“2012 revisited…..”
Immanual Kant wrote that morality is not the doctrine of how we make ourselves happy. Rather, morality has more to do, all to do, with how we make ourselves worthy of happiness. As the year draws to a close, I wonder if by that definition, I’m immoral…have been immoral. No I don’t wonder at all. I know that I have been. Not necessarily in actions or deeds. But rather in inaction and things left undone. An immorality worthy of the cynicism that spawned it.
I will, however, spare the details. Instead I’ll just soldier on, and by doing so, hopefully make myself worthy of happiness. Also no Top Lists except for one.
If y’all don’t watch these great anime shows, I WILL come to your house and kick your ass!”
Last season was not a stellar one for Ron Hornaday either. The 4-time Camping World Truck Series champion finished 13th in the points, didn’t win a race and only had 2 top fives. Yes, he was racing with a new team last year, Joe Denette Motorsports, but….it was just an off year. For 2013, Hornaday has a new 2 year contract with JDM which has merged with NTS Motorsports and will continue to pilot the #9 Chevy Silverado. If I were to make any New Years Resolutions ((and I don’t, but, IF….)), I would resolve to cleave to the ideals of Immanuel Kant’s morality by following the example set by Ron Hornaday’s 14 years of Championship racing. But if I wish to live to see 2013, I’d better get THIS little matter taken care of at once:
The Ron Hornaday Top 9 Anime Shows of 2012
- Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai
- From The New World
- Kids On The Slope
- Mankind Has Declined
- Sword Art Online
- Imouto Ga Iru
- Koi To Senkyo To Chocolate
- Sukitte Ii Na Yo
- Mysterious Girlfriend X
There. Now go watch them before both Rona Hornaday and I come to your house to kick your ass.
There are a few notable omissions from the list. I did not include some excellent shows simply because, for whatever reason or cheap lame-ass excuse, I didn’t watch enough episodes, or watch all of them. 2012 was a very solid, almost stellar year for anime.
Here’s a list of shows that not only you should watch…I should and must finish watching the rest of the episodes as well:
- Space Brothers
- Tsuritama
- Natsiyuki Rendezvous
- Magi
- Chihayafuru
- Daily Lives Of High School Boys
I also didn’t include Gundam AGE which completed it’s 49 episode run in 2012. But I did include it on the Top 9 Anime list for 2011. I forgot to continue watching it in 2012 for some inexplicable reason…so…I have 30 some episodes to get caught up on.
Who Is The White Ray Charles of NASCAR??
We had a little discussion about who might be The White Ray Charles of NASCAR the other day down at my local pub, THE FIREHOUSE, here in Mt. Horeb. Well, to be more accurate, the conversation skewed more towards the musical realm….and the tenuous conclusion was that Steve Winwood was the White Ray Charles, and not, say, Van Morrison or Mick Hucknall. As the conversation veered off course into the realm of NASCAR, in ball of flaming wreckage and mayhem, we came up with no definitive conclusions at all regarding the White Ray Charles of NASCAR. I said I’d look into that, do a little research, pull something out my arse. And….my tentative nomination for The White Ray CHarles of NASCAR is….Jeff Burton. Discuss amongst yourselves.
Meanwhile, NASCAR will new cars and ruyle packages for 2013. The cars will have more more grip and more downforce, and will look more like showroom cars than they have in recent years. The drivers are excited about the changes, and the racing in 2012 should be faster and better and more competitive than ever before. They’ll be quicker in the corners for improved passing.The spoiler will be bit larger and the new setup and suspension package virtually will eliminate the yaw effect, so the cars wont look like they’re running sideways down the straightaway. The drivers who’ve tested them at Charlotte love ’em to death.
One big NASCAR change for 2013 that is going to take me a little getting used to is Matt Kenseth’s switch from Roush-Fenway to Joe Gibbs Racing. No more #17 car and no more Roushketeers for me. Matt will in the #20 Husky Tools Toyota in 2013, joining new teammates Deny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. It will some getting used to, but…at least I wont have to wear an orange hat….Home Depot has chosen to promote it’s proprietary Husky Tool line on Matt’s #20 Toyota. It looks like I’ll be wearing a red hat next year.
Final Thoughts on 2012
Actually, I don’t have any final thoughts on 2012, at least not any definitive sense. And as I said at the start, I’m not going into the personal details. I’m also not going make an exhaustive run-through of the impersonal details such as the English Premier League, Major League Baseball, The Presidential Election, The Mayan Calendar Scam, NASCAR, Formula 1 or any Cricket Test Match you care to mention.
As I said at the start, there will be no looking back. Instead, I will bear vigilance for Immanuel Kant’s idea of morality. And so should all of you.
One final thing, no matter how hard we have it, there is always someone out there who has it worse and is climbing over much steeper challenges. So I leave you with this article from ESPN about former NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel. I’ve written about Shane in the past, mentioned him in passing rather. He was banned from NASCAR for life for violating their substance abuse policy. He went into rehab, clean-up his act, and got back into racing midgets on dirt-tracks through out the south and the mid-west. Things were looking up for Shane, and he was aboput to make the jump to Indy Cars. That’s when the accident happened that changed his life forever. READ this story. Read it NOW! You and I don’t have it so bad after all.
And with that, let’s end the year a lighter note, and hope we can carry it forward. It’s time for a cold beer and a little music. It’s New Years Eve, but don’t get caught up in all that amateur stuff. Stay safe and we’ll see you next year.