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Sep. 10th, 2006
Salt Kazoo
Sep. 10th, 2006 11:51 pmI'm starting to feel sorry for the Renault team, and Alonso in particular. The poor man can't catch a break. It doesn't really seem to matter how magnificently he performs, some factor outside his control is going to cause his weekend to unravel. It's like watching Mario Andretti, in a way.
*****
I'm fairly sure the Turks have thrown away their GP, which is a shame. They spent all that money building that big, modern track, then they get to use it twice. Mosley seems to be on the warpath, and one can't help recalling what happened to Jerez, over an incident that seemed much less calculated and outside of what the organizers could control. I can't think it's helping them any that they're making the excuse that they had to let the Cypriot fellow award the trophy because he was an 'international dignitary in attendance' and FIA rules mandated that.
I think there's an anti-western faction in Turkey that actively engineers things like this to spike their chances of joining the EU. They're too far in the minority to control events outright, but they've got enough influence to engineer the occasional public debacle. You see a similar behaviour from the black 'civil rights' faction here in the States. They have a vested interest in seeing their followers view themselves as separate from and discriminated against by the larger society.
*****
Ferrari's Golden Era is at an end with Schumi's departure, I think. Peter Windsor was saying earlier that Ferrari have won 190 times in the postwar era, and 90 of those are Schumacher's wins. That's just unreal. I'll miss it when it's over, but honestly, it probably wasn't that good for F1 racing. It's racing history, though, and like the 2005 USGP, I'm glad I was there to see it. I doubt any team will ever again have a dominating streak that strong.
*****
There was a noticeable coolness between Schumacher and diMontezimolo after the race. I'm sure they'll both be glad to see the last of one another.
*****
"Sudden Sam" won the IRL championship this afternoon with a very steady, controlled drive. As always, I'm cynically amused by the way the announcers shift frame of reference to have the most impressive statistics. They're eager to announce that he's the first three-time champion ever, which ignores the several who managed that and more in USAC, which preceded the IRL. Not 30 seconds later they characterized this as Roger Penske's eleventh championship, another record, which means they're counting USAC and CART awards too.
*****
I'm making a batch of dill pickles, which I've never done by myself before. So far, all looks good. I found the proper small, warty cucumbers at the store, and fresh dill too. All of the lids sealed properly, and none of the jars cracked. If nothing else, they looks very attractive with sprigs of dill and whole peppercorns in the jar with the pickles.
If these turn out reasonably good, I'm going to enter some in the Stoat Fair next year. I've realized that I really want to compete in something at the Fair. Pickles are easy to can, and being acid, there's very little chance of giving anyone botulism or anything. Also, canned food is one of the old school fair competitions, held for well over a century.
*****
They have a Christmas tree decorating contest as well. I've got more than enough stuff to enter that, but I'd want to build my theme around the lights, and they're giving you an artificial tree to decorate. The lights I love best (my 1926 C6 string) would probably set that on fire*, plus they're not UL certified (a requirement) either. On the other hoof, I may have some late 50s/early 60s C7 strings that still have a UL tag. If I could scrounge enough plastic ornaments from that era, that'd be fun to try. All the trees this year seemed to be aiming more at Martha Stewart modern tastefulness rather than period-piece tackiness.
* which would be cool, except that my prized lights would be attached to it.
*****
I'm fairly sure the Turks have thrown away their GP, which is a shame. They spent all that money building that big, modern track, then they get to use it twice. Mosley seems to be on the warpath, and one can't help recalling what happened to Jerez, over an incident that seemed much less calculated and outside of what the organizers could control. I can't think it's helping them any that they're making the excuse that they had to let the Cypriot fellow award the trophy because he was an 'international dignitary in attendance' and FIA rules mandated that.
I think there's an anti-western faction in Turkey that actively engineers things like this to spike their chances of joining the EU. They're too far in the minority to control events outright, but they've got enough influence to engineer the occasional public debacle. You see a similar behaviour from the black 'civil rights' faction here in the States. They have a vested interest in seeing their followers view themselves as separate from and discriminated against by the larger society.
*****
Ferrari's Golden Era is at an end with Schumi's departure, I think. Peter Windsor was saying earlier that Ferrari have won 190 times in the postwar era, and 90 of those are Schumacher's wins. That's just unreal. I'll miss it when it's over, but honestly, it probably wasn't that good for F1 racing. It's racing history, though, and like the 2005 USGP, I'm glad I was there to see it. I doubt any team will ever again have a dominating streak that strong.
*****
There was a noticeable coolness between Schumacher and diMontezimolo after the race. I'm sure they'll both be glad to see the last of one another.
*****
"Sudden Sam" won the IRL championship this afternoon with a very steady, controlled drive. As always, I'm cynically amused by the way the announcers shift frame of reference to have the most impressive statistics. They're eager to announce that he's the first three-time champion ever, which ignores the several who managed that and more in USAC, which preceded the IRL. Not 30 seconds later they characterized this as Roger Penske's eleventh championship, another record, which means they're counting USAC and CART awards too.
*****
I'm making a batch of dill pickles, which I've never done by myself before. So far, all looks good. I found the proper small, warty cucumbers at the store, and fresh dill too. All of the lids sealed properly, and none of the jars cracked. If nothing else, they looks very attractive with sprigs of dill and whole peppercorns in the jar with the pickles.
If these turn out reasonably good, I'm going to enter some in the Stoat Fair next year. I've realized that I really want to compete in something at the Fair. Pickles are easy to can, and being acid, there's very little chance of giving anyone botulism or anything. Also, canned food is one of the old school fair competitions, held for well over a century.
*****
They have a Christmas tree decorating contest as well. I've got more than enough stuff to enter that, but I'd want to build my theme around the lights, and they're giving you an artificial tree to decorate. The lights I love best (my 1926 C6 string) would probably set that on fire*, plus they're not UL certified (a requirement) either. On the other hoof, I may have some late 50s/early 60s C7 strings that still have a UL tag. If I could scrounge enough plastic ornaments from that era, that'd be fun to try. All the trees this year seemed to be aiming more at Martha Stewart modern tastefulness rather than period-piece tackiness.
* which would be cool, except that my prized lights would be attached to it.
