Magnus Magnusson

I was sorry to hear the sad news of Magnus Magnusson. He always struck me as an enormously decent gentleman. As Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, commented, he was "one of the defining faces and voices of the BBC".

My wife and I were very privileged to be at, I think I am right in saying, the last recording of Mastermind presented by Magnus Magnusson. It was at Blenheim Palace. He carried out the whole thing with infinite patience and good humour.

He will, of course, be remembered for his catchphrase, which needs no repeating here. (I will remember him more for the way he used to say "Correct" in a very, clipped Scottish way.) But, of course, he was a journalist and broadcaster with a much wider hinterland than just a quiz show, albeit a very challenging and dignified one.

"42 carat plonker" actor decries the "cult of celebrity"

Peter Black recently carried reflections on Sian Lloyd's attack on the cult of celebrity.

Now Nicholas Lyndhurst (aka Rodney/"What a 42 carat ponker you really are!" from Only Fools and Horses) is on the same warpath. Bless him. His photo is on the front page of this week's Radio Times.

The headline reads: "The reluctant star". The strapline says: "The cult of celebrity has got to stop".

Lyndhurst wears a suitably...well...er...reluctant expression in the photo. Just as well, really. Given that he apparently posed for the photograph to go on the front of one of Britain's biggest selling magazines (with a circulation last estimated at 1.1 million), he might otherwise be accused of being rather confused.

The rarity of the Chough - Henry VIII has a lot to answer for

Doc Martin on ITV on Christmas Day featured the humble Chough, Cornwall's symbol (left). At the end of the story, a couple of Choughs appeared to be blown sky-high by a sack full of explosives. Fortunately, for those of a sensitive disposition, the end credits stated:

"No choughs were harmed during the making of Doc Martin"

The Chough, of course, struggles to survive. But I learn today that Henry VIII has a lot to answer for, with regard to the Chough. Amelia Hill in the Observer reports that "Tudors drove wildlife to the brink":

Millions of birds and animals were slaughtered in England and Wales under a Tudor law which is now being blamed for bringing many native species close to extinction.

...The Preservation of Grain Act, passed in 1532 by Henry VIII and strengthened by Elizabeth I in 1566, made it compulsory for every man, woman and child to kill as many creatures as possible that appeared on an official list of 'vermin'.

It is a classic example of a law going somewhat awry in its execution:

'Animals like the wild cat, pine marten and hedgehog as well as the chough, woodpecker, shag and kingfisher were on the list, although many were entirely benign,' said Lovegrove. 'Others on the list were actually beneficial to agriculture by preying on genuine agricultural pests.'

The Beatles block book the Top Ten?

In the 70s (or was it the 80s?) the Beatles did a block re-release of their singles in their original sleeves and labels. As a result, several of their old singles reached the Top Twenty. It was a masterful marketing move.

Now they are set to "block book" the entire Top Ten. With internet downloads entering the chart calculations today, new download spikes for recordings will enter the charts.

The Beatles, or their estates, have, until now, very shrewdly witheld their recordings from download. It is rumoured that this situation may soon end, leading to a mighty surge of downloads for the Beatles' catalogue, resulting with a chart saturated by the Beatles.

HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo comments, from a not entirely disinterested perspective:

If the Beatles' songs were made available digitally, there would be such a rush to download them that a top 10 made up entirely of their music would be almost guaranteed.

Brilliant marketing. And an excellent opprotunity for a new generation to discover the superb music of Liverpool's Fab Four.

Sledgehammer to crack a nut - Observer on BNP Ballerina

My views on Simone Clarke of the ENB/BNP (easy to mix up those abbreviations, isn't it?) have calmed down a little after reading Jasper Gerard's piece, 'Taking the BNP ballerina seriously is just tutu silly', in the Observer today.

Mr Gerard has a refreshing way with words and sums up the hoo-ha brilliantly:

Ever since we let Hitler treat Belgium like a public footpath, we haven't been very clever when dealing with the far right.

...Surely they realise the BNP draws oxygen from the huffing of a liberal elite, enabling snarling thugs to dress up as persecuted victims. Putting racists in the dock is like shovelling coal into the Flying Scotsman - it feeds the fascist fire.

...She might be a nut, but why crack her with a sledgehammer? If you can no longer hold views liberal society rightly regards as repugnant, how liberal is your society?

After Brown's comments - Blair's silence on Saddam "deafening" - Ming

Gordon Brown today condemns the Saddam execution method as "deplorable". John Prescott and Alan Johnson have already condemned it.

So why no comment from Tony Blair yet?

Ming comments today:

The prime minister's continuing silence is deafening. His unwillingness to condemn the shameful scenes surrounding Saddam Hussein's execution does him no credit.

At a press conference before Christmas, Blair got himself into an awful two and eight with Adam Boulton on the question of Saddam's (then, pending) execution. He said he opposed the death penalty but seemed to resile from further criticism of the Iraqi government. He got quite heated about it. Was he rattled perhaps? Goodness knows why.

Could it be that he doesn't want to offend his record-breaking execution-authorising friend, George Bush?

UKIP's hypocrisy on Polish workers

One of the pleasures of returning home to Cornwall is reading the "Cornish and Devon Post". It is always interesting to read the anti-European rants published by the Robertson family in their Trago Mills adverts, over the years.

The Westcountry Trago Mills stores even have signs decrying the woes of the European Union.

Bruce Robertson, owner of Trago Mills, is a donor to UKIP. He has just taken on 30 Poles to work for him. This is hard on the heels of Roger Knapman, UKIP MEP, who has also employed Polish labourers.

So they criticise the European Union, but then take advantage of its benefits.