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Deck Of Cards
Jun. 3rd, 2012 11:46 amCatty organised a bridge evening on Friday night at a Fareham pub, for those of us who are learning at the office at the moment. Dick, our bridge instructor, and James, another of the office's expert players, joined us, so for most hands we either had an expert and a novice playing against an expert and a novice, or four novices playing with the two experts on hand to offer advice.
We had a pleasant evening's bridge assisted by generously flowing drink. They served Stowford Press, and two people bought rounds while I was there - lovely jubbly. Dick had brought some bridge magazines for anyone who fancied them to borrow. Catty read one of the problem pages, and was soon reduced to hysterics. She explained "These don't half look suggestive," reading out by way of example "My partner likes to open a Strong Two." She promised to share some of the best quotes on Facebook.
When the juke box fell silent, Catty and I selflessly offered to sit out the next hand. As the others were playing we went over and put some tunes on. Catty said "I know how much you like Kirsty," and put Days on as her last choice, bless her. My selection included the Sex Pistols' God Save The Queen - when I knew it was next to come on I announced to our table "This one's for the jubilee." "Good choice," said James. A couple of the regulars at the bar seemed to be asking who put the songs on...
Catty was flabbergasted during the bidding on one hand, when Dick advised her to jump to a slam bid of six no trumps - but, with a little help from him, she made the contract and the overtrick. By the end of the evening, by her own admission, she was on a different planet (perhaps a little too much liquid refreshment), sometimes leading from hand when she should have led from dummy, or losing track of the bidding.
Last night I went down to the Gosport Waterfront Festival to see Doctor and the Medics. They were brilliant. Just before they came on, rain absolutely pelted down and everyone took refuge in the beer tent (they had Stowford Press too, albeit at £4 a pint). As the Medics appeared on stage and launched into You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), people gingerly ventured out of the tent; the rain had eased by then so a sizeable crowd gathered in front of the main stage. Rain fluctuated between light and heavy throughout the set but we stayed out there, earning praise from the Doctor who called us "the Gosport hardcore". Their set was a selection of party hits, mostly from the 80s, including a storming version of I Fought The Law. The Doctor did a patter about what a great crowd we were and what a great place it was, and concluded "It's a wonderful world." The band struck up a rocking beat, and I thought : are they going to rock up the Sam Cooke number? No...they rocked up the Louis Armstrong number.
Of course they finished with a wild rendition of Spirit In The Sky - sadly the exploding vicar dummy was nowhere to be seen, but the Doctor got us all singing along with gusto, while the loony dancer dressed as a wizard threw big balloons into the crowd as he had been doing all set.
We had a pleasant evening's bridge assisted by generously flowing drink. They served Stowford Press, and two people bought rounds while I was there - lovely jubbly. Dick had brought some bridge magazines for anyone who fancied them to borrow. Catty read one of the problem pages, and was soon reduced to hysterics. She explained "These don't half look suggestive," reading out by way of example "My partner likes to open a Strong Two." She promised to share some of the best quotes on Facebook.
When the juke box fell silent, Catty and I selflessly offered to sit out the next hand. As the others were playing we went over and put some tunes on. Catty said "I know how much you like Kirsty," and put Days on as her last choice, bless her. My selection included the Sex Pistols' God Save The Queen - when I knew it was next to come on I announced to our table "This one's for the jubilee." "Good choice," said James. A couple of the regulars at the bar seemed to be asking who put the songs on...
Catty was flabbergasted during the bidding on one hand, when Dick advised her to jump to a slam bid of six no trumps - but, with a little help from him, she made the contract and the overtrick. By the end of the evening, by her own admission, she was on a different planet (perhaps a little too much liquid refreshment), sometimes leading from hand when she should have led from dummy, or losing track of the bidding.
Last night I went down to the Gosport Waterfront Festival to see Doctor and the Medics. They were brilliant. Just before they came on, rain absolutely pelted down and everyone took refuge in the beer tent (they had Stowford Press too, albeit at £4 a pint). As the Medics appeared on stage and launched into You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), people gingerly ventured out of the tent; the rain had eased by then so a sizeable crowd gathered in front of the main stage. Rain fluctuated between light and heavy throughout the set but we stayed out there, earning praise from the Doctor who called us "the Gosport hardcore". Their set was a selection of party hits, mostly from the 80s, including a storming version of I Fought The Law. The Doctor did a patter about what a great crowd we were and what a great place it was, and concluded "It's a wonderful world." The band struck up a rocking beat, and I thought : are they going to rock up the Sam Cooke number? No...they rocked up the Louis Armstrong number.
Of course they finished with a wild rendition of Spirit In The Sky - sadly the exploding vicar dummy was nowhere to be seen, but the Doctor got us all singing along with gusto, while the loony dancer dressed as a wizard threw big balloons into the crowd as he had been doing all set.
