You have no idea!

LBC do indeed seem to be having more 'light' topics than they used to. JOB doing something on cats at the moment. Not the best hour of radio I've ever heard, but a nice change from the solid news agenda.

Why does James O'Brien always start his show with a confused line 'you must help me here.''

He then begins to stumble over his words and says things like 'I need help' and I just don't get it'. Then he will pretend to talk to the producer by saying 'can we chat about this - I'm not sure. Can we?' Then he'll say 'I'm getting the nod', but he'll use a word before 'nod' that nobody else on the planet uses, by saying something like 'I'm getting a discombobulated nod'. He will then go on to repeat he is confused and that he does need help and 'being 44 doesn't help'.

WHY does he talk like this every day?

Because he has an inflated opinion of his own intellect and thinks it is a great way of attracting callers - I think it is pathetic.

Don't know DD, but your posts always make me
Is a 'discombobulated nod' an example of a split infinitive? Genuine question.

I don't think so. The infinitive would be 'to nod', so saying 'to dicombobulatedly nod' would be incorrect whilst 'a discombobulated nod' should be OK.

Thank you....

Thus, 'discombobulatedly' becomes the adverb to the infinitive 'to nod' (said he, nodding discombobulatedly).
Right. Tea break over. Back on your heads!

Because he's an arrogant, self-important, opinionated, patronising, intellectual snob who get's off on listening to the sound of his own voice.

That Leader of the Conservatives in Wales forgot to say that there would be no farming in Wales after Brexit because whatever money is 'saved' from suspending EU contributions would not find its way to farmers anyway.

And it is the EU that allocates funds to the protection of regional languages like Welsh and Cornish.

Good luck getting that kind of funding for the preservation of regional diversity under permanent Tory rule.

Thanks.

Once attracted - when these callers try to, 'help' him - he promptly cuts them off

His topics were interesting, this morning. I neither agreed with his slant on terror teenagers - nor, his outlook on University goers......

His phone-in on dog/cat/human rapport, I missed. However, I understand my dog completely & definitely chat to him more than to Mr CC. He never ever interrupts or disagrees with me - the dog, that is !!!!

Ha ha, well observed

I listened to those two topics and the first had some interesting calls. I didn't agree with James trying to excuse the mother who stays in bed all day, and I hope the passionate woman who is trying to rescue the boy is successful. She certainly sounded very determined.


I couldn't believe what the man from the gambling industry was saying at the beginning of Iain Dale's show.

Listening to Best Of. Steve's become very potty mouthed. It's 'bloody this' and 'crap that'. His latest hate target is weather presenters. 'All they do is read stuff off teleprompters'. As opposed to reading stuff out of newspapers presumably.

Morning all.

Good morning, g-s (and all).
What a strange man Steve Allen is.
Like so many things he doesn't understand, he also claims to be unable to grasp the concept of zero hours contracts, saying that if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid.
What he fails to understand is that under a zero hours contract he wouldn't be guaranteed work on any given day/week/month, whereas in his job he is guaranteed well paid daily work as long as his annual contract is renewed.
By the way, Cristo stated last night that tfl is a 'corrupt organisation'. Is that allowed under the broadcasting standards? It seems to me that statement could be classified as unsubstantiated defamation, at the very least.

If Cristo said that, I believe the legal definition is 'slander'? Unless he softened it by saying for instance, 'tfl seems a corrupt organisation'?
BTW. Mornin' Charlie.

Livingstone on one of his regular rants against Hedge Fund Managers, apparently the scum of the earth and responsible for destroying our industries and the reason "our children not being able to get decent jobs".
But today he went a bit further and equated them to Jimmy Saville, a caller laid into him about this comment but Ken stood by his comment. More votes lost for labour?

What Ken Livingston said about Jimmy Savile, making a joke of it was really bad.

Didn't Ken also makes jokes out of disabled people and people with mental problems.

I don't think it was a joke, he was seriously drawing a parallel.
IMO just ridiculous to equate the two which are in completly different categories.

^^ Yes but he did laugh it off this morning when Tory Boy challenged him about it

There was a new law brought in a couple of years ago of defamation, which I think is a bit more general than libel or slander. But to make it stick you have to be able to prove that it's had an adverse affect on you or your business. I'm sure TfL will survive Cristo slagging it off.

Steve caused a row a few years ago by branding all black cab drivers as dishonest but, apart from Steve having to apologise on air to a lot of angry cabbies, it came to nothing.
http://ucg-london.co.uk/2012/11/08/l...on-taxi-trade/

Sorry to be the barrack room lawyer but if it was said on the radio then it is libel and not slander. Reason for this is that radio broadcasts can be reproduced.

Yes I noticed Steve's "bad language" this week. He called someone a "git" too (I forget who). For me that's what gives the lie to the claim that his radio persona is an act - it's quite apparent that he is frequently speaking before thinking so what comes out may at times be an exaggeration but it is no invented character.

Two other highlights from Fanny this week; he talked about waiting until "heaven freezes over" and most wonderfully said that he's happy "as long as people are laughing at him and not with him". He need have no fear on that score.

Yes. I heard Cristo say that TFL is corrupt too.
It was shortly after his exchange with 'Paul' who was not in favour of gay marriage and said that, if people of the same sex could marry, why shouldn't he be able to marry his sister so that he would be able to pass on his property to her, as married couples do. Cristo was intent on being outraged and accused Paul of wanting an incestuous relationship. That wasn't the idea at all but Cristo couldn't or wouldn't understand what Paul was saying.