The collected works of ScottyB

It’s not often I’ll buy a board game. These days I don’t have much time for them and - sadly - they have PC-based counterparts, so I usually end up buying the equivalent if I want to play, or downloading free versions. However, this evening, I found an undeniably, unable-to-walk-past-without-grabbing board game.

Most of you know I already own Monopoly. It was a focus of an earlier post right here and the game has caused all sorts of wars and chaos and mayhem between those who play it. Some say entire Worlds have been born and collapsed thanks to the influences of Monopoly. It’s a powerful force, not to be taken lightly, demanding respect and responsibility.

The majority of us own Monopoly, but any who have experienced its taint have only played it once. Those that escaped its grasp with their lives intact have shelved it, high in the top of a cupboard, or low - buried, under a myriad of other games and blankets… and lock-boxes.

So you probably think I’m crazy for purchasing a second edition. One that obviously demands play - and does so with perhaps one of my favourite themes. Marvel’s Spider-Man.

The board is eye-candy at its finest.

All the classic properties have been replaced by relevant Spider-Man movie detail… Dr. Octavius’ Lab.. the Oscorp Penthouse.. Green Goblin’s Lair..

Basic income taxes are replaced by Bad Press penalties.. or losing your mask.

And the Community Chest and Chance themes have been replaced by the Spider-Man and Dark/Black Spider-Man icons on the board, and relevant cards.

Spider-Man now has his own money. All bills personalised with the web-slinging Spider-Man.

Property detail, ownership cards and Utilities all have been adapted to Spider-Man movie relevance. Now you can purchase the Daily Bugle (though I imagine J. Jonah Jameson would be none too pleased - or compliant!), Oscorp and Spidey attire; Web Slingers.. or your foes; Green Goblin’s Glider.

The traditional plain, ’square’ icons of houses and hotels have been replaced with the far more exciting and different designs of ‘Apartments’ and ‘Skyscrapers’.

But the pièce de résistance in this Spider-Man edition of Monopoly are the new pieces.

6 players can choose from Venom, New Goblin, Sandman or 3 different variants of Spider-Man - posed atop a building, vaulting over a brick wall, or swinging from a lamp-post. All metal pieces forged with great attention to detail. They look absolutely fantastic.

My favourite:

The whole thing is like something you pack away as a collectors item, never use, never open type stuff; It’s so impressive.

Now I just have to find someone willing to give it a whirl

Undoubtedly the coolest reptile around has to be the Chameleon.

Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are squamates that belong to one of the best-known lizard families. The name “chameleon” means “Earth lion” and is derived from the Greek words chamai (on the ground, on the earth) and leon (lion).

Unfortunately, they are illegal in Australia. So as much as I’d love to be sitting at the PC, posting on M2, or watching TV with a Chameleon sitting atop my shoulder, its just not going to happen.

That is, unless I open my own Zoo.

I’ve looked into this and there are a number of negatives. Firstly, there’s all the red tape involved. Policies, restrictions, licenses, tariffs, endless mountains of paperwork - and for someone like me with no prior experience in any of that stuff, I’m facing a difficult task. I’d need experience in corporate accounting, or I’d need someone to do it for me. I’d need to know all the laws regarding importing of exotic animals and requirements when doing so. I’d need to do this all pretty quickly too. Sure, I could buy a couple of degrees online - I mean I’ve received those ‘Purchase Cheap Degrees and Diplomas’ emails before - but in reality, I’d probably need the associated skills that you actually learn when you earn these said Degrees and Diplomas.

Secondly, there is the added downside of my unfamiliarity with zoology and zoo-like trades. I have no diplomas or degrees in anything with a ‘zoo’ prefix, so this sort of venture would require a complete retooling of my life and educational avenue.

Thirdly, I would require a large plot of land, preferably in an area with easy access for visitors with relative location to major forms of transportation (i.e. roads, trains etc) which means my backyard is probably out. It would require substantial area for parking as well. Amenities and public facilities would also need to be located on-site and I’m sure there’s also lots more red-tape involved when you start talking about people’s safety and food/drink licensing etc. I’m going to need teams of Lawyers for when someone trips over the gutter out front.

Finally, money. I’m told you need a substantial amount of it to start a Zoo. This is perhaps the most defining factor in this whole idea. This is perhaps my greatest downfall. With my limited experience regarding running a Zoo and despite what Microsoft’s hit game, Zoo Tycoon 2 will tell me, its apparently not easy to start a Zoo, not easy to start with $40,000 in the bank (and apparently, 40K won’t get me very far in the real World either) and there’s no such thing as free land - and I most certainly can’t enter cheats to get more wads of easy cash. Which poses a significant problem for the ongoing profitability and sustainability of said Zoo.

There is the option of armed robbery and extortion, but its really not me. Printing your own money is difficult in Australia because its all plastic, and Monopoly money isn’t usable currency. Meaning I’m really up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

I’m sure there are more issues involved in starting up a Zoo, but at the current point in time, it all seems a little too much of a drama just for the sake of owning a pet Chameleon. I guess for the time being at least, I best put that one to the back of my mind, filed under the ‘Great idea, but unlikely to happen’ category.

Source: Wikipedia: The Chameleon

I’ve always considered Motosport to be all about going fast.

Driving around a track as hard as one can, as fast as one can, while engineers and technical persons make the said vehicle as fast and reliable as possible.

Over the years, this idea has led to some amazing cars - and some equally as impressive race categories.

Amazing cars such as the Porsche 917. Race successes from such cars as the LeMans winning McLaren F1 GTR, the Ford GT40 and most recently, the Audi R8 and its successor, the Audi R10 TDi.

Motorsport is about excitement. To the driver and to the viewer.

Most race categories have enjoyed success, but F1 has (in more recent years) been a subject of much discrimination and disdain from viewers - mainly due to a lack of ‘bumper-to-bumper’ racing, overtaking and exciting racing. True, most races are won in procession and the majority of overtaking manoeuvres are performed during opponent pit stops, but the nature of changing regulations has seen this occur.

The departure from slicks to grooved tyres, the allowances of modern aerodynamic devices, such as winglets and fins. These and more have all added to the modern face of Formula One racing.

They have the audacity to say F1 is too expensive, that development costs too much, yet happily change the rules and regulations every few years, forcing teams and participants to completely redevelop cars and engines to comply with the new regs, costing millions more in R & D.

Leave it the hell alone for a few more years and allow backmarkers and teams with smaller budgets to catch up to the development. If anything needs focus, its bringing back mechanical grip and reducing the reliance on aerodynamic grip. Ban winglets, bring back full slicks.

However, this is apparently too simple a concept to even trial, so we are presented with the (radical) 2011 proposed rules:

Regulations

The best estimates of what these measures will mean in terms of regulations are currently as follows:
• 1.3-1.5 litre, 4-cylinder engine;
• no RPM or boost limit;
• energy flow rate to generate 300kW, including energy recovery from the exhaust;
• 200kW brake energy recovery, front and rear axle;
• 400-600kJ energy return per straight;
• pump-legal bio-fuel;
• FIA specified and supplied undertray and possibly other aerodynamic components;
• 50% 2007 downforce;
• adjustable, regulated wings and cooling;
• automatic downforce adjustment when following another car;
• lap times and top speeds maintained at 2009 levels;
• over 50% reduction in fuel consumed.

I really wonder at the direction they are taking sometimes…

Source: autosport.com

Of buying model cars.

The fatal mistake of visiting the local model car shop was made on Saturday.

As I wandered down the isles of pure cast-metal bliss, I salivated at the prospects. Rush after rush of adrenaline goodness surged through my veins. This was the old days, the good days. I remembered that feeling like it was just yesterday; Identifying the cars as if they were my children, remembering their numerous motor sport victories and conquests of automotive engineering.

I picked up a box.

The Porsche 997 Michelin liveried Carrera Cup car.

Beside it, the 2006 Corvette C6R.

Below, the Xanavi liveried Nismo 350Z JGTC championship winning car.

The shelves were full of wallet-raping models. It should be illegal to taunt potential consumers with so much pure, uncut eye-candy.

Then my eyes fell upon the one I had been lusting after for quite some time. The Christina Aguilera of model cars. The ‘#007′ 2006 Aston Martin DBR-9 LeMans car.

More than once I succumbed to the temptation. I picked it up with the gentle hand of an enthusiast, cradled it under my arm and carried it to the register.

But something inside me stopped me from going through with the transaction.

Maybe it was the $135 price tag, maybe it was the subconscious in me, telling me that this would be the beginning of yet another slippery-slope of downward-spiral purchasing, the spending sprees, the box-set blitzes.

I replaced it back on the shelf. It took all of my will power to turn my back and walk away.

Maybe next time evil model car God.

Saved again.

Imagine my surprise, wandering into Target, admiring the boxes of ‘ON SALE’ DVD’s when I happened upon this:

Usually TV series’ are expensive, especially the complete season DVD’s. Not this one however. Target came through for me and allowed me to walk out of the shop only $16.99 lighter. Awesome.

Especially awesome since I missed the first two episodes on the television and it was only because Matt told me to watch it that I even got viewing in the first place.

I’m not a big TV watcher, in fact, these days the only time I turn on the television is to put on a DVD - so I rely on people that still watch mainstream, free-to-air TV to introduce me to these little gems.

The IT Crowd is set in the offices of Reynholm Industries, a fictitious British corporation in central London. It focuses on the shenanigans of the three-strong IT support team located in a dingy, untidy and unkempt basement - a stark contrast to the shining modern architecture and stunning London views enjoyed by the rest of the organisation.

Moss and Roy, the two technicians, are portrayed as socially inept geeks. Despite the company’s utter dependence on their services, they are despised by the rest of the staff. Roy’s exasperation is reflected in his support techniques of ignoring the phone in the hope it will stop ringing, and using reel-to-reel tape recordings of stock IT suggestions (”Have you tried turning it off and on again?” and “Is it definitely plugged in?”). Moss’s wide and intricate knowledge of all things technical is reflected in his extremely accurate yet utterly indecipherable suggestions, while demonstrating a complete inability to deal with practical problems like extinguishing fires and removing spiders.

Jen, the newest member of the team, is hopelessly non-technical, despite claiming on her CV that she has “a lot of experience with computers”. As Denholm, the company boss, is equally tech-illiterate, he’s convinced by Jen’s interview bluffing and appoints her head of the I.T. department. Her official title is “relationship manager”, yet her attempts at bridging the gulf between the technicians and the business generally have the opposite effect, landing Jen in situations just as ludicrous as those of her team-mates.

Moss: I’ll just put this over here with the rest of the fire.

Roy: I’m a lonely loner. On a lonely road. Alone.

Even the DVD menu is fun.. showing a parody of isometric adventure games of old.

[Moss and Roy downloading a picture of the woman who replied to Roy’s fake classified ad at “pre-broadband-speed”]
Roy: Nice hair so far.
Roy: Eyebrows seem normal.
Moss: Two eyes. The best amount of eyes.
Roy: Nice eyes too. It has to go around. She must have a shite nose.
Roy: Oh, do you remember the internet at this speed? Up all night and you’d see 8 women.

Great find.

Finally got around to washing Obsession yesterday.

It’s not that I’ve been slack and it’s not that I’ve been too busy to do it - rather the state of the weather lately, coupled with the grubby parking conditions at work - had meant I’ve just not been able to do it.

Even today, it has been raining on and off, making me question my motives in spending ~2 hours washing and detailing the MINI.

However, take a step back, look at the shiny paintwork, the flawless reflective finish, the deep black roof, the vibrant gleaming chromes and you quickly realise it was all worth it.

Even if the forecast is for rain tomorrow. Even if she will be as dirty again in a matter of days.

There’s something therapeutic about washing the car, it’s like a minor stress reliever.

Shame I haven’t managed to get out and snap some pictures this weekend. I’m really gagging for one of those quiet, get lost, take photos, get found again days.

I thought it was time to make this important announcement - and what better place to do it than on my blog, allowing all of my closest friends to know this fantastic news?!

It had been rumoured for a while and some of you have joked about it for quite some time. Deep down, I knew it would be a reality some day - but today we got confirmation.

Christina Aguilera is pregnant.

What.. you weren’t thinking this entry was about anything else were you?

Last night, we watched Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006).

We saw the preview of this at the cinema a while back and it must have slipped through the cracks because I don’t remember ever seeing it advertised in the cinema sites. Nonetheless, I caught it for the DVD release.

The story focuses on Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who is born against-the-odds and with a heightened sense of smell. While he enjoys his special talent for much of his early life (and also becomes much of an outcast because of it), he only realises his true potential later in the film.

Working alongside Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) he begins creating some of the world’s finest perfumes with the goal of learning how to ‘capture’ scents and smells.

This work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for that divine scent.

Jean Baptiste believes the final ingredient of the divine perfume scent to be the very essence of the human, particularly the virginal female form in all its beauty. And instead of adding this as the thirteenth ingredient he creates his own special perfume from the essence of 13 such souls.

The result is an exceptional film, completely original to cinema. It is quite ingenious and despite its 147 minute duration, it manages to keep you interested and intrigued for its entirety.

It was not exactly as I expected looking at the trailers (though are they ever?) but I was still pleasantly surprised by this quite under-rated, unusual flick.

I have read that the book is far more of an insight to the mind behind the perfume (though I thought the film was explained perfectly anyway) and I may just have to keep a look out for that one.

“He lived to find beauty. He killed to possess it.”

Enjoyably quirky.

Thanks to Australia’s complete disinterest in motor sport outside of V8’s, we saw no television coverage of this years 24 hours of LeMans.

Luckily, we live in a World of online alternatives and I was able to view all of Qualifying just hours after it happened and online timing, as well as live news updates for the entirety of the race.

I’ve never gotten into LeMans like I have with F1, but that is mainly due to accessibility to information and video/pictures. It’s not shown in any form here and it is an event (and series) that just isn’t (arguably) as high-profile or as popular as F1 is mainstream. So despite it being what is essentially a more exciting race and series, I am forced only to view text on the screen during the race. And a bit of build-up.

Nonetheless, what I saw this year was incredibly exciting. Watching the Qualifying was incredible. It really doesn’t get much better than sports car and prototype racing categories in terms of looks and competition. Sure an F1 car is beautiful, but these sports cars are simply amazing.

It is disappointing that it hasn’t become more popular out here - which would essentially mean more interest from the networks to show coverage. For the time being, I can live with watching it a few hours delayed. Hell, the F1 is basically the same. Even though TEN has live rights and even have qualifying broadcast this year, its all still shown hours after the live race…

From Autosport:

Audi have extended their remarkable Le Mans record with a comprehensive win at this year’s 75th edition of the race.

Marco Werner had the honour of taking the No. 1 Audi R10 that he co-drove with Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela across the line for the finish.

History was made in GT1, as Aston Martin finally managed to break Corvette’s stranglehold on the class by getting the No. 009 David Brabham/Rickard Rydell/Darren Turner across the line in first place.

Much of the final hour had been run behind a safety car due to heavy rain that left rivers of water running along the track.

But although the downpour continued, the race returned to green flag conditions for the final 10 minutes.

Common sense among the drivers prevailed to the point where the Audi was so keen to get to the finish in one piece that it was overtaken by two GT1 cars at a single corner.

Sebastien Bourdais managed to get the No. 8 Peugeot across the line in second to give the French marque a podium in its Le Mans comeback campaign.

…

The IMSA Porsche team of Raymond Narac, Richard Lietz and Patrick Long picked up the GT2 silverware.

While I would have loved to see Peugeot take the honours this year, it is a fantastic result once again for Audi.

Aston Martin winning GT1 (finally) ahead of the ‘Vettes was excellent news also.

I’m going to try to follow the LeMans series more closely from now on, simply because it is so unpredictable and exciting.

This afternoon, I had my first experience viewing a ship on Nobby’s Beach.

It was however, no ordinary ship - during the horrendous storms last weekend, the 76,741 tonne deadweight Panamax bulk carrier operated by the Lauritzen Bulkers Shipping company, the Pasha Bulker, beached right on the shore.

It is 225 metres in length and has a beam of 32.2 metres and a cargo hold capacity of 90,911 cubic metres.

On television, it looked big. In photographs, it looked big. In the Newspaper, too, it looked pretty big. But nothing can prepare you for the sheer gargantuan presence that the Pasha Bulker commands sitting a mere 20 metres from the beach. It is absolutely enormous, dwarfing the people, the helicopters, the lighthouse hovering around it. Even from a distance, through the lines between buildings and down the streets, it looks incredible. Almost surreal.

Matt, Karen, Emily and Kerrie decided to make the journey up today, giving me the excuse to take a drive in there and work against the traffic and the weather (which is still lashing NSW in one form or another). And today was no exception.

Just minutes after arriving, seconds after walking up and progressing down the Boardwalk… the heavens opened. And spoiled our potential photo session.

And made right drowned-rats out of us!

Nonetheless, I managed to snap a couple of shots before I had to hide the camera back into its waterproof bag.

Plans to salvage the Pasha Bulker include using a specialised anchor-handling vessel, the Pacific Salvor, to winch the ship seawards with 15-tonne anchors and cabling.[9] A hydrographic survey has been conducted to survey and map the bottom of the ocean through the surf zone using a surf ski single beam echo sounder and GPS. This will give the salvage team more insight into the chances of refloating the ship.

Link: ABC.net.au

Peugeot will start the 24 Hours of Le Mans from pole position after yesterday’s fastest lap of 3:26.344, set by Stephane Sarrazin, remained unbeaten through the second and final evening of qualifying.

There was some pride salvaged for rivals Audi, though, with Allan McNish setting the fastest time of the day in the No. 2 R10 with a lap of 4:01.257. The Audi Sport Team Joest car was not far behind, Lucas Luhr making it around the track in 4:01.629.

Fastest of the Peugeot drivers was Sebastien Bourdais, who managed a 4:01.928 in the pole-sitting No. 8 car.

Peugeot had a bittersweet evening, having watched one car look increasingly secure for pole position - and the other car sitting by the side of the track.

The No. 7 car’s running time was cut short when Marc Gene lost control at Arnage and put the car into the barriers, causing just enough damage to the front of the car to sideline it for the remaining 90 minutes of the session.

It was the first real hiccup for either of the factory LMP1 teams all weekend, but Gene could take some comfort in the fact that he was not the only driver to be caught out by the conditions.

The Luc Alphand Adventures Gt1 Corvette C5-R found its way into a tyre-wall. The No. 13 Courage LC70 LMP1, driven by Guillaume Moreau, and No. 31 Team Binnie Lola LMP2 also spent some time bouncing through scenery.

The session was red-flagged five minutes early when the Team PSI GT1 Corvette spun and beached itself for the second time in half an hour.

The heavy rain that had drenched the circuit earlier in the night had mostly disappeared by the time the cars came back out for their final two-hour run, but the damp track and cool conditions kept lap times well outside those being posted 24 hours earlier.

While the tough conditions prompted some of the teams, such as Rollcentre Racing, to opt for an early night, others took the opportunity to make up for lost time.

Bourdais got some serious track time under his belt for the first time all weekend after doing just a handful of laps yesterday.

Kristensen also proved that he was back to his old best by completing a long, fast run in the Audi.

Barazi Epsilon has maintained its place as the quickest of the LMP2 cars thanks to the efforts of Adrian Fernandez, Haruki Kurosawa and Robbie Kerr in the No. 33 car.

But there could be problems for the No. 29 Dome-Mader shared by Robin Longechal, Yutaka Yamagishi and Yojiro Terada.

The team ended qualifying having managed a best time of only 4:54.729, more than 30 seconds outside a time that would have kept them inside the 125 percent cut-off.

The team now face a nervous wait to see whether they will be permitted to start the race.

Quickest of the GT1 entries was Rickard Rydell in the 009 works Aston Martin, but his 4:29.918 was still a full three seconds outside the time set by Christophe Bouchot in the Labre Aston Martin 24 hours earlier.

It was a similar story in GT2, where the Team Autorlando Sport Porsche 911 took the Thursday honours but was still nowhere near Chris Niarchos’ time in the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari from the opening day.

Thursday, June 14th 2007, 22:15 GMT
By Mark Glendenning - Autosport

So, pole sitters for each class are:
LMP1 - #8 Peugeot 908 FAP Lamy/Sarrazin/Bourdais 3:26.344
LMP2 - #33 Barazi Epsilon Zytek 07S/2 Fernandez/Kurozawa/Kerr 3:44.158
GT1 - #008 AMR Larbre Comp. Aston Martin DBR9 Bouchut/Gollin/Elgaard 3:50.761
GT2 - #87 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari F430 GTC Niarchos/Kirkaldy/Mullen 4:04.185

Link: AutoSport - Peugeot retain pole
Link: Starting order for the race

Well, at least I think its a Sim City game…

Check out this link before reading on.

Seriously. WTF.

“SimCity Societies is to take a greater interest in the lives of its virtual citizens than previous installments have”.

Why? This is SimCity, not The Sims.

I don’t want to control Mark Markson and his wife, Mandy or their kids, Matt and Mary… not their dogs either.

I want to focus on where my CBD is, manage healthcare coverage, tamper with school funding and organise a bus transportation network, while linking up a sprawling metropolis of cities across the landscape, using advanced highway systems, trains and subway services.

What I don’t want to know is if Mark is happy with his choice of clothes, or their new washing machine. If I wanted to know this, I’d play The Sims.

All I need to know about my residents of Scottyville is if they can get to work on time, they have access to education, healthcare and aren’t too bothered about the looming pollution scenario.

All I want to do is drag out squares of road, zone up, and provide services.

That’s it.

That’s because the focus is on building the city. Not building the Sims. Or so it used to be.

Why EA have felt the need to blow apart a franchise that has succeeded in the same basic form for 4 complete series I’ll never know. I guess the corporate machine feels that The Sims makes more money than the SimCity franchise, so they may as well amalgamate the two.

All along I’ve been waiting for a sequel. Much hype has surrounded it and an enthusiastic fan-base has speculated the improved graphics, the polished city-building interface, increasing on SimCity 4’s already excellent simulation.

Instead, we look to be getting a relic of early-2000’s graphics coupled with a re-furb of SimTown.

It would be a shame to see the franchise ruined - and the last (if not only) proper city-building game abandoned for the sake of profiteering.

Hopefully I’m wrong, hopefully this is all just being talked up to encourage fans of the Sims to buy it. Hopefully you’ll be able to disable all the concerns about your Sims and get back to the job of city building.

I’ll remain optimistic. But I’m definitely concerned.

Been looking forward to seeing this one for quite some time. I went in expecting an easy-viewing shoot-em-up along the lines of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, but the reality was quite a bit more complex. Immediately immersed into a multitudinous array of characters, plots and sub-plots, you are focused intensely on the fast-paced dialogue and the character development over the first hour-or-so of the film. Sometimes it feels like Sin City with the sectional roles of character stories, without the graces of being identifiable separate stories.

Nonetheless, once the action really gets going, its a roller coaster of blood, blasphemy, bad jokes, boobs, big guns and bullets. Essentially a great combination!

What it lacks in outright class, it makes up for in raw action. While it seems a little too complex at the beginning, its all wrapped up nicely in the final twenty or thirty minutes. Its an undoubtedly slick, enjoyable film for those of us that enjoy the ’sit down, grab some popcorn’ format.

It’s got a star cast that really keeps you interested. Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta as the Feds. Andy Garcia in the top-dog role. Jeremy Piven as the Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant - Buddy ‘Aces’ Israel. Nestor Carbonell as the cold-blooded Pasquale Acosta. Ben Affleck as the sleazy, pool-hustling Jack Dupree.

It is however, Alicia Keys (in her first big movie role) that steals the show as the smokin’ hot hit-woman, teamed up with the maybe-just-a-bit-lesbian partner (in crime) who just so happens to cover her back - with a .50 calibre rifle from the windows of adjacent buildings. Hot. And awesome.

Its got a few quirks and some great scenes.. Darwin Tremor manipulating Dupree’s mouth was hilarious in a sick way.. and quotes like ‘Damn girl, you just went from Beyoncé to Bigfoot in less than 6 hours’ makes this one worth the 109 minutes. One I think would most definitely benefit from a second sitting.

Last night I went and saw Shrek the Third.

The fun and flare is again back for the third instalment of the series and it delivers plenty of laughs throughout.

Though I do wonder why it is aimed at the child audience - the majority of jokes wouldn’t be picked up by kids and the humour is quite above the heads of young kids.. when Villains are vandalizing Far Far Away, one of them changes the “Bootery” store to “Hooters.” Subsequently, many cheering men enter.

The “The Six Million Dollar Man”-esque flashback sequence; The moment when the Gingerbread Man watches his life flash before his eyes is easily the most hilarious part of the film in my opinion. Comedy gold.

That whole scene with Gingerbread Man and Pinocchio being accosted by Prince Charming simply makes the movie. Pinocchio, avoiding the question of Shrek’s whereabouts - and the onslaught of verbal gymnastics as he tries in vain to tell the “technical” truth is brilliant writing indeed.

Its the fine details again that I love. The “Just Say Nay” Program in school, the Phantom of the Opera mask and costume in Charming’s dressing room, “Ye Olde Foot Locker”, the shop - “Versarchery”, the war cry from Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song.. its all remarkably thought-out and polished.

Easy watching. And good fun.

I’ve recently learned that ‘Puss-in-Boots’ is getting his own spin-off film from the Shrek series. Can’t wait for that one too… still think that Gingy should be getting his own spin-off film, that would be awesome.

In slightly related news, Rotten Tomatoes has run the ‘Countdown to the best-reviewed comic book movie of all-time’ over at their site.

Spider-Man 2 is rated the Number #1 ‘Comix’ movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes. I have to say I agree completely with the verdict too. One I must get around to watching again on the big-screen.

The Porsche GT3 RSR of Team Manthey Racing took the chequered flag for the second consecutive year.

Porsche repeats last year’s success

Stuttgart. For the second time in succession the Manthey Racing team won the 24 hour race on the Nürburgring. With a one-lap advantage the Porsche works drivers Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb together with Marcel Tiemann beat more than 200 competitors with their new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The success at the 35th edition of the long distance classic marks the eighth win for a Porsche in front of 210,000 spectators. Ranking third behind Zakspeed Racing’s Dodge Viper came a 911 GT3 RSR run by Land Motorsport.

Right from the start the four Manthey Racing drivers set the pace at the front after starting from pole. Despite the most challenging weather conditions with heat, rain and fog, Bernhard, Dumas, Lieb and Tiemann put in an impeccable drive. The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, developed and built in Weissach, also finished its first outing at the Nürburgring 24 hour race without any technical problems.

“With this clear victory the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR again confirmed its potential,” said a pleased head of racing Hartmut Kristen. “A huge compliment to the Manthey Racing team who did a great job. The four drivers turned fast laps at exactly the right time and were cautious when the situation warranted it. These are the attributes of an excellent long distance pilot. The Nürburgring means a lot to Porsche. Thanks to all the Porsche teams who once again flew our flag.”

Team principal Olaf Manthey could hardly believe his fortune: “First I have to wait a quarter of a century to win what is for me the most important race in the world and now we win for the second consecutive time from pole position. For my wife Renate and I this was a particularly wonderful present – we have our silver wedding anniversary this weekend.” On Saturday the pair celebrated 25 years of marriage in the paddock.

The story of the 2007 marathon will go down in history as one of the most unusual races. Due to torrential downpours the Eifel classic had to be delayed by almost two hours and eventually got underway at 16.51 hours. At
3.54 hrs thick fog forced the race management to interrupt the event for about five-and-a-half hours. The restart took place at 9.31 hours.

Post-race quotes:

Timo Bernhard: “To win the Nürburgring 24 hour race twice in a row is a dream come true. In the Long Distance Championship we managed to find a good set-up for the peculiarities of the Nordschleife. The new 911 GT3 RSR ran like clockwork – we had not one problem over the 24 hours.”

Romain Dumas: “This is crazy. This is the third time I’ve raced on the Nordschleife and now I win one of the world’s most important races. The track is simply one-of-a-kind. The changeable weather put a lot of pressure on us drivers. Above all, I will never forget my drive in thick fog during the night.”

Marc Lieb: “It’s simply an indescribable feeling to have won Germany’s greatest race. At the 24 hour events in Daytona and Le Mans I secured class victory and an overall win at Spa. The success here on the Nürburgring is very, very special for me.”

Marcel Tiemann: “This is the third time I’ve held the winners’ trophy on the podium of this 24 hour race. To win here you need a reliable and fast car and the right partners. Thanks to the entire Manthey squad and to my team mates. We all did a perfect job this weekend.”

And plenty more success down the grid for Porsche.

3rd - Land Motorsport

6th - Team Paragon AG

13th - Team Konrad Motorsport

But I’m at the end of my tether when I see pictures such as this -

Showing no less than 11 (yes, that’s ELEVEN) beautiful Pagani Zondas parked just off the street.

Where was this? Why was I not there? And more importantly, why is it not happening here - right now, allowing me the opportunity to drool - photograph - offer my services………. offer my body for a drive?

Cruel, cruel world…

Like any other, the weekend has come and gone. Seemingly just as quickly as any other regular two-day weekend too.

What with the storm taking everyone’s attention and keeping most people off the roads and indoors, glued to the television for the latest - or as a lot of other people have it - stuck in the darkness, I guess it stands to reason that the weekend has just disappeared on by.

With Saturday and Sunday being a wash out and the SES advising everyone to stay indoors I took the time to put up some shelving in the new room.

Finally have the space to show the McLarens off - so going to source some nice AutoArt clear display cases for them during the week.

The old shelving in the bedroom has come down, as well as the hangars and DVD-rack hooks, so I spent most of yesterday plugging holes, sanding back and paint prepping.

Today, I got up early and went out to breakfast with Kate. The big Cafe on Beaumont. Apart from being quite expensive, the weight of the bill was only outdone by the amount of grease and oil in the meal. Obviously the worldwide price increase of barrels of oil is seeing breakfast prices soar too. Sure, I knew ordering Bacon and Eggs wasn’t going to be light like a bowl of cereal, but this was truly swimming! Nonetheless, it was quite tasty.. I guess something bad for you once in a while can be let slide. Delectably naughty.

Afterwards, we had a drive around and ended up in the shops. Typically, I went on an idiot-spree with on sale and low-price DVDs. Once the spending was done, we returned back home to watch some of the recent acquisitions.

Stands to reason today has just flown. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Pole for the 35th N’Ring 24 hour race went to Mantehy Racing with the Porsche GT3 RSR ahead of the Zakspeed Viper.

My home team, the Australian VIP Petfoods 997 911 RSR Porsche has Qualified in 13th with a 9:08.830.

Porsche unsurprisingly occupies the majority of the top 10.

Four RSR’s:
1 - Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Bernhard Timo, Lieb Marc, Dumas Romain and Tiemann Marcel
3 - Porsche GT3 RSR of Basseng Marc, Hennerici Marc, Adorf Dirk and Stippler Frank
7 - Porsche 997 RSR of Frers Klaus, Bernhardt Patrik, Kaffer Pieré and Hardt Jörg
10 - Porsche 997 RSR of Huisman Patrick, Kaufmann Wolfgang, Rostek Dennis and Konrad Franz

And two modified Caymans:
5 - Porsche Cayman RS of Dr. Beil Stefan, Fischer Norbert, Zils Daniel and Kaffer Pierre
6 - Porsche Cayman of Alzen Jürgen, Alzen Uwe, Menzel Christian and Mamerow Chris

They are joined by:
2 - Dodge Viper GTS-R of Huisman Duncan, Coronel Tom, Simon Patrick and Bouchout Christophe
4 - Aston Martin DBRS 9/8 of Ludwig Klaus, Fässler Marcel, Bert Sascha and Lechner Robert
8 - Lamborghini Gallardo of Tilke Hermann, Adorf Dirk, Oberndorfer Peter and Großmann Markus
9 - BMW Z4 M-Coupe of Hürtgen Claudia, Stuck Hans Joachim, Stuck Johannes and Göransson Richard

An impressive line up.. can see this being an incredible race.

Top 30:

UPDATE: The start of the race has been delayed until further notice due to extremely heavy rains and loads of standing water on the track.

Sounds like they’re getting our weather over there!

Link: Results Database

3 years young today. And I can’t believe it!

3 years of the most enjoyable driving experiences of my life.

3 years of great tarmac explorations and adventures.

3 years of smiles, laughs, new friendships and fun.

3 years of washing, waxing and general mollycoddling!

3 years of brutal insurance bills

Everyone told me I was a nut when I said I wanted a MINI. Everyone told me it was too much debt for a 21 year old. Everyone said I couldn’t do it. I took it because everyone said I couldn’t.

Looking back it was the best decision I could have made. It was all worth it.

3 years Obsession. Happy Third Birthday. To many more!

I went to pick up the paper this morning and took my camera with me.

Just getting to the service station was a task in itself. Many of the major roads around here are either flooded or blocked by fallen trees, so the journey - which would usually take all of ten minutes - took a good half-hour with traffic, detours and re-direction.

Before I even set off, one half of the road up from my house is blocked by fallen trees.

Deciding to head in the other direction, rather than get nearer the bush and potential fallen trees, I proceeded down the main drag towards the Lake.

Since last night, Lake Macquarie has risen 1.09 metres. Over 0.9m more than the regular swell. And the effects are widespread.

The water has clearly been higher than when I was there, I’d imagine that in the early hours of the morning, the water would have been up over the road looking at the silt and rocky deposits right up to - and over - the main road.

Housing subdivisions near the shore have been underwater too.

People were busy out sweeping their driveways and clearing debris from the walkways and drains. Not that they’re going to do much draining at this moment in time anyway. Stranded cars littered the side of the road along the Esplanade, a few people trying to start them up again to no avail.

Heading in the opposite direction was a similar story.

Residents out helping direct traffic around fallen trees and flood areas, cars waiting to cross the only drivable side of the roads.

More trees fallen in sidestreets, more creeks that have busted their banks and spilled rock and soil into the roads. Minor landslides everywhere, banks that haven’t been able to hold under the sheer volume of water running down them.

I visited the boat ramp - most of you who have seen the photos of my MINI will know this boat ramp. Usually its about a metre above the Lake, a cul-de-sac type carpark that opens out to the boat ramp. I’ve pulled the MINI right down to the waters edge before to get photos on beautiful Sunny days and after lesser storms. Today though, I couldn’t even get close to the edge…

Calls have gone out over the radio for people to stay home, to keep roads free for emergency services. I decided it would be best to go home rather than drive around and become another number in the unwanted weekend traffic.

Can still hear the sound of chainsaws everywhere as people struggle to clean up the mess. Hopefully this afternoon’s storm forecast will prove much more minor than expected!