Harry's Blog

It seems the judges, producers and contestants involved in BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing are suffering delusions of grandeur. They would have you believe that the Saturday evening entertainment show is actually a serious dance competition¹.

The fuss over John Sergeant's poor showing by the judges standards - but not the viewing audience - is utterly ridiculous. Strictly is an entertainment show and Sergeant was entertaining the crowd. The viewers - the ultimate deciders of whether they are entertained or not - clearly love the man.

But the laughably stuffy judges and so-called professionals are up in arms about other celebs being hoofed off the show instead of loveable old John. And now it seems poor Sergeant has been pressured into quitting the show. So one of the most popular members of an entertainment show's cast has been forced to quit. Well done BBC.

Strictly is purely light entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less. It's a hugely popular show with high production values that has millions of fans. That's everything it is. It should not be ashamed of it. It's not really my cup of tea but that's not really important, I'm not the show's obvious audience. But what matters is that the members of the judging panel and the professional dancers need to get a grip and realise the reality of the programme they are involved in.

It's just a bit of fun.

_{¹Which in itself would hardly be the Nobel prize or the World Cup would it?}

Oh come on, leave her alone. So the Bishop of Southwark goes batshit crazy on booze in public and keeps his job but this lass gets fired for something private.

And while I can understand why the swinging got her in trouble, I'm surprised about the drinking. Banning the clergy for getting drunk is a one way trip to running out of clergy. Mad, the lot of them.

We had a note put through the door the other day warning of a particular scam. It involved being told you had a parcel to collect and to phone a certain number, a premium rate number.

This is not a current scam, it was briefly active in 2005 and was quickly stamped on by authorities. Even when active the warning email was wrong. Yes the scam involved getting you to phone a premium rate line. But this was charged at £1.50 minute, there was no instant £15 connection charge as the warning states.

Unfortunately warnings of the scam are being spread once again. I can completely understand why helpful people would warn others of this. But please don't pass it on yourself, because it's not true anymore.

Click through from a statement regarding this scam from the premium phone line regulatory body which you should give to anyone spreading the scare story.

Governors at St Monica's High School in Prestwich have banned the anti-cervical cancer vaccine being administered to pupils at the school.

They believe that the vaccine promotes promiscuity. Because of course, most teenagers abstain from sex for fear of cancer in thirty years later. The stupidity of this position beggars belief.

Let's be clear, this is not the teaching of the Catholic Church. The church itself does not object to the vaccine against the virus that causes 70 percent of cervical cancers.

No, it is the idiotic set of governors at the school.

Are you rich enough to own a Range Rover?

Do you have enough money left over to buy what must be the very expensive registration number "M7"?

Does that mean you have the right to drive around the M25 (Heathrow area) on a Thursday afternoon while chatting on the phone?

Twat.

You know, the following is totally stupid I can't even bring myself to explain it to you in my own words. So instead here is the thing quoted.

Toddlers who say "yuck" when given flavorful foreign food may be exhibiting racist behavior, a British government-sponsored organization says.

The London-based National Children's Bureau released a 366-page guide counseling adults on recognizing racist behavior in young children, The Telegraph reported Monday.

The guide, titled Young Children and Racial Justice, warns adults that babies must also be included in the effort to eliminate racism because they have the ability to "recognize different people in their lives."

The bureau says to be aware of children who "react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying 'yuck'."

"Racist incidents among children in early years settings tend to be around name-calling, casual thoughtless comments and peer group relationships," the guide says.

Staff members are advised not to ignore racist actions and to condemn them when they occur.

I'm not going to get into the idiocy of the stuff on foreign food. But what kind backward red-headed stepchild needs a 366 page document to explain how to spot racist behaviour in children?

Source: United Press International

Heinz has bowed the pressure of 200 sad busybodies who were offended enough by the following advert to complain about it. The reason? A man kisses another man. That's it.

So it's a gay advert then? No not even that. The joke is that the family mother is replaced by a New York Deli chef. Watch the video for yourself.

Go and read this piece of nonense at the Daily Mail.

Read it?

Good.

Do you know what that image actually is? No it's not created by Al Qaeda.

It's promotional artwork from a Role Playing Game called Fallout 3.

Yes the Daily Mail should be ground into dust.

You know, I'm not entirely happy with the way this planet is being run. Sure it can be great sometimes, the beautiful sunny weather this evening is rather splendid, as is the Smirnoff Ice that's going down very well as an appetizer to tonight's pizza-based repast.

But that really doesn't make up for 22,000 killed by a typhoon in Burma. Nor does it make up for what awaits me on Sunday when I will be scattering the ashes of my late wife Lanie.

Gordon Brown is getting an awful lot of stick at the moment for the mess he's making of the whole 10p tax debacle, the credit crunch and the war in Iraq. People are calling for his resignation.

So it seems fair enough to me that we call the management of this planet to account for what's going on. How can a typhoon that kills 22,000 people happen to fall into someone's blind spot? I'm sure many will be praying for aid for the people in Burma, but it makes more sense to me to ask God what exactly he was doing that evening that was so bloody important.

That's the same question I've asked him about the day after the twins were born when Lanie was allowed to die. I'd like to know what was going on in the management of the planet on that day. We've two children that might like to know the reason one day.

Perhaps it is time for a public inquiry or even impeachment for the management. Perhaps it is time for us to remove the diplomatic immunity offered to deities for so-called "acts of God." I'd rather like some answers.

This morning sees the publication of Dr Tanya Byron's investigation into issues surrounding the protection of children from adult material in videogames and the internet. And while there are some good recommendations it already sounds a bit of a mess, because once again non-gamers have made major assumtions about those who enjoy this particular medium.

But first let's look at the reports major recommendations:

• The creation of a unified game rating system rather than the current UK dual BBFC/PEGI system.
• The creation of a website for parents where they can find our more information about online safety.
• A comprehensive public information and awareness campaign on child internet safety.
• Clear and consistent guidance for industry on how games should be advertised.
• High profile efforts to increase parents understanding of age ratings and improved parental controls.

I think the first and last items are the ones we should look at in details. Currently games a covered by an age voluntary system called PEGI which puts age recommendations and content details on game boxes. Certain games also have to be rated by the British Board of Film Classification due to their stronger content.

The practical upshot of this is that you can't buy a game in the UK without clear age guidence labelling on it. Now I do agree to some extent with Byron's report suggesting just one labelling system should be used - but I do think this is getting away from the real issue here.

The issue being the stupidity of parents.

I've watched the debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill rather aghast at the unscientific, uncharitable and anti-intellectual guff that has been spouted by various bishops over the last few days.

You would think that science was suggesting we open up the gates of Hell rather than keeping splodges of cells alive for just two weeks to help solve major illnesses and bring relief to millions. There's more life in the potatoes in your cupboard than these embryos. But there are some clerics who think these splodges have more right to life than you mother suffering from alzheimer's, your dad with Parkinsons, your friend with cancer.

I've not flown since 2006 and have no intention of doing so again. This movie shows one of the reasons why, it's from Hamburg over the weekend. Now this is one heck of a crosswind landing and the plane almost crashes.

Hello BBC News, I just wanted to let you know that ten minutes spent at the top of yesterday's 6pm bulletin on some chimney pots falling off was not news. There wasn't anything remotely newsworthy about the first third of your bulletin.

What was news were the grisly discoveries in Jersey at the children's home, or why in this age of terrorist scares the ginger tosser and his stupid friends weren't lined up against a wall and shot for climbing on the Westminster Palace roof. But we had to wait ages to hear about these issues. Because the UK had gone earth tremor crazy.

Damn right we should.

It's hard to believe that the man who brought an appreciation of art to several generations of British kids still hasn't been recognised by this nation.

So please do sign this petition (open in a new tab/window) on the Downing Street website. It's not pointless, 200 signatures are all that are needed for a minister to see the petition.

What do you think are the most important and worthy jobs for our society?

For me it is the teaching profession. I think anyone who dedicates their life to educating our children is in line for sainthood¹. The only role more important in society is being a parent and that's a curse² rather than a job.

I'd follow teachers closely with doctors and nurses. If pushed I'd add the police and other emergency services below that and one cannot ignore the sacrifices made by our armed services.

But this week it's become rather clear that the glue that holds our country together, even in this technological age, is the postman.

Did you spend most of yesterday queueing outside your local branch of Northern Rock to take out your life savings and stuff it under your mattress?

You are a fucking idiot, do you know that?

I do wonder if this country is populated by idiot sheep rather than people. All that fuss over Diana in 1997, the flipping "Where's Maddy" posters all over the place, chav mothers marching against paediatricians (sic), scousers crying and leaving flowers for a chicken embryo and now this stupid run on the bank led by fuckwitted imbeciles who clearly don't deserve there ill-gotten gains.

The same with the prat I saw on the news last night who'd sold all his Northern Rock shares at a big loss. Hello. Why not hold on to them for the inevitable takeover cash bonanza?

What the hell is wrong with you people?

I'm very tempted to open a Northern Rock account this afternoon, there's bound to be some attractive interest offered given the current situation.

Today the Conservative party announced (open in a new window) it was considering a policy to give married couples a £20 tax break.

Of course this has caused consternation across the political spectrum. Despite being a miserly amount of money the general opinion - from what I can gauge from listening to as much of the 5Live phone-in as I could stomach - is that this is an evil idea?

Why?

Well there's no such thing as an absolute good or absolute evil anymore. And daring to suggest that marriage is the most stable and loving environment for raising children is akin to announcing you're a paedophile.

Kilt wearers north of the border will now have to prove that their otter-fur sporran is made with fur from an animal that was killed humanely. More details over at BBC Online (open in a new window).

Well I never, not only are Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley working together in the new Northern Irish government, they are having a laugh together.

Over the years I've been disgusted and angered by these two men in equal measure, but today their willingness to work together has rather inspired me. Be as cynical as you like, but I think that the above could be the photo of the year, I can't help but smile looking at it.

Perhaps this is the final big step in the end of the troubles and this will really help build some bridges.

Anyway so, in a very trivial and pretty poor link, let's have some Phil Lynott (God bless you Phil) and Gary Moore to celebrate. This is Out In The Fields...

Yeah and bollocks to you Bono, you've never done anything as cool as that video.

Storm chasers Reed Timmer and Joel Taylor had a close call with a tornado on Friday in Ellis County, Oklahoma.

Timmer told CNN the wide angle lens doesn't do justice to how close the two really were to the tornado, the twister came as close as 50 yards and took a cell phone they accidentally dropped onto the road.

You can see more of Reed and Joel's videos on their tornadovideos.net page on YouTube.