Jamie123

Well this was how it started: And this was how it ended... And this was his cat... (Seriously though, poor kitty!)

Read the book, you old German...erm...whatever it is you are

The original series Star Trek had some time travelling too. Yes I actually quite like Lynch's "Dune". They made a number of changes from the original novel, but most of these worked quite well (the wierding units for example, or the Harkonnens' heart plugs). The only thing I didn't like was the ending - which I thought was very lame indeed. I totally love Frank Herbert's original novel "Dune", which I first read about 30 years ago - but "Dune Messiah" and "Children of Dune" less so. One gets the feeling at the end of CoD... ***SPOILER ALERT*** ...what a horrible fate Paul Muad Dib escaped, but to which his son Leto sacrificed himself. But for what? Who would become a human/sandworm mutant just to create a stagnant society that tolerates no freedom of thought? I've been meaning to read "God Emperor of Dune" for many years but never got around to it.

Indeed - I always thought Star Trek reached its apex in the Pickard era.

On the subject of OCD-like behaviour in a religious context, I can't help recalling this passage from C.S. Lewis' "Surprised by Joy": (The whole book is available online here: http://cnqzu.com/library/Philosophy/neoreaction/_extra authors/Lewis, C. S/C.S._Lewis-Surprised_by_Joy__The_Shape_of_My_Early_Life-Harcourt,_Brace,_Jovanovich(1966).pdf) Oddly enough that could well have been me at age 16 (though I never read anything by Lewis (except Narnia) till I was in my 20's). For me, every last statement in a prayer had to "feel real". If for example I prayed for my mother, I would need to have a vivid picture of her in my head while I was doing so. (As if God would't know who I was talking about otherwise!) Creating clear mental pictures isn't always easy when you're dog-tired and sleepy and I can remember taking hours over my prayers, kneeling by the bedside long into the night, desperately longing for sleep yet terrified of the fires of hell that awaited me (so I imagined) if I didn't say my prayers properly. I also remember the delicious feeling of the last "amen" followed by soft sheets and pillows - not to mention the knowledge that I wouldn't have to go through the awful business again until the following night. It's good to know we are not alone.

Haha...you've set my morbid curiosity ablaze now!

Did I? Oh, sorry....:( By the way, it never struck me before but The Hooded Claw always had the hood of his cape down, and wore instead a rather silly-looking bonnet. So was he technically a "hooded" claw? Nobody remembered the Hooded Claw for years until 1984 when Franke Goes to Hollywood released the song "The Power of Love": Whenever that song came on the radio my roommate (I was in college at the time) would do an impression of a "hooded claw" using his arm as a "claw" and covering himself with his coat as a "hood". But whenever I tried to enlighten anyone about who the Hooded Claw really was, I'd get: "Surely that was Dick Dastardly!" No it wasn't! It makes me soooooo mad! By the way, at that time there were no fewer than three songs simultaneously in the UK charts called "The Power of Love": "The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. "The Power of Love" by Jennifer Rush "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News (which was also the theme song for the movie "Back to the Future")

I guess the closest equivalent for us would have been the Daleks. Many a kid of my generation would hide behind the couch when they appeared... That by the way is the original Doctor Who (played by William Hartnell) with his granddaughter Susan (Carol Anne Ford). The oldest joke about the Daleks was an alleged design flaw... ...but unfortunately the writers (eventually) came up with a solution: That's right...Daleks can fly, so the joke's on us! P.S. I mentioned Blake's 7 earlier: I've read that in the finale of Season 2, when our galaxy is invaded by aliens from Andromeda and Blake is forced to fight alongside his arch-enemy Servelan for the survival of humanity, the writers originally wanted the invaders to be Daleks in a Doctor Who crossover. I think it's a shame they didn't go with this idea. It would certainly have been criticized as shark-jumping, but maybe that's what was needed. Instead the show limped lamely on for another two seasons: Gareth Hunt (who played Blake himself) left in Season 3 and Season 4 didn't even have Servelan in it: she died (in rather stupid circumstances, ill-befitting an evil genius like her) at the end of Season 3. Jacqueline Pierce as the evil (and totally cool) Servelan, inserted for reference. After her "stupid death" ("~~it's funny cos it's true") there was little point in watching that show - though I suppose Avon could be pretty cool when he was in a mean mood.

Call me dumb, but I'm curious to know why you said that. I can see that some therapists might regard the LDS lifestyle (or indeed any religious observance) as OCD behaviour in itself, but sorely there's no danger in one wee Google... I just Googled "CBT therapy". There are lots of links. Even NHS Choices has a page on it. P.S. Googling "faith affirming CBT therapy" did bring up a lot of "new age" stuff, but it did also bring up the Mormon Mental Health Association (though now I've checked it out a little I suspect that "Mormon" in the title may be a little misleading).

My my, what a thread this has been so far. We have had: The "Dear Johnning" of missionaries Sarah Brightman Katherine Jenkins William Blake Aled Jones The Snowman Sylvester Sneakly (alias The Hooded Claw) Dick Dastardly Snidely Whiplash Insurance fraud Penguins Robby the Robot Cockney rhyming slang Fountain pens How to pronounce the word "Zeitgeist" I am dying to know where it will go next!

I found this site on Thieves' Cant: it's quite informative http://www.pascalbonenfant.com/18c/cant/. Some of these words would be understood by nearly all English people: "fag" for cigarette fir example. "Billy no-mates" is quite common. "Pork Pies" (sometimes shortened to "Porkies") for lies is Cockney rhyming slang, as is "Me Old China" (china plate = mate) and "Bristol Cities" for....erm.....moving on.... An "esquire" (or "squire") was originally an aspirant to knighthood. Later it became a social rank between a knight and an ordinary gentleman. (Gentlemen who were not esquires would have Gent. after their name - you see it sometimes on old headstones.) But from the early 20th Century Esq. has been applied to any man as an alternative - and more respectful - form of "Mr.". (However, you should never append Esq. to your own name yourself....that is considered rather ignorant and presumptuous.)

I think she means she once got sent to the headmaster's office for flicking inky pellets at the boy next to her in class. (It's spelled "principAL" by the way, Eowyn.)

A-bit-of-a-silly-arse (You can't say that's not one word! It's hyphenated!) I really miss the pig!

It's so sexist! Why aren't some of them sleeping policewomen? It's exactly the same in church. Always Amen, never Aladies. And what about all the hymn books? Why not a few hyrr books too?

Whiplash (noun) (i) a kind of neck injury, (ii) a mythical condition insurance fraudsters always claim to have after pre-organized "accidents", so they can screw money out of insurers and force everyone else's premiums up through the roof. Except to people with the second kind of "whiplash".

My Little Pony All skinny and bony! Tripped on a wire And fell in the fire!

It's a great shame that "whiplash" has become almost synonymous with "insurance fraud". So many fraudsters have claimed to have suffered from it after arranging fake road accidents. My wife once actually suffered actual whiplash in an actual road accident. How much com-pen-say-shun do you think she got?

Here's another annoying thing people say: No I don't. Because there WAS no "Robby the Robot" in Lost in Space! This is Robby the Robot: He was in the move Forbidden Planet. (With Anne Francis, Leslie Neilson and Walter Pidgeon.) (Great movie BTW!) He was never EVER on Lost in Space. Although... ...there was a robot in Lost in Space: As you can see it is not the same robot. And it was NOT called Robby.

You mean the book-reading woman wasn't you? I'm shocked!

Sorry NightSG - I hadn't noticed you'd already mentioned UFO. It wasn't "connected" with Space 1999 story-wise (they take place in different universes) but Space 1999 "grew out of" what would have been the second UFO season before they scrapped it. They were planning to expand the UFO Moon Base, and the models they built for this (so I understand) were eventually used as Moonbase Alpha.

Oh a few more... The Avengers (Especially the Mrs. Peel episodes. Tara King was OK but Emma Peel ruled.) Blake's 7 (essentially Star Trek for the terminally depressed. By far the best thing about it was Jacqueline Pierce as the evil empress Servelan.) UFO (Anderson's other Live Action sci-fi show.) Wonder Woman (I don't care what you say, there will never ever be any Wonder Woman other than Linda Carter) Hercules the Legendary Journeys/Xena Warrior Princess Ummm....am I allowed to mention Charlie's Angels? (Jacklyn Smith was always my favourite.

P.S. I couldn't not include a picture of Maya...

Season 1 was the best - though I loved Maya! "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, subjected to public inquiry or buried in soft peat for six months and recycled as firelighters!"

Ugh...desecrated coconut!

You're just the Dark Lord!