Wordle 703 3/6

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About 6 mins.

142: Weekend Colonel

Finally, the very last instalment of The Phil Silvers Show.

Colonel Hall has had CCTV installed at Camp Fremont, and by an unfortunate coincidence, when he switches on the monitor in his office, he finds Bilko running a crap game.

To make matters worse, the old boy installs CCTV cameras in every building at the camp. The devious motor pool sergeant will not be able to evade his commanding officer's watchful eye.

But shortly after the colonel goes away for the weekend, Bilko runs into Hall's double. Somehow, a short order chef in a diner looks exactly like Colonel Hall. A solution begins to present itself..

It's a well worn trope for sitcoms of a farcical nature of course, the doppelgänger - in fact it's used at least three times over the four series of The Phil Silvers Show. But never to better effect than here.

A nice opportunity for Paul Ford to play a different character for once, and the deadbeat burger flipper certainly does have a very different personality from Colonel Hall. Absolutely hilarious.

Pure brilliance - toward the beginning of the last series I had an uncomfortable feeling that the shark had been jumped, but despite a few sub-par episodes the standard overall has been very high. And this last one of all is probably in the all-time Bilko top five.

I shall miss this. I doubt I'll ever watch the entire canon from start to finish again but I will dip into it again for sure, perhaps using this thread as a reference.

Newcastle are not yet quite guaranteed a top four finish, so I think they'll be on their game against Leicester tonight.

Actually Liverpool can only hope to draw level on points, and their goal difference is 7 worse than Newcastle's. So even if Newcastle were to lose 2-0 tonight, Liverpool would still need a hatful against Southampton on the last day.

Nonetheless I think Newcastle will be keen to make it a copper-bottomed certainty tonight.

The final UK Rush tour kicked off ten years ago this evening at Manchester.  I had a pretty good seat, just a few rows from the front.

It was a good night, but the set was almost entirely composed of post-'70s material. I suspect a lot of fans would have felt a bit alienated. For me though, despite the absence of the earlier material, this tour was the most enjoyable of all the 21st century outings - mainly because I really liked Clockwork Angels.

It's a bit sobering to think that this is ten years ago. I well remember setting off in the direction of Manchester at midday, the tram ride into the city centre, meeting up with some Rush chums in a pub in the afternoon.

I was reminded of this today because a news piece about Lee Rigby, murdered on the same day, came up on the BBC news site earlier. The news appeared on a TV in the pub while we were in there, although above the general noise, it was difficult to work out what had happened.

Wordle 702 3/6

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The solution was the word I considered using on the second go. Annoying.

I stroll into a record shop and immediately I see an absolutely pristine, original triple-gatefold vinyl copy of All The World's A Stage. It looks brand new. There's a small queue at the counter and as I make my way there I look for my debit card .. can't find it. Then I do find it. Then I wake up.

When I got round to buying a legit copy of All The World's A Stage back in 1978 or so, the original import triple-gatefold sleeve version was long sold out. So I had to make do with the UK release, which only had a double gatefold sleeve. Since then I have tracked down a couple of triple-gatefold copies, one on Mercury which I acquired in the '90s, the other on Anthem that I found on eBay about ten years ago.

I was going to do 80 or 90 today, but I woke up earlier than I expected and I was pedalling away from the garage by 0725. I did want to avoid leaving that early because I assumed it would be uncomfortably cold, but with tights and a fleece on I was fine.

Sunny from the moment I left the house. Really nice out there.

The wind was coming from the north-east. I did consider going up to Newartk today, because I haven't done that so far this year. But in the end I settled on the easy option, the eastbound route. The road surface would be better and I wouldn't have to faff around with my eTrex or a navigation app on a phone.

Stopped after 23 miles and stuffed my tights, fleece and rear light into my camo bag, which I then stashed in a hedge. It was very unlikely that I'd need a rear light on this ride, but even less so before the last 23 miles. Having said that, I've noticed that some riders do like a flashing rear light even in bright sunlight. But I don't bother with that myself.

There are two options after Buckminster; one involves dipping down into Rutland and going east through South Witham and Little Bytham. But I did the other one today; through Stainby, Corby Glen and Grimsthorpe. Got as far as Edenham, then turned back having done 53 miles.

Took the pic at the entrance to Grimsthorpe Castle.

UV levels were high today so I took a Zinc Stick with me and applied a coating of Zinc Oxide to my nose. Not the full Shane Warne; just a thin coat. This particular product is yellow rather than white. I did feel a bit self-conscious going into the village shop at Buckminster with a yellow hooter.



Sunday's not the best day for a long ride really because the shops tend to be closed in the afternoon and the only petrol station on this route is at Burton on the Wolds, 17 miles from home. So I had to stock up at Buckminster on the eastbound leg, early on.

Lovely out there and I wasn't too hot in the afternoon; the breeze kept me cool. But I must devise some new routes.

Started the next Reacher novel (Bad Luck and Trouble) but the wind noise made it hard to listen. I must get some wind noise absorbers. They are actually a thing. You attach them to cycle helmet straps. In my case I'd have to improvise something for those times I don't wear a helmet (most of the time to be honest).

Did manage to listen to West Ham vs Leeds on the DAB in the afternoon.

Back on 106.06 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9114647861

141: The Bilko Boycott

It's pay day again, and Bilko has a scheme to part the men from their money shortly after they get paid. He has Henshaw tell them that a lingerie model called Lucy Lamont - I couldn't find a reference to her online so I don't think she's a "guest star" - is visiting Camp Fremont to pose for the camera club.

Of course Bilko runs the club, and there are charges. The men are basically parted from their hard-earned on the basis that she'll be wearing very little clothing. The model herself receives only a very small cut.

But it's too much for Henshaw. And when Bilko constructs a mobile casino out of a trolley so that he can fleece his victims more efficiently, the likeable corporal finally rebels against Bilko's greedy and mercenary ways. Well - it's taken until the second-last episode for his conscience to win him over, but better late than never! And he forms Camp Fremont's very own Gamblers Anonymous organisation.

Bilko's illicit income bottom line suffers dramatically. But of course - he thinks of a way round it.

I have to say that the way Bilko's victims are presented as poker zombies, who simply cannot resist playing cards with him even though they know they'll lose, is rather implausible.

Other than that though - it's a belter.

Quote from: David L on May 21, 2023, 05:42:12 PMI've just ordered 2 Michelin Lithon 3 tyres from BikeInn for £44. I looked for exact replacements for my Pro Race 3s but no longer available. They've got good reviews and they were available in red to match the bike    I hope the Lithons are going to be easy to fit, some road tyres can be an absolute pain to get on the rim.

The tyres I bought for my S Works are Lithion 3s . Bought them for the same reason (red). They weren't too hard to get on. Seem to have lasted well, no problems so far.

Wordle 701 4/6

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Another quick one. Tried a new start word on an impulse and it did well, but the word I was going to try originally would have done better.

140: Bilko in Outer Space

Grover and Ritzik win $600 at an illicit gambling event in the dynamite shed. The two lucky sergeants intend to spend their winnings on furlough in Hawaii in a week's time, so they make a firm resolution not to let Bilko take their winnings off them at cards.

He finds out about it soon enough, but not before they've gone into hiding. Of course there follows a (frankly preposterous) plan to get them into a card game, but it's not successful.

Surprisingly, it's Henshaw who comes up with an even better idea. It involves persuading Grover and Ritzik to volunteer for endurance testing in an isolation chamber, for research into human space travel.

Very good. This episode was first broadcast two years before Yuri Gagarin made the first human spaceflight, but it must have been a topic of interest even in 1959.

Job done! I hoped for a point against Arsenal today. All three guarantees Premier League fotoball next season.

Wordle 700 4/6

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Unfolded nicely. About two minutes

139: The Colonel's Second Honeymoon

California is undergoing a heatwave and the boys in the motor pool barracks are suffering. The air conditioner in their sergeant's office has broken under the strain.

Bilko attempts, predictably, to get Colonel Hall to grant him a furlough so he can go somewhere cooler. He uses the usual dead relative pretext, but the old boy's having none of it.

Of course the devious motor pool sergeant doesn't give up lightly. Can he get the colonel to go away himself for a couple of weeks, leaving the more pliable Captain Barker in charge? An opportunity arises for Bilko to persuade his commanding officer to do just that, with the judicious application of a degree of conniving, of course.

It's largely successful, but there are unintended consequences.

There's an odd moment when I can't help thinking that Paul Ford must have misremembered his line .. he telephones his wife and greets her with the words "Nell .. this is Colonel Hall".

There's a bravura performance by a young actress called Zandu Scott in which she basically does an over-the-top Marilyn Monroe impression. I got an erection.

Really nice one. Cute story.

I read that book in 1995, perhaps I'll reread it some time