On the 4th June 2015 SillyAunt issued a challenge to all splotherers: Where would they like to take his Time Machine? It was interesting that, rather than changing History, meeting famous people or visiting unusual places, most people chose to go back to their own past, to particular happy moments. Here is the challenge and all the replies. |
Time Machine Travel |
SillyAunt
04 June 2015 12:14am
As the conceited proprietor of the sole truly functional Time Machine extant, it is my pleasure to announce an exciting competition for the newt season, exclusive to regulars and ex-regulars alike, newbies with wit, unrepentant pedants and well, basically anyone except over-moaners, braggers of stop-watched solving feats and underage efts.
I’ve been inspired by my hometown freebie “listings” mag, and the responses to their posing “If you had a time machine, where and when would you go?”...
“THE YEAR BEFORE I MET MY EX (and her awful family)” from “Alex” 42, artist.
I can relate to that.
From retail assistant aged 27, “GO TO AMERICA AND GET HIGH WITH THE BEATNICKS”. Complete with a smiley smoking a joint!
Truthfully, I sort of did that, but left the T-shirt* behind.
My biggest giggle was aroused by “GO BACK AND NOT DRINK SO MUCH LAST NIGHT” from Jordan, student, 19.
That, I think, would have been very useful when I was 19.
(and on the odd occasion since? Ed).
So, to the comp. basically it’s the same question, where and when would you like to travel to in (my) Time Machine? And why?
Please bear in mind that the Intergalactic Temporal Roaming Licence does not allow one to offer tours that could distort our acknowledged mutual memories, eg drowning Hitler at birth, or Thatcher, or Pol Pot, or advising Leonado da Vinci that contra-rotating blades negate the necessity for a tail prop as a torque inhibitor... because the subsequent imperative to return and restore The Curse of History is unimaginably exhaustive and moreover, a waste of time.
However, jammin’ with Hendrix would be cool (and probably of interest to egMonkeyJama?) or greeting Hilary and Tensing at the top of Everest with “High! What kept you?” (they’d never let on). These are just off the top of my head to get you started, my team of Legal Flamingoes will vet all entries for Warp risk. So that's the challenge, as we say in Norridge, Let’s Be Avenue!
*This (SA True Story) was actually a heavyweight sweatshirt, bought in LA, printed with a limited edition Claes Oldenburg repro depicting the blonde musing “Oh Brad, if Only You Knew!”, as a tear rolls down her cheek.
Worth a bomb had I kept it. Along with my Dinky toys. Cigarette cards. Pictures of Lilly.
Oh well, in another life...
Squeaking of witch, intriguingly, not one of the very many responders to the question (paragraph 2, above) envisioned a future scenario.
Which is where I'm headed, savin' the crozzie for breckie. G'night.
04 June 2015 12:14am
As the conceited proprietor of the sole truly functional Time Machine extant, it is my pleasure to announce an exciting competition for the newt season, exclusive to regulars and ex-regulars alike, newbies with wit, unrepentant pedants and well, basically anyone except over-moaners, braggers of stop-watched solving feats and underage efts.
I’ve been inspired by my hometown freebie “listings” mag, and the responses to their posing “If you had a time machine, where and when would you go?”...
“THE YEAR BEFORE I MET MY EX (and her awful family)” from “Alex” 42, artist.
I can relate to that.
From retail assistant aged 27, “GO TO AMERICA AND GET HIGH WITH THE BEATNICKS”. Complete with a smiley smoking a joint!
Truthfully, I sort of did that, but left the T-shirt* behind.
My biggest giggle was aroused by “GO BACK AND NOT DRINK SO MUCH LAST NIGHT” from Jordan, student, 19.
That, I think, would have been very useful when I was 19.
(and on the odd occasion since? Ed).
So, to the comp. basically it’s the same question, where and when would you like to travel to in (my) Time Machine? And why?
Please bear in mind that the Intergalactic Temporal Roaming Licence does not allow one to offer tours that could distort our acknowledged mutual memories, eg drowning Hitler at birth, or Thatcher, or Pol Pot, or advising Leonado da Vinci that contra-rotating blades negate the necessity for a tail prop as a torque inhibitor... because the subsequent imperative to return and restore The Curse of History is unimaginably exhaustive and moreover, a waste of time.
However, jammin’ with Hendrix would be cool (and probably of interest to egMonkeyJama?) or greeting Hilary and Tensing at the top of Everest with “High! What kept you?” (they’d never let on). These are just off the top of my head to get you started, my team of Legal Flamingoes will vet all entries for Warp risk. So that's the challenge, as we say in Norridge, Let’s Be Avenue!
*This (SA True Story) was actually a heavyweight sweatshirt, bought in LA, printed with a limited edition Claes Oldenburg repro depicting the blonde musing “Oh Brad, if Only You Knew!”, as a tear rolls down her cheek.
Worth a bomb had I kept it. Along with my Dinky toys. Cigarette cards. Pictures of Lilly.
Oh well, in another life...
Squeaking of witch, intriguingly, not one of the very many responders to the question (paragraph 2, above) envisioned a future scenario.
Which is where I'm headed, savin' the crozzie for breckie. G'night.
illinoisier SillyAunt
04 June 2015 1:07am
Well , I don't know about anyone else , but I'd like to go back to 14th October 1066 to warn Harold II to keep his hand over his eye , That way , there would be no Domesday Book and hence no current record of me . We wouldn't have as many castles , the words 'mutton' , 'commence' , 'vendor' and 'continue' (which I loathe)
would be non-existent in our vocab. and I would probably be tall , handsome and blonde (many more Viking raids ) .
04 June 2015 1:07am
Well , I don't know about anyone else , but I'd like to go back to 14th October 1066 to warn Harold II to keep his hand over his eye , That way , there would be no Domesday Book and hence no current record of me . We wouldn't have as many castles , the words 'mutton' , 'commence' , 'vendor' and 'continue' (which I loathe)
would be non-existent in our vocab. and I would probably be tall , handsome and blonde (many more Viking raids ) .
FriedFish SillyAunt
04 June 2015 2:36am
2nd to about 10th December 1948. I would like an action replay...
04 June 2015 2:36am
2nd to about 10th December 1948. I would like an action replay...
saycheeseplease FriedFish
04 June 2015 2:44am
Fishie, I don't think I am old enough...
of what?
Can't be your conception because we all know how old you are...
04 June 2015 2:44am
Fishie, I don't think I am old enough...
of what?
Can't be your conception because we all know how old you are...
Crucigrama SillyAunt
04 June 2015 4:46am
I propose we take some super gadgets back and scare the bejesus out of the Spanish Inquisition. They won't be expecting that.
If it weren't for your proviso, we could vaccinate the people of the Americas & Antipodes with MMR before the first Europeans turn up, and inject them with a healthy dose of cynicism while we're at it.
Thinking about what personal things I'd like to revisit, I can't help wondering what pillock said "It's the things you don't do that you end up regretting." Oh, no it isn't!
04 June 2015 4:46am
I propose we take some super gadgets back and scare the bejesus out of the Spanish Inquisition. They won't be expecting that.
If it weren't for your proviso, we could vaccinate the people of the Americas & Antipodes with MMR before the first Europeans turn up, and inject them with a healthy dose of cynicism while we're at it.
Thinking about what personal things I'd like to revisit, I can't help wondering what pillock said "It's the things you don't do that you end up regretting." Oh, no it isn't!
starrock SillyAunt
04 June 2015 9:18am
So there we have it...
Another in the series of wonderful questions to keep the brain from seizing up in the small hours and keep changing my mind about.
Thank you SillyAunt.
I will get back to you when I have finished deciding my desert island discs, top ten albums, best ever guitarist, places to travel to, favourite books and who to invite to my dream party (that was to be a dinner party...but then there were choices about the food and drink to be made...)
04 June 2015 9:18am
So there we have it...
Another in the series of wonderful questions to keep the brain from seizing up in the small hours and keep changing my mind about.
Thank you SillyAunt.
I will get back to you when I have finished deciding my desert island discs, top ten albums, best ever guitarist, places to travel to, favourite books and who to invite to my dream party (that was to be a dinner party...but then there were choices about the food and drink to be made...)
SeaSal illinoisier
04 June 2015 5:29pm
I'd like to put in a plea to keep 'mutton', IL, both the word and the meat, which is difficult to find. One of my favourite comfort foods is haricot (another FRENCHIE)mutton.
And I love castles...
SeaSal SillyAunt
04 June 2015 5:35pm
Thank you for this, SillyA. I wonder if your Time Machine is powerful enough to get us to the party for the next Labour election victory. THAT'S a party I can't wait for!
And if I was going back it would be to summer 1979 when I first met the Moufflon, to tell myself to 'Go for it, woman!' so I wouldn't waste 4 years yearning for him and allowing both of us to make other mistakes.
04 June 2015 5:29pm
I'd like to put in a plea to keep 'mutton', IL, both the word and the meat, which is difficult to find. One of my favourite comfort foods is haricot (another FRENCHIE)mutton.
And I love castles...
SeaSal SillyAunt
04 June 2015 5:35pm
Thank you for this, SillyA. I wonder if your Time Machine is powerful enough to get us to the party for the next Labour election victory. THAT'S a party I can't wait for!
And if I was going back it would be to summer 1979 when I first met the Moufflon, to tell myself to 'Go for it, woman!' so I wouldn't waste 4 years yearning for him and allowing both of us to make other mistakes.
melbournecalling
04 June 2015 1:01am
@SillyAunt..Will your Time Machine take more than 1 passenger per voyage? I'd like as many of us here as possible to journey 100 years into the future for a gathering. We'd have to take a vote on the venue but I'd say somewhere luxurious and warm. Our puzzle grids might be holograms sent from the Great Graun! (A head in a bell jar).I wonder how many new words there will be and how many of ours will be lost.
04 June 2015 1:01am
@SillyAunt..Will your Time Machine take more than 1 passenger per voyage? I'd like as many of us here as possible to journey 100 years into the future for a gathering. We'd have to take a vote on the venue but I'd say somewhere luxurious and warm. Our puzzle grids might be holograms sent from the Great Graun! (A head in a bell jar).I wonder how many new words there will be and how many of ours will be lost.
METand melbournecalling
04 June 2015 6:14am
MelC not sure that finding somewhere warm will be all that difficult in 100 years, comfortable might be a smidge more difficult.
04 June 2015 6:14am
MelC not sure that finding somewhere warm will be all that difficult in 100 years, comfortable might be a smidge more difficult.
sparclear FriedFish
04 June 2015 6:36am
Lovely midsummer morning here.
The Time Machine takes us, all of us, back to the pre-WW2 English watermeadows. Centuries old, unploughed and of course unsprayed, with their full quota of wild grasses and flowers, and their true population of fauna.
Need another samovar of tea now. XX Sp
04 June 2015 6:36am
Lovely midsummer morning here.
The Time Machine takes us, all of us, back to the pre-WW2 English watermeadows. Centuries old, unploughed and of course unsprayed, with their full quota of wild grasses and flowers, and their true population of fauna.
Need another samovar of tea now. XX Sp
SillyAunt
04 June 2015 7:10am
FF? I've just fired up the you-know-what and checked:
the 10th was a Friday and was when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and on the previous Friday a Chinese ship exploded in the East China Sea killing 1,100 refugees (nothing changes but remains the same), and the day after that the very same ship, the SS Kiangya, hit a mine in Whangpoo River, China and sank with 2750 deaths. That's what happens with reckless Time Travel, before Intergalactic Temporal Roaming Licences were compulsory.
Apart from these what else?
04 June 2015 7:10am
FF? I've just fired up the you-know-what and checked:
the 10th was a Friday and was when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and on the previous Friday a Chinese ship exploded in the East China Sea killing 1,100 refugees (nothing changes but remains the same), and the day after that the very same ship, the SS Kiangya, hit a mine in Whangpoo River, China and sank with 2750 deaths. That's what happens with reckless Time Travel, before Intergalactic Temporal Roaming Licences were compulsory.
Apart from these what else?
FriedFish SillyAunt
04 June 2015 9:32am
I entered the world in the early hours of the 3rd.
I fear it was a bumpy ride in many respects, physically and emotionally. I would like to be able to observe that first week as I feel certain it holds the key to subsequent development...
04 June 2015 9:32am
I entered the world in the early hours of the 3rd.
I fear it was a bumpy ride in many respects, physically and emotionally. I would like to be able to observe that first week as I feel certain it holds the key to subsequent development...
SillyAunt FriedFish
04 June 2015 11:13am
Thought so. Wuz an early bird meself, nearly 3 months behind you.
Dunno that I'd wanna watch the actual event! As for "subsequent development", I hold my hands up.
Or shrug.
04 June 2015 11:13am
Thought so. Wuz an early bird meself, nearly 3 months behind you.
Dunno that I'd wanna watch the actual event! As for "subsequent development", I hold my hands up.
Or shrug.
LonesomeP
04 June 2015 9:45am
Good Morning all, all done and dusted with the help of the cleaner she got The actress in the film (She is of a certain age) and was the more dumber of us both which led to my showy flower power and ultimate completion. Not a favourite crossyword today too many silly clues !!!!
As for time machine ....... Back to my summer in Spain as a travel Rep and this time I would take a camera to capture all those memories ....
04 June 2015 9:45am
Good Morning all, all done and dusted with the help of the cleaner she got The actress in the film (She is of a certain age) and was the more dumber of us both which led to my showy flower power and ultimate completion. Not a favourite crossyword today too many silly clues !!!!
As for time machine ....... Back to my summer in Spain as a travel Rep and this time I would take a camera to capture all those memories ....
boveyphil spanishscot
04 June 2015 1:36pm
I would like to be taken back to Penn Common Golf Course in 1972 when I was just 3 over Par after 12 holes.
The Machine can bring me straight back here after the 13th.
04 June 2015 1:36pm
I would like to be taken back to Penn Common Golf Course in 1972 when I was just 3 over Par after 12 holes.
The Machine can bring me straight back here after the 13th.
SillyAunt
04 June 2015 1:00pm
Dear melbournecalling @1:01am
of course the TM™ can accommodate more than one. Please understand that this “machine” is not like a car, or a bus, or even a police box. It has no dimensions other the Fourth.
Having cleared that up, I must say I’m intrigued by your suggestion, but have a query or two, and some provisos to take into consideration.
Number One: have you studied the tariffs? The scales are not weighted by the century, but by discernible risk to Woolly Mammoth fossils and my football club (it may surprise you, but their fortunes are intricately entwined). Whatever, there’s no free lunch on this ship, even if your middle name is Sepp.
2) Travel Insurance. This needs serious thought. As does Life Insurance, as it would seem you are desirous of visiting Life On Earth well past any of you and probably any of your offspring’s reasonable life expectancy, merely to pander to your whimsical logophilia. And my contract has no guaranteed retro clause... you are at a small but measurable risk of maroon-isation* in the Future, forever.
3) You must insure against the possibility that as said Future gets Obtuser daily, and as Roget revolves in his gravitas, all the world’s lexicons could spontaneously combust and we’d be left with no citable authority, totally reliant on access toMisspellany’s vowel cupboard and her secret consonant store for any semblance of a commonality.
But I remain, your umble ervant, an lease sk f here’s nything I an elp ou ith.
04 June 2015 1:00pm
Dear melbournecalling @1:01am
of course the TM™ can accommodate more than one. Please understand that this “machine” is not like a car, or a bus, or even a police box. It has no dimensions other the Fourth.
Having cleared that up, I must say I’m intrigued by your suggestion, but have a query or two, and some provisos to take into consideration.
Number One: have you studied the tariffs? The scales are not weighted by the century, but by discernible risk to Woolly Mammoth fossils and my football club (it may surprise you, but their fortunes are intricately entwined). Whatever, there’s no free lunch on this ship, even if your middle name is Sepp.
2) Travel Insurance. This needs serious thought. As does Life Insurance, as it would seem you are desirous of visiting Life On Earth well past any of you and probably any of your offspring’s reasonable life expectancy, merely to pander to your whimsical logophilia. And my contract has no guaranteed retro clause... you are at a small but measurable risk of maroon-isation* in the Future, forever.
3) You must insure against the possibility that as said Future gets Obtuser daily, and as Roget revolves in his gravitas, all the world’s lexicons could spontaneously combust and we’d be left with no citable authority, totally reliant on access toMisspellany’s vowel cupboard and her secret consonant store for any semblance of a commonality.
But I remain, your umble ervant, an lease sk f here’s nything I an elp ou ith.
Adrigole SillyAunt
04 June 2015 7:11pm
Let me go back to the summer of '76. Taking a half day from work to start my summer holidays, getting to my uncle's farm an hour later and hopping on the Ferguson 35 to turn the hay before bailing. Got sunburnt (no shirt on), but I loved every minute of it, especially when he would arrive to the field with a gallon of tea and buttered bread for me.
I still miss those wonderful times.
04 June 2015 7:11pm
Let me go back to the summer of '76. Taking a half day from work to start my summer holidays, getting to my uncle's farm an hour later and hopping on the Ferguson 35 to turn the hay before bailing. Got sunburnt (no shirt on), but I loved every minute of it, especially when he would arrive to the field with a gallon of tea and buttered bread for me.
I still miss those wonderful times.
Silverword
04 June 2015 1:35pm
Not too bad today - didn't like 23a and found NW a bit tricky. However, it's finished.
Thanks so much SillyAunt. There are so many places but I'll start by not going too far. 1973 Canada, listening to Jefferson Airplane singing 'White Rabbit' at music festival, sun shining, drinking dry cider and in love for the first time. Ahh, I think I'm back there.
When I've returned may I (can I) go sometime else please?
04 June 2015 1:35pm
Not too bad today - didn't like 23a and found NW a bit tricky. However, it's finished.
Thanks so much SillyAunt. There are so many places but I'll start by not going too far. 1973 Canada, listening to Jefferson Airplane singing 'White Rabbit' at music festival, sun shining, drinking dry cider and in love for the first time. Ahh, I think I'm back there.
When I've returned may I (can I) go sometime else please?
spanishscot
04 June 2015 5:24pm
OK, I've given the Time Machine trip my undivided attention whilst doing Aqua aerobics and I still find it quite hard to find just a moment.
I've often fantasied about bringing Mozart an IPod with all his music and some by composers he didn't get to know...or a laptop for Anthony Trollope who built himself a portable writing desk to be used when travelling by train on Post Office business.
However, if I was going to go back to one of the very happy moments in my life I would choose a summer day in Roslin, near Edinburgh, 1972. I was there with some friends and with the man who was eventually to become my husband. My friends' mother lived there in a beautiful Victorian house. We had tea on the lawn, practised archery and flew kites, all of which felt incredibly Jane Austenish to my then fully Spanish self. I remember lying on the grass, looking at the blue sky with that handsome Scotsman by my side and I thought Life is Good. That is probably one of those moments that will flash by when I'm about to kick the bucket.
04 June 2015 5:24pm
OK, I've given the Time Machine trip my undivided attention whilst doing Aqua aerobics and I still find it quite hard to find just a moment.
I've often fantasied about bringing Mozart an IPod with all his music and some by composers he didn't get to know...or a laptop for Anthony Trollope who built himself a portable writing desk to be used when travelling by train on Post Office business.
However, if I was going to go back to one of the very happy moments in my life I would choose a summer day in Roslin, near Edinburgh, 1972. I was there with some friends and with the man who was eventually to become my husband. My friends' mother lived there in a beautiful Victorian house. We had tea on the lawn, practised archery and flew kites, all of which felt incredibly Jane Austenish to my then fully Spanish self. I remember lying on the grass, looking at the blue sky with that handsome Scotsman by my side and I thought Life is Good. That is probably one of those moments that will flash by when I'm about to kick the bucket.
peterkelly
04 June 2015 8:19pm
Thank you, SillyAunt, for providing the opportunity for a bit of self-indulgence....
The moment which I would like to return to....
I'm sixteen and walking through Valentines Park near my home in north-east London. It's a sunny day and there are people about, enjoying the warmth and the tranquillity of the lake and the gardens.
I am already a former member of the YCL,(the Young Communist League), and have pretty much decided not to join any other clubs, whether they would have me as members or not.
If anything, I tend towards being a hippy, (this is the "summer of love"), and have longish hair which has gone a little lighter with several weeks of sunshine, and am wearing corduroy shoes of a greeny-brown colour. But there is nothing which would positively identify me as a hippy -- I wouldn't want to be typecast.
I've been reading Hermann Hesse quite avidly and have a strong feeling that I'm in something like his "Journey to the East", a book about spiritual questing.
I feel that I am on some spiritual quest. I have some kind of vision of my whole life ahead of me spread like a magic carpet in glowing colours on the path in front of me where I walk.
It seems to be an epiphany and I feel as full of optimism as a person could.
In fact, I am as full of cheerful crap as only a sixteen-year-old can be.
But I wish I could remember it even more clearly than I can.
04 June 2015 8:19pm
Thank you, SillyAunt, for providing the opportunity for a bit of self-indulgence....
The moment which I would like to return to....
I'm sixteen and walking through Valentines Park near my home in north-east London. It's a sunny day and there are people about, enjoying the warmth and the tranquillity of the lake and the gardens.
I am already a former member of the YCL,(the Young Communist League), and have pretty much decided not to join any other clubs, whether they would have me as members or not.
If anything, I tend towards being a hippy, (this is the "summer of love"), and have longish hair which has gone a little lighter with several weeks of sunshine, and am wearing corduroy shoes of a greeny-brown colour. But there is nothing which would positively identify me as a hippy -- I wouldn't want to be typecast.
I've been reading Hermann Hesse quite avidly and have a strong feeling that I'm in something like his "Journey to the East", a book about spiritual questing.
I feel that I am on some spiritual quest. I have some kind of vision of my whole life ahead of me spread like a magic carpet in glowing colours on the path in front of me where I walk.
It seems to be an epiphany and I feel as full of optimism as a person could.
In fact, I am as full of cheerful crap as only a sixteen-year-old can be.
But I wish I could remember it even more clearly than I can.
Panurus
04 June 2015 8:32pm
I think my Time Machine trip will take me back sixty years to my grandparents' place in Co.Cork.
And if I can have another, maybe to 1971, to a room in Homerton College, to reinterpret what was meant by a goodnight kiss.
04 June 2015 8:32pm
I think my Time Machine trip will take me back sixty years to my grandparents' place in Co.Cork.
And if I can have another, maybe to 1971, to a room in Homerton College, to reinterpret what was meant by a goodnight kiss.
starrock
04 June 2015 9:23pm
Dear SillyAunt, as yet (and as predicted) I am nowhere near deciding where to journey to with your kind offer of Time Travel.
Prehistory? Historical events? The future?
For now however, like some others here, I have been thinking about happy times remembered. Some of us will sleep with grins on our faces tonight. Thank you x
04 June 2015 9:23pm
Dear SillyAunt, as yet (and as predicted) I am nowhere near deciding where to journey to with your kind offer of Time Travel.
Prehistory? Historical events? The future?
For now however, like some others here, I have been thinking about happy times remembered. Some of us will sleep with grins on our faces tonight. Thank you x
mrsmatisse
04 June 2015 9:57pm
I am going back to 1966.
Returning from interminable days in a junior boarding school to live back with my father and his new wife. Helen was my best friend. Denims, sneakers and snake belts. The freedom of the playing fields, daft random tennis and the cooling of the brook. Everlasting summer evenings and her big brother's hip band live in the square. The release of Sargent Peppers and a barmy craze for the Monkees. Dad sending Helen home because we just couldn't stop giggling, even though we were told twice. All of which made it more hilarious. Happy Days.
04 June 2015 9:57pm
I am going back to 1966.
Returning from interminable days in a junior boarding school to live back with my father and his new wife. Helen was my best friend. Denims, sneakers and snake belts. The freedom of the playing fields, daft random tennis and the cooling of the brook. Everlasting summer evenings and her big brother's hip band live in the square. The release of Sargent Peppers and a barmy craze for the Monkees. Dad sending Helen home because we just couldn't stop giggling, even though we were told twice. All of which made it more hilarious. Happy Days.
cheshirecheese07 spanishscot
06 June 2015 4:18pm
Am I too late to add mine? If not, I'd also like to choose a moment from my own past: we were on a family holiday in Norfolk about twenty years ago. For once, it was the perfect summer's day, with wall to wall blue skies and sunshine. We were staying in a log cabin in some picturesque woodland with our three daughters, and on the afternoon/ evening in question, friends joined us with their two sons. We did what we call the Muckleborough walk, then came back and had an 'all hands on deck' bbq. The memory we all share of that was as the sun began to sink low in the sky, when for some reason (which none of us can remember!), we sang Billy Ray Cyrus's 'Achy Breaky Heart' in harmonic unison! Just hearing that song takes me right back there ... so maybe I don't need the TM :o)
06 June 2015 4:18pm
Am I too late to add mine? If not, I'd also like to choose a moment from my own past: we were on a family holiday in Norfolk about twenty years ago. For once, it was the perfect summer's day, with wall to wall blue skies and sunshine. We were staying in a log cabin in some picturesque woodland with our three daughters, and on the afternoon/ evening in question, friends joined us with their two sons. We did what we call the Muckleborough walk, then came back and had an 'all hands on deck' bbq. The memory we all share of that was as the sun began to sink low in the sky, when for some reason (which none of us can remember!), we sang Billy Ray Cyrus's 'Achy Breaky Heart' in harmonic unison! Just hearing that song takes me right back there ... so maybe I don't need the TM :o)