Goodbye 2024…

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

Another year is almost over. Already. 2024 has been a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ kind of year for me. There have been some highs, some lows, and a whole lot of struggling.

I aimed high with a lot of my hobbies, and ended up doing hardly any. I wanted to write more, create more, and look after myself better. Instead all I did was order so many take aways, that I am surprised that Just Eat didn’t gift me shares over Christmas.

I know what things make me happy, but I don’t feel I deserve it. Personal and professional growth was not a thing this year, unless you count my scales. What is the point? Every thing I aim for ends up rubbish. That feeling is something I plan to leave behind in 2024.

2024 wasn’t all bad, travelled to Germany for the Euros, which was amazing. Saw Blink 182, Paloma Faith, Tom Walker, live. As well as feeling lucky to call ,many talented musicians, friends and see them smash it. I read a lot of interesting books, listened to lots of music. Made lots of great friends to chat f1 with. McLaren won the 2024 f1 championship. Lots of laughs with lots of great people.

I wish happy new year to everyone who may read this. Take the time to spend with loved ones, and be kind to yourself. This time of year can be very difficult if you are struggling. Reach out, speak to someone you know. Life isn’t easy, and sometimes we all need a wee hand. Samaritans is a charity, based here in the UK, is one I have turned to many a time. Call them on 116 123.

Book Review: Incredible

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

Murray Walker: Incredible by Maurice Hamilton

When I think of Formula 1 commentators, I think of Murray Walker. Between 1976 and 2001, Walker, commentated live tv broadcasts of F1 races, and pioneered how motorsport was covered in the media. He started doing radio broadcasts of Isle of Man TT commentary with his father, progressing to other motorsports. Murray was known for his energetic style of commentary, which was informative, enthusiastic, but also contained some blunders. Which, is something that still happens when doing live commentary currently.

The book is a collection of anecdotes from people that Murray worked with throughout his career, sorted out chronologically. From life in the army, to working in advertising, to commentating with ex-McLaren driver, James Hunt, and then finding his stride with current commentator Martin Brundle. It shows insight to the kind of person Murray was, passionate about motorsport, and kind to those people around him. He made such in impact, that he commented live on BBC, and when the rights moved over to ITV in 1997, he was the sole commentator who moved over to continue broadcasting.

Contributions in this tribute to Murray Walker include: Martin Brundle, James Allen, Louise Goodman, Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Lewis Hamilton, Damon Hill, Suzi Perry, Steve Ryder, Jim Rosenthal, and many more parts of the motorsport industry. Author, Maurice Hamilton, was a journalist for The Observer, Independent, and The Guardian, and covered Grand Prix races for radio station BBC Radio 5 Live. In fact, Maurice Hamilton covered over 500 Grand Prix races, and was a staple of the pit lane for over 30 years. He is extremely highly qualified to write about the impact that Murray Walker made on the Formula 1 world.

The book was a very insightful look at a Formula 1 legend. It takes the reader into the commentary box, to understand how Murray worked during a race. I like books that shed a different perspective of things, a different side of something that I feel so familiar with. I’ve loved Formula 1 for years, and as mentioned before, Murray Walker is still iconic in my mind, and I enjoyed reading what he was actually like.

And of course, this review wouldn’t be complete without some Murrayisms. Quotes from Murray Walker, which were fumbles during live commentary, but helped make things so entertaining. The sad thing is, that Martin Brundle mentions in the book that Murray had a thin skin. When newspapers like The Sun or Daily Mail mentioned Murray being ‘passed it’ for his fumbles, he took it too hard. In fact Martin mentioned that Murray would really struggle these days, with the increased social media comments. Which is sad. Murray’s Murrayisms are what made Formula 1 races interesting. There was no-one before or after Murray who came close to him, in my opinion.

Murrayisms:-

‘Either that car was stationary, or it’s on the move’.

‘The young Ralf Schumacher has been upstaged by the teenager Jenson Button, who is twenty’.

‘Prost can see Mansell in his headphones’.

‘Unless I am very much mistaken- yes. I am mistaken’.

Murray: ‘What’s that? There’s a body on the track’. James Hunt: ‘Um, I think that’s a piece of bodywork from someone’s car’.

Book: Murray Walker: Incredible by Maurice Hamilton, Penguin Publishing, 2022

Watching the midfield

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

I had my alarm set for 5.30am this morning. On a Sunday, a day I am not working. It was because the City of Las Vegas was hosting the 22nd Formula 1 race of the 2024 season. This was only the second F1 race at this track in Vegas, well I say track, it’s a street circuit. It was a dream for a long time, the flashiest cars racing down past the flashiest hotels in the world. It felt like ultimate optulence.

Spoiler alert: the race was pretty interesting. I felt there was action everywhere. I am a Lando Norris and McLaren fan, and it was an okay race. Like, both Lando and Oscar Piastri got in the points, it was a solid performance at a track where the car struggled. George Russell won his second race of the season, third in his career. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton was second, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third. And Max Verstappen won his 4th world title. There was a lot of quality overtaking during the race, with Sergio Perez doing a wonderful overtake of Liam Lawson and Kevin Magnussen. All three were wheel to wheel, and Checo came out in front. It was so so good.

Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez taking over Liam Lawson and Kevin Magnusson (f1.com)

Lando and McLaren, had a relatively uninteresting race, so I do what I have always done. I look towards the lower half of the grid to find someone to watch. Kick Sauber driver, Zhou Guanyu is out of contract at the end of the season, with nothing decided on his future. He has struggled all season, and when he reached q2 during yesterday’s qualifying, I decided to follow him for this race. I was manifesting points for him, for the first time this season. He started 13th. A fantastic start. He battled really hard, and did some great overtaking. He got himself into the top 10, and was maintaining his place, and matching the pace of the cars around him. I was so happy. He was one of the last drivers to pit for a second time, and that pulled him right down the ranks. And he ended up 13th, overtaking Franco Colapinto on the last lap. Not quite a points finish, but a rather magnificent effort. He obviously has a point to prove, and did brilliant. Showed what he is capable of.

Zhou Guanyu in Vegas (https://www.zhou-guanyu.com/en/news/detail/274)

Watching Zhou really made the race super exciting for me, even though my favourite didn’t have the greatest day. I think a lot of fans only follow what is shown on the cameras, the top teams, the winners. But, over half the grid don’t feature in any coverage, they simply drive away in the background. To see how these drivers are doing, you have to watch the timing screen, watch the seconds of gaps between other drivers. It can be so exciting. Because, big things happen, and if it is to a lower placed driver, it is ignored. For example, Sky Sports reported (Ted Kravtiz notebook) that Lance Stroll had driven the race without his radio. Which is the first time I’ve heard of the radio failing all race this season. It wasn’t reported on any of the main reporting, in fact, Ted is the only media person I’ve heard mention it.

In summary, the mid-to-lower field is great. If you are bored watching the front runner, there is always something going on further back. I grew up doing this, and think more fans should, it gives you more appreciation on the work all the drivers do. Also, well done Zhou Guanyu.

Problems with fandom

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

Ever since I first got access to the internet, way back in the High School library, I would look up the bands I loved. A lot of band sites, would have their own forums, where you could speak to fans from all over the world. Disecting albums, and lyrics, comparing collections of scrapbooks and merchandise. It was so much fun. Then MySpace, where you became ‘friends’ with bands, and even learned coding to make your profile look cool.

Over the years, social media has become such a huge part of most of our lives. Musicians, actors, tv presenters, politicians, you can be ‘friends’ with them all. Doesn’t even need to be a person, companies send messages to followers, and build up a familiarity. So, people feel connected with people they’ll never meet, and companies feel like friends. Sometimes people need a reminder that they don’t actually know these people they may chat to on social media, as they begin to feel personally involved.

My time on social media at the moment, seems to circle around Formula 1. It is a sport I have loved since I was a child, where the only contact you had with the teams and drivers was through magazines and the TV show around the race. The content we had to consume, then, was nothing compared to what we have these days. And social media is a massive part of that. As said before, connections are forged between fans and their favourite drivers and teams, and these connections can feel very personal. Which is all great, fantastic for advertising, and often creates great promotion for the sport. The communities are filled with people disecting races, and press conferences, talking about livery releases. It can be a lot of fun. Until it is not.

Because people feel so personally connected and affected by the goings ons and offs around the track, things can get a little tense. People can take it upon themselves to ‘defend’ their hero, and do so by attacking other fans and drivers. Doesn’t sound too bad, folk say, ‘just click off social media’, ‘go outside’. But it can escalate very fast. It becomes less about a person defending their favourite driver, and more attacking the drivers they don’t like. Which starts creating whole other problems.

Lance Stroll from Aston Martin, is a driver which attracts a lot of negativity. His father owns the team, and helps keep his son’s position in Formula 1. And whilst drivers have maintained positions on teams in similar circumstances, some fans have taken to heavily dislike Lance. The issue isn’t people throwing comments into the obyss of the internet, it is people sending Lance fans abuse. Sending death threats. Inundating people with abuse. Last season, a Lance Stroll fan I was friends with over on Twitter, attempted to take their life, because people were sending so much abuse. I don’t know on what planet that is okay. Ever.

It’s like, whilst the lines have blurred, and people are closer to their heroes than ever before, they are also so close it’s become abstract. We are so close that nothing seems real, and people have no attachment with what they say and who they are saying it to. It is not just fan on other fan crimes, either. Earlier this season, French driver, Esteban Ocon, had to release a statement about abuse that was sent to him, his team, and his family. It got so bad, that the hashtag of his name, has been banned from TikTok, due to risk of abuse. There has been racist abuse angled at Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu. Lando Norris has had abuse sent to him and his team, including his esports team Quadrant. Last season Max Verstappen and his partner recieved a lot of abuse. Sky sports presenter, Karun Chandhok, has had racist abuse sent to his social media, as well as sent to Sky Sports socials.

Criticism about driving and opinions is one thing, abuse is another. It is not just restricted to formula 1. K-pop bands, movie franchises, boybands, tv series, there are fandoms for almost anything. Situations like the ones I have mention above happen others. Actors and actresses leaving TV shows due to abuse, because the fandom didn’t like their character. Someone speaks poorly about a certain band member, they’d better not sign online.

The point I want to make is that behind every account, whether it be a famous personality or a business, there is a person. A person with feelings and a life. A few years ago someone told me that if I was angry, write down the negativity, if on social media write the comment and save it to drafts. Then, go do something else. Come back in at least 30 minute, 95% of the time, you will simply delete whatever you have written. I find that it stops any angry over-reactions.

Stupid Shopping

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As I have got older I think I have fell more out of love with shopping. Not that I was a particular fan of shopping in the first place. Well, I am rather attached to the whole food and coffee thing all connected to shopping, but the actual having to look through shops thing really puts my back up.

If I go to my local Shopping Centre, I have to go in there with a plan on what I actually need. I go to the areas I need to and get out as soon as possible. It is why I have resorted to order most gifts and things from the internet. Less chance to get overwhelmed by all the people and all of the things. The shop I visit the most is the supermarket, and I hate shopping for food more than I hate shopping for clothes. I always end up buying the wrong stuff. I get grumpy with myself.

I don’t know what it is about the whole experience that annoys me so much, really. I have had 40 years to get used to it, and I have only hated it more and more. There are two exceptions, two types of place where I can browse and not get panicked. Music shops and book shops. Obviously it is because these are things I have actual interest in. Food has always been such a loaded subject for me, so it is something I try do shop for a quick as possible. Clothes, are a similar thing. I have grown up with things not being my size, too long or too tight.

If I had a million dollars…

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If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to?

I would like to help people, I think. I’d get myself a house and a car. Give some to members of my family, to pay off debts or their mortgage. It would be nice to make people I love have an easier life. I have a few good friends, so I’d maybe give them some too.

I’d like to help fund a counselling programme. Something so folk who have struggled with mental health issues long term, can use their experiences to help those in their communities. Because, I find, a lot of the best advice about mental health, come from those who have dealt with it. And, as someone who has had issues since my teenage years, I would like something productive to come out of it.

I would also like to put money to a conservation project at Preston hill Quarry, in my home town. Set up facilities so people can use the area safely. Try and find a way to protect the area, because it’s the Fife coast, it is an area companies want to build on. I’d like it to be looked after, as proper woodland and coastal areas. Create cycle paths, nature walks, seating areas, curated boards telling you about the history of the area, and the wildlife that call it home. Help generate a bit of local pride about it.

Looking at it all, I’d maybe need slightly more than £1 million.

What to do…

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

What’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.

I have had lots of jobs I wanted to do over the years, so I will have to think on what I would do.

Maybe I would like to write a book. Whilst all my interests that I have enjoyed have had peaks and troughs of my attention, books are the one thing that has always been a part of my life. To be able to create something that could reach so many different people would be kind of magical to me.

I do love writing, although I am not always the best at it. I would have no idea what I’d write between fiction and non-fiction. It would be nice to go on an adventure and write about it. Or to be able to create a new fantasy world that would allow the escape of the real world.

It would be nice if I had the focus.

Autumnal Colours

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

I am one of those people that is cursed by those around me, as Autumn is my favourite season. I love the changing of the seasons, where things get a wee bit more cozy, and trees turn that wonderful shade of orange. Don’t ask where I got the romanticising of dead leaves from, I just like it. The snoods are on, the slippers are own, and we survive of cups of tea. I just like it. I could do without the dark mornings, but that is it.

Pittencreiff Park, Dunfermline

I think I like this time of year because I really struggle with summer. I have never done very well in the heat, so it is nice when it is over. I am a person who prefers the cooler climate, as you can always put extra layers on, but there is so many you can take off without getting in trouble. It is nice, sitting all cozy and reading a book. I always read more during the darker months, which is something that I have been struggling with over the last few months. The only issue is that the weather is doing that back and forth thing, which has left everyone I know with the cold. Yesterday, I was walking around in my t-shirt, today it is back to layering up. No ideal.

I am not the biggest fan of Halloween, pumpkin spice isn’t that great, and fireworks give me the fear. You would think I wouldn’t like this time of year. I do think that it is mostly the change in foliage that I focus on the most.

Back to school

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

My course with Open University has officially started, and I have been doing some studying today. It is all textbook work so far, and I am trying to write my own notes to put things down in a way that makes sense to me. Which isn’t easy, because a lot of things don’t make sense to me. Something that is not purely unique to uni work. The world can be a confusing place.

I just need to make sure that now things have got started that I sort out my time management, and stick to my schedule. It has always been a weakness for me. As said before, I am okay with work, it is my days off I struggle with. So, maybe I need to run a day off like my work day. Get up, start at 7.30, have my regular break times ( like I would at work), and then finish at 6pm. Or whenever my work is finished. It might be a good shout, because I have been having a lot of problems with my arthritis, so I can’t always be a reliable studier after work. But, that may enable me to read or write in the evenings.

The fear I have is that I may start of alright, but I know I am really bad at sticking to a plan. I am such a defeatist. If I can work this out properly, it’ll be okay. I just need a bit of faith in myself. I know work is about to get real busy, and I have lots of things on, so I will have to be rigid enough that I will stick to a study day, but if something is on, then I can move that study day to another day. And still stick to it.

Life is about challenging yourself, so this will be a good challenge. Well… a hard challenge. But it is said that if a challenge is easy, it isn’t a challenge.

Scheduled it

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

If this post is online, it means I have not got round to posting today. When I decided to post every day, I wrote up a few backups for if I had a day where I struggled. Either I am busy, or my health has got in the way. The reason I decided to post a backup to schedule in, is because sometimes it’s okay to make plans so that you are still moving forward towards your goals.

So this is a wee message to keep going. Get some backups going for days life isn’t going to plan. Means that things can keep ticking over, whilst you get yourself back together. We got this.