alison

I quite agree. We've been looking for somewhere to live for ages now, and I've lost track of the number of times I've looked at a property and gone "That would have done us really nicely if they hadn't put that extension on/knocked most/the whole of the downstairs into one." "Sociable" living suits some people's situation, but not everybody's. One place recently I rejected precisely because they had built so far into the garden that there wasn't much of it left. I found a property that would have been perfect from the point of view of the house, but the back garden was pocket-handkerchief size, and the front (masses of it) was all that brick-laid parking, which ran into the ditto parking areas of the houses on either side OTOH, I did reject a property the other week *because* it had hedges round it on 3 sides, and I knew I'd never be able to manage with the upkeep

Lin, I'm really sorry you're having such problems with your neighbours. Are they by any chance "townies" who've moved out to the country? I'm frequently amazed at the things people think they are entitled to do - and the lack of consideration for their neighbours. (Mind you, I used to have downstairs neighbours who ripped out all the carpets, soft furnishings and so on in their rooms, to the extent that we then could hear all their conversations if they spoke even slightly louder than normal - which *he* often did - but they wouldn't even listen to me when I tried to tell them about it. It got quite intolerable at times. Not to mention them making structural alterations which they represented to me as "replacing a window", but definitely wasn't - where they should have got my approval as joint freeholder ...) My concern is that while you may be able to do the 8-minute walk down to the beach now, what happens as you get older?

I recently saw some link to a parkable-on material which is actually some sort of framework you can grow grass through, and safely mow over the top of it, and everything. Anyway, I thought the law (or local planning laws?) now banned you putting down impermeable driveways etc.? Apart from anything else, the lack of water percolating through into the soil is liable to cause shrinkage, and subsidence, certainly in parts of South London where everything is on London Clay.

Plus Australia (???)

Do you have a Minor Injuries Unit near you, Lisa? It does sound as though it needs looking at by a professional, even if they can only offer you advice rather than treatment.

When I was young, I clonked my little toe really hard against the (cast-iron, I think) bathtub while getting out of the bath, and it was very painful afterwards. We eventually went either to the GP and/or to A&E, and were told there was nothing they could do about it even if it was broken, so they wouldn't X-ray it as it would be pointless.

Except, doesn't it miss out the key point that it's less about the red hair being commented on, and more the negative implications associated with the comments, in the same way that you could comment perfectly neutrally on someone being blonde, but you could also (with apologies to blondes) call someone blonde and bring to mind all sorts of implications of stupidity/lack of intelligence? I don't particularly mind references to dancers' appearance in reviews (although a little can go a long way - even something as positive as having "matinee-idol good looks" can become tedious if repeated too often), but it's how they are referred to which matters - context is all.

I'm so sorry to have missed that I still get the impression that the RB doesn't really make the most of the assets still available to it in terms of dancers from past times. With the far-too-premature loss of Davids Wall and Drew, it's surely even more important to make use of the experience which remains.

Now you mention it, John, Karole Armitage's name was mentioned on Radio 3's In Tune yesterday. I think she may be appearing on today's programme, in which case it will be sometime between 4.30 and 6.30.

Yes, I take it you've read the concerns of the dancers at La Scala about their ability to keep up Classical standards during their next season, with the Classically-demanding ballets being clustered at the end.

Of course, McGregor has been working on OT for a lot longer than that: I remember there was some footage of him working on a section with Ed Watson back last year, I think it was. Jacqueline: I find the Tube a great way of getting around beneath surface disruption. I mean, the night of the Frankenstein premiere I even made it back to Victoria in 15 minutes via Covent Garden! Don't forget to arrive at the ROH in good time for the bag searches.

Possibly on a thread other than one *solely* dedicated to McGregor, then, since you are clearly including other choreographers in the statement.

She wasn't scheduled to dance it in the first place. But yes, let's get back to the subject of the thread.

Apparently not according to this latest interview, courtesy of the Links page: “Now that I am a mature dancer I really want to concentrate deeply on some of the classics like Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty.” http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/may/08/natalia-osipova-and-sergei-polunin-interview

Thanks for that clarification, BBB.

62 minutes? That's ridiculous. I tend not to bother with Insights any more, now that I have to come in from out of town - it's just not worth the hassle for such a short time. Plus I remember at least one insight which didn't tell me a thing I didn't already know, so not very insightful. They were a lot better when they were a couple of hours long.

... as do I, but Mr. Macaulay doesn't.

Yes, when you think it's halfway between London and Birmingham, it would also give their local fans a chance to see the programme - if it was promoted that way.

Terpsichore, I assume BRB are performing at High Wycombe, too - is that no use to you? It's certainly a bit closer.

Oh good: geology. Makes a change from all the neuroscience, and hopefully I'll be able to understand it better

Well, that must have been an *incredibly* long time ago! You're sure you're not getting him confused with Ivan Putrov?

They'd blooming well better ...

No, but I thought it improved in its second run, and was rather more convincing when Beatriz Stix-Brunell was the lead .

Coated, IIRC the article claimed he said Mearns was "fat", which he didn't? It was definitely something to do with too many sugarplums, which many people took to mean "fat" - my assumption was that he meant something more like sluggish, rather than actually fat.

I stand corrected: it wasn't the Jigsaw interview, but they certainly seemed very familiar, as though I'd read them somewhere before - maybe another publication - unless he says the same sort of thing in numerous interviews.