Marmora Man

And Pietersen has just gone! for 94.

At present (fingers crossed) Pietersen an Colly are doing better than I was expecting. If England are still batting tomorrow it could become an interesting match.

The barmaid in the Bishop who was, a lunchtime last week, wearing a man's shirt, cinched at the waist with a belt, as her dress and looked fantastic. All leg and thigh!

I had my 21st birthday in Singapore and the social life was great - then back in 197 "hrrummpp". Back then Singapore was very different - smelly monsoon ditches, go-downs, street stalls, Raffles bar for gin slings, rickshaw men. Now, what I've seen of it, on fleeting stop overs on the way to KL, it's a little like Canary Wharf set on the equator - lots a high rise blocks, clean streets, cute railways, massive massive law ' order presence. Living there might be different but English beer only tastes right in England so that's where I plan to retire. Plus ex-pat communities can be very strange sometimes. (tho' perhaps fun - cf: Greta Scaatchi in White Mischief)

Appeal - 75% - 80% of appeals are allowed. It's a complete pain to go thru' the process but it can be satisfying when you win as beating mindless bueauracracy with elegant and witty argument has its own reward. Don't be fazed if the first written appeal isn't allowed - ask to make your next appeal in person - it's a 100-1 bet that Southwark will back down as they can't be bothered to spend > ?250 to win ?60.

I have a feeling that it was messing with a winning formula to bring Flintoff back into the side that has started this slide into averageness. I was planning to attend the Oval Test on my birthday - but not sure it will feel like a treat now.

Recognising strange British tastes they also do a great Marmite & Toast option which with double coffee is > ?3.00. Good value, tho' I did see my GP from Forest Hill surgery call in as I was slathering butter and marmite onto the toast - may get cholestrol telling off next time I visit GP.

Herne is good as a party can choose - there'll be a veggie option and plenty of non Roast dishes too.

As P G W (Wodehouse) says " It is not difficult to discern the difference between a Scotsman and a ray of sunshine"!

I agree with mightyroar = plus you get to entertain without the hassle of table cloths, fancy menus, place settings. Good picnics are not over planned and definitely (by definition) not formal. Some grub, some booze, a fine view / location and friends - what more coudl you want?

Begs a question - what is the class system that so many bang on about - I can't see it myself? Do we have working class, middle class( upper & lower) and upper class (including Royalty, aristocracy etc) - which seems to me about 100 years out of date. Is it - unskilled labour, manual labour, blue collar labour, white collar labour, professionals (doctors, accountants & the like) with perhaps another tier above that of super rich, hedge funders and aristocracy. This seems equally out of date. I would suggest that all those working for a living, using whatever skills and knowledge they may have, form the majority and suffer from the only other class that seems to matter - politicians. So CWALD, me, Hugenot, ????, Sean MacG all all EDF"ers" are part of this class - we may do different things and be paid at different rates but most of us are just wage slaves. Politicians are a less experienced but more despised class - few of whom have ever had to create employment, experience redundancy (receiving or giving - both are instructive experiences), justify a business plan, complete a manual job, recruit new staff, meet a real deadline or persuade a bank or other institution to part with cash to back an idea. I haven't researched Dodd's Companion to the House of Commons but I doubt there are more than 10% of the current MPs that have ever worked at a real job as the majority of the country experiences work(I don't count the many barristers - who are self employed and employ few, if any, others, nor the majority of professional politicians who have graduated from think tanks and / or union posts to Parliamentary researchers, to policy wonks to MPs).

THere have been other "non elected" Prime Ministers - the last being John Major. However, prior to him - Jim Callaghan, Douglas Home, Anthony Eden. To my mind he is reaping what he sowed. His deal with TB was that TB do the leader bit but GB have total control of the Treasury and thus of the British economy and government spending. While I would not deny that "events" have not helped, it has been GB's profligate spending, borrowing to fund the spending, off balance sheet accounting, inflation of the public sector wage bill without matching improvements in performance, creation of a target led regime, stealth taxes, windfall taxes, ripping off of private pensions and other errors of judgement / management that have screwed things up. Unfortunately we are all going to suffer for the next few years - and whatever government and leader takes over - they'll have one hell of a mess to clear up. PS: Pensions and house prices - is there a link? Once Britain has one of the best pension systems going - a majority of employees could look forward to an inflation proofed final salary based pension. GB ended all that by removing the pension fund tax breaks - lack of security of pension meant that getting on the housing bandwagon and using the credit boom looked a good idea - if you're expecting a crap pension why not extend your mortgage to buy more than you can afford, in the hope it will, one day, sell for stacks, use half to buy a small place and the other half to fund retirement. He b******d that up, as plan, too. GB will be assessed in 10 years time as one of the worst chancellors of the last 100 years not one of the best as he fondly imagined. Edited for clarity

On my own tonight - so after a light supper (crab / chilli linguine), salad & wine intend to choose between: The Departed Casablanca Destry Rides Again Vertigo Mystic River Fistful of Dollars Billion Dollar Brain Get Carter Once Upon a Time in the West Choices / choices / choices Personally - to get back on topic I find Virgin + (or presumably Sky+) the best thing invented to improve TV. Set it to record obscure films from TCM or Sky or Ch 4 at odd times of day / night and watch at your leisure. The occasional good series (usually a US import) is automatically recorded straight on to hard disc. You can fast forward thru' the advert breaks - excellent.

Today I visited Bluewater - accompanying my wife to purchase blinds and stuff. Not a favourite outing, but I also wanted to buy two things - a digital camera to replace one that had finally died and a new DVD of Casablanca to replace a lost, stolen or strayed version. Into Zavvi (formerly Virgin I think). Couldn't find Casablance under the "Classic Films" heading, nor under "General Films" so asked assistant for advice - he checked there were some in stock - computer affirmed 19 present. Then took me on a tour of the shop with no obvious clue as to where to look. No copy found - he then checked the computer again and said he'd check the store room. After 10 minutes he came back and said there were some in stock but that they were in one of a number of boxes and he didn't have time to find one, but that HMV might have a copy. At that stage, having almost lost the will to live, I was about to leave when I decided to talk to the Store Manager. She acknowledged the poor customer service and despatched someone to find me a copy of the film. After spending a total of 25 minutes and ?4.00 in the shop I left. Had I received better service I would, probably, have bought a few more DVDs as I find old films almost as appealing as books. Next into Sony to but a W series digital camera - met by salesman who showed me several different Sony cameras, demonstrated some of the fancy options and I decided to buy. Over to sales point where he checked and told me that there were none in stock - when I pointed out that I had just been handling one he told me that they couldn't sell display items because "people wouldn't know what we had to sell". He didn't seem to understand that, with this rule and no stock, he had nothing to sell anyway. His store manager, when consulted, also refused to sell the display item for the same reason. I was told they could "pre-sell" the item to me - this would mean me paying now and waiting up to 7 days for them to inform it was available in the shop when I could drive back to Bluewater and collect. I managed to buy the same camera later in John Lewis for ?20.00 less and in a transaction that took just 5 minutes. It seems strange that there I was a willing customer, with money to spend, yet two salesmen were perfectly happy to turn away custom and revenue rather than be arsed to make a sale. In a retail recession were the high street is supposedly hurting this is illogical behaviour. How much of the recession is driven by poor service as opposed to lack of spending money? Of course this may just be that I am turning into a "One foot in the grave" kind of chap having passed my 50th birthday.

Drxyster Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Marmora Man, > > Drxyster of Therapia bows to your superior > knowledge and thanks you for the correction. Just wanted to keep us of the Crimean Quarter free from literary criticism!

Great news! Is this a permanent Damascene conversion or just temporary? I'll take all converts to common sense and libertarianism I can.

Strawbs, Ever considered cycling? ED to Can Wharf about 40 mins (maybe less if you're really fit), mostly flat. You always have a seat, get lots of fresh air, its cheaper than a gymn, improves cardio fitness, tones up thighs and calves and is way cheaper and more pleasant than public transport. I'm up to 3 x week instead of bus / train - in this weather it's far better than being slowly broiled in the sardine like company of too many others. Lots of advice on best routes on the forum. One of a number of threads below. Cycle Routes

In fact Dr Samuel Johnson said it about 200 years before GBS came on the scene.

Eels - yum yum! Jellied or smoked preferably.

I was born in Essex but brought up in N. London - a regular at the Childrens Exhibition at Earls Court, the Lord Mayor's Show, Royal Tournament, knew the tube system as it ran at the back of the garden. Lived in central London as a bachelor from 1972 to 1989 - then married and did the moving out thing 20 years ago. Job in the West Country beckoned so we sold off two London flats and bought a Devon longhouse and an acre. The country is where, if you run out of milk it's a four mile trek and the shops are shut after 6 and Sundays. It's where if you have children everything requires parents to taxi them around. It's where the local shop has only sliced bread, some duff tomatoes and the petrol station acts as the local off licence with a range of wines all the way from Hardy's of Australia to boxed EU white. It's where, if you've lived there 25 years people start to notice you but you aren't a local yet cos' they've been there centuries. I love the countryside to walk in, rest in, camp in, fish in, holiday in and look at. I returned to London 7 years ago, via the Midlands, to live in and love it still. Great city with all the good and bad that big city life brings. They may go - but many will return. It's also a recession type thing - downsize to the country, keep chickens & pigs, eat organic, invent a Boden mail order life style. Yeah yeah yeah! 60% give up within 5 years.

Pasta is just carbohydrate in fancy shapes - and unless you're an Atkins diet fan you need some carbs in your life. If you're an Atkins diet fan you'll have few others in your life - bad breathville!

True but corporates are mini governments anyway and not strong holds of libertarianism

There's some sunny weather around - where do EDF"ers" go for their picnics? Will Self said in todays Evening Standard that Sydenham Woods was good. I prefer somewhere by the water - the seaside or the Thames. If I find a log or a seat to sit on and avoid sitting on grass the better - at my age my legs don't fold so well. Supplementary - are you a "homemader" when it comes to picnics or a "catch an M&S sandwich and cold beer" type? I belong to the former school. Most recent success - the night before - take a good French Stick - split, scoop out the inside. Rub with garlic, splash some olive oil around, fill with some sliced tomatoes, anchovies (tho good salami works well too) and mozzarella - maybe a bit of avocado if there's some loafing around. Wrap in cling film, press between two breadboards or similar with heavy weights (tinned beans) overnight in the fridge. Keep cool on way to picnic - slice into four and serve with chilled white wine / cider / beer.

Would also add that I support Rico's points - working to solve your own issues without government interference is a lynchpin of libertarianism, while the early Fabians would similarly acknowledge the dignity of work and abhor the more modern socialist concept of benefits for all.

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Totnes is Devon is lesbian couple central > (and not in a "so I've heard" kind of way - just > have a mooch around and you'll see) > > > New Age trinket central as well but you can't have > everything It's also on a Ley Line and has its own currency! Used to be fun to potter up to Totnes in a launch from Dartmouth - at one time a shop there sold illegal, under the counter, BLue Vinney - Devon's answer to Stilton and very good it was too.