The Grand Prix, Italy Weekend
How can I explain the weekend I had? It started off with burgers and cigars at Gerti’s patio in downtown Peterborough, Ontario and ended up in Little Italy (Toronto) watching the madness unfold as Italy won the World Cup. In between was a bit of a mess. I’ll do my best to recount the moments that I can make public. All I can say is that it was a great spectacle that I doubt I can capture with words or pictures.
First of all, to call “Indy” the Grand Prix is just a stupid marketing tactic. I don’t like it and many others felt the same way. I arrived at the host hotel with my buddy Jimmy at 11:45, we picked up our media passes and went to the media shuttle that transported us to the front gates of the race. First order of business was to go to the Media Centre and see if any of my colleagues were floating around. I didn’t see anyone I recognized. Neither did Jimm. Each year there’s a hot tasty lunch, this year there were some sandwiches and soda. After eating we went outside to see the Atlantic cars head out for qualifying. Jimmy and I split up. As I made my way through the pits I ran into Paul Newman giving a few words of inspiration to Sebastien Bourdais. I was able to snap a few good shots during qualifying.
First of all, to call “Indy” the Grand Prix is just a stupid marketing tactic. I don’t like it and many others felt the same way. I arrived at the host hotel with my buddy Jimmy at 11:45, we picked up our media passes and went to the media shuttle that transported us to the front gates of the race. First order of business was to go to the Media Centre and see if any of my colleagues were floating around. I didn’t see anyone I recognized. Neither did Jimm. Each year there’s a hot tasty lunch, this year there were some sandwiches and soda. After eating we went outside to see the Atlantic cars head out for qualifying. Jimmy and I split up. As I made my way through the pits I ran into Paul Newman giving a few words of inspiration to Sebastien Bourdais. I was able to snap a few good shots during qualifying.
Paul Newman & Sebastien Bourdais
Grand Prix = Beautiful Women
Canadian Forces CF-18
A.J. Allmendinger waiting for results
Paul Tracy in Turn 1
Pit Stop
Paul Tracy getting in his car
Paul Tracy, a little older/heavier
Formula Atlantic car zooming by
On race day I was a bit tired, actually deliriously tired. The night before consisted of an impromptu visit to the Niagara Fallsview Casino, with pit stops in Burlington to visit one of my RICH GUY models (Lisa Ricciotti), Hamilton (we took a wrong turn) and then back to Toronto. Jimmy was awestruck that I doubled my money at the casino. It felt good to win for a change!
Anyway, back to the race. The Canadian Air Force’s CF-18’s did a fly-by after the national anthem was sung. And it was on! The cars went zoom for a few laps and I felt that I had seen enough. In previous years the teams had given us tickets to see the race, this year we couldn’t get a good enough vantage point to make it worthwhile to stick around. Especially not when the world cup was being played. Regardless, I knew that Mark L. Craighead was getting all the choice shots in Turn 1. Walking back to the media shuttle I ran into an old friend and incredible musician Ian Sattler, whom I hadn’t seen in 4 years. That made the day at the Grand Prix worthwhile.
The next order of business was Italy vs. France for the World Cup.
Thank goodness it was a nice day. Without rain the patios were filled to the max. Every single bar, restaurant and hole in the wall was filled with people watching the game. I saw a patio with 3 plasma screen TV’s and people standing about watching. So I stood on the corner between Filippo’s and The Rushton in Little Italy, watching the last seconds of the battle for world soccer dominance. And there it erupted. The penalty kick that put mayhem and madness all through the streets of Italian neighbourhoods worldwide. People started running in the streets, one man stopped a bus others jumping with the Italian flag. Then it calmed down for a moment as the medals were handed out and after that, well, I’ll let you download the video from my cellphone, you’ll need a 3gp codec to view it or just enjoy the pictures I took.
On race day I was a bit tired, actually deliriously tired. The night before consisted of an impromptu visit to the Niagara Fallsview Casino, with pit stops in Burlington to visit one of my RICH GUY models (Lisa Ricciotti), Hamilton (we took a wrong turn) and then back to Toronto. Jimmy was awestruck that I doubled my money at the casino. It felt good to win for a change!
Anyway, back to the race. The Canadian Air Force’s CF-18’s did a fly-by after the national anthem was sung. And it was on! The cars went zoom for a few laps and I felt that I had seen enough. In previous years the teams had given us tickets to see the race, this year we couldn’t get a good enough vantage point to make it worthwhile to stick around. Especially not when the world cup was being played. Regardless, I knew that Mark L. Craighead was getting all the choice shots in Turn 1. Walking back to the media shuttle I ran into an old friend and incredible musician Ian Sattler, whom I hadn’t seen in 4 years. That made the day at the Grand Prix worthwhile.
The next order of business was Italy vs. France for the World Cup.
Thank goodness it was a nice day. Without rain the patios were filled to the max. Every single bar, restaurant and hole in the wall was filled with people watching the game. I saw a patio with 3 plasma screen TV’s and people standing about watching. So I stood on the corner between Filippo’s and The Rushton in Little Italy, watching the last seconds of the battle for world soccer dominance. And there it erupted. The penalty kick that put mayhem and madness all through the streets of Italian neighbourhoods worldwide. People started running in the streets, one man stopped a bus others jumping with the Italian flag. Then it calmed down for a moment as the medals were handed out and after that, well, I’ll let you download the video from my cellphone, you’ll need a 3gp codec to view it or just enjoy the pictures I took.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home