All Activity

True but I think it’s even deeper. Every time there is a liquidity crisis (one is brewing right now over the pond) the distorted Keysian response is to open the pumps and flood the financial system with money (usually at minimum repayment rates). It’s then like the Gremlins with water scenes. It’s loaned out over and over again chasing scarce hard assets as the game is up. Nobody in their right mind (unless they are Warren Buffet who will stash it to buy distressed companies) will hoard the cash. It’s going into assets and putting prices up across the board. The people doing this find many ways of not paying any tax so the Government have little choice but to cut services - again who in their right minds (other than pension funds obliged to buy the crud) is going to fund the government deficit by buying bonds that are going to pay a rubbish return as the currency loses purchasing power. Yep I know. I know the dogs bark and the people are forced into caravans.

My SM58 went missing* a few years ago, so I replaced it with an XM8500 when I found out how much SM58s are these days compared to when I originally bought mine. * I last remember using it at a band rehearsal before Covid happened. Many months and lockdowns later, we had another rehearsal to dust off the cobwebs, and my mic was missing from my gear bag. I had the leather case, but no mic in it. I reckon I left it on the mic stand, and either the following band or the staff pilfered it.

Raining Blood - Slayer

A lot of poverty is hidden, too. Poverty is vulnerability, isn't it? Unless there's a collective acknowledgement that we live in an incredibly unfair society, we can't move on. (This happened at the end of the Victorian period and post both world wars). Since then, all Governments have effectively spent their terms taking things away from us while telling us they had no choice doing so.

https://www.loudersound.com/news/holding-absence-speak-out-ai-bleeding-verse-overtakes-spotify-listeners-2025 Rock band, Holding Absence have been overtaken in Spotify charts by an AI band who's music is modelled on theirs. This seems like a significant and very sad occurrence. The band works hard writing, recording and promoting their music and then someone uses their hard work to knock out an AI copy that makes more money at little to no cost.

I think those of us who are fortunate enough to have bought property years ago or are lucky enough to have a council house can’t begin to understand how much of peoples wages are being eroded by rent/mortgage payments. For many (and this includes people who are well paid) the lions share of their income is gone before they even consider every day bills like utilities and food.

thanks Mike for another great meet up

When I built the PLL clone with 25 board mounted knobs and switches I drilled the enclosure so I could solder everything mounted and then just wired it up - worked perfectly first time. The next week I built a simple 4 knob overdrive with maybe 20 components and it took me a 6 hours of troubleshooting to get it to work. The gods work in mysterious ways.

Yesterday was Culture Day in Japan. Pop/Rock with a wild rock bass line at 180bpm LiSA - Crossing Field | Yuichi Takama Straightforward rock with lots of octaves Stereopony - Hitohira No Hanabira | Nohana Kitajima The cutest thing you'll see/hear today Haku. - Mono no aware | Kano Metal with catchy vocals Band Maid - Thrill | Misa One of my favourite City Pop songs Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love | Koki Ito Wrapping up the series with a cover of Plastic Love by The Tokyo-based Friday Night Plans. I'm certainly going to look for more recordings with Tomoya Tamaru! Friday Night Plans - Plastic Love | Tomoya Tamaru

"Right! You're nicked!"

You're forgetting a vintage (or two). YOB? Also something bang-up-to-date with active option, such as an Elite or Ultra.

You're absolutely bonkers. Here are some stats: https://www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2025-the-essential-guide-to-understanding-poverty-in-the-uk#:~:text=More than 1 in 5,adult poverty stayed the same. I'm just prepping for a board meeting at Citizens Advice and the stories of poverty we hear from the staff and volunteers are truly heartbreaking. I appreciate you like to act as an antagonist, but come on.

If you’re going to get a 5 you need multiple to match all your 4 string versions. No use owning a 4 string maple fretless if you don’t have a 5 string variant handy for those 5 extra notes. Speaking of extra notes, best add 24 fret variants of everything just to be safe. I think we’re up to 16 basses so far 😁

Is that an example of the cuts?

In the French system, I believe that you have to meet a certain quota of gigs annually, and income before gettting the benefit, and that annual number of gigs has to be maintained.

Well, you've got me curious now. I'll lift the lid over the weekend and take some pics!

Look at the disposable income of the groups. https://equalitytrust.org.uk/scale-economic-inequality-uk/