xaphod

Hi, JeffM, I wasn't going to say anything, but it seems there was a bit of Pom-bashing went on in the Aussie press before the game. The comment I picked up on was that we were accused of playing 'boring Rugby'. ..... must have bored the pants off them ! Xa

Well it's true. they are booooooooooooooooooooring. The same thing over and over again. I enjoy some British comedy and DR. Who. But the later is no longer aired here in the U.S. where I live. So much for Public TV.

I my self no longer have cable in my house and been like that for over a year and a half. I think paying over $50. a month for basic cable was a rip off.

Hoorah .... I knew the yanks wern't as bad as all that. We have a new series of Dr Who starting soon, so I hope you will be able to see it in due course.

The trend is to try to make more money out of television .... to get quality programmes you have to go to the subscription channels who are steadily buying up the rights to anything decent. In the UK, you don't even get the Spencer Tracey / Katherine Hepburn classics on the box any more .... I think the satellite lot have bought them up !

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.... another story:-

Way back when, I went for an interview to do some Engineering at a company on Long Island. It was quite pleasant, because the Engineering Manager and his wife went out of their way to entertain this Brit and to show me a little of the area. What has always stayed with me is that he made a point of saying that the US was not all drive-by shootings and inner-city violence.

He did apologise for the TV, though. He said that to get anything decent, they paid for a subscription channel. What won me over was that he really liked Monty Python. Hell, intelligence is not quite dead yet !

Xa

I've been meaning to post this article from August.

It seems that 'Coupling' hit the NBC networks a while back and lasted all of 2 weeks. I have my ideas why anything with a modicum of sophistication bombed in US ratings, and why our garbage shows are popular, but I won't mention them here.

Any ideas from the heelies across the pond?

From the Sunday Times, sometime in August:-

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Lost in Translation

Steve Moffat winces as he recalls his first exposure to Hollywood. It was only hours after the filming of the pilot episode of the Americanised version of his BBC comedy Coupling, and half of the cast were being sacked !

The softly-spoken Scot, a 42 year old former schoolteacher from Paisley, pauses for a moment: "It was vile." At that moment, the American version of Coupling was falling apart, the fate of so many British comedies that jump across the pond, only to land in the Bermuda Triangle reserved for mutilated translations.

It was too much to expect an American television network to broadcast a British comedy un-neutered: beyond New York and Los Angeles, we all sound like Australians with speech impediments to them. Cultural exports are largely one-way. The NBC network, however, urgently needed a replacement for Friends. So they looked at Coupling and its plot of six good-looking, urban thirty-somethings and their emotional entanglements as Friends with extra smut. But, as Britain's 2.7m Coupling fans know, that's where the similarities stop.

Not for NBC it wasn't, who set off down the wrong path by shooting an episode from the middle of the first series that Moffat wrote, but its array of unfamiliar and sexually upfront characters - twisted by Moffat's hallmark narrative switches and feints, which are like nothing else on American sitcoms - left test audiences gasping and confused. NBC could hardly blame the writer, as Coupling is already huge across Europe, so they fired the actors and then some executives !

So NBC shot a second pilot, and the next month Coupling will make its debut on American prime time, the first British comedy to make it since Till Death Us Do Part (incidentally produced by a guy from the school where Xaphod's dad was headmaster) became All in The Family in 1971.

What Moffat neglected to add is that, unlike most American comedies, where dozens of writers are thrown at a sitcom, Coupling has always been a personal soap-opera. The linchpin characters, Steve and Susan, share the names of the writer and his producer wife, whom he met at the Edinburgh Television Festival. Like their alter-egos, they were going out with other people at the time. The other four characters represent the couple at their most confident - the 'insane bitch' Jane and priapic Patrick - and their most inept selves, encapsulated by the body-obsessed Sally and the deeply disturbed Jeff. Sue Virtue, who produces Coupling, has admitted to censoring some of her husband's more revealing script lines.

So what has changed for the American version? "Well, they had to cut each episode down to 21 minutes for ad breaks, and I have lost some of my favourite lines, " says Moffat. It's faintly weird hearing very English witticisms coming out of Chicago mouths. A few obvious references have been changed, and Anglophiles who watch our version on BBC America will miss Jack Davenport and Gina Bellman.

The good news, however, is that the first 13 episodes, stretched by the NBC scribes from the original six, look to stir up the American Heartlands like Friends never could. British television is currently riding on a wave in America, with reality formats, quiz shows, and themes such as Changing Rooms. Coupling is, make no mistake, a bold move for mainstream American television. It could still flop, although the omens are good.

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There was a critique of the translation of Coupling to its American version on the UK idiot's lantern a few days ago. Incidentally, this is where I learnt that the US version bombed.

It seems that the Yanks like one-line humour whereas the Brits like a realtively protracted narrative, gradually leading from reality to a more and more incongruous situation, but, working on the principle of acclimatisation by slow change, the inanity of the joke is not seen until the punchline which brings the strange position to which the viewer has been drawn un-noticed into immediate and stark relief.

By comparison, I think the sort of one-liner from the Yank version:-

"Susan, why do women always look at men's bottoms?"

.... "because they're lip-reading"

could be why the Yank version would bomb in Britain !

Xa

Posh Spice? Who's she? Some UK Bimbo? Not well known anywhere else!

Sang in what I think to be a second rate group.

Is second rate to her football-star husband.

Thinks she is the bees knees !

Xa

Clearly all of us here are 'solemates', but how about the people we haven't enlightened? Let's have your suggestions, everyone.

What do we call people who don't wear heels ..... irrelevant.

Xa (tongue slightly in cheek)

as a follow on from quotes about genius in another thread

Berlioz was a genius, not a scholar !

Camille Saint-Saens

Xa

attributed to Wallis Simpson:- You can't abdicate and eat it ! Regarding being excluded from Royal circles after the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936. Xa

Been there .... done that. I started wearing corsets 23.5/7 for some months in early 2000 and reduced my waist to 28". Since it was Winter, I wasn't doing too much in the way of extreme physical activity, but when Spring came and I started sailing, the restriction of corseting was pretty well incompatible with the sometimes very physical work involved with single-handing a 32 foot sailboat, so I took the corset off. More fool me ..... because I put my back out for the first time in my life, and was flat out for a month !!! That certainly screwed up my sailing season and I havn't worn a corset since ..... heels are a different matter though ! Xaphod's method of putting on a corset. My night corset was my previous day corset (1" larger waist earlier on during training). Upon waking, remove night corset and bathe/shower. Loosen the laces sufficiently and evenly on the day corset so that you can only just close the corset at the front. It's best to do this first thing in the morning after you have had a bath/shower, but before you have eaten. Lay down on the bed and engage the bottom clip on the busk. Use this as a pivot to engage the more difficult clips at the minimum part of the waist. Complete fastening the busk. Stand up, preferably in heels so you get a better posture for corset wearing, and pull in the waist somewhat. This will tighten the waist, but not the top and bottom of the corset. Reach behind you and progressively tighten the corset from the top down to the middle and from the bottom up to the middle. You will now be able to pull in more of the laces at the waist. If you have been corseting for a while, the edges of the corset will nearly meet. Now wriggle around in the corset ..... it's difficult to describe, but you need to feel your internal organs re-adjusting their positions and your lower ribcage sitting on the taper of the corset down to your waist. The corset should also be taking the weight of your upper body which you should also feel being transfered to the tops of your hips and your pelvis through the stiffness of the corset. This actually stretches your spine a little and atrophies the muscles which usually support it ..... as I found out to my cost !!! Finally close the corset (say the last 3/4"), again working from the top down and from the bottom up. Pull the laces tight so that the edges of the corset don't open like a pair of lips pouting when you bend over (as far as the corset will let you !!! ). Many people wind the laces around the waist a few times, but to stop the laces chafing your corset, it is best to tie them at the back, then loosely wind them around the waist. A little practice tying a bow knot behind you while not letting your waist expand will pay dividends in corset life ! Part of 23.5/7 corset wearing is keeping your skin in good condition, which means attending to places where the corset chafes, keeping the skin and corset clean and wearing something under the corset if extreme waist reduction is required. I used to wear an old t-shirt under my night corset for comfort in sleeping, but nothing under the day one. Had I continued wearing corsets, I would have had to invest in a corset liner. The use of 2 corsets allows the day or night corset to be washed and dried while the other one is being worn. Xa

oi! you calling me fick or summat?! (and "did you spill my pint?")

Emma

Sorry .... generalisations again, but when I go back to my old northern town, where we used to have girls' and boys' Grammar Schools, and ask old school friends where any young person with a bit of 'nous' may go to get an education, they say that the best thing to do is to move out !

Xa

I'm coming to the conclusion that if you dress well and that your 'internal mental attitude' knows you are looking good, you will be well equipped to attract favourable comments. The negative stuff that is also inevitable then seems trivial in comparison.

I also find that the favourable comments are much more prevalent in the 'rich end of town'. To quote Charles Pellegrino (previously attributed to Carl Sagan, in error):-

Talent recognises genius. Mediocrity sees only itself.

Xa

I've added some more to the original story if anyone would care to read it. Jo, I know the designer store up the hill in Kensington Church St. Usually there is something of interest, but, as you say, it's horrendously expensive for something secondhand. It's amazing how stupid some people are to pay so much money for a name on a label. I still remember that Viv Westwood used to charge £50 for a teeshirt with her logo on it. I get as good quality for £10 from Argos !!! Xa

Since it looks like we are missing out High St Kensington, I went up there yesterday, wearing my spiky Sacha knee high boots outside pants. Diving into Pizza Hut, I was greeted by my fave waitress, "Hi, how are you?" Usual pleasantries passed and I chose their 'eat as much as you like' buffet. While I was selecting from their pizzas and salad bar, I asked another waitress if they still did their black olive pizzas. Returning to my table I found the bill which they usually leave to save them time when the rush starts later. Strange, thought I, what's written on this .... 'I want you', plus some cryptic underlinings on the bit about 'service not included'. OH f.... how do I handle this? While musing on this, my fave waitress (who is about half my age) came over and said, "We've put out a mushroom and black olive pizza for you. Oh, BTW I really like your boots .... where did you get them from?" I told her that they were from Sacha a couple of years ago, so she seemed pretty disappointed that she couldn't get a pair. She had to attend to another customer, so I couldn't continue the conversation. The problem was that I couldn't be sure that it was she who had written on the bill, so when one of the guys came over to refill my pepsi, I asked him whose writing this was on my bill. "It's mine", the guy said, and apologised pretty quickly. I told him that despite appearances to the contrary I was 100% straight and he went away. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later on in the day I was in South Molton St (a mini version of Rodeo drive) wandering into all the designer shoe stores there. I was half aware of a woman who walked across from the other side of the street, straight into the shop, straight up to me and said, "I really admire a guy who is interested in footwear". We had a brief conversation about why I wore heels, but she had to dash before I could steer the conversation around to anything more personal. Could be I ballsed up again ! .... added later It couldn't have been all that bad, because she said that I was 'looking good'. One day, this way, I might find someone I like and who hasn't got any current emotional entaglements, but, in the meantime, it's quite fun. Jo, I don't normally remember the stores in South Molton St. Generally they are well overpriced £300 to £500 for a pair of admitedly very good quality boots. For that price I can get a pair custom-made. Note for Robert, I dropped into Barrats in Oxford St to see if your 'Jeanes' boots had arrived in size 10 .... no luck, but I'll keep on trying. I always thought that people in shoe shops had a shoe fetish to a greater or lesser degree, but the manageress of Barrats asked me, somewhat incredulously, "do you actually like wearing them". I told her that I had been fascinated by heels since I was about 4 (in 1960). I was just the right height to get an eyeful of stils and in just the right era .... all the girls wore stils then. In Aldo in Oxford St, I met the same girl who sold me a pair of 3 1/2" heeled burgundy knee boots last year. She tried valiantly to sell me something else, but old Xaphod is too canny to pay 'recommended retail price' for anything, unless it's truly exceptional. Outside Aldo I was stopped by another girl who was amazed by the spiky Sachas and asked if I had just bought them in Aldo. A second girl this day seemed quite disappointed that she had 'missed the boat' by about 2 years. Finally, on the tube, a couple of young girls seemed to be having trouble containing the giggles. The two snaps of conversation I overheard were: "I can't stand it, I think I'm going to explode", and, when I rose to get off, coincidentally at the same stop as them, "Ohmigod he's getting off here." Xa

if anyone has grown up in s yorks, you would know that generally people have a very sarcastic sense of humour, and look for nice opportunitiies ti rip the piss out of the ordinary.

Guess why I left that part of the world .... anyone with any brains got the hell out for more civilised parts.

Xa

OK, guys,

King's Cross it is. My train can get me to Kings's X by about 1050, assuming the Northern line is OK.

I was up for a visit to Leatherworks 9/10, but not for LSB 3/10. If we are going to see lots of shops in north London, then that will not leave a lot of time doing the mainstream shops.

Cyprianou is in Bounds Green, but I think he would not be too amused having lots of people invade his small shop. If someone is really interested in buying a pair of custom made shoes (we're talking north of £500 here), then I'll give you his phone number and you can arrange an appointment, but a lot of guys coming just to gawp is not where he's at.

Oh, BTW, I came back a bit early.

Xa

Hi, Daz, Ionic and others, OK, 6th it is. Suggest meeting at 1145 at High St Kensington station concourse. If you are early, there's Marks and Spencers next door to browse (they do some reasonably elegant boots and go up to size 9 sometimes). This is only a suggestion, not set in stone .... I know Daz gets a cheaper ticket if he travels early, so I can appear an hour earlier if required. Leatherworks have some ranges in most sizes, so you can try on these to find out which size last you prefer. The particular style you choose will be made on their standard last (I don't think they do custom foot measurement and modify the last to suit individual feet). If you have kneehigh boots made, they will tailor the profile of the boot to your leg, but I'm pretty sure it's still Hobson's choice when it comes to the last. Stils will be fine .... I feel the need for Fuss 5" courts, but whim may change this. I'm not around for a while so I'll PM a contact phone number to those interested. Xa

Hi, all, Confirmed .... we'll do Thurs 6th. I havn't been to Leatherworks for a while, so another trip would be fun. If you're planning to buy some shoes from there, then it's a good idea to try on a few pairs because their lasts are very narrow. In my case, with size 5EEE feet, I find that I have to take their size 7s. Ususally size 6 is OK from ordinary outlets, but size 7 is just unwearable .... that's why I don't have any Leatherworks shoes. BTW, Leatherworks used to like you to phone beforehand to make an appointment. When you arrived you pressed the bell on an anonymous-looking door which was opened to reveal all the heely goodies inside ! Normally I get up to town around 1130 and eat at Pizza Hut in High St Kensington (as much pizza as you can eat plus salad for £5.50). Suitably fuelled, I then go wherever I'm going. Xa

How about Thursday 6th in London ? Xa

Rock group 'Hell on Earth' has said it will go ahead with an on-stage suicide during a concert in Florida. Local councillors say they believe it is a publicity stunt, but still passed a new bylaw banning suicide for commercial or entertainment purposes. Xa

The classic con like this was Uma Thurman wearing 6" stils in the flyer for 'Pulp Fiction'. 6" stils, in what I thought was an 'also ran' film .... fat chance ! Xa

Only firm evidence that high heels cause lung cancer would stop me wearing them.

Amanda Platell, former Conservative Party spin doctor

Judiciously worn stilettos are remarkably effective in commanding extra help with household chores.

Vanessa Feltz .... writer and broadcater

Xa

Tidying up, I came across a scrap of paper with this one ... She's got a lot of problems at present .... she's having a hysterectomy and she's having a bathroom suite fitted. can't remember where I found it, but it certainly needs repeating before the paper is used to light the fire. Xa

.... hmmm my last post disappeared into the electronic maw, so here it is again parrotphrased. Most of it has been said ..... just one or two things to add. I wore the thigh boots to show that even being outrageous won't get you lynched. Maybe the combination of brown boots and black everything else is regarded as a fashion mistake, but it doesn't break the 'two colours only' rule. Certainly the look is less incongruous than having a pair of brown boots poking out from beneath a pair of black trousers. It was quite fun when the black girl asked us in Oxford St why we were wearing women's shoes, so I said that wonderful line, "they're not women's shoes, they're mine". I can't remember what she said after that, because I started laughing at her .... I think some others did too. It's nice to see those who take the piss get embarassed when they are laughed at. I'll use that ruse the next time I'm on my own and see what happens. I wonder what the pickpocket scumbag thought, having been given grief by a guy wearing girl's boots. BTW, I'm wearing the Bronx boots I bought from Silhouette on Euroheel, in Robert's picture. Xa

Aha .... someone from IOW .... wished I had known when I was there from 84 to 86 working for Plesseys. Xa

They are not answering emails, their phone has changed to something which is 'number unobtainable'. Oh, BTW the sods owe me a pair of custom boots. Thankfully I paid by credit card, so I might have a chance of getting my money back. Xa

They're a few miles away from me, so I went to see them before UK heel 2002. They are very professional, so you should have no problems. Xa