North Country Boy

I think the problem might be that wherever you move to, the one thing you take with you is yourself.

"What was it you wanted again? We forgot"

The bike in the photo is not "mounting the pavement". It's being pushed and it's not on the pavement.

Of course it's going to happen though. Not that much punishment for selling them, especially at the top of the chain & if someone can pay a fiver instead of about £12 (I think. Not sure of cost, don't smoke), they'll do it. Used to be people hawking them round pubs where I'm from, now it's shops.

Yep. Met a bloke I'd not seen for a while in west end of Newcastle the other day. Said, "still on the tabs, eh? How do you afford it when they're about £12 a pack?". He said, "not paid more than 6 quid for years. Nobody round here does. Loads of shops sell snide tabs".

It's for when they cross the Sahara on the way to wee Jonty's school.

I sometimes cycle a street in Gosforth, Newcastle (that's the posh bit) where the Range Rovers are gradually being replaced by Defenders, a car that could drive up Cairngorm. All black, all shiny, not a speck of dirt on them. They've spent 000s on technology they will never use. Bloody weird.

Did I miss something? Was there a massacre of the Stone Island Regiment on 11.11.11?

Silent majority. Two words, two lies.

Probably, but he's about 50 now and totally bald. Might be a bit odd playing a school boy. Although he still acts like he's 10 sometimes.

My step brother was in an episode of Supergran. He's even on IMDb ("known for Supergran").

Town centre I meant

I remember when I lived in Edinburgh a thing on Reporting Scotland about Cumbernauld being voted worst town in the country. Vox pop & woman said "nah, it's no' as bad as Paisley". Always thought they should stick that on welcome signs. "Welcome to Cumbernauld. It's no' as bad as Paisley".

Beautiful place, and by Scottish island standards, easy to get to. Ferry from Ardrossan, not far from Glasgow. The view from the top of Goat Fell is amazing (on the three days a year when it's clear. It does rain a lot). Also, Arran whisky is fantastic.

That's clearly also a Reform UK rally.

Bloke down my street once called round to complain that somebody staying with us had "parked right outside his house". Told him to call the police.

Weird how people think the pavement right outside their house somehow belongs to them. I mean, I'm guessing she wouldn't think she could set it up in the next street or the town centre.

The joining link being a bit off? Something similar happened to me a while back after I changed the chain. From memory, the joining link was very slightly bent so it made the chain jump, though not as badly as you have. Just put a new joining link on.

He's not sad. He knows perfectly well that the poorer and less educated a place is, the more likely they'll vote Reform. He wants places to stay that way so the grift can go on.

Because they're scared of the world today.

Can't be arsed. Lazy sod, me.

It's all about nostalgia for when they were young & people not like them "knew their place". As the comedian (whose name I can't remember) said, things weren't better when you were 18, things were better*because* you were 18.

As a born and bred Geordie, I know I'm supposed to hate that London, but I love it. After Berlin and Chicago, probably my favourite city. Then again, in London I'm a tourist too.

Well, it looks like she was right about Kent Council being a test of their ability to govern.

I'm no expert, but isn't the rule simply that nobody who isn't eligible to be president can be VP?

In short, it's fine to be a racist but please don't let the peasants know you're a racist.

Not sure what to do with the old insert thing mind. Might make a tiny pond with it.

Nice little straw man you have there. Make sure he doesn't get hit by a cyclist though.

It's motonormativity. It's as if you worry about the people carrying penknifes & ignore the people carrying machine guns, because the people with machine guns have always been there. As a pedestrian, you're something like 100 times more likely to be killed by a car.

Reminds me of a poster I saw in an Amsterdam travel agency window back in the 90s - "Visit Venice. The Amsterdam of the South".

I've been to the one in Las Vegas. Very weird, 24 hours a day it cycles through a kind of twilight It's actually upstairs too, believe it or not.