Mark Hallam

Writer for @dwnews. Germanophile Brit based in Bonn. I tweet sporadically, often about F1 and the Bundesliga. All views mine, or maybe borrowed.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@GunnerManAFC @layxsnv It’s called the Oxford (or serial) comma. The idea is more than a century old, minimum. Whether it should be used is debatable (yes is the minority position, you’re right there) but it has nothing to do with AI at all.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@timfarron Could be wrong, but I suspect it might transpire that Gullit never said anything of the sort. As you say, he’s spent too much time in Britain, in the 90s. He knows the score.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@chess_feed Spassky makes my top 10 probably — in no small part just for the exceptional grace and decency with which he endured Fischer. The better player won, the better man lost.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@Itshaber There was very little sprinting or sudden running on medieval battlefields. Swift march in tight formation — only sprint the last few paces, if at all. (Or perhaps in disorderly retreat.) Formation and structure much more valuable than the speed that inevitably breaks it apart.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@mccloskeybooks You’re in the doghouse, sir. “They hit the quaffle with the spanking stick” made me bray with laughter like a moron in the supermarket, to puzzled and suspicious stares.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@SeniormanKelzz Pace notes are somewhat customized, but I expect “flat right, maybe” is supposed to indicate to the driver that it *could* be taken flat, with ideal approach and line, but that lifting might be necessary with a sub-optimal entry. Rally cornering speeds more fluid than on a track.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@Motorsport Need at least 5 years, please.

- Narrower, shorter, lighter cars
- Manual box, 3 pedals (I don’t hate hybrid era, but if this is really only possible with an ICE, so be it
- Smaller brakes (ban carbon?)
- Prioritize free-to-air broadcast deals
- budget cap down 50%

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@formulaleonog7 Jimmy Clark, winning by 5 minutes with a defective gearbox, steering one-handed in 5th gear in the wet at (the old, big boy layout) Spa.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@Motorsport @F1 If it’s not the instrumental outro of The Chain, it will never be the F1 theme. (Buy the rights already, Liberty.)

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

One of one.

[The Upshot podcast @UpshotTowers]

Martin Brundle's grid walk yesterday was a real pleasure, but it still had nothing on his world class interview with Ozzy Osbourne

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@SauberManC24 @justformulacar Guess tyres might have stopped his suspension shearing off, but surely to the same token, Halo might have stopped it hitting his helmet?

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@SauberManC24 @justformulacar Senna? Non-fatal, but maybe Barichello’s front teeth too. And that’s just from one weekend in the reasonably safe 90s.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@kodingnights @chesscom In Germany too…

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@theserpentarius @mace_jay @interesting_aIl 1 in 3 *new* cars, sorry, sold last year. Percentage on the road will be higher because of legacy.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@theserpentarius @mace_jay @interesting_aIl Actually in Europe, it's more like 1 in 3 passenger cars that are manual. Though you are correct that there's been a massive dip, from more like 90% 30 years ago.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@germany_iam More fun than real embarrassing. Serving at a pub in Pfalz I was asked for a "kalter Kaffee." Eiskaffee, I queried? No, lad, a kalter Kaffee.
Eventually, I brought him a piping hot coffee and said he was welcome to let it go cold. Table burst out laughing. He got his Spezi next.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@kejamieson_ Because it’s an owl. Asleep when you’re working.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@RikeFranke @LeiR3aG They definitely "can," but there's no denying the system puts them (or anyone with a more radical point of view) at a distinct disadvantage.
Certainly much more than the PR voting to European Parliament does.

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@RetroGP_Store Nige if money no object. Alesi if pricing in the prices!

[Mark Hallam @marks_hallam]

@bencoates1 If only he realised he’s accidentally parodying an actual Gorbachev lightbulb moment in a remote branch of Ralph’s once upon a time.