I've used wordpress before, and my impression is that it's a bit more user friendly than blogspot - certainly blockquotes would be nice - though I've no idea if it's more reliable or not.
In the end I don't think anyone's likely to have an issue either way - they'll still turn up and post. The issue is which would be the easiest for you to administer?
Sites like this rely on someone taking the trouble to keep them going - posters are ten a penny.
WordPress is pretty good, but Google/Blogger should be as well.
I have never had posts disappear as such, although Blogger has thrown an error when saving. I habitually copy just before saving in case this happens, although I do not save elsewhere after that, so if, like CiF, the published comment then mysteriously disappears for reasons only known to the massive brain of Matt Seaton, I am still generally furked.
One thing to watch with WordPress is that they have a - notional, at least - space limit. I'm not sure what happens after you have used that.
PeterJ
Thanks for the answer about wartime documents. As soon as I asked it, I was whisked away.
La Rit
I passed on what you said. Atomgirl has filing cabinet drawers bulging with old handwritten recipes.
As for the rest, I only write anecdotes, analogies, parables and nonsense.
I hadn't lost any posts until a few days ago. In the last few days I've lost four or five, but I assume that's just a temporary glitch.
As for CIF, the Pluck system is pretty unreliable. Added to that, I'm currently (or permanantly?) in pre-mod, and about half of my posts vanish into thin air. The latest was a totally banal post about maly whisky yesterday, still awaiting moderation.....
CiF?! just don't bother posting on there anymore. When the list is several hundred long and most of that is trash from right wing trolls it is pointless. Having said there are gems in there it is just a case of bookmarking the comments of those who have something interesting to say.
Not seen any of your posts Atomboy in CiF. As for losing posts, that is annoying generally not problem for me as I don't say much.
montana - happy with anywhere you wish to host / migrate blog, as exiled says, what's easiest to admin is the main thing.
apologies for lengthy absence, there has been stuff going down on a number of levels which has impacted on ability to a) have the time to post here and b) give a shit about what's up on CIF. have been mainly sticking to the football pages to avoid engaging brain too much. good luck v brum this arvo, btw montana...
I am sorry that you have become a victim of the idiocies and ineptitudes of CiF. I read your comment that you will not post under any other name, but as I have always refused to go through the pre-moderation process, I cannot really offer any useful advice.
Good luck, though.
IanG
You would have to search for me there as Atomboy, although I would warn you that it is not worth the tiny effort involved.
Atomboy was banned - at his own suggestion and request, oddly - a long time ago, partly to prove to others that the threat of being banned and hurled into oblivion was pretty empty.
Since then, I have operated under more names than I can be bothered to remember - or the related log-in details and deliberately clumsily light disguises.
I have noticed here, though, that all the best discussions happen when I am not present, which could be a strong signal and incentive to withdraw and become an innocent bystander.
Pissing down and cold here - I guess that's summer over.
You do jolly the place up Atomboy, so I'm glad you haven't put yourself back in net purdah again.
Montana
I posted on your experiment - there's a note at the top of my post saying it's awaiting moderation. Given the no mod policy on UT, will you be able to switch that off?
PeterJ - I am so unconcerned with your comment and its implications of stalking that, on reflection, I have cancelled the locksmiths who were speeding only moments ago to change the locks and fit bars on the windows.
Actually, it was not a declaration of intent but simply an observation, like finding out afterwards that (once you have told everyone of your hilarious adventures sleeping in a ditch because you were too drunk to walk home) they went on to the warmth and fun of a spontaneous orgy.
For some reason, Atomgirl asked me out of the blue who I am on CiF these days. I crammed a football-sized amount of food into my mouth and played for time.
She said she would hunt me down like a fox and smoke me out unless I told her.
Oh, great. Two of Cif's house 'anti-Zionists' are making 'Jews are mean with their money' jokes on the kidney transplant thread (a thread I am reading with trepidation), based on the author's name.
Forgot to say: morning to IanG. And @Montana: whatever you do with commenting is fine with me. Even last night's retyping wasn't as tedious as I thought it'd be (although it did have more mistakes and infelicities).
Re. the cockles, yep, always with white pepper and vinegar. There's good cockles here in Spain too (berberechos from Galicia can be great). Some half decent pubs within walking distance of the market, too. Although the last time I was in Cardiff was back in 2007, and only for a short weekend. It was good though.
We need a different approach. Britain's big question of the next decade is whether we head towards an increasingly US-style capitalism – more unequal, more brutish, more unjust – or whether we can build a different model – a capitalism that works for people and not the other way around.
Head towards? We're already waist deep and soon will be up to our necks. And a 'capitalism' that works for the people? I wonder which people he's got in mind.
Good to 'see' you.Hope nothing serious has stopped you posting.Have you got James and Boudican with you btw as they both seemed to have vanished as well.
Am currently in shock after Spurs shock home defeat by Wigan yesterday.Me and 'arry ain,t happy bunnies.
Putting your Dad to shame I see! I did give him a book a while ago to help him out a bit - but I think he must have put it somewhere and forgotten where it is. It was a kind of html for idiots guide.
Interesting prog on R4 about the food and music tent at WOMAD - great idea....wish I'd gone now.
Was trying to get to Galicia this summer, but failed miserably. I've long dreamed of going ever since I heard it can be misty and rainy and is dominated by limestone (very like the Mendips in the West Country where I learned to love the mist and rain!) Mmmmmm...bebecheros!
I've been to Cardiff once since I left College, it's changed a great deal since the late 80's. It was a good place to be. I even had a summer job cooking for a hostel for dry alcoholics. It was a-hem, a sobering experience. From then on, I've never looked at street drinkers with anything more than compassion.... some of the stories that were told to me were heartbreaking. The most appreciated dishes I cooked were: lentil dal and rice and my special spaghetti bolognese ;)
perhaps you can now be your Dad's 'technical support'? - only requirements of the job are to see how many times you can ask him 'have you tried turning your computer off and then on again?' in a day. That'll learn him ;)
Saw this yesterday..nice quote from an unusual source: John Gray..not a man often noted for his defence of the enlightenment..given that he seems to view it as just another doomed utopian narrative
#– but if Ramadan is suggesting that in order to tolerate repugnant views one must empathise with those who hold them, he is plainly wrong.There is a conventional view that says we can despise someone's beliefs while respecting them as individuals, but there are plenty of people who deserve contempt. If we tolerate the hateful views of Holocaust deniers, the reason is not that we think such people have any kind of moral worth. It is because free speech is much too important to be compromised for their sake.#
"..but if Ramadan is suggesting that in order to tolerate repugnant views one must empathise with those who hold them"..kinda represents the prototypical Guardianista view for me...far more impressed with the last sentence...why let a pile of scum rob us of our most cherished freedoms?...that's what you seem to be advocating...collective punishment for an entire society for the words or actions of an individual or small group...doesn't wash
Still not moved into new flat :( had some problems at daughters - she is getting very hormonal due to pregnancy and has gone back to being very abusive and is also getting herself very upset , so I am now staying with a good friend near to the place I am eventually (hopefully) moving into. Best to stay away from daughter when she is like this, my mere presence seems to set her off.
Brain is mush at the moment - too much happening! Trip London was exiting They videoed an interview with me which was FUN!
As a result of the press conference I was interviewed over the phone by jenny Hope of the Daily Mail >:o. She's the medical correspondant and the article should at least publicise heart failure as unfortunately lots of people do read it.
Had a local stringer photographer around yesterday as they want pictures! At least I'll get some free professional pics aout of it.
The piece should appear in tomorrow's mail if it does appear of course.
Just wish it wasn't the mail :( but still raising awareness of heart failure is a good cause).
Missing you guys but don't have my own computer at the mo. New laptop on Tuesday!
@Montana I'm fine with any changes you make, don't have probs with blogger myself but new site may be better than others it has more html functionality too so that would be usefull.
hi my name is Amelie. I'm test driving my dads new laptop.
Is that as in, "My Dad likes to be called Amelie at weekends and on, ahem, special occasions" or "My Dad always gives his computers female pet names, just like some people call their cars Bessie."
Or is it a reference to the film Amelie, of which I have only seen disjointed and short snatches?
There was the story that a bunch of kids ranging in age form about eight to twelve somehow won a group booking to see a Garbage concert, with the opportunity to meet the band.
Shirley Manson came bounding out and said something like: "Are you all fixed up and OK for drugs?"
Hi all and thanks for the nice welcome! Forgive me for not following the expected etiquette but I have only just discovered this sane environment which operates on a completely different level to CiF.
Atomboy, I was a member of you discussion group but got lost a bit with the navigation ;-). Then you closed it down due to commitments I seem to recall, but I am certainly not alone in getting something out of your posts.
Oh I am 'ThisAndThat' of CiF FWIW. Very little I should think as there are many more articulate commentators around and the discourse below the line is generally better than the article.
I will have to admit - and others here will probably remember that I have said this before - that I am useless at names, both online and in the real world and hopeless at connecting them with the attached written output.
Please join in whenever and however much you wish.
Yes, I did close things down for various reasons, but am still toying with the idea of getting something else up and running, but want to avoid repeating the performance of last time.
Anyway, welcome again and apologies if it seems I am hogging the show.
Re: the Shirley Manson anecdote - now that's probably the sort of outrageous thing I'd say to a bunch of kids - preferably in front of a group of 'ymummy-mummies' to their precious little darlings, in Clapham, given half a chance!
I actually got told off at a bus stop at Clapham Junction once for swearing profusely as the bastard bus driver slammed the doors shut in my face in the pissing rain when I was on my way home from work barely able to walk I was so tired. This couple with their kids said 'excuse me, do you mind, there are children present' - of course, I responded politely to that (not) ;)
Do you think AtomGirl can teach me how to do my make up like that? Better still, she could replace Lauren Luke on Weekend - much better if you ask me ;)
PS I know it was for IanG but really enjoyed the Dame Janet, Che Faro.... Of course, these days, despite being an artist of extreme talent, with a voice of great beauty and an indestructable technique, she would proably not make it past the first post with her looks.
We have to put up with the 3rd rate vacuous warblings of Mizz 'tits n teeth' Jenkins.
The story is that whatever orchestra it was were doing the normal business of getting on coaches and touring around Europe. They were all seated and getting annoyed that they were not moving. The driver was not there yet.
Then (I think as she was just plain Janet Baker at the time) she got on the coach and they all stood up and applauded and cheered, simply because she was so fucking good.
Sorry, what were you saying about being shouted at on the bus...?
Atomboy, that is how I typically look at the end of a night out (without the models good looks sadly) looks like atomgirl just saves some time and goes out like that to start with, smart woman.
Lots of the issues around welfare came up on that thread. I emailed Jess several weeks ago asking for section on this - to create archive around all the interconnections and spins offs. The plight of the targetted sick and disabled is a major issue but it is not a stand alone problem.
I have yet to find the thread today. Have been busy. Haven't yet looked at Cif. Do I want to ?
There's a dance/rave just kicked off in an abandoned factory across from me. I can hear the music from my balcony. It's at times like these I wish I were younger and could manage the drugs 'n dancing as the music's rather good.
Still, perhaps I'd better just shut the door and listen to Chopin instead.
I did say it was a bit like the advert they run on television sometimes, where the film is run in reverse in an attempt to convince people to "Just say No!" to competitive binge-drinking and industrial drug use.
It always seems to make it into something you would like to have a go at, even if you had never really thought about it before.
Over the last 10 years here there has been a prettying up campaign. Much of the industrial infrastructure gone - including some Brunel heritage. Very long tunnel under mountain closed at bothe ends. Council too stupid to see the value.
Tree planting etc - we now host thousands of mountain bikers.
I have been upset to see many of the tiny micro climates on the hills destroyed - slime moulds , rare mosses and lichens destroyed. I got in touch with local council - few years back - pointing out Wallace (Evolution man0 had done a lot of his research here. They ignored me. Cardiff put on Wallace exhibition.
Politicians must be among the least creative and imaginative people on the the planet.
we see this in everything they do - from economic policy to heritage and humanity.
>>Politicians must be among the >>least creative and imaginative >>people on the the planet.
Entrance requirement, no?
Good Pic AB, reminds me of a pal, who's daughter said, "Know how my Ma put's on make up? Two babs of blue and a line of pink of the pillow, #mimes# face down, ready to go out!!
as the rain hammers down here, your post sparks great memories of getting 'eccied up' and heading off to disused factories. For some reason I always ended up in deepest darkest Lanarkshire.
Acid house was the last great youth movement but fundamentally hedonistic rather than politically antagonistic towards authorities. And hence was ripe for commercialisation.
Ha-ha berry fuddy! Seriously though, Janet B - to have praise from your fellow musicians in such a way.... what can I say?
As for the Liebestod, along with Strauss Four Last Songs, am right there with you. I think that is possibly one some of the most exhilirating, moving and wonderful music ever created for voices/voice and orchestra.
I hope you like this have listened to a few versions, but Lucia Popp in this recording of Rusalka's Song to the Moon is practically perfect.....
Right, off to practice my make-up a la AtomGirl ;)
I thought it might be a sick joke re: the cannibal restaurent, but given the rapacious desire for new experiences amongst the super-rich, I can see it as something which will define the pinnacle of the grotesque consumerism Capitalism - After all what can you eat after you have tasted every delight the world has to offer other than another to step over the final boundary and for no other reason that boredom, consume human being's flesh?
Know what you mean. If it was happening over the road from me I'd be sorely tempted to get the disco glitter on and head down for a bit of shuffling in deranged stylee ;0)
London/Brixton has been very quiet, all thoughts of us going raving in Essex have been chucked out of the window due to a need to relax and get over my bug.
There's a chicken in the oven, am onto me second glass of wine, the wind is a bit wild but lots of late afternoon sun streaming in, I've got a clean and tidy bedroom with fresh linen on and as the other half is snoozing like Suzy Schnoozer on the sofa, I'm enjoying the chat on the UT ;)
Was it Cyrus the Great who trained slaves to eat his enemies whilst they were still alive ? Starting with their noses I believe.
The thread about the rejection of the disabled in Uganda - as here. Is it something to do with the rejection/denial of war and poverty that causes this rejection.
A report on the links between prolonged poverty and disability (UN) shows that poverty itself causes disability. Poor nutrition results in stunted growth (as WW1) and sometimes mental disability.
The children of disabled parents often suffer hunger and so they too fail to reach potential either physically or mentally. Self perpetuating .
Observations across history show this to have always been true - the people, the poor are often described as 'misshapen' in some way.
Is it rejection/denial of the causes or fear of it happening to 'me'?
Usually, I don't think it's so complex. Some people are just ignorant, shallow and callous bastards, who are only interested in themselves, and feck everyone else.
i would have expected the usual human response to suffering to be to reach out and help.
Seeing so many comments which in essence say 'work or starve' I have had to do a lot of re-evaluating of both myself and others.
I cannot fully comprehend what the hell is happening - 'The Devil take the hindmost' is not a political stance I can accept. We seem to be dominated at the moment by the basest motives man is capable of.
Thanks for the link. Absolutely delightful, although I was trying to listen on little Mickey Mouse earphones plugged into the laptop as a small re-enactment of ten years in Beirut was performed around me.
Quite agree about 'genderising' every problem. It simply allows the gender war to rage - completely ignoring the important issues. If you are disabled and rejected what difference does it make if you are man or woman ?
Cif is totally blinkered in this and many other respects.
your avatars were very clever when taken as a series or collection,,almost like they had a signature,, if you should say "i never used avatars" then you might be interested to know that one of the other puppet masters is actually more "punch and judy " than even you,,
there are a lot of people doing what you have described,, the cat in the bin thread was like a convention,, pulling strings pulling chains
Just watched Steve McQueen's, Hunger. As it's left me somewhat speechless, all I can say is if you haven't seen it you should make a big effort to find it somewhere and watch it. Its extraordinary and brilliant.
Brian Dennehy made a good fist of Ian Paisley, although Gerard Butler was a little overstated for Gerry Adams. Perhaps he should have had an actor reading his lines.
@Everyone who's tried to comment on the Wordpress experiment:
Sorry. I hadn't investigated the Admin tools as much as I should have. There was a box checked that required a new commenter's first comment to be approved. I've unchecked it, so hopefully that has taken care of the problem.
@Everyone who hasn't:
Get over there and take a look, please.
@Philippa:
Good to see you again!
@IanG:
Welcome! Please don't be quiet!
@Your Grace:
I love ArseneKnows and totally agree that (s)he is underappreciated. Also love Clunie to bits.
Speaking of films, I just saw a reference to this documentary on Fermat's Last Theorem, which I remember really liking when it came out. Worth a look even for the maths-averse.
OK guys - got it....but tbh....if you'd actually seen Hunger you wouldn't be making jokes - its the most serious, visceral and compelling film about troubles - specifically the hunger strike I have ever seen.
Sorry to sound poe faced - but it is really piercing.
actually AB i just meant the images used with the monicker,,but obviously it wasnt you cos this one is always there,, and has really coherent style with the little icons,,always different yet always one of the collection,,
Just looked in because I have given up on CIF for today. That fucking pluck. How can they not get it sorted?
Of course it could be like the trains on Bank Holiday Weekend and they have decided it is a good time to fix the dodgy signals or something. So frustrating though.
Atomboy: "Many people dislike this album"
Do they? Which people? Deaf people? The criminally insane? Simon Cowell?
I have a great version of Madam George by Marianne Faithful. Only I can't play it as it is a "record" and those pesky Vikings stole my "record player."
Agreed on Arsene knows, s/he posted on one of the Atos threads that they were suffering from COPD which I know from family experience is a wretched disease.
They have a real knack for patient and rational demolition of the typical by the numbers right wing crap spouted by a few Ciffers, with a nice turn of phrase as well.
"I love ArseneKnows and totally agree that (s)he is underappreciated. Also love Clunie to bits"
Thirded. Arseneknows is ace. Love 'im and Clunie to bits too..... it's like aaahhhhh.....
Leni n Atomboy... lost my thread..... ;( apols....
Leni - re: disfigurement/deformity that a life of poverty bestows - yes.
There is also an equivalent in the disfigurement of extreme wealth. Photo in the Groin today of Cameroon.... you can tell it's a life of privilege which is equally distorting by looking at the way his features seem to be sucked into the middle of his face. His eyes and mouth are too small - his nose too big. His entire 'visage' is unbalanced. I guess that's what you end up with if you're fed a diet of the utmost indulgence and pampering from the moment of your birth.
As for the inbred Royals - poor old Beatrice - she really is a freak show ;)
Atomboy:
I got stuck after the Steve Biko.... another time. Unbearable.
Maybe inappropriate I know, but just to get the blood racing again and the anger flowing...
It's a weird thing though La Rit that even ugly folk who are rich or royal are often described as attractive.
I don't just mean rich old buggers who have young partners and people going on about how they have an aura of power.
People were (and sometimes still are) always going on about how Princes William and Harry are handsome when to say they are ordinary looking would be kind.
I was always a bit taken aback by the worship that Princess Diana got, I don't judge by looks if I can help it but what the hell was all that all about?
Re: our discussion last night and re: Flanders.... here is the indisputably exquisite voice of Elly Stone singing "Marieke" by Jacques Brel.... in Flemish.....and English.
(Duke, PeteJ, Sheff, this is for you all.... especially)
Evening all, just looking in briefly tonight. Have to say Hunger was very good indeed, picking up on a lot of the complexities very well (like the dislike you foster for the guard, and then he gets horribly murdered when visiting his senile mother).McQueen doesn't take sides or sanctify terrorism.The scene with just the priest and Sands had terrific performances.Michael Fassbender is an exceptional actor:he was good even in Tarantino's all-over-the-shop Inglourious Basterds, better in Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank(nb her film Red Road is well worth a look). @ Duke, the line about acid house being the last youth movement has some truth. Grime may lay some claim, but it's very localised (not that you'd know so from hipster critics). I posted somewhere on CiF that it's posssible that there will be no more significant youth movements for a long while (if ever: as a phenomenon we're really only talking the last 60 years).I'm thinking about the commodification and hollowing-out of youth culture.No sooner has someone in a bedroom or come up with a tune, a film, or a look than it's on the 'net,prematurely exposed, plagiarised,sold or exploited by brands.Such co-option/colonisation by was always the case, but never before at such a frantic all-consuming pace. The window of opportunity for things to develop before the commercial stage, has narrowed to almost nothing, allowing no time for inchoate but exciting ideas to grow into something more worthwhile,substantial and challenging.That or the originators themselves have no objective other than becoming a brand, achieving fame and making sales.
Hello everyone, just to clear up any confusion, Amelie is my 8 year old daughter who decided that she wanted to have a crack at this blogging malarkey.
She's tapping away right now on my laptop whilst I'm on the old steam driven kit.
That's a fascinating thought about youth culture. It seems impossible to have an 'underground' culture now, because not only is everything conducted in public, but that publication is how the culture is formed in the first place. With, as you say, co-option and subversion by brands and money to the extent that the false can't be distinguished from the genuine.
That all seems reasonable. But the most wide ranging and radical youth cult was the alternative culture of the sixties and early seventies, which still exists in some forms (I should admit that I speak as a recovered freak).
A lot of that was about a rejection of materialism and I think that a precondition of that is prosperity. It is hard to imagine kids in the great depression rejecting the work ethic and deciding to go and live in tepees. Easier to do when jobs are five for thruppence and money is easy to come by (even if the jobs are boring).
A phrase comes to my mind about America of the sixties. It might have been Tom Wolfe in something like The Electric Cool Aid Acid Test, about there being great gobbets of cash flowing around the US economy at the time. Easy enough (at least for middle class white kids) to grab some as it floated by.
"It's a weird thing though La Rit that even ugly folk who are rich or royal are often described as attractive"
The pages of 'Hello' magazine and the Friday Evening Standard, are full of the Society/Royal-type 'beautiful people' with all the editorial/comments saying how 'beautiful' they all are and I'm thinking to myself ...WHAAAAAAT? are we looking at the same people? they're like a bloody freakshow.
As for Kingy-in-Waiting Jnr and Bastard-in Waiting...I should have also said poor William, he looks like frightnight too. As for Harry, maybe Diana thought a bit of mxing of the bloodlines was necessary, in case she produced something that had to be hidden away from public view. (Beatrice definitely inherited all her Saxe-Coburg genes in her teeth)
As for Diana - well as they are all related, it's no surprise that she looked like a bloody horse (Mr La Rit always called her old Horse Face)
And the media has the nerve to go on about 'Chavs'....
Apols if I pissed you off last night ;( re: mr weller.... he did refuse his CBE after all and then Exiled posted that rant he did about Bob (I made myself millions from starving Africans)Geldork and Bono (I am the pope) Bono....
btw the way, as I love horses and think htey're lovely creatures, the comparison between the virgin princess consort of the toad-like princeand a horse, is inapproriate.
Lot of truth in that, Spencer: youth movements(and indeed the whole 'invention' of the teenager) require both free time and some degree of wealth, which is one of the reasons they are relatively new, at least in the terms we're using.What I'm saying is more of an adjunct, suggesting that such movements are being 'captured' by commerce so quickly (prematurely?) that they have little time if any to develop in interesting ways, or even to allow widespread youth 'ownership'.It's the speed, both in terms of how quickly things get picked up on, but also of how quickly they get discarded. Many young people these days don't see things in terms of a movement now, anyhow, but have absorbed,taken on board and internalised the whole marketing shtick. To them, it's about finding a USP, where the S is the key initial, leading them to wealth.
re: PetrifiedonProzac - he was badly hounded by trolls and fucker posters in the vein of ArdennesPate on CiF a few months back - all because he'd done well for himself and had a house in France but was apparently 'not allowed' to call himself a socialist....he was on a lot of threads I was on and the attacks were pretty relentless....
As soon as I typed that, I thought, well I actually love the toads too, seeings as up in ye Mendips when I was a kid, much time, love and devotion was given by volunteers helping Natterjack Toads not to get run over (even had little red triangle 'Toads Crossing' warning signs up during the breeding season (I jest not) .... shall we just compare our brave Prince to a lump of dog poo? Seems appropriate....no?
Many young people these days don't see things in terms of a movement now, anyhow, but have absorbed,taken on board and internalised the whole marketing shtick. To them, it's about finding a USP, where the S is the key initial, leading them to wealth.
I agree with you to a point but there are also a lot of young people engaging in single issue politics as well.Mainstream politics is of course another matter with the 18-24 year old age group the most likely to be disengaged .And the least likely to exercise their right to vote.
Alisdair "What I'm saying is more of an adjunct, suggesting that such movements are being 'captured' by commerce so quickly (prematurely?) that they have little time if any to develop in interesting ways"
Sure. But if we had such a prosperous episode (or conceivably without, though I think it much more unlikely) it might be possible if that movement was steadfastly anti-commercial, such that any taint of commercialisation was death to the popularity of the sell outs.
Look at the Grateful Dead, they became a huge band without even having a record contract, years before the internet by playing at the Acid Tests and "happenings." When they did finally sign I believe they got pretty well the best contract of all time because the record companies were so desperate to get a piece of this thing that had got so away from them.
I heard a programme about Fairport and Sandy Denny some years back when someone mentioned the way that "progressive" bands were mostly just not interested in singles. Single success, miming on Top of the Pops, was seen as tainted, potential death to credibility.
I had forgotten that but that is exactly how I thought at the time (or a wee bit later as I was too young for the late sixties bit).
So I think a rejection of materialism and money making could happen, though obviously it would have to come in a different way. And if that was a crucial feature of the movement, it might get away from them again. Because it is hard to commercialise real anti-commercialism, even if commercialising fake-anti-commercialism has been done plenty of times.
Hi LaRit - you've been busy on here of late, made me smile several times.
A late welcome from me to several new posters.
Montana - UT is yours to do with as you wish and if it makes the your daily task easier then so be it....but.... I've grown fond of the place as it is and I like the continuity and the visitor counter.
I can't imagine that the occasional 'disruptions' we experience here won't also be found elsewhere and the old idea that if it ain't seriously broke don't fix it has merit in my book.
I've wondered about Medeve too - trouble is since he fixed it so we can't see his Hungarian flag we don't even know if/when he may lurk in the background. Perhaps he's just on holiday.
Re: Prozac... yeah, I remember him saying that he'd renovated a few houses and made a bit of dosh. It was amusing to see the righties get all frothy that he may have done better than them.
Yeah, I think the move to Germany is fairly typical these days as engineers tend not to get treated so well over here...
Kids these days seem to be genetically programmed to be IT literate.My daughter also wipes the floor with her old man in all things IT.But if you're letting her read any of the threads here i bet she won't know what 'preposterous hyberbole' means.So we dads do occasionally still get to explain things to our kids.Best keep her off the UT late at night mind just in case WW3 kicks off here.
FWIW: Montana, remember all the hype and expectation when Jess and Matt were telling us all how brilliant Cif was going to be once the IT nerds had got their act together?
Well Cif is a bloody joke now.
I'm with Deano on this one. Sure there are a few hiccups but "if it ain't broke don't fix it" works for me.
Anyway, it's your site and your call. I'm prepared to go with your judgement either way.
Yeah, I think the move to Germany is fairly typical these days as engineers tend not to get treated so well over here...
Not so typical at the moment, (as in move to Germany), as Engineers over there are in as much the same position as Engineers over here. They do have a much better redundancy package than our UK businesses offer. Their unions made it very, very difficult to make workers redundant. - Good - but as I saw it (not so long ago), that, that perspective had been immersierably reduced and was now not impossible. A lot of my Colleagues in Munich were victim to a system of guaranteed work the German's thought was pretty bulletproof.
Don't forget though, their Engineers, as in the rest of the world, have always commanded a bigger wage than there counterparts over in the UK.
Prozac said that a fair few engineers had moved from here to Germany in the past, but I can well believe things may have changed of late. Engineers have tended to have rather more status over there too... hope that isn't changing as well...
@Paul: yes, us Dads do have some uses now and again! How old is your daughter?
BTW: I made sure the thread was expletive free before she was allowed to comment!
And yes you are quite right; computer literacy is completely normal for primary schools kids these days and we shouldn't be surprized that it would be otherwise.
Have just read about another ATOS case which defies belief.A 24 year old man who has been severly brain damaged since birth and has a mental age of 6 has been summoned by ATOS for a medical.He has never worked,is incapable of doing any form of work and like anyone with a mental age of a 6 year old stands no chance of ever getting work.WTF is going on.And why aren't GPs putting pressure on the GMC to speak out.
ps the mother of the 24 year old who wrote about this didn't say anything about the outcome .But surely the fact he was summoned in the first place is scandalous in itself.
I really don't think their status is changing because of the loss of jobs. Engineers in Europe and America, and to a certain extent those in Asia have always been of a higher standing than Engineers in the UK. Sorry finding this hard as listening to BBC 4 at the mo.
Hmm. Day one of the WordPress experiment and there seems to be a lot of weirdness there, too. Posts aren't getting lost in the ether like they do here, but one comment each from Atomboy and 3p4 went into the "Spam" file instead of posting and apparently posts are looking like they're in italics to others? Maybe WP isn't any more reliable than Blogger.
I had a look at the source code behind the Wordpress page, and it looks as though there's an unclosed 'italics' tag in 3p4's first comment, which then plays through all the supposed plain text styles afterwards. It's tricky to work out why, but that's what it seems to be.
Agreed. The history of witches in Europe is interesting. Generally assumed only women were persecuted - research of names, records etc. show that something like a quarter at least were men.
I have seen that before, when someone leaves a bracket open and a whole thread ends up as bold or italics and also I think you have to set a link limit, in some places it is 1 link and in others it is 5 but if you exceed it you go straight into spam.
Well, sonofagun! I think I just solved the mystery of the vanishing posts here on UT. There is a "spam" folder on here that I never knew existed (actually, I don't think it did when we first opened for business). There were 52 comments -- none of them actual spam -- sitting there. One upthread from Monkeyfish, others on other days, stretching back for a couple of months (probably when they introduced the spam folder, I'm guessing).
Nah Leni, applied for a job, that then failed to materialise.. Have lot's of work to do on the garden, landlords return soon... Girlfriend moving house, all hands to the pumps, hence sporadic posting, cut my hand to ribbons trying to repair an etch a sketch. My advice in that department? Dpn't try... NN all... p,tx : )
My mother-in-law is a "happy clappy God botherer" so I leave all that nonsense to her and thankfully my daughter thinks she's completely bonkers and I'm not about to disuade her from that opinion!
That is not to say that my mother- in-law and I don't rub along quite well together, because she is a charming person and delightful company.
I'm convinced that she actually quite likes the gentle way I take the piss out of her beliefs.
That's just anoher way of saying she has a bloody good sense of humour!
OK, having gone crosseyed trying to match up angle brackets, there's an unclosed italics tag in 3p4's first post where it comes out of blockquote.
I was wondering if Atomboy's first post was signalled as spam because of the long list of quote-unquote pairs, and 3p4's later one because of its text-style experiments. Nothing else obvious, though.
Thought you were about to go into rad fem mode there.But you're right it is a bit of shitty saying that really shouldn't strike any sort of chord with anyone.But there you go:-)
chekhov
For the record i,m no god botherer.Although i,ve heard it said that a catholic upbringing can cast a long shadow over your life.Well that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it.:-)
turminder
@Checkov, you want to nip that ', confusion in the bud, she could end up like paul...
How very dare you.I'll have you know that i,m a soul of propriety off-line.:-)
Paul I would never go into 'rad fem' mode because I am not a radical or militant feminist.
You should have a look at the way you reacted to the idea of a daughter finding her way on the net though and why that stupid saying struck a chord with you.
''You should have a look at the way you reacted to the idea of a daughter finding her way on the net though and why that stupid saying struck a chord with you.
Chill! What do you mean the way i reacted to the idea of my daughter finding her way on the net?Sorry i,ve got no idea what you're talking about.And why are you sounding so uptight about that saying?All of us including you have moments of irrational thinking in our lives.
Well if we are putting things on the record, I don't mind stating that I'm an athiest. However I'm not a "militant" one! I don't prosletyse atheism. I'm a "live and let live" sort of guy!
I'm more agnostic than atheist. If people want to pray , light candles whatever it doesn't bother me at all.
It is organised religion tied to poltics, men in hats (often with beards) seeking to control and influence that I dislike. Lots of nonsense about infallibility etc.
I always light a candle on the winter solstice but that's more about hope than believing it will turn the sun around !
@jennifera: I'm sorry if allowing my daughter to post a comment on this blog is going to cause a row. It was just a bit of fun since she said "can I make a comment Daddy" and she was interested in the idea of what blogging was all about. Why would she not be? She's an 8 year old trying to make sense of the world she lives in.
We were all 8 years old once; didn't we do the same things?
WTF is the matter with you tonight.I thought you and me were cool.So why the attitude?Disagree and question me by all means.I have no problem with that.But if you look upthread there is absolutely no reason for you to have this attitude towards me.
Your little girl posting here has got absolutely nothing to do with this.Perhaps if we all got our kids to post on the UT it might prevent these misunderstandings happening.
I'm angry at lots of things. I've spelled it out often enough on here.
One of the things that has always made me really fucking angry is that middle class airheads get to set the tone on Cif, on Waddya especially, and occasionally on here.
Bland fucking liberals like you and kiz, or, even worse, bland corporate cocksuckers like Bru.
All of you very nice, very polite, always ready to offer a cup of tea and a jaffa cake, but all of you basically conservative and hostile to anyone with a radical or angry voice.
We're all guilty, bleeding heart liberals as we are, for tolerating you all. We all buy into the idea that Princess Vacuous is lovely and her time-serving platitudes are worth the cyberspace the waste; we all just look away, again and again, every time that the Duchess of Antwerp deigns to bless us with what passes for her thoughts.
Maybe not, Leni, if the vacuous crowd didn't set the agenda.
As long as kiz, bru, hermione and the rest of the gang of idiots get to set the agenda on Cif, I think it's worthwhile to remind people that they are a reactionary waste of cyberspace.
You didn't break anything. You just didn't close an HTML tag. I just came back from over there and fixed it while I was there. Which means that administrators can edit other people's comments.
Which is a big negative for WordPress -- with Blogger, admins can only delete comments. Now, apart from the correcting of code that I just did, I would never mess with anyone else's comments and I'm sure none of the other admins would, either. But knowing that it is a capability is problematic, simply because there are a few people who would be more than happy to accuse us of having done so.
you have to acknowledge that trivia , chit chat are all forms of social cement. It bonds people. We all do it unless we are totally alienated from our fellows.
If we responded angrilly to every banal comment we heard on a regular basis with anger we would quickly suffer nervous prostration. Become unfit for anything.
Cif is only a corner of cyber space - it is never going to be a radical fire pit. It is a reflection of the world around us - we just step politely round when we become bored. Engage when interested in the debate and take on those whose views you really oppose.
I remember you and Sheff once talking about what happened at Orgreave back in the 80,s.I obviously had heard about that but i couldn't connect with it if that makes any senses.Yet as a teenager not long after Orgreave i got drawn into what happened at Broadwater Farm in London.Now i'm sure both you and Sheff heard about that but possibly didn't connect with it in the same why i did.And that i feel is the problem.We all have this anger inside of us drawn from our experiences but somehow we never actually connect and find common purpose with each other.I dunno how to solve that problem but solve it we must.Or else we'll forever remain divided.
You see that's where iboth agree and disagree with you when you say class solidarity should over-ride everything else.Because working class solidarity in particular will only have a chance to take root when the factions within the working classes have been addressed.Namely when the largely White wworking class people who were involved at Orgreave realize they have commom purpose with the largely Black working class people who were involved at Broadwater Farm.
Like Hank i'd like to put things right with you.Can't say i won't argue with you again but i'd like to have a better basic understanding with you so things don't go OTT again.You might think i,m talking out of my arse but i actually do like your on-line personnae.
That's what I've always said. It's always been about class for me, which is why I spit on the identity politics agenda of the middle class bourgeois liberal Guardianistas.
I'm fucking amazed that you think that I think anything different.l
Everyone do me a favour and visit this link, please.
ReplyDeleteMorning Montana
ReplyDeleteI've used wordpress before, and my impression is that it's a bit more user friendly than blogspot - certainly blockquotes would be nice - though I've no idea if it's more reliable or not.
In the end I don't think anyone's likely to have an issue either way - they'll still turn up and post. The issue is which would be the easiest for you to administer?
Sites like this rely on someone taking the trouble to keep them going - posters are ten a penny.
Montana
ReplyDeleteWordPress is pretty good, but Google/Blogger should be as well.
I have never had posts disappear as such, although Blogger has thrown an error when saving. I habitually copy just before saving in case this happens, although I do not save elsewhere after that, so if, like CiF, the published comment then mysteriously disappears for reasons only known to the massive brain of Matt Seaton, I am still generally furked.
One thing to watch with WordPress is that they have a - notional, at least - space limit. I'm not sure what happens after you have used that.
PeterJ
Thanks for the answer about wartime documents. As soon as I asked it, I was whisked away.
La Rit
I passed on what you said. Atomgirl has filing cabinet drawers bulging with old handwritten recipes.
As for the rest, I only write anecdotes, analogies, parables and nonsense.
Atomboy
ReplyDeleteI hadn't lost any posts until a few days ago. In the last few days I've lost four or five, but I assume that's just a temporary glitch.
As for CIF, the Pluck system is pretty unreliable. Added to that, I'm currently (or permanantly?) in pre-mod, and about half of my posts vanish into thin air. The latest was a totally banal post about maly whisky yesterday, still awaiting moderation.....
CiF?! just don't bother posting on there anymore. When the list is several hundred long and most of that is trash from right wing trolls it is pointless. Having said there are gems in there it is just a case of bookmarking the comments of those who have something interesting to say.
ReplyDeleteNot seen any of your posts Atomboy in CiF. As for losing posts, that is annoying generally not problem for me as I don't say much.
Good site BTW.
morning all
ReplyDeletemontana - happy with anywhere you wish to host / migrate blog, as exiled says, what's easiest to admin is the main thing.
apologies for lengthy absence, there has been stuff going down on a number of levels which has impacted on ability to a) have the time to post here and b) give a shit about what's up on CIF. have been mainly sticking to the football pages to avoid engaging brain too much. good luck v brum this arvo, btw montana...
exiled
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that you have become a victim of the idiocies and ineptitudes of CiF. I read your comment that you will not post under any other name, but as I have always refused to go through the pre-moderation process, I cannot really offer any useful advice.
Good luck, though.
IanG
You would have to search for me there as Atomboy, although I would warn you that it is not worth the tiny effort involved.
Atomboy was banned - at his own suggestion and request, oddly - a long time ago, partly to prove to others that the threat of being banned and hurled into oblivion was pretty empty.
Since then, I have operated under more names than I can be bothered to remember - or the related log-in details and deliberately clumsily light disguises.
I have noticed here, though, that all the best discussions happen when I am not present, which could be a strong signal and incentive to withdraw and become an innocent bystander.
@Atomboy
ReplyDeleteIf it influences your decision at all, I'd like to say that whatever discussions happen here, I find them better when you are present.
Hmm. That sounds creepier than I intended.
Two 180's and a 122 checkout last night playing darts. Get in.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the noble game here's some of Sid Waddell's finest commentary.
Particularly love
Anderson came on like the Laughing Cavalier - now he looks as narked as Lee Van Cleef on a bad night.
Hello IanG.
ReplyDeleteMorning all
ReplyDeletePissing down and cold here - I guess that's summer over.
You do jolly the place up Atomboy, so I'm glad you haven't put yourself back in net purdah again.
Montana
I posted on your experiment - there's a note at the top of my post saying it's awaiting moderation. Given the no mod policy on UT, will you be able to switch that off?
PeterJ and Sheff
ReplyDeleteThanks to you both.
PeterJ - I am so unconcerned with your comment and its implications of stalking that, on reflection, I have cancelled the locksmiths who were speeding only moments ago to change the locks and fit bars on the windows.
Actually, it was not a declaration of intent but simply an observation, like finding out afterwards that (once you have told everyone of your hilarious adventures sleeping in a ditch because you were too drunk to walk home) they went on to the warmth and fun of a spontaneous orgy.
For some reason, Atomgirl asked me out of the blue who I am on CiF these days. I crammed a football-sized amount of food into my mouth and played for time.
She said she would hunt me down like a fox and smoke me out unless I told her.
Gulpingly, chokingly, eventually I did.
Oh, great. Two of Cif's house 'anti-Zionists' are making 'Jews are mean with their money' jokes on the kidney transplant thread (a thread I am reading with trepidation), based on the author's name.
ReplyDeleteNice.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteForgot to say: morning to IanG. And @Montana: whatever you do with commenting is fine with me. Even last night's retyping wasn't as tedious as I thought it'd be (although it did have more mistakes and infelicities).
ReplyDeleteMontana
ReplyDeleteDitto - no problemo for me.
La Ritournelle ...
ReplyDeleteRe. the cockles, yep, always with white pepper and vinegar. There's good cockles here in Spain too (berberechos from Galicia can be great). Some half decent pubs within walking distance of the market, too. Although the last time I was in Cardiff was back in 2007, and only for a short weekend. It was good though.
Ed Millipede says
ReplyDeleteWe need a different approach. Britain's big question of the next decade is whether we head towards an increasingly US-style capitalism – more unequal, more brutish, more unjust – or whether we can build a different model – a capitalism that works for people and not the other way around.
Head towards? We're already waist deep and soon will be up to our necks. And a 'capitalism' that works for the people? I wonder which people he's got in mind.
Hey philippa
ReplyDeleteGood to 'see' you.Hope nothing serious has stopped you posting.Have you got James and Boudican with you btw as they both seemed to have vanished as well.
Am currently in shock after Spurs shock home defeat by Wigan yesterday.Me and 'arry ain,t happy bunnies.
@Hi IanG
One too many shocks there methinks.Coffee!
ReplyDeletehi my name is Amelie. I'm test driving my dads new laptop.
ReplyDeleteAre you having a good bank holiday?
I must get my daughter to post more often. She got connected first bloody time!
ReplyDeleteGod, eh, cyberspazz.... how easy to get the wrong end of the stick? - hence expunging my comment to Atomboy.... moment of paranoia has now passed.
ReplyDeletePeterJ
Perhaps as there have been so many "factual" books written about WW1, maybe a novel would be a good alternative? You've done the all the research.
Hi Amelie
ReplyDeletePutting your Dad to shame I see! I did give him a book a while ago to help him out a bit - but I think he must have put it somewhere and forgotten where it is. It was a kind of html for idiots guide.
Interesting prog on R4 about the food and music tent at WOMAD - great idea....wish I'd gone now.
Martyn
ReplyDeleteWas trying to get to Galicia this summer, but failed miserably. I've long dreamed of going ever since I heard it can be misty and rainy and is dominated by limestone (very like the Mendips in the West Country where I learned to love the mist and rain!) Mmmmmm...bebecheros!
I've been to Cardiff once since I left College, it's changed a great deal since the late 80's. It was a good place to be. I even had a summer job cooking for a hostel for dry alcoholics. It was a-hem, a sobering experience. From then on, I've never looked at street drinkers with anything more than compassion.... some of the stories that were told to me were heartbreaking. The most appreciated dishes I cooked were: lentil dal and rice and my special spaghetti bolognese ;)
Hello Amelie.
ReplyDeleteperhaps you can now be your Dad's 'technical support'? - only requirements of the job are to see how many times you can ask him 'have you tried turning your computer off and then on again?' in a day. That'll learn him ;)
OK, can avoid it no longer.... the cat fur tumbleweeds are taking over like triffids..... I have to do housewerk ;(
ReplyDeletePeter Bracken
ReplyDeleteSaw this yesterday..nice quote from an unusual source: John Gray..not a man often noted for his defence of the enlightenment..given that he seems to view it as just another doomed utopian narrative
Why tolerating "hate-speech" isn't just an aberration of the 'deluded' left
#– but if Ramadan is suggesting that in order to tolerate repugnant views one must empathise with those who hold them, he is plainly wrong.There is a conventional view that says we can despise someone's beliefs while respecting them as individuals, but there are plenty of people who deserve contempt. If we tolerate the hateful views of Holocaust deniers, the reason is not that we think such people have any kind of moral worth. It is because free speech is much too important to be compromised for their sake.#
"..but if Ramadan is suggesting that in order to tolerate repugnant views one must empathise with those who hold them"..kinda represents the prototypical Guardianista view for me...far more impressed with the last sentence...why let a pile of scum rob us of our most cherished freedoms?...that's what you seem to be advocating...collective punishment for an entire society for the words or actions of an individual or small group...doesn't wash
La Rit
ReplyDeletePlease don't feel that you should not post anything on my account.
As I said, I only talk nonsense.
This isn't you, is it?
Hi everyone -
ReplyDeleteStill not moved into new flat :( had some problems at daughters - she is getting very hormonal due to pregnancy and has gone back to being very abusive and is also getting herself very upset , so I am now staying with a good friend near to the place I am eventually (hopefully) moving into. Best to stay away from daughter when she is like this, my mere presence seems to set her off.
Brain is mush at the moment - too much happening! Trip London was exiting They videoed an interview with me which was FUN!
As a result of the press conference I was interviewed over the phone by jenny Hope of the Daily Mail >:o. She's the medical correspondant and the article should at least publicise heart failure as unfortunately lots of people do read it.
Had a local stringer photographer around yesterday as they want pictures! At least I'll get some free professional pics aout of it.
The piece should appear in tomorrow's mail if it does appear of course.
Just wish it wasn't the mail :( but still raising awareness of heart failure is a good cause).
Missing you guys but don't have my own computer at the mo. New laptop on Tuesday!
@Montana I'm fine with any changes you make, don't have probs with blogger myself but new site may be better than others it has more html functionality too so that would be usefull.
chekhov
ReplyDeletehi my name is Amelie. I'm test driving my dads new laptop.
Is that as in, "My Dad likes to be called Amelie at weekends and on, ahem, special occasions" or "My Dad always gives his computers female pet names, just like some people call their cars Bessie."
Or is it a reference to the film Amelie, of which I have only seen disjointed and short snatches?
Oh, I see!!
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense now!
Sorry!
Hello, Amelie. Have a nice weekend, too.
(Phew! I think I may get away with that. Perhaps nobody will spot it).
Atomboy
ReplyDeleteI nearly committed a bit of a faux pas there.Thankfully spotted Shef's post just in time.
Atomboy
ReplyDeleteHe ;0) Shirley Mason - I wish! (great record)
feelin' more like this today... complete with facial hair
Apologies for the ear-splitting noise....
Hello Anne!
ReplyDeleteGood to see you back - sorry your daughter's troubling you.
La Rit
ReplyDeletefeelin' more like this today... complete with facial hair
Really?
I think there's nothing nicer than a pretty girl with a full set of whiskers.
And lungs, of course.
The Jayne Austin thread on ME is still going, at 466, and the trolls appear to have gone away.
ReplyDeleteMore comments than anything currently on the CiF frontpage, but no sign of it ?
frog2 .. maybe that's because the twats from The Observatory are in charge today.
ReplyDeleteAtomboy:
ReplyDelete"I think there's nothing nicer than a pretty girl with a full set of whiskers
And lungs, of course."
Well there are fellas who like the rather more hirsute ladeeeze!
Lungs?
Martyn -- you were busy there yesterday I noticed, doing a little troll-hunting !
ReplyDeleteThe moving-off the frontpage seems rather arbitrary, but often happens on disability threads . in the past Jessica has had articles moved back...
Don't worry about the noise, but if you prefer something more quiet...
ReplyDeleteThere was the story that a bunch of kids ranging in age form about eight to twelve somehow won a group booking to see a Garbage concert, with the opportunity to meet the band.
Shirley Manson came bounding out and said something like: "Are you all fixed up and OK for drugs?"
La Rit
ReplyDeleteWell there are fellas who like the rather more hirsute ladeeeze!
Yes, there is certainly no accounting for taste, as they say.
This is something Atomgirl sometimes listens to...
...before getting made-up and ready to go out.
Hi all and thanks for the nice welcome! Forgive me for not following the expected etiquette but I have only just discovered this sane environment which operates on a completely different level to CiF.
ReplyDeleteAtomboy, I was a member of you discussion group but got lost a bit with the navigation ;-). Then you closed it down due to commitments I seem to recall, but I am certainly not alone in getting something out of your posts.
Oh I am 'ThisAndThat' of CiF FWIW. Very little I should think as there are many more articulate commentators around and the discourse below the line is generally better than the article.
I will keep reading (quietly).
I was looking for Che puro ciel but found Janet Baker and Che faro senza Euridice.
ReplyDeleteChristoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck
IanG
ReplyDeleteThank you for remembering.
I will have to admit - and others here will probably remember that I have said this before - that I am useless at names, both online and in the real world and hopeless at connecting them with the attached written output.
Please join in whenever and however much you wish.
Yes, I did close things down for various reasons, but am still toying with the idea of getting something else up and running, but want to avoid repeating the performance of last time.
Anyway, welcome again and apologies if it seems I am hogging the show.
I shall be elbowed aside soon enough, no doubt.
I forgot to say hello to IanG - 'hello'! ;)
ReplyDeleteAtomboy
very 'silent' that one!!!!
Re: the Shirley Manson anecdote - now that's probably the sort of outrageous thing I'd say to a bunch of kids - preferably in front of a group of 'ymummy-mummies' to their precious little darlings, in Clapham, given half a chance!
I actually got told off at a bus stop at Clapham Junction once for swearing profusely as the bastard bus driver slammed the doors shut in my face in the pissing rain when I was on my way home from work barely able to walk I was so tired. This couple with their kids said 'excuse me, do you mind, there are children present' - of course, I responded politely to that (not) ;)
Do you think AtomGirl can teach me how to do my make up like that? Better still, she could replace Lauren Luke on Weekend - much better if you ask me ;)
PS I know it was for IanG but really enjoyed the Dame Janet, Che Faro.... Of course, these days, despite being an artist of extreme talent, with a voice of great beauty and an indestructable technique, she would proably not make it past the first post with her looks.
We have to put up with the 3rd rate vacuous warblings of Mizz 'tits n teeth' Jenkins.
For anyone who thought that Hart to Hart was just a tacky American television series about an improbable couple who were sleuths as well as filthy rich, just remember that
ReplyDeleteRobert Wagner also wrote this.
I am happy to say it left me crying uncontrollably.
Robert Wagner ... hahahahaha
ReplyDeleteLa Rit
ReplyDeleteThings Atomboy keeps in his brain Part 4676.
The story is that whatever orchestra it was were doing the normal business of getting on coaches and touring around Europe. They were all seated and getting annoyed that they were not moving. The driver was not there yet.
Then (I think as she was just plain Janet Baker at the time) she got on the coach and they all stood up and applauded and cheered, simply because she was so fucking good.
Sorry, what were you saying about being shouted at on the bus...?
Was this the same story...?
La Rit
ReplyDeleteJust teasing.
The Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde did make me cry, though.
Atomgirl laughed and poked fun at me.
You know, to balance things out.
Some more Hart to Hart, I especially like the first half.
ReplyDeleteI am sure Atomgirl would be happy to pass on her extensive and professional make-up techniques.
ReplyDeleteThis is one she did earlier.
Hello All - Welcome Ian -- Waves to Amelie x
ReplyDeleteFrog
The number of comments on the disability thread should convince Cif that this is of interest to their readers.
I have had probs since Friday posting to Cif.
La Rit
Saw ref. to cannibal restaurant - sick joke I think - hope.
A bit of Sherbet for a lovely Sundae afternoon ... arf arf
ReplyDeleteHello Leni, Jayne's thread finally settled down?
ReplyDeleteAtomboy, that is how I typically look at the end of a night out (without the models good looks sadly) looks like atomgirl just saves some time and goes out like that to start with, smart woman.
ReplyDeleteHello Martyn
ReplyDeleteLots of the issues around welfare came up on that thread. I emailed Jess several weeks ago asking for section on this - to create archive around all the interconnections and spins offs. The plight of the targetted sick and disabled is a major issue but it is not a stand alone problem.
I have yet to find the thread today. Have been busy. Haven't yet looked at Cif. Do I want to ?
There's a dance/rave just kicked off in an abandoned factory across from me. I can hear the music from my balcony. It's at times like these I wish I were younger and could manage the drugs 'n dancing as the music's rather good.
ReplyDeleteStill, perhaps I'd better just shut the door and listen to Chopin instead.
Jen
ReplyDeleteI did say it was a bit like the advert they run on television sometimes, where the film is run in reverse in an attempt to convince people to "Just say No!" to competitive binge-drinking and industrial drug use.
It always seems to make it into something you would like to have a go at, even if you had never really thought about it before.
Sheff
ReplyDeleteAt least the factory is being used.
Over the last 10 years here there has been a prettying up campaign. Much of the industrial infrastructure gone - including some Brunel heritage. Very long tunnel under mountain closed at bothe ends. Council too stupid to see the value.
Tree planting etc - we now host thousands of mountain bikers.
I have been upset to see many of the tiny micro climates on the hills destroyed - slime moulds , rare mosses and lichens destroyed. I got in touch with local council - few years back - pointing out Wallace (Evolution man0 had done a lot of his research here. They ignored me. Cardiff put on Wallace exhibition.
Politicians must be among the least creative and imaginative people on the the planet.
we see this in everything they do - from economic policy to heritage and humanity.
Overlooked consistently good posters on CiF:
ReplyDeleteArseneKnows.
Anyone agree?
>>Politicians must be among the
ReplyDelete>>least creative and imaginative
>>people on the the planet.
Entrance requirement, no?
Good Pic AB, reminds me of a pal, who's daughter said, "Know how my Ma put's on make up? Two babs of blue and a line of pink of the pillow, #mimes# face down, ready to go out!!
Sheff,
ReplyDeleteas the rain hammers down here, your post sparks great memories of getting 'eccied up' and heading off to disused factories. For some reason I always ended up in deepest darkest Lanarkshire.
Acid house was the last great youth movement but fundamentally hedonistic rather than politically antagonistic towards authorities. And hence was ripe for commercialisation.
It was good fun in its first flush though.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteatomboy
ReplyDeleteHa-ha berry fuddy! Seriously though, Janet B - to have praise from your fellow musicians in such a way.... what can I say?
As for the Liebestod, along with Strauss Four Last Songs, am right there with you. I think that is possibly one some of the most exhilirating, moving and wonderful music ever created for voices/voice and orchestra.
I hope you like this have listened to a few versions, but Lucia Popp in this recording of Rusalka's Song to the Moon is practically perfect.....
Right, off to practice my make-up a la AtomGirl ;)
Leni
ReplyDeleteI thought it might be a sick joke re: the cannibal restaurent, but given the rapacious desire for new experiences amongst the super-rich, I can see it as something which will define the pinnacle of the grotesque consumerism Capitalism - After all what can you eat after you have tasted every delight the world has to offer other than another to step over the final boundary and for no other reason that boredom, consume human being's flesh?
SheffP
ReplyDeleteKnow what you mean. If it was happening over the road from me I'd be sorely tempted to get the disco glitter on and head down for a bit of shuffling in deranged stylee ;0)
London/Brixton has been very quiet, all thoughts of us going raving in Essex have been chucked out of the window due to a need to relax and get over my bug.
There's a chicken in the oven, am onto me second glass of wine, the wind is a bit wild but lots of late afternoon sun streaming in, I've got a clean and tidy bedroom with fresh linen on and as the other half is snoozing like Suzy Schnoozer on the sofa, I'm enjoying the chat on the UT ;)
LaRit
ReplyDeleteWas it Cyrus the Great who trained slaves to eat his enemies whilst they were still alive ? Starting with their noses I believe.
The thread about the rejection of the disabled in Uganda - as here. Is it something to do with the rejection/denial of war and poverty that causes this rejection.
A report on the links between prolonged poverty and disability (UN) shows that poverty itself causes disability. Poor nutrition results in stunted growth (as WW1) and sometimes mental disability.
The children of disabled parents often suffer hunger and so they too fail to reach potential either physically or mentally. Self perpetuating .
Observations across history show this to have always been true - the people, the poor are often described as 'misshapen' in some way.
Is it rejection/denial of the causes or fear of it happening to 'me'?
Leni,
ReplyDeleteUsually, I don't think it's so complex. Some people are just ignorant, shallow and callous bastards, who are only interested in themselves, and feck everyone else.
Earlier I made gazpacho, with beetroot (as an experiment), no idea how it will turn out, it's a nice colour though.
ReplyDeleteMartyn
ReplyDeletei would have expected the usual human response to suffering to be to reach out and help.
Seeing so many comments which in essence say 'work or starve' I have had to do a lot of re-evaluating of both myself and others.
I cannot fully comprehend what the hell is happening - 'The Devil take the hindmost' is not a political stance I can accept. We seem to be dominated at the moment by the basest motives man is capable of.
Martyn
ReplyDeletebeetroot is one of my favourite veg - no vinegar .
once ate so much I had pink wee.
La Rit
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. Absolutely delightful, although I was trying to listen on little Mickey Mouse earphones plugged into the laptop as a small re-enactment of ten years in Beirut was performed around me.
There is also this recording, also by Lucia Popp.
I read that article Leni, it is heartbreaking, there wasn't many comments on it though which was disappointing.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't help that the Guardian did it's usual gender stuff and most of the comments were people whinging about that.
I wonder if they realise (or care) what a disservice they do to real problems by emphasising the gender aspect of everything.
Catalogue of occasions on which Atomboy has sat down and cried Part 35.
ReplyDeleteI first heard this driving along. I pulled over and wept.
Biko
On the subject of protest songs -
ReplyDeleteHurricane
Jenni
ReplyDeleteQuite agree about 'genderising' every problem. It simply allows the gender war to rage - completely ignoring the important issues. If you are disabled and rejected what difference does it make if you are man or woman ?
Cif is totally blinkered in this and many other respects.
@AB
ReplyDeleteHere's another bit of protest I stumbled across today.
I think I tried to post this ages ago, but had to use something else because it did not seem to be on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteHope it's new for someone, at least.
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers is where it's atra...
PeterJ
ReplyDeleteCool or what!
Was so happy watching the backing singers, did not notice battery running out and the screen just went black.
@AB
ReplyDeleteI believe those backing singers were the Blind Boys of Alabama...
Many people dislike this album, others think it is the best of the man's vast output.
ReplyDeleteMadame George
@AB
ReplyDeletedeliberately clumsily light disguises.
your avatars were very clever when taken as a series or collection,,almost like they had a signature,, if you should say "i never used avatars" then you might be interested to know that one of the other puppet masters is actually more "punch and judy " than even you,,
there are a lot of people doing what you have described,, the cat in the bin thread was like a convention,, pulling strings pulling chains
PeterJ
ReplyDeleteThe rumbling sonority and delicate harmonies of old men looking fucking brilliant in their wrap-around shades.
Nice one.
Just watched Steve McQueen's, Hunger. As it's left me somewhat speechless, all I can say is if you haven't seen it you should make a big effort to find it somewhere and watch it. Its extraordinary and brilliant.
ReplyDelete3p4
ReplyDeleteLet's just say that after a fairly short time, any cleverness there might have been was not the result of my putting any effort into it.
I usually get bored with whoever I am after about a week now.
Or sooner, if people start recommending me.
My visits there are still sporadic, desultory, largely uninterested and with no feelings of attachment or much purpose on my part.
As I've said before - take it or leave it, no big deal, an occasional time-filler.
PeterJ
ReplyDeleteThe Blind boys of A are fantastic - Run On
@Sheff
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. There's a good one here from rather earlier days.
Sheff,
ReplyDeleteJust watched Steve McQueen's, Hunger.
I must admit when I heard they were relocating the NI troubles to San Francisco I was sceptical to say the least.
But casting Bobby Sands as a tough uncompromising San Francisco cop was inspired as was the car chase between Sands and the RUC.
And Jacqueline Bissett as Bernadette Devlin- fit.
Good critical thinking, Duke.
ReplyDeleteBrian Dennehy made a good fist of Ian Paisley, although Gerard Butler was a little overstated for Gerry Adams. Perhaps he should have had an actor reading his lines.
@Everyone who's tried to comment on the Wordpress experiment:
ReplyDeleteSorry. I hadn't investigated the Admin tools as much as I should have. There was a box checked that required a new commenter's first comment to be approved. I've unchecked it, so hopefully that has taken care of the problem.
@Everyone who hasn't:
Get over there and take a look, please.
@Philippa:
Good to see you again!
@IanG:
Welcome! Please don't be quiet!
@Your Grace:
I love ArseneKnows and totally agree that (s)he is underappreciated. Also love Clunie to bits.
@Everyone:
Anyone heard from Medve lately?
Your Grace/PeterJ
ReplyDeleteI must admit when I heard they were relocating the NI troubles to San Francisco I was sceptical to say the least.
But casting Bobby Sands as a tough uncompromising San Francisco cop was inspired as was the car chase between Sands and the RUC.
And Jacqueline Bissett as Bernadette Devlin- fit.
There must be a joke there but I'm not getting it. Are we talking about the same film?
Speaking of films, I just saw a reference to this documentary on Fermat's Last Theorem, which I remember really liking when it came out. Worth a look even for the maths-averse.
ReplyDeleteSorry Sheff. Flippant flight of fancy, I fancy, inspired by the wrong Steve McQueen.
ReplyDeleteSheff,
ReplyDeletehere's your first clue-Steve McQueen.
PeterJ,
remember that spate of (adopts that film trailer voice)
"He was a maverick IRA terrorist.......He was too mad even for the IRA...."
films that came out in the 90s? I'm thinking 'Patriot Games', 'The Devils Own' etc.
The IRA appeared to fill in the hollywood baddie role between the fall of the Berlin wall and Islamic terrorism early to late 90s.
Best recreation of the IRA on film is easily James Mason in "Odd man out". That's a film.
Yes, I remember those, Duke. Always rather ambiguous about the IRA, rather than making them true baddies, as I recall.
ReplyDeleteAnd some of the rawest accent work since Dick Van Dyke.
OK guys - got it....but tbh....if you'd actually seen Hunger you wouldn't be making jokes - its the most serious, visceral and compelling film about troubles - specifically the hunger strike I have ever seen.
ReplyDeleteSorry to sound poe faced - but it is really piercing.
actually AB i just meant the images used with the monicker,,but obviously it wasnt you
ReplyDeletecos this one is always there,, and has really coherent style with the little icons,,always different yet always one of the collection,,
Sheff,
ReplyDeleteyeah, sorry I was just joking. I have seen the film and it is very good.
What is striking is almost how medieval the whole period seems as if the dirty protests come from centuries ago rather than 30 years ago.
An exemplary documentary on the period is Peter Taylor's 'the Provos, Loyalists and the Brits'.
Part 1 here
Evening all.
ReplyDeleteJust looked in because I have given up on CIF for today. That fucking pluck. How can they not get it sorted?
Of course it could be like the trains on Bank Holiday Weekend and they have decided it is a good time to fix the dodgy signals or something. So frustrating though.
Atomboy: "Many people dislike this album"
Do they? Which people? Deaf people? The criminally insane? Simon Cowell?
I have a great version of Madam George by Marianne Faithful. Only I can't play it as it is a "record" and those pesky Vikings stole my "record player."
i think i broke the new place,, sorry
ReplyDelete@PeterJ
ReplyDeleteI'd read the book about Wiles and Fermat, but didn't know there was a documentary. Cheers for the heads-up.
@13thDuke,
Yeah, with you on Arsene. He regularly dismantles the FUD of the right...
Agreed on Arsene knows, s/he posted on one of the Atos threads that they were suffering from COPD which I know from family experience is a wretched disease.
ReplyDeleteThey have a real knack for patient and rational demolition of the typical by the numbers right wing crap spouted by a few Ciffers, with a nice turn of phrase as well.
montana/duke
ReplyDelete"I love ArseneKnows and totally agree that (s)he is underappreciated. Also love Clunie to bits"
Thirded. Arseneknows is ace. Love 'im and Clunie to bits too..... it's like aaahhhhh.....
Leni n Atomboy... lost my thread..... ;( apols....
Leni - re: disfigurement/deformity that a life of poverty bestows - yes.
There is also an equivalent in the disfigurement of extreme wealth. Photo in the Groin today of Cameroon.... you can tell it's a life of privilege which is equally distorting by looking at the way his features seem to be sucked into the middle of his face. His eyes and mouth are too small - his nose too big. His entire 'visage' is unbalanced. I guess that's what you end up with if you're fed a diet of the utmost indulgence and pampering from the moment of your birth.
As for the inbred Royals - poor old Beatrice - she really is a freak show ;)
Atomboy:
I got stuck after the Steve Biko.... another time. Unbearable.
Maybe inappropriate I know, but just to get the blood racing again and the anger flowing...
Release the Bats
3p4
ReplyDeleteSomething about that little picture which makes me want to cry with joy.....
It's a weird thing though La Rit that even ugly folk who are rich or royal are often described as attractive.
ReplyDeleteI don't just mean rich old buggers who have young partners and people going on about how they have an aura of power.
People were (and sometimes still are) always going on about how Princes William and Harry are handsome when to say they are ordinary looking would be kind.
I was always a bit taken aback by the worship that Princess Diana got, I don't judge by looks if I can help it but what the hell was all that all about?
Re: our discussion last night and re: Flanders.... here is the indisputably exquisite voice of Elly Stone singing "Marieke" by Jacques Brel.... in Flemish.....and English.
ReplyDelete(Duke, PeteJ, Sheff, this is for you all.... especially)
Aye, Marieke Marie....
Hey, Jenni, Diane was nothing. I remember the Royal Wedding. Some reporters seriously called Charles handsome!
ReplyDeleteAll I can say Spencer is that if they were breeding for looks whoever chose that nose to go with those ears and teeth was having a laugh.
ReplyDeleteEvening all, just looking in briefly tonight. Have to say Hunger was very good indeed, picking up on a lot of the complexities very well (like the dislike you foster for the guard, and then he gets horribly murdered when visiting his senile mother).McQueen doesn't take sides or sanctify terrorism.The scene with just the priest and Sands had terrific performances.Michael Fassbender is an exceptional actor:he was good even in Tarantino's all-over-the-shop Inglourious Basterds, better in Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank(nb her film Red Road is well worth a look).
ReplyDelete@ Duke, the line about acid house being the last youth movement has some truth. Grime may lay some claim, but it's very localised (not that you'd know so from hipster critics). I posted somewhere on CiF that it's posssible that there will be no more significant youth movements for a long while (if ever: as a phenomenon we're really only talking the last 60 years).I'm thinking about the commodification and hollowing-out of youth culture.No sooner has someone in a bedroom or come up with a tune, a film, or a look than it's on the 'net,prematurely exposed, plagiarised,sold or exploited by brands.Such co-option/colonisation by was always the case, but never before at such a frantic all-consuming pace. The window of opportunity for things to develop before the commercial stage, has narrowed to almost nothing, allowing no time for inchoate but exciting ideas to grow into something more worthwhile,substantial and challenging.That or the originators themselves have no objective other than becoming a brand, achieving fame and making sales.
Hello everyone, just to clear up any confusion, Amelie is my 8 year old daughter who decided that she wanted to have a crack at this blogging malarkey.
ReplyDeleteShe's tapping away right now on my laptop whilst I'm on the old steam driven kit.
I,m amelie. i went to seven stories today
ReplyDeletebyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
@duke - yeh, ArseneKnows knows. One of the best.
ReplyDelete@Alisdair
ReplyDeleteThat's a fascinating thought about youth culture. It seems impossible to have an 'underground' culture now, because not only is everything conducted in public, but that publication is how the culture is formed in the first place. With, as you say, co-option and subversion by brands and money to the extent that the false can't be distinguished from the genuine.
@alisdair
ReplyDeleteThat all seems reasonable. But the most wide ranging and radical youth cult was the alternative culture of the sixties and early seventies, which still exists in some forms (I should admit that I speak as a recovered freak).
A lot of that was about a rejection of materialism and I think that a precondition of that is prosperity. It is hard to imagine kids in the great depression rejecting the work ethic and deciding to go and live in tepees. Easier to do when jobs are five for thruppence and money is easy to come by (even if the jobs are boring).
A phrase comes to my mind about America of the sixties. It might have been Tom Wolfe in something like The Electric Cool Aid Acid Test, about there being great gobbets of cash flowing around the US economy at the time. Easy enough (at least for middle class white kids) to grab some as it floated by.
re: Arsene... petrifiedprozac' handy too, in a similar vein. Both incisively efficient. But haven't seen prozac around much lately...
ReplyDelete@Jen:
ReplyDelete"It's a weird thing though La Rit that even ugly folk who are rich or royal are often described as attractive"
The pages of 'Hello' magazine and the Friday Evening Standard, are full of the Society/Royal-type 'beautiful people' with all the editorial/comments saying how 'beautiful' they all are and I'm thinking to myself ...WHAAAAAAT? are we looking at the same people? they're like a bloody freakshow.
As for Kingy-in-Waiting Jnr and Bastard-in Waiting...I should have also said poor William, he looks like frightnight too. As for Harry, maybe Diana thought a bit of mxing of the bloodlines was necessary, in case she produced something that had to be hidden away from public view. (Beatrice definitely inherited all her Saxe-Coburg genes in her teeth)
As for Diana - well as they are all related, it's no surprise that she looked like a bloody horse (Mr La Rit always called her old Horse Face)
And the media has the nerve to go on about 'Chavs'....
Oh, and just to cheer you all up, Andrew suffers from errmmm... limpness apparently.
ReplyDeleteChekhov:
ReplyDeleteAmelie is freaking me out (joke)
"I can't do that Dave....." ;0)
Sorry how rude of me, hello Amelie, I hope your Dads website friends are not too boring for you.
ReplyDeleteHank:
ReplyDeleteApols if I pissed you off last night ;( re: mr weller.... he did refuse his CBE after all and then Exiled posted that rant he did about Bob (I made myself millions from starving Africans)Geldork and Bono (I am the pope) Bono....
Chekhov;
ReplyDeleteIs your daughter getting a crash course in mental cyber debate?
Beats the pants off listening to a load of adults talking shite at a cheese n wine party (or maybe it doesn't.....)
Jen:
ReplyDeletebtw the way, as I love horses and think htey're lovely creatures, the comparison between the virgin princess consort of the toad-like princeand a horse, is inapproriate.
Lot of truth in that, Spencer: youth movements(and indeed the whole 'invention' of the teenager) require both free time and some degree of wealth, which is one of the reasons they are relatively new, at least in the terms we're using.What I'm saying is more of an adjunct, suggesting that such movements are being 'captured' by commerce so quickly (prematurely?) that they have little time if any to develop in interesting ways, or even to allow widespread youth 'ownership'.It's the speed, both in terms of how quickly things get picked up on, but also of how quickly they get discarded.
ReplyDeleteMany young people these days don't see things in terms of a movement now, anyhow, but have absorbed,taken on board and internalised the whole marketing shtick. To them, it's about finding a USP, where the S is the key initial, leading them to wealth.
I never called her horselike La Rit. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat nose always brought some kind of anteater to my mind.
I better stop calling people names because of how they look or I will lose my gold right on badge. ;)
@LaRit Well I like toads and I think that the comparison with the gonky dumbo-eared prince is extremely offensive.
ReplyDeleteOK - talking into the ether again...
ReplyDeletere: PetrifiedonProzac - he was badly hounded by trolls and fucker posters in the vein of ArdennesPate on CiF a few months back - all because he'd done well for himself and had a house in France but was apparently 'not allowed' to call himself a socialist....he was on a lot of threads I was on and the attacks were pretty relentless....
La Rit
ReplyDeleteI remember that but I think he said he now lived in Germany and found it to be a much better place (I might be misremembering).
Feggin Cow
ReplyDeleteAnd then 'they'll' complain when folk justifiably piss on her grave......vile woman
Sorry Spence ;(
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I typed that, I thought, well I actually love the toads too, seeings as up in ye Mendips when I was a kid, much time, love and devotion was given by volunteers helping Natterjack Toads not to get run over (even had little red triangle 'Toads Crossing' warning signs up during the breeding season (I jest not) .... shall we just compare our brave Prince to a lump of dog poo? Seems appropriate....no?
Alisdair
ReplyDeleteMany young people these days don't see things in terms of a movement now, anyhow, but have absorbed,taken on board and internalised the whole marketing shtick. To them, it's about finding a USP, where the S is the key initial, leading them to wealth.
I agree with you to a point but there are also a lot of young people engaging in single issue politics as well.Mainstream politics is of course another matter with the 18-24 year old age group the most likely to be disengaged .And the least likely to exercise their right to vote.
Alisdair "What I'm saying is more of an adjunct, suggesting that such movements are being 'captured' by commerce so quickly (prematurely?) that they have little time if any to develop in interesting ways"
ReplyDeleteSure. But if we had such a prosperous episode (or conceivably without, though I think it much more unlikely) it might be possible if that movement was steadfastly anti-commercial, such that any taint of commercialisation was death to the popularity of the sell outs.
Look at the Grateful Dead, they became a huge band without even having a record contract, years before the internet by playing at the Acid Tests and "happenings." When they did finally sign I believe they got pretty well the best contract of all time because the record companies were so desperate to get a piece of this thing that had got so away from them.
I heard a programme about Fairport and Sandy Denny some years back when someone mentioned the way that "progressive" bands were mostly just not interested in singles. Single success, miming on Top of the Pops, was seen as tainted, potential death to credibility.
I had forgotten that but that is exactly how I thought at the time (or a wee bit later as I was too young for the late sixties bit).
So I think a rejection of materialism and money making could happen, though obviously it would have to come in a different way. And if that was a crucial feature of the movement, it might get away from them again. Because it is hard to commercialise real anti-commercialism, even if commercialising fake-anti-commercialism has been done plenty of times.
Hank:
ReplyDelete;0)
You'll love the Elly Stone track above....
hello Alisdair.....
ReplyDeletehello Deano.... (no surprises there then re: Fatcher)
Running out of puff here.....
may well be my last this evening :(
Is that bug still hanging on?
ReplyDeleteMaybe a trip to the Drs is in order La Rit.
Although I have no doubt they will tell you it is a nasty virus and to give up smoking.
Hi LaRit - you've been busy on here of late, made me smile several times.
ReplyDeleteA late welcome from me to several new posters.
Montana - UT is yours to do with as you wish and if it makes the your daily task easier then so be it....but.... I've grown fond of the place as it is and I like the continuity and the visitor counter.
I can't imagine that the occasional 'disruptions' we experience here won't also be found elsewhere and the old idea that if it ain't seriously broke don't fix it has merit in my book.
I've wondered about Medeve too - trouble is since he fixed it so we can't see his Hungarian flag we don't even know if/when he may lurk in the background. Perhaps he's just on holiday.
Re: Prozac... yeah, I remember him saying that he'd renovated a few houses and made a bit of dosh. It was amusing to see the righties get all frothy that he may have done better than them.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think the move to Germany is fairly typical these days as engineers tend not to get treated so well over here...
Hi Deano
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for a good quote for 'change' for weeks now. Just moved in work due to 'change'.
But this is where I wandered off too, when thinking of past (Good) neighbours et all. !
"People change and forget to tell each other."
- Lillian Hellman
Kids these days seem to be genetically programmed to be IT literate.My daughter also wipes the floor with her old man in all things IT.But if you're letting her read any of the threads here i bet she won't know what 'preposterous hyberbole' means.So we dads do occasionally still get to explain things to our kids.Best keep her off the UT late at night mind just in case WW3 kicks off here.
ReplyDeleteThe above post was for Chekov.
ReplyDeleteFWIW: Montana, remember all the hype and expectation when Jess and Matt were telling us all how brilliant Cif was going to be once the IT nerds had got their act together?
ReplyDeleteWell Cif is a bloody joke now.
I'm with Deano on this one. Sure there are a few hiccups but "if it ain't broke don't fix it" works for me.
Anyway, it's your site and your call. I'm prepared to go with your judgement either way.
hevers
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think the move to Germany is fairly typical these days as engineers tend not to get treated so well over here...
Not so typical at the moment, (as in move to Germany), as Engineers over there are in as much the same position as Engineers over here. They do have a much better redundancy package than our UK businesses offer. Their unions made it very, very difficult to make workers redundant. - Good - but as I saw it (not so long ago), that, that perspective had been immersierably reduced and was now not impossible. A lot of my Colleagues in Munich were victim to a system of guaranteed work the German's thought was pretty bulletproof.
Don't forget though, their Engineers, as in the rest of the world, have always commanded a bigger wage than there counterparts over in the UK.
@tascia
ReplyDeleteProzac said that a fair few engineers had moved from here to Germany in the past, but I can well believe things may have changed of late. Engineers have tended to have rather more status over there too... hope that isn't changing as well...
@Paul: yes, us Dads do have some uses now and again! How old is your daughter?
ReplyDeleteBTW: I made sure the thread was expletive free before she was allowed to comment!
And yes you are quite right; computer literacy is completely normal for primary schools kids these days and we shouldn't be surprized that it would be otherwise.
Have just read about another ATOS case which defies belief.A 24 year old man who has been severly brain damaged since birth and has a mental age of 6 has been summoned by ATOS for a medical.He has never worked,is incapable of doing any form of work and like anyone with a mental age of a 6 year old stands no chance of ever getting work.WTF is going on.And why aren't GPs putting pressure on the GMC to speak out.
ReplyDeleteps the mother of the 24 year old who wrote about this didn't say anything about the outcome .But surely the fact he was summoned in the first place is scandalous in itself.
Paul
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that these kind of things happen.
The worst thing is that considering what the medical has become that he could pass.
I really don't think their status is changing because of the loss of jobs. Engineers in Europe and America, and to a certain extent those in Asia have always been of a higher standing than Engineers in the UK. Sorry finding this hard as listening to BBC 4 at the mo.
ReplyDeleteFair enough tascia
ReplyDeleteHi chekhov
ReplyDeleteMy little girl is 12 this october so is about to start senior school.(and she tells me she's not a little girl anymore)
Dunno if you've heard the following saying-
''If you're the father of boys you worry BUT
If you're the father of girls you pray.''
Some truth in that although you should really worry/pray about them equally.
@Hi Jen :-)
Hi Paul
ReplyDeleteWhy would you worry for your sons but pray for your daughters?
I really don't get it.
I am not a parent so I might be missing someething, ;)
Hmm. Day one of the WordPress experiment and there seems to be a lot of weirdness there, too. Posts aren't getting lost in the ether like they do here, but one comment each from Atomboy and 3p4 went into the "Spam" file instead of posting and apparently posts are looking like they're in italics to others? Maybe WP isn't any more reliable than Blogger.
ReplyDeleteHi Jen
ReplyDeleteI agree it doesn,t make sense but for some strange reason it struck a chord with me.If i had a son as well i,m sure it wouldn,t have though.
@Jen:
ReplyDeleteI don't get it either. But then, I'm an atheist who's only got a boy.
Jenni
ReplyDeleteSomething to do with witches and nuns sleeping with the Devil.
Paul I know what it is meant to mean, I have heard the same attitude before but to me it is insulting to both male and female children.
ReplyDelete@Montana
ReplyDeleteI had a look at the source code behind the Wordpress page, and it looks as though there's an unclosed 'italics' tag in 3p4's first comment, which then plays through all the supposed plain text styles afterwards. It's tricky to work out why, but that's what it seems to be.
Dunno about the spam rules they're using.
Damn it sounds like I am getting all gender political and I really didn't mean to.
ReplyDeleteI should have just said it is a shitty saying. :)
>>I,m amelie. i went to seven stories today
ReplyDelete>>byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
@Checkov, you want to nip that ', confusion in the bud, she could end up like paul...
; )
Jenni
ReplyDeleteAgreed. The history of witches in Europe is interesting. Generally assumed only women were persecuted - research of names, records etc. show that something like a quarter at least were men.
In parts of Scandinavia the majority were men.
Peter J
ReplyDeleteI have seen that before, when someone leaves a bracket open and a whole thread ends up as bold or italics and also I think you have to set a link limit, in some places it is 1 link and in others it is 5 but if you exceed it you go straight into spam.
Hi Turminder
ReplyDeleteAny news on a new job yet ?
Turm glad to see you still have the internet, long may it continue.
ReplyDeleteWell, sonofagun! I think I just solved the mystery of the vanishing posts here on UT. There is a "spam" folder on here that I never knew existed (actually, I don't think it did when we first opened for business). There were 52 comments -- none of them actual spam -- sitting there. One upthread from Monkeyfish, others on other days, stretching back for a couple of months (probably when they introduced the spam folder, I'm guessing).
ReplyDeleteNah Leni, applied for a job, that then failed to materialise.. Have lot's of work to do on the garden, landlords return soon... Girlfriend moving house, all hands to the pumps, hence sporadic posting, cut my hand to ribbons trying to repair an etch a sketch. My advice in that department? Dpn't try... NN all... p,tx : )
ReplyDeleteAny idea why they went into spam Montana?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law is a "happy clappy God botherer" so I leave all that nonsense to her and thankfully my daughter thinks she's completely bonkers and I'm not about to disuade her from that opinion!
ReplyDeleteThat is not to say that my mother- in-law and I don't rub along quite well together, because she is a charming person and delightful company.
I'm convinced that she actually quite likes the gentle way I take the piss out of her beliefs.
That's just anoher way of saying she has a bloody good sense of humour!
@Jen, Montana
ReplyDeleteOK, having gone crosseyed trying to match up angle brackets, there's an unclosed italics tag in 3p4's first post where it comes out of blockquote.
I was wondering if Atomboy's first post was signalled as spam because of the long list of quote-unquote pairs, and 3p4's later one because of its text-style experiments. Nothing else obvious, though.
Did horror films suddenly get stupid or am I hormonally annoyed by stupid shite.
ReplyDeleteYou do not walk through the Brazilian jungle in a bikini (or ignore the local who tells you not to bathe in that part of the river).
Jen
ReplyDeleteThought you were about to go into rad fem mode there.But you're right it is a bit of shitty saying that really shouldn't strike any sort of chord with anyone.But there you go:-)
chekhov
For the record i,m no god botherer.Although i,ve heard it said that a catholic upbringing can cast a long shadow over your life.Well that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it.:-)
turminder
@Checkov, you want to nip that ', confusion in the bud, she could end up like paul...
How very dare you.I'll have you know that i,m a soul of propriety off-line.:-)
Paul I would never go into 'rad fem' mode because I am not a radical or militant feminist.
ReplyDeleteYou should have a look at the way you reacted to the idea of a daughter finding her way on the net though and why that stupid saying struck a chord with you.
Jen
ReplyDelete''You should have a look at the way you reacted to the idea of a daughter finding her way on the net though and why that stupid saying struck a chord with you.
Chill! What do you mean the way i reacted to the idea of my daughter finding her way on the net?Sorry i,ve got no idea what you're talking about.And why are you sounding so uptight about that saying?All of us including you have moments of irrational thinking in our lives.
Well if we are putting things on the record, I don't mind stating that I'm an athiest. However I'm not a "militant" one! I don't prosletyse atheism.
ReplyDeleteI'm a "live and let live" sort of guy!
Paul when chekhov brought his daughter in here you brought up the saying 'worry for the son and pray for the daughter'.
ReplyDeleteYou brought it up, no one else and if you are now going to turn on me and tell me to 'chill' the fuck right off.
Jen
ReplyDeleteI,m not turning on you at all.Why are you getting so uptight?
Night Paul, I have had too much to drink, let me look at what I said again in the morning.
ReplyDeletechekhov
ReplyDeleteI'm more agnostic than atheist.
If people want to pray , light candles whatever it doesn't bother me at all.
It is organised religion tied to poltics, men in hats (often with beards) seeking to control and influence that I dislike. Lots of nonsense about infallibility etc.
I always light a candle on the winter solstice but that's more about hope than believing it will turn the sun around !
@jennifera - nowt wrong with getting angry if you've got something to get angry about.
ReplyDeleteIf you're just angry for the sake of it, it just makes you look a bit stoopid.
Leni
ReplyDeleteI don't think that atheists have anything against lighting candles when it is darkest.
I know I don't.
I am not a big fan of candles because I once went to bed without putting one out and caused a fire which destroyed my whole flat
@jennifera: I'm sorry if allowing my daughter to post a comment on this blog is going to cause a row.
ReplyDeleteIt was just a bit of fun since she said "can I make a comment Daddy" and she was interested in the idea of what blogging was all about.
Why would she not be? She's an 8 year old trying to make sense of the world she lives in.
We were all 8 years old once; didn't we do the same things?
chekhov
ReplyDeleteAmelie posting is not a problem - made me smile. Could imagine her telling you how easy it was -
Hi Hank
Jen
ReplyDeleteWTF is the matter with you tonight.I thought you and me were cool.So why the attitude?Disagree and question me by all means.I have no problem with that.But if you look upthread there is absolutely no reason for you to have this attitude towards me.
Jenn - take a chill pill - you've lost the thread which was right with from the start.
ReplyDeleteSecond thoughts = read tomorrow and go Uhh !
chekhov
ReplyDeleteYour little girl posting here has got absolutely nothing to do with this.Perhaps if we all got our kids to post on the UT it might prevent these misunderstandings happening.
Evening Hank
A Timeless Classic to get everything mellow.
Hi Leni!
ReplyDeletePaul
ReplyDeleteThat was a Poor, Poor uTube version of a classic. If you want mellow go to:
SW
"What are you angry at Hank?"
ReplyDeleteI'm angry at lots of things. I've spelled it out often enough on here.
One of the things that has always made me really fucking angry is that middle class airheads get to set the tone on Cif, on Waddya especially, and occasionally on here.
Bland fucking liberals like you and kiz, or, even worse, bland corporate cocksuckers like Bru.
All of you very nice, very polite, always ready to offer a cup of tea and a jaffa cake, but all of you basically conservative and hostile to anyone with a radical or angry voice.
We're all guilty, bleeding heart liberals as we are, for tolerating you all. We all buy into the idea that Princess Vacuous is lovely and her time-serving platitudes are worth the cyberspace the waste; we all just look away, again and again, every time that the Duchess of Antwerp deigns to bless us with what passes for her thoughts.
Hank
ReplyDeleteAre vacuous thoughts worth a response?
Hi Tascia
ReplyDeleteNice tune.Not my taste in music exactly but i enjoyed listening to it.
I had a look at the source code behind the Wordpress page, and it looks as though there's an unclosed 'italics' tag in 3p4's first comment
ReplyDeletei knew it was going to turn out to be me,,
sorry i broke the new place Montana
3p4
ReplyDeletei'm sure it can be mended.
"Are vacuous thoughts worth a response?"
ReplyDeleteMaybe not, Leni, if the vacuous crowd didn't set the agenda.
As long as kiz, bru, hermione and the rest of the gang of idiots get to set the agenda on Cif, I think it's worthwhile to remind people that they are a reactionary waste of cyberspace.
@3p4:
ReplyDeleteYou didn't break anything. You just didn't close an HTML tag. I just came back from over there and fixed it while I was there. Which means that administrators can edit other people's comments.
Which is a big negative for WordPress -- with Blogger, admins can only delete comments. Now, apart from the correcting of code that I just did, I would never mess with anyone else's comments and I'm sure none of the other admins would, either. But knowing that it is a capability is problematic, simply because there are a few people who would be more than happy to accuse us of having done so.
Hank
ReplyDeleteyou have to acknowledge that trivia , chit chat are all forms of social cement. It bonds people. We all do it unless we are totally alienated from our fellows.
If we responded angrilly to every banal comment we heard on a regular basis with anger we would quickly suffer nervous prostration. Become unfit for anything.
Cif is only a corner of cyber space - it is never going to be a radical fire pit. It is a reflection of the world around us - we just step politely round when we become bored. Engage when interested in the debate and take on those whose views you really oppose.
Montana
ReplyDeleteNow you have found the missing posts you have solved the problem here on UT. Do you now need to change anything ?
@leni - bless you. You talk a lot of sense. You're the only person I'm happy to be patronised by (-:
ReplyDelete@Montana - can we make friends or would you prefer it if I walked away?
Hank
ReplyDeleteI remember you and Sheff once talking about what happened at Orgreave back in the 80,s.I obviously had heard about that but i couldn't connect with it if that makes any senses.Yet as a teenager not long after Orgreave i got drawn into what happened at Broadwater Farm in London.Now i'm sure both you and Sheff heard about that but possibly didn't connect with it in the same why i did.And that i feel is the problem.We all have this anger inside of us drawn from our experiences but somehow we never actually connect and find common purpose with each other.I dunno how to solve that problem but solve it we must.Or else we'll forever remain divided.
You see that's where iboth agree and disagree with you when you say class solidarity should over-ride everything else.Because working class solidarity in particular will only have a chance to take root when the factions within the working classes have been addressed.Namely when the largely White wworking class people who were involved at Orgreave realize they have commom purpose with the largely Black working class people who were involved at Broadwater Farm.
Hank
ReplyDeleteTouche x
Montana
ReplyDeleteLike Hank i'd like to put things right with you.Can't say i won't argue with you again but i'd like to have a better basic understanding with you so things don't go OTT again.You might think i,m talking out of my arse but i actually do like your on-line personnae.
Paul - well, fucking duh.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I've always said. It's always been about class for me, which is why I spit on the identity politics agenda of the middle class bourgeois liberal Guardianistas.
I'm fucking amazed that you think that I think anything different.l