Johnny Bognor

A few people seem to be confused here. I think Thope-Le(ftie)-Saint was referring to the State Opening of Parliament incorporating a speech by the Queen as opposed to the Queens Speech on X-mas day.

Indeed. Went to see a number of clients in Central London this morning and what should have taken 2 hours took over 3.5 hours with all the road closures around parliament square. In addition to this, with only 6 months to an election, it is unlikely much of the policy would be implemented in time. Therefore it should only be done when the govt in power can see out a full 12 months where there is at least a chance the policies can be implemented.

Didn't watch the programme, but saw this clip on BBC News website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8364820.stm I was going to post it up last night for Mr NC, but I didn't want to get him aroused before going to bed.

I think we are setting our sights too high. If Vince Hillaire and Ray Crawford are considered to be Skate legends, the blue few obviously set their bar a lot lower than we do. http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=503060&postcount=3413

Is that what Targa's were designed for? Why don't they make Targa top cars anymore? BMW 6 Series - that surprises me. This car epitomises all you hate about BMWs Z4 - Fair play Honda S2000 - seriously good drive - probably one of the best roadsters Jaguar XK - nice looking, but you need to be the wrong side of 50 Mercedes SL - Pam Ewing of Dallas fame, made the SL a women's car for me, however the newer offerings are more masculine Lotus Elise - Great track day car Caterham - see Lotus Elise These tend to be less of a masculine car and more of an enthusiast car in a train spotting kind of way. Aston is definately masculine, especially ones with partially blanked out number plates. The MR2 is probably a rare car in that it has gone full circle. Masculine to Feminine back to Masculine. Something that the MX5 failed to do.

If money was no object then you do you think I would have a 348? When money is no object, then you can afford to have taste. Money, no object, then it would have to be: Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder The Lamborghini Miura is a beautifull car and would be a close second, but the 250 wins it for me. As for money being the object, you have to buy what you can afford and the above two cars are above the realms of 99.999% of people. The F308, F328, F348, F355 and now F360 are "affordable" cars, so are not the preserve of the super rich. In fact, despite ludicrous servicing costs, they are much cheaper to acquire than a modern day salloon. Take my 348, I paid £34k five years ago and it would sell for about £28k now, I make that about £100 per month in acquisition cost. That is less than buying a brand new Ford Fiesta. So for less than a Ford Fiesta, you get the Ferrari experience and the roar of a screaming V8 behind you - something the Fiesta lacks. As for the Quattroporte, a stunning looking 4 door saloon car, the depreciation would be too much to bear. The other problem is that the Mazza is a confused car. Is it a supercar? Is it a saloon? Who knows? Modern supercars should not have 4 doors IMO.

I bet you bypassed the taste filter and had a sneaky look.

Pretty exhaustive list there and you've clearly given this more thought than many other posts on the motoring forum. I would add the following: Mercedes ML Audi Q7 (taking over from the XC90) Audi A4 Cabriolet Audi A5 Cabriolet 911 Cabriolet In fact most Cabriolets and 4x4's used for the school run.

...but does your shopping bike do this??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtW3TJod2Bs or this? (particularly after 40 seconds) Or sound like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnhlvHp7iHo Do shopping bike owners do this? (On 0.46 and 1.03, you can spot my car and I especially like the doughnuts on 2+ minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inOQDOVQ7IU Still, if this turns you on, then each to his own

I know, I thought it was a wind up, but it is genuine. Who the **** would pay for a tour of Nottarf Krap?

You heard it first here. They have hatched a plan to bring in much needed revenue.

Classic. One of the best pieces of music to go with a TV programme - EVER Here are a few more to think about: Ivor the Engine Magic Roundabout F1 (on the Beeb) Magnum PI (That one's for NC) Benny Hill (OK, maybe not) The Professionals

... but he's not running the country, to be fair.

Quite a few I would guess, here's a starter for ten: Worst recession since WW2? (I bet unemployment dispropotionately affects Sun readers). The Sun has gone overboard on the letter issue which is at best distasteful and at worst disrespectful. Rather than focusing on the PM's spelling and grammar (and using the death of a soldier to make a point), how about focusing on his complete lack of basic economic knowledge and the fact that the country is in severely deep ****. I am almost starting to think that this whole thing is a Mandelson setup. Get the story into the media, sell it to the Sun (who would fall for it) thus creating a situation where everyone comes out feeling sorry for the Clown and the Sun not looking too good. Quite a clever way of punishing the Sun for their 'treason', and I wouldn't put it past the dark lord.

If she is going for the Laguna, why not get her into a VW Passat. A good one here, with low mileage and only two owners. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/200946345685701 Far better car IMO.

I don't know what all the fuss is about, because only a matter of weeks ago senior Labour politicans were telling us the Sun doesn't matter anymore and nobody reads it. The attacks on Major when the Sun switched sides last time were equally as viscious and I don't remember Mandelson (who orchestrated many of the attacks on Major) complaining then. The Sun are out of order on this letter, but the PM is a legitimate target (considering his track record) and there are plenty of other issues to highlight in order to bring him down.

Are you sure it wasn't a fold away shopping bike with SB1?

I have -- LGW which came with a car I bought. I decided to keep it as my missus is cabin crew and LGW happens to be the code sign for Gatwick. I did consider F1 SFC which is up for £800, but this amount is small compared to the damage my car would get living in a PO postcode. I don't see any harm in it myself and you can make money on them. A friend bought V10 GTB in light of Ferrari's piplelined V10 range of cars. He paid £250 two years ago and was recently offered £4000 for it. Also saw HR 01 on a Ferrari California yesterday outside Chichester. I thought it might be a royal, but it turns out that it is the demonstrator for HR Owen.

Watched the Rise and Fall of the Berlin wall on the History Channel last night - well worth a watch if it gets repeated. The stasi put so many political dissenters in prison that they could not afford to keep going. West Germany 'purchased' 30,000 prisoners at $50k a head which solved a number of problems. 1) No overcrowding 2) the removal of political dissenters 3) an inflow of much needed cash to keep the economy propped up. The programme also covered the escapes including tunnelling, microlites, hot air balloons, but the most interesting were the two blokes that made their own windsurf boards (because you couldn't buy any) and windsufed from FDR to Denmark. Both nearly died in the process. As someone who used to regularly windsurf when I was younger, who has sailed from West Wittering to the Isle of Wight (only a few miles in the scheme of things), I am seriously impressed by these two making their own boards and sails and surfing what must be nearly 70 miles in the freezing temperatures of the Baltic sea. This is in German, but you get the gist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbjSz3IRsuY&feature=player_embedded# I suppose it just goes to show, that if you try to entrap Human Beings, some will endeavour to escape, just to be free.

Indeed. The threat of two superpowers going to the brink kept everyone in check. With one superpower, that position can be abused, if not kept in check, as some would argue is the case now. Having said this, the rise in China should see an East vs West power struggle once again - although I am not sure how reasonable our new Commie foes will be - remember tiananmen square????

Watched a great escapes programme yesterday which was fascinating.....to see the lengths that people went to in order to get across the divide.

,,, and when it goes wrong, there is a funny smell and it leaks ...

I don't know. Why not try it and if you don't post back within a few days, we can assume that one should do it in the future.

....came down 20 years ago. I recently visited Berlin and was underwhelmed by the wall (or the parts that can still be seen). The physical barrier was far less significant than the ideological barrier - the division between Captilism and Communism. At the time though, both Mrs T and Mr Mitterrand were against the wall coming down under the threat of what a united Germany would bring. My view is that it changed the world. It seemed that the ideological argument between capitalism and communism had been settled once and for all. I also think that this was the birth of a new kind of socialism - i.e. New Labour. After the wall came down, many socialists had to incorporate market forces into their doctrine and I think the seeds of New Labour were sown in 1989. It changed the world for all of us. What did the breaking down of this barrier mean to you? Were you there (if so, what was it like?)?

Oh When The Saints...Go Marching In