I probably am too....... It can really cheer me up..... I actually laugh out loud, when I am in the car on my own driving!... How sad is that?
Well actually, it's not sad at all, as it makes me happy and laugh.....

I have worked all day and achieved nothing. Ho hum.

I'm trying to roast some chicken. I've never roasted chicken before.

Why are you roasting it at this time of night?

Because I haven't had any tea yet (was working late and the trains were being stupid), and I decided I really fancied some roast chicken. They didn't have any of the chicken portions that were already roasted, so I decided to try myself. The packaging says 40 minutes but I'm going to give it a bit longer to be sure.

I read your first post too fast and thought you were doing a whole chicken
I actually think whole chickens are easier to roast than bits of chicken, which tend to dry out if you're not too careful.

Yes. I thought it might get too dry so wrapped in it foil after a bit (like you do with bread to stop it getting too dark before it's baked). Have just unwrapped it to try and get it crisper. It's had it's 40 minutes but will give it a bit longer...

My brain says 8:23am, the clock says 7:23am...

but the clock on the forums seems to be in BST still!

I know the feeling!!!

My OU course this year is on Greek and Roman myth. There is no exam; instead there is an extended, broad-ranging essay. You have to write on the mythological character of your choice, and their development. You have to use the evidence to make an argument about how/why they developed as they did. You have to use 3-8 sources, at least one of which must be classical (they can all be classical; or they can be all-but-one-modern).

My initial thought was to do Jason (as in 'and the Argonauts'). Pretty much so I could use the 1963 Ray Harryhausen classic film as a source My husband did point out there might not be too much left to say on Jason (which is fine - I'm not expected to be making original contributions to the field at my level!) While looking in to it a bit, finding out sources that are readily available, I noticed that Orpheus was one of the Argonauts.

That Orpheus? The one as in 'and Eurydice' that I remember from secondary school classical studies lessons? As in, the one who is in an opera or two?

Yes, it turns out, that Orpheus. A man of many stories

So I looked in to his sources as well. A plethora of classical literature (The Argonautica, Ovid's Metamorphoses, another version of the Argonauts' story told from Orpheus' viewpoint [instead of Jason], Virgil...even Plato used him as an example of something-or-other).
Then a Middle English poem of the 13th Century which attempted to combine the classical myth with English folklore and faeries and so on ("Sir Orfeo", it's called).
And then the operas. Centuries of them. Historically jolly important ones like Peri's Euridice, or Monteverdi's L'Orfeo. Gluck a bit later on, and then Offenbach parodying that version (ker-ching! Reception-of-reception-of myth!) And so on, all the way up to Birtwistle and Glass...

And then what happens? I'm sitting at the baroque day and I snaffle andante_in_c's book of arias for a nose (I have no idea why, I'm not a singist). There's one from Peri's version in the book, how interesting. And next comes, DaisyChain singing from Gluck's version!

It's a sign! Orpheus is my man for the essay then

*is wondering how much going to the orthodontist will cost her*

depends which one and what you have done.....

I finished orthodontic treatment years ago but they left a wire behind my front teeth. However, some of the wire has come loose and I keep bumping my tongue against it.

Also, I am feeling very frustrated as I won't get to flute practise properly until tomorrow night. I've been away so not played since Thursday and I've just finished an eight and a half hour shift at work so too tired to do anything productive. Maybe I should just try.

The timings on the quotes in the conversation kerioboe and I had above are very weird.

I have backcombed my hair to look like a witch, but have no hairspray, to hold it in. What a waste of my hair's health!

You might like to read a novel by an Australian author, Janette Turner Hospital "Orpheus lost". One of the main characters is a musician - plays the violin and the oud.

The trousers I pegged out to dry this morning have just been returned by a neighbour who lives five doors away.... didn't even notice they had blown off the line.

some people, well most of the ones I've served today, are so rude. I thought it was the young not the older generation that are supposed to be rude and ignorant, not where I work.

I have been quoted 2000 EUR to fit new crowns on the two teeth I ground down in a recent bike crash . But the Dentist actually recommends a bridge covering 4 teeth - at between 3000 and 4000 EUR . Dentistry in Holland is more expensive than in the UK. I feel a trip to Poland in the offing.

Good job it wasn't your bloomers.

My random comment : I have a very whizzy clock radio, that automatically goes back/forward an hour for GMT/BST. Usefully, it decided to do the change yesterday morning, rather than Sunday, and there's no override...

My clock radio didn't change correctly either and it was supposed to automatically do it.

My random comment: I dislike diminuendos (or my inability to play them nicely)

Human beings changing the clocks by hand are so much more reliable than automatic clock changes, aren't they Nicki!

My laptop was reliable! And my phone is quite good because it has a GMT setting so I can just turn it on or off.

If you take the battery out of your whizzy clock and put it back in it might reset itself. My mum has one that is an alarm clock and when she brings it here to stay it gains or loses an hour and she has to take the battery out to make it right! Only 50 miles, but we are obviously in a different time zone

Fairly random... but I held a tarantula tonight... a nice fluffy one that only had 1/2 inch fangs...

Crazy girl. I won't sleep now, or if I do will have nightmares.

It's well-known that lots of people go to Hungary for cheap and excellent dentistry!

Less than an hourr......

Why would anyone want to eat a sweet that tastes like Edwardian Lady bubble bath (i.e. Turkish delight)?

I'll take your word for it ..... !

And how would you know what an Edwardian lady's bubble bath tastes like?

My brother always says that Turkish Delight tastes like washing up powder!

I drank some to get rid of the taste of the Turkish delight.

Got this in an email today and found it interesting. I have no clue how accurate it is or whether it's just adapted..

EDIT: silly forum... the ? are supposed to be pound signs.

Suppose that once a week, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to ?100.If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this..

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay ?1
The sixth would pay ?3.
The seventh would pay ?7.
The eighth would pay ?12.
The ninth would pay ?18.
And the tenth man (the richest) would pay ?59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every week and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until, one day, the owner caused them a little problem. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your weekly beer by ?20.? Drinks for the ten men would now cost just ?80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free but what about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the ?20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realized that ?20 divided by six is ?3.33 but if they subtracted that from everybody's share then not only would the first four men still be drinking for free but the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fairer to reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage. They decided to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (a100% saving).
The sixth man now paid ?2 instead of ?3 (a 33% saving).
The seventh man now paid ?5 instead of ?7 (a 28% saving).
The eighth man now paid ?9 instead of ?12 (a 25% saving).
The ninth man now paid ?14 instead of ?18 (a 22% saving).
And the tenth man now paid ?49 instead of ?59 (a 16% saving).
Each of the last six was better off than before with the first four continuing to drink for free.
But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got ?1 out of the ?20 saving," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got ?10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a ?1 too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!"
"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get ?10 back, when I only got ?2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

Just been been offered the chance to play piano in a jazz band.

Only 2 problems....
1. I really don't know anything about jazz.
2. My plans for the next 12 months or so are to lose all 'extra' playing to start giving proper consideration to preparing a Dip.programme.

Still, nice to be asked.

Free whisky: https://secure.thesingleton.com/signup.php

Yum yum. Getting one sent to work, one sent to home, one to my sister's.....

I thought the were offering a free bottle. Greedy me.

Is it any good? My favourite Speyside whisky is A'bunadh but generally I go for heavily peated island malts.

Sadly not, but you could register with several cooperative family members and friends to get a bit more I've registered my work and home addresses!

Not tried it myself, but apparently it's quite nice.

I'm reminded of a story I was told a while ago when a friend asked for a particular whisky & coke in Scotland. He was told by a furious barman that "the only thing that's allowed with a single malt is water, or another one." or something to that effect!

Tues + Weds - off work sick with a migraine.
Not full of concentration when I have a migraine, so book reading doesn't appeal. Magazines are good...but I had read them all.
What to do, what to do, what to do.

I know, get out all the G6 theory materials for a browse.

Yes, that certainly helped the headache

(Am back at work today but headache has just returned in the last hour or so...really probably should go home but really want to stick it out as it is music lesson day and if I go home sick from work then I'll have to cancel my lesson, which I hate doing).

Quite right. I haven't adulterated a whisky since being an ignorant schoolboy.

I was told even water is a no no in a nice single malt, and I have to agree

Thanks for the link, looking forward to the delivery *hic*

I hate working late shifts.

I always enjoy the opportunity to spend longer in bed, but don't like getting home in the dark during the winter I despise early shifts, nice in the summer, but I feel knackered by Wednesday!

There should be a piano in the buffet cars of trains.

I'm sitting on a train at the moment! Edinburgh to Aberdeen - running 20mins late (but free WiFi)

thinking that I've got to get a home SAN