Freddy

For Steve with all my best
Simon Singh


The original verse by Katie Melua in the original version of Nine Million Bicycles
We are 12 billion light years from the edge
That’s a guess
No one can ever say it’s true
But I know that I will always be with you.

The new, more scientifically accurate verse by Simon Singh
We are 13.7 billion light years from the edge of the observable universe
That’s a good estimate with well defined error bars
Scientists say it’s true, but acknowledge that it may be refined
And with the available information, I predict that I will always be with you.

Freddy

"What I owe you Colonel Lawrence, is beyond evaluation."

arty-dave

Pass the sick bag........

theuofc

I haven't heard of that, Jeff. ...very interesting. Did the theatres have a roped off section of front seats which were so close to the screen they were cheaper?

Thanks,

Barbara

Steve Crook

Just because you want to be romantic, there's no need to be inaccurate

Steve

Steve Crook

They had usherettes.
They would not only check your ticket as you went in but would also guide you to your seat, or the section where you could sit.

If they suspected you'd moved then they'd come around again, even in the middle of the film, and ask to see your ticket.

Of course the back seats were mainly used by canoodling couples who didn't really have much interest in the film anyway. I've been to some cinemas that even had double seats in the back row.

Steve

Captain Casper

Timeless - like the "Peaaaanuuuuuts" scene in Duck Soup.

samkydd

In Once Upon a Time in the West Henry Fonda's classic line "Never trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders. He can't even trust his own pants".

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Ascoyne D'Ascoyne

Not all usherettes were quite so vindictive, Steve. My mother worked as an usherette at one time and, if the cinema was half-empty, would often show some poor old pensioner who had bought a cheap ticket into the dearer seats. That is until one day one of the dear old souls bellowed at her "What do you think you're doing showing me to these seats? I book a front seat because I can't see the screen properly from the back !!

spinalman

My favourites:

Blow Up, David Hemmings stumbles into a hip london party and bumps into an old girlfriend:

Hemmings: "I thought you were in Paris?"
Girl: "I am"


and from EdTV, Martin Landau's character sitting at home, invalided, amongst family, when the phone rings: "will someone get that? I'd do it but I'm afraid I might die."

Paul

716Jones

"And the soil - there's no moisture in it. Nothing to hold a man in his grave"

Give's me a shiver every time I hear that line.

Steve Crook

"Well they've got a very good bass section, mind. But no top tenors, that's for sure"

Steve

Marky B

Why us?
Because we here,lad - nobody else,just us.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

Steve Crook

And that reminds me of the TV drama about the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands, as seen from the point of view of the residents and the small party of Royal Marines that were there. An Ungentlemanly Act (1992).

In that, one of the Marine officers (Bob Peck) gives a briefing to his men just before they go out and fight and it's one of the most amazing speeches of its kind that I've ever heard.

It's to the effect of...
Well chaps, we've been dropped deep into the smelly stuff and we're in it up to our necks, but there's nothing that you or I can do about that. Some of you have only just arrived and others have been here a while and got to know some of the locals. We've got to go out and defend this god-forsaken little island and those locals against some people who think they can just walk in and take over. They've got a whole army coming so we don't expect to win this fight, but we won't just roll over for them.

But let's face up to the truth now. We're going to go out there and some of us may get hurt. Some may even die. Think about that now and get used to the idea. [long pause, looks around the room at each man] There'll be no time to waste thinking about that when you're out there.

And this won't be glorious, fighting for Queen and country or even fighting for the honour of the Marines. You're fighting to protect your mates and your friends.

Now, let's go out there and show these b*****ds that they can't walk all over us.

Steve

theuofc

That's a great speech, Steve. And Bob Peck would be the one to deliver it. A fine, fine character actor, Peck could have exactly the right amount of seething grimness, yet compassion. Memorable in Edge of Darkness, he should have more roles like it. Died way too young.

Best,

Barbara

samkydd

"It’s the most shattering experience of a young man’s life when one morning he awakes, and quite reasonably says to himself, “I will never play The Dane!”

---Uncle Monty

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"