What does Australia Day mean to you?
For many people it is another excuse to drink to get drunk... For Australia Day this year I went to watch a cricket match between York St CoC and Ballarat Family CoC. Which is turning into an anual event. It was a good match to watch with several spectators in attendance and it is better than just sitting around drinking somewhere.
In the evening I went upto the "Lake" Wendouree where they had fireworks for about 30 minutes from 9:30pm... Many people take their families upto see the fireworks.. I wouldn't want to take my kids up there due to the large number of people drinking up there including many teens. It is a sad reflection on society that so many people use alcohol in order to have "fun". I don't believe that it is a good environment to have children there when there is so much exposure to drinking, smoking and foul language.
Also on the news on the 25th the Prime Minister showed what many australians would assume. There was an asian guy who was going to receive an award, and Johnny boy asked him where "where was he born" as in country, but he was born in Adelaide... That assumption is what many people would make, and we are supposed to be a multicultural society accepting of all cultures. But in reality not everyone is accepted. What happened at the tennis recently also proved that point.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Bucks Night (mostly Go Karting)
Last night the 6th I went to Timmy's bucks party. Most of the guys went out to Ballan for paintball during the afternoon, but I didn't because I didn't want to spend that amount of money. Aparently they got alittle screwed over by the organisers as they had to play with and against another group, which meant there were 35 or so players and made it very difficult to know who was who. The instructors apparently didn't hold up all the rules of the game with players being shot when they had their hands up.
I joined them for tea at the Golf House Hotel and had a Thai Chicken Curry, which was real nice. That place do have pretty good value for the amount they charge. Although it's not a cheap place to eat. After tea we went to the Go-Karts. We had 3 groups of 7 and each got a 15 lap warmup and two 30 lap races. There was a 12 lap final with two from each group. I'm not exactly sure how they figured out who went through.
My first race I started at the back of the grid because of where i was on the track at the end of the warmup... that sucked a bit. I made up a place on the first lap, and spent a few laps to get upto 5th. I had pretty good pace throughout the race with my fastest lap on the 22nd lap of 23.67 sec with an average speed of 38.0km/h. I made four laps under 24 seconds. I spent several laps trying to pass Que who was trying to pass Simbo. I eventually managed to pass them and was running 3rd when i came up to overtake Starbuck. Coming out of the hairpin I got along side him on the outside had got mostly past into the next corner, but then he decided to ram me into the wall... and needless to say I wasn't happy about that one.. His kart was pretty wrecked after that. While i waited to get going again, I was passed by Simbo and Que, and then there was just another lap left so I ended up 5th, when I should have had 3rd.
My second race I started 5th, and spent much of the race there being held up behind Simbo & Que again. My Kart had a higher top speed, but didn't quite handle as well through the corners, This made it so much harder to overtake. Eventually after Que passed Simbo, I managed to take him into the first corner after trying to get him for a few laps. Each time i tried the inside, I was worried that he'd cut me off and put me into the wall, but I managed the clean pass. Several laps later i caught back upto Que and looked at passing him into the first corner and after a few laps he allowed me through cleanly. By this time Dave (a chariot guy) had closed up to lap us and was sitting right on Que's tail. I couldn't quite pull a gap on Que and I felt some bumps into the corners. I realised that Dave was the cause, although he didn't pass Que, he was forcing Que to hit me. This happened into the right hander and exiting the sweeper onto the start straight. I got one bump that got me partly sideways, but I managed to get back online. After a few laps of being bumped and getting extremely pissed off, the three of us came into the first corner with me in the middle, Dave got into me and half spun me which allowed Que around the outside. Exiting the first corner and into the second Dave was on my outside trying to take me. I know his kart was faster than everyone elses, but he's a dirty driver. He bumped several others out of the way to lead the race. He was right beside me and so I squeezed him against the wall. Into the third corner which is the tight right hander the tyre wall juts out a bit just before the corner and Dave hit the wall and got held up enough so that I didn't need to worry about him for a couple of laps. I managed to catch back upto Que who got stuck behind Mick for a few laps when lapping him. I ran out of laps to take the place back from Que so finished 4th. With my fastest two laps at 23.78 second averaging 37.8 km/h, and four laps under 24 secs. I didn't have the fastest times on the day with some people getting the low 23 secs. I think I might have been losing a bit of time in the tight right hander or exiting the hairpin.
The final that I wasn't in was a good race with Tim B taking James at the start and then Nick a few laps later. After 5 laps he took the lead from Dave, and made some great moves when lapping the back three. The last three were locked together for the majority of the race with a couple of good passes, but Tim D got turned around late in the race which forced him to last.
There were several accidents throughout the other races, with one race 5 of them got locked in the hairpin. Russ got turned around on the starting straight. I was very dark about the tactics employed by a couple of the drivers, and it was the same the previous time i went with some of these guys, although the other time it was a different person who kept ramming me. There were several damaged karts during the night, with a Kart Russ was driving in the second race started sparking exiting the hairpin and something broke and was dragging on the ground. The problem with these kart races is not all the karts are evenly matched. Plus for heavier people it is a huge dissadvantage for the power to weight ratio is a major part of driving fast.
Following the karting we went back to Tim's place for some chat and relaxing, with some stories being told. There was a party over the road from his place and there was some nasty stuff going on over there, and since we could hear them most of the guys went out the back door to see what was happening in the street. Tim B said something which could have antagonised them. A few minutes later everyone decided to leave.
I joined them for tea at the Golf House Hotel and had a Thai Chicken Curry, which was real nice. That place do have pretty good value for the amount they charge. Although it's not a cheap place to eat. After tea we went to the Go-Karts. We had 3 groups of 7 and each got a 15 lap warmup and two 30 lap races. There was a 12 lap final with two from each group. I'm not exactly sure how they figured out who went through.
My first race I started at the back of the grid because of where i was on the track at the end of the warmup... that sucked a bit. I made up a place on the first lap, and spent a few laps to get upto 5th. I had pretty good pace throughout the race with my fastest lap on the 22nd lap of 23.67 sec with an average speed of 38.0km/h. I made four laps under 24 seconds. I spent several laps trying to pass Que who was trying to pass Simbo. I eventually managed to pass them and was running 3rd when i came up to overtake Starbuck. Coming out of the hairpin I got along side him on the outside had got mostly past into the next corner, but then he decided to ram me into the wall... and needless to say I wasn't happy about that one.. His kart was pretty wrecked after that. While i waited to get going again, I was passed by Simbo and Que, and then there was just another lap left so I ended up 5th, when I should have had 3rd.
My second race I started 5th, and spent much of the race there being held up behind Simbo & Que again. My Kart had a higher top speed, but didn't quite handle as well through the corners, This made it so much harder to overtake. Eventually after Que passed Simbo, I managed to take him into the first corner after trying to get him for a few laps. Each time i tried the inside, I was worried that he'd cut me off and put me into the wall, but I managed the clean pass. Several laps later i caught back upto Que and looked at passing him into the first corner and after a few laps he allowed me through cleanly. By this time Dave (a chariot guy) had closed up to lap us and was sitting right on Que's tail. I couldn't quite pull a gap on Que and I felt some bumps into the corners. I realised that Dave was the cause, although he didn't pass Que, he was forcing Que to hit me. This happened into the right hander and exiting the sweeper onto the start straight. I got one bump that got me partly sideways, but I managed to get back online. After a few laps of being bumped and getting extremely pissed off, the three of us came into the first corner with me in the middle, Dave got into me and half spun me which allowed Que around the outside. Exiting the first corner and into the second Dave was on my outside trying to take me. I know his kart was faster than everyone elses, but he's a dirty driver. He bumped several others out of the way to lead the race. He was right beside me and so I squeezed him against the wall. Into the third corner which is the tight right hander the tyre wall juts out a bit just before the corner and Dave hit the wall and got held up enough so that I didn't need to worry about him for a couple of laps. I managed to catch back upto Que who got stuck behind Mick for a few laps when lapping him. I ran out of laps to take the place back from Que so finished 4th. With my fastest two laps at 23.78 second averaging 37.8 km/h, and four laps under 24 secs. I didn't have the fastest times on the day with some people getting the low 23 secs. I think I might have been losing a bit of time in the tight right hander or exiting the hairpin.
The final that I wasn't in was a good race with Tim B taking James at the start and then Nick a few laps later. After 5 laps he took the lead from Dave, and made some great moves when lapping the back three. The last three were locked together for the majority of the race with a couple of good passes, but Tim D got turned around late in the race which forced him to last.
There were several accidents throughout the other races, with one race 5 of them got locked in the hairpin. Russ got turned around on the starting straight. I was very dark about the tactics employed by a couple of the drivers, and it was the same the previous time i went with some of these guys, although the other time it was a different person who kept ramming me. There were several damaged karts during the night, with a Kart Russ was driving in the second race started sparking exiting the hairpin and something broke and was dragging on the ground. The problem with these kart races is not all the karts are evenly matched. Plus for heavier people it is a huge dissadvantage for the power to weight ratio is a major part of driving fast.
Following the karting we went back to Tim's place for some chat and relaxing, with some stories being told. There was a party over the road from his place and there was some nasty stuff going on over there, and since we could hear them most of the guys went out the back door to see what was happening in the street. Tim B said something which could have antagonised them. A few minutes later everyone decided to leave.
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