Harry Peterson

But now we’re even more worried. About those shoes. Is this some kind of coded signal, wowzz?

Some years back, yes. And some of his other stuff. Pleased to say that my son’s also a fan. Both our kids were brought up with some entirely unsuitable comedy stuff (Milligan was at the very mild end) and pleased to say the grandchildren are too. Did have to restrain small granddaughter once though from singing Tim Minchin’s ‘pope’ song in the wrong company! They learn though, and they soon learn what and where’s appropriate. Anarchic comedy is good - too little about now on mainstream TV.

Surprising the range that Sky Arts offers - and free on Freeview too (we don't have a Sky subscription). A really good documentary on Spike Milligan last week, with a lot of previously unseen material, if anyone's interested: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/dec/01/documentary-opens-up-spike-milligans-treasure-trove-of-scripts-and-footage Not everyone's cup of tea, maybe, but to many an absolute genius. Lucky enough to be able to see a recording of one of his BBC2 'Q' series back in the 70s - unforgettable!

They look nice!

Good morning all - cold in most of the UK this morning. Hope you're managing to keep warm.

You can eat outside in the Epicurean, but it's only available, I think, if you book a suite.

I agree entirely. But I suspect that might be behind the reluctance to enforce the rules - rather like the apparent reluctance of the police to tackle crime.

I imagine the last thing they want is the potential for a confrontation. The sort of person who’s prepared to ignore a very clear rule might well be the same sort of person who reacts badly to authority, no matter how politely it’s done.

Butlins is a very unfair comparison. Anyone remember Club 18-30?

I have witnessed very similar behaviour. But it wasn’t on a cruise, I was in my late teens, it was in Birmingham, and it was Rag Week! How times change……..😉

Maybe we're in a minority, but we both actually enjoy sharing a table with others. Always chose Freedom Dining for the variety of the company, and only on very, very rare occasions did we feel that we'd been better off on another table - and that was usually because of arrogant and rude behaviour towards the staff. Yes, we do get on very well together (50+ years), and yes we'd be horrified at the idea of sharing a table in a restaurant or hotel, but somehow it was one of those things about cruising that made it different - and we made some very good long-term friends that way. Covid however has changed that, and I fully appreciate that there are a lot of issues around that which make table sharing potentially very risky. It's a great shame. You could say the same about Norovirus, but sufferers were usually nowhere near a dining table!

Suit you, Sir? 😉

Still called that in South Yorkshire, Avril?

Me too. Never, ever gone for expensive ‘brands’ where you’re paying mainly for the name + their greed. Always M&S in the past, till they dropped the quality and upped the prices. Then I discovered that for basics Primark was much the same quality but hugely lower prices. Shirts, though, have come for years now from Brook Taverner, which I always assumed to be expensive until I realised they were actually cheaper than M&S but much better styling, fabric and quality. All online, apart from Primark. Likewise my wife who seems to get everything from Seasalt and Gudrun Sjoden, but again all online. Haven’t been inside a shop for getting on for 3 years - and the butcher’s very kindly delivering his excellent hams and sausages & chipolatas ready for the sausage rolls this morning. Thank goodness for the delivery people! Very badly paid and treated, but they do us all a huge service.

Morning all - hope your days go well, and not too affected by strikes. Christmas cards posted?

That’s interesting - and concerning. There are an awful lot of cheap imported air fryers coming in since they became a ‘thing’. I wonder whether that’s the main cause, rather than the air fryers themselves. Amazon and eBay do sell an awful lot of imported Chinese junk with ‘brand’ names that look more like alphabet spaghetti than words.

“The cat’s dragged in an injured bird………”

Thoroughly! But then I never watch it anyway. This house has been a football-free zone forever. I accept that as a bloke that makes me a freak, but so be it. Just as well we both feel the same way about most sports.

Most people just stick them in their pocket or handbag, thus negating the whole point of the things! Useful, of course, for a lot more than Covid. You need a supply of them, a bucket of bleach, and a small trolley to cart it all around on. Raises no eyebrows at all on cruise ships, provided of course you’re wearing appropriate formal wear on formal nights.

We used to use those - then the question was what to do with the potentially infectious key!

Morning everyone. This amused me - though Matt's always bang on the mark:

Goodness, Sarah, that's really bad luck. What a rotten thing to happen to her again. Apologies if this sounds intrusive, but has she been checked for osteoporosis?

Here's an extremely silly one that's doing the rounds at the moment. It gets 'discovered' every few years and all the papers claim it's never been noticed before. Spot the Toblerone bear? All sorts of explanations, but this one seems the most plausible: It's a tribute to the swiss city of Bern, where the chocolate company was founded. It's nicknamed "the city of Bears," and the coat of arms is what looks like a bear climbing upwards.

Absolutely understandable, Michelle, but such a remarkable and helpful piece of diagnostic equipment. I hope you’re soon in and out, with the outcome you’re looking for. I’m sure you already know this, in which case apologies, but they’ll usually be able to play radio channels through to you. I asked them for Radio 4 on each occasion, and listening to that (I prefer voices to music) helped pass the time much more quickly - as well as distracting from the noise of the scanner.