The Night Mail

[Northmoor]

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

One of our regular TNM posters got a loan car and complained most bitterly about how complicated the latest technology was.

 

I have now found, in Tokyo, something more appropriate for our fellow TNM

 

 

Although you do need a Smartphone App

 

Frequently to be found coming along a London pavement at you, two teenagers on board, at 20mph.

 

What is this DPF devil-speak?  Far too many people bought diesels for a duty cycle they're not suited to (and I do too many short journeys in mine TBH).  I recall years ago a story of a customer bringing his Sierra Cosworth in to the dealer because it was "running a bit sluggish".  They handed it back at the end of the day, all sorted.  Let's just say it spent no time on the ramp but very, very quickly getting some miles under its belt.....

[Northmoor]

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

I am old enough to remember the expression  'jap cr*p', which was followed by similar ideas about the inferiority of products made in the Republic of Korea and China and will no doubt be followed by others in the future. 

The difference, with cars at least, is that the Japanese took about 30 years to go from funny little cars that were reliable but rusted badly, to building cars that were normal, reliable and lasted as long as or longer than their European equivalents.

The Chinese motor industry has climbed the same learning curve in half the time.

[PupCam]

48 minutes ago, pH said:

Were Japanese bikes an instant success in the UK? I remember a Honda dealership opening locally in the early/mid 1960s and hearing of customer complaints about the quality of the bikes. One in particular was of a bike not making it to 1000 miles (mechanical problems, not accident!).

 

I don't know if they were an instant success as I was too young and unaware.   By the early '70s though I don't recall many 6th formers at school lusting after or even having Raliegh Wisps

 

 

But I do remember a strong interest in and a number of Honda SS50s and Yamaha FS1Es .....    There were a few Puch Maxis as well for the less well-healed.

 

 

 

When I left school in the early/mid '70s and bought my first motor cycle (due to circumstances I skipped the moped phase)  I recall there were Yamahas, Hondas, Suzukis etc but not a sniff of anything Made In Britain  in the local dealers.

 

If the term "Jap Crap" was actually deserved in the early years and not just a derogatory term used to complain about the "new-boys" then that makes the British Motorcycle Industry's failure to sit-up, take note and do something about the looming threat even more remarkable!

 

A good number of my aging motorcycle mates have various mopeds in their fleets mainly so they can participate in the Vintage Motor Cycle Club's moped runs.    I could be tempted by an SS50  even at this late stage.   FS1Es are just stupid money so I'll stick with the mighty RD200 to satisfy my need to lay down a trail of blue smoke.

 

 

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by PupCam
Removed rogue duplicated image at the 3rd attempt

[Northmoor]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

....after themselves being spray painted.

 

Dave

I did suggest at work today that if caught, their sentence should be to clean it all off.

With a toothbrush.

On an outside depot road.

In their underpants.

In February.

[Northmoor]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

 Though the programme was far more relevant to yer average person when the likes of William Woolard were running the show.

It was also, to the average person, eye-wateringly boring.  TG with Clarkson and pals attracted a huge audience who thought they had no interest in cars, but watched anyway.  It was entertainment.

[Dave Hunt]

6 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

It was also, to the average person, eye-wateringly boring.  TG with Clarkson and pals attracted a huge audience who thought they had no interest in cars, but watched anyway.  It was entertainment.

 

Possibly so but Clarkson is still a pillock.

 

Dave

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, pH said:

So can you save money and just pee in the tank? (Or does it have to be specifically BP?)

I think the Ad Blue reservoirs have a special filler nozzle so perhaps not. Both our cars have petrol engines so we missed out on the watery urea experience. 

[polybear]

13 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

It was also, to the average person, eye-wateringly boring.  TG with Clarkson and pals attracted a huge audience who thought they had no interest in cars, but watched anyway.  It was entertainment.

 

So's "The Only Way is Essex" - apparently**

(**Rumour has it that you do need an IQ below a "certain threshold" however....)

[Northmoor]

9 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

So's "The Only Way is Essex" - apparently**

(**Rumour has it that you do need an IQ below a "certain threshold" however....)

Broadcast media is supposed to be Entertaining and/or Informative.  Both is great, either is fine but TOWIE is neither.  Five seconds of it makes me want to purchase a Kalashnikov.

[Willie Whizz]

25 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Possibly so but Clarkson is still a pillock.

 

Dave

If I could earn his money doing

the same sort of thing, I’d happily settle for

being thought a pillock, frankly. 

[PhilJ W]

36 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

I did suggest at work today that if caught, their sentence should be to clean it all off.

With a his own toothbrush.

On an outside depot road.

In their underpants.

In February.

Thats better.

[PhilJ W]

4 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

With which particular acid substance? 

Hydrochloric? That dissolves the skeleton, the only cure is amputation.

[jamie92208]

50 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

I did suggest at work today that if caught, their sentence should be to clean it all off.

With a toothbrush.

On an outside depot road.

In their underpants.

In February.

The idiot who in railway carriages

Scribbles on window panes. 

May only suffer to ride on a buffer

In parliamentary trains. 

 

W S Gilbert circa 1880

 

Some thing never change. 

 

Jamie 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by jamie92208

[Chris Snowdon]

14 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I have come to the conclusion that cars are too clever for their own good.

 

The other thing that bothers me is the ever increasing technology in 'driver assist'.

 

Better to call it an enhancing driver complacency system, as I'm sure it actually erodes your driving skills.

During the late pestilence, I started reading Autocar again.  Their staff seemed to really like two cars - Final version of Mondeo, and Octavia (particularly Estate, and particularly the umbrella compartment).  What they really, really didn't seem to like was VW (group-wide)'s "driver assist" technology, on the grounds that it didn't work very well, was distracting at best, and had to be disabled every time the engine re-started (including a traffic-light stop/start).  My own experience is that VW's beepy-beepy bits are useful, but my only experience of automation was on a Volvo, and it scared me.

[Hroth]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

 

 Though the programme was far more relevant to yer average person when the likes of William Woolard were running the show.

 

57 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

It was also, to the average person, eye-wateringly boring.  TG with Clarkson and pals attracted a huge audience who thought they had no interest in cars, but watched anyway.  It was entertainment.

 

Last Saturday (so its still easily available on iPlayer) the first edition of TG was re-broadcast on BBC Four.  The title music was the familiar tune, with stodgy graphics. It was then introduced by some bloke behind a desk, who rambled on a bit and then passed things over to Angela Rippon, without mentioning what the segment would be about.  Angela then did a piece while she drove her Capri down a motorway, rambling on about good and bad drivers, before pulling into a motorway services to interview a woman about the price of motorway meals.

 

At that point I gave up, it was so DULL. I'm surprised it lasted long enough to be rebooted by the CHM era!

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Hroth
spelin

[Chris Snowdon]

11 hours ago, bbishop said:

To explain, Bruckner collects all the themes from the previous 80 minutes and the orchestra plays them together.  To re-iterate, only he could have done that.

I think I know what you mean though I might not get it as you intend, but if I do, then I recall Gotterdammerung, overall but the ending particularly...  I suppose that Bolero, Rhapsody in Blue, and even I Can See Clearly Now could also be seen to take the same idea.

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Chris Snowdon said:

 then I recall Gotterdammerung, overall but the ending particularly...  

 

Mrs Compound, Beatrice or Lexi as we may call her according to circumstance, says the end of Gotterdammerung is the best bit but can only be properly appreciated after sitting through the whole sixteen hours of the Ring Cycle.

 

And even Wotan, in the second act of the first full installment (Das Rheingold being but the prologue), says he is looking forward to the End. 

[Hroth]

4 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Mrs Compound, Beatrice or Lexi as we may call her according to circumstance, says the end of Gotterdammerung is the best bit but can only be properly appreciated after sitting through the whole sixteen hours of the Ring Cycle.

 

And even Wotan, in the second act of the first full installment (Das Rheingold being but the prologue), says he is looking forward to the End. 

 

So the end of Gotterdammerung is appreciated because it means that you can go home at last for a nice cup of tea and to let your ears recover?

[Chris Snowdon]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

Frequently to be found coming along a London pavement at you, two teenagers on board, at 20mph.

 

What is this DPF devil-speak?  Far too many people bought diesels for a duty cycle they're not suited to (and I do too many short journeys in mine TBH).  I recall years ago a story of a customer bringing his Sierra Cosworth in to the dealer because it was "running a bit sluggish".  They handed it back at the end of the day, all sorted.  Let's just say it spent no time on the ramp but very, very quickly getting some miles under its belt.....

Only 20mph?  It is safer to walk on the road and dodge the buses.

Ah, the Sierra Cosworth...  Bought a couple of Scalextric ones for my nephews a few years ago...  Wanted one ever since watching Spender...  A neighbour had a Cavalier 2000 GSi...  Oh, so long ago...  A trip to Shetland revealed a local story about a trawlerman's M5 which had "gone astray" before mysteriously being found outside a Police Station two weeks later - absolutely everyone assumed that it was "found" with an extra few miles on the clock.

[Chris Snowdon]

Just to throw back into the mix, thanks to bbishop for advice on how to listen to Bruckner - I for one am still a novice.

Back to opera, my introduction was - like many - Apocalyse Now, and then a joint Italian/Choral lesson where we had to sing "Nessun Dorma".  Later, a taster-session at the Barbican exposed my little brain to the Flying Dutchman, which was splendid.

[monkeysarefun]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Is this big enough?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx7d34nl5vwo

 

 

No need to be silly!  Elegoo have a soon-to-be-released FDM printer (the Orange-Storm Giga) -   at 800mmx800mmx1000mm build-size it  might just be big enough. 

 

AS is the case with every other 3D development, you can except Anycubic, Creality etc etc to follow suit at some point. 

Edited 1 hour ago by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

"Composers" of Operas - the biggest frauds in the music  world.

All they do is take things like jingles from  TV commercials, change the words into a language that you can't understand and pass it off as their own work.

 

Case in point - that song that goes Doo doo be doo be , be doo be doo be dooo from "Carmen".   Turns out its from an Australian ad for a garage door  made way back in the 60's - the bloke obviously thought no one would remember it,  but I have!

 

(Warning - last line of ad  may trigger some here, discretion advised. ) 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

31 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

"Composers" of Operas - the biggest frauds in the music  world.

All they do is take things like jingles from  TV commercials, change the words into a language that you can't understand and pass it off as their own work.

 

Case in point - that song that goes Doo doo be doo be , be doo be doo be dooo from "Carmen".   Turns out its from an Australian ad for a garage door  made way back in the 60's - the bloke obviously thought no one would remember it,  but I have!

 

(Warning - last line of ad  may trigger some here, discretion advised. ) 

 

 

Bit of sound advice at the end "Get a garage first." A shed won't do.

[Chris Snowdon]

I'm sure that once upon a time, the Esso sign meant "happy motoring", before they reverted to advising putting a tiger in one's tank.  That 1980/90s tiger ad must be on the web somewhere...  I was able to find "the Ambassador's Reception" last week.  That one where Bendick's mints ripped-off the de Beers ad was another good one from the same era.