The Ranting Room

darqDean wrote: fandango wrote:   yes, my main problem with the BBC is that they think we have the concentration spam of a lobotomised gnat...   now concentrate :

Jim Garten wrote: Absolutely Jared - the problem we now have with politicians is they are trained to avoid questions; you can tell every time one is being interviewed, the responses given all generally revolve around the phrases: "What you have to understand is..." "Well, of course, this is not the real issue..." "It's all a matter of perception..." "I didn't know he/she/it was underage..." "Well, melons are cheap and where's the harm in using licorice...?" Fandango wrote: Radio 4 Today programme, it appears to me has also been dummed down Dumbed, surely...

One of their favourote diversionary tactics is, when asked a question, to respond with something like..

"Well, it's not for me to say, at this juncture, but what I CAN tell you, is that....Insert bullsh!t here"

I think there is a technical term, in psychology for this approach to answering questions (cant remember what it's called), wherby on the one hand you avoid answering the specific question, but proceeed to offer up something else as both compensation for not answering, and in an attempt to change the course of the questioning.

You'll no doubt recall Paxman asking the same question about 15 times to Michael Howard, and Howard not budging at all.

Jim Garten wrote: Fandango wrote: Radio 4 Today programme, it appears to me has also been dummed down Dumbed, surely...

Jim Garten wrote: AND ANOTHER THING - "Panorama" In olden days, this used to be cutting edge current affairs programming with (9 times out of 10) a Dimbleby fronting the show (FROM A STUDIO, NOT SOME CRAPPY OUTSIDE BROADCAST OR BLUE SCREEN WITH BBC/BLAKES SEVEN QUALITY CGI GRAPHICS IN BOLD PRIMARY COLOURS TO KEEP THE WOBBLING CLASSES INTERESTED IN SOMETHING OTHER THAN THEIR OBLIGATORY McWITS CHICKEN ENTRAIL IN A BAP) dispensing information in a clear and concise manner being both truly informative and interesting, thereby maintaining the BBC's remit for public information broadcasting. Nowadays, it's been reduced from an hour to 30 minutes (BECAUSE THE AFOREMENTIONED WOBBLING CLASSES HAVE GOT THE ATTENTION SPAN OF A BRAIN DAMAGED GNAT), with "cutting edge" camera effects & snap cuts to talking heads who JUST IN CASE THE WOBBLING MASSES CAN'T TELL, ARE WEARING WHITE COATS & SITTING IN FRONT OF A TEST TUBE TO PROVE THEY'RE SCIENTISTS as a result of which by the end of the half hour they now devote to their subject matter, you know absolutely nothing other than the fact you WANT TO KILL THE PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, AND ESPECIALLY THE SMUGLY GRINNING (unless it's a serious subject in which case he'll be wearing his serious face) IDIOT THEY NOW HAVE FRONTING THE BLOODY SHOW!

I think poor old Clement Freud is losing his touch though, alas.  Paul Merton is mercurial and brilliant as ever and some of the new people coming through are also very good (plus one mustn't forget Julian Clary) and strangely even Lisa Tarbuck isn't bad (I never thought I'd ever say that about her!).

That Scottish lass (Janie is it?) is great though, because she alway makes silly comments that just make me giggle.

Paul Merton is my favourite though and always will be.


Edited by Geck0 - February 07 2008 at 01:00

Geck0 wrote: Although I agree with you, Andy, I thought Horizon the week before was very good (all about Gravity) and the series called Atom is also excellent.However, they've moved The Sky at Night to BBC 3 (or is it 4?) now, which means those of us without Digital are screwed (I have access to Digital though).I also think there's some good comedy around, I know Jim doesn't like it, but The Mighty Boosh is great and there's another comedy on Thursday evenings that I also think is very good (so good, I've forgotten the name of it).Generally though, I agree, I find myself watching BBC 3 or 4 or maybe Dave, more and more now.

The Mighty Boosh is pretty cool . I've seen epsiodes on DVD, as I'm one of these types who has not embraced the digital TV age yet. I'll no doubt be the last person in the UK to switch over. The beeb have been quite cunning really, as they have increasingly put their better programmes on 3 & 4, and have dumbed down 1 & 2, in order to encourage quicker digital uptake. Thats my loony conspiracy theory anyway. I know the Hawkwind documentary was on BBC4. Can you imagine anything like that on 1 or 2??

I imagine when we've all switched over, they'll churn out the usual pap on all channels..

It's the documentary style I think I object to more than anything else; all the fast camera crap, and sound effects to dramatise the subject matter. I remember one documentary about how the twin towers collapsed, and it was presented like it was entertainment. That really p!ssed me off when I watched it.      

Blacksword wrote: Rick Wakemen made numerous appearences on the pop quiz 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks' Here he is on a Christmas special, together with commedian Bill Bailey playing intro's for the panel to guess. You'll never hear Mike Oldfield played like this.. Rick 'n' Bill

Freakin` hilarious .

The ASCII character mapped to decimal 89 is "Y" - as in "Y did you give your album such an awful title?"  

rassen'frassen'frikenfen' Amazon.co.uk!! Last year I pre-ordered Riverside's Rapid Eye Movement and then had to wait until three weeks after it had been released for it to be delivered. Now they've just dispatched Ayreon's 89 (or however you pronounce it... oh-one-oh-one-one-oh-oh-one? nargh! It's an album, not ing morse-code ! If I want lessons in binary I'd have dropped out of Uni early and become a systems analyst! Argh! I hate dumb album names, names you can't pronounce - () - what kind of name is that for heaven's sake - you think it's clever? being all intellectual and not wanting to preempt the listener's interpretation? Boocks pickled in vinegar! - it's pretentious pseudointellectual marketting twaddle nothing more, nothing less - it's worse than eponymous (ie s/t) - come on you numbties - surely creative artists can at least think of a suitable name for their own ing work or are you really that ashamed of it - why not just release it as an Alan Smithee production and be done with!) anyway. hum. I digress - they've finally dispatched it 2½ weeks after its release even-though I pre-ordered that too - what's the fing point? Surely the whole point of pre-ordering is so they can get enough stock in to dispatch them all on the release-date. I could have bought it from the high-street two weekends ago instead. Frustration? Pah!

AND ANOTHER THING -

"Panorama"

In olden days, this used to be cutting edge current affairs programming with (9 times out of 10) a Dimbleby fronting the show (FROM A STUDIO, NOT SOME CRAPPY OUTSIDE BROADCAST OR BLUE SCREEN WITH BBC/BLAKES SEVEN QUALITY CGI GRAPHICS IN BOLD PRIMARY COLOURS TO KEEP THE WOBBLING CLASSES INTERESTED IN SOMETHING OTHER THAN THEIR OBLIGATORY McWITS CHICKEN ENTRAIL IN A BAP) dispensing information in a clear and concise manner being both truly informative and interesting, thereby maintaining the BBC's remit for public information broadcasting. Nowadays, it's been reduced from an hour to 30 minutes (BECAUSE THE AFOREMENTIONED WOBBLING CLASSES HAVE GOT THE ATTENTION SPAN OF A BRAIN DAMAGED GNAT), with "cutting edge" camera effects & snap cuts to talking heads who JUST IN CASE THE WOBBLING MASSES CAN'T TELL, ARE WEARING WHITE COATS & SITTING IN FRONT OF A TEST TUBE TO PROVE THEY'RE SCIENTISTS as a result of which by the end of the half hour they now devote to their subject matter, you know absolutely nothing other than the fact you WANT TO KILL THE PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, AND ESPECIALLY THE SMUGLY GRINNING (unless it's a serious subject in which case he'll be wearing his serious face) IDIOT THEY NOW HAVE FRONTING THE BLOODY SHOW!