Tokarski

Summary: As tight as the course is, there’s no surprise that they finished in the same order as they started. Alonso and Hamilton are tied in the driver’s championship and McLaren-Mercedes pulls considerably ahead in the constructors standings.

Race result:

1. Alonso (McLaren)
2. Hamilton (McLaren)
3. Massa (Ferrari)

2007 Constructors Standings:

1. McLaren-Mercedes – 76
2. Ferrari – 56
3. BMW – 30

2007 Drivers Standings:

1. Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes – 38
1=. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes – 38
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari – 33

Next up: Grand Prix of Canada, 10-Jun on Fox.

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Emily (our middle daughter) turns 9 today – and, per our multi-year tradition, I took her out for a Dad-daughter lunch on her birthday (as I do with each of my lovely daughters). I picked up Potbelly sandwiches (she’s a girl after my own heart – and stomach) and swung by Em’s school to picked her up for a picnic across the street in a nice shady park.

Happy Birthday, Emily.

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Audi A4 ‘park assist’.

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Michael Peña very graciously gave the girls autographs and posed for a picture during filming of The Return. (They were very thrilled).

(L-R: Emily, Anne, Michael Peña, and Allie)

Update: Later in the evening, Allie and Emily also received Tim Robbins’ autograph.

All in all, a great Hollywood day for the girls.

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Some nasty weather blew through last night, immediately followed by some strong sunshine. This yielded a beautiful full end-to-end rainbow right behind the house – there’s no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, only a weathered playground roof cover.

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The chairs for the cast of ‘The Return‘ spent the night in our garage (along with a load of other filming equipment). It was interesting to watch some of the filming last night – on the surface, making movies seems like such a glamorous profession – but in reality it looks like a lot of waiting around and repetition. I must have watched Tim Robbins do the same scene about 5+ times – and, from the distance, I couldn’t see any discernible differences between each. I guess it’s a bit of risk management – capture as much as you can so you can sort it all out later.

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There was a flurry of activity outside the house today as a film crew prepared to start on a portion of a movie called ‘The Return,’ starring Tim Robbins, Michael Peña, and Rachel McAdams. The house of our neighbors across the street is being used for internal as well as some backyard-pool shots. I’ve noticed a few blurbs in the local news about filming in the area – the crew was in Bolingbrook and Naperville recently – and they’re in our neck of the woods for the next few days.

It’s interesting to see a bit of Hollywood right outside our front door.

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A couple of weeks after the release of the latest Rush album and countless of listens later, I have my favorites.

As a long-time Rush fan (I vividly remember bringing home the 2112 album in 1976), I’m pretty much predisposed to like anything from these guys – but this one was different from previous album experiences for me. My first listen was a bit of a letdown as I expected it to be a bit ‘heavier’ – especially after hearing early bits and pieces of Far Cry, Spindrift, and Malignant Narcissism. Also, many of the songs seemed to blur together.

But, after many listens, I’ve grown to appreciate the songs more and hear new things with each listen. I’m looking forward to September 6th.

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I heard a great piece on NPR this morning on a band called Pink Martini. From their iTunes biography: “Pink Martini was the brainchild of classically-trained pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes; fusing a vast array of influences spanning Cuban jazz to music hall to film scores, the group honed an exotic sound which led to their 1997 debut LP Sympathique.”

Their new album, Hey Eugene!, comes out today and they’re at Ravinia on June 24, 2007. Definitely worth a listen.

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Summary: Alonso a bit aggressive at the start (on home soil), into the gravel, and losing a couple of places; Räikkönen out with Ferrari reliability issues; Hamilton with a brilliant drive vaulting him into the current lead for the drivers’ championship; Massa pretty much leading start to finish.

Race result:

1. Massa (Ferrari)
2. Hamilton (McLaren)
3. Alonso (McLaren)

2007 Constructors Standings:

1. McLaren-Mercedes – 58
2. Ferrari – 49
3. BMW – 23

2007 Drivers Standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes – 30
2. Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes – 28
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari – 27

Next up: Grand Prix of Monaco, 27-May, 6:30AM Central live on SpeedTV.

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