The final hesitation – RIP Sir Clement Freud

Another voice I recall so well from my childhood has passed away, Sir Clement Freud has died.

For me he was a slow but firm voice on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game “Just A Minute” where he was a regular appearance.  His educated, steady, and confident delivery was like an ice breaker pressing on through a sea of interruptions for deviation, repetition, or hesitation.  I respected him greatly for there are very few who can trip up Stephen Fry for diction and use of the English language!

On this show alone his career spread decades, appearing alongside comic noteworthys such as the aforementioned Mr Fry, Kenneth Williams, and the presenter Nicholas Parsons.  Beyond this he was a writer, journalist, Liberal MP, and one of those rare few who can be described as a raconteur and actually fill the word’s large boots to excess.

He will be sorely missed, thanks for the laughs.

• BBC Obituary – Writer Clement Freud dies aged 84
• Telegraph Obituary – Sir Clement Freud dies at 84

The return of “I’m sorry I haven’t a clue”

Good news for those who’ve missed the show since Humph’s sad passing last year.  BBC Radio 4 has announced that the show will be returning in June!

BBC News – Fry, Dee, Brydon take on Clue

The Telegraph – I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue returns to Radio 4

Food for thought…

XKCD - A Webcomic - Steal this Comic

This cartoon made me laugh and also think nervously about my collection of MP3s and audio casettes that I’ve made from my CD and vinyl collection over the years. It also explains clearly why I buy MP3s DRM free from Amazon.com.

As long as the artist gets paid fairly and as long as I don’t sell it or give it away without paying the artist again, or use it in broadcast or performance without broadcast rights does it really matter how many personal copies I make?  I could play a single CD in my computer, in my car, and in my hi-fi by carrying it around with me, but I don’t have a CD player in my car, and might not want to run up and down stairs all day trading CDs between my computer and the hi-fi…but I only listen to one device at a time, so it could still be 1 usage!

This cartoon is lovingly pirated wholesale from the XKCD website, click the image above to go to the brilliant XKCD website itself!

Vince Cable, a future in comedy

Normally when I find myself laughing out loud at a statement made by Liberal Democrat MP it is because I disagree with the statement and not that it was actually funny.  Today though I’ve experienced that strange phenomenom and chortled aloud when I read the Lib Dem’s Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, reply when asked to comment on Gordon Brown’s leadership problems:

“I have no wish to kick a twitching corpse.” – as quoted in The Telegraph

Don’t mince your words there Vince, tell us what you really mean!  Good thing he isn’t a Labour MP or he’d have been relieved of his post by now.

Did Shakespeare play World of Warcraft

I’d been out to lunch, and as I was getting back into my car 3 lads shouted

“F@ck World of Warcraft”

at me from across the street and proceeded to get into their (work supplied) pick-up truck, laughing.

I found myself wondering if it would be worthwhile mentioning to them that my license plate is “The Bard” not because of Word of Warcraft, or even because of this blog title, but because my hometown is home to the most famous bard of them all, William Shakespeare!

Then I realised that 3 kids in baseball caps and ripped jeans driving a construction pick-up truck weren’t likely to have heard of Shakespeare, and if they had maybe they knew something I didn’t and Shakespeare did play World of Warcraft!