pap

Should have known better. This is 2013, FFS.

My daughter does this. Here is the comeback you must use. "Dad, we've got to be there in like, 20 minutes" "What, like 19 minutes or 21?"

Ah, boll*cks. Family is for all year round, not just for Christmas.

This dubai_phillip thing is very presumptious, bletch. What if the full form is dubai_philomena, and our Dubai-based poster is just pretending to be a bloke so she gets basic human rights?

Remember, none of that language around the nippers or ms pap!

Arcade Fire headlining:- http://www.nme.com/news/arcade-fire/74519 We were already, already there

The quote comes from Vince Cable. Take it up with him, or discuss the merits of the argument here.

Funnily enough, Brendan Rodgers was saying Tan was clueless about football in his press conference. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/dec/19/brendan-rodgers-blasts-vincent-tan-cardiff-city-owner

There are certain things that make me feel old. My beard now has two permanent white bits. I look like a catfish when I try to grow it out. Eyebrows seem to be getting longer. Every month, ms pap announces a new "personal best" in the eyebrow length department, and she's not wrong. The kids (including my nieces and nephs) are genuinely my last connection to youth. I would not know half the acronyms I do without their assistance. My two favourites? FML = F*ck me life! FTM = F*ck the Matrix I'm especially proud of the yoof for that last one

I insist on pronouncing his name "Michael Bubble". Casual envy drives this slight. Lucky get.

Having reviewed two videos full of evidence, I'm less worried about this pair. They're going to collide with a cynical British culture that will look them in the eye, see them looking each other in the eyes, dismiss it as a load of gooey mess and retreat to make a cup of tea. Do not let me down, countrymen.

I wonder if my honourable friend on the other side of the house agrees that this might be game, set and match.

That, for the uninitiated, is an invitation to a virtual massacre. "have a few beers, pap" = my already crap reflexes, coupled with complete non-knowledge of Counter Strike Maps, will have me in spectator mode for most of the evening. The savvy will know what I mean.

So:- 1) you were coming here for 3 1/2 years before you decided to create an account and start posting. 2) kept track of Verbal's Registered User/Full Member status throughout ? You are one careful shopper, sir. I trust you feel your five pounds was well spent?

I know you're not in the business of starting threads, but generally, it goes down like this if you want to avoid the hanging "discuss?" calamity. Pick a topic, preferably one that will divide opinion. Pose a couple of provocative questions, and see what the response is. As far as I can tell, I haven't offered one opinion of my own on the subject yet. Your posts on this thread suggest a lot of pre-judgement and very little reading. You missed the headline, the quote, the suggestion that decentralisation might be one means to curb London's power ("it's about central government", you say - as if the point hadn't already been made). FWIW, I think London a fantastic city. I've worked there, met some extremely bright people and it doesn't deserve the reputation of unfriendliness that it gets. Most people are not from the city and have an incentive to make friends, at least that was my experience. I don't agree with your assessment that the provinces can't or don't compete. I've worked in very similar businesses in both London and the North West and have seen plucky forty-person design agencies snatch huge accounts from London-based behemoths. Anyway, for someone who is taking the hump about stereotypes, you're being very dismissive about the achievements of the provinces, perhaps because you are not aware of them. The lowly city of Dundee, for example, is a nerve centre of videogame development. GTA was conceived and originally developed north of the border. Northern Ireland excels in aviation. The likes of Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool have been producing excellent bands for years. There's a reason that Liverpool is the only other city that most foreigners know other than London, and it isn't because the Kinks were more famous than the Beatles. London too, has contributed greatly to all parts of British life, but it's the "provincial salary can take the strain" attitude that gets it much of its bad name. It's not so bad when you have a clan of visiting cockneys arriving in Swaythling remarking on how "good it is to be in the country". I get it. They're a mile or two away from actual huge, green spaces. Your attitude seems to be the inverse. "Ha ha! I'm in London, and you provincial slugabeds are not". I paraphrase and openly admit to a bit of Wurzel licence here, of course - but that's the vibe I'm getting. It is a superb city, somewhere I'd definitely consider living later in life, but as Stephanie Flanders video points out, it is almost like being in a different country. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask why London has raced so far ahead of other cities, or whether it's worthwhile attempting to redress the balance.

Just Cause 2 = £1.99 on Steam atm. Multiplayer mod has just been released. Chaotic, but brilliant.

I suppose that an international man of mystery such as yourself would be more used to eating pups than cooing at them. I'm a dog man and therefore a sucker for pup pics, especially when a good mate gets a dog. You have my unwavering support on the other issue though. It's like a plague of morons suddenly believing they have creative skills.

Are there any pictures of him wearing trousers? (the ones you put on, not our lad)

Amen to that, you peasant hunting capitalist pig-dog

How much can you get wrong in one post? What do you feel you added here?

Nah, f*ck that. I'm not going out of my way, mate. I've got some Chrimbo shopping to do. Suggest pint one afternoon in town and all further correspondence to be conducted via PM.

Zing!

Are you :- a) celebrating Kim Basinger b) testing the water for a middle aged swingers club ?

Bleurgh. Also, Pixies "Where is my mind?". The original is far better employed at the end of Fight Club.

Completely agree.