Yokosuka Mike
Abstract Clarity
All the best,
Mike
peterm1
Veteran
All the best,
Mike
Mike I like your signature. "Good photography is harder than it looks." It's true but it also reminds me of someone who was a classical music buff who said that "Wagner's music is not nearly as bad as it sounds". Which is kind of appropriate as the plastic barbell of silence would be ideal for a Wagner concert IMHO.
robert blu
quiet photographer
looks like we are keeping this thread alive until Helen returns and posts something
I like the idea...
MrFujicaman
Well-known
And, then there was the cone of silence!
Damn, I miss the cone of silence.
All the best,
Mike
Pity we can't lock people under one ! I have a whole list..(and before anyone ask, there are no forum members on it-but several of my relatives..)
seany65
Well-known
@peterm1, It is entirely possible to have a cup of tea or a pot of tea. It depends entirely on what the tea is supplied in: a cup/mug or a tea-pot (hence the name teapot).
Which means in fact it's entirely possible to have a pot of tea and a cup of tea.
Which means in fact it's entirely possible to have a pot of tea and a cup of tea.
peterm1
Veteran
Seany thanks for this. But I am afraid you missed my point a little. Firstly I was deliberately being a little silly about English foibles (which I actually enjoy very much - I just have a satirical kink in my mind and I cannot seem to shake the habit). But I would also say that having an essentially English upbringing myself I also enjoy poking fun at those English foibles. Poking fun at English foibles seems to me to be another English foible possessed by many English I think. It has always been part of the culture as far as I have experienced it (how on earth to you otherwise explain "Monty Python").
But the key point I was making was not about whether one has a cup of tea or a pot of tea (my "in-laws" in fact always asserted that a "nice cup of tea" is ALWAYS made in a proper bone china pot. None of those new fangled tea bag things for them!)
My key point was about the fact (in my experience) that the word "nice" always seems to be included in the phrase - hence "a nice cup of tea". And that term is usually used whether it is made in a pot or otherwise. The word also exemplifies for me that old fashioned middle class English value that the English had (and some may still aspire to) - that of being "nice people". Also exemplified in my Hyacinth Bucket reference and in this old Flanagan and Allen song from ww2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8YXU1Yrfq8
In fact no less than George Orwell wrote an entire essay about how one goes about making " a nice cup of tea" - he too used that phrase, his essay being called just that - "A Nice Cup of Tea" and in it he said among a long list of essential elements "First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays — it is economical, and one can drink it without milk — but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase ‘a nice cup of tea’ invariably means Indian tea. Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities — that is, in a teapot." When you read the essay in its entirety it accords pretty much with what many "serious" tea drinkers still say today. It seems that the English tea ceremony used to be (though it may no longer be so strict) as convoluted and serious as the Japanese tea ceremony. (Though involving much less bowing)
My answer seems a little long but perhaps you can tell from it that I too enjoy a "nice cup of tea." (I will proselytize here a bit and say that my preferred "nice cup of tea" is a Chinese Tieguanyin tea - a form of Oolong tea which has delicate flavors but enough body to be somewhat like Indian tea which most of us tea drinkers drink every day). And I have to agree with my in-laws and Orwell - the best "nice cup of tea" always seems to be made in a pot and drunk from proper bone china tea cups. But that's another story.
By the way (and here is the only camera connection I can possibly make to my post. Tieguanyin is named after the Buddhist "Goddess of Mercy" called Guanyin in China or Kwannon in Japan. If the name Kwannon sounds familiar to photographers, it should - it was the original name of the camera company we now know as Canon. Phew - got that out of my system.
markjwyatt
Well-known
I hope Waiting for Helen does not have a similar ending to Waiting for Godot!
peterm1
Veteran
I have to confess, I do not know what the ending is. Despite my best efforts when I tried to watch the play I fell asleep. Turns out that for me at least watching "Waiting for Godot" was rather like , well, waiting for Godot. I take no pride nor pleasure in admitting this
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
In the meantime for diversion I recommend instead the Christopher Guest film "Waiting for Guffman".
And BTW as anyone who watched too much Get Smart knows that's the Portable Cone of Silence...
Chris
And BTW as anyone who watched too much Get Smart knows that's the Portable Cone of Silence...
Chris
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
Every city should have a proper English tea room. I miss crumpets!
fireblade
Vincenzo.
ummmm....no....for breakfast, i'll stick to earl grey tea with strawberry jam and cream on scones.
peterm1
Veteran
If you are ever in Melbourne this one rates pretty highly. Though it is very popular and unless booked in advance it often involves a wait.
Hopetoun Tea Rooms, Melbourne Australia
Through a Glass, Darkly by Life in Shadows, on FlickrArchiver
Veteran
@peterm1 - Hopetoun Tea Rooms, is that the one in Block Arcade? Every time I've been past, there's a line outside equal to the Chinese tourists outside the Gucci shop on Collins Street. Is it really that good?
Michael Markey
Veteran
Spot on .
Being demonstrative or demanding in any way is often considered bad manners .
Of course these things are changing .
I recall the story of the playwright Allen Bennet who as a be gowned member of one of the Oxbridge colleges found his gown wedged beneath his chair at high table . His efforts to free himself ,just as the waiter was coming `round with a course , was construed as him waving the man away because he didn`t want the dish . I don`t recall what the dish was but from that day on it was never offered to him again.The point is it was one of Bennetts favorite dishes but he didn`t want to embarrass the man by drawing attention to his mistake .
He was being nice .
In the same vein he let a homeless eccentric woman called Miss Shepherd, live on his driveway in a series of dilapidated vans for more than fifteen years.
He always ensured that she was undisturbed if he came home late .
You see " it doesn`t do" to make a fuss .
That isn`t nice .
peterm1
Veteran
Yes that is the one. It is very nice for its ambiance (full of old world opulence and charm - which is really what afternoon tea is about - an experience.) but its been a few years since I have been there to partake of afternoon tea (as opposed to being there just to rubberneck and take photos) so cannot really opine if it is still as good as I remembered it. But I have noticed the lines at front too - which is a touch off putting for many. Since Victoria has had a COVID resurgence recently I suppose it may be closed right now till the restrictions come off once more.
There is a very nice French Patisserie style of establishment which might pass as a tea room too (pictured below at the bottom) but I cannot recall its name. Last time I was there was when the photo below was taken, however, and that was in 2011 so quite a while back. It is near block arcade possibly in Collins St. Being French themed it was not a traditional tea room as such but I recall having nice tea there and a pleasant experience.
I am sure there are many others but others I specifically recall from my own experience in Melbourne are The Windsor Hotel in Spring St which is a very old school British colonial style establishment. Though last time I had tea there (a couple of years ago) it was over the top with a chocolate fountain, a cake and sweets pig out, all you can eat, buffet (and some very nice tea as almost an after thought). Shame - it used to be so so nice (and cost much less - though still pricey) but I guess they wanted a gimmick to attract business. On the same trip we tried the afternoon tea at the Langham in Southbank which was all you would expect and very good.
French Patisserie - Impressions and Reflections by Life in Shadows, on Flickr
fireblade
Vincenzo.
If you are ever in Melbourne this one rates pretty highly. Though it is very popular and unless booked in advance it often involves a wait.
Hopetoun Tea Rooms, Melbourne Australia
Been there many a time...actually, everytime i'm in Melbourne.
Yes, very good.
Ricoh
Well-known
Talking of tea and the English (I’m Welsh by the way), try a nice cup of tea at Betty’s, Harrogate, a rather nice venue. You will not be disappointed when COVID-19 is out of the way, if ever.
peterm1
Veteran
Goodness a Welshman extolling the virtues of an establishment in Yorkshire. It must be good.
I had a look at the web page for it and it does look good too. It also has an advert for Taylor's Proper Strong Yorkshire Tea. Which I also enjoy here in Oz.
All this talk of Yorkshire reminds me of this old "Hale and Pace Comedy Show" episode about "Yorkshire Airlines"............. Ey Up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPjJFv1NDBg
Malcolm M
Well-known
Bettys (sic), ungrammatically, has no apostrophe, which is one reason I won't go there.
This thread does seem to have wandered off its original point. We're now on tea, via Vegemite.
This thread does seem to have wandered off its original point. We're now on tea, via Vegemite.
David Hughes
David Hughes
These days a lot of places sell tea and the approach seems to be as much profit and as little pleasure as possible; luckily in Wales, Scotland and Ireland the approach is more what you'd expect in a nice tea room. I was once on a cruise ship that stopped at Dublin and went into a tea room and found all the English passengers from the ship in it; we were desperate for tea without 24 hour bland music and tea bags and jugs of tepid water...
Look for tea pots and you should be safe. Small family run places seem best; hotels or tea rooms. With one exception motorway service stations are the worst, closely followed by those places were they have a machine you are expected to operate yourself.
The best experience was in Norfolk in the most ramshackle place I have ever visited (no two chairs matched) but the cook was an obsessed cake baker, then the Derwentwater Youth Hostel many year ago and lastly, and I'm glad I wasn't paying, the Grand Hotel Eastbourne. That's in order of price, nothing else.
Has anyone told Helen we are vamping 'til ready?
Regards, David
PS I like the idea of tea in ostinato form...
Look for tea pots and you should be safe. Small family run places seem best; hotels or tea rooms. With one exception motorway service stations are the worst, closely followed by those places were they have a machine you are expected to operate yourself.
The best experience was in Norfolk in the most ramshackle place I have ever visited (no two chairs matched) but the cook was an obsessed cake baker, then the Derwentwater Youth Hostel many year ago and lastly, and I'm glad I wasn't paying, the Grand Hotel Eastbourne. That's in order of price, nothing else.
Has anyone told Helen we are vamping 'til ready?
Regards, David
PS I like the idea of tea in ostinato form...