Bellend Sebastian

The reality is I may have never been in the will at all for all I know!

My mum had turned on the 'talkback' function, which makes the phone pretty much unusable unless you're used to it, which you might be if you're registered blind. Also, as a result of having the volume on weirdly low, you could only just hear the voice, which I think probably made my folks think spirits were trying to contact them when they attempted to use their phone. In fairness I think I turned this on by accident about 15 years ago and I've known others do it since. For reference, you turn it on by pressing volume up AND down at the same time. Same to turn it off. The laptop then appeared from nowhere in order for me to get my Dad logged back into his Microsoft account. So still in the will for now, at least

My elderly parents are on their way round to seek technical support (me) having put their smartphone beyond use, goodness only knows how. I'm guessing it's either been bricked (not impossible but unlikely) or I will be able to fix it within about 20 seconds. What will it be?

I've watched them both and given that it's a franchise that has disappointed as often as not over the years, this is pretty good so far. It would be a cliché to say not for the squeamish but this REALLY isn't for the squeamish

We've just had a lengthy piece about members of the public 'facing arrest' after tackling a bloke who dropped his trousers on the tube (since detained under the Mental Health act), the 'tackling' apparently involving a good kicking. What's going on???? We do not dwell on the fact that they've not been arrested or charged at this point. There's A LOT of adverts, and it's painfully obvious that a lot of the usual big advertisers won't touch this shit with a barge pole. There's no HD option on Freeview so it feels like watching Sky News in about 1998. Also, the audio and video are slightly out of sync which adds to the weird cobbled together feel Going on about asylum seekers now. In fairness, they're interviewing a bloke from a charity that supports them, although the presenter made a couple of odd noises when he said there's a lot of misinformation on the subject before not commenting on that point

I'm going to watch a bit. Not sampled for a while. Wish me luck!

Not been running much for the last few weeks so have just been out for what might be my slowest 5k ever. Hard work

It's very early days but not renewing my season ticket and spending the money on getting my boiler fixed seems like the right decision so far

Well, I'm about 4 episodes in and so far it's just knockabout daftness - I get the impression it gets a bit harder to follow as it goes on, but for now it's just fun. I do find it funny, but like everything not everyone will find it so, and there's probably not a whole lot else there for anyone who's not amused

I've started watching Rick and Morty, a full 12 years after everybody else

It's not, really! I think it's got really crappy strings on it and goes out of tune if you so much as look at it, and though it played pretty well out of the box really is screaming for a set up now. Beyond occasionally opening the case and gazing lovingly at it, I'm not really playing it until that work's been done - it's going in on Thursday. As I saved quite a lot on the list price I don't begrudge that

Yes, that's right. The left lane is the one that goes into Fosse Road, and this is segregated from the other 2 lanes (both A50 North) but only to start with - once the separation ends there's nothing to stop cars from the middle lane going up Fosse Road, the problem being that there's already a lane heading into it that it feels like they're not expecting given how often folk just veer into it, seemingly without looking. Also, because there's often a queue in the lane for Fosse Road that's longer than the one for the middle lane some of the cutting across is probably deliberate. You've got to keep your wits about you, I'm struggling to think of anywhere I drive where there are so many near misses

Been going home along Blackbird Road more often than usual over the last couple of weeks and I think yesterday was the first time I've been through the Five Ways junction where everybody that wanted to go down Fosse Road was in the correct lane for it. It's a shite junction even after all the money spent on it but short of having bollards that pop up out of the ground I'm not sure what they can do about it. There's at least two big yellow signs saying what lane goes where and markings on the lanes themselves and still people get it wrong

My Dad is 85 and he's reached the inexplicably getting his fingers trapped in a car door stage so I think even he would be interested in this

Difficult to imagine Roosevelt, Truman or Eisenhower coming out with something like that, isn't it? Washington or Lincoln, perhaps, at a push. And this is why some say he is the greatest President they've ever had

Ha! I doubt that but cheers. I was just pleased that it was a relatively easy decision in the end. The Studio was very, very nice, but when it came to the crunch there was no obvious quality advantage (there were actually more finish imperfections on it than the Epi) and pathetically the Epi just shouted CLASSIC ROCK in a way the Gibson just didn't. I'll muck about with it for a couple of days and then take it to Danny the guitar guy for a set up - not that it desperately needs much of one

So the deed has been done, and I have defied my own expectations and gone for the Epi. I thought it played at least as well as the Gibson LP Studio, it looks particularly ace (we ordered the colour without being especially confident about what it looked like, and out the case I just went WHOA), was £300 less and the real clincher was it sounded better - just a bit more bite when driven

The thought of someone only trusting content approved by whatever-the-opposite of-an-internet-personality-is Bellend Sebastian is absurd for a moment but then you remember that a lot of people take their information from sources that are what the bins round the back of the kebab shop are to a Michelin starred restaurant in journalistic terms so actually it's fine

Well they've both come into the shop now so I'll go along on Sunday to try them out. I'm expecting it to be quite difficult choice. The Epi has Gibson Custombuckers in it so no real advantage for the Studio there, and all the nice cosmetic bits of a more expensive Les Paul. Soft rather than hard case with the Gibson which actually has some appeal as hard cases are not the easiest to store, are they? Think I'm just going to have to shut my eyes and go on feel. The boring part of me is thinking about potential resale value (I have a fair amount of money tied up in instruments given my limited ability) but they're close enough together that I think it will be difficult to make a choice I regret. Getting a bit excited now

That's pretty much what the guy in the shop said. It's a funny one as I'm guessing the 1960 Epi neck will be the same and in terms of looks has the edge (no pun intended, but binding on the body as well as the neck, the inlaid logo etc) but there was something about the Gibson that I couldn't quite put my finger on that makes me think that's what I'll go for. I'm going to allow myself plenty of time and probably go with my gut in the end but I'm not expecting it to be an easy choice

- So I went for a little jaunt to Guitar Guitar in Brum this afternoon to self consciously road test an Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom Shop 1959 Les Paul Standard reissue after the price has been dropped by 200 quid. Really good shop, I have to say - very accommodating, very helpful and very low pressure from a sales point of view. I get there and - what are the chances - some kid is already playing it, but that's no bad thing as he's good and it sounds GREAT. I then get to have a go and I really like it. Yes it's an Epiphone but the quality and finish seem pretty nailed on to me and it's quite a lovely looking beast, with a nice top and almost satin finish. Felt a bit strange pulling the trigger on a purchase having played one guitar in a shop full of them, so out of curiosity I try a Gibson Les Paul Studio, surely I'm going to have to like it A LOT more to spend an extra £300. So here's the thing - I sort of do. It is possibly slightly better put together, and it didn't sound significantly different to me (and it shouldn't be worlds apart as the Epi has proper Gibson pickups in). I was also a bit distracted by it having lighter strings (more what I'm used to) but the real difference is in the neck - the Studio has the 1960s slimmer neck, and although the '59 isn't as chunky as earlier models (they had a '57 reissue that I didn't even bother trying) it did feel a little unwieldy in comparison. So where are we left? With me going back next week to compare an Epiphone 1960 reissue and a Blueberry Burst (surely the sexiest finish) Gibson LP Studio, which helpful has £300 off it at the moment

I'm a size 12.5 in Adidas and New Balance so I can relate to that! I've generally found it easier to get specialist footwear like running shoes than I have just getting something nice and casual to wander about in though

The only thing I'd say is go to a proper running shop, get fitted and see what they say. A shoe that works for one person may not work for the next. It's the most expensive way of buying shoes but I cut down the long term costs by getting my next pair (either the same or the updated version) online

Headline could have easily just been "40% of rioters already massive c**ts in least surprising news ever". https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/26/two-in-five-arrested-for-last-summers-uk-riots-had-been-reported-for-domestic-abuse A lot of projection going on here, I suspect

I don't see how Trump could possibly be in the Epstein files because if he even became aware of anything funny going on then surely his powerful moral code would kick in?