Oh my, a VCR? Well at least you have a DVR also, but get rid of that antique and get a DVD recorder or something. One of my gf's mom recorded a special about Disney on VHS, I don't think I was too popular when I said I wanted to record it to DVD 1st before I watched it(I was totally kidding of course).
Anyways, look for a red circle and that is probably the button you need to push to start recording.
But as "TwinsinCA" kind of eluded to below, I don't think you are going to have much luck accomplishing this.
Good Luck!