Cold Ale - The Blokes' Thread!

Athiest, the God police have got the good sense not to arrest you, they know they would have an articulate well argued response on their hands, its not good for business. I do agree with your philosophy, Hitchens and Dawkins are carrying the torch for challenging accepted religious ideology. Basically it is mumbo jumbo used by strong personalities to control the weak minded. Now, another question, name three items necessary for male wellbeing? Anyone can join in. My three, Swiss knife, with titanium bottle opener, can of wife repellent and mistress. This may be a wee bit controversial. :)

A Shed

comfy slippers,
possesion of the telly remote,
selective deafness
.
.
.
I must be getting old

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jocky

Now, another question, name three items necessary for male wellbeing? Anyone can join in. My three, Swiss knife, with titanium bottle opener, can of wife repellent and mistress. This may be a wee bit controversial. :)

---

Bloody good question.

My Buck knife.

A magnifying glass - to start fires.

1 km of rot-proof 10kg line.

Civilisation could disappear tomorrow, and if I've got those three things, I can live forever.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Whifflingpin

A Shed

---

The world's your shed!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by prendrelemick

comfy slippers,
possesion of the telly remote,
selective deafness
.
.
.
I must be getting old

---

I'd say!

:D

1 km of rot-proof 10kg line.

From one fisherman to another Athiest, that is the exact same line I used to catch my can of Atlantic salmon. I am considering changing to a 20kg line and perhaps hooking a couple of tins of caviare. :nod: Whifflingpin, brevity is the source of all wit, ' A shed ' impressive. Prendrelmick, I am seriously starting to worry about you, ' SLIPPERS ' :lol:

Independence Day!! So what is is the offing as far as drinks go? I spent most of the day today getting my studio together, building walls and moving. Nothing like some heavy construction and carpentry to wet the appetite and work up a thirst. I came home to steaks on the grill (New York Strips... so red they were still mooing) and some really good beer: Samuel Smith Imperial Stout, Beamish Irish Stout, this really unique banana bread beer:banana:, and we'll finish off with some Three Philosophers while listening to Miles Davis (Kind of Blue) and perhaps some Stones (Let it Bleed) cranked up real loud (Hey... I'm just following the instructions on the LP cover!) if I'm really blitzed. :banana::banana::banana::banana:
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k2...31-6659008.gif

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stlukesguild

Independence Day!!

---

The rest of the world mourns the day. If only those damned, interfering Frogs had kept their beaks out, the United States would still be paying taxes to the Queen, as they rightfully should!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Atheist

The rest of the world mourns the day. If only those damned, interfering Frogs had kept their beaks out, the United States would still be paying taxes to the Queen, as they rightfully should!

---

lol go up to your average American and tell them that we owe our freedom to the French. You won't get the best reaction

lol go up to your average American and tell them that we owe our freedom to the French. You won't get the best reaction

Not that the French are all that thankful for bailing their asses out of two World Wars. Next time they have any problems with the Germans we should all just sit back and watch.:D

Oh dear, we're delving dangerously close to a forbidden political discussion here...

So I refrain from further commentary on the matter...


Would anyone like a Sam Adams?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stargazer86

lol go up to your average American and tell them that we owe our freedom to the French. You won't get the best reaction

---

Yeah; pity really. Shows a distinct lack of appreciation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stlukesguild

Not that the French are all that thankful for bailing their asses out of two World Wars. Next time they have any problems with the Germans we should all just sit back and watch.:D

---

Um, let me just note that the asses bailed out - if that expression even suits - certainly weren't French. While the Yanks fought mainly in France in WWI, the British Commonwealth had long since covered France's bottom, and in WWII, France didn't even exist by the time your mob joined up.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stargazer86

Oh dear, we're delving dangerously close to a forbidden political discussion here...

---

Surely that's history rather than politics?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stargazer86

Would anyone like a Sam Adams?

---

The Mayor of Prtland?

Now that's definitely politics!

:)

Stlukes: Are you sure "Imperial Stout" is the patriotic thing to be drinking on the 4th?

A good Yorkshire beer though.

Jocky: It is impossible to exaggerate the value of a comfy pair of slippers at the end of a long day.

Stargazer: Cheers. God bless A-mhur-ika

Come on chaps. Lets not be too beastly to the French.
After all in my parents generation they used to complain about the American forces stationed in the UK during the war:
"They were overpaid, oversexed & over here".

Um, let me just note that the asses bailed out - if that expression even suits - certainly weren't French. While the Yanks fought mainly in France in WWI, the British Commonwealth had long since covered France's bottom...

But for some reason they just couldn't get the job done, eh?:D

...and in WWII, France didn't even exist by the time your mob joined up.

Thanks to the great job your mob pulled at Dunkirk, no doubt.:D

Stlukes: Are you sure "Imperial Stout" is the patriotic thing to be drinking on the 4th?

Well I sure as hell can't picture myself drinking a Budweiser... no matter how patriotic I may or may not be. The only possible alternative would be a good micro-brewery... (or some California wine)... and good luck on finding one of those on a holiday. Perhaps I shoulda gone the true patriotic route and bought some good Kentucky whiskey or bourbon? Hmmm...?:idea:

Stlukesguild, you are not having a go at the British army are you? We have never retreated in our history, a good few strategic withdrawels, but retreat, never. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Atheist

Surely that's history rather than politics?


:)

---

Perhaps. Too fine a line though as it can quickly turn into Vietnam and Iraq and all that. Recent history/current events

It seems that Stlukes and I possible see it differently and since I've not spoken to this lit netter before, I would not like to get off on the wrong foot.

I love everyone :)

We have never retreated in our history, a good few strategic withdrawels, but retreat, never.:)

What happened at Hastings?:D Of course we have that decisive victory at Pearl Harbor to brag about. I don't imagine too many admirals lining up the entire navy in a shallow harbor any more.:(

We didn't retreat at Hastings, we were slaughtered, perhaps there's a lesson there !

Prendrelmick, you have brought this circular argument to a successful conclusion. Never trust the French. Many a Scotsman died at Hastings, assisting the Normans :)

I don't think there was a "British Army" at Hastings...

Athiest, as always, you are right. The concept of a British army has always been complex and problematic. There are Englishmen, Scots, Welsh, Irish,and Ghurkas to name but a few all under the same flag. You will probably be aware that there is even a territorial branch of the Black Watch in your country. There has always been more casualties suffered in barrack room brawls between different ethnic groups than inflicted on our, so called enemies. :)

We didn't retreat at Hastings, we were slaughtered, perhaps there's a lesson there !

Ah... a clear distinction, there... and one that General Custer might have done well to have considered before Little Big Horn.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jocky

Athiest, as always, you are right. The concept of a British army has always been complex and problematic. There are Englishmen, Scots, Welsh, Irish,and Ghurkas to name but a few all under the same flag. You will probably be aware that there is even a territorial branch of the Black Watch in your country. There has always been more casualties suffered in barrack room brawls between different ethnic groups than inflicted on our, so called enemies. :)

---

Sorry to upset your self-congratulatory thinking laddies, but field marshall Sir John Harding, former Chief of General Staff, is on record as saying that the best troops he ever encountered were those of the Wehrmacht.
I might also remind you of General Sir Brian Horrocks assertion that "the British army was a peasant army led by aristocrats while the German army was a military machine led by technocrats." The machine didn't win but only by the narrowest of margins.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brian Bean

Sorry to upset your self-congratulatory thinking laddies, but field marshall Sir John Harding, former Chief of General Staff, is on record as saying that the best troops he ever encountered were those of the Wehrmacht.
I might also remind you of General Sir Brian Horrocks assertion that "the British army was a peasant army led by aristocrats while the German army was a military machine led by technocrats." The machine didn't win but only by the narrowest of margins.

---

Aye Brian, but we still humped them, a wins a win ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jocky

Aye Brian, but we still humped them, a wins a win ;)

---

Who's we?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brian Bean

Who's we?

---

Who's you? Dont come the Platonic dialectics with old Jocky.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jocky

There has always been more casualties suffered in barrack room brawls between different ethnic groups than inflicted on our, so called enemies. :)

---

My dad was a career RN bloke, ended up president of the Chiefs' Mess with a BEM to go with his two WWII DSMs.

There's no doubt that in the minds of Brit servicepeople in WWII, they saw "the enemy" in the following order of priority:

#1 Yanks
#2 Frogs
#3 Japanese
#4 Germans

:)

Although his medals were for fighting the Japanese...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brian Bean

Sorry to upset your self-congratulatory thinking laddies, but field marshall Sir John Harding, former Chief of General Staff, is on record as saying that the best troops he ever encountered were those of the Wehrmacht.

---

That's fine - the troops the Wehrmacht were most scared of was the Maori Battalion!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Atheist

That's fine - the troops the Wehrmacht were most scared of was the Maori Battalion!

---

Yeah, they also tell us in history class here that Canadian soldiers were the most feared, bravest, and most skilled fighters and the Newfies (at that point not actually part of Canada) in particular were fearsome (though, two consecutive generations of males were essentially wiped out in Europe, so perhaps they got the bravery bit right) - personally, I doubt the Wehrmacht could tell people apart, especially not the commonwealth battalions but that's just me.

But yeah, people tell me the All Blacks Haka before games scares the crap out of the other teams, so perhaps the Maori battalion was the most frightening.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Atheist

My dad was a career RN bloke, ended up president of the Chiefs' Mess with a BEM to go with his two WWII DSMs.

There's no doubt that in the minds of Brit servicepeople in WWII, they saw "the enemy" in the following order of priority:

#1 Yanks
#2 Frogs
#3 Japanese
#4 Germans

:)

Although his medals were for fighting the Japanese...

---

Athiest I knew you would come through for me. Your old man sounds like a trooper. Yanks, well hated, stealing all the wives and girlfriends. Frogs, for obvious reasons. Japanese, sneaky buggers and the Germans because their trains run on time. Question, will you be supporting Australia in the Ashes next week? :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JBI

Yeah, they also tell us in history class here that Canadian soldiers were the most feared, bravest, and most skilled fighters and the Newfies (at that point not actually part of Canada) in particular were fearsome (though, two consecutive generations of males were essentially wiped out in Europe, so perhaps they got the bravery bit right) - personally, I doubt the Wehrmacht could tell people apart, especially not the commonwealth battalions but that's just me.

But yeah, people tell me the All Blacks Haka before games scares the crap out of the other teams, so perhaps the Maori battalion was the most frightening.

---

Yes the Canadians and Kiwis were and are fantastic soldiers. Take it from someone who knows. I come from a long line of distinguished military ancestors. Famous for being executed by their own side for extreme cowardice in the face of the enemy. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jocky

Athiest I knew you would come through for me. Your old man sounds like a trooper. Yanks, well hated, stealing all the wives and girlfriends. Frogs, for obvious reasons. Japanese, sneaky buggers and the Germans because their trains run on time. Question, will you be supporting Australia in the Ashes next week? :D

---

Australia? Are you kidding?

We have a standard sports policy in NZ - "I support New Zealand"

and anyone playing Australia!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jocky

Yes the Canadians and Kiwis were and are fantastic soldiers. Take it from someone who knows. I come from a long line of distinguished military ancestors. Famous for being executed by their own side for extreme cowardice in the face of the enemy. :)

---

:lol::lol:

My uncle Walter, the ex German paratrooper, was sensible enough to surrender to the Americans, when his battalion were ordered to the Russian Front.

I don't know about the German Top Brass, but the troops he was with, feared the Russians almost as much as the Gestapo.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jocky

Who's you? Dont come the Platonic dialectics with old Jocky.

---

The late (and unlamented ) Harold Wilson was once accused of dodging unpalatable questions by answering with another. To which he replied, "Who told you that?"

In this very highbrow debate on the fighting abilities of the British, its necessary to recognise the negative virtues of this entity e.g.
"I dont know what they do to the enemy, but they frighten the life out of me" Attributed to The Duke of Wellington"

"The highest traditions of the Royal Navy are comprised of rum, sodomy & the lash" Attributed Winston Churchill when First Lord of The Admirality.

' My uncle Walter, the ex German paratrooper'. Prendrelmick, I seem to recall hearing this story before. I am suspicious, this is not the beginning of an extremely elaborate tall tale is it? :)

Which one?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by prendrelemick

My uncle Walter, the ex German paratrooper, was sensible enough to surrender to the Americans, when his battalion were ordered to the Russian Front.

I don't know about the German Top Brass, but the troops he was with, feared the Russians almost as much as the Gestapo.

---

One of the toughest men I ever knew was an ex Wermacht soldier who was very badly wounded on the Russian front at Leningrad. When I asked him if he had any regrets about what had happened to him he said none whatsoever and if he had his time over again, he would do exactly the same.

Jocky
If I remember correctly you can find the reassurance that this is not a "tall tale" in the following two books:
"Years of The Sword" by Elizabeth Longford.
"The Last Lion" by William Manchester.
Sorry, I cant be more precise, but most of my books are in London, and I'm in the Middle East!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by prendrelemick

My uncle Walter, the ex German paratrooper, was sensible enough to surrender to the Americans, when his battalion were ordered to the Russian Front.

I don't know about the German Top Brass, but the troops he was with, feared the Russians almost as much as the Gestapo.

---

Yes, the Russians were particularly unfogiving to Germans, and I guess that's understandable given the atrocities perpetrated on the Russiand during German occupation. Ironic really, when they started out as pals.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MANICHAEAN

"The highest traditions of the Royal Navy are comprised of rum, sodomy & the lash" Attributed Winston Churchill when First Lord of The Admirality.

---

And a great album by The Pogues!

(I think Winnie's original words were "Rum, buggery and the lash" but it's been kept alive as sodomy to preserve a few sensibilities.