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Racing
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Written by rax262
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Monday, 05 October 2009 00:00 |
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Right or wrong I think NASCAR will lose fans over this. The concerning trend here is not that a member of the Saudi royal family owns a part of a once iconic team, but that a majority stake holder in that team with no historical ties to the sport essentially sold his interest to the highest bidder.
George Gillett is a businessman and he sees fit to do with his money as he pleases. His stake in Evernham was just an investment and it's no surprise that he dumped his share when an interested party came knocking, it happens every day on Wall Street and Main Street.
That said the thing that won’t sit well with fans is realization that the days of familial ownership are over. Portions of a team can be bought and sold and the current owner may bear no ties which prevent him from selling his stake and he may do so with little care of the long term effect on the sport.
As a fan of many forms for motor racing I understand that while these cars run on gasoline the teams run on money, and lots of it. The dependence upon sponsorship and rich benefactors will always be a part of motorsports. Some folks believe that “any money is good money” and I don’t begrudge them for that belief, however I feel that they should carefully consider the source their funds.
When you enter into a business relationship you associate yourself with them. Be it a Saudi royal, Texas oil man, or good ole boy in Kannapolis, you and your reputation as a team will be judged by the company you keep. To see this look no further than GM and Chrysler who’ve experienced double digit declines in sales after bankruptcy and bail outs compared to Ford who thus far has avoided government aid.
At the end of the day fans will look at these teams with multiple stake holders and ask themselves if this is the NASCAR they know and love. Unfortunately some fans will not like what they see and will drift away from the sport. The question that this raises in my mind is whether this new era of ownership will attract new fans. In my opinion it will not, but it will sustain the sport through these dark times. If RPM is Richard Petty in name only then so be it, at least it will keep cars on the track. However don’t be surprised when fans turn elsewhere.
Original article and thread at: NASCAR Insiders: A Saudi Prince? Why Not? |
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Fun
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Written by rax262
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Friday, 05 June 2009 22:27 |
I have returned from the future, 2018, and bring a message from John Connor: "Send more helicopters."
As an angry fan of the now canceled Sarah Connor Chronicles I'd like to point to the many plot holes and inconsistencies of the latest Terminator film. However there are none, as this film is completely lacking of anything in the story department and serves less as a movie and more as an advertisement for the surplus military goods sector.
Sure it's a great action movie, sure a lot of stuff blows up, sure the gals will love Christian Bale and Mr. Fancypants McDownunder who keeps slipping into his Australian accent throughout the entire movie. While I greatly enjoyed watching a sub full of pricks lead by Michael Ironside, aka Jester, getting the "shit" blown out of 'em when they turn on their idiotic homing beacon, I greatly lament the fact that no one recognizes the "Governator" when he turns up as a freshly minted T-800 near the end of the film. Sure it may have been a well conceived play by Skynet to send robots into the past to infiltrate the government but I strongly suspect it was more the result of it's love of Arnie's 'roid fueled 70s classic "Pumping Iron".
However the worst thing about this movie is that things weren't bad enough. Sure we are treated to a 30 minute desert car chase sequence ala Mad Max but does the resistance really have enough assets to afford wrecking half a dozen helicopters, several A-10s and one dubiously constructed submarine? Hell no. In the real future John Connor and friends are living in the sewers like a bunch of rats or Ninja Turtles. If Skynet was truly smart it would have nuked every last weapons depot on Judgment Day. Besides if anything were left behind where do you expect to find a bunch of stick and rudder jockeys in 2018 who can manhandle a UH-1 or A-10?
Regardless I'm still willing to give the movie a B+ rating for action as it does fulfill my inner child's desire to "blow shit up". However I do so on one condition which is that John D. Brancato or Michael Ferris never again be allowed to write the script of any Terminator franchise movies. These are the two chuckle heads who've brought you both the forgettable Terminator 3 and the latest irreverent bitch slap of entertainment and practical time travel I've ever seen.
We are the resistance, the resistance against stupid Hollywood turds like this one. I'm a pissed off fan, and that is all. |
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Life
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Written by rax262
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Sunday, 09 August 2009 22:41 |
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I harvested the entire batch of King of the Garden limas and came out with little over half a pound of seed for storage. There were a few ripe pods which I threw in the pot and enjoyed. In other news I also picked my first Mountain Spring tomatoes and a single Arkansas Traveler.
I'm a bit disappointed with the Mountain Spring which I purchased from a local greenhouse. They were supposed to be early season tomatoes but failed to blossom until well after I the Roma tomatoes were showing fruit. The tomatoes are large and appear to be tasty but I think production with be very light. Granted I could blame the lack of production and ripening on my soil PH which I had to make an emergency correction too. However the other plants and tomatoes are doing well leading me to believe that this is just a weaker or, gasp, ill suited breed for my growing conditions.
In other news I just dropped a few dollars for my fall crop including Yellow Multiplier Onions and French Gray Shallots. I also plan to put down a winter mix of greens in a few weeks.
UPDATE: I added some Plant Tone organic fertilizer to the watermelon, tomatoes, and four "second batch" cantaloupes. Hey, who knows if the weather is fair well into September I may see a ripe one yet! |
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Blue Crab
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Written by rax262
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Monday, 03 August 2009 21:38 |
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I'm calling it the expedition because it's the only trip I'll need. I have all the crab I can handle. No seriously, bring a bib.. we've got to eat these things.
I threw my pots back in the usual spot somewhere along the maritime creeks of Cape Fear. I baited three with turkey necks and sent them to the bottom. I let them soak for six days and returned to collect my crabby goodness. The first pot hit 14 crab with five keepers. The second was packed with 25 but only ten were of legal size. The final batch contained 29 crab and other 10 keepers. The total haul was 68 total with 25 keepers.
This trip I also added a new piece of equipment, a 7 ponder anchor for the Whitehall Spirit. The anchor worked like a champ and kept the boat from drifting while I sorted the many crab in every pot.
Cleaning the crab took several hours but was well worth it. When I was done I had frozen five freezer bags full of crab halves ready for a future low country boil. The only question is how and who I'm going to enjoy these crab with. |
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Life
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Written by rax262
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Friday, 28 August 2009 00:00 |
I recently inherited my Grandfather’s circa 1954 Royal HH typewriter when he passed away. After I had cleaned it up and reinstalled the bi-colored ribbon, a feat unto its self, I banged out one last message.
Now, I’ll probably never use the typewriter as a composition machine, but as a piece of vintage office equipment it represents a bygone era. A time when writers contemplated what they wrote, carefully measuring each stroke of the key, each sentence poised and direct. I enjoy writing, though it is not my official trade, and the typewriter serves as a reminder to make each word count, each line convey a meaning. |
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