Spire University of the Third Age

Newsletter 

ISSUE No. 46                   www.salisburyu3a.org.uk                       MAY 2006

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Welcome to new Members

Aslaug Abbott

Chris Webster

Maureen Darling

Elsie Walker

Brian and Audrey Mould

U3A Science & Technology Network

Engineering.  Past, Present and Future

A seminar Open to all U3A Members at Ty'r Morwydd Environmental Study Centre, Abergavenny, Wales

MONDAY 21st to THURSDAY 24th AUGUST 2006

Three days of talks and discussions with at least one coach trip included. £150.00 half board for three nights.  Deposit by 15th June 2006 CONTACT     Nic Griffin on 01747 855720   nicgriffin@hotmail.com OR          Collin Mitchell on  0118 9782824   colinfmitchell@hotmail.com Details and booking form on our notice board or our U3A web site.

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Quiz supplied by Mark and Margot (they have the answers!)
Find the events that relate to the dates below:  e.g. 1066 B of H - Battle of Hastings.

1.   1215   S of the MC at R                ……………………………………

2.   1431   J of A was B A T S             ……………………………………

3.   1666   G F of L                              ……………………………………

4.   1649   O C becomes P                   ……………………………………

5.   1746   B of C M                             ……………………………………

6.   1815   B of W                                ……………………………………

7.   1871   F F. A. C M                        ……………………………………

8.   1914   O of F W W                        ……………………………………

9.   1953   M E C by H and T              …………………………………….

10. 1961   B W was E                          …………………………………….

11. 1963   G T R                                  …………………………………….

12. 1978   J P the S was E P                …………………………………….

13. 1990   N M was R from P             …………………………………….

14. 1997   P D was K in P                   …………………………………….

15. 1999   C K becomes L of L D       …………………………………….

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NEWS FROM THE GROUPS 

Archaeology Group

The May meeting of the group is a coach trip to Avebury. Fully booked.

The meeting on June 27^th will be exciting with a talk by Mark Corney who is an expert on the Romans and will talk about Sorviodunum.  This is the site in which members of the group have already been involved.

Rex Sawyer’s talk on ‘The Villages of the Plain’ will now be on July 25^th.

For any new members it is worth repeating that meetings are on the last Tuesday of the month and are open to all U3A members and are held in the Harnham Memorial Hall starting at 10am.

Using your Camera for Beginners

Starting on Friday 9^th June at 12, Chiselbury Grove at 10 am.

The ‘rules’ of good composition are the same for film or digital cameras so both kinds are welcome.  The first meeting will be a discussion on the cameras each member has brought and what the course will entail.  Held during the summer months, weather permitting, outings for half or full day will be arranged.  Fridays will be the usual day, every 4 weeks.  Outings however may be planned for other days according to member’s wishes.        Phone 01722 501218                                           Sheila and Peter Read. 

When I joined Spire U3A about 6 years ago AGMs consisted of a brisk run through of business followed by a speaker. How different from the pattern of the last few years. This year’s AGM took so long there was practically no time to view the excellent group presentations. What a pity that was. Could we not have group presentations to enjoy while circulating with the wine and snacks at the Christmas meeting? All the work done for this year's AGM would surely be welcomed by old and new members alike. Whatever the committee decides I'd like to give my thanks to all the groups who put on such a good show I just wish I'd been able to see it all.

Pat Crossland

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U3A ACTIVITIES ON HOLIDAYS ABROAD

How many of our U3A members must pass holidays abroad but regret the time spent away from their U3A activities as we have often done?          On a recent occasion we decided to explore ways of keeping our minds alive while soaking up some early spring sunshine in the Algarve. The Internet led us to a site of the Universidade para a Terceira Idade (UTI) that is a close translation of U3A and the information that Portugal boasts some 80 branches and 15000 individual members. The closest branch to where we stay is centered in the relatively unspoilt town of Tavira and meets mostly in its own 'academy' but also in locations in adjacent villages. Our first contact was by letter but subsequently we corresponded by e-mail with Júlia Silva (who described herself as Teacher and Librarian) and then by telephone when we arrived in the area. Unfortunately we missed by a few days a group visit to Lisbon that included a trip round the Portuguese Parliament buildings but we were invited to participate in a special class on things Portuguese and aimed at the foreign members of the UTI. This session covered recent popular Portuguese song, its roots in the music of fado and with the clever introduction of some language tuition. Apart from us, as it was the Easter holiday period, there were only four other students, three British and one Norwegian.        We were shown with some pride their 'academy': it is an extensive area of the ground floor of a public building ceded to the UTI by the town council of Tavira and equipped with lecture and craft rooms, an IT installation, a lounge/library and large gathering room. They only have 65 members in total and are wondering if their annual subscription is off-putting at €50 and are considering lesser amounts for part year membership.        We intend to continue this contact whenever we spend time in that region and may look for similar opportunities in other holiday destinations making new friends and bridging cultures can't be a bad extra reason for being members of the U3A.                                                        Malcolm and Jo Simmons, Spire U3A.

We can recommend this sort of approach to meeting like-minded people in other countries.  We have not tried contacting U3A's but have contacted camera clubs. Like you we used the Internet to find clubs ‘down under' and enjoyed each visit.   Their welcome proved they feel the same.  Editor

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These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY:  Are you sexually active?     
 WITNESS:    No, I just lie there.

ATTORNEY:  What is your date of birth?
WITNESS:    July 18^th
ATTORNEY:  What year?
WITNESS:      Every year.

ATTORNEY:  What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS:     Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

ATTORNEY:  This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS:     Yes.
ATTORNEY:  And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS:      I forget.
ATTORNEY:  You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?

ATTORNEY:  How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS:     Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY:  How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS:     Forty-five years.

ATTORNEY:  What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS:     He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
ATTORNEY:  And why did that upset you?
WITNESS:     My name is Susan.

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS:     Huh?

ATTORNEY:  Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS:     No.
ATTORNEY:  Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS:     No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS:     No
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS:     No.
ATTORNEY:  How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS:     Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY:  But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS:     Yes it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.