The Thread Of Complete Randomness

    Hopefully one good thing to come out of the pandemic will be the end of handshakes, a ridiculous and sometimes slightly nauseating custom. Elbow-bumping can sod off too. There's absolutely no need for physical contact when meeting people. A nod, a smile (or in my case a sort of half-scowl) and a a few kind words of greeting are all that's necessary.

    Abandon all reason

    • Official Post
    Quote from Backdrifter

    Hopefully one good thing to come out of the pandemic will be the end of handshakes, a ridiculous and sometimes slightly nauseating custom. Elbow-bumping can sod off too. There's absolutely no need for physical contact when meeting people. A nod, a smile (or in my case a sort of half-scowl) and a a few kind words of greeting are all that's necessary.

    Aw, nothing wrong with a good sturdy handshake, and a look straight in the eye. To me it shows respect. At least that’s how I was raised.

    Quote from Liquid Len

    Aw, nothing wrong with a good sturdy handshake, and a look straight in the eye. To me it shows respect. At least that’s how I was raised.

    All I can think of is Macron and Trump with your description!


    I could live without those gestures myself. Fist bump is the least offensive to me, although it doesn't come naturally. More and more people I encounter, usually through work, do it. Where I was raised, a half grunt accompanied by the slightest twitch of your head was enough to acknowledge the existence of a fellow human. Sometimes with a select few vowels and consonants from the phrase "how is it going?" rolled into one partially formed word, something like 'sagoan?'. If the person being greeted was doing spectacularly well and in flying form, the reply might be a barely audible 'grand' or 'alright'. If not, a resigned sigh and shake of the head.

    Being female and when you meet your friends you haven't seen for a long time, they want to kiss you on the cheek. I don't do that, I've never done it. It feels weird. Also, I'm not good at it. :(


    Very happy indeed that in Formula 1


    George Russell will partner the 7 times World Champion Lewis Hamilton for 2022. He drives for Williams at the moment in what seems to be the worst car on the grid, but despite this he always manages to qualify the car in the top 10 mark. He's always managed to out qualify his teammates including the most experienced Robert Kubica, who's now a reserve driver for Alfa Romeo Racing.


    Valteri Bottas signs multi-year deal with Alfa Romeo Racing replacing Kimi Raikkonen as he announced his retirement from the sport. He's won 20 grand prix's and 1 WC.

    Quote from Liquid Len

    Aw, nothing wrong with a good sturdy handshake, and a look straight in the eye. To me it shows respect. At least that’s how I was raised.

    I think the handshake has long been a token gesture. A look straight in the eye sounds potentially unnerving!


    As I said, I don't see why a greeting has to involve any physical contact unless it's hugging or kissing a loved one or close friend. Swapping sweat, skin flakes and other microscopic particles and micro-droplets of other bodily fluids with a stranger you're meeting for the first time... nah.

    Abandon all reason

    Emma Raducanu UK, 18, against 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez Canadian for the US Open title.


    Wow!!! Emma was ranked 338 in the World and now in the finals in a major open.8|.. The youngest ever player.

    Quote from Noni

    Emma Raducanu UK, 18, against 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez Canadian for the US Open title.


    Wow!!! Emma was ranked 338 in the World and now in the finals in a major open.8|.. The youngest ever player.

    It's truly phenomenal. Achievement in sport is, I think, easy to overstate and superlatives are often bandied about when they aren't justified. But in this case it's very hard to overstate just how incredible this person's achievement is. Her attitude is awesome too, she seems quite nonchalant about the whole thing. Just to summarize, first qualifier male or female to ever make the final of a grand slam, she's 18 *and* she hasn't even dropped a set en route. She hasn't even been pushed to a tie break in a set. It's mind boggling.


    Her opponent in the final isn't far behind in the phenomenal stakes, and has beaten higher ranked opposition to get to the final, but she didn't have to qualify for the tournament to begin with.

    And she's gone and won it. Straight sets in the final. 20 sets in a row.


    Beyond extraordinary.


    Edit: let me go out on a limb here and predict that in the next 100 years, a qualifier is not going to win a grand slam without losing a set.

    Quote from thewatcher

    And she's gone and won it. Straight sets in the final. 20 sets in a row.


    Beyond extraordinary.


    Edit: let me go out on a limb here and predict that in the next 100 years, a qualifier is not going to win a grand slam without losing a set.

    Absolutely amazing. Emma Raducanu has just made history in Tennis, being the youngest and also qualifier to win an Open.


    Let's hope she does not fade away and have many more titles.:)


    History maker, record breaker

    With this victory, Raducanu becomes:

    • The first British female winner at Flushing Meadows since Virginia Wade in 1968
    • The first qualifier in the Open era to win a Slam
    • The youngest women's Slam champion since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004
    • The youngest Briton to win a Grand Slam title
    • The first woman to win the US Open without dropping a set since Serena Williams in 2014

    She will also take home £1.8m in prize money, rise to 23 in the world rankings and will become the British number one on Monday.

    It is simply incomprehensible what she did. Does not compute.


    She is the very definition of why sport is just brilliant. Young, unheralded, out of the blue, astounding skill, unbelievable poise in the face of huge pressure and pure joy reveling in what she is doing. And I could have written almost the same thing if her opponent had won!


    Sensational.

    Quote from Noni

    Absolutely amazing. Emma Raducanu has just made history in Tennis, being the youngest and also qualifier to win an Open.


    Let's hope she does not fade away and have many more titles.:)

    I don't think she will fade away, she seems totally focused and amazingly able to deal with it all, match play and mindset wise. Fantastic achievement, let's hope she manages a few more firsts, though it's hard to imagine what's left! :/

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

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    This is really stupid but it made me laugh hard. Rowan Atkinson is hysterical.

    I'm mentioning this as I found it compelling and horrifying, and shows how an individual can fall foul, through no fault of theirs, of state authorities' incompetence and indifference.


    I recently read about a woman in France who was wrongly declared officially dead. It happened during a legal action falsely brought against her when, without her knowledge, she was stated as having died by the prosecuting lawyer. Nobody checked this claim. Even though death certificates are required during such processes not one single official requested one, they all simply accepted the claim. Utterly bizarre for such a bureaucratic nation.


    She first realised something was wrong when she couldn't renew her passport, her application to do so was repeatedly rejected. She then found she was now ineligible for free state healthcare and medication. Then her bank accounts were frozen. Basically, every fundamental official process and mechanism that enables us to navigate through society was now denied to her. She's due to draw her pension but won't be able to. She was ineligible for the covid vaccine.


    Throughout this ordeal, which has lasted for nearly 10 years - yes, you read that correctly - various officials, when told what's happened, have sympathised but said there is nothing they can do to reverse a registration of death.


    Her legal battle to deal with this nightmare is trundling on and apparently starting to look promising but even then she's been warned it could take several more years for her "death" to be officially reversed!

    Abandon all reason

    That is absolutely crazy

    “Without music, life would be a mistake”