Sites I like
I think I have a mild form of ergasiophobia
Found an interesting article in The Observer today about an anti-tuberculosis drug that has a cunning side-effect of being able to help people overcome their fears within a week. I always claimed that I wasn't afraid of spiders; I just didn't like them. Then a very large one appeared in our bedroom and I screamed when Topper brought it too closed to me in his efforts to chuck it out of the window. You don't generally scream at something you simply don't like so I had to admit the worst. I know it's an irrational fear and one that I should probably try to overcome, but knowing there's a pill out there that could help has made me a little bit more likely to try. Silly, perhaps, but not as silly as the list of phobias at the end of the article. Fear of beards, indeed!
Posted on November 30, 2003 | Comments (3)
Blog 'til you drop?
Oh dear. Via me(ish), I've found out that it looks like The Guardian are trying to hijack the UK Webloggers' Xmas Bash. I'm not saying that's what they are doing, but that's what it looks like. I would actually quite like to go but, as all the best socialites say, I have a prior engagement. If anyone wants to fill me in on the 'unbloggable' gossip after wards... I won't tell a soul. Promise.
Posted on November 28, 2003 | Comments (0)
In print, again
I've got a letter in the Manchester Evening News today talking about how great lapdancers are! Perhaps that's not quite the wording I used, but the sentiment's definitely there. I've scanned the page for those of you who are (a) interested, and (b) unfortunate enough not to live in or near this fair city. It is odd though that people only want to publish the letters I write that mention feminism. I'll be getting a bit of a reputation at this rate.
Posted on November 27, 2003 | Comments (8)
Women's troubles
I came across a rather bizarre news story today about an implant that triggers orgasms in women. It was discovered by accident and the scientist responsible is amazed that he can't find anyone to help him test it. It's a fascinating idea but only one part of the BBC report stood out:
"However, British experts said that a surgical implant was not an appropriate answer to women's sexual problems."
So, we've all got problems now? Not wanting it enough, I suppose.
Posted on November 27, 2003 | Comments (7)
Strange things...
The world is a peculiar place. Tony Blair agrees to appear in a Simpsons episode where Homer says about him, "I can't believe we met Mr Bean". Simon Cowell was on Top Gear and beat Jay Kay and Jodie Kidd's times round the track in the Suzuki Liana, much to Clarkson's dismay. Rugby shirts are now clingy and unforgiving. Love Actually has, apparently, taken £6.6 million in its first weekend. All we need now is for Avid Merrion to make it to number one for Christmas and I'll be totally weirded out.
Posted on November 25, 2003 | Comments (4)
Love is...
I've not been a well bunny over the last few days and Saturday was especially bad. However, while I was snoozing on the sofa, Topper was working some of his magic and installing Moveable Type for me! I can't believe how lovely he's being at a time when all I can do is annoy the hell out of him with my near constant sniffing and coughing. Am I sad to think that having MT installed for you is like an early Christmas present? Thank you so much!
There's a bit more now too... forums. This may be another of my half-baked ideas, but I figured that it would be much easier to arrange future blogmeets using a forum rather than comments boxes and email. They might get used, they might not. We'll see.
Posted on November 24, 2003 | Comments (8)
Motor show madness
When this week's Auto Express squeezed through our letterbox this week, one of the commercial inserts caught my attention for a change. Usually they're all either adverts for loans, car insurance or Volvos, but this week I found one for MPH'03. A new type of motor show designed to bring to crowds back to London, this event promises "Style, passion, flair & excitement" in the form of performance cars and Top Gear presenters (past and present). Now, I must admit to being quite tempted by the idea of seeing both the Pagani Zonda and Richard Hammond in the 'flesh' but, with a ticket price of £20, they can forget it. I could get there reasonably cheaply with Midland Mainline's new Manchester to London special deals, but it would still leave rather a large dent in my finances at a time of year when every penny counts. Tempting though it may be, I think I'll just wait for the Birmingham event next year instead.
Posted on November 21, 2003 | Comments (2)
More blogmeet-y goodness
While the rest of the country was either telling Bush to go home or dusting off their Michael Jackson jokes last night, the North's finest bloggers (no modesty here, OK?) were sat next to a poster of Barbarella awaiting the arrival of a special guest. Lyle, as promised, was wearing a bright red t-shirt declaring his contempt of the festering season; Sarah was telling us about almost getting kicked out of a bar in Glasgow for looking like a 'hettie'; Chris and I were working out who to attack first with our unfeasibly bright camera flashes; Jane was trying to work out if she actually wanted to stay and talk to these mad people; and Topper was just there for the beer. Then we spotted a slightly lost looking person who we suspected was Adrian and, lo and behold, we had our very own London blogger to tell us whether or not the streets really are paved with gold there (no, just cinemas it appears).
It's on nights like this where I really wish my memory was better, or that I'd snuck off to the loo with a pen and paper, because some of the snippets of conversation I could have regaled you with here were quite hilarious. Unfortunately, all I can remember was that Jane really likes badgers and Chris won the 'who has been to the most embarrassing gig' competition. If I recall anything more interesting later on I will add it here but, in the meantime, I'd better find something to finish this film on so that I can get the photos back. No moose porn this time though!
Posted on November 20, 2003 | Comments (8)
Incoming!
Time for another mini-blogmeet! I hope to see a few of you in Manchester's Fab Cafe from around 8pm this evening, and may even bring a camera to prove I wasn't sat there on my own like Billy No-Mates.
Posted on November 19, 2003 | Comments (8)
New laws, new confusion
This morning I was stunned to hear on BBC Breakfast that, after December 1st, I wouldn't be able to use my hand-held mobile phone in my car whilst stationary! I new the new laws were coming in, but I didn't realise I'd have to fork out money on a hands free kit simply to pull over and use the damn thing whilst parked. Thankfully, this doesn't seem to be the case according to information available on the HMSO website. I can only think that the BBC meant 'while stationary in traffic'. I hardly ever take calls on my mobile and so do not feel the need to splash out on an expensive dashboard-mounted phone cradle that will no doubt damage my car's interior to boot. At least emergency calls are allowed so I don't have to worry about having to get out of my car on the hard sholder of the motorway at night in the pissing rain just to call the AA without getting nicked. Overall, it's a great idea if it will stop the HGV drivers I've seen driving a 17-tonner round a busy roundabout with only one hand, but their minds will still be elsewhere.
Posted on November 17, 2003 | Comments (8)
Articles a-plenty
As Wednesday's blogmeet draws ever closer, I seem to have lost all inspiration for the very thing that makes me eligible to attend (well, it didn't stop the blogless Topper from tagging along last time, I suppose), but I do have something for you today. Two rather serious articles that were written for other people but not used, and one totally fresh one. Take your pick, guys and gals.
Posted on November 16, 2003 | Comments (3)
Old but not dead yet
Crack open the champagne - my car's made it through the MoT once again. The Peugeot 106 never did particularly well on the annual Top Gear surveys but I've never had a problem with mine outside of ordinary wear and tear. Just as well really, because I can't afford to change the wee pug for one of the many other automotive delights that I've had my eye on for some time now. Given a pay rise, my current choice would be between the Citroen C2 VTR and MINI's One (which is, apparently not too dissimilar from the more expensive Cooper variant). Cheaper still would be to treat the old dear to a proper full valet, but I really need to wait for the rain to hold off first.
Posted on November 15, 2003 | Comments (4)
Julie B wins lottery
Aaargh! La Burchill is moving to The Times! I will sorely miss her weekly rants in Guardian Weekend and can only hope that her new column will be online too. Love her or loathe her, Julie Burchill's writing is always a fantastic read and no other Guardian columnist has inspired so many readers to write in - some of the letters saying how wrong she is were almost as funny as the rants themselves. One question remains... how on earth will they replace her?
UPDATE: I posted on the Guardian Unlimited talk boards that I would miss JB and someone else said "you are Julie Burchill and I claim my £25". Fantastic!
Posted on November 12, 2003 | Comments (9)
Crash and burn
Some things don't change. It looks like, for the moment, writing a novel has been consigned to the same section of my life as playing the guitar and the piano. I found the former boring (you never get to play anything interesting when you're under ten), and the latter was just plain difficult so I gave them both up. I started the NaNoWriMo month full of ideas and thought it would be a lack of time that would be the problem, but it has turned out to be a lack of inspiration. Once I'd padded out my first chapter plan into a suitable number of words, it was so dreadfully dull that even I was bored by it. The characters aren't likeable, their lives are not in the least bit interesting and the plot was going nowhere. I understand that the point of the exercise was quantity rather than quality but, when your own writing sends you to sleep, it's hard to write anything at all. Instead, I have written two articles for other websites, submitted an idea to a magazine and am in the process of writing a letter to another. Maybe I'll try the challenge next year... and plan the thing a bit better beforehand.
Posted on November 11, 2003 | Comments (7)
Hairy women wanted for telly appearance
I just checked my non-web email account and was surprised to find the following message nestling amongst a growing amount of spam. I occasionally get mail via this site, but I've never had anything quite like this before:
"I'm writing to you from This Morning the ITV daytime show, in the hope you may be able to help me. We are doing a feature on next Tuesday's show about women who choose not to shave arm pit and leg hair. The item is inspired by a photo of Elizabeth Jagger in yesterday's Daily Mail and we thought it would make a very interesting debate.
"We will have a psychologist to talk about why there is so much pressure on women to be clean shaven and how in other European countries it is far more acceptable to be unshaved, plus a case study and a viewers phone poll.
"We are looking for a case study i.e. a women who doesn't shave her underarm or leg hair and has particularly fervent views about not shaving, to come on the show next Tuesday to take part in a small debate.
"If you know someone who may fit the above description and be interested in coming on the show please give me a call at your earliest convenience on [telephone number removed] or reply to this email.
"We would cover all travel expenses."
As the author of the email doesn't address my by my nickname, Lori, I can only assume she has come to my site via The F-Word, which is great. Unfortunately, she has either misunderstood my comments in an article I wrote on body image to mean that I don't hate body hair with a passion, or she is mistakenly assuming that all feminists are against every form of depilation. I did, however, like the tactful "if you know someone" line and so I thought I'd mention it here in case anyone reading prefers the natural look. Contact me and I'll let you have the email address and/or phone number, but be quick because the show's on Tuesday. I really wish I'd seen the photo of Elizabeth Jagger now, but that would mean reading the Daily Hell.
Posted on November 09, 2003 | Comments (4)
Reality tv success story?
I didn't watch Popstars. I didn't watch Pop Idol. I didn't watch Popstars: The Rivals. I didn't watch Fame Academy. It isn't that I'm not interested in reality TV, I actually find it strangely compelling, but it was always what happened to the winners after the show ended that fascinated me more. This year has actually turned out a winner different to the norm, who I really do find interesting and won't just be keeping an eye on to see when they burn out. This year Alex Parks won Fame Academy and proved that the first half of the show's name is not what it should be about. As I said below, I long for a return to the days when pop music isn't all about image and, if Alex succeeds, it looks like the industry has made its first steps back in that direction. Good luck to her.
On a lighter note, I don't usually get strange search requests in my logs but I had two this week: listen to long haired lover and childfree pagan. I was also one of very few results for a UK search on 'Lilt Laydeez' on Yahoo, but that wasn't entirely surprising.
UPDATE: I've said it before and I'll say it again, the sale of fireworks to the public should be banned!
Posted on November 08, 2003 | Comments (4)
MTV EMAs
It's not often that I see a headline on a BBCi news story that makes me laugh out of amusement rather than disbelief, but today they've come up with a gem: "Christina puts the tart in tartan". Despite having far better things to do with my time I was strangely drawn to watching the MTV European Music Awards last night and it was mostly ordinary, but Christina Aguilera's frequent costume changes really had to be seen to be believed (she also told the press in no uncertain terms that she really doesn't care what they think of her dress sense). The only person who topped most of her outfits was Justin from The Darkness, but we all expected that. My favourite moment, however, was a kilted Vin Diesel starting a chorus of Flower of Scotland which is something you don't see every day. In the end it was all largely pointless, as awards shows generally are, but at least Edinburgh got a reported £4m out of it.
Posted on November 07, 2003 | Comments (3)
Two track mind
I have just two things on my mind tonight:
Matrix Revolutions more than makes up for Reloaded. Again, again!
Manchester Blogmeet imminent. Wednesday 19th November, Fab Cafe, 8pm.
Posted on November 05, 2003 | Comments (8)
TWUNT!
I didn't hear the doorbell this morning and so will have to pop to the Post Office at lunch time to collect two packages (my Twunt! mugs, hopefully), but one of the items that did fit through the letterbox was of interest too. Don't tell the people I work for but when The Independent launched its tabloid edition I sent them an email saying how great I thought it was, and today I received a letter from the Editor-In-Chief about it. He says "I'm sure that, within time, we shall have a tabloid available in your part of the country", which I found rather amusing on the very day I'm led to believe it to indeed be launching in Manchester and the North West. The letter is dated 27th October - can they really have made the decision to roll it out that quickly?
UPDATE: Turns out the bloody bastard delivery office shuts at 12.30 so, if I have mugs, I can't get at them until tomorrow. Twunts.
Posted on November 04, 2003 | Comments (6)
Stats? Where are my stats?
When checking my stats earlier on today, I found this message from the lovely folks at Extreme Tracking "ATTENTION: Due to a major power outage at the Level(3) Gateway we were unable to track your visitors over a period of 8 hours. We and Level(3) are very very sorry for the inconvenience caused by this highly unlikely power failure". D'oh! This is bad news for a stats-whore like me. I really should stop checking them three times a day and find something better to do with my time. Like getting some photos processed and uploading them to my site! A small number of blogmeet pics can be found here, and a few Halloween party ones here.
After a discussion at the weekend about the demise of 80s 'intelligent pop', where musical talent and lyrical content was favoured over looks, it was nice to read a story today about MPs launching a verbal attack on the Pop Idol judges for putting image before talent. I'm glad it's not just me who's noticing that looks seem to be everything these days. There were disposable pop bands that were all gloss and no song-writing talent in the 80s and 90s too, but at least there was some kind of balance in the chart. Give me Heaven 17 and the KLF over the likes of Holly Valance, any day.
Posted on November 03, 2003 | Comments (14)
The post-Halloween post
Our Halloween party rocked! When I get the photos back I shall put them online (the blogmeet pics are on that film too!), and you can see how splendidly diverse the costumes were. Right now I am staring at a lovely new month of Kylie, c/o the official 2003 calendar, whilst attempting to find the inspiration to add to the 1,373 words I've written for my NaNoWriMo novel so far. It's become like homework already - I created an entry for Scary Duck's competition just to avoid writing more. The promise of a nicely sweary prize might just have had something to do with it too.
Posted on November 02, 2003 | Comments (10)