Colchester comedy

My wife and I went out to watch live comedy in Colchester. It has been a while since we have done so, the Mercury Theatre hosting it in their Studio. Last time, we sat right at the front. The same happened again as my wife, when asked what seats she wanted, picked them. Being at the front was not too bad, we were only asked a few questions. What freaked me out was saying my age when asked (though I later changed it to 35 as another man my age said that when asked) but also that the couple behind us were both aged 25, this also being the number of years my wife and I have been married! The picture is from the comedian who hosted it, though if you click on the links, you will see that he took two photos that night.

We both enjoyed it, though we disagreed about which act we preferred, and if this was a better night or not than the previous night we had been out. But it was good to do something different and I need to make more of an effort to ensure that our life has a bit more variety in it. I do hope that the last lady enjoys her caravan stay in Clacton. She will find out why we laughed when she said she was off there after the show! 

The greenest government never

Yesterday the government decided to lengthen the time that our nation is dependent on fossil fuels. 

It has seen how the inability of Starmer to tackle issues such as ULEZ will win votes, and it has decided to put the long term health of our nation at risk for short-term political gain.

Part of the reason that so many people experienced hardship trying to heat homes was the cost of gas, which is partly due to the sanctions imposed on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The longer we are dependent on fossil fuels, the more power dictators like Putin and the rulers of the Gulf States have over us.

Action to insulate homes where possible is needed. We need new houses to have solar panels and heat pumps installed instead of boilers. While many say that heat pumps do not work, Scandinavian countries are using them more and more.

British Volt, a company making electric batteries collapsed earlier this year. The government got TATA to invest to build electric batteries. And now, they have decided that we should delay the move away from petrol cars. 

The government have sold this move by making up things that we were never to do. Even if they were to happen, they have been in power since 2010 so only one party would be responsible for this. When it comes to taxes on meat, we have seen how food prices shot up in the last year. I can understand why the government do not want more taxes on flying considering how they fly short distances or use what are in essence private jets for other journeys. It would open them up to charges of hypocrisy. We recycle in our house, we do not have seven different bins to do so. Car sharing should be encouraged, not made compulsory (and I see people do this at my work to pay less on fuel), and the expensive insulation upgrades should be subsidised to help reduce fuel costs.

The government have made immigration an issue by not acting to process asylum applications quickly. They have made issues like gender identity a greater issue than it need be. And now climate is to be the next battle. They have placed a lot of clear green water between them and Labour, and this is a battle they will lose so long as Labour does not fight them on their terms. 

Goats

Making a film out of a book is a challenge.  There ar enuances that you can put in a book, that is hard to put up on screen.  An example of films which were not as good as the books are, surpisingly to many, the Harry Potter books.  Do not get me wrong, the films were amazing, but the books just had so much in them which the films had to leave out.

Goats appears to have been such a film.  Apparently, the book was quite good.  The film, I would say, is average.  It is intersting, but overall, thi sis a film I was glad to watch at home.  There is no real hook into it, and despite some good actors in it, the film is quite bland.  I enjoyed parts, I would not recommend this to others to watch.  Not unless there was nothing else to watch instead.  

The return of Liz Truss

It was amusing to watch a Liz Truss parody video yesterday where the message being spoken was hard to split from the message that Liz Truss has actually said. 

As noted yesterday, I did have issues with the podcast of Rory Steward saying sneakers instead of trainers and elevator instead of lift. But it did provide a reminder of what Liz Truss was like.  I had forgotten the Prime Minister who will be famous in pub quizzes for some time to come.  It was a reminder of how she had been working towards being leader with the photo's that she had taken of her on many occasions. 

I guess it is a compliment to Rishi Sunak that politics has become normal and that parody and reality are now distinguishable. At least until the issue of her resignation honours comes up again.

Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart is an interesting chap.  One of my friends told me ages ago to listen to the podcast The Rest is Politics with Alastair Campbell.  Now I am walking the dog, I have started to do so (though I also listen to The Newsagents).  Recently, he has been more active, probably because of his book.  But I do like listening to his perspective on things.  I disagree with him, as does Alastair Campbell, on so many issues, but it is great to hear a right wing view on matters which is not distorted by political spin and lies.   

I was shocked when listening to an episode of The Rest is Politics to hear that he used the words sneaker and elevator rather than trainers and lift.  

Today, I have listened to him being interviewed by Ash Sarkar on Novara Media.  I think that both were great on the interview.  I especially like they disagreed agreeably.  If you have time, it is worth listening to.  I am not too sure about how Novara Media have commented on the feedback about the interview, but their interpretation of this is also worth listening to, though obviously, very biased.

For the record, even though Jeremy Corbyn is not anti-Semitic, he was expelled for his comments from Labour for his comments on the EHRC report on this.  And while many say #ItWasAScam, it was not. Corbyn could have avoided all this by instituting the findings of the Chakrabarti Inquiry. 

Visiting Millwall

We went to London today. I did not realise that we were going to where Millwall play their home games. If I had, I would not have worn my classic Arsenal top, my Arsenal hoodie and my Arsenal backpack. 

But before I discuss that, the kids. My son went to his first party in years. He was meant to come back for ten, but he rang us asking if he could stay for a sleepover. We agreed and come the morning he was very grateful, for again, this was something which has not happened in years either. My daughter also went to a party, which was a memorable one for her.

Anyway, back to today. For those who are not aware, Millwall are a team whose fans are hated throughout the league. They have a deserved reputation for violence and racism and being around their ground in the colours of a rival was not the best thing. But the day was enjoyable. I stayed out of sight of the fans as they left their ground in the wet after losing to Leeds.  We had travelled to London with friends who drove us, for good food, and we had this as well as their excellent company. It was a great day and we are trying to work out when our next day is to be. 

I got to watch the first half of the Arsenal game, but missed the goal. I will be watching highlights later tonight. It was great to win, especially as we have not done too well before against Everton in recent games.

Russell Brand

My second Russell post this week. Everyone deserves to be considered innocent until proven guilty.  Russell Brand deserves the same. Accusations are being made and normally, I would not post about this. However, one of the accusations is that Brand, aged 31, had a sexual relationship with a 16 year old schoolgirl. As seen with Prince Andrew, in the UK, this is completely legal, the issues in Dispatches and The Times relate to the accusations she has made. But having such a relationship, with such an age gap does being about concerns. It is not just the age gap, it is the power dynamic. 

People are complaining that he has not been given a chance to clear his name, but he has that chance. In 2018, Dan Wooten wrote story about Johnny Depp calling him a wife beater which was published by The Sun. Depp sued Wootton and NGN for libel, stating that he wanted to clear his name and alleging that Heard had not only lied about the abuse but had in fact abused him. In their defence, NGN and Wootton alleged fourteen incidents of domestic abuse committed by Depp. During the highly publicised trial, both Heard and Depp testified in person. He lost.  

Russell Brand can try to clear his name in court by taking Dispatches and The Times to court to do the same. An issue overlooked by many. I actually hope that he does, if he is innocent.