TOPIC:

Following on from my last submission about the Cup of the World football, I have a little suggestion.

Why don't you keep the projector in the Love Lounge and set it to all the coverage of the up-coming Glastonbury Festival, while it is still there?

This way, all the people who - for one reason or another - cannot or will not be there, can keep a track of all the bar-staff who have gone moonlighting on foreign bars just to get a free-ish ticket, and all the shareholders can keep a wary eye out for any behaviour which brings the Bell into disrepute, as well as feeling that they are - a teensy bit - not missing out on the biggest party held in Britain every Summer.

That would take the edge off the anxiety caused by not having all our favourite staff to attend to out needs at the BBC for a few days.

Also - for once - the name 'Love Lounge' may even have a small tinge of relevance, what with all those flags etc.

Good idea?

Not bad - but watching bands play 'live' on TV is like watching paint dry IMHO!
.......Also the Cup of World Fever is still going on.......

I agree, but if we could set up a webcam trained exclusively on The Bandstand, there would be a fascinating element of voyeurism attached to it. I suppose this would go against the spirit of 'no cameras' in The Bell policy, though, so maybe not.

Changing the subject, I was outside the front yesterday having a roll-up, when a smart van with blacked-out windows and two very criminal-looking men inside pulled up, and asked me how much I payed for my tobacco.

I said I payed the same as everyone else did, and said that if they had a van-full of duty-free they were trying to sell, then not to try selling it in The Bell, because of its strict policy of no selling in the bar, especially illicit or illegal goods.

They said that they wanted to buy cheap tobacco, not sell it, and asked where they could get some. It was then that I realised they were Customs and Excise officers, out on a hunt.

The Revenue has recently said that they are losing billions every year to people selling duty-free tobacco, so they are obviously sending agents into towns and cities, hoping to catch people who try to recoup a few quid on their holiday costs by offering duty-free in pubs.

If I had been one of those, I would have been in the back of that van in a flash (they were very beefy blokes) and you would not have seen me again for about 5 years.