Craig Sawyers

Hammond nearly killed himself twice. First time in a jet propelled dragster at 320mph when a tyre blew in 2006. Suffered brain damage from which he has mainly recovered. And much more recently Freddie Flintoff as part of the new Top Gear team, flipped the trike he was driving as part of the show at around 130mph in December 2022 and suffered life changing facial injuries. Still has flashbacks and nightmares. Top Gear production has been suspended, and may never be rebooted. https://www.lancs.live/news/celebs-tv/paddy-mcguinness-six-word-response-29780242 https://www.lancs.live/news/celebs-tv/freddie-flintoff-shares-harrowing-images-29734993?int_source=nba

In the UK we have stringent laws regarding firearms, the only non-controlled firearms are those obtained illegally. The number of firearms covered by a government certificate is currently 615,627, and the number of shotguns 1,340,452. These have to be in a controlled, locked and regularly audited cabinet of defined construction. Although nothing prevents someone with a firearm certificate going nuts and going on a rampage. Fortunately very rare. Legislation was tightened after the Dunblane massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre . The only other two were the Hungerford Massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungerford_massacre , and the Cumbria Shootings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbria_shootings . Mercifully that is the sum total of nutters with guns going on a shooting rampage. But there are no restrictions regarding knives. Even a kitchen knife is a lethal weapon. And knives are the weapon of choice in gang warfare, and many teenagers, usually from deprived areas go tooled up with knives when they go out at night (or even to school).

RIP the three young children knifed to death in Southport UK. Many others injured. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy68z9dw9e7o A 17 year old is in custody.

Happy birthday Antonio!

When I was your age I trained for a long distance hill run called the Bob Graham Round in the English Lake district. 63 miles with the height of Everest in it. 42 peaks, a lot on bouldery broken ground. You have to complete it in less than 24 hours. If I was not climbing at 160bpm plus on an ascent I wasn't working hard enough. Now if I get to 160bpm in the gym, at 68, I think I'm going to die. Age is not your friend as you pile on the years. Mind you at 61 I did the Yorkshire 3 peaks. Biggest hills in Yorkshire - a marathon distance but with 6,500 feet of ascent. I trained hard for that, and did 7h15m.

That, Nate, is impressive. Average speed of nearly 18mph on a hilly course with power a hair under 200W - even when I was a few decades younger and regularly weekend cycling I couldn't have got close to that.

That must be the worst 1m50s I've had the misfortune to see. Who watches this junk?

Then there is the subculture of extreme ironing

Yes - Pogacar's amazing bike handling avoiding the barrier at 30mph alas had the knock on effect that one rider braked as Pogacar suddenly appeared in front of him - and a bunch of riders ended up on the floor. And that bunny hop was astonishing. They guy unclipped one foot in the extreme avoidance, somehow kept upright, and clipped back in.

Anybody notice that Mark Cavendish yesterday won his 35th stage win in the Tour de France? Aged 39, he has finally won more stages than the legendary Eddy Merckx? Actually Merckx won his 34 stages in a combination of wins - mountain top, breakaway etc. Cav has done his 35 stage wins all in a bunch sprint. He actually threw his chain as he crossed the line, having gone from 1700W into the bike to freewheeling kind of instantly. When one stage win is a defining moment for a pro cyclist for most riders in the Tour, 35 stage wins is heroic. Everyone who he outsprinted slapped him on his back as they crossed the line in his wake - and all riders, including Tadej Pogačar in yellow almost queued up to hug him - a popular win by the whole peleton. The "Manx Missile" finally has the 35 wins monkey finally off his back.

Looks to be. Associated Press.

Years ago, my daughter sent me a birthday card with that image on it. She reckoned it was a typical stupid dad play on words joke. You are on fire with this series of posts!

In wonderful irony, the awful Anita Bryant's granddaughter in 2021 "...Sarah Green, came out publicly on an episode of Slate's One Year podcast series by announcing her pending marriage to a woman, although she was having difficulty deciding whether she should invite her grandmother to the ceremony."

Steve said: "My parents were racist. They'd never admit to that, and probably actually believe that they were not racist. But I grew up in a house where the "N" word was used often. I remember my Mom telling me not to make friends with Black kids in school, because they couldn't be trusted. Even though I understood from an early age that way of thinking was wrong, some of that prejudice is bound to seep through. That's why racism is so prevalent. Because it's passed on through generations, because kids think their parents have the answers." Which kind of reminds me of the Poem by Philip Larkin. Now all Larkin's poems were pretty dark - sort of the poetry equivalent of Arthur Miller plays. This one is called "This Be The Verse" They fuck you up, your mum and dad They may not mean to, but they do They fill you with the faults they had And add a few more, just for you But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another's throats Man hands on misery to man It steepens like a coastal shelf Get out as early as you can And don't have any kids yourself

Although they are shrouded, the mains transformers of that amp are very close to the deck and cartridge. Reminds me of a problem I had back quite a number of years with an Audio Research power amp I had. It was right in the bottom of the rack, as far away from the deck as possible. But when playing a record, an annoying background hum. Then without the deck revolving, I put the stylus down - hum. It was mechanical. The mains transformer was vibrating and shaking the whole rack. This was Audio Research's design booboo. Designed for US 60Hz, in the UK at 50Hz the transformer takes 60/50 times more current, and starts to saturate a bit. And it therefore mechanically vibrates at 50Hz. And vibrates the whole hundredweight of amp. Hauled it out of the rack - not easy given its weight - and put it on a separate platform - bliss - silence.

I was born in '56, and when I was maybe 14 in '70 the school employed a black guy as a lab technician for the biology department. It is to my eternal shame I never spoke to the guy. You see, in the North East of England that was the first black person I had ever seen - and I simply did not know, in my ignorance how to talk to him. Now of course statistically, with 600 boys and girls, there simply had to be a fair number of gay people - or LGBTQ in a broader and more recent perspective. But if the topic was ever referred to it was in derogatory terms. It took me a long time after that to shake off the prejudices, and the ignorance. But all of them went. I really appreciated your initiating this thread Steve. And I like you thank heavens we are living, certainly in our parts of the world (USA and Europe) in much more enlightened times. But in whole swathes of the world being gay is still illegal and gays persecuted. Like it was in the UK - even in recent times, Thatcher introduced a law called Section 28, which made it illegal for local authorities to promote homosexuality: "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". This was in the UK in 1988. When Thatcher was ousted in 1979 in a landslide by labour, they repealed it within a year of taking office, thank heavens. Wikipedia is your friend https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28 . Now, thank heavens, gay marriage is enshrined in law, and the final barriers have tumbled Back in history, the Roman army were encouraged to take a gay lover, on the basis that a fighter would fight more diligently if he was defending his lover fighting at his side. Back to modern times, and just as a for instance, the one time CEO of the Brendoncare Foundation that my wife took over from, Paul (or Jules) subsequently became a Trustee. I got to know Paul and his partner Vital very well. Vital was a renowned stained glass artist and sculptor, and designed one of the windows in our house. He also designed windows for Oxford colleges and churches. After bravely battling bowel cancer for a number of years, he alas died at the all too young age of 63. This is the guy https://www.vitalpeeters.co.uk/ , and this is the window he designed and built for our house....

Inside those hawser cables is actually bell wire🤡

Also happy belated!

That was recorded in 1982, when both singers were at the height of their vocal powers aged 38. Astonishingly both of them are now 80.

Alternatively use the speakers to play this

Yes it is loads of dosh. But I think it is remarkable that the same company who made and makes affordable decks, decided to launch the original Reference in 1980, and that astonishing piece of engineering last/this year as the new Reference. An original Reference has just sold on eBay UK for £51k in stunning condition

OK found the price - Euro220k. Then you have to buy up to three tonearms and cartridges. And find somewhere that can take the weight. The original Reference was about a tenth that price (converting for inflation) when it was launched in a 100 unit limited run. In today's money about 25k.

If you are going for a record deck, Thorens have just launched a new version of the legendary Reference turntable. Price unspecified. If you need to ask the price you probably couldn't afford it. https://thorens.com/en/thorens-news-infos/302-thorens-204-news-en-mobile.html and https://thorens.com/images/presse/reference/Reference_Brochure_05_2023.pdf And in the flesh

Well that was click bait - I had not come across the term "baby backs", and the image that came to mind - well you can guess.... Anyhoo - they look delicious