Things that make you go oooh thread....

[bungeejumper]

My tomatoes are still green. I'm getting concerned. Perhaps they will end up as chutney

As advised elsewhere, lay them out on a tray with a banana skin and they'll ripen up pretty fast. A brown paper bag is nearly as good, but harder to get hold of these days.

My outdoor tomatoes finally succumbed to blight a couple of weeks ago, but my greenhouse toms are still good. And my chillis have all turned red on my windowsill, and they're now drying nicely for storage.

I was somewhat surprised the other day to see half a dozen late swallows- the rest of ours headed off for South Africa ten days ago. Then again, maybe they were Scottish birds that had been waiting for a following wind? One thing's for sure, they've got that now.

BJ

[AleisterCrowley]

One has turned pale orange, but looks a bit poorly. Perhaps they all need to go in a brown paper bag with a banana (belt and braces approach)

Fair bit of sun today in the glorious Kennnet Valley, but rather blustery

[AleisterCrowley]

Had a pop at Ben Rinnes last Friday in glorious weather - this time though, via the notorious and rarely climbed North Ridge (that's not actually its name - I just made that up). The route is anti clockwise on the map.

About 13 miles in total, including the ascent. Had my lunch at the granite tors at Scurran of Mornish.

A gallon of tea, a sandwich like a doorstep and get those boots off and relax in the sun. I didn't want to leave



.....and the Everest total grows ever closer.

Looks like Shropshire from the Stiperstones/Long Mynd - I'm jealous, and homesick.
There are NO hills in Berkshire worthy of the name. In fact the whole South East is disappointingly flat

[bungeejumper]

Had a pop at Ben Rinnes last Friday in glorious weather - this time though, via the notorious and rarely climbed North Ridge (that's not actually its name - I just made that up). The route is anti clockwise on the map.

Nice one, sir, I salute your resilience. 1,797 feet? Not suitable for buggies and wheelchairs indeed. Jeez, it's been a while since I did one of those, in France.

Liked the linked reference to the misnamed Baby's Hill. (Spoiler: a suicide called Barbara, who couldn't be buried on church ground.) Around these parts, they used to bury such poor folk at a crossroads, because nobody could know whether they were headed for hell or not, and it was thought best to let them choose their own route.

BJ

[AleisterCrowley]

I went down to the crossroads to tune my guitar. It's a long story

[bungeejumper]

I went down to the crossroads to tune my guitar. It's a long story

Careful how you do that, I've heard of people falling down on their knees.

BJ

[vrdiver]

[bungeejumper]

LOL, is there any corner of the world where they don't make dodgy jokes about sausages? Oh, how the Americans loved it a few years ago when a politician called Weiner got caught texting pictures of his bulging underwear to various women.

But it takes the Germans to go right over the linguistic edge. A favourite kind of supermarket sausage over there is called stramme jungs, which quite literally means "sturdy boys". Try explaining that to your kids. Or to anybody else, for that matter....

BJ

[AleisterCrowley]

Hopefully better than the average bratwurst. For a nation famous for its sausages, the quality doesn't seem very good compared with English ones (which do appear to contain real meat rather than 'solidified meat foam with flavourings')

[servodude]

Just been talking to the guy fixing the air-con in the office

- apparently the flat earth stuff going about on the internet has been made up and put about by "them in charge" to make the conspiracy theorists look silly

- not a hint of irony

- sd

[bungeejumper]

- apparently the flat earth stuff going about on the internet has been made up and put about by "them in charge" to make the conspiracy theorists look silly

Oh, that flat earth story has been around since, oooh, before Columbus. Yes, that long ago, can you believe it? Why, I expect the ancient Greeks would have believed in falling off the edge of the world as well. Assuming, of course, that they really existed....

BJ

[swill453]

- apparently the flat earth stuff going about on the internet has been made up and put about by "them in charge" to make the conspiracy theorists look silly

Oh, that flat earth story has been around since, oooh, before Columbus. Yes, that long ago, can you believe it? Why, I expect the ancient Greeks would have believed in falling off the edge of the world as well. Assuming, of course, that they really existed....

But "them in charge" have been around a lot longer than that. Y'know, the lizard people...

Scott.

[neversay]

Even I find Frankie Boyle a bit much these days - particularly his stand up routines.

His Thursday night chat/discussion show occasionally comes up with a few interesting thoughts.

The 'Track n trace system is like a post apocalyptic game of Pokemon go.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Go

And.....

Capitalism today feels like close to the end of a game of Monopoly.....

I'm a through and through supporter of capitalism and free markets, and naturally no fan of Frankie Boyle, but that last statement is dangerously powerful in the present climate. Given the imbalances and pervasive sense of self-entitlement and self-virtuousness (aided by vacuous social media) we sadly seem destined to have yet another failed experiment in socialism.

[UncleEbenezer]

I'm a through and through supporter of capitalism and free markets, and naturally no fan of Frankie Boyle, but that last statement is dangerously powerful in the present climate. Given the imbalances and pervasive sense of self-entitlement and self-virtuousness (aided by vacuous social media) we sadly seem destined to have yet another failed experiment in socialism.

We have it now. The bit I found surprising is that it's coming from what used to be Thatcher's party!

[stevensfo]

Just been talking to the guy fixing the air-con in the office

- apparently the flat earth stuff going about on the internet has been made up and put about by "them in charge" to make the conspiracy theorists look silly

- not a hint of irony

- sd

Well, the expression 'Conspiracy theory' is a brilliant way of finishing an argument or putting a different slant on the evidence. Just as "Oh that's racist" or "Child abuse" can change the whole tone of a discussion even if racism or child abuse doesn't really enter into it. It's just enough to say it.

You may have worries about a certain turn of events or evidence of corruption, whatever. Someone simply has to use the term 'Conspiracy theory' to immediately downgrade those worries to those of a neurotic person having a mid-life crisis.

Dominic Cummings not fined for breaking Lockdown laws? Conspiracy theory again! See, it works!


Steve

[sg31]

Well, the expression 'Conspiracy theory' is a brilliant way of finishing an argument or putting a different slant on the evidence. Just as "Oh that's racist" or "Child abuse" can change the whole tone of a discussion even if racism or child abuse doesn't really enter into it. It's just enough to say it.

You may have worries about a certain turn of events or evidence of corruption, whatever. Someone simply has to use the term 'Conspiracy theory' to immediately downgrade those worries to those of a neurotic person having a mid-life crisis.

Dominic Cummings not fined for breaking Lockdown laws? Conspiracy theory again! See, it works!


Steve

I know what you mean about the term conspiracy theory, it can be misused but it is obvious there are a lot of them around. I don't think the Cummings case can be considered to be one and I've not heard it called one.

What happened was reasonably well reported at the time. His 'excuse' was fabricated and stretched the truth beyond breaking point. That the Government went along with it and took no action was unhelpful in the circumstances. They should have done what many Government have done in the past and made a show of firing him. If he returned in another 'role' when the fuss had died down they would have avoided losing the trust of large sections of the population.

People believed it was a case of 'one rule for them and another rule for us.'

[GoSeigen]

Just been talking to the guy fixing the air-con in the office

- apparently the flat earth stuff going about on the internet has been made up and put about by "them in charge" to make the conspiracy theorists look silly

- not a hint of irony

- sd

Well, the expression 'Conspiracy theory' is a brilliant way of finishing an argument or putting a different slant on the evidence. Just as "Oh that's racist" or "Child abuse" can change the whole tone of a discussion even if racism or child abuse doesn't really enter into it. It's just enough to say it.

So you think people who claim the moon landings are made up and that the earth is not spherical but everyone has been pulling the wool over our eyes from Galileo onwards are worthy of a serious good faith consideration of their ideas and further, that labelling people by a category called race and then allowing them to face daily abuse and discrimination and in many jurisdictions introducing law to specifically restrict their rights and prevent them from participating in an equal basis in society does not merit the label racism, because you might just offend some snowflake who is innocently using the term Pakistani or Pikey in a harmless joke about curry smells or drive-laying?


GS

[stevensfo]

Just been talking to the guy fixing the air-con in the office

- apparently the flat earth stuff going about on the internet has been made up and put about by "them in charge" to make the conspiracy theorists look silly

- not a hint of irony

- sd

Well, the expression 'Conspiracy theory' is a brilliant way of finishing an argument or putting a different slant on the evidence. Just as "Oh that's racist" or "Child abuse" can change the whole tone of a discussion even if racism or child abuse doesn't really enter into it. It's just enough to say it.

So you think people who claim the moon landings are made up and that the earth is not spherical but everyone has been pulling the wool over our eyes from Galileo onwards are worthy of a serious good faith consideration of their ideas and further, that labelling people by a category called race and then allowing them to face daily abuse and discrimination and in many jurisdictions introducing law to specifically restrict their rights and prevent them from participating in an equal basis in society does not merit the label racism, because you might just offend some snowflake who is innocently using the term Pakistani or Pikey in a harmless joke about curry smells or drive-laying?


GS

I think that you have either not understood the point I was making, or have drunk too much coffee.

No, I do not believe the flat-earthers etc are worthy of consideration. Far from it. Nor was I actually talking about Racism.

I was simply pointing out how certain expressions can be used in a rhetorical sense. Thus, a different slant can be put on arguments simply by using the word 'Conspiracy', immediately adding the idea, maybe subconsciously, that the idea is probably absurd.

As I said in another thread, a discussion on the ABRSM Music forum was stopped in its tracks when someone used the word 'racist' to describe general criticism of Music teaching in France.

Hope that clears things up.


Steve

[bungeejumper]

So you think people who claim the moon landings are made up and that the earth is not spherical but everyone has been pulling the wool over our eyes from Galileo onwards are worthy of a serious good faith consideration of their ideas and further, that labelling people by a category called race and then allowing them to face daily abuse and discrimination and in many jurisdictions introducing law to specifically restrict their rights and prevent them from participating in an equal basis in society does not merit the label racism, because you might just offend some snowflake who is innocently using the term Pakistani or Pikey in a harmless joke about curry smells or drive-laying?

.....And breeeeeeathe.....

BJ

[servodude]

a discussion on the ABRSM Music forum was stopped in its tracks when someone used the word 'racist' to describe general criticism of Music teaching in France.

..oh are they still doing Schenkerian analysis there?