Monday, April 30, 2012

Making light of Holiness

I saw this clip on BBC's Have I Got News For You recently. It's a TV news journo trying to take the mickey out of one of the holiest of men in the world - His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The joke's pretty poor, and I just don't think this is necessary. With no doubt, His Holiness would not have minded, but you don't try this kind of thing with a great man like that... Really! I'm not really seeing the lighter side of this...

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Source: ABC News

Titanic 2.0? WTF?!

Just read this on BBC News today.

Clive Palmer, one of Australia's richest men, has commissioned a Chinese state-owned company to build a 21st Century version of the Titanic.
Titanic was bad enough leading to the death of quite a lot of people. More recently, for the centenary of the original RMS Titanic 1.0, they drafted in a cruise to trace the hull-prints of that ill-fated ship. They had to turn back because of some chronic illness experienced by its passengers.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Enterprise flies again

On Friday, Space Shuttle Enterprise flew again. This time, in the footsteps of the recent flight of Discovery to its final resting place. Discovery is now set for permanent display at the Smithsonian. Enterprise is going to be place on USS Intrepid in the Hudson river in New York. If the Discovery flight atop a 747 is awe-inspiring enough, Enterprise will blow you away! The famous city landscape of New York serving as a backdrop for the first Space Shuttle ever to make its final flight... It's great, but also the final chapter of a great part of history.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

When Mario goes mad

After all the mushrooms, turtles and pipes, Mario finally goes nuts! It's like Kick-Ass, but a Mario version of it. Watch it!

The Avengers (2012)

One word: epic! I never thought I'd say this again after James Cameron's Avatar. The Avengers wasn't a 3D epic set in a faraway place. It brought the action to a more familiar surrounding - Earth. Look, I'll do my best not to give too much away. I'm aware Belgium is one of the earlier releases. I've been warned of dire complaints and annoyances by a friend already... I'll try to be gentle! More after the break.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Dictator Kim Il Sung compared to Mandela

Dictator Kim Il Sung compared to Mandela: Deputy minister of police, Maggie Sotyu, has compared the deceased former leader of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, to ex-president Nelson Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Via News24.co.za

All I can say is... Wow! I'm not even going to bother telling you what I think about it. I'm sure all you sane people out there feel the same.

Madiba
Rank dictator Kim
Image source: Wikipedia.org

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Formula 1 under threat in Bahrain

For several hours today, Formula1.com - official website of the pinnacle of motor sport - was taken down by Anonymous. They posted a rather harsh press release (see link below) mostly detailing the problems, as they see it, in Bahrain ahead of the F1 return. Just a day earlier, a shuttle bus taking Force India mechanics back to the hotel happened to have gone near a petrol bomb attack. This led the team to withdraw from Free Practice 2 to get there guys to the hotel before nightfall.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Full movie #GT86 Test Ride

Fruit of my labour. Here's the final cut of my GT86 test ride video. I've put all the footage together so you have two main shots from the inside and one from the outside. My pro driver (or should I say drifter), and he's really awesome, was Luke Kidsley. Check it out, and he gives some really cool insight into the car, the way it drives, and its development while going sideways and slaloming at 150 km/h.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Toyota #GT86 Test Ride (Video)

Here's the video. Be warned, it's filmed using a little hand-held camera and I haven't had a chance to edit it. Yes, I wobbled a little because I was in a bit of an adrenaline rush and we were continuously sideways! I'll post more later - yes, some professional shots coming. Uh, btw, admittedly, there is a bit where I just laughed because I didn't have anything clever to say mid-drift. I'm not proud of it...

Sideways Saturday in a #GT86

I just came back from the Toyota GT86 test ride event I’ve been so excited about all week. And you know what? It was spectacularly awesome. I haven’t had so much adrenaline and dopamine pumping through my body since I last got driven around the Goodwood FoS Forest Rally Stage by Toyota’s many-times Dakar Champion. And this wasn’t even in a forest and on loose gravel. It was on a test track, in a road-going car! More to follow later as I get the pictures and videos sorted out. Oh, and it'll take plenty to wipe the massive smile off my face after this!

Merc locks out front row in China

What an amazing Qualifying today at the F1 Chinese Grand Prix. Rosberg put in a 1:35.1, over half a second faster than P2 man, Hamilton. Before the 10 minutes even came close to ending, Nico walked out of his car full of confidence and went to the weighbridge. So with a five-place penalty befalling Hamilton, Michael Schumacher will start tomorrow's race next to his team mate on the front row! It's been a great start of the year for Schumi, starting P4, P3 and now P2.

Make bullying kill itself (South Park Video)

"Let's all join together to try make bullying kill itself". This week's South Park features another instant classic written by Stan Marsh (remember the Smug Alert Hybrid song "Come on people now"?). This long, one-shot music video is courtesy of the students of South Park Elementary in Colorado. It's a really good laugh! More after the break.


Friday, April 6, 2012

GT86 test ride (soon) and news from GAZOO Racing

I'm going slightly overboard with this Toyota GT86 thing, but bear with me. It's a great car, if all the reviews are something to go by. And quite frankly, most of the reviews I've seen - some posted here - have said that it's the best car Toyota ever made. So with good reason, I'm damn excited about the car. And good news came my way today: I've won a chance to get driven by professional drivers in just under a week around a track! I hope we'll go sideways all the way!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Autocar UK reviews Toyota GT86

Toyota bags another glowing review of its new GT86 sports coupe. This one coming from autocar.co.uk. My goodness, it really makes me want the car all the much more!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

How do you prep a Hilux for the Antarctic?

To answer that, check out Toyota Europe's Blog. Also here's a video highlighting the Hilux and it's various - all rather cold and frozen - expeditions since 2007 when it made it with Clarkson and May of Top Gear fame to the North Pole. Video after the break.

The world, 8 bit at a time

This one was making the rounds from Gizmodo yesterday. Really funny stuff. Imagine what Facebook (and many other great online tools we take for granted today) would have looked like if it was invented in the 80s or 90s. I really love this old school 8-bit fun, and it follows what Google did for their April Fools prank: 8-bit Google Maps for the NES no less (it comes in cartridge form). Videos after the break. I promise you they're worth it!

Logos full of secrets

Just picked this up on Twitter today via @kellyberold. Did you know that most popular corporate logos have hidden meanings inside them? Some obvious, some not. For example, there's an arrow in the FedEx logo between the E and the X. Click for more on BuzzFeed.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Is Vettel losing his cool?

The Maysian Grand Prix was really fun to watch. It brought back good memories of a mixed up grid like it was in Canada last year, thanks to the changing weather conditions. But something more interesting is Vettel's new lack of composure. Red Bull isn't doing well on track because their car isn't that competitive. The new 2012 contender definitely isn't performing well in Qualifying.