#4; Springing into Action

Phew, feels like I haven't written anything down here for a while but it's been a good week or so since I've managed to find the time to write something up. Thankfully, I've found a bit of time just to keep things up to date so I thought I'd just write down a few random things runing through my mind on this strangely chilly monday morning (considering the past week or so has been hot, glorious sunshine, a bit of a letdown really!)

We're starting to slowly move from the season of snow, rain and coldness to the always welcoming spring blooms and showers. It's always nice moving on from the winter because as much as I love those few months, you do get tired of the cold weather, the rain, and the annoyances it can cause. I mean we had that mad 2 weeks or so where the snow was just completely insane and once more pretty much brought the UK to a standstill. I've always wondered to myself, do places like Finland and the rest of Scandanavia come to a standstill if the snow were to melt away there? It just always amuses me how much we have to panic about the snow when it comes and causes chaos!

But the lovely thing about Spring is that everything seems to wake up and get better into a new year from here on in. As a football fan, it's always exciting as the leagues come into the final few months and the tension builds between teams whether it be going for titles, relegation battles, or qualifying for other tournaments. Furthermore, it's even more exciting personally as a Formula One fan because Spring is the time where we finally get back into the spirit of things with the sport with the annual launch of the season in Melbourne, Australia. I'm massively excited for the new season as I am every year but there's so much unpredictability about this year's season because of the changes in regulations and everything else going on in the sport. If you were to say to me last year that Jenson Button is considered one of the favourites to win in Australia, as much as I love the guy, I would've laughed it right off!

Of course, whilst somethings are redeveloping into our world in nature, hobbies, and anything else in the Springtime, I'm starting to slowly make my way towards the end of my second University year. I'll be completely honest, it's been a very tough year and I'm slightly pessimistic about the final year based on the challenges I've had with certain areas in my uni life this past few months. Then again, what would university be if the assignments didn't drive you mad?! But I'm sure in the end it'll all be worth it, so far everything has been sent in and come back out with a pass (more towards the comfortable pass than just about a pass, thank goodness!). My targets though are to improve my work because I feel I can do better with what I have, it's just a matter of putting pen to paper and proving my thoughts right.

I am very much looking forward to the spring though from a personal point of view. a trip to London I'm extremely excited about, the return of Formula 1 after months of waiting, plenty of sport on the television to keep up with and a few birthdays to celebrate to; let's just hope that the spring blossoms a rich, eventful and pleasant few months for all of us!

#3; Normal service will now be resumed

Brawn GP. Ahh such asweet words. After 3-4 months of back and forth rumours, of announcements being false and of deadlines being pushed aside, Honda Racing finally have a future under the guise of Brawn GP. As a Honda fan, the news comes as a startling relief and a fantastic chance to forget about the troubles and annoyances of the winter concerning the team and now the chance to look forward to a bright future. even better was the fact this news came with the confirmation that Rubens Barrichello will get at least another year in Formula 1 alongside Jenson Button, so the Honda team pretty much are all sticking together with a new name both in the car and outside of it. Although being told the news by a fellow Honda fanatic at 1am (thanks again Lou!) was the most awakening and unexpected announcement I was expecting to be honest. I mean, the team was surely going to survive, but actually getting the confirmation was the most fantastic feeling.

This seems like a good opportunity to express why I personally feel so devoted to this team. Why is it that a team that only stood on their own two feet for 3 years recently in F1, as well as their partnership with British American Racing for 6 years before that, mean so much to me? They only achieved 1 win in this time and several podiums, and they never blew the grid away with startling performances consistently and always found space to qualify towards the back of the grid more than at the front. They have a reputation for picking themselves up and walking out of the sport with their tails between their legs when things get rough in the sport for them. Yet I could easily tell you that Honda mean a lot more to me as a fan of a team than the rest of the grid right now.

I'm too young to know what they as an engine supplier in the 60's and 80's. Formula 1 started for me in 1995 when I started watching the odd grand prix before really getting into the sport in 1997. Under British American Racing, Honda didn't do miracles as an engine supplier there. BAR had Craig Pollock running the team which meant he gave a stupid amount of bias towards his overrated former world champion jacques Villeneuve. It may seem harsh to Jacques because in 1997 he did a great job for Williams and we had that epic showdown between him and Schumacher in Jerez. But apart from that year, I feel that Villeneuve did nothing to improve his reputation and skill as a driver, and his career went downhill before it had the chance to peak. But anyways, back to Honda. When dave Richards came into the team in 2002, things started to pick up. He managed to get Jenson Button after a disappointing year with both Villeneuve and Panis, and soon into 2002, Villeneuve was dropped from the team and replaced with the inexperienced Takuma Sato. 2004 though was when Honda, still under BAR, really started to catch my attention as a racing fan.

The year was a considerable success for Richards and the team. Several times throughout the year, Jenson managed to get podium finishes. The San Marino GP at Imola saw Jenson get his first ever pole position in Formula 1. Amazingly, the team finished 2nd in the constructor's championship this year behind the ever dominating Ferrari. The irony of this personally is that this saw me torn between these two top teams; I was never a big fan of Ferrari yet they were the team responsible for my favourite driver on the grid, Rubens Barrichello. At the same time, I had a great deal of admiration for BAR Honda here as they had made massive improvements, they seemed like a team willing to go all the way to succeed and they had a great driver in Jenson Button who was really starting to show just how much the team needed a driver like him and how replacing Panis with Button and eventually Villeneuve with Sato was making a huge difference in the team. 2004 was an amazing year; 7 podiums for the team (6 Button, 1 Sato), a pole position and 2nd in the championship. But no win. And sadly 2005 wasn't to be that year we'd see the team get that win. 2005 was very much not what BAR Honda were expecting... disqualifications for car weight issues, poor performances, and unreliabaility. By the end of 2005, things changed... Sato had gone and British American Tobacco had gone. Now it was just Honda, and now things were about to change.

2006 saw Jenson get a new teammate, and as stated previously in this entry, it turned out to be the man I most enjoy watching in F1 - Rubens Barrichello. Now they had a team with a solid engine, a solid setup and surely success in the near future. Honda were now a constructor, they weren't a supplier or anything, but they were the team. It started amazingly in 2006; in Melbourne Jenson pulled out all the stocks in managing to get pole position for the opening Grand Prix. It didn't result in that maiden victory but it was still a sign of what the car could achieve. It did take a while for the team to settle, admittedly especially for Rubens as he adjusted from life in that luxurious Ferrari to a 'new' team showing what they could do. Jenson managed to get points from the get go, and as the season progressed, both drivers started to pull in vital points. In the midseason of 2006, reliability began to frustrate the drivers and no doubt the fans such as myself; both drivers had retirements for several races and performance of the car was slowly falling. That was until August 6th, 2006 and the day that Jenson Button (in the most extraordinary of circumstances) pulled out both his and Honda's first win. You can almost laugh at the fashion in which it happened; Both Rubens and Jenson had managed to qualify in a fantastic 3rd and 4th position respectively, but this was until Jenson was forced to have an engine change demoting his starting position down to 14th. Despite this, the manic conditions on the day involving rain, safety cars and incidents coming and going pproduced a fantastic performance from Jenson as he rose from this position to challenge Fernando Alonso after a key choice not to pit during a safety car was out. Alonso soom decided to pit for dry tyres from the drying conditions and had a big enough lead to do this comfortably. As he came out of the pits and went around the first corner, his car was looking erratic. Soon enough, the World Champion simply stroll off the circuit due to the failure of his driveshaft and Jenson had the lead. From here in, it was a simple formality for Jenson and he had managed to bag his first win producing celebrations within the Honda paddock and around the UK for fans watching at home on a beautiful summer's afternoon. Despite Rubens' fantastic starting position of 4th, a 1-2 could've been the icing on the cake but it wasn't to be; Barrichello still achieved a respectable 4th position and more points for Honda that were always welcome. The sheer adjulation of Jenson's eyes as he got out of his car and faced the crew at Honda is a sight us Honda fans will never, ever forget.
The remainder of the season was a success as high point finishes came flooding in for the team; once again in the final race of the season Button started in 14th and this time didn't win but ended up on the podium in a magnificent 3rd place, as well as Rubens picking up points in the background. By the end of the season, 4th position in the constructors was a great start for Honda. Sadly, this would be their best year as from here on in, aerodynamic issues and more performance problems would constantly plague the team.

2007 and 2008 were not the best of years for Honda at all. An incredible risk was taken by not having any proper advertising on the car minus an evironmental awareness setup under the name Earth Dreams showing the team's environmental message despite the pollution and carbon footprint that many environmentalists complain about within the world of Formula 1. This new look and message didn't provide anything as nightmares rather tham dreams were the keyword to explain the team's performance in 07; only 3 points finishes and 6 points in total were the tally of the 2007 season and 2008 only produced 14 points for the team and yet ironcally a lower finish in the constructors championship. The one bit of glory within these two years saw a fantastic drive from Barrichello in completely manic wet conditions result in a 3rd position finish thanks to a strategy from the team that obviously paid dividends. Funnily enough this would've resulted in 2nd if a pti stop refuelling issue didn't slow down Ruben's final pitstop but the team happily took the 3rd place they achieved and mass euphoria greeted Barrichello as he left the cockpit and happily celebrated much in the same way with jenson two years earlier at the Hungaroring. In this season, Rubens broke the record for the most grand prixs driven by any driver in the sport, beating Ricardo patrese's record of 256 races.

So what is it about this story that makes Honda such a team to deserve this kind of recognition? As a fan of several components of the more recent team such as Barrichello, Button and Ross Brawn behind the scenes, the fact they hold so many pieces together in terms of the personalities that have made me love F1 is a huge factor. It was frustrating to see the team struggle so much after those few years of moderate success in 04, 05 and part of 06. The Honda name itself is a name synonomous with motorsport and seeing this team come from a mere supplier to the likes of a dying Jordan team and British American Racing to the likes of Button and Barrichello getting the best out of the car was something that always attracted me. It's a fantastic relief to see that everything has finally fallen into place for everyone here; Brackley have managed to keep most of it's workforce and continue on with a car it's been developing over a winter of disrespute in 2008 and 2009, Ross Brawn has managed to finally secure the deal to run the team and Button and Barrichello once more team up to do what they can for the team and it's fans. That is another factor for me in those two drivers; since Barrichello joined the various press shoots and events that the team have been involved in have seen both Rubens and Jenson seem to enjoy each other's company and share their knowledge of the car to do whatever they can to improve it. Whilst the final 2 years of Honda weren't anything to write home about, the dedication of these two drivers shows that success isn't everything to be happy about; both jenson and Rubens shows plenty of hard word to improve what they could in a difficult car. rubens himself is widely regarded as one of the nicest guys to grace his presence in the sport of F1 and Jenson still has plenty of years ahead of him to achieve the success I feel he fully deserves. Over this winter where both drivers had no idea whether they had a future anymore for various reasons, they stuck by the team that they'd served for years now. For Rubens it was potentially the idea that the young nephew of the late, great Ayrton Senna could take his place in the team and that the new Honda team would bring in youth over experience with Bruno, whilst for Jenson the lack of testing and no clear indication of a future for the team could easily have seen him moved to a team such as Toro Rosso and know he'd definitely have a future. Some may call it stupid to wait so long for a decision and news about your future but I truly respect the dedication they've served towards this team despite all the issues and problems of the previous 2 years.

So that's Honda from my point of view. Onto the future and the life of Brawn GP and hopefully success in the future. As I type this I've seen a picture on autosport of jenson back out there testing for the team and it fills me with such a sense of happiness to see this that I can't describe to you just how it feels. I'm personally not expecting Brawn GP to have huge success in 2009 due to the constraints of the winter and the long winded affair with this deal but I'll definitely be behind the team 100% once more, and I hope that others will soon join me in supporting Rubens, Jenson, Ross and the entire team at Brawn GP in a successful future.

#2; The future's bright, the future's multicoloured...

Recently I've been thinking a lot about the future and what life will actually hold for myself once I've finished the remaining minimum of a year and a half left of Uni. It's my second year right now and in a few months I'll be thinking about dissertation options (oh joy!), and further into the future, where my life will lead. The course I'm undergoing is a Computing course, nothing fancy, no added bonuses to the name like Super Ultimate Media Computing Studies of The World. Nah. Computing. short and sweet, much like my temperament with the course at the moment. This is actually a double bladed sword for myself... is Computing too vague to provide a specific area of expertise for an employer, or is Computing so open it can provide myself with a lot more opportunities than a specific course?

I have a lot of hopes in the future about where I want my life to go. My favourite option is becoming a teacher and I've had a lot of stick and disrespect about this decision from people in the past (this WAS school so sticks and stones, etc) just becaise I'm a male wanting to teach. Has society really gotten so sad to look down on male teaching? Even before university and my final year of that dreaded environment known as sixth form and A2 levels, I studied research into the perception of male teachers whether it be high school or primary, and even a shocking amount of the study showed that parents themselves even tend to look down on male teachers in primary schools. Now I'm not making a generalisation, I'm not saying ALL parents are like this because they absolutely are not, but it saddens me to think that this sad perception still exists in the 21st Century.

So Teaching is something I definitely want to pursue. I'll be honest with those that don't know me well enough, I had an opportunity to take a teaching course in one of the oldest Universities in Wales and a specialist teaching campus too. I took it, I went there, then I came home with my tail between my legs. Am I proud of this? No, of course not. But going into such a demanding, important course at the age of 18 felt completely wrong to me. How can an 18 year old with no life experience study something so young and expect it to be fine? I went into that course too naive and too ignorant, but it's something I absolutely want to look at in the future but when I feel I'm ready to dive into such an important choice.

So what else is there in the future I can think about? I love writing and had a superb time with my English language courses over my A Level years (probably the only good thing to come out of my school life but that's not important right now!) and Journalism is something I absolutely would take a glance at. Again it's a big step and it would be more towards a specialist area of journalism, something like Formula 1 that I love to watch, analyse and whatnot. I don't think I necessarily have the skills right now to be confident I could do this well but that's the same with my teaching possibilities; it's definitely something to look at after uni.

Of course with Computing I'll get the obviously computer connotated careers. Do I really want to spend my life sitting in front of a plasma screen sorting out databases and treatening to throw my laptop out of the window from the sheer frustration of programming? No, I don't. But Computing can provide me with a massive experience boost in many areas I would have never studied and can provide me with smaller jobs to build up to where I want to be in the future. So the future is bright, I have a long way to go and I'm only 20, yet I'm already considering where my life is going! Maybe I shouldn't but this is just me, my mind works this way and it ain't changing anytime soon!

March has now come upon us all too, has anyone else noticed how quick february went and 2009 in general so far?! Not that I'm complaining, the joyous sport of F1 is soon to be back on our televisions in just over 3 weeks and I have a lot to look forward to this year; going to London in April, going to see Wales v Finland on the 28th, Muse's new album and their tour in the Autumn and the possibility of going to Goodwood in July. Plus I'm slowly making my way towards my driving license, despite being slow step by steps I'm getting there!

So the future is bright. The future may not necessarily be orange, but it looking rosy nevertheless.

#1; Hello and Welcome

Good evening! You may have somehow accidentally stumbled on this new and maybe not so exciting new blog nevertheless, welcome to the Thoughts of a Trying Atheist. It seems best to introduce myself in whatever manner possible without seeming too much of an idiot. Basically, my name is Lukeh and I'm a 20 year old student living in the glorious valleys of Wales where sheep, rain and rugby rule the roost over our country's many privileges. I love my music and I don't think I could survive without the wonderful productions of Muse and many other rock bands I owe more than I could ever describe considering how much they keep me going everyday, along with some incredible friends that mean the world to me and a family I wouldn't swap for anything. Not even a Twix.

The title of this blog gets straight to the point and will save me a lot of explaining; the hopes are to give myself a chance to express my thoughts and opinions on whatever the hell is on my mind at the same time and to try and blog at least every day or two! Of course, whether anyone plans to read this is another question but I hope I can provide what little entertaiment is humanly possibly in the form of another possibly generic blog in this wonderful world we know as the internet.

So what are you, my loyal readers, to expect in the future from my typings, my musings, my extragavent little journeys into the unknown through the art of simply typing words? Well... I don't know! I honestly don't if I'm 100% honest with you guys (and I will say, everything I post on here will be honest, truthful and how I personally feel no matter if it may seem ruthless, critical or any other possible emotion at time but my intentions are never to offend, but simply express!) but whatever route I do decide to follow, I shall make it as entertaining as possible to keep you hooked.

So what's with the name? Yes, I thought, 'thoughts' is such a cliche for a blog. Seriously the amount of different things that was going through my mind when deciding what to name my corner of the interwebs is ridiculous.

"Lukeh's Blog!"? Oh please.
"Formula Muse!" Nice... it involves two things that I love to watch and listen to... but perhaps not relevant to the blog.
"Nick Fry's a Bastard.com!" See the above notation! Although I may keep this idea...
"A Welsh Walk Through Life" I really liked this, it does work but I'm only 20 with few very experiences in life enough to warrant this.

So... I stuck with Thoughts of a Trying Atheist. The museaholics amongst you should recognise this as a complete bloody ripoff of the track entitled Thoughts of a Dying Atheist off Muse's 3rd album (and my favourite) Absolution. It's no rip-off! I merely changed two letters! In all seriousness though, the name was chosen because it does sum up how I look at life and this blog's meaning. These are my thoughts, these are Lukeh, and with everything I do in life I try my hardest to make them succeed. Education, jobs, love, life, whatever the hell gets thrown at me, if it's a problem I will try to make it work. And I'm an atheist (but enough about that for now...) so it worked. And I'm happy with it.

But it's early days yet. Lots to say, plenty to discuss, allsorts to rant about. See you soon!
Lukeh.