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"?