Quote from Albieg :

Ryan could have pulled a stunt in the heat of the moment without other people at McLaren knowing, and Hamilton decided not to contradict him in front of FIA officials.

That's pretty much how it sounds here...

Mclaren could have been fourth, but they deliberately colluded on a lie in order to gain a single place? Its beyond belief. If true then its simply a measure of how the formula has reduced drivers to a kind of underclass in the sport.

Quote from Mp3 Astra :

As a further reference, Trulli has got 3rd his place back

Quote :

"...it was a controversial end of the race and it was hard for anyone to understand..."

Yep, I'm still in the dark... I've read three different new articles, and I still have no idea what went on....

Quote from danowat :

Work to live, don't live to work.

Absolutely.

Quote :

I'd love to work a 3 day week, but I'm a) not sure my employer would be understanding unless there was a medical reason for it and b) it's not finanically viable for me atm either.

I jobshare, so my employers get a very good deal: the combined experience of two employees for the price of one. It works very well, though I have to admit that daily repetition isn't all bad if pleasure (in its many forms...) is the aim!

Which mrodgers is my answer to your conundrum; if no one wants to do it, maybe its worth evaluating whether its worth doing anyway. If the only compulsion to complete something is "that's just the way it is", what's wrong with saying "Screw it. I've got better things to do...."

Quote from SamH :

I'm a religious non-believer, but I'm not an atheist. Commonly accepted atheism asserts anything from "there is no god" to "there probably isn't a god".

I am quite happy to declare myself an atheist, but commonly accepted definitions are rarely useful! I am an atheist in the sense that none of the decisions in my life are the result of belief in a deity or, perhaps more importantly, a text defining the existence of that deity (or multiple deities...).

If I have to give blood then that decision, is based on the appropriateness of my blood for the given situation, not what is written in a narrative. If I want sex with someone then the decision is the result of mutual consent, not whether a text defines that act as 'right' or 'wrong'.

Belief in the existence of god is utterly peripheral to my life. There may well be a deity, but it doesn't govern my decisions about life. That is what makes me an atheist. Atheism: living without a theistic interpretation of life.

I only work three days a week. Its a choice I made a long time ago and have never regreted it (especially when I was really ill and off work for a year - they paid me full pay for five months and half pay for another five. And never made any bones about reinstating me when I came back).

My annual salary is less than the national average, but I have a four day weekend to do with as I please.

Work is a con that has been perpetuated for far too long. Is there really any sane and rational reason (beyond personal obsession) why one person should do the same thing day in, day out?

It all pales into insignificant mewling when compared to the noise of the stars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HEoLm7Zhgs

Beautiful.

Quote from mrodgers :

He probably has more money in one signing than I will have in multiples of my lifetime. Wouldn't you say that too?

Honestly? If offered the same amount of money, I'd hesitate without a doubt, but ultimately I would prefer to be free to make my own decisions, without some parasitic appendage telling me to modify my behaviour for the most banal of reasons.

Yeah, we all need money to live, but if the money involved is so great, with so many "strings" that you no longer actually have a life, then tell me what the point would be. Prison is still prison no matter how comfortable.

"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,"

Yeah, like allowing sponsors to own your arse, and feed you nuts like a monkey in a cage. Be a man and take back your life.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Sam - the point of that sub-topic of conversation is that it's madness. Why should Paki be taboo when Brit is allowed. If they come from Pakistan then they ARE Pakis, pure and simple. I suggest you, along with others, read a thread before replying to it, else you'll reply out of context, or worse.

I don't really see why this is so hard for you to understand... Words don't have absolute meanings and are dependent on context. The fact that paki is an abbreviation is irrelevant: it is usually used in an abusive context, in which the nationality of a person is given prejudicial emphasis. It therefore becomes "racist".

Nationalism is an infantile emotion, and the nationalist roots of the term ricer are obvious to anyone with half a brain and a passing interest in recent history. I won't deny that the word can be used playfully, but only the passage of a great deal of time will erase the echo of a playground insult from the word.

"There were no injuries. There was no accident". And this makes it into the news because....?

Oh right... A GSX-R that does "220mph".... Still don't reckon telling fisherman's tales is enough to warrant a news item....

Last edited by nihil, Mon, 2 Feb 2009 16:33.

Quote from Bob Smith :

At what point did Damian leave, I don't remember him saying goodbye?

I had to leave pretty sharpish after the event ended, but went to the bog after the prize giving and official goodbyes from the centre... And by the time I came out you'd all departed! I guessed for the pub, but since my drive out was in the opposite direction I figured I'd just have to say thanks to you all here. A convivial lot, every one of you. (except whoever it was that punted me from behind in the final race - kept me down in sixth place overall, that did...)

Thanks Tristan for winning us a great day out! Very enjoyable.

Quote from Gills4life :

but it involves the police and my protection.

So you're a Brazilian electrician and rightly scared of trains at the moment...?

I have a great deal of sympathy with the idea that employees should be protected against scumbag bosses who don't give a damn about people they regard as an expendable and replaceable commodity...

But at the same time I believe that the introduction of a absolute, technological response to a problem that, when it occurs, could easily be solved on a local, piecemeal basis is simply further evidence of this government's authoritarian tendencies.

Besides, I like noise. Sunno))) at the Forum was the best gig I attended last year. Sound so physical it was erotic.

Quote from Bean0 :

Haven't or can't ?

Haven't... As in do not want them. But my point really was that we do not choose what our tax money gets spent on anyway. In many ways that's a good thing, because people are so appallingly sentimental these days, we'd probably have a thousand children's hospitals and very little else.

Quote from Bean0 :

Why should I, the non-gig goer pay for the treatment of these stupid people who choose to damage their own health by giong to places with excessive noise levels.

I haven't had kids... Don't see why I should pay for other people to infest my world with the sickly product of their desire to continue a family name. I say we should set a limit (of one child) beyond which we can exterminate the excess.

Sounds reasonable to me....

Zen archery....

Saw Little Otik last night. Black, black, black comedy. I recommend it.

Quote from theirishnoob :

sex drive any good ?

Yes thanks.

Quote from zeugnimod :

What's "fun" about running with a burning barrel above your head?

Seriously.

How seriously? How much do you want to read? The easiest thing for me to do is say "Google Mikhail Bakhtin and carry on from there"....

Even easier would be to take a quote and give it to you:

Carnival is not a spectacle seen by the people; they live in it, and everyone participates because its very idea embraces all people. While carnival lasts, there is no other life outside it. During carnival time life is subject only to its own laws, that is, the laws of its own freedom.

There's a lot to say, and I could add a bit of balance by suggesting alternative reading as an antidote to Bakhtin's flood of metaphors, but that's up to you....

Quote from Mackie The Staggie :

What kind of Mardai Gras do you attend!!!!

http://tarbarrels.com/

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v= ... JBphQ&feature=related

Just two quick examples....

Quote from wien :

Over a couple of thousand years I think we'll eventually end up with a population with a healthy fear of sledgehammer-mounted explosives, and it will all have been worth it.

[laughing - with the presumption that you're being sarcastic]

That video was a great find!

I find it really funny that this forum, a racing forum (racing: the art of sitting in a potentially lethal explosive device and going round in circles for no apparent reason other than the joy of it), has a near inexhaustible fund of censorious garbage to throw at the virtual wall.

Carnivals are supposed to be dangerous. Doing dumb stuff with explosives is great fun. Just like racing, the art is to be as close to the edges of a theoretical perimeter as possible.

Quote from tristancliffe :

I suggested Donington as an idea of what track I'd like

Good suggestion! However, all of the tracks displayed on their site are GPL tracks. Don't know if anyone is ahead of me on this one, but knowing the prejudices of this forum, I thought I might as well say this.... I think its probably true that saying "no" to open wheelers is going to leave you with using Simbin products at the Race Centre.

I'm happy to leave everything in the hands of the owner though. He's an amiable geezer and made us feel really welcome last time round.