MrBen

I'm with Hugenot on this one. A jolly on the rye hardly compares with my tax contributions to schools and road. As a childness non driver I have no objections to these - they are essential to any progressive, developed society. Two tins of stella and a dancing contest are not!

And with 25,000 London Brazilians going I predict a giant party :)-D

Today on ITV 1 at 1.30pm If you see the obligatory shot of a kilted man hugging two bikini clad samba girls it may well be me. My prediction is as per 1982 above. I'll just be happy if we score. Brazil have dumped 19 of their 23 man world cup squad so this is a chance to see the future stars of 2014 world cup in action....

Would it not be a great and wonderful thing if it emerged that Snorky and Marmora Man were one and the same person? An amazing duality that would give us all renewed faith in the endless ability of mankind.

I ventured onto the football thread once - never again. Anyways after a self enforced edit for being way too serious, I'll stick my neck out and say that for some I think it really was/is an addiction of sorts, just not widely acknowledged enough yet.

Ms B, Those falsehoods were all easy to spot for the keen eyed 10,000+ posting forumista. Sean was a dab hand at it, Narnia not so good (but amusing nonetheless).

Deactivation or the "red words of death" is the EDF equivalent of topping yourself without leaving a note. Sean's reasons I completely understand but the others following him in the huff is a wee bit daft. Why not just stop posting?

Exhibition football is promised on Sunday as Gary Caldwell dances his way around Robhino, and Julio Baptista et al

This Sunday (27th), your chance to see two of the worlds finest footballing nations in action as Scotland take on Brazil in a friendly at the Emirates stadium, 2pm Kick off. This is a welcome venture south for the Tartan Army since their last visit to Wembley in 1999 (Scotland 1 England 0) Tickets can be found here Anyone wishing to join me for a pint in ED beforehand drop me a PM.

That cheeky half wink never works with an edit does it?

But I'M here too Narnia. The rest of us left behind, listing, half wasted, half HOPING. ;-)

Keef too? Darn. Toppling like Generals in the midst of an Arab Spring. Exhausted and ultimately beaten by a new generation of thinkers; the Narnias, the Emerson Cranes and Matthew123.

RosieH Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You have the recipe? Bastard. You'll no doubt appreciate that he didn't actually write it down in words. Rather he sent me a photo of it via his smartphone. Lost forever with my wallet after getting rolled on Whateley Road, his secret is now safe.

It kind of feels we've been left with a vacuum such was the man's contribution in making the forum what it was over the past 4 years. Really what we all need is a full scale Gabba retrospective, a Bowie soundtracked montage of the best posts, the scraps, the humour, and the journey. From the early, heady CPT days of 2007, the meeting of minds, new friendships and intelligent banter to the soulless void that is The Lounge in 2011. All in 13,500-odd posts. I'd like to tip my hat to Gabba, thank him for that BBQ ribs recipe, getting me into the Tindersticks and, like many on here, wish him all the very best as a proud dad. "Haste ye back, Seany Mac" (one more time)

Aberdeen is an oil town and a major fishing port but it's oil and it's many related services that account for such a low unemployment rate. There's no other town in Scotland with an economy quite like it so to use it as a "typical" example of a Tesco location would be unfair. I'll warrant they don't have this issue in Lincolnshire, Wales or Liverpool where you'll find many UK workers on the same wage.. Their solution is perfect fodder for the media appealing to the "they're stealing our jobs" thinking of a certain demographic.

With the happy coincidence of Easter, the Royal Wedding and May Day....take 26th-28th April off and you'll get 11 days holiday in return. I can't recall that ever happening in recent memory. In fact, unless you're a policeman, nurse or on shift work you'd be mad not to do this right? As a Scotsman, I'm keen to escape any hint of gawrd bless yer marm fawning and elope to anywhere warm that will not be showing the Royal Wedding. So are you cashing in your 3 for 11 offer and if so where do you intend to spend it?

Perfectly pitched. In the midst of my sleepy eyed view of that montage I swear I saw Father Ted and big white fluffy Owls....... *tips hat*

I've also thought about this but whilst interesting I came to the conclusion that this is an art I'll happily pay my local butcher to do. It's like plastering and hanging wallpaper. But cooler. I have a dream to one day buy a small farm in Scotland with my own small herd of Angus cows. In that scenario it would be really rewarding to raise and slice my own, turning up at a BBQ with my home grown rib eye steaks so I'd probably make the effort to learn. I'd go to a demonstration - just to see where each cut comes from on the carcass. I have yet to work out where topside comes versus silverside or why the French don't know what a sirloin cut is. They seem to cut their meat completely differently. I should also confess that I once had pork cheeks at Gordon Ramsey and didn't realise they were actually, yes, pigs cheeks. Sheer ignorance.

A man in the Virgin call centre in Delhi has just advised, in a barely understandable accent, that there is a fault caused by maintenance work that should be fixed between 7 and 8pm tonight. Failing that I say we get Penguin68 down there with his Black and Decker drill and screwdriver set.

All well and good but I have a business to run and still unable to surf the web or make calls. Anyone heard when it might be fixed?

My internet and. Phone line connectivity are both out here in central ED. I'm with Virgin Media but I guess they might share the same infrastructure with BT.

Good points well made there from the Penguin and BenMorg. Distressed sellers? We need a good hike in the base rate to really shake those out. Most of them are sitting on super low SVR's and making a decent profit from renting it out, praying that rates won't rise fast soon.

I was mugged by two glassy eyed goons on crack or meth (as opposed to your less aggressive smackhead). The most likely scenario (as explained to me by Crime Squad) was that they'd melted into the back streets around Melbourne Grove. Then visited one of a number of "drug houses" known to the authorities in the East Dulwich area. And before the usual shock at this revelation in idyllic SE22, there are places like this in every suburb of London. You walk in, hand over the goods, get a quick valuation for a blackberry 970, it's approx 50 quid for one of those, then get the drugs in return. The guy fencing collects or passes on to an exporter who'll send a batch to Africa or China. Most stolen smartphones are now useless on UK networks once their serial number is blacklisted (all UK networks are now required to subscribe to this service). Yes there are some exceptions (some IMEI no's on some handsets can be changed) but it's not easy. I'm looking at WaveSecure or Gadgetrak for my next handset. If your phone is switched on anywhere they mail you with a googlemap showing the rough location as to where its being used that can improve recovery for the police- sounds good in theory....anyone used these?

That's about right although whilst the contract wording is important it is not in itself guarantee you'll fall outside. HMRC look at a range of softer factors in any assessment. Their main objection is that many ontractors are effectively a "disguised employee" of the end client. It's ambiguity makes it a classic example of really bad legislation. The Professional Contractor's Group (PCG) offer a partial hedge by providing insurance against your legal costs (but not tax liability) for any HMRC investigation which is good. You are also funding a well organised non profit body that will lobby the government to support contractors interests. It is possible however that any replacement legislation will take the route as has happened in Australia where you'd have to show that no more than 80% of your income comes from one client at any one time. Hard when most UK employers want 5 day weeks on any given contract. It changed things overnight in Oz where the heady lucrative days of late 90's contracting are long gone. Something similar could well happen here in due course but until then.....

Huguenot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Criminal motivation is highly complex including > cultural and environmental issues, opportunity and > limited cost/benefit calculations. Research has > proven that few criminals consider the > consequences of getting caught. Indeed. Translated into comparative terms for East Dulwich: Opportunity: East Dulwich station on dark winter nights. Regular opportunity to be able to select, target, follow then steal 3-4 times your weekly dole money from one quick hit on a soft fingered office worker who won't fight back hard, and if you catch them at the right time (Fridays after 8pm) are likely to have had a drink and be even less aware. Cost/Benefit Analysis: 30%+ chance of an iphone or Blackberry (?50-?100, exported abroad), chance of some cash (?0-?50 and if your lucky a laptop (?100-?300). 85% chance that you wont get caught (Southwarks approx 15% crime detection rate for mugging type crimes). If you do get nicked you might get 2 months max but more likely community service or a warning (if first offence and no real violence) Of course most aren't smart enough to think like this but they'll know the basic score. And looking at it stacked up this way makes me wonder why there are not more. The two guys who attacked,robbed me and cracked my ribs in ED a few months back have yet to be caught. The police do some great work for which they are rarely thanked. Having seen first hand what they're up against (the current court system, budgets, poor witness detection) it's amazing they manage to apprehend anyone at all.