tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post2374400728775736060..comments2024-03-27T09:27:33.931+00:00Comments on Idiotic Hat: Oh, What Can It Mean?Mike C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-35561136216475688082011-04-11T20:04:24.112+01:002011-04-11T20:04:24.112+01:00Yes, Dave, it is a fungal affliction of rye (hence...Yes, Dave, it is a fungal affliction of rye (hence Mike's attempt at "rye" humour) and can affect wheat, too. It caused mass outbreaks of "ergotism" when it got in the grain supply, and was apparently also a favourite method of husband-poisoning at certain times and places. The victim dies in agony with cramps.<br /><br />Most famously its active principal, ergotamine, provided the chemcal basis for Hoffman's synthesis of LSD-25 (q.v.)<br /><br />You not doing checkwords anymore, then? Muffsbi was a cracker.<br /><br />[Checkword: consin - err together?]Tony_Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-19749182285283640072011-04-09T23:17:35.942+01:002011-04-09T23:17:35.942+01:00Isn't ergot the reason for the witch hunts? P...Isn't ergot the reason for the witch hunts? People ate mouldy bread and that was probably the reason people saw witches flying etc - in that they were all hallucinating?<br /><br />Not that I'm much of a historian or anything.Dave Leekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17971308602082668644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-4616107664537694312011-04-07T16:21:25.682+01:002011-04-07T16:21:25.682+01:00Enough of these, ahem, rye comments, St. Antony. ...Enough of these, ahem, rye comments, St. Antony. Ha.<br /><br />Sorry, it's the weather.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-21020978062038536142011-04-07T14:55:10.041+01:002011-04-07T14:55:10.041+01:00Virtual biscuits? Sorry, Mike, not getting my hand...Virtual biscuits? Sorry, Mike, not getting my hands dirty with that muck<br /><br />http://macrobiotics.co.uk/sugar.htm<br />(didn't work as a link, Mike)<br /><br />[Checkword: boolows = 'demonstrate your disapprobation for the depressive phases which inevitably follow sugar-rush highs']<br /><br />P.S. St Antony is the hermit who used ergot to get closer to God. cf St. Antony's FireTony_Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-86358010783454785962011-04-05T16:24:01.398+01:002011-04-05T16:24:01.398+01:00Saint Tony, eh? Has a certain ring...
Just cut a...Saint Tony, eh? Has a certain ring...<br /><br />Just cut and paste the URL from your browser -- people will simply reverse the process (i.e. cut and paste the link).<br /><br />The trouble with giving up tobacco is that it gives you a biscuit habit. Doing my best to give *them* up now -- what I really want is a virtual packet of digestives.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-17194360441373881422011-04-05T16:06:43.600+01:002011-04-05T16:06:43.600+01:00Aha! My chance to get holier than thou with all yo...Aha! My chance to get holier than thou with all you Town-With-No-Namers who gave up tobacco(see Smoking post - please teach me how to put links in here, someone)! I gave up all sucrose (free-standing and embedded) in 1992 (and booze in 1990)!<br /><br />Maybe you should all Google "Pure, White & Deadly" and/or read "Sugar Blues".<br /><br />Virtual spliff, anyone?<br /><br />[Checkword: haintis - an anagram of Hi,Saint]Tony_Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-47268680592666389902011-04-04T20:08:21.438+01:002011-04-04T20:08:21.438+01:00Crunchies are allowed -- don't like them mysel...Crunchies are allowed -- don't like them myself, but I can accept that they fall on the spectrum of acceptable confectionery tastes.<br /><br />When I was primary school age, I was a huge Lonnie Donegan fan -- had actual copies of "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour...", "Battle of New Orleans", "Rock Island Line", etc. Tommy Steele, too. But whilst waiting to hear them on the jukebox, I got a Grade A education in Real Rock'n'Roll -- it's still the music tattooed on my soul ("Shakin' All Over", "Tutti Frutti", etc.). It helped having an 8-years-older sister who had Elvis and Everly Brothers 78s, too.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-33547260246641939152011-04-04T19:45:39.567+01:002011-04-04T19:45:39.567+01:00Oh, and by the way, my parents took me to see Lonn...Oh, and by the way, my parents took me to see Lonnie Donegan as a child in arms. Evidently I slept through the entire performance.<br /><br />As an adullt,I saw him twice more - once at the Cambridge Folk Festival(1981-ish) and once at the Fleadh in Finsbury Park a few years ago, before he died. Well, he went down well with the audience.Dave Leekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17971308602082668644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-59710171961448911092011-04-04T19:40:35.155+01:002011-04-04T19:40:35.155+01:00I did say "used to". I have seen the er...I did say "used to". I have seen the errors of my ways and will never eat another one as long as I live.<br /><br />Having lasted for many years without eating them, that shouldn't be a problem.<br /><br />I still like Crunchies, though.Dave Leekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17971308602082668644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-81165626323820354322011-04-03T22:21:11.960+01:002011-04-03T22:21:11.960+01:00You're on thin ice, DL, that's TWO reasons...You're on thin ice, DL, that's TWO reasons now to ban your arse from this pub -- and a taste for Wagon Wheels is the one weighing heaviest in the balance. Disgusting. Any more of this and I'll have to close the comments on this post.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-44406262957601314232011-04-03T22:01:49.217+01:002011-04-03T22:01:49.217+01:00Tony Lark was the "subversive element" i...Tony Lark was the "subversive element" in my schooldays. He'd stop you and check the albums under your arm - he knew them all. He was the man (lad, I suppose) that introduced us to Captain Beefheart. Not that I was ever much of a fan.<br /><br />I guess he was the prefect that was outside of the norm - David Watts, I suppose.<br /><br /><br />Thanks, Martyn.<br /><br />Oh, I used to like Wagon Wheels.Dave Leekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17971308602082668644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-44666227290323680152011-04-03T12:36:24.490+01:002011-04-03T12:36:24.490+01:00Wagon Wheels are an utter mystery to me -- I don&#...Wagon Wheels are an utter mystery to me -- I don't think I've ever known anyone who liked them. Yet you can still buy them, 50 years on -- Tesco even sell them in multi-packs, as if you might want to eat more than one, or even give them to your children!<br /><br />The only thing they have going for them is size. I suppose if your greed always trumps your taste, then you might be inclined to eat one, or even -- argh - two.<br /><br />On the other hand, I admit to a deep liking for Cadbury's Snack chocolate shortbread, which always remind me of sitting in a steamy caff with my mum, aged 6, listening to Lonnie Donegan on the jukebox.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-11650202413596113582011-04-03T09:04:32.417+01:002011-04-03T09:04:32.417+01:00Jamboree Bags, with those really naff gifts. But h...Jamboree Bags, with those really naff gifts. But how many fillings did the fruit salad and mojo chews, cost you? Not to mention Beech-Nut chewing gum.<br /><br />You're right to avoid Wagon Wheels. I made the mistake of buying some, for old time's sake, and they were repulsive. Even worse than the originals!Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13494219959077922220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-10067515817705004862011-04-02T23:53:44.177+01:002011-04-02T23:53:44.177+01:00Oi, you two, I've warned you already -- no mo...Oi, you two, I've warned you already -- no more exclusive home town chatter or you'll be barred. No-one cares who Tony Lark is. Never 'eard of him. Take it outside.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-75785251318804297172011-04-02T23:32:59.189+01:002011-04-02T23:32:59.189+01:00You bastard, you've made me remember the Tuck ...You bastard, you've made me remember the Tuck Shop.<br /><br />Interesting about Spangles, and that whole "boiled sweets" thing: Spangles vanished in the 1980s, and a revival in the mid-1990s failed to take off. Parents simply seem to have stopped buying what were, effectively, solid lumps of flavoured sugar for their children: was this pressure from dentists, or a change in public taste? I can't believe the British actually eat any less sugar in total today, but it seems to be in the form of chocolate-flavoured confectionery now. (I preferred the Acid Drops, incidentally, followed by Old English …)<br /><br />Dave - Tony Lark now lives in Northern France with his French wife and two sons. What made you bring him up?Martyn Cornellhttp://zythophile.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-85236524345912499922011-04-02T22:03:00.082+01:002011-04-02T22:03:00.082+01:00Martin,
Ah, Spangles. When I was little, I used t...Martin,<br /><br />Ah, Spangles. When I was little, I used to make myself a treat by mixing Spangles into a bowl of dessicated coconut. I think this combo used to have a name, but it's gone now.<br /><br />Dave,<br /><br />"My" sweet shop was the newsagents at the Hydean Way shops, where we used to hang about. Apart from the odd Mars Bar, I had lost my sweet tooth by my teens -- why I'm dreaming about Refreshers now is anybody's guess. It's probably nature's way of telling me I need Prozac...<br /><br />If we're into "does anyone remember?" mode, does anyone remember Jamboree Bags? Why did anyone ever buy on twice? And can anyone explain why Wagon Wheels are still made? I did actually buy myself a Fray Bentos tinned steak & kidney pie last week to keep on a shelf, just for fun, but *nothing* would persuade me to buy a Wagon Wheel.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-34311538695935028622011-04-02T21:06:24.420+01:002011-04-02T21:06:24.420+01:00"It was a silly question, anyway: in the fami..."It was a silly question, anyway: in the families of the professionally moral middle-classes, kids didn't spend their time with noses pressed against the glass display of confectionery in the local cornershop honing their connoisseurship of brands, flavours and trends"<br /><br />Let's not forget that you could buy single cigarettes (!) from "Millie's Tuck Shop" in the town with no name (I know - capital letters should be there) to whizz you back to a previous post. I'm sure we weren't the only kids so served - <br /><br />Still, sweets were ubiquitous in our teenage years - but, guess what? I barely eat sweet things now - including chocolate.<br /><br />"It's a sweet thing,a sweet thing . . ." ("Candidate", DB).<br /><br />I think that sweet shops were a subversive element in our upbringing ( does anyone remember Tony Lark? Whatever happend to him?)Dave Leekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17971308602082668644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-6677111972643292792011-04-02T20:39:33.435+01:002011-04-02T20:39:33.435+01:00Ah yes, Refreshers. Boy, I've got through a fe...Ah yes, Refreshers. Boy, I've got through a few of those in my time. You also mentioned Spangles, Mike. The 'Old English' was my all-time favourite.<br /><br />Hope you're on the mend. A similar virus has worked its way through our family, too.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13494219959077922220noreply@blogger.com