Saturday 31 December 2016

Word play gags

Here are a couple of fine examples



and

The end of a disappointing year.

So that was the disappointment that was 2016, a year where nothing really went well. 

The politics of the year were not in alignment with my view of the world and I can't help be concerned for the future.  Both Brexit and Trump were elected without putting forward a coherent and rational view of the world - both relied on half truths, verbose and grandiose statements that lacked intellectual rigour and an unquestioning electorate. Both will have a lot of issues producing the expected results - Brexit due to the fact the campaign had no defined goals other than to leave the EU and Trump due to the vast number of contradictory statements that he made. At least the Johnson/ Gove/ Farage axis is not in charge (although May may not be any better). 

Education- the new GCSE and A Levels are a mess - the level of the depth that is needed is not clear, the text books are in some cases contradictory, the number of practice questions is very low and of a questionable nature and the statistics underlying the whole target setting is so dubious it should be prosecuted for fraud. 

Rugby - the new rules change is in theory good as it protects the head and neck of the players by punishing reckless and dangerous tackles - it fails to take into account the concept of an accident such as a slip by the player with the ball and it fails to take into account the lack of a sense of self preservation from the player with the ball. Therefore jumping high into the air, with your hips roughly 6 foot above the ground, over the top of a stationary player puts you at a great risk and the player on the ground can be sent off without moving a muscle. Denny Solomona scores a great try diving head first into the corner and twisting in mid air but if someone tries to tackle him who is at fault. 

Pets - Poppy broke her leg and had to have it amputated.  

Other sports - Luton should be better and more consistent. Northampton Saints have not adapted to the laws so they look a little bit one paced in the back row and centres. The depowering of the maul and the reduced ability to contest a ruck means that the a rethink is needed. England cricket should have done a lot better (pressure does weird things but really)

We won the korfball league for the third time in a row but I feel my contribution to the team is reducing.

Killing - the quality of cop related detective work has been poor. Criminal Minds and SUV have been disappointing, newcomers have been cancelled after one season, ridiculous spin offs have been created. 

Deaths - lots of famous people. 

Good things
Babies born 
Marriages announced
Programs such as The Missing, Game of Thrones, 
The Olympics
The Cubs won the World Series (108 year wait)
Technology does amazing things
Groundhog Day - the musical
Holidays