tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87901882011-09-28T23:45:53.023-01:00Polemic, humour and trivia from a mythical land where neither the devil nor the Daily Mail have all the best tunes.Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-83904152254647210122009-02-19T09:53:00.002-01:002009-02-19T09:58:38.360-01:00

I tried to watch The Brits last night. I really did try. Honestly.But men of a certain age probably shouldn't even attempt to do so because you find that you're turning into your father.Some of the music is pleasant enough if you hear it on the radio. But to watch these people perform produces a degree of irritation that is unendurable. Both Bono and Chris Martin lunged around the stage in the

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-43755526525832899092009-02-13T10:46:00.002-01:002009-02-13T10:56:45.267-01:00

I've been following some advice I thought I heard on the radio: don't blog unless your blog post is absolutely necessary. And I doubt that since blogging was invented there has ever been a blog post that was absolutely necessary. Certainly none of mine.Anyway, most of the snow has now gone, apart from the tops of the hills. But while it lasted the silence was blissful. No morning rush hour, no

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-26916175267452675122009-01-26T15:24:00.002-01:002009-01-26T15:45:08.744-01:00

I assume the BBC will not in future screen Party Political Broadcasts since these would compromise its impartiality and we stupid viewers might think that the BBC itself was urging us to vote for a particular party.******** A nice man phones me from British Telecom.He asks why I no longer purchase my telephone calls from them.I tell him that my Internet Service Provider gives me free UK phone

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-64465616059610837242009-01-21T08:09:00.002-01:002009-01-21T08:18:35.316-01:00

I criticised the BBC's coverage of the Presidential election and there's now general agreement that it was a shambles, redeemed only by Gore Vidal's tired and emotional spat with David Dimbleby.The BBC's coverage of the Inauguration yesterday was equally dreadful. I'm amazed that a broadcaster with the BBC's reputation could get it so wrong. It was misjudgement piled on misjudgement.Some things

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-35665085870380339482009-01-20T09:22:00.002-01:002009-01-20T09:28:25.203-01:00

It would be pointless to try to downplay it.The words 'historic' and 'landmark' are unavoidable.It's something many of us thought we would never see.The judge in last night's Coronation Street trial was black.So too were a solicitor and a court official but they could be dismissed as long-established tokenism.The last judge we saw in Corrie was played by Ken Barlow's real-life wife, which might

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-74904095877875477782009-01-17T11:15:00.002-01:002009-01-17T11:25:50.782-01:00

"These days, a book he [Rebus] disliked was unlikely to last ten pages of his concentration." - Knots and Crosses, Ian Rankin.When I was young, I read a lot of fiction. I was mostly working my way through the nineteenth century classic novels - Hardy, Eliot, Austen, Thackeray, etc. - plus some less commonly read authors like Thomas Love Peacock. I also read quite a lot of contemporary fiction.

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-36663472007379865832009-01-15T15:10:00.002-01:002009-01-15T15:19:43.646-01:00

Yesterday the news was dominated by some mildly injudicious remarks about the economy by a junior Minister.The big story of the day was almost totally ignored by all media: a BBC West documentary had uncovered racial discrimination in the employment and accommodation sectors on a truly massive scale.Of 30 employment agencies, all but five agreed to send only white workers for the job. It was all

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-42164406628554814402009-01-12T15:19:00.002-01:002009-01-12T15:25:36.942-01:00

Perusing the Guardian job ads while some eggs were poaching, I was startled to find an ad for a Catholic Olympics Co-ordinator. I knew that for many years there has been a Gay Olympics but I had no idea there was a Catholic Olympics. I imagine that the first duty of the Co-ordinator would be to ensure that all athletes are over 16, the Catholic Church having paid out quite enough millions in

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-87661197115563054662009-01-12T07:31:00.001-01:002009-01-12T07:35:12.048-01:00

I was deeply shocked by Prince Harry using the phrase "our little Paki friend" about a fellow soldier.There can be no excuse for using the patronising term 'little' about a colleague or anyone else. The only possible justification is if the person is of abnormally short stature but even then it might be considered impolite to draw attention to the fact.In this case, judging by the television

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-12259052379139881152009-01-08T16:42:00.002-01:002009-01-08T16:51:56.497-01:00

Because I'm taking a break from The Bill (largely because they've reverted to bookending each segment with a close-up of a lavatory bowl), for the first time ever I dipped into Waterloo Road, BBC1's drama series set in a comprehensive school.Waterloo Road is so bonkers that it makes Grange Hill look like a documentary. But it does have something in common with Grange Hill: not even the mildest

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-72404746310537887512008-12-23T15:50:00.002-01:002008-12-23T15:53:17.349-01:00

Apologies for period of silence. I shall hope to resume in the new year.In the meantime, my best wishes to everyone for a happy holiday season.

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-20237849401797182152008-11-10T20:50:00.003-01:002008-11-10T21:04:17.328-01:00

President-Elect Obama is a fast learner.I've just seen footage of his visit today to the White House. After the photos, Bush and Obama turned and walked into the house. Obama placed a hand on Bush's back and pushed him through the door slightly ahead of himself.This is a well-known assertion of superiority and precedence amongst world leaders. Sometimes a curious gavotte takes place as two

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-83903966412513835922008-11-09T19:10:00.002-01:002008-11-09T19:23:22.690-01:00

Being an unashamed fan of TV talent shows I usually write something about X Factor (ITV1). People have strong feelings about the contestants so this is always guaranteed to upset some readers.Right. Let me start as I mean to go on. This week's special guest was Mariah Carey. I had never seen Mariah Carey before. Her first song was tedious beyond belief. If she'd been a contestant the judges would

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-41224878001212194992008-11-07T15:42:00.003-01:002008-11-07T16:21:03.902-01:00

I hate the phrase 'cult comedy' but I suspect Beautiful People (BBC2) may have merited that tag more than most. I'm surprised that I enjoyed it so much given that I'm generally resistant to the charms of camp men. (I belong to that class of gay men who argue that if we found femininity attractive then we would be heterosexual).But in this case, the drama was heavily dependant on the '

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-48506016806243497362008-11-06T16:06:00.002-01:002008-11-06T16:08:45.536-01:00

I have discovered a point of connection with the President-Elect. No, not that. The intelligence, charisma, etc, go without saying.I've discovered that, like me, he uses Nicorette chewing gum. From this I assume that he's an ex-smoker.Just as well, when you think about it. If getting a 'black' man elected President was an achievement, imagine the difficulty of getting a smoker elected in

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-1386148312750595352008-11-05T12:27:00.002-01:002008-11-05T12:41:07.379-01:00

There will be a time for cynicism. Tomorrow, probably. But today is a time to savour one of the biggest political events of my lifetime, one that was worth sacrificing a night's sleep for.Had I not done so, I would have seen only the edited version of Obama's victory speech and missed hearing him say that he represented everyone, "gay or straight." I never thought I would hear those words from a

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-55282116511474020972008-11-02T17:38:00.002-01:002008-11-02T17:46:34.842-01:00

With Russell resigned and Jonathan suspended, BBC Radio must surely now be safe for a middle-aged gentleman like myself, particularly one who mostly sticks to the safety of the erstwhile Home Service.Well no, actually.I often listen to Radio 4 in bed, sometimes falling asleep with the radio still on and being rudely awoken at 1 am by the strains of Sailing By and the start of the World Service

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-52382000654805201722008-10-26T15:16:00.001-01:002008-10-26T15:17:57.083-01:00

Until Vicus poked me in the Comments Box, I hadn't realised how much time had elapsed since my last post.The reason for the silence is that I've been busy stopping smoking.An unfortunate side-effect is that it's almost impossible to write without a cigarette. These three sentences have taken me 15 minutes. I even have to set aside an hour each morning to compose my shopping list.I suppose I could

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-42441046828046210562008-10-13T10:33:00.003-01:002008-10-13T10:39:48.997-01:00

I was expecting to be disappointed by Peter Kay's talent show spoof The Pop Factor...... (C4) and I wasn't disappointed.......if you see what I mean.The reason this idea should have been instantly dismissed is very simple: you can't parody something that is already beyond parody.They spent shedloads of money on this spoof to make it almost identical to The X Factor - same studio, same set, real

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-85968634363711635732008-10-10T15:33:00.002-01:002008-10-10T15:44:34.136-01:00

With no more Chris Lilley imports to watch and Gavin and Stacey a distant memory (and whilst carefully avoiding Little Britain USA), Thursdays are now bringing us the compensatory pleasures of 'Beautiful People' (BBC2).Based on the book by Simon Doonan, it's written by Jonathan Harvey, recently of Coronation Street and previously of Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, and the play and film Beautiful Thing. The

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-79564553797147242612008-10-02T08:15:00.002-01:002008-10-02T08:25:08.534-01:00

When David Cameron spoke of his wife - the posh-as-a-quail-egg-omelette Samantha - the TV cameras couldn't find her so the director gave us a shot of Theresa May instead. This must have confused some viewers, particularly as Cameron had just said he woke up next to an entrepreneur every morning. Was he confessing to an affair?The director was more mischievous when Cameron condemned the scandals

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-36219155827365339512008-10-01T08:03:00.002-01:002008-10-01T08:14:48.738-01:00

You really would need a heart of stone not to laugh at what's happening to the Tory Conference.Swept off the headlines by the financial crisis, they're now much less likely to get a post-conference bounce in the polls.They are also on a sticky wicket in calling for more regulation of the financial markets, something which they have not only consistently opposed but which most of them have an

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-14922796944117600612008-09-27T09:29:00.003-01:002008-09-27T09:39:13.057-01:00

There was a structural difference between Summer Heights High and The Nominees which ended this week on FX channel.All the characters and action in Summer Heights took place in a school, which I suppose qualifies it as a 'sit-com' although I prefer to call it a 'comedy drama'. Or, to be strictly accurate, a 'mock-doc comedy drama.'In contrast, The Nominees followed the lives of six characters

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-16775198544465118272008-09-24T18:05:00.001-01:002008-09-24T18:07:00.254-01:00

I'm pleased the BBC have noted my recent reminders that millions of people are not on the internet.On tonight's One Show, Dom Littlewood said this:"If you're not on the web, there's a free phone number which we'll put on our website."Most helpful.I hope other programmes follow this example and start putting telephone numbers on their websites for the benefit of those who do not have access to

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-28414632392621093482008-09-23T15:42:00.002-01:002008-09-23T15:51:19.882-01:00

Firstly, a word about the BBC.It remains a mystery how the BBC squares its duty of impartiality with its employment of right-wing Andrew Neil to anchor these party conference programmes and allow him to make snide comments in his voice-over both before and after Brown's speech. He might make equally snide comments about Cameron next week but he shouldn't be editorialising at all.The BBC News

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-70143369119258455542008-09-18T11:37:00.005-01:002008-09-18T14:37:29.640-01:00

About three years ago I wrote this:"........the medical profession have long been fond of popping. Maybe it's something they teach them at medical school.The doctor will 'pop you up on the couch', ask you to 'just pop your pants down', tell you he's about to pop a bloody great needle into you and then 'pop a plaster' on the wound. Then he'll tell you to 'pop round to the chemist' with his

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-85887348395934251752008-09-18T11:37:00.002-01:002008-09-18T11:42:52.336-01:00

The first 15 minutes of The Family (C4) were surely amongst the most boring introductions to a series ever shown. I wonder how many people switched off at the first commercial break.This is supposed to be a 21st century version of Paul Watson's ground-breaking fly-on-the-wall documentary of the same name. But Paul Watson is a brilliant documentary maker - more specifically, a brilliant editor of

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-46734720659134552732008-09-17T05:55:00.001-01:002008-09-17T05:58:26.690-01:00

Remember Charles Kennedy getting in a terrible muddle during an election campaign over the details of his party's local income tax?We now know that he was probably suffering from a bad hangover at the time.Then there was George Bush, during a a Presidential election, being asked to name the President of Pakistan and only managing to repeat "He's a General.....he's a General....."Both these

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-23548568852735012062008-09-16T08:27:00.003-01:002008-09-16T08:31:54.605-01:00

This morning's episode of Michael Buerk's series The Choice (Radio 4) was not one of the better ones. It was about a man from a well-to-do English family discovering that his grandparents were Jewish. I don't think I'd find it at all traumatic if I discovered that any of my ancestors were Jewish. I'd probably just shrug and think that might explain why I like Jewish humour so much.This man, now a

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-87180437501779504272008-09-14T11:03:00.002-01:002008-09-14T11:19:54.718-01:00

The Nominees is the series Chris Lilley made before Summer Heights High and is currently showing Thursdays on FX.It goes without saying that it's not as good as the masterpiece that was Summer Heights but it's still one of the highlights of my week.The original title used in Australia better explains the subject: "We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year."Chris Lilley plays all five

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-46198487660868748872008-09-11T14:16:00.002-01:002008-09-11T14:22:25.574-01:00

Evan Davis has had a charmed life in broadcasting and I was one of the many who welcomed his arrival on the Today programme on Radio Four.But this morning he made a bad error of judgement when interviewing Hilary Benn.I think someone must have told him that, in his political interviews, he was giving people an easy ride. So today with Hilary he offered him outside, as it were.If he thought he was

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-11031625751111053062008-09-11T09:31:00.003-01:002008-09-11T09:35:56.959-01:00

The scoreline suggests that the chaps at CERN did create a parallel universe yesterday. It lasted from 8pm to 10pm BST yesterday evening.This parallel universe also revealed the existence of the Higgs Boson of English football: in Theo Walcott we discovered something the existence of which had been doubted by many: a young footballer who is not only extremely gifted but intelligent, good-looking,

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-81622414886790176152008-09-10T12:20:00.001-01:002008-09-10T12:22:14.442-01:00

.............but for those who cling to the Doomsday scenario, it may not be be until February that CERN collides particles at almost the speed of light. If I've understood correctly, today was about ensuring that the trains would run round the track. Putting them on a collision course comes later.I'm more wound up by the fact that the 12 noon news on the BBC News Channel interrupted its report

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-15905109204923796942008-09-09T07:55:00.002-01:002008-09-09T08:00:39.423-01:00

Waking at four this morning (possibly because of the torrential rain) and finding I had no Red Boxes to go through because nobody has yet had the sense to make me Prime Minister, I decided to catch up with last Sunday's Observer.On Page 31 of the main section were two photos side by side, one of the pregnant French Justice Minister and one of Bristol Palin and her boyfriend.A single caption ran

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-44450279357044860032008-09-06T12:23:00.003-01:002008-09-06T12:36:04.521-01:00

If you can bear to forego the Eurovision Dance Contest and the England/Andorra match tonight, BBC4 is repeating its two excellent programmes on the Big Bang and the CERN experiment. If not, I'm sure the last two will be on the invaluable iPlayer.If you can only watch one of them, I recommend The Big Bang Machine. The preceding one is mainly clips from old BBC science programmes though still worth

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-75933251470278075122008-09-05T09:37:00.002-01:002008-09-05T09:47:35.781-01:00

Terry Coleman's wonderful work of social history The Railway Navvies was first published when I was a teenager. A teacher spent an hour enthusing about it, even though it had nothing to do with our syllabus, and ever since reading it I've been fascinated by the incredible engineering feat of the building of our railway network in the 19th century.You might think that there was no call for another

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-14092028910408495742008-09-03T09:19:00.002-01:002008-09-03T09:32:33.256-01:00

John Motson popped up as a pundit on BBC News yesterday. In an attempt at self-parody he said something along the lines of 'Hurricane Gustav is blowing through the world of English football.'But I mention this in the context of the current criticisms of the fact that older men are commonplace on TV as presenters and newsreaders but never older women. Unless there's a change of attitude, it's

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-66181046504813434582008-08-28T09:11:00.002-01:002008-08-28T09:21:18.501-01:00

Joan Rivers on BBC2's Culture Show was explaining that comedians, unlike singers, always have to do new material.What?Joan Rivers? A woman who has been doing the same jokes for 30 years."My husband committed suicide. It was my fault."Altogether Now: Yes, Joan. You took the bag off your head.Maybe the poor man killed himself because he couldn't bear to hear the same joke yet again.As for Joan, is

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-61571589270144508752008-08-21T07:57:00.003-01:002008-08-21T08:04:43.099-01:00

Don't you hate it when you visit your GP about some minor symptoms on your way to the supermarket and within 20 minutes you're in hospital wired up to those beeping machines so familiar to us from TV programmes?This was what happened to me this week.The NHS now has a policy of reacting to any symptoms that might indicate a heart problem as an imminent heart attack. As someone who has a general '

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-23679858422396064002008-08-14T17:48:00.003-01:002008-08-14T18:15:36.674-01:00

A right-wing think-tank has said that people in northern cities should all move south. If this is "thinking outside the box" then those stupid twats should be put back in the box, the box be weighted down with cobbles and dropped into Liverpool's Albert Dock.The Guardian's G2 has today responded with a feature on what's great about The North. Jon Ronson has a little piece about his first bus

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-33634276024918758142008-08-13T07:53:00.002-01:002008-08-13T07:56:13.648-01:00

On the subject of GM crops, Prince Charles has once again "gone off on one" to quote the phrase of his interviewer, Jeff Randall. (This raises the possibility of the regal phrase "One has gorn orf on one").On the tape recording he did indeed sound very angry, ranting like his poor, mad ancestor George III.It's a bit rich for Charles to be scaremongering about GM foods when his own family have

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-30820397076962595672008-08-12T10:12:00.002-01:002008-08-12T10:22:51.297-01:00

Richard Dawkins' three part series on The Genius of Charles Darwin (C4) has all the padding and attention-grabbing images that one expects now in TV documentaries. In last night's programme he posed with an almost naked cowboy on a street in New York to illustrate a passing reference to sexual attraction.But this is still one of the best documentaries of the year.Evolution is one of the simplest

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-21782973646511020132008-08-08T08:12:00.002-01:002008-08-08T08:16:51.655-01:00

Further proof that Evan Davis has been a breath of fresh air on the Today programme (Radio 4) came with his piece on today's programme in which he set out to see if hitch-hiking was still viable by attempting to hitch-hike to Bournemouth.One can't imagine John Humphreys, Ed Stourton or Jim Naughtie undertaking such an assignment.In the case of Jim Naughtie, a 10 mile queue of traffic would have

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-1746138874576801482008-08-06T09:25:00.002-01:002008-08-06T09:30:20.277-01:00

BBC News has had stories about the effusive welcome that the Chinese have been ordered to give to visitors to the Olympics. One of their reporters was subjected to several dozen welcomes just crossing the hotel lobby.The Chinese have been given instructions on smiling. Apparently they must display between six and eight teeth when they smile and use chopsticks as a training aid to force their

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-72163974405413870542008-08-05T14:32:00.002-01:002008-08-05T14:41:55.252-01:00

At the weekend, an 18 year old gay teenager in Liverpool, Michael Causer, died from serious head injuries following what police described as a homophobic hate attack.My condolences go to his family and friends.The weekend also carried reports of the Northern Irish MP Iris Robinson calling homosexuality an abomination (and 'worse than paedophilia', according to reports) while the Church of

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-80104788577186360572008-08-03T16:53:00.004-01:002008-08-04T08:12:54.329-01:00

"The sight of him [Gordon Brown] trying to enjoy his holiday while wearing a grey sports jacket and a pinstriped shirt with only one button undone will be the final straw for most people......Not since Neil Kinnock's windswept collapse on a beach has a carefully engineered photo opportunity said so much about a political leader's unsuitability for the job." - Melissa Kite in the Torygraph I

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-80933471015134610222008-07-31T14:44:00.002-01:002008-07-31T14:46:51.932-01:00

Discussions on the radio today about the age-rating of video games, though the idea that younger children won't get access to them from older brothers or friends seems absurd.Apparently the TV psychologist Tanya Byron reported to the Government that children under 12 are unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy. That is a staggeringly stupid generalisation.Do children come down to

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-34413804473132787332008-07-31T08:42:00.001-01:002008-07-31T08:44:00.272-01:00

You know you're getting old when your local paper does a supplement called a Proms Special and, instead of articles about Vaughan Williams and Nigel Kennedy, you find photos of what used to be called Sixth Form Discos.Remind me. Which fucking country am I living in?

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-34426945036759678522008-07-30T10:08:00.003-01:002008-07-31T13:09:32.435-01:00

Last night Summer Heights High (BBC3) reached its triumphant conclusion with a final episode that was everything one could have hoped for and more.I didn't think anything could eclipse the opening of Mr G's excruciating musical but I was wrong. It was Jonah who stole the final episode, a rare case of an actor upstaging himself since Chris Lilley plays both Mr G and Jonah.This isn't a show that

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-77057164940150234962008-07-28T13:17:00.002-01:002008-07-28T13:19:38.360-01:00

You know you're getting old when you expect a supplement in The Observer called Wireless World to be full of nice features about your favourite radio programmes.********BBC News channel reporter this morning:"The Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare is destroyed by fire but on the beach the donkeys continue doing their business."Dirty bastards.

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-44486793253300558032008-07-26T15:30:00.003-01:002008-07-26T15:36:59.982-01:00

There are very few Guardian readers in my village. The newsagent stocks hundreds of copies of the tabloids but rarely more than half a dozen Guardians.I almost never see a fellow Guardian reader. They either get up very late or buy them covertly for fear of being attacked by a gang of Daily Mail readers.But this afternoon I saw a middle-aged man buying the Guardian.He had a beard and was wearing

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-79086214257579372162008-07-25T15:39:00.002-01:002008-07-25T15:41:59.494-01:00

We haven't heard or seen much of Chris Morris recently (The Day Today, Brass Eye).I think I know why. He's working undercover on Radio 4's PM programme.Yesterday they ran a piece on this year's Proms season being a "punch-up" between Vaughan Williams and Oliver Messiaen.A reporter said to a conductor: "If this was a boxing match, who would win? Vaughan Williams or Messiaen?"Don't tell me that

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-317143584569128002008-07-25T09:22:00.003-01:002008-07-25T09:43:19.302-01:00

The Making of Me (BBC1) had John Barrowman on that ancient debate: are people born gay, do they become gay through environmental influences or is it a choice?The scientific consensus today is that sexual orientation is determined before birth. But there is no certainty about whether it is genetic or caused by something that happens in the womb - for example, levels of testosterone.Whilst at one

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-20652818347977579342008-07-24T08:22:00.002-01:002008-07-24T08:29:31.875-01:00

Didn't realise it was so long since I posted anything. Time flies when you're not enjoying yourself.The hiatus is mainly due to Lupin Towers being back on the market and the need to make it look presentable to prospective buyers.For once, I have some sympathy for the aristocracy who have to open their homes to the public, although I doubt that they themselves are ever on their knees scrubbing

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-84065061871533455182008-07-13T07:32:00.003-01:002008-07-13T07:46:00.507-01:00

You will have read or heard dozens of times this week that Gordon Brown had compared himself to Heathcliff.Except that he didn't.It was put to him that some other people had compared him to Heathcliff and he gave a jokey reply. That is completely different from making the comparison himself.Here's the relevant passage from the New Statesman interview in context:"There is a human side to Gordon.

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-61998349726037089542008-07-11T14:51:00.002-01:002008-07-11T14:59:37.174-01:00

Much rejoicing in Daily Mail-Land today over the Christian Registrar who has been backed by a tribunal after 'refusing to marry gays'.She even had her photo on the Mail front page. She isn't white but, my dear Mail readers, you can't have everything and you have to clutch at straws when we're all going to hell in a handcart.Not that anyone was forcing this woman to marry 'a gay' herself. Nor even

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-37726426582631304722008-07-09T17:03:00.003-01:002008-07-09T17:28:28.827-01:00

Like many people I was amazed to read of the furore in Australia over Gordon Ramsay swearing in his TV show. I thought that Australians could swear for the Commonwealth. I'm even more amazed now that I've belatedly discovered the Australian comedy series Summer Heights High (BBC3) which has a fuck count only equalled by the British comedy The Thick Of It (which is returning. Praise be!). Moreover

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-75139291376690406312008-07-09T07:28:00.001-01:002008-07-09T07:30:14.163-01:00

I discovered this week that my local council employs an 'Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinator'.Prior to this, I had thought that the fact that various windows get smashed in the village on Saturday nights was attributable to weekend alcohol consumption.I now realise that the concentration of vandalism in a single night is down to the efforts of this splendid young woman.You see, it makes sound

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-54072236089666143862008-07-08T08:19:00.003-01:002008-07-08T08:26:38.015-01:00

There's been a recent increase in TV commercials relating to bodily functions.I accept that I may be more sensitive about this than the average person but, like many people, I am often eating when watching television and do not wish to be confronted with constipation, trapped wind, thrush, periods or any similar topics at that time.I recently saw a new commercial for an anti-chafing cream. The

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-20315019168045419192008-07-07T14:55:00.001-01:002008-07-07T14:57:43.332-01:00

It was the lie about being a magistrate that finally did for Ray Lewis, Boris Johnson's Deputy Mayor. We are given to understand that Boris was none too pleased about being lied to and felt let down.In a curious parallel, Boris was himself sacked from the Shadow Cabinet for lying to his leader about an extra-marital affair. Michael Howard didn't care about the affair but wasn't going to have in

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-4979428213249911122008-07-07T13:57:00.002-01:002008-07-07T14:03:06.432-01:00

If you want a different opinion on Criminal Justice (BBC1, last week) from that of just about every professional critic, here it is: I thought it was an over-long, overblown pile of tosh.Stripped across five weekday nights, it was a whopping five hours of television. The thin plot could have been dealt with by The Bill in two episodes, or even one if the script editor was on the ball.Would anyone

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-63279805574479875152008-07-06T16:14:00.002-01:002008-07-06T16:17:59.934-01:00

Rowan Williams, speaking to the General Synod:'If Jesus were at the Synod he would be with the traditionalists............he would also be with the gay clergy..........'I thought that Jesus was killed by crucifixion, not by being impaled on a fence.

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-67249091908238518932008-06-28T16:26:00.002-01:002008-06-28T16:35:04.695-01:00

So far not a word from David 'Freedom Fighter' Davis on the emergency legislation to allow anonymity to witnesses in trials, in response to a Court of Appeal judgement that ruled this practice illegal.Yet this is as much a fundamental legal principle as habeas corpus - that you have the right to know the identity of people making accusations against you and that, unless you do, you cannot defend

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-79359725181603786792008-06-28T10:41:00.003-01:002008-06-28T10:57:10.893-01:00

I've seen very little of Big Brother (although even if I'd watched all of it I probably wouldn't admit it).But last night I flicked over from the Nelson Mandela concert when Amy Winehouse appeared because looking at the poor girl makes me feel queasy. And, if I dare say it, I'm rather disappointed with Mandela: when he finally spoke about Mugabe he referred to a "failure of leadership". That

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-53321047066624607492008-06-22T09:40:00.002-01:002008-06-22T09:54:18.607-01:00

I'm grateful to Mike for drawing my attention to David Davis's new website where he has posted a reply to critics of his support for detention without charge for 28 days but not for 42 days.Before coming to that argument, I have to say that the website made my blood boil.Firstly, there's the arrogant title: Davis For Freedom. Then there's the banner showing a cross-section of the public against a

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-30696636474426729112008-06-21T09:35:00.002-01:002008-06-21T10:15:05.705-01:00

I was shocked to find that at my local library the rantings of Jeremy Clarkson rub shoulders with the non-fiction works of Alan Bennett, the writings of John Betjeman and even a biography of Shakespeare.That Clarkson has produced books at all would seem to lend credence to that old theory that if you left a monkey with a typewriter for long enough it would produce the works of Shakespeare. The

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-5513386017042368992008-06-20T14:09:00.003-01:002008-06-20T14:15:09.667-01:00

Question Time (BBC1) usually generates more heat than light. But David Davis was on the panel last night and the discussion made his position on civil liberties clearer and reinforced my belief that his libertarian stance is bogus.Like many others, I have previously pointed out the inconsistencies in his position and his dismal voting record where individual freedom is concerned.But it emerged

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-14509229829344227622008-06-20T09:54:00.004-01:002008-06-20T10:08:38.442-01:00

We can't say that Germany's defeat of Portugal last night has wiped the smile of Scolari's face because that obnoxious man scowls most of the time.He's also one of the great whingeing managers, blaming everyone and everything for defeat except himself and his players.Scolari once stated that he would never allow a gay footballer to play in one of his teams. Yet even after this remark, the FA

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-90015244373645790212008-06-19T09:14:00.004-01:002008-06-19T14:35:20.791-01:00

With the fickleness of the neutral, this blog has transferred its Euro 2008 allegiance from Holland to Russia. If Holland beat Russia in Saturday's quarter final, we'll return to the Dutch fold and say we never really thought that Russia had a chance.But in last night's match against Sweden, Russia were a joy to watch, chasing more goals right up to the final whistle.They also have a tendency to

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-30390982704838164612008-06-18T08:24:00.002-01:002008-06-18T08:30:44.040-01:00

When I was a child there was a lot of talk about 'subliminal advertising'. This was mostly a concern that advertisers were flashing up subliminal messages in commercials without our knowledge, although it was probably an urban myth that this was actually happening. Today it is something that is expressly forbidden.But some current commercials make me think that advertisers don't appreciate that

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-2436256625767960142008-06-17T12:03:00.002-01:002008-06-17T12:06:43.815-01:00

My father, now in his 96th year, took a bus into the neighbouring town to transfer some money from his Nationwide Building Society account.He has done this many times before when that branch was previously the Portman Building Society.In the spirit of the times, he was asked to prove his identity.He produced his bus pass which includes a photograph. This was not sufficient so he walked to his

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-32054782526020872482008-06-16T14:16:00.002-01:002008-06-16T14:23:58.117-01:00

The Rev Martin Dudley, who is in hot water for conducting a church ceremony for two gay Anglican priests:"It may be that this ceremony had rather more knobs on."Well, he's not wrong.We can expect to see that one widely quoted on programmes like The News Quiz.

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-56423080825103300472008-06-15T21:20:00.002-01:002008-06-15T21:32:57.564-01:00

Let's get the name checks out of the way first.If only Portugal's Pepe's parents had named him 'Tio' and Portugal's Deco's parents had named him 'Arthur', we could have had the intoxicating football of Tio Pepe and the elegance of Art Deco.We mourned the fact that Russia's Arshavin was absent from the side this week. Maybe he cut himself shavin'. Ouch.But Russia's Zhirkov (pronounced Jerkoff) was

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-4548907194402635082008-06-15T09:55:00.002-01:002008-06-15T10:02:48.475-01:00

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could donate food to starving people without any financial cost to yourself - especially if you don't have much spare cash to donate to charities?Well now you can, thanks to a website called www.freerice.com.The site tests your vocabulary with multiple choice definitions of words. For every word you get right, 20 grains of rice are donated to the World Food

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-85876725986872782642008-06-12T16:23:00.002-01:002008-06-12T16:27:23.237-01:00

It tells you something about our politics that when I saw the headline that David Davis had resigned, I assumed he was embroiled in some sexual or financial scandal.In fact, he intends to fight a by-election on the issue of 42 day detention without charge and the wider erosion of civil liberties.As a campaigning tactic by a leading politician, I think this is unprecedented although I stand to be

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-73091854875961145462008-06-10T08:14:00.002-01:002008-06-10T08:32:44.849-01:00

As though I don't have enough to do, watering my many patio pots, I now have to water the frog who lives in my garden.On a hot day he likes nothing better than to stand and enjoy a cold shower from the watering can.I've named him George, after Britain's Got Talent winner George Sampson*, because he likes dancing in the rain. Well, hopping anyway.But physically, he looks more like the bastard

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-25542061648592737972008-06-03T16:50:00.002-01:002008-06-03T16:52:40.822-01:00

In the unlikely event that any of my readers buy The Sun, could they tell me whether a clarification similar to that below has appeared in that paper?"Monday's front page stated that the winner of Britain's Got Talent, 14 year old George Sampson, has been told by doctors that he must never dance again, owing to a serious spinal condition.Some readers may have concluded from this that George

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-49003964335027897592008-06-03T08:34:00.002-01:002008-06-03T08:45:49.774-01:00

In Piers Morgan's latest book (Don't You Know Who I Am?), there's an exchange between him and his young son after a man has called Piers a wanker at a football match.Piers explains that this is one of the consequences of having been a tabloid editor.But, says Pier's son, everyone in America thinks you're a wanker too and they don't even know that you were a tabloid editor.As Morecambe and Wise

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-13108442751869413492008-06-01T10:13:00.003-01:002008-06-01T10:18:31.821-01:00

I don't know which surprised me more: that the final of Britain's Got Talent (ITV, last night) had only one duff act or that the public vote chose the same three top acts as myself and had them in the same order.For the past few days I'd had a gut feeling that George Sampson would win.I'd seen the number of viewings of his videos on YouTube soar into the millions. And when the competition is so

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-74949961048729944602008-05-30T10:37:00.003-01:002008-05-30T10:45:38.123-01:00

There's little time left to blog before lunch.It takes ten minutes to buy a paper in the newsagent because people are pratting around buying lottery tickets and lucky dips. (Some people scratch the cards off at the counter and then buy another one if they haven't won). Do you remember how quickly one got served before John Major introduced this elective tax on the poor?Then to the Post

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-77188343895867193142008-05-27T08:45:00.004-01:002008-05-27T09:15:15.250-01:00

Last night the BBC Parliament Channel gave us one of its occasional Bank Holiday treats: an evening of archive programmes on the social reforms of the 1960s.It had the rather strange title of 'Permissive Night, with Joan Bakewell.'Many men of a certain age would like nothing better than a permissive night with Joan Bakewell, for she was famously described as "the thinking man's crumpet."I only

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-45210813277692218392008-05-23T15:57:00.002-01:002008-05-23T16:05:35.885-01:00

I made reference yesterday to a think-tank called the Institute of Ideas.Ideas being dangerous things, maybe it's a good thing for them to be kept in an institution. How one wishes that some of Tony Blair's ideas had merely been sent to an institute with a self-addressed envelope enclosed rather than inflicted on the wider world.I've been thinking about think-tanks recently, which I suppose

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-84999573977221806112008-05-23T08:21:00.002-01:002008-05-23T08:31:49.826-01:00

The result of the Crewe and Nantwich by-election was encouraging for the Tories and not too bad for Labour.If that doesn't accord with what the mainstream media are saying it's because, as a blogger, I don't have to create stories or peddle sensationalism.By-elections, like local council elections, only have meaning retrospectively - i.e., when you look back at them after a subsequent general

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-38899932173047965602008-05-21T09:02:00.002-01:002008-05-21T09:10:14.699-01:00

I made the time to watch quite a lot of the debates on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill in the Commons, since it's not very often that Parliament debates these kind of moral issues.There were some good speeches, including one or two from people who took a different view from my own. But generally the standard was very poor.Let's start with Sir Gerald Kaufman, speaking in the debate on

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-81247621772198923302008-05-19T10:37:00.004-01:002008-05-19T10:48:10.248-01:00

My best friend at school when I was about six or seven was a large, ruddy-cheeked boy who looked like a farmer's son, though he was in fact the scion of an ironmongering family.A fan of cowboy films, he cantered everywhere, holding invisible reins and slapping his thigh. If we were late for school he would break into a gallop and I would jog along behind without him being aware that I was not

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-76131710970359098652008-05-14T10:19:00.002-01:002008-05-14T10:25:33.232-01:00

People sometimes ask: if you're a republican, why do you watch films about the Royal Family?Well, I also watch programmes about serial killers but that doesn't mean I think society benefits from the existence of serial killers.There's actually a similarity there: both are aberrations. Both are like us and yet not like us. And both are the subject of a weird fascination.ITV's The Duke, a portrait

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-26869919172346907362008-05-12T13:05:00.001-01:002008-05-12T13:17:31.700-01:00

A few months back I said there would be another hiatus in this blog because I was moving house. Sadly, my proposed move has gone pear-shaped and become a saga of epic proportions involving duplicity, greed, corruption and illegality. If I don't post quite so frequently at the moment it's because I'm embroiled in this nightmare that has been facilitated by our old friend the capitalist system.On

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-85803050633715349942008-05-11T09:01:00.002-01:002008-05-11T09:09:34.695-01:00

A word of praise for Gordon Brown in what are bleak times for him. One of his first acts as Prime Minister was to allow the UK Youth Parliament to use the Palace of Westminster when MPs and Peers were not sitting. So at the beginning of this month the Youth Parliament held debates in the House of Lords chamber and last night some of these were shown on the Parliament Channel. I intended to take

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-73409700753585622942008-05-01T09:49:00.002-01:002008-05-01T09:56:05.250-01:00

There's been a row about an Annie Leibovitz photo of a Disney starlet called Miley Cyrus.This trivia has impinged on my consciousness because yesterday's Guardian had four (four!) articles on the subject, three in G2 and one in the Comment section.The photo itself shows a young girl clutching a sheet and revealing only the flesh of her back. She looks as though she has just washed her hair.

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-42577700350840736482008-04-27T13:57:00.003-01:002008-04-28T08:26:21.040-01:00

I suppose you could call Humphrey Lyttelton the acceptable face of Old Etonians, in contrast to the likes of David Cameron and Boris Johnson.It was always said that his passing would mean the end of 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue' and I hope that proves to be the case. There's nearly forty years' worth of archived programmes for us to continue enjoying.I don't wish to rain on the eulogies but those

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-5174974027154708492008-04-25T15:37:00.002-01:002008-04-25T15:42:52.314-01:00

Cutting Edge (C4) had a progamme last night about children's Thai boxing in which children as young as five were made to punch and kick each other in a caged ring.A father said the children wouldn't do it unless they wanted to. Shortly afterwards we saw a tiny girl in floods of tears as her father lifted her into the ring. It was at that point that I stopped watching it.I was left feeling puzzled

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-56990222657675501332008-04-23T07:36:00.002-01:002008-04-23T07:45:21.729-01:00

In last night's footie, Chelsea scored a brilliant headed goal to equalise. Unfortunately, it was scored by a Liverpool player. And it happened in what, by tradition, we must call the dying seconds of the game.It's a funny old game, Brian.ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley really excelled himself last night with a string of old favourites from the football commentator's phrase book.We had "no

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-35167392874750348052008-04-22T13:08:00.002-01:002008-04-22T13:16:55.419-01:00

Belatedly, I must express my sadness at the death of the Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody.Built like a brick shithouse - and I wouldn't dare say that if she were still alive - she was as terrifying as one of Bertie Wooster's aunts, although I doubt if Aunt Agatha would have ever been found ensconced on the Labour benches at the House of Commons. More likely spreading terror in the House of Lords Tea

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-38843194067143252812008-04-22T08:38:00.001-01:002008-04-22T08:40:20.975-01:00

It seems only the other day I was complaining about the BBC News logo and already they've changed it.The power of blogging.The new logo is definitely an improvement - lighter and brighter. But it's hardly the radical rebranding one might expect for half a million pounds.The dreadful music is unchanged and the countdown to the hour is the same, with Kate Whatsit - you know, the tall piece with

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-13994330625214428342008-04-21T08:53:00.002-01:002008-04-21T09:00:13.502-01:00

There was partying late into the night at Lupin Towers at the success of Gavin and Stacey at the BAFTA Television Awards.I almost wrote last week that G & S didn't stand a chance in the Programme of the Year category which is voted for by viewers. It has only ever been on BBC3 and BBC2 and was up against juggernauts like Strictly Come Dancing and The Apprentice. Clearly, its fans feel so

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-5142079049395558122008-04-17T14:22:00.002-01:002008-04-17T14:26:20.557-01:00

The Carry On films are "parables about failure."They "held up a cartoonish mirror to the depressed and repressed Britain of the 1950s and 1960s."You can read more such bollocks in an article in today's Guardian. And, this being the Guardian, there's the predictable whinge about their portrayal of women.I've never been very keen on the Carry On films and don't think I've ever watched one right

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-68626917859615714702008-04-17T06:07:00.002-01:002008-04-17T06:10:54.661-01:00

Flicking to BBC News 24 last night, I found the following caption at the bottom of the screen: EUROVISION ROW .....police have charged 5 people..... What? Five? Only five people after crimes against music and entertainment that have occurred annually for almost my entire lifetime? Even so, wouldn't you have loved to be the copper who said: "Boom-Bang-A-Bang, you're nicked!" But regular readers

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-91460539704951735082008-04-11T07:48:00.002-01:002008-04-11T07:55:18.562-01:00

Last night's Cutting Edge, 'Cotton Wool Kids' (C4), was about parents with an exaggerated fear about the safety of their children, believing a paedophile, rapist or murderer was waiting on every street corner.The children led lives that were little different from 'house arrest'. Some of the parents had given their children remarkably detailed descriptions of what could happen to them. One small

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-27040480261205819732008-04-10T17:59:00.002-01:002008-04-10T18:26:48.267-01:00

Another day passes and I still haven't been Rick-Rolled.I wait 10 years for an internet scam to come along that I would quite enjoy and it just doesn't happen.Somebody, anybody, Rick-Roll me!''Never Gonna Give You Up' is one of the truly great pop songs. And I'm not 'admitting' to liking it as though it were a guilty secret. I've always liked it and I think there are good reasons to like it.Yes,

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790188.post-70973250225721490482008-04-09T09:06:00.002-01:002008-04-09T09:12:00.375-01:00

If it weren't for the fact that coincidence is the explanation for most apparent plagiarisms, I would think that some advertising creative had been perusing back issues of my blog.I once wrote - in relation to Renault - that, given the longstanding 'personality clash' between us and our nearest neighbours, the last thing you should do when marketing a French car to the British is emphasise its

Willie Lupinnoreply@blogger.com3