Chris King
@chrisfk.bsky.social
Double nationalité franco-britannique, universitaire en droit, amateur d'art et de musique. Résident de la République Populaire de Stirchley (Birmingham) et du Haut-Limousin. Pas de DMs SVP.
Or rather a fair number of those people who had/whose families had a house in London. There's not many other parts of the UK where perfectly ordinary detached houses that were bought and sold for sensible prices just a few decades ago are now worth over £2 million, apparently.
December 2, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Or rather a fair number of those people who had/whose families had a house in London. There's not many other parts of the UK where perfectly ordinary detached houses that were bought and sold for sensible prices just a few decades ago are now worth over £2 million, apparently.
Property price inflation in London is (and has been for decades) completely absurd. The perfectly ordinary detached house I grew up in, bought by my late father for under £6K in 1959, sold by my late mother in 2000 for a bit over £600K is now worth nearly £2.4 million (according to Zoopla).
December 2, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Property price inflation in London is (and has been for decades) completely absurd. The perfectly ordinary detached house I grew up in, bought by my late father for under £6K in 1959, sold by my late mother in 2000 for a bit over £600K is now worth nearly £2.4 million (according to Zoopla).
Thank you! I ended up at Glasshouse - a very different feel to the place at this time of year to the al fresco drinking vibe in the summer months. I'm glad that (so far at least), this year, unlike last year, they're managing to keep their taproom open as autumn turns to winter.
November 29, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Thank you! I ended up at Glasshouse - a very different feel to the place at this time of year to the al fresco drinking vibe in the summer months. I'm glad that (so far at least), this year, unlike last year, they're managing to keep their taproom open as autumn turns to winter.
It doesn't appear so. I'm drinking B'ham Brewing Co's Stout Brummie, which is very nice. They're also selling BBC's white stout, Confused Brummie.
November 29, 2025 at 2:03 PM
It doesn't appear so. I'm drinking B'ham Brewing Co's Stout Brummie, which is very nice. They're also selling BBC's white stout, Confused Brummie.
Currently in Redbeer'd in Cotteridge. Tiny but definitely cosy. Just a few mins walk from King's Norton station, buses 11, 45 and 47 stop just yards away.
November 29, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Currently in Redbeer'd in Cotteridge. Tiny but definitely cosy. Just a few mins walk from King's Norton station, buses 11, 45 and 47 stop just yards away.
It is at least becoming true* and is one of the reasons I recently got out of HE - that and the fact that our VC wouldn't allow us to tell this truth. *In my experience, there were still some students prepared to read and do the work, but they're now a small minority.
November 29, 2025 at 10:42 AM
It is at least becoming true* and is one of the reasons I recently got out of HE - that and the fact that our VC wouldn't allow us to tell this truth. *In my experience, there were still some students prepared to read and do the work, but they're now a small minority.
John Cooper Clarke.
November 29, 2025 at 10:26 AM
John Cooper Clarke.
Get well soon, Prof B.
November 29, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Get well soon, Prof B.
All of this is the reason I recently got out of HE. Our VC vetoed us telling this truth about students as being "deficit modelling", saying that all students should be getting at least a 2:1, and if they weren't, it was our fault, not the students, all the while ignoring the elephant in the room: AI
November 29, 2025 at 10:20 AM
All of this is the reason I recently got out of HE. Our VC vetoed us telling this truth about students as being "deficit modelling", saying that all students should be getting at least a 2:1, and if they weren't, it was our fault, not the students, all the while ignoring the elephant in the room: AI
Contrastingly, sunshine and blue sky, if quite breezy, here in Birmingham despite BBC Weather continuing to insist that we're experiencing worse weather than we actually are!
November 28, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Contrastingly, sunshine and blue sky, if quite breezy, here in Birmingham despite BBC Weather continuing to insist that we're experiencing worse weather than we actually are!
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you have seen
The Fall (x at least 12)
Youssou N’Dour
The Pogues
Love (with Arthur Lee)
Bob Dylan
The Fall (x at least 12)
Youssou N’Dour
The Pogues
Love (with Arthur Lee)
Bob Dylan
November 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you have seen
The Fall (x at least 12)
Youssou N’Dour
The Pogues
Love (with Arthur Lee)
Bob Dylan
The Fall (x at least 12)
Youssou N’Dour
The Pogues
Love (with Arthur Lee)
Bob Dylan
My experience was slightly different, but I suppose atypical as I was a member of an 8-person jury in a civil case. As a former solicitor and then legal academic, it was an interesting experience. My fellow jurors exceeded my initial expectations, and we came to the right decision, I think.
November 27, 2025 at 7:48 PM
My experience was slightly different, but I suppose atypical as I was a member of an 8-person jury in a civil case. As a former solicitor and then legal academic, it was an interesting experience. My fellow jurors exceeded my initial expectations, and we came to the right decision, I think.
We feel the same about Schnork. She's about 5 kg, so not really overweight (though she has pockets).
November 27, 2025 at 7:24 PM
We feel the same about Schnork. She's about 5 kg, so not really overweight (though she has pockets).
I completely agree. Our Schnork is 14. I just think that some vets - well ours, anyway - are killjoys who believe that if they had their way, no cats would be given treats - EVER!
November 27, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I completely agree. Our Schnork is 14. I just think that some vets - well ours, anyway - are killjoys who believe that if they had their way, no cats would be given treats - EVER!
Our vet would say that any cat even only minimally more substantial than a fur-covered pipe-cleaner (twisted into a cat shape, obvs) is overweight.
November 27, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Our vet would say that any cat even only minimally more substantial than a fur-covered pipe-cleaner (twisted into a cat shape, obvs) is overweight.
The only thing that holds me back is my complete inability to draw/create anything more complex than a stick person.
November 27, 2025 at 8:54 AM
The only thing that holds me back is my complete inability to draw/create anything more complex than a stick person.
Weird that the then under £6,000 house that, in 1959, my late Dad took out a mortgage to buy for him and his new bride (my Mum-to-be) to live in, is now worth over £2 million apparently. Fortunately, my late Mum sold it 25 years ago (for considerably less than £2 million!).
November 27, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Weird that the then under £6,000 house that, in 1959, my late Dad took out a mortgage to buy for him and his new bride (my Mum-to-be) to live in, is now worth over £2 million apparently. Fortunately, my late Mum sold it 25 years ago (for considerably less than £2 million!).
Thanks. To you too. But I was feeling OK until I saw this. Now I feel sick.
November 27, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Thanks. To you too. But I was feeling OK until I saw this. Now I feel sick.
Didn't they change it to the Office for Budget Responsibility a few years ago? Before that, I believe it was the Office for Budgetary Responsibility, before they realised that when it was mentioned, e. g. on the Today programme, most listeners heard it as 'the Office for Budget Irresponsibility'.
November 26, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Didn't they change it to the Office for Budget Responsibility a few years ago? Before that, I believe it was the Office for Budgetary Responsibility, before they realised that when it was mentioned, e. g. on the Today programme, most listeners heard it as 'the Office for Budget Irresponsibility'.
Even better than that, it's retrospective! Nobody in the past, E. g. 50, 100, 200 years ago, could use it back then either!
November 26, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Even better than that, it's retrospective! Nobody in the past, E. g. 50, 100, 200 years ago, could use it back then either!
Bright & cold in Brum. It seems that Schnork (cat) has learned to use TV remote. Freaked out by being woken at 0400 by sound of TV downstairs. Went down to find her on sofa with remote in front of her, apparently riveted by item about Chelsea and Lionesses goalie, Hannah Hampton. #OriginalRollCall
November 26, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Bright & cold in Brum. It seems that Schnork (cat) has learned to use TV remote. Freaked out by being woken at 0400 by sound of TV downstairs. Went down to find her on sofa with remote in front of her, apparently riveted by item about Chelsea and Lionesses goalie, Hannah Hampton. #OriginalRollCall
On a visit to the Parc de Versailles as a kid with my family, we all saw a ghost - except instead of wearing 1790s attire, it was wearing 1970s clothing.
November 24, 2025 at 3:17 PM
On a visit to the Parc de Versailles as a kid with my family, we all saw a ghost - except instead of wearing 1790s attire, it was wearing 1970s clothing.
Moo is very cute. Our Kedi, usually known as Schnork, has just turned 14.
November 24, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Moo is very cute. Our Kedi, usually known as Schnork, has just turned 14.
Lovely. I lived round the corner at Spalding Hostel in my first year as an undergrad 40-ish years ago and visited both David's bookshops.
November 24, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Lovely. I lived round the corner at Spalding Hostel in my first year as an undergrad 40-ish years ago and visited both David's bookshops.