mercuryg

Stay drunk.

Malcolm, I have a small collection of postcards relating to the town, you're welcome to use them

That has to be, quite simply, the most magnificent epitaph I have ever read.

The petrol heads amongst you might like this site: http://www.thecarlabs.com/ (Yes, I do contribute! I get around these days.....)

Keith, kindly get your coat.....

I thought you were talking about the island.

Well, in the first few days of publication the site apparently had over 15,000 unique visitors, a pretty good figure for a start-up with limited publicity so far. I am a little disappointed with the quality of a few of the features, but think the Ed did his best with what he had to work with. Episode 2 should be a major improvement. It's nice, for once, to be paid for writing about something I enjoy, as opposed to the usual PPI claims, legal services, product descriptions and lingerie. Not that I don't enjoy lingerie. On someone else, of course. Female, naturally.

Thank you, much appreciated.

It does exist, it's off Grey Street somewhere; don't know the name of the road but know how to get there!

Brett is absolutely right; sorry about that, it's just that we are sort of in pre/during launch limbo!

We are live! http://www.pitlanemagazine.com/magazine/ edition number one published today; I'm a little dubious about the quality of a couple of the entries, a view that will be put to the editor, but overall some very nice content: interviews with Sir Jackie Stewart (by yours truly..), Alan Jones, and Derek Warwick among others; a 'half term' report on F1 2012; some nice opinion pieces - a decent opening issue. Please visit, read, comment and enjoy!

Aah, crystal skulls, another magnificent mystery! The famous Mitchell-Hedges version being the most mysterious of all! I love this sort of thing, it's what the world needs; more crystal skulls please, and another chicken while we're at it.....

"The Aztec prophecies said the pale-faced god Quetzalcoatl would return from the east to take his rightful place and that he would return in the year 1-Reed. That year in western timescale was 1519 - the year Hernan Cortes arrived at Vera Cruz - from the east - and destroyed the Aztec nation with 500 conquistadors. COINCIDENCE! or prophetic warning." mmm, again we have a contentious 'fact'; there is little evidence, in fact, that the Aztec (or Toltec) people - and Montezuma - considered the arrival of Cortes as fulfillment of the Quetzalcoatl prophecy, unless you read the version written by Cortes himself (who did have a rather elevated opinion of his own worth). It's worth remembering that history, in general, is usually written by the winner. This subject has come about at a time when I happen to be researching such things (perhaps the cosmic influence is upon me, or maybe I am, in fact, a great God from ancient times - I mean, I'm certainly handsome enough) thanks to a friend who insists on believing that the Ancient Astronaut theory is the key to how we came to be here. Sadly, he believes that Macchu Picchu has to be of alien origin because, and I quote, 'they couldn't have got the rocks up the mountains otherwise.....' Now, I'm just off to sacrifice another chicken, lest I be damned to hell by the Sun Gods.

Malcolm, you're a prophet! Are you the New Messiah that some loony was telling me the other day is already on earth and waiting for a confrontation with the Devil?

Now Mr Lockey, Sir, as a man whom I know to possess some intellect, and one whom I now know to be interested in astronomy, surely you are aware that the whole 2012 cosmic alignment and Mayan calendar scare is nothing but a fabrication? Let's start with a couple of quotes from above: "The real puzzler is how the Mayans knew about this alignment." Well, puzzle solved: they didn't. No serious Mayan history scholar has found any evidence of any knowledge of such, and Mayan texts have been comprehensively deciphered with some accuracy. Nor is there any evidence whatsoever that equinoxes or planetary alignments held any importance in Mayan culture. Furthermore, even NASA has explained that there is no particularly special cosmic alignment in December this year. "the sun is crossing over the equator and will be in a new plane." This is hotly disputed in astronomical circles: the sun does move in relation to the so called 'equator' but most astronomers will explain that this is a line that has been invented by us. There is no way of knowing where the true equator is, as we have no idea of the actual dimensions of the universe. Besides, it has been 'crossing' this imaginary plane for many years now. Earth, meanwhile, is not due to cross any 'galactic plane' in 2012. "there is evidence of polar reversals - something to do with magnetic field changes if I'm correct. And it could happen again. North and South becomes East and West, that sort of thing." If you refer to scholars on the subject the consensus is that a magnetic change occurs naturally every 400,000 or so years. It isn't a case of north becoming something else, and there is no evidence of harm to life on earth. Astronomers and physicists do not believe this is about to happen imminently. The whole Mayan calender/cosmic shift/impending apocalypse theory came about only in the 1970's, and then from the pen of a not very well accredited 'astronomer' who surmised that we are going to be blitzed by the return of the 'hidden planet' Nibiru, which in fact made an appearance not in Mayan writing, but in that of the Sumerian race. It doesn't exist. The writer of the book came to the conclusion that as the Mayan calendar 'ends' in December 2012, so they must have had some inkling of the End of the World on that date; in fact, it is simply the end of the current Long Count, and the beginning of a new one, much as we begin and end our years, every year, with the close of December 31st and the dawn of January 1st. I think you can put away your tin foil hat, Keith!

I saw Elvis in the Red Lion just last week. Oh, wait, no, I think it was Foxy.

Just had confirmation we launch August 30th; please pay us a visit, should motor sport insight and history be Your Sort of Thing!

Love it!

Here you Malcolm, the theme continues..... Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators during the Olympics that they would like to take back: 1. Weightlifting commentator: "This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing." 2. Dressage commentator: "This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother." 3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father." 4. Boxing Analyst: "Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious." 5. Softball announcer: "If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again." 6. Basketball analyst: "He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces." 7. At the rowing medal ceremony: "Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew." 8. Soccer commentator: "Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field." 9. Tennis commentator: "One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them... Oh my God, what have I just said?"

Like the last one....

Thank you Vic! The interview went very well, and I now have a couple of further assignments. The magazine will be launching before the next Grand Prix in Belgium, and the first edition will feature some interesting stuff. I shall keep you posted!

Keith; a friend of mine claims another story about the Monkey. He reckons - and he says he's researched this - the bell that signalled the end of shift at the nearby pit was known, for reasons yet to be fathomed, as 'The Monkey bell'; the Barrington was the place they would all head to for a pint, so it became known as 'The Monkey'. I'll ask him for his sources for you.

To the small percentage of you who enjoy Formula One and motor sport in general, it may interest you that I have been asked to contribute to a new website, due to launch in a couple of weeks time. http://www.pitlanemagazine.com is not going to be a news-based site, but one that is feature-led. We will be running interviews with figures from the sport, past and present, as well as opinion based articles, insight pieces, behind the scenes stuff and general historical features (for which yours truly will be responsible). It is a brave new venture that looks extremely promising, and I am honoured to have been asked to contribute, the Editor having cited my work elsewhere as being inspirational in his quest to get the site up and running. I am aware it has limited appeal, although there are millions of fans out there, but for the record, my first assignment is to interview none other than Sir Jackie Stewart, an arrangement I believe shows the commitment and potential the editorial team have for the future. I shall let you know when things are up and running!

Interesting; a quick google returns this entry.... Haunted Hotels in North West England www.nightsinthepast.com/haunted_hotels_north_west.htmlShare Originally a manor house and nunnery, Hartford Hall is situated in the village of the ... Otherworldly residents include a grey lady known affectionately as "Lady ... However, that Hartford Hall is not our Hartford Hall! I must say I have an interest in such things, and have read many books on the subject, and have never come across a mention of Hartford Hall. (BTW, how are you these days? We used to be acquainted some years ago, Northumberland Arms, I am the legendary Deaf Steve....)

Hartford Hall Grey Lady Ghost? You sure you're not getting mixed up with Delaval Hall, Keith?