http://www.magicflag.comWhat can I say, this is about me and what I've been up to - Enjoy and come back - or don't! The Sucata Run is a bargain basement rally where teams of up to 4 people drive to Europe's most westerly point in 4 days in bangers costing no more than £250. It takes place over the August bank holiday weekend (21st - 25th) and culminates at the Guincho beach on the Portuguese coast. The rally runs from Rouen, to Cabo de Roca, Europe's most westerly in point in Portugal. A friend at work is competing in the Sucata run in a £250 clapped out Volvo purchased recently on ebay. You can get more information on the event here however suffice to say it's all for a good cause. Please click the link and lend your support. Thanks16/06/2008 07:27:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=40Welcome readers to the Jatropha plant. A hardy plant that can grow in wet and dry areas, in poor soils, in grazing land. A plant that's quick growing and easy to establish. A plant that's seeds contain 40% oil! That's right, it's estimated (and a conservative estimate at that) that this plant can produce 250 litres of biodiesel per acre - that could power my car for 2500 miles. So at 12000 miles per year, i'll need 5 acres - i'm off to buy some land! Take the hint Brown - Alternatives NOT Taxes!12/06/2008 07:36:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=39Tremendous and unexpected return for DC to the podium, experience and a blinding strategy certainly was the key to sucess as DC kept a level head to bring the ever improving Red Bull home in third. A special mention has to go to Kubica for a blinder of a first podium, he erned that win fair and square and was made even more poignant when you take into account his massive crash last year at the same circuit. I am however officially sick and tired of the ITV commentary regarding Lewis ("Senna'esque", "already a champion") Hamilton. How more biased can they be? "Great result for Robert Kubica however it should have been Lewis'es race!" - thanks for your insight Steve Rider, get back to Grandstand!10/06/2008 07:10:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=38After a 4 month absence, The Magicflag Blog is once again back up and running. Who would have thought that transferring a domain name would be such a long and arduous process! Still, one of the reasons that I transferred the domain name was the previous host was completely incompetent at answering any questions - questions that would have benefited them such as "How do I pay my bill to extend my subscription?" I originally bought the domain name from Totalise however since they went bust in 2002, the domain sales part of the business was passed to Another company who seem to be going through a bit of a transition themselves! UK2 to the rescue.15/05/2008 07:08:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=37Sign up and pledge to only ever buy freerange chickens. 09/01/2008 08:20:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=36Yet again, the FIA, the Ferrari International Assistance has stepped in just to ensure that Ferrari become world champions. It's not enough that the FIA makes every team on the grid give money to Ferrari every year for their "historical contribution to the sport", nor is the $100 million that the FIA gave to Ferrari to keep them sweet during the time when a break-away series was on the cards for all the other teams, Ferraris good old buddies, the FIA step in and remove any obstacles in the way allowing Ferrari to be once again crowned champions despite how construed and false that crowning will be. People seem to forget there were two parties involved in the "spygate", why have Ferrari walked out smelling of roses. It was one of their employees that passed on the documents! This is unsporting behaviour so where's their fine, where's their ban? It's time to split up the Ferrari Supporters Club that is the FIA - Max Mosley, I want your resignation on my desk first thing in the morning. Paul Stoddart, I want your application on my desk first thing this afternoon. A Ferrari statement said: "In light of evidence, facts and behaviour of an extremely serious nature and grossly prejudicial to the interest of the sport have been further demonstrated." Even Ferrari themselves are admitting it now, I couldn't agree more! Sham (or did I already say that about the FIA 2 blogs below!)14/09/2007 06:59:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=35After texting in the correct answer to the Forth One "early morning hard one" I am now the proud owner of a Forth One in shower radio. Question on Tuesday 7th August Johnny Mathis was the first recording artist to do this… what did he do? Answer : He was the first artist to release a “Greatest Hits” album. Thanks Forth One PS. Anyone got a screw-driver small enough so I can get the battery compartment open?!22/08/2007 07:19:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=34I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea why the FIA stewards had to get involved in the McLaren "incident" at the Hungarian GP. Very controversial as it may have been, it should have been dealt with within the team as the only person who lost out was part of that team! And to then disallow the team their points haul was insane! Who do the FIA think they are - I'll tell you who, they are Ferrari's puppets and will bend over backwards to do anything that will benefit them. Sham.05/08/2007 18:22:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=33So you want to get a cheap laptop for the kitchen, the kids, the parents, however you're still talking about over £300 so what do you do? Risk eBay or get one second hand or reconditioned? How about a brand new one with the following spec: >33 x 24 x 2cm and weighs 2.2Kg >14in display -  1280 x 768 pixel resolution >1.5GHz Celeron CPU >256MB of memory (expandable up to 1GB >40GB hard drive >CD/DVD drive >Wireless 802.11g >Operating system Linux Fedora from RedHat And the price - a reported $150 US - so at today's exchange rate that's £75 - like that's ever going to happen. Rip off Britain will just swap the $ for a £ and it will probably retail for £150. If this Medison Celebrity laptop ever hits the shelves, even at £150, I'm sure it will be a big hit.30/07/2007 06:59:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=32Fairway fashion, Tee trend, gaudy or just downright camp, golf fashion is big business and very trendy these days. Unfortunately, this makes the whole business of actually trying to look ridiculous, much harder than it used to be! We are heading off for a round of pub golf this weekend in the fair city of Dublin competing in the Doig Bachelor Cup. 9 holes (pubs) of varying (drink) difficulty will challenge us as we compete to become champion (or just last the pace). Every player (drinker) will of course be dressed accordingly as illustrated by the two golf pros in the picture. Suffice to say that if this was the sport of golf, John Daly would be where Tiger Woods is now. There'll be no Teas in this game. 29/05/2007 21:36:00http://www.magicflag.com/comments.asp?id=31