In the news

Happy for you. How close was it in the end?

I've just finished reading John Cooper-Clarke's Autobiography.

Brought back a lot of memories.

Slightly disappointed to see him live a few years back: opened with xmas cracker jokes ("How come the sea isn't dry if it's full of sponges?" etc).

I've never rated him particularly highly as a performer and / or poet, but he has lived an interesting life, and he was around in the very early days of Punk.

His drug habit was pretty serious, so it's amazing he's still about.

Pretty much summarises my opinion, but assumed I was missing something, considering how revered he is in some quarters.

Not a patch on Bukowski.

Definitely a geezer though and good luck to him: the spoken word, rock n roll swindle?

Not close. I have a reference point for the future though, if they ever say it'll peak at 9m (5.25m here) we'll take action.

Good here. Didn't get anywhere near us in the end. At least I know where the house insurance policy is now and what river level should cause us concern.

I've just had a complimentary/special edition of The Epoch Times pushed through the door.

16 broadsheet pages of anti-China hate.

I had the Lighthouse (I think?) come through my letterbox. Professionally printed 'newspaper' with pages on pages of weird christian, anti-lockdown, anti-vax shite.

The Watchtower? JW stuff. We have them wandering around periodically in our neighbourhood. I hate being rude to old people, but I take the view that religion is like your cock - don't whip it out in public and don't try and shove it down anyone's throat.

£76m of coke found hidden in bananas in Southampton:

https://twitter.com/ShehabKhan/status/1352579940521308161

Priti Patel: “This was drug smuggling on an industrial scale so I’m delighted that Border Force officers have prevented such a large quantity of dangerous goods from reaching our streets."

There is of course an easier way of ensuring dangerous drugs don't reach our streets.

Grow our own bananas?

We already do at Ally Pally in the Palm Court.

But I was thinking we could treat cocaine in the same way we treat nicotine and alcohol.

Each of those bricks could get you £200k maybe. Or you could get fucked up.

Stop taking them in January?

Yours is/was? a prescient post:

https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2021/jan/22/how-actors-love-of-a-humble-origin-story-may-worsen-the-arts-class-crisis

Brilliant

I saw him quite a few times back in the early 80s and always enjoyed him...

We invented the banana and now the rest of the world grows our banana only to sell it back to us.

"Geologist Finds Rare Formation Inside Rock That Looks Exactly Like
Cookie Monster on Sesame Street"

Home Secretary explains why UK has the highest death toll:

She doesn't drop her gees when she writes or someone's added them.

Uuuuhhh while they are most definitely far right wing nuts, I think falung gong have legit beef with the CCP.

I may have been watching too much narco series this lockdown. But this caught my attention
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/23/alleged-drug-lord-on-worlds-most-wanted-list-arrested-in-amsterdam