What's in a word, or two or three? Lawyers for Luke Littler (don't you love the alliteration), having trademarked 'the Nuke', 'Luke Littler', and 'Luke the Nuke Littler', have allegedly started action to prevent a bar opening in his home town of Warrington under the name 'Nukes Sports Bar'.
I have no IP lawyer expertise. The former jobbing lawyer in me thinks it would have been good to get some sort of 'and any derivation thereof' wording in, but I suspect that this would be too uncertain for trademarking. As to the proposed name, is this a deliberation dropping of the apostrophe? If they had retained it, would this have implied that Luke had a commercial interest (bigger or littler) in the Bar? Or without the apostrophe, would it, perish the thought, have implied that there was more than one Nuke?
Difficult stuff, but I have an idea. Why not in the spirit of fun and in honour of those who drink ten pints of lager at major darts tournaments, call it 'Pukes Sports Bar'? Just throwing up an idea...
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With all the pap on TV screens over the Festive Season, we needed a dinosaur to restore some quality.
So David Attenborough was back, this time with the story of mega-reptilian, the plesiosaurus. Sir David is the gift that keeps on giving.
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I wonder if when you say that your utterance was ill-judged, that partially exonerates you from culpability for the content? The ill is not of course your judgement - the ill is the underlying sentiment that you have revealed.
In reported comment, Labour MP Andrew Gwynne took aim at a 72-year old woman who complained to her Council about bin collections. Conservative Alex Burghardt hailed a passing bandwagon and, according to the BBC news website, whilst lambasting Gwynne described the 72-year old as an 'elderly woman'.
Amongst other 'elderly' people still holding down heavyweight responsibilities are Sir Wyn Williams (chairing the Post Office Inquiry) - 73, and Lady Hallett (chairing the Infected Blood Inquiry) - 75. And we must not forget the Orange Toddler...
Back to Andrew Gwynne: bants between mates in a private What's App group, or unacceptable conduct by a Government Minister? Once again, evidence of Keir Starmer hoisting Labour to a higher plain of required behaviour and finding that it is difficult for them all to stay up there.
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He eyed the liquidised green blob on the tray in front of him, first with caution and then with increasing expectation. A spoonful hovered near his mouth. He accepted it gracefully, and signalled that he was enthused to continue the experience. Soon the jaws were opening widely enough that if he had had a row of teeth they would have been on display.
A grandson starts solids. Who would have known that broccoli could be so exciting?
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In January's Late Life Crisis I tried to show how being perceived as sent by God works today for Donald Trump as much as it once did for Adolf Hitler. Of course one should note here Godwin's Law of Nazi Analogies, namely:
'As a discussion on the Internet grows longer, the likelihood of a person/s being compared to Hitler or another Nazi, increases'.
So be it, although I was not doing that comparison. However, I can cite another passage from Frank Trentemann's book I referenced last month - p35 - where post-WW2 commentators suggested that the punishment of German people was not due to Germany's actions against its enemies but as a result of weak Christian faith. Religion moves in mysterious ways...
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I crossed the portals of Mighty Pound in Kentish Town Road, having checked first that there was no one who could recognise me. The welcome was astounding:
'Sir, before you peruse our offerings please do take a seat and let us furnish you with a pot of tea'.
Ok, maybe not, but I did get a stack of large roasting trays at £1.50 each. What's not to like?
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Are you confused by suggestions that Ukraine started the war with Russia? If so, you are suffering from adherence to the literal syndrome.
To combat this you must learn the construct of how to take what appears to be obvious and fashion an alternative narrative. In the case of Nazi Germany it was the claim that the Jews had provoked the Holocaust through manipulating their business savvy to the detriment of the Aryan German people, and so the Nazi response was a defence of their 'Volk'.
Spinning it on Ukraine? Easy - present as due justification for invasion that invasion was a protective response to Ukraine building a menacing military capability and seeking NATO membership. And with it, loosen the definition of 'started' so it becomes synonymous with 'was responsible for'.
It's quite simple once you get the hang of it...
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Such is my sad sense of humour that I enjoy TV subtitles going wrong.
Both of the below were noted during a gym session. In the first, Keir Starmer was discussing the above topic and 'said': 'I am a crane' (marginally better than being a plank).
In the second, a Conservative MP 'said': 'I have had a hard life. We have laid'.
Of course:: Simon Hoare (Con., North Dorset).
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More word silliness. London Overground announcements now say: 'This is a [ ] train, terminating at [ ].
How could you daftly say anything else? London Overground could. Previously we had: 'This is the [ ] train, terminating at [ ].
Now I know I might be considered a saddo to have observed the changing of the definite article to the indefinite article. But here goes; 'the' indicates that there is only one. So you could have 'the Flying Scotsman' as there is only one such locomotive, but if there is only one Overground train then that is a problem. TFL seem to have taken the same point
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The crumpled detective sits at his desk, hunched over a screen. He has had the same shirt on for three days, and his worn every day suit has not seen a dry cleaners for months. He spots something on CCTV.
'Ma'am, come across and take a look at this!'
Ma'am replies:
'No need, AI spotted it all days ago'
A portion of the traditional crime drama is now redundant.
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I have hitherto resisted reading Sally Rooney, but relented after fabulous reviews for 'Intermezzo'.
I could manage the absence of punctuation, and I compliment how she surgically dissects a character's thinking in a moment of emotional intensity. Not much happens plot-wise, although apparently this is intended.
However, what struck me was quite different, the grammatical inversion of words in a sentence. I will give an example'
'Low and insistent her voice'.
Yes. Yoda has been reborn.
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The author is a writer, speaker, historian, occasional tour guide, and former Managing Partner of a City law firm.
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