A Brit's Bark

One man's occasional gripes and interests

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Mock the Weak

Comedy panel shows are the UK’s hidden pocket of culture, something that truly defines us beyond just humour.

Though I’ll just be talking about the “just humour” part for this bit.

Mock the Week is a rather good show, most people who watch it enjoy it to some extent. Though the reason most people enjoy it is the same reasoning those who despise it have for despising it. Variety.

From the Old Guard stylings of Hugh Dennis to the off-kilter mannerisms of Milton Jones and the “slightly too far” Frankie Boyle. There are those who Mock the Week, and those who mock the weak, something for everyone to love and enough for someone to get offended.

I appreciate that this is rather out of date, though the next point is more relevant now than ever.

This allowance for anyone to be offended by whatever truly just irritates them is outright crass, we cater to the vocal few and as a result disappoint the masses.

I’m truly offended by it and thus it must be stopped.

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Banter

For a while I thought we’d finally gotten past banter, though after being invited to a barbecue with the promise of “Prime banter” it seems to have surpassed clutching on for dear life and managed to properly embed itself onto the surface for a good while longer.

It seems to have risen to popularity for the same reason “cuck” (Shortening of cuckold) has, it’s a conveniant word that describes quite a few people and scenarios effectively. Though whereas cuck is almost exclusively used by twats, banter is a bit more ambiguous.

On one hand banter has a perfectly fine use which despite only becoming as common as it is recently, has retained it’s original meaning. Though others seem to think it has rooted itself into “Bullying culture” (whatever the bloody hell that means) which would of course be dreadfull as there are certain things it is best to not make light of, though I have some doubt of this claim.

Lad Culture, however, is where my worries lie.

This is of course what people mean when they refer to bullying, even if somewhat misguided. From chavs off the street to Offices, this bollocks has spread far and wide across a once noble Britannia. There is little to be done about it as even those opposed to it delve into an ironical use occasionally, making them a part of the problem if anything as they perpetuate this peevish infection.

We all need to get past this, to forget about it by never mentioning it.

Certainly don’t go making a blog post about it or anything of that sort.

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American Media?

Slightly vague one this time.

American programmes and films, to me, have become rather an odd subject. Whilst the cream of the crop always makes itself known to those across the pond, if one attempts to delve even slightly too early you might find yourself trapped in lingo and mannerisms which honestly hurt a bit to process.

An example: Parks and Recreation. The comedy rerun purveyor Dave has been expanding into other areas in recent times, with Suits and “Parks & Rec” ticking off the America box. As a result of this I gave the latter a watch.

Whether it was one too many ironic uses of “swag” or the forced plot advances, I stopped relatively soon. This is what gave me pause.

Are these sitcoms this generations Blackadder/ Fawlty Towers, or America’s? Or to be a bit more self-centred and blatant, do I dislike these programmes because of when they were produced, or because of who produced them?

It’ll be interesting to find out, though untill then I’m content in the knowledge that BBC 2 and 4 remain in operation (for the time being).

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This Corbyn Fellow

Jeremy Corbyn, at the very least, can be said to be provocative even if without intention. From his interesting rise to leader of the opposition to his continual liberal-ish stance, he’s a far sight from simply being the off-brand Bernie Sanders several people seem to place him as being.

Perhaps you can already tell that I’m slowly being won over, little by little. Because despite his insistence for the dismantlement of Trident, something which makes me ache even thinking about due to the significant bonus to national pride that having massive fuck-off missiles entails, his stark contrast to the Tories is something myself and many others would appreciate about now.

Not to completely dismiss the conservatives (they are a necessary evil every now and then) but as the PM himself would put it, the third portion of Weetabix tends to be a tad too much when all your mates are running out of sugar and milk.

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Wot is A Brit’s Bark?

This blog will feature my periodic ramblings and wafflings on politics (likely UK), history and media. Though other subjects that happen to interest me may also make brief appearances from time to time.