Rum Doings Episode 58
by John Walker on Feb.04, 2011, under Rum Doings, The Rest
Welcome to a leathery 58th edition of Rum Doings, where we don’t discuss what we are doing to protect our English cricket greens. But we do instead discuss celebratory Welch’s grape soda. What are we celebrating? Well, it seems that John has proposed to a woman. And not curtains.
So there’s much discussion of that, as you might imagine, with the full story of how it all happened so John can point people to listen to this rather than have to tell everyone who asks. We explain the necessity to avoid diamonds, and the means by which a lady will agree to marriage.
Then there’s some familiar ranting about the Liberal Democrats, discussions of the death of the NHS, and Nick takes on some sacred cows of classic radio comedy. We ponder the Two Ronnies, Sorry!, and then misery of 70s and 80s sitcoms. And there’s an explanation of how to write like your favourite RPSer. And then after a bit we stop.
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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e58.mp3]
February 4th, 2011 on 15:45
I sent a .gif of rats doing the Conga.
February 4th, 2011 on 16:09
I have yet to listen, and no doubt will return to disagree loudly with both of you, or usually just Nick. For now, however, congratulations John!
February 4th, 2011 on 16:24
*probably with Nick.
February 4th, 2011 on 16:55
I love how the tables have turned on Nick, since everyone loved him best after the individual podcast.
February 4th, 2011 on 17:15
Congratulations John, I hope you will be very happy with married life.
As some one else who also got engaged in January I can sympathise with you other having to recount the details over and over again. I’m also glad you eschewed diamonds, if it is not too personal what stone did you decide on?
February 4th, 2011 on 17:32
Topaz.
February 4th, 2011 on 18:06
Topaz is very nice. And quite unusual for a wedding ring. Which is a Good Thing.
I kinda have to agree with you on the Goon Show. I loved the Goon Show when I was younger. I remember finding my dad’s tapes of them, they introduced this amazing world that I found totally amazing.
However, they have had a similar decay for me as Monty Python (though Monty Python to a far greater extent, that could also have been a good sacred cow to slay). Repetition of them have flattened them into one dimension.
February 4th, 2011 on 18:57
Was your choice of topaz at all informed by Dragon Age? I’m just getting into it and find myself with a digital surplus of semi-precious stones.
Also: Super-congratulations, Mr Walker!
February 4th, 2011 on 19:36
Congratulations John Walker and I hope you have many years together.
I don’t know i quite liked the Two Ronnies best of they did a couple of years ago, the actual show catching it on Dave is a bit terrible but there best of was quite funny. And Ronnie Barker is the best out of the two. Did you catch Ronnie Corbett trying to do just him on his own? That was terrible and embarrassing.
I’ve not seen the details of this NHS thing so I haven’t been worried then i usually have with these votes, should I be really worried now? Should I make those plans i had a year ago of leaving the country more of a reality now?
February 4th, 2011 on 21:34
@John, I have always maintained a policy of disagreeing with Nick. Well, actually I tend to agree with more things I disagree with, but its usually a lot less interesting to point those out.
Disappointingly no disagreements this week, you were all thoroughly reasonable. This whole NHS thing is incredibly depressing. The whole govt truly is, they couldn’t even manage to get rid of control orders. My one hope was for some occasional civil liberties to crop up, and they can’t even do that correctly. Bollocks to the lot of them.
My wife does have a diamond engagment ring, but I was fortunate enough to inherit it, so there was no need to worry about blood diamonds excetera.
February 5th, 2011 on 03:50
I’m not big marriage but I’m happy for people who enjoy each other to have a ceremony and ritual bonding all that jazz. So congratulations, John, from this internet stranger.
I like jewelry but not diamonds. I actually worked with an old friend to design his and his wife’s wedding rings (there was no engagement ring). He designed the very slim rounded argentium silver bands and had me find, size and polish two narrow lengths of very dark green, almost black jadeite to be set flush in the bands (I’m a rockhound). Very neat look – unconventional and fitting for them.
Their non-religious wedding was very simple with twenty-five people invited to a beautiful national forest in the south of Indiana. I abhor giant social gala weddings and was very impressed with theirs. It seemed a privilege to be there rather than a bloody chore as with most weddings, where you feel like a generic face among an endless sea of bored-to-death schmucks.
I don’t actually have any ethical objection to polygamous marriages in and of themselves. It seems there are evolutionary forces working against such behavior but there are also evolutionary forces compelling us to war and otherwise act as tribal savages, so that’s not a good argument against. Polygamy (at least in the US) is usually associated with genuinely terrible misogynist desert cultists. Their practice of polygamy is surely abhorrent. I dunno, are there any historical instances of polygamy in practice that weren’t horrid patriarchal messes?
*shrug*
Your conservative movement in the UK seems to be as increasingly-reactionary and regressive as ours is in America. The healthcare issue over here will likely be a mess for the rest of my life. What was left of Obama’s healthcare structure was recently stuck down as unconstitutional re the Commerce Clause. I haven’t looked into it much but the individual mandate does seem unprecedented so if it’s included in any such bill proponents will inevitably butt up against even mildly-conservative interpretation of the Constitution.
*sigh* Sucks to be an American sometimes.
February 5th, 2011 on 06:04
Also, wrt Quintin, I think his sardonic, joking coverage of the new Batman game’s press releases has been the most outright hilarious thing in the history of the site. One of his recent comments about Harley Quinn nearly made me die of guffawing:
.backslash says: February 1, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Wait, Jeanette from VtM:Bloodlines is that you?
Quintin Smith says: February 1, 2011 at 2:46 pm
I think Arkham Asylum’s interpretation of Harley Quinn was less “The finger down your spine when all the lights are out” and more “The finger up your ass when you’re trying to do something really important.”
I almost chortled up my intestines.
February 5th, 2011 on 11:00
Certainly my objection to diamonds is not purely because of the ethical issues. It’s mainly because I object to being told what stones I must covet by a cartel which controls the price and sale of these particular stones worldwide – De Beers. It was their marketing campaign in the 1930s that told women that only a diamond would do in an engagement ring.
I don’t judge women who insist on a diamond engagement ring, I just… they lack imagination I suppose.
February 5th, 2011 on 16:21
I hate the fact the it usually takes me about a week to listen to the latest episode. Which means I inevitably end up reading comments talking I have no idea what about.
February 5th, 2011 on 17:12
Good luck, John!
February 5th, 2011 on 22:44
Congratulations Mr. Walker!
I’ll confess to being a bit jealous, but I guess if I’m honest with myself I never really had much of a chance with you anyway.
Ah well..
February 6th, 2011 on 04:44
Also, I don’t know if it’s been discussed in the comments threads, but “try and” definitely grates. Replace try with a synonym (attempt, endeavor, etc) and the issue becomes clearer.
February 6th, 2011 on 10:43
Congratulations Nick! :-)
February 7th, 2011 on 06:54
Congratulations John! How did those people commenting here before Christmas know to congratulate you? Very odd. Anyway, was there actually a time you were shot down in a proposal? I hope that wasn’t true, but if it was it would have made an excellent story.
February 7th, 2011 on 11:48
Hey, Rum Doings got a mention on the podcast Jordan Jesse Go. Apparently a listener actually paid money to put an ad in for this show.
February 7th, 2011 on 12:48
@Ben
Something he said on the Christmas podcast tipped people off that he might ask the marriage question.
February 7th, 2011 on 16:19
Ben – those people inferred from something I’d said about Christmas likely being my last one spent alone.
And no – this was my first, and hopefully only, proposal : )
February 8th, 2011 on 18:59
Woo and yay to you sir. Congratulations on the engagement.
Just wanted to say it always makes me super happy when I check the site and see there’s a new episode up. Long live Rum Doings!
February 8th, 2011 on 21:11
Congratulations on the marriage shenangians Jonathan!
February 9th, 2011 on 00:31
How big are these woods surrounding this tower if you could see your entire town from the top?