Hamilton Saint

"pre madonnas"? Amusing! Like St. Anne? prima donnas!

The latest political cliche, here, is saying "there needs to be a conversation about this issue", as opposed to a debate, or an argument. It sounds more civilised, apparently, but I find it an irritating example of 'weasel-words'. And then there's the American habit of referring to the public as "folks". And the right-wing habit of always calling citizens "taxpayers".

basically absolutely in terms of at the end of the day at this point in time the bottom line is

Semper ubi sub ubi.

Here are a few things I hate. 1) the use of nouns as verbs: "the team expects at least three members to medal at these games"; "a committee has been tasked with the job of ..."; 2) using a reflexive verb without the required direct object (a reflexive pronoun): "I am going to commit to four hours of practice a day" (should be "I am going to commit myself to four hours ..."); 3) piling up groups of nouns (using nouns as adjectives): "England football team coach"; "sports car production line costs"; 4) police officers who talk to the media with convoluted latinate phrases, instead of using straight-forward, colloquial forms: "We entered the domicile and apprehended the individual at that point in time after we had ascertained the likelihood that he might abscond from the premises".

The sequence with Simon Rattle conducting the LSO and seguing into Rowan Atkinson and then the footage from Chariots of Fire was brilliant! And the Queen with Daniel Craig - who would have expected anything like that. Fantastic!

The pauses probably inserted to provide overseas TV broadcasters the chance to show a couple of minutes of commercials without missing anything significant.

- dark Cuban rum on the rocks - gin and tonic - martini (gin) - single malt (Ardbeg, Laphroiag, Highland Park, Talisker)

Winston Churchill had a bit of a lisp; he seemed to do alright.

At the end of your sentences, I notice, you alternate between one dot, four dots, and two dots. You don't know the difference between a full-stop and an ellipsis, and how to show them properly? Is that your fault, or the fault of your teachers? Or the entire, left-leaning educational establishment?

Does this really need to be explained?

For all the grief, humiliation, and unrealized expectations he has put England supporters through, Rooney should never play for England again.

Speak for yourself.

Presumably you mean they have an ulterior motive. Never mind ...

Would rate both of them a lot more if they got at least four or five goals per season.

I already hate this "J-Rod" nomenclature. Rodriguez is fine. Or Jay Rodriguez.

Typical right-wing "debating" style: begin with a made-up 'factoid' (what we used to call a lie); keep repeating the lie; and, in between the repetition of the lie, insult the opponent, instead of dealing with their valid arguments.

It used to be that you had to be an honourable and sporting player in order to get selected for your country. Does that not hold any more?

You're wrong. That notion originates with the mistaken labelling (probably intentional) of it a such in the U.S. back in the 20s and 30s. [Ever seen the film "Reefer Madness"?] One of the major propaganda "facts" used by the authorities is that marijuana is a "gateway" drug: i.e., that it leads people towards real hard drugs, like heroin. That 'mistake' (lie) has been used to justify decades of foolish social policy and very harsh legal punishments. The war on pot has been an utter failure - primarily because it is based on ignorance and lies.

What's your favourite book of his? And which of those three writers do you like best?

That's Mykonos.

Rory Delap Paul Telfer Jermaine Wright

It's not about nostalgia; it's about sound - high-fidelity sound.

No, sharing the load includes shopping, cleaning, laundry, cooking, child-care, etc. It's even more essential when both parents are working.

I was raised by Catholic parents, so we always had fish on Fridays. But we couldn't afford good pieces of fish, so it was usually fish fingers (passable) or fish cakes (horrible). We always had a roast beef dinner on Sunday, and the leftovers were used in a shepherd's pie on Monday. We always sat down together as a family. With my own family there is no set, regular routine, as far as the recipes go. But we have always sat down together at 6 p.m. every day for a family meal. Something we insisted on from the very first day of having kids (we have two teenagers now). We do not do meals in front of the TV. Ever.