The news in Melbourne today:-

Eastern Melbourne is on fire,
Western Melbourne is flooded,
Well known photographer bitten by snake,
Snake expected to recover,
Outback overrun with film crews and opal diggers,
And finally the weather; there will be more of it tomorrow.

'.... Well known photographer bitten by snake,
Snake expected to recover ....'

I put a tourniquet round its neck as snakes are a protected species here; unlike cyclists and photographers.

Is that bloody Portillo here AGAIN! :wave::rolleyes:

Por-tea-yo and his Bradshaw, in UK and Ireland, have shown the railways in a good light. Lets give him a well done.

Portillo as Minister of Defence........ the Jury is out.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear the Big Day is almost upon us and we have not yet the fixin's for our buffet. Tmax is making Carnation Chicken, he has the warrant, but Lord Laxey, no warrant, has used all the Pataks Madras curry powder in his Empire Biryani. But not to worry, I've called a meeting in the Bar for 16 hundred hours and we will sort it all out over a few Black Bush and soda. Roll on Saturday.

Hot and cold running sausages with Bloody Mary on tap at the outset. King's Kedgeree towards 1100 Z. Smoked Salmon sandwiches as a bourrer bouche as the day rumbles to a close. Fizz, of course, to toast TMs (Henners, not the froggie muck) at every opportunity.

What's all this about ES taking to the law?

I hadn't though of Korma for the King, I'll just use a Naga in the Kedgeree. Not going the Quiche for the Queen route I am aiming at finger food and fear that would end up as too much on the carpet food. No idea who's going to come but Ramsey, Port Erin, Onchan, Peel and Douglas are all represented so far.

The last time i was in the I.O.M. at a do was in the early 60s in a theatre in Douglas my mum took me to see Donald Peers we were made to sing, by a babbling brook, and then we had to sing gillygillyhosandpheppercatsanellaboganbythesea. All in all a shite night, rgds rustytrawler

Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen By The Sea ?

That was Max Bygraves - he lived along the road in Bournemouth.

It may of been Max, but peers sang it on the I.O.M, he had thewords on a roll down sheet and we sang with gusto he even threw us bags of smiths crisps

If youse guys don't get the finger out I'll be using Naga or Trinidad Scorpion to jizz youse up.
07.00 and the Finnan Haddie still in its polystyrene overcoat.

BTW is Kedgree still acceptable in these woke times?

A sh1te night indeed, all you were missing was Reg Varney and Arthur Askey.

Ibet you remember old mother riley, my mum told me that i saw him when i was little but i don't recall. he married a dub called kitty. what a night that must of been....not

Never met the Lady but google tells me, "Old Mother Riley is an Irish washerwoman and charwoman character, his wife Kitty McShane played Old Mother Riley's daughter, Kitty. It was essentially a drag act but also a double act".
This would be the height of depravity in catholic Ireland of the 40 and 50's, obnoxious but not so much as The Krankies (no Nicola jokes please).

Arthur lucan, played Riley and was from Hull and that is where i saw him. ISthat the lipstick on a pig Nicola?

Arthur Lucan (Arthur Towle) was born at Sibsey, near Boston, and moved to Boston when he was five. He died, in Hull in 1954, in the wings at the Tivoli theatre before the beginning of the performance.

Kedgeree is PI?

(Heavy eating expected guest did not turn up. Other 10 could not make up for his absence so a meal or two in the freezer - don't know how that will turn out).

What time do you want me? I'll bring a bottle and my own cutlery :pint::pint:

Will I get by with;
2 x plates enamel, knife fork spoon and mug ?

For this occasion (which followed a proper sit-down Beef Nelson for 8 the previous Saturday) I was lazing. There were paper plates and wooden forks (there were also wooden knives but these are useless). Turn up when you like - you'll just have to wait for the stuff to defrost before we test it to see if it developed salmonella before it got to the freezer - sorry I meant '...you test it...'

2 plates? This isn't a workhouse you know.

Damned trousers, damned washing machine. Trousers managed to retain my wallet Thursday night and washing machine accepted them regardless. Have hopes that a good dubbinning will restore shocked wallet and old person's pass. Fortunately bank card still operational - must be IPx7.

My mobile had more sense and escaped before immersion, doubt dubbin would have done anything to restore that.

That can be a problem when 3x extra large are involved, does I.O.M. have plastic money?

I believe that Finn McCools Sod had plastic (polymer) notes before the larger islands.

We did but reverted to the paper ones soon enough (was/is it actually paper?). We also had pound coins before the Adjacent Isles. More like a sixpenny bit than any of the current formats with a core forming a magnetic 'key', to deter forgers or facilitate slot machines I know not. They, too, did not last long.

M'Lord Varley still uses Groats for payment and in emergency the White Fiver may be produced. :chuckle:

The Noble Lord is like all nobility, as Private Godfrey said, nice people but you couldn't get the money.

I understand that those who are in short trade to the west do maintain bartering accounts to suit the natives there but I don't think goats feature. If they did you'd be like the Scots, raiding us for the loose ones. A fiver? do we still need a manual watch on the boiler water level?

Back after a couple of days in Portrush watching the North West 200 road racing, at 72 ought I invest some of my pension in a Kawasaki? And is it too late to enter the Isle o Man TT this year? Perhaps Lord Lax could be my Agent and have a quiet word with the Lord Leftenant.

At your age you will be safer doing the Ballinamore pram race if you can find a large pram to sit in. You need to ask varley if he will give you a loan of his dummy. And another tip is dont pick a pram with a bockerty wheel like Frank Mcourt did.

Decisions, decisions - go for the Kawasaki young man you have earned your pension. :applause:

I, too, have a decision, lesser than yours of course, to make! At eighty tomorrow - should I buy a new tyre for the pushie or buy a new bike?

Wandered into a bike shop the other day - most embarrassing - felt like the old railwayman that I am in shorts and work boots in a RR showroom. :o Bikes of titanium, carbon fibre and God knows what for $A10,000 and upwards in multiples thereof. Tyres, nose in the air salesman, 'oh no we don't have them on display we have them out the back'. (Probably sealed in plastic and sold in brown paper bags.) :eek:

Being a miserable coot, as both my kids and the YMs oft tell me, I will buy a new tyre from some less salubrious bike shop, do the bearings, give the old bike a wash and sprinkle some chain lube around!

No, I don't wear lycra gear either! :rolleyes:

A Kwaka doesn’t have to be big.

But this would be more my style…

For some strange I've got 26 by one and three eights and 26 by one and a quarter burned into the few brain cells I have left. I'm not in lycra but in Lidl's equivalent, I expect to be partially naked before mid-day.

I do, and i will be 81 on June 5th. had full checks at the Docs yesterday and all results are good. Firing on all cylinders. Best thing I ever did was taking up Biking. Great exercize.

May i recommend dogging ?
You can even use the chains.

Attachment 3942
Dogging, innit ???
Snow chains reqd

Well done BB. Keep it up, I believe that cycling has done wonders for my health. I too got a good medical this week and I like to think that it has contributed to retaining what little sanity I have left.:wave:

Would you say cycling is better than brisk walking or jogging? Obviously distance has to be considered.

ES

Definitely better than walking/jogging/whatever in my case.

My doctor used to say many years ago that 'joggers are just ruining their knees'!

I took up recreational cycling about 40 odd years ago after problems with my right knee and have never looked back either physically or ,arguably, 'mentally'. :rolleyes:

As a kid I used to ride a bike, of course, but there was a gap of perhaps 20 years when I did not.

You will have seen that I like to combine maritime photography with cycling and I aim for about 50 km/week here and there on the bike although this is often not possible. I don't ride on the road as we are fortunate in that I can go out my back gate about 12 km NNW of the CBD onto a walking and cycling path which allows me to reach Port Melbourne and the Lower Yarra 99% 'off road'.

I thoroughly recommend a pushie to you ES - you are never too old, nor do you need a flash bike (or a lycra suit either :jester:).

My current bike is a 20+ year old 26 inch mountain bike (long ago out of fashion - like me) that cost around $A300 at the time. This was mid range (?) before titanium and carbon fibre for ~ $A20 000 became the go, of course. I don't have shock absorber forks or suspension for the saddle - they are just unnecessary complications.

https://www.shippinghistory.com/gall...searchid=30657

Go for it Comrade - at least you don't have snakes to worry about in Ireland.

Geoff :wave:

I have an Oohh Aahh bike I use occasionally as it brings tears to the eyes. It doesn't have a saddle hence the sound effects and the watery eyes. :jump:

Cycling can be extremely hazardous to ones health, especially on a wet, foggy night on the Queens Road when you find your bike wheels caught in the tram tracks. The Tour de France has bugger all on a Friday night at knocking off time in Harland and Bluff. :chuckle:

Don't mention tram tracks especially as we have more of them than anyone else in the world. Those in Swanston Street were one of my downfalls.
There are limits to both unnecessary complications and the KISS* principle.
* Keep it simple stupid.

I ride around 7 Ks at 04:30 every morning. When i get back and put the Bike away I walk the Dog for 3 Ks. 06:00 Breakfast. Loving it.