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

Hello All,

What a wonderful bunch of friends I have here - thank you for ALL those kind messages, which have given me a very warm glow (well, that and a glass of Calvados if I'm honest!).

I can also honestly say that what was a very rocky road has now turned into a smoother path. Nothing to do with my Mum (who's unwell some days and ok others so it's a bit difficult to say how she is) or sisters - all home-based. You'll understand why I don't want to mention anything re o/h but that aside, daughter was put 'on report' at school for being continually disruptive (she was always the model pupil at Primary) and son decided to take two days off school and go and do a bit of labouring to earn some money!! Despite my disapproval, part of me just can't help admiring his initiative in a funny sort of way!

Now, I'm sure I should have answered some specific points from your messages earlier but it's late so I'll try and come back tomorrow.

Thanks again



Mimi

Good evening all

Another busy day for me. I still haven't had a chance to listen to that play, Douglas, but I'll get round to it. Today's Afternoon Play cries out for my attention, too; all I know is that it features Ardal O'Hanlon, Frank Kelly and Jim Norton, but since they are Fathers Dougal and Jack and Bishop Brennan from 'Father Ted' I must give it a go.


<>

I'd concentrate on the disapproval, Mimi. I'm not normally a stickler for rules & regs but if someone's ignoring the law to the extent of employing schoolboys as labourers you've got to ask how seriously they take health & safety. I hope things continue to look up for you. I presume your daughter is at a new school in which case she's not the first to act out of character until she gets used to unfamiliar people and surroundings.

bye for now

H

Hello H,

Thanks for mentioning yesterday's Afternoon Play - I think I will have to listen to that as well!

Just to clarify on my son's misdemeanours - the builder who employed him thought he was 17, he went with a friend who's 2 years older and it is perfectly feasible that the guy did not think twice about my son's age, he does look like a young man rather than a child.
(Just to digress for a moment, I'm quite taken aback by the Year 6 children in my school - loads of them are REALLY tall, could easily pass for mid-teens).
O/h and I were very concerned about the safety/insurance aspect as well and really impressed this upon him, don't worry!!
You're right about my daughter as well (oh wise one!) - the secondary school is HUGE compared to the Juniors (and my school is the biggest Junior school in Brighton) and, although the basic principles are the same, the dynamics of it are very different - all those different teachers, levels of management etc. But on top of that, she has got quite insolent to some of the teachers, has been disruptive, doesn't get all her homework done on time and was reported to her Head of Year by a former friend, accused of being a bully!!

Bye for now,
Love
Mimi



PS to mr-p -

Very happy to hear your proverb on this week's WoM and also have been having a good chuckle at your exchange with m-r on the Proverbs thread - just brilliant!

Marchesa is trying to turn into a pussycat now ..... no hope (miaow!)

Mimi

Sorry mr-p, I forgot to mention this:
when Malagrowther posted no. 264, the preceding one from m-r was hidden - every one since then from her has been MARKEDLY different.

I'd better shut up now, I'm beginning to sound a bit smug - sorry everyone!!

Dear Mimi,
I had similar problems to those you're having with your daughter when son no.1 was in Y8 last year. He'd had a tough time in Y7 as his best friends, who were in his form and all his subject classes, turned against him for no apparent reason and bullied him. (Particularly shocking for me as his best friend was always round here for meals, days out etc in previous years.)Anyway, my D was moved into the other half of the school and made a fresh start. But he made some undesirable (from my point of view) friends and he started to clown about and disrupt lessons, was put on report, continued to be a nuisance in some classes, played truant one day, and finally, was caught stealing sweets from a local shop, which resulted in him missing a school trip to France. All very upsetting for all of us. He's turned himself round though and has, on the whole, been pretty well-behaved so far in Y9.

Sorry, went on a bit there. Other people's little children at school are somewhat easier to cope with, however naughty they are! Much easier when you're not emotionally involved. I do hope your daughter sees sense soon Mimi and behaves herself; I know how frustrating it must be for you.

Little R wants me to play a game with her so I'd better go now.

Love Jane
xxx

Hi Mimi,

Thanks for your kind words on both counts. I'm afraid I missed WoM last night and had to record it this PM as we had somebody round for the afternoon. Did eventually listen to it, though, on headphones (both commas necessary!!!!!!!!! - 'cos you like 'em???????????). When I heard "Mr Pedantic" and my Sims prov, I let out a whoop which almost lifted Jxxx out of her chair the other side of the room.

On the matter of the WoM subject(s) and presenter I was disappointed that the programme is so short. There was easily enough potential in that one to have made two hours of programme (or even more). Plenty of fodder for at least two of my hobby-horses. Might even tell you how one of them helped me to a promotion many years ago.

If I may encroach on the 'daughter' subject? I'll have to be very economical with words here. Years ago, similar age, similar symptoms,
tough love (not physically), very little result, major frustration, change of direction (to vocational), great improvement (though with lapses), won prizes. Total period of difficulty was about eight years. I imagine yours will be a lot less (certainly hope so), because ours had further complications I can't talk about here. But the point is that it all came out right in the end. We're good friends now and the whole extended family is one I'm proud of. I'm not intending to preach but I fear I may be doing just that. All I'm really saying is it happens to a lot of us and it always feels far worse at the time than it actually is. Just don't close any doors.

Now, if you want to, tell me to shut up; I won't mind.

Good luck with the "footie" (don't you hate that word?) Jxxxx and I were trying to assess your chances and decided that, on balance, you'll probably escape by a narrow margin.

calls, so must

Luv
Bxxxx

Mimi,

Some apologies are called for here

First, the PC was on a go-slow while I was writing the last message, so I didn't realise you would actually get Jane's before mine. I'd have left it to her if I'd known.

Second, I omitted to mention that the further complications included an accident, illness, and lack of a totally united front from Jxxx and me, as well as yet another which I can't even hint at here. I do so hope I haven't given you the impression that it will necessarily take a long time to sort itself out.

Perhaps I should have taken my own advice: "think twice; then don't."

luv
Bxxxx

Good evening all

<>

Well, I don’t want to labour this point, Mimi, but he only needs to think once to check someone’s papers or references. Of course, if your son was offering false references the guy would be less culpable – though the authorities wouldn’t see it that way. Did you see Man Utd this evening? The final score was far better than I was expecting on the evidence of the first half. I think they have a reasonable chance of coming out of the second leg in front now.

Did anyone see this story?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6586879.stm

I couldn’t think of an excuse to put it on WoM so I’m posting it here. If you don’t know what the restaurant’s name means in French slang………you haven’t got much imagination! Let’s just say there’s a reason why Zinedine Zidane is called ‘zizou’ rather than the more obvious nickname. What is it with London restaurants anyway? It seems only yesterday that Boris Becker set the scene for a famous paternity suit with a ‘one minute stand’ in the broom cupboard of an establishment called Nobu!

bye for now

H

Blimey! It gets confusing when you have to reply to more than one message here (not that I'm complaining...).

Thanks MJ - yours was very reassuring. My son had a bad year in Yr 8 as well (it's notorious for kids going off the rails - more so than other years, I believe). I would say he has settled down since then but, as you can tell, it's not all plain sailing! And yours too, mr-p, despite its obscurity (I do, of course, understand the reason for this). By the way, I wouldn't ever tell you to shut up either, even in a jokey way. And thanks for the good wishes for WH (going back to a previous message, that 'Well Happy' expression was just a play on the WH - but you probably realised that and were just being playful!) - I'm not counting any chickens, just crossing everything that can be crossed until the end of the season! And I have no objection to the word 'footie' either (probably because it reminds me of 'playing footsies" ).

Now, H - still with football, I didn't watch Man U tonight, too busy. I don't watch all that many European matches, to be honest.
Errant son did not produce any papers, false or otherwise, to do the work - his friend is doing a B-Tech in carpentry and it was his work placement so he's kosher but I don't think my son was asked to take anything (maybe because it was just for 2 days - not that this would excuse it but it makes it more understandable).

As for your news story - ooooooh, that made my toes curl! And I don't know what the name of the restaurant means either - yes, I DO have an imagination so I can guess a few possibilities but I'm very sweet and innocent really (just ask mr-p!!) - and I can live without knowing, you don't have to give me lots of clues (well, you can give me a cryptic one if you like!).

Love
Mimi

Hello everyone,

It's a wonderful sunny morning and I've just been watching a robin going absolutely demented in one of the birdbaths ("splash it all over", if anyone remembers that ) while a pigeon (is that how you spell it?) is just sitting doing absolutely nowt in another.

I hope you all have a good day.

That's really about all I wanted to say this time.

Luv Bxxxx

Good evening all

Liverpool aren’t doing too well so far. At least they’ve brought Crouch on now so we’ll see what happens.

<>

You can look it up here, Mimi.

http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/dictionary/

I should tell you the word I’m thinking of isn’t usually written with a double ‘z’ – but it isn’t usually written!

The new Proms programme is online now, MJ.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2007/whatson/week1.shtml

The 'Götterdämmerung' (Aug 12) looks even more unmissable than the earlier parts of the Proms ‘Ring’. The late night tangos with Maxim Vengerov look interesting. Does anything appeal to you at first glance?

bye for now

H

Evening everyone,

Thanks for the Proms link H. I'll probably enjoy quite a few of those on the radio - of course my eye caught the ones I'm bound to enjoy eg no.s 59 and 60, with their Tchaik & Prokofiev then R Strauss & Sibelius 2 but I've also spotted Britten's Tenor, Horn and Strings Serenade which I rather like now and on the Last Night the Fu..cí..k*
Entrance of the Gladiators I heard mentioned on the radio earlier today which will be fun! Mind you I don't usually bother with the Last Night.

I wish I hadn't clicked on your restaurant link!

Got to go, goodnight everyone, sleep well.

MJ
xx
*PS My message has been blocked because a word is offensive... must be that composer of the March of the Gladiators!!!

Good evening all,

That French Dictionary appears to be just what I have been looking for.
Among the links to newspaper articles I noticed "Ségolène Royal propose à François Bayrou de débattre vendredi."

I think that "débattre" looks much more physical than 'debate'!

If you require a Scottish dictionary, try this one,
http://www.dsl.ac.uk/
but you may find it giving so much academic detail that you may find the trees obscuring the wood.

I've just had the quickest of glances at the Prom prog.
Prom. 6 Late night 17th July looks my cup of tea but I'm booked for some performances at the Buxton Festival about then so I may finish listening to it in the car. In mid-August, I shall be in Edinburgh for a few nights at the Festival there.

D

<< That French Dictionary appears to be just what I have been looking for>>

I’m glad it’s of use, Douglas. Thanks for the Scottish one. I agree about ‘débattre’. It must be related to ‘se battre’, to fight, so it does have more of a physical tinge.

<< I'm booked for some performances at the Buxton Festival>>

I saw ‘Candide’ there a few years ago. That opera house is amazing. I’d never been there before even though I used to visit Buxton frequently when friends lived there. I must look up the festival website to see what’s on this year.

<< R Strauss & Sibelius 2>>

I’ve got my eye on that, too; and the other Jansons Prom the following day with Beethoven 9 – which also seems to be on the programme for Prom 1.

<< I've also spotted Britten's Tenor, Horn and Strings Serenade>>

I missed that first time round, thanks for drawing my attention to it. I see it’s Andrew Kennedy and the Nash Ensemble (we have the NE at the concert soc. next month). Should be good. The Cadogan Hall is an ideal venue for it, too. I must try to get there.

Good match lined up for Anfield next week after tonight’s result, Mimi. I was rather afraid that Chelsea might have put it beyond us, but the 2nd half was very different from the 1st.

Goodnight all

Good evening all, Starting this thread this morning http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbradio4/F2213235?thread=4093300&latest=1 seems to have been a case of 'light the blue touch paper and retire immediately'. I had been intending to reply this evening but that board appears to close early as all the reply buttons have disappeared. D

Good evening all


<>

It's not the kind of board I'd frequent, Douglas; but I remember from my brief flirtation with the 'Today' boards they all closed at 1800. Maybe 'Religion & Ethics' is the same.

I got round to hearing 'The Price of a Fish Supper' at last. Very poignant. I also had a quick look at the Buxton Festival brochure. Several of the events appeal to me but I'm a bit disappointed that they don't give a programme for Felicity Lott's concert. Much as I like her, I'm not booking blind and letting myself in for 90 minutes of Mozart; Strauss, Debussy or Poulenc would be a different matter. I see 'La Voix Humaine' is on at some point. I might try and go for that and/or the Schubert String 5tet.

I must finish my packing now - off to London tomorrow for a colleague's leaving do. I'll be back on Saturday or Sunday.

goodnight all

H

Hello, Douglas

I just wish to commend your bravery? in joining the "Arithmetical Linguistics" thread . You never mentioned, as far as I know, that you had a masochistic streak.

I wrote out some fairly wordy comments about your decision to start "The Catholic Church" (and about H's comments thereon), but, following my own advice this time, decided against posting them. Instead I'll just say that I have frequently made the same point to Mrs P (aka Jxxx)

Bxxxx

Good evening, HtoHe.

'Religion and Ethics' I find does close at 1800. I like doing the odd bit of stirring there now and then.

Catherine Czerkawska, who wrote 'The Price of a Fish Supper', has posted on that thread to say that it was Ayr harbour she had had in mind. Have you ever been to Ayr ?

D

Good evening Mr-p,

I'm happy to stick my neck out from time to time and I don't expect anyone to come round to duff me up because of what I say.

I'm not all that sure what I do believe - I describe myself as a semi-detached presbyterian - but I have some strong views on what I don't believe.

My favourite texts are 'Holy Willie's Prayer'
http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/holy_willies_prayer.htm
and 'Address to the Unco Guid'
http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/address_to_the_unco_guid.htm

If you are not already acquainted with them, I think you will find them worth reading.

D

>>>I'm happy to stick my neck out from time to time and I don't expect anyone to come round to duff me up because of what I say.

Oooh bit risky Douglas - I know where you live!!!