CHAPEL END CHARLIE

No , wrong side of 30 means he's passed his 30th birthday . QED .

Thanks for that Positive Pete . I was merely suggesting we should wait and see before prejudging whether this is an good signing or not , the new season starts in a few weeks time after all . As for his previous managers true opinion of him can I ask just how often do you hear any manager say "I'm desperate to be rid of this player" ? You assure me he will "play well" for us - which rather begs the question on how much direct observation of the (recent form) of this player are you basing that remark on ? There are quite literally hundreds of '30 something' footballers with experience of 'higher level' football on the market - the record shows this is no guarantee of a good signing .

You all seem convinced this is a great signing but the facts are he's the wrong side of 30 and his previous club released him . Perhaps a pause for thought may be in order . I welcome new players to this great club and I hope he does well , but I think I'll wait to see him play for us before passing any judgment .

Being entitled to express your opinion (within reason) is certainly one of the fundamental liberties of a free country - surely an even more basic freedom is being able to wear whatever clothes you choose . I'll make myself perfectly clear on this - I hate the Burka with a passion , I hate the outdated and repressive attitude towards women this garment represents , I hate the implicit religious fundamentalism , I hate the apparent rejection of British culture & our long history . But none of that is more hateful than having to live in the type of country where the Police have the power to arrest you for wearing the 'wrong' cloths in public . This is Britain not some damn French Provence - in this country the state doesn't get to order you to carry an identity card at all times or instruct you on what you must think and how you must dress . And that my friends is the beginning , the middle , and the end of it .

One of the most expensive and sought after cars in the world - The car of kings - The Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic The most advanced car of its era - The revolutionary Traction Avant A car fit for Presidents and perhaps the ultimate expression of automotive style - The Citroen DS Last but not least , the classic car I want above all others - The extraordinary Citroen SM

This link is the single most shocking item I've ever seen posted on this site ...... A credit card advert quoting a very reasonable 46% APR - yikes !

Thank you for this considered reply . Have you considered the possibility that he may have changed his mind , or do you see that as some serious flaw in a politician ? As you are such an expert on this subject what is your take on John Prescott's intervention in the 1970's 'Cod War' with Iceland ? do you think that history has proven him to be correct or was he just a "moron" who happened to guess right on that complex and differcult issue ? As for your assertion that the flak he gets has nothing to do with his background , are you really arguing that the British class system is dead ? - if so you need to get out more . I await your reply with interest .

I quite agree with the sentiments expressed in this thread , the utterly fearless way you have all picked on this not-at-all easy or popular target is a credit not only to yourselves but to this site . Any suggestion that there may be an case of 'inverse snobbery' at its very worst being applied here is of course entirely out of the question . When you think about it , how dare a overweight and sometimes inarticulate man who once had to actually work for a living take a place in the house of Lords ? Our esteemed & historic upper chamber was designed in antiquity solely as a place for our betters to quite literally 'lord it' over us , so seeing a low born (ex) member of the working classes there is an affront not only to natural justice but to all standards of common decency. I think we can all agree that it would have been much better for us all if a wealthy merchant banker , another aging industrialist , or even some popular media personality had been ennobled in his stead . In future I propose that nobody should rise above their station in life or play any role in the governance of this great country based solely on the fact that they were once democratically voted into office by the common people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland .

Many , many a beemer driver have been left embarrassed by a hard driven T5 or V70R over the years I can assure you - not that I would encourage that sort of thing obviously . The fact that the Police have used them as the traffic car of choice for many years rather proves the point I'd say . The stereotype of all BMW & Audi drivers being a bunch 'nobbers' is of course grossly unfair , but lets just say there's a grain of truth in there somewhere that leaves these brands somewhat 'beyond the pale' as far as the more discerning motorist is (or should be) concerned . You criticize Fords ..etc as 'Daganham Dustbins' but it seems to me that the numberless hordes of met silver , mid range , Audi's & BMW's saloons that clog our roads today are precisely the modern day equivalent of the fleets of beige MK IV Cortina's that ruled the middle management driveways of my youth . If I had the choice of any new car I liked I'd always go for something a little more 'left field' (the new Saab 9-5 or a Mitsubishi Gallant for instance) over some highly efficient , but oh-so predictable Germanic 'safe choice' that represents all the individuality of your typical microwave oven .

The type of player who is unlikely to do very much to make you win (or lose) a football match . I've seldom seen a player quite so likely to duck out of a tackle .

The (100k mile) A reg Audi 100 I had years ago was easily the most costly to maintain motor I've ever had , the old Volvo Wagon I drive now in contrast (similar mileage) has cost me virtually £0 to repair in 18 months of ownership . BMW's & Audi's are good drivers cars but Saab's & Volvo's are better built in my experience & don't carry quite the same 'complete nobber' stigma .

And mightily bored they'd be .

Moderately interesting programme on a very interesting subject . How unusual (not) that the producers chose to spend much of the time following the youngest & probably prettiest female shipyard worker in the industry rather than some old chap who had 40 years of welding experience behind him - sign of the times I suppose . Much of the background story of the Astute class was omitted - for instance reason there're late & horribly over budget is the absolute horlicks of a job the original design team did due to hopelessly inadequate computer software . The rather embarrassing fact that this once great shipbuilding nation now has to call upon US assistance to design its own warships was hardly touched upon . Nevertheless a formidable vessel and I can only hope the navy gets the 7 boats it has requested - but I wouldn't want to bet on that frankly in the midst of the current economic crisis .

I gave it up about 10 years ago - have the horrendous traffic jams gotten any more bearable ?

If defending Britain's vital national interests were geographically confined strictly to the shores of this small island - at this precise point in time - then Simon Jenkins may have point , but that's just not the case is it ? Our long history and the vital international trade that our economy depends upon demand that we engage with the outside world where Jenkin's cosy assumptions of some benignly peaceful situation fails spectacularly to match the brutal truth of the world . The British armed forces have been (more or less) constantly in action defending our interests since the end of WWII with hardly a year passing when no servicemen have been killed in action , human nature being what is it the chances of this situation changing anytime soon are slim to none I'd say . Without a navy would happen if a hostile state (such as Iran for instance) decided to close the Strait of Hormuz to UK shipping ? The north sea oil is running out you know . Without a army how would we assist a commonwealth country (country's that helped save us during both world wars) facing the threat of invasion ? With no RAF how do we provide essential air cover for the navy & army while they perform these tasks ? With no nuclear deterrent what's to stop any future enemy with one missile dictating terms to us ? Thinking the unthinkable is an interesting academic exercise , but leaving our national quite literally defenceless is quite literally unthinkable .

A good officer never asks a man to do something he's not prepared to do himself - those advocating the return of conscription would do well to follow this principle and volunteer for active service in Afghanistan . It's just a ridiculous oversimplification to claim that military service necessarily improves a young human being - sometimes it does , sometimes it most definitely doesn't . For every ex serviceman who maintains the familiar 'best years of my life' line you can find many others who emerged from combat deeply traumatized by the horrors they have witnessed . Some are left physically and/or psychologically ruined by the experience and never fully recover . The opinions of the many who don't even survive combat must remain 'Known unto God' only . I honour the memory of the D-DAY veterans - I thank the God I don't really believe in that I never had to be there on those terrible beaches alongside them .

Nowhere near as good as 'Dexter' of course but I rather like 'The Mentalist' on C5 and More 4's 'The Closer' is not without a certain wry offbeat charm .

I couldn't agree more my friend , the two songs you mention are among my personal favorites but if I could only take one Cash song onto my own desert island it would be 'I see a Darkness' from American III - Monumental . Unlike you I never got to see the great man live unfortunately as I'm a relatively late convert to the cause - I'm insanely zealous .

Although I wouldn't touch so-called 'Reality Television' with a barge pole it seems to me that much of our apparently respectable television production is also designed to mislead if not damn right lie to the viewer . Two examples from just the last week to illustrate the wider point : A rather interesting C4 programme on the Royal Navy's latest Type 45 Destroyer - HMS Daring - was ruined when the ship was clearly depicted launching 'Astor' surface to air missiles during a training exercise off the south coast . As I take an interest in the navy I happen to know that this missile system is currently non-operational and in truth HMS Daring has yet to launch any missiles . The footage used was actually skillfully edited film of a prototype Astor being fired from a barge in the Mediterranean years ago . You would not have known any of these rather pertinent facts from watching this programme however . A misleading omission which I consider to be almost as 'out of order' as the aforementioned missile system itself . Channel 5's recently ended series on Tutankhamun has been carefully crafted to depict the egregious Dr Zahi Hawass as some great archeologist and historian of ancient Egyptian culture . We see 'our hero' examining historical artifacts and exploring dusty old tombs and the unsuspecting viewer is lead to believe that original research and new discovery's are being made into 'King Tut' by the brilliant Hawass. The truth is however that the 'discoveries' Hawass personally unearths in this programme have been known to academics (and anyone else who takes an interest) for decades , and that the real reason this old fraud is allowed to dominate the series is that his position as the head of the 'Supreme Council of Antiquities' means he controls all access to Egyptian archeological sites (and with a with a rod of iron) and that anyone who wants to film there has to have this egomaniac's permission beforehand . Power corrupts as they say . Anything you read in a newspaper or see on a television should be taken with a 'pinch of salt' if you ask me - correction - make that a lorryload of salt . :mad:

Best - as in having made the biggest impact on the listening public both then and now . I suspect that this great song would now be virtually forgotten but for Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin . I have nothing against the original Trent Reznor/'NIN' version - credit where credit is due - it's always been a wonderful song that explores aspects of the human condition that many shy away from , but I must maintain that Cash in his latter years and with that remarkable voice so very redolent of age, suffering and frailty could bring something unique to almost any song he tackled - including 'Hurt' . Compare and contrast : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udhZ9U4Q8-A Yes Sting wrote 'I Hung my Head' but I would suggest that Cash & Rubin turned what was in truth a rather obscure piece into something truly memorable . Just one example of many . I remember Kris Kristofferson once said that Johnny Cash should have his face carved into the side of Mount Rushmore alongside the other great Americans already there - he was right .

It's common knowledge that Cash didn't write 'Hurt' just like Frank Sinatra didn't write 'My Way' and Elvis .... never wrote anything much . But lets face it JC's version is easily the best and most successful . The 5 Cash/Rick Rubin 'American' albums are (in my opinion) among the finest work produced during the 20 years by any contemporary artist . The fact that Johny Cash didn't actually write every song hardly matters when you consider what the great man (in his latter years) could do with a good song .

The business model of countless modern commercial organizations is to encourage the public to buy their products or services via the internet as this is inherently cheaper than employing (expensive) human beings to process orders . SFC however now proposes to charge us £3 more for using the on-line booking service as opposed to just walking up to the ticket office in person . I defy anyone to argue that this is not an example blatant profiteering from our club and while I understand the importance of the profit motive in the capitalist system , please don't ask me to like it . As ever we'll just have to 'bend over and take it' in the time honored manner , but the club have sacrificed a hell of a lot of good will today .

Last week I put my old Volvo in for the dreaded MOT . Hours pass..... The garage phoned me back telling me that the steering rack need repairing .... Based on years of bitter experience I prepared myself for the worst .... "How much" I fearfully asked (with buttocks clenched) the tension unbearable .... "8572 fitted" the man says "I can't afford £857 to fix that old banger !" I cries , thoughts of having to scrap the old girl filling my imagination . "no £85.72 , not £850 you berk" he says . I could have kissed him .

This is very true - my ISA is returning an unbelievable £1.25 a month . I try not to spend it all at once .

I had the great pleasure of re-watching this smashing old movie the other night and I must say this vintage war film is still well worth your time . Obviously produced during the war (and with the full co-operation of the Ministry of Information) you might expect this to be a cheaply made and relatively crude propaganda exercise , but it rises above those expectations triumphantly and the finished movie has much to say about how the British like to see themselves and their navy . While it remains my opinion that 'The Cruel Sea' is the best British war film ever made this is perhaps the finest film actually produced during the war . The film is the story of a fictional WWII destroyer 'HMS Torrin' , but those in the know will have little difficulty in recognizing the real life exploits of HMS Kelly and its commander Lord Louis Mountbatten . Noel Coward as well as playing the lead role also takes the main credits as producer/director/writer but NC (being a creature of the stage) had no experience at all of film making so he enlisted a young editor called David Lean to assist - an inspired choice as it turned out for Lean would go on to be ranked as one of the finest film makers in the history of Cinema . You can clearly see the expert hand of David Lean at work here , in many ways it's almost as much his film as it is Coward's . Watching this now what strikes you most is an almost comical obsession with the all prevailing class system that was so very evident in British society at the time . The officers led by Capt' Kinross (Noel Coward) are all frightfully posh upper class types , while the lower decks are in turn populated exclusively by familiar working class 'jack tar' stereotypes . The whole crew (and their nicely portrayed extended family's) can be seen as representing a microcosm of the nation - the leaders and the led uniting in a common cause . This image of a long gone Britain is in my view the film's greatest strength to a modern audience . A great film deserves a great cast and IWWS boasts one of the best . What British war film can be complete without John Mills and/or Alex Guinness for instance , and Celia Johnson's performance as the Captains suitably classy wife is a little gem of 40's cinema . But if I had to choose just one name to single out it would be Bernard Miles playing 'Chief Petty Officer Hardy' - the scene when he receives the terrible news that his wife and mother have both been killed in a air raid is (if I may say so) a masterclass in the screen actors craft . Trivia : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034891/trivia