MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PEMBROKE COLLEGE WINNIE-THE-POOH SOCIETY, 18/05/96

Presents: Jon, Alex, Tapani, Stephen, Sarah.
Apologies: Tim (who has family up), Angela (who is practising to be a godmother), Helen, Vicky (who has a work crisis and an acute headache) and Huw (getting his opera fix in London).


  1. The Secretary arrives at 4 Fitz. Street, to find the others arrayed in the corridor. Angela, despite having left Sarah a note saying she'd left her room unlocked for us, did not, it seems, in fact do so.

  2. After some deliberation, we decide on 2 Pembroke Street as an alternative location, and Jon is delegated to write a note explaining to be left on the door.

  3. Jon has forgotten to bring a pen. Only Alex is brave enough to borrow one from Steve Graves.

  4. On the way to 2 Pembroke Street, the shocking fact is revealed that Alex as yet has no successor as Chapel Clerk!

  5. On arrival at :a Pembroke Street, we steal Tor's tea and begin the meeting.

  6. Jon has this very day received a letter from Shell, our new Australian Honorary Member, to the Society! It's in a dead-impressive Winnie-the-Pooh envelope, with gold writing on and a seal and evething! *

  7. Jon explains who Shell is to Sarah, who wasn't at the last meeting.

  8. The minutes from last week are sought, for elucidation. However, it seems Jon has forgotten to bring those too, as well as the Constitution. Alex thinks this is "very poor", and insists that Jon's incompetence be minuted.

  9. Shell's letter is read: it's an apology for imminent non-attendance at the Garden Party, on the not unreasonable grounds that she'll be on the other side of the planet at the time.

  10. Alex and Tapani discuss Potential opera-going.

  11. The chaos resulting from the Engineers' Dinner is reported to Alex, who is suitably shocked.

  12. The lack of Garden-Party-type entertainments is discussed. Sarah suggests a special, ceremonial reading of 'Lines & Squares', so we change the subject.

  13. Further problems arise when we realise that our only text is the Pooh Workout Book', which Alex has brought. Happily, however, Tor has left her copy of Winnie-the-Pooh in the kitchen cupboard, so total meeting failure is averted.

  14. We have a short reading from the Workout Book, on 'Earstreaming', read by Alex.

  15. The main reading is 'In Which Eeyore loses a tail and Pooh finds One', read, very slowly, by Sarah.

  16. During an interlude while Sarah coughs, Alex reveals that she nearly lived in Pembroke Street, but on consideration she decides it wasn't that close after all. Sarah has now recovered, so we continue.

  17. There is a lengthy digression on the dates of our exams.

  18. More coughing fits from Sarah.

  19. Jon steals the last biscuit. Someone is bound to notice this trend sooner or later.

  20. In the absence of Tor or the James, the line, "... and Christopher Robin nailed it on in the right Place," is hardly even remarked on.

  21. Sarah tells us the stories of Idler destruction at her house, in the course of which it was discovered that the key to the fire escape did not in fact open it...

  22. This leads us on to the matter of Mrs Powell: Alex is cutting about his moustache.

  23. The conversation now moves onto bad Italian chat-up lines, and digresses so far that the Secretary can't be bothered keeping up the minutes.

  24. The minutes are resumed when the following exchange takes places

    TAPANI: Has anyone got any cheap CDs, then?
    ALEX: Chris has got some you can have...

    This totally collapses Sarah, although admittedly it is the funniest thing to have been said for half-an-hour.

  25. The matter of Hustings for the post of Wol is discussed: Sarah is warnd her post is in jeopardy. She proposes a spelling test by way of elimination and spells 'measles' right on her second try.

  26. Alex wishes it to be minuted that she's being horrible to Jon. Apparently Huw told her not to be after last week, although Huw is hardly a shining example: he sends e-mails calling her an ostrich. Anyway, Alex declares herself penitent. Jon absolves her.

  27. Next week's meeting will be in V8, chez Tapani.

  28. Votes to close the meeting: For, 4, Against, 0, Abstentions 1; meeting closed.

*The letter has been placed in the Society archives, and is available on request.


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