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I'm off down the bookies to stick £50 on Frank Lampard to become next First Minister of Wales.

I'm not a football fan; I watch the Lions and Lionesses from the QF onwards in the Euros & World Cup, but that's it. Having said that, I'm a fan of Gareth Southgate and the positive attitude he has cultivated during his time as manager. He has helped non-fans of the sport appreciate it once every couple of years. And back-to-back finals? You can't complain at that.

Maybe the Democrats hired her, bearing in mind her track record meeting elderly heads of state…

I'm off down the bookies to stick £50 on Frank Lampard to become next manager.

Someone mentioned Don Tidey in another thread, and it reminded me of a programme I saw recently on RTE about his kidnapping. It featured something that is a real bugbear of mine: the tendency of the makers of history programmes to use the present tense when referring to historical events. I can't remember the exact text, but it went something like: " As Tidey approaches his car, three men leap out of a waiting van. They strike Tidey over the head, bundle him into the van and drive off at high speed." I presume they do this to make the events more vivid, but I just find it jarring to the ear. The events happened in the past. What is wrong with using the past tense to describe them? Do you think that I am incapable of imagining the scene if you said " As Tidey approached his car, three men leapt out of a waiting van. They struck Tidey over the head, bundled him into the van, and drove off at high speed"? This style of presentation seems pretty much ubiquitous now in history programmes, so I guess that is now the accepted way of narrating. However I have almost given up watching these programmes, as I find myself getting increasingly irritated by it. "Richard's army leaves the place of concealment, and catches the opposition completely off guard". Do they? What, every Thursday afternoon? Why the fuck have the opposition not copped on to this by now?

Commtech Sio Bibble subtracted 4 rather than the 6 points indicated, so we should have 26 Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne - Rather Be Please would the next person to post use this score.

So, will the next manager make two major finals in four tournaments? Or last eight years? Dunno, I'm thinking not

French actress Jacqueline Ferriere, oldest french actress alive known (older than the legendary Micheline Presle), died early July, just shy of her 103th birthday. Her death has not been mentioned by mainstream French media. https://www.facebook.com/100068873498474/posts/782526470719796/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Say it with me. Whisper it. Rooney.

It is surprising to see how many female actors (aka actresses) who appeared in Alfred Hitchcock films are still alive. Here are some of the best known with their current ages: Eva Marie Saint (100) Tippi Hendren (94) Vera Miles (94) Kim Novak (91) Shirley MacLaine (90) Julie Andrews (88) Barbara Leigh Hunt (88)

16/7/24 Feeling old today, I no longer have any teenaged young wombles..... 37 Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye +3 37 Tears for Fears - Mad World 35 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence 32 Eurythmics - Who’s That Girl?  30 The Beat - Can’t Get Used to Losing You 28 Ph.D - I Won’t Let You Down 26 The J. Geils Band - Centerfold 24 Pigbag - Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag 24 Yazoo - Nobody’s Diary 24 Yazoo - Don't Go +1 22 Soft Cell - What? 20 Kool & The Gang - Get Down on It 20 Culture Club - Time (Clock of the Heart) 20 Wah! - The Story of the Blues 20 JoBoxers - Boxerbeat 20 Howard Jones - New Song 17 Malcolm McLaren - Double Dutch 17 The Belle Stars - Sign of the Times 17 Haircut 100 - Love Plus One 16 Shakin’ Stevens - Cry Just a Little Bit  15 The Style Council - Long Hot Summer/Paris Match  14 Odyssey - Inside Out 07 Culture Club - Victims -6

Oops: https://x.com/JAHeale/status/1812896893988475379

Minor trivia (which I only learned a month or so ago) - Macedo appeared on the cover of "Sit Down" by James. Why a Manchester band had a Fulham goalie on their single artwork isn't recorded to history.

Norm Hewitt, All Blacks hooker, has died aged 55 following a battle with MND. Dancing with the Stars alumni taking a beating - Shannen Doherty, Jacoby Jones and now Norm. Obituaries: BBC, Telegraph and Daily Mail.

7/16/2024 37 Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye 37 Tears for Fears - Mad World 35 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence 32 Eurythmics - Who’s That Girl?  30 The Beat - Can’t Get Used to Losing You 28 Ph.D - I Won’t Let You Down 28 Yazoo - Don't Go +4 26 The J. Geils Band - Centerfold 24 Pigbag - Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag 24 Yazoo - Nobody’s Diary 22 Soft Cell - What? 20 Kool & The Gang - Get Down on It 20 Culture Club - Time (Clock of the Heart) 20 Wah! - The Story of the Blues 20 JoBoxers - Boxerbeat 20 Howard Jones - New Song 17 The Belle Stars - Sign of the Times 17 Haircut 100 - Love Plus One 15 The Style Council - Long Hot Summer/Paris Match 15 Malcolm McLaren - Double Dutch -2 14 Odyssey - Inside Out 12 Shakin’ Stevens - Cry Just a Little Bit -4 07 Culture Club - Victims

Mick, Michael Schumacher's son, was in the F1 in 2021-2022 and might return next season. Ralf was in the F1 from 1997 to 2007 and competed against Michael.

16/07/24 115 Years & Years — King 106 Ella Henderson — Ghost 102 Pitbull ft. Kesha — Timber 98 Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars — Uptown Funk 71 Pharrell Williams — Happy +4 25 Ellie Goulding — Love Me Like You Do 24 Tinie Tempah ft. Jess Glynne — Not Letting Go 24 Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne — Rather Be 17 Omi — Cheerleader 16 Calvin Harris — Summer 11 Little Mix — Black Magic -6 09 Mr Probz — Waves

1 Gareth Bacon 2 Steve Barclay 3 Aphra Brandreth 4 Suella Braverman 5 Christopher Chope 6 James Cleverly 7 Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 8 David Davis 9 Iain Duncan Smith 10 Mark Francois 11 Roger Gale 12 Mark Garnier 13 Helen Grant 14 John Hayes 15 Richard Holden 16 Edward Leigh 17 Julian Lewis 18 Esther McVey 19 Andrew Mitchell 20 Priti Patel 21 Chris Philp 22 Mel Stride 23 Graham Stuart 24 Rishi Sunak 25 Desmond Swayne 26 Laura Trott 27 Tom Tugendhat 28 Martin Vickers 29 Gavin Williamson 30 Jim Shannon 31 Sammy Wilson 32 Shockat Adam 33 Jeremy Corbyn 34 Adnan Hussain 35 Ayoub Khan 36 Iqbal Mohamed 37 Diane Abbott 38 Luke Akehurst 39 Apsana Begum 40 Clive Betts 41 Sam Carling 42 Bambos Charalambous 43 Rosie Duffield 44 John McDonnell 45 Dan Norris 46 Kate Osamor 47 Matthew Pennycook 48 Naz Shah 49 Karin Smyth 50 Wes Streeting 51 Graham Stringer 52 Zarah Sultana 53 Mark Tami 54 Daniel Zeichner 55 Sarah Olney 56 Jamie Stone 57 Lee Anderson 58 Nigel Farage 59 Rupert Lowe 60 James McMurdock 61 Richard Tice 62 Dave Doogan 63 Stephen Flynn 64 Chris Law 65 Lindsay Hoyle 65 is so many that I basically started pulling names out of a hat less than half way through. Fun!

I just re-discovered this list I made in February. Opinions?

Ralf Schumacher announces he's in a same sex relationship

Seems like a lot of you want a round 2 and I'll happily oblige, i'll start a new thread some point next week.

The DL drought is crazy given the surviving names. Imo when the dam breaks it's going to be like 2022 on steroids.

but then again i can huff the copium and say the latter half of the year could be a bloodbath along with the entire year of 2025

Just seen my first King Charles £5 note.