Wednesday, April 12, 2006
WOOHOO
Finally; Action hit DVD a couple of months ago! It's only Region 1, and I don't yet own a multi-region player, so I won't be buying it just yet, but this is wonderful news.
BUY IT. BUY IT. BUY IT.
When you've bought it, maybe print out the advert for the original show,
instead of the inferior cover they've put on it. No one should need telling which is the superior cover.
BUY IT. BUY IT. BUY IT.
When you've bought it, maybe print out the advert for the original show,
instead of the inferior cover they've put on it. No one should need telling which is the superior cover.
Friday, April 07, 2006
The drinks budget
Is it true that the Chancellor can drink alcohol during Budget speech?
While delivering the Budget Speech the Chancellor, in accordance with a custom of the House which is a departure from the normal practice, is permitted to fortify himself with the liquid refreshment of his choice.
Disraeli is said to have favoured brandy and water, while Goschen preferred port. Gladstone, it is thought, consumed sherry and beaten egg from his pomatum pot, although a diarist of the time, Henry Lucy, unable to ascertain the contents of the pot, described the liquid as resembling "a preparation for the hair as it might look in sultry weather".
Other reported tipples include: Derick Heathcote Amory's concoction of milk, honey and rum and Jim Callaghan's tonic water. Stafford Cripps is said to have chosen plain water.
In more recent years, press reports mention John Major drinking mineral water, Geoffrey Howe choosing gin and tonic, Nigel Lawson switching from the whisky and soda enjoyed during his early Budgets to spritzer, and Kenneth Clarke having a taste for neat whisky.
Following Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget statement on 2 July 1997 the Leader of the Opposition, William Hague, opened his response as follows: "On a personal level, I congratulate the Chancellor on his fortitude in delivering his speech with only the assistance of water. "
Sources: An Encyclopaedia of Parliament. Norman Wilding & Philip Laundy. 4th ed. Cassell. 1972
A Diary of Two Parliaments. Henry W Lucy. 2nd ed. Cassell. 1885
The Times, 28.11.95
Hansard Vol 297, c.318
Didn’t I say English democracy was cute?
While delivering the Budget Speech the Chancellor, in accordance with a custom of the House which is a departure from the normal practice, is permitted to fortify himself with the liquid refreshment of his choice.
Disraeli is said to have favoured brandy and water, while Goschen preferred port. Gladstone, it is thought, consumed sherry and beaten egg from his pomatum pot, although a diarist of the time, Henry Lucy, unable to ascertain the contents of the pot, described the liquid as resembling "a preparation for the hair as it might look in sultry weather".
Other reported tipples include: Derick Heathcote Amory's concoction of milk, honey and rum and Jim Callaghan's tonic water. Stafford Cripps is said to have chosen plain water.
In more recent years, press reports mention John Major drinking mineral water, Geoffrey Howe choosing gin and tonic, Nigel Lawson switching from the whisky and soda enjoyed during his early Budgets to spritzer, and Kenneth Clarke having a taste for neat whisky.
Following Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget statement on 2 July 1997 the Leader of the Opposition, William Hague, opened his response as follows: "On a personal level, I congratulate the Chancellor on his fortitude in delivering his speech with only the assistance of water. "
Sources: An Encyclopaedia of Parliament. Norman Wilding & Philip Laundy. 4th ed. Cassell. 1972
A Diary of Two Parliaments. Henry W Lucy. 2nd ed. Cassell. 1885
The Times, 28.11.95
Hansard Vol 297, c.318
Didn’t I say English democracy was cute?
English democracy is charming
“There have been various instances in the past of persons who were not Members being counted in a Division. For instance, on 27 February 1771:
The Speaker had no sooner declared that the Noes had it (Noes 165; Yeas 155), than it was discovered that a Stranger had come in and been told as one of the Noes. He was brought up to the Table by Mr Byng and Mr Buller. Questioned by the Speaker, he said, `My name is Thomas Hunt. I live in Dartmouth Street I follow no business, but live on my fortune. I heard somebody in the Lobby say, the doors were open, and that anybody might go in. I was going up to the gallery, with other gentlemen of my acquaintance ... I came into the lobby a little before the gentlemen were coming out ... I have been used to come into this House and gallery. I have been told in divisions
before this'.
After a long debate the question was again put and the House divided. Yeas 153: Noes 164. Mr Hunt was discharged after a warning from the Speaker.
The idea of clearing the lobbies derives from this sort of incident: security is now such that an intrusion of this kind would be virtually impossible.”
English democracy is charming.
The Speaker had no sooner declared that the Noes had it (Noes 165; Yeas 155), than it was discovered that a Stranger had come in and been told as one of the Noes. He was brought up to the Table by Mr Byng and Mr Buller. Questioned by the Speaker, he said, `My name is Thomas Hunt. I live in Dartmouth Street I follow no business, but live on my fortune. I heard somebody in the Lobby say, the doors were open, and that anybody might go in. I was going up to the gallery, with other gentlemen of my acquaintance ... I came into the lobby a little before the gentlemen were coming out ... I have been used to come into this House and gallery. I have been told in divisions
before this'.
After a long debate the question was again put and the House divided. Yeas 153: Noes 164. Mr Hunt was discharged after a warning from the Speaker.
The idea of clearing the lobbies derives from this sort of incident: security is now such that an intrusion of this kind would be virtually impossible.”
English democracy is charming.
