StreetCowboy

Skelmersdale's finest!

On 9/5/2023 at 12:01 PM, ozimoron said:

You could buy a house for about 3 years salary back in the 80's. Try that now.

I still can.

17 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

IMO, the question is are people of better character now than they used to be, not are they better off.

There’s only one f in of, and if people don’t understand that, they’re as well effin’ off.

On 9/5/2023 at 7:49 PM, Felton Jarvis said:

The last time I checked, I am a “people”.

I’m terms of literacy, you may be an example of decline.  
“better off” and “better” are not synonymous.

I think I was better back in the 80s

15 hours ago, Baht Simpson said:

In the last Grand Prix in the Netherlands there were 86 overtaking manoeuvres in one lap, a new record.  GP drivers deserve every penny they get, considering the risks. And there's a lot more drugs in cycling. I love both.

There's certainly a lot more drug testing in professional cycling.

I had planned a long ride on a gravel road we had ridden some years before, then (as previously planned though not achieved) via a complex route avoiding busy highways to home.

I had identified the most significant challenging junctions, but my navigational error came from forgetting that we had stoped in a petrol station on the right hand side, and set off thencewards in the opposite direction.

It was not a short ride, ten km extra was not going to make it any shorter, and I gave the navigational fruit machine a couple of extra pulls and a bit of a kicking to boot.

”I’d rather admit defeat now than double back and start on the navigationally challenging bit of the ride.  We can head up here and along and around and about a bit and find ourselves in The National Capital whence we can get the train to Serdang or Kuchai or Taman Tun”

”We can decide that when we get there…”

One short wrong turning saw us sheltering from the rain, commiserating with a motorcyclist who had fallen backside-down at the junction where we had erred, and our signposts were not adequate to find our way easily to the station, but Google Maps mitigated our omissions.  We rode wrong-direction through the bus station, and boarded the train in good time.  If anyone asks you, the air con on the train is fine - if anything too cold, and anyone that says otherwise is a troublemaker with nothing better to do while they’re travelling than post spurious complaints on social media.
“There’s still rain on the windows - it might be raining here - let’s stay on till TTDI”

”I was hoping you’d say that”

It was raining gently at TTDI as well, so we went to the nearest pub to the station.

How many cars are there in Le Tour de France, compared to Formula 1?

my understanding is that in Formula 1 there are 22, plus a Safety Car.  
I would love to cycle on closed roads, but not when there are more cars following me than a Formula 1 race.

How does Formula 1 manage without camera motorbikes?

An acquaintance from back in the day had called me out for a pint, and never one to back down, I had taken him at his word. As one is wont, we turned to times and places gone by, and after he had escaped in a taxi towards the safe haven of his home, I thought I would stop by to see how much the KL pub had deteriorated.

If “ a lot” had been enough, I’d have headed home, but some depths need plumbing.  I hope memory will serve me well enough that I will not come back soon

Those of you with calendars will know that this is the only Sunday 20th of the year, so we combined our 20-20-20 ride with an excursion to a Toddy Shop, for the benefit of our friends, local and foreign, who were not familiar with such places.

The ride there was neither more troublesome nor more difficult than I expected, and we were little surprised that no one else arrrived at the Toddy Shop

it was a fair bit more than 20 km to the toddy shop, And not much shorter coming home.  We didn’t manage 20 kph on the way home - not after 3 litres of toddy.  
They were offering”cocktail toddy” with sweet fruit syrup flavourings, which I thought made it much more drinkable, and it went really well - quickly, at least - with the wild boar curry.

I spent this evening fettling the gears on the shopping bike , which was a bit of a waste of time as I’ll probably not be riding it till the next Sunday 20th.

As you know, the architects have made the bike racks a tourist attraction in their own right, though not a very popular one.

An acquaintance had been waxing lyrical about the beauty of the Scottish highlands, with a photo similar to yesterday’s ride - complete with rain clouds.

The road from there to Kajang is lovely, until you get to the Highway - worth the struggle over Ampang Lookout; we stopped half-way up to admire the view and marvel at the brutal ugliness of the Duke Highway as it slashes through the heart of KL.  The stop made the climb up the hill all the more bearable - I suppose a photo would have been in order to share the monstrosity.  “There’s a bit of a haze over KL city centre”

There’s haze everywhere; you just don’t notice it over the suburbs because you can’t see the buildings behind it”

6 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

…

Like disciples will travel forth to spread the word I have related to them.

 

Steady on, pal, ye’re not the ‘kin’ Pope

Ref previous story about TheBlether

5 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I am not worried.

I shall hide my light under my bushel until the time is ripe to allow it to shine.

I will share my light only with those that will not disappoint me.

I have been chastened in the past by not focusing my light where it should go.

 

My beacon shall be a light of hope for the deserving few who,

Like disciples will travel forth to spread the word I have related to them.

 

 

 

There are few amongst us so ready to share a little light in the gloom of our limited imaginations.  I had the remarkable good fortune to be recommended “In The Penal Colony” by one of our fellow posters, and I wish I could offer such helpful advice to my peers.  Perhaps read again Catch 22, or The World of Suzie Wong

47 minutes ago, atpeace said:

Enjoying this thread and your posts.  Good laughs but why can't you understand a non-virtual meet could end poorly.  Real life has real life consequences.  Boredom, fist fight, etc...  I'm a lurker here on AseanNow more than a poster.  It seems like most people don't like me which is odd because I'm well liked in the non-virtual world.   I guess I'm online challenged.

 

 As for me, I would meet 5-10 of the interesting posters here that disagree with my posts but would avoid the people I find offensive and trite.  It would be interesting meets but I understand others reservations.  .  Those that know me don't consider me a coward and not meeting up with certain posters is common sense.

I have met a couple of posters here, but have no desire to meet those with whom I disagree.  I don’t seek out people with whom to have an argument.

31 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

But in the free world you can still voice your opinion against guns with printed media, spoken word, slogans on clothing & symbols etc…

… this is a removal of a freedoms of speech (or freedoms to wear an inoffensive symbol expressing the human rights of LBGQT people)…   It’s just a watch… banning it is silly, it’s not a nazi symbol !!! 

 

I don’t see how a Nazi symbol would be different. Symbols are symbols.   You should perhaps try to understand how much people try to use the law to persecute their opponents, rather than interpreting everything too literally.  You may also need to dig a little bit deeper beyond what CNN report.   If I was going to fight Malaysia’s intolerant laws, this is not where I would start, and I would try to avoid getting my friends’ festival terminated.

I took a rake past one of our Stations to form my own opinion of allegations of vibration, and whilst I was there, availed myself of their top bike rack.  That Station is surrounded by highways, but Who Dares, Wins; getting home was just as SAS.

Anyway, the vibration varies according to the state of the train wheels, and I have no reason to single out that station.  I went down a couple of stations for comparison, and checking out some parking problems at the same time.

23 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Being the Stickler for Detail that I happen to be, I just wanted to point out something I know that you know, but neglected to mention, namely that, depending on the process, some alcoholic beverages may contain minute percentages of methanol, both through the fermentation process and through the distillation process. I searched the net for a few good links clarifying this point, but was able to find only this, in short order:

 

https://byo.com/article/the-alcohols-of-beer/#:~:text=One of the main pathways,be more careful of methanol.

 

Being a chemist, you could easily tell us the processes by which this happens.

 

However, I may not be available, for a certain period of time, to read your reply, should you post one, because, you see...

 

I may be going on sabbatical in coming weeks, perhaps months.

Everything is just so uncertain at this juncture of time.

 

Life is full of these little uncertainties.

I know that I shall miss my old pals, but also know that they will be very well looked after.

 

Well...Ta-ta...

 

(And, yes, I know both meanings.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life is never full of uncertainties - there is always room for more.

Back in the day, slowly sobering up in a distant and unfamiliar part of Taipei, as it started to rain, I thought “this could not get any worse”, and I have rarely been so spectacularly wrong.

5 hours ago, RonniePickering22 said:

Very good point you make however health and safety being what it is do you really think I should leave him in charge of a kettle?

My son played for Kettle.  He became a YouTube Sensation… and without doubt Health and Safety would have taken a dim view, and perhaps had words with whoever was in charge.

3 minutes ago, freedomnow said:

I'm talking about the visual stuff for AI - with a solid storyline.

Where do you get the solid story line from?
Pictures are pictures, no matter whether they are drawn from a syndicated artist, an art student or Skynet.  If you believe that we will believe the stories that AI will tell us, then it is time to take up the hammers and pitchforks of the Luddites and cast the abominations into the abyss, before they do the same to us.   There is no reason to believe that washing machines have our best interests at heart. 

2 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

If I learnt something in life, it's that things not only can always get worse, but often will. Just give it enough time.

 

 

Me, too! LOL

Cheer up, they said, things could be worse... so I did, and they were.
Pessimists think that things cannot get any worse, and Optimists think that things can only get better.

4 minutes ago, freedomnow said:

I'm sure like Blade Runner someone will come along and pick up and expand the theme of the film and that could be pretty amazing with FX at this stage.

AI can even animate short films now from 2-3-4-5 photos.

 

I'm not saying tech would make the film but it would carry an excellent story to another level. I'm hoping scifi moves to another wow level with the utilisation of AI.

 

A few words with Midjourney, and you have the costumes and themes for storyboarding now.....it's amazing...generated in seconds from descriptions...see attached photoreal AI art.

Although THX1138 was well directed and well produced, the story line was what was important - and not the words of the story.  AI wiill give us a superlative substitute for human thought, which eventually will make "Terminator" obsolete - we will not know that we are subservient to machines, ...
Maybe that will happen in the future, maybe it happened five or ten or twenty years ago.

If I was going to never have an alcoholic drink, I think I would choose one  of those sugary alco-pops.  

On 8/10/2023 at 10:20 PM, RayWright said:

George Lycas's original 15 minute 1967 student film (Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB), whilst he was at Film School at the University of Southern California is well worth a viewing in order to see the development from student to professional film maker. In fact the US Library of Congress selected it for the National Film Registry due to it's "culturally, historically or aesthetically significance ".

Very much a concept of fiction becoming reality. 

I think that the fact that it was a George Lucas production is irrelevant, insofar as his fame came after its release.  Crimes or achievements are no less or more for what you do afterwards.

THX1138 is an important portrayal of the brutalisation and suppression of the individual in society, but Elon Musk would say "I don't do that" and so many of us are willing to look away and suffer the consequences, rather than taking up arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.
Let us condemn the activists that cause the occasional traffic jam, rather than those amongst us that cause a traffic jam everyday...
The fault with stories like THX1138 is focussing on the rebel, with whom we all identify, than the subservient culpable masses, whom we form.
Until we realise that we are the villains in the story, not the heroes, we will never save ourselves.
 

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Stupid alphabet soup?

So you post on a gay forum to insult gay culture. 

Disgusting. 

I don't think that people should temper their opinion based on the neighbours amongst whom they find themselves, unless they choose to avoid arguments - their choice. 

I don't think that the Malaysian government has banned rainbows, nor rainbow-coloured jerseys such as the UCI champions wear, only the specifically wearing of such to promote LGBT+etc tolerance.

We may all be entitled to our own opinions, and we may wish that we can express them wherever we wish, but apparently there are restrictions in Malaysia, and, you apparently propose, also in LGBTQ+etc fora.

12 hours ago, sipi said:

The good old days SC.

I won't mention my favourite four.

They know who they are....

Actually, I will drop a few names, without actually dropping their names.

Rumak, big Pete from CM, Wayne, the Canadian, the Greek.....

If I was going to name my top four posters, I would include a more limited number of names.  Unless I wanted to be sure of including them all, in which case I might list more than five....