Hassaan

Without being massively all over it, I feel Starmer is getting some unfair flack. Perhaps his speech today wasn't very positive, but he's still having to clean up the mess made by the previous government. That's going to take time.

Forgive me if there's a thread like this already. I'm talking songs that shot up the charts directly after usage in a TV show or film. I was wondering if I should include artists who performed on things like X Factor, but usually artists performed on there in the week of release anyway. Birdy's Wings reached the top 10 thanks to being used in the Lloyds TSB advert. Both "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls and "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman reached the top 5 in 2011 after covers on X Factor and Britain's Got Talent respectively. Running Up that Hill is a more recent example.

I'm glad what was looking like prolonged unrest has pretty much entirely died down, with the focus now being on the arrests. It's barely been two weeks but it feels like some fever dream.

They've just announced on their Instagram that they're back.

I still find it weird that Ed Sheeran brings up these visceral reactions though. I tend to not post in threads about artists I don't like, but maybe I'm just weird.

He can if he wants to. Same with Taylor.

Yeah the holiday thing would be a weak thing to attack him for. If he was in power it'd be different but if he was doing what he needed to do even while there, then fine. There seemed to be no fuss in Birmingham today, so I think the riots are over now.

I'm guessing the thinking is to warm up the schedule, so to speak. Audiences will be out of the habit of tuning in on Saturday nights. I think they intend to use Alan Carr's Picture Slam into Strictly. Let's not forget that they used to start The X Factor in mid August for a while!

Seeing as so many of them wept in court (as they say), I think the former. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if many fell into the latter.

From what I can find: 1950s - 1,253,000 (Sep 2017) - Paul Anka: Diana 1960s - 1,524,000 (Sep 2017) - Ken Dodd: Tears 1970s - 1,234,000 (Sep 2017) - Art Garfunkel: Bright Eyes 1980s - 1,965,000 (Jun 2019) - Stevie Wonder: I Just Called to Say I Love You 1990s - 4,951,000 (Sep 2017) - Elton John: Something About the Way You Look Tonight / Candle in the Wind 1997 2000s - 2,000,000 (Aug 2021) - Will Young: Evergreen / Anything Is Possible 2010s - 3,600,000 (Jan 2023) - Pharrell Williams: Happy

I'm planning to meet up with a friend in Birmingham on Sunday when it'll be potentially 27 degrees. We're obviously planning to see how we feel on the day, but I really hope they're bored by then.

It would have been a full year, would it not? Autumn Variations was released last autumn.

It is heartening to see far right protesters massively outnumbered.

I think Starmer's been in an unenviable position myself. I think his messaging has been good, but I think it became quickly apparent that it needed to be something more proactive. But they're learning. I doubt anyone actually expected it to get this bad.

Farage knows exactly what he's doing. Not sure what their end goal is, apart from stopping people from being able to go about their lives safely.

Yesterday's proposed riot turning out to be a hoax was somewhat hopeful, but that doesn't mean I'd want anyone to get complacent. I'm seeing lots of stuff about counter protests but I'd almost prefer people didn't bother with those, and just let the police take care of it. I do feel (and hope) that the worst of it has passed. I'm meeting someone in Birmingham City Centre on Sunday and even though I'll be with them, I don't want this to worry about.

You'd be hard pressed to find any decent people who don't condemn rioters on all sides. At this stage, I don't even care what the reason is, it concerns me that I'm seeing posts from individuals asking if it's even safe to go outside at the moment. It shouldn't be like that.

It seemed okay for a while, but they slashed a car's tyres and ended up in Yardley where they attacked a man in a beer garden. This is one of those things I should really switch off from but my fear seems to have taken over.

Sadly the one near me ended up descending into violence. I don't know if there were police about. About 400 arrests since the riots began last week as per BBC News.

I mean I'm glad that there are counter protests but I wish it would all stop.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. I don't know if I'm confused, sad or angry anymore. I just hope they get chased out. Police are aware of it though, it sounds, so hopefully it is properly dealt with.

I spoke too soon. My dad's been forwarded a screen grab from some group chat planning a riot today on my road. The police are aware of it and my GP has sent a text telling everyone to stay indoors. They're closing early.

At least so far today there hasn't been any unrest. I fear that something will kick off later though.

It feels like they're afraid of calling it what it is because they're afraid of Farage and his ilk taking exception to the idea that they are "far right", but I think they would do that anyway. I'm not sure I buy the "legitimate concerns" thing. How does setting a building on fire help?

I had a moment earlier where I did feel fearful, like what could happen if I went outside etc. I've never had this feeling before because they've tended to be isolated incidents that are one day here and there, not five days in a row. There's already been, what, a few hundred people arrested? It's clearly not been enough of a deterrent though.