revolution saint

Saw 'The Force Awakens' yesterday at Harbour Lights and enjoyed it. It is very similar to 'A New Hope' but that's not such a bad thing and was different enough to merit the praise it has received. Overall I liked the fact that it didn't drown in CGI and end up looking like a computer game, and I especially liked that it didn't disappear up its own arse with a complicated back-story and become too interested in its own mythology. Neither is it too moody and mysterious. Compare it to what Dr Who has become now and it's a breath of fresh air - a lot could have gone wrong with this film but they've done a good job (I think). Only downside for me was the Kylo Ren character who I thought was pretty poor. Nowhere near scary enough - I'd rather they'd got some old actor capable of hamming it up to do the job (I know it wouldn't work with the plot but would have made a better baddie). The rest of the new characters were decent, the action and special effects were all good and it was great seeing some brilliant tie fighter and x-wing aerial duels again. Ultimately a very good kids film that'll work well with adults. A million times better than the prequels anyway.

Yes, go for the u**** version - well worth it. I've read everything by Stephen King except the dark tower series and have enjoyed all of his books. Personally I would add Christine and IT into the recommended list but they're all good. Enjoy them!

The democratic process isn't really for me anymore so I think I'll just sell my vote to whoever is the most desperate. It's up for grabs lads - make me an offer.

There's a shop in Rumbridge Street, Totton that could help you - they do a fairly wide range and would fit it as well. I didn't think they were that cheap though and specifically wanted an outset fire so ordered mine on the net and got someone local to install it.

Just finished 'Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter' by Tom Franklin and it was excellent. It's won crime novel of the year and had lots of critical praise. It's set in backwater Mississippi flitting between the early 1980's and current day. There's a couple of murders, racism and lots of secrets in a deadbeat and dying small town. Won't give any more away but well worth a read. Starts off a little slow but worth persevering with - definitely one of my favourite novels this year and I'd be surprised if it's not made into a film.

Won't be doing too much different - probably a BBQ with some Tory chums although they don't taste as nice as they used to. Bit bland really. Thanks for asking though.

At least it would give legitimacy, and, of course, it wouldn't be a monarchy anymore but an elected head of state. So provided there were regular elections to re-affirm that mandate then I wouldn't have a problem - it's what republicans are asking for. Personally I see no need for a head of state apart from the prime minister but I wouldn't argue with an elected one who is accountable, not above the law and can be removed by common consensus.

So briefly looking through this thread it seems like people like Mrs Windsor because she hasn't screwed anything up (this constitutes being a "good" monarch), even though they then say she hasn't actually any power to screw things up anyway. Seems like she can't lose then eh? Then perversely people don't want Charlie Windsor to become King because they don't like him and may abuse his apparently non-existent powers? Well that's the whole point of the system innit - you don't get to choose. It's Charlie's right to be monarch and you're just subjects. Your opinion doesn't count and doesn't matter.

The idea of birthright being the only thing you need to be head of state is barmy. I can't see anyone coming up with a decent argument for it because it's indefensible. Forget the money, forget what you'd replace it with - these are just hiding places for Monarchists. Personally I'd replace them with absolutely nothing - no need for them.

Jeremy does appear quite popular doesn't he? Especially for someone so unelectable. All this attracting people to join the party, playing to packed out houses and stuff like that - well, it's just plain silly. No one wins elections by being popular.....

I like Jeremy Corbyn and hope he wins - there's not much I've found to disagree with him over. I also think he stands a decent chance of attracting the majority of the non-tory vote, and certainly working with the non-tory MPs (except that UKIP one) so I don't think it would be electoral suicide to have him as leader although that would be a risk. Crucially though I don't see the other candidates as having any better prospects and if they do win then the malaise within the party will continue - you'd certainly see a large proportion of activists apathetic and unenthusiastic. Least with Corbyn it would be reinvigorated and more united. I also think that Corbyn is the best chance of giving Cameron a hard time and being an effective opposition leader - as a debater rather than image he's been quite effective so far. Worst comes to the worst then Corbyn would probably be replaced as leader before the next election anyway - it's a long way off and by that time maybe somebody better will have come along. Gamble worth taking and in the meantime at least we're talking policies that it seems a lot of people who joined the Labour Party actually agree with. There's also the possibility that the whole political argument could swing back a bit to the left - I'm fed up with everyone trying to appear as extreme as UKIP or tory right-wingers. Course it's all a matter of opinion. Each to their own and all that.

Virgil Hilts, the 'Cooler King', is the best Virgil ever.

To be honest you don't even need to try too hard to get SKY to reduce your subscription. Just phone them up and tell them you want to cancel. I did it three or four months ago and took the first offer they gave me which was a 50% reduction for 12 months. I've read other people have got even more. I guess your package is probably the same as mine as well. I did switch my broadband from them though and switched to BT - got the 37MB package for a tenner a month for 12 months. I'm sure I could get a cheaper TV and broadband package but I'm quite happy with what I've got at the moment.

Hack attack is pretty good. It's an account of the phone hacking scandal written by a guardian journalist. Quite an interesting piece of investigative journalism if you like that kind of thing.

Without wanting to divert the thread away from the main point this annoys me as well. The bloke who sits next to me in our office does it all the time - I'd like to kill him. The new facilities look good and thanks for writing the tour up.

Haven't really looked into this so I'm speaking from a position of relative ignorance but it looks fair on face value. I seem to recall the CBI and their ilk predicting small business closures and unemployment rises when the minimum wage was introduced and that didn't happen. At a time when wages have been hit hard and aren't increasing despite economic growth I'd say anything like this should be welcomed.

World Health Organisation? They should stick to worrying about ebola and stuff.

Typical "filler" type article. I used to think he was fairly good as a journalist but if this is what he's being asked to produce then he's fallen some way - it's the kind of article you ask the YTS kid to do in order to postpone that inevitable moment when he realises his lack of flair and imagination will form the backbone of a dull, unremarkable and pointless career. Indeed the last few times Jim White has appeared on TV he's looked more inclined to scan the floor in search of dog ends than capable of writing anything of note. Interestingly I'd make him 3rd worst journalist in my list of people I couldn't care less about.

Jeremy Clarkson may or may not be an intentional / unintentional racist but he's still a tw*t though, right?

Well, was as rubbish as I expected it to be. I deliberately engineered my answers towards a desired outcome and got it so these things really aren't that hard to manipulate at all. In the course of my research on these types of things I did come across the Forer Effect which was both interesting and relevant.

Currency union with an independent Scotland just wouldn't work, and wouldn't be in the interests of rUK. Why would we choose to saddle ourselves with a country over which we had no control? More importantly the markets would react badly and both economies would suffer because of the uncertainty and risk. There's simply no benefit for rUK in a currency union and trying to establish a working framework for it would be a nightmare. There will be some areas where working with Scotland would be mutually beneficial - there would be no point in imposing trade tariffs whilst they were waiting for EU membership. The same with work permits and many other things but a currency union isn't one of those things.

To be fair we elect politicians to represent us and politicians wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't secure the best deal for rUK - in a lot of cases that would mean hammering Scotland not out of spite but out of self-interest. Scotland and the SNP don't seem to have any problems trying to get the best deal for themselves and there's no reason rUK should feel guilty about doing the same. I'd agree it'll go down with the electorate pretty well but there's still legitimate reasons for making deals at the detriment to Scotland besides just popularity.

Regardless of which way the vote goes I can see there being a backlash afterwards from rUK. I'd imagine for the majority of non-Scots the union has always been a bit of an irrelevance. Certainly I've never really felt much distinction between saying I'm English or I'm British but I think that will change as a result of the benefits the scots have been promised and the sight of desperate politicians prostrating themselves in front of the Scottish public. Up till now I don't think there's been much questioning of the free HE tuition they receive or free prescriptions etc but hopefully rUK will start to question why we're not entitled to similar (and rightly so). I seriously doubt that a Yes vote will be delivered but I reckon there will be a hell of a lot of political capital to be made if politicians engage in some Scots bashing after the vote (whatever the outcome), and proclaiming / championing "Englishness" will probably be seen as less xenophobic and toxic than it currently is.

They'll probably get some sort of favour returned at some point, or maybe Dave is just calling his favours in. Either that or a knighthood. Normally the way things work.

Thanks for the info - I managed to download the paper and very good it is too. I've only had a quick read through and will give it another read later but it is interesting. Even better is one of the companies practising MBTI and mentioned in the paper is actually delivering the test to our department. I wonder if the practitioners we meet will be aware of it's roots? This could be quite good fun..... Oh and hope you get something accepted soon.