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As promised, every day this week

Comments

1. At 10:08 AM on 26 Dec 2006, Jason Good wrote:

   A rose by any other name...

   One of several reasons why I would be a hopeless live broadcaster is that I have a block with names. It isn't just the common or garden "I don't care enough to listen and remember" but, I believe, a stress thing. Too worried about the whole "meeting someone for the first time" thing to consign the name to memory.

   In social settings I am often found calling people I have only just met "mate", "love" or "dear". Clearly this in itself is a minefield and I shall never forget the looks of horror in the pub when I addressed the 7 foot bruiser of a football fan I had just met as "love".

   Someone taught me a trick of mentally linking someone's face to someone else's who has the same name and who I know. This works well for people called Mark or Eddie, for example. But only if you can actually see them. And for unusual names it's hopeless. Neither Boutros Boutros-Ghali nor Kofi Annan would've got a name check from me.

   This inane rambling leads me to the inevitable conclusion that I am sleep deprived, over run with the remnants of alcohol and saturated fats, and in desperate need of just one more Quality Street.

   Even though they have meddled with the mix yet again and ruined the balance in the interests of cost. Sounds rather like ITV.

2. At 10:48 AM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

   Even so Jason, Christmas isn't Christmas without a quality street.

   Love the clip Eddie, as ever soooo professional!

   Mary

3. At 10:57 AM on 26 Dec 2006, Valery P wrote:

   Chocolate, mumble mumble, everyone's on about chocolate, Now I'll have to go out and buy some! I prefer R*oses to Qu*ality Street if anyone cares?

4. At 11:15 AM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

   But I miss the Toffee Deluxe SOOOO much. The new malted thing is vile by comparison.

   I never really acquired a taste for Roses - I find the chocolate slightly "grittier", but I do recall the fudge tastes delicious. I wonder if it would be extravagant to pick up a carton of them in the inevitable sales tomorrow? We are *bound* to need milk and bread by then...

5. At 11:22 AM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

   Val P I think I prefer Roses, but as children we always had Quality Street and I used to think the tins with the pretty people on it were so wonderful. So if I find QS I buy a box for sentimental reasons.

   Mary

6. At 11:34 AM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

   I don't remember Toffee Deluxe. My favourite is the Toffee Penny, although they were always so much bigger when I was a child.

   Mary

7. At 12:47 PM on 26 Dec 2006, Anne P. wrote:

   madmary (6) - wasn't everything? actually I know for a fact that chocolates have reduced in size over the years as my Dad used to manage the making of Cadbury's Creme Eggs and they were much, much bigger then.

8. At 01:20 PM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

   Who is presenting then Eddie ?

9. At 01:34 PM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

   Exactly how to they do that Anne P? I had a Saturday job in a newsagents & I noticed chocolate getting smaller. It seemed to me that the wrapper stayed the same size for a while, & then shrank to fit the contents. Do they have a reduction policy/process?!

10. At 01:41 PM on 26 Dec 2006, gossipmistress wrote:

    What are Toffee Deluxe and Toffee Penny? Am at work surrounded by obscene amounts of Roses, Quality Street, Heroes, Celebrations etc - tins & tins of the stuff. Val P I'll email you some if you like! I think Quality Street chocolate tastes a bit watery & oversweet compared to Roses.

    Quite busy here but haven't seen any injured reindeer yet.........

    Jason your profile can't be right it says you have: "Friends (0)" !!!

11. At 02:26 PM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

    This is a beautiful photo. We still have Christmas until the 6th of January 2007. For ´óÏó´«Ã½ PM and everyone in this blog, Happy Boxing Day and Happy New Years from Miami Florida. Roberto

12. At 02:30 PM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

    gossipmistress: don't tell everyone! I can't even work out how to change things on there yet. A degree in Computer Science and research experience in Human Computer Interaction and its all still beyond me. Perhaps I'm not trying hard enough?

    I am hoping the new personality I got for Christmas will help. Sadly it came with a stripey blue jumper and a whisky glass, so it may not make the best friends I could hope for.

13. At 03:00 PM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

    A new slice of audio Eddie ?

    Did we not have this served up on the 23rd October ?

    It's still very funny all the same!

14. At 04:09 PM on 26 Dec 2006, Frances O wrote:

    Spirit, Eric? You... you don't mean it was pre-recorded on Friday, do you? Anyway, you've frogged over and above the call of annual bonuses, so what's going on?

    Toffee penny, yum!

15. At 05:02 PM on 26 Dec 2006, Frances O wrote:

    So Saddam Hussein has lost his appeal and is to be executed.

16. At 05:16 PM on 26 Dec 2006, wrote:

    Frances (15) I never fancied him anyway. Power may be an aphrodisiac but it doesn't do anything for me.

    Seriously, I fear very much for the future. We do seem rather adept at messing things up.

17. At 07:01 PM on 26 Dec 2006, gossipmistress wrote:

    Jonnie (13) I thought it sounded familiar. A recycled christmas present! It sounds like he says 'out rabbit' at one point....

18. At 11:57 PM on 26 Dec 2006, Big Sister wrote:

    Eddie:

    You're clearly recycling your clips now.

    Confused? You won't be ...

    Did you recycle your wrapping paper? How many of the listeners recycled unwanted Christmas presents from 2005? How many of us have recyclable trees for Christmas, or rooted ones to use again next year? How many opted for artificial trees to (eventually) clog up the landfill sites? Did the Parma Ham ever make it onto the air? And will Clare English ever stop giggling?

    These questions, and many others, will be answered in the next Eddie Mair Soap Blog.

19. At 12:40 AM on 27 Dec 2006, Valery P wrote:

    Yes, it's the chocolate in R*ses I prefer, because it's C*adbury's! Would you believe, I still haven't had any chocolate yet?

    I have however enjoyed a champagne brunch which included ayrshire ham, egg and chips, granary toast, croissants, pancakes and maple syrup.....so, I guess I don't really need anything else bad do I?

    I'd better start making a list of my New Year's Resolutions immediately.

    Big Sis, I'm sure I received some recycled presents from an Auntie, but I'd better not go into details in case she's a Silver Surfer!

20. At 01:50 AM on 27 Dec 2006, wrote:

    Hi Valery, Thanks for sharing the sarcasm experience with me on the Christams day thread regarding James.

    We have so many boxes of chocs you wouldn't believe. Please pop down and indulge.

    Our dear friend James was over tonight and immediately requested chocolates so we opened another huge tin of Cadbury's Roses (it was that or a lovely M&S box that Simon (SO) and I are saving for ourselves).

    However, good news is that James is planning to invite us over to his lovely flat (the one as seen on the WOyW at 5PM in 2006) unlike the photo he actually submitted which was clearly taken in 1980! He has told me that it was PM's fault and it was really meant to be an advent calendar photo -- unfortunately I know James, and rather doubt that account.

    If he does it'll be the first time we have been invited in years so I'll keep you posted IF and when it EVER happens and provide some pictures of the event for posterity.

    Night Val xx

21. At 11:06 AM on 27 Dec 2006, Big Sister wrote:

    Jonnie: Do I get the feeling you're unhappy with James?

    ValP: SO also loves C*dburys, which most non-English would turn up their noses to, it being (in true chocolate terms) a very low-grade product. But we Brits are brought up to love it, aren't we? (Luckily I'm a take or leave it person when it comes to chocolate - one less temptation for me, then! But put me in front of a cheeseboard and you'd see where my predilections lie ...).

    Re recycled gifts: Yes, it's a bit of a no-brainer isn't it? I have to admit that I have occasionally done it myself, but only with something really nice, but of which I have a duplicate, or don't need. Otherwise they go to the charity shop, or I give them away (if they're acceptable enough to offer them to others). I had an aunt who was a great recycler of gifts, and SO's brother is, too. The real crunch with him came a couple of years ago when he gave SO something from M&S which wasn't SO's size, telling him he could change it if necessary. On returning it to exchange, M&S told him that said product was produced three or four years previously, so no exchange possible. And how much was he offered in refund (this being at the time when M&S still accepted returns from C10 B.C.?) - well the grand sum of 50p. That was when we finally did label his brother as a Scrooge! Last year we were given matching plant pots with bulbs (unplanted and clearly reduced price) for Xmas from said brother. Needless to say, the bulbs didn't flower ....

    The other type of recycling re gifts that I really hate is when somebody has the nerve to give you something which is dog-eared or with names crossed out or 'reduced' labels still visible.

    Still, I suppose it's marginally better than my father-in-law and his wife who have got into such a muddle with their presents this year that my husband received a door knocker and I, to date, have got nothing. I blame it on their sundowners, which start at 5 and go on til 9 every evening. Who says alcohol doesn't affect the brain?
    

22. At 12:00 PM on 27 Dec 2006, wrote:

    Big Sis, I too can take or leave chocolate, but cheese is something I just couldn't live without.

    I've been munching my way through some very creamy stilton this Christmas. Mm, think I'll just get a little more.

    Mary

23. At 12:44 PM on 27 Dec 2006, Big Sister wrote:

    Yummy. Can I swop you for some Cornish Yarg, Sister Mary?

24. At 12:53 AM on 28 Dec 2006, Valery P wrote:

    Hmm, you just got me started on some Chaume and Manchego that we hadn't gotten around to opening yet....

25. At 11:23 AM on 28 Dec 2006, Valery P wrote:

    Then I finished off with a little Wensleydale 'n'cranberry. Oufff.

26. At 12:19 PM on 29 Dec 2006, Aperitif wrote:

    Oh Wensleydale with cranberries -- yes Valery: cheese heaven!

27. At 12:51 PM on 29 Dec 2006, Valery P wrote:

    Good job I bought two, Appy!