And another thing…

YOU KNOW that feeling of insecurity you get when a close work colleague announces he’s got another job? Or when a neighbour you’re friendly with puts a “For Sale” notice up?

That’s kind of how I feel at the news that Sadie’s Tavern is closing. There aren’t enough good Labour-supporting blogs out there, and as of this weekend, there’s one less.

The biggest problem with Sadie’s Tavern (and she admits as much herself) is that she didn’t post often enough – and that’s intended to be very positive criticism, because I would have loved to read more of her thoughts and opinions. She was easily the funniest political blogger around, as well as the best writer.

I can understand how she feels – it’s only right that she should put her career first. I just hope (and expect) that one of the broadsheets snaps her up for a very large sum of money, because a weekly column by her would certainly be enough to entice me to part with my hard-earned.

(PS. Fans of The Prisoner might detect in my headline a note of optimism that she will be back with us ere long.)

NOW that I’ve actually seen the list of 25 DVDs that President Obama gave Gordon on his recent trip to Washington (courtesy of Richard), I have a question (well, three questions, actually): How many have you seen, how many do you already own on DVD (or video) and how many haven’t you seen?

Take two points for every film you own and have seen (only one if you own it but haven’t got round to watching it yet), one point if you’ve seen it but don’t own the DVD, and no points for those you haven’t either watched, purchased or been given.

Here’s mine:

OWN: The Godfather, Star Wars: Episode IV, It’s a Wonderful Life, To Kill a Mockingbird (8 points)

SEEN: All the above plus Citizen Kane, Raging Bull, Singin’ in the Rain, Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler’s List, Vertigo, The Wizard of Oz, The Searchers, Psycho, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Graduate, On the Waterfront, Chinatown, Some Like it Hot, ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (15 points)

NEVER SEEN: Gone With The Wind, City Lights, Sunset Boulevard, Casablanca, The General, The Grapes of Wrath. Giving me a total of 23 out of a possible total 50.

I will now tag the following five bloggers to offer their own asessments, and hope that Richard’s list was accurate: Tom Watson, Iain Dale, Kerry McCarthy, Mike Elrick and Sadie Smith.