Thread 15 - TalkLair: “I Can't Lie To You About Your Chances, But... You Have My Sympathies.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 14).

Autumn seems to have gone straight into winter. It's cold, wet and windy. In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them). The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics.

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Until I Kill You is next on my TV list.

Yes! I was a bit confused by her accent until more context was given. You get a glimpse of all of them, it's very impressive. The voice she uses when irritated sounds like Sylvia Plath, and with the fringe there's a bit of a resemblance too https://lovefiyah.weebly.com/uploads/5/8/8/1/58816121/5668250_orig.jpg

I see the resemblance!

@duc748 I think that when we look at the enduring popularity of Henry VIII we get a better understanding of how Trump can happen. Henry was, well after his fall from the horse and the ulcerated leg and the lack of a son and an inability to get it up, a monster. We're finally starting to accept that over four hundred years later. Maybe part of what is so attractive about Trump is that he is an upfront monster. Obviously, like Henry, he doesn't believe he's a monster, but it's there for all with eyes to see. I think that some of his supporters think that the evidence against him being a decent human being is all lies and fake news and I think that more than we'd be comfortable with know he's a monster and have decided he's their monster and they don't care what he's done.

They're halfwits, obviously, because while they think they're smart enough to see him for what he is, they're not smart enough to not fall for the biggest lie. Him and all his billionaire mates want us to see our neighbours as our enemy, not them, the lovely billionaires. I saw a figure last week about how much money all the billionaires in the world had made in the two days following Trump's victory and I can't find it now, but I did find one for how much the fortunes of the top ten richest people in the world grew last Wednesday from the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. $64bn/£49.5bn which is the biggest jump in a day since the index came into being in 2012. I doubt they ever have a day where they lose money or only make a couple of quid but the fact that ten people made an average of $6.4bn in one day just because a monster got elected is beyond obscene. He's their monster and they will happily suckle at his teats unless and until he stops making them richer and more powerful.

On a more pleasant note I went to my lovely local pub today with Snoop and Towelling, her bf for Pie and Jazz. It was lovely and my beef and ale pie melted in my mouth. I also got to bring pie home with me because my stomach wouldn't let me eat a whole one in one sitting!

Although at least Trump would probably do no more than fire you and give you a stupid nickname, which is better than the rack and beheading.

Thanks for all the good wishes. I'm down with MaBint now, helping with the admin involved in Arrangements. We're all holding up OK, apart from brief collapses if the wrong tune is suggested for the funeral playlist. Bright Eyes is right off the table.

Question in the general direction of @SqueakyDinosaur, but please anyone else feel free to weigh in: do you know a good folky version of Tis A Gift to be Simple. Something with a bit of bounce, rather than the sedate hymn style.

So right, Mouse. And Trump is a pauper compared to some of his backers, who don't get the public scrutiny. And unlike him, they're not stupid. Mind you, the people behind the Dems aren't so lovely either...

As for Pie and Jazz, I can certainly go for half of that!

I am watching episode 2 of “Until I Kill You” as I write! Gripping stuff. The next two episodes don’t come out until next Thursday though. I think the new Wokf Hall series might be later here though - I think they’re re-running the second series before that. I read all the books as they came out and thought they were brilliant - I should re-read them. I might see if there’s a good audiobook version, though that seems a bit extravagant when I have the actual books.

Britinme · Yesterday 20:12

In the meantime this afternoon I am making jam - two lots, one spiced plum and apple and one plum and blueberry.

That sounds lovely, spiced plum especially. I'll have to look Wolf Hall up - is it on BBC Player?

Season 1 is.

I have a theory about a small thing that comes up in ep2 of Until I Kill You. Mumsnet doesn’t do spoiler text though. Can I say it? I don’t think it would spoil the series in any way.

I'm OK if you say it - I've seen ep2 now. Can't speak for others though.

I've just watched episode 1 of the Mirror and the Light - it's excellent.

Absolutely fine with you saying something about episode two of Until I Kill You, @VictorianBigot .

The first episode of The Mirror and The Light was wonderful. I loved every minute of it.

OK...

-UIKY ep 2 very dull possible spoiler-

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Surely the DNA test result is because he's not Melissa's biological dad, rather than not the person she is suspected to be? Is it not usual to take samples from the mother, sibling or maternal grandmother? I don't know much about the case so maybe I'm completely off, but I was very surprised the police didn't consider the possibility in that scene.

@NoBinturongsHereMate I've been looking through some arrangements of 'Tis a Gift - there are some that might meet your needs but what are you looking for - is it for congregational singing or for a couple of people to sing to them? Will there be instruments?

This one is lovely and less dirge-like than it can be, but it's for a solo voice with at least one stringed instrument as accompaniment:

There are other candidates, but it depends on what forces you intend to muster. I will ask Kizz on the old place too as this is more her wheelhouse than mine.

I'm just starting UIKY, and three-quarters the way through ep #1, more MN red flags than May Day in Pyongyang.

Indeed. He looked like a wrong-un from the off.

I'm just about to start the fourth and final episode, if Kasper will let me.

And now Dom from Madame Blanc!

Thank you. I like that song, but it's not the one I'm after - should have known there would be more than one with the title. It's the one to the same tune as the Floral Dance that we're after. Just a recording to be played, not performed. And good point about Kizzy, I should have thought of her. We're in contact on FB so I can bother her there.

Yes, absolutely that on your ep 2 spoiler, VB. I assume Melissa's mother is dead?

Yes DH and I discussed that possibility too, though we also wondered if Sweeney had murdered more than one girl in Amsterdam and Melissa's body just hadn't turned up yet.

On aged parents, my dad's just done a driving refresher / observation and at 79, has been told he's a good driver. It was a mix of city centre, motorway and rural roads, at a cost of £40.

The back story is that my step mum has become a very nervous passenger and snaps at him, which makes him tense and sometimes to make mistakes, missing a turn, or getting in the wrong lane etc.

They have a friend, slightly older, who gave up last year, after a similar course. He took over an hour to drive 2 miles and the instructor told him he shouldn't be driving. It helped salve his pride, as his family had been telling him to give up, but he wouldn't, so having an authority figure tell him allowed him to bow out, so to speak.

@SinnerBoy excellent news!

The back story is that my step mum has become a very nervous passenger and snaps at him, which makes him tense and sometimes to make mistakes, missing a turn, or getting in the wrong lane etc.

I hated getting in the car with my mum. She couldn't drive, so my dad was the driver, and she spent every journey snapping at him to slow down and not to overtake. It would start at the point we entered the slip road and then get progressively worse as we continued along the dual carriageway or motorway. My dad would get increasingly annoyed and they'd end up in a big row, then my brother would start shouting that if mum didn't shut up dad was going to crash. I used to sit with my walkman and try to drown it all out. Eventually my dad started taping an envelope to the speedometer so she couldn't see how fast he was going. He didn't speed or drive recklessly, I think she just couldn't cope with being a passenger.

They have a friend, slightly older, who gave up last year, after a similar course. He took over an hour to drive 2 miles

Crikey! Was he stopping a lot or just driving very very slowly?

I think my mum stopped driving at about 80 (can’t remember exactly but I know she didn’t renew her licence at 82). She was pretty safe - if a bit cautious - and had only been driving within a fairly limited area for years, but she worried about what she’d do if the car broke down.

I remember an old woman in the road we lived in when I was little who was probably the slowest driver I’ve ever come across. She inched along the road in her Morris Minor and could probably have outdone that hour to drive two miles pace.