When I'm not here [shock-horror...sometimes I'm not]... I'm a Race Official FIA/FIM [Formula 1 - MotoGP - SBK] . Here's me at Albert Park, Opening event of the 2019 F1 Calendar.  I'm the one in the jacket - each badge on it is a one year service badge.  There are 34 of them...I got the 35th 2 days later... This was actually my 40th Australian GrandPrix in a row, one of only 4 or 5 who have made it that far.

Having been an Official for MotoGP for 23 years someone decided I'd be suitable fodder to drive in the Riders' Parade last Sunday before the GrandPrix at Phillip Island [Australia].... ...so this is the one I drove... BMW M235i ...about 320hp 8 speed in-line 6 turbo ...bit 'wasted' when we were putting around at 50kph [30mph]. Fortunately it didn't rain during the parade so the roof was down [as it SHOULD be on a convertible] ... So.... What do you do in that time no-one pays ...

Lead singer of Motorhead passed away at 70...from an 'aggressive cancer' apparently only diagnosed on Boxing Day.   R.I.P., Lemmy

  For those wondering....The Easybeats.... ....from the generation of fast-living Rock and Rollers....gone at 68.      

98 Rotten Tomatoes is a good indicator. It's a heck of a ride from go to whoa....definitely a must-see. Max has kinda a back-seat role to Charlize Theron's but she's much prettier, anyway.  It's worth it just to see her 'robotic' arm...it'll have you wondering if she cut off one 'for the cause'... We saw it at the theatre at Highpoint....just a couple of miles from where Max's original Falcon was built at Duhig-Ford's Niddrie garage.&nbs...

But Kid Rock was better... Saw them Tonight [Sunday] with 100,000 or so others in Melbourne [Etihad Stadium]. Kid Rock was the 'support'...but I preferred them to JBJ.... the accoustics were crap - certainly didn't help...and JBJ's mixer should have been shot...but maybe it was more the stadium than him...

Saw this link [as you do - when looking at/for something else]... http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/travel/australia/reasons-why-summer-in-australia-is-awesome/story-fnjjuyvd-1226773885892#itm_s=dtm&itm_t=story&itm_c=content-3&itm_o=4&itm_l=heading&itma_v=story-1226767978928&itma_sv=story-template&itma_g=rhc-story-travel&itma_m=travel-escapecomau-editorial-only-1   Ick....one of them long ones...

Terry named this 'Sabrina' .... bit of a play on words, I expect. 2007 SAAB 9-3 Aero Cabriolet. Price was too good to refuse, being 70k AUD off the '07 listed price. Quaintly...although SAAB is Swedish....this one's German...and the Engine was made in Port Melbourne [Australia] just a 'couple of miles down the road' from me. Fitted with a Hirsch performance chip the 2.8l V6 Turbo Intercooled produces 202kw [276 hp] at 5670 rpm - or 90% of the 400 nm of to...

Terry and I just saw it today...and it's brilliant.... As some of you might know...both myself and Terry work as Officials in Formula One .... and I started as a Communicator in 1976 ....around the time the movie was set. I didn't get 'my hands on' [or even see an F1 in the flesh] until 1980 ... but certainly some of the names mentioned were still around then...and the first time I would have met Lauda was in '84 at Calder [in Melbourne]. It's an excellent movie...

He was an inspiration to many....and will be missed.

Ya gotta love Tarantino... There was one bit that HAS TO BE the funniest piece of film I have seen in YEARS.... I know he loves paying homage to all those old B Movies..... but this time there was a bit of 'Blazing Saddles'-style. Will it be another 'cult classic' like Pulp Fiction? Possibly...   BTW... don't spoil it for anyone.  Anything resembling a 'spoiler' will be removed...