Brett-Butler

If this charts, it leads to the question of how many anime opening/closing themes have ever made the UK Top 40? The only ones that spring to mind are ones that became opening themes after they were released, like “Falling Down” by Oasis (Eden of The East) and Freddie Mercury’s cover of “The Great Pretender” from the anime of the same name, as well as all of those from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

This will probably be another one to add to my ever increasing file of terrible predictions, but given where Labour are in the polls, I cannot see the Tories voting for a General Election, given how many of them would lose their salary. Although if we were really living in the banter era, then the Tories would call an election next year, but the last piece of legislation they pass is to bring in PR, and end up in charge in a coalition with Reform and other smaller parties.

Pretty sure Liz & Dorries don't get on, so don't bank on it. What is a distinct possibility however, is Chancellor Rees-Mogg.

With all the misery the Tories are enduring in the opinion polls at the moment, it's interesting to note that they gained seats in two local by-elections that were held last night in Leicester & Epping Forest. In both cases, it was overwhelmingly local issues that lead to the Tory win. In Leicester, the Labour candidate was a supporter of the Hindu-nationalist party in India, which went down poorly in a ward with a largely Muslim population. In Epping Forest, the Green Party councillor lost his seat after failing to turn up to meetings for 6 months, and ran again in a straight run-off against the Tory candidate. The Tories are still down circa-net 20 local seats since the start of the year, but I'm sure they'll take any win where they can.

Rumours that Kwasi might be sacked as Chancellor today. What a few weeks we’ve had.

I shall use my swap in this round.

Christina Rees has had the Labour whip withdrawn following allegations of bullying. That’s three Labour MPs that have had the whip withdrawn in the past month, after Nick Brown and Rupa Huq.

The worst I've ever seen is Troll 2 (the film that launched a thousand memes), although it definitely has a so bad it's good quality to it. I haven't seen that many horror films that I actively dislike, but the one that I found really hard to stomach was Saw: The Final Act. Even though I know exactly what the Saw franchise is and what it entails, I found it far too bleak even by Saw's standards, and I found the fact that some of the victims were not deserving of their fates, unlike others as per the logic of the franchise, really didn't sit well with me.

Has it been categorically disproven that she's actually a Lib Dem mole yet?

MP Rupa Huq, sister of former Blue Peter star Konnie, has had the Labour whip withdrawn due to remarks make about Kwasi Kwarteng.

"Just a Day" by Feeder was originally the b-side for "Seven Days In The Sun" at the start of 2001, and was then released as a single in its own right at the end up the year, and ended up outpeaking the latter (#14 vs #12).

And if that's her DURING her honeymoon period, then who knows what it will be like when it ends.

The main one that stood out was Tim Stanley, the parliamentary sketch and leader writer of the Daily Telegraph, who was pretty scathing about it, describing it as a tax-cut for the rich.

I imagine that I follow a lot more conservative-leaning and Tory types on Twitter than the average Buzzjacker, and anecdotally I'm yet to find one that has praised this mini-budget, and quite a few have condemned it, including a fair few I never thought would ever criticize the Tories. The last few years should have killed off the argument for Cameron-era economics for good, but this acid-riddled parody has very few defenders.

It's very much feels like the first lines of a 2-year suicide note for a Tory government. There's less than nothing for those struggling at the moment. I didn't think it would take as short of a time for her to be worse than David Cameron (my least favourite of the Tory PMs since 2010), but she's done it. Now Labour just need to spend the next 18 months playing a game of "Don't be mental" and they'll have the keys to No.10 sewn up.

Very much appreciate the reference to Cashier No.9 in this week's commentary!

Think I'll stick with Bishop's Cleeve. With a name like that, I can't go wrong.

New owners for Manchester United will mean jack all if the Glazers sell it to a private equity firm like Apollo Management, as they'll do the same as them or worse - loading the company with debt with eye watering interest, asset stripping, and running it solely for extracting pounds out of its century-old reputation. That's not to say the other options, such as selling it to countries or organizations looking to white-wash their reputations, are any better. The best (realistic) hope is that it's bought over by a very rich man who genuinely loves the club, given that the best option, being owned by the supporters, is nigh-on impossible.

The BBC are once again showing games from the qualifying rounds on the iPlayer. In the Preliminary Round, they're showing the game between Marlow & Thame United. They usually tend to pick a match with a team which has some significance, in this case it seems to be because Marlow are the only club to apply to take part in every FA Cup competition since its inception.

Edwin van der Sar moving from Juventus to Fulham after they had just been promoted to the Premier League was a real shock at the time, especially as he'd been a target for Manchester United for years as a replacement for Peter Schmeichel. Although he did end up joining Man United eventually.

Spy Family has been my favourite new anime that I've watched in a long time, the first cour has been near perfect, you're in for a treat. This year has seen a lot of my favourite series from yesteryear unexpectedly getting a 2nd series. Netflix started showing the second series of Tiger & Bunny, 8 years after the most recent film and over a decade since the last series. It remains a great quasi-satirical series about what would really happen if people with superpowers were to suddenly emerge (the answer - they'd turn their adventures into a TV series, complete with corporate sponsors and merchandise). The 1st season was near perfect, so far the new series doesn't hit those heights, as the new superheroes don't hold a candle to the original ones, but it's still a good story. The even more unexpected series to get a sequel is The Devil Is A Part Timer, 9 years after the original series, and one I never expected to see in anime form. The original series is about a demon on the verge of taking over an alternative realm being unexpectedly transported to our world, where he ends up with the body of a late-teenager, and tries to take over our world in the way he thinks he can - by working in a fast food restaurant. It's a great comedy with a bizarre central conceit.

Derry City are apparently looking to lodge a bid to host Eurovision in 2023. Bless their heart.

Count me in!

I wonder if they're going to re-introduce the studio audience and walk-in intro now that filming is no longer under Covid guidelines. I wasn't a fan of those things, so hopefully they keep the format the same as the previous series.

I would disagree with some of that as of now. Whilst people traditionally get more conservative as they age, that only happens if they feel like there is something worth conserving and feel like they have a stake in the country, and giving that the % of people under 40 who are homeowners has fallen off a cliff, there is nothing to keep them anchored to conservatism. It's why it's strange that as a long-term strategy the Tories haven't invested more in building millions of new homes and ignoring the NIMBYS to allow first time buyers to finally make their way on to the property ladder by increasing stock and depressing prices, as it's the most effective way to guarantee a Tory voter for life (I'm not saying owning a house a Tory makes, but you're more likely to be a Tory if you own one). It's interesting to note that Margaret Thatcher won the plurality of 18-24s in at least one General Election, and she pursued policies that made it easier to own a home - although I whole-heartedly disagree with her most celebrated method of doing so, selling off the stock of social housing - I would prefer that social housing remains in government hands, or if Right-To-Buy must exist, then there must be a buy-one-after-selling-one policy. It's because of this that I'm pretty sure that if the Tories don't focus on house building, they will still win the next General Election, but will lose the one after it by an unprecedented landslide.