Had a good laugh in Amsterdam with my friend when we took his then 16 year old and pals, the 1st day in the pub getting them to go for the beers thinking they were breaking the law was funny.
They were taking bets on who would get served and who would bottle out before we reached it, when I shouted over to the barman at the end to thank him and asked what age is it to be served here and he shouted 16 at the top of his voice just to rub it in more, good times. 
Also this was the only Black and Tan I was aware of until now:
I actually like black and tans although I realize it makes me kind of a philistine.
Edit: I’m talking about the Guiness/Harp blend and not some pre-mixed bullshit.
UK has been total shit at Eurovision since Brexit.
Tbh last night was the 1st I’d watched it in years and the UK song & Act was like something the’d picked off the streets as a joke, sure the guy could sing but that song and dress was hideous indeed, even the UK wouldn’t have put in a vote for that surly.
Was only the 2nd time I have seen Eurovision.
And the UK act was shit. Only one that was worse was Germany.
The issue is that the Big 5 automatically get to the finals because they pay for it. If they had to earn it like everybody else, they’d probably do better.
Maybe but I think there’s more to it,
The UK part of the Eurovision whomever does that and shares the funds definitely took the hump because of not winning it one year when they were definitely in with a chance ( I think that was the last year I watched it, maybe Bucks Fizz:grin:
) and tbh they were decent, but Europe is a rock and roll scene, always has been and they don’t like our Brit pop so much and I don’t blame them tbh.
But shenanigans are afoot somewhere in EurovisionUK land that’s for sure.
From 1998 until 2010!(or maybe the early part of the last decade) Germany did. okay and had some decent songs.
This was the 2010 winner:
It is not great, but okay (apart from her weird pseudo accent).
My gf had the Eurovision on while cleaning the kitchen. I happened to catch the UK contestant performing and I immediately wondered how the UK with its large, successful and internationally renowned music scene ends up with this song.
Catchy wee tune tbh and her accent is pretty cool man 
Yup, it was so so bad it was like watching a cringe Harry Enfield skeet.
In hs I went on a school-sponsored trip to Spain. The school let our parents sign permission slips allowing us to have one glass of beer or wine with dinner. I can’t imagine a public school trying that today
[Of course, once we realized that we could get served, we all ended up sneaking out to the bars. I think the first night we all ordered just whatever mixed drinks we had heard of, so it was a motley collection of martinis, Manhattans, and kamikazes. Lol]
Apparently the Belaorussians forced an Ryanair plane from Greece to Lithuania to land under the pretence of a bomb warning. Once they were on the ground they detained a blogger and opposition activist who might face the death penalty. Will be interesting to see what happens now.
https://mobile.twitter.com/StateDeptSpox/status/1396598338301140995
https://mobile.twitter.com/RyanairPress/status/1396543331878981632
Ryanair’s Press Office somehow neglects to mention that one of their passengers was kidnapped.
Yeah the adults showing up in a warship and being like “man I really thought British kids would make a better showing of this” is supposed to be ironic.
Side note, Lord of the Flies was written as a counterpoint to the 1857 book The Coral Island, which I have a memory of buying in an op shop for 10 cents as a kid and reading several times. It’s an adventure story where the three marooned British lads successfully use the resources on their island to live an idyllic life. Later they meet cannibalistic natives and heroically convert them to Christianity. Golding wrote of the book:
Golding described the relationship between the two books by saying that The Coral Island “rotted to compost” in his mind, and in the compost “a new myth put down roots”.
I’ve always wondered how much reporting on hate incidents leads to copycat crimes, similar to the Werther effect for suicide.
