Atticus

If this was 20 years ago I'd probably consider it (I was younger, more stupid and the police were less capable of detection). But now......wouldn't risk it bud. The Scottish police crack down pretty hard on driving on drugs and I'd hate to be responsible for an accident.

Definitely not worth losing my licence and getting a criminal record to make a principled stand on whether or not I can drive with a good stone on.

Yeah....got far too wasted to drive, so watched whole of S1 of Veep. Excellent stuff.

Now deciding what to watch next. Dredd, Skyfall or Avengers.....or start S1 of Borgen? Or House of Cards (uk version)?

Got a full day to myself tomorrow, thanks to my poor memory and an unexpected local holiday.

So, what to do? I can either:

- get stoned & watch season 1 of Veep which us arriving tomorrow, courtesy of a tax-avoiding amazon.

- go off to the cinema to catch Man of Steel, which, strangely, I haven't seen yet.

Opinions?

If your concern is with all the crap they put in highly processed drinks, I'd think that a double concentrated cola additive may just be a bit more full of crap than Coke.

And as Lou says, if you're drinking spirits anyway the healthiness or otherwise of your mixer may be a moot point.

Hey, you may be right. I may be crazy.

 

 

"She'll carelessly cut you then laugh as your bleeding" is a great line, I've always thought.

The man's full of brillant lines. Two of my faves in Piano Man alone:

"son can you play me a memory, I'm not really sure how it goes. But it's sad & it's sweet, and I knew it complete when I wore a younger man's clothes"

"they're sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it's better than drinking alone"

I suppose I should be looking at some Iain Banks next: The Bridge might be a good place to start...

Just started The Quarry. Thankfully, the story isn't told from the viewpoint of the cancer-sufferer (which I thought, given how things turned out, may have felt a bit too pat as well as a bit ghoulish) but from the point of view of his 18 year old autistic son.

Typical Banks checklist:

Rambling country house? Check

Ensemble cast gathering for an important event? Check

Mystery plot element which may or may not just turn out to be a McGuffin*? Check

Elaborate family ties? Check

Only a fifth of the way through it, but looking good so far.

*I know McGuffin is generally a cinematic term, but I don't know if there is a comparable literary word

Oh this is most defintely true, in general.

But Rick had an opportunity to take out the leader handed to him on a plate. I know they had a plan, but plans have to be able to change with the circumstances.

The only thing that let him down was a total wildcard, the dodgy ammo; the rest of the idea worked, and even though Negan had back-up nearby it wouldn't have stopped Rick putting a properly made bullet in his skull. The back-up would have been easier to handle without their boss.

It was definitely a gamble but the odds were in Rick's favour and I still think he was right to take it in this situation. Even though he lost.

Can any of you suggest a mixer for, say, scotch ......... that would be a good substitute for cola?

As a traditionalist I'd say NO!!!! to any type of mixer for scotch. But then, I do drink far too much, so my example probably isn't the best to follow.

Oh come on! Rick had an opportunity to get Negan while his guard was down, I thought it was a good idea to take the chance.

Obviously, he should have maybe tried out Eugene's home-made ammunition before such a crucial time. Having the gun blow up in his only hand isn't going to do him any favours.

Still, I can't see how he's going to get out of this one unless Negan does the typical villain "no, I won't kill you yet. I want to keep you alive to suffer (and long enough to come up with another plan to defeat me)" thing. The Governor made the same mistake, and I'd hate to see Kirkman re-hashing that scenario.

Maybe a combination of Andrea's sniper team and a horde of zombies attracted by the gunshots will save him, but I can't think of any credible reason Negan doesn't just put a bullet (or Lucille) through his head without further ado.

I declare a love for the music of Billy Joel.

 

You had to be a big shot, dincha?

Y'know what Lou? I don't care what you say anymore, this is MY life. Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone.

It's ridiculously mainstream, highly unfashionable and will probably draw unspoken (or possibly even spoken) derision from serious music fans, BUT ......

I declare a love for the music of Billy Joel.

Let's just say I'm revelling in the UK getting #112 a week before the rest (after having to avoid TWD thread for 3 weeks for fear of spoilers because #111 was late).

And, obviously, ripping the piss.

TWD #112 was a joy to behold after these long months of not very much happening. I can't believe Negan would do that to Andrea and Carl, and the off-panel "thud" as - apparently - Rick's severed head hit the floor leaves me counting the days till the next issue.

Can't wait to find out how Eugene managed to resurrect and heal Lori - is it all a dream or is this the final days of the zombie plague? And the dragons, man! Where did they come from? Are they connected to the zombification or something else entirely? If this is what it takes to band the Saviours and survivors of Rick's group together it'll totally shift the book's dynamic.

Shark-jumping in an awesome fashion.

I'm lucky - I have both.

Aye, it might be seen as a gimmick, but Hawkeye #11 already one of my favourite comics of the year. Glad I jumped onto this title.

Like the wordless Batman & Robin #18 (another high point) the artwork really tells the story, but this does it in a far more innovative way. The diagrammatic sequences showing Lucky's tale are an absolute joy in their attention to detail, and tell the story in a way I've never seen before in a comic. For that reason, it outstrips Gleason's work on B&R #18, but admittedly doesn't have quite as big an emotional punch (which is hardly suprising, given the subject matter of each).

This method of getting all the little incidental details of the building's residents succeeds where a more conventional piece of artwork might fail. It enriches the story, and is easily understood by anyone who's ever put together an piece of Ikea furniture.

Top marks.

How more great could Hawkeye #11 be?

None more great

Arse. I missed that.

Dear god, were you in an isolation tank? The news was all over.

His final TV interview with Kirsty Wark was good and might still be kicking around BBC iPlayer. I'd certainly recommend a viewing.

Happy belated 40th Beki, you're looking rather fresh for your two-score if you don't mind me saying.

Obviously this clean-living gym-going lifestyle agrees with you.

Congrats!

(oh, and I like all the Doctors on the wall, but not as much as the dog photo-bombing your big moment!)

Wow. Someone who decided that someone else should make a movie that you end up disliking merits being called a "fuckwad"?

I'd hate to see what regard you hold for someone who actually crosses you in reality.

Good work on avoiding spoilers for ....Into Darkness, Lou. I too was surprised when the reveal came. Even though I'd had my suspicions I was unconvinced that they would go that way, so I was still so pleased when they came out with it - it was like waiting for your favourite line in a movie you already love.

As an aside, are we still in the period where we have to avoid spoilers here, or has everyone who intended to see it seen it by now?

Just seen this pic of World War Z. I only post it because it's more or less the view from my office window.

I wonder how many people will ask why there are statues of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Robert Burns, James Watt and a column to Sir Walter Scott in the middle of Philadelphia?

But I do hope we get a good showing for Greggs the bakers on the corner! You can't buy that kind of publicity.

this will be the second woman I will have married, she will be my first and last wife.

Ummm..... since you mentioned it, how does that work? Second woman you've married but this is your first wife?

Were you the celebrant at a previous marriage?

Congratulations are most definitely in order.

No, it just sent emails out saying "Hugh Parker has invited you to join Twitter".

I just feel weird about that sort of thing though, especially being sent to folk I have a business relationship with. Even amongst my friends I'd feel it comes off a bit needy and also a bit "look at me!"

I just think it makes me look a bit if an arse - and if they're going to think that I'd rather they thought it for a genuine reason (I'm pretty sure there are plenty).

I wouldn't ever tweet anything I wouldn't say to someone's face anyway, so it's not as if I'm worried about them reading anything incriminating or controversial.

Well, the folk that I've spoken to have just laughed about it. The ones I'm worried about are colleagues that I hardly see from one month to the next and are in more senior positions (a couple of whom I don't even particularly like). It just makes me look like an arsehole.