Men can’t comprehend the complex rules of television broadcasting, say women

Women everywhere were overheard this morning claming that men clearly don’t have the capacity to understand the complex broadcasting guidelines for UK programmes, and that they have no place using words on television.

Most amusing. Read the rest here.

The Autistic Me: One Year On

Last night I watched The Autistic Me: One Year On, one of a recent rash of programmes about the autistic spectrum, most of which have been pretty much OK.

It updated viewers on the fortunes of Alex, Tom and Olly, three young autistic men. Alex (pictured) is in his early 20s, has Asperger sydrome, works part-time and wants a girlfriend. He found one through internet correspondence last year, and he and Kirsty - also autistic - have developed a successful, if unconventional, long-term relationship. What is quite touching is that their absence of social inhibitions has allowed them to be authentically romantic with each other. Social protocol and embarrassment is evidently not all it is cracked up to be.

A year ago, Tom was perhaps the least likeable of the three, a surly teenager who had to stay in a residential unit when his family could no longer cope. And at the start of the update programme, he was still surly, and was distressed by his parents' recent decision to up sticks and move 300 miles to Cornwall. It is hard enough making friends when you are autistic, but having to start all over again at the age of 16 was truly daunting. However, Tom managed it, flourished through a college course in music, and is now in a band with peers who accept him for who he is.

Olly is a warm, funny and clearly very competent high-functioning autistic (and diabetic) twenty-something. Having made a huge success of a temporary job at the British Library last year, he has struggled to find employment. Olly's update was less life-affirming than the other two, and shows the appalling discrimination that autistic people face from employers. Helped by some scheme to get work, Olly did a placement with Asda, excelled at the work, and was apparently promised a job ... only for Asda to keep him waiting without any contact for months on end and then offer him only 10 hours per week. He told them to poke it.

So there you go: With the support of friends, family and education, young autistic adults can contribute massively to society and have rewarding lives. But then bosses poke in and wreck it. And government schemes that claim to help disabled people into work seem instead to pander to thsoe bosses, supplying them with free workers for a period while demanding nothing meaningful in return.

Programmes like this give me a glimpse of my son Joe's potential future. Hopes and fears.

And I couldn't help but notice the guys' mothers too! Tom's appeared to have little faith in him, and was surprised when he achieved so much with music and friends. Alex's was devoted and loving, but seemed a little clingy, saying that she didn't want him to leave home and be independent. And Olly's was supportive and content that he lives in supported independent housing nearby, so is close but independent. And I don't mean any of those comments as judgemental as they probably come across, because we all do our best and none of us are perfect parents.

Is the Recession affecting TV Adverts?

I may be imagining it, or on the other hand it may be self-evident and others may have made this observation before and with more expertise than me, but I can't help but notice two apparent developments in TV advertising since the recession started to bite:

1. There has been a return of adverts not seen for years, recycled for a 21st century audience. The Milky Bar kid has swaggered back into town, Persil is broadcasting its greatest hits, the OXO family are back round the kitchen table, and the red car and the blue car are once again racing to promote Milky Way. Perhaps the companies are saving the cash of which they are strapped by using archive ads rather than making new ones. But I suspect it is more to do with appealing to viewers' desire for security in troubled times, for reminders of "better days" even if they were not much better at all, and to show that these particular products have stood the test of time.

2. Some British TV adverts have adopted the practice of directly slagging off their rivals. Is it Morrison's telling us how many more price cuts they have than Asda, or was it Tesco dissing Sainsbury's? I can't remember, but while this sort of stuff has been standard on say, US TV, for decades, in Blighty it was always seen as rather too distasteful or impolite. Profits down, knives out, it seems.

Which all begs the questions ... Any old-time ads you'd like to see re-broadcast? Or any that you hope will never see the light of day again? And any companies you would really like to see sticking the boot into others? Comments box open ...

The bad boys did it and ran away!!

Ha ha - check this out "men blamed for financial crisis" and it isnae me that's saying it - it's a bloke.

Read it here from the BBC website

Sheridan on Celebrity Big Brother ?

Sheridan and his ego have finally succumbed to the vanity project that is Celebrity Big Brother . Perhaps he hopes to follow in the paw prints of that other great male leader of the left, Gorgeous George, one can but hope for some similar cringe worthy footage. And surely after that fiasco Sheridan can't make the argument he wants to put forward socialist ideas to a wider audience as the that is not permitted.

Nope its the money and the fame, as it seems to be with all too many supposedly principled lefties .

As I said two years ago when he turned it down :

Now ideally I would love to see Galloway and Sheridan eating bugs and wading through spider pits on I'm a celebrity get me out of here. As that's not on the cards two egos such as Hasselhoff (SB:not sure who he is in with this time, suggestions dear readers for a good line up?) and Sheridan could prove interesting .
I do hope they provide lots of full length mirrors and a tanning bed as well .



Hmmm, yep I'll go with the cheap shot picture .

Oh and no comments pertaining to court cases please, I'll delete them.

Oliver Postgate RIP

This morning I heard the sad news that yesterday, Oliver Postgate died aged 83. Oliver was the creator of much-loved kids' TV from the era when I first watched it - ie. when I was a kid - including Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, The Clangers, Bagpuss, and my personal favourite Pogles' Wood (pictured). His son Daniel is a children's author, and wrote my youngest son Harrison's current favourite book, Smelly Bill.

Amongst the many tributes that will be blogged this morning, may I be the first 1920s labour history nerd to point out that Oliver was the son of Raymond Postgate and Daisy Lansbury, both lifelong, active socialists, and therefore the grandson of George Lansbury. Which, of course, makes him the cousin of Angela Lansbury; he was born in the same year as her too. And the nephew of my personal hero Minnie Lansbury, although she died before Oliver was born. And, like all GL's descendants, quite possibly also the descendant of a Tolpuddle Martyr. George's wife, Bessie Brine, was probably - although it has never been proved for sure - the granddaughter of Tolpuddle's James Brine.

So I think we can assume that Ivor the Engine had a sup at the South Wales NUR club after finishing a good day's chuffing.

Ross and Brand: Don't Join the Hysteria

I had intended not to blog about the Jonathan Ross / Russell Brand / Andrew Sachs / Georgina Baillie saga, but since it has taken up residence on the front pages of most newspapers and featured widely in blogland, I suppose I had better join in.

First off, I think that if Ross and Brand should be sacked, then they should have been sacked long before this particular stunt. For being crap. And for demanding huge sums of money for being crap. Looked at in employment terms, this was surely a performance issue long before it was a disciplinary one. It is an absolute scandal that anyone should be paid £6m a year for doing anything at all - let alone that a public employee should be paid £6m per year for being crap when the vast majority of public employees are very good at their jobs but are being told to accept below-inflation pay rises.

Ok, so my personal view that they are crap is just that: a personal view. Sure, there should be a place in public broadcasting for people who Janine does not personally like. But I'm sure we could all think of a hundred better uses to which the BBC could have put both the millions of quid and the hours of airtime.

The Sachs incident itself? It was pathetic and out of order. Public humiliation is not a form of entertainment in my book. Picking on someone who has done nothing to deserve your broadcast bullying is barrel-scraping of an unacceptable kind.

And just because a woman dances in a group called the Satanic Sluts does not mean that her sex life is fair game for public broadcast. Those who argue that it does remind me of the detestable practice of defence lawyers introducing a woman's sexual history as some kind of mitigation to excuse her rapist.

So, would I shed a tear if Ross and Brand were sacked? Never to darken our airwaves again? No, I wouldn't. But will I join in the wave of demands for their heads on a platter? No, I won't do that either. Why?

The media coverage of this really is way, way over the top. No doubt that's partly a result of the cult of the celebrity; it's partly a result of genuine and correct objection to their behaviour. But there is a third factor too: a conservative, censorious outburst by those who think sex, swearing and irreverence are very, very naughty and think that the BBC is a haven of lefty, liberal, disrespectful progressives who must be pulled into line.

One sign of this is that there were only a handful of complaints after the broadcast itself, but tens of thousands after the front page denunciations appeared. I would always be alarmed at the prospect of being on the same side of an argument as the Daily Mail, and I will not join their side on this one. The Mail has no genuine objection to Ross' and Brand's fat-cat salaries, nor to bullying or sexism. It objects to its perception of the BBC's non-adherence to traditional values, and probably to the very existence of the BBC as a state-run broadcaster.

An outright victory for right-wing critics of Ross and Brand would mean that all sorts of broadcasters and comics would come under increasing scrutiny, not just to ensure that they stay within acceptable bounds of non-persecution of elderly actors and their granddaughters, but to ensure that they stay within bounds of behaviour acceptable to the Daily Mail. The Mail has already begun to cast its net wider using the momentum of the Ross/Brand scandal to demand censorship of broadcast material that offends its sense of 'tastefulness' and 'decency'.

We can and should condemn Ross' and Brand's broadcast, but we also have to defend comedy and broadcasting from would-be censors. The charge-sheet against Ross and Brand includes that they were 'offensive'. Indeed they were, but that is the same charge levelled by Bible-bashers against 'Jerry Springer: the Opera', and it was a cause of celebration that their attempts to suppress it failed.

Buffy to blame for mass exodus of women from the church

How did I miss this !

Great Daily Mail headline :

50,000 women abandoning church every year as Buffy the Vampire Slayer turns them on to witchcraft

Oh dear  from one superstition to new age crystally type nonsense , still lets look on the bright side :

Christian churches in England have lost at least 50,000 women from their congregations every year since 1989, says a sociologist.

Dr Kristin Aune, from the University of Derby, said many young women are put off going to church because they link it with traditional values.

She also said television icons such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who promote female empowerment, discourage women from attending services.


Dr Aune added: 'In short, women are abandoning the church. Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

There is a bit more in The Telegraph:

"Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church."

Her research, published in a new book called Women and Religion in the West, cites an English Church Census which found more than a million women worshippers have left churches since 1989.

She believes many women have been put off going to church in recent years because of the influence of feminism, which challenged the traditional Christian view of women's roles and raised their aspirations.
Her report claims they feel forced out of the church because of its "silence" about sexual desire and activity, and because of its hostility to single-parent families and unmarried couples which are now a reality for many women.


Raised aspirations, empowerment, feminism or rules made by reactionary old men in frocks?

hmmm tough one that.

Pic Tara and Willow, lesbian witches from Buffy, .

Shit telly

I've been no well and off sick from work - so been lying sleeping on the couch all day - I now want to watch a bit telly before going to sleep again and this is what is on.


1. A film about killer giant cockroaces! 2. snooker 3. poker 4.find the word phone in thing 5. urban legends.

I don't like scary things so cant watch BBC1 or Channel 5. Hate sport and gambling.

Council telly is shit. Just going to go to sleep. Nanite x

A Victory For Free Speech And Secularism

Today's excellent news is that a Christian group has failed in its efforts to prosecute Jerry Springer: The Opera for blasphemy.

I haven't actually seen it - in fact, it's gathering dust on my DVD shelf while I fully intend to watch it at some point, several friends having told me it is really very funny. But whether it's funny or not, worth watching or not, whether I've even seen it or not, is SO not the point. So it mocks Christianity? So it has the right to, and just because you don't like it does not give you the right to attempt to ban it.

Incidentally, some of the more crusading Christians do a lot more than 'mock' those who do not share their superstitions, they positively damn us to hell. Yet, my tolerant, broad-minded and pluralist self has never once popped down to the High Court to demand that some geezer in a wig ban them from issuing their fire and brimstone.

And the fact that the Daily Telegraph fears that this ruling 'weakens blasphemy law' simply warms my heart. As I was saying just the other day, in relation to Islam rather than Christianity - no bias in this blogger's desire to have all religions lose their legal privileges - there should be no such thing as 'blasphemy law'. It's archaic, irrational and censorious.

Slaying Vampires, Slaying Bosses

The fabulous Joss Whedon, creator of the best TV shows ever, Buffy and Angel, has risen even higher in my estimation by hauling his arse down to the Writers'
Guild of America's picket line (click the link and scroll down the comments to the one headed FROM THE FRONT LINES). Good on you, Joss. And go the WGA!

CSI: Sara Sidle must not leave

Nooooo! She can't leave! Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) just can't leave CSI: Las Vegas.

I have been watching CSI since its start on Channel 5 way back in 2001.

And she is one of the original cast. I like her sexy spunky feisty feminist strength, the solidarity she shows with other women and just the overall empathy she displays.

I also like Catherine Willows who is the other woman CSIer. And the fact she has got it together with Gil Grissom.

The Las Vegas series is far far superior than the other two in the franchise (New York and Miami).

But not all is lost as there seems to be a grassroots campaign orchestrated by the fans of CSI who are trying convince Jorja not to go. Don't cha just love mass action.....

Producers of the show have received 3,000 letters from pissed-off fans who don't want her to leave. And this stroppyblogger supports the campaign. Thinking of merchandise with "Sara Sidle Must Stay" emblazoned on a t-shirt. I mean, what will Grissom do and CSI won't be the same without her.

I am just sooooooh heartbroken by the news that I am in mourning for her character already (sniff, sniff). And may have to eat the rest of the chocolate cake from Waitrose to cheer myself up (sniff, sniff, sniff). Ok, any excuse to scoff the cake.....

Sexy spies are back......

Iran, peace deals, MI5, kidnappings, mercenaries, bombings, double-dealings, vaccines, explosions, stunts, biological warfare, more mercenaries ......more stunts, cuddly teddy bear and a partridge in a pear tree

Yep, series 6 of Spooks kicked off and what a spectacular opening episode. It has ditched the compact storylines and has gone all 24 where the story will be developed over the coming weeks.

Adam (coming all over Kiefer Sutherland), Harry, and Ros (who is shagging Adam) are all back having survived the final episode of the previous season and now a deadly virus is on the verge of gripping London (and the numbers of infected people is rising) where our glossy super sexy leather-clad spies have to:

1. find the man infected with the nasty

2. find a vaccine

3. find their co-spy, Zaf who has been kidnapped by some nasty mercenaries

4. who is behind this dastardly plot.....(now dear reader, lets have bets on who are the "baddies"? CIA, rogue MI5, MI6.....Denmark, the CPGB....who knows?).

Cripes! Gripping stuff. Lets hope there is some classy liberal-leftie writing from the likes of Howard Brenton (one can only hope)

And they have only a couple of hours to save the cheerleader, save the world. Well, something very much similar, you get my drift......

Jeremy Kyle: human bear baiting...

Now I have watched the Jeremy Kyle show along with Trisha when I have been at home. I am not usually picky with my telly as I watch, well, anything really. Name any crap telly programme and I have probably watched it and hey, probably liked it.

But even I am horrified by the antics of the Jeremy Kyle Show, it's depressing stuff. The programme has come under a lot of criticism lately by a judge who described it as "human bear baiting". I suppose you could describe Kyle's show as a second-rate Jerry Springer. The spectator entertainment involves either a couple where a. is shagging the neighbour and b. either knows/is suspicious and/ or wants to have a DNA test on the child. And the anti-climax part of the show is where Jeremy will be presented with the results of the DNA test. There will be the inevitable gasps from the audience, tutting from Kyle and shouting from the people on the stage.

It is the same stories repackaged (family unit scenario where mum or dad doesn't like drug pusher boyfriend. Or other titles include: "I don't like my neighbour", "Why does my boyfriend hang around with loads of women..."). One set of people are pitched against another set of people, which includes screaming, shouting and sometimes physical violence.

It has the very pungent whiff of the gladiatorial games where spectators lap up the agression and violence. What exactly is played out here is human misery for everyone to watch like some cheap voyeur. I suppose the audience can feel good by judging, moralising and making assumptions about the people on show.

The other question is, why the hell does anyone appear on this? Maybe 'cos people want to be heard and their point of view listened to? Maybe they just want to scream and shout and get whatever off their chest? Exhibitionists? Having that famous Andy Warhol 15mins? Or is it to make the viewers feel better about their lives (I thought my life was crap but theirs is a nightmare)?

It is false, highly choreographed, full of stereotypes and anti-working class. I have never ever heard of some middle class person on one of these shows.

The politics of the show has that "feeding time at the zoo" quality to it where the viewer points and watches the antics of these people. It is a cheap shot and also making cheap telly at the cost of ridiculing peoples lives. But I do wonder why anyone would put themselves through that humiliating experience.

And there's Jeremy Kyle, Master of Ceremonies, with his sneering contempt for these people. He pretends to be understanding and caring giving them tough advice but it is false, an insult to their intelligence and patronising.

Actually, I find this kinda telly pernicious and horrible. I think its politics and ideology is worse than, say, Death Proof and a lot of the tacky violent movies.

If people need help, support and guidance... ring the Samaritans. Jeremy Kyle's show is a human car crash, cheap and exploitative telly....

So Farewell, Tanya Byron

Dr Tanya Byron has announced that she is quitting parenting programmes on TV. She reckons that the genre is getting out of control, presenting a simplistic and unrealistic picture of parenting.

I have powerfully mixed feelings about these programmes. On the plus side, I think that parents need and deserve education in what we are doing, and despise the idea that it should all come naturally to us and that any kind of advice is intrusive/unnecessary/patronising etc. And I have picked up some genuinely useful tips and thinking-material from some of them.

But on the negative side, some of these programmes are horrible. I can not bear 'Supernanny' Jo Frost deriding hard-pressed parents with a nasty "What do you think you are doing?!" or a sneering "Well that's just going to make things worse, isn't it?!" Frost destroys the little confidence that parents have, presumably aiming to rebuild them in her own image.

Even worse is 'Honey, we're killing the kids', a vile format where working-class parents are made to feel like a pile of shit. There's no "Junk food is killing the kids", or "Long parental working hours are killing the kids", or "Underfunded public services are killing the kids". No, its everything blamed on mum and dad.

Tanya Byron's programmes - Little Angels and The House of Tiny Tearaways - are, I think, the best of the genre, being not as patronising or scornful as the others (though not entirely free of it). Although I might even miss her on the box, I understand her reasons for jumping ship and agree with many of her comments.

Mostly, I come away from watching parenting-TV thinking that everyone trying to raise kids should have their own personal Tanya Byron. Someone who will give them hands-on help and advice at what is one of the most difficult jobs in the world - and does so as part of public social and health services, not just because a TV channel thinks it will pull in the ratings.