Counting
At lunchtime, I interviewed a very interesting guest who was part of the 1956 Hungarian uprising - about last night's events in Budapest. He was very good and the recording will feature in the programme tonight.
What you won't hear is this
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Listen to PM
Oh No! a typo on the PM blog....Do I here cries of "Here, Here!"
SB -10
Help! The blog numbering problem has resurfaced, except now it's affected Eddie!
Will we now have the half-past four headlines mid-way through the programme?
Live speeches from Tony Blair outside Number 1 Downing Street?
Where will it all end?
You're quite right. David. Or should I say quiet write. I've changed here to hear. Of course that's nothing compared to the mistake in the clip...
Eddie
This blog is starting to feel like an agony column. First, we sort out Eddie's pressing problem, then we dole out the tissues to stem his tears, and now we have to deal with his dyslexia - can't count, can't spell ......
Don't worry, we won't tell anyone Eddie.
Blog Number 3!
If this is your attempt to correct Nick Clarkes age (see Push )then it's not helping.
Now pay attention
Any more sums you need help with?
SB2
If you find yourself writing sentences like 鈥淚 know I left my wallet hear!鈥 you should note that 鈥渉ear鈥 has the word 鈥渆ar鈥 buried in it and let that remind you that it refers only to hearing and is always a verb (except when you are giving the British cheer 鈥淗ear! Hear!鈥 ). 鈥淚 left my wallet here鈥 is the correct expression.
And well done whoever - and audio clip on the blog at the first attempt!
SB4
It can't be the technology, things like this are normally user error!!
Problem between the chair & the keyboard perhaps?
I think we should draw a line under it and move on.
sb99 (well, it's worth a guess!)
Okay, so this is thread 3, and there's still an hour and a half to go before the show. What's the betting that we get to thread 5 by 5pm:) Of course, I think we'll all be going crazy trying to keep up with all the multiple conversations that we're having here...
Shame I can't hear the link in Eddies' post, but the work network blocks it:( Is is as good as it looks?
Will you be featuring "International Talk like A Pirate Day" on this evening's edition (somehow 'show' doesn't seem to be the right word)?
Tut Tut Eddie. Me thinks a touch of the Jack DeManios are beginning to creep in. What exactly did you do with your two weeks off anyway?
Oh, the sound of his voice a whole hour and bit early! Today is a much better day already...
I think you should of left it in to show the 'human side' of PM.
re 14
Balther,
Sorry, sorry, sorry but I can't hold back - this is one of my pet hates: It's "should have" not "should of". You may shorten it to "should've" in conversation, but - aaaaghhh...
You understand don't you Valery? Or have you become completely calm these days?
---------------------------------------------------
One line, for Mr Hatton.
For FF (not ot rub Eddies nose in it) Eddie refered to the 1956 uprising as being forty years ago, only to corrected by the interviewee.
Balther (14) I agree, it should stay in. After all, EM doesn't claim infallibility does he?
SB15
sb16...
Sounds good:) I'll look forward to hearing it when I get home
Give the man a break. He's still getting over his holiday/papal slipups.
Eddie, anybody can make a mistake.
Remember Ron Atkinson saying...
"I never comment on referees and I'm not going to break the habit of a lifetime for that prat".
SB16
And how clever of you Balther (14) to show your own human side into the bargain. I hope this doesn鈥檛 sound too sarcastic - it鈥檚 just my 鈥榳elcome鈥.
SB17
Steady yourself, Appy! You need to pace yourself if you're going to last all the way through the broadcast!
Aperitif
Are you being haunted by the ghost of Lynn Truss?
I know what you mean though. It's one of mine as well. Does leave open the question as to why these things bug us quite so much?
Where would humour be if one didn't occasionally dangle ones participle?
Though thank heaven we are clear of txt spk!
Appy (15) I'm with you 100% but kindness wins, so keep posting, Balther and don't worry about the grammar till Valery gets back from wherever she's gone. It's nice to have lots of new posters to keep us all awake.
Work calls .....
Hey, even I understand that one, Appy. It's like saying something is for free. That always bugs me...
btw, nice use of italics Appy:)
Hum, the latest clip does not lead itself to be a sound clip to indicate when new mail comes in, unlike the previous two. Oh well, just have to wait for the next slip.
Don't suppose Seagreen's "cross-flannel cherry" is on record, anywhere?
Been busy all afternoon, so not able to join in the fuss about grammar and spelling. Customers, who would have them?
Stephen, leader, why have you stopped linking your name?
Oh, wonderful! I've just managed to play the clip from the original blog entry. :)) Let's all club together and buy Eddie a "how to count" book for Christmas
Avast me hearties, are ye not shivering the timbers and speaking like pirates then, maties?
I've been trying to, but everyone at work thinks I'm just being particularly Cornish today. I maybe need to mention barnacles more. Mateys.
SB27
I spent ages wondering what the mistake was... d'oh!
I must say I'm impressed that throughout the whole day not one of you tried figuring out which of the PM crew were "Good" "Bad" and "Ugly".
Would've been bad form.
and Lissa - never addressed you before as normally I'd doubt you'd read this (now I suspect you might). I may have developed a new habit of getting home and turning on PM and listening to it regardless of the time. Sounds simple, and indeed it is, but that 'pull' of service rather than passive 'receive' is quite a mental hurdle to get over.
A bit like the Thames for cabbies. Nothing actually stops you, but...
SB30 (For Dr Muir, 29 + 1 = ...)
(15) I agree, which is what (20) was about.
Yes, yes, the "should of" thing gets my goat too...
and "exactly similar to..."
and "at the end of the day..." IT'S NIGHT!!!!!!!!!
and "giving away free"
and possessive apostrophes used incorrectly...
gggGGGRRRRrrrr
I need a decaff........
Ms Truss
Re my previous entry (25);
for " lead" read "lend".
Still no Valery on this blog, probably having too much fun at her networking. Internet, Ethernet, or full blown fieldbus?
Apertif, I'd love to be a grammar and spelling pedant, but my own is so erratic that I'd only be shooting myself in the foot all the time. So I have to keep quiet, otherwise someone will point out the error whatever correction I try and make.
SB32, but this is like M25 driving; suddenly you come across a traffic jam, with unexpected queues in front of you.
SB33
Well, went out, came back, realised I'd caused a rumpus by picking on Balther's grammar, Now I feel really bad because, as I said on an earlier page, it's utter hypocrisy - I often make mistakes myself. I'm happy to be corrected - I think of it as "all keeping each other right". But if I'd realisied it was from a new poster I might've managed to hold back and just say "welcome". Sorry again.
Yes Stephen Leader, why no link? - Especially after I finally got around to leaving you a comment?
Dr H. (30) for once I didn't need clarification but it was nice to have it anyway.
FFF (24) cheers!
Chris the Pickle (31), um, I believe "exactly similar" is actually proper legal parlance, although I agree it sounds clumsy in every day use.
Hello Susie (27). Are pirates always from Cornwall then? Someone ought to tell Johnny Depp. Ah, Jack Sparrow, be still my beating heart...
Full blown, John W - no question ;o)
No question either, that I am delighted to find that there are so many willing and able to keep up the good work while I'm away! It warms the cockles of my heart, so it does.
Exactly how long will it take me to read back over what's been going on today - given that I've started at the end, so to speak? Think I'll give myself a treat and save it all for the morning - it's been a long day. Nite all....
SB35
(31) and (33)
More irritating to me than the examples you give, Chris, is the frequent use of 鈥榰nique鈥 when the speaker means 鈥榰nusual鈥. None of you need to listen to the Alan Partridge tapes for the explanation about gradations of uniqueness..
SB36
The tendency to use "literally" for purposes of emphasis that actually render it ridiculous, irritates the life out of me - literally!
sb36
Aperitif @33
I fear you are being unnecessarily sensitive. If you had clicked on Balther's link, you would have seen the handiwork of a pretty well experienced inter-web constructor, unlikely to be offended by a helpful suggestion.
As to hypocrisy, verily I say unto you that if I had a mote in my eye I'd be grateful to anyone who removed it, even if she had a plank in her eye.
But that's just me.
"Shouldn't that be "I"? (The verb to be takes a complement.) And don't start a sentence with a conjuction! (Oh, bum!)"
Aperitif: (Or may I call you 'Dentures"?)
I agree about the "literally" thing. Only yesterday I was editing someone's class workbook, due to be given out to students in a couple of weeks. At the end of a list of attributes, the writer had added, "...the list is literally endless." which it patently wasn't.[*]
Sadly, the writer is on holiday so he wasn't on hand for a proper thwapping.
[*] I originally wrote "papently" there. Freudian slip?
(I used to have a Freudian slip, but it kept riding up, so I don't wear it any more.)
I have to say that this is literally an almost unique discussion about what grammar should of been used in previous posts.
Its nice to know that slipping our grammar will not be!
Go on - flame away (Am I showing my age with use of that phrase?)
SB39
Sorry about the lost link - the page didn't "remember me", and I hadn't got round to looking up the link again!
SB40
PS who was it who said:
Hmm, just did a "Preview", and lost my Contact Details again.
Is this a bug or a coincidence. Lissa, I fear this is something else to add to the why-did-I-agree-to-have-anything-to-do-with-blogs pile. Sorry
SB41 - if so three on the trot; now I had some work around here somewhere...
Stephen, Leader of Stropp,
I think it was Winston Churchill, who said it.
Stephen LoSTROP,
You are Yoda, and I claim my five pounds.
Rufus (37) Thank you. I shall settle down.
TSS Cat (38)
I'd rather you didn't. John H. beat you to it before he went on holiday anyway. But the Freudian slip thing made me laugh so I'll forgive you for the suggestion...
Stephen (39) very amusing - and yes you must be because I don't know what it means.
Stephen (40) & HH (42),
Yup, Churchill it was.
From Wikipedia quotations;
"The earliest known attribution of this to Churchill appears to be in Plain Words (1948) by Sir Ernest Gowers, who writes:
It is said that Mr. Winston Churchill once made this marginal comment against a sentence that clumsily avoided a prepositional ending: "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put". "
Also quoted as "This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put."
Simon.
Eddie - for the love of god post something and get people talking about something else!!
sigh... I don't think I've yet recovered from the Today programme this morning.
Anyone hear it? I cried, I can tell you. Truly the most moving thing I've heard in years
Nurse, pass the pills!
I would explain Flaming but there is a convinient that will be far more eloquent than I.
(or should that be "me". Where's my Truss when I need her?)
How about a couple more from Churchill;
"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?"
This one seems fairly relevant in light of the Terrorism Act and its provisions on detention;
"You might however consider whether you should not unfold as a background the great privilege of habeas corpus and trial by jury, which are the supreme protection invented by the English people for ordinary individuals against the state. The power of the Executive to cast a man in prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government, whether Nazi or Communist."
Simon.
STROPmeister (46),
Your truss (or surgical support) should be holding your hernia in. Where else would you put it?
You can get very effective surgery for hernias these days you know? Keyhole wotsit and things.
You've genderised your truss? Female too? Weird.
Ah, thank you Stephen (46). I don't think this page quite meets the definition though - everyone is pretty polite about it all. So far.
Whisht (46),
what happened? I listened from, oooh, 06:40-ish until 07:45 or so. Didn't hear anything to move me to tears, either way.
Simon.
Just been listening to the on the today program this morning.
Mrs Elizabeth Davidson read from the impact statement she wrote after the death of her daugther, Dr Margaret Davidson.
I suspect this is what whisht referred to.
Can't add to that
Stephen (52),
thanks for that. I never get to listen to anything after 08:00.
Oh how I long for the days when Cabinet members would submit themselves for ritual torment at 08:10 by Messrs. Humphreys and co. (Sighs). It brightened up my morning mood no end. Since this lot got in, there has being a dearth of that sort of thing. I guess that when you have a monstrous majority you don't need to be accountable to anyone, the electorate, parliament or the press / media.
Given the travails of HM Opposition there has been a distinct lack of accountability for the last decade. Still things are looking up. If 'New' Labour continue to languish in the public esteem then GB may join the small and elite band of Prime Ministers who never win acclamation through victory in a General Election. I know that everyone takes his ascent to the top of Labour as a foregone conclusion, but can you really see him doing well at the polls? He could be the biggest asset the Tories have at election time.
I would hazard a guess that there are many out there in PM blogland who also used to enjoy the sound and smell of some pompous twit being fried until crispy by Paxo et al?
Is it just me or are the 5pm pips getting louder? With ear pieces in, they rip your head off some nights. I turn it up to hear Charlotte and then ARGGGHHH! Tell the techies to watch their levels!
re 53
Well I don't - I really really hate the modern-day attitude of "S/he's in politics, therefore s/he's fair game". Rigourous, determined examination of the issues is vital but rudeness and prejudice turn me off. And MPs/Ministers are still more accountable than journalists.
For all that, you're right about Gordon Brown - I don't think his premiership is guaranteed and, if he does get there, he will be an easier target for the Tories than TB has ever been.
Hey, Appy:o)
I guess I'm getting a bit cynical, as I tend to feel that Cabinet Ministers are too adept at diverting discussions and Q&A sessions away from the main topic and away to "sound-bite suburb" (or SBS for short). SBS is where politics os nowadays, where a headine grabbing policy/white paper/phrase is king, and any proper discussion is avoided at all costs. One day, I'd like to sit down with a senior politician to actually have a debate with them...
Please note, I'm not saying this is true of all politicians. I realise the good work that many politicions do. I'm just cynical about the top level....
Oh what a lovely line of thought for a Wednesday eve! I think I need some of the vino collapso pronto to help:-)
Oh dear, I just re-read my post:( My excuse for really bad spelling? I'm sat downstairs trying to quadruple task (watch TV, read the blog, cook, and enjoy a glass of wine). Am I forgiven?
FF at 56 - think I'll join you. Still haven't caught up with missed blogs, and I've spent the day helping S.O. move the best part of 20 tons of crushed stone. No we did not have access to a JCB, before you ask, we did it all with shovel, wheelbarrow and stout rake. All congratulations will be received with much gratitude and a huge sense of smugness.
Sadly, more of same tomorrow.....so tonight's wine of choice is going to be a sprightly (sprightlier that we are feeling anyway!) 2002 Rioja. Yours?
Summat happening to posts again? Each time I look they've changed - eeek. More chocolate raisins immediately
SB54
Well now, of course that looks stupid, because they've come back again. Harrrumph. Last one to bed pull out the plugs please. Favourite grandmother used to insist on doing this, in spite of the fact that she had a sneaking suspicion that the electricity could leak out when there wasn't a plug in the socket, she still thought she'd rather chance that than the awful things that might happen if you left them plugged in. Goodness only knows what they were - we never dared to ask. So now you know why I'M a bit eccentric. She wore purple too come to think of it.
Also, she used to give us Worms for breakfast ( this was in the early days of All Br*n, and I was a R*ce Kr**pies addict, so was extremely chary). She really was the favourite one though. The other one (other grandmothers were available) used to bring us a bar of chocolate with boys' faces on, five of them there were. Think the general idea was that they were supposed to have different expressions, but to me they all looked s**t scared (because they were about to be eaten?)
Which reminds me, Fearless, does your sweetie shop by any chance still have C*db*rys Tiffin, because that was my all time favourite. Hence the subsequent chocolate raisin addiction - if they would just throw the odd bit of biscuits in to alternate with the raisins, I'd be in heaven.
SB60 Where was I? oh yes, off to bed
morning, V :o)
I'll ask in the shop when I next go in about the tiffin. As for the vino, it was a Cab Sav last night
If you're off to the sweet shop. I'll have a quarter of midget gems - please.
Aperi (55),
I'm in FF (56) country I'm afraid. Virtually every time you see/hear a politician interviewed they have already decided the answer they are going to give before they've heard the question. I wouldn't bother trying to count the number of times it happens in a week. Our favourite Ed-ster is one who tries to bring them back on target when they start dissembling. One of the reasons he's a good interviewer, he tries to prevent obfuscation or side-tracking.
When asked a straight question they should give a straight and accurate answer. Failure to do so makes them a target for sterner and more rigourous examination by their interviewer, a point you made yourself. It is after all the job of the latter to draw out the truth from people who may sometimes (often ?) not want to reveal it.
Do Paxo, Humphreys & colleagues really sneer when presented with a blatant untruth? Or do they just not bother concealing their scepticism at the weaselling going on in front of them? I don't think that's rudeness, still less prejudice. I think that their open and obvious reaction helps the viewer/listener to understand what is going on.
BTW, my thanks for your very kind comments on a previous thread!
Si.
Paxo DOES sneer on University Challenge though - poor chap from Girton on Monday looked like he wished he could run away, or run my whackerplate machine over Paxo (using this machine is giving me delusions of obliteration...)
FF - ta for the sweetshoptrip. Didn't even finish last night's Rioja, though it was excellent. Need to have my wits about me today (some days they are in short supply). I see we have 2 Blogs aready - "sheesh"
Valery (64),
Ahh, University Challenge, well they aren't politicians are they. Students deserve contempt. They are ill-educated parasites feasting on the body of the tax paying public, whilst consuming copious quantities of illegal drugs, drowning in booze, indulging in deviant practices and having all-night toga parties whilst NOT studying for their really useful Media Studies degrees.
Wonder if they've room for a forty-something mature student??
Guess who pays taxes and never went to Uni........
Si.
One final thought on the "do politicians obfuscate" question:
Just remember Paxo interviewing Michael Howard on Newsnight in 1997. A classic of answer-avoidance, and still funny to watch!
It's never too late Si! - 66
Come to think of it, do we really need to go to Uni to do all that? I certainly didn't have to? Media Studies hadn't been invented in "those days".
SB66
SB66
Hello,
It's been a long day and my ISP lied to me about the service being down and I was worried for a little while but, really, I knew it wasn't my laptop becaue the other PC wouldn't connect either and AAAAGGGH!....
Gosh folks, thanks for listening.
Sorry boys but cynicism is not a thing of which to be proud. "Always be sceptical; never be cynical" is my motto: Always ask the rigourous questions but don't presume the worst about someone, it reflects on the presumer and how (s)he thinks rather than vice versa. That is the biggest problem society has - being bombarded by the media (mostly owned by wealthy individuals or conglomorates with vested interests) into thinking that anyone who tries to do some good is automatically on the make and obfuscating the reality; most of the media do not speak for "ordinary" people, but spend most of their time trying to make us think that they do (I cite, for example, my earlier reference to the sinister Daily Express TV advert).
Before I say any more I must interject the acknowledgement that I've now gone completely off on one - got onto my soapbox I guess, but this is something I really feel strongly about - and I know that no-one above has expressed sentiments that I'm now going to come onto (I'm sure your generalisations about students were totally tongue-in-cheek Simon) BUT (I've started so I'll finish...) hearing people (usually men, I have to say) announce their cynicism with an air of pride just switches me off: That "I'm in the know therefore I'm intelligent" attitude just makes me think that guy is afraid to have an opinion of his own and is more concerned with how he comes across than the issue itself. Doesn't dare to step outside of his comfort zone. Wants to sound clever. Actually sounds weak: agreeing with perceived wisdom is just lazy if one hasn't explored the issue for oneself.
Yes, ministers avoid giving straight answers sometimes but, yes, journalists twist their responses and make mischief too. And many, many political journalists are failed politicans with an axe to grund themselves (I'm not for one minute including the lovely Eddie). Now this may come across as all anti-journo and that's not my intention at all, but I'm just shouting loud to balance the argument. There are crap MPs and useless Ministers just like there are people who are hopeless at whatever role they're paid for, but most are not subject to the scrutiny that senior politicians are.
I think I'd better stop - I logged on for light relief and some discussion of chocolate (Curly Wurly again tomorrow Fearless or fancy a change?) - and I could carry on all night if I let myself.
I just want to add, Simon, that I did not suggest that Paxman, Humphrys and co. are always rude and prejudiced (although some of them certainly can be at times). It was your reference to enjoying "the sound and smell of some pompous twit being fried until crispy by Paxo et al" to which I responded. As I said, I don't enjoy that: I want rigourous, reasonned questionning not point-scoring. But then, as a woman, maybe it's not so much about the ego for me. It's about who's trying to do the right things.
re 66
Yeh - one of my favurite TV moments. Hilarious and squirm-inducing all at once. And Paxman wasn't rude - just persistent. But Michael Howard isn't a great example of an MP. Michael Howard isn't a great example of anything. Except maybe how not to pronounce "people".
"peepel"!:o)
sb71
Valery P @60
If you look back this far ...
Roald Dahl (other children's books authors are available) ceated a character with a name based on mine. (I bear no grudge.) Later a chocolate confection was developed under that name as "Nutty Crunchy Surprise". The surprise being that there are no nuts. Instead, it contains a small biscuit in every "bite-sized square" and is the nearest thing I've found to my former favourite, "Tiffin".
Worth a try, if you can find it. Your memory and taste buds may have deteriorated sufficiently to make it an acceptable substitute - mine have.
Hey - thanks Wally W - I'll look out for it!