malumbu

Saw the gaggle of "Oh Tommy Robinson" followers. Disappointed as I thought it was the left wing gay activist, pop star and Six music activist Tom Robinson. I was hoping to have a rendition of Power in the Darkness, stand up and fight for your rights. (Or even some Beastie Boys). I had a chat with the riot police that I found their attitude rather racist and not representative of our tolerant liberal society but the riot police didn't seem to understand (and I expect some may sympathize with Mr Y-L). Although I find it quite ironic that the extreme right then turn on the police - who they should really side with as they want a fascist state. Not seeing any anti-fascist protestors I didn't really want to have a pop on myself, particularly as I had my work tablet in my hand. Thet would be great arriving at the meeting late to apologise as I'd had a brawl with some Nazis. Oh and sorry for the damage to my tablet IT department. One for the CV though! So no battle of Cable Street I'm afraid

Not sure if this has been discussed elsewhere but here are some (hopefully considered) thoughts. Electric scooters can be a bit of a nightmare for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. They will have their place but are currently neither road or pavement legal - I expect the supplier doesn't inform most purchasers of this. No enforcement so hopefully sooner of later they will become legal but have some controls. Power on demand pushbikes - throttle and go. Wrong wrong wrong. Not classed as electric motorbike, not road legal, bloody dangerous. Again no enforcement and buyers may not be aware. Pedal-assisted pushbikes. Had a go on one a couple of years ago. Great fun, like having somebody push you. I see these as being great for those with less mobility, or a particularly long commute. But seeing fitter younger people than me doing similar journeys is odd. And the issue with all of these is that cutting you up on the inside at speed is so dodgy and waiting to cause an accident. Electric skateboards - just weird. Segways - niche product that I don't want to see on the road. Over to you.

Reading this from last post upwards and I am confused - can someone summarise? Here's something vaguely on thread to entertain you https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2016/jan/10/wetherspoons-carpet-tumblr-blog

My stars of last weekend

Interesting read but some of this was quite old. I'd love a simple comparison of what the different operators offer - and their attitude to bikes. There's some sycophantic stuff on live with awards to operators and their staff for being bike friendly. It was easier under BR and the earlier days of privitisation where you just turned up and put it in the guards van

Get a Flex Plus account with Nationwide and it is part of the deal - with Britannia and they are fine Paid account but with free travel insurance, interest rates and breakdown just worth it. Much better value when I first took it out.....

Forgot you also have the Ivy and the best pub in London, the Blythe Hill Tavern not so far away

Wetherspoons is a necessary evil. One of those places you want to hate and I avoided for years. But as the prices elsewhere go up it sort of breaks you down. There are times when it can be quite scummy and the beer feels like it is the barrel end, other times a better selection and you appreciate the wider demographic. Owner is still an rrsss though, and likes to publicise it too. Just get on shank's pony or a bus and go up to the Fox or over to the Capitol (interestingly they were trying to sell this). Leave SE22 for those who like to pay %3 or ?6 for a drink and the ambiance. Althogh Antic seems to be a good half way house, irrespective of their agenda (essentially investing in real estate) Youngs was always a good cheap alternative and Fullers now seem to be going this way too. Finally if you want cheap beer the Canopy is great, if not a pub.

The old Caledonian sleepers were a blast from the past. A lot of the local trains here have reasonable bike space which why GWR was so disappointing. I find that when I am going long distance the train is always quicker than cycling but taking my bike adds extra convenience. And this works locally too, for example a trip out to Walthamstowe via the Overground and central line took less than an hour door to door - on Google maps this was an hour and a half cycle which I wasn't keen on in November (ie a three hour 30 mile cycle on a November evening). OMG do I really need to explain this?

Just came back from Bath this morning on GWR. You have to hang your bikes on some clumsy hook arrangement in a tight upright cabinet thingy. There isn't room for one or two bikes with straight bars. My space had been taken with Glastonbury baggage. The sign where to stand at the station was a coach or two out of the way. The platform attendant was no help and I got on in the wrong place as the sign didn't appear obvious - a comedy few minutes as I shuffled around people with large bags and just managed to move down the carriage. I thought that this was clearly a British Romcom moment where I bumped into the partner of my dreams (gotta larf). Couldn't find anything on line with recent experience. This one from ten years ago predicts the increasing difficulties https://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2009/oct/26/bike-train Last time I had done similar with GWR they had a guards carriage type arrangement. Virgin are decent albeit draconian (don't just turn up without a bike reservation). Great to hear others experiences. It's as if the TOCs don't want bikes. The magnificent Eurostar takes this even further! This is a thread for whingy cyclists. If you want to whinge about cyclists there are other threads here.

Is Toy Story 4 the sign that Disney (who seem to mainly do sequels or remake classic cartoons in live action/photo-realism)has stifled the creativity of Pixar? Been meaning to start this thread for yonks, rather than waiting for the film to come out. Is it a sign of wider malaise in the industry echoing what is going on in the Western world? Or am I just talking nonsense (please use more than a word or sentence if this is the case). A distraction from the real world that we currently live in.

What a domestic and a row.? Good heavens that has never happened to me. But he is still a twot and she is probably only saying what half the country believe. How does someone with his domestic track record get away with it?

Kids being naughty? Well I never. He without sin cast the first stone. Whilst this isnt't a car/cyclist/pedestrian thread, I have more near misses with the latter, whether illuminated or not. And I get caught our with lights once in a blue moon, and then cycle home running the gantlet of EDF. I try to minimise my risk. No excuse of course for me or anyone, with cheap LEDs for a couple of quid from Lidl. Not great but lowers the risk in an emergency. Of course I then find that I have left them on and so they are out of battery. Mate of mine reckons that it is worth the collateral damage of a small percentage of cyclists breaking the law for the greater good of the cause. Just a view.

It's a fun distraction (BJ not appearing in front of the camera) but he's playing it sensibly (he's not the oaf we make him out to be). Anyone else with his record of philandering and Prince Philip gaffs would have gone long ago. Of course many of the gaffs are engineered to endear him to the conservatives and Conservatives who collectively are in the majority across the country. Much as I detest Farage unlike BJ he has some integrity. I was hoping to find a clip of his face when the referendum result was announced/became clear - OMG what have I done? Is this apocryphal? I saw him speak about London's ambitions to clean our air when he was Mayor and hisimportant role working with our European neighbours. I'm more inclined that he was pro-Europe (even if to further his own means) until the referendum presented him the opportunity he now looks like taking. That said I'm still worried, not sure that we will have the autumn election, and all his stuff on avoiding blue on blue is just a smoke screen. He is the chief agitator.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Personal ambition first, party second, country third. You know who. Bye bye Toyah.

Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > teddyboy23 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Sue when you told them they should be ashamed > of > > their self's I bet they shit their pants I > would > > 😁 > I'm wondering whether you are more than one-dimensional TB. It's easy to mock the middle classes, I do, and that includes being self-deprecating. Some posts on this website are so fingers down the throat East Dulwich and pompous it is difficult not to. But would it be too much to ask to add some value to the debate rather than sarcasm? I've been abusive, hung up, tried to teach them the errors of their ways and the like with scam calls. There, I have an opinion. Do you? To take them through to the point of sale and then suggest they get a job where they are not exploiting vulnerable people may not matter a jot but at least I try to do something. https://fatherted.fandom.com/wiki/Father_Jessup > > :))

The nature of this site is that it will attract global and parochial matters. Life is like that. And we shouldn't stop debate today. And even have views on the D Day celebrations. I expect successive generations have diminishing knowledge whereas as I get older my fascination for history, and a true perspective grows. The museum at Omaha beach was particularly fascinating (haven't done the others)where progress was particularly difficult due to the terrain and rural road network. The American's faced high casualties. It gave an excellent impression of what it was really like - I expect Saving Private Ryan too.

God that was bad. Poor broadband at a YHA, frequent buffering, poor definition, with two people interested in the score. Welcome to lower league football Liverpool and Spurs.

They are plastic bags. They are evil. The French just banned them (you can buy proper sturdy ones that will last forever). Simple. Stop whinging and do your bit.

Went down to have a look at lunchtime. Numbers a bit disappointing but this is not the issue. There are some, including posters on this site, who question protests and some who even think he's a great leader. It's easy to take the London/intellectual/political class/liberal etc etc view on everything - Brexit, immigration, social integration, etc etc. It's easy to be mocked as a snowflake. It's right to listen to the other argument, hopefully to enrich your knowledge and rarely to change your view. But this is as black and white as it gets. It's not a democrat good (plenty of wrongs there) republicans bad. It's the individual. Our politicians make mistakes. They are caught with their pants down. But as a whole, as objectionable as many may be they have etiquette, decorum, statespersonship, diplomacy. Whatever the wrongs and rights of Khan, why the fick stir things up? Who the fick advises you, and do you listen. What about saying sod the consequences, I am going to meet the people, visit a few schools and hospitals, kiss a few babies. Arrogant (and all the rest of the criticisms) twonk.

Going slightly off thread (and risking being a hypocrite) just watching the Thatcher documentary. So divisive - will the next Tory Leader have a similar effect or are we there already? Oh dear I need to set up a new thread....

Interesting question. I think (dare I suggest) a gender difference (in a simple binary gender choice, rather than a more complex reality) in friendships - blokes with groups of mates being more superficial than stronger bonds between women. That said residual social norms in bringing up families ie women more likely to do more of caring (assuming kids) and more of the domestic duties, meaning a greater value in same gender relationships). I may of course be talking bollox. But good to hear views. No doubt there are academic papers on the matter.

Please refrain from needless arguments and throwing rocks over Brexit. Yes that will be the main issue for most of the candidates (if not all). We have Johnson who would trade in his own mother for the job (the rest of his family sound far nicer). Gove the Sociopath. The ones that worry me due to their previous policies - Hunt (loathed at Health) and Javid - who now appear the voice of reason. The nutter from the 1922 committee. But that's my skewed views. DF. Please do join in with your views rather than wind up the Guardianistas. That's too easy. Apologies for the slur, I'm sure I'd be counted as one. And May - pretty rubbish, but history may judge her differently depending on what happens next. (all Dave's fault)

There's another thread to discuss the elections, and a further one on Brexit, I'm interested in the next leader of the Tory party. I've almost run out of things to say about Esther Toyah McVey. Oh OK, now you have asked. There is an association with Brian Eno - worryingly more of a Marxist than Jeremy Corbyn. She'd be better having support from another member of Roxy Music - Bryan Ferry (and son) - proper loyal Tories. I am sure that Eric Clapton and Rick Wakeman could also join them. Apart from Toyah, Rory Stewart seems to talk more sense than most.

Twitter ye not (copyright Frankie Howerd), Very lazy dbboy quoting others rather than having your own opinion. When Esther wins it she will have a crimson court - very progressive. I'm getting my lighter out now and can see millions of small flames on the horizon. Derek Jarman is watching us from above.