Punters think there will be a Johnson VONC but he’ll win it – politicalbetting.com

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:

kinabalu said:

Leon said:

IshmaelZ said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

https://twitter.com/marinapurkiss/status/1532312890451144704

Johnson has clearly never put his son to bed in his life

And it is the easiest, most rewarding thing in the whole of parenthood.

You know the worst bit? Realising that you are never again going to pick them up off the sofa and carry them up to bed *without waking them.*

No, not for me. Tho that is a sweet moment: putting them to bed

For me, the terrible moment comes somewhere around 10-12 - and is in fact a sequence of moments - when they lose that perfect innocent childish unselfawareness, and the adult begins to emerge. They look at a toy, or a doll, or their favourite book - and they thrust it away. They do not need help to get to sleep. The door is shut. You hear the first troubled sigh of teenagerdom, which lies just ahead

I found it piercing, and quite saddening, but unavoidable of course, and something comes along to replace it. Sort of

What about the moment when they realize you're not superman you're just a bloke and quite a dodgy one too?

Or hasn't that happened yet?

For me it was the other way around. I’m serious. A deep period of mistrust gave way to “actually dad’s quite fun, if a bit unreliable”

That was a GOOD moment

I am at that moment that you refer to upthread - the start of teenagerdom - with my eldest. It is painful, and repeatedly saddening. The world's weight is on her shoulders. She is no longer carefree, nor does she want to be.
And then, as today, I look at her in a moment of joy, and cry actual tears of pride and awe. Quite apart from all of her more important qualities, she is just so astonishingly beautiful.
If only she would realise it, at least a bit.

Yes, it’s an unspoken sadness of parenting

You fall in love with this person. Your child. And then they change. Profoundly. More than any spouse might change

The experience is not unlike grief, to my mind. And it seems near universal if you dig deep enough

And then they often move away…and seem to forget all about you. This is of course what you want to a certain extent

But it’s hard for the parent

I’m not at the moving away stage yet but I can see the sadness in friends to whom it has already happened

That's interesting. Do people really change that much? My eldest turns 16 next month and I wouldn't say she has really changed much from when she was a little girl.

Leon said:

Aslan said:

state_go_away said:

williamglenn said:

Farooq said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

What about the most beautiful men?
(It's Sweden)

What about the country with the biggest discrepancy between male and female attractiveness?

India imho

It's clearly Russia. The women are stunning, lean beauties, while the men tend to be scrawny teenagers that graduate to be flabby, dumpy types that age very quickly.

Belarus is incredible for this. The woman are possibly even more beautiful than Russians (what is it with Eastern European genes and cheekbones?) and yet the men are apathetic drunks who die at 56

Honestly. Check out the life expectancy stats for Belarus. The men die about 15 years younger or something mad

The standard in Eastern Europe is simply phenomenal.

 

junius said:

I too remember the Coronation of 1953. I was 9 years old.
Yes - a host of relatives crowded into an Uncle's house to watch his tiny telly.
Curtains drawn all day - couldn't see the telly if the room wasn't dark.
My bottom ached from sitting on an upright chair for hours and hours. And if I asked a simple question like "Who is that person?" - the relatives would reply in unison "shush your noise" - we are watching the Coronation".

Someone had told me beforehand that the Queen would have her breast anointed with oil at some stage in the proceedings. I got ready to go to the toilet when that happened to avoid my juvenile embarrassment. I think the anointing was done behind a screen - for which I was grateful.

Oh how I looked forward to being back at school the following day.

Hi junius, you're the same age as me. Lots of people got their first tv for the coronation, my family too. As a choirboy I had learned the various anthems like Zadok the Priest for the coronation, which were sung in church.

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:

kinabalu said:

Leon said:

IshmaelZ said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

https://twitter.com/marinapurkiss/status/1532312890451144704

Johnson has clearly never put his son to bed in his life

And it is the easiest, most rewarding thing in the whole of parenthood.

You know the worst bit? Realising that you are never again going to pick them up off the sofa and carry them up to bed *without waking them.*

No, not for me. Tho that is a sweet moment: putting them to bed

For me, the terrible moment comes somewhere around 10-12 - and is in fact a sequence of moments - when they lose that perfect innocent childish unselfawareness, and the adult begins to emerge. They look at a toy, or a doll, or their favourite book - and they thrust it away. They do not need help to get to sleep. The door is shut. You hear the first troubled sigh of teenagerdom, which lies just ahead

I found it piercing, and quite saddening, but unavoidable of course, and something comes along to replace it. Sort of

What about the moment when they realize you're not superman you're just a bloke and quite a dodgy one too?

Or hasn't that happened yet?

For me it was the other way around. I’m serious. A deep period of mistrust gave way to “actually dad’s quite fun, if a bit unreliable”

That was a GOOD moment

I am at that moment that you refer to upthread - the start of teenagerdom - with my eldest. It is painful, and repeatedly saddening. The world's weight is on her shoulders. She is no longer carefree, nor does she want to be.
And then, as today, I look at her in a moment of joy, and cry actual tears of pride and awe. Quite apart from all of her more important qualities, she is just so astonishingly beautiful.
If only she would realise it, at least a bit.

Yes, it’s an unspoken sadness of parenting

You fall in love with this person. Your child. And then they change. Profoundly. More than any spouse might change

The experience is not unlike grief, to my mind. And it seems near universal if you dig deep enough

And then they often move away…and seem to forget all about you. This is of course what you want to a certain extent

But it’s hard for the parent

I’m not at the moving away stage yet but I can see the sadness in friends to whom it has already happened

I don't know what will happen with my daughter (now three) in her teenage years but all the horror stories I heard about babies, the terrible-twos and a threenager have turned out not to be true.

I also see many children who continue to have close relationships with their parents into adulthood, although that of course changes in nature, so we will roll with the punches and hope to come out ok the other side.

Poor Her Majesty.

Queen to miss Friday events after 'discomfort'

We've just had this from Buckingham Palace:

The Queen greatly enjoyed today’s birthday parade and flypast but did experience some discomfort. Taking into account the journey and activity required to participate in tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, Her Majesty with great reluctance has concluded that she will not attend. The Queen is looking forward to participating in tonight’s beacon lighting event at Windsor Castle and would like to thank all those who made today such a memorable occasion."

The Queen greatly enjoyed today’s birthday parade and flypast but did experience some discomfort. Taking into account the journey and activity required to participate in tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, Her Majesty with great reluctance has concluded that she will not attend. The Queen is looking forward to participating in tonight’s beacon lighting event at Windsor Castle and would like to thank all those who made today such a memorable occasion."

Strikes me as a decent point about how a strength can also be a weakness.

A disruptive personality can be an electoral asset when seen to disrupt an enemy (e.g. a disliked 'establishment'), but becomes a major liability when seen to be a cause of disruption to the daily lives of many millions (work, NHS, care homes, schools, standard of living, etc).

https://twitter.com/george_yarrow/status/1532254822082256896

Leon said:

IshmaelZ said:

Leon said:

IshmaelZ said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

Largest no of beautiful, or beautifullest?

Both. I think. Most beautiful per capita and the extremely beautifullest

Runner up countries


Ukraine
Iceland
Japan
Northern Italy
The Basters of Namibia


I’ve heard Mongolian women are GORGE… but I’ve not been there

Golly, perhaps Basters look better when out of that ridiculous kit.

Lol yes. Google images is not flattering

I’ve been to the baster capital - Rehobotj. And they really were notably pretty - or so I recall 🤷‍♂️

Their name literally means “bastard”. They are the offspring of breeding between whites and Khoisan

And Khoisan can be strikingly lovely. The cheekbones thing again. Zulu men used to prey upon petite San women for their looks

What is it with you and your "cheekbone" fetish??

Cookie said:

Leon said:

kinabalu said:

Leon said:

IshmaelZ said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

https://twitter.com/marinapurkiss/status/1532312890451144704

Johnson has clearly never put his son to bed in his life

And it is the easiest, most rewarding thing in the whole of parenthood.

You know the worst bit? Realising that you are never again going to pick them up off the sofa and carry them up to bed *without waking them.*

No, not for me. Tho that is a sweet moment: putting them to bed

For me, the terrible moment comes somewhere around 10-12 - and is in fact a sequence of moments - when they lose that perfect innocent childish unselfawareness, and the adult begins to emerge. They look at a toy, or a doll, or their favourite book - and they thrust it away. They do not need help to get to sleep. The door is shut. You hear the first troubled sigh of teenagerdom, which lies just ahead

I found it piercing, and quite saddening, but unavoidable of course, and something comes along to replace it. Sort of

What about the moment when they realize you're not superman you're just a bloke and quite a dodgy one too?

Or hasn't that happened yet?

For me it was the other way around. I’m serious. A deep period of mistrust gave way to “actually dad’s quite fun, if a bit unreliable”

That was a GOOD moment

I am at that moment that you refer to upthread - the start of teenagerdom - with my eldest. It is painful, and repeatedly saddening. The world's weight is on her shoulders. She is no longer carefree, nor does she want to be.
And then, as today, I look at her in a moment of joy, and cry actual tears of pride and awe. Quite apart from all of her more important qualities, she is just so astonishingly beautiful.
If only she would realise it, at least a bit.

For me it was somewhere around 11/12 when suddenly I realised we didn't go to the swings any more.

On the other hand, you go through some sticky moments in the teenage years and then suddenly you have this mature 20-year old who you can talk about anything with and who gives advice on whether I should sell up and clear the mortgage (and BTW yes I should, even though it's against her self interest).

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

IshmaelZ said:

Leon said:

IshmaelZ said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

Largest no of beautiful, or beautifullest?

Both. I think. Most beautiful per capita and the extremely beautifullest

Runner up countries


Ukraine
Iceland
Japan
Northern Italy
The Basters of Namibia


I’ve heard Mongolian women are GORGE… but I’ve not been there

Golly, perhaps Basters look better when out of that ridiculous kit.

Lol yes. Google images is not flattering

I’ve been to the baster capital - Rehobotj. And they really were notably pretty - or so I recall 🤷‍♂️

Their name literally means “bastard”. They are the offspring of breeding between whites and Khoisan

And Khoisan can be strikingly lovely. The cheekbones thing again. Zulu men used to prey upon petite San women for their looks

What is it with you and your "cheekbone" fetish??

Never heard people praise cheekbones or utilise makeup to emphasise them? Countouring I think it's called.

OnlyLivingBoy said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

I don't really approve of this kind of thing. But the answer is Sri Lanka.

Just open it up to all sexes, then it is fine.

OldKingCole said:

JosiasJessop said:

I've just come back from an afternoon Jubilee party on our street, in the back garden of one of the houses. The organisers had had a Ukrainian lady arrive this week to stay, along with her two young children.

Also present were two Indian kids who had only been in the country for a year. In total there were about eight kids between five and eight years old, with some not speaking any English, others speaking it a little, and the rest native speakers.

And the kids picked up balls and played together without any argument or rancour. Throwing the ball to each other, kicking it, wrestling playfully and generally having fun together, despite not really understanding each other.

It was brilliant to watch. And it's clear that the things that so often divide us: racism, sexism, -ism's in general, are not inherent traits, but learned ones.

Great isn’t it? Incidentally our six blue-tit chicks left the nest this morning.

Good to know someone had success!

Sadly all ours died last week. There was a lot of rain and wind on ?Tuesday? afternoon, and whilst I think I saw the mother after it, she did not return to the nestbox to roost that night, and I've not seen her since. The dad seemed to do his best, but I think the cold and/or hunger got the weakest chicks on that first night. Another succumbed the second day, but two were feeding very well from the dad all day. The next morning they could barely raise their heads up (it had been a coldish night), and they died that day.

A little upsetting for our son, but also a good lesson on nature.

(The mother had been looking ill for some time - she had a large bald spot at the back of her neck and head with no feathers. My guess is either attack from another bird or some form of mite infestation. Perhaps connected with her disappearance, perhaps not.)

Farooq said:

williamglenn said:

Farooq said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

What about the most beautiful men?
(It's Sweden)

What about the country with the biggest discrepancy between male and female attractiveness?

Easy. Scotland.

Are you saying that Scottish women are ugly?

TheScreamingEagles said:

I think this is a sign that Macron and the French want to honour the Treaty of Troyes.

Jubilé d’Elizabeth II: l'hymne britannique "God save the Queen" joué à l'Arc de Triomphe

https://twitter.com/BFMTV/status/1532401763365568514

I am prepared to serve as Her Majesty's Governor/First Minister of Aquitaine.

I think it’s more a sign that Macron realise the Stade de France debacle has not gone down well in the UK

NickPalmer said:

Interesting panic among some of the Tory rebels:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/02/boris-johnson-tory-rebel-mps-no-confidence-letters-gray-report

Waiting for the electorate in the by-elections to do the job for them strikes me as a bit spineless. What if the results are closer than expected, do they just give up?

Tories holding Tiverton is a perfectly reasonable prospect. But it would change nothing about the real Tory problem. If they delay on 'wait and see' grounds, as they have now for several months, there may never come an end to it. There is always the next milestone, just as there is always the next poll.

IshmaelZ said:

pigeon said:

Carnyx said:

Farooq said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

What about the most beautiful men?
(It's Sweden)

Thought it was Finland? Tom of Finland and all that. OK, quite a bit of overlap.

Somehow I doubt that the male population of Finland consists principally of 6'7" horse hung, leather clad muscle Marys.

A man can dream, though...

I'm saying no more. My husband might read this shit.

pigeon said:

Carnyx said:

Farooq said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

What about the most beautiful men?
(It's Sweden)

Thought it was Finland? Tom of Finland and all that. OK, quite a bit of overlap.

Somehow I doubt that the male population of Finland consists principally of 6'7" horse hung, leather clad muscle Marys.

Omg that’s so funny !

kinabalu said:

You should see the women in the area between Finchley Rd and Fitzjohns Avenue in North West London - Cor!

Ah, the yummy mummy brigade taking their kids to Devonshire House, The Hall, Northbridge, etc.

rcs1000 said:

kinabalu said:

You should see the women in the area between Finchley Rd and Fitzjohns Avenue in North West London - Cor!

Ah, the yummy mummy brigade taking their kids to Devonshire House, The Hall, Northbridge, etc.

Being in and around The Red Lion and Sun in Highgate at about 3.30-4pm on a weekday is never a bad thing

Alphabet_Soup said:

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

My wife, and the last few of my ex-girlfriends, were all foreign-born, so I guess I like the looks of foreign women. But I would say the most beautiful people - men and women - tend to be mixed-race. I knew a stunning German-Iranian lady, and another who was quarter English, quarter Scottish, quarter Chinese and quarter Guyanan. Looks wise, she appeared rather Japanese...

Some of the more unusual looking people may be found in Havre, Montana. The original mid-19th century inhabitants were 25% escaped slaves, 25% Chinese railroad navvies, 25% native American Cree and 25% Russian. After rolling the dice for six or seven generations the current population can best be described as sui generis.

Lol


Yes, it is definitely true that racial mixing does not ALWAYS produce stunning people. It can also go horribly wrong

Watching Borgen anyway. Great to have it back but rather too much effing and blinding for my taste. Why oh why? ...

pigeon said:

algarkirk said:

NickPalmer said:

Interesting panic among some of the Tory rebels:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/02/boris-johnson-tory-rebel-mps-no-confidence-letters-gray-report

Waiting for the electorate in the by-elections to do the job for them strikes me as a bit spineless. What if the results are closer than expected, do they just give up?

Tories holding Tiverton is a perfectly reasonable prospect. But it would change nothing about the real Tory problem. If they delay on 'wait and see' grounds, as they have now for several months, there may never come an end to it. There is always the next milestone, just as there is always the next poll.

A likely outcome is that the anti-Johnson faction dither, look for reasons to delay, sink into depressed defeatism and just give up. Especially those who have very large majorities and, feeling personally safe from the wrath of the electorate, succeed in convincing themselves of the "a period in opposition would do us good" argument.

In terms of winning, maybe waiting till the by election results is sensible, but my reading of next weeks vonc is it’s happened by not being about winning. I sense some of them now arn’t interested wether the vonc is won or not, they just want to have the sort of religious absolution of telling Boris he doesn’t have their support “not in my name” hence they can put letters in secret, some have spoken out publicly and thoughtfully and not even said they have letters in. It’s not about vonc winning but the public disavowal of Boris for absolution. That is what is driving this.

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

Not Thailand?

CorrectHorseBattery said:

NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.

The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event

She'll be passing by the end of the year

Are you a grim reaper ?

anyone else thinks it Saturday night?

Andy_JS said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

Not Thailand?

Definitely not Thailand. A really bad evolution in the Thai diet - the usual stuff, carbs, fast food, sugary treats - means they’ve gone from being slender and fine-complexioned to quite podgy and spotty in about 30 years

And for the purposes of balance this has also happened in the UK of course. It is a global phenomenon. Feck, it’s happened in my own family

One of the reasons Eastern European and East Asian women are so attractive is, perhaps, that they seem to be resisting the global tendency to blob out, so far

Andy_JS said:

Is it true that Anglo-Saxons are the least attractive ethnic group?

Depends.

Sunil_Prasannan said:

kinabalu said:

Farooq said:

Fairliered said:

Farooq said:

williamglenn said:

Farooq said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

What about the most beautiful men?
(It's Sweden)

What about the country with the biggest discrepancy between male and female attractiveness?

Easy. Scotland.

Are you saying that Scottish women are ugly?

No, the other way around, sadly.
The red hair and alabaster skin makes a lot of men look like those eyeless albino cave fish. For some reason it suits the women better. Pale and interesting types. Pheasant hair and freckles. Amy Pond.

You wish they all could be Caledonian girls?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLpXKUIU9zs

When they ran this 'Singapore Girls' ad in the 80's a well known creative did a critique saying "It's not the Singapore girls we're worried about. It's the Singapore bloke who's flying the plane!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hnhWYJU7VY

Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year.
So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay.
Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water.
The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature.
Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.

Fairliered said:

Farooq said:

williamglenn said:

Farooq said:

Leon said:

Controversial opinion of the day: what country has the most beautiful women?

I’m going out on an unexpected limb and I’m going to say…

…. Drum roll……

…. Nepal

YES. NEPAL

What about the most beautiful men?
(It's Sweden)

What about the country with the biggest discrepancy between male and female attractiveness?

Easy. Scotland.

Are you saying that Scottish women are ugly?

No, it's the men. Which is great for the men.

Cookie said:

Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year.
So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay.
Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water.
The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature.
Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.

You cannot beat a British holiday

Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year.
So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay.
Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water.
The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature.
Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.

“She’ll have passed by the end of the year”

Blimey. Way to go for the jugular

Leon said:

Gardenwalker said:

Cornwall is like a very small, overcrowded NZ.

Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks

Moa Cornish exceptionalism ...

Farooq said:

Cookie said:

Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year.
So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay.
Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water.
The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature.
Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.

Respectfully, a strong disagree. Beaches with rivers are bad news due to agricultural runoff. Who knows what muck is getting washed off the fields directly into your bathing water?

Well I take your point, but having something to dam is part of the fun. It only has to be a little stream.

IshmaelZ said:

Cookie said:

Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year.
So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay.
Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water.
The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature.
Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.

Go to the Scillies. They are everything Cornwall aspires to be.

30 miles off the coast?

IshmaelZ said:

Leon said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.

The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event

She'll be passing by the end of the year

Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. Traitor

Also, the English for "die" is "die." Not fucking pass.

yes ever heard of the film- Passed Away Hard 9

IshmaelZ said:

Leon said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.

The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event

She'll be passing by the end of the year

Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. Traitor

Also, the English for "die" is "die." Not fucking pass.

Unless you are a southern preacher, or Toni Morrison or something, yes.

Leon said:

Gardenwalker said:

Cornwall is like a very small, overcrowded NZ.

Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks

Yeh we don’t have any of those.
But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.

And better wine, too.

Ah, the grand old Georgian musical traditions live on, wonderfully!

The picturesque wine bar at the end of my derelict but adorable 18th century street in Old Tbilisi is having a birthday party, and it is full of young people, lustily singing along to…. Sex Bomb by Tom Jones and I Love You Baby

MattW said:

Interesting to note that Mick Fealty has decided to leave Twitter after 15 years, explaining his reasons here:

https://sluggerotoole.com/2022/06/01/why-im-leaving-twitter-fifteen-years-after-i-first-jumped-into-an-unending-stream-of-news-and-tat/

Never heard of him.

Lest I sound too smug, I should admit that the tops of my feet are rather sunburned and I am currently worrying about when to intervene in the 'game' going on outside which seems to involve my youngest chasing some older boys around with a big stick.

Gardenwalker said:

Leon said:

Gardenwalker said:

Cornwall is like a very small, overcrowded NZ.

Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks

Yeh we don’t have any of those.
But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.

And better wine, too.

Pity the moas are extinct. Now that would have been something. But the tuatara ...