| Angry Blokes Seasons |
[Dec. 15th, 2011|06:18 pm] |
It's better than the female equivalent on your smart phones. Basically, all you need is a fist, a skinful of ale and BHAM, the aim is to just hit equally drunk men who also clearly have very small penises. Not exclusively festive it does seem to be more popular in the run up to Christmas. Now I do accept there is nothing worse than a regular drinking partner who, for a multitude of reasons, was driving and therefore completely sober. But on Tuesday i saw ABS in action and hilarious it was too. Not at the time but certainly in hindsight. Makes me want to be a policeman as, frankly, testesterone fuelled idiots who have nothing to lose by walking away from a (completely abusive) stranger just feel the need to fight back. So I'm really looking forward to this game's Easter update because there will no doubt certainly be cracking of eggs.... Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone. |
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| It's the end of the year as we know it |
[Dec. 12th, 2011|10:11 am] |
Yesterday I compiled my Yuletide long list of the best songs of 2011 and will whittle the 30 down to 10. How I'll do it I have no idea. In fact, I may also need to blog what are, in my opinion, the best albums of 2011 too. I can say its been a good and diverse musical year. What I cannot yet say is what will come out as what I perceive to be the best of the best. Am certainly having fun listening objectively though. And isn't that the point? Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone. |
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| Final salary pension schemes are evil |
[Dec. 9th, 2011|01:55 pm] |
Recently someone I know described the national lottery as a tax on hope. Which is quite right because this whole "you need to be in it to win it" completely misrepresents the reality of throwing your money away compared to the odds of ever winning big. But the reverse is the case with a final salary pension scheme. Simply by paying away every month you do attain your lottery win and get a payout completely askew to economic fundamentals. Oh I've got something of a final salary scheme somewhere in my past. And, of course, they should stay as agreed. They were financed from earnings of the day so there is a pot there to honour those commitments. Old "defined benefits" schemes were not evil, just naieve But a pension should not be an excuse for hope. It should not be something marketed as a safety net, as a guarantee or - goodness - even a right. It is part of a solution. You have 40+ working years to make provision for your retirement. A company pension scheme is only going to be part of the liquid cash Private companies have made no bones about shifting the responsibility onto the shoulders of the individual rather than the firm. Which is what market forces presently dictate. Yes, there may be a few private final salary schemes out there but their fate is that of all the other dinosaurs. So final salary pension schemes are evil? Absolutely. They give their members hope that their future has guarantees; they don't encourage individuals to make their own provision but create a false sense of security that the employer cares after you've finished being employed; they shaft shareholders (taxpayers are shareholders in public sector businesses) and they are irresponsible financial instruments in what should be safe company scenarios. A government is just a big company and no company can be so in favour of their employees at the expense of their clients (us). And shareholders (mainly us) Hey - this makes governments evil too in encouraging final salary schemes, albeit in a more limited capacity. Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone. |
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| Sticks and stones |
[Dec. 5th, 2011|07:26 pm] |
Apparently a listener to Radio Five live was reassured that it had been Jeremy Clarkson and not Jeremy Paxman who had, in the space of 3 short days, advocated the shooting of striking public sector workers in front of their families and also leave the strewn body parts of railway suicides to the wild animals. Not at all. Whether Clarkson or Paxman a hack is a hack. Commentators - and, let's be very clear here, any journalist with a self appreciation tag in tow is a commentator first and foremost - are there to push the envelope; generate a reaction and ultimately entertain ahead of educate. Noel Gallagher once said "please don't put your faith in a rock and roll star, they'll throw it all away" The same can be said of all our social commentators too. Let them entertain you or shock or make you cry or burst blood vessels. But whether a Clarkson, a Paxton, a Preston or a Littlejohn for goodness sake don't take them seriously enough to trust they actually believe what they are advocating. Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone. |
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| Back in Black |
[Jan. 6th, 2011|12:00 am] |
So I've been unfaithful these last two years or so. its true I was never tempted by Twitter but Facebook did turn my head for a while.
But, whilst it has its uses as a social networking tool, it is far too limiting from an expressive stance.
So I'm back.
But in black. A good friend died over the Christmas break and I'm not sure how to handle the fact that such a vibrant life captured in the digital equivalent of celluloid during a short break in Scotland is now no more.
Lets see where this takes me anyway.
JB |
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| bits and bytes |
[Nov. 28th, 2007|10:08 pm] |
so tonight i lost to my mate phil on pro-evolution soccer on the ps3. nothing strange there i hear you say.
except phil was 11 miles away.
it seems just like yesterday when your video recorder had a long thick wire connecting it to the remote control. i know my children do not remeber vinyl and the ampliphication of the friction picked up by the needle. or how 'mike tv' in the original willy wonka's chocolate factory was passed through space in tiny particles to ends up on a tv screen.
its all amazing stuff. each of those three examples still beyond the technological capabilities of anyone who is reading this blog.
yet now i do not need a physical friend (actually, as it happens, thats just as well) to play a game against; i dont need a standalone player for music and i do not need a video recorder because even if i am so 2005 and have a dvd recorder, these days the content providers allow pretty much on demand access via the web.
is this good? undoubely so. the advances in technology are mind numbingly briliant. so much so, i would feel confident in having open heat surgery with the surgeon in the uk and the procedure being filmed on a mobile phone and simply direced by him whilst im dying in the amazon. well, not quite. but i would be reassured if i was beaten up in camden and the parameic was simply a film crew with me getting checked over remotely by the doc in an online hospital somewhere.
what is slightl less reassuring is that none o the children that i know - not mine, those of my friends or even those of my enemie, will ever grow up to be scientists to maintain this fantastic technological advance. They'll end up as bankers, lawyers, teachers and accountants. ok, there may be th odd doctor in there but nothing else which you could describ as cutting edge.
so we rely on the technolgy, are amazed by it but yet we do not inspire our children to take it on to the next level. i genuinely dont have an answer.
is akin to u adult bits not being able to speak a foreignlanguage. whilstwe arrogantly said, 'why learn frnch when the world speaks english?' will our childen then e think 'why create i'm not japanese?'
dunno.
still, phil's damn good at that online soccer. unlike any real englishman that pulls on the 3 lions these days.
JB |
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| the thin edge of the wedge |
[Nov. 27th, 2007|05:28 pm] |
on november 30th 2007 a bank operating in the UK under UK law and regulated by the financial services authority will introduce a policy directly as a result of legislation in the united states.
of course they can. banks have terms and conditions and are shareholder owned. as long as their actions are not discriminatory they can do what they want.
but where does the line get drawn? what is discriminatory? and what these days are human rights?
i would like to think i have the right to spend my own money however i choose as long as it is deemed legal. so, for example, i can buy drugs in amsterdam but understand why i cannot in london. but i can chew gum in london but understand why i cannot in singapore. and i can name a teddy bear mohammed and draw a picture of him but now no that this would not be a wise course of action anywhere for fear of offending anyone.
i would also like to think i can register my uk bank card online with a gambling site and pay for their services this way. but if i bank with a 'global' bank and not a 'uk' bank seemingly i cannot.
so i cannot use my 'global' bank details to register with, say, 888.com but i can use it to buy a national lottery ticket. apparently. even though most employees will find their work computer's do not let you access the winning lottery numbers online because its a gambling site.
oh dear oh dear oh dear. now where is the consistency in this?
'global' banks are driving policy based on the US Patriots Act which deems online gambling illegal. 'global' banks will not act in the accordance of the free market in your jurisdiction but enforce US legislation on you.
is this a breach of a moderate UK gambler's human rights? is it discrimination?
i would love to see someone test it out in the european court.
and whilst i'm not a gambling man, i'd bet that person would win!
JB |
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| calling in |
[Nov. 26th, 2007|04:36 pm] |
i'm a banker. bankers collect in debts when due.
weirdness. you still owe me £60 from Oslo. Just so you know
(interest accrues at 16.9% apr, loans are repayable on demand etc etc etc) |
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| and the band played on.... |
[Nov. 25th, 2007|10:39 pm] |
i was hopeful. the salesman seemed in good spirits, i expected the - oh i forget what i call people round here - Max to be supportive and the photocopying repair man to be enthusiastic. four against one would be fine...
in fact, the vocalist was in a compromising mood and it was the photocopying repair man whjo i thought was a bit grumpy but was later told that he was in fact nervous about playing. he shouldn't have been. best drummer i've heard for ages. not once did i think about keeping rhythm which means he was rock solid. still a bit miserable though.
so yeah it went well. we did three or four songs. we'll get an album by the time of the london olympics. if someone learns how to use a digital recorder! i hold my hand up here as well. we had three digital recorders with us, only one had learnt how to use his so when it all get wiped/non recorded then those of us who didn't think about backing up at the same time are equally as guilty.
so yeah. nothing worthwhile got recorded. but we did get some good stuff and i'm taking my digital recorder instruction to bed with me tonight.
so what else? the curry afterwards was awful - remind me never to order the korma again. yuk. still, they all had their partners there - the wag (wives and girlfriend) except the salesman cos Red takes the opportunity not to see him. Yummy looked really good 5 months on. Yoko wasn't being Yoko at all.
thank heaven for mobile phones is what is say.
salesman snored like a trooper.
getting old. had a nap around 7pm so not overly tired now. will be in the morning though. its work again. fuck.
oh yeah - hello weird steve!
JB |
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