A non-official (and probably mostly made-up) list of all the things that must be hidden from view for the good of that Lady Wot Wears The Crown:
* Rubbish collection days.
* High-rise cranes.
* EA Falcons.
* Most of Gosnells.
* Harley Davidsons.
* Harley Davidson owners.
* All of Maddington.
* Bushfires.
* FESA.
* The drug dealer on the corner of Hay and Milligan St. No, not him, the other one.
* Yes, that’s him.
* Algae.
* Other pond scum.
* Those strange shops that sell incense. Well, we think it’s incense.
Sub-directives also include the provision for any homes in the Fremantle area that has an extensive hoarding collection. These are re-classified from “hovels” to “art installations”.
Non-inclusive directives will also correct the UV Index during CHOGM to a lower rating (reducing the chances of a leader being sunburnt during the meeting), rubbish bins in the city can only be filled with “nice smelling things”, the homeless being relocated to Adelaide, discarded beer bottles to be decorated with a single rose, nuisance dogs banned from barking and anything not pertaining to be of “utopian disposition in life” being punishable by death.
Actually, it might not be fiction for all I know…
The timetable for next week’s event has now been released:
Sunday 2nd October 2011
10am – Practice
11am – Circuit Sedans/Sports – Heat 1
11:30am – Drift Cars
12 noon – Buggies – Heat 1
12:30pm – Stadium Trucks – Heat 1
1pm – Circuit Sedans/Sports – Heat 2
1:30pm – Drift Cars
2pm – Buggies – Heat 2
2:30pm – Stadium Trucks – Heat 2
3pm – All class finals
Heat race length is set to 20 laps, finals include the top 6 in total laps and are 25 laps.
Bayswater have got an RC open day for on and off-road cars tomorrow from 10am. I shall be present to have my first go at their circuit with the two TT-01s.
Next Sunday also see’s Checkered Flag Slotcar Raceway’s debut event in the RC field. Their concrete track will offer a few prizes and a chance to get to know the short circuit for a $10 fee for all day action. That one I have to miss due to an ANDRA Test and Tune commitment, but here it is for everyone else to think about anyway.
First posted on the Facebook group page, here is my outlined plan for this season.
1. DA – This of course will be my big priority, although whether it takes on the same organisational process as the end of last year is yet to be determined. But writing, not a problem. I shall look forward to the challenge yet again.
2. Videos – These were sporadic as far as general coverage went and I don’t really see a change to that this season. OMR will be my main focus in this area, as the Gardners and Phil B cover the other cars better. My Camsports Nano, however, is free to use to anyone who wishes to use it for the day.
3. Facebook Groups and Twitter – Well, you know, same thing continues. Covering the odder side of drag racing (and… pretty much almost anything outside of that circle too), don’t expect much to change here.
Regular internet returns, which means regular blog updates again. The once strong sense of relief from the general public once again diminishes to grumbles…
More lunacy from the odd factory. Nice…
Hopefully back to daily (or reasonably so) posts again in a fortnight. But for tonight, yet more weekly things to read…
TV show on SBS explaining the concept of infinite universes with infinite possibilities. The numbers involved with the Big Bang and the furthest light source ever discovered is truly remarkable. But the bit I’m interested in is what all the other universes would have in them. One of them might have a Channel 10 that didn’t repeat The Devil Wears Prada over and over again. Now that’s hard to believe.
Thought I would write about the latest train project I have going on at the moment. You may recall that I have, well, a few of the ScotRail Class 158s flying about the layout at the moment. The last month or so has seen some actual modifications take place, which I shall detail a bit further.
More often than not, 158s run in a two car set (which is how Bachmann sell them) but also in 4 car sets as well during peak period. My aim for this project is to convert the Bachmann trains into a versatile unit that can couple onto another set without it splitting or causing havoc. Although this might sound like an easy project to do, it actually isn’t for one simple reason. My trains are still DC (as opposed to the digital system of individual train control, or DCC as it’s known).
First of all, I chose the two cars that I would run in the centre, since I’m only experimenting with the idea so far. Later on, I shall have all cars converted to usable couplers. Next thing was to remove the cab end dummy couplers (Bachmann should really have an NEM setup on the cab ends by now, seriously) and flatten the area under the floor with a Dremel to fit Kadee no. 5s (supplied very kindly by Dave Edgell). Having modified the actual coupler boxes so a single screw can bolt them up under the cab floor, the actual train was test run on Haltwhistle (yes yes, a Scottish train in Yorkshire. Let’s just say Northern were short on 158s that day…). First run and all seems well, so on I went with the plan into the next stage after two weeks of initial work.
Week 3 saw the planning, purchase and fitment of DIL switches to turn off the lights in the cab ends that sit in the middle of the 4 car set. After a rummage through the Jaycar catalogue and a bit of a headscratch session with Dave Edgell, John Maker and Tom Stokes, DIL switches were picked for their very small size. The wires in the cars that were joined had all the light wires run through the train to the other end, where the switches could be operated in a decent amount of space. The testing of this on Haltwhistle was very successful, although it was cut short as one of the powered units developed a fault on the driveshaft cup. After three hours of ripping apart and putting together (Alan Burroughs got the soldering iron into the tough parts and Laurie, Kathy and Roger on hand with the big fix), all was well again.
On the fourth week, no real changes were made, but a new issue arose. The two motored cars were now pushing and pulling on the Kadee, which caused the train to seperate. It was also noted that the actual Kadee heights were off just enough to cause problems as well. So today, I have sorted out the height issues and both are now very level. Also I had time to think about how to “lock” the Kadees so the motors couldn’t push and pull the train apart. It’s a simple piece of plastic strip made from polyvinyl, drilled in one end and slotted in the other. To lock it, the drilled end can be inserted into the Kadee’s decoupling device and the strip then pivots into the other decoupler and locks the coupler in place. I reckon if I make a few of these, other Kadee users might be able to enjoy their trains rather than muck about recoupling all day.
Testing of the new developments will continue tomorrow, as time is more freely available on a Tuesday to check these things. And with the addition of a third set of two ScotRail units to join the other two ScR sets and the Transpennine set, the end of the actual testing should be nearing. The last thing to do is not only to tidy up the current DIL switches, but also to convert all the other 158s to cab end Kadees and with LED switches fitted, which can wait for a little while…
My thanks to all who have helped and checked out the results of the project.
The train worked perfectly after a few adjustments to the bogie screw which was just a little too tight on the chassis.
Saw in the recent issue of Continental Modeller an N scale layout set in Enoshima. Japanese N scale seems to be on my mind a lot these days. Anime seems to feature a lot of trains and train travel (as well as high schools and beaches, oddly enough…), so that’s not helping. Nice to look at places that are a bit different to the usual. Plus artistic licence is much more freer for a layout set in the land of the rising sun.
But it’s going to be the Scottish OO layout to be built first. I guarantee that. Might be because I have most of that rolling stock already.
Finally finished the Italeri Mercedes-Benz 1853 kit in 1/24th scale. I forgot how infuriating the haphazard part mould colours, the mismatched bits, the missing pieces and all the badly numbered stuff that this mob usually do. The Volvo F16s and FH16s were much easier to put together I found, but I have to say that despite the roughness of the overall finish, it easily surpasses anything I have put together as a static model (not really saying much there.). This truck comes with a white paint finish that’s, well, seen better days. Rust patches and even the old wounds of a previous forklift accident are featured on this model, plus a bit of mud and general mess on all the usual places you would find on a hard working hauler. The Norwegian owner of this example of a once-powerful Mercedes has let the cleanliness and general rust prevention get out of hand a little bit. Mind you, not every truck in the world has an easy and polished life…
As is the norm lately, here is a typical week in my mind. Scary stuff…
Heard on the radio today that members of the WA government are unhappy about the possible introduction of an R18+ rating for computer games. Colin Barnett’s laughable line this week was that it will lead to a “decline in morals in society”. Too late, Col. Bet he wishes the morons who smashed up all the bus shelters on the Albany Highway in Gosnells last night had played some video games instead…
[DISCLAIMER: This post is opinionated like you wouldn't believe, but is not meant to be critical of anyone in particular. If you do feel that this post is unfairly written, you may shake your head from side to side and believe the author to be an idiot. Everyone else does...]
It’s about time I talked about some drag racing for a change. You know, I did name the blog after the sport I love to watch, so it’s only fair I get back on topic once in a while.
The big news at the moment is how Australian drag racing should be promoted in the future. What format should the race events be in, how the national season should shape up, all the typical questions and queries have popped up with various different solutions to them all. I shan’t pretend to know them all, as I’m still trying to keep up with all the big plans by the movers and shakers of the sport (the latest copy of Dragster Australia magazine has a good set of interviews in them explaining more of the facts). And since I haven’t read the full article yet, I’ll instead concentrate on my biggest gripe at the moment. The television coverage.
And no, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the show itself or the content inside. It’s presented very well, has good hosts who explain the details very nicely and with enthusiasm to boot. No fault at all with that. It just happens to be on the wrong telly channel.
Channel 9 got a hold of it for a season, which got the ball rolling nicely. Shame that ended so soon, but you could tell it went elsewhere when the 9 newsreaders (useless as they are) thought Willowbank was in Queensland. Must have been some sort of revenge, but anyway, I stray off my main point.
A free-to-air sports channel? High definition? That sounds inviting, doesn’t it? Until you realise that not everyone in Australia can pick up the digital signal required for it. Alarm bells rang at that point for me. Sure, I like the idea of a non-paying channel that wouldn’t stuff about when it came to motorsport, but there’s no point if there are black spots in the country that can’t watch it.
Anyway, the sports channel dream is now over, now that the son of Murdoch decided that there wasn’t enough room for his old re-runs of Friends and other crap sitcoms that were never really funny. One HD all of a sudden has turned into yet another unwatchable digital signal channel that no one remembers. Karl Pilkington is about the only funny thing on there. An Idiot Abroad should be on Ten, but what do I know about television anyway?
So, what’s the solution? Follow the US model of broadcasting? NHRA has a good deal with ESPN and it’s sister channels at the moment. But then again, the US has a lot of TV stations to watch and need a huge amount of content to fill up. Eating contests are classified as a sport as well, apparently. There was even a spelling bee on ESPN as well (some of those words must have been made up, surely?). If a spotty 8-year-old who can spell “insufficiently” perfectly with no errors can make it onto the medium of television as a “sport”, then I think that says a lot.
If anyone’s ever read Murray Walker’s autobiography, you will be familiar with the huge amount of different things he has commentated on. Rallycross, motocross, powerboats, truck racing, Rickard Rydell Volvo thrashing, you name it, he’s shouted into a microphone about it. But most of those sports have a brief year or two in popularity and make it into the mainstream sports shows, but then fade back into what they had before all the TV cameras in the venue, a few die-hard fans and that’s about it. Proving to the media masses that drag racing has had it’s day will be tough, although it could be done, you never know. All it needs now is good organised events, a bit of good weather to run the races in and some pretty and powerful cars to stare at. Not a huge amount to ask for really.
So I wish those who have put their hand up to offer suggestions for a way forward good luck and hope drag racing as a whole can make some good choices for a healthy future ahead.
[DISCLAIMER: Again, idiot writing this. See above.]
Whilst we are on the subject of the goggle box, can I say television executives are lazy people? Lazier than the Porsche styling department, as Jeremy Clarkson would probably say. But can anyone really explain why it’s so bad?
Home makeovers, cookery programs, yet another bloody search for best chef/model/singer/talent in the nation. So if you know how to build a decent shelf, chicken parmagiana, look like a coathanger that eaten a really sour sweet, a 5 year old that can sing O Sole Mio like a good’un or happens to be yet another 5 piece breakdance crew, then you are set for 15 minutes of fame within the next few years or so.
None of that is good television though. It’s laziness. Sheer bloody laziness. Don’t have to pay the so-called “stars” that appear on the show. 5 minutes to show their sparkly pearlers on the show should do it. The money goes to the overly huge and pointless studio the show is filmed in. Maybe a can of hairspray for the host as well. That’s about it.
Reality shows are an even worse thing to think about. Drop a bomb on a fertilizer factory and that’s the scale of the problem. MTV should change it’s name. Oh wait, hang on a moment, they just played a music video. Just before the next 6 hour block of vacuum-headed morons that live on Jersey Shore.
Crime shows. Loads and loads of crime shows too. The jails in television land must be full to capacity with maniacs that slaughtered their adulterous other halves and then kept the remains in their Kelvinators. What will happen when all of the criminals (and all the criminal cops) get locked up? Hopefully, that means they don’t have to make any more shows.
No wonder they call them television critics…
In the meantime, whilst my internet connections issues get resolved, please have a read of some of the odd thoughts that occur during the quiet off-season.
Apparently every once in a while, a very strange person will show up out of the blue and engage in one very odd conversation. Well, it happened a week or two ago now.
When someone enters the shop and asks for his son (who happens to be called Dilbert) to get in contact with him, best get out the notepad and pen and record every detail needed. After writing down his phone number (for telemarketing purposes, you know. Well, it could help their day become a bit more interesting than “sod off, we haven’t any need for a new telecommunication service in our lives thank you.”), it was then asked if we would consider joining his trip to Fiji to “collect all the coconuts in the nation”. I unfortunately turned down the offer as I had some non-fictional matters to attend to that day. I now feel I’ve missed out on a Del Boy Trotter scheme of epic proportions. Still, I’m sure the opportunity will come up again in the future. As soon as the new coconuts grow back in the Fijian trees.
Mr Mackie said it best, drugs are bad. Somehow I wish this post was made up entirely out of my imagination. Unfortunately, very real. Oh well, good way to get the blog restarted though…
For some reason, the time when a primary school class re-enactment of Mary Queen of Scots’ Italian friend (I forget his name, wasn’t it Viccio or something?) went a little weird. The chap playing him at the time was, well, taking it very seriously. Even so far as to have learned some Italian words for his final parting sentence during the stabbing. The bloke who played the knight with the sword whacked him a bit harder after that, something everyone else was grateful for. No one likes a smart arse.
Also, just came up with an idea for an animated series. It stars Lady Gaga as herself. Throw a bucket of hot water over her, she turns into Meat Loaf. It wouldn’t actually surprise me too much if it was based on a true story. Still, think I’ll have a word to Fuji TV about that one soon.
Bit staggered a teacher shared his diabetic needle around his class, let alone have them use it as well. Wondering what would be a fitting punishment for such a blunder. Maybe watching Dave Hughes on the telly for life would suffice.
Also, often wonder if parts of the Thomas the Tank Engine theme tune was modelled on Kraftwerk’s Metal on Metal song. Would be a laugh if Hit Entertainment got a nice royalties bill from Ralf und Florian…
A virtual dream, yesterday
When I was writing in a Journalist position over on the Nitto 1320 Legends forum (in a past life), I made a point of shouting loudly and proudly for many of the game users and the many issues/suggestions they had to tell. Many were tired of the shortcomings of the rim sizes and tyre sizes as visually shown on screen. All the cars had the exact same front and rear diameters with very little variation in between. Good if you fancied an off-the-street version of the car, but it doesn’t satisfy the needs of many of us who prefer a bit of reality.
The last week or so finally saw an answer to the problem with the release of the new Camaro Dragster. Billed as the “first American premium car” on the game (it’s available points only from new), the car shows promise with a more true to life drag racing car. And unlike it’s near-similarly themed Bergenholtz Mazda6 stablemate, it has full custom graphics capabilities, meaning your ride can have any colour scheme dreamed up on it.
Although the technical specs under the hood are what you would call unusual (despite the hood scoop on the bonnet, the engine is supercharged), the elapsed times the car has achieved are closer to realistic than the Bergenholtz (both cars in the game hit 5.6 seconds on the strip, two tenths under for the V8 and 1 second for the rotary) and thus satisfy many a player who yearn for a bit of pushrod punishment.
Already on my second car in the garage, I have furnished it with a set of the Weld Alumistar 2.0s in gold (the developers really do need to fix the front rims though) and also a set of the default graphic Pinstripe for an attractive red look. My car is still on the slow side, with a 5.74 my best turn at the wheel.
So with this latest development, can Cie win over the drag racing purists? It can happen, I reckon this car is a winner despite it’s faults. Hopefully some more premium cars in the future can follow the Camaro’s lead and add more variety to the already colourful game.
