The NEW fingerprint blog is now online!
The new fingerprint blog is now active.
Click to: http://fingerprint.typepad.com
Yes indeed... wake the neighbors, email the kids and post in your fave chatroom. Don't forget to update your bookmarks and your RSS settings.
The new site is where you'll see all of the new entries and much more of the content you've come to expect since 2004. This site will remain online with all of the archives intact.
Thanks again for clicking to fingerprint inc, and fingerprintonline.com!
Take care,
jade.
| Get Well LO | | Date Created: Feb 26, 2008, 08:27 PM |
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| If you've ever met the Harvick's dog, LO, you know she's like Kevin and DeLana's favorite child. She's a personable little ball of fire who recently underwent some major surgery to fuse several vertebra together. It's a rough surgery, but she seems to be doing well. To mark her recovery, the nurses at LO's vet's office decided her body cast needed -- in DeLana's words - "a little flair." So, for all of you NASCAR and Office Space fans, here's wishing LO a speedy recovery. (Did someone say "Something About Mary?") |
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| #33 - Kevin's KHI Nationwide Series number... |
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| and don't forget Kevin's #29 Sprint Cup ride... |
| Those Wacky Kids... | | Date Created: Feb 25, 2008, 01:14 PM |
Despite My Best Intentions: I did indeed carve a time to watch the race Sunday, but found myself napping and then leaving before the final rain stoppage. I could get used to this concept of not allowing the Cup calendar to dictate my every waking moment. (Disclaimer -- ok, ok... I admit it... I'm in the hotel room, feet up, and the TV tuned to Fox watching the remainder of the event Monday morning.)
After nine seasons, it's hard to simply cut off the emotional ties to a sponsor and driver. And it's hard to hide my disappointment at what I believe are very poorly conceived commercials for my former beverage client and former driver. So much less than I had hoped for from both. Yawn. Unimaginative and less than compelling. SO much potential, such little results. |
| A Daytona Wrap-Up... and a Brief Farewell | | Date Created: Feb 19, 2008, 10:26 PM |
This year's Daytona 500 was a surprise all-around... from the sleep-inducing lack of action in the first 150 laps, to the mass of Dodges who seemingly came from nowhere to finish among the top-10, to the apparent lack of performance from the Hendrick camp and then a surprising victor. Ryan Newman and Roger Penske both have seemed star-crossed at Daytona, so their victory was a long-deserved triumph.... Only 35 more races (plus an all-star tilt) until the season's end...
It was very cool to see many of the past winners of the 500 get recognition they so deserve. It was a chance to see many legends in the same room - including many on my list of "The Best Racers" from 2005. |
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Hope You Can All Be Patient: After negotiating what the future holds for me for the remainder of the season, I will be taking my first extended, real vacation since starting fingerprint inc, in 1999. I may get restless or inspired and post an occasional missive from the road, but I'll not be fully engaged in the world of racing for the next few weeks. So, deep breath. Exhale. Repeat. You'll be OK.
Speaking of the world of racing, the rumbling you felt today was hell freezing over and the Champ Car/IRL merger which is (seemingly) finally happening - 14 years too late. I am proud to have been a part of the CART Series in a time when the sponsors were plentiful and the racing was superb, and it has pained my heart greatly to see what was once great become an embarrassment. Greed and selfishness trumped the good of the sport - and there's enough blame to go around.
I hope the larger fields and adding prestigious events like the Long Beach Grand Prix to the new IRL schedule will begin the long, arduous process of re-building the sport. It won't be easy and it won't happen overnight, but it's something that was almost obscene in its length and its horrific effect on what was once America's most popular motorsports category.
MY BAD: OK, you can quit badgering Amy Walsh and the new PR team. The Hendrick competition side has chosen to not allow podcasts.... It's their right to not distribute their chatter as it is the team which owns the rights to its radio communications.
Fun-Time Reading while I'm gone: Try "How to Test Drive Friends and Irritate Others." HA! I should have tried this long ago. And "Should the President Use E-Mail?" Too busy to read everything cool on the web? Try the new site "Brijit," which offers 100-word capsules of the best of the web - and then you can pick and choose from there.
The reason I can't seem to get dates?! I may have been going at it the wrong way. Perhaps the method is EYE GAZING. Sigh...
Media Relations 101: If you have someone else speak for you, make CERTAIN they are well-prepared and correctly informed. Skip ahead to 2:52 into the video for the most awkward on-air moments of the campaign thus far.
The Follow-Up: Mr. Watson's well-written response from today...
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- racin' > A Daytona Wrap-Up... and a Brief Farewell
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| Daytona: The Quiet Before the Storm | | Date Created: Feb 15, 2008, 09:57 AM |
 It's quiet so far here Friday morning at Daytona - the field is set for the the 500 and we get into the heart of Speedweeks with the truck race (often the best of the week), the Nationwide 300 and then the 50th 500. I'm encouraged by the quality of racing so far with the new car - and it looks like it'll be a battle royale Sunday afternoon/evening. I'm sticking with my predictions: 88 and the 20...
Dale Junior could be eligible for appearing on VH-1's "BEST WEEK EVER," especially if he keeps winning. Despite an Associated Press note to the contrary, Dale Jr. has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated before this week -- including the "Junior Nation" cover from 2003 and the Daytona 500 victory cover in 2004. Not only is Junior on the cover of this week's "regular" edition, his ex also made the cover of the swimsuit edition. Not a bad week. Not bad at all - especially drinking god-awful AMP in victory lane of two beverage competitors - Gatorade and Bud,.. |
 In the world of Petty, look for the King in today's USA Today and then also on the cover of Sunday's USA Weekend. The Petty Enterprises record in the 500 is pretty stunning. Richard has won seven, but the team itself has a total of nine Daytona 500 victories - including Lee Petty with a photo finish win in the very first 500. (Bonus points if you can name the Hollywood-handsome driver who drove a Petty Superbird to a victory in 1970.) King Richard will also be featured on several Speed segments as well as the pre-race show on Fox as the only man to win seven 500s... Bobby Labonte was very racy in the Duel, while Kyle Petty hopes a new lump (um... engine) makes him much more competitive in the 500. |
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Reading Recommendations: While you're anxiously awaiting the mid-afternoon start for the 500, here's a few interesting links from this week that have nothing to do with horsepower...
NATURE or NURTURE?! : A fascinating study about the genetic predisposition to be conservative or liberal. Who knew?!
Chicken Doves: I admire the style of Rolling Stone's political writer Matt Taibbi - who is very eager to call "bullshit" wherever he sees it. Taibbi is also one of the new political reporters for HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," and his latest story in Rolling Stone about the Chicken Hawks in the Democratic-majority house and Senate who have let down those who voted them into office. Good stuff.
Play Hard: I am fascinated by the many micro-businesses which seem to be making life better in third-world countries around the world - but here's one that is fun AND practical. Kids play, the village benefits. Drink up. |
- racin' > Daytona: The Quiet Before the Storm
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| The Budweiser Shootout | | Date Created: Feb 09, 2008, 10:15 PM |
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It's like old times. And it's nice to see Dale Jr. smile like that again.
I will not be surprised if Junior matches -- or beats -- his own record of three wins during a single Speedweeks. Watch out. It's the 88 and 20 the next 8 days.
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SUNDAY UPDATE:
We've got the audio of the complete post-race news conference with Dale Jr,, Rick Hendrick and Tony Eury Jr. It's 41 minutes - which is about the time it takes for each car to qualify today for the 500... |
- racin' > The Budweiser Shootout
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| Media Day at Daytona with Kyle Petty | | Date Created: Feb 07, 2008, 04:50 PM |
 Most drivers seem to enjoy the several hours of photos, video, film and recorded interviews with the glee of getting a root canal without Novocaine. That includes Kyle Petty, who likened it to a certain medical procedure done on us males beyond the age of 40. (Think a lubricated index finger of a surgical glove...)
But, tacky medical references aside, I found myself enthralled to listen in on Petty's numerous interviews. Despite his mock-protestations of "I'm a guy who hasn't won in 15 years! No one wants to talk to me! Let's go!," and staking his role as the self-proclaimed "king of bullshit," he managed to hold court with the same sense of wit, intelligence and story-telling skills of the driver I worked with previously. Petty is at once contagiously sharp, energetic and opinionated.
Asked about NASCAR "looking back to their roots" to gain fans, he argued forcefully that it's a new world and new business model that drives the series. NASCAR needs to look forward, not back, and the recent influx of open-wheel drivers with championship credentials "only confirms the claim that this is the best series in the world, and it should include the best drivers in the world."
He regaled the gathered scribes with his favorite Daytona memories, which include his youthful days playing on a playground immediately behind the original scoring tower at the track ("every thirty minutes or so, one of the moms would come out to make sure we hadn't killed each other") and the tumultuous finish in 1976 when David Pearson and his father, King Richard, crashed in the final turn of the final lap of the 500, prompting Kyle and the rest of the STP crew to run out onto the tri-oval grass to push the crippled #43 car closer to the finish line. ("I always watch that footage and there I am runnin' out there to push...")
Not every story was funny - he was equally as riveting when describing the pride, honor and obligation he feels everytime he steps into the #45 car that was meant for his son Adam until that bleak day in May, 2000.
Watch your fave newspapers and websites in the coming days where I am sure you'll see some of his gems mixed among the same ol' "Hendrick = the New York Yankees" tomes.
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Note to self: Double-check the lift-off time of the space shuttle.... I've been privileged to see several previous take-offs from Daytona Beach and New Smyrna, which are close enough to the Kennedy Space Center to feel, hear and see the majestic rocket's red glare as it ascends into orbit. I stopped by the local Food Lion this afternoon to stock up on pseudo-healthy snacks and bottled water for the hotel room, only to notice upon exit many of the employees and customers with their necks craning skyward. I managed to see only a few remaining whiffs of the shuttle's contrails disappear into the overcast skies. Sigh. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Tomorrow? Cars on track in anger for the first time this year prior to Saturday's Budweiser Shootout!
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- racin' > Media Day at Daytona with Kyle Petty
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