boris sticks to his guns

 

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arlo guthrie has retired, so here's the motorcycle song

I'm glad to say that Arlo Guthrie has just retired, rather than died, and although he has some health issues, l hope he has many, many happy years in retirement. It must have been hard for him growing up as the son of the legend that was Woody Guthrie, but Arlo made a decent career for himself, while always coming across as a nice guy. He has many songs that l love, and l suppose Alice's Restaurant is the most famous, but l've always had a soft spot for this little ditty - The Motorcycle Song.

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the school dinners debate with jonathan pie

Not a great deal to add to this, apart from, once again, Mr Pie nails it.

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andy neill's ready steady go book, and word in your ear

I received my copy of Andy Neill's Ready Steady Go book at the weekend, and to say l'm impressed would be a massive understatement. It's everything an in depth book should be, with plenty of interviews and background information, plus enough stats to bore a normal member of the public to tears. That's without mentioning the marvellous photographs, many of which l have never seen before. Then there's the copious amount of pictures, featuring tickets, letters, magazines, albums etc.  Fantastic! It's also improved my pretty much non existent exercise routine, as it weighs a ton and is the size of an lp boxset. If l was given funds to produce a book like this myself, this exactly how l would wish it to turn out.  Buy it now!!

What a shame pretty much all of the episodes and performances have been wiped.

It's not just me that loves it - here's David Hepworth and Mark Ellen also gushing about it, and talking to the author in one of their 'Word in your Ears'

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family guy - sanguelto commercial

Although this is from last year, l've only just seen it.  Another classic it of writing.

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mike parry cinnamon challenge

Watching a bit of the Jeremy Vine show this morning, featuring Talk Sport's  Mike Parry, l was reminded of this. The classic film of him taking the Cinnamon Challenge.

Enjoy

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ben garrison updates the capitalist pyramid

 

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cold war steve channels oliver, and the twats that voted against free meals for kids

 Another classic from Cold War Steve, one again capturing the zeitgeist.  

Here's some of the twats who voted against helping feed poor children, and don't listen to any crap about home much money the Conservatives give councils and spend on Social care or Universal Credit. They have been in power for ten years and have been cutting funding on all of the above since they have been in office. The funding that they are now saying is needed is what Andy Burnham and other local leaders in the Greater Manchester area had been arguing for. Also, what a surprise that they haven't looked after the uneducated poor in the North who helped vote them in, but more money magically appears as soon as London enters tier two. I know Labour never did this either, but times are a lot harder now, despite Margaret Thatcher's best efforts to destroy society.. Who remembers Food Banks years ago, apart from when people were helping out the strikers? How these people can go to sleep at night after sentencing young children to go hungry is beyond me.  The Tories are indeed, Scum.

Plus, and you couldn't make this sort of crap up...

But if you want to see what compassion and empathy look like - check out the responses from businesses and councils on Marcus Rashford's twitter feed here

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the instrument that l would really like

Despite the fact l can't sing, or play the guitar l have, l would still love to have one of these contraptions.  Endless hours of fun to be had, although the neighbours might get sick of it pretty quickly.

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reverse!!!!

 I've got a hunch that the fellow in this video has been drinking or doing drugs.  Reverse!!!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1317182284148211712

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ann bleeding widdecombe

 The look on the other dancer's face!

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if adam ant was your son

 How would you feel if Adam Ant was your son?, asked by TV Times back in the day. I don't have any children, but if l did, and my son looked like this, l would feel pretty damn proud.

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goth nonce

 'Goth Nonce'    Makes me proud to be a Scouser!

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nelson mandela's wise words

Wise words from Mr Mandela.  Anyone who doesn't realise how much the Conservatives are taking the piss and filling their pockets is an idiot.

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abba abba hey!

 Abba as The Ramones.   Genius!

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ramann shukla, the nottingham hoarder who l'm kind of jealous of

After the earlier post regarding the Vinyl documentary, and hoarding, l've just read about Ramann Shukla, a Nottingham resident, who has recently died at the age of 64 of a heart attack. He amassed and left a treasure troth of goodies to be discovered, possibly worth up to 4 million pounds. Now this man obviously did have mental issues as far as collecting / hoarding was concerned, but looking at the photographs of some of the goodies, l would loved to have had a rummage in his stuff and then bought a lot of it home, and not just the records, books, games and comics.

Let's hope l never win the lottery, or there will be trouble ahead.

                                           Mr Shukla, the man who accumulated the hoard

And here's some photographs

More photographs, and more about the find, can be found at The Daily Mail website here

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alan zweig's vinyl documentary

I watched this yesterday, and although it is not razor sharp picture wise, it was still pretty damn good, and spoke a lot of truth regarding the need to collect and accumulate records, or indeed, other items. Thankfully l am not as obsessive as the people featured, and some of them no doubt have mental issues, but l am also not that far removed from them, but happy being in that position. I've always said, if l had more money and a lot more space, l would be a lot worse, and certainly not just with records.







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james corden 'maybe I'm immune' donald trump / paul mccartney parody from the late late show

Excellent, although l don't think any voters will change their minds about who to vote for.



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the beach series

I've just finished watching the series of The Beach, featuring Warwick Thornton being left on an isolated beach (At Jilirr, The Dampier Peninsular, North West off Western Australia) to fend for himself. Obviously there is the caveat that someone had to film him, so he wasn't totally alone, but l will let that slide. It covers Warwick's philosophy and very impressive looking cooking, bathed with some magnificent views and landscapes. Hardly anything happens, but it's just the kind of beautifully filmed, slow paced kind of TV that l love.  Wasn't too keen on some of the chicken incidents, but l might hunt down some drugs and watch it all over again. 

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tom hollander in the sunday times

Probably the most honest account of a day in the life, or, as The Sunday Times has it, A Life in the Day.  Tom Hollander is my new hero. 

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he eats and swallows stones!

With so many people losing their jobs at the moment,  perhaps some should think of retraining. There must be lots of openings (Ho Ho) for the job below, as l've never met anyone who does it, and l would certainly spend some money to watch it..

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cold war steve on the trump illness

This just made me laugh out loud. A brilliant bit of satire by Cold War Steve on Donald Trump's Covid treatment.

Please don't waste your time asking me about what l hope Trump's outcome will be.

On a related note...

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tweet of the day

 Tweet of the day in reply to Nigel the racist.

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it was 10 years ago - sunderland versus manchester united

 It was 10 years ago to the day since l went to watch Manchester United at Sunderland.  My mate dropped out at the last minute so l went by myself. Had to go in the home end, it chucked it down with rain, and it was a really underwhelming 0-0 draw. I also got a parking ticket, and cursed all the way home.

On the other hand, l wish crowds were allowed back into the grounds, so l could do it all again. Football without fans is crap.

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the government that just keeps on lying

 This sort of stuff is now so commonplace it's not even a big story anymore.

Where's the revolution we so desperately need?

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zac goldsmith repeated

 Always worth repeating this

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harvie krumpet

A short animation that is certainly different.



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jim ratcliffe decides to leave us all to suffer

 

Once again the so called great and the good look after themselves after fucking it up for everybody else.  This time it's Jim Ratcliffe (Who l refuse to call by his title).  After pressing so hard for leaving the European union, he decides to bugger of and leave us to suffer the consequences, while avoiding paying tax in the UK that could help his ex fellow citizens. I know he has already paid tax in the UK, but look at his worth, he hasn't exactly been suffering.

Why am l not in the least bit surprised?

What. A. Twat.

From Here

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fred perry wants bugger all to do with the proud boys

 Well done Fred Perry for putting out such a statement. Mindless dickheads wearing their clothes who are violent racist bastards must really piss them off.

I might even wear one of my (many)  Fred Perry tops to work today as a (pointless) gesture of support 

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when the news finally spells out the truth

About bleeding time!!

More of this please

Look here

or

Look here

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Νίκος Ξυλούρης - Ζαβαρακατρανέμια

I haven't got a clue about this singer or the song, but l certainly like it a lot. Can't understand the lyrics, but l find it pretty emotive, and that's good enough for me







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wynonie harris - quiet whiskey

First track played on the ThmeTime show below

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theme time radio hour with your host bob dylan - whiskey

I'm so pleased there has been another episode of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio hour. This one is built around the theme of Whiskey / Whiskey, and it's another corker. I'd forgotten the amount of dry humour and poetry, and as usual, heard some great old songs from way back when.

Unfortunately, this might have been a one off, but with the current lockdown situation, perhaps there will be more soon. I certainly hope so. The transcripts of the show can be found here and here

For as long as it lasts, the whole show can be heard on SiriusXFM here or on youtube here 

Methinks it's time to dig out the old episodes and replay them. Hours of fun. They can be found here

Enjoy!

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fines for breaking isolation rules, and don't buy wren kitchens

 So the latest magnificent idea from our glorious government is to issue fines of up to £10,000 for those that are tested positive for Covid and break the isolation rules

Now call me an old cynic, but won't this just stop people taking the tests so they don't have to self isolate, therefore cutting down on the demand?  Remember - It's up to everyone to follow the rules.

However, this comes to mind

What a bunch of twats. And speaking of which.....(From Private Eye)

There you have it. Malcolm Healey - another twat.

DON'T BUY WREN KITCHENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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marina hyde on dido harding

 Credit where it's due - This is a magnificent piece by Marinda Hyde on Dido Harding in The Guardian 

Do you remember Ye Olde Operation Moonshotte, an ancient promise by the elders of this government to test 10 million people a day? My apologies for the leading question. There are absent-minded goldfish who remember that figure, given it was announced by Boris Johnson’s government barely three seconds ago. The only representative of the animal, vegetable and possibly mineral kingdoms who doesn’t remember it is the prime minister himself, who on Wednesday told a committee asking him about it: “I don’t recognise the figure you have just given.” Like me, you probably feel grateful to be governed by a guy whose approach to unwanted questions is basically, “New phone, who dis?”

Like me, you will be reassured by Matt Hancock’s plan to throw another “protective ring” around care homes. What’s not to fear about a Matt Hancock ring, easily the most dangerous ring in history, including Sauron’s Ring of Power.

Like me, you are probably impressed that the government is ordering you to snitch on your neighbours for having seven people in their garden, while whichever Serco genius is running testing as a Dadaist performance piece about human futility gets to live in the witness protection programme. Shitness protection programme, whatever.

Speaking of which, like me, you probably feel relaxed to learn that Chris Grayling, who notably awarded a ferry contract to a firm with no ferries, is now to be paid £100,000 a year for seven hours work a week advising a ports company. When I read this story I imagined his aides pulling a hammer-wielding Grayling off the pulped corpse of Satire, going: “Jesus, Chris! Leave it – it’s already dead! We need to get out of here!”

Elsewhere, testing supremo Dido Harding has surfaced in parliament. It was starting to feel like we’d see Avatar II in theatres before we saw Dido front up to explain this mushrooming fiasco. Her last appearance before a select committee was as head of TalkTalk – after two teenage boys hacked the network, resulting in 157,000 people having their personal details stolen. When she was appointed to head up the test and trace programme, Hancock explained he “can’t think of anyone better than Dido”. Then take another five seconds, Matt. Off the top of my head I can come up with Baroness Gemma Collins of Towie, and Grandmaster Glitch from the Go Jetters.

Still, here she comes again – Dido Queen of Carnage, on hand to gloss the havoc. As she put it: “I don’t think anybody was expecting to see the really sizeable increase in demand that we’ve seen over the course of the last few weeks.” But Dido: they literally were.

At least Harding is visible. Huge amounts of the malfunctioning system are now being run – badly – by unaccountable figures. Take firms like Deloitte, which ran logistics at the testing site at what we might call Chessington World of Misadventures. Hospitals felt forced to ask to take it over after the results of NHS staff were serially lost or misdirected. The pile of 2020 sentences I never expected to type is now Earth’s tallest structure, but let’s add another one: “NHS commandeers Vampire Ride from accountancy firm charged with controlling spread of deadly pandemic.” (Seriously, stick a fork in me. I’m done.)

While Harding was defending the barely functional testing system, Jacob Rees-Mogg was telling the Commons that “instead of this endless carping saying it’s difficult to get [tests], we should be celebrating this phenomenal success of the British nation”. To which the only possible reply is four-lettered.

His own ma and pa clearly hopelessly overindulged Jacob Rees-Mogg, but millions of other parents just will not feel minded to take it from this rejected Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character. If there were any justice, Jacob would have been stretched into a mile-long liquorice lace by vigilante Oompa-Loompas as they sang one of their trademark cautionary songs.

Instead, he is somehow leader of the House of Commons. There, he speaks of what ordinary people “should” be doing – with the air of a man who knows that if any of the Mogg progeny are sent home from school with a possible Covid symptom, it’s not going to be him taking time off work to homeschool them and wait for a test spot to open up in Manchester a week on Friday.

There is zero uncertainty about childcare and loss of earnings in the Rees-Mogg household, where even the adults still have nannies. (At the age of 51, Jacob retains the live-in childcare professional who was – formerly? – responsible for wiping his backside.)

Yet again, the overriding impression is of a government run by men for whom the domestic sphere is a mystery they have no wish to get to the bottom of. One of them driving hundreds of miles to Durham – just in case he got ill and still had to do his own childcare – sounds, to the other guys, like a totally reasonable thing to have done. Meanwhile the big boss fails to be meaningfully involved in the lives of between 17% and 29% of his children (awaiting full data). If you can be persuaded it’s normal to drive a 60-mile round trip with a child in the car to test your eyesight, then naturally you believe parents should think it fine to stick a five-year-old in their own vehicle and travel 400 miles to obtain what’s necessary to get the child back to school and them back to work.

Either way, of course a government run by weirdo elitists didn’t reflexively foresee that September – back to school, back to offices – was going to mean a huge surge in testing demand. This is the trouble when “hardworking families” is merely a demographic you wish to appeal to, as opposed to who you are. Real-life “hardworking families” could have told you in a heartbeat that September was the main event. THEY could have predicted it. Because unless someone else does it all for you, huge amounts of parenting are about thinking ahead, planning, creating yet another routine that keeps the whole precarious show on the road – the endless foresight of it all.

Only this week Dominic Cummings was pictured slouching through the Downing Street gates carrying some archive letter written by US general Bernard Shriever, pushing for continued investment in ballistic weapons technology. Cummings should hang around the school gates instead, where any amount of mothers who’ve seen all this shit before and didn’t have time for it back then would be able to enlighten him in the simplest possible terms. Namely: Hey squidbrain, I’ve got some “data” for you! Mind if I “special advise” you with it, only I don’t have a window to put it in a 20,000-word blog? OK, here goes: I don’t WANT you to build me a fricking missile defence shield, I don’t CARE about the Manhattan Project, I think all your reading recommendations REEK of the business section of the airport bookshop, and I’m NOT going to be accused of “carping” by guys who’d have a nervo if they had to change a nappy.

You know what I want? A SWAB WITHIN A THIRTY-MILE RADIUS, YESTERDAY. Now spad THAT, genius.

• Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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manchester united's new kit

 Another reason to be put off modern football. with or without fans.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Exhibit #1 - One of Manchester United's new kits.

I rest my case

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