The inquiry seems from this vantage point to be led by sage and alternative sage types - people who could only ever believe lockdowns should have been longer and harder. There doesn't seem to be any great exploration of the costs of lockdowns.
I’m quite sure the enquiry will find that lockdowns should have been more stringent, and should have lasted longer.
And they won’t even address the origin of the disease - and the part the British medical establishment played in covering up a potential lab origin, for over a year. Whatever your opinion of Covid’s origins, there WAS unquestionably a conspiracy to stop any debate about lab leak
Absolutely outrageous. Gove mentioned it once and was instantly silenced
Mr. Divvie, I have a pair of slippers. While comfy, they needed repair within about a month of ownership (Christmas gift about two years ago). I've applied over a dozen patches...
The Inquiry is proving beyond all doubt what a shambles the Johnson government was and that's a real public service. Lessons learnt? Yes. Do not elect malevolent clowns as PM. Don't even think about it. If that's the only takeaway the exercise will have been well worth it.
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
Superb. I especially like the penultimate verse.
The last line of the song gets me every time. It is so beautifully opaque but also somehow freighted with meaning. It's probably my favourite line in any pop song.
Talking of fabulous lyrics Roger Waters "Hanging on in Quiet desperation is the English way" is just magnificent.
Dark Side of the Moon is often superb, lyrically - which is quite odd as Pink Floyd generally didn’t write superb lyrics. Frequently nice or decent but never outstanding
That whole album is touched with an inexplicable, alchemical and cruelly fleeting genius. But at least we got that album
I find a lot of Waters lyrics from 73-84, Dark Side to the Final Cut, to be really moving and thought provoking
Interesting debate to be had about something I found out the other day; the lady who ‘sang’ The Great Gig in the Sky was awarded a songwriting credit for it thirty years after its release. She was told by the band to listen to the song, go into the studio and let herself go with whatever feelings it evoked. The results were legendary, but did she ‘write the song’? Apparently so. Maybe she did
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
Superb. I especially like the penultimate verse.
The last line of the song gets me every time. It is so beautifully opaque but also somehow freighted with meaning. It's probably my favourite line in any pop song.
Talking of fabulous lyrics Roger Waters "Hanging on in Quiet desperation is the English way" is just magnificent.
Dark Side of the Moon is often superb, lyrically - which is quite odd as Pink Floyd generally didn’t write superb lyrics. Frequently nice or decent but never outstanding
That whole album is touched with an inexplicable, alchemical and cruelly fleeting genius. But at least we got that album
I find a lot of Waters lyrics from 73-84, Dark Side to the Final Cut, to be really moving and thought provoking
Interesting debate to be had about something I found out the other day; the lady who ‘sang’ The Great Gig in the Sky was awarded a songwriting credit for it thirty years after its release. She was told by the band to listen to the song, go into the studio and let herself go with whatever feelings it evoked. The results were legendary, but did she ‘write the song’? Apparently so. Maybe she did
She absolutely wrote half the song and deserves half the money
Rick Wright’s tune is simple and lovely but it’s her extemporised vocals which make it a masterpiece. I hope she got a million. The Floyd can certainly afford it
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
The title ‘Rainy Night in Soho’ reminds me of the feeling I get when I listen to ‘ In a lonely place’ by The Smithereens
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
Labour lead up four to 23 points in latest YouGov poll for The Times
CON 22 (-3) LAB 45 (+1) LIB DEM 9 (-1) REF UK 10 (+1) GREEN 7 (=)
The tories are going to have to drag sunak.xlsx to the Recycle Bin, engineer a coronation for Anybody Else and then go for a snap save-the-furniture election.
The Inquiry does not seem to have even the most basic grasp of what government is for. It seems to be taking as its starting point 'how could the number of Covid deaths have been minimised', without recognising that governments have many other duties, from protecting the economy, education and civil liberties (and much else), or the nature of how politics is done; that it's not a technocratic process and that opinion - not least on those competing (but at times complimentary) priorities but also on how events shape process. Things which might have been beneficial in hindsight could not have been done with foresight (even were that foresight available), because people, from MPs to public, demand proof or compelling argument before sacrifice.
You can't lock down a country every time there's a new virus, just like it would only have been justifiable to remove Hitler in 1933 with the benefit of hindsight from an alternative reality, no matter how useful that would have actually been. There are lots of other nutcase dictators and most don't turn out to be genocidal warmongers (which isn't to say more couldn't have been done to prepare or that defining a threat away by policy definition was absurd).
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
Superb. I especially like the penultimate verse.
The last line of the song gets me every time. It is so beautifully opaque but also somehow freighted with meaning. It's probably my favourite line in any pop song.
Talking of fabulous lyrics Roger Waters "Hanging on in Quiet desperation is the English way" is just magnificent.
Dark Side of the Moon is often superb, lyrically - which is quite odd as Pink Floyd generally didn’t write superb lyrics. Frequently nice or decent but never outstanding
That whole album is touched with an inexplicable, alchemical and cruelly fleeting genius. But at least we got that album
I find a lot of Waters lyrics from 73-84, Dark Side to the Final Cut, to be really moving and thought provoking
Interesting debate to be had about something I found out the other day; the lady who ‘sang’ The Great Gig in the Sky was awarded a songwriting credit for it thirty years after its release. She was told by the band to listen to the song, go into the studio and let herself go with whatever feelings it evoked. The results were legendary, but did she ‘write the song’? Apparently so. Maybe she did
She absolutely wrote half the song and deserves half the money
Rick Wright’s tune is simple and lovely but it’s her extemporised vocals which make it a masterpiece. I hope she got a million. The Floyd can certainly afford it
“ In 2004, Torry sued Pink Floyd and EMI for songwriting royalties on the basis that her contribution to "The Great Gig in the Sky" constituted co-authorship with keyboardist Richard Wright. In 1973, as a session singer, she was paid only the standard flat fee of £30 for Sunday studio work (the equivalent of £400 in 2022).[9] She said in 1998, "If I'd known then what I know now, I would have done something about organising copyright or publishing."[3] In 2005, an out-of-court settlement was reached in Torry's favour, although the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.[14] All releases after 2005 carry an additional credit for "Vocal composition by Clare Torry"[15] in the "Great Gig in the Sky" segment of the booklet or liner notes.”
I wonder how much she got. Funny that no one ever thought to offer her a credit at the time, although I can see why it’s a grey area. Apparently when she’d finished singing she thought she’d made a fool of herself and was embarrassed to see the band
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
Yes, one of the Pogues best songs.
The only members of my family to die in war were my Great Grandfather and a Great Great Uncle, who were ANZACS in the Gallipolli campaign, so it really hits home.
Not a Pogues song: And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda was a cover, notable mainly for SM mispronouncing quay which ought to rhyme with Gallipoli. RIP.
Yes, a cover, but the first time I heard of the song, possibly the best anti-war song of all time.
Wrong though, as Anzac Day is still marked by parades and dawn attendance over a century later. I was in Sydney for it about 20 years ago.
It was written by Eric Bogle who also wrote the equally good No Man's Land:
No 1 at Christmas when you were 10 sang by the last artist you listened to in your phone
Do They Know it’s Christmas by The Smiths was mine
DAY TRIPPER/WE CAN WORK IT OUT by Luciano pavarotti for me
apart from the fact this quiz reveals how old everyone is (not important but a lot of quizzes are designed to trick you into revealing details of yourself. I half suspect mine actually exists
DON'T YOU WANT ME - by the Sundays..
Haha, mine would be Bohemian Rhapsody performed by The Pogues.
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
Radio presenter, “sorry we can’t play your request for Fairytale of New York as it causes offence so instead we will play a song by Cardi B about her vagina.”
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
More accurately, the Spectator was fun when its fun and distinctiveness went along with a discernible view of the world, regularly affirmed in its editorial line. In the same way that the DTel once mixed editorial principled conservatism with excellent business pages and the immortal Peter Simple.
The Speccie no longer has a meaningful editorial line.
Once that has gone you are left with Rod Liddle (pbuh) and stuff designed to bring in the advertisers. Plus world leading stuff on the merits or otherwise of eating dog.
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
I don’t disagree. The amusing toffs, drunks and bohemians have had their time
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
More accurately, the Spectator was fun when its fun and distinctiveness went along with a discernible view of the world, regularly affirmed in its editorial line. In the same way that the DTel once mixed editorial principled conservatism with excellent business pages and the immortal Peter Simple.
The Speccie no longer has a meaningful editorial line.
Once that has gone you are left with Rod Liddle (pbuh) and stuff designed to bring in the advertisers. Plus world leading stuff on the merits or otherwise of eating dog.
Why are you so obsessed with it then. Just don’t read it
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
More accurately, the Spectator was fun when its fun and distinctiveness went along with a discernible view of the world, regularly affirmed in its editorial line. In the same way that the DTel once mixed editorial principled conservatism with excellent business pages and the immortal Peter Simple.
The Speccie no longer has a meaningful editorial line.
Once that has gone you are left with Rod Liddle (pbuh) and stuff designed to bring in the advertisers. Plus world leading stuff on the merits or otherwise of eating dog.
Why are you so obsessed with it then. Just don’t read it
🤷🏼♂️
Simple. It was great and I would like it to be great again.
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
I have spent years thinking it was "Happy Christmas you arse-wipe, thank god it’s our last"
Meanwhile, in "Conservatives Losing" news, the latest dispatch from London;
The “Good Samaritan” who returned a lost Oyster card to Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall has told how delighted she was to be reunited with her free travel pass...
Shortly after the incident, on Monday afternoon, Ms Hall’s spokesman said she believed she had been pickpocketed on the Tube as she travelled home from Westminster to Pinner, first on the Jubilee line and then the Metropolitan line, which she switched on to at Finchley Road.
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
I don’t disagree. The amusing toffs, drunks and bohemians have had their time
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
I only ever said that having charisma, personality & being seen as fun was an asset in getting elected, not that it was particularly what I wanted from a PM.
The strange thing is that the lefties, who only judge people by their actions and are never influenced or motivated by personalities, hate the present government who have put up taxes, spent squillions and roofed immigration! When boring old Sir Keir cuts all three no doubt he’ll be slaughtered
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
Superb. I especially like the penultimate verse.
The last line of the song gets me every time. It is so beautifully opaque but also somehow freighted with meaning. It's probably my favourite line in any pop song.
Talking of fabulous lyrics Roger Waters "Hanging on in Quiet desperation is the English way" is just magnificent.
Dark Side of the Moon is often superb, lyrically - which is quite odd as Pink Floyd generally didn’t write superb lyrics. Frequently nice or decent but never outstanding
That whole album is touched with an inexplicable, alchemical and cruelly fleeting genius. But at least we got that album
Their later work is very hit and miss. Animals and Wish You Were Here are also pretty good.
So is the main complaint from the remaining PB Tories that the Covid enquiry is bad because it is exposing just how bad a job a bunch of very bad ministers did?
Sorrynotsorry. They were the government. We expect them to at least try to be competent. And they weren’t. If exposing that in fine detail is a problem politically, thems the breaks.
Note to galley - Jagerbombs should not be drunk under any circumstances. Neat Jager should *definitely* not be drunk under any circumstances. Especially if you are already drunk…
That is a clear misrepresentation of the issues people have with the enquiry and why do you presume everyone who has issues with the conduct of the COVID enquiry is a Tory. I've never voted Tory in my life.
If people want an enquiry that is a pointless waste of time where politicians scapegoat each other. Crack on. Fill your boots. It won't change anyones view of anything or anyones perception.
The website is however a good advert for using AI generated artwork as the illustrations are a bit crap and remind me of children’s’ history textbooks from the 80’s. Surely it would be easier to use on of Leon’s art AI programs to generate more realistic images than some poor sod churning out old fashioned images?
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
Superb. I especially like the penultimate verse.
The last line of the song gets me every time. It is so beautifully opaque but also somehow freighted with meaning. It's probably my favourite line in any pop song.
Talking of fabulous lyrics Roger Waters "Hanging on in Quiet desperation is the English way" is just magnificent.
That song is inspired by Waters realising, at the age of about 29, that life didn’t begin once you had got all your ducks in a row, when x, y & z had happened, but it had started a long time ago and there wasn’t any time to waste.
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown Waiting for someone or something to show you the way Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Yes. Absolutely brilliant. Almost like Larkin
Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, And age, and then the only end of age.
Nice. Bleak. Robert Conquest was even pithier
Seven Ages of Man
Seven Ages: first puking and mewling Then very pissed off with your schooling Then fucks and then fights Next judging chaps’ rights Then sitting in slippers, then drooling.
Are slippers the defining moment of reaching the crest of the final downward slope? Never had a pair until 5 years ago.
Actually I have been advised by my medical team to wear slippers in the house to protect my feet so yes maybe I am on the downward slopes especially with my other issues
Sorry, didn’t intend to introduce a doomy note! I’m expecting a few good years yet and hope the same for you. Let’s define wearing slippers to the local shops as the point of no return.
You didn't and to be honest I am quite upbeat but certainly will not be wearing slippers to the local shops
The Inquiry does not seem to have even the most basic grasp of what government is for. It seems to be taking as its starting point 'how could the number of Covid deaths have been minimised', without recognising that governments have many other duties, from protecting the economy, education and civil liberties (and much else), or the nature of how politics is done; that it's not a technocratic process and that opinion - not least on those competing (but at times complimentary) priorities but also on how events shape process. Things which might have been beneficial in hindsight could not have been done with foresight (even were that foresight available), because people, from MPs to public, demand proof or compelling argument before sacrifice.
You can't lock down a country every time there's a new virus, just like it would only have been justifiable to remove Hitler in 1933 with the benefit of hindsight from an alternative reality, no matter how useful that would have actually been. There are lots of other nutcase dictators and most don't turn out to be genocidal warmongers (which isn't to say more couldn't have been done to prepare or that defining a threat away by policy definition was absurd).
There's also the rather more important point that how we should have responded three years ago is a very different thing from how we ought to plan to do so in the future.
The technologies for immune surveillance, and the manufacturing of rapid diagnostic tests and vaccines are now massively more effective than they were back then.
Future pandemic planning should look at how countries like Taiwan and S Korea were able to keep infection at bay for far longer than we were. And ensure that there is domestic manufacturing capacity for vaccines and test kits. The latter would be relatively cheap, and extremely cost effective as a prevention measure.
Guy kneeling: Ok, listen up students. This is a very rare specimen, probably the last example we'll ever see - at least in our lifetimes - of the Conservative PM. See how it tries to bluster sincerity by reaching for where it hopes we'll believe a heart might be? Get a quick sketch of the main features before it's too late.
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
I don’t disagree. The amusing toffs, drunks and bohemians have had their time
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
I worked for a worthy but boring firm firm specialising in shipping, aviation and insurance law . When it ran into some trouble it got sold to this "fun" lawyer in April -
After 3 1/2 months of this new ownership, in August it emerged that he bought my firm with millions of his clients money, I had to quit and find a new job with my team, am suffering the embarrassment of being associated in any way with the fiasco, he's under investigation by the SFO, and is likely to cost every solicitor in England & Wales £300 - £500 to compensate his clients.
"He's lots of fun" we were assured. "His parties are great". Bollocks. He should have been struck off for those dance moves alone. And the catastrophic lack of taste.
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
Superb. I especially like the penultimate verse.
The last line of the song gets me every time. It is so beautifully opaque but also somehow freighted with meaning. It's probably my favourite line in any pop song.
Talking of fabulous lyrics Roger Waters "Hanging on in Quiet desperation is the English way" is just magnificent.
That song is inspired by Waters realising, at the age of about 29, that life didn’t begin once you had got all your ducks in a row, when x, y & z had happened, but it had started a long time ago and there wasn’t any time to waste.
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown Waiting for someone or something to show you the way Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Yes. Absolutely brilliant. Almost like Larkin
Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, And age, and then the only end of age.
Nice. Bleak. Robert Conquest was even pithier
Seven Ages of Man
Seven Ages: first puking and mewling Then very pissed off with your schooling Then fucks and then fights Next judging chaps’ rights Then sitting in slippers, then drooling.
Are slippers the defining moment of reaching the crest of the final downward slope? Never had a pair until 5 years ago.
Actually I have been advised by my medical team to wear slippers in the house to protect my feet so yes maybe I am on the downward slopes especially with my other issues
Sorry, didn’t intend to introduce a doomy note! I’m expecting a few good years yet and hope the same for you. Let’s define wearing slippers to the local shops as the point of no return.
You didn't and to be honest I am quite upbeat but certainly will not be wearing slippers to the local shops
As a student I regularly sallied forth in pajamas and dressing gown. But you could argue I've been on the downward slope ever since.
The Inquiry does not seem to have even the most basic grasp of what government is for. It seems to be taking as its starting point 'how could the number of Covid deaths have been minimised', without recognising that governments have many other duties, from protecting the economy, education and civil liberties (and much else), or the nature of how politics is done; that it's not a technocratic process and that opinion - not least on those competing (but at times complimentary) priorities but also on how events shape process. Things which might have been beneficial in hindsight could not have been done with foresight (even were that foresight available), because people, from MPs to public, demand proof or compelling argument before sacrifice.
You can't lock down a country every time there's a new virus, just like it would only have been justifiable to remove Hitler in 1933 with the benefit of hindsight from an alternative reality, no matter how useful that would have actually been. There are lots of other nutcase dictators and most don't turn out to be genocidal warmongers (which isn't to say more couldn't have been done to prepare or that defining a threat away by policy definition was absurd).
There's also the rather more important point that how we should have responded three years ago is a very different thing from how we ought to plan to do so in the future.
The technologies for immune surveillance, and the manufacturing of rapid diagnostic tests and vaccines are now massively more effective than they were back then.
Future pandemic planning should look at how countries like Taiwan and S Korea were able to keep infection at bay for far longer than we were. And ensure that there is domestic manufacturing capacity for vaccines and test kits. The latter would be relatively cheap, and extremely cost effective as a prevention measure.
That's right. But I don't see how this format - adversarial, on tv, KCs on parade, witnesses seeking to defend and parry and justify - is a good way to get into those areas.
Labour lead up four to 23 points in latest YouGov poll for The Times
CON 22 (-3) LAB 45 (+1) LIB DEM 9 (-1) REF UK 10 (+1) GREEN 7 (=)
The tories are going to have to drag sunak.xlsx to the Recycle Bin, engineer a coronation for Anybody Else and then go for a snap save-the-furniture election.
Did anyone see the Minister for Common Sense on Question Time? They deserve to be heading for a beating
Is that the one with a voice like a corncrake ?
If only they were seen as rarely!
(I've once managed to actually spot one, despite hearing them nearby many many times)
Mine was on Tiree. There were four calling within about 100m and it took 2 hours for one to pop up. My friends were not amused.
North Uist for me. We'd been trying to spot one for years, but that time we were just washing up the breakfast things and up it popped at the edge of the garden.
Guy kneeling: Ok, listen up students. This is a very rare specimen, probably the last example we'll ever see - at least in our lifetimes - of the Conservative PM. See how it tries to bluster sincerity by reaching for where it hopes we'll believe a heart might be? Get a quick sketch of the main features before it's too late.
If the economy is poor under a Labour government the swingback to the Conservative Opposition would be swift
I just don't get this. Everyone knows Brown..or his cohorts briefed against colleagues. I think even less of him now if that's actually possible.
Darling was the worst Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer since Philip Snowden. He also made a complete mess of Sindyref. RIP.
There are a number of candidates, but the very best ministers are usually those people don't notice because their job was to avoid newsworthy disasters happening in the first place and they did it well.
There are few supportive voters backing disasters that didn't happen. Given that banking in UK was and is a heavily regulated activity the 2008 crisis should, under no circumstances, have occurred in the first place as banking as 'personal household and business safekeeping' and banking as risk taking casino are two different industries.
And it was a weakness of regulation that allowed cross contamination. In a US context, Clinton’s decision to repeal Glass-Stegall was (with hindsight) a disaster. And one good thing that Osborne did was to reintroduce ring fencing (thanks to John Vickers)
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
More accurately, the Spectator was fun when its fun and distinctiveness went along with a discernible view of the world, regularly affirmed in its editorial line. In the same way that the DTel once mixed editorial principled conservatism with excellent business pages and the immortal Peter Simple.
The Speccie no longer has a meaningful editorial line.
Once that has gone you are left with Rod Liddle (pbuh) and stuff designed to bring in the advertisers. Plus world leading stuff on the merits or otherwise of eating dog.
Why are you so obsessed with it then. Just don’t read it
🤷🏼♂️
Simple. It was great and I would like it to be great again.
Labour lead up four to 23 points in latest YouGov poll for The Times
CON 22 (-3) LAB 45 (+1) LIB DEM 9 (-1) REF UK 10 (+1) GREEN 7 (=)
The tories are going to have to drag sunak.xlsx to the Recycle Bin, engineer a coronation for Anybody Else and then go for a snap save-the-furniture election.
Meanwhile, in "Conservatives Losing" news, the latest dispatch from London;
The “Good Samaritan” who returned a lost Oyster card to Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall has told how delighted she was to be reunited with her free travel pass...
Shortly after the incident, on Monday afternoon, Ms Hall’s spokesman said she believed she had been pickpocketed on the Tube as she travelled home from Westminster to Pinner, first on the Jubilee line and then the Metropolitan line, which she switched on to at Finchley Road.
No 1 at Christmas when you were 10 sang by the last artist you listened to in your phone
Do They Know it’s Christmas by The Smiths was mine
If everybody could be so kind as to give the best anagram of their mother's maiden name and a pop star that shares their birthday, then that would also be good...
Guy kneeling: Ok, listen up students. This is a very rare specimen, probably the last example we'll ever see - at least in our lifetimes - of the Conservative PM. See how it tries to bluster sincerity by reaching for where it hopes we'll believe a heart might be? Get a quick sketch of the main features before it's too late.
If the economy is poor under a Labour government the swingback to the Conservative Opposition would be swift
The economy is shite now, and only getting worse. Nearly another year of the Tories piloting it into the ground gives Labour plenty of "There's no money left" ammunition.
So is the main complaint from the remaining PB Tories that the Covid enquiry is bad because it is exposing just how bad a job a bunch of very bad ministers did?
Sorrynotsorry. They were the government. We expect them to at least try to be competent. And they weren’t. If exposing that in fine detail is a problem politically, thems the breaks.
Note to galley - Jagerbombs should not be drunk under any circumstances. Neat Jager should *definitely* not be drunk under any circumstances. Especially if you are already drunk…
You misconstrue. The complaint is that the inquiry should be wider and MORE brutal - investigating everyone - from the guilty politicians to the lying scientists to the pathetic isage pundits
No one is worried about the Tories getting scorched, we just think the whole thing should dive much much deeper and harder
Well said, but it is all "PB ToRiEs don't like them being nasty to us"
Diet Sage should get a shoeing from the enquiry but won't. Absolute shambles. The media too and the Police for their enforcement of the laws and treating the guidelines as if it was law.
The only journalist I found worth listening to during the whole episode was Fergus Walsh from the BBC. Too many journalists like Peston and Rigby were just after gotcha's. There was no probing what was going on at all just lazy journalism. If they followed the science they were hiding behind it, if they didn't they were ignoring it. As for SKS and the "Johnson Variant" what a clown.
So is the main complaint from the remaining PB Tories that the Covid enquiry is bad because it is exposing just how bad a job a bunch of very bad ministers did?
Sorrynotsorry. They were the government. We expect them to at least try to be competent. And they weren’t. If exposing that in fine detail is a problem politically, thems the breaks.
Note to galley - Jagerbombs should not be drunk under any circumstances. Neat Jager should *definitely* not be drunk under any circumstances. Especially if you are already drunk…
I think the criticism (at least from me) is that we already know that government was a bit shit. They did somethings well and others badly. They didn’t get anything disastrously wrong or (with the exception of vaccines - which wasn’t really them) spectacularly right.
The inquiry could have been really useful. Instead it’s just a waste of time.
No 1 at Christmas when you were 10 sang by the last artist you listened to in your phone
Do They Know it’s Christmas by The Smiths was mine
If everybody could be so kind as to give the best anagram of their mother's maiden name and a pop star that shares their birthday, then that would also be good...
Guy kneeling: Ok, listen up students. This is a very rare specimen, probably the last example we'll ever see - at least in our lifetimes - of the Conservative PM. See how it tries to bluster sincerity by reaching for where it hopes we'll believe a heart might be? Get a quick sketch of the main features before it's too late.
If the economy is poor under a Labour government the swingback to the Conservative Opposition would be swift
I'm naturally assuming that our lifetimes will be short due to one or more of:
The horrors of a Labour government
AI-apocalypse
Nuclear winter
The commonplace pneumonia doing the rounds in China and now DENMARK
Labour lead up four to 23 points in latest YouGov poll for The Times
CON 22 (-3) LAB 45 (+1) LIB DEM 9 (-1) REF UK 10 (+1) GREEN 7 (=)
The tories are going to have to drag sunak.xlsx to the Recycle Bin, engineer a coronation for Anybody Else and then go for a snap save-the-furniture election.
"Anybody Else" aka Liz Truss
Only Farage can save them from extinction, now
I see a couple of issues with getting him installed as leader in the next 12-months...
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
Superb. I especially like the penultimate verse.
The last line of the song gets me every time. It is so beautifully opaque but also somehow freighted with meaning. It's probably my favourite line in any pop song.
Talking of fabulous lyrics Roger Waters "Hanging on in Quiet desperation is the English way" is just magnificent.
That song is inspired by Waters realising, at the age of about 29, that life didn’t begin once you had got all your ducks in a row, when x, y & z had happened, but it had started a long time ago and there wasn’t any time to waste.
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown Waiting for someone or something to show you the way Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Yes. Absolutely brilliant. Almost like Larkin
Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, And age, and then the only end of age.
Nice. Bleak. Robert Conquest was even pithier
Seven Ages of Man
Seven Ages: first puking and mewling Then very pissed off with your schooling Then fucks and then fights Next judging chaps’ rights Then sitting in slippers, then drooling.
Are slippers the defining moment of reaching the crest of the final downward slope? Never had a pair until 5 years ago.
Actually I have been advised by my medical team to wear slippers in the house to protect my feet so yes maybe I am on the downward slopes especially with my other issues
Sorry, didn’t intend to introduce a doomy note! I’m expecting a few good years yet and hope the same for you. Let’s define wearing slippers to the local shops as the point of no return.
I have a patient in his nineties who always attends appointments immaculately dressed in a pinstripe suit, crisp white shirt, silk tie and polished shoes. His brain is as sharp too.
I think there is quite a correlation between how people look after their clothes and personal grooming and how healthy they are. I am not entirely sure of which is cause and which is effect, but probably a bit of both.
On my first ward, which was geriatric rehab, ward policy enforced by sister and Consultant was for all patients well enough to be up and dressed by 0800. It really helped in convalescence
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
I have spent years thinking it was "Happy Christmas you arse-wipe, thank god it’s our last"
No 1 at Christmas when you were 10 sang by the last artist you listened to in your phone
Do They Know it’s Christmas by The Smiths was mine
If everybody could be so kind as to give the best anagram of their mother's maiden name and a pop star that shares their birthday, then that would also be good...
Damn. My mother's maiden name has some really good anagrams Including a lurid play on words with the name of a very popular TV celebrity. But somehow I don't feel like sharing
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Something dramatic. Cutting this... stopping that ...just tinkering. If your product is shot you have to make a splash.......
Sunak announces he has a message for the nation.....
All TV stations to run it live.....
Intro SFX Patriotic music 'Citizens. I am going to level with the country. We have collectively made a decision which is diminishing us as a country and destroying our prosperity. Our decision to leave the European Union has proved a mistake and produced problems none of us could have forseen. I have therefore decided to call another referendum to be held on May 1st followed by a General Election on May the 8th. We shall be working very hard between now and then to negotiate with our European friends to ensure the deal is at least as good if not better than the one we had before.
No 1 at Christmas when you were 10 sang by the last artist you listened to in your phone
Do They Know it’s Christmas by The Smiths was mine
I Hear You Knocking by Dusty Springfield then. Great track too in my head. I suppose "AI" could record and release that now, couldn't it, and it would probably be an actual Christmas number one (if it's as good as it is in my head). Amazing to think. The world is really changing.
Did anyone see the Minister for Common Sense on Question Time? They deserve to be heading for a beating
Is that the one with a voice like a corncrake ?
If only they were seen as rarely!
(I've once managed to actually spot one, despite hearing them nearby many many times)
Mine was on Tiree. There were four calling within about 100m and it took 2 hours for one to pop up. My friends were not amused.
North Uist for me. We'd been trying to spot one for years, but that time we were just washing up the breakfast things and up it popped at the edge of the garden.
Ha, N.Uist also for me, or Berneray to be more precise. Contra it's secretive repuration it had nested of the gravel drive of a friend's house meaning he or his wife would have to rush down to the entrance to prevent the posty or similar crushing the hapless fowl.
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
I don’t disagree. The amusing toffs, drunks and bohemians have had their time
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
When did the Tory Party become all about piss-ups and the f*ck-it mentality? Although you had the occasional hedonist like Alan Clark, that all seems utterly at odds with the Tory Party I grew up with in the 1980s. Is it all the fault of Boris? (I wonder if that's the real reason Ann Widdecombe defected to the Brexit Party - she found them more agreeably straight laced? After all, she supported Ken Clarke for Tory leader, so the EU stuff couldn't have been that life changing for her.)
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
I have spent years thinking it was "Happy Christmas you arse-wipe, thank god it’s our last"
So is the main complaint from the remaining PB Tories that the Covid enquiry is bad because it is exposing just how bad a job a bunch of very bad ministers did?
Sorrynotsorry. They were the government. We expect them to at least try to be competent. And they weren’t. If exposing that in fine detail is a problem politically, thems the breaks.
Note to galley - Jagerbombs should not be drunk under any circumstances. Neat Jager should *definitely* not be drunk under any circumstances. Especially if you are already drunk…
You misconstrue. The complaint is that the inquiry should be wider and MORE brutal - investigating everyone - from the guilty politicians to the lying scientists to the pathetic isage pundits
No one is worried about the Tories getting scorched, we just think the whole thing should dive much much deeper and harder
Well said, but it is all "PB ToRiEs don't like them being nasty to us"
Diet Sage should get a shoeing from the enquiry but won't. Absolute shambles. The media too and the Police for their enforcement of the laws and treating the guidelines as if it was law.
The only journalist I found worth listening to during the whole episode was Fergus Walsh from the BBC. Too many journalists like Peston and Rigby were just after gotcha's. There was no probing what was going on at all just lazy journalism. If they followed the science they were hiding behind it, if they didn't they were ignoring it. As for SKS and the "Johnson Variant" what a clown.
The whole "follow the science" thing didn't make sense anyway. The job of the scientists is to present the options as best they can, while the job of the politicians is to choose from those options. Following the science means listening to the options; it doesn't mean letting the scientists decide for you. Yes, of course we want politicians to follow the science. To do otherwise would be lunacy. But that doesn't absolve politicians from taking decisions or from their responsibility for doing so.
No 1 at Christmas when you were 10 sang by the last artist you listened to in your phone
Do They Know it’s Christmas by The Smiths was mine
If everybody could be so kind as to give the best anagram of their mother's maiden name and a pop star that shares their birthday, then that would also be good...
I really don’t think the year of birth here is putting people not posting in there real name at too much risk
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
Superb. I especially like the penultimate verse.
The last line of the song gets me every time. It is so beautifully opaque but also somehow freighted with meaning. It's probably my favourite line in any pop song.
Talking of fabulous lyrics Roger Waters "Hanging on in Quiet desperation is the English way" is just magnificent.
That song is inspired by Waters realising, at the age of about 29, that life didn’t begin once you had got all your ducks in a row, when x, y & z had happened, but it had started a long time ago and there wasn’t any time to waste.
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown Waiting for someone or something to show you the way Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Yes. Absolutely brilliant. Almost like Larkin
Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, And age, and then the only end of age.
Nice. Bleak. Robert Conquest was even pithier
Seven Ages of Man
Seven Ages: first puking and mewling Then very pissed off with your schooling Then fucks and then fights Next judging chaps’ rights Then sitting in slippers, then drooling.
Are slippers the defining moment of reaching the crest of the final downward slope? Never had a pair until 5 years ago.
Actually I have been advised by my medical team to wear slippers in the house to protect my feet so yes maybe I am on the downward slopes especially with my other issues
Sorry, didn’t intend to introduce a doomy note! I’m expecting a few good years yet and hope the same for you. Let’s define wearing slippers to the local shops as the point of no return.
I have a patient in his nineties who always attends appointments immaculately dressed in a pinstripe suit, crisp white shirt, silk tie and polished shoes. His brain is as sharp too.
I think there is quite a correlation between how people look after their clothes and personal grooming and how healthy they are. I am not entirely sure of which is cause and which is effect, but probably a bit of both.
On my first ward, which was geriatric rehab, ward policy enforced by sister and Consultant was for all patients well enough to be up and dressed by 0800. It really helped in convalescence
There has to be something in that. Or maybe it’s just because my Grandad was like your patient, shirt tie and brylcreem to stay in and watch tv, until my Nan died and he gave up; the difference in the upkeep of his appearance was almost exactly in line with his deteriorating mental state
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
Superb. I especially like the penultimate verse.
The last line of the song gets me every time. It is so beautifully opaque but also somehow freighted with meaning. It's probably my favourite line in any pop song.
Talking of fabulous lyrics Roger Waters "Hanging on in Quiet desperation is the English way" is just magnificent.
That song is inspired by Waters realising, at the age of about 29, that life didn’t begin once you had got all your ducks in a row, when x, y & z had happened, but it had started a long time ago and there wasn’t any time to waste.
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown Waiting for someone or something to show you the way Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Yes. Absolutely brilliant. Almost like Larkin
Life is first boredom, then fear. Whether or not we use it, it goes, And leaves what something hidden from us chose, And age, and then the only end of age.
Nice. Bleak. Robert Conquest was even pithier
Seven Ages of Man
Seven Ages: first puking and mewling Then very pissed off with your schooling Then fucks and then fights Next judging chaps’ rights Then sitting in slippers, then drooling.
Are slippers the defining moment of reaching the crest of the final downward slope? Never had a pair until 5 years ago.
Actually I have been advised by my medical team to wear slippers in the house to protect my feet so yes maybe I am on the downward slopes especially with my other issues
Sorry, didn’t intend to introduce a doomy note! I’m expecting a few good years yet and hope the same for you. Let’s define wearing slippers to the local shops as the point of no return.
I have a patient in his nineties who always attends appointments immaculately dressed in a pinstripe suit, crisp white shirt, silk tie and polished shoes. His brain is as sharp too.
I think there is quite a correlation between how people look after their clothes and personal grooming and how healthy they are. I am not entirely sure of which is cause and which is effect, but probably a bit of both.
On my first ward, which was geriatric rehab, ward policy enforced by sister and Consultant was for all patients well enough to be up and dressed by 0800. It really helped in convalescence
On the last, I agree. My mum's had two longish (few weeks) in geriatric rehab this year, during which time she has generally deteriorated rather than improved, with improvement coming after getting back home. The lack of routine does it, I think - in hospital in a gown, either in bed or up, apparently at random - seems to loosen her grip on reality and add to confusion. After a few days back home, with regular get up and get dressed times and more structured routine she seems to improve.
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
I have spent years thinking it was "Happy Christmas you arse-wipe, thank god it’s our last"
For around 30 years I believed, and was bemused, that in Quicksand Bowie sang "Knowledge comes from tax relief".
Eventually I googled it, and realised it was "death's release", which made more sense.
Ah, misheard lyrics- one of the many minor joys the internet has stolen from us.
Actually the problem still exists, a lot of the lyrics on the internet, particularly on Spotify, are wrong
I was going to link to ‘when the tigers broke free’ by Pink Floyd, but the lyrics are wrong almost everywhere; ‘Z’ instead of ‘C’ being the red flag.
There is a good misheard lyric on Spotify for Arctic Monkeys ‘No1 Party Anthem’
“Collar popped like antenna” is “like Cantona” and it fits so well with the rest of the song that a lot of people refuse to believe it is not about the footballer
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
I don’t disagree. The amusing toffs, drunks and bohemians have had their time
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
I worked for a worthy but boring firm firm specialising in shipping, aviation and insurance law . When it ran into some trouble it got sold to this "fun" lawyer in April -
After 3 1/2 months of this new ownership, in August it emerged that he bought my firm with millions of his clients money, I had to quit and find a new job with my team, am suffering the embarrassment of being associated in any way with the fiasco, he's under investigation by the SFO, and is likely to cost every solicitor in England & Wales £300 - £500 to compensate his clients.
"He's lots of fun" we were assured. "His parties are great". Bollocks. He should have been struck off for those dance moves alone. And the catastrophic lack of taste.
Yes a well known story. It would share top billing with the post office if it wasn't a bunch of lawyers who are being shafted.
So is the main complaint from the remaining PB Tories that the Covid enquiry is bad because it is exposing just how bad a job a bunch of very bad ministers did?
Sorrynotsorry. They were the government. We expect them to at least try to be competent. And they weren’t. If exposing that in fine detail is a problem politically, thems the breaks.
Note to galley - Jagerbombs should not be drunk under any circumstances. Neat Jager should *definitely* not be drunk under any circumstances. Especially if you are already drunk…
You misconstrue. The complaint is that the inquiry should be wider and MORE brutal - investigating everyone - from the guilty politicians to the lying scientists to the pathetic isage pundits
No one is worried about the Tories getting scorched, we just think the whole thing should dive much much deeper and harder
Well said, but it is all "PB ToRiEs don't like them being nasty to us"
Diet Sage should get a shoeing from the enquiry but won't. Absolute shambles. The media too and the Police for their enforcement of the laws and treating the guidelines as if it was law.
The only journalist I found worth listening to during the whole episode was Fergus Walsh from the BBC. Too many journalists like Peston and Rigby were just after gotcha's. There was no probing what was going on at all just lazy journalism. If they followed the science they were hiding behind it, if they didn't they were ignoring it. As for SKS and the "Johnson Variant" what a clown.
I doubt there will be any come uppance for Sir Keir for encouraging fear then hoping for deaths to make political capital out of it
The inquiry seems from this vantage point to be led by sage and alternative sage types - people who could only ever believe lockdowns should have been longer and harder. There doesn't seem to be any great exploration of the costs of lockdowns.
There has been a lot of questions around whether the government had mitigation plans around the costs of lockdowns (no), and whether they considered these costs during decision making (not much). There was, for example, a set of questions around domestic violence, was there any consideration it might go up, which department was responsible?
There was also at least two times that the Inquiry was asking questions around how Independent SAGE operated and whether they should have used that name.
All of which assumes you have to lock down and starts from a 'state should do more' perspective.
I go out each Christmas with some friends for a Christmas meal. This year, we're going to a vegetarian restaurant. It's supposed to be nice. But everything on the menu sounds like a side order. Vegetables aren't a meal, they're things you have with a meal.
So is the main complaint from the remaining PB Tories that the Covid enquiry is bad because it is exposing just how bad a job a bunch of very bad ministers did?
Sorrynotsorry. They were the government. We expect them to at least try to be competent. And they weren’t. If exposing that in fine detail is a problem politically, thems the breaks.
Note to galley - Jagerbombs should not be drunk under any circumstances. Neat Jager should *definitely* not be drunk under any circumstances. Especially if you are already drunk…
You misconstrue. The complaint is that the inquiry should be wider and MORE brutal - investigating everyone - from the guilty politicians to the lying scientists to the pathetic isage pundits
No one is worried about the Tories getting scorched, we just think the whole thing should dive much much deeper and harder
Well said, but it is all "PB ToRiEs don't like them being nasty to us"
Diet Sage should get a shoeing from the enquiry but won't. Absolute shambles. The media too and the Police for their enforcement of the laws and treating the guidelines as if it was law.
The only journalist I found worth listening to during the whole episode was Fergus Walsh from the BBC. Too many journalists like Peston and Rigby were just after gotcha's. There was no probing what was going on at all just lazy journalism. If they followed the science they were hiding behind it, if they didn't they were ignoring it. As for SKS and the "Johnson Variant" what a clown.
I doubt there will be any come uppance for Sir Keir for encouraging fear then hoping for deaths to make political capital out of it
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
I have spent years thinking it was "Happy Christmas you arse-wipe, thank god it’s our last"
For around 30 years I believed, and was bemused, that in Quicksand Bowie sang "Knowledge comes from tax relief".
Eventually I googled it, and realised it was "death's release", which made more sense.
Ah, misheard lyrics- one of the many minor joys the internet has stolen from us.
The very catchy "Sue Lawley" of course.
Peter Kay isn't my absolute fav comic but he had a routine on this (misheard lyrics) which I caught recently during some random youtube-ing. He got a good 15 minutes out of it and it was only about 3 too long.
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
I don’t disagree. The amusing toffs, drunks and bohemians have had their time
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
I worked for a worthy but boring firm firm specialising in shipping, aviation and insurance law . When it ran into some trouble it got sold to this "fun" lawyer in April -
After 3 1/2 months of this new ownership, in August it emerged that he bought my firm with millions of his clients money, I had to quit and find a new job with my team, am suffering the embarrassment of being associated in any way with the fiasco, he's under investigation by the SFO, and is likely to cost every solicitor in England & Wales £300 - £500 to compensate his clients.
"He's lots of fun" we were assured. "His parties are great". Bollocks. He should have been struck off for those dance moves alone. And the catastrophic lack of taste.
Yes a well known story. It would share top billing with the post office if it wasn't a bunch of lawyers who are being shafted.
The lawyers are fine. It’s the clients who can’t get their money that are the story.
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
I have spent years thinking it was "Happy Christmas you arse-wipe, thank god it’s our last"
For around 30 years I believed, and was bemused, that in Quicksand Bowie sang "Knowledge comes from tax relief".
Eventually I googled it, and realised it was "death's release", which made more sense.
Ah, misheard lyrics- one of the many minor joys the internet has stolen from us.
The very catchy "Sue Lawley" of course.
Peter Kay isn't my absolute fav comic but he had a routine on this (misheard lyrics) which I caught recently during some random youtube-ing. He got a good 15 minutes out of it and it was only about 3 too long.
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
I don’t disagree. The amusing toffs, drunks and bohemians have had their time
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
When did the Tory Party become all about piss-ups and the f*ck-it mentality? Although you had the occasional hedonist like Alan Clark, that all seems utterly at odds with the Tory Party I grew up with in the 1980s. Is it all the fault of Boris? (I wonder if that's the real reason Ann Widdecombe defected to the Brexit Party - she found them more agreeably straight laced? After all, she supported Ken Clarke for Tory leader, so the EU stuff couldn't have been that life changing for her.)
A steady drift from 2016 to 2019. Corbyn and Brexit were catalysts. The latter radicalised, not only on Europe but across the board, while the former meant that Labour wasn't a threat (stupid manifestoes apart, and not even that after Salisbury), and also an example of what might be possible, in mirror image.
Johnson, independent from that, has always been about piss-ups and f*ck-it. Electing him set a tone but there was a wider context already at work. Brexit freed dreams from the constraints of reality.
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
More accurately, the Spectator was fun when its fun and distinctiveness went along with a discernible view of the world, regularly affirmed in its editorial line. In the same way that the DTel once mixed editorial principled conservatism with excellent business pages and the immortal Peter Simple.
The Speccie no longer has a meaningful editorial line.
Once that has gone you are left with Rod Liddle (pbuh) and stuff designed to bring in the advertisers. Plus world leading stuff on the merits or otherwise of eating dog.
Why are you so obsessed with it then. Just don’t read it
🤷🏼♂️
Dude you spend your whole life getting wound up by stuff you could just ignore. At least Algarkirk isn't claiming that the deteriorating quality of the Spectator doesn't threaten the very existence of Western civilisation.
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
I have spent years thinking it was "Happy Christmas you arse-wipe, thank god it’s our last"
For around 30 years I believed, and was bemused, that in Quicksand Bowie sang "Knowledge comes from tax relief".
Eventually I googled it, and realised it was "death's release", which made more sense.
Ah, misheard lyrics- one of the many minor joys the internet has stolen from us.
Actually the problem still exists, a lot of the lyrics on the internet, particularly on Spotify, are wrong
I was going to link to ‘when the tigers broke free’ by Pink Floyd, but the lyrics are wrong almost everywhere; ‘Z’ instead of ‘C’ being the red flag.
There is a good misheard lyric on Spotify for Arctic Monkeys ‘No1 Party Anthem’
“Collar popped like antenna” is “like Cantona” and it fits so well with the rest of the song that a lot of people refuse to believe it is not about the footballer
I was saddened when I learnt that the lyric 'Get a house in Devon / Drink cider from eleven' from Feeder's 'Buck Rogers' was in fact 'Get a house in Devon / Drink cider from a lemon'. My mishearing rhymes better and conveys nicely, I think, the sense of the lazy rural drinking session. The actual lyric - with its smutty yet obscure gynaecological allusion - is just a bit shit.
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
I have spent years thinking it was "Happy Christmas you arse-wipe, thank god it’s our last"
For around 30 years I believed, and was bemused, that in Quicksand Bowie sang "Knowledge comes from tax relief".
Eventually I googled it, and realised it was "death's release", which made more sense.
Ah, misheard lyrics- one of the many minor joys the internet has stolen from us.
The very catchy "Sue Lawley" of course.
Peter Kay isn't my absolute fav comic but he had a routine on this (misheard lyrics) which I caught recently during some random youtube-ing. He got a good 15 minutes out of it and it was only about 3 too long.
‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy’ - Jimi Hendrix
Daddy Sang Bass by Jonny Cash
No, the circle won't be broken. By and by, Lord, by and by. Daddy sang bass, Mama MADE DINNER. Me and little brother would join right in there.
Can I just thank whoever it was that linked to the Pogues "And the band played waltzing Matilda" on the previous thread. A brilliant and deeply moving rendition.
McGowan was the real deal, not least a fantastic lyricist. Look at the lyrics to A Rainy Night in Soho, below - just beautiful poetry.
I've been loving you a long time Down all the years, down all the days And I've cried for all your troubles Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell
I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys Whatever happened to that old song? To all those little girls and boys
Sometimes I'd wake up in the morning The ginger lady by my bed Covered in a cloak of silence I'd hear you talking in my head
I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last
Now the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams The measure of my dreams
McGowan was a proper musical genius. But lyrically that’s not quite Cole Porter
“Fairytale” is much cleverer - probably the best Pogues song, lyrically
Fairytale of New York may be cleverer with the duet structure etc but there's something buried in Rainy Night in Soho that gets me every time I listen to it. The lyrics have that kind of unknowable quality that I think is the mark of real poetry.
“You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray god it’s our last”
Is one of the greatest couplets in the history of pop music. It expresses true love and deep sentiment - as drunk loving ruined people really speak, with a clever rhyme scheme
I believe it has now been cancelled by the Woke
I have spent years thinking it was "Happy Christmas you arse-wipe, thank god it’s our last"
For around 30 years I believed, and was bemused, that in Quicksand Bowie sang "Knowledge comes from tax relief".
Eventually I googled it, and realised it was "death's release", which made more sense.
Ah, misheard lyrics- one of the many minor joys the internet has stolen from us.
The very catchy "Sue Lawley" of course.
Peter Kay isn't my absolute fav comic but he had a routine on this (misheard lyrics) which I caught recently during some random youtube-ing. He got a good 15 minutes out of it and it was only about 3 too long.
"I can't believe you kiss your cock at night" - me neither, Shania.
The Inquiry does not seem to have even the most basic grasp of what government is for. It seems to be taking as its starting point 'how could the number of Covid deaths have been minimised', without recognising that governments have many other duties, from protecting the economy, education and civil liberties (and much else), or the nature of how politics is done; that it's not a technocratic process and that opinion - not least on those competing (but at times complimentary) priorities but also on how events shape process. Things which might have been beneficial in hindsight could not have been done with foresight (even were that foresight available), because people, from MPs to public, demand proof or compelling argument before sacrifice.
You can't lock down a country every time there's a new virus, just like it would only have been justifiable to remove Hitler in 1933 with the benefit of hindsight from an alternative reality, no matter how useful that would have actually been. There are lots of other nutcase dictators and most don't turn out to be genocidal warmongers (which isn't to say more couldn't have been done to prepare or that defining a threat away by policy definition was absurd).
There's also the rather more important point that how we should have responded three years ago is a very different thing from how we ought to plan to do so in the future.
The technologies for immune surveillance, and the manufacturing of rapid diagnostic tests and vaccines are now massively more effective than they were back then.
Future pandemic planning should look at how countries like Taiwan and S Korea were able to keep infection at bay for far longer than we were. And ensure that there is domestic manufacturing capacity for vaccines and test kits. The latter would be relatively cheap, and extremely cost effective as a prevention measure.
That's right. But I don't see how this format - adversarial, on tv, KCs on parade, witnesses seeking to defend and parry and justify - is a good way to get into those areas.
What we need is multiple parallel enquires
1) The current one - fun for politicos and lawyers 2) One hosted on day time TV. With tangerine coloured presenters and lots of shouting 3) A scientific enquiry into what actually happened. 4) A factual enquiry (perhaps linked with 3) to simply state what happened, when. 5) An enquiry based on the idea of working out what we should do next time.
1 & 2 can have all the noise and the WhatsApp messages.
Ah, misheard lyrics- one of the many minor joys the internet has stolen from us.
I used to know someone who was convinced that Angel of the Morning included the line "Brush my teeth before you go".
In general I think lyrics are underrated. Comparing notes with a classical violinist who tolerates Abba, we discovered that she doesn't listen to the words at all, while for me it's the little stories in many of the songs that are much of the charm, and I agree the music is often nothing special. I'm fond of this one although the critics hated it - the dog is the most percipient character... https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/abba/icanbethatwoman.html
Meanwhile, in "Conservatives Losing" news, the latest dispatch from London;
The “Good Samaritan” who returned a lost Oyster card to Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall has told how delighted she was to be reunited with her free travel pass...
Shortly after the incident, on Monday afternoon, Ms Hall’s spokesman said she believed she had been pickpocketed on the Tube as she travelled home from Westminster to Pinner, first on the Jubilee line and then the Metropolitan line, which she switched on to at Finchley Road.
The Inquiry does not seem to have even the most basic grasp of what government is for. It seems to be taking as its starting point 'how could the number of Covid deaths have been minimised', without recognising that governments have many other duties, from protecting the economy, education and civil liberties (and much else), or the nature of how politics is done; that it's not a technocratic process and that opinion - not least on those competing (but at times complimentary) priorities but also on how events shape process. Things which might have been beneficial in hindsight could not have been done with foresight (even were that foresight available), because people, from MPs to public, demand proof or compelling argument before sacrifice.
You can't lock down a country every time there's a new virus, just like it would only have been justifiable to remove Hitler in 1933 with the benefit of hindsight from an alternative reality, no matter how useful that would have actually been. There are lots of other nutcase dictators and most don't turn out to be genocidal warmongers (which isn't to say more couldn't have been done to prepare or that defining a threat away by policy definition was absurd).
There's also the rather more important point that how we should have responded three years ago is a very different thing from how we ought to plan to do so in the future.
The technologies for immune surveillance, and the manufacturing of rapid diagnostic tests and vaccines are now massively more effective than they were back then.
Future pandemic planning should look at how countries like Taiwan and S Korea were able to keep infection at bay for far longer than we were. And ensure that there is domestic manufacturing capacity for vaccines and test kits. The latter would be relatively cheap, and extremely cost effective as a prevention measure.
That's right. But I don't see how this format - adversarial, on tv, KCs on parade, witnesses seeking to defend and parry and justify - is a good way to get into those areas.
Meanwhile, in "Conservatives Losing" news, the latest dispatch from London;
The “Good Samaritan” who returned a lost Oyster card to Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall has told how delighted she was to be reunited with her free travel pass...
Shortly after the incident, on Monday afternoon, Ms Hall’s spokesman said she believed she had been pickpocketed on the Tube as she travelled home from Westminster to Pinner, first on the Jubilee line and then the Metropolitan line, which she switched on to at Finchley Road.
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
I don’t disagree. The amusing toffs, drunks and bohemians have had their time
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
Genuinely struggling to think of any of the current government or its recent prior iterations one could call Bohemian.
The Tories are going to be utterly destroyed if these polls verify
What are they going to do?? They are on the edge of total oblivion
Signs of the times: with the exception of thoughtful and considered articles on dog eating the Speccie is more or less unreadable; the New Statesman presents the centrist reader with a reasonably balanced consideration of how to run the country in a centrist way without actually blowing it up.
Game over?
The Spectator is fun, tho. The New Statesman is intolerably worthy and boring. Hence their very differing sales and profit
But then; twas ever thus, at least for the last few decades
Any connections to declare?
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
I don’t disagree. The amusing toffs, drunks and bohemians have had their time
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
When did the Tory Party become all about piss-ups and the f*ck-it mentality? Although you had the occasional hedonist like Alan Clark, that all seems utterly at odds with the Tory Party I grew up with in the 1980s. Is it all the fault of Boris? (I wonder if that's the real reason Ann Widdecombe defected to the Brexit Party - she found them more agreeably straight laced? After all, she supported Ken Clarke for Tory leader, so the EU stuff couldn't have been that life changing for her.)
A steady drift from 2016 to 2019. Corbyn and Brexit were catalysts. The latter radicalised, not only on Europe but across the board, while the former meant that Labour wasn't a threat (stupid manifestoes apart, and not even that after Salisbury), and also an example of what might be possible, in mirror image.
Johnson, independent from that, has always been about piss-ups and f*ck-it. Electing him set a tone but there was a wider context already at work. Brexit freed dreams from the constraints of reality.
Yep, all of that. Plus for me (as so often if we're discussing something unwelcome) the advent of Donald Trump has had something to do with it.
No 1 at Christmas when you were 10 sang by the last artist you listened to in your phone
Do They Know it’s Christmas by The Smiths was mine
If everybody could be so kind as to give the best anagram of their mother's maiden name and a pop star that shares their birthday, then that would also be good...
I really don’t think the year of birth here is putting people not posting in there real name at too much risk
I go out each Christmas with some friends for a Christmas meal. This year, we're going to a vegetarian restaurant. It's supposed to be nice. But everything on the menu sounds like a side order. Vegetables aren't a meal, they're things you have with a meal.
Had a very nice mushroom pie with chips in my local last night.
So is the main complaint from the remaining PB Tories that the Covid enquiry is bad because it is exposing just how bad a job a bunch of very bad ministers did?
Sorrynotsorry. They were the government. We expect them to at least try to be competent. And they weren’t. If exposing that in fine detail is a problem politically, thems the breaks.
Note to galley - Jagerbombs should not be drunk under any circumstances. Neat Jager should *definitely* not be drunk under any circumstances. Especially if you are already drunk…
Well exactly.
Judged on its own narrow terms, the Covid inquiry probably won't achieve that much.
Nonetheless, its public hearings are serving an immense public purpose. Day after day we are being treated to a spectacle of Conservative politicians, their advisers and top civil servants each trying to publically shaft the actions of everyone else in government in order to try and defend their own reputations. The sum of the whole is much greater than the parts, namely to collectively trash in public the whole machinery of government as it operated under Covid. The achievement of the inquiry will come in the form of the electoral consequences of collective reputational damage applied to the Conservative Party as a whole.
Comments
RefUK on 10% now just 2% off the 12% UKIP got in 2015 when Rishi's new Foreign Secretary Cameron was PM
Interesting debate to be had about something I found out the other day; the lady who ‘sang’ The Great Gig in the Sky was awarded a songwriting credit for it thirty years after its release. She was told by the band to listen to the song, go into the studio and let herself go with whatever feelings it evoked. The results were legendary, but did she ‘write the song’? Apparently so. Maybe she did
Rick Wright’s tune is simple and lovely but it’s her extemporised vocals which make it a masterpiece. I hope she got a million. The Floyd can certainly afford it
We've now been burned very badly by politics as "fun". I don't want my politics to be entertaining. I want my politics to ensure that when I go to the hospital I get treated in a decent amount of time, there is no shit coming out of my taps when I turn them on, I can rely on getting from get from point A to point B (whether by public or private modes of transport) safely and reliably, and I can get justice from a court I choose or am required to attend.
I don't give a flying proverbial whether that's delivered by a religious data entry clerk from Stevenage with no friends whose only hobby is painting Warhammer figurines, or the the resurrected Elvis backed by a choir of angels duetting with Freddie Mercury, but I'm not getting it from the people The Spectator routinely pump.
https://twitter.com/MasayukiTsuda2/status/1512961098424602628
You can't lock down a country every time there's a new virus, just like it would only have been justifiable to remove Hitler in 1933 with the benefit of hindsight from an alternative reality, no matter how useful that would have actually been. There are lots of other nutcase dictators and most don't turn out to be genocidal warmongers (which isn't to say more couldn't have been done to prepare or that defining a threat away by policy definition was absurd).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_Torry
I wonder how much she got. Funny that no one ever thought to offer her a credit at the time, although I can see why it’s a grey area. Apparently when she’d finished singing she thought she’d made a fool of herself and was embarrassed to see the band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2w3jFX_lCY
The Speccie no longer has a meaningful editorial line.
Once that has gone you are left with Rod Liddle (pbuh) and stuff designed to bring in the advertisers. Plus world leading stuff on the merits or otherwise of eating dog.
Now let the boring lefty managers have a go
However, I predict they will fail quite badly and end up just as hated, but without the consolation of being occasionally diverting
🤷🏼♂️
A real-life mondegreen
(I've once managed to actually spot one, despite hearing them nearby many many times)
The “Good Samaritan” who returned a lost Oyster card to Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall has told how delighted she was to be reunited with her free travel pass...
Shortly after the incident, on Monday afternoon, Ms Hall’s spokesman said she believed she had been pickpocketed on the Tube as she travelled home from Westminster to Pinner, first on the Jubilee line and then the Metropolitan line, which she switched on to at Finchley Road.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/susan-hall-lost-oyster-card-tube-tory-mayoral-good-samaritan-b1123916.html
I would keep her out of the cabinet, not so much for her views as much her loudly talking over everybody else. She needs to put a cork in it!
The strange thing is that the lefties, who only judge people by their actions and are never influenced or motivated by personalities, hate the present government who have put up taxes, spent squillions and roofed immigration! When boring old Sir Keir cuts all three no doubt he’ll be slaughtered
If people want an enquiry that is a pointless waste of time where politicians scapegoat each other. Crack on. Fill your boots. It won't change anyones view of anything or anyones perception.
The website is however a good advert for using AI generated artwork as the illustrations are a bit crap and remind me of children’s’ history textbooks from the 80’s. Surely it would be easier to use on of Leon’s art AI programs to generate more realistic images than some poor sod churning out old fashioned images?
The technologies for immune surveillance, and the manufacturing of rapid diagnostic tests and vaccines are now massively more effective than they were back then.
Future pandemic planning should look at how countries like Taiwan and S Korea were able to keep infection at bay for far longer than we were. And ensure that there is domestic manufacturing capacity for vaccines and test kits. The latter would be relatively cheap, and extremely cost effective as a prevention measure.
https://www.rollonfriday.com/news-content/watch-champagne-swigging-modhwadia-parties-days-suspension
After 3 1/2 months of this new ownership, in August it emerged that he bought my firm with millions of his clients money, I had to quit and find a new job with my team, am suffering the embarrassment of being associated in any way with the fiasco, he's under investigation by the SFO, and is likely to cost every solicitor in England & Wales £300 - £500 to compensate his clients.
"He's lots of fun" we were assured. "His parties are great". Bollocks. He should have been struck off for those dance moves alone. And the catastrophic lack of taste.
But you could argue I've been on the downward slope ever since.
Dmitri Shostakovich told Andrew Lloyd Weber that he wished he had composed Jesus Christ Superstar.
https://twitter.com/tedgioia/status/974389980624752641
Diet Sage should get a shoeing from the enquiry but won't. Absolute shambles. The media too and the Police for their enforcement of the laws and treating the guidelines as if it was law.
The only journalist I found worth listening to during the whole episode was Fergus Walsh from the BBC. Too many journalists like Peston and Rigby were just after gotcha's. There was no probing what was going on at all just lazy journalism. If they followed the science they were hiding behind it, if they didn't they were ignoring it. As for SKS and the "Johnson Variant" what a clown.
The inquiry could have been really useful. Instead it’s just a waste of time.
https://www.famousbirthdays.com/date/january1-singer.html
I think there is quite a correlation between how people look after their clothes and personal grooming and how healthy they are. I am not entirely sure of which is cause and which is effect, but probably a bit of both.
On my first ward, which was geriatric rehab, ward policy enforced by sister and Consultant was for all patients well enough to be up and dressed by 0800. It really helped in convalescence
Eventually I googled it, and realised it was "death's release", which made more sense.
Sunak announces he has a message for the nation.....
All TV stations to run it live.....
Intro SFX Patriotic music 'Citizens. I am going to level with the country. We have collectively made a decision which is diminishing us as a country and destroying our prosperity. Our decision to leave the European Union has proved a mistake and produced problems none of us could have forseen. I have therefore decided to call another referendum to be held on May 1st followed by a General Election on May the 8th. We shall be working very hard between now and then to negotiate with our European friends to ensure the deal is at least as good if not better than the one we had before.
Merry Christmas to you all!"
"Jesus Christ, Superstar, Came down from heaven on a Yamaha. Did a skid, killed a kid, knocked off his bollocks on a dustbin lid."
Jumpers for goalposts...
Contra it's secretive repuration it had nested of the gravel drive of a friend's house meaning he or his wife would have to rush down to the entrance to prevent the posty or similar crushing the hapless fowl.
I was going to link to ‘when the tigers broke free’ by Pink Floyd, but the lyrics are wrong almost everywhere; ‘Z’ instead of ‘C’ being the red flag.
There is a good misheard lyric on Spotify for Arctic Monkeys ‘No1 Party Anthem’
“Collar popped like antenna” is “like Cantona” and it fits so well with the rest of the song that a lot of people refuse to believe it is not about the footballer
This year, we're going to a vegetarian restaurant. It's supposed to be nice. But everything on the menu sounds like a side order. Vegetables aren't a meal, they're things you have with a meal.
Peter Kay isn't my absolute fav comic but he had a routine on this (misheard lyrics) which I caught recently during some random youtube-ing. He got a good 15 minutes out of it and it was only about 3 too long.
Johnson, independent from that, has always been about piss-ups and f*ck-it. Electing him set a tone but there was a wider context already at work. Brexit freed dreams from the constraints of reality.
Blueprint codenamed ‘Jericho Wall’ reportedly contained battle plans for attacks in Israel, but it was dismissed as unrealistic
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/12/01/israel-obtained-hamas-plans-year-before-attack/ (£££)
Israel needs a judge-led inquiry.
No, the circle won't be broken.
By and by, Lord, by and by.
Daddy sang bass, Mama MADE DINNER.
Me and little brother would join right in there.
1) The current one - fun for politicos and lawyers
2) One hosted on day time TV. With tangerine coloured presenters and lots of shouting
3) A scientific enquiry into what actually happened.
4) A factual enquiry (perhaps linked with 3) to simply state what happened, when.
5) An enquiry based on the idea of working out what we should do next time.
1 & 2 can have all the noise and the WhatsApp messages.
3-5 are about reducing the damage, next time.
In general I think lyrics are underrated. Comparing notes with a classical violinist who tolerates Abba, we discovered that she doesn't listen to the words at all, while for me it's the little stories in many of the songs that are much of the charm, and I agree the music is often nothing special. I'm fond of this one although the critics hated it - the dog is the most percipient character... https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/abba/icanbethatwoman.html
Recall who commissioned it.
My career in stand-up is not going well...
Actually I would really liked ot have heard Shane singing that song. You could believe every word of it.
Judged on its own narrow terms, the Covid inquiry probably won't achieve that much.
Nonetheless, its public hearings are serving an immense public purpose. Day after day we are being treated to a spectacle of Conservative politicians, their advisers and top civil servants each trying to publically shaft the actions of everyone else in government in order to try and defend their own reputations. The sum of the whole is much greater than the parts, namely to collectively trash in public the whole machinery of government as it operated under Covid. The achievement of the inquiry will come in the form of the electoral consequences of collective reputational damage applied to the Conservative Party as a whole.