The Eternal Breakfast Debate in a New Place

[french frank]

Surely, it's a simple exercise in listener's requests which has taken over from the phone-in? Nothing more.

It's listener participation. Listeners want radio to be participative. Allegedly. They want to feel this is My Breakfast, My Essential Classics, My Radio 3. It's moving into the digital age (like My Computer and My Documents &c).

[ahinton]

It's listener participation. Listeners want radio to be participative. Allegedly. They want to feel this is My Breakfast, My Essential Classics, My Radio 3. It's moving into the digital age (like My Computer and My Documents &c).

Absolutely spot on - and "allegedly" certainly merits a sentence all to itself as above in order to point it up. If I want to be a participating listener in the music on any of these things, the way to do it would be to play it myself, if I could although, as I can play only one instrument with relatively little competence, that would be rather difficult. What is surely missing from this bizarre perversion of the notion of listener participation, however, is that to listen is itself to participate; given that it is also actually possible to do this in a wholly tweet/fax/email/letter/text/phone calls et al environment, might it be an idea for people to communicate this fact to an apparently unsuspecting BBC? - even by sending texts to Brexts?

[worlingworth1]

Just had to pause my texting while sending in an E-mail, about how eager I am to watch strictly this weekend, and thought I would peruse the breakfast debate board as I do ever so often, can i just ask what you lot actually do for "fun" i suspect that is involved
a/ reading an old copy of the beeching report and bemoaning that the country went to the dogs in 1960 something ?
b/ watching a betamax copy of the "Ascent of man" by Jacob Bronoski ?
c/ tackling that huge pile of back copies of National geographical that you keep meaning to donate to the jumble ?
or
d/ sex and drugs and rock and roll?
answers only by text or e mail or twitter no postcards here thank you

Keep up the good work love this thread happy happy !!!!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... can i just ask what you lot actually do for "fun" [?]

Mostly (d) - but not necessarily with each other.

(And the "drugs" nowadays are mostly to help with the first item - otherwise it's a bit like trying to play snooker with a rope instead of a cue.)

[ahinton]

Just had to pause my texting while sending in an E-mail, about how eager I am to watch strictly this weekend, and thought I would peruse the breakfast debate board as I do ever so often, can i just ask what you lot actually do for "fun" i suspect that is involved
a/ reading an old copy of the beeching report and bemoaning that the country went to the dogs in 1960 something ?
b/ watching a betamax copy of the "Ascent of man" by Jacob Bronoski ?
c/ tackling that huge pile of back copies of National geographical that you keep meaning to donate to the jumble ?
or
d/ sex and drugs and rock and roll?
answers only by text or e mail or twitter no postcards here thank you

Keep up the good work love this thread happy happy !!!!

To begin with, I'd be mightily surprised if you or anyone else would expect the entire forum membership to do all the same things for "fun", but let's overlook that.

I've never read the Beeching Report, nor have I ever thought that UK went to "the dogs" at any time (attendance at dog racing being a minority interest in any case).

I don't think that I've ever watched a Betamax copy of anything.

I don't have a pile of back copies of anything to tackle.

As to d/, no rock and roll, the only drugs of which I partake are alcohol, caffeine and music (though not necessarily in that order) and the rest is my business.

I cannot text, have no Twitter account and don't know your email address so am providing my answers here.

[ahinton]

otherwise it's a bit like trying to play snooker with a rope instead of a cue

I've never seen that done; what do people who do it use for chalk?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I've never seen that done; what do people who do it use for chalk?

Well, as someone once said to me; "You're all talc!"

[ahinton]

Well, as someone once said to me; "You're all talc!"

Good thing that your name's not Malc, then...

[antongould]

.........is Strictly not next weekend?

[ahinton]

.........is Strictly not next weekend?

...er - what exactly is strictly not next weekend?

If you are referring to the programme which, as I indicated earlier somewhere, I call Strictly Dumb Prancing, I do not know when it is and could care less, frankly, its only consistency appearing to be in the respective absurdity of its title and its contents, the former of which - as what I assume to be an amalgam of Strictly Ballroom and Come Dancing - seems to point up to perfection that it is well less than the sum of its already tedious parts...

[teamsaint]

Today's show reminded us that Ticatti is setting the charts alight with his new Haydn disc . Sounded great in the couple of minutes or so they played .
I bet JLW has thoughts on this .

[underthecountertenor]

...er - what exactly is strictly not next weekend?

If you are referring to the programme which, as I indicated earlier somewhere, I call Strictly Dumb Prancing, I do not know when it is and could care less, frankly, its only consistency appearing to be in the respective absurdity of its title and its contents, the former of which - as what I assume to be an amalgam of Strictly Ballroom and Come Dancing - seems to point up to perfection that it is well less than the sum of its already tedious parts...

I'm not sure what a lot of this means (starting with the phrase 'could care less'), but there seems to be quite a lot of de haut en bas prejudice wrapped up in it.

As to Strictly Ballroom, it was a film that was highly acclaimed at the time, by critics as well as public. It's 23 years old now, and I suppose it may have aged badly (I've not re-watched it for some years), but at the time it was seen as something fresh, funny and original, and even surprising given its Australian provenance. I'm surprised that you found it tedious, but each to their own.

I'd agree with you that Come Dancing was tedious, though occasionally unintentionally comic. But there my agreement with you ends. The amalgamation of the two was, in my view, inspired, and in the best traditions of BBC innovation to Reithian ends. What they did was take a formula which was of genuine interest only to committed ballroom dancers, throw celebs, and pizazz, into the mix, and come up with an inspired title. The result caught the public's attention to an unexpected degree, and (apart from being good clean family Saturday night fun in keeping with TV tradition) it has arguably awakened an interest in a pastime/sport/discipline/what-you-will which is sociable and healthy.

I should add that I have watched a few episodes in past series (with family or friends) and found them quite diverting - certainly not tedious (by contrast with the occasion one Christmas when I was forced to watch Mamma Mia and was inwardly weeping with boredom almost from the start) - but I am by no means an addict. Ars longa, vita brevis and all that: it's pretty low down on my list of priorities and I have no plans to watch this series. But I have to take issue with your damning, and apparently prejudiced, verdict on both this and Strictly Ballroom.

[underthecountertenor]

Though it's fair to say that Alexei Sayle wouldn't agree with me. http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...y-come-dancing

[french frank]

Though it's fair to say that Alexei Sayle wouldn't agree with me. http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...y-come-dancing

Yes, I think it would be fair to say that!

I've never in fact witnessed Alexei Sayle, but the phrase 'the ongoing cultural war on critical thinking' rings very true to me. It's a good twin for Tusa's 'the flight from intelligence'. The BBC got lucky with that idea and it became very popular. That means it will go on for ever - like The Archers and Doctor Who. Hélas!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It might be a good point to remind/inform Forumistas that Alexei Sayle appeared in Doctor Who (Revalation of the Daleks, 1985). Being "very popular" does not always indicate a "flight from intelligence" (nor, for that matter, from subversion and social criticism).