A few weeks ago I got a summons to jury service. Tomorrow I find out if they require me to attend from Monday. I'm kind of hoping not. I could do without mingling with 14 strangers to consider the alleged actions of some possible miscreant. Not exactly public-spirited, I fully accept.
Anyone here ever done it?
A few weeks ago I got a summons to jury service. Tomorrow I find out if they require me to attend from Monday. I'm kind of hoping not. I could do without mingling with 14 strangers to consider the alleged actions of some possible miscreant. Not exactly public-spirited, I fully accept.
Anyone here ever done it?
No. I was called, and they explained what the case was, but then the defending side and the prosecuting side each got to veto a few jurors each based on what we looked like. The prosecutor turfed me out. And I was ready to send the guy down! (Provided the evidence was convincing...). It was all pretty silly.
Tonight I dug out Hawkwind's first album remastered on vinyl. It's a few years old now. Had a shock as I forgotten its a horrible blue disc. Still it plays nicely. I only possess such discs if I absolutely have to have them.
A few weeks ago I got a summons to jury service. Tomorrow I find out if they require me to attend from Monday. I'm kind of hoping not. I could do without mingling with 14 strangers to consider the alleged actions of some possible miscreant. Not exactly public-spirited, I fully accept.
Checked today, I'm not needed (in fact the message indicated no jurors are). So I don't have to do my bit as a responsible citizen making a contribution for the good of society. Excellent!
Checked today, I'm not needed (in fact the message indicated no jurors are). So I don't have to do my bit as a responsible citizen making a contribution for the good of society. Excellent!
Glad for you!
Glad for you!
Thanks. I don't like being made to be a helpful responsible person!
Thanks. I don't like being made to be a helpful responsible person!
I agree. I would most likely disagree with the other jury members anyway!
No. I was called, and they explained what the case was, but then the defending side and the prosecuting side each got to veto a few jurors each based on what we looked like. The prosecutor turfed me out. And I was ready to send the guy down! (Provided the evidence was convincing...). It was all pretty silly.
Sounds odd.
Checked today, I'm not needed (in fact the message indicated no jurors are). So I don't have to do my bit as a responsible citizen making a contribution for the good of society. Excellent!
Don't know what your problem was he was clearly guilty.
I heard this story the other day, told by Guy Garvey on his radio show. I don't know if the story is true but I like it anyway.
Vangelis arrived at BBC Radio to be interviewed by Stuart Maconie. Steve the security man at the entrance was known to the staff as a bit of a character who could be quite quotable. Vangelis apparently arrived wearing a luridly coloured mohair jacket and feather boa hat, and had two beautiful young women at his side. He said he was here to see Stuart Maconie. Steve asked who he should say it was. The synth legend, by some accounts a quite bombastic bloke, bristled and in a bout of don't-you-know-who-I-am drew himself up and bellowed "I AM VANGELIS!"
Steve duly picked up the phone and said "Hello, Stuart? There's a Frank Ellis here to see you."
There was no mention of Vangelis's reaction.
A few weeks ago I got a summons to jury service. Tomorrow I find out if they require me to attend from Monday. I'm kind of hoping not. I could do without mingling with 14 strangers to consider the alleged actions of some possible miscreant. Not exactly public-spirited, I fully accept.
Anyone here ever done it?
The one time I was called, I arrived at the courthouse carrying my daughter who was an infant at the time. One of the lawyers stopped me in the line going in and asked if I was the primary caregiver and I said yes (which was true, I had taken leave from work, and was a stay-at-home dad at the time). She told me I could leave and that ended that.
If it had gone any further, I toyed with the idea of telling the court that if police had grounds for laying a charge, then I must presume the accused is guilty.
(I don't know if that would have worked or not).
If it had gone any further, I toyed with the idea of telling the court that if police had grounds for laying a charge, then I must presume the accused is guilty.
(I don't know if that would have worked or not).
Imagine the rest of the jury overhearing that and they all start chipping in - "As he says - come on let's face it, they did it. Can't we all just go?!"
Sounds like you take the same view as Mr.Farmer above.
Display MoreI heard this story the other day, told by Guy Garvey on his radio show. I don't know if the story is true but I like it anyway.
Vangelis arrived at BBC Radio to be interviewed by Stuart Maconie. Steve the security man at the entrance was known to the staff as a bit of a character who could be quite quotable. Vangelis apparently arrived wearing a luridly coloured mohair jacket and feather boa hat, and had two beautiful young women at his side. He said he was here to see Stuart Maconie. Steve asked who he should say it was. The synth legend, by some accounts a quite bombastic bloke, bristled and in a bout of don't-you-know-who-I-am drew himself up and bellowed "I AM VANGELIS!"
Steve duly picked up the phone and said "Hello, Stuart? There's a Frank Ellis here to see you."
There was no mention of Vangelis's reaction.
Reminds me of a story my sister told me, she used work at an airport and came across several celebs over the years. Don't know if anyone remembers or knows of Carol Smiley. ( A "c" lister was famous in the UK for a few years presenting a few shows and turning letters on the Wheel of Fortune.) During the time she had fame she arrived at the Airport and was directed to join a queue. Not wishing to queue she said "don't you know who I am?"
Don't know if anyone remembers or knows of Carol Smiley. During the time she had fame she arrived at the Airport and was directed to join a queue. Not wishing to queue she said "don't you know who I am?"
She actually said it?
As you may recall, she was perceived as being as per her name, permanently beaming nicey nicey 'Smiley Smiley Carol Smiley' as she was portrayed on a comedy sketch show, which did fit with her usual screen persona. I used to work at BBC TV Centre and would occasionally encounter celebs in the corridor. The one time I ever saw her we briefly made eye contact and she was the total opposite, glaring at me angrily as though extremely pissed off. She was Scowly Scowly Carol Scowly.
To be fair, I'm often perceived as cross by people who meet me as my resting face is a scowl. I'm a fairly positive person but am sometimes asked "What's the matter" or "What's upset you" because of my default scowl. So maybe she has that default expression too when off-camera, or saw what she perceived as a scowl and responded in kind.
My favourite spot in London is the comfy armchair at the back of Scooters Caffe Bar on Lower Marsh alongside Waterloo Station. When I'm in London I try to get along there, sink into the chair and enjoy one or three old fashioneds which they mix very nicely there.
I've discovered that Scooters is very close to what's been calculated by cartographers as the exact geographical centre of the whole Greater London area. I don't believe there's anything in it but I like to think that my enjoyment of being in that armchair is something - fuck knows what - to do with being so close to the very centre of London. Maybe a combination of that, it being the city of my birth and where I've lived for so much of my life. Some kind of esoteric energy or something, a force that can be intensified by drinking at least two old fashioneds.
The actual centre of London is in a block of flats in a street just over the road. Maybe there's a flat at the exact centre of that block, making it the most central residence in London. And maybe there's a room at the exact centre of that flat, making it the most central room in London. Which means there could be a chair at the exact centre of that room, meaning whoever sits in it is the most central person of all the 9 million or so in the entire 600 square miles of Greater London. If London was invaded via its outer fringes, they'd be the last person captured.
Presumably you can apply the same principle to entire countries.
(For anyone curious enough, it's Greet House in Frazer Street).
She actually said it?
As you may recall, she was perceived as being as per her name, permanently beaming nicey nicey 'Smiley Smiley Carol Smiley' as she was portrayed on a comedy sketch show, which did fit with her usual screen persona. I used to work at BBC TV Centre and would occasionally encounter celebs in the corridor. The one time I ever saw her we briefly made eye contact and she was the total opposite, glaring at me angrily as though extremely pissed off. She was Scowly Scowly Carol Scowly.
To be fair, I'm often perceived as cross by people who meet me as my resting face is a scowl. I'm a fairly positive person but am sometimes asked "What's the matter" or "What's upset you" because of my default scowl. So maybe she has that default expression too when off-camera, or saw what she perceived as a scowl and responded in kind.
Yes , definitely according to my sister and I also remember smiley smiley carol smiley. My sister also said that Frank.Carson was Frank Carson , exactly he was on TV and made everyone laugh. Jonny Vegas did an impromptu set for free keeping the passengers entertained as they waited for for their delayed flight .
Display MoreMy favourite spot in London is the comfy armchair at the back of Scooters Caffe Bar on Lower Marsh alongside Waterloo Station. When I'm in London I try to get along there, sink into the chair and enjoy one or three old fashioneds which they mix very nicely there.
I've discovered that Scooters is very close to what's been calculated by cartographers as the exact geographical centre of the whole Greater London area. I don't believe there's anything in it but I like to think that my enjoyment of being in that armchair is something - fuck knows what - to do with being so close to the very centre of London. Maybe a combination of that, it being the city of my birth and where I've lived for so much of my life. Some kind of esoteric energy or something, a force that can be intensified by drinking at least two old fashioneds.
The actual centre of London is in a block of flats in a street just over the road. Maybe there's a flat at the exact centre of that block, making it the most central residence in London. And maybe there's a room at the exact centre of that flat, making it the most central room in London. Which means there could be a chair at the exact centre of that room, meaning whoever sits in it is the most central person of all the 9 million or so in the entire 600 square miles of Greater London. If London was invaded via its outer fringes, they'd be the last person captured.
Presumably you can apply the same principle to entire countries.
(For anyone curious enough, it's Greet House in Frazer Street).
Meridian a small town quite close to Coventry (my home) claims the honour of being the centre of England. They have stone there to mark the spot. I don't think it is though!!
Meridian a small town quite close to Coventry (my home) claims the honour of being the centre of England. They have stone there to mark the spot. I don't think it is though!!
I just looked this up and it seems you're right to doubt it. In 2013 Ordnance Survey calculated England's exact centre to be in a field at Lindley Hall Farm in Leicestershire. Bit naughty of Meridian to still have their marker unless it says "Until 2013 this was thought to be the centre of England"!
The centre of Britain is somewhere in Lancashire, and in Scotland it's near Blair Atholl.
I like these twitter videos from The World Bollard Association.
This is my favourite (already posted earlier, sorry for the repetition but it's always worth seeing again) and I never tire of watching it and it always makes me laugh. The way it implacably rises back up.
A special mention must go to this one too.
There you are. Bollards.
