android invasion?

[Dr. Dasha]

Yes, we do get lots of free channels over here.  Now that digital broadcasting has begun, there are tons more.  PBS, the educational channels, are my favorites.  Tonight I'll be watching the vice presidential debate on PBS.  Whether or not that will be good television remains to be seen...!  :)

You like Little House on the Prairie?  I just saw the new musical _Little House on the Prairie_ at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis (best theater in the USA outside of New York)!  It was soooooooo good!  After it leaves the Guthrie, it starts its world tour.  Guess who plays "Ma" in the musical...it's Melissa Gilbert!!!  (M. G. played "Laura" in the TV series.)

Have you noticed that literature is full of spunky brunette girls who grow up to become writers?  Laura Ingalls Wilder and Sarah Jane Smith are just 2 of many examples.  :)

Take care!

--from Dr. Dasha, who lives within daytrippin' distance of Walnut Grove :)

[phileverest]

Good to hear from you today Stardoe, I hope you're well.
I owe my felicitious,prolixive atticism to the benefits of a traditional Australian education, a fondness for the classics and the obfuscatory ratiocinatiously discombobulatory missives of  the great Sir Humphrey Appleby!.
Ruddy marvellous chap really.
Its from these sources, I've learn't to incorporate in my research writings, the benefits and beauty of the  English language . Which has helped my greatly in my most recent work.
Besides it confuses my adversaries (the yanks) as they struggle to comprehend with what they laughingly call their 'higher centres' and  it helps keep the riff raff out as well !.
 You should see my output when I'm writing in full flow, utterly incomprehensible to the rabble  heh heh.....
Still I'm an ordinary bloke, Dr who, cricket and pulling the dolly birds at pubs pretty well sum me up!.
Like you, I'm working through the really good shows that were on the telly years ago and now are on DVD, as telly today is a  'consignment of geriatric shoe manufacturers'- a load of old cobblers!.
Yes Minister, The Good Life, To the Manor born, Dave Allen, Fawlty Towers, The Two Ronnies,Mind your  Language, Blakes' 7, The Professionals,Doctor in Charge, Allo Allo, Blackadder, Man about the House  and of course Dr Who as well as others....!.

Its an irony indeed that as Britain was in decline and awash with problems, that it still produced a golden age of quality shows such as many above, still loved and watched by people today here and elsewhere.
I can't watch 'commerical' stations as their content is simply unwatchable.

'avagoodweekend Stardoe and I might see you in Irongrons castle sometime,
 hoo roo

Phil  ( who prefers to transfer the specific instance to the abstract concept without imparing the essential structual integrity of the underlying theme)
heh heh heh heh heh......

[Llin]

Gosh, lots of big words flying around this thread...
In my experience, Americans are just like any other people, in that some of them are nice, some of them are horrible, some of them are clever, some of them are stupid...
Most of the Americans I know are wonderful people - two of my best friends are American, and I know lots of nice Americans online. I guess I've been quite lucky - sorry you haven't had the same luck, Phil!

[phileverest]

G'day Llin,

No worries mate, (as we say here).

Such is life,  C'est la vie   etc etc. Such matters don't really bother me so, as its best to have a laugh and take things philosophically I find.
Nasty pastie's are always about I find and there's  nothing I can do about it.
I just ignore my nasty yank adversaries anyway. heh heh....

By contrast I find the English to be the nicest bunch I've ever met.
I never have any grief with them and they're the kindest people I've ever run across.
Indeed I'm oft at a loss as how to properly respond as English people I've met often send me regular parcels in the post with VHS to DVD of Dr Who stories I've not seen as well as other shows. A most kind and generous people one would ever wish to meet.
Similar findings too with a few friends on the continent in a number of European countries too.
Always helpful, kind and good exchanges pertaining to our interests.
Only one nation seems to be the stumbling block though.

Finally saw Planet of Evil on weekend here as it was a bit windy and rainy in the evenings.
Gosh Lis is the life of the show in this story. She also seems to know her way about the TARDIS kit, with fetching the spectromixer for the Doctor with ease.

I wonder if kinetic motion of planets could be harnessed as an energy source as the Doctor mentions?.
It would require large scale engineering in space though, perhaps a sort of windmill to  have paddle 's moved by gravity?. Just conjecture....
Our Sarah looks quite fetching too in her girly outfit, I'd have her for breakfast on toast!.
Oo-er!.....

Phil on Zeta minor.



 

[Stardoe]

'owyagoin Phil? I love the shows you mentioned and had forgotten about Mind your Language. I love Allo Allo. I particularly love that Christmas special they did about the drug in the jug and gateau in the chateau etc. And Herr Flick got stuck with the blow dart and had that convulsion. I scream in mirth at that every time and wonder how on earth they did that without cracking up themselves. I was also a huge fan of Blakes7 but I went off it later on when there was a character change. Maybe after Blake copped it. I can't remember as I haven't seen it since I was a kid. No repeats in my neck of the woods. So you like a beer do you Phil? Cascade or James Boag? I actually like Tiger best. I had it in Singapore last year and now we have a new grog shop opened up here that has every type of beer that was ever invented [and other stuff too] and so we got some Tiger to take camping with us last weekend. It's very light. Kind of like cascade light or hahn light but is full strenght. Just has that light taste.

The British are amazing with their tv. They are the comedy kings but also I like their mysteries as well. I love Midsummer Murders and Inspector Linley. Also the Agatha Christie, Poirot, Miss Marple, Touch of Frost etc. All  those ones. Their other shows are good too. I like Life Begins, Doc Martin,William and Mary, New Tricks. The Bill is good too but I don't watch it. My son just told me of new show that has been advertised. One of those terrible reality shows but I plan on watching it. It's called Meet the Neighbours and its about this Pacific Islander family who are going to go to England and do all the English stuff like havng roasts and playing cricket etc. I say old chap, that should be smashing, what?

I just saw the first three eps of S2 of SJA. Brilliant.

Checkya later Phil.

[phileverest]

G'day Stardoe,

Thank you for those reminders of some very funny shows and incidents.

Ah yes, Herr Flick of the Gestapo and his sexy bird Helga.
Firm favourites.
What was it now, a bill in the till, a gateau in the chateau .........
I'm not too fussed with a quiet little drink but a friend in the UK has recommended Magners Irish cider  which interests me.

Midsomer Murders, gosh, an entire village occupied by murderers it seems.
A place to avoid it seems.
I used to watch the Bill before it became a soap opera, but I packed it in 7 years ago .
Doc Martin was a good show I agree, one of my interests is different accents and mimickry.
I must be one of the few Australians to have had a vowel transplant as I've mastered proper
'Received Pronounciation' English, heh heh.
The Cornish accent in Doc Martin was fun to copy too.
I like to use different accents during my daily life in the shops, bank etc.
Have a bit of fun.
One day I can be Sir Percy  Fortescue-Poole and another, some bloke from Gloucester here for a conference on quarrying. heh heh.....
At least I can have a laugh!.

Speaking of accents, have you noticed that here in Australia more people are using again the English rounded vowels .
I'm noticing it more as I have an ear pricked up for how people speak.
eg Transplant for a while had an emphasis on the U.S style  'ant', now its being spoken again here sounding more like 'aunt' if that makes sense.

Try this with people Stardoe,    


"Ask the master in the castle to pass the banana "

See how many rounded vowels  with 'AH' people say.
It seems our language is evolving back toward the British again.
Perhaps with hundreds of thousands of us living in the UK now and the renewed fondness  
for them revealed  in polling, we're reverting back to our roots.
There seems to be a shift in the population's perceptions and this is manifesting itself in our speech patterns as one example.

Finally, have a laugh at this
http://blogs.windriver.com/parkinson/2006/10/mapping_out_the.html

Someone in the RAF or working in British Aerospace is a Dr Who viewer!.


pip pip

Phil

[Stardoe]

MY GOD PHIL!!!! I too love accents, particularly the english ones. I love to try and talk in them but I don't use them often in public except when speaking to my kids. They hate me watching Torchwood because I keep practising my Welsh accent and it drives them nuts. My son is a big mimmicker and we do alot of accents from Little Britain. The whole family will go out and suddenly we all start talking like Lou. I've had to tell everyone not to do it because people will think we are mad, which we are but we try not to advertise it. My welsh is bad because until Torchwood I'd never really heard it spoken constantly so that you could actually pick it up. Even now I can't do it properly. They have odd intonation. When my kids were small I'd read them Thomas the Tanks Engine Books in Ringo Starr's Liverpool accent. I also got better at the northern type accents by mimmicking Katherine Tate's characters. I have an interest in cultures, races, languages and dialects and accents from all over. LIke Henry Higgins of Pygmalion ha ha ha. I'm good at languages but don't have time to practice them. I like to know or guess where someone is from from their accent, either english or otherwise and I like to guess the languages used on sbs shows, before we get a clue as to the country they are in. I have to say though, that my interest far outshines my ability. I am interesting in genetics and I like to guess where people are from by what they look like. I am not against interacial mixes but I do like to think that some races can retain their physical attributes. I find it very interesting to guess where people are from. When I go to Sydney and I hear people talking in another language, I go closer to try and hear what it is and I look at them and try and work out where they are from. I like to know names as well. Whenever someone has a name I can't place I just have to ask them what origin it is. I have a huge interest in foreigners. I will gravitate towards any foreigner if I'm at a social gathering or something because I find them to be far more interesting than Aussies. I always want to find out where people are from and hear all about their customs etc. I should have been an anthropologist. I always want to know how people live[d] and spoke etc. If I was rich I would travel the world studying people and languages and customs. I am particularly saddened by the fact that the English culture is non existent and I'd like to do a bit of study to find out what English people ever did that was distinct from everyone else. The Scots , Irish and Welsh have their Celtic cultures but the English [who are no longer celtic due to various invasions] have no clear culture. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'd love to know just what the english do in their cultural festivals apart from skipping around maypoles. Apart from the royal stuff, there's nothing. I think they need to have a big revival before they all forget just what it is they are all about.

I have been studying the accents of the people in SJA. I notice that Lis has dropped a bit of her poshness and some of her long "a" sounds have broardened to sound a bit like ours rather than that clipped sharp "a" of the toffy british accent. Don't know if it's on purpose to fit in with the kids or she might have changed over time. LUke's accent is very australian sounding. Same diphthongs as ours with just that chopped off english intonation. Hard to explain.  I always notice the diphthongs,  looking out for the good old Aussie double diphthong. I like to theorise how our accent was made compared to the american accent[s] depending on which migrants came to each place. Low class cockney types for us and cornwallish types for america.....hence the strong "r"s. Irish as well. Yeah it's interesting.

Well I have raved on too much, Phil. I get a bit too passionate about my little interests. Very rare to find someone with similar ones.

Tally Ho old chap.
Stardoe

[phileverest]

Ayup Stardoe (Lancashire speak I learn't from  Blackadder and a mate of mine who lives there),

Glad  to bring something to your day vis a vis accents and the like.

With the English, I know a chap called Paul Kingsnorth in  merrie England who too is concerned about the decline of the English culture.
He has a website thats easy to find.
Very nice chap too.

Also the Australian newspaper had two articles on the weekend that are on their website still (Look in their features section ).

The latest thinking is that the Australian accent developed early on amongst the children of the first settlers in the early 1800's.
The leveller being that we chop off the extreme dialects and then went from there.
Ned Kelly, contrary to the belief in the film makers world, likely didn't have an Irish accent
(wrong Mick Jagger and Heath Ledger), but an Aussie on like ours today.

The accent is also quite resiliant too where the article avers that despite 60 years of  Australia 's sycophancy toward the USA and  the yank accent bombarding us in their exported culture, our accent has resisted the U.S influence rather well.
As I was saying previously, its actually swinging back toward the English in some pronounciation.
Some people think this good indicator of public opinion more accurate than polling, where people betray their inner feeling through their speech rather than what they're expected to say in polls.
Think of election polls where governments get kicked out surprising to them, yet obvious to the public- the current opposition still can't believe they were defeated and rejected at the last election, many say.
Its an interesting idea  and shows how the public mood can alter by noting their speech.
Nowadays it seems the yanks are rejected as everyone is avoiding trying to sound like them and England is again seen in a better light as reflected in studies in recent years which shows the UK are the nation most warmly regarded by Australians.

Someone should write an article on this.
 
Finally Stardoe, I can grasp your interest in foreign cultures, it is interesting and one learns quite a lot.
I've recently written a new research paper that explores this aspect of speech and meaning within an aspect of my research interest.
I'll leave it at that, but one can learn much from how one speaks.
A master of this area is depicted by Sir Humphrey Appleby, through verbal obfuscation and how he uses mundane words overlooked by most as new words of abuse
eg  novel, imaginative and courageous.

Then using emphasis of plain words as hedging mechanisms.
eg "Which seems to signify the significance of significant".
The possibilities are endless.

One of the best speakers I've ever heard is Tom Baker, a most impressive and inspiring speaker. Pertwee was good too but in a friendly authoritative manner.

Personally I'm a bit of a twit  and think nothing of having fun especially in public.
Thus I like to wear to work these days a Pertwee look instead of a dark suit.
So for Phil, its black trousers, a velvet jacket (green, blue, brown etc) and a bow tie.

I've found two things as a result;
1. I get better service in shops etc as people judge by appearance and think I'm someone  important or powerful (which I'm not)
2. I get more interest from the dolly birds  as I stand out more than the maddening crowd.

Then if I'm in a mischievious mood, I like  to use different accents and see the result.
Once I pulled a bird in a newsagency when I used a convincing French accent.
I could see her respond immediately, eyes widened, fixed eye contact, breasts heaving upward, inward and rapid gasp in her breathing, suffice to say  it was a learning experience.

When I go out in the evenings too, I get called "Sir" more often, and a slight RP English accent does wonders in doors opening  for me.

As I say, I'm a tease and I'm always giggling to myself when I'm having this fun.

Finally, have you noticed Stardoe that in lower  class suburbs that hey have their own dialect here.
More words like "youse" etc spoken in a more rough and gutteral manner.
There is a class structure here that no-one likes to acknowledge based on economic and later socialisation within this class.
I notice it when I visit certain suburbs and I just listen.

Gosh, I don't mean to sound like a snob, but I assure you that I am speaking dispassionately on my observations over time.
Thanks for a fascinating discussion Stardoe.

I'm expecting my Monster of Pelason CD tomorrow, so as long as we don't speak like Ice
Warriors, we're alright.

Take care old girl as Harry Sullivan  used to say,

Phil

[Stardoe]

ROTFLOL!!! I"d love to be a fly on the wall when you are out and about Phil. LOL. It is amazing how looks and speech control the way others respond to you. I agree Tom Baker is a wonderful speaker. I could listen to him all day. I actually tried to mimmick him yesterday during the Revenge of the Cybermen. He said the word 'intolerable'. It's very hard to say that word with that rolling 'r' that he uses. But it's not just his pronunciation, it's the way he stretches out some words. I can't explain it but you would know what I mean. He actually narrates a bread ad and his voice was so distinct I got a shock to hear it coming out of a bread ad. I also like listening to his narrations of Little Britain [not always liking what it is he says though,lol] Well I might go and watch an interview with TB on the special features of one of my DVDs now that he's been mentioned. This is the second last day of my holidays so I want to do things that I like doing while I can.

A bientot
Stardoe