F1 Australian GP

I stayed up early this morning and watched the F1 Australian GP and I'm glad I did. It was an exciting race and provided my only racing fix today; both NASCAR and IndyCar have been rained out until tomorrow. For much of the race Massa, Alonso, Hamilton, and Webber had a great fight (up until Hamilton tried to pass Alonso and Webber slammed into the back of him). Vettel went out due to brake failure and left the race in the hands of Button, who had stopped first for slicks after the track began to dry. Button ran a tire management race and did a great job of it; he went close to 3/4 distance on soft tires while some of the other cars stopped for new softs halfway through and used up the new tires trying to get back toward the front. Kubica did an outstanding job in a lesser car, finishing second in the Renault with Massa coming in third.

Here's some of my observations and commentary from Twitter (end of race at top, beginning of race at bottom):

• Good race by Button and Kubica, Massa follows in P3. Thinking McLarens are being built by Audi after seeing Hamilton's car survive! #F1 (Hamilton's car survived several instances of contact; it reminded me of how well the Audi R-8 and R-10 stood up to crashes)
  
• Webber and Hamilton crash as Hamilton tries to pass Alonso! #F1
  
• Heck of a race for P4-P6 now. Great Stuff!! #F1
  
• Hamilton and Webber almost to rear wing of Alonso and Massa. Business is about to pick up. #F1
  
• Kubica doing great job holding off the Ferraris, surprised that Ferrari hasn't pulled a shennanigan to get Alonso in front of Massa. #F1
• Can't see these tires lasting the whole #F1 race, already blistering on rears. (Boy was I wrong!)
  
• Vettel Off!!!! Brand New Race in #F1. Bad luck...
  
• Good action for P5-P8 in #F1
• Massa holding up Hamilton and Alonso is stalking them both. Still the Vettel show at the front though. #F1
• What a series of passes and errors: Webber, Hamilton, and Massa #F1
• Button is the guinea pig for slicks, let's see what happens #F1
  
• At least 4 cars off to start the race and the Safety Car is out due to massive crash. Good start by Massa though.
  
• I NEVER get tired of Sam Posey's intros to the #F1 races on #SpeedTV.
• Rain starting to fall in Melborne! #F1 race could get interesting

Mac McCormick III

ALMS Timing and Scoring For Smartphones

I got a tweet from the American LeMans Series this afternoon introducing their live timing and scoring for Smartphones. I tried it out during the afternoon test and session and it was pretty cool; it updates every few seconds with positions, times, driver in car, etc. To keep up with the ALMS test sessions, practice sessions, and races, try it at: scoring.americanlemans.com/m

Mac McCormick III

B&J's Seafood and Steaks

Thanks to a suggestion from some Co-Workers, I tried out B&J's Seafood and Steaks in Darien to satisfy another hungering for seafood. B&J's is on the west side of US 17 in Darien; it is a rather small building, so don't go too fast or you might miss it (or get stopped by the Darien PD or McIntosh SO!). B&J's isn't much to look at and it is not fancy, but the food is great and the service is friendly. I ordered the fried shrimp basket for $10.95 and sweet tea. The shrimp basket is 1/2 lb of wild Georgia shrimp, texas toast and fries. You can also get a full pound shrimp dinner for $15.95 but unless you're going to share it with someone get the basket. A bonus is that the fried food wasn't greasy at all. It's definitely a good place to stop and grab dinner if you're near Darien while traveling I-95 or US-17 and it is not too far to go from here in Brunswick to satisfy a hungering for Seafood.

Mac McCormick III

Lil Wayne Going to Jail = Elvis Serving in the Army?

Yesterday an interesting news story made it's way across the Google News website. I wouldn't know Lil Wayne if he was standing in front of me nor have I ever listened to any of him music, but the headline of the article drew me to it: "Lil Wayne Going To Jail Is Like Elvis Being Drafted."

With all due respect, I can't see a comparison between Lil Wayne going to prison over a firearms charge and Elvis doing his military service. This article compares the effect on pop music between the two events and a friend of Lil Wayne states that the effect will be similar. Perhaps so, but Lil Wayne is going to prison. Elvis was drafted, did his service without complaining and by all reports was a good soldier while he was in.

I am not an Elvis fan, but in the end, there is just no comparison. It really is disrespectful to Elvis Presley to make that comparison.

Mac McCormick III