[Magick Man]

We in the States only think we know discrimination, Italians have it down to a science. Arabs, or anyone who appears to be Arab, are fiercely hated here. I dropped by the tailor to get my clothing order, and while picking up accessories and talking with the owner (whose English was so poor that we resorted to speaking in Spanish) an Arab fellow walked in. When he did, the mood in the whole store changed, from being happy and festive to hostile and pensive. The customer asked a couple questions in very broken English and the owner answered in Italian that he didn't understand him, then the guy tried to ask him the question in Italian, and the owner just raised his hands like "I have no idea What you're trying to say". Finally the fella became so irritated he left, and the door hadn't even fully shut when everyone in there started blasting him with every slur they could think of... and this is a high-line professional clothier! "Qué pasó, mi amigo?" I asked him. He replied, "They're awful, filthy animals, the government should round them all up and throw them in the sea" (it loses some of its edge when translated). :blink:

It's like that everywhere. If a place will do business with them, they charge them 3-4x more. Usually however, they ignore them or tell them to get out. Even the Roma are treated better (and they hate Arabs more than the Italians, too). I live in the Southern US where racism, unfortunately, isn't exactly rare and I've never seen anything like this.

Supercharge and turbocharge the same car? Volvo says yes! http://www.cnet.com/products/2015-volvo-s60-t6-drive-e/

My yellow Ford GT has both, twin turbos and a blower, staggered to make even torque throughout the band. The amount of heat it puts out at full throttle is ungodly, during development they had to go to CF headers, because the ones in SS were warping, and all the rods and internal head parts are titanium.

Oh, oh! BTW, I could spend the next 5 years just hunting cool old Lancias, Ferraris, Maseratis, Abarth, any type of vintage Italian car you can think of, and many that you may have never heard of, for <1/2 the prices in the US. I'm finding gorgeous, yet non-operating, 50s-70s classics everywhere here. I'm going to need to lease at least 3 or 4 ship containers before we leave, just to get them all back home. In the mean time I guess we can put them in storage lockers.

---------------------

So, think Mercedes will walk through Monaco? Will Hamilton dominate again? I believe his luck is about to change, I'm feeling really good about Alonso.

 

[Hutnicks]

We in the States only think we know discrimination, Italians have it down to a science. Arabs, or anyone who appears to be Arab, are fiercely hated here. I dropped by the tailor to get my clothing order, and while picking up accessories and talking with the owner (whose English was so poor that we resorted to speaking in Spanish) an Arab fellow walked in. When he did, the mood in the whole store changed, from being happy and festive to hostile and pensive. The customer asked a couple questions in very broken English and the owner answered in Italian that he didn't understand him, then the guy tried to ask him the question in Italian, and the owner just raised his hands like "I have no idea What you're trying to say". Finally the fella became so irritated he left, and the door hadn't even fully shut when everyone in there started blasting him with every slur they could think of... and this is a high-line professional clothier! "Qué pasó, mi amigo?" I asked him. He replied, "They're awful, filthy animals, the government should round them all up and throw them in the sea" (it loses some of its edge when translated).

It's like that everywhere. If a place will do business with them, they charge them 3-4x more. Usually however, they ignore them or tell them to get out. Even the Roma are treated better (and they hate Arabs more than the Italians, too). I live in the Southern US where racism, unfortunately, isn't exactly rare and I've never seen anything like this.
My yellow Ford GT has both, twin turbos and a blower, staggered to make even torque throughout the band. The amount of heat it puts out at full throttle is ungodly, during development they had to go to CF headers, because the ones in SS were warping, and all the rods and internal head parts are titanium.

Oh, oh! BTW, I could spend the next 5 years just hunting cool old Lancias, Ferraris, Maseratis, Abarth, any type of vintage Italian car you can think of, and many that you may have never heard of, for <1/2 the prices in the US. I'm finding gorgeous, yet non-operating, 50s-70s classics everywhere here. I'm going to need to lease at least 3 or 4 ship containers before we leave, just to get them all back home. In the mean time I guess we can put them in storage lockers.

---

So, think Mercedes will walk through Monaco? Will Hamilton dominate again? I believe his luck is about to change, I'm feeling really good about Alonso.

Go to Eastern Europe if you want to see read discrimination.
 
Yeah TurboSuperchargers another fine development from the aviation industry
 
Three words Lancia Beta Montecarlo. Nuff said?   If I had the money I'd buy a container load of those by themselves
 
Tough call. Villeneuve once called modern F1 at Monaco "A bicycle race in your bathroom". Qualifying becomes everything. New fuels supposed to be showing up here for the SCUD, if so Raikkonnen (best pure talent driver) can block (If he can stay alive http://jalopnik.com/red-bull-mechanic-saves-kimi-raikkonen-from-being-f1-ro-1580062663  )while Alonso (Best technical driver since Prost) runs away. Mercedes team rivalry can really hurt them here. It wouldn't surprise me if Nico gets the lecture pre race. Either way it will be no Hamilton cake walk, he's going to have to work for this.
The fly in the ointment here will be Ricciardo, give that guy  a sniff at the lead and he'll fight like he's broke to win. Renault is apparently trying to find a winning fuel combination as well.
 
As an off topic here. I have to recommend PJ Harveys Let England Shake . I actually don't like Polly's work all that much but this is just one of those albums that is a must have. Time, Place and Talent conspired to make one of the most haunting audio experiences I've ever heard. Listening to this makes me want to hop on a flight to London to make sure it hasn't slid under the waves.

 

[Magick Man]

"Bicycle race in a bathroom" fits, people don't realize until they get here just how cramped it all is. Seriously, I've never seen so much packed into such a tiny area. Traveling at those speeds on these streets can only be a constant panic attack.

Everyone makes jokes about the Beta; mainly how they rust away to nothing if you leave them out in the rain and how they sort of fall apart on their own, even if you never drive it. I think it looks like a shorter DeLorean, personally, and that makes it cool in my book.

-------------------

I loved this! We were down at the casino (we're staying at the hotel de Paris), and I wasn't paying attention to my totals, here they don't use checks (chips) for everything, just for certain games, and I'd win (or lose) some money, get it put on (or taken off) my casino card, and move on to another table. Well, I was having a pretty good tear at the blackjack table, not card counting really, but I regularly try to keep a handle on the general count (in my head, not with chips). It's just a habit. Anyway a manager pulls me aside during a bathroom break and asks if I'm having a good time, what I though of the casino, etc.. I told him it was wonderful and we were having a ball. Then he was like, "we noticed that you've been quite lucky tonight", truth is I thought I was up maybe $150k, but I was just enjoying playing, not so much watching any total. So I was like , "I guess so, I'm not sure where I am in winnings". Well, at that he gives me a dubious look and raises an eyebrow, "Sir, you are at over 500k euros in winnings." Trying to hide my surprise, I laugh and lightly pay him on the arm, "Oh wow, I thought you were going to say 2 or 3 million! You had my hopes up!" After that they comped our rooms, food, drinks, souvenir shop purchases (we got a cool Rolex set), and gave us passes to the shows. Yeah, he's the "cooler", it's his job to get you off track and break your "rhythm", it just surprised me because I'd never met one before. I thought they were old wives' tales. Didn't really work, I went back to the tables and finished the night up another 150k.

Also so far we've seen Alan Arkin, Hugh Grant, Brian Johnson (AC/DC), Don Cheadle, Rafael Nadal (he's staying in this hotel, I think), and Chris Slater. All those, and we haven't even been trying to find celebrities, or even looking too closely, that's just through incidental roaming. All but Johnson and Slater ignored everyone else around them, however. Oh, and I think we saw Megan Fox, but she was ringed with security and 100m away, and much too self-important to mingle with the "common" folk. I guess due to Cannes being a few dozen kms away, and the GP, this place is like a celebrity Mecca this weekend. We hung out and talked with Slater at one table for half an hour, what a great guy. At first he asked what I do; I told him that I collect and restore classic/exotic cars. He raised his eyebrows at that, saying, "Your job beats the hell out of mine". So, completely deadpan I look at him and ask, "Really? What is it that you do?" His eyes went a little wide and he didn't know what to say for a second, then I bailed him out, "I'm just messing with you, of course I know." I got to hear his tale of woe over the engine blowing up in his 996 Carrera. Then we talked about hybrids, Top Gear, Star Trek, and spending way too much money on petrol in Europe. Unfortunately, he still can't drive in most of the EU, due to too many DUIs in the US. He said Jeremy Clarkson was somewhere in Monaco, maybe I'll get a glimpse of him tomorrow. Had a nap and am going to run back down and see about playing some Hold `em.

 

[Hutnicks]

"Bicycle race in a bathroom" fits, people don't realize until they get here just how cramped it all is. Seriously, I've never seen so much packed into such a tiny area. Traveling at those speeds on these streets can only be a constant panic attack.

Everyone makes jokes about the Beta; mainly how they rust away to nothing if you leave them out in the rain and how they sort of fall apart on their own, even if you never drive it. I think it looks like a shorter DeLorean, personally, and that makes it cool in my book.

---

I loved this! We were down at the casino (we're staying at the hotel de Paris), and I wasn't paying attention to my totals, here they don't use checks (chips) for everything, just for certain games, and I'd win (or lose) some money, get it put on (or taken off) my casino card, and move on to another table. Well, I was having a pretty good tear at the blackjack table, not card counting really, but I regularly try to keep a handle on the general count (in my head, not with chips). It's just a habit. Anyway a manager pulls me aside during a bathroom break and asks if I'm having a good time, what I though of the casino, etc.. I told him it was wonderful and we were having a ball. Then he was like, "we noticed that you've been quite lucky tonight", truth is I thought I was up maybe $150k, but I was just enjoying playing, not so much watching any total. So I was like , "I guess so, I'm not sure where I am in winnings". Well, at that he gives me a dubious look and raises an eyebrow, "Sir, you are at over 500k euros in winnings." Trying to hide my surprise, I laugh and lightly pay him on the arm, "Oh wow, I thought you were going to say 2 or 3 million! You had my hopes up!" After that they comped our rooms, food, drinks, souvenir shop purchases (we got a cool Rolex set), and gave us passes to the shows. Yeah, he's the "cooler", it's his job to get you off track and break your "rhythm", it just surprised me because I'd never met one before. I thought they were old wives' tales. Didn't really work, I went back to the tables and finished the night up another 150k.

Also so far we've seen Alan Arkin, Hugh Grant, Brian Johnson (AC/DC), Don Cheadle, Rafael Nadal (he's staying in this hotel, I think), and Chris Slater. All those, and we haven't even been trying to find celebrities, or even looking too closely, that's just through incidental roaming. All but Johnson and Slater ignored everyone else around them, however. Oh, and I think we saw Megan Fox, but she was ringed with security and 100m away, and much too self-important to mingle with the "common" folk. I guess due to Cannes being a few dozen kms away, and the GP, this place is like a celebrity Mecca this weekend. We hung out and talked with Slater at one table for half an hour, what a great guy. At first he asked what I do; I told him that I collect and restore classic/exotic cars. He raised his eyebrows at that, saying, "Your job beats the hell out of mine". So, completely deadpan I look at him and ask, "Really? What is it that you do?" His eyes went a little wide and he didn't know what to say for a second, then I bailed him out, "I'm just messing with you, of course I know." I got to hear his tale of woe over the engine blowing up in his 996 Carrera. Then we talked about hybrids, Top Gear, Star Trek, and spending way too much money on petrol in Europe. Unfortunately, he still can't drive in most of the EU, due to too many DUIs in the US.

He said Jeremy Clarkson was somewhere in Monaco, maybe I'll get a glimpse of him tomorrow. Had a nap and am going to run back down and see about playing some Hold `em.

I think you have the Delorean and the beta Monte bass ackwards as to who looks like what. It was THE beta to have (crap 11 grand brand spankin new in the day,) put a wee bit of work into one and it became the poor mans Ferrari. Yeah they rusted, they had issues but when they worked they were brilliant.
 
Monaco 1.5 square miles of everything. 
Did you catch qualifying or were you too busy increasing your net worth?  2 hours of being in a car at that performance level around that track would kill any normal human. Just watching the in car cams makes me quake. The amount of information you need to process in such a short time is staggering. Add in the team rattling you on the radio and it amazes me you can actually remember to shift 47 times a lap.
 
Shennanigans abound. Hammer and Nico (soon to be known as The Nail I'm sure) on the front of the grid. Really hope Lewis is not a big fan of Senna
The gent was probably not so much a "cooler" as sussing out whether or not you were a pro or a system player. If he'd made that call you'd have subtly been made unwelcome. If he at all moved you around a bit you have no doubt made it into the facial recognition database they all share.
The nice thing about Monte was the conspicuous lack of conspicuous bling. I hope it's still the same, there is something to be said for understatement.

 

[ssrock64]

Brian Johnson is quite the car guy; I'm not surprised at all that he'd be hanging around Monaco. Did you get a chance to chat with him?

 

[Magick Man]

yeah, would have liked to have talked with Brian, but he was busy and I didn't want to be a jerk.

Going to take a nap before the race, we didn't go to bed last night and I'm beat. However, later I have a poker story, and it starts with, "I really should have walked away from the table, let alone sit down..."

 

[Magick Man]

That was all a bit disappointing. The event was a lot of fun and we met some interesting people and celebs, also we did catch some qualifying and practice on Fri and early Sat. I could stand on the balcony with binoculars and see some of it. But the lack of overtaking leaves me cold, it's completely ridiculous and not much more than a very loud game of follow-the-leader. Oh well, at least Hamilton didn't win, and Alonso did finish #4 (one of the only drivers to pass someone during the entire race). :rolleyes:

 

[Hutnicks]

That was all a bit disappointing. The event was a lot of fun and we met some interesting people and celebs, also we did catch some qualifying and practice on Fri and early Sat. I could stand on the balcony with binoculars and see some of it. But the lack of overtaking leaves me cold, it's completely ridiculous and not much more than a very loud game of follow-the-leader. Oh well, at least Hamilton didn't win, and Alonso did finish #4 (one of the only drivers to pass someone during the entire race).

Ah. We have a blood fued at Mercedes. Raikkonnen driving like a madman, Button clawing his way forward from starting in Istanbul, Ricciardo doing a stellar job and Vettel doing nothing at all. If you actually ignore what was going on in first and second place there was indeed a race happening. I am much more curious as to if Dead Bull can squeeze a little more out of that package and threaten Merc at Montreal. The Scud, I'm afraid will most likely take the rest of the season to diagnose and correct that diabolical contraption they are strapping Kimi and Fernando into. You now know how evil Monaco is as a track, imagine it in one of those cars prone to directional changes all on their own.

 

[Magick Man]

I'm mostly annoyed with Mercedes dominating everything, it was a lot of fun and a great venue. Also we got a pic of my wife with Alonso, Kimi, and Gordon Ramsey (who was catering and hosting). If she lets me, I'll post it up. At one point Gordon asked her, "Is he your father?", pointing at me. She replied, "We're from Tennessee, not Alabama." Then I threw in, "Absolutely not, I paid her parents good money for her." I showed them some pics of my cars and he was like, "screw me, who are you? Is that a real F1? Can I come to live with you? I'll cook your meals, you pay me and let me drive your cars. Deal?"

People may complain about Ferrari being corporate jerks, but they sure know how to throw a dinner party.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I'll take that deal - does Gordon want to drive my Hyundai Elantra?

Howdy all - I'be been away from head-fi for a bit, I'm glad to see the gang is still rock'n!

 

[Hutnicks]

I'm mostly annoyed with Mercedes dominating everything, it was a lot of fun and a great venue. Also we got a pic of my wife with Alonso, Kimi, and Gordon Ramsey (who was catering and hosting). If she lets me, I'll post it up. At one point Gordon asked her, "Is he your father?", pointing at me. She replied, "We're from Tennessee, not Alabama." Then I threw in, "Absolutely not, I paid her parents good money for her." I showed them some pics of my cars and he was like, "screw me, who are you? Is that a real F1? Can I come to live with you? I'll cook your meals, you pay me and let me drive your cars. Deal?"

People may complain about Ferrari being corporate jerks, but they sure know how to throw a dinner party.

That wouldn't be Merc / Scud rivalry brewing up in you now would it? In the Schumacher days things were not so much different. That is until upstart Alonso came along and put the Renault ahead of him.
 
The one thing I wish people who have been to Monaco  would do is take pics and describe the elevation changes. You really get no idea of how up and down it is from the TV. That course damn near has as much vertical travel as horizontal.
 
Did she actually coax a smile out of Kimi?

 

[veyrongatti]

I'm mostly annoyed with Mercedes dominating everything, it was a lot of fun and a great venue. Also we got a pic of my wife with Alonso, Kimi, and Gordon Ramsey (who was catering and hosting). If she lets me, I'll post it up. At one point Gordon asked her, "Is he your father?", pointing at me. She replied, "We're from Tennessee, not Alabama." Then I threw in, "Absolutely not, I paid her parents good money for her." I showed them some pics of my cars and he was like, "screw me, who are you? Is that a real F1? Can I come to live with you? I'll cook your meals, you pay me and let me drive your cars. Deal?"

People may complain about Ferrari being corporate jerks, but they sure know how to throw a dinner party.

But you don't even look that old....... 

 

[Achmedisdead]

A strange thing happened yesterday. First, I was very excited to see what appeared to be a bright yellow Lotus Exige in traffic while I was on my way to work.....rarely do i see anything like that around here. Then, as I was walking into work, I realized the oddity of the situation was even greater.....as the Exige had been pulling out of the parking lot of a Golden Corral! 

 

[billybob_jcv]

A strange thing happened yesterday. First, I was very excited to see what appeared to be a bright yellow Lotus Exige in traffic while I was on my way to work.....rarely do i see anything like that around here. Then, as I was walking into work, I realized the oddity of the situation was even greater.....as the Exige had been pulling out of the parking lot of a Golden Corral! :blink:

Three possibilities:

1) The owner of the Lotus is the Golden Corral franchisee that owns & operates over 20 Golden Corrals in your state, with a total annual revenue of ~$25-30M.

2) The owner of the Lotus is the local crystal meth king pin that operates his lab from the kitchen of of the Golden Corral, thus explaining the odd stench that always surrounds the Golden Corral.

3) The owner of the Lotus really had to pee, and that was the first place he saw.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Three possibilities:

1) The owner of the Lotus is the Golden Corral franchisee that owns & operates over 20 Golden Corrals in your state, with a total annual revenue of ~$25-30M.

2) The owner of the Lotus is the local crystal meth king pin that operates his lab from the kitchen of of the Golden Corral, thus explaining the odd stench that always surrounds the Golden Corral.

3) The owner of the Lotus really had to pee, and that was the first place he saw.

 
1) Never thought of that.....certainly seems like a valid possibility. 
 
2) and 3)