If there's one thing that annoyed me this weekend, it was the claim from various quarters that "the UK got no points on Saturday night because of a post-Iraq backlash."
I really do think that we British should stop over-estimating our own importance. As if the "rest of Europe" cared about the UK so much, that they would all huddle together and orchestrate some kind of conspiracy to punish us for our behaviour.
The reality is that we entered an OK song into a TV show but sung it badly, and that Europe's TV viewers voted elsewhere. And anyway, pro-war countries like Poland and the Netherlands did OK.
It's just the sort of 'us and them' mentality which is the very worst aspect of living in the UK. I agree it doesn't really matter with the Eurovision, after all, it's only a bit of fun, but this kind of conspiracy theory mentality shows up everywhere, not least in our relationship with the EU - and every time I hear it a little light goes on inside my head and I realise I'm talking to someone with a very different view of Europe's culture from my own.
The idea behind it seems to be that Europeans are all the same, and either conniving conspirators out to foil the plucky, upstanding Brits, or too stupid or backward to understand that we and the rest of the English-speaking world know how to do things better.
Anyway. End of rant. (Feeling better now!)
Posted by Eurodan at May 25, 2003 5:20 PMWhen it was pointed out that the UK would be spared relegation despite getting no points, due to their large financial contribution, an irate viewer of BBC3's "Liquid Eurovision" emailed to suggest that that "we shouldn't enter next year and we should keep our money." More evidence of the rather disturbing phenomenon that Dan mentioned.
Posted by: Adam at May 25, 2003 11:23 PMOh for goodness' sake. So that the BBC can make more reality-gardening-antiques-makeover shows, I presume?
There was a huge queue when I got back to Waterloo last night (no, this is going to be relevant in a minute, really) because the shiffer dogs were on duty and the Paris and Brussels trains arrived more or less at the same time. Because nearly everyone from those trains was an EU national, people without an EU passport had a much shorter queue. Suddenly an Englishwoman ahead of me turned to her friend and said, in fairly ringing tones, "You see, they'll let any of those foreigners in easily!" (or words to that effect) - a remark that seemed then and still seems to me so wantonly, cripplingly unfair that my good mood from a lovely weekend was shattered instantly.
Anyway, fortunately her husband intervened. And he was French.
You have to wonder, what sort of country we are becoming?...
Hey-ho. Onto lighter things. My remark about the BBC's current output above prompts me to wonder, Daniel - did Antiques Roadshow ever visit Manchesterford?? I don't suppose you'd have a transcript of the broadcast, if so...?
Posted by: Erato at May 26, 2003 11:07 AMQuite. Often you find Brits complaining at passport control on arrival at countries like Germany and so on. They generally utter some cheap comment like "I thought we were all in Europe now, why do we still have to queue and show our passports?".
When in fact it's because of British refusal to sign the Schengen agreement that they're having to wait and be checked.
But that level of intricate logic will forever escape them, I'm sure. Ah well.
As for the 'lost episode' of Antiques Roadshow from Manchesterford, I will have a hunt through the archives - I believe that they found Rembrandt's Blue Boy in green and mauve!
Posted by: Eurodan at May 26, 2003 12:35 PMAh yes I think I did see it - Mr Derek had been using the backs of them as scribble pads to plan the installation of the new cistern (his moral dilemma over whether or not to give them up made for a very exciting cliff-hanger, as I recall).
Though if I remember aright, Miss Bertha was quite disappointed when it was revealed that the symbols on the base of the china figurine of a shepherd boy and his dog that she'd taken along identified them not as Sèvres porcelain, as she'd hoped, but as a free gift from the Sunday Express.
Yes, that's the episode, but you missed out the mini-cliffhanger in the cistern installation sub-plot when it was discovered that the ball-cock was outside current EU guidelines!
Gripping stuff.
Posted by: Eurodan at May 27, 2003 2:11 PMOh of course - or "Common Market" as it was known then (dear oh dear, shows me age).
Still, it was very heart-warming of Mrs O to sell off the Leonardo cartoons she'd been using to keep her second-best slippers in shape so that, as she put it, "Merss Babs could have that deeyp-fat froyer she'd orlwez wornted".
Posted by: Erato at May 27, 2003 2:24 PMAh yes. Where would we be without Acorn Antiques. How I miss it...
Posted by: Eurodan at May 27, 2003 3:05 PMI'll leave it to you to translate the above into Flemish :-)
Posted by: Erato at May 27, 2003 3:10 PMErm, yes... ahem...
Well the idea was to have something different on each language page, rather than a translation... excuses, excuses!
Posted by: Eurodan at May 27, 2003 4:09 PMNo excuses! You can have different things on each language page, but you are obliged to have a set of flags at the bottom of each page which, when clicked, provide a full translation into the selected language. Failure to do this will put you in contravention of equal opportunities legislation (i.e. poor linguistically handicapped souls like me shouldn't be denied the pleasures of reading your other language pages.)
You have been warned! ;-)
Posted by: Adam at May 27, 2003 4:53 PMAnyway, I think there aren't nearly enough reality-gardening-antiques-makeover shows on the BBC at the moment. I have a whole host of wonderful program ideas, just waiting for someone to throw some money at them.
I'm currently trying to think of a suitable title for my latest creation, a show where a selection of C-grade celebs and former Big Brother contestants try to tart up a granny before David Dickinson auctions her off to raise money for her children to squander.
Posted by: Adam at May 27, 2003 5:04 PMIn fact (and now I think we're close to needing a whole new strand, Mr Blogmeister sir), there's a mint to be made in 'virtuality' crossover shows...
Ever wanted to let Charlie Dimmock loose on the Magic Roundabout Garden? Wondered what Gerry Robinson or John Harvey-Jones would make of the management of the Crossroads Motel? Ached to see Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen revamp the inside of the TARDIS? Pashley Productions is just waiting for us to deluge him, er, them, with our ideas...
Posted by: Erato at May 27, 2003 6:37 PMOh and btw, as a letter in today's Indy pointed out, if the Euroscoring really *was* anything to do with Iraq, shouldn't we have got at least one point, from Israel? Not to mention from our partners-in-arms the Poles. But no, the silence from New Europe was as deafening as that from, er, Europe Classic. (Fred - any suggestions for a better re-branding??)
Sorry Daniel - I seem to be acting as an occupying power in your blog!
Posted by: Erato at May 27, 2003 6:42 PMDon't worry Mr Erato, I'm delighted to see you make such an outstanding contribution to the comments page!
And as for the new strand... well, let's see what tomorrow brings...
As for the translations - I'm sorry, but "there are no plans" (as the BBC sniffily used to say) to provide translations of each page - I do *sometimes* have to do work, you know! ;-)
Daniel,as for the translations I fully support you.Its fun to read the german,french,flemish pages (sorry don't understand the other languages)and read stuff that aren't on the english page. Although the french and dutch pages are rather poor for the moment.
Ze zijn gewoon gefrustreerd omdat ze maar één taal kunnen lezen.Zielig ;-). Vertaal dit nu niet naar het engels want anders krijg ik het op mijn kop dit weekend en mag ik het ganse weekend iedere fout die ik maak in het engels honderd keer horen.
As for the re-branding,Robert, lets brainstorm this weekend. Others are welcome to join.One condition:not during the night,oeps ;-)
Posted by: Fredje at May 27, 2003 9:10 PMFredje: Je hebt natuurlijk groot gelijk :-)
And just for you I've divulged one of my innermost secrets exclusively for Dutch-speakers over on the 'other channel'. ;-)
I see you've learnt lessons from the BBC's cross-promotion of output! That's not fair - next you'll be insisting that we have to get wireless connections to read your thoughts on the arts, like BBC4 and digital (or BBC2 and snooker in colour - not that any of you remember a world without BBC2, or snooker, come to that)
Posted by: Erato at May 27, 2003 11:47 PM