YoungWillz

I'll be giving this one a miss. Ivor Novello winners so unclear as to be too much work. So for example, the award for song musically and lyrically is seemingly awarded to the songwriters, not the performer, but when I try to double check, I'm not getting results. So I'm passing this time round. Good luck to everyone who tries harder than me.

Living from scan to scan: https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/esther-rantzen-living-scan-scan-33278684

Right, I spent some time watching Trump's speech. Main takeaways. Trump survived the assassination by the grace of God. Interesting. So God wanted Corey Campatore dead, by that logic. Also, anyone could use the logic that Satan wanted to save Trump and take a life. He has a serious obsession with supporters' wives. What is it with a court confirmed rapist, friend of Epstein and convicted felon who likes grabbing women by the Mrs Slocombe and his obsession with women, most of whom are much younger than him? Beats me. I may have misheard him say 107% of jobs that blacks and hispanics do are being taken by illegal immigrants. Apart from the obvious problem with mathematics, doesn't this mean that he has blacks and hispanics doing the lowest paid work? And he's happy for them to get those low paid jobs and stay in their place? He posits that stuff would not have happened if he was President. That may be true, but he was this close to bombing Iran. I think he's wrong to say Iran has all this money - isn't that frozen somewhere? Willing to be corrected. Never seen before in the history of the world. His favourite phrase. Actually, most things have been seen before. He suggests for example the ultimate humiliation of the US was the withdrawal from Afghanistan. I beg to differ - the Vietnam War was that ultimate humiliation and will forever be a stain on the US and the countless lives it unneccessarily took. Of course Trump won't mention Vietnam, lest we recall his bone spurs exemption from serving. He takes a few examples of deaths of Americans at the hands of immigrants (of which I have little knowledge admittedly). But surely most crime is American on American? For example, the guy who shot at Trump was one of those fine, white, young Republicans he so desperately appeals to support him. His backward stance on climate change in the pursuit of short term financial prosperity really cannot stand imo. He refuses steadfastly to acknowledge the peril faced by those lovely 10 grandchildren of his will face as a result of his policies. Anyway, maybe in hindsight, a 1 hour 30 minute film should have been my watch instead of this drivel.

Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam leader, reportedly dead: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51y3r09zr2o

What fascinates me is the fact that Trump has been banging on for years about him being the one standing in the way of the Government coming after the people. Quick enough to duck and let others take the bullets though. I haven't seen his speech to the RNC yet, but hey I may give it a shot (pardon the pun), given the bloody news is all about the Microsoft outage today.

Our first hit on an even numbered day comes with Bob Newhart, telephone operator and driving instructor and part time sitcom star and comedian. Joining the leaderboard this time are YoungWillz (me!), Bibliogryphon and msc. Those additional 2 points Perhaps garnered early on mean that, with a proper hit off their team, they jump up above the glut of players on one hit (and no hits obviously). Grimgrass now has played two hearts with a Newhart hit and Captain Hemlock slides into second place. No bonuses this time round, leaderboard updated.

Excitement is high.

Both the Committee and I were sharing a party line when we both picked Bob Newhart. YW - 6; DL - 4.

Bob Newhart for me and I suspect others here. https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/29328446/elf-big-bang-theory-actor-bob-newhart-dead/

Bob Newhart takes me to 7.

Bob Newhart starts another pile on after Shannen Doherty's demise.

No real need but Bob Newhart QO: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/29328446/elf-big-bang-theory-actor-bob-newhart-dead/

OldWillz had a slew of his vinyl when I was a boy, that's really how I knew him. I rather liked his eponymous sitcom, was it set in a ski lodge or something? Anyway, RIP to one of the greats.

Entry sent.

The father of Chocolat author Joanne Harris has died:

There's a marketing opportunity there. Trump branded ear pillows. It never ceases to amaze me the ability of some people to be utter cockwombles. It is a cult. I am sure of it.

Baroness Hallett ripping the Tory Government a new arsehole over its preparedness and dealing with the COVID pandemic. Shocked? Nope.

Report of the death of the last surviving member of folk revivalists Young Tradition, Heather Wood: https://www.salutlive.com/2024/07/heather-wood.html She performed with Peter Bellamy and Royston Wood in the group. Which sounds like a mash up of Upstairs Downstairs and Wizzard, but in fact both died in tragic circumstances.

Yeah, on the railways we know England has been failing here. But making it "Great British" Railways though? This suggests Scotrail will end and Westminster will take control, no? It all seems to be dragging Scotland down to England's level. I may be wrong, but if the Scottish Parliament ceases to have effective control of something they nationalised (a) will Scotland be compensated for the cost, and (b) how will disputes in England adversely affect Scotland? This seems on the face of it to be contrary to their idea of devolution - no wait, that only applies to England. If Scotrail continues as an entity with Scottish control, I'm less inclined to care how they fix the mess down south. Still no benefit in my opinion one way or the other to Scotland re energy. Still a reserved matter, Scotland still produces a lot of energy for the UK yet we have some of the highest bills in the country - we are colder and need to light up earlier. We are paid less for our generation and charged disproportionately more. And still rUK takes the credit for net zero ambitions by relying heavily on Scotland leading the way on renewables. I'm ambivalent as to whether they are addressing the issues here - but hey, they got our votes, so as per usual, they can flounce off to the Palace of Westminster and forget about us. Who knows? Intrigued to see how much they deliver here.

One thing I'm concerned about. This Great British Railways thing. I'm not sure what they mean. Here in Scotland we have an independent and iirc publicly owned railway. This has allowed Scotland to negotiate pay and conditions and has lessened the impact of rail strikes, unlike England. Are they suggesting that they wrest control of Scottish railways back to Westminster? Leaving Scots vulnerable to the unions down south, strikes, inadequate services etc? (More than normal of course!). I'm intrigued, but also concerned at this possible power grab.

Impassive. Statesperson like. I don't ask much.

Gawd almighty, those shots of Labour ministers, proving that they can do "smug" just as well as the Tories. You can almost see them thinking "Go on, I am making the King say my policy!". All except Yvette Cooper, who looked like she had some State sponsored murder to commit, and wishing Chuck III would hurry up. Where's the humility? The public service they promised should be writ on their faces, not "power at last". Ah, well, sure there will plenty of time to kick them about.

Scotsman obituary for Rob Valentine, dual code player, aged 83: https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/obituaries-bob-valentine-talented-rugby-union-player-who-switched-codes-and-enjoyed-a-12-year-league-career-4704980 This death wipes out the Valentine rugby brothers, consisting of Rob, Dave and Alec.

Irene Schweizer, Swiss jazz pianist, reportedly dead aged 83: https://www.freejazzblog.org/2024/07/irene-schweizer-1941-2024.html Tenuous link with the UK as she attended a language school here and often performed at Ronnie Scott's while in the country.

Anyone else excited for the State Opening of Parliament? Carriages, the Monarch arriving for some cosplay dress up, Black Rod marching between Houses and thrusting onto the door of the Commons, The King's Speech (unfortunately not the movie)... The choreography, the lights, the cameras...Ru Paul's Drag Race ain't got nothing on this, baby.