Is the Guardian worse than it used to be?

a Blur pilgrimage? :p

my eldest has lived in Essex for a few years now and tells me TOWIE is downplayed and subtle

Colchester: Roman stuff.

a Blur pilgrimage? :p

― calzino, Friday, 28 January 2022 bookmarkflaglink

lol

ffs haha

Aren't you going to answer, Imago? I was interested.

I have been to Colchester a few times. I'm very fond of it, though maybe its centre is a bit limited if you had to spend every day there. But it has quite a number of nice attractions. I don't think I saw anything Roman except maybe a wall.

is it rory mcgrath related? that's what i'm going with

the moral arc of an ilx thread can be long, but it bends toward rory mcgrath

― mark s, Thursday, January 11, 2018 11:49 AM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― mark s, Tuesday, 7 May 2019 20:20 (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

― mark s, Saturday, 29 May 2021 19:30 (three weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

Oh I am! Was just polishing off some work.

It has, once you get onto North Hill walking down from the station (unless you change there and get the shuttle to the Town station, which is even better placed and next to an abandoned priory), some exceedingly lovely shopfronts, a number of excellent restaurants and cafes (with a slightly lower-than-usual proportion of big chains), generally impressive and homely architecture (the quieter parts of the town are especially pleasant to walk around, especially near the river), a genuinely superb castle/museum centrepiece (one of the best I've visited) in a pretty parkland setting, the entrance to which is also next to the Hollytrees local museum and the Natural History museum in a converted church, both of which are excellent free-entry affairs (the Hollytrees has a brilliant grandfather clock collection as well as a permanent toys-through-the-ages exhibit), and a smattering of excellent micropubs. The only shame is that some of its better antique vendors have shut down permanently. It's a short, cheapish train from London, and unlike dire Cirencester it doesn't trade entirely on its Roman history and essentially gear its entire being towards the peddling of tat.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Er9Vf-YXYAIG6b8?format=jpg&name=900x900

there it is

Thanks Imago - that's an excellent answer.

St Botolphs Priory is a marvel - and is just next to what's now called the FirstSite visual arts facility, isn't it? Spectacular building though I'm not sure about what they put inside it.

On the high street there's a good independent bookshop (Red Lion?), and the town hall is one of the most spectacular places in town - worth looking inside at the historical displays. All near the castle which is so unusual - unlike any other English castle I've seen.

You didn't even mention the Minories, the arts centre, the Jumbo tower or the Mercury Theatre.

I don't know the micropubs, though. Which are they?

St Botolph is regarded as the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel

never heard of that saint before, perhaps the original FBPE? There are some really crap minor English saints!

"… the country being overrun by a Wave of Saints. Among these were St Ive, St Pancra, the great St Bernard (originator of the clerical collar), St Bee, St Ebb, St Neot (who invented whisky), St Kit and St Kin, and the Venomous Bead… "

the Venomous Bead sounds like a badass!

St Neot is my chosen one

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FKQNggAX0AIHBae?format=png&name=small

And to date, there have been 20 articles written supporting Kate's narrative of being the cancelled kind teacher lady who has been on the receiving end of a witch-hunt. TWENTY.

xps to the pinefox we should do next ilb fap in a micropub tbf

Somewhere where the conditions are less Arctic, for sure.

Definitely, hopefully xyzzzzzzzz can do a better job organising than last time

I like the plan, poster gyac, though micropubs must be the worst possible environment for any kind of distancing and safety, if anyone still believes in that stuff (which apparently they don't) ?

Me and gyac at the next ILB fap

pic.twitter.com/kPse8RCuVP

— columbo screenshots (@ColumboScreens) January 29, 2022

Me at the last ILB FAP.

https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/ArticleMedia/Images/WhatsOn%20images/202201/red-tent-01.jpg

Me and gyac at the next ILB fap

🐦[pic.twitter.com/kPse8RCuVP🕸
— columbo screenshots (@ColumboScreens) January 29, 2022🕸]🐦

pic.twitter.com/1qWTFjJExr

— columbo screenshots (@ColumboScreens) January 29, 2022

Rachel Cooke at it again in this terrible attempt to make Streeting happen

It’s not only that his crab apple cheeks and short back and sides give him the look of a kindly wartime grocer, the sort who might slip you a bag of illicit sugar.

In the other, used for meetings, there is an espresso machine and a coffee table on top of which is John Bew’s biography of Clement Attlee

We’re better off without them, bluntly. There has always been a problem with elements of the left, particularly the far left, who revel in their self-righteousness, who love telling voters how disappointed they are in them.

Unlike some, he doesn’t think Tories are bad people.

People ask: why isn’t he in the Labour party? (Starmer has refused to reinstate the Labour whip to Corbyn.)The answer is simple: because he chooses not to be.

(Though he was bullied at school for his cleverness.)

Does he believe in biological sex? “Yes, of course,” he says. Does he think it’s helpful for his colleague David Lammy to accuse women with concerns in this area of being “dinosaurs” who were “hoarding” their rights? For a moment, he is silent. Then he says: “One of the things that men have always underestimated is the sense in which women have felt like they’re being told to be quiet, which is why in this context it is incendiary.” Since he spoke to Robinson, he says, he has been pleased to find that some of his female parliamentary colleagues have felt able to come and talk to him about their concerns.

He took Joe to see Deacon Blue in Southend for his birthday. “I had a UK garage phase in the sixth form, but at heart I’m an indie boy. Britpop was the greatest for me, growing up.”

Rachel Cooke is a massive TERF obvs.

what kind of profile of this freakish psychopath doesn't mention "McShitter" once?

xp yes we discussed this itt when she did that disgraceful interview with Amia Srinivasan iirc

"zealous interest in trans rights" 🤔

Periodic reminders are necessary!

I already knew that and I assume anyone reading this thread, which has covered the Guardian/Observer’s transphobia for quite a while now, will understand what I meant by posting the excerpt with her dogwhistles.

Thanks poster gyac, for taking the time to spell out what a scumbag this scumbag is.

That the Observer et al are now keen to support him says much about them - which is familiar I suppose.

I live to serve, poster the pinefox. Does your webmail work btw?

I'm not sure that it does anymore!

This ought to be noted:

https://novaramedia.com/2022/02/04/the-guardian-hires-daily-mail-wreathgate-journalist-who-claimed-corbyn-paid-tribute-to-terrorists/

The Guardian Hires Daily Mail ‘Wreathgate’ Journalist Who Claimed Corbyn Paid Tribute to Terrorists

Katharine Viner’s ‘courtship of the establishment’ continues.

Observer:

The mood has turned further against Johnson in recent days after he criticised Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons on Monday for failing to prosecute the child abuser Jimmy Savile during his time as director of public prosecutions. The baseless attack on the opposition leader led to the resignation of Johnson’s longtime aide and head of policy at No 10, Munira Mirza, who had demanded that Johnson apologise, which he failed to do.

Investigations by the Observer show that the unfounded claims about Starmer were being promoted, before Johnson aired them, by far-right groups including the UK branch of Proud Boys, a violent white nationalist organisation labelled a terrorist entity.

There's more, but in general: they are now framing claims about KS in the way they did a lot of statements by Trump - that is, daring flatly and casually to describe a statement, in a news report, as false. With the former LOTO, on the other hand, they never ever did this, but amplified the lies, week after week.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FLFzpg5WYAIjjLb?format=jpg&name=medium

£25 (plus £1.63 booking fee)

https://y.yarn.co/529c44bc-fb94-4584-8097-6a554f5426ff_thumb.jpg

8pm-9pm is a somewhat narrow definition of "an evening with".

about 59 minutes more than i could handle

important "news" about this wonderful Tory minister!
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/11/uk-defence-secretary-heads-to-moscow-on-a-ratings-high

Cabinet sources noted that he was “an absolute sweetie”. “If he was Catholic, he’d have a real shot at Pope”, said one insider.

a latter-day Jesus, you might say

Insiders praise his ability to make “cold decisions on things like tanks”

like a mix between E Rommel with the swagger Pope Francis, gosh they really want to fuck him!

"best in Cabinet" is like being called the most likeable bloke in the nonce wing

been buying the guardian only on Saturdays for the last decade, mostly for the tvguide. but then they stopped The Guide thing, which was handy and there replacement wasn't great.

bought something else this morning "i weekend" and first impressions are that the TV section is worse, full double page takes up too much sofa space, and is stapled into the rest of the paper. was 1/3rd of the price though.

Koogs: for a good TV guide buy TV CHOICE or similar - a magazine costing no more than 75p. It's really good for what it does!

the bear is russia

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/88ffbbf20119c5f6bf0090c485ba0f3d2a692d64/0_0_4930_3150/master/4930.jpg?width=940&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=9c3c112095d08b63ed0f5a7b84c1ad13

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/15/uk-homes-cut-essentials-to-pay-for-tv-phones-and-internet?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1644915368

an appallingly worded headline here. I want see a Graun hack end up unemployed or in low income employment and then try and apply for universal credit without either or both of a smartphone/internet connection and then learn something about what really are "essentials" in this era.