Author Topic: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)  (Read 821294 times)

Les303

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1455 on: August 31, 2018, 05:54:06 PM »
G'day Jack,

Did I ever tell you about the time that me & me good mate Fred decided to pool our hard earned funds & have a crack at running a travel agency?
Fred did all the front counter work as he was very charismatic, a natural salesman & had no trouble convincing clients to book all sorts of very expensive holidays.
Due to my excellent business acumen & brilliant computer skills, i stayed in the background & did all of the necessary accounting & documentation.
After just a few months in business we are making a motza but suddenly, out of the blue, fred declares that he is changing his name to Fabio & going to America to try to break into the movies.

Fair enough, good luck mate, once our lease expires in a couple of months, i will close everything down.
So now i am the frontman & needless to say, sales have been non - existent but i did not care as we have already made a substantial amount of money from our venture.
Then one afternoon i saw a lovely elderly couple forlornly looking at our very expensive holidays in the display window so i invited them in.
Just to commenorate the impending closing down of this business, how would you pair like an all expenses paid trip to Itally for two weeks.

Of course they gratefully accepted.

Several weeks later & just the day before we were due to shut the business down that elderly lady returned to tell me how much she had enjoyed her holiday to Itally, her only question was, who was that man that i had to share my room with?


anonsi

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1456 on: September 01, 2018, 02:55:37 AM »
If you can fit it into your schedule I would recommend you visit the Cardhu Distillery Visitor centre near Aberlour in the Speyside whisky area.  Apart from our experience TripAdvisor gives it a good wrap.  TripAdvisor makes the point that it is the only malt distillery pioneered by a woman.

Good to know! It's not too far off one of the roads we were planning on taking, so it's a real possibility. Thanks!

Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1457 on: September 01, 2018, 09:16:34 AM »
G'day Jack,
Did I ever tell you about the time that me & me good mate Fred decided to pool our hard earned funds & have a crack at running a travel agency?
After just a few months in business suddenly, out of the blue, Fred declares that he is changing his name & going to America.

G’day Les,

Have you never wondered how your business got off the ground so fast making you lots of moolah and why Fred skipped the country?  It was because he was a crook and thought his shonky practices would catch up with him.

For instance, a man was walking down the street when he saw the sign in the window of a your travel agency CRUISES – $500. He goes inside and hands Fred $500. Fred then whacks him over the head with a baseball bat and throws him in the Brisbane river.

Shortly after, another man decides to go on the cruise and pays Fred $500. Fred then whacks him with the baseball bat and throws him in the river.

Sometime later, the two men are floating down the river together and the first man asks, “Do you think they’ll serve any food on this cruise?” The second man says, “I don’t think so. They didn’t do it last year.”

Still not all of your customers aspired to sainthood.

I heard one of them pulled into a hotel around midnight and asked the night-clerk for a single room. As the clerk filled out the paperwork, the man looks around and sees a gorgeous young woman sitting in the lobby. He tells the clerk to wait while he disappears into the lobby. After a minute he comes back, with the woman on his arm.

Fancy meeting my wife here,” he says to the clerk. “Guess I’ll need a double room for the night.

Next morning, he comes to settle his bill, and finds the amount to be over $3000.

What’s the meaning of this?” he yells at the clerk. “I’ve only been here one night!” “Yes,” says the clerk, “but your wife has been here for three weeks.”

Avagoodweegend
Regards, Jack

birdy

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1458 on: September 01, 2018, 05:10:41 PM »
I do hope that you ladies have a wonderful time on your holiday but i must warn you that staying in some of these posh motels can be a bit confusing so just make sure sure that you do not over indulge on Friday night or you might find yourself in a panic & ringing the desk clerk early on Saturday morning exclaiming that we have a train to catch, how in the hell are we supposed to get out of this room, to which the clerk would reply that you might try using the door.
And your response would be, but there are only three doors in this room, one leads to the bathroom, another is simply the closet & the only other door has a " Please do not disturb " sign on it.

Don't laugh:  I was once in a hotel room with several relatives, and as we were getting ready to leave, one said, "But where is the door?"  She had her back to it!  But that's not as bad as the time a couple of friends called the hotel desk to complain that they had paid for a room with a bathroom.  They were told that ALL the rooms had bathrooms, and even sent someone to show them.  My friends were very embarrassed when he showed them the bathroom door - behind the room door which they had not closed.

Les303

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1459 on: September 02, 2018, 07:33:04 PM »
Sorry mate but I am laughing.
If it ever gets to the stage where we cannot laugh at ourselves, then we are in big trouble.

Many years ago we were staying at a lovely old " Queenslander " which was located just 5 minutes walk from the local beach & even more importantly just 10 minutes walk to the nearest pub.
It was a Sunday & our last day as we were expected to be out of the house by about 2pm Monday afternoon.
After fishing all morning, we spent all the afternoon cleaning & tidying up to leave the place in pristine order for the owner, then we went to the local for a nice pub meal & as usual I bought a couple of tickets in their raffle.
I was delighted to here my number called for third prize which was a kilo of prawns, although they were local produce, they were frozen.
As it was our last night in town we stayed till very late, arriving home in the early hours of Monday morning so I thought that I would leave the prawns on the open window sill to defrost as they would be a nice snack before we left later that same afternoon.

We had overslept & were only awoken by a very irate landlord who had come to collect his keys.

During our blissful sleep, the local wildlife had helped themselves to the thawing prawns which at some stage were knocked back in to house followed by all the scavengers, the mess was horrendous, we spent all afternoon cleaning it up before we could get our security deposit  back which were the only funds that we had left for our trip home.


Les303

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1460 on: September 03, 2018, 06:02:03 PM »
Did anybody else notice the ironicalness of the seed word in the ten letter game dated Sunday the second of September?

In Australia, Father's day & for that matter Mother's day are always celebrated at the same time each year.
Father's day is the first Sunday in September & Mother's day is the second Sunday in May.
I am curious to know if this is unique to Australia or is this formula also used in other countries & if not, how does your particular country determine on which dates these days of recognition are celebrated.

I think that i need a bit of help here as i have just realised that i cannot even answer my own question as i do not know who, why or how it was decided that Australians should have Father's & Mother's days on the dates that we do?

mkenuk

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1461 on: September 03, 2018, 10:44:51 PM »
how does your particular country determine on which dates these days of recognition (Father's Day and Mother's Day)  are celebrated.


In Thailand, Father's Day was always celebrated on December 5th, the birthday of the late King, the 'Father of the Nation'. Everybody got a day off work and dressed in yellow - the King's colour. It was very colourful
I don't think they've quite got round yet to recognising the new King, the late King's son, as 'The Father of the Nation' so on his birthday last July, while there was a day off work, the holiday wasn't actually referred to as 'Father's Day'.
It will be interesting to see what happens on December 5th this year.

Mother's Day is celebrated on August 12th, the birthday of the Queen of the late King.

In UK, traditionally 'Mothering Sunday' was  a Church holiday - the Sunday three weeks before Easter, so usually sometime in March or early April.
I think nowadays people just call it 'Mother's Day'.
There was never a Father's Day when I was growing up in UK, but in most of the Catholic countries of Europe - Spain, Portugal, Italy etc, it's celebrated on March 19th = St Joseph's Day.


Les303

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1462 on: September 04, 2018, 11:04:11 AM »
Thanks Mike.

I'm surprised that Jack hasn't answered my question about the Australian dates.
His silence over the last few days has been deafening, i do hope that he is ok & perhaps just waiting for Penny to return from her holiday.


birdy

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1463 on: September 04, 2018, 02:54:09 PM »
In the U.S., Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day on the third Sunday in June.

Les303

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1464 on: September 04, 2018, 05:55:57 PM »
Thanks for that information birdy but the total question is how, why & who decides on which days Mothers & Fathers day are celebrated.

I am probably wrong but my understanding is that the concept of Father's day originated in America & Mother's day was first recognised in England?

Mike has given a clear explanation of why & how the dates are allocatted in Thailand but i would to know how this is determined in other countries, including Australia.


Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1465 on: September 04, 2018, 09:31:36 PM »
I'm surprised that Jack hasn't answered my question about the Australian dates.


Hi Les,

The reason I haven’t answered your question is that I can’t find the answer to who determined what the date in Australia would be, except for some broad statements that it was set by commercial considerations.  

this is not greatly informative

this is not much better but it has a video of weak “dad” jokes

Why have I been so quiet?   I generally respond to stimuli provided by others -topics where I think I can add something, jokes I can interact with, requests (implicit or implied) for something, and particularly an exchange of views.  Apart from your question which I couldn’t answer I was lacking a stimulus. I prefer to read other people’s posts to generating mine.  So I was happy to be a voyeur until Penny got back, especially if you could encourage more people to contribute.  As you would realise Pen is expert in encouraging contributions.

Father’s Day was most enjoyable this year because I got a gift of Glenfarclas 15 Year Old Scotch Whisky which was as smooth as silk.

Regards, Jack

mkenuk

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1466 on: September 05, 2018, 07:35:00 PM »
I have to be honest - although I lived in Scotland for ten years, I never really acquired the taste for whisky. I did, however, appreciate the customs and traditions that it has generated.
For example you should never ask for 'scotch' in a pub or a bar in Scotland - you should specify the brand that you want. Most hostelries have a large selection. I remember The Frigate pub in Aberdeen, which claimed to have a world record of 394 different brands of whisky on display.
You should not add anything to whisky - not even ice.
It's almost a proverb there - 'The only thing you put in whisky is more whisky.'
The story is probably apocryphal of the American tourist who brought complete horrified silence upon a crowded Saturday night bar when he turned to his wife and asked her if she wanted some Coke in the Glenmorangie Single Malt he'd just bought for her!

The one classic film about whisky is of course 'Whisky Galore', first made in black and white in 1949. There was a remake of it a couple of years ago, not as good as the original, but worth a look.
There's also 'The Angels' Share' - a film by Ken Loach, whose films are usually noted for their gritty social realism. This one, however, has a fair amount of comedy, a visit to a distillery - and some stunning scenery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK9VUoX5htk&t=81s



birdy

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1467 on: September 06, 2018, 12:56:26 PM »
Thanks for that information birdy but the total question is how, why & who decides on which days Mothers & Fathers day are celebrated.
I am probably wrong but my understanding is that the concept of Father's day originated in America & Mother's day was first recognised in England?
Mike has given a clear explanation of why & how the dates are allocatted in Thailand but i would to know how this is determined in other countries, including Australia.

I gather that it is different in different countries.  In the USA, the date was established by Woodrow Wilson, who signed a proclamation in 1914 designating Mother's Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.

From Wikipedia, "In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.  Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972."

The Wikipedia articles give much more information on the two holidays.

Les303

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1468 on: September 06, 2018, 06:05:02 PM »
That's absolutely brilliant birdy, thanks so much for such a definitive answer. ( that will be a great trivia  question / answer that I will keep up my sleeve )

It seems that Australia has simply followed that tradition for Mother's day & while Ozzyjack has modestly suggested that he could not fully answer the question, his explanation for the allocation of the date for Father's day in Australia is quite correct as it was purely a commercial decision designed to give a boost to the retail sector who normally experience a very quiet period during September.

Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1469 on: September 06, 2018, 09:59:42 PM »
You should not add anything to whisky - not even ice.
It's almost a proverb there - 'The only thing you put in whisky is more whisky.'

Mike, I would have said “especially not ice”. 

I have no doubt that the proverb you quoted holds true for your hairy-chested Jocks at the local pubs.  However, I believe there would be a lot of single Malt (especially cask strength) sippers who would advocate a few drops of water to release the flavour.  This article supports that contention.

I agree that Whisky Galore 1949 was a smashing movie.

Sláinte
Regards, Jack