This probably pertains more to 1984 than to Animal Farm, but I often think that people miss the point with Orwell. 1984, for example, is not about foreseeing cameras everywhere, or about state control; it’s about a collective psyche that permits an anti-human narrative to dominate the social order, and how that comes about.

Orwell was as much about critiquing the collective English mind as he was about critiquing Soviet-style socialist excesses.

Consider it a poll then.
But I guess I’m trying to discern if I’m in a gross minority, and if I need to be more open to the charms of Tiny Rebel, if it is just a Marmite-type product, or if my observations can be back by objective measures (the STW collective mind).

Oh, and I assume you meant ‘Carling’ where you write ‘Carlsberg’. 🧐

I was going to say ‘Volvo’, but it’s already been said. I have an old XC90 with aggressive tyres, and it is a joy to drive on long trips. I have two kids in London and one in Edinburgh, while I live in Cardiff, and the CC and a good podcast, I could do those trips a few times a month with delight.

It’s also automatic, which makes it extra nice. My other car is manual (a Jag X-Type) and as nice as it was to drive, I never use it now in favour of the Volvo.

@reluctantjumper, if you ever want to escape Cardiff, if only in conversation, I’m sure @molgrips would join me in welcoming you for a coffee or beer at the Chapter

Hard question.

I was born in Winnipeg, Canada, grew up there, and left when I was 21 for Montreal. Montreal very much became my home, and when I left it four years later, I mourned it for many years after.

Then it was the West Indies followed by Canada’s Northwest, then Manchester, none of which felt anything like home. But eventually Mrs SR and I decided that Cardiff, Wales, would become our home and I have been relatively happy since. Except…

I continue to live with a sense of longing that living in Britain hasn’t satisfied. My love of other languages is at least partially satisfied by Welsh, but not entirely, while my hatred for the British education system and its Anglo-American crypto-Calvinist economic assumptions, together with the rampant classism, tempt me to hate it.

But I don’t. I almot do, but I don’t. That said, whenever I am in Germany (which has been relatively often), I feel like I have put on a shoe that just fits. Germany is the land of my fathers, and I don’t know if it’s just pure romanticism, but I love it there and think I could feel quite at home.

But at the end of the day, I am not there, and I love my little house with my family in it. So I guess ‘home’ is my little end-of-terrace crammed with a whole bunch of Saxons.

I haven’t been on skis since I left Canada 20+ years ago, but I would love to go again.

The way you all talk though makes it sound slightly more complex than I am used to.

If one skipped the booking, and just rolled up in the car park of a mountain, is it not possible in Europe just to buy a lift pass on the day and ski?

/sorryformyignorance

I sold my old Peugeot Boxer for spares due to a welding issue, and the guy who bought it did so on the grounds that he was going to try the repair himself or scrap it. It went for exactly what I was asking.

I would rather under-sell my vehicle and learn later that it was in better shape than I thought, than to sell it as something it isn’t and live with myself for sticking some poor person with a machine that is falling apart.

“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs“

To which I would add making excellent public transport a priority.

I shattered mine in 2010 and had to wait two-ish weeks for surgery. They plated it, and the nerves on my left side have still not fully recovered. The fleshy area under my clavicle but above my breast is still mildly numb, like when your has fallen asleep but is now recovering.

It only hurts, though, when I convince one of my kids to rub my shoulders and they accidentally make contact with the screws.

I was only ever periodic smoker, but I always enjoyed tobacco in both rollies and pipes. I will still have a pipe from time to time with another pipe smoker. But vaping has been a huge boon to me.

I have ALWAYS been a compulsive eater – as in, if it exists, then I eat it. I have poor impulse control, and every time I would get distracted (which was constantly), I would visit the fridge.

With a vape, I can concentrate better for hours on end, and feel no compulsion to eat. This has been important as, after my cycling accident in 2018, I went from 78kgs to 94kgs, and felt like hell. Since I made a deal with Mrs SR to exchange the eating for vaping, I have dropped to 82kgs and am still losing.

I feel better in every way, and have even started to move more.

And as far as all my reading has led me to believe, nicotine as a drug is really no different to caffeine. Its biggest problem has always been its delivery method.

Leonard Cohen

Germany

A Robertson Davies novel

My own thought life

I just explain to mine, in all kindness, that if they vote for the Tories, they can find themselves a new home and family.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

@thols2 got it first. Magnolia is a masterpiece of Tom Cruise’s acting and of cinema.

I’m still around, and still doing what I do. I just haven’t posted much in the last year because, well… life.

The sound of tumbleweeds is distracting me from the game.

Thanks for the heads-up! I have seen it come up on Netlflix, but wasn’t sure if I’d invest the time. Now I will.

I would be very happy with some form of speed limiter in cars, and agree with those who have said it is quite relaxing to drive slowly in the inside lane.

I would add, though, that something more developed than the current MOT system for making sure cars were fit for purpose could go a long way toward improving safety – on the motorways and on urban streets. Especially where tyres are concerned.

I know it won’t be especially helpful seeing as I have never actually had one, but I have always loved the idea of getting a VW Caddy for exactly the purposes the OP describes. I have seen some really beautiful ones about, and they just look like really attractive adventure vehicles.

My dream is, when the kids all move out, to buy one and travel across Europe in one with Mrs SR.

I have no witty rhymes to offer when it comes to GB News, but I look forward to its demise. Every time I hear of someone new signing on, I hope that the channel goes under and they can’t find any further employment.

I can’t believe we have come to the moment where the liberal consensus is being wrecked by such barbarians.

I don’t know if I am allowed to say this, but I have an 8kg road bike on the classifieds at the moment that would probably suit you perfectly. Price negotiable.

Apologies if this is not allowed. In which case, mods, please delete and forgive me!

I have had two VW T4s (one of which was LWB), a Peugeot Boxer, and a Mercedes Vito (LWB).

Both T4s were brilliant. Highly recommended, but too small (although the LWB might suit).

The Boxer was surprisingly brilliant, without ever failing an MOT (or even needing a serious repair) until it required some serious welding to the chassis that had us decide to replace it. If driving around in something that big didn’t cause my kids psychological damage, I would actually get one again.

The 2013 Mercedes was unequivocally awful. I mean terrible. The stupid foot-operated parking brake failed regularly; the steering wheel blocked the visibility of the dash; the body rusted with a mere glance; the manual transmission was rough as f___; it would periodically go into limp mode, but even the Mercedes people couldn’t figure out why; and the driver’s seat was weirdly designed to the point where long drives would give me sciatica. Never again.

Limiting it to the UK makes it hard, but the only other place I might choose is Northumberland. I LOVE the Northeast.

Otherwise, I am very happy where I am in South Wales. I have always had a temptation toward the (very) rural life, though. @Ambrose may remember this, but I once looked at a house near Ammanford with its own river running through it and an acre of woods. That sort of situation could be a very nice alternative to my inner-city Cardiff life.

I am the only one who uses that PC and no, I did not knowingly install OpenOffice.

Love it, but I never get the chance here (Cardiff). I grew up with the stuff, though, and woke many a morning to find my car like this (not my photo):

This guy.

I was privileged to call him a friend for many years, and to have collaborated with him on a few projects. He the obituary doesn’t mention a quarter of the things in which he was highly accomplished, including the fact that he was a classical pianist accredited to professional accompanist level from the Italian conservatory, and a master boat-builder and sailor.

He was a man who understood life, including its magic, and manifested it with integrity at all times. There was nothing in which he couldn’t find some feature of interest, and was as adept at talking about mathematics as classics as medicine as philology as history, at the highest academic level. I should add that he was able to do so in Italian, English, and German (at least), as well as classical Greek and Latin. Yet there was absolutely no snobbery in him.

Unfortunately, he lost patience with me when I took on a management role, and decided that we could no longer be friends. Yet my admiration for him as a person, and his intellect, remains undiminished.

Tragically, he lost his life to a previously undetected brain tumour, and I was never able to reconcile with him. I remember him constantly.

I grew up on this moment.

Remember: it was the midst of the Cold War, and the Canada-USSR series was like seeing it all unfold on ice.

The goal itself isn’t that dramatic by hockey standards, but the fact that it was a goal at all was like a triumph for the ‘good guys’.

Even if you don’t have a particular faith a lot of people like getting married in a church just to make the ceremony a bit different to all of the usual other official stuff that goes on in life. If so then how about the smallest parish church in England?

This option would require that they present themselves to a priest a certain number of months beforehand, unless there a health emergency necessitated something quicker.

I am so sorry to read this, John. Christmas must have been extremely hard for you. Please tell us if there is anything any of us can do.

I didn’t mention it in relation to Fort MacLeod, but please… if you find out about an organised Pow Wow, try to attend. Your little one will find it riveting, and you will be privileged with a glimpse of First Nations culture (if Western Alberta, then likely Blackfoot). The chanting is haunting, the drumming is amazing, and the dancing is beautiful. It makes more sense of Western Canada then white-European-built ski resorts.

From Calgary, I would take the little one to Drumheller. Not because it’s beautiful, but because of dinosaurs and hoodoos.

Also Fort Macleod is fantastic as a Western Canadian version of a castle. It was one of the most important RCMP forts built to patrol the western frontier and protect the Blackfoot population from rogue Americans with guns.

Finally, the Prince of Wales Hotel in Watertown Lakes National Park, as well as a boat trip around the lake (which takes you into Montana) is really beautiful.

Can you speak Parseltongue?

Well, @molgrips has just left my house having only gone and fixed the thing.

He had the machine apart, in seconds and up and running within ten minutes.

If you haven’t met him in the flesh, he wears a blue suit with a red cape.

Those of you who understand how these things work will have to ask him exactly what the problem was, but thank you all in the meantime for your help, and in the case of @Cougar, your implied offer.

Thanks all of you. @cougar, I’m in Cardiff, so will take @molgrips up on his offer.

Is that okay, Molgrips? Coffee (or whatever you want) is on me!

I have indeed tried turning it off and on again a few times. The result is the same each time: seems normal for a second, then starts to ‘rev’, where the fan (or the spinning hard drive – not sure which) just keeps going ‘vvVVVvv’ *pause* ‘vvVVVvv’…

Thanks for these comments so far. @Cougar and/or @molgrips, if I wanted to spend less in order to save some of my money for something else, would this be any good? It’s an Amazon refurb with a one-year warranty:

DELL Latitude 7490 14.0-inch FHD LED Backlight Touchscreen Laptop, Intel Core i5-8350U Processor, 16 GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 10 Pro (Free Upgrade to Windows 11 Pro)

I do. I have an entire kit in ‘like new’ condition.

Do you want to buy the whole thing to supplement whatever it is you’re looking for?

Cheap. Only £300. 😉

More seriously, I’d prefer not to split it, but I won’t be using it again, so if you want it DM me.

A lot of good advice on here, but I think that @stwhannah has it. Talking with people your son trusts and/or gets on well with is the first step. I am based at a university (both as an academic and as a chaplain) and it is the first thing I would counsel any student that came to me with such concerns. Take it up the chain only as and when.

After my time, but… Transformers. I mean, WTAF? A robot that transforms into a cassette tape?!? What, to render itself helpless? Or penetrable by a biro? Hell, even the Porsche 911 was a step down from the robot form that could fly. Clearly a concept invented by the Mattel execs looking for a Christmas bonus.

Okay. Wood it is, then.

I certainly hope so, but a ‘leave of absence’? It sounds like a way of staying away until the heat dies down.

I look forward to the day when this whole corrupt lot is rounded up and cast into prison. I am no parliamentary historian, and I am well aware of the evils of Thatcherism, but honestly… has there ever been a more corrupt government? I mean literally; not just in the sense that we throw about the word when anyone is in power that we don’t like.