Contradictions of the Tory Marriage Tax proposal - Explained via a short film

Yes, I am sure I could have done better, but this has taken me hours to do. Enjoy, share, pass it on to others please. It certainly highlight the unfairness of the Tories plans and the Lib Dems simple alternative.

My George Osborne YouTube Video Again

Since I spent a whole evening doing this video back in the Autumn, I thought I'd bring it to everyone's attention again.

Enjoy (unless you are a Tory)

We're all in this together

Why I am not a Tory

The fact that young people now cannot remember the Tories in power must be a blessing for them, but for people my age who remember the Tories and were brought up in the Thatcher years have a long held and almost allergic reaction to the Conservative Party which probably acount for the fact that the Tories, although doing well in the polls, are not at the New Labour levels of 1995-97.

I know people who loathe this government but cannot bring themselves to vote Tory because they remember many of the things in this Youtube video.

East Anglian Boy

Check out this remixed and reworked version of Estelle's American Boy, specially altered to be about East Anglian Boy.



Yes, it is self parody and no we are not all like that.

Irish lay claim to Barack Obama - Another YouTube funny

The genius of Peter Kaye - Britain's Got The Pop Factor ...

Anyone who missed the genius of Peter Kaye's special "Britain's Got The Pop Factor And Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice" last night missed out on comedy gold. I am a big fan of X Factor, but this spoof of the whole genre last night was absolutely brilliant.

For anyone who wants a taste of what the show was like, open up the clips below to see some of the acts.

Am I the only person who finds the Oasis Cactus Kid adverts odd and slightly disturbing ?

A rhetorical question of course given that people on Youtube also seem to find the advert very strange indeed.

The fact that someone at Coca Cola (who own Oasis) thought "Hang on, a girl having sex with a cactus ? That sounds great. Oh, and lets make the cactus hate water !"

I have spoken to other people about this advert and everyone else seems to find the whole Oasis Cactus kid stuff really very, very odd.

Now that's what I call a cover version

I really hate it when bands or groups do cover versions which end up sounding exactly like the song they are covering. A good example is Steps version of Better the Devil you know by Kylie, but there are dozens of others.

So despite the people on YouTube who seem to loathe this, for my money this cover version of Smells Like Teen Spirit, originally by Nirvana but covered by the great Paul Anka (who wrote "My Way"), is a truly brilliant cover version.

If I were free this weekend, this is hardly going to make me want to go to Crewe and Nantwich

As The Times puts it, this is hardly Obama's "Yes we can" video.

I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I think this might be the video I need at home put on a loop to help my son get to sleep at night. It's not Susan Kramer's fault, but the person who decided that 10 seconds of watching the same clip from four different angles really ought to be made to watch it.

Hillary Clinton in Bosnia - Spoofed YouTube footage that is really rather clever

Hat tip to Charles Crawford for the link to this rather clever edit of the footage of Hillary Clinton landing in Bosnia 12 years ago that has caused some fuss on the US.

So realistic it could almost be true

The slow, painful and completely avoidable accident that has done so much damage to the Lib Dems

The fiasco over the Lib Dem stance on the Tories EU referendum motion today was so clearly signposted, so easily avoided, so obviously could have been dealt with and perhaps most importantly was so widely challenged from withing the party that you have to question the intelligence and integrity of the party for it's decision, and in particular Nick Clegg has so mortally wounded his own standing that he will always find it hard to escape the criticism of this folly.

Sadly though, this policy was also supported during the leadership election so Chris Huhne would not have done anything differently from Nick Clegg. The two former MEPs ensured the party as a whole never got to make a choice in this issue. Perhaps this too highlights a weakness in both candidates who stood.

The debacle of three front bench Lib Dem MP's resigning, a number of backbench Lib Dem revolting against a three line whip, and almost universal criticism of the Lib Dems today was totally avoidable. Clegg could have allowed a free vote on the issue. He could have let the Lib Dem stick to the party's own manifesto pledge, or he could simply have told the party to vote against. But the colossal incompetence of ordering the party not to vote, to sit on their hands, to take part on a debate and not vote actually leads any sane voter to ask "What is the point of an MP who does not vote ?"

Everyone could see that this was going to happen, it didn't simply occur without warning, it actually reminded me of this clip from the film Austin Powers.




At the risk of repeating myself, today did not have to happen. It was all so easily avoided. Not a day that will fill anyone with pride in the Lib Dems.

In honour of Lee Probert - Britain's worst ref ?

A few months ago I had the bad luck to witness one of the most inept refereeing performances ever from a referee who really never ought to be able to show his face on a football pitch again. his name is Lee Probert. However, in typical style, after a series of bad performances and inept decision making, and I highlighted the incompetence he showed in a Norwich game versus Derby County last March, he was deemed bad enough by the Premier League to become a Premiership referee (although he still does Championship games).



I was pleased to see though that someone had gone to the trouble of doing something about Mr Probert on YouTube, in honour of his appalling decision making last March. I enjoyed, I guess many other Norwich City season ticket holders would enjoy it, but if you are not a Norwich fan, it may only be of passing interest, but remember the name. Mr Probert could be wrecking a game near you soon.

The Cadbury's "In the Air tonight" Gorilla advert - Have you bought any extra chocolate as a result of watching it ?

We are told that all publicity is good publicity. Personally I think this is absolute rubbish. If the chief executive of Super Dooper plc was suddenly charged with being a paedophile, it would create massive puclicity for Super Dooper plc, but little of it would be good publicity. The same goes with adverts. Some great, some awful, but people say if you remember them they are good adverts. but do they sell any products.

I like, as a piece of art, the new Cadbury's adverts featuring the Phil Collins song "In the air tonight" being drummed to by a Gorill (see YouTube clip below), but is it actually a great advert in the sense of selling chocolate ?



The first few times I saw the advert I failed to remember it was a Cadbury's advert and instead thought it was promoting Phil Collins greatest hits. I know people who still think this, so from the angle of promoting Cadbury's, is it effective ?

Then there is the second promotional angle. Cadburys sell chocolate. This is their job, their function, the purpose. Now I am a chocoholic, I can eat chocolate until it virtually makes me sick, and then I eat more. However, I can honestly say I have not bought a bar of chocolate in three months. If if this advert has had no effect on me, what is it like for others ? Has this adverts seen Cadburys sell more chocolate ?

So as great a piece of work as it is, as great a piece of art as it is, is it a good advert in terms of selling the product. No, I don't think it is. However, compared to most of the TV shows that ITV show around the adverts, this advert is probably the best thing on ITV at the moment.

For anyone wanting to raise a smile after the Rugby World Cup

There may be one or two people still feeling a little bit unhappy after the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday, so if you are one of those people, and you need to raise a smile from somewhere, why not enjoy the clip below. As I recall this Spitting Image classic was released as the B side to the Chicken Song, but I am prepared to be corrected on that.

A Hat Tip should go to Theo Spark who seems to have found the clip and posted it on his blog first.

Lib Dems quick off the mark with YouTube spoof of Gordon Brown

This speaks for itself. Well done to the Lib Dems team in Cowley Street for producing this so quickly.



Hat tip to Nick Barlow.

The Norwich City Muppets Youtube Video they are all talking about

This new YouTube video even made the local news this evening, and the first half of it, the bit featuring the Muppet Show really is very good indeed.

I am just hoping Norwich can avoid playing like a bunch of Muppets tomorrow when I go to the match against Sheffield Wednesday.

Are Americans really that dim ?

I read this article on the BBC with some dismay today.

It seem that some Americans are angry with David Beckham and are waving banners and protesting at games because, get this, he is not playing because he is injured.

Well David, hang your head in shame. How very lazy. Fancy not playing because you are injured.
And what happens on his return ? See the YouTube clip below and find out for yourself.

Will the Lib Dems have a Second Life presence ?

Jeremy Hargreaves wrote an interesting piece on his great blog (which I have to apologise to him for because it was not on the list of blogs I was sent to judge), which highlights the German Green Party now having some presence on the online Role Playing Game "Second Life".

With Ming Campbell said to be ahead of the game on Facebook and the Lib Dems having a growing presence on YouTube and the web as a whole, is Second Life where we will pick up the few votes needed to win over some of the marginals next time ?

Probably not, but the role that the internet is playing in politics is growing by the month (just see how seriously the Democrats have take the Daily Kos conference in America). A growing number of young people and those disinterested in politics are using computers more and more, and that includes playing games like Second Life.

Perhaps we should have a presence. Some will say it serves no political purpose, but then again I think people said that about the internet 15 years ago.