NJS

I'm not in favour of high taxation for the sake of it - that's why I think inheritance is an opportunity to introduce a moral aspect so that money you "earn" on your own merits is treated with more "respect" than that which is unearned. Of course I'd put a lot more effort into reducing tax avoidance.evasion as well and abolish all fiddles. Also as I've said before I don't object to people looking after their kids per se but the way some people almost rely/look forward to their parents death from a monetary view is horrible.

as they do to tell us what we can eat, drink, play and smoke. can't get my head around that philosophy tbh and do we bollocks choose our government. opt for 2 sides of the same coin and you'll take what you're given and be happy with! It's a concept of shared responsibilities - if you want a society with an ifrastructure you benefit from, then you have to have some kind of organisation which includes taxation and lifestyle guidance - what you eat/drink/smoke affects the NHS which is shared. You could only take an opt out so far - if you completely funded your own healthcare, you'd still need things like transport systems and emergency systems for example.

I dreamt I was involved in some kind of body swap thing and was playing for Arsenal against Barcelona but got lost in the stadium trying to find the pitch - then I was trying to convince people I was "me" (like that bit in Big where he has to convince his mate its him).

The problem now is that because of property prices, that passed on wealth and priviledge (and sense of entitlement) has been extended to a lot more people. In principle the fact that more people have "wealth" is fine, but what that does for equality of opportunity is a very high price imo.

Only 10% earn 45k plus. Not saying you're wrong in broad terms but a shit load of people would fall into your bracket and those with kids etc I'd say weren't exactly well off. I mentioned budgeting in the VAT thread and not really having to budget to a great degree isn't a bad definition of being middle class based on income imo.

Upbringing for the most part and how comfortable you are with the definition. I still consider myself working class despite a decent level of material wealth - I think if I had kids though they'd probably be middle class - I think that's common. I remember someone I used to hang around with as a kid saying his ambition was "to be middle class by the time I'm 30" - unsurprisingly he was a fucking wanker.

Comedians: That mention of Sid James dying on stage in Sunderland made me think that I saw Jasper Carrot at the same theatre (The Empire) in 82 just after The Stiones played SJP and I remember him getting all the Mackems laughing at there being 36k there - of course that was just before KK signed and the next crowd was QPR Only other comedian I've seen live was Chubbby Brown years ago just when he was starting to be famous - he played a bar in Shields I've forgotten the name of. Music: Up until about 5 years ago I used to go to a couple of gigs a month plus 2 festivals - now go to about 4 or 5 a year - last was Ash, next is the Manics in a couple weeks.

Ruined it for me - I just didn't imagine Lestat like that - should have gone for Rutger Hauer.

Dogma - good mixture of comedy, emotion, tastelessness, blasphemy and thought provocation Blade Runner - characters, style and intelligence. Grosse Point Blank - black humour and excellent story.

As I've said before, getting people out of the lack of work ethic trap is the biggest task there is imo - whether there are jobs available or not. However, conversely I'd say that a lot of the middle/upper class have an expected "entitlement" to the good things in life which is much more odious.

I think if people have to sit down and plan at a minute level what they are going to spend their money on and that spend only covers essentials with maybe a few very rare luxuries then I'd class that as being poor (in relative terms) and I think that covers millions.

There was an article in The Guardian (where else) a few months ago which suggested a one off tax of I think 20% of all wealth on anyone who has more than a million (non-property I think) which would raise something like £120bn. No chance of course but a decent suggestion.

My Dad always told me this - he reckoned he was the classic "plays for a London team" type of star.

It's well known that indirect taxation affects the poor dispropotionately which is obviously why Tories like it so much - they can use spurious shit like "well maybe you shouldbn't be buying a plasma TV if you're that poor" which disregards both the direct increase in expenditure on things I mentioned as well as the passed on price rises due to increased costs.

Cars, train fares, Petrol, heating, beer, DVDs, CDs, clothes, electronics including phones, household items like fridges etc. No, nowt there obviously.

It is a strange phenomenom that the no mans lands of Boldon, Cleadon and Whitburn are all pretty posh which has probably segragated the accents in some kind of evolutionary way.

Had a bad car crash before he could make his mark iirc.

You can't argue with 27 goals from midfield for England 16 more than PB, and Gazza. Great career in Italy too. Not being a great England fan, I suppose I never appreciated what he did for his country though agree he was a bit Nolan-esque in terms of "just" scoring. Having said that I can't knock his Italia 90 contribution. It was all the transfers in Italy that really got me - just didn't see it.

I thought that Stargazing (should have called it Stargazer and used the song as theme/background) was caught too much between catering for people with an amateur interest like me and dumbing down too far for people who'd never looked up in their lives. Would also have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been so cloudy last night which prevented following up on the tips.

David Platt and Mark Hately for me - the money those two made out of football is obscene given their talent.

One of the lads has just opened a present from a supplier - chocolates - not a lot of takers so far.

I've never been able to drink lager (can stomach a few if forced to abroad) and started off drink ales including Smiths along with Exhibition and Dog but I migrated to cider as I travelled more around the country and found that was the only way to ensure consistency. Now drink nothing else.

Caught the end - sounded like Birtles.

I'm looking forward to the world re-opening so I can get on with getting a new fucking job. I'm sure people have been sitting on CVs and sanctioning recruitment using the "leave it till the new year" shit so they'd better be getting their arses in gear now.

On Ranger I thought he was probably saving him to start on Wednesday - could be wrong of course.