July 2013 in Review

While a few of "My Ten Most Popular Posts" have swapped positions, no new entries have climbed onto the list.  So, instead of listing the old numbers and positions for you, I thought I'd share with you the posts that generated the most interest in July.  (As always, I've listed the titles as links, so you can review any posts you might have missed).

Oscar Goldman.  Yeah, he's cool.

1. My Meeting with Oscar Goldman (40 Page Views).  I posted this last October, and it only got a few page views initially.  But people love the Bionic TV shows, and I'm glad some people found it, and shared it with their friends.  

2. James Herriot Trivia (36 Views).  I posted this back in June, but as it came well after I posted the rest of my James Herriot-themed entries, I think it took those readers awhile to find it.  

3. Daleks Versus Monsters (34 Views).  This was the most popular post for July.  This came as quite a surprise to me, as I had intended it as a lead-in to what I thought people would really get a kick out of, which was the appearance of Captain Skaro, the Dalek equivalent of Captain America.  (As it happened, Captain Skaro to the Rescue! fell below the Dalek average).  I guess it's just as well I never got into playing Poker.

4. Norman Clegg's TV House (28 Views).  Despite how Blogger continually juggles its Page View numbers (see My Ten Most Popular Posts for an explanation), it's rare that a month goes by without a few people checking out my post "Catching A Glimpse of Norman Clegg's House."  When a reader alerted me to the fact that the house Norman Clegg lived in during the production of the TV series "Last of the Summer Wine," I knew I had to return to Holmfirth and check it out.  Oh, it would be neat to live there.

5. C. J. Cherryh: Exceptional & Accessible (22 Views).  Meeting this Science Fiction luminary was a real treat.  I enjoyed my long chat with her at a convention, and we've corresponded once or twice since then. I really, really like her.  Obviously, other readers do too.

6. Understanding Kimi Raikkonen: Part 3 (22 Views).  This was one of a series I did last year, when I compared Kimi Raikkonen not only to other Formula One race car drivers, but also to test pilots of experimental aircraft.  This idea seems bizarre in retrospect, but if you never act on an idea other people might regard as crazy...well, maybe you're too busy playing Poker.

7. Pocket Dalek Knitting Pattern (20 Views).  People like my Dalek posts.  People like Daleks.  People obviously want to knit Daleks for their very own home.  What's even remotely crazy or bizarre about that?

8. Catching a Glimpse of Norman Clegg's House (17 Views).  See!  See!  See!

9. Indulging my Inner Cow with Superman (17 Views).  I suppose it's possible that people were interested in my review of the Superman movie "Man of Steel," but personally, I think they just liked seeing me in a funny outfit.

10.  Robert E. Howard's King Kull in Comics (16 Views).  It's amazing how high profile readers, critics, and historians continually denigrate Robert E. Howard's writing.  It's equally amazing how fans of his literary efforts usually denigrate adaptations of his stories and characters, particularly in comics.  But my Robert E. Howard comic-related posts get a fair number of views, usually in excess of my Dalek entries.  

Well, there you have it, what you and other readers found most interesting at The Dragon's Cache in July.  Thanks for reading, and recommending my posts to your friends.

Dragon Dave

Watching Formula One in an Irish Pub

Last weekend, we watched the Australian Formula One race in an Irish pub.  As most of the tables and booths were taken, a waiter carried in a small table from the outside dining area, and placed it right up in front of the big screen TV.  A waitress brought us our drinks, and we settled in to watch the race.  A cold breeze blew in from the open door, as employees and musicians carried in musical instruments to play later, but after they finished, they closed the door, and I was able to shed my jacket.

It was interesting to watch Formula One with a crowd.  People cheered, whistled, or clapped when a pass was made, particularly when Fernando Alonzo or Lewis Hamilton were involved.  Sebastian Vettel led in his Red Bull during the first stage of race, then after awhile, Adrian Sutil in his Force India became a factor.  The latter was unexpected, as Sutil lost his ride at the end of 2011, sat out last year’s championship, and Force India is a midfield team. 

During this period, I noticed Kimi Raikkonen climbing the order in his Lotus Renault.  I wondered if, as with last year’s race in Abu Dhabi, he could maintain his pace.  Sure enough, he took the lead, made one less pit stop than the majority of the field, and managed the Super Soft tires better than anyone else. 

More hooting, hollering, and expressions of acclaim filled the crowded pub when he crossed the finish line in first place.  One patron offered everyone a shot of an alcoholic drink from Finland, Kimi’s home country.  I didn’t wallop back mine like everyone else, but I raised the little glass to toast Kimi’s victory with everyone else.  Then I sipped it slowly, savoring the drink’s warmth, and its rich, licorice flavor.  As the top three racers mounted the platform, the Finnish national anthem played.  The man from Finland sang along in his native tongue, and the bartender turned down the TV’s volume so we could hear the lyrics in his native tongue.

Kimi Raikkonen celebrates (2nd from right)

I’ve written extensively on Kimi’s character and past, so I won’t reiterate that here.  Suffice it to say that I was glad to see him win again.  Formula One drivers often speak their mind, and sometimes their personalities and opinions outshine their results.  It was nice to see a modest, private man like Kimi quietly get on with his job, and accomplish something truly memorable.  To be able to celebrate his win with others, in an Irish pub full of Formula One fans, was a real pleasure.

Dragon Dave

P.S.  If you live in the United States, and you can't watch Formula One in an Irish pub, you can catch it on NBC's network of stations.

Related Dragon Cache entries

Understanding Kimi Raikkonen: Part 1

Understanding Kimi Raikkonen: Part 6

"What happens in Monaco,
doesn't necessarily stay in Monaco."

In The Right Stuff, author Tom Wolfe calls Chuck Yeager a “natural-born stick ‘n’ rudder man.”  After serving as a combat pilot in World War II, Yeager was trained as a test pilot, and eventually selected for the X-1 project.  This project represented one of aviation’s far-flung goals: the chance to break the sound barrier.  Many pilots and aeronautical experts worried that the increased buffeting and turbulence that rocked planes as they neared Mach 1 would prove insurmountable.  Yeager wanted to prove them wrong.

The X-1 trials were conducted at Muroc, which would later become Edwards Air Force Base.   But then it was just a runway in the desert, along with a few shacks and tents.  The only nearby amenity was Pancho’s Fly Inn, where the airmen indulged in part of the “Flying & Drinking and Drinking & Driving” mentality of military test pilots.  Two nights before his big flight, after knocking back a few drinks, he and his wife saddled up two of Pancho’s horses and went for a moonlight ride.  With a test pilot’s intent of demonstrating that “the right stuff” applied to all aspects of one’s life, he rode at full gallop through the Joshua trees. 

Then his horse hit a gate.

The next day, he slunk off base to a civilian doctor, who taped up his two broken ribs.  The day of the X-1 test, the pain was no less intense.  After determining that he could do everything but close his canopy unassisted, Yeager confided in his flight engineer, who fashioned a makeshift lever from a broom handle.  He rode up in the B-29 until the launch plane reached the proper altitude.  Then he climbed out through the bomb bay, down a ladder into the X-1, hooked up his oxygen, radio, and earphones, and strapped on his helmet.  With his new wooden tool, he closed the cockpit.  After he told the crew he was ready, the B-29 released the X-1, and Yeager lit up the rocket engines.  He made it through the buffeting, and pushed through the sound barrier to reach Mach 1.05.

Similarly, the seven Mercury astronauts believed in blowing off steam after a hard day’s work.  Through their friendship with Jim Rothman, a Florida car dealer who had won the 1960 Indianapolis 500, most of them ended up with brand new Corvettes.  Wally Schirra got a Maserati, and Scott Carpenter a Shelby Cobra.  (John Glenn alone seemed immune to the allure of sports cars).  After knocking back a few drinks, the boys unleashed their cars along the dark highways.  They never worried whether their performances could measure up with those of professional racecar drivers.  They had “the right stuff,” after all!

Much has been made of Kimi Raikkonen’s tendency to let loose after a race, or to celebrate an especially sweet victory.  While I would never condone Drinking & Driving, or public displays of drunkenness, everything we do in life induces a certain amount of stress.  Whether it is a job of our choosing, or an obligation forced upon us, our bodies, minds, and spirits cannot handle unlimited stress.  We must find activities and ways to release that stress.  We should also acknowledge that those who face greater trials than us, and who strive for greater goals, also endure greater levels of stress.  To paraphrase Mark Shepherd, the character who runs the mining operation on Io in the Sci-Fi movie “Outland,” “these people work hard, and then they play hard.” 

But instead of ending this series on Kimi Raikkonen by attempting to justify one aspect of his psyche, I’d rather focus on what he is not known for.  He doesn’t have a reputation for excessive blocking, or knocking his fellow competitors off the track.  He doesn't go public with details of his salary negotiations.  He's never put sensitive team information online.  If his team has done something that the FIA (F1's governing body) might find questionable, he doesn’t threaten to inform on them unless the team meets his demands.  Nor does he have a history of demanding number one status within a team, or playing Machiavellian games with his teammates.  

Kimi Raikkonen may not interact with his engineers the way other drivers do.  As Peter Sauber once said, “He demands, to the point of arrogance, to get his own way.”  He also has a reputation for partying a little too hard.  Some could argue that he might be a multiple world champion had he conducted himself differently.  But statistic and records are not the sole determinate of one's greatness.  For some people, life isn't just about winning: it's also about what they won't do in order to win.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

More about Kimi Raikkonen

X-1 Facts & Photos

Understanding Kimi Raikkonen: Part 5

"Control, control, you must learn control!"

When I was young, my parents signed me up for piano lessons.  I was never given a choice in the matter.  I was simply told, when you’re older, you’ll be glad you learned how to play an instrument.  I cannot say that I enjoyed it when my father dragged me out of bed at six in the morning to practice for an hour before I went off to school, but I endured the regimen, and learned how to play the piano competently enough.  While I don’t practice the piano any more, and rarely play, still, I suppose my parents were right.  At least I know what it’s like to play an instrument, and that’s an aspect of life I would have been completely ignorant of, had I not experienced so much of it when I was young.

Twenty years ago I started watching automobile races.  After awhile, my interest in other series waned, but I never stopped watching Formula One.  To me, these engineering marvels are beautiful, and drivers like Kimi Raikkonen are heroes.  Out of necessity, I performed simple repairs on my car during high school, but that experience hasn’t helped me understand all the complex systems of a Formula One racecar.  Every time I watch the drivers during the race, I’m amazed how they work all the controls, while slammed back into their seats from the acceleration along the straights, taking the perfect line through every corner, and breaking at the very last moment through every turn.  Then, when they come up on a slower car, they’ve got to take a different line, brake in different places, and readjust their controls—in other words, do everything differently--in order to pass it. 

The controls of today’s Formula One cars are all located on the steering wheel.  This allows the driver to keep both hands on or near the wheel while making near-constant adjustments. In Formula 1 ’99 Technical Analysis, author Giorgio Piola depicts a Ferrari steering wheel, and describes the function of all twenty-one controls.  (It’s safe to say that the steering wheels have evolved since then).  Today’s Formula One drivers may not need to work all the buttons, knobs, and paddles during every lap, but some of them, such as gear shift paddles and brake adjustments, are operated dozens, if not hundreds of times each lap.  This reminds me of the cockpit instruments in a fighter jet or a spacecraft, in which the pilot or astronaut must make constant adjustments as he hurtles along at unimaginable speeds. 

While every consideration is made for driver and audience safety, auto racing, just like flying and spaceflight, remains a dangerous sport.  The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix reminded everyone of Murphy’s Law: if anything can go wrong, it eventually will.  When Rubens Barrichello hit a curb wrong during practice, his Jordan launched into the air and crashed into the tire barrier.  Thankfully, he emerged with nothing more than a broken nose and an injured arm.  During qualifying, when his Simtek’s front wing failed, Roland Ratzenberger slammed headfirst into a concrete wall.  He wasn’t so lucky.  J. J. Lehto, not doubt unsettled by his friend Roland’s death, stalled at the start of the race.  Pedro Lamy’s Lotus plowed into Lehto’s Benetton.  The impact hurled debris into the air, some of which flew over the safety fence and into the crowd, in the process injuring nine spectators.  After the restart, something went wrong with Ayrton Senna’s car.  When his Williams suddenly veered off the track, even the triple-champion’s incredible talent and superhuman reflexes couldn’t help him avoid the crash that ended his life.  Finally, ten laps before the end, a wheel worked itself loose as Michele Alboreto’s car left his pits.  The wheel hurtled along pit lane, and struck two Ferrari and two Lotus mechanics, sending all four men to the hospital. 

Despite all the subsequent advances in safety, Formula One remains a dangerous sport, perhaps just as dangerous as the risks involved for an astronaut or a test pilot.  I’m amazed drivers like Kimi Raikkonen, or test pilots like Pete Conrad, work so many controls while traveling so fast.  The closest I could ever come to matching their performances would be if I played the piano in a jazz group, constantly taking cues and changing my performance to match that of the other members of the group.  But to really match my heroes’ performance, I’d need to have the Incredible Hulk standing behind me while I played, constantly pressing my head down, or shoving me to the side, or yanking me back to simulate the G forces of acceleration, turning, and breaking.  And should I play a wrong note, get out of key, break my rhythm, or fail to make any other adjustment quickly enough to match the group’s constantly changing music, the Hulk would slam his fist into me, and knock me to the ground.  Or he would pick me up, grunt, “HULK, SMASH,” and…well, we know what happens then.

Please, Stan Lee and Joss Whedon: don’t get any ideas. 

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Nico Rosberg explains the controls on Mercedes’ steering wheel

Understanding Kimi Raikkonen: Part 4

Drive & Grow Rich by Kimi Raikkonen

Pete Conrad had proven his abilities as a military test pilot, but as Tom Wolfe describes in The Right Stuff, that did not ensure his selection as one of America’s first astronauts.  Test pilots back then objected to any medical tests, but Conrad viewed the testing at the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico as especially excessive.  Hooking him up to electrodes to make his muscles move of their own accord was bad enough.  After a slew of extensive tests on his bowels, Conrad marched into the general’s office.  He slammed the latest enema bag on the general’s desk, and declared, “If you want any more enemas from me, from now on you can get ‘em yourself!”

He found the psychological testing at Wright-Patterson Air Force base no more agreeable.  Surrounded by white-garbed officials who asked him bizarre questions, and scribbled down his every reaction, Conrad again went on the offensive.  Presented with a blank sheet of paper and asked to describe what he saw, Conrad studied it for a moment, then said warily, “But it’s upside down.”  Later, he purchased his own notepad, and followed one particularly annoying psychologist around, asking her questions and writing down her responses. 

Needless to say, Pete Conrad did not make the cut as one of America’s first seven astronauts.  That status was accorded to Alan Shepherd, Gus Grissom, Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Wally Schirra, Deke Slayton, and Gordon Cooper.  Once introduced to the press, these men were accorded the status of King’s Champions.  The public suddenly wanted to know everything about them, not for what they had previously accomplished in their careers, but for how they would take on the almighty USSR in the ultimate battleground of space.  Awards were hurled at their feet, their presence was requested by virtually every company and group in the country, and the public hungered to know everything about the men who would climb into the Project Mercury capsules.  A lucrative deal with Life magazine followed shortly thereafter, a long with all manner of previously unimaginable opportunities to amass their personal wealth.

A similar comparison could be made with today’s Formula One drivers.  At the beginning of each season, every team shows off their new car and drivers.  Although races and championships are won through the efforts of hundreds (if not thousands) of people, it is the two drivers who are heralded as the team’s heroes.  If their previous experience is impressive, it will be trumpeted.  If not, the driver will be announced as The Next Great Driver.  As the season progresses, should the drivers fail to outperform the Goliaths of the higher echelon teams, well, that’s one thing.  But woe betide them if they are consistently outperformed by the Davids of lower ranked teams!

Formula One is a big money sport, but even the richest teams cannot afford to lavish extravagant amounts on drivers unless they believe the person can perform.  Yet so highly did Ron Dennis, then team boss of McLaren, believe in Kimi Raikkonen’s abilities, that by the end of 2001, Kimi’s first season in Formula One, he convinced two-time champion Mika Hakkinen to take a year’s sabbatical.  Instead of paying Mika his usual nine-to-eleven million dollar salary, he paid Mika three million to sit out a year.  Ron Dennis then negotiated with Peter Sauber and Kimi Raikkonen to secure the latter's services for the following season.  He eventually contracted to pay Sauber five million a year for four years to release Kimi from his employment contract with the team, and further agreed to pay Kimi an eight million dollar salary.  Effectively, that meant Ron Dennis paid out sixteen million for Kimi’s first year, as opposed to the nine-to-eleven million he had paid Mika.  This equates to over twenty million in 2012 dollars.  And all this, for a promising but unproven driver.  

Kimi Raikkonen went on to spend five years at McLaren.  Although he never won the championship for Ron Dennis, he finished runner-up twice during a period in which Michael Schumacher and Ferrari forged an unbeatable partnership.  When Michael Schumacher retired at the end of the 2006 season, Kimi took his seat at Ferrari, along with a salary of fifty-one million dollars, and won the championship in 2007, his first year with the team.  But his drives at McLaren and Ferrari, as well as the incredible sums he earned, would never have been his had he not performed well at Sauber, or had he responded like Pete Conrad did when Ron Dennis and McLaren evaluated him as a potential driver.  Sometimes patience, and submitting to others' tests, seems unnecessary.  But we can never rest on our laurels.  While doing our best every day can position us for future opportunities, humility and respect for others will help us win them.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links
Team Lotus sings Kimi's praises