Remember 'Groucho' at JCG?

Anyone remember being taught A level English by 'Groucho Marx' at JCG?

Samantha Donnelly (now Samantha Mauger) does. Samantha (who also went to my junior school, Grouville) contacted me having seen the blog, and wondering if she was reading about the same Tim Pozzi I had written about. (Indeed it is - there is definitely only one Tim Pozzi...)

She writes of Groucho: "He was a complete look-a-like and also a veteran windmill when it came to arm movements! Shakespearer and tights spring to mind as well as chalk on chairs!"

As I didn't do English down at JCG -- I did geography there and a joint Economics A level class with JCG girls up at Vic -- I wouldn't know who this Groucho look-a-like is - but maybe others would. Like Tim Pozzi, for one!!

Ray

Fancy some skiing?

It's very possibel that any visitor to this blog (do we have any?) might have missed this latest comment added to one of our oldest entries, so I am repeating it here as a new entry.
Charlie Journeaux and his wife Rosie run a ski chalet resort in the French Alps -- check out the details at

http://www.boutiqueski.co.uk/

And they have a special offer for those who fancy spending the post-Xmas weeks on the piste -- see Rosie's offer below.

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CALLING ALL JERSEY RESIDENTS!

We're offering fantastic bargains for January 2009. £399 per adult,reduced from £519! Arrive/depart any day of the week. We have loads of guests from Yorkshire and the Home Counties, but none from Jersey - come on guys take advantage of this wonderful offer and come and see us here in Morzine. The chocolate brownies are the best in the Alps, and won the Morzine school Brownie making competition!Dont miss out! We had a huge downfall of snow last night and this winter season looks set to be a brilliant one! Charlie would love the chance to go on the slopes with old school friends too. Message written by Rosie, Charlie's wife!

12:06 AM, October 30, 2008

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Interested? Give Charlie and Rosie a call at
00 33 (0) 450 755 997

How's that for a free promotion?

Ray

General update

What a slacker.... and it's not like I haven't had anything to write about either.

Met up with Tim Pozzi and Adam Newey recently for some 'vino collapso' and some really great Mediterranean food near Covent Garden. Adam is going to be a dad again, so he will soon be out of general circulation once more as the sleepless nights etc kick in.

Heading back to The Rock in August for my dad's 70th birthday party -- hoping to see some familar faces in August, particularly Ben Bryant so I can mention the Champions League Final (Ben went to the game with fellow Chelsea fans Andy Hunter and Martin Rowley) and see how his boy Harrison is getting on.

Also hoping to pop around to see Rob Reid at his amazing house in St Lawrence, and catch up with his clan.
Rob, of course, like Tim and Adam, is a Leeds Utd fan. Say no more....

It wasn't my intention to join facebook ever, but I have, for work reasons (really...) so hunt me out if you are on there too. I had a search for Victoria College but, as you'd expect, most of the folk signed up are about 30 years my junior and only attended Vic this century.

Still haven't seen McGregor in London yet -- Dundee must be a great place to hang out!! :-)

Work calls at this moment -- will endeavour to update again soon.
In the meantime, if anyone has tried this rather tasty looking Malbec

http://www.vinostittarelli.com.ar/english_/pro_vino_titarrelli_clasica.htm

then please let me know if it is any good and worth hunting down.

Ray

News of the OVs Dinner, Dec 2007

News from John Asplet of the OVs Dinner, held, as it is each year, in the Great Hall at Victoria College.

John had issued an email in October, hoping to get folk from the Class of 1982 to attend the dinner on December 20 to mark 25 years since we left Vic.

As you'll see from the following report from John, his call to arms wasn't met with an overwhelming response, and, unfortunately, three of the crew were seemingly unaware of John's attempts and were sat elsewhere in the hall. I know Rob Reid won't have received John's email because Rob is yet to enter the dangerous online world of electronic mail. He's such a traditionalist!!

Anyway, here is the report from 'Asplet':

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"Well what a poor show! There were just 6 from the class of 82, and three of those were very wise and got seated well away from the other three. These lucky folk were Mike Stein, Stuart Gower and Robert Reid. However them seemed to be too friendly with Senator Philip Ozouf if you ask me. [[RAY NOTE: PHILIP OZOUF -- IS HE WORTH BEING FRIENDLY WITH?]]

We also had two empty seats as Richard Boleat and Barry le Cheminant had both booked tickets but unless they are very thin didn't show up. Roger Bartley's promised bottle of 1982 Opus One was obviously confiscated at customs!

So this left three lonely souls of myself, Trevor Dearsley and Andrew Wadman. Oh well, at least we had extra wine and port between us, something of a mistake come Friday morning!

Apparently it was the usual sort of chaos for this event, although I had never been to one before, the Headmaster speaks before the meal and then they had a guest OV afterwards although I have no idea who he was, and he was rather dull."

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So, who was this "rather dull" speaker? We must find out...

Anyone with any ideas please post a message or send me an email at
ray.lemaistre@gmail.com
and/or
ray.lemaistre@ntlworld.com

All and any reports from The Rock or from any of the Class of '82 -- or '83, or whenever -- from Vic of Girls' College most welcome.

In the now famous words of Delia Smith -- "Let's be havin' you!! Come on!!!"
(Check out YouTube if you don't know what I am on about...)

Ray

Return to old haunts

As Ray's previous post points out, 2007 was a fairly momentous year for the McGregor/Keehner household. No reverse culture shock so far and while life in Dundee is a far cry from the west coasts of the USA and Australia, there have been a number of compensations.

Spending the festive period in a small cottage in Plockton (with no TV, internet and cell phone reception) reminded us of how beautiful NW Scotland is and how you can still experience wilderness close to home.



The trip North also allowed me to take Mad to the Isle of Skye for the first time, although the howling gale and horizontal rain may have ruined any chance of a return visit. Similar weather conditions had curtailed my last stay on the island, when in 1982 an attempt at camping in the shadow of the Cullins with one Ray Le Maistre ended in dismal failure - and a tent rendered useless by the loss of several poles and a giant tear in the roof. 25 years later I went to the very same spot of said disaster and couldn't help laughing at the memory of Ray and I clinging to the flapping canvas at three in the morning in pitch darkness with no idea what we were going to do. You can't buy that.

Here's looking forward to further exploration of Scotland in 2008 and all the best to all who pass this way.

Catching up...

2007 was something of a watershed year for the little community addressed by this blog.

The boy McGregor returned to these shores and, after years in California and a short stay in Australia, has settled in Dundee.

In May I went back to 'The Rock' and saw a few folk -- Ben Bryant, his wife Casey and their young son Harrison (now about 18 months old), and Rob Reid, who has the most amazing house in St Lawrence, a lovely family (three children, the boy is a Man Utd fan, much to Rob's chagrin), and about 37 cars.

Rob tells me that Peter Titterington is now a grandfather!! And that Charlie Mullins is a property tycoon who lives in a country mansion somewhere in England and who is slowly buying up chunks of St Helier commercial property!!! Extraordinary.

In July I met up with Adam Newey (works at The Guardian), Andrew Phillips (still writing music and in a new band, Passenger), and Tim Pozzi (freelance travel journalist) for dinner in London. A great catch-up and, like all the best meetings with old friends, it seemed like just a few weeks ago we had last seen each other, instead of more than a decade.

Then in October an email arrived from John Asplet, suggesting a meet at the OVs dinner on December 20 to mark 25 years since the class of 1982 left Victoria College. I couldn't make it, but would love to hear from anyone who went along. Who turned up, are there any pictures, and did anyone make any headlines by the end of the evening? :-)

Looking forward to 2008, when I will attempt to post on thsi blog more than twice...

Ray

Duffing debut

Gideon Coe's BBC 6Music show - A must for all those who appreciate good music