Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Falcadore!'s LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
6:24 am	Queensland State Level Racing Wrap The weekend prior to my braving of the international travel network the Queensland state level racing wound up with a highly entertaining 'Golden Holden' one hour co-driver mini-endurance race for 1970s Holdens. But more on that later. The previous weekend was the finale of the four round state championship held at Morgan Park Raceway where most of the twelve state level categories went down to the final round. ( Details behind the cut ) Current Mood: proud (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
12:50 am	Augusta isn't just for Golfing One of newsy891 ideas for stuff to do on this trip, was to visit one of the local wineries up in Augusta (Missouri not Georgia). Actually I feel the need to point out a correction after some confusion has been caused by one of my previous travellogues. When I said my V Australia flight was diverted to Ontario, I meant Ontario, California, not the Canadian province which houses Toronto as its capital. While the winery don't do tours during the week they do do tastings, so what the hell off we go. It was a very pretty day (quite warm supposedly). We took the drive out of Saint Charles westwards and watched suburbia fade into small rural area. We stopped briefly at a little scenic stopping point on the Katy Trail, an overland hiking trail along a strip left behind after a railway was ripped up that travels across the state. Under blue skies we wandered around and took some photos before returning to the car and driving past the remnants of a weapons manufacturing depot which features a huge concrete plug. Some of those weapons were atomic so the plug has to remain in place for a while (4.5 billions year half-life for that waste, don't think I'll wait for decertification). The road gets narrower and less signed, quickly becoming the farmland imagery of so many US made telemovies complete with 60% of building consisting of whitewashed farming buildings. It's the picture postcard Uunited States. August itself is perched on a small hill with two wineries spread across its slopes. We went to Mount Pleasant Winery and wandered around the showroom before buying some tastings which cleared the sinuses beautifully. The have a nice Cabernet Sauvignon, the Norton, drier again than a Cab Sav had such a smoothe finish to it I bought a bottle for myself to consume at mealtimes during my stay. Newsy was impressed with a Villagio which we grabbed to take to Thanksgiving later in the week. After asking the guy running the shop where we could get something to eat after finding their grill was closed during the week he pointed us towards Cafe Bella, a small but cosy converted house resteraunt over on one side of Augusta. Here's the menu. When our quite friendly waitress took our orders she announced the soup of the day was Minestrone and we "ooo"ed at each other. A small serving made for me a perfect entree, it was hearty, tasty and packed with vegies and tortelini without becoming too thick and chewy. Considering how cold it is here for me it was perfect. The Cafe Chicken Salad arrived as a chicken in a sauce of pecan, bacon, cranberries and creamy dressing, with some crusty foccacia and apple coleslaw on a bed of lettuce and tomato which was just delicious. We shared a chocolate lava desert and left feeling quite content. The skies were turning on us so we headed for home. Newsy has some term papers to write while meanwhile I'm getting a scracthy throat and snuffly nose which I suspect is cause by Birdie, and not made better after Birdie gave me a hug today, she climbed onto my shoulder then wrapped herself around my face more or less. Very cute and all that but no I appear to be paying for it. Still a beautfiul winters day. Return of the Vehicular Culture Shock, Buick Sable, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Pontiac Grand Prix, Dodge Intrepid, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Dodge Charger, Chevrolet Impala, Buick Rendezvous Current Mood: content (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
12:42 am	Belatedly Westerly In the spirit of ritin' about racin' as much as rantin'... Today is the penultimate weekend of V8 Supercars back home. Three national level race meeting left for the year, the Shannons National Motor Racing Championships finale at Sandown, including the now very Victorian transplanted Tasmanian Super Prix for Formula 3s, the domestic successor to the Australian Grand Prix, lost to world championship status in 1985. The big bash of the Sydney V8 street race in December and this weekend the V8 Supercar are at Barbagallo on the fringe of the Perth-Fremantle metropolis. After being shown his shortcomings at the Indy race at Surfers Paradise a few weeks ago, Jamie Whincup has been on a tear, three successive wins including yesterdays race 1. Barbagallo Raceway is one of a dying breed it seems. One upon a time Australia was littered with these under three kilometre national level club owned circuits. While Wakefield Park has sprung up in recent times and Morgan Park has stepped up to this level from its club-sprint background. Winton is still running, but Oran Park is now gone, joining its Sydney sister Amaroo Park. Mallala continues to operate as a minor national circuit, and Lakeside still runs at a much more modest level even than Mallala. Barbagallo, like Symmons Plains in this regard, exist through geography, being outposts away from easy reach of the Eastern seaboard, and outside funding. Unlike Symmons Plains, the Western Australian state government isn't keen on bankrolling their track. Fortunately for those in the West and the West Australian Sporting Car Club, they have what Tasmania no longer has, a huge vibrant resources industry. And miners are vehicle obsessed. Look at the toys they work with, massive industrial coloured diggers, rippers, dozers, drillers, conveyors, and Haul Trucks that haul around powdered asteriods. Of course they love big hairy V8 Supercars. Pity we can't get the Queensland mining industry behind Queensland Raceway's big race, but they have the Townsville Street Circuit now I suppose. Barbagallo is a 2.1 kilometre track built on top of the sand, an ancient miniature prototype to the Formula One palaces in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, and the sand gets everywhere, making for a very abrasive racing surface. It's a good track though, some intersting sweepers that zig-zag around a small hill before a long plung off the back of it with a big heavy braking curve before a climb that brings you back towards a pair of basic corners feeding and exiting the front straight. Its scene some interesting times, Allan Moffat's weird pitstop in 1982, the confused race start of 1994, Dick Johnson's startling pace in 1991, the only ever 1-2-3 in Australian Touring Car history for the Holden Dealer Team in 1979. Today Jamie Whincup may wrap up the series if Will Davison has a bad day. His post enduro fortune has not been brilliant. A second place at Phillip Island and Whincup's Gold Coast disaster has kept the HRT number 2 in the hunt. Davison's team mate the theoretical HRT lead driver Garth Tander hangs by a thread. Tander needs a big score today, and a Whincup DNF to stay in the race for the title. For Tander this will bring acidic memories of 2006 when he had to play second fiddle to his team mate, then Rick Kelly, in his race to beat a Triple 8 Race Engineering Ford. All of that ended very ugly at Phillip Island. Here's hoping such dirty tactics from either Tander or Lowndes, the 2006 victim but now holding the team mate support role that Whincup could not offer in 2006. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
4:47 pm	Are We There Yet? There's been a cluster-fff... firetruck. Started with the weather. The plane, a V Australia Boeing 777, made good time across the Pacific but when we got the the west coast, Los Angeles was socked in with a heavy fog. The plane couldn't land. So we orbitted an imaginery spot over the ocean for awhile until the pilots reluctant made the bingo call, low fuel, and diverted to Ontario, CA in order to refuel. Ontario isn't an international airport, so lacking customs facilities we were stuck on the plane while it refuelled and the flight crew chatted to LAX to try and get back into the flight pattern they had to get out of to make a pit stop (they didn't change the tyres or drivers, fuel only splash 'n' dash pitstop). That took five hours. Well outside my four hour layover. My internal St. Louis flight was long gone by the time we landed at a blank temporary terminal at a far flun corner of LAX. A fleet of buses then shipped the now rather unwashed masses to the terminal proper, which was quite a ways. The busses raced across the tarmac and taxiways mixing traffic with the jetliners, support and emergency vehicle traffic. Customs went OK apart from a brief paperwork SNAFU. Had to rebook, American Airlines placed me on a later flight on standby, whcih I didn't understand right off. After calling a seriously freaked out newsy891 who had been tracking my flight and all she could tell was my flight number had disappeared from the flights landed at LAX, finally got hold of her as she was driving towards the airport to meet my original flight. Got her turned around told her what I knew. Had to call her back once I understood the implications of standby. The flight is boarding now, I'm second on the standby list, but first class checked in full so now it's looking like I'll be travelling on a now much later flight, near midnight which will stop at Chicago. Hope I don't have to get out of a plane there. Lat evening Chicago in November is not the sort of weather a boy who stood in the sub-tropics yesterday is used to. EDIT: I didn't make it to St. Louis, but I'm not in Chicago either. I am in the right time zone as I type this from an airport hotel in Dallas-Fort Worth, experiencing the joys of my first meal since breakfast on the V Australia flight, the joys of Whataburger. The name basically explains my trepidation. V Australia, rather disappointingly was little help once on the ground after the weather enforced delay and essentially left it in the baskets of connecting carriers to fix. American Airlines got me this far at no additional cost apart from the hotel room. So re-uniting with my love has been delayed 18 hours, but it could have been worse, at least I'm not still in LA. Current Mood: tired (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 20th, 2009
11:25 am	Sitting, Waiting You have to get to airports three hours before hand for North American flights. Gives you too much time to think. The folks decided they hold help me think, I think Dad wanted to wonder around and look at the planes, good on him too. I left the Tim Tams at home. It is so meltingly hot here in Queensland, but not Adelaide's blast furnace, but the sweltering sub-tropic sweat-fest (it's going to be one stinky aeroplane by the time it reaches LA) that I left grabbing them until the very last minute... and forgot them. I felt so disproportionately sad and guilty about that, that apparently the bag will be retrieved and express mailed, today or Monday. But apologies for all that. I keep thinking about everything I've forgotten, and correspondingly... flight announcement... five minutes, ok. I've already been through secondary screening. Correspondingly all of the silly idiotic trivial things I did pack. I doubt my BigPond card will work at LA, so next posting will be from Cardinal-Town. After some sleep. See you all soon. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
2:08 pm	Three Days Not that I'm counting. Almost there my love. Your normal scheduled programming of racin' and rantin' will resume. Current Mood: happy (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
10:40 am	Applying the National Brakes Just got my horses in the office sweep for this afternoon's Melbourne Cup. I've included the VicTAB odds for comparison. C'est la Guerre (34/1) Fiumicino - twice! (70/1) Zavite (70/1) Kibbutz (80/1) Carla sitting opposite pulled the favourite Viewed (15/4) out of the hat. Feeling thoroughly ripped off at the moment. Least I feel dressed for the occasion. But that's why its called gambling. Current Mood: ripped off (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
12:39 pm	Happy Birthday And a happy one indeed for stareyednight who's had a tought time lately. Would very much like to see a smile bad sadly distance will defeat that. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
10:28 am	Depressing Twits Didn't get to work until 10am today. Just had a slow morning, twas tired and I'm having a loud tinitus day (some days its noticeably louder than others, some, not today, it feels exactly like a splitting headache, but without the pain) and I missed my bus. Next bus on my route is some 45 minutes later. Usually I then walk 15 minutes to the highway and get a different route, but today I found a big chunk of depression bite into me and I couldn't get motivated to do anythign but shuffled some of my books around my bedroom. Not dissociated, but unable to get moving. Eventually I broke the depression and caught a cab, but it's left me with an oppressed/guilty feeling that I'm going to struggle with all day. This is coming out more like a Twitter whine than anything I originally had intended. But I guess this is as good a time as any to plug Movember. doggypanter is promoting Movember again this year so anyone reading this who might have supported me in a Movember bid, contribute to his instead. What do you call someone who Twitters or uses Twitter? A Twit? One can only hope... (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
7:47 pm	Bloody Kremzeek, find your own planet! Currently having a power blackout. An electrical transformer just blew up explosively, about 60 metres from my balconey, and is still burning and/or melting. Bloody hell it gave me a fright. Two separate, distinct, sparking explosions. Firies are here now. Energex repair crews can'y be too far away. I have to go out now but damn.... (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, October 19th, 2009
12:41 pm	I Really Enjoyed That Out of the final turn now, up onto the long sweeping straight at Interlagos, between the lakes, the Red Bull screams towards the line. Felipe Massa is unfurling the checquered flag as Mark Webber, wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in a dominant performance. Robert Kubica crosses the stripe for second the best result after a miserable year for the BMW team. The outgoing champion Lewis Hamilton just beats a charging Sebastien Vettel to the line for third and coming to the line now in fifth postion, the 2009 Formula 1 champion of the world, Jenson Button. "Thank you Jenson, superb work." "We are the champions, WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, of the world!" The most pleasant of early morning wake-ups, to see Mark Webber drive a race even better than his gritty over-adversity drive at the Nurburgring, this race he drove absolutely wheel perfect and the Red Bull team gave him perfect service on the day, the right strategy and two perfect pitstops. McLaren and Ferrari have both been here before. As an actor I like said recently, "you don't make mistakes at this level and win." In 1966 Ferrari got hypnotised by the pursuit of horsepower and were almost unaware Jack Brabham had stolen the title away. In 1980 aware one era had come to an end built a gravel truck in perhaps the most dismal of performances of defending champions. In 1995 McLaren bowed to commercial pressures to hire a driver obviosuly unsuitable to them and their team, and they spent the next few years struggling to find an engine coupled with so much lost momentum. Only what four/five years ago, they built a car that failed the crash test and had to start a new car design, essentially mid-season and never caught up. They, and other teams, had resource advantages and then some over the two teams that did emerge from the pack. What both Brawn and Red BUll had this year were a team of clever and efficient people, and driver pairings that had cunning experience, and enthusiastic speed. To Webber all power to you, and to Sebastien Vettel, Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and everyone at Red Bull Racing. You fought the good fight with little other than the best balanced car in the field, a decent but not the best customer engine and webbed feet in the foulest of weather. And congratulations to Jenson Button, Ross Brawn, the entire Brawn GP team, and even Rubens Barrichello who probably doesn't completely feel like a celebration when the day promised so much for him, but without whom, the team could not have achieved what they did. Button was always this talented. One of the very few drivers in the sport who arrive at the top level and make an almost immediate impression. While Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher got there faster, and Lewis Hamilton's rise, like Jacques Villeneuve's was meteoric, some had to do it harder. Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, and Damon Hill too all had to race a long time before claiming the ultimate prize. In recent decades only Nigel Mansell has experienced such lows prior to that defining moment as Jenson Button has this year. To have come so far from so little, one of the most remarkable performances in any sport this year. And Lewis Hamilton, who for the second year in a row has dashed Brazilian hopes for a world champion at their home race after the collision with Barrichello, maybe you might want to leave town quickly, lest some extremist fan get some ideas he shouldn't. Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
3:42 am	Go WEBBO! Great Brazilian Grand Prix under way. Exciting scrambled start and Webber is driving brilliantly. Barrichello lead early but got badly held up behind Kobayashi. Webber got his first stop done without losing the lead. A few cars are out. Three car collision took out Trulli, Sutil and Alonso. Kobayashi put Nakajima into the wall. Rosberg's car died while in third. Kovalainen took off from the pits with his fuel host attached, draggin fuel onto Raikkonen's cras which briefly flash-fired. And everyone's using calcalators to figure out where the two Brawns are on the track after a storming climb through the field by Button. Go Webbo! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, October 16th, 2009
1:43 pm	The Mr Whippy Grand Prix For those of you who remember the old Late Show skit, the following news article may provide much mirth. http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/10/16/148735_gold-coast-supergp.html But it does highlight the desparate situation Gold Coast SuperGP organisers find themselves in with just six days to go until racing begins as it looks increasingly likely that despite all their promises A1 Grand Prix will be a no-show. Lawsuits are already being threatened by the government, and the future of the event at all is certainly clouded. For the U-tubers amongst us, here is the original skit... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHKAp17qoi4 Current Mood: amused (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, October 9th, 2009
3:24 pm	Provisional Pole is Well whadda know... Jason Richards, very well done indeed. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
2:21 pm	News from the Big Hill (parte the Whinge) Do you know how hard it is to get a pub in Brisbane City to change just 1 television away from Fashion TV or horse racing? Pubs all staffed by overseas backpackers who looked at me as though I was speaking Russian when I try to explain, major sport on TV live now. All the city pubs have been boutiqued. Never had this problem before. Very very pissed. Current Mood: Very very pissed (1 Comment |Comment on this)
12:55 pm	News from the Big Hill (parte the second) The second practice session is complete. If you exclude Jamie Whincup 2:07:3 from yesterday, then the times are faster across the board, and it’s Steven Johnson top of the timesheets with a 2:07.5702, giving DJR a real dilemma of who to let qualify the #17 as James Courtney has been top five in any session he’s been in this weekend. Greg Murphy was second fastest, causing some to speculate that the man who could break the fastest ever lap time around Bathurst (which is not actually the lap record as much recorded as only race laps contribute to lap records, but there you go) could be Greg Murphy, just one hundredth behind Johnson. Craig Lowndes was third fastest with Mark Winterbottom, Alex Davison and Garth Tander all ducking into the sevens today joining Whincup and Bargwanna from yesterday. Completing the top ten were Jason Bright, Todd Kelly, Jason Richards and Fabian Coulthard. Just the one red, and that makes it one-all for the Tander family as Leanne caused this one, after Garth’s trip into the sand yesterday. With Andrew Fisher’s indiscretion this morning, tail makrer was again 31st rather than 32nd and Mark McNally fills that spot in the West Aussies staffed Hi Tec Oils Kelly car. Unexpectedly slow was Holdsworth/Caruso in 26th, with Steve Owen perhaps the surprise car for pace in 11th. Fastest international and the Anglo-Dane combination of James Thompson and Allan Simonsen in 14th. The Stig is 24th. Two bent cars are being fixed, Leanne Tander's Ford has mostly cosmetic damage from her hit on the wall, while Andrew Fisher's Ford won't have much time to finish repairs before qualifying. (Comment on this)
10:47 am	News from the Big Hill (parte the first) Some news from the first session this morning. Jack Perkins has just blown up the pretty Bet 24/7 Commodore going up the Mountain and has dragged oil across the top of the hill. Car 13, the Bible Society Falcon is stopped up the top somewhere. Forrests? Anyway it’s out of the way and a flat tow will be sent for it at sessions end. Don’t know if it’s a mechanical stop or an impact stop. Some news from yesterday, one of a couple of bunker visitors was… the #2 HRT Commodore! Dunno who was driving, but might explain their pace being so soft, and Leanne Tander’s relative playfulness to the camera last night on Thursday Night Live, which had a long run of drivers popping in for a chat, Russell, Murph, Junior Johnson, Thruster Rust, the Tanders etc   Yesterday - Dunlop is warning the teams to be very careful with tyres, it appears some used tyres might have to be put back on cars late in the race as it looks like seven or eight stops, and only six sets of tyres. Think they get one set back though,  but any tyre you mark in practice will hurt you in the race. Jamie Whincup was fastest with a 2:07.3, some six tenths faster than Jason Bargwanna, the only other driver to record a ‘Seven’ today. Steven Johnson was third fastest ahead of Mark Winterbottom, Jason Richards, Alex Davison, Greg Murphy, Warren Luff, Jason Bright and Fabian Coulthard. HRT are taking it cautiously, the #22 Dumbrell is 17th. Davison/Tander is 20th. Owen 24th and Reynolds is 25th. The three wildcard cars are 22nd (Assaillit/Lowe), 28th (Walter/Douglas) and 31st for the Bible Society car. 31st? Who was missing? Fiore and Bayliss. Something happened to the #12 and it missed two sessions. And Troy Bayliss needs more laps than anyone in practice. Gawd help him if the car is bent. The two early sessions were topped by Alex Davison (session A) and Jason Richards (session B). (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
12:49 pm	On the First Day of Bathurst, my true love... left me to my own devices... Today is the first day. The first of four. The first day of Christmas. There is frost on the ground. There is snow down to 700m in the snow fields. A cold snap has enveloped New South Wales and Victoria. How this might play out is yet to be determined. But this morning, I look backwards, for this year is the fiftieth year. ( A pleasant morning by the seaside in November, 1960 is interrupted. ) The Spirit of the Mountain has sent the field a reminder, they do not master the elements. No team has the foolproof plan to conquer the Mountain. The great hill on the western plains always has the last laugh. For 161 laps on Sunday, the 32 cars and their teams will take to the track. And all day long the noise of battle rolled... Current Mood: pumped (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
2:24 pm	The Space Cadet We're braking in a new commentator at the moment, early 20's accountant/accounting student type. He's got a long way to go. Yesterday twice he described competitors 'opening up their legs on the back straight'. First time I ploughed on, second time, I couldn't stop myself and had to quickly punch off from the desk so I could laugh a few times loudly. He is not yet aware of what he says. S'OK. He'll learn. Or he won't. Hopefully, Hector the Safety Cat as he's become known, will stop trying to sing Linkin Park at Karoake. That was painful. Current Mood: amused (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
1:23 pm	Gran Balconey My favourite couch sits right next to one of the sliding doors facing on to my balconey. I'm sitting there tapping on my lap top when I notice I'm being watched. Looking to my left on the balconey rail is a rather large Kookaburra. Looking right at me, rather unconcerned, blinking its eyes, swinging its tail feathers up and down for balance. Much of his distinctive blue marking had deepened almost to black and coupled with his size and generally calm demeanor around the human made me believe it was rather old for a Kooka. Standing and sliding open the door didn't concern it in the slightest. I went back to my typing, cheered slightly for the company. After a few minutes some bright, annoyed squarking sounde from the balconey. A Myna bird was sitting next to the Kooka making the noise. It seemed to have a bone to pick with the Kookaburra and it took-off and flew at the Kingfisher a few times. Two friends turned up. The imagery came to mind as the boldest of the three Mynas tried to knock the Kookaburra on the head was of three punks annoying the old man and trying to knock his hat off. When I told newsy891 she added the Kooka was telling thee young Mynas to get off his lawn, completing the image of Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino... Gran Balconey. Wish I had my camera working. The Kooka looked so serene looking out upon its world from my thoughtfully provided perch. Current Mood: amused (1 Comment |Comment on this)