Odds And Sods

“Deals in junk….talks a load of rubbish.”

I often try to give you some light-hearted videos for a weekend post, hence things like Saturday Smiles, which is really due a return! This week I saw several videos on YouTube which have been posted in the past couple of weeks and I thought they would make a diverting little selection. I thought about calling them a ‘cornucopia,’ or possibly a ‘pot pourri,’ but in the end I went for something more in keeping with my usual style, as you can see from the title. Looking at these, I think three of them do fit into the Saturday Smiles category, one is a heartwarming good news story, another is an intriguing little piece from the TV channel here which isn’t known for its highbrow content and there is, of course, a little music for you in the final one.

Let’s start with the heart warmer. I am unashamedly sharing this as it is about my football team, which is how I found it in the first place:

There is a slightly more complete version of this on the Spurs page, but it isn’t allowed for embedding. This gives you the gist, though, and I can confirm that Ryley did indeed take his penalty at half time in the recent game against our hated North London rivals, and scored against a Tottenham legend, Pat Jennings. I don’t know if it will work, but this is the link to the official video, which gives you the full story. Spurs won the game 3-0 and, thanks to Arsenal going all Arse-y in their next match, have turned a four point deficit into a two point advantage heading into the season’s final games tomorrow. We ‘only’ need to draw with the bottom club in the league to qualify for next season’s Champions League, and I really hope Ryley inspires the team on – it would be so Spursey for us to blow it, though!

This next one is the first of the three Saturday Smiles for today. Politicians always make good targets, I think, and this makes its points well:

Those of you who know my sense of humour well probably won’t be surprised to hear that my favourite part of that is the first Donald Trump clip. The Joe people have done a great many of these videos, and I’ve shared them before. So much time and effort must go into these, but they are a very entertaining way of making serious points and long may that continue. In case anyone didn’t know it, the tune was Boney M’s Rasputin – I think I prefer this to the original (not difficult, really).

This next one is a brief clip from the satirical panel show Mock The Week. The BBC does a good job in sharing these snippets from earlier series of the show, and this one was posted this week:

Not that anyone could possibly accuse the BBC of being anything other than neutral (well, actually, loads of people do), but it just so happens that one of the issues currently plaguing our government, as it continues to wallow in its huge vat of incompetence, is the humongous backlog of driving licences waiting to be issued. But, as I say, the timing of this reissued clip is purely coincidental. Isn’t it…?

The BBC also has a long track record in great sitcoms, going back as far as I can remember since we first had a TV – Hancock’s Half Hour, Steptoe And Son, etc. This is from a more recent one, The Vicar Of Dibley:

If asked to name a clip from that show I expect many would mention the puddle incident. If you haven’t seen it, you’ll find it here. The show was first broadcast in 1994 and had three series and a couple of specials up to 2000, and has had several more specials and charity show versions since then. There were only sixteen episodes in the original run, and a total of thirty one altogether. I always felt it deserved to have had more, but it enjoyed huge success in its lifetime: it received loads of British Comedy Awards, two International Emmys, and was a multiple British Academy Television Awards nominee. In 2004, it placed third in a BBC poll of Britain’s Best Sitcoms, behind Only Fools And Horses and Blackadder. Two future possibilities for me there, I think.

I mentioned at the outset that I would be sharing a news clip from one of our national broadcasters. That company is Channel 5, and as you watch this try to spot the clues in the voiceover that back up the widely held view here that the channel is deliberately dumbed down to match its audience:

I know there is a serious story underlying that, but I just find it hilarious. Being part of that age group perhaps I should be worried, but as I am long term single I will probably be alright. Now, can anyone show me how to put a prophylactic on an avocado? Asking for a friend…

I wouldn’t be being myself if I didn’t include a tune in this selection (I don’t count Boney M!). A couple of weeks ago, in my post New Music, I played a track from the new album by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dirt Does Dylan. The album is now out, and is great. This week a new video was published for another of the tracks, and as it is very good I thought I’d close this little piece with it:

Dylan’s original version of Country Pie is on his Nashville Skyline album, and clocks in at a mere 1’37”. I think the NGDB have done a great job in rounding it out and I love the video, which typifies what music should be: fun. I looked the song up, and it is far from being one of his most-covered, though I was intrigued to see that two of the covers were by British bands: one of my favourite folk-rock bands – Fairport Convention – have done a live version, and one of our early prog-rock bands – The Nice – turned it into a six minute epic. Weird, or what? Just to add to the weirdness, the two main schools of thought on the song’s meaning are that it is about that American staple – pie – or that the word is a euphemism for sex. After all, it does mention cherries…

Enjoy your weekend, and I’ll see you again on Tuesday 👍