Fact checking in po...
 

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Fact checking in popular songs.

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Case 1. The Irish Rover.

Consider the manifest listed by Mr McGowan, and the mass of such items.
One million bags of the best Sligo Rags - 10kg per bag of cleaning rages. 10,000 tonnes.

Two million barrels of stone - 25 20kg bags of aggregate fit into a standard 205 litre oil drum. 1bn tonnes.

Three million sides of old blind horses hides - 7.25kg. 2 sides per hide. 108,750 tonnes.

Four million barrels of bones - Barrel weight probably more significant than the bones. Est. 30kg for steel oil durum + bones. 120,000 tonnes.

Five million hogs - 1 pig is typically 125kg at slaughter, total weight, 625,000 tonnes.

Six million dogs - Our Cockerpoo is 12kg, 6 million Henry's, 72,000 tonnes.

Seven million barrels of porter - assuming a 'keg' size, (which is actually 1/2 a standard barrel), at 71kg, 497,000 tonnes.

Eight million bails of old nanny goats' tails. - assume a bale weight of 125kg, (same as a bale of cotton), 1bn tonnes.

Total cargo weight, 2.0014 billion tonnes.

Bloody obvious it was going to sink, in fact I suspect it was an insurance job.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:19 pm
Cletus, welshfarmer, oldnick and 3 people reacted
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I saw an 80s interview with him last week where the interviewer asked about playing while drunk. He considered for a second and replied that yes, they play better when sober but it's just not so much fun. 😀


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:25 pm
Cletus reacted
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Aha.... been waiting for the opportunity to query this.

All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey;

I went for a walk, on a winter's day.

Story's fallen apart in two lines.... describe an autumn scene and claim it was winter.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:25 pm
welshfarmer reacted
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Was he the walrus?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:28 pm
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There is no dark side of the moon. I refuse to listen to that song until they fix it.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:29 pm
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Story’s fallen apart in two lines…. describe an autumn scene and claim it was winter.

Had they ever encountered a British winter. I don't know what winter looks like in California but I'm willing to trust The Parents. 😀

Anyway :

I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky like a tiger
Defying the laws of gravity

So much wrong, where do you start?
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
What?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:30 pm
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There is no dark side of the moon. I refuse to listen to that song until they fix it.

Ross Noble on Infinite Monkey Cage recently queried what happens if you put a werewolf on the dark side of the moon?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:31 pm
ThePinkster reacted
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Slowly walking down the hall,

Faster than a cannonball

Well, where to begin really, Firstly I think you'll find the correct term is "round shot", and let's say the average speed from a 16th C cannon might be in the order of 800m/s. That a little over 1700mph, so faster than an F-22 in full afterburner. That's not waking speed now is it, let alone slowly?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:33 pm
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Ross Noble on Infinite Monkey Cage recently queried what happens if you put a werewolf on the dark side of the moon?

Nothing, they require moonlight to transform?
Nothing unexpected, they suffocate due to the lack of atmosphere?
Nothing unexpected even for immortal magical creatures, they freeze on the spot due to the low temperature?
A perpetual motion machine, a lycanthropic cat with buttered toast on it's back?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:38 pm
 IHN
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Well, I for one would also rather have a piece of toast than see a ghost (not the bothered about the evening news though).


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:40 pm
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I saw an 80s interview with him last week where the interviewer asked about playing while drunk. He considered for a second and replied that yes, they play better when sober but it’s just not so much fun.

I played in a band supporting The Pogues twice in the 80s. Can confirm, they took to the stage 'jolly'. Shane McGowan was considerably happier than anyone I've ever seen undertaking a paid performance.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:44 pm
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I remember hearing an edition of the Infinite Monkey Cage with Eric Idle. He said that he worked quite hard updating the lyrics of the Monty Python Galaxy song, to reflect ongoing discoveries.
Galaxy Song on YouTube


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:44 pm
reeksy reacted
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A crossfire hurricane will never appear in a weather forecast.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:45 pm
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And so this is Christmas
And what have we done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

Not quite yet John, not yet.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:48 pm
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Having taken my fair share of recreational drugs in my youth, I was always disappointed that
Lemmy never specified a clear set of instructions on how to move '...like a parallelogram...'

The Bangles should have paid more attention in history lessons though. No one walks like that.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:49 pm
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Brezhnev took Afghanistan
Begin took Beirut
Galtieri took the Union Jack
And Maggie, over lunch one day
Took a cruiser with all hands
Apparently, to make him give it back

1. Brezhnev took 20% of Afghanistan, the Mujahideen controlled the rest.
2. Begin didn't capture Beirut. Israeli forces surrounded it but didn't occupy it.
3. Galtieri took the Blue Ensign with a picture of a seal on it.
4. Maggie took a cruiser with 30% of all hands


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:50 pm
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30 November 1988...

...was apparently when Ice Cube had a particularly pleasant day


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:52 pm
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But it only takes one tree to make a thousand matches
Only takes one match to burn a thousand trees

They are either very large matches or a very, very small tree.

The second bit is feasible if given the right conditions, however I'd question how easily a tree could be ignited with a single match.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:56 pm
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Do the drugs really not work? We need an judgement.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:57 pm
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I recently visited Egypt, nobody was walking like that.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:59 pm
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There's no such place as Honnah Lee and dragons do not live forever.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:59 pm
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Do the drugs really not work?

Ask Placeabo


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:59 pm
tall_martin, Riksbar, Cougar and 2 people reacted
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I suspect that Beijing has more than 9 million bikes within the city limits.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:00 pm
jamj1974 reacted
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and let’s say the average speed from a 16th C cannon might be in the order of 800m/s. That a little over 1700mph, so faster than an F-22 in full afterburner. That’s not waking speed now is it, let alone slowly?

black powder propelled, large gauge round shot, exceeding Mach 2?

I think thats slightly overestimating their capabilities


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:03 pm
jamj1974 reacted
 toby
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I do not believe that (clear day or not) it is possible to directly observe either the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal from the UK.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:07 pm
 irc
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We do need education. But it is true we don't need thought control.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:07 pm
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If you’re Putin, it does indeed appear to be “…high time for Hypersonic Missiles!”


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:13 pm
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I think thats slightly overestimating their capabilities

Would that mean you're  fact checking my fact checking of fact checking popular lyrics? 😃


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:17 pm
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We do need education. But it is true we don’t need thought control.

More than half the population disagree with you on both these claims. Flagged as potential disinformation.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:18 pm
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Indeed.

It would also appear that Paddy McAloon was a little premature when he wrote
"As obsolete as warships in the Baltic".


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:19 pm
mick_r reacted
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If they had, in fact, ridden through mansions of glory in suicide machine, they would not have returned to report the adventure. Appears to have been written by a shameless fabulist.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:25 pm
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"He worked twelve hours a day
Seven days ever' week
Forty days ever' month
Diggin' for a bone in a hillside"

James, perhaps if you'd had the chance to stay in school rather than "digging hard coal at 12 years old", you may have had a better grasp of the fundamentals of the calender.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:30 pm
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"Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town."

Even an amateur fact checker could have clarified that it's highly likely to be at the jail.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:36 pm
tjagain, tall_martin, thenorthwind and 3 people reacted
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Always admired half man half biscuit for sharing the knowledge of Dairy Lee triangles. Apparently you need butter milk and cheese and an equilateral chainsaw. I’m not sure it’s factually correct.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:37 pm
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What the hell was the wattage in Meatloafs dashboard bulb?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:38 pm
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Was Louis Armstrong colourblind?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:40 pm
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I get up when I want, except on Wednesday's when i get rudely awakened by the dustmen.

Bin day's Friday, everyone knows that.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:42 pm
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chakaping
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“Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town.”

Even an amateur fact checker could have clarified that it’s highly likely to be at the jail.

In a similar vein, I have a suggestion for Wreckless Eric:
If your mother is at all trustworthy (I've no idea, never met her) I'd start looking in Tahiti. Think of the time you could save.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:42 pm
jamj1974 reacted
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What the hell was the wattage in Meatloafs dashboard bulb?

I always assumed paradise involved headlamps on high beam.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:43 pm
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I can understand a day trip in a yellow submarine, but living in one? Really?!

Jesus built my hotrod.....I thought he was a carpenter, not an automotive engineer!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:47 pm
toby reacted
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Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town.”

Even an amateur fact checker could have clarified that it’s highly likely to be at the jail.

Posted 7 minutes ago

London has many jails. Might need significant manpower to cover them all


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:47 pm
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Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town.”

Even an amateur fact checker could have clarified that it’s highly likely to be at the jail.

Posted 7 minutes ago

London has many jails. Might need significant manpower to cover them all

Fact check: London is a city, not a town.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:53 pm
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They do eat, do sleep
They do feed, they do seethe

It's almost like that whole song is just deliberate misinformation.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:58 pm
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It's definitely not less dangerous with the lights out.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:00 pm
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David Was did not feel better than James Brown. Nobody has ever felt better than James Brown.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:06 pm
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Benefit of hindsight, but when they rocked down to Electric Avenue they didn't really take it higher.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:11 pm
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Mr cha****ng, Mr maccartney would like a word.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lQWCJfzlDBo


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:13 pm
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Mr cha****ng, Mr maccartney would like a word.

I refer Sir Macca Thumbsaloft to the fact checking office also.

As if we'd take the word of a pot-smoking Scouser on the issue.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:21 pm
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That large automobile is outside the first pub you started drinking at. The bartender has the keys.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:22 pm
tjagain reacted
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Let them know it’s Christmas time

They already do, there is a large following of Christianity in Africa.

There won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time…

Kilimanjaro has a snow capped peak, year round.

Where no rain or rivers flow

The Nile?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:24 pm
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London has many jails. Might need significant manpower to cover them all

It might have Gaols of old or Prisons but I am fairly sure there aren't any jail's.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:38 pm
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Kilimanjaro has a snow capped peak, year round.

Isn't it glaciers?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:45 pm
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Isn’t it glaciers?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:58 pm
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Splendid forum fodder for a Friday afternoon


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:59 pm
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@tomhoward you know those aren't polar bears so that doesn't prove anything!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:06 pm
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1. I bet he can stand it if he just cools off a bit and chills.
2. He doesn't know she planned it, he's jumping to some big conclusions here.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:08 pm
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I follow the Moskva down to Gorky Park

Listening to the wind of change

An August summer night, soldiers passing by

Listening to the wind of change

The world is closing in

And did you ever think

That we could be so close like brothers?

The future's in the air, I can feel it everywhere

i'm blowing with the wind of change

Wind's changed direction unfortunately


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:11 pm
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Billericay Dickie - We've only got his word for it that he's not an effing thicky.

We also can't be sure that a seasoned-up hyena, could not have been more obscener than Nina


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:13 pm
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The sentiment is laudable, but, statistically, you probably are going to take it.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:13 pm
fatface1 reacted
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Slowly walking down the hall,

Faster than a cannonball

I imagine Mr Gallagher is describing the observed reality of a person walking down a hall whilst under the influence of a psychotropic drug, vs the internal perception of the individual in question.

Although it appears that actually he doesn't have a clue.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:22 pm
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There'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover

Balderdash.  No bluebirds in europe 🙂


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:25 pm
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"All you need is Love"

And food / water / shelter etc.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:27 pm
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We're on the march wi' Allys army

We're going to the Argentine

But we'll really shake them up when we win the world cup

'cos Scotland are the greatest football team

I think the only answer to that is Aye right


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:27 pm
olddog reacted
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No bluebirds in europe

Coniston Water was the last place in the UK to see a bluebird.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:29 pm
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"And that's a good line to take it to the bridge."

I've heard better. 😆


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:33 pm
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But it only takes one tree to make a thousand matches
Only takes one match to burn a thousand trees

They are either very large matches or a very, very small tree.

To be fair, I don't recall them suggesting a requirement to use the entire tree.

I get up when I want, except on Wednesday’s when i get rudely awakened by the dustmen.

Bin day’s Friday, everyone knows that.

Similarly, he doesn't stipulate how he gets awakened. Maybe Thursday night is the night the dustmen all go out on the lash, then they wake him with their rowdy singing on the way home during the small hours.

Kilimanjaro has a snow capped peak, year round.

Geography is not my strong point, but I believe it doesn't actually rise like Olympus above the Serengeti either. Isn't it bloody miles away?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:44 pm
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Was he the walrus?

He wasn't even the egg man!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:44 pm
ernielynch reacted
 ajf
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"Its coming home"

Nope, not in my lifetime for the MENS team.

Thankfully the Womens team did bring it home.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:47 pm
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I've never met a nice South African.

No bin that, it's true.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:54 pm
ernielynch reacted
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There’ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover

Balderdash. No bluebirds in europe 🙂

Tits.

But we don't get boobies here.

😀


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:54 pm
kelvin reacted
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Oh great - Mr Literal is here getting all picky 😉

Similarly, he doesn’t stipulate how he gets awakened. Maybe Thursday night is the night the dustmen all go out on the lash, then they wake him with their rowdy singing on the way home during the small hours.

That still wouldn't rudely awaken him on Wednesday unless their session last 6 days. Which clearly it wouldn't because they have to work on Fridays.

In the same vein, when Katie Melua sings about there being 9 million bicycles in Beijing.....clearly bollocks, the chances of there being an exact round number like 9 million are so small you can clearly see it's a lie. I'd have a lot more chance of liking the song if she sang of there being about 9 million bicycles, give or take a few tens of thousands either side, and still getting it to rhyme and scan.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:57 pm
jamj1974 reacted
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when Katie Melua sings about there being 9 million bicycles in Beijing…..clearly bollocks,

Unless she claimed that was the total amount of bicycles in Beijing then it is not bollocks, as long as there are at least 9 million bicycles.

Although to be fair it does sound like bollocks.

Edit: No, I've just fact checked and apparently there were 9 million bicycles in Beijing. Plus a few more;

https://discerningcyclist.com/how-many-bicycles-in-beijing/


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 4:05 pm
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Simon Singh got all angsty about the second verse in Katie Melua's song

We are 12 billion light-years from
the edge,
That's a guess,
No one can ever say it's true,
But I know that I will always be
with you

and suggested the following would be more accurate:

We are 13.7 billion light-years from
the edge of the observable universe,
That's a good estimate with
well-defined error bars,
Scientists say it's true, but
acknowledge that it may be refined,
And with the available information, I predict that I will always be
with you


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 4:09 pm
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Last time I looked, guys dressed as union jacks don't generally fly into apartments on the 99th floor.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 4:09 pm
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That still wouldn’t rudely awaken him on Wednesday unless their session last 6 days. Which clearly it wouldn’t because they have to work on Fridays.

Ah bollocks, I meant Tuesday!

Is that some sort of Muphry's Law variant?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 4:11 pm
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so if I asked you how many players were in a string quartet, you'd accept three as a valid answer?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 4:13 pm
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If Springsteen had sung "Born to rip fans off with over inflated ticket prices while pretending to be a working class hero", that would have stood up rather better to fact checking than his blabbering on about "last chance power drives" whatever they are.

Not as catchy mind you.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 4:19 pm
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The thing is Alanis; your song is mostly irony free The only ironic thing about that song is it's called 'Ironic' and it's written by someone who clearly doesn't know what irony is.

That's actually quite ironic.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 4:25 pm
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No bluebirds in europe

Are African bluebirds migratory?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 4:27 pm
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I listen to a lot of Clutch so don’t even know where to start! Glad they’re not popular. I did make Crab Cakes using Hot Bottom Feeder as a recipe and they were fantastic, so that checks out.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 4:28 pm
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