Royal Oak

Just read the first couple of chapters of Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire Of The Vanities". I don't really know why, but I absolutely love this so far.

I've heard diddly from Movie Mars since my order days ago. Since Amazon operate a "Charge When Ship" system which generates an automated email when the vendor confirms shipment, I'm not holding my breath!

My Curtis Amy is ordered from Movie Mars - no word on shipping after 2 days, but they still have it on Marketplace (price increased from approx $44 to $75). Let's hope we're lucky Tom! Similar situation here (different seller) with the Pacific Jazz Trios set... anxiously awaiting some kind of shipping/payment notification! Ordered on Thursday it should have been confirmed by yesterday evening, one would guess... I'm in the the same boat with the Bob Brookmeyer set. After one order no-go, I placed orders at two other under-the-radar retailers. (nice prices at both) Certain signs are good that at least one of them will pan out. Both have sent authorizations to my bank card but I learned that that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I know it doesn't if you use Amazon marketplace - they charge you immediately. The problem with ordering from the US to UK is that some companies (like Movie Mars) take a long time to ship, so you're in limbo for several days. Then all you have to do is to wait for the stuff to actually get here.

My Curtis Amy is ordered from Movie Mars - no word on shipping after 2 days, but they still have it on Marketplace (price increased from approx $44 to $75). Let's hope we're lucky Tom!

I just ordered the Curtis Amy via a US-based Amazon marketplace seller. It's at the same price as from Mosaic, but because of Amazon's set shipping charges ($2.00 for CDs, whether singles or enormous box sets), it worked out cheaper. That said, I wonder if they actually have it in stock...

You may have had quite a wait to find a spot on an NHS dentist's list Allen; a lot of them gave up NHS work as it doesn't pay well.

I suppose I've been lucky to get to 40 without needing anything particularly big, dentistry-wise. The pain has subsided today. I just hope the temporary bond prevents infection until I go back to have it completed in 2 weeks! I could do with the treatment working; an extraction would be a grim prospect, as it's a wisdom tooth. I have bad memories of my sister having wisdom teeth extracted years ago, when she ended up with a face which resembled a green football. The 45 quid does seem a bargain, considering the work involved.

Had the first of my two sessions for a root canal procedure today. The irony is, the tooth didn't hurt when it had a big hole in it. Now, after the treatment it hurts like a mother. Here in the UK, a root canal procedure costs only 45 pounds on the NHS.

That's a bargain ! They were quoting over $200 shipping to the UK when I tried when this deal was originally 'aired'. I gave up... Wow - $200. How many were you buying?

I know, works out at 5 quid each, which is still 1/3 as much as I used to pay for OJCs up until about 5 years ago.

I changed my mind back again. My weakness sickens me.

I just went through the rigmarole of setting up an account, selecting 13 CDs, to be told a $65 order would cost $31 to ship to the UK. Changed my mind, probably for the best.

General Dreedle Colonel Korn Major Major

No woods round here, but then, few Telegraph readers, either. My "porn in the woods" experience was at Abney Hall in Cheadle, not so far from you Bill! I grew up in a Telegraph-reading household. My dad changed to the Times in the late 80s, principally for the crossword. My mum still takes the Telegraph however.

The loss of "porn in the woods" made me laugh.

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I think"Dis Here" would sound pretty cool. Probably been done already.

I bought this album on the strength of Rooster's recommendation. While I don't much dig the original album, I agree that the bonus session is ace. It almost makes me want to start smoking dope again!

Some tenor saxophones somehow not present in my collection: Lucky Thompson - Lucky Strikes Rashaan Roland Kirk - Kirk's Work Lockjaw et al - Very Saxy

Due to my recently reduced powers of concentration, I decided to go back to my childhood and read "The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole" by Sue Townsend. Still on the "easy reading" tip, started Bill Bryson's "Down Under".

Langer wasn't very happy about that being made public, not when he'd be facing all those blokes on the county circuit in the weeks ahead. I don't know if you listened to any of the tests on BBC's Test Match Special, but Langer's old mate Hayden did quite a bit of commentary. He came across a nice enough bloke, but boy did he talk some crap. If he wasn't endlessly regurgitating management speak about "execution/skills/processes" (he's obviously read a lot of self-improvement books), he digressed constantly about food, or children's films. One could almost hear his co-commentators squirming at times.

I hadn't realised there was a cricket thread here! Although I am not a huge fan as there is no culture of cricket in France, I have enjoyed watching the last match of the series and I am chuffed England beat the Aussies. What a beautiful performance from Stuart Broad. But have you ever seen a more arrogant muppet than Flintoff?!! I didn't know that guy until last week but never before in my life had I felt this irresistible need to punch somebody's face! His body language and his silly postures when celebrating really made me cringe. Is this guy really a national hero? If it is the case, no wonder that English sportsmen have got the reputation of being arrogant. Anyway, it's nice to see the whole country delighted and elated by the victory. Next stop: Football World Cup? Come on France and England! Very interesting article about Fred by his former England team-mate Matthew Hoggard here: www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/422066.html/

Sorry, I can't have any criticism of Flintoff. If ever there was an Englsih sportsman worthy of the hype, it is (was) Fred. The most wholehearted, talismanic English cricketer since the equally-mythical Ian Botham. I remember watching him bat in the second innings of the Edgbaston Ashes test of 2005 and it was simply mesmerising - all this after disclocating his shoulder early on his knock. I think the pedalo incident added to his lustre if anything.

Yes, two consecutive home series now won. It's almost a shame to see a once-invincible team made to look mortal. I only hope for their sake that the Aussies' decline isn't as steep as that of the West Indies post-1991 (or thereabouts). You'd have to think Ponting's captaincy is at an end, but he showed a lot of character and good grace in defeat.

North now gone.