15/10/18: BBC - Broadcasting Blunder Classic and Kanye's Double Whammy

Intro

Week 9. I don't really know what to put in this weeks intro, nothing amazing's happened. Imagine this is some kind of funny anecdote or something like that.

TV



Ever hear the term stop the presses? Well, it turns out the BBC really likes it. So much so, it thought it would give it a try.

On Wednesday, the broadcasting giant was forced to show pre-recorded footage due to 'technical issues', as stated by the BBC's PR team on twitter. It is thought the issue involves the software on which the BBC runs it's shows.

It is also believed that the BBC World service suffered similar issues but was able to broadcast as normal, as a backup system was in place.

For the most part the footage on show seemed to be normal if a little familiar, until one take a glance at the upper right of the screen where could be seen a little message that read 'recorded'. However, the footage was only an hour old so to many it would still be new.

Still, I think it's pretty apt that in the age of fake news, the news isn't new.
(Source: The Independent)


Culture




Now, this is something that fits my remit of the weird and funny, but is close to me for once.
The annual Lincoln Sausage Festival was held on Saturday but with a notable absence.

Mr Sausage, the festival's beloved mascot has retired for a year and many were distraught at the news. One Mascot maniac tweeted (read this without laughing, I dare you) "This has left a deep, deep sausage sized pit in my stomach. Goodnight sweet prince". I was there on the day and a number of people said they felt "devastated" by the news.

There were calls to find a temporary replacement for the Mascot, but according to the organizers, "nobody has reached the high standard set by Mr Sausage". This comes after last year's festival when the famed banger was a apparently looking a little worse for wear. 

However, all is not lost. Mr Sausage is set to return for the 2019 festival, and he won't be alone. Apparently, He has taken the year off in order to get married to his long time girlfriend Miss Sausage, and there are talks that by 2020 there could be a little chipolata.

Hopefully she can make an honest snag out of him. Hot Dog!
(Source: LincolnshireLive, the Linconite)


Art



Remember last week, when that Banksy painting shredded itself mid auction and all the art buffs' faces were priceless? well it seems the woman who won the bid has decide to keep the prolific piece of art.

The details of this story are in last weeks post but as a quick recap: Banksy's famous Girl With Red Balloon was at auction in Sotheby's, when as the hammer went down, a shredder hidden within the frame was remotely activated, thus partially destroying the piece.

However, where many would have simply gone home and cried at the lost, the woman who placed the winning bid saw things from a different angle, saying "I began to realise I would end up with my own piece of art history".

The piece has now been given a new name, Love Is in the Bin, and art critics have been suggesting that Banksy tried to make a statement with this latest stunt about children growing up too fast, but personally I just think it's quite funny.
(Source: the Guardian)


Politics



Kanye West. One of the biggest names in music and in truth, politics as well. Recently, West has been all over the news sparking the ires of critics everywhere with the erratic nature of his actions.

In just the music infosphere, he made waves when he abruptly decided to change his stage name to just 'Ye', hour before his appearance on Saturday Night Live, where he was expected to debut his latest album 'Yhandi'. He announced the change on Twitter: "the being formerly known as Kanye West. I am Ye". the word is also the name of his 8th album and has been a nickname for a long time.

Meanwhile in the political world, Ye met with American President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, and proceeded on a ten minute rant about everything from prison reform, to planes, to superheros. And while he did make some interesting points about bringing back industry to America which is good for the country, he also made some rather scary suggestions besides it. Abolishing the 13th amendment, the one that outlawed slavery, for example. He also announced a possible run for thee 2024 election, and frankly I'm not sure how scared I should be at the idea.

With all the biblical imagery that he used to refer to the name change and the talks about alternate universes and running for president, it all feels like a man with an over-inflated ego and a lot of influence: a dangerous combination.
(Source: the Mail Online, BBC News)


More Culture



Another day another royal wedding. On Friday, Princess Eugenie and long-time partner Jack Brooksbank tied the knot at St George's chapel in Windsor Castle.

The day went how you'd expect any royal wedding to go with extravagant clothes and lots of hats, that the wind may or may not have had a lot of fun with.

One point to note was the blushing bride's dress. The Princess insisted on a low backed gown for her special day, to unapologeticlly bear the scar on her spine from a surgery that corrected her scoliosis. She chose to do this in a show of support for Royal national Orthopedic Hospital, in a bold yet humbling statement about body image.

However, I don't know if you heard the sound of thunder being stolen but apparently Harry and Meghan announced a pregnancy to the senior royals attending the wedding. This has since overshadowed the wedding with media outlets crawling all over the details, but it's likely just a happy coincidence that the two events occurred.
(Source: the Telegraph, Vogue, the Mail Online) 

08/10/18: Theresa May, Dancing Queen and Shreddy, Steady, Sell!

Intro

Week 8. I finally feel like I've started my course proper. I've even done some reporting, which was kind of fun, when it wasn't terrifying. It'll probably get easier, but still, accosting random people for their opinion on Oktoberfest is interesting to say the least.

Politics

The robot that currently holds the position of Prime Minister, Theresa May, made news for two different reasons this week. 

First and foremost is the conservative party conference happened, but if you've read any of my other posts, you will know that I don't really talk about anything important because my aim here is to make you smile, and the word Brexit brings about as much joy as, say,  'lamprey eel', 'Monday hangover' or 'Jacob Rees Mogg'. *bud-dum tish* politics humor (I hope).

The reason I am talking about the conference is it's opener where the PM awkwadly saunters onto stage, haltingly her moving her arms and hips to the tune of ABBA's Dancing Queen, possibly in an attempt to find Sarah Connor.

This harks back to May's previous attempt at cutting shapes during her trade trip to Africa, where she tried her hand at boogieing her way into a trade deal. However, many who viewed the footage ridiculed her for her 'routine', and so this weeks jig was likely an attempt to take back ownership of the joke and while this might have worked for some, I have common sense and believe she simply looked more like a fool.

(Source: The Guardian)

Art

The elusive street artist, Banksy, has made waves again this week, when one of his pieces, 'Girl With Red Balloon', was due to be sold at auction. It depicts a little monochrome girl reaching for a bright red heart-shaped balloon, in a brilliant contrast of colours.

On auction at Sotheby's on Friday, the famous piece is iconic and was set to rack up a high bidding value, but no-one expected that as the hammer went down on the winning bid of $1.37 million, the painting began to shred itself in front of all present.

It turns out that a remote controlled shredder was hidden in the bottom of the frame and when the sale was over, it is thought Banksy himself triggered the shredding, with a tweet from his account that read 'Going, going, gone...'. In a statement on Sotheby's website Alex Branczik, the senior director and head of contemporary art said, 'it appears we have been banksy'ed'.

It seems much like the balloon in the painting, any dreams of owning the piece have floated away.
(Source: Fortune, Sky News)


Economy



On the subject of things getting shredded, this is likely to be the nightmare of man a sane person: finding your savings in the shredder.

For Utah couple, Ben and Jackee Belnap, this nightmare became very much reality. The pair had borrowed around $1,000 from Ben's parents to pay for season tickets for the University of Utah American Football team, and saved up to pay them back.

However, when the time came, the money was nowhere to be found, until, that is, they looked into the shredder, where, much to their horror, the cash was now in pieces via the handiwork of their son 2 year old son, Leo. Jackee told news station, KSL TV, 'Leo helps me shred junk mail and just things with our name on it, or important documents we want to get rid of'.  

All is not lost, though, as the US Treasury Department of Mutilated Currency Division stated that the couple would be entitled to 'a redemption at full value' if the pair sent all the pieces and if they could be pieced back together.

Still, it makes me wonder, if a department already exists for this sort of thing, how often does it occur.
(Source: BBC News)


Nature



Now for a different nightmare scenario, one that I find arguably worse, or better depending on how you look at it.

4 schools in London, Ellen Wilkinson Primary School, Star Primary School, Lister Community School and Rokeby School, have been closed due to infestations of False Widow Spiders. The critters are the UK's most dangerous species of spider and although their bites aren't lethal, they can cause unpleasent swellings.

According to Star Primary, in a routine check, Newham council discovered the infestation and stated they "believe [it] is contained to the outside of the building and that this needs to be treated immediately before the eggs start hatching". While the schools are closed however, pupils are still being sent work and will remain in contact.

Still, thinking of school and spiders put together is a pretty horrible prospect to behold.
(Source: BBC News)


Film



Jumping from one spider themed story to another, I have just returned from seeing the Spider-Man anti-hero flick, Venom. You've probably heard most of what i'm about to say already from other critics but maybe I'll surprise you.

The universal consensus is that the film itself is, in a generous sense of the word, lukewarm, and I would agree with this. The plot largely falls flat and feels unimportant when the stakes it sets are pretty astronomical, and the first hour is simply exposition which, while I hesitate to say boring, is largely unnecessary. The characters besides Venom and Brock seem 2-dimensional, with little building, development or arc for that matter.

However, Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and Venom combo is truly extraordinary. If you saw Eddie in the street, he would look visibly psychotic, talking to himself and making unexpected movements. Even when fighting, Eddie moves like a puppet, dancing to Venom's viscous, black strings. But in Brock's head, the rapport between man and monster takes on an effortlessly hilarious tone. Venom's dark deadpan humor sparks brilliantly with Brock's moral compass, and the line 'it is not OK to bite people's heads off', has never found a more perfect match in a film. 

There are thousands of other little things I want to discuss about the duo's relationship, but then I'd be here all night, so I want to start my final point by linking back to the film's other characters. Yes, they are done without much depth to them but maybe that's the idea. In Eddie's situation I doubt your focus would rest on anything other than the creature that's sharing your skin and this seems to be reflected in everything bar Hardy and his pet (make of that what you will), and intended or not, to give a genuinely good representation of psychosis in a film is rather rare, and that alone makes it an interesting watch, even disregarding Hardy's talent.

In short, imagine Deadpool crossed with Aliens in the Attic, with a smidge of Split, I assume (I never saw that one).