73% of Britons, including 58% of Tory voters, think it is likely that Boris Johnson committed further COVID breaches than those he has already been investigated and fined for
73% of Britons, including 58% of Tory voters, think it is likely that Boris Johnson committed further COVID breaches than those he has already been investigated and fined for
73% of Britons, including 58% of Tory voters, think it is likely that Boris Johnson committed further COVID breaches than those he has already been investigated and fined for
73% of Britons, including 58% of Tory voters, think it is likely that Boris Johnson committed further COVID breaches than those he has already been investigated and fined for
As we have needed one all our lives and have never had one don't hold your breath. (Which of the competing ideas did you have in mind?)
See my post, above.
I’m ideologically ambivalent - and our choice is constrained by international policy.
This should be far higher up our political agenda. The debate is completely different to the 90’s/2000’s, given the terrifying shit now being sold on the streets.
This ain’t the weed grown in someone’s shed, that you remember from your youth.
73% of Britons, including 58% of Tory voters, think it is likely that Boris Johnson committed further COVID breaches than those he has already been investigated and fined for
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
73% of Britons, including 58% of Tory voters, think it is likely that Boris Johnson committed further COVID breaches than those he has already been investigated and fined for
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
I've had to put my cycling on hold. The bike can't go anywhere because it's two tyred.
The new genre of 'reaction' videos on YouTube could be a symptom of the decline of pop culture. People film themselves watching older performances as if they are encountering an ancient civilisation.
Here's an example of someone reduced to tears by Tori Amos:
They're still doing reaction videos? I thought that would have passed as a trend years ago.
Are there reaction reaction videos already? If so may I propose the reaction reaction reaction videos genre. Not to mention the further offshoot of filming the bewilderment of middle aged men to the new reaction reaction reaction genre.
My older daughter turns 17 today. A complex age for any human. And I immediately thought of the Janis Ian song, and found this exquisite live rendition on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Just absolutely spine-tingling. Can you imagine being in that audience and hearing this LIVE for the first time. A cold clear copper bottomed masterpiece of a song. The voice, the guitar work, the immortal tune, the poignant lyrics, everything. Ah, fuck. What 'appened to music?
Great song. Do we always have to include that hangdog 'better in my day' bit at the end though? We're the same age (ish) but my son is double 17. That's 34 (for the non accountants). It's interestingly poised now, our relationship. 62 plays 34. He has a clear edge in almost everything.
Yes, unfortunately, we do have to include the "better in my day" bit because it is interesting. Because, for the first time in many decades, this tired old meme is provably true and says something important about politics
Thus elevating the comment from "Oooh I have a family moment and here's a nice song" to something a shade more interesting that might make a Gazette piece so I'm trying it out from different angles
Hmm, ok. I don't agree with you though. I don't think this 'better in my day' (about music) is any different to the standard one about anything else.
And there's nothing wrong with just sharing the family moment!
Where is the equivalent - post, say, 2010 - of a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"? It does not exist
Amy Winehouse is much missed. She was the very last of the Golden Age. The Tintoretto of the Pop Music Renaissance
The Tories are falling apart, according to Sky News. Thoughts with Big G at this time. 10:02 - Jackie Doyle-Price: FFS - who on earth is spouting this bonkersness? Are you determined to turn our party into a skip fire? 10:03 - Anne-Marie Trevelyan: ☝ what Jackie said 10:06 - Sally-Ann Hart: WTF. 10:07 - Kevin Foster: Spot on Jackie 10:15 - Simon Hoare: would the last Tory MP to leave the building please turn off the lights. The nonsense, self-destroying crap has to end or our Party dies. 10:19 - James Sunderland: These emerging groups, leaks and briefings to the media are helping none of us. All of us already belong to the most successful political grouping ever - It's called the Conservative Party. 10:29 - Andrea Jenkyns: I don't like leakers, I prefer to say things to peoples face. However it is interesting some of those commenting were happy to speak out publicly against the Boris and Liz administrations. So maybe less sanctimony and hypocrisy. Clearly many in the party are unhappy. But those at the top are not doing anything about this to bring people together. 10:29 - Robert Goodwill: There are two very simple rules that must be applied in all situations. 1) Does what I say or do make it more or less likely that we will win the General Election? If the answer is yes then do it, if no then don't. 2) Off the record briefings - see above. 10:32 - Craig Mackinlay: Good advice Sir RG. Never do blue on blue no matter how annoyed one might be.
The Tories are falling apart, according to Sky News. Thoughts with Big G at this time. 10:02 - Jackie Doyle-Price: FFS - who on earth is spouting this bonkersness? Are you determined to turn our party into a skip fire? 10:03 - Anne-Marie Trevelyan: ☝ what Jackie said 10:06 - Sally-Ann Hart: WTF. 10:07 - Kevin Foster: Spot on Jackie 10:15 - Simon Hoare: would the last Tory MP to leave the building please turn off the lights. The nonsense, self-destroying crap has to end or our Party dies. 10:19 - James Sunderland: These emerging groups, leaks and briefings to the media are helping none of us. All of us already belong to the most successful political grouping ever - It's called the Conservative Party. 10:29 - Andrea Jenkyns: I don't like leakers, I prefer to say things to peoples face. However it is interesting some of those commenting were happy to speak out publicly against the Boris and Liz administrations. So maybe less sanctimony and hypocrisy. Clearly many in the party are unhappy. But those at the top are not doing anything about this to bring people together. 10:29 - Robert Goodwill: There are two very simple rules that must be applied in all situations. 1) Does what I say or do make it more or less likely that we will win the General Election? If the answer is yes then do it, if no then don't. 2) Off the record briefings - see above. 10:32 - Craig Mackinlay: Good advice Sir RG. Never do blue on blue no matter how annoyed one might be.
Robert Goodwill appears to suggest that you do something if it will make things EITHER better OR worse. If you fear it would be neutral, you should keep schtum. Maybe this is the root of the problem.
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
I've had to put my cycling on hold. The bike can't go anywhere because it's two tyred.
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
I've had to put my cycling on hold. The bike can't go anywhere because it's two tyred.
Very attractive, slightly posh young woman at the bar: "Hellooooo, please can I have a pint of your cheapest lager" Barman: "We've got Fosters at £3.80, or Estrella or Krombacher for five pounds." VASPYW: "I suppose it'll be Estrella then".
Clearly Fosters not even competitive amongst those for whom cheapness is the only criterion.
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
I don't think of myself as a mamil but I am a middle aged man and after initially resisting (and getting chilblanes on my legs from wearing shorts) I now wear lycra cycling leggings other than in summer. So I guess I am a mamil.
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
I've had to put my cycling on hold. The bike can't go anywhere because it's two tyred.
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
I've had to put my cycling on hold. The bike can't go anywhere because it's two tyred.
You had to puncture this discussion.
I hate to brake it to you, but that is a wheely bad joke.
Very attractive, slightly posh young woman at the bar: "Hellooooo, please can I have a pint of your cheapest lager" Barman: "We've got Fosters at £3.80, or Estrella or Krombacher for five pounds." VASPYW: "I suppose it'll be Estrella then".
Clearly Fosters not even competitive amongst those for whom cheapness is the only criterion.
Are you sure she is attractive, or have you been taking advantage of the £3.80 lager all afternoon?
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
I've had to put my cycling on hold. The bike can't go anywhere because it's two tyred.
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
I've had to put my cycling on hold. The bike can't go anywhere because it's two tyred.
The Tories are falling apart, according to Sky News. Thoughts with Big G at this time. 10:02 - Jackie Doyle-Price: FFS - who on earth is spouting this bonkersness? Are you determined to turn our party into a skip fire? 10:03 - Anne-Marie Trevelyan: ☝ what Jackie said 10:06 - Sally-Ann Hart: WTF. 10:07 - Kevin Foster: Spot on Jackie 10:15 - Simon Hoare: would the last Tory MP to leave the building please turn off the lights. The nonsense, self-destroying crap has to end or our Party dies. 10:19 - James Sunderland: These emerging groups, leaks and briefings to the media are helping none of us. All of us already belong to the most successful political grouping ever - It's called the Conservative Party. 10:29 - Andrea Jenkyns: I don't like leakers, I prefer to say things to peoples face. However it is interesting some of those commenting were happy to speak out publicly against the Boris and Liz administrations. So maybe less sanctimony and hypocrisy. Clearly many in the party are unhappy. But those at the top are not doing anything about this to bring people together. 10:29 - Robert Goodwill: There are two very simple rules that must be applied in all situations. 1) Does what I say or do make it more or less likely that we will win the General Election? If the answer is yes then do it, if no then don't. 2) Off the record briefings - see above. 10:32 - Craig Mackinlay: Good advice Sir RG. Never do blue on blue no matter how annoyed one might be.
Why reference me
I fully accept the conservatives are in free fall with the toxicity of Johnson, Truss and Braverman
I regularly attack the right of the party but do support Sunak as he is their best hope to mitigate the next GE
They need to go into opposition but that does not mean I or many others see Starmer as the answer
The Tories are falling apart, according to Sky News. Thoughts with Big G at this time. 10:02 - Jackie Doyle-Price: FFS - who on earth is spouting this bonkersness? Are you determined to turn our party into a skip fire? 10:03 - Anne-Marie Trevelyan: ☝ what Jackie said 10:06 - Sally-Ann Hart: WTF. 10:07 - Kevin Foster: Spot on Jackie 10:15 - Simon Hoare: would the last Tory MP to leave the building please turn off the lights. The nonsense, self-destroying crap has to end or our Party dies. 10:19 - James Sunderland: These emerging groups, leaks and briefings to the media are helping none of us. All of us already belong to the most successful political grouping ever - It's called the Conservative Party. 10:29 - Andrea Jenkyns: I don't like leakers, I prefer to say things to peoples face. However it is interesting some of those commenting were happy to speak out publicly against the Boris and Liz administrations. So maybe less sanctimony and hypocrisy. Clearly many in the party are unhappy. But those at the top are not doing anything about this to bring people together. 10:29 - Robert Goodwill: There are two very simple rules that must be applied in all situations. 1) Does what I say or do make it more or less likely that we will win the General Election? If the answer is yes then do it, if no then don't. 2) Off the record briefings - see above. 10:32 - Craig Mackinlay: Good advice Sir RG. Never do blue on blue no matter how annoyed one might be.
Why reference me
I fully accept the conservatives are in free fall with the toxicity of Johnson, Truss and Braverman
I regularly attack the right of the party but do support Sunak as he is their best hope to mitigate the next GE
They need to go into opposition but that does not mean I or many others see Starmer as the answer
Cons and SNP are getting it now, Lab had it with Corbyn, LDs had it with the Coalition. Its a painful experience for someone who genuinely thinks their party is the best option for the country - or should be if the idiots in Westminster could get their act together.
If the GOP had any sense, which of course they don’t, they’d get behind her for the nomination. Much better chance of winning the centre ground than either DeSantis or Trump.
I think her odds will probably shorten, so a good bet, but fundamentally anyone with a chance of winning the centre ground will be anathema to half the Republican primary voters, if not more. I don’t believe it’s possible to square the circle of satisfying the MAGA/RDS crowd and appealing to the centre ground.
The Tories are falling apart, according to Sky News. Thoughts with Big G at this time. 10:02 - Jackie Doyle-Price: FFS - who on earth is spouting this bonkersness? Are you determined to turn our party into a skip fire? 10:03 - Anne-Marie Trevelyan: ☝ what Jackie said 10:06 - Sally-Ann Hart: WTF. 10:07 - Kevin Foster: Spot on Jackie 10:15 - Simon Hoare: would the last Tory MP to leave the building please turn off the lights. The nonsense, self-destroying crap has to end or our Party dies. 10:19 - James Sunderland: These emerging groups, leaks and briefings to the media are helping none of us. All of us already belong to the most successful political grouping ever - It's called the Conservative Party. 10:29 - Andrea Jenkyns: I don't like leakers, I prefer to say things to peoples face. However it is interesting some of those commenting were happy to speak out publicly against the Boris and Liz administrations. So maybe less sanctimony and hypocrisy. Clearly many in the party are unhappy. But those at the top are not doing anything about this to bring people together. 10:29 - Robert Goodwill: There are two very simple rules that must be applied in all situations. 1) Does what I say or do make it more or less likely that we will win the General Election? If the answer is yes then do it, if no then don't. 2) Off the record briefings - see above. 10:32 - Craig Mackinlay: Good advice Sir RG. Never do blue on blue no matter how annoyed one might be.
Why reference me
I fully accept the conservatives are in free fall with the toxicity of Johnson, Truss and Braverman
I regularly attack the right of the party but do support Sunak as he is their best hope to mitigate the next GE
They need to go into opposition but that does not mean I or many others see Starmer as the answer
Cons and SNP are getting it now, Lab had it with Corbyn, LDs had it with the Coalition. Its a painful experience for someone who genuinely thinks their party is the best option for the country - or should be if the idiots in Westminster could get their act together.
I want the conservatives to return to the one nation party and hope that the right of the party pay the price at GE 24
At my age I am not concerned at the future in politics personally, and certainly I am not excusing the behaviour of Johnson and others
Starmer is well on the way to being the next PM and encountering the reality of the problems this country is facing and a 24 hour 'gotcha news cycle
My older daughter turns 17 today. A complex age for any human. And I immediately thought of the Janis Ian song, and found this exquisite live rendition on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Just absolutely spine-tingling. Can you imagine being in that audience and hearing this LIVE for the first time. A cold clear copper bottomed masterpiece of a song. The voice, the guitar work, the immortal tune, the poignant lyrics, everything. Ah, fuck. What 'appened to music?
Great song. Do we always have to include that hangdog 'better in my day' bit at the end though? We're the same age (ish) but my son is double 17. That's 34 (for the non accountants). It's interestingly poised now, our relationship. 62 plays 34. He has a clear edge in almost everything.
Yes, unfortunately, we do have to include the "better in my day" bit because it is interesting. Because, for the first time in many decades, this tired old meme is provably true and says something important about politics
Thus elevating the comment from "Oooh I have a family moment and here's a nice song" to something a shade more interesting that might make a Gazette piece so I'm trying it out from different angles
Hmm, ok. I don't agree with you though. I don't think this 'better in my day' (about music) is any different to the standard one about anything else.
And there's nothing wrong with just sharing the family moment!
In 30 years' time, Leon's daughter will be on here wishing her own son a happy 17th birthday and bemoaning that music isn't as good now as it was back in 2023
Only if the AI running the country tells her it isn't as good.
That reminds me that former Vice-President Al Gore hasn't got back to me on my suggestion he release a Hip-Hop album called AlGoreRhythm. It's a political and musical winner and my cut would only be 30%. I'll follow up with him.
Boris Johnson is a twat. He's bringing down the UK's most successful and oldest party and is taking the country down too. What a moron.
Boris Johnson has no love, or even interest for the welfare of the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party has merely been a conduit for Boris Johnson's enormous ego to realise it's every whim and ambition.
My older daughter turns 17 today. A complex age for any human. And I immediately thought of the Janis Ian song, and found this exquisite live rendition on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Just absolutely spine-tingling. Can you imagine being in that audience and hearing this LIVE for the first time. A cold clear copper bottomed masterpiece of a song. The voice, the guitar work, the immortal tune, the poignant lyrics, everything. Ah, fuck. What 'appened to music?
Great song. Do we always have to include that hangdog 'better in my day' bit at the end though? We're the same age (ish) but my son is double 17. That's 34 (for the non accountants). It's interestingly poised now, our relationship. 62 plays 34. He has a clear edge in almost everything.
Yes, unfortunately, we do have to include the "better in my day" bit because it is interesting. Because, for the first time in many decades, this tired old meme is provably true and says something important about politics
Thus elevating the comment from "Oooh I have a family moment and here's a nice song" to something a shade more interesting that might make a Gazette piece so I'm trying it out from different angles
Hmm, ok. I don't agree with you though. I don't think this 'better in my day' (about music) is any different to the standard one about anything else.
And there's nothing wrong with just sharing the family moment!
Where is the equivalent - post, say, 2010 - of a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"? It does not exist
Amy Winehouse is much missed. She was the very last of the Golden Age. The Tintoretto of the Pop Music Renaissance
I've dropped off tracking new releases (being 62) and in any case there's so much product these days on so many platforms you can't get your arms around it as you once could. It used to be that if you were into music and there was a great song released you'd be bound to hear it. The corollary was if you didn't hear something it can't have been that good. This is no longer the case. There's tons of high quality new music now that unless you devote yourself to seeking it out (which you won't at your age) you will not discover. But it's there.
Eg what I've noticed is when I do random deep dives into recent music, or catch it on soundtracks for tv dramas, I come across plenty of absolutely terrific songs. Songs just as good as those on my familiar playlists. Songs whereby I know that if I listened to them a lot, and could associate them with my younger life, thus generating a sweet nostalgia hit, could take their place as 'classics' (for me). I don't have the time or inclination to do this now, so they don't, but they could. They are objectively good enough, is my point.
So although I'd like to agree that the stuff I've curated and love from many moons ago constitutes a 'Golden Age' (because it's nice to believe that), I kind of know that it isn't. It's another heart v head thing, this. Heart says you're right that music used to be better. Head says it's nonsense.
Absolutely right.
There is some cracking music around right now, just keep Shazam to hand and you can assemble a great playlist by watching mini-series or just being in shops for that matter (perhaps not Fortnums).
As to great pop songs post-2010 try Tash Sultana Jungle (2016) and if I bothered to look I could find zillions more from the past year or three.
I just checked it out. Sweet song with some pleasantly chiming guitar chords. That’s a nice tune
But I was specifically looking for “a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"?
And the idea that “Jungle” is that is, with all respect, preposterous
But let others decide. Here they are side by side. Both live versions
My older daughter turns 17 today. A complex age for any human. And I immediately thought of the Janis Ian song, and found this exquisite live rendition on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Just absolutely spine-tingling. Can you imagine being in that audience and hearing this LIVE for the first time. A cold clear copper bottomed masterpiece of a song. The voice, the guitar work, the immortal tune, the poignant lyrics, everything. Ah, fuck. What 'appened to music?
I love that song, and haven't listened to it in decades. Thanks for that, and many happy returns to the kid.
You're welcome, and thankyou on behalf of the kiddo
I have now listened to that Janis Ian live version of At 17 three times over and there is so much that is so well done. Her enunciation is perrrrrfect. She extends the vowels on Vaaaaalentnes and yoooouth in a way which fits the song superbly yet also adds to its plangent sadness in a way I cannot quite understand. That is great art and that is peak singer song-writing. She knows her own song so well, and it is so heartfelt, she can make something sublime out of each delicately voiced word, possibly without even quite knowing she is doing it
It reminds me of "Only a Prawn in Whitby" by Cud in that respect but not quite as good.
Something is not right with this issue of Boris and the lawyers he has apparently sacked.
The facts as I understand them:-
- Last year it was revealed that Boris had instructed Peters & Peters, a firm specialising in fraud and David Pannick KC to advise him in relation to the Standards Committee investigation into him. - The government agreed to pay their fees. Why has never been explained. - Peters & Peters and Pannick were present when Johnson gave evidence to the Committee. - Now we are told that Cabinet office lawyers have been advising him. Why? - What happened to Peters & Peters? Government lawyers advise the government not backbench MPs. - If they are advising Boris in his capacity as PM in respect of actions done as PM and the government is paying, it is not for him to sack them. He can refuse to be advised by them but then he should be paying for his own lawyers. But no, apparently we are paying. Again, why?
We are not being told the full story I think.
I thought P&P were handling the Parliamentary inquiry into his lying, but the Cabinet Office lawyers are handling the COVID-19 Inquiry.
Looks to me like our current approach is the worst of all worlds.
We either need international agreement to go full on war on drugs, or go all in on regulated supply and treatment rooms etc.
You don't necessarily need international agreement to go full on war on drugs, but you do need a societal consensus to implement very tough penalties as in Singapore.
My older daughter turns 17 today. A complex age for any human. And I immediately thought of the Janis Ian song, and found this exquisite live rendition on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Just absolutely spine-tingling. Can you imagine being in that audience and hearing this LIVE for the first time. A cold clear copper bottomed masterpiece of a song. The voice, the guitar work, the immortal tune, the poignant lyrics, everything. Ah, fuck. What 'appened to music?
Great song. Do we always have to include that hangdog 'better in my day' bit at the end though? We're the same age (ish) but my son is double 17. That's 34 (for the non accountants). It's interestingly poised now, our relationship. 62 plays 34. He has a clear edge in almost everything.
Yes, unfortunately, we do have to include the "better in my day" bit because it is interesting. Because, for the first time in many decades, this tired old meme is provably true and says something important about politics
Thus elevating the comment from "Oooh I have a family moment and here's a nice song" to something a shade more interesting that might make a Gazette piece so I'm trying it out from different angles
Hmm, ok. I don't agree with you though. I don't think this 'better in my day' (about music) is any different to the standard one about anything else.
And there's nothing wrong with just sharing the family moment!
Where is the equivalent - post, say, 2010 - of a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"? It does not exist
Amy Winehouse is much missed. She was the very last of the Golden Age. The Tintoretto of the Pop Music Renaissance
I've dropped off tracking new releases (being 62) and in any case there's so much product these days on so many platforms you can't get your arms around it as you once could. It used to be that if you were into music and there was a great song released you'd be bound to hear it. The corollary was if you didn't hear something it can't have been that good. This is no longer the case. There's tons of high quality new music now that unless you devote yourself to seeking it out (which you won't at your age) you will not discover. But it's there.
Eg what I've noticed is when I do random deep dives into recent music, or catch it on soundtracks for tv dramas, I come across plenty of absolutely terrific songs. Songs just as good as those on my familiar playlists. Songs whereby I know that if I listened to them a lot, and could associate them with my younger life, thus generating a sweet nostalgia hit, could take their place as 'classics' (for me). I don't have the time or inclination to do this now, so they don't, but they could. They are objectively good enough, is my point.
So although I'd like to agree that the stuff I've curated and love from many moons ago constitutes a 'Golden Age' (because it's nice to believe that), I kind of know that it isn't. It's another heart v head thing, this. Heart says you're right that music used to be better. Head says it's nonsense.
Absolutely right.
There is some cracking music around right now, just keep Shazam to hand and you can assemble a great playlist by watching mini-series or just being in shops for that matter (perhaps not Fortnums).
As to great pop songs post-2010 try Tash Sultana Jungle (2016) and if I bothered to look I could find zillions more from the past year or three.
I just checked it out. Sweet song with some pleasantly chiming guitar chords. That’s a nice tune
But I was specifically looking for “a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"?
And the idea that “Jungle” is that is, with all respect, preposterous
But let others decide. Here they are side by side. Both live versions
I’ve been impressed by a singer called Freya Ridings, who is disgustingly young and talented, after watching her belt out some songs live and playing the piano at same time on a BBC live lounge set.
Seems to have a decent range of songs from Castles which is more upbeat to “lost without you” which is a bit more low key. Surprisingly low voice like the singer from London Grammar.
My older daughter turns 17 today. A complex age for any human. And I immediately thought of the Janis Ian song, and found this exquisite live rendition on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Just absolutely spine-tingling. Can you imagine being in that audience and hearing this LIVE for the first time. A cold clear copper bottomed masterpiece of a song. The voice, the guitar work, the immortal tune, the poignant lyrics, everything. Ah, fuck. What 'appened to music?
Great song. Do we always have to include that hangdog 'better in my day' bit at the end though? We're the same age (ish) but my son is double 17. That's 34 (for the non accountants). It's interestingly poised now, our relationship. 62 plays 34. He has a clear edge in almost everything.
Yes, unfortunately, we do have to include the "better in my day" bit because it is interesting. Because, for the first time in many decades, this tired old meme is provably true and says something important about politics
Thus elevating the comment from "Oooh I have a family moment and here's a nice song" to something a shade more interesting that might make a Gazette piece so I'm trying it out from different angles
Hmm, ok. I don't agree with you though. I don't think this 'better in my day' (about music) is any different to the standard one about anything else.
And there's nothing wrong with just sharing the family moment!
Where is the equivalent - post, say, 2010 - of a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"? It does not exist
Amy Winehouse is much missed. She was the very last of the Golden Age. The Tintoretto of the Pop Music Renaissance
I've dropped off tracking new releases (being 62) and in any case there's so much product these days on so many platforms you can't get your arms around it as you once could. It used to be that if you were into music and there was a great song released you'd be bound to hear it. The corollary was if you didn't hear something it can't have been that good. This is no longer the case. There's tons of high quality new music now that unless you devote yourself to seeking it out (which you won't at your age) you will not discover. But it's there.
Eg what I've noticed is when I do random deep dives into recent music, or catch it on soundtracks for tv dramas, I come across plenty of absolutely terrific songs. Songs just as good as those on my familiar playlists. Songs whereby I know that if I listened to them a lot, and could associate them with my younger life, thus generating a sweet nostalgia hit, could take their place as 'classics' (for me). I don't have the time or inclination to do this now, so they don't, but they could. They are objectively good enough, is my point.
So although I'd like to agree that the stuff I've curated and love from many moons ago constitutes a 'Golden Age' (because it's nice to believe that), I kind of know that it isn't. It's another heart v head thing, this. Heart says you're right that music used to be better. Head says it's nonsense.
Absolutely right.
There is some cracking music around right now, just keep Shazam to hand and you can assemble a great playlist by watching mini-series or just being in shops for that matter (perhaps not Fortnums).
As to great pop songs post-2010 try Tash Sultana Jungle (2016) and if I bothered to look I could find zillions more from the past year or three.
I just checked it out. Sweet song with some pleasantly chiming guitar chords. That’s a nice tune
But I was specifically looking for “a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"?
And the idea that “Jungle” is that is, with all respect, preposterous
But let others decide. Here they are side by side. Both live versions
As we have needed one all our lives and have never had one don't hold your breath. (Which of the competing ideas did you have in mind?)
See my post, above.
I’m ideologically ambivalent - and our choice is constrained by international policy.
This should be far higher up our political agenda. The debate is completely different to the 90’s/2000’s, given the terrifying shit now being sold on the streets.
This ain’t the weed grown in someone’s shed, that you remember from your youth.
Ideological ambivalence is universal on this matter. It is possible this is because there is no course of action on drugs in a modern, liberal and democratic society which grants human rights to drug users and drug dealers, that can be lawful, useful, effective, and command assent.
If this is true (I think it is) then its place on the agenda, and the debate will make little difference.
FWIW I think the only conceivable approaches would be based on two principles: responsibility and culpability lies with the user not the supplier; and the only way of preventing drug use is if almost everyone opts for non use voluntarily.
My older daughter turns 17 today. A complex age for any human. And I immediately thought of the Janis Ian song, and found this exquisite live rendition on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Just absolutely spine-tingling. Can you imagine being in that audience and hearing this LIVE for the first time. A cold clear copper bottomed masterpiece of a song. The voice, the guitar work, the immortal tune, the poignant lyrics, everything. Ah, fuck. What 'appened to music?
Great song. Do we always have to include that hangdog 'better in my day' bit at the end though? We're the same age (ish) but my son is double 17. That's 34 (for the non accountants). It's interestingly poised now, our relationship. 62 plays 34. He has a clear edge in almost everything.
Yes, unfortunately, we do have to include the "better in my day" bit because it is interesting. Because, for the first time in many decades, this tired old meme is provably true and says something important about politics
Thus elevating the comment from "Oooh I have a family moment and here's a nice song" to something a shade more interesting that might make a Gazette piece so I'm trying it out from different angles
Hmm, ok. I don't agree with you though. I don't think this 'better in my day' (about music) is any different to the standard one about anything else.
And there's nothing wrong with just sharing the family moment!
Where is the equivalent - post, say, 2010 - of a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"? It does not exist
Amy Winehouse is much missed. She was the very last of the Golden Age. The Tintoretto of the Pop Music Renaissance
I've dropped off tracking new releases (being 62) and in any case there's so much product these days on so many platforms you can't get your arms around it as you once could. It used to be that if you were into music and there was a great song released you'd be bound to hear it. The corollary was if you didn't hear something it can't have been that good. This is no longer the case. There's tons of high quality new music now that unless you devote yourself to seeking it out (which you won't at your age) you will not discover. But it's there.
Eg what I've noticed is when I do random deep dives into recent music, or catch it on soundtracks for tv dramas, I come across plenty of absolutely terrific songs. Songs just as good as those on my familiar playlists. Songs whereby I know that if I listened to them a lot, and could associate them with my younger life, thus generating a sweet nostalgia hit, could take their place as 'classics' (for me). I don't have the time or inclination to do this now, so they don't, but they could. They are objectively good enough, is my point.
So although I'd like to agree that the stuff I've curated and love from many moons ago constitutes a 'Golden Age' (because it's nice to believe that), I kind of know that it isn't. It's another heart v head thing, this. Heart says you're right that music used to be better. Head says it's nonsense.
Absolutely right.
There is some cracking music around right now, just keep Shazam to hand and you can assemble a great playlist by watching mini-series or just being in shops for that matter (perhaps not Fortnums).
As to great pop songs post-2010 try Tash Sultana Jungle (2016) and if I bothered to look I could find zillions more from the past year or three.
I just checked it out. Sweet song with some pleasantly chiming guitar chords. That’s a nice tune
But I was specifically looking for “a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"?
And the idea that “Jungle” is that is, with all respect, preposterous
But let others decide. Here they are side by side. Both live versions
The new genre of 'reaction' videos on YouTube could be a symptom of the decline of pop culture. People film themselves watching older performances as if they are encountering an ancient civilisation.
Here's an example of someone reduced to tears by Tori Amos:
Prigozhin has said 20,000 Wagner fighters were killed in the battle for Bakhmut. That’s more than the USSR lost in 10 years in Afghanistan. Which brings us to the other thing he said—that this war could end in a revolution in Russia
It's rare you see a quote go directly from someone's mouth into the history books, but "Fuck knows how, but we’ve militarized Ukraine!" is gonna be in every writeup of this conflict. https://twitter.com/AaronMehta/status/1661382488097267727
Watch the clip. Greeks, Romans... — we've unmasked @Morris_Dancer
I think Trump will win the nomination. To defeat him, his opponents have to go on the attack, but the one who does that will be too damaged in return to win, perhaps. So who’s the sacrificial lamb?
If the GOP had any sense, which of course they don’t, they’d get behind her for the nomination. Much better chance of winning the centre ground than either DeSantis or Trump.
I think her odds will probably shorten, so a good bet, but fundamentally anyone with a chance of winning the centre ground will be anathema to half the Republican primary voters, if not more. I don’t believe it’s possible to square the circle of satisfying the MAGA/RDS crowd and appealing to the centre ground.
Trump v De Santis really is Alien v Predator. Hopefully they'll devour each other, leaving Joe Biden gingerly edging past the bloody remains, with the help of a walking stick, back into the White House.
Looks to me like our current approach is the worst of all worlds.
We either need international agreement to go full on war on drugs, or go all in on regulated supply and treatment rooms etc.
When you say 'drugs', to what do you refer?
Nearly all the insanely harmful drugs are substitutes for much less harmful stuff.
If you could get cocaine and opium from the chemist, as in Victorian times, the other stuff would vanish.
Just like meths and ethanol based alcohols.
Legalise, tax and carefully control the supply chain for drugs. Including rules on strength and purity.
That seems like a coherent plan. I'm curious about your first sentence, though, Is that actually correct? And if ti is, why has cannabis (always illegal in UK in recent times) been getting stronger?
There's a non-zero chance that Trump is forced to depart the race, in which case a candidate who is in Trump's (relative) good graces, could be in with a decent shout.
If there's a health issue with Trump between now and mid-January (or other event that forces him from the race): in which case, he will look around for some one he can call his own. And that person won't be Ron DeSantis.
What are the chances? One-in-ten for Trump departing, evens (or maybe slightly better) for Trump endorsing Hayley, and - imho - if that happened she'd be in a very strong position for a nomination.
40-1 is good odds, but I wouldn't want to be on anything less than 25 or 30.
wrt the chase it will be interesting to see what happens.
Yesterday passing Parliament Square on a Boris Bike at around 10pm there was a gang of bicycle riding what used to be called hoodlums or thugs (all hoodies and balaclava-ed up) riding all over the pavement, running red lights and generally whooping it up.
In what must be one of the most policed square 500 yards in the country. And on and over they went towards Victoria.
It's the same everywhere. It's why "cyclists" as an encompassing term doesn't work any more.
Mamils Dura_ace types Europeans (attractive, no helmet, step through bike) Commuters (panniers) Balaclava gangs (steal mopeds) Deliveroo (roughly white van man) Cargo bikers (highly fertile, bucket full of kids)
I'm about to take up cycling - think I'll aim for that 'European' category.
Come to the dark side. The first blood bag is the hardest.
BREAKING: Neil Coyle, who was suspended for drunken abuse and making racist comments to a journalist, and who previously had a sexual harassment complaint upheld against him, has now been given the whip back by the Labour Party
Owen Jones @OwenJones84 · 1h Keir Starmer's Labour party is a cesspit.
If you're loyal to his leadership and you engage in racism and sexual harassment, then you're welcome in the fold.
Looks to me like our current approach is the worst of all worlds.
We either need international agreement to go full on war on drugs, or go all in on regulated supply and treatment rooms etc.
When you say 'drugs', to what do you refer?
Nearly all the insanely harmful drugs are substitutes for much less harmful stuff.
If you could get cocaine and opium from the chemist, as in Victorian times, the other stuff would vanish.
Just like meths and ethanol based alcohols.
Legalise, tax and carefully control the supply chain for drugs. Including rules on strength and purity.
That seems like a coherent plan. I'm curious about your first sentence, though, Is that actually correct? And if ti is, why has cannabis (always illegal in UK in recent times) been getting stronger?
As the crackdowns on drugs got tougher, this opened the market for substitution with nastier more compact stuff. Or drugs like crystal meth that can be manufactured inside a country.
The increasing strength of weed was about making it more compact to grow and move for a given effect.
BREAKING: Neil Coyle, who was suspended for drunken abuse and making racist comments to a journalist, and who previously had a sexual harassment complaint upheld against him, has now been given the whip back by the Labour Party
Owen Jones @OwenJones84 · 1h Keir Starmer's Labour party is a cesspit.
If you're loyal to his leadership and you engage in racism and sexual harassment, then you're welcome in the fold.
Nauseating creeps.
He is not wrong is he?
Did Jones really say “cesspit”?
Lol. There’s a non trivial chance the Labour Party will fracture into seething pieces once they gain power. There is none of the iron discipline of new Labour circa 1996
Looks to me like our current approach is the worst of all worlds.
We either need international agreement to go full on war on drugs, or go all in on regulated supply and treatment rooms etc.
When you say 'drugs', to what do you refer?
Nearly all the insanely harmful drugs are substitutes for much less harmful stuff.
If you could get cocaine and opium from the chemist, as in Victorian times, the other stuff would vanish.
Just like meths and ethanol based alcohols.
Legalise, tax and carefully control the supply chain for drugs. Including rules on strength and purity.
That seems like a coherent plan. I'm curious about your first sentence, though, Is that actually correct? And if ti is, why has cannabis (always illegal in UK in recent times) been getting stronger?
As the crackdowns on drugs got tougher, this opened the market for substitution with nastier more compact stuff. Or drugs like crystal meth that can be manufactured inside a country.
The increasing strength of weed was about making it more compact to grow and move for a given effect.
Sources, please.
And as an aside, what about other effects? As an example, would you say that someone should be able to regularly smoke cannabis in a house where kids are present? Or inject heroin in a similar environment? What about driving - or working - whilst under the influence?
We have enough problems with alcohol and tobacco smoking. I would like any relaxation on drugs to protect the innocent / non-users much more than the current restrictions on alcohol and tobacco.
If you regularly smoke cannabis in front of kids, you should be steralised for life. Heck, the same goes for tobacco....
IMO drugs (of all kinds) is an issue where there is no *right* answer; only bad ones.
Looks to me like our current approach is the worst of all worlds.
We either need international agreement to go full on war on drugs, or go all in on regulated supply and treatment rooms etc.
You don't necessarily need international agreement to go full on war on drugs, but you do need a societal consensus to implement very tough penalties as in Singapore.
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
(I do know someone who regularly smokes cannabis. But he's a paranoid git, and so probably wouldn't tell me about his dealer even if I asked.
Your circles evidently are rather different to mine.
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
You could buy gear in any town in England in about 15 minutes just by asking the scraggiest people you can find on the street.
Oh no, that is sad news. Tina Turner was one of the absolute greats.
There's a great video of her somewhere, perhaps YouTube, performing a duet with David Bowie singing "Tonight". There was quite a lot of banter going on which referenced what happened the previous night apparently...
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
(I do know someone who regularly smokes cannabis. But he's a paranoid git, and so probably wouldn't tell me about his dealer even if I asked.
Your circles evidently are rather different to mine.
Maybe a little different yet I'm sure even a respectable Georgian era engineer could find something illicit in the nearby town if they had to.
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
(I do know someone who regularly smokes cannabis. But he's a paranoid git, and so probably wouldn't tell me about his dealer even if I asked.
Your circles evidently are rather different to mine.
Oh come on; there'll be a PB expert who will have bought from all your local dealers, and can rank them on various metrics.
BREAKING: Neil Coyle, who was suspended for drunken abuse and making racist comments to a journalist, and who previously had a sexual harassment complaint upheld against him, has now been given the whip back by the Labour Party
Owen Jones @OwenJones84 · 1h Keir Starmer's Labour party is a cesspit.
If you're loyal to his leadership and you engage in racism and sexual harassment, then you're welcome in the fold.
UK homeowners and renters are facing a "huge income shock" as rising interest rates hit mortgages and monthly costs, the boss of Barclays has warned.
CS Venkatakrishnan, who is known as Venkat, estimates that payments by mortgage holders and tenants will take a chunk of between 28% and 30% out of their income.
He said that compares to an average 20% in previous years.
The Bank of England has sharply raised interest rates to curb inflation.
The typical UK mortgage is a two-year fixed-rate deal.
The Barclays boss said that "most people will begin to feel the impact of higher rates when their current deal expires by the end of next year", and predicted "there is a huge income shock" on the way.
The entire economy is going to end up being strangled to death by the property market. But prices are at a record high, which the wealthy grey vote loves, so the Government will continue to do nothing meaningful to correct the problem.
The question is whether or not the next lot will take action, or just wring their hands and utter empty platitudes (whilst muttering under their breath that it's all too difficult.)
Redfield & Wilton Strategies @RedfieldWilton · 2h First Conservative lead since launching Blue Wall tracker in Oct
Blue Wall VI (22 May):
Conservative 34% (+2) Labour 33% (-3) Liberal Democrat 22% (-1) Reform 6% (+1) Green 3% (+1) Other 2% (+1)
Changes +/- 7 May
How did Jezza get on in those constituencies?
Whataboutism
SKS fans have zero arguments and can only resort to Yeah but Corbyn
It is a valid argument. Corbyn was unelectable.
Not that unelectable, given that the current Tory Government has implemented tax and spending plans that go further than the ones in the Corbyn manifesto.
Redfield & Wilton Strategies @RedfieldWilton · 2h First Conservative lead since launching Blue Wall tracker in Oct
Blue Wall VI (22 May):
Conservative 34% (+2) Labour 33% (-3) Liberal Democrat 22% (-1) Reform 6% (+1) Green 3% (+1) Other 2% (+1)
Changes +/- 7 May
Sure. SKS has managed to get the Labour Party within margin of error of leading in a set of constituencies where they came third in 2019. The fact that you need anyone to explain that to you simply marks you as terminally stupid, or that your fanaticism renders you blind to how successful SKS has been. Or likely both. Now piss off and join the Tories or the Trots.
Redfield & Wilton Strategies @RedfieldWilton · 2h First Conservative lead since launching Blue Wall tracker in Oct
Blue Wall VI (22 May):
Conservative 34% (+2) Labour 33% (-3) Liberal Democrat 22% (-1) Reform 6% (+1) Green 3% (+1) Other 2% (+1)
Changes +/- 7 May
How did Jezza get on in those constituencies?
Whataboutism
SKS fans have zero arguments and can only resort to Yeah but Corbyn
Yeah but Corbyn is very powerful though.
For the record, I do think Corbyn is a rare breed, a principled politician. He was just a terrible leader.
There is principled and then there is bat shit crazy. Anyone who would rather divorce his wife than see his son go to a Grammar school is utterly bat shit crazy.
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
You could buy gear in any town in England in about 15 minutes just by asking the scraggiest people you can find on the street.
The bus station in Uttoxeter was always *allegedly* the place when I was a teenager. But I don't know of the place around here - yet I know there are some, as there was a murder by a drug dealer five or so years ago.
But I fear if I was to go up to the scraggiest person I can find on the street to ask them for some gear, they'll probably think I'm police...
(On several occasions I've had people ask me if I'm police. Once in Slough when on a hike, with rucksack, once in Stepney Green where my crime was wearing a white shirt, and another outside March. I guess I just have the air. I'm unconvinced this is a good thing ...)
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
You could buy gear in any town in England in about 15 minutes just by asking the scraggiest people you can find on the street.
The bus station in Uttoxeter was always *allegedly* the place when I was a teenager. But I don't know of the place around here - yet I know there are some, as there was a murder by a drug dealer five or so years ago.
But I fear if I was to go up to the scraggiest person I can find on the street to ask them for some gear, they'll probably think I'm police...
(On several occasions I've had people ask me if I'm police. Once in Slough when on a hike, with rucksack, once in Stepney Green where my crime was wearing a white shirt, and another outside March. I guess I just have the air. I'm unconvinced this is a good thing ...)
The bar at SOAS was always a winner but now I rock up to lectures at Birkbeck after work in my suit I’d likely get some funny looks.
Haley seems to have the capacity to reach across the political divide, in the way the other great white dopes currently in contention for the nomination (or indeed Joe Biden himself) probably can't. But the Republican Party base has gone bonkers and Haley is probably not extreme enough to clear that first stage of the electorate. The Liz Kendall of the GOP, perhaps?
Broadly speaking, there are today two wings of the GOP: the bonkers Trump-supporting wing and the old school GOP (think Bush or Reagan). Haley heralds from the latter. A rather old-fashioned consensus-building pragmatic politician who will make a decision on a tough issue if required to do so. That she threw her lot in behind Trump shouldn't surprise anybody. She's excellent at reading the room and knowing from which direction the wind is blowing. She knows fine well that she needs the Trump-supporting wing behind her as much as the old school GOP.
As LDLF says, the base has gone bonkers (or as they would say in South Carolina, "their biscuit ain't done in the middle"). They'll happily choose somebody like Trump over one of their own.
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
You could buy gear in any town in England in about 15 minutes just by asking the scraggiest people you can find on the street.
The bus station in Uttoxeter was always *allegedly* the place when I was a teenager. But I don't know of the place around here - yet I know there are some, as there was a murder by a drug dealer five or so years ago.
But I fear if I was to go up to the scraggiest person I can find on the street to ask them for some gear, they'll probably think I'm police...
(On several occasions I've had people ask me if I'm police. Once in Slough when on a hike, with rucksack, once in Stepney Green where my crime was wearing a white shirt, and another outside March. I guess I just have the air. I'm unconvinced this is a good thing ...)
The bar at SOAS was always a winner but now I rock up to lectures at Birkbeck after work in my suit I’d likely get some funny looks.
Not bloody surprised. Seals don't usually wear any clothes, never mind a suit.
Redfield & Wilton Strategies @RedfieldWilton · 2h First Conservative lead since launching Blue Wall tracker in Oct
Blue Wall VI (22 May):
Conservative 34% (+2) Labour 33% (-3) Liberal Democrat 22% (-1) Reform 6% (+1) Green 3% (+1) Other 2% (+1)
Changes +/- 7 May
How did Jezza get on in those constituencies?
Whataboutism
SKS fans have zero arguments and can only resort to Yeah but Corbyn
It is a valid argument. Corbyn was unelectable.
Not that unelectable, given that the current Tory Government has implemented tax and spending plans that go further than the ones in the Corbyn manifesto.
It wasn't Corbyn's policies that were unelectable. Many of them were very sensible. It was the man himself.
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
You could buy gear in any town in England in about 15 minutes just by asking the scraggiest people you can find on the street.
The bus station in Uttoxeter was always *allegedly* the place when I was a teenager. But I don't know of the place around here - yet I know there are some, as there was a murder by a drug dealer five or so years ago.
But I fear if I was to go up to the scraggiest person I can find on the street to ask them for some gear, they'll probably think I'm police...
(On several occasions I've had people ask me if I'm police. Once in Slough when on a hike, with rucksack, once in Stepney Green where my crime was wearing a white shirt, and another outside March. I guess I just have the air. I'm unconvinced this is a good thing ...)
The bar at SOAS was always a winner but now I rock up to lectures at Birkbeck after work in my suit I’d likely get some funny looks.
Not bloody surprised. Seals don't usually wear any clothes, never mind a suit.
I also note that Birkbeck is not situated close to any major bodies of water, unless you count a nearby student swimming pool.
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
(I do know someone who regularly smokes cannabis. But he's a paranoid git, and so probably wouldn't tell me about his dealer even if I asked.
Your circles evidently are rather different to mine.
Oh come on; there'll be a PB expert who will have bought from all your local dealers, and can rank them on various metrics.
Yes, but I haven't seen @SeanT around recently. I think he may have gone abroad for the winter.
Redfield & Wilton Strategies @RedfieldWilton · 2h First Conservative lead since launching Blue Wall tracker in Oct
Blue Wall VI (22 May):
Conservative 34% (+2) Labour 33% (-3) Liberal Democrat 22% (-1) Reform 6% (+1) Green 3% (+1) Other 2% (+1)
Changes +/- 7 May
How did Jezza get on in those constituencies?
Whataboutism
SKS fans have zero arguments and can only resort to Yeah but Corbyn
It is a valid argument. Corbyn was unelectable.
Not that unelectable, given that the current Tory Government has implemented tax and spending plans that go further than the ones in the Corbyn manifesto.
It wasn't Corbyn's policies that were unelectable. Many of them were very sensible. It was the man himself.
Nonsense. His friendship with Israel's enemies was enough in its own right to.make him unelectable.
My older daughter turns 17 today. A complex age for any human. And I immediately thought of the Janis Ian song, and found this exquisite live rendition on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Just absolutely spine-tingling. Can you imagine being in that audience and hearing this LIVE for the first time. A cold clear copper bottomed masterpiece of a song. The voice, the guitar work, the immortal tune, the poignant lyrics, everything. Ah, fuck. What 'appened to music?
Great song. Do we always have to include that hangdog 'better in my day' bit at the end though? We're the same age (ish) but my son is double 17. That's 34 (for the non accountants). It's interestingly poised now, our relationship. 62 plays 34. He has a clear edge in almost everything.
Yes, unfortunately, we do have to include the "better in my day" bit because it is interesting. Because, for the first time in many decades, this tired old meme is provably true and says something important about politics
Thus elevating the comment from "Oooh I have a family moment and here's a nice song" to something a shade more interesting that might make a Gazette piece so I'm trying it out from different angles
Hmm, ok. I don't agree with you though. I don't think this 'better in my day' (about music) is any different to the standard one about anything else.
And there's nothing wrong with just sharing the family moment!
In 30 years' time, Leon's daughter will be on here wishing her own son a happy 17th birthday and bemoaning that music isn't as good now as it was back in 2023
Only if the AI running the country tells her it isn't as good.
That reminds me that former Vice-President Al Gore hasn't got back to me on my suggestion he release a Hip-Hop album called AlGoreRhythm. It's a political and musical winner and my cut would only be 30%. I'll follow up with him.
Possibly because it's a gag I made here about 12 years ago....
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
You could buy gear in any town in England in about 15 minutes just by asking the scraggiest people you can find on the street.
The bus station in Uttoxeter was always *allegedly* the place when I was a teenager. But I don't know of the place around here - yet I know there are some, as there was a murder by a drug dealer five or so years ago.
But I fear if I was to go up to the scraggiest person I can find on the street to ask them for some gear, they'll probably think I'm police...
(On several occasions I've had people ask me if I'm police. Once in Slough when on a hike, with rucksack, once in Stepney Green where my crime was wearing a white shirt, and another outside March. I guess I just have the air. I'm unconvinced this is a good thing ...)
I, on the other hand, went through a phase in my youth when people kept asking me if I could sell them some gear and would get quite arsy/suspicious when I said no. I was never a dealer but was obviously giving off the vibes at the time.
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
(I do know someone who regularly smokes cannabis. But he's a paranoid git, and so probably wouldn't tell me about his dealer even if I asked.
Your circles evidently are rather different to mine.
Oh come on; there'll be a PB expert who will have bought from all your local dealers, and can rank them on various metrics.
Yes, but I haven't seen @SeanT around recently. I think he may have gone abroad for the winter.
Someone ought to do a travelogue 'Britain's Best Dealers' or somesuch. A journey through the country's underworld (although I guess it might be able to do it in a very middle-class way).
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
They are easily available, we just pretend they're not.
I know where to go to get some Nurofen or a bottle of whisky. I don't know where to go to score some heroin. So 'easily available' very much depends on context.
(I do know someone who regularly smokes cannabis. But he's a paranoid git, and so probably wouldn't tell me about his dealer even if I asked.
Your circles evidently are rather different to mine.
Oh come on; there'll be a PB expert who will have bought from all your local dealers, and can rank them on various metrics.
Yes, but I haven't seen @SeanT around recently. I think he may have gone abroad for the winter.
Does that mean he's in the southern hemisphere, or is "going abroad for the winter" a reference to some disgusting sexual practice I'm too innocent to know about?
My older daughter turns 17 today. A complex age for any human. And I immediately thought of the Janis Ian song, and found this exquisite live rendition on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Just absolutely spine-tingling. Can you imagine being in that audience and hearing this LIVE for the first time. A cold clear copper bottomed masterpiece of a song. The voice, the guitar work, the immortal tune, the poignant lyrics, everything. Ah, fuck. What 'appened to music?
Great song. Do we always have to include that hangdog 'better in my day' bit at the end though? We're the same age (ish) but my son is double 17. That's 34 (for the non accountants). It's interestingly poised now, our relationship. 62 plays 34. He has a clear edge in almost everything.
Yes, unfortunately, we do have to include the "better in my day" bit because it is interesting. Because, for the first time in many decades, this tired old meme is provably true and says something important about politics
Thus elevating the comment from "Oooh I have a family moment and here's a nice song" to something a shade more interesting that might make a Gazette piece so I'm trying it out from different angles
Hmm, ok. I don't agree with you though. I don't think this 'better in my day' (about music) is any different to the standard one about anything else.
And there's nothing wrong with just sharing the family moment!
In 30 years' time, Leon's daughter will be on here wishing her own son a happy 17th birthday and bemoaning that music isn't as good now as it was back in 2023
Only if the AI running the country tells her it isn't as good.
That reminds me that former Vice-President Al Gore hasn't got back to me on my suggestion he release a Hip-Hop album called AlGoreRhythm. It's a political and musical winner and my cut would only be 30%. I'll follow up with him.
Possibly because it's a gag I made here about 12 years ago....
Comments
I’m ideologically ambivalent - and our choice is constrained by international policy.
This should be far higher up our political agenda. The debate is completely different to the 90’s/2000’s, given the terrifying shit now being sold on the streets.
This ain’t the weed grown in someone’s shed, that you remember from your youth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_rYWBle1_4
Thoughts with Big G at this time.
10:02 - Jackie Doyle-Price: FFS - who on earth is spouting this bonkersness? Are you determined to turn our party into a skip fire?
10:03 - Anne-Marie Trevelyan: ☝ what Jackie said
10:06 - Sally-Ann Hart: WTF.
10:07 - Kevin Foster: Spot on Jackie
10:15 - Simon Hoare: would the last Tory MP to leave the building please turn off the lights. The nonsense, self-destroying crap has to end or our Party dies.
10:19 - James Sunderland: These emerging groups, leaks and briefings to the media are helping none of us. All of us already belong to the most successful political grouping ever - It's called the Conservative Party.
10:29 - Andrea Jenkyns: I don't like leakers, I prefer to say things to peoples face. However it is interesting some of those commenting were happy to speak out publicly against the Boris and Liz administrations. So maybe less sanctimony and hypocrisy. Clearly many in the party are unhappy. But those at the top are not doing anything about this to bring people together.
10:29 - Robert Goodwill: There are two very simple rules that must be applied in all situations. 1) Does what I say or do make it more or less likely that we will win the General Election? If the answer is yes then do it, if no then don't. 2) Off the record briefings - see above.
10:32 - Craig Mackinlay: Good advice Sir RG. Never do blue on blue no matter how annoyed one might be.
Barman: "We've got Fosters at £3.80, or Estrella or Krombacher for five pounds."
VASPYW: "I suppose it'll be Estrella then".
Clearly Fosters not even competitive amongst those for whom cheapness is the only criterion.
I fully accept the conservatives are in free fall with the toxicity of Johnson, Truss and Braverman
I regularly attack the right of the party but do support Sunak as he is their best hope to mitigate the next GE
They need to go into opposition but that does not mean I or many others see Starmer as the answer
This is why it has remained a political force for well over a century.
But yes, Boris Johnson is both a moron and a tw@t.
At my age I am not concerned at the future in politics personally, and certainly I am not excusing the behaviour of Johnson and others
Starmer is well on the way to being the next PM and encountering the reality of the problems this country is facing and a 24 hour 'gotcha news cycle
But I was specifically looking for “a pop song as exquisite, delicate and moving as "At 17"?
And the idea that “Jungle” is that is, with all respect, preposterous
But let others decide. Here they are side by side. Both live versions
Jungle:
https://youtu.be/7wiQpyHgp1Y
At 17:
https://youtu.be/VMUz2TNMvL0
Seems to have a decent range of songs from Castles which is more upbeat to “lost without you” which is a bit more low key. Surprisingly low voice like the singer from London Grammar.
At 17 is a fine song a cross between Joan Armatrading, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks and many others.
Pop song it is not.
If this is true (I think it is) then its place on the agenda, and the debate will make little difference.
FWIW I think the only conceivable approaches would be based on two principles: responsibility and culpability lies with the user not the supplier; and the only way of preventing drug use is if almost everyone opts for non use voluntarily.
If you could get cocaine and opium from the chemist, as in Victorian times, the other stuff would vanish.
Just like meths and ethanol based alcohols.
Legalise, tax and carefully control the supply chain for drugs. Including rules on strength and purity.
https://youtu.be/S6NcgB822_0
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1661440449201012760?t=nlxOsNBX-sqMamEA4DWomw&s=19
https://news.sky.com/story/tina-turner-dies-aged-83-12888593
Redfield & Wilton Strategies
@RedfieldWilton
·
2h
First Conservative lead since launching Blue Wall tracker in Oct
Blue Wall VI (22 May):
Conservative 34% (+2)
Labour 33% (-3)
Liberal Democrat 22% (-1)
Reform 6% (+1)
Green 3% (+1)
Other 2% (+1)
Changes +/- 7 May
There's a non-zero chance that Trump is forced to depart the race, in which case a candidate who is in Trump's (relative) good graces, could be in with a decent shout.
If there's a health issue with Trump between now and mid-January (or other event that forces him from the race): in which case, he will look around for some one he can call his own. And that person won't be Ron DeSantis.
What are the chances? One-in-ten for Trump departing, evens (or maybe slightly better) for Trump endorsing Hayley, and - imho - if that happened she'd be in a very strong position for a nomination.
40-1 is good odds, but I wouldn't want to be on anything less than 25 or 30.
Owen Jones
@OwenJones84
·
1h
Keir Starmer's Labour party is a cesspit.
If you're loyal to his leadership and you engage in racism and sexual harassment, then you're welcome in the fold.
Nauseating creeps.
He is not wrong is he?
I expect Blue Wall polling to trend towards LDs as we approach GE with both Conservatives and Labour falling.
The increasing strength of weed was about making it more compact to grow and move for a given effect.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-52648026
or this:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-47341941
or this:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/10/at-least-17-dead-in-russia-after-drinking-adulterated-alcohol/
etc, etc.
But that actually does not answer my question. Are you saying that cannabis, heroin, MDMA, ketamine, etc should all be easily available?
Lol. There’s a non trivial chance the Labour Party will fracture into seething pieces once they gain power. There is none of the iron discipline of new Labour circa 1996
https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1661404240634314756?t=8SzshlDfeSVAZk0ece4TKA&s=19
And as an aside, what about other effects? As an example, would you say that someone should be able to regularly smoke cannabis in a house where kids are present? Or inject heroin in a similar environment? What about driving - or working - whilst under the influence?
We have enough problems with alcohol and tobacco smoking. I would like any relaxation on drugs to protect the innocent / non-users much more than the current restrictions on alcohol and tobacco.
If you regularly smoke cannabis in front of kids, you should be steralised for life. Heck, the same goes for tobacco....
IMO drugs (of all kinds) is an issue where there is no *right* answer; only bad ones.
SKS fans have zero arguments and can only resort to Yeah but Corbyn
Any Tory/opponents of SKS thinking these poll findings are bad for Labour/good for the Tories are terminally stupid.
(I do know someone who regularly smokes cannabis. But he's a paranoid git, and so probably wouldn't tell me about his dealer even if I asked.
Your circles evidently are rather different to mine.
Fuck, even Mikey G seems to manage it.
For the record, I do think Corbyn is a rare breed, a principled politician. He was just a terrible leader.
CS Venkatakrishnan, who is known as Venkat, estimates that payments by mortgage holders and tenants will take a chunk of between 28% and 30% out of their income.
He said that compares to an average 20% in previous years.
The Bank of England has sharply raised interest rates to curb inflation.
The typical UK mortgage is a two-year fixed-rate deal.
The Barclays boss said that "most people will begin to feel the impact of higher rates when their current deal expires by the end of next year", and predicted "there is a huge income shock" on the way.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65696265
The entire economy is going to end up being strangled to death by the property market. But prices are at a record high, which the wealthy grey vote loves, so the Government will continue to do nothing meaningful to correct the problem.
The question is whether or not the next lot will take action, or just wring their hands and utter empty platitudes (whilst muttering under their breath that it's all too difficult.)
(He also cut Bowie's hair....)
But I fear if I was to go up to the scraggiest person I can find on the street to ask them for some gear, they'll probably think I'm police...
(On several occasions I've had people ask me if I'm police. Once in Slough when on a hike, with rucksack, once in Stepney Green where my crime was wearing a white shirt, and another outside March. I guess I just have the air. I'm unconvinced this is a good thing ...)
As LDLF says, the base has gone bonkers (or as they would say in South Carolina, "their biscuit ain't done in the middle"). They'll happily choose somebody like Trump over one of their own.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-adopt-tina-turner-anthem-30069458
They omit to mention Rangers fans' best loved line in (their version of) the song. Even guests like Paul Gascoyne learn it:
https://www.facebook.com/VillaAndRangersFans/videos/gazza-singing-fuck-the-pope-and-the-ira-/402820127264528/