When is that fat lump Mantel going to puke forth the third Cromwell novel?

[Sir C]

Feckless lazy cow.

[Ash]

Feckless lazy cow.

Probably when that fat lump George RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Martin finishes his won.

[Sir C]

Probably when that fat lump George RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Martin finishes his won.

What a pair they make. I haven't got time to wait around for these wánkers. I've got arm cancer to die from!

[Burney]

Feckless lazy cow.

Indeed. I can't wait to see how it ends. Will Thomas marry Jane Seymour and live happily ever after? I'm on tenterhooks.


She's an odd-looking thing, Mantel. I think she has a disease.

[Burney]

Feckless lazy cow.

By the way, did you ever read her 'A Place of Greater Safety' about the French Revo? Awfully good.

[Sir C]

Indeed. I can't wait to see how it ends. Will Thomas marry Jane Seymour and live happily ever after? I'm on tenterhooks.


She's an odd-looking thing, Mantel. I think she has a disease.

The first two were amongst the finest of all audiobooks. Hours and hours of pleasingly narcotic droning, no plot to worry about, quite blissful.

:shrug: She's a leftist so, like all of them, her warped, twisted ideology has warped and twisted her features into a rictus of evil.

[Sir C]

By the way, did you ever read her 'A Place of Greater Safety' about the French Revo? Awfully good.

I didn't, for the entirely illogical reason that I really know very little of the French revolution. You might imagine that that would be good reason to take such a tome on board, but my feeling is that, after 52 years, my brain is probably quite full up, so I don't want to risk learning anything new. I just stick to subjects I know about.

[Burney]

The first two were amongst the finest of all audiobooks. Hours and hours of pleasingly narcotic droning, no plot to worry about, quite blissful.

:shrug: She's a leftist so, like all of them, her warped, twisted ideology has warped and twisted her features into a rictus of evil.

Yes. She said something rather rude about our fragrant Duchess of Cambridge, the pop-eyed auld bitch.

[Burney]

I didn't, for the entirely illogical reason that I really know very little of the French revolution. You might imagine that that would be good reason to take such a tome on board, but my feeling is that, after 52 years, my brain is probably quite full up, so I don't want to risk learning anything new. I just stick to subjects I know about.

Oh, it's well worth it. You don't really have to know anything. It's about the characters and their interactions. Danton the bullying braggart, Desmoulins the dilettante poseur and Robespierre the ascetic zealot.

[Sir C]

Yes. She said something rather rude about our fragrant Duchess of Cambridge, the pop-eyed auld bitch.

:nod: And wrote yearningly about Lady T being assassinated.

Communist filth.

[Burney]

:nod: And wrote yearningly about Lady T being assassinated.

Communist filth.

Yes, I remember. Personally, I won't have a word said against Kate, up whom I would very happily slip one.

[Sir C]

Oh, it's well worth it. You don't really have to know anything. It's about the characters and their interactions. Danton the bullying braggart, Desmoulins the dilettante poseur and Robespierre the ascetic zealot.

They all sound disturbingly French :-( Nevertheless I shall take your advice and add it to the list.

Our trip oop norf is on the horizon. Hours and hours of listening pleasure to be had. We're working our way through the Tolkiens. It's the Two Towers next.

[Sir C]

Yes, I remember. Personally, I won't have a word said against Kate, up whom I would very happily slip one.

Oh yes, she is most pulchritudinous indeed. I should like to sniff her knees.

[Burney]

They all sound disturbingly French :-( Nevertheless I shall take your advice and add it to the list.

Our trip oop norf is on the horizon. Hours and hours of listening pleasure to be had. We're working our way through the Tolkiens. It's the Two Towers next.

Oh, dear. Did you have to tell me that? You know how I feel about Tolkien.

[Burney]

Oh yes, she is most pulchritudinous indeed. I should like to sniff her knees.

Back or front?

[Sir C]

Oh, dear. Did you have to tell me that? You know how I feel about Tolkien.

It's the perfect environment for tales of misty mountains and sturdy ponies and talking birds and so on. Awfully atmospheric.

Plus, they go on for hours and hours and hours.

[Sir C]

Back or front?

Front. I'm not a pervert.

[Burney]

It's the perfect environment for tales of misty mountains and sturdy ponies and talking birds and so on. Awfully atmospheric.

Plus, they go on for hours and hours and hours.

Yes, I get two books a month and am now a firm believer in buying on length as much as quality. If it's 10 hours or under, it has to be something very special for me to buy it. I got The English and Their History by Robert Tombs a while back. Very good and - even better - 45 hours long :cloud9:

[Ash]

It's the perfect environment for tales of misty mountains and sturdy ponies and talking birds and so on. Awfully atmospheric.

Plus, they go on for hours and hours and hours.

I used to listen to the BBC radio adaptation on tape in my tent in Borrowale. All the characters were terribly posh. Except Sam, of course. And the Orcs.

Tents :-(

[Sir C]

I used to listen to the BBC radio adaptation on tape in my tent in Borrowale. All the characters were terribly posh. Except Sam, of course. And the Orcs.

Tents :-(

Borrowdale even sounds like something out of Tolkien innit?

When we were there in January we saw some people living in tents :-(

I'll say that again. In tents. In Cumbria. In January.

Did you wash with Wet Wipes a?

[Sir C]

Yes, I get two books a month and am now a firm believer in buying on length as much as quality. If it's 10 hours or under, it has to be something very special for me to buy it. I got The English and Their History by Robert Tombs a while back. Very good and - even better - 45 hours long :cloud9:

I came a cropper with wossname's biography of Hitler, mind. That was about a million hours of dullness :-(

[Burney]

I came a cropper with wossname's biography of Hitler, mind. That was about a million hours of dullness :-(

Yes. E bought me that for my birthday. I got to the point where he was about to leave home and realised I didn't care.

i'm getting through Tom Holland's 'In The Shadow of The Sword' (about the historical origins of Islam and the Quran) at the moment. He covers interesting topics, but is a curiously unengaging writer for a popular historian.

[Ash]

Did you wash with Wet Wipes a?

There were showers. They might even have been hot.

Not too bad for a quid a night tbf.

[Sir C]

There were showers. They might even have been hot.

Not too bad for a quid a night tbf.

Hmm, I examined the board at one place we walked past and it said 'Tents £9 per night', and I thought, if you have to pay extra for a shower that's going to be like £15 a night, so you might as well rent a nice cottage for just a little bit extra. Plus you've got the capital investment of the tent, which is a depreciating asset, and a lifetime of pleurisy.

Penny-wise pound wotsit.

[Sir C]

Yes. E bought me that for my birthday. I got to the point where he was about to leave home and realised I didn't care.

i'm getting through Tom Holland's 'In The Shadow of The Sword' (about the historical origins of Islam and the Quran) at the moment. He covers interesting topics, but is a curiously unengaging writer for a popular historian.

I lasted a bit longer than that and then binned it.

I've just started Ian Pears An Instance Of The Fingerpost, which i read and enjoyed some years ago. Nothing new, see?

[Ash]

Hmm, I examined the board at one place we walked past and it said 'Tents £9 per night', and I thought, if you have to pay extra for a shower that's going to be like £15 a night, so you might as well rent a nice cottage for just a little bit extra. Plus you've got the capital investment of the tent, which is a depreciating asset, and a lifetime of pleurisy.

Penny-wise pound wotsit.

Just a little bit extra?

[Burney]

I lasted a bit longer than that and then binned it.

I've just started Ian Pears An Instance Of The Fingerpost, which i read and enjoyed some years ago. Nothing new, see?

Yes, I loved that years ago and bought it again recently, too. Dreadful crusty old creatures of habit we're becoming.

[eastgermanautos]

Just a little bit extra?

Apparently Hitler was big on marriage counseling. When Goebbels and his wife were having problems, Hitler would sit with each of them for hours on end. And this is *while the fricking invasion of Poland was going on, mind. :true:

[Sir C]

Just a little bit extra?

Let's take, as an example, a charming little cottage at £800 for 7 days. Total outlay = £800.

A tenting will cost £15 x 7 = £105. Now consider the initial cost of the tent, bought 10 years ago for £200. If you'd left that £200 in the bank, with compound interest, you would be sitting on some £1,500, amortised over 10 years = £150. Now consider the effects of this tent on your estate when you die; IHT is an ugly thing, a.

As we can see from my mathematical proff, renting a cottage works out cheaper in the long run.

[Sir C]

Apparently Hitler was big on marriage counseling. When Goebbels and his wife were having problems, Hitler would sit with each of them for hours on end. And this is *while the fricking invasion of Poland was going on, mind. :true:

Are you Ken Livingstone?

[Sir C]

Yes, I loved that years ago and bought it again recently, too. Dreadful crusty old creatures of habit we're becoming.

You're not supposed to be doing fiction any more.

[Burney]

You're not supposed to be doing fiction any more.

Oh, new fiction, no. Old fiction (preferably historical) that I've read before is fine.