Odd pairings

So last week-end we had a busy old schedule; a drive up to Northwich, Cheshire on Saturday for the marriage of C’s neice which was designed and entirely produced by lovely G and her top husband M on the theme of a retro afternoon tea party – brilliant. Then a blast back down to Colchester in Essex on Sunday to my lovely cousin K and cool husband A’s place as they were hosting a barbie for my dad Bob, who happened to be having a holiday in Westcliffe. It was a bit of a surprise do as Bob wasn’t aware that we and all our daughters and grandkids were attending as well as my cousin C and her daughters. It was a real gathering of the southern and rapidly expanding section of my family. I have to say that at both events, separated by hours of yet more week-end motorway traffic,  we had a really super time. Both events were bloody fab.  

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Mandela

Here’s an image of the great Nelson Mandela on the day of his release from prison. Those images of him strolling down the road proudly will never fade. He could have been a bitter man but with massive grace and statesmanship he went on to repair a broken country and create a rainbow nation. Frankly only he could have done it and in doing so he became a hero to the world. His passing leaves an unfillable void.

mike parry; the mangler

Have you nerticed how Mike Parry, Talksport’s barmy presenter, has a habit of mangling people’s names? He either gets them totally wrong or mispronounces them horribly – especially if they are foreign names. I’ve also noticed that the same affliction affects Sir Bobby Robson. Picture the scene then in the Talksport studio, Mike Porky Parry is conducting an interview with Sir Bobby and they are discussing the key players to watch out for at Euro 2008….

knock, knock…

Another snippet from the radio yesterday on Hawksbee and Jacobs’ excellent afternoon show on Talksport (in my view the station’s best programme). Their studio guest (sorry I didn’t catch who it was) was talking about being brought up in Northampton and describing the game he used to play – ‘cherry knocking’. Up in the north west we used to call this ‘knock a door and run’ – rapping on someone’s door and running off or hiding behind a hedge etc. More childish pranks I know – something of a theme this morning. But it was interesting to hear how the same game was known around the country. For example in London it’s called ‘knock down ginger’, ‘ring bang scoosh’ in Glasgow and ‘knock knock howdo’ in Middlesbrough (not sure they fully get the run-away concept on Teesside). In America it’s apparently referred to as ‘ring ring run’ – well they always did have more technology than we Brits, even on their front doors. Any games/japes you remember with particular affection from your youth and what were they called?

pp

ps not many responses yet but I did find this vid on you tube of some guys who do stunt ‘freezes’ in unusual places. This was done in the main concourse of Grand Central Station. Some very interesting reactions!