I Don’t Even Know What I’m Talking About. Number 10, Thanks To Me Medium.com is About to Crash

I’m so glad I decided to do this every week or so.. Hello and welcome to another I Don’t Even Know What I’m Talking About. The series where I crawl out of my cave talk or rant about stuff then crawl back in again. It’s that simple.

As ever I’ll start with the “news” and the big news is that one of my series has finally finished. The Video Games I’ve Enjoyed series has now officially ended. The series took in 40 games over 10 articles starting with Alex Kidd in Miracle World which was a game I got which was built in to the Sega Master System 2 back in 1987. Ground breaking for the time. Although I played it again recently and still love it.. Even though I couldn’t get my head around it anymore. It really opens my eyes to how much life and other new found skills push out the old skills. It’s probably the only reason I hate having the ability to cook. I’ve probably lost my ability to play Fifa 96 because of it.

Then there’s this article series.. Ah yes the latest Trance Nation album sucks series which has turned into a history of the trance compilation series, this album did and still does my head in especially when you see what could have been included. I love how the promotion for this, I love Trance and Lost in Trance are all basically identical because as albums they are identical but I’m getting into old territory again here, the upshot is that there’s only one more article in this series to go and I’m going to start writing… Actually writing is the wrong word.. Compiling it, next week.

I do have one fear however. There’s going to be a lot of embedded videos in that article and by a around lot I mean around the 50 mark. Yes it’s that huge. I’m a little worried that Medium.com may actually crash it’s that big a project. But what i may do is have part 8.1 8.2 and so on. But it will all be part 8 that much I promise you. But that will genuinely be the end of my other project.

So what ever will I do next? I’ve got a massive project planned don’t worry about that.

Recently the people at Duke Video released all of the old F1 reviews onto DVD, a project that many will argue is about 10 years too late but still. Now a few years ago a journalist by the name of Keith Collatine did a review of every single one (except 1991) from 1981–2017 if memory serves me correctly. Now I disagreed with much of what he put and he omitted several details about some of the reviews. So someone challenged me to do my own, and that’s what I intend to do. I’m going to review each years Formula 1 end of season reviews from 1981 right the way up to 2010 because that’s where the new box sets end. Now one thing I’m keen to do is NOT fall into the trap that many (including Keith) do when reviewing these things and talk heavily about what actually happened in that season. Obviously I have to acknowledge it but I’m going to keep it very much focused on the actual VHS/DVD review, It’s technical quality the footage it uses, the commentary and everything else besides.

So that’s my next project and I’m very much looking forward to starting it.

Right lets get into a few bits and bobs then. Firstly this.. Now this I think is stupid. Cryptocurrency. I’ve had these E-Mails pop up recently and now there’s even video games trading in it. For those that don’t know it’s basically a form of digital currency that is (allegedly although I can’t see it) going to take over the world and in the future we won’t need money. Like Star Trek only worse.

And they’ve all been asking if I’m interested trading in or investing in this hair brained scheme. It’s even been likened to gambling addiction adding that the chance of you actually profiting from investing in it is slim to absolute naff all. In fact did you know that there’s a cryptocurrency addiction centre in Scotland? Well there is one and According to the facility, the signs of being addicted to trading digital currencies could include:

• Spending a great deal of time on the activity of trading in cryptocurrency, checking prices and thinking about the activity — so that other occupations such as work, socializing and exercise do not get done
• Debts and financial problems
• Lying to friends and family about one’s activities/problems
• Mood swings, feelings of hopelessness and depression
• Anxiety, leading to physical symptoms such as sweating and tremors
• Unrealistic views such as being ‘lucky’, chasing losses
• Attempting to control activity without success

I’m sorry but how can something that is such a fad cause this amount of stress and intrigue all at the same time. No sane person would touch crypto with someone else’s barge-pole let alone their own. I remember that false story about Alan Sugar quitting the apprentice to focus on Bitcoin then a month later the next series of the apprentice was announced. Bitcoin/crypto/whatever the fuck is just a fad. There’s no chance of it lasting so as far as I’m concerned Cryprocurrency can go fuck itself (it’s likely a scam now I think of it) So stop E-Mailing me shit about it!!

I finally got round to watching the rest of the grand tour episodes that have been released so far after getting a taste of them on YouTube which then subsequently and rightly get taken down on the grounds of copyright. I won’t bother reviewing every episode like last time but I’ll simply say that the best episodes were series 1 episode 1 where they tested the Ferrari La Ferrari, the Porsche 918 and the McLaren P1 against each other round the Algarve raceway in Spain. Episode 3 which featured a tour of Italy was OK but Richard Hammond playing the role of annoying git made me actually angry somewhat. But the 2 part beach buggy episode in Namibia was really good. Although having it mid series when it should have been at the end for me was a sticking point. More so given how disappointing the end of the series was for me.

Season 2 episode 1 started with a bang literally when Hammond crashed the Rimmac concept electric car in Switzerland in an episode that was until then pretty good. The next episode which featured a classic Top Gear style race from New York to Niagra Falls was also great to watch and a return to form. The special in Mozambique was also really good at the end of the series too. (I’m being deliberately vague so as not to give too many spoilers away)

Series 3 had one great moment in it so far. The 2 part Columbia special where the trio become wildlife photographers. Again no spoilers but it was very enjoyable. There was also an episode in Scotland where they drive 3 future classic Italian cars and the cars they chose really did appeal to me actually so that was good to see. That and Scotland is by far one of my favourite places anyway just for the scenery (although I’m well aware that living there isn’t exactly fun.. Not my words, those of the residents)

The F1 season got underway last weekend too. The race being won by Valtteri Bottas thus showing what growing a beard can really do for you. That and a change of attitude and reacting the quickest to the fastest changing start lights in history. His team mate Lewis Hamilton (you may have heard of him) finished 2nd and both were well ahead of the Ferrari challenge.

This was a very funny one though. If you looked at the testing times then Ferrari looked to be the quickest with everyone going “yeah they’re the quickest but they aren’t that far ahead of Mercedes when they stop sandbagging” little did we know though. Ferrari didn’t even get on the podium though with Max Verstappen finishing 3nd in the Red Bull HONDA yes HONDA on the podium again which is amazing for the sport after their time with McLaren didn’t exactly cover anyone with glory. I always find it funny that Alonso wanted to move away from Honda power right before he signed for Toyota in the WEC but that’s a co-incidence right?

2 more talking points. Ferrari using team orders already keeping Charles Leclerc behind his team mate Sebastian Vettel bringing the Ferraris home in 4th and 5th. And then there’s Williams who were really off the pace. Kubica hitting the wall twice in practice and qualifying makes me wonder if his return is ill advised or not (cue the hate from his fans). Williams though are so far off the pace, they were miles behind the rest and they haven’t impressed anyone. The one thing they can take away from the weekend is that both cars stayed reliable when others did have problems. Roman Grosjean in the Haas for example having a wheel problem which was not unlike last year although this was more of a component failure than a team personnel failure. Oh and one more thing I almost forgot was Daniel Ricciardo in his home Grand Prix having no luck again retiring early after he damaged his car at the start by hitting the ground.. Well he hit a service road when he went on the grass and the bump in the road broke his front wing.

And that is pretty much that for now. Be aware of the site crashing in a few days from now and you’ll know it’s all my fault. But to give you a taste of the sort of thing that’s going to be in the next thing I do here I’ll leave you with this to play us out.

Thanks though for reading and there will be more from me very soon.