Winners will never be losers and losers will never win.

I can’t agree with that sentiment — Sheffield Wednesday just knocked West Ham out of the Cup.

In 1974, in his State address to Congress, Gurkhal Surjan, Patwallia District, stated that the world will be tested by Texas Instruments and English diction.

And no, I don’t know who Gurkhal Surjan is.

Second choice:

Last month saw a nation mourn the loss of its beloved leader. He told his people they lived in the best country in the world and they loved him for it, even though it was obvious to the rest of us that things in North Korea weren’t that great.

And in October Steve Jobs died. He told Apple fans that it was worth paying three times more for their computers because they were the best designed in the world and they loved him for it, even though etc. etc. you get the idea.

Another year over and a new one just begun. And with me between contracts perhaps a chance to make some genuine changes. So, those resolutions for 2012:

• get some exercise
• live in the moment, enjoy the kids and appreciate Jan
• meditate. Desire lies at the root of suffering. Seriously, thinking about stuff I want and how my life could be better if only I was a bit smarter is in danger of driving me crazy
• watch less TV. Its not the only way to chill out
• get creative. Write scripts and stories, play the ukelele,  draw comics, cook
• express an opinion. I’m out of the habit of speaking to people …
• … and listen. Take a bit more notice of what other people say

Not too different from last year really …

As usual on the first Saturday of the year I bought the Scotsman for the free Letts diary.

Each double page has a week’s view on the left and space for notes on the right. At the end there is a forward planner, a double page spread with each date in 2013.

But then, … nothing. Uh oh, by this logic it looks like 31st December 2013 will be the end of the world.

(Apologies, loyal readers, for linking to a dumb site just for the sake of humour)

Now there’s a lineup …

Clarkson got in trouble this week for a joke about the Public Sector Pensions Strike (which I completely support). The joke as reported was in pretty poor taste and not at all funny, but actually in context it did make me laugh.

I don’t think he should be prosecuted for this, but perhaps he should reconsider his relationship with the BBC like Jonathon Ross had to a couple of years ago. When you have the comfort of a big, lucrative BBC contract its easy to overestimate your own importance and forget the audience you are playing too.

I wouldn’t want our comedians’ freedoms limited to the extent that Stewart Lee couldn’t tell this joke:

The Libyans, when they didn’t like their leader, they dragged him out of a sewer pipe, shot him in the face, and put him in a meat fridge. Nobody told them to, they just went ahead and did it. That’s the big society in action, David Cameron.

(Thanks Zoe Williams in the Guardian for that one), but I’m guessing he won’t be telling it on the One Show any time soon.

And I still don’t know if I like Frankie Boyle, but I thought he gave a very good account of himself in this Guardian profile.

the first Jarvis album, the first LCD Soundsystem album, Bad Brains, 2007 Simpsons on Channel 4, Life’s Too Short, Mad Men Season 2, How the Dead Live and the Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told

Ken Russell

Gary Speed

Andrea True

I saw on Amazon that The Beatles In Mono
box set is now available for £100 from resellers. A good price for as long as they aren’t Chinese counterfeits, ( but then what’s so wrong with counterfeits ? Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Mrs H have all been paid already. In fact I already own half these records, and if its digital there shouldn’t be an issue with quality should there ? )
Because I looked at the Beatles in Mono, Amazon thought I might like Bob Dylan in Mono. I hadn’t actually heard of this project, but I’d be happy with the first nine Bob Dylan albums for £45.
But where does it end ?As I get older I find myself appreciating Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd. Gah ! Aren’t these guys the enemy ? But I really like the Mojo cover CD of Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here covers.
In the end we bought the Simon and Garfunkel complete box set, which we’ve been grooving on this evening. Wednesday Morning 3am is a bit square, but the Sound of Silence rocks ! And I did balance it out by buying American Hardcore: the History of American Punk Rock

Garry Trudeau move over …

I finished reading this months ago so forgive me any inaccuracies.
Cocaine Nights is about well off expat Brits living in Spain, succumbing to the charms of their tennis coach and descending into a life of vice and arson.
My favourite bit — the plot doesn’t resolve until the very last sentence.
Ballard’s views on transgression seem very relevent in terms of 1. the recent unrest in English cities and 2. Alan Moffat’s talk about the psychology of rogue insiders at the BCS ISSG Insider Threat event I attended at the end of June.

Get your own copy here
— I reccomend it.