Where have all the Hot Goth Babes gone?

I'm an old punk guy from Fife, presently living in Edinburgh, Scotland. I originally joined LiveJournal at the start of 2003, and it's no exaggeration to say it transformed my life. I was able to find friends and learn about events in my local area in a way that had never been possible before. I deeply regret that so many of my friends migrated to social media sites which are manifestly inferior to LiveJournal, and I wish they would return. I find it incredible that anyone would want to be on such an absolute garbage-filled cesspit as Facebook.

I welcome new friends and I am especially keen to re-establish contact with old ones. If you know me or were previously on my friends-list, or if we have similar interests, please feel free to add me. Incidentally, most of my posts are set to be viewable by friends only, and subscribing to my journal will not allow you to see them. It will be necessary for you to add me to your friends-list and for me to add you to mine.


I would urge anyone who has had enough of the never-ending pipeline of rancid bilge that's spewed out by algorithm-based social media, and who seeks genuinely meaningful communication, to join and contribute to the the_lj_revival community.

Please note: I have recently edited my LiveJournal friends-list, in the course of which I have deleted all the journals which have not been updated during the present year. I have also removed one or two people with whom I didn't feel able to connect. If I have removed you and you wish to be re-added, please let me know in a comment below and I shall re-add you forthwith.

This historic village is just a few miles to the west of Dunfermline on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. I've passed along its main street a few times over the years, but have never really explored the place. If by some miracle we ever get a sunny day, I'll have to rectify that.

Today, it's my pleasure to wish ladyheatherlly a very Happy Birthday! I hope you're having a most excellent day!

Wishing a very Happy Birthday to x_jessicah!

Damo's 40th, featuring Oi Polloi, Spat, Hysteria and Bülletcharge, at Bannerman's, Edinburgh, on 28th March, 2026. See event on Last.fm.


Poster for Damo's 40th, featuring Oi Polloi, Spat, Hysteria and Bülletcharge, at Bannerman's, Edinburgh, on 28th March, 2026.
( Seventy-eight moreCollapse )

A white peahen in the peafowl enclosure in Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline, on 18th March, 2026. There were many more of these birds (around twenty or twenty-five were listed by name and variety on a notice on the enclosure) than there were when I last visited. They also appear to be free to roam the park now, whereas they were confined to the enclosure previously due to an outbreak of bird 'flu. There were three birds perched on the roof of the building, but I couldn't get a clear view of them in order to take photos.
Incidentally, I've deleted some old photos from Flickr in order to make some space for new ones. However, Flickr remains enshittified to the absolute n^th degree, and I'll have to find an alternative of some sort.

I know the illegal and unprovoked US/Israel war against Iran is anything but a laughing matter, but I did get a wee laugh at the cover of the current issue of Private Eye when I saw it yesterday.


That's all about right, isn't it?

Wishing mysticalways a very Happy Birthday! I hope you're having a fabulous day!

Wishing mysleeplesssoul a very Happy Birthday! I hope you're having a most excellent day indeed!

Eh? Why is a post of mine in the edinburgh_pics community from 21st September, 2013, displaying at the top of my friends-page as if it's a new post? I've checked the date on it and it's definitely set to 21st September, 2013. Weird!

Update: it had apparently been awaiting approval from the moderator of the community. I must have posted it years ago.

Wishing kaceyjane a very Happy Birthday! I hope you're having an excellent day today!

I mentioned recently that I'd bought a new autobiography by Glen Matlock, the Sex Pistols' bassist, during my visit to Stirling on Wednesday, 14th. I found his book, Triggers, well-written and very interesting, but there was one particular section concerning the BBC's supposedly 'balanced' reporting that stood out to me, and I've been meaning to post it as it clearly expresses the view I've held for a long time.

It wasn't Bill Grundy by any stretch, but I went (semi) viral for a day recently following a BBC Breakfast interview. That was interesting. I took my seat on the set, in front of a large projected image of me and Steve Jones on stage with the Pistols, and Jon kay, the presenter, asked me if I was still as angry at the world as I was in my Sex Pistols days. "In a different way", I told him. "I'm not angry. I'm livid about the whole Brexit thing. As a musician, I'm livid about our loss of freedom of movement in twenty-seven countries and how it's hamstrung our chances of touring the way we used to be able to do. It's just needless really, especially when we were promised as musicians, we would still have a way of working. The EU offered the government a way around it, and our government turned it down".

"I remember I called the whole thing a cock-up and Jon kay immediately tried to smooth things over in case anyone was spitting out their tea or choking on their cornflakes".

"We don't want to turn this into a political interview", he said. "But you'll be aware that it's three years to the day since we left the EU and you know that the supporters of Brexit will say, 'it will take time to settle down, we've had a pandemic in the meantime, but in the end, there will be advantages for all of us'".

"I can't see any. And lots of people can't see any", I smiled. "I know you're working for the BBC and you've got to push the government line a little bit, but there's a whole bunch of people that think it's the worst thing that's ever happened".

Afterwards, someone at the BBC had to come out and defend the show, which is obviously ridiculous. Unfortunately, the BBC have been painted into a corner. There's this very disingenuous phrase they use at the BBC: 'For the sake of balance, we're just trying to show both sides of the argument', they say. When I hear that, I think, Well, that's not true. You're just not allowed to voice certain opinions because this is the BBC. Because they need to be seen to show balance in everything, someone will say it's raining, and they immediately counter that with another talking head telling you it's not raining at all. In fact, it's a heatwave. As a result, we have these right-wing nutjobs on TV and radio every day. It has normalised these lunatics and dragged the country to the right. Anyway, I was just trying to promote my record and maybe a little bit of sanity at the same time.

This is it, precisely. To me, the BBC's concept of balance, by which one report or point of view always has to be countered by another regardless of the factual objectivity or level of support the opposing view has, is ludicrous. What the public should be entitled to expect from a state broadcaster is simply authoritative, objective, fact-based reporting. It's also worth noting that Nigel Farage, the populist, right-wing, racist leader of the Reform party which currently looks set to form the next UK government, has appeared on the BBC's Question Time show more often than any other political leader: no less than thirty-nine times between 2000 and 2019. So much for BBC 'balance'! For years, they've been promoting racism, xenophobia and extreme right-wing ideology for all they're worth.

As I'm probably going to be away from the computer for a few days, I'm taking this opportunity to wish kitsune_13 a very Happy Birthday when it comes. I hope you have a most excellent day on Monday!

Wishing loopylinz a very Happy Birthday! I hope you're having a very excellent day!

Wishing notte0 a very Happy Birthday! I hope you're having (or have had) a most excellent day!

According to LiveJournal, it's retention's birthday today. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, lady! I hope you're having an excellent day.

Quiz nicked from newwaytowrite:

1. What's the first thing you think of when you consider the year ahead? I'm not in a position to look beyond the next few weeks at the moment due to my impending eviction. I can't see any satisfactory solutions. The best outcome would be that I was able to find and was accepted for an unfurnished privately-rented flat in a reasonably pleasant and convenient area near the centre of Dunfermline, but in my present state of gloom and despondency, that seems like too much to hope for.
   
2. What's the weather like today (warmer or cooler than average)? It's to reach 3^oC (37.5^oF) in Edinburgh this afternoon, according to the BBC Weather web-site. I suspect that's probably about average for this time of year. I woke up this morning to find that it had been snowing during the night, and it's continued at intervals this morning.
   
   
   The view from my kitchen window during a shower of snow at twenty-past-nine this morning.
   
3. There is a Wolf Moon tonight - it will be the fourth supermoon in a row. Have you seen a supermoon before? I've never heard of a "Wolf Moon" and I have no idea what it is, but there was indeed a full moon a few nights ago. I saw it as it rose above the rooftops in Dunfermline and I attempted to take some photos of it, but as ever my wee camera wasn't up to the job.
   
4. Do you have any travel plans arranged for this year? No. I love travelling and long to be away from these four walls and the same old scene, but in view of my health situation I'm afraid to travel too far. I know it's irrational, but I worry about what might happen if I were to become seriously ill in the middle of a long train journey or in some unfamiliar place, remote from hospitals. Even being in Dunfermlne means I'm at least an hour away from the nearest hospital with an A&E department.
   
5. Are you looking forward to any TV shows this year? No, I'm totally uninterested in TV and I haven't owned a mind-control box for years.
   
6. In 1709 The Great Frost began during the night, a sudden cold snap that remains Europe's coldest ever winter. What temperature will it reach today where you live? Eh, I think you've already asked that question. However, I can tell you that Scotland is presently subject to its first spell of freezing weather this winter. It began at the start of this year and has continued since then.
   
7. In 1803, Henri Herz, an Austrian pianist and composer, was born in Vienna, Austria. Have you ever learned the piano? If not, would you like to? I did have some very basic instruction in piano-playing when I did a music production course at college around ten years ago. I had to learn and attempt to play the main keyboard riff of Jump by Van Halen, and some boring song by Adele, whoever she might be. I think I am a fairly musical person: I have good relative pitch and can play by ear, but I don't have good manual dexterity and I struggled to co-ordinate my hands and fingers when playing the piano.
   
8. Do you look back on your school days with fondness? What was your favourite subject to learn? No, I remember them with horror and bitterness. It was a daily trial of boredom and fear. I detested school and couldn't wait to leave. The only good thing about it was being in close proximity to and having intense crushes on my pretty female classmates, but even that was absolute torture! As for my favourite subjects, I did reasonably well in English, Geography and Chemistry, but that doesn't necessarily mean I enjoyed them. What I did enjoy were art and music, but the teaching of those subjects was absolutely abysmal and nothing more than a token gesture. There were no guitars, basses or drum-kits at Inverkeithing High School; we were occasionally allowed to tinkle triangles and chime-bars and sing The Sloop John B in unison like a tuneless, all-male Bananarama. It was a total farce. Incidentally, I read recently that Inverkeithing High School, which opened in 1973 and was only two years old when I started there, is to be demolished and replaced by a new school in Rosyth, as it's riddled with asbestos. That's lovely to know, isn't it? I'm pretty sure the dangers of asbestos were well-known in 1973.

I've just seen this link to an STV news report on the RailScot web-site.

All Glasgow Subway services cancelled after frozen ice causes power failure amid weather warning [STV]

SPT said that due to the power failure at the Subway depot caused by frozen ice on the third rail, services are unable to run.

Question: does a kind of ice exist which isn't frozen? Surely if it wasn't frozen, it wouldn't be ice?

Wishing speaksoftlylove a very Happy Birthday! I hope you're having a most excellent day indeed!

Ladies, what do you call this item? And do you ever wear it/them?


Here, this item is universally known as suspenders, or a suspender belt. I suspect that probably sounds ridiculous to most of you; as ridiculous as referring to jeans or trousers as 'pants' sounds to us! They may be rather fiddly to use and (I'd guess) uncomfortable to wear, but my goodness, they're extremely flattering to the feminine physique when worn with the item they normally accompany.

This is what's called a 'roll' in Scotland. Absolutely delicious with butter, jam, or a spread or filling of your choice. They're part of my regular diet and I often mention them in my journal posts, but it occurred to me that if they're eaten elsewhere, they're probably not the same as our rolls, and they're probably known by a different name. For instance, they're often called baps in supermarkets, but that's not a word we'd use in Scotland (it sounds very Yorkshire/Lancashire to me), and they're not crusty on the outside and yeasty and doughy on the inside like Scottish rolls are. So I'm wondering what my esteemed readers call them, and if you have something similar where you are?

The photo is from this web-site.

According to LiveJournal, it's humbled's birthday today. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, Kat!