Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year. So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay. Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water. The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature. Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.
Respectfully, a strong disagree. Beaches with rivers are bad news due to agricultural runoff. Who knows what muck is getting washed off the fields directly into your bathing water?
Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year. So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay. Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water. The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature. Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.
Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?
I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…
…. Drum roll……
…. Nepal
YES. NEPAL
What about the most beautiful men? (It's Sweden)
What about the country with the biggest discrepancy between male and female attractiveness?
Easy. Scotland.
Are you saying that Scottish women are ugly?
No, the other way around, sadly. The red hair and alabaster skin makes a lot of men look like those eyeless albino cave fish. For some reason it suits the women better. Pale and interesting types. Pheasant hair and freckles. Amy Pond.
Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?
I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…
…. Drum roll……
…. Nepal
YES. NEPAL
What about the most beautiful men? (It's Sweden)
What about the country with the biggest discrepancy between male and female attractiveness?
Easy. Scotland.
Are you saying that Scottish women are ugly?
No, the other way around, sadly. The red hair and alabaster skin makes a lot of men look like those eyeless albino cave fish. For some reason it suits the women better. Pale and interesting types. Pheasant hair and freckles. Amy Pond.
Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year. So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay. Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water. The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature. Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.
Go to the Scillies. They are everything Cornwall aspires to be.
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event
She'll be passing by the end of the year
Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. Traitor
Also, the English for "die" is "die." Not fucking pass.
Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year. So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay. Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water. The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature. Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.
Respectfully, a strong disagree. Beaches with rivers are bad news due to agricultural runoff. Who knows what muck is getting washed off the fields directly into your bathing water?
Well I take your point, but having something to dam is part of the fun. It only has to be a little stream.
Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year. So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay. Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water. The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature. Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.
Go to the Scillies. They are everything Cornwall aspires to be.
Some of the more unusual looking people may be found in Havre, Montana. The original mid-19th century inhabitants were 25% escaped slaves, 25% Chinese railroad navvies, 25% native American Cree and 25% Russian. After rolling the dice for six or seven generations the current population can best be described as sui generis.
Judging by the Wikipedia article on Havre, Montana, that description seems a bit, shall we say, "imaginative":
As of the census[22] of 2010, there were 9,310 people, 3,900 households, and 2,293 families living in the city. The population density was 2,838.4 inhabitants per square mile (1,095.9/km2). There were 4,285 housing units at an average density of 1,306.4 per square mile (504.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 81.6% White, 0.4% African American, 13.0% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 4.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.5% of the population.
NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event
She'll be passing by the end of the year
Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. Traitor
Also, the English for "die" is "die." Not fucking pass.
NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event
She'll be passing by the end of the year
Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. Traitor
Indeed.
Not sure how back problems when standing for a while equates to death, but then again I'm not a doctor.
NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event
She'll be passing by the end of the year
Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. Traitor
Also, the English for "die" is "die." Not fucking pass.
Unless you are a southern preacher, or Toni Morrison or something, yes.
NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event
She'll be passing by the end of the year
Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. Traitor
Also, the English for "die" is "die." Not fucking pass.
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
Yeh we don’t have any of those. But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event
She'll be passing by the end of the year
Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. Traitor
Also, the English for "die" is "die." Not fucking pass.
Ah, the grand old Georgian musical traditions live on, wonderfully!
The picturesque wine bar at the end of my derelict but adorable 18th century street in Old Tbilisi is having a birthday party, and it is full of young people, lustily singing along to…. Sex Bomb by Tom Jones and I Love You Baby
Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year. So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay. Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water. The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature. Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.
Go to the Scillies. They are everything Cornwall aspires to be.
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
Yeh we don’t have any of those. But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.
And better wine, too.
I’d love to go to NZ. I hear the landscapes are spectacular and I have major traveler friends who rave about it
But it ain’t Cornwall. And nor is Cornwall NZ.
The mix of history and landscape and people and seascape is what makes Cornwall special, and NZ does not have the history and people
But of course NZ has glaciers and Alps and wonderful lakes and Cornwall has none of that. So, a fairly poor comparison
Lest I sound too smug, I should admit that the tops of my feet are rather sunburned and I am currently worrying about when to intervene in the 'game' going on outside which seems to involve my youngest chasing some older boys around with a big stick.
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
Yeh we don’t have any of those. But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.
And better wine, too.
Pity the moas are extinct. Now that would have been something. But the tuatara ...
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
It took you EIGHT HOURS to get there.
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.
NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event
She'll be passing by the end of the year
Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. Traitor
Also, the English for "die" is "die." Not fucking pass.
Going back to an earlier discussion: Here's an observation on how acceptable language has changed. My two favorite American political novels are "All the King's Men" and "The Last Hurrah". (The first is more powerfully written; the second is still useful in understanding American politics. I honestly think I can predict about 75 percent of what Nancy Pelosi will do, just from reading it.)
Both contain the "n" word, though just once in the second. Neither contain the "c" word or the "f" word so common at this site, nor even any euphemisms for them.
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
Yeh we don’t have any of those. But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.
And better wine, too.
I’d love to go to NZ. I hear the landscapes are spectacular and I have major traveler friends who rave about it
But it ain’t Cornwall. And nor is Cornwall NZ.
The mix of history and landscape and people and seascape is what makes Cornwall special, and NZ does not have the history and people
But of course NZ has glaciers and Alps and wonderful lakes and Cornwall has none of that. So, a fairly poor comparison
Does anyone else use Twitter as a virtual scrapbook? - whenever i go some place with work or for pleasure I follow the twitter site - quite nostalgic to look at occasionally
Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year. So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay. Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water. The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature. Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.
Great update @Cookie! If it wasn’t for the fact that it was the UK, it could have been a @Leon post.
Watching Borgen anyway. Great to have it back but rather too much effing and blinding for my taste. Why oh why? ...
Yes, that's the subtitles, not in the original Danish (see discussion downthread).
Are they still making it up as they go along? I got the impression with Series 1 that they had a script conference every Monday morning and asked each other 'How on earth' (I'll spare you the effing and blinding) 'do we get out of this?'
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs again
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
It took you EIGHT HOURS to get there.
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.
Well I'm not sure I could. Manchester Airport hasn't done well in that respect of late. But even if I could - well, I'd enjoy myself, I'm sure, but I don't think Georgia would be as successful a family holiday as Cornwall. For me - for my family - I don't think anywhere in Europe would be. And I'm sure NZ is grand - if you offered me a free family holiday to NZ right now I'd take it gladly and enthusiastically - but it takes 24 hours and thousands and thousands of pounds to get there.
Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year. So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay. Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water. The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature. Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.
Great update @Cookie! If it wasn’t for the fact that it was the UK, it could have been a @Leon post.
More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
PS - not interested in how beautiful the women are, as I shall be accompanied by my own.
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs again
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
My beach is about 45 minutes from Auckland downtown. It’s on the other side of a range of hills populated by assorted artists, lesbian potters, maori mystics etc. It’s one of about a dozen such beaches along this stretch of coast. The Piano was filmed next door.
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
Yeh we don’t have any of those. But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.
More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
Oh god, definitely ACCEPT
The countryside is truly glorious and pretty little Ludlow is like this mini gastronomic heaven. You can have brilliant walks (with brilliant churches and castles and villages if that’s your thing) then brilliant dinners that you’ve earned
Going back to an earlier discussion: Here's an observation on how acceptable language has changed. My two favorite American political novels are "All the King's Men" and "The Last Hurrah". (The first is more powerfully written; the second is still useful in understanding American politics. I honestly think I can predict about 75 percent of what Nancy Pelosi will do, just from reading it.)
Both contain the "n" word, though just once in the second. Neither contain the "c" word or the "f" word so common at this site, nor even any euphemisms for them.
@Leon - on the subject touched on earlier of 12 year old daughters, happy to report that mine is currently tearing around outside with her sisters and two boys she appears to jave just met playing some variant on tig (or tag, or it, depending on where you're from). She has a massive smile on her face and is looking utterly unselfconscious. She hasn't wholly left childhood behind quite yet!
Not many American adults know what a Tory is. (A few older ones would remember that the US once had a Whig Party.)
Which is too bad, because it ruins the joke about the chicken during the American Revolution. It was a counter-agent, so naurally the Americans nicknamed it "Chicken Cacciatore".
More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
It's a really nice town in fantastic countryside. Go for it.
Watching Borgen anyway. Great to have it back but rather too much effing and blinding for my taste. Why oh why? ...
Yes, that's the subtitles, not in the original Danish (see discussion downthread).
Are they still making it up as they go along? I got the impression with Series 1 that they had a script conference every Monday morning and asked each other 'How on earth' (I'll spare you the effing and blinding) 'do we get out of this?'
Seems quite a strong plot line this time - I agree the original was a bit "what does a nice liberal do next?"
Anyone have a map of where all the beacons are being lit? I read something about the RICS having an "anchor chain" of beacons but couldn't find any information about where those are.
More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
Oh god, definitely ACCEPT
The countryside is truly glorious and pretty little Ludlow is like this mini gastronomic heaven. You can have brilliant walks (with brilliant churches and castles and villages if that’s your thing) then brilliant dinners that you’ve earned
More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
Oh god, definitely ACCEPT
The countryside is truly glorious and pretty little Ludlow is like this mini gastronomic heaven. You can have brilliant walks (with brilliant churches and castles and villages if that’s your thing) then brilliant dinners that you’ve earned
Honestly, it’s excellent. Go
What he said. It's well worth a visit.
If you like hill walking the Clee Hills are outstanding walking country with stunning views.
If you like heritage, Stokesay, Ludlow Castle, Berrington Hall are all easy to get to.
Plenty of places to eat.
And if you just like sitting around admiring the view, there's plenty of good ones to choose.
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs again
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
My beach is about 45 minutes from Auckland downtown. It’s on the other side of a range of hills populated by assorted artists, lesbian potters, maori mystics etc. It’s one of about a dozen such beaches along this stretch of coast. The Piano was filmed next door.
No tin mining though, true.
Piha? Across the Waitakere hills? Classic. When I worked in Auckland that was about the first place I went when I bought a car. One of my NZ girlfriends had a relative with a house out that way. Stunning, but remote, although I guess only 45 minutes from the city.
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
It took you EIGHT HOURS to get there.
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.
Well I'm not sure I could. Manchester Airport hasn't done well in that respect of late. But even if I could - well, I'd enjoy myself, I'm sure, but I don't think Georgia would be as successful a family holiday as Cornwall. For me - for my family - I don't think anywhere in Europe would be. And I'm sure NZ is grand - if you offered me a free family holiday to NZ right now I'd take it gladly and enthusiastically - but it takes 24 hours and thousands and thousands of pounds to get there.
Sure, but if 8 hours is your limit, pretty much all of Europe is in your compass.
Cornwall is v nice (and good to see you got to Portscatho, which is where we stay) but I just think it’s a tad overrated.
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs again
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
I often feel that way about the Scottish Highlands. They are sublime, extraordinary. But while they fill me with awe, they don't fill me quite with the same joy as, say, the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales - mainly because you're never more than an hour's walk from the pub. Of course, this may also be a factor of what feels like home and what doesn't - and on that basis I am quite happy to concede that Gardenwalker may be stirred to joy by NZ in exactly the way I am by my own home landscapes.
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs again
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
My beach is about 45 minutes from Auckland downtown. It’s on the other side of a range of hills populated by assorted artists, lesbian potters, maori mystics etc. It’s one of about a dozen such beaches along this stretch of coast. The Piano was filmed next door.
No tin mining though, true.
Piha? Across the Waitakere hills? Classic. When I worked in Auckland that was about the first place I went when I bought a car. One of my NZ girlfriends had a relative with a house out that way. Stunning, but remote, although I guess only 45 minutes from the city.
Mine is Bethell’s; Piha is next door.
The Waitakeres are an exhilarating, mystical, and sometimes spooky place to which I hope to semi-retire at some stage.
Thankfully property is not too expensive because the terrain is too hilly and the climate a bit wet for global plutes.
@Leon - on the subject touched on earlier of 12 year old daughters, happy to report that mine is currently tearing around outside with her sisters and two boys she appears to jave just met playing some variant on tig (or tag, or it, depending on where you're from). She has a massive smile on her face and is looking utterly unselfconscious. She hasn't wholly left childhood behind quite yet!
Ah, enjoy, Mine are in mid teens and moody. But I love’ em and we still have a lot of fun, it’s just different now (and in some ways better, as I said - they have learned, I hope, that I can be modestly amusing even if I disappear a fair amount)
More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
PS - not interested in how beautiful the women are, as I shall be accompanied by my own.
Saw this earlier - it seems to think economic actions were supposed to immediately bring Russia to its knees and end the war to boot, which seems improbable as a prediction.
Not many American adults know what a Tory is. (A few older ones would remember that the US once had a Whig Party.)
Which is too bad, because it ruins the joke about the chicken during the American Revolution. It was a counter-agent, so naurally the Americans nicknamed it "Chicken Cacciatore".
Saw this at a local history museum upstate, which amused me enough to take a photo.
Does he have any support among MPs do we know? As he seems to come up a lot but I can never remember a thing about him or why he would be the answer to their problems.
I'm far from sure that's accurate, and seems to be an example of reverse-justification - starting with the desired ends - "we must do a deal!" and trying to justify it. And in the process makes himself an appeaser of fascism.
Johnson has clearly never put his son to bed in his life
And it is the easiest, most rewarding thing in the whole of parenthood.
You know the worst bit? Realising that you are never again going to pick them up off the sofa and carry them up to bed *without waking them.*
No, not for me. Tho that is a sweet moment: putting them to bed
For me, the terrible moment comes somewhere around 10-12 - and is in fact a sequence of moments - when they lose that perfect innocent childish unselfawareness, and the adult begins to emerge. They look at a toy, or a doll, or their favourite book - and they thrust it away. They do not need help to get to sleep. The door is shut. You hear the first troubled sigh of teenagerdom, which lies just ahead
I found it piercing, and quite saddening, but unavoidable of course, and something comes along to replace it. Sort of
What about the moment when they realize you're not superman you're just a bloke and quite a dodgy one too?
Or hasn't that happened yet?
For me it was the other way around. I’m serious. A deep period of mistrust gave way to “actually dad’s quite fun, if a bit unreliable”
That was a GOOD moment
I am at that moment that you refer to upthread - the start of teenagerdom - with my eldest. It is painful, and repeatedly saddening. The world's weight is on her shoulders. She is no longer carefree, nor does she want to be. And then, as today, I look at her in a moment of joy, and cry actual tears of pride and awe. Quite apart from all of her more important qualities, she is just so astonishingly beautiful. If only she would realise it, at least a bit.
Yes, it’s an unspoken sadness of parenting
You fall in love with this person. Your child. And then they change. Profoundly. More than any spouse might change
The experience is not unlike grief, to my mind. And it seems near universal if you dig deep enough
And then they often move away…and seem to forget all about you. This is of course what you want to a certain extent
But it’s hard for the parent
I’m not at the moving away stage yet but I can see the sadness in friends to whom it has already happened
I don't know what will happen with my daughter (now three) in her teenage years but all the horror stories I heard about babies, the terrible-twos and a threenager have turned out not to be true.
I also see many children who continue to have close relationships with their parents into adulthood, although that of course changes in nature, so we will roll with the punches and hope to come out ok the other side.
I'm glad to hear that experience, my niece has gone from terrible two directly into threenager. She's still great fun and very cute, but I can't imagine it with Jen, she's so peaceful, barely cries, just very chill. I await my punishment for the next 5 years now!
Off topic, but I was astounded to learn that in 2017 only one former Scottish Lab MP stood again after having lost their seats previously. Given how many there were, and how many LDs refought 2017, that was a surprise.
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.
I'm far from sure that's accurate, and seems to be an example of reverse-justification - starting with the desired ends - "we must do a deal!" and trying to justify it. And in the process makes himself an appeaser of fascism.
@Leon - on the subject touched on earlier of 12 year old daughters, happy to report that mine is currently tearing around outside with her sisters and two boys she appears to jave just met playing some variant on tig (or tag, or it, depending on where you're from). She has a massive smile on her face and is looking utterly unselfconscious. She hasn't wholly left childhood behind quite yet!
Ah, enjoy, Mine are in mid teens and moody. But I love’ em and we still have a lot of fun, it’s just different now (and in some ways better, as I said - they have learned, I hope, that I can be modestly amusing even if I disappear a fair amount)
"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
Going back to an earlier discussion: Here's an observation on how acceptable language has changed. My two favorite American political novels are "All the King's Men" and "The Last Hurrah". (The first is more powerfully written; the second is still useful in understanding American politics. I honestly think I can predict about 75 percent of what Nancy Pelosi will do, just from reading it.)
Both contain the "n" word, though just once in the second. Neither contain the "c" word or the "f" word so common at this site, nor even any euphemisms for them.
Yes, I think the "n" word has become so synonymous with vicious racism that it's almost like using a Nazi insult for Jews, unless used ironically by black people. But generally language has coarsened - maybe a subtle effect of social media, as you're less likely to move only in "polite" circles.
I loved All the King's Men (the film isn't bad either - have you seen it?). Don't know The Last Hurrah - if you recommend it I might try it.
Here’s my “home” beach. No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday. Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded. Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't. Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
It took you EIGHT HOURS to get there.
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.
Well I'm not sure I could. Manchester Airport hasn't done well in that respect of late. But even if I could - well, I'd enjoy myself, I'm sure, but I don't think Georgia would be as successful a family holiday as Cornwall. For me - for my family - I don't think anywhere in Europe would be. And I'm sure NZ is grand - if you offered me a free family holiday to NZ right now I'd take it gladly and enthusiastically - but it takes 24 hours and thousands and thousands of pounds to get there.
Sure, but if 8 hours is your limit, pretty much all of Europe is in your compass.
Cornwall is v nice (and good to see you got to Portscatho, which is where we stay) but I just think it’s a tad overrated.
Speaking as a Cornishman, I tend to agree. I’m not sure why Brits like Cookie rave QUITE so much about Cornwall as a holiday destination. The weather is just too unreliable, and it is too busy in school hols
Cornwall is actually, to my mind, better as a place to live than to holiday
Safe, sometimes beautiful, mild, low crime, friendly, really nice food now, nice people, lots of culture and history, great pubs, pretty towns and villages, sufficiently far from London that it has a vivid life of its own, and unexpectedly varied - the difference between a north coast village like Zennor and a south coast valley like the Helford - a couple of dozen miles away - is astonishing
But if I had just two weeks precious summer holiday with my family, I would not go to often-rainy Cornwall
NickPalmer - I would definitely recommend "The Last Hurrah" -- but then I am a poltical junkie. The movie isn't bad, either. (I did, just recently, see "All the King's Men" and thought it was an interesting, but flawed, adaption of the novel.)
London is buzzing tonight. Just left a party at Hackney Wick. London in June at the Jubilee weekend is a special place to be. Nowhere quite like it. We’re lucky to have London.
Good example. A prudent teacher wouldn't assign it in an American high school class, nor even a college class -- though it is a wonderful novel.
(It may have given me a distorted picture of journalism in the UK.)
Read it in the mid 70s. Never thought I'd go to Djibouti when I read it (for some reason I assumed that the fictional nation of Ishmaelia was Djibouti), but less then 8 years later I was stepping off a plane there.
I thought it was a great read, but frankly, I cannot remember much about it other than the journalists made up their war reporting from the hotel bar.
Is it true that Anglo-Saxons are the least attractive ethnic group?
Absolutely not.
Pope Gregory the Great famously said, of the Anglo Saxon slaves in a Rome market, when told they were “Angles” - “not Angles, but angels!” - because they were so blonde and well built and beautiful. It is supposedly one reason he sent Saint Augustine to convert the British Isles
Sadly the Brits have got fat, like so many other nationalities
Beauty is basically health. Multi-generational good nutrition (and current good nutrition) leads to well developed bone structure, good teeth, healthy hair, brows and lashes. Good skin.
Then you have racial characteristics, which make some forms of beauty starkly different. For example, the aboriginal people of Australia don't typically conform to Western ideals of beauty, but it's a function of their adaptation to living in Australia.
In Britain we're a very mixed bag racially (even the 'indigenous' white population is a mixture of German, French, Celtic etc.), which is cool, but there's an issue with the national diet being lacking that does affect teeth imo. It's the same in most Western countries, but here it's been going on for longer.
London is buzzing tonight. Just left a party at Hackney Wick. London in June at the Jubilee weekend is a special place to be. Nowhere quite like it. We’re lucky to have London.
I had no idea we had such flagrant hipsters on this board.
Having read it, his analysis seems quite peculiar. He's going out of his way imo to see half-empty glasses.
What do you think?
It is the usual appeaser nonsense. The Rouble is a potemkin currency right now. It has kept its value due to oil prices and surging central bank interest rates. Both those things are throttling the non-hydrocarbon economy. Russia cannot tolerate for 12 months plus.
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
Not many American adults know what a Tory is. (A few older ones would remember that the US once had a Whig Party.)
Which is too bad, because it ruins the joke about the chicken during the American Revolution. It was a counter-agent, so naurally the Americans nicknamed it "Chicken Cacciatore".
Is it true that Anglo-Saxons are the least attractive ethnic group?
Absolutely not.
Pope Gregory the Great famously said, of the Anglo Saxon slaves in a Rome market, when told they were “Angles” - “not Angles, but angels!” - because they were so blonde and well built and beautiful. It is supposedly one reason he sent Saint Augustine to convert the British Isles
Sadly the Brits have got fat, like so many other nationalities
Beauty is basically health. Multi-generational good nutrition (and current good nutrition) leads to well developed bone structure, good teeth, healthy hair, brows and lashes. Good skin.
Then you have racial characteristics, which make some forms of beauty starkly different. For example, the aboriginal people of Australia don't typically conform to Western ideals of beauty, but it's a function of their adaptation to living in Australia.
In Britain we're a very mixed bag racially (even the 'indigenous' white population is a mixture of German, French, Celtic etc.), which is cool, but there's an issue with the national diet being lacking that does affect teeth imo. It's the same in most Western countries, but here it's been going on for longer.
Yes. The fact that the industrial revolution started in Britain has brought many benefits, it gave us the biggest empire in history and made us the richest country on earth for more than a century, and it is the reason the world speaks English now (which is a huge convenience we take for granted)
But it has also had baleful consequences for us. One is the ruination of so many British landscapes, another is bad British food (thankfully now being fixed), related to that is bad British health, esp teeth
Having read it, his analysis seems quite peculiar. He's going out of his way imo to see half-empty glasses.
What do you think?
There is a noticeable 'a deal will be done' mindset going on here. It is a bit like Brexit. Everyone keeps saying 'a deal will be done', etc etc. I am sceptical. Bit, if you look at Putin's regime, its fucked. Its a bunch of old men. There's no succession planning. He is quite happy to just grind through tens of thousands of men, indefinetly. Because ultimately that is what dictators do. At present it is impoverished military contractors, but they don't go on indefinetly, and they will need to move on to conscripts. If you look at Putins rule, things go bad when there are monumental errors, like the sinking of the Kursk. The war in Ukraine will become one such error. ... eventually people in Russia won't go along with it. Any 'deal' with Russia ultimately shores up his regime and rule; it isn't a good idea.
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
I think that isn't quite true, because the flower arrangers need to earn 26k a year. That's way too low, but it is still a long way above Romanian beggars and Bulgarian strawberry pickers.
Comments
So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay.
Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water.
The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature.
Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.
Quartz Halogen headlights.
They won't make your mini look like an E Type.
Except after dark.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Blimey. Way to go for the jugular
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
https://sluggerotoole.com/2022/06/01/why-im-leaving-twitter-fifteen-years-after-i-first-jumped-into-an-unending-stream-of-news-and-tat/
The article also has an explanation for the name change.
(My mother's first teaching job was in a one-room schoolhouse in Montana, though not particularly near Havre.)
Not sure how back problems when standing for a while equates to death, but then again I'm not a doctor.
But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.
And better wine, too.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
The picturesque wine bar at the end of my derelict but adorable 18th century street in Old Tbilisi is having a birthday party, and it is full of young people, lustily singing along to…. Sex Bomb by Tom Jones and I Love You Baby
But it ain’t Cornwall. And nor is Cornwall NZ.
The mix of history and landscape and people and seascape is what makes Cornwall special, and NZ does not have the history and people
But of course NZ has glaciers and Alps and wonderful lakes and Cornwall has none of that. So, a fairly poor comparison
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.
Both contain the "n" word, though just once in the second. Neither contain the "c" word or the "f" word so common at this site, nor even any euphemisms for them.
(But very nice, irrespective of that.)
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
https://www.axios.com/2022/06/02/biden-summit-americas-spain-canada-immigration-refugees
I don’t imagine that some of the democratic base will like that.
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
But even if I could - well, I'd enjoy myself, I'm sure, but I don't think Georgia would be as successful a family holiday as Cornwall. For me - for my family - I don't think anywhere in Europe would be.
And I'm sure NZ is grand - if you offered me a free family holiday to NZ right now I'd take it gladly and enthusiastically - but it takes 24 hours and thousands and thousands of pounds to get there.
God knows what tripe he would be spouting about Putin's Russia.
PS - not interested in how beautiful the women are, as I shall be accompanied by my own.
Perhaps the most influential and distinguished UK-based political blog in its own community (NI). Nothing anywhere else in the UK has come close imo.
Slugger's 20th anniversary is this Sunday. It was set up to focus on NI politics and culture, and beyond as appropriate.
Worth a look.
No tin mining though, true.
The countryside is truly glorious and pretty little Ludlow is like this mini gastronomic heaven. You can have brilliant walks (with brilliant churches and castles and villages if that’s your thing) then brilliant dinners that you’ve earned
Honestly, it’s excellent. Go
Blimey.
I cannot believe he has not been so cancelled.
Which is too bad, because it ruins the joke about the chicken during the American Revolution. It was a counter-agent, so naurally the Americans nicknamed it "Chicken Cacciatore".
If you like hill walking the Clee Hills are outstanding walking country with stunning views.
If you like heritage, Stokesay, Ludlow Castle, Berrington Hall are all easy to get to.
Plenty of places to eat.
And if you just like sitting around admiring the view, there's plenty of good ones to choose.
Cornwall is v nice (and good to see you got to Portscatho, which is where we stay) but I just think it’s a tad overrated.
https://twitter.com/tomtugendhat/status/1532445501563469824?s=21&t=FQ2uWVilcaPfkcnd0h0MAg
Of course, this may also be a factor of what feels like home and what doesn't - and on that basis I am quite happy to concede that Gardenwalker may be stirred to joy by NZ in exactly the way I am by my own home landscapes.
The Waitakeres are an exhilarating, mystical, and sometimes spooky place to which I hope to semi-retire at some stage.
Thankfully property is not too expensive because the terrain is too hilly and the climate a bit wet for global plutes.
For an example of how sanctions are working in the medium and long term, see: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/06/everything-is-gone-russian-business-hit-hard-by-tech-sanctions/
"Well, just a few days before she was decommissioned - err, the yacht was decommissioned"...
I loved All the King's Men (the film isn't bad either - have you seen it?). Don't know The Last Hurrah - if you recommend it I might try it.
(It may have given me a distorted picture of journalism in the UK.)
What do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR6Ps_SfRZY
(It may have given me a distorted picture of journalism in the UK.)
Through the plashy fen passes the questing vole ...
(It may have given me a distorted picture of journalism in the UK.) Unsurprising.
He’s one of those consistently wrong people, I believe he was pro-Brexit too.
Cornwall is actually, to my mind, better as a place to live than to holiday
Safe, sometimes beautiful, mild, low crime, friendly, really nice food now, nice people, lots of culture and history, great pubs, pretty towns and villages, sufficiently far from London that it has a vivid life of its own, and unexpectedly varied - the difference between a north coast village like Zennor and a south coast valley like the Helford - a couple of dozen miles away - is astonishing
But if I had just two weeks precious summer holiday with my family, I would not go to often-rainy Cornwall
(It may have given me a distorted picture of journalism in the UK.)
Read it in the mid 70s. Never thought I'd go to Djibouti when I read it (for some reason I assumed that the fictional nation of Ishmaelia was Djibouti), but less then 8 years later I was stepping off a plane there.
I thought it was a great read, but frankly, I cannot remember much about it other than the journalists made up their war reporting from the hotel bar.
Then you have racial characteristics, which make some forms of beauty starkly different. For example, the aboriginal people of Australia don't typically conform to Western ideals of beauty, but it's a function of their adaptation to living in Australia.
In Britain we're a very mixed bag racially (even the 'indigenous' white population is a mixture of German, French, Celtic etc.), which is cool, but there's an issue with the national diet being lacking that does affect teeth imo. It's the same in most Western countries, but here it's been going on for longer.
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
But it has also had baleful consequences for us. One is the ruination of so many British landscapes, another is bad British food (thankfully now being fixed), related to that is bad British health, esp teeth
It is a bit like Brexit. Everyone keeps saying 'a deal will be done', etc etc.
I am sceptical.
Bit, if you look at Putin's regime, its fucked. Its a bunch of old men. There's no succession planning. He is quite happy to just grind through tens of thousands of men, indefinetly. Because ultimately that is what dictators do.
At present it is impoverished military contractors, but they don't go on indefinetly, and they will need to move on to conscripts.
If you look at Putins rule, things go bad when there are monumental errors, like the sinking of the Kursk.
The war in Ukraine will become one such error.
... eventually people in Russia won't go along with it.
Any 'deal' with Russia ultimately shores up his regime and rule; it isn't a good idea.