Indy

Indy

(post missing in action for four hours, presumed caught in the "one
Earthlink mail server block", resending)

I had wondered what it would be like when there was something happening at
the track, now that I live in Indy and close to the track, and I discovered
this morning that I could, in fact, hear the cars on the track from inside
my house (presuming open windows). Found myself smiling, listening.

Set out to run an errand that required that I drive past the track.
Something peculiar happened, and my truck kind of took over and made its own
decisions. :)

Spent about an hour and a half at the track today; three drivers there,
testing for Goodyear. Was supposed to be Johnson, KuBu & Brian Vickers, but
Jimmie's been replaced by Junior.

Not all that much to see, of course, as is true with any testing, but it was
sunny, 75 degrees, about four dozen people out watching, and the sight and
sound of the cars on the track. In other words, heaven. :)

Will go back tomorrow with a proper lunch and my camera and stay longer.
Don't know that I can get any usable shots, but I'll try.

Nice of them to put this on my school day/day off combo. Thoughtier than
the universe usually is. :)


--pig

Re: Indy

"Megan Zurawicz" <listpig@sbcglobal,net > wrote in message
news:C433FC54.5F9D4%listpig@sbcglobal,net ...

<snip>

> Spent about an hour and a half at the track today; three drivers there,
> testing for Goodyear. Was supposed to be Johnson, KuBu & Brian Vickers,
> but
> Jimmie's been replaced by Junior.

Good for you, Megan...Goodyear has always insisted that the track be closed
for tire tests here.

> Will go back tomorrow with a proper lunch and my camera and stay longer.
> Don't know that I can get any usable shots, but I'll try.

Excellent...then work out a way to post them where we can all enjoy?

--
Tom in Bristol...('thoughtier'??)




----== Posted via Pronews,com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http :// www .pronews,com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! >100,000 Newsgroups
---= - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

Re: Indy

I don't think the track's so much "officially open" --- nowhere does IMS say
the tests are watchable by the public --- as that IMS has a Hall of Fame
Museum in the infield. They're not going to close that because Goodyear
wants privacy; apparently neither are they going to deploy a bunch of extra
staff to make sure nobody parks their hiney in the two small bleacher
sections accessible from that parking lot.

That said, if you were anywhere near the souvenir shop, the snack bar, the
museum, first thing track staff would ask is "have you gone over and sat in
the bleachers awhile and watched those boys run?"

Since they didn't say anything official, I didn't know when I stopped by
whether I'd be able to see anything; it was just a crapshoot. Otherwise I'd
have come better prepared, both lunchly and camerally speaking. (well,
they're words *now*, I reckon...)

If I get any shots that aren't just blurred colors, for sure I'll stick 'em
up on the website.....thought that went without saying. :)

--pig


On 4/22/08 23:58, in article 1208918951_477@isp.n, "Tom Duwe"
<tomd88SPAMLESS@bvunet,net > wrote:

> Good for you, Megan...Goodyear has always insisted that the track be closed
> for tire tests here.
>
>> Will go back tomorrow with a proper lunch and my camera and stay longer.
>> Don't know that I can get any usable shots, but I'll try.
>
> Excellent...then work out a way to post them where we can all enjoy?

Re: Indy

Well, going armed with what I have....which is a rather inexpensive Sony
digital camera....and dealing with the fact that their pit area (i.e.,
stopping, starting, any *slow* driving) was inaccessible and unviewable from
where we were....everything I got was mondo blurry. I stopped even trying
to get stills and settled for tiny movies.

This one's the best of the lot, but of course still not fast enough to
really not blur Kurt's car:

http :// www .faloshi-studios,com /kubu.mpg

They did news stories last night about Junior being there, so the body count
was a bit higher today but not bad. It did seem to attract a more obnoxious
level of person, a bit, or maybe we were just lucky yesterday.

[Definition of obnoxious level: Most folks there were *racing* fans, because
let's face it, tire testing just isn't all that interesting to watch, and
there was zero chance of meet'n'greet opportunity. Friendly folks, mostly
quiet but some chatting between friends and between strangers, some
photography, some folks on their cell phones doing the obligatory "You won't
believe where I am....just listen" bit. Not a problem in a busload.

After the news story, we collected a few more of the sort of "nobody's here
but me and Dale, and he doesn't know it but the reason we're both here is so
he can fall in love with me, so don't mind me while I flick my cigarette
ashes over the rail onto your head while I jump up and down and scream every
time Junior goes by, because he's here to look for ME, not pay attention to
where/how he's driving or the tire test or anything like that."

However, moving a couple of times fixed that, and actually got me to a
lovely grassy hill where I could lay in the sun and read when they weren't
doing laps.....out there about 3 1/2 hours; when the testers seemed to break
for lunch about 12:30 I wandered off to run assorted errands. Gorgeous day,
sunny, clear, 80 degrees.

--pig


On 4/23/08 00:38, in article C4342764.5F9E5%listpig@sbcglobal,net , "Megan
Zurawicz" <listpig@sbcglobal,net > wrote:

> I don't think the track's so much "officially open" --- nowhere does IMS say
> the tests are watchable by the public --- as that IMS has a Hall of Fame
> Museum in the infield. They're not going to close that because Goodyear
> wants privacy; apparently neither are they going to deploy a bunch of extra
> staff to make sure nobody parks their hiney in the two small bleacher
> sections accessible from that parking lot.
>
> That said, if you were anywhere near the souvenir shop, the snack bar, the
> museum, first thing track staff would ask is "have you gone over and sat in
> the bleachers awhile and watched those boys run?"
>
> Since they didn't say anything official, I didn't know when I stopped by
> whether I'd be able to see anything; it was just a crapshoot. Otherwise I'd
> have come better prepared, both lunchly and camerally speaking. (well,
> they're words *now*, I reckon...)
>
> If I get any shots that aren't just blurred colors, for sure I'll stick 'em
> up on the website.....thought that went without saying. :)
>
> --pig
>
>
> On 4/22/08 23:58, in article 1208918951_477@isp.n, "Tom Duwe"
> <tomd88SPAMLESS@bvunet,net > wrote:
>
>> Good for you, Megan...Goodyear has always insisted that the track be closed
>> for tire tests here.
>>
>>> Will go back tomorrow with a proper lunch and my camera and stay longer.
>>> Don't know that I can get any usable shots, but I'll try.
>>
>> Excellent...then work out a way to post them where we can all enjoy?
>

Re: Indy

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:50:01 CST, Megan Zurawicz <listpig@sbcglobal,net > wrote in <C434FCF9.5FA25%listpig@sbcglobal,net >:

> ...out there about 3 1/2 hours; when the testers seemed to break
>for lunch about 12:30 I wandered off to run assorted errands. Gorgeous day,
>sunny, clear, 80 degrees.

We clearly need to take up a collection and buy you
a scanner. :o)

If you move your camera and keep on moving it as
you snap the shutter, you should be able to get
better still shots of the cars (with the background
blurry).

Marty
--
Big-8 newsgroups: humanities.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, talk.*
See http :// www .big-8.org for info on how to add or remove newsgroups.

Re: Indy

Tried that, but the other thing I was up against was that it was sunny
enough you *needed* sunglasses.....but since they're polarized, I can't see
the screen part of the camera with them. But if I take them off to see the
screen, I can't see the bloody track. :) Made it very difficult to try to
track the car with the camera. Overcast would have been much nicer for this
purpose.

(And yes, I was too lazy to walk back to the car, get the regular glasses,
and try with them. Oh, well. :)

I did get a couple of stills, with the camera on ISO 1000, but it was still
a blur. Deleted far more than I kept, even at that.

I think in July at the race, I'll probably limit my shots to things standing
still, or nearly so.....maybe try some caution shots at "only" 80 MPH.

--pig


On 4/23/08 16:01, in article Vsqdnd5KvbITGpLVnZ2dnUVZ_vSdnZ2d@supernews,com ,
"Martin X. Moleski, SJ" <moleski@canisius.edu> wrote:

> If you move your camera and keep on moving it as
> you snap the shutter, you should be able to get
> better still shots of the cars (with the background
> blurry).

Re: Indy

Megan Zurawicz <listpig@sbcglobal,net > wrote in
news:C4350B36.5FA30%listpig@sbcglobal,net :

> Tried that, but the other thing I was up against was that it was sunny
> enough you *needed* sunglasses.....but since they're polarized, I
> can't see the screen part of the camera with them.

Your camera doesn't have a regular viewfinder, just an LCD? It's
very hard to pan successfully if you don't have a viewfinder.

John

Re: Indy

Like I said, digital < $150.

Mostly I'm a snapshot person, of non-moving objects or at least slow moving
ones, like grandchildren and assorted relatives, cats in interesting
positions and flowers.

Not equipment that's really geared for this task.

--pig


On 4/23/08 18:56, in article Xns9A89B6DADD3ABpogosupernews@216.168.3.30,
"John McCoy" <igopogo@ix,net com,com > wrote:

> Megan Zurawicz <listpig@sbcglobal,net > wrote in
> news:C4350B36.5FA30%listpig@sbcglobal,net :
>
>> Tried that, but the other thing I was up against was that it was sunny
>> enough you *needed* sunglasses.....but since they're polarized, I
>> can't see the screen part of the camera with them.
>
> Your camera doesn't have a regular viewfinder, just an LCD? It's
> very hard to pan successfully if you don't have a viewfinder.
>
> John
>

Re: Indy

Megan Zurawicz wrote:

>
> I think in July at the race, I'll probably limit my shots to things standing
> still, or nearly so.....maybe try some caution shots at "only" 80 MPH.

I usually wind up with a lot of those. :) We're usually so far away or
else our view is so limited on race day that the action shots just don't
pan out. That's one of the reasons we always go to practice on Friday.
It's the one GOOD opportunity to see the cars up close and get some
good pictures....

Re: Indy

Megan Zurawicz wrote:

>
> After the news story, we collected a few more of the sort of "nobody's here
> but me and Dale, and he doesn't know it but the reason we're both here is so
> he can fall in love with me, so don't mind me while I flick my cigarette
> ashes over the rail onto your head while I jump up and down and scream every
> time Junior goes by, because he's here to look for ME, not pay attention to
> where/how he's driving or the tire test or anything like that."
>

Ahhh, the pit lizards. Every track's got 'em....

Re: Indy

Megan Zurawicz wrote:
> (post missing in action for four hours, presumed caught in the "one
> Earthlink mail server block", resending)
>
> I had wondered what it would be like when there was something happening at
> the track, now that I live in Indy and close to the track, and I discovered
> this morning that I could, in fact, hear the cars on the track from inside
> my house (presuming open windows). Found myself smiling, listening.
>
> Set out to run an errand that required that I drive past the track.
> Something peculiar happened, and my truck kind of took over and made its own
> decisions. :)
>
> Spent about an hour and a half at the track today; three drivers there,
> testing for Goodyear. Was supposed to be Johnson, KuBu & Brian Vickers, but
> Jimmie's been replaced by Junior.
>
> Not all that much to see, of course, as is true with any testing, but it was
> sunny, 75 degrees, about four dozen people out watching, and the sight and
> sound of the cars on the track. In other words, heaven. :)
>
> Will go back tomorrow with a proper lunch and my camera and stay longer.
> Don't know that I can get any usable shots, but I'll try.
>
> Nice of them to put this on my school day/day off combo. Thoughtier than
> the universe usually is. :)
>
>
> --pig
>


Ah, testing days. I remember when TMS first opened. In those first few
years, everyone tested here, and the test sessions were always open to
the public. They even announced them on the radio/tv, etc. We always
made a day of it. Lots of fun!

Now all the test sessions are closed, and we never know about them until
the sports guy on the tv news says, "NASCAR was in town this week for
some testing...." :(

Cindy

Re: Indy

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:35:04 CST, Megan Zurawicz <listpig@sbcglobal,net > wrote in <C433FC54.5F9D4%listpig@sbcglobal,net >:

> ... Will go back tomorrow with a proper lunch and my camera and stay longer.
>Don't know that I can get any usable shots, but I'll try.

Thanks for the UCAP!

>Nice of them to put this on my school day/day off combo. Thoughtier than
>the universe usually is. :)

"Whom the gods wish to destroy,
they first make happy." :-P

Marty
--
Big-8 newsgroups: humanities.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, talk.*
See http :// www .big-8.org for info on how to add or remove newsgroups.