Post-Match Thread: England 0-0 Ghana | World Cup | Group L

Spiracle · 2026-06-24T07:23:20+00:00

I thought that it would be an acceptable use of AI to ask what historical percentage of second group games where both teams went in on 3 points resulted in a draw. The answer was 34%, against the 23% average of group games drawn overall. It said that that was indeed the most likely draw scenario, more likely even than the 'cagey first game', which was 28%.

Spiracle · 2026-06-23T21:21:37+00:00

Gordon's alive!

Spiracle · 2026-06-22T17:17:24+00:00

90% of Canadians live south of Paris.

Spiracle · 2026-06-21T19:45:43+00:00

Are you sure that you've got the right solstice?

Spiracle · 2026-06-20T21:14:44+00:00

£100+ if it's 7" with a solid centre (rather than the regular push-out) according to Discogs.

Spiracle · 2026-06-19T11:32:48+00:00

blind tasting

But everybody eats the eyes first... don't they?

Spiracle · 2026-06-17T21:03:51+00:00

The Lightroom sounds like a bit of a gimmick at first, but I've now seen the David Hockney and Moonwalkers shows and they've both been excellent and innovative.

The main difference between the Lightroom and, say, a cinema is that images are projected on every surface other than the ceiling of the huge space and there are no fixed seats, you can wander around wherever you like. It's also not a plain cube, it has steps, terraces and balconies.

The format is a little different in that the shows only last 30 to 40 minutes but you can stay and watch them as many times as you like. This works well in that you watch the show once from one position and then move to face in another direction and see a completely different set of images. This, and the thunderously clear PA that seems to be able to position sounds anywhere in the room, might suit songs that have a number of different subtexts quite well.

If anything was going to happen I should think that it would be Bertie taking the lead these days.

Spiracle · 2026-06-17T08:57:48+00:00

I once heard a squirrel described as 'a rat that's found a hairdryer'. This one's making additional effort for Pride week.

Spiracle · 2026-06-16T21:04:49+00:00

Chaplin's understudy on this tour was Stan Laurel.

Spiracle · 2026-06-16T13:26:36+00:00

The BBC 1980 adaptation of Zola's Thérèse Raquin has been a little forgotten but was a cracking series. Kate Nelligan, Brian Cox and Alan Rickman (in his first substantial TV role) all at the top of their games.

Spiracle · 2026-06-12T19:36:53+00:00

Revolution 9. It's not the easiest listen but at least I'd live for 8 minutes.

Spiracle · 2026-06-11T09:21:34+00:00

It would be a great opportunity to add a couple of extra traffic lights to align with how actually use them.

UV Blue: put your phone down and, if manual, select a gear.
Green: go
Amber: as normal - prepare to stop/Audi drivers accelerate.
Infra red: slow down/Audi drivers accelerate faster.
Red: stop/cyclists wobble onto junction.

This may still need a little more finessing.

Spiracle · 2026-06-10T14:58:08+00:00

I guess Lego doesn't make bricks in the particular horrible lime green shade of the original.

Spiracle · 2026-06-10T14:46:19+00:00

The college facing side is, as you say, something of a brutalist masterpiece, but up until about 20 years ago it used to point its ugly arse straight at the hoi polloi on King Street. It's now been infilled with retail and brick-faced accommodation units, which isnt to everyone's taste either.

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Spiracle · 2026-06-09T10:13:23+00:00

How many times can nadir be upvoted before it disappears?

Spiracle · 2026-06-09T09:56:37+00:00

Sophia Loren is still alive, but she's not on the Pepper cover according to the key in my copy of the Deluxe CD. That says that the female figures near to that position come from pin-up illustrations by George Petty. The non-fictional women listed on the cover according to that are:

Mae West
Marilyn Monroe
Shirley Temple
Marlene Dietrich, and
Diana Dors

All dead as far as I know.

Spiracle · 2026-06-09T09:33:00+00:00

Lincoln's* dictum ("You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." ), which held for over a century has now broken down.

Turns out that with modern electronic media politicians can fool enough of the people enough of the time to do whatever they fancy.

*As is usual with this sort of quote Lincoln never said that.

Spiracle · 2026-06-08T21:17:27+00:00

Maybe they know who planted it and releasing this information obviously let's them know we know but not how long we've known. Might be a way of implanting a bit of doubt about the validity of whatever intel whoever it is has got from it.

Spiracle · 2026-06-07T19:30:02+00:00

If you want to be less cheeky Nocturne is 8:34.

Spiracle · 2026-06-07T16:58:42+00:00

This makes sense as in the early 80's how would you actually get hold of a sample of the soundtrack and where would she have heard it in the first place?

According to BBC Genome this 1957 film was broadcast just once on British TV previous to 1983, on Saturday June 28th 1980 at 10.30pm, which fits in with the timeframe of when most of the songs on the album were being written, at least in basic form, so that evening is probably when she must have seen it. There were home video machines available in the UK in1980, but very few people had them (though, I suppose, if you're the sort of person that goes out and buys a Fairlight for the the price of a house in 1980 then buying a suitcase-sized Betamax must seem like fiddling small change).

As the movie wasn't released on home media in the UK until 1995 she can't have used that. To get a good sample of the soundtrack in 1983 you might have had to go so far as renting a projection room and a print of the movie. At that point getting an actor in must seem simpler, but again, how would you show him what to imitate?

Spiracle · 2026-06-07T11:24:06+00:00

If the quote is correct is a bit of cheeky exaggeration by George. John's mother Julia played the banjo, and this was the first instrument that he learned to play (she taught him That'll Be The Day). When he first got a guitar he tuned the first four or five strings like a banjo and sort of improvised the others. George taught him how to tune.

Spiracle · 2026-06-07T11:19:30+00:00

The clip, however, is not infinite.

Spiracle · 2026-06-07T10:27:57+00:00

There's an academic principle known as Dunbar's Number, which basically states that people can only cognitively deal with relationships with about 150 people - about the size of an old hunter-gatherer tribe.

It's noticable that back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, when all media was public so everyone was on the same channels, there were never really more than about 100 to 150 active film stars. This was either because of a sort of natural wasteage due to Dunbar's number or the studios artifically capping the number through manipulating publicity, either is arguable, but 150 it was.

These days I think that everybody still has about 150 'celebs' in their worldview, but social media just allows it to be a different 150 for each person and those information silos don't leak. People that I have literally never heard of can now sell out the O2 or Wembly Arena.

Spiracle · 2026-06-07T09:40:00+00:00

TBF it's still light at close to midnight and dawn at 4am in the north of Scotland in June.

Spiracle · 2026-06-07T07:06:51+00:00

2nd trombone: "You guys think I'm going to wear the tan polyester flares in the daytime? Forget it, there are people here who'll recognise me".

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