Early Risers.

[Barry O]

Nextdoor neighbour has been rebuilding the heating system over the  last few days.. not sure why but it may be he has fitted a back boiler....

 

each to their own!

 

Baz

[Joseph_Pestell]

2 minutes ago, Barry O said:

A couple from Germany were on the same wine tour in Marlborough. She had to be forced into trying the Reisling .. and she said it was very good and not sweet..  The New Zealand uses the same Grape Variety.. indeed we talked to the man who owns Bladen vineyards abut how he got the grape vines he wanted. It was not a simple task. German Reislings have suffered a bit in the UK wheer the sweetness is used to counteract the acidity in the wines.  I prefer the Marlborough Reisling..

 

although they can't make Double Eisewein.. they don't get good enough frost.. now that really is sweet!

 

Baz

 

No doubt there are plenty of Germans with minimal wine knowledge as in most (all?) countries.

 

As to the vineyard owner, he should know better: although it may be tricky importing cultivars into NZ/Aus as they are rightly fussy about not importing any disease.

[Tony_S]

23 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

No doubt there are plenty of Germans with minimal wine knowledge as in most (all?) countries.

I would classify myself as an English person with minimal wine knowledge, my palate can distinguish between “yuk, nasty” and “that’s fine, thank you”.

[Joseph_Pestell]

1 minute ago, Tony_S said:

I would classify myself as an English person with minimal wine knowledge, my palate can distinguish between “yuk, nasty” and “that’s fine, thank you”.

 

Nothing wrong with that at all.

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

Well, many of the programmes you mention are not my favourites either but today’s top rated Swiss TV programme seems to be about Aunt Maria believing she can hear her Grandfather’s voice coming from the radio....

Probably. I wouldn’t be surprised. As dire as British TV can be nowadays, it still (overall) knocks Euro-TV into a cocked hat. Swiss TV has some good documentaries and the occasional good Krimi. But mostly it is either [a] pretty abysmal or (b) imported and dubbed (but, to be fair, a lot of the dubbed series are in the so-called Zwei Kanalton:  One channel dubbed, the other in the original language).

The worst European television experience I have had I was being stuck in the middle of France on a wet Wednesday evening with nothing to watch on the TV but the A-Team dubbed into French. Somehow, Mr T’s famous expression “I pity da fool“ does not quite manage to translate into French.

The best dubbing I have ever seen was the Italian version (re-broadcast) of ‘Allo ‘Allo. Although dubbed into Italian, the Germans spoke Italian with a heavy German accent, the British spoke German with a heavy British accent and the French (Rene et al) spoke Italian with a normal Italian accent. Even Officer Crabbtree carefully dubbed: his Cheerful Good Moaning (Good Morning) became Buon Giugnio (instead of Buon Giorno).

Edited December 13, 2020 by iL Dottore

[polybear]

2 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

No plans for C*****mas lunch yet, as I don't know what's happening. If it's just me, it could well be egg & chips...

 

One 2021 calendar bought, I will probably have a go at a DIY photo calendar next year............

 

Bear will almost certainly be doing a Macaulay Culkin (aka Home Alone) this year, courtesy of C-19; din dins could well be a home-brewed pizza with roast potatoes and sage and onion stuffing on the side.

And for the main course.....

 

A DIY photo calendar seems a bit strange.  Though on second thoughts.....

 

[simontaylor484]

Interesting subject for a calendar Mr Bear, although too many clothes on. I used to get one from one of our customers a supplier of Refractory bricks it was a rated. My mum.hated it my dad loved it though it had to be taken down on occasions such as when the Bishop.of Wakefield visited before Dads Ordination although I'm sure it would have made an interesting talking point.

   My Grandad also lived with us after Gran died he turned in to an alcoholic he used to sit in his bedroom and get leathered he used to be a smarter non clerical version of Father Jack Hackett. He once told my dad that his dog collar needed tightening up alot!! God how we laughed it was all in the best possible taste. 

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

But it only allows Mac Air in....

Where oh where is that GROAN button. Please please nice Mr Y bring it back.

 

Jamie

[BokStein]

Haven't yet sourced the family-sized bag of Twiglets for Christmas lunch, so may settle for a bacon butty instead as I too emulate the aforementioned Macaulay Culkin!

 

26 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Probably. I wouldn’t be surprised. As dire as British TV can be nowadays, it still (overall) knocks Euro-TV into a cocked hat. Swiss TV has some good documentaries and the occasional good Krimi. But mostly it is either [a] pretty abysmal or (b) imported and dubbed (but, to be fair, a lot of the dubbed series are in the so-called Zwei Kanalton:  One channel dubbed, the other in the original language).

The worst European television experience I have had I was being stuck in the middle of France on a wet Wednesday evening with nothing to watch on the TV but the A-Team dubbed into French. Somehow, Mr T’s famous expression “I pity da fool“ does not quite manage to translate into French.

 

Sort of TV I tend to watch these days is mostly based on the foundation of two parallel pieces of metal, often some 4' 8.5" apart, however, Impossible -, Abandoned -, Extreme -, et alia Engineering do end to feature along with the 'How Do They ...' style of show. Soaps, today's sit-coms, performance-based (strictly, got talent, etc.) are a CUWoT IMHO!

 

In recent years, althought I was an avid 'fan' and even saw the stage version,

 

33 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

The best dubbing I have ever seen was the Italian version (re-broadcast) of ‘Allo ‘Allo. Although dubbed into Italian, the Germans spoke Italian with a heavy German accent, the British spoke German with a heavy British accent and the French (Rene et al) spoke Italian with a normal Italian accent. Even Officer Crabbtree carefully dubbed: his Cheerful Good Moaning (Good Morning) became Buon Giugnio (instead of Buon Giorno).

 

and Officer Crabtree have left me paranoid! Some 50 years after first learning French at school, do I come across as does this Poloocemon, "the idiot who thinks he can speak French"?

 

However, I am resigned to the fact that I will not be able to watch the Swiss / German Cult sketch on New Year's Eve as a 'live' broadcast; Dinner for One (The 90th Birthday Party) may be watched on youtoob instead.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Can I be bothered with Xmas lunch on my own? Probably not. But if I do a Magret de Canard (Duck Fillet) is a strong candidate.

[Tony_S]

10 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

Magret de Canard (Duck Fillet)

We have had holidays in parts of France  where there are lots of duck farms. It must be subliminal advertising as we often chose duck from the menu.

Edit

I, however never intend to cook a goose again for Christmas. 

Edited December 13, 2020 by Tony_S

[simontaylor484]

That reminds me of the classic Del-boy quote

 

I dont like foreign food give me duck a l orange any day

[PhilJ W]

Hello again from Estuary-Land. I've been playing with testing this mornings arrival. Its made by a company called TINY HK who make diecast vehicles very much like Oxford Diecasts offerings but with a Hong Kong theme. This is the second such item to arrive this week that I was expecting to arrive much later. Well done to the Hong Kong postal service and Royal Mail. I already have my Christmas dinner in the fridge, the venison steaks. There's two of them so I will have one for Christmas dinner and dice the other for a casserole. I did notice a warning on the packet saying 'may contain bullet fragments'. As I understand it the venison comes from wild herds of deer, that is why I like to make sure that it is thoroughly cooked. Whats more it is sustainable, the meat is a by product of the culling of the herds which is necessary to keep the herds healthy as a lot of their usual predators such as wolves are no longer there. There are plenty of rather good German wines. Back in the 70's I travelled up the 'Weinstrasser' beginning at Bad Durkheim where every few kilometres there was a stall giving out samples from the adjacent vineyard. Regrettably it was my turn to do the driving and my parents selected the wines so I was able to sample them later. Bad Durkheim is also the home of the 'Wurst Market' where they hold a festival every September.

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

That reminds me of the classic Del-boy quote

 

I dont like foreign food give me duck a l orange any day

We spent whole day ,during our week in Avignon, in Orange and didn’t see one duck. 

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

Still raining here but no real surprise there.

Didn't get to do my car "stuff" clear out this morning as other things got in the way including a socially distanced visit from Steve who wanted to have a look at the car.   It passed his inspection with flying colours although he said he's hanging on to his Velar for now.  Also had a couple of lengthy phone calls from friends we haven't seen for a while and by then it was time for lunch and rugby. I enjoyed the Exeter v Glasgow match and then watched the F1 highlights which TBH I found a bit boring. 

 

7 hours ago, Tony_S said:

. She did like the “Le Mans 66” film (US title “Ford v Ferrari”)  so perhaps we can watch “Grand Prix” tonight. I have never seen that film. 

 

Coincidentally I received the "Le Mans 66" DVD for my birthday and watched it last night.  Don't know how historically accurate it is but I really enjoyed it .  (Chris didn't    but then she doesn't like motor racing)   It may surprise some of you here (especially the petrolheads) to learn that I can't recollect ever hearing of Ken Miles and his achievements but I was never really interested in motor racing back then.  Rugby, cricket and swimming were my main sporting focus in those days.

 

Just enjoyed a very nice roast chicken dinner and am having another glass of Merlot whilst Herself watches some dancing and other stuff on the box.  I may venture down later to see what Mr & Mrs Strawbridge have been up to in their French Chateau.

 

Edited December 13, 2020 by grandadbob

[Joseph_Pestell]

13 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

 

I, however never intend to cook a goose again for Christmas. 

 

Do tell. Why not?

 

Best Xmas lunch bird for me. Did a nice one some years ago when the in-laws were in attendance. Came from Lidl at a very reasonable price.

[BoD]

Is it time to put the sprouts on yet? 

[grandadbob]

We put some sprouts on earlier for a few minutes to go with this evening's roast.  Only for me, The Boss doesn't like them but will have one (and one only) with her Christmas dinner.  

[Sir TophamHatt]

2 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

As to the vineyard owner, he should know better: although it may be tricky importing cultivars into NZ/Aus as they are rightly fussy about not importing any disease.

 

Did you not see what happened with the frogs in that episode of The Simpsons? 

[simontaylor484]

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

Yes.. mislead by her indoors it is Sauvignon Blanc. But look out for wines from Bladon Reisling .. much better than the German variety as it isn't that sweet ..

 

Baz

Silly me i thought they had managed to make reisling in the North East but thats Blaydon 

[Adam88]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Where oh where is that GROAN button. Please please nice Mr Y bring it back.

 

Indeed its whereabouts really is a Myster Y.

[PhilJ W]

45 minutes ago, BoD said:

Is it time to put the sprouts on yet? 

Yes, for Christmas 2021.

Edited December 13, 2020 by PhilJ W

[Coombe Barton]

2 minutes ago, Adam88 said:

 

Indeed its whereabouts really is a Myster Y.

Maybe we need them of different sizes

 

[Andrew P]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Influenced not so much by The Shadows, I would argue, but by Hank Marvin. Hank is the perfect example of - in music - making the easy bits look hard and hard bits look easy. His playing was also a departure from both skiffle and the blues (much early “rock n roll” was rehashed and diluted down blues).

Hank was also the first person in Britain to own a Fender Stratocaster (courtesy of Cliff Richard). Hank played a Burns guitar before he got the Strat (Burns Bison, maybe?) but somehow I can’t see either David Gilmour or Eric Clapton with a Burns something-or-other in their hands...

Have you considered baking a ham? Hot, with boiled potatoes, cabbage and mustard; cold: in almo

The Burns came later before reverting back to Fender.

 

Re: Why did the Shadows shift to Burns guitars?

by Didier » Sun May 12, 2013 8:49 am

abstamaria wrote:And why did they shift back to Fender?

At this time they were using the rosewood neck Strats provided to them by JMI in 1961, but they complained about tuning problems with these guitars (particularly Bruce). According to the official story, they asked Jim Burns to design better guitars for them in 1963 and got final models in 1964 after testing several prototypes.

I discovered Burns guitar when I saw the Shadows at the Paris Olympia in 1964. I had never heard of Burns guitars before, and was very surprised. I was close enough from the stage to read "Burns London" on their guitars, so I thought they followed the "Buy British" slogan of this time ! 

Their Burns guitars were stolen around 1970, but at this time Burns was out of business, so they went back to Strats.

Didier

Didier

 

Posts: 1875

Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:57 am

Location: West suburb of Paris, France

Full Real Name: Didier Parot

[Erichill16]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

May I suggest you talk to your GP (rheumatologist?) about switching to diclofenac (a.k.a. Voltaren). Ibuprofen no longer has much effect on me, I’ve switched to 75g Diclofenac Retard b.i.d. (“Retard” is the slow release formulation) and that manages to keep me comfortable enough (I do have some leftover tramadol from my last surgery that I keep for those DEFCON4 moments, but to date haven’t needed to use it).

Neil, in the UK naproxen is much more widely prescribed then diclofenac so if you do get prescribed naproxen don’t feel you’re getting short changed or fobbed off. Both drugs are equally effective and have been around for decades and the effectiveness and side-effects have been widely  studied. However it has become apparent that diclofenac is associated with slightly more cardiovascular side-effects then naproxen and that is the reason it is more likely to be prescribed.

Robert