Monday, December 23, 2013

Tempus fugit..

Fifteen days from now, I will be 61 years old and still not as wise as maybe I should be. SIXTY ONE, dammit.. wah!!

I had a bucket list but can’t remember where I put the bucket. I am so crippled up at times, getting to the front door is an excursion in itself. I am more tolerant than I used to be, but nobody gets to see me so I can show them. The only fun in getting old is that I can get away with behaving oddly, but I am too self-conscious to do that.

Nine days from now is the real high spot. I will know if I have been awarded MVP status again by Microsoft. It used to be fun because we were sent a gift, not always a really useful item, but a gift nonetheless, and I have kept most of them. However, it is the award that counts most. It is good to be recognised as having a useful purpose in life, especially an old stooge like me.. :-)

Two days from now, it will be Christmas day, a day for kids everywhere, but kids are not just for Christmas. Remember that, and also remember what Christmas is all about. Love is what you do for somebody throughout the years, not what you buy them at Christmas.

Wherever you are, whoever you are, there is a festival around this time of year. Try to make the most of it even if you feel like dirt. You will get more out of it if you think about others before yourself.

Saturday, June 01, 2013

Psy does it again..

You can’t keep a good man down. Psy is the Korean entertainer who brought us ‘Gangnam Style’, and he has a new release called ‘Gentleman’.

Gangnam Style was about Seoul yuppies from the Gangnam area of the city, and it showed oddities like women keeping fit by walking backwards. This might not be common around the world, but in Seoul, they do it.

Anyway, the beat and tune were memorable, and the response from audiences around the world was HUGE.

So, now we have ‘Gentleman’, a former Seoul yuppie who has now made it and feels like he rules/owns the world. His actions throughout the video fall below ‘Gentlemanly’, but it is all fun, a great beat, and another easy to remember tune.

The ‘live’ performances are not 100% live, and to be honest, anybody would be hard pressed to sing while moving about as Psy does on stage. But who cares? The audience has a great time, know the words and the ‘chorus’ bits from the release of the tune prior to the video and live performance, and everybody has huge fun and go home happy.

See for yourself.. and remember that it is all done in fun..

Monday, May 20, 2013

Ray Manzarek.. February 12, 1939 - May 20, 2013

The photo shows, from the left, Robbie Krieger, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, and John Densmore. Collectively, they were known as ‘The Doors’ and this shot of them appeared on the ‘Waiting For The Sun’ album.

 Doors

Ray played keyboards, often doing the ‘bass’ parts, and did some vocals too.

Do I remember where I was the first time that I heard ‘Break on Through’? You bet the hell I do, as I remember where I was when I heard all of the other stuff that the Doors ever did.

In my opinion, they were the greatest band ever, and I still listen to Doors tracks now.

Life in the 60’s would not have been the same, so ‘thank you’ Ray, Jim, Robbie, John, and may Ray and Jim rest in peace together..

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Formula 1.. An expensive reality show?

Did you watch the Malaysian Grand Prix today?

Sebastian Vettel won the race even though he was given orders not to challenge his team mate, Mark Webber, for the lead. 

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, placed third in the race, admits that his team mate, Nico Rosberg, should have been allowed to pass and take third place.

Hamilton in the post race interview told how he turned down his car to save fuel, but Nico Rosberg was told on the car radio during the race that Hamilton had also been ‘turned’ down too.

So, do drivers turn their own car down or is it done from the pit wall? If it can be done from the pit wall, why wasn’t Vettel’s car turned down to prevent him passing Webber?

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Hamilton has had his car turned down. He complained during one of the races last year.

It wasn’t too many years ago when the championship looked like it was going to be taken by Felipe Massa, and it would have been had Timo Glock not inexplicably stopped before the finish flag. This event pushed Lewis Hamilton up the finishing order just enough that he could ‘pip’ Massa on points won.

Ferrari completely lost the plot during 2005/6 re reliability and knowing how to run a pit crew team to the point where Ferrnando Alonso and the Renault team won two years in a row. At the Italian Grand Prix of 2006, Michael Schumacher announced that he was retiring. I don’t think to this day that the decision was his. Many didn’t like the fact that Schumi kept on winning, so were the Ferrari team problems of 2005/6 a set up to get rid of him? Constantly changing the rules hadn’t done any good.

Strangely, the next year,2007, with Kimi Raikonnen at the wheel, Ferrari remembered what Formula 1 was all about and won again.

Schumi was always in trouble for using devious tactics like overtaking, blocking etc. Ayrton Senna. claimed by many to be the greatest driver of all time, did this to the point of almost being lethal. Why were Senna’s tactics ok but Schumi’s weren’t?

I used to like watching Formula 1. Now I just watch the start to see how many cars crash out on the first corner. The ‘telemetry’ thing where car performance can be altered from the pit wall has taken more away from racing than ever traction control did.

I want Kimi Raikonnen to win, but will Formula 1 politics allow it? Who knows?

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Some advice.. well, maybe a warning..

There is nothing wrong in hoping that tomorrow will be better. Just don’t sit around for all of today doing it..