Many happy returns (to Swindon)

All I want for my birthday is my two front teeth (and anything relating to My Little Pony, of course)

Jane Puffin & Christopher Chairman performing Bolero at the Link Centre

The young ladies, two Liz's, one Aligene and a municipal ice rink

My wish is your command, Chairman

The Chairman & First Lady are delighted to offer congratulations to the Vice Captain of Boats on the occasion of her 7th birthday. In addition to her party on Saturday at Swindon Ice Rink (followed by gourmet fayre at Pizza Hut in an all too rare a visit from the Chairman & First Lady) Daisy wanted to go to a posh restaurant, and specified that an Ask restaurant would very much fit the bill. As such, a table has been secured for this evening’s festivities, as the Captain reliably informed me in the car on his way to High Wycombe this morning. Her Godmother should be very proud of her discerning taste.

Many happy returns to the rink

Don't look back in anger

(three of many)

Daisy beneath The Clubhouse at Gladbeck Towers, April 2002

Liz & Daisy at Somerset House, 30thDecember 2005

Keen observers of Club matters will be delighted to note that the Vice Captain of Boats will be seven years old next Wednesday, January 31st.So, for the delight of members at the potential future embarrassment of dear Daisy, I am delighted to reproduce from the archives a photograph of Daisy at Gladbeck Towers in April 2002, who looks to be enjoining the plat de jour more than the wine-based gravy we presented for consumption on a recent visit.

Daisy’s official birthday will be celebrated on Sunday with a trip to Swindon Ice Rink, followed by a table for 10 at Mr McDonald’s house of fine dining. Both the Chairman & First Lady are delighted to be donning the skates once again, especially after the roaring success of the skating trip to Somerset House during which we spent an hour endeavouring to avoid falling over. The skating is to be accompanied by a disco, which brings the Chairman’s thoughts racing back to roller disco’s at Yarborough Leisure Centre with the Carters and the Campo’s (not forgetting the Charles’s et al). Halcyon days before the advent global warming and the onset of acne – I remember them well. Make the most of them Daisy – you’ve never had it so good.

The Secretary and Vice Captain of Boats, Gladbeck Towers (April 2002)

25 Glorious Years

Don't look back in anger (two of many)

Three victims of Talking Heads, the demon barber of the Stonebow Centre

If you enjoyed yesterday’s offering, today’s is sure to delight. An offering from the days when

(1) The Chairman was sans lunette (although he could not have failed to miss the VC’s knitwear)
(2) Cameras were larger (see Charlotte’s brownie in her lap) and
(3) When knitwear design was primarily influenced by the Aztecs, not the aesthetes

Any takers to the occasion? Prizes will be awarded for anyone who guessed the 26th of May 1991, on the occasion of the silver wedding anniversary party in Rugby of our beloved Coxswain and her Consort, Richard. Neither the Antipodean Ambassadress not the Vice Chairman seems particularly overwhelmed at their photograph being taken on this auspicious occasion, and your Chairman just looks bemused. Perhaps it is as a result of not actually being able to see the camera a the time the photograph was taken.

Geek (or) chic?

Dont' look back in anger

(one of many)

The Captian at Henley in the Rugby Field Car Park, July 1991

I asked the Captain during a particularly memorable evening recently what his favourite film was. “Well”, he said, “when I was young, it was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but now I’ve grown up a bit, I now think that Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a far finer film”.

Although neither film is said to be one of the greats of the cinemographic art, both films have their supporters (especially adolescents) and they do appear to have had their influence on the Captain, who as we may observe, presented himself for inspection at Henley in 1991 in an ensemble which draws from the stylistic example of Pee-wee Herman, another star of the same era.

Members with long memories may recall that the Captain was so tired and emotional after his exertions on that fine July day that he initially failed to return to the Antipodean Ambassadress’s flat that evening, having decided to remain on the train until the driver suggested to the Captain that it was “perhaps time to go home, Sir”. To be fair to our beleaguered Captain, however, the Chairman & Vice Chairman did not fare much better in the “who’s the most sober stakes, as the photographic evidence amply demonstrates. Happy days….

The Chairman & Vice Chairman in Charlotte & Rogie's flat, after leaving the Captain on the train

Don't look back in anger

The River Witham. Which swan would you like for dinner, Vice?

Members & friends will be delighted to note that your esteemed Chairman is once again in possession of a scanner, and for as long as it amuses him, he will be producing pictures from the Club archives for your amusement and entertainment, mostly at the expense of the WRC’s answer to David Bowie, Miss Charlotte Carter, during which we shall be revisiting her Aladdin Sane, Ziggy Stardust and not forgetting the Thin White Duke phases. Any requests will be duly considered, so if you’re feeling nostalgic, please do not hesitate to let your correspondent know. And yes, Tiger, your embroidered waistcoat circa 1992 will be making an appearance in due course. You have been warned.

Tempus Pro Nostalgia.

Parental endowments

Mother's gift, but not her ruin

Ruby in the VC & CWSC's best towel

One of the dilemmas of the “parental visit” is quite what to request ones parents to bring in order to make them feel useful towards their children, who for many parents remain the greatest source pride in their lives (present company accepted, of course). As such, the matter requires a not inconsiderable level of thought.

The First Lady & I were due a brief “state visit” this week (subsequently abandoned due to the adverse meteorological conditions), during which I requested that my Mother be in attendance armed with her sewing machine, as due to the Boden trouser sizing policy, my recent purchase arrived “batteries not included”. A pair of inflated pillows which were surplus to requirements at Toad Hall were also due to be presented, as no doubt were a set of newspaper clippings which my dear and thoughtful Mother would consider my life to be improved by reading.

However, these will have to wait for another day. The same cannot be said for the Antipodean Ambassadress, who at time of writing, should now be in possession of some A1 grade cotton bed linen which the colonies are apparently deficient in. The Cox, as ever, was most willing to oblige. And what for her boy? What can a slack man who shy’s away from an iron during his recreational hours possibly want from his beloved parents? Some new towels perhaps, judging by the delightful picture of the Chair of the Fine Arts Committee? Not at the tip of his wish list, I gather. The Cox, in a rare indiscreet moment, let the cat out of the bag when I telephoned to wish her bon voyage last weekend. “Well”, Beryl said, “Charlotte said that she didn’t need any duty free drink, so I asked Ed whether there was anything I could bring, and he said that as Charlotte didn't need any, he’d just have the 4 litres of duty free gin………………”

What more would you expect from a man, who according to his automated email service at work YESTERDAY , “will be out of the office until 22/12/2007”.

Tempus Pro Newtowelsforrubyio

Artistic endeavours

The painting of The Clubhouse, July 1995

The Clubhouse and the artists

The delivery of The Clubhouse to the Royal Academy, 1997

So January brings the departure from these shores of the Cox & Consort, bound for the Antipodes to visit the colonial outpost of our esteemed Club and to meet the Chair of the Fine Arts Committee for the first time. It should be a good weekend in Melbourne this weekend, especially if the weather remains fine, as it did today when heat stopped play at the Australian Open, with all of the overseas members in attendance. With this in mind, I thought it might be a good opportunity for Ruby to practice her painting, especially with her cousins in attendance, and with the submission date for the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy fast approaching.

The Chair of the Fine Arts Committee informed me at the weekend that she has a supply of green paint awaiting utilising, and with this in mind, I wondered if it might be possible for the Cox perhaps to be the subject matter of Ruby’s first artistic foray, possibly with glass in hand (the Coxswain, not Ruby). All parties seem keen thus far, and the CWSC wondered if such a painting trip would be an even greater success of both Sam and Poppy had a go at painting Granny, all of which I thought was splendid idea. One can only hope for a greater level of success than that which was enjoyed by the submission of “The Clubhouse” in , but you’ve got to be in it to win it, and just imagine if Ruby’s portrait of the Cox were to be hung in the Royal Academy………