Mat Bowles

Ever thought about the influence geography has on the way you vote? You probably ought to, it's had a massive effect on me. Y'see, I grew up in the 80s and did my GCSEs and A Levels in the 90s. that's under Thatcher and Major. But that's not the main reason I distrust the Conservative party, nor the main reason I hate the Tories^[1]. That can be explained by a very simple statement.

Anthony Steen was my MP. He's still the MP for my parents, both surviving grandparents, two aunts and four cousins. Yes, that Anthony Steen. For a very very simple reason to hate the git^[2], have a listen to this^[3]:
( BBC flash embed of the audio of the interview. I can listen to this again and again and again, it makes me happy ) I've met him. He visited my school a few times when I was a kid, and I met him subsequently. He really is like that. That interview has effectively ended his fairly undistinguished career. The great shame is that he's been forced out, because despite him representing one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, his behaviour since re-election in 2005 has been, well, interesting, and I reckon he'd have lost without the most recent revelations. Here are some highlights:
( A summary list of some of the more egregious idiocies he's managed )

So, there you go. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, if you have a git like that as your MP, if you want to get rid of him, you have to vote for the candidate most likely to beat him. If you get used to voting for that party time and time again because they're the best chance of beating the incumbent git, many people begin to consider themselves supporters specifically of that party.

In 1997, I voted in my first General Election, and specifically voted against Steen. It was a vote for the Lib Dem candidate, but also broadly a vote to get the bastard Tories out and replace them with Blair. I often wonder what, if any, my partisan allegiance would be if I grew up in a part of the world where the Lib Dems were a distant third and Labour were challenging the Tories. Let alone if I'd grown up in a safe Labour area where the Tories had no chance.

One of the stupidities of the UK system is that where you live matters a lot more than who you support. I think it's about time we changed that, how about you?

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( Footnotes )

My old friend Gareth sent me a link this morning, the Torbay commercial radio station is running a competion in which my old Sea Scout group the 6th Torbay could win a Sea Swift boat. All you have to do is go to their crappy website and vote for them which, y'know, would be really cool.

I transferred to the 6th after I met Gareth in my first year at secondary school—I left my coat at their bring and buy and Mum used that as leverage to get me in to them. Given they're one of the best Scout groups in the country (hence the links to Britannia Naval College and the right to use the name) that was a rather fortuitous loss. Gareth's Mum had taught me to swim when I was really little, and his Dad is still their Group Scout Leader last I looked, which is cool. Many happy memories of messing about in boats around Paignton harbour, good to know they're still going strong.

El Reg reports:

Royal Navy bomb disposal experts were called to a house in Paignton, Devon, after a tip-off that 68-year-old Thelma Bonnett was rather ill-advisedly using a live First World War German shell as a doorstop

The Daily Mail informs us:

At any time during all those years, however, it could have exploded.

And local newspaper rag The Herald Express confirms:

it had been used by a pensioner as a doorstop for more than 20 years

I was born in Paignton. She seems to fit the demographics much better than I ever did...

Right, everyone knows I left Torbay because, well, it's a bit boring, right? Well, thanks to eldar linking to this, I now know that it's been proven, Torbay and Paignton are the top two quietest towns in England! OK, the study was on decibel levels, not things to do, but the point is sound:

Quietest
1 Torquay - 60.2 decibels
2 Paignton - 65.7 decibels

Actually, eldar is another example of how I like LJ. I hadn't heard from him since we both left school, although our parents are in touch. Then his wife commented on something I said in brits_americans, very weird. One of about 5 people from school I actually liked...

Anyway, some more links. Best explanation of how cricket works, ever:

By Googling a Six: If the ball, after being hit, rolls along the ground uninterrupted for fifty yards (a google), the team receives six points. (Named after Reg Google, Australian wicket-keeper who was so short that he was incapable of lifting the bat.)

And then, via theweaselking, Fundies say the darndest things! - Top 100 Quotes. No specific quotage for that one, um, there's far too many to chose from. Scary, innit?