I mean The Clash have about a million songs about London including, er, London Calling and also Guns of Brixton, London's Burning, White Man in Hammersmith Palais, etc.
Virtually their entire oeuvre is an homage to London.
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
I don't think it would be fent. Even our govt has the good sense to be monitoring the sewage for it and I am sure if the french found it the press would be full of omg le fent en Europe stories
Excellent piece on what the us drug problem looks like in phoenix Arizona (doubly sad because phoenix Arizona features in the most feel good song ever written)
That's more of a feel-melancholy song imo. Also a good example of how the vastness and diversity of America gives them such a songwriting advantage.
By the time I get to Crawley she'll be ... well whatever she'll be doing it doesn't work at all, does it.
"I never thought it would happen with me & the girl from Clapham..."
I think the UK has decent songwriting scope. You have the Scottish Highlands, London, (think Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset). Sadly Wales and Cornwall haven't been successfully mined for pop songs.
London has a lot of songs. Including one of the most beautiful songs ever written:
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
I reckon the Tori Amos version from Good Omens is particularly fine
London also has Waterloo Sunset, which I would contend is also one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
I have a thing about songs written on the vague theme of 'home', even if it's not my own home. See also:
Local Hero Country Road Oblong of Dreams Wichita Lineman
Any others?
Big River by Jimmy Nail (Newcastle)
Two Fingers by Jake Bugg (Nottingham)
Sheffield Sex City by Pulp (er, Sheffield).
California by Joni Mitchell (California)
Or if you want to broaden your horizons Et jitt kei Wood by Cat Ballou (Cologne)
Locals say that Cologne is the city that has the most songs about it in the world. No idea if it's true, but I don't know anywhere else where even immigrants who don't speak the dialect know at least the choruses of dozens of songs about the place.
Grown men cry every time they sing along to:
"Su simmer all he hinjekumme, mir sprechen hück all dieselve Sproch. Mir han dodurch su vill jewonne. Mir sin wie mer sin, mir Jecke am Rhing. Dat es jet ,wo mer stolz drop sin" by Bläck Fööss
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
I don't think it would be fent. Even our govt has the good sense to be monitoring the sewage for it and I am sure if the french found it the press would be full of omg le fent en Europe stories
Excellent piece on what the us drug problem looks like in phoenix Arizona (doubly sad because phoenix Arizona features in the most feel good song ever written)
That's more of a feel-melancholy song imo. Also a good example of how the vastness and diversity of America gives them such a songwriting advantage.
By the time I get to Crawley she'll be ... well whatever she'll be doing it doesn't work at all, does it.
"I never thought it would happen with me & the girl from Clapham..."
I think the UK has decent songwriting scope. You have the Scottish Highlands, London, (think Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset). Sadly Wales and Cornwall haven't been successfully mined for pop songs.
London has a lot of songs. Including one of the most beautiful songs ever written:
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
I reckon the Tori Amos version from Good Omens is particularly fine
London also has Waterloo Sunset, which I would contend is also one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
I have a thing about songs written on the vague theme of 'home', even if it's not my own home. See also:
Local Hero Country Road Oblong of Dreams Wichita Lineman
Any others?
Big River by Jimmy Nail (Newcastle)
Two Fingers by Jake Bugg (Nottingham)
Sheffield Sex City by Pulp (er, Sheffield).
California by Joni Mitchell (California)
Or if you want to broaden your horizons Et jitt kei Wood by Cat Ballou (Cologne)
Locals say that Cologne is the city that has the most songs about it in the world. No idea if it's true, but I don't know anywhere else where even immigrants who don't speak the dialect know at least the choruses of dozens of songs about the place.
Grown men cry every time they sing along to:
"Su simmer all he hinjekumme, mir sprechen hück all dieselve Sproch. Mir han dodurch su vill jewonne. Mir sin wie mer sin, mir Jecke am Rhing. Dat es jet ,wo mer stolz drop sin" by Bläck Fööss
Cologne is quite an ugly town (“sorry about that” - the RAF) with a noble cathedral
I’m finding it hard to believe it has the “most songs written about it” of any city in the world
I would guess at New York, with london and Paris not far behind
In 2016 Khan received 44.2% of the vote and Labour received 40.3% in the London Assembly list. So Khan was +3.9 on his party.
In 2021 Khan received 40.0% of the vote and Labour received 38.1% in the London Assembly list. So Khan was +1.9 on his party.
Wonder what that will look like this time?
The voting system change will mean that the comparison isn't worth much, but I'd guess at the difference being higher this time as a result of the forced choice.
(Second round last time was ~55%, though that's not a great point of comparison either)
Although there aren’t many overnight results those due to declare by 3am should give a very good pointer to the parties fortunes over the next few days .
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
I don't think it would be fent. Even our govt has the good sense to be monitoring the sewage for it and I am sure if the french found it the press would be full of omg le fent en Europe stories
Excellent piece on what the us drug problem looks like in phoenix Arizona (doubly sad because phoenix Arizona features in the most feel good song ever written)
That's more of a feel-melancholy song imo. Also a good example of how the vastness and diversity of America gives them such a songwriting advantage.
By the time I get to Crawley she'll be ... well whatever she'll be doing it doesn't work at all, does it.
"I never thought it would happen with me & the girl from Clapham..."
I think the UK has decent songwriting scope. You have the Scottish Highlands, London, (think Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset). Sadly Wales and Cornwall haven't been successfully mined for pop songs.
London has a lot of songs. Including one of the most beautiful songs ever written:
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
I reckon the Tori Amos version from Good Omens is particularly fine
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
I don't think it would be fent. Even our govt has the good sense to be monitoring the sewage for it and I am sure if the french found it the press would be full of omg le fent en Europe stories
Excellent piece on what the us drug problem looks like in phoenix Arizona (doubly sad because phoenix Arizona features in the most feel good song ever written)
That's more of a feel-melancholy song imo. Also a good example of how the vastness and diversity of America gives them such a songwriting advantage.
By the time I get to Crawley she'll be ... well whatever she'll be doing it doesn't work at all, does it.
"I never thought it would happen with me & the girl from Clapham..."
I think the UK has decent songwriting scope. You have the Scottish Highlands, London, (think Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset). Sadly Wales and Cornwall haven't been successfully mined for pop songs.
London has a lot of songs. Including one of the most beautiful songs ever written:
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
I reckon the Tori Amos version from Good Omens is particularly fine
London also has Waterloo Sunset, which I would contend is also one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
I have a thing about songs written on the vague theme of 'home', even if it's not my own home. See also:
Local Hero Country Road Oblong of Dreams Wichita Lineman
Any others?
Big River by Jimmy Nail (Newcastle)
Two Fingers by Jake Bugg (Nottingham)
Sheffield Sex City by Pulp (er, Sheffield).
California by Joni Mitchell (California)
Or if you want to broaden your horizons Et jitt kei Wood by Cat Ballou (Cologne)
Locals say that Cologne is the city that has the most songs about it in the world. No idea if it's true, but I don't know anywhere else where even immigrants who don't speak the dialect know at least the choruses of dozens of songs about the place.
Grown men cry every time they sing along to:
"Su simmer all he hinjekumme, mir sprechen hück all dieselve Sproch. Mir han dodurch su vill jewonne. Mir sin wie mer sin, mir Jecke am Rhing. Dat es jet ,wo mer stolz drop sin" by Bläck Fööss
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
I don't think it would be fent. Even our govt has the good sense to be monitoring the sewage for it and I am sure if the french found it the press would be full of omg le fent en Europe stories
Excellent piece on what the us drug problem looks like in phoenix Arizona (doubly sad because phoenix Arizona features in the most feel good song ever written)
That's more of a feel-melancholy song imo. Also a good example of how the vastness and diversity of America gives them such a songwriting advantage.
By the time I get to Crawley she'll be ... well whatever she'll be doing it doesn't work at all, does it.
"I never thought it would happen with me & the girl from Clapham..."
I think the UK has decent songwriting scope. You have the Scottish Highlands, London, (think Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset). Sadly Wales and Cornwall haven't been successfully mined for pop songs.
London has a lot of songs. Including one of the most beautiful songs ever written:
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
I reckon the Tori Amos version from Good Omens is particularly fine
London also has Waterloo Sunset, which I would contend is also one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
I have a thing about songs written on the vague theme of 'home', even if it's not my own home. See also:
Local Hero Country Road Oblong of Dreams Wichita Lineman
Any others?
Big River by Jimmy Nail (Newcastle)
Two Fingers by Jake Bugg (Nottingham)
Sheffield Sex City by Pulp (er, Sheffield).
California by Joni Mitchell (California)
Or if you want to broaden your horizons Et jitt kei Wood by Cat Ballou (Cologne)
Locals say that Cologne is the city that has the most songs about it in the world. No idea if it's true, but I don't know anywhere else where even immigrants who don't speak the dialect know at least the choruses of dozens of songs about the place.
Grown men cry every time they sing along to:
"Su simmer all he hinjekumme, mir sprechen hück all dieselve Sproch. Mir han dodurch su vill jewonne. Mir sin wie mer sin, mir Jecke am Rhing. Dat es jet ,wo mer stolz drop sin" by Bläck Fööss
Cologne is quite an ugly town (“sorry about that” - the RAF) with a noble cathedral
I’m finding it hard to believe it has the “most songs written about it” of any city in the world
I would guess at New York, with london and Paris not far behind
You may be right, but there are lots of new songs about Cologne written every year for carnival, some of which enter the canon. It's a bit like songs about Christmas in England - even if you don't like Christmas you'll know quite a few Christmas songs, and new ones are written every year to add to the traditional ones and more recent 'classics'.
I certainly know a hell of a lot more songs about Cologne than about London (where I also lived), despite not speaking the language they are sung in!
Kate Forbes won’t enter the race to succeed Humza Yousaf.
Praises Swinney.
Sound of an ALBAnian bagpipe deflating.
Forbes is the only one that might have delivered an indyref within the next decade. Are we presuming swinney will retire in 2026 giving Forbes a third go? Who knows, he might find he likes the job. She might get bored and do something else
Indy drifts ever further away. Ah well
And yet the polling..
Pretty sure there's lots of clothes rending and cries of 'What do we have to fucking do?!' in the Union unit or whatever daft name they have for it that polling for Indy remains consistently close to 50-50.
Scots will always aspire. Who doesn’t “want to be independent”? But the one and only chance was 2014
Incidentally and controversial take: the one and only achievement of this terrible government 2010-2024 is Brexit. And yet that is an incredible achievement which dwarfs anything done since thatcher. Its closer to a revolution in profundity
We haven’t seen the benefit yet. We may not for another decade or more. But eventually we will, as Jacob Rees mogg ill-advisedly said: this will come good within 50 years
The EU is trapped inside itself. We are not. We will never return and we will one day relish and exploit the freedom
I get that this upsets ardent Remainers and europhiles but then they could have avoided all this by giving us a referendum earlier and by not constantly lying to the British people about the EU. Twats
You were moaning the other day about the loss of freedom of movement whjc
52% don't want refugees from Islamic countries; 54% fear Germans becoming a minority; 57% say certain homeland areas no longer feel like Germany; 58% say migrants not integrated; 75% say migration overwhelms schools.
The Greasy Chip Butty Song (You Fill Up My Senses) – Sheffield United FC ... qualifies because it contains the line: You fill up my senses, like a night out in Sheffield.
52% don't want refugees from Islamic countries; 54% fear Germans becoming a minority; 57% say certain homeland areas no longer feel like Germany; 58% say migrants not integrated; 75% say migration overwhelms schools.
Textbook leading questions though, innit
Did they ask about "Jewish countries", or would that have been too obvious?
And how long do they think Republicans will "leave it to the states" to decide on the question ?
Visual on public attitudes about abortion across all 50 states. @PRRIpoll : "nearly two-thirds (64%) of residents in battleground states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases." https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1786033705477341641
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
I don't think it would be fent. Even our govt has the good sense to be monitoring the sewage for it and I am sure if the french found it the press would be full of omg le fent en Europe stories
Excellent piece on what the us drug problem looks like in phoenix Arizona (doubly sad because phoenix Arizona features in the most feel good song ever written)
That's more of a feel-melancholy song imo. Also a good example of how the vastness and diversity of America gives them such a songwriting advantage.
By the time I get to Crawley she'll be ... well whatever she'll be doing it doesn't work at all, does it.
"I never thought it would happen with me & the girl from Clapham..."
I think the UK has decent songwriting scope. You have the Scottish Highlands, London, (think Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset). Sadly Wales and Cornwall haven't been successfully mined for pop songs.
London has a lot of songs. Including one of the most beautiful songs ever written:
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
I reckon the Tori Amos version from Good Omens is particularly fine
London also has Waterloo Sunset, which I would contend is also one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
I have a thing about songs written on the vague theme of 'home', even if it's not my own home. See also:
Local Hero Country Road Oblong of Dreams Wichita Lineman
Any others?
Big River by Jimmy Nail (Newcastle)
Two Fingers by Jake Bugg (Nottingham)
Sheffield Sex City by Pulp (er, Sheffield).
California by Joni Mitchell (California)
Or if you want to broaden your horizons Et jitt kei Wood by Cat Ballou (Cologne)
Locals say that Cologne is the city that has the most songs about it in the world. No idea if it's true, but I don't know anywhere else where even immigrants who don't speak the dialect know at least the choruses of dozens of songs about the place.
Grown men cry every time they sing along to:
"Su simmer all he hinjekumme, mir sprechen hück all dieselve Sproch. Mir han dodurch su vill jewonne. Mir sin wie mer sin, mir Jecke am Rhing. Dat es jet ,wo mer stolz drop sin" by Bläck Fööss
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
I don't think it would be fent. Even our govt has the good sense to be monitoring the sewage for it and I am sure if the french found it the press would be full of omg le fent en Europe stories
Excellent piece on what the us drug problem looks like in phoenix Arizona (doubly sad because phoenix Arizona features in the most feel good song ever written)
That's more of a feel-melancholy song imo. Also a good example of how the vastness and diversity of America gives them such a songwriting advantage.
By the time I get to Crawley she'll be ... well whatever she'll be doing it doesn't work at all, does it.
"I never thought it would happen with me & the girl from Clapham..."
I think the UK has decent songwriting scope. You have the Scottish Highlands, London, (think Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset). Sadly Wales and Cornwall haven't been successfully mined for pop songs.
London has a lot of songs. Including one of the most beautiful songs ever written:
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
I reckon the Tori Amos version from Good Omens is particularly fine
London also has Waterloo Sunset, which I would contend is also one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
I have a thing about songs written on the vague theme of 'home', even if it's not my own home. See also:
Local Hero Country Road Oblong of Dreams Wichita Lineman
Any others?
Big River by Jimmy Nail (Newcastle)
Two Fingers by Jake Bugg (Nottingham)
Sheffield Sex City by Pulp (er, Sheffield).
California by Joni Mitchell (California)
Or if you want to broaden your horizons Et jitt kei Wood by Cat Ballou (Cologne)
Locals say that Cologne is the city that has the most songs about it in the world. No idea if it's true, but I don't know anywhere else where even immigrants who don't speak the dialect know at least the choruses of dozens of songs about the place.
Grown men cry every time they sing along to:
"Su simmer all he hinjekumme, mir sprechen hück all dieselve Sproch. Mir han dodurch su vill jewonne. Mir sin wie mer sin, mir Jecke am Rhing. Dat es jet ,wo mer stolz drop sin" by Bläck Fööss
Cologne is quite an ugly town (“sorry about that” - the RAF) with a noble cathedral
I’m finding it hard to believe it has the “most songs written about it” of any city in the world
I would guess at New York, with london and Paris not far behind
You may be right, but there are lots of new songs about Cologne written every year for carnival, some of which enter the canon. It's a bit like songs about Christmas in England - even if you don't like Christmas you'll know quite a few Christmas songs, and new ones are written every year to add to the traditional ones and more recent 'classics'.
I certainly know a hell of a lot more songs about Cologne than about London (where I also lived), despite not speaking the language they are sung in!
Fair enough
Tho soon there will be an infinite amount of songs about everywhere because of RED
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
I don't think it would be fent. Even our govt has the good sense to be monitoring the sewage for it and I am sure if the french found it the press would be full of omg le fent en Europe stories
Excellent piece on what the us drug problem looks like in phoenix Arizona (doubly sad because phoenix Arizona features in the most feel good song ever written)
That's more of a feel-melancholy song imo. Also a good example of how the vastness and diversity of America gives them such a songwriting advantage.
By the time I get to Crawley she'll be ... well whatever she'll be doing it doesn't work at all, does it.
"I never thought it would happen with me & the girl from Clapham..."
I think the UK has decent songwriting scope. You have the Scottish Highlands, London, (think Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset). Sadly Wales and Cornwall haven't been successfully mined for pop songs.
London has a lot of songs. Including one of the most beautiful songs ever written:
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
I reckon the Tori Amos version from Good Omens is particularly fine
Another Welsh entry. Abergavenny by Marty Wilde (Kim's dad).
Is this what election purdah looks like on PB?
Restricting it to just Great Britain cos I could think of a list just as long for Ireland.
Electric Avenue. Driving away from home Penny Lane Mull of Kintyre Ferry Cross the Mersey Fog on the Tyne Streets of London Eton Rifles White Cliffs of Dover The Leaving of Liverpool Box Hill or Bust On Ilkley Moor Bah Tat Scarborough Fair Solsbury Hill Brighton Rock Londinium The day we went to Bangor Loch Lomond (Skye Boat Song but that's not technically GB)
Not a song but an album is Londoon 0 Hull 4 and a famous band named after a town is Portishead.
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
You are misremembering.
GdN has been a shithole for as long as I've been going there although now in fact the brasseries opposite the station look rather attractive. Elsewhere people face down on the "bare sidewalk" (as opposed to...)? So what - happens all the time everywhere. One guy blotto for whatever reason and the city is falling apart is the thesis? Not 100% sure about that.
I was prepared to admit I’d got it wrong - or at least exaggerated - when I disembarked at Gare du Montparnasse
Soon as we crossed the Seine, nope, I was right. Besides the spectator agrees with me and that magazine is famously correct about everything
And I speak as the reincarnation of Napoleon and as the Jay Rayner of Place
In fact Napoleon was more a prior incarnation of me, really
Impressive the way you get away with using PB to promote yourself, your employer and the people who pay for your travel. If you want to do this you need to stop thinly-veiling your identity (which fools nobody) and declare your financial interest when you are doing PR for Brittany for example.
He's mentioned several times that he's on a jolly paid for by French taxpayers, in an attempt to provoke envy, and part of the reason a lot of us use pseudonyms is not so much to hide our identities from each other - there have been lots of PB get togethers - but to avoid our contributions to PB being tied to our identities with a simple Google search.
If he wants 'envy', then frankly he's failing. A healthy amount of LOLing and boredom, yes. But envy? No; at least from this direction.
I wouldn't swap my lifestyle for Leon's for a million pounds. If he's happy doing what he's doing; cool. But his constant LOOK AT MEEEEEE!!!! posting on here sorta indicates he's not that happy.
What Leon is good at doing is sparking debate, for good or ill. Except when it's the same boring topics that he obsesses on, despite having zero knowledge about them...
I presume he just doesn't have any friends, so has to bore us with his exploits instead.
In 2016 Khan received 44.2% of the vote and Labour received 40.3% in the London Assembly list. So Khan was +3.9 on his party.
In 2021 Khan received 40.0% of the vote and Labour received 38.1% in the London Assembly list. So Khan was +1.9 on his party.
Wonder what that will look like this time?
Be interesting to see if there is more tactical voting with the introduction of FPP.
Polling for the London race so far suggests the other parties are doing better than last time, contrary to what one might expect under FPTP. Of course, that may also be to do with dissatisfaction with the choice from the big two parties and/or voters presuming the result is a foregone conclusion.
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
I don't think it would be fent. Even our govt has the good sense to be monitoring the sewage for it and I am sure if the french found it the press would be full of omg le fent en Europe stories
Excellent piece on what the us drug problem looks like in phoenix Arizona (doubly sad because phoenix Arizona features in the most feel good song ever written)
That's more of a feel-melancholy song imo. Also a good example of how the vastness and diversity of America gives them such a songwriting advantage.
By the time I get to Crawley she'll be ... well whatever she'll be doing it doesn't work at all, does it.
"I never thought it would happen with me & the girl from Clapham..."
I think the UK has decent songwriting scope. You have the Scottish Highlands, London, (think Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset). Sadly Wales and Cornwall haven't been successfully mined for pop songs.
London has a lot of songs. Including one of the most beautiful songs ever written:
A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
I reckon the Tori Amos version from Good Omens is particularly fine
Hadn't come across that before - though it does sound familiar from somewhere. It is a fine song, anyway, and I shall add it to my summer playlist - it sits almost plum in the centre of the Cookie family taste venn diagram. A pedant would point out that at first listen it appears to be a love song rather than actually about home ('home is where I'm alone with you' - a fine sentiment, but one which actually hints that geography is unimportant, which is the opposite theme) - though it does have a chord structure hinting at themes of home. Anyway, it's lovely - thank you.
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
You are misremembering.
GdN has been a shithole for as long as I've been going there although now in fact the brasseries opposite the station look rather attractive. Elsewhere people face down on the "bare sidewalk" (as opposed to...)? So what - happens all the time everywhere. One guy blotto for whatever reason and the city is falling apart is the thesis? Not 100% sure about that.
I was prepared to admit I’d got it wrong - or at least exaggerated - when I disembarked at Gare du Montparnasse
Soon as we crossed the Seine, nope, I was right. Besides the spectator agrees with me and that magazine is famously correct about everything
And I speak as the reincarnation of Napoleon and as the Jay Rayner of Place
In fact Napoleon was more a prior incarnation of me, really
Impressive the way you get away with using PB to promote yourself, your employer and the people who pay for your travel. If you want to do this you need to stop thinly-veiling your identity (which fools nobody) and perhaps it would be fairer if you made it very clear when you have a financial interest in promoting a travel destination.
I don't know the traffic on here, but I can't help feeling that there are more cost-effective ways of promoting your trade than making numerous below-the-line comments on a politics blog. i.e. it doesn't really feel like marketing.
I didn't suggest that it was effective, I was merely criticising what I believe he uses the site for.
I comment very rarely on the site these days mainly because I can't understand why on earth folk like you feel the need to obsess over such trivialities. Get a life!
"Boris Johnson was turned away from a polling station when trying to vote in the local elections after forgetting to bring acceptable photo ID.
Sky News understands polling station staff were forced to turn the former prime minister away after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street."
Inflation under 2%, strong 2024 growth bouncing us out of recession and on path to further tax cuts, and interest rate and mortgage cuts too? On the hustings Sunak told Truss she was wrong and he could do it right, and has proved it by completely reversing the damage she caused.
Hope you don't mind me snipping this paragraph out. You appear to be suffering from the same hopium as HY is.
Inflation? How about interest rates? How about mortgages - you say "cuts" to rates but they have just gone *up* again. And a cut from the peak is still an increase - mine didn't go up as much as it could have done, but do you think I should be greatful to the Tories that my Truss Tax is *only* £170 a month?
Why are the Tories sinking so quickly? Because having put taxes up to their highest level they are telling people there has been a tax cut. Having opened the door to soaring levels of migration they're claiming they have cut it. Having put the price of *everything* up a lot they're saying they cut inflation.
I know that hopium gets you lot driving forward with "we can sell this" but in the real world the only thing you are selling is the determination to absolutely destroy this government. You cannot lie to people's faces and insist that their lived experience actually isn't what they experience daily. It just proves to more and more of them that you are utterly disconnected from reality and sanity.
Don’t mind debating you on this and your “Hopia” rubbish. You seem deluded about what polls are telling you, how politics works, and what’s about to happen.
What am I forecasting that you disagree with? General Election result on 4th July 2024 is 39% Labour 33% Conservative, or similar combination with Con just 5 or 6 behind. And you can’t see how on earth we quickly go from here to there? Is this the question I must answer?
The polling what matters to whole electorate, showing Labour ahead on all measures, bin it. For recovery to 34% Tories will focus on what matters to voters still leaning to them - it doesn’t matter a jot for every extra badger shot, 68% want Tories out even more, if Cons move from 24% to 32% and beyond targetting swingback. Tories have shipped about 10% to Reform in only 18 months, these are clearly softish votes. What do these recent reform voters, and those 2019 Tory Don’t Knows often in Mikes and TSE headers, need to hear during a campaign to be tempted back?
Remember how polls moved in 2017 and 2019 in the campaign. Every GE becomes a “forced choice” because support for minor parties like Reforms manifesto of unicorns, comes under pressure. One candidate wins FPTP in large constituency’s, this usually reduces voter option to 2 candidates who can win the seat. Conservative or Starmer, or waste your vote nearly everywhere - love it or hate it, you can’t deny FPTP does do this. And Voters know how painful letting in a horrible government and PM they get stuck with for 5 years, most will use their vote wisely not chuck it away. When I see this smorgasbord polling “choose your preferred unicorn” I shout at the screen: that mountain of deliberately wasted votes just won’t happen! It never does in a UK GE, so why now?
Only “Forced choice” polling from now gives us more realistic GE prediction. The last forced choice poll I noted was by Delta earlier in March, Lab just 11 points ahead 42% to 31%. Tories already polling in 30’s now before start of campaigning, before two party emphasis and squeezing others gets serious. I want to see forced choice poll from every pollster, don’t you? If forced choice polls taken exactly same time as normal one is completely different, and all have Tories in the 30+%, you will instantly see I am right, too much full options polling like todays Yougov is clearly misleading us.
Although I am closer to the Conservatives views now living back in North Yorkshire with parents and not in London, I am not voting Conservative. I’m casting my votes for libdems. The only reason I am explaining these facts is because there is a big elephant staring you in the face - This particular election has potential to dramatically change once starting gun fired. And it’s so funny you refuse to acknowledge it’s there.
“Don’t mind debating you on this and your “Hopia” rubbish. You seem deluded about what polls are telling you, how politics works, and what’s about to happen.”
Further thoughts on Paris. It really depends where you go. The left bank is generally much better. The 6th and 7th look fine. Even around Gare Montparnasse it looks civilised
It’s as soon as you cross the Seine and it’s anywhere in and around the 1st and 2nd, and of course, the Gare du Nord
I’m about 300m from the Opera and I just saw a guy lying flat out on the bare sidewalk, face down, apparently comatose. Fentanyl or Tranq I presume
You just didn’t see shit like that 20 years ago. Maybe even 5 years ago
It’s particularly noticeable in Paris BECAUSE it was once so pristine - and always beautiful. Now she’s like a model that got beaten up and lost three teeth and potentially an eye
You are misremembering.
GdN has been a shithole for as long as I've been going there although now in fact the brasseries opposite the station look rather attractive. Elsewhere people face down on the "bare sidewalk" (as opposed to...)? So what - happens all the time everywhere. One guy blotto for whatever reason and the city is falling apart is the thesis? Not 100% sure about that.
I was prepared to admit I’d got it wrong - or at least exaggerated - when I disembarked at Gare du Montparnasse
Soon as we crossed the Seine, nope, I was right. Besides the spectator agrees with me and that magazine is famously correct about everything
And I speak as the reincarnation of Napoleon and as the Jay Rayner of Place
In fact Napoleon was more a prior incarnation of me, really
Impressive the way you get away with using PB to promote yourself, your employer and the people who pay for your travel. If you want to do this you need to stop thinly-veiling your identity (which fools nobody) and perhaps it would be fairer if you made it very clear when you have a financial interest in promoting a travel destination.
I don't know the traffic on here, but I can't help feeling that there are more cost-effective ways of promoting your trade than making numerous below-the-line comments on a politics blog. i.e. it doesn't really feel like marketing.
I didn't suggest that it was effective, I was merely criticising what I believe he uses the site for.
I comment very rarely on the site these days mainly because I can't understand why on earth folk like you feel the need to obsess over such trivialities. Get a life!
I think I have made about 4 comments so far this year, so hardly obsessing about anything. To be honest I rarely dip in at all these days.
Comments
(Second round last time was ~55%, though that's not a great point of comparison either)
Tories Now Even Less Popular Than When Liz Truss Was Leader As Party Faces Election Meltdown
I certainly know a hell of a lot more songs about Cologne than about London (where I also lived), despite not speaking the language they are sung in!
That latest poll from Florida has him up 13%.
Abortion is not a deal-breaker, for a large number of people who are planning to vote for him.
Tho soon there will be an infinite amount of songs about everywhere because of RED
Electric Avenue.
Driving away from home
Penny Lane
Mull of Kintyre
Ferry Cross the Mersey
Fog on the Tyne
Streets of London
Eton Rifles
White Cliffs of Dover
The Leaving of Liverpool
Box Hill or Bust
On Ilkley Moor Bah Tat
Scarborough Fair
Solsbury Hill
Brighton Rock
Londinium
The day we went to Bangor
Loch Lomond
(Skye Boat Song but that's not technically GB)
Not a song but an album is Londoon 0 Hull 4 and a famous band named after a town is Portishead.
NEW THREAD
It is a fine song, anyway, and I shall add it to my summer playlist - it sits almost plum in the centre of the Cookie family taste venn diagram.
A pedant would point out that at first listen it appears to be a love song rather than actually about home ('home is where I'm alone with you' - a fine sentiment, but one which actually hints that geography is unimportant, which is the opposite theme) - though it does have a chord structure hinting at themes of home. Anyway, it's lovely - thank you.
Sky News understands polling station staff were forced to turn the former prime minister away after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street."
Fecking Bozo.
Wot - No comeback? 😁