Fullerene

One time I spotted that Kraftwerk were playing at T in the Park so I decided to go. Did I have a ticket? No. Did I have accommodation booked? No. Did I even know where it was? At that time, somewhere near Kinross which was somewhere near Perth. Once I got to Kinross, I saw a B&B that said "Vacancies". They had a cancellation so I was able to get a room. Then I located the festival, got parked, got a ticket and that was me. The next day at breakfast I sat near a family who told me that you really need to book everything months in advance. It would be crazy not to. I just nodded in agreement.

At Hootennany's in Inverness, they normally play traditional doom and gloom music that seldom does anything for me even if a lot of people like it. Upstairs, at Madhatters, they usually play alternative music that is more to my liking. One occasion, I went there on my own to hear a band at Madhatters that I really wanted to see. Unfortunately I was spotted. "What are you doing up here? Everybody's downstairs". Thus I had to leave the fun stuff and go down to listen to the sort of music I can usually avoid. Next time, I guess I will have to go in disguise.

For status concious people it is the equivalent of saying "I don't own a dryer."

Depends what you think of "Quintet".

They would be doing nothing of the sort. The stylus would jump every time they went over a bump. Not to mention how do you plug it in. Totally impractical.

People who claim that America is the greatest country in the world because they went there and some nice blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Awesome!

In the USA, the government is seen as "the People's government", democratically elected by the American People. As such, if "our government" labels this country as a friend or that country as an enemy then it is considered unpatriotic and going against the will of the American People to disagree. IMO.

The recommended book is "Command and Control" by Eric Schlosser. It explains nuclear silos and other things. One bit mentions a plane that crashed in North Carolina just before Kennedy was inaugurated. It was carrying nuclear weapons but there were safe guards. All of these failed apart from one which is why New York, Philadelphia and Washington were not evacuated.

If you respond to a troll they will respond to you and they will keep going. Even when you not saying much they will keep baiting you. If you are not getting anything out of the exchange just stop.

No. Pitcairn would be appropriate. How many are still in jail for inappropriate behaviour?

Well obviously he is not going to sweat about it. Oh dear.

When I go travelling I usually take enough clothes for 4 or 5 days. For long trips this means finding a laundrette wherever I go. I see it as a natural part of the trip and I always enjoy having a bag of clean clothes again.

I suppose. However the main issue is that it is a compromise and the dryer is not very good at drying. I read one long rant and at the end of it was "oh and by the way, did I tell you how much I detest these machines". It certainly put me off the idea.

Wee tip. You can buy a machine that incorporates the washing AND the drying, you don't need both these days. Alternatively twin tubs and mangles it is. I considered getting a combination washer/dryer but I read numerous reviews first. Less than kind. I can safely say I know why they are not common place.

What about Chairman Mao? 45 million deaths with his great leap forward.

In "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", the person who plays the administrator of the hospital was the actual administrator of the hospital in real life.

Beth was the biggest commercial hit for Kiss, much to the annoyance of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. It was written and sung by drummer Peter Criss and is very different to their other songs. There is an orchestral version and an unplugged version. When he was replaced with new drummer Eric Carr, they re-recorded the song with Eric singing and drumming. On a side note, Eric Carr died on the same day as Freddie Mercury.

Don't forget the Khmer Rouge. In 1975 out of a total population of 8 million, they killed between 1.7 million and 2.5 million.

So the Highland Derby is not a derby in your opinion.

I wonder if they will call in Prince Andrew to show them the tricks of the trade.

"Sorry I missed the Christmas Party but it really is not the sort of food that I would ever eat". "I don't blame you. Whose stupid idea was it to make it a Sushi night?" "Actually it was mine."

I think he is talking about golf.

I have been self employed for 20 years and it's great. Naturally I have a wonderful boss who let's me work whatever hours I like as long as the work gets done. The work often requires me to travel about, stay in nice hotels if I want to, go to whatever restaurants I please. I can schedule the trips myself and I seldom have to travel for so long that I get homesick. I have been all over the world often with somebody else paying for it.

If you don't need to interact with anyone else for the whole day it can be pretty soul destroying.

IIRC, When Britain ruled India, the natives outnumbered the British contingent by 2,000 to 1. (140 million versus 70,000) This could never have happened without assistance from local rulers in India who found the arrangement mutually beneficial. I suspect the stories from Africa were probably similar. All about manipulation as opposed to military power.