A random thread for small things that don't really warrant a thread of their own

[Basil]

This morning I woke up in 7 star hotel! 

Oh hang on.

(click to show/hide)

That's just its name. 

[Basil]

Lovely day for a ride driving to the beach today.  Just checked.  Rain tomorrow.  Rushed out as dusk was falling and mowed the lawn for, hopefully, the last time this year. 

[Mr Larrington]

Were my eyes deceiving me or is colossal bellend Piers “Morgan” Moron really on the front page of tomorrow’s Graun?

[andrewc]

https://twitter.com/LeoLabs_Space/status/1316147305125490694?s=20


Possible space junk collision in low Earth orbit.   


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

[citoyen]

Another one for the #21stcenturyproblems file: my wife is distraught because one of the dogs she follows on instagram has died... 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFNuPnODfIX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[SteveC]

Another one for the #21stcenturyproblems file: my wife is distraught because one of the dogs she follows on instagram has died... 

You wouldn't believe the reaction when our old cat Wes died a few years ago. As well as all the messages of sympathy which were welcome (including those from this place), we had a bunch of flowers delivered and a couple of weeks later a painting of him, taken from a photo, which some of his friends had organised and paid for (I think it came from the US).

[andrewc]

https://twitter.com/LeoLabs_Space/status/1316147305125490694?s=20


Possible space junk collision in low Earth orbit.   


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

Miss.   https://twitter.com/LeoLabs_Space/status/1316919600160903168?s=20

[Butterfly]

Another one for the #21stcenturyproblems file: my wife is distraught because one of the dogs she follows on instagram has died... 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFNuPnODfIX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I remember trying to explain to my boss when one of the Pingus' cats died. I was upset because of the death of a cat that I had never met, belonging to a friend that I'd never met, hundreds of miles away. I think they thought I was losing it.

[Mrs Pingu]

Another one for the #21stcenturyproblems file: my wife is distraught because one of the dogs she follows on instagram has died... 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFNuPnODfIX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I remember trying to explain to my boss when one of the Pingus' cats died. I was upset because of the death of a cat that I had never met, belonging to a friend that I'd never met, hundreds of miles away. I think they thought I was losing it.

Aw  I have shed a wee tear for various forum kittehs over the years.

[Mr Larrington]

M Kitteh:

O RLY?  Also, I liek fish!

[CAMRAMan]

A friend I've known since the first day of grammar school in 1972 and I are drifting apart. I'm not sure how I feel about that, as we have become quite different people over the last ten years or so. He's kind, warm-hearted and generous - so far so good, but he is becoimg very reactionary in his mindset, and I can't help but find that disturbing. Last week, on a trip away, he commented that he would find Black History Month very patronising if he were black. I pointed out that he is a privileged, middle-class, white male who couldn't really see things from a black perspective. I too am the same, but at least I recognise that BHM is a good thing to show up the lack of recognition given to black people of significance. He also objects strongly to the introductions given to 80s films regarding the use of language that would today be seen as inappropriate. I find those introductions totally inoffensive and necessary for people like my daughter. She's just watched a chunk of In the Heat of the Night and was astounded that the word 'negro' was used casually throughout.

I was best man at his wedding and was somewhat surprised to hear that If by Kipling was his favourite poem and was read out in full. I really don't like the sentiments that poem gives out.

Anyway, instead of ignoring his comments, I'm starting to respond with my thoughts. He can either take that as my disagreement with his views, or see me as an ageing, lefty hippy. I'm starting to not care what he thinks.

[fuzzy]

These types of 'perspective shifts' happen in relationships of all kinds so, don't be surprised that this is happening.
People's experiences in life colour their perceptions and outlook. You have led a different life.
If he can't deal with your take on life, that is his loss.

[orienteer]

I'm also finding friends and acquaintances expressing increasingly reactionary opinions. Because I've been married to someone from the other side of the world for almost fifty years, I guess that has opened my eyes more, especially to flaws in UK society which are much more apparent when viewed from a different perspective.

Living in London, at least it's relatively easy to make new acquaintances from a wide range of backgrounds.

[T42]

I'm the opposite: used to be a Tory, am now well left of centre. Inseparable uni chum remained a Tory and has obviously moved right because he's in favour of Trump, clearing raptors from grouse moors, etc. Tory Central Office dicta are holy writ.  We're still friends, and avoid provoking each other.

[CAMRAMan]

I've also got a chalk and cheese mate from my days in Budapest. We know we're diametrically opposed politically, so don't go there, but have enough else in common to keep the friendship going. The friend I mentioned above is someone who's expressing reactionary views that I've disregarded before, but I feel it necessary to push back now, maybe because I sense the gulf between us growing. The Black History Month comment was pure ignorance and one I couldn't let pass unchallenged, seeing as he unilaterally made the statement out of the blue.

[citoyen]

She's just watched a chunk of In the Heat of the Night and was astounded that the word 'negro' was used casually throughout.

That film is an unusual case, though, since racial tensions are one of its key themes - I don't think the word would have been used 'casually' but in fact very knowingly.

Plenty of other films from that time where it would have been dropped in casually though.

People who are troubled by there being such a thing as Black History Month need to grow up a bit.

[Jurek]

She's just watched a chunk of In the Heat of the Night and was astounded that the word 'negro' was used casually throughout.

That film is an unusual case, though, since racial tensions are one of its key themes - I don't think the word would have been used 'casually' but in fact very knowingly.
<snip>

^This, absolutely.
It is an extraordinary film, and very much, of its time.

[CAMRAMan]

What I meant to say was that the bigoted, white characters throw in 'negro' as a casual reference to Virgil Tibbs' race. My daughter, 15, found this quite disturbing. She's very aware of and fully supported the BLM campaign. Later on the n-word is also used, but in a very menacing way as the action becomes more intense towards the end. And yes, it is an incredible film.

[Mr Larrington]

She's just watched a chunk of In the Heat of the Night and was astounded that the word 'negro' was used casually throughout.

That film is an unusual case, though, since racial tensions are one of its key themes - I don't think the word would have been used 'casually' but in fact very knowingly.

Plenty of other films from that time where it would have been dropped in casually though.

People who are troubled by there being such a thing as Black History Month need to grow up a bit.

In any online discussion of such things outwith these hallowed walls you can almost guarantee that one gam-gam will show up and ask when White History Month is or whine about the lack of an International Men's Day*, because they are utterly clue-proof.

* November 19th.

[citoyen]

International Men's Day*

* November 19th.

You are Richard Herring AICMFP

[Mr Larrington]

Had to Google the significance of Mr Herring in this regard.  Wrong zeitgeist again.

[Paul]

A friend recently shared “PLM: police lives matter. Share if you have the guts” on FB.

That’s him and me finished then.

[L CC]

I don't know what the right thing to do in these circumstances, if you unfriend them, it means that you will live in an echo chamber. We should challenge them, but that's exhausting, and not necessarily very friendly.
One of the ways society is changing for the worse is that there is never any compromise. We split along partisan lines and never the twain shall give any time of day to the other side.

That said...



https://youtu.be/gqH_0LPVoho

[T42]

She's just watched a chunk of In the Heat of the Night and was astounded that the word 'negro' was used casually throughout.

That film is an unusual case, though, since racial tensions are one of its key themes - I don't think the word would have been used 'casually' but in fact very knowingly.
<snip>

^This, absolutely.
It is an extraordinary film, and very much, of its time.

Back then, negro was the formal way of referring to black people.  My 1968 Chambers's dictionary defines it as "one of the black-skinned woolly-haired race of mankind" - not exactly acceptable today.  When the white police use it in the film it's probably only because a black officer is present: among themselves they would probably have used nigger - which, incidentally, is merely flagged as "derogatory" in the Chambers, i.e. on a level with referring to the French as Frogs, something that UK comedians and the like have no problems with.

[ElyDave]

A friend recently shared “PLM: police lives matter. Share if you have the guts” on FB.

That’s him and me finished then.

Is it the sentiment that PLM upsets you, or the fact that your friend shared in a way that looks provocative at this time when police are routinely seen as the enemy?

Personally I have a different view of the police with three cousins in various forces around the country, all entering because they wanted to help people.  One of them going on to specialise in support for vulnerable children, another in serious and organised crime.  I'd say their lives matter.