For many the adventure of visiting other countries or even moving to another country to live, far outweighs the, what some might call, sacrifices - like giving up those things that are peculiar to their lives in their native countries.
Fogy has been living in Brazil for more than 36 years and you would expect memories of the past to fade and become insignificant. Many other people of other nationalities face similar situations, yet all of them still long for those dishes that were what was home, what mom cooked or simply the culture of their homeland.
Fogy's New Zealand is renowned for its Pies, Vegemite and Marmite, something alien to most people who have never visited NZ nor Australia.
Vegemite is a food flavouring derived from concentrated yeast and vegetable extracts mixed with spices. Originally from Australia, some might remember the Australian music group - Men at Work - that mentions Vegemite Sandwich in one of their popular songs, it is also a favourite among NZers, used in cooking stews, on hot toast with rich melted butter, on a cracker with cheese, or simply in a sandwich that children might take to school in their packed lunches.
Marmite is similar but is derived more from brewer's yeast and is loved or hated, both at the same time. Used for flavouring mostly meat dishes it is still an important part of the memory of NZ.
And now to the NZ Pie. Mostly made on a base of Flaky Pastry, today's pies are made up of so many different flavouring combinations it becomes increasingly harder to decide which one to buy.
A wide selection of NZ Pies
Fogy remembers when he was at school, every Friday was the day when children could choose between 'Fish & Chips', 'Sausage & Chips' or the iconic 'Meat Pie' for lunch. Having chosen what they wanted, a local takeaway store would deliver these to the school at lunchtime, and everybody would sit down and eat their food of choice - those were the days.
In a recent visit to NZ, Fogy put on about 2 kilos simply from consuming these longingly missed pleasures. Oh and don't get me started on the cans of Baked Beans, heated in a pot and served on hot buttered toast as well. We had a great life!!
Going to Scotland introduced Fogy to the national food called the Haggis. If you read what goes into them you might find yourself looking for a toilet immediately. The Haggis though is a delicious treat and can be enjoyed simply, or together with 'Tatties' & 'Neeps' or even with chips from your favourite Chippy.
Haggis, tatties & neeps
There are so many other dishes that stand out but none as much as the Haggis.
Irn-Bru (Iron Brew) is something you are not likely to find outside Scotland and is as peculiar to Scotland as Guaraná is to Brazil.
And what about Brazil? Well Brazil has its Cheese bread (Pão de Queijo) and Potato bread (Pão de Batata), Feijoada, Acarajé, as well as almost every other country's food types that might exist. Except of course, the ones mentioned above.
Fogy sometimes has this overriding desire to eat those traditional foods that have been part of his long life, except that they represent that very rich memory of other pleasures, those pleasures that are better left unspoiled.
For the great number of you who are not in the loop, F1 can be said to have more than joined the 21st century and the era of fully hybrid machines.
Whereas previous generations of F1 cars attached electric energy in much the same way as they once attached turbos, this new generation is committed to a 50% even spread of power from both the mechanical and electric engines, bringing the pseudo-hybrid era closer to what might be considered the ideal.
F1 has often been the testbed for concepts later incorporated into the domestic vehicles enjoyed by the man on the street, so efforts around a better understanding of combined mechanical and electric power must be positive for future generations of road vehicles—one would hope.
Coupled with this integration is a greater demand for fuel efficiency and more reliance on renewable fuels, rather than the fossil fuel directives recently emphasized by governments such as that of the United States.
Recent events illustrate how fragile this fossil fuel magnet is, with supplies dramatically threatened through political upheaval. The ability to provide for the needs of millions must be a worthwhile consequence of such measures. One can only hope that this is not too little, too late.
And on to what is even more important—the racing.
The 2026 regulations have forced teams into designing significantly smaller, lighter, and more complex racing machines.
Where the most recent rules focused on ground effects and closer grouping of cars to improve performance and competition, this time the focus is not only closer running but also a relaxation of previously banned flexibility in wing elements—an attempt to allow already existing technology to be deployed and eventually migrate toward domestic vehicles.
How successful has this been?
Of the two recently run races, only two teams have really shown how much they have grasped the potential of these new regulations: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and Scuderia Ferrari. As competitors and engine suppliers, their tasks were made doubly difficult, yet both have come through with race-winning—and fan-winning—solutions.
Other teams coming close include Alpine F1 Team and Haas F1 Team—engine customers—as well as Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team, running the RB-Ford powertrains.
Red Bull Racing itself still has to more fully understand where its interpretation of these new regulations has fallen short. McLaren Formula 1 Team, champions over the last two years, have also fallen foul of the late start to this year’s format, caused in part by the tough defence they were forced into from the resurging Raging Bulls, Max but two points shy from claiming a fifth title.
Many purists, along with a number of drivers, hate this Mario Kart version of F1, while those who appreciate innovation and adaptation understand that this year—like the many before it that introduced new formats—is as necessary as renovating an old building, an old lifestyle, or even an old political party.
Modernizing has its pains—but it sure beats a collapsing regime.
The Oscar for the most hideous presidency must go to the Duck.
Without doubt, what has transpired across the 14 months since inauguration day goes way beyond what is expected of a superpower. Describing disruption as a legitimate strategy is like stating that drowning is an essential part of learning to swim. Neither works, and both result in utter consternation with very little progress and heaps of confusion.
Of course, the shadow of a long dead Epstein hangs loomingly over the heads of the rich and mighty, where pillars once strong are so much more easily pushed into piles of collapse. Summers once long has become a Harvard discard, while a past prince drags his once respected family into a freefall of regret.
More than this, the subterfuge for peace has long past its usefulness, with the unearned substitute quelling a little of the thirst for undeserved recognition — expressed directly as a further thirst for fame and, more importantly, fortune — which has tinged practically the whole of this second term.
Having made the name and family richer than ever before, the task now is to keep the good times rolling as long as they last, and brace for the downfall that is surely to come.
And that was the rant — so let's get on with the critical analysis.
When Fogy landed on England's shores in 1983, the Supreme Leader of Iran was already a present and unpleasant force troubling the western world. So many prime ministers and presidents later, only one has had the courage to face the wrath of the red brigade. This must be considered one of the more favourable actions of the Duck, as should the Venezuelan action.
What is questionable is the motive behind these and the proposed liberation of Cuba and perhaps all of Central America. Self-serving distractions from the real issues, or well kept promises?
When the first missiles hit Tehran it seemed obvious that the promise to the Star of David leader was being fulfilled — just as the declaration of fuel-driven vehicles being the future of the US was a promise kept to the Saudis.
Whatever this now mixed-up world is beginning to shape itself into, not much of it is for the planet of the people — but more for the planet of the one family.
And yet this is simply history repeating itself — make no mistake — and with it must follow the same collapse and rebuilding that inevitably comes of this. But how long will it take, and what will the cost be?
On the face of it, this might seem to be a simple question and the answer is probably clear in your mind — it is the language you were born into, spoken through all those months while you grew and developed in your mother's womb. Not a conscious learning, nor possibly anything specifically related to the genes that had formed you, but still a comfortable sense of familiarity during the days after birth — those frightening days of realisation that the protective cocoon was no longer shielding you from the reality that abounded.
Yet as you grew, so did the interpretation of that language — the way it was used, shaped by those around you and their own understanding of your growth, filtered through the limited knowledge they carried of their own life's experience.
Fogy is reminded here and now that it has been some time since his speculative reasoning has surfaced and may not be so easily recognised — so bear with him.
Life's experience is where your ancestors and the more elderly members of your family may not have actually spoken your language in the way you came to know it — and here Fogy is talking about immigrants, asylum seekers, victims of upheaval in its various forms, who were thrust headfirst into adaptation without the privilege of the soft introduction a baby is afforded.
And the crux of the matter is exactly this. Language is a living entity in itself. What was born from a solid root of well-structured framework is constantly being carved into a reminiscence of itself, absorbing other influences, forced toward simplicity so that its very essence — communication — can continue.
Coming to Brazil and being faced with the uphill task of learning Portuguese, it quickly became apparent to Fogy that while completely different from his native English, there were still enough similarities to make deductive interpretation possible. While understanding came more easily, reproducing the language remained ever more elusive.
Then came the realisation that the more consistent rules and structures Fogy was familiar with had been gradually whittled from the original Portuguese — meaning that the language being spoken in Brazil was in many ways a modified subset of its European ancestor.
Over time, and after considerable criticism of American English, it became equally apparent that American English has undergone many similar transitions — simplifying a number of inconsistencies in the original while incorporating the languages of its many peoples and their origins. This inclusion has enriched the base language and expanded the breadth of its possible meanings. As an international reference, it has stepped well beyond the limitations imposed by more traditional forms.
But is it really English? And is Brazilian Portuguese really Portuguese?
Fogy would suggest the proper answer is NO — a very definite NO.
Americans have changed their language sufficiently that we should really be speaking of them as speaking American. Australians speaking Australian. New Zealanders, New Zealand. Jamaicans, Jamaican. The list continues as we begin to detect the great differences across similar usages of a single dialect — to the point where the question Do you speak English? might honestly be answered with: No, I speak — and here we might choose from any of the above, or any other variant that is rooted in but has grown well beyond the original.
Those from South America visiting Spain might well ask — what Spanish is this? It feels so different from the Spanish of Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile.
So — do you speak Portuguese or Brazilian? English or American? Spanish or Cuban?
Fogy believes we genuinely need to reconsider the overall designation of language — to allow the richer definition of origin to stand as legitimate linguistic recognition in its own right.
And perhaps, in doing so, we might also recognise that the people who shaped those languages deserve the same.
Well, it would seem that Fogy's life has become so much easier.
Having predicted that the United States of America would most certainly become the United States of Trump, it is with the utmost sadness to read that once again the Duck has forced a valuable and traditional institution to add his name. The Kennedy Center has now become a deformed version of what it used to be, with an ever-greater number of supporters refusing to accept this recent reformation.
Shades of Animal Farm, methinks — and rightly so. If you haven't read the book, I would highly recommend that you do. This highly fictional story parallels the author’s understanding of the communist system in the USSR at the time, and it is interesting to see how the current American system also seems to be mimicking aspects of the same.
But it is the chilling events of recent days that have drawn more attention.
Oh, and it is, of course, another way of distracting people's attention away from the Epstein debacle.
The alleged ‘kidnapping’ of the Venezuelan president under the pretence of drug-trafficking violations — more accurately framed as an assertion of control over Venezuela's vast oil and mineral reserves — was always going to be a point of contention across the world.
The underlying attack against China, Venezuela's chief oil-trading partner, and the crackdown on Russian-Venezuelan relations is an interesting consequence on the world’s chessboard.
Then the Duck declared that there was no limit to his empire-building — except for his own moral limits — and we then see declarations against Central American nations also being threatened with a US takeover.
But for those whose winters were already particularly icy, there is now the over-reach of Minnesota ICE, resulting in the death of an apparently innocent woman. What makes this particularly egregious is the spin the White House has put on this event and the lies that have since permeated through parts of the media.
As if that were not cold enough, the Duck's ego has landed him in the colder waters of the North Atlantic, where he has stated that he might even put ‘boots on the ground’ in Greenland if he is unsuccessful in buying this strategically desirable landmass from the Danes.
And meanwhile, ‘deep in the heart of Texas’ — and across much of the suffering interior of a forgotten American empire — affordability is just another discarded necessity, along with the rights of the ever-poorer and mistreated poor.
As you read this, January 12th, the Duck is only eight days away from completing his first year back in office. Yes, he has had the greatest impact of any president, past or present, on both his own country and the world at large. Only the future will tell if this has ever been positive.
For those wishing to debate the merits of such a claim, consider the immediate shock of his initial ‘blitzkrieg’ against the world’s economies, and the domestic reforms that have fed a world already in conflict and now drowning under ‘fake’ global-warming claims.
My apologies, dear readers, for I have been forced to lead off in 2026 with all of my previous resolutions thrown haphazardly onto a bonfire of destiny.
Yes — lots of new vocabulary to start the year.
So the question on most people’s lips has to be: what does this all mean?
The answer, inconveniently, is relatively simple.
Of all the qualities the Duck possesses — there may be only one — it is that he is doing exactly what he promised.
Almost.
“We are not interested in regime change. We are not wanting to invade other nations. We are only interested in making America great again.”
The Duck repeated this refrain throughout his campaign, with the confidence of a man who believes repetition alone can pass for truth.
What we perhaps failed to read into this was the historical footnote once coined by George H. W. Bush — “Read my lips” — a phrase that promptly delivered an outcome diametrically opposed to the promise it carried. Higher taxes followed.
And yet, to be fair, the Duck has delivered on several fronts.
A continuation of tax cuts for the wealthy.
A crusade against “fake news,” now generously expanded to include global warming.
A vow to clean up a wasteful administration while lowering costs and reducing the national debt.
Two out of five, one might argue, isn’t catastrophic.
A promising DOGE became a more meaningful dodge.
“Fake news” has spread far beyond the media, finding a comfortable home in his more than worthy penmanship.
And the national debt, rather than shrinking, has continued its unwelcome ascent as dubious administrative decisions become the rule rather than the exception.
And now — the invasion of a sovereign state.
Not since the Bay of Pigs, under John F. Kennedy, has the world witnessed such an episode unfold so close to the American homeland. That ill-fated moment around Cuba also brought the Cold War’s most dangerous standoff — a reminder of how quickly bravado can stumble into catastrophe.
Are we seeing something faintly familiar now, drifting around oil tankers and strained maritime patience?
Which brings us, inevitably, to Venezuela.
The legitimacy of action taken against that nation is, at best, elastic. When Nicolás Maduro clung to power after a more than dubious election, many — myself included — felt something should be done. But a world loudly defending sovereignty while condemning Russia chose restraint over intervention, leaving the political wrong to fester.
Now, grasping for justification, drug trafficking emerges as the conveniently sufficient rationale for removal. Better late than never, some may argue. Others may note that this fits neatly alongside the ineffectual attempts to pursue James Comey and Letitia James — retribution disguised as righteousness.
Let us be honest.
Much of what the Duck does is less about policy and more about erasure. An absolute need to discredit the president who came before him — Barack Obama — and to wipe his imprint clean from memory, record, and myth.
The last throes of Obamacare fade quietly.
The capture of Osama bin Laden is re-imagined, overshadowed, replaced.
A Nobel Peace Prize is rebadged into something more fitting — a FIFA-style award, handed out by grateful 'Soccer' administrators.
The progress once made toward planetary stewardship, global stability, and cooperative order — ably supported, we are reminded, by “the black man” — has been dismantled piece by piece.
All of this unfolds beneath the banner of a newly arisen empire, preparing to rule the planet — if not into greatness, then certainly into exhaustion — while its mighty Duck grows ever richer.
It will not take long before the most powerful Duck on the planet becomes the richest as well.
And as we all know:
Wealth breeds power.
Power breeds wealth.
And so we stand at the edge of a reordered world, not forged through grand design or ideological clarity, but assembled opportunistically — deal by deal, grudge by grudge.
No manifesto.
No doctrine.
Just momentum.
This empire in decline has taken center stage once more around a concoction neatly mirroring a certain regime of the 1930s.
And, as in both cases, this was chosen by a people, blinded by the hypnotic effect of a bombastic bully.
Last year was, by any reasonable measure, an extraordinary one for me personally.
I started this blog, completed the development of a full billing system, and somehow managed to keep my wife from going completely mad — all at the same time.
And while I did, inevitably, get a little older, Fogy has had the curious effect of making me appear a little wiser too. With so much madness unfolding across the world, Fogy became a way to vent a frustration shared by many — those watching global events erupt while reliable information became increasingly scarce.
The real challenge was digesting all of that without simply getting fatter and fatter.
But this year is going to be different.
The world will find a more even keel. No major craziness will occur. How could it, after the sheer concentration of insanity that was 2025?
So here it is — my New Year’s resolution:
I will focus only on the positives.
I will keep the US president out of my posts.
And I challenge you, dear reader, to do the same.
Let’s get 2026 off to a good start.
…
And some lunatic has just kidnapped the Venezuelan president.
Other lunatics are still refusing to find common ground — prolonging wars that should already have ended.
And yet more lunatics remain convinced that their personal wealth matters more than the welfare of the planet itself.
In a previous post, I suggested that the New Year is really just another day.
Simply put, almost without exception, the standards displayed by teams and drivers were excellent, and F1 finally lived up to its promise of the kind of excitement not seen since 2021.
Many spectators may have found some moments kind of boring, a little like watching a game of football with only one goal scored at the end, but for those who truly follow the sport there was much to be admired across each race. So much talent, so many options, and so much personality.
Fogy, as is his want, fully appreciates the technical details—the added understanding of what makes these technical marvels perform as well as they do at this level. Appreciates too what it takes to bring a championship-winning team and driver’s potential to fully meet that aim.
There have to be winners as well as losers, so let’s go through each of these from bottom to top.
Perhaps the unfair beginning must go to the Alpine team. Faced with a similar conundrum as Red Bull, their driver line-up certainly didn’t help a team labouring under the constraints of an underperforming engine and what appeared to be an outdated car. Some moments of elation for Pierre, but seven races without scoring points is not ideal—and zero points for their second driver(s) doesn’t help their cause.
A strong showing from the experienced Hulk and the rookie Brazilian guaranteed that Audi’s decisions were not misplaced. Having built a strong back-office and a willing partnership, they took the team’s last season under the Peter Sauber moniker one step higher—and 66 points better—in a highly competitive season. Highlights included Hulk’s podium at Silverstone, and the butterfly (borboleta in Portuguese) dominating qualifying(s), while flying from wall to wall at his home race.
Haas looked to be dropping like a stone, with 10th place all but guaranteed, until a timely update launched it from being an also-ran to a Bearman unstoppable run of points. Then Ocon finally found his mojo and stepped up to the plate—letting fly with his own final haul—guaranteeing that Gene Haas had something to celebrate and sell to a willing Toyota determined to return to the F1 fold.
Alonso’s long, extended run of pointless finishes (and races at times) made the bottom of the table seem as inevitable as that of Haas. Yet final rounds of inspired Alonso results kept their fortunes alive, and even Lance stepped up to contribute his oh-so-little bit(s). Honda and Newey should make a great difference to this emerald tradition, perhaps taking them from 007 to 001 if the stars fully align.
Second in last year’s F2 championship and a late inclusion at season ’24’s end made a parade-lap DNF in his first race seem like the death knell ringing before the lights were lit. Yet Hadjar threw all of that aside and demonstrated the tenacity that has earned him the right to partner Max in 2026. Liam, on the other hand, unfairly demoted (Max’s thoughts too), had it all to do to rise above a shell-shocked start to his season. While not as outstanding as his team-mate, he fought through that initial pain to acquit himself well, earning the right to continue another season (so much better than Brendon Hartley, the other Kiwi who tried to please Helmut but failed). Liam’s career has been tumultuous, to say the least, with RB making life as difficult as possible for him under Mr Horner. Let’s hope this more stable environment will bring positive vibes.
And the turnaround—one of the best in recent times (if we discount the McLaren resurgence). James Vowles is not one of their drivers, although he does like to compete at a different level. JV is the team principal tasked with reversing the trend that had plagued them for so long, took a chance with a discarded Sainz, and this leap of faith also leapt them 120 points—from 9th to 5th. Albon led the charge until consistency left him, while Sainz recovered from the transition—Ferrari to Mercedes—and did much more than was expected to secure two totally unexpected podiums, proving to everyone how a skilled manager can direct a well-built team forward given enough time and energy.
Perhaps the saddest outcome possible for a team that had come so close to winning the Team’s championship the year before—suddenly relegated to fighting for a top-ten finish, race after race, without respite. True to form, Leclerc managed plenty of podiums when fortune favoured the brave, but the hapless Hamilton demonstrated how much more difficult it was to move beyond the strengths of Mercedes to the challenges of Ferrari.
And here I must endeavour to remove the taint of bias I harbour against this racer—Silverstone 2021, Abu Dhabi 2016—but it wasn’t the fact that his results were not as good as was expected; it was the childlike attitude that seemed to dominate each and every response. Even the equally hapless Angela failed to turn this Ham around. It isn’t the skill that has been lost—Schumacher would testify to this after his return from retirement—but the attitude that the Ham holds so highly above everything else. Get it together soon, or all you have achieved will be washed out an ever-spinning door.
2026 — Max & Hadjar — Engine = RB/Ford Powertrains
What can we say. Universally voted as the very best driver on the grid, Max’s performances made a mediocre car (many times) hum many different tunes as he spun his way forward from an impossible deficit to only two points behind the champion. And how difficult was the car, you might ask? Well, it cost Liam his seat after only two races and Yuki’s career after 20 races. Very few drivers have ever been able to drive such a beast—and few teams have ever been able to tame such a beast—since Michael Schumacher at Ferrari all those years ago. A change in management contributed greatly to their turnaround, as did timely updates that made the beast so much more predictable. Max stated very clearly that it was a massive team turnaround—not luck, nor driver skill.
Mercedes
2024 — 4th — 468 points — Hamilton 7th, 223 — George 6th, 245
2025 — 2nd — 469 points — George 4th, 319 — Kimi 7th, 150
2026 — George & Kimi — Engine = Mercedes
So how does a teenager replace a seven-time world F1 champion? Simple: firm stewarding, along with a willing team-mate in a team used to performing at the highest of levels. Both drivers gave their utmost, with a very young Kimi pushing the experienced George well beyond what he had experienced before. Even Hamilton succumbed to George’s performances—but not Kimi, who gave as good as he got even if his points tally does not reflect that. There is a great future ahead for the youngster, and the older guy as well. Congrats, Mercedes, for being able to climb back so high—and securing first, second, fifth, and seventh places with their engines.
What can you say about the closely fought fight at the front, dominated by this dominant team that is reliving its glory days of the past while emulating the levels of skill demonstrated by both RB and Ferrari in their heydays.
Leadership was once again on display, and explains the core science behind most winning teams, no matter what sport you might be thinking of.
Was it the mid-year resurgence of Norris or the mid-year decline of Piastri that draws the most compelling comments? Neither, I would venture to say. So many results throughout the year came as a result of luck or good fortune versus bad luck or bad fortune. While we often state that we create our own luck through our own attitudes and beliefs, so much of what happens is beyond what we can control. And so too for both drivers—with the engine blues in Zandvoort for Norris, and the Piastri Brazilian affair that left him walking duck-like from the event.
But that is all “water under the bridge”—which also contributed to deciding the fortunes of so many.
2026 means new regulations, new challenges, and an eleventh team on the grid with the return of Bottas and Perez driving the new Cadillac cars—Ferrari-powered for the moment, but with promises of more home-grown features in the near future.
So much to look forward to after such a compelling end of format.
