Parnelli's GT2 stories.

The man at the desk was now...not at his desk anymore. Matter of fact, he was not even in his office, like he possibly would have been at this time of day. Matter of fact, he was not in the building where he normally worked. Not in the town where he lived, nor the country where he had spent the majority of his life.

At the moment, he's now in a completely different country, one he had visited only a few times previously.

He sits back in a chair that costs more than some of us make in an entire year; a genuine Eileen Gray, made around the time when World War I was just gearing up. As a lot of rumbling begins far below him, the man who was at the desk (but is now at a sort of console) now pauses from stirring his tea.

He sits up. Pauses. And now stands to get a better look at the cars below.
 
Roger the Horse: Huh? Sure you got the right thread, buddy? :lol:

VANDENAL & jeffgoddin: hey, good to see you two. :)👍 I know you've been waiting for this one, and so am I.

I'm going to start with a bunch of Cake lyrics. If you're not familiar with the song, have a read. Or if you've got higher-speed internet, you can also listen to the song, as well, if you go on YouTube. I'm too lazy to hook y'all up with the URL, though..

I think it's called "Going the Distance". By Cake.


Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,
Engines pumping and thumping in time.
The green light flashes, the flags goes up,
Churning and burning, they yern for the cup.

They deftly manouver and muscle for rank,
Fuel burning fast on an empty tank,
Wreckless and wild they pour thru the turns,
Their prowless is podent and secretly stern.

As they speed thru the finish the flags go down.
The fans get up, and get out of town.
The arena is empty except for one man,
Still driving and striving as fast as he can

The sun has gone down and the moon has come up,
And long ago somebody left with the cup,
But he's driving and striving and hugging the turns,
And thinking of someone for whom he still burns.

He's going the distance.
He's going for speed.
She's all alone, all alone in her time of need.

Because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course,
He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse.
He's going the distance.

Yeah!

No trophy, no flowers, no flash bulbs, no wine.
He's haunted by something he cannot define.
Bowel shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse,
Assail him, impale him with monster truck force.
In his mind he's still driving, still making the grade.
She's hoping time that her memories will fade,
Cause he's racing and pacing and plotting the course,
He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse.

The sun has gone down and the moon has come up,
And long ago somebody left with the cup.
But he's striving and driving and hugging the turns,
And thinking of someone for whom he still burns.

Cause he's going the distance.
He's going for speed.
She's all alone, all alone in her time of need.

Because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course,
He's figting and biting and riding on his horse,
He's racing and pacing and plotting the course,
He's figting and biting and riding on his horse!

He's going the distance.
He's going for speed.
He's going the distance...



Back when I first started GT1, I guess you can say one day I took more of an interest in Going the Distance. I actually listened to and figured out what the lyrics are saying, and learned it's about a driver who loses a race, yet he keeps driving around the course, even though the race is long over! Kinda fits with this scenario.

Driver: Graham "Yuppy Scum" Wellington

Car: 1991 Infiniti G20

Horsepower: 155 @ 6,300 rpm
Torque: 141 @ 5,000 rpm

Weight: (WR1 package)
Tires: sports
Suspension: sports
Differential: stock



3....2...1....GO!!!


GONE!!!!!

All his worries, all his freting...

GONE!!!!


His wife, his mother-in-law, this stupid "vacation"

GONE!!!!


Graham finds his nerves, and tries his best to center the clutch on a good area of revs. With little fuss and a small amount of smoke (but lots of noise), his car now LIFTS off this starting grid!!!

Before him are (once again) another gang of Euro-mobiles, and other than an Audi sedan and a Jaguar of some sort, he has no idea the make & model of any of them!!

But to his left, as his adrenaline pumps and his eyes blur, he sees a familiar shape. WOW. it's Ben Dover! He's driving the same funny-looking Italian car he drove in Switzerland.

GOOD!

If Ben's in this race, Graham knows he's gonna win it!

"I'm gonna win. Go Daddy! Go win this race, daddy!"
he yells!

As he shifts into 2nd and then 3rd and the cars find their way into Turn 1, Grham tries to skew his Infiniti to the left in preparation, only to find he pushes a little too hard and gets a little bit too far too the left!* :lol: Dammit! He tries to correct, and over-compensates, his sedan now swinging to the right! Ooops! A little too neverous, he is!

Into Turn 1, Graham starts to SSWEAT! :scared: Despite his loosened tie and the small bottle of mineral water a GT coordinator gave him! He's now in 3rd gear, doing abou t 78 mph, yet he hasn't even passed anybody yet!!!

He aims towards the yellow stripes on the right side of hte road and STEERS IN!!! ...gettting over the red & white rumbly strip!! His car rocks to & fro, and still he cannot get a pass on anybody DAMMMMIT!!!!!!!

Now he's rolling up the 2nd straight area into the small bend that's called Turn 2he pushes th eaccelerator until it creaks with agony, yet Graham is way too preoccupied to notcie! As the cars roll into Turn 2, he's now doing about 100 mph and finally shifts into 4th gear! STILL...IN...LAST PLACE!!! But no fear! The Colliseum turns are coming!!

He brakes, downshifts to 3rd, and gets a little too hot into Turn 3!!!! Up ahead, the cars ahead also get a little to hot, and now EVERYONE is momentarily on the guardriail!!!! :lol:

":swear:ing Roman drivers WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING! he curses. But this scenario actually benefits Graham, for he finally gets a pass...he passes a purple 2-seater of some sort (TVR)

'YES!!!! THAT'S THE WAY IT'S DONE!" he congratulates himself!!!

Now the cars are leaving the Colliseum....tourists and specators a mere blur as the cars rocket off! Graham gets a good, tight 'line' out of Turn 4 and manages to pass the white Audi...

"OH mama! Give me taht gold!!!" Graham says, smiling, and forgetting that GT2 first prize trophies are actually silver. :lol:

Turn 5. Uh oh...

Again, grahma shifts up into 4th. As the turn approaches, he prepares by getting to the left (since Turn 5 is a right) he sees the yellow markers on the left, and immediately forgets what he's supposed to do!!!

"Uh..."

He brakes way too early at the 150M mark! :lol: REalizes his mistake, and blips the throttle again!

"DAMN!!!"

...the Audi slips past!...

"DAMMMIT!! "!!!!

...and so does the purple car! ...

"ARRRRAGH!!" :banghead:

But Graham does, at least, get a good 'line' into Turn 5; steering in sharp and downshifting to 2nd! While the rest of the cars get way too "wide" and wind up on the other side of the track, Graham's path ahead is empty! He briefly passes the pursple car, and sees Ben Dover's funny-looking Italian-mobile on his far left now! Good, at least Ben was also having a tough go of it. But Grham (at this moment) is getting the pressure, and feeling a tad frustrated! He hasn't even seen fisrt place yet!, after all!

He shifts into 3rd and nears Turn 6. Again, he boffs this one! Steers way too hard (understeering hte front-end) and then leaving his car in 3rd gear! Its tach now dips way down to 4,000, and Graham actually notices it!

"damn STICKSHIFTS!!" :mad:

He puts it into 2nd and then spontaneously swears his next ride (whatever it may be ) will HAVE...AN...AUTOMATIC. NO more messy shifting then!

Into Turn 7 (sharp left) Grham nearly steers too hard again, and his car momentarily aims towards the inside guardrail!!!!! Whoah!!! This mistake costs him time, once again, and falling behind the others fast.

"Ohhhh MERCY!"

Into turn 8, he again gets too hot, and steers too late, his car's tires now protesting!!!! He's so far behind now, he thinks it may be over!! DAMMIT!!

But down the backstretch, and amazing thing happens! He concentrates now, and gets a PERFECT line into the left/right at the end of this straight! As hte Infiniti clambers over yet another set of rumblies, Grham takes an extreme inside-line (Missing the guardrail by inches) and now GAINS 3RD PLACE!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Down this 2nd-to-last straight area, Ben's Lancia is now beside Grhaam's Infiniti!! The men now get a momentary glimpse of one another! Ben gives Ghram a nod, and Graham now does the same! As the final turn approahces, Graham gets as far left as he can (pushing into a funny-looking Eurocar) and gives just a momentary brake, leaving his car in 3rd.

YES!! He now passes someboby on the inside and is NOW IN 2ND PLACE!!

The only problem is the stupid AUDI now blocks his only path onto the front straight! Damit! The Audi now takes off because Grhaam tapped its bumper, and Grhaam had no choice but to

On the front straight, Graham loooks for his options like a trader at the stock market. He looks behind him to see what's going on and it's not pretty. All 4 cars back there are now clambering for position while the crowd cheers on! Ghaam has no choice but to take it like a sitting duck, while the car he smashed into (funny-looking Eurocar #1) now passes him, and now the Jaguar sedan does the same. DAMMIT he's now in 4th place! how the hell?

Into Turn 1, and 4th gear (100ish mph) the purple car now passes, nad he's in 5th . But the good news: once again, the entire field has taken T1 too hot, and is now on the opposite bank of rumblies, getting smashed up onto the guardrail! :lol:

Grham passes the jag, and gets a good line into Turn 2. But at the Colliseum it all falls apart as he gets WAY TOO HOT and finds himself now on the opposite guardrail!! ARRRAGH!!!! As hte Infiniti recovers, Ben hnow passes Grham. And the Audi now passes him.

D A M M I T ! ! ! !

"How's it feel to be the loser?"
Graham imagines for a split-second he's back in court, losing to a particularly nasty divorce lawyer a few years ago. "Not too good" Grham says honsetly, as he tries his best to prepare for Turn 5. This time, he pays attention to the yellow markers. Starts braking at 50 meters, and now gets a great line into this turn while downshifting to 2nd. There's a small traffic jam of cars, and Grhaam gets into 2nd place!!!

But up ahead? It's Ben!! Ben has managed the malaise with perfection, and now leads the race!

As the Infiniti rolls towards Turn 6 (tight right #2) it gets passed once again. Both funny-looking Eurocars (the silver one and the purple one) take their turns, and Grham falls to 4th place!! He turns into 6, but can't get a good line, because the STUPID purple car now blocks his path! Into Turn 7, the Audi makes a beteer line, so that by the time they're on the backstretch, Graham is now in 5th place

He pushes it into 4th gear, speed rising and rising! Even though he's now going just under 120, in his mind it feels as though he's actually going mcush slower!!! He gets passed by the Jag again.

The final turns approach, and Graham nudges into the Audi's right-rear bumper. Damn! Didn't mean to do that! It's much better to get a clear path, after all!But (again) he's the only car on the inside, which means as everyone else starts to struggle, Grham briefly takes 2nd place on the final approach.

But it's no use. the silver Eurocar passes on the outside (nothing I can do about it!) and so does the Audi. Ben holds a solid lead at this point.

Into the final turn. Grham gets a little to hot, and without meanging to, finds his poor Infiniti now pushed up against the silver Eurocar! He's in 2nd place! go go GO GO GO!!!

...but as the chequered flag falls, and it's all over, sadness erupts in his mind. :( Sad face. :( He's lost. I've lost I've LOST I've Lost THE RACE!!!

The Jag passes him, and so does the silver Eurocar! It's all over!!! Its' ALL OVER!!!!

As Ben takes the victory lap, Ghram curses in his car!! Loudly shaking it left and right! I've lost? How can this BE????


*= this is me, way out of practice with GT2's dual-shock controllers! :lol:
 
Noooo!!!! Graham, you're better than that! Get yourself together, no more nights out on the town, and prove to your fans that you're a winner!
 
Ha ha, that is actually what happened though. I/Graham lost the race years ago. Then at some point I came back and won it.

I mean, you gotta figure as a new driver way back in 2004, if I was actually using only 155 hp, that would be pretty tough to win.

As usual, you'll see what happens next....

Yeah! This is the thread about Me, You, Peacocks and Coleford isn't it?

Nobody understands my cryptic messages which just state the obvious.

Not obvious to me. Ah well...
 
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Not obvious to me. Ah well...

Here's a few hints:
Me refers to me posting
You refers to others posting
Peacocks refer to those damn creatures that you can hear from a mile away and wake you up in the middle of the night. Every night. Assuming there are any living within a mile of you.
Coleford is a famous place in south-west England.

If this makes any sense to you then you have decoded my message.
 
I haven't decoded it yet, but those are good hints. I'm thinking of a few people at the moment. Don't give me any other hints, this is good!
 

Losing a Race vs. Losing a Case​

The date is sometime in late March, the Year 2000.

As the cars did what is known as a "victory lap" around the entire Rome course, Graham's first reaction (after losing) was that of being simply stunned. He knew this feeling, he knew it. It was the same exact feeling he had had in the past when he had lost a case which he knew he "should" have won.

It was exactly the same: first that "stunned" feeling would sink in. :embarrassed: The anger, Graham knew, would come later. :mad: Losing a car-race was not much different from losing a law-case, then.

One of his first trials as a practicing lawyer had been like this. His client had been innocent! He had been innocent of taking all those bribes he had been accused of. As Graham and the other drivers drove around Rome, Grhaam seething under his breath, he reflected on this particular case.

He couldn't for the life of him remember his client's name, nor could he remember the date, but he could remember the specifics.

His client was a low-level politician, literally a neighborhood-level leader, rather than a mayor or a senator. The amount of power he exacted in his small Seattle suburb neighborhood equated to even less power than Graham had under his Infiniti's hood at the moment. The man had been accused of taking bribes, however, adn the case fell on Graham's desk.

In his mind, it was a slam-dunk. I mean, technically, YES, this man was guilty of taking bribes from some sort of waste-management corporation. But as Graham pored thru the case back and forth, left and right, he came to the conclusion that there could be no possible way they'd be able to prove his client's guilt. He got the go-ahead from his senior partner at the time, and they proceeded to enter an "innocent" plea, :D and ran hither with this.

But the case faltered. Despite Graham's confidence, and despite the fact that the prosecution seemed about as prepared as a bunch of men in a rowboat during a hurricane, the case had faltered, and the judge declared his client "guilty" of taking bribes. :nervous:

Graham remembered that particular case because he had done something he would later regret: he had lost his temper in front of everybody! In front of the judge, in front of the witnesses, in front of prosecution. It was a bad mistake, but one he had learned from.

"NO! MY CLIENT IS INNOCENT!" he had screamed just after the guilty verdict. Graham had said this just as if he were a child again, and somebody had taken his wood blocks away. "MY CLIENT IS INNOCENT! Get back to your gavel, judge, and read the real verdict!"

If anything, you did not lose your temper at a moment like this! Wait till you get back to your office. Wait till you get back to your car. Wait till you got even to STarbucks. Lose your temper there. Do NOT do it in front of the court!!!!

The move had costed him a 'contempt' charge. Contempt of Court, that is, which means he had to pay a fine. The judge decreed this fine, set at a measly $500. That sort of money was not a problem, it was his reputation which had been at stake.

As Graham drove around Rome now, there was suddenly a loud BANG under its hood!


"Ahhh brother...what NOW?"

The Infiniti's steering suddenly felt a lot heavier. Its battery light also came on. The car still ran, but Graham knew the signs: it was time for the repair shop! Good thing this noise happened just before the pit-lane, otherwise Grhaam would have been dripping with sweat, trying to steer his car after whatever happened had happened.

He saw Ben Dover in his funny-looking Italian car steer into a spot where some track worker was directing him. Grhaam also initially followed Ben, but was frantically motioned by the same worker NOT to follow him! The track-worker had a small, pencil-thin moustache and seemed to take great pleasure in telling Grham what to do...


"What??? But I won the race!!!! Taht was supposed to be MY WIN!"

Ben, of course, was being steered into the precious area reserved for winners. Graham and all the other drivers were being told to stop in another area. They had all lost the race, of course. This is why.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

As Graham and the other drivers now got out of their cars, from a distance four figures stood huddled together in the shadows. ....
 
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He got out of his car and then SLAMMED the door!!! :mad: Grham was MAD. MAD as can be! He had suddnely realized that court etiquette did not apply at the race-track.

He was MAD !!!! !

But this did not last long! As he got out of his car, grabbed his briefcase and then SLAMMED it (but not too forcefully...can't ruin that hand-stitched leather, after all ) upon the hood, suddenly Graham saw movement.

He looked left, and looked right. The sharks were here!



"...scuzi senior Graham! una question.."

"...Senior Graham! We how you feel now you LOSE race?...

"...You LOST the race to fellow American Ben Dover! What will you do now? Will you go back to...."


! 🤬 !​

OH yes...The sharks! Micorphones thrust into his face! Replies needed by the name who LOST, and needed NOW!!!

! 🤬 !​

And of course, gRaham had his "court tactics" at his side.

As he glared upon the sharks, the media that is, he immediately thought of that tennis player..Agony he thinks the guy's name is. He thought of Sean Henn...that actor who always lost his temper in public. Graham thought of his father, who (unlike Graham) could never keep his temper in check.

In other words, he really wanted to DECK all these guys! Smash their cameras and threaten lawsuits! He almost did it, too! :mad:

But then, he stopped himself! He stopped. Not because it would be bad for his "career", not because of his family. NO, he stopped himself because at that moment, he suddenly KNEW this is what they were after!

They wanted him to lose his temper!!! They wanted this moment exactly!! Why? Because this is what would sell! This is what would seel their crummy "reality" publications, and attract all kinds of publicity to the Gran Turismo Racing Series!

Graham folded, then. He folded his temper, got himself under control, and merely said


"I have no comment"



....."BUT GRAHAM!!!!"

....."BUT SIR!!....."

..."BUT SIR GHARAM!!!!!"




There. It was DONE! :D The two words "no comment" were considered death in the world of the media. :lol: These words tended to irk the media like no other! :lol: With the words "NO COMMENT" uttered from his lips, the reporters were now in that infamous no-man's land, where they did NOT have their scoop, did NOT have their story!

...from here on, they could only speculate Graham's next move, and could not lock him into a story which could later have holes poked into it! Other than the moment of weakness when Graham slammed his door and lamely nudged his car's hood with his briefcase, they had NOTHING!

As Grhaam now pushes his way through the crowd (more than usual, more than what showed up at the Rome Short race) towards the check-cutting place, he smiles to himself, thinking of the moment when he merely slammed his door.


"Heh. Try putting THAT picture on the cover!"

----------------------------------------------------=

The next day, as Graham and his family boarded into yet another group of small taxicabs, to get the hell out of Rome (this time he called ahead and arranged a proper group of cabs, so he would not have to spend another minute more in this God-forsaken place!) Graham Wellington tried to act "normal", whatever the heck that meant. He tried not to show his emotion.

Despite his wife (and mother-in-law's) little smirks, Graham thinks to himself that he's done it. He may have lost this final race, but heck, he had done it! He had figured out a way to keep his family out of "the loop". Other than Princess, nobody knew what had actually happened in Rome, Graham assumes. :lol:

so therefore, he had done it. He had made his mark! And at least was now leaving Europe several thousand dollars (Euros, Credits...whatever) richer than he arrived with.

...That was something to smile about. Wasn't it?
 
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ha ha! like reading a book where you're thumbing to turn the page when you're only half way down, more, more, more!
 
Thank you thank you VANDENAL and jeffgoddin, yes there will be more. Plot twists ahead, actually!

WTFnews: Yea something like that. I know I started this in August of 2008 just after I got re-hired full time. If this story were being sent to an actual publisher with deadlines and stuff, my agent would have fired me long ago. :lol:

Roger the Horse: Adjust the formatting? :confused: You mean make the font bigger? OH, and I think I know who you are now....;) You're that wanted man, and it's time to pay for your crimes. What say you in your def-..

oops..been playing too much Skyrim lately.
 
Roger the Horse: Adjust the formatting? :confused: You mean make the font bigger?

I was just saying that you needed to fix the fact that it suddenly changed colour half way down and had a random in the middle of your text, it's gone now.

OH, and I think I know who you are now....;) You're that wanted man, and it's time to pay for your crimes. What say you in your def-..

oops..been playing too much Skyrim lately.

If this relates to those clues then I am afraid that they have nothing to do with my identity, except for the fact that everyone I work with is obsessed with this village called Coleford. I think one of them's Mum's grew up there or something... :confused:
 
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I was just saying that you needed to fix the fact that it suddenly changed colour half way down and had a random in the middle of your text, it's gone now.



If this relates to those clues then I am afraid that they have nothing to do with my identity, except for the fact that everyone I work with is obsessed with this village called Coleford. I think one of them's Mum's grew up there or something... :confused:


I wanna say TMM, but that's not right. But what if I am right?
 
I wanna say TMM, but that's not right. But what if I am right?

I don't know what TMM means. I'll tell everyone now. It is the fault of all the people who randomly occasionally posted in this thread that this thread has continued. It's obvious once you look at it. Except for the bit about Coleford, which was a random reference to a random town that is a very long way from where I am.

Everyone I work with is obsessed with this village called Coleford. I think one of them's Mum's grew up there or something... :confused:

I checked, one of them grew up in a place called Coleford, and it wasn't the one in Somerset that I found on the web.
 
Well it's been over 2 years since anyone has posted anything here and I just read through all of this in 2 days, and have even started playing GT2 again because of this. Will the story ever resume or is it finally dead?
 
I doubt it. I think Parnelli has gone for good around here...:(

(I say this because he said I had gone for good once, and then I made one of my 7,000,065 comebacks to GTPlanet...so hopefully this will work in reverse!)
 
Yes, I should continue this, right? It's pretty funny to read.

I have come back to GTP after a 3-year absence, but right now I'm into GT4 and GT5, mostly. I tried GT6 too. Great physics, but the races are so dull, so far. I don't feel very inspired by 6 at all. But damn, the physics are good.

Maybe I'll return to GT2 and do a once-a-week thing with this story, or maybe twice a month, or something. Shame to let it just rot.
 
Yes, I should continue this, right? It's pretty funny to read.

I have come back to GTP after a 3-year absence, but right now I'm into GT4 and GT5, mostly. I tried GT6 too. Great physics, but the races are so dull, so far. I don't feel very inspired by 6 at all. But damn, the physics are good.

Maybe I'll return to GT2 and do a once-a-week thing with this story, or maybe twice a month, or something. Shame to let it just rot.


HE'S BACK!!! :D

That's fair, I think I'm right there with you on GT6. Love it in terms of visuals and physics, it's astonishingly good. But the races are just blergh. The AI is if anything even worse, and with no endurance races, those epic stories and close races are kinda gone. It's a shame. I'm planning to revisit GT3 very soon, as it's the one game I haven't gone back to and revisited lately - I've gone back to GT2, 4 and 5 recently, but not 3. Which is strange considering I loved that game on release. :)
 
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