Fonty

Well, I've kept paperwork in our loft for nearly 20 years. It is not even in boxes with lids; just those boxes that stack one on top of the other. Not a hint of mildew to be seen. I do live in a terraced house though, with a south facing roof. Maybe that makes a difference. In the past, I have used those airtight vacuum bags for various things, without any problems. I think you can get vacuum boxes which work on the same principle.

I remember looking at items of clothing once, that said that the washing instructions should be followed carefully, to prevent shrinking. I was looking at swimsuits.

Me too, Jacqueline. My lastest spat was in a hospital recently. I arrived for my appointment, and was waiting in line with everyone else to give my details to the receptionist when a woman came in and walked straight to the front of the queue. Her reason for this was that she had "missed the appointment last week." I replied that in that case, as she was so late, waiting another few minutes would not make much difference. She did go to the back, but only after I and another woman left our places and "escorted" her to the back of the queue. Everyone else standing there just shuffled and looked embarrassed. Why is it that people generally don't stand up to this sort of behaviour?

At this rate, the USA will be the only people not represented. Maybe they should come up with a new name for it?

I had to polish my glasses when I read that, in case I had misread it! Surely the whole point of a narrative ballet is that it has a plot of some sort? I always think of some ballets as what I would call context, or mood ballets. (I am sure someone can come up with a better word for them.) That is to say, the staging sets the atmosphere, and the dancers behave accordingly. Within the ballet there may be little hints of personality traits or relationships, but nothing is fleshed out. The performers are identified on the cast list by their costume, or the type of dance they perform, rather than having a name. Some of my favourite ballets fall into this category, but I would not call them narrative ballets, at least not in the way that I understand narrative.

Middle aged man in lycra.

Ah, but Quintus, they may begin by wearing XXL, but if they continue with the exercise, they will become lean, fit and muscular. Or at least, they think they will.

Goodness, I think I felt the world stop turning for a moment! I am not surprised that Osipova is been given rave reviews for the final act. In fact I would have been astounded if anyone had been tepid about her performance, as she has always been a performer with strong dramatic skills. I am trying to remember who I saw in the role when the RB previously revived it. Leanne Benjamin seems an obvious choice, surely she must have performed it?.

I quite enjoy some cookery programmes, but I just never got into this one. I bake quite a lot myself, but from what I have read about it, there is such an emphasis on producing works of art, that it never really appealed to me. My efforts always look effortlessly home made! (Not so much soggy bottoms as wonky tops.).

Am I the only person in Britain who has never seen a single episode? (Mind you, I've never seen a single episode of East Enders, either)

Thanks for the explanation, Floss, but unfortunately the score is the reason why I just do not want to see it live. I don't know whether I could be classed as musically literate or illiterate, and frankly I don't care! I enjoy listening to a wide range of styles, but when I hate something, nothing whatsoever will persuade me to pay a ticket for a performance that includes it.

"I've always thought of Diamonds as something for relatively tall, or at least leggy, dancers:" Well, I haven't seen Jewels for a long time, but I saw Cojocaru in Diamonds, and she was wonderful in it. But she was wonderful in everything, I thought. Can someone just explain the way in which the casts are listed? How many dancers are in Emeralds, I can't remember. Are they the first 4 names in the list? Sorry if it is a rather dumb question, but as I said, it has been a long time.....

Shocking, your brother did indeed have a lucky escape.

In theory, it is perfectly obvious why no cyclist in their right mind should ever do such a stupid thing. In practise, it is much more tricky! Many times a car has hurtled past me as I am cycling up to a junction, and then started to turn across me. They may, or may not, have indicated their intention. Taxis are the worst, as they pull out of the cycle lane behind me, then sweep across in front of me.

I've never seen Pierrot Lunaire live, only on recorded clips, and I would be interested to know why it is included in the list? I can't say it would be something I would rush to see!

Speaking as someone who drives and cycles in London, mixing motor vehicles and pedal bikes are always accidents waiting to happen. Yesterday I was a passenger in a car with a friend, who was waiting at traffic lights, and indicating she was going to turn left. As the lights changed, I saw a cyclist who was a short distance away, peddling furiously up on the cycle lane in the inside, and indicating he was going straight ahead. There was a bit of hesitation on both sides, before she decided to let him go first. She is Australian, and asked me who had right of way according to the Highway Code, and I had to confess I didn't actually know. I thought technically we did, as the cyclist was overtaking on the inside. However, as a cyclist is always on the inside, and always moving more slowly than a motor vehicle, this places both lots in an awkward position. At what point in the proceedings does one take precedence over the other? No point in being technically correct if a car ends up with a bike splattered against them. When I cycle, this is never an issue, as I always, always stop and let vehicles in this situation move first. I would rather wait until the lights turn red again, and move to the dedicated cycle area at the front, to avoid confrontation. But I can see this could become frustrating on occasions where there are lots of bikes moving along together.. There needs to be a clear signal for both sets of vehicles. If they are going to dig up all the roads and put in all these new cycle lanes, then they need to put in dedicated traffic signals everywhere for cyclists as well. Especially as I astonished by the number of car drivers who either turn their indicators on at the very last moment, or don't bother at all, assuming that everyone else is a mind reader. And spare a thought for the poor old pedestrian, who sometimes has no idea when they are allowed to cross, and risks getting mown down by a fast moving cyclist. Some of the new cycle lanes do have dedicated traffic signals, but although this is obvious to anyone in a car, it certainly isn't being made plain to anyone on foot.

I would hope that any new production would attempt to iron out issues that make no sense as a result of continual reworkings of a traditional text. For example, I thought the long skirts of the corps in the current RB production were rather beautiful. However, the problem was I used to get irritated when Siegfried acted as if he could not pick out his beloved from all the other swan maidens, and roamed the stage looking for her. Odette was dressed so differently, I always felt that if he couldn't see that she was the one flashing her thighs at him, then either he needed glasses or he was a complete idiot. I agree that Von Rothbart needs looking at. Much less pantomime villain, and much more attempt to make him a genuinely sinister character in ways other than giving him a strange costume. And a convincing death as well, please. Half the time he seems to collapse for no reason in a pile of feathers, making me wonder if he is suffering from terminal moulting. I think the last time I saw RB's Swan Lake, Act III in the ballroom reminded me of the market scenes in MacMillan's R & J in terms of the antics taking place on the stage. I would like to see every character behave in a manner appropriate to the situation. Things like decent lighting, staging and costumes that enable you to see what is taking place are so obvious, it is sad that we are actually having to mention it here. All in all, I would like to see a cleanly staged, classical production which is close to the original, but also attempts to display the English ballet style brilliantly. Is that too much to ask?

Who plays vinyl records these days?

I don't like them either. I have just had an almighty battle with Booking.com. An extremely well travelled friend from Australia, who is very experienced at on line booking, booked a place on line for the two of us for the weekend in the Cotswolds. In the blurb, it says the rooms are self contained, and include facilities such as microwave, fridge, shower and so on, with lovely glossy photos of said facilities. However, when the confirmation came through, it said "Room only, with shared facilities." No fridge, no microwave, no shower - nothing. Nowhere does it say this on any of the info on Booking.com, either on her iphone or my desktop computer. A very polite voice at Booking.com kept insisting that it did. It really makes my hackles rise when someone says, "With all due respect, madam, I don't agree" , when both of us cannot find what they are looking at. Do they think we are lying? Can't use a computer properly? Idiots? We have sent screen shots to them of the info showing on our screens, and await further communication from them. Needless to say, the payment is non-refundable.

It seems to have become more common to apply it in a negative fashion since Brexit.

I would like to confine to room 101 the phrase "That is so British." And always used to underline some unpleasant characteristic. Yes, some Brits can behave badly abroad and be intolerant when it comes to foreigners in their own country. Yes, some Brits drink too much, Yes, Britain has politicians who are appear to be dishonest, stupid, or arrogant. Yes, some eating places serve rotten food. . Those are not characteristics that are exclusive to Britain.

Well, if the Brits stop buying "their" chocolate, then surely the profits would drop, wouldn't they? Or is it a case that we have to buy it, even if it changes?

It is sad that British chocolate companies have been sold abroad, I agree. But the worst thing is that they change the recipe. I like(d) British chocolate just the way it was. I know the Continentals are very critical about it, but I find chocolate from Switzerland or Belgium far too rich for my palate. On the other hand, American chocolate manages to be way too sweet and also a bit tasteless. I don't know how they do it! The Brits are huge buyers of confectionery, I do not know why the new owners are so determined to change a winning formula.

Oh dear, Penelope. The original system always had scenes of milling confusion at the end of a performance, I always hated checking anything in, and avoided if I possibly could.

I would be seriously worried about someone who could not identify a Curly Wurly! I used to love Terry's Chocolate Orange, and am very sad that it has been deemed necessary to "improve" the recipe.