I got home to the twitter telling me that the last analogue TV signal of Britain was getting switched off. Even though most people hadn’t had/used analogue television for what? A couple of years? it was still kind of the end for everyone even though it had only been available in an area of Northern Ireland. Not the first thing to be put out of its misery there. What? I can’t make a joke about ‘the troubles’?

OK, it’s not in the best taste. But at least it’s not a joke about a former TV presenter raping children. You know, I’ve made this point a few times before about me getting more earnest. And there are certainly some things I don’t think I joke about so much¹ anymore. Certainly some things I think it best not said. Still, though, I stand by my view that it is fine to joke about anything – just try not to upset someone. And if you don’t care about other-people caveat than, go for it – joke about anything.

But. If you’re just saying something sick as the entire joke…what’s that? For something in bad taste to be funny has to involve using the bad taste thing in some way. There are quite a lot of people doing Jimmy Savile ‘jokes’ where the joke just seems to be mentioning the Jimmy Savile. Like the systematic rape of children is this week’s version of someone doing a song badly on X Factor.

And while we’re on Savile..the BBC thing…yes, they shouldn’t have pulled the story. And, fuck yeah, they need to do a serious investigation into the people involved who still work there (I don’t know what people want the BBC now to do about the BBC of the 1970s – the TARDIS isn’t real. Unless people involved are still there…what is an investigation supposed to find. That is for the Police, no?) and the journalistic integrity of reporting on themselves  but that was addressed quite well on the  Panorama and were rightly praised for an excellent show, and it won’t be the end of the matter. But, let’s not forget it wouldn’t have happened without the ITV show. I’ve got lost a bit there…oh yeah, let it not detract that the real evil here is the dead man and people complicit in allowing him to get away with it.

Diversion is a great tactic. Look at the other day. Alex Ferguson wrongly had a go at Rio Ferdinand’s stand against the Lets Kick Racism Out Of Football campaign. Wrongly because he criticised a man’s right to an opinion – and an opinion on something he had strong, personal feelings about. Then football fans and football media spent a couple of days calling Ferguson a dick. Yes- he was a dick – but attacking him for saying he things everyone should be a part of a campaign to rid football of racism is missing out the racists and the Football Association inadequately punishing them. You feel me? I’m not saying people aren’t aware of these other matters but Ferguson seemed to be portrayed as the devil. When John Terry is clearly the devil.

Wasn’t this about Ceefax? Fuck it man, I just go with the flow.

¹Only mean this in a purposefully-saying-something-way; I’d still go almost anywhere in search of a laugh in the heat of the moment.