HossC

I'll try to give a review of the Australian Grand Prix, but I missed the end, and that's when the controversy took place. Max Verstappen got pole yesterday, but after his team mate Sergio Perez crashed in the first qualifying session, he had to start from the back. That left Mercedes with a slightly surprising 2nd and 3rd, with George Russell out-qualifying Lewis Hamilton again. Both Mercedes got past Verstappen at the start, and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc went off on the first lap. It wasn't long before the first safety car of the day caused by Alex Albon's crash. A couple of the lead drivers including Russell pitted for tires, but then the race was red-flagged for the first time. That gave all the other drivers a chance to change their tires without a pit stop, and handed Hamilton the lead. Verstappen got past Hamilton to take the lead back. After making up a couple of places at the restart, Russell's engine caught fire and he had to retire. With six laps remaining, Kevin Magnussen hit the wall causing the second red flag. The restart was not dissimilar to a NASCAR restart. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz hit Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, sending the latter to the back of the field. Behind them, a couple of cars went off and the two Alpine drivers collided with each other. That brought out the final red flag. After a half-hour delay, the stewards decided to do the restart in the order the cars were in the lap before the red flag. The final restart came with one lap to go, and the race effectively finished behind the safety car. Sainz was given a 5-second penalty for his collision with Alonso which dropped him from 4th to 12th and out of the points. Verstappen took the win, followed by Hamilton and Alonso. behind them, both McLaren's finished in the top 10 to score their first points of the season. With the Chinese Grand Prix cancelled, it's now four weeks to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Let's hope that it's decided on the track rather than in the stewards' office!

OCTAVIO The guy getting beaten who Bo and Luke stop to help in 'The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood'.

I won't spoil anyone's race report as I didn't see the race, but I did check up on Jenson Button's progress. I see that he qualified in the middle of the pack and made up a few places by the end. He even had a chance to race against Kimi Raikkonen who was F1 World Champion in 2007, two years before Jenson. Garrett, did you see that as well as another two NASCAR races, Jenson Button is teaming up with Jimmie Johnson to drive a modified version of the NASCAR Camaro in the Le Mans 24 Hours race later this year? They've even fitted lights! You can see a video here.

Amanda Horan KENNEDY Appeared in 'Return of the Ridge Raiders' and 'Ding, Dong, the Boss is Dead'.

I found an article at screenrant.com that says the Clampetts started out with $25m in 1962, but by the time the show ended, that figure had reached $100m. They always say that the easiest way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one!

Ghosts

Yesterday's Saudi Grand Prix ended up as a complete mess due to poor rulings by the stewards. Championship leader Max Verstappen had a drive shaft failure in qualifying, and started 15th. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had an engine penalty and started 12th. Both were able to make reasonably easy progress through the field once the race got going. At the checkered flag, Max had made it up to second to finish behind team mate Sergio Perez who started on pole. It was the resurgent Aston Martin team that brought about the bad decisions. Firstly, Fernando Alonso, starting second, was given a 5-second penalty for being out of position on the grid, even though he was just a few inches to the left of his box where he would gain no advantage. His team mate, Lance Stroll, then had a breakdown mid-race and nearly got his car off the circuit, but officials called a full safety car when a virtual safety would've covered it. This at least gave Fernando a chance to serve his penalty with less impact on his position. Fernando drove another great race to eventually finish third and take his 100th F1 podium, but after the post-race celebrations, he was given a 10-second penalty because a crew member touched his car during the 5-second penalty. Mercedes' George Russell was promoted to third and there were complaints about how officials had taken so long to hand out the second punishment (about 35 laps and time after the race) - Fernando pointed out that he could've created a bigger gap to Russell if he'd known in time. After the dust settled, the second penalty was withdrawn as similar situations had apparently been discussed pre-race with no penalties given. Fernando and George's positions were switched back well after the race, and the whole situation didn't show F1 in a good light. Hopefully the next race in Australia will be free from such incidents.

The Dukes And replied to his own post! Unless the thread needs kick-starting after a long period of inactivity, can we please take turns? Also, Skipper, please post something we have a chance of replying to. "Jerry Dandridge (Fright Night) and Regine Dandridge (Fright Night II)" does not fit into the easy to reply to category. I'd have to google those names even to know who they are. Keep it simple!

The original ones did! Here's David Attenborough showing a couple of performing fleas. The one we saw is worked with magnets, pulleys and showmanship to feed the kids' imaginations. It looked virtually identical to the one in this video.

Today is March 17th, and I live in Ireland, so it won't surprise y'all to know that I went to the St. Patrick's Day parade this afternoon. It probably also won't surprise anyone that it rained on and off for a lot of the day. It obviously wasn't on the scale of places like Dublin, but the kids in the parade seemed to be having a good time despite the weather. After that, we saw a genuine old-fashioned flea circus! Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow so that I can go on the Ferris wheel and antique carousel.

You guys should watch more Formula 1 if you think $400k is a big fine. Last year, the Red Bull team was fined $7m for breaching the 2021 spending cap, and have had their aerodynamic testing time reduced. The Aston Martin team was also found guilty of a lesser charge and fined $450k. Both pale next to the fine given to McLaren in 2007 over the Spygate incident. McLaren was found to be in possession of technical data belonging to rivals Ferrari. They were fined $100m and excluded from the Constructors' Championship that year. From what I could find online, it looks like they ended up paying about $31m. These and other F1 fines can be found in a list here.

There's a video here which discusses the penalties and gives a brief explanation of where the louvers are and what they do.

Here's a just-posted Knight Rider Historians video. In this one, the owner of a screen-used General Lee takes it to Ray Kohn for a bit of work. Other than a few new items like the battery and tires, it's in original condition, complete with battle scars, dubious welding and evidence of several paint jobs.

Until I just googled it, I didn't realize that the Diablo Sandwich probably originated in Smokey and the Bandit (I assumed it preceded the movie). Apparently, Jackie Gleason improvised a lot of that scene. There's an article about the Diablo Sandwich here. It mentions that while the Old Hickory House at Forrest Park (as seen in the movie) closed years ago, there is still one in Tucker, GA. While a couple of cheeseburgers and a glass of iced tea cost the Bandit "dollar and a half" in 1977, the cheeseburgers are now $6.29 each with a tea at $3.58 (that's $16.16). The Diablo Sandwich is $6.99. The Old Hickory House website is here.

Recycling

Buck OWENS Got caught in the Celebrity Speed Trap in 'Hughie Hogg Strikes Again'. I didn't remember this phrase, so I checked it out. Weirdly, the closed captions have it as "He'll foreclose quicker than a mineral swimming nickel dipper". Likewise, in 'Baa, Baa White Sheep' Cooter says that Boss "Changes into a black suit quicker than a mineral-swimming nickel dipper" (again according to the closed captions). It's not the first time that the closed captions have been slightly out. After listening to both, I think he actually says "...quicker than a minnow'll swim a nickel dipper". There was a small discussion about this line back in 2007.

Beer Cold Beer - just like it says on the Boar's Nest. I assume you mean Petey Willis from 'Welcome Back, Bo 'n' Luke'.

KATE Baxley One of the The Famous Flying Baxley Sisters, played by Bobbie Ferguson in 'Coy vs. Vance'.

How does that relate to us waiting for a word beginning with 'C'?

And back to the start... 'Some AUTOMOBILES Supplied by: AMC'

Remember, Jenson knows how to turn right as well as left!

Thanks, Garrett. I used to be a Jenson Button fan when he was racing in F1. Nowadays he's one of the presenters on the satellite station that shows the races live. I watch the highlights on the free channel in the evening, so I don't see him much.

I read this morning that the Israeli actor Topol had died at 87. You may remember him from the 1981 James Bond film 'For Your Eyes Only', but he's best known for playing Tevye in the 1971 film 'Fiddler on the Roof. I was lucky enough to see him play Tevye in the stage show at The London Palladium back in 1994. This is a repost, but the last time was 2011, so it's a good time for a reminder! 'Tradition' - Topol and film cast

Skip WARD Associate producer/producer/supervising producer of about 3/4 of the episodes.

The practice sessions ended up being a good indicator for the race. It was an easy win for Max Verstappen in his Red Bull, and his team mate, Sergio Perez, came second. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had been having a good scrap with Perez before his engine failed. The big story of the race was Fernando Alonso, the oldest driver in the field at 41, overtaking the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz to claim a podium finish in his first race for Aston Martin. We probably shouldn't be surprised - Alonso is a double F1 World Champion, double 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and three-time entrant of the Indianapolis 500. It's now two weeks until the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in Jeddah.