Early Risers.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Something that I have in common with Mike Stationmaster is a fondness for the Father Brown plays on TV.  I find it best when they are in the slot following Doctors at lunchtime.  I find them gentle with just the right touch of humour.  I like New Tricks too but it tends to be on when I am ready for bed.   I am the first to admit that I watch too much TV and have confessed this on many previous occasions.  Doubtless there are other reasons for my being so unproductive but let's hold it right there for now.  I am sure that it will come up in conversation before long.

 

Today I plan to do battle with the ingredients of a batch of chicken chasseur.  It was an impulse decision on the fodder run and far from the military style operation that some would perform.  A casual glance at the shelf containing packet sauces provided the inspiration and a packet of the requisite sauce the list of ingredients.  It is not the archetypal Sunday lunch, nor can it be, but it is intended to serve four so flexibility is built in should I find myself abnormally hungry at feeding time.  In Utopia - often mistaken for Switzerland, and with good reason! - I would have the confidence to build the meal from first principles and be a good enough time manager to tackle it.  It is no secret that from time to time I have confidence issues and the spikes on which I tend to rely are not always there when I need them.  The sessions with Sarah the counsellor a couple of years ago helped no end but even she could not do all that was necessary.  One might say that it comes from within and is not always at home.

 

As I write this there are aggrieved A Level students on the news.   How can anyone not feel for them at this hour?  There is always an element of luck in there somewhere.  When I was going through it, 54 years ago, I needed two Cs.  I got a B, a D and an E and I got in.  Phew!  These days there is talk only of As and A*s.  When I graduated in 1969 there were 120 of us in my school of study.  One got a First and no-one knew who he was.   Most came away with 2:1s and Desmonds - 2:2's, geddit?  I scraped a Third.  From what little I know of more recent times it seems that Firsts and 2:1s are awarded more generously but since being  a student becomes ever more taxing perhaps that's just as well.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris  

 

 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

The other question is why was Paloma Faith wearing an admittedly non see through nighty?.. 

 

 

 

Was the source of your disappointment the fact that she was wearing a nightie?  Or that it wasn't see-thru'? 

 

The exams fiasco looks set to keep on and on.  Some obviously have a case; however others may well be trying their luck I think.  One girl seemed aggrieved that she had been predicted (from memory) A*, A* and B, but "only" been given A, A and B.  Another stated that "her whole life was over" - she has a lot to learn I fear.

If the pass rate is manipulated to please everyone, only for the overall pass marks to be much higher than in previous years then it will do nothing for confidence in the system.  Perhaps prospective employers would then start to look at qualifications and think "Ah, they 'took' their exams in 2020 - so not worth the paper they're written on...."

[Barry O]

Ey up!

It is gently precipitating here.

 

No plans for today but her indoors has secured tickets to visit Beamish on Thursday. While lots of bits are out of bounds it will be nice to visit!

@Two_sugars and @BoD we will be touring the costa del Durham on Friday morning..be aware!! I WILL visit the new railway station in Horden!

 

On Wednesday we are visiting Kirk Merrington to spot the long dead relatives who are buried there...an interesting week coming up!

Have a calm Sunday! May your cooking go well and may the day ge a productive one!

Time for a mugatea!

Baz

[iL Dottore]

17 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

....First album i bought was Kylie her first one in the 80s...

Lucky, lucky, lucky....  The pint size Australian Warbler is indeed easy on the eyes and, a little bit of interesting musical trivia here, another famous pint sized Australian musician is guitarist Angus Young from AC/DC.

As for Mario Winans.... who he? (to quote Private Eye)

16 hours ago, TheQ said:

Afternoon awl,  I think the first album I bought was Rick wakeman's "journey to the centre of the earth " about 76,

Ah! Prog rock! Rick Wakeman, Yes, Genesis (early), ELP, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull...  Those were the days. Like them or loathe them, they knew how to play their instruments, write sophisticated music and could actually sing without the benefit of computerised “improvement“

16 hours ago, The Lurker said:

...the snooker is on the telly; they’ve just shown part of the Ebdon-Hendry final. ...

De Gustibus and all that, but I’ve never seen the attraction of watching either snooker or darts on television. I enjoy playing snooker (or at least “Eightball“ which is the idiot’s version of snooker) and when suitably lubricated in the pub I have been known to try and get a sharp pointed missile somewhere in the correct vicinity of a dartboard.  But my disinterest in watching snooker and darts on the TV is part of a general disinterest in watching any sport on TV including the few that I actually enjoy playing.  I suppose an amateur psychologist would say that it is because of feelings of inferiority engendered by watching people who are, quite literally, at the top of their game.  Having said that, if I were forced to make a choice between watching darts on TV, watching a soap opera like EastEnders or Coronation Street or slitting my wrists...  well, it would be an easy choice for me 

10 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

...and including our own courgettes, beans and tomatoes among others goodies.  

You lucky fellow! Courgettes (or zucchini to us “continentals“) and tomatoes are amongst the most overrated and under flavoured vegetables that you can get in a supermarket, but when they come from one’s own garden or allotment they are just bursting with flavour.  Our next door neighbour has an allotment, and every so often they have a glut of this vegetable or that vegetable and they generously pass on the surplus. Their tomatoes, slightly misshapen, imperfectly coloured, are so good that they have spoilt for me the supermarket tomato forever.  Alas, I am less than fortunate (or able) in growing vegetables; one could say I have a “brown thumb“. Indeed, friends of mine have opined that I can turn a lush jungle into a barren wasteland just by walking through it!

10 hours ago, brianusa said:

You and me, both!  Only problem over here is that PBS continually reruns the same shows over and over.  The Scandinavian shows are too dark and morbid.  Don't they ever laugh there?

     Brian.

No.

10 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

We have enjoyed watching "Norsemen" on some cable channel or other.  SWMBO finds these things.  I got confused when we went past four channels  

And most of those channels are pretty ghastly, if not total garbage. Roger Waters, from Pink Floyd, was incredibly prophetic when he wrote the lyrics for that great album The Wall, in the song Nobody Home Waters sang “I’ve got 13 channels of sh*t on the TV to choose from...”

7 hours ago, BSW01 said:

first LP I bought new from a record shop was Fireball by Deep Purple, bought the day it was released, ...followed by Electric Warrior by T.Rex just before Christmas....

I think it’s a toss up between Fireball and Machine Head as to which is the best ever Deep Purple album (of course, Machine Head contains that classic rock anthem: Smoke On The Water).  

Can anyone explain to me the attraction of T-Rex? I was living in Italy at the time Mark Bolan exploded onto the scene and all I ever got to hear on the radio was a less than inspiring “pop song”.  His contemporary, David Bowie, was much more highly rated by us young Italians.

7 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

... I only watched a bit of the Kids Voice tonight because SWMBO pointed out that Pixie Lott wasn't wearing wearing an upper decker flopper stopper and she kept jigging about a lot............

Naughty Tiger! Bad, bad, pussycat! 

3 hours ago, BR60103 said:

I just checked and I have 6x32" shelves of LPs. There is another shelf of 78s (both 10" and 12") and a couple of toolboxes of 45s.  I think my first record was a 7" 78 of I've been Working on the Railroad.  The first LP I bought was one with the Kingston Trio singing The MTA Song. I also have Dukedogs and the City. The record collection is an amalgam of mine, my wife's and my father's.  I did not measure the CDs...

Wow, impressive! I too have several linear feet of CDs and LPs, but nowhere in the vicinity of your collection. Call me an antediluvian, Luddite, dinosaur if you will, but I am very mistrustful about acquiring a collection of music that is digitally stored.  Apart from being at the mercy of your technology (I firmly believe that technology should work for you, not you work for the technology), there is also the grey area as to who actually owns digital music that you have purchased once you kick the bucket. (I recall reading that some one had to take Apple to court about this, because they were denied access to/take over of their late father’s large iTunes collection)

1 hour ago, chrisf said:

... Doubtless there are other reasons for my being so unproductive but let's hold it right there for now.  I am sure that it will come up in conversation before long..

My dear fellow! The diagnosis is both clear and straightforward: you are suffering from MP - Modelling Procrastination. Familiar as I am with your numerous model railway endeavours, it is evident that you are performing a lot of displacement activity as an alternative to sitting down at the modelling bench and actually doing some railway modelling. But do not worry, it is a common affliction and is usually self-limiting. In moderate cases, perusal of the latest model railway journals and new releases from manufacturers are usually sufficient to treat the condition. In severe cases, a trip to Pendon or to a high quality model railway exhibition (HQMRE) is usually warranted. Unfortunately, as you well know, treatment for severe cases of MP are currently not available due to the ongoing pandemic. However, and there are no solid clinical data to support this as yet, some researchers are claiming that watching a well filmed high quality model railway exhibition on YouTube can bring similar benefits to a live HQMRE
Have a Super Sunday(tm)

iD

Edited August 16, 2020 by iL Dottore
Typo

[chrisf]

Procrastination!  I can do that immediately!

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

 

8 hours ago, BSW01 said:

The lining has been added to the control panel fascia, it’s been painted free hand and I’ve purposely done it slightly over size. This will be left now until next weekend, when I’ll put some 1/8” wide masking tape over the bits I won’t to keep and then apply another couple of coats of white paint. This will once agin be left to dry, before the tape is removed, hopefully leaving behind neater edges. I will then be able to re-fit the fascia and start fitting the LEDs, switches and wiring. 

 

 

Brian, I may be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs but I always end up with ragged lines if I leave the masking tape on. When I was lining out our horse tram, the resident signwriter taught me to remove the tape as soon as possible with the paint still wet.  It seemed counterintuitive but worked a treat. I think he said that paint across the boundary tears when it's dry.  Good luck.

 

Jamie

Edited August 16, 2020 by jamie92208

[BoD]

11 minutes ago, Barry O said:

@Two_sugars and @BoD we will be touring the costa del Durham on Friday morning..be aware!!

 

Baz

A local lockdown has been put in place on Friday as a precaution.

 

Enjoy your week.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  It seems that I ought to try watching voicevkids...

 

Anyway it's sunny here but we had some rain in the night.  I got some scanni g done and have now allocated the correct years to several batches of negatives. I also got some tidying up done in the shed whilst waiting for batches to finish scanning.

 

Today's sgenda has not been published yet but it may well involve a trip to the market.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Coombe Barton]

Packing up under a slowly clearing mist in Cornwall.

 

And Radio Three is broadcasting the sounds of a thunderstorm, accompanied by the Thunder and Lightning Polka.

[Andrew P]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Lucky, lucky, lucky....  The pint size Australian Warbler is indeed easy on the eyes and, a little bit of interesting musical trivia here, another famous pint sized Australian musician is guitarist Angus Young from AC/DC.

Have a Super Sunday(tm)

iD

And talking of Pint sized Australians, check this 11 year old out.

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.  Chuckin it darn.

 

IIRC my first album was a Beach Boys compilation, bought from Mum's mail-order catalogue. After that, no idea, but I have a cupboard full of vinyl still, and the means to reproduce the sounds secreted upon them.  I also have many of those Argo Transacord railway LP's, they are quite remarkable for their time, but of course Peter Handford was a professional sound engineer.

 

I am a great prog rock fan, ELP, Wakeman, etc.  Rick Wakeman lived here when we first moved and he had a music shop in Peel, I am not sure of he left because we moved to the island!

 

I have binned all our cassettes, as the sound reproduction was just too grim, especially after they have been left for years and suffer from print-through and general degradation.

 

Preparing for my first day of not going to work in the morning, it is very odd, I keep thinking of things I must do or consider, and .....its all gone, it doesn't matter any more, there's nothing to do.  I suppose this is because I am conscientious but I need to learn to turn this work-based thought process off somehow and divert it to modelling.  And housework, so my 'opinion' tells me.....harrumph.

[Tony_S]

32 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

first album was a Beach Boys

Aditi’s first album was a Beach Boys LP. However she wasn’t given pocket money and certainly her Mum wouldn’t have given her money for a record. However being an observant child Aditi had noticed her Mum charging things to their account at Boots. So on her way home from school she could pop into Boots, choose her record and charge it to her Dads account. He never said anything. We saw “Brian Wilson performs Pet Sounds” a couple of years ago.He can’t use the “Beach Boys” name now. This was at the Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff.

Tony

[tigerburnie]

Skies looking grim here, but I have just been instructed we are going to Perth...............................................see ya later alligator.

[Simon G]

Morning all,  the rain here appears to have stopped.  I was out early in the rain, emptying the water butt into the old oil tank, one bucket at a time.  It is a slow way to fill the 2500 litre tank!  The rain was heavy enough for a while that the butt was filling up almost as fast as I could empty it.

 

I had a pleasant surprise yesterday when I heard from a couple of sources that we had the first (and possibly only steam special of the year) coming round the Cumbrian coast.  The loco was Royal Scot, which I couldnt recall coming this way before.  Its classmate Scots Guardsman has certainly made the trip though.  I video'd it, but just with the camera phone, but it turned out quite well

[roundhouse]

Beach boys are a longtime favourite. I remember many years ago drawing up track plans on a roll of wall paper for abuse station listening to the Beachboys over a few days. I still have that track plan and maybe one day I will build that model whilst listening to the Beachboys.

[Two_sugars]

3 hours ago, Barry O said:

Ey up!

It is gently precipitating here.

 

No plans for today but her indoors has secured tickets to visit Beamish on Thursday. While lots of bits are out of bounds it will be nice to visit!

@Two_sugars and @BoD we will be touring the costa del Durham on Friday morning..be aware!! I WILL visit the new railway station in Horden!

 

 

Baz

Not much of the Costa still included in Co Durham these days . . . . .From Crimdon Beck in the south to another unnamed beck/dene just south of Ryhope, which is now part of the City of Sunderland.

As for Horden station, I fear you may be a little disappointed, architecturally. 

Enjoy Beamish, although there's no guarantee of fine weather. . . . and don't forget. Tanfield is just around the corner.

Talking of weather . . . .I'd  . . er . . .rather not.

 

I've been invited to lunch today by an ex-parner's granddaughter . aged 7. 

Having spoken to her "Nana", I think it will be safe to attend.

 

Hve a goodun everyone . . .

 

John

Edited August 16, 2020 by Two_sugars
cos ah missed a bit.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dry and sunny here....for now.  Rain and thunderstorms forecast for later.  Mind you they were yesterday and although we did get a couple of hours heavyish rain late afternoon it then stayed dry for the rest of the evening. I'd put the gazebo complete with sides up in the garden just in case but it wasn't needed. A good evening had with our friends and they meandered home about 12.30. They only live in the next road so that was an easy(ish) trip for them.  Considering how much they (and we) put away they only wobbled and stumbled slightly!

Late up this morning and unusually for me didn't fancy a large breakfast so made do with coffee.  Gazebo was nice and dry so that's all been taken down and put away before the rain returns.

This afternoon there's rugby to watch, Northampton v Wasps. Yesterday's games enjoyed but the penalty count is horrendous at the moment with the refs tightening up on the laws. I expect the players will learn...eventually.

Later on I'll watch the GP highlights.  All this sport has of course caused much muttering from another part of the household.  My comment of "Makes a change from all the stupid  soaps you watch" did not help matters.

Looking forward to tonight's dinner which will consist mainly of a couple of large sirloin steaks cut carefully for me by our friendly (fairly) local butcher.  I will be allowed into the kitchen for a few minutes as usual to cook them.

Time for more coffee I think.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

Edited August 16, 2020 by grandadbob

[Gwiwer]

Morning all. The one after the night before. Notter Good Knight was had. 
 

Still humid. Still weakly sunny. There are signs of life about the Hill of Strawberries though I suspect the Morning MAMIL parade passed through hours ago. 
 

I wasn’t sleeping soundly when the Rhinoceros Festival commenced upstairs.  Loud feet clumping around, stuff being dropped on the floor (possibly large boots), much movement between bedroom, kitchen, balcony and back again followed by intervals of near-silence before it all began again. For a good two hours. After which there was an hour of tell-tale squeaking and bumping from the furniture ....

 

I’ll let her know what I think when I see her later

 

SWMBO heard nothing of it and was up and out taking sunrise pictures of the river and breakfasting while I tried to catch up on missed sleep. 
 

Now “chilling” to a compilation of Jamaican dub featuring mixes by King Tubby, I-Roy, Prince Jammy and others. 
 

Speaking of which the first album I owned (but far from the first I had access to as we always had recorded music a-plenty) was Bridge Over Troubled Water. Possibly the most-played is Wish You Were Here though there would be many other contenders.  I enjoy what I’m in the mood for with a collection ranging from pub bands of many styles via dub reggae to glam, heavy metal and surfabilly!  
 

Have a good Sunday all. I’m off to investigate the coffee pot. 

[Chris116]

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

Procrastination!  I can do that immediately!

 

Chris

I was going to do a degree course in Procrastination but I haven't got around to it yet. 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Surprise, surprise, there is a strange yellow orb in the sky but the clouds not too far away are suggesting that its not going to last.

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

Procrastination!  I can do that immediately!

 

Chris

But it does take practise and I think I need more practise at it.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Well it's rained over night, but not much fell from the amount of dry patches there were on the patio. I'd only been in the workshop about 30 minutes when it started to rain again. I had to get up quickly and shut the door. There'll be no sitting on the bench drinking my muggertea today.

 

Today I'm starting to fit the circuit boards in the base of the control panel and make a start with the wiring, I may be some time. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later 

 

Brian 

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Chris 0- if you can tune to the relevant Channel on your telly you will find Father Brown at 20.00hrs of an evening on the Drama Channel - Channel 20 on Freeview - where it has very recently taken over the spot from 'Death In Paradise'.

 

And yes Jamie - always remove the masking tape when the paint is still wet, a trick I learnt many years ago.  But rather worryingly when we (or rather herself) had a 'professional' in to paint the kitchen and downstairs facility he gave me a rather funny look when I asked him why he was leaving masking tape on overnight - net result, a few little patches of skirting board paint on the floor tiles.

 

As for confidence in the education system regrettably mine was fast disappearing back in the 1990s and it dropped even further after one young man I took on promotion seemed to have considerable problems writing in English and got most upset when I refused to sign letters he had written unless they were first corrected.    Alas even in that decade he was far from alone and another, who was allegedly a graduate of some sort, was almost as bad when it came to English usage.

 

The worst  example was when the lad went to uni and a former school colleague of his (at a different uni) used to email Rob his essays for correction - his spelling was appalling, syntax frequently non-existent (except where he'd lifted text off the 'net although that showed his problems with comprehension), and for him punctuation was clearly an undiscovered far off land.  Quite how he had managed to get into even a retitled tech college to study 'international affairs' was completely beyond me and even further beyond me was the fact that he hadn't been sussed in his first week or two of actually doing some work, regrettably I could only presume the quality of the teaching staff was 'not good'.   I was probably simply suffering from a surfeit of past birthdays but at times I really do wonder quite what is happening with A Level marking, let alone 'predicted grades'.  Rant mode off.

 

This morning we have an interlude from the current rainy season but it won't last very long as wetness is predicted to come our way again this afternoon.  But it is good for the runner beans and sundry other remaining outdoor grown veg while the tomato glut continues to provide domestic labour for herself (making tomato sauce) and occasional sarnies for me.  however I have some mushrooms in stock and there is sufficient bacon available to accompany them before we need to extract anything from the quarantine fridge.

 

BTW talk of The Beachboys, whose music I do like, reminds me that I have had the unusual experience of sitting at this keyboard while listening to the latterday version, still including Brian Wilson, giving a live performance at the local festival with the sound making its way along the valley.  this year's fr estival was of course cancelled but some of it is available in download form, next year's is currently still going ahead, we'll see.

 

Have a good day one all and stay safe.

[AndyB]

Morning all from central Hipposhire. Steady drizzle.

Perth yesterday morning was somewhat overcast.

 

First LP was most likely 6 Wives or Criminal Record, although they were quickly followed by Seconds Out, tickets for which I have for next autumn - postponed from this autumn. 

 

10 litres of urea (added blue) added to the car this morning. This required the parcel shelf to be removed, seats folded down, luggage removed, carpet taken up, spare wheel and various foam inserts to be removed to access the tank filler cap....now that really is taking the pee.

 

 

[Danemouth]

Am I the only person on this forum whose first album was classical? It was a a Decca “Ace of Clubs” Budget label LP c1963 that contained IIRC Finlandia, Marche Slav and Hungarian Rhapsody Got rid of my LPs a while ago but the Linn turntable is still in the cupboard. Also scrapped all my reel to reel and cassette tapes about the same time.

 

My musical tastes and a little broader than when I was young.

 

These days my ~music is loaded  into iTunes on my laptop and are played via Bluetooth on my hi-fi or iPod in the car.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[petethemole]

Mornin' all, wet here; the rain held off until I'd put the washing machine on.

 

Belated birthday greetings to Andyram; I was going to post yesterday evening but kept getting distracted.

My first two LPs on getting a record player for Xmas '64 were Shadows' Greatest Hits and Back Country Blues by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. I still have them. 

 

I could procrastinate for England but I'm too busy with displacement activity.  I have found procrastination useful.  If a proposal is poorly thought out or inappropriate, putting it off can lead to either better planning or the realisation that it's not necessary at all.  The time I've wasted doing things that had to be done NOW but were then changed or undone.... 

 

Mrs mole gets back today so I'd better tidy up (a bit, we don't really do tidy, it's like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic as the deck space slowly reduces).

 

Have a good day,

Pete