Author: Andy Pickard

Austin, Texas filmmaker. Graduate of The University of Texas at Austin in 1992 with a degree in Radio-Television-Film. Award winning video editor and documentary filmmaker.

Let’s Add To The World

August 27, 2020
Old Truck – New Life

Let’s add to our world. Let’s create. Let’s get out of each others way. Let us help our friends and neighbors. Let’s fight and then make up. Let’s blame ourselves and then blame others. Let us march with our enemies and our friends. Let’s forget and then remember. Let’s grow. Let’s get sick and then heal. Let’s die and then mourn.

Let us welcome life into the world.

#44 ~ Let’s Race

June 25, 2020

There’s no human endeavor quite like motor racing. When you pair a human with a machine and provide the space for those humans/machines to compete against each other, you create a play, a narrative, a story. The cast of characters are made up of motivated drivers, crafty mechanics, exuberant fans, grueling tracks and of course, cars. And the natural elements play a role too in the form of spotty rain showers turning a track into an ice rink or a slimy mud bog. The animation above, highlights the mercurial nature of weather and track. That’s my son’s Subaru Impreza at Lone Star Rallycross. He lets me drive it at the track on race days while he drives a Mazda Miata. On this occasion, he upgraded the tires and wheels, and what a difference that made in the performance. I fixed the number forty-four on the doors with painter’s tape and entered the car into the stock four-wheel drive class. It rained heavily in the morning. The track turned into porridge. And the first run of cars plowed to a stop in the mud. We waited for them to be towed off track. And we took an hour break while track dried out. The rest of the day was a blast.

It is not always possible to be the best, but it is always possible to improve your own performance.

Jackie Stewart

Lewis Hamilton USGP 2019 – Practice Session

I chose number 44 out of respect for one of my all-time favorite drivers, Lewis Hamilton. Perhaps, thinking of his greatest performances would inspire me to perform my best. I’m sure there have been many drivers in the past sporting the 44. But, I was thinking of him when I taped the numbers on the doors. I did well that day and placed 3rd in the stock four-wheel drive category. That’s my best finish at Lone Star Rallycross.

I look forward to racing again and maybe writing more about the experience. I realize this post is fairly stream of consciousness, but it’s my way of talking about one of my favorite sports. I have plenty of pictures to show and lots of video. So, stay tuned.

Calling Balls and Strikes

June 22, 2020

Nobody ever told P.E. to just play music and lay off politics. Taking a stance and positioning themselves at the center of the conversation has always been the P.E. way.

I took the title from a quote by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, “My job is to call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat.” For decades the hip hop community have been chronicling the double standards of race in the American experience. Public Enemy has been cast as protest rap, but I believe they are like baseball umpires with a microphone calling out the balls and strikes of the players, in this case, the executive branch of The United States. The State of the Union may be down right now, but we have many people across the country flagging abuses of power, calling for change, calling balls and strikes. More power to them.