WU LYF 4 LYF

Agreed. It's a stunning book. I first read it about a decade ago and must've re-read it a dozen or so time since. It's great to read from cover-to-cover, but also to just pick up for reference regarding a particular song or album. As you say, one of the best Beatles book out there. I'd also recommend After The Break-Up, which covers 1970 through to 2000 (or at least my copy does but there's probably an appended version out there somewhere covering the last decade).

I'm amazed at all the complaints from people in this fucking country. We all have a great lifestyle; most of us have everything we need, most of what we want and live a life that it utterly lavish compared to at least 60-70% of the world. This is a golden age, and just because it's slightly less golden than a few years ago doesn't make it a grim, terrible time of poverty and depravation. It's just the generally fatalistic outlook of the majority of the population, always complaining about something. Politicians tell us we're living through some sort of great depression, when the economy is growing 1% (not in line with inflation but certainly not catastrophic) and most people all the material stuff they could ever want.

I've spent the last week on a sunlounger listening to music, yet according to my meagre income I'm on the poverty line. Well, no, I'm not in a current position to drink Dom Peringon, or have a 50" HD TV, but my life is a million times easier than most of the world. Even in this country, if you saw the 'Poor Kids' TV program on the BBC a few months back you'll see kids who really have it hard, and here are these rail workers who actually have a job, and a fairly good job, complaining because they want more and more.

The problem here is expectation and perception. People expect a big house and disposable income, and think they deserve it because the people who do live lavishly like celebrities, some bankers and politicians are all over the media. People perceive that their live is rubbish because there are a lot of people out there earning more than them and more materially well off, when actually if they look further afield they live a phenomenal and reasonably easy life. These people have it better now than they have at any point in pre-20th century history.

People also should learn that money is far from the only currency in this world, and it certainly doesn't equal happiness. Without wanting to seem like a hopeless hippy romantic, having a good group of friends, accepting contentment with your life and being in good health and good mood are all far more valuable than the circular bits of metal and pieces of paper that we measure our happiness and fulfillment by. If we stopped reaching desperately for the brass ring and started realising it doesn't exist more people might get happiness out of life. People always perceive things in a tier or a hierachy, where they would do better to see things running parallel.

Gutted that there's no screening near enough, daresay it'll get a DVD release so I'll be snapping that up as soon as I can. Sort of rediscovering my love for this band at the moment, three or four years ago I thought I couldn't get anything else out of their catalogue, having listened to them since I was four or five with my family, and by the age of eighteen or so knowing every note and lyric in their catalogue. The remasters piqued my interest for a bit and then I moved back to the other stuff I was discovering at the time. When I was a kid I loved the early, more immediate stuff, and when I got older I started to appreciate Abbey Road, White Album and Revolver a lot more, which I guess is probably a similar trajectory of listening to a lot of their fans (except stuff like 'Yellow Submarine' and 'Octopuses Garden' which is just made for kids really).Anyway, my passion was reignited after I read 'You Never Give My Your Money' a couple of months back, which really does give a fascinating insight into events between 1967 to the present day, and all the wrangles, battles with booze and drugs and basically what happened to everyone in the years after shit started going wrong between them all. It's brilliantly written as well, gives really vivid portrayals of the various characters involved and is meticulously researched, there's all sorts I never knew about from Lennon/McCartney drunken recording sessions in 1977 to court fights over various things and Ringo Starr's downward spiral into coke and drink in the 70s.Just bought 'Revolution In The Head' which is similarly fantastic, though totally different in style. Only a quarter of the way through but I definitely rate it as one of the best books on them I've read (and about music and the sixties in general actually).

I'm not an expert, but if you feel a bit down but realise fully you'll be fine after a bit, is that depression?

I'd say it counts as feeling depressed, but maybe not clinical depression, which is characterised by a constant sadness and disinterest in life. I have the symptoms sporadically, but the other part of the time I'm extremely high, confident and happy. Call it a mild form of bipolar. When I am depressed, it's more than being 'a bit down', it's being despairingly unmotivated and low.

People with clinical depression often can't see a way out, they feel hopeless; when I am 'depressed', I simply ride it out knowing that the good times will soon be here.

Sound pretty Bipolar to me mate. Real talk. Get some proper help.

 

Edit: That may seem obvious, but it's the only thing that matters.

Well, I'm not sure I need help, above maybe some therapy. I never feel suicidal particularly, because every time I'm depressed there's always an end in sight, as I always presume that sometime in the future I'll be on top of the world. That's why I empathise so much with people who suffer from depression; I've experienced their symptoms, and the thought of being in that state of mind constantly, with no concept that you'll ever be happy or euphoric again would be hard to deal with. At least I always have light at the end of the tunnel.

Appreciate the semi-kind words though, it's a rarity for me round these parts.

I just imagined that he had it while crying and wanking over pictures of Patsy Palmer with half a can of flat Special Brew spilled around his feet and a late night signed version of the Antiques Roadshow on the telly.

Close - if you followed the breakdown more attentively you'll find the wanking was over erotic fan fiction of Enid Blyton books, the can of Special Brew was in fact a glass of Jim Beam and coke and on the TV was the signed version of Jeremy Kyle I believe. I think I had it on mute and had some tribal house album playing, but details are getting sketchy. I'm trying to forget, definitely a low point.

The bizarre thing about both that, and my experience of depression, is that I've felt incredible the last few days, joyous, happy, riotous. Yet nothing at all has changed in my life. That's why I'd never hit the anti-depressants, it might take away the roles but what about the highs?

Beetroot.

Tina doing her dance, John looking for romance, Paul getting down on the floor and Heather screaming out for more.

Or perhaps sexually assaulted a child? What could be worse than the revelations in this thread; surely a mere bit of bumming or something isn't considered shameful in a thread that contains incest and having a poo in a pint glass. It must be pretty bad.

Wanking.

Wizadora.

An interesting stat about this thread is that in out of forty replies of names, the poster has put a full stop after the name on 24 occasions, but on 16 occasions they didn't.

That means 60% of people are likely to use a full stop after a post that consists solely of a name. The figure is only approximate, though, it's skewed by repeat posts by singular persons and other unquantifiable influences (was the poster at work and wanting to finish the post quickly, thus not having time for a full stop that in the less pressurised home environment he may have utilised? did the poster spill a drink on his keyboard at some point and break the full stop key?).

Also, the results are only accurate up to Butch Reed Mark's 5.35PM post of 'Istvan Kozma', so doesn't take into account fresh posters returning home from work to post a name.

Gary Brabin.

Got thrown out of an O'Neils once. Got in the face of the bouncer and claimed to be part of a terrorist organisation and that I would blow up his pub if he didn't let me back in. Then some dudes on a fancy dress party day out came up and started telling me calm down and shit, so I pushed one of them and he fell backwards over a wall.

 

Once got seriously, seriously drunk along with a second cousin (female) of mine. May have led to kissing. There was no sex, thank god. Said cousin is now dead via suicide, pretty sure there was no correlation.

 

Got super drunk in Wood Green one time, blacked out, woke up in some crack house on the Caledonian Road, 90% sure I slept with an almost toothless crack head.

They say the best things come in groups of three. Some fantastic stories there.

If we're talking drunken shame, waking up after this abortion of a night out was pretty depressing, especially as I shopped at that Tesco all the time. All night opening hours really fuck you up. "Pull your pants up and leave the store," was the famous quote from the security guard. We weren't even allowed to take our Kettle Chips.

Safe to say I felt truly horrific in the morning, this picture kind of sums up the 'This Is A Low' vibe of this thread...

...but at least I never fucked my cousin. Not that I'd have been able to get it up anyway. The pictures naturally appeared on Facebook the next day, and everyone from my boss at work to my family managed to see them. These are the tame versions of what were some pretty grim pictorial evidence of our behaviour. It was grim facing people for the next few days.

I'd have thought your recent forum breakdown would have got a mention there.

Well, indeed, but there was nothing to describe; the facts and evidence are preserved to posterity for all to see.

If we're talking 'wanking in weird places' stories, I once got sent out of History for acting up when I was about fourteen, you'd get sent into this back room behind the classroom to work in isolation. Anyway, for some reason I got a boner and decided to knock one out there and then.

It wasn't what I'd call a personal low point though, more a personal highlight, especially when I regaled friends with the tale and was received as a hero, from the people who actually believed I'd done it anyway. In hindsight, I probably should have kept my mouth shut as given the tendency of my friends to let their mouths run away with them it's amazing it didn't get back to any teachers.

A more sobering school story is when a fellow-wrestling-friend and I had a bet in Year 9 that if we got a certain grade in out SATS we would blade our arms in the middle of a lesson, fuck knows why but we thought it was a laugh at the time. Anyway, we got the required grades, and proceeded to extract a blade from a school pencil sharpener. My friend was nominated to go first, and made some terrible tender attempts that didn't even break the skin. I then grabbed it and slashed away a few times at my arm, not expecting such a blunt instrument to do much. How wrong I was; blood poured from three gashes on my forearm (I still have the small scars!).

Now I'd probably be alarmed but at the time we thought it was fantastic. My Maths teacher didn't feel the same way - I'd always been a bit of a trouble causer in that lesson (one of those teachers who get constantly fucked about), so she just sighed and said "For God's sake" and sent me to the toilets with my friend to clean it up. Unfortunately, by a perverse twist of fate we ran into the Deputy Head on the stroll downwards, who was horrified at the sight of my arm dripping blood, and I was sent to the medical department and then to his office, where he told me that "Self harming is very serious" and started asking if I needed counseling. He then rang my Mum to tell her the bad news that I'd been caught cutting myself. Getting in and having to face her questions about why I was suicidal, and did I need therapy etc etc counts as an ambarassing low point...my explanation that I slashed mr arms for a laugh because I'd seen it on the wrestling didn't wash. There were some weird questions in school the next few days as well. Proof that wrestling fans live in a different world to everyone else.

regrets, I've had a few

but then again

too many to mention

Being a very up and down person I've had plenty of low points. Given the way of things, they usually follow the moments of sky high happiness.

Getting evicted from my university Halls of Residence was one, after two months of solid partying. I didn't so much mind being thrown out, it was more the realisation that I was a person completely oblivious on my effect on people around me. If I was keeping them up at 6AM by bringing people back before their lecture in the morning, fuck them, it was first year. If someone who attended the party pissed in the sink, fuck them, it was part of the Uni experience. If they didn't like me, fuck it, I'd plenty of mates on campus who I'd bring in as replacements. Being unpopular enough to be voted out of your own accommodation is pretty unpleasant.

Otherwise, it's often at unexpected moments you find yourself at your lowest ebb. Coming in from work/night out, and feeling completely despairing and wondering if there is any point to life. Sat watching TV in the middle of the day, hair unwashed and still in your dressing gown, thinking you were missing out on all the exciting things occuring in life.

Also, low points when you look back and realise some of the massive mistakes you've made.

I've never felt particularly low or shameful about getting wasted, or taking drugs, though I know a lot of people have. I think that's more down to upbringing; if you're brought up to think drugs are awful, and then you get pissed and do a line, you feel like you've let everyone down in the morning I expect.

Got bored and bet early for the weekend,

Yeah, I never really bet on France anymore. Italy neither, they scraped through with a late 1-0 but I still don't see them as a sound bet. The only really 'certainties' in the qualifying have been Spain, Germany and Holland, and the poor odds usually reflect that, which is why I was pleasantly surprised to get 8-13 on Holland last night, although I was a little perturbed when I saw the weakened team sheet.

Decent night for me as well,

Won

I'm fairly sure that shooting someone but missing is classed as attempted murder as well.

Yes, but simply starting a group online saying you were going to shoot someone would not be classed as attempted murder, merely intent to murder. Your analogies are absurd.

So is trying to hire hitmen to kill someone.

But he wasn't trying to 'hire' anyone. He simply posted online his intent to riot and asked for assistance. He took no action towards actually rioting.

He has the intent but has not committed the crime, and as such four years is ridiculously excessive especially in comparison to the sentences of some of those who actually did riot and loot.

Four years is insane. Some dude who was actually IN the riots stealing clothes only got a day, and these two get four years for posting something online. Screams of selective, random justice to me. I'm not saying these are nice people or even that they didn't deserve to be punished, but this is a complete miscarriage of justice.

Surely it's the intent that counts? Attempted murder is a crime, isn't it?

Attempted murder is a crime whereby you actually hurt the person with intent to murder, but the victim survives. You need both the attempt and the action. The equivalent would be these guys outside smashing things trying to start a riot but not causing one. This is completely different - there is simply intent to riot, no evidence of actions behind the words.

Fantastic moment. Great team no doubt, though it must be said the opposition is a lot easier now than in 96-06, which makes it hard to compare the team to the 2005 Ashes team for instance or even the teams with Atherton, Thorpe and Hussain leading the batting.

To establish this team as one of the best of all time we're going to have to win on the subcontinent, and to beat South Africa convincingly next summer.

Can't complain though, never thought I'd see England no. 1 in the rankings when I started following cricket ten years ago.