Down the tubes.

So the clown in charge of this city has decided to rebrand the overground rail lines with new names. Personally I never new that the big amorphous orange blob that is the London overground network really needed to be split into several smaller lines to make it easier to navigate. Its just the overground, you don't need any fancy names that make it more confusing. 

We all know why he's doing it, its just a virtue signal so the idiots vote him in again, and overlook the chronic mismanagement and rising crime rate that is characteristic of his term in office. In fact grand dumb vanity projects like this are more like Boris Johnson's term in the mayoral hot seat. But no its fucking labour.

The lines in question are going to be rebranded as such. 

Bus Conductor line (Windrush line) Islington to West Croydon. Which covers all the worst areas of the capital, and is a fitting memorial for the many West Indians who provided vital service as bus conductors back in the day. 

Weaver Line.    Because something something, textile industry. 

Little Line (Liberty Line) Because three fucking stops deserves its own line, obviously. 

The Bobby Moore memorial line (Lioness line) I will also accept the Queens Park Rangers line. As it at least covers the area it concerns (West London). Anything is better than some wimmin wun the euros and deserve their own thing. 

The Minmay line (Mildmay Line)  Covers the actress Lynn Minmay and her efforts to achieve world piece through song.

The Insuffragette line. Because nothing says indulgence like domestic gender terrorists. The line you want is the Lemon line. 

Dragon Year 2024

 Don't normally write this up as such, but I do enjoy going up town and watching the lion dance at Chinese New Year. I hate fireworks and such but this guy dancing around and the drums pounding is my jam.

The past couple of years I've missed out either due to Covid or missing entirely,  and this year is no exception, we came to early and they weren't set up in time. Havea shot of the Lion dance team that I though look good enough to post. Hope you danced your asses off. 

Dork Web

 It seems we're getting another moral panic over the internet, specifically the dark web in general. Thanks to this article, here, about the murder of Brianna Ghey. Scarlett Jenkinson used the dark web to look at murder and so called red rooms to look up fucked up content online. Although reading this we have no idea what she actually saw.

Apparently its what all the kids are doing nowadays which I'm sure is nothing but scaremongering and bullshit on behalf of the author drumming up views. He's apparently never heard of Liveleak back in the day or any amount of gore trash which I never bothered with back then. 

The fact is watching some Labour twunt chuntering on about regulating the net on Sky news means that the greatest resource we have ever had is being regulated out of existence, along with the double edged sword of Social media, which I'll admit is mostly good when its good and depressing at its worst.

But back to the article and I note he's got some sort of porn site up, most of what you'll see he's describing is actually on the normie web TCG sites, not sure about zombies but all the rest I've seen over the years.

Also given that every .onion address is a string of numbers and letters means you'll have to bookmark and such so browser history unless you're deleting every time. The fact is I've been a few times for of all things Mr Metokurs blog on Poa.st and the Syro album release website*. Apart from that without knowing any addresses and stuff and despite it baked into Brave as its incognito mode, I have fuck all reason to use it.

* This was actually on brand as it detailed every process your computer used to view the page and varied if you used no adblock or privacy blocker software. The cover of Syro famously lists everything expense and process that went into financing / making the album and if you are any way anal retentive makes fascinating reading.

Everyman.

One of those posts you see on the internet from time to time is the archetypal leftist saying that Jesus was a queer brown socialist just like them, and the follow up is them recoiling when the guy says, oh you like Jesus, have you tried reading the Bible. 

Its one of the dumbest quotes ever alongside the cartoon of  Rupert Murdoch blaming the foreigner for stealing all the stuff when he has a huge pile of stuff and we should improve society somewhat peasant meme. You can be sure that an ex Christian has read the bible, in fact I often joke most of the atheists I watch on Youtube were balls deep in the church, before leaving (and simping for social justice). No the thing I'd like to point out is the socialist Christ meme.

In fact the hardcore bible nut will have their own personal Jesus, they create from their upbringing, and a more moderate will have their own take. In fact you want a black Jesus, its feasible, or that one where they made him look more like a 1st century Jew (which if he existed, would most certainly be.) 

Another fact in this is that Easter is so tied in to Passover means he doesn't follow the pagan tradition of dying at the year end and being reborn in the spring. 

You want him to be the prince of peace then fair enough, he is. You want to emphasize his strength (which is how they converted the Vikings back in the day) then you can do that. The fact remains, Jesus is all things to all men. That he never died or will return from death means little, he's just an archetype a metaphor, an everyman, a peoples placeholder. If you want him to do all those things and they mean stuff for you, fair enough, but for me the risen lord meant nothing as he never rose or died to begin with.  

Bombay boomerangs.

 An odd one for sure. The boys get involved in a mercury smuggling racket that evolves into a national security threat.  They investigate thefts of mercury from freighters in Bayport and Baltimore and the mysterious Bombay boomerang which possibly has something to do with the Super S missile stolen from the Pentagon. 

Joe rings a wrong number and is put through to the Pentagon where his call is intercepted by someone being attacked, the only clue is something called The Bombay Boomerang (he was supposed to call a mercury supplier).  

This tale mixes some dark themes and cringe humour in places as Fenton Hardy goes undercover to crack the case only to end up in a barrel and dumped in the bay at Baltimore, and an Indian sent to kill the Hardy boys thanks to a mix up over them committing sacrilege against the Hindu god Krishna. 

Cringe comes from the Radio DJ Teddy Blaze who would be a massive Smashy & Nicey clone if he wasn't feeding information to the mercury gang via his broadcasts. Its made worse in  the US version where his records are known as hot platters. At least it isn't vinyls, which would be beyond the pale. 

Special mention must go to how the boys are written in this. They come across as sharp talking and quick witted with at least one snappy comeback to whatever the crooks  throw at them. In some of the books they're written in they come across as flat, but here they feel alive. Even more so that the bloke who actually wrote it, Victor Buranelli, did three of the worst Hardy Boys books, The revised Flickering Torch and The Flying Express and the execrable Witchmaster's Key.  

Anyway you can read both the Original and UK versions here. 

Drawing again

 Have been on an art rush, so to speak these past few weeks. Not only am I working on this years calendar (theme videogames and OC Heads and Tails), but have found time to do this small edit based on opera singer Lawrence Tibbett.

Can't remember what book this was that sprung forth the whole Tibbet thing as a shorthand for cat, my guess is the classic Smoke and Fluff, 

EDIT it's from Five Little Kittens, We obviously had a lot of Ladybird books as a kid. As a final punishment have seotpit aka Tiptoes  the Mischievous kitten which was often read to  Weedle as as he slept at the base of my parents bed. But more often or not he was buried deepd down under the duvet with me. 

He did get his own back by clawing the hell out of Watership Down as no one paid him any attention. In fact it was at the last battle with  General Woundwort when he went rogue. Along with the Horse and his Boy its one of those books that I've tried to read a few times but never got. 

Happy New Year.

 For  the first time in ages I went to Greenwich park. I wanted to look around the meridian line and the clock museum but its now £18 to get in, and last time I went there it was free. 

They are renovating the grass areas to restore it back to the 17th century original, so it looks rough at the moment.  If you really like dogs and are a tourist then give it a go. Me, I'll not be going back anytime soon. 

Better times was had looking round Greenwich town itself. There are a few charity shops but none open on new years day.  The local Music Video Exchange is open and I manage to get a few good things in the bargain rails. This includes Body 2 Body Let's get Intimate and a hopefully not too smacked up Neil Hawaiian House EP. Oh and Freeman by big  Darryl Pandy.