If Kitten got evicted, surely she'd refuse to leave?
Kitten annoys the hell out of me - I'm not being anti-anything (some of my best friends are lesbians) but she does seem only in it to piss everyone else off. What happened last night anyway, I was a having a four hour dinner with my housemates. From first impressions, Shell to win, Stuart to go first, the stuck up idiot. I live with a guy like him and he does my nut. OK, done ranting.
Harry Potter
Sooooooooooooooooooooooo much better than the first two movies. Go see go see!
HP
Well, POA is my fave HP book, and I think David Thewlis is a great actor (not to mention Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, &tc), so I am greatly looking forward to seeing it! I want to choose a quiet time with not too many kids, so I decided to pass on the premier weekend. Perhaps later this week, as I hope to have Friday off..(must check it's not half-term in Cardiff though).
Go see! *still jumping up and down*
Plagiarism
ANy one in possession of the current "Radio Times" (Bill Oddie cover)? There's an article in there on opera music used in adverts which shamelesly rips off "Who-do-doo-doo-doo-doo-do-do-do-do-Hitler", page 28 I think.
HP Source
I saw HP3 last night... will compose a review for Books@MCiOS later.
The eighth plague
[Bigsmith] Not seen that... on the other hand proving that it was our idea may not be so straightforward.
Potty
[ZK] Yes, I got dragged along and quite enjoyed it - better than the first two, I thought, and very atmospheric.
Yay! :)
[snorgle] if it's any help, it's DEFINITELY half term in bath. takes twice as long to get anywhere or do anything. grr.
[snorgle, nights] Half-term here too, in commuter land. It takes only half as long to do anything or go anywhere. :o)
[pen] It is indeed much easier to get to work. Now if only we could get rid of those OAPs that have to get to the shops by 9am. I can only assume that they drive so slowly, that'll take the rest of the day to get back home.
It was easier to drive in today, almost a pleasure coming to work! but why, when they all the time in the day world does Waynetta insist on dragging her brats round town at lunchtime. They are not half as cute as (For those at work with speakers on their pc BEWARE!!) Boobah, the current favoutite with our toddler; now the Bobinogs have finished.
Boobah
The mind boggles!
Separated at birth?
Inkspot] Has anyone else noticed the uncanny resemblance between two erstwhile players of MC and Children’s TV programmes? Boobah and Bob the dog are extremely similar to Boolbar and Bobinog. Are they perhaps related? I think we should be told.
Children's Hour
[Btd]Very spooky! You wouldn't have had any mix up like that in my day. Way, back in the early sixties I don't think there was much if any pre-school tv; unlike now with CeeBeebies. It is more likely back then sat around the radio to Listen With Mother.
[ZK]Time to come out of the closet, which did you have 'My Little Pony' or 'The Care Bears'?
[ZK]Time to come out of the closet, which did you have 'My Little Pony' or 'The Care Bears'?
Watching
[Inkspot] Surely "Watch With Mother" was on even in the early 60s? I can't speak from personal memory of course, but I thought programmes like Muffin the Mule were of that vintage.
OK, fifteen minutes a day hardly counts as extensive programming, but...
Watching with Mother
[Inkspot, Dunx] The Woodentops? Rag Tag and Bobtail? The Flowerpot Men? (the real ones!) Andy Pandy? Surely all that stuff was on by then? Or did it only exist on my childhood video that we watched ad nauseam? (I remember going to a fancy dress party as Looby Lou - both myself and my sister, in fact)
[Inkspot] I think I missed the Care Bear craze by a couple of years - by the time I came along we only had the magazines (which were jumble sale buys) and the movie (terrifying). We do, still, however, have all our My Little Ponies in a box in the toy cupboard, which my younger sisters still play with (and now I fancy a go cos you've reminded me! :)) We also have the video, even though I can't think for the life of me where it's gone. I'm *sure* one of my earliest memories is one of the boys in the village turning up with that as a birthday present for my older sister. Angie - are you about? Anything to say on the subject? I suspect those videos were actually made in Sweden (they had american voices)...I haven't seen it in ages but that would explain the lipsynching.
....Sorry. Went off on a nostalgic tangent there....
[Inkspot] I think I missed the Care Bear craze by a couple of years - by the time I came along we only had the magazines (which were jumble sale buys) and the movie (terrifying). We do, still, however, have all our My Little Ponies in a box in the toy cupboard, which my younger sisters still play with (and now I fancy a go cos you've reminded me! :)) We also have the video, even though I can't think for the life of me where it's gone. I'm *sure* one of my earliest memories is one of the boys in the village turning up with that as a birthday present for my older sister. Angie - are you about? Anything to say on the subject? I suspect those videos were actually made in Sweden (they had american voices)...I haven't seen it in ages but that would explain the lipsynching.
....Sorry. Went off on a nostalgic tangent there....
Rain
At the risk of raising someone's ire. [Rosie] How are we going? We had 16mm of rain during May (15.5mm of that on the 26th)
TV
[ZK] Andy Pandy and the Flower Pot Men were definitely televised in the early 1950s - regrettably I can remember them (B&W of course). ... :-(
Ah. I have no concept of time, you see. Andy Pandy ran for ages though didn't it? I liked them anyway, although maybe I just loved them so much because I got to see them over and over and over....
Rain
(Dujon) I've just read that Sydney and surrounding areas are having a something of a drought, but I don't know what your average should be, so I can't really evaluate your one-day downpour. My guess is that it's not that unusual. Here, I got 72 mm in May (normal is 61 mm) but there was a 10-day dry spell in the middle. Year's total is 351 mm, 7% above normal, so nothing dramatic.
One Fat Lady
Do you remember the job I didn't get? Well, cos I didn't get it I subsequently got a job I hadn't applied for. Well, that's now been blown out of the water because I got the job I didn't get... Are you keeping up at the back?
Counter number one
[rab]Does that mean you are going to bite there arm off; or mull it over for a day or two?
[ZK]My Little Ponies was a lucky wild guess but please say you never had a Cabbage Patch Doll surely one of the ugliest toys ever sold. Andy Pandy is still going and has been given a fresh lease of life to a young generation along with Noddy. (The things I have to watch in the name of 'bonding' and good parenting ;))
[ZK]My Little Ponies was a lucky wild guess but please say you never had a Cabbage Patch Doll surely one of the ugliest toys ever sold. Andy Pandy is still going and has been given a fresh lease of life to a young generation along with Noddy. (The things I have to watch in the name of 'bonding' and good parenting ;))
[Inkspot] Well, it beats watching EvoStik. Depends on the kind of bonding, I suppose.
[rab] What a confusing, if ironically successful, life you lead. Congratulations.
[rab] What a confusing, if ironically successful, life you lead. Congratulations.
catching up ...
[rab] Is this Mccongratulations?
[Duj] Whose ire do you risk raising with your weather-talk? :-)
[Duj] Whose ire do you risk raising with your weather-talk? :-)
[Inkspot] I think I had a tiny plastic one from a jumble sale, but not a real live (so to speak) big squishy one. I think that was before my time as well. I well know about Andy Pandy's new lease of life, and Bill & Ben's (not a fan of the new looks) - I'm quite fond of the new Noddy though.
However, for student viewing it's Balamory all the way! :)
However, for student viewing it's Balamory all the way! :)
[rab] Congratulations?
Whee
[Inkspot, Dunx, Chalky, Nik] Thanks! It's a better job, so I have indeed accepted it. Which means I'll be returning to Edinburgh for three years starting November. Wow.
Edinburgh? Wow! Congrats, and Carrots!, rab.
. . . at the back
[rab] Now I understand. Horrahs and congrats!
oooooooooooh!!
congrats rab! :) what is it you'll be doing now?
On the news this morning...
I note with interest that Bob the dog has quit his post at the CIA...
Open door
With 50 ways trundled off, any suggestions for new and original games for when LbLR is completed.
golly, I go away for a couple of days
crazy how things move on here. I go back to the midlands for a family funeral, and you've all moved on. As far as children's crazes go, I'm not sure I had a childhood. I might have blocked it out though. and congrats rab on the job - well done you!
[ZK] don't tell anyone but me and my housemates are fans of Balamory also. shhhh...
Right, off to my french exam, then to brave bath city centre as I have no food again. ha ha ha ha ha.
[ZK] don't tell anyone but me and my housemates are fans of Balamory also. shhhh...
Right, off to my french exam, then to brave bath city centre as I have no food again. ha ha ha ha ha.
childhood
nights] sorry to hear you wee at a funeral.
Childhood was the bit when you couldn't tie your own shoelaces - ring any bells ?
Childhood was the bit when you couldn't tie your own shoelaces - ring any bells ?
lost consonants
(that was a genuine typo, though possibly a good entry in Lost Consonants - my apologies)
[rab] Congratulations!
childhood
I couldn't tie my shoelaces last week, st d, does that count?
not if it's through alcohol, no.
How about a game involving..........
International land marks, either natural or man made.........
Widey's Arbitrary Selection
How's about a game where we all arbitrarily suggest something to be involved in a game, and that could in some way link to the next move, such as by naming the finishing move (structure a la Corporation D)...
can we have one based on car colours? I had to try and say 'cheyenne red' at work today while keeping a straight face.
completely off-topic
I seem to be unable to remember the Arabic word for "fork" (the eating implement). I have been trying all day, and now know knife, spoon, table, airplane, tree, apartment and letter, all fine.
I'm not sure why this disturbs me.
Apologies to all concerned, but I've gone and ranted all over the Limerick game. Perhaps I shouldn't have done so, but IMHO the fact is, if you allow just anything, and if you have to twist it too many times to get it even close to fitting, then what you have is no longer a limerick but freeform non-poetry and therefore not acceptable in a specifically Limerick game. Even if the ISIHAC team come up with bad (read: unfunny or the wrong kind of nonsensical) limericks sometimes, at least they *are* recognisable as limericks as far as rhyming and scansion goes...
Limerpricks
[JLE] No need for apology - you've had plenty of support and quite right too.
[JLE] When you criticse, you tend to do it strongly, which perhaps makes people who don't know you less receptive to your message. But I agreed with the message.
[JLE] I, too, agree with the point you were making. Now, of course, I'm sure someone could come up with many examples of poor scansion on my part, but I do try, and it is very frustrating to see a line show up with clearly falls short of the mark. Still, as I said in the game, if the quality dropped I'd rather go elsewhere than join in a scansion war.
Clouded in, as usual
I'm attempting to watch the transit of Venus - as usual the clouds have interfered! Urk! Currently trying through the Worth Hill (UK) site (the local CSIRO requires a program for which one needs a credit card to access ... bastards!) No success at this stage ... surely the sun rises before 05:25 GMT at this time of the year? Ah well, back to cyber viewing.
Swing low sweet chariot
Unfortuately the sun is so low that attempting to project its image is a waste of time. The tree leaves look good, mind you ... which reminds me ...
Brilliant sunshine here
Just shot most of a reel of film through a 1000mm lens, with umpteen different exposure times. Should have results in a few days. Of course, they'll all look like a white disc with a black dot on it...
And yes, there was a sheet of aluminised mylar over the objective.
*seriously jealous*
[Dujon] Due to lack of clouds and location location location, I saw the lot, projected through binoculars. Have dodgy photos.
Venus
(Dujon) Don't worry, there'll be another one along in 8 years. June 5/6 2012 and you should be able to see all of it. Starts 2216 GMT, ends 0429 GMT. We might just see the end of it (sun rises here about 3.45 GMT). Then there are a couple in December, which would be much more favourable for you, but not until 2117 and 2125, which would not. I saw the transit here by projection, having assembled a telescope from the various lenses and eyepieces I've got lying around, plus a cardboard tube. Even so, there's a limit to the fascination of a black dot. Good weather; sunny, but with lots of cirrus, southerly breeze, temperature 28°C. Sweaty night coming up.
Sweltering in the heat.
Hello, chums and pals. How are we all? Raak, nice photo of the lense thingamy. Not an officianado of teh gadgets myself, but "stargazing" of "Venus spotting" can be interesting. I'm often given to ponder the wonder of the "up the there and yonder".
So, how are we all, people? I note with apprehension the talk of scansion problems in the Limerick game. Hope it doesn't get out of hand. It's funny, but just last night I was reading through the old "Ballykissangels" game from Mr. Wild Pants's old site, and recalling with a tear of nostalgia the uproar and chicanery the night Kezar and myself were accused of impersonating the good Dr. Q in an effort to rectify a poem that had floundered due to apparent scansion difficulties. We were both quite innocent of the charges brought against us, you understand. Though we still bear the terrible bite marks from Rosie's Lobster-torture.
Ah, the memories.
Anyway, I hope no one recoils in horror at thew thought of Evil Dr. Thrax crashing in here once again after a sort of "Black Sabbatical". I'd like to extend a warm greeting to you all - in especial, Rosie whose punishments keep me in order, Chalky whose correspondance has always been kind, and was often a source of encouragement when I felt very deeply depressed, Dujon whose appreciation of my insanity has not been forgotten, Dr. Q, if he's around, whose love of American Football I share, Korky who used to amuse with tales of uncomfortable bowel movements at work, ZK, if he is perhaps the artist(piss-artist perhaps?) formerly known as Zakalwe(I'm just guessing), and who conspired with me to turn a Pants Game into a horror story long ago, Darren who was most forgiving of bad behaviour, and JLE whose skill at MC far outstretches my own and often has me spellbound.
Greetings to you all, and to those I don't really know...I should look forward to getting to know you all better.
Well, as the Hand of Time picks the Nose of Eternity, and the Snot of Knowledge is wiped on the Trouser Leg of Fate, I realise that I've rambled on a fair bit, and feel compelled to give way to a fellow speaker.
So, how are we all, people? I note with apprehension the talk of scansion problems in the Limerick game. Hope it doesn't get out of hand. It's funny, but just last night I was reading through the old "Ballykissangels" game from Mr. Wild Pants's old site, and recalling with a tear of nostalgia the uproar and chicanery the night Kezar and myself were accused of impersonating the good Dr. Q in an effort to rectify a poem that had floundered due to apparent scansion difficulties. We were both quite innocent of the charges brought against us, you understand. Though we still bear the terrible bite marks from Rosie's Lobster-torture.
Ah, the memories.
Anyway, I hope no one recoils in horror at thew thought of Evil Dr. Thrax crashing in here once again after a sort of "Black Sabbatical". I'd like to extend a warm greeting to you all - in especial, Rosie whose punishments keep me in order, Chalky whose correspondance has always been kind, and was often a source of encouragement when I felt very deeply depressed, Dujon whose appreciation of my insanity has not been forgotten, Dr. Q, if he's around, whose love of American Football I share, Korky who used to amuse with tales of uncomfortable bowel movements at work, ZK, if he is perhaps the artist(piss-artist perhaps?) formerly known as Zakalwe(I'm just guessing), and who conspired with me to turn a Pants Game into a horror story long ago, Darren who was most forgiving of bad behaviour, and JLE whose skill at MC far outstretches my own and often has me spellbound.
Greetings to you all, and to those I don't really know...I should look forward to getting to know you all better.
Well, as the Hand of Time picks the Nose of Eternity, and the Snot of Knowledge is wiped on the Trouser Leg of Fate, I realise that I've rambled on a fair bit, and feel compelled to give way to a fellow speaker.
*proffers hankie with a stern look*
Hello Thrax :o)
Blushing.
Thank you, good lady.
back for more
[Thrax] Good to see you back. Bad news by the way that not only is that chap ZK, Zoological Keeper but also a female and a student.
sparing
Where on Earth (or otherwise) have you been, Thrax?
Doh!!
Inkspot, thank you for the welcome, and for putting me straight on the identity of ZK.
Ms. Keeper, my heartfelt and humble apologies. *blushes with embarassment*
snorgle, hello there. Good to see you. Yes, on Earth I have remained. In Swindon to be precise. What joy to live in a town whose entry is "Where the f**k?" in my Atlas. How are you, Sir or Madam? (I can't remember your gender I'm afraid, and am taking no chances).
Ms. Keeper, my heartfelt and humble apologies. *blushes with embarassment*
snorgle, hello there. Good to see you. Yes, on Earth I have remained. In Swindon to be precise. What joy to live in a town whose entry is "Where the f**k?" in my Atlas. How are you, Sir or Madam? (I can't remember your gender I'm afraid, and am taking no chances).
*astonished*
Welcome back, Thrax! Nice to know you're still around!
Grinning.
And good to know you're here, Sir. Tell me, are you still on The Force? I seem to recall you were one of the Boys in Blue. Still doing that to earn yer crust?
"Evening, all"
No, never been in the constabulary. I'm still sweating it out as a housing officer for a lesser London Borough, although my recent elevation to Void Management Officer means I've gone up two payscales and I no longer have to deal with the public. Whoopee!
Trying to dust cobwebs from ailing memory.
Hmmm, I seem to recall one of the Pants regulars was a copper. Thought it was you, Sir, but must've got me wires crossed. Perhaps it wasn't you who regailed us all with the "Digestion story" then either. Doh! Hey ho. So, a promotion, eh? Onward and upward. Sounds grand. Congratulations.
I was intrigued by your opening post, when you mentioned reading through the Ballykissangels game from Pants. Do you have some kind of arcane and eldritch way of accessing this sadly deceased site, or did you copy loads of text off the web?
Lamenting it.
Alas no, Korky, my friend. I saved the page out as an HTML file long ago before Pants MC closed down. Kept it for old times' sake. Had I known in advance that the site would expire, I'd have saved out many more, as some contained real gems of hilarity from many many fine MCers. Alas. A moment's silence is called for i think.
Io Thrax.
[Thrax] Quality lying, sir.
miss
I'm female, Thrax - and reasonably well (if intensely bored at my job - AGAIN!) I SO need to get a job which isn't always on the phones..
Freakout
Howdy, Doc. Pleasure to see you again, my good Sir. Life treating you well? Been enjoying the current season of ISIHaC via the net? I'm often given to wonder what your chums in Pennsylvania make of it if ever they happen to be present and hear it when you're tuned into the show. I bet they'd think we're all lunatics on this side of The Pond, what?
And greetings, Dunx. How'd you do? "Quality lying" though? Not sure I follow you. I don't believe I've told any whoppers here today, or are you referring to my moves in the "Swear to God" game?
And Snorgle, a lady, eh? *Doffs hat in gentlemanly fashion as redolent of some Oscar Wilde drama for no obvious reason other than it seems in-keeping with my character* Delighted to make your aquaintance. I recall we always had a severe shortage of female company chez-Pants. Chalky of course remained until the biter end, and your name rings a bell, but ladies were, it must be said, not merely few and far between, but also most sorely missed. Still, count yourself lucky that you never fell under the lascivious(sp? no idea), roving eye of that chimeric lothario Kezar. A fortunate escape for you there. *Ahem* Anyway, I'm sorry to learn that your job is most unsatisfactory. *Sigh* They do say work is a rotten way to earn a living, do they not?
And greetings, Dunx. How'd you do? "Quality lying" though? Not sure I follow you. I don't believe I've told any whoppers here today, or are you referring to my moves in the "Swear to God" game?
And Snorgle, a lady, eh? *Doffs hat in gentlemanly fashion as redolent of some Oscar Wilde drama for no obvious reason other than it seems in-keeping with my character* Delighted to make your aquaintance. I recall we always had a severe shortage of female company chez-Pants. Chalky of course remained until the biter end, and your name rings a bell, but ladies were, it must be said, not merely few and far between, but also most sorely missed. Still, count yourself lucky that you never fell under the lascivious(sp? no idea), roving eye of that chimeric lothario Kezar. A fortunate escape for you there. *Ahem* Anyway, I'm sorry to learn that your job is most unsatisfactory. *Sigh* They do say work is a rotten way to earn a living, do they not?
Hi Thrax
Hi Thrax, it has been a long time!!!!
Freakout
Why, Darren, 'tis good to see you too, Sir. How are you, me old China?
[Thrax] You divine my intent correctly, sir. Apologies for any misapprehension; entirely my own fault for being insufficiently clear in my sincere wish to convey my compliments. I am very well, thank you for asking, although rather fatigued from a foolishly early start and a surfeit of exercise these last two days. But such is the burden of the long distance runner, or at any rate one who aspires to such a qualification.
Oh, and work's a bugger at the mo, but that is an entirely separate conversation to have away from these hallowed halls.
Freakout
Ah, that's all well. No apology necessary, Sir. I took no offence. So, a long-distance runner eh? Sounds exhausting but rewarding. Groovy.
ISIHAC in Pittsburgh
I have made a few converts...one of which has taken to MC like a duck to Nick Knight. ;)
[Dunx] You've given up the bike?
[Dunx] You've given up the bike?
Hm. I seem to recall that the PantsMC regular who was a policeman was the person who went by the name of "Corkington" AFAIK.
Bike vs Feet
[Dr Q] No, but not cycling as much right now since I am in training for a marathon in the autumn (Portland, OR on the first Sunday in October - Portland, ME iss the same day as it happens). This is the same race I was training for last year but had to abandon due to injury.
The more I run the more convinced I become that I will return to cycling, but I feel vastly better than I did three months ago and I am sure that I'll get more out of whatever exercise I continue with as a consequence.
Hello, Thrax, old bean! It's nice to see that you haven't totally forgotten how to access the weird and whacky world of the Morniverse.
I'm going to have to start believing in telepathy, which to hard-nosed rationalist like myself would be a Damascene conversion, because about 24 hrs ago, before any of this appeared, I said to myself "I wonder if old (young) Thrax is OK?", and here he is, FFS. Neither Kezar or those FUCKING LOBSTERS have done for you, then, mate? Excellent. No more to say, really.
[Thrax] I'm doing OK, thanks. It's a pity you missed the uberpilg in Rugby.
[Thrax] Not a problem, rather something to amuse me after my brief absence, although similar mistakes have been made before :)
ZK] only online I hope ?
Freakout
That's great news, Doc. Does this converted duck perchance have internet access? Might he/she at some point brave the hallowed turf of this most jolly arena?
Ah! yes, once again, Jonathan, you've come up trumps with the info. I seem to recollect that Corkington was here and there occasioned the familiar soubriquet of "Corkers" - I think Chalky was initially responsible for that one - and perhaps therein lay the genesis of my little misinference. How are you, anyway?
And hello to you, Duj, my friend - or do they really use the term "cobber" down under? - I trust you are well? 'Tis indeed a glorious feeling to be back among the Morniverse, as you refreshingly term it.
Heh, you know, Rosie there are those who subscribe to the scientific principle that the human mind does generate enough brainwave energy to transmit like a radio broadcast at times, and that telepathy is indeed possible. I'm uncertain as to whether or not it can emit across the divide between Swindon and, er, Surrey wasn't it? I'm Surrey I Haven't a Clue. In any case, I tried discussing this with the FUCKING LOBSTERS, but found them to be most unco-operative. Difficult to establish telepathic communication with a creature that bears a thick exoskeleton and seems forever intent upon shooting up yer arsehole every time your back's turned. *Shudder*
I'm glad to hear you're well, Darren, my friend. Alas I knew nothing of any "uberpilg". Sounds either charmingly continental and noble, or wickedly decadent and filthy. Either way, I'm most aggreived to have missed it.
And thank you, ZK, for your most willful clemency upon my faux-pas. I am relieved. *Bows*
Ah! yes, once again, Jonathan, you've come up trumps with the info. I seem to recollect that Corkington was here and there occasioned the familiar soubriquet of "Corkers" - I think Chalky was initially responsible for that one - and perhaps therein lay the genesis of my little misinference. How are you, anyway?
And hello to you, Duj, my friend - or do they really use the term "cobber" down under? - I trust you are well? 'Tis indeed a glorious feeling to be back among the Morniverse, as you refreshingly term it.
Heh, you know, Rosie there are those who subscribe to the scientific principle that the human mind does generate enough brainwave energy to transmit like a radio broadcast at times, and that telepathy is indeed possible. I'm uncertain as to whether or not it can emit across the divide between Swindon and, er, Surrey wasn't it? I'm Surrey I Haven't a Clue. In any case, I tried discussing this with the FUCKING LOBSTERS, but found them to be most unco-operative. Difficult to establish telepathic communication with a creature that bears a thick exoskeleton and seems forever intent upon shooting up yer arsehole every time your back's turned. *Shudder*
I'm glad to hear you're well, Darren, my friend. Alas I knew nothing of any "uberpilg". Sounds either charmingly continental and noble, or wickedly decadent and filthy. Either way, I'm most aggreived to have missed it.
And thank you, ZK, for your most willful clemency upon my faux-pas. I am relieved. *Bows*
Uber-pilg
Thrax] Well, a large number of us all buggered off to a swish hotel in Rugby to record our own ISIHAC, and a fine time was had by all. Details are on Orange's To Be A Pilgrim game, and Merlyn has actually created a fine website with transcript and photo's. We're planning to do another one in May next year, so keep your diary clear.
Freakout
Huuuhh?! Oh I wish I'd known. I'd love to have attended and met up with you guys! I'd give anything to be able to get outside these four walls and meet people. It gets so lonely being stuck in here 24/7 on my own for months on end. Tell me, Korky, this place you speak of - do they have facilities for disabled people? If so I'd give anything to meet with you all next May. Anything!
facilities
Depends on the disability, I guess. If you're talking imparied mobility/wheelchair access then I didn't notice any bedrooms downstairs (except in the outbuildings) or lift within the main building, but perhaps others can recall better. I guess a quick phonecall to Brownsover Hall about the issue wouldn't hurt.
And, nice as it was, if Brownsover weren't accessible, I'm sure we'd all be happy to look at alternatives.
Freakout
Well, Projoy, I am indeed a user of a wheelchair, and thus a ground floor room or lift would be necessary(I live on the first floor as it happens), otherwise it's a "Fireman's Lift" situation. Regrettably there's more obstacle to be overcome though. Rugby's a fair distance from where I live, in Swindon, and I can neither drive nor load/unload the chair myself. Furthermore, all my family and friends live more than 2 hours from my abode, and I very much doubt any one of them(since they're not MCers themselves) would be willing to drive for two hours to pick me up, drop me off, make their way off home again, then come back two days later(would I be correct to infer that this is a weekend break?) and drive me back frm Rugby to Swindon then go home again.
See, there's no way I can use a train either. Not without a friend to accompany me.
I'm not really sure how it could be done, unless one of you fine fellows lives in the West Country and would be willing to give me a lift from Swindon.
See, there's no way I can use a train either. Not without a friend to accompany me.
I'm not really sure how it could be done, unless one of you fine fellows lives in the West Country and would be willing to give me a lift from Swindon.
OK. Not being a driver, I'm afraid I couldn't help on the lifts thing, but conceivably this could influence our choice of location. There might be places that Swindon is on the way to that are just as nice as Brownsover. Here's a list of wheelchair accessible hotels in the UK. Anyway, not for me to decide on behalf of the participants, of course, but maybe worth a bit of research.
[st d] Er...well, that mistake hasn't been made since I was about eleven or so, face to face. I was not happy, as you would probably gather, and have cultivated somewhat of an obsession with the colour pink ever since....
Shameless interruption
Morning all! [Thrax] It's nice to see you back. I must admit having only caught some of your antics during my brief tenure on Pants but it's good to see people return from beyond the Reality Point.
[Bob the dog] Thank you very much for the bottle of cider you bought me - I shall be enjoying it this evening with dinner!
wheelchair access
Thrax] would it be okay to just get you really really drunk so you could just fall asleep in your wheelchair ?
ZK] I am truly intrigued now. How come this mistake was never made before you were 11 ?
ZK] I am truly intrigued now. How come this mistake was never made before you were 11 ?
Didn't she say it was only until she was 11? Personally I was always mistaken for a girl and my sister was generally thought to be a boy. That pretty much sums up the power politics in my family.
aha !
BM] of course. I was thinking that was a bit strange. I remember people saying "what a beautiful little girl" when I was 4 or 5 and being really pissed off by it. Darn pink tutu my Mother used to make me wear.....oh well, I'm still intrigued but instead am now imagining ZooKeeper to be heartstoppingly beautiful.
cute children
My three brothers were all very blond and pretty when ickle. We're all fairly close in age and relatives/friends would cast their eye over the boys exclaiming how bonny they were and save the piteous glances for me [the brown-haired freckly girl]. It was at that stage that I decided I needed to develop a personality.
oh yes ... [Thrax] good to see you in here :-)
oh yes ... [Thrax] good to see you in here :-)
what a drag.
The last time I was mistaken for a girl was at the age of 23, but it was from behind and my hair was half-way down my back. The only other time I guess the lipstick and frock had something to do with it . . . .
Mistaken Identity
When I was a little chap - up to the age of 7 or 8, I was often mistaken for a girl, much to my fury at the time. If you saw me now you'd realise why the same mistake has not been made for quite a while. Even in drag I think I would be about as convincing as the late great Les Dawson - or for that matter Roy Barraclough.
PS
I suppose I ought to terminate that posting with a quick
Knickers, knackers, knockers !!!
Knickers, knackers, knockers !!!
[St D]
Somehow I imagine not just ZK but all the female Crescenteers, none of whom I have met, to be heart-stoppingly beautiful. Call me a charming old romantic, a dreamer, a visionary, or a typical male internet nerdy type whose sole female interaction comes from Tomb Raider. It's up to you. Personally I'm going for the visionary option.
Hear! Hear!
Having met 4 of the female Crescenteers (lib, penelope, Chalky & Norma), I can at least confirm some of that vision. And I'm sure that they are shining examples of the rest of Crescentdom. We can only hope that they look upon us in a similar light - despite having actually met the likes of myself :-)
changing the subject entirely, I found a version of 'Boardo' when clearing out my room in halls prior to moving out next week (sniff). Anyone mind if we play it here?
[st d, Breadmaster] Of course I'm heartstoppingly beautiful. Only today, three men looked at me and dropped down dead. :)
[st d] As to being 'mistaken', I've never quite been able to forget when I was in the balcony at the swimming pool in Wellingborough, and half a class of boys decided to try tp ask me out. Their opening gambit was "are you a girl?". Needless to say, this particular Zooological Keeper was not best pleased....and I didn't say yes...The mistake probably wasn't made before because I used to wear skirts all the time. Post 10 or 11 I was rarely out of jeans.
[nights] I'm game!
[st d] As to being 'mistaken', I've never quite been able to forget when I was in the balcony at the swimming pool in Wellingborough, and half a class of boys decided to try tp ask me out. Their opening gambit was "are you a girl?". Needless to say, this particular Zooological Keeper was not best pleased....and I didn't say yes...The mistake probably wasn't made before because I used to wear skirts all the time. Post 10 or 11 I was rarely out of jeans.
[nights] I'm game!
turn on your speakers
http://www.potterpuppetpals.com/sexy.swf
If you've got a minute....
If you've got a minute....
Well it's fairly obvious (to anybody who has ever met me) that I could never be mistaken for a girl in real life, but my speaking voice is naturally high-pitched enough to have been mistaken for a low-pitched female voice over the phone (when I said "hello", the reply was "erm, are you Mrs Ellis? We only have a record of a *Mr* Ellis at this address"). In fact I know several women, all of them contralto singers from music college, who very definitely have lower speaking voices than I do...
The gender divide
One can feel one has truly come of age when, when you answer the telephone, people mistake you for you father rather than your mother (speaking as a male). Not sure what that'd do as a female ;)
...and on a totally different subject
Oh, and now I've won a game (hehehe) is there some sort of scoreboard? Having noticed the very old-looking one over at MCiOS, and considering that there isn't (yet) too much of an archive to wade through, could there be something of that sort for this beatifully conceived server?
potterpuppetpals
I love that site! The last time I checked, there were just 2 shows, so I assume that's a new one. Unfortunately, it's also very popular, so I'll have to wait to see it!
dreams
[Breadmaster, LotUS] Well, you haven't met me yet, but I'm sorry that your dream will be shattered if you do - either that or you will drop dead for real. :-)
[Tuj] I'm moving backwards, then. I've been mistaken for a teenage boy on the phone by telemarketers, and not just once. Perhaps it's the slightly surly business-like way I answer when I've been interrupted as well as lowish voice pitch. As I assume they're not allowed to sell to minors, I really love answering their question "Is Mum or Dad there?" with (100% truthfully cross my heart and all) "Nup. Bye."
Voice on the phone
I'm told my voice when I'm on the phone is much lower than when I'm speaking face-to-face. Not that I answer the phone with "Menswear" or anything. ;)
Rugby
Thrax] Don't recall Brownsover Hall looking particularly wheelchair-friendly. IIRC, there are steps to the front, and the rear access is over shingle/gravel. However, I'm sure that were the same location used next year, all MCers would be only to happy to assist in any area that you needed. Obviously, the staff should be able to make arrangements if they knew in advance that you were coming. Obviously, getting from Swindon could be more of a problem. I know Chalky came up from the west country, but she didn't drive. However, if we all put our heads together, I'm sure we can come up with a way.
Access All Areas
[Brownsover Hall] Mr. Brain reminds me that there was a disabled loo next to the mens and a ramp up to it. Also a side entrance (opposite the stables, near the carpark) had the words "disabled access" on a sign. I must also say that Mr. Brain is frequently unrealiable, especially after a few pints and The Biscuit Game.
Access more than you remember
[brownsover hall] IIRC, the route between the stables bedrooms and the rear of the hotel was paved and reasonably level - the outside tables were sitting on gravel, but that was only a short stretch. There was also a paved route from near the front door steps around to the rear door which is wheelchair accessible, I'm pretty sure. As UK said, I'm sure there's a way, and plenty of assistance if needed.
Back again.
Well, Penelope, UK, Boolbar et al, that actually sounds reasonable. Essentially any ground floor accommodation would be suitable, and it's only for a weekend(?), so I'm sure it shouldn't be difficult. At risk of asking for too much, I could do with a wee smidgen of assistance during the stay if anyone is willing to volunteer a hand - perhaps a workload shared between two or three? When I say "workload" incidently, I'm referring to little more than pushing me across that gravel, cutting up some of whatever meals we order and helping to slip on/remove socks and shoes. Are their any kind souls here who might be willing to chip in a bit? I'd be most grateful.
Oh, and st d, falling asleep drunk in my wheelchair is - ahem - not unprecedented.
Jonathan, They mistake you for Mrs Ellis, eh? Interesting, but when you get your regular correspondence from Mrs Trellis of North Wales(as we all do of course), for whom does she mistake you? She addresses me as "Ms. Fernandez" - the wheelchair user who was in Eldorado and The Office.
ZK - hearstoppingly beautiful, eh? Raaaowwwr. Stop it with your wicked alluring imagery or I think I'll start to experience 'Charlotte Greene' syndrome. Rosie and I both fancied her for years with no idea what she looked like. Ha!
And last but not least, Hey, there, Chalky. I've really missed you a great deal. I do hope you're well. I didn't forget you BTW. You got a personalised greeting in my opening post, but I think it may have slipped orf the page by the time you got here t'other day. How are you, anyway? Long time no hear.
And with that, I shall depart for the moment, and no doubt be back shortly. Addidas!
*Sneaks out of page singing "Voodoo Lady" By Creme Brullée*
Oh, and st d, falling asleep drunk in my wheelchair is - ahem - not unprecedented.
Jonathan, They mistake you for Mrs Ellis, eh? Interesting, but when you get your regular correspondence from Mrs Trellis of North Wales(as we all do of course), for whom does she mistake you? She addresses me as "Ms. Fernandez" - the wheelchair user who was in Eldorado and The Office.
ZK - hearstoppingly beautiful, eh? Raaaowwwr. Stop it with your wicked alluring imagery or I think I'll start to experience 'Charlotte Greene' syndrome. Rosie and I both fancied her for years with no idea what she looked like. Ha!
And last but not least, Hey, there, Chalky. I've really missed you a great deal. I do hope you're well. I didn't forget you BTW. You got a personalised greeting in my opening post, but I think it may have slipped orf the page by the time you got here t'other day. How are you, anyway? Long time no hear.
And with that, I shall depart for the moment, and no doubt be back shortly. Addidas!
*Sneaks out of page singing "Voodoo Lady" By Creme Brullée*
[Thrax] Willing to offer any of that kind of help, if I'm there, which I'm fully expecting to be.
*Echoes Projoy*
Freakout
That's very kind of you folks. Perhaps a little nearer the time, we'll chat a wee bit about things just for clarity. You can email me at anthraxhirl@freakout.freeserve.co.uk Indeed I'm happy for anyone here to email me for badinage as you see fit, upon whatever subject you like. Except "Reality TV". *Shudder*
intrigue
Now that my intrigue as to the extent of ZK's beauty has been satisfied (does one satisfy an intrigue ? in fact is that even th eright word ? mmm. Anyway. Now I am intrigued as to exactly why mr Thrax is in a wheelchair, and also why he needs someone to cut up everybody's meals. Is that just a personal OCD you have ?
Freakout
LOL! Yes, st d, I have a very rare medical condition that means I can't stand the sight of everybody's meals not cut up before we all dine together. Ha. It's a rare psychological disorder, but I can't cope with anyone tucking in before everybody's orders have been not merely brought to table, but properly disected and divided up into segregated components(sometimes even quantified and noted down on a clipboard for archiving). I got so frustrated by this once, that I endeavoured to take matters in hand one evening at a dinner party, and lunged towards a butler, with a knife and fork, as he emerged from the kitchen with two plates of Duck A L'Orange. Thinking himself in great danger, the man dropped the two dishes, pulled a gun and shot me in the abdomen. Ever since, I've been confined to a wheelchair and someone has to "cut up everybody's meals", as you acutely observed, on my behalf.
I trust I've satisfied your intrigue on that matter too. *winks
I trust I've satisfied your intrigue on that matter too. *winks
Good lord, the girl in the wheelchair in The Office was the one from Eldorado? I remember seeing her on an Esther Rantzen programme a while ago (that I happened to flick into in the middle of, honest, really yeronna) in a piece about critics. She was talking about how the critics were unfair to Eldorado. The funny thing is that they had the art critic Brian Sewell on too, and she hated him. I have never seen anything like it. He was asked something like, "So what do you think of artists personally?" and he replied in his typical manner, "Oh, I just want to stamp on them like cockroaches." And she went completely nuclear - "How can you say that about human beings! How can you say that!" He just sat there twiddling his glasses with a taken-aback expression. It was lucky she was in a wheelchair really or she might have gone and decked him. Two people who simply didn't gel, I felt. But nice to see that Nessa's rages weren't entirely simulated...
Freakout
Actually, I was at school with the girl in question. I used to have lunch with her everyday, believe it or not. Hmmm, I'm not sure who should be more ashamed though, BM - Julie for being this Nessa to whom you referred in a God-awful soap about British Ex-Pats living in Costa Del Tawdry, or you for admitting to watching Esther Rantzen. Heh. I guess we'll call it a nil-nil draw, shall we, my friend? LOL!
Freakout
Oooh, I've just had a thought. Anyone up for a game of Go Johnny Go Go Go Go? I'm itching to try it out here on this server. What do you think? I take it you've all seen the famous LoG sketch?
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...............................
We often play said game here in the hospital..........LoG, gods amongst men!!
Spare Games
[Thrax] I'm not familiar with the game myself, but there are a number of game openings at Orange MC since today is the annual Orange Festival of Crescent.
[rab] Apologies for unwarranted trumpet blowing.
Freakout
Nice one, widey. Glad to hear I'm not alone around here in my appreciation of the League. Er, for the benefit of those of you who aren't familiar with the game - such as your good self, Dunx - Go Johnny Go Go Go Go is a card game that three of the characters play one evening in the Royston Vasey hosipital, St. Mary of Bethlehem. Essentially, it seems that two of the fellas have made it up on the spot - "it's a cross between Hoover and Eight Men Down" - with over-complex and nonsensical rules. They then explain them at breakneck speed to the third character, impressing upon him, "you'll pick up the rest as we play."
In essence, the game is not that dissimilar to MC, and could therefore be played on a website such as this. Instead of our moves being train stations, they could be cards, like "Seven of Clubs", "King of Diamonds", "Ace in the Hole" etc. with appropriate comments about 'scoring' and 'tactics' etc. just like how we play MC. The winning move, instead of "Mornington Crescent", could be "Go Johnny Go Go Go Go".
I could set up such a game, with a heading containing the explanation of rules(to be largely ignored, though not contradicted. Anyone up for it?
As a final thought, if you haven't seen the sketch, I strongly recomend checking out The League of Gentlemen. It's one of the best programmes I've seen in a LOOOONG time. The card game features in Season 2, and also in the DVD Live at Drury Lane, where they, like Python before them, perform some of their sketches before an audience.
So, anyone care to join me for a hand of Go Johnny Go Go Go Go? You'll pick it up as we play...
In essence, the game is not that dissimilar to MC, and could therefore be played on a website such as this. Instead of our moves being train stations, they could be cards, like "Seven of Clubs", "King of Diamonds", "Ace in the Hole" etc. with appropriate comments about 'scoring' and 'tactics' etc. just like how we play MC. The winning move, instead of "Mornington Crescent", could be "Go Johnny Go Go Go Go".
I could set up such a game, with a heading containing the explanation of rules(to be largely ignored, though not contradicted. Anyone up for it?
As a final thought, if you haven't seen the sketch, I strongly recomend checking out The League of Gentlemen. It's one of the best programmes I've seen in a LOOOONG time. The card game features in Season 2, and also in the DVD Live at Drury Lane, where they, like Python before them, perform some of their sketches before an audience.
So, anyone care to join me for a hand of Go Johnny Go Go Go Go? You'll pick it up as we play...
Transit pic
I don't know if that's a sunspot just above 3 o'clock, or just a speck on the film. I have about twenty more pictures, but they all look like this one. :-)
Transit pic
(Raak) Excellent pic. Not sure about the "sunspot". I don't remember seeing any when I projected the image with a small telescope. I used to be a keen observational amateur astronomer myself but not these days, but I'm one the few amateurs to know something about celestial dynamics (orbits, perturbations, 3-body problems etc). It's a guaranteed conversation-stopper.
League of their own
LoG great series, this site has many wav files including That's a Go Johnny Go Go Go Go
oooooh
Nice one, Raak. *still jealous*
Ani Miles Away
[flerdle] Griz (he's a bit sleepy at this time of the year) asked me to pass on his best regards to wallaby and also the hope that wallaby's transition is not some sort of permanent state.
??
wallaby was fine last time I checked, and sends his good wishes to Griz. She says that Griz probably needs some glasses, or a nice long snooze.
[Thrax] I am in the presence of celebrity, albeit at second remove! I offer according respect. If you ever see her again, tell her that I am not ashamed to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Eldorado. Well, not very ashamed.
[Raak] I'm sure you know that sunspots generally appear only around the solar equator and tend to come in groups, like a line of bubbles... which is pretty much what they are.
[Raak] I'm sure you know that sunspots generally appear only around the solar equator and tend to come in groups, like a line of bubbles... which is pretty much what they are.
[BM/Thrax] I quite like Eldorado too, if truth be told. I detest all other soaps, however. I still play the Eldorado theme to myself sometimes, when I am alone with keyboard or guitar.
Freakout
Nice pic, Raak. Very grrovy.
Yes, well, I did find her on Friends Reunited a couple of years ago, Breadmaster, and wrote to her, but I can't recall whether or not I got a reply. Hey ho.
I never watched it myself, Darren, except for a few minutes here and there, which were enough to put me right off, I'm afraid.
So, who here watcheds the Football? Sacré Bleu!! A defeat snatched from the jaws of victory if ever I saw one.
Yes, well, I did find her on Friends Reunited a couple of years ago, Breadmaster, and wrote to her, but I can't recall whether or not I got a reply. Hey ho.
I never watched it myself, Darren, except for a few minutes here and there, which were enough to put me right off, I'm afraid.
So, who here watcheds the Football? Sacré Bleu!! A defeat snatched from the jaws of victory if ever I saw one.
Well what *do* you expect from a manager who substitutes our best player (Rooney) with the proven international failure Emile Heskey? Whose inept challenge gave away the free kick from which the equaliser was scored...
Zooks !
[ZK] Are you really a Zoo Keeper ? If so, what type of animal keepeth thou ? Little fluffy ones ? Scaly slippery ones ? Big bold smelly ones ? Please do tell. And at which zoo ?
On the other hand, if you aren't really a Zoo Keeper, then I'd guess with a moniker like that you must be a teacher !
On the other hand, if you aren't really a Zoo Keeper, then I'd guess with a moniker like that you must be a teacher !
Zooks!
[Blob] Student. :) The name itself derives from an episode of The Goon Show I have on tape.
Greenslade: "A flannelled fool approaches the penguin pool."
Neddy: "Aaah, good morning, zooological keeper!"
[Thrax, JLE] I'm just so gutted because we were actually playing decent football for once - every other match I've ever watched, I've been sitting cringing at our defence. And who'd really take it out on James? You could if you were feeling bitter but I'm more inclined to point the finger at Heskey and Gerrard (and then, possibly, James) Whoever was brought on for Owen though, fair enough - I thought he was particularly unspectacular. Of course, if Beckham hadn't missed the penalty, the French mightn't have suddenly summoned up the confidence to win, but, hey, there you go. *thinks* Next match, I'm getting the Doritos in. Then we'll win...I knew ordinary crisps wouldn't do the trick...
Greenslade: "A flannelled fool approaches the penguin pool."
Neddy: "Aaah, good morning, zooological keeper!"
[Thrax, JLE] I'm just so gutted because we were actually playing decent football for once - every other match I've ever watched, I've been sitting cringing at our defence. And who'd really take it out on James? You could if you were feeling bitter but I'm more inclined to point the finger at Heskey and Gerrard (and then, possibly, James) Whoever was brought on for Owen though, fair enough - I thought he was particularly unspectacular. Of course, if Beckham hadn't missed the penalty, the French mightn't have suddenly summoned up the confidence to win, but, hey, there you go. *thinks* Next match, I'm getting the Doritos in. Then we'll win...I knew ordinary crisps wouldn't do the trick...
Re Becks
[ZK] Thanks for clarifying that - so, a student zoo keeper then.
[Re England/France] I think it's a little unfair to say "if Beckham hadn't missed the penalty" - he didn't miss exactly; his attempt was saved. To me a miss is when the goaly doesn't have to bother coz. the ball's gone over the net/round the side/backwards/vertically either up or down, or deflated on the penalty-takers toecap.
[Re England/France] I think it's a little unfair to say "if Beckham hadn't missed the penalty" - he didn't miss exactly; his attempt was saved. To me a miss is when the goaly doesn't have to bother coz. the ball's gone over the net/round the side/backwards/vertically either up or down, or deflated on the penalty-takers toecap.
... panalty taker's toecap.
(Third time lucky)
... penalty taker's toecap.
... penalty taker's toecap.
Re Harmison
Hey! We won the 3rd Test [against NZ]. That makes me very happy :-)
En-ger-land
And we came second in the Le Mans 24 Hours race at the weekend - a bit more of a success than coming second in the footie (or the rugby....).
Cricket
I was elated by the cricket, shame the footie took the edge off it... Still, in some ways they were similar, very close with England just holding the edge, just one stayed with us and one spectacularly went pear-shaped.
Credit to both teams for doing well against decent / very good opposition, and to the cricketers for not only getting the whitewash but for an excellently entertaining series. Oh, and the chance to hear Blowers cut off halfway through relaying the match situation to talk about buses.
Credit to both teams for doing well against decent / very good opposition, and to the cricketers for not only getting the whitewash but for an excellently entertaining series. Oh, and the chance to hear Blowers cut off halfway through relaying the match situation to talk about buses.
[Blob] Indeed. I retract my insensitive interpretation of the English language.
As my old mucker Mozza once wrote and sang!
I was happy in a drunken haze, but heaven knows I'm Miserable now!!
oops
Changed the words slightly, but you get the gist of what I'm getting at!!!
Widey old chap...........
I think it was something like this I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour, but heaven knows I'm miserable now and being as how I had to watch the game in france I bloody well am!!!!!
Blowers & Aggers
[Tuj] It was a great test series, capped off by the Mark Richardson v Ashley Giles epic sprint. I like the home series because BBC Radio 4 LW webcasts the match -- I can listen to all of the pigeons and Weapons of Cake Consumption while I'm at work. ;)
A slow-medium aircraft crossing the field of play...
[DrQ] There's such an English charm to it. And yes, I saw that sprint to, superb. What was Richardson wearing!?
Mark Richardson's unique attire
[Tuj] Looks like a mid-70s speed-skating suit.
And all in that lovely colour scheme. Excellent!
"I like speed and I like the thrill of it."
-- George Bush the Elder, 41th President of the United States, after skydiving on his 80th birthday
-- George Bush the Elder, 41th President of the United States, after skydiving on his 80th birthday
the timezone change never ceases to amaze me, it is still tonight where i am but for you guys it is already tomorow morning. where can i pick up a copy of the rule book? is it legal to play the biscut game if i have never had a true cup of tea(just that american stuff)?
cookies
[Snagandorf] Play away old thing! But just remember you won't be able to dunk.
i did once buy fifty packets of earl grey for a dollar, i put one directly in my mouth and sucked on it for half an hour, does this count as tea or did i stain my teeth for nothing? it may take an extra turn but i can still envoke the mighty coffie dunk of java. i just turned twenty one, i have only began to confront those wh call me kid, i refuse to be called old thing!
I'm not 19 till August and I love being called old thing! :) Makes one feel silly (in the dash good way), what.
Felicitous ageism
A common facetious greeting in the pub among men of my age (61) is "Good evening, young man". More, I say, more.
hahahaha(cough)
[Rosie]Nights out with you must be a scream! ;)
I remember reading in Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd that Gabriel Oak was (quote from memory warning) "of that age when people begin to stop prefixing 'man' with 'young'" - and he's then revealed to be 29. Ever since, I have thought of 29 as the age when one stops being young. That means I have nine months of youth left.
Auld
[BM] People will still call you "young man" but they'll do it to humour you.
Senility
(Boolbar) You're right; that's why we oldies do it, to take the piss out of each other.
Age
For some reason, I think of 50 as the boundary. I can see it in the distance, like a barricade across the road, rapidly getting closer.
young man is fine,but i work as a cart pusher at walmart(a job usualy reserved for those under age 18), and i get called "hey kid". when i tell my coworkers how old i am they are supprised(apparently i look quite young for my age).
has anyone tried to play chess by mornington crescent rules?
that way madness lies
[Snagandorf]Yes, and you can still hear their pitiful screams on dark winter nights..
Ageing
(All) The one difference you will all notice is that between the ages of 50 and 55 (or thereabouts) you will lose the ability to change the focus of your eyes. Regarding your eye as a camera, you could say that the lens is still quite clear and forms sharp images, the film is more-or-less as good as it was, but the focussing mechanism will seize up and there is nothing whatsoever you can do about it except get reading glasses.
presbyopia is da word for it
[Rosie] You're lucky if you noticed it that late... most people do in their 40s, though it depends on what they do, and how long their arms are :-)
roasting
It's at least 43°C, dusty outside and dry as a bone... I think I'm starting to look forward to my holiday...
Presbyopic adaptation
(flerdle) My knuckles graze the floor. This of course is why I play the trombone. Where are you, for it to be 43°C? Not Oz, at this time of the year, surely? A pleasant 18°C here. Sun in and out. Light breeze. Very British.
ook
Oman.
*sighs*
Moved out of my first-year flat today. That means I'm not a Fresher any more....time to start intimidating smaller people. At last! My time has come!
Fresh faces
I thought one was only a Fresher for about the first two weeks of first year... But I must say, I think Freshers' Week is wasted on the Freshers - much better in subsequent years.
age
You're old if you're old compared to your friends, and young if not, I think. (My friends range from 11 to 60+, and I'm nearly 29, so I get to feel young and old - and I spend my time either enviously wishing I was older in terms of experience and knowledge or younger in body).
[ZK] Make the most of it. Before you know it you'll be a miserable embittered Finalist, and then that's it. However, if you survive as a Finalist, you may have the option to become a Postgrad, which is best of all because you have less pressure, less work, more spare time and a real superiority complex. That's my experience anyway...
Wisdom
[Projoy] Having recently discussed with three of my closest mates (all of us are 40ish to 50ish) what we would do differently if we had our time over again, the answer was unanimous, unambiguous and immediate : shag more girls while we had the chance - by being (a) bolder, (b) unconcerned about rejection and (c) less fussy. (Substitute as necessary for your gender and sexual orientation) - That's the best advice our collective 200-odd years can come up with.
small comfort
[Blob] Would you and your friends please broadcast that at every opportunity? Especially the bit about being less fussy? Many thanks.
shy
[Blob] Not being bold, concerned about rejection and being fussy. I remember my 20s well. Can't say much will have changed since though.
[pen] Unfortunately the word was girls, not women...
Freakout
As someone who's never ever ever been a hit with the ladies, there's probably no one on this planet less fussy than me. However, if anyone here breathes the words, "beggars can't be choosers," they'll get a slap for preaching to the choir. Sadly. 
'Tis a lonely life I lead.
'Tis a lonely life I lead.[JLE] I would hazard a guess that Blob's advice also applies to those over 30 who haven't got lucky yet. Besides... there's nothing wrong with a younger man.
Freakout
You should tell that to the ladies I've had a liking for on occasion, penelope. Speaking for myself, I've been quite keen on ladies a couple of years older than myself, but tended to be rebuffed because I was too young, and they were without exception always partial to older men.
Well, I'm still trying to find someone, but I've come to the conclusion I'm going about this all wrong. It's so much easier for fish. So, from now on, I'll only date women who live underwater.
... much later
I must have done something right for a change. Yesterday I received payment for some work I have been undertaking for the last few months. No, not a lot of money, but enough to splurge on a meal out for my ever forgiving wife (and save me doing the washing up!) So we headed down to the local club and spent a few moments moaning and groaning over the extortionate prices being levied for the meals and eventually plumped for the special of the day - meaning, of course, the cheapest. On joining the queue for service and having finally managed to get within a couple of yards of the ordering station my good wife (bless her little cotton socks) noticed a sign twirling in the airconditioner's breeze. It proclaimed 'Two for the Price of One', or similar. Needless to say we had a rather rapid conflab and finished up with a wonderful chicken dish (her) and a rather good rump steak (me) both with all the trimmings. So an hour or so later we had eaten, drunk (she a lemon squash, me a schooner - that's 15 fl oz - of lager) and returned home sated. The moral, of course, is get yourself a wife/husband and, who knows, in thirty three years time you too may experience such fortune.
[Dujon] If it's late by the time I get home from work then it is always a pleasure to find that between my pockets and my wife's purse we can scrape enough pound coins together to raid the local chippy. [age and fancies] I've always found the most attractive women are around the same age as me, so in thirty years time I'll be gazing whistfully at OAPs.
. . . Oh, and I might have learnt to spell by then. Have a free 'h' on me!
musings
[Duj & Bool] 'Tis remarkable that food - whether it be the eating of, the cooking of, the shopping together for, or the spontaneous 'grab a takeaway because we can't be arsed to cook' type, just has to be one of the most joyously satisfactory elements of being in a meaningful relationship.
As for age differences ... my late husband was a couple of years older than me; my erstwhile partner was 18 years older ; my current partner is 8 years younger. No discernible pattern. Apart from the fact that they were/are all Librans and of Celtic persuasion.
[Blob] wisdom - so it's true what they say then? We only ever regret the things that we DON'T do. Hmm ... glad I got stuck in then ... :-)
As for age differences ... my late husband was a couple of years older than me; my erstwhile partner was 18 years older ; my current partner is 8 years younger. No discernible pattern. Apart from the fact that they were/are all Librans and of Celtic persuasion.
[Blob] wisdom - so it's true what they say then? We only ever regret the things that we DON'T do. Hmm ... glad I got stuck in then ... :-)
mused
BTW my little pearl of wisdom above was mostly a wistful glance back to our youth. I'm happily married and two out of the other three in the aforementioned quartet are in long-term relationships. So the advice is really directed at the Young1 Free2 & Single3 amongst you.
1 Young at heart.
2 Or any price really.
3 Or as your conscience allows !
bold advice
Thank you Blob for that pearl of wisdom. I shall bow to my elders and betters on this occasion and head to Battersea tonight to watch Germany Vs Czech with my colleague Miguel from Portugal, who has revealed to me that his strategy for watching EURO 2004 matches is find a punb where there will be as many of the nationality actually playing. So tonight I am hoping for lots of German or Czech girls. I don't seem to have had much luck recently, and this I put down to a couple of factors
a. I seem to predominatly go out to the pub next to work, so hang out with work colleagues, many of whom are female, which lessens the chances of being in a position to chat someone up/be chatted up.
b. weekends I have been going home to see my mum (and until recently, dad). Again....
c. Most of my friends seem to be either married or in relationships or FREEZE up around girls.
d. No-one seems to help out really. By this I mean that if I have a single male friend and a single female friend that meet I will stir it a bit to see if anything happens - sometimes it does. No-one seems to do this back.
e. I am fat, ugly, loud, irritating and have lousy personal hygiene.
a. I seem to predominatly go out to the pub next to work, so hang out with work colleagues, many of whom are female, which lessens the chances of being in a position to chat someone up/be chatted up.
b. weekends I have been going home to see my mum (and until recently, dad). Again....
c. Most of my friends seem to be either married or in relationships or FREEZE up around girls.
d. No-one seems to help out really. By this I mean that if I have a single male friend and a single female friend that meet I will stir it a bit to see if anything happens - sometimes it does. No-one seems to do this back.
e. I am fat, ugly, loud, irritating and have lousy personal hygiene.
Lonely bleedin' hearts
Oh dear - there DO seem to be far too many singletons in the Morniverse ... *dons cupid wings*
Bah, humbug!
Consolations of the single life:
- The TV remote is where you put it.
- If you have not finished the marmalade, there is still some marmalade left.
- You go to films because you want to see them.
- If you burn a meal, you just get a takeaway instead.
Toast
[Raak] Point 4 works for couples as well, unless the words "Can you just keep an eye on . . ." were uttered prior to the burning.
marmalade
[Raak] And Point 3 applies only as a benefit if the marmalade is still in good condition. If it is old and clinging to the sides of the jar as only the last desperate dregs of marmalade can, and you are reluictant to buy fresh, new marmalade until the old one is finished, then having someone finish the marmalade for you is a good excuse to go out and buy a new one. Does anyone want to come over and finish off my marmalade?
[pen] You only go and see films when your marmalade is in good condition?
Oh, I'm back from a wee break in Wales, btw, off to Cornwall on Friday...
[pen] Ah, what a romantic come-on...
Freakout
I second that. A woman who invites you round for marmalade is clearly far more kinky than a woman who invites you round for coffee. 
I never get invited round for any marmalade. Either nobody finds me appealing, or I've never met a woman with a toaster. Either way, it's a crap life really, and I feel certain that I shall spent it lonely, unloved, and cursed with a rumbling stomach.
In addition I personally don't believe any of this twaddle about advantages to being single. If there were any, people wouldn't go on the pull and get paired off. There are of course advantages to not sticking your head in a blender, which is why very few people go and try the alternative, but not having a partner/spouse? I find it impossible to believe there are advantages to such a cursed life...with one notable exception. As a single man with no woman in my life, I can proudly say that NO ONE within the four walls of my flat has ever uttered the words "Leonardo" and "Di Caprio" in the same sentence. It is for this reason that I can also proudly say that within the four walls of my flat No ONE has ever been murdered and had her body dumped the rubbish tip less than a mile from these premises. How many married men can say that? Not many.
I never get invited round for any marmalade. Either nobody finds me appealing, or I've never met a woman with a toaster. Either way, it's a crap life really, and I feel certain that I shall spent it lonely, unloved, and cursed with a rumbling stomach.In addition I personally don't believe any of this twaddle about advantages to being single. If there were any, people wouldn't go on the pull and get paired off. There are of course advantages to not sticking your head in a blender, which is why very few people go and try the alternative, but not having a partner/spouse? I find it impossible to believe there are advantages to such a cursed life...with one notable exception. As a single man with no woman in my life, I can proudly say that NO ONE within the four walls of my flat has ever uttered the words "Leonardo" and "Di Caprio" in the same sentence. It is for this reason that I can also proudly say that within the four walls of my flat No ONE has ever been murdered and had her body dumped the rubbish tip less than a mile from these premises. How many married men can say that? Not many.
cat burglar
***breaks into Thrax's flat.***
Have you seen any of Leonardo DiCaprio's films? He's fugly, but I still intend to get Total Eclipse just to see him shagging David Thewlis as Rimbaud.
Thew listen
[snorg] Bit dangerous ! He'll turn into a werewolf !
oops
just realised I posted to MCiOS a follow up to a conversation goi g on in here. Very confusing.
Freakout
The three of you are clearly bonkers. 
St d, any chance of a "copy-and-past" so we may learn of your wisdom here?
snorgs, help yerself on the breaking in front, I'm always welcome of a bit o' company, especially the feline variety. I used to have a cat named Dudley. He could talk you know... but he got run over. I miss him greatly.
Blob, heh, not so much a werewolf, but at university my friends often said I reminded tham of Dracula. To this day I refuse to allow garlic in my presence.
St d, any chance of a "copy-and-past" so we may learn of your wisdom here?
snorgs, help yerself on the breaking in front, I'm always welcome of a bit o' company, especially the feline variety. I used to have a cat named Dudley. He could talk you know... but he got run over. I miss him greatly.
Blob, heh, not so much a werewolf, but at university my friends often said I reminded tham of Dracula. To this day I refuse to allow garlic in my presence.
Horriday
I'm off on holiday again tomorrow. Whee.
oooh... I have to wait two weeks. Hmph.
leaving
Joining in the holiday rush. I have the day off tomorrow to go to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The two hour journey has put me off before, but with free tickets from the Sunday Times, I'm looking forward to it like a big kid.
Goodiewoodie
I'll be there on Saturday, free tickets courtesy of work. My digital camera will be on official duties, but I won't. :o)
Football
Bollocks. And that's all I have to say on the subject. Unless
a) my opinion is required or
b) my opinion is not required, but I get fed up with moaning to the rest of my friends and give it anyway.
So, age. Interesting thing. I don't always see it as a barrier, but I don't think I have a pattern...obviously when I was twelve I loved 26-year-olds because they were better looking than twelve-year-olds and had less scary voices and fewer spots. I have been known to have a penchant for an older man since but currently the objects of my affection range from 4 years younger to 28 years older (can you say worrying? Unless you're Jonathan Ross or Catherine Zeta-Jones, I imagine you can) so I reckon age doesn't enter into it. Of course this all means nothing, as I'm not part of a couple either, although because of that I can watch Euro 2004 in the comfort of my own home as opposed to in the pub (and I can bring my own snacks. Hooray! :) )
Did any of that make sense to anyone else? If not, ignore it, and normal service will be resumed shortly.
a) my opinion is required or
b) my opinion is not required, but I get fed up with moaning to the rest of my friends and give it anyway.
So, age. Interesting thing. I don't always see it as a barrier, but I don't think I have a pattern...obviously when I was twelve I loved 26-year-olds because they were better looking than twelve-year-olds and had less scary voices and fewer spots. I have been known to have a penchant for an older man since but currently the objects of my affection range from 4 years younger to 28 years older (can you say worrying? Unless you're Jonathan Ross or Catherine Zeta-Jones, I imagine you can) so I reckon age doesn't enter into it. Of course this all means nothing, as I'm not part of a couple either, although because of that I can watch Euro 2004 in the comfort of my own home as opposed to in the pub (and I can bring my own snacks. Hooray! :) )
Did any of that make sense to anyone else? If not, ignore it, and normal service will be resumed shortly.
DV5000
[snorgle] I started thinking "wow!", but on reading the spec, it's a 3.1MP stills camera (I don't know where they get 4.1MP from when the spec further down says 3.1) plus a crap videocam, in the same size package as my 3.2MP stills camera plus crap videocam (a Sony Cybershot DSC-P32). Mine was just under £200 a bit more than a year ago, so £130 for the same spec now is probably about right. The only difference is that mine's built to look like a camera, which it is, and the DV5000 is built to look like a videocam, which it isn't. A real videocam would have a video output socket and give at least television quality images. The spec mentions an AV cable, but only talks of recording video to the memory card, not streaming it out to a computer or DV recorder.
football
ZK] I would like to read your opinion. What a great match though. Fantastic stuff......Also I reckon I fit nicely into your -4 to +28 group, somewheer in the middle, and have reverted to my imagining of you as a stunningly attractive girl. Ain't life grand ?
I am currently discovering that another advantage of being single is that holidays cost half as much. If, by contrast, your other half is in teaching and you are therefore able to go away only in August, they cost about 500 times as much.
Regular readers of my posts, and surely there can't be many, will be astounded to learn that last night, because there was nothing better to watch, I actually turned the football on whilst having dinner and quite enjoyed it. This may be because working in news means I am familiar with the names of almost all the players in at least one of the teams playing in that match. Plus, of course, one of them has the same psychiatric disorder as me, so I approve of him. Still, as I watched, I found a strange desire coming over me to drink large amounts of alcohol, sit with my legs very wide apart, look at pictures of young ladies without much on and perform noxious evacuations in the company of others with an expression of pride. Testosterone - too much testorerone!
Regular readers of my posts, and surely there can't be many, will be astounded to learn that last night, because there was nothing better to watch, I actually turned the football on whilst having dinner and quite enjoyed it. This may be because working in news means I am familiar with the names of almost all the players in at least one of the teams playing in that match. Plus, of course, one of them has the same psychiatric disorder as me, so I approve of him. Still, as I watched, I found a strange desire coming over me to drink large amounts of alcohol, sit with my legs very wide apart, look at pictures of young ladies without much on and perform noxious evacuations in the company of others with an expression of pride. Testosterone - too much testorerone!
Breadmaster
*cue eerie lighting effect and modulated voice*
Ahhhh... he's one of us, now...
Ahhhh... he's one of us, now...
Psychiatric Problem
BM] Are you too afflicted by Canttakeapenaltytosavemylifeitis? Re holidays though, have you not been confronted with the "single supplement" yet then ? Also you are factoring in teh idea that you have to pay for two peopl, rather than having two people pay for it....
x4
Holidays ! Wait till you have kids ! Forced to go during School Holidays (they even bump up the prices for Half Term, the bastards) - me, wifey, two kids = 4 flights. Plus the small people want a constant supply of things. And you have to go to family-friendly restaurants (o.k. this is getting better as they get older). So yes, don't complain about your "single supplement" make the most of it while you're single - or find a friend to go with you.
singlesuppleness
Ah, the single supplement thing... blind fury at being charged around 30 per cent extra for having the audacity to not be part of a couple is what forced me to try National Trust working holidays, which was one of the best decisions I ever made. Luckily I have a flatmate prepared to travel with me now, but when everyone is already coupled up and with an allergy to 'organised tours', I was left without a lot of options. So I holidayed, but I didn't travel much, which I still regret.
Hmm, not to sure how my holidays compare to other peoples. I tend to just hope work will send me to somewhere nice, and I try to blag some extra days on account of crippling jet lag, severe cramp, dehydration, headaches, and mental stress from the fact I'm terrified of flying.
holidays
All of the above
Just call me Ms T-shirt
Just call me Ms T-shirt
[st d] Reverted? Was there ever any doubt? :) [Blob] Feel for my dad, he has 4....and works for the NHS.
little blessings
[Blob] Just the two litle acessories to take on hols! try three at (13, 9 and 3), mind you I am one of five, two boys and three girls. Holidays were fun; mostly.
Goody for Goodwood, wonderful, excellent; I enjoyed the whole day, like a kid in sweet shop, cars, cars, cars and ....even more cars.
[Blob] Did you say 'flights'? Presumably you don't go to Blackpool, Brighton or Margate then!
Whilst on the subject of holidays, are there still such things as camping coaches? I think that's what they were called. They're the railway carriages converted to accommodation and parked (permanently, I assume) in various areas. It's just that I have fond memories of staying in such as a child - although my parents might not agree with that evaluation - in places such as Arthog and Sandsend.
[Inkspot] Goodwood, cars - I envy you, sir.
Whilst on the subject of holidays, are there still such things as camping coaches? I think that's what they were called. They're the railway carriages converted to accommodation and parked (permanently, I assume) in various areas. It's just that I have fond memories of staying in such as a child - although my parents might not agree with that evaluation - in places such as Arthog and Sandsend.
[Inkspot] Goodwood, cars - I envy you, sir.
Clarification
If I remember correctly the carriages were actually on railway lines with a full connection to the rail network but the rails surely did not look as though they had been used of late - hence my term 'permanently'.
hello all, a quick post from st petersburg, [ZK] the football was shocking, we watched on TV at one in the morning here and it was mightily depressing - as all the russians in the bar were cheering for england. bless. will post again soon. nights.
[has broken the furcation game]
all hail
[MF] So that's what you've been up to all this time!
Bravo, good sir, and extra kudos for managing to slip in a touch of nipple creep :-)
Bravo, good sir, and extra kudos for managing to slip in a touch of nipple creep :-)
The full move can be viewed in its correctly-formatted glory here (also including the Hypearthquakes move and a lengthy Rice/Lloyd Webber/Elton John pastiche which probably did for the game)
goodiewoodiepostmortem
Yeah - it was OK - I took lots of pictures of funny faces and situations in the crowds, slightly fewer of the cars - there were just so many of them. I'm probably not the world's most fanatical car-spotter. However, I did have my picture taken with Renault's F1 driver Franck Montagny, who had his arm around me LIKE HE MEANT IT, as part of the digital-camera-loan deal with my young French trainee who was chaperoning him for the afternoon, Mwahahaah! :o)
oh, and it rained a bit, but not enough to spoil things, just enough to wet the Hill Climb course ;o)
Furcations
Well Martha, you've really Farquared that one up haven't you? Shame, it was a good move!
[MF] I go on holiday and this is what happens. I'll take my Acme HTML deodorizer to it later...
Deodorized
[Re Furcation Game] It turns out Martha's gigantic move was too big for the STEAM-powered technologies driving this site; hence I'm afraid I've taken the liberty of splitting the move up into two parts. I had to tidy up some of the HTML - the game moves should be unaffected, but do let me know if anything went awry in the rehashing.
*grin of satisfaction*
Thanks rab! Strange I got it through the HTML checker first, though (and muchos kudos for that groovy little dingus, too, without which it'd still be lounging unloved and unread in a... oh, hang on...)
goodwood
[Pen and Ink] Looks like we could have had a mini pilg as I was @ Goodwood too with my 16 year old and my 3 year old!
Grimace
[MF] If you are interested, which you probably aren't, the database that sits behind this truncates posts when they hit some, at the time it was designed, apparantly unreasonable length. I guess you exceeded that :) I should find out what the limit is and put in a warning. Glad you like the HTML debugging tool...
off to Scotland!
*boogies* I just got cast in the Edinburgh Fringe for August! This is a serious coup d'état for me! *boogies more* Finally - an audition passed (not merely given) and exciting prospects! All I need to do is learn to be an eight-year-old within a month (which may involve disguising a couple of things!)...which I'm sure I can do with study. After all, I was only eight ten years ago.....
Go me! :)
Go me! :)
more casting couch
[ZK]Good luck in Edinburgh. I may be able to help you out with the mind set of 8 year old boys, basically; girls are yeuch!!! ;)
[plump] I'm sure penelope could arrange for some wonderful reasonably priced dicounted hospitality.
Congratulations to DrQuuxum for reaching No1 on Celebrity Mronington Crescent, sadly down to 13 following the departure of evil_edna. JJ's dividends and returns have become a very useful tool in taking the guessing out of who to invest in next. Even if Mr. Rooney was a teensy weensy bit obvious last week.
evil_edna
[INkspot] I've resurrected edna's account and will post the reference number here soon to be re-included in the league, if that's OK with all of you lot. I've been well into Tim Henman stocks for a couple of weeks now :o)
[ZK] Well done - I have several friends who have "done Edinburgh" and it sounds a pretty intense experience. Watch out with your references to "a couple of things" though - you'll have St Dogmael getting hot under the collar again...
hot collars
BM] I don't get hot under the collar. I just occasionally will raise an interested eyebrow. Oh what a joy to be a red-blooded male in his prime ! ;o)
He can get plenty hot under the collar, just so long as I don't mention what play I'm actually in (pretty easy as I don't know!) I should be fine! :) *boogies* ah, 'tis a good week, so it would seem!
Hey - good on yer ZK! Hope everything goes really well for you, Edinburgh-wise x
Oh yes, and ta to all for the congrats! :)
Congratters
To my dear friend, and as of yesterday, my maid of honour - ZK, I owe you one!
ooooh...
[AP] I know! Sadly I also owe you and yours about 45 quid, so I guess we're even...unless of course you can do me a similar favour! :)
Fringe benefits
[Zooky] Excellent - what will you be in ? Do you know the venue ?
[Blob] I have no idea! :) I'm still waiting for the script to turn up in the post, which has all the other info in it! I should imagine it's somewhere relatively small, as last time I checked I'm not sure they had very much money. But I don't know. Hoping for something nice! I'll post the details when they turn up :)
[ZK] If it's a côup d'état, does that mean you'll be taking the city by storm? :)
[Projoy] That's the plan! :)
being typically British
The weather here is bloody awful ...*$!*&
Embra
I do have a tendancy to drop in on Edinburgh during August, so maybe I could track the Keeper down :) If not this year, then one of the next three years for sure, as I'll then be living there. But first, I have to go to India. See you next week!
*waves goodbye to rab* again
Inja
[rab] Bring us back an elephant.
*waves to rab as he zooms past*
india
rab] Bring us back a couple of cricket bats and some wicket-keeping gloves...
And Hrithik Roshan!
Hrithik
[Zoological Keeper] Ooh, I'd second that if I were that way inclined. Have you read "Bollywood Boy" by Justine Hardy? Very amusing stuff... I went on a private tour of Film City in Bombay once (VIP that I am, or something) and it really is like that...
[Breadmaster] I haven't, but I will now!
Indiana
[Blob et al] I'll try :) Anyway, must go to bed now, the taxi's calling at 4.30am. Ouch.
Orange peeled
Is anyone else having trouble accessing Orange? I get message 403 Forbidden.
aha!
[Inks] me too - also the Lockisseum [which is on Dunx's server].
retracting
seems to be OK now :-)
Greetings!
Hello, can't say much cos I'm in a busy conference email room and this is perhaps a little frivolous... Anyway, I got here ok (as you can see) and am having an ok time, 75 minute rikshaw journey notwithstanding. I'll look out for an elephant for you.
[rab] Only 75 minutes? You were lucky.
Apropos of nothing...
Just over a week ago, I happened to be driving through Salisbury, and a passed a pub which had a sign proclaiming "A Goldfinch Free House". Are there many infestations of goldfinches in Salisbury?
A moment's pause, please, to remember Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, who is memorable for a number of reasons, most particularly the following:
(1) He had the silliest name of any blues singer, which is saying something. Except maybe Fird "Snooks" Eaglin.
(2) He learned to play by attaching a single string to a guitar, mastering it, adding a second, and so on until he could play all six at once.
(3) He actually wrote "That's All Right Mama".
Yes, despite Sky News' claim today that it is 50 years since that song was first recorded, old Arthur recorded it in 1946. And when Elvis stole it eight years later, Arthur didn't get a penny in royalties. In fact, he never did. Many years later, his record company finally arranged for him to be paid the unimaginably vast royalties that he was owed for this and a number of other songs that Elvis ripped off. But at the last moment, they pulled out - claiming that they would lose less money if Crudup sued them over it. So he died unrewarded, and I think today is a fitting day to remember the fact!
(1) He had the silliest name of any blues singer, which is saying something. Except maybe Fird "Snooks" Eaglin.
(2) He learned to play by attaching a single string to a guitar, mastering it, adding a second, and so on until he could play all six at once.
(3) He actually wrote "That's All Right Mama".
Yes, despite Sky News' claim today that it is 50 years since that song was first recorded, old Arthur recorded it in 1946. And when Elvis stole it eight years later, Arthur didn't get a penny in royalties. In fact, he never did. Many years later, his record company finally arranged for him to be paid the unimaginably vast royalties that he was owed for this and a number of other songs that Elvis ripped off. But at the last moment, they pulled out - claiming that they would lose less money if Crudup sued them over it. So he died unrewarded, and I think today is a fitting day to remember the fact!
taking a moment's pause
[BM] such a sad story :-(
That's how you got treated by the American music industry in those days if you were black... Crudup rerecorded "That's All Right" some time later, and he had to suffer the ultimate indignity of putting a composer credit on the label to "Presley"! It doesn't get much worse than that. To be fair, Elvis' version was a lot better than Arthur's, who wrote fantastic songs but was a bit rubbish, really, at least in my opinion. But that's not really the point.
ooh ooh! I got my script! My part's really obnoxious, it's fantastic! :D I play an 8-year-old girl and am called upon to cry, scream, vomit, get drunk, bite etc. If this doesn't stretch me I don't know what will! :) i haven't finished the script yet so I'm still trying to figure out what on earth it's all about, but it's looking good! I only have a month to learn my lines, though...
drunken children
[ZK] Is it Anne of Green Gables?
lynches and finches
hmmm, I dunno - Anne was a ... nice girl, even when squiffy on 'raspberry cordial'. But if we're talking about children who deserve to be garroted at birth ... how about Violet Elizabeth Bott?
[UK] sorry - didn't see your earlier post about the Salisbury GoldFinch Plague. Dreadful stuff. Really scary. Just like the Hitchcock film [I still have the remains of one wrapped around my rear water butt]. Luckily we managed to keep it out of the news, but I fear our lives will never be the same again here in sleepy South Wiltshire ...
[UK] sorry - didn't see your earlier post about the Salisbury GoldFinch Plague. Dreadful stuff. Really scary. Just like the Hitchcock film [I still have the remains of one wrapped around my rear water butt]. Luckily we managed to keep it out of the news, but I fear our lives will never be the same again here in sleepy South Wiltshire ...
[Projoy] Not to the best of my knowledge, unless it's the bizarrest of bizarre adaptations. I finished the script a few minutes ago and it makes very little sense to me! It's "Archer's Goon" - you may have heard of it...My character is called Awful, which I think is absolutely superb.
[ZK] I think that sounds fantastic fun. Any play that contains a character called "Awful" must be pretty good to start with. Sounds to me like it shouldn't take you a month to learn the lines, though - what with all that crying, screaming, vomiting, biting etc. there can't be all that much actual dialogue too...
[Dujon] Yes, that's the book it's from - I've ordered that from Amazon..hoping for some insight I guess :) [Breadmaster] There's a fair lot of lines! Learning starts tomorrow....eep! :)
Lost!
I'm lost- i'm at norwich station and i want to get to MC Help!
Getting to MC
[NH] Try a counter strile at Thetford, then you'll need to use WAGN and six blue podumes via Peterborough I reckon. If the snoods are blonked you may have to side-straddle to Cambridge however.
[Zooky,Chalky] V.E.Bott was who sprang to my mind too. [Zooks] Sounds fun to me.
[Zooky,Chalky] V.E.Bott was who sprang to my mind too. [Zooks] Sounds fun to me.
Ely wheely
[NH] As Blob says, but be wary of hitting the return loop at Ely or else you could end up being shunted to King's Lynn. Also the 'bus replacement rule' could be brought into operation making the Peterborough route costly in terms of LV. Do not stop at Manea, it is a trap.
I have to point everyone to the Hyperlink game over at MCiOS, where we are having enormous fun with a link to a Spartacus gladiators game. Buckle up your greaves and ready your trident - or do you fear the mighty Magister Panus?
New Game
Oo! Game slot!
May I suggest "Conversation Stoppers", as I described elsewhere?
To Rosie
4.5 mm of precipitation since the beginning of June. Sunny - and extraordinarily warm - days continue. Today is cooler (14.5°C as I type at 14:10 local time) although overnight temps have been down to 3° or 4° no frosts have been in evidence here as yet.
[Dunx] Yes!
No 9 bus
Conversation Stoppers, oh yes please.
[Breadmaster]I tried the site but, recieved the message;The page cannot be displayed
There are too many people accessing the Web site at this time.
Graham III as ffiish continues to break and create new records over at Celebdaq Celebrity Mornington Crescent, much kudos to you sire.
I'm glad that bitter and twisted manipulator, Seal Boy has been evicted from the BB House.
Stu is a mummbling self obsessd idiot , (the most intelligent person on BB ever - B***ocks!).
Michelle should leave Stu alone, and be herself she has more to offer as a personality without him, a mismatch for Stu if ever there was one.
Shell you can streak round my garden anytime ;)
And then Aunt Mary broke wind
[Dunx, Raak et al re conversation stoppers] That gets my vote, but it seems the slot has become blocked, sadly.
Oh, hello, by the way. Surviving, just. Have had four days of conference thus far; had a wee excrusion yesterday, saw a couple of temples. I said 108 Hare Krisnas before being 'selected' as one of the lucky people to donate 150 Rupees to the cause. I received a copy of 'The Science of Self-Realisation' in return, which I expect to give me many hours of pleasure amusement.
One more day to go (getting bored with statistical physics now), before a day trip to Mysore and some more Bollywood movies on the way home. Still no elephants, but there are a number of cows wandering around I could try and slip into my luggage instead...
Hare Rama, Hara Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare...
Archer's Goon
There was a TV version of that when I was a kid, starring Roger Lloyd Pack.
[Darren] So I discovered, on research. The last in-house production for CBBC after the bank-breaking Chronicles of Narnia (loved them!) That makes you rather young though, doesn't it?
Having just set up that COnversation Stoppers (sorry for the dodgy ƒ)
Maybe some time we should play Morgenburg Halbmond?
[ZK] Well, I'm 26, if that makes me rather young.
Rather young; by my chronology I'd placed you a few years younger with Archer's Goon. *goes imdb trolling* You were 14 when they made that then. Groovy. I'd have been 7, probably why I don't remember it. I may have even seen it, I don't remember most things I saw fewer times than twice though...
Shell out again...
Inkspot] Were you watching last night?
gloating
[Inky / Celebdaqers] Had a little chuckle when I checked the league just now in view of your comments the other day ...
Quote "Graham III as ffish continues to break and create new records over at Celebdaq Celebrity Mornington Crescent, much kudos to you sire..." Unquote.
Poor ffish has dropped from No 1 to second to last [teehee]. Is this also a record?
[snorgs] Well done. Number one again!
Quote "Graham III as ffish continues to break and create new records over at Celebdaq Celebrity Mornington Crescent, much kudos to you sire..." Unquote.
Poor ffish has dropped from No 1 to second to last [teehee]. Is this also a record?
[snorgs] Well done. Number one again!
fiendish plan
Congrats to both snorgs, and to you Chalky. I presume it is your own modesty that prevents you saying how you occupy second and third places. I should have followed JJ's Dividends and bought Becki and not gone out on a limb with the Queen.
daqing
Oh, thanks! It was Wayne Rooney wot done it..
My 3rd persona's about to be millionaired! Yippee!
more league tpye stuff
[UK] Are you playing away from home? Is which league is this other persona?
I've been baby sitting an account for someone in the Ratcatchers Guild over at Discworld Minileagues. In all she has the same account in 24 separate Celebdaq Leagues. (Cleddau has been marooned in the Embalmers Guild for the past couple of weeks)
I've been baby sitting an account for someone in the Ratcatchers Guild over at Discworld Minileagues. In all she has the same account in 24 separate Celebdaq Leagues. (Cleddau has been marooned in the Embalmers Guild for the past couple of weeks)
Multiple personalities
[Ink] I've got four accounts in all, which compete in my me-only league called Advanced Schizophrenia Ltd.
daqing along
Hmm. Got my dividend banker wrong. I would have thought that the fact that Serena Williams was mentioned in every broadsheet front page article about that Russian girl would be enough..., but even so [Inkspot] Thanks :)
Oh, and...
and I went from position 1 to position 30 in Lancre Embassy (division 15). Hope I don't get relagated - would have thought I should have been promoted last week.
Serveritude
Rather sudden I know, but I've bought, have built and am currently installing Linux on a server to replace entirely the two machines currently responsible for running angrycake.com. It's very cute, I have to say - a smaller footprint than the laptop I'm tapping this entry into. MC5 will, at some point, be temporarily going away. This will not be immediate; indeed, expect things to remain the way they are for at least another week, and probably a while longer. I'm trying to do things 'right' this time. Which is why I'm installing crucial software on it whilst drunk, obviously.
Drinkies
It's the best time in my opinion, Nik - I find that lateral thinking ability increases in direct proportion to the Alcohol per hour intake.
Dunno why I gave alcohol a capital A! Good luck with the switch by the way.
I can think of a reason, Duj. :-)
Exciting, even to us technoserfs who think that Linux is a Peanuts character. I'm sure you'll warn us of the dates of absence of MC5 when they're known (assuming they are, of course).
Woo! Off to my concert today! *goes to have fun*
Bachus
Hello. I'm back from my travels. I did see two elephants in the end, but a big sign proclaiming "Elephants can be unfriendly to strangers" suggested it wouldn't have been a good idea to bring one back. Sorry. Mind you, given how much notice people took of the "Obey traffic laws" signs posted at intersections, I might have got away with it...
Archer, Dillian, Torquil, Shine, Hathaway, Erskine, Venturus
[ZK] (sorry I missed this discussion before) Archer's Goon is possibly my favourite kids' book of all time. It's superbly crafted and unfolds delightfully. You have a great part, although I'll be interested to see how the adaptors have made it stageable (the task is a bit like creating a stage adaptation of Terry Pratchett). Where will it be on? Details, please, details...
Errrrrr the only details I have are "Edinburgh, Zoo venue 1" (strangely enough :)) It means nothing to me but I'm hoping they'll tell me when I get to Kent! :) Indeed the script is a bugger to learn and I can't make the blasted child sound annoying without whining all the time. At the moment she merely comes off as irritating, and I seem to have lost the ability to scream. I was at a concert last night (in the audience) and was made painfully aware of how quiet I really am. Any good vibes sent my way would be graciously appreciated! :)
Come to think of it, I don't even know who anyone else is playing...
[ZK] Kent ? Edinburgh's not in Kent - in fact it's a long way from Kent. I suggest you head North !!!
Reminiscing
One of the games that I miss playing (thinking back to Pants MC) is Liff. We've got a spare game slot - anyone fancy a go?
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll Llantysiliogogogoch - the sound made before the first fag of the day
[Uncle Korky] Is this what you mean? The Even Deeper Meaning of Liff new definitions using place names. Which way is it played, do you provide your own names and definitions or do players respond to the previous posting?
Liff
Ah...happy memories of the old "Ais Ghyll". Liff was played by providing a definition of the place name set by the previous player, then setting a further place name for the next player to define.
Liff
I'd love a go at Liff again in fact I'm feeling a little chelmsford at the very idea.
Liff
(plump) At least you aren't at Loggerheads (Staffs.) I like the idea of a new game of Liff. You could say I have some Wantage in that respect. (Bigsmith) The spelling is "Ais Gill" though your version may well be the original. Looks plausible. There's nothing there, of course, except an old railway signalbox at the top of a long gradient up from Appleby, and some good mountain scenery. (End anorak display).
Ais Gill
(Rosie) Perfectly right old chap, the old memory is failing me again (plus the fact I have spent some time recently around the Old Dungeon Ghyll in the Lake District!).
Delighted
Lif? 'tis done!
*waves*
For no particular reason.
New Systems
[Nik] Oo, that sounds fun! What kind of box is it?
Tidy. Need to think about something along those lines myself, since my nominated server machine is (1) relatively old, (2) occasionally failing to boot, and (3) loud (much quieter with a better fan, but still quite noticeable). But that's for some time in the future.
Bye
Well, maybe. The good wife has just left on her second five day break in order enjoy the campus of Kurri-Kurri. I shall now have to do all those things which I hate; like cooking my own meals, feeding the cats, grooming the cats, watering (well!) all her seedlings, doing the washing, vacuuming the carpet, cleaning the windows, making the bed, doing the washing, remembering to do things (and when) ... some women! How inconsiderate can one be?
Ooh!
[Nik] Newer version of MySQL sounds good, means I can hopefully remove some of the workarounds I currently have in place and make a more efficient/robust system.
[Dujon] I'd be tempted to say that you only need to do some of those activities once, just before she comes back. But then I'm a slob ...
Time for a change
On browsers that show link titles, you can now find the time/date of postings by creeping your nipple over the poster's name. Needless to say this is harder to do on Internet Explorer than it is on anything else...
dating
[rab]What is the problem with IE? is it something special you have to do with the script? I had no problem with IE6, the little hand showed the time and date (10.59pm Thu-15-Jul 2004). Perhaps its just the way I grease mt nipples...
[Blob] Rehearsals for a week in Kent. [Watty] Ooh! Thanks for that! Brill.
[Inkspot] Mt Nipples? Where is Mount Nipples? And why does it need greasing?
Ta!
[Brendan] Thank you, sir. I suppose I'd better feed the cats and myself and water the seedlings othewise my inattention might become obvious. The rest has been taken on board - why on Earth I didn't think of that I will never know. ;-)
Ooh nooh
[Inkspot] Nah, it's just I found with IE on the Mac I had to be much more fastidious with my nipple than on other browsers. Perhaps the PC version is more forgiving.
registering delight
Can I just say how delightful it is to play Codebreakers Crescent? Ay-thang-you
Shonagh Daly
And why not.
registering something
Following my remark last Friday [two up & thanx ZK] may I just say how delightfully chatty it is in here.
Usually.
Usually.
chat
Well, I've got bugger all to say, really, at the moment.
What's better than the weather? ... boring, sorry.
Still, after our 4.5mm of rain in June, we've had around 14mm this month. Spread over three days. None of this could have found its way into catchment areas, the ground is just too dry. Cool but not cold, overnight temps seemed to have been constantly around the 5°C to 7°C mark, so no frosts on my little castle. Today it's a bit warmer, 14°C as I type; the last three days managed a max of 12°C, which is 'proper' winter weather. What really bothers one is the fact that the coastal areas received significant amounts of precipitation, in the form of rain, but we - and hence the dams - did not.
out of my window
Dujon]The weather here just south of the M4 in Wiltshire, its been changeable, mostly overcast, occassional showers with sunny intervals. So for Tom's third bithday party on Friday, it started cloudy threatening rain, cleared up during the party only to have heavy showers late afternoon.
One of the things Mrs Inkspot does very well for the parties is the cakes, either shaped like a number or in this case on Friday, a chocolate covered train with three candles and cotton wool smoke coming out of the funnel. The cake caused great excitement at the table when after one the candles went out, in relighting it, the cotton wool caught fire ... the children laughed and enjoyed it.
Meanwhile looking out over the metropolis, the sky has turned blue, the sun is out; today is the last day of the summer school term.
One of the things Mrs Inkspot does very well for the parties is the cakes, either shaped like a number or in this case on Friday, a chocolate covered train with three candles and cotton wool smoke coming out of the funnel. The cake caused great excitement at the table when after one the candles went out, in relighting it, the cotton wool caught fire ... the children laughed and enjoyed it.
Meanwhile looking out over the metropolis, the sky has turned blue, the sun is out; today is the last day of the summer school term.
out of MY window
I have been watching a seagull's nest for a few weeks, and the chicks growing up. Suddenly, this morning, a flock of seagulls came over and made loads of noise, so when I looked out one chick was being dragged around by his neck! He managed to escape but was dragging his wing. A little later, someone else found it on the ground where it had fallen and put it into a box. We've called the RSPCA but they're taking ages to get here. In any case, I suppose they'll probably just put it down, even though it doesn't seem too badly injured. Oh, and the weather has been lovely and sunny and warm.
Gulls
Seagulls are the most evil creatures I have ever encountered and any form of natural selection that reduces the numbers of these buggers is A Very Good Thing in my opinion.
gulled
It's people's fault for leaving all their rubbish around - I still felt sorry for it being pecked to death. It would probably just be used to feed other baby gulls..
out of my winder
I usually have the blind semi-shut, but out of my window (and a little to the side) is the Grand Union Canal with overhanging trees, flowing greenery under the water and 'peeping' moorhen chicks which have been sounding like a creaking gate for weeks now. I guess they'll soon grow out of it. The water throws that lovely rippling reflection under the eaves of the building. In the midst of this benevolent calm, I'm grappling with organisng photos of a Motor Technician skills competition that they forgot to tell me about until it was almost too late...
Where I'm from there are millions of Herring Gulls and everyone without exception loathes them. Apart from me - I like them. They're big and white and always appear spotlessly clean, as if they've just been through a whites wash on 90C, even if they've actually just been rooting through your rubbish. And they look so nice flying about. I miss them living here in London - just boring little Black-Headed Gulls, which don't even have black heads.
Nope
[snorgle] I sympathise with that chap. We had a nesting pair on our roof once which, apart from other things, made going into the garden a total no-no.
One word
Airgun.
Another word
Alkaseltzer.
one word - euthanasia
RSPCA blokey turned up (very handsome aussie surfer type!) and it's wing was indeed broken. He advised that he'd take it to the vet, but it would be put down, because it's just too expensive to keep all the gull chicks they get in. He did say if it had been older and just sprained it's wing they would have kept it until it healed, but broken wings are just too complicated. It was very cute and fluffy up close!
Hummmmmmm
We get hummingbirds in our garden. We have a feeder hanging off the deck, and these bizarre little birdies buzz up to it, flapping their wings like crazy, and suck all the lovely sugar water up. They just don't look real - they're the closest thing to a CGI bird that I can imagine, because they move so suddenly that they seem to travel from place to place by teleportation. And they make this ultrasonic chirping noise.
Weird things.
Apart from that, the only wildlife I usually see close up is dead squirrels on the road. Very colourful, especially if freshly flattened, but hardly pleasant to run past.
Worse than gulls
I REALLY hate pigeons. They are just parasitic, and fat, and nasty. Apologies to any posters here who happen to be pigeons.
Pigeons
In France, so I'm told, pigeon is regarded as a delicacy, particularly amongst foodies, i.e. most of the French, and not to do so is regarded as almost blasphemous. Hence the following Limérique:
Il y avait un jeune homme de Dijon
qui n'avait que peu de religion
Il dit, "quant à moi,
je deteste tous les trois,
Le Père, Le Fils et le pigeon".
Kazoo-ing
[Dunx] Aren't they fantastic! I don't think we have humming birds in this neck of the woods but we do have honeyeaters. They appear to have similar characteristics. Heaven only knows how fast those little wings beat, but they are nearly invisible such is the rapidity. Their spatial control is unbelievable - as you say - one moment they are there and next moment they are gone and probing their long, thin, curved beaks into a flower a foot or so away. Quite magnificent little beasties.
[penelope} That sounds rather idyllic.
[seagulls] I've always liked the little scavengers; I love the sound of them wheeling around the coast. Then again, I've never had to live with them as I've never had the pleasure of living that close to the sea.
[pigeons] The most rapid method of making a new sculpture look old.
[penelope} That sounds rather idyllic.
[seagulls] I've always liked the little scavengers; I love the sound of them wheeling around the coast. Then again, I've never had to live with them as I've never had the pleasure of living that close to the sea.
[pigeons] The most rapid method of making a new sculpture look old.
Outbreaks of excessive whiteness.
Can you go blind from watching the BBC1 weather forecast at 10:30pm? I almost did last night. The weather lady was wearing a jacket that wasn't just white, it was whiter than white. So white it made me go "argh!" and throw my hands in front of my eyes. Pearing through my fingers I swear that it was so white it was casting shadows. Surely we should be warned prior to the start of the broadcast that sunglasses should be donned before watching the following weather bulletin. BTW, I've no idea what the weather is going to do today, but it doesn't look too bright.
pigeons
Must be an acquired taste. I tried some, but it was much too strong for my palate. The meat's almost chocolate coloured. Give me some nice crispy duck any day! Speaking of which, staying on a boat on the Broads this year, and woke up at 6am to see a duck staring in through the window!
Broads Minded
[Angus] Last time I was on the Broads, it was surprising if a duck wasn't staring through the window!
On a previous visit, I remember the swans were particularly importunate - they'd see people moving around on the boat, and then come and peck on the hull!
Swans
Well that's another matter! I swear one followed us from Norwich down as far as Beccles - and back again! He knew I was a soft touch unfortunately - I'm a sucker for a pretty face...
The Furcation Game
That slow-moving behemothis about to consume my life again... Before I devote all free time to it, is there anyone out there already concocting a move? Speak now or forever hold your peace.
Guessing
[Tuj] Be my guest...
Sacha
I was saddened to hear this morning that Sacha Distel passed away yesterday. To be honest I hadn't realised that he was 71 nor that he had been ill. Whilst not a fan of his (although some of his 'crooning' was enjoyable) I did appreciate some of his guitar work.
celeb-gloat
woohoo - No. 1 in League! And so easily achieved by leaving my paltry sum on BB5's Ahmed, so he ended up serving some purpose after all.
young whipper snapper
congtrats to x_sugarbabe_x and to Chalky in third place. This follows on from Dujon last week; I'll have to crank up moreteaplease (but about to be kneecapped). Monday will be too late to buy into for James Hewitt who according to JJ's Dividends has a potential of £10 per share!! and at only £2.60.
Shell the manipulative tart has schemed on the wedding night and now Victor has left the House, it should have been Jason out tonight *must remember its just a game*
Shell the manipulative tart has schemed on the wedding night and now Victor has left the House, it should have been Jason out tonight *must remember its just a game*
Blushes
Thanks for the recognition, Inkspot. Congrats to those who, after me sitting in No 1 all week, grabbed a big dividend and pushed me down (way, way down) on the table of achievement. Watch out this week, children! ;-)
*breaks three-day silence in the chat game with a loud fart*
*sprays air freshener*.
Just popped in to say I've been a bit poorly but now I'm better :-)
Just popped in to say I've been a bit poorly but now I'm better :-)
Oh! are you alright chicken?
Cooped up
[Michelle] I have just pandered to one of my inner demons, by ringing telephone number 09011 21 44 07 and voting for you to be evicted; a peace of mind for 25p. Its time you were released from the Big Brother House.
Indeed
Yip. She has to go.
last day at work..
Yay! I'm going to try to do NO work at all today, if possible.
shoulder to the wheel
[snorgle] Are you going on hols, or off to greener pastures?
Hummingbirds
I had a dream I was a hummingbird once. Most wonderful dream. I must say though that the expression "flapping their wings like crazy" doesn't really sum up the sight and feel of a hummingbird. It implies effort and although I have only seen them once (in carib..) they looked effortless. Beautiful - and I see what you mean about the CGI....
job
I'm starting a new job on Monday, and I'm on strike for the next couple of days. In fact, this morning a member of staff asked if my friend (who sits by me,and is a smoker) had a lighter, and a blokie said he needed it to set fire to the computer room. We laughed, and she gave him a lighter. 15 mins later and the phones went down. Apparently he was an engineer who needed to do something to the wires. I'm not even logged in now, so I don't really care! Yay!
Apologies for cross-posting: I'm off on my hols, so have fun, and I'll catch up with everyone when I get back on 10/08.
Hey UK - have a great time! I'm off in a couple of weeks. Camping. If it rains we'll be playing a lot of 'Carrot'.
campanology
[Btd] Another good one is 'Beers A-to-Z' although I don't expect the girls will be quite up to speed on that. 'Vegetable A-to-Z' might be a good alternative.
Amusing oneself in the rain
I've always found "Rude Bodypart Euphemism A-to-Z" quite entertaining. All together now - "Arse, Boobs, Crack etc. etc."
Re: Hummingbirds
Hummingbird barney, this morning - one hummer was feeding and buzzing the breakfast table, then another one came along and drove the first one away! High pitched squeaky noises aplenty. Then a few minutes later the first one came back. They look to be male and female of the same species, so we're wondering if driving each other away is hummingbird for "Get your coat love, you've pulled."
kacaknet
hoþgeldiniz
kacaknet@mynet.com
hoþgeldiniz
Astonishment
I am astonished that this play has gone unchallenged for so long...
[kacak] SPONG!!!
[kacak] SPONG!!!
aha!
I raise you that SPONG!!! and counter with a vehement and thrusting FNOOOOOOOOONGA!!!
Wabam!
poo
KICKING!
more again
Whilst it is a bit quiet in here this Sunday, break out a tinny and bottoms up to Dujon forhanging onto the top of Celebrity Mornington Crescent for a second consecutive week and keeping blamelewis and DrQ at bay.
A novel way to save the NHS...
Whilst meandering around work today i found this memo, and it made me giggle for hours.... ' Dear Colleagues, As you are aware from the letter recently sent to you from xxxx xxxx Director of Nursing, we propose to discharge all patients to Nursing Homes between 10am and 11am each morning.'..... Discharging all patients is certain to solve every bed crisis!
Is that to be the foundation upon which Labour build up to the new ellection?
Followed by the proposal of regular drenchings to aid the fire service, shooting children to bypass education failures, and then arresting everybody in case they commit crime?
Wishes
[Inkspot] Much as I would like to claim consecutive terms of leadership I think you will find that x-sugarbabe-x gave me the proverbial hiding last week. I'm about to be kneecapped so have done sweet nothing. *sinks to the wooden spoon position*
Correction
This week is 'this week' last week was 'last week'. So, yes (gloats), creamed you lot 'last week' but x-sugarbabe-x (aka Chalky) still gave us all a lesson the previous term.
Sorry I spoke.
Hogging the game
I just heard one of the funniest things that I have heard in my many years as a radio amateur. A gentleman (south of Canada and north of Mexico) whose country of origin shall remain secret was just talking to a local Australian 'ham' and was trying to work out the time difference; he was quite sure that Australia was twenty seven hours ahead of his own time zone.
Shhh
[Dujon] Everyone's asleep.
[Dujon] Excellent stuff! I'm off to a country in the region indicated tomorrow so I hope to return with many amusing tales of foolishness. Almost certainly mine, but there you go.
[Breadmaster] Have a safe trip, sir. I wasn't having a go at American citizens, I talk to many such. As it was latish night at his place at the time I suspect he'd had a hard day and was simply tired - or something. It was still funny though.
Badgers - out of their misery
It may just be the summer season, but I was surprised that never really got going. I would start a nasty game of Acre Street, as I read that archive recently and oddly felt compelled... But we've got The Furcation Game already, and that needs a good jump start too. As soon as I get a bit of time on my hands why is this the sort of thing I want to waste it on?
And yes
...that was a non sequitur 'cause I'm not a Big Brother fan and I'm too lazy to go Celebdaqing more than half-heartedly!
No Pruning Shears Here
[Tuj] Re: choice of time wasting - because it's fun? I know that's why I keep coming back.
Has there been a game of MC played entirely in Haiku form?
[Boolbar] Not entirely sure, although I once did have a Lock Cup qualifying match against Catherine where all *comments* were to be made in Haiku form, but the move was not included in this (as according to the standard format of separating move from comment, as practiced on PantsMC).
Psycho Haiku
During my last move for The Furcation Move, Furcation O was a new haiku variation. The initial letters of the haiku formed the first line of a new haiku, so "The old writings read / In there ev'ry ancient hai / And its ku under", as well as being a (slightly odd) haiku, forms the first line "To write a haiku" with it's first letters. I can't remember quite why I came up with it, though it does remind of some very difficult limerick game we had once at !York...
Fractal Haiku
It would be very impressive if the new haiku so formed also had the property that its first letters formed the first line of another haiku. And so on.
But shall we play the
game of Mornington Crescent
in haiku form first?
waves goodbye*
See yas all in September :-)
See yas all in September :-)
come n sign my guest book pretty please........
Weird commnets will get extra kudos in the next sphere of life or a free cup of tea on Edgware Rd!!! http://www.papalazarus.com/page4.html
cheerios
[Chalky] Have a good hols, this could be the chance I need to get back on top of Celebrity MC *looks down at diary and curses, holiday to France imminent*. Would anyone be able to send me the Friday league web pages for 20 and 27 August? A link will follow tomorrow, but in the meantime congrats to gil (sigmundfreud).
more me again
Barging in with the link as promised, and now back to Kingdom Hospital.
three in a bed
I would normally avoid Haiku. If I break the rules of the format, tap me on the shoulder.
[Inkspot] Surely you mean...
I avoid Haikus.
If I break the format's rules,
tap on my shoulder.
And there you have the same sentiment but in the right number of lines and syllables (5-7-5)...
one or two
It is the syllables I have the problem with. Normally with each player contributing a single line, errors can jar. But by doing all three lines this will be good practice. When I wrote the second line I agonised over Amer-sham and Am-er-sham, coming down on the former, influneced by the move earlier by Dunx where to me I sounded 8 but was accepted as 7
With(1) West(2) Ruis(-?)lip(3/4); puts(4/5) me(5/6) in(6/7) spoon(7/8)
I have invited critisism of my play as my da-dee-da-dee-da seems to be a bit la la at times, but I do intend to nail this format; hopefully before the game ends ;)
With(1) West(2) Ruis(-?)lip(3/4); puts(4/5) me(5/6) in(6/7) spoon(7/8)
I have invited critisism of my play as my da-dee-da-dee-da seems to be a bit la la at times, but I do intend to nail this format; hopefully before the game ends ;)
As some of you know I enjoy football. This little gem appeared on the official web site of the club I follow:
"In excess of 19,000 season tickets have been sold as ******** gear up for their fourth consecutive season in the top flight, which is more than at the same stage last season."
Is this stating the bleeding obvious or am I misreading it?
Sneaking back in...
Just back from a very enjoyable week in North Wales. I'll have to go tidy up my badgers that are still roaming the tunnels...
[Inkspot] Ruislip is TWO syllables, Amersham is THREE. Unless you're going by some definition of "syllable" of which the rest of us are unaware.
19,000 season tickets
Dujon] I read that about four times, but now I get it! The clause beginning 'which' is a bit ambiguous, I suppose.
Celebdaq
[Inkspot] Looking at the 'daq today, it seems that I now have the facility to add members to Celebrity MC. Would you (or anyone else, for that matter) have any objections if I add in my other two personas?
whiching...
[Dujon, Tuj] I read it first time as I think it was intended... but I reckon the problem is that the 'which' is too far removed from the subject to which it refers... so it looks like it refers to the fourth season, but in fact it refers to the 19,000 season tickets.
more!
[Uncle Korky]Please add them to the League, we need to do something about the recent run of good luck by Dujon, you could even be onto a winner with Doris this week. According to JJ's Projected Dividends it will be close between Nadia and Sven on the divi's payout.
En route
[Inkspot] Stand by for appearances by Mavic_Chen and Johnny_McDozenlegs!
Syllabarial Variations
[Inkspot] It might be a pronunciation thing: "Ruislip" is pronounced "rye slip" rather than "roo-ey slip"; "Amersham" is always "Am-er-sham".
seven eighths
So the line does have eight syllable thingys With(1) West(2) Rui(3)slip(4); puts(5) me(6) in(7) spoon(8) and yes fair cop on Amersham, from such a low base, I can only but improve....moving swiftly along; [Uncle Korky]I love the names Mavic_Chen and Johnny_McDozenlegs ;P
They should be with us tomorrow.
They should be with us tomorrow.
Apology
[Inkspot] You're quite right. Sorry.
[Haikuen] Apparently I can't count syllables at all.
Orangeless
As I write this, Orange MC is unavailable while its host server reboots. This would normally be a quick thing, but the host server has been up for a long time prior to this and so it went into an fsck cycle. Should be back soon.
Bouncer on the door
[Uncle Korky] The accounts are yet to appear, if they need some extra persuasion either leave the details here or here: gareth underscore penn athotmaildotcom.
I know the bouncer!
[Inkspot] The particular bouncer is my corporate firewall, which won't let me access Celebdaq between 8.30am and 12.00 midday, and then between 2.00pm and 5.30pm. So, the first chance I'll have to insert 'em is lunchtime today.
recording! ding! ding! ding!
Dear I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue emailing list member, This is to let you know of the first recording date in the Autumn series of 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue'.
The recording will take place at the Anvil Theatre in Basingstoke on the evening of Sunday 19th September. The doors open at 7pm and the recording starts at 7.30pm Ticket prices are £12.50, £10, £8.50, £7 and £5. The number for the Anvil Theatre's box office is 01256 844244.
You will need to book early as these shows seem to get more popular with every passing year. However, if you are unlucky or Basingstoke is too far for you to travel, we do have two other recording dates, one in mid October in the North of England and the other in the South in early December. The venues have not yet been confirmed - we hope to be able to send you details of these in the next couple of weeks.
The recording will take place at the Anvil Theatre in Basingstoke on the evening of Sunday 19th September. The doors open at 7pm and the recording starts at 7.30pm Ticket prices are £12.50, £10, £8.50, £7 and £5. The number for the Anvil Theatre's box office is 01256 844244.
You will need to book early as these shows seem to get more popular with every passing year. However, if you are unlucky or Basingstoke is too far for you to travel, we do have two other recording dates, one in mid October in the North of England and the other in the South in early December. The venues have not yet been confirmed - we hope to be able to send you details of these in the next couple of weeks.
Me name's not down...
[Inkspot] I tried to add 'em in, but I'm not sure it worked. In case it hasn't, Mavic_Chen is 3402569 and Johnny_McDozenlegs is 3411069. Glad you like the names!
Red carpet
[Uncle Korky] Mavic_Chen and Johnny_McDozenlegs have entered at numbers 10 and 12, respectively. Good luck!
!
Cornwall and campsite here I come!!! See ya all in 2 weeks!
dieng of a trojan
I look up a randomn seach on trojan horse Nex.b virus and this site came up because someone had been talking about it. How did yu get rid of it
Gifts from Greece
[Malkie] That was me from a posting I made in April this year. AVG a free anti virus software found it and deleted it. As a matter of course, the system is automatically updated every two weeks. A full scan is carried every couple of days (which for 12Gb takes about 20 minutes).
Celebdaq
Oof!
[Bob] If the weather's anything like it is in Manchester at the moment you're going to have a soggy time! I'm sure the kids will love it.
Notlob
[Dujon] Congratulations, another fine win.
I see the Premiership starts tomorrow. My fingers are crossed that you have a better start to the season this year against Charlton than last years 4-0 drubbing by Man Utd.
I see the Premiership starts tomorrow. My fingers are crossed that you have a better start to the season this year against Charlton than last years 4-0 drubbing by Man Utd.
We're in!
[Inkspot] Cheers!
Arrivaderci
Inkspot] Pah, Some of us started last week, in the "Coca-Cola Championship". Playing Derby tomorrow, the glamour...
In other news, I'm orf to Italy for a fortnight. Take care all, have fun.
In other news, I'm orf to Italy for a fortnight. Take care all, have fun.
[Inkspot] 1) Ta! 2) So do I. :-(
[Tuj] Good luck, safe travel. I hope the weather's good to you.
[Tuj] Good luck, safe travel. I hope the weather's good to you.
news from the Fringe
Ahh, the joys of internet cafés in Edinburgh! My poor friend/stage manager drove us all the way up to Edinburgh on Friday/yesterday, starting from Kent and overnighting in Birmingham (waking up at 6 when you went to bed at five....fun!) And try parking in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival! Let's not go into that. Show starts tomorrow (Archer's Goon...wearing my lovely t-shirt as I speak) and hopefully it should be good, cos on the last rehearsal day (Friday...arrived in Kent previous Friday for a week of intensive rehearsal...and I mean intensive....it was my birthday last Thursday [thanks for my greetings Angus! :)] and the celebrations went out of the window because we were working all day until we finished our run through at about 1 in the morning) our director said....right....we run over by about an hour and a half...and slashed all the bits out of the play they felt were unnecessary and got it down to about an hour and 30 from 2 hours 45! I now affectionately refer to it as Archer's Goon on acid. It's still really good though. If you can come and see it, please do! Money running out...bip...bip....bip...
Archer
[Zk] Wish I could be there to cheer you on, and I would definitely have enjoyed the show, but sadly, too many hundreds of miles away. Break lots of legs (well, as many as are available)! And let me know if you tour it in the SE.
[Inkspot] Whilst I expect to do poorly I've signed up on Sportsdaq. If you are going to run a league feel free to add me; details are as for Celebdaq.
daqing
I've gotten quite bored with the daq - mind you, I'm much busier in my new job - just starting my 3rd week! The only reason I'm here now is because my line manager and several other team members are off today, and I don't really have anything to do until a meeting at 1pm.
Embra
[ZK] Good luck, and good job I didn't try hunting your show down when I was in Edinburgh last weekend (officially the first proper day of the Fringe). I should be in situ for the whole three weeks next year, but I guess that's not much help. Oh, and someone walks past you very quickly with hands in pockets, do not, under any circumstances even attempt to give them a flyer. They're probably a local who's realised they're at the wrong end of the Royal Mile...
... IF someone ...
On me 'ead!
[Inkspot / Dujon] I've succumbed too... if there's no mini-league yet, I'd be happy to start one (although I'm not sure how to produce those snazzy weekly speadsheets, etc...).
C in C
[UK] Fine by me. I'd volunteer but I already spend too much time on this infernal machine; I run my own (basic) football site and co-manage a couple of others related to installation and maintenance a particular type of 'forum' site software.
Golden gongs for Aussies
[Dujon/Uncle Korky] Although I have created a mini-league I am going to see how things pan out, to see how well it keeps my interest (the id numbers are different to Celebdaq, for Sportsdaq it is 358). Celebdaq can be hard enough to sustain, with the constant round of kneecapping. But I did have a £5,000 bonus today for backing the winner of the Grand Prix which gave a little sparkle to the game, but had not a clue as to where to reinvest the money. I have my fingers crossed that the comprhensive coverage in the broadsheets will counter the football (ie the big four) obsession of the tabloids. Even if Britain were to win gold tomorrow it would be overshadowed by the ManU/Chesea rumour mill.
I gave a small cheer fo Austrailia this evening after Ian Thorpe beat Pieter van den Hoogenband claim gold in the 200m freestyle final. This is because I have been fed up with Sue Barker et al beating the drum for the American Michael Phelps and his attempt at 8 golds, and ignoring Thorpe. How will they square the circle now?
Also some of the mens gymnastics, I find it incredible what those guys do on the rings, parallel bars and other parts of the rotation.
This will be the last League for two weeks (would you be able to send the the Friday results on to me "Tools - Mail and News - Send Page")
I gave a small cheer fo Austrailia this evening after Ian Thorpe beat Pieter van den Hoogenband claim gold in the 200m freestyle final. This is because I have been fed up with Sue Barker et al beating the drum for the American Michael Phelps and his attempt at 8 golds, and ignoring Thorpe. How will they square the circle now?
Also some of the mens gymnastics, I find it incredible what those guys do on the rings, parallel bars and other parts of the rotation.
This will be the last League for two weeks (would you be able to send the the Friday results on to me "Tools - Mail and News - Send Page")
[snorgle]Although the new job is busier, good luck, does this mean you are no longer a public servant?
Strylan limpians
Ruddy 'eck, Inkspot. You reckon Sue Barker's a bit one-eyed! You should see (though best you don't) the press down here. If you thought David Beckham's foot got too much coverage you ought to see what's been happening here regarding Jana Pittman's (sp?) knee! Fair dinkum. A young lass in the Aussie gymnastic team had to come home because of a calf tear and the only coverage I saw was a short mention that she was back in Oz! I suppose they - the press - had to find a replacement for Cathy Freeman. *sighs* As you have undoubtedly noticed Australia is extremely weak in what is termed 'Track and Field'. In fact they are hopeless - at least in the greater scheme of things.
How would you like the Celebdaq chart captured? I can easily just save the whole kit and caboodle via the 'view source' or any part of it I suppose. An image is a bit big. Let me know and it shall be done. The only other question is when? I am usually around the computer just as the dividends are distributed - is that what you're after?
How would you like the Celebdaq chart captured? I can easily just save the whole kit and caboodle via the 'view source' or any part of it I suppose. An image is a bit big. Let me know and it shall be done. The only other question is when? I am usually around the computer just as the dividends are distributed - is that what you're after?
Hrmph!
Right, I've just read your posting. Now I only need the timing and where to send it. I'm assuming it's gareth_penn (insert an at symbol) supanet dot charlie oscar mike.
what sports?
[Inkspot] I appear to have watched the same series of events you did, albeit commentated in French, which was both odd and a relief (see Dujon's comment). The vaulting 'horse' appears to have mutated since a couple of years ago. Weird shape.
Merkin Commentary
[Phelpsness] Golly, if you think Sue Barker's bad, try watching NBC! Ghastly. It's like there are no other athletes except Americans in the races. And watching the gymnastics last night, the only team that got decent coverage was the US. Fair enough up to a point given that the Americans were in with a shout, but they showed hardly any of the winning Japanese until the last bit where the Japanese actually secured their victory.
Is the BBC any better? Well no, not as far as mindless jingoism goes, but at least they aren't filling half their broadcast time with adverts so there is more space to show other competitors.
Question: is the BBC showing any fencing? I was hoping to see some of it, but it's only on cable here which we do not have, and there is no streaming video to speak of here either.
serving the public
[Inkspot] I'm still a civil(ish) servant - now working in the WAG - Welsh Assembly Government. I'm in a Programme Management Office - and am also managing risk. ***shrugs***
[snorgle] Don't let my father here you say you work for the Welsh Assembly, I will occassionally when we visit; it's light the blue touch paper and watch the fireworks. Last weekend I did it with hospital waiting lists and the new debating chamber.
[Dunx] They only showed the fencing during the morning update, but very much blink and you miss it. They did include an interview with the coach and the unfortunate woman who lost in the sabre.
Today they have shown the rowing and cross country horse riding. This evening being given over to the womens gymnastics; I managed to catch up on the ironing while watching CSI and CSI:Miami. Has the beach volleyball been on yet?
[Dujon] Yes that's me, please send them anytime on Friday after the div's have been paid. I will do the tables whe I return. Much appreciated.
[Dunx] They only showed the fencing during the morning update, but very much blink and you miss it. They did include an interview with the coach and the unfortunate woman who lost in the sabre.
Today they have shown the rowing and cross country horse riding. This evening being given over to the womens gymnastics; I managed to catch up on the ironing while watching CSI and CSI:Miami. Has the beach volleyball been on yet?
[Dujon] Yes that's me, please send them anytime on Friday after the div's have been paid. I will do the tables whe I return. Much appreciated.
[Inkspot] It shall be done.
WAG
(snorgle) My niece works for the Wales Rural Observatory Project, whose data apparently lands up in the WAG. She showed me her Master's and PhD theses; I couldn't understand a word, mainly because of the jargon. I couldn't say anything of course, because she's fond of her Uncle T, as I am of her. :-)
WROP
What an intriguing name. Do they sit on top of Mt.Snowdon watching Mrs.Trellis through a telescope?
WROP - CAMREC
I wonder if there are any links between the two? Could she have stumbled upon an insidious plot to subvert this doyenne of MC through devolutionary subterfuge? Or are these just the ramblings of a demented conspiracy theorist?
Surveillance
[Dujon] No sign of Mrs Trellis from the summit of Snowdon, as my photo's from Monday 02/08 testify...
61 going on 16
I'm in a state of shock! Last night my Mum revealed that she's going speed dating tonight! At first I thought she was trying to come out to me (and that would have been even more of a shock) but then it became apparant that she's going to meet lots of men! I didn't realise that speed dating had reached sleepy Shropshire, and nor did I know that there were special night for the over 50s. Anyone out there been speed dating?......
skimpy Speedos
[Lib[ I'd be interested to know how she gets on... I'm considering it myself!
[Lib] Yes - my brother!
WROP
(Dujon, LotUS, Uncle K) It's a sociological and economic survey. As for Mrs Trellis, I would have thought she lived in somewhere like Llandudno or Colwyn Bay, rather than out in the country.
Pete Strange
Humph's trombonist and arranger, Pete Strange, has died aged 65. I knew him a little. He was a tubby aimiable boozy little fellow and a very good player. There's a big obituary in today's Grauniad.
It's a bit moist out.
Trellis
[Rosie] As I mentioned on Orange when I got back from holiday, I did observe Trellis in the village of Corris.
Fenced
[Inkspot] Yes, there was a very brief bit of fencing on last night, which I assume they showed because an American won gold in it. It was nice to see, actually, although I would have liked to have the whole bout rather than the edited highlights (I mean, each point only takes a few seconds - could they not have spared a couple of minutes more?) if only because then I could have figured out the science fiction costumes a bit better. But, slight point of pride here: the winner comes from Beaverton, OR just down the road from where we live.
There's been beach volleyball on, although curiously only the women.
Mrs Trellis
(Uncle K) Surely actually seeing Mrs Trellis is the equivalent of unearthing the MC Rulebook.
Strange Pete
rosie] I hope you have played a few slow new orleans funereal bars in his honour ?
Pete
I was amazed recently to learn that Humph is generally credited with the first ever British blues record (Bad Penny Blues) - although as I type this it suddenly occurs to me that I'm sure I know of a British cover of My Man Of War from the early 1940s, so perhaps it's not an entirely accurate credit. But it was great. I suspect that Pete would have been too young to have played on it, though.
Pete's age
Yup, if he died this week aged 65, then in the 40s he was only just old enough to smoke ;o)
Not so fast
[pen] The speed dating has stalled, postponed till next week. [rab] So, how did your brother get on?
Strange Pete
(st d) He had a female friend, a singer, (not a girlfriend) who gave him a lift to the pub where he played in Carshalton every now and then. She always called him Strange Pete but it was friendly. He didn't play New Orleans style, more of a mainstream player. He was always very friendly and slightly tipsy, enough so after one gig to let me have a little tootle on his brand new horn, of which he was very proud. With an instrument like that I could be quite good. Mm . . maybe. I'll miss his cheerful face, to say nothing of his playing.
boom-tish.
Rosie] are you telling me you blew his horn ?!? (oblig.)
ow.
[st d]Thank you for that disturbing mental image. thpppppppttt!!!
fenced in
[Dunx] there was a lot of fencing shown here on French TV earlier in the week (sorry, have been too busy to say till now). The French were doing well in a couple of events at the time, funnily enough.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Hmm, quiet in here, innit? Has anyone else read A Gathering Light? I just started it as I'm supposed to be going to a book club on Wed. I actually have found it somewhat annoying so far, but I've only read a couple of chapters. Hopefully it gets better.
Why is it I have a cold any time I come back from anywhere interesting? Foreign germs I guess...or maybe because it rained in Rome and Edinburgh only when I chose to step outside the door....well, either way it sucks! :( Reviews for our show were initially shocking! But then, they went on the first night, and going by the standards of the first night I personally think they were being very kind. (No tech & no dress rehearsals in-venue, the in-house techies buggered up all the lighting & sound, which is sort of integral really, and everyone else forgot their lines. We had to cut bits as we went along because we were so behind time - I'm not surprised they didn't like or follow it cos I couldn't either and I was on stage!) But as of Tuesday we were on fire and the people sensible enough to come after that liked us - we had 30 people in on Wednesday, which was our best night by far! Hooray! I think they said we had 120 or something during the week, which by Fringe standards isn't bad, and Fest magazine (http://www.festonline.co.uk/review.php?id=303) gave us 3 stars, which is more than they gave Ed Byrne, and recognised the genius that is my friend Brad. So, as the director's dad said when he was taking all our cast photos...."bugger The Scotsman!" :)
Although, in hindsight, we were in Scotland at the time so I hope not too many people heard us! :)
bravo
sounds like you had a good time all in all ZK. So do you have the festival bug then ?
I can't seem to play any of the games in here at the moment. *whimper*
Festen
Ah, good old Fest. The deputy editor's a friend of mine, so thank your lucky stars ZK you weren't rude about it!
[svitc] Because they're too hard, or technical problems with posting.
D'oh.
I just don't have any inspiration/wit/wisdom, nothing technical.
[small] Fear ye not, I haven't played any of the games for about 2 months. No-one seems to have noticed! :)
[ZK] Do not think yourself ignored - you said where you going, so notice would have been redundant.
Glad you're back though.
How can anything be redundant when it wasn't dundant in the first place?
I must object. I have, on occasion, been dundant. [Dunx] Thankyou, although I just meant that the only game I'd been on in ages was this one, as my humble brain has burn-out and can't cope with the other ones :)
[ZK] Well, not at all a bad notice from Fest, who even note your youth, although whether that's good or bad is perhaps moot. Very good to see you back though.
Wish we were there
Had a postcard from Bob the Dog and family yesterday (who if you remember have gone to Cornwall for a holiday). The postcard had the simple message, "WET!".
"Carrot!"
Clearly monolexemia runs in the family.
[Projoy] When do you want that Dracula vid back btw?
Drac
I have some DVDs in now, so you could swap it for one of those if you like.
Slottage
On the grounds that a new game slot has been left open for days, I've dropped the game limit to 10, which is any case is a nicer number than 11.
10/11
That's a pretty sweeping statement rab. Would you care to back that up or are you just going to go around willy-nilly declaring some numbers to be more nice than others ? I think we should be told. It's a slippery slope you know. First its "oh 10 is nicer than 11" next thing you know its 4am and the police have smashed in your front door and you are in teh back of a lorry with a sack over your head being shouted at in Welsh.......
Re: shouted at in Welsh - I think I just was :)
That said, the number 11 sends shivers down my spin on account of its being the typical size of a group of butch ladies brandishing hard sticks.
rab] and what is wrong with dutch ladies ?
11 game slots? It's ridiculous. It's not even funny.
Numerologically, 11 is a much better number than 10.
... and 11 is the number of TimTams in a packet...
No, 11 may have a certain richness compared to ten, but is horrible as it is nearly 12 but not quite, and 12 is the best number. It is also the number of Apostles left after Judas quit (despite 1 Cor 15:5). And it's a prime number, which is bad. Ten is more satisfying all around.
Yes, but asserting the supremacy of 10 is to glorify the Western decimal system of counting over other, equally valid, numerical systems from other cultures, which have been marginalised by the patriarchal hegemony of the Western attitudes to number, particular the oppressive and unholistic notion of the integer. You might as well stage a Nazi revolution, frankly, as say 10 is good. I favour the number bleen, which in Afro-Sino-Mesoamerican cultures, represents, of course, the number that is blue.
I vote that we
all change to hexadecimal. I like letters.
Why Stop At Sixteen?
Let's use base 36! It would use the entire Latin alphabet, and would have many opf the advantages of base 12 (ie lots of easy to use fractions). And numbers would be shorter to write down, so we would save on ink and paper.
The real reason...
The best bit about base 36 is that I would be 11 again... although, being 25 in hex sounds quite promising too.
Base 60
For superhumans, Heinlein ("Gulf") suggested that base 60 would be suitable. With the 60 digits also doing duty to represent the 60 phonemes of a new language, there would be 216,000 words of just three letters, most of them monosyllabic. With the speed of speech and thought this would make available, effective lifespan would be extended by many times.
All your base..
That sounds exciting - it would certainly make life easier for rappers and poets..
TenTams
[Flerdle] 11 TimTams to a packet? The only packet I ever see has a hole in the cellophane and only 10 in it. BTW, The National TimTam vault is now replenished. They're back in the country.
[Raak] Are there 60 phonemes which the human voice can produce? I thought there were far fewer. (And I wrote a speech synth once, if that gives me any credibility, which I doubt!)
[Darren] Many more than that, if you add up the inventories of all human languages. Of course, you might have to be a superhuman to reliably distinguish them all. English has between 34 and 50, depending on how you count them.
Back to earth
[Raak] ...or in what base... ;)
I just came back from Tuscany today, a land where I was rained upon for about 45 minutes out of 2 weeks... to a land where it's been the wettest August since 1912, I heard. Ah, good old Blighty.
On another note, I see there are less games available now - is this an EU law, or a gesture against empathy?
I just came back from Tuscany today, a land where I was rained upon for about 45 minutes out of 2 weeks... to a land where it's been the wettest August since 1912, I heard. Ah, good old Blighty.
On another note, I see there are less games available now - is this an EU law, or a gesture against empathy?
grrrr....
[Tuj] I don't know that they are less, but there are certainly fewer of them :-)
Less fewers
Watty] I am a pedant myself, and it doesn't really bother me about less or fewer. Now I look at it, it's slightly ugly... but what makes me reach for the chainsaw is comma splicing (nnng!).
On a lighter note, why are there fewer? If people come up with more games, or ones with prizes / cash incentives, can there be more (or manyer?;) again?
Oh, and no I don't actually have a chainsaw.
On a lighter note, why are there fewer? If people come up with more games, or ones with prizes / cash incentives, can there be more (or manyer?;) again?
Oh, and no I don't actually have a chainsaw.
[Tuj] How about a hedge trimmer?
What it comes down to is that "less" applies to continuous quantities, where "fewer" applies to discrete quantities. So you have less water but fewer glasses. "More" applies to both, just because English is such a wonderfully rich and evocative language (which is more agreeable than saying it is an inconsistent mongrel of a language).
Less bollocks - fewer bollocks
(Dunx) Dead right; you tell 'em. (the second phrase should be delivered in an aggressive N. Ireland accent). There are other pairs of words that have this distinction, eg "so much" and "so many". So much bollocks (speech by Blair), or so many bollocks (field full of bulls).
*sniggers and tries to imagine what Tuj would look like in motorbike leathers weilding a chainsaw, chased by a herd of curious and galloping bullocks. Struggles to picture Tuj at all, but the galloping bullocks are particularly vivid.*
*Enters arena wearing wet suit and bent tent pole chased by herd of curious and galloping Piskys*
Back from hols and I'm moist. "You'll love camping" I said to NotmrsBobthedog. "The weather is always good in Cornwall this time of year". As we dismantled the tent in a gale with rain heavier than I've ever ever seen it I reconsidered my enthusiasm for fresh air and natural elements.
Post script
Two days after we returned home I asked Notmrs if she'd like to go camping again next year. She said yes. We are planning to go to Scotland. I wonder if she is seeking revenge?
Back from hols and I'm moist. "You'll love camping" I said to NotmrsBobthedog. "The weather is always good in Cornwall this time of year". As we dismantled the tent in a gale with rain heavier than I've ever ever seen it I reconsidered my enthusiasm for fresh air and natural elements.
Post script
Two days after we returned home I asked Notmrs if she'd like to go camping again next year. She said yes. We are planning to go to Scotland. I wonder if she is seeking revenge?
Sunken Kernow
Btd] You weren't near Boscastle at all, were you...?
Bosrubble
I was about 70 miles from Boscastle (near Lands End) on the day of the flood. Oddly enough that day we had very bright sunshine (the best we had for the whole fortnight). We spent the day on a beach. We have a friend in Sennen Cove who told us that during the day 30 cars and two houses had been washed away in Boscastle - but we didn't know whether to believe him due to the as the Cornish habit of telling tall stories - especially to gullible emmets like us. It was after that day that the weather got worse. It was not all bad but we has the tail end of three hurricanes and at least one gale. We didn't get much sleep.
Free Cornish pasty to whoever spots the superfluous "as the" in the above. Pasty may be slightly damp - no refunds or cash equivalent.
does anyone know " which band claims one of their dads was a pirate?" any help would be greatfully recieved
Bob the dog] Between "the" and "Cornish", in line 4. Do you want to give it to me in person or by post? ;)
pen] Ah yes, for I am a mysterious shady figure... (oh, and I don't have any motorbike leathers actually... there is a hedge trimmer in the shed somewhere though...)
grunt] Nope.
Bullocks] Aaaargh!
pen] Ah yes, for I am a mysterious shady figure... (oh, and I don't have any motorbike leathers actually... there is a hedge trimmer in the shed somewhere though...)
grunt] Nope.
Bullocks] Aaaargh!
grunt
That'll be Frankie Poullain, bass player in The Darkness IIRC. A West Indian pirate, I believe
Can I just pop in briefly to say that comma splicing should be a crime punishable by death? Thank you.
thicko alert
[BM] What is 'comma splicing'? Perhaps I know it as something else. I probably do it all the time but need to know in case I'm about to be punished in a terminal sort of way.
Agreeing with Breadmaster
Comma splicing is the ULTIMATE SIN, whereby two sentences are mashed brutally together using a comma rather than a conjunction. It makes you look illiterate. It really gets on my nerves. For instance, if I'd replaced the full stop between 'illiterate' and 'it' with a comma, that'd be an example. One of the worst cases is the use of 'however' mid-sentence, which is nearly always wrong.
- however -
I do not enjoy the over use of acronyms, capital letters, smileys and most of all - jargon.
Tuj] I tried to write your address on the damp pasty but the pen sank into the waterlogged pastry. Fancy a damp steak and Bic doughy object instead?
Tuj] I tried to write your address on the damp pasty but the pen sank into the waterlogged pastry. Fancy a damp steak and Bic doughy object instead?
Jargon is necessary to keep the riff-raff out. One thing that really gets my goat is getting the subjunctive wrong (eg. "if I was" instead of "if I were"). Midge Ure was particularly annoying in this respect.
[Darren] Midge Ure was just annoying, fullstop. Mawkish lyrics, play-by-numbers melodies and the most god-awful moustache that was ever grown.
[Btd] Sorry if my use of smileys is too familiar for your liking :o).
[Tuj] My business is sentence-mashing, however, I think I'm quite artful at it, I've been doing it for ten years. :oP
[Btd] Sorry if my use of smileys is too familiar for your liking :o).
[Tuj] My business is sentence-mashing, however, I think I'm quite artful at it, I've been doing it for ten years. :oP
[penelope] Well, now you have yet another reason to dislike him.
8@()
Pen] Overuse of smileys ;o). I like the occasional :o) but too many leaves me :o(. In particular I dislike those gif file ones that are commonly used on chat sites. Yuk.
Darren] With your permission I will keep your quote "Jargon is necessary to keep the riff-raff out" in my little book of worldly advice to pass on to my offspring. It'll also come in handy at work - especially when addressing farmers.
Darren] With your permission I will keep your quote "Jargon is necessary to keep the riff-raff out" in my little book of worldly advice to pass on to my offspring. It'll also come in handy at work - especially when addressing farmers.