我不会写在汉语因此我使用软件。我将写关于我的喜爱体育F1 。
2 个月前我停止观看它因为我喜爱的司机Kimi 总丢失了。您知道什么发生了在我停止观看之后? Kimi 被赢取! 然后我再观看了, 并且他丢失了。如此我认为我观看体育是坏为Kimi 。
上星期的种族是在匈牙利。这是McLaren 的最坏的种族在历史上。大家表现了象孩子。可能这不是一个差错使我停止观看。
我今年对Kimi 不抱希望。我认为他是太确信和懒惰的。我认为Hamilton 将赢取。他有正确的态度。我希望他赢取。
我并且认为Ron Dennis 应该被替换使不控制问题在McLaren 。他证明行动象孩子。
如此中国翻译的机器作业涌出了吗?
Fancy having a white Christmas here in the tropics?
There’s a couple of shows on Discovery and Nat Geo about how earth is going to enter a period of global freeze.
Ice ages are a natural cyclic phenomenon and apparently global warming is going to bring it to us a lot faster. How?
Huge amounts of fresh water from glacier melt dumped into the oceans will shut down or reverse their currents. Removed of the oceanic influences that has kept much of the Northern hemisphere warm, temperatures will plummet and we’ll begin to see deep freeze scenes like from The Day After Tomorrow spreading across the world. Ok maybe not that dramatic but you get the picture.
So chill out people, we’ll be getting snow and ice here man!! For real!! 
I’m shifting my attention to Eureka, the new sci-fi TV series now airing on Astro.
Some of my friends think Eureka competes with Heroes. I think its a completely different show.
Heroes is a story of good versus evil. The villain is well defined – a power crazed guy who calls himself Sylar that the heroes must stop in order to save the world. Its got a predictable ring to it but is breathlessly entertaining nevertheless.
One thing about Heroes is that you can’t miss one episode and hope to make sense of the series because its one continuous story chopped up into many episodes. Eureka is different. Miss one episode and it won’t matter. Like a comedy, each episode is a separate story.
Shot in British Columbia, Canada, Eureka is the story about the life and adventures of some people in an idyllic small town that houses a secret, like a huge secret lab where they do weird experiments, blow up stuff and take credit for every scientific breakthrough known to the US.
Its got a great cast:- main man and clueless single parent Sheriff Jack Carter, DOD agent Allison Burke who always brings some kind of trouble to Jack, Deputy Jo Lupo who reminds me of J Lo, Zoe Carter who is Jack’s rebellious teenage daughter, and Nathan Stark, head researcher of Global Dynamics that is the town’s the secret lab.
To me Eureka is a sitcom minus the laugh tracks. It centers around the life of a Sheriff who has struggle between 3 things: keeping law and order in a town populated by the most intelligent people on the planet, keeping (and I’m guessing failing at) his parental obligations to his daughter, and managing his emotions with the DOD agent and his fiery Deputy. There seems to be no sign of an arch villain and so I suspect we’ll be seeing a series of funny or dramatic situations that change from episode to episode.
My first impression of Eureka? You mean other than thinking it looks like a cross between Dexter’s Lab and The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey? Its funny and it looks promising. How good is it going to be? I guess I won’t know till the end of the current season but based on what I’ve seen so far I think its fun to watch.
The current formula one season is a non-starter for me. I’ve been a fan of Mclaren the underdog for years and things have turned around for them. They’re now the dominant force.
So why do I say its a non-starter? It has something to do with the word underdog.
I’ve always been a supporter of strong underdogs. Teams that have the machinery, guts, talent and attitude but are somehow beaten to the finish line by one thing – sheer bad luck. I say bad luck because with the phenomenal research and testing they’ve done and talents like Kimi on board, how else would you characterize Mclaren’s constant failure of past seasons?
Guess I’m not immune to the showbiz factor of formula one. I love the good guy/bad guy feeling. Every movie producer knows how that drives ratings, especially the good folks at the WWF. For Mclaren fans Schumi was for a long time the bad guy. Kimi was the veritable silver angel out to defeat the red devil. Michael’s cocky attitude laid the groundwork for an exciting joust and Kimi’s mysterious equipment failures never failed to draw out sympathies from his fan base. Jokers like Sato and Mantoya would liven the scene at the back.
How things have changed in a few short months. Bad boy Michael has retired (although still hangs out at the tracks). Kimi has switched horses to Ferrari and brought along his bad luck with him. Alonso the nerd is being trounced by his teammate Hamilton, also a nice guy who never ceases to smile. Massa, yet another nice diplomatic guy, is always in the top 3.
Aaarggh, the nerds have taken over the front line. No more attitude. No more villains to hiss at. Everyone’s nice, cordial, cooperative, smiling. Shivers.
Things are getting predictable again albeit the tables being turned. Everyone’s now betting on the silver car, the one with Hamilton in it. Kimi is sliding backwards to become just another driver despite sitting in a throroughbred. I found myself sitting happily at the mamak stall last Sunday when I should be watching the flag-off in Monaco and worse, I didn’t feel any remorse.
Frankly I don’t know which team to support any more. My favorite underdog is now running away with the trophies and the team I disliked is now the underdog. And the interesting characters like DC are now stuck in the middle of the field and definitely not adding to the excitement.
I have nothing against nerds. I just hate boring races where there are no more bad guys to beat.
A couple of tv ads by Celcom lingers in my mind although not for the reasons the ad maker would have intended.
The first one is the weeping woman who sobs away as she watches a soccer match on telly. I dunno if she’s crying because she lost a huge bet or her boyfriend left her but she’s clearly distressed.
The second one, probably of the same series, is about a man who laughs uncontrollably to the match on tv. I’ll call him Mr. Hyena. He acts like he escaped from a mental asylum.
I’m no ad guru but if I remember my advertising 101, a good ad has 2 things. First a call to action, second a dramatization of the uniqueness of the product.
These 2 football ads have a call to action alright. They prompt me to switch channels everytime they come on air. I don’t fancy having extremely distraught women or someone like Mr. Hyena in my living room. Not even after a couple of beers.
Perhaps the ad maker assumes that the football-watching crowd’s senses is so dull that they feel compelled to go waaay over the top to send a simple message. Its called overkill.
On dramatizing the uniqueness of a product, I think this one crashed & burned because the target group, young cellphone users like me, have no idea what its trying to dramatize. The only connection I’ve made is that if you watch a soccer match sponsored by Celcom, you will become a hyena or you’ll cry your eyeballs out. Neither one makes exciting prospect.
The things companies do to their own brands…
Poor “Ice man” Kimi Raikonnen. Last year’s championship eluded him because his Mclaren car had reliability problems big time, so much so that it became predictable. Whenever he’s this close to clinching a race, you’ll know there’s bound to be a suspension problem here, a tire problem there to force him into early retirement. You could even set up a betting counter to accept bets on what part of his car will go bust this time and you’d make money. The gods weren’t smiling on him.
He must have heaved a sigh of relief to join Ferrari whose cars’ resilience is legendary. Never a breakdown in years. But alas it was not to be. Kimi was forced out of the race yesterday due to an electrical failure that killed the engine as his teammate Massa roared on to win the race. I don’t recall Ferrari ever having a problem like it. Did the unsmiling gods pack up and move over to Ferrari with him? I’m beginning to think so.
Man, what does Kimi need to do to win a race. He’s got the grit. He’s got the experience. And he’s fast. But his luck is like crap.
On to other news. I’m elated that Singapore’s officially on the 2008 F1 calendar, the year when Sepang’s contract with FIA expires I believe. There’s talk about night races in the street circuit, an idea promoted by Sepang at one time. And even more interesting is the fact that the private party behind Singapore GP Pte Ltd that’ll tie up with the FIA, tycoon Ong Beng Seng, is Malaysian born. Very interesting.
So will F1 continue in Sepang after 2008? I hope so but I have some doubts. Only time will tell.
I’ve been pondering about the race economics.
Winners of The Amazing Race get US 1 million.
Winners of The Amazing Race Asia get US 100,000.
Both races are are equally punishing.
I assume both series are broadcast to the world audience. Ok lets say I’m wrong and TARA is broadcast only in Asia. The number of people living within AXN Asia’s broadcast range (hence viewership hence ad dollars) is at least equivalent to the US audience size wouldn’t you say?
And the chief sponsors of the show aren’t to be sniffed at either. Sony’s still a leading global brand last time I checked although I’m not so sure about the other sponsors like that Lagoon Resort thingy.
So does anybody know why TARA’s prize money is pegged at one-tenth the value in the US?
Would the Americans come to the party if the prize money was only US 100,000?
If they don’t, then what does that say about Asians?
Come to think of it, if we’re asked to pay to get into such a race, would we?
Just thinking out loud.
For me, yesterday’s race was such a yawn I had to struggle to keep awake after the first half hour.
I had hoped for some rain showers to spice things up. Didn’t happen. I had expected Kimi to be more aggressive. Didn’t happen. I had expected some wheel-to-wheel banging at the start line. Didn’t happen. I had expected some awesome overtaking moves. Didn’t happen. Well there was one but one swallow doesn’t make a summer. It turned out to be just a uneventful procession of cars with a very predictable ending.
On top of that, the audio quality of the broadcast on Start Sports was absolute crap. The stupid sound engineers cranked up track noise and drowned out the voices of the commentators with the sound of screaming engines. After some annoying minutes trying to hear them above the din, I hit the mute button and watched the race minus the sound. And then I nodded off.
But the most painful part of the GP was seeing the track conditions itself. It was reportedly like hell on earth with track temperatures hitting 59 deg C. Ex driver Narain Karthikeyan described it as driving in an oven. Commentator Steve Slater mentioned searing heat a few times. All drivers who were asked to comment described it as the most punishing circuit of the entire F1 season. You could sense the weariness in everyone.
Now the FIA has always regarded team and spectator comfort as an important criteria in choosing where to host races. Seemingly mundane issues like traffic jams, public parking and lodging have weighed into the decision, putting old favourites like France’s Magny Cours and UK’s Silverstone on notice.
I have this niggling feeling that when Singapore gets into the calendar, it could spell the end of formual 1 in Sepang because lets face it. Sg’s air temperature is 1-2 deg centigrade cooler than Sepang and track temperatures possibly 7-8 degrees lower. A city track has a greater wow factor and promises a higher advertising premium for FIA than a common flat circuit. The benefits of racing on tracks separated by a mere couple of hundred kms may not justify the cost if the demographics are almost identical. If that happens it would be a shame. Well that’s just my speculation.
Ho hum. Bahrain GP next week had better be more exciting.
Two-thirds of my prediction came true. Yesterday I predicted these results:
#1 Kimi
#2 Alonso
#3 Massa
And today the actual results are:
#1 Kimi
#2 Alonso
#3 Hamilton
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa finished 6th after being forced to start from the back of the grid. That’s the price to pay for an engine change after it broke down during Saturday qualifying.
The maiden race of the 2007 season was relatively free of serious race incidents. The most dramatic one today was David Coulthard’s stunt when his car actually climbed over Alex Wurz’s Williams as they approached a corner at high speed. The on-board camera showed how he missed Wurz’s hands and head by inches. I dunno, I pity DC. He’s finding it increasingly difficult to retire from the sport with dignity and you can feel the bitterness whenever he speaks to the press.
Kimi is on a high though. How sweet his victory today must feel after McLaren’s terrible reliability record the last few seasons. I’ve lost count how many times the car failed on Kimi when he’s leading a race. Poor Alonso is now left with McLaren’s legendary jinx in his hands and from his early comments I sense he’s not feeling all that confident too.
McLaren’s off to a good start though. Its rookie driver Lewis Hamilton who is also F1’s first black driver is now the first British driver in 41 years to ever finish on the podium in his maiden race. The fact that he was in front of his teammate Alonso for a considerable number of laps today showed that McLaren was happy to let this be a race of merit, at least for now. But make no mistake, team orders is sure to rear its ugly head as the season heats up.
On Kimi again, I can’t help noticing a big difference during the post race press conference. He actually looks genuinely happier, unlike during his McLaren days when he’s more reserved even when he’s fresh off the podium. To the question on his win being like a walk in Albert Park, he responded,
Yeah. The weekend has been very good, so thanks to the team. Today the race was not as easy as it might have looked. Just before the start my radio broke so I didn’t have a radio the whole race so it was a bit complicated but at least before the race we had a plan what we wanted to do so I knew pretty much what I was meant to do, but in some places it wasn’t an ideal situation. Anyhow, it was a good race for us. I didn’t have to push too hard, just have to pace myself a bit and look what the others were doing. An excellent start.
I think that was the longest comment he’d ever made in front of the camera, ever. So the rumour IS true, he CAN talk even when he’s not drunk!
They say Formula One isn’t Formula One without Michael Schumacher. I disagree. I think it’ll do just fine without him and the race in Albert Park today proves it.
The next race will be on 8 April in Sepang. Anyone got a spare free ticket for me?
Woohoo, another reason to party on Saturdays and Sundays!
Tomorrow the season kicks off in Melbourne. Qualifying’s at 10:57am Malaysian time and the actual race day is on Sunday 11:00am. Tune in to Astro Star Sports channel to watch.
I’ve been a McLaren fan for years but since Kimi Raikonnen (right) has moved to Ferrarri, I’ll be rallying behind Ferrarri this season. Go Ice Man, the next world champion!!!
My podium predictions for Melbourne:
#1 – Kimi (of course)
#2 – Alonso
#3 – Massa
Ok, for those who don’t know, some race rules have been changed for this season. Not surprising since no season ever goes by without some rule changes. Anyway here’s what you can expect.
1. Tyres. The rule I hate the most: all teams will be using only one brand of tyres: Bridgestone. Crap. Of all the races last year, how many wins did Bridgestone score against Michellin? Since most of their development effort has reportedly been to support their #1 customer Ferrari, will they spread development fairly for the other teams? I’m not so sure they will.
2. Practice duration. The duration of the Friday practice sessions have been extended from 60 minutes to 90 minutes.
3. Engines. If an engine breaks down during Friday practice, it can be changed without penalty before the qualifying session and race of Saturday and Sunday. However once changed, it must cover Saturday and Sunday.
4. Safety car. An interesting twist: As soon as a safety car moves onto the track, the pit lane will be closed. They will open again once all the cars have lined up behind the safety car and the yellow flag is withdrawn. This will kill off the old trick whereby whenever a race is temporarily suspended because of a track incident, drivers “cheat” by quickly pitting to refuel or change tyres without incurring much penalty on their time sheets.
Here’s the calendar for the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship.
18 March Australia – Melbourne
08 April Malaysia – Sepang
15 April Bahrain – Bahrain International
13 May Spain – Barcelona
27 May Monaco – Monte Carlo
10 June Canada – Montreal
17 June United States – Indianapolis
01 July France – Magny-Cours
08 July Great Britain – Silverstone
22 July Germany – Nurburgring
05 August Hungary – Hungaroring
26 August Turkey – Istanbul
09 September Italy – Monza
16 September Belgium – Spa Francorchamps
30 September Japan – Fiji International
07 October China – Shanghai
21 October Brazil – Interlagos
Something tells me this is gonna be the best F1 season evar!
Kimi’s picture source: Here
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