Homespun Wisdom: Talks With My Neighbour

Better weather, other choices. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Paula Vennels is shedding fake tears and showing selective convenient memory and forgetfulness. Fully deserving of most hated person status. We go deeper into tears and their true meaning. Feeling sorry for yourself or other people. Calibrating tears: some people never cry and others are cry babies. Why Paula Vennels should have been forced to answer questions about other times she had cried so we could judge her better. Elvis Costello and “Suspect my Tears.” Daniel admits to crying and so much more….. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Dictator strategies. Talking to local people about brouhahas compared to hoo-has. How the public can get organised to overthrow dictators. It takes a crank to start a revolution. Being too scared to go first and say something critical. Journalists, lawyers and comedians as the prime targets of dictators. Importance of ridicule as a control mechanism. Lawyers are too slow or cowardly to be a threat. Comedians being cancelled is a danger sign for us all. Being tested to become robust and strong. Too much protection is not healthy. Bullies at work. Women on women tyranny. Avoiding confrontation because you are too scared and then stay and suffer or leave. Divide and rule operates by making us more concerned about race and sex. Bread and circuses in Roman times has become Pringles and Netflix to keep people quiet. Foreign policy distractions and war to get people behind strong leaders. Crowd control by water cannon and tear gas. Northern Ireland history. Kettling and women needing the loo. Daniel engages with a couple wrongly accused of analysis paralysis and so much more.. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Episode recorded outside Heap’s famous restaurant in Greenwich. Hope you share our infectious enthusiasm felt during recording. Daniel discusses what he would do if diagnosed with a terminal illness. People who you might do away with. Would you kill Hitler as a baby. Getting off parking tickets. Daniel’s case in front of the Adjudicator. French jokes and annoying happy couples and so much more…. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Beyoncé’s rework of Jolene gets serious consideration in a wider discussion of relationships. Sexual politics. Venting basic emotions or letting them fester. Football and bullfighting might be a good channel for bad emotions which will find an escape somewhere maybe more dangerous. Purge and catharsis. . Spain and venting against officials once a year. The Avon Lady calling…actually Amazon delivering toilet paper and washing up liquid. Max Factor was not involved. The Scottish Hate Law having perverse consequences leading to outbreak of hate. Confrontations as a way of correcting bad behaviour. Impulsive behaviour, seeing red and heat of the moment. Criminal courts and displays of emotion. Perfection of society by new laws running up against human nature. Why not make adultery a crime? What impact would that have and does society know some wrongs cannot be contained. Taking it out on the punchbag and so much more…. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Luckily Sarah Steers Daniel away from discussing bleach and onto succumbent slumber, a totally new concept. Daniel tries to buy 4 rib eyes at all-camera Aldi. Enjoying things more when you get a discount. Getting a bit of a tickle or a little win. I’ll gotten gains….more or less enjoyable. Freebies give a disproportionate joy. Surreptitious succumbent slumber discussed. Leave things in your online shopping basket and wait for the discount code. Being strapped for cash and bondage. Uni grants back in the day. The Midas effect. Easy being good and moral with easy money but how would destitution affect the same people. There but for the grace of God go I. Surreptitious sublimated succumbent sleep. Tarte Tatin discussed. Buying things that fell off the back of a lorry or from a guy down the pub. Financial discipline with kids. Helping them get on the property ladder. Parental sacrifices and guilt vs over generosity and entitlement. Unconditional love but not unconditional money. Family companies and the problem with the entitled third generation. Easy come, easy go. Feeling cheated and squaring up. Being over-charged and how to respond. Ice cream scoops. Quarts of ice cream in America. Fixated by rules and forgetting to make the customer happy. Nobody wants to be taken for a fool or a ride even if the amounts are small. It’s about your self view and pride. Outdoor film projection. The wurst way to go and so much more….. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

A wide ranging chat circling the tricky subject of complacency and the need to resist the lazy options in life. On the way parking, compressed air, kamikaze pilots and the Fukushima disaster and many other idiosyncratic topics get a look in. You will love it. One of our classic takes. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Sarah and Daniel discuss the true appreciation of the wonder of sight and capturing those memories and images on your camera/phone. But before they get down to business the issue of the day is bin outrage. Sarah has been on a family holiday in Togo in west Africa. The new “Ripley” discussed shot in black & white. Daniel gets caught cold by his Rabbi at Greenwich park while on a photo shoot. Le --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

The dangers of routine, habit and addiction in robbing you of your time. Is going to the gym so much better than a brisk walk in the park? Carving out time to be free and flexible and allowing for the unexpected and unpredictable. Learning to say “no” and save time from declining stuff. Like notifications on apps. The dangers of the phone. Bus stop roulette explained. Hunter gatherer existence. Filling your life with maintenance of your stuff. Freedom of shedding possessions and so much more… --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Daniel talks about the Waiter Race in Paris leading into a discussion about how a tray can make presentation and the theatre of restaurants so much more impressive. We discuss how to dress a tray and the joys of receiving a tray in bed. Find your perfect tray. Trays in pubs, canteens and McDonalds. Techniques and decoration tips included and so much more. You will look at the humble tray with new eyes and possibilities and impress your lovers and friends. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

The magic and wonder of building and cooking over live fire. Daniel is unhappy with NatWest over a foreign exchange trade. Do not covet your neighbour’s wood store. Daniel discusses types of charcoal. Bichotan vs encina (holm oak). Techniques for building a fire. Coal vs wood. Layering a fire and building up to a large log. Collecting combustible materials. Stages of a fire through coals and embers. Seeing the fire as a living thing. Heat signature and dynamic heat range. Steam production. Electricity is made from steam. Boyle’s law. Barbecues and outdoor cooking. Sarah childhood memories of fanning the fire. Importance of high heat which you can get outdoors from close contact with coals. Telling stories around a campfire. Using the charcoal after a fire to paint faces. The dancing flickering light from a fire is magical. Daniel gets nostalgic about his old gas fired tumble driver with its whoosh of combustion and so much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Daniel reacts to medical advice about his blood sugar levels. Refuses a KitKat. Daniel discusses his home smoked nuts. Sarah has an allergic reaction to nuts. It started with a kiss…Hobbies and losing your economic sense. Daniel makes lamb tagine. Chutneys: beetroot vs tomato. The beauty of the kitchen not related to the quality of output. Lentil soup. Daniel makes it before going to the cinema. Frittering away your time. Sarah makes creamed spinach. Trial and error, tasting and adjusting until it’s right. Following recipes as opposed to understanding the science in cooking. Russian or rushing. Daniel had a volumetric angst moment. Archimedes and his Eureka moment. Removing salt with a potato. Importance of high heat. Caremelising sugars. Dunking veg in ice water. Texture and mouth feel in food. Importance of crunch. Kitchen equipment fetishists. Daniel makes caramel in his Y-fronts and so much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Daniel links peanuts with nipples and breast feeding deprivation. Stubborn, principled, strong-willed. Rules unmoored from principle. Inventing rules during Covid. Laws as authority. Principled people are often sad and lonely compared to pragmatists. Nuisance in the park discussed. Lists of prohibited activities…can you do something not on the list? Banning things is simpler than having nuanced rules eg bus lanes. Challenging the rules. Hiding behind rules to make money in parking rules. Danger of obeying rules in the Holocaust. Importance of being irreverent and mocking stupid rules and not just getting angry. Daniel pays corkage at the Trafalgar Tavern. Daniel negotiates corkage at the Delaunay for 7 bottles of German Riesling. Daniel gets upset when Sarah usurps his authority. Daniel uses Newton’s second law to get the upper hand and so much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Sarah has an important audition for Mrs Brown (Paddington). Jack and the Beanstalk discussed. We explore invitational gestures and other non verbal signs. The chair in the spotlight. Pulling out a chair as an invitation. Opening doors. Checking a woman is well installed. Car door etiquette. Refusing to shake hands. High fives. Fist bumps. We explore clapping and do a little demonstration. Slow hand clap to show disapproval. Tony Blair comes a cropper at the WI conference. Walking out, turning your back. Don’t hang around after delivering your rebuff. Daniel has a shoe cleaning confrontation. Opening the door for someone. Slamming a door. Blocking a doorway to keep someone out or in. Daniel has a rant about Kia cars…they don’t Kiar about customer service. Driving gestures. Daniel gets all theatrical. Sting “Don’t stand so close to me” about the attractions of a warm dry car. Thumb out as a request for a lift….what has happened to hitchhikers. Restaurant gestures like scribbling in the air. Holding your nose. Showing you think someone is stupid. Zipping up your mouth. Throwing away the key. Spilling salt. Camp gesture. Holding up a hand as sign of refusal. Flat extended palm is sign of refusal. Girl on girl lipstick gestures. Need refill. Tapping the glass or the bottle to indicate need. Showing you have enjoyed a meal. Hands on the stomach. Open arms as an invitation to a hug. Gestures more powerful than words. Making yourself vulnerable…if it is spurned it hurts more. Awkward mismatch..one wants a hug, the other a handshake. The film Poor Things discussed with Emma Stone. The vulnerability of being naked or presenting yourself as naked as an invitation. Ultimate rejection if ignored. Showing cleavage…suggestion or invitation? Jayne wears a stunning dress that floors Daniel. Daniel makes smoked nuts as a nipple substitute and so much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Fears about bringing children into the world. Daniel works it all out. The individual has replaced the family. Remove family and religion: what has replaced it? Atomisation of society. Are you a boy or a girl? Two spirit cultures in Mexico. Single issue people don’t want to debate. Nuclear weapons and living with the means of our own destruction. A world without electricity. Internet down. Phones not working. Storing original films underground for safety. Fragile existence with no real knowledge of farming or making things. Diseases without cure. Keeping your sense of humour. Don’t stop having children because of threats and uncertainty. Part of the over focus on the individual. Children keep you young and challenge you. Sarah rows against the tide on the Thames. Enough already. Happier talk next time and so much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Daniel has been in Andalucia hearing about the golden years before 1492 when the world religions lived in harmony. Front row of comedy clubs and taking up space. Noticing the presence and the absence of living beings. Interrupting space in a room. Phantom limbs after amputations. The brain gradually adjusts to loss….or maybe never does. Discussion of “What Remains” series on iPlayer. Treatment of abused fat actor in the series. Fighting for life and giving up and losing the will to live. Discussion of “The Hit” from the 1980s. Couples together for decades and then losing one. Is it like the phantom limb? The sound of silence similar to not being there. Sarah discusses her Dad and still feels a great loss. Daniel talks of two children leaving home and so much more --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Daniel gets into trouble over dates with the yellow sticker lady at M&S. Daniel is having to take the stairs as his lift is broken and getting fitter. Arse appreciation on the elevator. A good brisk walk. Sarah’s knees and ankles creak. Women end up looking after men in old age. “She’s always up to something”. Do we wear out the body with exercise. Fear of losing mobility. The typical life in times past incorporated physical effort with no need to add going to the gym and so much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Daniel and Sarah start slow-mo talking. Cutting cakes into bite sized experience. Sharing food at restaurants. Words have usage, not absolute meaning, The way a word is used determines its meaning. EU diktat on gendered language. Have words ending in “man” lost their gender power. A female chairman makes the point better than calling her chairwoman. Sarah wonders if she can call “man on” at hockey, especially with trans people. Danger of bland boring language. Can changing language change attitudes for the better? Discussion of “master”. Expressions examined: “Shrill”. Jo Public”. “No Man’s Land”. “Handyman”. “Manpower”. Problem of doing some manual work with great nails. “Bossy”. “King and Queen”. “Virile”. “Fireman”. “Guys”. Daniel manages to go on a non PC rant and spoil the show --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Daniel and Sarah are at Champagne et Fromage Greenwich. Excuse the jolly accordion and jazz background music. Sarah wants Daniel to teach how to argue. Daniel tells the sad story of 6 “ripen at home” mangos from Waitrose which were still cannon balls 4 days later. Sarah has an argument with Argos for not taking a tablet back still in the box. Daniel wonders how Moses could have argued the wording of the 10 commandments. Daniel explains how to exploit the press office tab on a company website to get the contact details of the top brass. Rhiannon (who has joined) remembers trying to get her £3.50 back from a launderette machine. Use of threats. Learning to argue with your parents. Transmitting generational trauma. The great dilemma: deliver your message with emotion or rationality. Emotion can be more persuasive. Take Trump. Daniel tries the Ray Winston threat approach. Arguments in relationships. Believing in yourself and getting beyond embarrassment. We discuss Rhiannon’s dinner shopping plans at Marks & Spencer. Daniel challenged over how he reacts to being the subject of a complaint…a whimpering mess. Daniel talks his way out of being arrested under the Public Order Act and so much more. Artwork: Simon Confino from We-Q --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support

Daniel and Sarah are in Champagne et Fromage by Greenwich Market. The mysteries of sleep. Distractions that prevent sleep. Need for a ritual. Bed widths. Type of mattress. Norris still making traditional mattresses. Preferences on comfort and side of the bed. Police “Bed’s too big without you”. Daniel sing song. Post coital sleep. Interrupted sleep. Covid effect. Unfamiliar beds and hotels. Can you enjoy sleep when you are asleep? When your feet are up you will nod off…recliner chairs. Importance of napping. Sleep is logical if no food, no alcohol and no women are available. Sleeping in the nude. Daniel caught out by earthquake warning in Mexico City. Over-heating in bed. Tudor England two sleep routine…get up at 4am do some stuff for a couple of hours and go back to bed. Snoring and being sensitive to your partner. Avoiding being a “hag” in the morning. Sleeptalking. Accusations always made by the dominant partner. Acting waking up. Never looks authentic. Sarah falls into a trance. Sleeping in cinemas. Daniel suggests all night cinemas as an alternative to hotels. Going to bed at the same time. An early night as an invitation to sex. Going to bed at 8pm means that person is depressed. Sleepwalking and Daniel’s reactions to canal trips. Sarah babysits a sleepwalking child. The parents forget to warn her. Daniel remembers “My Bed is Not for Sleeping”. Sarah reads the suggestive synopsis. Notches on the bedpost. Doug gives his sleep knock out advice and so much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/homespuntalks/support