train wreck" status. Inexplicable penalties and non-penalties, lots of incidents, most of which took place off camera, and a weird leaderboard. I know that this tends to happen in Australia, but this seems worse than usual.
5:44 – We learn that Dominguez needs "an extra brake pad," because he's such a late braker. Um, that's not a good thing. That means he overdrives his equipment.
5:51 – One lap to go and Wario is close. Plus, he's got some juice left. But, he just spun the wheels coming on to the backstretch when as Daly says, "the traction control didn't take off there." Of course, these cars haven't had traction control in three years, but who's paying attention?
5:52 – The win goes to Nelson Philippe! He's far from my favorite driver, but I guess he deserved this one. When you can stay out of trouble on a day like this, you deserve to wind up in the top five.
5:53 – And a quick championship montage for Bourdais, set to some 1988 vintage Van Halen. Good times. It bothers me, though, that they keep comparing his run of three straight championships to Ted Horn's. I can't imagine that this crop of drivers is quite as deep as what Horn had to beat. Nowadays, apparently any dork with a million dollars can be a ChampCar driver.
5:58 –Jon Beekhius: "Nelson Philippe, you've joined the ranks of such illustrious company of John Andretti and Mario Dominguez as a driver who has won his first career race at Surfer's Paradise. How does that make you feel, to follow in those guys' footsteps, knowing there's a better-than-good chance that your career will follow the same arc?" OK, maybe that's just what I'd have asked.
6:00 – Well, it's been an up and down day. Alonso and Bourdais did manage to sew up their respective championships, and we've had a couple of novel winners in Massa and Philippe. Oh, and the most prolific winner (note how I did not say "greatest driver") in Formula 1 history retired. I'm feeling a little unfulfilled after all of that. Good thing there's more Labatt's in the fridge. Enjoy the three week break until Mexico City. And don't forget to keep ignoring NASCAR. Just remember that it's for the good of racing.
Greetings from Speed Geek HQ! I figured today, being the last big racing day of the year with ChampCar from Australia and the finale of Michael Schumacher's career, plus rainy and cold outside to boot, would be a great time to co-opt Bill Simmons' running diary idea. So, here goes, with 5 hours of racing action coming at ya!
First, I'll be making no apologies to the length or coherence of this post. This blog is meant for my amusement only, so whatever I produce comes with no money-back guarantee for reader satisfaction. I will say, though, that I'm cheating a bit with the "live diary," since it turns out that Sam's Club is a terrible idea at 12:00 on a Sunday. I'm starting 80 minutes behind, but thanks to our new Comcast DVR, I'm going to pretend we're live:
12:30 – Not sure how I feel about Schumacher's last race. I was a big fan for the first 8 or 9 years of his career, but over the last few years, it has become apparent that he's actually not all that admirable (Monaco this year was the last straw for me). And, it'll be better to have four or five top drivers vying for race wins, instead of wondering whether or not anybody can beat Michael every week. But, that said, it won't be the same without him around.
12:32 – First throw-down to Peter Windsor. A great idea for this year. Dough well-spent to get someone on the ground at the race. Varsha, Hobbs, and Matchett do a great job, given that they're sitting in a booth in Charlotte with the same TV feed we're seeing, but it's nice to have somebody at the race to conduct actual interviews and tell us some of the behind-the-scenes stuff.
12:36 – Apparently there is a "Speedy Award" for "Best Race." Who gets to put that award on their mantle? Bernie? Max Mosely, for effective rules manipulation? I think the ESPY thing has gone a little too far.
12:37 – Windsor: "Jarno, prospects for the race?"
Trulli: "We're going straight to the back." (Maybe that wasn't the actual answer, but it should have been.)
12:42 – Scott Speed's best memory of the year is of getting a point in Australia? Something that didn't actually happen? Yikes. Let's try to get an actual point today, shall we, Scooter?
12:43 – Windsor: "We look forward to seeing you (Giancarlo Fisichella) as Renault's team leader net year." Or at least until you're fired at mid-season for being the most disappointing #1 driver in F1 history.
12:44 – Windsor: "Misour Todt, can I ask you a quick question."
Todt shakes head and turns away. Ha! That's a new one. High comedy.
12:48 – It's truly too bad that Mikey's starting in the mid-pack today, but it'll be fun to watch him march to the front. The only guy who can match his pace is Felipe, but I just can't see him keeping it together all day to score the home-town victory. How long before Michael's in second? I say 12 laps.
12:50: Kimi's best memory of the year? "Ghsouhkduykjhgjh." Or at least, I think that's what he said. He kills me. Today's SAT question: Dikembe Mutubo is to Simmons as __________ is to The Speedgeek. Answer: Kimi Raikkonen. Every interview is a virtual treasure trove of monotone, barely intelligible answers.
12:54 – The official time of the first overly dramatic, but somewhat hilarious Schumacher tribute. Can't imagine that it'll be the same in 10 years when Alonso quits with 4 titles and 35-45 race wins (depending on McLaren's ability to get it together in the next few years).
12:56 – Track analysis by the still-sober Hobbs. I'm just waiting for his first Flavio Briatore impression after about his third gin and tonic in about an hour and 20 minutes. My favorite part of every F1 weekend.
12:58 – There's no doubt that Alonso brings home the Drivers title today, but I think it's a mortal lock that Fisi poops the bed and finishes 10th or so to cost Renault the Manufacturer's title. Lipe might have a botched pitstop or a lurid spin that may cost him the race, but he's still going to beat Fisi and bring home the necessary points for Ferrari.
1:00 – Hobbs: "Could be Yamamoto's last race for Aguri today." You think?
1:02 – Boogity, boogity, boogity, boys! Michael gets both BMWs at the end of the backstraight, and Webber loses his rear wing. Better luck at Red Bull next year, Marky Mark. He deserves better.
1:04 – Ooh, a reference to a good Surfer's race by Varsha! Yeehaaa!
1:04 – Yikes, a gigantic write-off for Nico. And Mark's parked. Too bad for Williams. This season was worse than the Supertec days back in 1999 and 2000. Hope the Toyota marriage next year is good for them.
1:07 – Nico took Mark's wing (and his own front wing) off? Just start walking to the airport now, buddy. You're better off in hand-to-hand combat with Sao Paulo's street gangs than facing Patrick Head right now.
1:11 – Heidfeld took the door off the safety car here in 2002? How have I never seen footage of that? I'll be off to Youtube directly after the race.
1:12 – No way Schu doesn't slice up Fisi on this restart. I wish I could bet on this stuff. It's money in the bank.
1:14 – Did Rubens fall asleep during the Safety Car? He was 2+ seconds down to Mikey by the line? I'd think the teams should practice these things during testing. Aren't restarts more valuable than doing about 200 laps trying to find another 0.05 seconds per lap?
1:17 – Crud. Flat for Michael. That's a little anticlimactic. A shame, really. Well, a point by Renault will clinch the Constructor's now. Jean and Ross can have the red guys start packing stuff up now, except that Michael will undoubtedly lower the fastest lap about 25 times before the end of the day.
1:20 – Both Toyotas out at the same time? Unreal. What a hideous season for them. And I can't see next year being any different with those two drivers. Ralf sucks and Jarno is snakebitten. Bad, bad re-signings there. You'd be better off putting Ryan Briscoe and Franck Montagny in those cars and saving yourself $25 million a year.
1:22 – Scooter in 10th! Nice. This live diary thing is making me miss stuff, though. No way Varsha points that out before I notice it, on any other day.
1:25 – Crazy Dave Coulthard out. Too bad. Disappointing season there. It'll be fun watching him try to keep up with Marky Mark next year. Oh, and his interview in qualifying was his highlight of the year. "What happened? Don't know. Car's slow."
1:27 – 11 retirements for Webber this year? Yikes. I wouldn't be surprised to see him with a sniper rifle on top of the press box by the end of the day.
1:29 – I know that it's an open question as to whether or not Lewis Hamilton is going to race for McLaren next year, but I think it's a done deal. He kicked ass in GP2 like no body else has for a few years in F3000 (Montoya was probably the last guy who impressed me as much at that level). Sign him, and start testing him tomorrow.
1: 33 – How are Rubens and Fisi drag racing in pit lane for position? Honda shouldn't be even close to Renault's pace here. Fisi will be fired before France next year.
1:35 – You've got to figure that Lipe is not going to lap Michael here. I don't care that he's running quicker, Mike just can't go down a lap.
1:35 – Lipe is in. Nevermind. Although, if he can keep his head, and nothing befalls him at the next stop, this race is over. Ooh, or might Freddy be on a 1-stopper?
1:39 – Fred's in. Race's over, if Lipe can keep the dirty side down.
1:43 – Button goes by Kimi with barely any protest? No way. Kimi must already be trying to decide what topless beach he's heading to after the race.
1:44 – A vicious chop by Vito Liuzzi on Heidfeld. Rookie mistake by Vito. How 'bout Bobby Kubica, though? I didn't see him doing a fraction of what he's been able to do this year. Maybe there is something to the whole idea of plucking somebody out of Formula Fords, giving him about 40,000 miles of testing laps, then giving him a race drive.
1:47 – Petey DLR up to 2nd driving a silver tanker-trailer on a 1-stop strategy. Not sure how I feel about guys using that strategy. Seems kind of like Max Papis's wins in ChampCar: sneaking in through the back door. But, I guess it works, and it is a legit strategy, no pay no attention to me.
1:53 – Next year, I'm totally starting the Berkley F1 Crew, so I can get a Varsha shout-out. That'd make my week.
1:54 – Fast lap by Schuey. No surprise there.
1:55 – So, Michael gets to take this car home with him? Do you suppose that he's going to sit in it on Sunday afternoons with the F1 races on TV and the sound turned all the way up? I would.
1:57 – Disappointing sequence by the Speed guys when they miss Schumacher going slowly for about three corners and letting Kubica back by. He obviously went off, or at least got in the marbles and took a second cleaning the tires off. OK, Matchett has just had that idea. Nevermind, but that was the first misstep by the Speed guys. I wonder if Derek Daly will be able to go almost an hour and a half without making a mistake today? I'll be happy with a minute and a half.
2:00 – Scooter is behind Taku with the same number of stops? Anyone care to explain how that happened?
2:03: - The 2006 highlight clip for this week includes Takuma Sato hitting Schumacher with his BAR. Uh, I don't think that happened this year…
2:06 – Michael makes his last stop and comes back out in 8th. This could be interesting to see if he can get up into the podium positions…
2:08 – Heikki Kovaleinen has got to be stoked for next year. You just know he's going to embarrass Fisichella before the season gets back to Europe next year. Best case scenario for the new guy: great car, subpar team leader. That's a recipe for unquestioned #1 status for 2008.
2:11 – Lipe's in! And the upset of the day: no problems in pitlane. Improbable. Look out for Vito Liuzzi, though…
2:14 – Even if Freddy comes out behind Button, there's no way Jenson keeps him behind for the rest of the race. Fred's back out of the pits in 2nd.
2:15 – Michael with a rare fist wave at Yamamoto. Fully merited, though. Can we put Anthony Davidson in that car for the rest of the race?
2:18 – Schu vs. Fisi Part 2. Will it be the same as 40 laps ago? Nope, Michael inexplicably slows for two corners and lets Fisi get away. Must have a transmission problem. I don't buy the explanation that it was bad understeer for one corner. You don't lose 2 seconds in one corner from understeer.
2:21 – Our first look at Cris Albers…and he's thrown it off the road. Big surprise.
2:22 – Surprise: Hobbs still sounds sober. Not a surprise: Varsha is busting on Hobbs for being old.
2:24 – Also not a surprise: Fisi folds under the pressure and chucks the car off the road under pressure from Michael. Feeling good about that lineup for next year, Flavio?
2:26 – Someone has obviously gone off…and it's Quick Nick Heidfeld, with a massive suspension failure at the end of the front straight. Promoting Scooter to 11th. Now, we just need Jenson, Kimi, Freddy and Michael to have a pile up and we'll have the first point for an American since Monza 1993. It hasn't been a great time to be an American F1 fan for the last decade and a half.
2:30 – The race director keeps switching from Kimi and Michael to Massa. Which makes sense, since Lipe's got a 24 second lead and these are the last 5 laps of Michael's career.
2:31 – Wow. Michael with an absolutely breathtaking pass on Kimi for 4th. And the Ferrari guys are going nuts. As well they should. I'll miss that kind of stuff next year.
2:34 – Unreal. Michael cuts fastest lap on the next to last lap of his career.
2:35 – Lipe brings home a fantastic flag-to-flag win, Freddy brings home the title, Michael finishes on Jenson's gearbox, and Fisi is driving straight off the track to the airport, before Flavio can take a swing at him for conning Flav into re-signing his contract for next year.
2: 39 – Gonna be a fun podium, with Lipe and Freddy crying and Jenson Button attempting to chug an entire bottle of champagne.
2:44 – I've got my fingers crossed that we can at least get Michael on to the podium for one last leap. It's become tiresome over the years, the "I just crushed these guys, and I could still run a marathon" leap, but it's our last chance to see it. That is, until Dale Coyne signs him to drive in ChampCar next year. Or not.
2:49 – A big swig of champagne for Ross Brawn. Gonna miss him next year. There's no way Ferrari can maintain their level of competitiveness without him.
2:53 – Felipe: "The easiest race of my life." You can say that again. And Windsor is officially trying as hard as he knows how to make Felipe cry again. No dice, though.
2:55 – Windsor: "Fernando, can you say a few words about Michael today."
Freddy: "He's a punk-ass. Smell ya later." That might have only happened in my head.
2:57 – Gah! Jenson Button is growing a horrible "playoffs beard." Thank God the season is over, because he looks like a freshman at college who's come home for Thanksgiving. Shave that thing and get back to dating supermodels already.
3:00 – I've gotta say, the championships came out exactly as they should have. Nobody wound up with an inflated points total due to, say, 7 teams sitting out a race or something.
3:03 – Is this the best time for a post-season rundown? Isn't there a ChampCar race to throw it to? I know it's tape delay and all, but there's a 5 month off-season that's made for stuff like this.
3:04 – Time for a quick bathroom break and a run to the beer fridge to grab a couple of Labatt's before our descent into Dalydom for two and a half hours. Back in a minute.
Posted by The SpeedGeek at 1:19 PM 1 comment: Links to this post
Back...for the 8th time!
Sorry 'bout the last three months. Been in a coma. Let me guess, Alonso and Bourdais wrapped up their respective championships months ago, Jaques Villeneuve has been reconfirmed at BMW with a 6-year contract after five straight podium finishes, Michael Schumacher has bought MF1 and will drive for them for an Emmerson Fittipadi-esque ending to his career (teaming with Ralf as his Wilson Fittipaldi, no less), and Grand-Am realized that their racing was solid, but that attracting crowds in the double digits wouldn't sustain a series, so they folded up? Oh, none of the above?
Well, Bourdais and Alonso will clinch this weekend anyway, and ALMS at Laguna into the late-evening should be good watching, especially if Dyson can find a bit of extra speed on a track that should suit them. The season is almost over (4 total races left in the series that don't suck, ALMS, ChampCar and F1...OK, ChampCar kind of sucks, but not as much as the Junior-Gordon-Stew-This Week's Villian Show), so sit on down and enjoy some racing this weekend while you can.
Hopefully, there will be some extra posts coming soon about crap that's happened in the last few months that I didn't have a chance (read: was far, far too lazy) to write about. Namely, a somewhat entertaining trip to the Michigan IRL race, a rockin' karting excursion to Western Pennsylvania by Yours Geeky, and all of the other racing-related nonsense of the past half-season. Thanks for tuning back in. Uh, all three of you.
Posted by The SpeedGeek at 12:49 PM No comments: Links to this post
Post #2 of the day, this time for the ChampCar rac...
Greetings from Speed Geek HQ! I figured today, bei...


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Second to only, maybe, bassists, they're the member in the band considered most replaceable: you can just pull some chump off the street, sit him behind a kit, and on with the show.
According to science, however, drummers aren't the mouth-breathing neanderthals humorists have made them out to be.
News and analytics site Poly Mic compiled a group of studies that indicate drummers are not only generally smarter than their bandmates, they actually make everyone around them smarter too.
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English to Italian: It's official: drummers are smarter than you (and everybody else) ( field: Medical Detailed field: Music Source text - English Far too often, drummers have been given the shaft.


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ESTABLISHED IN 1988, AZTEC HAS BECOME ONE OF THE UK'S BEST KNOWN AND RESPECTED FIT OUT, REFURBISHMENT AND CONSTRUCTION SPECIALISTS.
Operating nationally from our headquarters in Liverpool, Aztec is one of the UK's most experienced fit-out and construction businesses and one of the only contractors able to provide a true turnkey solution.
your project on time and on budget.
Moving to a new office gave MSB the opportunity to completely refresh its corporate look. As a progressive, forward thinking company, with a can-do attitude, the firm wanted to create a clean and vibrant office space that reflected its core values. 4 St Pauls, in the heart of Liverpool's Commercial District, was finally selected – the most prestigious location for professional services firms in the city.
Griffiths & Armour is a global insurance broker. Headquartered in Liverpool, the firm also has offices in Manchester, Dublin and London. Following continued growth, Griffiths & Armour needed to relocate its headquarters to provide more space for its growing team.
When Matthew Kennedy and Karl Connolly founded Avenue HQ, their mission was to create high quality, collaborative workspace that helps businesses to accelerate growth; to create spaces where start-ups work alongside, and are supported by, established businesses. It wouldn't be your average co-working space.


text:
ALI AHMED | 19 AUGUST, 2019
No First Use - Escalating Scenarios
The nuclear threat
Manohar Parrikar having muddied the waters in venting his 'personal' thoughts on India's signal pledge in the nuclear domain, of No First Use (NFU), it is now the turn of the latest incumbent in the game of musical chairs played with the defence minister portfolio, Rajnath Singh.
Elbowed out by a man from Gujarat from being number two in the Modi cabinet, he has not even made a trip to Kashmir where the military that supposedly reports to him is instead looking to the national security adviser camping out for orders.
Finally, Rajnath Singhh has got his foot into history's door, with his bit on the NFU. Rajnath Singh had it that while currently NFU is the professed doctrine, it cannot be said that this would hold true in the future.
The timing of his intervention suggests this is part of the security orchestration surrounding the constitutional jiggery-pokery played by the ruling party over Kashmir. While there are prospects of an opening up of the nearly two week long lockdown in Kashmir, the situation may be about to unravel. If this happens, then it would open up space for Pakistani meddling. In order to deter Pakistan, India is baring its fangs.
The northern army commander chimed in timely on television screens warning of memorable retribution in case Pakistan fishes in troubled waters. From Pakistani reportage, the Line of Control (LC) appears at boiling point. Clearly, India, unconvinced by its own propaganda - that it has ridden out the storm in Kashmir - knows this was the lull before the storm. It therefore needs keeping Pakistan deterred.
Pakistani diplomacy has hit the high water mark in forcing a closed door informal session of the UN Security Council on Kashmir - the first in half century. It has decisively busted India's aborted attempt at selling the line that Kashmir is an 'internal matter' and, therefore, there is nothing left to discuss.
Instead, Pakistani diplomatic agility has retrieved Kashmir's status as a bilateral issue, best evidenced by India's reiterating its usual line – 'stop terror for talks'. Pakistan could carry its diplomatic offensive into the halls of the General Assembly that is to be addressed by both prime ministers, come September.
There is no need for Pakistan for reviving the proxy war just yet, when India has set alight a prospective civilian uprising and an insurgency on its very own. The civilian angst at being subject to constitutional violence upfront and undeclared Emergency measures will likely be registered on Kashmir's streets in a replay of 1990 soon.
Under the circumstance there are two scenarios of escalation. One - more familiar - originates in Pakistan and the other - arguably more germane - in India.
The Pakistan-origin possibility of down-slide is one brought about by pressures within Pakistan from its 'good terrorists' to profit from India's discomfiture. The army may not wish to sit out a tempting opportunity of turmoil across the LC. Not only would Pakistan's army not want to be outflanked by its jihadi affiliates, it would also not want its civilian side stealing a march internally over it through an efficacious diplomatic showing. It has in any case to cast a lifeline to the insurgency, which is otherwise liable to whither without an influx of warlike material for the fresh set of youth who are likely to take to the gun.
General Bajwa, though identified with the quiescent Bajwa doctrine, has an extension coming up. Seeing lack of reciprocation on India's part for his overtures over the past two years as a failure of his doctrine, he may have to reinvent himself. Depending on how the developments in Afghanistan shape up, he could take up cudgels. This would make him indispensable, enabling an extension for continuity and implementation.
This would be of a piece with Imran Khan's framing of the Indian regime as fascist. The abiding lesson of history is that Nazism cannot be appeased. Pakistan may believe it needs preventive measures militarily, using the tried and tested proxy war strategy. Counter intuitively, a preventive war - otherwise unaffordable due to dire financial straits - has dividend. It will timely bring the Kashmir issue to a head, before the gap between India and Pakistan becomes unbridgeable.
In a second scenario, of triumphalism duly deflated by the onrush of events in Kashmir, India may look to scapegoat Pakistan. This is where Imran Khan's apprehension of a 'black operation' and a Pulwama 2.0 kicks in. India needs a diversion from its predicament in Kashmir. Pakistan and its renewed interest in Kashmir would come handy. A war would enable Modi to kill yet another bird with one stone, enabling a projection onto Pakistan of blame for a mismanaged economy, reportedly heading south.
This explains the coincidence in timing of India's creation of a chief of defence staff - to wage war jointly - and Rajnath Singh's drawing attention to India's nuclear options, since such a war can go nuclear.
Essentially, he has said that India is bound by NFU only in peace time. The draft nuclear doctrine, on which India's official nuclear doctrine is based, first made the fine distinction of 'peace time', presumably from a contrasting time of war.
Its NFU has been downplayed ever since, with a national security adviser of a predecessor government, in a literal interpretation of the draft, holding that even the 'initiation' of a nuclear strike by an adversary could automatically result in India not being bound by the pledge.
Rajnath Singh is only being candid on the NFU being a bit of a subterfuge, to make Indians feel good as responsible custodians of the Bomb and to allow the nuclear bazaar a loosening up of controls on nuclear material and technology traffic to India.
A reference to the nuclear domain at this juncture then warns of India keeping a military-conventional route open to bail itself out in Kashmir. This makes for the plausibility of the latter scenario.
A deterrence rationale hardly serves to legitimise India's signalling. Modi's 'New India' may yet have war as its midwife.
Ali Ahmed is visiting professor at the Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Cloud Imperium Games have announced a new ship coming to Star Citizen - 2949 Arrow by Anvil Aerospace. This new fighter will offer unmatched maneuverability, decent firepower and will not be pricey, at least by Star Citizen standards.
Like the name, the trailer and the header image suggest, this new ship's designers took heavy inspiration from good old arrowheads. This particular tip will cost $79, a price equal to a deluxe edition of a AAA game, but the funds will be used to develop Star Citizen further, as well as Squadron 42.
Arrow is not just the proverbial pretty face though, since the ship is touted as an extremely fast and maneuvrable vessel that can carry quite the punch. Its armour will likely not be too sturdy, in order to balance out the strong points.
The best part about the Arrow may be the fact that it's already available, meaning it those who are joining in as free to play guests will be able to give this beauty a spin themselves, at no cost. Those who want to hop into the newest addition may do so by visiting Hurston's Anniversary museum and the best part is that it will apparently be available for the entirety of Free Flight event.
Speaking of which, Hurston is the new planet in Star Citizen and also the reason why the game started receiving more positive views lately. Another reason for this turn of events is the Free Flight event itself that apparently brought more players than Cloud Imperium Games hoped for. This resulted in the official website crashing and the inability to preview Arrow, among other ships there.
There is no doubt that Chris Roberts' vision, and therefore Star Citizen - is a sight to behold, but it is also slowing down development, which is one of the reasons why some people are sceptical about the game's future. Currently, there is no way to obtain ships in it other than murdering your wallet, since this is the funding model. Many will become grindable when the game launches. If it launches.


This is a beautiful set! I love it! The detail is wonderful! It's light and comfortable. The colors are as pictured. This is a great value!
The Belle Bedding Collection provides an elegant look to your home. The top of the comforter is a mix of navy, dusty blue, and taupe with piecing details while the taupe section has an embroidered floral pattern for a soft divide from these bold colors. Made from polyester dupioni, this fabric will produce a shine and pick up the light on both the comforter and shams. The decorative pillows come in a combination of solids, stripes, and embroidery to pull this whole set together. Set includes one comforter, two matching shams, one bedskirt, three decorative pillow.
The Madison Park Belle Navy Comforter Set arrived yesterday and is perfect for my room. The colors are as shown and the design is attractive and elegant. I spent a lot of time looking online and in brick and mortar stores for the "right" comforter set. I am glad I persevered until I found the right one. This is it.
Nice quality, very well made, colors are true to life. I have it in my master bedroom with the walls a brownish gold, it really brightens it up and looks stunning. Looks great with white sheets.
Very nice set. Well made and sooo pretty! I do wish the flowers were also on the middle section and not just on the bottom section but overall I love the look and happy with the quality. It's warm too, not just decorative.
very nice set. only problem is the stitches used to hold the bedding, instead of changing them to beige on the beige section, they kept the navy blue thread. looks a little "off". but other than that, I'm very happy with the set.
I bought this and the matching valance for my bedroom. It looks amazing. I love the contrasting blue colors. Gives our bedroom a very warm feel. Super happy with our purchase.
This set is beautiful! My bed looks lovely but not overly feminine and the whole room feels brand new. Thank you Overstock!
Beautiful comforter, made very well, very pretty detail. I'm very happy and would definitely recommend it.
This is really a beautiful set. The colors are exactly as pictured and all of the pieces are well made.
Love it! Great value....looks more expensive.
Very happy with this purchase. I wanted to get something special for my daughter for Christmas and decided to let her pic. She is very happy so far!
Very pretty, love it. I love the colors, goes perfect in the spare room.
So snuggly soft and warm. Color true to photo. I love it!!
Fabulous quality for the price.
Awesome...pictures do not do it justice.
"Do you sell the rug pictured with this comforter set?"
Unfortunately no, the rug is not available.
"How heavy is the comforter? Is it good for warmth? Very hard to tell in the picture."
It's not very heavy. I have a sheet and a blanket on the bed with the comforter. It's pretty and I also bought the shower curtain to match in my master suite. Nice quality.
I liked the feminine look and the shades of blue.
"Can the throw pillows be purchased separately?"
The throw pillows are not in stock, unfortunately.
"You can only see the bottom half of the comforter. Does it keep repeating the pattern seen in the picture?"
The top portion of the comforter is the lighter blue (solid) color. Then an embroidered panel like the bottom embroidered panel. I really like this comforter. The colors in the picture are accurate.


Moore College's next Centre for Christian Living event for the year will be on 'The dignity of work'.
What is the nature of work? Does God care about our work? What role does work play in the Christian life?
Moore College lecturers Chase Kuhn and Peter Orr will be speaking on the nature of work and its place in the Christian life on Wednesday 17 May, from 7:30 to 9:30pm in the Marcus Loane Hall, Moore College. Supper will be served afterwards.
In other news: CCL now has a podcast: https://ccl.moore.edu.au/listen/podcast/. Our first episode contained a fascinating and stimulating interview with Moore College lecturer David Höhne on the concept of the self in the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Be sure to subscribe for more.


Dentures need daily care. For complete dentures, brush your gums and tongue with a soft-bristled brush before inserting your dentures. Take your dentures out of your mouth and brush them at least once a day. Place them in water or a denture-cleansing liquid while you sleep.
Wearer of dentures must give proper attention on the dentures like the way he or she cared for the natural teeth. The dentures must be taken to the specialists, so that the food particles and other bacteria found will be removed from them. If the dentures are not given proper care, the sensitive gums will be diseased and you have to meet the bad results. It is wise to have t habit of cleaning the dentures daily, you will not meet the bad results like gums diseases and bad breath.
Handling a denture requires care. It's a good idea to stand over a folded towel or a sink of water just in case you accidentally drop the denture. Brush the denture each day to remove food deposits and plaque. Brushing your denture helps prevent the appliance from becoming permanently stained. It's best to use a brush that is designed for cleaning dentures.
A denture brush has bristles that are arranged to fit the shape of the denture. A regular, soft-bristled toothbrush is also acceptable. Avoid using a brush with hard bristles, which can damage the denture.


text:
Save the Safety-Net
SES Proposal
Support for California's Safety-Net
Key to Achieving Health Equity
For Our State's Most Vulnerable
Private Essential Access Community Hospitals (PEACH) serve California's most vulnerable populations, providing essential care to Californians who need it.
Every Californian deserves access to equitable health care. The communities that suffer from unequal access to health care and health status share a common obstacle toward achieving an equal chance at a health life: a lack of resources caused by underinvestment and systematic underfunding of health care, driven in large part by government policy.
Community safety-net hospitals leave no Californian behind, create innovative solutions to equitably serve their communities and adapt to the needs of their communities to address challenges unique to California's safety- net. But, to truly achieve health equity, more resources must be delivered to the communities that need it, so that California's safety-net providers can serve them as those in more affluent communities.
Click here to read the full whitepaper by California's Essential Access Community Hospitals.
1107 9th Street, Suite 1001 Sacramento, CA 95814 | 916.446.6000 | Email Us
© 2022 by PEACH.


Sight is one of the most important, but also the most overloaded sense. You should help it with suitable food supplements with active ingredients for your eyes.
Sight is one of the most important senses for us, but despite this we overload it on a daily basis. There are many factors which can have a negative influence on our sight, such as improper lighting, stress, smoking or polluted environment. To help our sight, we can use various vitamins and minerals, which we should add to our daily diet. But the missing substances can be added to our body also by using food supplements. A positive effect on the functioning of the eyes can have for example a regular intake of carotenoids – lutein and zeaxanthin. Another beneficial substance for healthy sight is blueberry extract or zinc, which contributes to the maintenance of the correct state of sight and normal cognitive functions. All these substances can be found in our food supplements suitable for your sight.


Inviting visitors to a San Diego Pros meeting is an art and its success starts with your mindset.
We don't invite people to become members, we just invite them to check out the meeting. Joining is their own decision and it is our job to demonstrate the value of the group to them.
We do this by being on time, being fully present and focused on the meeting (not on our phones) and making sure to pass referrals every week.
Even if a visitor just comes to one meeting, their attendance has the potential to increase your business network, grow sphere of influence and lead to potential strategic alliances.
It is our responsibility to invite visitors and to make sure they are well looked after at the meeting. How we present ourselves as a team and the energy we create has a strong influence on the visitor's decision to join the group or not.
As a member, your responsibility is to successfully invite a minimum of six visitors a year. One every two months! How many have you invited to date?
Not everyone you invite will accept the invitation and not everyone who says they will come will come. If we want to get six people to attend we will possibly have to invite eighteen. To do this we need to get comfortable talking to people, even strangers to create a pipeline of people we can bring to the table. We need to get our mindset right about why we are inviting. Remember, each visitor has the potential to dramatically increase your business.
Let's face it, it is easier to develop your business working with warm market contacts than it is trying to outspend your competition in advertising. Everyone who sits at the conference table has the potential to become a warm market contact. Treat them well, develop a follow up marketing strategy and you will be able to open any door you want.
But first we have to get them to the breakfast table.
The following notes are practical and proven to work. Choose the ones to suit you and don't be afraid to stretch your comfort zone. If you want to grow your business you must grow yourself.
SCRIPT A: Script to use when calling people you already know.
"How are you? Let me tell you why I'm calling.
I'm working with a group of professional business people in San Diego and they are looking for a Biscuit Designer to refer ongoing business to.
"Great, in that case perhaps we can arrange for you to meet the group. We meet at 7:00am for coffee, we are serious about business and we're always finished at 8:30am so that everyone can get on with their day. Can you be available next Thursday?
NOW GET OFF THE PHONE!
"John, am I right in saying that you are looking to grow your business? (Yes) I thought so.
If you say anything more or less than this, it will sound like a sales pitch and turn them off. So don't.


I stayed Hotel Jen HK in Club Room. From the time I arrived to the time I left the staff were more than helpful, polite, friendly & went totally out of there way to help. Also having the train, bus & tram at your doorstep was an added bonus. Would definitely recommend staying at this hotel.
Explore Tai O Village with Expedia.com.tw's Travel Guides to find the best flights, cars, vacation packages and more!


What's that stuff at the food pantry?
Welcome to It's Only Food!
What is that stuff they gave us at the pantry? How do we cook it? Does it taste good? How do you store it?
All legitimate questions. Life throws us curve balls, but we hit them out of the park with a little engenuity and a good aim. Each week we will unpack our pantry groceries and make meals that you and your family will enjoy and find comforting and satisfying.
Food pantries help many of us meet the nutritional needs of our families, but if you're given a two pound bag of dates, some bread that you'd never buy, and cans of chicken meat that have a tendency to taste like canned tuna you might be opposed to the weekly or monthly visit simply because the food isn't good and just because the food comes from a pantry doesn't mean it shouldn't be edible. How do we fix it?
With some herbs and some spices and some desire to create enjoyable meals for our families we can fix anything. If we grew up poor, we never knew because of the wonderful ways our mother found to prepare, cook, and store all the wonderful available and seasonal foods she managed to glean from the store shelves or the farmers' markets.
We will work together to bring you the best recipes and some darn good tries--and most of you will love the food while others may have to acquire a taste for some of the food items. But after the taste test one thing is certain--you will know what it is, how to cook it, and which way you like it cooked. Then--share the recipes by spreading the word about the website and don't forget to send your suggestions--when used we will name the dish after you!
You can send us your suggestions for recipes and our chit-chat page at itsonlyfood@aol.com .
Hey, while we're in the kitchen cooking we like to keep abreast of what else is going on in the world. Send us your opinions about current events and/or suggest a topic that we can post if something is of concern to you. Let's get some opinions, some experiences, and some insights on the world around us join the Chit-Chat Circle!


Now, if I wanted my readers to know something I'd shoehorn it into my bio! I don't have any amazing accomplishments or superpowers. In fact, my rubbish superpower is that I can recognise songs from the first few notes.
Tell us Scribblers a bit about The Secret Notebook of Sherlock Holmes and what inspired this collection of vignettes?
The Secret Notebook is a collection of 29 short stories which take a light-hearted look at some of Sherlock Holmes's early cases. When I was growing up, Sherlock Holmes was all around-on the television, at the cinema, in the library-and he's still as popular today, if not more so. I'd thought about writing a collection of linked short stories for a while, as a fun project, and Sherlock sprang to mind. I was also incubating an idea for a Sherlock-inspired novel, but didn't feel experienced enough as a writer to embark on it at that point. Writing the short stories helped me to get into the right mindset.
For this book, I mostly researched as I went along. I did a master's degree in Victorian Literature and I've read all the Sherlock stories, so I had a fairly good base to work with.
I loved your supporting cast, from Watson and Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes, and Lestrade. Who was your favorite in these stories?
I enjoyed writing all of the supporting cast, and also imagining encounters between Holmes and various real people, but my favourite would have to be Mrs. Hudson. We know so little about her in the original stories that I wanted to give her more of a voice, and hint at what she had to put up with!
Do you see one of them having their own story to tell?
It's already happening! When I got feedback from my beta-readers, a few said that they were confused by one of the stories, which involves a burglar called Fingers Molloy. I rewrote the ending and asked my husband to read it. His response was 'You have to write another story so I find out what happens next!' So when I finish answering your questions I'm going back to my outline for the sequel, which I hope will be a short novella. Then I'm going to start editing the draft of the Sherlock-inspired novel I mentioned earlier, which I finally wrote in last year's NaNoWriMo. I do write non-Sherlock stories too, honest!
How do you normally start your stories – with a phrase, a character?
For the Sherlock stories, I had a sort of list in my head of elements I wanted to include in the book-eminent Victorians, interesting settings, familiar supporting characters, and odd situations. So I started from there and then worked out how Holmes and Watson would become involved. It was quite different from the way I normally write a story, which usually starts with a flash of a character doing something, and the rest grows around it.
Is there a difference in your writing process when you are creating a short story or series of short stories such as these vs. a full-length novel?
Definitely. A standalone short story will come out of nowhere or in response to a prompt. For the Sherlock collection I knew what I wanted to include, and started from there. For the full-length books I've drafted, I need to know at least a bit about what will happen in each chapter, and the overall plot, before I start writing.
If you could cast anyone to play the roles of Holmes and Watson, who would you pick?
I love the partnership of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, to the point where I can't imagine anyone else in the roles. I'm not sure they'd suit my version, though!
Would you share an excerpt from The Secret Notebook of Sherlock Holmes?
I watched as Sherlock Holmes, eyes narrowed, released a drop from his pipette into a flask of colourless liquid. There was a fizz, a puff of smoke, and the flask's contents turned electric blue.
'You do indeed,' Holmes said, looking him up and down.
How do you balance the need for self-promotion vs. your writing time?
I'm not sure I've got the hang of that yet! I tend to be all or nothing. When I sit down to draft a long story, I work more or less full-time on it until it's complete. I'll allow myself the odd Twitter break, and I'll blog once a week, but that's about it. Once the story's finished, it's set aside for a few months while I do something else - or several somethings else. I've been itching to start the sequel to Sherlock since mid-March, but I've been so busy with creating and promoting the ebook and paperback, and getting another project off the ground, that it's taken until mid-May to begin the prep!
Are you a pantster or an outliner?
This is a real sit-on-the-fence answer, but somewhere in the middle. I need to have a good idea of the steps along the way in the story, and the main characters, but that's probably a few pages of scribbles, not a detailed outline. I get to know my characters, and what they would or wouldn't do, as I write them.
Name your real life hero or fictional hero and how have they influenced your life?
I don't have a hero as such, but I admire the author Joanne Harris. After the huge success of Chocolat, she's gone on to write really diverse books, not just produce sequels, which is probably what a lot of people wanted her to do. She also speaks out and campaigns about authors' rights, among other things. And she's excellent on Twitter. Her integrity and candour is inspiring.
This is tough as I read so much as a child, but probably Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass. My nan gave me her copy, which was a lovely blue bound book with the original Tenniel illustrations. I loved the silly songs and the topsy-turviness, and later I grew to appreciate the darker side of the stories.
What books or other project do you have coming out in the near future?
My next book is a collection of flash fiction - really short stories, nothing over 500 words, with the working title Bitesize. It's with beta-readers at the moment, and I plan to release it this summer.
Liz Hedgecock grew up in south London, did an English degree, and then took forever to start writing. She writes short stories in between work, raising a family, and picking up Lego, and is working on something longer.
Liz was a runner-up in the Cheshire Prize for Literature 2014 and also in the inaugural Lacomic Cup comic writing contest.
Further info can be found at http://lizhedgecock.wordpress.com.
For bite-sized pieces, follow Liz on Twitter at @lizhedgecock.


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Home – Insects
Tag Archives: Insects
Chinese Killer Hornets are Coming!
Is it a "B" sci-fi/horror movie. Following in the footsteps "The Swarm" and "Attack of the Killer Bees", we have Chinese Killer Hornets. But this is true and happening now.Vespa Mandarinia - the Asian Giant Hornet- measures no less than 5 centimetres, over twice as large as the largest other hornet. And it's a killer. As big as an adult's thumb.
Yu Yihong in China's north-western province, was tending his small plot of cabbages and onions when theasian giant hornets struck. He was attacked and stung and when taken to hospital he had two hornets still in his trousers. The poison causaed his liver and kidneys to fail and he died. His account of his attack, before he died, is horrific. He accidentally trod on a nest of the hornets concealed beneath some corn husks. They swarmed up around him stinging mercilessle and then when he ran a considerable distance away, they refused to let him go and followed him to get their revenge for upsetting their nest.
The sting of this species of hornet dissloves human tissue, and kidney failure or anaphalactic shock often follows. Was this a one-off? No. Attacks by the Asian Giant Hornet are becoming more and more common. In China's Shaanxi province, nearly fifty people have been stung to death in just three months. Hundreds of others have suffred stings and injuries due to this hornet.
As with many other woes, the rise of the killer hornets is being blamed on climate change, and a warm winter which allowed many more queens to survive and spread. They can fly much faster than a man can run over a distance; 25mph, and cover 50 miles. Apart from defending their nests they can also be attracted by sweet smells, alcohol or sweat.
As word spreads about the killer hornets, roads and schools have been closed, there are large swathes of no-go areas- farms where crops are unattended because of nearby nests. In retaliation, pest control officers go out at night to sighted nests and exterminate them with… yes, you should have guessed it… flamethrowers! But it seems they are fighting a losing battle and the problem is spreading.
While it may seem not feasible for the Asian Giant Hornet to spread to Europe, its smaller cousin, Vespa Velutina the (non-giant) Asian Hornet has already spread from Korea to France in 2003 and has been responsible for a number of deaths. It has since spread to Spain Belgium and Portugal.
Watch out- this looks like a killer hornet that isn't going to buzz off any time soon. In one close shave, a quick-thinking worker used his can of butane lighter refil and a lighter to creata a mini flamethrower and keep the hornets at bay.


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School of Theology
Why study Theology?
Library & Administration Staff
Revd Dr Jonathan Holland
BA(Hons) UWA, BA (Hons) Oxon, MA (UQ), PhD (UQ)
Principal, St Francis Theological College
School of Theology , Charles Sturt University
St Francis College, Brisbane
work0406 425 826
jholland@anglicanchurchsq.org.au
Jonathan Holland is the Principal of St Francis Theological College, Brisbane and currently lectures in Liturgical Theology and Introduction to the New Testament. He has been a priest in the Anglican Church of Australia since 1983 and was an Assistant Bishop in Brisbane from 2006 until his appointment to St Francis College in 2016. He has studied at the University of Western Australia and at Oxford University. He is married to Kerry and they have three grown up children and two grandchildren.
New Testament topics
Anglicans, Trams and Paw Paws: a history of the Diocese of Brisbane 1945-1980, Copyright, Brisbane, 2013.
Jesus Unbound: the story of Jesus of Nazareth, Acorn Press, Sydney, 2008.
Eyes Delight: six paintings and their theological meaning, (co-authored with Alfred Holland), St Lucia Press, Brisbane, 2000.
'God's Encounter with Us' in Encountering God: face to face with the divine, ed. Nigel Leaves, Morning Star Publishing, Northcote, Victoria, 2016.
Mark My Words: reflections on St Mark's Gospel, ed. Jonathan Holland and Philip Jones, Sydney, 1986.
Jonathan Holland