I read the news today, oh boy!

[Ruby]

They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise
Kiss it goodbye

Too true. The eternal paradox. People flock to places seeking the lifestyle they desire and the very act of them doing that changes it.

[Ruby]

im pretty sure we, here in in Australia, have more Rhodesians and South Africans than any other country in the world (other than their homelands obviously). a fact i could be wrong but i think i remember hearing it somewhere in the late 1990s.

there are two sayings that seem to nearly always ring true in most cases:
1: the grass is always greener on the other side
and
2: its better the devil you know

You had one of my ancestors there too, LOL - she was rather notorious.

[JeromeD]

^Six to be precise. LOL!

Yes - agree re diverse points of view etc. Hugely complex. It's interesting that we are getting plenty of Europeans heading this way - Germans especially (and not that surprisingly at this time). They come on holiday and end up wanting a piece of what to them seems like paradise. I guess it's all relative. Funny old world!

A key attraction for Europeans heading to other parts of the world is that European governments and the EU as a whole are strangling the working man and woman with never-ending directives and rules for every little thing. Fines are dreamt up for the most ridiculous 'offenses'. Anything to wrestle a few more Euros out of your bank account. And people are getting fed up with the whole carry on. In Ireland for example they keep on adding stealth taxes to everything. A can of cooldrink is effectively taxed 4 times. They money you have earned to buy the thing in the first place is already taxed, then comes VAT, then comes a sugar tax on top of that and now you pay a 15c deposit/recycling fee on top of that as well. Irish Whiskey is more heavily taxed in Ireland than anywhere else in Europe and it is made here! In England recently a woman was fined 200 quid for dropping an empty envelope into a public rubbish bin. They fished it out of the bin, found her address on it and fined her. But just to make sure they got their money's worth they fined her husband/partner 200 quid as well because he happened to live at the same address despite her name being on the front of the envelope. 400 quid for putting an empty envelope in a public bin - insane! In Ireland a glass of wine in a restaurant is taxed 90 cents per glass (almost 20 ZAR) or 3 Euros 19 cents per bottle - the highest in Europe - in France it is 3 cents per bottle. Car hire in Ireland is around 5 or 6 times the average price on mainland Europe. Insurance in Ireland is a complete rip-off. As is the cost of childcare - because of insurance of course. Europe is choking itself to death with taxes and directives. And get this - In Ireland politicians are only required to be in office for two years in order to receive a full pension. There are many advantages to your South African lifestyle when you compare it to Europe.

[JeromeD]

What bloody next.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/singer-cara-di...09420.html

BTW Cara Dillon was the voice behind Mike Oldfield's 'Man in the Rain' single.

[JeromeD]

Finally someone is taking a stand against all this 'woke' crap. https://uk.yahoo.com/news/salute-nurses-...00732.html

You just have to wonder just how long it is going to take all the corporations & companies to wake up and realise that they are making idiotic decisions that are completely illogical.

What happened to common sense?

What happened to the rights of normal people on this planet?

And screw the 'mental health' brigade. No, it does not mean you have 'mental health' problems if you are having a bad day. It just means you are having a bad day. Grow up.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

^^
dear oh dear, just when i think Wokeism cant possibly get anymore absurd another news article proves me wrong with, in this case, Rose.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

U2 seem to have hit it big with their Vegas shows this year.
just 23 shows and 100million quid earned for playing to 382,000 patrons!

the article: https://www.msn.com/en-au/entertainment/...ccc2&ei=21

[CRAZY-HORSE]

all that can be said is: "that is one lucky s.o.b"
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/man...fd74&ei=45

[Ruby]

^He should definitely buy a lottery ticket! Sheesh.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

just read an article about what musicians think of eachother as musicians and loved what these two had to say about each others styles.

Mark Knopfler's opinion on David Gilmour:
"I’ve played with him before. But we haven’t recorded together. I like his intonation, there is always a ‘swampy’, bluesy side in the sound of his Stratocaster, but also a crystalline quality at the same time, which corresponds more to my personal sound. What I also like about Dave is the way he plays while wandering around the central melody, which he rarely approaches in a frontal way. It is the mark of a great guitarist.”

David Gilmour's opinion on Mark Knopfler:
"Mark Knopfler has a lovely, refreshing guitar style. He brought back something that seemed to have gone astray in guitar playing. These days I don’t listen to other people with the objective of trying to steal their licks. Although I’ve got no objections to stealing licks if that seems like a good idea. I’m sure that I’m still influenced by Mark Knopfler and Eddie Van Halen as well.”