July 1, 2008
Dry July

elderdave:

I’m just doing it because I often go sans-hooch for anything up to 6 months just for health and self-discipline reasons.

I drink when I feel like a drink, or when it’s something tasty. I actually think it’d be more of a challenge for me to drink once a month, than to not drink for 6 months.

I enjoy the taste of a good scotch, or a good beer, or a good wine. But it’s not a challenge not to drink. Maybe I’m just un-Australian?!?

60's Grand Prix Cars...

…like the one in the photo below remind me of how far w’ve gone from the beauty of that era.

Maybe I’m reminiscing for something that wasn’t there, but there is a certain romanticism for those times of the late 50’s and early 60’s. The day of the fedora, the expectation that everyone would wear a shirt and slacks at the least. Gentleman’s agreements, slicked hair and shiny leather shoes.

But the grand prix cars… svelte cylinders with inlet trumpets and exhausts erupting out of them. The sound of various different configuration engines competing against each other, each having a different advantage at different venues.

The glinting of highly-polished suspension arms against the simple paint schemes of the sponsorless cars.

And the sound. The glorious sound.

Modern Formula 1 is a technological tour-de-force, and I love technology. But there is a magic to that pre-aerodynamic, pre-electronic machinery.

From Jalopnik, a photo of Dan Gurney’s Eagle racer at the 1967 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. Awesome.

From Jalopnik, a photo of Dan Gurney’s Eagle racer at the 1967 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

Awesome.

Mr. T.

I’ve just spent the best part of an evening with the two Matts. Matt S, and Matty T.

Matty T is driving his DR30 Skyline rally car this weekend in a rally in Mid-North Coast NSW. So we were trying to complete minor preparations, such as getting the motor back in the car.

Of course, in true Matty T style, the evenings work on the vehicle doesn’t commence until 21:30. After a certain amount of verbal jousting, an inordiante amount of innuendo, some comments about mechanical skill, empathy, sympathy, knowledge, understanding and prowess, the motor resided in the negine bay. I think that was aobut 1am. It still isn’t wired up, nor the fuel lines connected, nor any of the ancillaries connected.

I suspect that every night this week will be filled with this sort of endeavour. and you know what. I don’t mind. Despite the sleep deprivation, spending time with good people laughing at and with each other is time that I’m happy to spend.

I look forward to more of the same tomorrow evening.

June 25, 2008
Team Poliziei
Yeah, I know, it’s an old article out of Wired. It’s not hte sort of thing I advocate, but it’s a well-written article.
June 23, 2008

Magny Cours and Caol Ila

As is now traditional, I popped over to Paulie’s to watch the Formula1. The Formula1 happens often enough that it means we get together on a regular basis, and gives us a pre-text to sit around for two hours, have a glass of good Whisky and chat about the world as cars drive round and round on the screen.

last night was just one of those occasions, with Paulie, Thom and myself enjoying the French Grand Prix. Last night I realised how this small pleasure (enjoying some time with friends) was something that I really looked forward to nowadays.

Good conversation, good people, good whisky. Great relaxation.

June 19, 2008

Strangers are easy to hate.

I really really wanted to reblog elderdave’s entry, but it’s hard to do so without including the xkcd cartoon. Which isn’t bad, just unnecessary.

It resonates with a meme that I’ve discussed with others on occasion. It’s easy to hate someone you don’t know. It gets harder to hate someone that you’ve had a beer with.

A fine example was a gent I competed with in local rally competition. He was from Sydney, and we were close enough to be competitive with each other, but I’d done three or four rallies against him and not really spoken with him. He was a good benchmark, but it was easy for me to use his name in vain.

Then, one post-rally function, I met up with him and mentioned who I was and how we swapped times. He knew who I was, and we talked for a while. He was a good dude, and went from being a “goal to beat” to a fellow competitor. And I couldn’t really curse him from then on, knowing that he was a fellow human being.

Sometimes, it pays to remember that when you’re dealing with people via email/over the phone/over the internet.

thatguyben: My new Christopher Ward Aviator automatic (via my flickr). Screw-down crown; display back; sapphire crystal; the same movement that Tag and other Swiss brands use. This looks gorgeous. After Ben showing me the Christopher Ward site, I’ve struggled to resist the temptation to order one for myself. I’ve also been keeping a keen eye out for a vintage Omega Seamaster Automatic (ideally, pre-1976). This is to add to the (small) collection that I already have, including my early-1950’s Omega Seamaster mechanical, my late-50’s/early-60’s Lanco mechanical, the Co-Pilote and the every-day Seiko Sports 5 Automatic. Looking at that photo above, I don’t know how much longer I’ll hold out before ordering a Christopher Ward…

thatguyben:

My new Christopher Ward Aviator automatic (via my flickr).

Screw-down crown; display back; sapphire crystal; the same movement that Tag and other Swiss brands use.

This looks gorgeous. After Ben showing me the Christopher Ward site, I’ve struggled to resist the temptation to order one for myself.

I’ve also been keeping a keen eye out for a vintage Omega Seamaster Automatic (ideally, pre-1976). This is to add to the (small) collection that I already have, including my early-1950’s Omega Seamaster mechanical, my late-50’s/early-60’s Lanco mechanical, the Co-Pilote and the every-day Seiko Sports 5 Automatic.

Looking at that photo above, I don’t know how much longer I’ll hold out before ordering a Christopher Ward…

June 18, 2008

Romeo Must Die. Now with...

X-Ray Death Vision!

I happened across this movie recently, and remembered the first time I saw it. Jet Li was using this as his vehicle to break into the big time in Hollywood. It wasn’t a cinematic high-point, but it did feature the “X-Ray Death Vision”, which I thought should feature in more cinematic releases.

Aaliyah also featured in this movie, which brought back memories of tales told about friends going to the filming of some scenes of “Queen of the Damned”. The less said about this the better.

Oh, and yes, I’m addicted to Wikipedia.

June 17, 2008
Mazda bioplastic

elderdave:

My work invading my hobby, or is it the other way around? Mazda have joined the bio-plastic/bio-composite bandwagon by developing a bio-based plastic for trim components (inner door panels, parcel shelves, etc). From this article (requires login) it appears they are working on a polypropylene derived from ethanol, in turn derived from fermenting biomass (plant waste). That makes it bio-based but not necessarily biodegradable….which is kind of sub-optimal. But then, making biodegradable plastics competitive with traditional plastics is a real headache, about on par with trying to get hemp-fanatics to shut up. But bio-based PP is a step in the right direction. And y’know, Rome, unlike the Universe, wasn’t built in a day…….. (or was it???)

So anyway, I look forward to purchasing a biodegradable hydrogen-fuelled RX-12 to fang about in….in about 30 years time.

Dave, I love your RX-12 concept… you just need to find a way to incorporate Spanish Broom into it somehow. Just to really work those hemp fanatics into a lather.