Is it plugged in Sir?

The highlight of Christmas Day TV has often been the double act Christmas special. Morecambe and Wise were the pace setters, with the Two Ronnies inheriting the mantel further down the line. Del Boy and Rodney took the tradition to the next level in Only Fools and Horses, after which Christmas television had deteriorated to such an extent that reality TV is seen as worthy of one of the prime slots.

I was, therefore, encouraged to see that an 80th birthday tribute to Ronnie Corbett was scheduled this year. It was, however, a poor imitation of the Two Ronnies format, with only a tinge of humour being evident in James Corden's attempt at a Ronnie Barker monologue, and this quite brilliant restyling of the 'Four Candles' hardware store sketch.

It was the first sketch of the programme so see it here and it will save you the pain of watching the rest of the show.

Lets hope its a permanent good night from him.

Deep and crisp and even

We were only in the pub about 90 minutes on Friday night,

but it was nearly enough time to get snowed in. There was not a flake when we arrived, but we then had the surreal experience of watching the landscape turn silky white before our eyes.

Yes we could have stayed longer and maybe experienced a lock in, but sense prevailed and we trudged home to our traditional take away curry. That in itself was almost a no go as the lads in the shop were very reluctant to deliver it, however, as we are regular users and not too far away from the restaurant they did the biz.

The weather scuppered our plans for a game of golf though.

What did you say?

One of the joys of linking modern technology and working practice is the ability to work from home. I do it a lot myself , and to be honest I go stir crazy when, for long periods of time I have no face to face contact.
The postman tries his best to pass the time of day, as does the lad in the paper shop, but at the end of the day there is no substitute for water cooler conversations. (Another Americanism to quietly infiltrate the English language)

I wonder whether, if I were to install one in the front wall of the house, people would stop and have a chat about interesting day to day matters like the X Factor results, Coronation Streets 4 deaths and a wedding, or the student riots. It may become famous as the 21st Century answer to the horse trough.

Without such a vehicle around which to base my daily people time I am forced to use the medium of conference calling to communicate with people. This clip shows the problems that can throw up.

So I hear you cry, I really must get out more, however, with expense cutbacks limiting travel, the local Post Office closed down, and my health being such that a visit to the local surgery would be seen as lead swinging, I am resigned to talking to myself, and we've had a good day today haven't we old son?

Itchycoo Park

Waterloo bridge has a series of metal plaques indicating to tourists, the sights they can see as they stroll across it. Sadly they are targeted quite regularly by vandals, and that is a pity, as Waterloo bridge is a micro climate for London street scenes.

as i wandered across the bridge last night though, I realised that I didn't really need the plaques as an aide memoir. There to the left were the obvious ones, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. They were then easing the eye into the MOD and MAFF buildings.

I have danced on the roof of the MOD when it was a regular after rugby haunt for us, and our connections. This was around 1980 so I suspect thirty years on it would be a harder feat to achieve. I remember Stan the Man answering the 'Batphone' when it rang in the toilet, which nearly caused a major diplomatic incident.

The MAFF building, which is probably called Defra now, has been regularly photographed from St James Park, where it gives the impression of a Russian landscape akin to those seen in Moscow.

Further round still on the left are the Savoy and Shell Mex house. Then facing you on the right hand side is Somerset House with its magnificent skating rink, Kings Bollege as Monty Python fans call it, and then the whole panorama of the City of London and Canary Wharf.

Closer to home is the OXO tower, Alan Sugars IBM building and the National Theatre.

There is a Wellington pub not too far from each end of the bridge, and with the station to the South and the delights of Covent Garden on the North side, it really is a thoroughfare to grace any major City.

Its just a swine to navigate at rush hour when you are going the 'wrong' way!!!

Heave....

Goodness me its a bit chilly up here in Scouseland. That said, it was definitely brass monkey weather in London on Saturday. I am seriously in need of a spot welder.

I took it on myself to take the lads to Twickenham en masse, as the opportunity presented itself. So both sons, Tim and Kieran together with my nephew Matthew wrapped up warm and set off.....except Matthew but more of that later.

First stop had to be the Prince Blucher to allow the two boys a beer before kick-off. Then it was the standard hike through the Stoop to the ground and a chance for Kieran and Matthew to see their first England international game.

England got battered up front, and seemed unable to do anything about it. I still do wonder whether a plod at the helm is the right intellectual leadership criteria, and maybe new chief executive, John Steele , may think Johnno and Rob Andrew need some more help. It seems, though, that the latter is in more danger of dismissal.

With the game over it was back to the Blucher for more amber nectar, some friendly chit chat and back to our respective abodes.

So, Matthew was having his first taste of Twickenham and indicated that he had a good time. I did wonder though. The lad is only 12 and was at an all night party on the Friday ( well 22:30 which probably seemed like all night, I know it is for me these days!!), then he went to a paint ball party at 09:00 Saturday morning in Swindon, then to the match, then home.

He turned down the opportunity to wear his coat at the match as it is not cool to be so dressed up, I can't help thinking there is a Newcastle United supporter in their waiting to get out. That or he was hoping to catch a cold and have a few days off school in the snow.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and when Matthews dad MSN'd us on the Sunday morning from Afghanistan I was able to tell him his son had been Bluchered, but the chance of turning him from a Wales fan to England had not worked so well due to the result. He indicated that it was good training for following the Dragon in the coming season of 6 Nations games. We shall see.

As part of the evening entertainment we searched out a few YouTube video's. Check out this one, a history of music in 3 minutes.

trouble at mill

The variants of the English language, and the dialects associated with different cultures and regions was brought home to me at the weekend.

We had flyer from a new curry house through the door, the Himalaya, and they had some interesting sounding dishes on the menu. Consequently we decided to give it a go at the weekend.

SWMBO had her usual biriyani, with madras hot sauce, and I by way of a change ordered the Chicken Naga.

It took ages to arrive and I had to ring to remind them, not a good sign. Eventually the food arrived and the biriyani looked great, but imagine my suprise when instead of Chicken Naga I opened up Chicken nuggets and chips.
When I rang up again they said they had trouble understanding my accent...great, like, ay pal.....

"Parker?" "Yes m'lady"

A school in Stockport has withdrawn the use of fountain pens from their students as the school scanners are struggling to interpret the decimal point in maths papers.

Is this the end of yet another traditional and important aspect of communication, the hand written letter or report?

I have been a keen fountain pen fan, from times far back where I am fast struggling to remember. My father had a classic gold cased Parker pen and pencil set, and signed his name in a flourish which resembled a caterpillar, the P of Paul being the head, and the continuation with a (for Alexander) and weathers with a small w making up the body.

I had several pens presented to me on my 21st birthday, the Parker with the italic nib I still have 35 years later. It was a present from the kind couple who lived below us in the flat in Balham when I was a student which I shared with three other chaps.

I have wheeled and dealed fountain pens on eBay over the years, selling some I have found about the house and some acquired from car boot sales. Parker continues to be the sought after brand, although Cross are a more modern collectible, and Mont Blanc have more recently established themselves as market leaders in the 'poseur' market populated by estate agents and bankers.

That said, each of our children was presented with a Mont Blanc fountain pen for their 18th birthday, and I do have one which I use myself for special communications. On a day to day basis I use a Lamy or one of my two Rotring Core pens. They are all cartridge powered now, although i do still have an ink converter for the Parker.

There is still no better sight than seeing a hand written envelope in the daily post tray, an image which leads to it being the first item opened. I do hope the fountain pen survives into the future, I wd h8 it 2 b ex'd