[CdM] I think that was "Butler Did It" and it was more than a couple of years ago. :)

Well, as the consensus seems positive, I'll create the game.

Me, too.

I don't understand. Boo hoo hoo. What's the point of the new poetry game?

Don't cry... "Wuthering Hillocks" is a game which aims to ease the poverty of the TV, film and book industries by suggesting inexpensive remakes of old hits, for example "One walked round the cuckoo's nest" or "Who wants to be a milliner?". I'm guessing that the first lines in the new game should be cheap versions of fine famous poetry. Is that it nights? As for the point of it, well...

[BL] Nothing to do with me, squire. I think Kim is the man (or possibly woman, but I think man) you need.

I read back as far as "I'll create the game..." above... So - Kim?

Yes, blamelewis has it right. "When hillocks collide" was an early-ish game on MCiOS and was set in the genre of film. It basically describes the scene of an accident. The film version generated such classics as "The Man Who Wasn't There Who Knew The Man Who Shot The Man Who Fell to Earth in Iron Mask With Two Brains", "One Million Years in Tibet" and "Sink the Titanic!". I mused idly that one could do something like that with well-known lines from poetry, hence "If I should die and go to Innisfree". I hadn't really thought about a ruleset, but perhaps there should be a minimum of two lines and no maximum, the metre of the first line should determine the metre of subsequent lines, rhyme is nice, but not essential. Is that enough to be going on with, folks?

It's a lovely day. I wish I'd got washing out on the line.

(pen)

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty. (Wordsworth).

Earth has not anything to show more fair
Any more fares?
Any more fares?(Flanders & Swann)

My wife has been cleverly filtering the (snail) mail the last week so I ended up thinking the only people who had remembered my Birthday were the TV Licensing people.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to Rab!

Additionally, does anyone have anything fun planned for the weekend?

[nights] No.

I'm being taken out tonight for a mystery meal. I think.

[rab] Taken all the labels off your tin cans, have you? ;) Slightly belated returns from here too!

[Tuj] Ah, what we used to call The Fabulous Mystery Dining Experience, back when I lived in halls. These days, if I cook out of cans, I'm sneered at by all the French people I know.

(nights) Not surprised; you're supposed to put it in a saucepan. :-)

I planted trees today. And then went dancing. All in all, quite satisfying.

Why on earth would anyone ever want three differently-coloured phones on their desk?

To match their handbag on any particular day, of course. (Well, if Posh can buy cars to match her clothes....)

If it was good enough for Reginald Perrin...

...and a fantastic Pete & Dud sketch...

It's blissfully cold this morning. Very refreshing.

I'm just glad the wind's dropped. The sign on the front of our local Post Office blew off when we were out yesterday (but, luckily, not right in front of the building).

[rab] It's probably a sign.

[Kim] No, it was a sign.

Just had the following train announcement: "Please note it is illegal to play pre-recorded music of popular music artists on trains or at stations because we do not hold a performing rights licence". Not simply because it annoys the crap out of everyone.

[rab] That leaves you clear to broadcast the back catalogue of any unpopular music artist...

(rab) I wonder if that applies to shops. I hope so.

Unfortunately, most places, including my butcher, fork out for the PRS (aka thieving bastards) licence. The butcher, since you ask, has a radio playing, hence he needs the PRS licence.

(Phil) I don't see why musicians shouldn't be paid for any public performance though I don't know the scale of charges. Yes, I am in the MU. I would have thought you would have been more put out by the cost of a music licence from the local council, for which you receive bugger all except a piece of paper and a bill.

No such thing any more. It all comes in the premises licence these days, thankfully.

(Phil) Ah! Didn't know that. But does it cost more if you are licensed for music or are all premises licensed thus?

On a different subject what do you think of the practice of discretionary closing times?, i.e. the pub will stay open the advertised extra half hour if the manager thinks it worth it on any particular evening. To me it's wanting to have your cake and eat it, or less formally, taking the piss. If you're in the pub you don't know how fast to drink or whether to have another half, say, or if arriving late, as I often do, whether the pub will be open or not. To be on the safe side I will be assuming that the place will be closed at all times, as are many of my mates. There's quite a good choice in Carshalton and I wonder if the new manager knows that. He will soon.

[Rosie] Here in Embra there's been 'late' opening for quite some time, which means most pubs close variously between 12 and 1am, and a few staying open to 3 (or 4 during the Festival). It's generally been accepted that if a place is rather quiet, it might close early, but that it's good etiquette for the staff to go round about half-an-hour beforehand to let you know that this is likely to happen, and to suggest venues that are likely to be open later. Seemed to work rather well. (I say 'seemed', as my late-night drinking days are largely behind me now).