It has arrived, the final day of the year two thousand and nine. From tomorrow onwards we will be into double figures in this new millennium, and it is a chance to have a fresh start. Or equally, things will carry on in the same awesome way they have been. I am good at this fortune telling stuff. Anyway, here are some of the things we're up to:
Now is the perfect time to make your resolutions for the new year. We are accepting your F1 related (and otherwise) promises over on this post, where we have also listed out our own goals for 2010. Share yours, and we will revisit them at the end of the year to see how well we all did.
I spent some time yesterday (and by some time, I mean all day) sorting out the blog category of the blog. It didn't make sense as a category, now we have the blog section at the top of the page. Instead, I split up the posts into categories of their own, which you can see over on the Archive page. Have a look around and let me know what you think, as they are not finalised yet, and we are always open to suggestions.
Finally, turning to F1 for a minute, Bernie Ecclestone has hyped up Sebastian Vettel for the championship next season, and the young German himself is busy suggesting that the furore surrounding Schumacher will die down soon enough.
That's all for now, all I have left is to wish Lukeh a Happy Birthday for today, and to Journeyer for yesterday. I am doing well on my New Year Resolution before 2010 even gets here. Let us know what you're up to for New Year's Eve, and I will see you in the comments.
Yesterday, we looked back at some of the predictions we made at the end of last year, and how very wrong we were about the season we just experienced. Now it's time to revisit the New Year Resolutions we made, regarding how we would watch and enjoy Formula 1 in 2009.
Mr C and I both made five separate resolutions, and let's start with his.
Promises, Promises
Give the new regulations a chance.
Take stuff out of Beta.
Stop moaning about the website hosting problems we regularly experience and actually do something about it.
Give Heikki a second chance as a McLaren driver.
Try much, much harder in the Fantasy Racers league.
Well, we did try and give the regulations a new chance, but they achieved very few of their stated aims and left us disappointed in the direction the sport has been taking. Next year isn't looking any more promising in that respect so no more second chances on that front.
The website hosting issue is still very much there but we have taken to moaning about it less because Mr C has been working hard on Sidepodcast 3.0 to put less strain on the poor, little, unable to cope, hosting company. Point number two is funny because unless I'm mistaken, all of the Beta code has been sneakily rebranded and put in the playground. Beta is a feature, and with it a resolution failure.
The Fantasy Racers league did see much more effort being put into it, if only because rule changes made a relaxed approach impossible. Mr C gave up entirely before the European leg of the season ended, so another resolute failure there.
Regarding, Heikki, well... I'll let the man himself talk to you about the young Finn.
I gave him a second chance as a McLaren driver and he did worse in 2009 than even he can comprehend.
Now, let's take a look at my resolutions.
Try, Try Again
Watch every single Free Practice session.
Find merit in a driver's abilities and performance instead of simply how good they look.
Keep up to date with podcast transcripts.
Bring back Sidepodcast Diaries.
Make predictions... when asked.
I had a similar Free Practice experience as I did last year, in that I saw most of them but missed a few. There's a pesky thing called real life that sometimes gets in the way. The FP sessions seem to have taken on less significance for us this year, though, so I'm not as worried about it as I was this time last year.
Regarding the podcast transcripts, all I can say is thanks to our volunteers. Sidepodcast Diaries did make a comeback, but fell by the wayside when Formula 1 became less fun in the middle of the year. They may or may not make a third comeback in the New Year.
I did make predictions when I was asked, although I can't say I enjoyed it. I'm not so worried about getting things wrong anymore, because, let's face it, Formula 1 is basically one big surprise.
The resolution I have left until last is about driver's abilities and performances. Hmm. No, I am still fickle.
If you made any resolutions, either in the the original post or elsewhere, please let us know how you got on. Are you better or worse at keeping them than we are?
I hope you'll join us at the end of December, when we set about making yet more unreasonable promises for 2010.
It's arrived! No more nostalgia from us, we can now look forward to the year ahead with anticipation and I would almost say glee. There is no excuse for quiet F1 news days anymore, either, with launches happening throughout the month, then testing, then the season begins. I get ahead of myself, though. Here's what's going on at the moment.
Hamilton has made the New Year's honours list, meaning the Queen is bestowing him with an MBE. Although we're questioning some of the awards given out, it has been noted that of the racing drivers given awards, Hamilton seems to have been handed the lowest. Plenty of time for him to become a Sir yet, though.
Kubica has said that any positive comments about his driving ability through 2008 are all very nice but they don't mean anything. He's got his heart set on the title, and only the title will be good enough. Them's fighting words.
Scott Woodwiss has come up with a way for us to pass the time if news does slow down. He's set up a Sidepodcast Batracer game. You can join in the fun here, and Scott has written a great guide on the Wiki. We know nothing about Batracer but are prepared to have a go and make fools of ourselves along the way. Join in, won't you?
All that's left to be said is a big Happy New Year to everyone who visits Sidepodcast regularly, or on a more infrequent basis. We love you all, and here's to 2009.
It's the time of year when people begin to promise themselves mostly unreachable targets, because New Year is all about having a fresh start. Generally speaking I tend to shy away from resolutions for that very reason, but Mr C is with the spirit and therefore would like to share a few of his own, somewhat attainable targets for next year.
Give the new regulations a chance. Then, when they don't work, criticise them twice as much.
Take stuff out of Beta. We are not Google.
Stop moaning about the website hosting problems we regularly experience and actually do something about it.
Give Heikki a second chance as a McLaren driver.
Try much, much harder in the Fantasy Racers league.
This week, I have already been coerced into making predictions, even though I detest doing so. With that in mind, I shall agree to making some of my very own resolutions.
Watch every single Free Practice session. I only missed a couple this year, but that's two too many.
Find merit in a driver's abilities and performance instead of simply how good they look.
Keep up to date with podcast transcripts.
Bring back Sidepodcast Diaries.
Make predictions... when asked.
That should keep us busy over the next 12 months, and rest assured we will look back and see how we did next December. Now we'd like to hear from you.
Are there any resolutions you think we should have made but aren't listed above? Do you have your own list of promises you'll try and keep next year? And what do you think those guys in the F1 paddock will be resolving to do better in 2009?
You may have noticed a new theme around these parts.
We're working on upgrading everything about the show, and the site was the first step. I wanted things to be a bit more orderly, because I am a control freak, so I spent a while looking around for new themes. I say a while, I mean a few months.
The thing is, there are so many themes out there that have interesting ideas or good designs attached, but none of them quite do the job for me. I found a couple that were contenders, but there was always something irrefutably wrong with them that couldn't really be fixed without major work.
The solution, it seemed, was to write our own Wordpress theme. So that's what I've been doing over Christmas. Fun! This is my punishment for being a control freak.
Actually, it was interesting, and although I can't claim to have done it all by myself, a lot of the CSS is written by my fair hands. So if you find anything irritating, I guess you should point your complaints at my good self.
Seriously though, it's still a little baby theme, with tweaks happening all the time, but if you see something you think could be done a better way, or any constructive feedback you'd like to make, we're open to any suggestions.
The quote button that was requested for the comments a couple of posts ago is now up and running, it has issues, but it works. We're hoping to bring some more buttons to make commenting even easier.
