How the 2009 Formula 1 cars are different for the 2008 models

This video from youtube is simply fantastic. It features the Red Bull F1 team.

Using animated illustrations, it vividly demonstrates the exterior changes to the bodywork of the F1 cars: overall size changes, barge board revisions, front suspension and wing, and rear wing. It also explains the new energy recovery system very well. And yes, slick tires are back for 2009.

After all the chatter over the off season, this is one of the best explanations I have seen. Check it out for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTkVKPdyWs0

The first Formula One race is now about a month away! Can't wait!

Training for the Reggae Marathon in Negril, Jamaica, December 5, 2009

December 5, 2009 is going to come awfully fast this year!

And I confess that even though I have committed to running in the Reggae Marathon in Negril, Jamaica I am starting to have second thoughts. I can visualize starting and finishing…it’s just the 26 miles in between that I am completely blank about.

First things first: I need to loose some weight. Not much, just 15 lbs. I should do it within the next couple of months. The general plan is to continue to adjust our diet further. Lots of vegetables, chicken and fish. My wife Sally has already got us on that path with delicious meals that are prepared really well. Reducing my portion size will be key. There go the salty snacks though; Sally will be happy.

Then the strength training: my ‘Achilles Knees’. This was the killer that kept me from finishing the last one. And although I run, cycle and ski, I know I have to begin strengthening those tiny muscles on the side of my knees. We have joined the local YMCA here in Wasaga Beach. It is a great new facility with lots of high-end training machines. I am planning to work both upper and lower body.

And finally the running: as the weather improves, I plan to increase the mileage slowly throwing in some speed work, hills and of course our fantastic 14 km long flat, hard-packed sandy beach.

If all goes well and I minimize any injuries, 20 of those 26 miles shouldn't be so bad.

Ice Box Cake

This is a simple, but delicious desert that will please anyone. The recipe below is unique to my grandmother and have yet to find it prepared this way anywhere else

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of yellow Pound cake
• 1 lb icing sugar
• 1/2 lb butter
• 1egg
• 1 large can of fruit cocktail
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 2 tins of Nestle carnation cream
• Cherries for garnish

Method:

• Cream butter, sugar and egg
• Drain the can of fruit and add it to the mixture
• Add vanilla and lime
• Slice the pound cake in to 1/2 inch slices and line the bottom and sides of a 8 x 12 inch dish
• Pour a layer of mixture on top of the cake, then cover with another layer of cake
• Repeat again, and end with the cake layer on top (so, three layers of cake and two layers of mixture in total)
• Whip the carnation cream and spread it on top of the cake. Decorate with a few cherries on top and enjoy
  

How General Motors can improve their advertising

I am stunned!

About 3 weeks ago I saw an ad in the paper announcing a brand new deal on cars from General Motors. It caught my attention because it offered to reduce my cost of buying and owning a new car. And yes, General Motors makes some really good cars: Vibe, Malibu, Equinox.

Here's what caught my eye: great price, 5 year warranty, free OnStar and XM Satellite radio for a couple of years, and to top it off, FREE maintenance for 3 years. That looked like a good deal to me. And I am sure that others would feel the same way.

It must be a 'Top Secret' deal however...I haven't heard any more about this anywhere. Not TV, Radio, Web. Not even at the Toronto Automobile show that I attended this past week in Toronto. They might be advertising it, but I haven't seen it.

So here is my free, unsolicited recommendation to GM to get this really great message out: Twitter it!

Actually, they should set up a contest to have consumers create a 30 second commercial promoting this deal and post it on youtube. They could judge the entires and award prizes for the best and worst videos. This would get the message out quickly.

And all it would take is a Twitter message from GM today.

Advertising is about telling potential customers that how your product will benefit them. This deal is ripe for the telling.