Wednesday, November 11, 2015

AUSTIN 2014: "The Nico & Lewis Show"




Tomaso poses briefly with the Team Willy' No. 77 F1 Showcar at Austin Fan Fest. (The Tomaso Collection)
Ah, can another year have already slipped by once again? As your humble No Fenders  scribe Tomaso has just made his annual pilgrimage to COTA  for the yearly Formula 1 race which Claudio's so willing to take me to each year! As here's the belated 2013 story while I whittle away at this year's story whilst still basking in thy Afterglow of this year's just concluded event!


Tues, 10/28
Once again, another early morning departure, albeit not quite as bad as my ZERO FREAKIN' DARK 30! Departures for Indianapolis, but! Still pretty damn early for Mwah when leaving home at 6:20AM for my 9AM Departure.

Then 3hrs flight to Dallas-Fort Worth, (DFW) followed by 3hr LAYOVER! Then 1hr flight to Austin; 1+ hour LATE due to Flight Crew NOT being at  Gate On-time, as they kept announcing over the PA: Our Aero plane's here, but Flight Crew's stuck in different concourse; Huh? That's a new excuse to Mwah!

Very nice Off-duty Flight Attendant named Stacey, who was waiting to go home to Austin, offered to assist me over to the somewhat (DFW) concealed Check-in counter for "Pre-board" and then assisted me to our awaiting Aeroplane; SWEET!

Nelie collected me at baggage claim around 7:15PM Austin time - which is two hours ahead of Seattle time CARPETZ; Hya! Whilst Claudio' drove off from us briefly - as the Coppers' were telling him to Get along 'lil Doggie! Before he stopped further down the curbside check-in and away our chariot carried us...

As Y'all can read my previous scribbling 'bout the trials of being a visually impaired traveler in;


Wed, 10/29
Nelie, Claudio & I went to Downtown Austin, where they'd closed off four blocks of Congress Avenue, i.e.; 7th to 11th Avenue's for the Infiniti Red Bull Racing F1 "Demo" between 12noon-2PM. And for those unawares, Congress Ave. is the main four-lane thoroughfare through Downtown Austin that leads directly to the Capitol.

HOLY MISSING ARMCO BATMAN!

UN-FREAKIN' BELIEVEABLE!!! Only a "double" waist-high street barricade preventing us from being hit by the 2011-spec V-8 powered normally aspirated F1 Double Championship winning (Driver's + Constructor's) Car,  which was traveling supposedly at speeds up to 140mph and only some mere 15-feet away from us! As I know I heard multiple gear changes being made; Aye Karumba!

Current (2014) Red Bull Racing Formula 1 drivers Daniel Ricky' Ricciardo and TWINKIEBOY! Seb' Vettel made two runs apiece in the F1 chassis, whilst in-between, they took turns torturing the SHIT outta the new Infiniti (E50?) Eau Rouge "Supercar," especially by doing numerous rubber pealing, smoke laden tyre squealing "Doughnuts" at end of the street before turning around, as we joyfully stayed for the entire two hours event...

For some assorted Red Bull F1 Demonstration pictures see; Austin 2014: Running with the Bulls!

Thurs, 10/30
Claudio & I went to an AWESOME movie titled: Who Killed the Messenger? Which was about the unknown to Mwah investigative journalist Gary Webb, who un-cracks the u$ Government's illicit involvement in selling crack cocaine in east-LA in order to fund 'Ol 'Ronnie's war against the Sandinistas via Regan's illegal funding of the Contra's.

Very powerful, informative and enjoyable movie, with a sad  ending,  to which  apparently even today, various mainstream media factions are still trying to disprove Webb's  expose for which he won Journalist Of the Year in 1996! As I highly recommend the movie to all...

Although not surprisingly, the movie only played in theatres briefly, as obviously you'll need to find I-T on DVD or wherever now...


The Mad Hatters  Tomaso & Claudio seated during Buxton's Big-time Bash charity for Meals on Wheels in Downtown Austin last year. (The Tomaso Collection)
A folded triangular sign standing on our table reads: The Austin Grand Prix proudly presents Buxton's Big Time Bash...

Thurs evening the three of us went  Downtown to "Peacock-lite's NBCSN's Pitlane reporter, thy 'Wee Willie Buxom's (Will Buxton) Buxton's B-I-G' Time Bash, a charity fund raiser for Austin's Meals-on-Wheels.

We stayed for 'bout 1.5+ hours, and I got my picture taken + "Talked Smart!" Very briefly, obviously, to America's lone hopeful and (then) current Marussia F1 Test/Reserve Driver Alexander Rossi, along with (then) current Caterham F1 racing driver Marcus Ericsson from Sweden; Ya Sure Yuh Betcha! Before it was time to head home and prepare for our first day's outing trackside...


(Photos Courtesy of Austin Hostess Nelie)