The unwitting creation of DJ Pauly
‘Pauly! Pauly!’ 600 people chant for the prize. It takes a certain temperament to remain steady of hand as a crowd overpowers the decibels of racing cars. Where is mum and dad at this point? Maybe this was always meant to happen. A destiny not imagined for myself or the lucky prize-winners. Whoever jumps the highest or screams the loudest can be ‘the one’. Yes, you can have the ‘box-seat’ or the coveted ‘grid-walk’. Oh, the power. But with power comes responsibility – or, not responsibility exactly; a lot of laughs…
A CCTV camera bracket was fitted back at Mansfield home-base. It holds the camera on the front of the bar trailer and can pan 360 degrees, tilt, zoom and such; controlled from the computer that plays the music and can be shown on the big screen on stage. An idea for its use is to zoom around the crowd and pick people to receive Gold-Class tickets for the upstairs bar on the Retreat or a photo-documented walk with the XXXX Angels at the start/finish line before the big race. Damo gets out on stage and sprukes the crowd with what’s at stake. The XXXX Angels logo is on screen while I scan the camera looking for a lucky punter. Bec is over my shoulder pointing out potential candidates. I switch the CC camera to the screen and the chosen person grabs a double pass. Fever pitch is achieved as Damo says that yelling and waving gives you a better chance – yelling the camera controller’s name, that is. Next thing 500 people are chanting as I’m fumbling with the controls between fits of laughter. So now, being the selector of ‘winners’, I can only go out in public wearing a large coat and fake plastic nose. Kirsty wants to get ‘Who is DJ Pauly?’ T-shirts made.
Where was I? Oh yeah, the V8’s. A game to which I have recently returned. It’s been years since I never missed the Bathurst race – watching Moffat and Brock slog it out and Johnson was the new kid. Sponsorship was always there but branding was in its infancy. In merchandise alley there is a picture of a young Peter Brock in a white driving suit with just one name sewn on the right breast pocket under a southern cross – ‘Peter Brock’.
Now brand names cover 90% of clothes making it a colourful sight indeed. You can’t tell the fans from the drivers. But hey, if you want to dress like your hero it must be heaps easier to throw on a Jim Beam polo shirt than impersonating Marilyn Manson before you leave home in the morning. It brings a smile to the face and warmth to the heart as you watch an extremely expensive production V8 whip past with a sign down the side that says ‘Supercheap Auto’.
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