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

Hi MJ

<< caught the last 10 mins of that NTB Butterfly thing and found it all distinctly unfunny too>>

Puerile is, I think, the word we want. On a vaguely related subject, I remember hearing that, although Bert Brecht was thought to be responsible for the words and Kurt Weill the music in their collaborations, the 'Benares Song' from 'Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny' was conceived by Brecht. Apparently he instructed KW to construct a song using the tunes of 'There is a Tavern in the Town' and 'One Fine Day'.

Pity about Man Utd, Mimi. Never mind, we'll extract revenge!

goodnight all

' Evening Mimi,

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It's been a long time since they were a proper team , but I've supported them ever since those days. I also support Arsenal, whom I thought I heard you cheering for? Can't imagine why Good old "Charlton lost" did it again , I see.

I think the three year old Cheeky Monkey next door must be a Hammers fan - she was out in the garden yesterday with a bubble-blowing toy that just churns 'em out forever.

Bxxxx

Good evening all

I hope you're all enjoying the weekend. I've been working hard so I can take Wed-Fri off. At this rate I'll have got through to June without touching my holiday allowance.

Things are going well for the Hammers aren't they, Mimi? Unfortunately Liverpool didn't do you any favours on Saturday, but after today's result you must have a chance against Man Utd, who now need nothing from their last game. Then there's the small matter of the threatened court action. Do you really support Chelski, Mr-p? I never used to hate them: we traditionally hated Man Utd & Everton (and Italy & Argentina) but the rampant commercialism and the enthusiatic adoption of what used to be called gamesmanship, but is now better called by its real name - cheating - by Chelsea has changed my opinion. I do like Arsenal, though; a far more wholesome side.

I'll be around tomorrow (working hard and looking in every half hour!) if anyone else is.

goodnight all

H

Hello fellow football fans, H and B

West Ham still giving me a rosy glow - they know when to pull it out of the hat . Son thinks Man U will probably have a lot of reserves playing for their final match, once the premiership is in the bag, so WH could finish the season in truly heroic style.
Mr-p - I used to love Chelsea, even lived in a flat overlooking their ground for a while (owned by Ken Bates' son) - they just seemed to lose all their 'character' in a footbally sense, if you know what I mean...!

Back tomorrow,

Love
Mimi



PS Have you seen there is another lyrics thread on WoM ...? MG was the first to reply, then me ... how predictable was that?

Good evening all

I've finally finished the project that kept me busy all over the long weekend and now I'm off for the rest of the week. No rest yet, though; I've got my packing to do so I'm ready to go away tomorrow morning. I'm recording Channel 4's 'The Seven Sins of England' in case it'a any good but I'm not that hopeful. The idea that public drunkenness and anti-social behaviour is nothing new is...nothing new. Anyone with even a slight knowledge of, say, Victorian social history knows that. It would be more interesting to investigate why we have extended periods of voluntary restraint such as the 1950s 60s & 70s. I know those decades had the Teds, the Mods & Rockers riots and other unsavoury events but they seemed to lack the constant low level debauchery we see today or read about in the late 19th Century. Must continue packing now. I'll look in again later.

H

Hello H,

Can't have this dropping off the front of my page here so this can await your return - not sure when that is. So you've been into a cyber cafe in Santander ... see, I do read your WoM threads, even if I don't contribute!!
I hope the weather is a lot better for you than it is here - particularly wild, wet and windy. Has been for last few days - much the same predicted for the next few, nationwide. Looks as though the April showers are a bit late!

More later.

Love
Mimi
xxxx

Good afternoon all

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I usually try to keep up by popping into an internet cafe wherever I am - cheaper than buying English papers for one thing - but this one didn't do sessions shorter than an hour so I thought I'd use up the credit by replying to David's rather silly assumption that we sports fans would be awfully confused by the pronunciation of Ajax.

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The weather was wonderful on Thursday, Mimi; pleasantly warm with a gentle breeze - i.e. probably the equivalent of arctic conditions for the locals! Yesterday was a bit too hot for my liking, especially as I had to check out of my hotel by 1200 and wasn't flying until 2150. Still, I managed to get out of the sun in a restaurant at lunchtime, the fascinating archeological museum in the afternoon and, of course, the internet cafe in the early evening. I got back very late last night, as you can imagine.

Do you think the Hammers will get a result against Man U tomorrow? What about the possibility that Sheff Utd will contrive to lose to Wigan by a small margin so WH get relegated if they don't get a point at Old Trafford? I know you like conspiracy theories! There seems to be no hope for Mr-p's Charlton, though.

must dash now

back later

H

Good afternoon all

Just a quick one to congratulate West Ham (hope I'm not speaking too soon with the threatened court action!). I see Sheff Utd did contrive to give Wigan a slight victory but West Ham spoiled the party by not losing at Old Trafford. Here's a brilliant conspiracy theory for you, Mimi. Sheffield Utd offered to let Wigan go one goal up as long as Wigan let them equalise if West Ham weren't losing with five minutes to go. But Wigan ratted on the deal. Well, it's as likely as any of the 9/11 conspiracy theories!

What happened to Charlton nil, Mr-p? You nearly cost us third place there! Let's hope you're back soon.

Hello again H
and Mimi

You really must keep up to date, H ! Two mistakes in two messages is (are? ) two two many. Sorry - too many twos

I'll explain: You first referred to Charlton as "Mr P's." No way - I wouldn't have 'em as a gift. It's a friend/neighbour who supports them (Well, somebody has to ).

The second mistake is being not one but two name-changes behind. I think I mentioned before that they were renamed "Charlton Lost" from their old "Charlton Nil". They have since had a further slight change . They are now "Charlton Lostergenn" (Hard 'g').

Seriously, though, well done the 'Ammers. Keep it up.

Bxxxx

Hi Mr-p

Sincere apologies for accusing you of being a Charlton supporter! There are still a few teams I'd rather see relegated than Charlton, though. "Charlton Lostergenn" didn't turn up at Anfield today either, as it happens.

Hello H - welcome back! - and Mr-p,

UP THE HAMMERS!!! I'm such a happy person tonight, I'm sure you'll both forgive me this blatant bit of self-indulgence (even managed to get a message in on WoM as well, thanks to MG!).

Can't stay now - btw, H, I'm absolutely astounded at how long the 'BBC Pronunciation' thread is. I bet you didn't expect it to stir up such emotions (or maybe you did).

'Night, night

Love
Mimi
xxxx
xxxx

Good evening all

<>

There's always a risk involved in even suggesting that a usage is 'wrong' and, as we see, the usual suspects are out in force. Truth to tell, I can't help finding some of the attitudes rather patronising but I'm not going to start questioning the motivation of my fellow posters.

I'm off to London tomorrow. Last concert of the season - The Nash Ensemble with chamber music by Mozart, Poulenc & Beethoven. I got my Proms requests in last night - nearly £300 in all so I'll have to start collecting from my pals before the payment goes through!

I might be back on Wednesday but if I have to go straight to Amsterdam from London you might not hear from me until next Monday.

goodnight

H

Have a good trip, HtoHE, but be careful you don't go to Amstelveen by mistake.

D

Thank you, Douglas. I think Amstelveen is the other side of the airport from where I'll be going but it's not a great distance. Still, thinking it was the Dutch name for Amsterdam showed lack of research. I'm glad you mentioned how universal the 'EyeYaks' pronunciation is; you'd really think someone like David would have asked around before making his rather odd assumption. No matter how strongly it fitted his linguistic theories it was, on all empirical measures, nonsense.

I'm not due in Amsterdam until the weekend but if I don't come home on Wednesday I might stay in London and fly from Gatwick or get the cheapo bus from Victoria.


I really must go to bed now.

H

Hello everyone. Hope you enjoyed your concert H. I'm feeling cosy here tonight with the wind howling and the rain lashing down out there. What happened to all that lovely sunshine of a couple of weeks ago???

SO glad this week's over. We had a Moderator in, going through all my Y2 work and Teacher Assessments and SATS results with a fine toothcomb. Or should that be a finetooth comb? Anyway, she was grilling me and a colleague for 2½ hours...and as she has a reputation for being a dragon I was very nervous in the build-up to this inspection. Thank goodness she pronounced us "Fully Compliant"!!! I took flowers in for all the others in our "team" today as without their help and support I wouldn't cope with the normal days there, let alone a Moderator's visit. A toast to TAs and SENCOs!!!

Good evening all

I’m glad to hear you’ve come through your testing time unscathed, MJ. How is everybody doing? I notice Mimi is discussing Chomsky’s ‘lad’ on WoM. Whatever would Mrs Doyle think?

I had a good trip to London and Amsterdam. The Nash Ensemble was on fine form. I presume the horn player will be the one taking the solo part in Britten’s ‘Serenade’ at the Proms in September; my tickets are on order for that. On Saturday night we saw a rather less accomplished (imho, of course) ensemble - the Uriël Ensemble – in the 17th century Amstelkerk; and yesterday it was ‘Die Gezeichneten’ at the Opera. Neither event was really wonderful – like, say, last year’s ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’ – but both were enjoyable.

I don’t know whether or not to come back on some of the more general points in the ‘BBC pronunciation’ thread. I think there’s an important point to be hammered home in that some posters seem to underestimate the public’s willingness and ability to cope with foreign names. And David still seems convinced that it’s only our English ears causing us to notice the ‘mispronunciation’ – despite the fact that the discussion was initiated by my Dutch friend, and Dorinelle clearly hears the same stresses I do (and even edithr says “the journalists seem to use a common pattern of stressing the second syllable which doe not correspond to the French accent.”) Or maybe I’ll just leave it.

bye for now

H

Hi H,

Just a quick visit before I go anywhere else. Glad to hear you had a good trip, now you'll be getting yourself prepared for the big match tomorrow night - I hope to be watching as well and cheering on your team.
(I heard on the news earlier today that the police are going to use paint-balls on any trouble-makers ... radical!!).

I expect you have noticed it, but in case you haven't, 'Imagine' tonight is on Scott Walker.

Back later,

Mimi
xxxx

Good evening all

<>

Of course, Mimi. I hope you manage to see it too.

<<'Imagine' tonight is on Scott Walker>>

I caught most of it. I don't know that much about SW. He's one of those problematic characters - like Patti Smith - who leave me wondering whether there's something just below the surface that I'll pick up on if I persevere; or whether I'm just being taken for a ride! Even the documentary had a touch of the 'Rock Profiles' about it. Of course, Walker has the big plus factors of being influenced by one of my favourites (Jacques Brel) and being admired by several people whose work I admire in turn (David Bowie, Ute Lemper etc). And, of course, I know you're a big fan so I hope you enjoyed the programme.

I'm off to bed in ten.

goodnight all

H

Good afternoon all

Just dropped in with a quick message for MJ if she's around. I seem to remember your saying you'd never heard 'Duke Bluebeard's Castle' so I thought I'd mention that 'Performance on 3' this evening consists of a performance of this magnificent work. Sorry about the short notice - it starts at 1900 - but it should be well worth a listen.

back later

H

Hello H,

Seems like a long time since I've paid a visit - so, without further ado, I shall make up for it now. All quiet here - wonder if MJ has gone away for half-term? The weather was absolutely lousy up until today, when summer seems to have made a brief reappearance, and I've been busy sorting out all those things I aim to do during other holiday periods until I get distracted by message boards indoors and lovely weather outdoors!

Have you been watching 'The Seven Ages Of Rock'? I missed the first one, apart from the last 10 mins. This week's I was determined to see, as Bowie featured prominently in the trailers. It was a lovely surprise to see quite a lot of Peter Gabriel as well - someone phoned just as they were showing the footage of PG (some of which I had not seen before) so I had to watch the repeat (managed without any interruptions!!). I have not been able to get Bowie's song 'Five Years' out of my head since then (I'm not sure why!).

That's all for now - will look in again later.

Love
Mimi
xxxx