Can you do better?
Of course you can.
There are many ways items get on air, but most often I write the introductions for them. Sometimes a correspondent will provide the "cue" and I will mess about with it. On other occasions a producer will provide the bones of the intro, and sometimes I do it all from scratch.
The reason I'm troubling you with this is I thought it might be fun for you to try your hand at tinkering with an intro.
Below, I'll paste the cue for a piece by the always marvellous Caroline Wyatt. It's perfectly fine as at is, but for fun - would you like to have a go at improving it? You should try to keep the important facts in, but use your initiative to find creative ways of drawing in the listener. Ideally (as it already takes about 40 seconds to read) it should be a bit shorter.
I may even use the best version on air tonight. And if that goes well I can get bloggers to write all my cues. Then come in to work a bit later in the day. And then get fired.
Here's the original intro. Do your best!
In France, a thousand families are demanding compensation from the French state railway network, the SNCF, for its role in transporting their relatives to interment camps, before they were taken on to Nazi death camps during World War 2. The families, from France, Israel, America, Belgium and Canada, are demanding compensation of several million euros, and some have started court action already. The families were encouraged by a court ruling in June in France, in which the French railways and the state were ordered to pay damages of more than forty thousand pounds to one family whose father and uncle were deported. From Paris Caroline Wyatt reports on one woman's quest to make the French railways pay for deporting her mother and father in the 1940s.
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SB1
Will think on this, and do even less work than normal, but do you know what will come before (any nice segues available?)
Do your work as well as mine Eric? Sheesh! I quite like it the way it is, anyway.
...dangerous ground here, with everyone from yesterday's last blog reaching for their Lynn Truss books, "English in a Nutshell" and my own admission yesterday, but shouldn't there be a comma between "From Paris" and "Caroline Wyatt..." ?
SB1, or else a huge tailback at junction 15.
Just hold on sunshine.
Eddie, a word in the office please.
It said on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ NEWS website this morning as follows...
"Thai general sets 'PM deadline'.
His he another programme editor - or what? Will he have his photo on this blog too?
Now you're asking bloggers to write your pretty little cue's for you. Well it's not on. Not without a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ pension that is.
By the way what's the plural for editors?
I've changed the flow to past-to-present, and slightly streamlined it. I make it about 30s run time now.
Here goes:
During World War Two, the French railways helped transport the enemies of the Nazis to death camps. In June this year, the family of two victims won court damages from the French State and its railway network, SNCF, of over forty thousand pounds. Now a thousand more families from several countries are demanding compensation, of several million euros, for their own losses. Some have already begun legal action. From Paris, Caroline Wyatt reports on one woman's quest to make the French railways pay for deporting her mother and father in the 1940s.
Well that's all very well, Sir Eric, but I should point out that the last time anyone suggested you should use their words on the programme (‘spoons’ and ‘bombastic’ in your interview with Geoff Hoon on Monday) you cleverly ducked the challenge by not allowing it to be posted on the blog until after you'd recorded it. Which I think is a Bit Off and not quite In The Spirit Of Things.
What's to say we'll all be labouring on your intro only to discover that you've forgotten all about asking us in the first place?
Be that as it may, however (I think I'm becoming a bit of an old f*rt), today’s word is ‘foist’ – as in ‘What is this you are trying to foist onto me, Mum?’ (son Joe, 16, yesterday teatime).
Please note that ‘foist with his own petard’ won’t count, even if in the same sentence as ‘bungs’, ‘Allardyce’, ‘Thaksin Shinawatra’ or ‘His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej’. Though there may be bonus points for correct Thai pronunciation of any or all of these.
Extra points also for any co-blogger getting 'foist' into their Caroline Wyatt intro.
And I am still hoping to win my bet with myself that one of today's Ericposts will be headed 'Bung'. Or 'Bungs' will do.
Okay - but I'm a little rusty
A thousand families from France Israel, America, Belgium and Canada are due to seek compensation from the French state railway network, the SNCF, for the role it played during the second world war, when it assisted in transporting relatives and to internment camps.
Last June a French Court ruling against the SNCF ordered forty thousand pounds to one family who’s father and uncle were deported. This has encouraged other families to take up the fight. Caroline Wyatt now reports from Paris on one woman’s quest to seek compensation from the railway network for deporting her mother and father in the 1940’s
B/a : that was Caroline Wyatt reporting from Paris :-)
We're all used to having train delays foist upopn us in this country, but in France, it's not the trains that are delayed, but the claims for compensation. 51, err, 61 years after the end of World War 2, a thousand families are demanding compensation for the national railway's part in transporting people to Nazi interment camps. Caroline Wyatt investigates le culture du compensation.
well Eddie, I've tried to keep it germane...
"and now, from France, the story of the late passengers of trains and the compensation being sought.
Caroline, apparently they didn't want to get on the trains at all..."
what? what's wrong?
Ian!! Brilliant! How clever!
(And now I expect to be fined - or at least reprimanded - for over-use of exclamation marks. Oh well.)
In France, families of 5 different nations are demanding several million euros in compensation. They have taken SNCF, France's state railway network to court to claim damages for their relatives being transported to internment camps, before they were taken on to Nazi death camps during World War 2. This has come about due to a French Court ruling in June that the French railways and the state had to pay damages of more than forty thousand pounds to one family whose father and uncle were deported. From Paris Caroline Wyatt reports on one woman's quest to make French railways pay for deporting her mother and father in the 1940s.
I hope that if you do use anyone's intro, they'll get a broadcast credit from you at the time....
Sorry I'm late folks, meeting at head office, so I couldn't log on 'til now...
p.s. Appy, your Maltesers are on the coffee table. Pop round when you get a chance to collect them....
Dear PM-Blog-Commenters (you know who you are),
Having a fantastic time!! The weather is lovely, and very hot despite it being September! I got burnt yesterday - even though I used my SP20! We´ve arranged to go to see a funky flamenco concert on Saturday which should be fun - well, as "fun" as funkyflamenco can be, I´m sure. Obviously haven´t got a clue what you´re all up to, but hope you´re keeping out of trouble!!!!
Wish you were here! Love John H
PS Mrs H says hi
Here is my offering
What about Coporate bodies for sins in their past?
People of 5 nations, descendants of those who were taken to internment camps during the war believe that they should, and have a court ruling that supports their claim.
Should SNCF, the French state Railway, still be held responsible for taking people to Nazi Death camps during The Second World War?
Caroline Wyatt reports from Paris...
Alternative intro suggestion:
Claiming compensation from train operators is nothing new, but the French state railway, SNCF, is facing compensation claims for novel reasons. A thousand French, Israeli, American, Belgian and Canadian families have been inspired to sue SNCF for millions of Euros compensation for transporting their relatives to face internment en route to Nazi death camps during World War 2. Their inspiration - a French court which in June ordered the French railways and the state to pay more than forty thousand pounds damages to a family whose father and uncle were deported. From Paris Caroline Wyatt reports on one woman's quest for compensation from SNCF for deporting her mother and father in the 1940s.
I should be doing my own work, Eddie, but here goes:
In June this year a court in France awarded damages of more than forty thousand pounds to one family from the French State and its railway network SNCF for their role in the deportation of two members of that family to Nazi death camps during World War Two. Now a further thousand families from both sides of the Atlantic are demanding compensation amounting to several million euros, and some have already begun court action. Caroline Wyatt reports from Paris on one woman's quest to make the French railways pay for deporting her parents in the 1940s.
I don't know if that is any better, but Eddie is welcome to come and try his hand at my job any time!
Whatever intro you use, Eddie, if you use the word "internment" PLEASE make sure it has all three n's in it. "Interment" without the middle "n" means burial; with the middle "n" it means confinement as intended here.
After more than 60 years, the legacy of guilt from World War 2 persists. In France, thousands of families continue to seek compensation from those complicit in the deportation of their relatives to Nazi death camps. SNCF, the state railway network, is being sued for millions of Euros by families encouraged by a court ruling against the company in June that awarded 40 thousand pounds to that family of two men who were transported to the East. From Paris, Caroline Wyatt reports on one woman's quest to make the French railways pay for deporting her mother and father in the 1940s.
Mmm. Not brilliant, I grant you. Wonder whether it is sensible to mix pounds and Euros in same intro. Also, Eddie, isn't it "internment" not "interment" camps?
Jon Green: That's a nice job.
I won't attempt to rephrase it, because I'd only try to work in some reference to the 1964 Burt Lancaster film "The Train" where Burt plays a French railway engineer who prevents a trainload of French artworks from being taken out of the country by the Germans.
Not many people accepting the 'foist' challenge, though. Too hard, eh??
I think there should be compensation. If a French Governmental Institution can berate a country for human rights violations, it could put it in practice with the compensation.
I also want the same thing to occur with Castro [Cuba] and the Republicans and Democrats [USA] for the damage done to the American Continent
SSC (18),
I have to agree with you. Jon Green's version reads very well.
Nope, I can't improve on it, so I'm not going to try.
I was never much good at my england Litrichure at school.
Fluent in Profanity though....
Simon.
Further to bonus points on offer for ‘His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej’ (my no.6 above), Sir Eric, signing your email as him doesn't count.
And don't think I haven't noticed you're not calling anything 'Bung'. That's just spiteful (or, as my daughter used to say when she was little, 'spikeful'. I knew what she meant.)
SB19
From Paris, Caroline Wyatt reports on the story you’ve just been reading about above.
And how about an exclusive piece following on from earlier reports concerning John Reid? He apparently said that there is no part of the country from which he is excluded. I don’t know whether that means he can ignore ‘keep off the grass’ signs, or has access to the school caretaker’s boiler room, but hear this: John Reid is barred here, and will not gain entry to my ‘surgery’.
hurumph. I guess you can't do "Nazi death camps" and gags huh?
Tough crowd.....
oh well - my effort....
In France, families of Holocaust victims are suing the French state railway for transporting their relatives to internment camps before they were taken on to Nazi death camps. Families from across the world are demanding compensation of several million euros, and some have started court action already, after a previous ruling which saw damages of more than forty thousand pounds in paid to one family whose father and uncle were deported.
From Paris, Caroline Wyatt on one woman's quest to make the French railways pay for deporting her mother and father in the 1940s.
In France SNCF, the state railway, is being taken to task over its involvement over sixty years ago in the deportation of French citizens to internment and, eventually, death at the hands of the Nazis. Following a court ruling in June in which more than forty thousand pounds were paid to one family whose father and uncle were deported in this way, families from France, Israel, America, Belgium and Canada are now seeking similar compensation, to the tune of several million euros, from the company. Caroline Wyatt reports from Paris on one woman’s quest to seek compensation for deporting her parents in the 1940s.
Joe P (4),
Oh my God it's true. The headline on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News website now reads;
"Thai coup leader unveils PM plans".
Thaksin Shinawatra couldn't take over Liverpool FC, but his Army chief has ousted the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ board, become Editor-in-Chief and wants to organise a coup in the newsroom!
How can he be stopped?
Eddie, were you consulted about these new plans? Or have you been 'Invited to stay' at Thai army HQ? Did you spend your two weeks holiday in Bangkok planning the downfall of Mark Thompson?
How long will it be before Womans Hour is cut to ten minutes and Mitchell & Webb and anything featuring Marcus Brigstocke are banned? Please!
Si.
Wish i hadn't tried that challenge for real now. Or that I at least had access to change bits here and there.
hey ho.
John Reid - tough on crime;
tough on the causes of crime;
tough on people who've nothing to do with the crime.
Now that's tough!
Lady P (6) - I think you have been hoist with your own petard!
(Is that the past tense of to hoist? or should it be "hoisted"?)
I must learn not to correct other people's work (x 100 lines)
Am I the only one who thinks of a tasty dish when I hear "Thai Coup"?
Chicken or shrimp, and will you have rice or chips with that?
xx
ed
Sorry Sir, but I couldn't do the intro homework cause me mum sayz that you're fillin me head wiv rubbish and shez never writ no intro an it nevva dun er no harm.
P.S. me dad sayz if I mention anarcho-capitalism again, he's gonna cuff me.
At first glimpse I read it as internet camps, a fate worse than interment.
xx
ed
What is wrong with me? I always end up posting to the wrong day's blog. Someone buy me a calender..
Sara (28) - it was supposed to be a JOKE, dammit.
Memo to self: sometimes humour doesn't seem to blog well.
SB32 - what happened to the SBs?
How about a prize for the person who performs this task using the least commas, but without making it unreadable? Short sentences rule.
Is a Thai Coup some
kind of pome? Foist was easy. Spoons
would have been hard'er.
Whisht (27),
I've always considered it as:
Tough on crime
Tough on the victims of crime.
And I can personally attest to this policy (albeit not the most awful case you could imagine, it's bad enough). I might blog the example today.
Not tried the challenge, (anyway never that good at the precis), some of us have had work decending from a great height all day, only checking this as I send out one load of emails and check the inbox for the next.
SB32
Sorry, Lady P (33). I work in a sunless basement - you can tell!
I will now crawl back into my hole and shut up.
I might have used 'internment' rather that 'interment' - but they'd sound the same, so
wotevva
This is a fun game - only just found it, too late - more please
"all the allegations that have been alleged against me" - Allardyce @ 1704. Lovely to hear footballese colemanning away
OOh, Eddie, yoi did rewrite
Sorry. Had an attack of Ulster. 'Yoi'. Which is fine, but it's not my accent. Borrowed in haste. Hoist, petard etc
he re-wrote??!!
ah c'mon - I bet it was my first attempt.... ooh can't wait till i get home now....
I'll be bitter if it wasn't.....
I can feel the waves of disappointment lapping at my ankles...
Carl (32),
Don't worry, I just posted to yesterday's blog.
Some really good efforts for the challenge Blog Team... I'm not going to try!
Nobody's told me what HTML tags are yet... *Sob*
SB39 Go Pickle, Go Pickle
Went off in a huff and did some of my own work today so, Eddie, do that again - it makes me more productive.
Thanks for the Maltesers Fearless. Lady P., you're quite right - he won't do one little thing for us but expects us to do his work for him. Haaruumph!
No piccie of Lissa as yet, I note.
Chris (44)
I would answer your question but I'm just a beginner myself.
A week a or so back there was some discussion about it and since then one or two kind souls have posted links to instructions in the basics and not-so-basics.
I have learned how to make my words appear in italics but, even though I've followed the instuctions carefully, have had no success with bold or underlining and have decided that I don't really need to know anyway, so I'm letting it go.
How wonderful to hear about the 3.3million year old skeleton being a missing link from our distant past. A childs skeleton am i right? and how advanced she must have been, when you consider that the report had claimed we are most likely to be descendants from her!!!!!
Fearless, I've just noticed the return of the Chatbot! Different comment today though - what's your verdict?
What's going to be the next challenge for us then - edit the "show" in realtime?
Ooh, could be fun.
SB48 but what do I know?
An inappropriate and hurtful exercise. The French government and SNCF have never been taken to task. Now there is a chance. The French should at long last pay compensation, just like the Germans and Austrians had to. Why not pay towards the upkeep of Auschwitz?
My late husband's father from Vienna fled to the France he loved. He was rounded up in Vichy, taken to transit camp Drancy near Paris and died in Auschwitz. His name: Georg Duschinsky. Why should the French not express their deep regrets for collaborating, the killing of innocents?
Why was there not an earlier apology?
Yours Petra Dorman
PS I am German by origin but British for more than 40 years and living in this country.
Thank God, my Viennese husband fled to Britain.
Thank you British people for keeping him!
Hey, Appy, no problem, re the maltesers:o) I've got the sweet shop to get a regular order sorted for us. It's important that we posters have a sufficient sugar rush to keep up with Eric and Sequin when they're on a blogging frenzy....
On a serious note regarding Mr Ed's original blog, it does raise the question of who can be held responsible after a generation has passed after an atrocity. This case is particularly hard to pass comment on, as a large proportion of France was resisting the occupation at the time, while others were collaborating. At what point (or more rightly, after how long) does this become collective punishment for the sake of revenge? I'm not saying this is true here or not. I can't say. However, it's worth considering, I think...
Still, time for me to finally have soemthing to eat today.....
The fascinating thing about joining in at this time of the evening rather than in 'real time' is that it's a great way to avoid leaping in too quickly etc....
Also, didn't feel challenged to do Eric's work for him as it was too late! Did I mention (yes I know I did, just thought I'd say it again in case you haven't checked previous blog) I have been VERY busy in a completely different way today. Any maltesers left to go with this Rioja??
SB49
That's true, Appy... However I notice that all the more verbose postings reference a particular geographical region, beginning with C.... Maybe it's a more intelligent chatbot, triggered by certain words to push a certain agenda... Hmmm
Whoops! should have said SB 53 (and SB 54 for this) and re 48:o)
And Valery? You'll need to ask Appy re the maltesers. I just have the curly wurly!
By the way, the sweet shop has asked what you, Anne, and Frances want as part of the regula order. Let me knw and I'll add it to the list
Gosh, I don't know, I get home after a hard day's work & find this blog has turned into the Open University. I thought there were hints of it yesterday with the punctuation discussion, but now Professor Muir seems to be setting essays too. Has he got another job on the go that he needs us to do the boring bitsof this one for him? I think we should be told...
Hey there, Annasee :o)
Maybe he's applied for an OU course, and he's got all of us doing the coursework?!?
cb56
Thanks Fearless - mine's a quarter of chocolate raisins (I'm addicted, official, you heard it here first)
Now there's a coincidence - in my what I thought would be 49, I used the phrase 'real time', then when I come back for a visit, I find Another Person at 49, but the spooky thing is they have used the same phrase. Hmmm, well I thought it was interesting, might be the Rioja though.
Chrisgherkin, don't you go and get ahead of me too, Ap's already beaten me to it. Life gets in the way, I find.
SB54
What's happened to Counting, posts coming and going?
As a consequence of Today's Hard Work (which I did explain on Counting earlier on, so won't go on about in case it re-appears, causing me to look repetitive) I intend to repair to bed now :o)
And now Richard "Hammond" Hampster is in hospital. All my favourite people are ill :-(
SB59
Morning, all...
I have a question that's burning in my mind at the moment. I'm hoping all you lovely people out there can help:o)
I woke up in the middle of the night to find that, through tossing and turning due to the humidity, the duvet had managed to get turned round by 90 degrees, so the top and bottom were now the sides. My big question is:
What's the word for this phenomenon???
sb60
My turn for a question, folks.
What is a rawl sosarty sarntist?
Morning, FF. Sorry you had a bad night. If I turn my duvet 90 degrees it says (more or less) oc
Of course, if it turns the other way then it's a n@
Any help? If not I will crawl back into my hole for another day.
FF - It's missed out some of the letters! Why? This blog seems to have a mind of its own.
Anyway, I hope you get my gist. Try occan - it works quite well. Or nacco, as the case may be.
My own duvet is very well behaved and never occans or even naccos.
Bck to my hole, I think.
Fearless - "inconvenient"?
SB63
Re: Fearless & the rotating Duvet.
All I can say is that the temperature must have reached 90 degrees.
... I'll get my coat.
Dr. Hacks (61),
not entirely sure. But probably related to Sex being what posh people have the coal delivered in....
And I recall Matthew Parris once commenting on some debate in the Commons where a very posh Tory MP used a word which Parris described as being pronounced 'Hoe-Moe-Secks-Ewells' by the MP in question.
Si.
Aw, poor FF (60) :-(
The other Burning Duvet Question (as opposed to the Burning-Duvet Question, which is something else altogether) is:
How, if you don't do the poppers up before you put it in the washing machine, does the cover invariably turn itself inside out AND eat all the pillow cases? And, possibly more importantly, why?
Dr Hackenbush (61) - some people DO talk funny, don't they?
Sara (62) - please stay out of your hole otherwise you'll end up with rudimentary eyes on account of sunlight deprivation. And THEN where would you be? And what on earth have you got written on your duvet?
sb 63
SB65
(64)
Si - Thenk you.
Dr H and SW - if this rawl sosarty wallah really wants to be in sosarty he needs to enter with a cheery wave and the words air hair lair. I was told all new officers have to go on a day-long course to learn this, but it sets them up for life.
He will then be accepted anywhere (except in my sunless basement)
What a churlish lot you all are! Checking back on entries since last night's programme not one, NOT ONE, of you has passed on to Chris congratulations for his 'winning entry' to Ed's blog comp! But, dear Chris, consider this listener truly impressed by your rewrite for Eddie. Have they offered you an editorship yet???
Note to Ed (that's Eddie, not Chris or Rupert, or whoever): More of these comps please, they keep the grey cells lively
Big Sis (70) - That's just what I intended to do when I first logged on, but then I was completely distracted by FF's twizzling duvet. You are right to chastise me and I add my congrats to Chris.
Chris C - when are you taking over this blog?
RE 70 - sorry for immense churlishness, blame it on my having been at the Rockface, which meant I didn't actually hear the programme. Will try to squeeze in Listen Again, but more stones today, and great fun with a "whackerplate". Don't ask.
Anyway - well done Chris! Btw are you training to be a blacksmith in your other life down Ambridge way? Multi-talented people PMbloggers eh?
SB71
Valery
I know you said don't, but I have to. A what now?
I think the world (or at least the posters here) need to know what a "whackerplate" is!
SB74
Whackerplates are sooooo useful for the flat-path-minded amongst us...
Well done Chris for your impressive effort at impressing the impressionable Eddie - much pride!
HTML TAGS FOR STYLE - WILL SOMEONE PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE TELL ME WHAT IT MEANS?????
Please? I know I'm being thick, I know I am, but please indulge me on this - there is a reward of a Cadbury's Creme Egg for the winner.
And a white choc mouse. With pink squidgy stuff in.
FF - Had you turned 90 degrees with it? Not sure what difference it would make if you had, mind.
Lady P - If you feed the duvet cover before washing it, and put it in inside-out, it should be ok.
Thought you'd never ask!
It's a petrol-driven machine looking much like a lawnmower, but having on its underneath a dirty great heavy whacker plate, which jumps up and down so fast you can hardly see it move (like Fearless at the gym trying to work off 2 curlywurlies). The outcome is some serious compacting of 20 tons of crushed stone. Try it some time. Still waiting for the second delivery and running out of enthusiasm....:o(
SB75
Valery
Please, return from your stones, and explain a Whackerplate? Is it some victoriana for keeping S.O. in check? Is Whacker some confection only available at FF's sweet shop, which makes the plate self explanatory
We need to know.
I'm having enough difficulty concentrating at work without this
Chris, no I hadn't turned with it, unfortunately. I think what woke me up was a mouthful of the washing instruction tag on the duvet:( Mind you, if I had rotated with it, my head would've been hanging off the side of the bed, so I probably had the better deal the way I was...
Now, as for HTML tags, they're little sets of characters you can type in a particular order to change the style of what you're typing (a la Aperitifs' earlier post). A list of lots of different tags can be found . Scroll down to the table, and you'll find lots of fancy things to try, with examples and text you can copy and paste into the comments box here. As an example, the link I embedded earlier is an Anchor tag...
Have fun!
Chris the Pickle
Here is your HTML lesson
1. A bit of history; possibly accurate
HTML is the abbreviation for Hyper-Text Markup Language. Back in the midsts of the Internet, when it was mostly spread around academia, they wanted a system to share documents around net.
Whatever was used had to be platform independant as you coudn't be sure what type of machine would be trying to display it. HTML came up with a way of "tagging" the text to give the end system a clue as to how it should be shown. Tags such as <strong> and <em> convey to the display agent that the tag text should be displayed more strongly or emphasised. This means that a pure text terminal may be able to use its limited abilities to indicate a sequence of emphasised text resonably well.
Well formed HTML also makes it easy to convert a tagged document by a text-to-speech application.
Lesson 2 to follow when I am again on a work-avoidance mission
Well, Leader, you do keep trying to explain to the innocent among us don't you? More thanks to you,we'll get it eventually. Still at least Chrisgherkin knows what a whackerplate is, which is more than a lot of you "men"!
Btw Fearless, have you fed Appy too much chocolate or is she still searching for your wallet? She's been very quiet today? What news on the Tiffin, old fruit?
Why am I able to reach the websites of some of the Underlineds, but not others? (Since we are on techy questions?)
SB79
Oh this is more like it - this thread is much nicer than the previous one - whackerplates, "air hair lair" and rotating duvets (I thought it looked a bit odd on the camera this morning Fearless!) - much more fun than all that bash-the-politicains stuff!
Does that remind anyone else of Vic and Bob on Invention Island and - my particular favourite - the steam-powered duvet? Great stuff.
Well done Chris - hope Eddie gives you your cut!
Valery, how much fun can two people and one whackerplate have?
Oh this has all cheered me up immensely. Thanks folks.
:o) It does seem to fluctuate a bit re the seriousness of the blog, but it doesn't really matter if we're all hanging around...
So, you noticed the duvet, did you Appy? I've come up with a name for it: Duvetfixion. As long as it doesn't happen again tonight. Two nights of having a washing instrucion tag in my mouth at 3am is NOT on my list of things to do!
Well!
Posts 77 onwards weren't displayed when I did my 81, Even more nice stuff to read with m'Horlicks!
Yes, Valery - that was too much chocolate - I don't usually have it this many days in a row. At least I wasn't eating my duvet though - I would say something about that being akin to pillow-biting but it would sound uncouth.
I'm more of a savoury girl actually: Can I have Seabrook* Salt & Vinegar crisps tomorrow please? (Yes, other brands are available but they are not nearly as nice!)
Leader, when are you going to explain the bit about accents? I was tickled for ages by the "scottish" remark - was it John? - a couple of weeks ago.
SB83
No I try to be a responsible adult, & not lead to a massive sugar rush in anyone I buy chocolate for:) I think Appy's had a rough day with her internet connection, so all I'll say is *hugs* Appy :o)
Okay, so maybe I don't know my whackerpalte" but I bet I could bore you on other technical stuff :p (please on't ask me to. It'd be work related, and it's far too late in the day to be thinking of anything like that!
Hello Fearless (82) - I thought I was all alone tonight. Multi-tasking (well, OK, watching TV and typing - not so multi as your efforts last night). Sorry if I got a bit ranty on "Counting": I'm calm now, honest.
Is "duvetfixion" the name for your duvet or for the phenomenon to which you referred earlier? I've always called my duvet "the duvet" but I think naming them is a lovely idea... now, what shall I call mine?... Bob?... Maybe I'll think a little harder about that one...
re 83.
Oh thanks for the hug! I needed that! :)
Oh Appy - it makes everything good if our being here can lighten the load of even ONE fellow being . . .
Speaking of washing instructions (FF, 78), my new trousers say I must wash them inside out. What do they think I am - a frightened sea-cucumber?
Fearless, I do hope your duvet behaved itself last night and that you had a restful sleep. I had a short one, on account (stupidly, I know) of embarking on one of those interweb searches that has you sparking one thought off another. I started out in knitting wire and ended up at polystyrene head shapes. Hm.
Has anybody tried that game where you try to flummox Google by putting in a combination of words it can't find? (Other search engines are, of course, available . . .)
Morning!
(re83) I'll see if the sweetshop stockes them:o)
(re 85)Duvetfixion is what I've called the phenomenon* As for a name for the duvet itself.. Interesting idea! I'll give it some thought!
(re86)no probs! I know how hard it can be when an ISP doesn't believe you....
(re87)The duvet behaved last night, thanks!
*Am I the only person who can't use the the word phenomenon without adding doo-doo-di-doo-doo (as in the Ma-na-ma-na Muppet song) even if only in my mind?
Is the strapline Valery OUR Valery, do you spose?
re 88.
You were Fearless, but I don't suppose you are now.
By way of revenge - am I the only person who cannot desist from rearranging the letters on the registration plate of the car in front to make a recognisable word?
You won't be able to stop now...
re 89
I think so - correct initial: she was Valery H. on here before the Pedant monicker. Well done Valery!
Did anyone hear Greg Dyke bragging about how well he could spin TV-AM viewing figures back in the 80s on 'The Reunion' this morning? Hypocritical twit. Oops - I'm probably not meant to say that.
Aperitif (90) - You really got me there - Saw the re89 and tried to rearrange it into something meaningful.
Is it the rain
That's rusting my brain?
(This rhyming business is catching!)
Intriguing Lady P - 89 - in truth I am a Val H, but not Hamblin. Credit where credit's due. I'm still working on my strapline. Keeps slithering down the to-do list though,at the moment I'm trying to name my duvet, and come up with a better idea for my broken umbrellas...
Aperitini - so are you getting away then? for the well-earned break? Just told andyc off for not letting us know he was going, so make sure you keep us posted!!
Stuff has disappeared again - I'm getting RSI from typing this.
Aha - there it is back and I can see your 92 Valery*. It made me chuckle, which is lovely because I am quite stressed and chuckle-free these last few days.
I have responded to your travel plans query on one of today's blogs (the first one I think). Hope you enjoyed your trip to the pub.
*As opposed to "you're 92" but didn't you and Rufus A B have that debate a while back?
Oh, we are all crackers, and it's great...
FF and Steve L of STROP; thank you both everso for your explanations. I have read them a couple of times and my mind's eye has suddenly fogged up alarmingly, so I'm going to bed now (under my remarkably restrained duvet (that I'm now trying to name)) and will try again tomorrow. That's far too long a sentence, apologies.
Btw, a very strange thing happened earlier - I went onto AndyCr(??)'s website and tried to leave a blog message, but found myself setting up a blog of my own! I don't know what to do with it now, as I didn't mean to do it, so I'll have to try that again tomorrow too.
Nite nite all you Duvet Naming Bloggers
xx
Why? Why? Come back missing posts!
Chris - 95 - exact same thing happened to me. I haven't dared go back to look in case I get reprimanded for not giving it enough attention. Now I feel like a Cruel and Heartless Blog Parent, having given birth to a Blog and then leaving it to wither on the vine (ridiculous assortment of metaphors or summat). Something else to feel gulity about though...
Glad I made you chuckle Ap, (not 94, I know) I aim to please! Now I have a ridiculous vision of one of those cheesy signs to put in your toilet - aimed at Men? You know the one. Our aim is to please, please us with your aim, or some such - I can't quite remember it and don't want to but can't get it out of my head. EEEk!
Yes Pub was good thanks - Gurly night as Frances O would say.
SB97 btw where is Rufus A B these days?