Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Mad Molly, an extremely special Canine to Mwah, sadly takes the Chequered Flag...



Bird's eye view of Tacoma Bureau Chief Mary Ellen with her "Posse," aka Thy esteemed Mad Molly & Thou Pixolator traversing thee Sand Dunes on one of our numerous Treks to Thou Other Florence. (The Tomaso Collection)
Yeah, I know this is supposed to be an Open Wheel Racing Blogsite, but like Mary Ellen's told me a hundred times, It's my Blog and I can Bloody Well write about anything I wish too...

I got the call Thursday evening, July 7th around 5:30PM from Tacoma Bureau Chief Mary Ellen, for which I believe I heard Mad Molly's final words; Err barking before racing off to the Other Side.

As that was so Surreal! Actually the weirdest thing I've ever heard a Dog do. As she sounded like a Duck Quack-Quacking, as Mary Ellen said, I think she's gone...

As bizarrely, or was I-T Karmically? I was in the midst of reading Robin Miller's rant upon the just publicly announced passing of Carl Haas when the telephone rang...


Even stranger yet, which just happens to be one of those 'lil Co-INky-dences that makes Yuhs go Huh? I'd posted that Sum-Sum-summertime post devoted to Molly on July 4th, which just so happens to be the day she took a turn for the worse, when her lug-nuts seemed to have fallen off, as Mary Ellen said I think she's had a stroke? (Although perhaps it was a Seizure instead?) As Molly's entire personality changed and she basically quit eating, which was 100% opposite of her life-long M.O. (Modus Operandi)


NURSERY RYME
Obviously Y'all can guess where I came up with my clever adaptation I used to muse to myself several years ago, since apparently Small Dogs are more "Needy" then big Dogs, eh?

Mary Ellen had a Dog who's fleece was White as Snow,
And everywhere Mary Ellen went, Molly was Sure to follow!

REFLECTIONS
In absolutely NO way am I trying to compare or contrast the following walks 'O life,
but I cannot help admitting that I haven't balled my eyes out like this, albeit this time for days, since nearly a year ago when my Numero Uno IndyCar Driver Justin B-I-G' UNIT Wilson died effectively at Pocono Raceway, on August 23rd when flying debris rained down from the sky...

Out of respect to this most wondrous canine, I've decided to wait until Thy Tears quit flowing before posting this, since even a Fortnight later, upon finishing typing this, I still cry when listening to one of my favourite Pearl Jam songs, titled Crazy Mary, which for some strange unknown reason makes me think of Mad Molly.

VIDEO: Crazy Mary

Naturally, my coining the moniker Mad Molly was simply a term of endearment, as she was a wonderful dog who only got M-A-D if she didn't get her way! Whilst perhaps the reason the Crazy Mary song comes to mind is because Mary Ellen rescued her, giving Molly a way better life!

As I do not typically become overly melodramatic regarding a fallen racer's life being extinguished, with the exception of Justin B-I-G' UNIT Wilson's; while certainly there were many before that fateful weekend at Imola, but Black Sunday was my introduction to this tragic consequence of racing gone wrong! As many have occurred during my 30yrs of Open Wheel Racing observance, from the legends such as Senna, Earnhardt, Moore, Wheldon and Wilson.

To the unheralded likes of Roland Ratzenberger, Scotty Brayton, Jeff Krosnoff, Marco Simoncelli, Harry Surtees, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Tony Renna, Jovy Marcelo and Luis Salom to name just a few of the countless ex-racers. As Y'all get the idea, right?

Whilst Molly was preceded in death by the passing of Gypsy, Sarah, Kobi, Nutkin, Rosa Luna and Lilly...

THIS IS YOUR LIFE...
In another symbiotic nod to unknown reasoning, whenever I hear those words above I think of Corporal Klinger of MASH TV Fame...

Molly was born and raised in the tiny 'lil enclave known as Point Roberts, Washington. Spat out from one of the countless "Puppy Farms" dotting the nation - with her "Born-on Date" unknown, albeit possibly a Y2k baby? Since the best Mary Ellen can come up with is that Molly was "Sweet 16," albeit not in Doggy Years...

Molly was Lilly's Seester', the first of these two "Junkyard Dog's" of Tibetan mix Mary Ellen acquired, as Lilly would later have a litter 'O four puppies, including the runt of these being a precocious Chihuahua mix fondly known on these No Fenders pages as Thy Pixolator, which speelchequer always wants to change to a well known Oil filter brand called Purolator; but I digress...

My first vivid recollections of being introduced to Molly was Wayback in Twenty-oh-Eight when we traveled to The Gorge at George, WA to hear some 'lil 'Ol Kuhnadiun Rock 'N roll group affectionately known as "The Power Trio."

Yep, Y'all guessed right, they're the band RUSh - for which just so happened to have Geddy croonin' Hit after Hit at the Gorge just five days after Scott Dixon won some 'lil Oval race at 16th & Georgetown.

Molly was truly M-A-D after being abandoned for some three hours on her own in 'Ol Blue, Mary Ellen's trusty 'Ol Camper-van, which contrasted quite differently from one RUSh Aficionado wanting to give me a Hug, since he'd never Hugged a Blind person before...

Upon our return, I got the dubious task of holding an extremely Pissed Off Doggie, who began frantically scratching, clawing, twisting, etc while trying to break free from my grasp like a bucking Bronco! Even attempting to bite me! Which was one of only two times ever I can recall! The second being when she bit my arm when trying to remove her from my couch.

Yet from this first sketchy outing, Molly totally burrowed her way into my Heart and quickly became my All-time Numero Uno Canine of Mary Ellen's, with NO disrespect to the others, most notably Thy Pixolator. As Molly's stature was quickly elevated to my Oh, So clever internal code of GB1 = Goof Ball 1, with Pixie (the Charming Chihuahua) becoming GB2!

As how can I ever forget Molly at my heels waiting to be picked up and placed upon my lap. And if Pixie dared taking it first, Molly simply would plop herself down in the prime position regardless of Pixie's locale, quite content to squash Pixie in order to have the majority of Thy lap!

and even though I was on the "Rent-2-Own" plan, I quickly came to appreciate looking forward to my next visit with whom became known as "My Girls!"

As these two were the epitome of Flotsam & Jetsam. Or perhaps better yet Tom & Jerry? Providing us hours of amusement, whilst I eagerly awaited Mary Ellen telling them to run upstairs and get Tomaso, which was the ultimate wake-up alarm clock!

And in just one 'lil snippet of how much these two were forever bonded, they had a highly comical daily skit whenever eating. As Pixie would wait first for ravenous Molly to inhale her food before Pixie would take a nibble and then stand at her bowl growling defiantly at Molly...

as I can go on 'N on about the countless hours of watching the back of Molly's head whilst seated upon Thy lap pivoting back 'N forth like a Bobblehead, which always conjured up images of the Muppets to Mwah, countless trips into Thou Bush, Mountains, both sides of Washington, Oregon and Oh KanaDuh, as that final trek to Mount Rainier to ride the Gondola where I carried Molly on my back in a custom Doggy Backpack stands out fondly...


Yet what I've noticed the most is how difficult life must be for Pixie, who as Mary Ellen quickly pointed out has never been alone once in her life until that fateful night, for which I'll forever be eternally grateful for Mary Ellen trying so diligently to honour my request to see Molly one final time and to be present if ever this Mad Hatter puppy dog needed to be put down in order to not suffer further.

As I'm deeply touched that I got to hear Molly's final barking, along with Mary ELLEN bringing her by post mortem and allowing me to touch her as long as desired in order to say goodbye...

Molly contracted seemingly an un-normal condition for the final few years of her life, suffering the ill effects of what most simply can be called a collapsed trachea, which made her wheeze constantly, sounding like she'd smoked one too many Marlboros, which not only wasn't the case, but simply wasn't Molly's fault.

And although life's gotten really boring for Thy Pixolator, who's lost her partner, doesn't have anybody to growl at, fight with or do the other things doggy's do. Nonetheless, Molly left us one final present, as a song was played on the radio the morning of her departure, so aptly titled Molly on The Shore.


As I'll probably get in trouble for this, not to mention completely mucking I-T up, but I like to believe that Molly's made it across the waters to the Hebrides Islands, specifically the Isle of Beyond the North wind, which is apparently Celtic lore regarding the Otherworld, where Molly get's to hog anybody's lap whenever she wants, eat as much food as possible, sleep in her own royal people's bed and doesn't have to deal with her nasty continuous wheezing!

As there are several versions of this song, with three variations being performed by Percy Grainger, Rachel Barton Pine and Northern Simfonia, which were the first three I was informed of.

Yet I've chosen Messer Grainger's as my favourite, since for Mwah, it truly captures the spirit of Molly! While Rachel Barton Pine, who's definitely a violin virtuoso is runner-up, whilst think I've since heard a cello version which is also enjoyable too.

But Percy's full orchestra version just epitomizes Mad Molly, who had a 'Wee bit 'O Calvin in her, who I'll miss dearly! As I can still see her sitting in my lap, head turned towards Mary Ellen smiling, tongue hanging out in that look of ecstasy that I've got Tomaso's lap...

Monday, July 25, 2016

NBCSN pulls Rope-a-Dope upon Hungarian GP weekend Broadcasting



Otay, know I'm in the minority on this but! Since I currently have NO recordin' devices available for television programmes, I'm forced to either get up at A-L-L sorta WONKY times or watch the event "live."

Thus, I deliberately went into total media Blackout phase, even going so far as to turn on the Seattle Mariners game; GASP! In order to make sure the Blatherheadz' foaming 24/7 at Mother Speedway for some Brickyard 3999 race - wouldn't slip in who'd won the Pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix!

Instead choosing to wait somewhat patiently for the 7PM Pacific rebroadcast of Qualie preceded by Saturday Nite Boxing... For which surely Y'all can imagine my DISGUST when 7PM came 'N went with the FREAKIN' Boxing match still on Thy Telie; SHIT!

As I mused about how 'Dem is the strangest lookin' F1 cars I've ever seen in my life; Hya! As the announcer prattled on 'bout the boxer in the red shorts, appropriately whilst I was seein' R-E-D!

As this NO NAME Boxing match from Texas, perhaps San Antone? Went to 19mins past 7PM on my talking clock before we were whisked off to the most disjointed replay of F1 Qualie I can recall! Since we just inexplicably came in with 13mins remaining in the 18-minute Q1 Qualie session; FUCK!

And whilst I'm happy I didn't have to sit thru the 72min Quadruple Red Flag Rain delayed Qualie session, nonetheless, I'm still peeved about the shoddiness of the coverage! Especially since Peacock-lite hacked I-T up to run from 7:20-8:50PM Pacific, although I tuned out at 8:46PM as they went to another of the B-B-Baa Zillionth commercials; BARF!

Then I got up at Oh DARK-30 in order to listen to the Booth Boyz' Preamble at 4-FREAKIN' AM! For which I thought the race was supposed to begin at 4:30AM Pacific? For which I think they went Deep; Err long? Since it just went on 'N on.

Although I also noticed they did their usual Chain sawing of the "Canned" replay of Qualie that only ran for 1hr prior to F1 countdown by NOT even showing the Post-qualifying Top-3 interviews! Which apparently was a pre-cursor of the upcoming race programme. Like what's 'Ol Golden Child say 'bout Floating like a Butterfly and Stinging...

Since Leigh Diffey alerted us first round twenty-to-seven AM that the Post-race show F1 Extra would only be available upon the NBC Sports App to make way for some bicycling race! Which is absolute BULLSHIT! Which 'Wee Willie Buxom (Will Buxton_ would probably denote I'm being a Potty Mouth a la 'lil Sid Viddle's becoming, especially regarding the RIDICULOUS Radio Silence rules...

Which to Mwah, sure sounded like Lewis Hamilton was getting coached via in-car radio by the Mercedes engineers during the race! For which only 'JENSE got penalized for.

As the "live" TV broadcast format appeared to being sliced N diced for the re-airing Monday morning, which is listed as only being a two hour programme vs. the three hours time allotment Sunday morning. That is, if they actually bother to re-air at the listed time...

Uhm, where's 'Ol George Foreman when Yuhs need him? Like George, how do I get my TV Show to air in its entirety? Huh? What's this about getting my invention patented...

Somebody give me a Cheeseburger! Err some ground beef to sizzle up in one of George's grillers; Oh Never Mind!

Friday, July 22, 2016

Which Young Guns' will Graduate to Open Wheel Race Seats Next Year?



Originally this Questione came to Mwah during that Oh, So Riveting Toronto IndyCar race, as I found it somewhat galling to hearing the Pitlane Reporters pointedly asking the 40 Somme-thuns' if they thought they'd be keeping their jobs next year?

As Y'all may know? This triumberant includes in order of age: Cheep' Ganassi Racing's TK Follow-your-Schnoz' Kanaan, who's currently 41 and turns 42 on December 31st.

Toni's followed by his Bosom Buddy thou 'Ol Dancing Fool 'HULIO also being 41 and turning 42 next Month 'O May. With Team Penske team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, who's currently thee B-I-G 4-Oh, (40) turning 41 on September 20th.

Naturally, this elder statesman status makes you wonder how much longer Thou trio with six Borg Warner trophies collectively can continue racing Indy Cars, giving Geo. Phillips the opportunity to rue Montoya possibly bowing out first...


Obviously the Hottest Driver in Indy Cars soon to Heat Up Silly Season is Josef STUD! Newgarden, who's been showing off his true grittiness by persevering with a broken shoulder and hand by not only continuing to race, but winning in dominating style at the season's highest G-loading event! As Ho Hum, I fear he'll be swallowed up by either Thou Cheepster or El Capitano, nee Chip Ganassi or Roger Penske respectively.

As I won't try evaluating every IndyCar team and what potential seats exist? Other than KVSH Racing surely has a vacant seat provided somebody can bring the dreaded Sponsorship cheque - as IndyCar seems somewhat akin to F1 right now with there being more suitors than seats available. And Hondre' (Honda) really needs to find a few Starz' of the future to combat the likes of Ganassi and Penske.

Meanwhile, Formula 1 sees a somewhat similar picture, albeit believe the once mighty Herr Schumacher, Michael not Ralf; Hya! Was the last 40 Somme-thun' to race in F1, as the push has steadily been towards the youth movement in Thy Pinnacle 'O Motor Racing for several years now, especially since the advent of the "Verstappen rule" requiring F1 Drivers to be at least 18yrs old.

Although the F1 Driver Market has simmered down to a low boil with the recent announcement that thee Iceman, nee Kimster', aka Kimi Raikkonen and his Oomphlats will remain intact at la Scuderia thru 2017, closing the door upon Ferrari's most coveted second seat.

thus with Kimi at age 36 turning 37 on October 17th, as the Sport's elder statesman's future's secure another year, speculation now falls upon Bloody 'Ol 'JENSE's future. With his McLaren contract up at the end of the season, leaving the 36yr old Englishman the main Domino waiting to fall.

as it's even harder to believe having witnessed a fresh faced youngster named Jenson Button burst onto the scene sixteen years ago as a rookie for Williams BMW, When he had his Driver's license suspended for flogging a Bimmer' Diesel too FAST! As he's currently the longest tenured driver on the F1 Grid, along with presumably being one of the Fan favourites.

The next oldest driver by a mere three months ahead of the fourth Senior member is the most affable Felipe Massa, having just turned 35 on April 25th, while his ex Scuderia Ferrari Sparring Pardner' "Fredrico Suave," aka Fernando Alonso who's currently not faster than Massa; Hooah! Will shortly celebrate his 35th birthday on July 29th.

Alas, presumably McLaren wishes to keep the services of Fernando a further year? As I believe he's still under contract for one more season, albeit think his salary is nearly double Buttons! As it would seem a tragedy to retain both and leave the promising GP2 Phenom and reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne waiting another year, unless the team's willing to farm him out for one season?

Hence, with speculation suggesting the young Belgian Vandoorne will replace Button at McLaren, this puts the spotlight firmly upon Massa's future, who's also out of contract with Team Willy at season's end, with rumours linking Button retiring from F1 with the team he began at with a Shaken 'N Stirred Swansong at Sir Frank's house in 2017?

With These preceding moves, apparently leaving few F1 drives available next year, with just la Reggie's rookie Jolyon Palmer under threat of being dumped at season's end, whilst Indonesia's debutant F1 Pilote Rio Haryanto continues being rumoured to be in financial difficulties at the Minnowesqe Manor Racing outfit and may not finish out the year?

Thus Renault seems widely tipped to install promising Frenchman Esteban Ocon, who's a contracted Mercedes Junior Driver, currently plying his trade in Deutche Touren Wagons, (DTM) in hopes of  emulating  reigning DTM champion Pascal Wehrlein's graduation to Formula 1 next year.

While Jordan King, son of ex-Sainsbury's CEO Justin King, who dabbled in the Manor hierarchy could be set to step-in for Haryanto if he fails to deliver the required final portion of his ride buy apparently running out after the upcoming Hungaroring race.


All of which begs the Questione? Which aspiring Open Wheel Racing Drivers will move up to racing gig's in 2016? since although I wish nobody being terminated, nonetheless, I'd like seeing the Youngblood's get their chances.

Henceforth I'd enjoy seeing Newgarden take a starring role at Andretti Autosport, with Spencer Pigot getting a Fulltime ride next year. And also would enjoy seeing Zachery Veach, Mattie Brabham, Dean Stoneman and Felix Rosenqvist step up to the B-I-G CARZ' next season. Although Rosenqvist is probably hoping to land a European Open Wheel Racing drive instead, hopefully leading to Thou promised land 'O Formula 1.



In F1 I'm hoping we'll see another promising cast of rookies joining the grid with the likes of  Stoffel Vandoorne, Esteban Ocon and a Player to be named later. Perhaps this Oliver Rowland Chap - who I know absolutely NOTHIN' about! But just claimed the points lead during the BREXIT; Err British GP weekend - landing at Manor?

And sorry 'JENSE, (and Felipe) but I'd prefer seeing your younger Countryman Joly' (Jolyon Palmer) taking Massa's seat at Team Willy, thus leaving the way clear for Vandoorne to join Fernando and Ocon to partner Magnussen, albeit Toto Wolff would probably prefer his prized pupil Pascal Wehrlein landing the Williams drive instead.

As Y'all Make thee Call upon who'll go where next year...