11 replies to this topic

[Wolf]

This may be off topic, but then again... You all must have formidable amount of, what I presume to be old, books and magazines. Since I noticed the rather heavy toll Father Time extracts on them ('yellowing' of the pages and the paper becoming 'crisp'), I was wondering if you would consider restorng them a bit of 'old glory'. IIRC, those things are related to absorption of acidic substances in the paper and that relatively simple process has been developed for eliminating those substances. Ellimination results in loss of undesired yellow pigment and, more importantly, the most of papers elasticity is restored (paper doesn't break off anymore).

Recently I saw on TV that Germans are undertaking that kind of things on quite large scale (for libraries &c) and was contemplating if such thing on much lesser scale would be desired thing (if there's a demand for such services)...

[Dennis David]

Yes but you would lose that wonderful smell!

[Frank de Jong]

Well, my old books will probably last the duration of the rest of my life (my eldest magazines are 32 years old and still OK); no problems with books as well so far.
I'm more concerned about the quality of my old videotapes from the early 80's - but I've stopped taping F1 since the move of Murray Walker to ITV anyway... (in the Netherlands, BBC is all you get from UK television).

[Barry Boor]

That's funny, Frank, I live in the U.K. and I am much more likely to START recording races after the said Mr. Walker has retired!

[Frank de Jong]

You're kidding! I always used to tape the highlights at sundaynight, perhaps that makes the difference (it used to be about 30 minutes). You Britons (sorry if you're imported, Barry!) should be glad with Murray; he at least admits it when he makes a mistake. On German TV, people even couldn't spot the difference between an ATS and a Renault, starting numbers nonwithstanding. But never admitted a thing like that.
I'm sure its very difficult to serve the occasional viewer as well as the fanatics among us - and Murray could never irritate me.

[FLB]

I actually learned English by watching James and Murray! I'll miss Muddly terribly.

I agree you should be happy with Murray. At least he acknowledges his mistakes. He doesn't take himself too seriously, which is something I find very refreshing. It contrasts with everything else in modern F1.

[Dennis David]

FLB, you actually learned English from listening to Murray Walker? Now that's a scary thought

[FLB]

Yep!;)


In 1983, Radio Canada (French-Canadian TV) used to present 30 min highlights of the races, often more than a week afterwards. On the other hand, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) had same-day coverage, with 1h30 min of Murray and James...

It took me a long time to figure some things out. I thought "And they're coming towards us" (the camera) was "And they're coming to Waters" (the name of a corner) .

To me, every track on the planet had a corner named "Waters"!

[Dennis David]

OT but FLB do you consider English a foreign language? I'm assuming you are French Canadian. Is it something that you have to work at like me brushing up on my rudimentary German before going on vacation or is it so prevalent that once you learn it that by 10 it's second nature?

[FLB]

Depends... It varies from person to person. For some, like you write, it's mastered by the age of 10. In my case, I didn't feel English was difficult. For some others, it's a constant struggle. Nevertheless, we're surrounded by English so we're constantly exposed.

Muddly was a motivator. You also have to remember that his accent (and Hunt's) is different from mainstream North American English. That helped me, because I'm now used to figuring out different accents. I can even understand (NASCAR driver) Ward Burton's southern drawl...;)

I guess practice helps a lot. From what you wrote, your German is about as good as my Italian. You see, I can only practice it by reading old Autosprint issues and talking to Ferrari mechanics once a year!;)

[Dennis David]

I see. Most Americans don't understand some of the simple language problems that French-Canadians have with English.

Montreal and Quebec City were quite wonderful though. I was there a couple of years ago to watch the leaves turn which we don't have in California.

[Don Capps]

I can even understand (NASCAR driver) Ward Burton's southern drawl...

Ward has an accent? Funny, but I never noticed.....