Brett-Butler

So, I guess that's Mason Greenwood out of Manchester United. Horrific.

I'll have Norway.

Lordy lordy Lordington, was there a day between April and June 2020 that Boris Johnson wasn't having a party?

I wouldn't rule out the Democratic head honchos replacing her as Vice-President before 2024, because they couldn't see her being elected in 2024 if Joe Biden doesn't make it until then.

I'm not even 100% convinced that Kamala Harris will be Vice President come 2024, let alone president.

Hilary won't stand in 2024. Neither will Trump. Or Bernie. I don't even think Biden will make it to the end of his term, either through stepping down or meeting one's maker. I'm sure both parties have at least one person aged less than 70 that they can put up instead.

Ah, of course. I should have meant the most well-known version.

Nice to see “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” in there. Really like his version of it, although I imagine it’s not as familiar as Celine Dion’s original version.

For the first time in over 20 years, a Tory MP had defected to the Labour Party - @1483768716101779459 And now to await the Twitter archeologists unmasking of some Uber-problematic thing he’s said or done.

I've been getting sponsored ads for this for the past year (and now will probably get a lot more). I'm tempted to do the Flower Route Challenge because the medal for it looks absolutely class (it's a Mondrian inspired medal, complete with moving windmill), although the expense of it is slightly off-putting.

The Southend West by-election will take place on 3 February following the murder of David Amess. As the other major parties have stood down out of the respect, the Tories will be up against candidates from UKIP, Constitution Party and an ex-Britain First member. Should be a formality that the Tories win this seat. There will also now be a by-election in Birmingham Erdington following the sudden death of Labour MP Jack Dromey, the husband of former deputy leader Harriet Harman. Labour won this seat with just over 50% of the vote, with the Conservatives second with a majority of 3,600 votes. Birmingham is strongly Labour, only 2 of the 10 seats in the city aren't held by them (Northfield & Sutton Coalfield, both Tories), although this particular seat voted over 60%+ for Brexit, so if that dividing line still exists, it could be an upset. But for now I'd predict a strong Labour hold.

Getting Eddie Izzard vibes from Lionfish. Would explain the subtitles (Izzard famously performed standup in languages other than English).

Anti-vac crank Piers Corbyn has been arrested for calling for MPs who voted for vaccine passports to have their offices burned down. Whilst I'm normally one for free speech, I don't extend it to direct calls to violent action, especially when we're barely a few months from the murder of the MP David Amess. The book should be thrown.

Absolutely chuffed that I’m currently 3rd (2nd?) in the contest. “Secrets” is perhaps the more obscure song I’ve sent into this contest, and it’s quite a niche genre too, so I’m glad it’s resonated with so many of you.

Given that I have an 100% track record of winning bets on by-elections (I've currently bet on one by-election), I'm considering extending my luck and sticking £10 on the Lib Dems winning the North Staffordshire by-election. They're currently on 2/1 to win, although they were 10/3 to win yesterday, so their odds have been shortening.

Haven’t watched it yet, but absolutely ecstatic that the ending theme is “Distant Dreamer” by Duffy, co-written by Bernard Butler. Will likely binge over the next week.

The candidates for the North Shropshire by-election on December 16th following the resignation of Owen Patterson have been announced - Independent - Suzie Akers-Smith UKIP - Andrea Allen Rejoin EU - Boris Been Bunged Reclaim - Martin Daubney Party Party - Russell Dean Heritage - James Elliot Monster Raving Loony - Alan "Howling Laud" Hope Freedom Alliance - Earl Jesse No description - Yolande Kenward Green - Duncan Kerr Liberal Democrats - Helen Morgan Conservative - Neil Hurst-Shastri Reform UK - Kirsty Walmsley Labour - Ben Wood A bumper 14 candidates at this by-election; I'm not sure why but it seems that in this parliament there's been a lot more candidates/parties willing to put themselves forward for by-elections than usual. Rejoin EU continue their quixotic quest, this time selecting a Boris Johnson impersonator as their vandidate. Martin Daubney is a former Brexit Party MEP, he's now standing for Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party for reasons known only to himself. Continuity Brexit Party is also standing, and Freedom Alliance, a party I thought would peter out once lockdown stopped is running again; presumably news of vaccine passports has spurred them on. The Tories won this seat with over 50% of the vote in 2019, but given the circumstances of Patterson's resignation, one of the other parties might think they've got a shot. Labour were 2nd in 2019 with 22% and Lib Dems 3rd on 10%

The new variant is called, in a way that is definitely not going to lead to any Abbot and Costello-esque routines, the “Nu Variant”. It appears to have already reached Israel, so wouldn’t be surprised if it’s already in the UK, even with those countries added to the Red list. I thought the UK might have been able to avoid a return to lockdown, but the odds of that are likely to increase now.

I spend £75 on 20th anniversary box set versions of "Dog Man Star" by Suede and "Screamadelica" by Primal Scream. Not sure if they were worth the price, but they do look great.

I don't think so - in fact I hope I'll be getting the Pfizer if I'm offered a booster - the AZ vaccine seems to have the greatest wane of immunity of the 3 vaccines on offer, which could have had an effect on how I ended up with Covid despite being double jabbed.

The 2 victims were white.

Tell me that’s not a Suede cover.

I'm astounded. The 1st episode of this series was good, but this one was even better. The first truly fearful Sontarians since David Tennant's era with a solid story, full of laughs throughout (with John Bishop's wok being a highlight), and features a great use of the continuing Doctor Who trope of a morally conflicted human character who acts in a way that's just as bad as the aliens he seeks to defeat. The subplot with Yaz & the Flux wasn't as engaging, although as it is part of the overall series arc I can let it slide. I don't know why Chibnall has waited until the 3rd series of his era to start getting things right, but so far I'm all for it.

It will be interesting to see if his week 1 sales will be his highest weekly sales. After all, Christmas is just around the corner.