It's Saturday at long last, and the day of the Sidepodmeetup/real life Christmas party. We know many of you aren't able to make it to the party itself, but we'll keep it as interactive as possible, and I'll be glued to the comments, as usual. Anyway, it was a busy week in F1, so here's some related stuff we're talking about:
- Talking of meetups, Joe has been mulling over the concept of fan meetups and how he can connect with you, the reader, more. It seems to be aimed at people who might attend a race, and who might part with some cash to spend some time chatting about F1. Seems like a brilliant idea to me, head on over and leave your thoughts.
- The FIA introduced a lot of information yesterday, including a revised calendar, confirmation of the new points system, and some revised stewarding plans. We posted a breakout thread on the story, and there is more info over there. The stewarding looks to be improved, but Abu Dhabi as the last race of the year again? Were they actually watching this year?
- Since launching his new blog, Stuart has not stopped writing, which only serves to make me wonder how much we've missed out on whilst he's been blogless. Nevertheless, he has some post-Forum thoughts from Monaco, summing up the experience nicely. I don't think anything came out of the Forum that was a surprise, but it's always good to hear what is said.
That'll do it for now. Let us know how you're spending your weekend, and I will see you in the comments.
Yey Saturday
if there's any f1 news today, i shall shoot someone.
if i make cakes and things do you promise i wont be the one you kill? ;)
It'll clearly be Ringo.
yep :)
awesome!..
loving the responses to joe's post:
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/an-idea-to-mull-over/
seems likes he's struck a chord.
Have added:
Spa would be fantastic
The beer would also be good
hehe.
okay sleep time for me. night all! xxx
See ya tomorrow Lou
night lou
See you at 4.30!
right then quite internets. time to sleep.
(was it something i said?)
I just got here and wondered what happened!
hehe. have been busy and not paying attention. will you be okay by yourself?
I am about to go shopping for sidepodparty food, so I'll live.
yay!
i'm already having a brilliant day, so i'll send you the first of many sidepodhugs for the day.
(hugs)
Night Mr C
you're getting all emotional now. :D
anyway, just dropping by. non-f1 news, but the folks at the IRL look like they're planning a major revamp for 2012 - trying to fight back NASCAR?
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-inside-the-2012-car/
I noticed you post on Joes blog Bassano. Belgians do know how to make beer. It seems he has family in Tasmania. Im hoping to get him to do an event down here. There is a good motrorsport and F1 heritiage in Tassie, with the Targa and the old F1 tasman series.
*Useless information alert*
As I head off to catch some sleep I will leave you with this quote from The Chairman on what would have been his 94th birthday " Rock & Roll is crude and vulgar and is written,played and sung by cretinous goons".
Happy Birthday Frank
Morning everyone :)
Morning Alex. Commenting from work, so will be sporadic (also, using a rubbish IE, so no Doohickey!). How're things?
Things are good. How about you?
Good morning. I bought lots of food for the party :D
Sausage rolls?
I'm good thanks. Tired, but good. It's going to be a mad dash later. I've got an hour to get back from work, get changed, then get to thr train station. Should be fun!
(p.s I found firefox on this PC, so back to realtime!)
phew!
I'm really looking forward to it. So you've made arrangements to meet Lou and Pat have you?
I'm meeting Pat. I believe Lou's meeting us as well, but I'm not sure.
no, I'm *whisper* not a fan of those. I got pizza and chips and popcorn and maltesers and fizzy drink :D But I can't eat all of that in the middle of the night :D
*whisper* me neither...unless they're warm for some reason!
It's a kind of daisy chain I think... You're meeting pat, then you all meet Lou, then you all meet Bassano and then you come to ours. Fourstar and Mr and Mrs C are travelling on their own steam.
I looove pastry but I hate the meat in them :(
They have to be warm - that's the law!
hurrah!
By chips you mean which kind?
"crisps" :D
Ah... okay. It's starting to change over here. But it all depends on context. Basically did you use the words "n dip" afterwards.
oooh very linguistic. I did stand in front of the dip display for a while but I decided against it because I got grain waves www.grainwaves.com.au and they're not very good with dip.
One thing I don't like is that the Americans use the words "potato chips" to help describe crisps to the English. Problem is, our chips are also made of potato!
Just checked AUTOSPORT. Found 2 interesting tidbits.
1) Lotus have filled both their driver slots: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80542
2) Di Grassi claims he's found himself a drive: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80543
What does everyone think? Di Grassi to Lotus? (probably not) either way, the grid's slowly filling uo.
"The second Lotus drive is believed to have come down to a choice between Heikki Kovalainen and Takuma Sato."
oh my.
Wouldn't it be bad if Sato got it! Hekki's a much better driver.
Good Morning!
There appears to be a sidepodmeetup with lots of alcohol on the cards..
Have fun guys..
Make sure nobody says the word "shot' within earshot of Bassano... :P
It's Saturday at long last, and the day of the Sidepodmeetup/real life Christmas party {Original entry}
It's today? How did I miss that?
Depending on when the party starts (and when swimming happens) I may be late - as in, I could be as late as 9:30pm. Hopefully that will be OK with everyone.
As long as you turn up, I'm sure it's fine!
Abu Dhabi as the last race of the year again? Were they actually watching this year? {Original entry}
Yes. They were mesmerised by the colour-changing hotel (I think)...
Will do. I'm almost positive there'll be some live streaming, so keep an eye on the playground later!
As long as you turn up, I'm sure it's fine! {Comment #47}
I hope to at least make it for the Sidepodcarol...
hmmm. I wouldn't mind either way. Sato's an exciting guy to watch race. #sorryAmy
That said, Tony Fernandes has already decided, if I'm not mistaken. His twitter says something to the effect that he's en route to Malaysia with his drivers.
If I were to guess, they got Heikki.
I will try...
This city seems to suck up spare time like a sponge...
I really dont see why he would want trulli in the team...He needs to be carefull or he will simply end up as Gascoynes yes man.
Heikki - Sato would be a great combo.
"The second Lotus drive is believed to have come down to a choice between Heikki Kovalainen and Takuma Sato."
oh my. {Comment #43}
The worst of it is that I don't know who to root for out of those two... At least Jarno will (most likely) be around to instill some qualifying speed/normality (delete as appropriate) to the situation...
if there isn't I'm going to quit Sidepodcast forever :D
I'm bringing my netbook. Should the worst happen, I'll set up my own ustream account and use that! Remember though, we're at Alex's house. He has hundreds of live streaming options!
oh yes, I have plenty of faith in Alex, my threat is 100% empty because I know it'll never happen :D
Alex is letting you all go to his house?
Thats madness! Make sure you all behave or i am sure Blackberry hummus will fly!
:)
Oh yes... It will happen. I mean lets put it this way Mr C was concerned enough that he was having us do tests earlier in the week! So yes... There will be streaming!
I have this fantasy of multiple camera angles and not sleeping for 24 hours. I am eating my pizza now though because I won't be able to cook it when my flatmates mum is sleeping in my lounge tonight.
I had a haircut this morning, unlike Alex's experience there was no pub next door, however the guy doing it couldnt speak english, My arabic is next to useless,
However somehow we got though it and its one of the best haircuts i have had in a while!
and I've just realised I really should make my popcorn.
Your flatmate wouldnt give up their bed for their own mother!
we have a bed in the lounge! I am giving up my bed for my parents but only because there is two of them and one of me and our lounge-bed is a single :D
Hehe, i guess thats ok if its a bed, not a sofa...
Fortunatly with my studio, i dont have to worry about the formality of rooms... :P
my popcorn is Simpsons popcorn and it has a competition on it to win a home theatre system. I want it. Where is my sidepodluck?
Hello everyone.
I didn't realise you were coming Alia, you're not on the wiki?
Have you checked in with Giggles for his address?
What flavour popcorn?
triple butter. Sounds artery clogging but has surprisingly little taste.
For when double butter is just not enough? :P
The ingredients list is corn, vegetable oil, salt and flavouring. So technically I don't think there is any butter at all unless suddenly butter is no longer made of milk and no one told me.
Ah... The lies!
This is only ever so tenuously related, but i saw these camel milk chocolates being advertised the other day... http://www.al-nasma.com/
sidepodbigbrother? :D
oooh we don't want to have to evict anyone though :D
Yes we do. It just isn't called an eviction. It's a shoo!
You can be first to be shooed from the party then :P
Way to put the boot in :P
doh!
I hope people dont flip-flop on this issue...
I'm just leaving work, to get my train. See everyone on the live streams/in real live soon!
Real life even
hey, it's still morning.
hi all.
well done!
Hi. I shouldn't be here. I am late. Actually I don't need to leave for half an hour but I was going to get wine on the way..
She hasn't but I read that comment as her joining in the party in the comments... Could be wrong of course :)
Ah okay.
Here's a special post for the party: http://sidepodcast.com/2009/12/12/lets-get-the-party-started/
Right, I'm going to close everything down and grab my stuff. I shall see you in eihter 4 or 5 hours depending who you are :-)
I have rated that post 5 out of 5! :)
Woohoo! It's all falling into place :)
"depending on who you are", I suppose
great idea.
i will tweet my way up.
yay for ratings :)
hello :)
some gala pics:
spot the odd one out -
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/94290803/Getty-Images-Sport
looks more delicate than i remember -
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/94290790/Getty-Images-Sport
#needsmorerubens
aww yay :) gosh bernie and todd are really small aren't they..
Morning all.
Just popped in to say I love today's offering from http://gigglesadvent.com/
Bernie used to be 6 foot 4 but the weight of his wallet compressed his spine
:D
aww look at his bowtie.
Aww thanks Steven!
I was worried that you would be too caught up in your fashion diemma to do your own plugging
I just get a page of ASCII characters from that link
for some reason it comes up if you refresh. Usually.
After my flying visit I have to head out into the Scottish winter to offer some advice to a football referee who I hope hasn't called the game off since they announced it was definitely on.
Enjoy the party all and I will catch up with you later.
don't get too cold out there! have fun :)
Tried F5 and ctrl F5 and still get a load of ASCII. I will try and figure it out later.
Don't forget to get plenty of sleep or you won't make he party
good luck!
I'm trying the allnighter method :D
I have a fleece, a big jacket on top of that and gloves. I am dressed for a polar expedition.
lou, has you looked at the pics on autosport yet?
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/1323869
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/1323856
hehe. have a fine time.
If you see any bears, I want one.
:D hehe
Here in Cape Town it is really hot and no wind (very surprising) so a perfect beach day except I am having to do work at the office the entire weekend.
not yet.. i've been baking.. awww i like the second photo :) what a team they were.. sad times they aren't gonna be the same strong unit next year...
did they do a live pitstop or something?
not a clue, it's shown on tv on Eurosport, sunday at 11pm. i've not seen anything about it tbh :(
doesn't appear to be on Eurosport Australia at all which is :( it would have given me something to watch at work one day.
oh I lie, I searched 'FIA' and it gave me nothing, then I searched "Gala" and it tells me its on 10.30pm and 12.15am on Tuesday. I will not be at work either of those times :D
*sings*
Come na sing with me, proper chrimbo,
I take you for a drink with me, proper chrimbo,
Hold up your Christmas tree, proper chrimbo,
So excited you might wee, proper chrimbo, proper chrimbo,
*puts microphone down*
Mornnnnnnning
Hey everybody. Putting up decorations = headache.
Right, just gonna move these comments. My fault for picking the wrong thread :)
Apparently Jake was on fighting talk today...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p9812
I mentioned it earlier in the week.
Argh! My second train was 20 mins late. Then, when we got on the train, apparently it's broken, so we're going back to the station I originaly left from, so they can turn round (because somehow this fixes a broken train). An hours travelling and I've got nowhere. GRR!
oh lord :(
Oh god, that's awful.
Although, that's what happened to us last time we went to Giggles. Travelled for an hour and were back where we started.
Must be cursed.
Oh no!
oh noes! that's awful!
I left early, so there's still time to meet pat, but I've texted him to let him know I may be late.
Lou, what time are you meeting pat?
i think we're ready to go.
money, tickets, passport. check.
4.30
so are we :) i have cookies, a bottle of wine, and various tech things like a camera...
We're now heading in the right direction and the eta for london is now 4:15, meaning I can make it to the meet at half past, but only just.
Sounds good. Keep us updated, a fluid plan is manageable
[not alcohol related joke]
Alex: Do you have any port?
Ummm... No. (Did you spot the other thread?)
I'm in Disneyland! Oh, wait... It's Swindon...
:lol:
Rumours in the German press about a one-year deal that will see Schumi in a Mercedes.
Both Focus and Bild have this story.
:(
And I still don't think Michael will be in any race seat next year.
I find this entire situation most interesting. Writing up a guest post about it. :)
If he wants to come back, why not send him off to sauber with a Ferrari engine behind him and a whirl of sponsorship?
I don't want to support one half of a team!
That's even less likely than a Merc seat. If Michael will come back, it will be to win the championship - nothing less.
Mercedes would like it very much if he did drive for them one day.
Then they can say he started and finished his career with the three pointed star.
Christmas Tree Complete.
Who'd have thunk a Wilko tree and lights with some £1 tinsel could look so nice!
Ha, i could se him winning the odd race, But if he couldnt beat alonso 3 years ago, what chance does he stand against the current crop now?
He still won a few races and was in contention for the title until the final race.
#nothere
and had an engine failure
Another reason I don't see it happening.
But then, it depends how good the 2010 Merc is. If it's as dominant as the F2002 and F2004, it may tempt him to give it a go. I see it as more likely than not though.
I didn't realise you were coming Alia, you're not on the wiki?
Have you checked in with Giggles for his address? {Comment #69}
I meant in the comments, as Alex correctly surmised. Getting to Giggles' house from swimming club would present some difficulties, seeing as I believe Giggles lives in the south-east of England and my swimming club is just about in the middle!
Nick's point, though, is that we would expect Alonso's gotten better since then.
Can we expect the same of Schumacher?
All he's done since is motorbikes and karting. Alonso has had three year in a F1 car. He will have naturally lost ability, I can't see him being any quicker than a midfield car in a quick car.
The deciding factor will be if Rosberg is faster or not. If not then they're put schueys performance down to bad car, if Rosbergs faster then Schumacher will regret his decision
Am on train. Others should be departing in 3 mins. Could be tight
If he wants to come back, why not send him off to sauber with a Ferrari engine behind him and a whirl of sponsorship? {Comment #147}
Because I thought the masterplan was to send Fisi there (Michael wouldn't want to race for a team with no foreseeable chance of the championship on a one-year contract and no team with the possible exception of Ferrari would risk him on anything longer at this point in case he wasn't up to it).
Schumi will only come back to win races. He's not interested in midfield running. Sol he'll look at next years Mercedes car, his own fitness and then decide.
My guess is he'll decide against the whole thing and stay as Ferrari road car tester and ambassador.
Arrived at station, will sniff out booze until revised ETA of others comes through the airwaves
Lou's arrived now.
Are you getting the 17:15?
Evening to all that are here :)
Hello Mr Lukeh :)
+1 :)
we're flying solo, this map doesn't fathom traffic jams.
wish us luck.
best of luck, folks.
Good luck... hopefully you will know where you are, if not where you should go?
we're moving!
Whoop! :D
Hi Amy, my mum wants to know what the bottom of your new bag is like? If there is a structure to keep it from hanging through when you put something in and if you would be willing to send one by mail to them? *looks cute*
It's 'girls & bags' again :)
:P
the bottom of it is not very solid, to enable it to fold into its little bag, but it'd be fine for supporting most things. I'll take some pictures when I get up :D (Is it getting up if you haven't been to bed?)
My mum decided for me that the bag is not the right one. And I should continue to use my current one. #evilMum
heh, fair enough :D
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80542
Deal apparently won't be official until Monday.
I'm always behind on news :(
The second Lotus drive is believed to have come down to a choice between Heikki Kovalainen and Takuma Sato.
win win situation!!!
Since Mr C isn't here.
Goooooooo Takumaaaa
naughty step.
Hi. Thank god we got here! I am here to provide updates.
Mr C is about to try the cheeky vimto.
I believe I summed it up best. Oh my.
I'll join you RG. :P
Both of them are awesome though. I want them both to get a drive Takeikki Satoleinan.
I'm already there, I can say what I want. Mwahaha
pssst other thread ;)
That took me a minute to try and figure out how to pronounce that.
I wouldn't mind seeing him return, but I need Heikki to have a confirmed seat before we start getting funky with all these other drivers :D
We have a flaw in he plan
Mr C cannot go to the toilet wearing 'head cam'
he can, he just has to look up
Some tweet fourstar saying 'where are you?'
I just discovered I'm flying on Thursday not Friday. #evilMumisnotsoevil
Right, kids in bed, heading to the party. There had better be sausage rolls left....
Hi guys, long time no comment. What's happening in the wonderful world of Sidepodland?
you have skype? get Kathi to call you. We're having a party
Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaartyyyy. That one in that other thread and I got my own going up here.
#stillnothere
over on the other thread.
There is a party at Alex's house. You can follow the conversation on the Let's Get the Party Started thread
They're setting up the wii cast
This is chris. Don't know if you guys are aware, but next is alex v bassano in spa.