Gives a new dimension to “I am just going outside and may be some time.”
Occasional writer. Full-time neurospicy. Making nonsense of a sensical world. All views other people’s. He/him/MAMIL
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Gives a new dimension to “I am just going outside and may be some time.”
Can you send me a screenshot please? I have a roundabout I want to paint.
Do you mind if I ask where you would recommend starting with Ambler please? Dark Frontier or is there a better entry point?
I feel like this would be an interesting route to go down if you were committed to giving the character a proper swan song and burning his bridges (and online fandom) behind him. I could get more onboard with that than the nonsensical nanobot self-sacrifice they went with in the last movie.
The issue, I think, is that film Bond is a prisoner of the tropes introduced in Connery thru Moore eras and it would be nigh on impossible to unscramble that egg now. I’m not sure that the original incarnation of book Bond has sufficient relevance to a modern movie audience to overcome that.
I agree, there is more emotional depth to the character in the books. His choices and responses feel a lot more unpredictable too. He’s more insecure and I always loved the strong sense that he is winging it most of the time.
That would be an interesting change of direction but it touches on two of my original points. 1 - it would mean changing the character so far beyond recognition that I don’t think it stands up. 2 - the Bourne trilogy already did precisely this, more convincingly than Bond could imo.
Haven’t read the Ambler novels, will check them out. Raven is a much more thoughtfully drawn and nuanced character than Bond imo. I’m still not clear on how that helps modern writers overcome the character defining anachronisms of the Fleming’s creation though.
TBH I’m not clear what position it is you’re trying to take. Are u suggesting that the books and by extension, Bond aren’t racist?
It is some years ago I read them. I certainly remember Quarrel and felt at the time that he represented Fleming’s misguided attempts at not being racist. But Bond/Fleming patronises and infantilises him and that was the sense I got with almost all interactions between Bond and other races.
Reading the books and enjoying them in my 20s, I of course took into account the historical context in which they were written. My point is, I don’t see what, in the racist, sexist, homophobe depicted in the source text helps overcome the anachronisms inherent in his modern incarnations.
No, against people of colour. It’s not hard to find in several of the books. Live and Let Die springs to mind as a particularly vivid example.
The original Bond books? How so? I've read them all and while I loved some of the tense action sequences, I also find it hard to empathise with an overt racist who thinks you can identify someone's sexual orientation by their inability to whistle.
Meanwhile, at around the same time, the (also now a bit dated) Bourne films already featured a genuinely modern espionage protagonist for the time. Tortured by his actions, desperate to understand his past and seeking redemption at great personal cost.
No matter how you revise the Bond character, you can't overcome his deep, anachronistic, moral flaws without changing him beyond recognition. Ever since the Brosnan days, I've been dubious about the idea that I should empathise with a trained government assassin because he gets a bit sad sometimes.
I may be wrong, but my instinct is she was pedalling this long before she brought it up in the 2017 interview. Sometimes lies become so intertwined into your personal narrative that you start to believe them yourself, or at least, you start to believe that they are unassailable. Erm, so I'm told.
The Tories are descending into irrelevance through their inability (previously their superpower) to reinvent/pivot to a winning position. If Labour continues on this path, it will suffer the same fate. You don't beat racists by pandering to them. You beat them by taking them on and exposing them.
Why is she even in the position that she has to defend this? How can no one inside Labour see the glaring flaws in their approach? That it will simply validate the abhorrent views of Farage and his supporters. That it will garner no votes for them from that quarter. That it has alienated their base.
Now here she is, validating the ridiculous claims of the right by suggesting that they are going to attempt to reform a key provision of the ECHR. Of course she has to accept the collective responsibility of the govt with regards to its talking points, but what the hell are Labour playing at?
I was quite impressed by Bridget Phillipson in opposition. She seemed to be doing good groundwork for her education brief in government. I've seen little indication she is doing much, except making support harder to get for SEND kids but at 1 year in, I would still give her the benefit of the doubt.
To be clear what is at stake here, some highlights from the guidance... Your right to determine your sexual orientation, lifestyle, your look and dress. Your right to control who sees and touches your body Your right to develop your personal identity and to forge relationships. Full details ⬇️
New Brighton?
It was the walking out of a shop, forgetting to pay for its Pedigree Chum that really clinched it for Larry.
Duo inferred that from my failure to conjugate three verbs? AI is getting scary! And rude.
I reject this hypothesis and present as evidence everything she ever did and said before the lettuce.
I was about to share an identical screengrab to this. I had to read it about 4 times just to get a handle on all the contradictions and confused messages in this paragraph.
"Nobody criticise the govt for taking an abhorrent position on immigration and welfare, or we might end up with Reform!" is at best a confused take.
I’ve developed a strong Pavlovian response to Alex’s introduction and Marianna Sangita’s brilliant theme tune to @alexpodyssey.bsky.social I feel an immediate sense of wellbeing and excited anticipation as soon as I hear it.
If you’re fed up with the disproportionate amount of coverage Sky News gives to this attention hungry grifter @bestforbritain.org have a form complaint email you can send with the click of a button. Can’t wait for his hysterical victimisation claims if it works.
It was really striking the way the doc subtly contrasted his response to having to give up his GC ambitions and work for the team and the way Pidcock did. Probably created an unfair comparison but his heart and maturity shone through. Made up for him getting his stage today. Chapeau.
📜 New AESOP I - Virtue Signaller or Fake News Merchant? 🏛️ Part One of Three: Stories have had a moral for as long as we've had stories. So why is Aesop, enduringly, one of the few moralists we accept can dish it out? 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/0lP7... 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
Anyone who’s ever tried to buy sweets at a shop near a high school could tell you that this isn’t going to work.
Far be it for me to question an expert, but if being housed on a 3 storey, legionella infested, floating fire hazard, or in squalid, facist targeted 'hotels', or Rwanda threats don't "change people’s assessment", why would the possibility of being sent back to France? www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c7...
An opinion that I share with literally none of my (small p) peers is that The Lords needs considerable reform but shouldn't be democratically elected. No one makes the case better than @iandunt.bsky.social and now is a crucial moment open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
So all the good stuff that should be in there gets derailed by the dissonance of the stuff that shouldn’t.
The reason this #Labour government is so very bad at #politics, is the same reason that I’m bad at making playlists of classical music. There’s loads that I like and want to include, but I know so little about the subject as a whole that there is never any consistent theme tying it all together.
I suspect that you’ll find more detailed, analysis in her actual journalism. But reporting verbatim, without an immediate, superficial, knee jerk reaction is not the same as complicity. For the record, I think it’s BS too but you and I don’t have to worry about maintaining a journalistic method.
She’s a reporter, reporting verbatim what the PM said. How is she helping him lie?
TWICE!!!
This reminded me of a story my Dad used to tell about driving these for Liverpool A-Division bsky.app/profile/spid...
3rd Party insurance wasn't required then. I wonder if he had any. Apparently he never did it again. Given Dad's other stories, I'm surprised a little thing like lack of evidence stopped them though. *Related from memory, so possible that there are minor historical inaccuracies in this account. 6/6
"The last time it happened, I called a station in Lancashire and the sgt who answered told me 'Oh aye. We found it. Terrible state that those thieves left it in this time though! They've smashed in lights, windscreen, slashed tyres and leather seats. Scratches and dents all over paintwork!'" 5/6
After 2 or 3 times we got used to this, so we'd ring around the neighbouring forces to see if anyone had found the car. It seems like we weren't the only people who had figured out his ruse." The police who kept finding it clearly knew the score too and had their own way of dealing with it. 4/6
Once he had lost us, he would park the car up somewhere, lock it, get back home somehow and report the car as stolen. We knew it was the same guy doing it, but in the days before CCTV or cameras on the cars, we couldn't prove anything. 3/6
There was one fella used to speed around the city to goad us into chasing him in his (I think he said) E-Type. He would get a couple of us chasing him around the city, knowing we had to be a bit more careful of pedestrians than he was, then he would head out towards more rural roads. 2/6
My Dad drove minis just like these when he was a policeman ('bobby') in Liverpool A-Division around this time. He told me this story "There wasn't much that could outrun you in the city, at least if it was dry. But if a quick car got out onto longer, straighter roads you'd lose them. 🧵1/6
It's in London. He should try it. It might be the start of a journey of self-discovery g-a-yandheaven.co.uk
My suspicion is #Visma set challenging output targets for the #Dauphiné and stuck to them with their usual discipline. They’ve learned a lot about where #Pogačar is at and how he’ll respond, while keeping their own cards close to their chest. I reckon they got exactly what they came for. #cycling
I got a strong sense (probably imagined) that the seller was gamely hiding a look that said “I think you picked the wrong one”. Then I went back to my wife waiting nearby and showed her. The first thing she said was, “You picked the wrong one.”
So the very patient bookseller from @chorleywoodbooks.bsky.social waited while I apologetically checked my bank app, then transferred funds. When offered a choice of badge I opted for ‘Weirdly Normal’ over ‘Normally Weird’ as I felt like that described my understanding of my ADHD the best.
Went to listen to the wonderfully chaotic ramblings of @robinince.bsky.social at the Lowry. In the interval I bought his book. Despite some time in the queue, I forgot to check I had money in my spends account (my money juggling would require another thread on its own) until the point of purchase.
Forever emulating his hero: "I, personally, doubt whether [the tank] will ever again see the palmy days of 1918... the anti tank rifle and the anti-tank gun have made such great strides that the poor tank cannot carry enough thick skin to stay up to them." Churchill, 2 years before WW2.
It was a frustrating wait but I’m glad I did it. If you do go down that path, make sure to check with your GP that they will accept the diagnosis. I’ve heard that some won’t accept a diagnosis from a private service, even RTC.
Do you mean the waiting list for meds or for assessment? If you are in England, Right to Choose makes it possible to get assessed by certain private providers through the NHS and the wait is likely to be shorter. Was still 18 months for me. adhduk.co.uk/right-to-cho...
Additionally, who knows when I would even get meds at this point
Is that possible without meds? I'm concerned about side-effects. Can I train myself to do that? At almost 50, I feel I've become better than I used to be, and knowing why I do some of these things does make a difference. But despite adjusting my strategies, I still fall at the same hurdles.
I suppose what I want is to be able to work on big projects without losing momentum or being overwhelmed. I want to be able to conduct research, including in dryer subjects, without finding that I have inexplicably detoured into some random area that I find more interesting in the moment.
Recently diagnosed with ADHD. Of course, by the time I got the diagnosis, I already knew. And I also knew that my options are basically - medication, counselling/CBT, coaching or some mixture of these. I've lost momentum in making the decision because ADHD. I'm not sure what each option will achieve
Glorious as always from @mrhenrymorris.bsky.social - “the biggest cutback we’ve made is on Lee [Anderson]’s 16% coarse mix cattle feed, and holidays.” open.substack.com/pub/mrhenrym...
Do you think this is the calculation that McSweeney and others have made? Go head to head vs Farage rather than a resurgent (don’t laugh, it could happen) Conservative opposition. Fighting on Reform’s ground to cement that choice in voters’ minds.
I have many criticisms of the PM, but privately educated, former city trader Nigel Facist claiming that Starmer doesn’t know hard work, or what working people experience is unbelievable chutzpah. The audacity of an MP barely seen in parliament or constituency to say this is mind boggling.
Is that how many kids they’ve had since this show started? #eurovision
The campaign for an Estonia Sweden collab starts here #eurovision
LOOK OUT, THERE’S A BUMBLEBEE IN YOUR GIANT MOUTH! #eurovision
They’re the ones I don’t want to miss!
#switzerland pulling a reverse Father Ted to avoid hosting next year by entering a song far too good for #eurovision
#armenia certainly is a survivor. He looks like he just dug himself up #eurovision
I was hoping the #italy entry would be a musical response to the #estonia song. Still Italian Ziggy Stardust works too #eurov
I like that #netherlands chorus works in French and English. Sort of. I’m easily pleased on #eurovision night.
Very nautical #eurovision this year
#eurovision #austria you’re never going to return the heart of Te Fiti with that sort of behaviour
Yes, but we’re the coolest losers #TheEconomist
Vogue posting this on, of all places, Facebook. Their clickbait game is next level.
I don’t think she is suggesting for a moment that journalists shouldn’t take Reform policies apart, in fact she states clearly that they should all “do more”. She’s just pointing out that it won’t have any impact on the majority of Reform voters.
I’ve always found this annoying. It’s a favourite technique of certain Today programme presenters. I watched the Walden/Thatcher interview when the recent drama about it came out and was struck by how much he did it too.
Hallelujah to that!
I found myself looking at a portrait of a lady in a National Trust property today and was amused to notice her holding a pomegranate, the significance of which I may have missed were it not for the recent Persephone episode.
Thoroughly recommend the wonderful exploration of Greek mythology #Podyssey from @sturdyalex.bsky.social. Each episode is beautiful recounting of a myth, a deconstruction of its probable origins and an exploration of the tendrils of language and ideas that still reach into every one of our lives.
More Superman and more Batman and more Spider-Man and more Avengers, hey let’s reboot Robin Hood, we haven’t done that for a while and more Spider-Man and some X-Men and more Batman and new Star Wars and more Superman for ever and ever and ever and ever!
Has anyone been keeping a list of subjects you “need to do a whole podcast about at some point”? There seems to be at least one every episode of (the excellent) #notanotherone podcast. @greenmirandahere.bsky.social @steverichards.bsky.social @iainmartin1.bsky.social
Did anyone ask him why he isn’t wearing a suit?
At this point, I’m struggling to think what kompromat could he possibly be worried about? He’s proven multiple times that his supporters will accept any explanation for any misdeed and the supine GOP in Congress will go along with it.
I’m desperately trying to find a reason not to give up my membership of Labour but I really can’t think of any. I no longer want to feel like I am contributing to this @teamlabouruk.bsky.social
Watching #labour and #tories argue over who is most ruthless in their treatment of refugees at #pmqs today, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more politically homeless.
In one of those moments of lovely coincidence, I read this post shortly before one from @susiedent.com about the word ‘philocaly’ - a love of beauty, even in the smallest things.
Really enjoyed the first episode. Great range of perspectives as always. It must be a relief for you all to be able to reference Thatcher ad infinitum with impunity.
This is a hostile takeover of the federal government by a private citizen of unlimited means with no restrictions and no transparency. Welcome to the Deep State www.reuters.com/world/us/mus...
Watching great classic or indie films at independent cinemas is one of the things I miss most since I moved away from London. The Prince Charles is the jewel in the crown of independent cinemas in the capital. It would be a tragedy if we were to lose it you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...
I'll miss it. I'll miss Orla and Adam's daft arguments, Robbie's dorky dad jokes, the weird, uncanny valley aspect of the virtual studio and the Breakaway team bus. But most of all, I'm going to miss watching the passionate, thrilling, moving, superhuman, fascinating sport I fell in love with. 10/10
Maybe some cycling fans want to see cycling alongside these other sports. I don't personally. But the point is, if I did, I could walk into 90% of the pubs in this country to watch them. Games are on BBC, Sky, Prime, BT Sport. Football and rugby fans aren't being held to ransom by one provider. 9/10
And are we saying that there is such a dearth of investment in the sport that it is dependent on WBD more than quadrupling the price for people to watch it? The truth is, I just can't afford it now. I can't justify it. Even if I could, I would refuse on principle to go along with this mugging. 8/10
Yes, the survival of the sport requires investment & some of that will always be from broadcasters/streamers. That doesn't justify one broadcaster having a monopoly. If it's the sport's survival you're concerned for, making it harder for people to watch the sport is probably not the strategy 7/10
I know that the talent have to get in line and defend this to some extent because for them, this is the only show in town now. Still, it's incredibly sad to see presenters that I've genuine affection for, like @sportsorla.bsky.social and @robhatch.bsky.social making tenuous arguments like this 6/10
According to Warner Bros Discovery, offering some highlights and a magazine programme for free on Youtube and Quest, will grow the cycling audience. More, apparently, than offering actual, live cycling at a price that people can afford. 5/10
The decision that #WBD have taken to discontinue Eurosport in the UK and Ireland in favour of TNT Sports and to make their online offering part of a £30.99 per month 'Premium' subscription, feels like a slap in the face. www.cyclist.co.uk/news/eurospo... 4/10
Almost every international event across multiple disciplines for a very reasonable monthly price of £6.99. Cycling was literally the only thing I used the service for, so at £83.88 per year, it was a fair price for a sport that still occupies niche status in the UK. 3/10
As someone who's been a zealous convert to watching #procycling in the last five or six years, it was great having access to so much through a subscription to #discovery+. It was a bargain and we were spoiled. 2/10
I know there are worse things to get upset about right now, but I need to express my frustration with #warnerbrosdiscovery decision to more than quadruple the cost of their subscription service, currently the only way to watch professional cycling in the UK. A🧵 1/10
This is an absolute travesty. For this year at least, TDF will still be on ITV. From next year WBD have full exclusive rights, so even that will go.