An article in defence of the effects of the evolution of the English Conservative Party’s core principles in the decade after forming the 2010 coalition government.

I hope you found something useful in it.

Imagine Fantasy Island without Ricardo Montalbán and Hervé Villechaize. And the directors, writers, cast, crew…

No more:

“Our guests are arriving on time, to the second.”

Or:

“Smiles everyone!”

But more of:

“I think this is someone else’s fantasy.”

And:

“The island ain’t what you think it is.”

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Some quotes from here: https://www.moviequotesandmore.com/fantasy-island-new-quotes/

My NFL bets failed.  No shame in that.  Given the abilities of the teams surrounding the 3 QBs I’d have expected 10TDs for the weekend, but no, it simply wasn’t to be.  The summary: Garoppolo (1 passing TD on Saturday), Jackson (1 passing TD on Saturday) and Mahomes, well…

Patrick Mahomes had a frankly magnificent 5 touchdown passes yesterday.  Behind 24-0 to the Texans at the start of the 2nd quarter, and with r/Browns quite rightly having written them off, the Chiefs scored 41 unanswered points, 28 in that 2nd quarter alone, winning with a triumphal final score of 51-31!  Given such entertainment value I cannot complain about losing my stake.

It gives me no pleasure as a Cleveland Browns fan to break the news that the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens were eliminated from the playoffs in the early hours of this morning (UK time.)

/s = a tag used to indicate sarcasm

Disappointed about the bet I made for the new car fund on Thursday but hey, having a guilt-free reason to root for pretty-much any other next week will almost easily make up for it!

Trying to automatically post from this blog’s RSS feed to Reddit using the IFTTT service.

It’s not going well.

I’ve been reading ‘A Christmas Carol’, a few pages at a time not because it’s difficult (it’s not) and not because I don’t have the time (I do.) It’s because on an entirely trivial level I’m comparing it with each of the films I’ve watched over the years (and the 2019 BBC 3-parter.)

These in particular stand out:

• Scrooge (1951)
• Scrooge (1970)
• Scrooged (1988)
• The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)

There are a lot of film adaptations here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptations_of_A_Christmas_Carol

The book I decided to buy, the Penguin ‘A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings’ occupies only a quarter of the page total; I’m really looking forward to exploring the rest.

The list of annotations provides historical context, changes in language, etc., and has been efficacious a couple of times already. (Yeah, I know.)

It’s Twelfth Night – time those Christmas decorations were put away until next time. If you don’t it’s considered unlucky, but to ward it off they’ve got to stay up until Candlemas Day February 2nd. Or Easter. Or until next Christmas.

Um…

Before thinking ‘what’s a seemly time to put them up again?’ it’d probably be better to just take them down now eh?

I’m not making resolutions.

Recycling 2017’s:

I’m a Browns fan.

What will I doing over our offseason (the NFL’s centenary year playoffs)?

• Wondering where my 8-7-1 season prediction went. (We finished 6-10 and our Head Coach was just fired after losing the final game to a 1-14 team – of all teams to end a season with it had to be a loss to the Bengals.)
• Watching the playoffs. (Cheering for the Bills – our Lake Erie Bros. It’s an emotional and a logical choice; emotional because I’ll never forget their greatness in 4 consecutive Super Bowls when I first started watching the sport, logical for geographical proximity and an absence of antipathy between our franchises. (I’m undecided whether to root for the underdog or for teams who’ve beaten us – it’d only be an attempt to legitimise our losses. Don’t ask who I’m thinking of.)
• Getting more value from NFL GamePass International. (Though the live games were amazing after a long break listening to the radio, a through-the-ages Browns TV marathon might better prep me for 2020.)
• Following the inevitable roster cuts. (And hoping Jamie Gillan, ‘The Scottish Hammer’, makes it; he’s earned his place.)
• Hoping free agency brings us a dynasty, or at least some successful years. (It’ll only work if we don’t do the Browns thing and collect wayward personalities and borderline/actual criminals.)
• Hoping all who need treatment either return at 100% or have success elsewhere (just not against us!)
• Also hoping Myles Garrett’s suspension is lifted and he’s ready for next season; there’s unfinished business – sacks, pressures, dominance, not the other thing.
• Speculating on upcoming coaching staff appointments (and how effective they’re likely to be. Something tells me though that Sam Rutigliano won’t even apply for the Head Coach job. We absolutely need someone with experience in that role though, someone with proven ability too.)
• Wondering what the hell that ‘unique’ organisational thing for the Browns, mentioned before the Bengals game, actually is! (My request in Reddit’s r/Browns for ways we could go headless wasn’t at all well received; I’ve speculated that everyone thought I actually wanted it! It would be the most unique thing if it happened, not much else qualifies.)
• Living in r/Browns. (And hoping more actually read all the way through my admittedly often silly questions before commenting negatively or downvoting.)
• Awaiting the draft (even though I don’t believe we’ll find success there, though I know we need O-line I proved to myself I’m rubbish at guessing who we’ll actually take.)
• Reading more Browns history. (I started with Terry Pluto’s excellent but depressing/maddening ‘False Start: How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail’.)
• I’ve been reminded there’s still room in my life for Britball. (British American football, alongside NFL Europe’s Scottish Claymores at one point a bigger part of my life than the NFL. Yeah.)
• Wearing what Browns gear I have, often. (I’m no ambassador, I’m just this fan, you know?)
• Scouring eBay listings for clothes worn by others. (No, it’s not what you think! Or maybe it is.)

I don’t understand the hate directed at Greta Thunberg and the relentless campaign against her and the inevitability of the depletion of the finite resources our planet holds. Honestly I don’t. Neglect climate change and her concerns remain valid.

It depresses me when people use nonsensical arguments masquerading as facts (or science), attack her Aspergers, attack her parents… it’s almost as-if a 16 year old cannot be allowed to have an opinion, and must not be allowed to convert that opinion into action.

The most depressing thing, everyone with an inquiring mind can wade through the bullshit and examine the evidence behind her concerns. We’re living in what I naively thought an age in which information is so readily available there’s zero excuse for ignorance.

Oh, as for writing a book and those accusations of personally cashing in, it’s not even true.

What’s the thing that buries its head in the sand when danger approaches? That’s right, it’s a myth too.

Now, the only thing that remains to be said, do I get her book as a paperback, a hardback, or as an electronic download (that’d be for my Kindle)? I can’t share it with my daughters if it’s all-electronic, and yet…

After watching the BBC’s Christmas 2019 oddly controversial adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, I bought the paperback. It’s quite the allegory for our times this book, and for the world in which we now find ourselves.