I attended Roman Catholic boy-only boarding schools from the ages of seven to sixteen, and look back very fondly on those years. We only had one “dodgy” priest, and he was sent away to Africa, presumably to abuse black boys for a change. Thankfully he showed no interest in me.

In 1973, at the age of sixteen, I was given the choice of remaining for another couple of years at Princethorpe College near Rugby (sadly no longer a boarding school, it’s a co-ed and hopelessly gynocentric, I may write a post about that one day), or transferring to a co-ed state school in my mother’s home town, Leighton Buzzard. I opted for the latter, and spent the next couple of years acquainting myself with young ladies and real ale, the latter often at The Black Horse pub.

In common with many pubs at the time, The Black Horse had a weekly folk evening, and the artist who remains strongest in my memory, 50 years on, was John Otway. To say he was a character would be an under-statement. His act included periods lying on his back on the floor, thrashing away manically at his guitar. Of course we youngsters worshipped him, while the old folkies (sweating heavily in their Aran jumpers) muttered darkly into their beer.

Otway was not long afterwards to become better-known for his partnership with Wild Willy Barrett. Their biggest hit was (Cor Baby That’s) Really Free – in 1977 they appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test performing it, here (video, 2:58). YouTube has a video of him in 2008, singing House of the Rising Sun (4:37). I don’t think I’ve ever seen more impressive (or hilarious) audience participation at a music gig.

Many years later, I greatly enjoyed a gig – with ill-fated wife #2 – at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, where Otway was performing with (among others) the legendary guitarist Wilko Johnson, formerly of Dr Feelgood, who I first saw when I was reading Chemistry at university (one of the “big three” – Oxford, Cambridge and Reading) in 1976. Sadly I can’t find a video of the Cambridge Corn Exchange gig, by way of compensation I offer you Dr Feelgood playing their hit Roxette (video, 2:42), also on The Old Grey Whistle Test (1975). OGWT had a tiny stage. When Wilko did his “duck walk” on a larger stage, the crowd went nuts.

Wilko and the band’s singer Lee Brilleaux are no longer with us, I’m sorry to say. Wilko died in 2022, at the age of 75, Lee in 1994, at just 41.

Happy days!!!

The Times published an article three months ago, The 21 greatest guitarists in rock history – ranked by our experts (£). In line with the paper’s feminist compliance policy, several were women:

#8 Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-73) (who?)

#15 Joni Mitchell (a rock guitarist?!!!)

#17 St Vincent (Annie Clarke) (who?)

Excluded guitarists included Mark Knopler of Dire Straits (1977-95), Wilko Johnson, and so many other great rock guitarists, all of them men. The comments section was full of critical comments about the inclusion of the women.

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Our YouTube channel is here.

A piece in The Sun, by a female “journalist”. I was reminded of the “Entitlement Princess of the Month” awards someone created many years ago. As an example of female unaccountability and female infantilisation and the justice system’s ridiculously pro-female bias, this case takes some beating. Extracts (with my comments) take up the remainder of this piece:

“A young woman slapped with an £11k parking fine has given the car park operator “a taste of what if feels like” after beating them in court- forcing them to pay £10k in costs. 

Excel Parking was roundly criticised for charging drivers £100 if they took over five minutes to pay at a car park- despite poor signal and a glitchy payment app often making this impossible…

Hannah Robinson, 21, who parked in Feethams Leisure car park in Darlington whilst working at a nearby steak house, has been trying to explain to the company since 2021 that it was impossible to pay the charge within five minutes.

However, in February 2024, Excel demanded she pay £11,390 for 67 breaches [J4MB emphasis] of the five-minute rule at £100 each plus a £70 debt collection fee…

District Judge Janine Richards described Excel’s conduct as “both unreasonable and out of the norm.” [J4MB: Robinson’s 67 breaches of the five-minute rule are, apparently, neither “unreasonable” nor “out of the norm”.]

Over £10k will be paid to Access to Justice Foundation, which raises funds to provide free legal advice to the most marginalised groups, such as single mothers and victims of sexual violence. [J4MB: How are single mothers “marginalised”? And you can be sure this means only female victims of sexual violence.]…

Her nan, Adrienne Atkin, couldn’t believe that “a company could do that.”

She told the BBC: “I was shocked. it had an effect on a young girl [J4MB emphasis – she was eligible to vote at 18 but at 21 she’s still a “young girl”?] that shouldn’t have happened when she should be out working, having fun. [J4MB emphasis.]…

Despite the harassment, [J4MB: By “harassment”, the female “journalist” means how a car park operator dealt with a women flagrantly flouting the car park rules on 67 occasions] she continued to park her BMW in the car park because it was the “safest option” for a young woman at night as there was a lift straight to her workplace… [J4MB emphasis – it would also be the safest option for a young man (who would be more likely than a young woman to be assaulted) but of course no man would get a pro-bono lawyer, nor would there be such an outcome in his favour.]

Hannah had free pro-bono legal representation, but the judge ordered a pro bono costs order where the lawyer is compensated for their costs.”

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Our YouTube channel is here.

Today’s video is here (34:51).

Over a period of almost six months we’re posting links to one video daily from the comedy channel of our associated award-winning website, Laughing at Feminists. Remember, it’s more than important to laugh at feminists, it’s a civic duty.

You might also be interested in the 700+ videos on our YouTube channel, which includes our media appearances since 2013, 300+ videos of talks and other materials from the International Conferences on Men’s Issues (2014 – ), from the other men’s issues conferences we’ve been involved with, and so much more. The individual conference playlists are here.

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Interesting. Note the very untypical photograph of Prince Andrew at the top of the piece.

The Royal Family should never have given millons of pounds to Giuffre in an out-of-court settlement. Even if Prince Andrew had sex with her when she was 17, in London – which I very much doubt – that wasn’t a crime in the UK. She was a young prostitute who knew how to game the system for very high financial rewards.

In the New York Post, Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre claims she suffered domestic abuse at hands of her husband: report. In the Evening Standard, Virginia Giuffre breaks silence after alarming health scare and reveals truth behind ‘four days to live’ post. Extracts:

Giuffre — who has accused Prince Andrew of abusing her when she was a teenager, a claim the royal denies — shared the disturbing update last Sunday, writing: “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure, they’ve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology.”…

Her brother, Sky Roberts, later clarified the viral post, saying doctors had warned Giuffre she could have died within four days without treatment [J4MB emphasis]. “Let’s be clear, she never stated in the bus accident the cause of all her other injuries,” he told People. “Nobody ever said her liver issues and kidney failure were ever from that. We still don’t know if it is, I’m not a medical professional. That’s up to her doctor to determine.”

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Our YouTube channel is here.

Our thanks to Peter Wright for this on his website, Gynocentrism and its Cultural Origins.

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Our YouTube channel is here.

Today’s video is here (29:09).

Over a period of almost six months we’re posting links to one video daily from the comedy channel of our associated award-winning website, Laughing at Feminists. Remember, it’s more than important to laugh at feminists, it’s a civic duty.

You might also be interested in the 700+ videos on our YouTube channel, which includes our media appearances since 2013, 300+ videos of talks and other materials from the International Conferences on Men’s Issues (2014 – ), from the other men’s issues conferences we’ve been involved with, and so much more. The individual conference playlists are here.

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Shocking (Times, £). The care of hundreds of NHS patients (many of them children) is being urgently reviewed because of concerns about a surgeon at one of England’s leading hospitals. Stohr is a specialist paediatric orthopaedic consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals Trust. Would the medical authorities have been so slow to investigate if the surgeon had been a man? I very much doubt it.

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Our YouTube channel is here.

Today’s video is here (39:32).

Over a period of almost six months we’re posting links to one video daily from the comedy channel of our associated award-winning website, Laughing at Feminists. Remember, it’s more than important to laugh at feminists, it’s a civic duty.

You might also be interested in the 700+ videos on our YouTube channel, which includes our media appearances since 2013, 300+ videos of talks and other materials from the International Conferences on Men’s Issues (2014 – ), from the other men’s issues conferences we’ve been involved with, and so much more. The individual conference playlists are here.

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Our thanks to Rob for this.

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Our YouTube channel is here.

Our thanks to Dr John Barry for pointing us to this piece on the website of The Centre For Male Psychology.

—————————-

If you’d like email notifications of our new blog pieces, please enter your email address in the box near the top of the right-hand column and click ‘Subscribe’.

We shall shortly be posting this piece on our X channel.

Our YouTube channel is here.