Latest effort of House star Hugh Laurie is a heartfelt New Orleans jazz album that is getting lots of raves

Hugh Laurie - Let Them Talk: An Introduction
http://youtu.be/gI7_sXFN6t0



High Laurie - You Don't Know My Mind (Trailer)
http://youtu.be/AcYsQJ-ghQs

Monday morning on BBC Radio 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire Show, during the last segment, i.e. just before 7 a.m. Eastern U.S., this Hugh Laurie jazz/blues album was the subject of considerable positive commentary, particularly by singer Cerys Matthews, who was keen to say how much she loved the album and how it was so much better than she could've hoped.

She was also quite keen on saying that people needed to accept it on its own terms, and not pre-judge it. Don't act critical of it to begin with by saying, Oh, isn't that the Oxford University grad Hugh Laurie, the trained actor who was NOT born in Alabama, singing the blues about not having a nickel or dime, even though he is the highest-paid actor on American TV?
Yes, he is, get over it and listen to the music.

Laurie closed this week's Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

John Fordham's review in The Guardian: Hugh Laurie – review, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, 4 out of 5 stars
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/may/03/hugh-laurie-at-cheltenham-jazz-festival

I hope to have more on this topic soon, perhaps even the audio from this morning's BBC discussion, so you can hear it for yourselves. That will also likely include the question of questions: Can't we (England) do better than a '90's boy band like 'Blue' at Eurovision?

See also:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HughLaurieBlues

http://www.cerysmatthews.co.uk/


Why is Hugh Laurie so popular?
Will Gompertz | 09:30 UK time, Monday, 9 May 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/willgompertz/2011/05/why_is_hugh_laurie_so_popular.html

Meanwhile... tonight at 8 p.m....
Previews of tonight's show

Warning! Don't upgrade to Firefox Mozilla 4.0 or you'll regret it -it's bad news!; YouTube Video Speed History

Warning! Don't upgrade to Firefox Mozilla 4.0 or you'll regret it -it's bad news!

My home computer has NEVER 'hanged' as frequently and for as long as it has since I downloaded the new version of Firefox Mozilla 4.0 on Sunday, upgrading from 3.6.15, which is one of the reasons that there have been no posts here since then.

Lest you forget, my computer crashed a LOT on Google Chrome two years ago, which is why I migrated to Firefox Mozilla in the first place. Frankly, in 2008, I got tired of resorting to simply yanking my computer's electrical cord out of its surge suppressor and starting over again after Chrome CONSTANTLY froze-up, and Google said they couldn't fix the problem.

Guess what, I DON'T drive cars that don't already have a reverse gear, working windshield wipers and headlights, because sometimes, they are needed, even when the car is used perfectly.
That's the same reason that I no longer use a web browser that the geniuses behind it can't or won't fix, preferring instead to simply shrug their shoulders and say that it's my problem when it doesn't work when used properly.
Sorry, I'm old-fashioned that way.

Chrome will have to be perfect for me to ever go to it again.

Yes, I know I can use the computer Restore function but the point is why is something being released to the public that is so problematic?

I mentioned the problem in an aside in an email earlier this afternoon about another subject. Sent, I should add, from somewhere other than my home computer, where this blog is cobbled together, two miles west of the Atlantic Ocean -and far-too-close to Hallandale Beach City Hall.

I've been having constant computer problems since Sunday night when I updated my Firefox Mozilla, i.e. lots more of "frozen" screens.

I pay for AT&T DSL Lite 6.0 but my computer is constantly operating at roughly between 3.7 and 4.2, and hence, a source of great frustration, esp. when AT&T customer service tells me that 6.0 is not a guarantee.
Thanks for telling me that after I signed-up!

An international jet-set friend commiserated.

glad to hear I'm not the only one having problems w Firefox...I watch Korean dramas on it, and it's been spotty...not downloading properly, freezing, etc.

Don't say you weren't warned.

To get a real gauge of what your computer speed is, as opposed to those dopey "speed tests" you see advertised, go to YouTube as I did below.
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=174122

Right-click a YouTube video you like and select "Take speed test."

It will give you a color-coded graph of your speed and how that compares to others with that ISP, your area, your state, your country and globally.

I assume this YouTube test will work as well for my friends and readers at distant posts in the far-flung Hallandale Beach Blog universe as it does for me here in Hallandale Beach, whether it's:

a.) my fashion-forward friends in Sweden with non-fashion/media jobs, who keep the Stockholm nightclubs busy at night even while studiously avoiding Stureplan's omnipresent photographers http://stureplan.se/ -so they don't get linked by mistake to the free-spending credit card crowd, i.e. the "Brats"- or,

b.) my tech savvy and political savant friends in London and Notting Hill, who keep sending me great material to read and ponder, both insightful and humorous.

The latter are constantly encouraging me to do whatever is necessary to come over next year for the London Olympics.
Like I need any encouragement for that!

Let me know if you try it and it doesn't work in your area, and I will mention that in a future blog post, but make sure you try it three times over two days before emailing me your thumbs down evaluation.

I'm sure the folks at YouTube would be interested, too, since they want everyone to be able to see the videos -and the ads.

Below, the chart that tells me that my home computer speed is not world-class -or Olympian. Me and my digital divide!

-------

YouTube Video Speed History

Your average video speed at this location from Feb 26, 2011 to Mar 26, 2011 was 3.71 Mbps.

Video Speed Comparison (Feb 26, 2011 to Mar 26, 2011)

Results from users of other ISPs near you:

• Comcast [5.53 Mbps]
• AT&T [4.84 Mbps]

This data is aggregated from our video servers. All ISP and geographic speed numbers are averages across many types of Internet connectivity.

Our FAQ has more information about our measurement methodology.

Show Test Video

The test video will show you your streaming information in real time (look next to "Streaming HTTP").

------

Forgot to mention above that Stureplan.se is one of those great media platforms for bloggers like the ones that I referenced back on February 21st, like Spotlife.se http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/thoughts-re-mondays-nyt-article-blogs.html that South Florida has nothing like, despite how much everyone keeps telling Bridget Carey of the Herald how sophisticated this area is.
Nope.

The Herald's longstanding inability to leverage their power and well-known name into a great platform for thoughtful bloggers with something original to say -and that people are interested in- is proof of that.

-----
April 2011 postscript:
One of the unfortunate aspects of this story with Firefox Mozilla 4.0 was that after upgrading, I could no longer listen to the BBC Radio streaming feed, and specifically, 5live,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/, which I generally listen to a few hours a day.
It was finito.


Even after I reversed course and went back to the previous Mozilla I was using, I could no longer hear the BBC, so I'm now forced to use Internet Explorer.

In fact, the small speaker icon no longer appeared on-screen on the radio player pop-up as it had previously after
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/bbc_radio_five_live

On April 4th, after trying my best to get this resolved, I sent out an email to IT-brainy friends titled: It's official: a week of using Firefox Mozilla for BBC Radio equals no sound for programs/programmes, Back to using fussy ol' Windows Explorer for Beeb!

The management geniuses at BBC Radio have no clue what's going on, witness this at their r comments page for the No Sound problem forum.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbiplayer/NF7331803?thread=8141049

The idea that people that don't have the problem themselves have so much time on their hands to actually write-in to the website to chastise other listeners they don't know and make them sound like audio hypochondriacs, says a lot about something, I'm just not sure what precisely.

From adversity, a desire to inform: former Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's investigative report on the porn trade airs on BBC Radio 5 Live today

Former Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, caught up in the MP expenses scandal as a result of a bill submission, and forced to resign from the House of Commons, examines the adult entertainment industry and the wide variety of people "who make, watch and commentate on pornography."
To wit, "What is the impact of pornography upon society?"

Her one-hour special airs today on BBC Radio 5 live at 21:30 G.M.T., which is 4:30 p.m. Eastern in the U.S. and Canada.

You can hear it hear here via the Radio 5 live website at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/#two and click the "Listen live" link, or, go straight to the BBC iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/bbc_radio_five_live

-----



YourNews24 video: Porn Again - Jacqui Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WT33BJnKFw

-----
As most of you who come to the blog fairly often know, I'm a devoted 5 live listener, probably listening to it about 4-5 hours a day during the week.
I listen even more on weekends because of all the discussion of the Premier League, esp. the 606 Football Phone-in, the U.K.'s biggest football chat show, which is always funny, interesting and fast-paced. It's a great show.

Naturally, from listening for so long, when the traffic reports come on, I almost vicariously hate all those lorry rollovers on one Motorway or another I'm forever hearing about, as much as I hate the near-daily truck accidents on I-95 near the Hallandale Beach Blvd. exits, or the ones that were weekly taking place on the "Mixing Bowl" on I-95, south of Washington, D.C. when I lived up there.
So predictable, it almost wouldn't seem like a real traffic report if they didn't mention it!

It's always something and always right BEFORE I need to get on it!

-----



BBC Radio 5 live video: A day in the life of 5 live

http://www.youtube.com/user/bbcfivelive
http://www.youtube.com/user/YourNews24

British Tory Party co-chair giving key public policy speech today on whether Islamapobia has become 'acceptable' dining-room conversation in the U.K.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12235237

Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi, is a VERY interesting personality and the star of some of the British Conservative Party videos, some of which I have posted here on my blog in the past.




Sayeeda Warsi looks at the exciting times ahead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP5PopqK9e8

I'm listening now to BBC Radio 5 live... a VERY INTERESTING interview by Richard Bacon with Duran Duran's Simon LeBon on their exciting new album All You Need is Now -online now, out physically March 21st, that sounds like their '80's roots; it sounds great!- and they will be discussing her speech in Leicester later in the day:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/#two
Check it out!

http://www.sayeedawarsi.com/

Daily Telegraph
Tory chief Baroness Warsi attacks 'bigotry' against Muslims Prejudice against Muslims has become widespread and socially acceptable in Britain, the Conservative chairman will claim.
Baroness Warsi will warn against trying to divide Muslims into 'moderates' and 'extremists' saying that it simply fosters intolerance
By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent 10:00PM GMT 19 Jan 2011

Islamophobia has “passed the dinner-table test” and is seen by many as normal and uncontroversial, Baroness Warsi will say in a speech on Thursday.

The minister without portfolio will also warn that describing Muslims as either “moderate” or “extremist” fosters growing prejudice.
Lady Warsi, the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet, has pledged to use her position to wage an “ongoing battle against bigotry”.

Read the rest of the column at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8270294/Tory-chief-Baroness-Warsi-attacks-bigotry-against-Muslims.html

Uh-oh! Upcoming BBC World Service 'Open Eyes' segment on racial tensions in Malmö. Hmm-m...; Swedish immigration policy costs borne by local residents

The amazing diversity of a city called Malmö...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtUopabsELM
Earlier today, quite unexpectedly, I heard an on-air promo for the BBC World Service on an "Open Eyes" segment airing on Jan. 19th, dealing with racial tensions (and illegal immigration?) in M...
No, not perpetual ethnic and crime hothouse Miami, but Malmö, only an ethnically diverse city with one of the most well-educated populaces in the world. Hmm-m-m...

(And, as it happens, it's home to some friends of your faithful blogger, some of whom were alluded to in my post about Crown Princess Victoria's wedding, who drove to Stockholm and got-up early to find good places to watch the ceremonies.)

Malmö is sort of like the more interesting and charming parts of Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis I've been to, where you meet nice, friendly, well-educated and well-rounded people, and see why they really love it there and want to raise their families there.

Their idea of happiness is NOT a high-rise condo near the water in an area that's beset with gridlocked traffic and out-of-control city and county governments that specialize in raising taxes and lip service.
They have very different criteria for a nice Quality-of-Life, and proximity to Nordstrom's or The Cheesecake Factory is NOT one of them. It really makes you think!

And like those three American cities that I'm pretty familiar with, which have very good colleges there, Malmö has been busy successfully re-inventing itself as a home to education, technology and innovation.

City's official hemsida: http://www.malmo.se/
Malmö Visitor & Tourist homepage, in English: http://www.malmotown.com/en

And whether you tend to believe Wikipedia in general or not, according to the current Wikipedia entry on Malmö, which seems mostly accurate as I read it,

"Immigrant Muslims comprise a little over 25% of population and their share keeps on rising. It is predicted that Malmö would be more than 50% Muslim by 2020."

As of now, I don't know what time the segment will air on the BBC on the 19th, but I will keep checking every so often and let you know here once I find out.

When I put my ear to the ground to listen for the sound of approaching hoof-beats -my Indian name is "Discerning voice that carries" -I sense (fear) another well-intentioned but ultimately politically biased and self-fulfilling report akin to so many over-the-top NPR segments I heard broadcast under Bush 43, that seemed designed to marginalize the legitimate concerns of real people with real problems, in this case, the residents of Malmö, in order to engage in agitprop under the guise of journalism.

The likely result?
Mockery of the town and a blown opportunity to understand a complicated issue that has finally
resulted in the Sweden Democrats, Sverigedemokrarna, i.e SD, finally getting into the
Riksdag, the Swedish parliament. http://sverigedemokraterna.se/

To me, this is an entirely predictable result, and not unlike the rise of the Tea Party and their activists in the U.S., as a vocal response to Obama's public policies, it was the proof that for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction.

Some of those NPR stories I heard then were always sort of hard to pigeonhole and figure out just who they were trying to "educate."
"But next, a feminist leader in Ecuador talks about the Vagina Monologues finally coming to Quito."
Yeah, too many curious stories like that with not so thinly-veiled political bias made me realize that listening to NPR so much was just a poor use of my time, which is why I rarely listen to it now. http://www.npr.org/

Frankly, now it just sounds too much like White House and DCCC propaganda, once-removed.

As to the upcoming BBC program, there are many things I wonder about, mostly, to what extent it will have a fair-minded prologue accurately describing the situation that average Swedish citizens find themselves in -a box they can't get out of.

For instance, though it will change after this year, until now, non-European students who come to Sweden get their university education for FREE, paid for by Swedish citizens.

In Sweden, local governments, not the national govt. in the form of the Riksdag, pay the majority of the real costs associated with immigration and assimilation policy, legal and illegal, which are REQUIRED, not optional.

In that sense, local governments there have an 'unfunded mandate,' but there's nobody like
the Dept. of Homeland Security, ICE or DOJ with pots of grant money or stimulus funds
to help a town reconcile their budget costs.
YOU HAVE TO PAY.

As you might imagine, this has a profound effect on municipal budgets in ways that, well, certain large U.S. cities and newspaper editorial boards with pro-amnesty sensibilities, like the Miami Herald, can't possibly imagine or appreciate.

It's a simple fact that at some Swedish colleges, the Masters programs are more than 50% full of Asian students who DON'T pay, which means that Swedish taxpayers are not only paying for someone who is NOT from their own country, but who, possibly, are elbowing out their own son or daughter of their higher education.
THAT brings the issue home in a very tangible way.

University fees might weaken Swedish universities
http://www.stockholmnews.com/Default.aspx

Nope, with no money trees to shake in Washington, with high-paid lobbyists, the favored South Florida approach, local Swedish governments and citizens pay close to the full freight for an immigration policy they can't change.
Imagine you were them, how would THAT make you feel?

So when was the last time you read or heard about this in a mainstream media news story in the U.S.?

When the time comes during the course of the year for local Swedish governments to set their budget priorities and make them public, do elected officials vote to close a popular library because of the costs associated with immigration assimilation education programs, or do you cut certain Parks & Recreation programs for kids, or close the park a few days a week, so that you can pay for some program for Somali or Turkish emigres?
Hmm-m-m...

Around the time of the Swedish parliamentary elections in September, which saw the return to power of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, the first center-right prime minister to lead the country for two periods in a row, this time, with a four-party Red-Green coalition, I came across
a fascinating budget story that really brought home to me the costs of their ridiculous immigration policy, though the truth is, I came across it while looking for something else.
This story concerned a northern Swedish town called Gävle, which is roughly about half the size of next-door Hollywood (FL), but like Hollywood, located on the water, in Gävle's case, on the Baltic Sea.
It's also one of the oldest towns in the entire country.

In a September 8th story that appeared in Gefle Dagblad, http://gd.se/ the local chairman there, Roger Hedlund, argues that the government grant of 40 million SEK only covers 22 percent of the costs of refugee protection.
Guess who pays the rest? Do the math!

Here's an excerpt from the story from September:
Sverigedemokraterna vill skrota orkestern Orkestern och flyktingar kostar för mycket enligt SD

Statsbidraget för flyktingmottagandet täcker bara 22 procent av kostnaderna, hävdar Sverigedemokraterna och hänvisar till Sveriges kommuner och landsting. SKL säger att siffran är mellan 70 och 90 procent.
Om Gävle kommun säger upp avtalet med Migrationsverket blir det 153 miljoner kronor över. Pengar som kan satsas på bland annat parboendegaranti och en skattesänkning med 55 öre. Siffrorna presenterades av Sverigedemokraterna i går, när de lade fram sitt lokala valmanifest och en skuggbudget för Gävle kommun.

Ordföranden i Gävle, Roger Hedlund, hävdar att statsbidraget på 40 miljoner kronor bara täcker 22 procent av kostnaderna för flyktingmottagandet.

Would people in South Florida, esp. the pro-amnesty crowd at the Miami Herald's editorial board and and local TV stations' management, and their decisions about what is and is not aired on local newscasts, look at immigration differently if 70-90% of the cost of services given to and provided by the U.S. to immigrants, illegal or otherwise, was borne NOT by the federal government, but by the individual state, county and city and the citizens who live HERE?

Not money coming out of some abstract wallet, not money being printed on some U.S. Treasury printing press, but directly out of their own individual wallet, purse and bank account, affecting their life and their family's?

At the local level, where they can see exactly what local and state govt. services are necessarily eliminated or cut back because of the costs involved in dealing with immigrants? Guess what, that's the reality of the average Swedish citizen.

They and their family have to make do without something because their money is being used for a purpose that they are opposed to, and yet when they complain about something being amiss in their representative democracy, and the costs of this, they are called, at a minimum, selfish and racist, and often quite worse by the condescending domestic and international news media, plus many of their fellow citizens.
Hmm-m-m... sound familiar?
Below, a very typical NPR view of what happened in the Swedish election, with zero context or understanding, but then they never understood Ross Perot's appeal, either, did they?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/09/20/129995071/anti-immigrant-party-in-sweden-wins-seats
It sounds exactly like what we all heard and read constantly by the American news media about The Tea Party this year.
THAT kind of condescending and dismissive attitude, without any proper context, I suspect, is exactly what the BBC may well have in store for the city of Malmö and its citizens in less than a fortnight.


I wrote about September's Swedish national election here:
Sept. 16th, 2010 post:
SACC New York will be hosting Swedish Election Watch Party at Aquavit on Sunday from 1-5 p.m. http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/sacc-new-york-will-be-hosting-swedish.html

Sept. 10th, 2010 post:
Sunday Multi-tasking: I'm watching the 2010 Swedish election returns LIVE on SVT -AND the Dolphins at Vikings ballgame!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/sunday-multi-tasking-im-watching-2010.html

Variation on a theme: All I Want for Christmas is You -and attention

BBC Radio 5 live's resident songsmith Dave Henson celebrates Christmas, with his take on the Mariah Carey classic

-----

Olivia Olson - All I Want for Christmas is You (from "Love Actually").avi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb8Ze0-A1OA

http://www.youtube.com/user/OliviaOlson

-----

Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You, with scenes from "Love Actually"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azcimpWgCT0

-----



iJUSTINE - ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq86oMh6v-M

-----

Though Love Actually is one of my favorite films of the past 15 years, and not just because the Prime Minister is named David -Hugh Grant- the original trailer, with so many cliched songs running through it, nearly scared me off the first few times I saw it months before the film came out. http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi362021145/

Fortunately, the great cast and the talented people behind the film -writer and director Richard Curtis, who'd written Four Weddings and a Funeral nine years earlier- had done work I loved, so despite the fact that it might well be one of the worst film trailers ever made for a very good movie, I've seen it about a dozen times, though it's too bad that USA Cable has to edit out some of the best dialogue of the film.
http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/love-actually/

-----

iJustine video from JD Lasica on Vimeo
Justine Ezarik, better known as iJustine, interviewed after first meeting of the Intel Insiders at Intel headquarters in San Jose, Calif., 2008

iJustine from http://vimeo.com/jdlasica

JD Lasica on http://vimeo.com/

http://vimeo.com/1298582

Surprising observation: That by now, given the technology revolution and the sorts of ambitious and attractive women who are forever being attracted to South Florida, South Florida would have actually have an iJustine-like personality all its own, someone well-known for her efforts and promotions, i.e. making lots of amusing videos in locations throughout the region, yet there isn't one.
Why do you suppose that is?

http://ijustine.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/ijustine

The only thing funnier than the beautiful & beguiling Cheryl Cole talking is Lily Allen's impression of her. Geordie in the house!

Cheryl Cole -The Flood
www.cherylcole.com

I'd been thinking about this weird musical connection, this multi-media ying-and-yang that seems to connect pop stars Chery Cole and Lilly Allen for a while, ever since my October 12th post about Taylor Swift's impression of a Minnesota soccer mom on BBC Radio's Switch with Annie and Nick
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/taylor-swifts-impression-of-minnesota.html

But my great idea hadn't reckoned on some of the videos on YouTube that I needed NOT being embeddable for my blog, so I'm afraid you have to go thru this in four steps the old-fashioned way, and sort of keep it all in your head without the visual cues the embeds give you.
But it's worth the effort.

-------
Step. #1

Cheryl Cole talks with Alan Carr about Simon Cowell - The Sunday Night Project, Channel 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpJnm5msVBc

Marie Claire U.K. story on her TV appearance at:
http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/celebrity/511010/watch-cheryl-cole-s-acoustic-live-performance.html

-------

Step. #2

Lily Allen's impression of Cheryl Cole on BBC Radio's Switch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20aTOi7oBQE
http://www.youtube.com/user/BBCSwitch

-------

Step. #3

Lily Allen Impersonates Cheryl Cole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egrWRJquhfc

-----

Step. #4

Lily Allen Does the Cadbury Eyebrows, The Sunday Night Project, Channel 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWEOHd9JNmk


Official website: http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/lily/

-------



Chery Cole - The Flood - LIVE on Alan Carr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh3N6NX3PgA

England fumes as snow & ice -and jack-knifed lorries- ruin sports, shopping and travel plans days before Christmas. Why so many lorries on roads now?

Channel 4 News: U.K. snow strands air travellers Correspondent Victoria Macdonald at Heathrow Airport
http://bcove.me/byscxokf
Story at: http://www.channel4.com/news/uk-snow-strands-air-travellers

Despite knowing that it was highly likely that the Chelsea-Manchester United football game would not go on today as planned in West London (at 11 a.m. my time in Miami) due to, supposedly, the treacherous road conditions caused by the unrelenting snow and ice -or as one website put it, "ran afoul of snow"- I'm still disappointed NOT to be able to see the game on Fox Soccer Channel, which has substituted a game in Switzerland between teams I've never heard of for the canceled game at Stamford Bridge.
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/Home/0,,10268,00.html

Especially disappointing when I am hearing differing stories today on what the actual road conditions around Fulham Road, SW 6 are like.

But then I have many viewing choices in the U.S., and was, of course, planning on watching the NFL games this afternoon, including the Dolphins game here against the Buffalo Bills and C.J. Spiller, whom I wanted the Dolphins to draft back in May.

Those choices I have put in rather stark perspective a strong sentiment I heard often yesterday and today on BBC Radio's 5 live about the much-discussed idea of the Premier League following the Bundesliga in Germany and taking a winter break, so that games are not scheduled when you know in advance that the conditions could be quite problematic weather-wise. http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/

After the jaw-dropping World Cup debacle in South Africa, where the English National Team performed perfectly miserably and looked old, slow, unenthusiastic and not-so-talented in their last game against Germany, there were many knowledgeable callers to live 5 in the immediate hours afterward who said that one of the many things that needed to be done to make ENT relevant again, was to finally end the idea of playing games at times of the year that don't make sense weather-wise. http://www.thefa.com/England

It was said often that this continuous playing of league matches, daily practice plus games in various UEFA tourneys and the FA Cup that pay big money and have much prestige, leads to players being worn out in ways that even vacations to the sunny climes of South Beach can not mend.
My own experience is that you tend NOT to get 'fresh legs' in South Beach.
Just saying...

Well, yesterday, the opposing sentiment to this notion of a winter break came in fast and furious and I must admit, it's self-evident nature caught me a little short.
"Then what are we going to do in the winter?"

Hmm-m...I hadn't actually thought of that!


On this show and many others I've heard since this summer, one caller after another has volunteered how much their own childhood memories of Christmas had to some degree been shaped by the Boxing Day fixtures on Dec. 26th, big games that I have watched for years from afar, but read about and followed in newspapers, magazines and books, and now online, for years, since they tend to get more mention historically.

They're NOT just regular season games because people's memories of this year's holiday will be shaped in some part based on how their own team does, regardless of what division they're playing in.

For some fans of more modest means, this may be the one home game they go to all year, or the only one they attend with their family and not their friends from work or the neighborhood.
That's not insignificant.

In some ways, though it's far from an exact comparison, those Boxing Day football fixtures are England's version of the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys always playing on Thanksgiving Day, and those NFL games becoming part of the national consciousness in ways that other NFL regular season games don't. If you're a sports fan, esp. a devout one, they become almost a subconscious part of your memory.

Real American sports fans of a certain age can even recall great games or foul-ups from years gone by that happened in Turkey Day games, even when they didn't involve their own favorite teams.

The 1993 Dolphins at Cowboys game, featuring Leon Lett, comes immediately to mind, though that is of a different sort, owing to my being a Dolphin fan for 40 years, since I still recall games I was at from 1971 and the Perfect Season of '72.




The idea that English sports fans would have little to choose from for their spectator or TV-viewing satisfaction is something that can't be underestimated.

There's no NBA or NHL or NCAA college basketball, men or women, plus the lack of the corresponding youth and High School teams in these sports to the extent that is true in the U.S. and Canada.
It's simply a different sporting culture.

I'll have more to say on this issue of a winter break for Premier League teams in the future, just wanted to share a few thoughts now since it seemed a propos.


Earlier today, just before Noon my time, I received my daily Channel 4 Snowmail, with Chief Correspondent Alex Thompson penning his pithy overview of stories that'd be appearing later in the night on the Channel 4 newscast, with weather being an integral part of that.

He asks a very reasonable question that nearly everyone seems to be asking,
"It is almost invariably lorries which stop [U.K.] motorways in snow... Why is this state of affairs allowed to continue?"

On the roads there is still serious disruption. It is time to tell a simple truth here: it is almost invariably lorries which stop our motorways in snow. They cannot handle the hills, they drive too fast too close (as every motorway-user will testify) and they jack-knife. As I write an LPG tanker's gone over on the M25, closing the motorway that is rarely far from crisis on a balmy June afternoon. Why is this state of affairs allowed to continue? Why cannot the haulage industry - including their heavy clients like the supermarkets - be instructed to take their fleets off the road for the six to 12 hours needed, once or twice a year?

We will not starve. We will not run short of fuel. Life will continue. And most of all the motorways will function far better because the gritters and ploughs can get through. In any case - since when was a very expensive truck, static for eight hours on a motorway, good for anybody's haulage bottom line?

You can read more and comment on Alex Thomson's blog at
http://blogs.channel4.com/world-news-blog/uk-snow-why-are-there-so-many-lorries-on-the-roads/14653

Video of jack-knifed lorries:
http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/display/playlistref/191210/clipid/191210_4ON_SNOWOTHER2_19

At the end of the Snowmail it grimly reads:

WEATHER WARNINGS OVERVIEW
There are several weather warnings being issued by the Met Office, see them in full: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_forecast_warnings.html


TONIGHT Snow showers will continue in northeast Scotland overnight and outbreaks of snow will spread into the far southwest. It'll feel bitterly cold everywhere, with severe frost, ice and freezing fog patches.

TOMORROW
The snow in the southwest will spread to most of Wales, the south Midlands and southeast England during the day. It will be another very cold day with many places staying below freezing.

OUTLOOK
There's no sign of a break in the bitterly cold weather. Snow and ice will continue to be a problem throughout the week.

-----

See also:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/

http://www.clubcall.com/

Color me pleased as punch: Wash. Post: Defeat of DREAM Act reveals failed White House strategy, advocates say

Given this bit of good news from Capitol Hill on what is otherwise a wet, cool and miserable Saturday afternoon exactly seven days before Christmas -may I suggest some hazelnut coffee at Panera's?- where I'm listening to BBC Radio's 5 live's Saturday Edition with Chris Warburton, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tl9cb and
http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/#two, amidst all the reports about the bad weather -6 inches of snow in 25 minutes at a North London mall and canceled football matches everywhere- I can hardly wait for tomorrow.

Yes, there will likely be hard-luck stories galore in Sunday's Miami Herald but likely little insightful analysis that matches what I have for you below from the Washington Post's Shankar Vedantam, who wisely keeps to the facts and doesn't editorialize in his stories, as seems so common at the Herald, where facts that don't support the passage of the DREAM Act simply don't appear with regularity in stories, despite the fact that a clear majority of the country opposes it.

Not that this stops the Miami Herald or their minions.
Their editorial board, reporters, columnists and editors have long championed a ridiculous immigration policy that defied logic and reason that was the very definition of "backdoor amnesty for lawbreakers" that critics like me said it was.

They lost because it was a bad idea that failed to persuade.

-----
The Washington Post
Defeat of immigration measure reveals failed White House strategy, advocates say By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 18, 2010; 12:55 PM

Whenever Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and other immigrant-rights advocates asked President Obama how a Democratic administration could preside over the greatest number of deportations in any two-year period in the nation's history, Obama's answer was always the same.

Deporting almost 800,000 illegal immigrants might antagonize some Democrats and Latino voters, Obama's skeptical supporters said the president told them, but stepped-up enforcement was the only way to buy credibility with Republicans and generate bipartisan support for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.

On Saturday that strategy was in ruins after Senate Democrats could muster only 55 votes in support of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a measure that would have created a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children. Under Senate rules, Democrats needed 60 votes to overcome Republican opposition to the bill. The House of Representatives had passed the measure earlier this month, 216 to 198.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/18/AR2010121801679.html

Earliest snowfalls to hit England in 17 years has Britons looking for True Grit -for the roads. Why did Britain slide into snow chaos?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Today's Daily Telegraph headline asks the simple question that people were asking throughout England on Wednesday:
Why did Britain slide into snow chaos again?
An inquiry into how the freezing weather crippled Britain's transport network ordered by the Government
Caroline Gammell and David Millward 10:19PM GMT 01 Dec 2010

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/8175167/Why-did-Britain-slide-into-snow-chaos-again.html




Channel 4 News -Half of England & Scotland stay home from work due to heavy snow and transport problems, especially smaller towns. Scotland gripped by the worst winter in 45 years
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=694613892001
http://www.channel4.com/news/uk-snow-arctic-weather-set-to-stay

The bad weather created a larger than usual captive audience for BBC Radio 5 live and listeners took advantage by generating lots of calls and emails about what people were doing with their time, or, alternatively, relating their "war" stories.

Over 150 motorists were stuck in their vehicles on the A57 for two days and were helped by Mountain Rescue teams.

On Richard Bacon's afternoon program it was apparent that residents of Kent, Surrey and Essex largely stayed home, staying out of gridlocked, motorways and London after driving 6 hours hours to get 15-20 miles.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pstlg
http://www.channel4.com/news/snow-gallery-november-2010

In Kent, estate agents (real estate) signs were being snatched by kids from in front of properties and being used by kids to slide down hills, i.e. what we call sledding, but they call sledging.
And reports are that the snow is only getting worse there.

One particularly interesting conversation I heard concerned the Halifax Courier publisher discussing the era of the new media, but then saying that while he was in charge of a media business with a newspaper component, at times of such bad weather, those abstract ideas about the future would have to take a back seat to him and his team trying to cope with getting news to readers while snow made deliveries impossible on Wednesday, with no print edition.



http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/View-a-digital-edition-of.6645971.jp
http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/

At one point, someone, I don't know who, even remarked that they couldn't wrap a set of dishes in an iPad, which caused me to laugh, but depending upon your point of view, that's either an overly-romantic image of the news business, or merely stating the facts Jack Webb-style.

Gatwick Airport is now officially closed until Friday.

http://www.accuweather.com/ukie/index.asp?partner=dailytelegraph