The Glass Box for Wednesday
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Post categories: PM Glass Box
Eddie Mair | 15:52 UK time, Wednesday, 15 August 2007
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Is it just me, or - just like Christmas - is the Glass Box coming round earlier each time?! I saw my first "book now for Xmas'' which is truly dispiriting for mid August. Anyone else seen something similar where they are?
Marc sugar-plumb,
I'm organising our office Christmas lunch. I am surrounded with menus with all sorts of festive garb on.
16:32.....
.....today I am having a day off, so for the first time in ages will be able to listen to PM from the start.....
.... I have tickled the crystal and adjusted the wireless to give appropriate amount of Bass and Tenor to reflect the gravity of the news that will be discussed and is awaitin wiv baited breath....go on make my day......!
DIY
These market slumps I think occur when the inherent dishonesty of the traders catches up with them.
They come to believe that the blags they are posting (the prices of their wares) have become implausible to others and so they panic.
These crises are a healthy return to honesty.
But don't worry. It looks like market makers have recovered their brass neck and are happily making markets at 20 percent above true worth. (Dow is up! And still overvalued.)
So then the market makers think they can get away with those (over) prices again.
Until something happens that makes them all too aware from their point of view of their own dishonesties all over again. Down again! (For Keynes it could be anything to set the herd off again, up or down).
Then they nail some Enron or another which is behaving no differently from any of them. Or they have a little crash, call it an adjustment, an apology for over pricing and carry on as per usual.
THE END
So the 'Sound of Summer' is from Spain?
'Tarring products', Eddie, surely not, 'twas lead in the paint not tar!
If it's any consolation Marc, our band still hasn't had its Christmas 2006 party!
By the way, I like the measured way you're exploring the Chinese manufacturing story.
Fifi
Market
at 17:10 BST (12:10 ET)
With compliments!
Yours Aye,
ed
Is the sudden upsurge in Chinese quality doubts, anything to do with the panic of last weeks American stock market.
Oh and Eddie, you can end up in court regardless of whether you tell the truth or not, just ask a fat lawyer.
This is to notify my friends @ ´óÏó´«Ã½ PM that Tropical Storm Dean is developing into a Hurricane with 60 MPH winds and WNW Movement of 20 Miles. Coordinates are 12.4N 46.0W.
RE raising the drinking age to 21.
Surely one of the main problems with this is that if alcohol becomes (almost) as difficult to obtain as many illegal drugs surely kids will just take more drugs?? This is my observation from Americans I know.
Today on GMTV when they were discussing the apparent quality control lapse in China the male presenter asked the guests whether they thought this would be glossed over or whether heads would roll. Given the way the chinese govt dealt with the baby milk issue, what do the team think?
re: mattel toys
i have 3 children under 6 and our house is full of chinese made toys. just about every toy i have ever bought has been made in china so it's not as if we've had much choice in the matter. what's particularly alarming is that the dora the explorer toys which were recalled earlier in august are by no means cheap. the dora the explorer talking house range is so expensive that i could only afford to buy ours second hand on ebay. i expected that mattel and especially their subsiduary fisher price would be entirely trustworthy as they have such longstanding reputations. if fisher price toys are toxic then frankly it doesn't bode well for the other manufacturers. i have been assured by customer services at fisher price that our toys are too old to be affected by this scare but i'm not convinced that they have any idea whether this problem could have been going on before may 2007 or whether it is an entirely new phenomena. i'm now wondering what to do - throw all the toys away (hundreds of pounds worth - and what would we replace them with? - more toys made in china) Is it possible to test them? or should I get the children tested? it's particularly scary as my eldest child has recently been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder with speech and language difficulties and there is an apparent link between lead levels and these conditions - which i only discovered last night when researching the scare on the internet.
Oi, watch it, I come from Ohio and it isn't boring.
Learned how to pronounce Glenalmond yet, Eddie?
As the post I sent was the first today and for some time. I see no reason for it being refused. I won't bother again.
RE raising the drinking age to 21.
Surely one of the main problems with this is that if alcohol becomes (almost) as difficult to obtain as many illegal drugs surely kids will just take more drugs?? This is my observation from Americans I know.
Haven't said it on air David! (7)...
Chinese toys - as in everything in this life, you get what you pay for.
I'm really sorry, but doggerel by the metric yard for several minutes at a time really was a bit much (and is and seems to be ever-shall-be-ish)... It may be fine in its original language, I wouldn't know, but the English-language version has suffered in translation if so.
No, good, over at last, but too long, too long.
The WAGs piece ... oh dear. Airheaded voices every bit as annoying to listen to as the interviewee on TWAO who happened to have a very bad stutter.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Fifi
Christmas.. lol. Thats nothing. Last September I spotted a consignment of Easter Eggs arriving at my local Supermarket. Is this a record i wonder ?
I'm a teacher. The one that always gets me is wandering into Tesco or wherever on the first day of the summer holidays to see huge 'Back to School' signs.
Sid
Loved the way Eddie insisted to the chap from drinks industry that he knew what question he wanted answered!
'You go, Boy!' :D
"...it's all down to advances in DNA." is it?
So there are super-evolved coppers solving crimes now?
"How do you know he did it detective sergeant?"
"With my mutated IQ of 387, I worked it out, then I kept him under observation by hanging from the tree in his garden by my prehensile tail, Guv."
Suzee (21),
It was another highlight of interview technique, wielded with just the right insistence.
Namaste
ed
v appropriate "sounds of summer"!
Best wishes for the hurricane, Roberto. Is 12N 46W anywhere near you?
n-n
Roberto - will keep an eye out for it. Noticed today that hurricane Flossie is now heading for Hawaii and people are getting ready to batten down. Wonder what sort of hurricane season you are in for this year.
All the best,
A
xx
Nikki,(26) you can find out about hurricanes and where they are from the from where there are links to hurricane centres covering other parts of the globe. and you can get good satellite images from the US NRL Monteray Navy site.
Really interesting to track things in the hurricane season. Weather dot com also has satellite images which are usually helpful.
OOps, sorry nikki must have slipped up on the html as the link to the NRL Monterey site (which I also failed to spell correctly) didn't appear. Just giggle it (other search engines are of course available).
not bad ......8 out of 10, though the dive from the 10M high board would have been better if you had tucked your arms in....but stilll....all in all a good show.......
DIY, (never knowingly without Speedos)
Roberto, we all wish you a calm and unstormy week ahead!
Fifi
Right now, we are in the monitoring phase. In fact, I E Mailed a Self Photo monitoring the Storm to ´óÏó´«Ã½ PM. I also bought a telephone call in case. It is still off the Antilles but it appears to have gained some strength.
Batten down the hatches Roberto! Thinking of you.
Mary
Roberto. Its probably too dangerous to record the hurricaine as a sound of summer.
Most of us uk folk never experience that sort of storm.
As for WAGs and SUnderland. Well... every one knows the better team up there the one in Black & White Stripes ;-)
Ed (25)
"It was another highlight of interview technique, wielded with just the right insistence."
Oooooohhhhh.... You are SO right! [grin]
Suzee
xx
Loved the sound of summer - The rain on the brollies made me giggle.
Get in plenty of beer for the hurricane party, Roberto! Even if it doesn't make landfall, you can still drink to it!
xx
ed
I listened to the programme till the Wag's feature. At that point I decided to potter around my lovely garden. I'll assume that the parliamentary report outlining the abuse and neglect of older people in care homes and hospitals was passed over.
It seems that often the PM version of news and current events mostly fits in with the the perceived ideals of their listenership, rather than being rated on newsworthyness.
WAGs are alongside reality TV as far as I'm concerned, not something I want PM to cover unless there is real news in it, and I find it difficult to see how there could be.
Would be interested to know with Paul (38) why you didn't cover the select committee report on the elderly in care.
The sound of summer was well done, but would be nice if you could pick one to cheer us up today. Have heard enough rain for a lifetime this summer.
Well, it's one for the money [Stock Exchange}
Two for the show [PM - What else?]
Three to get ready [for tomorrow's anniversary]
And go, cat, go! [No, not Stainless this time! - It's Eddie who's the 'cat' ....]
And don't you
Step on my blue suede shoes
You can do anything
But keep off of my blue suede shoes.
Big Sister: Dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the King on this day.
Good morning, all,
This morning's for your delectation.
Please advise if format causes any problems. i.e. can you follow the ling and see the screenshot?
Lalalalalalalala!......
xx
ed
Well, it's one for the money [Stock Exchange}
Two for the show [PM - What else?]
Three to get ready [for tomorrow's anniversary]
And go, cat, go! [No, not Stainless this time! - It's Eddie who's the 'cat' ....]
And don't you
Step on my blue suede shoes
You can do anything
But keep off of my blue suede shoes.
How relevant is Elvis today? - Discuss.
Big Sister: Dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the King on this day.
I enjoyed the 'sizzling' sound of summer.
Have to agree the WAGs piece was a bit fluffy; though they sounded as if they were enjoying the attention!
All,
Just part of our continuing
as of 11.05 BST.
Who was calling it a 'correction'?
xx
ed
But BigSis, Carl Perkins wrote Blue Suede Shoes. Elvis borrowed it whilst Perkins was in hospital recuperating from a road accident that killed his brother.
The lesser known genius of Rock 'n' Roll and Rockabilly. His TV special (simply entitled Blue Suede Shoes) on Channel 4 back in the mid-80's with Clapton, George Harrison, the Stray Cats and others is a masterpiece.
Si.
Si:
I agree, Karl Perkins was good. But he was never the King.
I know I've spoken about Elvis before, and strange to say, I wasn't a great fan when I was a child or growing up, but his early stuff, and the best of the later stuff, always affected me. But my grandmother - who was born in 1887, mind, was a huge fan of his!
Over the years, though, I've come to value his work much more. And, like many others, I feel quite moved by his personal life, as with others who've made their mark on modern culture in spite of everything.
His voice, as David Trimble said the other day, is completely unmistakable. He was able to convey tremendous emotion across a variety of genre. He was clearly serious about his singing, complex in his relationship with fame, vulnerable in his personal relationships, ambitious in his attempts to be taken seriously, abused by his mentor, and, finally, overcome by the pressures and disappointments.
Oh, there's a lot I'd say about this. I'm still not exactly a fan, but I rate much of his music very highly, and he certainly made an impact upon my earlier life - as I've come to realise in retrospect.
It's probably harder for people who weren't alive in the 'fifties to understand.
Hey, Si, have you heard Karl Perkins orig. version recently? Its the sort of treatment that suited Matchbox (C and W really) but Elvis's version of BSS was a different thing altogether.
When do yo think Brit singers first got the message? Cliff I suppose Move(d) it.
But how about Endless Sleep? It doesn't have weaknesses like 'Ballads and calypso ain't got nothing on Real country music that just drives along ' Ugh!