Auntie's Jamaica Inn Fiasco

I am hugely gemused to see Auntie squirming on the ropes over the Jamaica Inn fiasco, wherein the actors have mumbled their lines so appallingly that millions of viewers have given up trying to watch the series as they cannot hear/understand what the hell is being said.

Initially Auntie blamed technical aspects of the recording, which she claimed she would fix. However, Auntie has finally been forced to come clean and admit that it's down to the actors mumbling their lines and the directors simply not manning up to them to tell them to act better!

Ben Stephenson, the head of drama commissioning, is quoted by the Telegraph:

“I think actors being clear is one part of it.

My understanding of the complaints about Jamaica Inn was more complex than that, so I think it’s probably not right to single out that, but clearly we want actors to speak clearly. 

Of course we want them to give brilliant performances and you’ve got to respect that, but if no one can understand what they’re saying, then there’s a problem.” 

No shit!?

This farce highlights one of the many problems with Auntie, namely that she looks after her own interests and those of her "staff" before those of her "customers" (ie the licence fee payers).

Joke of the day:

I took my wife to the West Indies on holiday.

Jamaica?

No, she went of her own accord.

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Nanny Bans Holidays

I have been gemused to see our "respected" politicians bleating and whining over the last few months over the "disgrace" of parents taking their kids out of school during term time for a holiday (somewhat ironic given how many weeks off per annum MPs award themselves).

The MPs, following "logic" that only people who are totally disconnected from reality can employ, bemoan the fact that holidays are more expensive during the school holiday season than when kids are safely incarcerated in one of Nanny's schools.

Here is a reality check for Nanny, that's known as market forces!

During term time the demand for holidays is less than during school breaks, hence the holiday companies etc charge less during this period in order to drum up demand.

Sigh, if only Nanny had the slightest inclination of how the real world operates!

Anyhoo, as befitting one of Nanny's many bees in her bonnet, she won't let the matter rest as Center Parcs have found to their cost.

Step forward Nanny's chums from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), who have banned a Center Parcs TV advert.

For why?

ASA deem it to be irresponsible.

For why?

It allegedly "encourages" parents to take their kids out of school during term time.

Promoting midweek breaks, the advert showed parents and school-aged children, with small print stating that the offer "excludes school holidays".

How many people complained about the advert?

TWO! (doubtless a couple of Nanny's stooges)

Based on that veritable flood of complaints, ASA has banned the advert.

As per the BBC, ASA said:

"We considered the emphasis of the ad was on a family break and that the overall impression was that families could take advantage of the advertised offer, which was not available at weekends or during school holidays.

We also noted the final on-screen text stated 'Your family. Your time', which we considered was likely to be an encouragement for parents to take up the offer.

Because the ad had focused on a family break to promote an offer which was available only during term time, we concluded it irresponsibly encouraged parents to take their children out of school."

The ruling is utter bollocks, and shows ASA to be totally out of touch with reality:

 

1 Parents have every right, subject to commonsense and discussion with the school etc, to take their kids out of school for a few days.

 

2 Not everyone going to Center Parcs brings kids with them.

 

3 Market forces dictate that holidays are more expensive during periods of peak demand.

 

4 Center Parcs is perfectly at liberty to advertise and price their products in anyway they see fit, subject to the usual rules of honesty and decency etc.

 

ASA is farking demented!

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Prizes For All

Research carried out by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and cricketing charity Chance to Shine highlights the danger that Britain risks losing its competitive edge because a generation of children is no longer interested in winning on the sporting field.

Figures show the majority of children are not bothered if the competitive element is removed from football, cricket, rugby and hockey fixtures, saying playing for fun or being with friends is more important.

It seems that Nanny's mantra of "prizes for all" in schools over the last few decades has eroded children's competitive spirit. 

Chris McGovern, a former head teacher and chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, is quoited by the Telegraph:

"Children are instinctively competitive but there's a culture in a large number of state-maintained schools that takes this away to make sure everyone gets a fair crack. 

It's sinister and will result in many children not realising their full potential. That's not the case in our private schools which is why the Olympics squad and the cricket team are full of people who were privately-educated." 

In my humble and biased opinion there is a danger of overemphasising the importance of sport wrt building competitiveness. I for one loathed all forms of sport at school, and never gave a flying fig about winning or losing. That being said I was competitive when it came to the less physically demanding exams (eg maths, physics etc).

The issue is not so much about whether schools encourage sport or not, but whether they proactively discourage competition in both physical and cerebral activities.

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Happy Easter!

 

Have it large this Easter!

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Merry Easter!

My thanks to a loyal reader who pointed me to a particularly daft piece of eco Nanny nonsense, emanating from Porthtowan Cornwall.

In January, for reasons best known to themselves, the local council decided to plant 100 discarded Christmas trees on the beach.

For why?

In Nanny's opinion these trees would help build a defence against the waves and the ongoing erosion of the beach. Nanny expected the trees to end up being covered in sand.

Can you guess what happened next children?

Yes, that's right, the trees died and are now sticking up on the beach (not covered in sand) forming a mini petrified forest.

The Porthtowan Dunes Community Group say the plan has failed, leaving the battered and weather-beaten Christmas trees sticking out of the sand.

Thus as we approach Eater the beach looks absurd.

Locals who want to dig the trees up have been threatened with legal action by the council.

A letter from countryside officer Jolyon Sharpe warned members of the Porthtowan Beach Management Group they could face legal action if they pushed ahead.

As per the Mail it read:

"If the group feel that it is appropriate to act independently of Cornwall Council it will have to consider its options regarding taking action to prevent such unauthorised interference and any appropriate recompense. 

I would sincerely hope that we can work together to ensure the most appropriate outcome for this area and that the Council will not have to resort to such a response."

Cornwall Councillor Joyce Duffin said:

"I can't comment if the trees are or are not working, though I think they are trapping some of the sand.

They would need to have permission [to remove the trees] because it's council land."

Ironically were householders to have dumped their trees on the beach they would have been fined for fly tipping.

Merry Easter everyone!


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The Joy of Drinking

Alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems!

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Industrial CCTV - Ker Farking Ching!

 

As I have noted many times before on this site, councils are reluctant to face budgetary reality; ie they refuse to cut their coat according to their cloth.

Instead they use us as passive "milch cows", taxing and fining us to the brink of bankruptcy.

Fines are a favoured means to extracting money as Brandon Lewis, the local government minister, has noted. He has drawn attention to the fact that councils are using CCTV to issue motorists with parking fines on an “industrial” scale.

Big Brother Watch  has found growing numbers of local authorities are using the cameras to monitor parking offences and other traffic contraventions, in the five years to the end of March 2013 drivers have been fined at least £312M because of these cameras.

At least 36 local authorities across England and Wales are using static CCTV cameras and at least 58 are using cameras mounted on cars.

Lewis is quoted by the Telegraph in response to the report:

“It is clear that CCTV is being used to raise money in industrial volumes for town halls, breaking the constitutional principle that fines should not be used as a source of revenue.

Unreasonable parking charges and fines push up hard-working people’s cost of living.

If parking is too expensive or difficult, shoppers will drive to out of town supermarkets or just shop online, undermining the vitality of town centres and leading to ‘ghost town’ high streets.

That’s why the Government intends to clampdown on this clear abuse and misuse of parking CCTV.”

Emma Carr, deputy director of Big Brother Watch, said:

“The fact that no councils publish proper statistics about how these cameras are used highlights that many know that their CCTV operation is about raising money, not about public safety.

The Government rightly wants to reign in this unjustified surveillance, so councils are turning to desperate arguments about public safety to justify their cameras, despite having absolutely no evidence to back up their claims.

The use of CCTV and spy cars for parking enforcement should be banned.”

Peter Box, chairman of the Local Government Association’s economy and transport board, pooh poohs the suggestion the CCTV is being used to raise revenue:

“It is frustratingly familiar to hear Big Brother Watch again peddling the myth that councils are enforcing parking regulations just to raise money.

Road safety campaigners, schools, disability and pedestrian charities and councils have all come together to warn the Government that banning CCTV parking enforcement will put school children and disabled pedestrians at risk and worsen road safety.” 

Well, he would say that wouldn't he?

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BMI Is Bollox

I was gemused to see recently that our local pharmacy has installed a combined weighing/BMI calculating machine that charges the hapless punter 50p a pop.

This is all very well if BMI (Body Mass Index) actually meant anything. However, as we all know, it is a meaningless and useless measure.

Step forward Anita Albrecht, who finished sixth in Miss Galaxy Universe 2012, who was recently told by an NHS nurse at the Harold Hill Health Centre to lose weight and exercise more. She was told to consume a paltry 1,000 calories a day!

For why?

Ms Albrecht's BMI was 29, this is classified as "overweight".

Ms Albrecht quite rightly, was less than impressed and told the Mirror:

"She insulted me by making assumptions about my lifestyle without asking me.

She said you are obviously eating too much.

She put me on scales and clearly I'm a lot heavier than other women of my height because I'm a bodybuilder."

To add insult to injury she was told to cut out alcohol and fruit juices that she doesn't drink.

"All of these were assumptions made and, quite frankly, they angered me," she added.

I felt insulted, was made to feel as though I was overweight, over eating and I felt a knock in my confidence."

Surely one ounce of commonsense could have told the nurse that Ms Albrecht was of a greater muscle density than the average person?

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