WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

The past was never a big preoccupation with the old folks and they had to be prompted to recount the stories. I found out when I did the LTP that the families of the informants often knew nothing of the story I teased out of them. I gave them copies of the transcripts and hopefully they will keep them safe.
See THIS for a Guardian report on the latest news of the Lockerbie Pan Am flight downing. As many of us suspected there was always more to this case than was revealed at the time and it looks as though the log jam may be over. Some very unpleasant truths may start to emerge.....

[Wendyf]

Wonderful find Liz. My mum had no interest whatsoever in the past, and would happily have thrown everything out..... except receipts, which Dad had told her were important!

[Tizer]

My Dad would rush to pay every bill as soon as it landed on his doormat, then immediately throw it away! We had a difficult time convincing him that he should keep them for a while. Utility bills are often needed now as part of proving your identity.

[Big Kev]

Barlick awarded gold in the 2015 Britain in Bloom finals. A well deserved result.

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Kev. Well deserved. Some reward for all those involved.

[Cathy]

That's excellent, looking forward to some pics.

[Tizer]

Well done Barlick!

[Stanley]

Interesting that the driving force behind Barlick in Bloom is the LibDem councillor David Whipp. In Colne there is a kerfuffle going on because the Tory MP Andrew Stephenson has tried to jump on the bandwagon of their success. This in an area controlled by a LibDem Council.
The report of the Ellenroad Trust that they are "investigating fitting a vacuum breaker on the engine". I have mailed them pointing out that they already have one already piped up and ready for action, all it needs is commissioning. Very strange.....

[Tizer]

`England's Big Picture: 12-18 October 2015' LINK
Photos featured by BBC during the week.

[PanBiker]

Yesterday at the wedding, I first noticed the guys shoes, rather nice Italian style two tone grey leather. He had a nice tailored suit on and looked just like one of the guests. He struck up a conversation with one of the young ladies in our Jacks group of friends and asked her if she would like to see a card trick. He opened a new pack of cards and fanned them out so that we could see they were all different, turning them over he asked her to pick one and look at it then show it to everyone else while his back was turned. She had the option to change the card but elected not to. It was placed back in the pack which was then shuffled by one of the lads in the group and then handed back to him. He held the pack in his left hand and asked which card she had chosen. On naming, the exact same card jumped from the pack to his waiting right hand held at least 6" above the deck, he caught it between thumb and forefinger to gasps of amazement from our group, he had certainly caught our attention, he was very good.

Next trick was three different lengths of rope each one roughly twice as long as the next. He handed these round for inspection before gathering them back up and holding them all at one end. He then grabbed one of the loose ends and pulled, producing a single length of longer rope. He took this and folded it into three, passed it from one hand to the other where it became the three original lengths of rope again.

He asked if he could borrow a banknote for a trick, Luke who is an accountant reluctantly surrendered a £5 note. We were stood right next to the guy so he turned to Sally and asked her to take the banknote from Luke and sign her name on the back with a felt tipped pen. He then took the pen and shoved it right through impaling the note on the pen body. He pushed the pen all the way through and pulled it out of the other side. Folding the note in two then unfolding "mended" the hole in the note. There was no tear or hole although we had clearly seen the pen pass right through it. He said that that was not the real trick so he folded it up with four folds this time holding it between thumb and forefinger. He asked Sally what kind of note she would like the fiver changing to and she asked for a £50. He said most people asked for a £20 and said that if the trick worked the drinks were on her. To show there was no cheating he unfolded the £5 note to clearly show Sally's signature on the back then folded it back up four times. He turned the folded note round once between his thumb and forefinger then unfolded a genuine £50 note right in front of our eyes. He turned it round to show Sally's signature on the back. He said he could see Luke's concern for the loss of his £5 so quickly folding the £50, one turn then unfolding his original £5 to hand back!

He left our group and went on to another table continuing to amaze. While I was waiting at the bar I saw him insert a 50p piece into a beer bottle through the neck. The bottle was genuine, just one from the table, the contents had just been emptied by the gent he was doing the trick for. You could clearly see the 50p inside the bottle. He said the trick was not putting it in but getting it back out without breaking the bottle. Easily achieved by him with a quick shake of the bottle in one hand and the 50p ending up in the other held over the neck.

Seen stuff like this on the TV but it is truly amazing when you are stood next to the bloke.

[Bodger]

i wish there had been a magician at our wedding, he could have made the bride disappear , it would have saved me 53 yrs of nagging

[chinatyke]

i wish there had been a magician at our wedding, he could have made the bride disappear , it would have saved me 53 yrs of nagging

Can't be too bad if you've stayed with the same woman for 53 years! Congratulations.

[Stanley]

I got a reply to a communication with an organisation that has not responded to me for twenty years..... The ice may be thawing!

[Stanley]

The widespread doubts being voiced against what is expected to be total capitulation to the might of Chinese investment....

[Bruff]

I know what you mean about magicians. There was one at a 50th birthday I went to and he was amazing. I was convinced I was watching things like a hawk but it really did seem like ‘magic’ to me. Quite amazing.

Rain attracted my attention today. Been very dry recently. And I like rain me. Wind and rain.

Richard Broughton

[PanBiker]

Doc has posted on his Facebook page that he is about to set sail from Gibraltar for the Canary Islands, weather is set fair for the next few days and he says it should take four or five days to sail the 700 miles, living the dream.

[Tripps]

Do you have a link for that Ian? The only one I can find doesn't seem to be up to date.

[PanBiker]

Docs Facebook

You may have to befriend him to see all the content Tripps. He says he will be out of contact (on FB) for the next few days. Not much chance of a wifi connection I suppose out in the Atlantic.

[Tripps]

Ah - I see. That's the page I found.
Not sure why, but I think that's a close as I want to get to Facebook.

[PanBiker]

FB can be quite useful. It is possible to set it up with decent privacy settings if that is your concern. All in your profile settings if you join.

[PanBiker]

The 10 minutes or so that it took to retrieve an item that I wanted to buy at B&Q.

I went to buy a new kitchen bin which was boxed and stored on a shelf just out of reach at about 2M high. I went to find one of the B&Q helpers. He gave the job a coat of looking at and then went off and retrieved a large set of gated climbing steps. In order to use these he had to find three retractable barrier tapes to cordon off three aisles. Having installed these he opened the gate at the bottom of the steps and closed it behind him. He climbed no further than three steps to reach the bin, I was actually amazed that he didn't need a safety harness on! He could only hand it to me at the other side of the gate at the bottom. I promised not to sue him if I damaged myself putting it in the trolley. I know how important H&S is but really!

[Stanley]

Like Tiz I refuse to join FB or any other 'social media' site. Please keep us informed Ian.... He'll be like a cat who has got the cream, I hope Carol has got her sea legs.... One thing is certain, he has the right boat for it, very strong construction and being twin hulled, very stable.



Click to enlarge. Doc and his boat Hocus Pocus at Preston Dock.

[Tizer]

The 10 minutes or so that it took to retrieve an item that I wanted to buy at B&Q.

It's all part of the strategy to get us to buy online so that they can shut down the stores and do away with expensive store staff. B&Q are reported to be planning to shut the nearest store to us. But we've got Proper Job instead!

[Marilyn]

Now I have seen everything!

We have a "no junk mail" sign on our letterbox, but there are always the few who think we really need and want their junk anyway and don't know our own minds...

Printed leaflet from a nearby neighbour alerting us to "have our sweets ready" as their children will be "doing Halloween"!!!!
(Guess who is in the process of printing out a large notice to stick out the front saying we don't do Halloween?)
Last year was a complete eye opener as regards Halloween. Some 30 to 40 car loads of kids arrived in the street...drivers stayed in the cars...kids jumped out...most not in costumes...racing to collect sweets from every house...back in the car...off to next street to repeat the process. It was a complete joke. Some kids had bags so laden they could barely carry them.

WE WILL NOT BE DOING HALLOWEEN NEIGHBOURS...please take note of the notice on the front path and don't bother us. Sorry we didn't personalise a leaflet and place it in your letterbox.

Good Grief. What is the world coming to?

[Stanley]

I agree with you entirely Maz.
A news report last night that Talktalk web site has been hacked and customer address and account details stolen... I await developments!
Later... The good write up in the BET about the Gold Award in the National Britain in Bloom competition. The visit of the South Korean TV crew investigating why Barlick is so vibrant.
Also the complaint in the Lords by Tony Greaves about the threatened withdrawal of neighbourhood policing and the governments totally inadequate response. Quote "we are taking measures to dampen the impact". No wonder Stephenson is attacking Lord Greaves, he's telling the truth. Not a peep out of Stephenson about any of these matters.....