#and even before that you just get more mileage just knowing the engine

[femboty2k]

DOOM 2 RAYTRACED

Looks like shit m8

[trainfanz]

Further ramblings on London 2024 as I've now had a chance to listen to it! Below the cut! (I can't send out the audio, sorry.) SPOILERS ABOUND!

ACT ONE

"Stop that boring music!" IS GONE!

There really isn't a lot to separate the additional trains. Their introductions and little pre-race mantras are all "They're fast!"

Al Knott sounds great.

I appreciate they rewrote Crazy to actually make it more of an intro song for Rusty instead of just sticking it there.

Arguing before 'I Am Me' is hard to follow with no visuals!

"Friends!" "Friends!" "More than friends?!" "-just friends." HAHA

"Trucks will identify themselves! Fuel Trucks!" Honey, they're all fuel trucks.

Freight really doesn't get to finish and I don't think I really like that.

Stopping here to say that Hydra is the standout of this new incarnation. Going into his little mantra at every applicable moment and annoying everyone else is hilarious.

AC/DC is... fine. Still prefer the older sound.

New take on Pumping Iron however is pretty good!

I want to see Control offering Pearl a spot to sit so bad.

"Please welcome to the other side of the tracks: Momma McCoy." "HOW WE DOIN?!" That's great.

Shoutout to them for using my preferred little outro ditty for the blues. Hard to explain what I mean.

I get that the 4th qualifying engine isn't integral to the downhill final but to only have 1 winner in Race 2 feels weird.

Surprise El DeBarge Lyrics???

ACT TWO

The Rap is pulling a lot from the first two incarnations - "Race Time" shows up in the megamix but not in the actual song.

Dinah UGLY crying hhhh

Slick gets her own take on Wide Smile. Not sure if I like it but it's definitely unique.

Still think what immediately follows Race 3 ends up being 2 versions of the same scene stuck together, but that's not this production's problem.

It stings that Right Place, Right Time is gone. I get that it doesn't really work with the fuel trucks as apposed to the Rockies but I miss it!

No awkward key change in Starlight Sequence!! (If you've heard the current German version, you know.)

For how integral to the plot he is I expected Hydra to get a little more of his own number, but the "It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when" is the most song he gets and the rest is just talking.

Aaand here's Lord Andy's big twist, Rusty explicitly converts himself to run on hydrogen. More on this in a few lines!

They REALLY get their mileage out of what they got Lord Andy to write for this production.

Ok, I see what people mean by them altering Prusty in 2017 to fit 'I Do' better instead of changing the song again. I get it now. I think.

Even as a sapphic, Greaseball still can't spell.

New lyrics in Light At The End of The Tunnel is WEIRD.

I don't hate that they try to work in a message about clean fuels but at the same time I don't think its necessary? Was the original Starlight really meant to convince the audience that coal is the future in real life? Not really. Especially at the end things feel a bit heavy handed but again, I don't HATE it.

Still amazed I am open to/liking this new take on Starlight as much as I am.

[ghostinthegallery]

If you’re still doing prompts, would you mind doing “Just... don't."

oh boy you just gave me an excuse to mess around with this pairing which had been bouncing around my head for ages! Behold, Szarekh/Imotekh (because you can’t just give me two rival kings and NOT expect me to wonder what would happen if they kissed)

Damn, I am getting mileage out of this prompt list ###

Mandragora did not have much in the way of native flora. Most species had been driven to extinction long ago by environmental shifts and violent acid rains. Biomancers saved, cultivated, and jealously guarded some plants for whatever nonsensical reasons they had to examine organic life. But Mandragora was not and would never again be a lush world.

So Imotekh was surprised to find a small, white flower lying in wait for him on the highest balcony of his palace.

He dismissed his lychguard, an act which was not unusual. He came to this spot often to think, to unravel the threads of logic and possibility that now formed so much of his mind. This was more easily done alone, away from any onlookers. On a clear day he could see hundreds of khet in any direction. This was not a clear day. It was foggy and damp, impossible to perceive much if he relied purely on visual data. Imotekh could only see his lychguard departing by the soft glows of their cores and weapons.

Once he was sure they were gone, Imotekh examined the delicate flower between the metal fingers of his gauntlet. Five petals the color of fresh snow surrounding a red pistil. He could not remember what it had been called in the time of flesh. His abilities of near perfect recall had only formed after his awakening from the Great Sleep. However he did not need to remember what it was called to know what its presence meant.

“Where did you get this?” he demanded.

For a moment he received no answer. His circumspection protocols revealed nothing. Until the mists swirled and his guest revealed himself.

The Silent King did not speak. Imotekh did not expect him to. Szarekh had always taken his kingly oath of silence comically seriously. There had been a time when Imotekh had enjoyed making him break that vow. Moans and cries of ecstasy counted just as much as words.

“You did not get it here,” Imotekh said, twisting the blossom between his claws. It took all of his meticulous control not to crush it. “It no longer occurs naturally. And I cannot imagine how you would have preserved an old specimen for this long.”

Imotekh had few memories of the time before the fires had taken him. Yet he remembered that once a general had been presented before his king after a great victory. A gauzy curtain separated him from the throne, but thanks to luck, chance, or some god's dreadful sense of humor an errant gust of wind had blown it aside. Just long enough for the general to see and be seen by the monarch he served. 

Imotekh had not been at all romantic, even when he had possessed a soul. He had simply been…enthralled. 

“No,” he continued. “I imagine you had one of your crypteks engineer it for you.”

Ensnared by the beautiful king who had done him the greatest possible cruelty…by loving him in return.

Imotekh released a static scoff through his vocal buffer. “What a sentimental waste of time.”

The affair would have been beyond scandalous, not to mention dangerous. Discovery would have meant disgrace for the king and execution for his sand-born lover. So they had devised a signal. A single white flower, left on the king’s balcony, and the general would know it was safe to enter his liege’s chambers. He had never found cause to object to the welcome he found there, whether it be sensual delights or simply calm. A rare thing for a general constantly at war. 

That chamber had been the only place in the universe he had truly felt safe. 

“Are you here to kill me?” Imotekh asked.

Szarekh’s glance fell. As much a sign of hurt as he had ever given. 

“That is what logic would dictate. Am I not in open rebellion against you?” Imotekh took a step towards the intruder. Where once the flower had promised unrestrained adoration, seeing it now only brought bitterness. How could it not when the king he had once worshiped had failed so utterly?

Szarekh closed the distance between them in three long strides, faster than Imotekh had calculated he would. He trapped Imotekh against the balcony’s railing, the only thing guarding them from a three-khet high fall. Rough stone ground against Imotekh’s back. Even more so than in life, the Silent King towered over him. Staring into Szarekh’s blazing oculars, he debated if he had a better chance of surviving gravity or the king’s wrath.

Or worse, his affections.

The Silent King’s slender fingers brushed against his hip as they moved to settle on his waist. He traced a line from the Stormlord’s shoulder, down his arm until their hands came together and began to intertwine. Sensory recollections flooded Imotekh’s neural buffer. Cool sheets, warm caresses, kisses both tender and desperate. To touch him after centuries, millennia apart was almost too sweet and painful to bear. 

Szarekh took hold of Imotekh’s chin and tilted his head back, bringing their faceplates close. 

“Don’t.” Imotekh’s anger, forged and tempered over countless years of war, suddenly felt brittle as glass. “Just…don’t.”

He pushed Szarekh away and pressed his hand against the balcony. The old memories burned in his core, but he shoved them down and strangled them with newly formed engrammatic chains. Not this. He did not want a cold mockery of the comforts they had once shared.

“You left,” he said, tone heavy with unspoken accusations. “You condemned us all, locked us away in tombs, and then you left. That doesn’t come without consequence.”

Szarekh recoiled. In that moment, Imotekh could have asked why? Had the guilt really been too much? Had Szarekh always been a coward, deep down? Instead, Imotekh turned away, unable to look at him any longer. Because of all the things biotransference had taken from the necron’s king, beauty was not one of them. 

Damn the weakness the gods cursed me with, even now, Imotekh thought.

“I heard it said that you had been killed by rivals while you slept.”

It took Imotekh a full half second to realize that it was in fact Szarekh who had spoken. The general nearly spun around, but he braced against the railing to keep himself in place. His fingers left furrows in the stones.

“It will pain me more than anything if it transpires that we must destroy each other, but still…I am glad the rumors were false. I am glad I got to see you again.”

“Selfish bastard.”

“Is selfishness not the right of kings?”

Imotekh could no longer resist turning, a retort forming in his vocal buffer, but Szarekh was already gone. Only a disturbance in the mist served as evidence he had been there at all.

It felt like something had been torn from him and his reactor had suddenly grown cold.

Imotekh shut down his optic array. He had known his resolve would be tested. That was the burden he had accepted when he had taken the phaeron’s throne. When he had challenged the triarchy. When he had denounced his one and only love. Their people needed someone to lead them out of this time of strife and darkness. There was no one else. 

Imotekh activated his gauntlet and watched as the white flower was consumed by flame.

[trivalentlinks]

quora (a q&a social media site, like yahoo answers, but higher quality) used to have a lot of questions of the form "how would you explain X to your grandmother?" Where X was usually some mathematics or physics concept. Things like:

How would you explain quantum mechanics to your grandma?

Category theory?

General relativity/space-time?

Bayesian statistics?

(this was before quora made it so that you got paid for asking questions that generated engagement, thus inundating the site with troll questions; back then quora had decent questions)

One of my friends, who had a fairly large following on quora, had two grandmothers (out of four, including step-grandmas) who had PhDs in mathematics. He used to love answering these questions like,

"I would say [extremely abstract explanation with analogies to far more esoteric concepts than the question was asking],

But my grandma's an algebraic topologist, so your mileage may vary."

One time some fellow quora users we knew irl asked him about this, since he's generally very sweet and opposed to trolling/being needlessly rude to people online, and someone asked him why he didn't feel bad about ignoring the spirit of the questions, and essentially poking fun at them in front of his large following,

And he said, "well the thing is that these questions are actually kind of rude to grandmas. they act like all grandmas are the same, just some blank slate for you to explain things to, when in fact grandmas can have quite varied interests and knowledge. I'm just responding to the questions' offensiveness in kind"

And then he mentioned how nobody asks "how would you explain [science concept] to your dad?", right?

Because society thinks of fathers as diverse and varied, so why aren't grandmas viewed as a similarly diverse group, when they actually are, and as someone with four grandmas (through divorce and remarriage), he would know (even though two of his grandmas apparently had very similar interests to each other, lol)

.

And I just. Those questions always left a bad taste in my mouth, too, but I had never thought to explain it this way (which I guess is why he was a quora influencer and I wasn't, lol)

I also had more than the normal number of grandmas (grandpa was double married (poly marriage was legal back then)) and like, yeah, each of my three grandmas had a very unique and interesting story.

Two of my grandmas ran away from home to go to university when their families didn't approve of women getting educations. One of these became an electrical engineer.

The other studied law (fully funded on government merit scholarship) and became an understudy to the equivalent of a justice of the supreme court (under the nationalist government, which unfortunately led to her being subject to denunciation rallies later on). She was also into martial arts and knew some gorgeous forms with a sword. (She was the grandma I was closest to because she raised me for a few years when I was a kid)

The other grandma (the one who didn't go to university, grandpa's first wife) was an avid storyteller who could keep all the neighbourhood kids entertained for hours from stories told from memory (her language had no writing system), and also a master at embroidery. She also easily won over my mother and my aunt's love even though they only met her in their early teens (my grandpa had hidden her from their mom, his second wife) and she didn't speak any Chinese, and my mom and aunt only spoke Chinese.

Like, yeah, grandmas are a diverse group and it does suck that society generally doesn't regard them as such

[aylacavebear]

She Thought She was Normal

Story Summary: Maria really thought she was normal, for most of her life. It was normal for people to have natural talent, she would tell herself the older she got. Many things came easy for her, and that was probably how their rivalry began when she was five and he was seven and she met the Winchesters. Little did either of them know that it wouldn't stay like that forever, both having a far larger destiny than they could imagine

Word Count: 2131

Please don't take my work. I'll post warnings for each chapter. Will eventually be 18+!

Warnings: Alcoholism, Hustling Pool, Injuries

----------------------------------------- Chapter 9

Maria spent the next three years traveling across the country, torturing numerous demons trying to get any information on the yellow-eyed demon that had taken her parents from her, but not one of them gave anything up.

Maria had changed the paint job on her father’s truck, her truck, to all black, wanting it to blend in as much as possible. She’d also given it a few upgrades over the years; better gas mileage and tweaked it so that it could go faster than it used to. She’d also installed a lock box in the bed of the truck where she kept her hunting supplies, as well as other supplies like spare clothes.

The nightmares had mostly stopped at this point, as had her grief. She hadn’t coped with it in the healthiest of ways, killing every monster she came across and finding solace at the bottom of a bottle most nights, whiskey her choice of numbing poison. Maria found that she had a knack for playing pool as well, eventually getting good enough to win games and become quite the pool shark. She used the money for motel rooms when she felt the need for a bed and a hot shower.

She’d found herself back in Sioux Falls, South Dakota one day in late August, driving with no particular destination in mind at the time. When she saw the familiar buildings from a life that seemed to have almost been a dream, she sighed as she turned down a side street, mindlessly heading to her Uncles, more muscle memory than anything. 

His place looked the same as she’d remembered it as she pulled into the driveway, turning off the engine. She hadn’t spoken to him since that night they’d burned her father’s body, the memory played in her mind for a moment of the night she’d driven away. A heavy sigh left her lips as she got out of her truck.

“Maria?” a voice asked from the doorway of his house.

She’d been looking at the ground, moving somewhat slowly when she heard his voice, “Hey Uncle Bobby,” she said with a small smile as she looked up at him.

For a moment all he could do was stare at her, relief, shock, anger, and curiosity all mixed in his expression. She was an adult now, twenty, and her birthday was only a few months away. She was in front of him, embracing him in a hug before he could even speak, “Sorry I never called,” she told him quietly.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, kid,” he told her, hugging her back before the two went inside, “How you been?” he asked.

They sat in his living room, spending the next several hours catching each other up on their lives over the time she’d been gone. He didn’t even mind her having a couple of beers while he drank whiskey. When she excused herself, he called John, asking him to pass along to the boys that she had shown up at his place and was okay. It was the least he could do, knowing they’d been just as worried as he had been. John thanked him and agreed before the two hung up. Bobby debated asking her about the book she’d taken out of his safe but chose not to. He had also chosen to keep the package that had shown up at his doorstep four months after she disappeared, a secret as well. The instructions stated not to give it to her until she was twenty-one.

“So, you get a new number?” he asked when she returned.

“Yeah. I’ll leave it with you before I head out tonight,” she replied, sitting down on the couch and getting comfortable again.

“You’re not staying?” he asked, sighing.

“No. Heard about a werewolf a couple states over,” she replied casually, sipping her beer.

“Can you make me a promise kid?” he asked, looking over at her.

“What’s that?” she said, tilting her head a bit.

“Will you at least stop by again, for your next birthday? You’ll be twenty-one. Least I can do is get you something,” he replied with a small smile.

“I don’t see why not,” she chuckled.

“Wish you were staying longer,” he sighed.

“I’ll try not to be such a stranger,” she replied, looking out into the room at nothing in particular.

“You still didn’t promise,” he told her, raising an eyebrow.

She looked over at him and rolled her eyes, “Fine, Uncle Bobby, I promise I’ll be here on my twenty-first birthday,” she said, slightly sarcastically, but had meant it.

That had at least made Bobby feel better. He knew she’d keep her word, or at least hoped she would. She stopped drinking once her beer was gone though, needing to sober up before she headed out in a couple hours. Maria enjoyed getting to catch up with her Uncle and was thankful none of the Winchesters were there, wanting to leave before they had a chance to show up, even if they had no intentions to. 

The two bid each other farewell before she drove away while Bobby watched her from the driveway. He could tell she had shut her emotions away and had pulled away from everyone she’d known, even after three years. She’d left out how she’d turned to whiskey most nights, drowning out the memories and the pain just so she could sleep without the nightmares of that week. She hadn’t wanted him to worry but had no idea he saw through the facade she had put on in his presence. He didn’t know the details, but he’d been through enough grief in his life to have an idea of how she was coping with it. 

She took care of the werewolf, barely breaking a sweat, but was glad she’d gotten a motel room for the night. It had been an easy enough kill but the blood splatter required a shower and a change of clothes. As she sat on the bed, brushing her damp hair, her mind wandered to Sammy and Dean for a moment. She hadn’t thought about them since that night. Her gaze fell on nothing as she remembered the two of them, briefly curious as to what they were up to. A small smile came to her face, thankful she hadn’t asked her Uncle for their numbers. 

“Another day, another dead monster,” she said quietly before heading to bed for the night.

Over the next several months, past the holidays and into the new year, she was still interrogating demons for any clue on the yellow-eyed demon. She wanted to know not only who he was but what he was, knowing he wasn’t a normal demon. Maria also took care of random cases along the way. Her phone though, had gotten destroyed on the last case she took, and that wasn’t the only thing that had taken a bit of a beating. 

She groaned as she pulled off her flannel, then her shirt, barely able to raise her arm high enough to get it off after fixing her other dislocated shoulder against the motel wall. Her other arm had a gash four inches long on it. Thankfully it wasn’t deep. She went to the bathroom to clean up her wounds. As she glanced in the mirror she noticed the bruise forming on her cheek and her split lip.

“Stupid demon,” she grumbled as she turned on the warm water and grabbed a washcloth.

Maria cleaned up her wounds before bandaging her arm. Her whole body was sore after that fight and all she wanted to do was sleep, not even having the energy to drink that night. 

Again, she’d lost track of time, completely forgetting her promise to her Uncle, following yet another lead on the yellow-eyed demon. Before she knew it, another almost two years had passed. She was twenty-three, only a couple of months before her twenty-fourth birthday, and found herself in Palo Alto, California. The drive she had been on had been a long one so she got a motel room for the night before heading to the local bar near the college. 

It was a Friday night and the place was packed with college kids, most of them around her age. She wasn’t paying much attention to any of them when she heard a voice to her left, “Sis?’

She felt goosebumps run down her body hearing that word before she turned to look at the man who had spoken to her. His hair was short, but also with a little length to it, and even with his age, she saw that little twelve-year-old boy in his eyes, “Little brother?” she asked, wanting to make sure.

He smiled and fought back tears at seeing her. There was no mistaking that jet-black hair of hers, even if it was longer now, laying over a red flannel, even if it wasn’t the same one from their childhood, “How have you been?” he asked, pulling her up and into a hug. 

She was a bit shocked at his strength and his height. He was almost a foot taller than she was now when he’d always been shorter than her before.

“Who’s this?” a female voice said before Maria could answer his question.

Sam let her go, and wiped away the couple of tears near his eyes as he put his arm around the woman who was now next to him, “Jessica, this is Maria, my little sister,” he told her.

Jessica smiled at her, “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she told Maria before she pulled her into a hug.

Maria was surprised but hugged the woman back, “Uh, nice to meet you,” Maria replied, before she pulled away from the hug, fighting all the emotions that had begun to surface.

Sam kissed Jessica on the cheek as Maria just watched the two of them curiously for a moment before the woman walked over to a group of people a few tables away, “So, how you been sis?” Sam asked her again as he sat down at her table.

“Uh, good…” she replied before she too sat down across from him and looked up at him.

“What brings you to Cali?” he asked her, sipping the beer he’d brought over with him.

“Honestly, not sure really. I was just driving and needed to stop for the night,” she replied, and glanced around the bar, looking for his brother and father.

“They’re not here,” he told her, figuring out quickly who she was looking for.

She looked back at him and tilted her head a bit, confused, “You’re hunting alone?” she asked.

Sam laughed a bit at that one, “I stopped hunting. I’m going to college to be a lawyer,” he told her, “Jess is the love of my life,” he added, looking over at the woman and smiling.

Maria glanced at her before looking back at Sam, “Well, you’re smart enough for it,” she chuckled.

Jessica gave the two space for the night as they caught up on each other’s lives. Sam explained that he and John had gotten into numerous fights over the last few years when it came to Sam wanting to go to college and stop hunting. It had eventually boiled over to where John had told him that if he left, he wasn’t to come back, and he hadn’t looked back, especially after he’d met Jessica, whom he called Jess.

Maria stayed in town over the weekend, hanging out with both Sam and Jess. It was a feeling of family she hadn’t had in a long time and the two easily slipped back into their routine of being siblings. Sam had explained that he hadn’t even spoken to his brother or father since he left. That had made her feel a little more comfortable about staying the weekend. Jess had taken several pictures with her phone of the two of them, and even some with the three of them. Sunday night had come too quickly for the three of them as they said their goodbyes. Sam made sure to write his number down for her and hide it in her glove box, even if she had programmed it into her phone.

“Hey, come back by around Halloween. I’m taking my tests next semester and it’d be nice to see you again,” Sam told her while she sat in the driver's seat of her truck.

“I’ll do my best, but I’m not making any promises,” she replied, chuckling a little.

“And next time, you can stay with me and Jess. She adores you,” he chuckled.

She rolled her eyes, “We’ll see, okay?” she replied.

“Yeah, we’ll see,” he said before she drove off, heading who knew where to fight god only knew what.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 10

Tag List: @deans-spinster-witch @kazsrm67

Link to the master list for this story.

[acrosstobear]

Mick’s Diary: Life as an F1 Reserve Driver

Hi everyone and welcome to my diary!

Over the season, I’ll be keeping you up to date with how we’re progressing trackside and at the factory, and some insight into what I get up to away from racing. So, here’s my first entry.

Since I joined Mercedes, I’ve been settling in great. Everybody is just so open-minded towards me, and that made me feel welcome from the first moment I stepped into the factory in Brackley. I’ve spent a lot of time there in these first months. It’s a very impressive facility.

I visited it back in 2014 as a young driver and was even sneaking in the simulator then, but everything is a lot bigger now than it was then! It is a state-of-the-art facility, very impressive in how things are structured and how every detail is thoughtfully taken care of. I’m still getting used to the level of preparation that you see here, and I am trying to soak up as much information as I can. Also, there’s still a lot of people I haven’t met but it’s been fun getting to know as many colleagues as I can.

My main focus up to now has been working in the simulator. Because I have raced a car under this new set of regulations, I have a good understanding of how to drive them. That has helped me in my role so far and hopefully added value for the Team. I will look to be an extra pair of eyes and resource to help with the development programme across the year.

The simulator team have been super kind to me and great to work with. It’s impressive to drive the sim because it’s just so advanced, and I have been pushing to do more. It’s not enough for me to just sit on the side-lines, I want to be helpful wherever I can. Of course, it’s not the real thing and I would love to be driving the W14!

It's also been fascinating working with Lewis and George. It’s an interesting period for me as I get to look over and work with two fantastic drivers, which you don’t always get to do. I’ve learned a lot about what’s important in terms of approaching race weekends; I feel like I’ve already gained so much knowledge to add to my skillset. I didn’t think I would have learned and gained so much so early into my role.

As a driver, you usually do not get to hear what is going on between all the engineers while you are out on the track, so listening in during the sessions has been extremely interesting. I was quite shocked at the season opener in Bahrain, I did not expect the sheer amount of exchange that happens.

You don’t know what you’re missing until you are actually part of it. What I really appreciate in working with those engineers is that they are genuinely listening to you and your opinion matters, and what is special from an emotional side is that many people who are working for the Team now were working here when my dad was driving.

Whilst we’ve all been working hard, it’s important to keep a balance and get some downtime. I went out early to Australia and went surfing. I wouldn’t say that I’m a great surfer, but I have to say that I have come to love it and I feel it is not just for fun but also very helpful for training. Even at home in Switzerland I do a lot of surfing. Yes, this may sound strange when speaking of a country that’s not famous for its beaches, but we have a surf spot close to where I live.

It can’t beat the adrenaline rush of motorsport though and I’m excited to get back to Brackley and continue our work. We’re working through quite a lot of simulator sessions before the next race in Baku so we will do some virtual mileage and be pushing hard to bring performance to the car.

To finish my first diary entry, I wanted to speak directly to you, the fans. Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome to the Team, and for the support you’ve shown me. It’s no secret that I would, like any driver, love to be out there racing. My current role though is helping me grow and develop, which is great.

[deathandnonexistentialdread]

Spoilers for: Jojo's Bizzare Adventure Steel Ball Run Chapter 7

I think you should have checked about the mileage before you decided to enter into the race. I'm actually shocked that these guys lasted as long as they did tbh. Engine optimization was not a thing back then.

I like how these guys knew when to back out of the competition. Know when to quit is just as important as the determination to keep going. Good on these guys.

Very irrelevant, but I love her outfit. The lavender like colour goes so well with the blue(hopefully cuffed!! i can't really tell) pants. I love the gloves, especially!!!

The female rep was great until they sexualised her. That part was really upsetting.

This looks like something Veronica from Archie would wear. I want to see this outfit in the Archie comic style. I think it would pretty good.

Why didn't the habitual burglar put on a disguise? I mean, the guy didn't even shave??

It's Sandman!!! He is actually running. I hope he doesn't get hurt. The way he is moving reminds me of Spiderman. Go boi Go!!!

I love how they show the depth of the cliff. It makes his skills all the more impressive.

Poor horsey, the recoil force must have hurt really badly. I hope all the horses get fed sugar cubes and apples and whatever they like. They deserve it.

We stan healthy competition here!!!

Sandman reminds me of Wammu from Battle Tendency. They respect the opposition and encourage them (unlike Diego and Kars). It's refreshing to see.

This panel reminds me of Naruto and Sasuke and how Naruto wanted Sasuke's respect without knowing he earned it already.

I have a feeling that Gyro already respects Johnny in his own way, and Johnny just doesn't know it.

I know it's a shortcut, but why are you going into the spiny looking forest???

Good reflexes? Spiny ball magic? Or Hammon? I'm not sure. Can Gyro use Hammon? I hope so. It would be so cool. I miss Hammon. The stands are very cool but..Hammon.

Hammon wielding cowboys! Let's go! Fingers crossed! People using Hammon and Stands together! Imagine the potential! Fingers crossed!

Ooo Polcolco has something up his sleeve?? Like Hammon. This is getting exciting!!!!

[leqclerc]

Who do you think will replace Hamilton at Mercedes? | Personally I think it is between Albon or Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Hello! 👋🏻

It largely depends on what they're looking for. Personally I think Alex would be a good option. His Red Bull stint didn't work out, but lbr he was thrown into a near-impossible situation with little experience and was expected to match an ascendant Max who'd been embedded in the team for some time already, knew what he wanted and knew Red Bull would give it to him. Plus all the pressure from internal figures (ahem Marko.)

That was some years ago at this point and I think he's grown massively as a driver and a person since then. His time at Williams in particular is letting him thrive and flourish, and you can tell how much everyone there appreciates him, his dedication and feedback. You could argue the optics are favourable because he keeps getting paired with rookies, but regardless of that, I think he's shown he's a dependable team player who can hold his own. Imo he became massively underrated as a result of the short-lived RB era and honestly I'd love to see him make a comeback with a top 3/4 team. He's actually one of the drivers I would've liked to see in Ferrari... well, before the bombshell dropped and we realized Ferrari's taking their lineup to an atomic level ajsdkfg

Now, this might sound kind of wild but hear me out: Checo. He's out of contract at the end of the season anyway, and obviously there's the question of Daniel possibly making a Red Bull comeback if he performs well at the sister team (I'm still calling it AlphaTauri) and they want him there. So for Checo it might be worth keeping an eye on the Mercedes situation. He raced Mercedes-engine powered cars for most of his career before the Red Bull move. I know recency bias means a lot of people don't rate him, but he's still a solid driver, he has years of experience (and probably some RB tea), he'd bring in points, and Mercedes comparatively probably wouldn't be such a pressure cooker. Iirc he also brings some big money personal sponsors. I think he more or less does what Carlos does, but in more difficult circumstances (let's not forget Ferrari made several adjustments to their cars for his sake, some of them detrimental to the overall performance, and he got some favourable strategies. Red Bull haven't been half as accommodating for Checo imo.) Plus I would trust him not to meddle internally more than someone like Carlos with his story-planting shit-tweeting entourage 🙄 I think they could get a few years out of him, at least until they deem Antonelli to be ready or someone else they're interested in becomes available.

Antonelli is a promising prospect and I'm sure they're keeping an eye on him as a potential long-term plan for Mercedes. Whether he'll be ready for a 2025 seat...depends. Maybe, if he has a mega season in F2. Mercedes tends to be conservative with rookies—George was in Williams for three whole seasons before he was promoted, something I think he felt kind of bitter about. So F2 -> Mercedes seat feels kind of uncharacteristic for them. They'd probably prefer to put him in a smaller team, at least for a season, to see how he adjusts to F1 first. Look at how Mick's time at Haas altered perceptions. Just four years ago, a lot of us thought a Mick-Charles lineup is on the cards, but now he's not even a top contender for the Mercedes seat—at least, not from what I've seen personally. If they bring in an older driver for 2025 then there's likely going to be more urgency to get Antonelli promoted asap. Whereas if they bring in someone younger, someone they can maybe get more "mileage" out of, then they have more time to put Antonelli through his paces and see if he's the guy for the job.

Other names I've seen thrown out are Carlos, Fernando and—oddly enough, Hulk.

I can see why Carlos would be an option, but then again, the optics might look a bit...strange if Mercedes is "settling" for the guy who just lost the seat to the driver they just lost. Unless they don't care about that, or don't have the luxury of caring about that right now. They went from holding all the cards to being under some serious pressure. And I think they're going to have to consider what they actually want in a driver now. Personally I think a Carlos/George lineup would have the potential for fireworks, but hey, if I'm not invested personally then it could be fun to watch asdkfjdfk

Fernando would generate buzz as the only other old guard champion on the grid, someone who is generally considered to be of Lewis's calibre. Fans and media alike were super impressed with his 2023 season and momentum is definitely on his side. But he's the king of chaos and has been known to fuck over teams for his own benefit and damn well knows this is his reputation and openly embraces it. And I'm not sure Mercedes would want to take a shot on someone they would see as volatile in that way. I think they really like maintaining this image of running a tight ship, having things neatly under control, no one going off script (just look at how traumatized Toto still is after the Nico and Lewis years, how he swore up an down that he'd never allow a situation like that to develop again.) George and Fernando seem to get along well outside of work, they've sure been seen socializing quite a bit, but obviously being teammates is a whole other issue and this could get spicy. 🔥🧯

But tbh I'm not sure a move like that makes sense for Fernando—unless I guess Aston fucks up astronomically this year and he's fed up with them. He seems pretty comfortable where he is—chummy with Lawrence Stroll and with enough freedom to be essentially the lead driver of the team since, well, Lance isn't exactly posing much of a threat. I mean Fernando literally carried Aston on his back in 2023. I'm sure he'll be keeping an eye on the developments but right now (Lewis jumping ship, Mercedes bleeding high profile staff) it would seem like a lateral move at best, with potentially more to lose than gain.

As much as I don't rate Hulk personally, I did see this one suggested on Reddit and... honestly? He did just have a pretty good season and for him it would be a clear step up so he'd probably have less demands and be more acquiescent than someone with more leverage. If they want to just get someone in as a stopgap until they deem Antonelli ready, someone to pick up points without outshining George... Pretty sure he's out of contract at the end of this season.

But another interesting aspect of all of this, coming to light with the news that the Mercedes Benz Group didn't approve Lewis's long-term ambassadorship, is that allegedly they're losing interest in the F1 team branch of their brand and generally aren't willing to shell out on it as much because they've shifted their focus to other aspects of the motor industry. Iirc this was already a talking point in 2020, but of course the team was still dominant at the time. If they fumble the 2026 regulations I can see the parent company pulling the plug on the racing team (Andretti buyout?????)

[ummick]

Mick’s Diary: Life as an F1 Reserve Driver

It’s been a hectic three months for our new Reserve Driver, Mick Schumacher. From plenty of simulator work to marketing appearances… and a little surfing in between! In this new series, Mick will be sharing his thoughts, feelings, and experiences throughout the year. First up, Mick discusses his first days at Brackley, what it’s like working with Lewis and George, plus a message for the fans.

Hi everyone and welcome to my diary! Over the season, I’ll be keeping you up to date with how we’re progressing trackside and at the factory, and some insight into what I get up to away from racing. So, here’s my first entry. Since I joined Mercedes, I’ve been settling in great. Everybody is just so open-minded towards me, and that made me feel welcome from the first moment I stepped into the factory in Brackley. I’ve spent a lot of time there in these first months. It’s a very impressive facility. I visited it back in 2014 as a young driver and was even sneaking in the simulator then, but everything is a lot bigger now than it was then! It is a state-of-the-art facility, very impressive in how things are structured and how every detail is thoughtfully taken care of. I’m still getting used to the level of preparation that you see here, and I am trying to soak up as much information as I can. Also, there’s still a lot of people I haven’t met but it’s been fun getting to know as many colleagues as I can. My main focus up to now has been working in the simulator. Because I have raced a car under this new set of regulations, I have a good understanding of how to drive them. That has helped me in my role so far and hopefully added value for the Team. I will look to be an extra pair of eyes and resource to help with the development programme across the year. The simulator team have been super kind to me and great to work with. It’s impressive to drive the sim because it’s just so advanced, and I have been pushing to do more. It’s not enough for me to just sit on the side-lines, I want to be helpful wherever I can. Of course, it’s not the real thing and I would love to be driving the W14! It's also been fascinating working with Lewis and George. It’s an interesting period for me as I get to look over and work with two fantastic drivers, which you don’t always get to do. I’ve learned a lot about what’s important in terms of approaching race weekends; I feel like I’ve already gained so much knowledge to add to my skillset. I didn’t think I would have learned and gained so much so early into my role. As a driver, you usually do not get to hear what is going on between all the engineers while you are out on the track, so listening in during the sessions has been extremely interesting. I was quite shocked at the season opener in Bahrain, I did not expect the sheer amount of exchange that happens. You don’t know what you’re missing until you are actually part of it. What I really appreciate in working with those engineers is that they are genuinely listening to you and your opinion matters, and what is special from an emotional side is that many people who are working for the Team now were working here when my dad was driving. Whilst we’ve all been working hard, it’s important to keep a balance and get some downtime. I went out early to Australia and went surfing. I wouldn’t say that I’m a great surfer, but I have to say that I have come to love it and I feel it is not just for fun but also very helpful for training. Even at home in Switzerland I do a lot of surfing. Yes, this may sound strange when speaking of a country that’s not famous for its beaches, but we have a surf spot close to where I live. It can’t beat the adrenaline rush of motorsport though and I’m excited to get back to Brackley and continue our work. We’re working through quite a lot of simulator sessions before the next race in Baku so we will do some virtual mileage and be pushing hard to bring performance to the car. To finish my first diary entry, I wanted to speak directly to you, the fans. Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome to the Team, and for the support you’ve shown me. It’s no secret that I would, like any driver, love to be out there racing. My current role though is helping me grow and develop, which is great.

[chussyracing]

why no team did well in canada (an opinion/personal rant about canadian GP)

Red Bull Racing: Max had a problematic Friday and partly also FP3 with the ERS system and more set up issue related to the high kerbs. He put it in p2 and won the race anyway. Checo was out in q1, he qualified p16 or wherever. He had a problematic race, contact with Pierre right at the start, damage on the car, getting stuck at the bottom of the field, going through a wet patch, spinning out and ending his race with a crash.

Mercedes. I'm not sure what exactly happened in the house of Mercedes but seeing the interviews makes me feel a bit uneasy. Everyone knows that Lewis would be set aside for important meetings about the future of the team. Of course George is and should be the priority in the team rn, because he will be their main driver from next season. George had a chance to win and messed up slightly. Then he lost another chance that the safety car gave him with an overcut. On the other hand, I'm glad they pitted when they had the opportunity with the pit window open thanks to Fernando, it was a good call to go for fresh tyres - although it was slightly confusing to put Lewis on hards with 10 laps remaining (maybe they didn't have new mediums for him at that point and didn't want to add those which are already a few laps used). Lewis' post race interview was frustrating to hear knowing he struggled so much when it looked like he could go on to win the GP at certain point. (Also George saying Lewis cost him the P2 with that overtake and losing a bit of time with that fight....)

McLaren. Lando started higher so to a certain point it makes sense he should get priority in the race. On the other hand as a team, currently p3 in the constructor standings, you should work together and try to get as many points as possible. When Mercedes got close behind, Oscar was defending and Lando drove just a bit faster to be about 2 tenths over the DRS range for Oscar which made him an easier target for a full team of coworking drivers behind him. And then after, during the last restart when Mercedes had freshest tyres after a double pit stop they did, Oscar was an easy target again. Max had a great start, he got about 3 seconds away from Lando in a short time. Oscar's radio said that the target is protecting Lando's position and defending from behind. He managed fairly well until the contact with George (where honestly, it was a bit opportunistic from George considering Oscar was ahead and closing the gap). And certainly you cannot be fully satisfied with Lando's race either knowing his team had the pitstop ready and knew about the safety car, but made him miss the pit entry while everyone behind pitted. That allowed them to warm up their tyres well before Lando came out slipping on the fresh slicks a lap later - something which cost him a position at least.

Ferrari. This one is obviously a disaster start to finish. Both cars out in q2 after a set up that favoured wet conditions for dry quali. Last time i felt happiness was when Charles got two positions at the start. Ever since he got the engine issue which just kept getting worse and worse each lap and he was losing over 1,5s on straights alone, he was slower than Williams and at one point even Sauber. It was like he had negative drs and his braking references were all of and changing to worse as he went by. It kind of made sense to do a call for hards (if only they did it a little bit later on when it wasn't supposed to rain anymore). It also made sense to reset the system as he stopped and hopefully resolve the issue (and again to be fair, it got slightly better). Sadly, the timing was very unfortunate with the weather conditions, he was losing too much and had to pit once again for inters. My personal opinion is that they changed his engine between friday and saturday (because he already has quite a lot in his pool of components and it makes sense to use an older engine with more mileage during a free practice to preserve the newer ones for the important sessions). One point to Carlos for not immediately calling for the positions to get swapped with Charles when e fell behind him. Carlos was over-performed by his teammate this weekend and that's ok, but he fell to p15 at the start and then later on gained one position over Logan. There was still a chance for points at least if only he didn't slip, spin into the grass and crash into Alex. The damage was too substantial to continue, and even if they could fix it, the chance for points was pretty much lost.

VCARB. Daniel started sooo high up in p5 or something?? And they fumbled it so bad. He had a false start and got himself a 5s penalisation for it which hurt his race a lot. As much that Yuki got in front of him at a certain point of the race. What the team did was encourage Daniel to fight for that position with Yuki directly. Ultimately, he was the one to miss the turn and spin out of points on his own, but it was heavily encouraged by the team's decision.

Alpine. Pierre had a bad start with the collision with Checo. That hurt his race significantly as he fell all the way behind Esteban who started much lower with his 5 places grid penalty from Monaco. As the drivers slotted behind each other, Esteban was ordered to let Pierre by in hopes he would catch up with a car in front (was it a VCARB? i cannot remember), which he didn't. At the end Esteban asked to change the positions back which is common practice - he didn't get a positive answer for that though.

Haas. They did such a good job with the initial call for full wets while others started on inters. Kevin climbed up all the way to p4 and Nico climbed out to p6 (or was it p8) after being out in q1 the day before. Then they stopped Kevin to change to inters (once again a good call) and it went down from here. They didn't have tyres ready for the pit stop and he lost out a lot of time in pits. Nico was left out to die on the wets basically and when he pitted, he already lost a big part of what he gained by then.

Sauber. What a bad weekend at the start with two crashes by Guanyu and a spin from Valtteri. As if that wasn't enough, they had to change the spec of their wins to a different one which is contradictory with the parc fermé rules - that gained them a pit lane start for both drivers. They were fighting at the back of the field and went through another horrendous pit stop which killed any idea for points for the team.

Aston Martin: probably the only team that didn't mess up too bad. Lance has been doing relatively well, only touched the wall of champions once in quali and was doing very well during the race. Fernando has been coming out of two terrible weekends, he seemed to be doing like a fish in the sea with the wet and colder conditions in Montreal. If his team did a bit better job in the pit stops, he wouldn't have lost a position on track in favour of Lewis (because Mercedes had a great pit stop).

Williams: oh dear, if the missing chassis and spare parts from 2023 cars weren't enough, then this race sure was. The quali was quite good to them, both got out of Q1, Alex even got into Q3. There was a slight chance of getting into points with both cars seeing they had the pace at the start of the race. Sadly, Logan didn't have too good of a start. Logan crashed slightly and caused a YF. He could continue though. Later on he crashed again and it ended his race and neutered the pace for the rest of the field. Alex was unable to do anything to avoid the collision with Carlos who spun out in front of him and the contact ended his race as well and brought out another safety car.

TLDR: no team can be seen as a winner, although McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin all did pretty very well.

As a fan of course I like a bit of unpredictability and getting proved wrong when I was to guess a result of a race. I love LOVE multiple winners, as many as possible in a season. The rest though? The visibility on the first lap, the multiple cars crashing out... that's not it.

[thecargays]

5 Sleeper Cars You Never Considered

5. 1997-1999 W210 Mercedes Benz E300 TurboDiesel

We’re starting this list with a lesser known beast, at least in North America. From 1997-1999, Mercedes Benz produced the W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, featuring the OM606, inline 6, turbocharged diesel making a whopping 170 horsepower and 240lb-ft of torque. Granted, it may not be much of a sleeper in stock form, but the W210 E300TD hides a monster underneath it’s hood. Daimler’s OM606 in turbocharged form is known to reliably make big power, and is colloquially known as the diesel 2JZ. Simple mods, like a piggy back ECU, can easily unlock up to an extra 100 horsepower and torque; while more impressive, big turbo builds are known to get into the 600 club with ease. 

While more common in Europe and Asia, a sedan variant of the W210 E300TD was brought to the US, and can be found anywhere from $6,000-$10,000 in 2023 depending on mileage and condition. Values are starting to climb as the aftermarket community is realizing the tuning potential of these robust engines, so I’d keep a keen eye out for a good deal on one before they become subject to the drift tax. 

4. 2009 Chevrolet HHR SS Panel Van

Made for just a single model year, the Chevrolet HHR SS Panel Van is on the short-list for becoming a collector car. Largely a product of the age of the nostalgic, classic recreations of the early 2000s, GM found it fitting to add the proven Cobalt SS powertrain to the HHR platform. Featuring the familiar, 260 horsepower, 260lb-ft torque, Ecotech Turbo-4 and 5-speed manual, the HHR SS was a sleeper right out of the box. Factoring in the significant aftermarket support, the practicality of a panel van was the pièce de résistance of the HHR platform. 

With the HHR SS Panel being sold only in 2009 and in extremely low quantities, it’s a challenge to find any for sale. Don’t be surprised to see figures over $20,000 for a decently maintained example. 

3. 2019 Buick Regal GS 

While not the “sportiest” option on this list, the 2019 Buick Regal GS offered a middle-of-the-road option in the mid-size sport sedan class. With a 3.6 liter V6 making 310 horsepower and 282lb-ft of torque mated up to a 9-speed automatic driving all four wheels, it wasn’t exactly a slouch. From the factory, it offers 5.4 second 0-60 sprints, making it a solid stoplight racer. Its Buick nameplate, poor marketing, and lack of aftermarket support led to few sales, and even fewer knowing the significance of the “GS” badging. This makes for an ideal, under-the-radar sleeper. 

Being a newer model on this list, it’s not uncommon to find a Regal GS selling for over $30k, especially with lower mileage. 

2. 2017-2020 Lincoln MKZ 3.0TT AWD/2017-2019 Ford Fusion Sport 

The Lincoln MKZ 3.0TT AWD and Ford Fusion Sport share a spotlight on this list, just as they shared most everything else. Built on the same platform, there are only a few key differences between the models. The 2017-2019 Fusion Sport was largely a parts bin special, featuring brakes from the Ford Edge Sport, adaptive suspension from the shared MKZ, and Ford’s widely used 2.7 twin turbo, Ecoboost V6 driving all four wheels. This produced an impressive 325 horsepower and 380lb-ft of torque, competent handling, and total sleeper status as the general public would struggle to find the difference between the Sport, and the Fusions on their local rental car lot. The MKZ took it a step further, though, using Ford’s 3.0 twin turbo V6, cranking out 400 horsepower and matching torque from the factory. Similar to the Fusion, the MKZ 3.0TT AWD is hard to separate from its hybrid and lower trims commonly used for Uber Black, but it’s proven itself to be a straight line beast. From the factory, the MKZ would hit 60mph in 5 seconds flat, and on to a 13.5 second quarter mile. With just a few supporting mods and a tune, these cars make enough power to shave a full second off of those times with ease, provided you don’t snap an axle on the launch. If you’re a glutton for torque steer, the engineers at Ford thought it’d be fun to offer the same, 3 liter, twin turbo, V6 powertrain with front wheel drive, albeit with 50 less horsepower. 

Being produced until 2020, the MKZ is another newer entry on the list, and prices tend to range from $25k-40k depending on mileage, trim, and options. While offering fewer luxury features, the Fusion Sport is typically more budget friendly, ranging from $18k-30k.

1. 2007 Mercedes Benz R63 AMG

Yes, Mercedes Benz earned two spots on this list, but I assure you, this is well deserved. While it’s up for debate as to what car segment the R-Class belongs to, it’s commonly referred to as a minivan. Having three rows of seats, a slightly elevated driving position, and being optimized for luxurious family cruises, it’s hard to imagine how this made it to the number one spot on our list. Enter the R63 AMG. The mad scientists in Stuttgart crammed the iconic 6.2 liter, naturally aspirated, M156 V8 under the hood. It made 503 horsepower and 465lb-ft of torque, driving all four wheels via the AMG Speedshift 7G-Tronic 7 speed transmission. Despite being a heavyweight at over 5000lbs, the R63 rocketed you and your 5 additional passengers and their luggage to 60mph in around 4.5 seconds. Aside from the AMG badging, the R63 is as inconspicuous as they come, that is until the roar of the V8 comes screaming past you at over 7,000RPM. 

Finding an R63 is tricky. With only 200 made for one model year, they tend to sell between $30-$50k according to the listings on Bring a Trailer. 

[aroundtheworldin214days]

July 4, 2023 - Day 190

Hubbard’s Glacier, Alaska

In the comments section “easyasgoingtothedentist” asked the following question so I thought I would try and answer. My response is probably too long but I wanted to give it a go so here it is.

Question = “It’s hard to believe you have been on this journey for half a year now. With one month remaining, would you reflect on your favorite places and where you would return to? Any comments on the world atmosphere post-Covid which you have experienced? How about any interesting people you have met on the ship? Which ports did they embark? What nationality were they? It has been really fun to read of your escapades. Thank you. Oh- and could you please post a map of the rest of your ports-o-call?”

Thank you for your note. I appreciate that someone is actually looking at this. It is hard to answer your first question because there have been so many but let me give you a few statistics before I try.

On this trip we have visited 44 countries with 117 stops in different cities. I keep track of how far we go each day and the two screenshots below show my mileage markers. To date we have traveled 51,430 miles and have 7,195 miles to go for a total voyage of 58,625 miles. As far as the rest of the voyage we will be visiting Sitka, Ketchikan, Prince Rupert, Victoria, Astoria, San Francisco, Cabo San Lucas, Zihuatanejo, Puerto Quetzal, Puentarenas, Cartagena and Great Stirrup Bay in that order. We weren’t allowed to land in Peru or Myanmar because of political unrest and missed Kodiak Island and Hubbard’s Glacier because of weather. Because of CoVid we were the first cruise ship to return to many of the ports and there were extremely happy to see us. Bands, dancing and big welcome signs were common. Many of these places depend on the tourist business and there were many closed businesses and restaurants that didn’t survive.

The average age of people on the ship is 72, the oldest is 92 and the youngest is 23. Five people have died during the voyage, there was one helicopter evacuation because of a heart attack, there have been 8 people that have broken arms, legs and wrists because of falls and 2 couples have been kicked off the ship because of misbehavior. The ship doesn’t advertise these events so there may have been more but these are the ones I know about.

Three hundred and fifty of the Around The World passengers got on and will get off in San Francisco. Fifty seven got on and off in Miami and NewYork. Half the passengers are from the US, 25 % from Canada and the rest from other countries including Switzerland, Germany, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Holland, Israel, Mexico, Columbia, Turkey and two Ukrainians. The passengers are fairly affluent with representation from all races, colors and nationalities. Most are retired but some still working a little. The professions include medical Doctors, lawyers, engineers, book authors, a retired bus driver, a police detective, a tobacco factory owner, university professors, bed and breakfast owners, medical laboratory technicians, the owner of a Canadian lumber company, the chief architect for Home Depot, high school superintendents, a physiologist and many more that I don’t know.

The crew is even more diverse. The Captain is from Croatia and most of the officers from Eastern Europe. There are only about 8 of the crew that actually work for the cruise line the rest work through a contract company and are mostly Indian, Philippino and Indonesian. The chef and ship manager are French.

As far as places I would like to go back to there are many so let me just pick one or two from each continent. The highlight of the trip was Antartica. Amazing scenery, amazing animals and absolute desolation. In South America it would be Punta de Este, Uruguay followed by Puerto Monty, Chile and Recife, Brazil. In Africa it would be the Seychelles followed by Cape Town, South Africa and Walvus Bay, Namibia. In the Middle East it would be Muscat,Oman. Dubai, of course, is great but it is just a big international city. In South Asia it would be Columbo, Sri Lanka. In the Far East all of Japan was great but if I had to pick it would be Hakodate and Kobe, Japan followed by Ha Long Bay, Vietnam and Singapore.

Politically my biggest surprise was how strong the Chinese influence is in many of the countries especially West Africa. The situation in these countries is very sad. It is to much to discuss here but basically the vast majority of people live in extreme poverty with the few people in power selling off the resources of the country to China to enrich themselves. The Chinese then move their people in to gain land and resources at the expense of the local population.

Another surprise and disappointment was what I saw in San Diego and San Francisco. The downtown streets are lined with tents and cardboard boxes housing the homeless. There were many many more than I saw in even the poorest countries we visited. I am not going to get into the reasons I think this is happening but there is definitely something wrong in these cities and it needs to be fixed.

[optimusphillip]

OptimusPhillip Reviews – Transformers: Power of the Primes Grimlock

I cannot believe that it’s been five years since Power of the Primes launched. It feels like just yesterday that I was scrambling to get all five of the new Dinobot toys that were coming out. Since then, we’ve got Studio Series giving us new Leader Class versions of all the original Dinobots as part of their ‘86 movie assortment, and now Legacy has recently announced a new set of combining Dinobots in the Core Class price point. Between these two new sets of Dinobots, it seems like the Power of the Primes versions have become something of a distant memory. But before they fade away completely, I’d like to take one last look at them to see if they hold up, or whether they really are best left in the past. And to start things off, we gotta look at Grimlock.

Dinosaur Mode

Grimlock transforms into a Tyrannosaurus rex, very much inspired by his Generation 1 toy. He is cast predominantly in gray plastic, which does have a swirling element to it. I don’t know the exact purpose of this effect, I presume it’s some attempt at a metallic effect. Whatever the case, it is an interesting look, though it does give me flashbacks to Gold Plastic Syndrome. The other predominant color is gold, but it’s not just gold plastic or even simple gold paint. The neck and midsection are cast in colorless translucent plastic, with gold paint applied to the inside. This is a clever way to recreate the layered effect of the original Dinobot figures, who had clear plastic layered over gold chrome parts. Though given clear plastic’s reputation for fragility, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the toy’s longevity.

Not all the gold is done this way, however. Standard gold paint can be found on the tail, hips, and toes. There’s also red paint on the front of his hips, along with his eyes, solidifying the fact that this is based on the G1 toy, rather than the blue-eyed cartoon model. This G1 homage is carried further by the sticker detailing on the torso, which carries the same kind of colorful circuitry designs one might find on an 80′s robot toy. However, as I said, these are Prime Wars Trilogy stickers, which means mileage may vary on adhesion and alignment.

While the deco is very G1, the shape of the T. rex does leave a lot to be desired. Because of the way this figure is engineered, everything from the hips down is heavily bulked up compared to most interpretations of the design. From what I can tell, these are compromises for the combination feature. On the G1 toy, the hips would collapse inward to give the robot torso clearance to fit around them, and the legs would fold up at the knee to form the tail. But the hips have to be fixed in place for the combiner hips to work, and the leg connection points make it impossible to hollow out the legs in the right way for them to fold up. So instead, we get very wide dinosaur hips, and a giant block of leg that’s trying to look like a tail. It’s unfortunate, but not the end of the world. I still think he looks very powerful and imposing from most angles.

In terms of articulation, Grimlock’s head can tilt up and down over a 90 degree range. His jaw is hinged, of course, and his shoulders are on ball joints, though the way the socket is cut means they can only point downward. Hips swivel 360 on a ratchet, and also move in and out if you can get him to balance. Knees are double-jointed with a mushroom peg thigh swivel, and the tail can move up and down on a ratchet. Altogether, he has a pretty decent range of motion, and can even assume the more modern T. rex stance, though I personally think he looks best Godzilla-style.

Conversion

If you’ve ever messed with a Grimlock toy, then chances are you know how this figure transforms. Open the dino chest and flip the head back, bring the robot chest up, and split the tail to form the legs. It’s not exactly the same, however. The torso splits down the middle and the two halves pivot up instead of just pivoting up in one piece, and like I said, the legs don’t unfold at the knee, but instead the tip of the tail just folds back to form a heel. But really, it’s about what you’d expect, which means that isn’t a whole lot to it. There really isn’t anything else I can say, it’s just... another variation on the classic Grimlock transformation. If that’s what you’re looking for, then you probably won’t be disappointed in this regard.

Robot Mode

While not an exact match to his G1 character model, this figure is unmistakably Grimlock. He has the colors, the shapes, even the backpack is exactly what you’d expect from a Grimlock, though there is an additional piece of kibble on the back of his waist, due to the combiner gimmick.

As in dinosaur mode, this figure is specifically meant to homage the original Grimlock toy, and this is most visible in the head. Unlike the cartoon, the visor is red, and unlike the comic, the ear pieces stick straight upward. It’s a dead ringer the G1 Grimlock toy’s head.

More toy referential detail can be found in the surface detailing on his body, particularly on the torso and waist. Comparing against pictures of the G1 toy, every detail I can see is recreated here. They even molded in the exposed screw hole in his belly, which is an insane level of attention to detail.

Proportionally, this mode is probably where Grimlock looks best. The narrow hips and wide chest give him a very powerful look, like he’s been hitting the gym every day. The thighs do look a little scrawny if you look too closely, and that will become a problem later on, but for now, Grimlock looks pretty damn swole, and it’s a look that I think suits him. He looks the part of a big bruiser-type character, which is exactly what he’s supposed to be.

The robot mode also reveals more sticker detailing, this time on the shins. Once again, these stickers are meant to mimic detailing from the original toy. The stickers on the feet are missing, and the shape of the shin stickers is off, but it’s a surprising attention to detail. They’re still the cheap Prime Wars stickers, however, so they are prone to peeling off or being misaligned, especially with how close the stickers are to the edges of the surface.

Grimlock may look the part of the G1 toy, but the articulation has been improved greatly. The neck is on a ball joint, which really highlights how expressive the face sculpt is. The arms are the dinosaur legs and retain all the same articulation. The waist swivels on a ratchet, though it is restricted by the back kibble. Universal hips, with ratchets, thigh swivels, and ratcheted knees that go to the 90. All told, he has exactly as much articulation I’d like for a Grimlock robot.

Grimlock, unfortunately, does not come with his G1 weapons. Instead, he gets a pair of Prime Armor bucklers that peg onto his arms. As Prime Armor, they include slots for you to insert a Prime Master, Matrix Core, or the included Dinobot Enigma of Combination. They look pretty cool as giant bucklers, and the Prime Master integration can be fun, but they’re basically just static pieces in this mode. They do have unintentional Mini-Con compatible pegs on them, though, so you can play around with that. Really, these pieces are intended to be combiner feet, with the Prime Master integration being secondary.

As I mentioned, this figure also includes the Dinobot Enigma of Combination. Essentially, this is a static mold of a Prime Master in spark mode, so it can be inserted into any piece of Prime Armor or replace a Leader Class Matrix Core. It even has the Titans Return head connector molded in the bottom, so it can be used on any figure from that line, or any later Headmaster release. Again, however, it is a static piece, so it doesn’t have any articulation... also, it looks nothing like a head. This particular Enigma is painted silver all over, with a red core exposed by a vertical cross-shaped opening. It looks pretty cool, and definitely fits with the other Dinobots, but being a static piece means it’s not very exciting.

In robot mode, Grimlock stands at around 7 inches tall with his feet flat on the ground, which makes him almost exactly as tall as Siege Voyager Optimus Prime. This is a little bit inaccurate, since Grimlock is consistently portrayed as being taller than Optimus. That said, I don’t recall him ever being depicted as standing head-and-shoulders over Prime, like the Studio Series version did, so in this case, it’s more of a pick-your-poison type deal. I personally like to have Grimlock and Optimus closer to equal footing, and while this may skew a bit too far in that direction, it works better for me than the Studio Series.

The same can’t be said of him and his fellow Dinobots. Since he’s a Voyager and the others are all Deluxes, they only come up to just below his shoulders. This is definitely not cartoon accurate, since the Dinobots were always shown to be the same size in robot mode. This is yet another compromise for the sake of the combiner, since he’d look a little ridiculous if his limbs were as massive as his torso. The Legacy version seems to be avoiding this problem by doing a six-member combination, similar to the Constructicons rather than a Scramble City mechanism, and of course the Studio Series version doesn’t combine at all. So if you want internally scale-accurate Dinobots, you do have other options.

Combination

The engineering that went into the formation of the Volcanicus torso is admittedly somewhat clever. The entire hip assembly swings down and connects to the robot chest, and the arms curl up to form the combiner mode shoulders. Not only that, but Grimlock’s shoulder wings actually serve a purpose here, connecting to the robot shoulders to hold the shoulder assembly in place. The dinosaur head folds down to form the combiner chest, and a series of panel flips brings Volcanicus’s head out of Grimlock’s torso and shores up the gaps it would’ve left.

Unfortunately, for as clever as the transformation process is, the torso mode itself looks kind of weird. Grimlock’s bodybuilder proportions now work against Volcanicus, as the torso has widened out substantially while the legs remain mostly unchanged. As a result, you’re left with a robot with incredibly wide shoulders and a ridiculously narrow waist, which makes him look... goofy.

There are ways to mitigate this. Grimlock’s hips and knees can still move, so you can spread the legs out a lot more than the instructions suggest. You can also attach some leftover Prime Armor hands to his flanks and fill out his midriff, which is actually a clever bit of spare parts integration that I would’ve liked to see other toys implement. But this can only get you so far when A.) the shoulders still sit a good inch away from the bulk of the torso, and B.) the hips still pivot from the same point under his neck.

It’s unfortunate, especially when you see how good he would look if the proportions were a bit better. I really like the design of the head, looking like a Grimlock wearing a royal battle helmet, complete with gold spires on the front evoking the Crown of Leadership from the comic. It looks like what I’d expect a Dinobot combiner to look like. And when you put the Prime Armor hands on his sides, the torso has a really nice V-shape to it, plus the way Grimlock’s shoulders and back wings come together to form extra torso bulk looks really solid. There just needed to be a way to bring the shoulders in tighter and bulk out those hips. As it is, Grimlock comes off as one of the weaker Prime Wars combiner torsos.

There is one last feature to discuss, which involves the Enigma of Combination. Folding the dinosaur head forward and opening the jaws reveals a slot for it, or any other Power of the Primes gimmick item. It doesn’t really do anything, it’s just for show, but it does give you a bit of display option, and a bit of play option if you use your imagination.

Final Thoughts

For as critical as I’ve been, I still consider this a worthy Grimlock figure. Sure, he suffers a bit for the combining feature, and the combined mode itself is rather weak, but I think the added play value of being a combiner torso does offset a lot of his shortcomings. I personally have lots of fun with this guy, both solo and combined with his other Dinobots. Ultimately, it’s down to personal preference. If you want a full-size, cartoon-accurate Grimlock that comes with all his accessories, you’d definitely be better off getting the Studio Series version. If you want a combining Grimlock that’s still in scale with his teammates, you might want to wait and see how the Legacy Core Class version comes out. But if you want something in between those two extremes, Power of the Primes Grimlock might be worth seeking out if you can get him for a good price.

Okay, then. One down, four to go.

[sheppartonhyundai]

Exploring Shepparton Mazda Used Cars: Your Complete Buying Guide

 Shepparton Mazda offers a diverse selection of high-quality used cars, ideal for anyone looking for reliability and value without breaking the bank. With a solid reputation for customer service and a commitment to quality, Shepparton Mazda is a go-to dealership for used vehicles. In this guide, we’ll cover why Shepparton Mazdas used cars is a great choice, the benefits of buying used Mazda cars, and tips to make your car-buying journey smooth and enjoyable.

1. Why Choose Shepparton Mazda for Used Cars

Shepparton Mazda is more than just a dealership—it’s a trusted destination for quality vehicles in Shepparton and beyond. They specialize in Mazda, a brand renowned for reliability, innovation, and fuel efficiency. Here’s what sets Shepparton Mazda apart:

Certified Pre-Owned Options: Shepparton Mazda offers certified pre-owned Mazda vehicles that have been thoroughly inspected and serviced.

Transparent Pricing: The dealership maintains clear pricing on all vehicles, so you know exactly what you’re getting.

Warranty and Service Packages: Many vehicles come with extended warranties and service packages, ensuring peace of mind.

2. Advantages of Buying a Used Mazda

Mazda vehicles are known for their exceptional quality and longevity, making them excellent choices even when purchased used. Here’s why a used Mazda can be a smart investment:

Durability: Mazdas are built to last, meaning they retain their quality over time.

Affordability: Buying used allows you to enjoy Mazda’s quality and performance at a fraction of the new car price.

Eco-Friendly Option: Purchasing a used car is environmentally friendly, as it reduces demand for new manufacturing and helps conserve resources.

3. Popular Mazda Models Available as Used Cars

Whether you’re looking for a compact sedan or a spacious SUV, Shepparton Mazda has a variety of options to suit different lifestyles and budgets. Some popular models include:

Mazda3: Known for its sleek design and impressive fuel efficiency, the Mazda3 is a popular choice among commuters.

Mazda CX-5: This compact SUV offers a blend of comfort, safety, and performance, ideal for families or those who need extra space.

Mazda6: With a stylish exterior and luxurious interior, the Mazda6 is a great option for those looking for elegance and performance in a mid-size sedan.

Mazda CX-9: A larger SUV that provides ample seating and storage, perfect for families and road trips.

4. What to Look for When Buying a Used Mazda

To ensure you make the right choice, there are several key factors to keep in mind when browsing Shepparton Mazda’s used car inventory:

Vehicle History Report: Always check the vehicle’s history for any past accidents, major repairs, or other issues.

Mileage: Lower mileage often indicates less wear and tear, but it’s essential to consider other factors like service history.

Condition of the Car: Inspect the interior and exterior for any signs of damage, wear, or corrosion.

Test Drive: A test drive is crucial to evaluate the car’s comfort, performance, and handling. Make sure it meets your expectations.5. Financing Options Available at Shepparton Mazda

Shepparton Mazda offers flexible financing options to help make your purchase more affordable. Here’s an overview of the financing process:

Pre-Approval: Get pre-approved to know your budget before visiting the dealership.

Loan Options: Choose from various loan terms and interest rates to suit your financial situation.

Trade-In: Shepparton Mazda accepts trade-ins, which can further reduce the cost of your used car purchase.

6. Tips for Maintaining Your Used Mazda

Once you’ve purchased your used Mazda, regular maintenance will keep it running smoothly for years to come. Here are some maintenance tips:

Regular Servicing: Follow the manufacturer’s service schedule to maintain performance and longevity.

Oil Changes: Regular oil changes are essential to keep your engine running efficiently.

Tire Care: Rotate your tires and check tire pressure to ensure even wear and better fuel efficiency.

Battery Maintenance: Test your battery and ensure it’s functioning well to avoid unexpected breakdowns.

Conclusin

Buying a used car from Shepparton Mazda allows you to enjoy the quality and performance of Mazda vehicles at a more affordable price. With a wide selection of popular models, transparent pricing, and financing options, Shepparton Mazda makes it easy to find the perfect vehicle for your needs. Follow these tips, and you’ll be driving away with confidence, knowing you’ve made a smart choice with Shepparton Mazda used cars.

[turboautoparts1]

How to Find a Reliable Source for Used Engines

Looking for used engines can feel overwhelming, especially when you're not sure where to start. With so many options out there, it’s crucial to know what to look for to make sure you’re getting a quality product at a fair price. Whether you’re trying to save money, restore a classic car, or just need a replacement engine for your daily driver, finding the right source is key. So, how do you know if you're buying from a reliable seller? Let’s break it down.

1. Start with a Trusted Dealer or Website

One of the easiest ways to ensure you're purchasing a good used engine is to go through a trusted dealer or website. Many reputable businesses specialize in selling used auto parts, including engines, and have been around for years. The benefit of working with a recognized dealer is that they usually offer warranties, customer service, and verified listings.

Before you commit, do a quick background check on the company. Look for reviews, ask friends, or search for any red flags online. If you see a lot of negative reviews or complaints, it’s probably best to steer clear.

2. Check for Certification or Testing

Not every used engine is created equal. To find a reliable engine, you want to make sure it’s been tested or certified. Many professional sellers will provide a report showing the engine has been tested for functionality and performance. Some may even have certification from third-party companies to ensure the engine meets certain standards.

If a seller is hesitant or unwilling to provide this information, it’s a warning sign. A trustworthy source will be transparent about the condition of their engines and provide all the necessary details upfront.

3. Compare Pricing, But Don’t Go Too Cheap

When shopping for used engines, it’s tempting to go for the cheapest option. While everyone loves a good deal, a price that’s too low might indicate that something’s wrong with the engine or that the seller isn’t reputable.

Compare prices from several different sources to get a feel for the average market value of the engine you're looking for. If one price is dramatically lower than the others, proceed with caution. In the long run, a cheap engine could cost you more in repairs and headaches than it’s worth.

4. Ask About Mileage and Vehicle History

Every used engine has a story, and it’s your job to find out what that story is. One of the key questions to ask when buying a used engine is about its mileage. An engine with lower mileage is likely to last longer and perform better than one with high mileage, but it also depends on how well the engine was maintained.

It’s also important to ask about the history of the vehicle the engine came from. Was it involved in an accident? Was it regularly serviced? These details can give you insight into the overall health of the engine. A seller who can provide detailed information about the engine’s history is more likely to be reliable.

5. Don’t Forget the Warranty

One of the biggest signs that you’re dealing with a reputable seller is if they offer a warranty on their used engines. A warranty is basically the seller standing behind their product, which means they’re confident in its quality.

Be wary of sellers who don’t offer any kind of warranty. Even a short-term warranty is better than none. It’s your safety net in case something goes wrong after you’ve made the purchase. If a seller is confident enough to provide a warranty, that’s a great indicator of reliability.

6. Get Advice from a Mechanic

If you're not an expert on engines, it’s always a good idea to consult with a mechanic before making your final decision. Mechanics deal with used engines all the time and can help you determine whether you’re getting a good deal or walking into a potential disaster.

They can also give you advice on what type of engine would work best for your specific vehicle and situation. Sometimes, you might need a specific part or model, and a mechanic can guide you through those decisions.

7. Trust Your Gut

Lastly, trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right or the seller seems too eager to close the deal, take a step back. A trustworthy seller won’t rush you or pressure you into buying before you’re ready. If anything feels off, it’s better to walk away and keep looking.

There are plenty of reliable sources for used engines, and it's worth taking the time to find one that you can trust. Your engine is the heart of your vehicle, and a good purchase now can save you a lot of trouble in the future

Conclusion

In conclusion, finding a reliable source for used engines doesn't have to be difficult if you follow these simple guidelines. By sticking to trusted dealers, asking the right questions, and ensuring the engine comes with a warranty, you’ll increase your chances of finding an engine that’s both dependable and affordable.

[perfectriders]

Unleash The Beast Yamaha R15s Dominance on The Track and Streets

Yamaha is the king of fast motorcycles in India. It offers a wide range of sports bikes, many of which are loved by Indian customers of all ages. R15 is one such motorcycle that has been a bestseller for many years.

Since its first launch in 2008, the Yamaha R15 has undergone many changes, but one thing that does not seem to change is its lineup DNA which has sheer power and engineering masterpiece.

The Yamaha R15 was the first bike that we could lean into turns on without the foot pegs touching the ground and causing us to lose balance. When Yamaha was launched, social media didn’t exist, and neither did the selfie epidemic, but its dominance was widespread on Indian tracks and streets.

Yamaha R15 V4: Expert Review From Perfect Riders

Back when it was initially released, the Yamaha R15 revolutionized the accessibility of performance biking. Now, with the launch of the R15 V4, does it still have the ability to be the no. 1 bike? Let’s find out whether the R15 V4 can still deliver that same level of excitement today.

 1. Design:

The Yamaha R15 Bike has a cool design inspired by its larger R-series motorcycles. It looks sleek and aerodynamic, with sharp lines and a strong fuel tank. It has modern LED headlights and a sporty back. The two-tone colours and high-quality finishes make the R15 V4 stand out. Yamaha has managed to make the R15 V4 look stylish and perform well at the same time.

2. Engine, Mileage & Performance:

The Yamaha R15 V4 is a popular 155cc motorcycle known for its sporty design, strong engine, and easy handling. We like how smoothly the engine delivers power and how quickly it can accelerate. The bike has a liquid-cooled, single-cylinder engine that makes about 18.4 HP and 14.1 Nm of torque. Depending on how you ride, you can get good mileage with the R15 V4, with riders getting between 40 and 50 km.

Know more: Blue Square dealers in Bangalore.

3. Handling & Ride Quality:

The Yamaha R15 V4 is popular because it is comfortable to ride. It has a strong frame and front suspension for stability and easy handling. The back suspension absorbs shocks well for a smooth ride, even on bumpy roads. The seating position is comfortable for city riding and long journeys. Overall, the Yamaha R15 Bike is a great bike for fun and comfortable riding.

4. Comfort:

The Yamaha R15 Bike is focused on being fast and sporty rather than the riding position is good for quick turns. It’s good for city riding, but you might need breaks on the highway. Overall, the R15 V4 is a good choice for riders who care more about speed and excitement than comfort. 

5. Features:

Get ready for an exciting ride on the Yamaha R15 Bike. It has a cool design inspired by its R-series and a powerful 155cc engine that is great for speed. It’s not just fast, though—the bike is also comfortable and easy to handle. It also has modern features like a digital display and different riding modes. Overall, the R15 V4 is a stylish and fun choice for riders.

If you are looking for a powerful bike that can handle highways and city roads alike, then you should buy the R15 V4. Get a test ride at your nearest Blue Square dealers in Banglore, Perfect Riders, and experience the new features first-hand before you make a choice.