Former England football captain now racehorse trainer Mick Channon still sometimes tells the story of when one of his horses sprinted away with me the day before a big race. It got the best Timeform rating of its career that day
Knobbleeneeze, if I spelt it right
I once met Mick Channons parents in the local pub with my parents. His mum asked me if i wanted to pop in and see his cats. She seemed put out when I politely declined. It was only later I realised she’d said caps…
I did my sixth form summer work experience shovelling horseshit at Mick's yard in Upper Lambourn, before he moved to Ilsley
I spent the summer there and rode that horse Knobbleeneeze every day. He only threw me off once
Former England football captain now racehorse trainer Mick Channon still sometimes tells the story of when one of his horses sprinted away with me the day before a big race. It got the best Timeform rating of its career that day
Knobbleeneeze, if I spelt it right
I once met Mick Channons parents in the local pub with my parents. His mum asked me if i wanted to pop in and see his cats. She seemed put out when I politely declined. It was only later I realised she’d said caps…
I did my sixth form summer work experience shovelling horseshit at Mick's yard in Upper Lambourn, before he moved to Ilsley
I spent the summer there and rode that horse Knobbleeneeze every day. He only threw me off once
Former England football captain now racehorse trainer Mick Channon still sometimes tells the story of when one of his horses sprinted away with me the day before a big race. It got the best Timeform rating of its career that day
Knobbleeneeze, if I spelt it right
I once met Mick Channons parents in the local pub with my parents. His mum asked me if i wanted to pop in and see his cats. She seemed put out when I politely declined. It was only later I realised she’d said caps…
I did my sixth form summer work experience shovelling horseshit at Mick's yard in Upper Lambourn, before he moved to Ilsley
I spent the summer there and rode that horse Knobbleeneeze every day. He only threw me off once
Getting an Adrian Chiles vibe from the Thomas guy lately.
Indeed. I guess you gotta make a buck, so you end up writing ludicrous stuff like this:
"It wasn’t just Daddy and Haystacks. Such was the scale and success of British TV wrestling in its heyday, many others achieved an unlikely fame, from Rollerball Rocco to Mick McManus to Drew McDonald. And then there was Kendo Nagasaki, the warrior spirit-demon.
"In case you haven’t guessed from his name – combining a famous Japanese martial art with the name of a Japanese city famously wiped out by an atom bomb – Kendo Nagasaki purported to be from Japan. He also went permanently masked, inside the ring and out, and he never spoke directly to interviewers, preferring to observe the world from behind his kabuki-like mask, with the silently impassive eyes of the implacable samurai. Never revealing that his real identity was in fact Peter Thornley, and he came from Stoke."
Now you mention it - I met both Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks in Blackpool back in the early 80s (possibly late 70s, god help me). Both quite charming.
Thinking about it a bit more - I also met-ish well known band. The girl I was dating at the time was from quite a posh family and her mother was with us. The band were at another table at the bar/restaurant making quite a lot of noise and the mother walked over to them and gave them quite a ticking off.
At the end of our meal we discovered it was paid for by some quite sheepish boys called 'The Pink Floyd'.
Also, and yes - I am aware this is getting even more tedious than rail-gauge chat or a Spectator column - I 100% did not encounter Jimmy Page at the Castlekirk b&b on Arran which in no way often has well known musicians as guests who do impromptu sets.
After my father's funeral I thought I'd better get a drink at the Blue Bar at the Berkeley. While I was waiting for a table I saw Tilda Swinton in the opposite bar. She was at a table with friends smoking.
I walked up to her and said I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to say this but I thought your performance in War Requiem was one of the most moving things I have ever seen.
Which it was. And with that I walked away and into the oblivion of several martinis.
Was nobody impressed by me meeting author Zadie Smith for about 10 seconds at a book signing in Oxford?
You've just reminded me that I met David Prowse at an autograph signing, so that was cool!
I went to school with a girl who's parents owned a fancy hotel (fancy in local terms). She told me David Prowse was staying and that he was Darth Vader.
I refused to believe her as he was the Green Cross Code guy.
And she brought me a double-sided signed photo of Dave and Darth with (in very BOLD writing) "From me to you. Dave Prowse *****IS***** Darth Vader."
At first glance Portland Oregon does look quite messed up. Only been here 3 minutes and I’ve seen 4 homeless people and a nutter right outside my hotel
At first glance Portland Oregon does look quite messed up. Only been here 3 minutes and I’ve seen 4 homeless people and a nutter right outside my hotel
Maybe Trump is right. Again
To think Portland in the 1990s was universally thought of as one of the best cities on the planet to live in.
At first glance Portland Oregon does look quite messed up. Only been here 3 minutes and I’ve seen 4 homeless people and a nutter right outside my hotel
Maybe Trump is right. Again
I have relatives who until very recently lived there for many years. Been many times. It was a great quirky city, went downhill badly during / post COVID. Both the homeless junkies and the far left nutters smashing up downtown every weekend. Has got a bit better recently.
One mad thing the mayor did a number of years ago was a promise to give accommodation to all homeless whatever their situation, so loads turned up / got bused there and overwhelmed the system.
At first glance Portland Oregon does look quite messed up. Only been here 3 minutes and I’ve seen 4 homeless people and a nutter right outside my hotel
Maybe Trump is right. Again
To think Portland in the 1990s was universally thought of as one of the best cities on the planet to live in.
Oregon is still a great state, the coast like Canon beach are fantastic and then you have the River Gorge and Mount Hood.
I've met a few famous people, only one where we both took mushrooms, but the only encounter I genuinely enjoyed was, I was sat at the Mound in Edinburgh, reading a copy of A Scanner Darkly, and I looked up at some people getting ready to do some filming. One of them looked familiar to me, and as it occurred to me that it was Rutger Hauer a huge grin spread across my face, and he looked at me, saw my developing grin, and he grinned himself, and there was this nice momentary connection.
At first glance Portland Oregon does look quite messed up. Only been here 3 minutes and I’ve seen 4 homeless people and a nutter right outside my hotel
Maybe Trump is right. Again
I have relatives who until very recently lived there for many years. Been many times. It was a great quirky city, went downhill badly during / post COVID. Both the homeless junkies and the far left nutters smashing up downtown every weekend. Has got a bit better recently.
One mad thing the mayor did a number of years ago was a promise to give accommodation to all homeless whatever their situation, so loads turned up / got bused there and overwhelmed the system.
The homeless in the US are economically rational: they will go wherever there are free beds and decent panhandling opportunities.
What this means is that if you implement measures that might work well if the homeless can't cross state lines, don't work at all, because all that happens is you attract more homeless. So, your well meaning effort to help solve homelessness... actually ends homelessness in Memphis, because all their homeless people head to Portland or wherever. (And this is made even worse by towns and cities across the US actually bussing their homeless to other places.)
Former England football captain now racehorse trainer Mick Channon still sometimes tells the story of when one of his horses sprinted away with me the day before a big race. It got the best Timeform rating of its career that day
Knobbleeneeze, if I spelt it right
I once met Mick Channons parents in the local pub with my parents. His mum asked me if i wanted to pop in and see his cats. She seemed put out when I politely declined. It was only later I realised she’d said caps…
I did my sixth form summer work experience shovelling horseshit at Mick's yard in Upper Lambourn, before he moved to Ilsley
I spent the summer there and rode that horse Knobbleeneeze every day. He only threw me off once
At first glance Portland Oregon does look quite messed up. Only been here 3 minutes and I’ve seen 4 homeless people and a nutter right outside my hotel
Maybe Trump is right. Again
I have relatives who until very recently lived there for many years. Been many times. It was a great quirky city, went downhill badly during / post COVID. Both the homeless junkies and the far left nutters smashing up downtown every weekend. Has got a bit better recently.
One mad thing the mayor did a number of years ago was a promise to give accommodation to all homeless whatever their situation, so loads turned up / got bused there and overwhelmed the system.
The homeless in the US are economically rational: they will go wherever there are free beds and decent panhandling opportunities.
What this means is that if you implement measures that might work well if the homeless can't cross state lines, don't work at all, because all that happens is you attract more homeless. So, your well meaning effort to help solve homelessness... actually ends homelessness in Memphis, because all their homeless people head to Portland or wherever. (And this is made even worse by towns and cities across the US actually bussing their homeless to other places.)
On the other hand, as the Mayor of San Francisco has shown, you can actually turn things around very quickly. All you need to do is to make homelessness less attractive, and pretty quickly people get the message and move on.
At first glance Portland Oregon does look quite messed up. Only been here 3 minutes and I’ve seen 4 homeless people and a nutter right outside my hotel
Maybe Trump is right. Again
To think Portland in the 1990s was universally thought of as one of the best cities on the planet to live in.
Oregon is still a great state, the coast like Canon beach are fantastic and then you have the River Gorge and Mount Hood.
Mount Hood is fine as long as you don't get stuck in the hotel for the winter...
I've met a few famous people, only one where we both took mushrooms, but the only encounter I genuinely enjoyed was, I was sat at the Mound in Edinburgh, reading a copy of A Scanner Darkly, and I looked up at some people getting ready to do some filming. One of them looked familiar to me, and as it occurred to me that it was Rutger Hauer a huge grin spread across my face, and he looked at me, saw my developing grin, and he grinned himself, and there was this nice momentary connection.
"A Scanner Darkly", written by Philip K Dick, author of "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep", which was filmed as "Blade Runner", starring... Rutger Hauer
I may have mentioned this before, but quite a close friend of mine used to go to Narcotics Anonymous Meetings in Highgate with the guy who played the Colonel in "It Ain't Half Hot Mum"
Which is pretty incredible in itself, but at the same meeting was the guy who played the bass in the regular band on the Kids' show Rainbow, the one with Bungle and Zippy
Yep. True story. All in the same room
I hate to cast doubt on your close friend but Donald Hewlett lived in Whitstable, near where I grew up (I lived off the A290 halfway to Canterbury) and his daughter was at Kings. I have reason to doubt he went to NA in Highgate…
Matthew Perry used to go to the NA/AA meeting at the church at the end of my road. I always say to friends who are coming to LA, if you want to meet celebrities go to an AA meeting in WeHo or Malibu or Santa Monica.
Got Matthew Perry's autograph at Wimbledon once for my sister, the line I got was 'got a pen on you'
Margaret Thatcher had two extramarital affairs, claims new book
Tina Gaudoin claims in The Incidental Feminist that the former prime minister had two affairs: one early in her career as an MP and one with another politician
Discussing her latest work at Cheltenham Literature Festival, which is sponsored by The Times and The Sunday Times, the author also claims that Denis Thatcher struck up a surprisingly close friendship with the former model Mandy Rice-Davies, one of the main figures in the Profumo affair, after the Thatchers left Downing Street.
Gaudoin said multiple sources, including the novelist and former Conservative minister Jonathan Aitken, told her that Margaret Thatcher was involved with somebody else “very early on in her parliamentary career”, and then “quite possibly” later with Sir Humphrey Atkins, the MP for Spelthorne....
...Sources told the author that Lord Bell, Thatcher’s head of PR, had an “extracurricular friendship” with the leader, and that “one of her favourite things” was Bell putting his hand on her knee “and other stuff” during dinners.
The Times should really not lower itself to such tittle tattle and smut when the late great Baroness is no longer around anyway to complain about this intrusion into her private life. It is supposed to be a serious paper not a tabloid
At first glance Portland Oregon does look quite messed up. Only been here 3 minutes and I’ve seen 4 homeless people and a nutter right outside my hotel
Maybe Trump is right. Again
To think Portland in the 1990s was universally thought of as one of the best cities on the planet to live in.
Oregon is still a great state, the coast like Canon beach are fantastic and then you have the River Gorge and Mount Hood.
Mount Hood is fine as long as you don't get stuck in the hotel for the winter...
Margaret Thatcher had two extramarital affairs, claims new book
Tina Gaudoin claims in The Incidental Feminist that the former prime minister had two affairs: one early in her career as an MP and one with another politician
Discussing her latest work at Cheltenham Literature Festival, which is sponsored by The Times and The Sunday Times, the author also claims that Denis Thatcher struck up a surprisingly close friendship with the former model Mandy Rice-Davies, one of the main figures in the Profumo affair, after the Thatchers left Downing Street.
Gaudoin said multiple sources, including the novelist and former Conservative minister Jonathan Aitken, told her that Margaret Thatcher was involved with somebody else “very early on in her parliamentary career”, and then “quite possibly” later with Sir Humphrey Atkins, the MP for Spelthorne....
...Sources told the author that Lord Bell, Thatcher’s head of PR, had an “extracurricular friendship” with the leader, and that “one of her favourite things” was Bell putting his hand on her knee “and other stuff” during dinners.
The Times should really not lower itself to such tittle tattle and smut when the late great Baroness is no longer around anyway to complain about this intrusion into her private life. It is supposed to be a serious paper not a tabloid
Former England football captain now racehorse trainer Mick Channon still sometimes tells the story of when one of his horses sprinted away with me the day before a big race. It got the best Timeform rating of its career that day
Knobbleeneeze, if I spelt it right
I once met Mick Channons parents in the local pub with my parents. His mum asked me if i wanted to pop in and see his cats. She seemed put out when I politely declined. It was only later I realised she’d said caps…
I did my sixth form summer work experience shovelling horseshit at Mick's yard in Upper Lambourn, before he moved to Ilsley
I spent the summer there and rode that horse Knobbleeneeze every day. He only threw me off once
"How Reform would crush all before them if election was held tomorrow: Explosive megapoll shows Nigel Farage set for the biggest Commons majority ever with Tories reduced to just seven MPs and Labour ministers culled
Nigel Farage is set for the biggest Commons majority in modern political history with the Tories reduced to just seven MPs, according to an explosive megapoll. Reform UK is on course to win 445 seats - with Labour down to 73 MPs if an election was held tomorrow. But tactical voting could block Mr Farage's path to victory, with more than a third of Labour voters saying they would back the Tories to stop Reform. The seat-by-seat MRP poll, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was carried out by communications firm PLMR with Electoral Calculus. MRP (multilevel regression and post-stratification) is widely seen as a more accurate way to predict how many seats each party will win. It forecast the Liberal Democrats are on course to win 42 seats, with the SNP set for 41 and Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party on 13. But the Tories came in sixth place with just seven MPs, narrowly ahead of the Greens on six, and Plaid Cymru on five. The poll of 7,449 British adults took place from September 10 to 18 - before the party conference season."
Seat figures:
Ref 445 Lab 73 LD 42 SNP 41 Your Party 13 Con 7 Grn 6 PC 5
"How Reform would crush all before them if election was held tomorrow: Explosive megapoll shows Nigel Farage set for the biggest Commons majority ever with Tories reduced to just seven MPs and Labour ministers culled
Nigel Farage is set for the biggest Commons majority in modern political history with the Tories reduced to just seven MPs, according to an explosive megapoll. Reform UK is on course to win 445 seats - with Labour down to 73 MPs if an election was held tomorrow. But tactical voting could block Mr Farage's path to victory, with more than a third of Labour voters saying they would back the Tories to stop Reform. The seat-by-seat MRP poll, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was carried out by communications firm PLMR with Electoral Calculus. MRP (multilevel regression and post-stratification) is widely seen as a more accurate way to predict how many seats each party will win. It forecast the Liberal Democrats are on course to win 42 seats, with the SNP set for 41 and Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party on 13. But the Tories came in sixth place with just seven MPs, narrowly ahead of the Greens on six, and Plaid Cymru on five. The poll of 7,449 British adults took place from September 10 to 18 - before the party conference season."
Seat figures:
Ref 445 Lab 73 LD 42 SNP 41 Your Party 13 Con 7 Grn 6 PC 5
"How Reform would crush all before them if election was held tomorrow: Explosive megapoll shows Nigel Farage set for the biggest Commons majority ever with Tories reduced to just seven MPs and Labour ministers culled
Nigel Farage is set for the biggest Commons majority in modern political history with the Tories reduced to just seven MPs, according to an explosive megapoll. Reform UK is on course to win 445 seats - with Labour down to 73 MPs if an election was held tomorrow. But tactical voting could block Mr Farage's path to victory, with more than a third of Labour voters saying they would back the Tories to stop Reform. The seat-by-seat MRP poll, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was carried out by communications firm PLMR with Electoral Calculus. MRP (multilevel regression and post-stratification) is widely seen as a more accurate way to predict how many seats each party will win. It forecast the Liberal Democrats are on course to win 42 seats, with the SNP set for 41 and Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party on 13. But the Tories came in sixth place with just seven MPs, narrowly ahead of the Greens on six, and Plaid Cymru on five. The poll of 7,449 British adults took place from September 10 to 18 - before the party conference season."
Seat figures:
Ref 445 Lab 73 LD 42 SNP 41 Your Party 13 Con 7 Grn 6 PC 5
I don't know where to start with this. Emigrate? It would be the K-T event in British politics. I don't know how it would translate into betting odds: go big on Farage in case the poll is right, or go big against Farage in case the poll is wrong. I don't like this...
"How Reform would crush all before them if election was held tomorrow: Explosive megapoll shows Nigel Farage set for the biggest Commons majority ever with Tories reduced to just seven MPs and Labour ministers culled
Nigel Farage is set for the biggest Commons majority in modern political history with the Tories reduced to just seven MPs, according to an explosive megapoll. Reform UK is on course to win 445 seats - with Labour down to 73 MPs if an election was held tomorrow. But tactical voting could block Mr Farage's path to victory, with more than a third of Labour voters saying they would back the Tories to stop Reform. The seat-by-seat MRP poll, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was carried out by communications firm PLMR with Electoral Calculus. MRP (multilevel regression and post-stratification) is widely seen as a more accurate way to predict how many seats each party will win. It forecast the Liberal Democrats are on course to win 42 seats, with the SNP set for 41 and Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party on 13. But the Tories came in sixth place with just seven MPs, narrowly ahead of the Greens on six, and Plaid Cymru on five. The poll of 7,449 British adults took place from September 10 to 18 - before the party conference season."
Seat figures:
Ref 445 Lab 73 LD 42 SNP 41 Your Party 13 Con 7 Grn 6 PC 5
Annoyingly, it is more than a month out of date.
It would be great to see the underlying data, to compare it with the other MRPs.
"How Reform would crush all before them if election was held tomorrow: Explosive megapoll shows Nigel Farage set for the biggest Commons majority ever with Tories reduced to just seven MPs and Labour ministers culled
Nigel Farage is set for the biggest Commons majority in modern political history with the Tories reduced to just seven MPs, according to an explosive megapoll. Reform UK is on course to win 445 seats - with Labour down to 73 MPs if an election was held tomorrow. But tactical voting could block Mr Farage's path to victory, with more than a third of Labour voters saying they would back the Tories to stop Reform. The seat-by-seat MRP poll, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was carried out by communications firm PLMR with Electoral Calculus. MRP (multilevel regression and post-stratification) is widely seen as a more accurate way to predict how many seats each party will win. It forecast the Liberal Democrats are on course to win 42 seats, with the SNP set for 41 and Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party on 13. But the Tories came in sixth place with just seven MPs, narrowly ahead of the Greens on six, and Plaid Cymru on five. The poll of 7,449 British adults took place from September 10 to 18 - before the party conference season."
Seat figures:
Ref 445 Lab 73 LD 42 SNP 41 Your Party 13 Con 7 Grn 6 PC 5
I don't know where to start with this. Emigrate? It would be the K-T event in British politics. I don't know how it would translate into betting odds: go big on Farage in case the poll is right, or go big against Farage in case the poll is wrong. I don't like this...
Comments
catscaps?At the end of our meal we discovered it was paid for by some quite sheepish boys called 'The Pink Floyd'.
Also, and yes - I am aware this is getting even more tedious than rail-gauge chat or a Spectator column - I 100% did not encounter Jimmy Page at the Castlekirk b&b on Arran which in no way often has well known musicians as guests who do impromptu sets.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd72p30v574o
Whether this is more than tinkering around the edges, we shall see...
DRACULA: "No, I think mine are just the right size, thank you."
I walked up to her and said I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to say this but I thought your performance in War Requiem was one of the most moving things I have ever seen.
Which it was. And with that I walked away and into the oblivion of several martinis.
I refused to believe her as he was the Green Cross Code guy.
And she brought me a double-sided signed photo of Dave and Darth with (in very BOLD writing) "From me to you. Dave Prowse *****IS***** Darth Vader."
Sadly, I lost it during a house move.
Maybe Trump is right. Again
One mad thing the mayor did a number of years ago was a promise to give accommodation to all homeless whatever their situation, so loads turned up / got bused there and overwhelmed the system.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy902djzv2o
The details are horrific.
https://www.ft.com/content/c1cfe06b-5b57-4ffd-97b4-46d7faeb8185
What this means is that if you implement measures that might work well if the homeless can't cross state lines, don't work at all, because all that happens is you attract more homeless. So, your well meaning effort to help solve homelessness... actually ends homelessness in Memphis, because all their homeless people head to Portland or wherever. (And this is made even worse by towns and cities across the US actually bussing their homeless to other places.)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15191843/Megapoll-Farage-Reform-Commons-majority.html
"How Reform would crush all before them if election was held tomorrow: Explosive megapoll shows Nigel Farage set for the biggest Commons majority ever with Tories reduced to just seven MPs and Labour ministers culled
Nigel Farage is set for the biggest Commons majority in modern political history with the Tories reduced to just seven MPs, according to an explosive megapoll. Reform UK is on course to win 445 seats - with Labour down to 73 MPs if an election was held tomorrow. But tactical voting could block Mr Farage's path to victory, with more than a third of Labour voters saying they would back the Tories to stop Reform. The seat-by-seat MRP poll, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was carried out by communications firm PLMR with Electoral Calculus. MRP (multilevel regression and post-stratification) is widely seen as a more accurate way to predict how many seats each party will win. It forecast the Liberal Democrats are on course to win 42 seats, with the SNP set for 41 and Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party on 13. But the Tories came in sixth place with just seven MPs, narrowly ahead of the Greens on six, and Plaid Cymru on five. The poll of 7,449 British adults took place from September 10 to 18 - before the party conference season."
Seat figures:
Ref 445
Lab 73
LD 42
SNP 41
Your Party 13
Con 7
Grn 6
PC 5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_United_Kingdom_general_election
It would be great to see the underlying data, to compare it with the other MRPs.