Well I suppose it was fair enough because the bid was higher than mine, but it was at £205 with 10 minutes to go, and I had down £275 as my max bid and it ended at £277 - bid placed 15 seconds before the end. Auction was for THIS, with normal and w/a lens I wanted it. With all my being. Oh yes. :o(
Bob le chien will be happy to know that I am considering coming along to the w/e pilghotel thing and am considering bringing a camera to take a photograph of us all.

[rab] with a nod to St David there was a Welsh flavour about the pilg last night ... and I was SO looking forward to your presence as a WelshRabbit ...

[std] We'll all be happy to know that you may be coming to the ISIHACThemeNightInRugby :-) You wish to reserve a single room?

[Chalky] Unfortunately I've taken the executive decision not to come as I think I need to sort my life out a tad. But I'd love to hear about it!

[ZK] OK :-)

[Chalky] I'm sure I would have driven you hopping mad.

[rab] you'd never do that :-) ... I am much more likely to feel uneasy when nattering alongside *mystery* people who aren't particularly inclined to reveal who they are, Morniverse-wise. It probably doesn't bother anyone else :-(

std] *Happy*
Chalky] Me too, but only slightly. The fun is in the guessing. But who was that mysterious Bob the Dolgellau?

Ha, so perhaps I might.

BtD] Its only a thinking about it. I couldn;'t possibly commit that far ahead ;o0. I don't even know when it is ! ZK] Do you not think a weekend surrounded by people all talking nonsense could possibly help inspire you to sorting out your life ?

[st d] Saturday 15 May - just the one night. In my role as Bob the dog's assistant - I booked the venue and reserved a block of rooms. Hopefully a final call on numbers won't be necessary for some time [to date we have about 12 definites and 10 possibles]

std] Ooh you tease!
Bool] :o)
Chalky] I'm not at home at the moment, and I don't have your email address, can you make sure that 'The Study' is booked in our name too? And how did the birthday party go?

[Bob] 'The Study' is now booked - along with the candlestick, the dagger and the lead piping [I'll bring the rope]. We should have access to the Library [via the secret passage] and the Lounge, Dining Room and Conservatory. I hope to be travelling with Miss Scarlett.
It's got me thinking ... the gothic mansion, the study ... there just has to be a game in this. I shall work on it :-)

..in the bedroom, with the lights on.

[Rosie] Er. Most North Walians I know/have met while living and visiting there for more than 10 years can say 'decisions' with a zh. (I know, because I asked them. All of them)

On the other hand, most North Walians I've known/met can't speak Welsh (fluently), so eh.

(Nik) That's the reason then, isn't it? I only said "many" North Walians, not all of them, and by implication it would be the Welsh speakers, obviously.

[st dog] !

oops ! sorry. Didn't realise Miss Scarlet was actually a PERSON, i thought she was just a platonic ideal.

Didn't sound particularly Platonic to me...

All I put was an exclamation mark...

Feeling really knackered now, and we've only done two show nights (three more, plus a matinee to go). Am becoming possessed by offensively catchy G&S tunes *do doooo di -- [camp pause] -- plonk -- [another marquee of a pause] -- ya-da-da-da-da, di-ya-da-da-da-da-da-da, di-ya-da-da-da-da-di-ya-di-da -- di - plong plong -- di - plong plong -- ya-di-da-di-daaaaa, continues for 2½hours*. I manage to flush this out before going to sleep by putting on a CD of something... else, but then wake up at 5am with *di-plong-i-plong-i-plonk, di-plong-i-plong-i-plonk* rattling in my head. Arrrrgh!!!

Anyway, quality update... the first night was a little chaotic. Last night we had a good audience, and having managed to get through the ouverture without a cock-up, the orchestra had a great night. Slight signs of fatigue showing in some of the leads but hopefully they'll have had a good night's sleep and we'll have a top show tonight. I hope so, since it's the night that some of my friends are going...

Have I scared everyone off?

Which G&S is that? Years ago dad did the sound for a G&S production. He had to time a piece of recorded cello so that it matched the actress playing a dummy cello. It went da-da-da-da-da da daaaaa [camp pause] dar dar da-da-daaaa [another marquee of a pause] da [pause] da [pause] da [pause] da-de-dadada-da-da-da-daaaaaaah. I wonder if it was the same show?

Is there a game in this?
Name this classic TV sit-com theme tune...
Rink-dink-eedinkydink, Rink-dink-eedinkydinky dink dink der, (Boo-ba-boo-berr)...?

[BtD] Well, you're thinking of Patience. I'm guessing rab's talking about Princess Ida. Bob, is that Steptoe and Son or have I had too much Lucozade? Actually, I can hear the tune in my head but I don't know what show it belongs to.

Oooh! The pineapple and courgette might be working . . . .

[rab] Scared everybody off?? Ya must be joking.
I've just got back from a Pinafore rehearsal ... Da-da-DAH-dada-da-dah-dah, da-da-DAH-dada-dah-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-DA-da-da-da-da - [Never Mind the Why & Wherefore] and I can't get it out of my head. Not much in the way of camp pauses and marqueeses but an awful lot of mannered repetitiony bits ... "for that gallant captain's daughter ... for that gallant captain's daughter....and a Lord who rules the water ... and a Lord who rules the water ... "

ZK] Yes, you win the star prize! Too easy really...
Another easy one:
Yinky plinky plink-plink plonk. (pause) Plinky plink plonk, donk donk dinky dink donk...

Did I get the G&S right or the TV choon?
[Boolbar] Around the last couple of times I've posted you've piped up with something cryptic. Is it all coincidence and am I imagining it or are you being cryptic for reasons we're meant to understand?

As Bob the dog seems to have done, in fact (understood).

I wish you could see me at my computer going "Yinky plinky plink-plink plonk. (pause) Plinky plink plonk, donk donk dinky dink donk.." over and over again :)

[ZK] same here :-)
[Bob] Dad's Army?

[Bob] nah ... can't be Dad's Army ...'cause that goes Whoo-doo-doo-dooh-dooh-doodoo-doodoo-Hitler!

[Chalky] The key's obviously somewhere in the "dinky dink donk," but it's not coming to me.

And it's not Eastenders cos there aren't enough pauses...

You know, I've just noticed something. The top 10 shortlist for best british sitcom are the ones that traditionally use(d) incidental music rather than pop songs. *makes a mental note and goes on to write a smash hit*

Chalky] That had me spluttering into my fizzy water!
ZK] Boolbar is referring to a conversation I was having with him by email. He has a doglet that has a tendency to (SENSITIVE PEOPLE PLEASE AVERT YOUR EYES) eat its own poo. Apparently, if you feed the dog pineapple and courgette it stops doing this.
Re the tune - it is Eastenders - not from a sitcom(?!). Probably one of the most easily recognisable and yet irritating pieces of TV intro music ever. Apart from The Bill. Anyone fancy having a go at Doobeedooing that one?

The Bill:
Nick! [pause] Nick nicky nick nicky ner-ner-ner nick [breath] ner-ner nick nicky nick...
Here is another police one. Ner-ner-ner, ner-ner ner ner-ner, ner-ner-ner, ner-ner ner ner...

I got Steptoe, but I've never heard a single episode of The Bill or Eastenders. So here's one that no-one else is likely to have heard, except for gil, if he's reading here. A long-running series in its day.

Dee dee dee, di-dee, di-dee dee dee,
Dee dee dee, di-dee dee deeee,
Dee dee dee, di-dee, di-dee dee dee dee,
Dee dee dee, di-dee dee deeee.

And yes, how about creating a new game for this?

That should be:

Dee dee dee, di-dee, di-dee dee,
Dee dee dee, di-dee dee deeee,
Dee dee dee, di-dee, di-dee dee dee dee,
Dee dee dee, di-dee dee deeee.

[Bob] That's Z Cars yes?
[Raak] I need to have a little dee-di-dee to myself before I can hazard a guess at yours. Am intrigued to know why only gil might know that [meaning I'm really fishing for a clue]
New game? Name That Tune? Can we kill Mrs Trellis?

erm ... Is that Z Cars aswell?

Z cars indeed for me and I think for Raak too. New game on the wayhey!

The cpu fan in the server has been sounding increasingly self-destructive over the last couple of weeks. [waffle] The machine will be taken down for a bit, when I get the new one or it pre-emptively keels over.

[ZK] Congrats on Ida, though I did leave at least one or two big clues... Meanwhile I'm slightly surprised, but pleased, to see what this show has spawned. *oof headache* Last night's show was not top notch, and given that we all went on the piss afterwards (including the traditional boat race - oh yes, I really did need to down that pint) tonight could be very interesting. We're going to try a gauche orchestra arrangement tonight, so that the cello "section" won't have its back to the stage... what this means in real terms is I get to feast my eyes on lots of eighteen year olds in tights and short skirts. Yay!

[Btd, Chalky] Yes, didn't notice Btd had done it. I didn't think there were that many of us here old enough to remember Z-cars, unless there's been a rerun or revival in recent years.

[Raak] I remember it well, probably because as a child I lived in Germany with no TV so when we came home 'on leave, I hungrily absorbed any British TV programme whatever its quality. It's all sort of crystallised in my consciousness. Although, having said that, there's loads of stuff I missed. My other half, who is a few years younger than I, can remember EVERY kids TV programme AND its theme tune. He is much in demand for music quizzes and suchlike.

Raak] I'm only (very) late thirties. I remember Pogles Wood in black and white, Patrick Troughton as Dr Who, The Wooden-Tops, Robinson Crusoe every summer holiday, the Singing Ringing Tree...

[Chalky, Btd] Late 40's here. I always think of Z-Cars as being 60s, although it must have gone well into the 70's, but I more or less stopped watching TV about then, except for stuff I actually wanted to see.

[Bob the dog] I'm right on your wavelength, and wouldd add Tales From the Riverbank with Hammy the Hamster, and NEW episodes of Dads Army!

[Rab] ..and that's just the blokes!!

rab] you are a lucky lucky man.

[Chalky, Btd, Raak] Mid-thirties, so I'm very jealous of anyone who can remember watching Pat Troughton in Doctor Who on original transmission. Other childhood memories include Rentaghost, Ivor the Engine, Mary Mungo and Midge, Hector's House, Noggin the Nog, The Sweeney, Blake's Seven and Swap Shop. I am also proud/sad (delete as applicable) to be able to recite the preambles to Hong Kong Phooey and Camberwick Green, and the closing words to Bagpuss.

... is the answer. Old enough to remember 2nd Doctor clearly, 1st Doctor vaguely. Miss "Magic Roundabout" very much indeed.

[UK] We appear to share a brain, or at least that part of it relating to childhood reminiscences.

I was born the year before the Beatles released Revolver. I remember an article on the radio about them splitting although it didn't make much sense at the time. We had a hippy lodger who used to play me Ummagumma by Pink Floyd when he was babysitting and I couldn't sleep. I used to get tuppence ha'penny pocket money when I was 5 - enough for a bag of Walkers Crisps.

....moving on from telly to other things sold by Curry's. Does anyone have any opinions as to what makes a *good* gas oven? Or does anyone have a particularly favourite fridge? I need to buy this type of thing and haven't a clue where to start!

Musically I was born in the year Duane Eddy released Peter Gunn, not that I remember it except a couple of years ago someone gave me a copy of the 45.

Breaking News!!! Dujon is No1!! a great result not seen since august last year, *throws several tubs of confetti into the air.*

rab]There should be two links in the last post but the on for 15 august does not appear.

Lib] Go for the most expensive brand you can afford - Bosch is my favourite - you get far better customer support if things go wrong. Never buy because of add-on features you'll never use. Go for the lowest energy rating possible (A is the best). Never take subscribe to add on insurance - most appliances are covered for two years regardless. Shop around - and don't be scared to ask for a best price. Happy shopping!

[Lib] You can probably get a fridge better than you'd expect, for less than you'd expect, by hunting around the sole-proprietors and small chains. I much prefer not shovelling my cash at the known retail brands these days - same or less money, same or better service. And fighting the power, man. Admittedly, it's not so time-consuming to hunt through the small local types when the town and outlyings of Northwich aren't much bigger than <pick a sub-area of a sub-region of Manchester>. The theory that because Dixons Group is huge you get better post-sales service is invalid - Dixons has one of the worst reputations, and it's major competitors (ie Comet and Argos) aren't a great deal better. Sorry if I'm repeating common knowledge - it's always worth repeating.

Thanks all for letting me climb to the top once more - I thought it would never happen. ... ;-)
[Inkspot] you typed 'hef' instead of 'href' in the missing link.

I was already nearly 16 (1958) before we had a telly, a thing the size of a wardrobe with a screen of several square inches, so I never watched kids' TV; just never been part of my life. (Dujon) Congrats on being top of the whatever-it-is; I don't do that one. I see from my weather browsing that eastern Oz is now very sweaty indeed, but not for long, probably. Take it easy, mate, you're not as young as you used to be, now, are you, goo' boy? (All) If you've absolutely nothing to do next Wednesday evening and are within a gnat's crotchet of Dartford, come along to the Mick Jagger Centre. Our band (Force Ten) are playing, starting 8 pm. A mixture of jazz, swing, funk, Glenn Miller-type stuff plus a very good female singer. Cost you £8, some of which will land up in my back pocket, I hope. Some tickets left, so I'm told. Hmm!

[BtD and Nik] Thanks for your words of wisdom. House purchase is delayed (grrr) so I won't be buying for a while (I've already got a sofa being delivered, which is kinda problematic as I've got nowhere to put it). Why is housebuying so infuriating?!?

Don't I know it - buying the place that now contains angrycake.com took almost *six months* after having my offer accepted. I'd had a cooker, fridge/freezer and bed bought and sat in warehouses for most of that time, having somewhat foolishly thought it'd only take the few weeks I was told it would take.

I just missed (well most of) 'That's Entertainment' on the local television. Unfortuanately it was on in opposition to the local F1 race in Melbourne - another one of my weaknesses (that's the cars, not Melbourne). Why can't the TV stations advertise that sort of stuff instead of some 'Z' grade movie in prime-time? I AM UPSET. I know, my fault; but if I'd realised I would have recorded the damn thing, as I don't have a copy filed away. *sobs - goes misty eyed after seeing the last 30 minutes and leaves with the full intent of getting rotten.*