Sporty Spice

Walk-on girls in Darts are a bad thing.  They are a sexist anachronism.

Here is a nice picture of some:

Interesting camera-angle.

 

The BBC use this picture to show how awful this practice is.

 

And now I've done it too.

 

The BBC story about the Professional Darts Corporation ending the practice of pretty ladies escorting players up to the oche is here.

 

Given events over the last few months, notably the Presidents Club outrage, some broadcasters are getting nervous - probably quite rightly -  so this is a good move considering we are nearly a fifth of the way into the 21st Century.

 

The article also suggests that other sports such as boxing and motor-racing should follow suit.

 

I have touched on the subject of motorsport using attractive women, including grid-girls, myself - here three years ago.  I have no issue with using pretty people to mark out where drivers have to line up at the start of a race - but, as I said in that article, it would be better for ALL spectators if some of those people happened to be of the male gender.  formula 1 obviously took note of my post because this happened at the Monaco Grand Prix that year.

Looks like the drivers weren't that impressed but tough.  Times they are a changing, even Jeremy, James and Richard are enthusing about their latest recruit:

Driving a Shed

Not literally of course.

That would be daft:

Although Edd China did it first:

No, I'm talking about this guy: 

Various news sources have the story today - including Sky News.  It was held on with a single length of rope.  Perhaps he didn't have anything better in his shed.  To be fair to the guy though, I don't think that is a shed - it's a tool store.

 

Meanwhile, on the subject of being fined for doing something stupid on the road:

 

I don't speak Emoji so the story is here.

Should've Gone To...

...Oh never mind.

 

Nobody was hurt.  The BBC story includes all of the best comments.

Don'tClick-Bait

What's the opposite of Click-Bait?

Don'tClick-Bait, of course.

Like this story title from Autoguide.com yesterday:

2018 Lexus LS 500 Pricing Remains Competitive

I clicked on it.

But only out of morbid curiosity.

Apparently, "Despite offering more powerful, comfort, and safety than ever before, the new Lexus LS 500 has a base price that is $3,820 less than its current long-wheelbase predecessor."

Also, "The Interior Upgrade Package adds quilted-stitch, perforated semi-aniline leather-trimmed interior, 28-way power driver’s seat with multifunction massage, power front seatbelt buckles, heated rear seats, and more for $3,730."

Unfortunately, "The Interior Upgrade Package is not available on the F Sport model."

Autoguide rather hopefully add, "Discuss this story on our Lexus Forum"

No thank you.

They are doing a bit better today.

There is Entertainment news:

New Hyundai Veloster Set to Star in ‘Ant Man and the Wasp’

and some gossip:

‘Merican Dream: Danica Patrick is Dating Aaron Rodgers

I had not heard of Aaron Rodgers but the article informs be that he plays for The Green Bay Packers.

There is also a headline that means you really don't need to read the article if you don't want to:

Refreshed 2019 Jeep Cherokee is No Longer Ugly and Gets New Turbo Engine

And then they go and spoil it all with:

10 Interesting Facts About the History of the Volkswagen Jetta

None of which particularly are.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of each of these stories you have the crappy advertising by Taboola showing why click-bait is such a derided term:

Now, to decide which picture from these stories I should use to promote this post with.

 

Danica Patrick in a swimsuit?

 

No.  After all, this post is titled "Don'tClick-Bait"

Accident Claims Companies are Scum

Every so often I will get a phone call on my Mobile, usually with a London or Birmingham number,  from some woman telling me that I have been in an accident that wasn't my fault.

Depending on what mood I am in I will take one of the following courses of action:

1. Use the foulest language I can think of to try to upset her.
2. Ask her if she is too stupid to get a real job.
3. Play along for a bit - "Ooh have I? - tell me more about it - it must have been awful for me."
4. Tell her that it is her and not her employer who will be prosecuted for phoning a TPS-registered number.

All make me feel a bit better after the nuisance call.

With number 3, they have a script that references "The RTA Register" and they tell me "that stands for the Road Traffic Accident Register.  Well I know what RTA stands for and I also know that this register does not exist and if it did and they had got my details off it, then they might just know my name.

Number 4 isn't actually true but they always hang up immediately.  TPS by the way is this lot - if you are not yet registered with them, I strongly advise to do so - unless you aren't in the UK although I'm sure similar services must exist in other countries.

I always report these calls to the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) too.

This also makes me feel better.

So what news story has got me talking about this today? I've not had one of these calls for a couple of months now.

Well it is this one from The Huddersfield Daily Examiner.

It reinforces my belief that accident claims companies (like the PPI bastards) are rotten from the top down.  It seems that the boss of one of these companies, Miles Savory, invented an accident so that he could get personal details via the DVLA of the owner of a private number plate that he wanted to buy.

I tried to find a picture of him using Google Images but it kept coming up with sausage rolls and quiches.

Anyway, the owner of the plate complained to the DVLA who investigated and reported him to the ICO.

Savory admitted a charge of breaching Section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998 by unlawfully obtaining personal data when he appeared at Bristol Magistrates’ Court. The defendant, of Whiteshill, Hambrook, Bristol, was fined £335 and was ordered to pay £364.08 costs and a victim surcharge of £33.

Good.

Hateful

Storm Sondors hates tradition and he hates industries.  He said so himself at The LA Auto Show - as reported by Car+Driver.

He also doesn't like driving.

Maybe that explains him coming up with this hateful item - which doesn't appear to have a name:

That is Storm, explaining it with a microphone.

It doesn't look too bad from that carefully angled photo though does it?  It's got the bland blank where you'd expect a radiator grille to be but that's sort of OK for it is an EV.

But an engine isn't all it is missing - look at the side view:

Car+Driver describe it as "stylish".  I can't explain that.  Cycle helmet anyone?

I'm afraid cars with only three wheels cannot look good.

 

Apart maybe for the Bond Bug:

Which unfortunately has the dodgy single-wheel-at-the-front thing going on.  Don't think I'd want to drive around a corner in one.

Now I have to admit that the Morgan 3-Wheeler is also cool - and has the single wheel at the correct end of the car:

But look what happens when you turn that into an EV:

 So ugly that even Ringo Starr driving it can't help.