Monthly Archives: October 2008

Canadian Thanksgiving

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Last weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving, so it was time to head for the country. We picked up Granny (she’s 96 you know) on Sunday morning and drove up to the Laurentians with Aidan chattering away the whole time. It was a perfect Autumn day: clear blue skies, crisp clean air, not too cold, not too hot and the trees were showing off their Fall colours in style.

When we arrived Aidan went off to pick arugula with his Grandma (Bama) before we sat down to a nice lunch of cheese and crackers and salad. After that it was time for Aidan to go inspect the chickens, the rabbits, the “Big Bird”, the pond, the tiny pumpkin, Ricky’s homemade smoker where the turkey was smoking away, the new shed, and the garden hose. Thankfully I managed to avoid the wild sprayings of the hose.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing scrabble with Granny and Bama while Aidan climbed in and out of the toybox. Then it was time for the big event, Thanksgiving Dinner. We had smoked turkey, roasted potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, some mashed turnip, sausage stuffing and turkey gravy, all washed down with some fine wine and a little bit of ‘shine. That delicious main course was followed up with the obligatory and equally delicious pumpkin pie.

I collapsed on the sofa for the remainder of the evening, clutching my engorged belly and enjoying the roaring fire before giving in and going to bed early (I’d stayed up late the night before to watch the Japanese Grand Prix). The next morning Aidan helped Ricky make pancakes which we devoured with maple syrup, bacon and tea before heading back into the Little Smoke (well Toronto is the Big Smoke).

Japan 2008

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Martin Brundle hit the nail on the head during his commentary of the Japanese Grand Prix when he said that F1 is now a “nanny state”. The penalties that were handed out during and after the race can be justified by pointing at video of the incidents and saying “look, he did a bad thing” but that’s not really the point. These incidents were nothing new, they’ve happened many many times in the past and they’ve gone unpunished in the past. They’ve always been considered part of racing and a big part of what makes (or made) Formula One exciting.

If a penalty is going to be handed out every time a driver makes a risky move, then drivers will stop making risky moves. Maybe that’s what the powers-that-be want, but it’s not what the fans want. No risk-taking means dull racing. At some point you have to look at a risky maneuver and say “OK, it was a bit dodgy, but it wasn’t deliberate and nobody was put in serious danger so let’s just call it a racing incident”.

I could well be wrong, but I don’t remember many penalties being handed out for first corner incidents before, and there has been first corner carnage far, far worse than the minor scuffle last weekend. The first corner is always the most chaotic part of the race, it’s almost a tradition.

I enjoyed the race. I loved seeing the two title contenders going at it so aggressively instead of taking the cautious, boring approach. It was incredibly sad to see that spoiled by bureaucratic nonsense.