Part One: 2007 FIA Formula One Championship Preview

In this Part One of the 2007 FIA Formula One Championship Preview, I am going to touch on the seats-swapped for several drivers this year, the rookies, the engine deals and also the one and only tyre supplier for this season, Bridgestone.

It’s a brand new start of the season as the Australian GP closed it curtain to make ways for the 2006 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix that will be held on April 8, 2007. This is also the first post-Schumacher season and there are plenty of things for motorsports fans to look forward to.

First let’s take a look at the seats swapped. The double World Champion Fernando Alonso started the season with a new team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, replacing his nemesis Kimi Raikkonen who is filling a very big shoe of Michael Schumacher at the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. So far both Alonso and Raikkonen have been doing pretty impressive with their new team. Seemingly they have no problem adapting to their new working environment. Mark Webber moves from WilliamsF1 Team to Red Bull Racing. He will be partnering the oldest driver on the grid David Coulthard.

There are practically 5 rookies this year if you want to include Robert Kubica who had a splendid debut with BMW Sauber F1 Team last year and Anthony Davidson who had been filling several seats for Minardi and Super Aguri for the past several years. The eyes however are focuses on the GP2 Champion Lewis Hamilton who is driving for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Heikki Kovalainen who is driving for the ING Renault F1 Team. Both are young and mega talented and it came to no surprise if there are mountains of hopes on their shoulder to fight for the Championship this year. Adrian Sutil is not really a new face on the grid as he had been the third and Friday driver for Midland F1 Racing team last year. He is replacing Tiago Monteiro and has his own battle to win, which is to outpace his team mate Christijan Albers every other weekend.

Ferrari is supplying engines to Scuderia Toro Rosso while Renault will be supplying engines to Red Bull Racing. It will be interesting to see which one of these two teams will come out on top. It will prove one way of the other how good and reliable is the engine compared to the other. WilliamsF1 Team supplies Panasonic Toyota Racing with it seamless gearbox while Toyota supplies engines to the team. Wiliams is eager to bounce back from the worst ever result from last season and perhaps with the Toyota engine at the back of the FW28 car they may challenge for the top spot again. Toyota of course would not want to miss on the fun and it is a question mark whether they will give Williams the same engine specifications as the one that they will be using. Surely they do not one to see Williams finish ahead of them in the Championship? Super Aguri F1 Team (or also known as Honda’s B Team) will continue using Honda engines.

There are no more Michelin tyres for the team this year. Bridgestone will supply all tyres to the teams which means there are no more tyre war. Bridgestone supply two types of tyres for the race weekend which are the soft compound and the hard compound. The teams need to use these two sets of tyres during the course of the race. It is mandatory. Soft compound is more risky over long distance but have more grip than the harder tyres. It will be a strategy call for the team to use which tyre for the car and at what time will be perfect to change it.

We will continue with the teams and their drivers that will be contested in this year’s Championship in Part Two of the 2007 FIA Formula One Championship Preview.

Read More

Bleak House

Another of Charles Dickens masterpiece. It is long, tightly plotted and wonderfully descriptive, typical of Dicken's work. It starts a little slow for me but as I turns the pages, I get hooked.

It takes a look at the legal system in London which destroys the innocents, deprive them from their talents and consumes their minds. It also portrays the different conditions and social status of the Londoners. Most of the story came from a narrative written by the Esther Summersons, the protagonist in this contemporary novel by Dickens.

All the characters in this book are affected by the Jarndyce & Jarndyce legal suit in which there will be no winner and bring much desperations and heartache. The impeccable character that connected them together was Esther, the virtuous girl who was taken as a ward by Mr. John Jarndyce, and is beloved by everyone.

I must admit though that I was reluctant at the beginning to see Esther as the all around good girl as narrated by Dickens but the novel is so well-written that I came to believe her as she had been described.

Mr. John Jarndyce is a beneficial older gentleman who is also a guardian to his young cousins, Ada and Richard who fell in love with each other and eventually get married. All four of them, including Esther, reside at Bleak House. Richard soon fall victim of the Jarndyce & Jarndyve lawsuit and rejected any kindness or help from his guardian in his ignorance hope that a settlement from the lawsuit will award him with a fortune.

The attorneys are portray as bloodsucking evil leeches who only care about the money they can squeezed from their clients. One of the most devil-like lawyers, Mr. Tulkinghorn, was murdered and I actually rejoiced the death of that particular character not knowing the misery he brought upon the mysterious Lady Deadlock and the and tragedy that leaves the Deadlock household in ruins.

It is not all bleak though. There are also romantics plots that evolve around Esther and how she comes to be the mistress of Bleak House.

There are over sixty colorful and varied characters so you cannot anticipate who may you encounter at the next page. The best thing is, the story brings everything to full circle and not a character goes to waste. The most memorable characters in the book for me would be Esther the protagonist, Mr. Bucket the detective, George the trooper, Mr. Woodcourt the kind-hearted doctor, Richard and Ada the love birds, Jo the homeless kid and of course Mr. John Jarndyce of Bleak House.

Bleak House is a very entertaining book who have all the qualities of a great classic story. It is poignant, suspenseful, unforgettable and appearances to the contrary, is not bleak at all.

Definitely one not to be missed.

Read More

Mukhsin

Two words: No pretense.

That's what I like about this movie, or any of Yasmin's movies for that matter.

The other reason why I like this movie is because I can relate to its theme: the falling in love with your bestfriend theme that is.

Mukshin is the prequal to Orked that has grown up in Yasmin's earlier films, Sepet and Gubra. In Mukhsin Orked was 10 and Mukshin the leading boy is 12.

Mukhsin came to Orked's kampung on a school holiday and they met when the boys don't have enough 'kepala' to play the galah panjang. From then on their relationship grows and they got closer after spending lots of time together playing kites, climbing tress, watching football etc.Eventually deeper romantic emotions developed. Both have feelings for the others but it is never been spoken. You can tell by the gestures and the body language though!

One day they had an argument when Mukshin pushed Orked away while they were playing galah panjang (jealous punya pasal). This turns their relationship sour. Mukshin tried everything to reconcile with Orked but he was ignored by Orked until the day Mukshin has to go back to his kampung. Of course it was too late for Orked to meet or say something to Mukhsin so they never met again.

This movie also showed other issues like Orked's neighbor who was facing family crisis, bullying plus moral issue that faced Hussin, a delinquent.

Mukhsin also introduces Jason, the true soulmate of Orked when he was still in school. You just have to know which one is he though. But don't be confused when the grown up Jason and Orked made an appearance in the movie. That scene is very significant in my opinion on how Orked ended up in the future (after Gubra).

Overall I am satisfied with Mukhsin and it is such a sweet love story which brought back many happy (and sad) memories.

Read More

Rocky Balboa

The only reason I went to watch this film is Milo. What can I say, I have a soft spot for him since I saw him in Gilmore Girls.

The only Rocky movie I've seen so far was the first one. The other four were just too stereotype for me. The underdog got in the ring, the underdog wins the match. The same old story gets repeated over and over again so I can't be blame for refusing to be jaded.

In Rocky Balboa, Stallone again played the Rocky character (duh!) and he kept on reminiscing about the past: his wife Adrian, the victory, the defeat, his family etc which gives you the idea what was going on even if you do not follow the Rocky saga.

Unlike other Rocky, this time no one wins the 'exhibition'. Kira equal la. His opponent gain respects and he proves that he is still one of the best in heavyweight boxing.

The start of the movie shows the effort that Rocky puts to be close to his son Robert (Milo) and after some inspiring speeches halfway through the movie, Robert quit his job (which he got because of his father's legacy) and support his father's decision to box again. The usual mushy-touchy stuffs.

I cannot say that I love this movie but it is a can do la for me.

Critics have been singing praises for this movie though and if I am a fan of Rocky/Stallone, I might too.

Read More

Music and Lyrics

I wasn't planning on seeing this movie since the review weren't complimenting but because there was nothing much to do last Tuesday, my sister and I decide that it was worth a shot.

And we were wrong and the film critics were spot on!

It was predictable. You would know earlier on what was gonna happened next. I was so bored I can't wait for the film to end.

Luckily I like Drew Barrymore so that get me through the whole film awake.

My take on this one? Avoid it!!

Read More

St. Valentine’s Day

February 14 is around the corner. The day that lovers and those who are in a relationship most looking forward to all year. It gives them reason to spend times together rejoicing and celebrating. All in the name of LOVE. As if they can't do so on the other 364 days.

I'm not mocking love. I just think that love is so over-rated these days.

I'm sick of people saying they do this or that because of love and regretted it later. Girl, if you lose your virginity before you get married with a guy that claimed he loved you but dumped you soon he put on his pants, that was not love. That was plain stupidity and girl, you are a moron. Let's just hope you won't get pregnant. God knows we don't want to hear another baby found dead in the dumpster or in the toilet bowl.

To get back to what I was saying...

Love is something that I hold dear to my heart and with God's grace I've found it. However my love story does not end with "happily ever after" phrase. But I have moved on since then...

lol trust me to screw up a relationship. I don't know anybody who can screw up as badly as I can and the worst thing is I do not feel any guilt whatsoever. People have been saying that I am a heartless bitch and that I'm the most hopeless person for a guy to fall in love with.

Honestly though?

I just stop caring.

So dude, if you are reading this (like hell I know you would hehe), Happy Valentine's Day!

Read More