“When do you decide to just get rid of your beard?” Scott asks, to which Keane replies “If I’m in a mood someday.
“Or it might just be to freshen up.
“But then when I shave it and I’m clean shaven, I don’t like it, I don’t like being clean shaven.”
When the make-up artist says that the clean shaven look takes 10 years off Keane’s appearance, the Corkman replies “Oh, everyone complains about my beard, that’s why I keep it.”
From Stick to Football podcast, Irish Mirror
Where is Brewdog headed?
I’ve written about the subject at Culture Matters
The story of Punk IPA and market capitalism – Culture Matters
The debate of course continues and there are two interesting pieces recently posted. In the Spectator Rory Hanrahan argues that Brewdog were ground breaking in challenging big beer. I don’t disagree, although I don’t think the stunts for the most part ‘riled the PC mob’ of which I’m obviously part. We were riled when it became clear that there was o substance behind the stunts.
Hanrahan is right that the original Punk was a great beer, rather less so now. He seems to agree that Brewdog’s time is passing (though he wants to save it) but thinks there should be more Brewdogs for 2025. Perhaps but that as Brewdog itself recognises means grappling with global big beer
James Watt and Dickie, the two Scottish lads who founded the firm, are heroes of mine. They took on the beer giants and built an empire from a shed with raw cheek and grit. Their success is a tale of a British triumph that shook an industry, riled the PC mob. Now, BrewDog fights to stay afloat.
Spectator, Rory Hanrahan
Pete Brown writing in the Morning Advertiser gets straight to the point. Dickie and Watt are gone and Brewdog 2025 is not Brewdog 2007. Its now just another beer company and as he notes its flagship beer is no longer Punk but Wingman
Is BrewDog actually BrewDog anymore?
04-Sep-2025 by Pete Brown
Normally, when senior personnel change at the top of a company, no one doubts that the company is still the same.
https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2025/09/04/what-is-happening-at-brewdog/
Following the decision of the Metropolitan Police to arrest over 850 people for alleged ‘terror’ offences on Saturday, the supposed offence being holding up a bit of paper with words the Government does not like, Banksy has made a comment at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.
Banksy verified it was one of his on Insta.
It was of course covered up pronto because its not just displaying unwanted words about genocide its anything alluding to the matter that must be censored.
Action by those who regularly complain that Britain has a free speech problem is awaited. I sense it could be quite a long wait
Donald Trump attended the US Open Tennis Final at Flushing Meadows on Sunday 7th September and was duly booed during the US National Anthem.
Alcaraz beat Sinner in what was an entertaining and high quality match, not always the hallmark of sporting finals.
Meanwhile Trump was pictured apparently asleep. He is 79 and surely entitled to the odd doze.
However as a long time reader at the British Library in central London its long been established that while someone may appear to have nodded off, in reality they are deep in thought. The only issue with this analysis in Trump’s case is what thoughts he might have been having
The Campaign for Real Conkers
Contact Keith Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social
15th September
After windy weather, 2025 Conker Season in full swing
The Campaign for Real Conkers, that opposes bans on conker playing and unnecessary rules and regulations in games has said that that the season is now in full swing and will run until mid-October.
Early indications are that 2025 is seeing a good crop of conkers and dry, warm summer weather looks to have produced a good numbers of conkers on trees.
The campaigners say they are maintaining their usual ‘anything goes’ approach to conker games, to encourage people to play without arbitrary rules.
Campaign Organiser Keith Flett said, we anticipate a full and safe conker playing season over the next weeks or so, until at least the so called World Conker Championships on October 12th which the campaign traditionally boycotts
Guide on how to play real conkers safely in 2025
1] Select your conker. Do this yourself. DO NOT use a conker provided by someone else who may give you a poor specimen.
2] There is no specific kind of conker that makes a good game winner. Large conkers may more easily splinter for example. Some prefer conkers with flat and sharp edges
3] You may use the conker ‘as is’ known as ‘organic’. Alternatively you may seek to harden it by baking it, soaking it in vinegar etc. There is no guarantee that an artificially enhanced conker will perform any better than an organic one.
4] Drill a small hole through the conker. A nail will often achieve this. Again you must do this yourself
5] Thread the conker through the hole you have drilled. A strong chord, perhaps a shoelace is best
6] You are now ready to play.
7] Make sure that the chord is long enough to allow you to stand at least 1 metre plus away from your opponent. This would generally be the case as space is required for the conker swing.
8] Players take alternate turns to try and hit and destroy their opponent’s conker
9] Those with poor aim may hit the knuckles of their opponent more often than the conker so you may wish to wear gloves.
10] The winner is the player who determines their opponents conker unusable in further rounds, usually by causing it to splinter into two or more pieces
Play safely and enjoy!
30th Palestine demonstration, central London, 6th September. A police return to dissembling about protest numbers
The Police view of the 30th central London march for Palestine on 6th September: ‘the Palestine Coalition march attended by around 20,000 people’. This is the view of Deputy Assistant Commissioner Claire Smart posted on Twitter. Tt suggests that Ms Smart was something rather less than that when studying mathematics at school.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign estimated around 200,000 marched.
It marks an interesting return to the police underestimating or as some might say lying about numbers on protests. This was a routine thing for the Met to do but around the time of the Iraq War they stopped noting that it isn’t really their job to count numbers on demonstrations.
There is clearly something about the 20K figure that resides in the archives of the official mind. It was also a figure used for the Chartist demonstration for the vote on Kennington Common on 10th April 1848 (actual size 60K to 100K plus) and it hasn’t aged well
The Mirror (8th September) focuses on more really useful knowledge on Reform owner Nigel Farage.
Of course this is on-line but the actual print headline will be seen by many Reform curious types in the supermarket on Monday.
Really useful knowledge, a term used by early nineteenth century radicals, to focus on ideas and information that challenged the status quo, is something that’s needed on the affairs of Farage. He will of course demand that others provide absolute transparency but what about him? It’s called two-tie?
Queen Elizabeth 1926-2022. Three years on
Queen Elizabeth 11 died three years ago on 8th September. I am not of course a monarchist but the historical perspective is interesting. I wrote the below at the time. If as my 2022 analysis suggested we are now in the twenty-first century it is one of Trump, Gaza, Ukraine and climate crisis. The current monarch is meeting Trump on a State visit next week and continues to focus on climate.
Andrew Marr (Sunday Times 7th September) argues that the Queen represented a certain national stoicism, a country getting on with living together. That is hardly Britain 2025 but from the 1970s the Monarch did not preside over a nation at ease with itself. In the current moment it’s also true of much of Western Europe and the US.
Adam Tooze writing in the Financial Times (6th September) ponders why given the omni-crisis that currently exists there is no financial reaction, no economic slump. His view is that in a crisis the patient is still alive. They may recover or they may not. The absence of a crisis suggests we may be in the latter state. In that case a ceremonial monarchy to preside over national decline, or something completely different altogether on the left or the right may be the Queen’s legacy three years on
September 2022
Britain is a constitutional monarchy so the role of the Royal Family and the monarch in particular is not just ceremonial but also political. Investigations in recent times by the Guardian and others have underlined that the monarch and also King Charles actively sought to influence political decisions where they have interest or concern.
In that context the death of Queen Elizabeth on 8th September2022 represented a conclusion to the long twentieth century (I have the historian Daryl Leeworthy to thank for this point). The Queen actively ruled over Britain for 70 years. It was not for the most part a nation at ease with itself.
From her early decades when Britain was still extricating itself from direct colonial rule- the first decade of Elizabeth’s reign saw the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya bloodily dealt with by the British Army and even latterly the Royal Family’s relationship with the slave trade has so far only elicited a ‘sorry’.
In the UK it might be argued that until the late 1960s the Queen did preside over a degree of social peace. The changes in society in that period- the legalisation of abortion and homosexuality, the equal pay act are not in anyway associated with the monarchy.
The point was not lost on many since by the time of the 1977 Jubilee the Sex Pistols irreverent God Save the Queen better fitted a national mood than forelock tugging.
It has been downhill all the way since. The death of Princess Diana, Prince Andrew, the expulsion of Prince Harry and the numerous doubtful dealings of King Charles. Perhaps it could be argued that the Queen rose above all this but she also presided over it all.
It is if course far too soon to draw anything but the most provisional of historical balance sheets, leaving aside numerous media hagiographies. Political decisions can however be made. It’s time to end the constitutional role of the monarchy, disestablish the Church of England, and confine King Charles III to a ceremonial role only
Understanding the Reform Ltd 2025 Rally That’s entertainment, fights at the bar & God Save The Queen
Reform Ltd’s Annual event took place at the NEC on 5th and 6th September.
I won’t link again to Chris Morris Mason’s BBC ‘report’ which might still be on the BBC website, assuming it hasn’t been taken down.
However more reliable reports are available from the former Editor of the Spectator, Fraser Nelson and Josh Glancy in the Sunday Times
Nelson notes that the NEC event was a rally not a conference and attendance was around 6,000 not the hyped 10-12,000. He also underlines that it was about vibes and entertainment but argues that this has the potential to build a powerful political movement.
Meanwhile Josh Glancy writing in the Sunday Times notes:
Alcohol is Reform’s diesel. At Friday night’s ‘after party’ the crowd at the bar was five deep. Tempers frayed at delays in service. Puce faced men shouted at stretched bar staff. Security was called and expulsions were threatened.
You may also have seen that the conference concluded with a resounding rendition of God Save The Queen. Given that an earlier speaker had promoted conspiracy theory that the King’s cancer is due to covid vaccines one senses that a Reform Government may be planning a re-run of November 30th 1649.
Trump booed at the US Open Tennis Final. A democratic tradition
The final of the US Open tennis (men) took place on Sunday. Sabalenka won the women’s final on Saturday. Held at Flushing Meadows, New York, Trump attended and mostly stayed awake, at least for the US National Anthem at the beginning.
Last time Trump attended in 2015 he was booed and the Guardian reported that broadcasters were asked not to screen any hostile reaction to the man popularly known as the Orange Felon.
While the UK broadcast on Sky (Comcast) did screen out the booing it clearly happened and can be found on Youtube
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/07/donald-trump-us-open-tennis-final?CMP=share_btn_url
The final was between Alcaraz and Sinner in case you weren’t watching. The former has superior facial hair and hence was the winner.
Meanwhile booing politicians at sporting events is an important of democratic protest which will explain why Trump doesn’t like it.
The media noted, often with some approval, the booing of George Osborne and Theresa May at the Olympic Stadium as they presented 2012 Paralympic Games medals.
What was not noted was the historical context.
After all in the age of WhatApp, texts, Bluesky and e-mails shouldn’t booing be as old fashioned and redundant as the heckle at a political meeting? It would seem not, as the crowd’s disapproval made news headlines in a way that more modern methods of expressing dissatisfaction with a politician often don’t.
In fact booing has a long and complicated part in the history of protest.
Historically, certainly dating back to the time the crowd becomes an actor on the stage of history in the mid eighteenth century, booing has been a way of showing collective protest at the rich and powerful.
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