: Clipsal 500 2009 - Day 4

Day 4 of the 2009 Clipsal 500... As predicted yesterday, Jamie Whincup won the race again today. I was thinking I could do a lazy thing and just re-post the Whincup photo I used in last years Sunday update, but the regular Pants visitors know I've never enjoyed being lazy.

(Yes, this Sunday update is technically being uploaded on a Thursday whilst being timestamped with a Tuesday 'posted' date, but that's besides the point...)

Here is Jamie Whincup cruising down pit straight to pick up his 4th consecutive Clipsal 500 win:

As I mentioned in one of the other daily updates, I haven't been particular enthused by the Clipsal 500 this year. It might be put down to my glandular feverness and general fatigue, but I'm thinking I might just be tired of the actual event.

Although I took a new camera body this time around, I found I wasn't really able to challenge myself creatively this year because I've been to this event so many times already — I know what works and how to shoot that stuff, plus I know what doesn't work so I didn't waste my time trying those types of shots at the 2009 event...

Hopefully this just means I need something new to shoot to inspire me and get back my camera mojo. Suggestions are welcome so send in your ideas... :)

Speaking of Pants feedback, thanks to Bargain Bin Laden who wrote in to ask if the tattoo on the bikini model in Saturday's update (below) was just decorative or actually said something of "relevance or profoundness"... While I'm not too sure how profound this is, I can confirm that her tattoo reads "Daddy's Little Girl".

And although you don't even know who I am, I hope you had a happy birthday today Lewie. :)

: Clipsal 500 2009 - Day 3

I don't really know why but today seemed like a lot more fun than the previous days. It might have something to do with how my photography was going, but it could just relate to me high-fiving someone called Frank.

Jamie Whincup won the V8 race today which means he'll probably win tomorrow as well. He also won both races last year and won in 2006 as well so he probably is on steroids or using shortcuts to cheat or something... Only one more day to go* for Clipsal this year...

Today's happy snap is of some of the off-track entertainment to be found at the Clipsal 500. These swimsuit parades are run about once every hour and the catwalk is conveniently within easy walking distance from my seat on pit straight. Just like in previous years, I've tried to get decent photo coverage of this event for the loyal Pants visitors. :)

While waiting at the stage for these bikini shows to start, conversations tend to occur between strangers who share common interests (eg. motorsport, boobies & fancy cameras). A few years ago I met a fellow racegoer who took interest in my camera gear. I mentioned I'll be putting some of my photos up on a website, he asked for the address and I gave it to him. A year later I bumped into him again and he asked for my website address again because he forgot.

I don't know this guy's name and I definitely wouldn't be able to spot him in a crowd, but he's obviously got some sort of Pavlovian conditioning after talking to me a once a year for a few years running. Whenever he sees fancy camera plus a bucket hat near a swimsuit parade stage, his conditioned mind now automatically jumps to thoughts of Pants.

So why do I say this?
Right after one of the swimsuit parades today while the crowd was dispersing rapidly, I was heading back to my seat and a guy walking past me slapped me on the shoulder and cheered "Hey-heeeeey! Pants man!!!".

Odds are pretty good it was the same bloke I bump into every year at that exact same spot but even if it was just some massive coincidence, it definitely brought a smile to my face. :)

* NOTE: Although the Sunday daily photo update might be ready for publishing tomorrow, it is intentionally being postponed a few days due to storage concerns and birthday greetings.
 
The Pants style guide states that birthday salutations can not be posted on the site unless the birthday lies on the same day as a news update so I'm fudging the dates a little bit...
For more details regarding this policy please refer to paragraph 16 of subsection 203.01(2) of the Pants Manual Of Style, available at all good book stores.

: Clipsal 500 2009 - Day 2

Day two picked up where day one left off. The first two days of the event are dominated by a lot of the support classes with their practice, qualifying and actual races. Friday introduces the V8s into the mix for their qualifying, with their "big" races happening Saturday and Sunday.

Today's photo is of one of the support classes — the Touring Car Masters. This features classic older cars like Mustangs, Chargers, Toranas and Camaros. Buried further back in the field you'll also find other classic cars like your grandpa's dented-up old Volvo and that really old car with the crank starter and the hilarious arooooo-ga horn.

: Clipsal 500 2009 - Day 1

Much like the Big Day Out or my precisely-once-a-year tennis fetishism (via the Australian Open), another tradition is the annual Clipsal 500 racing event. Every year I post a mini photo update on the site (one photo for each of the four days), and I generously suggest that full photo galleries will be posted some time later on...

Well it's that time of year again — while I'm not planning on alluding to pushing out updates of bigger photo galleries (because it is blatantly obvious that I still am a bit backlogged as far as photos are concerned), I'm still going to do my once-a-day photo update:

In previous years I'd post photos that fit into a daily theme or post a photo that I was really happy with each day. The photo above doesn't fit the fancy automobile theme/pattern that had been set in years gone by and it's a pretty bland photo on a technical level as well. I've posted it today for more... sentimental reasons.

The photo above is of legendary driver and all-round nice guy Craig Lowndes. In previous Pants updates I have always referred to him by the rude and possibly offensive nickname of Guy Smiley as a suggestion that he looks like that TV show host muppet on Sesame St.

Something clicked to me today so I want to apologise to Mr Lowndes for repeatedly suggesting that he bears any resemblance to that loud, obnoxious, always-smiling goofy puppet. Clearly they cannot be the same person so as my humble apology, this post is dedicated to you Craig.

: Gig Review: Soundwave Festival

If you've been following Pants lately (and revelling in the uncharacteristic flow of updates), you'll notice that this is the third music festival I've been to in the past month. One month ago I was at the Showgrounds for the Big Day Out, then the week after I was at the Laneway Festival and now today was the Soundwave Festival at Bonython Park.

Looking back at my last two gig reviews, I was planning on trying something different for this Soundwave event summary. For BDO 2009 I ran through my day and only rated the acts I saw, but for Laneway I didn't really talk much about any specific band at all. So to mix things up for this gig review, I was planning to comment on every single band, including the acts I didn't see.

Unfortunately Soundwave is one of those festivals where I'm not in a good position to offer much in the way of insightful commentary. When the festival was announced, a friend of mine described the lineup as "an emo wall of shame" and I'd have to agree. There were around 55 artists on the Soundwave lineup & timetable, but I'd only really heard of around three of them.

To make my review easier, I've grouped the following 52 artists all under the category of "didn't see them perform but I don't care because they probably were shit".