OK it's 'dead air' time as folks are on their way home etc now.
To pass the time, I shall tell you about a wonderful book my brother has, called 'Tribes of the World' or somesuch. It's an incredible early 1900s book documenting the weird and wonderful people around at that time, with some great photography and unintentionally hilarious patronising colonial descriptions. As an anthropological study it is genuinely amazing, listing and depicting all manner of fascinating (and for the most part probably now extinct) ethnic groups, the finest of which being...

...'The Hairy Ainu' of Japan. Call me puerile if you like, but that's rather amusing, no?
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:19, 93 replies, latest was 15 years ago)

Very
How are you anyway? I keep missing you on here. Verily, we are like the spoonerised Japanese sewer workers.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:20, Reply)

Gutted I missed the KRS1 debate, which you were party to, were you not?

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:24, Reply)

We established that Hip-Hop was gay.
EDIT: But Tribe Called Quest was okay.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:26, Reply)

There was a hysterical speculation
that ran through the hip hop community in the tail end (hur-hur) of the 90s about 'The Gay Rapper'. Rumours abounded about who it was, from Erick Sermon (unfortunately self-titled 'The Green-eyed Bandit' which cannot have helped), through LL Cool J to 'Pudgee The Fat Bastard'. It was never resolved.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:28, Reply)

Thinking about it
I might have described Tribe Called Quest as a black Take That.

Who do you think is the gayist of all the hip-hoppers?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:30, Reply)

See below.
Although if you've ever seen pictures of Dr. Dre when he was in The World Class Wreckin' Crew you may disagree. His eye-shadow was 'Chronic'.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:35, Reply)

it was Tupac Shakur, no?

(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:32, Reply)

I fucking reckon.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:32, Reply)

'Puff'
Daddy must be too.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:38, Reply)

Haha quite so.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:39, Reply)

Indeed I was.
I was suggesting that young master One is a terrifically talented rapper who tackles serious issues in his pop songs. The general consensus was that he is something of a hypocrite as he refers to 'them' and 'us', and he also said some challenging (though justifiable) things about the reaction to, and motivations for, the September the 11th terrorist attacks.

I would hardly dignify the discussion with the phrase 'debate',

Did you read it or were you told about it?
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:27, Reply)

I read it, and enjoyed it.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:32, Reply)

Good man.

(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:33, Reply)

I don't think
they were justifiable. But that's a matter of opinion.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:40, Reply)

It is.
And also a matter of one's background too I would have thought.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:51, Reply)

In what sense
would one's background change things? Because I'm not a rapper I can't see his unique viewpoint?
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:52, Reply)

He is from a poor American black background.
And he hardly has a unique viewpoint.

I'd say that being pissed off about slavery is something that is less of an issue for white youkaydians. That's not to say of course that we can't agree that slavery was an abomination and one of humankind's lowest actions, but surely for a young man from an enforced diaspora he's going to have a bigger chip on his shoulder than you or I do, no?
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:56, Reply)

I'd take that as an insult to my empathy.

( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:07, Reply)

I'm sure you would.
I was referring specifically to KRS-One's Sound of da Police.

One of my favourite songs as it happens, but there is a difference between feeling empathy for, and identifying with, a minority group and actually being a part of that group.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:09, Reply)

Should I be fucking pissed,
that my Irish Catholic ancestors on my mother's side were treated as scum? That they too were robbed of their land, and barely more than slaves in a lot of cases, that Catholics were so badly treated, and the law of the land is still that at the highest position you cannot be a Catholic?

No I'm not saying it's the same as the slavery of black people. I'm pointing out that it's a bit futile blaming everything on it
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:22, Reply)

Excluded from the highest position?
I didn't know Catholics couldn't win X-Factor.
(Zoz prayed for twink on, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:25, Reply)

Catholicism hasn't resulted in you being treated as second class citizens for the last 300 or so years.
And ongoing to this day, you're at Oxford, right? Entire communities that are denied access to the kind of opportunities you have through systemic racism, extending to effective apartheid and enforced poverty, have a justifiable right to feel anger about those conditions.

Surely as a student of history you must see that?
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:29, Reply)

I'm not denying their right to feel anger
I'm denying that they have a right to cling onto an us and them mentality. As long as that sticks around, there can't be any sort of moving forward from the past.

Other communities comprised of a certain race percentage are faced with exactly the same problems. It is demeaning and insulting to segregate by race (exactly as you are doing.) The problem isn't colour, it's class and money, and for some black rapper to whine about it, just means self segregation from a problem that is *everyon*'s problem
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:42, Reply)

I don't segregate by race.
Just pointing out that hip hop culture has come from a community that has had poverty forced on them.

That's why it's based on sampling- kids that couldn't afford to buy drums, guitars, saxophones etc used what they had access to, which was their parents' record collections and turntables.

It's the unique background to it that fascinates me, and informs the whole culture, from graf to rhyming. One doesn't have to be black to either like or make hip hop, just as one doesn't have to be American to make techno, or white to like folk. I abhor any attempts to pigeonhole entire artforms and cultures according to race or anything else.

And I agree that the past has to stay there. But there is nothing wrong with recognising historical wrongs and directing anger at those wrongs.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:50, Reply)

"on their way home"
ha.

ha.

ha.

not at half-year end billing, we ain't.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:32, Reply)

Unlucky.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:33, Reply)

i expected more sympathy from you
i might have to cry now.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:43, Reply)

Never expect sympathy from Mr Boyce.

(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:47, Reply)

But surely once the bills have been issued and the money has come in
It'll be bonus time!
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:35, Reply)

you'd think...
you'd be Wrong.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:43, Reply)

Never mind.
It'll be bonus time at some point in the next 12 months I'd imagine.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:50, Reply)

evening
sounds like an interesting study of the western world in the 1900s, too
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:35, Reply)

It is a remarkable tome.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:36, Reply)

Are you familiar with
'The Golden Bough'?
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:41, Reply)

isn't that a gnostic text?

( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:42, Reply)

nope
an anthropological book, stuffed full of the weirdest customs. Comes in 12 volumes, but I own the large abridged volume which is still over a thousand pages
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:48, Reply)

then, no, I have never heard of it
it sounds...long
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:55, Reply)

it's worth the effort
really fascinating. Gives a fantastic background to Levi-Strauss
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:59, Reply)

I have his one on mythology
but it's been a while so I don't really remember much about it
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:00, Reply)

Isn't that Barthes?
I have Mythologies. I'm also reading Simulacra and Simulations. Baudrillard is a bit of a windbag, to employ an Americanism.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:03, Reply)

nah, there's a levi strauss one called some thing
like myths and mythology or something, too. Barthes is proper cool Camera Lucida is one of the better things written about photography by a non photographer .

(edit: baudrillard is the one I have to pretend I've read when I'm teaching. I've read about it, surely that counts)
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:13, Reply)

I think it's great that he has his jeans business to fall back on if academia gets too tough.

(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:14, Reply)

haha

( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:16, Reply)

Reading about Baudrillard
Is very Baudrillardian.

I approve.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:18, Reply)

this is a good point
and my defense if I get found out :)
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:19, Reply)

It is both signifier and signified.

(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:20, Reply)

you are both signifier and signified

and so's yer mum
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:22, Reply)

It's long but it has a charming easy style to it.
And for film trivia fans, it's one of the books Col. Kurtz is reading in the film 'Apocalypse Now'.
(Zoz prayed for twink on, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:17, Reply)

It's quite funny
I should be getting ready for this evening but I'm hungry and very tired
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:41, Reply)

this is a good thing
because you are going with low expectations and therefore good things will happen.

when you are massively overexcited it is always, without exception, shit!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:44, Reply)

Agreed.
For example the impromptu night out is, nine-times-out-of-ten far more fun and a more enjoyable adventure than something that has been planned weeks in advance.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:48, Reply)

You off on the pull this evening Amberl?

( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:47, Reply)

sort of
and sort of not
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:49, Reply)

How does that work?
Are you going out, knowing this chap you are a bit gooey for is going to be there?

Or, are you going out with this fella, but as mates and you'll be using all your charm and cunning to convince him of more?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:50, Reply)

the second one
but we're staying in with drink
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:51, Reply)

Fantastic.
What music have you got lined up? Or are you going down the DVD route?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:52, Reply)

my laptop is fucked
so can't play DVDs. But I've got some good music, though in no order (I can't do playlists- it's skipping around from classic rock to 90's electro etc at the moment) and we'll play Scrabble
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:53, Reply)

Changed your bedding
And hidden all your dirty clothes?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:56, Reply)

I've resigned myself
to the fact that it's about 98% not going to happen. So haven't made a huge effort
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:57, Reply)

I'd still put on good pants if I were you

( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:59, Reply)

No pants.
Saves time.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:04, Reply)

Grey silk
with pink ribbon :)
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:09, Reply)

Are they supposed to be grey?
(This is important).
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:12, Reply)

this was about to be my question
I always assume grey pants means 'washed with the wrong load'
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:14, Reply)

These are important things to consider.
Grey is a strange colour.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:16, Reply)

I really like grey
and yes they are supposed to be grey (matching)
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:19, Reply)

grey always makes me look ill

( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:21, Reply)

Matching is important.
Partly because it shows you've made the effort, but more than that, it shows you are fairly uptogether with your washing. Meaning you'll be a good 'home-maker'.

(How close to getting a virtual slap is that comment?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:22, Reply)

I like your thoughts that boys, when presented with a semi naked lady,
are thinking 'has she got her laundry up to date?'
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:23, Reply)

*Sobs*
It's been a while for me, alright!
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:24, Reply)

very very close

( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:24, Reply)

I'll try harder next time.
Right! To the kitchen. I need to cook myself some dinner!
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:25, Reply)

Who knows what'll happen.
Get him drunk, flirt a bit, play Scrabble and flirt a bit more.

You'll pull. I'm sure of it.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:01, Reply)

I'm ready to go for dinner with Sister.
What's a decent white wine?
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:51, Reply)

Take your pick from any of the following 3.
Black Tower
Blue Nun
Lambrini (for a bit of sparkly class).
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:54, Reply)

Psh. Thanks a lot.

( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:56, Reply)

Well are you eating in, or going out?
How much do you want to spend on the wine?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:57, Reply)

Eating in- we're/she's veggie
we're having some spinach and feta concoction.

No more than a tenner, I'm skint, but as she's cooking for me I want to contribute. I'm not likely to be drinking it.
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:57, Reply)

Most Supermarkets will do you 3 bottles for a tenner this days
And some of it is perfectly palatable.

Follow my rule of thumb, go to the supermarket, find the wines on offer and get the ones that have the fewest bottles left, with them being more popular, you'll probably find you are getting the nicest ones.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:02, Reply)

ive made myself mushroom risotto
Nom nom nom
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:56, Reply)

Alright Badger.
You in a good mood?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:56, Reply)

depends....
If I say I am are you going to be mean until I'm not?
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:59, Reply)

I'm not a big Internet meanie. You are.
Had a good day?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:03, Reply)

it was ok
Can't be bothered doing anything so have a lot of internet time
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:05, Reply)

You started packing for your big move yet?
And have you washed and cleaned your car before you sell it?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:07, Reply)

no i dont have that much stuff

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:22, Reply)

Any interest in the motor yet?

( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:26, Reply)

no :(

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:40, Reply)

Has the book got breasts in?
I only read books with breasts in.
( broadsword, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:58, Reply)

Do you read FHM for the superb articles?

( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 18:58, Reply)

Oh, I don't read mags with breasts in, just books

( broadsword, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:04, Reply)

You'll no doubt be pleased to know
tha the Ainu are still around. On whether they've taken to bleaching or are still as hairy as ever I cannot comment, however.
( Kroney, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:10, Reply)

Do you think they're into Ainu bleaching?

(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:29, Reply)

About five minutes left
time to paint nails I guess
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 18 Oct 2010, 19:54, Reply)