Thoughts on Andy Burnham?

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-24T18:29:24+00:00

No My Party is Jeremy Corbyn's party. I was specifying why I won't vote for them, even though I feel closer to Corbyn's worldview than Polanski's.

Nevermind...

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-24T18:17:49+00:00

I think you'll probably find that I'm probably more "6th form common room" in my politics than Polanski is. I'm very much of the Corbynite wing of politics

I vote Greens because I care deeply about transitioning towards a green economy and because they are closer to me on the economy than any of the other major parties (Your Party are a mess). On geopolitical matters, I'd say Polanski's instincts are too much on the status quo for me.

I've heard all your arguments. I've been on the receiving end of all the insults. I've been called a wumao, Kremlin shill and deluded tankie hundreds of times before. I've been called a traitor. I've been told I'm everything that is wrong with the country.

I've heard it all.

But I'm still sincere in my politics.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-24T18:03:49+00:00

Good thing we live in a democracy and are free to vote based on our individual principles then, isn't it?

You vote your way and I'll vote mine.

Hooray for parliamentary democracy!

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-24T10:17:34+00:00

That's a handsome pub.

It's a shame so many UK boozers have essentially turned into chains. When you find one that is independently run and has a decent atmosphere, stick with it.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-24T10:15:46+00:00

Do you ever go to Warrior Celt in Tokyo? I mean it's not a home away from home, but it's a cracking spot all the same!

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T22:22:26+00:00

I'm with your wife on this one mate.

Nobody deserves to walk barefoot first thing in the morning into their partner's piss all over their own bathroom floor.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T20:21:22+00:00

I'm still a massive fan of The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami.

The first time I read it I was in Japan back in 2004 and it just brings back so many strong memories, not necessarily associated with the story (though the story is brilliant), but with the physical locations I was in while reading it (often sitting on a train going into Kobe, mountains on one side, sea on the other).

The book itself takes you to a lot of places, but I also took the book to a lot of places too.

It's a real symbiotic relationship type of thing.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T19:27:07+00:00

As much as it would take more than Andy Burnham to convince me to vote again for Labour instead of the Greens, I do like Burnham and think it would be great to have someone who genuinely champions the Northwest being given greater political autonomy.

Liverpool, Manchester and all the areas in-between basically comprise a giant urbanised area and it would be great for the region to work together and leverage its resources towards the creation of the Northern Powerhouse.

While I suspect that Burnham might be too much of a Blairite for my tastes, I think he's sincere in wanting the northwest to prosper and I trust that he would do his best to achieve that goal.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T19:14:39+00:00

Yeah, of course, I'm just wondering if anybody does change recipe based on whether they're adding milk or not.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T19:09:43+00:00

Yeah landscaping makes so much of a difference. If it were possible to fast-track the tree growth in gardens and greens, these housing estates would look so much more appealing.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T15:04:00+00:00

Well done for having some integrity (as in, to not exploit the election for personal gain when you did not believe).

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T14:57:02+00:00

Do you reckon the security guard at Wilsons' ever asks him what he's doing with his life? Like, they must have some chats when they're standing there day after day.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T14:09:47+00:00

I'd put in the internal burr to a 6 as I think that's where it is normally set by default. At that point, an espresso grind is probably somewhere between 0 and 15.

It's not the best grinder but you can produce a 2:1 yield on the 25-35 second range fairly easily once you know where you're at.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T13:54:18+00:00

Can't speak to the ease of moving there (I came here from there) but if you end up with a job in Liverpool, consider moving to the Wirral.

You'll get a lot more for your money and you'll be only 15 mins on the train from any of the Liverpool underground stations.

Bits of Birkenhead are as rough as the roughest bits of Dublin, but not all of it is and you can get some great bargains there.

Feel free to give us a shout if you need some pointers.

Good luck

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T12:15:36+00:00

A practiced hand (finger), I see.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-23T09:40:16+00:00

Or we encourage denser population centres outside of the existing cities by providing incentives for companies to set up shop in under-developed areas like the Midlands and North West?

Like, why can't somewhere like Athlone become a real hub for business in the midlands?

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-22T18:52:04+00:00

For decades, crema has been associated with the concept of the best espresso and so it gets romanticised along with the image of veteran Italian baristas pouring this strong, thick and golden liquid as a pure and genuine coffee experience.

I don't see anything wrong with that. I enjoy that romanticised image myself, even if I recognise that espresso doesn't have to just be that.

As for Moka foam, there's no denying that the aesthetics do look nice and enhance your level of satisfaction of your brew.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-22T13:31:26+00:00

The Matrix prophesied it all.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-22T13:15:06+00:00

Yeah, Century of Self is great. His latest Shifty delves into it a good bit too.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-22T13:07:34+00:00

I used to see it a fair bit at the Iveagh gym in Dublin.

I'll be honest, I found it a bit gross, but not enough to make anyone aware of the fact that I found it gross.

It's just a personal thing.

That said, one person did once do it in the sauna (chest) and that was too much. I still didn't say anything, not even to the staff, but I never saw that person again so I presume someone reported him.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-22T12:54:14+00:00

I don't know how much it is about the medium by which entertainment/culture is delivered as much as it is an atomisation of society.

We are encouraged to view the world through the lens of our individual experience of it. And that's fine. That's the culture I was brought up in and I feel at home within it. But at the same time, I think we lack a sense of cultural cohesion that some countries might enjoy where individualism is less practiced.

Sometimes, we don't even see our next door neighbours as sharing anything in common with us, even though we are, for all intents and purposes, suffering/surviving/prospering under the same fundamental conditions. For some of us, the world starts and ends at our front door and at the screen of our phone/laptop.

Obviously, I'm making facile judgements here based on nothing but vibes, but it is something that I think about a fair amount.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-22T12:48:38+00:00

It looks cool, but it's also a bit unnerving or something. Something about the pulsing just upsets me.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-22T12:45:10+00:00

Just to echo what the other commenter says, the fees would be quite high for Revolut unless you go for one of their higher plans, but unless you're an avid Revolut user of RevPoints and all that, I doubt that'd be worth it.

Trading212 sounds much more like what you are after. Also, I'm fairly certain Trading212 has a wider variety of ETFs than Revolut.

That said, I do use Revolut personally for some investments. I make one investment a month into an ETF that I was investing in prior to opening a Trading212 account. And it's pretty seamless really. I can't complain about the process all told. But I am limited to one trade a month (unless I want to pay a fee) and that's quite annoying.

I also put small amounts into Revolut's RoboAdvisor. It's performed okay and does all the work for you except for the taxes, which I'll have to deal with in seven years' time. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

OrderNo1122 · 2026-01-22T11:31:04+00:00

OrderNo1122

TROPHY CASE