R Willis H Larwood W Voce F Truman D Malcolm G Thomas S Harmison
Perm any 4 from 7
Why are Harrison and Malcolm in there ahead of Barnes, Tyson and Statham?
Barnes was not a quick. Ok, I'll add Tyson and Statham though!
And who on earth is G Thomas??
Greg Thomas, played 5 tests in the 80s. Genuinely the fastest bowler I've ever seen play for England. Holding and Marshall level quick but wildly inaccurate at times. Terrifying though. Hes in for raw pace
Edit - and had the great English cricket (actually Welsh in his case) tradition of having a body as strong as a poppadom
I did rather like this tale of Greg from Wiki: The West Indian batsman Viv Richards was notorious for punishing bowlers that dared to sledge him. So much so, that many opposing captains banned their players from the practice. However, in a county game against Glamorgan, Thomas attempted to sledge him after he had played and missed at several balls in a row. He informed Richards: "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering". Richards hammered the next delivery out of the ground and into a nearby river. Turning to the bowler, he commented: "Greg, you know what it looks like, now go and find it".
Richards was a passable bat tbf
If some of our so-called Bazballers would note his* thrilling, attacking stroke play was based above all on a masterful defensive technique so he would block good balls and punish bad less than perfect ones, England would be a much more formidable team.
Off topic and sorry to lower the tone to the gutter, but I just watched the Ladies final. Swiatek was ruthless, but I can't help wondering if Amanda Anisimova's enormous knockers were something of an incumbrance to her performance.
R Willis H Larwood W Voce F Truman D Malcolm G Thomas S Harmison
Perm any 4 from 7
Why are Harrison and Malcolm in there ahead of Barnes, Tyson and Statham?
Barnes was not a quick. Ok, I'll add Tyson and Statham though!
And who on earth is G Thomas??
Greg Thomas, played 5 tests in the 80s. Genuinely the fastest bowler I've ever seen play for England. Holding and Marshall level quick but wildly inaccurate at times. Terrifying though. Hes in for raw pace
Edit - and had the great English cricket (actually Welsh in his case) tradition of having a body as strong as a poppadom
I did rather like this tale of Greg from Wiki: The West Indian batsman Viv Richards was notorious for punishing bowlers that dared to sledge him. So much so, that many opposing captains banned their players from the practice. However, in a county game against Glamorgan, Thomas attempted to sledge him after he had played and missed at several balls in a row. He informed Richards: "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering". Richards hammered the next delivery out of the ground and into a nearby river. Turning to the bowler, he commented: "Greg, you know what it looks like, now go and find it".
Richards was a passable bat tbf
If some of our so-called Bazballers would note his* thrilling, attacking stroke play was based above all on a masterful defensive technique so he would block good balls and punish bad ones, England would be a much more formidable team.
*And Gordon Greenidge’s, for that matter.
Some people are just very very very good! The 189 n.o. in the 1st ODI 1984 is probably the greatest innings ever played in ODIs
R Willis H Larwood W Voce F Truman D Malcolm G Thomas S Harmison
Perm any 4 from 7
Why are Harrison and Malcolm in there ahead of Barnes, Tyson and Statham?
Barnes was not a quick. Ok, I'll add Tyson and Statham though!
And who on earth is G Thomas??
Greg Thomas, played 5 tests in the 80s. Genuinely the fastest bowler I've ever seen play for England. Holding and Marshall level quick but wildly inaccurate at times. Terrifying though. Hes in for raw pace
Edit - and had the great English cricket (actually Welsh in his case) tradition of having a body as strong as a poppadom
I did rather like this tale of Greg from Wiki: The West Indian batsman Viv Richards was notorious for punishing bowlers that dared to sledge him. So much so, that many opposing captains banned their players from the practice. However, in a county game against Glamorgan, Thomas attempted to sledge him after he had played and missed at several balls in a row. He informed Richards: "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering". Richards hammered the next delivery out of the ground and into a nearby river. Turning to the bowler, he commented: "Greg, you know what it looks like, now go and find it".
Richards was a passable bat tbf
If some of our so-called Bazballers would note his* thrilling, attacking stroke play was based above all on a masterful defensive technique so he would block good balls and punish bad ones, England would be a much more formidable team.
*And Gordon Greenidge’s, for that matter.
Some people are just very very very good! The 189 n.o. in the 1st ODI 1984 is probably the greatest innings ever played in ODIs
Well, yes, he was very very good, but his mindset is one the current England lineup would study with considerable profit. It is not just about trying to hit every ball for four.
McMurdock seems dodgy as hell… but it’s interesting that he was a genuine paper candidate. Shows how little it can matter who the candidate is
McMurdock became an MP after agreeing to serve as a “paper candidate” — someone who does not expect to win but enables their party to say it has run in that constituency — in South Basildon & East Thurrock. It was previously a Tory stronghold with a majority of 19,922.
He won his seat by 98 votes after a three-way split between Reform, the Conservatives and Labour led to a recount. The married father of four was described as the party’s “accidental MP” and figures in party headquarters reported that they had first heard of him after his victory.
R Willis H Larwood W Voce F Truman D Malcolm G Thomas S Harmison
Perm any 4 from 7
Why are Harrison and Malcolm in there ahead of Barnes, Tyson and Statham?
Barnes was not a quick. Ok, I'll add Tyson and Statham though!
And who on earth is G Thomas??
Greg Thomas, played 5 tests in the 80s. Genuinely the fastest bowler I've ever seen play for England. Holding and Marshall level quick but wildly inaccurate at times. Terrifying though. Hes in for raw pace
Edit - and had the great English cricket (actually Welsh in his case) tradition of having a body as strong as a poppadom
I did rather like this tale of Greg from Wiki: The West Indian batsman Viv Richards was notorious for punishing bowlers that dared to sledge him. So much so, that many opposing captains banned their players from the practice. However, in a county game against Glamorgan, Thomas attempted to sledge him after he had played and missed at several balls in a row. He informed Richards: "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering". Richards hammered the next delivery out of the ground and into a nearby river. Turning to the bowler, he commented: "Greg, you know what it looks like, now go and find it".
Richards was a passable bat tbf
If some of our so-called Bazballers would note his* thrilling, attacking stroke play was based above all on a masterful defensive technique so he would block good balls and punish bad ones, England would be a much more formidable team.
*And Gordon Greenidge’s, for that matter.
Some people are just very very very good! The 189 n.o. in the 1st ODI 1984 is probably the greatest innings ever played in ODIs
Well, yes, he was very very good, but his mindset is one the current England lineup would study with considerable profit. It is not just about trying to hit every ball for four.
Bazball is rather too blunt an instrument, yes. And I totally agree on his mindset
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
McMurdock seems dodgy as hell… but it’s interesting that he was a genuine paper candidate. Shows how little it can matter who the candidate is
McMurdock became an MP after agreeing to serve as a “paper candidate” — someone who does not expect to win but enables their party to say it has run in that constituency — in South Basildon & East Thurrock. It was previously a Tory stronghold with a majority of 19,922.
He won his seat by 98 votes after a three-way split between Reform, the Conservatives and Labour led to a recount. The married father of four was described as the party’s “accidental MP” and figures in party headquarters reported that they had first heard of him after his victory.
Every party does that. We'd like to think every party had an excellent candidate for each constituency - preferably local - but there are constituencies a party never expect to win, and therefore no-one sensible/serious wants to stand for. Then something unusual happens and they win that seat, and the candidate has a "Oh shugar" moment.
But it's poor form on the Farage Party's part. McMurdock's sins are nowhere near as hilarious as Jared O'Mara's.
McMurdock seems dodgy as hell… but it’s interesting that he was a genuine paper candidate. Shows how little it can matter who the candidate is
McMurdock became an MP after agreeing to serve as a “paper candidate” — someone who does not expect to win but enables their party to say it has run in that constituency — in South Basildon & East Thurrock. It was previously a Tory stronghold with a majority of 19,922.
He won his seat by 98 votes after a three-way split between Reform, the Conservatives and Labour led to a recount. The married father of four was described as the party’s “accidental MP” and figures in party headquarters reported that they had first heard of him after his victory.
Every party does that. We'd like to think every party had an excellent candidate for each constituency - preferably local - but there are constituencies a party never expect to win, and therefore no-one sensible/serious wants to stand for. Then something unusual happens and they win that seat, and the candidate has a "Oh shugar" moment.
But it's poor form on the Farage Party's part. McMurdock's sins are nowhere near as hilarious as Jared O'Mara's.
Now there was an unsuitable candidate....
Got any dodgy social media posts...well...ok but its all old stuff on tw@tter right....erhhh...and none of this behaviour in real life...looks at shoes....but day to day, you hard working diligent, no drug issues or anything like that...gulp....
That's quite startling, and could be seen as justified and utterly unjustified, according to viewpoint.
They've also lost their lead on the economy. Wheels coming off a bit Notable the 'positives' for job approval are also now equal Starmer vs Kemi at 18. Farage out on 30, hence the VI lead!
That's quite startling, and could be seen as justified and utterly unjustified, according to viewpoint.
They've also lost their lead on the economy. Wheels coming off a bit Notable the 'positives' for job approval are also now equal Starmer vs Kemi at 18. Farage out on 30, hence the VI lead!
And we haven't even had the tax rises that will be announced in due course.
That's quite startling, and could be seen as justified and utterly unjustified, according to viewpoint.
They've also lost their lead on the economy. Wheels coming off a bit Notable the 'positives' for job approval are also now equal Starmer vs Kemi at 18. Farage out on 30, hence the VI lead!
And we haven't even had the tax rises that will be announced in due course.
Banging on about giving junior doctors 28.9% while they prepare to go on strike again and Reeves prepares to raise taxes to pay for it is the perfect storm for a Labour government.
If anyone on here has been to Uzbekistan I am looking for some tips. Mainly are any of the Silk Road cities (or Tashkent) worth a third night, as I am looking to slow myself down a bit. And where in the Ferghana is worth visiting? Assume I will book a tour to Moynaq/Aral Sea. Tx!
That's quite startling, and could be seen as justified and utterly unjustified, according to viewpoint.
They've also lost their lead on the economy. Wheels coming off a bit Notable the 'positives' for job approval are also now equal Starmer vs Kemi at 18. Farage out on 30, hence the VI lead!
And we haven't even had the tax rises that will be announced in due course.
Banging on about giving junior doctors 28.9% while they prepare to go on strike again and Reeves prepares to raise taxes to pay for it is the perfect storm for a Labour government.
If you aren't happy about the salary bands for doctors, going to Med School is a bit of a daft thing to do.
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
If anyone on here has been to Uzbekistan I am looking for some tips. Mainly are any of the Silk Road cities (or Tashkent) worth a third night, as I am looking to slow myself down a bit. And where in the Ferghana is worth visiting? Assume I will book a tour to Moynaq/Aral Sea. Tx!
Isn't County Ferghana in Northern Ireland? (ba-dum-tish)
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
R Willis H Larwood W Voce F Truman D Malcolm G Thomas S Harmison
Edit F Tyson B Statham
Perm any 4 from 9
John Snow ?
The Sussex fast bowler, not any of the other John Snows.
Interestingly it sats he was originally a chest on inswing bowler which, pre becoming a decrepit old wretch, i was in my cricket career. Sacrifice pace to slide through the gate
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
At least one of my local farms has a private 'reservoir' (it's a very big pond really)
Lots of those in East Anglia. Some are really large. But so is the area of land they water.
I recall a complete Karen who demanded that a local farmer make available the contents of his pond. Apparently it was an outrage that he was watering crops, during a hosepipe ban.
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
One missing piece of information in the story is what on earth the husband was doing for income? If the illness is fake, he should have been working. Keeping up the mortgage on a 250000 house shouldn't have been too hard even with two low incomes - and recoverable even with the alleged fraud.
Middle class people with low incomes are a fascinating breed.
I don't know - I had never heard of them, despite seven figures of sales since 2018.
The latest book has been delayed. The statement is very blurb:
On Winter Hill sees Winn undertake the Coast to Coast walk in northern England, this time alone. “Despite 45 years of walking together, setbacks in her husband, Moth’s, health have led him to see his decline as inevitable, which Raynor refuses to accept”, according to the publisher’s description. “Feeling trapped, she is drawn north, like a migratory bird, seeking the peace and hope that walking brings her”.
The Coast to Coast is a great walk, but it's only 70 miles. Was not @JosiasJessop planning to do it on a pushbike in one day?
Nah, and certainly not on a pushbike!
For some reason the C-to-c is one trail I've got little interest in doing. I've walked all the national trails, aside from the Southern Upland, the Yorkshire Wolds, and a couple of recentish extensions to other trails, but the coast-to-coast leaves me cold. I don't know why.
When I was walking past St Bees Head on my coastal walk, I met some people descending the cliffs. They said proudly they'd just walked from Robin Hood's Bay in a couple of weeks. I replied I'd just come from there in ?five? months, but had come around the long way...
The question is whether I need to do the English Coastal Path when it opens - I've walked the coast before, but that wouldn't have been the 'official' trail, so probably doesn't count...
I did the coast to coast thirty odd years ago before it had become so ridiculously well known.
It was longer than 70 miles that's for sure.
Has the route changed?
We (OK - me) may be at cross-purposes.
My 70 miles is the approximate length of Hadrian's Wall, which I have always treated as the Coast to Coast walk since a friend did it the week after his University Course finished. And I don't really see the point in a "coast-to-coast" which is longer than necessary; that's like building the Panama Canal through Belize, Guatemala and Mexico.
One of my favourite long bike rides was a coast-to-coast-to-coast across northern Scotland. Fortunately, the wind backed through 180 degrees in the twelve hours otherwise I’d have been stranded a long way from my bd for the night.
New online safety rules are here - but as tech races ahead, expect changes
But the debate over whether the changes will have the right effect is already raging. In private, the government freely admits the new rules already need an update.
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
At least one of my local farms has a private 'reservoir' (it's a very big pond really)
Lots of those in East Anglia. Some are really large. But so is the area of land they water.
I recall a complete Karen who demanded that a local farmer make available the contents of his pond. Apparently it was an outrage that he was watering crops, during a hosepipe ban.
Not sure how he was supposed to transport it…
Back in the heatwave of ?1976?, a railwayman in Derbyshire was prosecuted for using a hosepipe during a ban to water his lineside allotment. He won, because the water was coming from Totley Tunnel, and was, at that point, railway property, not the water company's.
(Urban legend; I've no idea if it is true, but it's so ridiculous it may be.)
Totley Tunnel was, at the time of its opening in the 1890s, the second-longest tunnel in Britain, only slightly shorter than the Severn Tunnel, and was/is notoriously 'wet'. It is still the fourth-longest tunnel.
If anyone on here has been to Uzbekistan I am looking for some tips. Mainly are any of the Silk Road cities (or Tashkent) worth a third night, as I am looking to slow myself down a bit. And where in the Ferghana is worth visiting? Assume I will book a tour to Moynaq/Aral Sea. Tx!
I went to Uzbekistan a few years back and really enjoyed it. I don't know what your attention span is like, but I'd say both Samarkand and Bokhara are worth another day - Khiva less so. I found the first two fascinating, but by the third I had somewhat got the point.
One missing piece of information in the story is what on earth the husband was doing for income? If the illness is fake, he should have been working. Keeping up the mortgage on a 250000 house shouldn't have been too hard even with two low incomes - and recoverable even with the alleged fraud.
Middle class people with low incomes are a fascinating breed.
I don't know - I had never heard of them, despite seven figures of sales since 2018.
The latest book has been delayed. The statement is very blurb:
On Winter Hill sees Winn undertake the Coast to Coast walk in northern England, this time alone. “Despite 45 years of walking together, setbacks in her husband, Moth’s, health have led him to see his decline as inevitable, which Raynor refuses to accept”, according to the publisher’s description. “Feeling trapped, she is drawn north, like a migratory bird, seeking the peace and hope that walking brings her”.
The Coast to Coast is a great walk, but it's only 70 miles. Was not @JosiasJessop planning to do it on a pushbike in one day?
Nah, and certainly not on a pushbike!
For some reason the C-to-c is one trail I've got little interest in doing. I've walked all the national trails, aside from the Southern Upland, the Yorkshire Wolds, and a couple of recentish extensions to other trails, but the coast-to-coast leaves me cold. I don't know why.
When I was walking past St Bees Head on my coastal walk, I met some people descending the cliffs. They said proudly they'd just walked from Robin Hood's Bay in a couple of weeks. I replied I'd just come from there in ?five? months, but had come around the long way...
The question is whether I need to do the English Coastal Path when it opens - I've walked the coast before, but that wouldn't have been the 'official' trail, so probably doesn't count...
I did the coast to coast thirty odd years ago before it had become so ridiculously well known.
It was longer than 70 miles that's for sure.
Has the route changed?
We (OK - me) may be at cross-purposes.
My 70 miles is the approximate length of Hadrian's Wall, which I have always treated as the Coast to Coast walk since a friend did it the week after his University Course finished. And I don't really see the point in a "coast-to-coast" which is longer than necessary; that's like building the Panama Canal through Belize, Guatemala and Mexico.
One of my favourite long bike rides was a coast-to-coast-to-coast across northern Scotland. Fortunately, the wind backed through 180 degrees in the twelve hours otherwise I’d have been stranded a long way from my bd for the night.
Years ago, I heard of a couple of blokes walking coast-to-coast across Scotland in a day. If you take 'coast' to be tidal waters. From memory, Bonar Bridge was one of the endpoints.
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
One missing piece of information in the story is what on earth the husband was doing for income? If the illness is fake, he should have been working. Keeping up the mortgage on a 250000 house shouldn't have been too hard even with two low incomes - and recoverable even with the alleged fraud.
Middle class people with low incomes are a fascinating breed.
I don't know - I had never heard of them, despite seven figures of sales since 2018.
The latest book has been delayed. The statement is very blurb:
On Winter Hill sees Winn undertake the Coast to Coast walk in northern England, this time alone. “Despite 45 years of walking together, setbacks in her husband, Moth’s, health have led him to see his decline as inevitable, which Raynor refuses to accept”, according to the publisher’s description. “Feeling trapped, she is drawn north, like a migratory bird, seeking the peace and hope that walking brings her”.
The Coast to Coast is a great walk, but it's only 70 miles. Was not @JosiasJessop planning to do it on a pushbike in one day?
Nah, and certainly not on a pushbike!
For some reason the C-to-c is one trail I've got little interest in doing. I've walked all the national trails, aside from the Southern Upland, the Yorkshire Wolds, and a couple of recentish extensions to other trails, but the coast-to-coast leaves me cold. I don't know why.
When I was walking past St Bees Head on my coastal walk, I met some people descending the cliffs. They said proudly they'd just walked from Robin Hood's Bay in a couple of weeks. I replied I'd just come from there in ?five? months, but had come around the long way...
The question is whether I need to do the English Coastal Path when it opens - I've walked the coast before, but that wouldn't have been the 'official' trail, so probably doesn't count...
I did the coast to coast thirty odd years ago before it had become so ridiculously well known.
It was longer than 70 miles that's for sure.
Has the route changed?
We (OK - me) may be at cross-purposes.
My 70 miles is the approximate length of Hadrian's Wall, which I have always treated as the Coast to Coast walk since a friend did it the week after his University Course finished. And I don't really see the point in a "coast-to-coast" which is longer than necessary; that's like building the Panama Canal through Belize, Guatemala and Mexico.
One of my favourite long bike rides was a coast-to-coast-to-coast across northern Scotland. Fortunately, the wind backed through 180 degrees in the twelve hours otherwise I’d have been stranded a long way from my bd for the night.
The Southern Upland Way is a coast to coast, and 214 miles. Remarkably few people complete it, through some of the most unknown territory of the UK.
Farmers’ fury over ban on watering crops during heatwave Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
New online safety rules are here - but as tech races ahead, expect changes
But the debate over whether the changes will have the right effect is already raging. In private, the government freely admits the new rules already need an update.
Some of the new rules and regs don't conflict with previous rules and regs. Which is a pleasant surprise.
I still enjoy - almost daily - being legally compelled to both minimise data retention and also retaining all data for 10+ years depending which law I'm paying attention to that day.
Do we have any Lancashire CC fans old enough to remember bowler Bob Ratcliffe from the late 70s?
Which is getting to be a long time ago
It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk, Though my own red roses there may blow; It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk, Though the red roses crest the caps, I know. For the field is full of shades as I near the shadowy coast, And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost, And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host As the run stealers flicker to and fro, To and fro:– O my Hornby and my Barlow long ago!
New online safety rules are here - but as tech races ahead, expect changes
But the debate over whether the changes will have the right effect is already raging. In private, the government freely admits the new rules already need an update.
Some of the new rules and regs don't conflict with previous rules and regs. Which is a pleasant surprise.
I still enjoy - almost daily - being legally compelled to both minimise data retention and also retaining all data for 10+ years depending which law I'm paying attention to that day.
yet....it sounds like the government want to go...further and faster....
Public support for strikes by resident doctors has collapsed, with barely one in four voters now backing their campaign of industrial action, according to the latest polling, which reveals the deepening unpopularity of further NHS strikes.
That's quite startling, and could be seen as justified and utterly unjustified, according to viewpoint.
They've also lost their lead on the economy. Wheels coming off a bit Notable the 'positives' for job approval are also now equal Starmer vs Kemi at 18. Farage out on 30, hence the VI lead!
And we haven't even had the tax rises that will be announced in due course.
Banging on about giving junior doctors 28.9% while they prepare to go on strike again and Reeves prepares to raise taxes to pay for it is the perfect storm for a Labour government.
They need a bit more bitter infighting before it's truly a perfect storm. The current 'loud grumbling' isn't nearly good enough. Slacking all round.
Public support for strikes by resident doctors has collapsed, with barely one in four voters now backing their campaign of industrial action, according to the latest polling, which reveals the deepening unpopularity of further NHS strikes.
Talking about farmers' reservoirs, in the southern Peak district you get little concrete 'saucers' in fields, six to ten feet in diameter. Designed to hold water for sheep, as otherwise the water just disappears into the limestone.
(I have no idea why troughs don't do the same job easier).
If anyone on here has been to Uzbekistan I am looking for some tips. Mainly are any of the Silk Road cities (or Tashkent) worth a third night, as I am looking to slow myself down a bit. And where in the Ferghana is worth visiting? Assume I will book a tour to Moynaq/Aral Sea. Tx!
No, but you could buy one of Sevara’s CDs to get yourself in the mood
A domestic hosepipe ban is satisfyingly Ronseal in nature, though.
Spent some time filling up the paddling pool this afternoon as youngest was aghast at the idea, 15 buckets of water later and probably to about half the depth I would have achieved with a hosepipe it was a case of stuff it, job done.
Non domestically a trip to hand car wash awaits (aiui they can't house their yard, but they can hose cars) - nobody can look at my car and honestly say I haven't saved water this year.
Steven E. de Souza, who penned the film’s script more than 30 years ago, is adamant about that. But days ago at his Comedy Central Roast, the film’s star, Bruce Willis, told a wide-eyed audience “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie.”
In response to this controversial claim, de Souza has a plethora of evidence that proves the action star is, well, just plain wrong.
“It was a comedy roast. I think he said that to be funny and be trolling,” de Souza said.
I've just come back from ten days in Montenegro. Apart from being marred by various small frustrations like cheating taxi drivers and triple digit temperatures in Podogrica, it was an improbably fascinating trip - a country, like so many in Eastern Europe, apparently split down the middle between following its heart, towards its Slavic brethren Serbia and Russia, and its head, towards NATO and civilised Europe.
As some commenters seem to appreciate my occasional postcards from foreign parts, I thought I'd share some thoughts:
- they use the Euro, and this has clearly trapped them in an unsustainably strong currency. Things feel much more expensive than they should for a developing country at the back end of Europe, unemployment is obviously very high (14% officially, youth unemployment 26%, in reality probably significantly higher) - Russian influence EVERYWHERE. The most common petrol stations were Lukoil, many Russian banks (Sberbank etc) have branches in the towns, lots of signs in tourist areas where in Russian and the usual quota of Russian men obviously drunk by noon on the beaches - but every Montenegrin ministry in the capital flies an EU flag alongside the Montenegrin one, and some fly NATO flags as well. So it's an odd mix. Their national symbol is the double-headed eagle, simultaneously facing west and east, which seems somehow appropriate to the country. - the language situation is just as confused. Montenegrin itself is sort of a dialect of Serbian but sort of its own language. It only formally separated from Serbian in the 1990s. Most of the signs use the Latin script but some are in modified Cyrillic and a few are in English. - the people I talked to are also a mix - they look Mediterranean rather than Slavic, though their language and culture are obviously basically Serbian. They drive better than you'd expect for a country that's next to Albania, and actually stop at pedestrian crossings, which was unexpected - the US embassy in Podgorica is staggeringly ugly and larger than the former embassy in London on Grosvenor Square. For an obscure country of 600k, not a world power of 70m. God knows what Uncle Sam is thinking. - the food is good if uninspired - classic Balkan fare of grilled meat, potatoes, sauces, soups, etc.
Anyway it was a good trip, though unfortunately I had to cut it short because of work. They won't become another Belarus as they are too far - geographically and culturally - from Russia but I will be interested to see if they can maintain their precarious national balancing act over the next couple of decades or if they will embrace the free world with all its problems and disappointments wholeheartedly.
Never been, but it’s sort of on my list. Isn’t it magnificently scenic, especially those old monasteries in the mountains next to the sea?
Yes the mountains, forests and beaches are very nice to look at, and the more popular hiking trails are good and well-maintained. Hiking is obviously a popular passtime there, though they charge foreigners a few euros for access to their national parks and parking is expensive.
And you only get third party insurance if you drive there, and have to buy some sort of basic policy for cash at the border?
I drove around inland Montenegro (it’s beautiful) and wrote about it for the Gazette. Zero hassle
When are you going to visit those inbred hillbillies you're interested in ?
Neil Oliver @thecoastguy · 56m Watching 40th anniversary of Live Aid. Skin crawling with mortification about having wholeheartedly swallowed the nonsense then. All that money from trusting people sent to murderous regime. Plus ca change.
Neil Oliver @thecoastguy · 56m Watching 40th anniversary of Live Aid. Skin crawling with mortification about having wholeheartedly swallowed the nonsense then. All that money from trusting people sent to murderous regime. Plus ca change.
If anyone on here has been to Uzbekistan I am looking for some tips. Mainly are any of the Silk Road cities (or Tashkent) worth a third night, as I am looking to slow myself down a bit. And where in the Ferghana is worth visiting? Assume I will book a tour to Moynaq/Aral Sea. Tx!
Neil Oliver @thecoastguy · 56m Watching 40th anniversary of Live Aid. Skin crawling with mortification about having wholeheartedly swallowed the nonsense then. All that money from trusting people sent to murderous regime. Plus ca change.
I think questioning of Live Aid (in that the Ethiopian Government is said to have used the funding to implement ethnic cleansing) is fairly mainstream now - has been for years in fact. I am sure Neil Oliver has said some far more loony things that would support your view better.
James Hogg @JamesAHogg2 · 5h As Wimbledon is almost at an end I think it’s only right that I post the fabulous Not the Nine O’clock News lampoon of John McEnroe’s epic 1981 Wimbledon meltdown, which I believe every child in the world took great delight in repeating ad nauseam in the playground.
Neil Oliver @thecoastguy · 56m Watching 40th anniversary of Live Aid. Skin crawling with mortification about having wholeheartedly swallowed the nonsense then. All that money from trusting people sent to murderous regime. Plus ca change.
I think questioning of Live Aid (in that the Ethiopian Government is said to have used the funding to implement ethnic cleansing) is fairly mainstream now - has been for years in fact. I am sure Neil Oliver has said some far more loony things that would support your view better.
L/A jars a bit now but that is a phoney comment from the phoney that is Neil Oliver.
I picked up a Penguin at random and reached page 15:
Published in 1941 - a vintage year for antisemitism.
Reprinted for mass circulation in 1954.
I think it's debatable how antisemitic that passage is. The notion that Jewish people have characteristic features is not in and of itself a particularly antisemitic one. And that's really the only thing in it. That the character is ugly is not linked by the author to his jewishness - the opposite in fact.
KRISTI NOEM now openly telling people to self deport. Go home. "We'll buy your ticket".
Food inflation in US is going to be off the scale shortly.
I find it really weird in the US that for crawfish they have a visa scheme where you can get people from places like Mexico to come and do the backbreaking work of harvesting them. As Angela Rayner might say all above board, declared it. But for other agriculture they came up with a different approach called turn a blind eye to illegal immigrants doing all the work.
Kash Patel tweeting that the Epstein conspiracy theories (which have been like catnip to MAGA) are all untrue and he supports Trump.
This is the best weekend since the Fall of America in January.
Bill Kristol @BillKristol · 8m A touch of panic there? And I’m not talking about Patel. I’m talking about Trump.
But this attempt to shut down questions won’t work. There are too many legitimate questions about their handling of the Epstein files, and what they’ve seen there, to be dismissed in this way.
There are so many reasons Trump should not be President, but it would forever be galactically hilarious if the thing that eventually derails him is Epstein
There are so many reasons Trump should not be President, but it would forever be galactically hilarious if the thing that eventually derails him is Epstein
To be honest I cannot see anything derailing him at present unfortunately
Meh.. a commentator noted for off-beat, slightly right wing views expresses another off-beat, right wing view. Don't particularly feel like he or his ilk are truly in touch with the zeitgeist...
There are so many reasons Trump should not be President, but it would forever be galactically hilarious if the thing that eventually derails him is Epstein
To be honest I cannot see anything derailing him at present unfortunately
I picked up a Penguin at random and reached page 15:
Published in 1941 - a vintage year for antisemitism.
Reprinted for mass circulation in 1954.
I think it's debatable how antisemitic that passage is. The notion that Jewish people have characteristic features is not in and of itself a particularly antisemitic one. And that's really the only thing in it. That the character is ugly is not linked by the author to his jewishness - the opposite in fact.
So you are saying that calling Jewish people bignoses isn't antisemitic? Pull the other one. That piece is as antisemitic as it comes. Ref. various Nazi propaganda posters.
If anyone on here has been to Uzbekistan I am looking for some tips. Mainly are any of the Silk Road cities (or Tashkent) worth a third night, as I am looking to slow myself down a bit. And where in the Ferghana is worth visiting? Assume I will book a tour to Moynaq/Aral Sea. Tx!
Meh.. a commentator noted for off-beat, slightly right wing views expresses another off-beat, right wing view. Don't particularly feel like he or his ilk are truly in touch with the zeitgeist...
You do know that Starmer is now as unpopular as Johnson according to Opinium
There is real anger out there and I am not at all sure how it will be addressed
Certainly the one in one out boats scheme is not the hit Starmer hoped for
Neil Oliver @thecoastguy · 56m Watching 40th anniversary of Live Aid. Skin crawling with mortification about having wholeheartedly swallowed the nonsense then. All that money from trusting people sent to murderous regime. Plus ca change.
To be fair, the Ethiopian famine was largely as a result of the civil war in Ethiopia and the deliberate withholding of food by the government, as a weapon, was noted at the time.
Comments
badless than perfect ones, England would be a much more formidable team.*And Gordon Greenidge’s, for that matter.
Although as always we can never know the counterfactual.
The 189 n.o. in the 1st ODI 1984 is probably the greatest innings ever played in ODIs
McMurdock became an MP after agreeing to serve as a “paper candidate” — someone who does not expect to win but enables their party to say it has run in that constituency — in South Basildon & East Thurrock. It was previously a Tory stronghold with a majority of 19,922.
He won his seat by 98 votes after a three-way split between Reform, the Conservatives and Labour led to a recount. The married father of four was described as the party’s “accidental MP” and figures in party headquarters reported that they had first heard of him after his victory.
https://www.thetimes.com/article/1d7adf0b-80f6-41d4-a151-11b243bd0eed?shareToken=f7666a860b945424a9aebc155577a1ed
https://x.com/ericbrownzzz/status/1943404893340831949
Growers warn the restriction, imposed by the Environment Agency on around 240 farms in East Anglia, threatens significant harvest losses
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/12/farmers-abstraction-ban-watering-crops-norfolk-heatwave/
Starmer as unpopular as Johnson after party gate. !!!•
https://x.com/OpiniumResearch/status/1944109756311810162?t=T0pQ2EJ0gtWYH-PIjhRVJQ&s=19
But it's poor form on the Farage Party's part. McMurdock's sins are nowhere near as hilarious as Jared O'Mara's.
Having kids is wonderful.
Got any dodgy social media posts...well...ok but its all old stuff on tw@tter right....erhhh...and none of this behaviour in real life...looks at shoes....but day to day, you hard working diligent, no drug issues or anything like that...gulp....
Notable the 'positives' for job approval are also now equal Starmer vs Kemi at 18. Farage out on 30, hence the VI lead!
But others enjoy it, and will give up their spare time to play, both amateur and professional. So fair enough.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/10/grok-4-seems-to-consult-elon-musk-to-answer-controversial-questions/
The Sussex fast bowler, not any of the other John Snows.
They have a diesel driven pump that feeds a massive sprinkler arm mounted on a drum
The water pressure turns the drum and winds the hose onto it, which pulls the rig across the field
When it reaches the end, the pump shuts off automatically
Sacrifice pace to slide through the gate
Not sure how he was supposed to transport it…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_people
But the debate over whether the changes will have the right effect is already raging. In private, the government freely admits the new rules already need an update.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj0mn7gmpplo
Read as even more rules and regs.
(Urban legend; I've no idea if it is true, but it's so ridiculous it may be.)
Totley Tunnel was, at the time of its opening in the 1890s, the second-longest tunnel in Britain, only slightly shorter than the Severn Tunnel, and was/is notoriously 'wet'. It is still the fourth-longest tunnel.
Enjoy.
Government-backed report says Jewish people suffering increased prejudice across society
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/12/anti-semitism-normalised-britain-british-board-jews-israel/
I still enjoy - almost daily - being legally compelled to both minimise data retention and also retaining all data for 10+ years depending which law I'm paying attention to that day.
It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,
Though my own red roses there may blow;
It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,
Though the red roses crest the caps, I know.
For the field is full of shades as I near the shadowy coast,
And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost,
And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host
As the run stealers flicker to and fro,
To and fro:–
O my Hornby and my Barlow long ago!
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/12/public-support-for-resident-doctors-strikes-collapses-ahead-of-fresh-industrial-action
Maybe they need to be more proactive in getting moderate leaders elected
(I have no idea why troughs don't do the same job easier).
Spent some time filling up the paddling pool this afternoon as youngest was aghast at the idea, 15 buckets of water later and probably to about half the depth I would have achieved with a hosepipe it was a case of stuff it, job done.
Non domestically a trip to hand car wash awaits (aiui they can't house their yard, but they can hose cars) - nobody can look at my car and honestly say I haven't saved water this year.
Reform voters simply want to smash things up
Intelligent friends are turning to Nigel Farage in such despair with our politics, they are prepared to vote for a death cult" (£)
https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/reform-voters-simply-want-to-smash-things-up-0c2q0qjcb
The release of the non Christmas film that is Die Hard.
Real Christmas films aren't released in the summer.
https://blog.finaldraft.com/steven-e-de-souza-die-hard-is-a-christmas-movie
Die Hard is a Christmas movie, full stop.
Steven E. de Souza, who penned the film’s script more than 30 years ago, is adamant about that. But days ago at his Comedy Central Roast, the film’s star, Bruce Willis, told a wide-eyed audience “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie.”
In response to this controversial claim, de Souza has a plethora of evidence that proves the action star is, well, just plain wrong.
“It was a comedy roast. I think he said that to be funny and be trolling,” de Souza said.
Neil Oliver
@thecoastguy
·
56m
Watching 40th anniversary of Live Aid. Skin crawling with mortification about having wholeheartedly swallowed the nonsense then. All that money from trusting people sent to murderous regime. Plus ca change.
https://x.com/thecoastguy/status/1944117701137621115
Kneel before Trump
https://youtu.be/nprJvYKz3QQ
I think questioning of Live Aid (in that the Ethiopian Government is said to have used the funding to implement ethnic cleansing) is fairly mainstream now - has been for years in fact. I am sure Neil Oliver has said some far more loony things that would support your view better.
I picked up a Penguin at random and reached page 15:
Published in 1941 - a vintage year for antisemitism.
Reprinted for mass circulation in 1954.
James Hogg
@JamesAHogg2
·
5h
As Wimbledon is almost at an end I think it’s only right that I post the fabulous Not the Nine O’clock News lampoon of John McEnroe’s epic 1981 Wimbledon meltdown, which I believe every child in the world took great delight in repeating ad nauseam in the playground.
https://x.com/JamesAHogg2/status/1944056498918695016
Food inflation in US is going to be off the scale shortly.
Why not have a similar visa scheme.
Kash Patel tweeting that the Epstein conspiracy theories (which have been like catnip to MAGA) are all untrue and he supports Trump.
This is the best weekend since the Fall of America in January.
Bill Kristol
@BillKristol
·
8m
A touch of panic there? And I’m not talking about Patel. I’m talking about Trump.
But this attempt to shut down questions won’t work. There are too many legitimate questions about their handling of the Epstein files, and what they’ve seen there, to be dismissed in this way.
https://x.com/BillKristol/status/1944141122311532866
a deranged Trump claims Obama and Hillary wrote the Epstein files and urges people to not care about them 🥴
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3ltscdbwbtk2n
Why are we subsidising expensive evs most ordinary workers cannot afford ?
You cannot keep subsidies on products that are not popular
There is real anger out there and I am not at all sure how it will be addressed
Certainly the one in one out boats scheme is not the hit Starmer hoped for
https://news.sky.com/story/fridays-national-newspaper-front-pages-12427754
So that's an easy test to undertake. Let's have a wee look at them eh Donny.