David Guiza

The fragile male ego continues to cause destruction. What a senseless waste of lives.

I think they rode a wave of the alternative comedy for the goth/punk/indie scene of the mid to late 2000s, which has subsequently died a death. Right place, right time sort of thing. It's perhaps far too time and genre specific to span any length of time, I had a similar experience with Garth Marenghi's Darkplace over lockdown. Despite loving virtually everyone involved, I'd managed to never see an episode so gave it a try and was just utterly lost by it all. The four of those that I mentioned (Peep Show, Partridge, The (UK) Office, and Boosh) are all reference heavy, but I think the mundanity and every day nature of Peep Show, Partridge, The Office etc, over the bizarreness of Boosh, have made them far easier to stand the test of time. As an aside, I'd be lost without so many of the aforementioned. Boxsets and the like are all well and good, but they're not quite a 10th re-run of Peep Show.

Not Mrs Hudson!

I'm just happy somebody got the above reference. I think I was the perfect age and type of person for when it came out, a mid-teens indie kid, and thus absolutely loved it and still reference it from time to time (though, not as much as Peep Show, The Office, Partridge etc). I've not watched them back for a while, but imagine you'd probably be right. Boosh, Skins, Inbetweeners and a few other programmes that my generation loved would undoubtedly have aged awfully were I to watch any of them back.

The fact that state schools will undoubtedly get the rough deal from the usual red tops and co when it comes to investigating the huge increase in good grades at both GCSE and A-Level, in spite of the fact that private schools have been fudging theirs twice over. Some schools increased their A-A* percentage by almost 20% between 2019 (exams) and 2020 (assessed grades), if that level of figure manipulation happened elsewhere there would be a widespread fraud investigation. https://www.best-schools.co.uk/uk-school-league-tables/list-of-league-tables/top-100-schools-by-a-level

RE the above - it's seemingly dictated in Spanish Law that any new contract must be at least 50% of the previous one. Hence, the initial 50% agreed deal was in fact the lowest he could have agreed to. I don't particularly like the bloke, outside of football, as he'll seemingly meet and greet any old dictator for some cash, but I think this one is genuinely out of his hands.

Watford seems the obvious but, for a bit of variety, I went with Hasenhuttl. Could have gone on two or three occasions in the past and now lost a few players. They could well be a surprise package, but if they continue to falter then he must be close. As an aside, the title instantly reminded me of this TOI gem:-

The solicitors who acted on the original purchase from the developer would be the best, or the developer themselves. I don't think the local authority usually hold copies, and Seven Trent may take a while. I'd expect there may be a fee of circa £40 too, if it comes direct from Severn Trent. If it's a fairly big development then your solicitor may even already have a copy if they acted on any of the plot purchases in the past.

Jimenez worries me a little for this one, particularly without Evans. He's a completely different opposition to the plethora of number 10s that Man City offered. It'll be interesting to see if he goes hell for leather given the nature of the injury he sustained. I'm also intrigued to see how Trincao gets on, given the rumours of last summer, though I naturally hope that he has a stinker. Not really sure what to expect from the game as I know nothing of Wolves new manager/set up etc but would hope we have enough to get off to a decent start.

I fully appreciate that the largest and most significant impact will always be nations as a whole, in particular those who are the most destructive, however there remains a countless lack of responsibility in some who should know better. As an example, fast fashion as a trend. I work with a woman who purchases what seems like a never ending supply of clothes of from some of the biggest offenders, Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, etc, so one day I pulled her up on it in a semi-joking way, as we get on perfectly well, and just pointed out that they have a sustainability of score of literally zero and that's without mentioning the human rights issues that are associated with them. She said that she knew they were awful but 'couldn't help herself' and that she was trying to cut down; cue last week where I walked past her desk at lunch and she told me all about the story in the news regarding the minimum wage scandal to which I gave a standard response. The next day she was on the effing website again buying more clothes. My wife has ranted at me before as well about how a lot of these companies advertise through Love Island, so it's no great surprise that they continue to thrive. As above, I appreciate that eating vegan/veggie a few days a week and shopping more sustainably isn't going to touch the sides of the likes of the US and China aren't on board, but the miniscule amount of difference that it makes is still worthwhile.

Went to ParkRun for the first time in 2 years at the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's such a fantastically run event and so great that it's remained free for all this time. My local one has what feels like a vertical hill just before the first mile mark and I'd naively forgotten how much I hated it. It's great once you're up though as it's effectively a steady 2 mile decline. Managed to get inside the top 25 for the first ever time too, which was a nice bonus.

SF has covered this - but I'd also note that Thatcher very much made it political. There were reports a few years ago of the speech she was going to give in Brighton, that was then amended after the bombing, whereby she effectively said that the miners and Labour's support of them was as dangerous to national interest and security as Galtieri was with the Falklands. With regard to Labour closing more, I believe Labour closed many of the small pits that had effectively reached the end of their cycle which is of course a different prospect. Thatcher closed 70% of the remaining mines and left 80% of the remaining miners without a job, or the prospect of one. Of course it was inevitable that the mines would close eventually, but there was no foresight or care to those involved. At the time it was it still fit for purpose and she destroyed it and the communities who depended on it. Perhaps it's a utopian fantasy, but for me the first priority of any government is the health, welfare, and security of it's people. She offered that to plenty of people with a bright vision of tech modern Britain, but at the expense of thousands of peoples livelihoods. Scargill and go were far from blameless, but neither were they the Prime Minster. If PMs continually crushed the livelihoods of those who challenge them then we'd be rivalling some notable other countries for their totalitarian rule. I agree and perhaps the biggest indication of that will be not the next general election, but the one after that. The next GE will ultimately continue to be dominated COVID and our response to the same. Brexit will certainly have a say, but I think the knock on effect will perhaps be more apparent beyond 2024 - which is somewhat frighteningly less than 3 years away. Who's to say what will bring the 'red wall' back, if anything. It certainly wasn't ever going to Corbyn, and the soundbite political world we live in makes it difficult for Starmer too. Whilst the black and white continues to be greyed out by populist nonsense the likes of Starmer won't stand a chance. He'll instantly be written off as another liberal elitist, whilst a literal Etonite is favoured. Perhaps, if Labour can't do enough damage themselves, another Brexit Party type will pop up and create some waves, as our political system also makes it particularly difficult to oust the Tories whilst there is no realistic right of centre alternative to split their vote. I may have misjudged it, but I believe your original point was that people have moved on from the mining crisis and that article very much proves otherwise. I agree that Labour didn't do enough to support them and they undoubtedly rested on their laurels over what they deemed to be safe seats. That's always a problem in politics, and has been seen on a much smaller scale with more middle class voters turning their back on the Tories for being forgotten about etc. There's also seemingly a misunderstanding of how politics works in this country, and that's not a 'people who don't vote Labour are thick' jibe. There are/were countless articles published after the 2019 GE about Skinner and co losing their seats whereby constituents said they wanted change to x, y and z. Now, that's all well and good and good on anyone for enacting change in their area, but the vast majority of matters they felt had been neglected were the fault of the current government who have been in charge for over a decade. My only hope for them is that if things continue to not change, then they will take similar action with the current incarnation. As for Johnson, he simply says and does what he wants. Some people like that, clearly.

It's very simplistic but when you look at some of the bigger swings it's difficult to see otherwise. I, personally, don't buy in to the 'wanting something new and fresh' line. That certainly must exist for some, but not the overwhelming majority. If you take Bassetlaw as an example, a constituency that had been Labour since the 1920s, Labour put up some bloke I've never heard of against a chap who was a vocal euro-sceptic (ironically, married to a Romanian) and holds views as follows:- 1. Thinks Food Banks are a political weapon. 2. Opposed extending free school means over the Easter holiday. 3. Referred to Rashford as being a virtue signaler and stated that people in desperate need to take responsibility for their own actions. 4. Vocal in opposition to England players taking the knee. I'm not quite sure that's 'something different' and, if it is, it's certainly not a positive difference, or at least it's not to me; perhaps it is to them. As to the original case in point - this article from late 2019 suggests that people are very much not 'over' what happened re the closure of the mines - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50069336

It's only one or two generations ago. I don't think the previous GE was a demonstration that families have 'moved on', more so that they trusted Johnson and co to force through Brexit and a rejection of what they deemed to be an extreme left-wing party. Granted there are former mining towns that aren't as staunchly anti-Tory as Liverpool are, but I would be amazed if even a small majority were happy to forget what Thatcher did to their dad/grandad's communities and livelihoods. Putting up euro loving lefties in some of the 'red wall' areas was an abysmal call, when you consider the turnout and percentages of the referendum. Though it's somewhat of a stereotype, a Prescott/Skinner/Benn Labour politician would make huge gains. I think you're giving Johnson far too much credit here. There's certainly been times in his past whereby he's intentionally played on his 'Boris character' to gain support/interest, but he's also just a dreadfully out of touch cretin.

Blackpool to Bristol must be close to 200 miles each way. That's adding insult to injury with that ticket price.

Had our first cinema experience for ages the other day to a lovely indie cinema in Oxford, to watch the Truffle Hunters. It was an Italian documentary about old men and their truffle hunting dogs. Which, I appreciate, doesn't sound like the most enthralling of prospects for a film, but it's one of the most lovely and heartwarming films I've ever seen. If you love dogs (or old men) and the beautiful Italian mountains then I'd thoroughly recommend it.

I had possibly the worst experience of my 8 or so driving years the other day on the way back from holiday. Whilst entering the heavily congested M5 from the M50 slip road I had the usual incident of folk trying to push the queue by forming their own parallel line of traffic on the slip road and assuming they'd be let in. I let a lorry in, partly as there was only going to be one winner in a crash, and then carried our slowly driving towards the motorway. Then a BMW continues to try and shove their way in (from the hatched markings) and eventually gave up when they ran out of space. They then came alongside us (by driving into the hard shoulder 'lane', shouting threats and abuse, and the front passenger recording on his phone. We then carried immediately on to the services, which was only a few hundred yards away. The car followed us into the services and pulled up alongside, got out, and continued the threats suggesting that I cut him up and he had a small child in the car. Not mentioning that a. He wasn't even in a lane and b. The whole incident happened at approx 5 mph. Anyway, after two nearby drivers got our of their cars, and a second passenger in their car, repeatedly told them to calm down and for me/us to ignore them, they finally moved on. Utterly bizarre, stressful and a little scary throughout as it was just my wife and I against two incredibly aggressive blokes. I get that driving brings out the worst in a lot, but I've never seen that level of aggression before.

I think, in part, it was. The man's ego is out of this world and it certainly feels like he's been testing just how far he can take matters before he gets bored and moves on to something else. Surely the most worrying aspect of it all is that Johnson allowed him so close to government and to have a strong say in the lives of millions of people. That being said, every government has it's fair share of dodgy characters as, thanks to the world we live in, spin, deceit, lies, self preservation etc are vital commodities. Precisely. It feels however like some sort of fantastical novel/film, only a lot more dystopian and depressing, whereby neither can survive alone and required each other to gain power. Johnson is clearly a smart bloke in an academic sense and would be an asset to any book club or history society, but I'm not entirely sure that intelligence translates to leadership and politics. He's done incredibly well to get where he has, but it's undoubtedly down to a large support group of unsavory but 'street smart' characters, like Cummings.

RE Cummings - is it any great surprise that if you make awful friends and allies, that one day they may come back and bite you in the backside when you stop being of any use them or vice versa? I can't wait for the leaked medical records of Mr Tickel to be brought up at the public inquiry, should there ever be one. Though, as with every other awful action, inaction, and comment, it perhaps wouldn't even make yesterday's chip paper anyway.

My aforementioned friend was on BBC Breakfast this morning, as part of a pre-recorded interview segment with a couple of other people, speaking about how they feel forgotten by the Government and 'freedom day'. As I said when I first mentioned her/others in that situation, I fully appreciate that 'life sucks' and it's not fair that the majority are held back for the sake of an unfortunate minority, but I think I'd have combusted if I were in their position. The final straw perhaps being the seemingly completely unironic 'freedom protests' in London.

I was in A&E yesterday, following an incident between my toe and a wheelie bin, and during the usual 4/5 hour stint I had to listen to the usual loud mouths and chatters in any waiting room. There was one gentleman who made is abundantly clear that he would be 'ripping his masks up from tomorrow (today)' as there's no chance he'd continue with the 'nonsense'. I don't think the irony of his surroundings quite made it through. He then left an hour or so late as he had 'better things to do than wait in A&E. Nice chap. I've mentioned on this thread previously, but if my and others mask wearing can allow somebody to feel safer and able to live some form of reasonable life in the current circumstances then I'm sure I can tolerate it for the 5 or 10 minutes it takes me to nip in and out of a shop.

As above - there are a few good podcasts and YouTube videos out there too for free, and, if you're happy to spend a little and don't mind the interaction side then you can usually find tutors on a number of websites for circa £20 p/h. I think Universities often provide good quality block courses too for a couple of hundred too.

As an aside to the above - I'd like to imagine that I'd turn down any award from the Queen due to the same/similar reasons that other notable names have done the same. Plus, it's never going to happen anyway so I can look all noble by saying that. I do however enjoy the irony of those who ridicule Starmer for his knighthood, but happily support a party that have countless honours associated to them through virtue of coming from the sperm of somebody else who had one. Whilst on the subject of Starmer, I do feel that he isn't given half the credit he deserves for his pre-leadership career. I have a natural bias as a Labour supporting, vegetarian, legal professional (though nowhere near his calibre on the legal front), and there is of course more to leading a party and nation than your working career, but the comparison between Johnson's background as a failed journalist to Starmer's as a QC and Director of Public Prosecutions is laughable. On a sidenote of the comparison to Johnson, I also have had to laugh at those claiming that Starmer was jumping on the football bandwagon when he's seemingly played for most of his life and was at Wembley in '96 whilst at the same time Johnson was calling the ban on firearms in the wake of Dunblane a 'nanny state' decision. Furthermore on Starmer too - I'd consider myself a socialist, but perhaps only in the lighter definition of the word. I own and have read the Communist Manifesto, and also have fairly extensive background reading on Castro and Guevara and their vision of socialism, but I cannot get on board with the extreme left of the party who are consistently labelling Starmer and co as red tories and the like. Starmer's parents were strong Labour supporters and he was even named after Keir Hardie, the founder of the party and former trade unionist. Not to mention the fact that he was a member of the young socialists and has described himself as such throughout his career. It's surely not too complex to decipher that the only way Labour, or any opposition party or parties, are going to oust the current rabble is to appeal to the masses where possible, without going too far of course. I'd perhaps prefer Burnham as leader on the basis that he'd likely generate more support in the areas that will decide the future GE, but some of the criticism is getting a little tiresome. Thus concludes my defence of KS .

Yes, though she, and anybody else with CF always have to be conscious of what she does and doesn't do and who she does/doesn't meet etc and that has just been exacerbated beyond recognition over the past 18 months. As I alluded to in my previous post, I appreciate that life is unfair and there has to be a limit to the sanctions and regulations placed over the majority for the sake of a small minority, but masks and social distancing etc within particular environments doesn't seem like a huge sacrifice to liberty if it can help the vulnerable/clinically vulnerable in the slightest to have a good quality of life. I'm not sure, but I would imagine that would be beneficial. The issue, as with many other issues with regard to COVID, is the lack of certainty and medical research etc. I'm far from an expert in this field, but I would imagine that 18 months is still an incredibly small timeframe to measure certain diseases and their relationship with COVID. Taking CF as a example, I think deaths have actually been very low but the reason for that is perhaps down to shielding and isolation as much as potency or lack of in COVID itself. As you say, it's a fine balancing act that will never leave every individual satisfied and only time will tell as to whether it's ultimately a positive step or not. I don't think I've ever been more thankful that I am (or at least seem to be!) a fit and health young chap.