Mar 15 The big bosses invite us in to a meeting to discuss - well, not a lot, really. Meanwhile, the email server is refusing to have any dealings with attachments, on the not entirely spurious grounds that it's swamped by files to scan and can't tell an encrypted file from a normal one. But this is less important than the management telling us what we already know.
This from Dubya: "Deep in my heart I know the man's on the run - if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not? We haven't heard from him in a long time. The idea of focusing on one person really indicates to me that people don't understand the scope of the mission. Terrorism is bigger than one person and he's a person who's now been marginalized. I don't know where he is. I just don't spend that much time on it." Well, that tells us a lot.
Mar 14 A really, really windy day. Cold and from the east and incredibly bracing. Also rather cold, which irritates, but not much. Cold is good.
The BUFFY 5 finale repeats on the BBC. Rather good. 6.11 is not; many of the major characters are invisible, and they have a scrap. While they're invisible. That makes decent radio, but crap television.
FRIENDS contains so many gratuitous mentions of the former lead singer of the Police that it's no longer funny. But a good plot about the dangers of wearing boots to impress your male friends.
Mar 13 The return of SURVIVOR, the hit show that no one watched last year. This time, it's goodbye to the lady whose idea of training was to spend days on a sun bed. As one does.
Mar 12 One of those annoying days. I'm staffing the phones for most of the day, and there's enough to keep me chained to my desk, but not enough to keep me fully occupied. And people from the field bringing in their PCs without caring to book an appointment for a repair I did three weeks ago is just plain rude.
Still, the quietness of the day does allow me to do a little research.
Six Things You Forgot About Noel Edmonds
+ LUCKY NUMBERS, a phone-in spin-off (or phone-off spin-in) from SWAP
SHOP, circa 1982. I have vague recollections of a 7pm midweek summer slot for
this show, but can't for the life of me remember how it worked.
+ The Crinkly Bottom theme parks. In Devon and Morecambe, containing all
sorts of entertaining practical jokes. Such as the boat trip departing 30
minutes before the park opened.
+ There was no sign of THE LATE LATE BREAKFAST SHOW on Zoe Ball's CLASS OF 1984.
Nor on last year's I [heart] 198x series. Has the BBC expunged this show from
its history? Indeed, whatever happened to co-host Mike Smith?
+ NOEL'S ADDICTS, where eccentric people describe their bizarre hobbies,
such as collecting vacuum cleaners. The woolly jumper asks twelve
questions of his guests, those answering ten correctly are deemed addicts.
Described in a 1992 usenet post as one of the worst British shows of recent
years.
+ A version of TELLY ADDICTS presented by Gerry (Jerry?) Stevens. UKGS has
this recorded as TELLY QUIZ, early 80s.
+ Cake.
I hear that France is still refusing to allow imports of British beef, in clear contravention of European rules. It's a slight shame that I'm not going to France this weekend, as I'd try to take some just because I can't. However, I'm not flying back to France until Air France apologies for its unspeakably abysmal service last January.
Bizarre sight of the night: The BBC World News trailing an online forum about Zimbabwe, and advertising the "text message" number. The phrase they might be looking for is SMS number. +44 7797 100 100, IIRC.
Mar 11 University Challenge
The Final, and Somerville Oxford races into a massive lead, Imperial London cuts it back to 5, but Somerville keeps its nose ahead to win the crown. Good work on both sides.
Strange New World
A BBC4 theme night looking at the rest of the world after last autumn's crimes against humanity. A long, reasoned, intelligent debate wraps up the night. Ultimately, the world is still lopsided, perhaps more now than ever before. Back then, the US has a care about what the rest of the world thinks. That fear, that check in her step, is now gone.