melmerby

As from 2100 last night: Torchwood.

I agree, I don't understand why (well, yes I do but...) anybody would be willing to pay more for an album as a download, get no inner booklet or physical disc and case and all at a miserable 128kbits quality. Keith

Are these the watered down versions of Brew Eleven and normal Toby? Neither of which were out of the ordinary. Keith

Bind it with a little egg if you like! I don't eat meat these days but when I did I thought that the best burger from one of the chain burger restaurants was from Wendy's. What happened to them? About the market leader: - I'm lovin' it? No I'm not, I thought their burgers were disgusting! Keith

Minced Beef, Onions and some seasoning. (onions optional) Why do you need a recipe? Keith

A lot to do with the changing face of Britain's industrial past also. Where I used to work from the 1960s to the 1990s there were plenty of street corner pubs which, to start with, were well used, however the was also plenty of mixed industry around as well. One by one the industrials closed, along with a college and the lunchtime and post work trade dropped to almost nothing. Several of the pubs are now closed (in fact most before the smoking ban) and the industry, having been largely replaced by houses is not there to provide any custom. Keith

Try "The Bones of All Men" by 'Mr Philip Pickett with Mr Richard Thompson and the Fairport Rhythm Section' It is from 1998 and is a fusion of Electric Folk, Classical and Rock Quite interesting Keith

I assume you are linking the two, in which case I think you will find you are wrong. The smoking ban is blamed for all pub trade ills and calls to overturn it keep being made by certain people as a panacea that will cure all. Pubs were closing at a similar rate long before the smoking ban, the reasons are variable but high taxes and costs are claimed to be one of the prime causes and much cheaper booze at off licenses/supermarkets another. (See various Camra and Wetherspoons comments over the years) Keith

As in Harper Simon. Keith

Add Everards to that list http://www.everards.co.uk/about/ . I was warned off it by the locals when I was doing some work in Leicester. However many of these are actually brewed in Masham http://www.theakstons.co.uk/ales/index.html contrary to another comment You can still get them - in the 99p shop! Keith

If one breaks down, assuming it is still mobile how about a set of buffers front and rear and then the one behind can push! Then to get over punctures you fit flanged wheels and it could run on top of the guideway...... Whoops, hasn't somebody already done that? Ah, yes they are called railways! Keith

Closed at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the day the Marine Offences Bill came into law if I remember correctly , but Caroline carried on . How about listening to American AM rock stations after the European stations closed down? (no all night broadcasting then) No crappy British cover jobs on there! AFRTS in Europe (same again) Keith

Kenny and Cash on London (the pirate that is!)

You must live in the wrong part of the country. We still get plenty of butterflies and bees around here (worcestershire). My garden is well provided. Last year I even had a Bumble Bee nest in the garden. Plus every derelict site in Birmingham is covered in buddleja/buddleia bushes as they are a serious coloniser (weed!) of abandoned ground and are suitably covered in insects. Keith

There was also a brand called Lo-Cost which I believe was also to do with Somerfield. We had a store near where I lived called So-Lo which was a sort of cross (SOmerfield LOcost?) which had a lot of, but not exclusively, Somerfield own brand goods. Keith

Music charts that aren't full of female singers who have been through the "Tuner" Less acts "Featuring ....." - Aren't they they any good on their own? Less acts ripping-off other peoples tunes and then moaning about "piracy in the music industry" Keith

Midland Red buses (- especially the D9) and their routes, mostly gone, with some very long journeys in the country. Municipal Bus companies (I know some survive but most have been lost) Proper Trams - I can remember a tram ride from the middle of Brum to the Lickeys. The original Radio Caroline. Curry houses when all you got was Curry, not Tikka, Tandoori, Makhani, etc. etc. 4 oz Sun Pat hot roasted peanuts - 3d, Cashews 4d Penny bottles of pop from a local shop (I dread to think what they made it from!) EDIT: Remember Pink Stamps - never seemd as good Keith

That's old news, here's a picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hornby_HST_43087-02.jpg Keith

Well, that's the rub. It is this 'atmospheric' thing (just because it is B/W) that I don't get. If I turn the colour off on my TV is it more atmospheric? I get 'atmospheric' colour shots because they I what I see. Everywhere I look I see colour, even a damp, foggy, cold day with it's much reduced contrast still has some colour. The little remaining colour is what gives it, to me, atmosphere. If it was just B/W it wouldn't be the same. One of the most atmospheric films I have seen was Blade Runner and that was full colour. I also get art and some photography (both B/W and colour) can be high art e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._Winston_Link but a lot of what I see in B/W pictures does not seem to add anything by being B/W. I was an E4 man myself Keith

Both But I am prepared (obviously) to accept B/W when that was the technology of the day. I just don't get this idea that modern photograpghy in B/W has anything to offer over colour, in fact it reduces the amount of information we see in the picture. I have seen pictures taken on a modern hi-res digital camera presented in B/W. Why? I have never taken a B/W photograph in my life and I have had cameras for 50 years or so. Keith

As regarding B/W versions of colour films being used to reduce costs, presumably the same reason that the UK quite often got mono versions of American recordings originally made in stereo. These were then later given the reprocessing treatment here in the UK to produce a "stereo" version when the proper stereo master still existed in the States. Many of these duff recordings even made it to CD and only recently have some been released in proper stereo. Even some UK artists got the same treatment, Cat Stevens original stereo versions of the "Matthew & Son" album have recently seen light of day after many years of reprocessed versions. I personally like to buy collections of old recordings on the Ace (UK) label as you get what you are supposed to. Mono is mono and stereo is stereo, nothing else! Keith

Same with "Colourising" old B/W movies, in vogue a few years back. What's the point? Although I believe that as we see in colour we should photograph in colour. I don't find black and white "atmospheric" just plain dull. - But that's another argument. But what was done was done in the past, on the technology of the past, should be left alone. However, I think cleaning up old hissy/scratchy master recordings from long long ago can be worthwhile. (more controversy) Keith

Back to Music: How about "Electronically reprocessed for Stereo" How to ruin a perfectly good mono track with some dodgy filtering! To make it worse in some cases there were perfectly good stereo master tapes sitting in record company vaults. Keith

And don't forget when something catastrophic has taken place - "Lessons will be learned" until, of course, the next time the same catastrophic thing occurs. Keith

The greater problem is a lack of consistency around the UK. What's recycled im one local authority isn't at another. Recently I have lived in Birmingham, Cumbria (two authorities) and Worcestershire and they all have different policies regarding what can be recycled and how many bins to use! Worcestershire have an automatic sorting system (exactly the same as shown on TV a few months ago as being "a first", Worcestershire have had theirs for a couple of years) where all recyclables go in one bin. However it will not accept any black plastic even if it is the right type. Apparantly the one bin system has increased the recycling rate over multi-bin systems. Keith