Cruciverbalist, genealogist, number plate spotter, cataloguer
Who fan, poor man, blogger man, geek
Back at work today and I find that my blog didn't receive the last e-mail I sent it to post. Never mind - it only said that I was very busy, had seen nine shows in Edinburgh and name-dropped the MP I was delivering with in Hartlepool.
It also noted that reviews of the Edinburgh shows I saw would follow, which is still the case.
Returning to Edinburgh today. Haven't decided what to see yet. The one thing I was most keen on - short films at Film Festival that included Blake's Junction 7 - has sold out. I'll mostly be blogging via email through my phone, so expect messages to appear several hours after they're written. I'll adjust the time stamps when I'm properly back online.
I have a lot of time for Steve Webb when it comes to pensions. Watching him in a panel debate on Newsnight a week or so ago, I was impressed with his grasp of ths issues.
Where I have less time for him is on issues of "social liberalism". He was very much against the policy paper on censorship that was passed at the last party conference, and now he has come out with this nonsense.
He demands that civil servants caught viewing porn websites at work should be sacked without question. This is despite the fact that
"In the majority of cases where monitoring has picked up apparent inappropriate use, further investigation shows that staff innocently followed a link from another site and were unaware of its content."Sixteen people were sacked and one was prosecuted. This is the right course of action if they were breaking the law (especially if they were accessing child porn) or causing extreme offence to colleagues.
Our candidate in the Hartlepool by-election, Jody Dunn, today launched her blog, at www.jodydunn.org.uk.
The Guardian sees it as a little bit of by-election history. And before anyone suggests otherwise, she really does write it herself!
A couple of sites that weren't worth crowbarring into another post.
While Googling something earlier, I stumbled upon Avoiding Evil.
And my brother sent me the link for Tetris 1d.
Both Blogger and Haloscan have been misbehaving for me today. I don't know if it was because the "Internet is busy" (a charming turn of phrase I found on a website earlier). I'm expecting my comments boxes to fix themselves...
It's a riddle wrapped in an enigma ("Humphrey, I don't care for that word").
Martyn's uncovered evidence that the person or persons behind Gidley Watch has been campaigning with the LibDems in Hartlepool. Anders Hanson, on the other hand, quotes a "source in Hartlepool" who rejects this evidence, which puts us back to square one.
If (as reading between the lines on the website suggests), the Gidley Watch writer(s) are LibDem activists, I might well know them. If so and if you're reading this, e-mail me ;-)
Either way, I'm off to Hartlepool next week and will be taking my digital camera just in case La Gidley pays a visit at the same time so I can enter the photo competition being run by Gidley Watch (no sign of any entries so far so I may stand a chance). I doubt I'll have the nerve to ask an MP to hold up an "I love Gidley Watch" sign for me though.
Update: I have replaced the relatively weak title of this entry with one that I hope is at least marginally wittier
James's version:
Never ask the soft-headed readers of a cod-educational Cold War propaganda granny-mag who they think are the "funniest Britons".
I'm less than enamoured by the list of funniest British comedians produced by Reader's Digest (who are natural arbiters on this subject).
I'll let Tommy Cooper alone at the top (although I wouldn't have ranked him so high), but Peter Kay second? Looks like a typical example of these polls where people just put down the person they laughed at on TV the previous night.
Chubby Brown at 7? Jim Davidson at 13? And yet, given that the likes of Benny Hill and Les Dawson got on, no sign of Frankie Howerd or the Two Ronnies. No Hancock, no Barry Cryer, no Graeme Garden. David Jason isn't even a comedian.
Cleese is ridiculously low down the list, and there is a painful dearth of alternative comedy, however mainstream it may be now. No to Paul Merton and Harry Hill but yes to Freddie Starr? It's just not funny.
Given the recent debate here on wind farms, I thought I'd take a tip from doctorvee and add the Alternative Energy Blog to my blogroll.
Following the literally shaky success of my Argos bed, I have finally got around to assembling my IKEA desk. The flat-packed pieces were much better made and the construction process was relatively painless.
I'm also pleased to report that the desk wasn't as large as expected so there is plenty of room between it and the bed. The final product looks quite good, even if I say so myself, and is very sturdy:
How evil can you get? Lorraine Kelly's Baby and Toddler Eating Plan - a very public admission of guilt.
(Via Anders Hanson.)
The school standards minister has launched a pre-emptive strike at the predictive claims of dumbing down that will accompany Thursday's (almost certain to be) "best ever" A-level results. One quote caught my satirical eye:
"As a nation we like knocking success and it's bad for us and we should stop it," he said.Translation:
"As a nation we like knocking New Labour and it's bad for us and we should stop it," he said.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has survived a recall referendum.
It has been called in protest against his tracksuits, slicked down hair, gold jewelry and propensity for nicking hub caps.
Stewart Lee's show at the Smirnoff Underbelly was a riot. Well, not an actual riot thankfully, but pretty funny. He even recycled a terrible old gag successfully. Battery still low and quite tired but consider that another recommendation.
Despite a shaky start, a less than polished performance and the denigration of Sylvester McCoy's Doctor, British Television Explained was pretty funny. My battery's running low so I won't go into detail but, along with some of my own gags from the past I was amused to see in a show, there were some good bits about regional TV, swearing and the IRA. Off now to see Stewart Lee.
Ben Moor's spooky one man show is an enthralling adaptation of the book by Jonathan Carroll. The lighting, audio and video clips evoke an increasingly chilling atmosphere as Moor delivers you into the strange world of Ingram York. The characters are believable and the story unnerving. And the whole was so intriguing I've just been to Waterstone's on Princes Street and picked up Carroll's two most recent novels. Definitely worth seeing, all the more so if you have a sci-fi/horror inclination.
Blogging by phone again, this time from Edinburgh. Went to see a play in a bar called Drinking and Writing (Volume II - the first part plays on alternative nights). It's a literary history of prohibition, entertainingly relayed - complete with audience interaction - by three Americans. Definitely worth a look, even - or perhaps especially - if you know little about early 20th century American literature.
The show I've just come out of was Richard Herring's The Twelve Tasks of Hercules Terrace. Nerdy but hilarious, I've failed to take Rich's advice to forget CNPS (now on 31). Laughed loads, in particular at the late Norris McWhirter. Also ran into The Actor Ben Moor at the first show. Hopefully didn't frighten him by knowing who he was. I've promised to try to see his show, Black Cocktail. More shows to see tomorrow...
I'm just out canvassing in Hartlepool and blogging via my mobile phone. The reception has been great - everyone here is really friendly and most of the residents I spoke to are backing Jody. Grey clouds overhead but smiles on the doorstep! No wonder Labour are so worried.
The Tories aren't keen on wind farms.
It's not surprising. Wind farms are more likely than not to be built in the countryside, which gets the Conservatives' backs up because they are the self-proclaimed defenders of rural England. (Which it's not hard to be when you are irrelevant in the inner citiies.)
The Tories are promising to stand up for local people who don't want wind farms nearby. And who would? (Actually, I think they look quite elegant...) This is nimbyism, but the Tories are happy to pander to it in the name of populism. People might not want wind farms built nearby, but they'd probably object rather more to a new power station, be it nuclear or fossil fuel burning. Wind farms have to go somewhere. Some can go off shore, some can go in cities, but some will have to go in the countryside.
But perhaps this isn't just populism. Michael Howard is getting on a bit. His average party member is pretty ancient. What do the Tories have to fear from global warming? I'm reminded of William Hague's infamous "you'll all be dead" speech from the 1970s.
In the unlikely event of the Tories getting re-elected, some of us will have to live in their polluted future world, stripped bare of its natural resources. Michael Howard will have died of old age (he'll probably have died of old age before the Tories get re-elected), but it would be nice if the rest of us could look forward to clean air and a sensible climate.
We need to invest in all manner of renewable energy sources, but we also need to start building them yesterday.
We began with enthusiasm and sandwiches at 1pm. The first few hours went by slowly but we got in to the routine of pausing the episode as the clock appeared following the ad break and waiting for our big "real time" digital clock to synchronise with the episode.
Having caught a train from Scotland early in the morning, I felt myself flagging around 9pm. I began resting my eyes in ad breaks after around 11pm, but this resulted in short naps. We filled many of the gaps with bits of South Park which helped a little.
I started feeling more awake around 3am and was helped by two cups of strong coffee and a packet of crisps. As dawn broke, the tiredness wore off, as if I'd spent most of the night asleep. At the first ad break after 9am, Andy popped to the shop to get an Observer and some air freshener. Both helped. Mid-morning, as the plots began to resolve, we longed for it to end. And at 1pm, relief.
The series breaks down into three or four sections, a big twist dividing each. It was more linear than previous series, and we agreed that the main President Palmer plots were more divorced from CTU activity. Andy picked eight characters he thought would be dead by the end; he got a respectable five right. We were disappointed that Chase Edmunds, with his one expression, didn't suffer a worse fate.
When you watch episodes back to back, you start to spot the inconsistencies. Characters move to different parts of CTU between episods - i.e., instantaneously. Some appear to have their hair done. There are also patterns. Dull briefing meetings are conveniently scheduled during ad breaks. Any chase that starts before the commercials will still be in full swing afterwards. And woe betide anyone who expects to get to the top of the hour without something dramatic happening.
The series did stand up to watching in twenty-four hours, but I'm not sure that it's something I'd want to do again.
As I said, The Sun is taking the credit for resolving the complex contractual wranglings between the BBC and Davros's estate.
Thanks to that story, though, I stumbled upon this, in which MP Bob Russell and a spokesman for the White House both call for the return of the Daleks.
...if I've done my sums right. Two days and eighteen hours until the geekiest thing I'm doing this month. More on that story later.
I'm trying to find a little digital countdown applet that looks like the clock from 24 to put at the top of the page. No luck yet.
The dispute between the estate of the late Davros and the Beeb has been resolved - the Daleks will return to Doctor Who in 2005. Presumably the estate finally realised that the ridiculous amount of money the stand to rake in offsets not being able to veto every single line of dialogue.
I wouldn't say I'm overjoyed as I'm not much of a Dalek fan, but it'll be interesting to see how the new show uses them, and they'll no doubt help the series get some healthy viewing figures.
Fiver says the Sun claims to have "won it".
Oh, hang on, reading on... Penelope Wilton's been cast in the new series! Now that's good news!
From the most recent edition of the Mornington Crescent Handbook (reproduced with permission):
Section T. Playing Online
...
3.1a Howells Bold Convention - highlighting the station being played with the Bold/Strong tags, eg. Tottenham Hale.
3.1b Howells Starred Convention - highlighting the station being played with asterisk, eg. *Harlesden*.
3.1c Howells Capitals Convention - highlighting the station being played by typing it in capitals, eg. EAST ACTON.
3.2 The Howells Convention to be played on bulletin boards or forums should be mentioned as early as possible, or should be assumed from the first move.
3.3 Moves that are not highlighted in the Howells Convention can be deemed illegal, although players discretion is advised.
According to The Guardian, an edition of Trivial Pursuit in Australia is in breach of a court order relating to the Falconio murder trial.
The question mentions forensic evidence in the case against Bradley John Murdoch, who is accused of killing the British backpacker in the outback in July 2001.
A spokeswoman for the director of public prosecutions said: "It is dangerous to use questions on a matter before the courts in games such as this." Officials would seek to contact the game's distributors to ensure that it is not sold in the Northern Territory.
A friend relays an evil anecdote.
He was on a "ghost walk" around Edinburgh and the tour group were led down to a particularly dark underground room. The guide gave a spiel about the local ghost being misogynistic and split the group into men and women who stood apart from each other in the room.
The lights went out and the room was pitch black.
My friend, finding a tissue in his pocket, scrunched it up. In the darkness, he threw it across the room in the direction of the women. A scream. A hysterical woman insisting that something had touched her in the dark. And the ghost story lives on...
While Nick links to some location photos on the DWAS website, Outpost Gallifrey has some shots of the Doctor in his new so-eccentric-it's-cool costume (from TopLord? Bob Holmes Stores? Louis Marks & Spencer) here and here.
I'm trying to keep myself spoiler-free for the new series, but I've already heard some really juicy stuff. It's a difficult balance: I want to watch it fresh in January 2005, but dammit I want information now.
