So, it looks like the worlds "greatest" democracy has decided on another four years of illiterate warmongering.
Despite it becoming common knowledge that Bush has consistently lied to America about the threat of terrorism and has managed to embroil his nation (and ours) in an idiotic, unwinnable war, Americans have turned out in their droves to endorse interventionism, black propaganda and wholesale death.
To me, America has now become a joke nation. They have voted for an idiot one too many times.
America has now become so addled by the lies and the battering Bush and his ulta conservative cronies have dished them out that the nation seems to have behaved exactly like the the kind of daft bint you see all the time on "Trisha".
Sporting two black eyes and confronted by her man's illegitimate love chidren by her kid sister, Trisha advises her guest to show some respect for herself and leave.
"But I love him" she replies.
America has come down with a bad case of Helsinki Syndrome, swooning over a gang of thugs who are holding their country hostage.
It would appear that what Bush has managed to achieve in this election is a remarkable 4 million vote swing in his favour, thanks in part to tacked on anti-gay and abortion amendments but assisted not least by Bin Laden sticking his head above the parapet last week.
It seems it "reminded" Americans that the so- called terrorist threat still exists, even if all it actually proved was that Bin Laden is still alive and has access to a video camera.
Of course, Bin Laden will be jumping for joy at the result. The Joker cannot exist without Batman.
Wednesday, 3 November 2004
Tuesday, 2 November 2004
It's Indecision 2004
I guess I'll stay up late tonight to see how America dithers over their next President. I have the feeling that Bush will get in again. I'll be tuned to the BBC and CNN...for a bit anyway.
Even More on Our Show
The lovely Sara has written a little bit about Saturday's show as well. And very nice words they are too.
The Infiltrator
The first two chapters of The Infiltrator are up. Click the permanent link on the left hand side links bar.
The Seinfeld DVD Marathon
Fizz and I both snapped up the Seinfeld 3 season box set last night. At 50 quid a throw we're quite happy that it's a bargain. Packed with extras, last night I crammed in the alternative version of the pilot along with episodes 2 & 3 and the Inside Look features for all 3 episodes.
My favourite stuff was the Tonight Show appearances including Jerry's very first spot on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show from 1981. Weird, how young and orange he looks. And not as funny. Though still made me laugh. I then settled down to the hour long documentary of how it all began. Great stuff, I only have 37 episodes and 24 hours of extras to get through now.
My favourite stuff was the Tonight Show appearances including Jerry's very first spot on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show from 1981. Weird, how young and orange he looks. And not as funny. Though still made me laugh. I then settled down to the hour long documentary of how it all began. Great stuff, I only have 37 episodes and 24 hours of extras to get through now.
Fizz on the Telly Again
The big man has just revealed that he's back on the box. He's been head hunted by SMG to provide Rangers TV with his Greatest Ever Rangers Eleven. He goes into the studio on Sunday morning. Naturally surrounded as he is by Celtic fans and me, a non-Rangers supporter he's had suggestions such as Mel Sterland, Colin West, Avi Cohen, Gordon Ramsey, Terry Hurlock, Stephane Guivarc'h, Dale Gordon, Marcus Gale, Peter Van Vossen...
Mutu Ado About Nothing
So, where are we all on the Mutu affair? For anyone who is interested, a 25 year old footballer who admitted taking recreational drugs has been sacked by his club (big spending Chelsea) and is probably going to be sued by them for loss of a potential transfer fee.
Why didn’t they support him? When Arsenal supported the oft steaming/drunk driving Tony Adams a few years back, they were rewarded with the backbone of a double winning side, the player was allowed to wrest back his dignity and good name from the jaws of ignominy and Adams has now gone on to become a respected figure in the game. Adams now runs an addiction charity for addict sports stars and must be up in arms about the way Mutu is being treated.
Lets get the first thing right, he never tried to cheat at football. He took drugs like millions of people his age do as part of his recreational life.
The follow up point a lot of people have been making to this has been that as a footballer, he is a role model to children and therefore should exhibit only completely above board, exemplary behavior.
What a crock of hypocritical shite that is. As adults, we should all be examples to children and we certainly shouldn’t be foisting the job off on a group of entertainers. This blanket, knee jerk bullshit about drugs has to stop, it’s fucking ridiculous. Practically everyone does drugs if you count alcohol and why shouldn’t you count alcohol? It’s a drug. To hear someone like Chick Young, a guy who wallows in his reputation as “a bit of a lad” (a bit of a fucking tit more like) slam Mutu makes me sick to my stomach.
We are now in a ridiculous situation with drugs. It’s the same kind of blanket “well, thems the rules” crap you get regarding porn, where people caught downloading it are instantly sacked by other people who dishonestly pretend they have never looked at pictures of people fucking in their lives.
Everyone knows that everyone else is on something – the trick is not to get caught or at least not to get in trouble with it. This means that a drunk or a drug user who has become adept at hiding their problem gets deeper and deeper into the hole, often endangering their co-workers in the process while those who are caught and forced to confront their addictions are denied help exactly when they need it the most.
And my other point? Doing a few lines of coke ain’t the worst thing you can do in life. It should not be treated as such and getting into trouble with drugs shouldn’t cost you your livelihood. As I’ve said before, until we get past the hypocrisy of condemning people whose only crime has been to get caught doing something we all do we will never tackle the genuine problems drugs cause, either in sport or more importantly among people in general.
Why didn’t they support him? When Arsenal supported the oft steaming/drunk driving Tony Adams a few years back, they were rewarded with the backbone of a double winning side, the player was allowed to wrest back his dignity and good name from the jaws of ignominy and Adams has now gone on to become a respected figure in the game. Adams now runs an addiction charity for addict sports stars and must be up in arms about the way Mutu is being treated.
Lets get the first thing right, he never tried to cheat at football. He took drugs like millions of people his age do as part of his recreational life.
The follow up point a lot of people have been making to this has been that as a footballer, he is a role model to children and therefore should exhibit only completely above board, exemplary behavior.
What a crock of hypocritical shite that is. As adults, we should all be examples to children and we certainly shouldn’t be foisting the job off on a group of entertainers. This blanket, knee jerk bullshit about drugs has to stop, it’s fucking ridiculous. Practically everyone does drugs if you count alcohol and why shouldn’t you count alcohol? It’s a drug. To hear someone like Chick Young, a guy who wallows in his reputation as “a bit of a lad” (a bit of a fucking tit more like) slam Mutu makes me sick to my stomach.
We are now in a ridiculous situation with drugs. It’s the same kind of blanket “well, thems the rules” crap you get regarding porn, where people caught downloading it are instantly sacked by other people who dishonestly pretend they have never looked at pictures of people fucking in their lives.
Everyone knows that everyone else is on something – the trick is not to get caught or at least not to get in trouble with it. This means that a drunk or a drug user who has become adept at hiding their problem gets deeper and deeper into the hole, often endangering their co-workers in the process while those who are caught and forced to confront their addictions are denied help exactly when they need it the most.
And my other point? Doing a few lines of coke ain’t the worst thing you can do in life. It should not be treated as such and getting into trouble with drugs shouldn’t cost you your livelihood. As I’ve said before, until we get past the hypocrisy of condemning people whose only crime has been to get caught doing something we all do we will never tackle the genuine problems drugs cause, either in sport or more importantly among people in general.
Monday, 1 November 2004
"This Film Comes out of my Own DNA."
Have a look at this great article on David O. Russell and his new film I Heart Huckabees.
Some More on the Show
Further to my previous post on our show, there's a little bit about us here.
It's also been proposed that a CD of the night will be released shortly. It should retail for about ten pounds with the profits going to Gartnavel Hospital.
It's also been proposed that a CD of the night will be released shortly. It should retail for about ten pounds with the profits going to Gartnavel Hospital.
Praise Be To Tom
Well done to Tom for doing a lovely job of producing his friend Gail's memorial night. Really well directed by Tom's pal Claire as well; she managed to do a lot with a tough assignment.
All aspects of the show were handled admirably and the big man deserved his high praise from TV's sexy house doctor Anna Ryder Richardson.
After his enjoyable brush with Nigella Lawson earlier in the week, I'm now expecting him to be singled out for praise on his web design skills by Cameron Diaz any day now.
All aspects of the show were handled admirably and the big man deserved his high praise from TV's sexy house doctor Anna Ryder Richardson.
After his enjoyable brush with Nigella Lawson earlier in the week, I'm now expecting him to be singled out for praise on his web design skills by Cameron Diaz any day now.
Save Our Cathy
Our pal Cathy has just sent me a sad yet hilarious e-mail that I should just share.
My flatmate **** has steadily been going mad. She has been drinking a botle and a half of wine by herself every night and is pretty much constantly drunk.
I came home from work on Friday to find she had thrown up in the bath tub and left it there. I can understand when your sick it is hard to clean up but she somehow had the energy to paint a crazy design on the bathroom wall with some dodgy green paint. She then came out of her bedroom and said she has been diagnosed with a heart murmur and she is going to have a heart attack. She also said she had been feeling ill so she drank all my beer.
She had a friend stay on the weekend and I felt very sorry for her as **** was supposed to pick her up at the airport, instead when we arrived home on Firday she was sitting out the front of the flat drunk. The house was totally trashed on Saturday night.
Poor Cathy. The bad news for me and Fizz is that the lady in question is a producer who we were getting ready to meet with, to pitch her ideas, though it sounds like all we have to do is bring 2 bottles of wine pitch our new sitcom 'Flatmates Going Mad!' and the contract is signed.
My flatmate **** has steadily been going mad. She has been drinking a botle and a half of wine by herself every night and is pretty much constantly drunk.
I came home from work on Friday to find she had thrown up in the bath tub and left it there. I can understand when your sick it is hard to clean up but she somehow had the energy to paint a crazy design on the bathroom wall with some dodgy green paint. She then came out of her bedroom and said she has been diagnosed with a heart murmur and she is going to have a heart attack. She also said she had been feeling ill so she drank all my beer.
She had a friend stay on the weekend and I felt very sorry for her as **** was supposed to pick her up at the airport, instead when we arrived home on Firday she was sitting out the front of the flat drunk. The house was totally trashed on Saturday night.
Poor Cathy. The bad news for me and Fizz is that the lady in question is a producer who we were getting ready to meet with, to pitch her ideas, though it sounds like all we have to do is bring 2 bottles of wine pitch our new sitcom 'Flatmates Going Mad!' and the contract is signed.
Yes, Soup For You!
Being off work there was one thing I missed and that was my daily visit to the Kelvin Cafe. Fizy swears by their soups and I have just finished an outstanding large cup of Smoked Salmon, Tomato and Basil. The soups there are so good I reckon she could easily compete with Seinfeld nemesis The Soup Nazi.
Count Me In I Suppose...
Well, thanks to Tom's encouragement I'm ready to add to the list of projects I'll start but probably never finish.
You may read the adventures of our hero The Infiltrator, the Scientist/Occult Detective who is part Shaft, part Albert Schweitzer and all man here.
You may read the adventures of our hero The Infiltrator, the Scientist/Occult Detective who is part Shaft, part Albert Schweitzer and all man here.
It's Out!
You must all know by now that Seinfeld is out today on DVD. Fizzy and I are leaving work early in order to snap up all 3 seasons. Of the extras I'm looking forward to the hour long documentary and 'Master of His Domain' unused stand-up from Jerry.
Here's an article on it from yesterday's Observer.
Here's an article on it from yesterday's Observer.
The Iomartership Update
We've not had a run-down of our Fantasy League for a while. So here's one now.
Ronnie's Von Brauns are still out in front, with 321 points. Despite being only a ten man side his lead shows no signs of slipping. Milan Baros and Jimmy Floyd up front are really producing the goods and at the back John Terry and Ledley King are keeping things solid.
I'm in second place a mere 9 points behind with Serenity Now. My Juventus pairing of Thuram and Cannavaro are putting together a great scoring run with 50 and 54 points respectively from only 9 games. I think I'll be making a move in November's transfer window though, as I try to find a third defender with that sort of form.
In third place is Fizzy's Big Fanny Failures 25 points further back on 287. He will have to make a move in the transfer market as Liverpool's Djibril Cisse has been ruled out for the season after a nasty leg break at the weekend. A huge blow for the mercurial Southside gaffer as Cisse is his biggest points scorer.
In fourth on 259 is Dave's Lokomotiv Sausages. Okocha and Ferguson in his midfield deliver, while his new strike partnership of Reyes and Berbatov are taking a little time to get going.
Fifth place belongs to Neltic FC bossed by 'A guy at Keith's work.' He will also suffer from the loss of Cisse, though he has decent returns from Mellberg at Aston Villa and Scotland's only Nigel, Portsmouth midfielder Quashie.
Making a spirited fightback to climb up the table into 6th spot on 234 is Karen's West Bam United. An inspired move to drop Fulham's van der Sar and bring in Chelsea's Petr Cech has saw her turn minus 7 into 37 valuable points. Milan Baros is her next biggest scorer on 33. The third highest points scorer this month I think Karen will climb higher.
Second from bottom comes Nicola's CSFPG FC. This girl has been neglecting her side. Lampard and Ljungberg are still holding it together, however a minus 5 for Diarra in defence and poor showings from Lloyd Dyer (9), Koumas (9), McManaman (6) and Ameobi (7) have seen her early promise become relegation fodder. Someone needs to move into the transfer market.
Propping up the table on 198 is Keith's Do You Smell Gas? Well we smell something. His highest points scorer is his boss Mourinhio with 42. He also has to replace Cisse.
So there you have it, still going to be tough to overhaul Ronnie, but the league is shaping up into an interesting contest.
Ronnie's Von Brauns are still out in front, with 321 points. Despite being only a ten man side his lead shows no signs of slipping. Milan Baros and Jimmy Floyd up front are really producing the goods and at the back John Terry and Ledley King are keeping things solid.
I'm in second place a mere 9 points behind with Serenity Now. My Juventus pairing of Thuram and Cannavaro are putting together a great scoring run with 50 and 54 points respectively from only 9 games. I think I'll be making a move in November's transfer window though, as I try to find a third defender with that sort of form.
In third place is Fizzy's Big Fanny Failures 25 points further back on 287. He will have to make a move in the transfer market as Liverpool's Djibril Cisse has been ruled out for the season after a nasty leg break at the weekend. A huge blow for the mercurial Southside gaffer as Cisse is his biggest points scorer.
In fourth on 259 is Dave's Lokomotiv Sausages. Okocha and Ferguson in his midfield deliver, while his new strike partnership of Reyes and Berbatov are taking a little time to get going.
Fifth place belongs to Neltic FC bossed by 'A guy at Keith's work.' He will also suffer from the loss of Cisse, though he has decent returns from Mellberg at Aston Villa and Scotland's only Nigel, Portsmouth midfielder Quashie.
Making a spirited fightback to climb up the table into 6th spot on 234 is Karen's West Bam United. An inspired move to drop Fulham's van der Sar and bring in Chelsea's Petr Cech has saw her turn minus 7 into 37 valuable points. Milan Baros is her next biggest scorer on 33. The third highest points scorer this month I think Karen will climb higher.
Second from bottom comes Nicola's CSFPG FC. This girl has been neglecting her side. Lampard and Ljungberg are still holding it together, however a minus 5 for Diarra in defence and poor showings from Lloyd Dyer (9), Koumas (9), McManaman (6) and Ameobi (7) have seen her early promise become relegation fodder. Someone needs to move into the transfer market.
Propping up the table on 198 is Keith's Do You Smell Gas? Well we smell something. His highest points scorer is his boss Mourinhio with 42. He also has to replace Cisse.
So there you have it, still going to be tough to overhaul Ronnie, but the league is shaping up into an interesting contest.
Sunday, 31 October 2004
Show Enjoyed by All
Our show on Saturday went off without any hitches and to my immense relief was a considerable success. It looked and felt every inch a professional production, and indeed it was. We had not one weak link in our chain of actors, singers, musicians, dancers, sound and lighting men or recording crew.
I don't think I'm overstating to say that the performances and Clare's direction was first class. I really enjoyed performing in it.
Although the main thing was that Gail's family enjoyed it, which they did, I think my reward was Anna Ryder Richardson telling me that I was great. First Nigella and now Anna, quite a week for fit women I like from the telly.
I do have photographs of the rehearsals and after the show, but stupidly (drunkenly) left my camera behind at the fancy dress party I attended afterwards. Never mind I'll get it back soon enough.
If you're reading this and saw the show, or hey, if you were in it. Your comments will be welcome.
I don't think I'm overstating to say that the performances and Clare's direction was first class. I really enjoyed performing in it.
Although the main thing was that Gail's family enjoyed it, which they did, I think my reward was Anna Ryder Richardson telling me that I was great. First Nigella and now Anna, quite a week for fit women I like from the telly.
I do have photographs of the rehearsals and after the show, but stupidly (drunkenly) left my camera behind at the fancy dress party I attended afterwards. Never mind I'll get it back soon enough.
If you're reading this and saw the show, or hey, if you were in it. Your comments will be welcome.
My Book
If you didn't know can I tell you that it is National Novel Writing Month. Though I think it's an American site so technically it's probably International Novel Writing Month.
The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, from 1st November until midnight on 30th November. Blogger are promoting it and encourage entrants to set up a blog for their novel. This is their novel blogs site.
My blog is here.
At the moment I've little idea what I'm going to write about, but I'll give it a go anyway. Hey it gives us all another five minutes away from our real jobs eh? Why don't you give it a go yourself?
I've also encouraged Fizz to get in on the action. I think this sounds like the perfect home for his proposed 'The Infiltrator' novel.
The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, from 1st November until midnight on 30th November. Blogger are promoting it and encourage entrants to set up a blog for their novel. This is their novel blogs site.
My blog is here.
At the moment I've little idea what I'm going to write about, but I'll give it a go anyway. Hey it gives us all another five minutes away from our real jobs eh? Why don't you give it a go yourself?
I've also encouraged Fizz to get in on the action. I think this sounds like the perfect home for his proposed 'The Infiltrator' novel.
Thursday, 28 October 2004
No Feet up for Me
Although I've been off work, I've still been busy. Some of you may know that I'm producing a show that goes ahead this Saturday.
The show, A Slightly Lugubrious Bluebird of Happiness, is in tribute to my pal Gail, who died last month. I have kind of enjoyed organising it, even though it's a little bit stressful. I have of course ran into the various problems that crop up in this type of business.
Like having to go to the post office and hand over hard cash because my artist neglected to put any stamps on the poster he had sent. Then to open it up and discover that the Peter Saville to my Tony Wilson, had invented a new surname for Gail. Then followed a flurry of texts and e-mails in order to have the problem resolved. I spent an afternoon in the copyshop today, listening to the woman going 'pheeew, this is going to cost ya.'
I also appear to have been let down by a guy at the Metro, who came to me, suggesting that he put a piece in the paper about it. "It's no problem. It'll be in." A piece that has yet to materialise. That's fucking media folk for you.
Other than that, the only main problems involve booking rehearsal space and ensuring that people turn up. So far I haven't had an entire cast, and I don't think I will until about 3 hours before showtime.
I've found little time to actually learn the poems I have to perform on Saturday night.
Fingers crossed it'll all go well and I'll try to provide a review and photographs on Monday.
The show, A Slightly Lugubrious Bluebird of Happiness, is in tribute to my pal Gail, who died last month. I have kind of enjoyed organising it, even though it's a little bit stressful. I have of course ran into the various problems that crop up in this type of business.
Like having to go to the post office and hand over hard cash because my artist neglected to put any stamps on the poster he had sent. Then to open it up and discover that the Peter Saville to my Tony Wilson, had invented a new surname for Gail. Then followed a flurry of texts and e-mails in order to have the problem resolved. I spent an afternoon in the copyshop today, listening to the woman going 'pheeew, this is going to cost ya.'
I also appear to have been let down by a guy at the Metro, who came to me, suggesting that he put a piece in the paper about it. "It's no problem. It'll be in." A piece that has yet to materialise. That's fucking media folk for you.
Other than that, the only main problems involve booking rehearsal space and ensuring that people turn up. So far I haven't had an entire cast, and I don't think I will until about 3 hours before showtime.
I've found little time to actually learn the poems I have to perform on Saturday night.
Fingers crossed it'll all go well and I'll try to provide a review and photographs on Monday.
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