King of the North

So Starmer is out. I'm afraid I'm not at all sorry to see him go - I've long been of the view that he didn't so much win the last election as the Tories very much lost it (in every sense of the word), and he's been deeply unimpressive since.

And it very much looks like Burnham will be the next guy - having been gifted a very safe seat in the recent by-election he's now eligible to become Labour leader, and he has the great virtue of being untainted with the shambles that has gone before. It's a chance for Labour to make a clean break, reinvent itself, and hopefully change direction enough to fend off the threat of Reform.

Except...

I find myself deeply troubled by the democratic legitimacy of this one. At the General Election we were presented with a Labour party led by Kier Starmer and presenting themselves under a specific manifesto. Switching to Burnham and making a clean break means ditching both of those things. Would people have voted as they did under those circumstances? Would they vote that way now?

And this switch is even more outrageous than even the 'normal' changes in Prime Minister that we've had in the last decade - at least then the replacement leader was someone who had been elected at the same time and under the same manifesto as the outgoing leader, so there was at least some sense of continuity. Burnham doesn't have that - indeed, that's the very key to his relative popularity.

Our constitution doesn't require a change of PM to be followed by a General Election. In practice, however, such changes generally have been followed by one in short order: May was crazy enough to call one after Cameron left, Boris called one after he took over from May, and Rishi only had 20 months left in the parliamentary term before he had to call one. (Truss wasn't in office long enough for it to matter.)

And there are usually fairly good reasons to call one: there's always a "new manager bounce" that comes from having someone new at the helm. Gordon Brown made a critical mistake in refusing to call a General Election when he became leader.

But a General Election now can only mean bad things for Labour - at the very least, they'll lose a lot of seats (because the current Commons arithmetic is a quirk of the system, unlikely to be repeated), and may very well usher in the Reform government of our nightmares.

So he's got an unenviable decision to make: call an Election and suffer for it, or refuse and be dogged by attacks that he's even more lacking in democratic mandate that is usual for replacement PMs. Not a good position.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to this: can the Labour government get the economy working again in the next 3 years? We're in a fairly horrible position where for an awful lot of people things have yet to really recover even from the crisis in 2008, with food inflation, in particular, causing real problems. Meanwhile, wage stagnation has meant that for most work just doesn't pay enough to be worthwhile - the gap between benefits and minimum wage, and between each step on the ladder to the next, just isn't enough for the additional effort needed to climb it.

If that can be addressed, Labour have a decent chance in the next election and should hold off. If not, it's likely they'll see a modest improvement in the polls now and then a continued slide, so their best bet of a win, any win, is basically now.

Either way, I don't actually see any chance of there being a General Election any time soon. But if it really is the King in the North, I'm afraid that in this instance I think there really should be.

Ladies First

This is not the absolute worst film I have ever seen, but it's fair to say that it's right up there.

The film has a well-worn premise: a sexist arse finds himself transported into a world where the gender roles have been flipped, and is forced to learn a salutary lesson in order to get home. That done, he's a new man. Huzzah!

The fundamental problem with the film is that it appears that the filmmakers have spent the last fifty (or at the very least the last ten) years in a bubble, completely oblivious to anything that has happened since. The behaviours depicted were not acceptable even when I started work thirty years ago, never mind following Weinstein and "Me Too". It really undercuts the parody when the thing that is being parodied doesn't actually exist, except possibly in some script-writers fevered brain.

In fairness, there are two mildly funny moments in the film.

Ultimately, though, this is one to avoid. We got it bundled as part of our Netflix subscription, and it still felt like being ripped off.

They Won? They Won!

I didn't watch the Scotland match - with a 2am kickoff it was just too late for me. By all accounts that was the right decision. Apparently Scotland were pretty terrible, and were perhaps lucky to come away with a 1-0 win against opponents that we really ought to have beaten.

All of which means we're probably barrelling towards an unlucky elimination on goal difference. The target seems to be 3 points and a -2 or better goal difference, and if Scotland do get beaten by Brazil and Morocco we'll be at 3 points and, at best -1. Plus, with Brazil and Morocco drawing, they both now know that the winner of the group will be decided by goal difference, so they'll want to put as many past us (and Haiti) as they can.

But...

There are two important mitigating factors to consider. In the previous two tournaments, Scotland have been rubbish in their first game and have then ground out a draw in their second game against, nominally, much better opposition. Well, we've apparently been rubbish in our first game... and a ground-out draw would guarantee our qualification. So I'll happily take that.

But the other thing to consider is this: like it or not, Scotland were the worst team at the Euros in 2024. So our first, fundamental goal for this tournament was simply to avoid that. As much as it sucks, simply not being the absolute worst represents progress. And we've done that. Huzzah, I guess. The next target was simply to score a goal (done), and then to actually win a game (done).

So the target now is to put in the best performances possible (ideally, at least one actually good performance), and we'll see how we go from there. A point would be glorious, even two defeats and qualification would represent our best-ever result at one of these major finals. But if even that doesn't happen... oh well, as long as next time is better again we'll at least, very slowly, be getting somewhere.

And that's not nothing.

Experimental Cookery 2026: Sumac Chicken Drumsticks

These came from Tom Kerridge's book, "The BBQ Book". I don't have a lot to say about them - they were quick and simple, with just a few steps to them (including marinading overnight), and were really nice once they were cooked. All in all, a winner - we'll definitely have these again.

That said, I did find that cooking these on the barbecue was somewhat fraught - I found myself utterly paranoid about whether they were sufficiently cooked or not. Our meat thermometer really didn't help, as it turns out that it just doesn't come up to temperature as it should - I've now replaced it with a better, digital one. But most of the problem was just sheer terror at the possibility that the chicken might not be cooked, even when it clearly was.

Incidentally, in addition to the chicken I also made up two jars of pickles from the same book over the weekend: one of pickled radishes and the other pickled chilli onions. Both of which were really nice, though neither really warrants its own post to say that.

#18: "Sharpe's Storm", by Bernard Cornwell

Warming Up to the World Cup

So Scotland have qualified for the World Cup, and are due to play our first match there for 28 years this Sunday morning. The hype is intense, the excitement is palpable... and I'm not joining in.

Unfortunately, at both the last two Euros we've gone into the competition on the crest of a wave, only to freeze in our first game and get soundly beaten. This was then followed with a plucky draw, a new wave of excitement because "if we can just beat... we could go through", and then another disappointment. There is very little reason to think that things will be any different here, except that Haiti aren't Germany... but that doesn't really matter if our team don't perform.

Of course, one thing that does work tremendously in our favour is that this time three teams will qualify from most of the groups - we're going from 48 teams down to 32 in the next round. So in theory only the truly terrible teams will be eliminated, with one win almost certainly enough to see us through.

And Scotland genuinely, honestly, aren't one of those "truly terrible" teams. On paper, given the group we're in and the form the team has been showing, we should go through and with something to spare. Indeed, with Brazil being a shadow of their former greatness, it's not entirely insane to suggest we could even top the group...

But, no. Because in this context "truly terrible" doesn't refer to the quality of the team on paper, or the form going into the matches, or anything else. All that matters is the next three games, and indeed most importantly the next game (since Haiti are by far the most beatable of the three teams - meaning no offense to them; they'll be saying exactly the same thing about Scotland).

In qualifying, both this time and last time, Scotland proved that they're good enough to be at the tournament. Against Germany they played as though they didn't believe that, and in so doing proved that they weren't.

The big question for Sunday, then: do our players believe that they deserve to be at the party?

Who's Future

I see that the BBC has now announced some big changes for "Doctor Who" - Russell Davies and Bad Wolf are out, they're putting the show out to tender, and they've cancelled the Christmas Special. That last isn't really a surprise. There was just no way to get it all filmed, through post-production, and onto TV for Christmas (at least, not this year...).

But where does that leave "Doctor Who"?

Well, nowhere good. Unfortunately, this means that the return of Russell Davies, the whole of the Disney deal, and indeed the tenures of both the last two (new) Doctors and the last two showrunners have been pretty much disasters. More or less the only good things to come from it is that we've now had our first female Doctor and our first person of colour as a permanent Doctor.

But what next?

If I were the BBC, I think I would immediately be approaching Paul McGann about possibly stepping into the role in the immediate term. If he's willing and available, I would proceed to adapt one or more of the "Big Finish" stories for TV - those are extremely well regarded, they have a script more or less ready to go, so it's something they should be able to get done at some speed. And the 8th Doctor has always been a joy to see and has always been the great "what if...", so let's do it!

If that doesn't work, I'd be inclined to approach Jo Martin about the same, and backfill the Fugitive Doctor story. I'm really not a fan of the Timeless Child stuff, but the fact is that it's canon now, and Jo Martin herself was really good in the role, so they might as well use it.

But if that doesn't work out, I think they have to accept a hiatus, potentially several years in length.

In which case, take your time, cast a whole new Doctor, and start fresh from a "some time later", and completely ignore the Billie Piper appearance - ideally, edit the end of the last episode to have the new Doctor appear in her place and pretend it has always been that way (in the same way that they inserted Ncuti Gatwa in "An Adventure in Time and Space" when they showed that most recently).

Ultimately, though, today's announcement is probably the bleakest news for "Doctor Who" since Colin Baker's firing in 1986.

Annoying Vindication

As I've mentioned a few times, one of my goals for this year has been to fix the garden. This was largely motivated by a desire not to pay to have someone come and do the job - it seemed awfully expensive, and I wasn't entirely convinced they'd quoted for everything we actually wanted.

I've made a start on the task, mostly involving filling in three holes in the garden: one we dug for a sandpit for Lion (which turned out to be a bad idea), and two that Lion dug herself. I also spread grass seed over the affected area.

Alas, this has not had entirely the desired effect, notably because Lion has proceeded to dig great big holes back in the garden. Which is more than a little frustrating.

On the other hand, it does mean that choosing not to spend the money to get it done was absolutely the right decision: as annoying as it is to see her tearing up my work, how much more annoying would it be had we spent a thousand pounds only to see her rip that to pieces?

#17: "The Worst Witch to the Rescue", by Jill Murphy

Mid Calder Gala Day: Gala Day Season Begins... and Ends

The band is struggling.

Last year we had an issue where the key members of our drum corps decided (not unreasonably) that they wanted to try their hand at competition. They let it be known that they would be available to us when they were free, but when there was a clash they would prioritize their competition band. This was unfortunate, but understandable - but it meant that for much of the gala day season we were really struggling for people.

At the end of the competition season our pipe major started looking around for an alternative drum corps, be that recruiting new people, or even hiring a tutor and training a new drum corps. However, nothing came of that - indeed, over the winter it became apparent that 'our' drummers had left their competing band, and so should now be available to us. Unfortunately, a few months ago they joined another competing band, and so we were once again stuck.

In the meantime, however, we've also lost much of our pipe corps - between family commitments and various age-related health issues we've found that our regular attendance at practices is less than half a dozen, some of whom aren't able to march any distance.

And so, when the time came to determine which events we would be doing this year, we found ourselves in real trouble: there was one event at which we had sufficient numbers for a pipe corps and one that was a 'maybe', and only one event at which we had a drum corps. And so we've ended up having to cancel all our other events for the year. (It's also worth noting that those events are themselves ailing - we've lost both our Christmas events, we've lost our local gala day, and we were down to only a handful of potential events anyway.)

Anyway, Mid Calder gala day happened on Saturday. It's one of the more involved events: the third-longest parade, followed by lunch, followed by three or four mini-events as we play around the village.

We met at the school, as always, and as always proceeded to agonize over uniform: jackets or no jackets; capes or no capes? In the end, we went with neither jackets nor capes - a bold decision, but a lucky one as it happened. We had a pipe corps of seven, which is one more than the absolute bare minimum, and a drum corps of three (including a bass drummer). So an okay, but not great, band.

And from there it was all pretty straightforward. Except that I came away absolutely convinced that it was the right decision to cancel the other events, because it was very evident that we were struggling for lack of practice - several people weren't playing drones, there were chanters cutting out, and we'd had to restrict our repertoire to a mere five sets (not what you want when you have a long parade to do).

The highlight of the day was the lunch - my understanding is that the local butchers supply the food, in which case they come highly recommended. And then the three mini-events were fine, but no more than that.

And that's gala day season, at least as far as the band is concerned. And, indeed, that's the year's performances with the band done. (We do have our local gala day this weekend, and it will be good to be able to actually attend - I usually miss it. And I have some other solo piping events.)

As for the band, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take action. I'd really hoped not to have to do so, since I was enjoying not having the stress of having to run things, but we just can't go on as we are. So two things are evident:

1. If the band is to continue we need to be able to take on events, confident that we're actually able to fulfil them. And, as I said, it's entirely reasonable that 'our' existing drum corps want to go and compete (if you want to know how good you can be, that's pretty much a necessity), and if they're competing then they're not able to attend events with us. But that means that we need to recruit (or train) a new drum corps - we have to assume that 'our' drum corps are not available at the key times that we would need them, so need to make other arrangements. But I'm not in a position to do anything about that.
2. What I am in a position to do something about is the situation with pipers. As I mentioned, we've seen a massive drop-off in attendances at practice, and some of the reason for that (and also the consequence of that) is that practices themselves have become largely depressing - we've been drifting, not really doing anything of value, and only actually playing the bagpipes on those rare occasions when we can be bothered. That's something I can change - it's just a matter of imposing a little more structure and committing to actually practicing. So I guess I'll get started on that, and we'll see how it goes.

And maybe next year will be better. Maybe.

Day 150: Update on Goals

It seems no time since the last update, but as we've reached Day 150 of the year, it's time for another update on goals:

• Books: By this point I would hope to be at 14.79 books completed, which I passed quite some time ago. That said, I've just hit a set of "doorstop" fantasy novels that have turned out to have tiny print, so I may have a problem here...
• Weight: This is drifting along. It's okay, but by no means great.
• Church Website: This has made significant progress since the last update - I have populated pages for all the groups, and now just need to get the details in place. Then an update of what's already there, and things will be looking good.
• Garden: I've also made a big step forward here - the various holes were filled in and grass seed sown. I'm not sure that's going to bear fruit, as Lion (not to mention the birds) seem intent on undoing my work. But we'll see. I still need to fix the loose slab (on a wall, not a steps as previously reported) and get rid of an old gas cylinder, but it's looking reasonably hopeful.
• Blog: The target for this point in the year should be a little over 49 posts. I'm around that point, so things are looking good.

The upshot of all of that: things are actually looking good on almost all fronts. Here's hoping that continues!