Talk about weird (and fun!) weather! These photos were taken on March 18th on the Sunrise Highway just off of Hwy 8 in San Diego!

Take a look at photographic images by Stephan Zirwes. I’ve always been interested in natural and man–made abstract photography and have done some of it myself (see images Golden Green Abstract, Study In Diagonals, and Rock and Lichen Abstract #4). Stephan’s images are beautifully done, and when elements give you a clue as to the scale of the image, it is especially striking. This photo is one of my favorites, but please view it on Stephan’s website as it needs to be seen at a larger size to get the full impact of what you are looking at. I think his industrial images are especially striking.

Wow, a land speed record attempt shooting for 1050 miles per hour, which is “faster than a speeding bullet!” The Bloodhound chassis is now under construction with runway trials to begin in early 2012. The record attempt will be run in late 2012/2013 in South Africa. See the Bloodhound SSC main site for all the latest news on this amazing car/jet/rocket! Also, take a look at Equinox Graphics, who did this video for the Bloodhound team and does other science–related graphics. Finally, see all the latest Bloodhound videos on their YouTube site. Amazing stuff!!

Man, what a weekend for sports enthusiasts! We have World Cup Soccer starting, the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Canada, and most of all, the granddaddy of all road races, and still the most famous endurance race in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is running this Saturday and Sunday. The Peugeot 908s of Team Peugeot Total are favored again, but for looks alone, the Team Oreca Matmut Peugeot 908 gets my vote! But will the Audi R15s give ’em a tough race…you bet! The GT2 grid is awesome with Ferraris, Corvettes, Ford GTs, BMWs, the usual fleet of Porsches, a Lamborghini, and a Jaguar going at it. Check out the BMW “art car” too. Fantastic!

Again, the fine folks at SpotterGuides.com and andyblackmoredesign.com have come up with a great, printable, full–color car guide detailing all the cars, liveries, and drivers lineups for each. As I mentioned in a previous post about Sebring, it can be printed BIG due to its 2500 x 1618 pixel resolution. It is on my office wall now at a very nice 11 x 17 size.

Tune in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the Speed channel beginning 5:30 am Pacific Time, Saturday, June 12.

Add a little (or a lot of) rain and Formula 1 shines. This race had many lead changes, pit strategies, crashes, and drama. It was a treat to watch. Again, Jenson Button stole the show in the wet, with his team mate Lewis Hamilton storming up to second place with some dodgy pit lane tactics and trademark super–aggressive passes. Fernando Alonso also stormed back from 17th place after a penalty from a jumped start. He’s a brilliant driver, but showed his true colors when he cut off team mate Felipe Massa while pitting. He takes the “winning at all costs” mentality to new heights!

If you’re interested in reading SciFi at all, take a look at SciFi great Frederick Pohl’s great blog The Way the Future Blogs. Lots of interesting stuff there such as anecdotes about his interesting life and other great writers he has known, book and story recommendations, etc. Extremely interesting and, of course, well–written!

Wow! What a change this weekend proved to be in Formula 1 racing! Some wet weather at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne really opened up the race…there were passing and lead changes galore for once. Man, if they could bottle this recipe, Formula 1 would again become the most exciting racing to watch, instead of the shadow of its former greatness it has become.

We’ve got some racin’ goin’ on this weekend… Saturday in fact. It’s the 12 Hours of Sebring, guys! This is probably the toughest race, physically, on the sports cars themselves. The Sebring circuit is notorious for its bumpiness and it is a severe test for the cars just to hold together for the entire 12 hours. And with a great grid lineup, (Aston Martin, Peugeot, Dyson, and Patron LMPs, Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, and BMW GT2s) this is a must–watch race!

To help with your car spotting/viewing enjoyment, the fine folks at SpotterGuides.com and andyblackmoredesign.com have come up with this great, printable, full–color car guide detailing the cars, liveries, and even the helmet designs of the drivers of each of the cars. And it can be printed BIG due to its 2500 x 1618 pixel resolution. The detail is great when printed at 11 x 17. I printed out one for my (almost) 4 year old son Mikey, and he loved it! (One is on my office wall at work, too. )

Tune in the 12 Hours of Sebring on the Speed channel (HD of course!) beginning 7:00 am Pacific Time, Saturday, March 20.

Now that the race has been run, congrats to Risi Competizione for winning the GT2 class at Sebring for the 3rd time in the last four years! And it did so against an extremely tough field, including the very fast Rahal/Letterman BMWs.

This was one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on. I was given complete creative freedom to do the cover and book design for a WWII non–fiction book called “Will They Return.” This is a terrific true story, with the names changed, of a young sergeant leading his buddies through harrowing battles in northern France and southern Germany towards the end of the war.

The author, Gilbert Rivera, is an amazing man, someone I am privileged to know. He had some truly amazing (and harrowing!) experiences as a staff sergeant in Company A of the 71st Infantry Regiment in the U. S. Army in France and Germany during the last year or so of the war. Unlike many “war stories,” this book is written from the viewpoint of the common soldier, what he experienced on a day–to–day basis, the hardships, the horror, the camaraderie, the lighter moments. It is all there. If you are at all interested in World War II history, and specifically the war in Europe, go to LuLu.com and buy the book. You won’t be disappointed!

Famous Lockheed “Skunk Works” Projects

I like planes and aviation in general, and have a particular fondness for some of the famous Lockheed planes such as the WWII P-38 Lightning and that mach 3 wonder jet the SR-71 Blackbird. This illustration of Lockheed “Skunk Works” projects, in typical Popular Mechanics style, is very cool. This comes from an excellent article on Retro Thing about the famous “Skunk Works”. Read the full article here.