During the last few days I have been doing some catching up with watching some things I have been putting off for a while, with mixed levels of enjoyment. [Read more →]
2020 – Automation
January 2nd, 2021 · Posted by Skuds in Music
It is that time of the year again. The time when I add another track to my Spotify playlist, the one that has one song for every year I have been around. I have now added a 59th track to it, which makes me fell a bit old.
While this might have been a bit of a shitty year in many respects (and “might have been” could be a bit of an understatement) it has been another decent year for music, and it was really hard to pick out one track to represent it. [Read more →]
Comments Off on 2020 – AutomationTags: 1962Onwards·Spotify
Sheep Farming In Barnet
December 31st, 2020 · Posted by Skuds in Music
One of my presents this year was the box set re-issue of Sheep Farming in Barnet by Toyah. A bit of a nostalgia-fest, but actually I don’t think I actually had this LP despite being a fan. Actually I don’t think I had this LP because I was a fan. [Read more →]
Christmas 2020: a matter of perspective
December 25th, 2020 · Posted by Skuds in Life
I am going to have a fantastic Christmas this year! I know. There is still covid-19 going on, our area moving into tier 4 on Saturday, Brexit, and all sorts of other general unpleasantness, but it is all relative.
For example, two years ago, Christmas 2018, I was in the middle of chemotherapy treatment and still getting most of my nutrition through a tube sticking out of my stomach. In the evening I collapsed in the hallway and had an ambulance ride to hospital, where I stayed on a drip until being allowed home on boxing day. I’m not even sure that counts as my worst Christmas.
This year I am feeling well, and will be spending the day with my favourite person. Just the two of us plus cat and dogs of course. There will probably be a nice long walk with the hounds during the day, so we will be having a happy Christmas and I hope everybody else manages to enjoy themselves as well, in their own ways.
Comments Off on Christmas 2020: a matter of perspectiveTags: Christmas
Time for a #HIGNFY re-vamp?
October 4th, 2020 · Posted by Skuds in Life
Have I Got News For You is celebrating its 30th year now and although it has its moments it really is showing its age now. I have watched it from the start and do still watch it, but that is at least partly through habit. A lot of the time the regular members do seem to be on auto-pilot and a lot of the jokes are very obvious, even when they are funny. I would not like to see it disappear, but I think that it really could do with a re-vamp or re-launch after thirty years. [Read more →]
Comments Off on Time for a #HIGNFY re-vamp?Tags: TV
Bikes don’t kill people, cyclists do
August 16th, 2020 · Posted by Skuds in Life
There are some things that are so obvious and ingrained that you don’t notice them until they are pointed out, after which you can’t not see them again. The difference between how accidents caused by bicycles and accidents caused by car drivers are reported is one of those things. [Read more →]
Comments Off on Bikes don’t kill people, cyclists doTags: Cycling·Driving
Thick as a brick
August 2nd, 2020 · Posted by Skuds in Life
This week came the news that Argos will no longer be producing their catalogue in paper form. The legendary ‘laminated book of dreams’ will be a thing of the past, but what a past! To be honest, its a surprise it has lasted this long, because it is out-of-date almost before the ink is dry. In this modern world of surge-pricing, Black Fridays and online price changes Argos were always vulnerable to competitors waiting for the catalogue to come out and then making sure their prices are just below and so for 6 months Argos appears below then when using Google Shopping to find the best deals.
A little reminder of where the ‘laminated book of dreams’ came from: Still funny now, but absolutely bloody hilarious when first seen sixteen years ago.
Get on your bike!
July 27th, 2020 · Posted by Skuds in Life
I see that the government want to encourage more people to take up cycling to improve health by reducing obesity. While it is easy to pick holes in this, the gist of it is very laudable. There shouldn’t be any doubt that reducing weight leads to improvements in health and that cycling can help to reduce weight and health generally.
I have questions though. When the news says that GPs will be prescribing cycling, what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that you can get a bicycle from the chemist for £9.15? (Or for nothing if you get free prescriptions like I do). If not then isn’t it just that doctors can recommend cycling, which they have always been able to do and often have?
For many people it is not the cost of cycling that is putting them off, but the perceived danger of it. Personally I spent many years cycling across South London during rush hours. After daily commutes through the Wandsworth one-way system and Brixton, I am probably happier being on the road than on a cycle path but I realise that is not normal.
It will be interesting to see if the necessary improvements are made to the roads to support more cycling, because that would involve inconveniencing car drivers, maybe even taking lanes away from cars.
Of course cycling on its own isn’t going to suddenly make everybody skinny, you need to cut down on the food too. And cycling isn’t the only exercise, but its one you can do without having to find extra time for it. Back in the day it used to take me about 50 minutes to cycle to work, which is about the same time as it took to make the journey by train or by car. It wasn’t necessary to make time for exercise.
As so much of the short-term needs of our economy depend on us buying more cars and driving them, and buying unhealthy foods, its going to be a hard sell, but it will be interesting to see if this is an actual change in direction for the country or just another soundbite.
Comments Off on Get on your bike!Tags: Cycling·Medicine/Health
Its all a big conspiracy!
July 17th, 2020 · Posted by Skuds in Life
I try to keep an open mind generally, but I don’t have a lot of time for conspiracy theories and usually dismiss them immediately because they are just so obviously preposterous. I’m sure there are conspiracies, in the sense that there are people conspiring in quite boring ways, but nobody talks about them. They are interested in the more sensational and far less plausible theories, the ones involving Elvis, aliens and the CIA.
Now I am willing to accept that with hundreds or thousands of sensational conspiracy theories, there is a chance, even if only a small one, that one of those theories might be right, even if only partly right. Even if each individual theory is almost certainly bollocks, one of them could actually be true even if it is just by chance.
At the moment my money would probably be on something to do with the Epstein business but that is cheating because its pretty clear there was a conspiracy there; the sensational bit is the speculation about how many people were involved and if any of them were famous. And I am talking about Epstein conspiring with people, not about the Clintons or Trump having him killed, depending on your personal politics, or any of the other more cranky theories about him.
What I really can’t understand is why so few people are convinced by a particular theory and only that theory. How come if you believe that there are aliens in Area 51 you apparently also believe in chemtrails, 5G spreading coronavirus, 9/11 being done by the CIA, the moon landing being faked, Obama not being American, Sandy Hook being a false flag attack and Elvis shooting JFK? It is like all or nothing with crank conspiracy theories.
What really worries me is that if just one of the more odd theories turned out to contain even a significant bit of truth, it would convince the believe-it-all brigade that it means everything else has to be true too, and turn a lot of others to the same ideas. Really the world is mad enough at the moment.
Comments Off on Its all a big conspiracy!Tags: Conspiracy Theories
A tedium of collective nouns
July 9th, 2020 · Posted by Skuds in Life
I am in a bit of a miserable ranting mood today so I’ll vent a bit about collective nouns. If there is one aspect of language that irritates me more than coy euphemisms it is collective nouns, and especially the newly-minted ones that always seem to be presented as mildly amusing and perhaps faintly satirical. [Read more →]
Comments Off on A tedium of collective nounsTags: Language
