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I've only just noticed this interview with the Pet Shop Boys. Worth a look.
Nov. 11th, 2003
Nothing worthwhile.
Nov. 11th, 2003 01:36 pmKurt Vonnegut is 81 today. Happy birthday.
This is a topical cartoon, courtesy of the mighty Steve Bell.
Supplementary: There's also this article about John Simpson and the "friendly" bomb that injured 45 (including him) and killed 16 (including his colleague, the translator Abdurrazaq Mohammed).
"I felt very responsible. I still do. I never thought that this notion of survivor guilt was something I would suffer from, but I've got it very strongly . . . Kamaran was only there because he'd seen me on television and he thought it would be good to work with us. I'm afraid that makes me feel very bad indeed. I took him in there and he died there. I don't know how you get over a thing like that."
Oh, and compulsory ID cards? What an absolutely fucking awful idea. Under the present outfit, anyway. I have no problem with having some reliable identification mechanism aviailable to us if possible, but I've heard nothing about safeguards and have no faith in Blunkett's commitment to civil liberties. We may have the Tories back in by the time this scheme is supposed to mature, and I don't think they'd be any better (if choosing Michael Howard as leader is any guide - the famously illiberal home secretary that the famously illiberal Blunkett seems to have based himself on). Is there some law saying that the home secretary has to be a git?
Still, times and faces change, and giving a government plan ten years tends to be a recipe for it to bloat, run over budget and be cancelled.
I heard a rumour that this is all about heading off plans by Certain Other EU Nations to introduce a broadly similar scheme, but along lines which wouldn't be likely to work even in principle.
This is a topical cartoon, courtesy of the mighty Steve Bell.
Supplementary: There's also this article about John Simpson and the "friendly" bomb that injured 45 (including him) and killed 16 (including his colleague, the translator Abdurrazaq Mohammed).
"I felt very responsible. I still do. I never thought that this notion of survivor guilt was something I would suffer from, but I've got it very strongly . . . Kamaran was only there because he'd seen me on television and he thought it would be good to work with us. I'm afraid that makes me feel very bad indeed. I took him in there and he died there. I don't know how you get over a thing like that."
Oh, and compulsory ID cards? What an absolutely fucking awful idea. Under the present outfit, anyway. I have no problem with having some reliable identification mechanism aviailable to us if possible, but I've heard nothing about safeguards and have no faith in Blunkett's commitment to civil liberties. We may have the Tories back in by the time this scheme is supposed to mature, and I don't think they'd be any better (if choosing Michael Howard as leader is any guide - the famously illiberal home secretary that the famously illiberal Blunkett seems to have based himself on). Is there some law saying that the home secretary has to be a git?
Still, times and faces change, and giving a government plan ten years tends to be a recipe for it to bloat, run over budget and be cancelled.
I heard a rumour that this is all about heading off plans by Certain Other EU Nations to introduce a broadly similar scheme, but along lines which wouldn't be likely to work even in principle.
I've just been to Ikea. This is a soulsapping exercise at the best of times, but given that I was feeling fairly low when I left, I feel positively soiled. I feel like I've spent the last two hours naked mud-wrestling with Bernard Manning.
Partly this is because in addition to the usual dayglow-steel-shed experience . . . it being nowhere near even starting to be December, they've filled the place with ersatz corporate christmas cheer. Obviously I responded by throttling the management team with each others' intestines [1] and feeding the remains to rabid tabloid journalists, but that doesn't erase the original crime.
Anyway. I now (should) have some shelves strong enough to take a significant number of records.
[1] OK. I'm lying. I admit it.
Partly this is because in addition to the usual dayglow-steel-shed experience . . . it being nowhere near even starting to be December, they've filled the place with ersatz corporate christmas cheer. Obviously I responded by throttling the management team with each others' intestines [1] and feeding the remains to rabid tabloid journalists, but that doesn't erase the original crime.
Anyway. I now (should) have some shelves strong enough to take a significant number of records.
[1] OK. I'm lying. I admit it.
Month meme.
Nov. 11th, 2003 06:10 pmDECEMBER:
Loyaland generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egoistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.
Not a particularly good hit rate, there. Anyway : Barnum Effect.
So why do you think it suggests both "Ambitious" and "Not egoistic" for the same people? How much intelligence does this sort of thing credit us with? Not much, as far as I can see.
Loyal
Not a particularly good hit rate, there. Anyway : Barnum Effect.
So why do you think it suggests both "Ambitious" and "Not egoistic" for the same people? How much intelligence does this sort of thing credit us with? Not much, as far as I can see.