Brits love white powder – politicalbetting.com

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Brits love white powder – politicalbetting.com

For a moment there I thought YouGov were polling about cocaine. https://t.co/zF6ybZUhbT

Read the full story here

TheScreamingEagles

Test

DecrepiterJohnL

Nick Clegg banks £5.5m from Meta share sales
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nick-clegg-banks-55m-from-meta-share-sales-7bjtsrnk7 (£££)

TimS

My morning walk today

Cyclefree

For @StillWaters fpt

The Law Commission (not Law Society) recommendation has been enacted.

A couple of years ago, Alex Chalk asked various IT and legal experts to come up with recommendations for how computer based evidence should be treated by the courts. They did so.

You can read their recommendations here - https://journals.sas.ac.uk/deeslr/article/view/5240.

Since then the Justice Ministry has changed its mind and no review is planned, despite what the PO scandal has shown us. It is a stupid decision because it will inevitably mean more miscarriages of justice, for the reasons spelt out in my 2 recent headers.

david_herdson

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

DecrepiterJohnL

Ronnie O'Sullivan & Ding Junhui are 4-4 in the UK Snooker final.

If he wins, Ronnie will become the oldest ever UK champion. In 1993, he was the youngest. Ding has won this title four times. BBC2 from 7pm.

Alphabet_Soup

This is what a proper winter (1963) was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSdIT2Sp0s

Not the chilly spells with a dusting of light snow that we get these days.

(BBC documentary for Cliff Michelmore fans)

rcs1000

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Yep, just like parenthood.

rcs1000

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Nick Clegg banks £5.5m from Meta share sales
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nick-clegg-banks-55m-from-meta-share-sales-7bjtsrnk7 (£££)

Question: is that the *profit* on the sales? Or is that the gross value of the shares sold? (When you exercise options, you need to pay the strike price. And Meta shares haven't been that great performers of late.)

Stuartinromford

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Nigelb

A more useful suggestion than anything likely to emerge from the covid enquiry. (Even if they are talking their own book.)

What would a European pathogen monitoring system based on aircraft wastewater look like? Read about our findings from a pilot project, which we shared at a recent conference in Frankfurt.
https://twitter.com/concentricbygbw/status/1730699765678309662

Leon

Could be China white heroin

PB is so naive

Nigelb

From Mike Penge’s Homeland Security advisor.

Donald Trump & MAGA GOP’s America:
These are the messages being sent to me after testifying before Jim Jordan’s Committee on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government.” They’re full of “why don’t you return to Mexico” bigotry… “our border is being invaded” & conspiracies.
https://twitter.com/OliviaTroye/status/1731319045004161466

kinabalu

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Snow for me is a bit like mulled wine. Lovely at first but before long becomes a strain and then an ordeal.

TimS

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Nick Clegg banks £5.5m from Meta share sales
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nick-clegg-banks-55m-from-meta-share-sales-7bjtsrnk7 (£££)

I believe the term is “shot the dog”, as in “the former Lib Dem leader’s really shot the dog with his Meta escapades”.

TimS

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Except the Welsh. They have it, and they love it.

Nigelb

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

bondegezou

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-021-00448-x

"Estimating the incidence of cocaine use and mortality with music lyrics about cocaine

"In the United States, cocaine use and mortality have surged in the past 5 years. Considering cocaine’s reputation as a fashionable social drug, the rise of cocaine mentions in popular music may provide a signal of epidemiological trends of cocaine use. We characterized the relationship between mentions of cocaine in song lyrics and incidence of cocaine use and mortality in the US. Incidence of cocaine use from 2002 to 2017 was obtained from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and cocaine overdose mortality rate from 2000 to 2017 was obtained from the Centers for Disease Control. Distributed lag models were fit using ordinary least squares on the first difference to identify associations between changes in cocaine lyric mentions and changes in incidence of cocaine use and mortality. A total of 5955 song lyrics with cocaine mentions were obtained from Lyrics.com. Cocaine mentions in song lyrics were stable from 2000 to 2010 then increased by 190% from 2010 to 2017. The first-order distributed lag model estimated that a 0.01 increase in mentions of cocaine in song lyrics is associated with an 11% increase in incidence of cocaine use within the same year and a 14% increase in cocaine mortality with a 2-year lag. Lag-times were confirmed with cross-correlation analyses and the association remained after accounting for street pricing of cocaine. Mentions of cocaine in song lyrics are associated with the rise of incidence of cocaine use and cocaine overdose mortality. Popular music trends are a potentially valuable tool for understanding cocaine epidemiology trends."

TimS

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

algarkirk

Alphabet_Soup said:

This is what a proper winter (1963) was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSdIT2Sp0s

Not the chilly spells with a dusting of light snow that we get these days.

(BBC documentary for Cliff Michelmore fans)

I remember it well. I had just turned 8. An era before most had central heating. Most of my memories of ice inside windows, in solid middle class London, come from that winter of early 1963. And it was an extraordinary start to what proved to be something of an epoch making and marking year. For Larkin it was the annus mirabilis, though not without irony.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

A further footnote is that at the time older folks said, and still say, it was no match for the winter of 1947.

boulay

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

bigjohnowls

RIP Glenys Kinnock

Flatlander

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

Alphabet_Soup

algarkirk said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

This is what a proper winter (1963) was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSdIT2Sp0s

Not the chilly spells with a dusting of light snow that we get these days.

(BBC documentary for Cliff Michelmore fans)

I remember it well. I had just turned 8. An era before most had central heating. Most of my memories of ice inside windows, in solid middle class London, come from that winter of early 1963. And it was an extraordinary start to what proved to be something of an epoch making and marking year. For Larkin it was the annus mirabilis, though not without irony.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

A further footnote is that at the time older folks said, and still say, it was no match for the winter of 1947.

Yes, I got that 1947 schtick if I dared to shiver visibly. I had a perfect attendance record that term, not least because school was a lot warmer than home.

Cyclefree

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

A local farmer has just cleared the snow from the lane in front of our house. We keep our own grit but the snow has been well over a foot deep.

kjh

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

Storage. Hassle of changing.

DecrepiterJohnL

rcs1000 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Nick Clegg banks £5.5m from Meta share sales
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nick-clegg-banks-55m-from-meta-share-sales-7bjtsrnk7 (£££)

Question: is that the *profit* on the sales? Or is that the gross value of the shares sold? (When you exercise options, you need to pay the strike price. And Meta shares haven't been that great performers of late.)

Meta's share price has more than doubled over the last five years, and has recovered from its recent big dip. Last year it fell back to where it started but has since recovered. No idea why.

Stuartinromford

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

When was the Easter Day when it snowed in London? 2008?

(I was atop One Tree Hill, failing to light an Easter bonfire.)

kjh

algarkirk said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

This is what a proper winter (1963) was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSdIT2Sp0s

Not the chilly spells with a dusting of light snow that we get these days.

(BBC documentary for Cliff Michelmore fans)

I remember it well. I had just turned 8. An era before most had central heating. Most of my memories of ice inside windows, in solid middle class London, come from that winter of early 1963. And it was an extraordinary start to what proved to be something of an epoch making and marking year. For Larkin it was the annus mirabilis, though not without irony.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

A further footnote is that at the time older folks said, and still say, it was no match for the winter of 1947.

Ditto. I was also 8. We had an outside loo. Chilly.

DavidL

Son on for a hat trick. One at each end already.

rcs1000

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

No.

And maybe

Leon

Looks like AUKUS wasn’t just for show


https://www.ft.com/content/42d5bbc4-a9ea-41ae-af38-101def4ce367

The French must still be smarting. Oh well

Leon

New Zealand keen to join AUKUS pillar 2

https://x.com/helenclarknz/status/1730396943539728677?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

DavidL

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I have Michelin all weather tyres and to be honest they are fine for anything I am going to be driving in.

My big problem is that my current car is an automatic. When I drove in snow in my previous cars I would try hard not to touch the brakes at all and use the gears to slow down where required. In an automatic I feel a lot less in control.

Casino_Royale

I consider Back To The Future a Christmas film.

Flatlander

kjh said:

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

Storage. Hassle of changing.

If you don't have a garage I suppose they might be a pain to store.

Changing isn't that hard though...takes me an hour max (£40 at a garage if I'm lazy). Less hassle than getting stuck or worse.

To be fair, I used to drive on a lot of snowy roads in Scotland, but I still found them worthwhile locally.

Not today though, an inch of slush with fog and rain isn't going to get me rushing anywhere.

algarkirk

Cyclefree said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

A local farmer has just cleared the snow from the lane in front of our house. We keep our own grit but the snow has been well over a foot deep.

No snow at all over the weekend in north Cumberland. Light covering earlier in the week.

AugustusCarp2

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I would like to know a bit more about winter tyres, as I understand that they are mandatory in Germany. I have to drive to Southern Bavaria in March. 1) is that "winter" there? 2) do I really need a new set of tyres? 3) wouldn't existing set be OK? I'm only going for a long weekend, and I can't get there by train.

kinabalu

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

Happens every year in fact ... "We're walking in the air"

Never miss it.

Jim_Miller

In the US, snow removal failures can end political careers, for mayors. I can think, offhand, of two cities where that has happened, Chicago and Seattle, and I am sure there are many more.

Here's a hint for aspiring polticians: If there is a big snowfall in your area, and you need sidewalks cleared quickly, enlist the local sports teams in friendly competitions.

(In my little suburb, home owners are supposed to clear the walks in front of their homes. About half do, in my neighborhood.

Scott_xP

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

Americans do the same. Since lots of people already have pickup trucks, they bolt a plough on the front and clear the parking lots of local businesses (for a fee)

DavidL

kjh said:

algarkirk said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

This is what a proper winter (1963) was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSdIT2Sp0s

Not the chilly spells with a dusting of light snow that we get these days.

(BBC documentary for Cliff Michelmore fans)

I remember it well. I had just turned 8. An era before most had central heating. Most of my memories of ice inside windows, in solid middle class London, come from that winter of early 1963. And it was an extraordinary start to what proved to be something of an epoch making and marking year. For Larkin it was the annus mirabilis, though not without irony.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

A further footnote is that at the time older folks said, and still say, it was no match for the winter of 1947.

Ditto. I was also 8. We had an outside loo. Chilly.

I am convinced that I remember us getting back to Worthy Down, outside Winchester, in 1963 and the snow being up to our second floor windows because of drift. I also remember my dad taking me into work about that time because the computers the RAPC , which were the size of a gym hall and had less computing power than this phone, generated so much heat the building was way warmer than our house.
The problem is that at that time I was 2 years, 3-4 months. Can anyone really remember back that far or have I created the memories from what I was told?

kjh

DavidL said:

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I have Michelin all weather tyres and to be honest they are fine for anything I am going to be driving in.

My big problem is that my current car is an automatic. When I drove in snow in my previous cars I would try hard not to touch the brakes at all and use the gears to slow down where required. In an automatic I feel a lot less in control.

Do you not have a gears option on your automatic @DavidL ? This year I bought my first automatic but have flappy paddles as well to convert to manual. I hired an automatic in America and by flipping the stick in Drive to the side I could convert to manual. Essential while descending Mount Washington.

Razedabode

BREAKING: US NAVY AND COMMERCIAL VESSELS HAVE BEEN ATTACKED IN THE RED SEA


Hmmm…

TimS

DavidL said:

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I have Michelin all weather tyres and to be honest they are fine for anything I am going to be driving in.

My big problem is that my current car is an automatic. When I drove in snow in my previous cars I would try hard not to touch the brakes at all and use the gears to slow down where required. In an automatic I feel a lot less in control.

I had a very shaky few minutes of driving this morning leaving the little snowy French village where I’d stayed for the night. The snow plough (tractor with snowplough attachment) had been round, but all this did was turn the steep roads around the village into an ice rink. The thermometer was reading -6C. I was in a hire car with normal summer tyres. At least it was a manual. I did the first bit leaving the village in 1st gear and the next couple of km in second before getting on to a gritted road.

algarkirk

DavidL said:

kjh said:

algarkirk said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

This is what a proper winter (1963) was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSdIT2Sp0s

Not the chilly spells with a dusting of light snow that we get these days.

(BBC documentary for Cliff Michelmore fans)

I remember it well. I had just turned 8. An era before most had central heating. Most of my memories of ice inside windows, in solid middle class London, come from that winter of early 1963. And it was an extraordinary start to what proved to be something of an epoch making and marking year. For Larkin it was the annus mirabilis, though not without irony.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

A further footnote is that at the time older folks said, and still say, it was no match for the winter of 1947.

Ditto. I was also 8. We had an outside loo. Chilly.

I am convinced that I remember us getting back to Worthy Down, outside Winchester, in 1963 and the snow being up to our second floor windows because of drift. I also remember my dad taking me into work about that time because the computers the RAPC , which were the size of a gym hall and had less computing power than this phone, generated so much heat the building was way warmer than our house.
The problem is that at that time I was 2 years, 3-4 months. Can anyone really remember back that far or have I created the memories from what I was told?

FWIW I think you can.

boulay

AugustusCarp2 said:

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I would like to know a bit more about winter tyres, as I understand that they are mandatory in Germany. I have to drive to Southern Bavaria in March. 1) is that "winter" there? 2) do I really need a new set of tyres? 3) wouldn't existing set be OK? I'm only going for a long weekend, and I can't get there by train.

It’s not just the different grip pattern but the compound mix in the tyre is different and so more effective in cold weather.

In a lot of cold places it’s not necessarily mandatory but if you have an accident in the snow on summer tyres then it gives the insurers a good excuse to throw out any claim. I remember everyone kept their winter tyres on cheap basic wheels as the wheels got messed up in the winter conditions so they saved their “good” wheels for the summer.

As an aside my friends who live in the mountains swear that the best snow car is the old fiat panda 4x4. They were really light so no momentum leading to skidding when breaking and narrow tyres so better traction I believe. And good ground clearance.

kle4

Leon said:

New Zealand keen to join AUKUS pillar 2

https://x.com/helenclarknz/status/1730396943539728677?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

I thought NZ were seen as being a bit soft on China?

kle4

Cyclefree said:

For @StillWaters fpt

The Law Commission (not Law Society) recommendation has been enacted.

A couple of years ago, Alex Chalk asked various IT and legal experts to come up with recommendations for how computer based evidence should be treated by the courts. They did so.

You can read their recommendations here - https://journals.sas.ac.uk/deeslr/article/view/5240.

Since then the Justice Ministry has changed its mind and no review is planned, despite what the PO scandal has shown us. It is a stupid decision because it will inevitably mean more miscarriages of justice, for the reasons spelt out in my 2 recent headers.

Miscarriages of justice are a future government's problem. Which is why nobody bothers to address the potential for future ones unless they really have to.

Flatlander

kjh said:

DavidL said:

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I have Michelin all weather tyres and to be honest they are fine for anything I am going to be driving in.

My big problem is that my current car is an automatic. When I drove in snow in my previous cars I would try hard not to touch the brakes at all and use the gears to slow down where required. In an automatic I feel a lot less in control.

Do you not have a gears option on your automatic @DavidL ? This year I bought my first automatic but have flappy paddles as well to convert to manual. I hired an automatic in America and by flipping the stick in Drive to the side I could convert to manual. Essential while descending Mount Washington.

I have a DSG automatic and the slowing down part is fine. You used to have to change it to flappy paddle mode to hold a high gear on a descent but it does it automatically now (presumably a tilt sensor).

The one thing that is annoying is that you can't hold as high a gear as you might in a manual, and you can't start it in second.

AugustusCarp2

boulay said:

AugustusCarp2 said:

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I would like to know a bit more about winter tyres, as I understand that they are mandatory in Germany. I have to drive to Southern Bavaria in March. 1) is that "winter" there? 2) do I really need a new set of tyres? 3) wouldn't existing set be OK? I'm only going for a long weekend, and I can't get there by train.

It’s not just the different grip pattern but the compound mix in the tyre is different and so more effective in cold weather.

In a lot of cold places it’s not necessarily mandatory but if you have an accident in the snow on summer tyres then it gives the insurers a good excuse to throw out any claim. I remember everyone kept their winter tyres on cheap basic wheels as the wheels got messed up in the winter conditions so they saved their “good” wheels for the summer.

As an aside my friends who live in the mountains swear that the best snow car is the old fiat panda 4x4. They were really light so no momentum leading to skidding when breaking and narrow tyres so better traction I believe. And good ground clearance.

(Thank you!)

DavidL

kjh said:

DavidL said:

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I have Michelin all weather tyres and to be honest they are fine for anything I am going to be driving in.

My big problem is that my current car is an automatic. When I drove in snow in my previous cars I would try hard not to touch the brakes at all and use the gears to slow down where required. In an automatic I feel a lot less in control.

Do you not have a gears option on your automatic @DavidL ? This year I bought my first automatic but have flappy paddles as well to convert to manual. I hired an automatic in America and by flipping the stick in Drive to the side I could convert to manual. Essential while descending Mount Washington.

I do but with a paddle switch I have never really mastered. I may have to try harder if it stays like this.

DavidL

algarkirk said:

DavidL said:

kjh said:

algarkirk said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

This is what a proper winter (1963) was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSdIT2Sp0s

Not the chilly spells with a dusting of light snow that we get these days.

(BBC documentary for Cliff Michelmore fans)

I remember it well. I had just turned 8. An era before most had central heating. Most of my memories of ice inside windows, in solid middle class London, come from that winter of early 1963. And it was an extraordinary start to what proved to be something of an epoch making and marking year. For Larkin it was the annus mirabilis, though not without irony.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

A further footnote is that at the time older folks said, and still say, it was no match for the winter of 1947.

Ditto. I was also 8. We had an outside loo. Chilly.

I am convinced that I remember us getting back to Worthy Down, outside Winchester, in 1963 and the snow being up to our second floor windows because of drift. I also remember my dad taking me into work about that time because the computers the RAPC , which were the size of a gym hall and had less computing power than this phone, generated so much heat the building was way warmer than our house.
The problem is that at that time I was 2 years, 3-4 months. Can anyone really remember back that far or have I created the memories from what I was told?

FWIW I think you can.

They are more like pictures than conventional memory. But they fit. My kids seem to struggle to remember much before they were 5. All that expense on holidays to Disney wasted.

DavidL

Ange Postecoglou needs to do a Fergie here and change the strip at half time. That is the worst away strip I think I have ever seen. They almost disappear on the pitch.

Flatlander

AugustusCarp2 said:

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I would like to know a bit more about winter tyres, as I understand that they are mandatory in Germany. I have to drive to Southern Bavaria in March. 1) is that "winter" there? 2) do I really need a new set of tyres? 3) wouldn't existing set be OK? I'm only going for a long weekend, and I can't get there by train.

I don't think there's a fixed period, it is just "winter conditions" when they are mandatory. March might be dodgy.

Anything with the alpine symbol (mountain with snowflake) on it will pass, which does include some 'AllSeason' types.

I have a set of these:
https://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/b2c/car/tyres/wintercontact-ts-860/

That may be overkill for just a weekend. Maybe wait and see if global warming kicks in...

TheScreamingEagles

DavidL said:

Ange Postecoglou needs to do a Fergie here and change the strip at half time. That is the worst away strip I think I have ever seen. They almost disappear on the pitch.

You haven't seen Liverpool's kit from last season?

Good lord, even I couldn't defend this one.

DavidL

Jim_Miller said:

In the US, snow removal failures can end political careers, for mayors. I can think, offhand, of two cities where that has happened, Chicago and Seattle, and I am sure there are many more.

Here's a hint for aspiring polticians: If there is a big snowfall in your area, and you need sidewalks cleared quickly, enlist the local sports teams in friendly competitions.

(In my little suburb, home owners are supposed to clear the walks in front of their homes. About half do, in my neighborhood.

In Germany in the 1970s the law required this. You got fined if you didn't. Public spirited neighbours would clear the parts belonging to older people. Not sure if they had an exemption or not but the paths were cleared everywhere before 8.

TheScreamingEagles

England's new ODI team look quite tasty.

325 against the Windies on what looks like a 250 pitch.

AugustusCarp2

Flatlander said:

AugustusCarp2 said:

Flatlander said:

boulay said:

Nigelb said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Proportional to the availability of local government funding, which is why they have inadequate grit, and vehicles able to deal with a few inches uf snow in the road.
Given the relative rarity of heavy snowfalls in much of the UK in recent decades, you can understand why councils don’t allocate much of their dwindling resources to it.

I remember in Geneva they had, despite it being worthwhile and justifiable to spend on vehicles to deal with snow, special boxes that went on the back of skip lorries which sprayed grit and snow plough attachments for tractors so when there was heavy snow the skip companies and farmers put the attachments on and were paid to help deal with the roads.

Whilst it’s still a cost it’s a lot cheaper option for a country like the UK than buying millions of specialist gritters and ploughs.

I don't know why more people don't use winter tyres. They work really well on cold wet roads as well as snowy ones.

You can only wear one set of tyres out at a time so they don't really add much to running costs.

I would like to know a bit more about winter tyres, as I understand that they are mandatory in Germany. I have to drive to Southern Bavaria in March. 1) is that "winter" there? 2) do I really need a new set of tyres? 3) wouldn't existing set be OK? I'm only going for a long weekend, and I can't get there by train.

I don't think there's a fixed period, it is just "winter conditions" when they are mandatory. March might be dodgy.

Anything with the alpine symbol (mountain with snowflake) on it will pass, which does include some 'AllSeason' types.

I have a set of these:
https://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/b2c/car/tyres/wintercontact-ts-860/

That may be overkill for just a weekend. Maybe wait and see if global warming kicks in...

(Bated breath! Thanks.)

OldKingCole

DavidL said:

kjh said:

algarkirk said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

This is what a proper winter (1963) was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSdIT2Sp0s

Not the chilly spells with a dusting of light snow that we get these days.

(BBC documentary for Cliff Michelmore fans)

I remember it well. I had just turned 8. An era before most had central heating. Most of my memories of ice inside windows, in solid middle class London, come from that winter of early 1963. And it was an extraordinary start to what proved to be something of an epoch making and marking year. For Larkin it was the annus mirabilis, though not without irony.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

A further footnote is that at the time older folks said, and still say, it was no match for the winter of 1947.

Ditto. I was also 8. We had an outside loo. Chilly.

I am convinced that I remember us getting back to Worthy Down, outside Winchester, in 1963 and the snow being up to our second floor windows because of drift. I also remember my dad taking me into work about that time because the computers the RAPC , which were the size of a gym hall and had less computing power than this phone, generated so much heat the building was way warmer than our house.
The problem is that at that time I was 2 years, 3-4 months. Can anyone really remember back that far or have I created the memories from what I was told?

I have a vague memory of my sister being born in 1941. I was about 2.5. Trouble I’ve also got a photo of a proud little boy holding his baby sister. We’re both well wrapped up as there was snow in early January in SW Wales, where my mother had taken us as being safer than Canvey Island.

kinabalu

algarkirk said:

DavidL said:

kjh said:

algarkirk said:

Alphabet_Soup said:

This is what a proper winter (1963) was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSdIT2Sp0s

Not the chilly spells with a dusting of light snow that we get these days.

(BBC documentary for Cliff Michelmore fans)

I remember it well. I had just turned 8. An era before most had central heating. Most of my memories of ice inside windows, in solid middle class London, come from that winter of early 1963. And it was an extraordinary start to what proved to be something of an epoch making and marking year. For Larkin it was the annus mirabilis, though not without irony.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

A further footnote is that at the time older folks said, and still say, it was no match for the winter of 1947.

Ditto. I was also 8. We had an outside loo. Chilly.

I am convinced that I remember us getting back to Worthy Down, outside Winchester, in 1963 and the snow being up to our second floor windows because of drift. I also remember my dad taking me into work about that time because the computers the RAPC , which were the size of a gym hall and had less computing power than this phone, generated so much heat the building was way warmer than our house.
The problem is that at that time I was 2 years, 3-4 months. Can anyone really remember back that far or have I created the memories from what I was told?

FWIW I think you can.

I have long had a crystal clear memory of a scene in a tv series where a character called Mrs Tolley is found dead lying on a sofa with her eyes fully open. It disturbed me greatly, stayed in my head my whole life. The woman on the sofa, dead, the eyes. I figured I'd have been quite small when I watched it. Maybe about 9 or 10.

A couple of years ago I decided to research it. Turns out the series was A Man Called Harry Brent, written by Francis Durbridge, shown on the BBC in 1965. So I was either 4 or 5. That amazed me. The clarity of the memory is greater than the last tv drama I watched which was last week. And the impact was a hundredfold. It brought home to me how very early childhood can punch above its weight.

isam

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

TimS

I can’t help noticing at this time of year - early winter, up to the first week or two of January - the regularity of deaths of famous people. This last couple of weeks have kicked off the season early.

I assume it’s the weather and the usual seasonal toll that it takes on the old and unwell. In any case it’s always a sobering reminder, of mortality and the passing of time.

Also a reminder, when you read the tributes, of how most people on this earth are pretty decent.

kinabalu

isam said:

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

And (Bowie voice) was it a real snowman?

viewcode

kinabalu said:

isam said:

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

And (Bowie voice) was it a real snowman?

[Bowie impersonation on]

Aaaand WaWaWaas it a reeeeeeeeeeeeel snwmn?

[Bowie impersonation off]

isam

kinabalu said:

isam said:

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

And (Bowie voice) was it a real snowman?

Bowie’s hair in the early 80s was fantastic. Such a turnaround from the weird 70s look. One of the first records I ever bought was Modern Love, he looked really cool in the video

The snowman was real, and he was called Sausage

DavidL

TheScreamingEagles said:

England's new ODI team look quite tasty.

325 against the Windies on what looks like a 250 pitch.

Sam Curran opening the bowling? I mean, really? Useful cricketer, great competitor but opening? Seems odd.

Edit. Went for 11. Hmm.

Sunil_Prasannan

TheScreamingEagles said:

Test

Die Hard is most definitely a Christmas movie!

Die Hard is a Christmas movie, full stop.
Steven E. de Souza, who penned the film’s script more than 30 years ago, is adamant about that.

https://blog.finaldraft.com/steven-e-de-souza-die-hard-is-a-christmas-movie

kinabalu

viewcode said:

kinabalu said:

isam said:

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

And (Bowie voice) was it a real snowman?

[Bowie impersonation on]

Aaaand WaWaWaas it a reeeeeeeeeeeeel snwmn?

[Bowie impersonation off]

Absolutely spot on. It's like he's right here with us again. Posting on PB.

OldKingCole

The first Christmas after we were married we went from Rochdale to Canvey Island on Boxing Day to spend New Year with my parents. That was 1962 and there were no motorways so we set off in our Mini on what we expected to be a seven or so hours drive. As we approached Cambridge it started to snow hard, and halfway to Chelmsford we got stuck in a snowdrift. Fortunately the snowplough team were not far behind and the crew turned our little car round and we got across to the A11 and made our way South. Took us 11 hours in all!

kinabalu

isam said:

kinabalu said:

isam said:

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

And (Bowie voice) was it a real snowman?

Bowie’s hair in the early 80s was fantastic. Such a turnaround from the weird 70s look. One of the first records I ever bought was Modern Love, he looked really cool in the video

The snowman was real, and he was called Sausage

All together now ... Awwww.

I liked all of Bowie's ch-ch-ch-changing looks.

Eg the Snowman. Managed to look the bees knees in a 'busy' and too tight Christmas jumper.

OldKingCole

DavidL said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

England's new ODI team look quite tasty.

325 against the Windies on what looks like a 250 pitch.

Sam Curran opening the bowling? I mean, really? Useful cricketer, great competitor but opening? Seems odd.

Edit. Went for 11. Hmm.

Not overly impressed with the bowling selections, TBH.

TheScreamingEagles

Sunil_Prasannan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Test

Die Hard is most definitely a Christmas movie!

Die Hard is a Christmas movie, full stop.
Steven E. de Souza, who penned the film’s script more than 30 years ago, is adamant about that.

https://blog.finaldraft.com/steven-e-de-souza-die-hard-is-a-christmas-movie

And I describe myself as a modest guy.

Doesn't make it true, just like Mr de Souza's assertion.

Sunil_Prasannan

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Test

Die Hard is most definitely a Christmas movie!

Die Hard is a Christmas movie, full stop.
Steven E. de Souza, who penned the film’s script more than 30 years ago, is adamant about that.

https://blog.finaldraft.com/steven-e-de-souza-die-hard-is-a-christmas-movie

And I describe myself as a modest guy.

Doesn't make it true, just like Mr de Souza's assertion.

He wrote the script! I would rather believe him than some random bloke on PB

TimS

kinabalu said:

isam said:

kinabalu said:

isam said:

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

And (Bowie voice) was it a real snowman?

Bowie’s hair in the early 80s was fantastic. Such a turnaround from the weird 70s look. One of the first records I ever bought was Modern Love, he looked really cool in the video

The snowman was real, and he was called Sausage

All together now ... Awwww.

I liked all of Bowie's ch-ch-ch-changing looks.

Eg the Snowman. Managed to look the bees knees in a 'busy' and too tight Christmas jumper.

When our eldest was little we watched the snowman (complete with Bowie) endlessly during the run up to Christmas. It’s a magical film with magical animation and magical music. I used to well up every time, particularly during that motorbike scene as they ride across the snowy downs in the moonlight with various wildlife crossing their path.

What Isam describes on his birthday does indeed sound exciting.

rcs1000

Leon said:

Looks like AUKUS wasn’t just for show


https://www.ft.com/content/42d5bbc4-a9ea-41ae-af38-101def4ce367

The French must still be smarting. Oh well

The French have managed to move the submarine order to Taiwan. So it looks a win for all concerned: the Taiwanese get a modern submarine fleet much sooner than would otherwise have been the case, and we strengthen our ties with the Anglo world.

TimS

Wh

Sunil_Prasannan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Test

Die Hard is most definitely a Christmas movie!

Die Hard is a Christmas movie, full stop.
Steven E. de Souza, who penned the film’s script more than 30 years ago, is adamant about that.

https://blog.finaldraft.com/steven-e-de-souza-die-hard-is-a-christmas-movie

And I describe myself as a modest guy.

Doesn't make it true, just like Mr de Souza's assertion.

He wrote the script! I would rather believe him than some random bloke on PB

Ive never watched Die Hard. Or any sequels.

There, I said it.

I’m going to log into Amazon this evening and watch it. Then I’ll tell you all if it’s a Christmas movie.

Andy_JS

"While the exact details of who owns what percentages of Reform UK remain veiled in secrecy, according to one inside figure who knows the breakdown it is simple enough. In total there are 15 shares, of which Farage owns eight, Tice five, Oakden one and the party secretary, Mehrtash a’Zami, one. According to Companies House, this makes Farage — officially — a person with “significant control” over the company, which they define as having “the right, directly or indirectly, to appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors”."

https://unherd.com/2023/12/nigel-farages-plan-for-power/

TheScreamingEagles

My word, Le Celso.

DavidL

OldKingCole said:

The first Christmas after we were married we went from Rochdale to Canvey Island on Boxing Day to spend New Year with my parents. That was 1962 and there were no motorways so we set off in our Mini on what we expected to be a seven or so hours drive. As we approached Cambridge it started to snow hard, and halfway to Chelmsford we got stuck in a snowdrift. Fortunately the snowplough team were not far behind and the crew turned our little car round and we got across to the A11 and made our way South. Took us 11 hours in all!

We had a similar journey after visiting family in Dundee over Christmas in the very early 1960s going back to Cheltenham. My dad drove for 13 hours and then found a side street where he could just sleep in the car. It was not safe to go on.

Andy_JS

Can anyone explain why there's a question mark over whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie?

LostPassword

DecrepiterJohnL said:

rcs1000 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Nick Clegg banks £5.5m from Meta share sales
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nick-clegg-banks-55m-from-meta-share-sales-7bjtsrnk7 (£££)

Question: is that the *profit* on the sales? Or is that the gross value of the shares sold? (When you exercise options, you need to pay the strike price. And Meta shares haven't been that great performers of late.)

Meta's share price has more than doubled over the last five years, and has recovered from its recent big dip. Last year it fell back to where it started but has since recovered. No idea why.

Meta spent a lot of money on the metaverse for no return, and this spooked investors who worried that Zuckerberg was going to spend all the profits on his whims. More recently he's fired a lot of employees, convincing investors that he can keep costs under control.

Sunil_Prasannan

Andy_JS said:

Can anyone explain why there's a question mark over whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie?

More from de Souza:

For additional proof, De Souza suggests looking at the film’s source; a book called Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. The novel takes place on December 24 — Christmas Eve — and is told through John McClane’s perspective.

“He’s thinking of all the Christmases he wasn’t with his family because of being a cop and before that, being in the army,” de Souza said.

isam

kinabalu said:

isam said:

kinabalu said:

isam said:

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

And (Bowie voice) was it a real snowman?

Bowie’s hair in the early 80s was fantastic. Such a turnaround from the weird 70s look. One of the first records I ever bought was Modern Love, he looked really cool in the video

The snowman was real, and he was called Sausage

All together now ... Awwww.

I liked all of Bowie's ch-ch-ch-changing looks.

Eg the Snowman. Managed to look the bees knees in a 'busy' and too tight Christmas jumper.

Bowie aged like a fine wine. Was a bit of a minger in the 70s though for me - the white powder years…

Tres

Andy_JS said:

Can anyone explain why there's a question mark over whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie?

It was released in the middle of summer.

Sunil_Prasannan

Tres said:

Andy_JS said:

Can anyone explain why there's a question mark over whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie?

It was released in the middle of summer.

Still set during Christmas!

Titanic was released in 1997, but it was set in 1912.

Alphabet_Soup

Sunil_Prasannan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Test

Die Hard is most definitely a Christmas movie!

Die Hard is a Christmas movie, full stop.
Steven E. de Souza, who penned the film’s script more than 30 years ago, is adamant about that.

https://blog.finaldraft.com/steven-e-de-souza-die-hard-is-a-christmas-movie

And I describe myself as a modest guy.

Doesn't make it true, just like Mr de Souza's assertion.

He wrote the script! I would rather believe him than some random bloke on PB

Glaswegians say Aye:

https://www.glasgowworld.com/best-in/16-of-the-all-time-best-christmas-films-as-chosen-by-glaswegians-4430845?page=1

Although some people might debate whether Die Hard is or isn't a Christmas film - our readers say it is and who are we to disagree? "Welcome to the party, pal!"

Sunil_Prasannan

Alphabet_Soup said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Test

Die Hard is most definitely a Christmas movie!

Die Hard is a Christmas movie, full stop.
Steven E. de Souza, who penned the film’s script more than 30 years ago, is adamant about that.

https://blog.finaldraft.com/steven-e-de-souza-die-hard-is-a-christmas-movie

And I describe myself as a modest guy.

Doesn't make it true, just like Mr de Souza's assertion.

He wrote the script! I would rather believe him than some random bloke on PB

Glaswegians say Aye:

https://www.glasgowworld.com/best-in/16-of-the-all-time-best-christmas-films-as-chosen-by-glaswegians-4430845?page=1

Although some people might debate whether Die Hard is or isn't a Christmas film - our readers say it is and who are we to disagree? "Welcome to the party, pal!"

"Twas The Night Before Christmas, And All Through The House, Not A Creature Was Stirring, Except... The Four Assholes Coming In The Rear In Standard Two-By-Two Cover Formation"

Alphabet_Soup

isam said:

kinabalu said:

isam said:

kinabalu said:

isam said:

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

And (Bowie voice) was it a real snowman?

Bowie’s hair in the early 80s was fantastic. Such a turnaround from the weird 70s look. One of the first records I ever bought was Modern Love, he looked really cool in the video

The snowman was real, and he was called Sausage

All together now ... Awwww.

I liked all of Bowie's ch-ch-ch-changing looks.

Eg the Snowman. Managed to look the bees knees in a 'busy' and too tight Christmas jumper.

Bowie aged like a fine wine. Was a bit of a minger in the 70s though for me - the white powder years…

He starred in an unforgettable movie, The Man who Fell to Earth, (1976) which traced the Musk-like adventures of a commercial genius from another planet.

DavidL

Alphabet_Soup said:

isam said:

kinabalu said:

isam said:

kinabalu said:

isam said:

TimS said:

Stuartinromford said:

david_herdson said:

So the degree of enjoyment is inversely proportional to the likelihood of it happening, going by those regional breakdowns? Or in other words, it's more enjoyable in concept than reality*?

* After a couple of days anyway.

Pretty much.

Snow should arrive overnight (but not until everyone is safely home... There was a notorious snowfall in Cambridge in the early 2000s where the gritters got caught in the evening traffic jams) and melt properly the following day, avoiding slush and black ice.

Yes, I am from southern Hampshire, how did you guess?

(The best snowfall I ever experienced was when some freak conditions led to snow falling in Seville. It sent the locals utterly bonkers.)

Snow should of course start falling just before the children’s bedtime on an already frosty Christmas Eve. There should have been no snow beforehand. Then the following day should dawn under a thick sparkling cover.

That’s the Hollywood canon but I don’t think it’s actually done that in my entire adult life, maybe my entire life. There’s been snowfall on Christmas Day, though nothing special. There’s been snow lying on Christmas Day from a previous fall. But not the classic Christmas Eve overnight fall.

Will it happen in Southern England in my lifetime? Or ever?

That happened not on Christmas Eve but my birthday last year. I went out for Sunday lunch with my parents, girlfriend and our children, came home and watched The Snowman. When we looked outside at about 6pm it had started to snow. Put the kids to bed, and in the morning the snow had settled so we built a snowman in the back garden.

Followers of mine on insta or Facebook will have seen this documented, I was quite excited by it all

And (Bowie voice) was it a real snowman?

Bowie’s hair in the early 80s was fantastic. Such a turnaround from the weird 70s look. One of the first records I ever bought was Modern Love, he looked really cool in the video

The snowman was real, and he was called Sausage

All together now ... Awwww.

I liked all of Bowie's ch-ch-ch-changing looks.

Eg the Snowman. Managed to look the bees knees in a 'busy' and too tight Christmas jumper.

Bowie aged like a fine wine. Was a bit of a minger in the 70s though for me - the white powder years…

He starred in an unforgettable movie, The Man who Fell to Earth, (1976) which traced the Musk-like adventures of a commercial genius from another planet.

He was good in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.

FrankBooth

Reports that a British ship could be sinking in the Red Sea after being hit.

isam

FrankBooth said:

Reports that a British ship could be sinking in the Red Sea after being hit.

Brace?

boulay

isam said:

FrankBooth said:

Reports that a British ship could be sinking in the Red Sea after being hit.

Brace?

No, just the one.

OysterOctopus

Happy first day of Advent all.

My favourite Christmas film is On Her Majesty's Secret Service

CatMan

TheScreamingEagles said:

England's new ODI team look quite tasty.

325 against the Windies on what looks like a 250 pitch.

Urghhh, now you've done it...

DavidL

CatMan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

England's new ODI team look quite tasty.

325 against the Windies on what looks like a 250 pitch.

Urghhh, now you've done it...

England really need some wickets but they look pretty toothless so far.

TheScreamingEagles

CatMan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

England's new ODI team look quite tasty.

325 against the Windies on what looks like a 250 pitch.

Urghhh, now you've done it...

I shall exile myself to ConHome.

FrankBooth

I'm no middle east expert but what other than direct action is going to stop Iranian escalation?

Fairliered

OysterOctopus said:

Happy first day of Advent all.

My favourite Christmas film is On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Mrs. F has been watching Christmas movies. Unless Die Hard features hot chocolate with marshmallows, accompanied by cookies, it’s not a Christmas movie.

TimS

Vanilla is being a right bugger this evening.

Anyway, war with Iran it is. They’ve had it coming.