HossC

We used to get the F1 races uninterrupted on free-to-air TV, but now only the highlights are free-to-air. Even so, they only take a break about once every 15 minutes. Soccer and rugby matches, and hurling here in Ireland, are shown with only commercials at the start and end of half time (and before and after the match). Of course, NASCAR is a much longer event, but I'm still not used to the US levels of advertising. American football is another lengthier sport, and its many stoppages in play lend themselves to commercial breaks. The extra breaks are also noticeable in other US shows when they're shown here. I was watching 'Medical Detectives' last night, and there must be at least three places where US viewers would've gone to a break in a half hour show. Over here, a half hour show typically only has a single break.

You're not missing much, Roth. I've watched US streams, and the commercials seem to be a loop of big pickup trucks, insurance and impotency cures. Occasionally, they remember to show a few laps of the race!

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It looks like Cathy had a brief topless scene in a 1976 (some sources say 1978) movie called 'Nicole'. You can see the IMDb page here. The cover art they have shows that the movie has been retitled 'Crazed', and repackaged to make it look like Cathy was the lead. The reviews suggest that Cathy actually had a minor role, and describe the movie as "odd", "weird" and "made very cheaply". It's currently rated at 3.5/10! For another Dukes connection, the cast of 'Nicole' also includes Ramon Bieri, who played J.J. Carver in two-parter 'Undercover Dukes'. I haven't seen the movie, so I don't know if they appeared together.

Happy birthday, I hope you're feeling better soon.

Here's a question for Spike or any other NASCAR experts out there: how much testing do drivers get to do when they switch between series? In F1, there's pre-season testing where all the team's drivers including new and reserve drivers get a chance to drive the car, but there's very little in-season testing. The only chance the reserve drivers get is usually the first practice session at a Grand Prix once in a while, because this reduces the time that the regular driver has to set up his car for the race. All drivers get to practice for hours in simulators, but unless you're a regular driver, you get very little time in a real car.

I hope Roth has the pics backed up!

song Due to the song below, which features Michael Stipe on guest vocals. 10,000 Maniacs' best of album was called "Campfire Songs".

So, would they be star guests? Glad you had a good time despite the cloudy skies.

I did that once with my last car. I drove about 30 miles without anything noticeably wrong, but then smoke came from under the hood when I reached my destination. Luckily, the cap was still where I'd lodged it while I topped up, but I'm not sure the engine was ever quite the same afterwards. That's an impressive sunflower. When I was about 10 we got sponsored to grow sunflowers to raise money for charity through my school. I remember my 10-year-old self thinking they were pretty big, but in reality they were probably no more than 8 feet tall.

rum (Red Rum was a famous race horse that won the British Grand National three times in the 1970s)

I've just completed my vintage weekend with a car show. I think they said there were between 800 and 1000 vehicles in the field. A few of them were really old: As far as I know, this is a Nova Sterling, based on a VW chassis. Cathy Bach appeared in a similar car in 'Cannonball Run II'. I think one of our new members will like this row of Morris Minors. I'll finish with the car which won best in show. The owner was actually looking for a new project car when then found a rear end in a junkyard, and turned it into a camper trailer. Other highlights included a row of Jenson Interceptors, an AC Cobra, a few American classics and a mint Lancia Delta Integrale (similar to the one reviewed by Doug DeMuro earlier this week).

I went to see a visiting steam train earlier today. There are quite a few preserved steam lines in the UK, and I went to several when I was younger, but I don't think there are any in Southern Ireland. This one was an excursion from Dublin. The engine was built in 1932.

They used Shelby wheels on some episodes. I've posted this screengrab from 'Repo Men' before:

Black (The Penny Black was the World's first adhesive postage stamp)

No, the real "deal" is Scots pine. Maybe y'all don't have red deal and yellow deal in the US - it's pretty common in hardware stores over here.

While not really being my sort of movie, it was a fun way to spend an hour and a half of a Sunday afternoon.

I'd never heard of it, so after watching the movie, I looked it up. For its timber, pinus taeda, commonly known as loblolly pine, is regarded as the most commercially important tree in Southeastern US. Read more on Wikipedia.

For anyone who's interested, the whole movie is on YouTube (and below). John was midway through Dukes, and Marilu was midway through playing Elaine Nardo in Taxi. John plays a builder from Conyers, GA who falls for Marilu's character while on vacation. After a brief fling, he gets given the brush-off and returns home. He then decides to pursue her to New York where she works in urban development, driving up in his pickup with its hand-made camper conversion. His pursuit probably borders on stalking, but along the way he gets tricked into buying a narrow strip of land in a rough neighborhood, and vows to use it to build a dream house for the two of them to share. It's a pretty formulaic TV movie, but the story of an out-of-towner who wins over the city folk mainly reminded me of later movies such as Crocodile Dundee (1986) and Mr. Deeds (2002). For John fans, he has his shirt off for a fair bit of the movie. I was happy seeing Marilu again!

John Schneider wasn't in 'Baa, Baa White Sheep' because he was filming the TV movie 'Dream House', in which he co-starred with Marilu Henner.

It was 'How to Succeed in Hazzard' (S06E18). Bo's away testing NASCAR engines after Luke lost the coin toss.

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It may be a lot of work, but you could try making a mold from one of the other wheels and casting a resin replacement. I found a couple of "how to" guides here and here.

I've just looked at the prices on eBay, so I can see why you want an alternative! Unless you get lucky at a charity shop, have you considered getting a cheap, vintage-style lunch box, printing a copy of one of the pictures that appeared on the 80s originals and sticking it on the side? It should be good enough unless you need a close-up.

East Anglia (the part of Britain where you'd catch a ferry to see Roth) sometimes gets a reputation for being a bit backward in terms of technology (despite it being home to Lotus Cars). I remember a story told by Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear where he claimed that he tried to use a credit card to pay for fuel somewhere in East Anglia, and the garage owner took the card off him and just put it in the till as if it was money.