h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello again, Mimi,

>>>>You like your smileys, don't you!

Not 'arf ! You can put that down to my first having been brought to h2g2 by MJ. I thought that, as she seems totally averse to them, it might be an idea to put in at least the odd one here and there (and there and there and....)

>>>>Whereabouts in London are you?

I ain't - Oops sorry - aren't! It's something like 37 years since I actually lived there. Even stopped working there (or anywhere for that matter) about 15 years ago. That reminds me; I must put those in water sometime before they start to wilt. Oh, how's that for good luck; here's just what I need (you wait 15years and then 3 come along all at once!!!!!!!!!)

Not my day today - keep getting interrupted so must dash again

Might eventually get back to Maths



Bxxxx

I'm back, Mimi, but I've no idea for how long.

>>>>When you type Bxxxx, I wonder.......

Yes, the xxxx does (do?) represent four letters (as do the xxx in Mrs P's name) but you have no need for concern - I am definitely not your Maths tutor (might be fun, though ). Tha actual real name has been correctly guessed on one of the "fun" MBs, but I have rather playfully (childishly if you prefer) not confirmed which guess was right (& I've only identified a few of the wrong ones as such).

There is still a "two-stage-removed" coincidence, though (whatever that might be) . One of my son-in-laws* is named Brian, and so was my late friend-next-door. Can't say, "neighbour" really ... he was a lot more than that.

Maths.....we've got there ...I think it would be a splendid idea for you and your son to do GCSE at the same time. You've obviously found the fun there isd in it and you could well pass that on to him (assuming he doesn't already enjoy it). Then there's the good-natured spirit of 'rivalry' (since "competition" has become a dirty word.......WHAT NONSENSE!!)......( didn't mean to shout) and the camaraderie of helping each other. You could well find, as I did, that everything has changed so much that you have to re-learn it (from him!!) in order to be able to help him fully understand it.

I can't help feeling that that previous paragraph is a masterpiece of how not to write.....but if you can unscramble it (it only needs to be read about 37 times or so ), you might just see what I mean. That's exactly what I had to do with my elder daughter, who managed to pass well despite her maths teacher. It was impossible to communicate to the bloomin' woman that her pupils would do better if she got them to understand what they were doing instead of teaching them al;most parrot-fashion. Even Tom Lehrer knew that!

Hi yet again, Mimi!!!!!!!!!

Sorry......yet again!!!!!!!

Pressed the 'post' button instead of the preview (and...how ironic...just as I was in the middle of a rant about understanding how to do things). You've probably had enough of that by now, anyway.

Finally: I do like "emoticonoclastic" ("Computer says no"). I have just had (playful) words with Jxxx about missing her chance in the "invented words" competition; she told me only a couple of days ago of a word she coined soon after my (step-) Parents moved to the West Country: "Grocklative" (= a Grockle who is also a relative). Googling it returned no hits at all.


I ain't arf been going on!!!! Now I'll just go.




Bxxxx
xx

PS >>>>One of my son-in-laws* The asterisk was so I could say that I prefer that pluralisation, whatever the current wisdom might be

Good evening all

I got back in mid-afternoon but I’ve only just finished dealing with the urgent stuff in my inbox. It looks like another weekend at the desk to catch up on all the work that came in while I was away. Never mind, it’s all credit for my extra holiday fund.

Dmitri Alexeev was very impressive last night. Very popular, too; I saw even fewer empty seats than for Angela Hewitt. He’s a real blood on the keyboard merchant; I’ve never heard ‘Kreisleriana’ played so dramatically and some of the Chopin pieces shook the room. I also picked up the DVD of ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’ by the Nederladse Opera (the production I saw in Amsterdam last year) for £12.

I share your disappointment at the deterioration of the WoM board, Achilles. It’s hard to see what can be done about it, though. I, and several others, did warn of the dangers some time ago. Whatever some people think, the Radio 4 boards are not social spaces; they are supposed to be dedicated to a programme or, at the very least, a programme’s subject. Obviously an element of social interaction is inevitable but it’s been clear for some time that some people saw nothing wrong with using the boards primarily as social spaces. Not only did this tend to dilute the proper content of the discussions to a degree that was unacceptable to many contributors but it’s pretty obvious that a social space without proper regulation can turn into an anti-social space. I saw this happen with Today, Woman’s Hour, Questions Questions and The Choice is Yours and I stopped posting on all of them. I packed all the boards in for a while and WoM is the only one I’ve returned to in any serious way. It’s clear that disputes from other places are now being imported to WoM. I know nothing of the one Mimi mentions but it looks like I spoke too soon about Jean resisting the temptation to have a dig at Jerri & sim (I loved your proverb, Mr-p but I do wish sim weren’t in it! Let’s hope Jean doesn’t pick up on that); Jerri, in turn, is no longer restricting himself to observations about words for homesexuality but is giving us the benefit of his views on the phenomenon of homosexuality. I, for one, wish both he & Jean, if they can’t cease & desist, would keep it for Woman Sour, whose board is probably beyond redemption now. I also noted that on my own neglected ‘Blasphemy’ thread Jean was super quick to tell Preacher off for making comments about WH but made no attempt to address the linguistic aspect of my question – which I should have thought was right up her street. Maybe I’m being ultra-suspicious but I suspect she could give a fairly authoritative answer but doesn’t like the implications of that answer.

Anyway, that’s enough for now. I shan’t mention the football, Mimi.


bye for now

H

Mr-p, Tom is quite a respected academic so the "even" is a bit questionable.

Best wishes
Achilles

Good Evening H

First, many thanks for your comment on my proverb; much appreciated.

I'm glad you enjoyed your music.

>>>>>He’s a real blood on the keyboard merchant; I’ve never heard ‘Kreisleriana’ played so dramatically and some of the Chopin pieces shook the room.

I don't know whether you are old enough (and I'm not prying/trying to find out), but if you are, did you ever have the pleasure of hearing/seeing Horowitz live? If ever there was a "blood on the keyboard merchant" he was one. Also a bit unpredictable in that, whilst you could be sure of a masterly performance overall, you were on the edge of your seat the whole time, wondering when/if he would "take off" in an overenthusiastic flight of fancy including not a few wrong notes and the occasional "drumbeat" from a pedal. At the other extreme he could charm birds from trees with a soft flowing melody perfect in every respect. What I found extraordinary was how incredibly strong his fingers must have been - he could produce a thunderous sound with very little movement above the wrist. If the sound could have been muted in some way, it would have been hard to tell whether he was in the pp or ff region.

Oh dear, I've been on one of my hobbyhorses again and, to make it worse, one for which I don't have an adequate vocabulary. I hope, despite that, that I've managed to convey at least some of the sense of what I'm on about.

Bxxxx

Hello Achilles,

We haven't had a very long relationship (hopefully I can add, "yet" ), so you probably didn't realise that was my attempt to be ironic. I hope I didn't mislead anyone.

Bxxxx

Good evening, All. I don't usually listen to the Afternoon Play butI did today and was so moved by it that I posted this http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbradio4/F2766771?thread=4073581 on the Drama and Readings board, my first visit to it. D

Good evening all

I’m old enough to have seen Horowitz, Mr-p, but I never did. A friend who saw him many times said Evgeny Kissin reminded him of Horowitz – perhaps because of his flashiness and tendency to take chances. I’ve heard Kissin play Kreisleriana, though, and it wasn’t nearly as impressive as last night’s reading. I do like Kissin – he certainly made the Albert Hall ring when he did the march from ‘The Love for Three Oranges’ as an encore at last season’s Proms – but I get the impression he won’t go down in history as a great pianist as Horowitz clearly has done. Alexeev, on the other hand, is not the great showman that Kissin is and Horowitz apparently was; but he seems a more mature musician to my admittedly untrained ears.

I plan to go back to that Afternoon Play, Douglas. I had it on this afternoon but the phone was ringing every few minutes so I couldn’t follow it properly. I’m more likely to have Radio 3 on by that time in the afternoon but I never even got round to changing stations today, so busy have I been. I have heard a couple of good Afternoon Plays recently, though. I was captivated by Mark Lawson’s ‘Expand This’ a fortnight or so ago; which is quite surprising because I don’t like him as a journalist. As regards your coments on 'The Price of a Fish Supper': I don't want to get into politics here but I, too, am appalled at the way productive industry has just been abandoned all over the country. We seem to have politicians who believe we can base an economy on taking in each other's washing and I'm afraid I'm just too traditional to consider that a viable policy.

Bye for now

H

Hey Mr-p,

In case you don't find it straightaway because the Proverbs thread is going a bit crazee, I put one up there dedicated to you (no. 246).

Have just had the worst week of my life as far as family drama/melodrama is concerned but it's all sorting itself out now.

And West Ham won yesterday, still clinging on precariously H, but I am Well Happy about that.

Going out to make the most of continuing beautiful weather - back later.

Love
Mimi

Very sorry to hear that, Mimi. If you pop into the Bull I'll buy you a skipful.

Best wishes
Achilles

(oops, not now -- off to bed!)

BW
A

Good evening all

<>

I'm sorry to hear that, Mimi. I thought things were looking up last time you mentioned family matters. I hope things do sort themselves out soon. Has your mum got any better?


<>

Yes, and we did you a favour too, I think; and with games against Charlton and Fulham we have the opportunity to do you two more before the season's over. Fulham have to play Arsenal as well so the relegation struggle is closely connected to the battle for third place.

<>

I've given up looking. Over the last few day there seem to have been as many slogans as proverbs.

I hope you enjoyed your walk, Mimi. The skies have clouded over here and it's been raining intermittently.

bye for now

H

Hello again H



<>
""I've given up looking. Over the last few day there seem to have been as many slogans as proverbs.""

Yes; rather a shame because there is the occasional gem hidden in there. It's a pity people don't realise you can't appreciate a diamond when it's covered in coal-dust despite the fact that they are composed of the same element.

>>>>>>>>games against Charlton and Fulham

Would that be the same Charlton my neighbour supports.....the one that used to be called "Charlton Nil" ? (They had to change the name when they started scoring goals. They're now named "Charlton Lost")

Bxxxx

If Mimi reads this, NB No smileys this time

Hi Mimi

Many thanks for the proverb I hope you realise that by dedicating it to me you have probably alienated certain people

>>>>>>>> I am Well Happy.
Wot sorta lingo's tha' fer a HLTA???????? I Arkses Yer!!!!!!!!!


Moment of seriousness: "......but it's all sorting itself out now."

I really do hope so. Sometimes things somehow have to get worse before they get better. Please do keep us posted.

Luv
Bxxxx

First of all, really sorry to read that about your "family drama" Mimi and hope that things do continue to improve. It's like an escape to a safe haven isn't it, coming onto this board as Mimi/MJ/HtoHe/Achilles/Mr-pedantic/And-oh no not you, you're not in disguise! - when things in "real life" are getting tough.

Too much still to do for tomorrow so can't linger long - have a good week everyone. Our good weather's having a break and the garden's getting a much-needed drink. Just hope we don't have rain at playtime...

MJ
xxx

Good evening, All.

<>

Neither do I, but this is not party political. They're all at it.

D

Oh Douglas! I forgot you - how could I!!! But I'd have written Doug- no, not you as you're not in diguise, or some such nonsense...wishing now we could edit our previous posts - but then I'd be forever deleting what I'd written as it's too silly...

MJ
xxx

No offence taken, MJ
Good night, All.
D

<>

It could be, Mr-p; did he also support a cricket team I used to follow called England Collapse, who have been making a bit of a comeback recently?

I'll probably get round to 'The Price of a Fish Supper' tomorrow, Douglas. I do agree with you, though, that none of the political parties seems to think it's important to produce things any more. I don't wish to denigrate service industries - I make my own living from one at the moment - but I can't see a bright future for a country with no factories, mines, shipping etc.

I hope you're well, MJ. Heard any good concerts recently?

goodnight all

H