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  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent

    MI6 Community had the same problem periodically with the Vanilla forum software. There was the flooding of the site with fake accounts posting spam links on the Activity Page. I think they only overcame it in the end by giving two of the mods admin powers so they could clear all of the junk up much more quickly and efficiently.

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 7,217MI6 Agent

    Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam…

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,750Chief of Staff

    It’s the accounts that are the issue, there isn’t any actual spam 🤔

    YNWA 97
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,109MI6 Agent

    CoolHand said:

    Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam…

    _______________________________________________________________

    see that's what I never got: when Terry Jones reads the menu, the first two selections don't have any Spam. Yet when Graham Chapman asks if there's anything without Spam, Terry Jones offers something that doesn't have much Spam, completely ignoring those first two items on the menu!

  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent

    Yes, that can still be annoying as it floods the forum with new accounts that don't represent actual genuine forum members. Hopefully you'll find a workable solution to this issue in the long run.

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,334MI6 Agent

    I just watched the effect the recent cold has hit Britain and other parts of Europe. I have questions, most of all: don't you people have studded winter tires? 🤷

  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,863Chief of Staff
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,863Chief of Staff

    Ah, you young things.... I was paraphrasing Eric Idle's line after Graham Chapman complains about everything having Spam in it.

    https://youtu.be/_bW4vEo1F4E

  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent

    Ah, I didn't get the reference. I have seen the sketch before though and used to enjoy the repeats of Monty Python's Flying Circus when they were shown again on the BBC in the mid-1990s or so. I think they were shown on a Friday evening along with plenty of other classic spy shows I became a fan of as well. There was a kind of 1960s revival on TV at that time and young me lapped it all up! 😀

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,863Chief of Staff

    Glad you enjoyed it! There are a few more bits and pieces of Python that I'd bet weren't included, but you'd have to really like them to dig those up.

    I watched Python first time around (and it's predecessors, too) as did my schoolmates, and we could all quote entire sketches verbatim. I can still do that, geeky nerd that I am, as can be told be reading the Imaginary Conversations thread in which several Python sketches are twisted to be about Bond.

  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent

    I recently bought a DVD of At Last the 1948 Show second hand and I believe that this was a kind of forerunner of Monty Python's Flying Circus with some of the same people being involved with it?

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,863Chief of Staff

    Yes indeed, that's one of the predecessors I watched as a schoolboy. 😃

  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    edited December 2022

    My 8000th post! I'll try to make it a good one! 😀

    Ah, I see. I've not had a chance to watch it yet, but I will soon. I knew it was a kind of forerunner of Monty Python, possibly from one of those fascinating Comedy Connections programmes the BBC put out some years ago though the cast list would point in that direction too of course!

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,863Chief of Staff

    Happy 8000th, @Silhouette Man !!!

  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,109MI6 Agent
    edited December 2022

    silhouette man said:

    I recently bought a DVD of At Last the 1948 Show second hand and I believe that this was a kind of forerunner of Monty Python's Flying Circus with some of the same people being involved with it?

    _____________________________________________________________

    John Cleese and Graham Chapman, with their friends Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor and The Lovely Aimi McDonald. There's early versions of a few classic Python sketches, including the Four Yorkshiremen.

    If you can find it you should also get Do Not Adjust Your Set, which ran about the same time and starred Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, and two others whose names I'm forgetting, and the Bonzo Dog DooDah Band (Neil Innes's band). My copies of these two dvds are a matching set.

    another lesser know predecessor to ...Flying Circus is John Cleese's 1968 comedy special How to Irritate People, which featured Chapman, Palin, Feldman, Brooke-Taylor and Connie Booth. I've never found this on dvd, and it doesn't seem to be on youtube or archive.org at the moment or I'd post the link


    EDIT: and a question about Monty Python related shows is a perfect use of an 8000th post! well done!

  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,863Chief of Staff

    @caractacus potts one of those was David Jason, and I also forget the other, but I think Terry Gilliam did some of his unmistakable animations as well.

  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,109MI6 Agent

    I had to look it up, the other two on Do Not Adjust Your Set were David Jason and Denise Coffey. I remember them mostly doing this movie serial thing where Coffey cackled like a witch, but they were in other sketches as well. @Barbel did they go on to do other projects of interest? unlike Feldman, Brooke-Taylor or Innes I've never heard of them.

    My dvd that collects surviving episodes of Do Not Adjust Your Set certainly has Gilliam's name in big letters, but I don't remember any cartoons nor recognising him in any sketches. I assumed episodes with Gilliam content were not amongst those that survived. Maybe some have surfaced over the last decade or so?

    I think Bill Oddie has cameos on both shows, as well as in How to Irritate People

  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,750Chief of Staff

    Not required in the UK but I believe they are a legal necessity in some parts of Europe 🤔 definitely Poland…

    YNWA 97
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,863Chief of Staff

    David Jason is a household name in the UK. His most famous part is Del Boy in "Only Fools And Horses"

    but there are several others.

  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    edited December 2022

    Thank you @Barbel and @caractacus potts! I'm glad my 8000th post met with approval! 🙂

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 7,217MI6 Agent

    Congratulations @Silhouette Man it’s always good to see you on here.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent

    Thank you, @CoolHandBond. It's always a pleasure to see you on here too.

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent

    I believe I was saying something about corruption and bribery regarding Qatar getting the World Cup contest:

    EU corruption scandal: MEP denies Qatar bribery after €1.5m seized - BBC News

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,750Chief of Staff

    It’s a pretty well know fact that Qatar only got the World Cup because of bribery & corruption….Sepp Blatter admitted exactly that! Qatar promised to buy weapons from the French IF Michel Platini voted for them - he did, and got four others to vote along with him…

    FIFA is THE most corrupt organisation in the world - and that’s saying something 😳

    There is a great podcast called The Lords of Soccer - I recommend giving it a listen.

    YNWA 97
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 7,217MI6 Agent

    One year ago tonight (16th December) the Philippine island of Cebu was devastated by Typhoon Odette.

    Odette claimed at least 100 lives all over Cebu. Most of these deaths were due to collapsed structures like concrete walls of a house or an establishment.

    Odette was the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines in 2021.  

    As of Oct. 7, 2022, data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (Dromic) showed that 3,682,799 individuals, or more than half of Cebu’s population of 5 million, were affected by the disaster.  

    The damage Odette left was extensive. Moreover, it became more visible to Cebuanos the morning after the typhoon.

    In the capital Cebu City, damage to infrastructure alone was pegged at P1.7 billion. 

    While road clearing in Cebu province took only a few days to complete, energy, water and telecommunication services went back to normal operations approximately three months after the typhoon struck the island province.

    Cebu also received reinforcements, in terms of manpower, to fast-track repairs and restoration.  

    National government agencies and local governments here have released at least P2.5 billion in public funds to support the various post-Odette rehabilitation and recovery programs, including financial assistance to those who completely lost their homes and belongings to the disaster.  

    ———————————-

    I reprint the stories of Harold and Lisa, below:

    But for Cebuanos like Harold Bantigue, he continues to cope with the physical and emotional wounds Odette inflicted upon him.   

    Bantigue lost three members of his family, including his wife, three-year-old daughter, and his sister after the concrete wall right beside their house collapsed on them on the night Odette unleashed its fury in central and southern Cebu. When Odette barreled its way through Cebu on the evening of Dec. 16, 2021, with winds reaching speeds of up to 280 kilometers per hour (kph), it toppled electrical posts, telecommunication towers, and other infrastructure, including the firewall beside the Bantigues’ residence.

    “When I stared into the eyes of my wife that night, I wouldn’t expect it would be the last,” Harold said in Cebuano.   

    “There won’t be a day when I keep thinking about them, especially about what happened. The most painful part is realizing that I cannot do anything to help them. I’m just right there but there’s nothing I can do. I was pinned down, like the rest of them,” he added. 

    Rescuers were able to lift the fallen concrete wall that buried the Bantigues on the morning after Odette made landfall in Cebu. Harold was the last one extracted from the rubble.   


    When the second half of 2022 arrived, the aftermath of the typhoon started to completely disappear, especially with Cebuanos gradually returning to their pre-pandemic lives.  

    The coastal highway that connects the towns of Alegria, Malabuyoc, and Ginatilan, once impassable after meters-high storm surges ate one lane, has started accommodating all types of vehicles.   

    A 120-foot Christmas tree has been put up at the Fuente Osmeña rotunda in Cebu City in the last quarter of 2022. The Christmas tree was lit up on early December 2022, a symbol of hope and resilience of Cebuanos. Cebu’s tourism, which suffered a double whammy during Odette, is now looking at a rosy future. However, a few tourist spots, like the famous Kawasan Falls, remained off-limits. Officials and experts continue their risk assessment after the typhoon virtually overhauled the destination’s topography.  

    For residents like Lisa Bringas, a teacher working at a private school in downtown Cebu City, she looks forward to celebrating the holidays here in a more festive and positive mood.

    But like Harold, Odette has left ‘an emotional scar’ on Lisa. She said that every time it would rain hard and feel the strong gusts of wind, she could not forget the night her family was under the typhoon’s mercy. 

    “We were praying for the Lord to make it stop – the howling winds that pound on our windows, on our door, like a mob trying to get inside your house. We were really scared at that time because it sounded like the typhoon really wanted to destroy everything in its path,” explained Lisa in Cebuano.  

    “That is why my Christmas wish for this year is to spare us from natural disasters like Odette, so we can celebrate the Holidays unlike before,” she added.  

    ——————————————


    My own recollection is of moving from our house on Mactan to our apartment in Cebu City for more safety. The house sustained structural damage to the roof where work has only just begun to start to repair it. The apartments here sustained roof damage as well but no one was hurt.

    Christmas is always a huge celebration here and last year it was virtually cancelled, so it’s been good to see everyone preparing for the event here - it’s going to a good one.



    Forgive me if I say that I don’t give a toss about Harry and Meghan’s “problems”.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,334MI6 Agent

    Thanks for posting, CHB. Your post certainly made an impression.

  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,750Chief of Staff

    I hope you watched Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back on tv last night?

    Gives you the proper perspective on this 🍸

    YNWA 97
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent

    Sadly I missed it but maybe I'll be able to watch it on one of the catch-up services.

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,750Chief of Staff
    YNWA 97
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