I’m not going to hide it: I find people who get this excited about race cars completely ridiculous. All those “go fast” ads are kind of ironic considering the street closures and traffic snarles across the city this weekend. I’m thankful I had my bike to navigate the mess, but I could do without the souped-up bozos revving their engines at traffic lights as 3am and trying to accelerate 0-60 between stop signs. *sigh*
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Oh, don’t be a spoil-sport! There is a lot to be said for the engineering prowess and high-level competition seen in Formula 1. Castigating the Grand Prix because automobiles are an inefficient mode of transport is like criticizing the World Cup because kicking is an inherently inefficient way of moving spherical objects. It’s sport and nothing else.
Personally, I have a deathly fear of day-to-day driving, but I think racing is the bees’ knees.
VROOOOM!!
I also find the fascination with fast cars to be rather ridiculous, automobiles are antiquated technology at this point. Cars have been around, what, about 200 years now. Suped-up cars are little more than fancy go-carts, in my opinion. Noisy, polluting, annoying go-carts for little boys in men’s bodies.
I would be far more interested in an aerospace show, myself. You’d think with the Canadian Space Agency headquartered in Quebec, just off the island of Montreal in Longueuil, along with Bombardier and Pratt & Whitney, among many smaller aerospace companies based in and around Montreal, that we’d be sponsoring an international aerospace show/race/exhibition rather than some boring worn-out machismo F1.
I believe there used to be a Montreal Air Show at Mirabel, but it was shut down in the 90’s.
We also have that crap up here in Petite Italie. I’m especially sad about it, Alanah, because we had a wondrous athletic event here every year: an étape in the World Cup of women’s cycling. Now, I could only dream of having such swiftness and sportive prowess, not to mention such a tiny bum to match those razor-blade saddles, but I love seeing the gals zooming along on their own power. There were also trials on Mont-Royal and in hilly areas near the city – forget whether Laurentians or Estrie, as while I’d been to see the Mont-Royal laps as well as my neighbourhood events, I hadn’t been to the others. The Women’s World Cut couldn’t find a sponsor this year. Waaaaah!
Niomi, aerospace but also public transport engineering, though the latter is pretty much monopolised by Bombardier since the rail yards have shut down. Sleek modern trams.
Oh Niomi, it’s just a spectator sport. If you don’t like it then don’t bother letting it get to you. Crescent St. is going to be full of douchebags on a typical Friday/Saturday night any weekend in summer, so whether they hail from the Northeast as usual or Europe during the GP is of little matter.
Also, Niomi, I think the War of 1812 would have been very interesting with Model Ts buggying around, but I think your recent history knowledge could use a refresher.
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Émile’s Note: History of the automobile
ZoomZoom, automobiles have been around since 1806, so 200 years. Forgive me, but could you please specify which knowledge requires refreshing?
I visited this, and I was so sad. Understand, I’m a car nut who understands that they are not always the best choice (such as for my St-Henri/downtown commute. I know a car rental in San Francisco that has fun sports cars with manual transmissions, and I rent those for a weekend on California 1 when I go for work (I do not own one). I realize they are a bit antiquated, but I think of them like horses, in a way.
This feels like going to a very sad zoo where animals are put in very small cages.
The proper place for an Aston-Martin DB9 is on a good driving road in Scotland. This, it’s mistreatment.
For all the assholes that the event attracts to the city, it brings in a lot of cash not only for the owners of bars in the Crescent / Bishop area but the waiters, bartenders, etc. who work in the area for tips, too. Anything that brings in money is tolerable if, personally, you notice the difference. Otherwise — I’m sure someone else will piss you off for some other reason.
JF, that sounds great for the bar owners and the waitresses, etc, but you haven’t given me a reason to care, as I am neither. Surely you are trying to draw a wider audience in?
What about the sponsorship of the event by … the STM ?! And as if to drive home the irony (excuse the pun), all the publicity boasted how much CO2 emissions the public saves by taking public transport… That’s what I found most ridiculous over the past few days.
Ah, car fanatics…! If only people could get this excited for zero-emission vehicules or greener cities…. :)