Saturday, January 31, 2015

The best drama - where nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all

Last night we watched our favourite episode of The Thick of It, Armando Ianucci's savage political satire. It was the hour long special Spinners and Losers, where the action opens with chaos in the government following the resignation of the prime minister and ends with everything exactly the same. 

Through the night there are comings and goings, characters reveal themselves, loyalties shift, there's lots of swearing and we learn about "Motherwell Rules". But essentially absolutely nothing happens. No one dies, no one resigns and certainly no one gets a pint glass in the eye (though Julius Nicholson gets some cheese chucked at him).
My youngest son is doing more and more story writing at the moment. We talked about the old techniques like "suddenly a man with a gun walked through a door" but it is a remarkable skill to just go round in a circle li this.
My favourite Tintin book does something similar, The Castafiore Emerald. It is a masterful journey through the skills and temperaments of Tintin and Captain Haddock. It makes pointed observations about prejudice and motive, but in the end we end up where we started. 

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Campaigning for our NHS in Hazel Grove. Against TTIP and...





Campaigning for our NHS in Hazel Grove. Against TTIP and creeping privatisation.




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These figures show George Osborne has broken his promise to balance the books by this year and national debt is still rising - Chris Leslie

These figures show George Osborne has broken his promise to balance the books by this year and national debt is still rising - Chris Leslie:

labourpress:



Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to today’s public sector finance figures, said:


“These figures show George Osborne has broken his promise to balance the books by this year and national debt is still rising.


“His failure on the deficit is because…





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Final chance for Government to ensure fracking regime is safe and sustainable – Flint and Greatrex

Final chance for Government to ensure fracking regime is safe and sustainable – Flint and Greatrex:

labourpress:



Labour has tabled an amendment to prevent fracking in the UK unless 13 outstanding loopholes in the regulation are closed. Labour first set out its conditions for fracking to take place in March 2012, but the Government has repeatedly sidelined genuine and legitimate concerns, ignoring gaps in the…





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