Four days ago, London turned off its analogue TV signal as part of the digital switchover. This also spelt the end for Ceefax, the television-based text service hailed by some as the precursor to the Internet. Although we still have a number of similar features available through the BBC’s red button service, it’s just not the same. It’s clean, crisp, has fancy colours and doesn’t freeze on you. It’s just not the slow and retro service of old!
A number of people have posted articles recently reminiscing about Ceefax. At a risk of coming across as being even geekier and nostalgic than normal, here are some fond Ceefax memories of my own:
Backchat
I guess this was a primitive version of Twitter. Basically, you had a bunch of teenagers who in less characters than a text message, could comment on whatever topic they wanted to. Was very informative (and bizarre at times) and also made me aware of various upcoming bands. So those who mock my tastes in music should blame Ceefax!
Bamboozle
Although this was introduced by Ceefax’s rival, Teletext, this still deserves a mention. A crude and clunky quiz page, Bamboozle was strangely addictive and in the days before Wikipedia, the ultimate source for pointless facts and useless trivia.
The weather map (see picture above)
This was truly inspired. The gaudy colour scheme, the enormous pixels, and the fact it left out the part of the South coast where I lived. Yet we were still massively reliant on Ceefax weather in my household. Given the reliability of the BBC Weather website at times, we might still be better off with this Ceefax version…
News and sport headlines
Anyone who knows me remotely well will know how obsessed I am with the BBC Sport website and my Sky Sports News mobile app. However, back in the day I relied on Ceefax to keep me posted on the latest news. I can easily remember the numbers of the main pages I used to go. 302 for football, 340 for cricket, and 360 for motorsport (as yes I know it's worrying that I still remember this)
Invision sports updates
Genius feature that posted the latest sports scores in the corner of the screen while you were watching normal telly. Helped resolve several arguments at home when I’d want to follow the cricket but when someone else in the house wanted to watch the news, Noel’s House Party or Keeping up Appearances…
Anyway, time for me to stop reminiscing. I fear that I have a lot to do to get my street cred back…
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Labour, just give us a shadow budget.
The news has recently been dominated by tit-for-tat politics, particularly over how to manage the economy. Much of the battle between Cameron and Miliband has been about who can deliver the better sound bite or one-liner, and who can provide the emptier piece of rhetoric.
The fact is that there’s very little that differentiates Labour and the Conservatives right now. Both are dominated by people from similar socio-economic and academic backgrounds, and are both chasing the same narrow band of middle class voters. Yet Labour still insist they are fundamentally different to the Conservatives without offering hard policy to show this. But there’s one simple action that Labour could take if they really want to show how different they are: produce a shadow budget.
Many of my Labour supporting friends will still maintain that Labour offers something tangibly different to the Conservatives. Speaking as someone with no real party allegiance I find this very difficult to agree with. Yes, we hear about a Labour push for shallower cuts and the increased taxation of higher earners. Nevertheless, they’ve failed to show that if elected tomorrow, they would reverse any of the fundamental elements of the Coalition’s economic policy. The following quote from Mary Ann Sieghart in the i last week provides a good summary:
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats say, “We understand your pain but there’s no alternative, and it’s going to have to get worse.” Labour says, “We understand your pain but we can only fiddle about at the edges to help you.”
That said, one move could change the whole situation – Labour giving us a shadow budget. If Labour really believes that the Coalition’s approach is wrong and that alternative tactics are better, then then why not produce something concrete (and evidence based) saying so? Labour surely has lots to gain from publishing a shadow budget? If they do it properly, they can show themselves as being economically competent, in touch with the opinions of the public, and offering a fundamentally different approach to the Coalition.
Annoyingly though, everyone knows that Labour won’t be producing a shadow budget anytime soon. There are only two reasons for this that I can think of. Firstly, Labour are playing it far too safe and are not willing to take the risk and leave themselves open to scrutiny.
More worryingly though, I think there’s a second factor at play. Labour can’t offer anything tangibly different to the Coalition and the party knows this. Because of this, they’ll make politics a competition about empty rhetoric and personality, not about policy or ideology. Then again, hasn’t politics always been like this?
The fact is that there’s very little that differentiates Labour and the Conservatives right now. Both are dominated by people from similar socio-economic and academic backgrounds, and are both chasing the same narrow band of middle class voters. Yet Labour still insist they are fundamentally different to the Conservatives without offering hard policy to show this. But there’s one simple action that Labour could take if they really want to show how different they are: produce a shadow budget.
Many of my Labour supporting friends will still maintain that Labour offers something tangibly different to the Conservatives. Speaking as someone with no real party allegiance I find this very difficult to agree with. Yes, we hear about a Labour push for shallower cuts and the increased taxation of higher earners. Nevertheless, they’ve failed to show that if elected tomorrow, they would reverse any of the fundamental elements of the Coalition’s economic policy. The following quote from Mary Ann Sieghart in the i last week provides a good summary:
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats say, “We understand your pain but there’s no alternative, and it’s going to have to get worse.” Labour says, “We understand your pain but we can only fiddle about at the edges to help you.”
That said, one move could change the whole situation – Labour giving us a shadow budget. If Labour really believes that the Coalition’s approach is wrong and that alternative tactics are better, then then why not produce something concrete (and evidence based) saying so? Labour surely has lots to gain from publishing a shadow budget? If they do it properly, they can show themselves as being economically competent, in touch with the opinions of the public, and offering a fundamentally different approach to the Coalition.
Annoyingly though, everyone knows that Labour won’t be producing a shadow budget anytime soon. There are only two reasons for this that I can think of. Firstly, Labour are playing it far too safe and are not willing to take the risk and leave themselves open to scrutiny.
More worryingly though, I think there’s a second factor at play. Labour can’t offer anything tangibly different to the Coalition and the party knows this. Because of this, they’ll make politics a competition about empty rhetoric and personality, not about policy or ideology. Then again, hasn’t politics always been like this?
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Five forgotten footballing musical hits from yesteryear
Most football songs, with the exception of World in Motion, Three Lions and possibly Vindaloo, tend to be flash in the pan hits which people forget about within a couple of weeks of their release. In no particular order, here I re-introduce Extending the Lunch Break readers to five forgotten footballing musical hits (of varying quality) from yesteryear.
1) Come on You Reds – Manchester United and Status Quo (1994)
Oddly, this is one of my earliest musical memories. I remember having really mixed feelings about this song when it first came out. I was hugely anti-Man United at the time but thought this was an amazing tune (note I was aged 7 when this was released). Would Status Quo count as an acceptable guilty pleasure?
2) Du the Dudek - The Trophy Boyz (2005)
This was written in honour of Jerzy Dudek’s performance in the 2005 Champions League Final. The song has a strange Timmy Mallett feel to it yet reached No. 37 in the UK charts. It also spurned a dance craze across UK clubs that lasted about two days.
3) Sven Sven Sven - Bell & Spurling (2001)
Only twice in my life have I ever thought that England were true world-beaters. The first was when we beat Holland 4-1 during Euro 96. The second was when we beat Germany 5-1 in 2001 which this Bell & Spurling track commemorates. Some good one liners here, as well as some very dubious ones. “Oliver Kahn. Ein, zwei, drei, vier, fünf that’s five in Ger-man...” Indeed.
I’m a big fan of this track and think it is really under-rated. Not only is it a good football track but I think it’s a good credible song regardless. That said, many have criticised my musical tastes in the past...
5) Pass and Move (It's the Liverpool Groove) - Liverpool FC & The Boot Room Boys (1996)
Nearly as criminal as the cream suits they wore at Wembley that year (see photo above), this dreadful song was released to coincide with Liverpool’s appearance at the 1996 FA Cup Final. That said, John Barnes is typically amazing on this track and just about saves the whole thing.
If anyone has any other forgotten football songs that they’d like to remind me of then I’d love to hear from you!
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