Meenzer

I'm elegant. Besides, if you ever make good on your drunken promise to hit New Cross for drinks and scran at some point, the proximity of Goldsmiths guarantees that a blazer would make you only the twelfth most twattily-dressed person in any given establishment.

My sister in law and her wife have 2 kids (same donor and mother), I don't know any gay men with kids though, do you? How on earth do they decide which one passes on the genes? Now that you mention it, I don't know any who have them biologically, no - although I know a lot of couples where one or both of them have kids from previous heterosexual relationships. Can be a complicated business, but no more so than in any other "you're not my real dad!" situation, as far as I can tell anyway. Nearest thing in my circle of friends is a lesbian couple who recently had a baby with a long-time friend (a gay man, as it happens) as the father - they're raising him but the father's very much involved too. Not a model I'd ever really thought about - it feels like something that has to involve slightly grubby anonymity at some level, such is the stigma attached to it, I suppose - but it seems to be working really well for them so far, touch wood.

We won't be having any - I'm not against it in principle (though I imagine I'd have days when I regretted it in practice ), I do like (non-Satan-spawn) kids and the 30something broody genes are certainly starting to kick in a bit, but the other half goes mental if he has to spend any real length of time around kids, whoever they may belong to. Frankly I suspect even owning a dog or cat would be pushing it. Like I say though, I do like kids - had a great time with his cousins from Aussieland on Boxing Day and didn't want to give them (or their cool new toys) back afterwards - but that's very different from the reality and responsibility of having your own, obviously. Plus we've both got really small families so there aren't many young 'uns kicking around - it might be a bit different if every family event was crawling with hyperactive brats.

FYP

Will let my fella know, the children's charity he works for is active in Newcastle (at the RVI). Cheers.

Managed to hold out until lunchtime. Not sure stocking up on Zywiec while surrounded by Lewisham College kids on their lunch break was much better for the ego really, but what the hell.

Aye, pastes are definitely a good middle ground between doing everything yourself and just using a flat-out jar of sauce (which are often hugely sugary/salty when you look at the stats). Gives you room to experiment with ingredients and figure out how it all works.

http://bakercatherine.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/whats-the-opposite-of-irredentism-or-sounds-of-a-different-borderland/ Blog post by an academic friend on the Scotland independence question and what happens to "us lot" (my words - she's from the south) if it becomes a reality. Could have gone in a music/pop culture thread too, I suppose, but the background is fundamentally political. Be kind.

I'm looking forward to it. Got tickets for a few things, including the closing ceremony. I'd probably be sick of the hype if I still lived elsewhere though, you get totally desensitised to the London bias in the media/government/society/etc. after a few years of living here.

Just finished the most evil bastard project for work, it's been hanging over my head all through Christmas/New Year. I know you shouldn't let things like that affect you but now that it's done I'm properly drained. What's the earliest in the day you can legitimately buy beer from the corner shop without garnering sympathetic/worried glances?

Indeed, I was so annoyed at having disengaged from music that I decided to properly dive into 2011. After trawling threads like this, review sites, general recommendations, even the charts , I ended up with no fewer than 320 albums I wanted to listen to. Second week of January and there's, ooh, 140 or so left go to... I know it's ridiculous but there's always some really good stuff in there so I just can't make it stop. Good thing I work from home really

Or get straight to the yolk of the matter with this: (I'm only half-joking actually, the recipes are pretty rudimentary and student-oriented (helped me through the first term or two away from home, mind you!) but there's some decent tips on how to prep veggies, how long things should be cooked for etc. Nothing you can't find on the internet these days I suppose, but it's useful to have it close at hand - referred to it on Sunday just to remind myself of the temperature/timing for Yorkshires for example.)

That was a tough one, incidentally. I had to decide between forum pedantry or the perhaps slightly predictable: ...while contemplating your little things in life?

Having a memory that goes back more than a few weeks. http://www.toontastic.net/board/topic/32064-the-little-things-in-life/

You should tweet your theory to Joey BArton.

In that respect it reminds me of:

For a while, aye. Then the technical problems kicked in and they got the sound back.

When the taxi-driver follows the trawler, eet ees because he theenks leftover pies will be thrown into the sea.

SCANDI AGGRO! HALLÅ! HALLÅ!

Howay.

I'm listening on here. Hospital radio! http://www.radiotyneside.co.uk/

(somewhat belatedly) Christmas telly was generally shite but one thing I really (and unexpected) enjoyed was Ratatouille.