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Shelfside's bio
50's, on my second marriage (divorced with two children), relocated to Germany 14 years ago and I'm enjoying life away from the hustle and bustle of London and the south east - although I do miss the pub, Spurs and a good curry! Interested in politics (a bit too much it must be said) foreign affairs, indie music (primarily) and a good drink now and again. I am on the committee of a local armed forces charity (British) - unpaid before you ask - and enjoy lounging in the garden, although I'm a hopeless and lacklustre gardener, leaving that to the other half who genuinely enjoys it!
I get back to the UK several times a year to get a shot of London, visit a museum or two, watch a Spurs match if I can and to catch up... -
Shelfside's latest comments
ViewDate:
11th Oct 2020
Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Whack it up as a topic!ViewDate:
10th Oct 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Or should that be ‘one way or another’? Shame there is no editing facility on here.ViewDate:
10th Oct 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Thank you! The silent majority will be heard...one way or the other.ViewDate:
22nd Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Well said - and if I didn't know any better, I'd put a few bob on 'ArtfulDodger' being deliberately provocative...virtually trolling this particular thread. And surely nobody this side of sanity believes that statues of those with connections to slavery were put up to celebrate that fact. Was the statue of Nelson Mandela in parliament Square erected to celebrate his acts of and encouragement of terrorism? Probably not... Don't forget at one stage even Amnesty international wouldn't represent him - a fact conveniently forgotten by many who revere that individual.ViewDate:
18th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Absolutely. Trouble is there are too many people afraid of standing up, voicing their genuine concerns and their worries about the way things are going. Unless you are on message you’re one of many shaking head in despair little Englanders - a racist, an Islamophobe, an imperialist, a ‘gammon’...and always living in the past. Not all of us - young or old - are happy with ‘modern Britain’, we don’t all worship at the altar of a teenage Swede, take a knee with the thugs of BLM, wish to eradicate our past in favour of some airbrushed melting pot...we don’t all think our history is clothed in negativity or ‘white supremacy’ (as one on here has alluded to), we don’t all want to follow the message... The way I see it - and have done since my university days - is that Britain is a great place to live in (as evidenced by the immigration figures, especially from the third world), but to live in it is to buy into it. Keep your culture, your beliefs and your nuances - but do not try and impose them on the country and the people you have chosen to live in/with. Our country may have a shady past in many respects (which country does not?), but the past is another country. Let is stay that way.ViewDate:
14th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Do you enjoy seeing urban foxes?To make it perfectly clear, I was 'wandering off to the pub' - NOT the fox.ViewDate:
14th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Do you enjoy seeing urban foxes?Being what I suppose you'd call a 'city boy' my sightings of foxes were pretty much limited to those of Basil Brush on the box... However on my last visit to the UK last December, before Covid decided to pay a visit, I was maybe 10 yards away from one. About 9PM in Cartwright Gardens, Bloomsbury wandering off to the pub there it was, bold as you like without a care in the world. Without exaggerating, I was totally transfixed, under the glare of the streetlight it looked truly beautiful...and then it was gone, off into the small park opposite the houses and hotels where I assume it had been looking for food. Shame I hadn't anything to hand to capture the moment. Slightly away from the topic, I know folk in the countryside and those with livestock such as hens look upon foxes as a menace, I understand that entirely, and I kind of understand the need to control their number - but not by hunting with hounds. God, no. Long live the urban Reynard I say!ViewDate:
10th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Oh dear. Another one...ViewDate:
10th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Your last sentence was both petty and revealing. Last word? You invited it.ViewDate:
9th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Lost the argument...resorting to insult...overdose on right-wing propaganda? I would suggest something rather different in that you have lost the argument. You cannot take retorts that call into question your overdosed on left-wing propaganda woke mind, and as such you reply with the all too common response you and your ilk arrogantly and ignorantly are so fond of. Insult? Behave yourself!ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Thank you. It’s time more of us spoke up. Trouble is if we do we’re immediately slapped down by the leftists and their chums as being racists and little Englanders. I for one have had enough.ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?In your leftist dreams...ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?‘White supremacist’! Talk about an over reaction!ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020
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8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?I accept we have hosted a variety of cultures - but never so much as we have since the ‘50’s, and never as many who do not mix, never as many (since 1066 I’d say) who are attempting to impose their way of live and culture upon us. One in particular, but I must watch what I say in free speech Britain... As Angela Merkel herself said back in 2010, ‘...the multicultural approach has failed, utterly failed’. She also said the idea of people from different cultural backgrounds living happily ‘side by side’ did not work. How she could go back on her words just a few years ago is truly staggering.ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Brexit has long been popular with many on the left, Corbyn himself included. Go back in time and you’ll find that leftist hard liners such as Tony Benn were opposed to joining what he called the ‘undemocratic’ EU. You make the mistake that many remainers make, that Brexit was supported only by the ‘right wing’. Just not true. Murdoch’s press reigning supreme? Not in the UK, where unless I’m mistaken his group own just two of the UK’s 10 or 11 daily newspapers, or less than 20%. Reach plc, owners of the left leaning ‘Daily Mirror’ own three, or just under 30%. Moving on to the BBC and it’s appointment of a Conservative DG, well Tim Davie (who has been with the corporation since 2005) was a Conservative councillor in London back in the ‘90’s. Is that all you have? Finally, you do yourself no favours with your comment about ‘patriotic ditties’ being ‘sung in all their imperialist glory’. That’s just embarrassingly cheap or embarrassingly ‘right on’. Not clever.ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?I apologise in advance, and wish no offence, but your post does remind me so much of sixth form sociology claptrap taught by a shaggy haired beardy with leather patches on his jacket elbows, and sporting a Labour party lapel badge...ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?To my detriment I should have read your earlier posts on this thread, as your agenda is so set. Pointless really for me to say any more to you, apart from repeating my view that you have proved or are proving my point. And it matters not if I currently live in the UK or not - and you don’t know why I’m based in Germany either. My views are formed by seeing the way things are going, questioning without blind nodding dog obedience, both of which seem to be ‘right wing’ and not ‘considering (other) points of view’. You again have proven that particular point too, if I disagree with your leftist way of thinking, then I’m wrong, I ‘hector’ and am blind. I’d suggest the opposite and say quite openly that it is you and those like you are the ones missing vision. Open your eyes, see what is happening for yourself and ignore the constant preaching that unless you conform you’re ‘right wing’ (so what?), a racist or just stuck in the past. They’re laughing at you. Moving on to our young people, I pity them. They have to fit in, they cannot question why things are the way they are, they’re led by the nose by leftist, modern teaching and constant insistence on towing the party line.ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Hmm... multi-cultural? More like separate cultures truth be known, in some areas, very separate indeed.ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?You are - if you like or not - proving my point. You talk about being ‘hectored by right wing ideology’...where? If anything the opposite is true, the left pull the strings. Our history is rubbished, our culture is rubbished, our concerns ignored. It is one way traffic. Take the BBC News for instance, only the other day two items followed in quick succession, the first about the awful mosque attacks in New Zealand carried out by ‘a white supremacist’. The next item was about the Manchester Arena attack, which was ‘a terrori attack’...what kind of ‘terrorist’? Surely it isn’t a crime or racism to tell the uncomfortable truth, that it was an attack carried out by an Islamist? What can be wrong with reporting the whole truth? Why does it appear that some sections of our community are wrapped in political cotton wool? And that’s just one example. You mention ‘we give little credence to those who sloganise and use extreme and emotive language to slur us’. Have you missed the mass coverage of the BLM ‘demonstrations’, the ‘extreme and emotive language (used) to slur us’? Did you miss the anti Brexit demonstrations? Ignore comments made by the likes of David Lammy, Diane Abbott, Len McCluskey made in this last year? Two of those individuals could have been making UK government policy had Corbyn won the election, and the other one pulling Corbyn’s strings. Did you miss comments made by Doreen Lawrence regarding the Grenfell fire? Comments regularly made on BBC’s QT (before Covid interrupted studio participation) about such emotive nonsense as ‘white privilege’? As for the younger generation thinking for themselves, I really would question that. They think and make judgement calls on what they are told, what they are ‘hectored’ with and what they are told is ‘wrong’. They are being programmed, like it or not. Just google Glenthorne High School in Sutton, Surrey - ‘the school that tried to end racism’.ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?With the greatest of respect, much of what you say proves my point. How do you know that my views are held only by a minority? You don’t...you assume. Maybe you take on board the constant propaganda spouted by the media, minority groups and certain politicians? Please don’t take offence at that comment, but it is a serious question. I could also say that many, many people agree with what I am saying, what I am trying to get over. Take the Brexit vote for example, that was a pointer if anything was, and those who voted for it are slurred by many politicians as little Englanders, racists, dinosaurs and so on and so forth. I can take offence as well as the next person, but what I can’t take is this constant battering of my country, the guilt I am meant to feel for parts of our history and the fact that I am meant to keep quiet and just go along with it all for fear of being labelled. I make no apology for using phrases such as the ‘fascism of the left’. It may be emotive, but it certainly isn’t extreme. It exists. Question what is fast becoming the norm, and you’re pilloried for it. Our children are being educated - if you can call it that - to be all accepting, and to question nothing that is perceived as sacred. I hate to say it, and you may again use the words ‘emotive’ and ‘extreme’, but there are distinct similarities with the policies of a certain long dead Austrian - children are being programmed.ViewDate:
8th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?My views hold pretty fast on western Europe in general, what’s happening in the UK is happening in a similar way in Germany and elsewhere. With the exception of my wife and I, all of my family live in the UK. Just because I’m a few hours away does not make too much of a difference. I am neither blind or deaf. I travel (or did pre Covid) to London on a semi regular basis and have noted these past few years many changes and not just the obvious demographic ones. Changes that are slowly but surely erasing Britishness (for loss of a better word) for a way of life that is regulated by political correctness and conformity to the message. You may disagree with what I say or feel, and of course that’s your prerogative, and you’re right, I haven’t been shouted down - on here at least. However, I do contribute, if you will, to several other online forums, and it is revealing (and disappointing) at the scope of censorship some of them apply. In short it is a case of leftist liberal views and opinion good - non leftist views bad. Criticism, questioning and lampooning of British culture, institutions and dare I say it, even Christianity good, criticism, questioning and lampooning of minority culture, institutions and religion (one in particular) bad. You may laugh at me, disagree with me, shake your head in despair at me - but the fascism of the left is very evident. One day we’ll all wake up in another country...and then it will be too late. Please feel free to reply, I welcome your comments.ViewDate:
7th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should the Proms be stripped of its favourite vocals?Bit by bit, our culture, values and even our way of life is being chipped away. It is evident everywhere, this is racist, that is racist, this cannot be criticised, that cannot be criticised...and so it goes on. Schoolchildren are being battered into submission to stay on message, to question the message is racist, backward or both. There is no room for free expression, no room for expressing concern or dislike for anything that makes one uncomfortable, unless it’s the leftists who have concerns. You only have to objectively watch the BBC for a day or two to pick up the way things are going, its journalistic standards are increasingly on message. ITV isn’t much better, adverts are increasingly biased towards that which - it has to be said - not the norm. I could go on, and be more blunt and to the point, but in today’s climate one has to be careful about how much to say. How sad and pathetic is that? I’m not a racist, even saying that is perceived as the opposite by many, but I am getting fed up with being told that by having some of the views I have, by expressing certain opinions, that I am. I’m fed up with being told that I have ‘white privilege’... Movements such as BLM, and the constant braying that everything is ‘institutionally racist’, the seemingly enforced and increased flow of non British culture and practices is divisive. It’s polarising our country and will only serve the extremists. Feel free to call me whatever you like, racist, gammon, Islamophobe etc etc...but I know that I’m not. I just want to express my opinion, my right to free speech and air my frustrations with what is happening in our society today. I’m not a stranger in my own country yet (forget the fact that I live in Germany for the purpose of this rant) but I’ve never been so far removed from it, and I’m genuinely scared for the future. Whew!ViewDate:
6th Sep 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should controversial statues around the country be removed?@Jeff58 who accuses me of being a racist - I’m not, and I can take slurs such as yours all day. Slurs that are thrown about like so much confetti by those who cannot understand (or refuse to understand) that there are others out there who have the audacity to disagree with them. The slur of ‘racism’ - a one way traffic system used and abused by the left in order to silence debate, opinion and thought.ViewDate:
17th Aug 2020 Shelfside commented on:
I am sick of everything that’s going on today!I agree with your sentiments, but the 'bad' just seems to outweigh the 'good' these days, no matter what spin is put on it. I don't perceive myself as being negative, but over time I've definitely become a realist! But I live in hope...ViewDate:
17th Aug 2020 Shelfside commented on:
I am sick of everything that’s going on today!I agree with your sentiments, but the 'bad' just seems to outweigh the 'good' these days, no matter what spin is put on it. I don't perceive myself as being negative, but over time I've definitely become a realist! But I live in hope...ViewDate:
18th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Father's Day PlaylistRather poignant if somewhat depressing lyrics - in my humble opinion. Queen - ‘Father to son’. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4hytYgRmzTs Even more depressing and miserable is this offering. Mike & the Mechanics - ‘The living years’. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5hr64MxYpgk But depress not children, to lighten the mood, there’s alway this. Church on the move - ‘Dad life’. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DOKuSQIJlogViewDate:
17th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Will you be venturing to the shops this week?I sympathise with you Kid, I only go the supermarket once every two weeks to stock up, everything else I do online. It’s no big deal in my opinion...or is it? I do miss the pub, restaurants and a bit of other socialising. I’m also on an area committee of a national charity which has been hit hard by the lockdown. We haven’t been able to hold our meetings, organise certain visits and - horror of horrors - have had to cancel our summer BBQ which brings in valuable funds. The Christmas lunch, also a good fund raiser, is looking a bit uncertain too. Even if things were given the AOK, people including myself are going to be wary of taking the initial plunge. And as for wearing masks and what have you... You’re not alone.ViewDate:
16th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Will you be venturing to the shops this week?No. I have shares in Amazon...ViewDate:
15th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Online names - how do you choose yours?Mine comes from where I used to stand on the terraces (later the seating) at White Hart Lane - the world famous home of the Spurs - well until we got our spanking new ground last year of course. The 'Shelf' as it was known was the middle tier of terracing on the east stand of the stadium, the place for the real die-hards, the lads, the boys etc etc... So many fond memories, so many people I've lost contact with, all grown up and respectable, ahem. A REAL football stand. https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/the-shelf-at-tottenham-once-made-white-hart-lane-londons-most-hostile-stadium-a3537971.htmlViewDate:
14th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should controversial statues around the country be removed?Love the farm worker analogy Lionel. Frustration and often anger drive me on - rightly or wrongly. And I hate to see my country brought to this. Keep the flag flying, and the fire burning!ViewDate:
14th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should controversial statues around the country be removed?Appreciated Lionel...but I am so wary of being labelled as something I’m not. Thanks again, and expect more ranting!ViewDate:
13th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should controversial statues around the country be removed?Please excuse the typos and grammatical errors in my post above. It’s been a long day...♂️ViewDate:
13th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should controversial statues around the country be removed?It may sound like a surreal cliche Lionel, but the fascism of the left is dictating the future of this country. I’ve never seen or experienced a government so scared to impose the rule of law on thuggery in order to protect our heritage and history as this one. Political correctness in the worst definition of the phrase is the order of the day, standing up for this country, its values and its history is seen as being ‘far right’, honest and fair debate not allowed. We of the older generation are belittled and derided with laughable slurs such as ‘gammon’ in the quest to silence us, to sacrifice us and our country on the alter of far left dogma. I for one are sickened by the current ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement (and I use that term loosely) and their acts of savagery, hooliganism and enforcement. All lives matter, but this movement is only polarising the nation, encouraging division and hatred. It pains me to say it (does it?), but there will be a backlash, and I am not afraid to say I will welcome it. I am no racist, but I am not a person who rolls over either. Rant over...for now.ViewDate:
13th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should controversial statues around the country be removed?I see that the mayor of London, that clown Sadiq Khan has categorised people in order to suit his agenda. Those he likes and approves of and those whom he despises and villifys. It appears that those wishing to vandalise and destroy statues of those they dislike are ‘demonstrators’ and those who oppose them are ‘far right extremists’. He has predicted violence if the two groups meet, and urged people to stay away from any demonstration - a thinly disguised call for a demonstration to actually take place. Violence will suit him down to the ground. There may well be some ‘far right extremists’ among those looking to stop the (in my opinion) far left extremists from destroying our history and culture, but looking at the crowds in Poole protecting the Baden-Powell statue, they’ll be in a minority. All the same, that’s how they will be painted - ‘far right extremists’. I too predict violence, and as in Bristol it will emanate from the rabid, hate filled mobs of far left thugs and their fellow travellers. Ain’t it always so?ViewDate:
11th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should controversial statues around the country be removed?Thanks for your reply, and yes Floyd was no paragon of virtue. The arrest made (when he was killed) was because he was trying to purchase cigarettes with fake currency. Tell me in all honesty, would you know how to get hold of fake currency? I certainly wouldn't...surely only a criminal would? He didn't deserve to die the way he did (he had heart problems also which may have contributed to his death, but that's another story) and those responsible should be punished accordingly, but this has been blown all out of proportion. As an aside, and as the way our country is heading, I posted pretty much the same as I have posted on here in my few posts on a London News website I comment on from time to time, contributing to a similar debate as this. Result? My post was deleted and my account banned! So much for freedom of speech if it doesn't fit with a leftist, on message agenda!ViewDate:
10th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Are you drinking more alcohol during lockdown?Yes. Yes. Yes. In front of the TV, in the garden, with dinner, mooching around doing nothing...and right now in fact. Haven’t put on as much as a centimetre. Sleep well. Wake up well. Live well. And enjoying it immensely.ViewDate:
10th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should controversial statues around the country be removed?Good for you, Lionel...and spot on.ViewDate:
10th Jun 2020 Shelfside commented on:
Should controversial statues around the country be removed?What happened to Floyd, a career criminal, was indeed awful but I’d like to add my input for what it’s worth on this issue. Floyd had served several (5 I believe) terms in prison, one for 10 months for drugs offences, and one for 5 years for breaking into a property and shoving a firearm into a pregnant woman’s stomach demanding money and drugs. This was a giant of a man, a one time pretty decent American footballer and later bouncer who stood a muscular 6’ 6” - how scared must this poor woman subjected to Floyd’s assault have been? Finally, and I make no apology for this, would we in the UK have any knowledge of Floyd’s death had he been white? Would we have witnessed the wanton violence, rioting and looting had he been white? Would would have seen politicians, the media and the far left SJW’s wringing their hands in such a crocodile teared, outraged manner had he been white? No. We would not. -
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I am sick of everything that’s going on today! -
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