What time is it? Formula One time!!!

So the awesomeness of this can not be denied.  I hated really did not like very much at all but totally respected Prost, but would have this on my mantle (had I a mantle) without hesitation.  Way too expensive for me but awesome nonetheless.  Tag Heuer F1 Clocks up for sale at Bonhams along with other Tag gear.

More images after the break.

F1-Geeks Armchair Team Principle - Suzuka *Spoiler Alert*

This post kicks off what will be a regular column of post race analysis by the team here at F1-Geeks.   Our plan is rather complex so I'll lay it out for you here.

F1-Geeks watch race.
F1-Geeks have feelings about it.
F1-Geeks write it down as if it was important to others.
Others clamor with unbridled joy at the ensuing enlightenment.
Star Wars is released on BluRay in the original 1977 version.*

Suzuka
Fred's thoughts
Suzuka was great for many things.  The rain delay drama, Vettel's great drive, Webber not crashing into anyone and the weather held so we got to see some great racing.

At the top for me was Kobyashi's manic genius under braking.  I always thought he could do better than he has and perhaps it's more about his car's performance than anything else but he's disappointed when compared to the first few drives of his career.

I was, however not thrilled with Kubica's wheel problem.

My most amusing post race comment was from Mercedes as they were pleased because "Michael was the first car to finish after the 5 championship contenders".  Well, I suppose that's a positive way to look at it.

All in all a decent fun race from my perspective but I would have loved to have Kubica battling through the whole race.



Tim's Thoughts
It was fantastic to see Vettel take pole and ultimately win the race, even if it was more or less a procession.  The front runners pretty much just followed each other through the whole race.  But I'm not complaining, I rather enjoyed it.

It was a shame to see 4 drivers taken out on the first lap.  Two before the first corner even.  Petrov better be careful, or Renault may start pursuing Kimi for real.

Apparently Kobyashi was possessed by the spirits of Suzuka and the net result was inspired insanity.  Let's hope he's back to his peak form.  I love watching him when he throws caution to the wind.

Speaking of the spirits of Suzuka, there appears to be a new one.  I believe the Japanese will refer to him as "Taiya Dorobō," the tire thief.  He managed to force Kubica and Rossberg to retire early as each had one of their wheels just magically fly off the car.  Apparently that's the only way Michael can finish ahead of Nico.  (Doh!)

I thought Hamilton did a pretty amazing job considering he had one fewer gear than everyone else. 

Over all, I thought it was a great race.  Beautiful circuit, great weather and good results.  What really would have made it awesome was if the great spirit Dorobō San had decided to lay his hand upon Webber's car as well.



*Han shot first.

PS3 Frees Itself From the Recursive Irony of Doom

The fine, fine, folks at Engadget HD have dropped some knowledge on something that should leave PS3 owners weeping with joy and a feeling of superiority not felt since the "It can play Blu-Rays" days.
Finally.

On the 18th of this month, PS3 owners will never have this conversation again:
"Hey let's watch Netflix on the PS3!"
"OK cool, you got a movie in the mail?"
"No, you don't need the disc.  You just watch it streaming online!"
"Awesome!  What are you doing?"
"Just putting in the disc that we need to watch movies without a disc."
"Uhm....."

Never having to see your significant other give you that look again isn't the best part.  The best part is that this update also brings surround sound to the stream and 1080p.  Other platform updates are supposedly in the works but those owners will likely have to suffer a cold and lonely winter of discontent without plans to be made glorious any time soon.  Poor souls...

Checkout the original post here.

Anyone But Webber

OK.  So I'm sure he's a nice guy with a nice wife and probably even has very nice huge-jawed kids.   I'm also sure that I would not be happy with him as an F1 champion. 

You're saying to yourself, "You just hate all Aussies because we have beautiful beaches, blonds, and "bar-b's".   Well, yes, those are things to be jealous of and somewhat irritated by, but you forgot Paul Hogan, Yahoo Serious and Mel Gibson.*  OK, I'll conceed Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.**  Hell, I'll even give you Russel Crowe and the hot girl from Chuck.***   AND You've got to have some serious skills to stick around in Australia.  Great white sharks. Saltwater crocs.  Just laying about the place.  Let's not even get into your invertabrates. Box jellyfish, anyone?  You meet one of those guys and you're dead in three minutes.****  No, no, my friend.  Australia kicks ass.

It's just that Mark doesn't seem to.   Yeah, he's there.  He's consistent.   But he never pulls off the heroic moves.  When he's in the back, he stays there.   When he's in the front, he's willing to risk his position to force other drives to crash into him.  Most of his moves seem to be him being as unsportsmanlike as possible and getting away with it.  Hell, he couldn't even pass a much slower Heikki on straight as wide as a California highway.

While most of this post is just in fun and Webber seems like a pretty decent guy.  There's no spark there.  No inspiration.  No message other than "see what you can get away with".  And that's the problem.  It won't be as if he fought for the championship and took it.  It'll feel a lot like he just got away with it.

*Before you go on about how I'm just jumping on the "Mel sucks" bandwagon, it's not true.  I actually like the guy and when you make an ass-load of money, you get to be a bit of a lunatic.  I'm just tired of watching him get tortured in every single film he makes.
** Although her prior marriage renders her suspect from the outset.
***Technically, she's Polish.
**** These things are responsible for more deaths, than snakes, sharks, and saltwater crocs, combined.

Rockband Pre-Orders and You!

If you are planning on buying RB3, there's no reason not to pre-order.   Pre-orders get some bonuses based on where it's ordered from.  Here's a quick breakdown of the three campaigns for your edification.

Gamestop
Gamestop is a bit of a dilemma for me.  I am regularly revolted by their employees' "Hey I know way more about video games than you, heathen." attitude. 

While I totally understand the human need to display "not lamer than thou" on a constant basis (especially if you work retail) it really really irritates me.*  I am however, just as often engaged in a satisfying conversation from one who loves this hobby to another.  

Social awkwardness and poignant camaraderie aside, GameStop is offering three downloadable songs with their pre-order.
Blue Monday - New Order
Burning Down The House - Talking Heads
My Own Summer - Deftones
Not an entirely unreasonable offer here if you like at least one of those songs.

Amazon
Goes in a completely different direction for their pre-order.  If you pre-order from Amazon you'll be the proud owner of...  wait for it...  an exclusive in-game guitar. In my opinion, this is incredibly stupid. They do ,however, sweeten the deal with $10 off a future video game purchase.  Slightly better, still lame. ** 

Walmart
Walmart goes as Walmart has always gone: no-nonsense.  They'll shove a $10 gift card in your hand and get your ass out the door.   Cold, monolithic, and impersonal? Perhaps. 

Yet, your self-esteem would be spared the possibly damaging conversation between your ID and SuperEgo.
"Really?  You're going to actually download that thing?"
"Me want see it."
"I know you want to see it but you've seen it already in the ad."
"Only digital picture.  Me want see it real."
"Sweetheart, you're downloading a digital picture."
"Shut up!  Me SEE IT NOW!"
"Doesn't look any different, does it?"
"No."
"Now what are you going to do when your friends come over and see you actually downloaded that thing?"
"Me kill them and take xbox."
"No. You'll just pee your pants again like last time."
"YOU PEE PANTS!"
*sigh*

Which deal appeals to you the most?








*Much like double adverbs for emphasis
**But, since we do make site supporting revenue from Amazon if you order something from them, can we suggest F1 2010?

Coffee, Tea or GHAAA!

As you know, it takes a lot of money to be involved in F1. Most of the team's owners have day jobs in which they own shipping empires or the like. It so happens that two of them own airlines. I'm referring to Sir Richard Branson of Virgin fame (Racing and Airlines), and Tony Fernandes of Lotus F1 and Air Asia.

Earlier in the year Fernandes said that if Virgin beat them in the championship race, at the end of the year, he'd quit Formula One and kill himself. Seems extreme, but who are we to judge. Branson, being a bit more level headed, proposed something a bit different; loser works as a server on a flight of the other's airline. To which Fernandes responded "Bring it on, the sexier the better."

I'll tell you, in some ways, I'm more interested in the outcome of this little contest than I am in the championship. The championship will likely be won by Red Bull, Ferrari or McLaren blah blah blah... with millions of dollars at stake blah blah... But this, this means something! Those two will move heaven and earth to see they don't lose. Men send their countries to war to avoid lesser indignities!

Some unsuspecting businessman, on his way home from an exhausting trip is going to be shocked out of his seat when Sir Richard Branson bends over and asks him which beverage he'd like to enjoy. What a great flight that would be.

Spock's Buick

It's not new and has nothing to do with Formula One but there is all kinds of geeky coolness here...

Leonard Nimoy and his 1964 Buick Rivera.  Look at the turn signals on this thing.

I'd like to find one of these as a HotWheels car.  Unfortunately they've only released lowered modified versions.  The first release year was 2002 and while they've released at least one each year since none have been stock. 

I'm really starting to dig this car in both it's stock and custom versions.  Here is a slide show for your amusement. Full screen highly recommended. Enjoy.

The more I see this thing the better it looks.  I suppose Mr. Spock may have heard that once or twice.

Somone with too much time on their hands? No.

This is awesomeness and a perfect example of why Nascar is inferior*.
 


Now if he could recreate the sounds 211 mph eyebrows , we'd have something here.

*Look, we don't hate on Nascar.  I actually think its kind of cool with all of the big engine noise, beer, and baseball hats but even I could play a Nascar lap on a guitar.