The 'Lighter side' revisited, 2010.

[delta]

That nasty JT has closed my thread. Very upset as it was his idea in the first place.I see on the tele this morning the hot news is what to call this next decade.Its got to be the "tenners".Looking forward to Gordon's first 2010 photo.

[John Turner]

You're easily upset, Iain! Just to annoy you further, I've changed the thread title, too!

I think that you should all call the new decade the 'Tenties' to commit yourself to camping under canvas at historic racing events rather than mobile homes, in order to display a more period authentic look. And no marquees, either!

[delta]

I knew you were winding me up John. Thank you, and please tell Kevin that him and Marcus did our pinto racers proud in this weeks Autosport.

[zefarelly]

IS this thread strictly 'no camping' ?

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by delta

please tell Kevin that him and Marcus did our pinto racers proud in this weeks Autosport.

I will, but do you mean this week's or the Christmas double issue? I note that both you and Alan are mentioned by Marcus Pye this week.

Kev tries to keep the profile of Historics up because he has much more than a passing interest in it! You will note that our Ten Tenther, Simon Hadfield crept into the Top Ten club racers last week, so well done to him. And another, Julian Bronson, has fastest 'Goodwood' lap for 2009 recorded in this week's. Also in the double issue, the 'National Picture of the Year' gallery includes a good number of pics from historic racing amongst which is a great Jeff Bloxham shot of Roger Wills in the Mercury Cyclone, a lovely atmospheric evening shot of Silverstone Classic by Gary Hawkins, and a fine action shot of a prewar Morgan at Cadwell by another Ten Tenther, Richard Styles.

[delta]

Yesterdays issue John. I mentioned Simon's achievement last week did not know about Julian's He is a top bloke and helped me at Portimao with some welding. Wish i had camped last night Joe me and Mrs Delta and one of her very attractive friends went to cinema then saw new year in. Daughter arrived home with friends at 3am then my son at 4am and on top of that it was my turn too sort out the horse this morning. Now 500 mile trip to my beloved Country to see Dad.

[John Turner]

Ok, I haven't read it all, yet! I can't keep up with you, Iain, but I'd slaughter you on the track, given half a chance!!

[p261brm]

Originally Posted by John Turner

You're easily upset, Iain! Just to annoy you further, I've changed the thread title, too!

I think that you should all call the new decade the 'Tenties' to commit yourself to camping under canvas at historic racing events rather than mobile homes, in order to display a more period authentic look. And no marquees, either!

Please explain how you John, the beeb and so on, say this is a new decade? I've only got 7 fingers n' 2 thumbs and with that disability no way can I make 10 complete years [A Decade] if we count 2000 as the first year, the decade is not complete until 31st December 2010. A happy new whatever to all

[compte deGraves]

It was sad to see the old “Lighter Side” struck from the site with little or no ceremony. May I applaud Iain for creating what must have been the most successful thread ever. Certainly it is the thread that has given me the greatest pleasure over the last year.

At the nouvelle cuisine function at Raymond Blanc’s Ace Cafe some of you asked me where on earth was Graves.

If you have Google Earth: first home in on France, then the Poitou-Charentes. Centralise between Angouleme and Cognac and keep zooming in.

South East of Jarnac you will see Graves- Saint- Amant. If you zoom in on Graves Saint Amant the hamlet of Graves will suddenly appear! There are a few photos taken (I know not by whom) and you can see these by clicking on the little blue boxes.

“Graves 2” shows the hamlet with the vineyard to the left of the church and the barn, in which Delta and Alan Morgan have slept, in the middle. My house is in photograph “Graves 16”.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by p261brm

Please explain how you John, the beeb and so on, say this is a new decade? I've only got 7 fingers n' 2 thumbs and with that disability no way can I make 10 complete years [A Decade] if we count 2000 as the first year, the decade is not complete until 31st December 2010. A happy new whatever to all

By your own workings if you count 2000 as the first year then the end of 2009 is ten complete years. Have you not got a spare toe you can use as well?

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by p261brm

Please explain how you John, the beeb and so on, say this is a new decade? I've only got 7 fingers n' 2 thumbs and with that disability no way can I make 10 complete years [A Decade] if we count 2000 as the first year, the decade is not complete until 31st December 2010. A happy new whatever to all

As Tim says, including the year 2000, that is definitely 10 years!

Originally Posted by compte deGraves

[FONT=Verdana]It was sad to see the old “Lighter Side” struck from the site with little or no ceremony. May I applaud Iain for creating what must have been the most successful thread ever. Certainly it is the thread that has given me the greatest pleasure over the last year.

Why? With the end of the year, 114 pages and over 50,000 views, it was time to end it and start again. And actually it wasn't Iain's idea; it was mine; I just chose one of his posts to start it. It was a (reasonably!) successful attempt to stop all those off topic discussions that kept deflecting us from the 'proper' thread topics. And it is not 'struck' from the site; it is merely closed; it can still be read by all! What ceremony do you propose, I should have initiated? I regard the 'lighter side' thread as the chitchat thread, so if you really prefer it to all the historic race threads, I'm seriously depressed and disappointed. So that's told you, Compte!

[grantp]

Originally Posted by compte deGraves

I am sorry but you are now going beyond reason. You cannot seriously suggest (as I understand it) crushing boiled potatoes, adding shredded cabbage, whole grain mustard, hot Asian lime pickle and then breaking an egg into the mix before frying!!!!!

Promise me one thing. If you really are going to create such a culinary disaster please do not use extra virgin olive oil from the Provence...that would get you executed in France. Use lard

Just to finish this repaste while the thread is still open ....

Nope, not evoo. Regular cooking Olive oil perhaps - whatever the supermarket own brand consists of usually, otherwise possibly Italian Extra Virgin (though who knows where they source the olives) since most of those readily available seem to be sourced there.

Oh, and the egg should just be drizzled on the surface really to bind as a crust but that is still a bit dodgy if making a large amount in one structure.

However the last B&S but one was based in roast potatoes that had been roasted in Corn Oil - so I continued the corn oil theme. (Actually my wife is convinced that cooking with even the tiniest amount of olive oil is going to produce so many nasty things in the food that we will all be poisoned in minutes. So my usage of olive oil in cooking is restricted when I am being monitored. Worse still my younger daughter shares a house in London with an old school friend who is now a qualified dietician. She's a lovely person but seemingly quite indoctrinated with the 'healthy' concepts of the last decade or so. So the dietician originated messages are relayed to me by daughter 2 whenever she is home and she disapproves of what I propose for meals. It's a hard life.)

Lard would be a good option -but it's not easy to find these days. My local Co-Op store sometimes has Pork Dripping - would that do?

BTW, I spent a couple of weeks in Hong Kong back in the mid 90s, before the place was handed back to China, and discovered that many upwardly mobile Chinese residents bought expensive (£100 a bottle at the time) XO brandy on a regular basis. However most of them did not have a great capacity for sustainable alcohol use so drinking it was not an option - so they cooked with it.

I often wondered how they managed to get continuation of supplies. XO stir-fry anyone?

[compte deGraves]

Originally Posted by John Turner

As Tim says, including the year 2000, that is definitely 10 years!



Why? With the end of the year, 114 pages and over 50,000 views, it was time to end it and start again. And actually it wasn't Iain's idea; it was mine; I just chose one of his posts to start it. It was a (reasonably!) successful attempt to stop all those off topic discussions that kept deflecting us from the 'proper' thread topics. And it is not 'struck' from the site; it is merely closed; it can still be read by all! What ceremony do you propose, I should have initiated? I regard the 'lighter side' thread as the chitchat thread, so if you really prefer it to all the historic race threads, I'm seriously depressed and disappointed. So that's told you, Compte!

I stand corrected. I applaud you, John, for thinking of what was the most successful thread of 2009. I am sorry if you feel that the "chit chat" thread is of lesser merit (so as to make you depressed and disappointed) than the true historic threads. I realise that I am only a Frenchman but it has been an enormous pleasure for me to read the banter on the site during 2009.

[compte deGraves]

Thanks Grant - I have just gone into shock

[LYNX]

Thanks Delta for some easy reading and many a good 'chuckle'. I'm sure this thread will be just as popular, especially in the quiet season.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by compte deGraves

It was sad to see the old “Lighter Side” struck from the site with little or no ceremony. May I applaud Iain for creating what must have been the most successful thread ever. Certainly it is the thread that has given me the greatest pleasure over the last year.

At the nouvelle cuisine function at Raymond Blanc’s Ace Cafe some of you asked me where on earth was Graves.

If you have Google Earth: first home in on France, then the Poitou-Charentes. Centralise between Angouleme and Cognac and keep zooming in.

South East of Jarnac you will see Graves- Saint- Amant. If you zoom in on Graves Saint Amant the hamlet of Graves will suddenly appear! There are a few photos taken (I know not by whom) and you can see these by clicking on the little blue boxes.

“Graves 2” shows the hamlet with the vineyard to the left of the church and the barn, in which Delta and Alan Morgan have slept, in the middle. My house is in photograph “Graves 16”.

Agreed. Great thread Iain and good idea John T. as well. Not sure you should be disappointed, John, by its natural appeal attracting so many posts. After all surely that it simply illustrates that the popularity of Historic racing is for the social (I shudder to suggest 'gossip') aspects of the sport as much as, perhaps more so than, the competitive angle. Which is really how it should be. Indeed having watched the Video documentaries about Graham Hill and Jim Clark in the last week or so I would suggest that such a balance was exactly what the top levels of Motor Racing were mostly about 'back in the day'.

Comte - fascinating links to your hamlet. They are also available directly from Google maps for those who don't have Google Earth installed.

Confusingly the 'locations' of the photos seems to be slightly incorrect since they appear in two clusters. I reckon the left hand cluster (as seen from the Map view) is the correct position - am I right?

BTW - what was all that stuff about the coffee at the Ace meeting?

Coffee?

In a caff?

Good grief people - you KNOW it should have been TEA, in a mug, either very weak or very strong and with AT LEAST 3 heaped teaspoons (if larger spoons not available) of white sugar.

Tush tush. I hope you all had the fried bread to compensate for the coffee selection. (Damned continental habits, mutter mutter, etc., etc.)

There were young people there who needed a proper grounding British Historic Cafe Culture (and cultures by the sound of things). How are they supposed to obtain that knowledge if people go about drinking coffee in a caff? (Please tell me no one had a latte ....)

[grantp]

Originally Posted by compte deGraves

Thanks Grant - I have just gone into shock

Sorry, couldn't find an obvious health warning smiley ...

There is an Air Ambulance based just down the road from here - should I ask them to dispatch and assist you? They seems to be up for any call out judging by the number of times they fly past my house each day, so must be getting good funding. (The 'collection bag' seems to drop through our letterbox every other week.) I'm sure the crew would apprectate the change of scenery.

[John Turner]

Gentlemen, and Jill, I'm delighted that the thread was a success. I hope that this one will be, too! Of course, its success was partly due to it non specific focus which enabled it to roam far and wide, and to its longevity. However, this is the Historic Racing Today forum, not a general discussion (gossip is actually a good word for it, Grant!) forum. I was merely trying to put it into perspective.

Oh, and there is no such thing as being 'only' a Frenchman, Compte. All are equal and welcome here and your contributions are as valid as anybody elses, as you should well know!

[grantp]

Originally Posted by John Turner

Oh, and there is no such thing as being 'only' a Frenchman, ...

Quite so! For example no Parisian I have ever met would think of themselves as 'only a Frenchman', as I suspect many non-Parisians would agree.

[compte deGraves]

[QUOTE=grantp;2607068

Comte - fascinating links to your hamlet. They are also available directly from Google maps for those who don't have Google Earth installed.

Confusingly the 'locations' of the photos seems to be slightly incorrect since they appear in two clusters. I reckon the left hand cluster (as seen from the Map view) is the correct position - am I right?

[/QUOTE]

The location of the photos in the right cluster is wrong. Therefore, Grant, you are right, the left hand cluster is the correct position.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by compte deGraves

The location of the photos in the right cluster is wrong. Therefore, Grant, you are right, the left hand cluster is the correct position.

It all looks wonderfully idyllic Comte. I note some interesting channels nearby to allow boats to navigate the river. My next-door neighbours are boat people. Currently their canal boat in somewhere in the south of France (again) whilst they spend Christmas with family back home. They tell me they hugely enjoy their time in the south.

I seem to be having a run of good luck at the moment.

Relatively trivial matters in the grand scheme of things, but hey, I'll take good luck in what ever form it comes!

So, with that in mind, who can explain why I have a decade-spanning cold that is proving remarkably disruptive to social plans?

[grantp]

Originally Posted by delta

Good news Gordon. You mentioned Air Ambulance Grant well this year the Stoke Row Festival of Speed will be raising money for that charity as the local school now have a shiny new Mini Bus with a healthy contribution of money raised from last years show.

Well done Iain!

I have to say I am a little, shall we say, 'concerned' about the growing use of Air Ambulances.

Clearly there are circumstances where the things are just about the only option if people are to be successfully rescued and and transported for medical care.

However the number of times 'ours' flies each day - that I can see as it departs and returns and there will be many flights that I don't see - suggests they have a lot of funding. These craft are not cheap to fly let alone provide with a number of operational crews.

A few years ago an elderly chap fell of his moped at a roundabout over the A50 dual carriageway about a mile or so from the Air ambulance base. I happened to drive past as plod had closed part of the road to let the chopper land on the grass verge. From memory a couple of police cars and a road ambulance were in attendance and the chap was sitting on the kerb taking oxygen. He was quite large - I was surprised about the moped as a means of transport.

Now what puzzled me is why the Air Ambulance should be called to that incident. Indeed I quite frequently see it leaving at speed and then return more slowly a few minutes later. Presumably a shout that has been called off.

It makes me wonder whether the primary NHS trust ambulance services are calling the chopper out, some (most?) of the costs covered by donations, in order to save on their own budgets or overcome weaknesses in their operations.

I don't know and I have not so far found a way check the finances via the internet - though I would guess it should be possible. Maybe I need to look harder.

I anticipate that this will be a rather contentious comment. It isn't meant to be. But knowing the way our lords and masters like to find ways of saving their tax take for other purposes than publically stated I do wonder if this burgeoning area of 'public service' that seems only to survive through money raising activities is yet another example the authorities relying on the blind faith of the populace to hide governmental avarice.

Can anyone here set me straight about this?

[terence]

Yes Comte,looks idyllic.Lovely spot,nice to have a river running at the bottom of the garden.
Sorry to read about Jean Pierre,60 is no age at all,very sad.

[compte deGraves]

Originally Posted by grantp

So, with that in mind, who can explain why I have a decade-spanning cold that is proving remarkably disruptive to social plans?

I spend many hours each day outside in the vineyards. I rarely get a cold. This Christmas my belle-mere (mother in law) arrived with a very heavy cold. Within 24 hours I was "streaming" but as soon as I went back outside for most of the day I cleared up! Moral - God's air good; air conditioning bad.

[delta]

Mate of mine from the village who raced FFords at Castle Combe fell off his horse and broke his back similar to my injury from Spa. Air Ambulance called as he was out in the woods and some way off the road. That's the reason i have asked for the money to go to them this year. You have a very valid point and i totally agree.