This weekend, Franck will return to action for Girondins de Bordeaux at the second round of the Superleague Formula series. This time they are at Assen, and the official SF website describes it as thus: Better known as the cathedral of motorcycling, the 2.830 mile circuit located in north eastern Holland should prove a real challenge for the championship’s V12-powered 750bhp single seaters thanks to it being specifically designed with …

During the Free Practice commentary for the Monaco weekend by 5Live, David Croft and Anthony Davidson discussed a certain driver that we all know and love (even more so because of this!) https://static.mrschristine.com/blog/audio/2010/im-so-hungry.mp3 Transcript Croftie: Sir Stirling Moss... very much enjoying the interactive tweeting that's going on this morning and he sent us another tweet as well - thank you for this! He says in 1960, us drivers did 100 …

I am very impressed with how good and honest you all are: Let's see how she takes it! Also for today's poll, I thought we'd try out the "fill in your own" option. Much fun! --- "Come with me," Mitch said, taking her by the arm and leading her through the crowd. They slipped out into the corridor and Melissa followed Mitch as he rounded the corner and walked ahead. …

I've found a couple of great videos from this weekend's racing in Spa. The first is a build up to the event and features lots of drivers - but keep watching because not only does Franck make a couple of appearances, but in one of them he is hugging Bibendum. My two favourite people! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2GbOCGWcB0 The second video is footage from the podium, in which Franck is standing to the …

I needed a few days for this one to come to fruition, but we're getting there. Now we are on part seven and beyond, I know where I'm going with each outcome. We have some end goals in sight, people. Here are the results for the last vote: I thought it might be closer than that, but interesting voting, nonetheless. Now for part 7: --- "I'm not going to race …

Somehow, although I was vaguely aware of Franck taking part in the LMS race this weekend, I didn't see or hear anything about it until after the event. I have managed to gather together the pertinent facts, though. Firstly, Franck and Sarrazin were left in the lurch when Nicolas Minassian pulled out due to some sprained ribs. He sustained the injury during some training earlier in the week, which is …

I found the brushes whilst browsing on BrushEezy and knew I wanted to use them up for something. I'm not happy with the way the one in the top right doesn't end properly, whereas the one in the bottom left does. The idea of big brushes in the background to temper the dark foreground ones is fascinating. I played around with the text a lot and couldn't really get anything …

The first thing to do, I suppose, is to take a step back from my big ol' sulk of last week. I still stand by the fact that Doctor Who, for me, is not about the romance. But I got over it. The one thing I would say is that if there's something I'm unhappy with, usually watching Confidential makes me see it in a different light. It did not …

The 1st May - a Saturday - and my challenge has begun. I had a couple of options to go with for the first letter of the alphabet but I thought I would start with something simple. Aberdulais Falls is a National Trust location, just off the M4 in South Wales. The blurb reads: Set in a steep gorge, this property demonstrates the power of water and its impact on …

Whilst investigating potential places to visit for the A-Z Adventure, I came across this interesting event: the Dorset Knob Throwing festival. Now, I do try and be an adult most of the time, but sometimes there are things that you just can't ignore. A section from the rules. Dorset Knob measured at final resting place. If Dorset Knob breaks upon landing it will be the umpire’s decision of final resting …

Gosh, it's been quite a busy month in Ambridge, hasn't it? And it's been all about the girls in April. Pip has at least gone quiet now, after her ill-fated trip to Cornwall to check up on her boyfriend. Then he tried to kill her by recklessly driving around on a quad bike and now David has banned him from the farm. Phew. I thought it was all over, but …

Way back at the beginning of the year, when I made those five silly little resolutions, one of them was to go outside more. This is not a very achievable goal, as there is no attainable target, no specific timeframe and no real sense of achievement. (My resolution next year will be to stop over-thinking things!) Now that I have a bit more time on my hands, I have given …

We're entering into the second half of our story now, and things are hotting up. Old rivalries come to the fore, and new relationships are tested. There, that ought to look good on the back of the book. Here are the results of the vote: That Mitch, he does like handling things himself. --- "Don't make any calls, Mason. You sound like you're in the mafia." "You never know," Mason …

I went to visit my brother recently (hi brother!) and he's the proud owner of a fancy HD TV. I do most of my media consuming online but I can appreciate a good TV when I see one. He was watching the snooker, which seemed a bit of a waste to me, but still, nice TV. We got into a conversation about 3D vs HD and we were mostly in …

I really love this one. Made with: Pixelmator Tutorial for the text: Golden Text in Pixelmator Font: Garamond Background Images Set 9

LibriVox is an organisation with a simple goal - to make all public domain works accessible in audiobook form. I've been involved for a long while now, part of an enormous group of volunteers who record chapters, poems and entire books to attempt to reach this goal. I have finally finished the second book in the Grace Harlowe series - Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School. As with the …

Certainly a very tricky situation, and how will Mitch try and get out of it? --- Mitch slammed his foot on the brake but knew that stopping wasn't an option. The track was slippery and grip was almost non-existent. Bruno was inches away. Mitch jerked the car left, as hard as it would go, and held his breath. Bruno steered the other way, but his out of control Shuttleworth continued …

I never really thought I was one of those fans who got angry about the idea of the Doctor and romance, but there it was. When Amy was wandering around the forest by herself, eyes closed, panic rising, I felt for her. I couldn't imagine anything worse. Then she went and ruined it by throwing herself at the Doctor and now I don't really like her anymore. I don't remember …

My timing seems to have gone all wonky now. I closed the poll late, and this post has appeared later than I'd hoped. I can only apologise. Here are the results for the poll on Part 3: Quite the majority! Awww, you guys. --- "Wow!" Mitch said, hugging her quickly. "Congratulations. I'll have to take you out for a celebratory drink." "I turned it down," Melissa said. "A commiseratory drink?" …

With about five minutes to go, I glanced at the clock and realised that the episode would be over soon and our heroes were all still in mortal danger. Either they were going to wrap this up quickly or it was going to be a two-parter. Thankfully, it was the latter, although no one I have spoken to knew it was going to be over two weeks. A bit of …

Oh, wow, I have wrestled with this next section. I wrote it. Then I wrote it again with about six different endings. Then I went back to the original ending. It may still not be right yet. But let's go with it. --- "This is nice," Melissa said, as the waiter offered her a menu. Bruno smiled. "Wine?" he asked. "No, no, just a sparkling water for me. Can't drink …

Instead of a page with a long list of the header images created, I thought it might be more useful to give each it's own blog post - with notes for future reference on what I did, the tools used, and whether it was a success or a failure. The first of my brand new header images was really just a big ball of experimentation. I had never worked with …

Franck tests out a new Peugeot Coupe and a scooter. It's fair to say that he looks a lot more comfortable in the car than on the scooter, but I wouldn't say the same about his companion. The video is entirely in French, so I can't tell you anything about it except the scooter looks quite expensive! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBcgsLsVves

This week's episode of LOST (don't worry, no spoilers here) wasn't the rip-roaring ride we've had recently with Richard and Desmond. It was good, but it was more of a transitional piece to get all the characters in the right place for whatever is to come in the final episodes. That is fine by me. Sometimes you need a break from the mind-blowing awesomeness - a breather to gather your …

Yay for the return of Mitch and Friends. If anyone wants a quick catchup on everything that has happened so far, or wants a reminder of which character was which, I created a Life in the Fast Lane page with all you need to know. Now, the results of the vote for Part 1: I am glad that everyone on the list got some votes, I thought it might be …

There's a great post from Steven Moffat on the BBC TV blog, and whilst a little bit spoilerific in terms of the next Weeping Angels episode (no major plot points but some behind the scenes notes), Mr M's thoughts on Matt Smith are fascinating. I think the thing that has come back with Matt is the idea that The Doctor is a bit silly at times. He's a slightly silly …

My goodness, there are some really fabulous photos of Yun Zi available thanks to the San Diego Shooter. Relaxing Peekaboo! Sitting How adorable is that big ball of fluff? And how soon can I get to San Diego??

The team have launched, and so this is just a note to make sure you check out the photos on the Superleague Formula Facebook album. As you might expect, there are loads of Franck pictures! FKM has also written about his first weekend with the team on his site, available to read (in French) here.

So, here it is. The return of Mitch and his friends. I wanted to write a ten-step story on a different topic but I wasn't inspired by anything else, and I missed Mitch. Marilene sent me a tweet and suddenly the sequel was there in my head, as though it had always been there. So thanks to Marilene, and thanks to you for reading. I hope it's okay! --- Melissa …

(Note: I really wanted to call this post 'Don't Cross the Streams' but I knew people would be mad it wasn't about Ghostbusters.) I am so very up to date with TWiT podcasts now that I have even impressed myself! I was just listening to this weekend's episode of This Week in Google, and there was a section of it I found really interesting. About half an hour in, they …

Following the revelations of Whittled Down, I now have information about things I'm adding to Smarter Than Your Average. If you visit the site, rather than a feed reader, you might notice that I've reverted to the old Vigilance theme. I used to use this one in the good ol' days of self-hosting, and I got a familiar sense of wellbeing when I selected it from the Wordpress options. (Incidentally, …

Ah, I know plenty of people have said it before, but it is so good to have regular episodes again. All that waiting to find out what the Doctor was going to do in his next special was not fun. I really didn't think much of this week's story. It had tons of potential, Winston Churchill, a war room, Daleks on our side for once. It all got a bit …

With a little bit more time on my hands, I've had the chance to think about some of my other blogs - and I quite quickly came to the conclusion that I had too many. Who really needs seven blogs? Really? A couple of them were on hiatus, never to be added to again. Some of them have an unknown future, but whatever future they do have, it will take …

Here is what I don't understand. They say that exercise is good for you. "Get moving," they say. So I did. I got and I moved. And now, two days later, I can't move. My legs hurt. I don't think that's quite what they had in mind. (Who's they, anyway?) On the subject of diet and exercise, a new way of using the internet is to humiliate yourself thin. The …

I found Journler a while ago, downloaded it and then never really used it. When I started tinkering around with writing again, I sort of opened it up, but when I went to the site I discovered that development on it has stopped. Support is still there, and it's still available to download, but there is nothing in the pipeline. It's a shame, because whilst I haven't used it extensively, …

I didn't manage to catch this live, which means I've already let myself down a little bit, however, it was worth waiting for. A few thoughts on the latest episode of Doctor Who. It very much reminded me of Gridlock - the episode where there were all those car type things stuck on a motorway type thing. The idea of the human race stuck inside, trying to find a way …

With the invention of the iPad pretty much scrapping any chance of me getting a Kindle any time soon, I've been starting to look at the concept of reading books on the iPod Touch. My first experience came only from seeing the words Doctor Who on an app in a top ten list somewhere. The Enhanced Editions, er, edition of Code of the Krillitanes by Justin Richards. It's one of …

After watching the latest episode of LOST (don't worry, no spoilers here), Mr C and I got into one of those conversations that goes something like - "Was Mr Widmore with Dharma? No, he wasn't there then. Yes he was, he just was with the others instead. But I thought he was in the army. He had an army uniform. But it wasn't his. When was that? Would he recognise …

It was good! I can't quite describe the relief. I think, really, I knew it would be. How could it be anything less than brilliant with Steven Moffat at the helm? So a few thoughts: The Doctor. He did everything right. From his very first words about apples, to his confident showdown with the alien eye thing at the end. I'm still not impressed with the clothes, but they do …

This month seems to have been about introducing new names, or at least bringing back returning faces. We've seen Lillian develop her relationship with Paul and we've seen Kate return... more on that later. I think I'll start where I left off, with Alan sleeping in a tent. The man got a wicked cough - I have no idea how you can act out something like that! I don't know …

The first race of the new season took place at Silverstone this past weekend, and it wasn't really a success for our Franck, although it could have been a lot worse. Things got started pretty well, with GD Bordeaux third in free practice - although the fastest car was up about two seconds on FKM. Qualifying was hit by some wet weather, but I don't know if that directly affected …

Thus, the first Card Week series draws to a close, and it's going back to animals, I'm afraid. These rather cute caterpillar thank you cards appealed to me and were actually the first one I found when searching for a week's worth of cards. Caterpillar Thank You Notes I hope this week of cards hasn't been too self-indulgent, although if I'm honest with myself, the entire premise of Stationery Corner …

The fourth entry for card week takes a completely different turn. It doesn't feature animals - I don't suppose the Pacman family are animals, are they? I love this card for when your geek friends get married. Mr and Mrs Pacman Wedding Card It's quirky, and only a certain type of couple would appreciate it but I know Mr C and I would have if we'd accepted cards for our …

Card Week number three, and we're continuing our animal theme but rather than pigs and cows, we're taking off into the skies. These flying geese look good, I love the colours, and the empty bench. Plus, the simplicity of writing hello in the bottom corner. A great way for a card to break the ice or just to simply say 'hello'. Flying Geese Hello Folded Note Cards It's just occurred …

Doctor Who is crazy popular, and has managed to create an entire universe of TV shows, books, comics, games, and much more. It even has a couple of spin-offs with Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures. Thing is, both of those spin offs are all very well and good, but I can think of a couple of other characters who would be much more interesting. Here's the game. If you …

Words from the man himself about how he came to be racing in the Superleague Formula this year. The story begins thus: OK, I don’t know neither the car or the drivers who will be playing in the field with me... so let’s talk about what I actually know, it will be faster and probably much more interesting for you, guys! So once upon a time... Hehehe, bless. Girondins de …

Part of the BBC's review of what they're doing now and how they want to keep doing it in the future involves looking at their presence on the web. I found an interesting post on the Internet Blog regarding the use of direct URLs on the BBC, and how freaking many of them there are! The plan is to reduce the list and in doing so, it will help them …

The second entrant on our Card Week special is a postcard rather than a greetings card. I have never really been a big fan of sending postcards because I don't like the idea of anyone reading what is written there, and of course, if you send it from a holiday destination, you are likely to return before it does. However, I do like these vintage cards. Vintage Pig/Cow Carte Postale …

A few weeks ago I discovered I had the world's smallest problem. A tiny patch of skin between the knuckles of my little finger and the next one up on my left hand had got a bit dry. Panic! Now, you may remember, if you ever watched the video from my attempt at making mince pies, that I'm not really a fan of putting things on my hands. When it …

Greetings cards and note cards are very personal things. What works for one person may be considered hideous by someone else, and it's all a matter of taste. This week, for five days, I'll post a different card each day, making this the first ever Card Week. They're all from Etsy, and I love them all for very different reasons. Today - Penguins in Love. The first of many cards …