Nope

Collected my brother from the airport earlier. Was surprised to see my car reg printed on the car park ticket!

I bet you'd have been more surprised if it had been someone else's reg. number on the ticket

True. I was just surprised seeing a reg number on the ticket at all!

No!

I could never understand the fuss about Frank Sinatra...

Have you ever heard Thomas Quasthoff singing Sinatra? Veirrry interesting...

I will confess to a big soft spot for Quasthoff. He may be physically disabled, but he has the most sensitive and expressive face and an amazing sense of humour.

Here he is duetting with my ALL TIME HERO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RESX8YroSCQ

That was an eye opener, I have always liked Quasthoff, but have only ever heard him sing classical ! What a voice !

Tried making my own catfood which seems to have gone down well. At least I know exactly what goes into it

Well done Corenfa - good to hear that someone has found a use for politicians at last!

That was the last batch, which she wouldn't eat, so I had to use sprats this time

Don't kill all the sprats - they could do a better job!

corenfa, ours love fish mixed with a little boiled rice. Do tell us your recipe!

Actually, that is exactly the recipe

I misread that as 'sprouts' and felt sorry for your kitty! Mind you as I discovered mine last night nibbling a shortbread biscuit I wouldn't rule anything out.

Mr corenfa had one whose background as a stray made her steal food - any sort of food - loaves of bread would be found with bites taken out of them

I think that's at the centre of some of my cats behaviour.

I have removed 28 hair accessories, 12 pencils and 14 Eb clarinet reeds from the car I've just sold - but only 1 Biro!

...treasure

one biro!
..probably rubbish

I just came home to find a frog sitting in the cat's water bowl!

Maybe the cat is trying to make friends!

Maybe the frog is trying to make friends.

Quite possibly.

Second batch of homemade catfood also gratefully received. Couldn't find any politicians so had to make do with turkey and an egg

RHS Flower Show Tatton Park has a series of gardens on an orchestral theme.

Orchestra gardens
also
Untie the wind garden

EDIT: just noticed that the brass one is designed by Alan Gardner - a good example of nominative determinism maybe

Yes just seen it on TV, very interesting

It is nice and sunny outside and I work in the like the only office in the entire building that doesn't have a window overlooking the outside world.

I took some pictures of them yesterday.

I've worked in Big Pharma for many years now.
Recently there was a thread on here which went off at a tangent, though by the time I saw it, it had got back on topic. The tangent was about pharma companies inventing conditions to have a new market to seel their drugs on.

My main thought about this was:
When I started working in pharma, all the questions I ever got were about animal testing and its evils. I developed my stock answer which went along the lines of:
1) actually, I'm involved in the testing on humans stage.
2) the legislation/regulation is that you can't test on humans until you have tested on at least two animals, one of which must be non-rodent - so work on the regulators and legislators and find us a viable alternative. Perhaps you would like to volunteer "we've got this chemical, theoretically we have an idea it might do X, would you try it for us?" (this often gave people a perspective they hadn't thought of before!)

Over time, animal testing was not the question I got...it moved in to patent stuff (it costs 500 million pounds to get a drug from discovery to market, am I not allowed to try and make any of that money back? This number also often gave people a perspective they hadn't had before), and then on to the invented conditions stuff.

So, I was amused in that thread that went off at a tangent, it was on the 'fashionable topic', and that I never hear about animal testing anymore. Then, hahahahahaha, what were BBC News going on about this morning? Use of animals in medical research. So, reckon the conversations will be going back round again


Actually, it's quite amusing the way the press takes hold of something every so often. Did you know around 10 people under 30 die each week due to undiagnosed heart conditions? You probably did, because after Fabrice Muamba had his heart incident, there were so many reports in the press. Every young person who collapsed - especially sporting types - was headline news. I'm not saying this is a bad thing at all, just that the press ran with this.
But things fall out of fashion too - certainly, from where I live, you'd think knife crime among young people in London has completely disappeared. Last year, or the year before perhaps, we had the news giving us running totals every time there was an incident - the 15th teenager to be injured in a stabbing this year, etc. You'd have thought you couldn't step outside in London without someone waving a knife at you. But now, it's not news at all...I sincerely doubt that knife crime has gone - but it has certainly gone from the press so seems to have disappeared!


Erm, just wittering Working on your own at home means sometimes you need to talk to (or rather at) someone other than the cat

LOL It's what a close friend of mine has always called The Rottweiler Syndrome

"Suddenly" the news was full of people being savaged by Rottweilers. There would seem to have been a massive increase in the number of incidents - which of course has now died out

I shall remember that name for it, thank you

Randomly: there's a rotty who lives on our road, who is one of the soppiest dogs I've ever met - very well trained and cared for. But, still would probably terrify most parents, simply because he's quite large and nose-to-nose with their child, who he could easily damage by enthusiasm (but just to note - his well-trained-ness includes not enthusiatcally greeting outside his direct family!!)

It used to be German Shepherd dogs. My parents had several, and all were very obedient end gentle, except when playing of course.

The fact that animal rights protesters often conveniently forget is that animal testing of drugs also benefits veterinary medicine, which has improved the lives of animals immeasurably.

SB

One bit of the Bruckner Te Deum sounds like the Mr Bean theme. I know that the former came before the latter chronologically, but to me, I heard the latter before I heard the former.

One of the Beethoven piano trios has the Blackadder (series 2) theme in it

I just hope that all these calls by Sporting High-Ups for more sports, and more funding for sports in schools, doesn't mean that music and musicians get neglected.

I have a nasty feeling about it though ......

(And I have been unable to maintain an Olympic-free-zone at home, sadly. )

I have just heard of an old acquaintance who has just given up being DoM at a well-known prep school after 27 years, because he has finally thrown in the towel over the constant fight between music and sport at the school.

He has taken a non-teaching (but still musical) job at a major public school instead...

It worries me too: a great deal of lottery funding for the arts (especially community arts activities) was re-directed to the olympics over the last 7 years. I have great concerns that this will not be re-balanced. I wish politicians would wake-up to the point that we need both to be properly funded. If they were, many of wider society's problems would be improved (over time).

EDIT: fix typos

My family have just persuaded (bullied) me into agreeing to do the local triathlon on the 2nd Sept - as they are doing it - ...so I have 3.5 weeks to get fit enough to swim 300m in the sea, cycle 5km and run 2.5 km. LOL I can't do them all separately at the moment, let alone one after the other!! It may just kill me, but I might get fitter in the process.

I'm a little bit scared....and prepared to come in last

All the best!!! I don't think I could even manage 500m on a bike without falling off...

Thanks - I found out today that it's actually a 10km cycle!!! Eeeek...oh well, in for a penny

10k on a bicycle should be fine for someone of your ilk, Sunrise. All the best!

Good luck Sunrise! That sounds like fun

Why do people insist that something is the case, even when given clear evidence that it is not?

It might cause some pain, but I think I could just about manage all of that - you're bound to find it easier than a dinosoaur like me . Just hope the run and cycle routes are fairly flat.....

Thanks everyone, and yes, the cycle and run are flat....but the cycle is on the airport runway and there tends to be a fierce headwind!!

I got in the gym today, managed 5k bike and straight afterwards the 2.5k run on a treadmill, so that was encouraging. Of course then I had to go back to work, beetroot in the face for the rest of the day...in fact people have been asking me all day if I got sunburned!!!
And then after work took son up to the pool and managed 800m (in 300m lots and then a bit more) so that is good....but I am absolutely shattered and aching now!!

Not sure I'm going to be able to walk tomorrow

... it's day plus 2 you should worry about

LOL I'm holding on to the thought that the run the first evening caused yesterday to be Day one! I do hurt this morning.... and need to train again tomorrow

It's amazing how many people describe octagonal tables as hexagonal... 8 and 6 are quite different!

People mix up 5 and 6 too. I have a 5-pointed star necklace. Once when I was wearing it, someone said to me, I didn't know you were Jewish

(I'm Asian, so this is an even stranger thing to say than usual. Not that there aren't Asian Jewish people, it's just not the first thing that comes to mind)

It's really odd.. I just don't understand it! Might have to search for octagonal tables as well, just in case people manage it the other way I can just about understand miscounting on a quick glance, but when you're listing something online?

I have always fancied one of these It's definitely not hexagonal!

I nearly bought one of these 25 years ago when they were about GBP250... wish I had

Those look lovely! Way out of my budget though

I did find a hexagonal table I could have a hope of buying last night - by searching for octagonal!