Fascinating video of 1955 Belgian Grand Prix

Thanks to a tip from Nigel Roebuck at Motorsport Magazine, race fans are discovering a fascinating 30-minute documentary on the 1955 Belgian Grand Prix that takes viewers back to a much simpler time when speed and safety were completely different goals. 

You'll want to watch the entire clip -- which Shell funded at great expense given the number of cameramen and crew -- to see legends like Fangio and Moss muscle their way around the grandest of racing circuits, Spa Francochamps. It's scary to see how close cars at high speed get to nonchalant pit crews and observers.  

The many layers of Dave Mustaine

Dave MustaineI'm playing catch-up here but wanted to share a memorable "Soundcheck" podcast from early August featuring Megadeath leader Dave Mustaine. 

Metal musicians are often dismissed as clueless headbangers more interested in drugs, tattoos and leather than serious wide-ranging discussions on WNYC, the best-known public radio station in the States.  

But in this funny and eloquent interview, Mustaine discusses dementia as inspiration for song; the physical downsides of, um, headbanging; and performing with a South American youth orchestra whose instruments are made from items salvaged from their home -- a landfill. 

Mustaine is a rock legend, yes, but as this interview shows, a normal guy with whom you'd love to share a beer or two. 

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Tantalizing trailer for "Nothing Can Hurt Me"

I can't wait to see this documentary on one of rock music's greatest bands, one that remains little known despite enormous critical acclaim over the course of four decades. 

Unlike many music fans with selective memory, I didn't get the Big Star thing until the early 1980s. But when I did, I did. What a great band, with songs so nuanced that each listen delivers new surprises.