Wine-y Me

I had planned to go and see the new Harry Potter film tonight. Plan. That's the operative word here. Instead I'm watching an ftp download bounce from 23 minutes to 6 hours. It's going to be a long night. I'd love to leave it but I'm an idiot and didn't realize this particular image had a newer version. I also didn't bother checking. (See: idiot.) Never let your guard down around computers. They can smell you.

To pass the time I'm going through my clippings folder on Bloglines. The amount of things I've clipped and then ignored is decently sized. My eyes are bigger than my brain, or something.

Today I found a press release for MemWine. It's useful little tool to make notes on what kind of wine you liked, didn't like, impressions or even just make a note of the ones you've tried. I'm not sure how practical it is for me since my wireless capabilities are completely limited to having a cell phone. Though given how much time I do spend online, I might be more likely to update something like this than a little leather bound notebook. My husband and I tend to keep bottles of the things we like anyway such as a nice Sirius Bordeaux which we might use for a later update.

The MemWine website is a little primitive but if it gets enough users, enough sponsors and enough money then it might get itself a little better user interface. That being said, FitDay is similarly primitive and has an absolute ton of users. They also appear to have some very neat little things added on to the wine database such as price predictions and award winning vineyards.

It's pretty buggy at the moment. I couldn't add the 2002 Sirius Bordeaux to my list of wines without a few SQL errors but it's a damned good idea. Hopefully they'll smooth it out.

del.icio.us Tags: wines, web*stuff, interesting, boredom

Tags: wines , web*stuff , interesting , boredom

Neil Goldschmidt, a little girl and the guy who broke the story

On the Association of Alternative Newspapers' website there's a lengthy and fascinating series of articles on how Nigel Jaquiss broke the story of former Oregon State Governer Neil Goldschmidt and his statutory rape of a 14 year old girl. Every so often I still check the Willamette Week site to see what's happening in my home land. I fully detest the Oregonian and it's makeup of AP stories and conservative reporting. It's such a shoddy paper that my old debate coach wouldn't let us use it as sources for extemporaneous speaking rounds.

I don't see any really legitimate reason for liking Willamette Week any more than the Oregonian just that it's free and the event listings are better. I've also found that they report on the things you don't generally see in the AP such as the Goldschmidt affair.

I have to admit to being completely riveted by the whole tale. As a child I remember watching him on television and thinking that's what all politicians looked like. He was virtually revered as a state hero for his various initiatives including the SMART reading initiative that puts people in schools to read to children. The discovery that he had a tainted sexual past didn't particularly shock me. I was raised on a diet of Kennedy affairs resulting cover-ups and the weekly revelation that someone Marilyn Monroe was murdered by some of the most influential men of the country.

It does put his involvement with the Oregon Board of Education into a pretty, er, questionable light. Who's to say he's not still interested in 14 year old girls? I have to concede him this though he did confess and resign as soon as everything came to light and he did it so quickly that I wonder if he hadn't been planning for this for 30 years.

Anyway, it's good to see that there is still some quality journalism left. The author of the original WW article mentions things like 'burden of proof' which appears to be left out of more legitimate newspapers like The Guardian and even to some degree, the Beeb.

del.icio.us Tags: Neil*Goldschmidt, politics, Oregon, Portland

Taxes!

I'm in the process of attempting to sort out the tangled mess of US/UK taxes. I've been living here for 5 years and paying the UK government extortionate amounts of money to waste on horrible political decisions but now the US government wants it's cut. I'm not even sure where to start.

In my desperation to find advice from people who have done similar I went to this site and discovered that the maintainer wants 15 bucks a year for a fucking forum. No thanks missy. If I wanted to spend more money in stupid, pissy little ways then I'd certainly not choose to use your board where help might not be part of the ordeal. So strike that.

According to this flow chart it's possible I'm not even a US resident anymore. That would be the preferable situation but only for 2003 to 2005. That still leaves 2000 and 2001.

Finally I phoned the IRS office in Philly and discovered everything is a lot simpler than it seems. The US government doesn't require any documentation from the UK government which makes things a lot easier. What they do require is my foreign husband have a Tax ID number but I can do all of the applications at the same time. The process looks something like this:

1. Fill out 1040 and 2555EZ
2. Apply for foreign income exclusion
3. Apply for the bona fide residence test
4. Get a notarized copy of my husband's passport by a US authority, Hague appointed agency or the Home Office.
5. Fill out the W7 form and send with the tax forms to the office that deals with TIDs.

A lot simpler than I originally thought and for the price of a call to Philly. Sometimes you can't beat just talking to someone.

del.icio.us Tags: expats, us*taxes, uk*taxes, taxes

Tags: expats , us taxes , uk taxes , taxes

Little Movie

Mr. Me and I made a little movie that's on You Tube

It's a monkey dancing.

del.icio.us Tags: movies, youtube

Tags: movies , youtube

Abercrombie and Fitch takes shirts off the shelves?

They've been banned by schools, and Girlcotted. What are they? T-shirts. Abercrombie and Fitch T-Shirts by the look of it. In a press release they've conceded to the demands of the Women and Girls Foundation of Western Pennsylvania. Now, a Girlcott isn't an accessory for little baby doll carriages. It's actually a boycott but done with females. (Geddit?) And these ladies seem to feel rather jubilant about Abercrombie's accession.

Why? The Chicago Tribune has a rather gleeful slideshow of the shirts in question here.

The first: Brunettes are ignored, Blondes are adored - It's no worse than lady Clairol ads.

The second: Available for Parties - Ok. I can't really see why that would be even moderately offensive. I have a job, no children and demand equal pay but I'm also available for parties. Especially if you have free Tequila.

The third: Freshman 15 and some names - I don't have the 'tude to even understand this one.

The fourth: I had a nightmare I was a brunette - I swear I've seen this one in Blackpool.

The fifth: Who needs brains when you have these? Ok, I know I've seen this one at a seaside town. Probably right along side the sucky penis' candy and pasta boobies.

I am so unbelievably tired of people boycotting Abercrombie and succeeding. Wasn't it just last year that their 'ethnic slur' seaside shirt range was causing the Jewish association of Jewish people in Jewish Harlem to get all up in arms? Yep, here's the link to boycott A&F.

I wonder, has it ever occurred to any of these people the reason the t-shirts are so 'offensive' or 'tongue in cheek' is to ruffle a few feathers? Otherwise how does an inherently mediocre retailer going to boost sales?

del.icio.us Tags: abercrombie, boycotts, girlcotts, politics, dumb

Tags: abercrombie , abercrombie and fitch , boycott , girlcott , dumb

Ebay clear out!

Part one of a massive Ebay clear out my husband and I are having.

Hi guys. Mr. Me and I are having a clear out! Check what we have listed:

Clothes:

Orange Chinese style dress, never worn with tags

Tan Vera Moda rain coat

Men's silver Skater/Goth/Rock/Punk/Cyber style trousers

men's 32L brown trousers casual

Men's blue silk effect shirt

men's red rose print shirt goth/club

Levi's women's silver tab 'guy fit' dark blue

men's 3 piece taupe suit

Men's three piece green dogtooth suit

Movie posters/promos/cinema banners:

Scorpion King original cinema banner

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring cinema banner

Ali G in Da House cinema banner

Another article on women in gaming written by a man

I've just sent a letter to the editor to the Escapist online gaming mag regarding their most recent exposition on why women don't game. It's an equally rambling diatribe on how the penis automatically disqualifies those who are wondering why the penis-less aren't gaming. I'm pretty fed up with all these fucking questions. Honestly, I can't think of any other industries that put so much damned focus on why the members of my gender aren't active participants.

I game. In fact, I fucking love gaming. Check my review on Cross Racing Championship 2005. I mention Test Drive! TEST DRIVE! That's how long I've been gaming for. I even remembered how to shift after I busted my first Mustang's transmission.

The letter:

To the editor:

I had a read through the rather lengthy an slightly sourced article on evolutionary psychology and how it relates to women in gaming. There's a lot of reasoning I can't fault there, it's based off of the usual assumptions and well known 'facts' about how some of society was created. What I hate, loathe and wish would stop is a bunch of male writers babbling on about how or why we don't play the games on offer. The article, while it doesn't mention it directly, emphasizes one of my major irritations when it comes to the women gamer issue: men being the only people qualified, allegedly, to assess what a modern female wants out of gaming.

I started playing games a long time ago. My first shooter was Doom and most recently was Doom 3. I also love RPGs and strategy. I even tried to get the amulet of Yendor in Rogue. I've been gaming for a damned long time and have only played a Sims style game once and have never touched anything in pink packaging that wasn't a pen of some kind. Goes a little against that evolutionary theory, doesn't it? There are a lot more of my type out there and many of us just don't want to come near a person who assumes our desires are dictated by sitting around a campfire nursing a bunch of wailing little monsters. Why would we? Who likes to have their motives questioned by people without the necessary equipment? No one asks, for example, why men don't seem to like Singles 2 that much.

Why don't you ask the women who do and don't game? I can tell you my answer for not wanting to become more involved with the industry or visible in the community; much of the more vocal members are complete morons. Honestly. Have you seen Penny Arcade's comma and period sketches? That's about right. Unfortunately those very difficult to avoid gamers are also the ones who are going to go 'UR A CHICK AND SUCK MY DICKK!!!!' Friendly welcome right?

There are the usual problems with the game industry as well. The plethora of half naked babes is a good one and the insane insistence that all things marketed to the female be in pastels is another. Do us a favor though and concentrate on those things that can theoretically be fixed. Stay the hell away from the anthropology text books and just write about how underwhelming the game industry is over all. My guess is quality products and fewer muppets on the boards will at least bring some of us out of hiding.

Seriously people, leave us the hell alone.

del.icio.us Tags: women*gamers, women*gaming, gaming, games, CRC*2005

Tags: women gamers , women gaming , gaming , games , Cross Racing Championship 2005