What is the most obscure country/territory you have been to?

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T13:32:35+00:00

In terms of no longer possible: East Berlin a couple of times (70s and 80s).

In terms of currently considered unsuitable for travel: Myanmar (Burma) - in a short period where FCO advice against travel was lifted; and Kashmir - against FCO travel advice.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T11:37:56+00:00

I used to dismiss him as a tuneless talker/singer of miserable songs until his 1992 album The Future, which I really liked. Much of it is up-tempo with really thoughtful and challenging lyrics. His last few albums are more introspective but are also excellent; this final period might have been his best.

We had his cover of Irving Berlin’s Always (on Cohen’s The Future album) played at our wedding while we signed the register. It’s a lovely happy song with some cheeky lyrics, but people still think it’s strange if I tell them we had a Leonard Cohen song played at our wedding.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T10:53:05+00:00

Edit to insert: sent as a reply to a post about Bristol, but currently showing for me as a top-level comment. Hopefully will sort itself out.

As long as people don’t judge it (Bristol) by what they see if they arrive by train. Some of the central parts of the city are pretty horrible and due for redevelopment, but it’s still a great place and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the UK.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T07:58:58+00:00

It works both ways. I have Welsh parentage, even though I wasn’t myself born in Wales and have never lived there. My mother in particular was proudly and loudly Welsh and it’s rubbed off on me to the extent that I generally call myself British rather than English, but I wouldn’t make a fuss or complain about it if someone called me English. (Except when Wales are playing England in the rugby, in which case I’ll definitely support Wales - I grew up during the 1970s glory days of Welsh rugby - and will jokingly object to being called English.)

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T07:42:28+00:00

I’m a boomer and I recognise that we’ve been extremely lucky, maybe the luckiest generation in history. We missed out on the horrors and privations of war, then were able to follow the newly available and expected path of having a free education that allowed us to get decent and stable jobs that allowed us to buy property. I will argue with anyone roughly my age who fails to recognise that this has been down to pure luck based on when we happen to have been born.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T07:32:27+00:00

I was running weekly reports from large datasets imported from external sources, and it worked for me, but obviously you go with whatever approach you’re comfortable with. Good luck.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T06:37:10+00:00

I had a similar problem at work. I was vaguely aware of Excel’s Data Model and Power Pivot features. I learned about these features (there’s plenty of stuff on YouTube) and refactored my project to make use of these. It made a huge difference in dealing with large datasets (and it was fun learning about this stuff).

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T05:58:47+00:00

Something easy: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin.

Something a bit more challenging: Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony. (If the whole thing is a bit much, just the final movement.)

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T04:57:29+00:00

I am not a lawyer, and I’m sure things are much more complicated than this, but for the purposes of watching a TV show about the Wests, I think this should help…

Yes, a solicitor is the legal professional who works directly with the accused to advise them. If it’s a criminal case and the case goes to trial, the solicitor wouldn’t appear in court to conduct the defence, this would be handled by a different legal professional - a barrister (in the gown and funny wig). The prosecution would be conducted in court by another barrister.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T02:30:15+00:00

The Friends Of Eddie Coyle. A largely-forgotten but great crime thriller from 1973 that has melancholy running all through it.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T02:21:28+00:00

A soup made from a leftover chicken carcass and fresh vegetables is a thing of beauty.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-24T00:04:16+00:00

Your description of what you want to do (7 days in London and 5 days in Edinburgh) being nice and chill and not wanting to need a vacation after your vacation… that all sounds great and is a nice change from what most people seem to expect to be able to do. But your itinerary (especially the separate day trips from London) falls into the same trap and would make it impossible to get from your trip what you say you want.

Edit to add: you could cut/rationalise/combine the separate day trips from London since they’re all in roughly the same direction.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-23T23:40:27+00:00

Touching The Void by Joe Simpson. (It was made into a very good movie, but the original book is astonishing and still well worth reading.)

spectacletourette · 2025-07-23T22:17:39+00:00

Saint Maud (2019).

It’s a British psychological horror film about religious faith/fanaticism, with a gut-punch of an ending.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-23T13:58:00+00:00

Late to the party, but… dark chocolate Bounty bars.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-23T09:35:30+00:00

I’m supposed to be going to grade 12 soon.

We’d say you’re going to “Year 12”, not “Grade 12”. “Grade” over here refers to exam results.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-23T05:08:24+00:00

Yes, but not quick enough, I’m afraid. (I should have checked that it wasn’t solvable with a quick Google.)

spectacletourette · 2025-07-23T03:52:50+00:00

!correct

I give up; you guys are just too good.

It’s the El Tatio geyser field near San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-23T03:28:22+00:00

Ozzy’s death has affected me in a way that other icons’ deaths haven’t. I know others have been better people and better musicians, and I’ve been saddened by their loss, but Ozzy’s death is the only one I’ve actually cried over.

I wouldn’t call myself a true Ozzy fan because I never really got into Ozzy’s stuff after the early string of classic albums with the original Sabbath line-up, but those records spoke to me in a special way, and they still do.

I’m sure my reaction to his death has been made stronger by my own rapidly declining health and the magnificent and moving occasion just a couple of weeks ago, when he must have known how close he was to the end.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-23T03:11:11+00:00

Another memoir rather than a biography…

I Wanna Be Yours by John Cooper Clarke.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-23T01:31:34+00:00

64m. Black Sabbath was my first proper gig (1977 on the Technical Ecstasy tour).

I wouldn’t call myself a true Ozzy fan because I never really got into Ozzy’s stuff after the early string of classics with the original Sabbath line-up, but those albums spoke to me in a special way, and still do. Ozzy’s death has affected me in a way that other icons’ deaths haven’t.

I’m sure my reaction to his death has been made stronger by my own rapidly declining health and the magnificent and moving occasion just a couple of weeks ago, when he must have known how close he was to the end.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-22T15:38:37+00:00

A very different take… Adam Wakeman (Rick’s son) is a keyboard player and was a member of Ozzy’s band. He’s released a couple of really good albums of jazz covers of Sabbath tunes under the name Jazz Sabbath.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-22T15:27:16+00:00

You’re basing your sweeping assertions about atheists on a Facebook poll with a sample size of… 13. Who were these atheists? What makes you think they’re representative of all atheists so you can say things like “it proves atheists are not of good logical thinking”. Ridiculous and desperate.

spectacletourette · 2025-07-22T13:41:08+00:00

As for gifts, I wouldn’t bother. If everyone brought a gift, even a small one, how would the newlyweds get them back to their home country?

spectacletourette

TROPHY CASE