Things that are not all they're cracked up to be

[MrGongGong]

Then again it could be Lachenmann - I should much rather do the washing up .

Ligeti's Apparitions would be the perfect piece IMV

[ahinton]

Ligeti's Apparitions would be the perfect piece IMV

Better than Sousa's Washington Post, I suppose...

[french frank]

You got @*&*@ing Shares in the companies that produce this stuff?

Which reminds me, this morning I had a letter from a company called - HSBC, which I have no memory of ever having anything to do with (I moved from the Midland to the Clydesdale long before the former was shanghai'd). They think I have an investment with them and say:

"Following a review of our records, we're aware of a cheque for £0.03 relating to [the above] investment(s) which you haven't yet cashed."

If I wish to have it repaid, I should fill in the enclosed form and destroy any cheques for the above amount, should I locate them. Failing this, as the amount has been unclaimed for six years they propose to donate it to a registered charity of my choice.

I keep rereading the amount and wondering if it's £30 or £300, but if I ask them to return it I suspect it will not be what I've cracked it up to be

[Stanfordian]

Boiled eggs!

[mangerton]

TV ads - especially the ones that try to be funny, but whose sense of humour runs out by the second viewing, and after that...

Yeah, but..... That's why they invented VCRs and PVRs and such like devices. Also, it means you can save around 15 minutes per hour when watching a programme on a commercial channel.

[MrGongGong]

Having just been over it on a train I would say that the Forth Rail Bridge definitely is all it's cracked up to be

[pastoralguy]

Having just been over it on a train I would say that the Forth Rail Bridge definitely is all it's cracked up to be

My great, great, great grandfather was an engineer on that project and it's always been something I'm very proud of. It's a wonderful structure and sometimes, of an evening, Mrs PG and I will drive to North Queensferry and sit under it. its quite breathtaking!

Did you know the little lighthouse that sits under the central cantilever was built by Sir Thomes Bouch, (of original Tay Bridge fame), who had been commissioned to build the Forth Crossing? The lighthouse was as far as he got before his Tay Bridge collapsed.

[ahinton]

Having just been over it on a train I would say that the Forth Rail Bridge definitely is all it's cracked up to be

Yes, so as it's presumably not cracked up, you were able to get over it! Get over it! At least the edifice has given its name to the word "forthcoming"...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Having just been over it on a train I would say that the Forth Rail Bridge definitely is all it's cracked up to be

Yeah - they should have stopped after the first three.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

You were all thinking it!

[Serial_Apologist]

Yeah - they should have stopped after the first three.

Well they couldn't after God told them, "Go, Forth, and multiply".

[mangerton]

Having just been over it on a train I would say that the Forth Rail Bridge definitely is all it's cracked up to be

Heading north or south, MrGG? I still get a great thrill every time I travel over the Forth Bridge. It holds so many memories. Going to Edinburgh in the 50s, or going on holiday. In those days we had our pennies ready to throw into the Firth, and make a wish. They had to be thrown when going through a cantilever; it was cheating otherwise. The trackside gangs must have made a fortune! I remember leaving Fife on a May evening to go to live in Edinburgh. As we crossed the bridge, I looked down, and there was our furniture inside two yellow "Bishop's Move" vans on the ferry.

Definitely all it's cracked up to be, and looking magnificent all painted and floodlit.

[Nick Armstrong]

BBC2's Versailles

Laughable. Woeful.

(By your theme music / score shall ye be known... )

[MrGongGong]

Heading north or south, MrGG? I still get a great thrill every time I travel over the Forth Bridge. It holds so many memories. Going to Edinburgh in the 50s, or going on holiday. In those days we had our pennies ready to throw into the Firth, and make a wish. They had to be thrown when going through a cantilever; it was cheating otherwise. The trackside gangs must have made a fortune! I remember leaving Fife on a May evening to go to live in Edinburgh. As we crossed the bridge, I looked down, and there was our furniture inside two yellow "Bishop's Move" vans on the ferry.

Definitely all it's cracked up to be, and looking magnificent all painted and floodlit.

North this week.
A few days composing projects in Fife secondary schools
Wonderful journey

[johncorrigan]

Heading north or south, MrGG? I still get a great thrill every time I travel over the Forth Bridge. It holds so many memories. Going to Edinburgh in the 50s, or going on holiday. In those days we had our pennies ready to throw into the Firth, and make a wish. They had to be thrown when going through a cantilever; it was cheating otherwise. The trackside gangs must have made a fortune! I remember leaving Fife on a May evening to go to live in Edinburgh. As we crossed the bridge, I looked down, and there was our furniture inside two yellow "Bishop's Move" vans on the ferry.

Definitely all it's cracked up to be, and looking magnificent all painted and floodlit.

Thanks for that. Truly all it's cracked up to be and more. A wonder of the Engineering World and the Art World, whether you're passing over it, looking at it from the Road Bridge or standing under it. As a kid, going or coming home from Anstruther on family holidays and releasing those carriage windows on their leather belts to throw a d into the Firth was the highlight of the journey and it still gives a frisson of delight every time - even if the contained carriages these days don't allow the chucking of the cash any more.