Re: Phil's Phings

Thanks a lot, Jem. Glad you enjoyed it. I'm still at a loss to explain the actions of the people in the car, but I suppose it takes all sorts!

Re: Phil's Phings

The lovely thing about imagination is you can summons up the most wonderful pictures to go with words Phil. I did and thank you for your words and the hilarious pictures it created.

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What a kind thing to say! Thanks Solo, much appreciated

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BTW, you may not have any particular desire to know what I sound like but I've recently figured out how to post an interview I did for BBC Radio Derby onto You Tube (quite a technological breakthrough for me!) You can find the result here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkFYZ8Oi0MA

Re: Phil's Phings

Cor yer sound very posh Phil. I do enjoy the 'I remember when' reminiscences of our youth because as you say they are times that are gone.

We were fortunate that so much happened during our childhood and teens that gives us so much to look back on.

Thank you for sharing

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Posh! Me? They've only just stopped me from drinking my tea from the saucer!

It was probably my telephone voice. Do you remember when people adopted a 'telephone voice'? My dad always sounded like he had just graduated from Eton, which was nothing like his normal mode of speech. On the other hand, my mum was aghast when she first heard herself - her recorded voice sounded like something out of James Herriott.

Re: Phil's Phings

I apologise for this, in advance


The Poor Sid Meteor Shower

Delighted that everyone has been enjoying the spectacle of the Poor Sid's meteor shower. Poor Sid, as you know, was the ill-fated Sid Buckle, the first British astronaut whose misguided attempt to eat a baked bean sandwich with a pint of Guinness in zero gravity led to the trail of debris we now pass through once a year.

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Sssssshhhh you never know who is reading this topic

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Indeed, walls have ears! Odd, I thought they had ice cream and sausages (might you, with sausages, who knows?)

Re: Phil's Phings

Dont' Give Me That Old Soap!

Have you ever found yourself thinking "Oh, please don't say that, it'll only make the worst possible thing happen!" If so, you may well be suffering from Soap Syndrome.

You see, I have this theory that we have become so conditioned by Soaps that we have come to believe that the way they work is actually how real life works. You know how it is in Soaps, if there's a major celebration under way, somewhere, then you can guarantee that some appalling tragedy is taking place at exactly the same time only yards away thus handily countermanding any possible feelings of joy and optimism you might have been harbouring.

The same is true of any expressions of hope and optimism by one of the characters. We all know if someone says "You know, I think things are really starting to go our way", that's the cue for despair, death and despondency to come winging their way in, almost as soon as the words are out of their mouths.

I was reminded of this when listening to The Archers, the other day. For those not of a U.K. persuasion, The Archers is a long-running radio series which is alleged to be "an everyday story of country folk" although I have to say that I live in the country these days and if it was like this I think I'd move to the Bronx.

Anyway, the aged mother of one of the character's (Heather) was travelling down in the car of her daughter (Ruth) from the North-East of England to her daughter's farm in the Midlands. You knew the way things were going when she said "I've got so much to look forward to...", which is the soap actor's equivalent of saying 'can I have my P45 please?'. Apparently she was delighted to finally be leaving the care home she had been staying in, and issued the fateful words "Eeh pet, I'm really looking forward to waking up, in me own bed, at Brookfield". Well, she might as well have put a gun to her head there and then and saved five minutes of programme time. I said to my long-suffering wife, " Well, that's it, she's going to snuff it" (I have a way with words). Sure enough, Ruth was on the phone to David (her equally long-suffering husband) "Daaaavid*, it's me mum, I can't wake her up". Two minutes later, David had rushed to the hospital but it was too late...Heather had gone.

I'll bet the actors set off for the Job Centre as soon as they see anything remotely optimistic in their scripts, knowing it will only be a matter of time.

* Regular 'Archers' fans know that Ruth's pronunciation of her beloved's name gets more elongated as the years go by.