HossC

In F1 news, it was announced today that the sport will be returning to Africa in the early 2030s. Rwanda has signed a 10-year deal to host a race at a brand new and as yet unbuilt track about 25 miles south of the capital Kigali. It'll be the first race on the continent since 1993. Read more here.

Writing my F1 race review, I remembered another: Tyre: the rubber ring on the wheels of your vehicle. Tire: to drain someone's strength or lose interest in something. Both are "tire" in American English.

Max Verstappen also took pole for the main race in Singapore. He lined up ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton with championship leader Kimi Antonelli in fourth ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. By contrast, George Russell had to start in 19th due to grid penalties for using too many engine components. The top six got off the line in order and stayed that way until Lance Stroll's retirement on lap 39 (of 62) brought out the virtual safety car. The pit stops didn't change much at the front, but Lewis opted to stay out and keep track position. This decision ultimately cost him a podium finish, and he apologized to his team at the end for over-ruling their call. On fresh tires, Kimi and the McLarens got past Lewis towards the end of the race. At the flag, Max got his third win in a row (including the sprint race) with Charles in second and Kimi in third. George made up 10 places to ninth. The race highlights are here. The next race is the United States Grand Prix from the Circuit of the Americas in Austin in just over a week and a half. Including the US Grand Prix, there are still six races left, but Kimi could theoretically claim his first world championship in Austin due to his huge lead.

One of the videos I watched recently started with a reactor who felt slighted that an app offered two English language options. The first had a Union Jack and was labeled "English (British)" while the second had a Stars and Stripes and was labeled "English (Simplified)". It was pointed out in the comments that when lexicographer Noah Webster wrote the first American dictionary, one of his aims was to simplify spellings. Some of them stuck while others didn't. There's a page at Merriam-Webster.com which lists some of his successes and failures. I don't know which words are down to Mr Webster, but American English often simplifies spellings to use the same word for two completely different meanings. In another reaction video, the reactor had never heard that the British call the edge of the road the kerb rather than the curb. Here are a few examples of words where British English has two spellings for two meanings even when they're pronounced the same: Kerb: the edge of the road or garden bed. Curb: to control or limit something. Both are "curb" in American English. Storey: a level of a building. Story: an account of incidents or events. Both are "story" in American English. Cheque: a method of payment. Check: to examine or inspect something. Both are "check" in American English. Draught: beer on tap. Draft: a preliminary version. Both are "draft" in American English. I'm sure there are many others. That's apart from where we use completely different words!

Max Verstappen following his win last week with pole position for the sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix. After about a half hour delay due to rain the race started with George Russell taking the lead at the first bend. Lewis Hamilton also had a good start going from sixth to third. George's lead only lasted a lap before he put a wheel on the slippery white line on the curb, spun out and hit the wall bringing out the safety car. Singapore is a tight street circuit with concrete walls, and several other drivers misjudged the space they had and crashed out. Along with a couple of breakdowns, nine of the 22 cars failed to finish. After George's crash, Max retook the lead and went on to win, followed home by Lewis and Charles Leclerc. McLaren looked set for fourth and fifth until Lando Norris tried to overtake team mate Oscar Piastri on the last lap, clipped his car and spun both of them out. Lando recovered to finish eighth but Oscar couldn't continue. That gifted fourth place to championship leader Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman scored three valuable points for Haas in sixth (only the top eight positions score in the sprint race). The highlights are here. I'll try to get around to the main race review tomorrow.

If what Google tells me is correct, John and Tom received between $20-25k per episode plus the famously small royalties. That's roughly $62-78k in today's money, which should've set them up for a while. These figures are similar to what Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada reportedly earned per episode on CHiPs.

Roger, I don't have a tablet, but you should see one of these: The computer menu bar will be at the top of the screen and the phone icon bar will be at the bottom.

I made a point of getting up for 8am yesterday to watch the Bahrain Grand Prix from Malaysia live. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain the start was delayed. When the cars finally left the pits they only managed two laps behind the safety car, and some didn't even get that far as they stopped on the circuit due to the low speeds causing software glitches. The FIA (the governing body) provided software patches and the cars finally made the grid at just after 9.30am UK time. The track appeared to be drying quickly, but about two thirds of the drivers, including pole sitter Max Verstappen, chose intermediate wet tires. Lewis Hamilton in second went for slicks. At the start, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell both passed Max, but the cars with slick tires quickly dropped back, and Lewis was back in 17th place after just three racing laps. While some drivers pitted for grooved tires, Lewis told the team that they might as well gamble on the track coming to them. On lap 9, Valtteri Bottas went off the circuit bringing out a safety car. The leaders all took this opportunity to get slick tires, but Lewis stayed out on his. At the restart, Kimi went from first to third as Max and George passed him. By lap 22, Kimi had retaken the lead and Lewis had scythed his way up to fifth. There were some good battles in the mid-field before a breakdown for Alex Albon on lap 46 brought out another safety car allowing for another round of pit stops. Before the cars could restart, George's car also broke down while he was in a strong third place. There were only three laps to go by the time they restarted the race, and Lewis made his final pass up to third. At the front, Max took his first win of the year ahead of Kimi. Fernando Alonso scored four valuable points for Aston Martin in eighth. You can see the race highlights here. Kimi has now extended his lead back to 84 points. It's only a week to the Singapore Grand Prix and 350km, which Valtteri Bottas is cycling!

I hope to get around to the Bahrain Grand Prix review tomorrow, but for tonight just a quick congratulations to Elfyn Evans. Earlier today the Welsh driver became the first British winner of the World Rally Championship for 25 years after Swedish rival Oliver Solberg crashed near the end of the final stage in Italy. Elfyn has previously been runner-up on five occasions.

I'm still getting used to the new layout and mainly use my laptop to view HazzardNet, so I missed the "Unread Content" icon on the bottom-left of the phone screen. That'll give you a third option.

I see they're making 510 Generals and 300 Sheriff cars. and the Generals come with "an optional roof flag decal". We don't use cubic inches here, but I thought the 6.1 Hemi worked out at 370 cu in rather than the quoted 392. The recent Chargers and Challengers are certainly fast (some with over 700hp), and seem to be used by the police and criminals. From the chase videos I've watched, sometimes the criminals get away, but they're just as likely to wind up in a wreck after a PIT maneuver, especially if the police are Arkansas State Troopers. The General reminds me of this Challenger mock-up I posted over 10 years ago. I added a few inches to the length and changed a few other details like the grille. Of course, Dodge are now making the 2026 Charger as a 2-door, and even show it in orange on their website:

I'm not sure which screen layout you have: computer (laptop/desktop) or phone, but the instructions are very similar. On a computer, you'll have an orange menu bar at the top of the page under the HazzardNet logo. On a phone you'll have icons across the bottom of the screen. Click/tap the Menu icon (three horizontal lines) on the right and you'll get the same options as the computer menu bar. From here, click/tap "Latest Posts & Activity". If you only want to see unread posts, click/top "New Posts". If you want to see all recent activity, i.e. recent posts, reactions, new members joining etc., then click/tap "All Activity". That's the one I go for.

Here's another video I've just watched a reaction to. This Brazilian lady had been living in the UK for 10 years when she made the video, although she doesn't seem to have posted much lately. I'm happy to elaborate on any of the topics she mentions. The only one which wasn't explained well was Yorkshire Pudding. It's not bread/dough, it's actually batter like a pancake mix, but it's baked in a very hot oven. As she says, delicious as part of a roast dinner.

For some reason, despite having a speaking part, he's not credited in that episode, so I missed it. That makes four appearances.

I've just read that Dennis Haskins died on Sunday. He was 75. Best known for playing Principal Richard Belding in 'Saved by the Bell', he also appeared in three episodes of Dukes spanning seasins 1-7. They were 'One Armed Bandits', 'The Late J.D. Hogg' and 'Cale Yarborough Comes to Hazzard'. The image below is from 'Cale Yarborough Comes to Hazzard' where he played Elmo alongside Al White as Eddie.