letwin

there is an old song "its the rich gets all the pleasure and the poor gets all the blame..."
while there is that saying that money goes to money.
over on the daily telegraph site is this little nugget about oliver letwin, one of the more unctous new tories.

letwin is cameron's new policy chief, which he says is a full time job. when letwin was shadow chancellor he had given up this non-executive role, but now he has it back at nm rothschild. it is reputed to be worth £300,000 a year to him (or close on 10 years worth of my salary). he is not giving up the job because there is no conflict of interest.
letwin says "I think I will be able to manage." he went on to say the city job was "a tiny little part" of his activities.

ok lets step back here a little bit.
rothschild's are paying letwin £300,000 for a job he can manage with only a bit of his time devoted to it, yet there is no conflict of interest?
are they paying him for his charming good looks?
or maybe it's his sparking wit.
perhaps he has promised to get dr. fox to dj for them (that one is for you cliff).

no i don't think so.
you want to know what i think, of course you do. but i suspect several of you are way ahead of me.
they pay him £300,000 a year because he gets them the ear of the tory party, he gets them information from various parlimentaty committees, hell i bet he even pushes some of their ideas.

i am all for politicans working, it keeps them grounded in the concerns of the people they are responsible to. but letwin is living large on the fat of the land, getting cash not because he grafted for it, but because he can ease open a few doors.

what is worse after months of the tories talking about new labout sleaze none of them (including cameron) seem to say: "hold on a minute matey, surely you don't expect people to believe there is no conflict of interest? i mean just on the basic tax issue old fellah we have a conflict......"

old tory, new tory same old wankers.

moody

apparently i am a moody old cove. can't really defend myself on that one.
it might explain why i find this sort of sky lovely.

the street this lot was taken on is viner street. it is one of the streets in east london that is packed with art galleries including almer enterprises (always seems to have shit shows), modern art (with two galleries opposite each othe has had some storming shows and some so so shows), vilma gold (some odd shows, but more disappointing than wonderful), fred (a new gallery, spun out of rhodes and mann, and so far just class shows) and david risely (again a new gallery, and so far there have been group shows which have highlighted what is great about mondern art and what makes people think it is all emperor's new clothes).

a few minutes walk from here is the wilkinson gallery, a great space and more often than not great shows. then there is the showroom, an interesting space normally filled with utter tosh. and a little way around from that is the approach, a gallery above a pub, it's an established space so has had it's share of the good and the bad.

and just down from there is herald street which houses interim/maureen paley and herald street gallery.

all of which has nothing to do with the photos other than i was out seeing art when i took them....

me?

is this a homage to me?
or is it a timely reminder of the christmas story.
or perhaps a wanted poster for obl ?

two different versions:
one with flash:



and one without

wisdom

it's amazing where you finds words of wisdom.
seen on the streets whitechapel. a pearl of wisdom.
i think few would disagree.

updates

the work on the sistine carpark continues. there is now an assistant to help the painting. i think it has moved beyond art and is now a means of communication to alien lifeforms.

tescos still persist in not having cheese and pickle sandwiches. i am contemplating taking them before the european court of human rights. i believe it is a fundamental right that i should be able to have cheese and pickle sarnies whenever i walk into a tescos.

sainsburys are still shit.

i am still drinking many cups of coffee.

life goes on.

honeymoon

poor old ken clarke. he looks like being a sore loser. already he is having a go at cameron. calling him the most euro sceptic leader the conservatives to have had.
it also looks like that cameron has had the shortest honeymoon of all the leaders.
the new tory party (you know that is what they are going to be called soon) weebles and woobles but it still won't fall down.
the irony is that we need them to be a decent party in order to at least make the uk a functional democracy.
while the tories are hung up on europe they have no chance.

block

i had lots of things to write but none of them seemed to be worthwhile.
so here i am, tippy tapping away.
i am listening to the stephen nolan show on radio 5. if there are two people who irritate me on the radio they are both on radio 5. one of them is stephen nolan and the other alan green.

i could read a book but the one i recently started "flicker" is pretty poor, going to give it another 50 pages or so. if it doesn't improve it is off to the charity shop with it.

it is very nippy right now.

kyoto

ooh the american's have sort of backed down.
perhaps even the american's have realised that climate change is very very important.
bill clinton has said that the official american reaction is just "flat out wrong".
bush and co is going on about how technology will solve the problems, which seems to accept that there is a problem, but that it is something that can be solved in the future. of course there is no idea of when the future is and so rather than deal with it now bush and co are now putting the future on a wing and a prayer.
but then given their belief in fundamental religion it might be that they have a word the big fellah upstairs and they know that it isn't going to be a problem, but for the rest of us we'd like to see something actually being done right here and right now.

geeks

i am a geek and i an proud if it.
compared with some of the people i know i am a bit of a junior geek, but they arw the people who have an encyclopedic knowledge of their subject matter, or they have large detailed lists (hi kenny) that celebrate their geekness. we geeks see it as just a way of organising and categorising the results of our hobby, if we do not create the lists ourselves we know where to go to get the list so that we can make sure we the right thing, that it has the correct information and that we know what other ones we need to get to have a full set.
the list (in whatever form it takes) is crucial to the geek. it is the link between the wanting and the having, it connects the past with the future through the present.

for all geeks there is a hierarchy of geeks - i know bird spotters who look down on plane and train spotters (no skill in it..) i know film geeks who look down on people who do not have the uncut version of the movie, i know book geeks who disdain readers of paperbacks, there are competitions between fans of star wars, star trek and doctor who, geek comic fans who are dismissive of people who have anything other than near mint or look down on collectors of football programmes....

and so it goes.

imagine my surprise while looking through the guardian that plane spotters are responsible for getting the cia and the usa into shit over the extraordinary rendition of prisoners.
the plane spotters are the ones who spotted the fact that gulfstream v had been poppping up all over the place.
as one of them said in true geekness:
"It's not the CIA bit that interests us. You don't even know who owns the plane when you take down the serial number," he said, already distracted as something comes in to land through the grey drizzle. "You keep accurate logs, for your own records."

the uk planespotters linked up with other european planespotters and from a pointless hobby the usa and the cia are in the shit.

so from a bunch of bods with a penchant for copying down serial numbers from the wings of planes the world has been able to piece together the whole torture route thing.
the obvious next step is for the cia to employ these planespotters and have them try to track down osama, because they are going to do a better job than the cia. get a bunch of them together with their note books and pretty soon they are going to have all the terrorist cells in the world named and shamed.

and although the article ends with "The planespotters have been given first names only, as they asked not to be identified" that the cia should have learnt their lessons by now and in fact all of those planespotters are now recruited by the agency and are now working towards protecting our way of life.

more likely the reports of the planespotters have been mislaid.

hypocrite

because there are many times when i can, rightly, be accused of being a hypocrite so i guess i know one when i see one.
today at work not only did i get to see the avarice and greed of people (we were having a sale of some of the goodies we sell that are no longer available) and rather than get the things that they wanted for themselves it was pile it high and wonder who you could give it to for christmas presents. i should be used to it by now. perhaps the fact i can wait for the others to finish and then see what is left is a a sign of me growing up. (bout time as well.....)

we also have a tradition of people who are celebrating their birthdays bringing in cakes for everyone to partake.
generally i don't have any of the cake on offer for two simple reasons 1] i never bring cakes on my birthday (which fortunately seems to pass by everyone) and 2] most of the people in the office i don't really speak to that much (over and above the usual office talk) so if i am not their pal i am not eating their cake. i think both are fair reasons.
well today it was staff member a birthday, cakes were brought in, emails sent out. staff member b had often said in the past that staff member a was not a nice person, in fact a very unlikeable person. still staff member b decided to have two lots of cake.
yet staff member b will pontificate on the rights and wrongs of the world at the drop of a hat.
as the good book (no not jamie's school dinners) says mote in your own eye.

i am as guilty, but at least i can confess to it.

boris

boris (no not the japanese band) is back.
he has quit the spectator (probably no one left there to shag) and is now joining cameron's shadow cabinet.
politics has become fun again.

i remember boris johnson giving a speech during the hutton enquiry (or was it the butler one) and he was superb. we are so used to the genial buffoonery of the man that it is a bit of a shock to discover that he can actually give a good speech with little or no deviation or stumbling.

my favourite boris story is of how he nearly got arrested in a large bookshop when it was thought he was stealing magazines when in fact what he was doing was repositioning the copies of the spectator that they had on display.
closely followed by his "apology" to liverpool that went along the lines of "i have been told to come and say sorry, you all know i don't mean it (because i was right) and in doing it i have made micheal howard look even more of a tit...."

i like boris. it is good to have him back.
now with archer back on the scene all they really need is to get portillo on side and they might have a chance.
a very slim one, but it is a chance.

welcome back boris

bye

the routemaster has gone (well aside from a couple of heritage runs).
lets hope that the monach of the road is quickly followed by mrs t.
and shortly after that the tory party.

torture

just as the uk has "outlawed" torture as a means of eliciting information. so say three cheers and raise a glass for the british judiciary. (though i have to think that if you were going to be happy tp torture someone you probably not going to give much of a toss to a law that says no evidence from torturing can be used)

meanwhile the americans have to admit that they have prevented the international red cross from seeing some of the detainees that are in the "care" of the usa. now we all know that under bush america has taken on an almost messianic parental attitude "do as i say and not as i do!" but as more and more of their "mistreatment" of prisoners comes out the distrust must grow and grow.

they may as well admit that they are utilising torture and be done with it.
oddly i suspect most people would say "well done for keeping us safe".

but the secrecy aspect of it just means that they are ashamed of what they are doing because they know it is "wrong" even if they believe it is the "right" thing to do.
given bush's warped christianity expect the witch burnings to start soon.

proud

went into borders, blackwells, a remainders bookshop, my favourite porn shops and hmv and bought nothing.
there was lots i wanted but i resisted.
but then the sales will be happening soon.

plus i have just received 2 orson welles dvds from play. have 5 more on order with another company and my pal paul has sent me several discs of justice league cartoon to watch.

though i did buy some stuff in the tate modern....

rejoice

i know i shouldn't but here is hoping the next big obit will be for mrs t.

saddam

you can tell saddam has learnt a few tricks from his old pal george galloway.
saddam has started to boycott his trail

as the man says: "I will not return, I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!"

part of the reason he gave was the conditions of his confinement and how the trial itself was being conducted.
obviously this is a tactic that amnesty needed to impart to all those who did suffer under saddam. imagine those torturers being stopped in their tracks not by an appeal to their basic humanity, not by pleas or by begging but by a simple "oi you no torturing me until i get hot running (no not scalding) water and a tv in my cell..."
right there the torturers are stymied.

i have to make light of it as it is one of those situations where you find yourself knocked for six by the absurdity of the situation.
here is a man who we all know is guilty of some of the most heinous crimes against his own people, yet he is accorded the right to make a mockery of his trial. in doing so he partly proves the point that life without saddam is better. and many will argue that it is an unjust trial. (for me the trial is deserved, but the means to get there have been proved to be, well to be polite, false).

so there is a part of me that agrees he should be allowed to do his best to make a mockery of the trial, because that is part of the price you pay for a democratic freedom.
then there is the other side of me that thinks fuck it this man is evil, and frankly should be dragged to the court in chains.

but, especially in this case, justice has to be seen to have been done rather than the revenge that many want to see visited on saddam (and his cronies) head.

un-pc

ok this is not even remotely politically correct, but i liked it.

found on the web, so i thought i would share:

the british are at defcon 5
the british are feeling the pinch in relation to recent bombings and have raised their security level from "miffed" to "peeved." soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to "irritated" or even "a bit cross." londoners have not been "a bit cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. terrorists have been re-categorised from "tiresome" to a "bloody nuisance." the last time the british issued a "bloody nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.
also, the french government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "run" to "hide". the only two higher levels in france are "surrender" and "collaborate." the rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed france's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.
it's not only the english and french that are on a heightened level of alert. italy has increased the alert level from "shout loudly and excitedly" to "elaborate military posturing". two more levels remain, "ineffective combat operations" and "change sides".
the germans also increased their alert state from "disdainful arrogance" to "dress in uniform and sing marching songs". they also have two higher levels: "invade a neighbour" and "lose".
belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual and the only threat they worry about is nato pulling out of brussels

(the usual apologies to emma)

condi

she is part of my top tory totty (american chapter) list.
and i fully expect her to be battling it out with hiliary for the presidency in 08.
but this week she must have been thinking when where the chants of "liar liar pants on fire" going to start.
america doesn't torture. mmm ok i guess she is telling the truth there.
america just makes sure that the people they want to have tortured get to the place they need to be to have electrodes on the genitals and aligator clips on the nipples (mmm another career for her... she could open up rice's ranch of retribution...)

now there is a part of me that has no problem with the torturing of terrorists (and yes i know one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter...) in order to get information to save lives. but that torture has to be done quickly and efficiently and you have to confess to be doing it. the outsourcing of it just makes it seem like it is a branch of torture is us.
yes she has made all the right noises about the fact that america will use all the legal weapons at its disposal in the war on terror, but somehow i can't see them just stopping at the edge of the law. hell that's what they have the cia for (and why they are sending all these people aboard.....

so step up tp the plate the amecian civil linerties union. the aclu are suing the cia. only in america could an agent of the state be held responsible on the question of the illegal support and use of torture by someone suing them.... (meanwhile cheney is trying to make sure the cia is outside such laws that stops them from using torture....)
also deserving a mention if jack straw who is demanding information as to who have been on the 200 or so "ghost" flights that have landed in the uk to move on to a slightly less human rights friendly nature.

bothe seem to have gotten rice to admit mistakes may have happend and they may have been corrected.

like i said at the start of this i have no real problem with the idea of torture if it is going to get useful and time information, but when it comes down to something that seems to be no more than retribution it makes no better than the terrorist

sleep

can't sleep.
going to have another can of diet coke.
have another look at the various website i like, listen to some more music and hope i am asleep in less than 30 minutes or else i am getting up before i have had a kip.

i need order in my life.
maybe i will read some comics.

cameron

he shoots, he scores he wins.
david cameron has won the election to be leader of the conservative party.
he has a couple of years to get himself established and to begin to set out his stall as to why people should vote him and the tory party, rather than gordon (a big assumption on my part) and new labour party.

of course this is me believing that the the tories don't kick him out.

he has a couple of months honeymoon period where unless he kills hamsters live on screen he will be able to do no wrong, and everyone will compare him favourably to tony.

i don't see him lasting a general election defeat.
but hey i have been wrong before.

kelly

dame kelly has ended her athletics career.
to be fair she should have done it after she had won her double gold, thouh who could begrudge her the extra cash she earnt running those last few races.

her press conference was a bit of a train wreck though. listening to it on the radio even she seemed a little embarassed by it all.
but that could have been with the way she dressed up her retirement annoucement. rather than just say "that is it, i am bored with this now and i want to do other things with my life", she dressed it up with a story of a bloke she had just met dying a few weeks later.
this was then followed pretty quickly by a list of the commerical activities that she would soon be indulging in.

while i will miss her hot looks on the athletic track all i can say is good luck to dame kelly.

(but that is because there are a number of hotties coming up fast on the inside lane.....)

inspiration

inspiration comes in many forms.
recently i have had several things happen to me that have reminded me that i should get back to doing some of the things i enjoy doing.
while at a trade event in brighton i bumped into an old colleague who was shocked to discover that i wasn't still writing. it was interesting that he remembered that i wrote in the first place, and a bit touching that he even cared that i wasn't writing. (ok this kodak moment was ruined when he showed me some of the things he was working on and it wasn't very good...) , then while i was beginning the big tidy up i discovered a notebook that i thought i had lost, in it were a number of poems that i had written many many years ago. i was pleased to realise that some of them were not bad (don't worry you won't see them appear on here!) finally, today, i got a package from my frined, adam, and it was a package that brought a big smile to my face and included in it there was a small blank notebook included in amongst the goodies.
the blank pages have reminded me that i need to start writing and i need to start doing it now.

like i say inspiration comes in many forms and who would have thought that mine was like buses.

girls

there i was on the bus going to work this morning.
the route takes me past queen mary's college. there on the bus was a bevy of gorgeous babe students. they were either studying to be lawyers or doctors. they were all uniformly gorgeous and all very much part of the posh sloane set. "i was so over that question...."
as i stood there captured in their youthful beauty i was struck that these were probably very much the girl gang that were featured in the socially critical movie "mean girls" starring lindsey lohan.
they got off the bus and the day went grey again!

enjoy

this is the sort of story that makes the internet worthwhile.
i laughed so hard at the thought of this happening that i shot webs out of my nose (about 2 people are going to get that reference).

i wonder what the reaction would be the reaction if the opposite has happened.

go here to enjoy http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4494660.stm

december

ugh it has only just started and already i hate december.
people in the office have already started talking about decorations and the christmas party. oh spare me.
soon it will be the constant jingle of sad arsed christmas songs.
just when the catholic church is about to get rid of the concept of limbo (because it is a theological rather than a religous construct) and i find myself being thrown into the limbo of christmas.

the only thing that makes it bearable is that i know i can wander one of the streets close to where i work and view the handy work of two houses who take the whole concept of christmas decorations to a whole new level. i am pretty sure that nasa uses them as a landmark by which to navigate.
never fear i will try to get pictures so you can all enjoy in the same way i do.

best

call me callous but i just don't get what the fuss over george best is about.
so he was a good footballer. but what has he done for the last 20 years aside from getting pissed and using a liver that could have gone to someone else?
in short i have no idea why it is so many people are so concerned or so worked up about the whole thing. perhaps it is the dianna factor that means that everyone has to join in with mass crying and mass hysterics. the radio 5 was full of it this morning.

interestingly (well for me at least) there has been no mention of best as being an example of the fact that you don't have to be a binge drinker for drink to do you damage. for best there was no need for 24 hour drinking laws in his local pub, he was either in clubs or he had drink in the house. oddly it was the same for my parents (both who died of alcohol related problems) they had booze in the house and they drank it. you don't need the pubs to stay open longer to get a serious skinful in you.

the other thing was the recent report about marijuana being dangerous, the usual old saws about it being addictive were trotted out. of course no one mentioned that booze is also addictive and is also something that can kill. but that sort of argument is not a good one because more people drink than do drugs,

i have argued in the past that drugs should be made legal because that gets rid of many of the undesirable aspects of drugs. the recent to do over marijuana just serves to add weight to my arguments.

and for the record i don't do either. my drug of choice is coffee and the sooner there is a 24 hour coffee shop in my area the better i will be.

noooooooooooooooo

oh well my run of bad luck continues.
it looks like i have a leaky roof. bugger. that means i will have no money throughout 2006, as i suspect it won't be cheap to get this repaired.
just when i was thinking i would be cutting down on the time i spend at work and do things i now discover that i won't be able to do that because i will have no money.......

confusion

my blog seems to be posting stuff wherever it wants to rather than where it should be. which is rather annoying.
oh well it continues my run of bad luck. and worse of all it means you, dear reader, might miss out on some great stuff from me.
(i doubt it but you just might....)

clutter

the leaky roof has meant i have to clear a huge amount of junk from the flat. it is something that i have been meaning to do for months (hell years...)so i made a start on it last last.
suddenly i am in admiration of my pal richard who has recently decluttered his life and buggered off to india.
i look around at the heaps and mounds of stuff i have and wonder why why why?
as i start going through it to decide shall i keep it or should i junk it, i keep getting stopped by something that i just have to keep. it is traumatic.
last night it was at 13 year old christmas card from my pal adam and a bunch of old black and white photos of various members of my mum's family, none of whom i know.....

tonight loads of bags of rubbish are going out, and sadly it won't make a bit of difference.

400

post 400.
a big wooo hooo to me.
a big thanks to my sponsors.

here is to the next 400.

prozzies

a recent study has shown that the number of men buying sex has doubled in the last 10 years.
interestingly i know several people who have used the services of prostitutes and their argument for using them was that it was cheaper and a lot less hassle.

this study lead to a phone in on the victoria derbyshire show on radio 5. they had someone on from the english collective of prostitutes who was going on about how prostitution should be made legal. i agree with her.

the reason she gave for making it legal was to do with trafficking of people for the sex trade. she made the point that because prostitution was illegal that women who are being forced into the sex trade were scared to go to the police.
have to say i thought this was a bit of a silly argument because the fact that the women are being forced to work in the sex trade probably means that they probably are not going to be given the chance to wander off to the local plod to say “pc pat we are being kept here against our will”. i reckon they are scared shitless to go to the police in case nothing is done about their situation and then end up spending some time in hospital recovering from the beating that they will no doubt receive at the hands of their pimp.

i remember a programme on channel 5 (when it was nice’n’sleazey) that was all about pimps. just as many of the streetwalkers matched the stereotype of the hollywood hookers, so did the pimps with their big hats, fur coats, spats, walking canes and truly dodgy hair styles. there was a cartoonish element about them, which was added to by the fact the programme was hosted by ice t
the smile was wiped from my face when one of the pimps was talking about how much his “bitches” loved him, he cited the example of one of his ladies who although she had been shot in the thigh, she skipped out of the hospital in order to get back on the street to earn some more for her pimp. now it might be me, but i don’t think she did that out of love, she did it out of cold fear.
of course all ice t could do was nod in agreement..

for that reason alone prostitution should be made legal, it will provide a higher degree of protection and freedom to the women who want to get involved in the sex trade.
of course one of the problems for the legalisation of it is the nimbys who might agree that it would be a good thing, but just don’t want it anywhere near them.

it, along with drugs, should be made legal; it will make it all above board and in the process allowing the sex workers to have more control. and the treasury will have a new source of taxes.
everyone gets to win.

random

here are some random pics from my camera.

this is canary wharf, taken from the platform of pudding mill lane dlr, a station that has a huge tall sign, that is so high you can barely see it. necessary for the planes that might need to land in the area.



an arty shot of the railings at pudding mill lane station. a bit of close cropping here and there and you have an art print ready to go. (place your christmas orders now....)



and the night sky from my office window, with an odd tinge thanks to the film speed i am using.

speechless

i missed this story the other day.
you have to admire the front of gerry adams.
the man knows no shame.

perhaps he should also be demanding that the amnesty being offered to ira members should be rescinded.

gotta love that sort of hypocracy.

treats

i have been expecting a couple of packages in the post this week.
neither of them came.
one i think will arrive on monday, the other i think has not been sent (last time i do that person a favour...)

instead i have to content myself with my absolute edition of crisis on infinite earths (comic fans out there will know what i am talking about).
my two marvel figurine collectors figures (hulk and silver surfer...)
a cheap copy of fetish files - the pervy photos of tom porta and very nice they are too.

so for a very short time i am happy happy joy joy.

commericals

listening to air america radio on the internet.
al franken was talking to (ex) president carter (the exs can still be called mr president). it was interesting to hear jimmy's take on the current mob, especially given their disregard of human rights. just as it seemed to be getting hot, al has to say "sorry mr. president we have to go to the ads....."

i had to smile.
only in america.

galactus

this is a new toy in the mini-mate line. unlike the regular figures this is a large figure, more a (not so)mini-mate.

galactus is the creation of stan lee and jack kirby, the two men most responsible for creating comics as we know them today. galactus is the devourer of worlds, and for a time let the silver surfer hang with him. most often the earth has been protected from galactus' hunger by the fantastic four.
while galactus' hat is great sometimes his costume has been a little bit odd, but then when you devour worlds i guess you can wear what you like.

this particular galactus will complement my toy biz one that came with an ultimate nullifier (sadly it didn't work). i missed out on the heroclix galactus which looked really cool.

one of the reasons i like galactus is i empathise with him. he devours worlds, i devour chocolate. the difference is he doesn't put on weight and it is and essential part of his nature, me i am a pig and i have porked out like billy bunter.

exit

let's not beat about the bush here but dubya and co are fucked.
that means the republican party is probably screwed for the next presidential election (heres hoping anyway...)

bush has been talking about his strategy for victory in iraq. says bush: "when the terrorists and Saddamists can no longer threaten Iraq's democracy, when the Iraqi security forces can provide for the safety of their own citizens, and when Iraq is not a safe-haven for terrorists to plot new attacks on our nation".

lets leave aside the rights and wrongs of the war and lets leave aside the fact that the occupation of iraq is (now) perhaps the main reason that there might be attacks on america (and the west) and americans (and the rest of us).
let us just think about the fact that once they committed to war bush, cheney and rumsfeld obviously couldn't be arsed to really think about what happens once you won, what happened once you got the regime change you were so desperate to have.

bush can't pull out now because the whole place is a shithole and is ready to explode and the only way to keep it under any semblance of peace (and that is stretching the term) is to keep american forces on the ground.
but even then they can't quite get it right.
fuck hearts and minds - lets just torture and kill.
so the american's are there for a looooooong time or 2008 when the democrats win back the presidency and withdraw.
but the real question will be: will it be possible to withdraw the troops even if you disagree with the war?
currently i don't think you can.

but good to see straw demand that the cia and government declare wether or not they are using britain as a stopping point in order to get prisoners to places where human rights violations can take place much more easily.
back in the day of the thatcher government when they were privatising and liberalising everything they could, i am sure thatcher and co would have come up with a torture possible zone to go along side the enterprise zones they set up.

anyway jack i have the answer to the question: "of course they are". and apparently cheney is trying to make sure that the cia can continue to use torture if it thinks it needs to.

gotta love ameria.

why

this story has left me slightly bemused, slightly disgusted and somewhat disappointed.

proud (and very very very rich) dad celebrates his daughter's bar mitzvah in style. it's one of the important time of life for jews, it is their coming of age.
so dad being, proud and being very very very rich invites 300 or so guests, fills the rainbow room, a resturant on the 65th floor of the rockerfeller centre, and lets them all enjoy the entertainment he has laid on.
among the people who sang to the audience were: 50 cent, aerosmith, tom petty and stevie nicks.

i was a little bemused that these stars would play such a gig. but then 50 cent got £300,000 for his song. so maybe not so bemused.
i was disappointed that aerosmith and tom petty played such a gig - so much for being rock and roll rebels. 'smith even let the brother of the girl play drums through their set. money talks and it talks big. the toxic twins and the rest of the band pulled in $1.3 million....
i was disgusted (and i will admit it is tinged by a certain amount of jealousy) at the waste of money involved here. the kids who attended apparently got goodie bags worth $600 each. there is an old argument about the wealthy being necessary because their money trickles down to the rest of us. they are deserving of their money because they are wealth creators and we all benefit from it. but stories like this just remind you that actually money seems to go to money.

then i thought - what on earth is he going to do for her 21st.

sistine

i work in an office building.
it has a car park. the car park has been the object of much angst among my fellow workers. me i could care less - it's the 25 bus for me.
we have had another of those "you can only park here!" style announcements go around the various offices in the building.
in terms of timing this couldn't have happened at a better time, because it's the time when the lines on the parking spaces get re-painted.
now i don't know much about painting (and frankly i have no desire to learn - although recently someone told me i was a walking treasure trove to tv make over style programmes - they could come and clean my flat, dress me, teach me to cook etc, i am holding out for supernanny to come and spank me...)

get on with it pat, get on with it....

where was i?
oh yeah.
now i don't know much about painting but i reckon this can't be that hard a job. the lines are already there. you just have to paint over them. get one of those walking line things. and job done in a day or so.
nope. not us. we have a painter who obviously has the soul of one of the great masters. for him it is not a car park he is painting, oh no it's nothing mundane like that. our painter is da vinci, caravaggio and michaelangelo all rolled into one. i believe we are currently on day 4 of the painting of the straight lines.
each line is done with a fine brush, i am sure he is not using emulsion but in fact is using the finest oil paint he can find. on examining the lines we would all exclaim "perfect". better than giotto and his circle - this man does a straight line better than anyone has ever done.

i have seen perfection and it is a straight white line in a car park.

complete

ah those lovely boys at play.com. today i received my (very cheap) godfather trilogy dvd boxset.
i am as close to happy as i ever get.
it also means that now i have all my favourite films on dvd.

now all i need to do is get all the films of orson welles and john wayne and i can start obsessing about something else.

drat

david cameron must be thinking "shit what did i do to deserve that!"
he had survived the drug issue. he has seen off archer (big mistake i think) and it all looked to be plain sailing.
goodbye howard hello cameron - "i'm the leader, i'm the leader" (not that i am implying a gary glitter like element here).
but then this bombshell hits him

cameron is getting the support of the quiet man himself. yes the leader who almost roared is coming out and saying "cameron is my man."
i am sure cameron is thinking now i have ids on my side it is a slam dunk.

more likely he has his head in his hands and is gently sobbing.

going

well it is almost time for michael howard to step down.
he's been having a dinner with his mates at banqueting house (i wasn't invited, which was lucky as i don't have a black tie, i do think that not inviting me was bad form as i purposely decided not to stand against the boys).
so the party goers pay £300 a pop to sit there and listen to howard and a few others rabbit on about how much better things are looking for the tories. howard himself has said that he didn't get all he wanted to achieve done, but that they had made great inroads, positive steps etc etc.
but when you have friends such as peter stringfellow and chris woodhead turning up you just know that the party is always going to be one that is never going to get anywhere.

both the davids were there, their last chance to press flesh and make that dignified stand in order to show that they are the men to lead the party....

and frankly any dinner that has 400 people at it can't be worth £300 a head, surely this is just going to be posh canteen food.

if i ever win the lottery i won't be wasting it on posh food like that - think of the bloody pizzas i could have with that sort of money.
the fact that they can throw £300 down for a posh canteen meal shows how far divorced they are from the rest of us.

(oh and shed a tear for the republican who has had to quit his role in government for getting down for accepting bribes of $2.4 million dollars.... it is nice to see that sometimes the greedy and stupid do get caught.)

graffiti

some examples of graffiti from around the east end of london.
(oh ok one of them is not really graffiti but is really fly-posting, but very attractive it is too.)

review

you may be wondering what has happened to the reviews.
pressure of work has stopped them.
but work is clearing up. so guess what: the reviews return very soon. just as soon as i have done something to review.

oh ok one for jay and shep.

doom with the rock. dull and dumb. wait for it to be on itv in two years time. the rock had done such a great job in a very very very poor film "be cool" but he sort of shot himself in the foot with this one.
only watch if there is nothing else on, or you are with drunken mates.

smiths

what a con!
there i am thinking that places like the big chains abuse their buying power in order to get the lowest possible price so that they canundercut the local shop. put the local shop out of business and grow bigger and stronger.
you can see it with tescos. you can see it with sainsburys (even if they never have stock on their shelves). look at hmv and virgin (ok we know they can be cheaper but the principle is there). check out borders and waterstones - have the publishers over a barrel, pass the savings on to the consumer.

it all falls apart with wh smiths.
smiths is a chain of stores that sort of lost it's way a while back. has gone through many changes in order to get back on top. from line cuts to line expansions. it carves a big discount out of publishers and it charges for space on the shelves.

there i was in birmingham coming back from a show, needing something to drink. two bottles of pop, some chocolate and next thing i know i am lighter by £4. £1.19 each for the bottle. my local corner shop, who buys his pop from a cash and carry, is cheaper than that.
wh smiths must be the most expensive sellers of pop in the country.
they are making superprofit on the bottles they sell (even marks and spencers own brand stuff is cheaper and they are purposely expensive....)and who knows what else they are scoring high(er) profits on.

even so they are still not fully successful.

i tell you now wh smiths are gougers of the worst kind. boycott them now, except to stand around and read the magazines and steal the cover mount cds.
(oh and to buy copies of personal trainer for women)

still

here are two images of the city.
urban still lifes.







the bottle is from the shoreditch high street. and surprisingly hard to capture (it was late, i was tired. i was going to go for the blurry drunken view but decided against it).

the leaf is from hyde park.

ugh

my sleep pattern is screwed.
nooded off early. woke up at 2am for a drink of coke (oh and a bar of chocolate), drifted off again and then awake at 4am, more fizzy pop, more snooze and then awake at 5.30 am.
listened to the radio and guess what radio 5 live have someone on from the cbi. not only does this person from the cbi sound like digby jones but also has the same whiney not our fault nothing to do with us tone to his voice that digby has.
this time it's the government's fault that the transport system is crap. they should spend more money on it, but don't raise taxes (well at least not on the businesses and the rich, everyone elese is fair game....) not a word about the fact most of the rail is in the hands of private (for profit) companies, not a word of the fact that previously the rail infrastructuew was in the hands of a for profit organisation that wanted hand outs from the state while paying big bonuses to the bosses and dividends to the shareholders.....
yeah capitalism rocks when someone else is paying your bills.

think i am going to start listening to jazz fm in the morning.

id

well it looks like more bad news for the proponents of id cards.
fraud, computer overload and costs are all being sited as reasons not to go ahead.

i have to admit i am not a great fan of the id card, although there have been times when it would have made my life easier. but i am one of those people who would rather not being leaving a large footprint of who and where i have been.
but we seem to be happy to use our bank cards, our loyalty cards and such like. our mobiles track our movements. we are under cctv a lot of the time.

perhaps it is because these are not associated with the state that we don't care?
more on this later.

gobsmacked

apparently blair was double crossed by the americans over the reasons they wanted to go to war in iraq!
they wanted regime change, but they didn't tell blair.
probably the only person in the world who didn't think it was about regime change must have been blair. everyone else seem to believe it was about regime change and getting the oil.

so blair made all the right noises but for the wrong causes.

what makes the american decision to go for regime change even worse is that they had nothing to put in it's place. what on earth were they thinking.
you make the decision to get rid of one ruling party and then have nothing to replace it.
no wonder it went tits up.

weekend

been a shit weekend.
nothing has gone quite to plan.
i have acted like a twat.
i need to destress and take a good look at myself.
(and no jay i am not signing up for a session or two with you...)

pictures

so here are a few pics from the trip around london.


tower bridge. still loveley after all these years. i once did some arty blakc and whites on there, gave one to a mate, years later i asked him who did that it's really good - he said me. chuffed was i.




the greater london assembly building. london is having a bit of an image problem at the moment. on the north bank you have swiss re building or erotic gherkin (it is very phallic but would need very big batteries to get a decent hum out of it...) and on the south bank you have this. from the angle i have taken the picture it looks like something from power rangers, from the side it is a knob head. i think it says something about iconic buildings.




the wobbly bridge and st pauls. poetry on the thames.

foggy

i missed (geddit) the chance to post this the night it happen.
it was foggy when i was standing around waiting for a bus to take me from work to home.
when i got home (a couple of miles) it was as clear as night (and a very brisk night it was too, not quite brass monkeys but getting there...)

archer

he's back.
the man is back.
the world of politics is fun again.

jeff jeff jeff jeff.
he must have a book ready to publish.
it means more of the fragrant mary.
it means more scandal (and fun scandal at that - the tories seem to have fun when they get into trouble....)

now if only they have the sense to put jeff and boris in the shadow cabinet then they have a chance to win.
(not that i actually want them to, but it would be nice to have someone challenging the new labour party's slide into old torism.)

binge

new licensing laws come in the day george best dies.
you can see the headlines now.
the red tops must love it when this happens.

draconian

some of the people i know get into a real tizzy about the current government comparing it to stalin's ussr, or hitler's fascists or just throw in orwell's 1984 for good measure.
i always have a rueful smile when they tell me this because it always amuses me that firstly that they think that the rights and freedoms they say have been (or are about to be) taken away where somehow there all the time and that somehow that this are naturally ours to have in the first place (mostly they have been granted us because of the spilled blood of a few noble people who fought for these rights and freedoms).
but for some people arguing in the absolute without historical thought is the best way, it makes more sense that way and a lot less messy....

anyway you ask what has gotten you worked up now pat?

well one of the recent governments rules has kicked in and now one of the first attempts to have a protest has been stopped.
a group of black cabbies have been told that if they try to protest the congestion charge outside of the houses of parliament they may face prosecution.

oh well who cares about democracy these days....
perhaps what the cabbies need to do is tell any mps who get into their cabs they are just not going south of the river!

or perhaps they should be able to protest outside the houses of parliament in a peaceful manner, as befits a democracy.

i think the smile has been wiped off my face.

guide

well what have i learnt on my few days playing tourist guide?
that london (unlike nottingham) is filled with wonderous things.
that some of these wonderous things are expensive and can't truly be seen in a day.
that i know very little about the place.
that it is very easy to spend money.
that my knees hurt when i walk too much.
that i am not the best communicator in the world (actually working life proves that every day - i ithink i am speaking clear english, but from what the results are my colleagues must be hearing incan!)
that i must go out and do it again.

as some have said: london rocks!

tourist

i am being touristy as i am taking an american colleague out and about the town today.
expect photos.
expect stories.
expect tales of consumerism.

7000

just reached 7000 hits.
woo hoo - sad to be happy about it i know.
the hits have slowed down, i have lost my audience they have all gone to cliff, jay and emma.
my thanks go to annoymous for making the blog a continued hit: i just love bookmarking you all.

irony

tony blair was being grilled by a number of mps today.
he is one of the few prime ministers to allow them to question him like this.

i heard him protect lord john "blue sky thinking deep wallets" birt from having to come before select committees, i suspect not because they would discover that birt adds nothing to anything but that they would be appalled he was being paid to be so useless. see new labour does indeed enjoy the working practices of the business world.

then he went on about nuclear power stations being one of the best ways to secure the uk's power needs, does that mean they will remain a nationalised concern? or does it mean that the uk tax payer will underwrite it all but within months the plants will be sold off to the highest bidder?

and on iran and their nuclear ambitions blair says of iran that they are "meddling in iraq". now i wonder who else that could be said of. if ever there was a case of the pot calling the kettle black this is it.
there is an eerie sense of deja vu as blair talks about iran - some of these reasons sound like the reasons used for invasion of iraq...
could it be?
could it be?

nah they couldn't.... could they.

sport

two sport stories from the bbc.

i love basketball, and i defy anyone to watch mj in action and not be in awe.

it is one of the few sports where your dominance in the game more often than not translates to a win. there is an ebb and flow with the game that is wonderful to watch. i have sat transfixed at games cheering my team on to triumph or supporting them in defeat. i just love the game.

many have argued that sports and politics are linked. think the sporting ban against south africa, think the americans walking out of the moscow olympics, think the black power salute at the olympics, think the principled stand we took against zimbabwe over the cricket (ok that one is a lie…)
in reality sport, like politics, is about money. no longer is the taking part enough what counts is the winning and the bank balance.

anyway it is nice to see that even the americans can extend the hand of friendship across the sporting globe and have a player in the iranian basketball league. far be it from me to say it’s because he is not good enough to get into any of the american leagues….

i loved the typical english understatement in this “he is a staggering 217cm (7ft 2in) tall - a giant by iranian standards.” because as you know round here we would be calling him titch! (actually in the world of the sporting nickname that is exactly what the sun newspaper would end up calling him…)

go here for it


the second one was about gym culture. now i used to like to go to the gym, i knew i was never going to be a lithe fit muscular chap, but i hoped i would put some tone on the flab, i have come to love the flab and have forgotten the desire to be a six pack phenom (unless it was a six pack of doughnuts!)

when i do go to the gym i am not the most fashion conscious of people. never saw the point of it especially as soon i was into the work out i would be pumping out sweat like i had sprung a leak. basically i am a sweat monster and a slob to boot.
so you can appreciate i feel sympathy for this bloke who had been told to wear a t-shirt and not a vest because he had hairy armpits and his sweat might damage the equipment.
there are only two things you can make of this story:
one he has gone to a girl’s gym because we know they only glow.
two this is so typical of new labour, yet another attack on personal liberty and freedoms!

other recent sports stories i nearly wrote about: the shocking revelation that humans may have reached the end as far as sporting records are concerned. what stunned me with this was that anyone thought that records could keep be bettered! i do recall a conversation where someone had suggested that all world records be scrapped and that they were started again. while a totally dumb idea, what i liked was the chance that you could scrap them and then quickly run a race and become a world record holder.
think of all the guinness book of records that would sell.

the other story was the bloke who is trying to get into women’s only golf tournaments, after the young american female golfer had been accepted into the masters’ tournament recently.
on a theoretical level i can see his point: equality has to go both ways (an argument also being made by a male nurse in a recent work tribunal) but on a practical level why bother – how are you going to face your mates on the tour when you have to come back and say you didn’t win….
he would have been better off arguing that there should be mixed events, but then he wasn’t after justice, he just wanted publicity.

beard

was growing it. decided against it. shaved it. back to being a goatee person.
pics of the shaving to come.

coast

i love the coast. i love the sea. i spent several hours at the weekend just sitting listening to the waves swooooshing against the beach.
sadly i didn't have a tripod so you will have to enjoy these slightly blurry pictures (it's art pat, it's art.... give that man a turner prize!)






check out how dark it gets out there at sea.

digby

i have written about digby in the past. i will write about him in the future (a deeply depressing thought that is...)
today he woke me up to complain about the price of gas and that the government should work out a coherent and integrated energy strategy.
mmm hold on digby dear chap - arn't the energy companies in private hands? arn't they just making profit as they see fit? isn't it all about supply and demand? surely these (often not english) energy companies should be looking into alternative energy supplies as part of their r&d?
no of course not that is what the government should do, with our tax money - because you and the cbi do not want to pay reasonable taxes.....
typical.

oh if that was not bad enough he has a whinge about the money the government might be spending on the unions because of the warwick agreement. the government shouldn't get involved there as it might upset a businessman or two (and digby is as two men) but when it comes to them doing somehting that might aid the workers then it should be hands off.

it wouldn't be so bad if he was challanged and questioned on this sort of stuff, but he isn't. he is just left to say what he likes.

hate him.
i really should stop listening to radio 5.

cold

was in brighton over the weekend for a work related event.
booked into a hotel.
i should have known from the start it was a mistake to go there as it was called the quality hotel. the only part of the q u a l i t y was applicable was the y as in "why am i here?"
it was very cold in the room. the heater defied the laws of thermodynamics. right up close it was the heat of the sun coming from it, an inch away artic cold.
i discovered that terrestial tv is shite, or is everytime i turned it on, (though fearne cotton is lovely).
but to sit and listen to the sea at 1am in the morning was nice (though i think the cold beach has added to my piles...)

relaxed

the work stress is over. i can almost relax now.
guts are still in a little turmoil. will be even worse shortly as i am off for a curry.
evacuate the area now.

booze

i don’t drink. i gave up when most people are starting, one of the things i can thank my parents for.
i have no problems with people drinking, most of the people i know who drink generally know when to stop, and when they are pissed are happy drunks.

as i am someone who has lots of trouble getting to sleep the idea that pubs might be open much later is an attractive one as it means there is somewhere to go in the early morning that isn’t a club with banging music and young hip clubbers.

it’s about choice.
so why are the tories so against it? they claim it is a law and order thing. they say it is a social thing – longer drinking hours means more binge drinking they say. they say it will lead to more anti-social behaviour and i think if you pressed them they would say that longer drinking hours is going to lead to a growth of satanism and was responsible for the sinking of the titanic.

as i understand it – the 24 hour licensing law is not compulsory and most pubs will probably close at their usual hour or maybe just a bit later. the fact that you have longer to drink will mean you will not rush to finish of a few drinks before last orders (and as the child of alcoholics i know that binge drinking takes place just as much in the comfort of the home as it does in the pubs).
plus those pesky teenagers who are binge drinking and being anti-social are generally doing it in clubs that are already open late.

for all their chatter about allowing people to have choice, for all their picking on new labour for being a nanny state: the moment that new labour passes a law that
1] allows people to have choice
2] that allows for liberalisation of licensing laws and
3] removes restrictions on the freedom of the people
is the moment that the tories get up in arms and complaining……

me i think that the tories are just a bit miffed that with 24 hour drinking their special little drinking clubs are not special anymore.

porn

i love porn. i watch it, i read it and i look at it. i am a (self)abuser of porn and i have never denied it.
i don’t think i am particularly unique in my love and consumption of porn. i don’t think i am particularly special in my ability to tell the difference between the porn fantasy and the real world (and i suspect most consumers of porn have a better understanding of the division between reality and fantasy than many of the fans of soaps….)
anyway here i am scanning through the internet (and not just looking for porn) when i come (geddit!!!) upon this story on the bbc website.

now i feel sorry for the mother who has lost her daughter.
and i have no sympathy for the man who committed the deed, and would not shed a liberal tear if he was locked away for good.
but i do have problems with the fact that one person who had an obsession for porn is somehow typical of the rest of us who have an obsession with porn. you would have thought by now that this sort of argument had been knocked on the head. especially as it has never been proved when it has been aimed at violent movies (if we are such a violent society now why are films such as driller killer (very very boring …. oh i couldn’t help it , but it is a dull dull stupid film) i spit on your grave that were for so long banned as video nasties are now in the bargain bins of hmv? ), when it was argued that heavy metal lyrics were responsible for suicide or shooting up your school friends or when it was computer games or tv or well anything that could be a handy excuse.

sometimes i think the grasping for the “reason/ excuse” is because people do not want to think that other people can be evil, and would rather find a reason that in a sense absolves the person for responsibility.
maybe it’s because we know that people are evil and we can’t do anything about it so we choose to look for something we can ban, something we can blame.

but lets be honest if porn, even violent porn, had this sort of effect (and this goes for video games, movies, tv and music) on all the people that consume it there would be rioting on the streets and we would be living in a state of constant fear and chaos.
we are not. why? because the people who commit these sort of murders are few and far between. furthermore they would commit these crimes sooner or later and all they are waiting for is a trigger and it could be anything.
but do we ban everything that might have been an obsession (or just an interest) for the person?
if the criminal in question turned out to be a philatelist i doubt very much there would be a call to ban stamp collecting.

one of the things i do find interesting is that none of these people are saying that the art that populates the national gallery, for instance (and one of the finest places to be to see art) should be removed from the public gaze because of what it might cause a person to do. frankly if you want to see sex and violence then go to the national gallery and see torture, see naked men and women, see violence with naked men and women, see rape, see murder and see naked babies. it is all there in glorious colour, but it is art. and because it is classical art it is fine.
yet it could be argued that because the art in places like the national gallery the art is generally viewed in solitude, there is little context for explaining the images and the viewer is often alone and is not going to discuss it with others. yet often computer games and videos are social events and discussed avidly between viewers and players.

the argument that watching this sort of material causes you to become a murderer is a fallacious one, and it is just has hard to prove as it is to deny.
for me it is an argument that holds as much truth to it as andrea dworkin assertion that all men are rapists.
in short it is utter tosh.

stressed

stressed at work.
stressed by a friendship.
bowels are irritatable.

want coffee and chocolate. probably a fatal combination, but hey let's live a little.

coffee

i love coffee.
i need coffee.
i crave coffee.
i am a coffee addict.

if i haven't had a shot of joe in the morning i am not a happy bunny, some would say i am never a happy bunny regardless of my coffee intake.

i love coffee and i am not ashamed to admit it.

goatee

look at the white in that

cherie

she is not in my top tory totty list. (though she qualifies as a neo-tory)
i don't find her attractive.
but someone has decided to do something odd and kinky.
only go here if you have a strong strong stomach. or you have bizarre tastes.

http://www.waspbox.com/gallery/Mrs_Blair_2006.pdf

(emma, it's one for jay - that says it all!)

it did make me smile.

(and here is another one that made me smile .... this is just odd, and shows the cultural difference between us and the japanese.....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-123322263707848424)

wax

on the way home last night i felt a tickle in my ear.
nothing odd about that: it was windy, i have lots of hair sometimes, it tickles. simple.
except this tickle moved.
i tilt my head a little, put my finger to my ear, thinking maybe there is a bug in there. and lo i have an ear wax ball. it looked like marzipan.
eeeeewwwwww.

just thought i would share.

review

the media overload that has engulfed me hit me hard the other night, no idea what to watch or what to listen to… should i listen to the new ramstein cd or watch a dvd or a video or read….. i opted to just pick out a dvd.
i ended up with “cold and dark”; it’s a slick looking british horror movie. filled with interesting camera angles, an icy blue palette, hard boiled dialogue and delivery and a bit of gore. on paper that sounds like a great movie, have to admit it just didn’t keep me interested. my attention drifted and i moved from watching the movie to playing with my camera, back to the movie and so on.
while on a case john dark’s partner mortimer shade is killed but is kept alive by the parasitic monster: the grall. the scene where we know something is wrong with shade is when john dark (played by the buffed up luke goss) thinking his partner is dead is shocked when he jumps up, as they walk away another corpse spontaneously combusts. (the only problem here is that the opening sequences of the movie sets up shade as being something special and supernatural to start with…)

the case they are on is something to do with people smuggling. the ring they are after is protected. shade, now powered by grall, has powers and so together he and john dark throw out due process and do the right thing.
at first dark goes along with this, but he soon thinks that shade is losing his humanity and something has to be done about it.

and something is done, but hand on heart i was paying so little attention i think i missed it.
one of the reasons i found it hard to pay full attention to it was the moments of ott thesbing from one or two of the supporting cast. there is the scottish chief inspector, with a gorgeous clipped but full white goatee, who has a peculiar whispery and shouty delivery. rather than him being a man in charge he appears like a man who is on the merry –go-round of personality disorders.
then there is the appearance of matt lucas who can be an effective actor, but in this he goes from being sufficiently spooky to auditioning for a children’s television version of the x-files.
perhaps they were there to inject some black humour; instead it was just bad humour.

all in all it was a bit of a missed opportunity, but no close to being the worst film i have ever seen. i suspect i will go back to it again just to see how they got to the end of the movie.

i am not sure that the director is going to become the next guy r or quentin t, but he deserves to if only for his name: andrew goth.
it has to be a made up name.

ali

i never really got muhammad ali. don't know why. i just never got it.
but then i am not sure i really understood boxing as a sport (the exception being the first few rocky movies - those i got, those i loved).

but i realise that ali was a great sportsman, and that he has become an icon for not just sporting greatness but also for being a great person. he basically walked the talk.

ali suffers from parkinson's disease.
he has just been awarded the highest award that america gives to civilians: the presidential medal of freedom. there is no doubt that he deserves it.
what he doesn't deserve is to have george w bush to grab a dull photo opportunity of bush throwing a mock punch at ali.
you have to think that if ali had a pound for every time he was photographed with someone posing with a mock punch at him he would be richer than bill gates.

ali joins doris day and jp2 as holders of this medal. this august company is somewhat ruined as alan greenspan has also been award it.

shit

shit happens.
been a week where pretty much all i do turns to shit. some of it is my own fault and some of it is just nature's way of telling me i have bad karma.
still at least i am not tony blair, boy oh boy how bad has his week turned.
mind you nice to see clare short coming out fighting and kicking the man when he is down. next up will be glenda jackson who has offered to be a stalking horse in order to get rid of him.
you know if i was tony i'd just turn round to them and say: "you know what i think i am going to go for a fourth term. you and you and you all out of the cabinet".

sleep

currently not getting enough of it.
currently not getting it on a regular basis.
it's making me even more cranky than normal.

add in christmas coming up, add in stupid work moments, add in the fact i am broke, add in i am getting fatter in an exponential way and well you have one very (un)happy camper.

oddness

just noticed that blogspot is placing my blogs in any old order and for the wrong days.
nice to see my ability to screw up technology is still at work.....

90-62=28

so tony has lost the 90 day clause battle.
28 days has been seen as being fine.

322 to 291 was the winning margin.

and already mr howard, the conservative party leader, has said that tony blair should go, because he has lost this vote and "failed to carry his party". i believe this is the first vote he as lost since he has come to power.
according to howard's point of view the prime minister of the uk is no more than a football manager; if you lose you should resign. what a stupid view of democracy that is. (and given the examples of tory unity in the past it’s not like they would ever have a leader for more than a month….)

ironically a lot of the opinion polls have supported tony blair's desire to see the 90 days come into affect.
so our elected parliament has seen itself potentially ignore the desires of the populace. no doubt there was some voting in order to give tony a slap, equally there has been votes that have been cast due to their principals.
in a perverse way this is a perfect example of democracy in action.

what i have heard of the debate has been good and approached seriously with little of the shouting down associated with parliament.

just a shame that the tories (so desperate to appear to be a grown up party) have already started calling for blair to resign.
in the end i think parliament got it right with a 28 day clause, but that isn't to say that blair should go. blair provided a clause and it was debated. in the past he has been pilloried for pushing policy through, that there was an open debate should be something to praise. it is after all what democracy is about.
but rather than focus on the fact that this venerable institution has once again proved its worth the tories are trying to score political goals.

no wonder they will never win.

review

mystic river, directed by clint eastwood is a fine fine film.
i sat engrossed by the fine performances of sean penn and kevin bacon (ably supported by laurence fishburne (not in a morpheus mode and a reminder of what a prescence he can be) and tim robbins).

it tells the tale of three men who were childhood friends and how they are brought together by the murder of one of their daughters.
penn plays a looking hood whose daughter is murdered, robbins plays a slightly mentally damaged worker and bacon is a local homicide cop.
as bacon investigates the murder all the clues point towards robbins as the murderer. even his wife is suspicious of him.

the tension builds. each of the characters are believable and played incredibly well.
the direction is sparse, few tricks allowing the location and the actors carry the movie.

i enjoyed it, i can see why it was such a hit when it came out.

i recommend it.

and a no prize to anyone who can spot the clue that is wrong and is used to break the case.
go rent it now!

90

listening to the debate over the 90 day lock up clause for terrorists.
lord help me but david davis talked sense.
am i becoming a tory?

gorgeous

try as i might i can't keep away from 3g.
just noticed this in the guardian website.

the gorgeous one was away from parliament because he was busy doing his one man show.
it was important for him to be there as it raises money for his party, respect. there are a few passages in the piece where triple g may as well proclaim himself as the new messiah.

it does seem that that george has become more important as a celeb than he is as a politician.
though i think it is a little bit harsh on his part to claim he couldn't have known not to be there for the vote. perhaps he should have arranged his speaking around his duty in the houses of parliament? but it's ok george is not interested in democracy as such, he is just interested in hearing his own voice and lapping up the praise and adulation of those who love him.

review

watched "the devils rejects" by rob zombie last night.
avoid.
not very good.
not very horrific.
not very interesting.

only noticibale for an appearance by diamond dallas page, who is credited as such, as opposed to just dallas page. to be honest i have no idea what happens to his character in the film.

film ends with a butch and sundance thelma and louise type ending all done to the strains of lynard skynard's freebird (a great tune that doesn't help this poor film).

avoid.
even if someone gives you a copy take evasive action.

moss

so kate is back.
did we ever doubt that she would be back? her lithe pouty frame gracing ads for all sorts of clothes and perfumes.
naturally enough some of the quality sundays had a picture of kate in her skimpies (after all it's national news, and very important). one of the quotes was about how she had lost none of her talent.
talent?
i am sorry where is the talent in being scrawny, pouty and being able to stand in front of camera?
she maybe very pretty but that is not really talent.

perhaps i am just being a misery guts, but looking pretty is not a talent.

overload

i was looking at the things i have to watch, listen to and read.
i seem to have more than i will ever have time to watch, listen to and read.
i now have trouble deciding what i will watch, listen or read next.
in order to overcome that block i buy something new, something that might appeal.
it only just adds to the block.

i think i am going to get myself a very large pizza tonight and watch something, listen to something and read something.

globalisation

globalisation is a subject a little like postmodernism, you think you know all about it, but at the same time you know you don't. part of this is because even the experts don't agree what it is - let alone whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. it just seems to be.

one of the attacks that is aimed at globalisation is that corporations are no longer bound by national needs, in fact they have become more powerful than nations (some argue that only nations go to war, but it might be said that halliburton helped push the war on terror into iraq where it had no reason to be...)
in looking after it's own needs a corporation will go looking for the cheapest work force to make the most profit out of what it is producing and selling.
you make it cheap - by paying cheap labour.
you sell it dear.
only it's a lopsided equation in that if you are low paid you just can't buy the goods.
so more and more companies look for cheap labour.

so you have to wonder why the americans are scared of mexican illegal immigrants .
they strike me as being the people who are going to be happy to work cheap.
which is just what the american government want.
no unions.
no healthcare.
cheap wages.

but just like the right wingers in the uk their desire to see open and free markets is always derailed by their own bigotry.
thus proving (what pretty much all sensible people knew all along) that the market unfettered is a figment of the imagination of a few people, and that regulation is needed. and that individuals need to be protected from the desires and machinations of corporations.

bonfire

ah bonfire night.
i love it, but rarely go see any displays.
which i supposed tells you all you need to know about me...

i love the sound of the fireworks fizzing, whooshing, whizzing, banging and exploding in the air. i love catching a glimpse of them when they go from being just a sound flying up to a flower of lights gently wafting down to earth.
the colours the sounds the smell.
i love it all.

and to think we owe it all to an attempt to blow up parliament.

revenge

well ross kemp may have been handbagged but spare a thought for this poor chap.

his ex decided to get even for him splitting up with her by; well frankly, going postal on him, he was lucky she stopped short of doing a bobbit on him.
true he had to suffer having his genitals super glued to his stomach (i am jealous mine doesn't reach that far - though my stomach is getting closer to it as age goes on...), super glued the cheeks of his arse together, put various colours of nail varnish in his hair, as well as being used to write an obscene comment on his back.

then he had to walk naked to find someone to help him.....

he is currently suing her for damages and only £17k - seems like she is getting off cheaply to me.

her attorney claims it was a consensual act and that for awhile they were laughing with each other about it. mmmm

only in america.

remember ross you have been warned - hide the super glue now!

hard

so eastenders hard man gets a slap from the missus and everyone gets to have a laugh at his expense.
but to ross kemp's credit he didn't go and seek medical help for his fat lip, he went off to work.
meanwhile rebekah wade, editor (or head hitter - geddit... oh i kill me sometimes) stewed for several hours in a police cell. did she deserve it? yes, but not for hitting kemp but for all the stuff she has printed in her newspaper.
one of the recent campaigns being about domestic violence.

one of the really annoying things about the press is its ability to pry into the private lives of people. yet wade et al always seem to be able to get away with it and we know nothing about them.
they make and break celebrities (no big deal there really) but they also have a large impact on the morals of the country - yet they can be off slapping their husbands, doing drugs, having extra marital affairs (and that’s just the staff of the spectator) and who knows what else. yet they get to pontificate to rest of us.

hopefully wade's short time in the cells, and several days as a hounded celeb will help her realise what an impact it can have.

do i think it will make a difference?
no i don't.

gone

so blunkett has gone.
another minister from new labour has succumbed to the joys of capitalism.
funny thing is blunkett became so unlikeable during his stint as home secretary where he mixed the sensible and the right wing with no sense of irony.
as work and pension secretary he was going to be playing a major role in blair's reform policy.
but now he isn't.

the first time he had to resign it was because he let his personal life become far too public.
this second time it was partly because he, again, let his personal life become too public and because he was found to be ignoring the rules that had been set out for ministers.
yes we all know that 1] it is voluntary and 2] he could ignore the advice that was given - but bearing in mind all the claims that there would be no sleaze with new labour, remembering how zero tolerance he was over crime you would have thought he would have made sure he was within the rules at all times.
this is not much to ask the people who are telling us how to live our lives.

his two major "crimes" seem to have been
1] a public relations problem - he was seeing a young bird (good for him - you go for it david!) this was being reported that he was losing control of himself, spending his nights out and about flirting. again good for him, politicians should have a life and they should live it.
but being new labour he was being portrayed as someone who had been turned by the bright lights of london and incapable of doing his job.
2] the fact he had taken on a directorship that was going to earn him money via shares, this was being done in order for him to leave a trust fund for his kids. he hadn't bothered to check with the various ethics committees that members of parliament have before he took the post. for all his talk about it being voluntary or unclear a man in his position should check and then double check to be sure.

the funny part of it was that it was a dna testing company. you have to laugh.
it's not like he didn't have experience of the services being offered!

oddly there have been two comments in the papers about it.
one from deborah orr in the independent (no point in posting the link you have to pay for it.... why bother even putting it there)who says it is a bit of a disaster him not being still in cabinet as he was a bulwark against some of tony's more outrageous pensions and back to work schemes.
and then in the evening standard yasmin alibhai-brown has a piece that says she felt his exit was dignified and was almost sorry to see him go, and that this was the result of a witch hunt. nothing to do with politics just an attack on a personality. but before she finished she had to have a dig at him, by pretty much saying he had a grope of her.

ah david we will miss you....
for about 4 months.

pics

my pal paul challenged me to take some happy pictures.
it is a tough one, i am not one of nature's happy people. to me the glass is never half full, it is always empty.
plus paul wasn't stupid he issued his challenge at that time of year when i at my most vulnerable, when i can't back the utter disdain for most people as they all indulge in the frolics and shenanigans that is christmas.
yes i admit, i don't deny it. i am a grinch.
i am the daddy grinch.
i am the grinch master.
the overgrinch.
the ubergrinch.
i hate christmas.
remember that. (actually you won't be able to forget it as i will moan and drone on about it for weeks.)

what in all that runs through blue cheese has this go to do with pictures you all chant.
not a lot i reply, stealing a hackneyed catch phrase along the way...

here are some pictures i took on the way to work this very day.
they are happier than most i take because:
1] during the day.
2] they involve nature.
3] no people.

enjoy.











i like the fact this sign is there - because you woul just fancy a dip in this coffee coloured water..... not.



and just to prove the cynical heart still beats. here is one i call water feature- it makes all ponds look exceptional.

treat

there are times when it is worth coming into work. today was one of them.
got a package. mmm not what i thought, not going to be interesting at all, ooh a little deflated.
by jove and all things that issue forth from the bottoms of the lords of fire it is a rare old treat indeed.

a pal, who knows me far too well, had sent me perhaps one of the greatest toys of all time.
the die hard palz

i am a die hard (geddit it) bruce willis fan - you will never hear me say he has made a duff film (well it is easy - as he never has). with die hard he starred in a seminal action film, that pitted joe average against the forces of evil and joe average with a quip, a cigarette and a well placed expletive came out on top.

just check these out and you know this is the bestest toy ever (until the next bestest one comes out)

and a big yippie-kai-yay goes out to inspector jim (or big fellah to those who know him) (gruff exterior but a heart of gold and always a kind word to the local lags).

windy

when i was out this morning it was a bit windy. cleared the sleep out of my head and mussed up my locks.
the office is currently windy as my stomach does an impression of hurricane wilma. as i tip tap away at the keyboard the rumble of my guts sounds like the beginning of the hosts of heaven and hell squaring up for the final battle for the soul of humanity.
what issues forth is the trumpet call to war (hell it is the full brass band - starting with a strained reedy note on a piccolo ending up being a full powerful elongated note played on a tuba) the stench that follows is something from the depths of dante's lowest and foulest ring - but then imagine it has been heated up just to give it that extra zing.

i just wish i knew what it was i have eaten that has done this to me and i would avoid it again and again.

right i think i am off to rattle the doors and break some windows. if you see a mushroom cloud over east london - don't worry it's just the noxious fumes issuing out of my bowels.

buses

i am a bus user. i spend a lot of time on the 25 bus going to and from home or work or going to and from home and central london.
the 25 is one of the famous bendy buses. it also seems to be designed around the famine or feast principle - sometimes it is empty and spacious, other times it is packed to the gills with people (and you never get thrust up against the person you want either...)
my theory is that eventually you will see all of life's mystery and all of life's differences if you stay on the 25.

recently i have had to "suffer":
fat child stuffing her face with chips that had been covered in an inch of ketchup and mayo - looking more like an abstract work of art than a meal. it was obvious that she was her mum's little (well actually very large) princess and was prepared to play the spoilt kid role to the hilt. there were several times when i wanted to stuff all the chips in her face. including when she got stroppy with the mum for 1] not wanting to finish off the chips she had left 2] for not wanting to carry the kids rubbish and 3] when the mum dared to point out she was behaving badly.
cemented my dislike of children.

mobile phones playing crap urban music, and urban music that is stealing from 90s disco. the "tunes" played are never any good, the quality of the sound is so poor as to make your grannies wind-up 78 record player sound like it is from b&o, the lads who play these great tunes always try to look hard but somehow they look embarrassed by the tinny noise that comes out of their phones.
(how i am dreading the advent of the video ipod!)

then there are the new urban warfare pushchairs, they take up 2 to 3 times the amount of space as the old small buggy did, and does nothing more for your money. it's a little like the 4x4 that populate the rugged hilly roads of london. the drivers of these little tanks don't seem to care who they bang into, or what space they take up. but they are quick to let you know that you are in their way.

then there was the african who decided to declare that the world would be a better place if all pakistanis were not in it. the language he used though was of a more earthy nature. he had strategically waited until he away from the people he was abusing before he started. i think that this is the third such incident i have seen

yesterday it was the african woman who was reading from her bible quite loudly. at first i thought she was on the phone to a mate, then i realised she was quoting biblical texts. to her credit (and to my amazement) she kept it up for the time i on the bus without missing a beat, no stumble, no hesitation.

ah is it any wonder i look forward to the bus?

mornings

some people are (emma for one) i am not.
do not like mornings, do not understand mornings.
why can't the day start at a reasonable hour?
say midday.

november

so this is november.
only just started and i am not liking it.
can we have october back please.

beard

going through a bit of a crisis.
should i move from just being goatee bloke or should i go back to a full beard.
the goatee looks like some one has dipped it in white emulsion.
the beard i suspect will make me look like santa, but at least i will be a santa like billy bob thornton: bad santa.

give it a go for a few days and then i think i will go back down to a goatee.
but beards are in again. they are they are they are.

building

i have no idea what this building is, or what it is for, but i did find it very interesting to look at.
one picture has come out ok, the other was pants and has now been photoshopped to look at least interesting.
this is just off of ebor street. (and for those who care ebor, from what i can make out is a jewish name which could mean "save now" or "save prayer" but i can't be sure, however there is an old synagogue near there so it is jewish, but what it means i will have to tell you some other time).