Happy New Year

Trent I am sick to the eye teeth with political correctness.

It is like a sickness.

A cancer.

I recall saying Merry Christmas to every Tom, Dick and Harry and having the annoying pinching of the cheeks received in answer. It didn't matter if they were Jew, Muslim or Greek Orthodox, they laughed at a little boy filled with the joy of presents and the smell of pine needles to come.

Allow yourself a little leeway. Allow the kids a little happiness and maybe you will find some yourself.

Don't tread on everyone else's by insisting that it's NOT Christmas, does it really matter? Hell i you're an Atheist, why the hell worry? Allow the kids to celebrate, even if it is only a commercial excuse to charge exorbitant prices and bring in products no one will want in a few weeks' time.

Does it really matter?

Christmas is for kids, so if you insist on not celebrating it, keep it to yourself and don't spoil it for the little ones. They believe in the tooth fairy, but I don't see anyone complaining about that - so why squash a fat guy in a red suit eh? Allow them the escapism - it won't hurt, and if your faith deals with something else, then surely it can survive your silence rather than have you tread on the fantasies of children


Surely....

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

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A new Formula One hero?

Trent Well who would have thought that after Michael Schumacher, that I would find another hero in Formula One so quickly?

Funnily enough, he's an ex-driver and the reason he is my new hero is because of his opinions on F1 being not enough about the driver...

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=38016&PO=38016

Of course he has to be right because I've been saying the same thing for ages...

Importantly though, I think the single tyre manufacturer will bring many things into perspective, but I thought I'd add my wish list for the ultimate F1.

No traction control. It's been said few use it, if so dump it, there's a few kilos you didn't have before.

Keep ABS.
It's all about safety, so I think keeping ABS while dumping TC is a sound trade off without being stupid regarding safety.

One engine block.
Imagine if everyone had the same engine block? They can make whatever additions they want to fuel injection, etc. but they start with the same essential building block (pun intended)

I've been watching the A1 where all have the SAME engine and chassis and it's up to their mechanics to fine tune the same engine to the point where they can balance between speed and reliability.

One basic body
Everyone STARTS with the same car as a basis. That means that if a team decides to spend money on suspension but it doesn't work out, they have the knowledge that they have a set of 'standards approved' suspension to fall back to.

More could be added here to indicate that any parts added must equal or exceed the "base car" structural integrity, etc. but I'm trying to keep things simple in my imaginary racing formula...

Bring the Boost to f1
Another fun aspect of A1 is the boost, it's a 30HP boost in speed the driver can use for 15 seconds - it means if you're stuck behind a slower car, you can opt to use it to leave them in the dust - everyone gets it, so there is an element of suspense -when will driver X use it?

BRING BACK SLICKS!
Come on, if it's safety you want, nothing beats having THAT much rubber in contact with the road in dry conditions.

All bets off for body design
F1 is all about innovation, so let them come up with new ideas! So many technical advances for regular vehicles have come from racing, but it's been stymied lately to keep the playing field even... and frankly, they need to allow them to be more imaginative.

Using this on top of the base car means that a team could take a risk money-wise and if it works well they might get a subsidy if the next year their innovation is used in the base car...

Salary Cap
Well not quite a salary cap, but a set dollar limit for the cars. This means that they can use any of the above as their core focus, but they still need to be canny about where their money is going.

A secondary benefit is that smaller racing outfits will be closer to the big boys, without setting down severe limits on where the money can be spent, just limiting the total...

Points for EVERYONE
Whether you are last or first, you're fighting for points. Even if last is one point and first is fifty, if you finish the race (a set percentage maybe?) you get points to add towards the total. It will stop this silliness of the smaller teams not knowing where they truly stand because they only get points if everyone else crashes.

Hopefully it will also stop the number of cars that 'park' simply to save them for the next race because they know they can't finish in the points.

Alternative fuel bonus
Give teams a bonus to their car spending cap for the next race if they develop better ways to increase economy or the use of alternative fuels without sacrificing speed...

I can imagine far more Rev heads would get behind alternative fuels if they're associated with car racing rather than the speeding cockroaches of the Solar races... much sexier.

So there you have it
I'd like to think this could bring back motor sport to a point where it's closer to a 50:50 or 60:40 split between car and driver, but also that it means there is balance between the teams and nothing is taken for granted. Imagine a small independent keeping their boost until the end, or better yet screaming to the front at the beginning so they can say they led an F1 race, if only for a couple of laps.

I had many other ideas, but reading these back made much more sense as a core guideline for Formula-T

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comments and SPAM

Trent Well the SPAM bots have been going crazy and this has meant that I've had to clear out the database before installing some more up-to-date SPAM protection.

This means you will need to enter a four(4) digit code before being able to post a comment, but at least the sellers of Viagra won't get any customers through my site.

If your comment has been removed, I apologise, I admit to going a little sqaure-eyed by the time I reached 17,000 SPAM entries

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Which space craft would you be a crew on

Trent Life has been too serious lately.

It seems every blog I see is full of cinicism without any real reflection or they're going on and on about what console or PC they are upgrading to and how their life has no meaning without x, y, z.

So here you go - take a break and be silly!

 You scored as Serenity (Firefly). You like to live your own way and donâ??t enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you. Serenity (Firefly) 100% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 94% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 75% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 75% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 69% SG-1 (Stargate) 69% FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 63% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 63% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 56% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 50% Moya (Farscape) 38% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 38% Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

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Crikey will never be the same

Trent Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray off Port Douglas
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20349888-2,00.html

Love or hate him, no one could  ever doubt the man's enthusiasm for life and his passion for the animal kingdom.

It's strange to think that the word 'Crikey' will not be shouted with such enthusiasm again.

Thoughts go out to Steve's family

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Research

Trent In my most recent books, I've intertwined historical events from the Napoleonic era through to the present day, utilising facts and bringing in "what if" fiction aspects. It has been very enjoyable, because each new reference means studying another part of the real world. Each providing a window into the area.

I tend to lean towards books from authors that have their origins in the area, although I do reference foreign works as a means of finding the middle ground (an eternal diplomat)...

The Middle East
One of the reference books is A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered. I've found this an excellent resource and obviously an ironic choice given the recent troubles between Israel and Lebanon.

Apart from the fact that it humanises the plight of different people in the Middle East; I wholeheartedly recommend it (A House of Many Mansions) for anyone who feels they just want to know more about the Middle East generally. For me it was a glimpse into not just the underlying difficulties of today, but to the Nation's origins as part of the Ottoman Empire and to one of my favourite ancient civilisations, the Phoenicians.

Some other texts have been leading me towards a notion that the cliche of being aware of history, lest it be repeated, is something modern power-mongers (read politicians) should pay a little more attention to.

Globalisation
Globalisation, many feel, is the relative slavery of poorer countries to produce goods for the more affluent few. They worry not because they are able to pay paltry sums and receive much more in return... The poorer countries will always depend on them and they will always keep them 'down' where they 'belong' But even though they are being paid these relatively pathetic sums for their work, they are essentially becoming examples of how arbitrary the concept of money and economy really is.

What I mean is that as they become more wealthy, they realise that they don't need the thousands of $US the average western family needs to feed, clothe and entertain themselves. Thus their relative prosperity outstrips their 'true worth' from a modern economist's point of view.

What happens when they decide they don't need any $US? They start setting their own prices and the empires depending on them are left without the cheap labour they have become used to...

One Example
When a more direct, localised and barbarous version of globalisation transpired between the Spartans of Ancient Greece and their slaves the Helots, their underestimation of the more numerous Helots relegated them to the pages of history...

Have a read of some of the books on the subject and see if you can see the modern global economy mirrored there.

Why is this important to writing
Simply put, we're not learning from past mistakes. So it is reasonable to say that stories set in the past and future will have these mistakes glaring out from the pages. This is only important because I've heard a few writers who are concerned that their stories feel like they have been told before....

Don't worry, they have been told before, over and over again.... it is only the story-TELLER that is truly different and that's what your readers want. I'm not saying to copy, but don't shy away from themes because they have been done before

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Standing on the outer

Trent I think about my beliefs often. I used to describe myself as religious, right up until the day a priest made?what I considered a mockery of my mother-in-law's funeral.

I'd rarely seen eye to eye with her. I'd found her self-destructive ways annoying. I even predicted she would end her own life, but not in a smug way... I recall crying that anyone could do this to herself and Leis was also crying but said everything would be OK. I said it wouldn't because I'd been around doctors and nurses most of my life, but most importantly she wouldn't survive because she didn't value her own life...

six months later it happened and I didn't feel smug, I didn't have any silent I told-you-so's in my head, I just wished I'd been wrong.

Then the priest robbed all dignity from her funeral and no one in the congregation seemed to notice, probably because few were religious. He said "I would like to tell you she is in a better place, but Lea didn't believe in God so all I can do is offer comfort and a lesson to all those present. Accept God now, don't wait until it is too late."

He couldn't offer solace without a F&*^%ing lecture?

It started me on a road of discovery, both about my own faith and on where my faith should be focused.

I realised that it was the principals behind many faiths that struck a chord inside me. I'd asked for help in the past and it had come. Not as a self fulfilling prophecy, but with someone coming to the rescue I'd not known previously. There were enough instances that I felt comfortable assuming this was because I went to church and believed fervently in what I was taught.

Now I feel it is because I left myself open to the possibility of something greater than myself.

Now I believe that all and no religions are correct.

Now I believe in a God, a power, a spirit, a creator. He doesn't have a long grey beard and I doubt 'he' even has a gender, but referring to something that guides your life as "it" seems insulting to me.

I don't believe He is omniscient, because if he were then He would know the sum total of all probabilities and thus would have literally PLANNED every ounce of suffering that takes place... No. He's may be omnipresent, He may be omnipotent, but I think He is a parent. He has laid down the foundations, kissed His creations goodbye and allowed us to simply be.





So what do I believe?

Throughout humanistic and religious stories, being true to your heart and answering your heart's call are repeated themes which ring that chord I mentioned earlier.

Ironically none of these thoughts came from a religious expedition. It came from studying biology, physics and chemistry in my own time... It became abundantly clear that while I doubted that God was omniscient, He knew a hell of a lot more than we ever will. It became abundantly clear that something was filling in the gaps and that Science was simply a structured 'religion' because, like  all religions were and are, science is yet another mortal attempt to understand the world around us.
To define existence in order to make life easier.

You might think this sounds like an Atheist manifesto, but I think Atheists fool themselves, particularly if they hide behind science. I love science. I love that many of its explanations are recordable and repeatable, again and again without error or change... But in the end Science is a quest for answers. A quest that many of its exponents actually don't support the guiding principal of science. Instead they loudly crow that anything that proscribes a line of thought that contravenes popular scientific belief, then it is some crackpot religeon.

But that is not science. Science it to have no preconceived ideas about any subject. To ask and not assume... In religious circles this point of view is known as fanaticism and any good scientist should keep an open mind about all things, in order to avoid such a label.

So that is part of my 'religion', to keep an open mind. I assume I am wrong before I open my mouth or type a word, that way I will be careful before speaking and always imagine myself in the shoes of whoever I am speaking to.




My 'religion' is Empathy.

It can't be misquoted. It can't be taken out of context to be abused by those in power. It can't be fought over because in fighting it is itself lost. It can't be held high as a means of dictatorship because a dictator knows only one aspect of its great equation.

It can only seek to understand and by understanding it might help another to allow a little of its influence inside... if they truly want to.

Don't blame the Devil or God for your problems, ask yourself how much Empathy you've allowed to help you understand another. Imagine how different your life would be if you trusted your feelings and listened a little better.


Remember Empathy is patient - always waiting for you to ask for help... for the only stupid question is the one you didn't have the courage to ask when the time was right.

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