jonthebhoy

Welcome chino! JTB

Yeah but I blame Jimmy Saville for that! Clunk-click!

Rolexman - No worries - anyways, as jraines said earlier it is something we plan to revisit. JTB

johnny - at first my dad refused to allow me to take it!

I can only speak for kenberg and Thor, who are both over 300 posts - most of which are as a result of setting this new place up. Without many of their 300+ posts, we would not be here. My point is that you must be careful not to generalise your point too much. I have said before, I don't necessarily disagree with this view, however I repeat, deleting the post-counter alone will not solve, what amounts in my humble opinion, to a minor problem. JTB

And some people had the temerity to call Orwell a fruitcake. I like this passage which describes another state tool used to placate the masses: It was nearly twenty hours, and the drinking-shops which the proles frequented ('pubs', they called them) were choked with customers. From their grimy swing doors, endlessly opening and shutting, there came forth a smell of urine, sawdust, and sour beer. In an angle formed by a projecting house-front three men were standing very close together, the middle one of them holding a folded-up newspaper which the other two were studying over his shoulder. Even before he was near enough to make out the expression on their faces, Winston could see absorption in every line of their bodies. It was obviously some serious piece of news that they were reading. He was a few paces away from them when suddenly the group broke up and two of the men were in violent altercation. For a moment they seemed almost on the point of blows. "Can't you bleeding well listen to what I say? I tell you no number ending in seven ain't won for over fourteen months!" "Yes, it 'as, then!" "No, it 'as not! Back 'ome I got the 'ole lot of 'em for over two years wrote down on a piece of paper. I takes 'em down reg'lar as the clock. An' I tell you, no number ending in seven—" "Yes, a seven 'as won! I could pretty near tell you the bleeding number. Four oh seven, it ended in. It were in February—second week in February." "February your grandmother! I got it all down in black and white. An' I tell you, no number—" "Oh, pack it in!" said the third man. They were talking about the Lottery. Winston looked back when he had gone thirty metres. They were still arguing, with vivid, passionate faces. The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probably that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was concerned, even people who could barely read and write seemed capable of intricate calculations and staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe of men who made a living simply by selling systems, forecasts, and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to do with the running of the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the Party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes being non-existent persons. In the absence of any real inter-communication between one part of Oceania and another, this was not difficult to arrange. The little bank book thing, Neil......I remember it like it was yesterday. Enjoyed the piece. JTB

Welcome spaghettiman. Good to see you back. JTB

And there was me thinking that you would be the type that does the decent thing and imparts all that great knowledge garnered from others on to the new, naive and shy. Like the replica world relay, passing the baton from one to another. JTB

Welcome David. Here's to a fruitful future for you. JTB

The only thing i wrestle with these days is my conscience, "Do I buy that new rep or not". My conscience usually wins!

Oh I don't know.......our good friend Tino looked after me!

It's as well I've got one then Neil. JTB

It's a Flyback.......so hopefully it will take off and fly back to La La Land from whence it came. JTB

Yep...........It isn't on my wrist! JTB

Nice one!

Add my 21 136

Welcome! The builders are still in but they're doing a great job. Hope you like the look of the place. JTB

Welcome Mike. Nice avatar. JTB

Welcome Tom and we hope you like the new logo and format. JTB

My infeasibly large Le Plongeur always does the trick for me! JTB

Welcome chichamp. New ship, new course and lovely calm waters. JTB

yeah but they've got me with them just to keep the balance right between sensible and downright nuts! JTB

Good to see ya rsv. JTB

Welcome Tom. New ship, new course and calmer waters. JTB