Recently, just for fun and to pass the time now that I’ve retired from political journalism, I thought I’d compile a totally definitive list of the 100 best arcade conversions (both official and unofficial) on the ZX Spectrum, to mark 30 years since the original Your Sinclair All-Time Top 100, also compiled and written by me, was published in 1991.
(Phew, made it with eight hours of 2021 to spare.)
There’s a whole torrid story attached to the undertaking, but meh, some other time. Here’s the entirety of the chart in one place. It takes about a thousand years to load as a single page because YouTube is such a big whiny baby, so I’ve split it into five.
We’ve had no takers from any Nicola Sturgeon loyalists for this yet, so let’s narrow our focus a bit and see if we can get some joy from the payroll vote.
The quote pictured below is an absolutely unequivocal statement, with no qualifiers or conditions, made during and with full knowledge of a major peak in the COVID-19 pandemic. The halfway point of the current Scottish Parliament is 9 November 2023.
So: I bet Pete Wishart £5,000 that he’s a liar.
I have the money, and on the £100K-a-year-plus-expenses wage he’s been stealing for most of the last 20 years (and let’s not forget the juicy £50,000-a-year Westminster pension he’s built up over two decades of totally failing to deliver the only thing he’s ever been elected to do), we damn sure know that HE has the money.
My bet is simply that there will NOT be a second indyref on or before that date.
Please, everyone reading this with a Twitter account, tweet this to Pete Wishart until he takes five seconds off from attacking real independence campaigners and gives us all his answer, and let’s see if he’s prepared to put a tiny little fraction of his money where his endlessly bloviating mouth is.
I’ve just remembered that I meant to leave this pinned to the front page when I shut Wings down as a blog, so here it is. It’s just a short one.
I am willing to bet anyone in the UK any amount of money of their choosing that there will NOT be a second independence referendum in Scotland while Nicola Sturgeon is First Minister.
If you still believe she’ll deliver one, now’s your chance to demonstrate your faith in public AND get yourself some free cash. (It’s a matter of public record that I’ve never failed to pay up on a losing wager.)
So come on, SNP loyalists and true believers, let’s see you. Put your name and the amount you want to bet in the comments below* and let’s find out how much you really trust her. This is an entirely genuine, serious offer and remains open to anyone** until such times as Nicola Sturgeon stands down as First Minister, even if that’s 20 years from now. Any amount you like. I’m waiting keenly for your responses.
.
*PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT EXCEPT TO TAKE THE BET.
**WAGERS FROM GERRY “THE WELCHER” HASSAN NOT ACCEPTED.
Craig Murray is due to be released from HMP Edinburgh a week tomorrow, having served half of an eight-month sentence for contempt of court via “jigsaw identification”. Our latest poll data from Panelbase, surveying 2000 Scottish voters last week, reveals that just a quarter of Scots think that such an offence merits imprisonment.
Readers may find the figures for male and female respondents of note. The full data tables can be downloaded here.
So, in accordance with the wishes of the readership (and despite rather peculiar claims on some sites that all polls in Scotland are now commissioned by Unionists), Wings has its first polling data for you in its present form, relayed without comment.
In association with Panelbase, this month we surveyed 2000 Scottish voters (double the normal sample size) on a couple of subjects. The first question was this:
“Barring unforeseen events, next year Nicola Sturgeon will overtake Alex Salmond as Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister. She took office in November 2014, in a Scotland which was evenly split on the constitution. (Average support for independence in polling was at 50%, compared to the current 48%.)
Which of the following, if any, do you personally regard as her greatest achievement in office?”
Right, as promised, one last piece of admin. (This post will be removed in due time.)
We left yesterday’s piece and the associated poll up for two full days to make sure the people who don’t read Wings at weekends saw it and had the chance to vote in it too. But in truth it was pretty obvious how the vote would go from about 20 minutes in.
When the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts died last month, the first of their songs that popped into my head, for no particular reason, was “Under My Thumb”, a mildly controversial 1966 album track the band never released as a single in the West.
Its most infamous place in history, though, is this.
Until Watts’ death I was only very broadly aware of the events at Altamont Speedway in 1969, a free festival at a racetrack near San Francisco at which four people died in scenes of malevolent chaos and which is widely regarded as the grim headstone of the hippy era.
But on seeing the extraordinary footage above for the first time on the day of Watts’ death – taken from “Gimme Shelter”, notionally the official movie of the show, although the first two-thirds of it are actually a mundane travelogue of the preceding tour dates – I did some proper reading up on it.
And as I did, a horribly familiar feeling started to unfold.
For many years now, whenever I’ve done one of those “Which Political Party Should You Be In?” online quiz things, it always says that I’m a Green, which is weird because I really hate cyclists. Nevertheless, it was still the result when I did one most recently, just last month.
So I decided that for the first time in my life it was finally time to join a political party.
KEITH HYND on The Grand Tour: “Even if the SNP were the only option on the ballot paper I still wouldn’t vote for them. They need…” Jun 10, 21:50
Aidan on Two Of A Kind: “That’s not what you’ve been saying over the past few weeks and months though is it” Jun 10, 21:39
Rev. Stuart Campbell on The Grand Tour: “Edited, ta.” Jun 10, 21:23
Viscount Ennui on The Grand Tour: “Just wondering if anyone has put in an FOI about how the Scottish bond initiative is going. I am so…” Jun 10, 21:21
Hatey McHateface on Two Of A Kind: ““when did the north and south of Scotland become reconciled, and see themselves as one nation?” Yet to happen, IMO.…” Jun 10, 20:54
@nairnkev on The Grand Tour: “You need to get the slacker cartoonist to produce a visual of a stinking festering corpse blocking the door to…” Jun 10, 20:52
Hatey McHateface on Two Of A Kind: ““the management of North Sea resources” Aha! That’s what’s really getting their goat. It’s Scotland’s oil. They missed a trick…” Jun 10, 20:42
Rev. Stuart Campbell on The Grand Tour: “Eh? I did.” Jun 10, 20:32
sarah on The Grand Tour: “Constituencies SNP 56, Labour 9, LibDem 3, Conservatives 5.” Jun 10, 20:31
Gary on The Grand Tour: “Would it be possible to finish the job, and add up the seats?” Jun 10, 20:13
John McTaggart on The Grand Tour: “Annabelle Ewing is standing down in Cowdenbeath. I’m not sure if the selection has been made yet but I’d think…” Jun 10, 19:37
Dan on Two Of A Kind: “Oh aye, here’s another splitter unable to get behind the original ISP formation. Fucked off to the US because he…” Jun 10, 18:02
sarah on Two Of A Kind: “To clarify the UN procedure for being recognised as a Non-Self-Governing State, an existing member state of the UN can…” Jun 10, 17:29
factfinder on Two Of A Kind: “James says: 10 June, 2025 at 4:13 pm “Factfinder” [lol] – read it and weep, sunshine No need for tears,…” Jun 10, 17:00
AndrewR on Two Of A Kind: “factfinder The Schools Bill is really interesting. This is a general question to the forum: when did the north and…” Jun 10, 16:51
Aidan on Two Of A Kind: “Taken from JPTI’s website today: “The C-24 has very strict rules. Only regions already on the UN’s official list of…” Jun 10, 16:23
Willie on Two Of A Kind: “Just read this as I sit on a train on the West coast line travelling to Glasgow Partick. Only going…” Jun 10, 16:17
James on Two Of A Kind: ““Factfinder” [lol] – read it and weep, sunshine. “…Most importantly, Scotland lacks international legal personality, is not permitted to conduct…” Jun 10, 16:13
factfinder on Two Of A Kind: “The deliberate campaign to eradicate Gaelic language and culture was, of course, started long before 1707. The Establishment of Schools…” Jun 10, 15:23
Northcode on Two Of A Kind: “Thanks for the link, Alf. Very helpful. This from the Justice pour Tous Internationale (JPTi) website : Building on two…” Jun 10, 13:54
Alf Baird on Two Of A Kind: “Instead of playing British politics, here is what the SNP leadership should have been doing long ago, taking Scotland’s case…” Jun 10, 13:14
Oneliner on Two Of A Kind: “The Kosher and Halal punters will only screw it up” Jun 10, 13:02
diabloandco on Two Of A Kind: “Like it!” Jun 10, 11:54
Nae Need! on Two Of A Kind: “Yes, a totally revised menu is required. A menu that accurately reflects the dishes that are cooked would be a…” Jun 10, 10:23
Hatey McHateface on Two Of A Kind: “According to the MSM, they chucked their mobys and a laptop into the sea. Even I have higher regard for…” Jun 10, 09:36
Northcode on What We Don’t Know Now: “Parataxis is the natural way of speaking and writing the English language; it’s the way English wants to be written…” Jun 10, 09:33
TURABDIN on Two Of A Kind: “THE MEGA LIE of all time is that by voting snp you would «see off» the united kingdom..other variants of…” Jun 10, 09:32
agent x on Two Of A Kind: “Thank God she is safely on a plane home. Phew that was a close scrape!!!” Jun 10, 08:52
Hatey McHateface on What We Don’t Know Now: “If a Google search, even one powered by AI, can answer your question, based on what I infer is Rev…” Jun 10, 08:45
Hatey McHateface on What We Don’t Know Now: “Thanks for your reply, Bilbo. I’m not following your logic though. If Scotland doesn’t like populism, the rise in support…” Jun 10, 07:43
