Work continues
No matter where it may be.
Labouriously we wander
through an endless maze of infamy.
First one recipient then another
Followed by fifty more
Some in English, some in French
Some even in Hindi and Russian to be sure.
Work continues as life goes on
like ants we march on with this song.
Here, There, and Everywhere,
the work goes on.
Have you ever wondered why
a spade is shaped like a heart?
Perhaps it is to make things easier
when one seeks to bury a heart in the ground.
Perhaps a spade is that shape
because some fellow couldn’t think of how
to fix the spade-head.
Perhaps a spade is shaped so
for the simple reason that that was how
it was intended to be shaped.
A heart and a spade
they are similar in nature:
each has among them thirteen parts.
Kansas City – This past weekend’s resurrected Austrian Grand Prix was a rebirth in many different ways. Firstly, the obvious rebirth of Formula 1 in Austria. Secondly, the awakening of Michael Schumacher from his long coma in the week prior to the grand prix. Thirdly, the restoration of Williams Martini Racing from their slump of recent years. The old champions of the 80s and 90s came back in full force at Austria, with their two drivers taking the front row in qualifying and finishing in 3rd and 4th in the race. Between Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finn Valtteri Bottas, Williams has a dynamic duo that could very well earn more points for the team than could have been imaginable in the last four years.
Williams is one of those teams that generally everyone seems to like. They have been referred to as the sort of “everyman” of Formula 1. Team head, Sir Frank Williams, worked his way up in the motor racing world, running cars in GP2 races among other lower tier events before making his way into Formula 1.
With many famous drivers having worn the Williams white, including legendary Brazilian Ayrton Senna, the team has quite a storied history. It also has the third most world constructor’s and driver’s championship victories, winning the constructor’s title 9 times and the driver’s title 7 times. All of their championships took place in the 80s and 90s. Only Ferrari and McLaren have won more driver’s and constructor’s championships.
So it is rather sad that over the past few seasons, since 2004, Williams has been unable to finish the season higher than 4th place. Yet after this past weekend, that may be liable to change, as the team was able to finish quite strongly at Spielberg. If not this season, then certainly in 2015 I believe we will see Williams up at the top alongside Mercedes AMG Petronas, Ferrari, and Red Bull. They certainly have the talent between their crew and drivers, and should under all circumstances be able to win a few grands prix this season, with more to come next time around.
On a final note, about this fellow who stole Michael Schumacher’s medical records:
How stupid can you get! The poor man has just woken from a long coma! I know you want to make some money, but the least you can do is leave the poor fellow in peace to recover.
There is a special providence in the dawn of a morning.
What is to come on that day is yet to be known
What has passed is beyond recollection
What is present is perpetual yawning.
Yet that yawning, no matter how contagious
may be mended with the providence found
in laughter, joy, and humour.
Comedy awakens the mind
enlivens the spirits, brings laughter to the heart.
Comedy wakes you up
So you can stand on mountains
so long as you don’t suffer from altitude sickness
and are actually in a mountainous place.
Comedy is what makes you think
It questions the world,
challenges the collective understanding
You’ll soon find an elephant of laughter in your pyjamas
and won’t want to spend much more time in them
as by that point they’ll be rather tight.
It will get you up, and ready for the day
awaken your mind and enliven your heart
which is a good thing as an un-enlivened heart is dead.
Best of all,
you can be sure you’ll have a good day after.
I don’t care who you are
I don’t mind if you are conservative or liberal
nor if you are a communist or a fascist.
I don’t like that you might see this person or that person
as lesser than yourself
and am more saddened that your view of the world is so small.
Beyond all other possibilities we have seen
throughout history that narrow-mindness dies out
as it blinds the observer from pluarlity
and the ability to change when necessary.
I don’t care who you are
I don’t care what you think
I don’t care if you love me or hate me.
You could put the gun to my head
You could drag my name through the mud
You could desecrate all that I hold dear
and I would still have respect for you.
Why? How? Am I mad?
Perhaps to some I may seem unhinged.
My respect for you comes from something simple
derives from something beautiful
born from the sea-foam like Aphrodite
or out of the head of the divine like Athena.
It is sacrificial like Christ’s death
it seeks truth and wisdom like the Buddha
it sings out like the Adhan from the minaret.
It burns eternally like the fire of Zoroaster.
I respect you for one simple reason
I respect that name by which we are all called
I respect your humanity
Thus I respect you.
The day of rest has come
the day of silent contemplation
mixed with the roar of F1 V6 turbos
and the odd restaurant visit for brunch or dinner.
The day of rest has come
happily we all sit back and enjoy what is left
of that marvellous institution devised
by our friends in the labour movement
that is called the weekend.
The day of rest has come
a day to spend time with family and friends
to not worry about the next day’s work
but only about this day’s leisure.
The day of rest has come
At long last, it is Sunday.
Spielberg – If the Formula 1 world was looking for a good way to reboot the classic Austrian Grand Prix, they couldn’t have had a better race. It began with the surprise front row of Williams’ Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, who were closely followed by Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Mercedes’ other half, British driver Lewis Hamilton started from 9th after a very poor qualifying round. The two Red Bulls equally did not fare so well in qualifying at their home circuit, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo starting from 5th and his German teammate, the 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel starting in 13th after having not made it out of Q2.
The race began with strong starts from Massa, Rosberg, and Hamilton. The Brazilian was able to keep 1st place for the first 12 laps of the race until he had to pit due to tyre degradation, whilst the German briefly took 2nd from Massa’s Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas. Bottas made Rosberg’s conquest brief, as he restored his second place by the end of Lap 1. Meanwhile, Hamilton was able to advance by 5 places on the opening lap, overtaking a number of cars on the opening straight.
A major factor that played merry hell with the various team strategies, and in my opinion did not do a good deal of help for Massa in particular, was just how heavy the tyre degradation was within just a handful of laps. Both of the Williams had to pit by Lap 13, resulting in their 1,2 lead being lost and never really recovered. On the tyre side of things, Sergio Pérez performed outstandingly, being able to stay out for the first 30 laps on his first set of tyres, resulting in the Mexican maintaining first place in the wake of the Williams pit stops.
This race should very well have gone to Williams if it weren’t for their poor timing for pit stops, often, as the NBC Sports commentating crew made note of, having their drivers box a lap or two too late to keep a good advantage over the rest of the field. For this reason, Mercedes AMG Petronas was able to advance ahead of the two Williams to take the race victory.
On another note, Red Bull was once again plagued by electrical trouble, as Sebastian Vettel suddenly lost power in his car on Lap 2. Luckily for him, power was restored within a couple of laps and the German was able to continue in the race. A subsequent radio message from the team to Vettel’s Australian teammate confirmed at least somewhat that the issue arose when Vettel used the overtake button on his steering wheel. Eventually, Vettel would be forced to retire on Lap 35 after Vettel and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez made contact, damaging the nose of Vettel’s car. Gutierrez had another troublesome incident at Lap 14 when his car was released from a Pit Stop without the back right tyre fully in place. The Mexican would serve a 10-second stop and go penalty on Lap 23.
Red Bull’s Italian sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso had an even worse day than the rest of the pack, with both drivers retiring from the race. Russian Daniil Kvyat retired on Lap 26 after his brakes gave way, resulting in his right rear tyre being shredded and bent horribly out of shape. His French teammate, Jean-Éric Vergne returned to the pits to retire at Lap 61 with a rear brake issue.
The race finished spectacularly, with the two Mercedes in front, Nico Rosberg (1st) beating Lewis Hamilton (2nd), followed closely by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas (3rd) who won his first career podium. Close behind Bottas was his teammate, pole-sitter Felipe Massa (4th) with Massa’s old Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso finishing in 5th. Alonso was followed by Force India’s Sergio Pérez (6th), who overcame the 5-spot grid penalty given to him following his crash with Massa on the last lap two weeks ago in Montréal. On the last laps Pérez had just passed rookie Kevin Magnussen of McLaren who finished in 7th. Magnussen was followed by Red Bull’s currently most successful driver, Daniel Ricciardo (8th), who finished just ahead of Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg (9th), who came just ahead of the Iceman, Kimi Räikkönen (10th) of Ferrari.
The non-points-scoring positions were taken by McLaren’s Jenson Button (11th), Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado (12th), Sauber’s Adrian Sutil (13th), Lotus’ Romain Grosjean (14th), Marussia’s Jules Bianchi (15th), Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi (16th), Marussia’ Max Chilton (17th), Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson (18th), and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez (19th).
One element of this race that made it unique from those that have come thus far this season is the fact that only 3 drivers had to retire! In comparison with the 9 out of 22 drivers who retired in Canada and and 8 of 22 who retired in Monaco.
Always be kind to others
no matter whom they may be to you.
Nothing matters – just be kind.
After all, wouldn’t you want the same for you?
Rush hour in Kansas City
The 5.00pm Central headlines commence on NPR.
There I sit, in my car, waiting patiently, silently
not finding it hard to imagine that I’m back in Chicago
as I wait to exit 435 westbound onto State Line Road.
The left turn lanes move at a snail’s pace
as if the world is at a standstill.
The first green light is like a far away lightning bolt
to distant to make any impact.
The second green light comes five minutes later
its glimmering verdant glow lasting but a faint minute
until overcome by the urge to bleed red once more.
I edge closer to the halfway point on the ramp
halfway to the starting gate
the horsepower in my engine revving to go
the twenty cars in front of me impeding my path.
Third green light.
At last the miraculous verdant flaring is causing some good
its impact reaching my car, who has finally moved within jumping distance
of the intersection ahead.
A homeless man, seeking work walks alongside the cars.
Fourth green light.
At long last I let out a cry
of “Go, go, go!”
Through the intersection my car roars,
wanting to break free from the shackles of traffic
and back onto the open road
that runs along the Kansas-Missouri state line.
On a plane this past March
as I flew from DC to KC
I found myself fast asleep
for much of the first part of the trip.
As I slept my dreams turn’d away
from the thoughts of that past day
and into a vision of some great orchestra
a chorus behind, playing that fam’d
1812 Overture of Tchaikovsky’s making.
It roared in my head, filling the mind
as ever it could with sound
abounding throughout the inner ear.
Yet the noise woke me,
forc’d me to recognise my place.
And as I open’d my eyes,
the music came to a grand finale
as the orchestra had stopped
the men of the chorus continued
singing triumphantly their final refrain
the melody from God Save the Tsar
resounded in my ears from within
triumphantly welcoming me
to the skies over Indiana.
Never before has a dream
been so grandiose as to remain
in my memory for months thereafter
as that chorus on that cold March day.
Wednesday Blog by Seán Thomas Kane 