Thursday, July 1, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Philip Island round 1
Finally...some racing! The 2010 World Superbike series kicked off from the ever-rad Phillip Island circuit in Australia. Much to the relief of the rest of the paddock, 2009 champeen and series dismantler, Ben Spies, is off to MotoGP to team up with Colin Edwards in the Yamaha Tex-3 team. With Spies out of the picture, will this finally be Nori Haga's year to bag the championship, or will he be denied for the 67th time?
2009 World Supersport champ, Cal Crutchlow has teamed up with MotoGP refugee/piano tuner James Toseland in the Factory Yamaha team. Both of them seem to think they have what it takes. 2009 British Superbike champ, Leon Camier has teamed up with Max Biaggi on the factory Aprilia team. Bitchin'. Personally, I think Biaggi has the best chance of denying Haga. The other MotoGP refugee, Chris Vermeulen, will be aboard the Factory Kawasaki ZX10R this year. With Kawasaki saying 'fuck you' MotoGP and the AMA series, they are putting all their sushi in their World Superbike effort. We shall see. Our very own Porkchop Hayden has also given the AMA the finger and signed on to ride a satellite ZX10R for the Pedercini Kawasaki team. Apparently, the prospect of running around at the back of the World Superbike field is more enticing than winning supersport races in the AMA. Good luck, Rog.
Anyway...qualifying came and went, and Alstare Suzuki's new signing, Leon Haslam put his (it's not really 'his', he just gets paid a shitload of money to ride it.)GSXR1000 on pole. Fabrizio, Crutchlow, and Checa rounded out the front row. Where's Haga? He started from 10th. What about our old buddy, Xaus? He qualified 15th, but didn't race due to him destroying all 3 of his bikes during qualifying and feeling a little beat up.. Bummer dude...see you in Portugal. And Porkchop? He qualified in last-teenth place, which is also where he finished both races.
OK...enough babbling. The lights went out for Race 1, and Fabrizio immediately hit the front, but Haslam went around the outside of him into the really fucking fast turn 1 to take the lead. Balls. Haga hit the nitro button (see what I did there?) and blasted up to 3rd from 10th on the grid. At the end of the first lap, Haslam had stretched out a decent lead over the factory Ducati boys. Everything pretty much stayed the same, until Toseland hit a wrong note and highsided himself into space over the top of Lukey Heights. Jorge Lorenzo would’ve been impressed. A few laps later, Toseland’s fellow MotoGP refugee, Vermuelen, tossed his Kawasaki into the gravel. Welcome back to World Supers, you two. Crutchlow then decided to follow teammate Toseland’s example and and lost the front into one of those tight, hairpin corner thingies. Dear Mr. Spies; Please come back. Love; The Yamaha World Superbike mechanics.
The front group of Haslam, Febreze, and Haga continued to put a huge gap on the rest of the field. It looked like Haslam was on his way to his first-ever World Superbike win. Into the last lap, Febreze closed up on Haslam and was looking for the win. As they crossed the line, Fabrizio was originally credited with the win. It was then declared a photo finish, so race control reviewed the finish, flipped a coin, and awarded Haslam the win by 4/1000 of second. Haga cruised home in a safe 3rd.
On to race 2. Febreze got the holeshot, but Haslam, once again, went right around the outside to take the lead into turn 1. Balls pt. deux. The front three were the same as race 1, for now. Meanwhile, Alstare Suzuki’s other new boy, Sylvain Guintoli, was quickly picking people off and joined the back of the front three and then took Haga and Febreze in the span of two corners to take over 2nd place behind Haslam. The next lap, Guintoli upped the ante and went past Haslam to take the lead in to turn one. Meanwhile, back in the pack…Vermeulen, not happy with his dainty race 1 tipover, decided to make this one count and fired his Kawasaki (and himself) into the tire wall at 100+ mph. He was stretchered off to the medical center, but should be back for Portugal.
Back up front, Guintoli held the lead for a few laps before being taken by Haslam and Febreze. While this was going on, Checa was rapidly moving through the field and soon threatened the front two. Checa made his way up to 2nd and, with one lap to go, was right on Haslam’s arse. Game on. Checa lined up Haslam around the outside of Lukey Heights and stuffed into the next hairpin and held on for the win. Nice work, amigo.
Race 1
Haslam-Suzuki
Fabrizio-Ducati
Haga-Ducati
Race 2
Checa-Ducati
Haslam-Suzuki
Fabrizio-Ducati
So, that's that. Round one is in the books, and Haslam leaves the island with a 9 point championship lead over Fabrizio. Checa sits in 3rd and Haga in 4th. The next stop is Portimao in Portugal in a month.
T...out.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Dennis is dying of cancer
Revealed: why Hopper wanted deathbed divorce
Wife Victoria loses her inheritance if she’s not living with him when he dies
By Jack Bremer
LAST UPDATED 10:16 AM, FEBRUARY 12, 2010
The final days of the Hollywood actor-director Dennis Hopper, terminally ill with prostate cancer, are beginning to rival a Hopper movie for bizarre behaviour. Having suddenly announced in mid-January that he wanted a deathbed divorce from his wife Victoria Duffy, the 73-year-old star has since won a restraining order which forbids her to go within 15 yards of him.
Why Hopper would do this is now much clearer after the judge in the divorce case unsealed a copy of the 'prenup' Hopper and Duffy signed before their wedding 14 years ago.
Under the terms of the agreement, in the event of a divorce Hopper would keep all his property - including his complex on Venice Beach, Los Angeles, and large parcels of land in Arizona and New Mexico - and his art collection.
In addition, Victoria would have only 60 days to get out of the marital home. That gives her until March 11.
Most important - and key to the recent goings-on - Victoria was due to inherit 25 per cent of his estate if she and Hopper were still married and living together at the time of his death. But if they are divorced, she gets nothing. (Though she is allowed to keep what she brought to the marriage - two computers, two bookcases full of books, her granny's furniture and a 1973 VW Karmann Ghia.)
So now we know why Hopper is so desperate to stay alive - so that the divorce can proceed and Victoria's 60-day limit pass by.
Quite why Hopper wants his wife to inherit nothing is not so clear. She claims he's under pressure from his older children from a previous marriage, who now stand to carve up a great inheritance.
Hopper's doctor, David Argus, insists the Easy Rider and Blue Velvet star is of sound mind, even if he does not have long to go. And he also claims that Hopper has a better chance of survival if Victoria stays away from the hospital where he's dying - hence the restraining order.
"It is my belief and recommendation that the less Mr Hopper has to do with his estranged wife at this time, the more likely he is to have his life extended," Argus said.
Hang on in there, Dennis.
Wonderful English from Around the World
Only the English could have invented this language...
We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
Let’s face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren’t invented in England ..
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing,
grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?
Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother’s not Mop?
Only the English could have invented this language...
We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
Let’s face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren’t invented in England ..
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing,
grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?
Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother’s not Mop?
Friday, February 26, 2010
Two Interesting Years
Interesting Year 1981
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes (cricket) tournament.
4. The Pope died
Interesting Year 2005
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes (cricket) tournament.
4. The Pope died
Lesson to be learned:
The next time Charles gets married, someone warn the Pope.
Interesting Year 1981
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes (cricket) tournament.
4. The Pope died
Interesting Year 2005
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned soccer Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes (cricket) tournament.
4. The Pope died
Lesson to be learned:
The next time Charles gets married, someone warn the Pope.
the king of cool
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
I WANT ONE
Pygmy hippos share the same general form as a hippopotamus. They have a graviportal skeleton, with four short legs and four toes on each foot, supporting a portly frame. The pygmy hippo, however, is only half as tall as the hippopotamus and weighs less than 1/4 as much as its larger cousin. Adult pygmy hippos stand about 75–83 cm (30–32 inches) high at the shoulder, are 150–177 cm (59–70 inches) in length and weigh 180–275 kilograms (400–600 pounds).[7] Their lifespan in captivity ranges from 30 to 55 years, though it is unlikely that they live this long in the wild
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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