Fiz Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Grr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 It's hospital car parking it should be FREE!!! It certainly should be free if you are visiting somebody in the hospital. My father was in hospital for 3 months, recovering from a serious operation and then a broken arm bone where he slipped in the hospital bathroom. My poor mother was paying huge amounts every week to park there, and there was no other parking available. And she had to pay per visit, and she often went twice a day. I think they should issue a free visitor's pass for people who are in hospital for more than a couple of days. Or at least, some sort of discount. You should not have to pay nearly £300 a month to visit your loved ones. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTL Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Continued application of the title "ballerina" to any female who dances - you'd have thought the "Black Swan" / Nathalie Portman debate would have laid that one to rest, at least for journalists, if not for those unfamiliar with the nuances of the professional etiquette. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Continued application of the title "ballerina" to any female who dances And "Real-Life Billy Elliot" to all boys! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 On Wednesday 9th October an elderly, large, well kept Mercedes car parked outside our house. I appreciate it is open road but it means that I can only just get my car parked without blocking our neighbours run in and it is the same situation for the neighbours on the other side (to put it baldly, the car is blocked in when both I and my neighbour are parked). It is really inconvenient to say the least. Last Sunday, my niece noticed that the front driver's window is open a couple of inches and she wondered if the car had been abandoned. On Thursday the lights started flashing on the car, as though as silent alarm had been activated. I rang the police who asked me if the car had a valid tax disc. It has - until 28 February 2014! The car has not been reported as stolen or as having been involved in any crime so the police can do nothing. They suggested I contact the council, who basically said the same thing! I was away on Friday when my niece rang me to say that an audible alarm had been going all day. Unfortunately she didn't ring me until after the council offices had closed for the weekend. Fortunately by the time I got home on Saturday the alarm had stopped (presumably the battery has gone flat). We are potentially in the situation of having that car outside our house until 1st March 2014, when the tax disc has run out!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Just to let you know that the owner of the car turned up at tea time today. I heard the car alarm being deactivated and ran out of the house wearing a bright pink oven glove and carrying a spatula (which my neighbour told me I was waving around energetically!). The lady who collected the car said she had been staying around the corner (several hundred yards away) and had been checking the car on a regular basis (oh really - not noticing the open window or the alarm going off!). She had had to call the RAC out because, of course, the battery was flat!! Me being me - I drove around the block before and lo and behold the car is now parked outside where she is staying/lives. Long may it stay there! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmendrick Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Continued application of the title "ballerina" to any female who dances I watch a lot of artistic gymnastics and a particular bugbear of mine is the way fans will describe any gymnast with a modicum of elegance as a "ballerina". Comparisons between gymnastics and ballet also get on my wick, especially when people try to argue one is harder than the other. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 This has always intrigued (and puzzled) me - at what point does a female ballet dancer become known as a "ballerina"? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I sort of think its when a fairly established and successful Principal has been around for a few years!? I remember Fonteyn had the title Prima Ballerina Assoluta which fascinated me when I was about twelve. Perhaps the extra bits are just when you are the famous lead dancer of a company? (Though I don't think Fonteyn herself would have seen herself in this way) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 (edited) I was also fascinated by that title when I was a child. I've just looked up the history of this, and found the following explanation: "The title or rank of Prima ballerina assoluta was originally inspired by the Italian ballet masters of the early Romantic Ballet and was bestowed on a ballerina who was considered to be exceptionally talented, above the standard of other leading ballerinas. The title is very rarely used today and recent uses have typically been symbolic, in recognition of a notable career and as a result, it is commonly viewed as an honour rather than an active rank. The first recorded use of the title as an official rank, was by the renowned French balletmaster Marius Petipa, when he bestowed it on the Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani in 1894. He considered her to be the supreme danseuse in all of Europe. Legnani performed with the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet from 1893 until 1901. The only two ballerinas to hold the title Prima ballerina assoluta in the Soviet Union were Galina Ulanova and Maya Plisetskaya. Other dancers awarded the title include Alicia Alonso from Cuba and Dame Alicia Markova and Dame Margot Fonteyn from England. To date no American ballerina has ever held the rank of Prima ballerina assoluta; Rudolf Nureyev considered the ballerina Cynthia Gregory to be the only American ballerina deserving of such a title. He also described French dancer Yvette Chauviré as a "legend". In South Africa, the only ballerina granted the title Prima ballerina assoluta (1984) was Phyllis Spira (1943-2008)." It doesn't actually say who makes the decision, but clearly the examples were official titles. I am also a little ashamed to say I had to look up Phyllis Spira, I'd never heard of her. (Edited to add I've just watched a short clip of her on Youtube, and she fully deserves the title!) Edited October 24, 2013 by Fonteyn22 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Does Alicia Alonso have the assoluta title in Cuba? If not I rather think she should. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 That was really fascinating Fonteyn22 thanks I must admit Imhave never heard of Phyllis Spira either so will follow suit and look on Youtube. I do have the autograph of Alicia Alonso (and Fonteyn of course) from a gala I went to when I as 12 or 13 when they were both appearing as was Robert Helpmann. Fonteyn danced an extract from the Firebird and that was the first time I saw her and she already had the title then. Unfortunately have misplaced the programme I'm sure it s around somewhere as I can never pinpoint the date of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjuli_Bai Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 This is a very interesting subject and is, of course, about dance...... So, I've taken the liberty of starting a thread on it in the "Doing Dance Forum." Hope that's ok....... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thecatsmother Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Can I add people who talk on a phone on the bus without the need for a phone... You can guess where I am. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 (edited) Sleepless nights!! But have been reading about Phyllis Spira ......(as alerted above by Fonteyn22) ......a lovely lady.....have put some info on Anjuli's thread as mentioned above. Edited October 25, 2013 by LinMM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 I haven't read back through all the pages on this thread, so this may already have come up. Why oh why do people take babies or very small children to art galleries or museums? What on earth can a child of pre school age get out of gazing at a picture of, say, a Turner seascape? Or the display cabinets at the British Museum? All you get are bored, wailing children who would rather be somewhere else, either screaming at the tops of their voices, or running about and causing havoc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrischris Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 And "Real-Life Billy Elliot" to all boys! Or 'the next Darcey Bussell' for British girls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Just remembered this one: people who change their website and leave no forwarding URL I'm not talking about Bill Bloggs down the road and his little website, I'm talking major companies/institutions/international organisations (would you believe it) here who may change the main part of their website name, or totally rearrange the whole layout, and not bother to redirect anybody. So you click on some vital reference page and it's suddenly not there any more, and you have no idea where it is and so you have to navigate round the entire site trying to work out what's happened to it. Apart from anything else, it's incredibly bad business (and web design) practice, but it's surprising how frequently it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrischris Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 London property prices. How can a 1 bedroom flat the size of a wardrobe in central London be over £200,000? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 You could get a substantial house for that in parts of "Up North"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Just remembered this one: people who change their website and leave no forwarding URL I'm not talking about Bill Bloggs down the road and his little website, I'm talking major companies/institutions/international organisations (would you believe it) here who may change the main part of their website name, or totally rearrange the whole layout, and not bother to redirect anybody. So you click on some vital reference page and it's suddenly not there any more, and you have no idea where it is and so you have to navigate round the entire site trying to work out what's happened to it. Apart from anything else, it's incredibly bad business (and web design) practice, but it's surprising how frequently it happens. I couldn't agree more Alison. I think a lot of people don't realise the effort that is required in keeping a website up to date and keeping people informed when the site moves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Companies who hire a temp and then the day before they start, cancel. Supposed to be working today but it was cancelled .... again!! Also application forms, some of the suppositions are amazing - yes some of us who took 'O' levels are still out there and we are still capable of working and no I can't give you the details of my Head Teacher as I doubt very much whether the old bat (she was a horror) is still with us and if she is I expect she wouldn't remember me as she never really did when I was a pupil at her school. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Oh dear, Porthesia. How annoying for you. Ah, now the subject of job applications and interviews is an interesting one. I went for an interview for a senior post at A Very Grand Firm of Accountants. I was in my 30s at the time, and applying for a senior post. And among the questions they asked were what school I attended and what my father did for a living. The old class system alive and well at that firm, I think! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Porthesia your post made me laugh out loud so much my partner asked me what was going on!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Sorry not the bit about your work being cancelled that must be very annoying indeed....the other bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Cyclists who use the road but ignore the one-way road signs anddon't get out of the way when I was driving in the correct direction!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 Job interviews again - at the last two interviews I have been to, I've been asked the same question: "If we were to ask your friends, how would they describe you?" When did this suddenly become THE question to ask??? (It always used to be "Where do you see yourself in 5 years' time?") 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 They get it from books, taxi You could get a substantial house for that in parts of "Up North"! My brother and sister-in-law *did* - for marginally less than I sold my not-particularly-expensive flat earlier this year! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Er - someone want to tell me where Oop North you can get a house for that money? I am tired of my one bedroomed flat.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 You can get a house down south for that money too - if you know where to look! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Large parts of Liverpool, Merseyside, Lancashire, Yorkshire (but not North Yorkshire which can be very expensive). In Liverpool/Merseyside you can get a decent 3-bedroom semi with garden in a decent are for less than £200K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 (edited) The Post Office. Whereas retailers get into Christmas Mode around the end of August the Post Office can't give you a list of "last day for posting" well into October, by which time I have missed the last post for Canada. I know, I know I should remember end of September. but ... taxi, mmm now thinking about the answer to "how would your friends describe you" as I have an interview on Monday - thanks for the heads up because I think I would have done my goldfish impression if I had got asked that one without prior thought Edited November 1, 2013 by porthesia 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 taxi, mmm now thinking about the answer to "how would your friends describe you" as I have an interview on Monday - thanks for the heads up because I think I would have done my goldfish impression if I had got asked that one without prior thought I was expecting the question the second time, but I still didn't have a clue what to say - whatever do they want to hear?!!! Best of luck with the interview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Well if I said what I thought my friends thought of me (bossy and soppy) then I would never get a job!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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