What has happened to the British sitcom? We used to produce fantastic 30 minute sitcoms, funny, poignant, witty and a reflection of our lives (naturally exaggerated) Now I would be the first to admit that we have not watched a lot of them and perhaps we are missing out but when we do we are always disappointed! Humour like anything moves on but it seems we still have the same cliched old humour recycled in a more contemporary way, we still have seaside innuendo. We tried the new Outlaws series on the BBC. It just was not funny or even that much humour. We gave it a chance but unimpressed!

US comedies are not any better at present we have watched a few and the standard is not great. Perhaps there are to many channels with to much time to fill and the standard has universally dropped. 

Ther are some honourable mentions. Never Have I Ever, The Good Place on Netflix, Hitmen on Sky.

We have been watching The West Wing which is on 4 iPlayer, the production, script and acting are superbly done. Clever writing which still bears a relevance 20 years on! I am happy to hear any recommendations of comedies or programmes. We all have different tastes, which is a good thing with all the diverse programmes that are currently produced.

Stay well

It’s hard to know what to write about? Over the years I have spouted on about many subjects, many of which (almost all) I know little or nothing about! The problem is that so often these days we don't look past the headline or post. Our attention span has become erratic. Only this morning I started reading an article and got about two thirds through it and just could not be bothered to finish! We hear and read so much, see so many social media posts that tell us so much conflicting information, it is hard to know the fact from the bullshit! I try to research  some subjects just to make sure I’m not talking or writing rubbish but even the experts seem to have differing views, confusing conclusions and opinions? Human existence is a shared experience and one which, we all, no matter how ill informed or ignorant have some idea of the state of our country and the world? We all have differing views and fast held opinions and has time has gone on we seem to more and more entrenched in those? The longer I longer I live the more I realise how ignorant I am and how my views are affected by my age and experience. Only the other day I was talking to a much younger neighbour who runs his own business and as we discussed the budget, I understood that his priorities were much different from mine. He is concerned that all his hard work is not diminished by taxation and having to support those who are unwilling to support themselves. what he earns through hard work is for him and his family to maintain and hopefully improve their lives and I totally understand that. 

I often bang on about a fairer more equal society and they huge gap between those who have and those who don’t but I rarely consider the consequences. Society is unequal and there is much evidence to support that view? We have to acknowledge that there will always be a section of our population who for whatever reason have no intention of working and hope to live off the state and others generosity. Often tainting those in genuine need with a reputation that is undeserving! It is a complex and difficult subject. I know I am woefully ignorant in my understanding of it all!

Stay well

I may have missed it but in all this debate about water companies dumping raw sewage, I read or heard little about the damage it does to our wildlife? Of course the real problem is the old infrastructure which can no longer cope with our much larger population and the increase in heavy rainfall. Water companies make billions of dividends and profit and we are constantly told they need time to invest in our infrastructure. They should be forced to spend their profits to improve the infrastructure as fast as possible. I wonder how much money is wasted on repairs and not upgrades? I am going to write to my water company Anglia Water and ask them. 

I shall no longer be alive once most of the proposed “targets” to reduce the environmental impact are met. Well most of them anyway. This is not an excuse for not doing anything to help in my tiny way but more a sadness that I will never know how it turns out. Probably for the best, I am optimistic but in a very pessimistic way!

Stay well

I try very hard to keep an open mind about most things trying to understand each sides point of view and opinion. I have refrained in recent weeks from commenting too much about our government, after all it is pointless, it will make no difference. 

The problems we are experiencing are a direct consequence of Brexit. Nobody wants to hear it. We don't want to acknowledge our foolishness but that is the reason. 

Another thing that seems to be a “hot” subject at the moment is the Transgender community and all the nonsense that surrounds it. The problem mainly stems from men who wish to identify as women. Biological sex cannot be changed. If you born male your male, if your born female your female. Be whoever you want to be but it is an immutable biological fact that cannot be disputed. Perhaps if we all stopped banging on about it, we might just accept it all and the whole thing would go away. 

Leaders gathering in Scotland for the climate conference COP26. They all jet in on planes. 

Stay well

Need one say that the government has taken, rightly, a real bashing over the sewage dumping. However why aren’t the water companies getting far more flack, after all they are the ones who are doing it? Yes the government have made it easier for them to continue to do what they have been doing for a long time but it is the water companies who are doing the dumping? The government have to take responsibility but sometimes we target our outrage in the wrong direction!

Stay well

Football as they say is a funny old game. The Premier League is full of riches both monetary and in skill. Watching Manchester United get thrashed by Liverpool, was as bad as I have ever seen them play and yet they are full, of some of the best players who earn millions! Liverpool were very good but United made it far to easy for them. You can only beat who is put in front of you but that array of expensive talent were a shambles! I have always enjoyed football and have followed the Hammers (West Ham) since I was a young boy. It is overblown, made to be far more important than it really is and yet it is strange how it can affect the mood of the country, especially the national team. There will be millions of Manchester United supporters waking up today wondering how they could have capitulated so easily to a team, whom the view as their biggest rivals? 

I do admire the skill and athleticism, todays players are fitter and faster than ever. I was a mediocre player in my youth and like most sports I’ve tried pretty average. I suppose if the going rate of pay is to earn millions per year then you cannot blame the players for taking the money, they don’t set the salary levels. Having said that the money involved is mind boggling and bears little relation to ordinary working people. 

Now Newcastle have been purchased by a Saudi consortium they are going to have to be very careful how they conduct themselves, lest they do not get tarnished with the appalling record the Saudi’s have on human rights! There is a contradictory stance here by the Premier League, Black Lives Matter but it appears a poor human rights record is no barrier to becoming the owners of a club? It smacks of double standards and shows how unlimited resources can get you what you want?

Football is not important, though it can be a welcome distraction for many. At its best it is exciting, emotional, has breathtaking skill, can lift a nation but like all sport we have to realise it is only a game!

Stay well

I don’t know about Plan B, I don’t think there was ever a Plan A! If you are a member of the general public, do you feel protected by our leaders? Do you care? Naturally we all want to live our lives in the easiest way possible but the last two years have proved that you can’t tame nature. The highlighted “new normal” has come to pass, except that there was no “normal” in the first place! We spend our lives, in ever changing times, all the time. From one day to the next we never really know what to expect or what will happen? We try to run our lives with as little drama as we can but tell me the last time a week went by without something unexpected happening, no matter how trivial it might be? We protect our loved ones and friends the best way we can. I strongly believe in kindness and helping others when you can. The world often seems an unkind place full of violence and cruelty and sadly there is to much evidence of that but acts of kindness are carried out every day however small they might be. I read a post from a mother who had just given birth and was out with her new born for the first time, she realised she had forgotten her purse and a lady at the checkout seeing her plight paid for her items. She said it restored her faith in human nature! These small acts of support are the simple help that can make the difference to all societies. Kindness does not get reported in the same way as the bad stuff and perhaps that is the way it should be but it happens all the time. It costs nothing to help people and in my life has been enriched by those who helped us and by those we have tried to help. Lets be selfish for a moment and acknowledge that it makes us feel good when we carry out an act of kindness! 

Be kind and stay well!