Ramblings of a Dizzy Mind

Lewis Hamilton wins the Formula 1 Driver's Championship

2008-11-05T02:45:00.001-08:00

By a single point!

Lewis Hamilton became Formula One's youngest ever World Champion by finishing fifth at a very emotional and dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix held at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paolo. McLaren-Mercedes' Hamilton held a seven point lead over championship rival and hometown hero Felipe Massa of the Scuderia Ferrari prior to the race, meaning that if Massa were to win his home race, Hamilton would only require at least a fifth place to clinch the World Championship. And that was what happened, in a very dramatic fashion. For more details, visit the official Formula One website, www.formula1.com.

As a hardcore and longtime (8 years) Ferrari fan, I was disappointed to learn what transpired in the closing stages of the grand prix. Hamilton was 6th, one place behind his goal of fifth, with the track as wet as my toilet and a car set-up that was virtually useless in the rain. The only thing standing between him and fifth place was the Toyota of Timo Glock, on dry weather tyres.

ON DRY WEATHER TYRES!!!!!!!

Come on, the track was soaked after that last minute shower which changed the race in a dramatic fashion. Hamilton's deliberate low-downforce set-up was very smart in terms of racing in the dry, but in the wet, the advantage would disappear and Hamilton would be in for potentially another heartbreak in Brazil.

And so it would seem, after Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel, an up and coming driver, passed Hamilton and then Glock on his way to a fourth place finish. His advances in position led Hamilton to be demoted to sixth, with Glock in fifth. As such, with Glock being on dry weather tyres and the track very wet there can be no question as to Hamilton catching up with the slipping and sliding Toyota and passing him on his way to the championship.

I can only begin to imagine the rollercoaster Felipe Massa's emotions must have been when he took the chequered flag in front of his roaring home fans. He must have been pleased and extremely nervous at the same time, because he did not know Hamilton's position on track. The elation one must feel after winning motorsport's highest award definitely is incomparable in many respects. With those emotions in tow, Felipe Massa embarked on his lap of honor as World Champion.

Or so it would seem.

Felipe Massa believed he was World Champion for all of three corners of his lap of honor. After Turn 3, however, he was informed of the bad news; Hamilton had overtaken Glock and crossed the finish line fifth. As the good sportsman that he is, graciously conceded defeat and congratulated Hamilton on a drive well done.

It was very heartbreaking, for Massa, his home tifosi, and Ferrari fans in general. After clinching both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships last year in similar dramatic fashion, they, that is to say 'we', found ourselves victims of the same drama. Last year, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen stole the Drivers' Championship from McLaren's Fernando Alonso and then-rookie Lewis Hamilton by a single point with a victory at the same Interlagos circuit. Now, roles have been reversed, and we now have the first British champ since Damon Hill in 1996.

As I have earlier said, I was disappointed and heartbroken to find out that Massa lost it. Coupled with the fact that I did not witness the dramatic finish makes me feel deprived of the excitement and electricity a wet Brazilian GP can only bring. I was also, and still am, furious toward Timo Glock's and Toyota's decision to run on dry tyres, as they had influenced the outcome of the championship. Glock insisted that it had been the right decision, but if it was, how come he was losing 18 seconds a lap? And he based his reasoning on teammate Jarno Trulli's lap times, which were slower than Glock's in those crucial stages. But who cares? Everyone was faster than them in the first place with the proper tyres, and yet there he spoke about being faster than his teammate in a similar car on similar tyres. It's maddening to think that such a decision can be made with such a weak reason, and the end result speaks for itself.

If only they had went along and set the same set-up as the front runners were, we (the Ferrari faithful) would have been celebrating hard today. Back-to-back championships would have been the perfect way of showing that Ferrari are still dominant even without the main architects of their 5-championships-in-a-row dynasty; Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and my favorite driver, the incomparable Michael Schumacher.

On an even lower note, I was disappointed to learn that David Coulthard unceremoniously got thrown out of his last grand prix at Turn One. The Englishman did not deserve such an abrupt ending to a colorful career, and as such DC felt "gutted" after the incident. F1 will miss a driver who drove fast, and who was always credited with being a good sport and a good friend.

But as everyone would say, you can't have everything in life. Massa will undoubtedly be more experienced, more mature, and definitely hungrier next season, while everyone will wish to see Raikkonen back to his old form. Hamilton, as always, would be aggressive and talented, intent on securing a second championship. Personally, I would love to see Fernando Alonso return with a competitive car, hopefully a Renault. He is, in my opinion, one of the top three best drivers on the grid, the other two being Hamilton and Raikkonen. Nick Heidfeld should win a GP soon, with the strength of the BMW behind him. Finally, let's all watch as Sebastian Vettel fights his way up in the rankings, as he has amazed everyone with his quickness and apparent talent in an F1 car.

I can't wait for next season.

Support the Scuderia Ferrari!!

Last week

2008-07-06T03:12:00.000-07:00

If I were to rate last week on a scale of 1-10, with 10 as the best, my rating would be around -1000. Two return demos, two post-tests, page after page of notes to write, and whatnot. And I had to go through it with a cough and cold in tow. Bully for me.

I really don't know how I managed that week; it was just like a gigantic lecture. It just dragged on and on until that last minute on Saturday, after we all finished that demo. But still, it would get only worse.

Someone stole my iPod.

Call me stupid, complacent, naive, whatever. The fact is that I left the room fully aware that we were seconds away from performing a procedure no one was sure about. Sure we did practice before the demo, but it leaves you with more questions. What did I miss? What do I still need? Do I still need it? Is it important? No. Yes! No. Those questions drove everything else out of my mind as I concentrated on performing decently in this demo. We made sure that the room was locked, but as naive as we were, we totally overlooked the fact that other people (that is, people with keys to the doors) could get in. Figures. A return demo can cause you to concentrate on something important for more than a minute.

I still haven't told my parents about this thing, planning to do so only after I have reported this incident to the proper people. But it still wasn't entirely my fault. I mean, there were also things missing from other peoples' bags when we checked, meaning that it wasn't down to my inherent stupidness. And the fact that someone's earphones also went missing went hand in hand with the fact that my iPod didn't have earphones on it that day. Did that particular idiot want to listen to Saosin and Incubus that day?

I had a sinking feeling when I looked at my bag and saw one of the pockets hanging open. I rummaged around it, and found only two 20 paper bills. It would have been a whole lot better if that idiot took the money and was done with it, I wouldn't have cared. 40 pesos is loose change compared to an iPod.

I still hope that the following weeks will yield good news. Like the thief gets fired or something. Like the thief loses all bank savings, food, and shelter. Yeah.

I'm probably being over dramatic and materialistic, but still, anyone in their right mind would get steaming mad after discovering that they had lost their most expensive possession.

Here's hoping that the next time I write here, I will be listening to Deodato on my iPod.

THE DRAGON AWAKENED

2008-05-14T05:18:00.000-07:00

**THE DRAGON AWAKENED**

‘Twas the eve of a stormy night, around ten thousand years past, that the legend of the famed behemoth, destroyer of valiant heroes, the Scarlet Queen, the famed Red Meteonyker, was born.

As the thunder clapped and the lightning forked across the sky, primitive men and women gathered around a solitary bonfire in the middle of a cave. The cave’s mouth faced the dark sky, and the men stared up at it, wondering when this storm would end.

As they gazed, one of the children suddenly jumped up. He started pointing at the sky, gabbering in his own childish language. The others followed the direction of his finger and saw a fiery red comet hurtling toward the earth. They all yelled and waved their arms around, for they thought that the giver of light up in the sky had fallen, that they were trapped in darkness forever. The comet smashed into the tallest mountain around with an almighty crash, sending boulders and dirt flying at all directions. Fearing for their safety, the cavemen retreated to the inner portions of the cave.

The next day, as the storm blew itself out, the men set out to find the fallen light giver. They struggled to reach the mountain, since boulders were now blocking every path previously traveled to reach the summit. But at last they reached the summit, and looked down at the crater the light giver had made. What they saw made them run away without looking back.

A dragon, a mammoth sized dragon, lay curled upon the volcano floor. Every time it breathed, great spurts of fire would come out of its nostrils, incinerating the mountain rock. Row upon row of shiny, razor sharp teeth lined the beast’s mouth. Jagged spikes ran along the length of the creature’s tail, which was as long as two rivers in the cavemen’s eyes. All in all, it was a terrifying sight.

The cavemen’s escape did not go unnoticed. What they did not know was that the dragon possessed keen senses of hearing and smell. The dragon rose, and in one swift motion, grabbed 4 cavemen in its mouth and swallowed them whole, as if they were nothing. The others, upon seeing their comrades digested, turned and threw their spears at the dragon. No use - they simply bounced off the dragon’s skin, which was made of adamantium, against which no rock spear could ever defeat. The dragon lazily picked off one after the other of the cavemen, and thus retreated back into the crater.

The rest of the tribe, upon witnessing the unfortunate fate that had befallen their warriors, agreed that this was the most dangerous place for them to be. They immediately packed their belongings and through the aid of their shaman, made a portal to a far away land. Upon arriving, the shaman closed the portal, thinking that it was the last they will ever see of the terrible beast.

-fast forward to now-

The Roikan Historical Society came across a cave where a series of paintings depicting a red dragon killing humans littered the walls. The paintings also included scenes of women and children evacuating into a portal, and an old wizard sealing it. The Historical Society did a wide research on the paintings, and discovered the location of the portal. Psychipers and learned scholars collaborated to open the sealed portal, in hopes of opening it and defeating the dragon. They successfully opened the portal, and began making plans to finally defeat the monster.

Flyers were sent out. Banners were strewn across each major city’s square. All heralded the opening of the portal, and the recruitment of brave and well-trained souls for the slaying of the dragon.

Fifteen brave men and women stepped up. There were three Knights, three Jesters, two Blades, two Billposters, one Psychiper, one Elementer, one Ranger, and two Ringmasters. They had trained for this particular moment, and seemed ready to face the terror within.

The party of twelve entered the portal and found themselves in a hot volcano. They saw that there were hundreds of orange dragons flying around the cave’s interior, some eating each other, others simply flying around. They proceeded cautiously, and found out that they could easily take down the orange dragons, and this emboldened them. They continued on, until they found a different monster, with one eye, lumbering toward them, mouth open in an angry scream. They guessed that this was the monster form of the cavemen who had fought the dragon bravely so long ago. Again they found out that they could eliminate the one-eyed monsters with ease, and it was with proud feelings that they gazed upon the entrance to the cave of the Red Dragon itself.

As they entered, they saw that the dragon had grown to tremendous proportions after all those years. Then, a terrifying voice echoed throughout the cavern: “AT LONG LAST, MEN HAVE DISCOVERED MY SECRET CAVE! PREPARE TO BURN! COME TO ME, BURN!”

The group acted according to their pre-arranged plan. The Knights rushed forward and started swinging their axes in combos, as they were the toughest and hardiest of them all. The Psychiper started casting his demonic spells, uttering incantations at rapid speed. The Elementor summoned the power of Water to douse the beast’s flames, sending great waves and waterfalls from out of nowhere towards the dragon. The Ranger used all of his learned skills, using Ice Arrow to slow the monster down. The Jesters went swinging away with their yoyos, cackling madly as they did so. The Blades, silent assassins as always, were attempting to tear up the monster’s tough tail. The Ringmasters were doing all in their power to support the Knights who were taking the brunt of the monster’s hits. The Billposters, having reached a suitable spot, knelt, said a prayer, and hit the dragon with their best offensive skill, Asalraalaikum. They though it was over. But it was not to be.

The dragon seemed unperturbed after all their assaults on its hide. She merely laughed and said, “Is that all? I have expected that you would have grown stronger after all these years! Prepare to BURN!”

The dragon, with one sweep of its tail, impaled all three Knights upon the many spikes on its tail. The Ringmasters, having trained only their minds but not their bodies fell as the tail slashed across their chests. The Elementor, seeing his comrade’s demise, hurriedly cast Windfield to prevent the beast from approaching her, but to no avail. The dragon picked her up with her mouth and swallowed her whole, an ugly reminder of what it did ten thousand years ago. The Blades were still swinging away when the dragon caught them with its wings and slammed them into a fiery pit, where they were slowly burned alive. The Psychiper cast Satanology, calling upon the power of the demons to aid him, but the demons were on the dragon’s side, and they devoured him as a tribute to the great dragon. The Jesters were silenced, as they watched the creature smash their partymates into smithereens. They hurriedly hid themselves from harm, but were not fast enough to avoid the searing jet of flame coming from the dragon’s mouth, burning them to cinders. The Ranger’s skills were ineffective, with each spell faltering as it reached the dragon’s tough hide. The dragon flew up, and then landed on the poor Ranger, squashing her to a pulp.

The Billposters, having retreated so far back into the shadows, were smelled out by the dragon. She slowly approached, as she pondered on how best to kill them. With much pleading and kneeling, the two BPs begged the dragon to spare them, but:

“YOU DARE ASK ME FOR YOUR LIVES? YOU DARE?! I, THE RED METEONYKER, NEVER SPARE LIVES! DEFEAT ME IN BATTLE, AND YOU SHALL WALK AWAY UNSCATHED! LOSE, AND YOU WILL PERISH!!!!”

With one final breath of searing hot fire, she melted both Billposters into liquid. She then lay back on her throne, awaiting the next of many challengers queuing up to finally defeat her.