Early Risers.

[bbishop]

1 hour ago, BoD said:

 

 

1 hour ago, BoD said:

His partner has perked up amazingly since Friday and is talking about returning to work sometime this week.  I’m not sure what the process is there, does she just declare that she no longer has symptoms and that’s it? With her working in a care home  I would have thought there would need to be something more stringent.

 

 

Seven days since symptomatic, but temperature must be normal for at least 48 hours.  A cough is likely to hang around for a while …..  Bill

Edited June 7, 2020 by bbishop

[Tony_S]

22 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

More cargo space than the Evoque...

The Freelander I had had about an inch less width in the back than yours as I found when transporting the layout modules I got from you. They wouldn’t have fitted in the Evoque at all. Our second Freelander was obtained as Robbie’s dog crate wouldn’t have fitted in the Evoque, well it would but then the rear seat would have had to be folded up.

Tony

[Chris116]

12 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

I used to go to Blackbird Road, Leicester.

To watch stockcars......

Great track, sadly I only got there twice. A sad loss to both Stock Cars and Speedway. 

[grandadbob]

31 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I was scanning quickly and read that as Stevie Nicks and the kids.

 

Yes please!

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

13 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I could only find a long rope and a short tree

 

We've got a suitable tree if it's any help......

 

Dave

 

(We've also got a muddy patch and some lemon drizzle cake)

 

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by Dave Hunt
missed out the ps

[bbishop]

Flavio quoted:  “Germany was the only invaded country in Europe that did not produce a resistance of some kind, because there was nothing left with which to resist“

 

I have a book called Down Ramps by Lambton Burn.  He was part of the overland naval force to Kiel in 1945.  Most Germans, including the Navy, just wanted the war to end.  There was a Werewolf movement but the Allies had identified the leaders, and prioritised their capture before they could implement their plans.

 

Bill

[iL Dottore]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

German casualties far exceeded those of the Western Allies, but pale in comparison to the Soviets (sometimes referred to as the "big red meat grinder" - in particular the Battles of Rzhev)....

And whilst a huge portion of those casualties the Soviets suffered were due to the invading forces (especially given Hitler’s infamous “Commissar Order” and the brutal severity used in eliminating any sort of opposition, partisans and “racial undesirables”), a significant portion of the casualties were caused by Stalin and his apparatus on the Soviet side.

In the first years of the war on the Eastern Front, young conscripts were sent into battle without weapons and were told by their commissars that they must pick up any available weapons from the first fallen comrade that they came across and, by the way, they were also told that would be shot if they tried to turn back in the face of heavy opposition.
Of the three great evil political dictators of the last century: Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung, only Hitler has received the opprobrium all three richly deserve (although, if you consider a dictator “successful” by the number of people he has exterminated, Hitler is a mere dilettante compared with both Stalin and Mao).

Frighteningly, in the UK there are still politicians and wannabe politicians who consider Stalin to be the nec plus ultra of politics!!!

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

To 

 

I see what you mean and I stand happily corrected. Alas, I must betray my ignorance of all things nautical, for although I may know the difference between the pointy bit at the front (bow) and the round bit at the back (stern), and on a good day can tell the difference between port and starboard, when it comes to all things maritime I profess my complete cluelessness (for example, as far as I am concerned a bowsprit is a sort of naval drink along the lines of a tot of grog).

3 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

...I understand why Land Rover no longer wanted to build the Defender. Putting together a vehicle designed for 1940s manufacturing technology is uneconomical. But I am disappointed at their failure to replace it at all. Surely it must be possible still to design and make a good utilitarian 4x4 somewhere other than Japan.

 

We had a hired Fiat 500 when on holiday in Portugal in 2016. Lovely little car.

Yes, I wonder why in all things automotive, Britain has pretty much fallen behind in the design stakes (and this includes famous marques like Rolls-Royce and Bentley whose current offerings look more like expensive tanks rather than elegant vehicles for conveying the rich and famous).  Could it be that all the talented designers, and there are plenty of talented British designers (the bloke who designed the iPhone for Apple is British), have bu99ered off to pastures foreign (where, undoubtably, they are better paid and better appreciated). And yet when you look at many of the UK car designs from the 1950s you had modernity and luxury without ostentation and braggadocchio.  The Bentley S1, the model that came straight from the factory, simply exuded class and sophistication (and could do so without resorting to piling on acres of chrome)

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

...American documentaris..nothing happened in the years 1914 to 1917, and again in 1939 to December 41. Only the Americans fought any battles and flew missions.. and don't mention the armoured flight decks of British aircraft carriers v kamikaze attacks..or who really captured the first Enigma machine...

You exaggerate, dear Baz, but sadly not by that much.  You could argue that this is a very disturbing phenomenon, that even in documentaries you are presenting people with what they think the topic should be about against what the topic really is about.  Presenting an idealised and partly made up version of history is - I think - dangerous, as it obscures the reality of the world out there and frequently reduces complex issues to a naive and simplistic binary black and white. Such things do not bode well for long-term political and social good health..

2 hours ago, chrisf said:

John, how can I be living in the past if the events I listed did not take place?

Chris

Chris, you have been informing us that you have been spending time in a parallel dimension where all these things have happened. So I suspect it is all a bit like the 60s, where they say that “if you remember the 60s you weren’t there” 

So the fact that you don’t remember doing those things is prima facie evidence that you actually did do those things.

1 hour ago, BoD said:

I read 1984 quite recently and I don’t remember it being anything like that...

Can you explain further? Are you referring to the comment about George Orwell style (commented upon above)? Or are you referring to the fact that you may or may not consider it thought provoking fiction?

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I was scanning quickly and read that as Stevie Nicks and the kids.

Sigh... Stevie Nicks! Possibly the first, middle and last word in desirable “Hippy Chick“ singers. I had quite a “thing” for her back in the late 70s and early 80s. There is something very appealing, I find, about long flowing, golden, locks and long flowing dresses. Especially when compared to a lot of the young women I encountered when I was a callow youth: mostly dumpy, badly dressed and with an “attitude” (presumably all part and parcel of attending university that was  considered “progressive“).
Cheers

iD

Edited June 7, 2020 by iL Dottore

[Tony_S]

7 minutes ago, bbishop said:

Flavio quoted:  “Germany was the only invaded country in Europe that did not produce a resistance of some kind, because there was nothing left with which to resist“

 

I have a book called Down Ramps by Lambton Burn.  He was part of the overland naval force to Kiel in 1945.  Most Germans, including the Navy, just wanted the war to end.  There was a Werewolf movement but the Allies had identified the leaders, and prioritised their capture before they could implement their plans.

 

Bill

My father was in Flensburg after VE Day. There were initially rumours about Werewolves and he was in a convoy that was attacked but it wasn’t by Germans. A criminal gang who made the mistake of attacking a convoy of troops rather than supplies. British troops were very much on the alert for Nazi’s heading to the Danish border. Dad was knocked over at a checkpoint by someone who refused to stop. Turned out to be a MiLGov officer who was not obeying fraternisation rules. 
Tony

[polybear]

Right on the money, judging by yesterday's events in London.....

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Time to finish emptying the garden storage box and then move it. Hopefully it will survive the move, the plastic seems to be a bit brittle in places, no surprise really after about 20 years out in all weathers. 

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

If anyone deserves the title of “Comic Genius“ it is without a doubt Spike Milligan. His output was truly prodigious, and whilst occasionally it did fall flat, his work usually ranged from just funny to utterly hilarious. Hearing the theme music to his TV series “Q“ is enough to bring a smile to my face and much of his output (specifically quotes from the Goon show) has found its way into my daily life...
He was also capable of being both thought provoking and touching.  In his series of autobiographical books, starting with the one you referred to Andy, “Adolf Hitler: my part in his downfall“, he was both very funny and incredibly moving at times.

When you consider the output of most of today’s so-called “comedians”, it is clear that without the canned laughter, the obligatory use of foul language (without any good reason for which) and the even more obligatory ad hominem attacks on those politicians deemed not to be “right on“, today’s comedians are not very funny. And, if I may be provocative (and when am I not?), I would like to observe that in the past one could argue that British TV comedy was - on the whole – funnier than American TV comedy with its canned laughter and lame jokes. Not anymore.

 

George Orwell (a.k.a. Eric Blair) was undoubtably one of the finest writers  Britain has produced. Not so much from a stylistic point of view, but certainly from the perspective of documentary accuracy and thought provoking fiction.  Unlike members of the “Bloomsbury Set“ and the intelligentsia of the time, Orwell actually went out into the communities he was writing about. After reading “The Road to Wigan Pier“ or “Down and Out in London and Paris“ and seeing what true deprivation was, it is not hard to think that today’s “poverty” is relative rather than absolute.

 

I had to do a quick “Google“ to find out what sort of car the Evoque is. I found out that it is a “sort of“ Land Rover.  I say “sort of“ because to my mind anything now being produced from the Land Rover/Range Rover factory bears as much resemblance to a “proper“ Land Rover as a Lada does to a Ferrari.  A friend of mine, living just across the border in France, was most pleased to be able to acquire, brand-new, one of the last “proper“ Land Rovers that were produced.

Of the recent re-imaginings of iconic 60s cars (the VW Beetle, the Mini, and the Fiat 500),  I would argue that only the Fiat 500 has been able to successfully upgrade the technology whilst retaining the spirit and the iconic aspects of the original. Quite frankly, Alec Issigonis must be turning in his grave over what they’ve done to his Mini

 

 

 

Well, that’s all from me for now. Today, and for the foreseeable future, I am facing a rather ascetic and hairshirt existence - at least in terms of food, as I weighed myself this morning and I have put on a number of kilos  First, the COVID-19 lockdown has turned my brain into cabbage and now the lockdown has turned my body into (even more) flab. So, time for another cup of coffee and for some existential contemplation on the futility and barren emptiness of my life! 

 

Have a great Sunday!

 

iD

One comedy genre that the Americans seem to excel in is slapstick. But very little of that has been produced since the 1940's. The likes of the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy excelled at it. I can think of only two post war 'slapstick' movies that were IMHO up to standard, Used Cars and Scavenger Hunt. Do they still make sitcoms? I mean those that are really funny. They did try to revive some old sitcoms a couple of years ago, most were a disaster. Steptoe and Son was worst because they put comedy actors in playing the principle characters ignoring the fact that the original actors, Harry H. Corbett and Wilfred Bramble were Shakespearean actors not comedians. The other two revivals that I recall were Are you being served and porridge. The first of the duo was so-so but they made a fair fist of Porridge largely by bringing it into the modern day.

George Orwell originally was going to title 1984 as 1948. Another author who railed against social injustice was Jack London who sadly seems to be almost forgotten today.

The original Land Rover Defender is still being built, in India IIRC, the reason for production ceasing in Europe is they were unable to comply with the newest European crash worthiness legislation.

[jamie92208]

20 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

I see what you mean and I stand happily corrected. Alas, I must betray my ignorance of all things nautical, for although I may know the difference between the pointy bit at the front (bow) and the round bit at the back (stern), and on a good day can tell the difference between port and starboard, when it comes to all things maritime I profess my complete cluelessness (for example, as far as I am concerned a bowsprit is a sort of naval drink along the lines of a tot of grog).d white. Such things do not bode well.

 

 

Sigh... Stevie Nicks! Possibly the first, middle and last word in desirable “Hippy Chick“ singers. I had quite a “thing” for her back in the late 70s and early 80s. There is something very appealing, I find, about long flowing, golden, locks and long flowing dresses. Especially when compared to a lot of the young women I encountered when I was a callow youth: mostly dumpy, badly dressed and with an “attitude” (presumably all part and parcel of attending university that was  considered “progressive“).
Cheers

iD

ID.  I had no idea whatvthe bulbous bow was for till I attended a lrcture on ourblast cruise. All to do with modifying the bow wave to refuce redustance IIRC.

 

As to girls at Uni. Having attended an all boys school, I entered another world at Uni, probably to the detriment of my studies, though brown foaming liquid may also gave helped.  In 1971 they all wore trousers and I still admire a well worn pair of jeans.

 

Jamie

[BoD]

28 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Can you explain further? Are you referring to the comment about George Orwell style (commented upon above)? Or are you referring to the fact that you may or may not consider it thought provoking fiction?

 

 

Neither, I was just thinking that I don't remember 1984 being at all like the way he described it.

[Gwiwer]

51 minutes ago, bbishop said:

A cough is likely to hang around for a while ….. 

Tell me about it!!!

 

"Post-viral cough" is what I suffer from almost permanently these days.  Two winters ago I developed a cough which persisted for months and required two courses of antibiotics and several inhalers to get rid of.  Last winter it returned having intermittently popped up in the meantime.  It took a couple of months again though not the antibiotics this time.  I currently have an ongoing prescription for the blue inhaler just in case.  Some days I feel a little tight in the chest and cough a little.  It isn't new - it goes back quite some time and has been diagnosed.  Mostly it doesn't trouble me .  I suspect - firmly touching wood and uttering protective incantations - that if I had developed the current affliction that it would have troubled me significantly for that reason - the breathing gear is already slightly affected by previous events.  In much the same way as my dear late mother suffered for at least the latter half of her 92 years.  

 

Good morning all.  A better night was had though without the benefit of the alarm I was late rising.  SWMBO had already been up, out and returned and was busily sewing my new facial coverings.  She is now on a video-conference call with friends in Australia including one of her PhD supervisors.  I. for my sins, have been required to clean the kitchen, iron the clothes, empty the bins, make coffee and finally I can get in here undisturbed  

 

I'll go back and read the overnight posts later but for now I wish all the best day possible in the circumstances.  At least it's a bit warmer, somewhat drier and a lot less windy here.  

 

 

[PhilJ W]

36 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Of the three great evil political dictators of the last century: Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung, only Hitler has received the opprobrium all three richly deserve (although, if you consider a dictator “successful” by the number of people he has exterminated, Hitler is a mere dilettante compared with both Stalin and Mao).

 

Yes, I wonder why in all things automotive, Britain has pretty much fallen behind in the design stakes (and this includes famous marques like Rolls-Royce and Bentley whose current offerings look more like expensive tanks rather than elegant vehicles for conveying the rich and famous).  Could it be that all the talented designers, and there are plenty of talented British designers (the bloke who designed the iPhone for Apple is British), have bu99ered off to pastures foreign (where, undoubtably, they are better paid and better appreciated). And yet when you look at many of the UK car designs from the 1950s you had modernity and luxury without ostentation and braggadocchio.  The Bentley S1, the model that came straight from the factory, simply exuded class and sophistication (and could do so without resorting to piling on acres of chrome)

 

 

iD

We tend to think of things political in terms of left and right. One of my teachers at secondary school told us that we should think of it being more of a circle with free democracy at the top and the likes of Hitler and Stalin at the bottom, side by side.

You just have to look at who owns Rolls-Royce and Bentley to see why they are producing such mobile gin palaces. Rolls-Royce are owned by BMW who gave them a car to build with orders to stick the RR badge and grill on it. Bentley, owned by Volkswagen are in a (not much) better position, being allowed to design their own cars but having to use bits from the VW empire. 

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

We've got a suitable tree if it's any help......

 

Dave

 

(We've also got a muddy patch and some lemon drizzle cake)

 

 

I see the ploy:

 

The prisoner ate a hearty last meal!

 

You might find that you don't have enough heavy stuff to weigh me down so I sink to the bottom of the muddy hollow.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Much overnight rain has made the garden very wet, I won't need to get the hosepipe out tonight. I'm currently in the workshop about to start working on the turntable once more, I may be some time. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I stopped reading after I realised there was Jazz.

 

Then it was off to the garage looking for a short rope and a long tree.

The  3 I have are not jazz or Québécois.

[Gwiwer]

Shop now?  Add to my streams? 

 

I think not.  

 

Fed back as inappropriate

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

30 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

I still admire a well worn pair of jeans.

Just for you:

 

 

[Tony_S]

Due to all the classic car chat this morning my targeted ad now has two Fords and a Ferrari. Not invitations to a classic car auction though, just Scalextric pre-release ads. 

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

A touch of sunshine today although still not so warm by recent standards.  Herself is now of the opinion that the disappearance of leaves from the runner beans might be down to the muntjac(s) so some circular shiny  objects have been hung on the bean poles - we might learn in the coming week if Norton anti-virus is also an anti-muntjac  and whether or not they like or are frightened by old 'Railway Modeller' dvds - time will tell.

 

As far as American retelling of various events is concerned there have been some very good documentaries - I'm told by an expert on the subject that the Civil war series was very good.  But equally there have been some which come into the category described by Baz - 'The War At Sea' being a very good example.  Their attempts at real events presented as a sort of fiction on film have generally been absolutely that - utter and complete fictional nonsense, but maybe that's what pays the bills in Hollywood because the audiences know no better?  I have given up on Alan Clark's 'Barbarossa' as the 1941 invasion was being presented in a very confused manner so I have turned to Max Hastings; book on Operation Chastise and the background that led up to it.  Learning in the reading about such asides as the Vickers Windsor bomber and who actually discovered the effect an underwater explosion could have on a concrete structure such as a dam (and it wasn't Barnes Wallis - he was the brilliant chap who, in parallel, was  working out the means of getting the explosive to what turned out to be the right place);  and as ever Max Hastings doesn't pull his punches in comments about various characters and events.

 

Now to install some updates, fingers are crossed.  Have a good day folks and stay safe, that still matters.  And I'm told by the Good doctor that soem face masks I bought in a local chemist on Friday are the real things, plus I know which way up they should go and I now know about the necessary safety precautions when wearing/removing them as well.

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, Chris116 said:

Great track, sadly I only got there twice. A sad loss to both Stock Cars and Speedway. 

Thinking about it,  I must have been to Blackbird rd,  from about 1968 to 1971, I used to go to Swindon speedway , we went to quite a few away matches by coach.. I'm pretty sure Leicester was one of them. 

 

1984, I was in the outer hebridies ( again) ,  it was more like 1884...

 

I've fished all the cells out of the buckets of bicarb and water.  Changed the water and then... 

Cut each cell apart,  they had 19 plates each, each plate covered in two layers of a mesh cloth,  every other plate then in a plastic bag.

Two large lead connecting bars to each alternate plate were cut off, they once dried in front of the heater before being melted down,  that produced two pours of lead. 

The  plates had the plastic bags removed,  and most the outer sheets of mesh.  The inner sheets were too stuck on, then they went into  new buckets of bicarb. 

 

The first bucket of plates,  were removed and are now draining,  some are now acting like a house of cards to get plenty of air flow. Once dry I'll swap for more.. Water and liquid lead are not a good mix, so I need to make sure it's all dry for next melting time. 

 

Ben is demanding a walk,  it will be without ball again, a sarni for lunch will be after I return.. 

 

 

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

In 1971 they all wore trousers and I still admire a well worn pair of jeans.

How things changed. In 1968 the mini skirt was very much in. It shaped my thinking.

 

[EDIT] And probably other things 

Edited June 7, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[jamie92208]

23 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

How things changed. In 1968 the mini skirt was very much in. It shaped my thinking.

 

[EDIT] And probably other things 

1968 I was 15 and doing my O Levels. However it was also the end of steam past our house.

 

Jamie

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

As to girls at Uni. Having attended an all boys school, I entered another world at Uni, probably to the detriment of my studies, though brown foaming liquid may also gave helped.  In 1971 they all wore trousers and I still admire a well worn pair of jeans.

1976 in my case but yes, 110%.  A few dresses were in evidence by then and we had just had the best summer in a generation so there were some nicely-tanned arms and legs on show.  Anything else which might have been visible must remain within commercial confidence