Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and the Corps of Discovery began their return journey eastward in 1806, after having spent the winter camped by the Pacific Ocean in what is now Oregon. The Woolwich Ferry began operating in 1889. The Soviet space station Mir was disposed of in 2001, with most of the remaining space station breaking up upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and landing in the ocean near Fiji.
Born today: Joan Crawford (1905-1977), Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), Wernher von Braun (1912-1977), Roger Bannister (1929), Chaka Khan (1953), Damon Albarn (1968) and that cute, little Russell Howard turns 30 today.
It is Republic Day in Pakistan and Hungary-Poland Friendship Day.
In case anyone's curious, the image of the day is by an American commercial illustrator from the early 20th Century, named J.C. Leyendecker. He was born on this date, too, but I didn't put him in the list because I didn't figure any of you would have ever heard of him.
ReplyDeleteHello Montana, trust you are improved.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous illustration, Never heard of the guy and glad to see this, thanks Montana, hope you're better
ReplyDeletex
I'm familiar with Leyendecker, but then again that type of art and that period of history has always been an interest of mine. He's one of those people whose work you know well because it's seeped into the cultural consciousness, though you might not be familiar with the artist himself.
ReplyDeleteFor example the ex-Lady Summerisle thought she had never heard of Betty Page until I lent her the recent biopic. Now she realises she knew her all along, she just didn't know who she was.
Came across this....
ReplyDelete"..Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874-1951)
Vintage illustrations from one of my favorites who created many American cultural icons, including the stereotypical image of Santa Claus, the New Year's Baby and the Arrow Collar Man, modeling him on his partner of 50 years Charles Beach..."
Charles Beach must have wowed the guys!
Soul by the name of mamluke has a great collection of pics of JC's work over on flickr..
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamluke/sets/72057594057478404/>The Glory of Beach</a>
If I weren't so into ladies I might have been attracted but it would have been an unnecessary distraction.
Came across this....
ReplyDelete"..Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874-1951)
Vintage illustrations from one of my favorites who created many American cultural icons, including the stereotypical image of Santa Claus, the New Year's Baby and the Arrow Collar Man, modeling him on his partner of 50 years Charles Beach..."
Charles Beach must have wowed the guys!
Soul by the name of mamluke has a great collection of pics of JC's work over on flickr..
The Glory of Beach
If I weren't so into ladies I might have been attracted but it would have been an unnecessary distraction.
Just popping by. Have not and will not go to my meeting. (Duh no ones evr not made a meeting before). So we shall see haha.
ReplyDeleteIt is all a bit Kafkaesque so to escape the trial and the castle I metamorphosed into a beetle and scuttled off scribble scrabble eep!
Am fine as of now, enjoying the weather, taking it easy,you know, I'm cool.
For those still trying to work out how to get the link thing working.............This didn't work because:
ReplyDeleteI forgot to put a set of inverted commas after ....72057594057478404/" thus - it then worked a treat and became the.......The Glory of Beach
Have a good day all, me fully sober again and time to do more work than chat.
Morning pen - stay cool our kid.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point about your lasses experience LordS - I was scrabbling about in my head trying to recall the who of a name I thought I knew, when I saw mamluke's brief commentary above it twigged that I must have come across it in the context of......many American cultural icons, including the stereotypical image of Santa Claus
ReplyDeleteThere you go - we learn, or recall, something of interest everyday here on UT.
...discipline deano, discipline - away to me tools after a late walk for the dogs
ReplyDeleteOk have told them am not making the meeting and my fuckwit dada has tootled off there. Will see what befalls.
ReplyDeleteOf course my posting leaves the track
Take care guys (am off to shop and stroll a bit)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLordS
ReplyDelete"Now she realises she knew her all along, she just didn't know who she was."
I get that, not just with people, but also grammar. Kind of know how it works, but have limited knowledge of what it's all called.
This causes hilarity in french teacher and deep annoyance on my part. peh.
pen - I really have no idea what to say to you other than best wishes, but if things are coming to a head, then maybe binning meetings etc could be counted against you. while you may not want to 'buy in' to the system, isn't there a danger that rejecting it entirely could end you up in a worse position? anyway, take care.
BB, if you're about - have finally got around to reading your article - nice one! Couple of twats BTL.
ReplyDeletePhilippa,
ReplyDelete"I get that, not just with people, but also grammar. Kind of know how it works, but have limited knowledge of what it's all called."
Don't all English people have that? Lot of non-native speakers in my office, forever asking me about English grammar, I get it right most of the time, but I always have to say "because it is" whenever I'm asked why some thing's written a particular way!
I'm getting the grammar thing all the time now too.
ReplyDelete(After my first day of 'teach yourself Portuguese', I took a wee break to read 'english grammar for dummies' so I could understand what the former was on about...)
Morning all....
Guys,
ReplyDeletePlease, no more 'advice' when you are so far from the action that it is risible. I am cool and know what I am doing. But thanks for the good wishes.
Phillipa I like that you seem to read up on stuff and think. But do not do my thinking for me please except in that way you already do.
They have to show me some trust. Trust has to be earnt.
You guys really do not know your holocaust history do you. Those who gave bad advice were also obeying orders. It is a moral quagmire.
... but I always have to say "because it is" whenever I'm asked why some thing's written a particular way!
ReplyDeleteIt's usually ancient Greek or Latin that's to blame for English's smorgasbord of grammar. Which is great, because it's something else we can blame foreigners for ;-)
Try Dutch grammar and sentence structure and welcome to a whole new world of pain.
ReplyDeleteLordS
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean I can tell my Greek friend it's her fault next time she asks me about English grammar?
pen
ReplyDeletePlease, no more 'advice' when you are so far from the action that it is risible
Of course we can't know how things are with you - we only have your posts to go on.
People are only showing their concern for you as it sounds like you are having a really tough time at the moment.
Also, it's fair to say that you do send out mixed messages - one day shouting for help and the next implying that we should back off. So if you don't want people to respond then perhaps you should consider not posting up such very personal information.
Anyway, I really do hope that things ease up for you and you can find some peace.
Last I heard they don't use zyklon b in the NHS and IG Faben have stopped making the stuff. I also understand that when push came to shove some of the guys playing in the band at the railhead felt they'd let the side down when it was all over.
ReplyDeleteStay cool pen.
There are times when I have insufficient capacity to think for myself so I ain't able to do any for anyone else...
Kind words Sheff
ReplyDelete13th Duke
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with Dutch, but in Portuguese, there are (20x6(ish)) ways to conjugate a verb.
(And considering I thought conjugation was summat what prisoners got to do after periods of good behaviour, I was always going to be in a bit of trouble from the get-go, really....)
I'm cool guys, I'm hoping and trusting that others are actually sensible and sane too and 'professional'. But in some ways simply in a basic 'goodness' and that I am well intentioned, kind, helpful yeah?
ReplyDeleteI only started to post to help since I am a social psychologist and all round wise guy (with a lot of childish enthusiasm haha : )
I love my family but there are limits. There is also a pulic point to all of this.
You guys always post stuff yet say there is no point why do you bother?
Assume that as long as you get some feed from me here or on cif I am alive and well.
No pulic in the OED pen. But I found this:
ReplyDeletepulicarious, adj.Obs. nonce-wd.
Of the nature of or resembling a flea.
1872 J. RUSKIN Fors Clavigera xvii. 4 Has he multiplied himself into a host of pulicarious dragonsbug-dragons?
You pulicarious half bake as a nice twang about for a cuss...in a tight corner. That's something Dott could use on Greek friend if she became too troublesome.
Kind regards - my lunch break is over.
According to the fancy new ticker whasit, there's another Brazil based person here...
ReplyDelete(*waving - Bom Dia, tudo bom?!)
James,
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how many ways there are to conjugate Dutch verbs, I just know I will struggle manfully through them.
The first in an occasional series of amusing Dutch words starts today with:
Blotebillengezicht
which means 'moonface' but literally translates as "naked buttocks face" as in:
"Hij eet en drinkt teveel, nu heeft hij een blotebillengezicht!!" (He eats and drinks too much and now he has a naked buttocks face!!)
I can continue this hilarious series if there is any demand.....
Hey up James there are two from Brazil on line as I write.
ReplyDeleteDid you tell your tailor about us yesterday? - hope the new suite is as good as the one the guy in the artwork at the top of the page is wearing...
I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm always up for a hilarious series...
ReplyDeleteI'm delighted to add my name to the petition for more Duke
ReplyDeleteDeano,
ReplyDeletehaha - that is a nice suit at the top of the page.
To be honest, I can't remember what the one I bought was like. I went with my usual shopping tactic of buying the first one I tried on immediately after I'd lost the will to live.
(I didn't mention this place to the tailor either. Apparently, making small talk with someone while they're 'shifting you about' is considered rude....who knew..??)
And my 'crotch talk' seems to have scared t'other Brazilian off.
ReplyDeleteWhoopsies!!
I'm delighted to add my name to the petition for more Duke
ReplyDeleteSlažem se!*
BTW - I got that flat! Will be moving later next week. As I'm downsizing from three bedrooms to one, am now looking round the house in despair as I realise this lifetime of 'stuff' I've accumulated will not fit in.
Time for monster clear out I think. but where do you start?
* Bosnian for 'I agree'
Perhaps it was my spelling wot done it for our other Brazilian friend - suit/suite!
ReplyDeleteJust goes to prove that hand/eye/brain coordination takes longer to recover after a few days on the sauce than some folk think.
..and as for the ability to work out the time and take a timed lunchbreak......
james
ReplyDeleteAnd there's me thinking the Brazilians were rather touchie feelie!
Sheffpixie,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations.
(I find it's best to work from the top and bottom.
i.e. start with the stuff you absolutely have to keep, and the stuff you can easily get rid of, and then stuff you'd really like to keep, etc, etc. Eventually, you'll meet in the middle(ish), and you can adjust the categories either up or down, depending on how you're doing for space.. if that makes any sense at all!!)
Sheff - congratulations! good luck with the clear-out - my experience, having reduced the filling of a 2-bed house to that of the smallest storage room big yellow could provide before moving it down here, was to be utterly ruthless. which means I am now missing lots of stuff...
ReplyDeletebut would suggest car-boot if you have sellable stuff, followed by free-cycle if you just want shot of it (and charity shops for clothes / books - but they rarely want mildly knackered furniture - freecycle was a blessing for getting rid of wonky ikea furniture without having to run out at night and dump it on a streetcorner...).
james - it took three 'passes' to get my books sorted into 'must keep with me', 'to store at parents', and 'can go to red cross'. ended up with roughly a third in each pile, and i think i got it about right in the end - although i do keep hankering for something i know is in AP's boxroom, and suspect i may have put Persuasion in the charity box by mistake. peh.
ReplyDeleteGreat news Sheff - I moved from 4 bed Victorian villa type thing to a caravan. I still need to get rid of access gear ten years later so good luck young miss.
ReplyDeleteFellow one told me the art of living in small spaces is................"if you buy a new pair of shoes you have to throw another older pair away.
Bit like the old Charles Dickins advice about living on a quid - the spending of 19/11 an three farthings happiness. The spending of a quid an a farthing folly pure folly.
From the speed of the thing I guess there is no need to talk about the problematic prices of flats in some Northern Cities - I don't know anything about Sheffield but you probably already know about Leeds/Manchester etc...
Sheffpixie
ReplyDeleteHaha - they are, as a rule.
The touchie-feelie stuff's not so much of a problem here, whereas the awkward chit-chat while doing it seems to be.
(Whereas I'm of the opinion that, if someone's got a hold of certain things of mine, and we haven't perhaps had the chance to go out for dinner first, the least one can do is offer up a bit of polite conversation...)
Still, live and learn and all that...
I was reading a bit about the Ed Miliband (aged 14 & 3/4) idea for a 'people's bank'. First instinct is 'hell yeah, a bank that doesn't piss the money on dodgy bets, safe as houses (yeah, yeah, I know) etc., etc.'
ReplyDeleteSecond thought is, hang on, they've put the nearest available Oxford PPE into a room with a crayon and a piece of paper and asked him to do some blue sky thinking. The grown-ups have now had a look at young Ed's doodles and now declared the 'people's bank' one of the centrepieces of their election manifesto.
So help me out here. Larger post offices are full a lot of the time. Sticking in banking facilities is a recipe to lengthen the queues further. Smaller post offices simply wouldn't have the physical capacity to create separate queues for banking, so effectively you're queueing at the same windows as Sid drawing his social and Doris drawing her pension. The whole thing seems to me a recipe for a large clusterfuck to take place.
The other thing - and pardon my cynicism here - is that Labour has been conspicuous in its inaction in reining in existing banks and financial institutions. Unless I blinked and missed it, the major banks are still free to go play at whatever market casinos they see fit.
The whole enterprise feels like a sly piece of distraction. Brown and Lord Mandy don't want to rein in the banks, as that's where the money is and they don't want them at a 'competitive disadvantage'. So in comes the 'people's bank'. Populist anger is assuaged, as people feel they have been listened to; meanwhile the banks get to do whatever the fuck they like and have been doing all along. Essentially, a bit of window dressing, that enables the behaviour that caused the present fuck-up to continue.
And should there be another almighty crash down the road, the government of the day can always say "well, you always had the option of putting your money in the People's Bank". Which would be meaningless, because if the unregulated financial institutions create another boom and bust (which they will), having your money in the People's Bank is no good because your job has just disappeared because of the actions of one of the big financial beasts. And since we've already discovered that in the event of an institutional meltdown such as Northern Rock, personal deposits will be protected, what is the point to a people's bank apart from longer queues, less services and that it assists Labour in retaining power.
Superficially attractive, bag of shite underneath.
Hi again
ReplyDeleteThreat levels diminishing. Stay cool guys : )
Sheff - Don't sling it. If you are going to be out of work later in the year you could have fun and a return from a carboot.
ReplyDeleteThere is no point in having kids if you can't treat their places as your own personal storage area. Don't leave it ten years like I did though - my daughter does not now want to return some of my sticks that I thought would go nicely in my new brewhouse when it's done.
Bouidican - sorry don't know any good shit stoppers/firmers for dogs.
ReplyDeleteMine have always self medicated their own upset stomachs by eating grass and vomiting the offending thing away. I've thus never known them be uncomfortable with their innards for long.
Ed - we used to have National Giro Bank!
ReplyDeleteCount me in Duke.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing of interest at all on CIF today, and its hard to get too outraged by the Dispatches saga as the current shower have managed to make this sort of thing seem all too ordinary, it would genuinely be more shocking to see hidden camera evidence that ministers truly believes in private that their privatisations and PFI scams were in the public interest.
Philippa
ReplyDeleteYeah, I had the most trouble with books and music.
The music thing was easier in the end, because we've got the technology and that now, innit, but I had a personal rule of never throwing books away, which came back to bite me in the ass, and is now responsible for my mum often peering upwards at the sagging roof beams with despair and fear!!
(That'll learn her to go with the whole 'books are better than TV' thing when I was a kid....)
Jay
ReplyDeleteOur Polly has done a bit of a volte face, no mea culpas though and she still seems to think they can pull something out of the budget hat. silly woman!
RapidEddie
ReplyDeleteVery good post.
In a former life, I worked in a bank, and was appalled at their blatant disregard for their 'customers', but this people's bank sure as shit just sounds like a way to avoid actually having to do something about the 'normal' banks' behaviour!!
Those evil moderators!!!
ReplyDeleteI've emailed them to request reinstatement as they suggested and they're ignoring me. I wouldn't mind but there's an Akira Kurosawa thread for his centenary that I'd like to contribute to but can't until they let me out of purdah.
Sheff ... if you're asking what to junk then I can't help you. But if you're asking what to do with it then get it down to your local charity shop. They're crying out for just about anything at the moment, donations have almost died since the banks went crazy.
james
ReplyDeleteAgree about the books - could fill the flat just with them. I do tend to hang on to everything. there's probably a lot in the fiction dept. I'll never read again if I'm truthful so I guess they can go. That'd be a start I suppose. And of course being female I have to many shoes!
Sympathies Sheff, if my parentals ever follow through on their threat to make me "sort out" all my junk in their loft I don't know what I'll do with it!
ReplyDeleteCareful with the shoes though: I had a clear out a few years ago, still keep missing certain pairs I chucked out!
Sheff,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree that 'airport fiction' is a pretty good place to start the culling.
As are classics if they're not nice editions/hardback...(wait, bear with me here)..because nowadays they're so cheap, you can pick up a new copy for a couple of quid if you ever get the desire to read them again.
In my case, many of the ones I gave to the local charity shops are still there, so when I regretted the decision with a couple of them, I just bought 'em back for 50p/£1 - which was a fair price for a years worth of storage, I thought!!
Everyone's a winner!!
Eddie
ReplyDeleteAnd should there be another almighty crash down the road,
Have been hearing that there's another bubble in the making and there are those that are expecting another crash I believe. No doubt the likes of that bastard Paulson will simply see it as a chance to make another 20 billion.
Still, why should I blame him? If everyone else who should know what's going on chooses to ignore it or is too stupid to notice what can you expect.
James, I had a friend who worked on a project for a big bank, encouraging them to make more use of online services. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but the name of the project (altered slightly to protect the innocent) was 'Project Exodus'. The whole point of the exercise was to stop people visiting the bank. An exodus out of the branch, if you like.
ReplyDeleteThe bank's strategy, rather than put more people on teller windows at peak times (which would only encourage the bastards to visit), was to keep the lower current customer-facing staffing levels, thereby making it slow and painful, and flag up how convenient the alternatives were. Phone banking, internet banking etc.
So you had marketing that said "Tired of waiting in long queues? Why not do your banking online..." This was only partially accurate, as it should have read "Tired of waiting in long queues? That's kinda deliberate policy. And you're going to continue to wait in long queues until you get the hint and do it remotely, which is cheaper and more convenient for us."
But I'm guessing the original sales pitch is snappier than the alternative.
".....hearing that there's another bubble in the making ..."
ReplyDeleteNow where the fuck could all that quantitative easing have gone......??
RapidEddie
ReplyDelete-and part of the reason they're waiting in the long queues in the first place, is because every single teller is under considerable pressure to 'sell, sell, sell' something, anything, to each and every customer that comes in the door.
Utterly despicable!!
Oh I missed the Kurosawa thing my Lord thanks for that - great to have, it's on my Bookmarks now!
ReplyDeleteCharity shops will indeed take owt at moment if not video tapes. Incidentally, check prices of any good nick books on Amazon before handing them in - some books are worth more than you think and you might as well sell such a book on Amazon and give your charity a cut, rather than give it to them and they sell it for 50p or something.
I once picked up an uncommon Edwin Morgan book in a charity shop and couldn't persuade the staff that it was worth more than 20p. I sold it to a dealer for £20, gave £15 back to the charity shop and bought myself a bottle of wine.
Eddie,
ReplyDeleteAh the wages of cynicism: I saw through that campaign at the time. I'm torn between patting myself of the back for so doing and sighing with resignation that the world really is that way.......
It worked with me Eddie - all my banking is done on line now.
ReplyDeleteWorked with me too. The only time I've set foot in a bank in the last five years has been on those rare occasions when I've needed to bank a cheque.
ReplyDelete"Our Polly has done a bit of a volte face, no mea culpas though and she still seems to think they can pull something out of the budget hat"
ReplyDeleteShe must be exhausted. At least the election will give her a break from the "last chance" routine.
Edwin, if you've not searched Google today then do so as they have a special Kurosawa centenary logo too!
ReplyDeleteHey, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of online banking. Like m'lud, the only time I set foot in a bank is to cash a cheque, but the underlying attitude of the bank is instructive.
ReplyDeleteThey could have raised staffing levels to ease queues at peak times, but as I say, that would only encourage more bank visits. And there are two distinct groups that will always have regular needs to visit branches. Small businesses are there almost daily, cashing cheques and takings, getting coins for the day's float; and older or less wealthy customers, who don't like/aren't familiar with online banking prefer to go to their local branch.
It's about what's convenient for the bank, not the customer. And having shaved a few pence on each transaction, they then go and spunk it all up against the wall for whatever big business flavour-of-the-month gambit they're presented with. The biggest lie about markets is that they're rational and level-headed. Some investors undoubtedly are, most are alternating between mania and panic.
Incidentally Sheff, where do your informed sources say the next bubble coming from? Not property again? As Seaton would say "bo-oring!". Why can't we have a bubble in drag-racing cars or gimp masks or something?
Yay, congrats on the flat, Sheff, and good luck with the clearing out!
ReplyDeleteEddie
ReplyDeleteI think it was a prog on the radio where they were talking about Paulsons billions and how he made them (buying up insurance policies back in 2005/6) just as the financial world was about to go belly up. can't remember which one though.
Don't know how 'informed' they actually are, though I expect people in that world are a lot more beady eyed about what's going on than hitherto. Have also heard things elsewhere - people saying we're in a little 'growth' blip and everything will start heading south again soon.
Who the fuck knows? All I know is it ain't going to get better for ordinary folk but there'll still be plutocrats making zillions. It was ever thus I suppose.
It may be ridiculous but how I long for a revolution. All this stuff brings out the Madame Defarge in me. I'll just get my knitting.
Edwin, if you've not searched Google today then do so as they have a special Kurosawa centenary logo too!
ReplyDeleteSheesh - I missed that it was him - am really dozey these days.
Just watched the Dispatches programme as I missed it last night. Jesus wept. They really are on another planet, it simply isn't a world I recognise.
ReplyDeleteAs for Blair...I'd shoot him myself if I had a gun. (which i haven't, although its not difficult to find one round here, or so I'm told)
Sheff - Keep the shoes for the love of god. Anyway we might be needing to boil the soles up for sustenance soon enough.
ReplyDeleteThink who you are hearing this second crash stuff from is probably fairly right. No one I know who still works in financial services is very confident. A lot of them think their might be another nice little downhill run on the way.
Some people seem to think it is going to all set off again in the next year or so whereas some others think we will go three or maybe four years and then have an even bigger crash. Thing is for most ordinary people everything is shit right now anyway.
I have just had my new mortgage deal - the best rate they will offer me is 6.5% - that is criminal with the base rate what it is and puts my outgoings up hundred and fifty at a time when things are still tight. And food is going up weekly and dont even start me on petrol.
I got a leaflet through today from an estate agents who is buying houses in this area. I am so unsure as to whether or not try and sell this. But the problem is finding somewhere to rent with the dogs. It will be just our luck though that our two year fixed rate will come for renewal in 2012 (longest term I can get) just when inflation is at a record and we have interest rates of thirty percent and property is worth only a third of what it is now. Something like that anyway.
On top of all that my cousin was told her benefits have been cut by a pound a week because RPI has gone down or something. But everyone with half a brain knows that food and other basics are going up weekly. And then you get all those self serving troughing bastards on Dispatches. I wanted to smash Hoons face in when he said he basically 'wanted to make some money'.
I join you Sheff in your wishes for a revolution. Or as my dear step father says 'bring on a hung parliament - all along the embankment'.
MsChin - meant to say - but sorry I cant go tonight. It looks interesting and it would be great to join you in a heckle of our fine public servants. But I have a friend coming round to watch a movie. I haven't seen her for ages and she is down due to relationship woes so cant really cancel on her.
ReplyDeleteDeano - re dog medicine for bad tums. Ours were given something at the vets - it was a special food that helped stop the runs and calm their stomachs down. It worked almost immediately - great stuff. Cant remember the name but a vet would know. Ours often have 'issues' well the retreiver does as she eats everything.
We had to take her to the vets once because she had this hugely swollen stomach and was groaning and panting. They thought it was a twisted intestine which kills them. So we rushed her to the out of hours vets, had her drugged up then x-rayed. All at a cost of about five hundred quid and obviously great worry.
The vet came out half an hour later and asked us what we fed her and how much. He then showed us the x-ray - her stomach was full to bursting of kibble. YOu could clearly see it all sat in there - I have never seen anything like it. She'd nearly stuffed herself to death.
When we got back we discovered she'd managed to get the tie off the bag of dog food.
She has also eaten a glove, a sock, possibly a ring and a squeaky toy. The last one fortunately came out a few days later or she would have to be operated on. She is very stupid and also drinks sea water, so regularly throws up at the beach.
But she is very beautiful so we forgive her these little ways!
Afternoon all.
ReplyDeleteI imagine most of you will be familiar with the imprisonment in Malawi of Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, for being gay.
Well, a friend of mine who does some work for Amnesty International e-mailed me this page and said if I feel strongly enough about the subject, I should stop moaning and do something positive.
Back when I was a more committed member of Amnesty, it was a widely held belief that even a one sentence hand written letter was more powerful than an e-mail. So I've posted my letter. cost: 30 minutes + 62p postage.
Here's a non-Guardian article if you want a different picture. Nice to hear the church speaking so compassionately.
heyhabib - jesus, hadn't seen that. thanks for links, will get biro out.
ReplyDeleteconfess i was hoping your final line was serious. but, as ever...
Hi HeyHabib, thanks, threat level still reducing. It is called acting before the event in order to avoid it. Risk analysis has a point duh.
ReplyDeleteCan stand down to threat level green
love Kurosawa fil;ms ever since I saw seven samurai as a kid. I am a ronin hai
ReplyDeleteAm largely taking it easy this pm so may not post much.
ReplyDeleteBe cool : () I am.
Nice one, Philibee.
ReplyDeleteThreat level green understood, Pen.
Had this tune in my head all day, thinking about you. Not a famous song, not all that good, but it just stayed in my head.
Visitor from Norway - hello!
ReplyDeleteGood day all
ReplyDeletedeano--tried the Pepto on Miss Lily, no positive effects yet. She is a bit more spritely though.
Princess--Quite the appetite your dogs have. This little bugger of mine is into chewing almost anything, but no serious inhalation.
Sheff--Well done on the new digs. Always difficult for me to get rid of books, we do become somewhat attached to them. As far as extra furniture, my wife just bequeaths them to younger ones in the family. Seems to work well and some have trucks and will move the stuff so I don't have to. Moving is still a shitty job though.
princess
ReplyDeleteOr as my dear step father says 'bring on a hung parliament - all along the embankment'.
Please tell your step father he's a man I could definitely get along with and tell him I would be happy to assist!
Habib
Yes, had read about it and thanks for the extra info. Will get on to it.
Lindsay Lohan to present BBC3 documentary on people trafficking.
ReplyDeleteLindsay f-ing Lohan.
This after Peaces Geldof on Islam.
What next? Bouncer the Bog on factory farming?
(He'd make a better interviewer than PG)
And they're binning 6Music for this shite?
Marina Hyde is on PM rubbising the idea, though - "if you need Sharon Stone to get you interested in the Middle East peace process, I'm kind of glad you're nowhere near the negotiating table"
ReplyDeleteDamnit. Bouncer the Dog. Dog.
ReplyDeleteHere's a linky for Bitterweed and anyone else who cares to listen.
ReplyDeletePhilippa
ReplyDelete(*whispering - I also think it's Peaches Geldof)
Check out the videos - the guy's amazing. Is playing in Cov on Friday.
ReplyDeleteBugger.
ReplyDeleteFrom BBC radio news: Terrorists could use small boats to attack the UK.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Telegraph: The Government is so concerned about the threat that it is setting up a command centre to track suspicious boats.
All hands on deck! Batten down the hatches, me hearties! Stand by to repel boarders!
I'm really glad that I don't live in the UK any more. It's sounds really fucking dangerous. Hope you all survive.
haha - to be fair though, Peaces would have been a (slightly) better name..
ReplyDeleteSheff - great news about the flat. Keep the books.
ReplyDeleteScherfig - hee hee, that headline just sounds too Monty Python. I read an article somewhere recently about how they're starting a sort of neighbourhood watch-type programme along the coast in Wales, probably to repel these very same small boats (although I think they were more concerned about smuggling, actually).
ReplyDeletescherfig
ReplyDeleteHaha - like Dunkirk in reverse.
(and it would be absolutely terrifying if they were to land and destroy all our little seaside towns.....
Oh, hang on a minute....)
I haven't read this article yet, but Brian May (yeeeeees...) has a piece up about badgers (yeeeees...) in Wales (aha...).
ReplyDeleteI am now going to read it to see if it comes anywhere close to living up to what my cynical mind imagines it will be...
OK, I'm one para in, and things are shaping up nicely:
ReplyDelete"It was a 4.30am wake-up call. Three hours in the car did it – I had the luxury of being driven, so I was able to do a couple of phone interviews in the car on the way, publicising the fact that I cared enough about Welsh badgers to travel to Wales to sit in on a judicial review. "
Am on my way, Philippa!
ReplyDeleteAnd after he got a bit reasonable, he calls Hilary Benn 'God', says that animal testing occurs in the UK in the cosmetics industry (Dot, that's wrong, no?) and I am now at:
ReplyDelete"So here I am, metaphorically trying to throw a lone starfish back into the sea."
I'm calling it - this is 'feasible'.
scherfig: These two are particularly suspicious, I feel...
ReplyDeleteplus, he's nicked modshavnofriends' avatar pic. but then as he refers to "the tiny Badger Trust", that does make some sort of sense.
ReplyDeletenot kidding - this could be thread of the year. get in early.
I have to come on and share offski's quote regarding the Queen axeman's photo:
ReplyDeletethe picture makes you look like Samuel Pepys the morning after 15 pints of Stella. Sort yourself out eh matey?
piss funny because it's true.
Must admit I can't wait wait for Jimmy Page on Pigeons, Eric Clapton on Koalas and the lost article of Jimmy Hendrix on otters.
ReplyDeleteThauma--He's impressive. Not heard of him before but will definately hear more. His influences make up much of my music collection too. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteEllo everbody. Great news on the flat Sheff! And positive vibes to pen, all systems optimal! Good to see our PM getting the rewenge in on Hoon et al. Still, MPs for hire, what ever colour of parliament we have post May 6th, I'm sure it will remain one of our proud traditions.
ReplyDeleteHere's some Border music 4 youse.
Oh god oh god oh god - I like Brian May (who also has, btw, a PhD in astrophysics, although you wouldn't guess that from the article) and agree with his argument, but this has sea kittens written all over it. A train wreck coming up!
ReplyDeleteI had to google Brian May. I always get him confused with Brian Eno.
ReplyDeleteI'll get me coat
Shouldn't it have been Paul Rodgers writing the article, then it could have been:
ReplyDelete'Rodgers and Badgers', as an homage to the 90's kids programme involving loads of mashed potato based shananigans??
(those of you with posting privileges can 'av that if you want it! - no? Didn't think so!!)
Phil - I immediately thought of modshavenofriends too!
ReplyDeleteBoudican - have seen Sir Gomm a couple of times and he is just brilliant.
Offski's next is the LOLz 13th ; )
ReplyDeleteOh, the mods have been busy already.
ReplyDeleteOne of my fave May-penned songs, which actually seems pretty consistent with his article, now I think about it!
ReplyDeleteEvening Untrusties!
ReplyDeleteHaven't browsed anything yet - still working. Cream crackered beyond belief but I still have about half an hour to put in too. Back in a bit x
And this, soon to be lost, from Utilitarian:
ReplyDelete"If you love badgers so much, Mr May, why are you wearing one?"
BB - first check out my comment to you upthread - ;-) - and then the Brian May thread.
ReplyDeleteNow, Philippa, that is just cruel. As someone who suffers from Big Hair (and who is also trying to convince the mister, without success, to let his grow out a little), I find it very hairist.
ReplyDeleteI think Brian has missed a golden opportunity here:
ReplyDeleteMayday for Welsh badgers
Recently whilst enjoying a night at the opera, I nearly had a sheer heart attack when I was passed a note by a fat bottomed girl telling me about the plight of Welsh badgers.
In a Flash, I gave the badger campaign my full support before another one bites the dust. Don't stop me now in this badger crusade because when thinking about little badgers all I can think is ''You're my best friend''.
I have one vision for badgers, to put the authorities under pressure to stop the cull. If they don't stop it, I swear I'll get the hammer to fall on them. If we can stop the cull it will be a kind of magic.
One badger, one soul, one campaign, One Vision.
R4 File on Four now on - job centres and unemployment.
ReplyDeleteAh, Your XIIth, Olching started something like that and some of us are on the trail, but how could we possibly have missed "another one bites the dust" or "you're my best friend"? Must try harder.
ReplyDeleteOops, Your Grace, meant to address yourself and not your dearly departed Dad....
ReplyDeleteCheers Thaum. I can't take any credit for it, but the CPS are suddenly recruiting Crown prosecutors (as opposed to Crown Advocates)on 12 month contracts initially for the London area for the first time ages. Heh.
ReplyDeleteBrian May is fab, btw.
Your Grace - how is Cloggieland? I am really envious. I don't know Leiden, though, but I am sure it is just as lurvely as the rest of the country. And flat.
Had some friends who were holed up in The Hague for a year with work, and we still laugh when we recall the visits I made there to see them, and the appalling wind and squally rain. Brrrrrr....
Badgers!
ReplyDeleteBadgers on eccys.
(watch out for Barney in the second one - he's fab)
ReplyDelete"Welsh Badgers on Acid" would make a great name for a group, come to think of it. I will suggest it to my lad.
ReplyDeleteAw, shit, got sight of that May/Badgers thread a bit late, so missed the offski posts.Anyone able to remember 'em.
ReplyDeleteBB - beat you to the first one but haven't seen the second before and love it!
ReplyDeleteI used to use the first one to wake my son up with in the morning when he was little. :o)
ReplyDeleteAlisdair - can't remember, really, but they were critical. One had to do with him plugging his record, which was fair enough.
ReplyDeleteBB - my grandfather, who was (despite actually being an engineer) a fool for Shakespeare, used to wake me in the morning, when I was a tiny lass, by tiptoeing up to my bed and suddenly bellowing in my ear: "SLEEP NO MORE! MACBETH HATH MURDERED SLEEP!"
Scared the living shit out of me. ;-)
Hi Guys
ReplyDeleteHeyHabib that was lovely Threat level gone rainbow wheeee
Think I have em well surrounded but never ever let down my gaurd duh.
Hi TXuss yep systems optimising/satisficing gradient climbing still need to mate tho' am working on it haha target acquisition systems and capture/ release tech deploying.
Catch you'se all later
Here's a request guys. I'm trying to write something about a european communist state that has survived into the 21st C. What tropes/characters would be ripe for humour? Deadline Thursday...
ReplyDeleteLast post before bed:
ReplyDeleteToday's pic looks like Winthorpe displaying an unhealthy interest in ClaireMcW (whom someone described as a mermaid recently).
Have any TXuss, Euro commy? Maybe asian but euro and commie in 21srC
ReplyDeleteThats hard if not imposs. Re tropes in general, the party machine, the void between reality and propagnda
Oh shit that's us haha
IU think that was me Thaum, she does and I attract mermaids (fishbait don't you know), they're sirens and I'm ulysses duh it is just so natural
ReplyDeletepen, glad you survived the day. Night all.
ReplyDeleteHaven't had a chance to read the Brian May thread yet, but this is one of my favourite Brian May songs.
ReplyDeleteCheers Pen, that's the angle.. Hope you meet a mate soon, library, supermarket, gallery?
ReplyDeleteHi Montana / Shazz
ReplyDeleteHave just been told I am a wanker on that thread like I care. Some people are so stupid I wet myself. I have had such hot chicks lust over me haha and am really very modest but also sex on legs. Sorry guys, my sides hurt cos I'm laughing so much. I'm not twenty, my kids are hahahaha
Night night got to pleasure myself for an hour or two (tantric sex guys duh)
TXuss jeeze they're everywhere local is closer isn't it. I'm lazy so fish from the nearest pool haha.
ReplyDeleteIt's partly the deal with my family (being serious) they can't take my sexuality, never could, jealous yeah. It's sad. I look like myself but bowie is a ggood approx to give you an idea. But I'm not some shit who abuses and uses, I get that don't I so I really understand how girls/ women feel being sexually harrased. etc. It's very tiresome and I have to be mature but hey summers coming.
I wish some of the young ladies would be a little braver and ask me. I have to paly by 'rules', it is too easy for me to just charm them. I am kinda devastating on form with an acquired target.
Thauma! quoting the Scottish play!
ReplyDeleteMy Nan must be spinning in her grave ;)
No wonder it scared the shit out of you! LOL!
Goodnight folks!
"I'll sleep with you if you've got a 12inch penis.."
ReplyDelete"can I pay in monthly installments, over a year?"
This is an old joke and in no way represents the endowment of the re-teller.
too cross at latest editorial (and too oiled) to risk it. can someone send up the bat signal for rednorth? s/he is needed...
ReplyDeleteTake cover, PhilippaB, the left won't rise again, until the right kicks us all out of our stupor.
ReplyDeleteWhen the counter thingy says you're alone. :-)
ReplyDelete