Recent Posts

After many years of reading books on my phone via the Kindle app and slowly progressing to the audio books that I could find for free, get from my library, or otherwise appropriate, I finally signed up for a free trial on Audable. Full price, £8.99pm.

I love listening to books, especially whilst I'm doing something mundane like digging a hole or driving on the motorway.

I'll let you know if I decide to keep it at the end of Feb.

I know Feb is a short month.  Schoolboy error.

Also, 8 out of 10 videos these days are Tic Tok. I've been resting Tic Tok for what seems like years but I think I'm going to have to give in.

I watch a lot of YouTube instructional videos, everything from, "Mitering without a miter block" to "How to replace the drive belt on your Beko drier"

The vids are amazing useful, but I really struggle not to close them immediately when the instructor, often a pensioner in his garden shed, starts by flinging the backs of his hands towards the camera and shouting "WASSUP GUYS!"

Hey tikay, it's been a while but I have finished my 6-monthly catch up on what's happening in here and it's great to see you are loving life and retirement.

I was clearing up some folders on my PC and came across a folder "Sky Poker Video" that I remembered saving a lot of entertaining clips to.  I'm not sure if you'd like to see them for the memories and laughs, or you would dread to see them?

There are 284 videos in there with interesting titles such as:

Mastercash Sat 25 Sep 2010 01 Orford Magic Trick and Tikays Fluff
The Club 21 Jun 2010 04 Tikay is your father
Mastercash 29 May 2010 03 Tikay I Love Buoys
Primo Sun 3rd Oct 2010 Orford Stuck Hand

Many an evening playing poker and watching poker analysed live.  Those were the days!

Update to the Beckham family spat.

I poo pooed the news of the rift in the Beckham family with a "Who cares" post.

Well now I learn that the Authentic Brands Group are the people who care, and with good reason. In 2022 they paid Sir David 255 MILLION dollars for a 55% stake in DB Ventures, Beckham's brand management company. I can't really blame them for not wanting THAT boat rocking.

I also discovered what the "My mother spoiled my wedding dance" comment was about.

At Brooklkn's wedding, celeb DJ Fat Tony invited  "The most beautiful woman in the room" to have the first dance with the groom.
Victoria immediately stepped on to the dance floor...

Background: Elon Musk took umbrage with Michael O'Leary for not using his Starlink technology on Ryanair planes. Musk called O'Leary a "Big idiot" and a "Retarded twat".

Now whether you love O'Leary or hate him, you have to admire the way he just rolls with this and turns it to his advantage.

O'Leary immediately announces the Ryanair "Big idiot" seat sale, and tells Elon that if he wants to call hom a Retarded twat he will have to go to the back of a very, very, very long queue of people which includes his four teenage children.




https://youtube.com/shorts/kbDrGfZ_PEE?si=876-k7CxMN8Wlvke



https://youtu.be/x3HEnoNTRro?si=AeJpl3ErDNV3DMJ6

Nothing wrong with being liberal. (or wooly for that matter, before the sheep take offence)
We have to have deterrents though, and if caning and 14 years in prison don't work, what will?

I have to admit that if there were no deterrents, or other, perhaps more obvious barriers, I would probably be a quite prolific philanderer.

I'm one of those woolly liberals, so of course I think such punishments are both barbaric and wrong.

However, for balance, I believe it is for every Country (or, in this case, region) to make its own Laws. And people have to make their own judgment calls about whether to break Laws.

There's lots of Laws in this country (never mind Sharia or Trump Law) that I profoundly disagree with. There's lot to be said for trying to change repressive Laws. But if people choose to live in Aceh (as opposed to pretty much everywhere else in Indonesia-it is the only state to practice Sharia Law) then people need to modify their behaviours.

The big problem with so-called deterrents is, simply, that they do not work. Because very few Criminals seem to be able to factor in the risk of getting caught, and risk/reward. Typical example is Armed Robbery. I recall 4 men getting 14 years inside each for robbing a petrol station. For £200-between the 4 of them.

Against that, certain Arab States will say that there are not many 1-handed pickpockets

You’re not alone in those thoughts Tom, I think most of our age have had them.

Would I want to actually see people birched for mugging or phone snatching?

No. Not least because it would be a step along a very dangerous path that leads to an escalating scale of punishment that has only one end point.

I might have phrased my question badly.

I want your opinion on caning muggers et al, not my hypocrisy. (Although I admit that was also a question)