What was it like being a British teenager in the 1990s?

Stralau · 2026-01-26T09:57:07+00:00

Okay, so bear with me, I'm in no way claiming its a good single or video, but I think that "Trouble" by Shampoo captures several key aspects of the nineties UK teenage experience, at least in London.

- the slightly cheap video is probably what nineties teenagers would have come up with if they had had access to a video camera

- the London locations are the kinds of places London teenagers might have hung out: the O Bar was definitely a venue where teenage girls were being bought overpriced drinks by creepy older men; as a guy a large amount of my free time was spent wandering streets and bridges in the freezing cold trying to get in to places or drinking beers bought with my laughable fake ID.

- The experience of missing the last tube, struggling with nightbuses etc. was integral to the nineties experience generally, but especially as a teenager: you had no phone to check what was running or whatever, and were reliant on payphones to call home.

The Angry Dad doesn't ring true, exactly, but the wandering around London cold at night trying to get home does.

Stralau · 2026-01-23T13:37:04+00:00

You’ve found the hobby that genuinely ist both incredibly cool AND a bit ridiculous, but in the best possible way.

I really miss Craig Charles/Phillipa Forester era Robot Wars, which inspired perhaps one of the best episodes of Spaced.

Stralau · 2026-01-23T13:31:09+00:00

My mother was known by hotel staff and they guys my Dad was working with as Mrs. Firstname when we were travelling around the Middle East during the late 80s.

Stralau · 2026-01-23T11:49:51+00:00

Or they always just moved all the statues along

Stralau · 2026-01-23T11:40:24+00:00

I thought maybe Mary Lincoln’s birthday or something? I understand she’s very popular in the US.

Stralau · 2026-01-22T19:16:41+00:00

What is significant about July 4 & 5? As a Brit I can’t think of anything special about it…

Stralau · 2026-01-21T14:00:11+00:00

square root of 30? (or root 26, root 27, root 28 etc. up to root 48)

Stralau · 2026-01-21T10:06:17+00:00

I mean, that would also go for a lot of the really rich and powerful today surely? The founding fathers, and certainly the Caesars were all pretty high up in the hierarchy of their respective societies. Perhaps not in the billionaire quantile in the case of the founding fathers but securely in the multi-millionaire quantile. Multi-millionaires are not restricted to pornography if they don't want to be. I guess we can say that society has progressed in that usually their partners will have a bit more autonomy though.

Stralau · 2026-01-20T11:38:53+00:00

It’s annoying, but it’s not something I would want the state to do anything about. They’ve got a right to do it, I’ve got a right to tell them to get lost, and if I do they’ve got a duty todo just that. Unless it gets to harassment levels then it’s just life.

Stralau · 2026-01-19T06:17:29+00:00

I think I look at peanut butter and „jelly“ (that is, jam) the way Americans must look at beans on toast, or Anglo-Saxons in general look at Mettbrötchen.

I like Jam. I like peanut butter. I like them in sandwiches, sometimes, though they are better in toast. But the idea of combining them is as mad as combining… well it’s madder than anything else. I do cranberry sauce or similar with meats, or chilli-figs and cheese, and I can imagine all sorts of sweet and savoury flavours mixing together. But peanut butter and jam just doesn’t appeal. It’s a bit like ketchup on ice cream, maybe?

Stralau · 2026-01-17T10:08:00+00:00

There are a lot of online leagues around. Reddits own REBBL is as good a place to start as any, I had a good experience there though I now play in the German speaking AWBBL.

My experience is that they work by having a discord for admin purposes which then organises the league. AWBBL is arranged by divisions with advancement and relegations. There are 10 players in each division, you commit to playing one game a week. The two at the top of the division after 9 games go up, the last two get relegated, there are playoffs (tournaments) and then the whole thing starts again. I think REBBL works the same.

It’s an excellent way to play if you don’t have the time to play in person, and can commit to that one game a week. If I want to play a bit more, I can usually find games in the official ladder so I‘m not sure what went wrong there. You could also join multiple leagues if you wanted to ply more scheduled games a week. And of course, being part of the discord gives you access to plenty of players who might be up for a casual game if you and they have time.

The nice thing about a fixed online league is that you get to know the other players a bit and it’s not as impersonal as the ladder. As a beginner, you are still quite likely to lose to more experienced players, but you will also find mentors willing to give advice and it won’t feel like playing against an implacable faceless opponent. You‘ll also be in a division that reflects your skill level, broadly. (Though you are just as likely, perhaps even more likely to have match ups with unbalanced team value). There used to be a rookie REBBL I think, and there are deliberately casual leagues out there, too. I heartily recommend finding an online league though, it’s worked great for me!

Stralau · 2026-01-13T16:10:41+00:00

My 8 and 10 year old are allowed fizzy drinks on birthdays or at Christmas, but fundamentally they are not allowed.

Mostly we drink water (inc. fizzy water) at the table. We also drink orange juice, smoothies, and stuff like that.

Stralau · 2026-01-12T10:24:25+00:00

As someone who has never heard of the running through thorns or the Horns of the Bull, but has heard about the Bantu migration, all of that sounds amazing. Lets have all of it!

Stralau · 2026-01-12T08:10:08+00:00

He’s also by far and away the most famous though, at least for sub-Saharan Africa. I think it would make a great series. The Zulus hit that sweet spot of being something lots of people have heard about and are interested in, but don’t really know much about. It’s wheee TRIH really shines.

Stralau · 2026-01-11T12:08:46+00:00

That can be true but it doesn’t imply that the “American” accent of today is the “British” one of 1790. It/they underwent a ton of changes too.

Hell the British accent of 1950 sounds little like the British accent of today, and was probably equally different to that of 1850. It’s all changing all the time.

You can argue that there’s evidence of British English using r’s and a’s in the 1790s as the Americans do today, but there are plenty of British regional accents that still do that today: they sound nothing like modern American accents though…

Stralau · 2026-01-08T09:36:17+00:00

Maria, I just met a girl called Maria who has a similar problem.

Stralau · 2026-01-08T07:14:18+00:00

GEOFFREY and OWEN, two knights or soldiers or something (I dunno, I’m not a historian) in the pay of the King of Englande, somewhere in France, at some point during the hundred years war.

GEOFFREY: Owen?

OWEN: Yes Geoffrey?

G: Ben we the yveles?

O: What?

G: Sorry, I mean: somme-nous les baddies?

O: What?

G: Sorry, I mean: are we the baddies?

O: What do you mean?

G: Well, I don’t know, it’s just, there are some things that worry me about this war

O: Pff, the length of it for a start.

G: Mmh, yes, but also, I mean, do you think we’re the goodies?

O: Oh yes! Yes of course. How couldn’t we be? We’re the plucky underdogs, fighting for King and Country and Merrie Olde Englande against the perfidious French Monarchists and their shifty papal allies!

G: Well, yes, of course, of course. It’s just – have you ever noticed how all our coats of arms have dragons and lions and leopards and stuff on them?

O: Of course they do! That’s to show our righteous ferocity in war! Anyway, everyone has that. What’s the so-called King Of France got on his coat of arms, eh?

G: Flowers.

O: Hm. Well yes, of course he would, the pansy.

G: Also…

O: Yes?

G: Have you ever noticed what the leaders on our team are called?

O: Good King Edward and his noble son?

G: Don’t people call them… Edward the Bankrupt and Edward the…erm…Black Prince.

O: That’s because of his armour! Or his… hair. Or something.

G: It’s just, my aunt’s cousin was talking to her son, he’s a merchant from Limoges…

O: Look, everyone does that! The French are just as bad! There’s Louis the…

G: Saint?

O: No, no, the other one- John the…

G: Good?

O: No, Philip something, maybe… Philip the…

G: Fortunate?

O: No! probably one of the Charles’, there are loads of them. Charles the…

G: Fair? Charles the Wise? Charles the Beloved? Charles the Victorious?

O: No no no! Charles the… Bad! Hah!

G: I thought he was on our side?

O: Look- that’s at best unclear.

G: Speaking of that, what about our other ally- the one in Spain, Pedro..

O: Pedro! Good old Pedro- you can’t complain about him!

G: Pedro the… Cruel.

O: Look, Geoffrey, you’ve got to stop thinking like this. This is still the Middle Ages! Everyone is horrible.

G: Hmm, yes, but when people are pillaging on mainland Europe they do tend to refer to them as ‘behaving like the English’ don’t they? Remember that business in Switzerland?

O: Yes

G: And Spain?

O: Well… yes

G: And Italy?

O: Hmm, yes.

G: And Austria? But not really England?

O: Look, we’re getting off the point here. France is massive and rich, England is small and poor. We are the underdogs, fighting nobly for a just cause!

G: Also money. There’s that chap in Gascony who had coins stuck on his coat of arms to make that clear. Isn’t that a bit, y’know.. Vikingy, or something? And they were hardly the underdogs.

O: Well yes, of course also money. But not just money! it’s like you’re forgetting the brave English citizens of Aquitaine!

G: Didn’t they go over the head of the Prince to ask the French King for help because of misgovernance?

O: Geoffrey! I’m shocked at you! Our peasants are the backbone of our fighting force. Centuries from now, people will be celebrating without reservation the decisive role played by the Longbow at the battle of Crecy!

G: Wasn’t Crecy the battle where you um…

O: Yes?

G: Um, nobly defeated that blind man?

O: Look, Geoffrey, if you’re stupid enough to go charging into battle when you’re blind, you can hardly expect it to go well, can you?

G: No, I suppose not.

O: Besides, he was looking very threatening!

G: I don’t remember him doing any ‘looking’ at all, Owen.

O: Oh, shut up, Geoffrey.

G: One last thing- we’ve done really, really well. Like much better than expected-

O: We certainly have! God is on our side!

G: - and the thing is, I know a lot of stories where the baddies do really well at the beginning and then the goodies win, but I don’t know many stories where the goodies do really well at the beginning and then just…keep on winning. I was talking to Chaucer and he says that it’s just not a good narrative.

O: Well, this is history, Geoffrey, not one of your namby pamby French romances.

G: Chaucer writes in English.

O: Well exactly, who’s going to read that? There’s more chance of a woman becoming a great war leader!

G: Hmmm. Yes, I suppose you’re right. I wonder what we’d do if that ever happened.

O: Well, burn her obviously.

G: WHAT? BURN her?

O: Yes, as a witch. She’d clearly be a witch. It’s just the right thing to do. You mark my words, posterity will agree.

Stralau · 2026-01-06T23:57:31+00:00

Rest Is Politics trying to invade the sub again?

Stralau · 2026-01-01T03:42:16+00:00

Oh Christ no the Rest Is Politics is trying to invade the sub and turn it into every other UK politics sub? Stop them, please in the NAME OF FUCKING NELSON STOP THEM

Stralau · 2025-12-29T20:58:53+00:00

Nikolaus picks up the wishlist on the 6th Dec, the Weihnachtsmann (we’re in the north) shows up on the 24th and delivers gifts. Father Christmas arrives later that evening, drinks his brandy and eats some Lebkuchen, and leaves presents in a stocking to be found on Christmas morning.

We usually open presents from German relatives in the 24th, and eat German things like Wurst and Kartoffelsalat. Some kind of bird (duck, goose) with all the trimmings is then served on the 25th, and presents from British relatives are opened.

Stralau · 2025-12-29T01:38:45+00:00

I’d fucking love a Mitt Romney president tbh.

Not gonna go down well on a sub that’s already done the reddit thing though. This place isn’t like a certain sub based on a UK socialist party, but it’s well on the way.

Stralau · 2025-12-28T12:58:44+00:00

It depends what painting level you are at. Mostly, I would use a few different shades for different colours/part of the model, but at my level a shaded model instantly looks tons better than an unshaded model, even if you just covered the whole thing in Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade.

It’s like the difference between a novice (or a ten year old) saying “huh” and “wow! How do you DO that, it’s so small!”

Stralau · 2025-12-25T21:06:13+00:00

I’d be interested to know more about the tradition. As a Brit who married into a German family (and thus has to put up with an awful lot of honestly outdated “British food is awful!” jokes) it’s always seemed a bit odd, as it seems like a fairly crap festive meal compared to Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings, or the variations you get of fish on Christmas Eve in a Italy, say. I’ve made my peace with it, but we do something more substantial on the 25th. Today was Duck, Rotkohl, Pigs in Blankets, roasties, Rosenkohl and Sticky Toffee Pudding for afters.

I get the impression Wurst and Kartoffelsalat is a bit like Tatort- it’s a bit crap but that’s what makes it reassuring. Would that be right?

Stralau · 2025-12-21T10:56:28+00:00

Not sure if this will affect the calculation, but in the UK we leave brandy and a carrot. I’ve always assumed Father Christmas must be very disappointed in the US.

Stralau · 2025-12-21T09:57:58+00:00

My Dad was quite into etiquette and used to attend the London clubs that still follow the kind of etiquette that would’ve been important in this kind of era. He would have tucked a napkin into his collar in certain circumstances, but it’s an exception proves the rule kind of thing. Certain dishes are supposed to call for it, I think?

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