Heart Attack City

Friday was a weird day for me. I got up early and was out of the house before 10AM. Errands done, I was home in time to view most of FP2 (Free Practice 2) from Montreal. 90 minutes of Formula One cars going for it on the track. A couple of racers found themselves hitting "The Wall of Champions". The Montreal track's most infamous landmark, the concrete wall is hard out of the final chicane.

The wall is arguably the most renowned feature of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named for the late Canadian F1 driver who's son Jacques was F1 World Champion in 1997. Jacques is another driver who's found the wall in the Canadian Grand Prix.

In FP1, defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel added another Champion to the wall's panoply of World Driving Champions who've come to no good against this wall. (To do a fast lap on this track you must throw caution to the wind and court disaster by shaving as close as you dare to this wall outside the final turn before the Start/Finish line) Vettel's crew had the right front corner of the Red Bull RB7 repaired in time for Vettel to record the 2nd fastest time in FP2 behind Fernando Alonso's Ferrari 150° Italia.


The wall is emblazoned with "Welcome to Quebec" (I can almost hear Bugs Bunny whimpering "Oh Irony, Irony" in his grimace voice)

Two other drivers found the wall Friday, all emerged with only bruised egos.

I wanted to do some stuff in the garden, but I wanted to enjoy some heat and opted instead to do some audio/video housekeeping. It was windy outside...even blustery, and colder than the two glorious sunny and warm days that we just enjoyed.

About 3PM I finally found the will to hit the garden for some maintenance...I did an hour of clipping before my forearm started to pump up, and I called it a productive day!

I made Emerald Stirfry for dinner and settled in to watch the Giants vs Cincinnati. The game was another nail-biter. As has become all too common this season, another Giants' player had to be helped off the field after an injury...

Freddy Sanchez, the Giants' 2nd baseman (and hottest hitter lately) made a headlong, sliding stop of a line drive, and dislocated his shoulder...I didn't need to see that. The Giants tie the game in their next at bat, and went on to win it Walk-Off Style in the 9th. Heart Attack City! The sold out crowd didn't want to leave when it was over, and it turns out they didn't have to...there was a fireworks show slated for the Post-Game Festivities.

Yet another SF Giants infielder goes down to injury...it's getting to be like a stuck record. Freddy will get an MRI Saturday...best case scenario is 2-3 weeks on the Disabled List.

I can't dwell on it tonight...my alarm is set for 5:30AM. Saturday is the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Qualifying for the Canadian GP, and IndyCars from Texas.

It's a motorsports marathon that runs overnight into Sunday. Saturday after the IndyCar race, Le Mans goes from night into the day. Visually stunning, sunrise over the 8.5 mile Circuit de la Sarthe is always exciting in the steadily simmering style of endurance sports car racing.

The front rows of the grid are all diesel AUDIs and Puegeots. The first gasoline powered car is the 8th fastest of the LMP (Le Mans Prototype) Class.

Just an hour after the F1 cars light 'em up in Montreal, the MotoGP motorcycles race at Silverstone in the British GP. My DVRs will be workin' overtime!

The Giants vs Cincy games are on National Television all weekend. Saturday's 1PM game is on your local Fox station, while Sunday's game has been moved up to 5PM on ESPN to make room for the hockey playoffs on NBC.

I'll quote the late rock n roll tunesmith, Warren Zevon..."I'll Sleep When I'm Dead"!