I’ve Now Got a Buy-to-Let by the Winner of the Carbuncle Cup.
I own a buy-to-let flat close to MediaCityUK. I suspect that I can now advertise it as close to the winner of the Carbuncle Cup, which is the award for the ugliest building of the year.
I have a feeling that we’ll see the BBC gradually relocate back to London to save money anyway.
Who’d want to live in Manchester? Not even Manchester United supporters, as they seem to live in Surrey!
After Ruining Horse Racing and Cricket Coverage, are Channel 4 Now Doing It With Athletics?
I have not watched any of Channel 4’s coverage of the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, and it seems according to this article in the Guardian, I’m not missing much, by listening on the radio.
They try too hard to make sure they get the advertisers, that they ruin the product. They did this with horseracing and now it has been dumbed down so much I don’t watch.
In the end, there is only two ways to show quality sport; either-free-to-air without advertising or by subscription. I know Sky has adverts and they can be irritating, but their presenters are generally professional. Comparing Sky coverage of the Champions League, with that of ITV, is much more than a matter of chalk and cheese.
We won’t have to worry for long though, as events like the Athletics World Championship will be available on a quality basis over the Internet in the near future for a fee. And hopefully for a fee that has two levels; one with advertising and one without.
Top Gear on the New Lamborghini
Don’t shout it, but they felt it was rather boring.
Years ago we had a Porsche 911. At the time I tried out one of the new 911 Turbos. That was so good it was boring.
In those days Porsche 911 Turbos only had four gears, as Porsche decreed the engine was so good, it didn’t need the fifth one.
Unfortunatelty marketing takes precedence over engineering!
July 7th 2005, Six Years On
Today is six years to the day since the London bombings of July 7th, 2005.
I didn’t suffer in any way and wasn’t even in London at the time, but still my heart goes out to anyone who suffered loss or endured physical or mental trauma at the time.
I must admit though I’m getting rather annoyed with the media images shown every time the horrendous bombings are mentioned. Showing the bus with its top open as if operated on by an enormous tin-opener surely doesn’t serve any purpose,when Wikipedia can illustrate the scale of the horrors, by just showing the emergency services lined up outside Russell Square station.
It is about time the media moved on and stopped showing the damaged bus and trains.
But then they rarely do!
For over five years now, every time the BBC talks about breast cancer, they show the same poor lady being scanned.
Danny Baker Returns
Danny Baker is back on Radio 5 Live this morning after his treatment for cancer.
I wish him well.
Let’s hope he’s on as good form as ever. I shal be listening.
Strauss-Kahn Walks But Ken Doesn’t
So Dominique Strauss-Kahn has now quit as head of the IMF. He should have gone immediately, as evidence in serious papers I have read has him down as a man, who can’t keep his hands and dick to himself.
But Kenneth Clarke hasn’t resigned over his choice of words on BBC Radio 5 yesterday morning. I listened to the interview in full and have a rather different take on what happened.
I should say now, that I’ve very much against all violent, sexual and personal crime, as having been married to a barrister, who dealt with many cases involving some of the worst sexual offenders in this country, I have more knowledge than most people.
The program was billed as discussing the problems of the large numbers of people in prison and how we deal with it. I e-mailed in early in the program, before the discussion started and my e-mail is below.
A few years ago, I read the book Prisongate by Lord Ramsbottom. In the book, he says that there are a large number of prisoners who are suffering from dementia and other long term illnesses. Surely, these people should not be in prison.
I also went over a prison, where there were quite a few East European truck drivers, whose only crime was inadvertently bringing in illegal immigrants. Generally they are model prisoners, so why are they in jail, rather than being deported.
We need to make certain that we lock up the serious criminals, but what proportion of those are not any menace to society and should not be in jail.
They called me back and said they might put me on air and would call me back, if they wanted to put me on.
There had been comments in the tabloids in the morning saying that Ken was going to be soft on rapists, but giving them a fifty per cent discount on sentences if they pleaded guilty.
Virtually, all of the calls aired in the discussion were about letting criminals off lightly and fairly soon it was seemingly all about rape. Very little callers talked about anything else.
Now we all know Ken can be rather robust at times and I think he lost his patience and didn’t choose his words as carefully as he should have. He made a mistake that many would have done in the same circumstances
But the program lost complete track of being a wider discussion about how we get a better and a more affordable criminal justice system.
In the end Ken apologised, but it hasn’t stopped those who want a scalp in this government from calling for his resignation.
How many of those, who are calling for the resignation listened to the whole program?
Danny Baker Is Coming Back
Christian O”Connell said on his radio show this morning, that Danny Baker will be returning next week for his Radio 5 show. He has done one show on radio since he started his battle against cancer and there is a report here.
I shall be listening.
Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
With all of the death threats and bombs in Glasgow over the last few days and the statement from Paul McBride, I decided to search the Internet to learn more. After all, anybody who is less than a hundred bricks short of a full load, would want the problems to be sorted and be stopped for ever.
I found this excellent web site from Phil Mac Giolla Bhain. Read this post about a tax demand from HMRC and note some of the associated comments.
Tomorrow is another battle in the Glasgow Premier League. It will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 Live. Rumour has it that Jeremy Bowen has been asked to commentate.
How To Look Younger
I was walking down towards the old Middlesex hospital today, when I heard a familiar and distinctive voice behind me. I turned slightly and saw the lady in question getting into the taxi, she had just hailed. I then recognised her, as she was wearing the same dress as she had on BBC Breakfast this morning.
But she certainly looks younger on the television!
The Anonymous Widower 