July 2004 Archives

Quite a lot of interesting things to point you to, so point I shall do. I know that some of these places are getting a lot of traffic so support them if you have the means to do so with money, or if the mood takes you, by emailing them to tell them how nice they are. Maybe. Encouragement never goes amiss.

1 - With the forthcoming Doctor Who currently being filmed, here's a little animation malarkey to whet your appetite. Or not. Anyway, it's here. ("It's got a cow as a logo...") Warning: contains the word beginning with f and ending in ing. Well, that's better than "Parental Advisory"

2 - Online pointy clicky adventure!! An adventure game ala Monkey Island. It looks gorgeous and has a tricky set of puzzles to solve. Might keep you busy 'til next update... Oh and there is a walkthrough somewhere on the internet, if you email me, then I'll send you a link - have a go first, it really is worth it.

3 - GPS Drawing. Strange and fantastical line art created by tracking vehicles and plotting their position on paper using magic science.

I was reminded earlier this week of a great quote by the legend that is Al Murray, Pub Landlord.

Speaking to Q one issue about the perfect pub compilation album, he described Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody as "encapsulating the drunken night out - a quiet bit at the start, some people arguing with each other, then a load of shouting at the end." Maybe that's what Freddie was after when he wrote it...?

For those whose lives are yet to be touched by the amazing Al Murray, I urge you to check out some of his work. You can see him on regular repeats of his show "Time Gentlemen Please" on both Paramount Comedy Channel (Monday to Friday, 10:35/10:40pm depending on the day) and Sky One (Sundays, 11pm). He also has a DVD, "My Gaff, My Rules" which is a live recording of one of his recent shows. Al Murray's official site is here. Listen to a clip of Al Murray, his view of the London-Paris Paris-London train journey, here (right-click and "Save target as...")

The highlight of this month undoubtedly was the British Grand Prix. Not that it was an exciting race (last weekend's German Grand Prix far outdid Silverstone for that...), or produced an unpredictable winner (damn that Michael Schumacher and his dominance...) no, it was exciting for me in that it was the first Grand Prix that I've attended.

Now I know that to many, Formula One racing isn't the most interesting thing in the world and you're entitled to that opinion. But hearing the sound of the engines, feeling the atmosphere, the enthusiasm shared by those around you, by another 99,999 people, is an amazing thing. There's also the misconception that all you see is 20 cars whizzing past and then you stare at an empty track for a minute until they fly around again. That's not true at all - for a start you have the Minardi's tootling around at the back anyway getting further behind so the wait isn't so long... but also there are giant screens dotted all over the circuit so you miss none of the action.

I drove down to Northampton on the Friday and spent the night bouncing off the walls before remembering I had to get up at 5am the next day. Now the type of ticket I had only tied me to a particular seat for the race on Sunday meaning that I had the opportunity to walk around the whole circuit on the Saturday - no mean feat when you consider that 75,000 people were there on that day and the track is 3.94 miles long... and I had to walk around the outside of it. I sat at the end of Hangar Straight, strategically placing myself on the braking point - it's impossible to describe watching a car go from 200mph to around 60/70mph in front of you in less than a second. I was able to see cars going through the magnificent Becketts complex, I watched Formula One qualifying from the first corner, I viewed the Formula 3000 race from Luffield. I can't tell you how amazing it was.

I can't mention that weekend with saying a massive heartfelt thank you to JSC who joined me there. Despite feeling that she wouldn't enjoy the race for a long time before, it didn't take long until she was really getting into it! I've converted her!

Photos from my weekend are available here - more are to follow. If you'd like to know more about Formula One then visit either www.formula1.com or www.itv-f1.com.