Ah that was another grump of mine I forgot to post the other day......

I have always prided myself on not contributing to the promotion of that sort of w**kword speak in the office.  It makes me cringe whenever someone uses the word 'leverage' as a verb, or thinks outside the box.  Sadly though a few days ago, I caught myself mid-sentence saying the words 'going forward'.  It completely threw me and I lost all my impetus in the bit of the phone call meeting I was in.

Grump grump

Tommo

Perhaps it's just as well that extreme geometry is no longer offered at most universities. I doubt anyone would remember the Cosgrove incident, when several non-tesselating regular shapes escaped from the geometry laboratory, wreaking havoc and savaging a partially completed theorem.

I've just had an email asking me to attend a "legs on the table" meeting - the author of the email is Dutch and apparently this is a Dutch idiom for a brainstorm, but for a moment I was somewhat concerned ...

You people are going to LOVE this...

http://www.pentaclethevbs.com/compilation_4.htm

Aaargh!  I just posted the following in the Happy Room in response to a message of Morticiaa's.  I'll leave it there, but it really should be here.  AaaarrghH!   Swansea City Opera - professional.....

"Ho and ho!.  An evening of "kulture" MorticiaaaAAA?  Haa!.  I've never before encountered a lovely comic opera (La Fille du Regiment) turned into a pantomime from the moment the first body appeared on the boards.  No brass in the orchestra but there was a A PIANO!  The gallant regiment of French soldiers consisted of 3 men dressed in cheap costumes.  Their hats, and the hats of the four frightened (haa!) village girls were cut out pieces of what appeared to be thick illustrated cardboard, attached vertically to their foreheads with elastic or tape round the back of their heads.  From the side and back, the effect was ludicrous.  I could, perhaps, have understood it if they had been completely dressed as playing cards.  Some of the actions and movements were pure pantomime.  The sop was o.k. but tended to be somewhat gusty.  The tenor, quite a nice singer, but I expected a clearer, more ringing and less softly throaty voice.  Sergeant Sulpice had a good voice and played his part well.  The lady who played the small speaking part of the Duchesse de Krakenthorp  (oddly a small village in Cumbria) had obviously given no thought to the character at all and her part just fell by the wayside - wasted.  The sops mother appeared about the same age as her daughter.  I just cannot understand why any small company would attempt an opera that has a good deal of chorus work involving soldiers, villagers etc in fair numbers.  The minimum chorus, even for a small company, should be 5 of each voice.   Patrons:- Dennis O'Neill!!!.  Robert Lloyd!!!  Josephine Veasey!!!  Ryland Davies!!!  There was an article in the programme by the Chairman of The Donizetti Society!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Phew!
All in all, quite the worst overall performance of an opera I've ever seen.  Rant over.  Runs for cover with ducks behind sofa."

I hear his cousin can be a nasty bit of work ......

Ho "A".  That couldn't be you being told you had to learn the violin - could it?  Fabulous picture.
Cheers