I started going to gigs when I was 14 in ’89. My friends were getting into forming bands and were playing in places like The Venue, The Tap O’ Lauriston and SU’s and bars in Edinburgh. I remember seeing Idlewild, Finitribe, Tackhead, The Goat’s, Oi Polloi, The Levellers and the Sultans of Ping, plus a few I’ve forgotten the names of.
The Venue was threatened with closure because of the fighting at gigs and went from playing live gigs to djs on a Friday night. My friends went from playing guitars and drums to decks, so I got into that instead. It was more like regular parties at first, we’d get wasted and play a few tracks each; generally because whoever was on the decks had forgotten and was bouncing away on the dance floor. Some of them became quite successful though and still dj, run clubs and record labels.
I’ve had some really random encounters with a few of them recently and combined with the death of Keith Flint it sent me off down memory lane. My memory’s a bit shonky though, hence my op

@scratch Plastikman’s Sheet One CD cover had blotting paper tabs, I did have the original but I don’t know where it’s gone 🤔

Phew, that’s a relief. Cheers for the heads up @cougar

@mrmonkfinger I wondered what those letters stood for on Tinder 😂 I just did it and I was surprised to discover I’m an extrovert, I always thought I was shy. The others were innovative, thinking and perceiving which fit the asc (< I like it Roper) profile.

@cougar I’d not heard of the spoons analogy, it’s a good one.

@lovewookie Exactly, you’ve expressed it extremely well. My family and people who know me also find me “a bit difficult”. I find life extremely awkward to navigate, there’s too much information coming in at once and it’s difficult to filter out the crap to make necessary decisions. I need quiet time to myself each day to avoid meltdowns and shutdowns, but as a lone parent I don’t often get it until the kids have gone to bed and come down for the umpteenth time because they’re hungry, thirsty…
I like riding because it’s the only time my mind is focused and relatively quiet. I ride on my own so I can go at my own pace, in the direction I want, or at least aim for and more importantly no demands or distractions (I’ve no one to ride with anyway, but it makes people feel better to think that autistic people are loners by choice) Alhough, I’ve hit a wall in my progression as I can’t figure out how ride some obstacles. I know I need coaching but I’m not sure if someone will understand my challenges, hence the coaching thread but that’s another decision to make

@nobeerinthefridge “Eight out of ten people considering suicide give some sign of their intentions. [2] People who talk about suicide, threaten suicide, or call suicide crisis centers are 30 times more likely than average to kill themselves. [3]” according to Mental Health America
We should be listening to our friends more, the onus shouldn’t be on the sufferer to ask to talk or for help but for us to offer a bit of kindness

Tonka trucks are cool, but the Kubota is the same size as one and all the guys have JD’s

@darthpunk I’m sorry to hear that it’s something that’s bothered you. OCD is a different condition borne out of anxiety but they share certain elements like obsession, repetition and routine. I get quite anxious if my routine is broken, it gives me a bit of stability when there’s so much else going on to make sense of

Oooo! My boss just agreed to get me a wee tractor, he suggested a Kubota but I think it looks like a Tonka truck

Cool, cheers for the heads up 🙂 I’ve lost days down the sampled.com wormhole

@roper Grand plan! It’ll solve the eye contact dilemma too, everyone is taller than me 😀

Who’d have guessed that black people can be racist too? Having been taught the same curriculum that says white people are better than black people and been conditioned by the media that says white people are better than black people, they actually believe it too.
They could have cast another darker actor but if they’re trying to appeal to a wider audience, we all know that lighter skin brings in the dollars.
My kids have mixed Nigerian/Scottish heritage and have a beautiful skin tone (mother’s bias?) but I caught one of them trying to lighten their skin with toothpaste at 5yrs old, they’d been told by their “friends” that brown skin was dirty, brown skin looks like a monkey… The school dismissed their concerns by saying they were over sensitive, at 6yrs old they were trying to commit suicide.
We’re all arguing over ID politics, it’s easy to dismiss if you fit the stereotypical norm of cis white as trivial but if you vary from that by your ability, appearance, belief, gender or sexuality then it helps you identify and gain acceptance in a society where you otherwise would not.

@trumpton Cheers, I will do. @roper Some good tips there, thanks! If only I can didn’t look like Jimmy Krankie with a cap on 😂
https://goo.gl/images/YZnAox

I hate to say it, really hate to say it but I agree with JP on that point. These kids are labeled as criminal before they’ve even started school because of their social status and post code. We need to tackle poverty and provide opportunity, but the policies which support social mobility aren’t there because they require collective social economical investment in services such as transport, housing, social insurance and health care

That’s great! I think providing the right environment and support helps enormously too

Music defines personal moments like holidays and those of political and historical importance, it connects people and divides them. It can reflect people’s personality and identity, if someone says they like a certain artist or genre we associate it with a certain style and attitude. Some lyrics may strike a chord and resonate and some beats just get you bouncing, so Pump Up The Volume

It’s easy to stereotype autism as certain traits such as not making eye contact, liking solitude, sensitive to noise and touch, lacking empathy and being good at maths but they’re just how they are viewed rather than experienced. It’s a mistake many people make, it’s common to hear “but you don’t look/act autistic” just weird/strange/odd/quirky/special/different.
I wasn’t diagnosed until my late 30’s, I’d never have guessed that I was autistic from what I’d seen and heard about it. With the exception of eye contact I don’t fit the stereotype, I’m tactile, empathetic and love a bangin’ party, I just don’t get invited 😂 Shopping is a nightmare, the glare and hum of the lights, the acoustics, people to navigate and choices to make, or it could just be that I’m tight. I don’t think personality traits are what defines autism, I think it’s the way in which we think systematically and logically

@trailwagger 😂 totally, I’d have replied similarly but asking “who” seemed a bit too direct and irrelevant

@rmacattack I found the Louis Theroux documentary tough to watch as it’s such a negative portrayal and reinforces stereotypes, even the title suggests that only a parent could love an autistic person (although there’s an element of truth in that) I don’t think it did anything to advance our understanding of autism and between that and Undateables I wish they’d hurry up and advance eugenics

I wonder what’s their reasoning for the new regulations, it seems a bit sinister and discriminatory especially as we’ve passed the same test

It makes the premier of Beats last night all the more poignant, set in 1994 to the backdrop of the Criminal Justice Bill.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/film/glasgow-film-festival-review-beats-1-4882772/amp

That’s awfully sad to hear, though I can understand why. It’s easy enough to say people should talk but when are we going to listen instead of dismissing people who are depressed as high maintenance?

I’ve started doing that, I didn’t go home alone tho 😂

I was quite surprised to learn this, especially as it carries a £1k fine. One of the requirements is to provide details of your GP and specialist, I’ve never been assigned any, have you?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/03/autistic-people-angry-at-having-to-disclose-diagnosis-to-dvla-even-if-driving-not-affected?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR24vynIfTWjpsd5HF25SRyW2EdNwIL5Qy9_Hzrt_Vnjun-atNQ1G7zBG04

They’ve been available for decades. You’re right about them being entirely unnecessary, it’s just another problem they’ve created so they can sell you something; a normal duster works just as well. I’m tight though, I use sandpaper instead of nail files 😂

Phew, there’s no incriminating evidence in that ^^ 😂

Jackie Chan, he sticks to a formula and I seem to becoming a bit of Jack Black fan but I’m not sure that’s because of the films he’s done tho

There’s some absolute classics above, my favourite is The Littlest Hobbo but I’m quite liking Cristobal Tapia De Veer’s scores, he’s done Utopia, Humans and Black Mirror

Was it something I said? You all seem to have gone silent

Awww 😢 I was hoping to propose the First Amendment, but I’m a woman and too slow. Can we simplify the charter to just the freedom of speech bit for gammons and wimmen* **? Then gaslight anyone who challenges us, if snowflakes stay silent it’s all cool and if the libtards speak up we can say she’s attention seeking, unless Louise posts a photo of her vessels so we can see how clever she is.
*refer to gender thread for definition of female and human
**they’re too stupid to have an opinion other than ours, unless she’s hot.
Then we don’t have to change a thing 😃

Some people are so blinkered to the evidence that’s been put before them in countless threads before, how many times do they need to be told?
Empirical evidence is based on observation and experience, which is open to so many variables and variations in interpretation; there’s been a paradigm shift since those opinions were formed.
I’m not going to debate this and give a platform to the crap but I’m not going to be complicit by being silent either.
The Cycling UK, the UCI and The Runnymede Trust are all focusing on inclusion in cycling this week so I have emailed them as well as notifying aquaitences at Leeds Beckett Uni as several recent threads have demonstrated how exclusive cycling is

“Discrimination is not just hate. It’s apathy. It’s indifference. It’s ignorance. It’s power. It’s privilege…”
To paraphrase Scott Woods lists on racism.

@allthegear I am sorry about last night, I also found some of the comments to be ignorant at best and highly inflammatory, bigoted and extremely insensitive at their worst. I understand that @cougar was trying to point that out to @alpin, although the example chosen is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 as are you. I was appalled that the comments were allowed to stand despite being previously challenged by other members of the forum, it took the threat of emailing cycling UK and other organisations to have it removed. Even then I was subjected vilification for pointing it out. I did report as many of alpin’s posts as I could bear reading, with the hope that STW would read through the rest.
It is obvious that the majority of the members who comment on these threads have highly ignorant and bigoted views, which is sadly a reflection of the society we live in. It is not one I wish to be part of and in challenging it I have been ostracised from my community and by people whom I thought were friends. I joined this forum in the hope of at least learning how to maintain my bike and perhaps meet up with a few of you for a ride. Last night I was close to deleting my account, however there was a few brave souls who were also prepared to challenge and 2 kind people pm’d me.

@allthegear I’m sorry I did not challenge @alpin and others on their views on gender, I opened the thread to see N* and jumped on it. I thought I’d strayed on to 4chan.

It’s obvious that people need clearer guidance on what is and isn’t acceptable on a public forum, this is not your selected friends on fb and is open to everyone. People’s insensitive, ignorant and vile comments not only reflects badly on themselves but on cycling, STW and those who are members of it.
I have decided to email cycling organisations and the Equality and Human Rights Commission to raise awareness and for guidance and support on these issues

Thank you @singletrackmag

@cougar Yes I took it literally, I’m also autistic @perchypanther thanks for using my disability to undermine and ridicule me. I actually came to STW as a newbie to mtb hoping to learn more about it and to connect with others, being autistic makes it quite a challenge and obviously one I can’t rise to. No idea why 😉

@cougar I also often wonder how a collection of letters can cause such offence, perhaps because there’s not so many which have been used to subjugate me and have such a negative impact on my life, affecting my education, employment, health or housing. (Unless of course you’re referring to my gender, hair colour, weight, disability…)
Whilst I understand that you were trying to make a point in defence of another minority, there’s no need to throw another one under the bus.
If I need to qualify my anger at that words’ use, which I shouldn’t as I also object to the privilege my skin tone offers me rather than equal merit, my children are of mixed heritage and that words’ definition carries way more weight than your context.
Whilst it certainly adds clout to your argument it detracts from your point and I think the responsible thing to do is to change it or make reference to it like N*.
I admire your willingness to defend your values and you do so with passion but you don’t have to lower your standards

@geetee1972 so turn on the complainant and make me the problem instead? Fair enough

There’s no context where a white person can use that word without it being prejudice. We use that word to divide and classify black people as criminal, stupid and sub human as was demonstrated in the context of the thread where people are being discussed as if they were objects. He knew what images that word would conjour up and used it to effect an impact. To then dismiss any “offense” and damage as the complainers sensitivity is really quite inflammatory

A mod posted that? I’m all for freedom of speech but with rights come responsibilities and as a moderator you have the responsibility to draw the line and minimise damage. How many people have read that? Your words are not only damaging to STW as a representative of the magazine but the cycling community as a whole, do cycling UK ect know that they associate with callous casual racism?

Really @cougar? The N* word is one of the most offensive words in the English language regardless of your intentions, to claim ignorance is quite honestly pathetic. My kids have had to move schools, because of attitudes like that. My kids tried to bleach their skin at 5 years old, because of attitudes like that. My kids have wanted to die at the age of 6, because of attitudes like that. But it’s a joke between white people so that’s ok? No harm done in reinforcing your privilege with a wee bit of bantz