Jacqueline

Yes, I imagine that sort of behaviour would take the sheen off proceedings, particularly in front of a young audience. Biebster was lucky to recover, career wise, after his last kick off, when he showed up hours late for concerts and generally had a melt down. He must have some very canny peops on his management to even come back from that fiasco. With regards to this plastic box in which he was suspended mid air, did it have air holes I wonder?

That's horrendous 2dancersmum, was the lorry driver prosecuted? I think I have said before that the rules and the law need to be much tighter and rigorously enforced. We hear about various police initiatives to do with driving while using a mobile phone and so on, but so many people do it anyway and seem to take the view that you should just try not to get caught, rather than understanding why you shouldn't do it in the first place. Then we get people going to court and playing the victim, pleading to keep their licence or they will lose their job. And they get away with it, even though some are already well over the points limit and often for repeating the same offence. These people are only finally stopped when they actually kill somebody, and even then the punishment rarely comes near to fitting the crime, so they never learn. Being a road user now seems to be all about dealing with aggression and ignorance, trying not to react as you never know how a situation will develop or what kind of nutter you might be dealing with. Some people will always be ignorant so whatever you do, keep up good all round observation but always try and avoid eye contact.

As I recall, the highway code states that a cyclist should not cycle along the inside of a vehicle that is indicating left at a junction. The reason for this is visibility and should be a matter of common sense on the part of the cyclist. As taxi4ballet says, undertaking has been the reason for a number of fatal accidents, particularly involving large vehicles where the cycle is in the driver's blindspot. It also is a matter of road layout, markings, priority lights and so on. Plus the drivers who move/turn/stop without bothering to check mirrors and blindspots. Each situation will have a unique set of circumstances so it is really an on the spot judgement. I would usually err on the side of giving way to a cyclist as anything can happen such as wobbling, hitting a pothole or suchlike. Whatever one may think of some cyclists, they are vulnerable and as Fonty said, no point in being technically right if you suddenly find you are carrying an uninvited hanger on. There would be fewer accidents if more people engaged their brains and put safety above speed and tunnel vision. It is worth having a read through the highway code as it is quite interesting. No,really. Such delights as stopping distances and the meaning of road markings and loads more. You can test all your friends and make lots more. Hours of fun and all that knowledge. What's not to like.

Interesting point about finding the ballet unbalanced as acts were added to accommodate a full company. I found a similar sort of imbalance with The Invitation, which as I recall, was originally intended as a much longer work but ended up as one act. In my opinion, some arguably less important scenes were overlong and some overdone. Particularly in the repeated gestures and grimacing indicating the husband and wife didn't get on. I remember thinking at the time okay, we get it, lets move on. For me, MacMillan has always been the master of a simple gesture speaking a thousand words, particularly true of Mayerling. The Invitation seemed shoehorned into a time slot with insufficient time given to explore motivation or develop characters, which made some of their actions inexplicable. I am not referring to the rape itself. Although I found the clip of Osipova rehearsing Anastasia fascinating, I am hedging my bets and going to see it at the cinema.

Just wondering how the young lady got on at the concert with her broken ankle? Press reports suggest there was trouble when fans started booing the Biebster for too much talking and not enough singing. Apparently the teenypopster felt he was being disrespected, threw down his mic and stomped off stage? He came back later I gather.

Prince Siegfried is bored by the childish antics of his friends and fed up with his mother constantly pressuring him to find a bride. He wanders off and finds himself by a lake. Here he encounters a beautiful if somewhat feathery lady. He chases her round a bit until she allows him to catch her. He asks her if she has come far. Well, he is a prince! She then starts to tell him her tale of woe about a lake of tears and a magic spell which can only be broken if he promises to love her forever or something like that. His eyes glaze over as he can't seem to escape from women going on about their emotions. Being a well brought up chap though, he hears her out, wishes her luck with her quest and carries on his way. The End. All this could be done for a reasonable price and no need for a jester.

Talking of words and phrases, I am irritated whenever I hear women being described as strong - not in reference to their ability to lift weights! It is so patronising. Strong as opposed to being weak and pathetic? Strong as in another way of saying bossy and loud mouthed? Can't women just be women?

Is John Oliver related to Ben Elton by chance? He looks and sounds just like him. Uncanny.In my opinion of course.

I remember Hilda Ogden, with her flying ducks and murial on the wall. She was portrayed by Jean Alexander as a very real character, rather like Dierdre and Blanche when the day to day detail of their lives was not only cleverly written, full of observation and wit but in the hands of some really skilled actresses. I watched the programme because one felt one could relate to these people, you cared about them, even though they weren't real, their experiences were. The show is a shadow of its former self in my opinion, for various reasons, mostly because it is now issue rather than character led. Hilda was so iconic, with her curlers and that voice and she was of her time. I can't imagine any of the current characters being remembered with such affection in 30 or so years time, if they are remembered at all.

Indeed he would which is why Sir John's quotes,back when he was plain old pm are worth a look. Do you remember that giant cartoon of him in his underpants, Superman style,that was etched into the south downs just outside Brighton in the 90s?As for the Donald and Hillary show, have just seen a clip of their recent debate redone with the duet from Dirty Dancing, as though they are singing I've had the time of my life to each other. Just brilliant,made me laugh out loud.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, given that it has degenerated into such an unpleasant spectacle of who is least worst. Neither side will concede an inch in my opinion,Hillary has waited for this moment too long and Donald is well, the Donald. Surely no real surprises. It seemed funny when they made jokes about his hands but the laughing time is over. In the words of one of our own greats John Major, When your back is against the wall, you turn around and fight. That's the way to do it John. Oh, Sir John now isn't it. Sorry, I'm just a peasant.

Last night's debate, if one can call it that, has been likened to the Jerry Springer show, in which esteemed guests are invited to air their concerns on national TV. When this fails as it must, shoes already having been removed on the way in, they move on to literally fighting it out in front of a baying audience. The Donald was trying to intimidate Hillary by prowling around while she was talking but our Hils has been around too long to fall for that playground tactic. Imagine if they had started pushing and shoving though. With all we have heard from and about both candidates, what does it take for somebody to be disqualified from running for president of arguably, the most powerful country in the world. This campaign has become so toxic, personal and unburdened by anything as tedious as policy or vision, where is the honour these days in serving one's country, whichever country it may be electing a leader. It seems to be all about power and entitlement and what can one get out of it until kicked out. Never mind the good of the people. The Donald and Hillary are apparently the two most unpopular candidates ever to run, so the result will come down to whoever is the least unpopular. It ain't over till the people vote and as history has shown, the people are fickle.

My neighbour is at the diy again. He appears to be fixing up their bathroom, despite his wife telling him he is too old -he is nearly 80 - and to get someone in who at least knows what they're doing. Bath etc is now in the garden and he has set up some sort of work surface using two wooden saw horses of different heights and a bit of chipboard on top. On this he has a tile cutter and he has had a busy morning converting whole tiles into a pile of broken ones and swearing. I am just waiting for the sound of screams when he takes his hand off. At least he is not making this racket on a Sunday morning which is his usual trick. I don't think he does it on purpose,he is just oblivious. Or is it a bit old fashioned to try and consider the neighbours before you start drilling these days? Nobody seems to care anymore.

Alison, isn't Mr McGregor the undisputed champion in this category? Perhaps it is different for new works though.

Not sure if this the right place to mention but the regional BBC Inside Out programme had an interesting piece last night, about the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds and its founder Nadine Senior. Don't know if it is generally available on BBC iplayer, should've looked before I posted,sorry.

I agree Legseleven. Having lost a much loved friend recently, to a sudden and horrible organ failure, the shock and finality of that person being gone forever is hard to accept. But we did at least know why and that there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent it. I can't imagine what it is like to lose somebody in circumstances where you are left with not knowing why, only that the person is gone. We hear about such terrible things happening to people, I wonder how those left behind carry on sometimes, even if they feel they have to for others.

I couldn't help thinking how very unappealing they look out of their wrappers. Such is life I suppose!

I remember something like this a few years back as well, when we were told food prices were going up for whatever reason, alleged shortages of something or costs outside the control of supermarkets? Tell us another one. Price hikes were out of all proportion but packet sizes stayed the same or got smaller, particularly biscuits and cereal. The attempt to distract the consumer from this con was the marketing ploy of bringing back some of the old,familiar or forgotten products as if to offer us comfort from olden days such as sweeties we used to get in the seventies and some other stuff that went out of fashion for good reasons but is now known as nostalgia.

Two page interview in Culture supplement today with Tamara Rojo, worth a read and two good pics.

Well no, we wouldn't hear from those students who actually understood the question as presumably the point of this clearly loaded and unscientific exercise was to get the required result, in this case ignorance of a word which as far as I know, only has one meaning despite it maybe sounding similar to other words which have a very different meaning. The presenter doesn't seem to have gathered many names on his petition either. I would have thought the word was in common use and not unusual, but then I am of an age and so is my education. Even now where everything is dumbed down and simplified and taking into account natural changes and shifts in language over time, I find it quite shocking that young women or any supposedly educated women dont know what suffrage means. This clip just happened to come from Canada because of the centenary, but given some of the cringe inducing ignorance we hear coming from the mouths of students at our own alleged great seats of learning, it can easily be found anywhere.

I like the way the student tries to get him to define suffrage, to cover the fact she doesn't understand the question. He isn't falling for that one and their exchange is quite priceless in its mutual meaninglessness,deliberate on his part and presumably all spontaneous and unrehearsed. Is this all a spoof I wonder. If real, then this young lady surely has a future in politics!

Yes, my immediate thought was that they probably didn't understand the question but thought it sounded like something nasty. Whatever it is, that level of ignorance makes you weep.

I agree,when you think of the big screen names of the past, there is no one like that now that I can think of. There is no air of mystery anymore either, which was part of the allure. Now it is all out there for public consumption, whether we want it or not. As for the waxworks,some could easily be substituted for the real thing and there would be no difference in terms of acting ability. The waxwork would probably be better.

Brangelina is over. Who would have thought it. According to the news, Madame Tussaud has already sprung into action and the waxy models are now placed 6 feet apart to reflect the new reality. They need not have bothered as from what I could see, while the waxy Brad might pass muster, Angelina could be anybody.

I thought this was an interesting article, mostly because it was in Natalia's own words and she sounds rather a thoughtful lady. I find some of the S.T. celebrity interviews quite unbearably sycophantic sometimes, of the sort one might expect to find in a glossy low brow rather than a Sunday broadsheet, only possibly better written. This one did let itself down a bit, in my opinion, by twice referring to Sergei Polunin yet again, as "the bad boy of ballet". Isn't this moniker getting a little tired now or am I just grumpy today? I quite enjoyed the unrelated article in the magazine about psychological testing. In the house of personalities, I am definitely number 31!