HossC

Nelson Piquet Jr did about a season and a half in F1, being replaced midway through 2009. After he left, there were allegations that he'd deliberately crashed his car during a race in the previous year so that his team mate, Fernando Alonso, could win. At the following trial the FIA (F1's governing body) gave him immunity in return for his evidence. He claimed that his team boss and the team's chief engineer had come up with the plan and that he'd been pressured into it. The team boss and the engineer were both suspended from the sport, although the bans were subsequently overturned on appeal. Piquet Jr had talks with a couple of other F1 teams, but decided to move to NASCAR when he failed to get a drive. His father, Nelson Piquet, won the F1 World Championship three times in the '80s and entered two Indy 500s after he retired from F1.

I hope y'all will excuse me for playing this out of turn, but I saw the sad news earlier that country legend George Jones had passed away at the age of 81. R.I.P. George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013). Here's a duet with his ex-wife: Two Story House - George Jones & Tammy Wynette http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVL3p4DvWqk

The subject of this week's comparison was the song 'It's Not Unusual'. I've known the Tom Jones version for as long as I can remember. It was his second single, released at a time when he was virtually unknown, but it's become his signature song. NB. the song is from 1965, the video is from 1969. The cover version also dates from 1965, and is by an American soul/R&B group. Coincidentally, it was their second single too.

rascal

tire

This Matt Kenseth penalty seems harsh to me. I watch F1 where the cars usually have improvements and new parts for each race. Every designer tries to push the rules to the limit and find a loophole to gain some advantage. Occasionally a team is judged to have bent the rules too far and the offending part is banned. The last time I remember a driver/team being punished for illegal parts was several years ago. With Matt Kenseth it looks like his team's supplier made a genuine mistake (which admittedly should have been spotted), and the car had a single engine component that was marginally below weight without giving any advantage. The team gets slapped with a large fine, points deductions, and crew chief ban while drivers who fight and deliberately take out other cars get nothing. I can understand a zero tolerance approach to vehicle specs, but I wish NASCAR would be a bit more consistent and proportionate with their sanctions. Surely stripping Matt of the win and the associated points would be enough.

king

Well K-Duke, it looks like I'm stealing your whole song title again . This song dates back to 1957, and appears on my Bacharach and David album: The Story Of My Life - Marty Robbins In the UK it was a hit a year later for . It must be a popular title, because when I went to YouTube and typed "The Story of my Life", neither of these songs came up!

I'll stick with the title. This one is a big dance hit from 1992. For anyone my age it will also remembered (to quote Wikipedia) "because the song was used in ".It's My Life - Dr. Alban

I'm happy to see Ricky starting from third - I hope he's stays out of the wall this week . BTW. Tomorrow's race is on Fox at 1:00 PM ET.

With all that water, I thought you might appreciate this one. The opening line is "Get in, get out of the rain." Waterfront - Simple Minds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUBz4J1Gc-w

Oceanic For any of y'all wondering about the connection, it's an early '90s UK dance track:

I thought we'd had this song before, but I can't find it. It dates back to the late 1940s. I'm My Own Grandpa - Lonzo and Oscar If y'all are having a hard time figuring out the family relationships, there's a Wikipedia article that explains the genealogy .

Same title as the first Billy Joel track, very different song: Laura - Scissor Sisters

With the exception of the General Lee, all the new cars I mentioned are sold under the Johnny Lightning name, and use the old RC2/Ertl molds. They are mid-range in terms of price and detail. The Ertl Authentics/Autoworld Silver Screen General Lees share a mold. They are a level above the other cars (and other General Lees) in terms of detail, but you pay a premium price for that. You can also get a standard General Lee in 1:18 and 1:25, but don't expect the same quality. I found a comparison of three different releases here.

The simple answer is "No". Thelma Claire (T.C.) Rogers was never heard of again, and Boss resumed responsibilty for the Duke Boys probation.

Assuming that you're talking about 1:18 scale models, I covered the recent releases in this thread. The Autoworld 'Silver Screen' General Lee is the most accurate so far, but will cost you $80-90. I have the previous one by Ertl (very similar detail), and it even has seat belts, accurate hood hinges and a wired up engine. The recently released patrol car is also the best so far because it has the correct lightbar for the first time. Conversely, the original Double Zero is slightly more accurate, but you'll have a hard time finding one of them now (they came with a 1:64 model in the same box and occasionally appear on Ebay for about $250). If you want a new Double Zero I'd get one quickly as they seem to be getting thinner on the ground.

It wasn't in the series, it only appeared in the 'Reunion' TV movie.

I think the original structure has now been scattered far and wide. Just to show what was there and what's there now, here's the original Duke Farm in April 2010: It survived into 2011, but the first 2011 aerial is very blurry. By the end of 2011 the farm had gone: All that's left now is the stone from the fireplaces/chimneys. You can see for yourself on Google Maps. Although Street View only goes as far as the junction in the bottom right of the aerials above, if you drag the Street View figure across the farm location you can see about half a dozen photos of the farm before dismantling.

I'm not sure if I've heard that particular story, but there was talk of preserving the farm for its historical significance (long before Dukes ). There's more discussion about the farm here.

It used to be on Disney's Golden Oak Ranch just east of Santa Clarita, CA. It was one of at least three movie ranches used to film the California episodes. As you can see from the pictures, it has recently disappeared as they take out some of the rural elements and build urban ones. Check it out on Google Maps. I think the Hazzard Stockyard buildings that are a few hundred yards south-west of the bridge location are now the only ones that still survive from when Dukes was filmed there. As for the other two main ranches, Sherwood was completely remodeled and turned into a golf club, and Valencia Oaks is now overgrown with the threat of housing development. CDoherty has a thread about the Valencia Oaks Ranch here.

If I remember correctly, it had become unsafe and beyond repair.

Hi Adam, welcome to HNet. I nearly missed your first posts with all the upheaval of the forum upgrade yesterday. I'm afraid that I can't answer your gaming questions, but I'm sure there's someone here who can.

Welcome to HNet. Unfortunately, the original Duke Farm is no longer there. It was dismantled last year, and I know that some HNet members were lucky enough to purchase parts of it. You can read a bit about it in this thread.