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Nine months of Johnson exit betting turbulence – politicalbetting.com

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  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,099
    Tres said:

    No counties in Louisiana, pal.
    Parishes then
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,867

    Gunning for Khan, KateMcCann tweets

    London Mayor Sadiq Khan coming in for a hell of a lot of criticism during Kit Malthouse statement on Met going into special measures. Calls for him to resign his position and for the Gov to remove his powers over policing in London...

    https://twitter.com/KateEMcCann/status/1542129323414528000?t=xexlFyJRWVRlYAfWllWqtA&s=19

    Doesn't sound like much a Malthouse compromise there lol...
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569

    Not an anachronism, just different circumstances. Plug-in electric kettles of the type ubiquitous in Britain are much less useful in the US because their 110v electric supply means the kettle takes much longer to boil than in countries with a 230/240v system. Cookers are on their own high-power circuit, separate from normal sockets, so they can boil water much quicker than a kettle.
    ?

    The cookers are a different voltage?
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    boulay said:

    And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!

    Distinction between Deep South and Upland South was illustrated by the fact that, in 1860-61 the former seceded from the Union BEFORE attack on Fort Sumter, whereas the latter seceded AFTER that, in the wake of Lincoln's call for troops.

    Distinction was witnessed again (partially) in
    > 1948 "Dixiecrat" revolt against the national Democratic Party lead by Strom Thurmond in the name of . . . wait for it . . . state rights for Whites as opposed to civil rights for Blacks.
    > 1960 with Barry Goldwater historic GOP victories in Deep South, at same time AuH2O was losing rest of US in equally-historic landslide
    > 1968 campaign of George Wallace running as an "American Independent" against Nixon and Humphrey and nearly helping to elect HHH by splitting the conservative vote.

    Divide between Deep and Upper South is becoming fuzzier over time. And has always been true that some states straddle the divide, for example Tennessee (mostly Upland except for Memphis & West TN) and Georgia (mostly Deep save for far North GA which is part of Appalachia).
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    Leon said:

    Has anyone else tried to read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon? My god what a slog. Impossibly slow, excessively long and notably dated. She’s right about Montenegrins tho. They are beautiful people

    No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.

    Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838
    Before Britons get too smug, we should note that anyone east of Istanbul, with money, is frankly appalled and disgusted that we don’t have bum guns - lavatory douches, instant bidets - in our loos. We just use…. Paper? UGH

    I have one in my flat in Camden
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    FPT

    I didn't miss either option - the reason I say it wasn't a coup is not because I'm arguing it wasn't violent - it's because there was no attempt at a 'change in the government' by those who stormed the Capitol. Storming the Capitol doesn't get you a change in Government. If you hang around long enough, all it gets you is taken out by any half decent SWAT team. I am also not saying that the group wouldn't have assaulted or killed Mike Pence had they seen him (though I feel they'd probably not have killed him), but that act, horiffic as it would have been, would still not have been a coup.

    I am not condoning the rioters actions. I am saying it was a riot (at best), a terror attack at worst. That's enough, without trying to gussy it up as a coup because 'it's Trump'.
    Have you missed that we have documented evidence that there was a plan to delay certification of the vote?
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Leon said:

    But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds

    A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
    Was taught (by Irish communist) that proper way to make tea, was to start with FRESH water, that is fresh from the tap.

    Does using an electric kettle lend itself to this?

    Or does it usually mean using water that been sitting in said kettle for some time?
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594
    edited June 2022
    Sandpit said:

    That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
    Yes I guess but it is Illinois.

    The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.

    With Trump endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?

  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569

    No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.

    Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
    My god. I just checked West out on good old wikipedia and she had a very long affair with HG Wells which produced a child.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838

    No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.

    Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
    1938 I think. Poignantly before the war

    It’s not just the length, it is the longueurs, whole passages where she waffles away, for 30 pages or whatever, about nothing, or she gives you her unexciting opinions on marriage or pancakes or pigeons or God

    Yet serious people say it is one of the greatest books of the 20th century? Disconcerting. Can’t see it
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 4,653
    Foxy said:

    What I found bizarre in NZ in 1990 was that they only had electric kettles (jugs in Kiwi language) that didn't turn themself off, and toasters that didn't eject. I burnt a lot of toast and kettle elements in my year there.
    An IT forum I'm part of which is full of Silicon Valley start-up types (worship musk/zuck/meta/white-heat-of-technology/whatever) had someone from Europe mention electric kettles and Their Minds Were Blown(TM).

  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 10,022

    For all those hoping that Ukraine might cede territory:

    In New Poll, 89% of Ukrainians Reject Ceding Land to Reach Peace With Russia
    Ukrainians back Zelensky’s position that peace talks can’t grant Russia land it has seized, WSJ-NORC poll finds

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-new-poll-89-of-ukrainians-reject-ceding-land-to-reach-peace-with-russia-11656504002?mod=e2tw

    Usual (and unusual) caveats apply...

    I'm a bit confused by the west's behaviour. It really isn't easy to tell what the strategy is for this war. Maybe that is because there are 30 Nato members and even different viewpoints within individual governments themselves. There doesn't seem to be much confidence that the Ukrainians can push the Russians back even as Moscow resorts to firing old anti-ship missiles at shopping malls. The 4 HIMARS sent by the US appear to be having an effect, could they not spare a few more since they're supposed to have 400? The GDP of Nato must be around $40tn. 0.25% of GDP would be $100bn. I'm guessing that would fund an awful lot of kit.

    Ukraine is mass mobilising and hoping to field an army up to one million strong. Now that will take some time. But unless Russia is going to mass mobilise in kind I just cannot see how they don't get forced out of all the areas the population don't want them there (Crimea being the most debatable) within 12 months. But that's provided we send them the ammo.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,099
    edited June 2022
    MISTY said:

    Yes I guess but it is Illinois.

    The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.

    With Trumpists endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?

    The SC verdict may well get them neither, Trump's SC nominations have been great for the US pro life movement and ensure the SC will rule unconstitutional any nationwide abortion right law but may well put the GOP out of power in both the White House and Congress for a decade.

    Pro choice swing states like Florida and Michigan for example will now lean Democrat.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,163

    Was taught (by Irish communist) that proper way to make tea, was to start with FRESH water, that is fresh from the tap.

    Does using an electric kettle lend itself to this?

    Or does it usually mean using water that been sitting in said kettle for some time?
    You could empty the kettle each time and draw fresh water. It depends how frequently you're boiling it, and how good you are at judging how much water you need to boil. Also how well insulated the kettle is, so how well it retains heat from the last use.

    The idea is supposedly that fresh water has more oxygen in it, but I find that it's very much a second-order effect compared to water hardness and the quality of the tea. So I don't bother to use fresh water any more.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022

    ?

    The cookers are a different voltage?
    Yes, domestic cookers and car chargers in North America are on 240v, the equivalent of a three-phase supply in the UK.

    The standard US domestic sockets are 110v and 12 or 15 amps. An American kettle would take more than twice as long to boil the same amount of water, as a European kettle.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,485
    GIN1138 said:

    Doesn't sound like much a Malthouse compromise there lol...
    There are big problems in the Met currently as I highlighted last evening.

    I doubt these are of Khan's making in toto - the problem has been one where the answer to any law and order issue in London is "more Police". To be fair, that was Shaun Bailey's answer to every question.

    Like so many other institutions, industries and organisations, the Met is short staffed and struggling with retention as much as recruitment. There are plenty of better paid (and safer) jobs out there and the truth is the Police are barely holding the thin blue line with even PCSO numbers struggling.

    There are some fundamental questions building about what kind of country/society/economy we want and they start with the unfortunate truth that whole there is plenty of work, no one wants to work any more - we are moving, if you will, into a post-work world (those advocating the remorseless advance of AI take note).
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022
    MISTY said:

    Yes I guess but it is Illinois.

    The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.

    With Trump endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?

    Wait until the Republican Govenor candidate starts campaigning about education and school boards.

    (It happened in Virginia a few months ago).
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601
    edited June 2022
    Sandpit said:

    An American kettle would take more than twice as long to boil the same amount of water, as a European kettle.
    I knew Atlanticists were a bunch of idiots. Truly, we are European through and through.
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 3,266
    Almost all modern American homes have both 110 volt and 220 volt electricity. source: https://magazine.realtor/home-and-design/architecture-coach/article/2008/08/home-electrical-systems-4-questions-you-should-be

    (My rather old apartment has both. Probably the 220 was added after it was built.)

    My old microwave takes 60 seconds to make water hot for one mug of tea, which I drink occasionally.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,635
    Leon said:

    But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds

    A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
    We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    On travel: Natwest have apparently come up with a list of the top 40 things to experience, travel-wise, in UK:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-10965147/The-40-UK-travel-experiences-try-turn-40-stargazing-Northumberland-No-1.html


    No doubt @Leon has done them all.

    Twice.

    Sadly, I have only managed eight.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022
    Leon said:

    Before Britons get too smug, we should note that anyone east of Istanbul, with money, is frankly appalled and disgusted that we don’t have bum guns - lavatory douches, instant bidets - in our loos. We just use…. Paper? UGH

    I have one in my flat in Camden

    LOL, that’s very true.

    (Although I can’t confirm about your flat in Camden).
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,686
    Is it me or is this crowd for the Murray match littered with a lot of arseholes?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,350
    edited June 2022

    No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.

    Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
    I believe it's pretty commonly accepted that 1984 is dated because it was written in the 40s.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    edited June 2022
    R kelly belueves he can fly. Not for the next 30 years in prison though. Pedo down
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594
    HYUFD said:

    The SC verdict may well get them neither, Trump's SC nominations have been great for the US pro life movement and ensure the SC will rule unconstitutional any nationwide abortion right law but may well put the GOP out of power in both the White House and Congress for a decade.

    Pro choice swing states like Florida and Michigan for example will now lean Democrat.
    It depends how big of an issue pro choice really is in America, given that many states will always be pro-choice.

    The New York Times is bemoaning how Dobbs was expected to boost turnout in Tuesday's primaries, especially democrat.

    It really didn't.

  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,686
    edited June 2022
    Taz said:

    We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
    Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.

    The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,099
    MISTY said:

    It depends how big of an issue pro choice really is in America, given that many states will always be pro-choice.

    The New York Times is bemoaning how Dobbs was expected to boost turnout in Tuesday's primaries, especially democrat.

    It really didn't.

    In primaries it won't make much difference because all the candidates on the Democrat side will be pro choice, it is the general election where it would make a difference. Especially if fiscally centrist to conservative but pro choice independents go Democrat in the swing states out of fear of an abortion ban not only in their own state but nationwide
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Sandpit said:

    That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
    Which is why the "helping the wingnut win the GOP primary" is NOT universally popular with Democrats.

    Conventional wisdom, however, among both Dems AND Reps, is that the latter have just shot themselves in the foot, by rejecting a self-funding moderate who could have really given Pritzker a run for HIS money, in favor of a guy most noted for protesting COVID regulations and advocating splitting the state at the Chicago line (less popular on both sides than you might imagine).
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,485
    edited June 2022

    On travel: Natwest have apparently come up with a list of the top 40 things to experience, travel-wise, in UK:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-10965147/The-40-UK-travel-experiences-try-turn-40-stargazing-Northumberland-No-1.html


    No doubt @Leon has done them all.

    Twice.

    Sadly, I have only managed eight.

    Most of them I wouldn't do even if those who pay people to go travelling paid me.

    Disappointing scaling Beckton Alp hasn't made the list.

    By the by, @HYUFD has failed to mention Epping Forest is "vast and wild" - sounds more like Barking on a Saturday night.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,350

    Is it me or is this crowd for the Murray match littered with a lot of arseholes?

    Not just you.

    'Let's go Andy, let's go..'

    Cringe
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838

    On travel: Natwest have apparently come up with a list of the top 40 things to experience, travel-wise, in UK:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-10965147/The-40-UK-travel-experiences-try-turn-40-stargazing-Northumberland-No-1.html


    No doubt @Leon has done them all.

    Twice.

    Sadly, I have only managed eight.


    That’s a fucking terrible list, written by a retard

    “Go hiking in vast, wild Epping Forest”


    @HYUFD will be surprised to learn he lives next to the Serengeti
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,635

    Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.

    The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
    There’s just the two of us. It’s fine for us. We have the one with two drawers.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,686
    Britain's Sir Andy Murray wins the third set.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    Leon said:


    That’s a fucking terrible list, written by a retard

    “Go hiking in vast, wild Epping Forest”


    @HYUFD will be surprised to learn he lives next to the Serengeti
    I agree. Although it is claimed this was a survey of 1000s rather than just written by a retard.

  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    Set point.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012

    On travel: Natwest have apparently come up with a list of the top 40 things to experience, travel-wise, in UK:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-10965147/The-40-UK-travel-experiences-try-turn-40-stargazing-Northumberland-No-1.html


    No doubt @Leon has done them all.

    Twice.

    Sadly, I have only managed eight.

    If that's the top 40 I'm emigrating to North Korea.

    A remarkable number of them are unimaginative honey pot stuff.

  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569

    Is it me or is this crowd for the Murray match littered with a lot of arseholes?

    Long day on the Pimms
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,686
    Taz said:

    There’s just the two of us. It’s fine for us. We have the one with two drawers.
    Same.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838
    stodge said:

    Most of them I wouldn't do even if those who pay people to go travelling paid me.

    Disappointing scaling Beckton Alp hasn't made the list.

    By the by, @HYUFD has failed to mention Epping Forest is "vast and wild" - sounds more like Barking on a Saturday night.
    How can you resist “the oldest, steepest inland electric funicular railway in England,” which “ranks 38th overall”?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,099
    Leon said:


    That’s a fucking terrible list, written by a retard

    “Go hiking in vast, wild Epping Forest”


    @HYUFD will be surprised to learn he lives next to the Serengeti
    Useful for walks in lockdown but am surprised it made the top 40
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,635

    Britain's Sir Andy Murray wins the third set.

    He seemed quite pleased too.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838

    I agree. Although it is claimed this was a survey of 1000s rather than just written by a retard.

    99% of people know fuck all about travel
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    MISTY said:

    It depends how big of an issue pro choice really is in America, given that many states will always be pro-choice.

    The New York Times is bemoaning how Dobbs was expected to boost turnout in Tuesday's primaries, especially democrat.

    It really didn't.

    Bit early too tell re: turnout for 2022. Note that NY State NOT a good test, as yesterday's primary was just for Gov & Lt Gov, which incumbents both won by landslides despite fact that each has only been in current office a bit more than 15 minutes.

    Also plenty of voters NEVER vote in primaries in first place, because they are waiting for the "real' election even when, as practical matter, primary proves decisive to final outcome.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012
    Leon said:


    That’s a fucking terrible list, written by a retard

    “Go hiking in vast, wild Epping Forest”


    @HYUFD will be surprised to learn he lives next to the Serengeti
    Quite. I am pleased to say that my score is and will remain not quite but close to Zero.

  • TresTres Posts: 2,820
    edited June 2022
    stodge said:

    There are big problems in the Met currently as I highlighted last evening.

    I doubt these are of Khan's making in toto - the problem has been one where the answer to any law and order issue in London is "more Police". To be fair, that was Shaun Bailey's answer to every question.

    Like so many other institutions, industries and organisations, the Met is short staffed and struggling with retention as much as recruitment. There are plenty of better paid (and safer) jobs out there and the truth is the Police are barely holding the thin blue line with even PCSO numbers struggling.

    There are some fundamental questions building about what kind of country/society/economy we want and they start with the unfortunate truth that whole there is plenty of work, no one wants to work any more - we are moving, if you will, into a post-work world (those advocating the remorseless advance of AI take note).
    Our local police station in SE London was closed when Johnson was Mayor, closest is now a 15 minute drive away.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,569

    Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.

    The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
    Or, three of the largest ones barely feed one Russian general.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    algarkirk said:

    If that's the top 40 I'm emigrating to North Korea.

    A remarkable number of them are unimaginative honey pot stuff.

    Stargazing in Northumberland no 1 because the night sky looks so distinctively different depending where in the hemisphere you observe it from.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    Leon said:

    99% of people know fuck all about travel
    I suspect they were just given this list and told to put in order.

  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838
    algarkirk said:

    Quite. I am pleased to say that my score is and will remain not quite but close to Zero.

    I’ve done about 5 but only by accident. Eg hiking in “vast, wild Epping Forest”. Frankly, I’m amazed I survived, looking back

    I can think of 40 better experiences in Devon. And at least 200 in London
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,686
    Taz said:

    He seemed quite pleased too.
    That point should have been replayed, that was a very naughty ball boy.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    Was taught (by Irish communist) that proper way to make tea, was to start with FRESH water, that is fresh from the tap.

    Does using an electric kettle lend itself to this?

    Or does it usually mean using water that been sitting in said kettle for some time?
    When I make water I make water, and when I make tea I make tea

    - God send you don't make them in the one pot

    Ulysses
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,686
    ydoethur said:

    Or, three of the largest ones barely feed one Russian general.
    I've realised we misunderstood Putin, that general isn't going to command troops, he's' going to be dropped on Kyiv, and cause more damage than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594

    Bit early too tell re: turnout for 2022. Note that NY State NOT a good test, as yesterday's primary was just for Gov & Lt Gov, which incumbents both won by landslides despite fact that each has only been in current office a bit more than 15 minutes.

    Also plenty of voters NEVER vote in primaries in first place, because they are waiting for the "real' election even when, as practical matter, primary proves decisive to final outcome.

    There were some polls showing big swings to dems after the verdict too, to be fair, but could be kneejerk I guess.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012
    Leon said:

    How can you resist “the oldest, steepest inland electric funicular railway in England,” which “ranks 38th overall”?
    If you want to understand and appreciate the real UK you would do as well to stand in the queue at Greggs on a wet November Monday lunchtime in Scunthorpe. (41st on the list and more fun than most of the top 40).

  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838
    I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest

    Eg number 29



    29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    Leon said:

    I’ve done about 5 but only by accident. Eg hiking in “vast, wild Epping Forest”. Frankly, I’m amazed I survived, looking back

    I can think of 40 better experiences in Devon. And at least 200 in London
    I have taken my mother-in-laws dog for a walk in the wilderness that is Epping on many occasions.

    It was touch and go to be honest on so many walks what with all the trees and the brackish ponds of water.

    Although apparently a severed head was found a few years ago in one of the ponds we used to go to.

  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012
    IshmaelZ said:

    When I make water I make water, and when I make tea I make tea

    - God send you don't make them in the one pot

    Ulysses
    Tennyson was such a card, but tea and pot don't rhyme.

  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Leon said:

    1938 I think. Poignantly before the war

    It’s not just the length, it is the longueurs, whole passages where she waffles away, for 30 pages or whatever, about nothing, or she gives you her unexciting opinions on marriage or pancakes or pigeons or God

    Yet serious people say it is one of the greatest books of the 20th century? Disconcerting. Can’t see it
    From my experience (personal & friends) appreciation of Black Lamb Grey Falcon (or is it the other way around?) depends on the reader having either
    > significant interest in Eastern Europe in general, and the Balkans in particular; or
    > enhanced appreciation for British writing of excruciating turgidity as seen (in USA via PBS) on Masterpiece Theatre
  • TresTres Posts: 2,820
    Leon said:

    I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest

    Eg number 29



    29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

    It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    edited June 2022
    algarkirk said:

    If that's the top 40 I'm emigrating to North Korea.

    A remarkable number of them are unimaginative honey pot stuff.

    Its gash.
    1) watch Corrie in an airBnB
    2) visit Croydon's public toilets
    3) look at a bee in Carlisle
    4) punch a beefeater in the cock after visiting a spoons
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    IshmaelZ said:

    Stargazing in Northumberland no 1 because the night sky looks so distinctively different depending where in the hemisphere you observe it from.
    3 is a balti in Birmingham.

    Now I grew up in Brum and I bloody love a good balti, but making that the third best travel thing in the whole UK is like bonkers.

    In fact, looking at the list again, I smell wokery.

  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,369

    I've realised we misunderstood Putin, that general isn't going to command troops, he's' going to be dropped on Kyiv, and cause more damage than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
    Doesn't that require some pretty impressive technology to lift him off the ground?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    Its gash.
    1) watch Corrie in an airBnB
    2) visit Croydon's public toilets
    3) look at a bee in Carlisle
    4) punch a beefeater in the cock after visiting a spoons
    Drink whiskey in Scotland

    Sail a punt
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,133
    kle4 said:

    Indeed not apparently, but I am genuinely confused - I get the clutter point, but how is a kettle on a stove simpler? The simplicity of either is pretty similar.
    And for people who do proper cooking, I am sure you all know how useful it is to be able to produce some boiling water in a minute or two for all manner of recipes on the stove.

    Really, the only way you can amaze an American more dramatically is if you tell them that you can get seriously ill or have a bad accident over here, be rushed to hospital, be treated, and sent home, and not have to pay a penny…..
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838
    Imagine the existential despair of waking up on your 40th birthday and realising that, despite reaching your fifth decade, you still haven’t “29. Booked tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire”

    The nihilism would engulf you, the existential horror. Consider the awful prospect: the futility of your remaining years, the maudlin dwindling away into a dying fall, knowing that you never “29. Booked tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire” when you would REALLY have enjoyed it.

    Like dying a virgin
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012

    I suspect they were just given this list and told to put in order.

    It must have been. It misses out a visit to the annual guided tour of the Cleator Moor Allotment Holders Association allotments, visiting Seahouses when Slaters fair is on and several other luminous highlights of the UK year.

  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    Tres said:

    It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
    It is in Daily Hate, but the research is a NatWest survey.

    Surprised they didn't say 'pop into one of rural England's quaint old rural banks where you can withdraw some pounds with her blessed majesty's face on'.

  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    Leon said:

    I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest

    Eg number 29



    29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

    Its not the palace that gets it to 29 Leon, its BOOKING THE TICKETS. Fucking thrilling.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012

    It is in Daily Hate, but the research is a NatWest survey.

    Surprised they didn't say 'pop into one of rural England's quaint old rural banks where you can withdraw some pounds with her blessed majesty's face on'.

    What is a bank?

  • TresTres Posts: 2,820
    drink some mad dog 20/20 in bellahouston park
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838

    Its not the palace that gets it to 29 Leon, its BOOKING THE TICKETS. Fucking thrilling.
    Yes, Don’t just GO THERE on the off chance. You may be “under 40” but don’t get carried away. You have to savour the pleasure of youthful certainty, as you press BOOK TICKETS on the Blenheim Palace website
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    Leon said:

    I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest

    Eg number 29



    29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

    LOL. Reading it literally, you don't even have to be arsed to physically go. just book the tickets and you have another tick on your bucket list.

  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    Sit backwards on a toilet and shit.
    In Esher.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    MISTY said:


    There were some polls showing big swings to dems after the verdict too, to be fair, but could be kneejerk I guess.
    One thing for sure, repeal of Roe v Wade is kind of "event" capable of making a week a long time politically-speaking. Let alone four and a half months.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,278
    IshmaelZ said:

    Stargazing in Northumberland no 1 because the night sky looks so distinctively different depending where in the hemisphere you observe it from.
    Presumably clarity matters with less light pollution, but surely anywhere sufficiently remote is sufficient. I thought both night and day sky impressive on the Scilly Isles for that reason.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601
    Explore the UK’s 2,000 miles of canals and rivers with a staycation on a canal boat

    Do we have to do the entire 2000 miles to cross it off the list? I like canals, but I feel like it might lose its appeal around 600 miles in.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012
    Leon said:

    Imagine the existential despair of waking up on your 40th birthday and realising that, despite reaching your fifth decade, you still haven’t “29. Booked tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire”

    The nihilism would engulf you, the existential horror. Consider the awful prospect: the futility of your remaining years, the maudlin dwindling away into a dying fall, knowing that you never “29. Booked tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire” when you would REALLY have enjoyed it.

    Like dying a virgin

    Even if you had done 29, if you follow all the advice you will still have missed seeing the newts at newt time on Glasson Moss. Another classic that is missing.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,569
    Leon said:

    How can you resist “the oldest, steepest inland electric funicular railway in England,” which “ranks 38th overall”?
    39 involves "coasteering"

    When the feck did that become a word?

    No. 41: Retire to Bedlam.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,398

    On travel: Natwest have apparently come up with a list of the top 40 things to experience, travel-wise, in UK:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-10965147/The-40-UK-travel-experiences-try-turn-40-stargazing-Northumberland-No-1.html


    No doubt @Leon has done them all.

    Twice.

    Sadly, I have only managed eight.

    That all seems rather bland and soulless.

    Personally, I've done a few (I've essentially walked the NC500, and have stargazed in Northumberland whilst camping), and I did #25 many times as a kid.

    Here's a short list of (done) UK travel experiences:
    *) Stay in a Maidenhead hotel where the bed moves overnight to the other side of the room.
    *) Wild-camp in the King's Forest, Thetford, during a Lamping session.
    *) Get five men staying in a two-bed B&B room.
    *) Walk four miles after a pub lunch, only to realise you've left your girlfriend back at the pub.
    *) Forget your torch on a night walk
    *) Forget your maps on a day walk
    *) P*ss in the sea at Brighton Beach in December, because the council has shut all the public toilets for the winter.
    *) Do what a bear does in the woods. (minus points if you have a trowel and/or paper).
    *) Get tickets for an event at the Tate in London, and go to the *wrong* Tate.
    *) Stay in a B&B where you cannot take the spoon out of a cup because of congealed sugar.
    *) Wild camp outside a safari park and be regularly woken by all the animals.
    *) Have sex in the loch at Sandwood Bay.
    *) Go on a preserved railway, only for the steam engine to break down mid-journey.
    *) Go on a coach, only for the coach to end up at the wrong destination.
    *) Call out the AA from three nations in the UK.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    Leon said:

    Yes, Don’t just GO THERE on the off chance. You may be “under 40” but don’t get carried away. You have to savour the pleasure of youthful certainty, as you press BOOK TICKETS on the Blenheim Palace website
    Im amazed 30 isnt visit an Argos at a retail park in Norwich and buy a cheap mantle clock to put your Blenheim tickets behind
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,482

    From my experience (personal & friends) appreciation of Black Lamb Grey Falcon (or is it the other way around?) depends on the reader having either
    > significant interest in Eastern Europe in general, and the Balkans in particular; or
    > enhanced appreciation for British writing of excruciating turgidity as seen (in USA via PBS) on Masterpiece Theatre
    I'm sure it's been mentioned, but Fitzroy McLean's 'Eastern Approaches' is the best Balkan account from a readability and believability perspective.

  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,133
    Leon said:

    99% of people know fuck all about travel
    Just as well that people like you are tuned into Rick Steves and following all his latest recommendations, then?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,278
    Tres said:

    It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
    Tres said:

    It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
    I have done about a dozen, but it is a pretty lame and random selection.

    I note that they recommend a whiskey tour in a Scottish distillery...🤣

  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    1) open top bus tour of Coventry
    2) die
    3) book tickets to visit a minor seraphim's cloud
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838
    IanB2 said:

    Just as well that people like you are tuned into Rick Steves and following all his latest recommendations, then?
    I’m still waiting for the link. To the place where he recently recommends it. I’m sincerely intrigued that he still has that much influence,
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,482

    That all seems rather bland and soulless.

    Personally, I've done a few (I've essentially walked the NC500, and have stargazed in Northumberland whilst camping), and I did #25 many times as a kid.

    Here's a short list of (done) UK travel experiences:
    *) Stay in a Maidenhead hotel where the bed moves overnight to the other side of the room.
    *) Wild-camp in the King's Forest, Thetford, during a Lamping session.
    *) Get five men staying in a two-bed B&B room.
    *) Walk four miles after a pub lunch, only to realise you've left your girlfriend back at the pub.
    *) Forget your torch on a night walk
    *) Forget your maps on a day walk
    *) P*ss in the sea at Brighton Beach in December, because the council has shut all the public toilets for the winter.
    *) Do what a bear does in the woods. (minus points if you have a trowel and/or paper).
    *) Get tickets for an event at the Tate in London, and go to the *wrong* Tate.
    *) Stay in a B&B where you cannot take the spoon out of a cup because of congealed sugar.
    *) Wild camp outside a safari park and be regularly woken by all the animals.
    *) Have sex in the loch at Sandwood Bay.
    *) Go on a preserved railway, only for the steam engine to break down mid-journey.
    *) Go on a coach, only for the coach to end up at the wrong destination.
    *) Call out the AA from three nations in the UK.
    Talk us through this bed movement in point one.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012

    LOL. Reading it literally, you don't even have to be arsed to physically go. just book the tickets and you have another tick on your bucket list.

    Go nowhere to have more fun. Just stay at home and read Three men in a Boat. (Perhaps it's due for an update from JosiasJessop).

  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,838
    Omnium said:

    I'm sure it's been mentioned, but Fitzroy McLean's 'Eastern Approaches' is the best Balkan account from a readability and believability perspective.

    Hasn’t been mentioned. I shall try it as I have another week or two here. Thanks!

    I might not be enjoying Rebecca West but I am having fun with Djilas’ Njegos, thanks to @SeaShantyIrish2

    It does meander a bit but it is also full of fascinating deets about Montenegrin history
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Perhaps Leon could produce his own hand-crafted list of Top 40 Sights in Montenegro for Peripatetic (or is is Peripathetic?) PBers?

    With public AND secret (pubic) versions, as with William Byrd's "The History of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina:

    https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll22/id/259355
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,569

    I've realised we misunderstood Putin, that general isn't going to command troops, he's' going to be dropped on Kyiv, and cause more damage than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
    They used Fat Man for that of course, but who do you think Little Boy is? The junkie ex-gymnast isn't going to be pleased if Putin taps up one of her sons for this task...
  • Sit backwards on a toilet and shit.
    In Esher.

    Was that you on the 7pm Waterloo to Guildford yesterday?

  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,569

    Sit backwards on a toilet and shit.
    In Esher.

    Why would you wish to sit backwards on Dominic Raab?

    Although I agree he's a toilet and shit.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,350
    Leon said:

    Hasn’t been mentioned. I shall try it as I have another week or two here. Thanks!

    I might not be enjoying Rebecca West but I am having fun with Djilas’ Njegos, thanks to @SeaShantyIrish2

    It does meander a bit but it is also full of fascinating deets about Montenegrin history
    Also yer actual Balkan Trilogy..
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,485
    Tres said:

    Our local police station in SE London was closed when Johnson was Mayor, closest is now a 15 minute drive away.
    Yes, Johnson enthusiastically supported Osborne and May's project aimed at cutting spending without having to worry the voters too much. Some, to their credit, did protest the local decisions but it made no odds.

    The sale of the stations (East Ham's went to the University of East London) brought in some much-needed capital receipts - as for the operational Policing implications, if Johnson or May were made aware of them, they were probably too busy contemplating how they would each shaft the country were they to become Prime Minister.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    It is in Daily Hate, but the research is a NatWest survey.

    Surprised they didn't say 'pop into one of rural England's quaint old rural banks where you can withdraw some pounds with her blessed majesty's face on'.

    Once had a semi-loyal Brit demonstrate for yours truly, in a quasi-quaint London pub, how to fold a five-pound note in such a way, as to make Her Majesty commit an indecency.

    Is THAT on the list? Should be!
  • Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 5,045
    Leon said:

    I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest

    Eg number 29



    29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

    I notice that the challenge is just to book the tickets.
    Actually walking around Blenheim is probably a bit too extreme.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012

    Its gash.
    1) watch Corrie in an airBnB
    2) visit Croydon's public toilets
    3) look at a bee in Carlisle
    4) punch a beefeater in the cock after visiting a spoons
    I have actually done 3 out of four of those. Number 4 requires preparation and skilled wrist action as well as the act of per impossibile visiting a spoons.

    That is, I think, more than I have done of the Daily Mail 40. Is there a prize. It's 40 years since I did (2) but only recently I did (3).

  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,133
    Leon said:

    I’m still waiting for the link. To the place where he recently recommends it. I’m sincerely intrigued that he still has that much influence,
    He does. Americans don’t get to make many trips to Europe, and they go wherever he recommends. After his write up of Kotor (“today’s Kotor is a time-capsule retreat for travelers seeking a truly unspoiled Adriatic town”) you can see the evidence for yourself.
This discussion has been closed.