Sunday, June 24, 2007
THE JOY OF MOTORSPORT.......
Motorsport.
Isn't it a fantastic thing?!
The more politically correct amongst us will argue that it's a waste of resources and an unnecessary contributor to global emissions.
I however quite enjoy the spectacle of racing vehicles being driven in anger, especially when at the hands of serious wheelers who possess all 'the right stuff'.
A week ago I drove out into the country just out of Melbourne to get a badly needed dose of motorsport.
It was a hillclimb event where the competitors raced up a short bitumen track one by one.
My penchant for things motorsport wasn't the only reason for making the trip out to the rolling hills and paddocks on a cold wintery day.
It was also an opportunity to practice walking on uneven ground, up, down and along hills and to have a crack at some motorsport photography.
Gotta admit, it was much more difficult and tiring than I expected, but none the less a worthwhile thing to do.
It really put my physical limitations into perspective and gave me a better idea of just how much more work is needed to get myself back to a state I would consider to be acceptable.
The photography aspect of the venture was also harder than I expected, mainly from the point of view that I was constantly adjusting my settings to compensate for the sun coming in and out of cloud cover.
I also had a bit of trouble trying to get the right vantage points and choosing the appropriate lens for the position.
I did however have a chat with an experienced and now retired motorsport photographer.
He was kind enough to let me ask a heap of questions about the industry and photography in general.
I submitted some of the photos onto my DeviantArt account.
There was a stack more shots, but I chose those ones for the cars.
I then edited them in black and white as the age of the vehicles and the lack of sponsorship meant I could present them in a way that would not be too different from how they would have looked back in their days.
There were a few much younger cars there, but as the meet was organised by the MG Car Club of Victoria the majority were older style vehicles.
Naturally the competitors, officials and volunteers were also of the older variety.
Never have I seen so many tweed jackets, Sherlock Holmes style hats, grey hair, golf caps, corduroy pants and argyle socks.
Even the odd tartan patterned thermos flask!
Whilst it's not my favoured form of motorpsort it is good to see some of these historic cars being still used to race.
Can't wait to get to a real proper rally!!!
The hillclimb did take its toll on me and I just couldn't get myself to physio on Monday.
Partly because I was knackered and didn't get much sleep and also because I found it difficult to motivate myself to get out of my warm bed to jump through physio hoops.
The rest of the week was relatively packed out with work, physio, correspondence with doctors, lawyers, the Traffic Accident Commission, trivia night ( we bummed out, but still won beer ), a visit to the Melbourne Animation Festival and a fund raising screening of the movie Serenity.
That last one was interesting.
It was one of 52 screenings around the world this weekend just gone, the primary reason being to raise money for Equality Now.
My primary reason for going was that I got hooked on the TV series and when I tried to hire the movie, I found it was not available at my local store, so I figured seeing it on the big screen would be better.
There were short films shown including an interview with the creator Joss Whedon, some fan movies and parodies and of course being a science fiction movie, complementary geeks and nerds dressed up as characters, wearing Star Trek badges, computer game t-shirts, etc.
It was entertaining watching geeks bidding for signed posters and other memorabilia at the auction, making geeky jokes, having a 'best dressed character competition', singing the theme song to the Movie / TV series.
Sci-Fi geeks are funny!
This coming week my work hours are going up to 3 x 6 hour days and therefore the physio down to 2 days per week.
I will also be contacting my lawyer and discussing legal matters in order to be prepared for the upcoming forward progression in my compensation case.
Another psychologist will have to be organised too, as the last one was of no real help to me.
It kind of sucks as I am getting a bit tired of having to go through the process of explaining what happened, how it affected me, blah blah blah....., but I'm not going to give up just yet.
It'll need to take quite a few more useless head shrinkers to put me off.
Some more photos, feel free to click for a larger image :)
An interesting looking chap I found in an alleyway off Swanston Street.
.
Isn't it a fantastic thing?!
The more politically correct amongst us will argue that it's a waste of resources and an unnecessary contributor to global emissions.
I however quite enjoy the spectacle of racing vehicles being driven in anger, especially when at the hands of serious wheelers who possess all 'the right stuff'.
A week ago I drove out into the country just out of Melbourne to get a badly needed dose of motorsport.
It was a hillclimb event where the competitors raced up a short bitumen track one by one.
My penchant for things motorsport wasn't the only reason for making the trip out to the rolling hills and paddocks on a cold wintery day.
It was also an opportunity to practice walking on uneven ground, up, down and along hills and to have a crack at some motorsport photography.
Gotta admit, it was much more difficult and tiring than I expected, but none the less a worthwhile thing to do.
It really put my physical limitations into perspective and gave me a better idea of just how much more work is needed to get myself back to a state I would consider to be acceptable.
The photography aspect of the venture was also harder than I expected, mainly from the point of view that I was constantly adjusting my settings to compensate for the sun coming in and out of cloud cover.
I also had a bit of trouble trying to get the right vantage points and choosing the appropriate lens for the position.
I did however have a chat with an experienced and now retired motorsport photographer.
He was kind enough to let me ask a heap of questions about the industry and photography in general.
I submitted some of the photos onto my DeviantArt account.
There was a stack more shots, but I chose those ones for the cars.
I then edited them in black and white as the age of the vehicles and the lack of sponsorship meant I could present them in a way that would not be too different from how they would have looked back in their days.
There were a few much younger cars there, but as the meet was organised by the MG Car Club of Victoria the majority were older style vehicles.
Naturally the competitors, officials and volunteers were also of the older variety.
Never have I seen so many tweed jackets, Sherlock Holmes style hats, grey hair, golf caps, corduroy pants and argyle socks.
Even the odd tartan patterned thermos flask!
Whilst it's not my favoured form of motorpsort it is good to see some of these historic cars being still used to race.
Can't wait to get to a real proper rally!!!
The hillclimb did take its toll on me and I just couldn't get myself to physio on Monday.
Partly because I was knackered and didn't get much sleep and also because I found it difficult to motivate myself to get out of my warm bed to jump through physio hoops.
The rest of the week was relatively packed out with work, physio, correspondence with doctors, lawyers, the Traffic Accident Commission, trivia night ( we bummed out, but still won beer ), a visit to the Melbourne Animation Festival and a fund raising screening of the movie Serenity.
That last one was interesting.
It was one of 52 screenings around the world this weekend just gone, the primary reason being to raise money for Equality Now.
My primary reason for going was that I got hooked on the TV series and when I tried to hire the movie, I found it was not available at my local store, so I figured seeing it on the big screen would be better.
There were short films shown including an interview with the creator Joss Whedon, some fan movies and parodies and of course being a science fiction movie, complementary geeks and nerds dressed up as characters, wearing Star Trek badges, computer game t-shirts, etc.
It was entertaining watching geeks bidding for signed posters and other memorabilia at the auction, making geeky jokes, having a 'best dressed character competition', singing the theme song to the Movie / TV series.
Sci-Fi geeks are funny!
This coming week my work hours are going up to 3 x 6 hour days and therefore the physio down to 2 days per week.
I will also be contacting my lawyer and discussing legal matters in order to be prepared for the upcoming forward progression in my compensation case.
Another psychologist will have to be organised too, as the last one was of no real help to me.
It kind of sucks as I am getting a bit tired of having to go through the process of explaining what happened, how it affected me, blah blah blah....., but I'm not going to give up just yet.
It'll need to take quite a few more useless head shrinkers to put me off.
Some more photos, feel free to click for a larger image :)
An interesting looking chap I found in an alleyway off Swanston Street.A collection of scooters from Melbourne's C.B.D.
.
