Mesmerizing F3000 Racing Car footage

WOW!

This 4 minute video of an open-wheel racer will blow you away! Even at the small size on the computer screen, you can feel the rush of air and adrenalin.

Turn up your speakers very loud: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssqs4S4bRGM

Thank you for sending this to me MN.

Mesmerizing.

It made my day :)

Response to the post, "GM is dead; long live GM"

My post from last week was actually about re-birth: the phoenix of a new General Motors rising from the ashes of the organization that died when they lost sight of their customers.

I received a number of comments on that blog post that indicated that people understand that the issue is deeper than just the current crisis. For this week's post, here are a number of those comments:

• "You are right on. Probably have to reduce the number of brands though. Not enough money to do them all properly", (Anonymous)

• "I guess you are not worried about working on GM business anymore (lol). You are correct in that the government has to call the GM bluff at some point and tell them that the current senior management team is out! The current senior regime at GM just does not have the balls to make the drastic cuts that are necessary. As an example, why do they insist on keeping Pontiac and Buick! They sell 5 Pontiac’s a year in the US and the last Buick customer is now on life support. They need to get over themselves and the government needs to administer some tough love. If this does not happen, the government might as well invest in penny stocks as the chances of returns on these are far greater than getting a return on GM. With regards to Chrysler, don’t even get me started….". (Anonymous)

• "Provocative thoughts...the automotive landscape will be very different in short order" (Anonymous)

• "Great notes and observations Chris. Having being around the track, you know there are a million solutions to the G.M. situation. The complexity of their business compounded by the jurisdictions in which they operate can make your head explode. Here's one more observation for the herd to consider. G.M. was managed by the smartest guys and girls Harvard could through at it, right? Does this say more about G.M. or about our business schools? If business schools today don't offer G.M. and for that matter through in Kodak, Xerox, Citi Bank and American Express as business cases, what are the next generation paying for and what are we teaching them about management?Clearly, we know what business schools taught our august financial engineers and I understand Western is re writing the curriculum as we speak. What are we teaching the new cohort of MBA,s about international business, manufacturing and finance now that the last cohort blew up the workshop?Just a thought." (Tom Mc)

• "What GM business is there to still be working on? As a consumer, the only business I see them in is Charity and Bailouts---as Recipients." (Anonymous)

• "I loved the story about your father's Oldsmobile (oops, it was a Chevy!) My mom drove a Buick. OOPS, was it a Chevy?"

• "I guess Steve Jobs should be fired for putting Intel chips in Apple computers then. Oh wait, I just gave a simple answer to a complicated question. My bad" (Anonymous)

• "Good article. I even knew at a young age they had too many brands producing essentially the same type of cars. Why have the same cars competing against each other under the same company?" (Anonymous)

• "Wasn't Saturn supposed to be the future of the domestic car industry? Too bad GM couldn't leave well enough alone and "GM'd" it." (TR)

• "We had a 77 Pontiac wagon with a Chev engine. My dad was actually pleased when he discovered that as he always felt Chevs were reliable. Only problem was that the oil filter was different between Pontiac and Chev engines, so you always had to be sure the mechanic used the correct filter when the oil was changed. It was a great car and a terrific engine and lasted many, many years." (Anonymous)

The current debate about bailing out GM and Chrysler reminded me of an observation my youngest son made once when we had to decide about repairing a vehicle that had already cost us lots of $'s. "Don't throw good money after bad, Dad", he said, "Kill it before it dies".

Good advice. We all agree that GM will not survive in its current form. Why continue to drag out the inevitable?

How to make Blue Drawers

This recipe was sent in recently from 'EH' who prefers to remain anonymous. Thank you. It is for a recipe that I must confess I have never heard of but it sounds delicious. I can't wait to try it. Before I post the recipe though, here is her cover note with some interesting background:

Blue Drawers, Duckunoo, or Tie Leaf are the names that are given to this
boiled pudding of West African origin. Jamaicans are very fond of this starchy,
green banana-based boiled pudding, which is enjoyed as a snack or dessert.

Many people from different parts of the island use these names
interchangeably when entertaining their guests or family members with this fare,
whenever possible. Since I am from the eastern side of Jamaica, these names are
the only ones that I can remember being used to name this delicious treat. And
although these names were common, we were reluctant to use "blue drawers" in
front of adults, fearing we would be admonished to have manners and respect...
because using the word ‘drawers’ is slang for underwear. How this word became
synonymous with a boiled pudding is still a mystery to me. I could speculate
that ‘drawers’ are the banana leaf ties that are used to tie the prepared batter
before it’s added to the boiling water, but that is just my guessing – honestly
I don’t know why the name ‘blue drawers’ came about and I’ve never checked.

With all that said, the taste is what we’re interested in…not history.
Irie? Cool.

Another very important thing about blue drawers is that it is traditionally
made with the banana leaves as the exclusive binder. However if you live in a
place where banana leaves are not available, what do you do? Or even if you live
somewhere where there is an ample supply of banana leaves but you’re not able to
get any immediately…use aluminum foil.
And that’s how we will make this
‘blue drawers’…yah mon!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Green Banana (grated; remove skins before grating)
• 1 cup Sweet Potatoes (grated; remove skins before grating)
• 1 cup Coconut Milk
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 1 cup Flour
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Flavoring
• 4 tbsp. Raisins
• 2 tbsp. Cooking Oil
• 4” x 6” Aluminum Foil Sheets
• Twine or Cord.

Method:

• Use a large mixing bowl and add the grated bananas, sweet potatoes, flour, baking powder, salt, and cooking oil. Use a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients
• Warm the coconut milk on low heat. Add the brown sugar and vanilla to the coconut milk
• Add the sweetened coconut milk to the rest of the ingredients and mix everything together until the batter is formed
• In the meantime bring water to boil in a saucepot
• Use the wooden spoon to add four to five spoonfuls of the batter to an aluminum sheet
• Bring the two long sides of the sheet together to hold the batter in place
• Fold them together to retain the batter inside
• Fold the two ends of the sheet and tie the blue drawers with the twine, cut the excess twine. (Note: this takes a little practice, so if you don’t get it at first keep trying
• Repeat this process for the rest of the batter and then add all the blue drawers to the pot of boiling water
• Let the pudding cook for about 45 minutes
• When the blue drawers are ready remove them from the boiling water and let them cool to room temperature
• Remove them from the aluminum sheets and serve as is or with ice cream. You can also eat them with a little honey and ground cinnamon.
  

YAH MON!

GM is Dead; Long Live GM

The old General Motors is dead.

Full disclosure. I earned a very good living for a number of years working for various GM advertising agencies. I have owned many good vehicles over the years: Chevrolet Impala, Pontiac 6000, a couple of Saturn models and most recently a number of Saab models including my current vehicle, a 2005 Saab 9-5. Going back even further, my Father worked for the only GM Dealer in Jamaica, United Motors. My first remembrance of GM was from the passenger seat of a really cool Opel 2-door coupe. As a youngster growing up and working for my Dad at his Texaco service station in Trench Town in Kingston we had a couple of Oldsmobile's including my favourite, a 2 door Delta 88.

One day GM died.

I remember the day well. I was about 8. Dad had just taken delivery of an absolutely huge Olds 98. We were at the Texaco station where he was showing the new car off to a couple of his friends. As usual, he popped the hood and as the men stood around looking at the engine, one of his friends casually mentioned that he had actually bought a Chevrolet.

The conversation died. They all looked carefully at the "engine made by Chevrolet" markings on the valve cover. Dad was not amused.

There was much animated conversation (and lots of swearing) for the next few minutes as they debated the reality of an 'Oldsmobile' having a 'Chevrolet' engine. The conversation ended when my godfather, 'Uncle Donovan' popped the hood on his brand new ride, a Ford Torino and proudly showed the blue 'Ford' oval on his engine.

Dad never spoke about that car after that. In fact it dawned on us that driving a left-hand-drive behemoth on the right side of the narrow Jamaican roads was completely ridiculous. And even at that young age, what struck me was that GM jad chosen to export American-made cars to Jamaica when British Vauxhall's and German Opel's would have made more sense. Bad choice: Toyota is now the dominant brand in Jamaica. We did not keep the Oldsmobile very long after that.

So 40 years later, here we are in 2009 debating the pros and cons of keeping General Motors alive. I chuckle when I think about that.

The company of my youth and of my Father is dead. It is time to bury the old GM so that a new company can begin again the task of building business one car and one customer at a time. Here are my suggestions, completely un-solicited of course:

• The current, old management must be dismissed immediately. It is not acceptable to allow people to run the company who grew up in a culture where Chevrolet engines in an Oldsmobile were OK.
• Scrap General Motors itself. Delete all reference and identification from all the vehicles. I want to drive a 'Chevrolet'; I don't drive a 'General Motors'.
• Divide the company into brands: Chevrolet, GMC, Corvette, Opel, Vauxhall, Buick, Saturn, Saab. Define each brand clearly and stick to it.

With my Saab 9-5 lease coming to an end this November, I will be watching with great interest how the story plays out. What happens over the next few months will determine what new vehicle I select next. It should be an interesting summer.