Thread 17 - TalkLair: "Okay, first of all, what's with the outfit? Live in the now, okay? You look like DeBarge."

[RasaSayangEh]

(Previous thread 16).

Spring is springing, daffodils blooming all over our LairGarden, which have not all been picked by a neighbour's kid...

In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, cosy rugs are down on the floors looking a bit stained by cat hairball regurgitation. 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…

I hope you get your scooter soon, Fags. Will you decorate it? There's an old boy near me with a trike covered in skulls, flames and heavy metal band logos; he wears a leather jacket and a denim cut off.

RasaSayangEh · Yesterday 18:26

I read that in the news, what a relief for you that it seems to be over. Regarding the copper chopper, they'll need to be sure that no other malefactors are prowling about.

Something which may be of minor interest to you:

The street WhatsApp group went mad, earlier. Someone said that there was a limo with a Malaysian flag and loads of blacked out Range Rovers at the Turkish restaurant at the end of the street today.

Apparently, it's the Malaysian Deputy PM, with John Barnes, (assuming it's the ex Liverpool & England player) they went on to a local Islamic centre and the Dep PM has a child at the local university.

I went to a poetry event at a local university this afternoon, part of which involved the three winners of a contest for high school students and the three winners of another contest for undergraduate students reading their poems. Of the three high school students (all female) one announced her pronouns as she/her before she started to read, and the other two were they/themmed by the introducers before reading. Of the three undergraduates one male and one female were they/themmed by the introducers and the winner, blessedly, was clearly female but didn't bother telling us her pronouns before reading. No attempt was made by any of the they/themmers to present themselves as anything other than their biological sex so quite what the point was of all the non-binary bullshit I don't know. As you may be aware, Maine is something of a hotbed of support for trans ideology, at least in the arts community.

Sounds like an alarming day @RasaSayangEh hope calm now prevails.

Thank goodness one of them didn't pronoun herself. It's the unnecessary drama and seriousness of the whole thing and of course by saying nothing she's saying exactly who she is and what she thinks without causing any controversy at all. I salute her because in an environment where so many have lost all sense it's hard being the sane ones.

How were the poems?

They confusion. I was reading a headline about celebrity big brother where it said partner of celeb says they were dumped at BB party. Who was dumped? When? Turned out partner of celeb goes by they but the they in headline could be the celeb or the partner. They becomes confusing once there's more than one and they can be both unidentified/a number of people or an identified person who goes from name to they among other theys. I have more issues with they/them than the he and she pretence because it's grammatically ugly and confusing.

Re pimping my ride. It's so basic that I shan't go hell for leather but there is a wee basket so I'll get a small garland and some battery fairy lights to pretty it up a bit but I need to hear from B and it's V unusual for her to be totally absent. I need to check up on her to make sure she's okay.

How much will you need for the scooter, @FagsMagsandBags ?

I took my mum (85) into town and got her registered for the local Shopmobility scheme. She borrowed a mobility scooter from them and we had a great time going round the centre. She's only able to walk a few yards, very slowly, so it was lovely for her to be able to get around and she kept exclaiming how nice it was to see places that have been out of her range for years now.

@FagsMagsandBags I'll be delighted to contribute to your scooter fund!

Facebook (Again! So it does have its uses after all!) confirmed that the nutter had a particular vendetta against women and girls, which is so damn familiar, isn't it? WYP updated last night that he'd shot two women, the third injured person sounds like it was the perp himself ("self-inflicted injuries").

Can't help but feel even more creeped out. DDs had been planning to meet up with their friend in Headingley Central yesterday but had switched it to today because the weather forecast looked better. They walk unsupervised around here all the time - have done for years. Especially those woods and the park. And down Otley Road to Headingley to meet their friends/browse the shops. We always thought it was good for them to have that independence and freedom. We will wave DDs off to their meet-up with faux casualness today, but it's definitely shaken us up.

I'm so glad DDs changed plans. These things have a huge impact so be careful with each other because you'll all be having different but unpleasant

To be perfectly honest as I type this I'm thinking, " Well that added to pre existing PTSD you idiot!" Near misses, no matter how likely or not are scary. I'm thinking of you all today and grateful for that all is well.reactions. Years ago, the day after a GE I was working late, Friday but was knackered so headed home at about eight, no pub for a change. Got into bed with the telly and decided I'd work over the weekend. GE was still stay awake until all is lost (pre 1997!) I hear thunder. I get a phone call. " You're alive then". Er wtf?! Thunder was an IRA bomb outside my office. I'd probably have been alive but cut to shreds. The office was a wreck and when we got back before we got back proper there was a crater outside our back door. No one else was in the office but security would have found me.

My phone has messed the order of that post up and deleted a lot. My office in St Mary Axe was bombed half an hour after I left it. I was home because I lived a couple of train stops from it. I'd have been alive but badly injured because our office was just blown out glass windows and computers.

Near misses are scary. Be kind to yourselves and each other and thank goodness the DDs stayed home.

Snoop said £900 but it's £800 and something. Closer to 9 than 8 I guess. B has seen her my message so she's fine. Cancer does bring on moments of paranoia. B and I aren't constantly online but tend to cross paths once or twice a day which is why cancer paranoia went "she's ill! Hurt!" Tell Snoop we need to get to her but it's Snoop's birthday. Oh. She's fine, you paranoid twat!"

The scooter will be sort of two for one. When I no longer need it we'll find someone with very little who's in need and pass it on. No reselling.

And I'm listening to mass again! Lovely choir.

That doesn't sound too bad a price for the scooter - especially as a 2-for-1. Do let us know when the fundraiser's live.

Glad.youre all unhurt, Rasa, although no doubt shaken. I loved to London in the last hurrah of the IRA bombings, so had a few near misses. But that never felt quite as personal as this anti-womren stuff. I do hope Prevent is now starting to take it seriously.

I am also glad all is OK near you now @RasaSayangEh. I understand the gulpiness of letting the girls go out though, following that.

@FagsMagsandBagsthe winning poems were pretty good, especially the undergraduate one, the second and third place ones not so much. The keynote speaker (this was a poetry conference held annually at the university) was Natalie Diaz, who was great. Please let us know when your fundraiser is live because I would like to contribute.

Thank you @Britinme . We're going for tomorrow morning. I write, B sets up now she's researched the best one.

Thank you everyone.

I feel like a bad person this morning/afternoon, so I'll say why and then make myself stop.

I was very worried about Virginia Deufree (sp?) the other week after her "crash" and four days to live when it was all very paranoid, etc. and of course, we now know that it was all too much. I think those who thought it was about money but the poor woman couldn't seem to walk away and let others take over. I know she was going after Alan Gershovich - which I know is wrong. He was hard to stomach because in the 80s I was under the impression that he was one of the good guys. And in the end it was both too little and too much. I truly hope that there were good times, the birth of her children, her love for them before her ex gained custody. I just hope that sometimes the pain disappeared and she was more than just that girl.

And here's where I have a problem with me. I wish it hadn't come to this and that she was alive and living her best life with none of us thinking about her because we'd just be good on her, and wonder why so many people got away with it and what's going to happen to Giselle. But she took her life and I understand why she did and wish she hadn't, etc. But I am so glad that this means there is no path back for that scummy prince. He will never escape the aprobrium and that makes me glad. In a world where the press hate on another prince and his wife because who knows, I'm glad that the prince who's very allegedly an abuser has to live with that until he dies.

But a woman died so I'm going to stop now, but I had to get that off my chest. Thank you!

I hear you. I was sad to read about her death.

@RasaSayangEh shocking news on your doorstep! Two women being shot so close by would really put the wind up your tail. I'm glad he's been caught and hope no one else was involved.

I remember the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974 as we lived just outside Birmingham at the time. My dad had got us all tickets for Spike Milligan at the Alexandra Theatre the following night and we went along anyway. I remember Milligan thanking everyone for being there. It was my brother who really wanted to go as he was obsessed with the Goons but he was shy so I led him to the stage door, where they let us in and we met Spike Milligan and he signed our programmes. He also drew a big black blob on the back of my hand and said 'Now you've got the dreaded lurgy'. Brother was very jealous as he was too nervous to say anything.

I'm up for contributing to your buggy appeal, Fags!

Me too!

Just wanted to say we went to a show last night, the Dad's Army Radio Show, and it was brilliant. The two actors have taken various DA scripts and adapted them as a radio show, with three episodes per show, and they do all the voices between them, which sounds insane but they are so bloody good at it and sound just right. One of the actors is someone I know so I've seen nine of the adapted episodes so far and enjoyed them all so much. Something I've loved every time is that they genuinely enjoy doing these shows and often make each other laugh on stage, which winds up the audience to laugh even more than they were doing to start with. All in all, it's the most wonderful nostalgia and so cheering.

Ooh, there's a little clip of that on YouTube here: