What We Did on Our Holidays. Part 2: Getting Ready to Rally

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was delighted to to be reunited with an old feline friend at the end of July. The 'cat' in question was a 1966 Jaguar E type, or XKE as it's know in the US, that sojourned in a garage in Southern California for a decade. The reason for the Jag's hibernation are complex and I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say that about 18 months ago I made the decision to wake it up from its overly long slumber and prowl around with it on the roads of the Pacific North West.

Now when a car has been laid up for such a long time, even when it's been kept warm, dry and started on occasions, it can't just have a battery charge and be off and running as normal. Rubber and plastic parts go brittle and degrade, metal to metal components get gummed together, fuel degrades, hydraulic systems leak and fail, tyres harden and generally everything becomes stiff and creakey. So back in the spring of 2008 I asked friend and ace Jag mechanic, Mel Muzio, to bring the car back to life. My intention was to compete in the 2009 NW Classic Rally held in Oregon every August. I though this would be a good goal to aim for so work was duly started. The process was meticulous, methodical and turned out to be much more involved that I imagined. Here's an abridged account of the story:

Exterior
The first job was to replace all the sealing rubbers which had become brittle and useless. The general consensus is that they last for four years. Great! I sourced a supposedly superior brand in the UK but now, a year and a half after being fitted, are already showing signs of degeneration. Oh well...! The chrome bullet mirrors and roof antenna had become quite tarnished and were replaced with new shiny items.

New mirrors looked fantastic and unlike the originals which could never be adjusted correctley, these actually worked

Brakes, Suspension and Handling
Truth be told, the Old Girl never handled that well. It didn't corner impressively, the steering was as vague as a politician making election promises and the brakes were mediocre at best and had a tendency to fade horribly. But now there were more problems. All the suspension bushes had cracked and broken up: this meant that both front and rear subframes had to be taken down and rebuilt (in the case of the rear, twice -I'll get to that): long and laborious jobs on the complex mechanisms. So while everything was apart I thought it sensible to make a few upgrades. I added much more efficient Wilwood four pot calipers to the front brakes and XJ6 series I front calipers and vented discs to the rear. Braided stainless steel hydraulic hoses were added to give a firmer feel to the pedal and in theory should last forever.

Oversize Wilwood four pot alloy brake calipers now pull up the car at the front


The rear brakes received an upgrade too: to balance the Wilwoods, Jaguar XJ6 front calipers were fitted. The disks are vented which helps keep heat away from the differential. The complexity of the rear subframe IRS suspension assembly can be seen -this is no haycart back axle as were most British and American sports cars of this vintage.

Now the car could stop properly, attention was turned to the suspension. Apart from new bushes throughout, I fitted a stiffer, adjustable, front anti-roll bar. When I first restored the car in the early 90's, I'd equipped it with much superior Koni shock absorbers. They were still in good condition so no modifications were needed in that department. After talking to numerous experts I declined to fit hard polyurethane bushes, uprated torsion bars or heavy duty rear springs as they can render the car undriveable by making it too stiff. This was a good decision as the overall feel came out just right. Solid aluminium rack mounts replaced the standard floppy rubber items: these parts vastly improve the precision of the steering and while they transmit a little more road noise back to the driver, I think this is a good trade off.

Solid aluminium rack mounts give the steering a much more precise feel. Parts and photo from Ray Livingston. Unlike claims by others, these items actually fit correctly and are truly 'bolt on' replacements.

The last item in the handling department was an adjustable torsion bar reaction plate that allows the front suspension to be lowered with relative ease (we dropped the front about 1" which gives the car a very mean look). There is a long, painful and expensive saga about this part. I can't relate it here as ultimately it's a tedious story and I'd run the risk of being sued. All I'll say is "Shame on you for selling junky dangerous products" to a California based purveyor of aftermarket Jag parts -you know who you are and karma will take its course. If you want to fit one of these parts, get an original from Rob Beere Racing in the UK. Finally a new set of Pirelli P4000 tyres was purchased to replace the barely worn but dangerously hardened Avons that I had originally obtained back in 1992.

Under the Bonnet
I did a few things under the bonnet, too. In addition to a general tune up, replacement of plugs and dodgy looking HT wires (it seems rats have an appetite for the plastic insulation -don't ask me why), the always marginal cooling was improved by fitting an aluminium radiator and matching header tank.

Aluminium radiator and header tank keep the cool cat cool

The unreliable contact breakers (points) were junked and a Pertronix electronic ignition system was fitted unobtrusively in the distributor. Engine breathing was improved with a ceramic coated (JetHot) exhaust manifold ("headers" in the US) and much more efficient ITG air filter. The latter does not look particularly period correct but I always hated the huge ugly 'dustbin' filter fitted by the factory and besides, the ITG system reveals some very cool looking ram stacks if the cover is popped off. The SU carbs were rebuilt and uprated neeedles were fitted to deal with the improved airflow. Finally, the center expansion boxes of the stainless steel exhaust system were removed and replaced with less restrictive Cherry Bomb glass pack mufflers which in addition to improving gas flow, give the exhaust a wonderfully deep sonorous note.


Ceramic coated headers improve exhalation and sound fantastic


Contemporary high efficiency air filter. It will not be loved by purists but I always hated the OEM setup


In any case if the foam cover is removed for display purposes, some very purposeful ram stacks are revealed

Interior
The interior also received a few modifications. The most significant was the fabrication of a retaining bar that permitted the fitting of competition 4 point quick release harnesses (design courtesy Chuck Anderson, Port Orchard, WA). The old lap only belts were downright dangerous and offered little or no protection. In addition the new Simpson belts look wonderfully retro.

Interior viewed from rear showing custom fabricated harness attachment bar


The Simpson 4 point competition harness is a huge safety improvement over original equipment lap belts; they look great too

The original British Radiomobile AM/Long wave (remember that, anybody?) radio was sent off for a service -up to then I could only receive religious stations on the AM band -perhaps somebody was trying to tell me something! It came back with FM replacing the defunct long wave band and a small input jack plug (subtly concelaed in the ash tray) that allowed for an iPod connection. All this is mostly academic as beyond 30mph all anyone can hear is the lovely song of the straight six motor but at least I can have a few wafts of music as I drive around town. The final touch to the interior was another safety feature: a nice period looking fire extinguisher installed in the passenger footwell.

Original British Radiomobile radio subtly converted to FM and now has an iPod connector


Fire extinguisher in passenger footwell is another safety feature

So how did the finished product turn out? You'll have to wait until the next post to sate your curiosity.

To be continued...

What We Did on Our Holidays. Part 1: Rocking Out

I'm still breathless after my summer's non-stop running around but as promised I'm going to dedicate a series of posts to my frolics of the past few months. My first trip was to the UK at the end of July. It was only for six days and included some business, a family reunion and party, a night out in London's West End and a rock concert. Even casual readers of this blog have probably realised that I've been a lifelong fan of Jethro Tull. So I took myself off to one of their gigs in Doncaster (yes, I know...!). JT were one of the acts in a stellar line up of dinosaurs that included The Strawbs, Steeleye Span, and Curved Air. Back in my youth, these were some of my favourite bands and it felt like 1972 all over again. Almost. Well it was quite a good concert. The music was excellent although the frailty of the flesh was very evident in some of the aging musicians and to say they had lost the bloom of youth was an understatement at the very least. Jethro Tull, however excelled. They had some temporary new blood in the form of the lead guitarist and drummer who seemed to invigorate the band. I seem to be collecting performances of their old warhorse, Bourée, so here's the latest for your enjoyment:


Jethro Tull at the Doncaster Dome, July 25th, 2009

Postcards fromThe Road. 3.

Sign spotted just off Interstate-5 between Tacoma and Seattle.

I'm still a bit backed up in other areas to complete a full post today, so here's a snapshot to make you smile. Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!

Rehydration

I'm so far behind on posting material it's ridiculous. Now autumn has arrived and I have a summer's worth of adventures to write about. I'll get to them all in due course. First, I'm pleased to say that my renal function has now normalised. Nothing to be alarmed out, it's just that on a recent trip to The Orient (you'll have to wait a day or so for the details) a combination of the temperature, humidity and salty food caused my body to modify the way aqueous fluids were excreted. Despite all my efforts, renal function slowed right down and I was grateful for having a good deodorant! Now I'm back in Seattle, my kidneys have started to do their job again. They were stimulated by a few bottles of this I bought at Narita airport:

Japanese sports/electrolyte drink that, despite its unappealing name, is infinitely better than Gatorade

And then of course a few units of my favourite beer helped things along:

Now why would I like something with a name like this...?

Problem sorted!

Postcards from the Road. 2.

Spotted on the way to a wedding (the bridegroom's name was "Love")

We wish the happy couple a peaceful and stable life together...!

About Time

Alan M. Turing, National Portrait Gallery, London.

I returned from another trip yesterday and to my amazement I found this email in my scarily overloaded inbox:

Thank you for signing this petition. The Prime Minister has written a response. Please read below.

Prime Minister: 2009 has been a year of deep reflection – a chance for Britain, as a nation, to commemorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before. A unique combination of anniversaries and events have stirred in us that sense of pride and gratitude which characterise the British experience. Earlier this year I stood with Presidents Sarkozy and Obama to honour the service and the sacrifice of the heroes who stormed the beaches
of Normandy 65 years ago. And just last week, we marked the 70 years which have passed since the British government declared its willingness to take up arms against Fascism and declared the outbreak of World War Two. So I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of
dictatorship; that of code-breaker Alan Turing.

Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt
of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ – in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence – and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.

Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and
the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.

I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.

But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to humankind. For those of us born after 1945, into a Europe which is united, democratic and at peace, it is hard to imagine that our continent was once the theatre of mankind’s darkest hour. It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so consumed by hate – by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other murderous prejudices – that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years. It is thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe’s history and not Europe’s present.

So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better.

Gordon Brown

Way to go, Gordon! I'd signed the Turing petition several weeks ago and forgotten about it. And news of the UK Government's contrition hadn't reached me while I was in foreign parts. While some would have liked the apology to go further, it's a start at least. Furthermore I'm astonished that the official response included writing to the individual petitioners who must have numbered in the tens if not hundreds of thousands. Nice work.

Still Crazy After All These Years

By some some combination of circumstances I can only attribute to such things as chaos theory, psychokinesis and Divine Intervention, MD&E is still posting after half a decade and is celebrating its 5th birthday. Yay!

Postcards from The Road. 1.

Seen on a car in Washington state (photo Olivia Morrow)

Now why do I doubt the veracity of the above statement (and I can assure the ladies the driver was not Brad Pitt)...?

Woodstock Again

To continue today's leitmotif, here are a few clips from Michael Wadleigh's Woodstock. Enjoy them before they are taken down from YouTube (or alternatively buy or download the movie).

Woodstock: Four Decades On

Forty years ago this weekend nearly half a million people of my generation assembled in the fields of Max Yasgur’s farm, Bethel, upstate NY, for an “Aquarian Exposition” of peace, love and music. The rest, as they say, is history. I wasn’t there. I was however running around the home counties of the British Isles in my pre-undergraduate year absorbing as much popular music culture as possible. News of “Woodstock”, the Mother of all Festivals, travelled quickly across the Atlantic and when the eponymous film by Michael Wadleigh was released a few months later (actually I think it was 1970 in the UK) I rushed up to see it at one of the large screen cinemas in Leicester Square. To this day I still have some reservations about the musical choices made by the director but there is no question about the pioneering and cineamatographic techniques which are still stunning and also that film accurately captures the zeitgeist of that time.

Now, when I watch Woodstock I must confess to feeling quite emotional. The music defined an era and it's wonderful that many of the performers are still going strong viz Paul Kantner and various Jefferson iterations, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Alvin Lee, Carlos Santana, Townsend-Daltery et al. While our lustrous locks and youthful looks are long gone, I hope that some of the values of my generation -societal awareness, peace, social justice and the belief that the status quo can be changed, still exist and that we have passed successfully the baton of idealism to our children.

The image above is from the end credits of the film (the Director’s cut) -it’s great advice and I feel a strong sense of obligation to heed it closely.

We may be greying but there’s plenty of life in us yet. Hell, yeah!

Peace!

World Events

Mad Dog reunited with Cool Cat after 10 year hiatus

Wow it’s been a funny old month in the Silly Season. More blog material around than ever and no time to write a thing. In the last 30 days or so I’ve attended a concert, been reunited with a very cool cat (see above), participated in a rally (the automotive kind -report pending), wielded a sword almost every day and dropped 15lbs. And all this gainst a backdrop of unbelievable 106°F heat (sorry, I’m still stuck in Imperial measure out here in the Colonies) and all sorts of notable world events including swine ‘flu fever fever (100,000 cases in one week of July in the UK), the death of Grasshopper, the lunacy of the lunar landing’s 40^th anniversary, the realization that even with space age technology we still can’t build a reliable toilet. And this weekend it’s the 40^th anniversary of Woodstock (more on that tomorrow). Oh my, where did the time go?

Peace!

Catatonic

Minim prepares to drive companion human crazy by relentless luxurious purring until he receives tuna flakes!

The BBC, quoting on an article published in Current Biology, notes that cats manipulate their human companions by purring. This seminal finding is the work of Dr Karen McComb and colleagues from the Centre for Mammal Vocal Communication Research, University of Sussex, UK. Now really! I've no wish to denigrate the work of Dr McComb who, judging by her publication record, is a highly respectable scientist, but the axiomatic nature of this paper is staggering. What's next, I wonder? Parents give in to demands from perpetually whining children for a bit of peace, perhaps? I need to know where she gets her grants...!

The Cat Came Back

Mad Dog's new wheels, c1992: since then some TLC has been involved as well as a bit of a sleep

Much has happened on the world stage in my minor blogging hiatus and it's hard to know where to begin. So I'm going to follow the maxim (mine) that when all else fails post about something automotive. Well it's too early for the Monte Carlo but I am getting ready to do some rallying next month. Hopefully nothing too demanding, just a nice Time-Speed-Distance event around Oregon for a couple of days with my very enthusiastic daughter. No Mini this time as I have a new rally weapon. Well not exactly new; I've owned it since 1992 but it's been in hibernation for nearly a decade and undergoing a major refit for the past year. I'll post the story of how this cheerless cat was brought back to life over the next day or so.

I've Been Busy

Woo -it's been ages since I posted anything. Well, I haven't been asleep I can assure you. Hopefully some of you are still checking the site. I'll be writing about all sorts of stuff very soon so please stick around...

24 Hours at Le Mans

Like many other petrolheads, I've always been fascinated by the Le Mans 24 hour race. As a schoolboy I was spellbound by the epic duels between Ferraris, Ford GT40s and Gulf Porsches. Some of the mystique and atmosphere was captured in the eponymous Steve McQueen film (which must have the best race start sequence of all time). More recently a new and very compelling documentary, Truth in 24, has been made which chronicles the fabulously successful Audi Sport team. The photography is stunning and the narration by Jason Statham is surprisingly good. Best of all this 98 minute long film is downloadable free of charge from the iTunes store.

Hat tip to Chuck Goolsbee for this one.

Holier than Thou

A recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has found that the more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists.

Why am I not surprised by this...?

One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest

"Candleing" eggs on which influenza virus is grown for vaccine preparations (photo from CDC image library).

A couple of weeks ago I jokingly remarked that I thought I had bird flu. Then after the emergence of the H1N1 variant about 10 days ago I speculated (again with tongue in cheek) that the infection was swine flu. Now I think it was more likely Mad Pig Disease. The 24 hour news cycle seems to have created more journalistic craziness and hysteria than I would have believed possible. Over the past week I've seen more column-inches and heard enough hours of broadcast media devoted to the topic to last me a lifetime. If-it-bleeds-it-leads journalists, dull-as-ditchwater talking heads (often not very knowledgeable), hysterical citizens and even a nasty little cabal of right wing wingers who attribute the outbreak to a combination of illegal immigrants and a ploy by President Obama to push a national health care agenda have been driving me to distraction.

No question, flu is nasty, indeed I believe the 1918 "Spanish Flu" pandemic (also an HINI variant) which may have killed up to 50 million people holds the dubious distinction of being the most deadly infectious disease in human history. However we are not in the post WW1 era and current indications seem to suggest that this current iteration of swine flu is not particularly virulent. While there is a need for vigilance, I just hope this trend continues. In the meantime, maintain droplet precautions, keep washing your hands and taking that vitamin C...

RIP Pontiac

MD with Pontiac Firebird on California Big Sur coast road, November, 1982

The woes of General Motors seem interminable. Today they announced the phasing out of their Pontiac "excitement" division with the loss of 21,000 jobs worldwide. The loss of great automotive names always seems sad especially when one has a personal connection. The first car I bought when I arrived on the shores of California back in 1982 was a Pontiac Firebird. Truthfully it wasn't a great car but it had a nice V8 motor and transported me around San Francisco as well as the California coast and mountain roads for 7 or 8 years. It survived a head on collision with a stolen VW Beetle (suffering a mere scratch to its bumper -the VW was destroyed) and an on another occasion after having had a door dented in an accident (again not my fault) the insurance cheque helped pay for my first Apple Macintosh. I never did get the door fixed and the car acquired a wonderfully battered Mad Max look. The transmission failed the night my daughter was born and having lost reverse gear I remember physically heaving the thing backwards in order to get it our of its street parking slot so that I could make my way to the hospital. Eventaully it was sold in San Diego to make way for an outrageous Trans Am (remember them?) but that, as they say, is another story...

Postcard from Alaska

Over the Easter weekend I had occasion to visit Alaska. My itinerary included a couple of nights in Anchorage and a brief road trip down the Kenai peninsula. What an amazing place -quite possibly the USA's final frontier. Despite the spectacular scenery, I don't think I have the fortitude to ever live there. Anyway here are some photos:


Glacier run off from the Chugach Mountains.


Blatting down the Seward Highway. Traffic is sparse to say the least.


Hungry teenage Moose didn't object to me taking his photo. By the end of the year this animal will have grown a full rack of antlers.

The Long Good Friday

I'm still feeling pretty groggy but at least I'm up and about -there was a time at the beginning of the week when I thought I might be found in few weeks with the cat eating my carcass. What a nasty little bug that was. Anyway until my creative juices start flowing again I'm going to leave you with a clip from The Long Good Friday, a classic British gangster flick which apart from being 30 years old features a menacing Bob Hoskins in just about the only character he's ever played, a young Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan's in his debut role, some great photography of London's Docklands before it became yuppified, a terrific soundtrack by Francis Monkman and source material for just about all of Guy Ritchie's films. A true classic.

Best wishes to all for a happy Good Friday.

P.S. Inexplicably, the above clip credits Debra Winger for appearance in TLGF. As far as I know the closest she got was a 1978 offering entitled "Thank God It's Friday" which was about disco! 

Psittacine Cain

African Grey Parrot (image from Wikipedia and used under a creative commons license: original photo by Tournon)

Dear Readers,

I'm sick as a parrot and feel like hell! Everything hurts including my hair. I think I might have bird flu. Doubtless it's some filthy bug I picked up on my travels in the UK last week. Normal blogging will be resumed when the drugs begin to work...

MD

A Long Time Coming

Match hero Ronan O'Gara -from this side of the Atlantic it seems fitting that he was born in San Diego

Ever since I was an undergraduate in Cardiff in the early 1970s I've wanted to see an Irish Grand Slam. Back then the horribly partisan nature of the crowd at the (now defunct) Cardiff Arms Park made me pray for Welsh annihilation although I have to confess my vehemence may have been fueled by the fact that the average Taffy took me for an Englishman. Well anyway it was a long wait but worth it. Saturday's victory not only put paid to the Welsh in thrilling style (I was glued to BBC's Radio 5 Live -the best reporting I could find over here) but ended a 61 year drought for the Green -let's hope a second Grand Slam won't take so long.

As an aside, I've actually met, albeit briefly, the father of match hero Ronan O'Gara, who happens to be a prominent microbiologist. Oh well, so much for name dropping...

P.S. Just one more thing...for in case anyone thinks I'm being more cryptic than usual, I'm talking about Rugby and specifically The Six Nations Championship and Ireland's dominance of the competition this year.

Vanishing Point to Zabriskie Point

MD drives through Death Valley, California, Spring 1983

Today I'm going to take the leitmotif on Vanishing Point that has been swirling around several blogs recently in a slightly different direction. The Antonioni film Zabriskie Point was another early 70s cult classic that featured sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll packaged in an anti-establishment theme. Perhaps a little more arty than VP (heck, this is Antonioni for goodness sake -did anybody understand anything that went on in any of his films?) but it had its share of explosions and a fabulous soundtrack featuring Pink Floyd.

Both films were set in the California desert. Specifically, Zabriskie Point is located in Death Valley. Philippe Picavet has just reminded me of this amazing place. The photograph above was taken on my one and only visit twenty six years ago. Unfortunately I didn't get to drive it in a muscle car. I must revisit. Maybe next time I'll be in an E type Jaguar....

Going Green

Clonakilty, Co. Cork

Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody!

Oh, and here's an essay I posted on my "Irishness" awhile back.

Is it Fun Being a Billionaire?

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

As I've said before, I don't usually do politics on this site although I can barely contain myself with the current misuse of bailout money. However, I'll let legal process and karma deal with the rapacious scoundrels of AIG, RBS and their ilk and save my rants for other time. In anycase I could hardly express myself better than Jon Stewart whose delicious annihilation of bloviating finance pundits is a joy to behold. And his eloquence in summing up the egregious Sir Allen Stanford is more than refreshing.

Vanishing Point Revisited

I know, I've just posted on this 1970s cult flick but a delightful piece of irony has come to light. Chuck Goolsbee keeps drawing my attention to this terrific piece of nonsense and in my usual nostalgia-driven obsessiveness I noticed something quite hilarious. If you the watch the above clip, you will notice a few frames from a scene (at 37 secs) in which our hero, Kowalski, is offered "anything" by an attractive young blonde lady who appears in the middle of nowhere, stark naked and riding a motorcycle (as I recall he was the consumate gentleman and declined). Well it transpires that the actress, one Gilda Texter, did little further acting but went on to have a very successful Hollywood career in Wardrobe Management and as a Costume Supervisor. It's a funny old world...!

Bucking the Trend (1)

Nescafé Classic squares off against Starbucks' Via

Ah, Starbucks. I'm not sure how it's possible to screw up a business plan based on unrestricted sales of legal addictive stimulants to consenting adults but somehow the company has got itself into difficulties. And now some (doubtless overpaid) marketing whizz kid within the organisation has come up with a grand plan to save it from extinction. Or at least protect the obscenely large bonuses of the upper echelon Fat Cats (better not get me started here -I'll save some material for a another post). Anyway the answer to SBUX's current woes is not, as you might reasonably think, a new distribution and roasting system to stop the coffee tasting stale and burned* or perhaps a fair and equitable compensation system for all employees. Oh, no. It's...pause for drum roll...Instant Coffee! My goodness this is pure genius. I mean all the customer has to do capture the "Starbucks Experience", as I once saw it described, is add water. And here's the best bit. A 4 gram sachet of Via, enough for 1 cup is only $1.00. Yes, that's right a measley dollar. SBUX executives are calling this landmark devlopment a "Game Changer". I'm sure that in a recession people will be queuing up around the block to buy their packets of Via. Personally I'm going to stick with my Nescafé Classic as old habits die hard. And a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation tells me that a 4 gm spoonful of this old standby equates to 10 cents a cup.

*A quick test of a free sample has revealed that Via does indeed accurately mirror the "Starbucks Experience" in the comfort of your own home: it tastes stale and burned just like the real thing!

Mad Dog International: Site Visitors

MD&E is in it's 5th year and this is my 500th post. I've come a long way since noticing my first visitor (it took a month or so). Over the past week I've been recording the countries of origin of my visitors. The results are quite astonishing -see below. All the US states and 58 countries (61 if you count the constituent dominions of the UK). This is truly an international site. Welcome everybody, thank you for visiting and please keep dropping by. Oh, and this is where you are from:

1. Algeria
2. Argentina
3. Australia
4. Belgium
5. Bolivia
6. Bosnia and Herzegovina
7. Brazil
8. Bulgaria
9. Canada
10. Chile
11. China (mainland)
12. China (Hong Kong)
13. Colombia
14. Croatia
15. Czech Republic
16. Denmark
17. Egypt
18. Finland
19. France
20. Germany
21. Greece
22. Hungary
23. India
24. Indonesia
25. Iran
26. Ireland
27. Israel
28. Italy
29. Japan
30. Korea (South)
31. Latvia
32. Lithuania
33. Luxembourg
34. Mexico
35. Netherlands
36. New Zealand
37. Norway
38. Phillipines
39. Poland
40. Portugal
41. Romania
42. Russia
43. Saudi Arabia
44. Singapore
45. Sweden
46. Slovakia
47. Slovenia
48. South Africa
49. Spain
50. Switzerland
51. Taiwan
52. Thailand
53. Trinidad & Tobago
54. Turkey
55. UK (inc. Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland)
56. Ukraine
57. USA (all 50 states)
58. Venezuela

Update: As of 31st March, I've also had visits from Bahrain, China (Macau), Costa Rica, Estonia, Iceland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Tunisia and Vietnam.

Vanishing Point

Goodness, I can't believe it's been a week since my last post but life has once again caught up with me and insisted that I do things other than blogging. So forgive me for this placeholder even though it's quite an entertaining one. I blame Chuck Goolsbee, friend, fellow petrolhead and "road scholar" (geddit?) for reminding me about this piece of early 70's nostalgia. I mean what formula for a cult film works better than sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll set against an anti-establishment backdrop and combined with a suicidal car chase? Fantastic stuff, indeed.

Incidently the music is by the excellent Bob Segarini and Randy Bishop who must be one of the most under-rated combos of all time.

Adrenaline Junkies

This is probably the most insanely elegant activity I have ever seen. Now I wonder where I can get one of those suits....??

Update: Actually you can get them here. $1000. Hmmm...

The Long and Winding Road

Chuck has been waxing lyrical about different kinds of roads. Well how about this one for a nice winding effect...?

And on that note, I'm going to wind up my posts on the Monte Carlo for now, although I'll probably write occasional snippets from time to time.  Just watch out for the full story in the April issue of Mini Magazine (it's great -I've seen the proofs already). So all that remains is to say a big heartfelt "Thank You" to all those individuals and organisations who helped The Team in any way. Special appreciation goes to:

• Minispares, Hertfordshire, UK, for extremely generous sponsorship
• Piper Cams, Kent, UK, for our camshaft and ancillary parts
• Mini Magazine, and in particular Craig McBeth, for agreeing to publish our story,
• Marilyn Connell, Houston, Texas for graphic design work

Thanks everyone! Now let's raise a glass to "Next Year in Monte Carlo"!

A Guru

Willy Cave celebrates his 82nd birthday in fine style with a Mini -shaped cake

Somebody once described Willy Cave as "...the greatest living Englishmen...". Generally I dislike such characterisations but in this case it's pretty accurate. For five decades he has been a legend in European rallying and has occupied works seats for Standard-Triumph, Rover and BMC in the role of co-driver and navigator. Together with Peter Barker he was 2nd in class in this year's Monte Carlo Historique rally and 2nd overall over the infamous Col de Turini stage. Willy's other achievements include flying Spitfires and Vampire jets in Korea for the RAF and winning a BAFTA when working for the BBC. He is also an active skier and snowboarder. I should point out that Willy is now 82, having celebrated his birthday on the rally.

I first met Willy 10 years ago on a course where he was teaching rally navigation and I've used him as a sounding board for my silly questions ever since. He's always been the consummate, old-fashioned gentleman and displays one of the rarest combination of attributes, namely great knowledge with humility: a refreshing contrast to the bloviating, self-important alpha-males so commonly encountered today. So a belated Happy Birthday, Willy. You are a model to us all and I only hope I will be winning rallys and surrounded by attractive, adoring ladies at the same age.

Monte Carlo Historique 2009

The Minispares-Mad Dog Rallying team race through a wintry France towards the Haute Alpes in a 1965 Mini Cooper S

I'm not going to do a full report on the Monte Carlo Historique this year. At least not just yet. I've promised a UK car publication, Mini Magazine, an exclusive. Although they haven't asked me not to blog about the event I think it only fair that they get first dibs.

What I will do instead is make peripheral commentary and add some video clips to convey a sense of realism. The first one is above. It's a simple transit or road section (not a stage) out of Valence. I wasn't calling times or corners so had time (just) to pull out the camera. While we are proceeding at a fairly orderly legal pace, the need to push on is evident and Bill blasts past two non-competing cars in grand style. I recorded this footage with my little Canon point-and-shoot in hand held mode. We did have a proper video camera fitted to the car but it tended to obscure the rear view and also access to the rear seats so it was removed. The straight cut gearbox whines like an overtired two-year-old who has dropped his ice-cream and the noise is very evident. Note also that we have lost 3rd gear at this point so changes are from 2nd to 4th. As you can imagine, I'm always hunting for ibuprofen after a day in the car!

Cashing In One's Chips

While on the subject of pommes frites yesterday, this entry on the Dakar rally is nothing short of genius (commentary is in French but you'll get the idea even if you can't speak the language):



You can read more about Team Ch'ti Friterie here.

The Perfect Bacon Sandwich

The perfect bacon sandwich. Yum! Photo courtesy Wendy Harrison*

This post is in response to accidental conversations with my daughter, Olivia (who holds dual American/British nationality) and Philippe Picavet, a resident of Belgium and like-minded petrolhead. Now I have to be tread very carefully here as Olivia is not short of opinions (genetics) and an astonishingly good cook (not genetics, at least from my DNA) and has been fortunate to have been exposed to a broad spectrum of world cuisine. Philippe lives in Belgium and I have long maintained some of the best food on the planet can be found in his country -witness moule, beer, chocolate (2000 chocolate shops in a country just 1/6 the size of Washington state -that's probably more than they have gas stations!), gaufres, frites etc. Anyway, somehow the topic of bacon sandwiches and their construction came up. In my view a well-made bacon sandwich, or sarnie in English patois, is in the top 10 comfort foods in the universe. But they have to made correctly and they must not be confused with BLTs, club sandwiches or other such offerings containing various meats or vegetables. While these other constructions are delicious and quite legitimate they are not true bacon sandwiches. A bacon sandwich should contain just hot bacon. Here are the parameters for a perfect sandwich:

• Bacon: it should be back rashers or slices. American bacon which is mostly pork belly-derived is too fatty
• Cooking: slightly crisp but the bacon should not be overdone or leathery
• Bread: soft large fresh rolls are the best. Open and put face down in the skillet before serving so the inside is slightly fried/toasted
• Serving: should be hot. Can only be eaten with brown sauce. Should be accompanied with tea containing milk (sugar optional). Coffee doesn't work

If you can believe it some scientists got a grant to study the features of the perfect bacon sarnie and came up with the following formula:

N = C + {fb (cm) . fb (tc)} + fb (Ts) + fc . ta

where N=force in Newtons required to break the cooked bacon, fb=function of the bacon type, fc=function of the condiment/filling effect, Ts=serving temperature, tc=cooking time, ta=time or duration of application of condiment/filling, cm=cooking method, C=Newtons required to break uncooked bacon.

* The above photograph was kindly provided by excellent Scottish blogger, Wendy Harrison, and was originally posted on her site "A Wee Bit of Cooking". I don't usually do this but I'm so charmed by Wendy's site that I'm adding her to the blog lists on my sidebar.

Nepotism

MD's 15 year old daughter prepares to knock one out of the park: inexplicably she now appears to be in her 25th year (somewhere along the line I blinked)

This is a shameless plug for my daughter who seems to have a talent for penmanship. Last summer she started a blog to document her travels in Korea but has now caught the bug and is writing about life observations. You can her find her at Vive La Liv. In many ways her style has a worrying resemblance to my own. I don't suppose this could be down to genetics or environmental/cultural conditioning? Naaah!

Land Rover Woes

Mini tow starts Land Rover at Monte Carlo

In previous years our trips to the start and from the finish of the rally have been almost as eventful as the event itself. This year, with a fantastic sponsorship deal (thanks again, Justin) we were thinking that we would simply load the Mini on a trailer and drive back to Blighty in the relative comfort of long wheelbase Land Rover*. A prosaic but low stress journey was welcome after the rally but it was not to be. The Land Rover turned out to be about as reliable as a drunk on New Year's Eve. After suffering the indignity of being tow started by the Mini on the quayside at Monaco after it refused to fire up, it threw a major tantrum on the motorway at Aix-en-Provence and refused to proceed. As far as I know it's still there awaiting repair and my fingers are crossed that the Mini and trailer haven't been stripped bare like like a dead wildebeeste on the Serengeti plain.  I used to drive the exact same model as a student 40 years and I thought it was an antiquated, wallowing, alcoholic back then. Clearly nothing has changed since those days: a reflection of the £1000 development budget that Leyland, Rover, British Aerospace and Ford have lavished collectively on the vehicle in four decades. If I had my way I'd have the bloody thing melted down and made into garden gnomes. Oh, well! Next year we'll get a panel van and possibly a 4x4: both will be of German or Japanese descent.

* MD wishes to stress that the choice of the Land Rover was made collectively by the team and was nothing to do with the sponsors who suggested a different and entirely more sensible vehicle.

We Made It!

PRX 720B at the finish in Monte Carlo

I'm back in Seattle and am delighted to report that the Minispares-Mad Dog Rallying team completed the 12e Monte Carlo Historique rally in fine style. Despite a broken gearbox (no 3rd or reverse), a sheared rear suspension knuckle and the loss of one headlight PRX 720B made the finish podium on the Quai d'Albert in fine style. We finished in the middle of the pack (209 out of 333 starters and were 5th in class (I'll have to verify that). And of course if we hadn't had the above problems we'd have been among the front runners. The attrition was amazing: 25% of all crews either failed to finish due to mechanical failure or the dreaded altercations with street furniture. Full reports will be forthcoming when I've had time to collect myself and put out all the usual fires that have ignited in my absence.

Ready for the Off

The Minispares-Mad Dog Rallying team is now safely at Reims and ready for the start tonight. Now we are about to do the technical and administrative scrutineering and prepare for the long drive to Monaco. By the time we get there we'll have been up for 36 hours. Daily progress reports can be found on the Bill Richards Racing website. I'll try to cross post here but I may not have time. I will however write a full report of the event when I get back.

Wish us luck...!

The Riviera Calls

Monaco awaits. I'm heading off to the airport in a couple of hours and frantically trying to remember all the bits and pieces of my equipment and hoping I don't forget anything critical. British Airways says I won't be allowed on the plane with more than 71lbs. Seems like I have 71 tons. Hardware, software, treeware.  Roadbook, pacenotes, chronometers. Helmet, suit and gloves. Tuxedo, white silk scarf, bow tie (Hell, we're going to Monte Carlo after all!). Funny thing is it's snowing in Seattle. By the end of the rally I'm pretty sure I'll be sick of winter.

I'll try to post from the road but this will depend on my overall condition and access to wireless internet. However check the Bill Richards Racing website for daily positions. In addition, I understand that Minispares UK will be mirroring the reports.

Bill "Stig" Richards

Bill "Stig" Richards at Monte Carlo

"Some say he leaves tyre tracks instead of footprints...."

I want to introduce the Minispares-Mad Dog Rallying team's driver, Bill Richards, who in the past few years has carried the nickname "Stig". No, he's nothing to do with the anonymous, race suited individual associated with the odious Jeremy Clarkson. In fact I only became aware of the Top Gear character about a year ago when I was watching TV in the UK. Nevertheless I am actually responsible for Bill's monniker. Back in 2005, I was marvelling at the manner in which he blasted, mostly sideways, through an infamous snow covered stage over the Col de Echarasson. Such was his skill and panache that I speculated that he must have some Scandinavian rally driver genes in body and that he should really be called "Stig". I had absolutely no idea about the mythological Top Gear personality at the time: I was thinking more of Swedish rally driving giant Stig Blomqvist and his ilk. I mentioned this in one of my rally reports and somehow the name stuck. Indeed the term has found broad use including in our pace notes e.g. "...very tight dangerous section for 500 metres, caution, no Stigging..." (meaning no racing heroics).

Anyway enough of all this. Simply put, Bill is one of the hardest charging, focussed and determined drivers out there. He can physically dominate a Mini like no one else. If you have any doubts just watch the video clip here in which he gives a masterclass in slipstreaming and uses the technique to beat a faster, lighter car (ignore the first minute, the action is a little slow to start but then really heats up).

Now Bill, let's kick arse next week and no Stigging unless I tell you...!

Marketing

Only the Aussies could get away with this bit of opportunistic marketing in the Sydney Daily Telegraph. And if you don't know what Veet is (I didn't) you can find out here.

Fnarr! Fnarr!

Hat tip to reader Gilly for the viral email with this scan.

Irish Blog Awards

I appear to have been nominated in the "Best Personal Blog" category of the Irish Blog Awards. Interesting! I owe somebody a pint of Murphy's. Or a glass of chardonnay. Competition is stiff so keep your fingers crossed for me when the votes are cast on February 21st.

To mark this development I'm going to re-post my essay on Irishness that I wrote a few years back. You can read it here.

Presedential Inauguration Day: Obama-mania

Celebrations for Barack Obama's presidential inauguration are in full swing as I write and the mood in the country is quite amazing. Nobody does optimism like Americans. My own feelings are more detached. As a white man I cannot experience the emotion of Black Americans who have lived to see the day when a African American is sworn in as the Chief Executive of the country. And as an ersatz American (read mere Green Card holder) I can't help but feel somewhat set-apart. Nevertheless this is truly an historic day and as a world citizen I'm delighted that the people of the US have elected as their 44th President an intelligent, articulate, mild mannered-centerist who can pronounce "nuclear" properly. Please enjoy the day Mr Obama; unfortunately the bumpy ride will start tomorrow.

Conflict Resolution

This story of conflict resolution is not as poetic as Miyamoto Mushashi’s duel at Ganryu Island but at least nobody died

Yesterday the spurious firing of some circuits in my neural network had me recalling an incident from a decade ago and giggling like an idiot. It's quite the funniest "how-not-to-do-it" management /conflict resolution story I know. Let me start at the beginning…

In the nineties I served for several years on the Council of a well known British learned professional society and for one year I was Chairman. During this period there was a backdrop of low-level ideological friction. The society was modernizing and had appointed a full time CEO who was continuing to prosecute an agenda of change. However this was not to the liking of many of the old guard council members who wanted to see the society remain as a low cost organization in its traditional style. Tensions increased over a period of years and finally it was decided to discuss the issues over a council meeting dinner to be held one evening at the annual congress.

Probably all the council members were aware that trouble had been brewing and this was going to be a difficult meeting. Nevertheless they all duly trooped in to dinner with not much joie de vivre one chilly December evening. Discussions started over the meal and wine was served. My job as Chairman was to maintain orderly proceedings in an impartial manner and minimise any conflict. In retrospect I would have done things a lot differently but then hindsight is always 20/20. As we skirted around the peripheral issues, the alcohol consumption increased substantially, maybe even alarmingly. Even so you’d think that a group of highly educated and allegedly sophisticated individuals could hold their liquor and conduct themselves in a mature, gentlemanly, manner. Well the events of the evening certainly blew that hypothesis to shreds. As the core agenda items were brought up discussions became a succession of bloviations, accusations and insults. Despite some entreaties by me, logic and politeness went out of the window and all attempts at constructivity were in vain. Finally tempers became so frayed that the CEO announced to the Council “you’re all a joke” to which one member, a combative American who was about as subtle as a lead pipe retorted “FUCK OFF, FAT BOY!”.

Now that level of sophomoric insult was the end of the dinner. Instantly! There was a momentary silence while the gravity of the epithet sunk in. Then the society’s secretary shrieked “MD, stop them, they’re going to fight”. As it happened I was sitting between the two protagonists so I put my hands around their shoulders and “Gentlemen, I suggest we adjourn” (or something equally jejune) and we moved outside and the proceedings were concluded.

The aftermath of the meeting was profound. Immediately afterwards there was a lot more drinking: most of the members were traumatized by the events of the evening and tried to anesthetise themselves from reality. One individual who had given up smoking a decade previously went off in search for cigarettes. But the resonances of the FOFB slur continued for a long time. The CEO went very quiet and eventually resigned invoking an interesting legal sequelae which took a year or so resolve. Other members disappeared back to their labs and were eventually replaced in the society by new blood. At a personal level it was my swan song as I was due to rotate off the council at the end of that year and my work there was done, constitutionally speaking. To this day the FOFB meeting is discussed by society alumni in the same way other generations talked about The Blitz. In retrospect it’s actually a hilarious story. Throwing around terms of revilement like FOFB in usually polite (and quite repressed) British society is so outrageously shocking that a humorous aspect becomes apparent. But other than the fact that my attempts at conflict resolution were an abject failure, the incident also taught me two things: (i) if a contentious issue ever arises between two parties, the likelihood of it being resolved while the consumption of alcohol occurs is minimal and (ii) lurking behind the urbane veneer of many academics and intellectuals there is an aggressive neanderthal waiting to go on the rampage -so don't be surprised when one pops up.

FOFB indeed!

More Horsepower

Engine tuning guru Bill Richards tries to coax more horsepower out of our car

On our rally reconnaissance route in December I was reminded of the beauty of rural France and its wide diversity of flora and fauna. Here is some of the wildlife we observed en route:

• Eagles (x2 -magnificent)
• Hawks (multiple)
• Rat (several)
• Shrew/vole (x1)
• Pine Martin (x2 -might have been Alpine Marmots)
• Mountain sheep (a whole family with bells -poetic)
• Deer (x2)
• Hare (x1)
• Rabbits (several)
• Wolf (x1 -exciting)
• Wild boar (x1, deceased; apparently hit by car -distressing)
• Pony in middle of road, miles from anywhere, with no apparent owner (x1)
• Random dog, off leash in middle road, miles from anywhere with no apparent owner (x29; a peculiar French phenomenon)
• Random person walking/standing in road, miles from anywhere (x17 -comments as for random dog)
  

I mention this now because there will be no time for sightseeing next month!

About Time This Was Said (at High Level)

"...waterboarding is torture..."

Eric Holder (Nominee, US Attorney General)
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
January 15th, 2008

Thank you, Eric; the civilised World applauds you!

Be Seeing You

On no, another of my heroes has sloughed the mortal coil. Patrick McGoohan, who as Number 6 in the astonishingly brilliant series, The Prisoner, had me glued to the television set in my youth departed for the big Village in the Sky earlier today. RIP, Patrick (but damn, now we'll never find out the identity of Number 1).

Incidentally the show had me positively lusting after a Lotus 7. And in more recent years I always imagined myself handing in my resignation to pompous/incompetent boss in this fashion.

Musical Interlude: Sound Familiar?

My life story: 40 years of "Getting my motor running..."

It's very strange. I must have blinked and missed something. Like the past 40 years. Has it really been that long since I sat in a cinema in Leicester Sq., London, and watched Easy Rider? Apparently the answer is yes. Anyway in a moment of unashamed nostalgia I was listening to the movie soundtrack the other day and in doing so noticed something curious. Specifically this track from the album, a song by The Blues Magoos written in 1967 caught my ear:



Sound familiar? Maybe? Then listen to this track by Deep Purple:



Black Knight was a hit for the band in 1970; you can do the maths. Now I've commented on DP's apparent use of other artists' material in the past. But on this occasion things may not be as they seem. Listen to this 1962 rendition of Summertime by Ricky Nelson:



I suppose there's not much new under the sun: that bass riff has certainly been around for some time and it's a really great one, too...

Rally Recon

An oncoming snowplow on a road in the Ardeche: these conditions are good!

Ten days before Christmas, Bill Richards and I set off on EasyJet to the south of France with the intention of driving the entire route of the Monte Carlo Historique. Or so we thought: the reality was somewhat different. Central and Southern France had a very significant snowfall and only about 75% of the so called ZR sections were passable and only then after we'd gone through the wretched process of fitting chains to the wheels of our little Nissan rental car. So we bumped around where we could and made notes. The Col de Turini was closed due to a rockfall. This must have been bad as the organisers have subsequently modified the rally route around this blockage. Overall it's going to be a very tough event. Some of the stages are old familiar opponents; others are new (to me, at least) and look very nasty. Very tight and slippy -some with 1200M drops to one side and no crash barrier. Scary to say the least! All of them were covered in snow and some had unplowed drifts of 2 metres. And I can't imagine the situation improving in the next four weeks -typically the snowfall is greatest in the first week in February. It's going to be interesting. Here's a brief video clip of one of the easier sections in the Ardeche:

Why Do I Do This...?

MD and Bill Richards storm through Provence, 2005.

In precisely four weeks' time I will strap myself into a 44 year old, 10' long, flimsy steel box, alongside another individual of questionable sanity and set off on a 2500Km high speed race through the mountains of France. I'm never quite sure why I partake in this crazy activity and I thought I'd reflect a little here on how I got started.

Since my teenage years when I followed the exploits of Mäkinen, Hopkirk, Aaltonen and Carlsson with rapt attention, I have always been interested in rallying. And shortly after acquiring a driving licence I discovered the fun of driving a Mini. At the time there was really nothing like it and to this day no vehicle has been able to match the Go Kart feel of these little beasts (OK, OK, before any of you start to harass me from the peanut gallery, I'm not talking about reliability or comfort -just handling ability).

Sometime around 1997, I was living in London and my daily driver was a 1992 Rover Mini. Back then I was constantly making trips to Bill Richards Racing in Ashford, Kent, UK, in a rather futile attempt to turn the Mini into a Porsche. It was on one of these visits I met a charming Frenchman, Partick Hesnard, who was campaigning a delightful 850cc Mini on the now defunct Monte Challenge rally. I quizzed him a lot about rallying and his reponse was "But you must try it: if I can do it anybody can". Well, Patrick, there are a lot of caveats that need to be attached to that statement but you certainly started something. I found advertised in the "For Sale" section of MiniWorld a very disreputable 1964 Mini Cooper offered for a mere £750 and the rest, as they say, is history.

It took a couple of years to get PRX 720B and me ready for rallying (which in the end neither were but that's another story) and on a raw January day at the beginning of the new Millennium I set off from Brooklands race track for the south of France. Pretty much everything about that event was a disaster. Neither my co-driver or I knew what we were doing and the car was ill-prepared and broke down at every opportunity. Heaven knows how we made it to the Riviera but somehow we did and finished 5th in class. Despite the debacle I was hooked and entered again in 2001 with a much better prepared car. To my complete astonishment we finished second in our class and I have a large piece of silverware in my basement prove it.

From there on I've enjoyed a post-Christmas ritual of mapping the route and attending to a mountain of organisational and logistical minutiae prior to setting off on the rally. I don't what it is about the Monte that makes it so alluring. Certainly the spectacle of 350 classic cars being used in anger is part of it. The breathtaking scenery of the Jura, the Ardeche Plateau, the Haute Alpes and Alpes Maritime is undoubtedly a factor as is the juxtapositon of the hideous weather encountered en route with the Mediterranean sunshine in Monaco. It all adds up to a very addictive formula and I shall probably keep attempting the event until either I'm too decrepit to be seriously competetive or I win it outright in which case I'll quit while on top. But then the Mille Miglia, the Carrera Panamericana and the Targa Florio also beckon -I suppose I'm a hopeless case!

PS By an amazing coincidence, Monsieur Hesnard, having disappeared for many years, has resurfaced just this evening and as it happens he lives just outside Monte Carlo. Patrick, it's a fine mess you've got me into: the least you can do is buy me a beer when we arrive in The Principality next month.

Happy New Year!

Well it seems we are in for an interesting ride in 2009 if the pundits and talking heads are to be believed. What with global financial meltdown, climate change and several countries ready to nuke each other, it's all too much to absorb. My answer to the above is to keep a sense of humour and a bottle of cognac handy. And continue blogging, of course...

It seems fitting to note that today MD&E has had its 100,000th visitor. It took three years and four and a half months to get the first 50,000 and one year for the second tranche of 50k. My thanks to you all for dropping by: please continue to visit and I'll do my best to keep you entertained.

Peace and prosperity to all: my very best wishes to everybody for a fabulous 2009.

BUÉK

The site seems to be getting a lot of hits from Hungary in the last week so to all you Magyars out there: Boldog új évet kívánok!

Oh and here's some Freddie with Dr Brian and the boys:

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Stay warm, don't eat too much and travel safely.

Driving in Snow: Rules and Recommendations

A downhill ski piste otherwise known as a snow covered road in the Seattle Metro district

I'm at a total loss to explain what happens to the brains of drivers in Washington State when it snows even a little. Somehow their grey matter turns to slush or some other gloop that is incapable of cognitive function. Overall the collective IQ seems to drop by 50 points or more at the hint of a snowflake. In the past week we've had a considerable snow fall in this region and driving has been challenging, to put it mildly. Now even making allowances for inexperience and nervousness, some of the antics I've observed over the past few days have been inexcusable. So here are my top 10 recommendations for getting around in an automobile in winter conditions (some of these have been derived from experience and empirical experimentation driving like an idiot when 18 years old):

1. Keep your foot off the brakes if the car starts to slide: use the cadence braking technique -hit the pedal with a series of short taps
2. Remember that if you have a 4 x4/AWD vehicle it does not mean you are automatically glued to the road
3. Don’t drive too fast (especially you AWD people!)
4. Don’t drive too slowly -overly timid driving not only causes other drivers to be frustrated but you might be impeding a vehicle that is desperate not to lose momentum climbing an incline in front
5. Do not tailgate: you need 4-5 times the stopping distance of dry conditions
6. Turn traction control off, sometimes you need a little wheelspin to get going
7. Keep your foot off the brakes if the car starts to slide
8. Use the handbrake, (don’t try this with those worthless, foot-operated “parking brakes”) to slow your approach to a junction: this will scrub off speed without risking locking the front wheels: only do this when the front wheels of the car are pointed straight ahead
9. Don’t assume because you have right of way at a junction or a traffic light that you should proceed blindly ahead -this is a good way to get T boned by somebody in a slide or with locked brakes
10. Keep your foot off the brakes if the car starts to slide –did I mention this before?


P.S. Note to pedestrians, cross-country skiers, snow shoers, toboganners, snowman assemblers, carol singers, assorted wassailers, reindeer and jolly fat men in red tunics: don't bloody well amble down the centre of the road because I may not be able to stop even if I'm using the above techniques!

Nightmare Before Christmas

I hate it when this happens...!

Having fought ice and snow all the way through France last week I returned to Seattle to find I'm having to do the same thing here. And as a Christmas bonus I woke up to discover this 15' long branch on my car. Annoyingly it left an egg-sized indentation in the roof. Nothing for it but to pour myself a cognac, throw another log on the fire and fill out the insurance claim. Ho, ho, ho...!

That Time of Year Again

Bill's cat Henry, here seen in energy conservation mode, helps with the route planning

It's that time of year again, and I don't mean Christmas. Ten days before the start of the festive season is typically when Bill and I take a "peek at the peaks" otherwise known as a recon for February's Monte Carlo Historic. I'm writing this post from darkest Ardeche and all I can say is that the 2009 event looks like it's going to be the most testing rally ever. I'll give a full report when I'm back in country later this week.