Silly stuff, links aplenty!

Not a new discovery of mine, but I thought I'd share it with people: London Underground very funny, extremely explicit lyrics, maybe best not to view at work, unless you work somewhere relaxed and groovy!

Another funny: Muppets!

Also check out my nation on Nation States, Ley Land. I used to have a nation called Froudland, and Andy had New Rootopia (he beat me to that!), but we failed to loggin to the site for a while and had our nations deleted. Since I left RSA I've had a lot of spare time and so found myself back there! The forums are particularly lively. If anyone wants to form a new region I'd be very happy to leave the West Pacific and hang out with people I know!

Speaking of Froud, have a look at one of my favorite websites here.

That's all for now. I expect I'll be back for a rant soon enough!

Wedded Bliss

This weekend was the wedding of two of my dear friends, Chris and Catherine. So Andy and I trundled up to Bolton to participate in the happy event. I had a fair amount of responsibility on this occassion, as I was not only the official videographer, but also doing make up for the bride and her maids, the two sisters of the happy couple.

The wedding itself was on Saturday in Catherine's parish church, with reception taking place at a family favorite restaurant. It was an early start for me, but make up went smoothly and everyone was on time.

The ceremony was everything one would expect from a CofE wedding! (Read into that what you will, those who know me well can guess my specific thoughts) Whenever I film a wedding I'm always thrilled to get prime position behind the vicar/registrar where I get a fantastic view of the couple! Everyone else just gets to watch the backs of heads, I get to see their happy smiling faces - or in the groom's case, nauseousness.

I had the pleasure of seeing Claire again, one of the lovely ladies from the hen weekend in Dublin and also met some of their friends from university in Lampeter, as Catherine had kindly sat Andy and I with them. They're mostly nuts, in a good way!

Sadly, Andy and I needed to get back that evening, so we left the reception after the first dance and drove back to Bristol. I'm so happy to see two of the lovliest people I know making this wonderful commitment and embarking on the long journey of life together, they are so right for each other! Congratulations, Chris & Catherine King!

"Oh shit. There goes the planet."

Right, so it begins. If you go to get a passport from this year you will be fingerprinted and subjected to a background check and issued with an ID card. This is the start of the barcode state.

Hold on to your hats kids, our nation is about to be lost, freedoms eroded, frightened people forced to hide in the worst possible conditions for fear of being exposed and shipped back to their old country to face torture and probably death. Stop and search programmes increased, further victimizing and angering ethnic minorities and causing even greater resentment among the white public.

Here's a question: these things are meant to reduce ID fraud, right? Well, what's to stop someone going to the passport office with all the current forms of ID that are apparently so easily forged, and getting an ID card in my name?

And another one: If they are not compulsory to carry, what the f*ck is the point?

And: Charles Clark, you mention the benefits to the private sector being worth millions of pounds, is that from selling the data by any chance?

"The "potential benefits to the private sector" of ID cards added up to £425m a year, said Mr Clarke. " full article.

If you know me reasonably well, you will recognise the anger and fear here. Andy and I were going to emigrate as soon as these infernal things were made compulsory, but Andy needs to renew his passport. Had we realised that from right now he would have his biometric data taken and stored for doing so we would have ensured it got done sooner. So guys, if we suddenly drop off the radar it'll be because we have left the country and become illegal immigrants ourselves!!!

My Space

Hoorah! I have a space! Check it out!

And sign up here to help me and Andy get our FREE X-Box 360!

McDonalds

I have long been a boycotter of the evil Maccy Ds. But it's not something I'm vocal about most of the time, I suppose because they've stayed out of the headlines for a few years and I've got so used to boycotting them it's a bit of a none issue for me.

I remember one occassion when I was still at school, we went on a trip to London and I very nearly ended up going off on my own when all my friends wanted to go there and I refused. If it weren't for my dear friend Simon I would have ended up wandering the streets of London at 16 years old before the mobile phone revolution (just about!), but he accompanied me to find somewhere else to eat - thanks mate!

But anyway, they have gone and got the attention of Greenpeace by buying chickens fed on soya grown on illegally logged land in the Amazon rainforest. They used to hack it down to farm cows on, and turns out they're still at it but two-steps removed in a vague effort to keep their own hands clean.

I am making a point of putting this out there not because I will ever end my boycott (as I object to them on various counts aside from this; including their business practice, treatment of staff, low level of quality - I have had food poisoning twice from them and only ever eaten there half a dozen times, not a good ratio! - etc.) even if they stop participating in this destruction, but because I think it's one of those boycotts that has waned a little in recent years and I believe now is an ideal opportunity to remind people that there are ethically-minded people out there who boycott this company and here is one reason why. It's a chance to spread the word.

So, please have a read of the information and spread the word to others, McDonalds are destroying ancient rainforests yet again, please follow the 'Take Action' link and write to the European MD to let him know that this is not acceptable. Numbers are powerful and it may well be possible to make them put a stop to their wicked ways if we all do the right thing.

It's time to change the world...

Dublin Part 2 & Job Rant

Dublin was splendid. Very expensive though, over 6 Euros per drink :-/ Temple Bar, the place to go out in the evening, is a mad street rather like Corn Street here in Bristol, but much longer. The pubs and bars are all heaving by eight and there are people busking in the cobbled street. It was a bit overwhelming but pretty cool. We ended up in this old man's pub away from the mayhem, we were literally the only females in there and attracted a fair amount of attention.

I got into a political debate with one guy, who invited us to some club or other, however we had all pretty much run out of money by this point! There was a particularly drunk man; with Dylan Moran's fabled "Irish hair", who drooled into my lap and when I didn't respond well to his advances he moved onto the girl next to me, trying to chat her up across me! Poor Claire ran away after a few minutes and not long after the barman turfed everyone out.

Fun!

So, on returning from Ireland I left my job. Not entirely by choice I must admit. There were some issues and they let me go. I fought it through the union, went to appeal and everything. But in the end the decision held and I have to admit that I'm relieved, having discovered what an unprincipled company they are I had no wish to get my job back.

Now what to do? The good news is that I'm still a Virgin Vie consultant, I am making that work and want to take it full time. So, ladies and gents, roll up roll up for your summer VV party and if you're not in Bristol I'm happy to take orders and mail the products to you! Get in touch!

Dublin Part 1 & Politics

Off to Dublin tomorrow for a hen weekend. Can't wait! Managed to get this afternoon off work to go about getting myself ready. Picked up my Euros from the Post Office, just got to get packed.

I will share the sordid details when I get back!

***

For those who don't know or haven't guseed yet, I'm passionately political! Specifically I'm a Lib Dem supporter and member. This afternoon the end of a turbulent couple of months for the party came, a new leader was elected, Sir Menzies Campbell. Personally, I voted for Simon Hughes, he would have won too if it weren't for that pesky sexuality thing.

I must admit, I'm surprised how big an effect that had on his place in the leadership contest, considering we are talking about liberals here! I understand that some people saw it that he had been misleading on the issue, but I maintain that in this society today, sexuality has no place in politics. He didn't feel the need to confess his bisexuality, it has nothing to do with his job as MP. Afterall, it doesn't matter in any other profession and historically, politics has not been kind to those of an alternative persusion. And he never lied, he said he wasn't gay and would like to get married. Well, it's true, he isn't gay, he's bi!

Anyway, what's done is done. Ming will lead the party for a few years before he decides to retire. I hope he can bring stability to the party and thoroughly convince the British public that the Liberal Democrats are a viable option for leadership. The blunt truth is that the party has enough voters already to break ground, over 20% of the vote went to them at the last general election.

However, our stupid first-past-the-post system means that this proportion of votes is not reflected in parliament - subsequently Labour is over-represented, they only acheived 36% of the vote (that's votes cast, only 22% of all registered voters voted for Labour last time) and they have a majority of seats.

The Lib Dems are seeking to change this grossly unfair system - which, incidently, isn't used anywhere else in Europe, because everyone else sees how stupid it is!

Also, I think everyone reading this is either one of those people or knows people who say they would vote Lib Dem, but they don't want the Tories back. Well, folks, simple maths says that if everyone who felt that way just voted according to their political leaning then the Lib Dems would get into power!!!

You can join the Real Alternative here. And find out more about electoral reform here and here.

Rant

Work's web filter will no longer permit me to blog from work, so entries may not be so frequent now :-/

My main rant today is on the issue of ID cards. Rational Britons, if you agree to the government's thinly veiled attempt to subvert and control us, raise your hand and say "aye" and prepare to be scowled at.

Much as I am appalled and distressed by the government's actions, I am equally disturbed by some of the opinions expressed by the Bristish public. Some comments that I have come across are:

"They'll keep all these foreigners out, keep them from causing trouble." - A work colleague, we don't speak anymore.

"Extremely good idea, this will not only put us in line with our European and American counter parts but will significantly help in sifting the real terrorist." - Someone who is yet to twig that the government want to put our biometric data on the database, something no other nation has yet done, that ID cards are not compulsory in the USA or most European countries and that ID cards would not have prevented 9/11, the London or Madrid bombings (from an MI5 representitive). What this person means to say is "illegal immigrant", clearly the same thing in their eyes.

"While I am generally not opposed to ID cards, I do very much object to having to pay for one. I have already paid for a driving licence and passport, both of which have my photograph and details on so I don't see why I should pay yet more for another card." - Again, someone who has not considered the profound difference between this and other forms of ID.

"I have no problem whatsoever carrying an ID card, and believe that the only people concerned about an 'intrusion' of their civil rights must have something to hide." - Well, the less said about this monkey the better.

"If I hear anyone else say ID cards will infringe their "right to privacy" I will scream! The UK does not have a written constitution, consequently you have no "right" to anything." - This man has never heard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is oblivious to the fact that few countries do actually have a written constitution, this does not mean that the majority of human beings lack basic human rights. Rediculous man. His name is Matt Munro, he's from Bristol and this quote, along with most of the above can be found here.

This is just a taster. I have also come across plenty of people who are as concerned about this little scheme as I am. How is it possible for these people to exist in the world with so little attention to detail? And more importantly, so little care for the valid concerns of other people?!

Right now, MPs are voting on this issue, once again. Even if the government loses we all know where this is going. Tony likes this idea so much he is willing to invoke the Parliment Act on it. We are going to be forced down this road whether we like it or not.

Quite frankly I am terrified of what is happening in this country. First it's 'I went to war because I believed it was right.' Now it's 'I am going to force people to succumb to fingerprinting and iris scans, even if they have done nothing wrong and charge everyone £300 just for being a UK citizen'. There are several words that spring to mind here. Dictatorship is one. The others would invlove several *s each.

Ok, so they've agreed to say that ID cards won't become compulsory without an amendment to legislation, but every single person getting a passport from 2008 will be forced to have an ID card. And they haven't said they won't seek such an amendment later. It is complusion by the back door.

Tony says they have to make good on their election manifesto because we, the British public voted for it. Actually, at the last election Labour only got 35% of the vote, and the proportion of registered voters who turned out was just over 60%. So technically, most Bristish voters did not vote for the leading party, less than a quarter did. Therefore, all manifesto promises should be declared null and void.

The whole thing makes me so angry.

Profoundly Concerned?

I am starting to feel a sense of impending doom. This conflict between Muslims and the press over these cartoons is spiralling out of control. Yes, the paper was wrong to produce the cartoons, but they did apologise. It was out of order for various papers to reproduce the images, it was intentionally provocative.

But the violent reaction by Muslim communities all over the world is so over the top. I'm not clear on what they expect to get out of it, the paper has already apologised. And really, people dressing up as suicide bombers and waving banners that imply massive acts of violence on the scale of a holocaust doesn't exactly help to demonstrate the peacefull, loving side of Islam - a side that is prominent and important to most Muslims.

I know that there are moderate Muslims shaking their heads in dismay at the acts of some, but it certainly appears from the size and scale of the reaction that the majority of Muslims have reacted incredibly strongly.

I can appreciate the hurt and anger, but the reaction does seem extreme. I have a colleague who is Norwegian, she went home for the week last week and encountered people whose lives had been threatened but let go because they were Norwegian, not Danish, "If you'd been Danish we'd have killed you" was the reported threat. Just ordinary people, they had done nothing wrong. That scared me.

Now Condoleezza Rice is stirring things up by accusing Iranian and Syrian authorities of inciting violence. I can see this escalating further. In fact, there may be no going back now. The tennuous relations between the Muslim community and much of the rich world I feel may have been permanently shattered by overreactions on all sides.

I can't help but feel profoundly concerned about the stability of the world. How do we move on from this now?

The working week

I have come to the conclusion that my life is very dull. Since I grew up and got a propper job last September (HA!) my social life has whithered away to practically nothing.

I was desperate to work 9-5 after working odd shifts, late nights and weekends forever. Now I realise the benefit of shift work is being able to sleep in the day meant I was alive at night, when I wasn't working!

My life now consists of getting up, some days earlier than others depending on whether I go to the gym or not, going to work, suffering Bristol's wonderful bus service, eat then go to bed. The weekends are not much better. I wake up early as my body is now programmed to do so, have no energy to do anything remotely fun and because I got up early, I crash at the same time as during the week.

I think I'm driving Andy insane. I'm asleep by 9.30 pm most nights.

Does anyone else suffer from this? Is there anything I can do to inject some fun without staying up horribly late?!! I'm so old :-(

Bob Geldof

Ok, so I had a request to explain the Bob Geldof comment on my previous post.

For those who don't know, I was a huge supporter of Make Poverty History, I am also an activist and firm believer in the possibility of positive change, particularly in terms of wealth redistribution across the globe.

I also don't believe in blindly following the latest "in" thing and sadly, I feel the MPH became that last summer. When Live 8 came around I was forced to re-evaluate my position when I saw the mass-corporate involvement and read about the "gifts" that performers were presented with.

Then I heard that Bob Geldof refused to let any African performers appear at the main event in London, they were permitted short slots in Cornwall but that was about it.

Around Christmas time I also learned that Bob Geldof has been quoted as saying "Africa is not my agenda, it never has been." Or words to that effect. He does these publicity trips to Uganda and Ethiopia wearing an Armani suit and it makes me more than a little bit sick.

My eyes have been opened to the hypocrisy of the man.

I still believe that MPH was a truely ambitious and marvellous idea, and we did achieve some successes through it, but I also see that it was not motivated by pure idealism. There were many people and organisations involved purely for their own publicity and to make money off a popular idea.

I recommend for anyone who is truely passionate about addressing global poverty, human rights and learning more about the true world we live in to quickly subscribe to the New Internationalist. I have been a subscriber for about 5 years and it is the most educational and real magazine I have ever read. Check out their website http://www.newint.org but please subscribe to the printed magazine to support them financially.

2005

Because I only just got hold of one of these and it's fitting for the early days of my blog.

1.What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Celebrated a wedding anniversary.

2.Did you make any New Years' resolutions?
No idea.

3.Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not that I'm aware of. Several impending births in the first half of this year though.

4.Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no.

5.What countries did you visit?
Sadly none. But my imagination travelled far and wide.

6.What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
Disposable income.

7.What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
September 12th I started my current job. Not horribly exciting but it's all I can think of right now!

8.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Passing my exam with 77%.

9.What was your biggest failure?
Dropping out of my OU course in May (have resumed it this year, don't worry!)

10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really.

11.What was the best thing you bought?
My mp3 player.

12.Whose behaviour merited celebration?
The England cricket team.

13.Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Bush & Blair. And possibly Bob Geldof.

14.Where did most of your money go?
Our car.

15.What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
The release of the 6th Harry Potter book! And sadly, the Ashes, via my husband, Andy.

16.What song will always remind you of 2005?
Foresaken by Within Temptation.

17.Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder?
Happier.
ii.thinner or fatter?
About the same after losing over a stone and putting it back on again, doh!
iii.richer or poorer?
Richer, just about.

18.What do you wish you'd done more of?
Getting paid.

19.What do you wish you'd done less of?
Moping about.

20.How did you spend Christmas?
With Andy & my family, at their home in Yorkshire.

21.Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Probably Andy, maybe my mum.

22.Did you fall in love in 2005?
Nope. Oh no, yes I did, with Within Temptation.

24. What was your favourite TV program?
Lost. And ANTM (if you don't know what it is I'm not telling, it's a bit embarassing).

26. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
Within Temptation.

28. What did you want and get?
A job & an mp3 player!

29. What did you want and not get?
A holiday. And an mp3 player - longish story!

30. What were your favorite films of this year?
Team America: World police. (I only saw it for the first time this year)

31.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
23, went for a Chinese with friends and got happily merry at the Bierkeller.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
Went slightly trendy and then glided back towards my rock roots. Purple, always purple.

34. What kept you sane?
Well, starting The New Root fanclub and being more than a little obsessed with them is sort of evidence that I'm not really sane. In fact, I probably lost a little sanity last year.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least?
Sharon Del Adel the most. Too much competition for least.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
ID cards.

37. Whom did you miss?
My Nannie.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Matt M, who I only properly met in 2005.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005:
When life sucks beyond belief, don't give up. There's usually someone or something to help you up.

Friday

It is the end of the week and this is my first blog. I am at work (shh, don't tell) and I have that Friday afternoon lag where I really wish it was 5 o'clock and really can't be bothered to do anything. Especially when you take into account just how hard I have worked this week!

For those who don't know, I recently sold my soul to take a job in an insurance call centre. But as it turns out, the job is alright, especially when it's my team's week to do the admin stuff. i.e. this week. Plus, we have a funky department where we play games for sales and productivity with quite a lot of money to be won.

It has proved an effective incentive for me this week with productivity targets rising daily and me meeting them all week. That is, until today. I deserve a break. Anyway, as a reward for my hard work I have had the opportunity to play this week's game 4 times and won a total of £61 in vouchers. The first £60 of which was won before today! £10 Monday, £20 Tuesday and £30 Wednesday. After that wonderful rise to glory I came crashing down today with a megre £1 win. Utterly humiliating!

The game, incidently, is Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire, with £100 being the top prize. I know I cleaned out the boss, who was devastated when I won that £30 prize.

Anyway, this was my week. Now, what do I spend the vouchers on? They are high street ones, valid in places like HMV, Woolworths, even H Samuel. Suggestions are welcome.