I don't think anyone found him sexy (although of course there's no accounting for taste). I wouldn't have voted for him or anything, but I did start finding him kind of adorably clueless, with all his tripping over and being dorky.

And this picture of his 'ooh biscuits' face was amazing.

I think some girls liked him in a 'cute like a puppy' way. They didn't actually fancy him.

Quote: sootyj @ 17th May 2015, 8:55 PM BST

He's got geek charm, he's sort of vulnerable and a bit helpless.

Girls like him, for the same reason they like gay guys. Looks pleasant and highly unlikely to approach them with a knobber.

But come on Salmond has a weird wee Jimmy Krankee apeal.

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What the hell are they holding?

Quote: zooo @ 17th May 2015, 9:30 PM BST

I don't think anyone found him sexy (although of course there's no accounting for taste). I wouldn't have voted for him or anything, but I did start finding him kind of adorably clueless, with all his tripping over and being dorky.

And this picture of his 'ooh biscuits' face was amazing.

I think some girls liked him in a 'cute like a puppy' way. They didn't actually fancy him.

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Lisa Thiel on Eggheads does exactly the same pout.

In fact, they could be brother and sister. It's uncanny.

Quote: zooo @ 17th May 2015, 9:30 PM BST

What the hell are they holding?

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A dildo? The Krankies are the most repulsive creatures thus side of Hell (apart from Prince Charles and the Duke of Edinburgh)

Quote: keewik @ 17th May 2015, 9:40 PM BST

A dildo? The Krankies are the most repulsive creatures thus side of Hell (apart from Prince Charles and the Duke of Edinburgh)

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Probably. I shall extract John Barrowman from that picture and give him a good wash.

Quote: zooo @ 17th May 2015, 9:30 PM BST

I don't think anyone found him sexy (although of course there's no accounting for taste). I wouldn't have voted for him or anything, but I did start finding him kind of adorably clueless, with all his tripping over and being dorky.

And this picture of his 'ooh biscuits' face was amazing.

I think some girls liked him in a 'cute like a puppy' way. They didn't actually fancy him.

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Thank you very much for adding a new term to the English language.
Someone please inform the Oxford English Dictionary.
As of now there is such a thing as an 'ooh biscuits face'. I love it.

Mind, has anyone noticed the girl immediately next to Miliband.
Is it me, or does her expression say, 'THIS GUY, wants to be prime minister?'

Quote: keewik @ 17th May 2015, 9:40 PM BST

A dildo? The Krankies are the most repulsive creatures thus side of Hell (apart from Prince Charles and the Duke of Edinburgh)

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I thought that they were typical Jocks.

Quote: Chappers @ 17th May 2015, 10:18 PM BST

I thought that they were typical Jocks.

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What a terrible thing to say about Prince Charles and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Quote: Gussie Fink Nottle @ 17th May 2015, 10:04 PM BST

Thank you very much for adding a new term to the English language.
Someone please inform the Oxford English Dictionary.
As of now there is such a thing as an 'ooh biscuits face'. I love it.

Mind, has anyone noticed the girl immediately next to Miliband.
Is it me, or does her expression say, 'THIS GUY, wants to be prime minister?'

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Yes indeed but they are in the blue (and a bit of yellow) of the Coalition. I see that fox hunting is about to be reintroduced and that Prince Harry is urging a return to compulsory national service. Those will take us to 1960. The next leap in that direction will have to jump over the Welfare State so expect a lurch to May 1946, just before the television licence, plus rationing and the rebirth of Cher.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 17th May 2015, 10:22 PM BST

Yes indeed but they are in the blue (and a bit of yellow) of the Coalition. I see that fox hunting is about to be reintroduced and that Prince Harry is urging a return to compulsory national service. Those will take us to 1960. The next leap in that direction will have to jump over the Welfare State so expect a lurch to May 1946, just before the start of the television licence, rations and the rebirth of Cher.

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Well, as far as I'm concerned they can bring back fox hunting tomorrow. (fuse lit... 3, 2, 1. Bang!)

As for Prince Harry, I laughed and laughed.
Here's a royal prince thinking everyone else's experience of the armed forces is the same as his. More so, that it's just ideal for everyone else. The man's pure genius.

As for your fears, regarding the Beeb and the TV licence. Aunty is not going to go extinct anytime soon. That said, their output is not as good as it once was (no matter how many adverts they put on telling us how fantastic they are) and so they know themselves in a vulnerable position. No doubt the new culture secretary is going to be getting out the thumb screws.
But perhaps they need a bit of that. If only to stop writing memoranda about revolving doors and instead start making some worthwhile television programmes.

Quote: Gussie Fink Nottle @ 17th May 2015, 10:31 PM BST

Well, as far as I'm concerned they can bring back fox hunting tomorrow. (fuse lit... 3, 2, 1. Bang!)

As for Prince Harry, I laughed and laughed.
Here's a royal prince thinking everyone else's experience of the armed forces is the same as his. More so, that it's just ideal for everyone else. The man's pure genius.

As for your fears, regarding the Beeb and the TV licence. Aunty is not going to go extinct anytime soon. That said, their output is not as good as it once was (no matter how many adverts they put on telling us how fantastic they are) and so they know themselves in a vulnerable position. No doubt the new culture secretary is going to be getting out the thumb screws.
But perhaps they need a bit of that. If only to stop writing memoranda about revolving doors and instead start making some worthwhile television programmes.

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Yes - fuse lit. I once had the misfortune when walking with some friends for a thing to fall out of the sky and drop immediately by my feet following some sort of bang. Next a number of sorts with guns appeared making chortle chortle noises. The fact that there were about six of them with very heavy weaponry was not enough to deter reaction and I had to be forcibly held back my fellow ramblers. As I am not tall and given both the outnumbering and the military hardware the shock on their posh faces that it was all about to kick off was an absolute delight. I felt totally vindicated in my stance of course.

Re - the BBC. He - Whittingdale - has spoken before about a gradual phasing, possibly starting with part-licence. They renege on most things so they will probably renege on that too, just ripping it up in one go. But - and both he and Cameron are probably too thick to realise it - they are in a cleft stick to a certain extent. It concerns the key role of our national public sector broadcasting which can be summed up in the phrase "London Calling". In the event of war - or IS advance into Northern France - they will need a rallying media point at which everyone doesn't just obtain information about what is happening but information managed by Government. In other words, most would need to turn to the same source - the BBC - rather than a wide variety of sources on the internet of unknown, quite possibly misleading and sinister origins which would make it much easier for the country to topple.

Removing the TV licence would remove the ability for such national cohesion and it would therefore represent the biggest threat to it since Lord Haw-Haw. And it isn't just war - they need to speak to everyone in the event of a major energy strike leading to lights out, exceptional weather conditions, famine and so on. They will do as they like. The public will come to decide they are the enemy within.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 17th May 2015, 10:35 PM BST

Yes - fuse lit. I once had the misfortune when walking with some friends and for a thing to fall out of the sky and drop immediately by my feet following some sort of bang. Next a number of sorts with guns appeared making chortle chortle noises. The fact that there were six of them with heavy weaponry was not enough to deter reaction and I had to be forcibly held back my fellow ramblers. As I am not tall and given both the outnumbering and the military hardware the shock on their posh faces that it was all about to kick off was an absolute delight.

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Well, if people want to shoot birds out of the sky or hunt bushy tailed rats across the country side, then that's perfectly alright with me.
I cannot see wherefrom people take the right to stop others from doing such things.

The above, combined with the fact that Blair banned fox hunting in order to sweeten the left of his party once Iraq turned to the proverbial, has always had me somewhat cynical about the ban.

Hard to see why the hunters should pay for the war, while the criminal who caused it is still swanning about at liberty, spreading peace in the middle east.

Meanwhile, we were at the point of you hurling yourself at six armed men. How did it end?

Quote: Gussie Fink Nottle @ 17th May 2015, 10:48 PM BST

Well, if people want to shoot birds out of the sky or hunt bushy tailed rats across the country side, then that's perfectly alright with me.
I cannot see wherefrom people take the right to stop others from doing such things.

The above, combined with the fact that Blair banned fox hunting in order to sweeten the left of his party once Iraq turned to the proverbial, has always had me somewhat cynical about the ban.

Hard to see why the hunters should pay for the war, while the criminal who caused it is still swanning about at liberty, spreading peace in the middle east.

Meanwhile, we were at the point of you hurling yourself at six armed men. How did it end?

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We continued on our way with the birds tweeting and the butterflies a-fluttering. We then had a nice meal in a rural pub. I can't recall what they did. I think they were arguing with each other behind us as to who was a big pussy for not taking me on. They weren't happy but they probably never had been.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 17th May 2015, 10:35 PM BST

Re - the BBC. He has spoken before about a gradual phasing, possibly starting with part-licence. They renege on most things so they will probably renege on that too, just ripping it up in one go. However - and Cameron and him are probably too thick to realise it - they are in a cleft stick to a certain extent. It concerns the key role of national public sector broadcasting which can be summed up in the phrase "London Calling". In the event of war - or IS advance into Northern France - they will need a rallying point at which everyone doesn't just obtain information about what is happening but information managed by Government. In other words, most would need to turn to the same source - the BBC - rather than a wide variety of sources which would make it easy for the country to topple. Removing the licence would remove the ability for such national cohesion and it would therefore represent the biggest threat to it since Lord Haw-Haw.

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Hmm. IS advancing into northern France. They and what army?

I understand what you mean that the Beeb is the broadcaster people turn to for national events.
But I still think that does not absolve from needing to produce something decent with the gazillions of pounds they get every year.

They seem to have got very comfortable. They're programming is showing little change at all. Recent years seemed to have shown this very clearly.

To persist with the broadcasting of property porn during a recession, in which tens of thousands were losing their homes, was the height of tastelessness and revealed them to be utterly devoid of new ideas.

So much as I see the new culture secretary as a creature of Thatcher and Murdoch, I welcome a little pressure on the Beeb.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 17th May 2015, 11:04 PM BST

We continued on our way with the birds tweeting and the butterflies a-fluttering. We then had a nice meal in a rural pub. I can't recall what they did. I think they were arguing with each other behind us as to who was a pussy for not taking me on. They weren't at all happy but they probably never had been.

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'Birds tweeting and butterflies a-fluttering'?
I think I've just invented a new sport: Gatling gun bird blasting.
Just pull the trigger and mow them feathered critters out of the sky. You can't eat 'em after that, but it would be nice to see it snowing feathers.

As an added bonus, it would p*ss off some ramblers something awful.

Quote: Gussie Fink Nottle @ 17th May 2015, 11:13 PM BST

Hmm. IS advancing into northern France. They and what army?

I understand what you mean that the Beeb is the broadcaster people turn to for national events.
But I still think that does not absolve from needing to produce something decent with the gazillions of pounds they get every year.

They seem to have got very comfortable. They're programming is showing little change at all. Recent years seemed to have shown this very clearly.

To persist with the broadcasting of property porn during a recession, in which tens of thousands were losing their homes, was the height of tastelessness and revealed them to be utterly devoid of new ideas.

So much as I see the new culture secretary as a creature of Thatcher and Murdoch, I welcome a little pressure on the Beeb.

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So that's the critique done then. What are your specific proposals? Television and radio. Let's start with a bit of context. The new Culture Secretary is the sort of toff who sounds like he would be for Bach and Handel but enjoys Deep Purple and Franz Ferdinand. Genuinely. For all of my appreciation of pop and rock music I see that as a disturbingly faulty starting position. His head is in the wrong place.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 17th May 2015, 11:20 PM BST

So that's the critique done then. What are your specific proposals? Television and radio. Let's start with a bit of context. The new Culture Secretary is the sort of toff who sounds like he would be for Bach and Handel but enjoys Deep Purple and Franz Ferdinand. Genuinely. For all of my appreciation of pop and rock music I see that as a disturbingly faulty starting position.

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So, I'm now supposed to propose the entire programme for a multi-channel broadcaster with tens of thousands of staff? Here and now?
Is that reasonable?

That's the equivalent of my denying your right to criticise the Tories on the basis that you haven't published a fully costed manifesto of your own. (and no, please don't.)

In general I would suggest that they must review their programme formats. I'm not one who's against format TV in general. (Many culture snobs don't realise that all television is format TV.)
But - the formats must change once in a while. Most of their formats are at least a decade old.
Their comedy panel shows are a perfect example. But they are hardly the only such example.

Furthermore, there is a desperate need for greater variety.
I don't mind a programme on antiques. But Antiques Roadshow, Flog it, Bargain Hunt, etc, etc? Meanwhile, several celebrity and other versions of the very same?
The problem is self-evident.

For all their claims of innovation, there just isn't any. One has got rather lazy. Too much money and too little accountability.

--

Well, I don't mind people sounding like toffs. I simply mind a bunch of people who've all been to the same school at the same time running the whole country.
But I can't really see why liking Deep Purple and being posh means one's head is in the wrong place.

--

Meanwhile, just to clarify my animal rights position.
As I have pointed out in another thread, I grew up in Zurich.
The local dish attributed to Zurich is rosti with chopped veal on a white sauce.
Oh, and their local Bratwurst also has veal in it. Yum, yum.