Vote For Me, I'm Very Needy

I know this blog isn't as good as it used to be, but I'd still appreciate anyone's vote in the Total Politics blog poll.

I shall of course be engaging in ballot stuffing that Robert Mugabe would blush at but even so your votes would be much appreciated.

The deadline for submission is the 31st of July.

I'll be voting for a bunch of people too.

Too Hot.

I'm sweating like Gary Glitter at a school sports day.

Coroners- A Request

If I should happen to die in a bizarre masturbation related incident, could you maybe respect my dignity and be discreet about it and maybe not let the national press know how I popped my clogs?

Oink Oink

Why is that the word "greed" is seldom used to describe subsidy junkie like this? Create your own sentence using the words and phrases "snouts", "troughs", "special pleading", "whining" and "luvvies", this will save me the trouble of writing anything more.

Subsidising British films has led to 100s of crap movies that no one wants to see and serves little purpose but to keep Danny Dyer occupied in shitty gangster flicks.

I've used this quote before but it remains telling:

Stephen Frears recalls meeting him soon after [Gordon Brown] had announced a big increase in money for films. "Do you know what you've done?'' the movie man asked. "Created a rush of absolutely terrible British films?'' the benefactor replied, laughing.

Strangely Arousing

I can't be the only person to find this video strangely arousing:



I'm just the only one willing to come out and admit it.

Paul The Octopus

Like everyone else I have been impressed by the uncanny predictions of "Paul the octopus" who has managed to correctly predict every single Germany game at the World Cup so far. As pundits go he is certainly more charismatic than Alan Shearer. However:

Bookmaker William Hill is so impressed by Paul's predictive powers that it was offering even odds that he will pick the winner of the final on Sunday, between Spain and Holland.

So William Hill are offering even odds on an event with two possible outcomes, that doesn't really sound to me as though they are impressed.

Feeding The Ego.

Am I alone in thinking that the press coverage of narcissistic nutjob Raoul Thomas Moat is exactly the sort of coverage an inadequate like that would love with heroic talk of "last stands", "Killer on the loose" etc?

People I Have An Irrational Dislike Of- Part 5

This is back to being completely irrational unlike previous entries which many thought were actually quite rational- People who wear "designer glasses".

They just radiate a sense of being slightly too pleased with themselves with their supposedly stylish specs perched on the end of their noses. Anyone who spends that much time picking a pair of specs deserves a slap.

More Than Buildings

With the school buildings budget being cut expect to be deluged with stories about classrooms with leaky roofs over the next couple of years.

I have to say that judging from my own experience at school the importance of shiny new facilities is vastly overrated. Some of the best schools had primitive labs that predated the discovery of electricity and so many mobile units that they resembled a former POW camp or a Butlins. Whereas having modern buildings was no guarantee of actually being any good.

Uruguay Vs Netherlands, Settled In Song

To mark tomorrow's match between these two countries here's a couple of songs. First up is a 1960s Uruguayan band "Los Shakers":



And here is 1970s to 1990s Dutch indie band Bettie Serveet:

Much Appreciated

Thanks for that.

Hooray For Touts.

I can see why touts can be dangerous in football, where sometimes rival fans have to be segregated, but elsewhere I can't see any sensible reason to ban them. If the organisers of Wimbledon have undervalued their product then why shouldn't someone reallocate the tickets to the people who want them most?

Surely someone's willingness to pay is more important in determining their eagerness to see the event than how fast they can dial a hotline.

Unfortunately Shooting Tony Blair Is Wrong

Much as I dislike Tony Blair this seems unwise:

The Foreign Secretary said the public must not be forced to pay more than is "absolutely necessary" for police protection, which Mr Blair is given during private holidays and international business trips.

His comments came after it was disclosed that Mr Blair’s Metropolitan Police protection squad ran up a £5,000-a-week expenses bill over the past year.

Making political capital out of the cost of protecting political rivals is incredibly stupid. there are undoubtedly people who would like to murder Tony Blair- Islamic radicals, Serbian nationalists, me- and if politicians don't get protection from potential assailants then in future our politicians will have to think of their personal safety when making decisions then they will inevitably have to pander to violent groups in order to ensure their own safety.

Stay Classy

The last parliament was collectively disgraced because of how various members exploited their position for personal advantage. Thankfully a new intake of MPs ensures that this is a thing of the past.

Louise Bagshawe, Tory MP, A-list candidate and 'chick-lit' author sets the tone for the new parliament:

For the MPs gathered in the Commons to debate the possibly rather dry subject of the Energy Bill, it was an unexpected interruption.

One minute Louise Bagshawe, a newly-elected Tory and 'Cameron cutie', was discussing solar batteries.

The next she was happily plugging her new novel Passion, written as part of her other career as a successful author of 'chick-lit' fiction.

The 39-year-old mother of three told MPs to buy her book, which, she reminded them, had just won a literary award for romantic fiction.

Oh well.

Away Till Sunday

Not that anyone cares judging by how comments have dried up this week.

Awesome Suction Power

What 13 year old boy would create a device which has incredible suction power, then use it to climb walls?


via

I Know You Are

Politics can be very playground at times:

The health minister, who called the Speaker a “stupid, sanctimonious dwarf”, has apologised – but only to short people in general.

I don't really object because Bercow is just that.

Pissheads.

Is there an quivalent of the Dunning Kruger effect for alcohol? I can't help noticing that people who inform the world of their capacity to consume alcohol are almost invariably complete pissheads.