Category: my thoughts on

By David G. Firestone

I would normally not do two My Thoughts On in a week, but I have something I want to discuss tomorrow, so I’ll talk about this now. I’m not a die-hard NFL fan, but I do watch football when I can. I was looking forward to watching the NFL Hall of Fame Game between the Packers and the Colts last night. I imagine a lot of people were looking forward to it as well. So imagine our surprise when we found out that the game had been canceled, due to “poor field conditions.” Apparently, the field had been painted prior to the game, and the paint had hardened and congealed, thus making the playing field unsafe.

Who is in charge at the Pro Football Hall of Fame? The Pro Football Hall of Fame has ONE MAJOR FOOTBALL GAME per year, and they can’t get the field properly prepared for it? Who is in charge of the grounds crew? The one football game at your stadium that anyone cares about has to be canceled because of bad turf conditions? I would fire the entire grounds crew and hire new people! Above and beyond that, this directly resulted in the cancellation of A NATIONALLY TELEVISED NFL BROADCAST, but more on that later.

I’d like to say a few things to the NFL. You have not had a great off season in terms of public relations. A lot of people aren’t happy with the NFL right now, and though it could be argued that the league has had a great week, this more than ruins it for many people. This also could not come at a worse time, in terms of television. In case you haven’t noticed, The Olympics are happening, and they are more of a ratings grabber than the NFL preseason. You owe your fans, ESPN, and your sponsors a sincere apology, and a serious explanation.

You are the most popular spectator sport in the country, yet there are times it seems like nobody is really in charge, and you are making procedures up as you go along. You’ve already cost yourself, ESPN, and your sponsors a lot of money this weekend. If I want amateur hour, I’ll go to Open Mic at The Comedy Store on Wednesday. I don’t want amateur hour, I want professionalism. I could understand if severe weather delayed the game. I could even understand if severe weather the night before damaged the field, thus rendering it unplayable. But when you have a whole year to prepare for an event, and you fuck it up at the eleventh hour by doing something that could have been done a long time in advance, there is no excuse.

I experienced this lack of leadership and organization first hand at the NFL Draft on April 28^th. I discussed that I had a seat filler ticket, and that there were more fillers than seats. What I DIDN’T mention was how amazingly disorganized the check-in procedures were. I had received my tickets on April 11, through a company called “1iota” which bills itself as a free ticket site for fans. They have tickets for Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Voice, The VMA’s, Live with Kelly, GMA, The Chew, and The View. They also have deals with a number of celebrities including Alica Keys, Carol Burnett, Dennis Rodman, Emmitt Smith, Jessica Alba, Meg Ryan, Miley Cyrus, Kieth Urban, Pete Rose, Tony Hawk, and Yakov Smirnoff. They aren’t exactly dealing with small time people…except for Yakov Smirnoff.

When I went, I was expecting a professional check in, with people who knew what they were doing, and what was going on. It’s a pretty reasonable expectation, but in practice, it wasn’t anywhere near professional or organized. Nobody I talked to knew what was going on, there were too many seat fillers, and not enough 1iota personnel, organization wasn’t anywhere to be found, and the whole process was needlessly complicated, and overly aggravating. If I knew then, what I know now, I would have gone to Draft Town, which should have been called “Corporate Shill Town,” and skipped the ticket line entirely. I had fun at Shill Town, but the ticket process was rage inducing. As a result of The NFL Draft, I will NEVER USE 1IOTA AGAIN FOR ANYTHING! They could pay me to take the tickets, and I will tell them to fuck off!

I’d also like to refer to Super Bowl XLV. This took place four days after The Blizzard of 2011. Because of the storms, work inside the stadium wasn’t finished in time, and as a result, 500 people who had purchased Super Bowl tickets had to be turned away. Again, there was more than enough time to make sure that this was done right. AT&T Stadium had been selected in 2007. The only events that took place between January 15 and February 6 were stadium tours. That means that the stadium crew had more than enough time to make sure everything was ready by the time the game was ready. Even with the blizzard, which took place on January 31-February 2, there is no reason that this shouldn’t have been an issue.

Why is this an issue? Because the NFL, like most companies, especially sports leagues is CONSUMER DRIVEN! If the consumers aren’t happy, you are going to lose money! The NFL has shown that they don’t care about fans, but want their money. Yet, without the fans, you have no money. You would think that the most popular fan sport would do everything to keep the fans happy, but the NFL doesn’t seem to care that their main source of income isn’t exactly thrilled with what has been going on.

I’m really hoping that when football resumes on Thursday, there won’t be major issues…but I’m not holding my breath!

By David G. Firestone

Just a short article this week. I love writing The Driver Suit Blog, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I need a break. As such, starting this Saturday, I’m going to take my annual summer sabbatical. I need a chance to decompress and get away from the hectic pace that is writing The Driver Suit Blog for a while, and summer in Chicago is the best time to do it.

I will have Monday Videos, Throwback Thursdays, and Friday Features ready to go, but I’m not updating the Paint Scheme Tracker, and Grades, nor will I do My Thoughts On. I will do my annual Route 66 Nationals article. Route 66 will be the 800^th Funny Car race in NHRA history. I plan on doing my usual thing, and having a great time. I’m not just going to be sitting idle for July, I have a number of things planned and ready to go. I don’t know for sure if I’m going to post a recap, but I might. I haven’t decided as of this writing.

Can someone explain to me why the week before vacation is the longest week of the year? I get the time goes slow when you are waiting for something fun to happen, but the slow week really sucks. My shifts at work are going to seem longer, and the week in general is going to seem longer. But the end result is worth the wait. See you in August!

By David G. Firestone

For the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to move forward to 2017. It might seem a little early, but if I’m going to be able to successfully implement any changes to formats, I need to be able to have enough time to figure out how and when I’m going to implement them. As such, I’m going to discuss what I’m working on and have decided as of right now.

Currently, there are six postings in a week. Monday has videos, Tuesday has My Thoughts On, Wednesday has the Paint Scheme Tracker, Thursday has Throwback Thursday, Friday has the Friday Feature, and Saturday has the Paint Scheme Grades. When it comes to the format, I’m not going to change anything, as I really like this current setup. But there will be minor changes to the formats themselves.

Monday videos will remain unchanged in their current format, and production setup. I’m happy will they way things are going, and there is no need to make any changes in this respect.

Tuesday has My Thoughts On, and these have always been subject to how I feel as a person. Sometimes they are light-hearted, sometimes, I’ll discuss a serious issue. I’m not going to change this much either. Also, they are subject to how I feel physically, and if I’m not feeling well, I’m not going to write one.

The Paint Scheme Tracker and Grades will remain in their current slots, but I’m eliminating the A+ grade in favor of just an A. This will make the final grading much easier. This new change will debut with Wednesday’s edition of the tracker, and the Saturday edition of the Grades. It should also be noted that if there isn’t a Cup race scheduled for the weekend, I can’t do a Paint Scheme Grades, as I don’t have enough material.

Throwback Thursday will remain in place. Yes I realize that it’s not popular to have a Throwback Thursday anymore, but I don’t care. The only change I’m going to make is that I’ll be a bit more descriptive with my grading.

The Friday Feature will still be here, but I’m going to take a few different directions with it. One change I’m going to do is that I want to start doing more on design, not uniforms. I’ve got a couple design columns that I’m working on. The other change I’m going to make is that Reel Reviews is making a comeback in 2017! But there is another change I’m making in that there will be two subsets of Reel Reviews, Movies and Books. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and now I’ve got a plan to make it happen. Reel Reviews are not easy to do, in that they take three times as long as normal columns. But I do want to do them, and I’m going to make sure they get done next year.

I should also mention that I can definitely say that I have a Friday Feature for every Friday through the end of the year. This includes the Paint Schemies, and the Paint Scheme Leaderboard. The Schemies and the Leaderboard will also return for 2017. Though most of what I discussed may or may not be set in stone yet. I look forward to seeing you all for another great year!

By David G. Firestone

People wonder why I don’t watch a lot of television. Truth told, I really don’t. I watch documentaries, and the news, and auto racing, but other than that, I really don’t turn the television on all that much. After what I experienced this last week, it should be easy to understand why I wouldn’t watch that much TV.

Last week, I decided to watch the Isle Of Man TT races. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating, that I’m not big on motorcycle racing. I promised myself this year, I would make a more concerted effort to try and watch more racing. So I wanted to watch the race. I couldn’t figure out what channel the Isle of Man TT was on. After a few minutes on Google, I discovered that the races were being televised on a television channel called “Velocity.”

Velocity bills itself as a car guy network. Almost all programming is devoted to either restoring or customizing cars. The bulk of their prime-time programming is car customizing reality shows. I tried to watch some of these shows, and was quickly reminded why I hate reality television shows. Reality TV is the worst genre of television EVER! Every one of these shows are fake. These shows have fake drama surrounding them, and the endings are predictable.

While these reality shows are bad by themselves, Velocity has found a way to make it worse. Every commercial for upcoming episode I saw, the ending was spoiled in the commercial! Not that it really matters, every ending is the exact same. The car they are either customizing or restoring is finished in time, regardless of the drama, and the customer loves it. But if you insist on watching these shows, you will know the ending of the show before it airs.

Why would you spoiler alert the show in the previews? What sense does that make? I understand you want to show the cool car, but in doing this, you have really taken any and all incentive to watch the show away. Don’t show the end, just show the basic plot, and you’ll be able to draw more viewers.

The other thing I noticed about these reality shows on Velocity is that they are all the same show, but with different people and different locations. The plot-lines and production values are exactly the same, and I’m willing to bet that if you took the title cards out of the shows, you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. Again, this isn’t the middle of the day, this is prime-time! Why wouldn’t you have more unique programming during prime-time, instead of the same show with different titles?

I really wonder how Velocity stays a television channel with a total lack of creative programming, no original ideas, and spoiling their shows during previews. I haven’t seen their viewership numbers, but I can’t believe they are that high. It shouldn’t come as a shock that Velocity is owned by Discovery Media, which also owns TLC. So the company that brought us Cake Boss, Jon and Kate Plus 8, 19 Kids and Counting, Toddlers and Tiaras, and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo bring us Velocity as a television channel, and Velocity is no less intellectually barren than the above-mentioned shows.

People wonder why I don’t watch much television, and the above should show why. I do watch TV, but I don’t watch reality TV. I really hate that television has been reduced to this. I wish reality TV as it is now would go away, and never return.

By David G. Firestone

It’s very rare that we lose an icon on the level of Muhammad Ali. It’s even rarer that an athlete transcends his sport and his culture like Ali did. There have been plenty of great boxers over the years, there are many more coming. Ali had somethings that those other boxers didn’t.

Though his detractors called him “brash” and “arrogant,” he said what he had to say, and stood for what he had to stand for. He refused to serve in the army in Vietnam. His quote can be considered legendary when he said that he had“no quarrel with them Vietcong…My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me n—-r, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape or kill my mother and father…. How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail.”

As a result of that inspired quote, and the inspired reasons behind it, he lost his boxing licenses, he forfeited his titles, and spent time in jail. Ali was never a man to back down from what he believed in, and appealed the decisions, and won. In the ring, he was an innovator. With a lifetime record of 56 and 5, Ali is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time. His nickname “The Greatest” is proof of that.

Out of the ring he was as good a statesman as he was a boxer. His anti-war ideals were supported by large numbers of people. His pride in himself made him a respected figure. He became the most famous man in the world. His love for peace was such that as tensions between Iraq and the US were escalating in 1991, he traveled to Iraq and met with Saddam Hussein to try and release American hostages. When Parkinson’s Disease robbed him of the ability to be Ali, he could have given up hope, but he decided to be the poster child for Parkinson’s. In this sense, Ali was more legend than human…and at the same time, more human then legend.

The only thing that can and should be said in the end is that we really have tragically lost an American icon.

By David G. Firestone

We’ve all thought this, but I’m going to say it…WHY CAN’T WE INVENT A UNIVERSAL USB CABLE CONNECTION? I had to look for a cord earlier this week, and I almost had a mental breakdown! I counted, and in total, for five different USB items I have 4 different cables. Because of size and other issues, some cables can’t be used with other items. So why can’t we make a universal USB cable connection?

While we’re on the subject of USB, can we create a USB jack that accepts a USB no matter what side is up? It’s amazing to me that as useful as USB connections are, it get frustrating that you can’t just insert it into a jack, you have to figure out which side is up, and even then it doesn’t always work!

This is 2016. We have better access to information, resources, and technology than at any point in history, yet many things we have to deal with haven’t evolved over time. We also don’t have things we really need. I’ve been saying for years that we need a machine that wakes you up by cooking breakfast for you. We already have a 3 in 1 Breakfast cooker, so why can’t we set it up so when the alarm goes off, it cooks breakfast for you? You could have one little refrigerator compartment that turns hot and cooks the eggs and bacon, and the second compartment is a toaster oven, and the coffee attachment works as well.

One more thing I’m going to complain about, and I think we can all agree on this, could someone please explain to me why in the world smart phones can’t have long-lasting batteries? I get the fact that battery performance lessens over time, but is there any reason my iPhone can’t have a battery that lasts for 2 days at full performance? I get that the sleekness is a selling factor, but if Apple or Samsung came out with a long-lasting battery as part of a standard issue, that would revolutionize the market.

I don’t know, but I think that in this day in age, these kinds of problems shouldn’t be issues. We should have these things fixed, and done right. Maybe it’s me, maybe I’m crazy, I don’t know.

By David G. Firestone

I’ve been following auto racing for 26 years, and have lived in Illinois even longer than that. If you want to understand why people hate politics, look at Illinois. Our state and city governments are corrupt, and this budget impasse is even worse. But I’m not going to discuss that, what I’m here to do is to discuss the fact that often times, in both politics and auto racing, there is more going on than meets the eye.

Many times in both politics and auto racing, there is something that happens, and an explanation given, or not given, but as time goes on, it becomes clear that there is something deep beneath the surface that is causing what is going on, despite the explanation. I think this is happening with Bob Vandergriff Racing and Mercedes F1 program.

Bob Vandergriff raced in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series from 1994 to 2014. He has three national event wins. He owned Bob Vandergriff Racing. After he retired from driving in 2014, he was still the owner, and in charge of operations…until April 11^th, when he unexpectedly shut down all operations in order to retire. The reasoning given for this was the passing of a team friend, and his thinking of the important things in life. He wants to spend more time with his grand-kids and family.

This may be a legit explanation, a very legit one at that, but something tells me that there is more to this story than meets the eye. I could be totally wrong about this, and that may be the legit explanation. If that is, I apologize, and best of luck to Bob. But again, after having lived in Illinois for as long as I have, I have to wonder if something else is going on.

What I really don’t understand is how you could just shut down two full-time top fuel teams on what seems like a whim. I could understand if BVR was undersponsored, low on funds, and couldn’t continue full-time operations. Alan Johnson Racing’s shutdown was understandable in this sense. But both of BVR’s teams were fully sponsored, and had a full support crew. I might even be able to kind of understand the decision if they hadn’t won an event, but that isn’t a factor, as Leah Pritchett won her first top fuel national event at Phoenix.

Again, I could be wrong, and if I am, I am, but nothing about this whole scenario makes any sense. I’m convinced that there is something else going on that will come to the surface later. It could be financial issues, legal issues, PR issues, or something else. Same thing with Louis Hamilton and Mercedes’ F1 team.

I get that power shifts happen in auto racing from time to time, and Nico Rosberg’s rise on the surface isn’t that shocking, he’s a talented driver on a powerhouse team, but the fact that Louis Hamilton has suddenly lost all momentum makes it confusing. Nico has had a great year, and Louis’s year can, at best, be described as disasterous. The Australian Grand Prix and Bahrain Grand Prix were straightfoward enough, Louis started first on the grid, and finished 2^nd in both races. Then the Chinese Grand Prix started, and the team made an unscheduled gearbox change. This resulted in a 5 grid place penalty, and after he suffered from a hybrid system failure in the turbo charger. he started 22^nd. After a dramatic run, he finished 7^th.

Ok, that seems innocent enough, engine parts can fail at any time, so that isn’t too shocking, but fast forward to this last weekend. Before Q3, Hamilton wasn’t going to go out and qualify, due to…him suffering suffering from a hybrid system failure in the turbo charger, or THE SAME EXACT FAILURE THAT PLAGUED HIM DURING QUALIFYING AT THE LAST EVENT. Are you expecting me to believe that this isn’t an issue? Once is a coincidence, twice it’s more than that. I’m not the only one who realizes that. So many people are wondering if there is something else going on.

I can’t believe that this isn’t a coincidence. Typically, mechanical problems impact any team running that equipment. But the fact that these failures seem to be impacting only one driver when the other driver is dominating seems odd. It also seems odd that the driver its impacting is the stronger of the two. It’s also hard to ignore the fact that many F1 fans were getting tired of Louis’ domination as well. Again, this may be a legit thing, and nothing else is going on, but it is kind of odd that this is happening how it is and when it is. I’m cynical, I don’t even try and deny that, and while I don’t put too much stock in conspiracy theores, these two stories are too odd to ignore.

I’m going to just stop for now, because I have something else to discuss. The project that preempted the Paint Scheme Grades this week was when I went to the NFL Draft on Thursday, and I will discuss that on Friday. Stay Tuned!

By David G. Firestone

I’ve got a few things to discuss, so buckle up. First thing, let’s get this out of the way. Yes this is another post on weather, yes it’s about weather that sucks, and no, I’m not apologizing for it. As I sit here, my back to the southern window in The Hauler, I’m getting reports that there are thunderstorms heading my way. I’m kinda looking forward to it, and at the same time I’m not.

Growing up, I’ve always had a fear of thunderstorms. I took some grief for it. Besides, what 6 year old would be afraid of darkness, heavy rain, loud noise, bright flashes, and the power going out? But, after growing up, and getting jobs that mandate me working outside, I’m very nervous about thunderstorms. I’m genuinely afraid of getting hit by lightning while working outside.

It’s why I started making thunderstorm videos. If I am making a video about something, I can’t be that scared of it. I don’t know what it is, but using a camera helps me stay calm in a situation that I consider frightening. I’m not sure why, but that’s how it is.

The second thing I want to discuss is the seemingly random postings over the last couple of weeks. There is are valid explanations for why this happened. Let’s rewind to April 8^th. I wake up later than I had wanted to, and rush to the shower to catch the bus. I notice there is no hot water, but as I have to rush, I don’t think about it. I get to work, and then it dawns on me, what’s wrong with the hot water.

After my shift, I get home, and I need to state that I walk 2.5 miles home after my shift at work. I get home, check on Alejandro, and go downstairs to see what’s wrong, and I realize that the hot water heater has burst. After a few phone calls, I was able to spend most of my Saturday getting it fixed, and after $1800, it was fixed, and I have to admit, the new one works great.

The next day, I go into see a doctor. The reason I see him on Sunday is that he is Jewish, and has weekend hours, and will be open on Sundays. He insists I get a blood test, so I had to go through that pain in the ass. And while we’re on the subject of medical tests, can I ask a question? Is there any way that these forms you have to fill out CAN FUCKING BE SIMPLIFIED? HOLY SHIT THOSE ARE ANNOYING! I’ve gone to this same place every test I have ever had, I’ve gotten the same set of tests every time, I still have the same insurance, and I STILL HAVE TO SPEND 20 MINUTES FILLING OUT FORMS!

It’s also important to note that I was fasting for the test, so in addition to all the other bullshit, I’m hungry and I can’t have an energy drink, so I’m tired as well. After filling out forms, and spending ANOTHER 15 MINUTES IN THE WAITING AREA(Why are there as many people getting blood tests on a Sunday?) I get my test done, and I treat myself to Taco Bell, because I have that kind of money. I go home, watch the Masters. Towards the end of the evening, the doctor calls me, and apparently, I have some thyroid issues. So now, I have to make ANOTHER appointment, this one with a specialist. It goes without saying, I was NOT happy with these issues.

I made the command decision(I LOVE that term, by the way) to skip My Thoughts On, and I skipped working on my stuff, which is why the Tracker ran on Thursday April 14, as opposed to Wednesday April 13. Since then, I’ve gotten back on track, and I’m back to normal.

The last piece of news I have to discuss was a bit of a punch to the chest. I’ve grown up, and lived my whole life in Evanston, Illinois. I LOVE Evanston, and can’t picture myself living anywhere else. I learned last week that an Evanston institution closed this week, namely Dave’s Italian Kitchen. Dave’s was an Evanston institution 10 years before I was born. Dave’s was the first restaurant I ever went to. I had my middle school, high school AND college graduation parties there. We’ve had many family gatherings there. That news hit really hard.

What makes it even worse, is that nobody seemed to know why Dave’s closed. Then, as I was writing this, I saw this announcement on the Dave’s Facebook page:

“Bad news/ Good news
Bad: Getting out my cookbook/memoir may take longer than I thought as I’ve started another project.
Good news: That project is a new restaurant which will be known as Dave’s IK, a much smaller & more streamlined version. It will be the size of my very first place – the menu & dining room will be smaller but the heart will beat louder than ever. And it has a big front window! I hope to open on Noyes Street in late May. I thank all of you on FB who have been supportive and loving – without that support, I would be busking in New Orleans. I look forward to justifying your kindnesses. Thank you again — Dave “

While I will miss the original Dave’s, I can only hope that the new version is just as good as the original. I’ve eaten in Italian restaurants all over this great country, and I love to call Dave’s my favorite!.

One last piece of news, aside from The Vest Project, I will be involved in another project this week, something really ambitious, so I’m probably not going to do Paint Scheme Grades this week. I will bring it back next week. See you then!