The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 04: Come On In

[_Lynn_]

You have my sympathy Madam.
But RLS ? WTF??
I presume the S is Syndrome, but mental attempt to sor the others out result in inappropriate jokes. . . .

Well, we started at good & bright.
It's getting darker. . . .

Any Coffee left please ?

RLS is Restless Leg Syndrome which is an uncontrollable urge to move the legs. It's worse at night and once it starts can take hours to stop. Often I think I can finally sleep only to find it starting again long before I even get comfortable.

 

[Handley_Page]

RLS is Restless Leg Syndrome which is an uncontrollable urge to move the legs. It's worse at night and once it starts can take hours to stop. Often I think I can finally sleep only to find it starting again long before I even get comfortable.

Sympathy, Madam.
Is this connected in any way to the problems of cramp in the legs at night ?
I'm told that keeping the leg/s warm can really help (presumably due to blood flow).

Meanwhile , we have rain predicted for the morrow so the washing just got delayed.
Any coffee left please ?

 

[TxRad]

About 4 o'clock the rain hit. A small spot shower. That was 20 minutes ago. High today before the storm was 95. Much better than 101.

Fresh coffee for the late afternoon crowd.

A friend stopped by a little earlier and dripped off a couple of pounds of crawfish tails. He left with two big bags of catfish fillets. The barter system is alive and well.

 

[Javahead]

About 4 o'clock the rain hit. A small spot shower. That was 20 minutes ago. High today before the storm was 95. Much better than 101.

Fresh coffee for the late afternoon crowd.

A friend stopped by a little earlier and dripped off a couple of pounds of crawfish tails. He left with two big bags of catfish fillets. The barter system is alive and well.

Coffee is good. But in 95 degree weather? Maybe iced coffee, instead.

Crawfish tails aren't really a thing, here on the west coast. Even though we have 'em in the streams. And call 'em crawdads, instead.

 

[TxRad]

Coffee is good. But in 95 degree weather? Maybe iced coffee, instead.

Crawfish tails aren't really a thing, here on the west coast. Even though we have 'em in the streams. And call 'em crawdads, instead.

I've had cold coffee but never iced. Hot coffee year round for me.

I lived in SoCal for a few years and the ponds and lakes are full of crawfish. No one seems to know what to do with them. I wove a couple of nets on wire frames and caught the heck out of them on chicken necks. I had to have the crawfish boil shipped in. I'd cook enough to feed the neighborhood but very few people showed up. It didn't matter. I bagged the tails for my own use. It all worked out.

The rain lasted about a half hour and dropped close to an inch in my rain gauge. We needed it. It cooled things down another couple of degrees.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Biggles ?
You mean James Bigglesworth, RFC ?
Pure magic, Chloe.

I need coffee !

I do indeed. Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth, now in the Auxiliary Air Force commanding a squadron of Bristol Bulldog fighters on an exercise in the Lake District. He’s a guest at the Blackett’s when the girls arrive home for the summer hols. Think Biggles meets the girls from Swallows and Amazons.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I do indeed. Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth, now in the Auxiliary Air Force commanding a squadron of Bristol Bulldog fighters on an exercise in the Lake District. He’s a guest at the Blackett’s when the girls arrive home for the summer hols. Think Biggles meets the girls from Swallows and Amazons.

Hmm. I’ve read a LOT of Biggles over the years, and I actually thought he was gay. He seemed to have a thing for cousin Algy, then took Ginger under his wing. The only time I can recall him having a relationship with a woman was in one of the WW1 books set in France.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Hmm. I’ve read a LOT of Biggles over the years, and I actually thought he was gay. He seemed to have a thing for cousin Algy, then took Ginger under his wing. The only time I can recall him having a relationship with a woman was in one of the WW1 books set in France.

Yes, he was very much in love with her. And definitely not ga.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Yes, he was very much in love with her. And definitely not ga.

I look forward to reading his new adventure

 

[ChloeTzang]

I look forward to reading his new adventure

Ohhhh it’s jolly good fun. Biggles enjoys himself tremendously. And don’t forget that W E Johns was writing for an audience of teenage boys in the 20s and 30s when you just didn’t do romance. That Janis made it in at all was quite astounding.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Ohhhh it’s jolly good fun. Biggles enjoys himself tremendously. And don’t forget that W E Johns was writing for an audience of teenage boys in the 20s and 30s when you just didn’t do romance. That Janis made it in at all was quite astounding.

True, but I thought the later books might have touched on a relationship... Anyway, as a teen I was more interested in the stories. Jolly good show, what?

 

[Handley_Page]

I do indeed. Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth, now in the Auxiliary Air Force commanding a squadron of Bristol Bulldog fighters on an exercise in the Lake District. He’s a guest at the Blackett’s when the girls arrive home for the summer hols. Think Biggles meets the girls from Swallows and Amazons.

Ah, right; so it's after he left the RFC.
I look forward to reading this one with keen anticipation.

Hmm. I’ve read a LOT of Biggles over the years, and I actually thought he was gay. He seemed to have a thing for cousin Algy, then took Ginger under his wing. The only time I can recall him having a relationship with a woman was in one of the WW1 books set in France.

In my case, if it wasn't Biggles (a name, incidentally, to a dog at an RAF base I know of), it was "Blackshirt", a very anti-criminal written by Bruce Graeme.

 

[oggbashan]

I thought Worrals of the WAAF was Biggles' love interest?

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

I feel like I've missed something. Never heard of this Biggles guy. Guess that might have been before my time, perhaps. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that I didn't grow up in the US or UK and all the kid's books I read were Dutch, with the occasional translated books, like the Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda. God I loved that series... That's probably the one that singlehandedly turned me into a Fantasy reader (and later writer). I've been tempted to read them again some day, in the original English. I actually have them already on my ereader, at least the first series. It's been over 10 years though, not sure how well the stories hold up when reading them as an adult but at least it should be interesting if only because of nostalgia.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I don’t have any of the Worrals books. I can see a gap in my life here....

Biggles and RFC? Yes, RAF now. this is in his Air Police days, late 1930s, but as we Biggles fans know, he does not age as mortals age. The last Biggles book I have is post ww2 when he flies Hawker Hunter fighters....anyhow, my story is set in the mid 1930s more or less and a jolly good time Biggles has....

And if you haven’t read any Biggles books, you’re jolly well missing out. Try Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter, The Camels are Coming, Biggles Learns to Fly, Biggles in France, Biggles of 266 - the ww1 ones are by far and away the best

 

[beachbum1958]

Biggles and Jennings, and for those with a sci-fi bent, Angus McVicar, pretty much required reading in the far off days of yore that were my boyhood. Having much older brothers who were pretty much determined to be soldiers, just like our father, meant the gung-ho atmosphere in our house was thick enough to cut with a knife. I still have all my Jennings books, whenever I go home I dig one out and read it, just to re-immerse, but the Biggles books got read 'til they disintegrated.

I never got to join the RAF and yomp off into the wild blue yonder, but my ward, Bryn, did, much against my wishes, I have to say, I wanted him to be a doctor, like his father. He used to read those Biggles books as a boy, so it's probably my fault and no real coincidence he grew up hankering to scramble and shoot down a few boche before getting back to mess in time for tea and biscuits. He did fly several hundred sorties in Libya and Iraq, and was sent into 617 Squadron, The Dam Busters, to train on the Typhoon platform before being re-deployed to Cyprus. When I heard he'd been sent to 617 Sqn, I called everyone I knew to boast how my Bryn was a Dam Buster now, ha, beat that!

 

[ChloeTzang]

Biggles and Jennings, and for those with a sci-fi bent, Angus McVicar, pretty much required reading in the far off days of yore that were my boyhood. Having much older brothers who were pretty much determined to be soldiers, just like our father, meant the gung-ho atmosphere in our house was thick enough to cut with a knife. I still have all my Jennings books, whenever I go home I dig one out and read it, just to re-immerse, but the Biggles books got read 'til they disintegrated.

I never got to join the RAF and yomp off into the wild blue yonder, but my ward, Bryn, did, much against my wishes, I have to say, I wanted him to be a doctor, like his father. He used to read those Biggles books as a boy, so it's probably my fault and no real coincidence he grew up hankering to scramble and shoot down a few boche before getting back to mess in time for tea and biscuits. He did fly several hundred sorties in Libya and Iraq, and was sent into 617 Squadron, The Dam Busters, to train on the Typhoon platform before being re-deployed to Cyprus. When I heard he'd been sent to 617 Sqn, I called everyone I knew to boast how my Bryn was a Dam Buster now, ha, beat that!

I’d forgotten the boche thing. I’ll have to do a quick catch up on slang. I have erks but gosh, there’s a lot more. It’s all jolly good fun. But I can’t beat dam busting. I have Biggles beating up a train right at the start....

 

[Handley_Page]

I thought Worrals of the WAAF was Biggles' love interest?

"Comrades in Arms", 1947.

I don’t have any of the Worrals books. I can see a gap in my life here....

Biggles and RFC? Yes, RAF now. this is in his Air Police days, late 1930s, but as we Biggles fans know, he does not age as mortals age. The last Biggles book I have is post ww2 when he flies Hawker Hunter fighters....anyhow, my story is set in the mid 1930s more or less and a jolly good time Biggles has....

And if you haven’t read any Biggles books, you’re jolly well missing out. Try Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter, The Camels are Coming, Biggles Learns to Fly, Biggles in France, Biggles of 266 - the ww1 ones are by far and away the best

Take a look here.

As to Jennings,, I remember plays in Children's Hour (5pm weekdays, BBC Home service).
Didn't he have a pal called Derbyshire ?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I never got to join the RAF and yomp off into the wild blue yonder, but my ward, Bryn, did, much against my wishes, I have to say, I wanted him to be a doctor, like his father. He used to read those Biggles books as a boy, so it's probably my fault and no real coincidence he grew up hankering to scramble and shoot down a few boche before getting back to mess in time for tea and biscuits. He did fly several hundred sorties in Libya and Iraq, and was sent into 617 Squadron, The Dam Busters, to train on the Typhoon platform before being re-deployed to Cyprus. When I heard he'd been sent to 617 Sqn, I called everyone I knew to boast how my Bryn was a Dam Buster now, ha, beat that!

Après lui le déluge!

 

[beachbum1958]

"Comrades in Arms", 1947.



Take a look here.

As to Jennings,, I remember plays in Children's Hour (5pm weekdays, BBC Home service).
Didn't he have a pal called Derbyshire ?

Darbishire, Binns, Blotwell, Marshall Pettigrew, Venables, Temple, Atkins, Bromwich, Old Wilkie, Benedick the Housemaster, Aunt Angela, Archbeako, the headmaster, Matron, all characters graven in my memory

 

[TxRad]

All I have to add to this conversation is Tom Swift and his Electric whatever it is of the book. A very early 1900's series of boys books.

Okay, I'll make the coffee and whip out the powered donuts.

It are Friday for any keeping score.

 

[Javahead]

All I have to add to this conversation is Tom Swift and his Electric whatever it is of the book. A very early 1900's series of boys books.

Okay, I'll make the coffee and whip out the powered donuts.

It are Friday for any keeping score.

Thanks for the coffee, Tex.

I think Tom Swift lived in kids’ imaginations long after the books were mostly forgotten thanks to “Tom Swifties” -

“Go to the back of the boat,” Tom said sternly.

I used to know dozens of those.

Not so familiar with the British book series, but we had Tom Swift, the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Dave Darren, and such.

Though I’d love to see what Chloe could do with Peter Wimsey, it’d need to be early Wimsey, pre Harriet Vane to fit in with the established characters. Or have Lord St. George as the male lead - who, come to think of it, would fit in with her typical female leads very well. Now I’m having visions of the Duchess’s reaction to St. George bringing home a Chinese girl and introducing her as his fiancé...

 

[Handley_Page]

Thanks for the coffee, Tex.

I think Tom Swift lived in kids’ imaginations long after the books were mostly forgotten thanks to “Tom Swifties” -

“Go to the back of the boat,” Tom said sternly.

I used to know dozens of those.

Not so familiar with the British book series, but we had Tom Swift, the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Dave Darren, and such.

Though I’d love to see what Chloe could do with Peter Wimsey, it’d need to be early Wimsey, pre Harriet Vane to fit in with the established characters. Or have Lord St. George as the male lead - who, come to think of it, would fit in with her typical female leads very well. Now I’m having visions of the Duchess’s reaction to St. George bringing home a Chinese girl and introducing her as his fiancé...

When the Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys appeared on our TV screens, I was way past 'em. But Lord Peter ? Oh very yes.
In sound, I prefer Ian Carmichael.

 

[Javahead]

When the Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys appeared on our TV screens, I was way past 'em. But Lord Peter ? Oh very yes.
In sound, I prefer Ian Carmichael.

Definitely, Ian Carmichael. Though I've both both the Carmichael and Petherbridge series on DVD.

Never did see the others on TV - I read them all growing up. And I only got the TV Wimsey after reading all the books first.

Wish I had the chops to do a Wimsey homage/send-up myself. I just don't think I could pull it off. Putting aside basic writing skill, I know just enough about the period and place to know how much I don't know . . .

 

[ChloeTzang]

Definitely, Ian Carmichael. Though I've both both the Carmichael and Petherbridge series on DVD.

Never did see the others on TV - I read them all growing up. And I only got the TV Wimsey after reading all the books first.

Wish I had the chops to do a Wimsey homage/send-up myself. I just don't think I could pull it off. Putting aside basic writing skill, I know just enough about the period and place to know how much I don't know . . .

I’ve never heard of any of them. I took a quick look and total blank. Dorothy Sayer is vaguely there somewhere but that’s it. Looks interesting tho.