The Night Mail

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

You might as well get @polybear to host a show about Haute Cuisine....

 

Or spiders...

 

[SM42]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

I've watched Elementary, for a few minutes and thought it was utter carp.

 

I must admit it didn't inspire me at first  till I saw thd first episode and it grew on me. 

 

Typical US crime show but an interesting take on an old story.  

 

Andy

[Hroth]

7 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

 

Rab came to mind.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d0mhw

 

Thank god the episode isn't currently available.

[GMKAT7]

Good evening folks,

 

To me it was a real change seeing Gregor Fisher in the tv series The Tales of Para Handy, compared to his Rab C character.

 

Being joined by some of the other Rab C regulars made it an interesting watch, not knowing any of the history of the stories.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

 

Edit:  I even started using the phrase "more steam McPhail, more steam" when we needed to get a wriggle on when out drinking, etc.

Of course none of my friends had a scooby what I was on about 😆

Edited May 10 by GMKAT7
Added info.

[AndyID]

2 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good evening folks,

 

To me it was a real change seeing Gregor Fisher in the tv series The Tales of Para Handy, compared to his Rab C character.

 

Being joined by some of the other Rab C regulars made it an interesting watch, not knowing any of the history of the stories.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

 

Edit:  I even started using the phrase "more steam McPhail, more steam" when we needed to get a wriggle on when out drinking, etc.

Of course none of my friends had a scooby what I was on about 😆

 

I was spoiled watching this version with Duncan Macrae.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Para_Handy_-_Master_Mariner

 

And, of course, the BBC dumped them because they were in black and white 😢

 

(My mum knew Macrae from her time at Jordanhill teacher training college.)

[AndyID]

10 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 and have been married for nearly 54 years 😅

 

 

Just a couple of years behind you Dave. I can't say it hasn't been interesting 🤣

[SM42]

That's it. 

 

Outside works suspended. 

 

Unlikely to be any more soon given the forecast amd work commitments. 

 

I re entered SM42 Towers looking a bit like the swamp monster  having taken on the hue of the earth and assorted shrubbery .

 

I've just had that sort of shower where you have to unblock the drains afterwards. 

 

I sit here refreshed and in need of a drink. 

 

Andy

[AndyID]

Another colorful Scottish character who ought to be remembered. Mum and dad knew him from before the war and we met him in Paris in the early 60s. I was bit too young to fully appreciate just what he had done.

 

https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news-and-events/news/archive/2021/tartan-pimpernel-war-hero-minister-honoured-in-paris

[Dave Hunt]

3 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

To me it was a real change seeing Gregor Fisher in the tv series The Tales of Para Handy, compared to his Rab C character.

 

Being joined by some of the other Rab C regulars made it an interesting watch, not knowing any of the history of the stories.

 

If you can get hold of them, the books containing the original Para Handy stories are worth reading:

            Neil Munroe's Para Handy and The World of Para Handy

Sorry but I don't know who the publisher is/was.

 

Dave

 

[Dave Hunt]

Just settling down with a wee dram after a very frustrating day. Went to our recently moved friend's house to put together a flat pack cupboard and bookcase that arrived there yesterday only to find when it was unpacked that there were no instructions therein. Since the number of widgets, brackets, different sized screws etc. effectively ruled out trying to build it without instructions of any sort, I rang the shop whence it came and after speaking to several (largely clueless) individuals I finally found one who understood fairly simple concepts and said he would send a link by email with which I could get instructions online. The link duly came but for some reason merely directed me to a site that required me to log in with a customer number, password etc. I therefore rang the shop again but no-one there could help except to say that they could either post a copy of the instructions or I could 'pop in' to the shop and get some. I therefore 'popped' twenty miles and obtained what I wanted. So far so (sort of ) good but when I came to use the instructions to build the bl**dy thing it turned out to be designed by a committee of halfwits who couldn't figure out how to ensure that the construction method allowed access to the necessary fittings during the build process or that making a small dimple in the wrong place in hardwood was not conducive to ease of inserting screws. Hence, after several hours the job was still not complete but I had to leave and come home (which was probably a good thing as any more time and effort could have lost me the will to live) with the promise that I will return next week. At least the damn thing is finished to the stage of standing upright and being capable of holding at least a few books.

 

A rant? Very probably.

 

Dave   

[Northmoor]

12 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I think that "amateur" as a term has gone from just meaning "not paid for it" to a connotation of - at best - semi-competence. Yet "amateur" theatre can be better than "professionals" 

And let's not forget that many of Britain's most eminent Victorian scientists, naturalists, geologists etc were "amateurs"

Hmm

I think I know what you mean. I found out, when I was in Japan, to avoid tourists - especially Western tourists.  Apart from appalling ignorance of local culture and customs, loud and raucous behaviour seemed to be the norm (definitely NOT on in Japan).

 

Point 1 - This is one of my shout-at-the-news-on-the-radio triggers.  Torville and Dean were "Amateur" skaters in the Sarajevo Winter Olympics........... "Professional" does not equal competence.  Likewise, when did something being "only satisfactory" become unacceptable?  By definition, satisfaction must have been achieved.  Far too many journos seem to have very little grasp of English meanings, like the sports reporters who refer to some footballer as a "legend".  This is funny because when the word is applied to history like the Ancient Greeks, it means that a fair proportion of the stories are probably untrue, so therefore the player is actually less good than the writer is implying.

 

Point 2 - We've often found that best places to visit when abroad are the areas where that nation's citizens take their weekend breaks.  So in Germany the Bavarian Alps and lakes are excellent places to go.  In Italy the Amalfi Coast, while very popular with foreign tourists, also attracts plenty of Italians.  At a very local level, when in busy tourist hot-spots like Venice and Florence, our Golden Rule of always walking about ten minutes away from the main attraction has invariably produced better food, friendlier service and at about one-third discount.

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

 

Just a couple of years behind you Dave. I can't say it hasn't been interesting 🤣

 

For a particular meaning of 'interesting'?

😇

 

Dave

 

 

Edited May 10 by Dave Hunt

[Northmoor]

11 hours ago, polybear said:

Perhaps the UK should start issuing secretly coded "One use only" Passports - they'll let the scrotes out but not let them board a Plane/Ship/Train to come back again......

That might have a rather negative effect on Britain's reputation with the other countries after a while.

[AndyID]

2 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

For a particular meaning of 'interesting'?

😇

 

Dave

 

 

 

No comment.

[Dave Hunt]

2 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

At a very local level, when in busy tourist hot-spots like Venice and Florence, our Golden Rule of always walking about ten minutes away from the main attraction has invariably produced better food, friendlier service and at about one-third discount.

 

Very much the case in Rome, Funchal and  Munich, to name but a few, where the best eating places we found were away from the popular tourist spots and usually in back streets.

 

Dave  

[AndyID]

5 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

That might have a rather negative effect on Britain's reputation with the other countries after a while.

 

Possibly, but it could go either way.

[Northmoor]

7 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

So why did the presenter get the gig? According to the Internet, it was because the choice of presenter ticked all the right boxes for the commissioning TV producer.

Oh well, it must be true then.....  I suspect Alison Hammond actually got the job because she was a well-known face and (strange, I know) many people will watch things they have no interest in because they like the presenter.

[J. S. Bach]

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I thought you might like a few more snaps ...snip...

I initially read that first line as "I thought I might like a few more schnapps."; Oddly, as actually I do not like the stuff.

 

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 ...snip... And yet my homemade efforts - though passable - are incredibly crude when compared with what can be produced with a 3D printer. ...snip...

If you really are not satisfied with it, just wrap it up and send it to me; sort of a reverse Marshall Plan?

 

 

Edited May 10 by J. S. Bach

[Happy Hippo]

41 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Just settling down with a wee dram after a very frustrating day. Went to our recently moved friend's house to put together a flat pack cupboard and bookcase that arrived there yesterday only to find when it was unpacked that there were no instructions therein. Since the number of widgets, brackets, different sized screws etc. effectively ruled out trying to build it without instructions of any sort, I rang the shop whence it came and after speaking to several (largely clueless) individuals I finally found one who understood fairly simple concepts and said he would send a link by email with which I could get instructions online. The link duly came but for some reason merely directed me to a site that required me to log in with a customer number, password etc. I therefore rang the shop again but no-one there could help except to say that they could either post a copy of the instructions or I could 'pop in' to the shop and get some. I therefore 'popped' twenty miles and obtained what I wanted. So far so (sort of ) good but when I came to use the instructions to build the bl**dy thing it turned out to be designed by a committee of halfwits who couldn't figure out how to ensure that the construction method allowed access to the necessary fittings during the build process or that making a small dimple in the wrong place in hardwood was not conducive to ease of inserting screws. Hence, after several hours the job was still not complete but I had to leave and come home (which was probably a good thing as any more time and effort could have lost me the will to live) with the promise that I will return next week. At least the damn thing is finished to the stage of standing upright and being capable of holding at least a few books.

 

A rant? Very probably.

 

Dave   

I never bother reading the instructions these days.

 

They are not worth the paper they are written on.

 

I mean what can possibly go wrong?

 

 

 

[SM42]

SM42 Towers is full of mozzies. 

 

I find myself having regular pat downs to discourage landing of said beasties. 

 

They are quite remarkable really. 

 

You try to take them out, clapping style and they disappear. 

 

Not squashed between your palms, nor falling to earth from the shock wave of a near miss.

You're convinced you got em but they have vanished. 

 

Crafty little blighters. 

 

Anyway time for bed. 

 

Night all

 

Andy

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

Oh well, it must be true then.....  

You mean not everything on the internet is true or true?

Oh Gosh!

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

Oh I suspect Alison Hammond actually got the job because she was a well-known face and (strange, I know) many people will watch things they have no interest in because they like the presenter.

Perhaps she is a "well known face" (although a total unknown to me) but there are other "well known faces" out there who are much better suited to taking over from Paul O'Grady - Julian Cleary for one (someone just as passionate about animals as PoG and a devoted dog owner to boot).

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

A rant? Very probably.

 

Dave   

Not furniture from a certain blue and yellow emporium by any chanc?

 

Anyway, I think that your lack of success is due to your approach: you are thinking like a fighter pilot (zoom in, shoot everything up, zoom out), you should be-- instead – thinking like a scientist: sort, categorise, measure, analyse, theorise, conduct a trial or two and then put into action. 
 

Building Ikea furniture is like learning how to an appendectomy: you start with some simple cases, learn how it all goes together in practice (there are only but so many ways of putting it together). And once you have mastered the basics and learnt the immutable ways of putting things together, then the assembly of even the most complicated item becomes straightforward (albeit often time consuming)

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

I initially read that first line as "I thought I might like a few more schnapps."; Oddly, as actually I do not like the stuff.

 

If you really are not satisfied with it, just wrap it up and send it to me; sort of a reverse Marshall Plan?

 

 

There are two rather insurmountable problems in meeting your request: firstly, it was built to order for @bbishop of this parish; and secondly, I am always hypocritical of my own work because I realise that a) if I am too easily satisfied, I become complacent and b) if I am complacent it is far too easy to start on the inexorable slide down that slippery slope to mediocrity.

[PhilJ W]

11 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

If its going to be a string vest, the hat should be a baseball cap, worn back to front...

 

No, a knotted hankie.

[Northmoor]

49 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Julian Clary for one (someone just as passionate about animals as PoG and a devoted dog owner to boot).

Many years ago in my youth I briefly dated a young woman whose mother had worked in hospitality at Granada Studios in the Albert Dock, when the daily magazine programme was broadcast from there.  She said some of the "famous" guests could behave very rudely and entitled, "Err, miss, I asked for cream not milk in this coffee...".  One stand-out exception was Julian Clary, who on more than one occasion had been unfailingly polite (possibly a little shy), courteous and friendly to everyone, but especially to those working behind the scenes and he always had time for a chat with the ladies in hospitality.