A cracking episode of Gilmore Girls last night. We're just over half-way through series 3, (consider this both a spoiler warning if you're further behind, and a request not to spoil if you're ahead) and it's the one where Christopher's lady friend is having a baby. And Lorelai thinks back to how things were when she had Rory, and it all gets very emotional without ever showing it. Drama at its best.

Last week's Culture Show had a feature on the Lower Mill Project, an architetural development near Tetbury. It's a collection of completely designer homes set around lakes in a reclaimed gravel pit. One house comes with bits that slide out, another is designed on an orchid flower. Once the initial shock had worn off, I rather like the look of some of these. Certainly it's far more imaginative than the tedious mock-Georgiana of every modern housing development of the last 30 years.

And, look! Performance poetry on the Beeb!

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posted 12 Dec 2005, 15.09 +0000

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posted 12 Dec 2005, 15.24 +0000

A new insight into how to board an aeroplane, thanks to some research. (Full paper in PDF format.) The shock conclusion: let people with window seats board first, then those in the middle, finally aisle people. Boarding by row is the worst idea.

Some would suggest that it's not wise to annoy the damned Yankees, for they are quick to anger and slow to think. Still, it's working in the Canadian election, and remember what happened the last time the southeners took on the Canyucks...

Speaking of damned Yankees, Another Brit's being held at the unlawful Guantanamo camp in occupied Cuba. A decision in the High Court in London ensures that an Aussie will get his British citizenship, and hence John "Jack" Straw will have to start talking to the cretins again. Or just bombing the hell out of them.

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posted 13 Dec 2005, 21.35 +0000

Three changes in the media landscape; ITN News Channel, "Home Truths", and Yescarcredit are all to close.

The ITN News Channel launched in August 2000, intending to supply a comprehensive 30-minute news bulletin every half-hour. It was a similar format to ITN's radio channel, London News, and had a similar budget. That meant no fresh reports, everything coming from ITV, or Channels 4 and 5. There were almost no studio guests, and the entire operation had a distinct air of being done on the cheap.

The channel was sold to ITV in 2002, and gained something approaching a budget, and regular studio guests. The channel had some notable scoops - its coverage of the Beslan siege last year was the best anywhere, and ITV has used its regional strengths far better than the BBC ever has. However, the audience preferred the solid reporting of the BBC, and the channel was rightly satirised as ESN Standing Up For News on the Beeb's recent Broken News show. The channel will close at the end of January, making way for Freeview viewers to see ITV4 and the forthcoming Children's ITV channel. It leaves a gap for a studio-based broadcaster to provide revolving news - perhaps CNN might yet give us a Headline News Europe.

Home Truths began in 1995 as Offspring, a short series of vignettes about the relationship between parents and children. After two series, host John Peel broadened out the remit to cover all aspects of family life. The Home Service's then-controller James Boyle liked the programme, and gave it a permanent slot at 9am Saturday, with a repeat late Monday night. Home Truths suffered greatly from the loss of Mr Peel last year, and has failed to find its feet under a series of guest presenters. It's not immediately clear what will replace the programme.

Yes Car Credit has been to 2005 what Claims Direct was to 2001, supporting many marginal cable channels with an incessant barrage of commercials. However, it's emerged that Yes was only able to make its profits by buying dangerously unsafe contraptions, and by charging huge rates of interest on their wares. "Can I buy a potential death-trap and be charged up to five times the car's value in interest over the first year?" "Yes, you can. Call Yescarcredit on 4856242 - that's 01 if you're outside London."

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posted 14 Dec 2005, 19.38 +0000

There's to be no public inquiry into the bombings on 7 July. "It'll be too much of a diversion from the job of protecting us," says beleaguered interior minister Seymour the Safety Elephant. Well, maybe the big-eared one is correct here.

However, can we have a public inquiry that covers the successful bombings of 7 July, the unsuccessful bombings of the 21st, and the killing of Sr de Menezes on the 22nd? Many of the unanswered questions were brought to the fore by events later in the month. Who gave the approval for the London police's shoot-to-kill policy? Should there be a shoot-to-kill policy in the first place? What is the correct response for brave (or foolish) members of the public who find themselves on a tube train with a suicide bomber whose device has gone "phut"? All of these questions deserve a wider airing, and we're not going to get one.

I'll mention this now, though it's something I'll return to in a couple of weeks: my nine proposals to build confidence and improve integration from July, a reaction to the Torygraph's ten.

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posted 14 Dec 2005, 19.47 +0000

The EU budget negotiations for 2007-13 completed in the early hours of this morning, and it's the usual timid fudge. In turn, that means that Mister Tony Blair has failed in his self-declared mission to modernise the sclerotic European Union bureaucracy.

When ten new members joined in May last year, it became clear that a new budget settlement was required. Indeed, the thrust of the EU's operation needed to change. The UK has long opposed the Common Agricultural Policy, as it benefits French farmers at the expense of the rest of Europe - indeed, at the expense of rest of the planet. Such was the UK's opposition to the CAP that former British prime minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher arranged for the UK to receive a rebate, based on a complex formula relating to CAP expenditure. Root-and-branch reform was needed, and Mister Blair had the chance to sieze the day and re-cast the whole European project in a greater ideal.

But he blew his great chance. It's not clear why Mister Blair failed to capitalise on the opportunity last summer. Perhaps he feared antagonising the vociferous Eurosceptic minority in the UK, and granting a further publicity coup to the extreme right-wing Unitedkingdom Nationalist Party. Maybe he was licking his wounds over the botched invasion of Iraq, maybe something closer to home had forced him to confront his own mortality. Whatever happened, Mister Blair failed to go on the attack, failed to sell his case for grand reform.

Without those solid foundations, there was never going to be a strong platform to make things change in the budget negotiations. The leaders of France (M Chirac) and Germany (Herr Schröeder) had pledged to continue the CAP in its current form right through the budget round. Had there been a vocal bloc in opposition to their plans, the CAP may now be holed below the water-line. But Blair's timidity ensured there wasn't.

In the final negotiations, the UK agreed to give €10.5 md from its rebate over the seven years of this budget. This money will be ear-marked for stabilisation and growth in the new Eastern members. Though there will be a review of the CAP in 2008-9, the net result is that the odious CAP is left to continue obstructing trade - robbing the poor of the world to support a few rich farmers - for the next seven years. All the difficult decisions have been kicked into touch, and won't come back until the next budget negotiation, probably in 2010 or 2011. By then, Mister Blair will be long gone, recorded in history as The Man Who Could Have, But Didn't.

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posted 17 Dec 2005, 13.29 +0000

In the ongoing battle for a decent democracy, eriko has a good idea. All this comes out of a Floridish election supervisor who has gone public with what we already knew - the 2000 vote took place on an insecure system. The only sensible response was to void the entire province's votes for uncertainty.

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posted 17 Dec 2005, 18.10 +0000

Winner of the Children's Book Award following its publication in 2000, and recently put on at the National Theatre, Jamila Gavin's book is a bit of a strange affair. It splits into two almost exactly equal parts, set in the mid-18th century.

The first half is a vivid depiction of life at the Ashbrook family mansion, and of Alexander's realisation that he wishes to follow his own muse, and not inherit the estate. There are many deep and realistic descriptions in this section, of the estate and of Gloucester Cathedral and other aspects.

Though Alexander is the central character of the book, the nominal lead is Meshak, the son of Otis Gardiner, a man who takes illegitimate children to the newly-founded Coram hospital in London. Well, that's what he says; in reality, Gardiner allows the infants to perish, and extorts money from their mothers. A detailed description explains the thinking of the age, such as it was, and sets the moral tone.

The first part ends with Melissa, the housekeeper's daughter, giving birth to Alexander's son, and the baby is given to Gardiner for "safe-keeping". The creation of the child is described in an explanation of sex that's safe for all ages.

Part two is set in London, about eight years after the first part ends. Gone are the long, expository passages; gone are many of the detailed descriptions. In fairness, there are very few significant new characters to meet - a couple of children are richly described at the start of the section, and there's a walk-on part for a Mr Handel.

The scene is well set for a chase over the last third of the book, and a chase is what we get. Regrettably, we also get a little too much exposition - the ending is somewhat spoiled by the way Ms Gavin ties up every loose end in the closing chapters. One revelation, in particular, is not surprising but would have been best left hanging.

Two criticisms of this book: one, there's a marked discontinuity between the styles of the first and second halves of the book. It feels as if they were written by different authors, or at greatly different times. Second, Gavin assumes a certain liberal consensus from her reader. It may be obvious to assume that everyone reading this book is against slavery, against the needless killing of infants, and in favour of the proper protection of infants, but the book doesn't offer any arguments in favour of its position.

Let not these criticisms detract from a cracking tale, told well.

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posted 17 Dec 2005, 18.16 +0000

1. There's a box set of all the Cocteau Twins singles? How come no-one told me these things..?

2. "Christmas with Bod", proclaims the advert. They're actually advertising The Third Programme's season of Bach, a name that is not pronounced like the little chap with the yellow dress. I'm not entirely convinced by this idea. One can have too much of a good thing, and listening to nothing but Bach for nine days, or Beethoven for a week (as the Third did in June) makes for a very unbalanced diet. Also, I don't particularly rate young Johann Sebastian; he recycled all his best tunes over and over, so that there's too little difference between his works. If Benjamin Mitchell had been around in the 18th century, I'm sure he would have written a madrigal Everything sounds like JS Bach now.

3. Headline on to-day's Snowmail: "Hong Kong Fury." Are we watching Boomerang by mistaike?

4. Recommended: Tony Hawk's Twelve Days of Christmas. ("Real" audio, begins just over 1h30 in, will expire 9am on the 24th.) In which the world's best skateboarder (or was it the leader of the Conservative Party between Vague and the Vamp) tries to buy everything in the carol. And tots up the cost. It's followed by a repeat of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Christmas Carol (which begins about 2h05 in) from 2003.

5. Why the philistines wish to use the DMCA against modern classical music. Under the terms of the moronic law, it's not legal to stream three tracks from the same performer consecutively. Yet how does this work for modern classics where one continuous movement is split into four or five CD tracks? Answer: it doesn't. There's more to life than four-minute songs.

6. Further thoughts on sudoku and the methods one might use to solve them.

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posted 17 Dec 2005, 18.52 +0000

Fred Bronson, the senior chart correspondent for Billbore magazine, has published his top eleven singles of the year. The list is as below.

1. "Be Mine!," Robyn (Sweden)
2. "Push the Button," Sugababes (United Kingdom)
3. "Nine Million Bicycles," Katie Melua (United Kingdom)
4. "How to Be Invisible," Kate Bush (United Kingdom)
5. "Sunshine After the Rain," Bodies Without Organs (Sweden)
6. "Pleasant Valley Sunday," Carole King (Arizona)
7. "Reachin' for Heaven," Diana DeGarmo (Arizona)
8. "Angel," Chiara (Malta)
9. "The Ballad of Paul K," McFly (United Kingdom)
10. (tie) "If You Had My Love," Selma (Iceland) & "Cool Vibes," Vanilla Ninja (Estonia / Switzerland)

Yes, if that's a top ten then I'm a monkey's uncle, yadda, yadda, yadda. But with the exception of Katie Meluargh's tune, this is a jolly decent set, and extra kudos for including everyone's top tip Bodies Without Organs.

For what little it's worth, my top X will emerge around new year.

Festive songs rule the roost across much of Europe this week, Sarah Connor and Banaroo get all slushy in the German top ten, though thankfully not together. Schnappi is also in on the act, with a title that makes sense even if you don't speak a word of German - Jing! Jingeling! Der weihnacht. Ilona Mitrecey's inevitable festive single is top five in France. In more credible work, A-ha's second single, Birthright, is into the Norwegian top 20, but the big news comes in Sweden. Right here right now tops the listings for Agnes, I have no idea if this is a Jesus Jones cover, with Fatal Smile and Nouveau Riche also crashing into the upper reaches. Local pop idle Darin has two in the top ten, which is (sadly) only one more than the Annoying Thing.

 20  9 Shakira - Don't bother
*19 NE Sugababes - Ugly
 18 16 Katie Meluargh - Nine million bicycles
*17 NE Kelly Clarkson - Because of you
 16 15 Melanie C - First day of my life
 15 10 Star Academy V - Santiano
*14 19 Juanes - La camisa negra
 13 14 Kent - The Härta & smärta ep
 12  7 Tatu - All about us
*11 re DHT - Listen to your heart
*10 13 Mattafix - Big city life
  9 12 K T Tunstall - Suddenly I see
* 8 NE Kaiser Chiefs - Modern way
* 7  8 Arctic Monkeys - I bet you look good on the dancefloor
  6  5 Depeche Mode - Precious
  5  4 Bert Bills - Tripping
* 4  6 Black Eyed Peas - My humps
  3  3 James Blunt - You're beautiful
* 2  2 Madonna - Hung up
* 1  1 Sugababes - Push the button

In the UK, we have another best-seller, and it's not Pestside! Hurrah! Their cover version of Diana Ross's spewsome Whenyoutellmethatyouloveme (the 1991 festive number 2, fact fiends) matches the peak of the original. The other big new hit of December 1991 was the KLF's rather wonderful Justified and ancient, in which Tammy Wynette (for it was she) went on about ice cream vans. This almost links to Nizlopi's Branded digger song, which has been doing the rounds for the past six months or so, and rather cynically gets released during the annual singles sales peak.

Rather alarmingly, the Annoying Thing's latest pile of shit lands at 5, ahead of the almost-as-rubbish Bert Bills (8), and ahead of McFly's Ultraviolet / The ballad of Paul K (9). Such is the level of rubbishness in this week's chart that Pestside's last song occupies position 10. On the upside, that does mean Mariah Cantsing's Just forget about us misses the top ten. There's a silver lining to every cloud. Depeche Mode's A pain that I'm used to rather describes the situation, that's new at 15, with the England Cricket Team's raucous cover of Jerusalem landing at 19. Not out.

Someone's got to like the Subways, and No goodbyes is in at 27. Sadly, it's not a cover of the lighter-waving-tastic Dutch Eurovision entry from 2000. Water Babies have the last entry, Under the tree at 30. No real change on the albums listings, with Katie Meluargh and Will Young rising slightly.

Of course, ROPRA's charts should come with a bigger-than-usual health warning this week, as at least two of the best-sellers have been excluded from the listings. Fairytale of New Amsterdam should be comfortably inside the top 20, and Band Aid Ill's car-crash record (what did happen to Dizzy Rascal, eh?) should place around number 30. However, these records have been excluded because a new version hasn't been released this year. It's an unpublished rule, and one that makes a mockery of "the chart that counts down the records you're buying." Because it doesn't.

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posted 18 Dec 2005, 13.49 +0000

If you want to travel by train in the West Midlands to-day, bring your own. Central Trains, the soon-to-be-former train operator in the middle of the country, has cancelled every single local train in the West Midlands to-day. The company alleges that it didn't have enough drivers to provide a decent service, so it won't provide any service.

At the heart of the problem is the unusual status of Sundays. Under the Central contract, Sundays are non-contract days - drivers cannot be rostered for Sunday work unless they specifically volunteer. The unions have been pestering Central for years to make Sunday a contract day, albeit one that still attracts double-pay.

With the extensive growth in Sunday shopping, and the way it's no longer a day of rest, there's surely a demand for a near-full service to run for much of the year. In turn, that makes strong case for Central - or its successor company - taking Sunday into the regular contract negotiations, rostering drivers for some Sunday turns, and increasing the basic pay accordingly. There's a lot of merit in everyone's argument, but this is ultimately a problem caused by Central.

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posted 18 Dec 2005, 14.15 +0000

A somewhat milder and cloudier week, as warm air from the Atlantic became trapped under an area of high pressure. Turning cold again for the weekend.

12 Mo cloud                4/ 8,  0.0
13 Tu cloud                1/ 8,  0.0
14 We cloud                5/ 9,  0.0
15 Th cloud                7/12,  0.0
16 Fr sun, wind           10/12,  0.0
17 Sa sun                 -2/ 7,  0.0
18 Su sun, cloud late     -3/ 4,  0.0

30 degree heating days this week, the winter's total is up to 202. Last year's score: 160/677½. It's the first week in four that's been warmer than the corresponding week last year.

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posted 18 Dec 2005, 18.41 +0000

older writing... write to