Yes, Friends, those Frenchies', eh, our close neighbours to the south, if you ignore the English Channel, as many do!!!
Certainly you can't keep the French out of the news - that's one thing that's a 'given'! Take this morning's Onion News - I rest my case!!!!!
And all today's big 'Frenchie' stories bring a welcome, if somewhat wan (!), smile to the faces of me and my wife Lois, as we sit in a little village hall just north of semi-exotic Petersfield, Hampshire, waiting for Lois's church's Sunday Morning Meeting to begin, no question about that!!!!
To our surprise, a elderly man called Bob approaches me and starts talking in French, would you believe! I assume he's having some kind of a stroke, or a seizure maybe, but it turns out that in an earlier existence he lived in France for 12 years (French: douze ans), and that he's anxious to talk to me, because he's heard that I "speak several languages" (!), which I do. But what madness!!!
(left) the little village hall just outside Petersfield, Hampshire, where Lois's
church holds its Sunday Morning Meetings, and (right) Lois and me
in the back row, just before being approached by a man called 'Bob'
speaking French - what madness, isn't it!!!!
Speaking personally, I'm not a member of Lois's church in Petersfield, but I can attest that they're a lovely bunch of people, although, if I have a criticism, it's that the church has, over the years, attracted far too many men called 'Bob'. It's got to the stage when, if I'm talking to a man there and can't quite remember his name, I call him 'Bob' to be on the safe side, and I'm usually right, so that's quite a useful pointer!!!
Certainly the "Bobs to the square foot" indicator (BTTSF) is starting to raise alarms locally. The 'stats' don't lie haha!!!!
flashback to December: Lois's church's Christmas lunch at a pub in Emsworth,
where the number of "Bobs to the square foot" was reportedly at its height,
threatening to reach potentially dangerous levels (!)
It's time for the church to 'reach out' to more of the "non-Bobs" in our community, that's what I say! Sadly, however, I don't have time for a really long Frenchified 'natter' (French: une longue conversation) with this particular 'Bob' after the meeting, because Lois and I have to "dash off" - yet again!!! And no surprise there, because, in the little nearby town of Liphook, Hampshire where we live, neighbours have dubbed Lois and me 'possibly Liphook's busiest-looking retired couple', so fair enough!!!
First on mine and Lois's agenda this lunchtime, is to stop by our daughter Alison and husband Edward's temporary home in Churt, just over the county line in Surrey, to drop off a birthday gift to Alison, their eldest offspring, who's turning 20 tomorrow, would you believe! We've bought young Josie one of those mugs that stay hot all day (a bit like Yours Truly in last month's heatwaves!!!!. It's a mug of the type young people use today - what madness, isn't it!!!
And as Lois and I always say, you know you must be old when your eldest grandchild is no longer a teenager - that's for sure!!!! But what madness (again) !!!! Poor Alison is having a busy time herself today, as the family prepares to leave its temporary rental home in a week's time, and move back into their real home - a crumbling Victorian mansion, which has been under extensive renovation. Let's hope that at least all that scaffolding has come down, by the time they eventually move back in !!!!!
(left) my wife Lois with our daughter Alison today, when we drop off our granddaughter
Josie's 20th birthday present - Alison is busy today preparing for the family's departure
from their temporary rental home, and (right) the family's real home - crumbling Victorian
mansion in Headley, which has recently been under extensive renovation
But for Lois and me, there's no time to stay and chat with Alison, because we have to hurry home to Liphook for a 'quickie' lunch, followed by our weekly 'catch-up' video call with our other daughter, Sarah, who lives in Perth, Australia with husband Francis and their 13-year-old twins, Lily and Jessica.
Busy busy busy!!!!
us this Sunday lunchtime talking on Lois's phone to our daughter Sarah,
and 13-year-old twins Jessica (centre) and Lily (right), 9000 miles away
in the suburb of Yanchep, just north of Perth, Western Australia - sob sob !!!!!
Lois and I have been particularly looking forward to this chat, to hear about the twins' intrepid 'camping trip' in the outback this last week with their new classmates from their private Anglican grammar school.
We're hoping that the trip will give our twin grandchildren the opportunity to really 'bond' with their new classmates for the first time. Sarah and Francis moved the twins to this school last year, but the two girls have had trouble 'connecting' with their classmates, who had already formed all their friendships over preceding years.
I know exactly how they must have felt, because I myself had a childhood disrupted by frequent changes of school, and I know how difficult it can be to be accepted and to form friendships when you arrive as a complete outsider. Kids can be extremely 'cliquey', which is a pity!
(above) our brave twin granddaughters Lily and Jessica, arriving at
their new school for the spring camping trip to the outback, hoping to finally
'bond' with all their new classmates, and (below) the Avon River Region,
80 miles due east of their home in the northern Perth suburb of Yanchep
So, another busy day at the Colin-and-Lois house, that's what our neighbours are saying!
However, Lois and I have another side to us, that we're not hiding from our neighbours either! It's our 'cosmopolitan' side, where we often regale them with tales of our 3 years in the States in the early 1980's, would you believe!
flashback to 1984: Lois and me, with our two daughters Alison (9) and Sarah (7)
touring the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and (right) me, cool as a cucumber,
driving our All-American car, with the steering wheel on the 'wrong' side (!)
And today we're spreading the word that we'll be glued to our TV set tonight, watching the planned documentary on Sky Documentaries about Canadian Lorne Michaels, who started America's biggest TV comedy show, way back in 1975.
And the comedy show in question is, of course, the famously controversial satirical weekly sketch show "Saturday Night Live", and tonight's documentary, we tell neighbours, looks set to be a real humdinger, and we plead with them, please, not to disturb us tonight with any footling phone-calls, no matter what the "emergency", which takes them aback, to put it mildly!!!
For Lois and me, Lorne surprisingly turns out to be "our kind of a guy", slightly introverted, quiet and doesn't like to chat for too long, a creature of habit, who always eats out everty night at the same New York restaurant, and always orders the same dish - what's-not to-like about a guy like that haha!!!
Lorne Michaels, Candadian-born producer of satirical sketch show
"Saturday Night Live" 'always eats at the same New York
restaurant, and always order the same thing -
what's not to like about a guy like that haha!!!!
He's the show's producer, and he just quietly "does his job", because, although quiet, he knows what's funny and what isn't, which is his unique selling point, and it's made him the great survivor at an NBC network often uncomfortable with his show. Over the years numerous writers and cast-members have been fired by the network, but Lorne has kept his job, decade after decade, which is heart-warming!
He started all his early shows with a long-running gag "Bee Hospital", a maternity hospital, even though network executives ordered him to kill it because it just wasn't funny, they claimed.
Oh dear, so not a worker then !!!! Lorne, however, was determined to pursue the idea despite network opposition.
A simple note from the NBC hierarchy said it all - "More bees, please!"
So "Kudos, Lorne, and hail to thee! You kept us out of war!" haha !!!!
Will this do?
[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!
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