Michael Schumacher Is The Stig?

Okay, I know I’m a few months late on this great discovery. I’ve been busy and I just saw the episode.

Anyway, so here’s what an article had to point out regarding the episode:

Some say that it was a publicity stunt, and that the BBC almost broke its own guidelines by allowing a guest to plug a brand of rum. All we know is: Top Gear has claimed that Michael Schumacher is The Stig.

The corporation pretended that it would finally end speculation about the identity of the mysterious test driver who puts cars through their paces for the programme by claiming that the real Stig would be unmasked.

But in the event it was a stunt to allow Michael Schumacher, the former Formula One champion, to give publicity for Bacardi, which pays him to raise its profile.

The segment, broadcast at 8.30pm on BBC Two, showed the driver breaking the lap record for vehicles on the Top Gear track while driving a Ferrari FXX. Schumacher broke the previous record, set by a Gumpert Apollo, by almost seven seconds as he crossed the finishing line in 1 minute and 10.7 seconds.

Here’s the point to pay attention to though:

Footage at the end of the programme showed Schumacher driving ineptly around the track, causing Clarkson to comment: “You know what? I don’t think that Michael Schumacher is The Stig.”

That to me seems like they were trying to say, “it’s really not”. I have my own reasons for feeling he wasn’t the stig. I know I’m not the first person to say that. But from the moment he stood there at the back of the studio I felt something weird about him. It was as though he looked very different. From his standing pose to his physique to his style of walking. Even when Jeremy sat him down and asked him whether he’s ready to reveal his identity, he didn’t seem the same. Anyone else sense that? I guess it could have been because an article claims that Top Gear uses different people to play The Stig.

A source on the show added: ‘Look at the pictures of the Stigs from show to show. If you look at the height of Stig in different pictures, that tells its own story.

‘In some he looks a lot taller than others. People have become obsessed with finding who the Stig is but they have not considered that it is possible that it is more than one person. The simple fact of the matter is that there are currently a number of Stigs who drive on the test track. Since the Stig first drove on the show, it has never been practical to have one single driver taking care of all the Stig’s many commitments.’

Well, that’s just great. So who knows. Maybe Michael Schumacher WAS the real STIG! Okay, I spoke too soon, here’s a wiki article on the matter:

On 21 June 2009, Schumacher appeared on BBC2′s motoring programme Top Gear as The Stig. The BBC has since admitted that Michael Schumacher is not the regular Stig and was there on that occasion because Ferrari would not allow anyone else to drive the Ferrari FXX which was featured in the show.

Ignorance Is Bliss?

I was watching this Asian drama on tv and some of the things I heard on the show made me laugh like hell at it’s absurdity. A man had a head injury and was rushed to the hospital. The dr. informs the family members that he has lost a lot of blood (typical tv drama issue) and needs an immediate blood transfusion. Most doctors would be able to catch the fact that you can’t have a huge amount of blood collecting in the cranial cavity (skull) due to the lack of space. The second thing the dr. proceeds to mention that the patient’s blood group is AB positive and they do not have that blood group in the hospital and cannot accept any other blood type! Most high school grads know that AB positive is a universal recipient blood type! You can give them any blood type! And to my shock he goes on to refuse to accept O negative blood type which is the universal donor! People with this blood type can donate to every single blood type! I feel bad for the Asian audience listening to this nonsense. The least they can do is get such basic facts right and educate the poor public.

Divorce, Islam and Dr. Phil

I was watching Dr. Phil recently (For Better or Worse) where a couple were not sure if they can stay married as the husband had cheated on his wife. Towards the end of the show, Dr. Phil says to the wife that he’ll tell her exactly when she will know to divorce her husband. I was expecting him to say something like when he proves he can’t stay sincere, etc. Instead he said something that really surprised me. He said, when you feel no anger then you can leave him because when your children ask you why you left their father, the reply is not in anger but that you tried everything but it just doesn’t work.

For some reason his words reminded me of the following ayah in the Holy Quran regarding divorce:
Take them back in kindness or part from them in kindness (65:2)

Although this ayah is referring to men divorcing women but I really appreciated Dr. Phil for telling the lady not to separate in anger. We do many things in anger that we regret sometimes. His reasoning for that recommendation was for the benefit of the couple’s children. I appreciate him even more now.