The Elite Blog

I name this ship "Stephanie Lunn". God bless her and all those who sail with her!

7 April 2010

By Paul White

At the height of the Cold War, the KGB identified a remote Welsh village as the ideal place to plant a "Sleeper", due to its proximity to a Top Secret Military Base. There was only one man for the job. Oleg Kamarovsky underwent months of covert training before he was dropped by a high-flying aircraft and parachuted to a five-mile distance from the target. In order to blend in with the Locals, he assumed the name of Jones, so as not to draw attention to himself. Unfortunately, the mission had to be aborted, when he discovered that his cover was blown. Everyone in the village referred to him as "Jones The Spy".

Helen Wakeman-Jones, our Events Organiser, is known to all as "Jones The Party". She is doing a sterling job as the Chapter's Events Co-ordinator and has certainly laid on an excellent do for us all later in the month. By the sound of it, Cagoules should be worn throughout the course of the evening.

On my trip to Australia, there were a host of Gift Shops, selling all manner of Aussie memorabilia. Bearing in mind Elizabeth Hicks' fondness for the soft toy, I bought a number of them, as I associated Chapter Members with various animals. Clearly Helen is a Kangaroo, so presented her with one of those. Elizabeth is also a Kanga, so I gave another one to Barry of Irwin Mitchell, who was subbing for her. Dexter Coles' fauna equivalent is undoubtedly a Wombat, with Stephanie Lunn amd Sarah Lloyd-Hughes as clear Koalas.

During a Coach Trip down to Phillip Island in Victoria, South-Eastern Australia, an excited Japanese Tourist exclaimed, "Ah, Kangaloo!" Anthony, our Tour Guide, with prefect comic timing replied, "No, it's a Wallaby." So easy to get those two confused.

In the Hotel, I was able to sample the very latest in entertainment. Watching "The Prisoner", I was struck by Patrick McGoohan's trademark blue-and-white Blazer, which Stephanie turns out to be wearing something very similar this morning!

The point of us all meeting is to exchange Referrals and fourteen were generated today. Attendence is very important and Mel Kenny of Radcliffe & Newlands Independent Financial Planners was spotlighted as having a flawless turn-up record. Regrettably he was not able to make the meeting, but did provide a recorded video, saying how much he wished he could have been with us.

I am pleased to write that Sarah Kennedy is back on Radio 2, broadcasting while I am trying to get up. She certainly has a way with words. On Wednesday, 11th October 2006, she came up with the immortal line, "The studio was so cold, my legs were chattering". Do send in your favourite Sarah Kennedy quotations to me.

My body-clock has still not adjusted back to UK time, so I had an urgent need to eat a kebab after the meeting. Amazingly, no-one wanted to join me, nor did anyone fancy going to a Night Club afterwards either.

I'm off for a lie-down now, so look after yourselves.

Vivat, Crescat, Floreat!

Permalink: http://www.bni-elite.co.uk/BNIMeeting7thApril2010 (copy'n'paste)

Comments (3)

At 09:28 PM on 13 Apr 2010 by Author: Stephanie Lunn

Wrote: Thank you Paul. The cuddly toy was much appreciated. Like a Koala, I too love to climb trees. It's a shame that the inner child in me doesn't get that much of a chance. Perhaps we can ask Helen to organise a forest day out!
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At 11:32 AM on 14 Apr 2010 by Author: Adrian Nettleship

Wrote: There's a place called Go Ape! someone told me about which is something like an adult equivalent to the US's jungle gym. I was a frequent patron of the late Al's Adventure house in Fairlop - my heartfelt condolences to his family. Also, yes, bravo to white piped blazers, and I am not referring to south african users of the drug Mandrax - in fact, I've been warned that blazing a white pipe can be detrimental to one's health, especially if you're a pulitzer prize winning photographer, but I digress. It took all my powers of self control to avoid exclaiming "I am not a number, I'm a free man" during my 60 seconds. I'm glad I didn't.
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At 12:21 PM on 14 Apr 2010 by Author: Paul White

Wrote: So are we, Adrian.
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