QT was remarkable in that I mostly agreed with David Starkey, even though he was somewhat hyperbolic. The Everyone Loves Vince thing continued (even on This Week where the party got a celebrity endorsement -YAY! ... from Janet Street-Porter -Oh dear) and the Tory was a complete non-entity, so I was fairly happy with it.

This Week went Star Trek MAD (Huzzah!) even to the extent of putting Quentin Twat (and his beer belly) in a Spock outfit (he SO should have been a nameless Redshirt) but Lord, David Gest, Janet Street-Porter AND Quentin Twat in the same show? That's got to be illegal under the Geneva Conventions, surely?

I have had much gin, and am down to 54 unread emails...

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I LOVE watching the body language on Question Time! Best bit of the show in years? Watching the looks that flitted across the faces of Doctor Twinkletoes and Ken Clarke as Fern Brittan sat between them being ditzy about the economy. Vince and Ken clearly respect each other, though, even if they don't necessarily agree on everything.

Tessa Jowell is a canny operator, too, and got an acknowledging eyebrow raise from Vince for quoting him. Shame she talks such shite...

Piss Moron is being a complete and utter arse and I want to slap him. Sarah Teather is doing OK, though... But GOD THE MAN IS SO SLAPPABLE.

Anyway, in order to distract me from the annoyance that is Moron, I watched this video that ms_ntropy posted...


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

And damn, but it made me cry. Once you've let someone get married, especially if they have been waiting decades to do so, it is SO cruel and heartless to declare that invalid. I can't understand why anyone would do it.

I was a bit traumatised just now by George Osbourne making a good point on Question Time, but then the Lib Dem Lady made an even better point, and got such a huge round of applause that Dimbledore struggled to make himself heard. So that's all right then.

ETA: oh, and she just did it again. Hurrah!

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If you needed a reason to choose AQA over 118118, aside from the many many tests showing that AQA is far more accurate and useful, how about this?

FWIW, Metro printed a picture of the phone on which you could just make out one of the jokes, which was

Q: what's the difference between ET and an Indian?
A: ET took the hint and went home

Now, I admit, my memory of ET is not that great because I haven't seen it since I was much younger, but this isn't just racist but lazily inaccurate about films... OK, that was an easy jab, but I honestly can't believe that some pleb working for 118118 thought that this was an appropriate answer to send!

And as for the spokesman's comment that obviously, certain sections of the community might find this offensive bordering on racist in itself. I note that although this appeared in the print edition, it has been excised from the website...

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Seems fairly accurate.

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Anecdotal evidence = journalism the Graun will pay for. Do you want definitive proof that girls are crap at science and don't want to do it? Don't click here. Unity discusses it on Lib Con too. There seems to be a prevailing wind that gender segregated science lessons are the way forward. I wouldn't have minded that at school myself, if I could have opted to go in the boys class. Unfortunately, I suspect that i would have been forced into the girls' class, and my male-learning-style brain would have suffered as a result.

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Via Robert Llewellyn's Twitter: New Dwarf is being filmed in January! YAY!

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I looked at the sociosexual test I referred to earlier. I reckon my score is somewhere in the late fifties...

Roy Hattersley is on; I hope you've all got brollies! And Baroness Warsi... Oh dear. Reactions edited in as they happen...

( Question Time )

Main conclusions? Alex Salmond is bloody good; why aren't we in coalition with him again? And Dimbledore's tie is awesome.

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( This Week )

Conclusions: not a vintage episode, but I've seen worse.

I have less than no money. Several of my friends are having crises (special hugs for theoldcatlady and missdiane). And lets not forget that we're all doomed and the world is going to hell in a handcart. And yet...

This morning I feel incredibly peaceful, happy, and contented. I had a really good time last night; I had a good night's sleep; I have a wonderful fiancé; and I am lounging naked in bed with my laptop and a bowl of cereal, listening to the awesome Sandi Toksvig on the news quiz. Life really doesn't get much better than moments like this.

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Various people have been talking about the fact that Andrew Neil is being rumoured as a replacement for Dimbledore on Question Time. My personal feeling is that Neil's style is better suited to the more informal format of the stuff he already does, and he wouldn't fit with QT. Neil is irreverent, but rambly. This is grand on This Week, when you're winding down from QT, but I don't think QT needs Blue Nun jokes. QT needs someone with the presence to control an unruly panel and a frequently unruly crowd, as well as a quick, sharp wit.

* eyes radio *

Hmm, I wonder...

Poll #1280876 Question Time
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Who would make the best Question Time Presenter?

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Via andrewducker, Rape Crisis Scotland has an excellent series of adverts aimed at the very things several of us have been discussing of late: This is not an Invitation to Rape Me. More adverts like this, please, and less of the victim-blamey kind.

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Via mooism, it's not often someone who uses racist language warms my heart, but this little gem from 538 made me smile:

So a canvasser goes to a woman's door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she's planning to vote for. She isn't sure, has to ask her husband who she's voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, "We're votin' for the n***er!"

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: "We're voting for the n***er."

Bless 'em.

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The Torygraph is continuing its Vince is better than George meme. They say it like they are trying to jolly George along, mind, but the fact that they are saying it at all, is interesting to say the least.

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The government is continuing it's stupid anti-immigration schtick, despite the fact that immigration is a net benefit and all the studies show it. Why do they have to PANDER to Paul Dacre and all his little minions, instead of showing them they are wrong? Fuckwits.

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Hilarious article on Con Hom about how to beat Lib Dems in elections. Among the dirty tricks we stand accused of engaging in are being seen as working hard for their neighbours, joining residents associations and other community groups and being honest - people know what they are getting when they vote Lib Dem - oh NOES!!

There ARE some useful campaign tips for any politician in there, though. So here's another dirty trick - read those Tory tips, inwardly digest, and use, my Lib Dem brethren and sistren ;)

... And disabled my feed of theyorkshergob. And the reaction of the twitterati to this injustice?

Some spammers do post less than you...

Which I suppose is true. And here I am, posting again, just to prove them right.

Hey ho.

Poll #1275640 Question Time
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Is there any point in watching Question Time if one can't blog it because one's blog feed is disabled?

ETA: OK, OK, am going to watch QT. But I'm taking the gin with me.

The best thing about Question Time tonight was the way everyone listened in rapt, reverent attention to every syllable that fell from the twinkle-toed messiah's lips.

The second best thing was Dimbledore's face when Blears urgently grabbed his arm.

The third best thing was the start of the campaign to get Blears into number 10.

Meanwhile, This Week is shaping up to be a classic already and we're only a couple of minutes in. Oh Andrew, you SHIPPER! Sadly, the rest of my thoughts on the matter will be relegated to twitter, because my laptop battery is nearly gone and I can't be arsed going to get the cable from upstairs...

Firstly, I would like to wish you all a very happy St Boniface's Day. I'm not religious in any way, but I'd like to raise a small glass of Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby to the patron saint of brewers. I'm in full agreement with el_staplador; St Boniface was British, and is patron saint of a very British profession, and would be far more appropriate than that Palestinian/Turk who almost certainly never set foot in this country as our Patron saint.

Secondly, I am, as is my wont on a Thursday Evening, watching Question Time. My major reactions so far?

1, I am so disappointed that Douglas Hurd doesn't have his Mr Whippy hair any more, and I was pleased to see Dimbledore skewer him on Mugabe's knighthood - it's a rather pleasing and unusual sensation to see Dimbledore skewering a Tory, and rather makes up for him being a human shield for Hoon last week

2, Vince: YAY!

3, Shami Chakrabarti: phwooor! I would!

It's very rare that I feel sorry for Geoff Hoon, but tonight is one of those times. He is getting a proper hammering from the rest of the panel and the audience, bless him.

ETA: Oh FOR FUCK'S SAKE the nuclear family is NOT a panacea, and knife crime is not the fault of single mothers!!

So, QT is on. Ming is talking. And my attention is completely elsewhere... This may or may not be due to Mister Mat making omelette and chips for supper behind me. I are droolin'...

Anyhoo, QT. There's Ming the Merciless Retired Glorious Leader; Boris Johnson's sister; Tarzan (who Mat tells me isn't a proper conservative because he actually bought furniture, instead of inheriting Chippendale from his family); some Labour twat and Piss Moron. The only one who has vaguely piqued any interest is Tarzan.

Oh, I'm so jaded... But why can't Ming be interesting? I know he's old hat, but he's a good politician, with good ideas, and I agree with him on lots of things... so why does he have such a soporific effect on me? Poor old Ming.

Blah. My heart isn't in this entry. My fiancé is making my omelette and chips, in his apron, and I can't concentrate. James Purnell is talking bollocks about cannabis now, and I don't want to try and concentrate on that. Service will resume, probably, for This Week in a bit.

Ashes to Ashes: Who'd have thought the old Ray had it in him? Am fast finding this series to be better than its predecessor.
QT: ILU Vince. You rule. And clearly the people of Newcastle agree with me. Also, Alan Duncan is in the wrong party, and Dimbledore skewering Ruth Kelly was wonderous. Was very pleasantly surprised that when the death penalty came up the only speaker in favour was the questioner, and when a guy in the audience said that they shouldn't have hanged Saddam he got a round of applause.
This Week: Peter Hitchens was totally right about the branding of the Tories being soiled, but he was wrong about what they need to do to change that, and he was wrong that it's irreversible.

Didn't see the rest of it. Daughter dramatically worse. Good vibes appreciated.

Via tyrell, though, a .gif that puts everything in perspective:

( cut for your loading pleasure )

ETA: another comforting thing, which the above reminded me of:

Melanie Philips and Saida Warsi on the same panel? Is this some kind of dystopian nightmare?

Still, Clive James is doing OK, even against the noisy and annoying bishop.

OK, who is this dude, and what the hell has he done with Oliver Letwin? Not only has he, as an arch-Conservative, confessed to atheism; not only has he made points about education that I completely agree with; but he has made points about a referendum on the EU treaty that I think were very sound, and made a joke that made me laugh?

The world has truly gone mad.

Blah blah blah Diana... FFS, I'm agreeing with Kirsty AllSoppy. Grargh.

And why do I watch this show when Blears is on? She is completely incapable of answering a question straight. I hate her I hate her I hate her. I hate her because she gives women a bad name, I hate her because she makes people associate a Northern accent with insincerity, but most of all, I hate her because she makes me agree with Piss Moron.

FABULOUS Episode of This Week this week, which more than made up for the rather dull Question Time beforehand.

- Michael and Diane playfully slapping each other and using the word "affection" to describe how they feel about each other
- Lots of Doctor Whoness (yay for Doctor Who's birthday!)
- Michael, Diane, AND Andrew all fangirling Vince Cable ♥
- John Barrowman coming out as a Michael and Diane shipper... (oh yes, staceyuk, you might want to watch the watch again on the website for twinkly-eyed Barrowmanness)

... What? You think I watch this show for political analysis? LOL

There was only one greasy fly in the very fluffy and lovely ointment, and that was Quentin Twat. Although even he was fangirling Vince Cable... Anyhoo, since it appears they aren't going to stop using Quentin Twat and his overblown and unsubtle impression of Mark Mardell on an off day, can we not get someone to assassinate him? Please?

I'm not going to go into who said what in detail (if you want to know, you can read an "as it happened" commentary by Mister Mat with interjections from me here), but I will say this: Huhne impressed me, personally, far more than Clegg. He was passionate, his jokes were better, he made sense, he didn't repeat the same soundbite three times... Also when Clegg said he wished he had a lady to contest with he just sounded sleazy, not inclusive. I physically cringed at that point. So, yes, Huhne much less awful in my view. Therefore, if the Lib Dems want to get more votes they should go for Clegg. Because I suck at backing winners. And, you know, pretty face woo voters.

And now, because I am female, I shall squee over my ship of choice and not comment on any of the substantive issues raised on This Week. Rather like the lady sipping champagne and talking about Gordon Brown's choice of clothing. Because we women aren't capable of concentrating on issues rather than clothes and haircuts...

* ducks, anticipating the enraged charge of the innerbrat *

Anyway! YAY for Michael and Diane shippiness! It was great. Although I shall be sleep-deprived tonight because I shall be waking screaming from nightmares about Andrew Neil's Cap'n Bird's Eye impression.