User avatar
By Malcolm Armsteen
#76539
In the sixties I worked summers in a mental hospital laundry...

By hecky wotsit I could tell some stories...
By lambswool
#76552
Malcolm Armsteen wrote:In the sixties I worked summers in a mental hospital laundry...

By hecky wotsit I could tell some stories...
That’s reminded me of something an inmate said to my friend, a nurse in a psychiatric hospital:-

“You should have been here yesterday, Nurse. It was like a madhouse.”
User avatar
By Yug
#76560
I'd rather stay here with all the mad men
Than perish with the sad men roaming free
Yes I'd rather play here with all the mad men
'Cause I'm quite content they're all as sane as me
Watchman liked this
By Bones McCoy
#76563
davidjay wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 8:17 pm
Philip Marlow wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2024 2:01 pm About a million people have said it before me, but there really is a difference between doing a shit job when you have reason to believe that it’s just for now and doing a shit job which you suspect will be but one of a number of shit jobs stretching away into forever.
I've done many shit jobs over the years but only once have I been able to tell a boss to shove their shit job. I suspect that had the divine Ms B had the desire, she could have told Ronald McDonald where to stick his happy meal and not suffered.
Jarvis Cocker put it rather well:
If you called your dad he could stop it all, yeah
Philip Marlow liked this
By Bones McCoy
#76564
You'll never live like common people
You'll never do what ever common people do
Never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
And then dance, and drink, and screw
Because there's nothing else to do
Oh!
He continued; then mooned Michael Jackson.
User avatar
By Tubby Isaacs
#76650
As Sunder Katwala says, this is Sir Humphrey "courageous" from Badenoch. Is she running for Leader of the Opposition or a job with Paul Marshall? Actually, it might be the latter she ends up doing anyway. There are enough Jenrick-Cleverly supporters to knock her out of 2nd place.


User avatar
By Andy McDandy
#76654
Musk's become a shorthand for them - one of those young tech people with all the answers. Bit like if 30 years ago you asked people to name an entrepreneur, they'd say Richard Branson.
mattomac liked this
User avatar
By Tubby Isaacs
#76675
Andy McDandy wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2024 1:37 pm Musk's become a shorthand for them - one of those young tech people with all the answers. Bit like if 30 years ago you asked people to name an entrepreneur, they'd say Richard Branson.

Lots of Branson is marketing, of course, but I think he is actually pretty smart. When Virgin Trains started, he headhunted Chris Green, who had run Network South East and would have got the top job at BR if it had continued. Branson's businesses have done lots of different things successfully. There's a track record of success in lots of different industries, so I could see that more than Musk.
By Youngian
#76683
Virgin Records was innovative providing music other labels weren't interested in. But most of his enterprises are carpet bagging in existing markets with a fresh coat of paint and sexier barkers.
User avatar
By Tubby Isaacs
#76688
Youngian wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:28 pm Virgin Records was innovative providing music other labels weren't interested in. But most of his enterprises are carpet bagging in existing markets with a fresh coat of paint and sexier barkers.
You don’t sustain airlines or banks on the back of air balloon stunts and scantily dressed women alone.
User avatar
By Malcolm Armsteen
#76694
Youngian wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2024 11:34 am I've flown, drunk cola and had a bank account without Mr Branson's patronage. But I might not of had Gong albums or heard Tubula Bells.
Unsure of meaning...
User avatar
By Andy McDandy
#76695
Meaning that Virgin records did have some impact in putting artistes like Mike Oldfield out there (when other record labels wouldn't touch them); but that many of Branson's other ventures haven't really brought anything new to attention.
Youngian liked this
By davidjay
#76698
One of Branson's cleverer stunts was to sell the business but they kept the name, so he was still getting free advertising.

He also owes a debt to John Lydon. The Pistols gave his hippy record label a boost and John got him to start Virgin Front Line.
By Youngian
#76715
Shades of corporate Japan's keiretsu model in which a network of companies shelter under the same brand but not necessarily related businesses. The Yamaha name famed for making motorcycles and musical instruments for eg.
User avatar
By Tubby Isaacs
#76752
I didn't at all like the Virgin Train I went to the Lake District on, but they did run far more services and carry far more passengers, which was good for the Treasury as well as Branson. Unfortunately, Osborne got greedy, rail companies got hubristic in their bids, and the whole thing collapsed.
mattomac liked this
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