Welcome to Apterygial's talk page. I will generally respond here to comments that are posted here, rather than replying via your talk page (or the article's talk page, if you are writing to me here about an article), so you may want to watch this page until you are responded to, or let me know where specifically you'd prefer the reply.
I have safely brought Fram to the Bay of Whales. In due course I expect to be able to trim by a few hundred words (this is usually possible, I find). However, for the next week or so my main attention will be elsewhere. I have standarised the Amundsen South Pole references to, e.g. "Amundsen (Vol. I), p. 45" rather than "Amundsen (1976), p. 45". It is a two-volume work and pagination starts again from 1 in Vol. II. A certain amount of textual harmonisation may be necessary, to ensure that we neither duplicate nor give differing accounts of the same thing. Brianboulton (talk) 17:56, 1 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
OK. While I've done very little so far, I should be able to pick it up in about a week. Apterygialtalk 00:38, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Can you update me on your plans for this article? When do you hope to resume serious work on it? Brianboulton (talk) 16:31, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Saturday, hopefully. I have all the books sitting around my computer, all I need to do is find time. Sorry I haven't been keeping you informed about this; work has been pretty hectic. I'm hoping to get the bulk of it done in about 9 days from then. Apterygialtalk 23:46, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Update: I shall be on a wikibreak for about two weeks from 30 July. I'll check in again around mid-September, at which time we will need to fix a firm schedule for the article's completion and review. Brianboulton (talk) 23:18, 29 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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The 2011 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 10 July 2011, at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England, and won by Fernando Alonso. Changes to the circuit mean that the race was previously classified as being in Northamptonshire, but the movement of the start-finish line means that the race is now officially classed as being in Buckinghamshire. It was the ninth race of the 2011 season, and saw the introduction of a ban on off-throttle blown diffusers, the practice of forcing the engine to continue to produce exhaust gasses to generate downforce when drivers are not using the throttle.
I have reviewed Belgrave Ninnis's GAN and have placed the review on hold for some minor issues to be addressed. Please comment on the issues at the review page and let me know when you done so I can re-review the article. --Happy editing! Nehrams2020 (talk • contrib) 17:47, 6 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for all the work you did in making Belgrave Ninnis a certified "Good Article"! Your work is much appreciated.
In the spirit of celebration, you may wish to review one of the Good Article nominees that someone else nominated, as there is currently a backlog, and any help is appreciated. All the best, – Quadell(talk)
The air-tractor sledge was a converted fixed-wing aircraft taken on the 1911–14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition, the first plane to be taken to the Antarctic. Expedition leader Douglas Mawson had planned to use the Vickers R.E.P. Type Monoplane as a reconnaissance and search and rescue tool, and to assist in publicity, but the aircraft crashed heavily during a test flight only two months before Mawson's scheduled departure date. The plane, stripped of its wings, was nevertheless sent south with the expedition, and converted to a sledge; brakes were fashioned from a pair of geological drills and a steering system from the plane's landing gear. The air-tractor was first tested in November 1912 and subsequently assisted in laying depots for the summer sledging parties, but its use during the expedition was minimal; the freezing conditions resulted in the jamming of the engine's pistons, and its frame was left on the ice when the expedition returned home in December 1913. In 2008 a team from the Mawson's Huts Foundation began searching for the remains of the air-tractor sledge; a seat was found in 2009, and parts of the tail a year later. The foundation believes that the air-tractor is still at the expedition's base, buried beneath the ice. (more...)
I'm very pleased to see that this has finally jumped the FA barrier. Warmest congratulations. With Farthest South on the main page tomorrow this is a turning into a good week for Antarctic explorers. Brianboulton (talk) 08:47, 23 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
By the way, I have used the slight hiatus in the development of the Amundsen expedition article to work on another small project, Brunette Coleman, which I have just sent to FAC. I'm ready to chip in again with Amundsen at any time; if there is anything you'd like me to be doing I'll get on with it. Brianboulton (talk) 14:38, 23 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
May there be many more Antarctic FAs. As for Amundsen's, I think it's a good idea to be sending another article to FAC. I'm working on Amundsen's article when I can, but I'm not able to be putting as much time into it as I'd like. Rest assured that I'll be ready for FAC well before December. Apterygialtalk 00:18, 24 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for all the work you did in making Far Eastern Party a Featured Article! Please accept this barnstar. Your work is much appreciated. – Quadell(talk)
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The 2011 Belgian Grand Prix, formally the 2011 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix, was a Formula One motor race that was held on 28 August 2011, at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium. It was the twelfth round of the 2011 Formula One season, and the 67th Belgian Grand Prix to be held. The race, contested over 44 laps, was won by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, the drivers' championship leader, after starting from pole position. Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber finished in second place, and Jenson Button completed the podium in third position for McLaren.
As a consequence of the race, Vettel extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 92 points over Webber. Fernando Alonso, fourth in the race, moved into third place in the championship, ten points behind Webber in third, and eight ahead of Button. In the World Constructors' Championship, Red Bull extended their championship lead to 131 points over McLaren, with Ferrari a further 64 points behind in third position.
I'm impressed by the work that's been going on with the South Pole expedition article while I've been away. I'll have a chance this weekend to take a detailed look at the expanded text, and will then try to get busy on some aftermath material. Aiming at peer review by the end of the month. Brianboulton (talk) 18:55, 16 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Sounds good. I'd stress that the prose of my expanded sections is still pretty rough, and I also need to add some information about the weather for the polar journey. I've yet to write sections on the party's return, the Eastern Party, and Fram's journeys during 1911. Apterygial (talk) 00:41, 17 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Rudolf Caracciola (1901–1959) was a German racing driver. He won the European Drivers' Championship an unsurpassed three times, and the European Hillclimbing Championship three times. Caracciola raced for Mercedes-Benz during their original dominating Silver Arrows period, and set speed records for the firm. In 1933, he established the privateer team Scuderia C.C. with his fellow driver Louis Chiron, but a crash in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix left him with multiple fractures of his right thigh, which prevented him from racing for more than a year. He returned to the newly reformed Mercedes-Benz racing team in 1934, with whom he won three European Championships, in 1935, 1937 and 1938. Like most German racing drivers in the 1930s, Caracciola was a member of the Naziparamilitary group NSKK, but never a member of the Nazi Party. He returned to racing after the Second World War, but crashed in qualifying for the 1946 Indianapolis 500. A second comeback in 1952 was halted by another crash, in a sports car race in Switzerland. After he retired Caracciola worked as a Mercedes-Benz salesman targeting NATO troops stationed in Europe. He died in the German city of Kassel, and was buried in Switzerland. He is remembered as one of the greatest pre-1939 Grand Prix drivers, a perfectionist who excelled in all conditions. (more...)
I have finished going through the "expedition" sections, adding a little here and there, trimming, rephrasing etc. The trouble is that for all its efficiency, Amundsen's journey was basically boring, and it's hard to bring it to life in an engaging way. Feel free to tweak further as you wish, but try to avoid upping the wordcount. I will now work on an Aftermath section, replacing the junk material presently occupying the tail end of the article. This should be in place by the weekend. I shall then go back to the early sections and see if I can trim some more; one criticism at present could be that it takes ages to get to the meat of the aticle - the expedition itself. We should hopefully end up with between 7000 and 7,500 words of text, which I think is OK for an expedition of this importance. A peer review by the end of next week (c. 29 October) could still see us at FAC by mid-November and, provided it gets through first time, should see us OK for the centenary. Brianboulton (talk) 15:08, 19 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Bravo. I think you're right; I tried to make it interesting but you've done this before and it's clear you know what you're doing. I think that timetable is fair. Do we have any decision on when they reached the pole? The lead says 14 December, but the body says 15 December. This will obviously influence the date we go for. Apterygial (talk) 11:39, 20 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I have added the final sections, cut back on Preparations and rewritten the lead. The result is an article of 7379 words which is within the target range and can I think be justified. In the title, I have altered "Expedition" to "expedition" since "Amundsen's South Pole Expedition" is not a formal or customeary title as is, say, "Imperial Transantarctic Expedition". The key date is definitely 15th. I'd like to let the article rest for a couple of days before sending it to peer review, where I hope to recruit a couple of old hands experienced with polar articles to give it a thorough going-over. Another editor has assumed responsibilities for the references and I have given him more or less a free hand. Please feel free to tweak the prose or make any minor changes you think are necessary, or let me know if you think there are significant omissions or areas needing further attention. I will be busy with Georges Bizet for the next day or two, and will probably nominate Amundsen for PR on Wednesday. Ping me if you foresee problems. Brianboulton (talk) 14:59, 23 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I've just done the PR nom. Review comments awaited> Brianboulton (talk) 23:49, 26 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Roger. Will look in this weekend. Apterygial (talk) 08:41, 28 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
One of the peer reviewers has pointed out that the book by B Webster Smith is listed at OCLC as "juvenile". In view of this, and that it was published so long ago (1936), and has only one inconsequential fact cited to it, I think we should get rid of it. Brianboulton (talk) 23:40, 31 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Replaced it with a cite to Langner. Apterygial (talk) 00:06, 1 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It looks as though peer review comments have dried up. I am going through the text one final time, to deal wih any remaining prose or punc fixes, but I don't anticipate anything major. I have experimentally adopted Yomangani's "no bolding" suggestion for the opening paragraph - do you have any views on that? I expect to have finished the final scan by Monday, and if all is well we should nominate for FAC shortly after that. I have placed an advance notification re 14 December on the TFL requests talkpage, though we can't formally ask for this date until the article is TFA. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the article, please tweak or discuss. My own view is that it is looking fairly solid now. Brianboulton (talk) 10:02, 4 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Sounds like a good idea. I'll give the article another read-through before Monday, and see if I can spot anything. My impression of bolding in the lead is that it should be done if the first sentence includes—more or less—the specific wording of the article's title, but it shouldn't be forced; the aim shouldn't be to get bolding in no matter what. With this article, there really is not way you can do that without bolding the entire first sentence. I think you've done a great job with this article, and I have no problems with it. I'll help out where I can at FAC. Apterygial (talk) 06:44, 5 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. It's been a pleasure working with you, and don't underestimate your own contribution to the article. This is, I believe, positively my last venture into Antarctic waters, but I hope that you will feel able to carry on the good work. There is planty of scope for developing articles on, say, Mawson, John King Davis, the Japanese expedition, etc etc – but you will no doubt have your own preferences. Brianboulton (talk) 01:11, 6 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Well, too late the semester is winding down and I'll soon have more time to spend here. I've been doing cautious research for the Japanese expedition article; the Hamre article referenced in the Amundsen article seems to be the authoritative piece in English (from 1933, however) and a couple of Edgeworth David biographies are also useful. Mawson will be my first target when I can get back to sustained editing. I've enjoyed working with you, but I do regret that I haven't been able to offer as much as I originally hoped. We'll wait until the article is on the main page before we crack out the bubbly! Apterygial (talk) 04:39, 6 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I have nominated the article at FAC with you as co-nom. Keep your eyes on the page. Brianboulton (talk) 21:56, 9 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
On my watchlist. I'll review some other FACs over the next few days to drum up some interest. Apterygial (talk) 03:34, 10 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I will deal with Jappalang's point on aftermath information later today (pity it wasn't raised at peer review, but there you go!) Brianboulton (talk) 10:11, 11 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It demonstrates that no matter the prep, you can't make an article bulletproof. I'll have a look at the lead issue. Apterygial (talk) 07:31, 12 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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As a consequence of the race, Vettel extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 112 points over Alonso, who moved up to second place in the championship. Button moved into third place in the championship, five points behind Alonso, and level on points with fourth-placed Mark Webber, but ahead on countback. In the World Constructors' Championship, Red Bull's championship lead was cut by McLaren to 126 points, with Ferrari a further 71 points behind in third position.
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