So, what's your game? What have you/will you be watching this weekend? (Illustrations courtesy of Google Doodle).
The baseball season is under way at last (or otherwise for Yankees fans); thanks to the reasonably priced MLB TV we're able to catch a great deal of the action.
Anniversary of Jackie Robinson's Birthday
Football all over the place yesterday. Not a good day for Charlton, but not to worry as the massive make-up games from the water-logged pitch earlier this year and pile-up from cup-ties means that they're playing again on Tuesday.
Euro 2006
Yesterday was the largely unnoticed Grand National. As Husband was at football it went unwatched in this house. We've only just got around to the delightful news that no jockeys or horses were hurt.
Melbourne 2004
Today was the boat-race. Being run rather late in the afternoon (something to do with the tides on the Thames) and not the same day as the National any longer (something to do with TV executives). I refuse to care at all who wins as I attended neither University and have friends who attended both.
Beijing Olympics
It was finally a Grand Prix running at a reasonable time today (we've got to Bahrain and had a night race). Superb race from all angles; apart from F1's website deciding that the live timing was too good to give away for free and removing all utility from it. Not paying for the App on the phone which has to be renewed every year and when compared to MLB represents no value for money.
Anniversary of Ayrton Senna's birthday 2014
Here's the T20 cricket (today's Doodle). As England are long since out of the running we didn't bother with that either.
T20 Cricket Final 2014
Currently watching some Scottish football on BBC Alba - oddly in Gaelic and not understanding a word. Sounds like some of my Glasgow colleagues with the stronger accents (but I understand less)!!
Just like everyone else F1 take a summer holiday. For the whole of August there were no races. The last race (in Hungary) was race 11, just over halfway through the season; so an excellent time to reflect on the season so far.
There is always much to take on board at the start of any season. Drivers come and go as contracts expire, cars change their entire look as sponsors change.
This year (following an FIA ruling late in 2011) teams were allowed to change their Constructor names. This is where it got confusing. Virgin became Marussia (fair enough), Lotus became Caterham and Renault became Lotus! A fair few other teams added parts to their names; especially some of the big boys to credit their sponsors - quite a mouthful Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - we stick with McLaren.
There were of course the usual spate of technical and sporting regulation changes; my favourite being the limit of a race time to 4 hours to prevent the indefinite suspension of a race due to weather - Canada 2011 (the race that wouldn't end) being the catalyst.
Over here in the UK the biggest news was the broadcasting deal. F1 lived for many years on the BBC. There was a brief period last decade when ITV held the rights; with much controversy over the placing of advert breaks. The BBC then won back the coverage (to pretty much universal delight). Nothing says race day like Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain".
In 2012, however, BBC lost their exclusive hold to Sky. BBC still have some races, and highlights of others - but Sky have them all. They also have a dedicated channel; and unlike ITV they don't interrupt the race with adverts. Most important of all, commentator Martin Brundle went to Sky. After Murray Walker (voice of F1 in my childhood) retired, he became the voice of F1. Sorry BBC - we jumped ship in this house.
The 2012 season has been amazing so far. We started of, as tradition states, (watching the race 'as live' in this house) in Melbourne. The HRT cars failed to qualify for the race after failing to meet the Q1 107% time. That left 22 cars on the track; fourteen finished the race. Despite a safety car Jenson Button who qualified second held his lead and won the race.
Round 2, Malaysia. McLaren looked a dead cert for taking the race after locking out the front row; and Button's strong performance in Australia. It wasn't to be though. Torrential rain interrupted the race and it was suspended for an hour. Tire choices were crucial and any mistake critical. The race, in the end, was won by Alonso, but the big news was Perez taking second (good tire choices).
Round 3 and off to China. Everything still to play for as no team had emerged yet as the run away leaders of the pack. A race (as many) mired in controversy as Lotus protested the legality of Mercedes rear wing design. This challenge was rejected by the FIA and Nico Rosberg and Mercedes went on to win the race (their first in nearly 60 years). The first time in the season the poll sitter had won the race and the third different winner.
Round 4 and, despite the ongoing political and social unrest, off to Bahrain. Once again the poll sitter, this time Vettel won the race. The race was not without incident - as was to happen in several races Hamilton's day was compromised by slow pit stops; team mates Raikkonen and Grosjean battled for that second spot, and once again tires proved crucial as the extra set Kimi had available kept him ahead of his team mate. Four races, four different winners.
Round 5, much to the relief of the British public back to Europe and off to Spain. Hamilton took the poll but it was stripped from him after his car didn't have enough fuel to return to the pits. This gifted the top spot to Williams and Maldonado. Despite strong challenges Maldonado held is lead and gave Williams their first win since 2004 (less than a month after Frank William's 70th Birthday). This also earned a public holiday in Maldonado's home, Venezuela. In case you're counting that is five races and five winners.
Round 6, Monaco - oddly my favourite race. Oddly as the road race nature of the track means overtaking is nearly impossible and nothing much happens without weather. Schumacher looked like returning to his old form setting the fastest qualifying time, but a penalty saw him drop to sixth. Once more controversy was overshadowing the weekend - this time regarding Red Bull (the car on poll). Am I cynical that it is always the car on Poll which seems to attract the protest. The protests were never followed through, Webber maintained his poll and won the race. Yes folks, that is six winners in six races. Still all to play for!
Round 7 and we're leaving Europe for Canada. The FIA ruled Red Bull's floor (challenged in Monaco) illegal, and though the results stood they had to change the car for Canada. Vettel was the Poll sitter, followed by Hamilton, Alonso and Webber. Vettel started strong but was soon passed by Hamilton, and then Alonso. Now it all came down to tires. The two stop followed by Hamilton was now changed by Vettel and Alonso to one stops (Alonso's team beginning their habit of talking on the radio in Spanish so that their tactics were not understood by their competitors!). The strategies failed and not only did they fail to catch Hamilton but they failed even to take a podium with Grosjean and Perez taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. Seven races, seven different winners.
Round 8 and to Spain for the European Grand Prix. Timo Glock's stomach bug saw the field reduced to 19 drivers; with Vettel on Poll. It wasn't to be his day though; his huge lead he built up was nullified by a safety car and finally his car failed him and forced his retirement. Alonso found his way from 11th on the grid to take the race, the first double winner of the 2012 season. An afternoon of Champions as he shared the podium with Raikkonen (2nd) and Schumacher (3rd).
Round 9 and time for the home Grand Prix, we're in Great Britain. The right amount of rain can bring excitement to a race, and there was the promise of wet weather after practice and qualifying were washed out. Race day, naturally (knowing the capricious British weather) was dry. Alonso, who took poll, finished second. Webber who started second won. Vettel who started fourth too third and Schumacher who started third got nothing. The whole race hinged on which tires you used and when, as after wet qualifying when the race started dry the tires were left to the choice of the drivers. There was an accident, an incident in the pit when Kobayashi overshot his box and Pic was allowed to race even though he didn't make the 107% rule.
Round 10 takes us to Germany. Another wet practice and qualifying, another dry race. Another complaint against Red Bull for a rule breaking car. Plus ca change. Alonso held his Poll to win his third race; but there was drama along the way. An early puncture for Hamilton compromised his race but McLaren used him as a weapon against the leaders to help Button up the field. It worked as Button finished second (although only after Vettel was penalised 20 seconds for gaining an unfair advantage).
Round 11 and Hungary. We've passed halfway and it is the last race before the break. This is a race notable for the lack of controversy. The first time in the season there are no grid drops, penalties or accidents. Hamilton kept his Poll to take first race, Raikonnen came from fifth to take second and Grosjean held on in to keep third from his second place on the grid.
Alonso leads the championship by forty points before today's race. But with 25 points for the winner and the pack behind him (Webber, Vettel, Hamilton and Raikonnen) all pretty close nothing is written in stone, and the championship could be blown wide open. So sit, down, relax and in a couple of hours begin enjoying the Belgian Grand-Prix.
For a more in depth coverage of the season I'd recommend my good friend Liz over at 'A Dash of Eau Rouge'
The problem with every sport is that it has a season. Once the season is over you are bereft for the off-season. Our house is pretty lucky there is nearly always a sport.
Starting the year in January the American Football season is coming to a close (having started back in September) with the post-season heading towards the SuperBowl in February. The football season in England (and across Europe) is heading towards its climax in May. The baseball season starts Spring Training in March and the season proper starts in April. In March the F1 Grand-Prix also makes a welcome return to our screens after the brief winter hiatus.
This year (as with ever year) it has taken a couple of races (watched 'as live' due to them being on the wrong side of the planet) to get back into the swing of things. Teams have changed names (Lotus aren't Lotus anymore although there is a Lotus but they used to be Renault, and so on), drivers have come and gone (Kimi is back!). There is the usual controversy about the interpretation of the rules on some of the cars... and the question of whether last year's World Champion can do it again. If you want read more about F1 I'll recommend you this new blog 'A Dash of Eau Rouge' to keep up with the Grand-Prix. We've got a little break now before we head of to China the week after next. I'm just pleased that there have been winners and losers and right now the title is wide open!
After watching the German Grand-Prix (excellent win for Hamilton) the Better-Half was watching Celtic play, and as it was such a glorious afternoon I took Tinker for a walk in the garden. We both enjoyed the sunshine, and were both exhausted by the time we finished. I was pleased to see my sunflowers are almost ready to flower.
Tinker flaked out on the blanket box to recover and I spent some quality time with the Xbox. Just your average Sunday really.
It turns out there isn't much you can do sports-wise when it rains. No cricket, Queen's Club final postponed... Canadian Grand-Prix red-flagged... and our bedroom roof leaks (happily not above the bed)
What happened to summer?!
Not that the F1 was up to much before it stopped... started under a safety car - pretty dull - stopped. Have had to watch a lot of nonsense since whilst they fill time!
We start on Saturday with two FA Cup Semi-finals. All the four teams making their way down from up North to Wembley - Manchesters United and City on Saturday to be followed by Stoke and Bolton on Sunday. Arsenal and Liverpool are also playing on Sunday - and don't forget of course Charlton are at home to Huddersfield.
Then on Sunday there is also the Chinese Grand-Prix (the last that we'll have to watch 'as live' for a good while). We'll have to wait even longer in my house as Celtic are playing a cup-semi final against Aberdeen which Rich won't miss for an early run of the Grand-Prix!
There is also, of course, the London Marathon on Sunday too. I doubt (on the basis of recent weekends) I'll make it out of bed in time to see any of the runners go past the end of our street - we're not far from the mile and a half marker so they come by quite early. I support them all in spirit though - especially all the fund-raisers running to raise money for the various MS charities.
Only the second race of the season, and already F1 is deep in confusion and controversy. Last week the season started in Australia with a race that finished under the safety car. After the race Lewis Hamilton and McLaren lost their third place points for providing 'deliberately misleading evidence' to the race stewards.
This week we moved to Malaysia for another race that had moved to a new time to please the TV world. Although rain had been predicted from before the race over half the race had passed before the rain finally appeared. Before this point there was the usual second guessing by all the teams as to what sort of tyres they should be running. Ferrari and Raikkonnen blinked first and chose to go to full wet tyres too early - at which point Kimi lost unrecoverable amounts of time. A few laps later most other teams went to full wet tyres - except for Glock who opted for intermediates. This proved to be the right choice, and more pit stops ensued to change and change again.
The threatened rain finally arrived. And then some several cars slid off the track and the safety car almost immediately came out - but the cars could barely been seen behind it; and the race was almost immediately red flagged. The cars were gathered back on the grid. And there they stayed for the next 50 odd minutes. The rain continued to pour down, and the visibility faded and faded as the hour grew later and the clouds continued to roll overhead. It became clear (very fast) that the full race distance would not be run and that the race would be limited by the two hour cut-off. It then became clear that the two thirds of the race required for full points was going to be difficult. The teams have to be given ten minutes notice to start a race. There were nine laps left to run at probably over two minutes a lap behind the safety car. Eventually the two hours finally elapsed and the race was over.
There were still a few details to be shaken out in the wash; the apparent standings turned out not to be the final classification as the results had to be determined on the last full lap completed by the race winner. All change in the first eight.
The controversy still isn't over. The diffuser row (embroiling Brawn GP amongst other teams) is still rumbling away, and a hearing will be taking place in Paris in a week or so.
So last night I managed to wake up from my nap before half past eight and therefore participated in Earth Hour. We switched out all our lights. I didn't see much evidence of participation in the wider community when I looked out my front and back door - but we sat and ate our dinner by the light of the TV (truly a TV dinner)! Check out this video on the BBC to see the lights go out across the globe.
Sunday night also saw the clocks go forward one hour marking the start of British Summer Time. Just when I'd got used to the mornings being that bit brighter. Competing the disturbed night was the Melbourne Grand Prix - finally seeing the return of F1 after the off-season and the much anticipated return of the F1 to the BBC (only anticipated as it means no more ad-breaks at crucial moments!).
I somehow managed to get all my Sunday morning TV done with by lunchtime at which point I was taken by a strange urge to spring-clean the kitchen. This invovled cleaning glass, cupboards, crockery and all sorts. I managed to use about half a pack of Cif Oxy wipes but the kitchen looked better for my efforts.
It'll be a quiet blogging week next week as I'm off to do Jury duty, so I shan't be going anywhere or seeing anything.
Another Sunday full of sport. This afternoon was the first ever F1 night race in Singapore. Eagerly anticipated and hugely hyped. Also from the point of view of night-time, very anti-climatic. Apart from the reflections on the body of the cars and shots which showed the night sky you really couldn't tell it was night-time. It was actually rather like a cloudy day.
The race itself was pretty good. A horrible crash by Renault's Piquet (amazingly he wasn't hurt) brought out the first safety car of the afternoon. A happy few drivers had been brought in for pitstops as soon as the crash happened in anticipation of the safety car (Alonso included). An unfortunate couple didn't and then had to stop under the safety car but before the pit lane opened as they were running out of fuel. Oops, that's a rule infraction. Best of all was another Ferrari FUBAR with their ridiculous automated car-release system. Yep, again. Massa was signaled to drive off with the fuel rig still attached to his car, almost into the path of Sutil, whose quick reactions avoided an accident. Realising the fuel rig was trailing from his car Massa stopped at the end of the pit lane whilst the Ferrari crew had to run down and fix it. Dumped him right at the back of the pack.
Worse to come though... Massa (and Ferrari) are given a drive through penalty for unsafe release in the pit lane. He isn't the only one though. Both Kubica and Rosberg are given stop-go penalties (like a drive through, but worse as you have to stop in your pit box for ten seconds). This is for pitting under the safety car before the lane opened. This is where it gets ridiculous. These infactions happened around lap 16/17. The safety car came in on lap 19. The stewards started investigating the incidents on lap 23 (a lap after they looked into Massa even though his incident was after these!). In the intervening four laps since the safety car came in Rosberg, leading the race, has had the chance to build up a nice big lead, so the stop-go doesn't even really hurt him that much! Ridiculous.
There is still to be another safety car in this race... after that though it all calms down a bit - apart from the delightful moment when Kimi put his Ferrari in the wall. I like Kimi but I hate Ferrari, so that amused me. Alonso wins the race, but Lewis takes third, to increase his lead in the Championship again. Ferrari manage a total of no points, oh dear.
All in all I'm not a huge fan of this new track. Not enough chances for overtaking, the walls are a bit tight leading to otherwise avoidable accidents... there really are too many road races now, what with this and Valencia added to Monaco. There should only be one, the original and the best... Monaco.
Currently I'm sitting watching the NFL - which is what we do in this house on Sundays during the season from six o'clock onwards. My Giants have a bye week this week, but my Jaguars have managed a win and it looks like the Jets will too. Triumphant!
Baseball is practically in the post-season now. Unfortunately despite my conviction that the Yankees would make an amazing come back to be the Wild Card team I was wrong and they didn't. Happily my second favourite team the Cubbies will be there, so maybe this is the year for them to break their curse!
Having celebrated the excellent end to this afternoon's Grand Prix it turns out that I was somewhat previous in my celebrations. It isn't over until the Fat Lady Sings... or in the case of Forumla One until the official results are published. The stewards decided that Lewis gained an unfair advantage over Kimi in the 'off-track' passing incident (even though he gave the place back) and fined him 25 seconds... which dropped him down to third place. Mclaren will of course appeal this - but it all takes time.
I'm now enjoying the start of the NFL season. Having seen the Giants beat the Redskins in the first game (and thus make an excellent start as reigning Superbowl Champions!) I was eager to see how my other favourite teams were going to fare. The Jets were playing Miami... the Jets with their new quaterback Brett Favre and Miami with their new quarterback Chad Pennington (who used to play for the Jets!). Happily the Jets won (although it got a bit hairy at the end). The Jaguars dissapointingly managed to lose to Tennessee... two out of three isn't bad, I suppose. Everyone in this house is now cheering on Cleveland as they take on Dallas. Sundays as they should be - lots and lots of football.
The Yankees are playing Seattle at the moment... and winning in the second inning. Although they are still way back in the AL East I refuse to accept that they won't be making the post season until I see the letter 'E' in the elimination column. No matter how unlikely I keep the faith until it is mathematically impossible!
This afternoon we were racing at Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix. It was appearing to be a fairly unremarkable race until the very end of the race. About half an hour before the end of the race the notice came up on the screen "Weather Forecast - Rain expected in twenty minutes". Oh yes. We do love a nice fall of rain.
We're three laps before the end of the race when the rain starts to fall. Kimi is leading Lewis and both are struggling to keep their cars on the track as the dry tires lose grip on the wet track. Lewis tries to pass Kimi and runs wide. He's sensible enough to give the place he gains off the track back, and then goes for it again. He passes Kimi... but almost immediately lose sthe place back to Kimi. Cars are all over the place, traffic appears. Then Kimi spins his car into the wall! Kimi is out of the race. Several middle placed cars pit and change onto intermediate tires. Lewis and Massa stay out and somehow manage to keep their cars on the track as they finish the final lap. Lewis practically creeps over the line to win the race. What a superlative finish! Lewis is one step closer to taking the Championship this year.
First up, this week's film. Chosen from a trailer on last week's offering we watched "The Bank Job". Quite a lot of actors that you have seen somewhere about (Jason Statham (many films), Saffron Burrows (Boston Legal) etc. etc.). Written by the two blokes who amongst other things brought you 'Porridge' it was as amusing as we had hoped. Based on true events it is about a bank heist which couldn't go more wrong... or as it turns out, right. The dialogue is snappy and witty and the action reasonably fast paced. Thoroughly enjoy it and I'll give it 7 out of 10.
This afternoon was the European Grand Prix, moved from it's previous home in Germany to the new track in Spain. The track at Valencia is a road track... oh no, not another one. What with the upcoming night race in Singapore (which I am quite excited about) and now Valencia it somewhat diminishes the unique aspect of Monaco. Despite the gloomy predictions from the commentary team of safety cars and high speed crashes the race passed off without much incident. Sadly the most exciting things to happen were probably Ferrari's disastrous pit stops. The first when they accidentally release Felipe Massa into the path of an oncoming Force India which did well to scoot out the way and the second when Raikkonen attempted to drive away from his pit stop with the fuel rig still attached (predictably injuring one of the mechanics in the process). Evidence enough that Ferrari should dump their high-tech light indicators and go back to the good old fashioned lollipop?!
So that was about it for sport I managed to see this weekend. Charlton were on Sky, but I didn't watch the game on the basis that the last time I saw Charlton play it was dire. My loss it would seem as the final score was 4-2 with four penalties and a red card!
The Olympics are finally over, not that I noticed them much it has to be said. Great Britain managed an astonishing fourth in the medals table after (not so surprisingly) China, USA and Russia. So, London now takes over officially as Olympic Host City (how sick and tired are those of us living here going to get of that over the next four years?!). I make no secret of the fact that I despise the fact that the Olympics are coming to London. All the fuss, upheaval and worst of all expense for what is, at the end of the day, a couple of weeks of sport. There are so many better things that they could do with all that money; and despite the protestations I'm sure that the 'lasting legacy' will be a smooth and seamless as when they recommissioned the Dome. Wait a moment, it stood empty and idle for years and cost the tax payer a fortune... go on ODA (or whatever you call yourselves) prove me wrong!
Last night I had dinner at 'Mogul' in Greenwich (the occasion was my friend's Hen Night). Absolutely charming restaurant. Very small (so you'd probably want to book a table) but the food and service were absolutely fantastic.
The Saturday Night movie this week was 'War Games - the Dead Code'. Here's the thing. I'm a HUGE fan of the original 1983 film. I loved it as a kid, and now own a copy on DVD. I loved it to the extent that I changed our PC's 'C' prompt to read 'logon'. I wanted more than anything to be a computer genius. This was back before the internet, and before the widespread global dominance of home computers. Who doesn't remember the delightful synthesised voice of 'Joshua' asking "How about a nice game of chess?". So, I was intrigued that they decided to remake this in the modern day. I couldn't quite see how in the age of the internet and the mobile phone and everything else it was going to work. And, you know what. It didn't. Why can't Hollywood just leave classic 80s movies alone to grow old gracefully? This movie is truly awful. There is nothing at all to recommend it - less so when Stephen Falken and the WOPR made 'cameo' appearances. Sadly they couldn't (or wouldn't) get the same actor back - although I think the WOPR looked pretty good 25 years on! This movie had none of the urgency, none of the humour and none of the pathos of the original. I'm sad to say I give this movie no stars at all!
This afternoon we were treated to the the Grand Prix at Hungaoring. It seemed like it was going to be a foregone conclusion before the start, with Lewis on poll. Masa however took the lead before the first bend - at which point it seemed again that the result might be a foregone conclusion. Lewis suffered a blow out on the 40th lap which put him way back in the field, and gave him some work to do. There were a few other 'moments' but none as unfortunate as the complete failure of Masa's car three laps from the end of the race. Terrible thing to happen when he really deserved to win the race.
Final sporting event of the afternoon was the last game of the Angels at Yankee Stadium being shown on NASN. I missed the first few innings whilst I was in the bath, and I caught up with the game with the Yankees five runs down. After a few runs here and there, and a disasterous eight inning for the Angels (thank goodness I wasn't keeping a score card with pinch runners and going right round the order!) there were three seperate fielding errors in that inning. The Yankees finally won 9-14. Come-back kings!
Last night's movie was the fantastic "Stargate Contiuum" (thanks to Play USA for getting it here so fast!).
If you like Stargate then you're going to love 'Contiuum'. it is an absolutely amazing film. It manages to get nearly all the main cast members (ever) together, even the late, great Don S. Davis. Several of the famous G'ould (especially my personal favourite Ba'al) and even a brief appearance by Jack O'Neil. I heard an interview with writer Brad Wright were he was saying it was the piece of which he was most proud, and I could well agree with him. If my other favourite cast member Harry Maybourne had only shown up it would have been perfect! I might go as far as ten out of ten!
This afternoon it was the Grand Prix at Hockenheim. After the excitement of Silverstone I was expecting a big let-down, but luckily I was wrong. Fantastic race! Having opened up a superlative lead over second place pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton looked like he had it in the bag. Then a rear suspension failure on Timo Gloch's car brought out the safety-car. Lead vanishes. As soon as the pit lane opens nearly the whole pack pits, except Lewis. The safety car then stays out a few more laps than seems strictly necessary (presumably the lapped cars are unlapping themselves). Now Lewis has to build up another lead in order to make his pit-stop and come out in front. It doesn't happen. Suddenly Piquet (who is one stopping) leads from Massa with Lewis back in third. Amazingly he manages to pass both other drivers to finish top of the podium. Fantastic stuff! There were some other good drives around, but none to quite beat that!
Saturday night was, as always in our house, movie night. Last night we managed two movies. First up was "The Nines". I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this movie as it sounded like it might be a bit complicated for my simple tastes. Actually it was fantastic. Three separate stories seemingly unrelated using the same cast in each tale. The acting was superlative, the stories cunningingly interwoven although seemingly unrelated. I enjoyed it so much that I went and bought it on Play straight after we finished watching in it. Nine out of ten (pun intended!).
Next up was "Numb". Starring Matthew Perry I think we assumed that it would be funnier that it actually was because he was so funny in "Friends". It wasn't a bad movie, it just wasn't a good movie either. So having said it was better than most of the movies that I have seen starring former "Friends" cast members. Only five out of ten for this one.
Of course the other piece of watching that had to be done for Saturday night was the season finale of "Doctor Who". Having spent a whole week waiting to find out what would be the outcome of the 'cliffhanger' where he started to regenerate (and reading a good deal of speculation on the internet) it was both a relief and a disappointment to have it resolved within the first few minutes of the episode.
Bits of the episode I liked: the thoughtful German speaking Daleks "Exterminieren! Exterminieren!" (it always bothers me that aliens always speak English); Catherine Tate's almost uncanny mimicing of David Tennant's enthusiastic speech patterns (I don't usually like her much, but that was excellent); the fact that all the annoying side-kicks have been sealed from future storylines (no more Rose and no more Donna). Bits of the episode I didn't like: predictable outcomes (the whole hand/regeneration thing), the implication that Mickey and Martha are off to Torchwood (no!) and the huge amount of attempts to tie-in former storylines so that there is an apparent story arc. Whatever. I have seen worse episodes (oh so many) - I guess we'll see where we are heading next... what will we do for Saturday night TV for the next year or so, I'm sure we'll manage.
This afternoon was the eagerly awaited British Grand Prix. The weather has been delightfully changeable, and we hoped for rain. This was perhaps the best Grand Prix I have seen in ever such a long time. Aided by the fact that although there was rain, there were tyre issues, there was aqua-planing... but there was no safety car. Lewis Hamilton eventually won the race with a huge (huge) lead (over a minute, only the two other drivers on the podium weren't lapped) it wasn't a boring race. Lewis started strongly off the start (coming from fifth place to take second spot behind team-mate Heiki). Kimi looked like he was going to be a strong contender in his Ferrari until an unfortunate tyre decision effectively took him out of the race. There were a lot of cars spinning off the track, but most managed to get back on again. The most exciting bit was towards the end when Heiki was chasing Alonso (and a few other cars in the mix)... all in all an absolute cracking race. Oh yes, and lots of Fantasy F1 points for me as Silverstone is my chosen track and Lewis my number one driver!
After that I felt compelled to tidy the kitchen. I think it is something to do with the advent of the new fridge-freezer. I scrubbed and cleaned, I polished and tidied. The glass cupboard shines again and even the drawers are clean. Again, almost akin to exercise, that is twice in one weekend!
Now I'm sitting half-watching the Wimbledon men's final. Very thoughtful of the rain to disrupt the afternoon so that I can see the end of the match. I'm not a tennis fan (not at all) but I always enjoy a highly charged game, which is what is going on here. I also have a passing affection for Roger Federer after the Ty Beanie Baby Feder-Bear.
So, yesterday evening F1 went to Montreal. The much hyped race where 'anything can happen'. And anything did happen... or perhaps that should be everything. It actually looked (at the beginning) like it was going to be a pretty dull race. Despite talk of bad weather the official forecast was for no rain during the race. The lights went out and the race started without incident. It all was going pretty much text book, with Hamilton having built up a lead of nearly seven seconds. Then Adrian Sutil crashed his Force India. It looked like the race would continue with under a yellow flag, but then the car caught fire, several fire marshals were in attendance for the recovery, and the safety car was deployed. So there went Hamilton's huge lead.
As soon as the pit lane was open pretty much the entire leading pack decided to dive peel off (as one almost) to take advantage of the 'free' stop for tyres and fuel. And then the most bizarre incident of the race occurred. Although the lane was open the exit wasn't and Kubica and Raikkonen were stopped at the red lights, whereupon Hamilton drove into the back of Raikkonen. Apparently he didn't realise the lights were red! Unsurprisingly this ended both his and Kimi's races, and left the field (literally) wide open.
The race was won by Kubica (after another excellent drive) with Heidfeld in second and Coulthard getting his first podium since the 'superman' podium in Monaco a couple of years back.
Kubica now leads the drivers championship, and Hamilton must be wishing he'd seen that red light.
Here we are on the cusp of another holiday weekend... the last until the Late Summer Holiday at the end of August. Rain has been threatened for the whole weekend which will hopefully include all the way down to Monaco. The Monaco Grand Prix is pretty boring unless the weather is bad!
I've no plans for the weekend. Possibly do as much of nothing as possible, maybe enjoy the weather if it is of the type that can be enjoyed.
I finished reading the Nick Hornby book "A Long Way Down" and it was pretty good. Well written in a readable sort of way, and the characters were very believable. Definitely worth a read of you get a chance. I've now moved on to "The Traveller" by John Twelve Hawks. It's got overtones of George Orwell's 1984 and the Matrix movies. So far quite a page turner, and a definite Web 2.0 experience with plenty of interactivity on-line.
Saturday night's movie this week was Christian Slater in 'A Quiet Man'. In my youth I had quite a thing for Christian Slater, his picture adorned my rough book along with Marti Pellow (I know, I know... I had a sheltered upbringing!). I was rather shocked by his appearance in this movie where he was, well, ordinary. Rich hastened to assure me that this was prosthetics and a wig. It's a wonder what make-up artists can do! It was a strange movie. Odd cinematography although generally well written and a decent enough plot. I got a bit confused at the end, but then it was quite late and some wine had been consumed by this point, so that can't be put down to the writers or directors! Decent enough movie. I'd probably say seven out of ten.
Happily today was a Grand Prix Sunday (it's been a while). The race wasn't the worst we've seen this season, although probably not the best either. Only thirteen cars finished the race, a variety of accidents and mechanical failures took care of the rest of the field. The most dramatic moment was undoubtedly Kovalainen's 140mph crash into the barriers at the side of the track. Fortunately apart from a concussion he appears to be uninjured.
I'm off now to watch Real Madrid being mighty, after Charlton's dismal defeat yesterday I'm due some good football!
This afternoon should have been quite exciting, as it was the Bahrain Grand Prix. So exciting that I fell asleep during the race. Apart from a few scuffles (mostly involving the British drivers) there wasn't much of interest that happened. Poll-sitter Kubica lost his place pretty much off the start, and sadly never got it back (sadly because I don't like Ferraris). Nothing so far this season has lived up to the chaos of that first race back in Melbourne when only seven of the twenty cars finished the race. Happily the F1 caravan is moving back round towards Europe, which means at least we get to watch the games live instead of having to watch them off the V+ box because they were on at 3am or similar.
After the excitement of the F1 I went off to bed and managed to sleep for the rest of the afternoon, waking up at 7pm in time to take-up the cooking of the dinner (Rich had thoughtfully already put the chicken in the oven).
The other remarkable thing about today (apart from the total boredom and huge amount of sleeping) was the snow. I awoke this morning to find a couple of inches of snow covering the garden, and more flakes falling fast. It seems to be melting away now (happily) although it is till extremely cold!!!
Snow in SE7
Last night's movie was Rocket Science. I never held out much hope for this one as it was chosen from a recommendation in the same magazine that recommended the deeply disastrous Eagle vs. Shark (which we didn't make it to the end of). Rocket Science was reasonably well acted and reasonably well scripted. There was just about a story line. The problem was that there wasn't really any point to it. I got to the end of the movie and just thought 'So what?'. Better luck next time, perhaps!
Sunday is pretty much filled with sport in our house. Whatever the time of year there seems to be something to watch. From September through to February it is the NFL. From March to November it is Formula 1. From August until May there is often some sort of football; especially if you are interested in Scottish football and support Celtic (as Rich does) or interested in Spanish football and follow Real Madrid (as I do). There is also increasingly some sort of cricket (whether it is a test match or 20Twenty or one day series). With such riches of choice it is all the more disappointing when all you get is rubbish sport.
Today started with F1. Not live, as that would have been 7am, but recorded on the V+ box. As Hamilton and Kovalainen had both been given 5 place penalties for infractions during qualifying and lost their second row grid spots the best that Hamilton fans could hope for was some serious weather and several safety cars. Not to be. In addition a pit stop hold up meant that Hamilton didn't even get a podium, although Kovalainen did (now known as the smiling Finn as his demeanour is significantly more cheerful than compatriot Raikkonen). It was a pretty dull race. Although Massa didn't finish the race in the end it wasn't before Raikkonen took the lead from the poll sitter... during a pit stop. No rain, no safety cars, pretty much no overtaking... and definitely no excitement.
This fantastic event was followed by Celtic playing away to Gretna in the SPL. I was vaguely interested as a) the game was being played at Almondvale with is the ground of Livingston the team that I follow and b) I have an unreasonable dislike of Gretna and therefore was quite happy at the prospect of them getting thumped by Celtic. The reason for my dislike of Gretna are legion, and all perfectly sensible (to me). Originally I had no interest in Scottish football (not much interest outside of Charlton if we're honest). However Rich supports Celtic, and many of his friends supported one Scottish team or another, so I decided that I'd better support a Scottish team. I chose Livingston because I liked their style. After only six seasons in existence they made their way from the third division to the Premier League. They managed two seasons in the Premier League before being relegated back to Division One where they now languish. I digress.
Reasons I don't like Gretna. Until 2002 Gretna played football in England. Non-league football. Then they moved to Scottish football and Division Three, this way without merit they climb out of obscurity and reach dizzying heights that they never could have reached in English football, reason number one. They were then promoted up through the leagues. Much quicker than Livingston managed, reason number two. Finally, the club has pretty much bought it's success, reason number three. Bankrolled by a multi-millionaire, after falling ill he withdrew his support and the club went into financial administration. OK, rant over. Celtic beat Gretna 0-3, but it was a pretty dire game, I got so bored that I stopped watching before half time.
The good news is that baseball is back this week. The season starts with Boston playing Oakland in Japan, and everyone else starts playing next weekend. Following the Giants' Superbowl success I am certain that the Yankees must be destined to win the World Series (them or, horrible thought, the Mets).
Last night was movie night in our house (as nearly every Saturday night is). First up was the fantasy movie Stardust. Had we known that Neil Gaiman wrote the book and was a producer we might not have had such enthusiasm as his last movie we watched, Mirrormask, managed about 20 minutes before we got bored and gave up. Back to Stardust. A strange mix of cast with some very well known names (Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Peter O'Toole) and some quite unknown names; but a superb story with all the right elements for a good movie. Some of the imagery was very Studio Ghibli, especially the flying pirate ship! Michelle Pfeiffer as an old crone, Robert De Niro as an extremely effeminate pirate captain... worth watching just for that, and De Niro totally stole the show! Ten out of ten, I'd recommend it to anyone.
Movie number two, A Dog's Breakfast. Written and directed by David Hewlett (who plays Rodney McKay in Stargate Atlantis), it stars his real life sister and Paul McGillion (who played Carson Beckett in Atlantis) with appearances by other Atlantis cast members. I found it a bit slow going, but pretty funny - I was rather alarmed to find out that Paul McGillon doesn't really have a Scottish accent (so convincing was he in Atlantis)!
All done with movies for this weekend, back to the hard drive tonight for some more of the British drama we torture ourselves with. Having already managed two episodes of Torchwood we are up for Ashes to Ashes tonight. Why watch them if we don't like them. Well, I always liked Captain Jack in Doctor Who and Life on Mars (the predecessor to Ashes to Ashes) was brilliant. Sadly Ashes to Ashes doesn't live up to that high standard. I keep threatening to stop watching them but never quite do!
