Farage

Farage tweeted this today; unsurprisingly the barrage of sarcastic replies was something to behold, everything from "Well you wanted an end to freedom of movement" to "I'm starting a campaign to get that van driver knighted".. Farage famously once said that if Brexit was a failure he'd move abroad, perhaps he was on his way to the airport?

 

Inheritance..

Saw this, made me smile..

 

Tuesday Titter

Seems fair?

 

Welcome to the 70s

Lovin this..

 

Super Sunday

 

We normally don't drink on Sundays but this week the weather is so nice and probably one of the last tee-shirt days this year we decided to throw caution to the wind and eat outdoors and crack open something nice to bookend the week with. My wife went for a glass of white Burgundy and I plumped for a lovely Baltic Porter from Siren and the SALT beer factory (Bradford) called "The Abyssal Zone" (an invocative name for a beer if ever there was one!), a pitch black, thick and chocolatey dark beer that was just perfect with a lush Sunday lunch of home made chicken and mushroom pie with cauliflower cheese and (perfect) roast potatoes, you could say we had a "super Sunday" lunch, now, wonder what's on the telly?

Simulation anxiety..

Isn't this just the perfect modern spin on the space that religion has always and continues to occupy in our various cultures and societies..

 

Coffee Saturday

Spent a very enjoyable afternoon at my local craft brewery yesterday with a good mate. It was their annual "Project Barista" event where they make four new beers with a coffee twist. It didn't happen last year and we had such a good time in 2019 that we just had to brave the cloudy weather and head over to Finchampstead to their tap room for this years shindig. The beers were as whacky as ever, we worked our way through a lemon zest infused sour coffee beer called "Press to Zest" followed by a coffee infused ESB called "Extra Special Beans" then a dark Märzen lager with coffee called "Caffe Lungo" and finished with a 10% monster of a dark beer called "Mucha Mocha" which was the most viscous beer I think I've ever tried (pictured above) a real syrup of coffee, chocolate and booze, wonderful! 

While there we were fortunate enough to try a rare sample of their most highly rated barrel-aged beer called "Dark and Perilous Nights" an almost opaque black coloured brew with aromas of dark sugar and toffee, with a warming chocolate fudge profile and a big, big hit of booze; we both agreed that some crusty bread and stinky cheese alongside a roaring fire would have complemented the beer very well indeed! Unfortunately it was their last keg ever, never to be repeated, ah well, one for the memoirs!

Doh!

Lovin this.. 

 

Anti-vaxx Protestors

I was out for my daily constitutional today and low and behold look what I came across on the main road into town. A bunch of anti-vax nutters were protesting with placards along a stretch of the A329. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes, I can't imagine what's going on with these people, I was almost inclined to go across the road and talk to them, perhaps they were aliens from the planet stupid? But, I resisted the urge. It probably wouldn't have been a fruitful conversation anyway, as Thomas Paine once said, "To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead", an apt quote for this lot if ever there was one. When the final reckoning is done these people (however well meaning or ignorant) will have blood on their hands, shame on them.

 

Friday Smirk

Our species inability to recognise that our opinions and delusions aren't special or privileged in the face of evidence and (worldly) justice is legendary among the sentient creatures in this universe.

 

Who is that masked man?

Funny prank, amazing though how many people are walking around in enclosed spaces at the moment (like shops and trains) that have a perfectly serviceable mask in their pocket but are simply too lazy to wear it, incredible levels of selfishness.

Billy no-mates..

In a recent interview with Newsnight Senator Brendan Boyle (Dem) laid things out for those people in this country that are still operating under the delusion that the USA gives two figs about UK trade, he said,

"Some seem to be confused so let me explain. About 30% of US trade is with Canada & Mexico. China accounts for another 13%. As for the UK, it is 2.5%, the same as Taiwan, Vietnam, & India. So when some are confused why a trade deal with the UK isn’t a high priority, now you know."

Seems unsurprising and totally predictable to me, I find it quite amazing, what with whole industries packing up and leaving, empty shelves and fuel shortages threatened for Winter, that there are still people out there, some of whom even have a decent education, that are still defending Brexit? Even more important than that though, I think people who believe the UK needs (and wants) to rejoin the EU should take every opportunity to point out the frauds and opportunists who lied and cheated their way through the leave campaign for short term greed and personal enrichment. It's these people that have the lost livelihoods, closed businesses and economic decline of our country on their hands! (see below)

Mid-week mullings

Perfect way of getting a ton of free weed? (position just before the security gate)

 

Monday Mirth

With more and more things being done on-line I do wonder when we'll be seeing most NHS interactions taking place virtually. Having heard many people complaining about not being able to (easily) make doctor's appointments lately (or since Covid began) I suspect there's a workgroup somewhere in the heart of that institution working on the standardization of virtual consultation protocols and techniques ready for that moment when the pandemic is officially declared over and, because of budget constraints, speaking to a consultant or GP is done via 3 minute time-slices over zoom.

 

Sunday afternoon stroll

Spent a nice afternoon wandering around Oxford yesterday (Sunday) the Sun was out and it wasn't too busy. My Daughter was meeting a friend who is a student there and they went off to hang out for a few hours while we pottered around grazing on the ample food options and poking our noses into various museums, meadows, churches and medieval quads, ended up walking around 10k in all and were glad to be resting our legs in the car during the hour or so it took to drive home via the scenic route over the Chilterns and through Henley, nice.

 

Monday monkey-business

Apparently Boris Johnson is rubber-stamping the return of imperial weights and measures, making it legal for market stalls, shops and supermarkets to sell their goods using only Britain’s traditional weighing system post-Brexit. I think this statement marks the moment that Britain ceased being a proud nation-state and became a parody of a once proud nation-state. 

Now, if only we had a few ounces of fresh vegetables available to put on the shelves of our supermarkets we'd all be livin the dream, oh the control we all have now to endure utterly idiotic things, it's amazing.

Friday Favorites

I had one of my favorite DEYA beers last night while making dinner for everyone; called "Invoice me for the Microphone" it's a classic hazy East Coast IPA in the "house style" of the Cheltenham brewery. Delightful upfront tropical fruits and citrus flavours really juicy and soft, made with Citra and Mosaic hops (two of my favorite) it's what's called in the trade a "banger" of a beer!

 

Dinner time..

Spotted in the car park of my local Waitrose, nice wheels! I wonder if he was grabbing the ingredients for his dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner etc. ?

 

Sinclair RIP-81

 

A big part of my teenage legacy suffered a blow today as I learned that Clive Sinclair, innovator and electronic gizmo entrepreneur died this week aged 81. The ZX81 (pictured above and released in 1981) was the first computer I ever owned; I was hooked from the very first few minutes of unpacking the box for the rest of my life so far, I even made a career and a living out of computing because of it. Sinclair was somewhat of a visionary in my view, sure, he was also a bit eccentric and had some very public failures but on balance he put his money where his mouth was. Where as many British business leaders would have given up and left it to the Americans or the Japanese, Sinclair took the risk of being different and created machines that delighted and amazed their fans, at a price point that made them accessible to most people, that's a difficult trick to pull off!

Friday Smirk

A Conservative back-bench version of the "Trolley Problem"?

 

Regional Variations

Picture taken in Edinburgh (Leith) Is this the Scottish equivalent of "Wooden Box"? (PS you have to have spent time in Northern Ireland to get that joke)..

 

Midweek Mirth

This is so true. I think that because of this principal (plus the older you get) the more inclined you become to simply jumping straight to ridicule when confronted with things like anti-vax, benefits of Brexit, anti-maskers, climate-change deniers etc. etc. 

 

Wednesday Woes

 

Decided that I'd try to do my bit for the climate and catch the train into the office this week. It's a fairly straightforward journey but includes a 30 minute (3k) walk to the station then a 10 minute train ride for two stops, easy you would think. Yesterday the rain was lashing down but I struggled to the station in it; got the train OK and arrived (wet and cold) to the office on time, same story on the way home. All in all a bit miserable but ok I suppose. Today I walked to the station to find all the trains cancelled due to a signaling fault up the track in London somewhere; had to walk back home and jump in the car to drive to the office (which takes 10 minutes). Not a great success rate or experience so far, starting to think that the British weather and general institutional incompetence might slow down the fight against climate change in this country quite a bit.

Monday Mirth

I was doing my daily Yoga and weights workout before starting work this morning and unexpectedly my wife needed to get a lift into work; I didn't bother to change my attire and dropped her off in town. Lucky, I didn't need to exit the vehicle at any point, it would have certainly scared the horses if I had.

This cartoon put me in mind of my predicament :)
 

Town falcons

Walking through town yesterday and came across a little fayre going on. One of the stands had a display of birds of prey, they looked magnificent, not every day you get to see falcons and hawks up close like this and I must say they were very well behaved! 

 

Friday Smirk

Begging the question, one of theology's most widely deployed diversionary tactics.

 

Feckless blockages

 

I was out for my daily constitutional walk yesterday and followed one my usual circular routes through the back streets and alleyways of my home town; about half way around I came across the following scene (see picture above).. A builder (not the council) laying a patio for a private house (on the right of the picture) had completely blocked the public footpath with a tipper truck, piles of sand and paving slabs and to top it all had propped up an advertisement for his company against the bollard designed to prevent vehicles obstructing the footpath. I had to trudge my way over a pile of sand, taking care not to fill my shoes with the stuff! Not ideal for me but pretty impenetrable for someone a bit older and less agile, certainly impassable if you happened to be in a wheelchair. Lucky it wasn't a rainy day, as you can see the weather was glorious, had I been in a worse mood I may have had to transmit my opinions to the feckless laborer, a withering look was all I could be bothered with.

Midweek Mirth

Ah, J&M showing the pure circular beauty of most religious apologetics.

 

Sunshine on Leith

On our recent trek up to Scotland last weekend we stopped off in Edinburgh for a night to break the journey up to St Andrews a bit and to show my daughter around Edinburgh Uni as it's one of the institutions she's considering for next year. We stayed in a hotel in Leith rather than the city centre, mainly because it's cheaper but also much, much easier to park a car for free; when we arrived in the early afternoon we checked into our hotel and freshened up a bit, then we walked the 5 km or so into the city centre. It was a great way to unwind after a long car journey and didn't take as long as I thought it might passing lot's of interesting shops and restaurants on the way. I did notice however that they seem to be extending the tram line down from the centre to the port which will make the trip much quicker if we ever stay there again. 

Anyway, after our excursion into the city we strolled back to Leith in the early evening and grabbed a cold one at the craft beer establishment pictured above, called "Lost in Leith" it's a brewery/bar that has a wonderful selection of beers some produced at their own brewery and others from around the country. I was surprised to find one from Double Barrelled Brewery in Reading (the nearest big town to my home in Berkshire); such is the craft beer scene these days when you can travel 400 miles up country and still find a beer brewed a couple of miles from your house!

Whilst sitting outside the bar we decided that as the evening drew in it was getting a bit chilly for us soft southerners so we decamped inside. While sitting in the window seat we observed and discussed the other people still outside, one table had a bunch of youngsters in tee shirts and another a couple of middle aged guys in thick jumpers and jackets. We joked about how the kids much be Scottish (and accustomed to the chilly air) and the older gentlemen English (i.e. wimps!) A little later the older guys gave up on the evening air and also decamped inside, guess what, we were spot on they were indeed English and spookily also from Berkshire just like us, small world!

Scottish Rail

Spent a few days in Scotland taking my Son back to his University there, we decided to make a long weekend of it and stayed in Dundee which is about 20 minutes drive from his digs in St. Andrews. I'd never been before and it's a bigger city than I'd realised but we were fortunate enough to be staying in a hotel a hundred yards from the V&A museum (pictured above), it's a really interesting building looks a bit like a ship from a distance but almost like a cave or tunnel close up, spent a couple of hours there on Saturday morning having a mooch around. Incidentally, in the photo you can see the Tay rail bridge which has a really interesting history being the site of a famous Victorian rail disaster in UK history back in 1879, fortunately the replacement bridge seems to be holding up a little better than the original, there's even poetry describing events that night..

The train into the girders came,

And loud the wind did roar;

A flash is seen-the Bridge is broke-

The train is heard no more.

"The Bridge is down, "the Bridge is down,"

in words of terror spread;

The train is gone, its living freight

Are numbered with the dead.

 

Mu Mu Joy

 

So, we have a new variant of Covid-19! As many scientists have been saying since the beginning of this pandemic, this is to be expected and one of the main reasons that (even though we are vaccinated) we should keep transmission as low as possible. The more people that become infected the more probability there is of seeing a new variant that escapes the clutches of vaccine protection, taking us right back to the start (oh deep joy!). On a slightly geeky (or should I say Greeky) angle on this I wonder where the epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa and lambda variants went, clearly they didn't make the grade, variants of little interest? (I kinda feel sorry for them)