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

Good evening all

Pity about the Champions League, eh, Mimi. I could ask why Zenden was picked at all, why Crouch wasn't brought on earlier when Pennant & Gerard were ripping Milan apart on the wings and feeding...nobody and why Alonso was left on for so long when it was clear very early that he was a liability. But I'll just say that, in a way, it was just like 2005 - the best team lost!

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I hope she listened to 'Duke Bluebeard's Castle'. It's still on 'Listen Again' but it won't be there forever. If I understand the system I think it will drop off when it's replaced by next Monday's 'Performance on 3'

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I've had half an ear to it. I thought you'd like the Peter Gabriel and David Bowie stuff. I'm always a bit disappointed when they do an extensive piece on Pink Floyd and fail to mention the superb 'Atom Heart Mother'. I know Waters claims he hates it, but I don't believe him. And I always listen carefully in case anyone mentions the fact that 'Echoes' on 'Meddle' uses the melody of the Beatles' 'Across the Universe' almost unchanged. It seems so obvious to me but nobody else seems to notice. The title 'Echoes' is a massive clue (and a defence against charges of plagiarism!) but I never seem to hear anyone discussing what the echoes might be. The single word 'Albatross' in the opening line could be a reference to Peter Green's wonderful instrumental track which would have been fresh in everyone's memory at the time; and the driving bass motto is straight out of Hendrix's 'Angel'. Any others? The bit that nearly sent me scurrying to the loft to dig out my old cassette copies, though, was the little excerpt from 'All Tomorrow's Parties'. Now there was a great song; truly original and innovative as well as powerful and accessible.

That's enough nostalgia for now!

back later

H

Hello H,

<<Pity about the Champions League, eh, Mimi.</quote>

Couldn't agree more with your analysis - it was still a much more exciting match than the FA Cup Final!!
Will you be watching England v. Brazil?
What about all the hoo-ha over a possible knighthood for DB? Sir David and Lady Victoria Beckham .... please, no!
And now I'm off to post another message to you in a different place ...

Love
Mimi
xxxx

Mimi and H,

>>>>>...it was still a much more exciting match than the FA Cup Final!!

Believe it or not, after all my preliminary enthusiasm, I couldn't even be bothered to watch it. I had better things to do!! Not only that; I didn't find out the score until HOURS afterwards and when I saw an opportunity to watch a replay/highlights, what I saw was enough to cause me to turn it off altogether.

Bring back proper football, I say. I still remember seeing a Kingstonians' match (so long ago I don't care to put a number of years to it!!) which was much better football and played in a much better spirit - - - even though K's were beaten (10 - nil !!!)

Bxxxx

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No she hasn't!
Quite busy at the moment - trying not to spend too much time on the MBs but I do pop in the Hue Room now and again, even if I don't post.

Heard some of Duke BB but it's not on my list of Must-Listen-Tos!!!!!!!!

Had a really nice sunny day out at the Chestnut Centre (www.ottersandowls.co.uk but I haven't looked there yet)with my 3 kids plus 2 more. Gorgeous otters, especially the really playful young Giant otter Manoki. Last time, we saw their lovely old Giant otter Anya but we were sad to learn that she'd recently died. The owls, from all over the world (Achilles, do you have Boobooks?), were lovely too - not doing a lot but that's what they're good at in the daytime. One of our young friends had brought his binoculors with him which were great for close up views of the owls' plumage.

Hope you're all keeping well,

Jane
XXX

Good evening all

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Half-watching would, I think, describe it Mimi.

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Am I behind on my scandal sheets? I haven’t seen/heard this hoo-ha

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Well you won’t get me advocating ennoblement but I don’t see why this pair are worse candidates than average. I believe they’ve got their own thrones and crowns leftover from the wedding, too, so that should save the taxpayer a few bob. And haven’t they got a relatively stable marriage despite the best efforts of the media? Or AM I way behind on my scandal sheets? Is the Prince of Wales still seeing Lily Langtry? How is Sir Charles Dilke these days?

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Aren’t they sharing their ground with the Wombles that refused to go to MK, Mr-p? If you can get to New Malden why not go the whole way – I believe Corinthian Casuals are based up the road at Tolworth. Mark on the WoM board supports Prescot Cables but he also has a soft spot for amateurs, as witness his liking for Everton.

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It’s worth persevering, MJ. The performance isn’t that great but it’s adequate. I’d advise skipping Marin Alsop’s lengthy and, imho, not particularly illuminating intro. Perhaps she should stick to conducting. I’m glad you enjoyed your visit to the Chestnut Centre. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a giant otter so I found a video of some wild ones:

http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Pteronura_brasiliensis/Pteronura_brasiliensis_00.html?movietype=rpMed

Warning! They’re not vegetarian. It almost looks like a walrus from some angles, doesn’t it?

Well, I’m going to half-watch the 2nd half now.

Back later

H

That's nice footage of giant otters but you can't really get an idea of their immense size in that. They can grow up to 2m long - though the young one at the Chestnut Centre isn't quite full size yet. He was so endearing, squealing and whistling the whole time and leaping in and out of his very large pond. His favourite game was chasing his own tail in the water - he must have gone round at least 20 times whilst we were watching. The tiny Asian otters are also very playful - and vocal too! There are also European (which now seem to be called Eurasian) and Canadian otters.

Try googling "otters holding hands" if you want to see a very sweet video! They're sea otters in Vancouver. Ahhhhhh!

Night night,

MJ

Not personally.

Hello H,

Am half-watching the Sgt. Pepper remake programme while writing. Rather like the Kaiser Chiefs, who seem to be turning up all over the place at the moment, featured amongst others.

Seven Ages of Rock on Punk - yawn, all a bit predictable (must be getting old!).

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LOL!!

(Ooh, smileys, acronyms ... live dangerously, I say!).

Talking of Kingstonians, I used to know someone who is a dedicated supporter - through all kinds of trials and tribulations, as I seem to remember!

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Naughty, naughty, H! You know you wouldn't get away with that on WoM.

Off to London tomorrow but will try to look in again soon.

Love,
Mimi
xxxx



PS to MJ - Glad you've been having a good week ... end of the school year seems perilously close now, doesn't it?

Good evening all

I caught the end of Seven Ages of Rock. There's a repeat in the week isn't there? I'm not fond of punk itself but it seems to have had the historical task of shocking popular music back to life. We have to wonder if genuinely creative acts like Blondie & Elvis Costello would have been possible without something cathartic like the punk period. Prog Rock and Glam Rock were pretty much disappearing up their own backsides when punk came along. Was the programme very boring & predictable?

I also caught the end of the Sgt Pepper thing when I switched on to record 'Tommy'. I think Russell's film is musically inferior to the original LPs but it has its merits so I'm spending a DVD on it.

I hope all goes well in London tomorrow. Are you back at work on Monday? Will you be exercising your new right to search for & confiscate knives?

goodnight all

H

Good evening, HtoHe.

I agree that thread has got out of hand. It did cross my mind to say so there but decided it was time for me to quit it without further comment.
I had thought that my first post was a reasonable critique of the situation, though perhaps using the word 'fulminate' was like using Fulminate of Mercury. I had no idea it would raise such a storm and my attempts to justify it were getting nowhere.

I see JH has now given you a 'Not me, chum' reply.

D

Hello H and Douglas,

Yes, THAT thread - tempestuous waters, eh? According to my front page here, there are 76 posts since I last logged in (a couple of days ago!). The one that puzzles me is no. 267 from 'U8638826 - Banned' - that HAS to be Spesh, doesn't it (all lower case as well, her customary style) - MOST uncalled-for and if it is ss, I'm quite shocked (and disappointed) because your comments weren't addressed to anyone but just a general statement. Why on earth would she turn on you like that?
Maybe this Ros Power character does have powers ......

Anyway, enough of that. I've had a funny old week at school - Arts Week - lots of getting messy in the process of being creative. It is mainly Art but takes in music, dance, literacy & digital art. My school is up for a Gold Artsmark award - no financial gain but a LOT of kudos! The theme was the elements and each year group had their own - mine was Fire.
It has been REALLY enjoyable but by today I'd had enough at lunchtime and was glad to be going home (I don't often feel like that!).

'Bye for now,

Love,
Mimi
xxxx

Hi Mimi, H and Douglas

I don't participate much nowadays in the serious MB threads, for several reasons (all of them good ones, if I may be permitted to be the judge of that).

However, I have been watching the thread from which you have withdrawn, and I was considering joining it, solely to pour oil on troubled waters ( I believe I have done that successfully a couple of times elsewhere ).

Don't get me wrong - I'm not a professional (or even amateur) "do-gooder" - I just don't like seeing the MBs used spitefully, which seems to happen all too often and for no discernible reason.

I eventually decided against joining the thread in question, largely because I have very strong views indeed and saw no reason to put them up for public debate in an "arena" when a "forum" would be more appropriate. I hope my pedantic distinction is understood, even if less less precise than I would wish

In short, "Good On Yer," you three. Thank you for preserving the standards.

Bxxxx

The distinction is well understood, Mr. P.
Your thanks are much appreciated.

D

Hi Douglas and Mr-p,

Likewise, sentiments expressed by Douglas.

I am so glad you decided not to enter into the fray, Mr-p - it felt like one huge man-trap to me and I certainly didn't want to see any more of my friends getting caught in it (even though you're right, you have shown yourself to be a good mediator in the past). This one is a real Pandora's Box ... and then some!! All I can say is, we should thank our lucky stars for David Crosbie!

I can't say I'll be taking a break completely but will not get drawn into any more discussions like that one, should they arise. It is so typical of a Woman's Hour/Today debate and, although there is genuine debating material surrounding language issues, the originator of the thread is an 'interloper' as far as I'm aware on WoM but apparently well-known to others. Alarm bells rang for me at the beginning, so I've only got myself to blame for getting involved!

Hope H comes back (here) soon.

Love
Mimi
xxxx

Good evening all

I don’t think I’ll be back on the R4 boards for a long time; indeed I’m not sure the boards will survive long enough to see my return. WoM was the last of the ones I used to frequent to keep a degree of integrity but this is at least the second time it’s been colonised by tedious controversialists. This time they seem to come mostly from Woman Sour though, for all I know, they might gather elsewhere too. I find their fourth-form arguments on sexual politics, nationalism etc so off-putting. I’ve seen them on Today, WH, QQ etc and even joined in for a while until it became clear that anyone old-fashioned enough to check facts, think things through and stick to the point was wasting their time. These boards were full of people presenting their cheap prejudices as holy writ. Now WoM is joining them and the regulars lack the power or the inclination to preserve the board’s integrity. I don’t see any reason to give thanks for David Crosbie. He has, it’s true, contributed reams on the linguistic matter of the thread but, iirc, he also joined in the discussion on the merits/demerits of marriage and CPs.

I suggested last time I took time away from WoM that the only way to preserve the board was to steer clear of all detailed discussion of matters other than those pertinent to the the board’s subject matter. It seems we haven’t the discipline to do this.

Oh, well; the Proms are coming up so I can spend some time on the R3 boards.

I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying your work Mimi. You must let us know if you win your Gold Artsmark award. Are you off to London this weekend?

Goodnight

H

Evening all!

Hooray - Friday! That says it all really!

Chaotic day today - emergency meeting for staff at 8.30am to inform us that the children's toilets were all flooded due to the torrential rain we've had. Only toilets working in whole school were the 2 for the staff - yes, we only have one ladies and one gents! Big dilemma - close the school? The emergency repair people were due to start working on them at 9am - the kids come in at 8.50... in the end, the Head informed parents as they arrived that there was a possibility of the whole school being forced to close by 9.30 if the toilets weren't fixed by then and that the Nursery was closed - so lots of parents took their kids back home. Which was a shame as we had a visiting theatre company to perform the Wizard of Oz. So, in the end they performed to about half the school as by 10am, word got round the estate that the toilets had been fixed and children started to drift back into school! I only had 3 children in the classroom when I took the register at 9!!!

I prefer less excitement, and proper lessons to learn'em stuff.

Goodnight!

Jane
xxx

Good afternoon all <> It certainly does, MJ, given that it was Saturday before you got round to posting the message! It looks like you had a hectic day. How do you tell the parents, I wonder. Is it just assumed that everyone has a mobile phone and/or accompanies the child to school? I can�t remember what happened in my schooldays. They probably just assumed mum would be at home. What a pity the children missed the play. Is �The Wizard of Oz� safe these days? I�d have thought there was a danger of older children going on about �friends of Dorothy� with accompanying nudges & winks. <> I can understand that. Apart from anything else it must take an effort to motivate the children when they�ve been hanging around wondering if school would be abandoned for the day � maybe even hoping it would be! I got all my Proms tickets, btw, though there was a bit of a hitch. It seems they had a problem printing the G�tterd�mmerung tickets so they just sent out the other tickets without any explanation. There�s even a thread about it on the R3 boards! http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/F7497567?thread=4237901 bye for now H