tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post8865098317303353769..comments2024-03-25T18:49:00.608+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: Out of control?Curmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-81379487708562225182014-01-24T08:16:22.491+00:002014-01-24T08:16:22.491+00:00But, Cookie, if you remember you started it by cha...But, Cookie, if you remember you started it by changing the subject of conversation from hop varieties to how fit those lasses looked. I have to say they didn't seem particularly athletic to me.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-13177253941630805352014-01-24T08:04:42.743+00:002014-01-24T08:04:42.743+00:00@Martin, You wanna come out on one of Mudgies bear...@Martin, You wanna come out on one of Mudgies beard club pub crawls. I went out on one once, just to find out about it and good god it opened my eyes. I thought to myself, you know, I can't criticise what I don't understand. I'll take up the invite and find out for myself. Jesus wept, the debauchery.<br /><br />One word "bacchanalia"Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-90899001518152970082014-01-24T00:00:25.295+00:002014-01-24T00:00:25.295+00:00I wish more people would tell me the Pedigree is k...I wish more people would tell me the Pedigree is keeping well today, Cookie.<br /><br />NB. Finally I agree with pyo; drunken debauchery only exists in a video of Middlesbrough's from c.2001, my own recent night outs in Swansea, Newcastle and Cambridge have found depressingly sober behaviour.Martin, Cambridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-58381427316112760312014-01-23T20:30:28.431+00:002014-01-23T20:30:28.431+00:00An excellent and well thought out post, Mudgie. As...An excellent and well thought out post, Mudgie. As someone who now regularly drinks much more at home than I do in pubs, I can vouch for the fact that far less alcohol is consumed indoors than it would be on licensed premises. Typically at home, I will just have the one bottle (500ml) of beer of an evening; whereas when out with friends, and drinking in a pub, 3-4 pints would not be unusual.<br /><br />If I had a decent pub, within walking distance, things might be a little different though. Uncouth oiks wearing football shirts, swilling Fosters whilst shouting obscenities at a TV screen, sum up most pubs within walking distance. Either that or an overpriced eatery, selling big-brand, bland southern beers pulled through a sparkler, and it's small wonder I do most of my drinking within the comfort of my own home!<br /><br />I do miss the social side of having a decent local though. Somewhere you can walk in and be recognised by the licensee or bar staff, and somewhere where you will almost invariably bump into someone you know.Paul Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-54201351489015070012014-01-23T13:27:14.905+00:002014-01-23T13:27:14.905+00:00I don't Mudge.
I stand back, wait for you to ...I don't Mudge.<br /><br />I stand back, wait for you to buy a begrudging half and sip it, then wait and see if you complain. Then I either buy a begrudging half or turn around and leave you to get your money back in the rush to end up in the multi-beer alehouse.Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-91217149965323637092014-01-23T13:18:39.687+00:002014-01-23T13:18:39.687+00:00Yes, if there is an unfortunate correlation it is ...Yes, if there is an unfortunate correlation it is that good old fashioned community pubs tend to sell rather crappy beer.<br /><br />Its such a shame, you'd think they could at least stick a few bottles in the fridge for the occasional pretentious ponce.pyonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-6502909213681955832014-01-23T13:13:59.373+00:002014-01-23T13:13:59.373+00:00The surviving community pubs are the ones the loca...The surviving community pubs are the ones the local CAMRA members studiously avoid on their way to the multi-beer alehouse. And then slag off the beer quality when they visit on their biannual pub crawl.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-40518064518505066432014-01-23T13:09:07.169+00:002014-01-23T13:09:07.169+00:00These traditional community pubs weren't if yo...These traditional community pubs weren't if you were black or a women or anything other than white middle aged male. Then there was one room for the middle class suits and another for the working class.<br /><br />If anything, the modern spoons achieves more of the admirable aims of a traditional community pub than those boozers which laid claim to it ever did.<br />Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-79659124233898418722014-01-23T12:43:18.433+00:002014-01-23T12:43:18.433+00:00Loads! How many pubs have pool teams, darts teams ...Loads! How many pubs have pool teams, darts teams or football or cricket teams? Wherever I've lived there have always been plenty of pubs around where if you go in often enough the landlord and regulars start to say hello and try to persuade you to play for the darts team. <br />Used to go to one place in Notts that had a disco every Friday and Saturday night. It was always the same old faces - to start with it felt like gatecrashing a wedding, everyone seemed to know each other.pynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-62571304722528074952014-01-23T12:34:51.243+00:002014-01-23T12:34:51.243+00:00And how many pubs actually qualify as "tradit...And how many pubs actually qualify as "traditional community pubs" nowadays?<br /><br />At one time there was a type of pub often described as "a local in the heart of town" where the kind of drinkers who now use Wetherspoons would gather, the Tiviot in Stockport being a good example. Very hard to find now.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-30797333736014163512014-01-23T11:25:40.690+00:002014-01-23T11:25:40.690+00:00yeah but that's spoons, isn't it? Its quit...yeah but that's spoons, isn't it? Its quite deliberately as far away from a traditional community pub as its possible to be. pynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-20156372323657849822014-01-23T11:23:27.516+00:002014-01-23T11:23:27.516+00:00Well whether or not you think its a good thing, I ...Well whether or not you think its a good thing, I think the point is that the decline of the pub and the decline of day-to-day social interaction are not just related, they're exactly the same phenomenon. <br /><br />People can't express concern about growing anomie and isolation in our communities and simultaneously offer no support for pubs and drinkers, its a self contradiction.<br />pynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-9523684858548977082014-01-23T11:21:30.433+00:002014-01-23T11:21:30.433+00:00Go in Spoons at 11.30 am. At each table, one middl...Go in Spoons at 11.30 am. At each table, one middle-aged or elderly bloke with a plastic carrier bag and possibly a copy of the Sun or Mirror, drinking a pint of what looks like JS Extra Smooth. Not exactly much community engagement there.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-65226597447349655442014-01-23T11:12:35.257+00:002014-01-23T11:12:35.257+00:00Shops like the Ronnies "four candles" sk...Shops like the Ronnies "four candles" sketch no longer exist, but the joke works so long as you've not seen it 300 times before.<br /><br />People who don't need people are the happiest people. Society has got better. Social interaction has declined, and with it pubs, churches, community, knowing your neighbours names because life is nicer that way. Pubs are full of odd balls. People with beards telling you the pedigree is drinking well today. Chippy tea, Xbox live, can of lout, tup the missus, stare at the ceiling pondering the existential nature of a moment post coital happiness in a day of general tedium and misery is all better than a pint of pong in a dumpy old mans pub.<br /><br />and Mudge is right, it's no more or less "responsible"Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-44534822259829747842014-01-23T10:55:57.553+00:002014-01-23T10:55:57.553+00:00The cartoon is from 1994 ;-)
Today your mobile ph...The cartoon is from 1994 ;-)<br /><br />Today your mobile phone has more computer power.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-88857159759577679362014-01-23T10:41:03.095+00:002014-01-23T10:41:03.095+00:00Only one monitor, how quaint!Only one monitor, how quaint!pyonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-89305421890779954372014-01-23T10:27:23.502+00:002014-01-23T10:27:23.502+00:00Your blog gets better the more you come round to m...Your blog gets better the more you come round to my opinion, Mudge ;)<br /><br />@Pyo http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1994-02-19/Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-58788194941114129802014-01-23T10:26:03.524+00:002014-01-23T10:26:03.524+00:00Cookie, you will note that I used your point about...Cookie, you will note that I used your point about "blaming it on the first drink, not the last" ;-)Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-41364989378194595112014-01-23T10:23:26.840+00:002014-01-23T10:23:26.840+00:00Big post, lots of comments.
2People drinking in p...Big post, lots of comments.<br /><br />2People drinking in pubs are likely to consume considerably more per session than those doing it at home"<br /><br />- depends on the context. I would say that is true for a quiet pint in front of the telly, but for an actual house party where people are mixing their own drinks etc, probably the opposite is true.<br /><br /><br />"and are also more likely to be involved in drink-related disorder, whether as victims or perpetrators"<br /><br />- true, but only because disorder tends to rely on the presence of strangers to fight with, and you don't often find them eyeballing you from your own kitchen.<br /><br />"and also to be the innocent victims of traffic accidents."<br /><br />well yes, because you don't tend to walk home from your own house.<br /><br />wrt binge drinking. a) I think its vastly overblown. I've been out in city centres at 3am on hundreds if not thousands of occasions and mostly what you see is people singing and hugging. Fighting and passing out really are very rare. b) if people want to get drunk, what business is it of anyone else anyway? There seems to be a belief that people get paralytically drunk deliberately, which I find hard to believe. Its almost always an accident and should be treated with the same amount of sympathy as any other accident. People who deliberately drink themselves unconscious have a problem and clearly need treatment of some sort.<br /><br />The difference between drinking in a pub vs drinking at home is all about engaging with the local community. People don't talk to each other as they wander round the shops anymore, so drinking together in the pub is generally the only way that people ever actually speak to anyone from their local community. How can that be a bad thing? Sadly the decline in pub attendance and the rise in isolation and depression amongst all age groups are going hand in hand. We're a naturally sociable species, yet so many people can go a day without talking to a single person.<br /> pynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-5177694407507106372014-01-23T10:18:26.032+00:002014-01-23T10:18:26.032+00:00Bang on, MudgeBang on, MudgeCooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.com