11 August 2010

11/08/10

Bow Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.
-Dietrich Bonhöffer

213 comments:

  1. Morning all!

    Went to see Inception last night - really rather good (if confusing at times) and a cracking cast. Am waiting for a piece on CIF putting forward a Cartesian analysis of it...

    Hope you're OK Sheff.

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  2. Morning All

    Not been well at all the last few days - really under the weather.

    Philippa - don't you have to watch Inception at least 3 times to understand what's going on??!!!???

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  3. aw, LaRit, feeling better now?

    and yes, it was a little confusing. I was OK until all the snow turned up. may have to track down a full plot summary and then draw myself a little diagram...

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  4. Oh,PhilippaB, there's oodles of stuff already out there on the film.Some of it's even relatively good (I don't think that piece linked to is tremendous, not by a long chalk, but it does seem to me to be on the right lines: Nolan is very much a film geek, and I think much of Inception actually relates to narratives,artifice,and film-making.With all of its references,stylistic 'lifts' etc it's very much a film about film).Wouldn't bank on a CiF piece falling into that category:someone would simply use it as a canvas on which to project their personal overriding preconceptions, probably identity politics, possibly the all-oppressive/all-liberating (delete according to author: they don't get many who do nuance) nature of corporatised society or quite possibly something thoroughly emetic about how if we all dream the same dream, then all kinds of perils, real or imaginary can be overcome.
    PS, Duke: e-mail me if you want some of those (later) Raj links and materials. By the way, there's a very funny piece on Kashmir up on CiF by Simon Tisdall.Rather misinterprets the Bradnock report, or rather,selectively takes its findings to beat up a bit on India. The report's tenor is pretty much that,actually, while the current situation is very far from ideal, broadly speaking the status quo is the least bad option as things stand.

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  5. Inception, Shminception. I played a wargame on my computer for three straight hours last night. It was, to coin a phrase, fucking awesome.

    LOL, I’m still a raging mess of testerone-fuelled twitchiness this morning...

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  6. Alisdair - hehehehe. particularly liked the use of 'je ne regrette rien', given Costillard's oscar...

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  7. Philippa:

    Hiya!

    Yes, a good deal better.

    Hope SheffPixie is OK too whilst we're on the subject of health ;) (sends hug \o/)

    My other half tried to see it last week and it was completely sold out - he was very disappointed ;(

    On a lighter note, I'm thinking of going to see Toy Story 3 in 3D at the weekend - I could do with a bit of light relief!

    Hi Alisdair!

    Hope all is now well with Mrs Cameron and baby?

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  8. Swifty:

    I’m still a raging mess of testerone-fuelled twitchiness this morning...

    Sounds dangerous !!

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  9. Hmm, but one of my Facebook friends (an old uni mate whose opinion I rated when we hung out together) hated inception and told me I was lucky I turned away after seeing the queue for it!

    Last night I mostly disinfected a pair of chest waders and a kick net.........

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  10. La Rit. Missus is okay and the bairn-to-be too.One or two tests pending, but so far so good.
    @ Philippa: that music reference gets deeper...

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  11. @La Ritournelle:

    ”Sounds dangerous !!”

    Damn straight lady, you watch out… heh, only joking, I’ll be out of “Paul mode” and back to my usual affable self in short order. Good gaming night though, clears the tubes once in a while, so to speak.

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  12. Swifty -- you haven't called anyone a moron, yet! Deano and others did a few hours googling back to 1942 last night and are suffering more from eyestrain than excess testosterone .

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  13. erm....Dietrich....they may well have to chew cardboard...

    The future for our kids is one of the few things that casts an unwelcome shadow on an otherwise joyful life. There is a bit too much "I" and passion for "me" around to be completely relaxed.( ...and this from a 'boomer' - creeping guilt I think)

    Sadly the fear for our kids has to be that those who develop consumption mania finish up consuming each other and then the future.

    (FFS does that Campbell women think everybody is dim.......why would such a self obsessed cow not take the largest blood diamond for herself before passing the lesser ones to the children's charity... I haven't heard/read anything that would contradict that possibility.)

    Hope you quickly feel better as the day passes LaRit.

    Sheff best-est of wishes for you comrade. We are all hoping to hear that your problem can be made better without too much discomfort and hassle.

    frog KOYLI? yet another link to Yorkshire!

    That's me for the day I'm away to help son and wife knock their new home into shape.

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  14. "Last night I mostly disinfected a pair of chest waders and a kick net.........

    Ah the stuff of life Dott LOL !!

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  15. Swifty:

    I'll be out of Paul mode LOL!

    Alisdair:

    Very glad to hear all's well ;0)

    Deano:

    In answer to your question re: Westminster Library - thanks to Labour - you can join and borrow from any Library in the country!

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  16. Dotterel;

    Last night I mostly disinfected a pair of chest waders and a kick net.........

    Is that in preparation for a Skin Too party???? !

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  17. Alisdair,

    you'll have mail shortly.

    Swifty,

    I bet you and Bracken were hooked up over the internet in the same virtual platoon. Did he bark out his orders 20 miles behind lines in a French Chateaux or did he lock and load and engage with you grunts?

    I'm going to give the Graun defender of bourgeois liberties the benefit of the doubt as he may be writing an article as we speak, but where the fuck is Henry Porter on the use of Experian etc to pry on poor people's transactions?

    He must be disappointed because he was so 'pleasantly surprised' by this administration.

    And why only one article on CiF so far on this scandalous benefit bounty hunter policy?

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  18. @13thDuke:

    It was carnage out there…

    “Sarn’t Paperclip, get your lads together and move those bloody desks to the back of the hall!”
    “We cannae dee it surrr, desk no.3’s got a fockin’ wonky wheel and it’s gaeing round in fockin circles!”
    “Roger, hold there… FSG, take that bloody projector to the front of Room 585 and ready the Powerpoint slides, you’re providing cover for Sjt Paperclip and his ring-bound folders…”
    “It’s nae good surrr… fock, Lt Pencil’s just died of borrrrredom…”
    Etc etc

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  19. Morning everyone

    Great Matt cartoon in the torygraph this morning.

    Thanks for all the good wishes - luv ya'll xxx It seems I have gastritis - in common with half the population as far as I can gather. Having had a rock solid gut all my life it came as a bit of a surprise. Have been put on some kind of acid suppressing medication which should do the trick.

    ACPO really are the pits
    Broadcast by Association of Chief Police Officers urged listeners to report neighbours who avoided company

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  20. Sheff,

    good to hear you are well.

    They've put you on acid as medication? Within the next hour should we expect loads of youtube clips of Haight-Ashbury, the Grateful Dead and Woodstock?

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  21. @sheff:

    Very glad it’s nothing more serious… my dad gets that, in his case it’s brought on by stress (they think).

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  22. La Rit,

    "Is that in preparation for a Skin Too party???? !"

    Nope, long weekend away with an Icelandic scientist....

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  23. Good to hear it's nothing serious, Sheff! And that cartoon is great.

    Have you found out any more about the UKBA issues?

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  24. Jimmy Reid has died - anyone remember the Upper Clyde shipbuilders dispute? Seems to have passed out of memory.

    single parents are to be compelled to seek work once their youngest child turns five or face losing benefits...

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  25. In some cases, gastritis is caused by stomach lining damage, from overproduction of stomach acid due to nerves. In such cases avoidance of acidic foods and drinks (tomato, citrus, lemon, vinegar, cow dairy, caffeine, alcohol) can relieve pain and allow stomach lining to heal. Water, herbal tea, or grape juice can flush acid out between meals. Relaxation, breathing exercises, and avoidance of stressful situations are essential to relieve the nervousness during the healing process.

    That was just a comment, not authoritative ;; but I like the bit about "avoidance of stressful situations" ( like living in 2010 and particularly in UK ...).

    Obvious solution is to emigrate and have no internet or telephone :)

    inviter to resto, running !

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  26. My partner has that acid gut thing, it's stress.

    Lovin SB's banter with P-Brax. 'I don't think that means wha' he thinks tha' means...'

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  27. Lovin SB's banter with P-Brax,

    where's that turm?

    Amazon have just sent me The Spirit Level - only £5 plus postage - good value I reckon.

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  28. If anyone has read Waddya recently you will know I have 'resigned' from Cif.

    I also intend to stop posting here, on my blog, everywhere.

    I am truly fucked.
    1. I can't get a job because I have no previous experience.
    2. I don't even have enough references so I can't even make a completed CV.
    3. Signing on is pointless, because of these two above, I cannot even meet the requirements of having a completed CV.

    I may well leave Glasgow when my rental period expires, the end of September. I have no intention of returning to my parents, or to the western isles. I may well have to abandon my studies if I am living a transient and unstable life.

    The realities, rather idiocies of life have dawned on me. Everything is set up against me, there is no point trying to fight anything, so I don't know what to do. I have been utterly defeated and grinded down by the tyrrany of society and established convention. There is no place for me in this world.

    I've even tried to do volunteering. I asked around in May, it is August now and only now can I get things rolling, filling in disclosure forms etc- and then these will take up to 3 months to clear, by which time I will almost certainly be gone. So I have let down some charities by wasting their time (although unintentionally). And of course if I cannot do any volunteering, I cannot get the skills and the references to put on my CV. Catch 22, no experience here, no chance of a job.

    And posters like Scherfig attack me for being idle, yet I am fucked over by all those things. Or will attack me for having the temerity to have a granny who died and left me an inheritence, when even the most ardent socialist on here, Annetan is talking of her travails in the property market. No offence Anne, but of course if you died your relatives would inherit the house and may sell it for money. So I don't see how this makes me a hypocrite. I really am not priveliged. Sure I have some money (most people in life will get much more and at an age when they are more set up so not frittering it away on living expenses)but my situation is fucked.

    So, yeah goodbye. There is no point in me continuing to post here. Life has defeated me.

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  29. Waddya Sheff. Hope you on the mend, my partner was recomended Iengar Yoga, or just to lie on the floor for 10 mins, both of which increase rather than reduce her stress : (

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  30. Afternoon all

    @Sheff-hopefully having to live like a nun will only be a short term fix.And some semblance of 'normal service''will be resumed before to long.Gastritis can be a bastard if not kept under control.And stress can be a factor in aggravating it.

    Re-lone parents NuLab had already planned to bring down to 7 as the age lone parents have to start looking for work unless they have kids with chronic health problems.And bringing it down to 5 brings us in line with much of Europe.Problem we have here though is a combination of lack of affordable childcare and an inflexible benefit system.The average lone parent with 3 or more kids is actually better off on benefits than working.Yet excluding housing costs the benefit sysyem contrary to Daily Mail mythology pays a pittance.And my fear is the ConLibs will look to reduce these already pitiful benefit levels to make life as uncomfortable as possible for lone parents on benefits.

    @Duke-we shouldn,t be surprised that CIF is showing little interest in the Benefit Bountry Hunter scandal.After all how long did it take for them to cotton on to the ATOS scandal? And even that was after a number of us spent months pushing relentlessly for them to do so.And even now they,re hardly in top gear when dealing with the issue.More like a 'going through the motions'IMO.FFS even the Mail and the Telegraph beat them by a margin of several weeks when it came to them running the Professor Paul Gregg story.And again we had to push for that as well.

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  31. Sheff,

    personally a very, very sad day. My Grandad worked closely with him in the UCS and especially the work in. I met him a couple of times as a kid.

    Anyone who has any left wing principles will mourn Jimmmy Reid.

    Some Jimmy Reid highlights:

    Here's vintage Jimmy as the Communist candidate after he lost the 74 election in Clydebank to Labour. He tears a strip off the Labour candidate for their dirty tricks campaign.

    In 1972, he made his famous 'rat race' speech on becoming rector of Glasgow University. It was printed on the front page of the New York Times the following day, hailing it as

    "the greatest speech since Lincoln made the Gettysburg address".

    If the key passage as follows is not more relevant now than ever, I do not know when it will ever be:

    "A rat race is for rats. We're not rats. We're human beings. Reject the insidious pressures in society that would blunt your critical faculties to all that is happening around you, that would caution silence in the face of injustice lest you jeopardise your chances of promotion and self-advancement.

    This is how it starts, and, before you know where you are, you're a fully paid-up member of the rat pack. The price is too high."


    And lastly, his famous UCS work in speech:

    "We are not going to strike. We are not even having a sit in strike. Nobody and nothing will come in and nothing will go out without our permission.

    “And there will be no hooliganism. There will be no vandalism. There will be no bevvying,because the world is watching us.”


    Heath's Government backed down and the shipyards were saved. For a few years at least.

    The ghosts of the shipyards now long gone will mourn for Jimmy Reid.

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  32. Get a grip NAP! You will not starve, if you were in danger of that you WOULD find work, someone else on the board has a friend that found factory work. You just have to put the hours (and hours and hours) in.

    If you can move to Embra I may have contacts that can find something for you. Do not give up, and keep posting here, it's good for you and for us! All the best. P : )

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  33. Nap - have you thought about the CAB? The minimum time commitment is (or used to be) 6 hrs p/w, although the more time you can commit, the quicker you become trained - once you're trained, you can specialise - some CABx represent clients at tribunal/appeal hearings. Apart from being a great thing to put on your CV, and a source of references, it can also lead to paid employment.

    Anyway. You sound pretty down. Don't lose hope.

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  34. Charlie

    FFS don,t stopping posting here.The bad place you,re in at the moment won,t be forever.And cutting yourself completely from people-even on the net- is the last thing you want to be doing when you,re feeling so low.Will try and post you again later.

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  35. @Charles:

    Look mate, I know it won’t feel like it to you now, but you’re not alone in feeling like this, we’ve all been through this dark night of the soul stuff at some point, and we’ve all come through the other side more or less unscathed, it’s just part of being a grown up, unfortunately. Best thing you can do, at least in my experience, if you can afford to (and from what you say you’re not being chucked out on your ear imminently), is to knuckle down to something you enjoy to take your mind off your immediate situation while you’re working out what it is you want to do.

    You’re interested in Slavonic languages, right? Ping me an email via Montana if you wish, I’ll get you going on some Russian (I studied it at university), nothing too hard, just swearing, general greetings, some sentence structures/verb conjugations/aspects etc. I always found farting around with foreign languages very therapeutic when suffering an attack of the glums.

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  36. charlie

    Should read 'stop' and not 'stopping'.:-)

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  37. Piece just gone up on Jimmy Reid.

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  38. Thank you, everyone. I will think about what you have said but I still intend to quit posting, if only to save you lot from a load of nonsense on my part.

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  39. Thanks thauma, just read it, looked at the moronic comments below and decided I can't be arsed getting banned.

    Charlie,

    hope you're alright mate. As swifty says and if it's any comfort, we've all been through it at some point and things will look up. Genuinely.

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  40. Nap,

    While it's true no one likes a wallowing whinger (not saying you are one BTW just get the impression you might think you are one) it's also true that everyone wants to feel helpful (well nice people anyway, and there are one or two here ;-))

    So stay here, keep asking for constructive advice and you'll be doing some of us a favour!

    End of the day though, it's you who has the power to get yourself through this.

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  41. Damn it that last sentence was supposed to have start and end brackets for "self-help bollocks" around it, blogger obviously takes that as a queue to make it look like any other text, hmmm, coincidence?

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  42. Yes, the troll alert must have gone out quickly.

    Charles, as above: don't cut yourself off. I've been in a fairly prolonged period of unemployment myself and you end up feeling as though you'll never find something ... but something does eventually turn up. In the end, it was the best thing that could have happened, although I had some bad months.

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  43. "cue" not "queue", wake up Dot!

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  44. Nap:

    You can't have inherited that much money otherwise you'd not be able to sign on.... what I'm saying is, you ain't a millionaire, stop fucking fretting about it! But wrt no work - it's the drifting that is the killer - I know, I've been doing it for months.

    These are very, very, very tough times - I've lived in Londond for 20 years and I cannot remember a time when I was not able to get e decent-ish job (or any job for that matter) for longer than 3 weeks tops - for me it has been nigh on 17 months and I'm doing a door-to-door fundraising for Guide Dogs. Needs must. Needs must. Try pubs, hotels - I've worked as a KP, as a chambermaid, bottle collector, cleaner - you name it, I've done it and had to do it to survive.

    You are not alone - keep your pecker up and keep posting ;0)

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  45. ...but then decided to post with teeth gritted...

    LaRit,

    good posts on there.

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  46. @Dot:

    LOL, nice try though mate, got there in the end!

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  47. Cheers Swifty, I've been sniffing pure ethanol all morning (in the name of work!) shows doesn't it!

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  48. More investigations into the radical heritage of the Guardian newspaper.

    In the light of Jimmy Reid's death today, I have had a scan back at newspaper coverage of the UCS work in.

    Here's your starter for 10.

    Which 'radical' newspaper in it's editorial of August 2nd 1971, condemned the UCS work in saying and I quote:

    "this experiment in workers control will have to be abandoned quickly"

    ??

    There's a fairtrade Tibetan lassi maker finished in handmade mosaics of the Dalai Lama being imprisoned by the Chinese Authorities for the first to guess correctly.

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  49. >>There's a fairtrade Tibetan lassi maker...


    Surely, that's a Zannusi twin tub...

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  50. Well who'd a thunk it Your grace!! I think I was still buying the Morning Star back then.

    Charles
    I'm sorry to hear you feel so down - keep posting on the UT and keep talking - isolating yourself won't make things better for you. And don't make any radical decisions - wait until the gloom lifts a bit - which it will.

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  51. \o/ Parking

    thewisdomofbracken
    11 Aug 2010, 3:39PM
    Whilst those unfamiliar with the doctrine of lex talionis will struggle with the verbalist floscularity of this tribute to our friend's aperient loquacity, my point is that his flapdoodle is not discerptible. I mention this in case the gravamen of my previous comment, having as it did the form of an argumentum e siliento, should be missed: that his contributions should be regarded as harlequinadinous, if I may be forgiven an etymon.

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  52. Charles -- I hope you do have that beer or whatever with Leopold1904 . He's OK .

    From what I've sen here just about all of us have been seriously down in the "glums" as Swifty put it , and some suffer from really bad disabilities too, but keep going.
    Camus put it well in the Myth of Sysiphus (sp),life can be a struggle. Tackling the temptation to self-pity is a big one ... been there.

    The old one --

    " Are we downhearted ? Are we FUCK !"

    Feel like travel ? Oz/kiwi give 2 year visas for your age, more jobs in Oz, but kiwi- picking etc in NZ too, more cool country my son found. Mid september probably a very small cottage free 100k south of cherbourg too ? Or do some tent-dwelling any time.

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  53. heh..heh..heh..turm - the wisdomofbracken Now I wonder who that could be. Which thread did you find it on?

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  54. @turminder:

    Normally agree with you turm but as I've just said over there, I reckon that second post wasn't required.

    Detracts from the wittiness of the first, completely empty, one.

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  55. @ SB.. The second would be a belter, but the first outshines it..

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  56. Liked the first and the second, but the third was a shame!

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  57. Which thread?

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  58. Lightening-rod : no good slimming-clinic should be without one .

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  59. Hi (again) Charlie

    Some good advice from people here.But the best i feel came from Dotterel when he said that at the end of the day it,s you that has the power to get you through this bad patch.Because whilst people can offer you either formal or informal support the bottom line is that only you can move yourself onwards and upwards.And that,s not saying you need to pull yourself together-far from it.You,re clearly in a bad place right now.

    So what are your options ? Well for starters you,ve got the OU.So have you thought about calling your Tutor-Counsellor to let him/her know you,re struggling a bit and see if they can offer you any useful suggestions.Like a study group with students on the same course as you.Or a special interest group of which i understand the OU has many.And are you attending all your tutorials?For it strikes me you,re in need of a lot more contact with people.I,ve been off work for a couple of weeks now and whilst i,ve had plenty of emails and telephone calls i,ve only actually seen a couple of people other than my partner.So i know that being isolated for any length of time is not good for most people.

    Also now you,re signing on some gyms and sports centres may offer you a discounted rate to join up with them.For keeping fit WILL lift your mood as well as the opportunity of being with people.

    What i,m trying to say Charlie is that there will be a way through this.That you have got some choices.And that it,s important that you don,t feel you,re totally powerless.And as everyone else has said keep posting here.Because cutting off all links with people is the last thing you should be doing right now.

    :-)

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  60. Sheff - Glad you got a diagnosis and some medication to help. One thing I was told was good for acid was celery (I was told lots of other things but they didn't work) and it really does help me. To the degree that I have a couple of raw sticks every night with or after my meal. I also have a juicer so sometimes juice it with carrot and apple (depends how acidic you are re the apple I suppose).

    Anyway just thought I would pass that tip on as I couldn't believe how much it helped. Had a tetanus jab today as cut my arm on some dirty metal and not up to date on it - then more blood tests so feel like a pin cushion. Then had the dentists. So a very fun day.

    Still shocked by this announcement to use 'bounty hunters' to track those on benefits. This lot deserve the country to go up in flames on their watch. I hope people stop being so supine at some point soon.

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  61. Charles

    For you, with my fondest regards.

    Please email me on beautifulburnoutbirdchrome@gmail.com if you feel like "talking" about things.

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  62. Pssst . Don't get angry, get organised ...where are those pamphlet-writing habits of years' ago ?

    Tide coming in fast so now go to the beach and grandkids !

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  63. Late last night Chekhov re_posted the link to GolemXIV.
    Seconded . His last three posts are very clearly written, as usual, and very powerful. You don't at all need an economics background to understand them, and sum up where we are very well.

    Confirmation in many of the less 'popular' arts on g business page.X

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  64. Your Grace!

    Thank you - likewise yours and above on here too.... some really lovely personal tributes to the man on that thread which have thankfully made those sneering shits look like, sneering shits..... I was a bit shocked with some of the stuff 2Swords for instance. Do these folk have no respect for the dead?

    Scipio1 is posting some great stuff too.

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  65. La Rit -- very good article too, with lessons to think hard about.

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  66. Frog2:

    Yes indeed - I was really impressed with it. Much food for thought there about where we're going in this country. Was just speaking to a woman on the Tube raging about the Tories - I'm sure these fuckers won't last long.... they've just announced as well as the school building scheme scrappage (costing millions and millions of quid) they're now doing the same for school Playgrounds at a similar level of wanton economic destruction - for the sake of vain ideological point-scoring.

    NapK: Following in BB's footsteps - I thought of this great track from Kate Bush - never fails to cheer me up - and I love her dancing in this.... it's a fine record!

    Rubberband Girl will have you dancin' in no time M-CgG6fKU

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  67. How weird - links gone funny again???

    tries again...Rubberband hold me trousers up

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  68. Ok, now this is weird..... echo...o...o..o...?? ;0)

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  69. While we're on the Kate Bush theme, I dedicate this to a certain poster.

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  70. Oh, and I didn't mean any connection between the last 2 posts ... just noticed the Greek visitor.

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  71. Oh there you are !

    Hi kizbot

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  72. Damn, I've blown my "psychic powers" explanation.

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  73. thaumaturge

    And there was me thinking you were the Mystic Meg of UT.

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  74. Many thanks for the Kate Bush track Thauma... don't you just love her???

    Hello Kizbot - apols for calling you a 'silly moo' a while back ;(

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  75. Paul, there is a dark shadow hanging over your life at the moment, but you must seek out the light and a brunette who is a Gemini and wears blue specs.

    The path to a brighter future is harrowed with doubt and uncertainty but if you hold true to your vision you will find yourself married with exactly 2.5 children in five years. Whether you like it or not.

    Beware the jabberwock.

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  76. LaRit - I do, but I confess I found the vid I posted a bit silly.

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  77. yo folks..
    no offence taken La Rit...

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  78. thaumaturge

    Methinks i,d prefer the frumious bandersnatch !

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  79. Thauma:

    I confess I found the vid I posted a bit silly

    Yeah, but that's the thing about Kate Bush and why she was so popular - her videos were absurdly OTT - but it's exactly what you loved when you were 13/14 - theatrics.

    I rather Kate Bush over LadyBoy GaGa any day of the week ;)

    Kizbot - churrs ;0)

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  80. Oh, no shit on that, LaRit!

    Ooh là là, des français? Merde alors, ce n'est pas possible!

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  81. Hey all, just a friendly warning. There will be NO denigration of Kate Bush. None, d'ya hear?

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  82. Off to make/eat dinner ... back in a bit!

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  83. Hello Mr Killing Time,

    I trust Mrs KillingTime and cats are all well and dandy???

    PS no dissing of Kate Bush will pass by unchallenged by me.

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  84. I'm having a wine dinner this evening .... no dinner, just wine.

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  85. Thank you La Rit, we're all tickety boo. Yourself and Mr LR?

    Wine? I don't mind if I do, and if we're doing ditties here's a corker...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_ZBqpEUbik

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  86. That's a damn fine tune, Mr Time.

    Charles, the only advice I could ever offer would be based on what I would do and that would be entirely the wrong thing, so good wishes to you, hope things work out well. I know many care about you.

    Am I alone in liking The Sensual World by Kate Bush? Yet to meet anyone else who did.

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  87. KT:

    The fruit flies are knocking about this evening! but I'm defending me whine with aplomb!

    Thanks for the Snake! I love that ;) Had the privilege to meet a lovely fella at Womad who was a veteran of the Wigan Casino ;) Now there was a man who needed to get back to his music....

    PS Mr LR is fine - he's DJ-ing tonight at a party... was going to go but the Champix giving up smoking 'aid' is playing havoc with me.... I'm sure it's re-arranging my brain (and not in a good way)

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  88. heyhabib, you're not alone. As David would say, you're watching yourself but you're too unfair, you've got your head all tangled up...

    Sorry, Ziggy moment. Sensual World's good, but not her finest moment.

    Try this

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y88sXeNJrOw

    Or this

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEVMfG8z490

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  89. KT:

    Thanks to some good friends, gonna be dancin' to some tracks like this this come Bank holiday ;0)

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  90. Habib:

    Not the best track in the world but the outfit, dancing and video are great. Thanks ;)

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  91. Uh, giving up smoking aids are nasty. I got onto the tablets for a while but had to start smoking again to wean myself off them.

    MR LR's a DJ? Does he play the 80s? I won't dance unless I hear You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).

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  92. Hey habib, Lou Rawls rocks, and I've never come across that track before. Am downloading it as I type.

    Merci.

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  93. Evening all. Anyone clocked that Andrew Brown thread on CiF? He's been comprehensively dismantled, but keeps on, throwing up straw men, saying that he was overstating things to make a jestful point, and 'refining' his argument (i.e. turning quite around). In short, anything but 'fess up and admit he got it wrong. Big ego and thin skin ain't the greatest of combinations.
    (PS just had confirmation that I was right upthread about Simon Tisdall's CiF article on Kashmir rather misrepresenting the Bradnock report in order to bolster his argument. There might be a Right to Reply coming).
    Right, more work looms, but first a wee tune to see if we can get posting numbers up, like a revival.

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  94. I salute you.

    I also salute KT for his 'head all tangled up' bit. I also posit that it ain't easy.

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  95. Alisdair - which AB thread's that? Sounds like all his.

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  96. Sorry, La Rit got confused there, I LOVE that Lou Rawl track. It's destined to become a KT favourite. Seriously, I love it when people introduce me to amazing songs I've never heard before. Today is a good day.

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  97. KT:

    Mr LR - he's the best! (but of course, I'm biased) I just wish we could live in a bigger place to accommodate all the bloody records (10 new ones arrived today) he is very coy and quiet about it though but whips it up into a frenzy.

    He loves the 80's ;)

    like this!!!

    Italo Disco

    Always sounds a bit tinny on computer, great in a club...or on good speakers if you have them to hand....

    Hang on, I'll find another one....

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  98. Ah, shit, procrastination's setting in. Just been sent a link to some cracking computer wallpapers, really good graphic designs, so could be changing my desktop aplenty with music on, in place of productive gubbins.
    On the topic of graphic design and music,mind, have folk seen these album-covers-as-books? (That possibly only makes sense if you click through...click on them to see 'em bigger:very good work)

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  99. KT - no problem - it's all one of those things.... a friend posted something on Farcebook earlier and it got me thinking... and led me in a roundabout way to the Lou Rawls which I've not heard for years - it's a fucking good track ('scuse my French)

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  100. I also play the B-sides of things (and I can't/won't mix) but Mr LR has been pleasantly surprised at some of the things he missed on the reocrds he loves and that I love too....

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  101. Alisdair:

    I'm checking out the Andrew Brown thread...hand on!

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  102. Good grief, Lou Rawls sure sounds like Gil Scott Heron at the start of that track, and half way through, and at the end !. Privileged to see the great GSH at Cardiff Uni. Dragged me mates down, and they luvved the gig, he was brilliant, not so god now i'm afraid to say. The ravages of drugs/booze, the slammer all taking their individual toll - shame.

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  103. errrmmm... hand on?/ I mean 'hang on'

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  104. Well there's a thing: italo disco (very good) over here, the ins and outs of anti-Americanism on Waddya. Major flip. Is it me? Do I bring the tone of the place down?

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  105. Gil Scott Heron ? Now you,re talking my language.

    Love this track

    Sad theme though!

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  106. tascia:

    Saw him at Womad too and that voice is still sublime though... I couldn't watch it made me too sad, BUT think on, Theolonius Monk was banned from performing in public owing to draconian drug laws and ah, 'scary' Black people making up all the good music suppression, it was cruel but he spent 8 years creating music which they still can't unravel! Ahhhh.... the Lou Rawls has woken us all up!!!

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  107. Didn't realise he was over here - damn - persecuted in his own country for telling the damn truth, or a truth that most did not want to hear. I get what you mean by making you sad though. There are some good recordings of him live on Youtube during the tour of the UK that I had the privilege of seeing/hearing.

    I think it's sad that he was almost singing of his demise with tracks like 'The Bottle' and 'Angel Dust' !

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  108. Beat to to the link Paul !

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  109. Should be 'me' not 'to', ah well sure need help from the bottle !. Wine beckons !

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  110. Saw the freaking Nina Simone a couple of years before she died. Her voice was more or less gone, her stage persona was frankly scary (she was waving a feather duster at the audience and cursing them in voodoo manner), but her piano playing - and her charisma - still intact.

    So, basically, one of the best shows I've ever seen.

    Piano like this.

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  111. Oh, and she also told a few interesting stories about Liberia.

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  112. Thauma:

    Thank you very kindly indeed for that song... one of the best I've ever heard from Miss Nina Simone - she was, in all measure, of all ways, a true, fine, and honest musician.

    Feel humbled.

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  113. I have nothing to compare to Nina Simone live. I saw Nirvana's last show and Prince on the Sign o' the Times tour, but I'd trade every band to have seen Nina Simone...

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  114. LaRit and KT - it was a humbling experience, to be sure.

    But be of good heart: Richard Thompson is still touring, and so is Santana. For live shows, they ain't to be beaten.

    All very different, of course, but each brilliant in their own way.

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  115. Thauma:

    I think that's one of the saddest songs I've ever heard ;(

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  116. Saw Santana at Wembley, possibly one of the best live concerts I've ever been to. Sooo tight, sooo together, boy they were good. Didn't stop dancing from start to finish, even had to make and have a 'rollie' whilst still dancing.

    Bob Dylan came on after them - we left !

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  117. Note to self:

    * Must see Leonard Cohen before he goes *

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  118. Thaumaturge

    Dunno what you think of this version of a much covered song.

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  119. Sorry, LaRit! (Sad songs often cheer me up in some perverse way.) The previous link ought to cheer you up: a garden of freshly-cut tears.

    Tascia - how could you leave Dylan! OK, never actually seen him live; understand he can be either brilliant or awful.

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  120. D'you know, looking at that last Cohen vid, it reminds me of some late Fellini film with Marcello Mastroianni....

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  121. Great version, Paul - am going to let it float me off to bed. ;-)

    NN all!

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  122. There was no way listening to Dylan's voice could possibly stand up to what I had just heard. He's lyrically brilliant, but just couldn't bring meself to listen to him after what I remember as one of the best live gigs I've ever been to.

    And I'm glad I did, simply because it hasn't marred my recollection of that day.

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  123. I,m not a Dusty fan which is SPOOKY cos i do like this track.

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  124. Thanks for your comments earlier. I am still not coming back to cif, and I won't post here often. It's nice, but this is a public blogsite viewable by anyone, I would rather not talk about my own personal travails in such a goldfish bowl. Thanks anyway though.

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  125. Evening all

    I've missed some cracking choons tonight by the looks.

    Just had a lovely dinner her with my sis - just the two of us as the men had all abandoned us - and it was marvellous. She has run away to Staffs recently but luckily work brought her back down here for a few days. Sisters are amazing.

    I love Dusty, but I am old enough to remember singing along to her when I was a wee lass, so that's probably why.

    I know I am goind to get flamed for this but while I admire Dylan for his songwriting brilliance, I cannot bear listening to him. Something about his voice makes me want to start gnawing at my own arm for relief.

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  126. Charlie

    If you need to talk in confidence to anyone you do know there are people/places you can do that don,t you? Let me know if you want me to elaborate.:-)

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  127. And don't worry about me. I am not going to go out and top myself or anything. I will just be deeply unsatisfied with life and mooch my way along unfulfilled (as always), but this is a far cry from doing something drastic.

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  128. Charlie

    Fair enough.Well take care of yourself and keep in touch.You,ll find at least some of what you want in life.Most of us do eventually.:-)

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  129. Charles

    Thank you for that, please stay along, I for one would like to hear your day to day musing, after all ours are pretty much mundane (in a normal day), and would like to have the - ability/brain the size of two planets - that many of the interesting posters on this site have in literally content and contribute for all our benefit. I for one love to see and read the 'truth' as published here, and the diversity of all the contributions.

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  130. "I will just be deeply unsatisfied with life and mooch my way along unfulfilled."

    It's a nice club. As long as you grab a few momories to share.

    :-)

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  131. Yes, thanks all. Early night for me, I think. I'll drop in here occasionally.

    Goodnight.

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  132. Habib

    What was that ? Have you taken something tonight?:-)

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  133. It is Wednesday, innit, Paul?

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  134. Is it? I,ve lost track of the time !

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  135. Too hardcore for a peace lovin' dude like me.

    THIS is more my genre :-0

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  136. BB

    Am expecting a flaming also !!. What the hell, couldn't listen to him after Santana !

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  137. I know I am goind to get flamed for this but while I admire Dylan for his songwriting brilliance, I cannot bear listening to him. Something about his voice makes me want to start gnawing at my own arm for relief.

    Oh thank fuck I'm not the only one!!!!!

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  138. I somehow missed this first time:

    Bob Dylan came on after them - we left !

    Three of us! We can form a club.

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  139. *high fives Tascia and Montana*

    :D

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  140. My husband get really upset when I say it, though.

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  141. HaHaHaHA - Thank you Montana, thought I was goin to get flamed - as BB expected.

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  142. @BB, Tascia and Montana

    You can make that four.

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  143. As a child i was aware that the local smackheads enjoyed THIS TUNE. And unlike that other childhood tune baa baa black sheep it ain,t yet been banned.

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  144. Hah! Zappa!

    Husband and son are both Zappa fans - me not so much - but Santa brought them the "1000 Motels (life on the road) DVD and wished she hadn't... some of it is good, but some of it is excruciating.

    One of my fave quotes about music comes from Zappa, though:

    "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture". :o)

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  145. GiyusandTrolls is back on the Seamus Milne thread as..... wait for it.... 'PuppetsSeeNoStrings' fookin' brilliantos.

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  146. BB, Tascia, Montana & PeterJ... five.

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  147. Oh no Montana you've posted a plethura of tunes all in one go - got to be honest, they are getting worse the longer it goes on, up to 'Nina Hagen - Zarah' got to stop now.

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  148. Giyus has become a real Graun institution. Someone suggested he should have a blog all his own on there, which would be hilarious.

    Having said that, there is the occasional golden nugget of information amongst the tons of fool's gold he digs up...

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  149. OOOh No I actually got to Hairspray - are u tryin to kill us ?

    One that disappeared the other nite that Leni appreciated before it disappeared:

    John Mayall

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  150. Summoned to Job Centre this afternoon to be given the official ransom note.
    Needless to say they are making it up as they go along but, yep, the plan is to roll out "workfare" next April.
    Can't remember what euphemism they used but obviously "licensed slavery" wasn't an option.

    BTW: are we at war with "Eurasia" or "Eastasia" this month?

    Oh, and while I'm at it, what's with Peter Bracken?

    One minute he's writing an article "ATL" on CIF about the "Deluded Left" and claiming in the first sentence to be "of the left".

    Next thing he's on "wadya" and the Reid thread, spouting off like a raving dyed in the wool Thatcherite.

    How can someone from the left be so derisive of trade unions?

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  151. Howdy peeps, just stealing a post in St Ives while my phone is still juiced from my last trip to Tesco to buy Coco Pops (why isn't there a Waitrose in this fucking place? It's not like the demographic can't sustain one).

    On the subject of Inception, I was defied on the last UT Sheff beano to work out what the hell it was about. Didn't have much problem with that, but found it hard to really care either way. Memento was far better and just goes to show up the whole 'big budget, worthy film' dichotomy. That makes it Nolan's third best film, but still pretty darn good by most yardsticks.

    And yes Dylan is pretty grating, but props nonetheless...

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  152. chekhov

    Thought you had a job.

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  153. BB:

    GandT is to be fair - a genius!

    SpeedK:

    just stealing a post in St Ives while my phone is still juiced from my last trip to Tesco to buy Coco Pops (why isn't there a Waitrose in this fucking place? It's not like the demographic can't sustain one)

    I detect a rap in the making there.....

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  154. I think today he showed his true colours !

    At least he came back to defend himself and only managed in digging the hole both wider and deeper. It was good to see a blue C moderated, would have luvved to have read that before it was obliterated.

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  155. BTW: add me to club. I can't stand listening to Bob Dylan's voice either. He sounds like an air lock trying to work its way out of some dodgy plumbing.
    That is not to say I don't admire his lyrics.

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  156. Come on Wales, just finished watching Wales v Luxembourg on S pedwar Ech ! Looking good !

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  157. 'He sounds like an air lock trying to work its way out of some dodgy plumbing.'

    Or a ratchet screwdriver being painstakingly worked into a block of concrete. +1 on the lyrics, though.

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  158. Bob D's voice has been failing him on recent releases although his Xmas number was pretty tuneful. He was aiming for the Shane MacGowan Market, obviously. I'd link to the YouTube rendition but computer says no...

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  159. Habib - Someone should have told him at an early age to stick to songwriting !

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  160. Somebody needs to slap me re: P-Brax. I swore I would never respond to the pretentious, arrogant, amoral bawbag again and I did.

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  161. Dylan's voice ain't even that bad really. I've got stuff would make your toes curl.

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  162. shaz

    Not my taste in music at all but it's the perfect xmas song.When i hear it i,m immediately propelled into that alcohol fuelled festive feeling you get on the good lord,s b'day.

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  163. BTW, how are things in my ancestral homeland?

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  164. From the homeland '(slap}' hehe. Just had to have a go!, and I don't blame ya

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  165. Chekhov:

    I saw him at the Fleadh in Finnie Park years ago and my fella at the time said it was like 'hoovering with Bob Dylan'

    Sad, considering there's nothing like the way he sings.....the Gates of Eden ;(

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  166. Thanks, tascia. Question was for Speedy. Kernewek ov vy. (Well, part, anyway.)

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  167. Montana -- great response to the bracken tho !

    I early on decided he was not worth the time, but have been tempted. He appears to be in a time-warp, where his ideas as a precocious seventeen year-old just haven't evolved since, and he must be about fifty now.

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  168. Anyway after all the hippy drippy stuff it,s time for a a bit of class

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  169. montana mizz wildebeast....

    cheers for the picture above .... I want to be there, run away, ride a horse and never return..... too beautiful and breathtaking for words........

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  170. For some reason, I was just reminded of this...

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  171. Thanks, frog2. I did refrain from saying a lot of what I wanted to, so I guess I showed some self-restraint.

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  172. Has Bracken come clean about being fined for "insider dealing" or is he relying on us giving him the benefit of the doubt on the assumption that there are plenty of "Peter Brackens" out there?

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  173. They don't make 'em like STEVIE anymore.

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  174. PeterJ;

    Hej!
    Dr Feelgood..... ahhhh....

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  175. Paul, you know, instead of posting songs, we should post something meaningful, original and worthwhile.

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  176. I hope that made you snort with laughter, too. Good music, sir!

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