Personal

Personal - Tony Flanders

I live in New Westminster, British Columbia on the Quay by the boardwalk on the Fraser River, with Lizzie, my wife of 30 years and our cats

Smokey

and Bandit.

My major personal interest is cars. I’ve owned an MGA, Mini Cooper, an Olds Cutlass Supreme (not the 442), an Austin Healey 3000 Mk III, a Lotus Europa, two Dodge Darts, ‘78 and ‘85 Trans Am’s,

and an ‘84 Corvette with a lot of work done on it that ran over 350,000 kilometers before I let it go.

Now, I drive a Subaru WRX Sti. I don’t street race but the back roads through the Coastal mountains and the Rockies allow a lot of spirited driving. And the Sti is a joy to drive on those roads.

With my racer friend Derek Ross, I’ve been to a Trans-Am race in Dallas and the year-end banquet; a Nascar road race in Sonoma; Indy/Champ car races at Laguna Seca, Portland and Vancouver; Trans-Am testing at Mosport; and the 2006 IRL Chicago race followed by the IndyCar year-end banquet at the Indianapolis Motor Speeedway.

Going to the races with Derek is a tremendous experience which every race fan should have - he knows absolutely everybody (and they know him), and he has detailed knowledge of the cars, the tracks, the racing line and strategies. In fact, a part of what he does now is what he calls the Race sherpa service where he acts as the racing host and guide for corporate sponsors and corporate events. He does racing podcasts and hosts a major racing portal at RaceDrive.com. See his sites listed on my Blogroll.

I need to acknowledge his help in getting me up and running on this site. Without him talking me into it then talking me through it never would have happened.

Thanks, Derek.

My other time consuming interest is my new Panasonic PV - GS500 three-chip, wide-screen digital video camera from my local London Drug store for $979. a RAM and operating system upgrade to my Powerbook and iLife 2007, and I am now shooting webclips for clients at a killer price break. This stuff is stunning. Put it on AUTO and shoot. Drag and drop. Done. My other major project is a novel; a work-in-progress