Thursday 4th May 2023

[refitman]

Morning all.

[refitman]

An update on the golly pub

[frog222]

[frog222]

[AnatolyKasparov]

No elections here today (we have the town council up, but that has turned out to be uncontested this year - for the first time in living memory)

[tinyclanger2]

Turns out Romania's Theodor Andrei is every bit as sleazy as his first impression suggests (books, covers, whatever). Again the colour scheme for the banal "Off and On" is black and red (no white), and there's a strong focus on a particular type of lingerie that just makes me feel sad. Of course there is the tremendously exciting moment when Theodor rips off his shirt Bucks Fizz style to reveal ... a t-shirt!

I found the whole thing utterly dispiriting, and basically just wrong. But there you go.

Clanger rating:
Was it fun: guess
Was it dancey: no-one could dance to something that dismal
What would Terry have said about it: If he'd had any sense Terry would have nipped to the bar for this one.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

The democratic deed is done and I voted Green. To be honest if my council ward was anywhere near being a close run thing I'd have voted for whoever was best placed to beat the Tories, but they'll be lucky to get a few hundred votes so I was free to vote with my conscience. Labour will win by a country mile anyway.

I asked if anyone had been turned away due to a lack of photo ID and was told a 'few' people had been so went on a mini-rant about Tory vote rigging shenanigans which seemed to go down well.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Anecdotal evidence is apparently that most people coming to the polling stations without ID are elderly voters.

This is not surprising (especially given local election voters skew older anyway) but also might not be great news for any Tory vote rigging ambitions.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

I found the whole thing utterly dispiriting, and basically just wrong. But there you go.

Agreed. It had no redeeming features whatsoever. He reminds me of someone though and I can't quite put my finger on who it is.

[RogerOThornhill]

Good evening.

Apologies for my absence lately - 'er indoors hasn't been so good and instead of going back to doing 5 hours a day part-time working from home, she now thinks it's best to go for retirement due to ill-health. Sad but rather inevitable.

Anyway, why did they simply not require people to take their polling card long and hand it in?

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Oh joy, it's professional right wing miserabilist Peter Hitchens. Well the joke's on him because the wine I shall be drinking is so cheap I doubt even he could sour it further.

[refitman]

It's good to see that the Labour posters haven't been hijacked at all

[PorFavor]

[Sky'sGoneOut]

I'm afraid I won't be doing a QT review this evening as due to the broadcasting election rules it wasn't shown earlier online.

I had no idea so began imbibing at my usual time in preparation only to discover there was nothing to watch so now if I try writing one after it's been on TV I'll have forgotten most of it by the time it's finished.

Many apologies. I'll do a special one next week to make up for this lapse. Maybe have dragons in it or something.

Anyway it's on now so if anything interesting happens I'll provide a commentary.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Pledge allegiance to the King?

Yes - Lammy, Harper, Batters.

No - Hitchens, Bragg.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Incredible. Peter Hitchens lays into Mark Harper on behalf of striking rail workers far more strongly and effectively than David Lammy.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Can we trust Starmer given all his broken promises?

Billy Bragg. Not really, he's a disappointment, says even as a Labour member he'll vote tactically so possibly not for Labour.
David Lammy. Starmer is a hard headed pragmatist. Politics is about power.
Peter Hitchens. Expanding university access has been a failed experiment. Politicians should be allowed to change their minds.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Is (so called) 'AI' big and scary?

Ha ha. Peter Hitchens thinks the internet has an 'opinion' and 'a kind of force' which prevents 'certain things' being said, which of course is him whingeing about having his arse handed to him on Twitter on a regular basis.

Mark Harper. Britain should be at the forefront of producing scary killer robots and the economic opportunities they will bring.

Billy Bragg. AI is a a tool. Machines can't reproduce empathy. Has concerns about misinformation.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

What skills or knowledge do the panellists wish they'd acquired before taking on their current roles?

Hitchens. Shorthand.
Batters. Typing.
Bragg. The piano.
Harper. (Doesn't want to answer the question)...learning a musical instrument.
Lammy. Public school bullshit confidence.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

And we're done.

Final thoughts. The Telford audience was the most Tory friendly we've had in a long time. Billy Bragg is looking very distinguished these days. David Lammy was so hampered by Starmer's baggage that even Mark Harper managed to get a laugh at his expense. The afformentioned Mark Harper looked smug throughout and actually got applause which I reckon must be the first time for a Conservative in about a year, so well done him. Minette Batters showed solidarity for other unions by complaining about how the strikes inconvenienced her and her kids. Peter Hitchens did his best to claim climate change and Covid were all part of some sort of horrible conspiracy to destroy whatever the hell it is he believes in but everyone kind of looked away in embarrassment.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Jesus, I tune into the electoral results and am confronted by Harry Cole's massive hideous face. He's not a healthy man is he? I'm thinking gout and diabetes.

[refitman]

Cheers for the QT catchup Sky.

I do wish the BBC et al would just shut down any climate/covid denial bollocks. It really shouldn't be up for debate any more.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

I do wish the BBC et al would just shut down any climate/covid denial bollocks. It really shouldn't be up for debate any more.

I agree as far as factual programmes are concerned but when it comes to a political panel show I think if anyone wants to make a tit of themselves with their opinions then let them have at it. Hitchens' views weren't just ignored they were treated like he'd just shat himself, even by a Tory.

As an old school liberal I believe anyone can say whatever the fuck they like unless they're doing harm and the only harm Hitchens did tonight was to himself.

[PorFavor]

I don't know. Why are you watching Laura Kuenssberg?

Your turn . . .

[PorFavor]

Somebody's mentioned (on Sky TV) Jo Swinson. I'd forgotten all about her.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

[PorFavor]

Night night.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Dad music.

[Sky'sGoneOut]