So, this is what I'm thinking... » Brian Hoover

Go play out on the road

Brian — Sun, 20 May 2012 07:30:21 +0000

This is the result of telling our kids to go play out on the road with some chalk this afternoon. Do you think they have any “issues”?

Redneck Repairs

Brian — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:51:36 +0000

OK, I will admit to having done something a lot like this more than once.

Our 2012 Spanish Grand Prix meal

Brian — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:43:32 +0000

So, last night I made Paella for dinner as part of our 2012 Taste of the Race.There’s different types of Paella with the most popular being seafood. But we went for a pretty generic mix with a bit of everything: chirozo sausage, chicken and prawns cooked into onion, red and green capsicum (for some great colours), tomato and rice. It tasted great, and what’s more the kids really liked it. When I say I made it, Suzanne helped a little bit. It wasn’t all that difficult, but Suzanne managed to slice through the middle of her fingernail when chopping the capsicum.

Home made Paella

The race itself was an interesting affair. Pastor Maldonado, of all people, had managed pole position for Williams after Lewis Hamilton got sent to the back of the field for not having enough fuel left in the tank for sampling after qualifying first by a good 5 tenths. That pretty much cost him the race.

To Maldonado’s credit, he put in a mature race for someone who hasn’t shown a lot of maturity in the last season or so. But by the first corner he’d given up the lead to local hero Alonso in the Ferrari. Despite this, Williams were calling the shots in the race and timed their pit stop to perfection to give Maldonado plenty of clean air. He put in the outlap of his life to undercut Ferrari who had to re-actively pit Alonso and put him behind some unwanted traffic and more importantly behind Maldonado. I’m not too keen on passing in the pits. I’d rather see on-track passing but watching the strategy unfold successfully was intriguing.

Maldonado held on from a desperate Alonso charge late in the race. Unfortunately Alonso suffered from being behind traffic and his tires dropped off a couple laps too soon. Good win to Williams and Maldonado in the end, for the fifth different winner and the fifth different constructor to win from the first five races.

Maldonardo wins 2012 Spanish F1 Grand Prix

Suzanne has been developing a sense of humour

Brian — Fri, 04 May 2012 08:13:14 +0000

I was tasked by Suzanne to buy a whistle today. She starts umpiring netball tomorrow, and so needs a whistle. What follows is a transcript of the first known humourous facebook message I’ve ever received from my wife:

I forgot our wedding anniversary

Brian — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:58:03 +0000

But then again:

…so it evens out.

RHCP

Brian — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:43:21 +0000

Banana. Santana. Pollyanna. Bandana. Indiana. Continue reading →

Me after ANZAC day service

Brian — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:25:21 +0000

Me after ANZAC day service Continue reading →

Our 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix meal

Brian — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:29:18 +0000

This weekend was the Bahrain Grand Prix, and all political mumbo jumbo aside it was a good opportunity to try some more exotic food that we haven’t experienced before. I called around the the guys in our Bahrain office and asked them what good, traditional Bahraini food is. They threw around a lot of names I couldn’t pronounce, but indicated that they eat a lot of fish, meat, rice, and dates.

In the end we went for our take on Ghoozi which is lamb with rice and various spices, plus egg, onions and a few other things. Suzanne also made a killer Tabbouleh, a salad made from cracked wheat called Bulgur plus onions, garlic, mint and lemon juice. It was a bit strong for my taste, but it’s enjoyable in small amounts. We also had a bowl of dates as dessert.

As for the race, Mark Webber again managed fourth while Daniel Ricciardo, who started his Scuderia Torro Rosso from sixth, finished in the high teens well out of the points. Vettel took the flag, and while Kimi and Grosjean were pushing late in the race they were unable to take control of the race. Poor McLaren had a very bad day indeed with a comedy of errors in the pit (twice!) costing Hamilton dearly, while Button limped into the pit on the last lap dragging a broken gearbox.

My political persuasions

Brian — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:03:56 +0000

I took a test at http://politicalcompass.org to find that I am mostly leftist (as defined by them) and mostly balanced between being Authoritarian and Libertarian:

Economic Left/Right: -4.62 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.87

To compare me with other world leaders:

I'm most like Ghandi

And to compare with the 2012 US Presidential candidates:

I always thought I identified with Ron Paul on a lot of issues and would probably vote for him. To be fair, a lot of these questions aren’t all that valid for an Australian audience and aimed mostly at US voters who tend to have black and white extremes with no middle ground.

Our Chinese Grand Prix meal

Brian — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:39:11 +0000

Tonight we had steamed Soy/Ginger chicken, steamed Bok Choy and fried rice to celebrate the Chinese Grand Prix as part of our Taste of the Race. Nico Rosberg had a blinder of a race, putting the Rosberg name on the podium for the first time since 1986 when his dad Keke came second at Monaco. It is also the first time a Mercedes chassis carried a Mercedes engine to a win since the great Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955.

Mark Webber managed fourth, again beating team mate Vettel. He had a new strategy to preserve his tires later in the race