And as such, today I have another article from Ágota (She's the best, isn't she?) - and this time she brings us a totally different topic than the one before.
Here goes my attempt at a second blog entry, in which I would like to share with you one of my favorite television shows that actually makes me laugh every single episode, Top Gear.
It is a British television show about motor vehicles, mainly about cars (sometimes even gorgeous supercars), and it is currently presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May- they really make the show exceptionally funny and really, really interesting.
Top Gear isn't just about cars, as you probably guessed, because cars alone aren't funny (although Fiat Multipla does merit a few giggles), so there has to be more, and there is. It has races, challenges, specials, a star in a reasonably priced car, power laps, the cool wall, and unusual reviews.
The races typically feature Clarkson (or one of the other presenters) driving a car against other forms of transport, and these usually involve Hammond and May taking the same journey by combinations of plane, train or ferry. Others involve one of the presenters, in a car chosen by them, racing head-to-head against an athlete in conditions that favor the latter. There are also short races between two cars, just to find out which would win.
One of the memorable races was in which Richard Hammond raced rocket-powered flying man Yves Rossy against a rally-spec Skoda. Check it out:
Top Gear Challenges are those segments of the show in which the presenters are challenged by the producers, or by each other, to prove or do various things related to cars (and those poor things rarely survive the end of these segments), and sometimes other motor vehicles too.
In this challenge the Top Gear boys had to build from ordinary cars amphibious ones, and then take up the challenges made by the producers, which this time involved a lake too.
Specials are special episodes, currently 7 made beginning from 2007, and these feature Clarkson, Hammond and May travelling long-distance across a foreign country or region in cars they picked out and purchased on a limited budget.
In the Botswana special the Top Gear boys are traveling from the Zimbabwean border to the Namibian border, Hammond in a 1963 Opel Kadett, Clarkson driving a 1981 Lancia Beta Coupé and a 1985 Mercedes-Benz 230E being James May’s choice.
In this challenge the Top Gear boys had to build from ordinary cars amphibious ones, and then take up the challenges made by the producers, which this time involved a lake too.
Specials are special episodes, currently 7 made beginning from 2007, and these feature Clarkson, Hammond and May travelling long-distance across a foreign country or region in cars they picked out and purchased on a limited budget.
In the Botswana special the Top Gear boys are traveling from the Zimbabwean border to the Namibian border, Hammond in a 1963 Opel Kadett, Clarkson driving a 1981 Lancia Beta Coupé and a 1985 Mercedes-Benz 230E being James May’s choice.
Part one, where Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May prepare for their adventure across the Botswanean salt flats, that were never crossed by a car before.
Part two, where they have to cross the Okavango Delta game reserve and drive on through the border into the wild animal lands of Namibia.
In every episode there is a guest star that is being interviewed by Clarkson and then we are treated to his or her fastest lap around the Top Gear test track. The time of each star is recorded on a leader board.
The next segment is A star in a reasonably priced car. Up until now three reasonably priced cars were used, the first was a Suzuki Liana, then came the Chevrolet Lancetti, and that was replaced by the Kia Cee’d.
With three different cars we have three leaders which are Ellen MacArthur (in the Liana, with a time of 1:46.7), Jay Kay (in the Lancetti, with a time of 1:45.83) and the fastest time in the Kia Cee'd was Matt LeBlanc (YAY MATT! - that was me, sorry Ágo) who achieved the current fastest time ever of 1:42.1 in February 2012.
This article is getting long, but when talking about Top Gear you have to mention The Stig, who is a bit of a mystery, drives a car in the Power Laps segment with the purpose of gauging the performance of various cars.
A few things about The Stig:
Some say he drinks by sucking the moisture out of ducks, and that his crash helmet design is modeled on Britney Spears' head. All we know is, he's called The Stig.
Some say he doesn't appear on Coronation Street and that he'd be the worst Big Brother contestant ever. All we know is, he's called The Stig.
Some say he's tired of being introduced like this, and if anyone's going to flog a dead horse it should be him. All we know is, he's called The Stig.
So are you watching it yet? No? Then go go and GO!!!
Lastly here is a movie recomendation from me, called Iron Sky, a parody and a modern satire rolled into one film. Nazis that colonized the dark side of the Moon in 1945 and now in 2018 they are back for revenge. And for those of you who like sci-fi visuals this one has some serious eye candy, also those that appreciate weird humor - you will find it here.
So that's it for today, guys! I think Ágota managed to make this whole series pretty damned interesting - and even if I'm not that huge of a car-lover, I think I will check it all out. What do you think?
