Tag: Stupid people

Top Telly

Entertainment

Britishland’s Radio Times has published a Top 100 list of TV shows (from the beginning, i.e. early 1950s, until yesterday).

I read through the whole thing (so you don’t have to), and apart from the inexplicable inclusion of American shows (e.g. Hill Street Blues and M*A*S*H*) on the list, it’s not bad.  Of course, I haven’t seen all of them — give me a break, we didn’t even have TV in South Africa till I turned 21 — but I thought I’d share my thoughts on the ones I have.

What the hell, it’s the weekend, right?

The Comedies

  • Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again — actually, the John Cleese Collection — all classics, all brilliant.
  • Not The Nine O’Clock News :  what SNL’s Weekly Update  tried to be, and failed (unless Norm McDonald was the host) — and speaking of Rowan Atkinson:
  • Blackadder :  historical satire at its very finest, helped by an unbelievable supporting cast (Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Rik Mayall, Miriam Margolies, etc.).
  • The Royle Family :  most Brits of my acquaintance absolutely hated this show about working-class losers;  I loved it.

Drama

  • The Duchess of Duke Street :  excellent fin-de-siècle  series set in the late 1880s until post-WWI, with the wonderful Gemma Jones as the “Duchess”.  One of my prized DVD collections.
  • The Singing Detective :  unbearable to watch, but so good you can’t stop.  Forget everything you ever knew about Michael Gambon:  this is his finest performance.  Ignore the silly U.S. remake.  Also in my collection.
  • After Life :  funny, dark, poignant and sensitive;  Ricky Gervais’s best work.  I think I’ve watched this series half a dozen times, and counting.

Cops ‘n Robbers

  • The Sweeney :  long before NYPD Blue‘s Andy Sipowicz, there was the gritty Jack Regan.
  • Inspector Morse :  wherein the gritty working-class Jack Regan turns into the calm, analytic and cultured Morse, both having been played by the same actor.
  • Cracker :  tortured and flawed genius solving crimes;  Robbie Coltrane in a non-comic tour de force.  I have the set, but there’s a warning attached:  do not watch the postscript episode (set in Hong Kong), because not only is it terrible, it was an afterthought, cobbled together at the last minute, and none of the loose ends from the final series were tied up.

Sci-Fi

Never watched any of them.  I did try to watch one episode of Doctor Who.  It was awful and I never made it through to the end.

Documentaries

  • The World At War (I have this series on DVD):  probably the greatest WWII documentary ever — it’s hard to argue about Hitler’s behavior, for example, when you have Traudl Junge (his actual secretary) describing it.
  • Civilisation :  when I grow up, I want to be as educated as Sir Kenneth Clark.  I also have this series on DVD.

Missing from this Top 100 compilation (inexplicably, and shamefully):

  • Foyle’s War :  period drama with the brilliant Michael Kitchen (in Kim’s DVD collection)
  • The Young Ones :  anarchic comedy with Rik Mayall
  • The Goon Show (radio):  the groundbreaking show that defined anarchic comedy thereafter, all from the fevered imagination of Spike Milligan
  • Life On Mars :  detective show in the 70s, from the perspective of a 1990s transplant.  Maybe the good old days weren’t so good.
  • Waiting For God :  shenanigans at a retirement home with dark, biting comedy (in Kim’s DVD collection)
  • Absolutely Fabulous :  Jennifer Saunders’s hysterical over-the-top empty-headedness vs. Joanne Lumley’s feline degeneracy.
  • The Darling Buds Of May :  gentle bucolic comedy, with a fine cast (in Kim’s DVD collection).
  • The Avengers :  Patrick McNee’s bowler hat and Diana Rigg in skin-tight pants suits, ’nuff said.
  • The Persuaders :  Roger Moore and Tony Curtis;  who’d have thought they’d be a great pairing?
  • Doc Martin :  they left Martin Clunes’s show off the list?  Seriously?

All the above omissions should have been slotted in ahead of the American transplants;  not that the Yank shows are bad — they aren’t —  but they were essentially rebroadcasts.

If you haven’t seen any of the above shows, try to do so.  You won’t be sorry.

All-Electric

Drive Time, Eco-Crap

Here’s the Hall of Shame:

Alfa Romeo?????

As for the rest, I hope they all go out of business.

No doubt, some of them will continue to sell gasoline-powered cars here in the U.S. (to keep their poxy profits up), but as for me:  I wouldn’t buy any of their offerings, just on principle.

“Climate warriors”, my aching right foot.

Simple Cure

Drive Time, Eco-Crap, Gummint

Here are two different stories, but with a common link.  First, the news from Volkswagen:

Volkswagen’s managing director has warned the sale of electric vehicles is ‘stagnating’ as a poll revealed just 2 per cent of drivers would buy one in the near future.

Alex Smith warned there are currently few incentives to buy EVs.

He claimed sales are in ‘stagnation’ with EVs still ‘relatively expensive’ compared to petrol and diesel cars, adding: ‘It’s true to say that with the retail price of an electric car, you will find a premium.’

Not so much “find” as “get beaten about the head by” that premium, but let me not interrupt the thread.

It came as a poll of 2,375 UK motorists found that just 2 per cent would buy an EV right now. The survey, carried out for industry body the Society for Motor Manufactures and Traders found more than half are not planning to buy one until 2026 or later.

The figures led to growing calls for more support for private buyers to switch to EVs ahead of the planned ban on new petrol and diesel car sales from 2030.

The “support” is, of course, a bribe I mean government subsidy.  Funded with taxpayer money.

But apart from the price “premium” (exorbitant cost), why would people’s enthusiasm for Duracell cars be weakening?  Of course, there’s that small matter of there being not enough power sockets — even in tiny Britishland — to replenish the battery when the juice runs low:  “Oh, the government should just pay for those” (with taxpayer money).

Then there’s this little wrinkle in EV ownership:

An electrical vehicle fire at Nissan Headquarters Tuesday afternoon required several more hours and 45 times more gallons of water to put out than a conventional vehicle fire.

It’s a challenge the Franklin Fire Department warns “all fire departments are struggling with” because lithium-ion battery fires often cannot be extinguished until the battery cell has released its energy.

Firefighters were dispatched around 4:42 p.m. after the car caught fire in the parking lot of 1 Nissan Way. According to Franklin Fire Marshal Andy King, the vehicle, a Nissan Leaf, had been charging on a Level 3 charger, which is the fastest charging device.

That’s when its lithium-ion battery cell reportedly overheated, went into a thermal runaway condition and caught fire. He said firefighters applied water to cool the battery cell for several hours before the fire was extinguished.

No damage occurred to the charger or other vehicles. According to King, firefighters are accustomed to responding to conventional vehicle fires, which are typically put out with one fire engine and anywhere from 500 to 1,000 gallons of water.

However, Tuesday’s fire required nearly 45,000 gallons of water and multiple units, including an engine, tower, battalion chief, rescue, hazmat, and an air response vehicle. In a news release, the fire department urged EV owners to take precautions against fires.

The very best precaution against these kinds of fires, one would think, would be not to buy these spontaneously-combusting wheeled Roman candles in the first place.

As for dealing with the fires themselves:  I think that every charging station should be required to have a large tank of water — maybe double the size of a normal backyard swimming pool — so that the fire department can just push the burning vehicle into it until it’s completely submerged.

Then, when all the fuss has subsided and the fire has finally died, the car’s owner should be required to drink a pint of water from the tank.

And now I think I need to head off to the range, because when I read how Gummint is trying to force everyone to buy one of these fucking firebombs, I can feel myself going into a “thermal runaway condition”.

Teacup, Storm In

Journalist Scum, Music, Show Business

I see that the silly Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone Magazine  is having his pee-pee whacked for the cardinal sin of saying (supposedly) that Black artists are not as articulate as their White counterparts.

I’m reminded of the priceless Frank Zappa quote (about Rolling Stone  itself), and I’m going by my admittedly-creaky memory:

“Rock journalism can be described as people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t speak, aimed at people who can’t read.”

I always thought that Rolling Stone  was a silly magazine, aimed at White rock ‘n roll fans, mostly talking about White musicians.  Their lists of the “Greatest [whatever]” were apparently written by people aged 18 who had no idea of any music that had been released any more than two years before they turned 16, if that.

And Wenner himself was nothing more than a rock groupie, his magazine giving him the backstage pass to all the top bands’ acts.  He was an inconsequential player in a silly age, and why anyone would want to read, let alone buy his book will remain a mystery.

…But True

Funny Stuff, Veggies & Vegans, Wokism

Note the censorious tone in this one:

A BIZARRE joke which aired on Australia’s Today show has left viewers in fits of laughter.  Hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo were left flabbergasted when a young boy told an unscripted joke about vegans jumping from cliffs.

The clip is causing a stir in the US as some Tiktokers remarked it would have never been broadcast on straight-laced American telly. 

And this eeeevil joke?

“A vegan and a vegetarian are jumping off a cliff to see who will hit the bottom first. Who wins?”
“I don’t know, who wins?”
“Society!”

I sniggered.

Fighting Off The Bully

Mocking Furriners, Pussification Parade, The Gun Thing

Apparently, dogs attacking people is becoming a thing in Britishland.

Here’s one to make you wonder:

Fighting off an XL bully is nearly “impossible,” according to a martial arts expert. Self-defense tycoon Matt Fiddes, 44, has called for a ban on the beasts and said that if anyone finds themselves confronted by one then do your best to run away.

Run away from a dog?  Yeah, that’ll work.  The exercise will just make him hungrier.

Of course, Over Here we don’t have to listen to bullshit like this because we have recourse to fine tools like this one:


…loaded with your choice of .410 goodness (I’m kinda torn between #2 and #5, but I can be persuaded, in Comments):


Of course, the Brits could use pepper spray — no wait:  “Carry and use of pepper spray by common citizens is banned under Section 5(1)(b) of the Firearms Act 1968”.

What about tasers or stun guns?  “Stun guns are considered firearms, and as such are also controlled under the Firearms Act 1968”.

Looks like they’re stuck with:


…although they’re probably also banned under the “Dangerous Club Act 1968”, or something.

Sure must be nice to live in such a state of fear — hooligans, thugs, dangerous dogs etc. — all because of stupid laws.

I prefer living in the state of Texas, thank you.