Intensity

The hockey season is moving along with so many games and practices that sometimes I forget what day it is. Both kids are playing at higher levels than ever and are excelling. Frudoch is leading the Columbus Capitals in goals, shots, hits, scoring and assists despite playing less than half the minutes of the other forwards on the team. He was just switched from center to right wing so he is having to get used to having his back to the goal now and fighting off the defenseman. Just look at the intensity in this photo taken against Stongsville a couple weeks ago.


Poppy has been playing as a defenseman almost exclusively and her teams record stands at 6-1 which is great considering last year her team was 0-14-1 after the regular season. She also mad the Columbus North Stars select team and they have decided to play at the AA level in order to improve every player and really challenge the kids. Their travel schedule is really going to be hectic come January and February. They have played one game and steamrolled the opponents easily. These kids are going to be good.
As a parent I'm very proud of my kids although i'm getting worn out with hockey 6 days/nights a week from September to March.....

Goodbye to the F-111 Aardvark

Back in May I blogged about the upcoming final retirement of the last in service General Dynamics F-111 of the RAAF. Well that time has come for the beast some 46 years after the first prototype first flew. I won't rehash everything I wrote back then, but that day is now almost here. On Dec 2, 2010 the F-111 will be retired and for fan's of this massive strike plane its a sad day. These beasts were operated by the US Air Force in a few variants, including long-range strike, and with the EF-111 Raven variant, electronic warfare. In USAF service F-111s participated in the Vietnam War, the US attack on Libya in 1986, and Operation Desert Storm in 1991 against Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. They were retired in 1997 by the USAF and lived another 13 years in the sky in Australia until now. The last former USAF F-111G was retired in 2007 by the RAAF.

As noted in the previous blog these will be replaced by FA-18F's built by Boeing and fitted for various roles until the real replacement for the F-111 arrives in the form of the F-35 JSF. The FA-18's are holding the door open and will do an excellent job in their multi role capacity. In fact the FA-18's have less range and are slower than the F-111 although they are much more efficient to operate and have modern communications equipment which transmits data seamlessly between airborne platforms. Perhaps more than any other deficiency, it is this shortcoming which has pushed the RAAF to retire the type even before its original replacement is ready to be fielded.

But to any airplane or airshow fan the most missed aspect of the F-111 is the dump and burn......

How Cool is That Map?

One of the coolest things about having a blog is knowing that people from virtually anywhere in the world can read what you write. Over the years I've read hundreds, perhaps thousands of blog's and blog posts from around the world. Many by just clicking the random "next" at the top o the Blogger page. People post for a myriad of reasons. It doesn't really matter how or why. For some it's for therapeutic reasons. For others its for work. It just matters that we do. In college I wrote quite a bit. I started college fearing the term paper and almost any composition. By the end I wanted it all to be written. I was not an English major, but I learned a ton from taking classes that were in essence foreign to me. I took an East Asian Language and Literature class and a Art History class that to this day I can remember everything we did. All my other classes are gone in a blur. Those two classes were different. They challenged me to open up my horizons and to look beyond what was around me and comfortable. I probably did not fully appreciate it at the time, but I certainly do now. In any case I picked up writing an fortunately for me I have a sister who is a writer and with almost every paper I wrote I used this new at the time thing called the internet to email her the papers where she wold comment and correct obvious errors and help me develop a writing style. This style of writing led to one of my professors sending my work to a local newspaper where she attempted to get me a job as a writer covering music and the arts. Two things I knew little about at the time beyond what I was picking up in that Art History class. Fortunately for me I did not pursue that job as I get bored dong the same things all the time. I need variety in my life. It why my interests are varied and over the history of this blog I think you can get a good snapshot of that. One thing is for certain however. I like to go fast.
If you stop by this page leave me a note. I know you're coming. I see it on the map. Go ahead and click on it. I'd really like to see visitors from Russia and Alaska. Greenland and Iceland. Madagascar and Nicaragua. Anywhere and everywhere. Its what makes a blog page so great. Thanks!

The Yuck

Yeah I've had it for over 3 weeks. I feel like death warmed over. That awful sore throat with the stuffy head and Headache. The stuff that comes out of your lungs in that nasty color. The body ache and general malaise. Yes I have them all and it won't go away. I'm probably on the fed watch list for pseudophedrine after all I've purchased. Please make it go away. This is what I get for hanging around all the kids on the travel hockey team and taking an active role this year. The 2 hour trips to Cleveland every weekend are already beginning to get old. WHAT WAS I THINKING????????????? Oh well he leads the team in all categories-shots, goals, hits, points. Everything but playing time. He's getting less than the other 2 centers on the team , yet still the numbers are good. 10 goals after 11 games and he's averaging 6 hits per game. Great fun to watch, but at this point i'd rather feel 100%.

Top Gear USA...Can it Live up to The Real Top Gear?

I'm a fan of the BBC program Top Gear. In fact my whole family watches including my kids who are now 10 and 12 and my wife who...shall we say does not watch much television devoted to automobiles. My kids have watched for more than 5 years and while at times the content is a bit inappropriate for them I think it flies over their heads. For years the only way to catch the show was in clip form on youtube or 'pirate' web sites that were quickly shut down. Thankfully BBC America started showing it several years ago here in the USA. I have always disliked the fact that we were several YEARS behind in what we were able to see here, but hey at least we had it. A couple years ago I discovered sites on the web devoted to web streaming and of course Top Gear was one of the shows that always had a stream. I finally was able to see complete episodes of all the years and frankly Top Gear has come a long long way. The hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May have a way of interacting that is so seamless that you know at some level they don't actually have to act like they dislike each other. Sure they get along, but May is so weird that at times I can't stand to listen to him. Then there is The Stig. Will we have a version on TGU? I'm sure in some way we will, but to outright copy the original show will be...unoriginal? The producers have branched out with Top Gear Australia and now we finally see the oft promised Top Gear USA. I'll admit I don't like the idea of it. Not one bit. However, filming has begun and the first 'clip' has hit the web and for this 2 minutes it looks how should I say this....watchable. So my advice is if you really like Top Gear as I do you might want to check it out.

Now if we could get Speed Channel to bring back episode of England's "other" car show First Gear then my car fix would be complete.

Michael J Fox was not always Marty McFly....

I'm sure many of you know that Michael J Fox was not the original choice to play Marty McFly in Back To The Future. Eric Stolz was the original choice and he actually shot for 5 weeks. However the footage has never been seen outside of the studio. As the 25th anniversary approaches for BTTF a new DVD release is planned (big surprise) and in the extras is some of that footage. You could go out and buy the DVD or just watch it here...
Beware that this is kinda freaky. Stolz really does look alot like Fox in this clip. Hollywood....

The Inside Job; Movie Trailers on HDNet

I'm not a big "indie" movie fan, but over the past few years with the help of HDNet and their 3 movie preview shows Nothing But Trailers, The Ultimate Trailer Show, and Trailerama I've seen quite a few trailers for small films that have for about 2 minutes captured my attention. While its rare that I will go to the theater itself and see a movie I have tracked down several of these films on DVD and also HBO/Shotime/Starz/The Movie Channel/Cinemax/Sundance and enjoyed them greatly. The trailer above is for a film called The Inside Job and I saw the trailer on HDNet (of course). The film opens this week in New York and next week in Los Angeles. While its doubtful it will come to good ole Columbus there is a great chance I'll catch it on DVD. From the trailer it looks good and while I am not going to get into a political discussion here the subject matter is interesting. The one caution I have is the media is a large part of the problem in our country and now we are to believe that the answers come from a film produced and distributed by a media conglomerate.... Perhaps a discussion for another day.

One sad point is last week on The Ultimate Trailer show the host, Robert Wilonsky announced that he is moving along. This saddens me as despite his obvious difference in political agendas from mine I trusted his film choices. While he repeatedly pointed out he had a face for print journalism and not TV, he managed to capture my attention for several years and I will miss his suggestions. High Definition TV was in its infancy when he came to the first full time HD channel and filled a niche with several hosting gigs. While so many people complain about the trailers at the start of a film he developed a television show dedicated to clips--2 minutes at a time. In fact HDNet now has 3 shows.... While I never met him I considered him a friend. I even sent a few emails for suggestions of old trailers and a few of them even showed up. Thanks Robert!

Double Dutch Treat for Chile

Ok so that was a lame attempt at a headline. In just a couple months the Netherlands will begin to send more of its older F-16's to Chile where they will join 28 others in protecting the skies over Chile. This is not the first time the Netherlands has sold older F-16's to Chile as 18 of the 28 currently in service are A and B models formerly flown by the Netherlands. Chile currently flies 10 C/D models purchased directly from Lockheed. The new/old jets are currently being prepared at Leeuwarden Air Base for their trip to Chile in early November. In total 6 jets will be ferried to Chile and supported by a McDonnell Douglas KDC-10 Tanker/transport.

The Hockey Season has Begun Again

It's that time of year again. Hockey Season!!!!! In our household its always a huge deal. This year we are stepping it up. Frudoch is playing Travel Hockey and tonight was voted to wear the C as Captain of the Columbus Capitals PeeWee team. It gets fully going on Sunday with 2 games against a foe from Northeastern Ohio. The Capital will be playing in the Cleveland Suburban Hockey League so I will get to know the drive to the Cleveland area really well over the next 5 months. Wish me luck!

I'm Not a NASCAR Fan, But Boris Said Can Drive

If you know me the you know I like racing. I've been wheeling race cars for more than 20 years and while I like to watch racing I'd always rather be driving them. For me the best form of racing is road course caring. It doesn't matter what form. Be they open wheel or prototypes. Formula one or SCCA Club Racing. If its on a road course i'm going to be interested. For many years I watched pretty much all NASCAR races because it was racing and it was usually good. About 10 years ago though NASCAR started going down the toilet in my opinion. When Dale Earnhart died there was a void that was created and for whatever reason the racing became plain. Fast forward to this season and it's safe to say I've only watched pieces of a few NASCAR races. I usually never miss the 2 road course events, but this year I did. NASCAR has just become boring across most levels. Yesterday I was faced with watching the MotoGP race from Indy and the ALMS race from Mosport or the NASCAR Nationwide race from Montreal. Well since I was dealing with a killer migraine I mostly watched the MotoGP race as the NASCAR race was mostly caution laps (don't get me going over their full course cautions on road courses) and well with 3 hours left I had plenty of time. So as the ALMS race came on I started flipping back and forth as the ringers were moving towards the front in Montreal. NASCAR however will do anything to keep a ringer from winning one of their races and only 2 guys have been able to do that with any frequency in Ron Fellows and Marcos Ambrose (Juan Montoya needs to win 1 more to be in this group). As the race wore I stopped flipping to ALMS and watched as Boris Said, Max Papis, Jacques Villenuve, and Robby Gordon moved to the front. Now NASCAR being all about their own this must have hurt. You had a guy from California leading a wild Said-head who in turn was holding off an Italian and a French-Canadian. Nightmare scenario as no southern boys were poised to win. Well we all knew Robby could never make it on fuel (why obby continues to do this is beyond me?) and nothing would be more awful then a furriner winning so Boris got 'the call' and finally brought one home. Boris has trained so many of the roundy round boys on how to turn right and left, yet they always have no problem dumping him out of the way as a ringer and NASCAR always looks the other way. Yesterday they finally paid him back. It's about time!


The video is not embeddable so for ow you will have to cut and paste. I'll embed one when I find it.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid71457653001?bctid=598908743001

The F-15 Has Some Life Left in Her Wings

The newest version of Boeing's air superiority monster designated F-15SE or Silent Eagle made waves a few weeks back becoming the first F-15 to fire an AMRAAM in flight with no adverse effect on the performance of the aircraft. As you can see in the photos from Boeing the newest version of the F-15 is borrowing some of the tricks learned in other advanced aircraft and with this plane its weapons are tucked inside a newly designed Conformal Weapons Bay (CWB) instead of hanging underneath and flying dirty.


"I've been flying F-15s for more than 20 years, but this flight was different from all others," said Boeing F-15 Chief Test Pilot Dan Draeger. "This first launch of an AMRAAM from the F-15's internal weapons bay opens a new era for the F-15 and for strike fighter capability in the dominance of the F-15 Eagle.
"The F-15, CWB and missile performed exactly as we predicted," Draeger continued. "The Silent Eagle continues the F-15's role as the most versatile strike fighter aircraft ever built."

These updates are not the only goodies that Boeing has been studying for future F-15's either. Lots of potential upgrades will be available if other nations choose to buy the F-15. Notice the slightly canted tails on the photo below. While it's not a 5th generation fighter its VERY close for much less.....

Jet Month--Jets on Sale This Month--Going FAST!!!

Tongue planted firmly in cheek.....

CF-18 Crash at Air Show in Lethbridge County Canada

The photos and video of this past Friday's crash of a hornet illustrate the positives and negatives of the modern airshow. While the negatives certainly outweigh the positives here with the loss of the aircraft. The reconstruction of this crash will be easier because the crew of air show fans were present on a Friday practice day to capture video and photos to help solve what happened. While a couple theories are floating around it is too soon to guess and while this is a standard maneuver for this jet it illustrates the danger the modern jet pilot faces as they put on the display. Thankfully the pilot was not seriously injured in this crash.

Vimeo.

Here we go again

Its January so that must mean its hockey tournament time again. This year the pickens are a bit slimmer. Frudoch played in Cleveland on a team of "leftovers" from the select team and as expected things did not go well. Since the boys were made up of 3 different teams and none of them really liked each other the odds were stack against them from the start. When the coaches figured out that there were 15 forwards and a goalie the script was written.... The first game was a 11-2 beatdown which caused Frudoch to ASK to play Defense for the rest of the tournament. Fru is a decent defenseman, but he loves playing any of the 3 forward positions and was probably the best winger on the team. For him to ask to play D means things were bad. And they were. The nice thing was my cousin was able to come out with my aunt and take in the game. I had not seen my aunt in nearly 15 years and it was their first hockey game. Too bad the good guys sucked.

Saturday morning dawned with an early game at Gilmour Academy and the results were similar with a 7-1 loss. Luckily for me I had to head back home for an awards banquet and my wife drove up in time for me to tell her to check out of the hotel as we were eliminated from moving on after starting 0-2. Things continued with a 6-1 loss in the afternoon. I don't know, but I think not having a team name as well as a practice probably doomed this group from the beginning....

Poppy's team was in Cleveland too, but for this event she was not on the roster. It figures as that team won the whole tournament. She joins them in Detroit in a couple weeks.... It would have been nice as her main team is 0-12-1 on the year. The 6 teams supposedly dived to be equal has produced a team with no losses and a team with no wins. That sure sounds fair huh?

In other news Mark McGuire used steroids. No really he did. He admitted it. Barry Bonds and Roger "the liar" Clemmens still deny having used them....