Cold Ale - The Blokes' Thread!

[The Kid]

Are curries very popular in England? I've never tried one myself, but word spreads fast about good Indian food in this area. There are lots of Indian or Indian-descended people in this area, mostly related to the boom in the tech industry, thus the popularity of Indian cuisine is growing here. Perhaps I simply need to eat out more.

Or is there a non-Indian curry? Excuse my ignorance please.

[prendrelemick]

Curries are very popular in Britain, and a whole social popular culture has grown up around "going for a curry". If you get a good one they are delicious, and the best ones are not necessarily the hottest, a good curry has all kinds of subtle flavours. Most people have fast food type curries from supermarkets and takeaways, and to be honest they are not bad - until you try a proper one.

The Boy used to spend alot of his student loan money along the curry mile in Manchester when he was at Uni there. He went with his flatmates at least once a week, The challenge was to eat at every place along it while you were there, I think he managed about half of them in three years. He spent his work experiance year in Bradford, another curry hotbed, so he is quite an expert.

[The Atheist]

Atheist, we're getting reports of seismic activity out there in your neck of the woods. Please tell me you guys aren't working on the F-bomb. We don't want to get into a cold-war style F-bomb race, do we?

Seriously, did you feel the shake?

Haha! Yeah, quite a good shake that was, but it was down the island a bit from us, so I'll have to check up on my lower North Island associates.

Tragic consequences of the earthquake - one shop lost over 100 bottles of wine!


Or is there a non-Indian curry? Excuse my ignorance please.

Thai curries, and they're more on flavour and less on heat than a lot of Indian ones. Very popular.

[Calidore]

We have the rough equivalent of your curry mile here in Chicago. Not far from me, a roughly mile-long stretch of Devon Avenue and adjoining streets is home to a large Indian population, with lots of restaurants, clothing stores, groceries, etc. Once while looking around in one of the grocery stores, I got to watch (maybe "got to" isn't quite right) one of the staff behind the meat counter divide a goat into its component parts with a table saw.

[Sancho]

I'm guessing the goat-on-a-table-saw grocery wasn't run by the Hindus.

[stlukesguild]

We've been having a bi*** of a winter. I got today off (teacher) the third time today due to extreme temperatures: -14 to -17 ° F (-25 to -27° C). I spent the day preparing for a predicted blizzard with 40-50 mile per hour wind gusts. We dug out the electric blanket, taped off the windows, did grocery shopping for the week... including a slew of good coffee and good beer. Now I'm several beers (average 10% alcohol by volume) to the wind and sitting back listening to the wind howl... along with Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, and the Stones:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg581/StlukesguildOhio/DrinkingMusic_zps6e164c46.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/StlukesguildOhio/media/DrinkingMusic_zps6e164c46.jpg.html)

Right now I've moved on to Dylan's work of absolute genius: (Thank God for spell check!!!!)

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/0b/d5/a5e6c060ada0918fbb832210.L.jpg

"Because something is happening here... but you don't know what it is... do you... Mr. Jones!!!???

[The Atheist]

We've been having a bi*** of a winter.

Nice & warm in Alaska, though! http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/figure-alaska-warmer-lower-48-21627640

Glad to see you're keeping the internal warmth up.

[stlukesguild]

Yes... they cancelled the Iditarod dog-sled race in Alaska. Should have moved it to Illinois, Michigan, Ohio. Wisconsin, or Minnesota this year.

http://mygggo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/album-chronicle-vol-1-the-20-greatest-hits1.jpg

I'm about as blitzed as I I want to be. Jack Daniels on top of all the beer I drank. I'll take a hand-full of baby aspirin and lots of coffee tomorrow as the blizzard hits.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Nice & warm in Alaska, though! http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/figure-alaska-warmer-lower-48-21627640

Glad to see you're keeping the internal warmth up.


...

I'm about as blitzed as I I want to be. Jack Daniels on top of all the beer I drank. I'll take a hand-full of baby aspirin and lots of coffee tomorrow as the blizzard hits.

I pulled a few random selections from my morning after, hair of the dog medicine bag that should help sober you up:

Harry Nilsson
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbgv8PkO9eo&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DTbgv8PkO9eo

George Jones
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyns0Fqxg1E

Ernest Tubb
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qnEMOQTh27s


And for those of us looking forward to warmer days:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W3NU6hUYRo4

[Paulclem]

It's been very wet here this January - the wettest since records began apparently. There's been a lot of "since records began" stats for the weather here.

I've had two punctures this week, so today saw me pushing the old chariot the last half mile to work and then at dinner time, the half mile to the bike shop. (I've been outside there with the upside down bike a few times before). It was nice to roll down into the town then for a coffee.

[Sancho]

Weekly recap of life in the city of Atlanta:


Tuesday, January 28:

By 2pm - 2 inches of snow had fallen upon the city of Atlanta

By 3pm - everybody in the city of Atlanta had crashed their car


Friday, January 31:

The sun is up and the roads are dry, and yet the average driving speed in the ATL is 25mph - just to be on the safe side

[qimissung]

That was hilarious, Sancho, speaking as someone who lives in a place where we mock ourselves for the same terrible driving if there is the least impediment, weatherwise. I did feel badly for those trapped in their cars overnight due to the inclement weather.

We have currently been feeling a trifle ill-used because the temp has been in the 20's. Ah well, that's what happens when you screw around with mother nature.

[Sancho]

My theory is, Mother Nature has it in for the automobile.

Last year I had a windfall, so I bought my wife a new Subaru. She hadn't had it a month when we were sitting in a restaurant, eating tacos and nachos, drinking cervezas mas fria, and watching the sky out front get purpler and purpler. Mother Nature had seen the shiny new red Subaru sitting there in the parking lot, so she directed a surgical band of golf ball-sized hail upon it, giving it a dimpled golf ball-like look.

However the Sube' drives splendidly in the snow.

[The Atheist]

It's been very wet here this January - the wettest since records began apparently. There's been a lot of "since records began" stats for the weather here.

All around the world. Coldest January in USA since 1342, wettest January in England ever, hottest January in Australia since convicts first arrived...


I did feel badly for those trapped in their cars overnight due to the inclement weather.

Bad?

I'll tell ya how bad it was - the State Troopers were giving out MREs to the people stuck in their cars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat#Criticisms

[Calidore]

Mother Nature had seen the shiny new red Subaru sitting there in the parking lot, so she directed a surgical band of golf ball-sized hail upon it, giving it a dimpled golf ball-like look.


Ouch. And if it's not weather, it's our feathered friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSnUDakNaek

[Sancho]

Haha

Aerial Poopers have it in for the occasional jogger too. A few years ago I was running along, daydreaming, when I noticed a bunch of purple splotches on the path in front of me. This particular running path has a thick canopy of tree limbs overhanging the trail and the tree limbs are intertwined with wild grape vines. Here's how my mind processed the info: Hey! Scuppernongs are getting ripe. Hey! But those things shouldn't be dropping on their own yet. Hey! Those grapes must've been run through a bird first. Hey! Probably one of those birds up there in that tree right now.

And then...ZOT...one of the little bastards got me with a bio-bomb right on the bill of my running cap. It wouldn't have been so bad if there hadn't been two women in tennis outfits walking towards me. They saw the whole thing. Neither of them made much of an effort to hide their amusement.

In case you're wondering, a purple bird-poop stain ain't easy to get out of a white baseball cap.

[The Atheist]

The one which makes me laugh is the idea that being pooped on is lucky!?!?

I'll give you lucky.

When I was about 14 years old, I was at the races with my father. I'd got the first leg of a double and was watching the second leg, with my horse in front with 33 yards to go.

Right at that moment, a seagull overhead dropped one on me.

The horse stopped as if it had been shot and finished last.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

It's been very wet here this January - the wettest since records began apparently. There's been a lot of "since records began" stats for the weather here...


All around the world. Coldest January in USA since 1342, wettest January in England ever, hottest January in Australia since convicts first arrived...


We're still in the midst of a long term drought. It would be nice if you could send some your rain our way.
There is rain in the forecast into next week.


Ouch. And if it's not weather, it's our feathered friends....

Nothing worse than trying to peer through the wiper smears on the windshield.

[Calidore]

In case you're wondering, a purple bird-poop stain ain't easy to get out of a white baseball cap.

Glass half-full: I'd rather have to clean it from a cap than my eyes or mouth.

[Paulclem]

I was bombed by crows from palm trees on a beach in Goa once. I could have sworn they were guffawing at me as well.

[Sancho]

^I'll bet they were.

A sea bird in Honolulu made a direct hit on my T-shirt once. It took me a while to figure it out. I went into the loo at Starbucks and as I was washing my hands, I looked in the mirror and saw the big, fish-scalely, white blob on my shoulder. Then I remembered all those people looking at me kinda funny earlier.

Q - Do you know what the white stuff in bird poop is?
A - Well, that's bird poop too.

[Paulclem]

Half term beckons and the 6 Nations is off to a good start. I managed to catch the England v Scotland match - the Jocks were sadly lacking last week. No attack.

Later on I was pleased to see Livferpool thrash Arsenal 5-1, which is fantastic as Arsenal were the leaders. I prefer it to be an open competition rather than the usual 2 horse race.

[The Atheist]

I should imagine the cricket establishment is very happy there's other sport on to take the spotlight off the unbelievably bad results in Australia.Not to mention the other tour fallout.

Rugby seasons have gone mad in the meantime, with Super Whatevernumberthey'reupto about to kick off at the same time as Six Nations is on.

Looks like France's tournament for the taking at this stage.

[Paulclem]

The brothers and I are talking about catching some superleague this Easter. The natural team to watch would be Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, as the quiet brother lives there. Also. I'd be able to see my old house. I could see half the pitch from the toilet.

Nothing sorted yet so we'll see. We might just go for a roll around Sheffield again - it was very convivial last time.

[Sancho]

Looks like a good old fashioned southern ice storm out there today. I just stood out on my back porch watching (and listening to) Mother Nature's pruning machine roar through the pines. A half inch of ice, a little wind, and the loblolly pine trees don't stand a chance.

I've got my generator gassed up and ready to kick in for when the tree falls over the power lines, but I'm not at all prepared to lose my internet feed. I think I'd rather have wifi than heat.

Oh yes, also we've laid up a few extra six-packs.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

... A half inch of ice, a little wind, and the loblolly pine trees don't stand a chance....

...Oh yes, also we've laid up a few extra six-packs.

Them Loblolly's 'bout as brittle as a toads tongue in Death Valley.

I was thinking about you the other day after hearing of the mess that headed your way.
A sure fire means of get'n through sump'n like that is half 'n half Drambuie an Baileys' Irish Cream warmed in the oven just shy of bubblin.

[Sancho]

It all worked out. Our power stayed on, which surprised the livin' bejesus out of me. I was ready to fire up the generator and invite all the neighbors over for a jump-naked party. Anyway, we wound up holed up in the house for a couple of days, memorizing jokes out of Captain Billy's Whiz Bang.

[prendrelemick]

Just watching that board cross from Sochi, those women are completely bonkers! My favourite Winter Olympic sport ever, figure skating it ain't.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Ever since Franz Klammer, it's been downhill for me.
I'm not current at the moment, are you referring to snow boarding? I agree - bonkers!

[Paulclem]

That downhill run a at Sochi is pretty scary. An ex-skier now presenter went down it with a camera to show the slopes. It's really long and very steep.

I was watching the 2 man Bobsled this afternoon. That looks like fun.

[prendrelemick]

I quite fancy a go at that skeleton sledging. I might not be the most aerodynamic shape, but I have plenty of mass for gravity to work with.

[Paulclem]

I quite fancy a go at that skeleton sledging. I might not be the most aerodynamic shape, but I have plenty of mass for gravity to work with.

Yes. Bulky and unaerodynamic is what I'd put on my application form for the skeleton. I'm sure it'd be just like going down the glassy slope that was Cannonball Hill on my plastic bag. (I was sore that day).

[prendrelemick]

I think they should hold a parallel Olympics for old fat blokes who should know better. No training or anything, just a delusional belief that you are still 21 would be required.

[Sancho]

Top Olympic athlete of all time, IMHO, Eddie The Eagle Edwards.

[Paulclem]

Agreed Mick. The middle aged games. Perhaps every competition should have a parallel tournament.

Eddie is up there with the Jamaican Bobsled team, and represents the pinnacle of what the middle aged games could achieve. At least there'd be plenty of material for those falling over programmes.

Speaking of which, I went **** over *** down at the allotment today. I was moving lengths of the plastic greenhouse when i got my foot stuck in one end and the other jammed into the ground. I'm pleased to report that I sprang up immediately just in case anyone was looking out of the windows of the houses that overlook the allotment. That's when the psychic sense kicks in and you can feel the guffaws, hoots and neighing.

[The Atheist]

**** over *** is a new one on me. I get the ****, but I cannot figure out what the *** is. It was always **** over tip that I know.

Count me in on the middle-aged Olympics!

I could do that curling business.

[Lykren]

I'm currently drinking a beer called 'Mondo Blonde' and waiting for my 'Cowboy Burger' to be served up. I'm not much of a macho guy, but I thought I might mention this here :)

[Paulclem]

I'm currently drinking a beer called 'Mondo Blonde' and waiting for my 'Cowboy Burger' to be served up. I'm not much of a macho guy, but I thought I might mention this here :)

You're in the right place. I've just had a lime and strawberry flavoured cider. Strawberries in a glass. Mmmm

I've heard of **** over tip but I always thought it was **** over *it. Perhaps it's local usage.

[The Atheist]

I'm currently drinking a beer called 'Mondo Blonde' and waiting for my 'Cowboy Burger' to be served up. I'm not much of a macho guy, but I thought I might mention this here :)

Highly appropriate!

Although you might want to double-check on the macho-ness around here. We serve Shirley Temples at the bar and there are people around here who drink chocolate stout!

It's more of a refined gentlemen's club.

Except the refined tends to refer to the booze, and the only "gentlemen" in the place is the sign at the toilet.



You're in the right place. I've just had a lime and strawberry flavoured cider. Strawberries in a glass. Mmmm

I've heard of **** over tip but I always thought it was **** over *it. Perhaps it's local usage.

I wondered if that was it. I was hoping it was something naughtier, as it didn't occur to me that one would be **ed. What happens in my ornithology thread when we get to ***s? Or even boobies. (waiting to see if it escapes the censor) The blue-footed booby mating dance is one of the wonders of the animal kingdom!

There are quite a lot of variations, all bastardised from the original, which is: ****, being bottom, over tip, being top. Dictionaries generally list both, I see.

Somehow, down this end of the world, it became **** over kip, which I'm sure is due to all the Irish accents early on.

[The Atheist]

Phew, the blue-footed boobies are safe.

If you haven't seen it, go and check out their dancing. Harlem shake, my ****.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I'm currently drinking a beer called 'Mondo Blonde' and waiting for my 'Cowboy Burger' to be served up. I'm not much of a macho guy, but I thought I might mention this here :)


Highly appropriate!

Although you might want to double-check on the macho-ness around here. We serve Shirley Temples at the bar and there are people around here who drink chocolate stout!

It's more of a refined gentlemen's club.

Except the refined tends to refer to the booze, and the only "gentlemen" in the place is the sign at the toilet.

...

We like to play games too...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DiFEFL6ThRI

I'll offer up my water heater tank for the old geezer Olympics; split it down the middle and you have two bobsleds.

[prendrelemick]

Mrs P had a ..... Over... Experience, t'other day. She was holding my young dog Gwen as I was penning some sheep , she was supposed to leap in and shut the gate, but when I shouted, the dog leapt in and pulled her over instead. Face down in mud of an organic origin. My encouraging cries of "get up and shut the gate
for heavens sake" did not go down well.

[Sancho]

Probably a good thing you resisted wishing her a happy Valentine's Day at that point.

Middle-age Olympics! Count me in!

I think the first event should be the "****over*** competition," with points awarded for technical difficultly as well as style. (Although I'm still not sure what ****over*** means)

But before the first event, there should be an opening ceremony. I'm not sure what our uniform ought to be, but I'm fairly certain it will include plaid Bermuda shorts, black socks, and leather shoes.

[Paulclem]

I'm going to introduce kneesy, earsy, nosey to the office. I'll let you know how they get on. I'll probably need a bit of practice over this week before I do though.

The **** over *** competition should be very good. The slow motion replays should be worth a programme in themselves. And I like the sound of the uniform. What top though? What about a tuxedo style t-shirt with a dicky-bow print so that we look like sporty bouncers? That would suit us Mick.

[prendrelemick]

Yes I think I could pull that off.

[prendrelemick]

Hang on a minute. Venessa Mae is doing the skiing round poles event. What next Yehudi Menuin doing the ski jump?

[Sancho]

... What top though? What about a tuxedo style t-shirt with a dicky-bow print so that we look like sporty bouncers? That would suit us Mick.

Perfect.

As for head gear, I think we should go hatless. In fact, the disposition of our middle-aged noggins could be a competition in and of itself: a medal to the man with nary a hair on his head, or a particularly thin fringe, or the effective use of a single sideburn as a comb-over, or a bad dye job, or maybe for the bloke who can no longer grow a single hair on his pate but seems to have made up for it with the ability to grow great tufts of the stuff out of his ear canals.

We're gonna need an anthem when we enter the stadium. The tune that leaps to mind is: We Are The Champions, by Queen

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

...I'm not sure what our uniform ought to be, but I'm fairly certain it will include plaid Bermuda shorts, black socks, and leather shoes.

Not bad, but I would suggest that ensemble is better suited for the summer Olympics, synchronized lawn mowing event or possibly the Texas discus toss (dried cow patties)



I'm going to introduce kneesy, earsy, nosey to the office. I'll let you know how they get on. I'll probably need a bit of practice over this week before I do though. ....

I made a few attempts just before logging on, nothing earsy about it! My finger * * * * over my jolly * * *.

[The Atheist]

Face down in mud of an organic origin. My encouraging cries of "get up and shut the gate
for heavens sake" did not go down well.

:D

I hope you didn't laugh!



The tune that leaps to mind is: We Are The Champions, by Queen

Oh yeah, that'll have them chortling when they see the size of the ****s over the ***s!

I think it's high time the Winter Olympics embraced ice fishing.

It could be run as a biathlon event. Instead of skiing and shooting, we'd have largest fish and fastest downing of a hip-flask of scotch after nightfall.

[prendrelemick]

.........

[prendrelemick]

Lawn mowing the piste! Sign me up for that! At least it's not as daft as curling. That's the trouble with the winter Olympics all the events happen in cold and slippery conditions. Why they don't,t move them to the summer, I don't know.

[Sancho]

Bah-Hahahaha...HAH!

This thread cracks me up every time I come over here.

The lawn-mowing competition is spot-on.

Now I'm picturing a bloke, wearing a beige jumpsuit with an embroidered crest on the the chest pocket and a built-in stretchy belt, pushing an electric lawn mower, shaking his fist at a kid on a bicycle.

"GET OFF MY LAWN"

[prendrelemick]

You may have just come up with the games' logo there sancho

[Paulclem]

I just can't get excited about curling or "frozen bowls". Nor can I raise any enthusiasm for skating despite the ladies costumes. The ladies costumes are negatively balanced by the men's costumes, and they seem to be as old as my daughter.

The skiing and skateboarding on snow is much more fun.

Just a thought. We could sport our short haired pates or we could get a "hairstyle tattoo". The advantage being tbe intial choice is a 2d haircut of dreams which does however have some disadvantages.

[The Atheist]

We could sport our short haired pates or we could get a "hairstyle tattoo".

Retro punk skinhead should suit everyone.

How can it be the Real Blokes' Winter Olympics without mentioning snow-writing?

Surely that is the blue riband of the Games?

I propose a handicap event, with competitors with hyperprostatism being given a 3 point head start.

Extra bonuses for distance of writing from the writer, clarity of the writing, total number of letters, and extra points for difficulty for things like no hands. A second round will be the artistic freestyle session.

[prendrelemick]

And no dribbling!

As to the figure skating,I was quite taken with the Russian girl Sotnikova who was wearing a small red dishcloth in the short program. I can imagine her father saying "You're not wearing that!"

[The Atheist]

Some of the holds are somewhat intriguing as well. I can see why partners are often very good friends.

Dribbling? Certainly not. Any mark outside the target area will be a points deduction.

[Sancho]

Hell yeah! Lemme grab a six pack, and then sign me up for the snow-writing event. I'll be competing in the Big, BOLD, Swinging-Richard, Block-Letter division.

Hey, maybe we should have a braggart's competition too.

[The Atheist]

:smilielol5:

Maybe a deduction if your game doesn't meet your talk?

[Sancho]

Well, the first time I showed up for a group ride wearing a pair of those Spandex cycling shorts, the guys in my bicycling club started calling me, The Acorn. I'm not sure why.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Well, the first time I showed up for a group ride wearing a pair of those Spandex cycling shorts, the guys in my bicycling club started calling me, The Acorn. I'm not sure why.

I'm imagining Jack Black as Nacho Libre or Chris Farley as El Niño http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mkSRUf02gu8


For my snow writing presentation, I will attempt "black letter" as my font style and for extra points I'll attempt an illuminated letter pee.

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Misc%20Album/77364f5e5231a6185917ba2558bf0607_zpsb8748f26.jpg

It'll be kind of like the first attempt at a quadruple axle in skating.

[The Atheist]

Heck, I was think of 14-point Arial. I can see this not going well.

And we have to have these (http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/electric-sled-miniature-winter-tank?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=10&con=this-electric-sled-is-a-miniature-winter-tank)!

[Paulclem]

Speaking of pee, we could have a subdivision where we attempt to write the longest word our bladders will allow. There could be points for flourishes, style and execution. The rules would have to stipulate a continuous, unbroken line.

On another tack I am increasingly finding myself welcoming the weekend, and anticipating its arrival on Thursday. Is this normal for the ageing bloke? I do have another 18 years to go. boo

[The Atheist]

I'm the exact opposite - everyone goes home on the weekend, so I can't make any money!

Ban weekends and holidays, I say.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Heck, I was think of 14-point Arial. I can see this not going well.

And we have to have these (http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/electric-sled-miniature-winter-tank?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=10&con=this-electric-sled-is-a-miniature-winter-tank)!

Yes, it could serve as our Zamboni, clearing the yellow snow for the next round.


...
On another tack I am increasingly finding myself welcoming the weekend, and anticipating its arrival on Thursday. Is this normal for the ageing bloke? I do have another 18 years to go. boo

I'm on the same tack as you, with the arrival of each Thursday comes the sweet fragrance of Saturday beginning to waft through the cubicles.

[prendrelemick]

Ahhh.., back on the lappy after two weeks of tableting. Touchscreens are the devil's spawn.

[The Atheist]

As long as you have a keyboard they're not too bad, but if you have to have a keyboard, you may as well have a laptop!

[Sancho]

Speaking of pee, we could have a subdivision where we attempt to write the longest word our bladders will allow. There could be points for flourishes, style and execution. The rules would have to stipulate a continuous, unbroken line.

Well, at the risk of being crude (a risk I'm willing to take), will there be any points deductions if my script is in somebody else's handwriting? I'm getting a picture here of El Sancho with his hands in his back pockets, shuffling sideways in the snow, receiving the assistance of a woman of low morals yet good handwriting skills.

[The Atheist]

Haha!

Yes, we could have a team event. I suppose we'd better have mixed doubles and same-sex doubles!

[Calidore]

If JBI can do hanzi, I think he'll win.

Sancho: I believe an outside helping hand is considered cheating in pretty much any contest.

[The Atheist]

*Brushes the cobwebs out of the corner of the bar, shakes Parker.*

Bit quiet in here, chaps.

Spring is sprung for you northern chappies, and we're basking in a glorious Indian Summer down here, so all is well with the world.

I see there's a push to make Martinis cool again.

I prefer mine made from frozen ingredients. Keeping the gin at -15C seems to be the ideal. So cold you don't notice it setting fire to your oesophagus.

Mmm, martinis.

Parker is mixing them to my precise instructions* and will be delivering one to everyone right away!

*4:1 gin:vermouth. Gin @ -15C, extra-dry vermouth @ -4C, shaken lightly in small amount of crushed ice and a martini olive, poured into chilled martini glasses. Order sober drivers.

[Paulclem]

I'll have one of those - thanks.

Spring is springing here, but it's still a bit cold. Snow is forecast tonight, though it is not expected to be heavy.

It might be time for another party.

[The Atheist]

Good idea.

How many fireworks do we have right now?

The bar's stocked, I have an order of fillet steak arriving... anything else we need?

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Lately it's been the "dirty" vodka martini for me 3:1:1(shots) vodka/dry vermouth/olive brine, shaken with crushed ice.
I'm sure there's still quite a bit left in the Gurgle arsenal out at my sisters place. We typically re stock each 4th of July and New Year's.

[The Atheist]

Oh yeah! That sounds good.

Apart from the vodka martinis.

Parker is on warning that he is not to allow the vodka bottles anywhere near the vermouth. The threat of cross-contamination cannot be ignored.

I'm going to get some laser lights to accompany the fireworks. Andre Rieu is coming with his orchestra, and most importantly, Mirusia Drunen.

Nothing but class this time around.





Tractor-pull starts at 3 pm.

[Paulclem]

I'll have to buy a tuxedo then. My funeral/ interview/ wedding/ christening suit won't do. (Perhaps I should call it my rites of passage suit)

[The Atheist]

You'll be fine without the tux. Just turn up in your gardening gear and tell any who asks that you're one of the drivers in the tractor pull.

We have all the bases covered.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvPqsx2GlWs

[Sancho]

Oh man, Gill, I think my head just exploded.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Oh man, Gill, I think my head just exploded.

this should take care of what's left of you...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ys7W5IMTw

[Sancho]

Oh man, that did not help!

http://youtu.be/GSbigjiKLoU

Mars Attacks!

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

haha!

Sancho, I'm hit'n the sack, it's time for me to wind down.
good night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inpifmOLQfQ&feature=kp,

[Paulclem]

Excellent chaps.

I'm half way through the Easter hols and today the wife and I overdid our stint at the allotment. I got a few beds cleared and planted my second early potatoes. The dog - my wife's lovely boy - came with us and is now grouchy and overtired. (The dog and I had a couple of spats tonight but luckily he's given up my football watching seat just in time for tonight's games).

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Excellent chaps.

I'm half way through the Easter hols and today the wife and I overdid our stint at the allotment. I got a few beds cleared and planted my second early potatoes. The dog - my wife's lovely boy - came with us and is now grouchy and overtired. (The dog and I had a couple of spats tonight but luckily he's given up my football watching seat just in time for tonight's games).

Hope the second half of the hols was enjoyable, restful or productive. Perhaps you might post some evidence of your sod busting efforts.
If I recall, that's that ornery Jack Russell(?) we've heard tales of, right?

[Whosis]

"Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy."--Benjamin Franklin

Which is apparently misquoted as:

"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy."

This was alluded to in the first post, so I thought I'd throw it out there. It might have been quoted in the past 456 pages... but hey, I'm a bloke. 'spect me to look through all that, now? :p

[prendrelemick]

We've been beholding the rain a little too often this winter.

As it's lambing time at the moment I have a creditable excuse for not doing the garden. But it's always there and the weeds are growing day by day. This morning Mrs P is going to put Polly (the pony) in as an interim measure (and as a strong hint to me to get on with it ) I wish those TV gardeners would declare couch grass and docks the new must have.

[The Atheist]

This was alluded to in the first post, so I thought I'd throw it out there. It might have been quoted in the past 456 pages... but hey, I'm a bloke. 'spect me to look through all that, now? :p

Absolutely!

But you're still welcome to talk to Parker about bringing your favourite tipple over.

Gardening isn't compulsory, but fireworks are.

[Whosis]

I hope you don't mind me asking, but what/who is Parker?

[Paulclem]

Hope the second half of the hols was enjoyable, restful or productive. Perhaps you might post some evidence of your sod busting efforts.
If I recall, that's that ornery Jack Russell(?) we've heard tales of, right?

I will post some photos, (I'll just need to work out the best way), of the new allotment. The last chap left it in a very organised state which is great.

Yes - the very same Jack Russell. Everyone who meets him thinks he"s very nice - and so he is. They don't see the "dark side" though.

This week has been productive. Today I was in the old aunties house clearing out the loft ready for the skip tomorrow. Sad really - the old uncle had a workshop up there and was working on some wood project which he never completed. (I'm not sure what it is but it looked like a series of small storage boxes. Perhaps he wanted to resort his numerous screws).

Parker runs the Cold Ale Bar, Whosis, and will provide you with the tipple of your choice. His former employers include Lady Penelope, and so he brings a plethora of experience and contacts.

[Sancho]

We got our plants in one week too early this year. We had a late season frost a few days after my Señora planted all of our stuff. I covered every thing, but most of the tomatoes got burned, and I do like a fresh tomato sandwich. They might pull through. Anyway the division of labor at our place goes like this: Sancho does the tilling, the weeding, and the composting; the Señora does the planting and the picking; the Springer Spaniels do critter patrol. It works out pretty good.

Alright, Gill, fight's on. Let's have a good, old fashioned stereo war, like back in the college dorms, or the army barracks, depending on your background, or really anyplace where you had a bunch of young guys with too much testosterone, too much amplification, and strongly held opinions about what good music is.

How about a little psychobilly:

http://youtu.be/H96XcNWKZVg

The Reverend Horton Heat (I think he's from TEXAS!)

A fine use of metaphor in that piece

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I hope you don't mind me asking, but what/who is Parker?

Welcome Whosis, Paul pretty well summed up Parker.
Perceptions of this place are as varied as the ales of the world, mine goes something like this; a typical evening at the Cold Ale Blokes Bar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlNZF1QLrbw

(Freeze the video at 2:30 to see Parker behind the bar)



...Alright, Gill, fight's on. Let's have a good, old fashioned stereo war, like back in the college dorms, or the army barracks, depending on your background, or really anyplace where you had a bunch of young guys with too much testosterone, too much amplification, and strongly held opinions about what good music is.

How about a little psychobilly:

http://youtu.be/H96XcNWKZVg

The Reverend Horton Heat (I think he's from TEXAS!)

A fine use of metaphor in that piece

Coincidentally, I had just pulled my tenderloin from the oven last night.
Reverend Horton Heat is a new one on me, I'll look into this dude.

I don’t know here to begin, when it comes to music my tastes are as varied as an East Texas quilt.
Being the last in line, starting with depression era parents followed by four siblings ahead of me, my ears were subjected to the widest array of music that vinyl could crank out.
Whether it was mother’s Gregorian Chants, Classsical music, Catholic hymns pounded out on the piano, father’s Big Band, Bob Wills, Spike Jones, Arthur Lyman, my brother blasting out the likes of Blue Cheer, The Who, Zeppelin, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, Cream, three sisters listening to Herman’s Hermits, Neil Young, Leon Russell, Willie Nelson, Buffalo Springfield and on and on…, my contributions to the testosterone jam fests were often met with scorn as I pulled out, oh let’s say…a Glen Miller LP.

As it turned out, my brother’s influence brought me into the fold when I dropped something like this on the fellas followed by the common refrain; “crank it up dude”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FSZhCKbQZc

[The Atheist]

(Freeze the video at 2:30 to see Parker behind the bar)

What a great spot; that's him alright.

Now all we need is Lady Penelope to pay a visit. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/07/10/article-0-014A207E0000044D-784_468x469.jpg

(Parker again in the background)

[Sancho]

Heh heh. That's a lot pink right there.

Hey, Gill, I wiki'ed The Reverend Horton Heat and it turns out he is, in fact, from TEXAS. Yeeehaw! His name is Jim Heath, and he and I went to the same college within a couple of years of each other (that little ole school down in Austin). Go figure. Anyway I don't think I've ever seen him play live, but you never know. The señora and I like to do a Sixth-Street crawl 3 or 4 times a year. We were last there in February on Marathon weekend.

Pandora Radio turned me on to the Reverend. I like to set it to a Rock-a-Billy station out in the garage when I'm working on cars. That kind of music just seems to work when I'm drinking warm beer and doing the grease-monkey thing. Anyway, Pandora keeps coming up with tunes you might like based on what you've told them you already like. It's amazing. They know what I'll like before I've ever even heard it. The Reverend kept coming up, and I kept hitting the little thumbs-up thingy, so The Reverend kept coming up some more.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

What a great spot; that's him alright.

Now all we need is Lady Penelope to pay a visit. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/07/10/article-0-014A207E0000044D-784_468x469.jpg

(Parker again in the background)

I bet Parker and The Most Interesting Man in the World would hit it off pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_9hrV1KIx4




....Pandora Radio turned me on to the Reverend. I like to set it to a Rock-a-Billy station out in the garage when I'm working on cars. That kind of music just seems to work when I'm drinking warm beer and doing the grease-monkey thing...

I have a cloudy recollection of 6th street back in mid 80’s visiting friends at UT.
Okay, rockabilly, thanks for narrowing that down. One fella that comes to mind is Eddie Cochran his rockabilly classic… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZZD8ckwLJA

Here again, had I brought Cochran's version to a stereo war, I would have been run out of town but thankfully we have Blue Cheer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5uDozoSSM

Note the drummer…remember Cousin It from the Adam’s Family?

[Sancho]

Rockabilly almost died with Eddie Cochran.

Anyway, aside from cars, I had to do tractor maintenance as well:

This little number works better in the barn.

http://youtu.be/q_9gOjT5qxY

Hoyt Ming, getting down and getting funky.

[Paulclem]

The Who - fantastic.

My formative teen years were the late 70s and 80s, but I have been travelling back to 70s rock over the past 10 years. The lad also likes a bit of rock - he got me a great Santana collection for christmas this year.

Anyway, one of my favourite bands from that era is The Allman Brothers Band. I'm sure this will be in keeping with the bar music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCRS4DRmf_w

I often sing this when I'm cycling along in a wanted fugitive bandit cycling fantasy I have.

[Paulclem]

Whoa - I've just found this version as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xZBfV5JvLk

[Paulclem]

and this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv85YFe-lCA

which gives it a great slow time feel.

[Paulclem]

and this - which offers something a bit different

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDy7-eq7OGM

Which version do you prefer? I'm a bit stuck.

[Sancho]

I had no idea Midnight Rider had so many covers. I gotta tell ya, I kinda like what Patti Smith did with it.

Hey, I know. How's 'bout we goes to Chi-town for a little blues number. Hound Dog Taylor, Walking The Ceiling:

http://youtu.be/xEhMwUmV9dk

The man played as though he had an extra finger on his frettin' hand. (He did)

[Paulclem]

Bon Jovi have incorporated it into their Wanted Dead or Alive song as well - I've found.

I liked Patti Smith's version too. Smooth.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

and this - which offers something a bit different

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDy7-eq7OGM

Which version do you prefer? I'm a bit stuck.

Paul,
putting the original aside, I have to go with the Paul Davidson variant, maybe it's the Friday night talking, I really like that one.


I had no idea Midnight Rider had so many covers. I gotta tell ya, I kinda like what Patti Smith did with it.

Hey, I know. How's 'bout we goes to Chi-town for a little blues number. Hound Dog Taylor, Walking The Ceiling:

http://youtu.be/xEhMwUmV9dk

The man played as though he had an extra finger on his frettin' hand. (He did)

Hound Dog Taylor isn't bad Sancho, but when I stack him up against Johnny Horton, well...
oh yeah turn it up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPYC53wyVq0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK42a2wImO8

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Happy Mother's Day gentleman and to anyone else that saunters in.

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Family%20History/th_MotherWWIIArmyNurse.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/Family%20History/MotherWWIIArmyNurse.jpg.html)

A little ditty ....

deleted - It's been posted enough already!

[Sancho]

Caught this guy live in Austin down on 6th St. - 20 freakin' years ago!

http://youtu.be/fcyszC6fotE

Bats. Bats! Everywhere! And armadillos, Keeee-riest!

[The Atheist]

Great find!

Armadillos. Mmmm.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Another one you offered up that I wasn't familiar with and from Texas on top of that. I must have been out west herd'n Jackalope at the time. Duarte has that distinct Stevie RV / Texas blues influence.

This is a bit off the beaten path, so to speak, nevertheless, something I felt was necessary to share with the Blokes.
Most folks here in the States are familiar with the TV show Gunsmoke, and in particular the character Festus played by Ken Curtis, but have you heard the guy sing?..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tuCJU_1-M8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_3P53pdqrk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWR6FLnPack

[Sancho]

I've seen SRV and Chris Duarte live several times. Both have (had) an electric-Texas-bluesy sound. As far as I know, Duarte never covered any of SRV's tunes, but they both covered some of the same tunes by other guys (Jimi's Red House, for instance). I'm no professional critic, but if I had to put my finger on it, I'd say Duarte is faster and more nimble, but Stevie played with more power and soul. Just my amateur opinion. Stevie was kind of a little guy, but he had these amazingly strong hands, and he strung his guitar with really fat-gage strings, then he'd bend notes, not just half steps, but full steps. In fact he'd bend full chords. He was truly a freak of nature.

The last time I saw Stevie was in, of all places, Fairbanks, AK. It was only a few months before the helicopter crash. He brought the house down, played Cross-Town Traffic behind his back. During one song he broke a string, and while continuing to play, he restrung his guitar, tuned it, and never missed a note.

The last time I saw Chris Duarte was in Lubbock, TX. He was so loud that we had to go out to the parking lot - sounded pretty good out there. That night this guy opened for him, had a 3-piece band - himself, a dude with a big bass fiddle, and a guy on drums:

Teddy Morgan and the Sevilles:

http://youtu.be/N17QXUu4Hjs

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

First things first; in recognition of Memorial Day... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6MjvUrE_K0

********

Some trivial backstory on Stevie; we grew up in the same part of Dallas known as Oak Cliff, not the we ever crossed paths, although he and a brother in law brown bagged it together at the HS cafeteria, before Stevie dropped out in pursuit of the blues.

I saw SRV in concert one time in 1988 at the Cotton Bowl, he (double trouble) along with his brother(fabulous thunderbirds) opened for The Who.

Here's a video I stumbled on some time back with the brothers playing together on a double neck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSjRggiSBrU

[The Atheist]

Gilliatt: surely you went here on Memorial Day?

http://blog.pennlive.com/wildaboutpa/2014/05/bigfoot_day_in_clearfield_draw.html

[Sancho]

Speaking of epic Texas-size concerts, I was a little young for the granddaddy of them all - Z.Z. Top's 1st Annual Texas Barn Dance and B-B-Q. It was held in Austin at the Univ. of Texas Memorial Stadium on Labor Day in 1974, and evidently it was hotter than hell. Turns out it was also the Last Annual Texas Barn Dance and B-B-Q due to the damage done to the playing field. A friend of mine was there; he was down on the field and he said it was so hot that people started slicing up the astro turf and making tents out of it for the shade.

[Paulclem]

A Greek guy we used to know gave me a SRV CD about 15 years ago. Very good it was.

So the allotment is coming on nicely with my first earliest flowering and the broad beans not far off picking. I've had a good day today as my bike has been fixed by the nice man in the bike shop. The frame broke a few weeks ago so he replaced it for me. This means that my 5 year old bike has had everything changed except the seat and the handlebars. This does pose a philosophical question as to whether it is the same bike although it has been in continuous use.

I also got my new Kindle Fire from which I am making this post. My former kindle's battery packed up. This is a superb bit of kit.

[Sancho]

Haha

Reminds me of the old joke about the guy who claimed he owned the original hatchet that George Washington used to cut down the cherry tree - of course he'd had to replace the handle three times and the head twice, but other than that...

[The Atheist]

A friend of mine was there; he was down on the field and he said it was so hot that people started slicing up the astro turf and making tents out of it for the shade.

Now that's showing some class!

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Gilliatt: surely you went here on Memorial Day?

http://blog.pennlive.com/wildaboutpa/2014/05/bigfoot_day_in_clearfield_draw.html

Thanks for sharing that, after reading, I realized it's been far too long since I checked up on our boys from east Texas.
Formally known as the TBRC (Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy) they recently adopted a new name; North American Wood Ape Conservancy (NAWAC)
http://woodape.org/
Bonus! - looks like they still have a link to the Texas Bigfoot Conference my son and I attended in 2013.

[Calidore]

Stevie Ray was awesome. My friend Rich and his sister were at the Alpine Valley show, then heard about the crash while driving home.

[Paulclem]

I went to an award ceremony last night representing our allotment group. The secretary refused to go - I did wonder why - as there was food, wine and a turn.

Well it's a good job it was held in St Mary's Guildhall - a building around at the time of the Tudors and which housed Mary Queen of Scots on her trip to London for trial. There was lots to look at - the stained glass windows are superb, and the armour and stone statues are great.

After 5 minutes at the meeting, my wife wrote a note to me asking if we could go to the pub. Unfortunately, I had to be there to receive the 3rd Prize for the best kept site on behalf of the secretary. (It's quite a nice cup, and I've been telling everyone that I got most improved player in the hope that they don't ask me at what).

The meeting dragged on, the awards moved through briskly, and the turn, a presentation called Know Your Weeds, was actually the best bit of the whole thing - apart from the samosas.

After eating we quickly left for a local pub - we gave The Golden Cross a miss, despite the distinct possibility that Shakespeare may well have been in there after watching Coventry's mystery plays - and settled on a Wetherspoons. I had a strawberry and lime cider which rounded the night off rather nicely.

I don't think my wife will accompany me next year if I get asked to go again... or ever probably.

[Scheherazade]

http://www.fleetwoodtownfcct.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/brasil.jpg



http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?79315-Football-World-Cup-2014

[prendrelemick]

Hang on, should that be an an S or a Z?

[prendrelemick]

I went to an award ceremony last night representing our allotment group. The secretary refused to go - I did wonder why - as there was food, wine and a turn.

Well it's a good job it was held in St Mary's Guildhall - a building around at the time of the Tudors and which housed Mary Queen of Scots on her trip to London for trial. There was lots to look at - the stained glass windows are superb, and the armour and stone statues are great.

After 5 minutes at the meeting, my wife wrote a note to me asking if we could go to the pub. Unfortunately, I had to be there to receive the 3rd Prize for the best kept site on behalf of the secretary. (It's quite a nice cup, and I've been telling everyone that I got most improved player in the hope that they don't ask me at what).

The meeting dragged on, the awards moved through briskly, and the turn, a presentation called Know Your Weeds, was actually the best bit of the whole thing - apart from the samosas.

After eating we quickly left for a local pub - we gave The Golden Cross a miss, despite the distinct possibility that Shakespeare may well have been in there after watching Coventry's mystery plays - and settled on a Wetherspoons. I had a strawberry and lime cider which rounded the night off rather nicely.

I don't think my wife will accompany me next year if I get asked to go again... or ever probably.


Or was it after watching Coventry City's FA Cup final win against Spurs.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I went to an award ceremony last night representing our allotment group...
...be there to receive the 3rd Prize for the best kept site on behalf of the secretary. (It's quite a nice cup, and I've been telling everyone that I got most improved player in the hope that they don't ask me at what)....


"Tales from the Allotment" I do enjoy your updates.
If I were a betting man, I'd put it on the improvements to your sheds.
You did make those improvements, right?
Congratulations.

[stlukesguild]

The budget is a bit tight due to a couple of big bills... including the down-payment on a new car... so we have been forced to cut back. The biggest place to slash the budget is in dining out... which we do far too much. So instead we're eating at home. Tonight was the big meal of the week: New York Strip steaks on the grill accompanied with some very fine beers... and wine for the wife. We spent an hour or so after like an old couple sitting on the front porch... It was a gorgeous day. Now that the sun has dropped down I'm up in the computer room/office/library listening to some bluegrass cranked up loud... followed, no doubt, by my drinking music:

http://musicqwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/let-it.jpg

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Before logging in, I knew what picture would follow the ":"
We're having a nice well deserved steady rain at the moment, but your steak reference has me hoping for a small break to grill out this afternoon.

[prendrelemick]

I've been mowing the lawn with my new Austrian scythe this evening. A flock of Great Tits were feeding on some little grubs that are eating our lilac tree. The grubs are inside the leaves and the birds were hanging upside down tearing them open to get at them - like they were eating a prepacked supermarket meal . The swallows were diving for the midges I was putting up - it was great, much better than using the lawn mower.

[Paulclem]

"Tales from the Allotment" I do enjoy your updates.
If I were a betting man, I'd put it on the improvements to your sheds.
You did make those improvements, right?
Congratulations.

I made improvements of a sort - I demolished the old fallout shelter which was no use to man or beast. It had been constructed with opaque plastic and very big window frames which were on the side next to the hedge - so no use for light. It made a sizeable pile of glass and wood. Some of the panes were 4 x 4 ft.
This all went into the skip.

As it happened, one of the other plotholders - Steve - had to leave as he was moving in with a new girlfriend who lives in Stratford Upon Avon. He had organised his whole plot into 31 raised beds complete with paths and a nice border. It has two sheds and a brilliant greenhouse. He left the lot and my committee compadres suggested that I take it. So I did.

It has really helped my wife, who has been ill this year, as the beds are easier to work.

We had a Barbie there tonight to celebrate the lad's graduation. We went to the ceremony in Oxford on Friday and had a cracking day. The Chancellor is a famous human rights lawyer here in the UK. She gave a really good speech. We were also supposed to have a speech from Hilary Mantel - the double Booker Prize winner, but she was ill. Pity that. I can't believe it's been 4 years.

[Paulclem]

I've been mowing the lawn with my new Austrian scythe this evening. A flock of Great Tits were feeding on some little grubs that are eating our lilac tree. The grubs are inside the leaves and the birds were hanging upside down tearing them open to get at them - like they were eating a prepacked supermarket meal . The swallows were diving for the midges I was putting up - it was great, much better than using the lawn mower.

Sounds fantastic Mick. I'll have to look up the Austrian scythe.

[stlukesguild]

"Great Tits...?!" :eek6::shocked:

[The Atheist]

I've been mowing the lawn with my new Austrian scythe this evening.

I'm getting a bit worried about you - first it's being buried to Don Giovanni, now you're out there with a scythe!


"Great Tits...?!" :eek6::shocked:

Yes; the best-named bird on the planet. Oddly enough, they're quite small.

[prendrelemick]

A perfectly legitimate ornithological term, along with Blue Tits and Great Bearded Tits.

[prendrelemick]

I made improvements of a sort - I demolished the old fallout shelter which was no use to man or beast. It had been constructed with opaque plastic and very big window frames which were on the side next to the hedge - so no use for light. It made a sizeable pile of glass and wood. Some of the panes were 4 x 4 ft.
This all went into the skip.

As it happened, one of the other plotholders - Steve - had to leave as he was moving in with a new girlfriend who lives in Stratford Upon Avon. He had organised his whole plot into 31 raised beds complete with paths and a nice border. It has two sheds and a brilliant greenhouse. He left the lot and my committee compadres suggested that I take it. So I did.

It has really helped my wife, who has been ill this year, as the beds are easier to work.

We had a Barbie there tonight to celebrate the lad's graduation. We went to the ceremony in Oxford on Friday and had a cracking day. The Chancellor is a famous human rights lawyer here in the UK. She gave a really good speech. We were also supposed to have a speech from Hilary Mantel - the double Booker Prize winner, but she was ill. Pity that. I can't believe it's been 4 years.


Another few years and you will be taking over the entire allotment, then another and another and soon....

Our council made some allotments next to a housing estate (We fenced round it). the plots were tiny, about 10x15 ft, and the rent was £100 a year. I was wondering if you could grow £100 of veg on a plot that size. The lady from the council said it was more of a "Community garden" and all about the priceless experience of eating your own produce.

[mal4mac]

"The old man, holding himself erect, moved in front, with his feet turned out, taking long, regular strides, and with a precise and regular action which seemed to cost him no more effort than swinging one's arms in walking, as though it were in play, he laid down the high, even row of grass. It was as though it were not he but the sharp scythe of itself swishing through the juicy grass."

http://www.classicreader.com/book/266/74/

[prendrelemick]

^That episode is my favorite bit of Tolstoy.

[Paulclem]

Another few years and you will be taking over the entire allotment, then another and another and soon....

Our council made some allotments next to a housing estate (We fenced round it). the plots were tiny, about 10x15 ft, and the rent was £100 a year. I was wondering if you could grow £100 of veg on a plot that size. The lady from the council said it was more of a "Community garden" and all about the priceless experience of eating your own produce.

That is a ridiculous price. Our rents are £18 a year for a plot that are around 30 x 50 at least. A lot of people rent 2. It sounds like a bit of a money scam from the council.

For the first time in quite a few years we're full. We have about 170 plots covering 16 acres. We do have the option of reclaiming land that has been let wild should the need arise.

[mal4mac]

Another week passed. The oat-harvest began, and all the men were a-field under a monochromatic Lammas sky, amid the trembling air and short shadows of noon. Indoors nothing was to be heard save the droning of blue-bottle flies; out-of-doors the whetting of scythes and the hiss of tressy oat-ears rubbing together as their perpendicular stalks of amber-yellow fell heavily to each swath. Every drop of moisture not in the men’s bottles and flagons in the form of cider was raining as perspiration from their foreheads and cheeks. Drought was everywhere else.
—Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, Chapter XXXIII

Lammas is August 1st, the festival of the first harvest of wheat.

[prendrelemick]

This bloke is great. How to do it Albanian style.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RyZCCl3OE0&hd=1

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

This bloke is great. How to do it Albanian style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RyZCCl3OE0&hd=1

Enjoyed the video, particularly the peening and sharpening techniques. I'll be happy to loan you these when the time arises:

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/a2777bf8d3f9cf10356c20057f6c8bc3_zpsebfcdc58.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/a2777bf8d3f9cf10356c20057f6c8bc3_zpsebfcdc58.jpg.h tml)


Note the WD-40 to wet your stone and the sock to slip it in.

RE: Ornithology

The Red-breasted nuthatch is an absolutely adorable bird. Recently a pair of were making the rounds clasping onto the shaft of sturdy Oak penetrating acorns with their beaks.

Another common bird in my neck of the woods, is the Bridled Titmouse.

[prendrelemick]

Just what I need - a decent peening hammer. Not to mention a planisher. I made the mistake of buying a peening jig because the old eyes are a bit dull, but there is no satisfaction using it. Anyway t'other day I had a go with an ordinary claw hammer and polished up a lump hammer for an anvil - and made a fair job of it.

That WD40 idea sounds good. oil tends to clag up the stone.

Do you have Bustards in Texas?

[prendrelemick]

.......

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Just what I need - a decent peening hammer. Not to mention a planisher. I made the mistake of buying a peening jig because the old eyes are a bit dull, but there is no satisfaction using it. Anyway t'other day I had a go with an ordinary claw hammer and polished up a lump hammer for an anvil - and made a fair job of it.

That WD40 idea sounds good. oil tends to clag up the stone.

Do you have Bustards in Texas?

"Lump hammer"? I'll need help with that one.
What you see in the picture is from my father's sheet metal tools, used on many VW Beetle and Corvair Monza fenders.
The sharpening stone is one I picked up some where along the way. I once tried some 80 weight oil on the stone, normally used as cutting oil on the drill press, that really gummed up the grit.

As requested, here are two pictures of the new lassie, her name is Isis:

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Misc%20Album/th_fba559d24e0ad19e7a882cd7fef65057_zps771626a9.jp g (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/Misc%20Album/fba559d24e0ad19e7a882cd7fef65057_zps771626a9.jpg.h tml)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Misc%20Album/th_6ec8e064-9cda-4490-970a-6f2870a331cb_zps9b347ca9.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/Misc%20Album/6ec8e064-9cda-4490-970a-6f2870a331cb_zps9b347ca9.jpg.html)


I had her sit by some wood I'm splitting with the new 10 lb sledge hammer and the ole family wedge. I figured anyone who cuts grass with a scythe, would appreciate a classical method of splitting wood.

[prendrelemick]

How many times have I thought, "If I had a long handle on this wedge it would be a very good thing," and never pursued the idea.

That's a grand looking dog, do I detect a bit of collie in there.



Don't lend me those heirlooms, I'm a terrible loser of hammers.

[The Atheist]

A Yorkshire sheep farmer, eh? I'm sure we have one of those around here.....

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cycling/tour-de-france-2014-sheep-painted-in-colours-of-race-jerseys-to-celebrate-start-of-competition-9582960.html

[prendrelemick]

Strange folk them North Yorkshire types.

We have a piece of genuine Tour de France art work in our meadows by a genuine artist. She created it by sowing different coloured grasses into the sward in April, it covers about 10 acres and can be viewed from le route of le Tour. I have no idea what it is supposed to be, when I asked her she said "It's totally abstract". I was jealous of my mate -Miles who has a nice picture of a man and his dog in his field, Miles was on telly the other day talking about it. Anyway mine is supposed to be curves and stripes but by last week no stripes had appeared , my original native grasses have smothered them. So last weekend the stripes were sprayed in with a liquid nitrogen rich fertilizer and a green dye. The dye was useless - green dye on green grass - I only knew it was there because the sheep had green legs after a running through it. The Nitrogen might be kicking in though, I thought I could see something this morning.

Jo, the artist, is a bit distraught because there is an "Interpretation board " by the viewing point across the valley showing what it is supposed to look like , with her name on it. She was planning to go up one night and obliterate it with spray paint (vandals would be blamed) " don"t worry" sez I " If there's a picture of what it's supposed to be like, people will stare and squint and think they can see it." True art is in the mind of the beholder.

[stlukesguild]

Finally! All three of us... myself, my wife, and my brother (who lives with us) are off tomorrow. We had the most fabulous burgers on the grill on Pretzel rolls with some absolutely magnificent Belgian Trappist ale. I'm on my third bottle... all the size of a wine bottle and just as strong (10-11% alcohol). Now we're listening to Willie Nelson full blast... to be followed by Elmore James and the Rolling Stones and finally a magnificent double chocolate stout with a dark chocolate bar and some chocolate cake. If we don't go into a diabetic coma, we'll all get up around 2 PM tomorrow. Thank God for spell check!!

http://www.stpeterslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/chimay.jpeg

http://d2qdgu53yc9lue.cloudfront.net/deal/de_1674_lg.jpg

http://johannasvisions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/willie-nelson.jpg

[stlukesguild]

Shake Your Money Maker!!!!

http://www.soundstagedirect.com/media/elmore_james_blues_master_works.jpg

[stlukesguild]

"Gimme Shelter"

Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost your way
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
The floods is threat'ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

http://wwwrollingstones.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2012/07/let-it-bleed-600x537.jpg

[prendrelemick]

For me it's not the words but the WOWOWOWOWOW guitar on that track.

[The Atheist]

True art is in the mind of the beholder.

Yes indeed. As the payment of 2.6 million quid for an unmade bed showed.

[Pope of Eruke]

Shake Your Money Maker!!!!

http://www.soundstagedirect.com/media/elmore_james_blues_master_works.jpg

LOVE Elmore James, that slide is so damn good...

[Sancho]

^I gotta gal, she lives up on a hill
Yeah, I gotta gal, she lives up on a hill

Shake it but don't break it, baby.

Yes, well, so anyway, I finally decided to do something about the tremendous pile of broken down junk I have out in the barn. Nope, I did not call Ed the salvage man - I resolved to start fixing stuff. So Monday I bought a mig welder from a guy down the street who needed some cash. Yeah baby, metal-inert-gas, wire feed, 250 volts, 200 amps (or two-oh-one, whatever it takes), arc welder. I inserted a 10 lb spool of wire, hooked up an 80 lb tank of argon/CO2 shielding gas, laid out a half-dozen implements that needed a bead burnt across them, and gassed up my generator, but then the trouble began. When I went to plug in the welder, the plug didn't fit.

No big whoop, sez I, I'll make it fit.

1st problem: the power receptacle on the generator has 4 holes, but the plug on the welder only has 3 prongs. In the parlance of the American National Electrical Manufacturers Association, I had to plug a NEMA 6-50P into a L14-30R. Hmm, what to do about the spare hole? I found a box of old power cords in the garage and decided to fashion a converter out of a heavy-duty power cord (30 amp) from a now-defunct clothes dryer. Green wire, red wire, white wire, and black wire.

So green is ground, red is hot, black is hot, and white is neutral (whatever that means). After much hemming and hawing, and racking my brain trying to remember a basic circuits course I took years ago, I just clipped that white bastard off.

Voila! Problem solved.

2nd problem: Feed speed, Dial-a-Volt, and Polarity. Trial and error worked here.

3rd problem: what to do about the sunburn.

As it turns out, I could've saved myself a lot of time if I'd'a visited the welder's forum on the web. It's set up just like this one (only with much more traffic) and all the things I had to figure out on my own were already laid out for me right there in the "general questions" area.

Yep.

Think I'll keep my eyes peeled for a 3-phase Heliarc Welder.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

.. Now we're listening to Willie Nelson full blast...

http://johannasvisions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/willie-nelson.jpg

"Trappist ale take my mind
Don't let her mem'ry torture me..."



....1st problem: the power receptacle on the generator has 4 holes, but the plug on the welder only has 3 prongs. In the parlance of the American National Electrical Manufacturers Association, I had to plug a NEMA 6-50P into a L14-30R. Hmm, what to do about the spare hole? I found a box of old power cords in the garage and decided to fashion a converter out of a heavy-duty power cord (30 amp) from a now-defunct clothes dryer. Green wire, red wire, white wire, and black wire.

So green is ground, red is hot, black is hot, and white is neutral (whatever that means). After much hemming and hawing, and racking my brain trying to remember a basic circuits course I took years ago, I just clipped that white bastard off.

Voila! Problem solved.


A pair of jumper cables and electrical tape can sometimes get you around those confounded NEMA problems, but I wouldn't count on a pair of isotoner gloves when operating.



....That's a grand looking dog, do I detect a bit of collie in there...

Thanks, her bio from the shelter indicated "Collie mix". Who knows what the rest of her is.


Strange folk them North Yorkshire types.

We have a piece of genuine Tour de France art work in our meadows by a genuine artist. She created it by sowing different coloured grasses into the sward in April, it covers about 10 acres and can be viewed from le route of le Tour. I have no idea what it is supposed to be, when I asked her she said "It's totally abstract". I was jealous of my mate -Miles who has a nice picture of a man and his dog in his field, Miles was on telly the other day talking about it. Anyway mine is supposed to be curves and stripes but by last week no stripes had appeared , my original native grasses have smothered them. So last weekend the stripes were sprayed in with a liquid nitrogen rich fertilizer and a green dye. The dye was useless - green dye on green grass - I only knew it was there because the sheep had green legs after a running through it. The Nitrogen might be kicking in though, I thought I could see something this morning.

Jo, the artist, is a bit distraught because there is an "Interpretation board " by the viewing point across the valley showing what it is supposed to look like , with her name on it. She was planning to go up one night and obliterate it with spray paint (vandals would be blamed) " don"t worry" sez I " If there's a picture of what it's supposed to be like, people will stare and squint and think they can see it." True art is in the mind of the beholder.

Just right for an Austrian scythe!

[prendrelemick]

Yes, well, so anyway, I finally decided to do something about the tremendous pile of broken down junk I have out in the barn. Nope, I did not call Ed the salvage man - I resolved to start fixing stuff.





I have the same problem. I've decided to build a new barn.

[Sancho]

I have the same problem. I've decided to build a new barn.

Ha ha, sounds like a sound plan. In fact I'm in the early planning phases of a new barn myself. Which is to say, I'm thinking of putting up a new barn. Unfortunately whenever I start to do something around here the lyrics to the children's song, There's A Hole In My Bucket, starts ringing through my head.


There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, mend it.

With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, with what?

With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a straw.

The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long,

Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it.

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, with an knife.

The knife is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The knife is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it.

On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, on what?

On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, a stone.

The stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.

In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, in what?

In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, a bucket.

There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Use your head, then! dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use your head, then! dear Henry, dear Henry, use your head!


Sounds like Henry's a bit of a whiner.

[Paulclem]

Well - the daughter is off to Thailand to an Elephant park for two weeks. She's done her exams and will be back for the results. I'm off to Seville on the 5th with the lad to try to reinvigorate his interest in Spanish. It looks fantastic. My wife is going to make an Autumn holiday in Florence - though she has time to change her mind. My wife and I are hoping to get away to the coast later in August. It'll be a busy summer.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Well - the daughter is off to Thailand to an Elephant park for two weeks. She's done her exams and will be back for the results. I'm off to Seville on the 5th with the lad to try to reinvigorate his interest in Spanish. It looks fantastic. My wife is going to make an Autumn holiday in Florence - though she has time to change her mind. My wife and I are hoping to get away to the coast later in August. It'll be a busy summer.

If you don't mind me asking, how many children do you have, is it the two?
Thailand, Seville and Florence...choices...choices.
I'd have to give the nod to the wife and Florence. Maybe you'll run into Papayahed in Seville.
Elephant Park ?....

[Paulclem]

If you don't mind me asking, how many children do you have, is it the two?
Thailand, Seville and Florence...choices...choices.
I'd have to give the nod to the wife and Florence. Maybe you'll run into Papayahed in Seville.
Elephant Park ?....

I just have 2 children. The lad is now 22 and has finished university. My daughter is 18 and is about to go to university.

My daughter is asleep as we speak in a hotel in Northern Thailand ( they are 6 hours ahead). She has signed up for a volunteer holiday at an Elephant Sanctuary - I wasn't clear in my last post - for 2 weeks. She'll be looking after rescued elephants, dogs, cats and other animals.

The lad and I will be going to Seville whilst my wife will be taking an Autumn holiday to try to break the rather poor health she's had in Autumn and winter over the last few years. Last winter she was out for 3 months with chest infection, then pleurisy and finally pneumonia. I'm hoping that a holiday before and one after Christmas will help her this year.

I'll have to ask Papaya if she'll be around. I met Mick last year which was great to put a face to his internet prescience.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

The Elephant Sanctuary sounds like a worthy and fulfilling endeavor.
Here's to your wife's health and Florence, I would be hard pressed to imagine a better destination when I consider my bias toward the art and architecture.

[Paulclem]

The Elephant Sanctuary sounds like a worthy and fulfilling endeavor.
Here's to your wife's health and Florence, I would be hard pressed to imagine a better destination when I consider my bias toward the art and architecture.

She really loved the elephant. One of the trainers, a woman, had rejected the traditional methods of training elephants and my daughter said they really loved her. She posted a great pic of herself sitting on three elephant's trunks.

My wife is looking forward to Florence. I'm hoping she'll take a post Christmas break too to break the cycle.

I'm now on holiday with the lad in Seville. It's pretty hot 36 degrees but it is a very shady city. I'm off downtown to buy The Times ( I think that's what all Brits have to do abroad plus they didn't have the more liberal Guardian). Then I may have coffee and buy souvenirs.

[mal4mac]

My daughter is asleep as we speak in a hotel in Northern Thailand ( they are 6 hours ahead). She has signed up for a volunteer holiday at an Elephant Sanctuary - I wasn't clear in my last post - for 2 weeks. She'll be looking after rescued elephants, dogs, cats and other animals.


Just watched Operation Wild on BBC1. There was a vet trying to get a bullet out of an elephant, but failed as it kept on threatening to stomp him - happily both survived! All very blokish, all very Hemingway, unlike the nursery of baby Panda's...

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

My wife is looking forward to Florence. I'm hoping she'll take a post Christmas break too to break the cycle....

...It's pretty hot 36 degrees but it is a very shady city...

Beyond the myriad of obvious must see's, I'll throw in a quick pop in at the Basilica of Santa Croce. (wife's Florence trip)

36 deg - hot? it's 100 degrees here today in my neck of the woods.
Yeah, I know that's a lame joke, but a classic.
Never made it to Seville, just Barcelona...perhaps a couple of pics of your favorite haunts.

[Paulclem]

Beyond the myriad of obvious must see's, I'll throw in a quick pop in at the Basilica of Santa Croce. (wife's Florence trip)

36 deg - hot? it's 100 degrees here today in my neck of the woods.
Yeah, I know that's a lame joke, but a classic.
Never made it to Seville, just Barcelona...perhaps a couple of pics of your favorite haunts.

Of course. I'm from temperate climes and have no tolerance. I must get photobucket sorted to link some pics.

I'll mention the Basilica of Santa Croce. She's booked 2 weeks so she should have plenty of time.

I have revealed my lamentable language skills every day this holiday. I'll confidently ask for coffee or beer but am immediately thrown by a further question whereupon the assistant switches to English to help me out of my bluster and I surrender any attempts at Spanish and we end in amicable thank you-s. I suppose you have to start somewhere. It keeps the local population amused.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

... I'll mention the Basilica of Santa Croce. She's booked 2 weeks so she should have plenty of time.
When the time comes, I'd like to hitch a ride vicariously.


... I have revealed my lamentable language skills every day this holiday. I'll confidently ask for coffee or beer but am immediately thrown by a further question whereupon the assistant switches to English to help me out of my bluster and I surrender any attempts at Spanish and we end in amicable thank you-s. I suppose you have to start somewhere. It keeps the local population amused.
I read your blog, sounds like a great time.

[Paulclem]

When the time comes, I'd like to hitch a ride vicariously.


I read your blog, sounds like a great time.

Thanks Gil.

Tomorrow my wife and I will be travelling by train to Margate which is a seaside town in the South east. We're having a few days of doing nothing except perhaps a short trip to Canterbury. We've both wanted to visit Canterbury before and, by all reports, it's a nice, historic place.

So later I will be loading up the kindle for lots of reading and lounging about. We're currently undergoing one of those periodic reviews of the house and so furniture is being changed, and we are having a clear out. The skip outside is full, the small bird cherry and hedge is trimmed and away we will pop.

I will of course give you chaps a full report on Margate.

[Sancho]

So, the other day I found another Yellow Jacket nest.

Unfortunate hand:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/7cca8e14848ea388016053cebcb7ea7e_zps9de694ce.jpg

Regular hand:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/f2e5c3625a5384c0c234d03bda0dfb45_zps637a10ac.jpg

Li'l bastards

[Calidore]

So, the other day I found another Yellow Jacket nest.

Unfortunate hand:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/7cca8e14848ea388016053cebcb7ea7e_zps9de694ce.jpg

Regular hand:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/f2e5c3625a5384c0c234d03bda0dfb45_zps637a10ac.jpg

Li'l bastards

Yeowch!

Since this is the manly thread, can I assume your hand is swollen from punching the yellowjackets so hard?

[Sancho]

Yep, that'd'a been an manlier option than the one I chose, which was to scream like a girl and run across the pasture shucking and jiving and whirling my t-shirt over my head like a helicopter. It's what I've always done in that situation. That black and white, spotted fellow in the picture came up with a doggie version of the same thing.

[Scheherazade]

Yep, that'd'a been an manlier option than the one I chose, which was to scream like a girl ...i have stopped reading at this point but I am hoping you also mentioned rushing back home to take pictures of your poor hand and post them on the net for everyone to see!

;)

[Sancho]

i have stopped reading at this point but I am hoping you also mentioned rushing back home to take pictures of your poor hand and post them on the net for everyone to see!

;)

Hey, who let the innie in? Bloke's have outies. Don't they?

But, good point, Scher. Misogyny lurks around every corner of the language, especially in dusty old cliches.

So how about:

Screamed like a banshee - hmm, naw, it changes the whole idea
Screamed like a screaming mimi, uhh, somehow seems redundant

Squealed like piggy - nah, that one gives me a picture of Ned Beatty up on the Chattahoochee <shudder>

Ran like a river - too artsy-farsty
Ran like a bad dye job - doesn't quite get at it

Shook like a dog sh*ttin peach pits - that one makes me laugh, but it's not really what I was doing

Hey, we should do a simile thread. It'd be fun.

Tossed and turned like a crack baby

Sweated like the crack between a fat man's butt cheeks

Giggled like a...

Shook like a...

Danced like a...

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

...Unfortunate hand:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/7cca8e14848ea388016053cebcb7ea7e_zps9de694ce.jpg





For some odd reason, this ^ hand reminds me of Glenn Langan in The Amazing Colossal Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgpv7_4uonQ

Catch the line at about 0:57

[Sancho]

Haha.

Don't LOOK at me. I'm hideous. Arrggg!

No biggie really. I get swarmed by 'jackets every couple of years. Goes with the territory. We'd just gotten to talking about yellow jackets on these forums a few years back as part of a discussion of Flannery O'Conner's novel, Wise Blood, so I decided to demonstrate. Anyway, that was a single sting. I got stung by around 25 of the little bastards once when I climbed down into an old junker car that was up on its side out in the woods. It took me a while to extricate myself from the vehicle, and then I ran for miles and miles, until I got to the river. The cool water felt pretty good. There was a guy a few years back in my neighborhood they found lying dead next to his lawn mower. I don't think they ever got a definitive answer on the cause of his death, but the speculation was pretty strong that it was a single yellow jacket sting to the temple.

[The Atheist]

Sounds nasty, Sancho!

Just popped in briefly, so Jynnan Tonnyx all round, unless anyone feels like a Ouisghian Zodah.

[Sancho]

Haha!

Welcome back, A'

I'll have a Jack...ahem...John Daniels. When you've known him as long as I have, you can call him John, perhaps even Jim...Jimmy...Jimbo.

Okay, I ripped off that idea from Scent of a Woman.

[The Atheist]

Y'ever notice that booze always has really "blokey" names?

Johnny, Jack, Beefeater, Gordon's.. oh wait, then there's Canadian Club. Scratch that idea.

[Sancho]

Good point, A'. Around here we drink Wayne's Whiskey. You see, Wayne is the bloke who lives next door, and Wayne has a still in his barn. I sh*t you not.

In defense of the manliness of Canadian Club, I seem to remember a little number by Jake and Elwood:

I Don't Know, The Blues Brothers

http://youtu.be/XBUBs4HRcSY


I said, Baby
You know when you bend over I see every bit of Christmas
And when you bend back I'm looking right into the New Year

She said, Honey
You know I gave up cigarettes for my new year's resolution
But I didn't give up smoking

I said, Woman
You going to walk a mile for a Camel
Or are you going to make like Mr Chesterfield and satisfy?

She said
That all depends on what your packing
Regular or Kingsize

Then she pulled out my Jim Beam, and to her surprise
It was every bit as hard as my Canadian Club

I said
Now what you got to say - Baaay-bee?

She said
Umm...


I'm pretty sure I'm getting the metaphor.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Y'ever notice that booze always has really "blokey" names?

Johnny, Jack, Beefeater, Gordon's.. oh wait, then there's Canadian Club. Scratch that idea.

Or nicknames such as "night train", "mad dog", "thunderbird".
Here's a couple more from my bountiful harvest courtesy of my brother in law:

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/IMGP3359_zps80b9b813.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/IMGP3359_zps80b9b813.jpg.html)


The corn and pumpkin were added for autumnal effect.

Say, there's a couple more blokey nicknames; "bitburger" and "rare breed"

[Sancho]

Here's a manly drink:

You see that huge growth underneath that cow? You squeeze it and I'll drink what comes out of it.

That right there is a manly drink.

[MANICHAEAN]

A belated Happy Birthday Gilliatt and I see what you meam about the liquid refreshments.
Never had Wild Turkey Rare Breed with a pumpkin, sweetcorn side dish. Bet your a Southern Boy.
Am hunkered down here now with Knob Creek drinking your health.
Best regards
M.

[qimissung]

Yep, that'd'a been an manlier option than the one I chose, which was to scream like a girl and run across the pasture shucking and jiving and whirling my t-shirt over my head like a helicopter. It's what I've always done in that situation. That black and white, spotted fellow in the picture came up with a doggie version of the same thing.

Ouch, Sancho! Even though this was a while back, may I offer my sincere condolences? And also point out that at least you were living up to your stated whereabouts-running amok, which is, yellow jackets notwithstanding, pretty fabulous.

Gilliatt, happy belated birthday.

Manachaean, I hope you survive this typhoon also!

And Paul, I hope your family had a fine time gallivanting all around the world and that your all back in you're respective homes and healthy soon!

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Here's a manly drink:

You see that huge growth underneath that cow? You squeeze it and I'll drink what comes out of it.

That right there is a manly drink.

Sancho,
It seems you were trying to post a picture, for some reason I'm not seeing it here in Texas.
Boy, sometimes this picture posting business can drive folks to udder frustration.


A belated Happy Birthday Gilliatt...Best regards
M.


...Gilliatt, happy belated birthday....


thanks and thanks

[Sancho]

Howdy Gill,

Nah, I was thinking of something udder than posting a picture.

What I was really doing was ripping off a bit by Bill Dance. Yes, I'm guilty of watching fishing shows on TV from time to time. Anyway, in one episode Bill and some dude were sitting in a boat, fishing, and they got to talking about bravery. The other guy said he thought astronauts were brave. Bill said he supposed astronauts were probably sort of brave, but then they had all of those NASA scientists behind them. Bill said he thought true bravery was the first guy to drink cow's milk - See that huge growth underneath that cow...

Anyway, it went something like that.

[Sancho]

Thanks Qimi,

Perhaps I should change it to: "running amok and screaming like a girl"

[Sancho]

Man-o-man that dancing banana is getting annoying, eh?

[Paulclem]

Hi chaps.

What happens to the time? I haven't even been away.

My wife returned impressed by the cultural experience that is Florence - and the very nice hotel she stayed in.

Speaking of drinks, she brought me and the lad a bottle of limoncino which is a lemon liqueur. I have a notable sweet tooth so it goes down well. Unfortunately, it's not a very manly name. The lad seems to like it too as the half bottle remainder testifies.

I missed your birthday Gil. A very belated one. I hope you had a fine time.

[The Atheist]

What happens to the time? I haven't even been away.

I remember in the '70s laughing at Pink Floyd's "10 years have got behind you".

Now, I wonder where the last 20 went.

Time speeding up is nothing Einstein prepared me for.

[Scheherazade]

That reminds me that it has been 10 years since I joined this Forum... I was a young, starry-eyed whippersnapper back then.

I think we should have a thread dedicated to this... I know there are couple of other people who have been on the Forum as long (if not longer).

[Paulclem]

That reminds me that it has been 10 years since I joined this Forum... I was a young, starry-eyed whippersnapper back then.

I think we should have a thread dedicated to this... I know there are couple of other people who have been on the Forum as long (if not longer).

What should we call it?

Litnet Survivor's Thread
The Repository of Aged Wisdom
The Litnet Old Folks Home

: )

[The Atheist]

That reminds me that it has been 10 years since I joined this Forum... I was a young, starry-eyed whippersnapper back then.

I think we should have a thread dedicated to this... I know there are couple of other people who have been on the Forum as long (if not longer).

And you're still sane.

(ish)

I feel like a n00b in your presence!

[Scheherazade]

And you're still sane.

(ish)"-ish" sounds about right.

I like the sound of "Old Folks' Home", Paul. Or we could call it LitNet Veterans' Club.

While having this conversation, I also realised that it has been 21 years since I started using the internet and the alias "Scheherazade".

Knock me down with a feather.

[The Atheist]

Yeah, "The Atheist" goes back about the same length of time, although it started out as "Kiwi Atheist" but everyone in Ummerica thinks "Kiwi" is a fruit, so I went with the definite article instead.

It's funny when my kids, who are much younger than the internet, try to tell me how it works.

How about "internet fossils"?

[Paulclem]

I like Litnet Veterans and Internet Fossils.

I will perhaps be joining some veterans clubs in future, but am an internet fossil coming online around 1998. I have to confess I didn't get the internet much until a few years later.

[Sancho]

I still own a slide rule. It's gonna come in handy when the asteroid hits.

[The Atheist]

I own one as well, but I'm blowed if I can remember how to use it!

[Sancho]

Dig the new avatar, A'. Reminds me of a restroom sign I saw welcoming transgender folks:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/th_35f51c12025bc59fe45ed01fc648d66d_zpse17a0953.jp g (http://s971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/?action=view&current=35f51c12025bc59fe45ed01fc648d66d_zpse17a09 53.jpg)

[Calidore]

I own one as well, but I'm blowed if I can remember how to use it!

Sounds like a good incentive to me.

[Sancho]

^yep

Another thing I liked about the slide rule (and missed when I switched to a calculator) was that I could see the number I wanted and its relationship to the numbers around it. There was a natural flow to it, a rhythm even. It gave the world of numbers an interconnectedness that doesn't outwardly exist in a digital world - the 0-1, if-then-else world. (Yes, I also took FORTRAN)

Anyway I suppose it's analogous to a watch with hands versus a digital watch. If I were to look at the hands on a traditional wristwatch and see that it is 7:55am and I have to be at an 8 O-clock meeting, I subconsciously visualize the time I have to get there - it's the space between the big hand and the 12. On the other hand, (haha) if I see "7:55" on a digital watch, I think oh I've got all the time in the world, the meeting's not 'till 8.

[The Atheist]

Dig the new avatar, A'.

Thanks.

I figure transgender and intersex discrimination is one of the last walls to break down, so I've become a bit more proactive in the area.

[Calidore]

Thanks.

I figure transgender and intersex discrimination is one of the last walls to break down, so I've become a bit more proactive in the area.

There will always be more walls as long as there are people who need them. Kind of like the joke about making something foolproof only resulting in a better fool.

[Scheherazade]

I think we should have a thread dedicated to this... I know there are couple of other people who have been on the Forum as long (if not longer). Here we are... (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?80365-Literature-Network-Veterans-Club&p=1273336#post1273336)

PS: I love quoting myself :D

[NikolaiI]

I wish it were 4:00 - there's statement that has a different meaning depending on what time zone you think the person is in.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I still own a slide rule. It's gonna come in handy when the asteroid hits.


I own one as well, but I'm blowed if I can remember how to use it!


http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/th_e8dc5836d9bd675ac8f94d67e1cbef0d_zps50dc8c6d.jp g (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/e8dc5836d9bd675ac8f94d67e1cbef0d_zps50dc8c6d.jpg.h tml)

I can slide it...and...that's about it.



I wish it were 4:00 - there's statement that has a different meaning depending on what time zone you think the person is in.

Right now the next 4:00 for me is AM and hopefully I'll sleep right through it.

[Paulclem]

Back to work today.

I currently teach a class in the City Central Library on a Monday morning which would be great if I was able to chill there after the class. Unfortunately I am having to rush off to support a new tutor, but things will settle down eventually. (They have a cafe and Wi-Fi area which I could spend my dinner break in).

I do have a pass to get through the back security doors and into the Warren of rooms and offices that are off limits to the public. It used to be a nightclub with a balcony, ( up where I teach), and the maze of corridors does remind me of the Overlook Hotel when the doors open to the lifts and the blood rushes out. (The floors have blood red tiles). I quite like having access to areas previously off limits when I was a member of the public.

[Paulclem]

In Nottingham to see my daughter this weekend. It's a nice city with wide spaces in the centre.

Last night, after visiting her, I popped into Nottinghamshire oldest pub - The Bell Inn established 1437.

Nice pub - wood panelled - and full of the middle aged and older. Perhaps the older population gravitates towards the more traditional pub.

I've passed a Punk Pub nearby which also seems to be filled with middle aged but "alternative" people. I might pop in tonight just to have a look.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Fantastic Paul. I took a tour through the Bell Inn’s website; 12th century cave cellars, Abbot Ale, TTT Porter, Trooper and the William Clarke sure look good, but I have to say that pic of the fish and chips on the newsprint has me drooling, a lot of history there.
Until now, my knowledge of Nottingham was limited to what Roger Miller shared, although Los Lobos take on it isn’t bad either… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIP1-RPzrK8

[Paulclem]

Thanks Gil. I've just had a look as well. I didn't know about the cave tours. They sound great. And yes- the fish and chips do look superb.

On the Saturday night I went into Punk Rock Pub not far from The Bell. It is a tiny place with loud music inhabited by middle aged men - presumably ex-punks. I wasn't too impressed. I did like like The Blue Bell next door which was also inhabited by middle aged people. I haven't yet felt too old for a pub in Nottingham. There's time yet though.

[NikolaiI]

Here we are... (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?80365-Literature-Network-Veterans-Club&p=1273336#post1273336)

PS: I love quoting myself :D

Now we know the source of the popular demand, as well.. ;)

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

.

Merry Christmas Blokes and to all

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Misc%20Album/Stamps%20and%20Coins/Vaticanstamp.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/Misc%20Album/Stamps%20and%20Coins/Vaticanstamp.jpg.html)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Misc%20Album/Stamps%20and%20Coins/th_USstampsblockof4.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/Misc%20Album/Stamps%20and%20Coins/USstampsblockof4.jpg.html)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Misc%20Album/Stamps%20and%20Coins/th_Spainstamp.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/Misc%20Album/Stamps%20and%20Coins/Spainstamp.jpg.html)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Misc%20Album/Stamps%20and%20Coins/RussianDaVincistamp.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/Misc%20Album/Stamps%20and%20Coins/RussianDaVincistamp.jpg.html)

[Sancho]

^nice, Gill.

Also I never knew Mary was a redhead until right now.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

It is a Russian stamp after all, I tell ya, that Da Vinci always ahead of his time.

Speaking of blondes, we need to recognize the passing of Donna Douglas, who passed form this world on January 1st.
Boy, the cement pond ain't gonna be the same.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Donna_Douglas_1967.JPG/220px-Donna_Douglas_1967.JPG



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A7YxC6tpHI

[Sancho]

Well, I for one will certainly tilt a glass of rheumatiz' medicine in her honor.

Here's to you Ellie-May...

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I had a skosh too much cheap vodka last night, the left side of my head is just now feeling better.

Cindy Walker helped me get through... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGnRFirmTkc

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Something I stumbled on earlier this morning that we blokes are all too familiar with.
Even poor old St. Augustine and his posse, 1,631 years ago, realized the futility of their dreams at the moment someone mentioned the wives.

From Augustine's Confessions, he and some friends were considering forming a commune away from the throng of humanity.
The year; about 384...

"...We agreed that two officers should be chosen every year to handle the details of our life together, leaving the rest undisturbed. But the we began to wonder whether our wives would agree, for some of us already had wives and I meant to have one. So the whole plan, which we had built up so neatly, fell to pieces in our hands and was simply dropped. We returned to old sighing and groaning and treading of this worlds broad and beaten ways..."

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

A late Mothers Day gift, from the 4th movement of my Sub Urbane Symphony (see the really bad poems thread)
Happy Mothers Day...


Fourth Movement -A Mother’s Day Suite
Rondo Affectionado
Originally presented on Mother’s Day

Please listen as you read:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmOClcEk124
(Saint-Saëns Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso)

What cacophony hies from yer room Bert?
Turn doon that deavin rock man…enough!
Whutsa ma, you want to hear Rachmaninoff?
Nae boy, I’d rather not hear any ting atoll.

Unless it’s the pipes boy…

Aye, I’ll take the pipes ‘o Pan on the ides of May.
Play them now on yer dear ‘ol mum’s special day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rjbrqcQ5Sw

An who’s this slit skirt lass as got yer kilt in a flutter?
When ‘ul you get uh rondo intruducin yer mudder?
Her name is Camille, she’s from Saint Saëns;
a capricious bird, with a bow on her sconce.

She took the low road from the south of France.
If she’d taken the high road, she’d nae dusted ‘er pants.
You could uh ridden Debussy lassie for nary a pence,
it stops at firth and forth, right next to our fence.

Ach naw! it’s tha painter of moats token on a missile,
look’n like a clatty wraith wi uh dose ‘o jump’n fits.
Higher ‘an Abbey Craig from smok’n too much thistle,
your faether would say he’s got a bit ‘o the “Heifetz”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeApec5uZMU

[NikolaiI]

Smile :smile5:

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

The "American Dream", Dusty Rhodes passed on a few days ago. RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcsW8HmFQUw

(I would say the blonde one, so let's go with the one in the black trunks)

[prendrelemick]

A late Mothers Day gift, from the 4th movement of my Sub Urbane Symphony (see the really bad poems thread)
Happy Mothers Day...


Fourth Movement -A Mother’s Day Suite
Rondo Affectionado
Originally presented on Mother’s Day

Please listen as you read:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmOClcEk124
(Saint-Saëns Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso)

What cacophony hies from yer room Bert?
Turn doon that deavin rock man…enough!
Whutsa ma, you want to hear Rachmaninoff?
Nae boy, I’d rather not hear any ting atoll.

Unless it’s the pipes boy…

Aye, I’ll take the pipes ‘o Pan on the ides of May.
Play them now on yer dear ‘ol mum’s special day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rjbrqcQ5Sw

An who’s this slit skirt lass as got yer kilt in a flutter?
When ‘ul you get uh rondo intruducin yer mudder?
Her name is Camille, she’s from Saint Saëns;
a capricious bird, with a bow on her sconce.

She took the low road from the south of France.
If she’d taken the high road, she’d nae dusted ‘er pants.
You could uh ridden Debussy lassie for nary a pence,
it stops at firth and forth, right next to our fence.

Ach naw! it’s tha painter of moats token on a missile,
look’n like a clatty wraith wi uh dose ‘o jump’n fits.
Higher ‘an Abbey Craig from smok’n too much thistle,
your faether would say he’s got a bit ‘o the “Heifetz”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeApec5uZMU

Good stuff GG. I've finally managed to get back on this thread, and was greeted by this high quality bit o culture.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Good stuff GG. I've finally managed to get back on this thread, and was greeted by this high quality bit o culture.

Thanks, but more importantly, you found a way back. I noticed you were having trouble, in fact I was planning to offer my services as your surrogate poster.

[Calidore]

The "American Dream", Dusty Rhodes passed on a few days ago. RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcsW8HmFQUw

(I would say the blonde one, so let's go with the one in the black trunks)

Many people only knew him as a wrestler, but he was hugely influential behind the scenes as well. Definitely Southern wrestling's secret weapon.

Prendrelemick: Glad to see you're able to post in GC again. What did the problem end up being?

[prendrelemick]

It was a never-ending advert loading script. The son in law sorted it by putting on an ad blocker and switching to fire fox - seems to be working.

[prendrelemick]

RIP, Yvonne Craig. Gilliatt will be in mourning.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

RIP, Yvonne Craig. Gilliatt will be in mourning.

I am indeed.
Her passing did not go unnoticed, one of several CRT divas that fueled the fire of my adolescence.
RIP Yvonne.

Batgirl:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yvonne_Craig_Batgirl.JPG#/media/File:Yvonne_Craig_Batgirl.JPG

and who could forget Marta from Star Trek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yvonne_Craig_Star_Trek.jpg#/media/File:Yvonne_Craig_Star_Trek.jpg

[The Atheist]

Eh oop! Anyone still here?

The beer's flat, the wine was left uncorked and I can't find Parker anywhere...

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

wha...eh, who's there?
well, well, long time no speak.
It's just me and the jukebox hold'n down the fort... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAIPV_iFJOE

[The Atheist]

Hey! Seen and sasquatch lately?

I'll dial you up a beer while I try to figure where the heck Parker got to.

Nice to see you - looks like it's been awful quiet in here.

[prendrelemick]

A darkened room. Shrouded funiture. There is a scrabbling noise at the door, slowly the handle turns, reluctantly and with a sound like a screech owl's talons dragging down Cruella DeVille's blackboard, the door is pushed open. A shaft of mote filled light sends shadows and spiders scuttling for the corners. I tell my whippet to sit, adjust my flat cap and enter the room. A shadowy figure rises in front of me like a spirit summoned from ancient darkness by the guadians of silence and decay to block my tresspass. "Good evening sir", it intoned "Your usual ?" " No thankyou Parker" I replied, "but if you would be so good as to send a crate of champagne to The Newlands for Ben Stokes, I would be much obliged."

[The Atheist]

Hey there Mick!

Yes, a magnificent innings. Second fastest double ton ever. A record held by a New Zealander, I believe.

Veuve Cliquot on the way.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Hey! Seen and sasquatch lately?

....

No, but El Sancho ran across one out in Georgia, I believe. Take a look at his photo in the Bigfoot thread, he was able to get pretty close.


Hey there Mick!

Yes, a magnificent innings...

Innings? oh yes, must be that cricket(?) business again.

Parker, in the guise of Santa, left me a bottle of Jack Daniels and some Glenfiddich single malt under the tree.
Happy new year!

[prendrelemick]

Yes cricket indeed. Young Ben got 200 runs in 163 balls in a test match, that's like hitting 10 home runs in a major league game (I think). "An increasingly rare reminder of the fearless glory days of test cricket"


Stokes in numbers - the records he broke

Fastest Test double century by an England batsman
Highest score by an England batsman at Newlands, beating Jack Hobbs' 187 in 1910
Most sixes by an England batsman (11), surpassing Wally Hammond in 1933
Most runs scored in a day of Test cricket at Newlands, beating the 450 made by Australia at Wanderers in 1921
Highest score by a number six, bettering the 250 of Doug Walters for Australia against New Zealand in 1977
Stokes and Bairstow set the highest partnership for a sixth wicket in Test cricket
Stokes and Bairstow set the fastest 300 partnership, beating India's Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid

He's New Zealand born by the way.

[prendrelemick]

Cricket eh? England might very well lose this after scoring over 600 in the first innings - and then going on to drop about 10 catches! They deserve to lose for their complacency. South Africa deserve to win for their tenacity and a declaration that shows they are not interested in a draw.

[The Atheist]

We haven't seen any of that series, cricket coverage being limited to the appallingly inept Sri Lankan side.

Between them and the Windies, we're running out of good sides.

[prendrelemick]

True, but then some thing always happens, a great team emerges and dominates for a decade.


Now, imagine dirge like music being played on here all morning in preparation of a sad announcement...

[prendrelemick]

...David Bowie has died. I can't believe how sad I feel about this . I was never a fan as such, but his music is woven into the fabric of many an old git's life - it's like a chunk of us has shrivelled away. Memories of moments when his music rubbed up against me keep coming back -on the bus to school -watching top of the pops - mum and dad's reaction - Band aid - explaining to my own kids who he is - Mick Ronson,s guitar riff on The Jene-Genie - and so on.
Oh well, we are all dust in the end.

[The Atheist]

That sounds remarkably like how I feel.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

This morning I had a craving for some trucker music, this one's for Sancho...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAyjUVlwDOI
(Dave Dudley "Through Hell and Half of Georgia")

[Sancho]

Huzza!

...and eleven long-haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse microbus...

But hey man, I don't live in Georgia anymore:

http://youtu.be/1tqxzWdKKu8
(Paddle faster!)

I'm now a bona fide Pacific Northwesterner:

http://youtu.be/PbgKEjNBHqM

And this is just my opinion, but I've gotta tell ya - North-Georgia hillbillies ain't got nothin' on these people around here.

[circuit]

Second ODI tomorrow in SA. any predictions

[Tyrion Cheddar]

Huzza!

...and eleven long-haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse microbus...

But hey man, I don't live in Georgia anymore:

http://youtu.be/1tqxzWdKKu8
(Paddle faster!)

I'm now a bona fide Pacific Northwesterner:

http://youtu.be/PbgKEjNBHqM

And this is just my opinion, but I've gotta tell ya - North-Georgia hillbillies ain't got nothin' on these people around here.

Then we need a name for them, Sancho, my old mate. How about rainbillies? Or Starbillies, as it's the home of that world's most sinister coffee shop chain? And thanks for the Nirvana clip. ;-)

[prendrelemick]

Second ODI tomorrow in SA. any predictions

England to win - of course.

This time Stokes will throw his hat into the air, deflect a certain six, then hold open his back pocket for the ball to drop into. Easy.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Huzza!

...and eleven long-haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse microbus...

But hey man, I don't live in Georgia anymore...
....And this is just my opinion, but I've gotta tell ya - North-Georgia hillbillies ain't got nothin' on these people around here.

Well, I knew it was in the works, so it sounds like you're settled in up there.
I can only go by hearsay regarding the northwestern billies, more reliance on dumpster diving, victory gardens, composting toilets, hydroponics, bicycles and the like.
Are you using a composting toilet?
Now you're in Sasquatch country, please keep me posted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kCkDqfoz5E

[Sancho]

Then we need a name for them, Sancho, my old mate. How about rainbillies? Or Starbillies, as it's the home of that world's most sinister coffee shop chain? And thanks for the Nirvana clip. ;-)

Bah-hahaha-hah

Lumberbillies? Stevedorks?

I gotta tell ya though, TC, I feel guilty about making fun of these people because they are genuinely nice folks. Back down south if somebody was being nice to me I had to assume they were working an angle. And up in your neck of the woods they don't even bother being nice anymore, unless they're doing it ironically. Around here they seem to be nice for sake of being nice. Weird, huh? It's making me nervous as hell.

Hey, Gill. I like this version: I hear it's by a Texas girl:

http://youtu.be/WXV_QjenbDw

I do have a composting toilet here, just like I had in Georgia, only we call it a septic tank. Also, just like down south I've got an actual compost heap going. The neighbors tell me it'll attract bears, so l'm keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe it'll precipitate a Sasquatch sighting. I thought I'd spotted one a couple of weeks ago, but it turned out to be Dave Grohl.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

...Hey, Gill. I like this version: I hear it's by a Texas girl:

http://youtu.be/WXV_QjenbDw...

Oh yes, quite familiar with that one, my Dave Dudley toss up was just a fringe benefit I discovered during a recent trucker music phase I went through.

Some folks raise worms in their composting toilets; a fringe benefit of what they left behind.

[prendrelemick]

RIP. Martin Crowe (Cricket again) He was one of the very best

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

From the original author
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-J7mLyD3yc

Figured I should get that established, before heading further down the road of covers.

[Sancho]

Live and direct from East 6th Street, city of my alma mater:

The Austin Lounge Lizards

Jesus Loves me (But He Can't Stand You)

http://youtu.be/3hsj3CYVnXo

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I'm in Austin every Thursday for weekly project construction meetings, i'll make it a point to "take the long way home" down 6th street or thereabouts.

Continuing on Bobby McGee cover, how about this one from Jerry Lee Lewis... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-BgqvyMkdw

btw - I took a chance on the Tagalongs a while back due to the Samoa's being depleted, not bad.

[Paulclem]

Hi chaps. Been a while with stuff happening. I hope you are all well. We are.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Hi chaps. Been a while with stuff happening. I hope you are all well. We are.

Great to your face again, hope all is well with you.

[Paulclem]

It is thanks Gil. Just been very busy. Nice to be back.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Spaten Optimator in a Shlitz goblet, is this sacrilege?
(click on thumbnail)

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Misc%20Album/th_IMG_1168_zps3gmpozaa.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/Misc%20Album/IMG_1168_zps3gmpozaa.jpg.html)


Here's Waylon's version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1-_cZoUOEE&noredirect=1

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae114/tabuka1/Misc%20Album/DSCN0845_zpsrxwxyeet.jpg (http://s963.photobucket.com/user/tabuka1/media/Misc%20Album/DSCN0845_zpsrxwxyeet.jpg.html)


Another 100 deg Sunday evening, cooling down with a Hoegaarden, listening to Spirit on vinyl, celebrating the completion of The Count of Monte Cristo, and admiring a Red Tail Hawk feather I found along the trail side.

Speaking of Spirit, sounds like the courts sided with Zeppelin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd8AVbwB_6E

[prendrelemick]

Spent Sunday shearing the last few sheep.

If there are any Presbyterian Elders reading this, don't worry we shepherds have special dispensation for working on the Sabbath. Which is why we are traditionanally buried with a wisp of wool in our hands, to prove to St Peter that we are indeed shepherds and were tending to our flocks rather than attending Church.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I like that.
Did I..hold on, I just walked into cob web..Did I read somewhere along the way you have a new four legged helper?

[prendrelemick]

Had one, tried to train her- turns out she was going deaf! Got another, trained her, no interest in sheep- gave her away. Got another, going well so far - but poor old Nelly's retirement keeps getting put back.