Orange Whip

One and done

2009-10-30T17:50:00.010-04:00

Ben Spies clearly had the speed and skill to eventually be a world champion heading into his first season of World Superbike, but likely very few on the world scene figured it would happen his first time out following a season that saw a record number of poles won and consistent running at the sharp end.

Mix in five DNFs from the Yamaha runner though, and typical strong running from second place finisher Noriyuki Haga aboard his Ducatti, and the title came down to the last weekend's races in Portimao, Portugal last weekend. Spies did the business in race one, taking home the win and padding his lead when Haga crashed out. But the second race was fairly nervous, with Haga getting up to second — behind his teammate — and Spies hovering in the range he needed to finish at to secure the title. In the end he did enough to win by 6 points.

The rest of the SBK paddock won't have to deal with Spies next season though, as he's moving on to the Tech 3 Yamaha team in Moto GP, making it one season and one championship in SBK. Not bad.

Should be fun to watch next season with Spies teaming with fellow American and Texan Colin Edwards at Tech 3. Spies is replacing James Toseland, who's actually assuming Spies' ride for Yamaha in SBK. Edwards has had a great season in Moto GP, but podiumed only once on the satellite factory team, while full factory Fiat Yamaha rides Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo will finish 1-2 in the championship. Will Spies be able to go for podiums and race wins against the full factory riders? We'll see.

The Moto GP season ends Nov. 8 in Valencia, and Spies will be entered as a wildcard entry before doing the full schedule next season.

I have to also give some props to my boy in the SBK feeder series World Superspot — Eugene Laverty — who finished second in the championship, but won four races including last weekend's season-ender. Title winner Cal Crutchlow is moving up to SBK next season, and Northern Irishman Laverty will be among the favorites for the 2010 Supersport title.

UPDATE: Spies did real well in the one-off Valencia race, finishing seventh which also secured fifth place in the season championship for fourth-place finisher and future teammate Edwards.

Cool Uniform Props: Buffalo Bills throwbacks

2009-10-13T08:38:00.005-04:00

If the Buffalo Bills wear these rad throwback uniforms enough, eventually we won't be reminded of national pariah O.J. Simpson every time we see them. More importantly, we won't be subjected to their current regular uniforms, which are heinous.

The Bills rolled out these third uniform throwbacks out last season, and have continued with them this season. And whether all white, or with blue jerseys, they're super sweet.

Cool Uniform Props: Denver Broncos throwbacks

2009-10-11T20:47:00.008-04:00

These uniforms are nutso — and pretty far from any orange and blue arrangements you'd expect the Broncos to be wearing — but I like them.

If the yellow jerseys and brown pants weren't enough, Denver was sporting socks with vertical yellow and brown stripes. They looked pretty Oompa Loompa, and normally I'd prefer horizontal stripes, but they grew on me and earned points for crazy factor.

Top everything off with a black helmet with only numbers on the sides, and you have a winner. Also, Orton and Marshall ran up fantasy points for me today, so it was win-win.

UPDATE: Road version!

Adios amigo

2009-09-15T07:00:00.003-04:00

Patrick Swayze, R.I.P.

Wolverines!

It must be said ...

2009-09-14T00:13:00.005-04:00

... Alicia Keys kind of rules.

No I didn't watch the stupid VMAs, but I caught this end performance.

Oh, Jay-Z — I don't think you made the Yankees hat more famous than any Yankees did, holmes. (I think that's what he said.) Let's bring it back down to Earth. Alright then.

With animation, there's no limit to what we can ... imagine

2009-09-10T02:58:00.004-04:00

Caught this animated Beatles Rock Band piece on MTV tonight. Pretty cool. (Hit the link to embiggen.)

You know what I can't find online, though? The scene from Beavis and Butthead where Butthead calmly asserts, "The Beatles ruined music." One of my favorite lines from the show.

For the greatest bit of Beatles animation — involving Dewey Cox, anyway — check this out. Or just watch Walk Hard, because it's awesome.

UPDATE: Some more Internet research leads me to now believe it was Beavis who said the above quote — it was his response to the query of whether England was near Britain. I may have been mixing it up with another quote from Butthead who, according to Wikipedia, said, "You know those asswipes The Beatles? Those guys ruined music," though I've seen that phrase in slightly different forms.

While I am a huge fan of B and B, it's been a while since I watched, folks. Perhaps Ron Wood knows the truth of it ...

Donkey!

2009-09-08T22:41:00.004-04:00

Defending Moto GP champion Valentino Rossi, always game to break out a new helmet design should inspiration strike (see also here), was sporting a donkey face on his helmet this weekend in the San Marino GP, which he won.

I missed any mention of the helmet by the announcers, and thought maybe it was a rabbit on the helmet. But a note on the above photo points out that Rossi was calling himself a donkey — as opposed to his regular nickname of "The Doctor" — for falling on his own at the previous race in Indianapolis.

Photos above and below by ialla.

L.A. on fire

2009-09-04T01:15:00.005-04:00

The Sacramento Bee posted some great photos from their coverage of the wildfires raging near Los Angeles. The above is by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

Via Ron Wood, who also pointed out these time lapse vids of the fires.

UPDATE: The fire has now been declared an arson, and thus a homicide. From this Reuters article:

The so-called Station Fire has killed two firefighters, destroyed 64 homes and torched an area the size of Chicago in the nine days it has roared across the rugged San Gabriel Mountains overlooking Los Angeles.

Font wheel drive

2009-09-02T01:44:00.003-04:00

I thought this would be dumb when I read the description somewhere (I forget now), but it's actually pretty cool. "iQ font — When driving becomes writing" by wireless.

Cool Uniform Props: Barcelona MES jerseys

2009-09-01T01:36:00.003-04:00

I watched the above pictured Zlatan Ibrahimovic score his first La Liga goal for Barcelona today in a dominating win over Sporting Gijon, and remembered this one-off uniform Barca wore against Manchester City a couple weeks back.

Pretty sweet (though the colors are a bit faded in this pic; see the next link for a better look). Some more details here on the MES jersey, sold in limited numbers to raise funds for the UN Refugee Agency.

4 on the floor

2009-08-20T14:24:00.018-04:00

Get psyched. Venture Bros. season 4 preview trailer. We're only getting half of a new season before another hiatus, but anything from maybe the best show on TV is still welcome.

In related business, some stuff from the Venture Bros. Comic-Con panel, ostensibly about the upcoming season.

John Hughes, R.I.P.

2009-08-07T02:01:00.005-04:00

It's being reported that wirter/director John Hughes died yesterday of a heart attack. Weird, since I was talking to someone tonight who just took an overnight job at Target. She hadn't seen Career Opportunities, and so didn't get my Jennifer Connelly in a white tank top reference.

Hughes probably did better movies — Weird Science and Ferris Bueller's Day Off come to mind — but I always liked Career Opportunities, which he wrote, for its weirdness and desperation. And, uh, Jennifer Connelly.

Hughes, RIP. Connelly, FTW.

Owen for oddness

2009-08-06T01:40:00.005-04:00

This doesn't look right at all — Michael Owen, playing for Manchester United, wearing number 7. Weird.

Should be interesting though. Hopefully he stays healthy.

Make it work people

2009-07-30T15:56:00.004-04:00

BIll Murray as Hunter S. Thompson in Where the Buffalo Roam.

I really like it, you know?

2009-07-16T19:16:00.004-04:00

Sick video. "Happy Up Here" by Röyksopp, directed by Reuben Sutherland.

UPDATE: This one is pretty cool too. Reminds me of an early 80's MTV video.

Just walk away, and he will spare your lives

2009-07-12T21:46:00.008-04:00

Ben Templesmith will be at Comic-Con. This is how he chose to announce that fact. I approve.

The votes are Inge

2009-07-09T02:07:00.012-04:00

The deadline for Major League Baseball's Final Vote — in which the fans fill out the AL and NL All-Star teams by picking one player from five for each league — is 4 p.m. today.

As steadfast Phillies fans, the Orange Whip editorial board naturally advocates the election of Shane Victorino in the National League, and has voted several times thusly. But we'd also like to endorse the Detroit Tigers' Brandon Inge for the American League. Why? Because Inge has had a large part in the success of this blog writer's fantasy baseball team — the Bulletproof Tigers — over the first half of the season (that catcher eligibility has been clutch). And we take care of our own 'round these parts.

That being said, I have no idea why the Phillies organization itself is advocating the Inge/Victorino ticket. Anyone?

UPDATE: Victorino and Inge were the top vote-getters. Mission accomplished.

Wild in the streets

2009-07-03T12:20:00.006-04:00

Girl Skateboards has released a skateboard series featuring characters from company co-founder Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are. Pretty cool.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right

2009-07-02T11:17:00.006-04:00

I checked out the Philadelphia International Championship bike race for the first time this year with some friends and family, and I just finished posting my photos over here. Everything was shot on Lemon Hill, aside from a few down on Kelly Drive.

Glastonbury? Who ever heard of a Glastonbury?

2009-06-30T06:06:00.006-04:00

The Big Picture has some pretty cool photos from the Glastonbury festival, including the above by Joel Ryan/AP and the below by Leon Neal/Getty Images. Via.

Not sure what this is about. I can only hope the guy's carrying cases or a quarter-keg in his arms.

Right on target

2009-06-10T07:50:00.006-04:00

Normally I subscribe to Butt-head's theory on the visual representation of lyrics in music videos. That being, "If I wanted to read, I'd go to school." But a good jam and a cool video can make for an exception.

"Casa Bey" by Mos Def off his new album, The Ecstatic. Video directed by Coodie & Chike, with graphics/text design by Superfad.

Electric light organization

2009-06-09T04:44:00.011-04:00

The song "1901" by Phoenix is really good, but I might like the video better. As far as I can tell, this is just projected light — arranged in constantly changing patterns — hitting the band. Simple and smart.

The video was directed by Bogstandard and commissioned by Dazed Digital.

Super super special stage

2009-06-04T01:31:00.004-04:00

Notown

2009-06-02T04:37:00.005-04:00

Anyone want to get in on the ground floor of a residential investment? The above is part of a photo essay by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffrey on the ruins of Detroit, as featured on Time.com.

Tracking back, I saw it linked by Ben Templesmith in reference to a pretty insightful column by Australian journalist Guy Rundle, as seen here.

There’s many places you can visit with your limited time on earth — the Turkish rivieria, Finland’s Ice Hotel, Mt Fuji, Wobbie World — but everyone who wants to understand the last century and this one, should see Detroit.

Why? Because Detroit is the first modern urban ruin, the largest city that has simply been allowed to die.

Zezel, R.I.P.

2009-05-27T07:11:00.004-04:00

Non-hockey fans might better recognize Peter Zezel as one of the background teammates in Youngblood, but 'round these parts he'll be remembered as a core member of the classic '80s Flyers team that lost in the Stanley Cup finals to Edmonton. Zezel died yesterday at age 44.

As a side note Youngblood, I can't say when I last saw the movie, but was the point really that he had to learn to fight to make the NHL? I mean, I remember it being pretty cheesy, but not that outright boneheaded.