Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Power - the ultimate aphrodisiac
Well, it must be if John Prescott could have an affair with his secretary. 
In all seriousness though, it's obvious this "news" has been released by his own party to try to minimise the bad news stories about the Home Secretary and his absent-minded treatment of criminal foreigners.
This story is manna for the British papers as the story includes Government incompetance, illegal immigrant and "softness" on criminals.
The only thing that papers like more than that is for a politician to be caught having an affair. So it looks like Big Bad John had to bend over and take one for the team.
A case of the Home Secretary avoiding a shagging by revealing details of a secretary shagging someone most people would avoid.
New Labour appear like a government of zombies at the moment, dead and starting to smell but unaware of the fact, they just keep stumbling blindly onward. ¶ 1:02 PM 0 comments
In all seriousness though, it's obvious this "news" has been released by his own party to try to minimise the bad news stories about the Home Secretary and his absent-minded treatment of criminal foreigners.
This story is manna for the British papers as the story includes Government incompetance, illegal immigrant and "softness" on criminals.
The only thing that papers like more than that is for a politician to be caught having an affair. So it looks like Big Bad John had to bend over and take one for the team.
A case of the Home Secretary avoiding a shagging by revealing details of a secretary shagging someone most people would avoid.
New Labour appear like a government of zombies at the moment, dead and starting to smell but unaware of the fact, they just keep stumbling blindly onward. ¶ 1:02 PM 0 comments
Friday, April 21, 2006
Football Representatives for a Country
Out with Euan to watch the Milan - Barca game on Tuesday and the conversation turned to which players would you chose to as the best representative of an entire countries football culture.
The one player who you could point out as the quintessential Scottish/English/German/Dutch etc etc player.
Anyway, through the beer-fueled haze, the final list was something like:
Country: Scotland
Player: Colin Hendry
Why? Braveheart, technically limited but a heart as big as a house. Passion.
This was the controversial one, other players who didn't make the final cut were Bremner, Gemmil, Dalgleish, Baxter, Johnstone because they were, basically, too good!
Country: Brazil
Player: Ronaldinho or Pele
Why? Brilliant, mould breaking, plays the game it should be played with a smile.
Country: France
Player: Zidane or Platini
Why? Elegant, very skillful, play like artists without ever getting huge hype.
Country: Germany
Player: Oliver Kahn
Why? World Class, efficient but generally unlikeable, no neutral ever really supports the Germans unless they are playing England ;-)
Country: Netherlands
Player: Ruud Gullit
Why? Extremely talented but always liable to underperform internationally. Always falling out with each other and so Ruud takes this place after quitting the world cup in USA'94
Country: England
Player: Terry Butcher
Why? Like Colin Hendry, Passion but also because he could have fouled Maradonna when he scored the "goal of the century" and so is the representative of English fair play.
This was also controversial as you don't like to compliment rivals - you could have Gazza or Beckham in their as other aspects of the English football culture, namely underperforming boorishness or media hype of moderate talent.
Country: Eire
Player: Ray Houghton
Why? Born outside Ireland and scored the winners against both England and Italy.
Country: Spain
Player: Raul
Why? Terrific player at club level but never transferred that for to the international stage
Country: Italy
Player: Franco Baresi
Why? World Class defender of refinement. Whilst you don't have to appreciate normal Italian defensive tactics, you can't deny the effectiveness or the stylishness of the way that it is done.
Country: Argentina
Player: Maradonna
Why? He is the Argentinian football culture!
Country: Colombia
Player: Andrés Escobar
Why? Shot dead for scoring an own goal, says it all. :-(
Country: Uraguay
Player: José Batista
Why? Dirty Cheating Bastards - Batista was the guy that booted Strachan in the opening minute of the Scotland - Uraguay game in Mexico 86. He got sent off but Scotland still failed to progress. ho hum :-( ¶ 12:50 PM 1 comments
The one player who you could point out as the quintessential Scottish/English/German/Dutch etc etc player.
Anyway, through the beer-fueled haze, the final list was something like:
Country: Scotland
Player: Colin Hendry
Why? Braveheart, technically limited but a heart as big as a house. Passion.
This was the controversial one, other players who didn't make the final cut were Bremner, Gemmil, Dalgleish, Baxter, Johnstone because they were, basically, too good!
Country: Brazil
Player: Ronaldinho or Pele
Why? Brilliant, mould breaking, plays the game it should be played with a smile.
Country: France
Player: Zidane or Platini
Why? Elegant, very skillful, play like artists without ever getting huge hype.
Country: Germany
Player: Oliver Kahn
Why? World Class, efficient but generally unlikeable, no neutral ever really supports the Germans unless they are playing England ;-)
Country: Netherlands
Player: Ruud Gullit
Why? Extremely talented but always liable to underperform internationally. Always falling out with each other and so Ruud takes this place after quitting the world cup in USA'94
Country: England
Player: Terry Butcher
Why? Like Colin Hendry, Passion but also because he could have fouled Maradonna when he scored the "goal of the century" and so is the representative of English fair play.
This was also controversial as you don't like to compliment rivals - you could have Gazza or Beckham in their as other aspects of the English football culture, namely underperforming boorishness or media hype of moderate talent.
Country: Eire
Player: Ray Houghton
Why? Born outside Ireland and scored the winners against both England and Italy.
Country: Spain
Player: Raul
Why? Terrific player at club level but never transferred that for to the international stage
Country: Italy
Player: Franco Baresi
Why? World Class defender of refinement. Whilst you don't have to appreciate normal Italian defensive tactics, you can't deny the effectiveness or the stylishness of the way that it is done.
Country: Argentina
Player: Maradonna
Why? He is the Argentinian football culture!
Country: Colombia
Player: Andrés Escobar
Why? Shot dead for scoring an own goal, says it all. :-(
Country: Uraguay
Player: José Batista
Why? Dirty Cheating Bastards - Batista was the guy that booted Strachan in the opening minute of the Scotland - Uraguay game in Mexico 86. He got sent off but Scotland still failed to progress. ho hum :-( ¶ 12:50 PM 1 comments
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Student Loan paid up
After reading Malky's post about the Student Loans company stiffing him for cash, I decided to find out how much I had left to pay.
20 minutes of shunting around departments on the phone and they told me that my final installment was paid last month - Ya Dancer!
I'm one of the lucky ones though. I've been really lucky to get a good job after leaving Uni and also that I started Uni when there was still a grant (just). Basically my loan only made up 50% of my cash at uni with a Grant the other 50% (plus I worked every summer).
If I was in 6th year now, would I go back to Uni given that there's no Grant and I'd have to take out loans for everything? No way.
*Edit - Although I'm delighted that it's paid off, I was wondering why I wasn't really estatic until I realised that, to me, paying off your student loan seems to be one of the first indicators of approaching middle age. F*ck. ¶ 1:55 PM 1 comments
20 minutes of shunting around departments on the phone and they told me that my final installment was paid last month - Ya Dancer!
I'm one of the lucky ones though. I've been really lucky to get a good job after leaving Uni and also that I started Uni when there was still a grant (just). Basically my loan only made up 50% of my cash at uni with a Grant the other 50% (plus I worked every summer).
If I was in 6th year now, would I go back to Uni given that there's no Grant and I'd have to take out loans for everything? No way.
*Edit - Although I'm delighted that it's paid off, I was wondering why I wasn't really estatic until I realised that, to me, paying off your student loan seems to be one of the first indicators of approaching middle age. F*ck. ¶ 1:55 PM 1 comments
The Milk Crate Bandit
Found this story on a policeman's blogger (http://littleeyeontheworld.blogspot.com/) and it's a cracker.
America's Dumbest Criminals indeed.
Oh and the reason I got to the Bermuda police blogger was through the excellent PC Copperfield site. ¶ 1:51 PM 0 comments
America's Dumbest Criminals indeed.
Oh and the reason I got to the Bermuda police blogger was through the excellent PC Copperfield site. ¶ 1:51 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Scottish Parliament - Deliberately designed to look like Dumbiedykes?
The Scottish Parliament is across the road from the Queen's house in Edinburgh (Holyrood), but it's also very close to an area of public/council housing.
Based on the view from the train I get each day, I think the architect deliberately designed such a horrific exterior so that it matched with the council houses(i.e. the People) rather than Holyrood (the Establishment).
Still no justification for how bad it looks from the outside though...
The Council Housing (Dumbiedykes Estate): http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_B/0_buildings_-_edinburgh_castle_and_dumbiedykes_2co14a.jpg http://www.southside.edin.org/places/Images/dumbiedykes.jpg
The Parliament: http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/scottish_parliament_windows.jpg http://www.scotcities.com/scottish_parliament.jpg
The Palace: http://www.geneseo.edu/~soc/study%20abroad/Edinburgh/holyrood%20palace.gif ¶ 1:06 PM 0 comments
Based on the view from the train I get each day, I think the architect deliberately designed such a horrific exterior so that it matched with the council houses(i.e. the People) rather than Holyrood (the Establishment).
Still no justification for how bad it looks from the outside though...
The Council Housing (Dumbiedykes Estate): http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_B/0_buildings_-_edinburgh_castle_and_dumbiedykes_2co14a.jpg http://www.southside.edin.org/places/Images/dumbiedykes.jpg
The Parliament: http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/scottish_parliament_windows.jpg http://www.scotcities.com/scottish_parliament.jpg
The Palace: http://www.geneseo.edu/~soc/study%20abroad/Edinburgh/holyrood%20palace.gif ¶ 1:06 PM 0 comments
Friday, April 07, 2006
Meat Free for a week and a half
So I've had a wee notition to stop eating meat.
Not necessarily because I want to save all de cute wee fwuffy animals, nope just because, like most folk nowadays, I'm a bit wary about how it's produced.
Is a "bargain" steak from Brazil and produced by destroying the amazon rainforest one area of Wales at a time?
Is the chicken in my sandwiches part of an animal(or animals!) that had only a 4 week life and is stuffed full of antibiotics?
So kinda as a challenge to myself I thought I'll see how long I can go without eating meat and so far it's been pretty good.
I feel better, lost a bit of weight and don't actually have any "withdrawal" symptoms.
The drawbacks are that veggie food is pretty damn BORING and I'm a bit wary that it may be a slippery slope to further food fussiness.
e.g. I am still eating Fish (not farmed but probably full of mercury and other nasties) and organic free-range eggs as part of my diet. However, thanks to wikipedia I've found out that there's whole levels of vegitarian and general diet based nuttiness (pardon the pun).
Vegans: Nae animals, nae fish, nae dairy products, no leather shoes etc etc.
Verdict= Difficult to do but maybe not total nutters. Would avoid in the Pub though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegans
Frutarianism: Only eat what the "Earth gives up willingly" - i.e. fruit that has fallen from a tree, beans, peas etc.
Verdict = Fruity Nutters who are hungry all winter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruitarianism
Raw Food Diet(!)
"Involves food, usually vegan, which is not heated above 46.7 °C (116 °F) ; it may be warmed slightly or raw, but never cooked. Raw foodists argue that cooking destroys enzymes and/or portions of each nutrient."
Verdict = Skinflint or Eskimo Nutters with broken teeth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_food_diet
Macrobiotic
"Macrobiotic diet involves a diet consisting mostly of whole grains and beans and is usually spiritually based, like fruitarianism. "
Verdict = Posh, loaded Nutters who fart a lot.
Natural Hygene(!!)
"Natural Hygiene, in its classic form, involves a diet principally of raw vegan foods."
Verdict = Seriously dangerous delusional nutters
Freeganism(!!!!!!!!!!)
"Freeganism is commonly understood as the practice of abstaining from any consumer goods except in those cases where the goods are obtained for free and have been divorced from the harm done by their production"
Verdict = basically eating stuff from Rubbish bins! Total Tinky Nutters!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism
So am a tad wary that my stab at non-meat eating is, like the supposed path from cannabis to crack, a gateway to me eventually standing under an apple tree for hours waiting for my next meal. While wearing clothes made out of bushes. ¶ 12:19 PM 2 comments
Not necessarily because I want to save all de cute wee fwuffy animals, nope just because, like most folk nowadays, I'm a bit wary about how it's produced.
Is a "bargain" steak from Brazil and produced by destroying the amazon rainforest one area of Wales at a time?
Is the chicken in my sandwiches part of an animal(or animals!) that had only a 4 week life and is stuffed full of antibiotics?
So kinda as a challenge to myself I thought I'll see how long I can go without eating meat and so far it's been pretty good.
I feel better, lost a bit of weight and don't actually have any "withdrawal" symptoms.
The drawbacks are that veggie food is pretty damn BORING and I'm a bit wary that it may be a slippery slope to further food fussiness.
e.g. I am still eating Fish (not farmed but probably full of mercury and other nasties) and organic free-range eggs as part of my diet. However, thanks to wikipedia I've found out that there's whole levels of vegitarian and general diet based nuttiness (pardon the pun).
Vegans: Nae animals, nae fish, nae dairy products, no leather shoes etc etc.
Verdict= Difficult to do but maybe not total nutters. Would avoid in the Pub though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegans
Frutarianism: Only eat what the "Earth gives up willingly" - i.e. fruit that has fallen from a tree, beans, peas etc.
Verdict = Fruity Nutters who are hungry all winter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruitarianism
Raw Food Diet(!)
"Involves food, usually vegan, which is not heated above 46.7 °C (116 °F) ; it may be warmed slightly or raw, but never cooked. Raw foodists argue that cooking destroys enzymes and/or portions of each nutrient."
Verdict = Skinflint or Eskimo Nutters with broken teeth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_food_diet
Macrobiotic
"Macrobiotic diet involves a diet consisting mostly of whole grains and beans and is usually spiritually based, like fruitarianism. "
Verdict = Posh, loaded Nutters who fart a lot.
Natural Hygene(!!)
"Natural Hygiene, in its classic form, involves a diet principally of raw vegan foods."
Verdict = Seriously dangerous delusional nutters
Freeganism(!!!!!!!!!!)
"Freeganism is commonly understood as the practice of abstaining from any consumer goods except in those cases where the goods are obtained for free and have been divorced from the harm done by their production"
Verdict = basically eating stuff from Rubbish bins! Total Tinky Nutters!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism
So am a tad wary that my stab at non-meat eating is, like the supposed path from cannabis to crack, a gateway to me eventually standing under an apple tree for hours waiting for my next meal. While wearing clothes made out of bushes. ¶ 12:19 PM 2 comments
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Edinburgh's Proposed Anti-Gravity Trams
Just by looking at the mock-up images of Edinburgh's proposed tram system you might think that Edinburgh will receive revolutionary new "hovering Trams"
More at: http://www.edinburgh-tram.co.uk/scene.htm
However, that's not all, the images below show something a lot more ambitious than just a new tram network...
¶ 1:15 PM 0 comments
More at: http://www.edinburgh-tram.co.uk/scene.htm
However, that's not all, the images below show something a lot more ambitious than just a new tram network...
¶ 1:15 PM 0 comments
