#Fortunate Petrol

[betanewsngr]

Kwara: Petrol tanker bursts into flame at Ilorin filling station

[kyuriekiri]

NO FIGHTING

no cocaine, no sports, no telling fortune, no racing, NO FUCKING SUCKING PETROL OUT OF THE FUCKING CARS

no context

[petermorwood]

After BristolCon was over, and before we left for the airport *, @dduane and I had lunch in Pasture.

Despite being tempted by The Meat, we knew from previous experience that eating too much of that before travel is never a good idea - just when you want a little nap is when you have to haul luggage at a scurry - and went instead for starters then Burger and Sea Bass (all absolutely delish).

When I removed the half-pickle toothpicked to the top of the burger's bun, this is what was waiting for me...

Highly amusing, highly Halloween-y, and - unless someone in the kitchen with a seasonal sense of humour made those marks deliberately - a serendipitous accident!

:->

*****

* Going to the airport got a bit more exciting than we liked.

An over-tall lorry clipped a petrol / electro-charging station canopy and brought its high-tension power lines down all over the petrol pumps and across the A38, blocking the main (indeed from the trouble caused, what seems the only) route from Bristol City to Bristol Airport.

Maybe "exciting" doesn't cover how we felt, because though we did make our plane in reasonable time, it wasn't before my FitBit showed me a pulse-rate far higher than anyone merely sitting in a coach should have.

Fortunately we were insured against things like that, and even more fortunately the insurance wasn't needed, but given a choice between "uneventful" and "exciting" at the end of a trip, I'll take the dull option every time... :-P

[moltonx]

Alright I have to say my piece because I have seen some people theorizing that the reason the institute is burned down is because of Gertrude or it has to do with the destruction of the panopticon but I have a theory and it’s kinda weird and crazy

In MAG 60: Observer Effect the statement giver Rosa Myers is a news broadcaster in the 70s but after unpacking her dead brothers boxes she finds and hand mirror and is seen by the eye she then has the constant feeling of being watched she suffers a breakdown and loses her job she says in her statement she would lay low until her parents died and 12 years later her both her parents had passed away over the 12 years she worked a civil service job laying low after which she found out that her brother consulted the institute before he died presumable about the artefact that marked her around 20 years after she was marked she killed a truck driver and stole his trucked pumped it full of petrol and drove it with the aim of destroying the Magnus Institue fortunately she got into a crash before she made it to the Institute

My theory is that instead of getting into a crash she drove into the institute destroying it in 1999 which is around 20 years after the 70s I don’t know if it has any significance but I just thought I would throw this out there

[cyberphuck]

December 2nd, 2001

Dear diary,

Gosh, we've been hearing a lot about that big plane explosion in America! The people on the car radio talked about nothing else for the whole drive out to the woods. I wanted to turn it off, but "driver picks the music," as they say. It was a relief when we finally got to work and I could just listen to the wind and the chop-chop of my axe. We worked all afternoon but didn't get nearly as much as we'd planned to. The others wanted to go home and come back the next day, but I didn't want to waste petrol, plus wifey wasn't gonna be happy if I came home with half a load of firewood. We agreed to camp out instead, and get some more work done in the morning. I'll say this about those guys-- they're not shy about sharing a bottle, but I was kind of iffy about sharing a sleeping bag with them to keep warm. Fortunately we found some metal pieces in the ground letting off steam like a radiator! They were great, even though they were way too hot to pick up. Yow! I nearly burned my hand off! The guys and I dragged the metal stuff to a good camp spot, and now we can sleep under the stars in comfort. I wonder if I can get this thing into the truck to take it home. Then we can figure out what kind of petrol it needs to be refilled with. Anyway, I'm gonna curl up and get some shut-eye. Can't wait to show wifey what we found!

December 22nd, 2001

Dear diary,

I'm writing this from a hospital bed! I wish those workers would stop waving the click-radios at me. The noise they make is so annoying, and hold on I have to throw up some more

[azurenightowl]

All atmospheric lights on, lense flare and slow pan over Coruscant. The night sky is a dark green, almost black, something like rainforest soil where thousands of years of ecological equilibrium cause it to teem with life. The night sky is the gateway to a galaxy filled with life. Stars like mischievous worms, eating up the detrius. Hyperspace lanes like mycelium, intelligent, sprawling. Living. Everywhere, life.

Zoom in. We’re on a street, and it’s busy despite the late hour. The night sky is grey now—there’s too much light pollution. Breathe in. Petrol. There’s a kebab van down one street, and a rotting cat down the other. The sky still a gateway, but here in the gloam it’s muted. Most people on this street will never get out of it, out of the neighbourhood. Klaxon, motorcycle, screaming. It’s not quite the underbelly—the dark one, darker than the sky is—but the defining feature here is the poverty. Dirty streets, but bright streetlamps. There are ghosts playing piano, slim-wristed, gaunt-faced. It’s out of tune, and accompanies a lone saxophone, dripping like rainwater into every person’s apartment. Damp, moldy apartments. There is no moon, only claire de lune.

Even in the slums, Coruscant gleams.

Zoom in further. There’s a man in dark robes. Dark brown, almost black but not quite. The fabric is fine, hand-woven by masters, but the cut is simple. He carries in his pocket an expensive jewel his lover gifted him, which he will not have the liberty to wear. Enter the hero: Anakin Skywalker, beloved, walks away from the apartment that only the two of them know exist, lost in thought. This was one clean. It smelled of antiseptic, kind of clean. There wasn’t a dishwasher but someone had to handwash the dishes and it wasn’t them, kind of clean. Somebody’s hands are wrinkled from washing the dishes, and it wasn’t them, kind of clean.

Close up on the hands. If you look carefully, you can see his hands are ungloved and perfectly white. Lady Macbeth killed herself out of guilt, you must remember, but the righteous do not jump off towers. They climb them—watch him climb the towers of Coruscant—and they nod in greeting to the guards, and they head home.

Anakin Skywalker, knight, walks into the Jedi Temple. Wide shot. It's a very large temple, but it's very small in this one, a gentle grey stone building, soft like dove-down and clouds, lit like an overcast day without rain. The rest of Coruscant is black brick and orange fire, infinite.

There are people milling about. An eclectic hectic mix of nocturnal adults and diurnal teenagers, and small, tiny ones, tripping into robes and giggling. A docent, coralling nine unruly figures into a line on the way to their midnight meal, is given a friendly pat on the back by their lineage brother, on his way home from a long mission.

The air hums—Coruscant gets warm but the air conditioning is good. It has to be, to support their plants through the summer. Anakin Skywalker, slave, is cold, never quite got used to these cooler temperatures. He starts to go back to his chambers for thicker, warmer dress, and stops. The clock chimes one, and he realises he has places to be. Close up of his frowning face.

He turns on his heel, and one of the younglings trips into him. He raises an eyebrow at them, they stutter out a cheery apology, and run back to their wearied and longanimous docent.

The tragedy here, in case you missed it, is the children running in these hallowed halls. Let the adults walk; these ones are small and haven’t learnt how tender is the sole of a foot. They’re laughing and they don’t quite yet know what it means to bleed.

Anakin Skywalker, murderer, signed up to teach a class. There’s a shortage of teachers, what with the war on. This is his way of giving back to this community which he loves.

For now, let him guide them through the first forms of lightsaber combat. Less katas, more yoga. There are some slackers, but fortunately that doesn’t matter as they won’t get to grow old enough to need it. These children will never see a warfront, because the frontlines will draw back to the heart of the temple and strangle them there. They won’t be old enough to understand what makes their deaths profane, why the camera must turn away from them.

Anyway, all of this to say that they enjoy the lesson. Anakin Skywalker, teacher, is relaxed, thorough, and funny.

Pan away. Please. This too is sacred, unwatchable.

Let them have this. They have so little, in the end. They are so little, in the end.

The night sky hangs itself outside the temple's grand windows, empty, empty, empty.

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

OC Questionnaire (Part 2)

And here's the rest of them (here are the others)! xdd

NAME: Liam Hawke (officially: Amell)

NICKNAME: Hawke, Prancer, Shorty, Bro (he and Bethy started calling each other bro and sis ironically and then it became unironical)

GENDER: Male

TAROT CARD:  Three of Swords

HEIGHT: Lower end of average

ORIENTATION: Bi (and some flavour of demi-ace)

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Fereldan Human (Marcher/Fereldan parents)

FAVORITE FRUIT: Blueberries

FAVORITE SEASON: Early to mid autumn

FAVORITE FLOWER: Dandelions

FAVORITE SCENT: Nutmeg, freshly cut grass, leather balm

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Coffee (with milk)

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 7?

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs, no contest lol

DREAM TRIP: None really, he's fine with staying where he is

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 0-1 (smh he keeps sharing beds with blanket stealers....)

RANDOM FACT: Someone tried to insult him once by saying he smells like wet dog. Unfortunately for them, he took it as a compliment

NAME: Lilian Amell/Hawke

NICKNAME: Lil Bird (don't call her that), Hawke, Champ

GENDER: Female (would probably experiment with gender expression more if there weren't other things on her mind)

TAROT CARD:  Wheel of Fortune or King of Wands

HEIGHT: Tall (def taller than Liam)

ORIENTATION: Demiromantic bi and poly

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Fereldan Human (Marcher/Fereldan parents)

FAVORITE FRUIT: Peaches

FAVORITE SEASON: Summer

FAVORITE FLOWER: Golden rain

FAVORITE SCENT: Sea air, dried fish, vanilla, rum

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Hot chocolate, even if she denies it

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 8-ish, up to 10 if she has the chance to (gets grumpy if she gets less)

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs

DREAM TRIP: Rivain (been there, loves it)

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 2

RANDOM FACT: Forever mad that Seb outdrinks her at every competition and forever determined to beat him

NAME: Juniper Margaret June Trevelyan

NICKNAME: Junie (childhood nickname; won't let anyone call her that), Sparker, Snowfkake, Bluetit

GENDER: Female

TAROT CARD:  Knight of Wands

HEIGHT: Short (shortest of my human guys, only taller than noya and kala lol)

ORIENTATION: Aro Bisexual

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Marcher Human

FAVORITE FRUIT: Cherry tomatoes (they're fruit!) (shes not much of a fruit person)

FAVORITE SEASON: Late summer

FAVORITE FLOWER: Doesn't have one

FAVORITE SCENT: Hay, burnt dust, petrol, ozone

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Coffee

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 8

DOGS OR CATS: Both but slight dog bias

DREAM TRIP: Minrathous

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1 (she gets hot easily)

RANDOM FACT: She can make her hair sparkle like snow with ice magic

NAME: Ari Adaar

NICKNAME: ..Ari is the nickname lolol

GENDER: Agender (presents masc but doesn't identify much with human gender definitions)

TAROT CARD: The World or Seven of Cups

HEIGHT: Tall (i like to think he is a bit taller than Bull just because it's funny)

ORIENTATION: Pan and some flavour of a-spec

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Marcher Vashoth (Par Vollen parents)

FAVORITE FRUIT: Pomelo but he's allergic; 2nd choice is woodapple

FAVORITE SEASON: Winter

FAVORITE FLOWER: Elder or Jasmine

FAVORITE SCENT: Cardamon, pine needles, iron

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Black tea (w loads of sugar)

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 5

DOGS OR CATS: Neither, really

DREAM TRIP: Antiva, to Josie's place :)

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1 usually, 2 or one thick one in skyhold/very cold places

RANDOM FACT: He takes an interest in beekeeping and might get into it properly if/when he settles down

NAME: Adriel (Hawke)

NICKNAME: Addie, Pup, Magpie, Junior

GENDER: Female (has a bit of a gender crisis/ experimentation phase when she learns she's intersex but settles back on to female)

TAROT CARD: The Hermit

HEIGHT: Average to tall-ish (grows up to be about as tall as Fenris)

ORIENTATION: A-spec lesbian

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: ?? Elf (she doesn't know; probably Marcher?)

FAVORITE FRUIT: Pomegranates!

FAVORITE SEASON: Spring to early summer

FAVORITE FLOWER: Pansies

FAVORITE SCENT: Fresh linen, cats (they smell good!), hot wax

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Fruity teas

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 7

DOGS OR CATS: Cats

DREAM TRIP: Kind of really curious about Tevinter actually (don't tell pa....)

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 1, preferably fuzzy!

RANDOM FACT: She is scared of horses because the first time she tried to ride one it got spooked by something and threw her off

[alianoralacanta]

My First Race (13-03-2007)

Context: While waiting for the 2007 season to start, there was a forum thread about the first race everyone had attended live. This was before I could travel to races independently, but I did have a story to tell (even if the flies get more of a starring role than Michael Schumacher did), and it was long enough to need to go on my blog…

Warning! Long post alert!

I'm still waiting for my first GP race, but Dad did take me to the 2002 British GP qualifying. Boy was it a memorable day!

Having done my last GCSE exam the previous morning, I got home to discover that Dad had got qualifying tickets at the last minute (two friends had tickets, but couldn't go for reasons I never established). We promptly spent the next few hours getting necessary supplies - stuff for making sandwiches for lunch, earplugs for my rather sensitive ears, wellington boots that didn't have holes in them (in case of mud) and a little bag that folded out into a seat.

Waking up at 4:30am the next day, Dad and I were in our hitherto reliable red Volvo on the road to Silverstone by 6:00am. Everything was going fine and I was just remarking about how little traffic we'd seen when the fan belt went on the Volvo. It was 8:05am and we were just about to leave the M1. After a long wait and an even longer journey in a breakdown vehicle, we eventually found ourselves in Lutterworth at about 8:40am. Fortunately the local garage fixed the problem very quickly, an event Dad attributed to us telling the garage that we were heading for Silverstone…

We finally got to the track just in time to see Eddie Irvine's Jaguar go down the back straight for the last time in the morning practise. After that, we walked halfway round the track to see the paddock, with armful of Jordan advertising. The merchandising area looked really interesting, particularly for me whose previous experience of F1 merchandise stretched to a battered McLaren hat one my brother's friends gave me the previous year. Speaking of hats, Dad and I both bought a hat - Dad got a Ferrari cap and I got a Jordan one.

After this, we continued around the outside of the track, looking at all the corners. It was about when we got to Stowe that Dad noticed a problem. There was a swarm of flies and a few wasps hanging around my head! I had foolishly picked a yellow Jordan hat instead of a black one, and the poor insect life around Silverstone must have thought I was a giant flower…

The next thing we did was eat lunch while listening to the circuit radio. Dad and I had chosen the exit of Club corner for our area, and it was a very good choice. Not only could we see everything from the Stowe exit to the start of the Luffield complex, but there was also a giant TV in the vicinity. Halfway through our sandwiches, the action began.

Seeing an F1 car in its full glory was really exciting, but seeing several together was about the most thrilling thing I'd seen in my life! Hearing the V10s and seeing the different lines everyone took was exciting, especially in the rare moments I could hear the commentary over the sweet song of metal on edge. The intellectual interest was high too; not only was there the pole chase, the Jordans and the home drivers to watch out for, there was also the question of whether Alex Yoong would qualify (he didn't) and whether Arrows would even bother to participate (they did; it was the last time Arrows put its whole heart into a race weekend, too).

As a Jordan fan, I'd've been happier if that song had not been punctuated with the awful scrape of Sato's nosecone dragging on the tarmac (it fell off its connectors on its own accord, apparently) and if Fisichella's original engine had stayed operational for more than one-and-a-half laps. This was probably why I couldn't find anything suitable to say to the Jordan staffer I saw a few hours later in the petrol station on the way out…

You may have noticed that at no point during any of this did I need the new wellies. In fact, Dad and I got back with sunburn. We'd packed the bag with stuff for every weather, including a complete change of clothes - except for sunscreen. For once, summer was in Britain - and I forgot to plan for it!

As for the grid, I considered it a fairly minor matter until I got back home to watch the video Mum did of the coverage, but it went:

1st…Montoya (a fast lap that seemed to come out of nowhere, but Montoya then went nowhere fast on race day)

2nd…Barrichello (unusually, he beat his team-mate, and would go on to have an eventful race and still come 2nd)

3rd…Michael Schumacher (took it a bit steady, but won the race next day)

[blackswaneuroparedux]

The ‘Modena Monster’: The 1955 Ferrari 410 Sports Spider by Scaglietti - a storied history

Mr. Ferrari told me this was the best Ferrari he ever built.

- Carroll Shelby on the 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider by Scaglietti.

Why do so many of us find sports cars irresistible? Of course, it would be impossible to isolate exactly what it is about a well-designed sports car that engenders such attachment, but there are some factors that would logically contribute to the commonly seen love affair between men (and yes, women too) and their sports cars.

It seems as if much of the attraction is grounded in symbolism. Racing cars have long been portrayed as sources of freedom. Talented drivers are left unencumbered by the limitations of our lives driving pedestrian automobiles. They are seen as having a uniquely freedom to test their limits against nature. In such circumstances the driver is not boxed in like others. He can tackle any unencumbered road using all his God given skills while being completely open to the elements of chance and fortune. The source of that freedom from the adrenaline rush is the need for speed.

But speed is tethered to design and engineering innovation. We live in a world that worships at the altar of technological advances. The sports car is a moving amalgamation of technical expertise. Racing cars are a bundling of technological miracles. From aerodynamic styling to compact yet powerful engines, they represent the cutting edge of technological design. In a society entranced by technology and innovation, the sports car has an iconic appeal that is difficult to equal.

For me though, it’s stories behind the drivers and the feats of engineering design that make me an unabashed petrol head. It’s not just appreciating the feats done in the car by magnificent drivers of their age. But recognising each car has a story too. Every car has a storied history.

And this is the story of one of my favourite racing cars in motor sports history.

The 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider by Scaglietti has the reputation as an incredible and rare sports car that was driven by some very famous racing figures. In addition to Carroll Shelby, who would later join Ford in beating Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the car was driven by the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and by Phil Hill, Formula 1 champions both, as well as Enzo Ferrari himself.

The 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider by Scaglietti was birthed by Enzo Ferrari and Sergio Scalietti.

At a time when series car making was still in its infancy at his company, Enzo Ferrari would manufacture only the rolling chassis and drivetrain. For the bodies, Enzo employed several different coach-builders to “clothe” his machines. Performance was Enzo’s utmost concern and thus, styling came second. Still, he was acutely aware of how styling impacted peoples’ perception of his company and the cars that bore his name. Luckily Ferrari’s victories on racetracks caused the industry’s bespoke coach-building companies to want to work with the firm, and show what they could do on the Ferrari chassis. One of these firms was Carrozzeria Scaglietti.

Sergio Scaglietti, got his start working on Scuderia Ferrari’s Alfa Romeos (then Alfa’s racing arm) before World War II. After the war he opened a repair shop in Maranello, not far from the Ferrari factory, where he primarily repaired the bodywork of damaged race cars for gentleman racers. When one such racer brought his damaged race car to Sergio’s workshop, the quality of the repairs and re-bodying caught Enzo’s eye, and by 1955 Sergio was put in charge of bodying the majority of Ferrari’s competition cars.

Additionally, Sergio secured a loan from Enzo himself to start his own coach-building film, the aforementioned Carrozzeria Scaglietti. This was quite an honour because at the time there were quite a few established coach-builders who already worked with Ferrari including Bertone, Zagato, Vignale, Touring, and Pininfarina. Sergio won Enzo’s trust not only because of his skills with metal, but also because of his relationship with, and support for, Enzo’s son, Dino, who died in 1956.

With Scaglietti now an officially sanctioned Ferrari coach builder, he received chassis’s directly from the Ferrari factory for coachwork. By his own admission, he designed all his shapes “by [his] eyes alone,” letting his own “good taste, understanding of aerodynamics, style, and function” dictate his designs. He rarely drew out his designs in advance, instead preferring to shape the body directly over the chassis.

Enzo Ferrari was a man passionate about motorsport and high performance cars. He understood that one of the secrets to success for his young company was to obtain victories in high profile competition events, and an FIA World Sportscar Championship win would be a great feather in Ferrari’s cap - something that would make the motorsport world, and the sports car buying public, to take notice.

The final event for the 1955 season was to be the Carrera Panamericana. It was a gruelling five-day rally that traversed the Mexican wilderness en route to the border near El Paso, Texas. Ferrari had experienced overwhelming success on nearly every circuit in sports car racing, with the one possible exception being the notoriously dangerous Carrera Panamericana. Not for nothing it was known as the most dangerous motor race in the world with accident deaths being the norm each year among drivers and spectators. It’s fearsome reputation was such that it would bring extra kudos to a sports car maker whose car successfully completed the course and won the event.

Previously, in 1952 several privateer Ferraris were entered, including three of Maranello’s latest sports-racers, Vignale-bodied berlinettas built upon the Lampredi 340 racing engine platform. Subsequently known as the 340 Mexicos, these cars showed promise as Luigi Chinetti finished 3rd overall.

But a year later in 1953, the upgraded 340 MM entries could not hold pace with Lancia’s dominating D24 race cars, despite Umberto Maglioli’s commanding 10-minute lead during the race’s final leg. In 1954, Maglioli rumbled to victory in Erwin Goldschmitt’s 375 Plus. Ferrari had failed again. Riding too high to handle safely, these extremely powerful cars clearly required some chassis development to remain in control on the bumpy and unpredictable surfaces of the Carrera course.

In the years up to 1955 Ferrari campaigned in the event without success and so they went back to the drawing board, literally, and designed a car purpose built for that event. It was designated the type 519/C and the chassis numbers all ended with the initials “CM” which stood for “Carrera Messicana” for the event they were created for.

This new car was the 410 Sport and the second two of the four to be made were fitted with a revised version of the Lampredi V12 engine with a capacity of 4,961 cc. This engine was given dual spark plugs per cylinder (i.e. twenty four in total), a quadruple distributor arrangement, combined with magneto ignition in the first car 0596 CM and coil ignition in the second car 0598 CM.

To feed in a healthy dose of fuel/air mix into those twelve thirsty cylinders three twin-choke Weber 46 DCF carburetors were bolted on in the middle of the “V.”

The suspension system was designed to provide the best handling and durability the engineers could achieve, at the front a fully independent system with upper and lower wishbones, and at the rear a transverse elliptic spring built into a De Dion design.

The roads in Mexico were rough and the suspension was going to need to soak up some exceeding nastiness while keeping the car on course and providing the best ride possible to keep drivers from fatigue. The chassis was a tubular space-frame set for low riding for optimum stability and, they hoped, for survivability over the destructive conditions of the race.

The power of the dual ignition engines was slightly short of 400 hp, which was very high for cars of the period, and it would be this cutting edge level of power that would prove to be the car’s Achilles heel, paradoxical though that might sound.

Even as Ferrari’s engineers were designing and building these four the notorious 1954 Le Mans crash took place. This saw a very lightly constructed Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR  crash at the end of Mulsanne Straight. With the car traveling at top speed it broke apart in a collision and sent pieces through the spectators at that location, killing 83 spectators and the driver, and injuring about 180 people.

This caused the entire motor-sport fraternity to re-assess their participation in motorsport events, and the organisers cancelled the 1955 Carrera Panamericana. So the two cars Ferrari were working on suddenly did not have the race they were created for to compete in.

As a result, Maranello repositioned the two double ignition 410 S to participate in the 1956 World Sportscar Championship racing season, making their debut at the season-commencing 1000 KM of Buenos Aires in January 1956.

The pair of 24-spark cars, chassis numbers 0596 CM and 0598 CM, were respectively driven by the paired teams of Peter Collins and Luigi Musso, and Juan Manual Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti. The Argentine great, Juan Manuel Fangio preferred the pedals of his cars to be laid out in the old “C.A.B” layout. So from left to right the pedals were clutch, accelerator, and brake. This arrangement was not uncommon during the 1950s and 1960s. Some drivers, such as Fangio, preferred this arrangement for heel and toe gear-changing.

All eyes were on the local hero from Argentina, with the press focusing much of their attention on Fangio and his 410 Sport. But the  two Ferrari’s faced stiff competition, especially in the person of British driver Stirling Moss who was so noted for his fast driving that he created the famous line uttered by British traffic policemen when they pulled you over for speeding “Who do you think you are – Stirling Moss?” Moss was driving a Maserati 300S - an extremely fast car - as long as it didn’t suffer a mechanical failure (something they tended to be prone to).

The pair of 24-spark cars, chassis numbers 0596 CM and 0598 CM, were respectively driven by the teams of Peter Collins and Luigi Musso, and Juan Manual Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti. Fangio had requested a special modification to 0598 CM that moved the accelerator from its normal position to one between the brake pedal and the clutch. Disaster hit the Ferrari 0598CM team early when Castellotti experienced a tire issue forcing the car into the pits for repairs. Fangio jumped back in 0598 CM with a significant distance to overcome and furiously chased down Stirling Moss in the leading Maserati 300S. After Castellotti experienced a tire issue forcing the car into the pits for repairs, Fangio jumped back in 0598 CM with a significant distance to overcome and furiously chased down Stirling Moss in the leading Maserati 300S. Moss was happily storming ahead very comfortably from the rest of the chasing pack. But Moss didn’t count on Fangio’s drive to win. Fangio was after all driving in front of a home crowd of fellow South Americans and he really wanted to win – so he drove using all his skills, talent, and ability and he closed the gap with some dramatic driving until he had Moss’s Maserati in his sights.

And it was at that point that Murphy’s rule reared its ugly head - “if anything can go wrong, it will, and at the worst possible moment”. The other Ferrari 0596 CM of Collins and Musso lasted until lap 61 until the transaxle failed. Fangio’s car suffered a similar fate. In Fangio’s car the differential gave way from the punishment enacted by the feverish pace and raw power of the type 126/C engine on the 89th lap. The transaxle failed bringing Fangio’s wild drive to a heart wrenching end. 400 hp had proved the car’s Achilles heel - the engine was too much for the transmission.

The Brazilians mourned Fangio’s elimination from the race, although driving so hard that the car collapses under the strain is a pretty heroic way to withdraw. However heroic the effort was, Ferrari and his entire team including the drivers were devastated.

Ferrari sent both cars back to the factory for a refit. It was this point the fate of the Ferrari 410 S would take a momentous turn of fortune in 1956.

Racing team owner John Edgar had taken note of the two Ferrari 410 S fitted with the dual spark plugs and quad distributors and had set his sights on getting one. John Edgar had waited in the wings for his opportunity at 0598 CM, anxious to obtain the golden chariot that might deliver his own racing championship. Edgar had also taken note of a young American driver who had given up his life as a chicken farmer to take up motor racing. That ex-chicken farmer was of course none other than the future legendary driver, Carroll Shelby, and John Edgar wanted to recruit him to his racing team and put him in the driver’s seat of a 400 hp 410 S.

Not only John Edgar was able to purchase 0598 CM, the Fangio/Castellotti car, but he was also able to lure Carroll Shelby away from Scuderia Parravano with the promise of turning him loose in the Ferrari. Shelby loved speed, so much that despite his heart condition he did as much high quality motor racing as he could get: even though he had to keep a nitro glycerin pill under his tongue to help with his heart condition. It would be this heart condition would ultimately force him to stop racing – but Shelby was determined to get the maximum enjoyment in the sport before that happened.

While awaiting the delivery of 0598 CM, Shelby garnered a number of wins for Team Edgar at smaller venues, winning the “Race to the Clouds” at Mount Washington, New Hampshire, the Laurel Run Hillclimb, the Brynfan Tyddyn, and the Breakneck hillclimb outside of Cumberland, Maryland. But the central attraction was scheduled to arrive by airfreight in August 1956 at San Francisco, where the tireless team mechanic and hauler Joe Landaker picked up the 410 Sport and transported it to Bremerton, Washington for the 1956 Seafair event.

In his inaugural race in 0598 CM Shelby took the checkered flag, setting the stage for many more victories to come. The Shelby/Ferrari 410 S combination proved to be formidable. The 1956 Washington Seafair event and followed it up with a number of impressive victories. Shelby went on to a number of victories in the 410 S that year in 1956. With Shelby’s victories came telegrams sent to John Edgar by none other than Enzo Ferrari, who seemingly took an active interest in Shelby’s continued success behind the wheel of 0598 CM, congratulating him on more than one occasion.

At the season-concluding SCCA finale at Palm Springs in early November, Edgar entered six cars, hotly pursuing the elusive championship. The 410 Sport had been dubbed “Edgar’s Modena Monster” by the press, and with Shelby at the wheel, there seemed to be no race it could not win.

Shelby won the pole position during Saturday’s preliminary race at Palm Springs, facing a challenging field that included Phil Hill in a Ferrari 857 Sport, fresh from his rookie year with the Ferrari factory team (one that brought the FIA’s 1956 World Sports car Championship to Maranello). From a 3 PM standing start, Bill Murphy jumped out to the lead in his Buick-powered Kurtis, though he was quickly overtaken by Shelby and Hill. Through the corners, Hill’s nimble 857 S would get the upper hand as Shelby braked hard, then on the straightaways Carroll would pour on the 4.9-litre power to retake the lead.

This pattern repeated time and again throughout the race, with Shelby managing to finish first at each lap’s conclusion. In the final lap the two cars battled side-by-side until Shelby roared to victory, just a half-second ahead of Hill.

Shelby later quipped that with his power advantage he could have taken a bigger lead over Hill at any time during the race, but was having too much fun enjoying their epic duel. The captivating Texan had won the race, capping a season in which he won 40 different events, including 18 feature races. Four months later his infectious grinning mug graced the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, which pronounced him the US Sports Car Driver of the Year for 1956 - his celebrity had transcended to a greater stage.

As the 1957 season dawned, John Edgar continued to pin his hopes on Shelby in the 410 Sport, and though Carroll failed to qualify at a rain-soaked Pomona race in January, he achieved two wins in February at New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The first Cuban Grand Prix was held in 1957 along Havana's waterfront, the Malecon, and by all accounts it had been a huge success. Juan Manuel Fangio, whose tally of five world championships has been surpassed in the decades since by just Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, was favourite to win.

Shelby’s success though set up an epic duel at the ritzy Gran Premio de Cuba, a 310-mile race of 90 laps through the streets of Havana and along the beachfront Malecón.  The Cuban revolution was in full swing, but of course sports car racing should happen regardless of mere revolutions and so the Gran Premio de Cuba was organised with the race to take over the streets of Havana and bring the un-muffled roar of racing engines along the beachfront at Malecón. Filming the race from the perch of his hotel room balcony, John Edgar watched as Shelby’s 410 Sport held off Portago eventually finishing in 2nd place, 60 seconds behind Juan Manuel Fangio’s Maserati 300S.

From this point forward Edgar began to court Maserati, eventually agreeing to a deal in which Shelby would pilot a 450S, Modena’s prodigious new V-8 powered sports-racer. Maserati later struggled to deliver the car, and instead offered a 300S loaner during the interim. As the contract with Maserati specified that Shelby could not drive a Ferrari under any circumstances, Edgar was content to put Phil Hill in 0598 CM for the Hawaii Speed Week in April 1957. Hill shortly left the Edgar fold for good to race for Scuderia Ferrari at Le Mans.

John Edgar had sunk nearly half a million dollars into the construction of the new Riverside International Raceway, and after Shelby was hurt in a crash of one of the Edgar Maseratis, Richie Ginther was pressed into action in the Ferrari 410 Sport at the venue’s September 1957 debut. Richie Ginther was to discover the joys of the “Modena Monster” as 0598 CM had come to be called. And in it he won the first feature race at the Riverside International Raceway. From 5th place in the starting grid Ginther looked ahead at some daunting competition, including Chuck Daigh in a Troutman-Barnes Special, Bob Drake in a Ferrari 375 Plus, and Pete Woods in a Jaguar D-Type. Not to be deterred, Ginther took the lead after 22 laps, and he went on to roar to victory behind the wheel of 0598 CM - winning the first feature race ever run at Riverside as a result.

Ginther had a number of second place victories that year before 1958 arrived and with it a return to Cuba, still in the middle of a revolution. But last time the cigars were good and the enjoyment was fabulous - so what could possibly go wrong?

The 1958 Gran Premio de Cuba was ill-fated in so many ways. Not only was the race eventually stopped because of a on track accident, but Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped by Cuban communists and Stirling Moss almost shared the same fate.

Fangio came back to defend his title, and alongside him on the grid was a host of other big names from the era, including Stirling Moss. The drivers approached the non-championship race as any other, and the most famous were accommodated in the luxurious Hotel Lincoln in Central Havana.

On the eve of the grand prix, Fangio walked into the lobby of the hotel on his way to dinner, only to be confronted by a young man in a leather jacket brandishing a pistol.According to reports from the time, the slightly nervous assailant barked: "Fangio, you must come with me. I am a member of the 26th of July revolutionary movement." One of Fangio's friends picked up a paperweight and moved to throw it at the intruder, but the pistol jerked round. "Stay still," the kidnapper said. "If you move, I shoot." And with that Fangio accompanied the young man to a waiting car.

The motive was simple: by capturing the biggest name in motorsport the revolutionaries would show up the government and attract worldwide publicity to their cause. Yet despite the news of the kidnapping spreading across the globe, Batista refused to be outdone and ordered the race to continue as usual while a team of police hunted down the kidnappers.

Meanwhile, Stirling Moss was kept under guard throughout the night, with a watchman knocking on the door every three hours to make sure he was still in his bed. "It was a very disturbing night," he recalled. "Fangio told the rebels, 'You mustn't take Stirling because he's on his honeymoon' - which was a lie of course, but nevertheless was very decent of him."

In an unknown location, Fangio was taking it all in his stride and was being treated to a slap-up meal of steak and potatoes before "sleeping like a blessed one" in a well-furnished apartment. Convinced he was not in danger, he later said he sympathised with his captors' actions."Well, this is one more adventure," he added. "If what the rebels did was in a good cause, then I, as an Argentinean, accept it."

As ordered by Batista, on the morning of the race, the cars were fired up in front of a 150,000-strong crowd, with Maurice Trintignant filling in at Maserati for the missing Fangio. By this time the world champion had been offered a personal apology by Castro's man in Havana, Faustino Perez, and had even been supplied with a radio so he could listen to the action. But Fangio was not in the mood."I became a little sentimental," he said. "I did not want to listen because I felt nostalgic."

It was just as well, as Fangio's sentimental state of mind could have been pushed to the limit had he known what was happening on track.

The race got underway as normal without Fangio. It was going to be a close fight even without Fangio there. Masten Gregory drove the ‘Modena Monster’, now called the Edgar 410 Sport, admirably, passing the brilliant Stirling Moss in a Ferrari 335S and building on his lead. But by the time the leaders started their fifth lap, almost every corner of the 3.5-mile circuit was slick with oil and the cars started to run perilously close to the barriers.

At first the organisers suspected a second act of rebel sabotage, but it was later discovered that Roberto Mieres' Porsche had a broken oil line.

On the next lap, disaster struck. Local driver Armando Garcia Cifuentes lost control of his yellow and black Ferrari and went head on into a bunch of spectators lining the circuit. Over 30 people were injured and seven killed as the wreckage took out a makeshift bridge and flew over the crash barriers. Porsche driver Ulf Noriden stopped on track and attempted to help."I couldn't even see the Ferrari," he said. "The bodies were piled all over. I was wading in arms and legs."

After a Ferrari left the track due to an oil spill and went into a crowd of spectators, the race was red flagged with Gregory’s ‘Modena Monster’ in 1st place. Believing he had won the race, Gregory lifted off the throttle. Moss soon flashed past him at full speed. Moss, unaware of the extent of the tragedy, continued racing against Gregory’s Ferrari. A confused Gregory watched in horror as the checkered flag signalled Moss the winner at the finish line. It was one of the most bizarre victories of Moss’ illustrious career.

Moss explained soon after to a furious 2nd place-finishing Gregory that red flag rules required the final lap to be completed before determining race results. Moss realised Gregory would have won the race if not for his confusion over this technicality, and in true gentlemanly fashion, he split his race earnings with Masten 50/50.As Stirling Moss was to explain it years later, “"So I said to Masten, 'Look, keep quiet, we'll pool our prize money together and then split it'. And that's exactly what we did, because otherwise it would have gone to the organisers or whoever to decide and it would be years before we got the money, if we got it at all. So officially I was the winner. The truth was either of us could have won it, but what the hell, it didn't matter. Why have an argument about it? Especially with everything else that happened that weekend."

But in the bigger picture it meant that Jack Edgar and the Ferrari Modena Monster were denied sweet victory in the 1958 Gran Premio de Cuba.

For Carroll Shelby the sun was rapidly setting on his racing career.

In 1958, Carroll Shelby demanded to take one last drive in his trusted 0598 CM after the Maserati 450S was sidelined due to mechanical issues prior to the Palm Springs main event in April of 1958, breaking the Maserati contract requirements in the process. Back in the hands of Shelby, the 410 Sport responded commendably, finishing 2nd overall. It was to be Shelby’s last race in 0598 CM – a good finale for his man and machine team.

For Carroll Shelby loved 0598 CM as the best Ferrari he’d ever driven - and he’d had the opportunity to drive it in motor racing in the 1950s which he regarded as a golden age of motorsport by many. Reflecting on his time with Edgar and the 410 Sport Spider, Carroll Shelby would later tell John Edgar’s motor racing journalist son, William Edgar, “Racing in the 1950s was really and truly some of the best times of my life, and it’ll never be replaced. It was an era that’s gone and won’t ever be back.”

1959 signalled the last year of competition for John Edgar, as financial pressures increased and resulting sponsorship concerns began to cloud the landscape. Edgar made his last-gasp attempts to win the USAC Road Racing Championship but failed. It was the sign to pack up and leave the sport with some level of pride and satisfaction at his team’s racing achievements.

Following its stellar racing career, John Edgar sold 0598 CM to Luigi Chinetti in 1960. The car was pulled out of retirement and prepared for the 1963 Daytona Continental 3 Hours for NART driver “Fireball” Roberts. Racing regulations, however, had changed since the last time 0598 CM took the track. The rules now stated that cars were required to have a fixed roof, which necessitated the fashioning of a crude hardtop so 0598 CM could compete. After practice laps proved the improvised hardtop was slowing the car too significantly to qualify, 0598 CM went back into retirement.

Chinetti hung onto the 410 Sport for over two decades until he sold it to private collector. From there it passed through a few private owners.

During its illustrious history, Maranello has built several very significant sports-racers that started life as Scuderia team cars and later became legendary in American privateer circles, but very few of these can compare to 0598 CM. As the car that propelled Carroll Shelby to national attention, and the most successful racer of the respected John Edgar team, this 410 Sport may be regarded as nothing short of a legend. It is indubitably rare, being one of just two factory-campaigned examples that were fitted with the more powerful twin-plug-per-cylinder version of the large-displacement 4.9-litre Lampredi long-block V-12.

Driven by a who’s who of the era’s greatest racing drivers, including Juan Manuel Fangio, Eugenio Castellotti, Carroll Shelby, Phil Hill, Richie Ginther, Masten Gregory, Joakim Bonnier, Bruce Kessler, Jim Rathmann, and Chuck Daigh, 0598 CM is without exaggeration one of the most important and colorful Ferraris to compete in racing during the 1950s.

The Ferrari 410 S 0598 CM may have been retired from active competition for several decades but it had enjoyed a pampered retirement over the years since it earned itself the legendary nickname, the ‘Modena Monster.’

As a postscript, in August 2022 the Ferrari 410 S 0598 CM, long forgotten by the public, but not by petrol heads and racing fans, came out into the public glare again. The ‘Modena Monster’ was put up for an auction sale by RM Sotheby’s in California. It was sold for around $22 million.

While the memories of the incredible World Sportscar Championship have gradually begun to fade, still-salient names like Fangio, Moss, Bandini, and Shelby provide a tangible link to the past. What makes those links stronger are these magnificent cars themselves that will always carry the memories of these iconic drivers in their engines and coach work design from the leading carrozzerie of Turin and Milan.

As one of a select few Ferrari models with coachwork both designed and built by Sergio Scaglietti and the iconic drivers who had driven her, the Scaglietti-built spider was a unique, powerful, and complex character that cannot be copied. As such its achievements will always have a place in motorsports lore amongst racing fans and petrol heads.

Six years before his death in 2012, Shelby was reunited with 0598 CM at the Fabulous Fifties Concours in Gardena, California. It was there that the iconic American driver added an unforgettable inscription to its 195-litre fuel tank: “Mr. Ferrari told me that this was the best Ferrari he ever built.”

Perhaps no higher praise could be envisioned for 0598 CM.

[postapocalypsegirl]

11/09/2024

In those latter days, I often found dead black pigeons near my home. Their corpses stink of petrol, so I try not to breathe near them. Cats don’t catch black pigeons because cats know that such birds bring bad luck. Constance told me that it's more likely that it’s Doppelgänger’s work. And I will need to fight her. My task is to protect my land as a Heir. Otherwise, if there are too many corpses of birds, a natural disaster will occur. ***

Today I finally started to work! Well, my work is packing some things from the marketplace. It's monotonous work. Simultaneously I listen to something useful like lectures about Japanese. But most often I just listen to music…. For example, I'm listening to Yaelokre! And now I want to be a one-man band!! Fortunately, I already study to sing and play guitar. And when I will understand how to study at my university, I will start to learn Japanese, drawing and writing poetry. Good luck to me!!

[xylophonetangerine]

Benzene replaced tetraethyl lead as the standard anti-knock agent in automotive petrol but it's not as unproblematic as you might think. Benzene is better than lead in that it's not bioaccumulative but it is a potent carcinogen. Fortunately benzene (unlike TEL) is largely decomposed into less hazardous hydrocarbons in internal combustion engines so traffic exhaust is not super hazardous but working at a filling station or living near one increases your risk of developing certain blood cancers due to increased exposure to benzene from uncombusted petrol.

[blessed1neha]

Career Field as per Astrological Signs

I've identified the industries or enterprises that are fortunate for particular Signs. Each Sign has a special beneficial note that resonates with a certain industry, making these enterprises inherently lucky for a given Sign. It makes sense that people born under these Signs should continue to have the most luck investing in their shares, given the luckiness of the companies. They can never lose if they invest in long-term investments. The investors' intraday trading time period will always be profitable, but they won't make a loss either. Naturally, the investor must conduct a market research of the company before making any acquisitions because, as you are aware, not every company in a certain field can succeed at the same time.

Let's now discuss astrology. Okay if you are aware of your horoscope or birth chart. To find out more, look at your Ascendant at birth. If you're unsure, check your Name Sign or Moon Sign. For instance, if your name starts with A, E, I, O, or L, you are an Aries. Using this technique, you can discover your moon sign. If your name doesn't correspond to your natal Moon Sign, don't worry. Search for your sun sign. In Aries from 14 April to 14 May, the sun will be. To benefit the most, you must be aware of your own natal chart, particularly the Lagna and Ascendant.

To benefit the most, you must be aware of your own natal chart, particularly the Lagna and Ascendant. According to my observations, a person's birth chart typically results in the best outcomes. Benefit percentages will be smaller for Moon or Sun signs than for birth ascension. Remember that buying stock only entails your personal involvement in the company. Your likelihood of success in the stock market will also be based on where your fifth house is in regard to your second or eleventh houses in the chart. Your Mars and Venus should be rather strong if you plan to engage in intraday trading or speculation. If your Saturn is truly powerful, it will rule as king.

If your Saturn is very strong, you will be the master of this field and earn long-term success. A strong Saturn in the chart's interpretation creates masters. They are fully aware of the stock market's ups and downs. Here is a list of the industries and companies where stock investments will perform the best.

1.Aries (Mesha): Cement, steel, automobiles, shipping, textiles, beverages, petrochemicals, power projects, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and petrochemicals 

2.Tauras (Vrishabha): Infrastructure, Housing Companies, Food Industries, Hotels, Dairies and Ice Cream, Film and Television Industries, Cement, Steel, Leather 

3. Gemini (Mithuna): Publishing, print and electronic media, cement and steel, mobile devices, computers, banking, and information technology.

4. Karka (Cancer): Transportation, Water and Irrigation, Air Travel, Textiles, Beverages, Glass Manufacturing, Housing Companies, Refineries, Petrol and Natural Gas 

5. Leo (Simha): Pharmaceuticals, Agro Industries, Film and Television Industries, Paper and Printing Industries, Power Projects 

6. Virgo (Kanya): Finance and Insurance, Food and Nutrition, Pharmacy, Communications, Information Technology, Computers, Confectionary, Toiletries, and Toys 

7. Libra (Tula): Infrastructure, Edible Oil, Agro Industries, Cosmetics, Perfumes, Ceramics, Malls and Retail Channels, Entertainments, Music and Cassette Industries, Food and Beverage, Hotels, Dairies, Films and Televisions, Ice-cream, Leather, Food and Beverages, Ceramics, Ice-cream, Steel, Perfumes, and Ceramics 

8. The sign of Scorpio (Vrishchika) is represented by the industries of shipping, mining, export-import, automobiles, water and irrigation, pharmaceuticals, glass, refineries, and the insurance sector.

9. Saggitarius (Dhanu): All businesses related to education and students, including those in the banking, finance, export and import, publishing, paper, confectionary, and dairy industries. 

10. Capricorn (Makara): Oil and Natural Gas, Petroleum Refineries, Health and Nutrition, Pharmacies, Steel, Cement, Leather, Coal, Infrastructure, Engineering Industries, Housing Sector 

11. Aquarius (Kumbha): Projects related to power, research, steel, cement, leather, food, entertainment, music and cassette industries, infrastructure, banking and finance, and hotels. 

12. Pisces (Meena): Banking and finance, insurance, print and electronic media, paper industries, dairy and ice cream, pharmaceuticals, health and nutrition, shipping, exports and imports. 

How can I get the most out of this? Additionally, you stand to gain if you select a business whose name is auspicious and harmonious with your own Sign.

For purchases and long-term investments, the 10th and 11th signs from your Moon Sign or Ascendant will bring you the most success. Simple Company Selection Example: Which Shares would you choose to buy if your Ascendant or Moon Sign is Capricorn and you want to make long-term investments? Libra and Scorpio are obvious. You may now buy the most advantageous scripts for long-term investments based on the list provided above.

[grandmaster-anne]

My Week: In this neck of the woods

By Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence | Published 29 July 2020

Country Life Guest-Edited by HRH The Princess Royal

I DON the protective gear—toughened boots, strengthened trousers, leather gauntlets, helmet and visor. Grasping the handle firmly, I release the two safety catches and press the trigger. There is no kickback, no smell of petrol and only a low whirr as the chain turns. My new battery-powered chainsaw (a birthday present to myself) is up and running.

It’s easier to use than my faithful friend of so many years—the petrol version—quieter and better for the environment, as long as the electricity comes from a suitable source. Yes, it’s twice the cost when you include the batteries and charger, but it’s ideal for cutting up fallen branches, light thinning, pruning and tidying. The faithful friend sits in the shed like an elderly labrador, wondering if it will ever be taken out again.

Covid-19 has held the human race in its grip these past months, but ash dieback is the most influential disease in the woods here. Some 25% to 35% of our mature ash is infected and great areas of natural regeneration look to be headed the same way.

Our approach is to cut trees down once we are certain they are infected, but not a moment before that. It would be mad to fell all the ash and find later that the few that were genetically immune to the disease have been sacrificed unnecessarily. Fortunately, we have 30 or so other tree species here, which will happily expand to fill the gaps. Every arboreal cloud has a silver lining.

For someone who was brought up in woods, taught forestry by my father and who has lovingly helped manage 250 acres of the most beautiful mixed English woodland these past 30 years, it may seem strange to say I have reservations about huge targets being set for tree planting in the UK.

The intent is worthy, but what about the practicalities? Will the right trees be planted in the right places or will large grant-farming companies send swathes of dense conifer, with little biodiversity value, across our hills? Will areas of permanent pasture or wetland, which may in the long run be better at capturing carbon, be sacrificed? Who will look after the planted trees? I hope someone is addressing such issues.

I have the privilege occasionally to fly low level by helicopter across the British countryside and I marvel at how much of it is still a patchwork quilt of fields, hedges, small copses, woods, moorlands, wetlands and rough grass. That combination—so beautiful and so uniquely British —is a perfect recipe for both biodiversity and carbon capture. It would be a tragedy to smother it with impenetrable forest.

Many years ago, we set aside an area of lawn at Gatcombe to leave uncut, other than a couple of winding paths. We have been rewarded by an annual profusion of wildflowers among the long grass, all self-seeded and different each year, depending on what the weather has suited. Orchids have appeared in steadily increasing numbers; however, this year, most have eschewed the uncut areas and have mainly grown up in the paths. This either shows orchids have a sense of humour or, perhaps more likely, that they find it easier to push through where we have reduced the competition. Now, of course, we cannot mow the paths and I am shouted at if I try to walk along them.

One of the most distinctive features of the Cotswolds is the dry-stone walls. With their varying shades of yellow and grey and their different styles, they frame the landscape and somehow keep it at a human, almost intimate, scale.

Each morning, if it’s dry, I catch up with the man who has rebuilt more than 4,000 yards of our walls over 25 years. He doesn’t work on wet days. I sometimes help with unskilled bits, but my main role is encouragement, exhortation (seldom needed) and gossip.

Living alone, supported by his family, driving alone to the wall, working alone and then returning directly home, he has been able to continue working safely. We chat, at least 6ft apart, letting the wind blow any virus thingies away into the distance between us. He has just finished some 140 yards of wall in a field we rent from the Landmark Trust, which borders the golf club. Heritage, golf and sheep—a fine combination.

Through lockdown, in that wonderful dry April and May, he has been at his task six mornings a week. Impressive dedication—but he is only 89 years old.

[icedteadrinker]

Today❗ This is my fucking wedding day 👰‍♂️💒 NEVERTHELESS‼️Nevertheless, John, despite the bad blood 🩸 I'll have none of it on my carpet 🧼 Now for Grace's sake 👩🏼 nothing will go wrong 😌🙏 Those 😡BASTARDS😡 out there are her family 👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 and if you fuckers do anything to embarrass her 🤨 your kin 👵🏼 your cousins 👦 your 'orses 🐴 your fucking kids 👶 you do 🚨ANYTHING🚨 to f- WHAT⁉️ No. No. No. 🙅‍♂️ No cocaine ❄️ No cocaine 🚫 No sports 🏌️‍♂️ no telling fortunes 🔮 no racing 🏎️ no fucking sucking 😳 petrol ⛽ out of their fucking cars 🚗 And you 🫵 Charlie, stop spinning yarns about me 🧶 eh? But the main thing is 😐you bunch of fuckers😐 despite the provocation from the cavalery 🏇 no fighting 🚫🥊AY! No fighting ⚔️ no fucking fighting 😤 no fighting ‼️NO FUCKING FIGHTING‼️

[leiakenobi]

leiakenobi's 2022 Fic Rec (aka, AO3 Wrapped)

Happy new year to you all! I did a fun new thing in 2022 where I kept a far more detailed record of the fic I read and wrote than I ever have before. Now that the year is officially over, I wanted to share some of my favorite fics that I read, alongside some of my own fics that I’m particularly proud of. There are also a handful of stats because hey, I have the data and numbers are fun.

Fics I Read (Stats)

In 2022, I read 293 fics about 122 relationships (either platonic or romantic) across 70 different fandoms, totaling 1,286,019 words. July and December saw me reading the most (over 300k words each month), in both cases helped along by Hannibal hyperfixations, as well as the reveals for Yuletide 2022 on Christmas leading to a final end-of-the-year boost.

Surprising no one, my most read fandom was Star Wars at 42 fics, followed by Hannibal (32), Ted Lasso (25), the Marvel Cinematic Universe (18), and Our Flag Means Death and Dimension 20 tied at 13 fics each.

My ship stats are proof that am (with the occasional exception) a multi-shipper, with Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter rocketing up to the top of the list at 31 fics, followed by Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso (18), Poe Dameron/Rey (12), Blackbeard/Stede Bonnet (10), and Ziggy Berman/Nick Goode from Fear Street just barely sneaking into the top 5 with 7 fics. I also read 21 fics that had no relationship tags at all.

Considering how frequently I do peruse the authors' profiles of fics that I enjoy in search of more to read, I don't read multiple fics by the same author as much as I would expect; out of 223 authors read throughout the year, I read multiple fics by 38 people, with a truly comical drop from the top author, blackleaders, at 20 fics (lmao hi nym), to 5 authors who are tied at 4 fics each (simplyprologue, Miss_M, apacketofseeds, saturni-stellis, and postcardmystery).

But that's enough numbers. Here are some fics I read for the first time in 2022 that really moved me.

Fics I Read (Recs)

Tangled by thingswithwings Community | Annie Edison/Abed Nadir and Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir | 28,327 words | Explicit

"Do you want me to go down on you?" Abed asks, one afternoon, when they're watching My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

like petrol soaked paper and fireworks by simplyprologue The Conjuring | Ed Warren/Lorraine Warren | 5,285 words | Explicit

He’s alive, she reminds himself, the ghost of the exertion from pulling him to safety tensing her muscles. He’s alive, and she’s alive, and she is so, so mad at him. “I’m… you made me out like I was some big hero in London.” “You were,” he sputters.

and i would break my family's heart by sleepdraught Dimension 20 | Adaine Abernant & Aelwyn Abernant | 8,002 words | Teen

Her name is derived from Old Elvish. Aelwyn. Great future. In the archaic tongue, the words for future and forever are the same. Adaine’s name is also derived from Old Elvish. Second-born. In which Aelwyn Abernant puts abjurative shields up on everything, including herself, and she doesn't know what exists beneath all that when they're gone.

aqua vitae by nikomedes Dimension 20 | Sofia Bicicleta/Em | 9,324 words | Teen

“You invited me out,” Em reminds her, maybe awkwardly? It’s hard to tell when her face is literally cast in bronze. She reflects beautifully in the still pond, under the moonlight, wings pulled in close as if she’s a little chilly too. “I’d apologize for showing up late, but even the Umbral Arcana can only do so much about an angel flying over Verrazzano.” Sofia Lee, Em, and the moments in-between.

Wherever You're Going (I'm Going Your Way) by garmonbozias Fear Street | Ziggy Berman/Nick Goode | 13,583 words | Mature

Sometimes the villains win.

Such a warm commotion by whetherwoman Fire Island | Noah/Will | 8,691 words | Explicit

Everything's great and that's a problem for Noah.

Fortune Hath No Backward Bound by reserve Hannibal | Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter | 8,153 words | Explicit

“I know Francis was the dragon,” Will said, face turned into the fine fabric of Hannibal’s dress shirt. “But sometimes, here with you, living this life, I feel like I’ve accidentally run away with one.” "Left the maiden in distress behind and took the dragon for yourself, then?" Or, Hannibal and Will run away to Europe. Things go more or less as expected.

haarlem by spqr Hannibal | Will Graham/Hanibal Lecter | 6,825 words | Mature

“Hannibal,” he thinks he says. He gets told later that he doesn’t really say it at all, but that the entire police station—most of which is waiting outside in the rainy parking lot—hears his voice clattering around inside their skulls like someone standing on a roof banging pots and pans and screaming at the top of his lungs: HANNIBAL, HANNIBAL, HANNIBAL. [or: rude, exhausted telepath Will Graham]

res publica, res privata by thedevilchicken Hannibal | Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter | 2,348 words | Mature

When Hannibal puts his hands on him in public, Will knows it's for effect.

rise up with the dew by lickrish Hannibal | Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter | 10,149 words | Explicit

Will learns to relax. Hannibal yearns.

wild peaches by notbecauseofvictories Labyrinth | Jareth/Sarah Williams | 3,571 words | Teen

The morning after Sarah Williams defeats the Goblin King, she gets up and makes toast.

The Long Road by determamfidd The Lord of the Rings | Gimli/Legolas Greenleaf | 6,246 words | Teen

The world has changed. Middle-earth is no more. The Valar have departed, or they are dead. Only one remains to stir the dust of forgotten lands beneath his feet, waiting to fulfil his promise.

my hands have made some good mistakes by piratesails The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Lenny Bruce/Midge Maisel | 4,913 words | Teen

“Are you done for the night?” he asks. She doesn’t want to look him straight in the eyes in case he’s still got that look on him, so she goes for staring at the cigarette that’s crookedly dangling from his mouth. It’s really the worst idea she’s had since shoving her ivory skirt out of the window of that cab. “Why? Have you got some more things in your pockets you want to throw at me? Because, let me tell you, if you’re about to pull something out of there that’s going to leave a stain, I will not be held responsible for what I’ll do to you.”

but what if you kept me (i don’t dare dream) by Lacerta Moon Knight | Layla El-Faouly/Marc Spector | 5,141 words | Mature

"You said you came to Cairo on business," Layla explains when they stop at a river bank. "I figured you didn't have time to see the views." Marc thinks about the familiar landscape of the city seen from above, how he's seen the dawn and the sunset change the city with fiery colors – and smiles. Layla turns to look at him. Her face is framed by unruly curls, the night lights make her skin glow, and the warmth in her eyes sets a flame to Marc's heart. "Not views like this," he admits softly. - This is how Marc falls in love.

always 11pm somewhere by afterism Our Flag Means Death RPF | Rhys Darby/Taika Waititi | 5,870 words | Explicit

"Yeah," Taika says, his grin dirty and obvious despite the thousands of miles between them. "I've gone full LA wanker." "Proud of you," Rhys says, and then, because that's almost true, says, "Gone? You've been a wanker for decades!" Taika's dating again. Rhys couldn't be happier for him.

tannis root by arbitrarily Ready or Not | Alex Le Domas/Daniel Le Domas/Grace Le Domas | 10,190 words | Explicit

They have been married for six months. Together, they live at the Le Domas estate. Each morning she shrugs off the wrongness she wakes to, cold and close as a burial shroud. To herself she repeats the same thing Alex has told her, over and over again: Everything is fine. You are fine. You’re with family now.

Our Steps Will Always Rhyme by AnnabelleVeal Succession | Kendall Roy/Stewy Hosseini | 7,841 words | Explicit

Stewy had always been better at moderation than Kendall. Or, five times Stewy told Kendall no and one time he didn't.

L’Simchat Chaim by achoo_gesundheit Ted Lasso | Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso | 7,445 words | General Audiences

l'simchat chaim Hebrew, interjection :to the joy of living: Trent was still figuring out how that worked.

they will see us waving from such great heists by laiqualaurelote Ted Lasso | Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso | 21,110 words | Teen

"Trent Crimm, Interpol," says Trent, flashing his badge with a vindictive flair, "and I'll thank you to stop mucking up my crime scene, Mr - " "Ted Lasso, FBI," says the interloper, matching him badge for badge. Trent stares at the ID he is presented with. "How is that even a real person’s name?"

Up to Code by syllic The Way Way Back | Duncan & Owen | 5,564 words | Teen

Everything works out for everyone, because it should.

this love is glowing in the dark by pathstotread A Wrinkle in Time | Alex Murry/Kate Murry | 1,547 words | Mature

"On the night that Alex returns, after Meg has retrieved him from hell and brought him home, they all camp out in the family room, as if by some unspoken agreement that no one sleeps alone or lets Alex out of their sight." Kate and Alex, after.

Fics I Wrote (Stats)

In 2022 I wrote 128 fics about 79 relationships (either platonic or romantic) across 55 different fandoms, totaling 224,772 words. I wrote at least 10k words in every month except June.

I wrote 10 fics or more in four fandoms: Star Wars (18), Marvel Cinematic Universe (12), Dimension 20 (12), and Ted Lasso (10).

There were only a handful of relationships that I wrote more than once or twice, most significantly Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso (8) and Poe Dameron/Rey (6). I wrote 15 Reader-Insert fics across a variety of different fandoms. I also wrote 10 fics with no relationship tags.

I also got into fic exchanges this year! I found them a very exciting way to explore fandoms and ships that I might not otherwise have thought to write for; ultimately I wrote 54 fics (42% of my total fic output) as gifts in exchanges.

Picking some favorites among my own fics is hard as hell, but I managed to come up with a list of the ones that I'm particularly proud of!

Fics I Wrote (Recs)

all my worries, disintegrating The Conjuring | Ed Warren/Lorraine Warren | 2,654 words | Explicit

“What’s on your mind, hon?” That you can’t seem to stand still, she doesn’t say. That it doesn’t feel like we’re on the same page these days and a gazebo in our garden isn’t enough to change that. Lorraine knows her husband, so she starts smaller. “I’ve been thinking about the night we found the witch’s totem downstairs.”

Another First Kiss Dimension 20 | Cinderella/Rosamund du Prix | 528 words | Teen

Once upon a time, Rosamund du Prix was awoken by the kiss of a young woman with soft lips and softer skin, clad in the most glorious glass armor she had ever set eyes on.

There And Back Again Dimension 20 | Galfast Hamhead & Leiland | 2,205 words | Teen

For two years, Leiland had lain in wait. Collecting himself, refining his skills and becoming an entirely new man (so to speak) under Leiland Jr.’s leadership. And it was all leading to this moment, in which he would darken Hamhead’s doorway and finally deal her the agony which she so dearly deserved.

among many blue things The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Lenny Bruce/Midge Maisel | 586 words | Explicit

Midge didn’t realize she’d fallen silent until Lenny lifted up his head to blink at her from between her legs. “Y’know, I thought I was doing some good work down here, but if you wanna change it up…”

Cadential Motion Master and Commander | Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin | 1,405 words | Teen

“I’ll be frank with you, Captain, it’s a relief to finally have you in my chair. I was beginning to worry that you didn’t trust my expertise.” - Aubrey and Maturin discover that their first impressions of one another were borne out of some misunderstandings.

craving. Monty Python RPF | John Cleese/Michael Palin | 488 | Teen

Writing for this new venture – whatever the hell it was, these six of them and their daydreams – had proven to be invigorating and terrifying all at once, but through it all there was John.

if I could, I'd drown for hours Moon Knight | Marc Spector-centric | 451 words | Teen

Alcohol doesn’t hit Marc like it used to. It doesn’t simmer in his blood, it doesn’t seep into his brain and dull his senses.

pickup, pickup (a good book now) Our Flag Means Death | Blackbeard/Stede Bonnet | 401 words | General Audiences

The desolation would have been less apparent if Edward had done anything in the interim to fill up the space.

party crasher The Princess Diaries | Nicholas Devereaux/Mia Thermopolis | 597 words | General Audiences

Mia tosses and turns in her sleeping bag for the better part of an hour before concluding that she just might need to abandon her own party.

chasing the ghosts away Scream | Mark Kincaid/Sidney Prescott | 189 words | Mature

Sidney still called him Detective sometimes, after.

Patina Star Wars | Obi-Wan Kenobi/Reader | 8,781 words | Explicit

You first encounter him at twenty, when your mother receives a call from an old friend named Qui-Gon Jinn. She’s always had quite a number of old friends, cloaked figures at varying stages of haggard who come through your house for a few days at a time in search of a place to rest their heads in your isolated part of the galaxy. With them, they always bring lightsabers, small and peculiar gifts of gratitude, and fantastical stories of adventure. This old friend brings with him a queen’s handmaiden, not much younger than you. He brings news of political sabotage and an urgent request for food, water, and supplies to repair his ship.

your love is sunlight Star Wars | Poe Dameron/Reader | 2,987 words | Explicit

First thing on the agenda: Poe Dameron is going to wash his kriffing hair. Second thing on the agenda: Poe is going to find you.

lovers alone wear sunlight Succession | Gerri Kellman/Roman Roy | 1,741 words | Teen

“I’m here to see Gerri Kellman. Just say it’s her ex-boy toy.” [Roman pays Gerri a surprise visit, after.]

Be As You've Always Been Ted Lasso | Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso | 8,202 words | Explicit

“I’d like to be clear about something up front,” Trent said carefully. “I don’t expect an answer right away. In fact, I think it would be wise for you to give some thought to what Keeley is asking of you. And we can talk it over until… what’s that colourful phrase you Americans like to use?” Ted chanced a smile. “’Til the cows come home?” “That’s the one.” - Keeley asks Ted to speak at the first event she's worked since starting her own firm, but his anxiety gets in the way.

Chrysalis Ted Lasso | Ted Lasso & Jamie Tartt | 1,964 words | Teen

“I’d’ve thought you’d be out celebrating with the team,” Ted said at last. “Yeah, I was for a while. Just…” Jamie sniffed, leaning forward to examine a stain on the bar that had probably been there for decades. “Got bored, I guess.”

if the years are all gone (series) Ted Lasso | Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso | 53,722 words | Teen

Nearly two decades before Rebecca Welton hires Ted Lasso as AFC Richmond's new manager, Trent Crimm spends a semester abroad in the midwestern United States. Everything unfolds a little bit differently from there.

Once In A Lifetime (sequel to This Must Be The Place) Triple Frontier | Santiago Garcia/Reader | 12,258 words | Explicit

After circling around your attraction for hours, Santi brings you back home to wait out the snowstorm that brought you into his bar. Once there, you learn more about the lonely man who's taken a liking to you and become increasingly aware of just what you'll be missing if you walk away from him in the morning.

[atomic-taco-muffin]

Continuation

meanwhile in the voice call

Mysterion: OUT THE WINDOOOOOoooowww.................

*splat*

Mysterion: Just kidding

Death Girl: Simple a combination mouse trap and catapult.

*SNAP - SPROING - WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH - . . . . . . . . . . thud*

Henrietta (she didn’t care enough to make a username): I take it that the “THUD” is you whacking him out of bounds with your baseball bat?

Professor Chaos (Villan Butters): shouldn't that be SNAP - SPROING - SQUEAK - WHOOSH?

Human-Kite: Maybe we could invest in a cat.

Super-Craig: Shove the mouse down Cartman's trousers!

Death Girl: No, it should be: SNAP - SPROING - SQUEAK – WHOOSH – ting

Call-Girl: Did you have a bad mouse experience during your childhood???

Mosquito: Gee, that X-Box demo would have worked heaps better if they'd thrown a mouse into a room full of mouse traps already primed with other mice, setting off a chain reaction of SNAPs, SQUEAKs and SPROINGs.

Doctor Timothy (super hero Timmy): This is my one line comment.

Tool-Shed: Maybe we can convince Mysterion to eat it?

Mysterion: That'll take a lot more convincing then five dollars

Fastpass: You can do it!

Death Girl: Or we could put it back where it belongs .. plugged into the back of somebody's computer.

The Coon (super hero Cartman): Hasn't anyone seen Stuart Little??? He could be our ticket to fame and fortune!

(He’s a raccoon themed super hero)

Human-Kite: Has anyone ever seen both Cartman and the rat at the same time?... just wondering if there's some secret identity thingy going on.

Tool-Shed; Maybe he's the little bastard moving everyone's stuff

Call-Girl: So was it the mouse that was sneaking smokes in the toilet? Seems like the poor little thing is getting blamed for everything else

Fastpass: Let's get him!

Mysterion: I could use another mouse or two to help power a car...

Death Girl: Let's just cover the room in Petrol and light it up now!

Henrietta: Put his little mouse head on a big dirty pike as a warning to others...

Mysterion: Lets just all burn our pants.

Tool-Shed: Umm, you go first

Fastpass: Let's get him!

Mysterion: You all want to jump me now I've burnt my pants huh?

Death girl: One of my friends had a story about his father doing the mouse vs petrol thing when he was young, and with its last chance at revenge, the burning mouse ran into some very long, very dry grass, set the grass alight, and burned down a whole farm.. crops, machinery, house, and also the people who owned it...

Mosquito: See, vicious little mongrels, mice. Burn your house down soon as look at you. They're dangerous! Arsonists! Satanists! They must be stopped, before it's too late. It's us or them. oh, and I'm always available for a pants burning. name a time

Mysterion: Release your anger and complete the journey to the dark side...

Tupperware: Why don't we just get the mouse!?

Human-Kite: That's not the mouse you are looking for.. Move along, move along.

Call-Girl: I don't think Mysterion needs any help releasing . . .

Tool-Shed: Certainly not releasing so much as restraining.

Mosquito: Has anyone heard the one about the mouse and giraffe that met in a bar?

Tupperware: Yep

Call-Girl: I think we should all try and get out of the HQ a little more

The Coon: Woowoo! Call-Girl said we can all go home!

Fastpass: Let get HIM then!

Tupperware: Let's have pants burning as a random encounter, or even a full mission. Somebody keeps sneaking into the base and setting fire to peoples pants

Wonder-Tweek: There isn't really a mouse. I just made the whole thing up lol

Fastpass: Lets get Tweek then?

Doctor Timothy/ Blah blah blah!

Super-Craig: Dracula impressions? Really?

Tupperware: blah blah blah, dude!

The Coon: If it was MY mouse, Id say like “Get back in the kitchen and cook me some pie bee-atch”

Human-Kite: You have a pie-cooking mouse?

The Coon: Yeah of course I do

Mosquito: Let's just set up a big barbed wire cage or even better, a dome and have a sort of last man standing dealie. The winner gets to eat the mouse...

Death girl: Are we fighting the mouse or each other?

Mosquito: I've always wanted to compete versus a rodent I might actually have a chance of winning.

Doctor Timothy: Aaaaaargh!

Mysterion: “I'm not imagining this as Tupperware, Mysterion and New-Kid also saw him albeit rather briefly" I'd just like to categorically deny ever seeing a mouse. Tweek is a loon.

Hana: *walks into the room* yo Eric, dinner’s ready. You can talk to your friends later