grumpyf1

"Knock knock" - "Who's there... AAAARGH!" If you’re off to Liverpool any time soon, and were thinking of bagging yourself a budget overnight stay in a hotel, you might want to check they’re open. And not wide open. An almost-completed new Travelodge in the city is a bit more open plan than intended after an irate digger driver trashed the reception area with his machinery this week, leaving the place notably more light and airy than was intended... and very badly damaged. It appears that the aggrieved digger operator was taking his revenge on a sub-contractor of the construction firm for £600 he claimed he was owed. I suspect that this impetuous course of action will wind up costing the disgruntled digger dude notably more than that, although he is to be commended for some skillful driving – he had to get the mini-machine up the steps of the building before quite literally breaking, entering, then breaking some more. He took his time over it too. One w

Sorry, just checking... where are we meant to be blessing the rain again..? What was the most streamed song in 2017? Something by Ed Sheeran, maybe? Or Adele? Nope. It wasn’t even a song from that year. It was quadruple platinum, soft-rock, 1982 epic “Africa” by Toto. Yes, the vintage track saw off all the newcomers a couple of years ago, continuing it’s relentless march through a rhyming desert landscape of baffling lyrics and impassioned vocal pleas. And repeated blessings of the rain. Definitely in the ‘Marmite’ category (you either love it or hate it), the classic continues to make the headlines, and there’s nothing a hundred men or more could ever do to stop it. Just two months ago, a DJ in Bristol went for the “ultimate guilty pleasure” track as his choice for a same-record-all-night charity gig. After five hours on loop, I bet the drums really were echoing that night. Even the band’s Steve Lukather suggested in a Tweet that the Africa marathon “could be worse than wa

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but obviously words could never harm you, right? I’d suggest we need to review our reliance on this particular old chestnut – words definitely can harm you. It seems MPs in Westminster would agree with that too, with some of them receiving hugely unpleasant and aggressive abuse and, in some cases, being jostled and intimidated by protesters. Think they’re being a bit ‘snowflakey’ about this? That they’re paid loads to be in the public eye, and should toughen up a bit – it’s all part of the job? Well, imagine this. You’re walking towards your place of work when a group of men block your way and start shouting at you. Stuff like “You’re vile, I bet your parents are ashamed of you! You’re lying scum! You should be ashamed of yourself! You’re a Nazi!” I know I’d be terrified by this. Hounding people going about their work is unacceptable – it’s bullying, and we sure as hell wouldn’t accept it in our own workplaces. You have an absolute ri

Once upon a time, a disappointingly relatively brief time ago, you could sit down in front of your TV, and be surprised at what you saw. Not shocked by a trashy dating show (or an even worse naked dating show), but surprised by almost any drama, soap opera, or just about anything non-factual. Before the proliferation of TV channels, the tell-all internet, and a constant battle for viewers, it was perfectly normal to have almost no idea what was going to happen when you watched your favourite TV show. Sure, the Radio Times, or your newspaper, might have hinted at what was going to happen – but crucially without giving any major clues. How times have changed. Now, you see endless trailers for what’s going to happen, with major plot elements shown, so that you more or less know what you’ll be seeing before you even watch. Worse still, all serialised shows seem to have a ‘Next Time’ section at the end, which often resolves the cliff-hanger you watched just seconds beforehand. You