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Alma
I learned today of the passing of a dear friend, Alma Lee, the founder and first director of the Vancouver Writers’ Festival, which I had the privilege of attending three times.
Alma was a great lady, a free sprit, and she sure as hell knew how to set up a Green Room for writers. In fact, she had two. There was coffee and muffins through the day. Later, when the last book had been signed there was a different menu.
God bless and keep you, Alma. If we wind up in the same place, I hope that you are in charge of the after hours provisions.
In other words…
Taken from an estate agent’s home description:
‘The home is accompanied by a garden and a private parking space, and it gives the new owner an exciting opportunity to carry out some cosmetic upgrades.’
Multi-tasking
Twenty odd years ago I was in the gents in the Bellagio in Las Vegas where the urinals are tall and traditional. An American guy was a couple of units away from mine. He had his dick in one hand, his phone in the other, and he was having a loud conversation. ‘Hi, I’m at the World of Concrete Congress.’ I remember thinking that there could be no finer venue, Vegas being built entirely of the stuff. However the fact that made the event stand out was this: he had made the call. Was his diary that full?
From that day on I had regarded this as unbeatably odd lavvy behaviour: until a couple of hours ago when I had occasion to use the facilities in M&S. These contrast greatly with the Bellagio. There, three initials are jammed into an unpartitioned shoulder rubbing space that is really only big enough for two and a half, and today the one on the right was out of use. The one on the left was in use, by a guy who is absolutely the new world record holder.
He was texting.
Badwolf
I haven’t watched it yet, but my first reaction is that I’m going to miss Ncuti Gatwa: not only because he was the first openly gay Doctor with a Scottish accent, but also because he’s a bloody good actor.
As for his regeneration as Billie Piper, didn’t she relocate to an alternative universe with a clone of David Tennant?
Mobland
Series two? I don’t think so. But, what happened to Eddie?
Once bitten .,,
I may have blogged about Vitality before; if so I make no apologies for repeating my warning. Do not be conned by that fucking dachshund!
I have a complaint lodged with them about my non-treatment by them. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from someone named Mel advising that he/she had been passed my ‘concerns’ to review and evaluate. Having heard nothing since, this morning I called the Vitality number hoping to track down the mysterious Mel and do some cage rattling.
This involved the inevitable QA session at conclusion of which I was left holding on, in a queue, listening to various promotional messages. One of these was an exhortation to choose one of their ‘premier consultants’. Why? Because statistically they get you out of hospital sooner.
Seriously? Yes that’s what it says. Vitality admits that it operates a two-tier system which identifies the very best surgeons, but which is happy to offer also a second class service from those who didn’t quite make the top tier.
For information: Vitality is a subsidiary of Discovery, a South African insurance and healthcare group, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Shareholders include Baillie Gifford, with 7.5%.
Bampot
www.skysports.com/share/13372623
I pay Sky a chunky amount of money, in spite of Paul Merson. It’s been said that he’s a cult, but only to people with spelling issues.
Only an excuse
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c626jxp0yz3o
Gary Lineker isn’t a journalist. He’s a sports presenter. He’s been scapegoated.
Eurovision
Why is the BBC always in the final of Eurovision? My understanding is that it’s because it pays a large chunk of the bill. The Broadcasting Tax is currently under review by the Culture (among other things) Secretary. While not wishing to compromise the independence of the national broadcaster I hope that she also casts an eye over the way it’s money … our money… is spent.
Patsy Kline
Petrol on the flames
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrg8zkz8d0o
This man has no class, no grace. I can understand why people voted for some of his policies; some of my friends did. But, the way he’s representing them is embarrassing.
Two guys must love him, though. Their names are Carney and Albanese.
Armaggedon
I have been interested in politics throughout my adult life. In the 1980’s I worked for the Conservative Party in Edinburgh, London and on occasion across the UK. In 1997 after the Scottish party did something that I saw as extremely stupid I joined the SNP, but realised fairly soon that it was just too left wing for me. I’ve been around, and I’ve seen plenty, but never in my puff did I imagine the Conservatives being where they are..The Tory Party as it stands today has been rejected at the polls twice as a result of a wholesale migration by most of its natural vote to an alternative, offered by a man who was seen as a charlatan, a clown, a music hall comedian, until he and his few friends banded together under a populist banner and staked out the ground on the Right. Farage may be and may always have been all of those, but equally, to the Tories one thing should always have been clear, that in the words of LBJ it was better to have him if not in the tent but close to it and pissing in the right direction.
What’s to be done about it? The Party to which I still subscribe is broken. Its newly minted leader is not to the job, but looking at her shrunken parliamentary party I see no credible alternative. It’s beyond repair as long as it continues to choose its leader in the way that Kemi, Rishi and their immediate predecessors were selected, from a shortlist of two sent to the voting members by the MPs. In principle that’s fine, but with the party reduced to a collection of the mediocre which does not contain a single person with the leadership quality it needs for the task ahead, what can be done? As I see it, only one thing. Yes, a new leader must be found, but not from within the current lot. Basically the Party needs to find its Obama, or wash my mouth out, its Trump. Entry to the race should be open to a wider pool of candidates. MPs who lost at the last election should be considered. Local and regional politicians would be looked at. Indeed any serious individual who sees her/himself as being up to the job should be offered a pathway.
How do they do this? Only one way. The party may be run by professionals and elected members, but constitutionally they are the creatures of the National Convention, the Parliament of the voluntary party, as it is described in central office literature. That body must meet, not as a talking shop but as a ruling body which actually it is, although the task has been delegated for decades. It must scrap the present system and choose the Leader of the Party itself. That person will probably not be a member of parliament right now, but so what? Part of the beauty of an unwritten constitution is that it isn’t written.
Will that happen? No. The present situation will continue. Kemi will carry on. Reform will continue to win councils and by-elections, and to ride high in the polls. And, as the next election comes into sight and Tory MPs see their doom approaching, the exodus will begin. A few at first but soon dozens, until Reform is no longer a parliamentary rump, but has overtaken the LibDems as the third party, until it has overtaken the Tory Party itself? What will trigger it? Possibly Siri Jacob Rees Mogg standing in the inevitable by-election in his old constituency, and finishing fourth, behind Labour, the Lib Dems and the new Reform MP.
That’s a future. Maybe the future, but what’s to stop. it happening? Nothing.
Action required
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c9qw3dxjv9zo
The arrogance of Real Madrid offsets its class.
Absolutely
Know what? I’m pretty disgusted by the way BBC News is treating Gregg Wallace. The guy may be, possibly is a bit of a creep, but creeps have their rights too and should be treated fairly.
To me that does not include hanging them out to dry on the basis of a series of unsubstantiated stories most of which are either gossip or second hand. For example, Rod Stewart claims he was rude to his wife and that is accepted as fact with no exploration or explanation.
BBC News trumpets its independence from the rest of the organisation, That’s bullshit, because everyone reports to the DG and the board. What it’s really doing is revelling in its own power. We all know where that leads.
Euphemism of the year.
‘Operational misunderstanding.’
Quintin Jardine's blog 