I read the news today oh boy! Page 1,170
Quote: Nogget @ March 16 2013, 5:18 PM GMTHe speaks it badly.
No he bloody doesn't. He speaks it well.
The only good thing I'd say about Tony Blair is that he,too, has a good command of French .
And it's a difference if you're doing just a little small talk or a two hour stand up gig in a foreign language. As I said, this guy doesn't stop to amaze me.
Even if you are fluent in a second language, I would of thought stand up comedy would be a tough one.
But Izzard's take is that he can find a niche audience for his comedy in most countries and humour is much about taste as nationality.
Quote: keewik @ March 17 2013, 12:31 AM GMTNo he bloody doesn't. He speaks it well.
Well that's not how he sees it. He says part of the fun is the challenge, and if anything it's even more to his credit that he does gigs in a language he's not a master of, than if he was admirably capable.
Maybe he's just being self-depracating. I saw a programme about him on TV when he was shown speaking French - I think it was in America - and he was pretty good - good enough that you might have thought he was bilingual.
Le singe est dans l'arbre?
Quote: lofthouse @ March 17 2013, 6:11 PM GMTLe singe est dans l'arbre?
Quote: lofthouse @ March 17 2013, 6:11 PM GMTLe singe est dans l'arbre?
The singed ship is in the harbour?
The Cyprus bank situation:
Much pain & anguish in the News headlines, but look a little more carefully past the screams of anguish:
The main bone of contention as I understand is:
"Retail savers are being punished, by a levy of 6.75% on savings up to 100,000 euros."
However if they have actually been receiving 7% interest on that, what the levy effectively means is that their interest rate for this past year has been retrospectively reduced to 0.25% which is about what we get in the UK. !! (they still get the benefit of 7% on previous years).
So what's the real bitch! Ah, gee, as well as living in nice sunny Cyprus, they only got the same interest on their savings as us poor wet cold UK residents i.e very very little. Looked at in that light I'm not even at all sure that our Govt should be using our UK taxes to pay this 6.75% back to our forces and Govt. employees in Cyprus.
Plus. British Forces and Govt employees would normally have had a UK bank account, they must have deliberately opened a Cyprus account and transferred their money there, attracted by the high interest, so the knee-jerk complaints are really that they will not be making as much extra free money as they thought.
Quote: billwill @ March 18 2013, 5:45 PM GMTThe Cyprus bank situation:
Much pain & anguish in the News headlines, but look a little more carefully past the screams of anguish:
The main bone of contention as I understand is:
"Retail savers are being punished, by a levy of 6.75% on savings up to 100,000 euros."However if they have actually been receiving 7% interest on that, what the levy effectively means is that their interest rate for this past year has been retrospectively reduced to 0.25% which is about what we get in the UK. !! (they still get the benefit of 7% on previous years).
So what's the real bitch! Ah, gee, as well as living in nice sunny Cyprus, they only got the same interest on their savings as us poor wet cold UK residents i.e very very little. Looked at in that light I'm not even at all sure that our Govt should be using our UK taxes to pay this 6.75% back to our forces and Govt. employees in Cyprus.
Plus. British Forces and Govt employees would normally have had a UK bank account, they must have deliberately opened a Cyprus account and transferred their money there, attracted by the high interest, so the knee-jerk complaints are really that they will not be making as much extra free money as they thought.
Well, I feel sorry for Cypriot's who will lose a chunk of their savings regardless of the high interest rates. It's also mildly worrying that it could end up being applied to other countries.
Luckily I have no savings, so don't need to worry. 
Quote: zooo @ March 19 2013, 11:30 AM GMTLuckily I have no savings
Fortunately my most prized possession - a mint condition first draft of Leper Fight - is at home in a lockable tin box.
Fireproof?