The Night Mail

[Willie Whizz]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

I would imagine that if Barbara Windsor had tried to run after losing her bikini top there would be some interesting acrobatics. 
 

Dave

I missed that Carry On when it first came out, though I remember the fuss. On seeing it some years later I regret to say I was disappointed. Barbara Windsor was a good actress and comedienne - better than she’s often given credit for - but I think the furore can only have been the “shock value” in a mainstream comedy film, because even with her shoulders back and chest firmly stuck out, the phrase “two fried eggs” came to mind. Elke Sommer in the same film made a much better impression on me without the need for a fishing line and hook …

Edited May 2 by Willie Whizz

[Steamport Southport]

1 minute ago, Willie Whizz said:

I missed that Carry On when it first came out, though I remember the fuss. On seeing it some years later I regret to say I was disappointed. Barbara Windsor was a good actress and comedienne - better than she’s often given credit for - but I think the furore can only have been the “shock value” in a mainstream comedy film, because even with her shoulders back and chest firmly stuck out, the phrase “two fried eggs” came to mind. Elke Sommer in the same film made a much better impression on me without the need for a fishing line and hook …

 

Psst. Elke Sommer was in Carry On Behind which was a totally different film and was six years later. 

 

You've got to realise the era Carry On Camping came out. This was before nudity was allowed on TV. So just a brief glimpse probably shocked some viewers.

 

Unfortunately we seem to be sleepwalking into a new era of censorship, not from the oldies, but from the youngsters who want to "cancel" anything they think is offensive.....

[monkeysarefun]

25 minutes ago, DenysW said:

I congratulate you for not keeping up with the fate of the repellent Julian Assange. His lawyer's latest ploy, supported by HMGovt, is to demand an assurance from the US Govt that he will not be exposed to the death penalty - if deported to their care. We Brits apparently don't deport to friendly countries that might execute the deportee for the crimes alleged in the deportation request. We also don't deport for crimes that wouldn't be offenses if committed in the UK.

 

Rats. A re-post of @br2975's shorter version.

 

 

He's an Australian citizen. The Australian government wants guarantees from the US that he won't face the death penalty.

[DenysW]

9 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

He's an Australian citizen.

He is indeed, the Bolivians having also eventually found him repellent, so the Aussie Govt. will have an interest. But it's the UK that is attempting to process the US extradition request, so it's the UK rules (good or bad, make up your own mind) that apply.

[Happy Hippo]

The plan for this morning's Trayne Klubb session was to carry out a practice loading of the car to see if PN could be loaded with an additional cassette table.  This would then allow us to dispense with the 'hutch', and allow proper through running of freight and passenger trains at any exhibitions we can attend.

 

Success was the order of the day, so the cassette table(s) we have in store, can be used as originally intended.

 

The plan is to make a  300 mm bolt on extension as we did for the main table last year, which will give a symmetrical cassette table arrangement once more.

 

Of course, this leaves the other two cassette table, which were made redundant when the 'L' shape storage area(s) were abandoned due to lack of space in the car.

 

Current thinking is that we could build an 8' x 2'  freight only through yard, possibly called Ferry Lane*, and use this as an alternative to PN between the other extant cassette tables.  In the typical never waste stuff attitude, this could absorb all the old track from the original Splott West Sidings, which is up in the garage roof, still sitting on the remains of the original baseboards.  No signals required and manually operated pointwork being the order of the day,

 

Theoretically it would also be possible to reduce the cassette tables back to 4' long:  All they would need would be different length front screens, which are just a couple of pieces of 5.5 mm ply.  It could also even drop to a terminal arrangement just using one cassette table.

 

The only downside to this is the amount of optional hardware such as legs and  screening boards which have to be both made and stored when not in use.

 

The new bandsaw arrived just before Nyda got home, so the box was already in the garage, and since Gordon wanted an empty box, the only evidence of the latest purchase is the bandsaw sitting insignificantly on a bench in the corner.

 

I have tried it out and it works, so my little Proxxon bandsaw will no longer be overworked, and can have a much gentler existence.

 

 

*Some time ago, Brian (br2975) provided me with a very suitable track plan which I'm trying to modify slightly, to incorporate a suitable murky canal feeder.

 

 

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

6 minutes ago, DenysW said:

He is indeed, the Bolivians having also eventually found him repellent, so the Aussie Govt. will have an interest. But it's the UK that is attempting to process the US extradition request, so it's the UK rules (good or bad, make up your own mind) that apply.

 

 

Well, you sent us 162,000 back in the day, so surely one in return isn't a hardship!

[DenysW]

4 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Well, you sent us 162,000 back in the day

Including two entrepreneurs (other words are available) who were transported for defrauding the Great Northern Railway out of essentially all of its profits for for (I believe) 1853.

[jjb1970]

I still love Carry on up the Khyber and Carry on Don't Lose your Head, smutty and all sorts of stuff that'd be red lined today but they make me laugh.

[jamie92208]

Yes we do seem to have regressed in terms of what's allowed on TV.  It's noticeable that all American wo en in their underwear.  I wondered if this was a national characteristic. 

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

The problem with the Assange case is that although he is an unpleasant individual (as a person), his crime was to expose how - to put it bluntly - how the US mislead the world and covered up how it really behaved in Iraq and Afghanistan (amongst other things). 

 

I don't think WikiLeaks put out anything that wasn't already known or suspected by various foreign governments, intelligence services and diplomatic corps. Undoubtedly some crimes had been committed in getting some of the material WikiLeaks published, but such as to land Assange in a SuperMax prison or on death row? Hardly.

 

No, the big crime was to embarrass the US Government. In the world of real-politik you can get away with murder (in some cases, literally) and still be welcomed back into the fold. Today's friends are tomorrow's enemies and vice versa, all that counts is furthering the country's self interest. However, the one thing the US never forgives (and neither do a number of other countries) is being embarrassed on the world stage.

 

It took nearly 30 years for the US to forge diplomatic relations with Communist Vietnam and even then I suspect it was to obtain a useful tool against the PRC. And they still haven't forgiven Cuba.

 

All the above is but the rough and tumble of diplomacy, but I do wish they wouldn't be so bloody sanctimonious about it.

[jjb1970]

It's funny how social attitudes differ between cultures. Japan is conservative in many ways yet attitudes to s*x and smut can be quite eye opening for visitors. The phallic festivals are famous and some stuff for sale is bonkers. I remember seeing a naked male action figure type toy on sale in a normal shop with a wind up feature to...ahem.....replicate the act of self pleasuring. Yet they can be very prudish about nudity. 

In Singapore business dress for many women is equivalent to what women wear for a night out in the toon in Newcastle (and not just young ladies) yet they're very conservative in other ways.

[monkeysarefun]

18 minutes ago, DenysW said:

Including two entrepreneurs (other words are available) who were transported for defrauding the Great Northern Railway out of essentially all of its profits for for (I believe) 1853.

 

 

 

 1853, that was pretty late in the day - I assume they'd have gone to Western Australia since the convict system was winding down in the Eastern states by then and WA needed the labour.  What a hellhole.

[iL Dottore]

5 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Yes we do seem to have regressed in terms of what's allowed on TV.

In what way "regressed"? Become incredibly more judgmental and censorious (as in "can't say the T word or the G word or even talk about "X") or become incredibly more licentious ("Naked Attraction" anyone)?

 

An interesting aside: I read somewhere that those words considered to be the foulest epithets in any given country are words that reflect a country's obsessions and phobias: in the UK and the US foul language revolve around the act of reproduction, in Germany, around excretory functions and in Italy around religion.

 

Of course, the above may be just a bit of academic misdirection, perhaps to have a little fun at the expense of the credulous. But it's an intriguing notion nonetheless.

[monkeysarefun]

14 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

n interesting aside: I read somewhere that those words considered to be the foulest epithets in any given country are words that reflect a country's obsessions and phobias: in the UK and the US foul language revolve around the act of reproduction, in Germany, around excretory functions and in Italy around religion.

 

 

I'd say that in the US and here it'd be racial slurs reflecting a horrible past. Other than that, here at least you can say whatever the f&*&k ya want, you mad  c&&*!

Edited May 2 by monkeysarefun

[br2975]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

*Some time ago, Brian (br2975) provided me with a very suitable track plan which I'm trying to modify slightly, to incorporate a suitable murky canal feeder.

 

.

Who me ?

.

Trackplan ?

.

Nah, never.

[Steamport Southport]

51 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

In what way "regressed"? Become incredibly more judgmental and censorious (as in "can't say the T word or the G word or even talk about "X") or become incredibly more licentious ("Naked Attraction" anyone)?

 

An interesting aside: I read somewhere that those words considered to be the foulest epithets in any given country are words that reflect a country's obsessions and phobias: in the UK and the US foul language revolve around the act of reproduction, in Germany, around excretory functions and in Italy around religion.

 

Of course, the above may be just a bit of academic misdirection, perhaps to have a little fun at the expense of the credulous. But it's an intriguing notion nonetheless.

 

Well you now have trigger warnings on probably the most gentle comedies that Britain ever produced such as Terry & June and Last Of The Summer Wine!

 

One of which is Compo trying to get a kiss from Nora Batty and commenting on her wrinkly stockings.....

[Northmoor]

3 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Well you now have trigger warnings on probably the most gentle comedies that Britain ever produced such as Terry & June and Last Of The Summer Wine!

 

One of which is Compo trying to get a kiss from Nora Batty and commenting on her wrinkly stockings.....

"Viewers should be aware that the following programme will be Sh1te"

[Willie Whizz]

In the immortal words of Her Late Majesty, “Recollections may vary”. 
 

There are comparatively few comedy programmes made in the last 10-15 years that, to me, bear watching beyond the first episode to see if they’re any good - 80%+ aren’t, and when I get to the Old Folks Home I certainly shan’t want to see them again on Talking Pictures. I don’t deny there was some dross among the old stuff from the last century, but quite a bit does remain worth another look a few decades later. 

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

"Viewers should be aware that the following programme will be Sh1te"

 

"Viewers should be aware that the following programme will be better than virtually every sitcom made since about 1990"

 

Apart from a few such as Father Ted and Black Books there has hardly been anything worth bothering with....

[Willie Whizz]

6 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Psst. Elke Sommer was in Carry On Behind which was a totally different film and was six years later. 

 

 

My apologies; it’s some years since I saw either. And I hope I may be forgiven for the confusion - not only are there

some similarities of plot, but both films were made in the same main location so they even look alike!

[Winslow Boy]

8 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

A venue that wasn't needed but seems to be a means for Manchester City to avoid Financial Fair Play rules by "investing" in local infrastructure.....

 

Part of City Football Group

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Football_Group

As if they would resort to such an underhand way of getting round the regulations. The money grabbing little toerags. Sorry did I type that.

I wonder how much they got from the Co-op to allow them to say it's there's. Interestingly I see that the other significant investor is a politician from one of the Gulf States.

[Steamport Southport]

1 minute ago, Willie Whizz said:

My apologies; it’s some years since I saw either. And I hope I may be forgiven for the confusion - not only are there

some similarities of plot, but both films were made in the same main location so they even look alike!

 

No need to apologise.

 

Probably made in the grounds of the studios they used which was Pinewood. The last of the genuine Carry Ons, the next one was the awful Carry On England which hardly had any of the regular cast.

 

Then it was Emmannuelle and Columbus, less said about those the better.....

[Happy Hippo]

45 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

"Viewers should be aware that the following programme will be better than virtually every sitcom made since about 1990"

 

Apart from a few such as Father Ted and Black Books there has hardly been anything worth bothering with....

I very much enjoyed BBC's Ghosts.

 

When I watched the US version it was garbage when compared to the original.

[Steamport Southport]

8 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I very much enjoyed BBC's Ghosts.

 

When I watched the US version it was garbage when compared to the original.

 

I didn't catch it. That might have been one of the good ones.

 

But if you look at the Wiki pages the standards in general are pretty poor compared to the 1970s and 1980s*. Being a fan of comedy I do try and give them a chance,

 

Some absolute dross in these lists.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2010s_British_sitcoms

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2020s_British_sitcoms

 

 

*Although there was some rubbish back then as well. I remember Bottle Boys!

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

As if they would resort to such an underhand way of getting round the regulations. The money grabbing little toerags. Sorry did I type that.

I wonder how much they got from the Co-op to allow them to say it's there's. Interestingly I see that the other significant investor is a politician from one of the Gulf States.

 

Well there are loads of artists and bands jumping ship and moving to other venues. Take That are the latest.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-68940344

 

Whose idea was it to book major events before it had been fully tested? Some of these gigs cost an awful lot to put on. I would expect the cost of putting on someone like The Eagles is well in the millions.