kirsten

I know this is often ranted about, but the fact that some people think that if a Facebook status is long, contains figures and fits in with their racist worldview then it must be the truth. Someone I know posted: STATE PENSION - keep this going please Read and pass on: Dear Prime Minister I wish to ask you a Question:- "Is This True?" I refer to the Pension Reality Check. Are you aware of the following ? The British Government provides the following financial assistance:- BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER (bearing in mind they worked hard and paid their Income Tax and National Insurance contributions to the British Government all their working life) Weekly allowance: £106.00 IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN (No Income Tax and National Insurance contribution whatsoever) Weekly allowance: £250.00 BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER Weekly Spouse Allowance: £25.00 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN Weekly Spouse Allowance: £225.00 BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER Additional Weekly Hardship Allowance: £0.00 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN Additional Weekly Hardship Allowance: £100.00 A British old age pensioner is no less hard up than an illegal immigrant/refugee yet receives nothing BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT: £6,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT: £29,900 Please read all and then forward to all your contacts so that we can lobby for a decent state pension. After all, the average pensioner has paid taxes and contributed to the growth of this country for the last 40 to 60 years. Sad isn't it? Surely it's about time we put our own people first. Please have the guts to forward this. or copy an paste I JUST DID! Ughhhh 'please have the guts to forward this'. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND ASYLUM SEEKERS AREN'T THE SAME THING! An 'illegal immigrant' isn't going to try and get benefits when they know they're in the country illegally and will be found out if they do. It took me longer to think of a polite, short way to tell them it was bullshit than the one minute it took to find a government PDF disputing the claim. No wonder people voted Brexit and Trump got elected. Stop pretending to give a shit about old people, poverty and the benefits system just to mask your racist. The same goes for sexual assault. Why do these people not give a shit about the victims until someone with a different skin colour is accused. Just be consistent, you pricks, you have never and will never have the moral high ground.

Ah, I'd forgotten about the fleeting feeling of disappointment that you're not alone in your pick of someone terminally ill, immediately followed by tremendous guilt. Hello, darkness, my old friend.

Are you going to post everyone's lists again this year?

Evil Dead 2 I think that Bruce Campbell has now been in so many B-movies that he is probably actually a good actor . His performance in Evil Dead 2 is brilliant. He's so underrated as a comedy actor. His facial expressions and the way he just launches himself into scenes in a mega physical way is up there with Robin Williams and Jim Carey. The Music Of Chance I read the book by Paul Auster a few months ago and have been trying to track the film down since. It's about a guy called Jim who picks up a hitchhiker, Jack, who has been beaten up after a poker game gone wrong. Jim agrees to front Jack the cash to buy into a huge game against a pair of incompetent millionaires as a sure-thing. Obviously, it doesn't go to plan. It's pretty solid, but a little rushed in parts. You don't get much of a back story into the life of one of the main characters and he has to explain a lot to his co-star about why he is where he is and what his plan is. Show, don't tell, my man. A good story is a good story, though, and Paul Auster has a tiny cameo in the final scene. Strange Brew Dumb, fun and Canadian as fuck. Features Max Von Sydow as a villain (obviously) amongst idiots and a flying dog disguised as a skunk. It was well before Wayne's World, but that was what I kept comparing it to. Would watch again.

I sacrificed the Queen for some other picks, but am regretting it.

Glitter Penz.

Revised list thanks to last-minute surprise release by RTJ. It'll probably earn a space higher in the list the more I listen to it, but it was a great soundtrack to unwrapping presents alone. Sorry Cupcake Ductape.

I mainly hate this because Lemmy died in 2015.

Looks like Carrie Fisher died. Very sad, although I imagine several members of this site are hastily revising their 2017 list.

The Thing! I'm only familiar with their album Boot! but here's their bandcamp https://thingjazz.bandcamp.com/ Weird free jazz.

I'm planning on it soon, but probably not 'til the new year. Netflix are nailing it TV-wise. Been bad with keeping up with TV this year but am trying to cram it all in at the last hurdle. I only got five episodes through Better Call Saul series 2 and then moved to Poland only to find that Polish Netflix only have rights to the first series. I thought it was a Netfix original? So I recently started watching House of Cards again and am finally caught up. Such magnificent bastards. I'm glad that Claire has got even better. She is the best character of all time. I tried filling the Underwoods-shaped hole with Narcos (TV show, not drugs) and it's good but I wasn't too desperate to keep watching so have left it at four episodes, with the intention of going back at some point. Instead, six years too late, I began watching Boardwalk Empire. It's so great. Immediately engaging, I blitzed through the first series in a weekend. It has also led to several important discussions among my friends about the possibility of finding Steve Buscemi attractive and has revealed that I'll basically fancy anyone if they are charming or funny. And a famous actor.

Shit! I missed her off my list this year!

I have an iPhone and have never had this. Maybe it's just on the Facebook app? I just use Chrome to go onto Facebook on my phone.

1. Sunflower Bean - Human Ceremony 2. A Giant Dog - Pile 3. Adrian Teacher & the Subs - Terminal City 4. David Bowie - Blackstar 5. The Julie Ruin - Hit Reset 6. Lizzo - Coconut Oil EP 7. Cate Le Bon - Crab Day 8. Honeyblood - Babes Never Die 9. Weaves - Weaves 10. Cupcake Ductape - Get Over It I have been pretty crap at keeping up-to-date with new records this year so that's all I can think of. The first 6 are ones I listened to to death but the final 4 I need to listen to more in the next 19 days.

I didn't realise he'd died! I wondered why everybody liked him all of a sudden and were posting articles of his 'best quotes'. Yeugh.

SooperKeef.

I've never felt more excited by a spreadsheet.

Can we include discontinued ones? I still have dreams of these

I enjoyed that it highlighted GOB's ability to go from self-assured to completely broken in a second to the extreme. Also just a wonderful bit of Business from Will Arnett. The stuff that felt more forced to me was Tobias' misunderstandings of situations and his turn of phrase getting more ridiculous than previously.

I've been re-watching Arrested Development for the last couple of weeks. Still totally solid. What a So Solid Crew. I think I love GOB more than I love some members of my extended family. I also watched the fourth series for the first time since 2013. We woke up early on the day it was released and watched the entire thing in one sitting. Initially, I didn't want to admit that I didn't really enjoy it because I'd invested so much time in it, but I remember being pretty disappointed. Over the last few years, I think I've built up how much I disliked it in my head, but have always wondered if it was due to binge-watching it/constantly being on the look-out for background gags or things to look out for in other episodes and subsequently missing another billion jokes. It was better this time, with breaks between episodes and it probably benefited from me having gone straight into it after re-watching the previous serieseseses as all of the running jokes and weird phrases were still fresh in my mind. GOB's breakdown to Ann is a beautiful moment.

Man(un)uel Andrew Sachs está muerto http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/news/a815762/andrew-sachs-dies-fawlty-towers-coronation-street-star/

I missed The Lobster when it was in cinemas last year but noticed last night that it's on Netflix so gave it a watch. It's about an alternate future where if you don't find a partner within a certain amount of time, you get turned into an animal. The main character is played by Colin Farrell and at the beginning of the film his wife leaves him, so he is sent to this hotel where the goal is to find a partner based on a shared characteristic within 50 days. It's pretty grim but also really funny. Nothing is explicitly explained, which makes it even moreso.

Thanks for the reminder, keep forgetting to check it out! I've been crap at keeping tabs on what new stuff has come out this year, so my BEST OF 2016 list will probably be really short. Anyone have a top 10?

Yaaaaas! Who all did you see? We saw: Steve Gunn/Lonnie Holley/Deerhoof/Wand/Mario Batkovic/Bo Ningen/Beak>/Les Filles de Illighadad/Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids/Tim Hecker/Deutsche Ashram/Happy Meals/Dinosaur Jr/Cate Le Bon/Zerfu/The Ex and Fendika/Digable Planets/Canshaker Pi/Horse Lords/Scott Fagan/Patty Waters/Pauline Oliveros/Tortoise/Samuel Kerridge/St Francis Duo/Suuns/Junun ft: Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and the Rajasthan Express I think this year was their most experimental and weird line-up yet, after it slowly going that way over the last few years. I had a vague list of bands to see, but didn't end up sticking to it and just went along with whatever was going on, just pleased to be there as it's such an ace festival. Missed out on loads of great stuff because we couldn't face the walk back from De Helling. It's a great venue but SO FAR AWAY from the rest of the festival and always inevitably raining and 3am when you're walking back home from there.

I GOT ONE! As with finding a decent job, I could only get hold of a ticket by knowing somebody who was already going who had a spare. Praise be to befriending random Guided By Voices nerds at festivals! You can sleep soundly now, ab-mus.