Sunday November 8th 2026 "Fog in the Channel - Continent Cut Off" - the famous 1957 headline - remember that one?!!! Haha!!!"

Yes, Friends, remember that 1957 headline from The Times newspaper, "Fog in the Channel - Continent Cut Off"? And that headline certainly showed the power of fog to do the most amazing things! And, well, it is November, in case you hadn't noticed!!!!

So isn't it such a comfort, in these fog-affected times, to know that we're not alone! And in today's Onion News Special Fog Colour Supplement, tear-jerking fog-bound headlines "a-bound" (geddit??!!!) .

Hope you haven't "mist it" - geddit (again!) ?! haha!!!! But if you have, just feast your fog-bound eyes on these: 'Colin's pick of today's "doozies"' !!!!!

And what about this one, featured in the Supplement's "junior section" - it's a cracker !!!!

It's all a bit over-dramatic perhaps??? But, nonetheless, these headlines, and others in the same "ball-park", at least bring a hint of a vague smile to my wife Lois and me, here in semi-invisible Liphook, Hampshire, this morning - that's one thing that's clear to see (geddit???!) !!!!!

my wife Lois and me, taking lunch today in fog-bound Liphook, Hampshire

Lois and I are both "poetry buffs", and we find that there's nothing that better evokes the sense of fog like a poem! 

And this one says it all - written by a chatbot, maybe, but still brilliant!

Yes, poetry is our best source of comfort, Lois and I find, whatever the weather! 

And as a pair of fully-paid-up "boomers", Lois and I have been noting, with much regret, the recent passing of two great Star Trek stalwarts from the 1970s and 1960s TV series: the actors Patrick Stewart, who played Capt. Jean-Luc Godard; and also the loss of Walter Koenig, who played Mr Chekov, the Russian guy in the original series.

(left) actor Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in 1970's series, and (right)

Walter Koenig as navigator Chekov in the original 1960's "outing"

However, luckily, in our copy of this week's edition of Private Eye, the political magazine, the paper's "house poet", teenager EJ Thribb, there are some moving lines all about Koenig, which is nice!

(left) me showcasing mine and Lois's copy of this week's Private Eye, the political 

magazine, with (right) another moving poem by the journal's teenage poet EJ Thribb

It's interesting that the Star Trek series envisaged a future in which starships from Earth would explore the universe, manned (and womanned!) by teams of diverse multi-national and (even) multi-species origins if you include semi-aliens like the famous Mr Spock, which was novel!

Back in the 1960's, at the height of the Cold War between Russia and the West, series' creator Gene Roddenberry's view was that the addition of a Russian guy, Pavel Chekov, was a particularly brilliant way of conveying his personal, highly optimistic, vision of an ideal future for the Earth. 

Roddenbury's dream was of a future Earth which had moved past regional conflicts, and was presenting a united front to the strange alien creatures that their craft, the Starship Enterprise, encountered, as she sped across the galaxies, to put it mildly!

the Starship Enterprise's diverse crew presenting a united front to 

the weird beings they encountered as they sped across the universe - yikes!!!!

So, no vision of any "dystopic" future there then, which is nice to see!

And these Star Trek memories are resonating particularly for Lois and me today, because this week Steve, our American brother-in-law, reminded us that it's 77 years this month since two of the most famous classic "dystopic" sci-fi writers,  Aldous Huxley (author of 'Brave New World') and George Orwell (author of '1984') were having a conversation about their respective dystopian novels.  

What a pair of miseries!!!!

Huxley's "nightmare" vision of the future was of a world where pleasure was compulsory, which sounds nice, but Lois and I like to have fun when we want to have fun, not when some jumped-up bureaucrat in Whitehall tells us to!!!!!

Call us dyed-in-the-woold "anarchists" if you like haha!

a scene from the TV version of Huxley's "Brave New World",

a dystopic future world where pleasure was compulsory

So, out of "Brave New World" and "1984", which vision do YOU prefer? 

Dys-topic or Dat-topic haha!

two prominent miseries, Huxley and Orwell, who both published 

dystopic visions of the Earth's future - what madness!!!

In that letter back in October 1949, Huxley, who had been Orwell's teacher at Eton, was congratulating Orwell on the publication of his classic "1984", with its nightmare vision of the world's future.

What madness!!!

The very term "Cold War" was, actually, originally coined by Orwell in a 1945 essay, and it was a few years later that Orwell published his dystopian novel "1984". In the novel, Orwell paints a picture of a bleak future for the Earth, in which the world was carved up and ruled by 3 totalitarian superpowers: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia, all disputing possession of the so-called "middle bit" - the top bit of Africa, plus Arabia and India, would you believe, which was totally mad !!! 

(left) writer George Orwell, author of "1984", and (right) Orwell's vision

of a future world split into 3 superpowers, all fighting over the so-called "middle bit" (!)

Luckily, these 3 superpowers were locked in an eternal stalemate, in Orwell's vision, because their economic and geographical statuses were perfectly balanced, so "no harm done!", which was probably for the best! But what a crazy world it sounds like !!!!!

And come back, Gene Roddenbury - all is forgiven haha!!!

But "Oh for the (relative) peace of the 19th century!", as Lois and I say, somewhat wistfully (!), when Britain was the only world  "superpower", and "Britannia ruled the waves", which made things a lot simpler, to put it mildly!

the British Empire at its height

And nobody knows this fact better than our daughter Alison and family, who live in nearby Headley, Hampshire, in a crumbling mansion originally built for one of Queen Victoria's top vice-admirals, John Parish, no less, who sailed the seven seas, keeping the so-called "Pax Britannica", which must have been a satisfying role, with plenty of what's nowadays called "job satisfaction" (!).

flashback to July: our daughter Alison, with lawyer-husband Edward and 

their 3 teenage kids, on holiday in Mallorca, in the Spanish Balearic Islands

The family's house has been under renovation for the past 18 months, and although the builders haven't yet "signed it off", Alison and family are beginning to move their stuff gradually back into their house, and generally make it look a bit more "civilised". 

Vice-Admiral John Parish would have been proud of them, no question about that!

(left) a builder saying "Sorry you can't go inside yet, mate, health and safety!!" - 

and (right) the rude shepherd's hut in the mansion's lovely 

7.5 acre grounds, where the family has often had to "skulk" in recent weeks,

with [inset] Sir John Parish (1822-1894), who had the house built back in the 1870's 

What madness, though, isn't it!!!!

Here are some of John Parish's "career highlights", which make dazzling reading, seeing him traversing the world, sorting out all the "foreigners" and the "natives", and generally "throwing the Queen's weight about".

The young scamp!!!

And this week Alison shared some pictures of a couple of books she's managed to obtain about the families of the original residents of their house, including the fascinating-sounding "Early Days in Argentina" by family relative Sir Woodbine Parish, the father of the Sir John Parish, who had the house built n the 1870's. 

Alison also has in her possession an antique 18th century map of London, which one of those early residents of the house must have acquired - and now, once again, on the wall of the house, which is nice!

But what a crazy world they lived in, back in those far-off days !!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!!

Saturday November 7th 2026 "Friends, don't YOU be frightened of snakes! They're even more frightened of YOU, I hear!!!!!"

Yes, Friends, don't YOU be frightened of snakes, they're even more frightened of YOU - didn't your mother ever tell you haha!!! And with each day that passes, seemingly, scientists are discovering more and more about the secret life of snakes - their worries, their fears, their insecurities, even!

And popular tabloid Onion News has today debuted its long-awaited first-ever "Snake News Colour Supplement", free with every issue, a cut-out-and-throw-away supplement that finally shows how the world looks, this time from "snake's eyes" - and not before time!!!! 

So-called Fleet Street, please note haha!!!!

It's maybe all a bit "over the top", you might think! And yet these headlines, and others of a similar 'ilk' were guaranteed to keep my wife Lois and me laughing all day, here in semi-aquatic Liphook, Hampshire - no doubts on that score!!!

my wife Lois and me, having our "tea" tonight, here in semi-suburban Liphook,

still laughing at all those crazy snake stories today, which is mad!

And by coincidence, also this morning, during our weekly catch-up zoom call with our daughter Sarah, who lives in Perth, Australia, with husband Francis and their 13-year-old twins Lily and Jessica, Francis tells us that he's completed his "snake barrier" - a couple of feet of clear soil which he's managed to construct, on either side of their house's boundary fence. 

The family's home borders on a so-called "nature reserve", actually a total jungle dominated by wily local snakes, and Francis thinks his 3 feet of "cleared-soil area" on either side of the fence will help to discourage snakes from entering the family's garden - but we'll see!!!

So watch this space!!!! Or should I say, "watch this cleared-soil area"!!! [No! - Ed]

(above) Lois and me this morning during our weekly "catch-up" zoom call

with our daughter Sarah, our son-in-law Francis, and their 13-year-old

twin daughters Lily and Jessica; and (below) the family home in Perth's northern

suburbs, on the fringe of a so-called "nature reserve" (ringed) - actually a total jungle!!!

And in the picture above (below, right) you can clearly see our son-in-law Francis having fun on the family tree-swing, when he should have been working, clearing all that jungle!

The young scamp!!!!

However, it's lovely for Lois and me to talk to the family today, through the magic of 'zoom', although the twins are clearly tired - although it's 12 noon here in Liphook, it's 8pm in Perth, and they've had another busy day!

Let's hope that dad Francis had consulted the twins before measuring out his much-vaunted "clear soil area". Lois and I don't like to boast [Yes, you do! - Ed], but those little rascals, Lily and Jessica, tell us today that they came out in the top 10% of all the kids in this year's AMC national maths competition, bless their little cotton socks!!!!

And schools only enter a small number of their very top pupils into the competition, so work that one out !!!! Our two clever granddaughters must be in the top 10% of the top 2% maybe? I wonder.....!

National competitions like this are the kind of thing Australia goes in for - I don't think we do this in the UK. But I seem to think they do something similar in the States. 

Remember in the Peanuts cartoons, good old Charlie Brown trying to win glory in the National Spelling Bee competition?

Poor Charlie !!!!! And to make matters worse, after goofing up at the Spelling Bee, Charlie winds up being called into the school Principal's office, which shows you how seriously these things are taken over there, across "The Pond" !!!!

And even in Australia now, there's a so-called Prime Minister's Spelling Bee, sponsored by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, which is totally mad!

It's a "sport" mostly confined to English-speaking countries. Most countries don't need to have "spelling bees" and all that "malarkey", because, in their languages, the spelling is totally logical and reflects pronunciation, and so is a "no-brainer". 

However, the English language got standardised way too early, due to the influence of the capital, London, and then got "fossilised" by the too-early development of the printing press by William Caxton. And this all happened before the pronunciation of English had finished evolving, which was mad, and hence all our spelling so-called "anomalies" !!!

(left) a typical spelling class in an English-speaking country, with [inset]

an obviously amused William Caxton, who developed his printing press too early,

causing a lot of the problems, and (right) some of the English language's craziest spellings

Hence today, all English-speaking countries are stuck with what-I-call "rubbish spelling", and the rest is history!!!

Poor English-speaking countries !!!!!

And poor foreigners having to learn it in their schools!!!

But what a crazy world we live in !!!!

20:00 And it's been another crazy day for Lois and me here in Liphook, Hampshire, with us literally busy all day from morning to night, would you believe!

[Just once, I'd like to some see just a crumb of evidence for that oft-repeated claim of yours, Colin, just one crumb! Just saying!!!! - Ed]

Meanwhile preparations are proceeding apace for our trip to London on Monday to see one of my sister Jill's acclaimed monologues and also one of her plays, at a fringe theatre in central London, where they will be performed by feminist troupe the Yellow Coat Theatre Company, which is exciting!

(left) the Yellow Coat Theatre Company, currently performing two of my sister Jill's plays,

and (right) my sister Jill with two of the Company's players

And it's confirmed today that one of the actresses taking part will be Grace, daughter of my "new" cousin David and his wife Zanne.

And I call David my "new" cousin, because David, who was adopted soon after birth, was only found to be related to our family through a 2021 DNA test being randomly initiated by my sister Jill through a family history web-site, which was totally mad!!!

just a small part of my "enormous" family tree, showing just 5 of 

my estimated 30 cousins, which is totally mad!!!! 

Lois and I have met David and Zanne a number of times in the last 5 years, since the family connection was confirmed, but we haven't yet met their daughter Rose, who's an actress, and who has agreed to play one of the parts in Jill's play, which is exciting !!!!

(left) poster for one of the Yellow Coat Theatre Company groups, also 

featuring my sister Jill (in the glasses, bottom left), and (right)

 Rose, actress daughter of my "new" cousin David, who's taking part in Jill's play

(left) flashback to 2021: my sister Gill, with our new cousin David and wife Zanne

after a random DNA test revealed the relationship to David, and (right)

flashback to August 2023: Lois with David and Zanne, the day we first met them

at a pub-restaurant in Hanley Swan, Worcestershire, which was nice!

But what a crazy world we live in !!!! [You've done that one once already! - Ed]

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!!

Friday November 6th 2026 "Friends, have YOU ever taken a taxi, or even an "uber" if you're really up-to-date? Haha, bet you haven't !!!"

Yes, Friends, have YOU ever taken a taxi, or even an "Uber", if you're really fashionable haha!!! Many people have, at one time or another, especially in the run-up to Christmas, when they've perhaps had one "drinky-poo" too many - am I right? Or am I right!!!!

Thought so! And I think that's why popular tabloid Onion News have today debuted their first ever Uber News cut-out-and-throw-away Colour Supplement. And to save you time, Yours Truly is going to summarise the "dooziest" stories for you right here, in my blog, at no extra charge!!!! [You don't say! - Ed]

It's all a bit "over-the-top", though, isn't it, if we're honest, that is!!! 

However, certainly, these stories (and others in the same vein!) certainly bring a knowing smile to the faces of me and my wife Lois this morning, here, as we take our almost-daily walk in the park, in sunny but semi-frigid Liphook, Hampshire - no doubts about that!!!!!

my wife Lois and me, taking our near-daily walk this morning, here in semi-frigid Liphook, Hants

Although dubbed by our neighbours, "possibly Liphook's trendiest-looking retired couple", I'm almost ashamed to admit that we've never taken a "Uber" personally, although we've taken the occasional what-we-used-to-call a so-called "taxi ride" at many points in our long lives, to put it mildly!

And "our experiences in the backs of taxis" over the years, many of them memorable (!), help us enormously today, as we prepare for next week's online meeting of the local U3A "Intermediate Danish for Old Codgers" group, which we joint-manage, "for our sins"!

me and my wife Lois, trying (and failing!) to control a typically rowdy online

meeting of our local U3A "Intermediate Danish for Old Codgers" group

Our little group is currently reading Danish writer Anna Grue's murder mystery "Judaskysset" ("The Judas Kiss!), in which young Danish romance scammer Jay is getting into the beds of a string of Danish menopausal women (one at a time!), then getting into their bank accounts, and finally "bumping them off", when they're of no further use to him - the young scamp!!!!

(left) Danish crime-writer Anna Grue, and her whodunnit "Judaskysset" (The Judas Kiss)

and (right) a typical young Danish romance-scammer with his latest menopausal victim

We've reached that point in the story - I expect you'll remember it if you have read the book (!), and if speak Intermediate Danish (!). You know! We're just at the point where young romance-scammer Jay is being picked up in a Danish forest by a taxi-driver. 

The taxi-driver quickly spots that Jay's clothes are tattered and torn, and covered in blood, grass-stains and mud [Danish: blod, græspletter og mudder], but the taxi-driver, being a polite Dane, makes no comment about this, which is perhaps a surprise, in the circumstances?

a typical Danish taxi-driver - guaranteed not to comment

if his passenger emerges from the forest covered in blood-stains (!)

However,  the taxi-driver, although curious, and also annoyed about getting possible blood-stains on his nice new back-seat upholstery (!), is at least grateful when Jay finally falls asleep in the back of the cab, which means the driver won't have to have any further "awkward" small-talk with Jay, during the long ride back into Copenhagen, which is probably for the best! 

But what a crazy world we live in !!!!!

It all makes work for Lois and me today, however, because, after a much-curtailed time in bed for "statutory nap-time", as joint leaders of our little Danish group, we then have to spend a busy couple of hours compiling even more vocabulary lists for our members, ahead of Thursday's group meeting, which is mad! 

(left) Yours Truly showcasing our well-thumbed Danish-English dictionary,

and (centre, right) Lois and me producing yet more "vocab lists" for our members

- what madness !!!!!

Busy, busy, busy!!! 

Luckily, however, Christmas is on the horizon, and, although it's only the first week in November, as the song says, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, Everywhere You Go", which is mad too !!!

And in our house, nothing says "Christmas is coming" more clearly than the sight of Lois watching her Friday afternoon US Hallmark Pre-Christmas Movies, the 2026 season of which debuts today on Channel 5, which is nice! 

And there's a definite "foodie" theme today, with the movie "A Christmas Recipe for Rivalry", featuring a disputed TV Baking Competition result (!), and then a second movie, "Our Family Christmas Memories", in which squabbling siblings try to recreate their old granny's pasta sauce recipe - an "awwww!" moment, if ever there was one!!!!

So forget the "candy canes", the "silver lanes", and "the holly on your door" and all that "malarkey"! This is the real sign you want to watch out for - Lois tuning into Channel 5 in the afternoons, to put it mildly!!!

And I see that, in the case of the second movie, "Our Family Christmas Memories", that the original US title was "Our Italian Christmas Memories", but for UK audiences, the word "Italian" has been dropped, mysteriously.

Is this because, compared to the US, we have only a limited population of Italian-descended immigrants here? 

I think we should be told, don't you! However, your theories welcome - postcards only, as always!!!!

15:00 Luckily, while we're watching the film and compiling our Danish vocab-lists, there's a welcome interruption, when this week's copy of Lois's "The Week" magazine plops through our letter-box, courtesy of our friendly local Royal Mail postman, which is nice!  

And nice also to see a glowing review, in this week's edition, of a just-published auto-biography by ageing, 91-year-old actress, Dame Judi Dench, star of TV's "Downton Abbey", and like, a billion other performances - more probably! - a book written with the help of her confidante, director Brendan O'Hea - another young scamp!!!!

Nobody is a bigger fan of Christmas, it appears, than ageing actress Dame Judi, we read in this week's review of her autobiography "Is It Too Late To Make A Run For It?". 

And, incidentally what a great title for an autobiography! "Kudos, Dame Judi haha !!!!", to put it mildly!!!!

This week's review of the book, however, by the Guardian Newspaper's Fiona Sturges, thinks that to dedicate a whole chapter to Judi's love of Christmas was a bit "over the top", Christmas trees and all, and could have done with what Fiona calls "some pruning" - no pun intended!!!!

Yes, Dame Judi loves her Christmas, but does this warrant a whole chapter

in her autobiography, Guardian reviewer Fiona Sturges asks!

As well as simply adoring Christmas, Fiona writes, Dame Judi "just can't resist a prank!" And this memoir is, Fiona says, "stuffed with stories about the tricks she has played on her fellow actors".

During a performance of Brecht's "Mother Courage" at the Barbican Theatre, London, she replaced the drinks her character serves to two soldiers with cider vinegar. "It was a joy watching them knock it back," Dame Judi recalls, "made even more glorious by the fact that they had to ask for a top-up".

"from seductive to absolutely terrifying!" - playwright Lynn Nottage's

review of Judi Dench's 1984 performance in Brecht's "Mother Courage" !

Another time, Dame Judi started a rumour that fellow actors Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart had adopted a Malawian baby.

The saucy minx!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to  bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!

Thursday November 5th 2026 "Have YOU ever been 'scammed'? If not, well it's time to put your hand up and 'get with it' haha!!!!"

Yes, Friends, have YOU ever been "scammed"? It's become a bit of a "badge of honour" in late 2026, hasn't it, but, on the other hand, don't despair if you've been left out! Take it from me, those scammers have definitely "got your number" (no pun intended!!!).

Popular tabloid Onion News even debuted its "Scamming News" pull-out-and-throw-away "Scamming News Colour Supplement", in a late bid to ride this particular new "hobby horse" - although I myself have just a tinge of suspicion that this so-called "Supplement" could be a fake! But we'll see: time will tell perhaps!!!

Yes, Friends, ignore, if you will, and if you can (!), those headlines (see above!) about another shocking theft from the Dorm Study Area, and focus on the new pull-out "Supplement", and just feast your eyes on "doozies" like these !!!!

It's all a bit mad, though, isn't it, if I'm honest! 

Nonetheless, these stories definitely bring the faintest hint of a smile to the faces of me and my wife Lois this morning, as we drink a warming cup of tea after our near-daily local walk, here in semi-suburban Liphook, Hampshire - even if those smiles are somewhat predictable, perhaps !!!

my wife Lois and me, warming up with a cup of tea,

after returning from our near-daily walk, here in Liphook, Hampshire today

And our smile is there, because we ourselves have received a suspected possible "scamming" email today, which delights us initially, but ends up with me checking with the retailer, and looking through 15 months of our past bank statements, and all that kind of "malarkey", which is mad!

I wonder.....!!!! 

[Get on with it! - Ed]

And on the back of this experience today, I have even begun to think of emailing Collins Dictionary to suggest 'scam' as their 2026 "word of the year", maybe. After all, now that this new "fad" for "scamming" has even reached towns as obscure as Liphook, Hampshire, I think that that very fact speaks volumes in itself, and deserves to be recognised!

[Get with it, Colin, you old fossil, have you been living under a rock for 10 years haha! - Ed]

By coincidence, however, as Lois are eating our evening meal tonight, an email comes in from Steve, our American brother-in-law, revealing exclusively that the Collins people have already chosen their word of the year, which is "mogging", derived from the acronym AMOG (Alpha Male of the Group), a word apparently now popular with Gen Z people and Gen Alpha - the young scamps !!!!

And hence, once more, if you'd been in Liphook today, you'd have heard Lois and me, a pair of dyed-in-the-wool "boomers" if ever there was one, uttering our immortal words, "Never heard that one! - ???" and "What's that supposed to mean! - ???", or more simply, and more plaintively, just "???????????????????????" !!!

Apparently this "word of the year" story had originally got "buried" on the inside pages of somewhat obscure UK papers such as the Times and Telegraph, but luckily, Steve says, it got picked up by some sharp-eyed "hack" working for the influential Manila Times, in far-away the Philippines - and the rest is history!

This report is hot off the press, by the way, to put it mildly! It's even got tomorrow's date on it, due to the time difference, which is totally mad!!!!

Yes, "mogging" is apparently the art of outshining, or outperforming something or somebody.

In mine and Lois's day, "mogging" was just referred to simply as "Gamesmanship", "One-upmanship" or, even more simply, "Lifemanship", and back in the 1950's, noted writer Stephen Potter published a series of books on the theme, the fruit of all those courses he used to run, in those far-off times, at his prestigious "Lifemanship Institute", based in Yeovil, Somerset, or some-such place. 

What madness, wasn't it !!! 

But believe it or not, however, those basic handbooks, obtainable for the crazy price of two shillings and sixpence (only 12.5 pence in today's money!), books which look superficially a bit "dated" today, maybe, made quite an impact in those crazy, far-off days of the 1950's, to put it mildly!

(left) original Penguin editions of two of Stephen Potter's classic 1950's "self-help books",

and (right) the author himself, also chief lecturer at Yeovil's "Lifemanship Institute"

It's just a tragedy, as Lois and I remark today, that the term "mogging" was unknown in the 1950's.

Wouldn't "Mug up Your Mogging" have made an absolutely brilliant, and eye-catching, title, to display in the front window of somewhere like popular booksellers WH Smiths?

I wonder....!

a typical High Street WH Smith's bookshop in the 1950's

And here's just one example of just one of the amazing impacts that those books made, back in the day! 

It's well-known, for instance, that Lois and I "don't play bridge", as you've probably heard! We look like naturals for it, don't we, but strangely we've never really mastered it, which is mad! 

typical "old codger" couples playing bridge

Although I'm no expert, I suspect that, in bridge, remembering what cards have already been played is at least one of the keys to winning. Nevertheless, Lois and I apparently "just can't be bothered", which is a pity! 

Potter teaches, however, that simply to annoy your opponents so deeply that they never suggest playing the game with you again, can be just as effective, if not more so, than actually winning. And the following strategy, pioneered by leading Lifemanship thinker Meynell - a strategy dubbed "Meynell's Misdeal" - was designed to distract, and disturb, typical bridge opponents.

"dealing the cards" - a mystery to non-card players, the ritual in fact just means

sharing out an agreed number of cards to each of the assembled players

When moved to employ his "Meynell Misdeal" strategy, gamesmanship expert Meynell was accustomed to deal, for example, 17 cards to himself, but only 9 to his partner in bridge, or should I say, "partner-in-crime (!), [No! - Ed], apparently by mistake, would you believe!!!!

Then a few minutes later, when the round was nearing its climax, Meynell would pretend to "discover" the mistake, rendering the round "invalid", and forcing a replay.

Yes, I know! It is a ploy difficult to fully comprehend in the abstract, so here's the actual, worked, example quoted in Potter's Gamesmanship manual, which should clarify any questions you may have, and "in spades" - no pun intended !!!!!

And there's absolutely nothing new about misdeals, also, if that's what you're thinking!!!!

Remember Frederick Remington's classic 1897 painting "The Mis-deal", done in a mock-impressionist style, which leads me to recommend that if YOU are thinking of inviting friends round to YOUR house for a round of bridge, better get your guests to hand any lethal weapons in at the door, before they step into your parlour (!).

artist Frederick Remington's classic 1897 painting "The Mis-Deal",

at the end of a typical round of bridge in the Wild West

Just saying haha !!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!