The collected works of ScottyB

It was a wild old ride last night.

The wind and torrential rain continued into the wee hours of the morning. We’ve had so much rain that most records have been broken over the last 24 hours.

Since yesterday, the 24 hour rain totals in affected areas are as follows:

Wyong - 336mm
Nobby’s Beach - 210mm
Cessnock - 190mm
Wyee - 180mm
Wollombi - 174mm
St. Albans - 166mm
Blacksmiths - 162mm
Maitland - 161mm
Gosford - 153mm
Merriwa - 145mm
Williamtown - 136mm
St. Ives - 131mm
Turramurra - 120mm
Putty - 118mm
Sydney - 112mm

There are trees down everywhere and bits of trees and leaves littering the road everywhere. The storm water drains were all exceeded capacity and the effects are clearly visible this morning. Streets awash with mud and sand, rocks and pieces of concrete. The local bridge is missing sections where the water has washed it away. People with pools nearby the creeks have woken up to a muddy cesspit in their yards. Cars litter the sides of the roads, stranded with water-ingested engines. Bonnets up, hazards on. Scary scene.

The Newspapers are full of images from around the Hunter, a police officer standing in metre deep water at King Street, cars completely under the muddy flood water. The scene was the same across most of the valley, with heavy falls causing localised flash flooding and damage.

The Bureau of Meteorology has given us more bad news that another storm is due in late this afternoon.. so the cleanup is on now, with hopes that all preparations can be made before round two this evening…

Well the storm hit earlier and in doing so, managed to cause severe flash flooding as well as general chaos across the Eastern Coast.

Here, within 5 minutes, the carpark was flooded - I’d say, judging by the amount of water lapping at the wheels of the cars outside, there would have been ~200mm of brackish, swirling water lying about. The drains completely unable to cope with such a sudden increase in run-off.

The lashing winds - averaging 75kmh and gusts in excess of 100kmh have knocked down trees and left a trail of carnage in the roadways as leaves and bits of rubbish are torn from all over the place.

The roadways too have been flooded in places, the major roundabouts under pools of water, cars stranded in the midst trying to drive through and causing traffic blocks everywhere.

In Newcastle, the situation is much worse.

The tanker, ‘Pasha Bulker’, carrying 700 tonnes of heavy fuel and 34 tonnes of diesel on board has run aground on Nobby’s Beach.

The 22 crew had to be rescued via helicopter.

Fears are mounting that the grounded bulk carrier Pasha Bulker could break up as traces of fuel begin washing up on a Newcastle beach. Two creases on each side of the ship can be seen as engineers begin efforts to assess the damage.

The Newcastle Port Corporation said there is a possibility of the ship breaking up, ABC radio reported.

Meanwhile, at least two more ships are expected to run aground in Newcastle as raging winds and monster waves batter the coast.

Two more ships, the Sea Confidence and the Bitis, are less than one nautical mile off Stockton Beach and are struggling to stay away from the beach, a spokeswoman for the Federal Maritime Minister, De-Anne Kelly, said.

“They’ve both dropped anchor but they are dragging. It’s predicted these two will run aground,” she told smh.com.au.

Another ship, the Coral Emerald, was 2.8 nautical miles offshore and was reporting difficulties. Ms Kelly said its anchor is dragging due to the swell.

Conditions are expected to worsen and more storms are predicted tonight…

Link: Fuel spill fears as more ships at risk

So I stumbled onto the website, Steampunkworkshop.com last night and found this little gem of creative computer modification…

Just sensational.

They even have it all broken down into easy-to-follow steps…

Steampunk Keyboard Mod

Steampunk Monitor Mod

I want to do something like that - maybe something super futuristic. Model it off something out of the Fifth Element maybe. Some crazy, bells and whistles setup - including a case mod - and have that setup as my primary games/cruncher rig.. how awesome would that be…

One problem though, I have no metal working skills

Link: Steampunk Workshop

It finally happened. Australia saw some more rain.

Yesterday the heavens opened and delivered up with a bountiful deposit of the H20. The local region received somewhere in the level of 55-70mm. Excellent news for the dams and the farmers.

Last night the rain continued, but this time a massive low off the coast brought with it some incredibly brutal winds. A gale force warning is in place today and even driving down to the bay earlier, mostly protected from the usual wind, it was extremely blowy and the rain was managing to travel almost horizontally down the streets.

And more is on the way…

Link: 128km Radar

Perhaps one of my favourite GT events is not far from getting underway. This weekend, close to 200 cars take to the N’Ring for 24 hours.

As with most years, typically, Porsche has a fine showing for the race.

Stuttgart.
A total of 31 Porsche race cars roll to the start of the 35th running of the 24 hour race on the Nuerburgring on 9th June. With this, Porsche is one of the most popular marques at Germany’s largest motorsport event. And one of the quickest: the Manthey Racing team returns as title defender with a 911 GT3 RSR. Also amongst the favourites for overall victory are the Land Motorsport squad and a pack of competitors running Porsche vehicles.

With a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the latest spec (382 kW/520 hp), team principal Olaf Manthey is eager to repeat last year’s victory. Alongside title defender Timo Bernhard, two of his works driver colleagues, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb, take the wheel of the Weissach-developed and built GT racer. The fourth pilot is Marcel Tiemann, who belonged to the victorious team last year. “We are well prepared for the race. Our win last year of the Nuerburgring Long Distance Championship gives us extra motivation to claim the victory again. But the competition this year is incredibly tough,” analyses Timo Bernhard, who normally shares driving duties with Romain Dumas at the wheel of a Porsche RS Spyder run by the Penske Motorsports team in the American Le Mans Series. Manthey Racing, with its headquarters in Meuspath a stone’s throw from the ‘Ring, fields a four-car team this year.

Having already claimed three victories in the Nuerburgring Long Distance Championship, the Land Motorsport team, based near the German town of Siegen, has proven the speed and reliability of the Porsche GT3 RSR lap after lap on the Nuerburgring Nordschleife. With Marc Basseng, Marc Hennerici, Dirk Adorf and Frank Stippler four of the top Nordschleife experts man the Porsche cockpit.

Konrad Motorsport has also signed on a strong driver contingent for its Porsche GT3 RSR with pilots Patrick Huisman, Wolfgang Kaufmann and Dennis Rosteck. Paragon AG team entered Pierre Kaffer, Joerg Hardt, Patrick Bernhardt and Klaus Frers for its 911 GT3 RSR.

The Porsche squad to have travelled the farthest is the VIP Petfoods team with drivers Tony Quinn, Klark Quinn, Craig Baird and Kevin Bell who regularly contest the Carrera Cup Australia. With the same line-up last year, the quartet saw the chequered flag in ninth position overall racing a
GT3 RSR. With a new GT3 RSR the team is hopeful for overall victory this year. “Of course you need a bit of luck over such a long distance, but with the new Porsche GT3 RSR we definitely have a winning car,” says team boss Tony Quinn.

Jürgen Alzen Motorsport is going to attack with the “Alam” based on the Porsche Cayman…

Specs:

520 bhp out of 3.9-litres flat-6 engine
Kerb weight 1250 kgs

Tyres: 310/680/18 in front 310/710/18 in rear, Hancook

A bunch of work for the title holder

“This year we are the hunted!”, describes Marcel Tiemann the big difference to the last season. But if you take a closer look at the first races you will see, that the season is not going according to plan for the holder. The new built Porsche 997 GT3 RSR could not finish even one of the two last races. At the first one the cause was an engine breakdown and at the last weekend it was an accident, who stopped the car. But most of Olaf Manthey’s worries should arise from the lap times in comparison to their opponents. They ended up 15 seconds behind the leader of the last Qualifying, an “old” Porsche 996 GT3 RSR steered by Peter and Christian Mamerow. The Team from Meuspath did not worsen since the last year, but the other teams obviously found some seconds during the winter. Tiemann is attesting logically to his rivals, that “they are getting bigger and more professional each year. But that makes it more interesting for us and the fans.”

It is all about drivability and speed

Although it means a bunch of fun for the blooded racer to dash arround the Nordschleife. “It is a great car and it is fun to drive with. Because we builded a completly new car, we have to enhance it constantly – especially the drivability and the speed. The stableness should not be a problem, after all it is a Porsche!”, Tiemann describes the current situation. But he also acknowledges:” We are still not there, where we want to get”. To reach their goal of defending the title, there is a lot to do for Manthey Racing. But Marcel Tiemann does not want to reconsider the ambitious aim:”The title is the target!”, he adds self-confidently. Anyhow the season start has shown it: the competitors are not sleeping.

The 35th edition of the Nuerburgring 24 hour race gets underway on 9 June 2007 at 3pm with the flag dropping on 10 June 2007 at 3pm.

Links: Team Database

A sore throat is never pleasant. Thankfully this one hasn’t gone beyond the sore throat phase just yet.

At the moment, its in that sort of ‘cold limbo’ where it could swing either way.

Either it can head North and become the dreaded head cold. The bane of the brain. Making you feel like your head is two sizes too small for your brain and your nasal passages feel like they are trying to pass golf balls. The other option is heading South. No more or less favourable than the head cold, simply another option, the other of two evils, where your body makes every attempt to cough up its own lungs. And on some accounts; succeeds.

Luckily for me, I’m usually over them in a few days. Unfortunately it doesn’t reduce the annoyance of being lumbered with a cold.

And I’ve never suffered (yet - touch wood) from the dreaded Man Flu that seems to plague so many - including my Father and many close relatives.

On the bright side, nothing beats waking up on the morning where it all seems to clear up magically overnight, suddenly allowing you to breathe perfectly again through both nostrils.

Always the optimist

Not the cards, but the choccy!

Cadbury Top Deck. Like most Cadbury chocolates that find their way into my hands or onto my desk, they don’t stick around long. Such is the fate of chocolate to be unwrapped and devoured with sheer delight.

It’s impossible to stop. You unwrap and at the time, one row seems enough. Even as you’re eating it, you enjoy it, but you think ‘This will do, I can stop at one row’.

As you click off the last square from the row, you accidentally shatter the new row, just slightly. Making it uneven.

This is unacceptable, as now you have a tainted row. You’re doing yourself out of a full row next time if you leave it like that. So you do all that you can to make it right - you click off the next row and continue doing so until its even. Sometimes this means clicking off multiple rows and before you know it, half the block has disappeared.

By then you get to the ‘Oh well, its half gone, so I might as well finish it’ stage. This is the dangerous one.

To the unseasoned chocolateers, it can spell stomach aches and general feelings of shame - but to the lifelong chocoholic, it is the height of sweet consumption.

You stare at the foil, an empty packet, a null void where a block of chocolate used to be. And you feel completely fulfilled. Literally.

Chocolate. The devils delight.

We must have spent an hour in Myer today playing on that thing.

I understand now why all those kids (and parents) are standing in front of the system - appearing to ‘hog’ it - whenever I’d walk past. I would stand there patiently, hoping that they’d notice another person lusting after the graphics, wanting a game. I desired a sample, just a taste.

Today I finally managed to happen upon a demo system with not a single soul within a two metre radius. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator, I dived for the controls. ‘C’MAAAAN! I’M EERE’, it beckoned. ‘DO EEEET, DO EEEETT NOW! C’MAAAAAAN! PLAY ME!’, It yelled.

And I did.

Formula One Championship Edition I found deep within the high-definition menus. And I played like there was no tomorrow. After a few initial teething problems with controls (who’d have thought the second-controller would be the one that I had to use? Even though the menus all worked with the first controller…) I was on the grid, revving Fernando Alonso’s 2006 Renault engine to its redline. The lights went out and I was away.

It didn’t take me long to adjust to the precision steering and the tremendous grip levels. Soon I was challenging Kimi Raikkonen for the lead. With 5 corners to go, on the last lap, I braked late, charged up the inside and nabbed the lead. I crossed the line in a clear first place.

Afterwards, I felt like Elaine, tested positive for opium. That’s right. White Lotus. Yam-yam. Shanghai Sally. It was drug, I had to have more. I was addicted.

It took all of my might to walk away without a unit in a Myer bag under my arm.

At $999 for the system and $99 for the game, its no cheap thrill. While I’ve no doubt I would get the value out of it - in fact I’d devote so much of my spare time to it, I’d probably find myself single again - I just couldn’t do it.

Honestly, its not the price. Blu-Ray players are retailing for almost that price out here now alone. And the PS3 is so much more.

What is holding me back is the lack of Gran Turismo 5.

For, my friends, the day that item hits the shelf, is the day ScottyB disappears into the seclusion of the TV room with a brand new PS3+GT5+F1CE package.

It is evil, addictive gaming at its finest.

I think all of us (at least those of us moviegoers) will remember the year 1999 - and the release of The Matrix.

Without a doubt it revolutionised the way we viewed movies and the field of Computer Generated Imagery, it brought about a string of cinematic format ‘trilogies’ and essentially, at the time, became one of the most hyped films of the genre. The characters became household names, the quotes were recited by school kids everywhere. ‘Bullet-time’ became common-knowledge and found its way into all sorts of video games and cartoons. Its hard to find someone who hasn’t been, at the very least, mildly influenced by something out of the Wachowski Brothers’ famous flicks.

I saw each of them at the cinema, on the big screen, with the THX surround sound. It was the ultimate experience. I’ve always been a real enthusiast of movies and an absolute action film junkie, so when the Matrix series came along, I got on the bandwagon and rode that bugger all the way to the back row. Three times. And to this day, it still sticks out as one of the greatest cinematic experiences of my life. The tremendous anticipation between films and the utmost surprise and love of the art and the philosophy.

Sure its sequels were met with less than favourable critic analysis, but in my mind I saw a futuristic, eye-candy delivering monster of a vision.

One day a few years ago, I bought the trilogy in a lovely 5-disc, ‘code’ covered tin box set. I don’t even see the code now. All I see is blonde.. brunette… yeah you get the picture. Strangely, though, I never watched them. Usually after the purchase of a new DVD it is customary - almost religiously binding - for me to watch the film immediately. For some reason though, the trilogy of the Matrix got filed away on the shelf. Not forgotten, just not experienced again on my small TV and sound.

Maybe I thought it would spoil the effect. Maybe I didn’t have 7 hours to throw away at them again. Whatever the case, it was forgotten as it all changed recently.

A certain brunette has never seen the Matrix (or at least no more than odd bits and pieces) so, thanks to a 40″ LCD, THX Surround Sound and what is essentially a dedicated movie room, I put up little resistance when I was asked if we could view the Matrix once more.

Even after 8 years, the original still looks fresh. And after 4 years, the sequel(s) manage to look polished and well and truly up with todays standards of breathtaking CGI. In fact, I’d go so far as to say the final sequence between Neo and Agent Smith in Revolutions would still have to be one of the greatest of all time. Its how you view superhero battles, its how fights between two immensely powerful, near-indestructible beings should be fought and conveyed to the audience. This is the type of scene we should be seeing in DC and Marvel Comic adaptations. Completely over-the-top, downright ludicrous, but utterly fulfilling.

You pick up all the minor details you missed the first time around. You notice all the finer points of the film and the CGI, the attention to detail. Its really quite an impressive trilogy.

‘You have a problem with authority, Mr. Anderson. You believe you are special, that somehow the rules do not apply to you. Obviously, you are mistaken.’

How wrong he was.