Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[titaniumbean]

I wouldn't pay much of a markup but i'd deffo take a piece of both. Where's da threads?!

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Channel 4's Big Fat platform for bigotry and hate

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/30/gypsies-david-cameron-george-osborne?INTCMP=SRCH

Excellent piece of alternative journalism from Ms Cadwalladr.

Thanks for the link Justin.

[Bongo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1351622/My-Big-Fat-Gypsy-Wedding-We-reveal-140-000-cost.html

I'm assuming this is article is full of absolute shit but I can't get any further than the title without raging.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1351622/My-Big-Fat-Gypsy-Wedding-We-reveal-140-000-cost.html

I'm assuming this is article is full of absolute shit but I can't get any further than the title without raging.

From the Mail too. Who would have thought it?

[boldie]

BTW, was meant to ask you this this morning.


Did you catch "Human Earth" yesterday? A stunning program.

You don't mean "Human Planet" do you?

Yeah, that's the one.

One of these days I'll remember names of people and programmes

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Most days, I go for a walk on Croft hill or Fosse Meadows.

I meet a lot of people who are out with their dogs, and, because these places are well away from the road, the dogs are usually off the lead.

What amazes me is, barely one in ten of the dogs take the slightest bit of notice when their owner calls them. Mind you, this doesn't stop the owners from calling.

Sandy..... Sandy...... Sandy......  (Then, patting leg) SandySandySandy......

SANDY! COME HERE AT ONCE. BAD DOG.

Sandy..... Sandy...... Sandy......

Sandy is about 30ft away, enjoying his walk, safe in the knowledge that his owner is close by, so that he can run back to her should the need arise.

It's the same with almost every dog I meet.

One lady had a beautiful King Charles spaniel puppy. It was probably only about 8 or 9 weeks old. It was off the lead, but, as is common with very young puppies, it was staying quite close to it's owner, keeping a careful eye (and nose) on her. making sure it didn't get itself lost.

The woman called the puppy's name every 15 seconds or so, regardless of where the puppy was. even if it was within three feet of her.

She was conditioning it to ignore her voice.

At that crucial time in the puppy's life, the time when the puppy was learning what everything means, the time when she could have taught it: "Look, if ever I call your name and you come to see why I'm calling, something really nice is going to happen"

Instead she was teaching it: "Look, I'm going to keep calling your name, just to reassure you that I am here. You won't get lost, so feel free to range further and further ahead. If you do lose your way, don't worry, I'll traipse about all over the place, calling and calling until I find you."


If you ever do find yourself out walking with a new puppy, wait until something distracts him, or until he wonders a little too far in front, and then slip behind a tree and spy on him, wait until he misses you and starts to panic a bit, then call his name. He will come to you. Make a huge fuss of him, and then let him go again. (Don't do this very often, just now and then)

He will keep a closer eye on you in future, be more likely to come when you call him, and I won't have my walk spoiled by you continually shouting.

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Did anyone see the Mark Knopfler interview on TV last night?

What an amazing, unassuming guy. He has sold over 150 million albums, and yet he could sit at a street cafe table without being recognised, despite the fact that it was only yards from the sell-out venue where he would be performing that same night.

Who hasn't got a Dire Straits track in their all time top ten?

Mine is Tunnel of Love.

Such fantastic lyrics. What a great story.




Getting crazy on the waltzers but it's the life that I choose, yeah
Sing about the sixblade sing about the switchback and a torture tattoo
And I been riding on a ghost train where the cars they scream and slam
And I don't know where I'll be tonight but I'll always tell you where I am

In a screaming ring of faces I seen her standing in the light
She had a ticket for the races, yeah, just like me she was a victim of the night
I put my hand upon the lever said let it rock and let it roll
I had a one arm bandit fever there was an arrow through my heart and my soul

And the big wheel keep on turning, neon burning up above
And I'm just high on the world
Come on and take a low ride with me girl
On the tunnel of love, yeah love

It's just a danger, and when you're riding at your own risk
She said you are the perfect stranger, she said baby just keep it like this
It's just a cakewalk twisting baby step right up and say
Hey mister give me two, give me two now, 'cause any two can play

And the big wheel keep on turning, neon burning up above
And I'm just high on the world
Come on and take a low ride with me girl
On the tunnel of love, oh oooh love

Well it's been money for muscle on a, another whirligig
Money for muscle and another girl I dig
Another hustle just to, just to make it big
And rockaway, rockaway, oooh rockaway, rockaway

And girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
Oh Like the Spanish City to me when we were kids
Hey girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
Oh Like the Spanish City to me when we were kids

Woh-la
Check it out

She took off a silver locket she said remember me by this
She put her hand in my pocket, I got a keepsake and a kiss
And in the roar of dust and diesel I stood and watched her walk away
I could have caught up with her easy enough but something must have made me stay

And the big wheel keep on turning, neon burning up above
And I'm just high on this world
Come on and take a low ride with me girl
On the tunnel of love, yeah love love
On the tunnel of love, oooh love love

And now I'm searching through these carousels and the carnival arcades
Searching everywhere from steeplechase to palisades
In any shooting gallery where promises are made
To rockaway, rockaway, rockaway, rockaway
From Cullercoats and Whitley Bay out to rockaway

And girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
Like the Spanish City to me when we were kids
Girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
Like the Spanish City to me when we were kids

[Kev B]

Brothers in Arms is a classic.

 I like the track "Romeo and Juliet" of the Money For Nothing album. The Killers do a great version of it too.

Sultans of Swing, legendary.

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Brothers in Arms is a classic.

 I like the track "Romeo and Juliet" of the Money For Nothing album. The Killers do a great version of it too.

Sultans of Swing, legendary.

If you look at a vid of Romeo & Juliet, he always plays it on his resonator guitar.





The first time I ever saw one of these was during the power cuts in the 1970's. It was being played on the tiny stage of a working-man's club in Darnall, by a bloke who was wearing a duffel coat to keep out the cold.

"What kind of guitar is that?" I asked him. "It's a Barnsley fighting guitar" he replied, "Does tha want twattin' wi' it?"

[tikay]

Tom - do you have a link to that Knopfler interview?

I'm a huge fan, & once went to the same DS show 4 nights running, got every album, even the Notting Hillbillies stuff. The original Mr Cool.

I just took a look at his Wiki page, & never knew he's received an OBE - 12 years ago!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Knopfler

Now you've stirred the mrmory, I'll have to spend a whole evening on YouTuube, going through their stuff. I may have spent more time listening to MK's stuff than any other musician, I think he's a terrific guitarist, certainly by the standards of the pop/rock industry.

[AndrewT]

Tom - do you have a link to that Knopfler interview?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xz0zx/Mark_Knopfler_A_Life_in_Songs/

[RED-DOG]

Tom - do you have a link to that Knopfler interview?

I'm a huge fan, & once went to the same DS show 4 nights running, got every album, even the Notting Hillbillies stuff. The original Mr Cool.

I just took a look at his Wiki page, & never knew he's received an OBE - 12 years ago!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Knopfler

No Tony. I'm sorry. I don't even know which channel it was on.

It was called something like "About the song" and was a one to one, taking you, in his own words, right from his birth to the present day.

He also talked about how he came to write a lot of his songs, which guitars he composed and played them on, and the meaning behind the lyrics.

It was a great programme. It lasted about an hour.

I'll watch out for a repeat.

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Tom - do you have a link to that Knopfler interview?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xz0zx/Mark_Knopfler_A_Life_in_Songs/

Sigh....

[tikay]

Tom - do you have a link to that Knopfler interview?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xz0zx/Mark_Knopfler_A_Life_in_Songs/

If only everyone in life was as reliable as AndrewT......

PS - Noticed an early bath for you in the Vegas jobbie last night, I was hoping to be ringing you this morning with the "let's get those seats booked" 'phone call.

Car-crash, was it?