Queen Mother Tribute

BEFORE she did die, I'd heard rumours British television would be cut off for an entire week for endlessly repetitous bluster and guff about her life. Thankfully in actuality things were done in a dignified and stately way.

I remember waking up, the TV having blared out all night as I slept (as often happens). As the Queen Mum's funeral played out on BBC 1, her daughter, the Queen's tribute played over and over, that we should remember her in happiness...

I woke up tearful, not for the death of a public figure, but because I heard one woman's private grief in a public message, and just then I felt really sorry for the Queen....

The PM and Jade

Here the Prime Minister Gordon Brown pays tribute to cancer-stricken reality TV star Jade Goody who marries fiancee Jack Tweedy tomorrow. The Home Office even granted him a 24-hour break to his curfew so the couple can spend their wedding night together...

He spoke about her twice this week, on two separate occasions:~

Jade Goody's "Wedding Smiles"

A clip from ITN on tomorrow's "Wedding of the Year"... poor Jade, stricken by terminal cancer so vicious she doesn't expect to live out this year, sees tomorrow as her last chance to wed fiance Jack Tweedy. The £1 million +plus++ she's raising via magazine and TV deals will go in trust for her kids... How very sad this all is. I'm not a huge fan of Jade Goody but I'm gutted this is happening to her, poor cow...

Madonna: H&M ad 2 yrs ago "director's cut"

do they really have "directors cuts" of telly ads?

Madonna: Max Factor not really rare

not really rare because it was all over our telly 10 years ago

when they say "lasts 11 hours" I thought they meant this commercial ~ hahahh

+ notice how much more flattering are the tones than (original) black and white, below

Madonna: Max Factor

Now this shows the power of cutting. From foundation (above) they've moved on to lippy... and boy doesn't she make a hash out of it. "We've all gotta get a grip" = I NEED to get a grip, Madonna

THATCHER: POPULAR CAPITALISM

This is her in a nutshell:~

Margaret Thatcher und die Deutschen

THIS IS TYPICAL entertainment from the best policial TV show of the 1980s: SPITTING IMAGE. Notice how lifelike they made Thatcher's puppet...

Margaret Thatcher's speech: motion of no confidence, House of Commons, Tuesday 30th October 1990

THIS SHOWS WHY BRITISH POLITICS (ironically the last major democracy to bring cameras into the House) is the most televisual in the world.

Compare Margaret Thatcher's stately eloquence to the leering of those opposition gargoyles, Niel Kinnock and that one who spits all the time...



If there's no screen, click this link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1395201692367397393 ...

Spitting Image Medley

(mit Deutschen Untertitel~ jawohl!)

All the stars of the 80s political scene are here: Margaret Thatcher, Niel Kinnock, Geoffrey Howe, Douglas Hurd, George Bush (I) etc etc etc... somehow the booming resonances of someone's living room only add to the rustic charm of this montage of Spitting Image's best.

HM the Queen and Lady Thatcher

WHEN SHE WAS IN POWER, it was frequently claimed that relations between HM and Mrs Thatcher were frosty. Well whatever the truth in that, a very old and doddery Margaret Thatcher here pays a birthday tribute to the sovereign: