[Melanie Branton]

I may have a go at this, but I suspect that the discrepancy between my political views and those of The Speccie could prove a stumbling block.

[Brian Allgar]

I have the same problem, Adrian. Nothing much seems to have happened in 2013 apart from the two things that you mention. Still, they're probably both good for a laugh.

[Brian Allgar]

Originally Posted by Melanie Branton

I may have a go at this, but I suspect that the discrepancy between my political views and those of The Speccie could prove a stumbling block.

Don't worry about your political views, Melanie. John and I both win from time to time, and our political views probably cover a large part of the spectrum.

[Melanie Branton]

Originally Posted by Brian Allgar

Don't worry about your political views, Melanie. John and I both win from time to time, and our political views probably cover a large part of the spectrum.

Thanks for the reassurance, Brian. It wouldn't worry me with most of the topics, but a review of the year is more inherently political than most.

PS You and John are also brilliant, which probably helps!

[Brian Allgar]

Originally Posted by Melanie Branton

PS You and John are also brilliant, which probably helps!

Hah! There speaks the Flash 500 triple winner.

(Damn! There goes another tooth, ground to dust. I wonder if the magnanimous £10 pensioner's Christmas bonus will cover the repair work? Nah, I'd better reconcile myself to sucking the Christmas turkey through a straw.)

[John Whitworth]

Ann, I think you may be right. Osborne's name actually IS Gideon but as Michael Caine might have it, not a lot of people know it. I changed it because Rob pointed out that Gorgeous George might refer to George Galloway. But I think I shall change it back. By the way, go and look at my thing on Metrical and give us the benefit of your w and w.

Thank you, Sylvia. I hope Lucy is of your mind.

[Brian Allgar]

That time of year thou may’st in me behold
When gifts are given and my tales are told.
Jocosely clad as good Saint Nicholas,
I’ll prate of things that did affright or tickle us
This twelve-month past.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxA princeling babe was born,
A royal fawn, on whom the world doth fawn.

Thanksgiving brought a presidential pardon -
Two turkeys lived to gobble in the garden.

Wild thyme no longer blows upon the Bank
Where foetid Flowers thrived, corrupt and rank.

Salacious revelations did unravel
Anent that blackest knight, Sir Jimmy Savile.

I’ve much to tell of knaves political,
The weasel-tongued, the hypocritical;
But horrid tales of murder and disasters
I leave to Webster, gentle dames and masters.

[Rob Stuart]

Obama and the Fiscal Cliff, that 3D-printed ear,
The change of popes, Prince George’s birth, lasagnes made from nags;
That kind of stuff’s ubiquitous, but fewer people hear
About the stories covered by their trusty local rags.

In Denbighshire they advertised for Glee club leader jobs,
The burghers of St. Andrews got a pie-vending machine,
A wheelie bin was set on fire in Brighton by some yobs;
But fascinating stuff like this, alas, is rarely seen.

A tribute act to Olly Murs played Grimsby for a night,
A roofing business based in Plymouth found a bigger shop,
A girl caught in a Wych Cross bush turned out to be all right;
They rattle out this sort of journalistic gold nonstop.

A lot of potholes got repaired in Kingston-Upon-Hull,
A man in Essex tried to get permission for a shed,
A bag of crisps was half-inched by a cheeky Margate gull;
This represents a taster of the news you could have read.


'Nothing much happened in 2013'? Nonsense!