Now we are 25

...and I'm in a thoroughly pro-European mood.

Let battle commence!

Seven by-elections this week, and it's strong backing for the Conservatives. They take two seats in the Ribble Valley, scene of a famed LD parliamentary win in 1991. Good week for the Tories over all comers, the Libs still take votes from Labour.

Averaged out over the last eight weeks, we're now looking at an election that will see Peter Snow having kittens. The best guess: Labour will fall short of an overall majority by one seat. It is not possible to have a closer election, surely.

0000 CET tonight

BBC1: Waffle with Jonathan Woss
BBC2: Late Night Arts Show
ITV: Crimefighters
C4: Bo Selector
C5: Sole Survivor.

Coverage of the expansion of the EU's enlargement: nil.

Thank %deity% for TV5 and Euronews.

Classy FM

WQXR, the classical music radio station of The New York Times, and ABC Radio Networks are exploring the creation of a nationally distributed classical radio network. The potential new programming, produced by WQXR (96.3 FM in New York, New York), would be intended for a national audience and for markets without commercial classical stations. Tom Bartunek, the general manager of WQXR, said, "Many classical listeners have been disenfranchised, and the current economics of local radio ownership make it difficult for middle- and small-market stations to establish the format on their own." The new service is to start early in 2005.

Interesting. So, while the UK has had a national classical radio station since 1946, and a commercial rival since 1992, the colonials over the water have no national programming? Indeed, we reckon there are but four commercial all-classical stations in the entire country - the others in Washington, Virginia; Dallas, Texas; and San Fransisco, Arizona West.

Do catch up over there. And if we can send Simon Bates over to your show, do get on with it.

History repeating

September 2001, Munich. Germany : England 1:5.
April 2004, Bucharest. Romania : Germany 5:1. So, finals for Germany it is, and (presumably) revenge over Latvia.

Elsewhere, Sri Lanka overcomes Zimbabwe C 5-0, the last match being won by a "mere" 25 runs.

Was it good for you?

A mist of goodwill, wellbeing and lazy relaxation temporarily obscures reality.

Getting a bit silly now

England 1, West Indies 0, Rain 3. So far, we had a 30-over-a-side match, then 15 overs of one match, and two utter washouts. Anyone would think they were playing in England or something.

Thank you, and goodbye

Easterblogg, it's been fun knowing you.

A note from the head of Westminster College, in one of the rebel provinces

I would like to thank each and every one of you who were so courteous and respectful to Mr Cheney during his visit and speech. Frankly, I must admit that I was surprised and disappointed that Mr Cheney chose to step off the high ground and resort to Kerry-bashing for a large portion of his speech. The content and tone of his speech was not provided to us prior to the event -- we had only been told the speech would be about foreign policy, including issues in Iraq. Nevertheless, I was extremely proud of the students, staff, and faculty who represented the College so well during the organization of the visit and during the speech itself -- inside and outside of the gym.

Yet Another Cockup From David Plunkett

The extreme right-wing interior minister launched his new pet project today, by signing up 10,000 innocent people to carry his "secure" "unforgeable" identity cards. In Birmingham, a small experiment showed the cards are worse than useless. Given 17 cards from 17 students, and asked to return them to the correct owner, a security guard managed to match just 7 (seven), making ten (10) mistaikes.

Local news

European indoor athletics championships 2007? See you there ... Civilian motorway officers launch onto the region's roads ... And the 62 year old who cured a parking problem by spraying paint stripper on offending cars is fined £2,500. Don't try this sort of civil disobedience at home, people, you don't want to ruin your own decorations.

SMS Made The Radio Star

Good article in A Demi Grauniad about how SMS has reinvented radio (Free-as-in-beer registration required.) Radio playing the stuff its listeners want to hear? Shome mishtake, shurely.

You read it here first.

Last Tuesday, here:

So, early 2006 is the first possible date.

Today's Indescribablylarge:

Tony Blair has been warned that a referendum on the new European constitution will have to be held off at least until 2006.

Do keep up at the back.

Seventeen. Good score

The winter cricket season is limping to an end, with yesterday's second ODI between England and the Windies falling victim to rain after barely an hour. There's no cricket in Harare, either, as a politically-selected XI (including exactly one token white) are skittled out for the grand non-total of 35. Thirty five. Even England aren't that bad!

It is, of course, the lowest one-day total in international history, beating (or worseing) Canada's 36 in last year's World Cup. There have been but four other scores below 50: Zimbabwe's 38 in Colombo a couple of years ago, Pakistan's 43 in a triangular tournament in Cape Town in 1993, Canada's 45 in the 1979 World Cup, and Namibia's 45 in the contest last year. We note that Sri Lanka has been responsible for all three dismissals under 40 - their record low is 55 in the 1987 World Cup, while England's never been dismissed for less than 93.

Even Better than Het Grauniad's Cockups and Conundrumns Supplement

Brad de Long shares some of his favourite newspaper corrections. For instance:

Yesterday, the Times identified a man on page A21 as a Ku Klux Klan member found guilty of murdering a black sharecropper. Actually, the man was Pete Coors, head of Coors Brewing Company, and a Republican candidate for the US Senate. Coors is not in the Ku Klux Klan, and did not murder a black sharecropper. The Times regrets the error.

As it always does. Have you seen a good newspreap correctnio lately? Do let us know.

This week's real charts

On the real CDs list, Anastacia remains top for week 4, holding off Prince's first top ten entry since 1995; Musicology bows at 2. Eamon's album storms from 19-3, Snow Patrol move 6-4, pushing Rasmus and Diana Krall down. Agnetha Faltskog pushes My Colouring Book in at 7, beating the peak of 1983's "Wrap Your Arms Around Me." Who Killed the Zutons? asks the newie at 8, while Katie Melua's 3-9 drop puts her out of the top five for the first time since new year. In the UK, Jessica Simpson is a very minor act, known mainly for her comedy show, and her In This Skin album bows at a respectable 21, four places ahead of uncommercial punks Fear Factory (Archetype is the album, freaks.) Drowning Pool enters at 37 with Desensitized, while discounting allows Simply Red to re-enter at 22, and pushes Busted's debut (26-24) ahead of their follow-up (21-28). Goldfrapp's tour with Duran Duran pushes their album back in at 38. Good call.

On the singles sales volume, two weeks on top for Eamon, two weeks in runner-up for D12. Maroon 5 have a bigger hit than anyone expected, This Love lands at 3, even though I'm getting bored of the track through saturation radio play. Marillion bows at 7, You're Gone is the group's first hit of any description since summer 1995, and their biggest since 1987's "Incommunicado" peaked at 6. The group's fourth top tenner follows a concerted campaign by their fanbase, the same fans who funded their 2000 release over the internet.

No such story behind Matinee, a Muruch Pick Of The Week, and perhaps even better than "Take Me Out." It's in at 8. Eurovision entry James Fox storms in at 13 with Hold On To Our Love - it's the first time the UK entry's been available before the contest in five years, and we've not had a bigger hit since. James becomes the third Star Academy 2 graduate to have a top 20 hit, but he needs to go top 5 to equal the performance of SA1.

I also like the Bees' Wash In The Rain, and thoroughly love Breed 77's The River - a piece of atmospheric guitar music we don't do so well here. Record of the week. An honorary mention for Phoenix - the French band storm in at the dizzy heights of 66 with Run Run Run, one place behind the sublime "If I Ever Feel Better" managed three years ago. Re-release it! Now!

older writing...