Some thoughts on stuff in the media.

I hear that today is Eurovision Day. Some competitors have had to withdraw or at least submit a video of their entry because of Covid. We won’t be watching. It’s a long time since my family used to settle down to watch it together, counting up the points, and I would make a point of listening hard to songs sung in a foreign language, hoping I might be able to make out what they were singing about. 

We knew how to have fun in those days!!

I must be turning into an old grumpy grouch as I watch trailers for new shows or for box-sets of old shows, and decide that I have no interest in watching any of them. However did we manage back in the days of only two TV channels?

By the way, why do we still call series on Catch Up or Netflix or the like “box sets” ? They certainly don’t come in boxes. 

Today is very dull and grey. So far the rain has held off. The weatherman promises the chance of some sunny spells later. I’ll believe it when it happens.

The news continues to be full of the BBC scandal, aka the falsely obtained Martin Bashir interview with Princess Diana. I know the question of how honestly interviews are arranged is important but I am getting a little tired of hearing this story. Is it another distractor-factor, turning our attention away from other matters? What are they hiding from us?

Meanwhile, the Guardian has run two stories about Ed Miliband today. One is about his cycling abilities, or rather his late development of such skills. In the other he talks about the book he has just written and how he wasn’t bold enough in his bid to be PM? 

“I was bold in my analysis, but I felt at the time that I wasn’t bold in my solutions. And since then, I have felt that the prescriptions didn’t meet the analysis.” He recalls giving “a waffly answer” when one interviewer asked if his election manifesto matched the ambition of a Margaret Thatcher or a Clement Attlee. “I used to console myself with the thought: well you’re in opposition, there’s only so much you can do.”

I suppose that hesitancy explains his slowness to gain confidence on his bike. He got his balance as a 10 or 11 year old but only really started to enjoy cycling as a 50 year old. Is he claiming to be bolder now? And does this increased publicity mark a renewed bid for leadership? 

We shall see. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!