The Queen's Earplugs

Bluetack makes great earplugs. The doctor recommended it and she was right. It's more malleable which is good because normal earplugs are too big for my lugs. And it's waterproof for swimming. Are you there, Your Majesty?

Hunt I agree. It is so irritating. Equally, when BBC Breakfast was showing extracts of the previous day's Olympics, everything was accompanied by a daft song (or, occasionally, piece of music) that was supposed to be relevant to whatever sport was being shown. Vangellis must have got massively increased public broadcast payments during that time.

Hear, hear, Hunt! It's almost as if programme producers think we can't cope without continuous inappropriate sound! It has just occurred to me that that could be seen as patronising.... I think..... But, woteva, just turn off the unnecessary noise!

I think the thing I cherish here the most is the total and utter silence. The hunting dogs aren't here at the moment so apart from the owls the nights are absolutely silent and during the days we just have the odd passing tractor. I never travel without my earplugs.

The kind of music that annoys me is the (supposedly) background music on nature and other documentary type programmes. I switched off the programme about London at night with a commentary by Helen Mirren as all you could hear was the ,so called ,background music. There will be three cheers from me when someone is brave enough to do a nature programme without anthropomorphic background music.

The type of music I've heard when passing pubs would drive me to drink

The title of this conversation sounds like the title of a thriller (or a children's story).

I agree about the constant background (more like foreground these days) music. What is even more irritating is that even when there are no other customers in a restaurant, café or hairdresser's, for example, a request for the music be turned off, or at least turned down is usually denied.

The volume of music is usually turned up in pubs when there are few customers a) to attract more customers and b) apparently to encourage what customers there are to buy more drinks. I wasn't clear about the logic of this second intention but it seems that if the volume of music is such that conversation is difficult, people drink faster and require refills more frequently. I just go to another pub (or home).

Dreading when that tinned Christmas music starts as I DETEST that song that goes 'So here it is Merry Christmas.....' repetitive and boring. love the carols though.

Agree totally. In a very unmathematical 1000%