Monthly Archives: August 2013

Aug 21 2013

Thoughts on RIR NASCAR Test 8-19-8-21-2013

 

 

 

I was lucky enough to spend the last couple days watching the Cup Cars test at RIR and came back with some observations. First off, the cars are much faster than they were with the previous ‘car of tomorrow.’ The way the drivers drive the track is so much different than they did before.

Back in the day with Dale Jarrett and others won Richmond, the favorite line on the scanners was ‘float her in’ and ‘watch your brakes.’ Now, they dive deep into the turns. Although some do drive the track different.

Here’s my observations on the various makes:

CHEVROLET


 

When you start with the BowTie brigade, you have to start with Jimmie Johnson foremost. And since Hendrick Motorsports was the only Chevy team there, I only have my observations on the teams.

Jimmie? Well, Jimmie is Jimmie. Car looks smooth, bad ass fast, and has a different engine sound than the other three HMS cars. Not sure if it’s from the headers or a combination. However, what I did notice is he eats folks up getting into the turn because he backs it up…and then gets back on the gas earlier. Chad and the boys have it down to a science in getting the car the way Jimmie wants it.

Jr and Kasey Kahne I can lump together. Both had moments where they looked fast and other times they looked ho hum. Of the two, JR’s car looked faster but without a stopwatch I can’t prove it. I think they’ll run okay in 3 weeks.

Jeff Gordon…he looked the worst of the four. Even when he said ‘make no changes to the car’ he didn’t look fast. Very slow getting onto the gas off turn 2 and at RIR turn 2 makes or breaks your lap. Mess up 2 and your toast for that lap.

So I’d rank it 48-88-5-24 in that order.

 

FORD:


 

No offense to Bad Brad, but I think Joey just flat out was running better. Now, maybe the blackish blue primer made 2 seem slower but I just never got the feel that his car was as fast as Joey’s.

Not to say that Joey’s didn’t have its ho-hum moments. It did when I got to the track around 4pmish. However, the longer the day went on, the faster it got. At one point he was visually faster than any other car on the track and was ‘handling down the backstretch’ equal to Jimmie.

Brad had his moments too when he was bad fast too.

Casey Mears’ team tested but it never seemed like they got going well. At first, they were geared too low and not handling. Then it seemed they changed gear and got fast…and then switched back at night and took a major step backwards.

There was a Fusion there in pure primer so I couldn’t tell who owned it (Penske or Germaine) but I can tell you this: it was bad fast when on the track. You could look at it and tell it was fast because the Hendrick cars were in same color primer so it was easy to compare against. JR had to hurry to get out of the way a couple times because the car was that fast.

So, ranking the Ford Guys: Primer Car, 22, 2, 13

Michael Waltrip Racing (Toyota)


 

Of the Toyota boys, both Truex Jr. and Bowyer were fast at times too. During a 30 lap simulated race, he pulled away from JJ and the boys (even though Logano came out late and ran everyone down but 56 by the end. 22 passed everyone including JJ having started a straightaway behind)until deciding it was time to hit the garage. So, he ran good.

Bowyer’s car looked smooth off turn 2 a bit more than 56 but both were running good.

Disappointment?

Almendinger in 55. Never seemed that fast, but in his defense, he had to hop into a car on short notice and run a test with a team he’s not familiar with. I’m not going to knock him for that. If Vickers had been in the car, I might’ve been able to get a better feel.

Ranking: 56, 15, 55

 

Conclusion:

We’ll have to wait for race weekend to see who will win, but I think 48, 22, 2, 5, 88, 56, 15 have to be considered at the top of the list. Gordon might surprise me but I’m not expecting much and JR? He can be hit or miss. Given the need for a Chase spot, I’m guessing he and Steve Letarte are going to ‘hit’ more than ‘miss.’

I hope everyone has fun at the race. J

Aug 21 2013

Massaging Final Draft

 

One of the hardest parts of being a writer is taking that final step to getting yourself published. Why is this so? Believe it or not, it’s where you spend the most time.

I know you think I’m crazy, but it’s true.

While actually writing the story takes time, it’s the hard copy edits, etc that eat up your time more than anything else. And let’s not forget the final massaging.

Now the final smoothing can be anything from a simple looksee to check for errors to giving it a final rewrite to get things in the perfect spot. Either way, that’s what eats up your time.

So, when you’re at this point, like I am, take heart and don’t give in. This is where the professionals are made and the chaff cleared out. Ones who don’t truly want to be professional won’t make this step.

So, hang in there.

Aug 20 2013

Barnes & Noble Is Suffering a ‘Hunger Games’ Hangover

Per Bloomberg Business News:

 

A Barnes & Noble store in Emeryville, Calif., in February 2012

 

Barnes & Noble (BKS) continues to spin downward, and it wants everyone to know who is to blame. The Nook? Nope. It’s Suzanne Collins, who hasn’t written a single installation of The Hunger Games this year, and E.L. James, who has stopped writing Fifty Shades of Greybooks without any concern for the impact it would have on the bookseller.

On Tuesday the company announced it had lost $87 million in the most recent quarter. Retail revenue, which makes up about 75 percent of its total revenue, dropped 9.9 percent. The company also said Leonard Riggio, its chairman and largest shareholder, was dropping his effort to buy that part of the business. Barnes & Noble’sattempt to grow a Silicon Valley startup—which Riggio did not include in his buyout effort—continues to be a drain on its traditional retail business. Revenue in the Nook portion of the business was down 20.2 percent, with the money it brought in by selling Nook devices falling 23 percent.

Many analysts, and this magazine, figured that Barnes & Noble would bring the effort to an end. Instead, the company says it plans to further integrate its Nook and retail businesses. It thinks that its digital efforts still have potential to bolster its retail business, even if they are burning through cash for now. Barnes & Noble now claims 22 percent of the U.S. e-book market, and says it has sold 10 million Nook devices. “If we want to be in the device business, we have to be in the content business no matter how they’re produced. We think our people can produce better devices than anyone else,” Michael Huseby, company president, told investors in a conference call on Tuesday morning.

Even today, Barnes & Noble should have a natural advantage in the bookselling business, because most readers seem to want a mix of digital and print, says Michael Shatzkin, chief executive of Idea Logical, a consultant for publishers. “Only Barnes & Noble has e-books, print books, online and offline. The challenge for them is to keep the customers as customers change their patterns of consumption,” he says. “It’s very hard to discern, because Amazon (AMZN) buries its numbers so much, but it’s my impression that the gap between Amazon.com and BN.com is growing.”

The company said more than half of the drop in retail sales was basically a hangover following the 2012 binge on The Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Greytrilogies. And while digital content sales dropped 15.8 percent in the quarter, Barnes & Noble said that, excluding the impact of those titles, they only fell 6.9 percent. Digital content isn’t selling very well because Nooks aren’t selling very well.

It’s not just Barnes & Noble. According to the Association of American Publishers, net sales of trade books in the first quarter of 2013 were down 4.7 percent from a year earlier, with almost all of the losses concentrated in the young adult category. It should go without saying thatFifty Shades of Grey, which wasn’t published in the U.S. until April 2012, is not included in those young adult numbers.

Barnes & Noble said it also expects to see sales lag this quarter, when compared to 2012′s hit-fueled performance. It looks on the horizon and sees John Grisham and Stephen King riding to the rescue with new novels coming later this year. It just has to hope that everyone doesn’t just put them on their Kindles.

Aug 19 2013

‘Doctor Who’: ‘Luther’ creator Neil Cross writing for Peter Capaldi

From DigtalSpy.com   Story by Morgan Jeffrey

 

Luther creator Neil Cross has confirmed that he will return to Doctor Who for its eighth series.

Cross told Stuff.co.nz that he is “really excited about writing for Peter Capaldi” – the 55-year-old actor recently cast as the 12th Doctor.

Peter Capaldi arriving for the Orange British Academy Film Awards

© PA Images

Peter Capaldi

“I am going back [for series eight],” the writer revealed. “I have got story ideas tucked away… there’s a whole bunch of stuff I want to do.

“[Showrunner] Steven [Moffat] is clearly very busy with the 50th anniversary special and Christmas special, but I have to find out from Steven what his intentions for the Doctor are and what sort of stories he wants me to write.”

Cross – who previously wrote Who episodes ‘The Rings of Akhaten‘ and ‘Hide‘ – described Capaldi as “an outstanding choice” to replace current lead Matt Smith.

The Doctor (Matt Smith) & Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) in Doctor Who S07E02: 'The Rings of Akhaten'

© BBC

The Doctor & Clara in ‘The Rings of Akhaten’

“I am familiar with Peter Capaldi’s work and I am looking forward to it,” he said.

“There’s something about his physicality, his image, his wit, that evokes the Doctor. There’s something about him that evokes classic Doctor Who.”

Doctor Who‘s 50th special will air on Saturday, November 23, with Capaldi’s first full series to follow in 2014.

> Bill Nighy turned down Doctor Who: “It comes with too much baggage”

Watch Digital Spy‘s Geek TV special about Peter Capaldi and the 12th Doctor below

Read more: http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a507800/doctor-who-luther-creator-neil-cross-writing-for-peter-capaldi.html#ixzz2cSQb1sWd
Follow us: @digitalspy on Twitter | digitalspyuk on Facebook

Aug 19 2013

Ender’s Game author Orson Scott Card compares Obama to Hitler

Ok, I think Card’s doing everything he can to cause the movie to fail…

Per the UK Daily Guardian. Story written by: Ben Child

 

The sci-fi writer, who has already angered many with his views on same-sex marriage, expounds the comparison in a 3,000 word essay

 

Orson Scott Card

Essay crisis … Orson Scott Card

He has already upset many with his views on homosexuality. Now Orson Scott Card, author of the iconic source novel which forms the basis of upcoming sci-fi blockbuster Ender’s Game, has repeated the trick, and imagined a post-democratic USA in which the current president rules as an autocrat forever.

  1. Ender’s Game
  2. Production year: 2013
  3. Country: USA
  4. Directors: Gavin Hood
  5. Cast: Abigail Breslin, Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford
  6. More on this film

In the essay, which was published on Card’s Civilisation Watch blog and titled “Unlikely Events”, the novelist posits a future where Obama rules as a “Hitler- or Stalin-style dictator” complete with his own “national police force” of “young out-of-work urban men”. He also suggests that Obama and his wife, Michelle, might amend the US constitution to allow presidents to remain in power forever before the next presidential election and would then “win by 98 percent every time”. Adds the author: “That’s how it works in Nigeria and Zimbabwe; that’s how it worked in Hitler’s Germany.”

Card labels the post “an experiment in fictional thinking,” adding: “Will these things happen? Of course not.” However, his work is unlikely to please executives at studio Lionsgate, already on the back foot over Ender’s Game after many – including gay group Geeks Out – highlighted Card’s opposition to same-sex marriage in the US and suggested film-goers might consider boycotting the upcoming movie based on his 1984 novel.

Card, a practising member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and key figure in the anti-gay National Organisation for Marriage, has been highly vocal on the issue for a number of years. His views, and the Geeks Out boycott, have seen him encouraged to stay away from promotional appearances to promote the Ender’s Game movie such as last month’s Comic-Con in San Diego. Lionsgate, meanwhile, has been at pains to flag up its equal rights credentials, issuing a statement describing the studio as “proud longtime supporters of the LGBT community, champions of films ranging from Gods and Monsters to The Perks of Being a Wallflower and a company that is proud to have recognised same-sex unions and domestic partnerships within its employee benefits policies for many years”. The studio added last month: “We obviously do not agree with the personal views of Orson Scott Card and those of the National Organisation for Marriage.”

Ender’s Game, which stars Asa Butterfield, Abigail Breslin, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley and Harrison Ford, centres on a gifted child who is sent to a military school in space to prepare for an alien invasion. It is released in UK cinemas on 25 October, Australian cinemas on 31 October and US cinemas a day later.

 

 

Aug 18 2013

Depression And Feeling Miserable

 

The sad thing about being one who suffers from a form of depression is that fact that it can make such a sudden appearance. Today, I’ve been doing nothing but polishing my novel and just now feel like crying.

Why?

That’s a question I can’t answer. All I know is I suddenly feel depressed and can’t put a finger on why. Oh I could name fifty thousand things, but I don’t think any of them are the true cause of why I feel this way. Somehow, I can help but think it just comes on to come on and take me onto a ride into sadness.

Either way, that’s not much I can do but hold on and wait for the ride to climb back up again. Yes, it sucks, but will belly aching do any good? Not one damn bit, so I guess I just have to live with it.