Evoland

Update on Marrow

2007-08-18T11:19:00.000+01:00

I just got a letter today from the Anthony Nolan Trust and apparently, the operation appears to have been successful with the guy having been discharged from hospital.

They were quick to underline that this is very early days but I'm feeling very proud of my little white cells at the mo.

They will write to me again some time in January, I shall let you know.

Just to prove I still can

2007-07-30T21:52:00.001+01:00

Here's a quick blog.

Not been around very much of late, felicitations to all.

Erm, read the new Harry Potter book - was good, predictable ending but that is just the way I like them thank you very much. I shall refrain from spoiling anything for anyone - though I shall mention that lots of people die in this one!

GB ticket I understand is now bought so I shall be going to Cheltenham with band of lovely 11-16s I think. (Barring flood failure).

Sort of getting used to the Mac but continually harping back to the PC days gone by - cannot seem to keep off my dusty old machine.

Quick Samism and then I shall close,

My little lad (Evo1.3) stayed with his Nana last week and rang home at bedtime. Evo1.1 answered (she's called Katie). "Hello mummy" says Sam, "it's Sammy"
"Oh no," says Evo1.1, "this is Katie"

"Nope" says Sam, "it's definitely Sam"

Was it really last February?

2007-06-15T10:15:00.000+01:00

Seems like longer than that I last blogged.

Anyway, just been on a great holiday to Corfu, the greenest island of Greece, people really lovely, scenery awesome, land - sea and air.

But I'm back now, and I thought I'd let you know something that I'm up to. I have been on something called the Anthony Nolan register for about 15+ years. You might remember that Anthony Nolan was quite a high profile young lad who died of Leukimia about 20 years or so ago. In his honour, this register was set up to increase the likelihood that people suffering from similar diseases in future might find a bone marrow match.

Well, after all this time, I am now a match for someone (don't know who, you're not allowed to find out).

It used to be called bone marrow donation, but its a bit different now. You have to have 4 sets of injections on 4 consecutive days to make your body produce stem cells, they make you feel really achy and as if you've got flu - had my first one yesterday, apparently it gets worse and worse as the days go by (poor me lol). Then on Sunday, I have to go to London to have my last injection and then on Monday, they will put me on this machine that takes blood out of one arm, circulates it through a machine which filters out the stem cells and then goes back into my other arm. This takes about five hours and hopefully it'll be enough, if not, I'll have to do it again on Tuesday, but I really hope not.

It's a bit more real for me at the moment because a friend of mine just died of Leukimia - in fact, its his funeral on Monday - the day I will be donating - God's poetry I think, but I am sad I'll miss it.

If anyone is interested in signing up by the way, you can find out how at www.anthonynolan.org.uk/

They are particularly interested at the moment on men aged 18-45ish as they are likely to get more time out of them, but anyone is welcome (actually, there may be an upper age limit of 55). (The reason they prefer men is because they are unlikely to be pregnant in that time frame ;) )

Well, thought I'd dip my toe back into the virtual pond, hope everyone is well,

Evo
x

New blogger

2007-02-07T15:43:00.000Z

Well, I have been forced into it now.

Can't say that I notice anything different just yet though. I use Gmail anyway. - Have google bought blogger I wonder?

Well, I thought it is well worth letting everyone know that I - me - have just tidied up my desk. I can actually see the wood again, how's that?

I am still extremely busy but something really needed to be done.

There you go, that's my February diary note.

Soupstar Soaperstar

2007-01-12T14:54:00.000Z

I can only be accused of being half a "insert bad name of your own choosing". I do not watch all of this, just the coronation St gang and Hayley T cos I think she is actually a good singer. Sky+ to thank for easy editing.

Antony Cotton is my winner. His voice is mediocre at best but he is such an entertainer. I can really see him with his own Barrymoresque chat show. However good the others are, they don't have any stage presence.

Thumbs up to David Guest though, very amusing.

Vote Antony!

Happy New Year

2006-12-31T14:59:00.000Z

Well, yesterday was all a bit of a cloud.

On Friday, Evo1.2 was chasing Evo1.1 down the stairs and caused her to fall down the bottom couple of steps. She complained about it being a bit painful but as true caring parents, we told her to belt up and get to bed. Well, yesterday it was still hurting her a bit across the top of her foot so I took her to casualty.

Four and a half hours later, it is confirmed she has a broken metatarsal - or near there anyway. No PE for a couple of months and potentially no school for a few days.

But after four and a half hours in the waiting, you are sort of confronted with these weird thoughts of satisfaction. Imagine If we'd waited that long and nothing had been wrong? At least we didn't waste our time.

Oh well, she seemed very pleased with her break and couldn't wait to tell all of her friends about it.

I can't remember this, can anyone else?

Oh well, perhaps it is a girl thing.

Happy New Year to all from all at Evoland.

And a merry Christmas from me

2006-12-08T11:50:00.000Z

I know I haven't been very active of late, but here I am with a proper catch up blog. You were wrong Karin ;) and a merry Christmas to you - btw, the village of generosity seems to be offline?

Right, where to start. In the world of work, I have had a very busy time of it. I have been working on a deal which has lasted nine months and in the end needed to get done otherwise the buyer would have gone bust - and it happened with just a day to spare. And since I only get paid if these things happen, the same could be said for me too - but after working 20 hr days for the last week or two, I am now able to relax again and think about other things. Well, almost. I am still working on two other deals which are meaning I have to drive down to London on a fairly regular basis but hey ho, they are coming along nicely so the stress levels are acceptable.

I meant to report on this a long time ago but have not been able to, but what have my youth been up to. They have been making me very proud is what. The Gospel truth is something which is most easily given to people who understand life as we do. Someone from the slums of Hull does not want to hear holier than thou details from a person with a posh twang to their accent - it just don't work. And similarly, school children react most favourably to their friends. Well, my youth - by their own intiative have staged an evangelistic event to their non-Christian school mates - with only the smallest of help from me.

I was pretty worried that they would have put a lot of work into it and then nobody would turn up and they would be disappointed. We had a live worship band, doughnuts, marshmallows and hot chocolate and chat, testimonies from the kids themselves and a guest speaker who plays for the most succesful football team in Hull - Hull City!

And when the night came, I needn't have worried, in our small to medium sized family centre, we had 120 teenagers crammed in - it was awesome indeed. And the night went precisely to plan, apart from the speaker who was arriving at precisely 830 to give his talk was still not with us when we began the song that should have been right before him. I was expecting that I was going to have to get up there and give a message to all of these hungry kids myself and was a bit worried they might have eaten me alive - but after getting the band to play just one more song, I popped out and found our footballer and thankfully brought him in.

His testimony was powerful and the whole room were mesmorised by his witness. Some of the things he said were challenging to the extreme and I could feel the tension in the air as the young people thought through their own lives. 20 people made a decision to accept God into their lives that night. Everyone considered it. I'll leave it there.

I can't help remembering that last year at this time, I couldn't walk and I weighed 3st more than I do now. Very glad to be on this side of the tunnel.

Just finally to say that, if we've argued at all this year, I'm sure it was mostly my fault. I don't really mean it - I'm sorry! But don't worry, I'm sure normal service will soon be resumed.
xx

We wish you a merry Christmas

2006-12-01T20:03:00.000Z

A quick new post.

They do say that all the funniest material is written by children.

And here is Evo1.3 at his inimitable best.

The lovely young geezer just crayoned in a picture for me and on the next page he wrote me a lovely message - and I quote:

"Dea daddy I wish you w merry christmas"

As in, "We wish you w merry christmas, we wish you w merry christmas, we wish you w merry christmas etc etc"

Mrs Evo didn't get it, I loved it :)

Remember Remember

2006-11-08T13:29:00.000Z

I am a bit under the cosh at the moment but since Phil asked nicely, here's a quick post.

Now Evo1.3 - 5yrs old - is a bit of a cutey pie. He says the most fabulous of things and never gets sucked in by sales hype. Here's a true story from yesterday when he was railroaded - against his better judgement - into buying a poppy.

Oh look, says mum, they're selling poppies at school today. Why don't you go get one.
Why, what are they?
Well, we buy them to remember all of the men that were killed in the wars.
Oh. Alright then.
Off he goes with his 30p.
Come 3:30, there he is with his poppy on.
Oh lovely, says mum, you got one then.
Yes, says Evo1.3 scynically. But I haven't remembered anything yet.

Looks like he got a faulty one then.

Special Secret Snooker Words

2006-10-22T12:53:00.000+01:00

This was an inspired piece of Mitchell and Webb.

I didn't see it the week before last and all I can say is, "That was a bad miss". But I set the recorder this week and how glad am I that I did. What they played out on this week was unbelievable. Of course, if you didn't see them singing, this will be a poor second place but here are the alternative special snooker words to "Lady in Red".

Every one in snooker knows them. Here they are exclusively on Evoland.

"Never seen you looking so shiny as you did tonight,
Never seen your baize so tight,
You are amazing.

Never seen so many players wonder if the long pot is on,
Looking for a little Can-on
A cut as thin as a thong.

And I’ve never seen such a clearance
Such a clearance of all the pots in every way
No more safety play,

Table of reds
Is dancing with me,
Cush to Cush

Nothing is wrong,
This big pink is on.
But where’s the cue ball gone.

And I hardly know,
To play with stun or side

Never to forget,
This shot to nothing life,
Never to forget,
My Table of Reds."

Books Books Books

2006-10-10T15:39:00.000+01:00

I just started:

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
The Lost Message of Jesus - Steve Chalke
God meant it for good - RT Kendall
One Holy Fire - Nicki Cruz

I do this because if I am only reading one book, it is never at hand when I want to have a read and I spend hours searching for it. This way, I just carry on reading the first one of them that I find.

I must say though - the God Delusion looks pretty grand - hard back - I am not one for hard backs normally - why pay more? But that's the problem with Amazon, you never know what it's going to look like when you just click it into your basket. I'm sure there is a way of telling but I am a Philistine with these things.

Anyway, a chapter in and I'm not wrong. I guessed he would have continued his long walk away from conventional science and to date, he hasn't really set me on fire with facts - just bored me with his own personal diatribe. In the Selfish Gene, when he did this as an aside, it was mildly amusing, but basing the whole book on this kind of thing? I do hope it gets better.

God meant it for good is very uplifitng though I have to say although Steve Chalke is not quite hitting the spot for me - but we soldier on.

Enough

2006-10-02T10:04:00.000+01:00

OK, so it has been brought to my attention by some crazy clergyman who shall remain nameless that this blog may have become a shrine to biological reduction and so I shall cease and desist. End of. No more. Even though it is Monday. ;)

There has been a lot of other things going on in Evoland over the past few weeks and I have just been too busy to jot them down.

Out of the blue - and in no time at all, an Evangelical event has been conjured up by some of the young adults in my village and it is really going like a train. To speak for us, we have - only the most prestigious Christian footballer in Hull! Couple this with a couple of bold teens willing to give their testimony, a banging worship group (is that the right word?), a couple of chocolate fountains and some marshmallows and I think we are in for an awesome night - providing people come of course.

Oh, one cute thing that was said in all seriousness by one of the team was when we were thinking about getting some beanbags for people to sit on - "We need to make sure they are not passed their sell by date" Aw, well they are beans I suppose. I don't think she is a reader of Evoland, but if she is, sorry to embarrass - I just thought it was a great comment.

And the rest of the stuff going on - well, I still don't have time to tell you about that.

Still V Positive on many fronts and ignoring the negatives on others.

Well Buff

2006-09-27T12:26:00.000+01:00

Now, I am feeling pretty good about my weight now. After losing another 1lb this week at slimming world, I have been struggling to be motivated to go recently because I actually feel OK and not overweight at all.

I just bought some new clothes which are sized the same as when I was a teenager and I am so chuffed about that.

So decision time on Monday, I bought five more weeks in advance and have resolved that wherever I am after that will be the end for SW for me - though I will keep going once a month just to make sure I am not going back up.

Running is going to stay part of my life I think - it's boring, but it's made me feel strong. And about a year ago, the pains started in my legs which ended up with me not being able to walk. I don't want to go back there.

To top it all, one of my yoof told me on Sunday that I looked, "Well Buff". I was a bit worried at first but on asking his sister for a translation, she assured me it was a compliment!

So feeling good right now - loads of things are happening in an ever forward rushing tide and the unwelcome arrows are no longer finding their mark!

This is Evo1 signing off - in very positive mood x

Still Losing!!!

2006-09-12T15:06:00.000+01:00

Another 2lb gone this week, putting me not far off the (X-1) and a half stone mark.

Just 1 more stone and I have reached the weight I was at 18.

Though I am encouraged, I don't think I'll ever get to my lowest weight again - thats 6lb 4 :)

I have to admit that I have relaxed off the diet quite a bit now and am just relying on the 30 miles or so a week that I'm running. Having said that, although I am tending to eat some naughty things, I am not eating anywhere near the volume I used to.

Eagerly Anticipating....

2006-09-04T15:03:00.000+01:00

Well, I am on a bit of a magic number at the moment weight wise.

I am exactly X stone and it has been a bit of a brick wall for the last few weeks.

I haven't been weighed for two weeks now because of Greenbelt but I am hoping that maybe - just maybe.

OK, so I have been to Greenbelt and I was not so good as Daisy and I have had a housewarming party but you never know do you. Half a pound will be fine. Anything.

I'll let you know. It's tonight.

What a Cracker of a Weekend

2006-08-29T17:56:00.000+01:00

Well, that was a smashing weekend.

I am wiped out of course. I think I managed to notch up just into double figures for hours slept over the last four nights whilst also driving there and back with a car full of teen (you know who you are). Fortunatley for me, I was kept awake on the way back by the sound of nails scraping down a blackboard which is apparently what passes for popular music these days. Can you believe the album was called NOW 64! I have the original "Now thats what I call Music" in my vinyl collection. Someone promise me they don't still only do one per year.

Another excellent year at Greenbelt. I seemed to have many duties though this year. Not only was I with my surrogate youth group, I also had many of my own youth group all around me too which was lovely. And as well as that, I took my eldest two daughters plus eldests friend. The two older ones really enjoyed their freedom but Evo1.2 really struggled on her own. But massive thanks go to Mr and Mrs Superslug who took her in practically for the whole time - their daughter is Evo1.2's best pal.

This year was memorable as Karin and I finally met up in the flesh. It is so good to have a face to go with a name. As one might expect, we met in the tiny tea tent.

Greenbelt would not have been even a fraction as enjoyable however had it not been for sociable and reserved beer tent visits with Freedom Bound, Polly Nate and Phil Ward and their friends. I thank them immensely for not tolerating an obnoxious fundamentalist such as moi but instead welcoming me into their bossom with acceptance :-)(please, no innuendo). - Oh, a quick mention to Tina whose femminine perspecive subverted fisticuffs between FB and myself and also who's detective work pointed out how similar the same ruffians are with reference to our hand washing habits.

I couldn't of course fail to mention the last nights final excitement of fellowshipping with my loyal youth - the ones I was giving a lift to. Sadly, it will have to go unmentioned because they all fell asleep before we were due to go. Though Lucy did revive herself - the others really symbolise what the next generation are coming to ;-)

But thank you all for making it a very memorable experience and one which I sincerely hope to repeat next year.

For old times sake,

Love,

Evo1

It looks like being a long day

2006-08-24T16:05:00.000+01:00

Well, I go away camping tomorrow for a few days with several groups of young people and my two eldest daughters to boot.

In the meantime, I set aside today to write a business plan which is needed before I go.

The whole day I have had and so far I have hardly started the introduction. I have got all the numbers done but the bit I hate - the words - are yet to get onto the paper. All in all, it should take me about 4 hours. That takes me to 8 PM at the earliest and I have not even thought about packing!

If you were thinking of giving me a ring today, DONT!!

See you all after the break :-)

Update on Size

2006-08-23T09:26:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I mentioned the Slimming World performance.

Well, I got my stone and a half certificate this week - now up to 1st 7.5 off since starting there - and just over two stone since the beginning of the year.

But more importantly, I was wearing those 34" trousers on Sunday - all day. OK, they were not the most comfortable clothes ever but it was worth it. They should only get more comfy.

But I have another stone and a half to go and that seems like a long slog. Who knows, I might even see 32" - surely not, I was about 14 last time I would have fit those. - Yrs old that is!

And the game of squash I mentioned - I did enjoy it - but I felt my back twinge pretty strongly and so I am coming to terms with the possibility that I might not be able to play properly again - I still don't count messing about with some of the younger brethren since I don't really have to move very much with them. If I have to stop playing squash, that will be a big blow for me. OK, I am still running every day and that must be good for me - but one cannot get away from the fact that it is mind numbingly boring!

SKYPE

2006-08-14T18:15:00.000+01:00

I just signed up to this but I dont know anyone else who is on - have you got a skype name?

Reply to this if you have with it and I won't publish it.

Or, you could give me a call - my skype name is (firstname).(surname)

It's here by the way.

Round, like a circle in a spiral....

2006-08-05T08:56:00.000+01:00

Something happening over on planet Evo made me pen this somewhere else. Thought it worthwhile putting up here for reasons of catharsis. It's to do with my favourite chapter, Gen 1. ;-)

It starts off with three words that I wonder if we have ever actually wondered about: "In the Beginning".

When we are born, our mums and dads are already there. Sometimes their mums and dads are there too and they look after us until we get big enough to look after ourselves. And then maybe we meet someone and have children and look after them. In the meantime, we have started school - its all very scary but there are older children there who have seen it all before and perhaps we make friends with some of those older children but next years they go on to another school and are gone from our lives as we are gone from the lives of the younger children below us - it goes around in circles.

There are cycles everywhere we look - the circle of life - the water cycle - the carbon cycle (every cell in our body is replaced by different chemicals every 10 years or so - we literally are different people as well as changing mentally and spiritually and getting bigger, the actual fabric of our body changes too!) And what do all of these circles tell us? They lead us to believe that there will be no end just as it leads us to believe there was no beginning.

But in Genesis 1:1, it starts off by telling us that there was a "beginning". But it doesn't tell us what it was like. It is beyond our understanding. What was there? I don't really know, but I do know that the first four words are, "In the beginning God". We don't know what else was there in the beginning, but this passage tells us God was there.

And in the last book of the bible, "Revelations", there are four special living creatures in heaven. (Creature means something that was created - they weren't there in the beginning). They praise God like this: ""Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

Holy three times, once for when he was - he was there in the beginning when there was nothing else - God really was holy then, you can't get much more holy than being the only being. Once for when He is... He is.. now. All the nows, yours, your mums, your grandmas, your childrens,... And he is holy - He is different from all of us. Holy means set apart - He is certainly that. And the third one is for when He is to come. Just as there was definitely a beginning - even though it seems like things have been going on for ever, there was a beginning, so also will there be an end - things will not go on for ever as they now are. But in the end to come, so God will also be there - just like he was there in the beginning.

And all the circles will end. The heartbreak of losing your friends to new schools, grandmas, granddads, mums and dads to disease and the sadness of knowing your children will lose you, that will all finish. And then we will know that....

In the End God....

The Date is Set

2006-07-29T08:48:00.000+01:00

Well, it's come around.

It's house warming time.

Friday 1 Sep round at Evo's.

Formal invitations will be sparse so you will have to make do with this post here.

All regular bloggers are cordially invited.

Look forward to seeing you here - in person - though if not possible, I'll open a blog up on the night ;)

For the Record

2006-07-25T17:40:00.000+01:00

Phil asked very nicely a day or so back how I actually "found" God.

Well, it just so happened that just before the close down of one of the Christian sites I used to visit, I rescued my "testimony". (A day or so later it had gone!)

So here it is, word for word from there and a little bit out of date but here it is - warts and all:

How I found Christ? A long and winding path if there ever was one. When I was a teenager, I was the most evangelical atheist you ever met. To my shame, I won many Christians over and destroyed there faith. One of them, a close friend of mine, attempted suicide as a consequence of what I told him - though this happened a few years later. That shook me hard. For years, I stopped "evangelising" to many people. I had a really unhealthy dislike for the church and the leadership in particular.

The strange thing was, when this was going on in my teens, I was invited to a Christian housegroup as the resident atheist. They were happy to let me air my views - (maybe they thought twice about that afterwards). They accepted me as a friend in every way and the leader whose house we met in became a very close friend. Though we would argue til the cows came home all the time. He tried to explain in rational terms about Christ and with my strong knowledge of science, I was able to cut his arguments up into little pieces. This went on and on but we never seemed to get on each others nerves - frustration yes, dislike never.

And then I did something which I had been prone to do. Because of a few things happening in my life, I decided that I didn't want to see this guy anymore and I very ruthlessly and deliberately fell out with him.

One thing I should mention about him, although I never agreed with a single thing he said about the faith, I found him so intriguing since he never ever told a lie. He seemed incapable of doing it. That was different.

Well, around 15 years later or so, I happened across this fellow again and we arranged to meet. For a few weeks or so, we met up on a weekly basis to have chats. This time it was different though. He did not try to reason with me or argue with me, he asked me questions about what I thought Jesus meant to others. Then he shared some of the things he had experienced over the recent couple of years which had changed his perception of God entirely. That left me with a puzzle. Either this guy was lying, or Christ was very real. And I knew that he couldn't lie.

It culminated in my agreement to spend two weeks not NOT believeing. I promised to give God a chance to show himself to me. It sounds weird, but any doubt or negative thought that came into my mind for just two weeks I would just get rid of. Within ten days, Jesus had shown himself very powerfully to me and I knew him for myself. I remember the exact moment when I fell to my knees and sobbed my heart out in repentance. I remember the burning feeling as all the wrongs I'd ever done, all the emotions I had repelled came flooding through me and passed onto Jesus. It was awesome and I felt so NEW. I should mention that just as most other times when God has revealed himself to me, I was on my own - cos He knows how sceptical I am of other people.

That was about three years ago now. I'm 33 and still so grateful. But as I might mention again, it wasn't the bible that converted me, or the truth about Jesus, it was the truth OF Jesus - as demonstrated by one of his disciples. I pray that maybe others might think the same of me that I did of that guy - who is now a very close friend.

Well, you did ask

Love,

Evo1

Back on Track

2006-07-25T12:12:00.000+01:00

How long is it now since I started at slimming world? I forget. (Thumbs back through the blog) ah, May 15, that was it.

This week, I got back on track with 2.5 lb off yay! Taking me to 1st 1 off in total.

I've now been runing every day for the last two weeks clocking up more than 100 miles in the last three weeks. Not played squash for ages but have a match on Saturday. Looking forward to having some stamina to rely on.

It seems a bit of a slow burner but I have those 34" trousers in my sites.

What a great song

2006-07-23T08:50:00.000+01:00

Do you know, I can't think what has reminded me of this, but I have only recently remembered how much I like this clever little song:

- Well, I've seen a horsefly. - Ah, I've seen a dragonfly.
- Hee-hee. I've seen a housefly. - Yeah!
See, I've seen all that too.
I've seen a peanut stand and heard a rubber band.
I seen a needle that winked its eye.
But I be done seen about ever'thing
When I see a elephant fly
- What'd you say, boy? - I said when I see a elephant fly
I seen a front porch swing heard a diamond ring
I seen a polka-dot railroad tie
But I be done seen 'bout ever'thing
When I see a elephant fly
- Da da-da-da - Da-da-da do-do-dow wow
- Da da-da-da - Hey, wow
I saw a clotheshorse He rear up and buck
And they tell me that a man made a vegetable truck
I didn't see that I only heard
Just to be sociable I'll take your word
- I heard a fireside chat - I saw a baseball bat
And I just laughed till I thought I'd die
But I be done seen 'bout ever'thing
When I see a elephant fly
Bo Sho Ba-da-do-do
But I be done seen 'bout ever'thing
When I see a elephant fly
With the wind.
When I see a elephant
Fly

If you dish it out

2006-07-22T00:11:00.000+01:00

You must be able to take it coming back.

Number one rule of life but how many of us fall down here.

Now I get a good ribbing from all and sundry and I don't mind that. I usually help out. As I mentioned on another blog recently, whilst people are picking on me, I know some other poor unfortunate is being left alone.

But if there's one thing I find poor form, it's when the pressure is turned up on the bulys and they can't hack it. I remember when I was the new boy at work many years back now, one of my managers, out for a welcome evening with us started to mercilessly berate the six of us new boys and girls.

Now, totally innoccuous, I just happened to observe that this guy had a stunning resemblance to Benny off Crossroads. Oh dear, so began a lifetime of dispute. He took a distinct dislike to me - but kept his mouth shut for the rest of the night I might add. Irony is, his wife is now best of buddies with Mrs Evo. I think he is actually a cracking bloke, but he just can't get past the Benny thing - oh, there are a few other wind ups as well which grew up in similar circumstances, I just can't resist.

Now I admit I have been a bit rough on fellow blogger but deliberate insulter, Phil. It seems now he is a bit upset that I've treated him unjustly. Sorry Phil, I don't really think you are a Dumbo.

Actually, you are probably in my top ten of ideal trivial pursuit partners.

Go on, say it, just the once for me: "Miss Diane" ;)