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Sunday, October 31, 2010

challenge

stumbled across the national novel writing website the other week.
in it they set the challenge to write one 50,000 word novel in a month, november.
for want of something better to do - i am going to give it ago. fifty thousand words of utter drivel. shall i do a misery memoir style novel - taking as a basis the old monty python sketch? a burroughs like cut-up novel filled with transgressive prose? maybe a period piece revisiting london of the past? or a witty satirical novel that lampoons the state of the economy, though it could also be an attack on modern politics.
in reality it will be 50,000 words of swearing poorly thought out ideas that probably will have guns, girls, monsters and spaceships in it.

are you up for the challenge?
if so go sign up here

spooky

for halloween i have been watching horror movies.
some scary moments.
(much less frightening than reading the daily mail, now that is real terror!)

assumptions

the con/dems have moved at a fast pace. you have to, grudgingly, admire them for that.
they have made sure that a vast number of public sector employees will lose their jobs.
they have made sure that a vast number of people will see their housing benefits cut.

they assume that the private sector will provide employment for all those they made redundant.
they assume that private rents will reduce when there is less housing benefits on offer.

we all know what assumptions do, they make an ass out of you and me.

still at least that means we are all in it together.

Friday, October 29, 2010

gas

looks like the price of gas is to increase, just in time for winter!
coincidence?
i think not.

are you paying attention cameron, clegg, osborne, duncan smith, field et al? if you want to know where poverty begins, it is with the ability for companies to ratchet up their prices.
if you want to make work pay, then you have to make sure it leads you to be in a situation where you can actually pay for all the basics of life and maybe a few frills. i guess that isn't something you really worry about when you are born with a big wedge of readies in your diaper.

our christmas present from the con/dems: fewer jobs, higher prices (vat increase, fares increasing, energy prices to increase) and just an added dash of misery.

remember we are all in it together.

conspiracy

yesterday the managers of several airlines have whinged and moaned about the security procedures that are in force in airports.
(to be honest i can’t think of another group of people who whinge quite as much as airline managers, considering how few of them there are they never shut up whining.)

today suspicious packages are found on cargo planes.

coincidence?

of course it is, but every now and then i just have to go into david icke mode.

49

49

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

blank

i am just at a loss for words.
just have nothing much to say and for the moment nothing interesting at all.
very odd.
even the talk radio station i am listening to isn't spurring me on, isn't getting me angry (although the bloke telling me that teaching is the hardest job in the world is coming close.. sorry emma) so there isn't anything to moan or whinge about.

nor can i think of a witty (nothing new there) or uplifting story to impart. no lessons to be taught, no words of wisdom to share, no morals to pass on. in fact quite dull.

not even the non-story in the daily mail about pointless words being added to the latest collins dictionary can get me worked up. so what if 'simples' has been added to the dictionary (and in case you didn't know it means 'easy to do', a little like simple really), or 'fauxmance' (fake realtionships between celebrities). it seems that any old tat word or phrase that appears on tv is destined to be in the dictionary.
(oh wow just had a great idea for a really dull book that will sell oodles for christmas 2011 - publishers out there feel free to contact me.)

so pretty much nothing to say.
off to have another coffee.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

i

talking of i, today saw the launch of a new national newspaper, it is the first one since the independent in 1986. strangely the new paper is a 'sassy' new sibling to the independent. the idea behind the new paper is to present the news in smaller chunks to make it more acceptable to those who have given up papers for the internet. the other selling point is that it is cheap, another consequence of the internet.
i like the indy.
i quite like the i, true i would have liked it better if there wasn't a full page picture of the tosser clarkson in it, but for 20p i guess i shouldn't be too critical.

hope it survives.

tops

there is a reason for why apple are so hot.
for some it might be because they make good solid pieces of technology.
for some it might be because they use a fantastic design ethos.
for some it might be because they have a stable easy to use operating software.

it may be all of those things. it might be none of them.

i give you one good reason: iphone.
not the thing itself, the name, the idea.
iphone - simple snappy tells you exactly what it is while at the same time making it nice and friendly as it it were a part of you, your pal.
yes your pal the iphone.

then i give you the microsoft windows 7 phone.
not simple, not snappy, though it does tell you exactly what it does and is: a phone. it is not an experience, it is not an object of love and desire.

and that is why apple are loved above all others.

Monday, October 25, 2010

arseholes

not often that i find myself in agreement with the tories (sorry con/dems) (though i suspect that as i get older i will slowly become the old conservative my dad was, hey and if this damascus like conversion was good enough for chris maybe it is good enough for me - angry at whitechapel... mmm has a ring to it, so i will find myself more in agreement with them than not, but let's hope that when that time of assimilation comes there is a labour government in power. anyway enough rambling, back to the point).




where was i?

oh yeah.

not often that i find myself in agreement with the tories (sorry con/dems), but when it comes to their criticism of the london fire brigade’s planned bonfire night strike i am nodding my head in agreement.



don't get me wrong there are few occupations in the country who i think deserve more money than they get just because of the job they do and firemen are one of those groups.

i would proudly wear my two t-shirts from previous firemen strikes (well i would if they still fitted me - shrunk in the wash don't you know).

but there is a time and place.



oh i understand that for a strike to work it has to take place when it has the most impact.

it is why teachers don't go on strike during the summer holidays, why the tubes are always out when people are trying to go to work, that the posties will look to christmas to strike.

maximum impact.



yet in all those cases it is mostly a question of inconvenience.



the london fire brigade holding a strike on bonfire night (which normally wouldn't matter that much - except it falls on a friday and the planned 47-hour strike will carry over into the busy night of saturday) has the potential to be more than an inconvenience, it has the potential to cause the loss of life.



the fire brigades' union general secretary, matt wrack, says "the long-term safety of londoners depends on a well-trained, self-confident fire fighting force." it seems he has no trouble building that self-confident force on the potential short-term pain on some londoners (mmm where have we heard that before, oh yeah from the con/dems).



(as an aside it appears that mr. wrack is one of the few union leaders who does not pay himself vastly more than his general members.)



as i say i would happily see the fire fighters paid much more i am just not comfortable with them deliberately putting lives at risk so that they can be 'self-confident'.



not to mention i am not overly keen on the fact that they have made me agree with the conservatives.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

sympathy

i really feel for the crew of hms astute.
the astute (as i call it as i was never one for formality) is the newest nuclear submarine in the british navy, a brand new shiny killing toy.
even though there have been some great movies set on submarines, they remain one of the least, for me, attractive environments in the world. cooped up in a metal tube with a bunch of people you may not like sounds pretty much my idea of hell (camus would agree with me), add to that i suffer from claustrophobia and well a submariners life is not the life for me.
so i have sympathy for them. a skilled career carried out under extreme pressure.
not to mention being that close to nuclear weapons.
hey i would want hazard pay and then some.

so i have sympathy for them.

the astute has crashed, well run aground in shallow waters.
luckily it was just a bump and no danger of nuclear fuel leaks. (a big phew there!)
the crew has been transferred. meanwhile the sub's captain, commander andy coles, faces a possible court martial if he has been found to be negligent. it may also be that this state of the art sub had been using out of date charts.

as i say i have sympathy for them - as i can't read maps either.

Friday, October 22, 2010

result

i didn't want tower hamlets to have a mayor. seemed to be a waste of time to me, not to mention a lot of money and power in the hands of one individual.
sadly at the general election more of the local electorate disagreed with me and they said they wanted one.

we voted on thursday for who would get the job. from the little bit of chit and chat i had with people turnout had been disappointing and seemed to be just one part of the local community.

results were

helal uddin bbbas, labour party - 11,254

(i voted for him)
alan duffell, green party - 2,300
(he got my second preference vote)

john david macleod griffiths, liberal democrats - 2,800
(doing surprisingly well considering everyone now knows they are just traitors)
neil anthony king, conservative party - 5,348
(why anyone voted for them is beyond me)

lutfur rahman, independent - 23,283
(he used to be labour but was kicked out, ken livingstone campaigned for him and respect gave him a clear run)

interestingly the local population is something like 210,000 people. so you can see from the numbers that frankly the majority didn't care.

i suppose i should be thankful that old 3g (gorgeous george galloway) didn't stand, not sure i could have stomached him winning, as much as i like him as an orator i really didn't want him getting money from the local purse.

so now it is a case of seeing what good a local mayor does for us and just what lutfur rahman will do with his position. he has put forward an interesting and ambitious programme, let's hope he comes good with it.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

nuggets

constants in the world - my hate of tories and the tax payers alliance. i still don't understand why the bbc give the tax payers alliance the time of day on any of their stations.

why do companies like adidas run advertising campaigns banging on about originality where everyone ends up wearing the same clobber as everyone else. that is not original that is just herd mentality. i am sure that becks, methodman et al are all originals in what they do, but dressing like each other just shows that they are brand whores who will dress the same as their peers because they don't want to be sneered at. 
oh sorry that was the point of the advert. 
as you were.

why am i shit at suduko? just never seem to be able to complete it - even the ones in 'the sun', i am over the moon when i get a few numbers in the ones that appear in 'the guardian'. i am even worse at crosswords, though i am very good at cross words (see what i did there? you don't? well fuck off then you nay sayer).

if an apology is good enough for members of parliament and the house of lords why isn't it good enough for benefit cheats?

lidl advert in the paper today loads of pictures of cheap grub and booze - all makes sense christmas is coming, time to stock up. oh and in the corner there is today's special offer: a set of sporting long johns. perfect match.


sadness

maggie thatcher is getting better.
that feels me with great sadness.

i am sure that the old biddy is just hanging on because she now knows that in austerity britain her state funeral will consist of a packet of stale crisps, cheap cider and a party popper. (even that is too much for her).

but have no fear maggie, when you pop your clogs, i shall crack open a bottle of bubbly to celebr.... er... i mean toast, oh fuck it i mean celebrate your passing.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

laptop

i love my laptop, even more so in the winter months when it helps keep me warm.
so i can sympathise with the swedish professor who had his laptop stolen.
turns out it wasn't so much the laptop he was upset at losing it was the 10-years of work that was stored on the laptop's hard drive.
sad story.
hold the kleenex.
happy (ish) ending coming up.
several days after the thefy the professor recieved a usb stick in the post with all the contents of the drive copied onto it.
altogether now: aaaah!
of this the professor said: "this story makes me feel hope for humanity."
gosh stop it professor i am welling up here.
while the professor waxes lyrical about the nobility of the human soul he could stop awhile and ponder the practicalities of backing up his work. it is not that hard to do, after all if a common thief (but not a petty one, a petty one would have kept the work) can go out get a usb stick, transfer and save the work you just have to wonder what was the prof's problem with doing it? laziness? too practical for him? we shall never know.

still i bet he is a relieved man - no more sniggers as he walks into the staffroom as people nudge each other and say: "he lost 10 years of work ....".

so remember - always back up that important work as you never know when someone is going to pinch your laptop.

cuts

tomorrow is cuts day.
a day when the gloom finally sets in.
doom and despair.

or could it be the con/dems have it right?

nah just messing with you there.

some of us are going to be right royally fucked. still as we are all in this together i don't feel so bad that my suffering will help some of the richest paid in the land keep their standard of living.
as we are still in this together i don't mind not being able to find a decent job just so those in the financial sector who helped cause this shitstorm can enjoy great bonues and a prosperous new year.

because i know they are the wealth generators and without them blah blah - see almost started singing from the con/dem hymn sheet.

oh well i am sure in a few years time we will all laugh about it.
doubt it.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

cheating

none of us like cheats (except wwe fans, where cheating is accepted, because we know at some point they will not prosper and get their comeuppance).

most of us do not like benefit cheats. we don't like that are getting money for no reason, nor do we like that they give others on benefits a bad name.
the majority of people who claim benefits don't do it because they want to, they do it because they have no choice.

or course the tories hate benefit cheats, the only problem is they just hate anyone on benefits.

their latest wheeze is a three strikes and you are out policy.
a threat that serial fraudsters will loose their benefits for several years. leaving aside the amoral aspect of such a scheme, it once again shows that for all their talk the tories are still the nasty party, they still have a desire to punish the weak and vulnerable.

oddly, so far, the three strikes and you are out is not being applied to those who indulge in a little bit of tax evasion. ah wouldn't it be nice if one or two of those lovely tax evaders were pursued and prosecuted with the same vigour as those who are on benefits? we know it won't happen, but it is nice to dream. think of the ways of punishing them - my current three favourites are: stripping them of their wealth, exiling them and enlisting them into the military where they would spend the rest of their days doing kp.

sadly though life isn't like the wwe and not all cheats get lose out.
under the tories some cheats will be targeted but others will get to be invited to downing street to sup champagne and give advice on how the country is run.

Friday, October 15, 2010

unravelling

we were told that cuts were needed: that cuts had to be deep and had to be done fast or else.

the medicine would not be nice, but it was necessary.

we all know the mantra (join in the chorus) ‘we are all in it together’.

now it seems that education is being saved some of the deep cuts that have been asked of the public services.

now it seems that the military is being saved some of the deep cuts that have been asked of the public services.

so will the pace and depth of the cuts be curtailed? if so, it sounds little brown and darling were right all along.

or does this mean that other departments will suffer more (and when i say other departments i mean all those that deal with those on benefits) cuts in order to make up the shortfall.

or, to be cynical, has the size of the deficit been blown out of proportion by cameron and co in order that they can make their ideological changes to society?

i guess we will find out when osborne makes his announcements next week. personally i don’t think the results are going to be good for those who are already poor.



We all know the mantra (join in the chorus) ‘we are all in it together’.

Now it seems that education is being saved some of the deep cuts that have been asked of the public services.

Now it seems that the military is being saved some of the deep cuts that have been asked of the public services.

So will the pace and depth of the cuts be curtailed? If so, it sounds little brown and darling were right all along.

Or does this mean that other departments will suffer more (and when I say other departments I mean all those that deal with those on benefits) cuts in order to make up the shortfall.

Or, to be cynical, has the size of the deficit been blown out of proportion by Cameron and co in order that they can make their ideological changes to society?

I guess we will find out when Osborne makes his announcements next week. Personally I don’t think the results are going to be good for those who are already poor.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

clinton

warnings over universtity fees.
handwringing over child benefit cuts.
the telegraph bemoaning the attacks on the middle-class and the rich.
nobel prize winners saying the cuts are too much.
milliband being good at the despatch box (and alan johnson wasn't bad either).
chuck in hillary clinton worrying about defence cuts and you have a bad week for the con/dems.

can only imagine the shit storm that is going to erupt next week when they announce their crippling cuts.

(who would want to admit to being a liberal democrat right now?)

search

just checked on what has brought people to my blog.
why?
well as anyone will tell you - it is a case of giving them what they want.

the three most recent searches that have led people to here have included two for enemas and one for brown-nose (and i am pretty sure tha is a search that wasn't looking for corporate crawlers but activities only available on specialist japanese dvds).

mmm expect another enema story soon.

jobwatch

not going good for the coalition at the moment.
a report from pricewaterhousecooper says that the cuts will put a million out of work.
today lloyds bank have announced that they will be cutting over a thousand jobs from their british based workforce.
and while unemployment fell - the claiment count rose. many economists are predicting that unemployment will rise when the spending cuts kick in (that sort of insight is why they are paid big bucks).

no fear though chris grayling has said that cuts are the only way to guarantee future job creation. obviously the coalition has been watching arnie in 'stay hungry' have dosed up on the steroids and believe that it is a case of no pain, no gain. that is all well and good when you are talking about adding an inch to your bicep, not quite the shame when you are sitting in a position of power and you are going to affect the lives and hopes of millions of people.

still it isn't like grayling and the other members of the coalition are going to suffer, they are sorted.
just remember we are all in this together, the con/dems standing on the shoulders of the rest of us.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

speech

louis susman (who he? he was a close adviser of barack obama and now the ambassador to the court of st james, which sounds very flash) is looking for someone with  "a deep knowledge of brititish politics, media and society" in order to write speeches for him. he had initially offered £41,000 a year, he got no takers. now he has upped the salary to £64,500.
crikey.
perhaps i should send him a link to my blog and an offer that i would have been happy to do it at £40,000, and not only that i will tone down the swearing.
if you ask me that is a fucking good deal.
(ooops messed up there.)

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

fatwatch


fat has been called a feminist issue; these days it is big business. on the one hand there is the fashion industry and its allies telling us what the ‘right’ body should look like. on the other hand there is the convenience food industry tempting us with lovely treats. in the middle is medical and public opinion acting like the devil and angel on our shoulders.
obesity is on the rise; in some ways it is the sign that life has become easy.
with the rise of the fat nation comes a whole body of research that tell us why people are fat, more often than not the research will contradicts itself.
(oh how i wish i became a scientist – to think i have the answer to why people are fat: they eat too much, exercise too little. sorted. how much of a research grant i could have gotten with that!)
the joy of this research is that it throws up some very bonkers ideas.
this is the first in an occasional series of fatwatches.

the current reason for while people are fat is (wait for it) (wait for it) artificial light. yes people in cities are more likely to be obese than those in the countryside. a well-lit city encourages late night snacking. it is not just streetlights, but computers, televisions any artificial light.
the light makes us eat.
each bulb should come with a health warning – prolonged use means you become lardy.

the author of the research, professor randy (never trust a guy called randy) nelson of ohio state university says, “light at night is an environmental factor that may be contributing to the obesity epidemic in ways that people don’t expect.” which isn’t quite what the headline writers splashed at the start of the piece.

on a serious point i would say that it is not that light that has led to late night snacking it is that the changes in our modern lifestyles have made this possible.

on a flippant note the solution to the problem is staring us in the face. whenever an obese person turns up at their doctors all the doc needs to do is give them a set of household drapes and send them to sleep at 8pm.

though there is one aspect of the research that hasn’t been mentioned, and this might be the most fascinating part of it: cities are well lit and that is why people are fat. they are fatter than people in rural areas, so rural areas can’t have much in the way of light, don’t have much in the way of light therefore the rural areas are backward they are positively feudal.
we don’t just have a fat issue in the cities, but we also have s dire need to help those stuck in the countryside to embrace technology and come forward to the twenty-first century.

professor randy nelson has done us all a favour by pointing it out.

Monday, October 11, 2010

jobs

iain duncan smith happily talks about seeing half a million people on incapacity benefits being able to startt work straight away.
the con/dems seem to be content to make sure several hundred thousand public sector works lose their jobs and be at the mercy of the private sector to provide them work.

such faith in the private sector seems very misplaced at the moment what with the newly formed company everything everywhere is lookng to shed 1200 jobs, while hp sauce is about to get rid of 1300 jobs.

still this is a government who in their criticisms of 'benefits lifestyle' and their odes to the joy of work seem very happy to make sure that many are condemned to a life on the breadline having to accept low paying work in a time when the prices of everything keeps increasing.

cameron and his pals are not interested in turning back the state in some thatcherite dream - they want full on return to the feudal system.

i better start practising my bowing and scraping.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

tv

i am not a great watcher of television. 
i don't say that from a position of snobbery, i speak as one who sees the gymnastic gyrations of jada on babestation as the apotheosis of tele. 
i am not a great watcher of tv for two simple reasons: i am an addicted of talk radio and that often there is little on the tv i really want to watch. sure there is a pretty constant diet of family guy to watch or american dad. 
at the moment there is spooks, the bbc's excellent spy series. excellent tales well told and well acted. perfect tv for a monday evening. 

a while back itv had a short run series called whitechapel, a crime series set in, oddly, whitechapel that had a copycat ripper murderer on the loose. it was well done and entertaining. i had hoped for a second series. i am getting one. 
i should be happy. 
i am not. 

spooks. monday at 9pm. 
whitechapel. monday at 9pm. 

oh yes the bastards. the utter total tele bastards. 
nothing else on i want to watch for the rest of the week and they schedule the two shows i want to watch on at the same time. 

bastards. 
total utter bastards. 



ben

it is another binary day.
10/10/10.

it is also a day for all bens out there.

(this has been a broadcast on behalf of the pointless party.)

Saturday, October 09, 2010

confession

confession is good for the soul. or so they say.
there are times when we need to stand up, take stock and own up.
there are times when we can no longer sweep it under the carpet, no longer deny, no longer hide the shame.
this is one of those times.
a time to step up, to man up, to confess.

yet even now, even at this point i baulk at it, the challenge to come clean is almost too much. easier to walk  away from it and keep the deep, dark secret just that: a secret.

but i have come this far.
i can't back out now.

so i stand before you, penitent, head bowed and in hushed tones i admit, i confess that i, pat, love the daily mail.
yes i know it is a heinous thing to admit to. i know that is a love that should have remained unnamed.
now that it is out in the open i feel relieved, i feel lighter, i feel saved.

to admit i enjoy reading the rantings and ravings of columnists such as liz jones, peter hitchens, amanda platell, quentin letts, melanie philips and, of course, richard littlejohn,
i love the non-stories, the celebrity love-ins and the celebrity attacks, the misogyny, the misleading headlines and sheer propaganda that passes as news.
most of all i love the comments from the mad, deranged readers of the mail who come together in internet cult of psychosis and delusion.

yes i am pat.
i am an addict.
i am addicted to the daily mail.
help me.

Friday, October 08, 2010

winner

well the winner of the euro lottery isn't me.
so i will not find out whether or not money (lots of it) can make me happy, or just make my misery easier to bear.
so i will not be confronted with the endless questions of what to buy (oh i already have a list, and it is a looooong one).
so i will not have to worry about letting all those pals who i plan on giving some cash to that they have something coming to them.
so i will not have to restrain myself from contacting all those people who have annoyed me just in order to go: "bwahaa bwahaa bwahaa". (sadly that is another looooong list).
so i will not have to think about how i inform those charities i want to support that they are getting large wodges of cash.

so i will have to keep on dreaming and keep on adding to those lists.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

kyle

in my period of post employment i have resisted the urge to watch jeremy kyle, he is no jerry springer and he not the looker that trisha is.
kyle has sailed to fame on a sea of people's misery. he is full of sanctimonious rage. he likes to confront his 'guests', he likes to get tough with them.
ooops one of them threw an envelope at him today.
his bodyguards rushed on.
envelopes can be deadly - we have all had paper cuts.
perhaps he won't act quite so tough now.

(this has been brought to you by 'scraping the bottom of the barrel productions.'

jobs

we are all in it together. the con/dems are telling us how the private sector is going to step in and make the economy purr, providing jobs for all those who lose jobs in the public sector and all those who will be 'forced' off benefits.
while all of this is being said let us reflect on the 400 jobs that are to go at at a vodaphone customer service centre in banbury. not all bad news as 200 of those jobs will be transferred to other locations. time to get on your bikes. vodaphone's human resources director said of the move "Today's changes are about creating a lean and fast moving organisation and at the same time bringing in additional customer facing roles.", no doubt he looks in the mirror every day and tells himself he is a tiger. 

this move to a leaner, faster facing company comes after vodaphone had posted a rise in their profits and at a time when some analysts are saying the job market may be about to enter its own 'double dip' recession. 

guess we are not quite all in it together. 

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

winter

thought it was supposed to be winter.
i am feeling quite warm. something wrong here.
though it could have been all the hot air coming out of the conservative party conference this week.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

turner

this year's turner prize goes on display this week.
as ever i am excited about the event. i am not sure why i get excited by it as for the last few years the work on display has always disappointed.
ignoring all the arguments about modern art and whether or not it is any good, what i always find baffling is that the boys (and girls) at the tate somehow contrive to find four artists who just don't seem to be that special (or that good). considering the breadth of talent that is on display each week in london galleries, alone, that is a pretty fantastic accomplishment.

my next journey to the tate britain will be full of eager anticipation. will i come away deflated? who knows, but that is the magic of art.

Monday, October 04, 2010

searched

it is good to know that there are people out there hunting my blog down.
i am sure there are some who love the quality of debate.
the high standard of humour.
the edgy satire, the insightful political views.
it makes my heart sing to know that at night there are people googling and binging (other search engines are available) in order to read my wise words.

sadly it seems that what they are really after are my toilet tales.
from a recent googbling search comes the key phrase: "emema retension nozzel instructions for use". 


fame at last. 

jobs

the con/dems are keen on cutting benefits.
they want to get people off the dole and into employment.
they are happy to use a carrot in order to get their results.
benefits to be cut, public services to be cut.
the private sector will step in and provide the jobs that everyone will want to do.

oh alliance boots are about to cut 900 non-store jobs over the next three years.
that wacky private sector, just stepping up to the plate.

it's ok though george osborne and david cameron have told us that we are all in this together, and i believe them.



(not.)

Sunday, October 03, 2010

champers

so the tories have banned the members of the front bench from drinking (or being seen) champagne at their party conference.
i am glad that they are feeling the pain of the rest of the country.
no fizz for the tories: no jobs for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers. seems perfectly fair to me. no plonk for the conservatives: a hacking away at services for the rest of us. an equitable trade off.
if ever you needed to know just how patronising the conservatives are then the call for a few, of the very wealthy, cabinet ministers not to drink the moet is all the proof you need.
just quaff your bollinger lads - we all know you don't care about the rest of us.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

nu

the con/dems have moved with pretty impressive speed to begin their wholesale changes to the way we live our lives. the excuse of the economic deficit is used as a handy dandy smokescreen for the many ideological changes they want to make.

among today's announcements were plans to do away with much health and safety - and replace that with good old fashioned commonsense.
also mentioned was the renovations to the benefit system - so that work 'always pays'.
then the news of the relaxing of the 'no touch' rule in schools so that teachers can 'comfort' and 'restrain'.

expected soon a new curriculum that will include such vocational courses as 'chimney sweeps". special deportment classes in 'doffing cap and tugging forelock' and 'bowing and scraping'. the new home economic classes will also include career guidance for those seeking 'downstairs' work.

ah the tory revolution - not so much back to the future, as all our yesterdays.

Friday, October 01, 2010

soaked


spent a chunk of the night at the tate modern, where i very much enjoyed the gauguin exhibition.
buoyed up by the pleasure of art i decided to walk home. 
perhaps not the smartest of ideas as it was pissing down with rain, but i love the rain. so walk i did. and soaked i was. i may have looked like a bedraggled wookie, but i did have a grin on my face derived from the simple pleasure of seeing glorious art and just reveling in the gorgeous thrill of the rain.

of course my happiness had nothing to do with the fact that the walk along cheapside, poultry, cornhill and leadenhall was full of office totty all going to the various bars and clubs that line those streets.
high heels, short tight skirts: what’s not to like?

art, rain and lechery: perfect evening.