The South African Royal Family?

So I guess that South Africa has one of two ways to go:

Zuma and the ANC retain majority and remain immune to prosecution or any consequence whatsoever. The looting continues and the Guptas and the baby Zumas are our effective Royal Family forever.

Or we find enough dirt in the leaked emails to arrest everyone involved. Which sounds like it might be most of the NEC. Hopefully they're all to greedy and stupid to flee the country as these assholes really do need to answer for their crimes against South Africa. Our junk status investment rating and >27% unemployment rate really is Zuptas fault. The BEE procurement processes are supposed to spread wealth to the previously disadvantaged, not pad the pockets of the already insanely wealthy.

Thoughts on the Malaysian GP 2009

I have to admit that I've always ridiculed Jenson Button even from his early days in F1. I never had any faith in him as a driver and I always thought that he should retire young. So far this year, he's doing his best to prove me completely wrong in my view of him.

I have to say that I am actually very impressed with Button. He seems to have matured while sitting in a car that was unable to do the job. Now he finds himself in a fairytale scenario after the hardships of the off-season and is doing an amazing job of keeping the flag flying high. Not just his own flag or that of the Brawn GP team but also the flag of his country, since Lewis Hamilton and Mclaren are doing everything in their power to surrender their crown as soon as possible.

It was a shame that the Malaysian GP came to a premature end thanks to some truly epic rain which pitched up at the track together with his friends, wind and lightning. Even after a race weekend that started amidst so much controversy regarding Mclaren and Hamilton, I still found myself looking forward to the qualifying and the race. Neither disappointed me.

Qualifying was sensational and you unlike recent years, you had no idea who was going to end up on top or anywhere else for that matter. Just ask Felipe Massa. He really got taken by surprise but for the degree of arrogance that he and his race engineer displayed after putting in only one scrappy flying lap and then choosing not to go out again in the session, they deserved to be where they ended up at the back of the field. Button did another amazing job but I found myself willing Jarno Trulli on. He just comes across as such a nice guy and I always want him to do well. Toyota seems to have come to the party and have presented Trulli (and Timo Glock) with what seems to be a very respectable car. It turns in so beautifully. You can see that from a mile away.

The race itself was good fun while it lasted. I think what made it spectacular was that those in front fell back off the start while those in the back leaped forward. It made for good racing. Button made an error on the start and then another error in to turn one but from there on in his driving was master class. He reminded me of Michael Schumacher when he was on top form. Button found himself in third place but when the two ahead of him went in to the pits, he put the hammer down and delivered two sensational laps. This combined with an efficient pit stop from the Brawn team got Button back out on to the track in first place. Amazing. Its a shame that Rubens Barrichello did not seem to have pit stops that were as smooth as Button's.

I like how consistent Ferrari now is in messing things up so badly. Kimi Raikkonen's tire change to full wets for a bone dry track was inspired. I also like how he disappeared after the red flag to emerge in shorts, chomping on a chocolate ice-cream and knocking back a can of Coke. As someone who was quite a dedicated Ferrari supporter I should be steaming angry at this kind of thing but I find myself not caring that much about Ferrari these days and for some reason I think that Raikkonen's antics are quite entertaining and endearing.

I feel bad for Glock. The guy may have had the right tires at the right time but he still drove the wheels off that car to get as far up the grid as he did. I feel really bad that after being suckered in to believing that he finished in second place, he was told seconds before heading on to the podium that he was in fact in third place thanks to the FIA being confused about even their own rules.

Respect should also go to Nico Rosberg. He did a great job at the start and then in maintaining a healthy lead for a substantial amount of time. The weather really did his race in but he's young and he's sure to shine during the course of this season. I don't have anything against Nick Heidfeld but I just don't understand how after having such a so-so race (from my point of view) he ended up in second place. It just seems unfair considering how much more impressive a lot of other drivers in the field were on the day.

In closing, I'd like once again to say how much Jenson Button has completely changed my opinion of him. I'm happy for him and his success. He's not just quick in the dry this year but also level headed enough to survive the rain on the wrong tires to stay in the lead of the race and secure a victory even in a race that ended so prematurely. I hope that he continues to be successful and I also hope that he cheers up a bit and brings the crown home for Brawn GP and himself. Lewis Hamilton is so yesterday's news. Let the F1 fairytale continue ...

Melborne 09 Review

Vinay Deonarain is online. Chris: dude! 1. the new f1 cars look like cartoon cars. 2. drumming (as per GH:WT) is fokken hard 3. How the fuck are you doing? Vinay: hey man sorry, didn't see you there new cars are a bit f**ked up hahhaa ... glad you still playing games in some way shape or form life is carrying on bru ... but its not terribly interesting at the moment how about you? you well? wife kids? how is everyone? Chris: im well as is the wife and kids. Vinay: cool :-) what you been up to hey? its been a really f**king long time Chris: it has i blame you :P Vinay: thats fine Chris: f1 world championships have been launched, won and lost Vinay: i accept full responsibility Chris: since we last met Vinay: hahahahaha so tru you doing anything different other than raising kids? do you still give a f**k about work? lol Chris: work is ok world of warcraft still owns me raising kids is kiff at least, when theyre being cute. Vinay: hahahahaha sure Chris: when theyre naughty well fuck... Vinay: and then whenthey stop being cute they start playing WoW ;d Chris: then they .... Vinay: hahhaha Chris: i have a bad case of guitar fingers from Vinay: you got world tour on wii? Chris: playing electric and gh this weekend yebo worst idea ever the wii has the least amount of free shit in its online store and no one has made champions of norrath for the wii yet. or the ps3 or xbox360 :/ Vinay: yeah dude i was thinking about that the only thing that kinda headed in that direction Chris: and by CoN i mean simply any game that fits the genre, 4 players with controllers sharing a co-operative hack-n-slash style campaign Vinay: was untold legends but that was shit yeah bru pisses me off that dos there are no nice co-op games like that on any platform most fun i had in recent memory was actually castle crashers hmmm i suppose the one game that kinda comes close and is decent is marvel ultimate alliance Chris: the worst thing is every bloody game has some movie tie-in puke nothing makes me distrust a title faster than a movie tie in. Vinay: yar you know it Chris: its like anti-advertizing. u know with the announcement of Diii Vinay: DSi? Chris: we have a dedicated dii server running at work now, for lunch time diablo sessions Vinay: oh oh that D 3 can't believe you are still on that game are you happy with what you're seeing of D 3? Chris: the screenshots are kieff and worringly almost the new skill system looks very WoW derived. Sent at 2:43 PM on Tuesday Vinay: hmmm i've not played a pc game in forever probably not since i left derivco well i played bits and bobs but nothing substantial Sent at 2:46 PM on Tuesday Chris: didnt touch spore?\ Vinay: nope don't have space at home for a proper pc set up using laptops i got a really small place only really play games on wii, ds and sometimes psp no more heroes on wii was fucking awesome one of the most memorable games i've ever played sorry dude wil catch up a bit later if you're still around i'm starving need some grub bbs -ish Sent at 2:50 PM on Tuesday Vinay: anything you've played on the wii that you enjoyed? metroid 3 and mario galaxy were also awesome Chris: gh:wt :P Vinay: and laying resident evil4 now which is good i don't have space for GH :( Chris: too much of wow to investigate single player gaming on the wii Vinay: lol Chris: i played legend of zelda which put me off trying anything else supposedly signatire for the platform as it was whats the wrod... word... .... SHIT Vinay: what?!!!! i've played about 3 hours of it really enjoyed it and my brother is sitting at around 45 hours is it because you're a graphics whore? huh? huh? Chris: no its because i expected a game that would be somewhat more playable Vinay: really? i found it quite playable and enjoyable different strokes eh? :) Chris: i am a child of the diablo generation :P 1. the mapping of Wii-mote movements to attacks is just arbitrary. you make a wanking motion and the guy does a spin attack for eg. Vinay: hahahah i thought it was kief you calling me a wanker? :D Chris: i dont know - you spin attack a lot? :P Vinay: lol er ... no comment Chris: then i found the entire adventure entirely linear its just a confused game not sure if its a puzzle game or a fighting game the result is its neither. Vinay: guess its just not your thing i played zelda on the DS and i loved it thats what made me wanna play the wii version but i had loads of other games i'd started and wanted to finish them first so i parked it and my brother has it now think he's used his wii more than his ps3 :D makes m so proud Chris: just get a copy of wow already :P Vinay: hahahahhaa bru i don't own my own life at the moment Chris: you never need to spend more than $14 a month on gaming again :P Vinay: last thing i want is or what little is left of it to be taken by WoW Chris: turf all those other games sell your consoles and quit your heroin addiction WoW calls you :P Vinay: what? quit heroin? are you f**king crazy? you can't survive london without that shit Chris: try wow you'll forget that shit like heroin even exists. Vinay: i think heroin is healthier! hahahaha Chris: possibly :P Sent at 3:23 PM on Tuesday Vinay: i can't believe that vettel got a penalty they were both stupid in that accident Chris: i dont think his self incrimination should be allowed the marshals should resolve issues on the basis of the footage Vinay: was that what caused it? :-\ thts fucked Sent at 3:38 PM on Tuesday Chris: i think the footage clearly showed them both at fault. he was squeezed too much Vinay: yeah ... thats what i thought Chris: but he said in an interview or something "its my fault" I should have back'ed off" hes a fucking racing driver we hope and expect them to never back off. if you squeeze a racing driver know that hes not going to give way like a wuss know instead that you are both going off. Vinay: yeah man ... thats so stupid Chris: get a reputation for being uncompromising and no one will ever be so stupid as to give you too little room in a corner Vinay: kubica was greedy he was more focussed on 1st than 2nd its good to have that hunger Chris: geta reputation for balling "im so sorry, its my fucking fault" and find yourself routinely squeezed to the back of the grid Vinay: but he complained that vettel was gonna lose that place anyway but also you could argue that if you were gonna get him eventually why not play it safe i like both of them but they fucked the race up with that shit Chris: everyone has to beat their chest and provve that their dick is bigger. Vinay: hahahaha having said all that mate fucking brawn gp what a fairytale i think that maybe Chris: kubica Vinay: fate just conspired to give them a 1, 2 finish Chris: just displayed bad judgement Vinay: even tho rubens was trying to do his best to fuck that up lol Chris: but he knows how this goes blame the other guy (uncompromising) and move on and next time Vinay: hahahahahha yeah man Chris: he will give a more realistic gap Vinay: "the mclaren hit me" check replay and mclaren was no where near him hope brawn does not get fucked by the FIA with that appeal Chris: i think if theres anthing to it the FIA need to issue a clarification but as rubens pointed out with a fucked up diffuser hes car was still mustard Vinay: lol Chris: i dont think any of the teams violated the spirit of the regulations such that that is Brawn belive they conform as such Vinay: was sad about toyota they did well and got fucked Chris: penalizing them should the rule require clarification would be arbitrary and unfair i dont even remember what happened to toyota frankly Vinay: but the FIA is capable of shit like that Chris: i partied hard on saturday woke up early sunday morning with the makings of a hangover turned on the tv and suddenly thought i should go to the sport channels and see what time the race is and found it 10 laps in Vinay: hahahahhaha my brother was out the night before as well AND we had a time shift so he lost an hour Chris: i was just at home Vinay: ended up with 3 hours sleep Chris: making margueritas :P frozen Vinay: ol *lol the missus was working that night and my brother was out so i just stayed home smoked a fat joint and chilled the fuck out Sent at 3:53 PM on Tuesday Vinay: ok bru i'm going to space out now will catch you again some time soon Chris: gl with that :) Vinay: maybe after the next race lol take it easy man

theyve gone and done it now

Ferrari's arrogance has finally screwed them. Their reliance on Bridgestone means they simply cannot get the tyre development done to remain competative. Three races in and its already quite obvious... Viva Alonso.

Refuelling must go!

Why cant the F1 fraternity seem to understand that I am not interested in strategy. If I wanted to see a strategic sport, Id watch american football.

I watch F1 because I want to see motor racing, and motor racing should, in my mind, involve a stretch of tar with two or more cars going flat out. Cars that are stopped are not racing.

Why then do we have refueling pitstops? I am not in the slightest interested that Team A has opted for a 3 stop strategy and Team B for a 2 stopper. I am in fact irritated because it means that I will likley never see the drivers for Team A or B scrapping for position.

I think racing is far simpler, far more pure, when the guy in front is winning and the guy behind, if he wants to win, has to get past.

I will concede that tyrestops might be interesting... at least insomuch as everyone stops the same number of times. Theyre fast, dash in, dash out, theres not a lot of scope for passing in the pits.

Ferrari celebrates...

The 2004 season still has a race to go and already Ferrari's opponents are falling over themselves in an effort to ensure they offer no real challenge.

Why this obsession with V10?

Now Honda want to fight a proposed switch to V8 engines?

I must admit, I cannot see why. Formula 1 is ultimately about state of the art cars & engines. And, frankly, 3 litre V10s can crank a lot of power in the hands of a F1 engine designer. If Formula 1 sticks with a 3L V10 standard the only way to limit engine power for safety's sake would be to impose artifical limitations on engine design, which, in my mind, taints the whole "state of the art" theme of Formula 1.

I might as well go and watch some standardized forumla like Champ Cars.

I think the better solution to capping increasing engine power, while leaving engine designers free to push the limits of their craft, is to keep shrinking the size of the engine.

Qualifying revisited.

The Purnell system, in a nutshell. All the drivers pick a number out a hat. They they run two ten lap mini races on Saturday. One with the start order determined by the number thye got, the other in reverse order. Their position is averaged for the two races, and thats their Sunday starting position.

Seems interesting enough. Actually, its just what I think racing should be.

It might be very ironic if, after this system is put in place they find that more people watch the qualifying than the race proper.