Welcome to Luton

We returned to Luton today. To be fair, when I have been there, it was to fly from the airport. Today it was a pickup for my daughter and her friend who had travelled to Croatia for a few days. Our dog was not keen on the trip but loved seeing Eve and my daughter.

We arrived early and went into the town to get food for them. We only skirted the outside, but it was depressing. On the plus side, we have both our children at home. She is due to travel to Albania soon, taking advantage of the money she has earned over the summer holidays. 

Practical Magic

When my wife suggested watching this last night, I did not expect to enjoy the film as much as I did. It turns out neither of us have watched it. 

Films now are different to what they were back in 1998. While new ground was being broken in the mainstream with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I expected this to be more vanilla in nature, it is described as a RomCom after all. I was wrong and this reminds me that assumptions can make an arse out of me. (Yes, I know it is meant to be ass, but I am British.) I now want to watch the sequel when it comes out, but I fear that it will be hard for it to be as good as the original. 

We were top of the table

After Saturday, I was looking forwards to work today. Arsenal won on Friday. Come Saturday, I accidentally clicked on social media and saw the football scores. For those who are unaware, I prefer not to know the scores as then I watch Match of the Day with a lot more excitement. But I did, and then spent the time laughing. 

At the end of last season, with a terrible home form but the fifth best away form, I thought that Spurs would be able to do something, especially after spending so much building up this squad. They did heir best to prove me wrong. They lost and Saturday ended with the unofficial table having Arsenal top and Spurs bottom. ManUre losing was icing on the cake. 

But then Villa lost by four goals which meant that Brighton were top of the table.  I still got to laugh at work at the Spurs fans. Saying that, this is just the first weekend. Teams have yet to gel and it is unlikely that Spurs will stay so shit. But I can dream…

The Trump Deception

Donald Trump has famously switched planes leaving most to face risks while he was taken away securely.

I am going to be controversial and say it was the right thing to do. Apparently when risks were present in the past, the media were taken to safety. When I first heard about this, I thought that the reason this did not happen was due to there being a possible leak amongst them. But, moving them AND Donald Trump would have posed a risk that the deception would be discovered. 

One issue that has been raised relates to his relationship with his aide, Natalie Harp. The Democratic senator for Georgia, Jon Ossoff, in a speech told a crowd that Trump “doesn’t want to do the job” and instead “wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenceless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.” To be honest, if the insinuation is true, I do not really care who he has sex with. We know that he is a serial adulterer and what he does in private, be that with an aide or not is up to him. My issue comes from those who claim he is backed by God for being so virtuous. Or like Bill Clinton, lies. 

Racism and the media

Double standards to people who are not white in the media appears to have had fatal consequences. 

Specifically, the tragic situation with Jason Arday. Plagiarism is wrong, and should be addressed. The Newsagents have discussed this case twice and I think that they have covered it well, including discussing how white academics have been treated when they have faced the same allegations. The media have not been overtly racist with the coverage, but the question comes up of why plagiarism allegations have not been covered in the same why when white academics have been accused of plagiarism. 

However, as good as the coverage by The Newsagents has been, they ended the second of these episodes discussing the return of Harry and Meghan to the UK without addressing the double standards that they face in the media. When I say they, most of it is directed at Meghan. 

GreyFriars, Colchester

We had a lovely family meal yesterday. My son got his A level results and has decided to take a year off before heading to university.  This meal was a celebration of this, The weather was lovely we ate on the terrace. It has been a while since we have been here as a family. I walked in and also back home with our dog while the rest of the family took an Uber in. The dog liked it, until a cat came in and then I had to walk her around the area a few times until she settled.

I loved the food. The standard is back to what it was when it first opened. And we all had a good time. 

The Dublin Agreement, Brexit and possible media bias

Earlier this week, Nigel Farage was given media time without being challenged properly. In an interview about how Reform UK Ltd would deal with prison overcrowding, the topic of asylum seekers crossing the channel came up. Not one journalist asked him if he regretted the rise in crossings after Brexit due to the ending of The Dublin Agreement.

Events like this are an opportunity to hold politicians accountable for their plans and challenge them on statements which they make. It is a shame our media appear to not do so with Nigel Farage.

G Neko

I am not sure if I have posted about this restaurant before.  My wife has been here more times than I have. As a family we love it. We came here for a meal out, also to distract my son from his examination results and we were not disappointed.

It does not look as good as it is from the outside, but this place is a hidden gem in Colchester. If anyone wants to try good food from The Orient, this is a place to visit. 

Transgender sports

Some Americans have ignited “debate” about segregation in sports.  The reason I quoted debate, is because there does not seem to be much. Many people have opted for one position or another.

As I have posted before, I am considered to be transphobic because of my views, and I thought that I would clarify my position on the matter.

It should be up to each sport to decide if they want to be inclusive of transgender individuals in sports, or if they wish to ensure that segregation takes place. I honestly believe that an open category should be made available if a sporting body wishes it to allow transgender competitors to test themselves against others. But as I have posted before, there are risks to women with inclusion of trans-women in some sports, which is why sporting bodies should be allowed to make decisions and politicians should stay out of the matter. 

Work drinks

Yesterday was a work social do. Sadly not too many people turned up. My daughter, who has been working over summer came, with our dog, who was very well behaved.

When we arrived, only two others were there and while more came, the numbers were not that big. Still we had an enjoyable time. We started at The Kings Arms and before we moved on, I took the dog home, joining the others after trying to get into the wrong pub! But as they had eaten and I had not, I went to Wendy’s and joined them again. Sadly, my daughter wanted to go home while I wanted to stay and dance, which meant that I did not enjoy the night as much as I could have.

Saying that, it was a very enjoyable day/night out. It may be better attended if we do not have it over the summer holidays, or if we try something else. When I started here, there was a bowling night out which was better attended. We may need to try that again. 

The Alma

We returned to The Alma. It has changed hands and this was our second visit since then. On the plus side, it is great to see that it is busier. The food is as good as it was before, this being the best Turkish food I have had in the UK. The downside is that the service appears to be worse, one elderly waitress disparaging the food! But it is somewhere that we will return to as it is dog friendly and while the setting could be nicer, the food is good. 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

We watched this as a family yesterday. I have to say that I liked it, this despite the obvious plot holes.  It is a film I am glad I watched, and would watch again. Like Avengers Endgame, the gaping holes in the plot did not ruin the film. In fact, while the purist in me understands why The Guardian gave it three stars, I would rate it four out of five. 

But now for some of the big plot holes.  And these are spoilers.  Sorry.

The main one are the webs. Strong, powerful, how does he make them and/or research into them? 

How does he have access to his own AI without a data centre.

What does he do for money? You never see him working in the way the original Peter Parker did for the Daily Bugle. Unless he is living on the proceeds of crime that the criminals he apprehends have.

And the big one. Why collect one sister and not the other?