I spent several years studying with Arnold Siegel in Manhattan and environs during the nineties when he called his course The Conversation.
Chair of Autonomy figured prominently in the syllabus, but me? I love a good garage. So I stand directly under the garage door opener, listening to white noise in muggy silence, meditating, sort of, particularly when it’s really hot outside and in. Because I was born in August? Which it almost always is down here? I don’t know.
“Throughout his early career, Arnold Siegel never stopped wrestling with issues of autonomy—and, in particular, the relationship between the personal freedom to which all humans are entitled and the social rules that govern public life. More than 40 years later, Siegel’s journey continues.”
What flashed vividly through my mind, remembering the Arnold days and waiting for Hurricane Idalia, was every fork in my road from the beginning – significant and incidental – only briefly, but staccato, simultaneous, indelible. Like the soap opera star’s prettier sister I drove home from Arnold’s class in NYC to her apartment in Charlestown, against all the rules.
Problem is, I end up living with near misses between their availabilities. Anyway, how do you know when you’re enmeshed? There are no CELs IRL.
Best quote of the day so far but it’s early: “I didn’t know I wasn’t feeling well until I wasn’t feeling well.”
Racin’
IndyCar in the shadow of the Gateway Arch – a fun ride up and down but absolutely nothing to see from the top, of the arch I mean – reinforced my view that NOTHING is more terrifyingly compelling than open wheelers on an oval! I even posit that Sunday’s competition on the asymmetrical paper clip known as World Wide Technology Raceway was equal to that of CART Indy car at New Hampshire in 1994 that I watched recently, even if the pedigrees of the drivers and race cars weren’t quite as rarified. Too bad nobody showed up to fill the stands. Bommarito should take a lesson from Hy-Vee and lay on some roots rock in honor of the rich blues tradition St. Louis is known for. Did they even have a concert? I didn’t hear mention of it.
Related good news: Milwaukee stands an 80% chance of making a comeback, although unfortunately not the week after the Indy 500 as in the past.
Of course, F1 was the star of the weekend, from Zandvoort, Holland, a delightful little course that looks exactly like the HO slot-car racetrack of my childhood fantasies.
Weather played a part in both events and, as always, F1 made for better TV viewing because it ran completely commercial-free, with two available feeds: Sky Sports and F1 TV Pro.
The Milwaukee news comes via the great Marshall Pruett so I thought I’d post some links to podcasts, columns/columnists and those (few) racing websites/blogs whose listeners/readers/commenters are informed and literate – sorry Autoweek, I knew ye when but that was long ago.
The Marshall Pruett Podcast Listener Q&A from yesterday.
Motorsport.com “…should in fact boost both he and Ferrari.” Dismaying that the Brits have begun imitating Americans’ obliteration of the objective case but what can you do?
Autosport.com Massa’s UK High Court action, from today.
Mark Hughes (MPH) Imagining an alternate F1 universe where Covid never happened.
Off Track with Hinch and Rossi Hurriquake and the Final Stretch.
And, of course, Jack Baruth’s Wednesday Racing/Open Thread.
I’d be interested in hearing about other racing websites and podcasts of similar ilk.
Trailer For Michael Mann’s Ferrari
Today’s Musical Interlude
I couldn't wait to see you, waiting by the door
There's no one there to meet me, and your clothes are on the floor
Sorry if I hurt you, and I made you cry
Couldn't stand to see you, with another guy
It's the bluest blues, and it cuts me like a knife
It's the bluest blues, since you walked out of my life
Couldn't really tell you, how you hurt my pride
Something broke within me, down inside
I never knew I loved you, til you went away
Now the loneliness surrounds me, everyday
It's the bluest blues, since you walked out of the door
It's the bluest blues, 'cause I won't see you no more
I'm sorry if I failed you, if somehow I'm to blame
It's the bluest blues I'm feeling, it's a cryin' shame
I just can't live without you, face another day
It's the bluest blues I'm feeling, and it's here to stay
It's the bluest blues, and it cuts me to the bone
It's the bluest blues, when you can't find your way home
I mentioned Marshall Pruett's podcast as a great source for IndyCar conversations but he also covers IMSA and WEC. This weeks episode – sans Marshall – features two great commentators in the sports car realm: DailySportsCar.com's Graham Goodwin and Stephen Kilbey.
Episode: MP 1434, The Week In Sports Cars show. Available wherever you get your podcasts, as the saying goes.