Blah Blah Flowers

Are poets authors? A writer is an author, a poet also works with words so they should be an author too, I don't know, the words just don't look right.

Anyway, Ros Barber is a poet AND author, Brighton inhabitant and Eddie Izzard fan. And she blogs too, which is where I got the title from. Check it out.

Blogadoon comes up with an excellent response to that Lowri Turner article.

In an ideal world, I don't want someone running the country who hasn't had to sit in a waiting-room waiting to discover whether they've tested positive...

Arses. I've got an hour left of work and absolutely no inclination to work. Oh this is going to drag...

Clive James Video and Audio.

Woot! Fifth for 'richard & Judy drop dress size results' and third for 'Lesbian asphyxiation and female wrestling'.

According to Corporate Watch even the companies that would be taking our money don't think biometric ID Cards will work. Still, why should Tony worry? He'll be long gone when the shit hits the fan.

Oh, that'll help. Mind you, civil war would mean the Israeli's don't have to worry any more, just find a good position to watch from.

Apple have opened a new store in Brent Cross, officially one of the most evil places in North London. Damn them!

Pretty vile biphobia. Is this THE Lowri Turner, or just A Lowri Turner, spouting crap like

Frankly, I don't trust a man who says he swings both ways, unless he is a spotty teenager who hasn't sorted himself out yet. Oaten is 41 and Hughes is 54. If they think they are old enough to run the country then surely they are old enough to work out which gender they fancy?

I mean, if nothing else, the answer is 'they fancy both' ya black-hearted fag-hag.

The title is from Sky News. I think they've spent all day talking about unaccredited dentists. Yes, the world is turning more and more like The Day Today every day...

So, home after work, on with the skirt, out with the bottle of wine, do we call this 'doing a Siobhan'?

The reason for this is that I had a meeting with my manager about the job interview I had on Monday. What I did well, where I went wrong, the things I have no recollection of saying... But anyway, by the end of it, in order that I 'increase my management experience' she had got me to agree to work two days a week at another library. Not as a library manager, not even as a deputy, official or unofficial, to the manager. I'm puzzled as to how this will increase my management skills as it seems I'm not going to get any special experience. I'll just have to wear smarter clothes. Arses, I've just been played haven't I?

It's one of those use the objects in the right order games. Took me about two and a half hours.

Following up this, it seems Simon Hughes has managed to get the 'b' word out.

From the Indy: But a Liberal Democrat member from Southwark who phoned the Radio 5 programme told Mr Hughes that she felt "badly let down". She said: "Your sexuality is such a non-issue. Anyone in Southwark who knows about you knew that you were gay or bisexual." She added: "Because he hasn't told the truth about it, it makes me question what I have been voting for all these years."

Modern Britain, where you can be 'gay or bisexual', just so long as you don't lie about it.

Newsnight last night was interesting on the subject, where Michael Brown, a gay ex-Tory MP, pointed out that in the era he and Hughes both started politics homosexuality had been decriminalised close-by in living memory and it would have been suicide to be open about it. Doesn't quite explain the 'Simon Hughes- The Only Straight Candidate' stuff, but he's apologised and Peter Tatchell says he's forgiven him.

Many British people as stupid as Americans. I watched the program last night with some dismay, but then Horizon stopped being a science program years ago (I think it devoted an edition to the Bible Code for goodness sake). I sort of agree with Richard Dawkins that scientists should refuse to debate with Creationists or Intelligent Design pushers, they'll get as much from scientists refusing to engage as they would from scientists giving up their time to talk to people who's opinions won't be changed, even when the fallacies and mistakes in their 'evidence' is exposed. It's lose-lose either way but at least then the scientists can get some work done.

US and Israel refuse to work with new government of Palestine, old government of Palestine also withholds help, hoping it will fall on it's arse. Not that Israel was exactly working with the old Government of Palestine either.

pot and kettle
Originally uploaded by Loz Flowers.

Head of an institutionally racist organisation apologises for insensitivity during an attack on a number of other organisations for institutional racism. Which is not to deny that some media is racist, institutionally or not and that Sir Ian is right, if insensitive, that the Soham murders were vastly overblown as a story, as any story involving children and/or animals will be (what if we find out that Wally the Whale was up the Thames not because of confusing sonar but because it was looking for children to nonce?) But to frame it as 'everyone's doing it', when the Met have the continuing de Menezes case (old joke: What's the difference between an Argentinian and a Pakistani? Welcome to the police anti-terrorism unit) hanging over them, doesn't really work. And is he including publications like The Voice or The Asian Times in his catch all of 'the media'? Sort out your own house Sir Ian...

Our borough has got a write-up in the latest Private Eye for what it's done to the library service. Hurrah! The bouncing ball of justice in unleashed... or maybe not.

So, Simon Hughes, prospective Liberal Democrat leader, is a heterosexual who's just had a few homosexual experiences. This is rather vague, it also suggests that the queerness is in his past in much the same way as David Cameron's drug taking. So, is anyone going to ask Hughes whether he considers himself bisexual? After all, as a Liberal he's already indecisive fence-sitting scum...

I don't know, is it possible for a TV show to jump back over the shark? In the opposite direction? Because SG-1 looks suspiciously like it's getting good again. It jumped when Daniel Jackson died... the first time. The following season wasn't bad, I really liked the episodes where O'Neill is killed repeatedly by Baal as a form of torture, and where Teal'c dreams he's a fireman. But then the next season it really goes wrong. Daniel comes back from the dead and they have to find Atlantis or Earth is doomed. Do they look for Atlantis? Do they even pretend to look for Atlantis? Do they even mention the importance of finding Atlantis? Nope. They go right through to the finale then find it. Then, the next season, they lose all focus, ending up with bringing back Anubis from the dead, the human Replicators (a prime example of having a good idea and taking what makes it good out of the equation), killing Daniel Jackson again for a short while and killing Sam's Dad for what is presumably longer. But now, with season nine, it seems to be getting good again. Granted Ben Browder is playing Jack O'Neill with the serial number filed off, but that's not completely a bad, and the last two episodes over here, with false memories and then with alternate realities were returns to the good old days of seasons three and four. There's hope yet.

National Police Memorial on Horse Guards Parade
Originally uploaded by Loz Flowers.

Mighty cold weather today. Had an appointment in Holloway and found out that they've got rid of the Hobgoblin or whatever it was called! Well, I only went there once, was it a SFD birthday or something? I forget.

Anyway, after that, got the tube down to Tate Britain. It's kind of 'between exhibitions' at the moment, Degas, Toulouse Lautrec and Manet is out, they're getting ready for the Gothic Nightmares which starts 15th Feb. God, it must be super-boring having to guard the doors to stop people getting in when the exhibitions are closed.

What I'd never seen before was that if you go along to the end of the street and turn left you're into the Westminster village, civil servants smoking like chimneys outside the Home Office or DEFRA. I walked along to Saint James's Park, then at the other end of the Horse Guards Parade is the National Police Memorial to all the officers who died on duty.

Time was a-wasting and I was a-hungry, so I walked up to Old Compton Street. I was surprised to find Pollo had closed down. Granted I had only eaten there four or five times but that was probably therefore the place in Central London where I'd eaten the most. However, as this downmarket Italian greasy-spoon had a slightly better-furnished Italian cafe next door to it I doubt the people involved had to move that far to find new work.

Following on from yesterday, I didn't get the job, but I'm not that bothered. I'll get some feedback later in the week, find out where things went wrong.

The problem with having an LJ is that after a while you get used to putting personal stuff in there, where you can hide it behind the Friends Only filter. I had an interview at work today for a temporary post acting as manager at one of the other libraries in the group. I'm not too fussed about whether I get it or not, it would be nice but the main thing for me was putting myself through the whole process of job interviews and whathaveyou as this may well be the year where I look to move on, and the last interview I had was almost exactly six years ago, for the job I have now.

What really didn't help last night was the insomnia. Everyone I've mentioned it to thinks it was my unconscious stressing out over the prospect of the interview, that does seem the obvious answer but I genuinely wasn't concerned about it at a conscious level and normally the prospect of change doesn't like to lurk behind the scenes but makes sure it has centre stage in the performance of my life (something else I'm taking steps to get to grips with this year). So after dozing off around 11:00 pm I woke about half an hour later and didn't get back to sleep until around 5:00 am, getting up and playing around on the computer, trying to read or watching television didn't do the trick. Eventually I lay there and listened to my iPod and sheer exhaustion won out.

By the way, did you know that around 4:00 am, if you turn to the music channels they have this podgy guy gyrating in the bottom right corner and doing the sign language translations of pop music? I was hopeful for a moment that perhaps I'd fallen asleep and was dreaming I was watching music telly but unfortunately not. Have these music channels done research that makes them think there's money to be made from insomniac deaf people who want to experience Kelis' 'Trick Me' as best they can?

Anyway, I felt crap all day, it didn't help that the library was freezing because the cold wind was blowing straight in through the automatic doors whenever someone came in or out. My interview was at 4:00 so although it gave me some time to do the revision I'd largely neglected over the weekend it also meant that by 3:00 pm I was starting to feel nervous and couldn't concentrate on what I was reading any more.

Management interviews these days also include having to throw together a couple of minute presentation on a subject that you don't get given until a half-hour before the interview. Luckily for me the subject turned out to be 'starting up a book group', something I've been involved with indirectly, so I was able to throw something together. Having a job interview is certainly better than Red Bull at giving you an adrenaline rush to banish the tiredness and keep you buzzing for the rest of the day, unfortunately the fatigue stayed in my brain long enough to make my answers to the interview questions vague and rambling, and I know I didn't present myself as best as I could, and as everyone in that interview room knew me I know that's going to be what they tell me when they tell me tomorrow that I didn't get it.

Frankly though I don't care as long as I get a good night's sleep.

OK, so instead I'm going to pretend I don't mind not getting sleep. Yeah, that'll work...

The Picard Song (although it gets a bit New Order at about 3 minutes in). [via B3ta]

You Stole the Sun From my Heart
Originally uploaded by Loz Flowers.

Normally my camera doesn't seem to do to well when I try and take this kind of 'sun illuminating some object in front of it'type shot, but this comes out quite well I think.

OK, here's perhaps a less snide question for you theologians out there reading...

How is believing in the literal truth of the Bible (or Koran, or Talmud, or Principia Discordia), that the events in the Old Testament are fact et al, not idolatory? Aren't you worshiping a false idol and not God?

So having just watched the naughty episode of South Park, 'Trapped in the Closet', is Tom Cruise really annoyed because of the suggestion that he (along with John Travolta and R Kelly) is gay, or because they say that Scientology is a big pile of ridiculous crap?

It's Osama's Book Club.

That South Park/ Tom Cruise/ closet show we won't be seeing in the UK any time soon.

Iran moves assets out of Europe. Look what happens to their oil. A few years before the invasion of Iraq the Government started selling it's oil for euros rather than dollars. If Iran does the same then the U.S. might feel that it's an immediate concern to bring democracy to the poor people of that country.

Here we are, it's another step on the road towards compulsivity. Tony Blair's bestest legal mate says ID Cards should be compulsory. Going back to this, it seems that we will have to have them and the Government is working to spin it (though ever since linking it with driving licenses and passports it was practically compulsory in all but name) so by the time they manage to get it past the Lords it'll be illegal not to have one.

Mark 'Cheery Oats' Oaten has withdrawn from the race for Lib Dem leader.

Announcing his withdrawal, he added: "I wanted to stand because I felt it was very important to have a contest." But support among party members had not been "matched by my colleagues in Parliament, apart from the very loyal support I've had from Lembit Opik".

Awwwww. Lembs was running Charlie Kennedy's campaign when he thought he still had a chance and then he switched to Cheery. If Tony Blair was wise he'd persuade Gordon Brown to sign up Lembit 'The sky is falling' Opik to his team.

If God exists, does God evolve? If God does not evolve then he is not perfect. If God evolves, what is he now he isn't God any more?

I must stop buying girls stuff. I need to get some new boys clothes. I must stop buying... Erm.

OK, NEXT month I have to stop buying girls stuff. NEXT month I have to buy new boy clothes...

Turns out my sister and her hubby are now homeless. They are supposed to be moving out of their old place this Friday and into their new place. However, their mortgage supplier have suddenly decided to turn the arsiness up to eleven. A good month or two before they started the whole 'getting a new mortgage' process my brother-in-law got a new job, that had one of those six month trial periods. The mortgage people knew this as my sister took care to point it out to them, but have waited a month, until it was pretty much too late to say "hang on, we're not going to give you a mortgage if there's a risk you might not keep this job". The six month period was due to end in February but then his work have decided to join in the fun by extending the trial period by three months. That my sister is in full-time employment and not looking to move (now) doesn't matter because she's just a girl and doesn't earn as much as men.

I'm not sure how much of that last sentence was the reason from the mortgage company and how much was my Mum's reporting of it.

So, my sister and hubby will be splitting their stuff between the parents houses and will be living with the in laws while this mess is sorted out. If my mother's reporting is in any way accurate it's nice to see my sisters spending power being rendered negligable by the act of marriage. Of course the most annoying thing is not that it's come up, but that the mortgage company brought it up so late in the day, really at the last minute. I'll certainly be encouraging them to complain, once they've got the whole situation sorted out.

Thanks to Patrick for Los Angeles Apartment Numbers. Strangely compelling.

Sky News, just because you've got a bi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ig studio and a bi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-g interview screen that doesn't make James Rubin being over the other side of the studio and a good 25 to 30 meters away from it look any less silly. Give him a funky little video screen by his side to address instead, the guy looks likes he should be shouting "CAN YOU HEAR ME OVER THERE?!" all the time.

The government has been defeated in the Lords as peers said the controversial ID cards scheme could not go ahead until its full costs were revealed.
Ministers say it will cost £584m a year to issue cards but say revealing costings for the full scheme could make it harder to get a good value deal.

So, when the Government announced the cost of the ID card to be lower than the LSE figure that was because they were basically lying?

I accept that I'm usually the last one on the block to get down with the sounds the kids are listening to, but even so I was amazed that I'd just got into The Arcade Fire when their album, Funeral came out two years ago. Mind you, I don't read any music press any more, so that's probably why.

I watched the first part of Richard Dawkins Channel 4 two-parter The Root of All Evil this afternoon. I don't know how he does it, he gets a Catholic official to admit that the so-called healing effects of Lourdes are non-existent, he gets a Jew that converted to Islam to tell him that he's got to get the women in Britain to stop dressing like whores unless he wants a holy war and still he comes over as too harsh against religion.

The best way to annoy an atheist is to tell them that their opinion is a belief, but in Dawkins case it is completely accurate, he is a non-religious zealot, a scientific fanatic. He worships at the altar of evolution and the cell.

He effectively equates the quiet undemonstrative CofE religion of my grandmothers with those who fly planes into buildings thinking that achieves anything. Even I'm not going to go that far, but if we have to sacrifice that faith to get rid of the fanatics then I think that's a fair trade. Especially as I found out yesterday that ultra-conservative Islam has a belief in an End Time, just like Christianity. It also believes it has to be brought on by strife and destruction, just like Christianity. And an adherent of this belief runs Iran, just as a believer in the Christian version runs the United States. James Lovelock reckons global warming will pretty much wipe humanity out in the next century. I doubt we'll last long enough for global warming to kill us off.

A pox on religion's houses.

More Dodgy Dave Deals.

Don't you think she looks tired?

Blair opens door for security services to spy on MPs. Surely you'd have thought that Blair would trust that his MPs weren't plotting acts of terrorism, unless he's broadening terrorism to include 'people saying nasty things about Tony Blair'.

Saddam Hussein's judge wants out, though at least in this case it's not because of threats to his safety but because he's pissed off about the attitude of his paymasters towards him going through the pretense of a fair trial for the murderous ex-dictatorous shit.

Gordon Brown wants us to celebrate our Britishness. Bloody Scots git, rubbing it in like that. Still, whenever anyone starts talking about wanting to celebrate our nationality, I always get nervous and want to check that all the exits are clear. After all, what are we but a nation of woad enthusiasts who got a leg up by the sheer dumb luck of being invaded by the most advanced civilisation of the time and then proceeding to leech off of the misery and toil of others for most of the next few millenia. Maybe we should start by apologising. After all, we get the routine down pat and then we can teach it to the Americans to start apologising for all the shit they're doing to the world right now.

I've just finished watching the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives. A whole ninety minutes of pointlessness. I haven't seen the original so I don't know whether it was as vacuous as this. It seems to think it's taking digs about the politically correct and incorrect but in the end comes out muted, it doesn't revel in the behaviour of the men (you've turned your wife into a robot so you can use her as a cash machine?) but nor does it show the alternative to be much better. The characters play as stereotypes for most of the film, then get brief moments to make a speech to show their individuality. And if this is a town where men are 'real' men and women are 'real' women then what are the gay couple doing there? At least the scene where the Stepford Wives are being innocently insulting towards 'the only Jew in the village' seemed to have some point. And I assume the joke about how no-one would notice a town of robot women in Conneticut would get laughs in the United States?

This film has nothing to say to anyone about anything. But at least it's that rarest of things these days, a ninety minute film.

A Very Nice Skirt
Originally uploaded by Loz Flowers.

Is it supposed to be a bad thing to be a trannie and to buy stuff from maternity shops? Jojo Maman Bebe. You're not getting a side view so you can compare my shape you evil bastards.

It's certainly the skirt with the thinnest material, as I tend to go for denim and such. My first summer skirt.

'The Women of WW2' Statue on Whitehall
Originally uploaded by Loz Flowers.

I'm not sure what I think of this. A step towards redressing the balance of Whitehall as a parade of white male killers and conquerors? The fact these uniforms are empty, does that make this stand for everywoman or no-woman?

28- What Big Teeth You Have Grandma
Originally uploaded by Loz Flowers.

You're a hyper-intelligent alien. You would sooner gnaw off your own arm than miss an opportunity to swing your vast intellect around. Immense, sarcastic and fluent in Klingon, you're a big hit with the opposite sex...but only on-line. In reality, your complete lack of empathy means that your closest relationship is with your computer. Your favourite colour is motherboard orange, but who cares?

What Type of Alien Are You?

I think someone must have slipped drugs into my water supply during the night as I have a vivid image of George Galloway pretending to be a cat on Big Brother while Rula Lenska cleaned his whiskers. Maybe this was his way of engaging with the viewers by play-acting the relationship between Blair and Bush, although for accuracy's sake he should have been trying to sniff her arse while she completely ignored him.

But anyway, Labour minister starts petition accusing Galloway of egotism.

Genius! Get Back to Work George Galloway! [via Plasticbag]

I'm going in to town this afternoon. If I don't, I may well go nuts. I don't have much of a plan, I may go to Tate Modern, might walk past the Houses of Parliament and then up to the National Gallery, then there's always Gosh comics... I don't remember when I last went into town. Well, going in to Cannon Street on my way to my parents for Christmas doesn't count. But I sat around yesterday feeling increasingly edgy and I know... I've got to get out of here!

Alan Moore on Gothic Nightmares.

Who said the Brit Awards were a load of shit?

Things have been quiet on the ID card for a while now, but here's news about the voluntary aspect: You can choose to carry them or you can choose to pay the £2500 fine.

People could be evicted from their own homes for three months if they are nuisance neighbours, under a new action plan for Tony Blair's "respect agenda".

Hang on. Where are people supposed to go for three months? Where do they live? What happens to their houses? Are they still paying mortgages or rent on a property they have no access to? It's all very well saying people should think of others before they are antisocial but how many families could afford both a mortgage and rent for somewhere else for three months?

Mr Blair set up a "respect" task force last year and the plans are the first real fruits of its work.

See, this is what happens when you ask Daily Mail readers for their opinion.

So, George Galloway's voting record. Even though his voting record has no clear relation to how often he turns up in the Commons, it would rather suggest he doesn't do much when he does go in... (More on him from Diamond Geezer, a constituent)

What I didn't realise was that he replaced Oona King who, according to The Public Whip, was against the War in Iraq. I assumed that, because he stood against her, she was a pro-war MP. Aaaah, 'ultra-loyal Blairite' who supported the war whereas TPW lists her as being a rebel. Unless there's another Oona King and another Bethnal Green and Bow...

UPDATE: It's alright, someone's pointed out my stupidity and confusion and corrected it.

What's the longest time you've ever microwaved something? I don't mean giving it a minute, getting it out and stirring it, doing it for another minute and stirring it, doing it for another minute... I mean putting it on for an uninterupted period of time. I'm doing a cauliflower cheese meal which requires nine-and-a-half minutes of precious radiation and looking at the dial on my microwave I don't think I've had to go over ten minutes, but it goes all the way up to 60 minutes. What needs sixty minutes cooking? Could it actually work for sixty minutes straight without doing the explodey?

The ex-UN commander in Bosnia General Sir Michael Rose said Mr Blair had to take responsibility for his actions. "To go to war on what turns out to be false grounds is something that no one should be allowed to walk away from," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Hmmm, if Newsnight take this up I suspect the Government may field Eric Joyce to deal with it. He normally gets called up when Blair is attacked on military issues.

A Downing Street spokesman said Sir Michael was entitled to his view but had been retired for some time.

And that could well be what he says too. As Tim Ireland points out, Sir Michael said it was a bad idea before it happened.

He had a stroke and never recovered. It's a shame because before Labour took power and in it's early days he was quite a maverick. It's less of a shame because, by the time he left politics last year the party machine had stripped away his individuality making him another Blair's man. But he's gone to a better place. And you know what? In heaven, it's the Olympics every day!

Here. Then this.

Thusly transvestite.

This post is brought to you by a bloke in a very nice brown skirt. A true story is that I lived literally down the road from a Transformation shop when I was in Birmingham for two years of a three year course. Well, it was up the road and next to a papershop, but you could walk it in about a minute. Despite the fact that nothing I could have done would have shocked my flatmates I never got the courage to go in there, which was something I'd always sort of regretted, until reading Siobhan's posts.

Apparently Rob Brydon doesn't let his children watch Little Britain.




... Wish he was my Dad...

Apparently Charles Kennedy hates Ming Campbell and doesn't want him to replace him. Tcha, those wacky Scots huh?

Well, the Lib Dems must be happy, they got Charles Kennedy to resign as leader of the party. The man was never perfect but only in the Lib Dems would you reward someone for the most success you've had in decades by starting a whispering campaign to get rid of them. So far Sir Menzies Campbell has indicated he will stand for the position of leader, he's a good choice but I'm unconvinced he'll do any better. But let's hope it's not one of the no-mark brothers, Mark Oaten or Simon Hughes, charisma black-holes the pair of them.

Does this man ever go to the Commons? If he hasn't been voted out by Monday then he's abandoned his constituents.

Battle-Action Bush and the Keyboard Kommandos.

This could be the big one. Never mind American arguments about what should be taught in lessons that the kids are sleeping through anyway, in Italy a Judge has ordered that a priest proves that Jesus existed. An Italian atheist wrote a book called Well That About Wraps It Up For God (all right, The Fable of Christ, but wouldn't it have been great?), a Priest denounced him and now he's being accused of 'abuse of popular credulity' and 'impersonation'.

Definitions of those two terms can be found here, but the long and short is that the Catholic Church have lied by misrepresentation of facts and claiming they are actual historical events.

And so soon after Christmas too! Although Googling would suggest this issue has been going for many years. I'm all confused. Unless The Times is only now reporting something that happened last year, and two years before that, and two years prior to that as well and...

The head of the Muslim Council of Britain says homosexuals and homosexuality are 'a threat to the foundation of society'. You'd think that he might have learnt not to use such langauge considering all the work he's been forced to do since September 2001 to persuade the more stupid racist elements of British society that Islam isn't a religion of genocidal fuckwits.

The Home Office yesterday opened an investigation into allegations that officials had operated a "sex for passports" scam at the Lunar House immigration centre in Croydon, south London.

Looks to me like someone is following the example David Blunkett set before he lost his ministerial job for the first time...

It takes a certain something, to heavily advertise your Channel showing The Matrix next Monday as though it were some sort of exclusive, six years after it was released...

Shrubya has started sketching out his plans for those words Iraqis want to hear: The US leaving Iraq. The Daily Telegraph reports it as Bush cuts off cash for rebuilding Iraq but as Iraq was being 'rebuilt' by US companies, because trying to invest Iraqis in rebuilding their own country would be a mad idea, when the existing money has been used up, a lot of them will pull out, except for those whose job is to steal the Iraqi oil for the US car-driving public. And when they go the Iraqi people will finally get to rebuild their country as most of the US money at the moment seems to be going towards training normal Iraqis to get in the way of the fanatics trying to blow up the Americans.

According to a couple of entries in Talking Points Memo, off-again, on-again American stooge Ahmad Chalabi won less than 1% of the vote in the Iraqi elections, but still gets to run the Iraqi Oil Ministry, so it would seem that Shrubya's finally got something to be happy about. He got to get rid of someone he didn't like and show his Daddy who the big man is and has ensured that the US can go on pollutin' for a bit longer.

This is probably the final nail in the coffin of music singles sales: Tony Christie's (Is This The Way To) Amarillo was the best-selling single of 2005. Number Two was some chancer from The X-Factor so he's only there because he won that a few weeks ago and will probably never trouble us again and number three is the bloody Crazy Frog.

A story issued by financial news agency AFX on Sunday... has left a series of red faces by faithfully reporting a press release from "the independent state of Narnia". The story claimed Narnia had walked out of the World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong because it was fed up with being bullied by the US and Europe. [via BoingBoing]

Joss Whedon tells you what's going to happen on American telly in 2006.

Lost has that one-of-a-kind alchemy that really can't be copied. Therefore, look for the original series Misplaced, as well as Unfound, Not So Much with the Whereabouts and Just Pull Over and Ask!


As I may have mentioned last year, Christmas telly was crap. When you're listing the latest episodes of stuff you'd been watching during the year as highlights, you know you're in trouble.

There was Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion but even that didn't work. I don't know what it is, but the weakest elements of the relaunch have been the present day stuff but apparently the farting aliens are beloved by small children everywhere, so I suppose we're stuck with them. Which is not to say tCI didn't have it's good moments, namely 39:27 minutes in (when the TARDIS doors open to reveal the Doctor) to 43:42 (when the Doctor challenges the 'Big Fella' to a duel). The rest of it had some funny lines but was a drawn out whole world gets into trouble then waits for the Doctor to save them. It was dull. It looked cheap. And the Doctor spent most of it unconscious. It might have been more interesting if he was off his head and just making things worse by his interfering before pulling himself together for the finale. But really we're now waiting a few months for the next series.

ITV4 did show Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism late one evening, though I couldn't find it using my Sky box's 'A-Z listings' of programs. I wonder why? Anyway, I still got hold of it and it's cracking viewing. You can find it pretty easily via BitTorrents too.

(Meanwhile, why not read about how a Murdoch newspaper does a 'Ken Livingstone' and compares the Jewish director of Outfoxed to a Nazi, or read the producer Jim Gilliam's blog)

The only other program of note was The Return of the Goodies about the Seventies TV show, though only the BBC would think them worthy of a ninety-minute documentary but then not show any of their shows afterwards, whereas Porridge and Dad's fucking Army have been shown pretty much continually sinced they were made. I would guess that the BBC are punishing them for taking their show to ITV but Morecambe and Wise did the same and still get shown, and each of them still get regular employment by the Beeb just doing other things.

As it used to get shown on BBC2 they could even show it on BBC1 and call it a new series. That seems to be what Auntie is doing with The Thick of It which is starting on BBC2 tonight. It's a 'new series', except, what's that down at the bottom of the entry in the Radio Times? 'First shown on BBC4'. So it's actually a repeat from elsewhere? Other channels don't count now? Even other BBC channels? What do we get next? The Eastenders episodes on BBC3 being publicised as entirely new material? All right, it's not up there with Fox News for deceit, but still, get it right!

Paul and Anne are about to find out if they are expecting.

Happy new year folks!