What has your "friend" been up to?
Discussion
Dixy said:
Breadvan72 said:
Princess Margaret used to neck Johnny Walker Black Label like it was about to be abolished. I saw her do this at an adjacent table in a restaurant. The bottle was on the table and she started on a second one before the meal was over. She also chain smoked Benson and Hedges. She was loud, witty, very sweary, and not very pleasant. Three dapper young at the table men hung on her every word.
My friend thinks that is a rather ungallant post.My friend went to the theatre in the West End, the play was "Racing Demon", it was performed in 'the round'. He realised that he was sitting opposite the afore mentioned Princess Margaret - he tells me that she looked very uncomfortable.
At the interval, my friend went to the bar where he had ordered drinks, they drinks were waiting on a marked table. He realised that the Queen's sister had taken the next table to him. Therefore he was privy to the conversation. It would be ungallant to say that she hogged the conversation. There were a number of men in attendance, principal among these was Billy Wallace. Billy Wallace pursued PM for many years. He had lots of money, but not much else. I can't find a Wiki entry for Billy Wallace, but this is his Dad's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euan_Wallace
Billy was briefly engaged to PM. He married someone else and died before he was 50.
Chozza said:
Dixy said:
My friend thinks that is a rather ungallant post.
My friend agrees - the three young men were obviously close protection and were there because they were being paid. They probably had a wager or something hence their close attentionBreadvan72 said:
They were not the muscle. The muscle was at the next table. They were admirers. Nowt wrong with that.
Having seen close protection they are very discrete. My friend saw Kate, George and Charlotte in a rural farm café a few years ago and the protection were in the same room but not that close (but pretty obvious)My friend, having a child of similar age was amused that George also refused to eat his vegetables, even when coated in ketchup and instead just ate sausages with his fingers, much to the frustration of his mother and nanny, while pulling funny faces at my friend. To the point that George said to his mother, "look at that funny man there mummy, he's really funny", pointing at my friend. My friend had not been pulling funny faces back, honest. My friend now believes his humour has Royal appointment.
My friend's father was, for many years until retirement, an officer of the law.
On one occasion he and some chums had been detailed to protect the Royal Train as Liz & Phil were spending the night on board and had a short layover in a certain location before completing their journey.
The officers were diligently going about their job, patrolling up and down the ballast on which the track sits. Inevitably there was the sound of footsteps and at one point a carriage window opened and a plummy, elderly male voice invited them to "shut up, some of us are trying to f
king sleep in here!".
On one occasion he and some chums had been detailed to protect the Royal Train as Liz & Phil were spending the night on board and had a short layover in a certain location before completing their journey.
The officers were diligently going about their job, patrolling up and down the ballast on which the track sits. Inevitably there was the sound of footsteps and at one point a carriage window opened and a plummy, elderly male voice invited them to "shut up, some of us are trying to f
king sleep in here!". slopes said:
RammyMP said:
bristolracer said:
My friend abhors all whisky.
My friend at the age of 14 decided that it may be fun to drink half a bottle of Teachers finest blended gut rot. After much illness he has never been able to tolerate the smell or taste of the stuff since.
My friend regrets this, as he found with increasing age, that drinking moderately can be quite pleasurable, and has, because of a youthful exuberance managed to exclude a vast array of what are doubtless decent drinks.
My friend has plenty of hindsight but alas no time machine.
We must have the same friend!My friend at the age of 14 decided that it may be fun to drink half a bottle of Teachers finest blended gut rot. After much illness he has never been able to tolerate the smell or taste of the stuff since.
My friend regrets this, as he found with increasing age, that drinking moderately can be quite pleasurable, and has, because of a youthful exuberance managed to exclude a vast array of what are doubtless decent drinks.
My friend has plenty of hindsight but alas no time machine.
This friend would dearly love to be able to drink single malts because it is exactly the sort of expensive, complex hobby about which he would enjoy showing off and being pretentious. Cigars are the same - he'd love to bore on about these but can't stand them.
Instead, he has to pretend he understands a bit about wine, while merely buying expensive French clarets that he has once heard are decent.
He is a bit of a pretentious tw@t really. I think he's only tolerated because people like to drink those wines.
In recent years, he was generously given a Linkwood single malt from a good friend who'd taken a barrel and bottled it. He thought it rude not to open it and was surprised that he could tolerate a small glass occasionally, as it is so soft. However, experiments on other single malts have not yielded the same results.
AstonZagato said:
Instead, he has to pretend he understands a bit about wine, while merely buying expensive French clarets that he has once heard are decent.
My friend is also a wine expert. He has acquired this expertise by wandering up and down the wine aisles in Sainsburys and carefully studying the price labels. As he doesn't like wine and would sooner drink beer or whisky depending on the occasion, he is nevertheless able to maintain his reputation when invited out or having guests by matching the label (price not variety of grape) to the recipient. For example his cousin is a £6 man, but his relative who goes to France frequently merits a £10 bottle.I wonder if my friend could apply this strategy to other products?
My friend has only really begun to appreciate a nice whisky over the last decade or so having been of the generation where everyone drank Jack Daniels, Morgan Spiced, vodka or bottled nonsense like Moscow Mules, WKD or Hooch.
My friends affinity with Scotch grew during weekly visits to his wifes now departed Grandfather where they would share a wee dram or ahem two; not even his sons were invited to join him. Indeed my friend and his wife made sure Grandad got his last nip soaked into a sponge on his lips and enjoy it he did. My friend still has the remnants of that bottle and Glenlivet 12 will always be a fixture in his drinks cabinet.
As far as blends go Chivas Regal is really rather good, some of the older bottles are very tasty.
Last year my friend took his father to a whisky tasting evening with the local football club former players association for his birthday and was then asked to accompany his father to a whisky tasting that my friends sister had bought him tickets to; for the same birthday.
My friends affinity with Scotch grew during weekly visits to his wifes now departed Grandfather where they would share a wee dram or ahem two; not even his sons were invited to join him. Indeed my friend and his wife made sure Grandad got his last nip soaked into a sponge on his lips and enjoy it he did. My friend still has the remnants of that bottle and Glenlivet 12 will always be a fixture in his drinks cabinet.
As far as blends go Chivas Regal is really rather good, some of the older bottles are very tasty.
Last year my friend took his father to a whisky tasting evening with the local football club former players association for his birthday and was then asked to accompany his father to a whisky tasting that my friends sister had bought him tickets to; for the same birthday.
mr mac i said:
My friend has only really begun to appreciate a nice whisky over the last decade or so having been of the generation where everyone drank Jack Daniels, Morgan Spiced, vodka or bottled nonsense like Moscow Mules, WKD or Hooch.
My friends affinity with Scotch grew during weekly visits to his wifes now departed Grandfather where they would share a wee dram or ahem two; not even his sons were invited to join him. Indeed my friend and his wife made sure Grandad got his last nip soaked into a sponge on his lips and enjoy it he did. My friend still has the remnants of that bottle and Glenlivet 12 will always be a fixture in his drinks cabinet.
As far as blends go Chivas Regal is really rather good, some of the older bottles are very tasty.
Last year my friend took his father to a whisky tasting evening with the local football club former players association for his birthday and was then asked to accompany his father to a whisky tasting that my friends sister had bought him tickets to; for the same birthday.
I salute your friend and his wife, their action towards their grandfather has started off my hay-fever early today. My friends affinity with Scotch grew during weekly visits to his wifes now departed Grandfather where they would share a wee dram or ahem two; not even his sons were invited to join him. Indeed my friend and his wife made sure Grandad got his last nip soaked into a sponge on his lips and enjoy it he did. My friend still has the remnants of that bottle and Glenlivet 12 will always be a fixture in his drinks cabinet.
As far as blends go Chivas Regal is really rather good, some of the older bottles are very tasty.
Last year my friend took his father to a whisky tasting evening with the local football club former players association for his birthday and was then asked to accompany his father to a whisky tasting that my friends sister had bought him tickets to; for the same birthday.
AstonZagato said:
slopes said:
RammyMP said:
bristolracer said:
My friend abhors all whisky.
My friend at the age of 14 decided that it may be fun to drink half a bottle of Teachers finest blended gut rot. After much illness he has never been able to tolerate the smell or taste of the stuff since.
My friend regrets this, as he found with increasing age, that drinking moderately can be quite pleasurable, and has, because of a youthful exuberance managed to exclude a vast array of what are doubtless decent drinks.
My friend has plenty of hindsight but alas no time machine.
We must have the same friend!My friend at the age of 14 decided that it may be fun to drink half a bottle of Teachers finest blended gut rot. After much illness he has never been able to tolerate the smell or taste of the stuff since.
My friend regrets this, as he found with increasing age, that drinking moderately can be quite pleasurable, and has, because of a youthful exuberance managed to exclude a vast array of what are doubtless decent drinks.
My friend has plenty of hindsight but alas no time machine.
This friend would dearly love to be able to drink single malts because it is exactly the sort of expensive, complex hobby about which he would enjoy showing off and being pretentious. Cigars are the same - he'd love to bore on about these but can't stand them.
Instead, he has to pretend he understands a bit about wine, while merely buying expensive French clarets that he has once heard are decent.
He is a bit of a pretentious tw@t really. I think he's only tolerated because people like to drink those wines.
In recent years, he was generously given a Linkwood single malt from a good friend who'd taken a barrel and bottled it. He thought it rude not to open it and was surprised that he could tolerate a small glass occasionally, as it is so soft. However, experiments on other single malts have not yielded the same results.
When my friend first started working on the railway in the early '80s he and his very senior driver were booked to work the Royal Train from Paddington to Exeter, my friend recalls the severe bking he was given by Norman the foreman for not wearing a tie when booking on for the job. Before departure (now wearing a borrowed British Rail tie) my friend got down from the cab of the loco to go and fill the tea can in the mess room on platform 1 at Paddington, on the way back to his cab my 5'2'' friend was very slightly accosted by the 6'7'' protection officer bearing down on him, ushering him very loudly to ''get the fooook away from the coaches''. On arrival at Exeter my 5'2'' friend was too scared to alight from the cab until the 6'7'' protection officer had buggered off to somewhere probably very posh with Phil the Greek.
king he was given by Norman the foreman for not wearing a tie when booking on for the job. Before departure (now wearing a borrowed British Rail tie) my friend got down from the cab of the loco to go and fill the tea can in the mess room on platform 1 at Paddington, on the way back to his cab my 5'2'' friend was very slightly accosted by the 6'7'' protection officer bearing down on him, ushering him very loudly to ''get the fooook away from the coaches''. On arrival at Exeter my 5'2'' friend was too scared to alight from the cab until the 6'7'' protection officer had buggered off to somewhere probably very posh with Phil the Greek. RammyMP said:
My friend can’t stand whiskey but doesn’t mind Asda Speyside Malt, I think he needs to take himself to the council thread!
Not necessarily. My friend informs me that the Asda own label could, in fact, come from a rather nice Speyside distillery and be quite acceptable although own branded versions do not normally state the source distillery on the label. However, these own branded single malts are, like every other supermarket offering, bought on price which means that Asda could change to another Speyside distillery at any time and wouldn't need to change the label. Therefore, the quality etc. cannot definitely be guaranteed from one bottle to the next.A friend of mine had been absent from ph for some time and upon his return, he was somewhat surprised to see a distinct lack of spelling police in action as it had been quite the thing the last time he had been a regular on ph.
This friend said he was quite heartened to see they were making a slow comeback as it stirred up fond memories of his previous tenure as a member of ph.
This friend said he was quite heartened to see they were making a slow comeback as it stirred up fond memories of his previous tenure as a member of ph.
Garvin said:
My friend tells me that for those who would like an introduction to, and education of, Scotch Whisky then he recommends Charles Maclean's Whiskypedia - A Gazetteer of Scotch Whisky. The Sunday Times apparently regard Mr Maclean as "whisky's finest guru".
My friends mother in law gave him that very book for Christmas. He says it is an excellent read.The only blend tolerated by my friend is Chivas Regal. Otherwise it has to be Islay malts.
I don't know why some people above assume that Princess Margaret had no friends, and just sat dining with her security detail. She was a famous party girl, and had the sort of friends who might have got up to some of the stuff that appears on this thread from time to time. The three blokes she was with when I saw her partying were evidently friends/admirers/cronies. The big bloke at the next table got up and left as her group did, and there was another big bloke in the coat lobby (this was The Ivy some time in the 1990s, before it changed to the current layout).
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