Smokey Yunick

One of my heroes is Smokey Yunick, a brilliant innovator, inventor and racer. Some say he is the biggest cheater ever. I just read something where Smokey explains what he considers cheating, and he puts it in a way that has evaded me for quite some time. I hate cheaters, but I love people who imagine a new way of doing something. Here's how Smokey sees the difference between the 2.

"All along, NASCAR could have gotten me to "behave" by writing rules without ambiguities because I refused to cheat. There was no craft or fun in that. Whenever a rule appeared outlawing something, I instantly gave it up."

That's how I see it too, I would never do anything that is against the rules, but finding things no one else ever thought of is the best part of racing/car building.
 Here's the article, and if you like it, look for the book about Smokey. The man was a genius.
http://www.circletrack.com/ultimateracing/ctrp_0801_smokey_yunick/index.html

Television is a drug

I turn off the cable in the fall after Formula 1 is over because if TV is there, I will turn it on, and then I will waste my time.
This year, I toyed with the idea of not turning it back on because it seemed poor judgement to spend several hundred dollars to watch racing. I gave in though, and had cable installed just in time for the Melbourne Gran Prix.
Oh My God, Formula 1 did not disappoint! Within the first few minutes of practice this morning I learned about some technological  developments that blew my mind.
I love F1.
I am going to make a board on the forum and will explain what they are doing on there.

Beer Reviews

It is going to be a tremendous hardship trying out every new IPA that comes along, but I am willing to take one for the team.
What I consider to be my favorite beer changes all the time, but right now, I have to say that this:

is the best beer ever made. It's not cheap, it comes 4 to a pack instead of 6, but it is fantastic. My only complaint is that it's almost 10% alcohol, so that makes it a little tough to come home, have a beer, and then do work out in the shop. After 1 of these you just want to sit on the couch!
So, my beer rating system will be this: Deadlift is a 10, Bud light is 1. I am not very good at describing the subtle nuances of beer, I just know what I like. I recently tried Alpha Dog IPA, and it is excellent, I would have to give it a 9. If you want to read a review from someone who is very talented at descriptions, go here: www.spocool.com/2011/02/17/alpha-dog-imperial-ipa

Aerodynamics

We had a big blizzard last week, and I was out driving in the worst of it. I could hardly see where the road was, it was cool!
The next day, there were snowdrifts all over the place, and I realized I have an unusual interest in the drifts. I like to see the wind at work, it turns the whole world into a wind tunnel, and the snow is the smoke that helps you visualize it.