Random troll doesn't think I'm pretty. OH NO.

Oh dear.

So, you know, proving that people can miss the point completely and there's a certain element of men that shouldn't even be seen, we have Ken!

Funny, but the women's movement of the 1960's was full of young, college aged idealistic women. Unless your living in a cave, there are images replete with these young women marching against patriarchy and male oppression. Secondly, it's reasonable to say that all anti-feminists are not attractive, either, judging by that stank pic of yours.

Huh? It's like the 20s never happened.

Your is er, you're.

Also, what the hell is an 'anti-feminist?' Is he insinuating I'm not a feminist?

I also love how he starts to argue and then just calls me stank.

Pretty much par for the course then.

Oh wait, Ken didn't actually read beyond the title of the post. That's what's going on here.

It's called sarcasm you idiot. Get off my side.

Offensive Google Searches?

I'm working on some things for the Manchester Requiem Game today. I like to try and keep things as true to life as possible. So, Jewish neighborhoods in real life Manchester are Jewish neighborhoods in World of Darkness Manchester.

I did a Google search to try and identify places where there might me temples, rabbis, or known communities. My query was Jewish Neighborhoods in Manchester. (Oddly right?)

I managed to get the information I was looking for but also got this at the top of my search results.

If you recently used Google to search for the word "Jew," you may have seen results that were very disturbing. We assure you that the views expressed by the sites in your results are not in any way endorsed by Google. We'd like to explain why you're seeing these results when you conduct this search.

A site's ranking in Google's search results relies heavily on computer algorithms using thousands of factors to calculate a page's relevance to a given query. Sometimes subtleties of language cause anomalies to appear that cannot be predicted. A search for "Jew" brings up one such unexpected result.

If you use Google to search for "Judaism," "Jewish" or "Jewish people," the results are informative and relevant. So why is a search for "Jew" different? One reason is that the word "Jew" is often used in an anti-Semitic context. Jewish organizations are more likely to use the word "Jewish" when talking about members of their faith.

It's strange and sad Google feels the need to explain search algorithms and how prejudice can crop up in results. The distinction between Jew and Jewish is also something I never realized. An education for all I guess.

Barak underestimates voter intelligence

Wait, so, the thing Barak Obama has harped on about for the last month... he can't do, at all himself?

I love election season!

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Barack Obama, who's been scolding Hillary Rodham Clinton for not hastening the release of records from her time as first lady, says he can't step up and produce his own records from his days in the Illinois state Senate. He says he hasn't got any.

"I don't have - I don't maintain - a file of eight years of work in the state Senate because I didn't have the resources available to maintain those kinds of records," he said at a recent campaign stop in Iowa. He said he wasn't sure where any cache of records might have gone, adding, "It could have been thrown out. I haven't been in the state Senate now for quite some time."

Uh-huh. You know, I don't care what politician you are, like the nice people in the AP article say, you have an ego. And be it a long letter thanking you for your policy towards welfare, or just one saying you're a superstar hot man, you have to have kept something.

Obama, Who Rapped Clinton on Records, Says He Has None From His Illinois State Senate Days

Blogger is really pissing me off

God damn it. FTP publishing problems again.

Why am I using this as a back end? Seriously.

If I didn't hate the Wordpress editor so much I would use them.

Grrrr.

Live Blogging Gok! (How to Look Good Naked!)

Oh my god! I am so excited. I love Gok. If he had a fan club, I'd be part of Gok's fan club. How to Look Good Naked is back on television. It's by far the best make-over program on British television. It isn't cruel, or overly critical. It's just honest and hosted by what seems like the nicest guy in the whole world. Every time I watch it I feel a little better about my body.


Liveblogging How to Look Good Naked.

She doesn't like her body. I have bulgy bits. :(

Boob reductions. Freaks Gok out. Poor Gok!

They don't sleep in the same bed. That's really sad. She says her husband is lying when he compliments her. Gok has her in her underwear. Ahhh, she looks so sad, like she wants to cry.

Why does Gok have blond streaks?!

She says she wants to be happy about who she is. Gok is hugging her. I love this show so much. I love Gok so much! Ahhh, he's making her feel better I think. Her husband seems really sad too. Poor lady is a ballet instructor!

Apparently UK bra sizes are getting bigger. Gok is obsessed with boobs. It's breast comparison time! Gok really loves boobs. Like really. He also really likes the word 'banger.' More complete body distortion from Sonia. She thinks her boobs are massive, they are but aren't that big.

They're leaving us with lots of naked ladies in York. What, OTC chemical peels don't work you say? NEVER.

I just lost like 10 minutes of posting. God damn it.

Anyway, to sum, Gok called her breasts Hooters. Empire waists are good for pear shapes, I think A line for straight down.

She really does have a nice waist.

GOK HATES CROCS. I WAS RIGHT.

Poor thing, she's freaking out about having fat ankles. Gosh, 5'11", wow.

Oh, Gok, Dita did corset training though. That's not good.

I am a little distressed that this woman's wardrobe looks like mine. Depressed Cure fan. Yes.

Hee-hee, Gok looks like Papa Smurf in his little hat.

Mr. Me says his wardrobe is pretty much black as well.

That dress looks like Victorian wallpaper. Yes, they would notice. Because it looks like something from a particularly deranged Grand Designs. LOL, dirty hussy.

That body shaper thing is awesome.

Ahhh, he's made her look nice. That dress is enormously flattering, despite the Victorian wallpaper print. It's really strange, she didn't look 5'11" at the beginning of this show.

Oh, I don't like that belt. It looks like a miniature saddle. A symn thingie dress for small boobs, strapless for big. Gok just said 'fierce,' he's getting camper.


Gok just had a bunch of naked women in York complimenting each other. It was great.

OH, the Spongebob shorts. They really were square shaped.

She bought a new bra and showed her husband. Definitely progress.

Breasticles now, how many more words for breasts?

The lingerie models are all normal sized women. :)

Straight cut jeans are very flattering. He's slapping her bottom.

Rules of jeans!

High waisted skinny and flared. Uberskinny for high waisted. Flared are good for pear shaped. Boot cuts are good for tall girls, not for short. Don't buy things with distress or embroidery on the upper thighs. High rise for bootylicious.

I don't like that weird tye die thing Gok put on her. I kind of understand the point though.

Really pretty printed dress. It's good to be tall.

I think that castle is up near Scotland. I love that Gok calls them gorgeous and hugs them all the time. It's naked photo time! No more fashion shows at the Trafford Centre. Oh, she's crying, poor thing.

How horrible is it that a tall curvy girl is afraid of being naked. Aghhhh. Screw our society. White hat now, Gok still looks like a smurf.

Beauty therapist is horrified she just uses a bar of soap.

Cleanse and polish by Liz Earle.

Eye cream, Estee Lauder advanced night repair.

Aromatherapy associates rose and sandlewood.

Prescriptives mask for winter.

It's hair time! He's giving her extensions. Aghhhh!

She looks like a very tall Britney. She's very enthused about the long hair.

She's going for the naked. Do they ever not? Photographer Mike Owen.

She has really nice teeth.

I'm quite teary. She says Gok made a big difference. Fashion show at the Trafford Centre again!

Consumer test.... Army of naked testers :). DIY chemical peels... I don't like Emma as much as Dawn. Apparently OTC peels can't, by law, have as many chemicals.

Apparently they work 'deeper in the skin.' It all kind of sounds like BS to me.

LÓreal in 4th place, Roc in 3rd, Time Delay was 2nd, Ole Henrickson the 95 pound one came in first. Not worth it according to the Army of Naked Testers. 42/100 doesn't sound worth it.

WHY HAVE I NEVER SEEN GOK IN THE TRAFFORD CENTRE? GOD DAMN IT.

I am such a fan girl. Mr. Me wants to know if these people haven't ever seen this show before. They're always shocked when they want them to prance around in their underwear. 'No such thing as can't in Gok World.' His hair is really short now.

The music people on this show need to be shot. Girls Aloud 'Walk this way?'

She looks so beautiful. The blunt fringe is great. No, wait, he has extensions, the blond thing is back. I love that the models in this show are like little to big sized. It's awesome to see.

I love this part, I love it when they go out in their underwear. Oh! No bra!

This show always makes me sniffly. Actually she looks a lot like Drew Barrymore now.

Divorce papers were in the house :(. All body confidence? I don't know. Do people get divorced over these things?

Ahhhh, it's over now. I'm all weepy. It's so nice to watch something on television that has nothing to do with plastic surgery or terrifying Sloane Rangers. Inevitably I just feel better about everything physical when it comes to Gok. Give the man a knighthood!

Edit: This was supposed to be live blogging. It's kind of hard to do that when the FTP publish isn't working (again, again.)

Sony sells something for the TWA/T in you.

Oh my God.

I really don't think Sony thought through the marketing here.



via The Consumerist

Edit: Ahhhh. Looks like Sony changed it :(

Feminists are ugly single middle aged women. That's why they're feminists!

There's a whole subset of various social sciences that would be pretty surprised at the revelation in the title.

Glenn Stacks wrote a pretty decent response to the idea that liberal women are ugly and conservative women are attractive. He points out that you can find pleasant aesthetics in both political parties easily and frequently such campaigns are a tad biased.

Not to mention more than a little bit silly, since being attractive isn't a valid political platform.

Sadly Stacks is let down by his readers who betray the usual ignorance about a political movement and its motivations. Below are a collection of comments from the great and good of Stacks' readers!

I would point out that there are DAMNED FEW attractive feminists, though, whatever you might believe about Susan Estrich.

Lack of attractiveness results in quite a few middle-aged, embittered women, women who are ready, willing, and able to declare war on men. They did not have a line of men vying for the right to support them and their life-choices, looked around for a convenient class of oppressor and learned in their Womyn's Studies that they were being oppressed by MEN all along!

9's and 10's among women generally do not NEED those artificially constructed entitlements and privileges for women - they have men willing and able to cater to their comforts and needs.

So…. don't get caught up in Ann Friendman's ovary-think, Glenn.

That's right, because the 9s and 10s among women don't need equal pay, sexual harassment laws or maternity leave. Consider this WAR bucko! WAR.

Even if all feminists looked like a model their obnoxious, hate mongering will allow them the same dislike and distrust as the ugly male-haters get today.

Yeah, that's right, my desire to be judged equally to those with a penis makes me a man hater. Good logic there Christian.

If the Democratic women out there don't like it: tough sh*t. Hey, it's not like they are reasonable or fair towards us men.

OH MY GOD. HOW DID HE KNOW? The female Democratic platform is designed to oppress MEN. Obviously.

He is though of course correct. I took my oldest son to lunch today. He was approached by a woman I didn't know who was very friendly to him. It turns out she is the mother of a girl who is his long time peer and class mate.

She looked at me kind of strange. She was very friendly on the surface. She obvfiously knew nothing about me — asking whether I lived in town, for example.

It my be my imagination, but I couldn't help but think she was viewing me badly — as a deadbeat dad, etc. I am and always have paid my child support, but this is how all noncustoidal parents are viewed due to all the ugly propaganda.

Or she could have responded strangely to him because he was acting a little paranoid.

Maybe Republican women are more "attractive" than Democratic women because Republican women are trying harder to "attract" men. Why should I want a relationship , political or otherwise, with women who keep telling me that I'm not worth attracting?

BobH, I can't imagine why you're single.

I can understand Glenn possibly wanting to show the other side how "decent" MRAs are, but not until we see a little decency from that side of the gender aisle. We were "decent" when we gave them the right to vote. We were "decent" when we supported women's lib in the 60's. How has that decency been returned? Let me twist that knife in your back just to give you a little reminder.

I see. So, because we were given basic human rights under the constitution, we should be forever grateful and keep our mouths shut? Sorry, I didn't realize I'd offended you.

The trouble is a whole lot of us have met a lot of "feminists" and we have been hearing about feminism one way or another just about everyday of our life and many of have yet to meet a feminist who actually believes in equality between men and women. If that were the case the "feminists" would have stopped taking all the privileges, special rights, and special advantages they have been hogging (the anaolgy fits) for decades now and accepted equal responsibilities with equal rights.

I think this is Dennis but he signed that bit Denis. Don't worry Dennis/Denis, I did the same thing at Thanksgiving when I was about 9. My uncle thought it was hilarious.

And you're spot on there D, I'll take all my rights to vote, work, wear pants in the office and not get hit on by my boss! It's great.

….Most of the feminists I've met were about hogging more state/federal femi-pork by promulgateing more and more women-as-victim agit prop on every billboard that could hold another poster!!

Yep. Rape awareness=agitprop.

What strikes me most about these stunning examples of critical thought is how damned angry they are. How would you ever, ever, ever get the idea that women are at all viewed equally? When was the last time you saw a male conservative/liberal poster of hot or not?

"Your Women Are Ugly!" is not a political argument via

Off topic, what amused the hell out of me is all the UK flash advertisements on Men's News Daily are for The Sun. The same paper that features page 3 girls.... and articles so good 8 year olds could read them. Maybe men are more put upon than I thought....

30 days of utter, utter crap. (Spoilers)

Mr. Me, Andy-Across-The-Road and I braved the horrible Wigan Empire last night to go see 30 Days of Night.

I wish I hadn't. On the way out of watching it I ranted about how I'd excreted things more frightening than this vile pile of nonsense. Actually, the vending machine coffee on my desk fills me with far more fear than anything surrounding this cinematic release. In its depths, I can see true terror. Will it taste of coffee or... SOMETHING ELSE?! I was bored, or bored until I realized that I was watching something that made as much sense as running outside in the pouring rain with nothing on but a poncho, a cheese hat and a g-string. Then I was filled with fury.

Why? Why the ire?

Firstly because I spent 2 hours watching dwindling numbers of heroic survivors trying to cross the street. The big station, the thing that would Eventually Save Them All? It was approximately 50 feet away from where they hid in the attack for an alleged two god damned weeks. That's right, even though they spent around an hour running out into the road to save the plebs that kept leaving the attic, not once did they haul to the protection of the station thingie.

Not that you would know any time had passed, you know, ever. The tough-yet-vulnerable heroine of the piece was still wearing lipstick up to about 25 days of their endeavor. And everyone, save looking a little pale, were pleasantly plump. Despite the fact that they'd presumably been living on a box of tinned cookies for 2 weeks. Since they couldn't exactly cook anything on a wooden floor. If this film is to be believed, the only real side effect of hovering around in a town overrun by chirping vampires is your hair gets a bit frizzy.

At least crazy ass Billy had the decency to look a little gone and bedraggled. And how is it that Billy came to shoot his whole family anyway? Dear editing and script writing teams, it's called foreshadowing. Because, if you don't, then no one cares about the fellow copper falling to pieces toward the end. You just go "oh, ok then."

And then, the great and glorious hero of the movie, he did all the running. The big problem with this? The conciliator was asthmatic. Like any sensible cinema going person I figured the Salbutamol inhalers would be a sort of plot crux. Like, he runs and runs and then his lungs start caving in on him. No, he did all sorts of running in a pleasantly thin atmosphere without a single attack. Wait! There was one, while they were still in the house. And instead of him breaking down into a frenzied panic when it looked like his inhaler had run out, he just lay there, breathing deeply. This film was so full of red herrings it may as well be a tin labeled sardines.

And the vampires. Oh dear god, the vampires. Not only were they the most irritating vampires ever, what with their demonic chirping imitations and the stupid scene where the girl rolls around on the floor going "OOHHHHH, OOOHHHHH" after being gunned down by Mr. Cop Hero's ultraviolet light of death, they were also damned stupid.

Let me think, you're a predator intent on party time in a place where you don't have to hide from the sunlight. You eat everything that you can see, yet you don't start burning houses or ripping them apart to find more food. You send a stupid girl out into the street as the most obvious bait, you know, ever. Toward the end, the Vampiric Mr. Cop Hero, says he can smell the blood of his friends and family. Yet, when the vampires were wandering through the house, they had no idea someone was 10 feet above them and slightly to the left.

Ok then.

And those are just the things I can remember the next morning. Admittedly, much of the "plot" is completely overshadowed by the dull ache in my upper right arm. My flu jab has kind of taken over the place in my brain where this movie lived. The worst thing about it is I had time and inclination to notice any of the above at all. That's a bad sign for a movie. I can handle plot holes.... as long as there's something else going on. And there just wasn't.

See it at your peril.

Edit: For some reason Blogger is now refusing to post spelling changes. AWESOME. I am getting quite pissed off at this. (I know how to spell attic, just so you know.)

Guys and games, GUYS AND GAMES.

For some reason hacks all over the world are convinced you must have dangly bits to enjoy games... despite a lot of compelling evidence to the contrary.

And with that conviction comes boring, tedious revellations about how to gain insight into a man's psyche. Amongst other things.

I honestly shouldn't be surprised at the tone of this article. I mean, it comes from msn.match.com which displays equally hard hitting articles in 'Love during the holidays' and 'He cares for women he's dating, but he's attracted to men. WHAT DO I DO?' (Advice from aunty Tiffany, he's gay for god's sake. See if he's into Erasure and have a grand time singing along to their greatest hits album.)

So, what do consoles say about men (!)?

MSN gathered some of the desperate for money yet employed in decent paying professions, wait, attention seeking instead? great and good of social sciences and gaming to tell us.

Q: What does a PlayStation reveal about a dude?
Arinoldo: The PlayStation 3 may indicate that the user is any “early-adopter,” someone who likes to be the first on the block to have things. Owning the PS3 may also send the message that the person may have deep pockets.

Owen: This is your 21st-century individual who enjoys gaming and demands the best out of his experience—and probably his women. The PS3 guy enjoys life to its fullest. He is sophisticated, intelligent, enjoys competition and is willing to wait for a good thing. He is loyal as well.

Satterfield: This guy is in the know. He knows the right people, goes to the best restaurants and doesn’t wait in line to get into the club. This guy will be difficult to keep up with, as he is always working. When he’s not, he uses videogames as a chance to unwind and relax.

For one thing, who the hell says dude anymore? Was this written by a baby boomer? How the hell will you gain insight into men from ages 18-34 by referring to them as dudes? Hang up your slippers Grandma, it's time to watch your stories.

I'm impressed none of these esteemed panelists didn't just e-mail back and go 'LOLOLOLOLOL.' Especially the one from Gametrailers.com

Arinoldo is the voice of sanity here. The PS3 is damned expensive for what it is. Almost all the "exclusive" titles were quickly released on the 360. There ain't no point in owning one just yet. The other two are the primary reason I stopped reading Valleywag. I refuse to interact, be it passively, with people who spout the crap Satterfield managed to peck. He's also, wrong, wrong, wrong. Anyone with a PS3 is definitely, decisively, out of the know. In fact, one of the leading forum topics today from his website is how PSx games look like crap on the PS3.

And what delightful information can they tell us about Wii owners?

Q. What does a Wii tell a gal about her potential date?
Owen: That he is selfish about his passion, but he knows the Wii is acceptable because of its social interaction functionality. He is smart enough to find a way to continue to game and not scare his date away.

Magnin: Wii says he’s a fun guy. The Wii-mote will force him to get up off the couch and actually get a little exercise while he’s playing. Of all of the consoles, the Wii is probably the best date machine, as a lot more of the games appeal to both sexes. Challenge him to a game of tennis or bowling.

Satterfield: This guy is not the typical slack-jawed, bleary-eyed gamer who wants to sit on the couch staring blankly at the screen for hours on end. You can rest assured that this type of guy is smart with his money as the Wii is only $250 compared to $399 for the Xbox 360 and $599 for the PlayStation.

Oh man. WHAT IS WRONG WITH CALLING MEN MEN AND WOMEN WOMEN? Aghhhh! The last time someone called me a gal.... wait, I don't think anyone has ever called me a gal. The closest was lass by an ex-coworker on a night out, he's from darkest Lancashire, he has an excuse!

So, Owen, CEO of GGL (never heard of it, hardly 1up) in a desperate bid to attact more attention to his copycat gaming site has pitched in. He thinks owning a Wii is selfish, despite a good portion of the games being designed for more than one player. Has he slept through Ninendo's advertising? Does he think Nintendo consoles still focus on Duck Hunt?

Magnin chimes in with the voice of reason. The beast is briefly sated with common sense. I salute you sir. Even Satterfield sounds somewhat coherent in his response.

On to the 360!

Q. And what does the Xbox divulge about its owner?
Arinoldo: There is a wide variety of games available through the Xbox 360... so one may be better able to find games in common with a significant other who may not be an avid gamer. Preferring the Xbox 360 may say that the owner is willing to play cooperatively.

Magnin: Xbox 360 says he’s probably into serious gaming. Take a look at his game stats. Ask him to show you how many hours he spent playing his favorite games. Many guys log 100 to 200 hours on their favorite games.

Satterfield: These guys tend to like extremely violent, visceral games, as well as the social aspect of connecting with friends online. They may be living out an active and social life through games, because they are a bit on the shy side. Xbox 360 fans tend to make good money and like to spend it. These guys are passionate about gaming and that transfers into the bedroom as well.

Oh Sean Satterfield, you are so full of crap. Since when does mastering Lego Starwars mean they'll be er, "passionate." God help the women that take this tripe seriously. I mean, I know the response here is like "It's meant to be a bit of fun!" but then, why write it?

I'm not sure if this deep analysis crosses over to the XX chromosonal in us, but the only newer console I have now is a 360. (I need a wee, but not a Wii. Ha. Ha.) According to Satterfield I am shy and enjoy violence. He's right on one count....

Still having problems with Blogger

Like anyone is going to see this. For some stupid reason a lot of Blogger users can't publish via FTP. Me included. As far as I can tell from the help forums it's been more than 2 days.

*sigh*

Britain is mad Giuliani thinks the NHS sucks

Oh wait, I see. So, every British media outlet under the (S)un can point out the NHS is awful... but the minute someone from overseas does it to counter Michael Moore's idiocy, it's off limits?

Damned Limeys.

n the radio ad, Giuliani, who has suffered prostate cancer, said the U.S. survival rate for the disease was 82 percent, but the survival rate in Britain was just 44 percent "under socialised medicine."

Britain's Health Secretary Alan Johnson said Giuliani's figures were wrong and the survival rate under Britain's National Health Service was in fact much higher.

"The British NHS should not become a political football in American presidential politics," Johnson told The Times newspaper.

"Our rate of prostate cancer survival is actually much higher than has been claimed. The latest data show a survival rate of over 70 percent and rising."

From Cancerpage.com

Bad news there Johnson, it already has. You can thank Sicko for that.

(According to The Telegraph figures for England say they're actually 52.7% for all cancers in women and 44.8% in men. Didn't see any comment from Alan Johnson in that article!)

Edit: Where the hell are Forbes getting this from?! Today, rates are higher - 99 percent in the U.S. and an estimated 74 percent in the U.K.

And if he did...
The former New York mayor got his numbers from an article in the City Journal, a quarterly magazine published by the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank.

Then why is the Telegraph using the same data?

Bad AP.

Weekend Review: Singstar Studios in Manchester!

On Sunday I rounded up a few friends and headed to Manchester Singstar Studios. Oh my god, it was brilliant. I'm writing up the whole experience for Grrlgamer.com but I have to tell a little here.

- Mr. Me is actually a pretty good singer. He scored consistently higher than anyone else!

- Mr. Me and Lucien Doomdark did some great duets.

- Kim is pretty good as well, though goths shouldn't know the words to SClub 7 tunes.

Everyone was a bit fish out of water for the first 15 minutes, then everyone wanted a go.

We had such a good time, pink wigs and all. I was a little disappointed there was no vocal coach as advertised. I was extremely happy my penchant for humiliating myself in public is still there. We ended up at the Retro bar after for some ranting and nut eating.

What was less than awesome about the night was on our trip back from The Best Take-away Ever toward the House of Students, we passed the beginning of a crime scene.

Yesterday we found out it was because a boy was shot in the park, just as we were buying our kebabs.

Weekend Review: Counter Terrorism Night

Anyone who saw V for Vendetta heard the rhyme:

Remember, remember, the 5th of November but there's more:
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...

The 5th of November 1605 is when Guy Fawkes was foiled as he tried to blow up parliament. Like our 4th of July, the English now celebrate this date by shooting fireworks. Unlike our Independence Day, they don't get the day off work. As a result, many celebrations take place at the closest weekend.

Up until Saturday I hadn't actually been to a Bonfire Night. I wanted to, but none of our friends ever seemed particularly inclined towards lighting large fires and shooting rockets into the air. But then this year a friend invited us to his family home near Doncaster to participate in the festivities.

The reason Guy Fawkes night is generally referred to as 'Bonfire Night,' has to do with, er, bonfires. The English celebrate the foiled terrorist attempt by burning things, usually including an effigy of the man himself. For a month before Bonfire Night, most kids from 5-16 plonk themselves in front of a local shop with their own Guy Fawkes to beg for funds to finish him. Some of the cheekier ones, who trust in failing memories, stay out for another few weeks.

But many, our friend included, burn something else. This particular family has a tradition of setting alight Labour Prime Ministers. And this year was a particularly fine example and likeness of Britian's fearless leader. It took old Gordon a good 20 minutes before he began to crumble. Something about dour Presbyterian spirit I expect.

We ate a delicious game pie brought by a fellow reveller. The one thing to mind when eating anything with 'game' in the title is the buckshot. A fair amount of damage to fillings can really disrupt enjoyment of such a tasty treat. Like most English gatherings, the evening turned to drunken tales and a lot of laughter. I really enjoyed it, partially because of the magic of gazing out in a valley full of fireworks. Mostly though, it was due to the company. David managed to corral and excellent group together.

I do think I'd rather participate in the 4th of July. By virtue of being in the summer, the revelry tends to be slightly warmer. No bonfire needed.

Brief interruption to weekend ramblings

I have no idea if any of this will eventually turn up. Rather frustratingly there seem to be communication problems between my host and Blogger..... again.

Just checking through Blogger's FAQ, known issues and bug reports, they've had problems with this in the past.

Very frustrating. :/

Especially since I'm not terribly fond of Wordpress.

Apparently this is a known issue.

Edit2: Blogger support e-mailed me thanking me for my patience... :/

Weekend Review: Friday night dance party!

By time I finally got home on Friday I had just enough time to take a shower, get changed, put on a lot of eyeliner, grab my (sorry, our) VIAO and head out to Sanctimonia. The latter is a smaller, mini-club night run by the same people that do ARA. It's less clubby, more about watching movies and dancing a bit upstairs.

Even though the Mr., myself and our band of merry gentlefolk head out to ARA pretty regularly, we had yet to make a Sanctimonia. But we had purpose this time, I was meant to learn how to use the DJ equipment.

In October at the Manchester Requiem Game, I created a CD for the venue. The idea was Halloween nightclub and I wanted to give the Cammies something to listen to. Just a little atmospheric music, like the Monster Mash and others of its ilk. It went over well, one of the organizers behind ARA seemed to enjoy it and asked off hand if I wanted to DJ. My response was a very enthusiastic yes.

See, I love music. From my first record,Elvis Sings for Children and Grownups Too!, to indications my music taste grew away from NKOTB with Vital Idol and into Violator, music has been an, er, instrumental, part of my life. And anyone who's ridden in the car with us knows how much I like inflicting new stuff on everyone around me. DJ'ing seems the natural progression.

On Friday I learned a few things, like how to fade in and out, how to adjust the master volume, how to cue a song... and most importantly that it's a lot harder than it looks. I have a whole new respect for club DJs as well, who get stuck playing old classics like The Temple of Love instead of anything new. Thankfully I have a very patient teacher.

My lessons did eventually give way to hanging out in the church belfry listening to very old Depeche Mode with Kolyn and a bottle of Fairtrade Pinot Grigio. I have to say, I can't think of many better ways of spending a Friday night.

Weekend review, the trains! THE TRAINS.

The thought occurred to me I should probably start chronicling my adventures. If anything so I can read them and relive when I head back to the US. Primarily so I don't become a needy windbag and start abusing the time and hospitality of my friends back home.

Friday didn't start out well. I left work early in an attempt to be home by 6:00pm. All seemed well until we hit the signal box outside Walkden. Then we stopped.

And stopped.

The conductor told us '10 more minutes' until a half an hour passed. Two women came from the back of the train in a fury. One was claustrophobic, the other concerned about leaving her office. In tandem they chewed out the train driver, while a bunch of middle aged women near me snickered at duo's demands to walk along the tracks.

There are two types of behavior you see when things like this happen. The first is supposed wizened indifference, as evidenced by the older ladies. They're used to the trains failing and believe there is nothing you can do about it, so you suck it up. It's the typically English way to go about public transport. They tend to be quite cruel to people, generally new to the whole process, who are immediately infuriated at the incompetence of the whole system.

Those newcomers are the second types. They're the ones who just started jobs, or college, or moved to the area. The ones that are learning how to commute, learning how the system works. They're the ones that get angry and want to hold people accountable. What they quickly learn is no matter how much earache you give the train companies and their call centres, the best you'll get is a 10 pound voucher. That's even if the toilets are out of order on a 3 hour journey.

Train late beyond the 8 minutes and 30.57830 seconds? 10 pounds. Broken down train on the Wigan via Atherton line? 10 pounds. Cancelled connection where you have to sleep at Crewe for the evening? 10 pounds. Train run over your first born and dog? 10 pounds and an interview in The Sun.

Network Rail operate under the delusion that it's enough.

On Friday, Mr. Me could see the problem (for once,) a broken down train at Atherton station was causing a bit of a pile up. It wasn't moving. The brakes wouldn't release.

Eventually we pushed forward to Walkden station for about 10 minutes. I smoked a few cigarettes in direct rebellion of the new railway by laws and got back on. 10 minutes turned into 30. We finally arrived at Atherton at 7:15 pm, an hour and 10 minutes after we were supposed to.

According to the Ticket Collector this is happening everywhere even today. Though you wouldn't know by reading the supposed advocate for the people Passenger Focus's blog. (Actually, the whole site seems pretty crap.)

This type of thing? Pretty par for the course. Makes me long for MAX and Tri-Met.

Live sexual assault on Big Brother Africa.

I'm really quite stunned by this.

Producers of reality television show "Big Brother Africa" are being accused of attempting to cover up an incident of sexual assault.

Viewers of the Oct. 27 show say they witnessed 24-year-old Richard Bezuidenhout strip the clothes off of two of his intoxicated housemates and proceed to use his fingers to penetrate the vagina of comatose 29-year-old Ofunneka Molokwu.

Under the Republic of South Africa Sexual Offenses Amendment Bill, such an act constitutes sexual violation.

The act iself is bad enough. You'd think after something so horrific had taken place the producers and television executives would be on top of it right? I mean, Endemol UK kicked out one of the BB7 contestants for using the n word in an attempt to be edgy.

Well, despite viewer protest, that isn't what's happened in South Africa.

According to some papers they are:

They say the network censored clips of the incident, removing threads discussing it from their Web site forum and not displaying SMS text messages (which are normally always shown) about the incident on the ticker that runs across the bottom of the screen.

A search for "sexual assault" on the Big Brother Africa Web site forum turned up zero results.

Who is big brother to 'Big Brother Africa 2'?

And say

"There is no indication that she was unconscious at the time," said Joseph Hundah, an executive at M-Net.

Big Brother horror show

That's despite viewers who saw the live clips saying quite the opposite.

I'm not actually sure who is more vile, the foul attacker sniffing his fingers or Endemol SA.