A Lark Ascending

How comprehensive is it?

Bledhen Nowydh Da, moi 'andsomes.

You are definitely a comm_U_nist!

Must have been all those peculiar jazz records you were bringing back with you. Had you down as comm_U_nist!

I renewed mine earlier in the year and my first attempt got turned down at the 'check and send' stage at the post office because I was wearing my glasses. Went through OK after I had the photo retaken. Strangely when I came back into Britain in October the customs chap didn't ask me to take my glasses off.

I'd bet on this version of the future too. Me too. Except, I read that sales of cylinder discs are up by 37% this year... Maybe people are coming to their senses.

Sheffield last night: Seems east of the Pennines got the worst of it.

White Christmas! A goodly fall at present.

I've used a couple of programmes for this. The one I've been using since last spring called Touchcopy is excellent: http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAq_SkBRC3jLvJ1IPt2eIBEiQASUZy1x1vBxhohiBUQmd0giKLG6n2kO3NGjCHZxQt4oTY54IaAvz98P8HAQ It cost me £16 online but has been perfect for backing up my iPods. Well worth the cost. One reason this is better than the thing I used to use is that every time you connect it to the IPOD you can get it to sort tracks in time order and it indicates what has already been saved. I tend to do a back up every couple of months. This is what the screen looks like on your PC, showing what is on your IPOD:

Another film I'd never seen before.

And a Restoration Christmas - maybe they were overcompensating for the 1650s: More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30530682

No poison taster?

Never seen this before. Delightful.

Happy Chrimbo, y'all. Thanks for helping me spend my money again this year.

Dressmaker too - seems the fate of woolly-minded liberals.

I imagine 99% of my English/British folk albums would count as obscure here. Nic Jones' 'The Noah's Ark Trap' is obscure for no other reason that it has never been allowed to appear on CD - the (recently deceased) chap with the rights has refused to part company with it. A shame as it's a superb LP and given the now legendary status of 'Penguin Eggs' would sell by the bucket load. The crowning track on the album is a Scottish song called 'Annachie Gordon' - a real heart breaker that Jones pulls off with his usual vocal understatement, matched to that intricate percussive guitar style. The lyrics are like a pebble worn down the years to perfection. My favourite line links the first part revolving round the tragedy of Jeannie with the arrival of Annachie..."The day that Jeannie married was the day that Jeannie died was the day that young Annachie come a-rolling on the tide." Widely recorded by others since...but the Nic Jones version is a pearl. Not on YouTube that I can see - though there are lots of other people playing it. [Edit: Seems the whole album IS on Youtube - go to 38 mins - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUZo5r2m_d8] Going to have to play the album now...

With a sprig of holly as a page marker. Evans is one of my heroes in historical writing. His 'In Defence of History' is a marvellous update on the 'What is History?' volumes of years gone by. And he's been superb in defending the way history teaching has evolved in schools since the 1970s against the misreporting of the Gove-ites. I read the first volume on the rise of the Nazis about 18 months back and polished it off in a couple of weeks. This will go the same way. He has that knack of writing well researched history in a way that is engaging to the ordinary reader. You can hardly turn the TV on without a programme about Nazi ephemera - Evans' books remind you of why the history matters.

That's Conisborough Castle!

Loved the early 70s music. 'Delta Lady'!

Persevere past the boat engine and water noise at the start. Guaranteed tinsel free:

Over recent weeks series 2, 3 and 4 of "Scott and Bailey". Excellent TV drama. Started watching 'The Good Wife' last night based on recommendations here. The pilot episode was ok but didn't have me gripped. But I've taken note of earlier comments that the series takes time to warm up.

I share your liking for them. My favourite (from the 90s, I think) is 'The Road to St. Ives'. I suspect part of the issue is that Surman seemed to be (at one stage) deep inside the world of explosive free or near free improvisation. But there are other sides to his musical personality that come out in the solo/duo/choral/strings albums that don't seem to chime with what is considered 'edgy'.

'Killing Jar' on the other FFK&T album fits the bill too. Thompson played it regularly on tour around that time. You might also add 'The Nine Funerals of the Citizen King' on the first Henry Cow album (Frith connection).

Is that Latin or Greek? Never did know what it meant? I actually learned the entire Latin Mass off by heart by the time I was 10. Then the Second Vatican Council said we could do it in English. The appropriate response was a very Anglo-Saxon 'Bugger!' Helped me out with choral music, I suppose.

You are both clearly of the old guard. In my first secondary school (in Singapore) I didn't take either - assume others must have studied it as it was a 'Grammar School' but maybe not. When I got to Newquay in my 3rd Year the other kids did Latin - the few of us who didn't had to attend 'classical background' lessons where we learnt the legends in English. I had a bit of a panic at that time as I knew I wanted to go on to university to study History and up to that point Latin had been a mandatory requirement. However, found out the rules had been relaxed and so was saved. Not sure what happened to Latin by my 'O' Level years - we'd gone comprehensive by then and I have no memory of anyone doing it. I've never been in a situation where I've needed Greek or Latin (mainly Norse speakers round here). But all the people I've known who did study it have been wizards when it comes to English grammar. Side thought: In the 'bog-standard comp' where I have worked for exactly 37 years Latin was only taught briefly by a Head who was a Latin specialist - and then after school to one or two very good modern linguists. We have all on persuading kids to continue with French, German or Spanish.