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.
I Don’t Listen to Music Anymore
I suppose a lot of this is to do, that I don’t drive anymore, as that was where I used to listen most.
Do I miss it?
No! In a word!
I don’t record programs either, as if I want to catch up, I use iPlayer. Sport I always watch live, either there, in the pub or on my television.
The Man Who Could Have Changed History
I’m half watching a play about Hitler. But I’m finding it a bit difficult to follow, probably because of the hay fever’s effect on my hearing.
It is set in or about 1930 and I am reminded of another tale. It is in Lord Howard de Walden’s obituary in The Guardian.
He inherited 120 acres of London’s west end and bred and owned the 1985 Derby winner, Slip Anchor. But the story he loved to dine out on was when, as a young Cambridge student fresh out of Eton, he was driving a new car in Munich when a man walked out in front of him and was knocked down. “He was only shaken up,” recalled de Walden. “But had I killed him, it would have changed the history of the world.” The man was Adolf Hitler.
I never actually met him, but I knew a few people who worked for him, who never said any word about him that wasn’t complimentary. My last vision of him was shortly before he died, sitting in state in a wheel-chair at Newmarket races, immaculately turned out ciomplete with apricot coloured socks; his racing colours as suggested by Augustus John.
Virgin Find a New Way to Deliver Phone Calls
I’ve just had some junk mail from Virgin Media, which of course I opted out of, which is entitled “Excitement? We’ve got it by the bucketful.”
It would be good if they could get me a working landline that I pay for.
I’ve actually got a yellow bucket in the garage. If I put it outside the front door, will they put my messages in it.
As a company they seem to go out of their way to annoy people who might want to use their service. If I was to rate, Sky, BT and O2, all of whom I’ve used without trouble for many years, I would give them perhaps 8 out of 10. But Virgin would be up there with the old Eurovision joke of nil points. And that would be generous!
Bye-Bye Virgin
I’ve now been without my landline for a couple of weeks now. Although, I didn’t realise it for some days, as I was away and also because most of my friends phone me on my mobile number.
So on Friday, I did what I should have done when I moved in; I signed up with BT.
Today after a very long phone call, I cancelled Virgin. I did eventually get someone sensible, but as I had to ring on my mobile and I phoned them for perhaps twenty minutes, I suspect it wasn’t cheap.
It did however cost me over seventy pounds to get rid of them.
Hackney council today wrote to me saying that I could get rid of five heavy items a year by just giving them a call. If disposing of Virgin and their useless service were so easy.
Incidentally, all of their cabinets round here have had their doors stolen.
A Typical Virgin Cabinet in Hackney
In my experience, electrical equipment doesn’t like working in exposed conditions.
I shall now be using BT for phone and broadband, Freeview for television and the pub for watching football on Sky.
Is This A Coincidence?
Something called X-Factor starts next week. Is this why so many televisions were nicked last week?
Is a Sattelite Dish a Human Right?
According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission it is. Read about it here.
In my view satellite dishes are ugly and should be banned. Especially, as there are so many other ways to get the service through broadband.
I have a feeling that in ten years time, we will rarely see a satellite dish. Especially in towns, where so many new methods to deliver signals will be developed. I also think, that hidden aerials that are flat and flush with walls will be developed, if for no other reason than they can be quickly and easily involved.
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!
What Would Mary Whitehouse Have Thought?
Twice in the last week, I’ve seen or heard of risque cabaret in unusual places.
On Tuesday, we were informed on our trip to the entrance of the Thames Tunnel, that dancers had performed the can-can in the space.
Then on Friday at the Zoo was what they called a Twisted Cabaret, which included a compere, singers, a burlesque dancer and a fire-eater.
Is this all a taste of what we will be seeing in 2012, with the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee?
The Anonymous Widower 