That Old Familiar Feeling

No, it's not the flush of new love in springtime...it's that telltale scratch in the back of my throat again...grrrr

Today, it's my only complaint...to quote my favorite line from Russell Crowe's fantastic Patrick O'Brian film, "Master and Commander": "What a fascinating, Modern World we live in".

Captain Jack Aubrey, hero of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels of seafaring daring-do in the Royal Navy during the age of Admiral Nelson, says this aboard his wooden ship, after a dinner toast. The idea of an 18th Century sea captain seeing his insular world as modern, really struck a chord with me...everything is all about your viewpoint, and the ecosystems of history.

After a day free of errands, and avoided chores, the planets aligned and I had the supper of homemade Crookneck Squash Soup and Reuben Sandwiches on the table in time to slink away to my room with my Reuben and a Czech Style Pilsner to watch Formula One Free Practice One (P1), LIVE from Sepang, Malaysia via SpeedTV's Internet Stream.

The Malaysian Grand Prix is the second of twenty races in 2012, and a much different track than the Albert Park temporary road circuit in Melbourne, Australia last weekend.

Sepang International Circuit is a newer, purpose-built natural terrain road course designed by German Architect Hermann Tilke, who's gone on to design and build another eight F1 Racetracks since Sepang which opened in 1999.

I love the luxury of watching 90 minutes of F1 cars on the track without any commentary what so ever! There's a timing ladder on the side of the screen, and a countdown clock on top of the frame. The only human voices you hear are the occasional Radio Communications between the drivers and their engineers.

Not smoke, it's cold air condensing in the tropical heat and humidity

During streamed practice, the normally super paranoid and secretive teams who usually keep the TV cameras at bay, let their hair down a bit, allowing the occasional long, lurid look at a new front wing, an exposed undertray, aerodynamic pieces, or suspension internals...spy photos LIVE in real time...gotta love it!

Formula One, more than any other motorsport is about cutting edge technical development. New bits and pieces come into play every race weekend. Rumor is, Ferrari brought a totally new chassis to Sepang, after racing their new Ferrari 2012 only once at Melbourne!

I watched P2 on TV LIVE four hours later. My team made progress, but I don't think they'll catch the McLarens this weekend...unless it rains, and rain is always in the cards at Sepang.

P3 streams Friday night at 10PM PDT, and Qualifying airs at 1AM on SpeedTV, and the Malaysian GP runs early Sunday morning at 12:30AM

In today's Modern World, not only did I watch events LIVE from the other side of the planet, but I augmented the streaming video with live weather radar via WeatherUndergroundn and a lively stream on Twitter, with the teams, the TV guys and head honcho of tire supplier Pirelli tweeting extra tidbits of pertinent data from the track...What a fascinating, Modern World we live in!