Author Topic: Three Men in a Boat June 12 - (Read 17147 times)

PatH · « **Reply #80 on:** June 19, 2018, 09:45:30 AM »

The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.

June Book Club Online

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)

Written in 1889, this book has never been out of print since.
We’re still laughing. Come on in and find out why.

Schedule:

June 12-16 Chapters 1-5
June 16-? Chapters 6-10

Discussion Leader: PatH

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #81 on:** June 19, 2018, 11:47:28 AM »

Frybabe anything about when the Saxons came to Britain... Only read recently how the Celts had their own version of the Catholic religion including their own Bible and practices that finally Rome had their way and it was all demolished for the Roman Catholic Bible and practices.

Frybabe have you visited Wales... I only visited Cardiff for a Day but on PBS is that series Hinterland showing these baron hills and I wondered if that scenery in that series was more the way of the Welsh countryside than around Cardiff.

JoanK · « **Reply #82 on:** June 19, 2018, 02:53:01 PM »

there is a lot of talk in the book about locks and weirs, does everyone understand how they work? I understand locks but not weirs,

Frybabe · « **Reply #83 on:** June 19, 2018, 05:18:44 PM »

Barb, yes I was in Wales. My Mom was Welsh. She grew up in Merthyr Tydfil, one valley over from where Tom Jones was born. How heartbreaking it was on the trip up to Merthyr Tydfil to see all those white crosses opposite the railroad at Aberfan, two years after a mining tragedy that took so many children. They have since swapped the little crosses for a proper memorial. Our extended family was lucky, but some of their friends families were not.

My Aunt Dulcey (not sure that is spelled right) and Uncle Alvin lived in Cardiff. My sister and I went bar hopping with the cousins. Try riding the top deck of a double-decker bus while drunk as a skunk. We visited Cardiff Castle, but couldn't get into the buildings along the wall because of a wedding that day. Too bad, years later one of my co-workers was there and brought back pictures of the library at the castle. Wish I could have seen that. http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/burges/10library.html What puzzles me now is that the pix she had showed the books set flat on shelves that had drop down lids for dust covers. I don't see them in these pix. We also visited St. Fagan's Castle and grounds. https://museum.wales/stfagans/buildings/castle/ I remember some of the buildings listed, but clearly they have added to the site or we just didn't walk around the whole grounds. I loved the French style garden.

We also visited family in Tenby. The back windows of their house looked out onto an enormous garbage dump with sea gulls a swirling about. Their cat was enormous and all muscle. On the way back to London, we stopped at Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge.

I am not familiar with Hinterland. I'll have to look into it. If you haven't seen Framed (2009), I recommend it. The story revolves around the British Museum's art treasures that were moved Welsh caves for the duration of WWII.

PatH · « **Reply #84 on:** June 19, 2018, 05:27:07 PM »

JoanK, about weirs, here's something from Jerome's time--H. R. Robertson's Life on the Upper Thames (1875):

http://www.victorianweb.org/technology/bridges/weirs.html

It's pretty opaque, but I came away with the impression that a weir is a kind of lock forerunner, in which you shove down a bunch of planks vertically instead of swinging gates shut, but produce the same effect--raising or lowering the water level.

Frybabe · « **Reply #85 on:** June 19, 2018, 05:39:02 PM »

A weir is generally a low dam where the water flows over its. The idea is to impede the flow of the water some and raise the water level a bit behind it. Jonathan, I am not sure what their purpose near a lock would be, but you often see them close to a mill, all the better to help fill the buckets or spin the paddles. They might help some, upstream, with irrigation. Sometimes a fish weir is constructed of stakes across a stream or tidal area to facilitate trapping fish. Remember when we read the book about the old Alaskan women who were left behind by their tribe? (sorry, can't remember the title just now). They talked about making fish traps and channeling the fish into the traps. Weirs appear to be multi-functional.

My take away from this the definition of a weir is that at least two of the "dams" in my area should more accurately be called weirs. Oh, and for regular dams with spillways? The spillways can technically be called weirs.

PatH · « **Reply #86 on:** June 19, 2018, 07:20:52 PM »

Frybabe, I really enjoyed those Cardiff Castle pictures. You can spend a lot of time looking at all the detail,

Quote

What puzzles me now is that the pix she had showed the books set flat on shelves that had drop down lids for dust covers. I don't see them in these pix.

If you look closely at the first picture of the library room, many of the bookshelves look like they are made of two boards, one on top of the other, and sometimes the bottom board has a split in the middle. I wonder if this is like some glass-fronted bookcases my parents had. The glass door was hinged at the top, and swung out until it was horizontal, then slid back until it was lying flat just under the shelf above.

Frybabe · « **Reply #87 on:** June 20, 2018, 06:40:17 AM »

Oh yes, you are right. I was thinking there were more of them, those decorated panels just above the countertop are what I remember. I thought there were more of them, but maybe the others are pushed out of sight or gone now. And yes, they were a lot like your parent's Barrister bookcases. I love Barrister bookcases, but I thought them too expensive for my budget. I did buy a cheap, oak stained model which, in my previous house, held my mineral collection. Now it is in the kitchen and holds some of my shot and liqueur glass, and Japanese tea set collection.

Jonathan · « **Reply #88 on:** June 20, 2018, 12:25:22 PM »

Bellamarie, I would like to pay my respects to your B-I-L, the soldier who has fought his last battle. My condolences to you, your sister, and your extended family.

It's quite understandable how you might feel about this book. I read of someone else who said about it that it would be read with the greatest enjoyment at the age of twelve. I've found it very enjoyable at eighty-nine. Perhaps in the intervening years life gets too serious.

I find it curious that the journey ends at Pangbourne. (In the rain) That's where Kenneth Grahame sends his three river-rats on their journey to the tune of the wind in the willows.

Thanks for the information about weirs. Now I appreciate the hazard it represented for the three and their dog on one occasion, when they were seemingly lost on the river.

Have y'all read Wild Wales, by George Borrow? A great read.

Frybabe · « **Reply #89 on:** June 20, 2018, 04:50:49 PM »

Well, now there is another Welsh-centric book for me to look into. I see that there is a George Borrow Society. http://georgeborrow.org/literature/wildWales.html They even have a Wild Wales app for those who want to travel Wales.

CallieOK · « **Reply #90 on:** June 20, 2018, 05:52:05 PM »

My Gutenberg edition ends before they ride the train back to London. Do the other editions end at the same point?

The author has the same sense of humor I do - and I have chuckled all the way through at his comments and observations.

His ramblings remind me of several friends with whom I've had what we call "Circle Back Conversations" for years and years. Drove our husbands crazy but we knew what we were talking about and that we would eventually "circle back" to the topic we'd started with.

I liked this book!

JoanK · « **Reply #91 on:** June 20, 2018, 10:12:47 PM »

Callie, I,m so glad to hear that. I like it too. You have to get in the rhythm of the way he talks, and go with the flow. Like rowing down the river?!?

Frybabe · « **Reply #92 on:** June 21, 2018, 07:14:49 AM »

Callie, I am glad to hear that I am not the only one has had "circle back" conversations. I used to have a neighbor with whom we could hold several different conversations at the same time, switching back and forth without missing a beat. My conversation style is associative and not at all linear, which neither my X nor George could ever follow.

I found this interesting site while looking up Duncroft Manor/house. You have to scroll down a ways to find the history of the Duncroft. The author of the site includes a passage from Three Men in a Boat. https://sites.google.com/site/staineshistoricalwalks/home/staines-history-walk-part-1

PatH · « **Reply #93 on:** June 21, 2018, 11:12:13 AM »

Callie, I'm glad you enjoyed the humor.

My ancient paperback ends up back in London, but it only takes the last three pages. One could almost miss it, if one didn't notice what railroad station they end up at. In the final paragraph, they are having a celebratory dinner, and toast Three Men well out of a Boat.

CallieOK · « **Reply #94 on:** June 21, 2018, 12:13:43 PM »

Frybabe, "associative"? "linear"......oh my, I didn't realize there were "technical" names for what I've done all my life.

PatH, my book also ended with a dinner and the toast. Guess I was reading too fast to catch the mention of Paddington and thought they were still in the town where they "ditched" the boat.

JoanK: Shall we end the discussion with a rousing round of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #95 on:** June 21, 2018, 12:31:32 PM »

Haven't looked at the end and since I decided to read this using my kindle I hate loosing my place which when I link back on takes me to the last sentence I read.

My daughter has been here since Monday and yesterday we got tons done starting the clear out of my office - even more than I realized packed in there - but at least getting started I won't look at the clearing as beyond me.

I must have missed your post Bellamarie - sadness and yet it sounds like peace with your brother-in-law's passing - hope your sister is taking care of herself - my condolences and prayers are with you.

I need to find a photo of a weir - from the descriptions I think I understand but it sounds so much like what we call a low water bridge so I have not yet got it nailed.

Hope to be back tonight...

PatH · « **Reply #96 on:** June 22, 2018, 09:19:39 PM »

It looks like some people have finished the book and some are reading more or less to schedule, by my rough count 3 and 2. How should we proceed? Since the book doesn't really have a structure, but is just bits and pieces, we could now just all say anything we thought of and share our favorite moments, or we could keep to a rough order and go on to the next section. What do you want?

Frybabe · « **Reply #97 on:** June 22, 2018, 09:41:08 PM »

I have no idea where everyone is, I am just passing passing Staines and surrrounds.

CallieOK · « **Reply #98 on:** June 22, 2018, 09:42:50 PM »

I didn't mean to put in a spoiler about the ending. I thought I was within the time limit.

PatH · « **Reply #99 on:** June 22, 2018, 10:05:25 PM »

Callie, that's not a spoiler, and I've been ridiculously vague about time limits, and am about to violate them further.

PatH · « **Reply #100 on:** June 22, 2018, 10:44:23 PM »

Like Callie, I really enjoy the bits of history. England is a much more compact nation than we are, and has a much longer recorded history, so the ghosts of the past are much thicker on the ground, and if you know your history, you probably think about that a lot on the Thames, which, as a major transportation route, would have more than its share of memorable events.

I can also see that in spite of the fact that Jerome has spent much of the book thinking of everything that could possibly go wrong on a boating trip and inflicting it on his characters, he really deeply loves the area.

Chapter 13 starts out full of beauty and history at Marlow and Hurley Weir, and after describing beauty remembered with love and thinking about events ranging from invading Danes to Shelley writing poetry in a boat on the river, we get a remarkable combination. At the site of a thirteenth century abbey, whose Cistercian monks ate no meat, slept on straw heaps, and never spoke:

"A grim fraternity, passing grim lives in that sweet spot, that God had made so bright! Strange that Nature's voices all around them--the soft singing of the waters, the whisperings of the river grass, the music of the rushing wind--should not have taught them a truer meaning of life than this. They listened there, through the long days, in silence, waiting for a voice from heaven; and all day long and through the solemn night it spoke to them in myriad tones, and they heard it not."

Jonathan · « **Reply #101 on:** June 23, 2018, 03:38:57 PM »

That's a fine quote, Pat, about the Cistercian monks, who found it sinful to be seduced by the beauty around them. And it reminds the reader that there is almost as much pathos as humor in cruising this charming river on its historic course. Laughing one minute and pondering sad truths the next.

They spend two days in Oxford. The dog, Montmorency, finds himself in heaven. Ten dogfights the first day. Fourteen the next.

J contemplates the historic happenings on Magna Charta Island; writes up a history lesson for schoochildren...only to be 'recalled from the days of the glorious past to the prosaic present, with all its misery and sin.'

George needs help with the dishes!

Frybabe · « **Reply #102 on:** June 23, 2018, 06:08:59 PM »

Still not out of Windsor, it looks like, buy almost. I looked into the history of the pub. It has had a long career. The earliest illustration of the place I could find is from 1820. Scroll down below the overhead view of the current place to see the old illustrations and photos from years past. I read a passage about how the pub got bombed in WWII, but that the five red glass bells, displayed there survived without a scratch. I haven't looked up the history of the bells themselves, yet. http://thames.me.uk/s00522.htm

I am now traveling up river toward Monkey Island. http://thames.me.uk/s00670.htm Another interesting history ranging from the original inhabitants (monks), to the Duke of Marlborough, to the most recent "extensive" renovations just completed last year. As with many of the old manors and estates, it is now a hotel. I thought the bit about the rubble from the Great Fire of London being dumped on the island kind of interesting. And, of course, there are old photos and artworks.

I like that some of the photos and art in the above are from the time of JKJ's writing the book. In fact, according to Wikipedia, JKJ was married in 1888 and spent his honeymoon on the Thames, a year before publishing Three Men in a Boat.

JoanK · « **Reply #103 on:** June 23, 2018, 11:15:57 PM »

Fry, I wondered how old I was when he wrote this. I figured older but not too much. To an American, it seems incredible to have so much history and to be so aware of it! We have so much less recorded history,and it seems less important to us. That is both good and bad. You can get stuck, linking for the old ways. But I like to know the history of the place where I live.. When I moved to this suburb of Low Angeles, one of the first things I did was ask at the library if they had a history of the town, and read it. I now find I,m the only one I know that knows anything about it,a history.

JoanK · « **Reply #104 on:** June 23, 2018, 11:20:35 PM »

Please excuse my typo,s. This device is tricky, hard to type,and if Iedit, I often lose the post.

Jonathan · « **Reply #105 on:** June 24, 2018, 12:08:15 PM »

'Stuck in the past.' What an interesting thought. Your posts are fun to read, Joan. Never mind the typos. They're like a bit of salt and pepper. Didn't Margaret Thatcher once complain that England had become a museum?

Then there are the bells. Thanks for mentioning them, Frybabe. I remember them so well, travelling about in England. Everywhere, night and day, bells would start ringing. So I couldn't resist a book in the bin outside a little bookshop. A Book About Bells, by The Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, B.A. Published in 1898. A wonderful read. Here's the last paragraph:

'How many a story of romance and poetry, how many a lesson of devotion and prayer, rings out from the belfries of the world! Some of these we have endeavoured to touch upon, but the bells' deepest truths we must hear from their own sonorous throats. It is when the merry peal, the regular chime, the dreary toll, speak of joys, or duties, or sorrows, that touch our own hearts and lives, it is then that we feel the kinship of the bells with all that goes to make up the checkered pathway of mankind. May we so harken to their constant chimes that for us their final tolling shall mean a fuller, if more solemn, gladness than ever did their merriest peal.'

So it's not just 'for whom the bell tolls', but a whole raft of news, gossip, and admonition in those chimes. Of long ago.

PatH · « **Reply #106 on:** June 24, 2018, 01:53:37 PM »

Yes, Jerome wrote the book right after his honeymoon, and the three men's trip covers about the same route as Jerome's. Jerome had also taken boat trips with the real life George and Harris. One hopes that the joyful, lyrical passages come from his honeymoon, and the slapstick disasters from trips with friends, not the other way around.

bellamarie · « **Reply #107 on:** June 25, 2018, 04:30:00 PM »

Bells.....yes, Frybabe and Jonathan, the bells seem to always have a significance, it reminds me of the movie that was released in 1959 Bell, Book and Candle. I loved Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart in this movie, she the witch puts a spell on him the unknowing publisher. Oh and the cat in the movie, named Pyewacket was so beautiful and intriguing. Just a little bit of trivia:

Gillian's cat is named Pyewacket. This name has become a popular one for cats because of this movie, but few know its origin: Pyewacket was one of the familiar spirits of a witch detected by the "witch finder generall" Matthew Hopkins in March 1644 in the town of Maningtree, Essex, UK. He claimed he spied on the witches as they held their meeting close by his house, and heard them mention the name of a local woman. She was arrested and deprived of sleep for four nights, at the end of which she confessed and named her familiars, describing their forms. They were:- Holt- Jarmara- Vinegar Tom- Sacke and Sugar- Newes- Ilemauzer- Pyewacket- Pecke in the Crowne- Griezzel Greedigutt Hopkins says he and nine other witnesses saw the first five of these, which appeared in the forms described by the witch. Interestingly, only the first of these was a cat; the next two were dogs, and the others were a black rabbit and a polecat. So it's not clear whether Pyewacket was a cat's name or not. As for the meanings, Hopkins says only that they were such that "no mortall could invent." The incident is described in Hopkins's pamphlet "The Discovery of Witches" (1647).
The title "Bell, Book and Candle" is a reference to exorcism, which is performed by bell, book and candle. It is opened with "Strike the bell, open the book, light the candle," and closed with "strike the bell, close the book, blow out the candle."[/b]
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/68407/Bell-Book-and-Candle/trivia.html

Oh dear, look what I have done, gotten distracted on the bells topic and taken you all entirely away from the book. But then I think it's just what the three men did themselves throughout the story.

Frybabe · « **Reply #108 on:** June 26, 2018, 05:27:50 PM »

I've past Maidenhead and the Clieveden (Cliveden) Woods. In just a sentence or so, JKJ made us to understand that it was probably the loveliest part of the trip. Wonder why he didn't say more about it. I couldn't let that go, so.... Cliveden Estate and the surrounding woodlands is part of the National Trust. There are lots of pictures of the walks and the river, not to mention the estate house, so just went with linking to the National Trust website. There are several trails you can check out if you click on the Take A Look under Walking the Woodland Trails. At the bottom there is a link to the gardens and activities at Cliveden Estates.

Among other, less known to me people, the 2nd Duke of Buchingham, George Villers, owned the property from 1666 until his death in 1679. In 1893, William Waldorf Astor bought the estate who gave it to his son, Waldorf, as a wedding gift when he married Nancy Langhorne. Tons of parties and famous guests visited through the years. It was one of the estates that was used as a hospital during the Wars (by the Canadian Red Cross). The estate has been part of the National Trust since 1942. The place was a key setting in the events of the Profumo Affair (remember that?). The Astors moved from the estate in 1969. No big surprise, the place is now a five-star hotel. I think I saw somewhere that the estate and woodlands are one of the most popular of the National Trust sites.

Frybabe · « **Reply #109 on:** June 27, 2018, 07:49:43 AM »

Marlow seems a pretty area. I could live there. Percy and Mary Shelley did. Wikipedia says JKJ wrote part of his this book here at the Two Brewers Pub. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlow,_Buckinghamshire#/media/File:Marlow,_Buckinghamshire.jpg check out the slides.

It looks like Henley, home of the famous Henley Royal Regatta is coming up next. This year's event will be held from July 4 to July 8.

Oh, I almost forgot. I wanted to mention that the episode with the pineapple can was an absolute riot. I can see the Three Stooges or Abbot and Costello doing a skit like that.

PatH · « **Reply #110 on:** June 27, 2018, 10:46:15 AM »

There are so many little throwaway remarks about great beauty in the book. So that's the best spot.

I knew nothing about the second Duke of Buckingham, so looked him up. He looks like a twisty schemer, also sexually immoral, who, although often in trouble, managed to escape most of what he deserved. He was real nobility, though. There's a picture of his coat of arms, and it's got twelve different quarters. (Technical heraldry term, so there can be more than four.) That means that he was descended from twelve different arms-bearing ancestors.

Any fan of The Three Musketeers knows about the first Duke of Buckingham, also George Villiers, though. He is supposedly in love with the French queen, and has encouraged England's skirmishes with France in order to get to see her. A big chunk of the book's action consists of the Musketeers' retrieval of some evidence that would get the queen in trouble over this. There is no historical basis for this, but Buckingham's general actions, and the manner of his assassination, though not its motivation, are apparently accurate.

Frybabe · « **Reply #111 on:** June 28, 2018, 08:35:40 AM »

I was looking up a picture of Shiplake Chruch where Tennyson was wed and ran across this description of the wedding:
http://odg.org.uk/shiplakerc/tennyson.html It appears that Shiplake has a connection to bells, too. They teach the proper method to ring bells.

JKJ's description of Sonning reminds me of the Thomas Kinkaid paintings. I can't say that I found any pictures that resembled the paintings, fariy-like or otherwise, nor does it remind me of any "stage" pieces. I did discover, however, that George Clooney and wife bought a mansion there several years ago. https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/1417022/take-a-peek-at-george-and-amal-clooneys-stunning-20m-riverside-mansion/ Okay, so maybe their place looks a little like some stage setting. It must be positively claustrophobic with the trees so close to the house, though. The Bull's Inn looks pretty much like it did in an old postcard (c. 1914 or before), but I like this postcard from 1925 better. https://picclick.co.uk/RP-Postcard-c1925-THE-BULL-HOTEL-SONNING-Nr-123201614383.html The Inn is still in operation. If you do a Google, you can get pix of the interior as well as lots of lovely exterior, shots. They also have a website if you are into looking at their menu or want to check out their sleeping accommodations. http://www.bullinnsonning.co.uk/

Ah, the great Potato Peeling episode. "I never saw such a thing as potato-scraping for making a fellow in a mess. Hah! Maybe that is why they call army dinning areas a Mess? Peeling potatoes was something of a punishment for minor miscreant servicemen once upon a time, if I remember correctly. Than has been my impression, at any rate. My Dad used to get pot cleaning duty. He said it was because he was so short (5'4") that he could crawl right into the pots. I can't imagine cook pots that big. Montmorency's water-rat presentation of a water rat for inclusion in the Irish Stew made me chuckle.

My keyboard just got attacked by a huge mass of loose cat hair. I was just petting Oscar and thought I got most of it off my hands before typing. I guess not!

Frybabe · « **Reply #112 on:** July 03, 2018, 01:38:17 PM »

Everyone must have gone on Vacation, including me. I got sidetracked. Must continue my reading.

Oh, I've been watching the old Black Adder show. It's a good thing it is only a half and hour. This time around, I can only take about that much of the humor. It seems a little too silly to me now. I must be getting old.

Frybabe · « **Reply #113 on:** July 04, 2018, 12:55:53 PM »

Well, I finished the chapter where they went by Reading. JKJ seemed very unimpressed and uninspired by Reading. I wonder what he would think of it today?

I looked in on Reading and found that Jane and Casandra Austen went to school there, but only for one year. https://www.janeausten.org/jane-austen-reading-uk.asp Here is a blurb about the reopening of the Reading Abbey grounds. https://livingreading.co.uk/abbey-revealed At the bottom of the article is a link to activities and the Reading Museum and the Reading Town Hall, which is now a conference center I take it.

On to the next chapter.

PatH · « **Reply #114 on:** July 04, 2018, 02:41:50 PM »

He may not have cared for Reading, but he could still be funny on the subject: "here Ethelred and his brother, Alfred defeated them (Danes), Ethelred doing the praying and Alfred the fighting." And "It must have been worth while having a mere ordinary plague now and then in London to get rid of both the lawyers and the Parliament."

History is so thick on the ground in England. Throw a pebble, and it'll land on a spot where somebody did something.

Frybabe · « **Reply #115 on:** July 05, 2018, 07:07:26 AM »

After Wallingford, the journey feels a bit rushed in their effort to get to Oxford in a hurry. Well, I guess I will find out why they were in a hurry to get there - or not. Sigh! The main focus of the book is not on historical sites and their history, but the trip itself. For all those who live there, all this history is old hat.

BTW, I did skip the fishing segment, although I suppose I missed some funny fishing calamity tales.

Here is a 1901 photo of The Barley Mow Inn. https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/education/educational-images/the-barley-mow-inn-clifton-hampden-4091 It is still in operation today. The inn has been in existance since 1352, and as far as I know, still has the original building (or timbers) incorporated into it. Take a trip through Clifton and the Barley Mow today via YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNqNV8TMzIw Too bad some of this is a bit dark as the clouds roll in. I removed my external speakers after Shan kept pulling them off the desk, and I haven't reset the sound to internals on the Linus, so I am missing any narrative that might be with this. I will have to re-watch it on the Windows or fix the sound on this machine first.

Frybabe · « **Reply #116 on:** July 05, 2018, 07:27:44 AM »

Okay, I think that is it for me. My version ends in London too.

PatH · « **Reply #117 on:** July 05, 2018, 08:59:30 AM »

They go off, leaving most of their stuff in the boat, to be sent on. I wonder if they remembered to fish out their toothbrushes.

PatH · « **Reply #118 on:** July 05, 2018, 09:17:53 AM »

Frybabe, you did a better job than I did at discussion leading. Your links have sent me on a real nostalgia trip. Sixty years ago, Bob and I lived in Zurich for a year (he had a postdoctorate fellowship at a lab there) and we spent the three week summer vacation driving around England and Wales. We would stay at Trust house inns whenever we could, though not such fancy ones as the Bull. Did you read their menu? Rather fancy and upscale, priced accordingly. One of them was a Bull, though. I tried to track it down, but didn't find it--maybe it's no longer rented out. It was more like the Barley Mow, half-timbered, Elizabethan or older, irregular floors and walls, and not too expensive for a post-doc's pittance.

I liked the aerial view of Clooney's mansion. The channel is really narrow on one side, which explains why I had trouble picking out islands on some of the maps.

PatH · « **Reply #119 on:** July 05, 2018, 11:21:35 AM »

Frybabe, don't bother to fix your sound for that Utube. The sound consists of low background noises and clunks, plus an occasional two or three word comment spoken in a low voice, not necessarily pointed towards the mike, in a strong British accent.

Shan's behavior reminds me of the Ursula K. LeGuin book I'm reading, No Time to Spare. It's a collection of little essays or blogs, roughly grouped into several topics--growing old, writing, fan mail, reading, etc., and several sets about her newest cat, Pard. Pard, named for a combination of gattopardo (Italian for leopard) and pardner, doesn't go for speakers, he goes for the Time Machine backup device. It's warm, and its buzzing makes him think there are beetles inside. I recommend the book, but don't let Shan get his paws on it; he'll get some really bad ideas.

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Author Topic: Three Men in a Boat June 12 - (Read 17147 times)