A terrifying encounter for all concerned

Personally I’d lump that in with the economic problems category. I don’t personally want kids but it wouldn’t deter me if I did.

Ooft as if I needed fewer reasons to buy a PS5 Pro

There’s a British film called All My Friends Hate Me from 2021 which covered a lot of the same themes but I think was more successful in terms of capturing the social anxiety of the main character. It’s incredibly funny but uses tropes from the horror genre to really emphasise the paranoia the main character is feeling.

Friendship felt very safe, for lack of a better word. It was cringe but had a soft edge to it like the US Office.

I thought it was great. Nice to see a new IP succeeding too. The twins being superficially, uh identical, while being played by the same actor could have backfired but I felt like the film did well to give them their own distinct personalities.

One thing that stuck with me was the racial politics of the vampire coven. When people were turned to vampires they became homogenised and lost part of their person/self and this seemed to be a metaphor for people losing their black identity by being forcibly integrated into a white system. It was unclear whether they recovered some of their personhood when the head vampire was killed but I think that’s what the film was saying in the post-credits scene.

I think the whole “wrong generation” thing is a bit of a misconception, at least in terms of culture. Say you really love 60s culture, you can dress like you are in the 60s and listen to all the music from that time - including obscure stuff your local record store wouldn’t have had then but likely do now. Then additionally you can also listen to the odd song for the 70s and 80s if they take your fancy. The 60s are a part of pop culture and you can swim in that stream for as long as you want.

Socially as well, I think people underestimate how much latitude we are given to be individuals in modern society vs even like 30 years ago where social pressures to conform were stronger.

Economically I think there could be some cause for concern for the future but there were really tough economic times in the past too. Stagflation in the late 70s for example is worse than what we are experiencing at the moment. Having a kid could be something people treat like buying a property and waiting for the ideal time to do it; however, property prices are unpredictable and trying to judge it perfectly is like trying to catch a falling knife. The best advice is just to buy a property when you can afford it, and that probably holds true for having a kid too (assuming you want one… that’s another benefit of living in contemporary times!)

I work in that industry and it’s really not thriving in the UK from what I’ve seen. I work for a US brand and that’s really where all the money is. In the UK younger people are (sensibly) not picking up the habit, additionally the new (sensible) government safeguards are making people prove they can afford to gamble over a certain amount. I don’t know if they’ve introduced this proposal yet but it’s being discussed making gamblers submit bank statements to prove they can afford it if they gamble more than £1000 in a month - which seems like a great idea.

In french it’s “hon hon hon blah blah blah hon hon”

Thought might have been whooshed by a really subtle pun there.

Edit: Nevertheless, “calm down” is technically correct too

Uh I think he has discovered the calm down because I’ve only ever heard of comedowns lol

GOATed Godzilla film. Minus One is a close 2nd. Maybe followed by Destroy All Monsters.

Yeah clubs/societies are the places to meet people. No one wants so socialise in class.

Some of the radio puzzles are unforgettable

It’s not like Scotland has a flawless track record! Part of the reason why we unified with England was that our experiment being colonialists was an expensive mistake. Managed to make some of that back being involved in the triangular trade route sugar industry.

Fascinating. Thanks for explaining!

It’s weird in Scotland where we have “cuddly nationalism”, you see saltires everywhere. My wife is from England and one of the things she remarked on moving up here was how the St George’s Cross would look mental hanging in all the places the saltire is.

One thing I was interested in about this news story is that “airline ticket” cost increases have been a major factor. I know that they use a weighted basket of goods, but I thought the basket was relatively static, as in it is a fairly big event when they change the goods/services in it.

Do we have flights as a year-round feature in the basket of goods? I think they make sense in summer but less so in winter.

Yes, both.

Nicotine: will hit my wife’s vape or buy a pack of nicotine pouches during the week. At the weekend I’ll buy a pack of cigarettes becauss I like smoking at the pub. Main deterence is how expensive it is but I feel like I’d only get a 10 deck at the weekend if they still sold them in the UK. Healthwise, living in the city is roughly equivalent to smoking a few cigarettes a day so I think I’m just tinkering around the edges.

Alcohol: I’ll have a beer or some wine most days. More when I’m out at the weekend. Probably drink too much but I enjoy it. Social activity.

Edit - millenial

Even at the time he garnered a lot of controversy for those remarks and it would be fair to say that his comments have made him beyond the pale for some people.

At the same time, he’s got a complicated legacy where he raised the profile of the performing arts in Scotland. Additionally, he was born almost 100 years ago so it maybe shouldn’t be too surprising that he had some backwards attitudes.

tax dodger == non-dom? You see that quite a lot with Scottish celebrities. Irvine Welsh springs to mind too and his work is more explicitly political.

I think Jackie Brown is overlooked when people are ranking his ouevre