The Pickwick Club discussion
This topic is about
Hard Times
Hard Times
>
Part I Chapter 06
date
newest »
newest »
message 51:
by
Everyman
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
Feb 01, 2016 05:56PM
I would love to take a canal boat trip in England some day. And read Ngaio Marsh's "Clutch of Constables" as I drift along.
reply
|
flag
I must say that I feel particularly partial to the pub photo. Don't ask me why ...The Arkwright House is the type of building I would associate with an industrial town because of the red brick and the three storeys, which might be a sign of the desire to build in a space-friendly way. The other buildings in the other photos might be older - the churches doubtless are - and therefore seem less typical of Industrial architecture. Just as guess.
Pretty picture, Everyman. I fear I have not heard of this book, so I'd have to go for Jerome K Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat'. Ha, Tristram, I've no idea why you are drawn to the pub. ;). It pains me to admit that the English pubs are the best in the world; especially in the villages.
Hilary wrote: "Pretty picture, Everyman. I fear I have not heard of this book, so I'd have to go for Jerome K Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat'. ."Ah, yes, a delightful book. To read about. But I wouldn't want to duplicate their trip experiences on my on voyage!
Hilary wrote: "Pretty picture, Everyman. I fear I have not heard of this book,..."If you enjoy a pleasant story with a mystery element as its excuse for being, you might enjoy Clutch of Constables. It takes place on a canal boat trip, and has a quite enjoyable cast of characters. Not a deep or serious book, but a pleasant read. The title contains a pun relevant to the story.
I had never heard of it either and when I looked it up I found that:"Dame Ngaio Marsh, born Edith Ngaio Marsh, was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966.
Internationally Marsh is known primarily for her creation Inspector Roderick Alleyn, a gentleman detective who works for the Metropolitan Police (London). She is known as one of the "Queens of Crime" alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Margery Allingham."
And I had never heard of her before.
Neither have I, to be honest. But then I told three of my colleagues that I am reading a Wilkie Collins novel right now, and none of them had ever heard of Wilkie Collins. I was about to ask them whether they have studied English to be English teachers, but I decided not to endanger my reputation as a gentle and innocent contemporary among my colleagues.
Tristram wrote: "I decided not to endanger my reputation as a gentle and innocent contemporary among my colleagues. ."Well, you certainly got back at me for my making you cough/laugh in your sickness. I'm not sick, but that comment made me explode with laughter just as I was taking a sip of tea, and now there's tea all over my keyboard and monitor.
Talk about a hilarious comment. Yours beats anything I've ever posted here.
You are a tonic; all of you!
Everyman, you paint an idllic scene. Note to self: must find that Marsh book and a canal boat. Happiness is ...
Hilary wrote: "You are a tonic; all of you!"I'd like to be a Gin Tonic, then ;-)
Good choice! Mmmm, G&T! Are you long or short? With or without ice and lemon, Tristram? A lot is hanging on your answer!
Egad. I'm cooped up in this space with a bunch of drunkards!
Everyman wrote: "Egad. I'm cooped up in this space with a bunch of drunkards!"Connoisseurs, Everyman! The word is "connoisseurs"! ;-) However, in a couple of days, there will be Lent and that means no more connoisseuring for me for some weeks ...
Hilary wrote: "Good choice! Mmmm, G&T! Are you long or short? With or without ice and lemon, Tristram? A lot is hanging on your answer!"I'm afraid I'm long, and I also need the lemon and ice, as a built in glass. By the way, if you have a White Russian, do you stir it? I am definitely a stirrer.
Tristram wrote: "Connoisseurs, Everyman! The word is "connoisseurs"!For us tea drinkers, yes, that's the word.
For the boozers, not.
Just pay attention to the sound of the word - the mellow rhythm and than the final expression of respect, "conno-sir", and you will realize there's more than one dram of whisky in it.
Ah, Tristram, long is definitely the way tohave it on a sunny day. I normally have one ice cube only. Yes, it is true that this is unconventional, but the affectation grew as a consequence of visits to Disney where there was more ice than soft drink. I like certain drinks to be cold but not watered down. Our Irish weather, however, is not conducive
to long cold drinks by the pool; it is more the lukewarm cocoa, down-to-the-embers fire sort of weather.
White Russians are another matter. They are my younger son's favourite in honour of his hero The Dude. On the odd occasion that my son has made me one, which he does with some relish, I believe that I stir; yes, I definitely stir, just as we (you and I, Tristram) have been stirring Everyman with our alcohol-fuelled conversation! ;-). So you are really going off alcohol for Lent?! Most of Ireland says that it will, like you, abstain from 'The Devil's Buttermilk' during Lent, but it is easy to detect the lack of integrity in these vows when Easter dawns and the doors of the pubs are still welcoming guests. They have not gone bankrupt and that is all we need to know. Enjoy Lent, Tristram. I'll raise a glass to you. :D
Everyman, I do love various teas. I know that I've said most, if not all, of this before, but I enjoy, very much, Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong. My favourite to date is definitely Jasmine, brewed in a Chinese teapot and sipped, delicately, (though the word 'delicate' does not appear in the Irish/English vocabulary) from Chinese cups. Now, a hot whiskey or tea, what will it be? I'll put the kettle on ...
Hilary wrote: "Ah, Tristram, long is definitely the way tohave it on a sunny day. I normally have one ice cube only. Yes, it is true that this is unconventional, but the affectation grew as a consequence of visi..."
Going off the Devil's Buttermilk - I like that expression although I don't like buttermilk - for Lent is not such a big challenge as going off tobacco, and yet I am going to try to abstain from both for the next few weeks. My not having a daily pipe or two is quite as bad for my surroundings as for myself, though, since my famous magnanimity will most surely dwindle from lack of 'baccy. It must be done, though ;-)
Well done, Tristram! That's quite a feat, but you WILL succeed. I'm impressed! :-)
If I can go all the way through Lent without listening to any Christmas music, playing any on the piano, working on any Christmas projects, planning any Christmas projects, or reading any Christmas books, he should be able to stay away from drinks and tobacco for at least the same amount of time. :-)
TristramNo smoking and no drinking. Well, I don't do either at look how I turned out. You may judge the answer to the question any way you want. ;-))
Kim wrote: "If I can go all the way through Lent without listening to any Christmas music, playing any on the piano, working on any Christmas projects, planning any Christmas projects, or reading any Christmas..."Well, maybe, though I have my doubts (particularly about not being able to do any Christmas planning). But I bet you will still dream Christmas dreams.
Peter wrote: "TristramNo smoking and no drinking. Well, I don't do either at look how I turned out. You may judge the answer to the question any way you want. ;-))"
Ditto, and ditto.
Bwah ha ha, Kim! ;-)
Peter wrote: "TristramNo smoking and no drinking. Well, I don't do either at look how I turned out. You may judge the answer to the question any way you want. ;-))"
Hmm. Whose bright idea was it to start Lent four days before Valentine's Day. How long can chocolate last and still taste good?
Peter wrote: "TristramNo smoking and no drinking. Well, I don't do either at look how I turned out. You may judge the answer to the question any way you want. ;-))"
Well, Peter, you have definitely turned out a wonderful person despite abstemiousness ;-)
Kim wrote: "If I can go all the way through Lent without listening to any Christmas music, playing any on the piano, working on any Christmas projects, planning any Christmas projects, or reading any Christmas..."Come on, admit it: You are thinking of Christmas and in the back of your mind, somewhere, there are decoration plans materializing ... you can't help it, Kim.
Everyman wrote: "Hmm. Whose bright idea was it to start Lent four days before Valentine's Day. How long can chocolate last and still taste good? "Everyman, I have some colleagues who do not eat chocolate and other sweets during Lent, and they do this because they do not smoke nor drink anyway, so it would mean no sacrifice to them to expressly not do something they don't do anyway.
I told them that having no real vices like The Devil's Buttermilk in a way disqualifies them for Lent because Lent is surely an adult thing and as such not about chocolate ;-) They were not convinced, however, and said that during Lent you should abstain from whatever you find most difficult to do without. I then told them that I find most difficult to do without my work as I really, really like it ...
By the way, did you know that, strictly speaking, the Sundays in Lent do not count as days of fasting so that you could eat chocolate, smoke a pipe or drink a glass of spirits, or eat meat on a Sunday without really breaking your fast? There are 40 days of Lent, and the Sundays are exempt.
As to Valentine's Day, sending chocolate is probably a younger custom than Lent? Maybe people originally sent cards or flowers?
Everyman wrote: "Peter wrote: "TristramNo smoking and no drinking. Well, I don't do either at look how I turned out. You may judge the answer to the question any way you want. ;-))"
Hmm. Whose bright idea was it..."
I think it was an awful idea to put chocolate and other good food holidays in Lent. Not only does Valentines Day fall in Lent every year, but doughnut day (or whatever you want to call it) is the day before Lent begins so out of the dozen doughnuts we get from the church every year I get to eat one. Oh, other than Christmas I try to give up something like, chocolate, other sweets, things like that. This year it is snacking between meals, at this moment I'm starving.
I was sitting at the piano yesterday and began playing Silver Bells, luckily I only got three notes into it before I remembered Lent and quit, or I think I made it into something else. I wonder if God noticed. :-)
Kim wrote: "I was sitting at the piano yesterday and began playing Silver Bells, luckily I only got three notes into it before I remembered Lent and quit, or I think I made it into something else. "
We knew you couldn't do it. It was a noble try, but really beyond your ability to succeed.
BTW, I wonder whether anybody ever gives up Goodreads for Lent. Hmmmm.
Everyman wrote: "BTW, I wonder whether anybody ever gives up Goodreads for Lent. Hmmmm."Or reading. Novels anyway.
Everyman wrote: "Kim wrote: "I was sitting at the piano yesterday and began playing Silver Bells, luckily I only got three notes into it before I remembered Lent and quit, or I think I made it into something else...."
You know, I was actually thinking that if I really wanted to make a huge sacrifice, I would have to put Charles Dickens novels and this group on my Lent list, which would be as hard as abstaining from tobacco. Then my second thought was that it would be sheer vanity, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, to make a very great sacrifice because also in our virtues, should we not observe moderation? And so I decided to keep on reading Dickens and visiting this group.
Kim wrote: "I think it was an awful idea to put chocolate and other good food holidays in Lent."Kim,
today is Sunday! That means you can eat chocolate, or meat or whatever without breaking Lent. Our pastor explained it all to me in great detail, and I am sure he knows his onions.
Tristram wrote: "Kim wrote: "I think it was an awful idea to put chocolate and other good food holidays in Lent."Kim,
today is Sunday! That means you can eat chocolate, or meat or whatever without breaking Lent. ..."
Does that mean you spent the day drinking whatever beer or tonic we were talking about, and filling your pipe every hour?
I was tempted to give up being grumpy for Lent, but I realized that I would probably spread at least a dozen heart attacks among my friends, so I had to abandon the idea for their sakes.
Everyman wrote: "I was tempted to give up being grumpy for Lent, but I realized that I would probably spread at least a dozen heart attacks among my friends, so I had to abandon the idea for their sakes."True. I'd be so worried there is something wrong with you that you need immediate medical care. Oh, wait a minute, there is something wrong with you.
Kim wrote: "Tristram wrote: "Kim wrote: "I think it was an awful idea to put chocolate and other good food holidays in Lent."Kim,
today is Sunday! That means you can eat chocolate, or meat or whatever withou..."
No, I kept up discipline, of course, and did not go into extremes. But I refreshed my memory as to what I am abstaining from at the moment by smoking two modest pipes in the course of the day. Now, I am back to abstention :-(
Everyman wrote: "I was tempted to give up being grumpy for Lent, but I realized that I would probably spread at least a dozen heart attacks among my friends, so I had to abandon the idea for their sakes."I know how you feel, Everyman: There are just too many people who rely on our being grumpy. Our grumpiness is the rock on which their sanity is founded.
Tristram wrote: "Everyman wrote: "I was tempted to give up being grumpy for Lent, but I realized that I would probably spread at least a dozen heart attacks among my friends, so I had to abandon the idea for their ..."OK. It works for me.
I am learning so much about Great Britain and the Victorian Era as I race to catch up. Keep up all the good posts. Hope to join the conversation soon.
shaymond wrote: "I am learning so much about Great Britain and the Victorian Era as I race to catch up. Keep up all the good posts. Hope to join the conversation soon."You're always welcome to do so.
Tristram wrote: "shaymond wrote: "I am learning so much about Great Britain and the Victorian Era as I race to catch up. Keep up all the good posts. Hope to join the conversation soon."You're always welcome to do..."
Correction. You're always urged and encouraged to do so.
Everyman, that sounds a bit like in the movie "The Godfather" - making an offer he can't refuse ...
Tristram wrote: "Everyman, that sounds a bit like in the movie "The Godfather" - making an offer he can't refuse ..."Well, I hope doesn't refuse it!
