Over And Out!

12.19.18.17.16 (Long Count) - Haab: 4 Kankin, Tzolkin: 4 Cib

Well, peeps - it seems about that time, to hang the keyboard up on "Blog Is Not...". Between Facebook, Twitter and the podcast, I just don't have the time to devote to a solo blog. This will be my final post here, but I'll leave it floating around in cyberspace, if anyone wants to check the archives.

I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by and read a post or two - but especially the regular readers...all three of you! (heh heh)

It's been a wild five years and six months - although I suppose the past five months don't count, 'cos I haven't posted anything. Thanks out to my pal Singing Bear for all his quality music reviews and intelligence and poetry. I couldn't have kept this blog alive for so long without him. Thanks also to Flaming Pixie for the support and humour over the years. To Mr. McGinnis...stay silent, bro - it's been a blast!

Gregorian year 2011 seemed a pretty wacky one. "Extreme weather", the return of people-power and economic fuck-ups - and that's just about half of it!

I wish I had a "Top Ten" list for music and films for this year - but to be honest, I didn't buy enough new albums and see enough films to compile one. I even missed the final Harry Potter film in the cinema - I know, for shame. I did watch The Inbetweeners film as a DVD rental - my short review is: Not as funny as the first two teevee series, but better than I thought it would be. You're welcome. We did rent loads of Tee Vee series and films, but I can't list them all. I liked the concepts found in Inception and Source Code, but I wouldn't call either a 'classic'. I watched Senna as well, despite being berated by Pixie for not knowing who he was (sorry F1 fans).

For music - I mainly bought re-issues (as per usual) and loads of vintage LPs from eBay. I found this site as well - which carries lots of rare psych and prog records! I purchased a copy of Dantalian's Chariot's Madman Running Through The Fields 7" single and a copy of the Gentle Giant The Power & The Glory LP from the site. I found the service excellent and they even sent me an e-mail, letting me know the G.G. LP has some background noise and chopped £10 off of the price. Very cool - I'd recommend them.

Pixie and I started listening to Marc Riley's BBC6 show, which is on Monday through Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. Riley's hipped me to some cool new UK bands, like Dutch Uncles and Pete & The Pirates. I'm still listening to Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone as well, still on Sunday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. - but I've missed it occasionally when my yoga sessions over-run. Ah well, thankfully, it's on the iPlayer and the tracklists are always up, too. The only live show I saw the entire year was Wire (with support from Talk Normal). Kinda gutted that Bruce Gilbert left the ranks in 2008, but the other three still make a hell of a racket. Colin Newman read the lyrics off of his iPad, but so what - the guy is in his late 50s now. Talk Normal were o.k. - the drummer's pretty impressive, but the lyrics were drowned in the mix and sounded like a gutteral alien tongue.

Got a tiny bit of cul'cha in 2011 - saw the National Theatre production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, with Rebecca Hall, Simon Callow, Simon Paisley Day and the wonderful Amanda Drew, amongst others, in the cast. I saw it on a cold January evening and I enjoyed it, but some of the crits didn't like the pacing of the play, or a few of the performances. Pixie and I then saw the revival of Simon Gray's Butley, at the Duchess Theatre in London, in mid-July. This time the cast featured Dominic West, Amanda (again!), Paul McGann and Pennie Downey. Again, I enjoyed it quite a bit. West's characterisation was shouty, but possibly the role called for it. The people at the theatre were nice as well, and upgraded our seats, as the show that night hadn't sold out. We also attended an outdoor production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest, put on by the Oxford Shakespeare Company, in late August. It was held on the quad of one of the colleges, so very minimal set dressing. The performances were excellent, particularly the actor who played Algernon Moncrieff. A really enjoyable show that wasn't even dampened by a couple of light rainfalls.

I think that's about all - aside from the mundane details of life - which won't really interest any of you. Singing Bear and I are considering starting up another team blog...but it's only in the planning stages at the moment. In any case, take care of yourselves and make the most of Gregorian year 2012!!

It's Reality, But Not As We Know It

21 Asadha - Year 1933

Here's a blog I discovered through a Facebook friend. If you dig crop circles and alternate-reality topics, I'd suggest having a look here:

Psychedelic Adventure

Enjoy!

Been a while....

3 Pepper - Year 44 p.r.S.P.

Well, well, well...that was a longer break than I originally intended. I'm the 'Rip Van Winkle' of blogging, I suppose.

What's been happening? World-wise, too much! Let's see...apparently a 'royal wedding' took place...everyone went "ooh" and "ahh" and dug out their Union flags and the BBC turned into "The Wedding Channel" for the day. Oh yeah, and the police arrested possible demonstrators for "pre-crime". That's right - it was like a shit version of Minority Report. Ah well, the young'uns got hitched and we're all the better for it....or something.

Osama bin Laden....remember that guy? You do? Cool, well, get this...he wasn't hiding in caves on the Afghan/Pakistan border at all. Yep, turns out he was living in Pakistan, right near a military compound. Who'd a thunk it?? So the U.S special forces saddled up and popped a cap in his ass...or that's what we were told, anyway. Alternate theories sprung up like weeds in an abandoned garden...he really died in 2002, the guy they got wasn't bin Laden..and on and on. While it's tempting to believe those theories as "The Truth" (tm), or even Barack's version--I remain agnostic as possible. With gubberment activities even more shrouded than in the late 1960s/early 1970s, who can honestly say what went down. All I know is, that now there'll be closure to the Sept. 11th attacks....AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Right...

The civil war in Libya continues on, as nutjob Gaddafi refuses to step down. Like any power-hungry jackal, he thinks it's somehow his right to torture and kill the people he 'leads'. NATO stepped in a couple of months ago and have been bombing the shit out of Tripoli and other Gaddafi strongholds...but the guy's still there. Wily as a cockroach and with as much personality, ol' Muammar has gathered his willing 'human shields' around him and is thumbing his nose at "The West" and the Arab League. Now there's talk of a ground offensive. Hmmm...seems risky to me - but hey, when there's oil to be had...well, what's another fuckload of civilian deaths matter, eh boys? Meanwhile, the arms industry is licking it's slimy chops, ready to dish out it's death machinery to anyone and everyone in the conflict. Scruples, we hardly knew ye...

Bankers remain the scourge of mostly everyone, 'cept maybe other bankers. These lads like to work hard, so y'know, they like to play hard, too. I don't know about you - but I'm so tired of these scumbags and their bailouts and scandals and their being coddled, I'm having visions of them hanging by their balls from lamp-posts. No, really. Please, please, please someone come up with alternate currencies, so these callous dickheads will be out of jobs and will have to do something useful for a change, like re-pave roads, or plant trees, or look after the elderly. I hope people finally wake up, shut the Federal Reserve and the Bank Of England and end the madness! Kudos to the chamber-maids who pressed charges on their attackers...right on, sisters!

Personal-wise, I've gone whole-hog ('scuse the phrase) and went full vegetarian. I watched the Earthlings documentary and was so sickened by what I saw, that I couldn't continue to eat animal flesh with a clear conscience. If I may say, I've been considering going veggie for some time now and "Earthlings" helped me decide. It's going well, though I keep forgetting to take vitamins in the morning, but I don't feel run-down or anything. If anything, I feel better for not eating meat. I hope I can keep going and not succumb to the temptation to eat animal flesh...it's better for me and it's better for the animals. My pal Toby Philpott made an astute observation that anyone who eats meat and doesn't kill the animal themselves can be considered a scavenger, picking carrion from a corpse like a vulture.

Had a holiday in the Lake District last month and I had a great time! Wonderful scenery and lots and lots to do. We stayed in Ambleside, a lovely village on the shore of Lake Windermere. From there, we journeyed around that bit of the District. We climbed Catbells, a large-ish fell which has a spectacular view of Derwent Water. We also visited Beatrix Potter's cottage, called Hill Top, which is near Sawrey and checked out a couple of stone circles, too. One was located on a farm which is very out-of-the-way. It's called Swinside and it's worth visiting, if you can brave the long-ish walk to get to it and the cows usually huddled around the track that leads to the circle. The other circle is Castlerigg and it's pretty amazing - it's set in a field which appears to be walled-in by the surrounding fields. The circle may be smaller that you've expecting, but the setting more than makes up for that. A trip to the Pencil Museum in Keswick was in order and it was far more interesting than I thought it would be. They've got the world's largest coloured pencil there (it's a yellow one, in case you were wondering) and a fascinating look at how pencils were developed over the years. Amongst the sight-seeing, I got to sneak in a bit of vinyl-hunting in charity shops - with the Oxfam in Keswick proving to have the best stash. I bought a copy of the UK first-press of Chicago's second album on LP, along with Steely Dan's The Royal Scam and another one I can't recall at the moment. I found some other goodies at a few other charity shops. Good times - must make another trip up there!

Update: I've nearly finished this post - the solstice has come and gone. It's summertime, not that you'd know it. There have been a couple of scorching days here, thanks to a band of warm air making it's way from Spain and Portugal. We acutally had to get the fan out one night!

New Kaleidophonic Stroboscope episode!

28 Magha - Year 1932

That's right! February's show is now live and running!

Check it out here - it's quite good, even if it's me saying it.

That is all.

Obligatory Monthly Post #14

6 Rabi al-Awwal - Year 1432

Mid-February...how have you all been? What's happening in teh blogosphere? I've been up to my usual - wage-slavery, listening to music, reading, occasionally going to the gym (very occasionally at the moment).

I did go to that London at the end of January to see Twelfth Night (the Shakespeare play, not the 1980s neo-prog band). The National Theatre has a production on in the Cottesloe Auditorium until 3rd March. The entire run sold out before public tickets went on sale, due to Sir Peter Hall directing his fourth version of the play and Simon Callow being in the cast. I was able to get tickets through Amanda Drew, who plays 'Olivia' in this production. I headed to the Big Smoke in early afternoon--after stopping by the open market in Oxford. A bloke had a table full of LPs and I couldn't resist. I ended up buying an upgrade of my copy of The Moody Blues' In Search Of The Lost Chord album. Once I was in London, I headed to Soho to check out a couple of record shops, Reckless Records and Sister Ray. Both had so much great stuff, that it was really tough to make a decision. The time passed and I really had to get heading to the theatre (with a bite to eat on the way). I bought a battered original pressing of Cream's Disraeli Gears LP (it plays alright, actually!), a near-mint copy of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells (3rd pressing), a decent copy of Kate Bush's Never For Ever, Alan Parsons Project's I Robot and Steve Hillage's Motivation Radio at Reckless. I bought a re-issue LP of Van Der Graaf Generator's debut, The Aerosol Grey Machine and the Carlos Santana/John McLaughlin early 70s collab., Love Devotion Surrender, at Sister Ray.

A short tube journey later, I wolfed down a margharita pizza at the Azzuro restaurant near to the National. By the time I'd finished - there was about an hour to the start of the play. Finty Williams, Judi Dench's daughter and part of the cast, met a couple of her friends in the lobby, near where I was sitting, and they all jumped around excitedly for a few moments. That was entertaining. The play started at around 7:30 p.m. and I quite enjoyed it. Some of the crits have panned the pacing of the play and a few of the performances, but I had no such problem. I thought it was quite good, though not having a previous viewing to compare it with maybe leaves me ignorant. No matter, I enjoyed it and my first time at The National. A while later and I was back on the coach to Oxford. Good times!

It looks as if things are afoot in the Middle East and North Africa! The Egyptian people, after 30 years of living under a tyrant's rule, booted out Hosni Mubarak after days and days of activism and protest. It seems amazing to me, and I'm not sure why that kind of thing doesn't happen in the UK and why it didn't happen in the U.S. during eight years of George W. Idiot! The military have taken over in Egypt and I hope the people don't allow a junta of generals to go for permanent rule - keep the pressure on 'em, please! Now it looks like Algeria may be following suit and there have been rumblings about Syria, too. Hmmm...what's going on? There have been reports about C.I.A. involvement in these pro-democracy movements. I'd like to hope that the U.S. secret goons don't have their hands in the protests, but they've been known to stage all sorts of things in the past. Still, it beats The Smirking Chimp's and Tony 'Bliar's strategy of invasion and occupy for 90 billion years. These certainly are interesting days to be on this backward, superstitious planet. A co-worker leant me his copy of Joe Sacco's Palestine. If you haven't read it - it's 'comics-journalism' - the stories are very real, but presented in graphic-novel form. It certainly educated me on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I highly recommend it, if you can get a copy.

I've finshed the February edition of The Kaleidophonic Stroboscope. I'll add a link in a new post. It's the usual round-up of tunes and the "Vinyl Vault" LP selection is Kate Bush's The Kick Inside. Intrigued? Of course you are!

Other than that....hmmm, well, I've decided to sell off some of my music collection. I'm not sure what to sell yet - but we're running out of space and I've gotta clear room for new tunage. I've also decided to start putting my CDs into those "CD wallet" cases, which will make them more portable and free up space in the spare room. Not sure why I hadn't prior to this.......must've just wanted to keep the jewel cases intact.

That's about all for this post - I shall be back soon with more! Adios!

Happy (Gregorian) New Year!

Seasonal Greetings - Winter 2010

3 December, 2010 (Julian calendar)

The solstice is nearly here...and oh yeah, that holiday with the jolly fat man is next week, too. As per the past decade (or even longer)--this Gregorian calendar year has slipped by, leaving me in a whirlwind of thought and memories of holidays (vacations), birthdays and change. Two weeks remain of 2010 and I'm not even sure how to sum it all up.

I suppose I could go and have a look at my posts for the previous months and base a round-up of the time on that. I could do an off-the-cuff 'review', as it were, as well. I just don't know.

Change seems to be happening quite quickly now, almost in accordance with Robert Anton Wilson's "Jumping Jesus" theory of time and the acceleration of knowledge. On a more personal level, I changed jobs in the summer. What I do now isn't all that dis-similar to my previous gig...but it has been a change nonetheless. I actually welcomed it, as I was starting to become very bored at my last one.

Meanwhile, there's been massive protets (and some rioting) in London and other large cities over the gubberment's plan to charge students higher university fees. The Liberal Democrats, who pledged not to raise fees before the election - suddenly did an about-face and are declaring the fees 'necessary'. Typical politician behaviour, really. I can't believe how blatant they were about it, though. Bald-faced liars! I hope the protests continue.

We lost a few greats lately, too. Peter Christopherson, of Coil and Throbbing Gristle, passed away a few weeks ago. His partner in Coil (and in life), Jhonn Balance, died a few years ago--so both halves of Coil have now left the planet. 'Sleazy', as he was known, was also part of the very influential Hipgnosis design collective. Leslie Nielsen, the Canadian comic actor, also passed on. His performance in Airplane! and the early 1980s TV series Police Squad! were enough to cement his legend, but a couple of the Naked Gun films had some laughs (though they did seem to get progressively weaker as they went along - like a lot of film series). Finally, just last week, we lost the good Captain Beefheart (or Don Van Vliet, if you prefer).

The man responsible for the original 'must-have-weird-album-in-your-collection', Trout Mask Replica, has left the planet. One of the most original performers to come from the late-60's L.A. scene--Beefheart combined the blues, psychedelia, jazz and Dada into a fusion that would become a blueprint for many an outsider weirdo's band (Robyn Hitchcock and Julian Cope come to mind). He was also a talented painter and gave up a largely indifferent music 'industry' in the early 80s to concentrate solely on his art. Farewell to one of the few U.S. national treasures left.

Hey! The U.K. is now covered in snow - for those who like to live in a greeting-card world of having a 'white X-Mas'. It's the most snow I've seen since moving here almost seven years ago. Looks like we really are in for a cooooooold one.

I've not got much else to say - thanks to everyone who's read this over the past year and everyone I've interacted with, too. The M.L.A. meet-up in July was a blast, as was the boating holiday in June. Cheers to Singing Bear for his continued support and I wish him a better 2011, he really deserves it. A shout-out to my Facebook pals and fellow bloggers, too.

Happy Holidays, All and all the best to you for the next (Gregorian) revolution around the sun!

On The Verge Of Winter

10 Kislev - Year 5771

Another month has passed! I apologise to the very few who still read this blog regularly...what can I say? Been busy, sorta.

Journeyed to "The Big Smoke" to see House Of Games at the Almeida Theatre in Islington a few weeks ago. My pal Will and I got the "Oxford Tube" (the Oxford Tube is a coach which you can get from Gloucester Green in the town centre), which dropped us off at Marble Arch. We then got the tube to Islington and found the theatre, just to be sure where it was. There was plenty of time before the show started, so we grabbed a pint at the King's Head pub and some lunch at Strada. I looked on-line and saw that there are a few record shops in Islington, so after much trekking about, we found Flashback Records. After rummaging through the outside racks of used CDs and vinyl (I found a beat-up, but playable LP copy of The Moody Blues' Seventh Sojourn) - we checked out the downstairs bit, where the rest of the records are. I found copies of Soft Machine's Third and Ananda Shankar's self-titled LP...along with a great copy of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters LP and a decent copy of Led Zep's IV record...the first-press edition with the error on the label ("Misty Mountain Hop" is called "Misty Mountain Top").

The play was excellent - I was going to post a complete review of it, but just ran out of time. The cast interaction was great and the dialogue, adapted from David Mamet's screenplay for the 1987 film, was hilarious in spots. Probably not to see if you don't like 'blue' language - but I enjoyed it. As I've said, I didn't remember the film all that much, so a couple of plot twists were new to me - I was actually quite shocked at one of them. I was able to meet with Amanda Drew afterward, too. She's quite lovely and was very gracious in hanging out for a few minutes - even though she was meeting with family for dinner. I was exhausted on the coach back to Oxford. All in all, a really really brill day out in London. Must do it again sometime!

The October episode of the Kaleidophonic Stroboscope was posted a few weeks ago. It's a tribute to little Gryphon, our cat who was killed early in October. Hope you like it - I've started on the newest episode and that will be posted when it's ready.

The goodwyf and I had a holiday in Cornwall last week. It was a nice break and we revisited places like Polzeath Beach and Padstow, where TV chef Rick Stein has a lot of establishments. I had some posh fish-n-chips (fish goujons, actually, don't you know) and we walked around the village and took lots of photos. We also ventured to Newquay and the Eden Project. I really liked The Eden Project - the 'biomes' are amazing and I was fascinated with a metal sculpture depicting the Dionysian Rites. The sculpture is by Tim Shaw, who is based in Cornwall. Amazing stuff! It's a really good job we didn't go the week after - that would not have been a good holiday.

Looks like it may be another cold winter approaching - there's already snow falling up Nawth. The storms may hit here later today or tomorrow....Yay.

Ah well, better wrap up warm and wrap up this post. More soon....I hope.

Random update #683

Haab: 13 Yax - Tzolkin: 10 Ahau/Long Count: 12.19.17.14.0

I've had a lot to blog about lately, but just not the time or the inclination to do so. I meant to do a full review of the brill Chris Addison gig at the Oxford Playhouse about a week and half ago--but didn't get around to it. Along with a bunch of other stuff--so here's a brief round-up:

So yeah, Chris was hilarious. I'd never been to a gig at the Playhouse, but it's a nice intimate hall. I liked that he sorta tailored his set to give it a 'local' flavour...name-dropping Oxford University and Oxford Brookes and mentioning that some consider it an honour that O-Town was slated to be Hitler's British capitol, had he won the war. Apparently, that's why it wasn't heavily bombed in air raids...or so 'they' say. As I'd never seen him before - most of his material was new to me, though a few of the topics may have been familiar (the inability of the English middle-class to cope with snow, the trials of a skinny guy going to the gym), he stamped his own take on them quite well. During the encore/Q&A bit - he despatched a woman who disapproved of his saluting the crowd by calling her a "Guardian reader" and telling her not to choke on her lentils.

The Chilean miners are now being freed. I don't think many critters can possibly have any idea what it's like to be trapped underground for quite that amount of time. It does seem ironic that on Margaret Thatcher's birthday - the news is dominated by press coverage of miners. Ah well - I hope they're all to adjust to surface life. Perhaps in some ways, they were better off down there - they sure did miss a lot of shit TV and lame 'celebrity gossip'...and crap radio, too. As much as I dig the fact it's a 'feel-good' story...I can't help but think "What's happened to all of the victims of the Pakistan floods and the Haitian earthquake?" There doesn't seem to be much coverage of them anymore.

On a bit of a down-note...one of our cats, Gryphon, was killed by a car last Friday morning. I had already left for work when it happened. Pixie was alerted by some kind people who found him. Her father showed up to help and he was bundled into her father's car and brought to the vet's. I'm told that it happened instantly and that he didn't suffer, which is a small condolence. I'll miss him lots - he was a happy-go-lucky little guy and always made me laugh, even though he scratched the spines of some of my LPs. I hope he's having a good time, wherever he may be. Such a devastating loss for us.

We're off to that London next week, to see House Of Games at the Almeida Theatre. It's a play written by David Mamet and was made into a film in 1987. I recall seeing the film, but it was ages ago and I don't really remember the plot. One of my fave actresses, Amanda Drew, is part of the cast at the Almeida--so it will be a treat to see. I might even be able to get a little record-shopping in, while I'm there. If I've got time, I'll write up a review of the play.

In case you missed it - the newest Kaleidophonic Stroboscope episode was posted about two weeks ago. I've started on the latest one - which I hope to have ready in a week or so. Enjoy! Thanks to those who have been listening and supporting the show - especially my pal Singing Bear! Sorry I haven't been at the message board much, mate - I'll stop in there soon.

That's it - that's my update. I'll blog some more when I get a chance. Peace!

That Ol' Time Relijun... - Part XIV

9 Tishri - Year 5771

Seems that a lot of column inches and on-line chats have been dedicated to the Islam/Christianity divide lately. What's been happening, you ask?

Well.....first, there was a whole lotta kerfuffle in New York City. A local imam was planning on setting up an Islamic cultural centre a few blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center. A bunch of right-wing dunderheads seized upon the plan to spew more of their paranoid drivel. I watched one 'Merican senator, or pundit, or whatever he "is" on NewsNight, actually say that the five or six blocks surrounding where the towers collapsed is 'sacred ground'. Nothing like a little hyperbole to churn up the emotions, eh? Me, I don't really care about a mosque being housed in a run-down building in New York. I'm not going to be visiting it, or donating to it. It seems some Americans can't get enough of religion, as long as it's not one practised by brown people. Nevermind that people of many different nationalities and religious choices died in the explosions in 2001....it's those brown people that shouldn't have religious freedom in America of 2010. I'm generalising, of course - but I don't think I'm too far off on this one.

Then...in Florida (of course), a pastor called Terry Jones (no, not the bloke out of Monty Python) decided that to commemorate September 11th--he would be burning copies of the Qu'ran. Yep, you read that right. He runs a very small church, with maybe fifty parishoners. What a tolerant Christian! Now, I know that an argument based on numbers doesn't mean that the side of the mob "is" correct...but sometimes I think that the popular opinion does have some merit. Jones refused to back down - until his demand that the N.Y. mosque plan be stopped. He flew to New York to meet the imam...and I'm not sure what went down, but suddenly, he called off the burning. Having played the media like a Stradovarius, he's back to obscurity. I suspect the heads of Fox (Faux) News were creaming themselves during the whole thing.

If that weren't enough, ol' Pope Ratzo is in the midst of his first visit to the UK. It's being called a 'state visit', but if I recall--the Vatican 'isn't' really a state. Maybe I'm wrong - but then, I don't have 'papal infallibility'. The other thing that's sticking in my craw is that taxpayer money is being used to fund this fiasco. He's schlepping around in his 'Popemobile' and the media are in fawning mode. I was hoping for huge prostests - but it looks like only Londoners got in the spirit with a large-ish one. He even apologised for the sexual abuse and other crimes of the church...awww, isn't that nice? Any word on prosecutions...helping the authorities catch the errant priests? No? Thanks, your Popiness--off you trot, back to Catholic Cuckoo Land.

The Bible in E-Prime!

9 Elul - Year 5770

Someone (well, Dr. David F. Maas, actually) finally got round to translating the 'good book' into E-Prime.

For those who've never heard of E-Prime, it "is" essentially a form of English where the verb 'to be' (is, was, etc.) gets eliminated, in favour of verbs which relate to the speaker's point of view and not necessarily a concrete fact.

An example: "John is a real jerk." This implies that everyone sees John as a real jerk. One of his friends may disagree and an argument will ensue. If I state that in E-Prime...it becomes "John seems like a jerk, to me." Now, his friend may still argue - but the E-Prime statement becomes one of subjective content, not of 'objective fact'. Some (but not all) critters will hopefully begin to see that they state most things as if everyone shares the same reality-tunnel, which doesn't seem to be the case, to me. I'd like to say most critters would, but sadly, human evolution doesn't appear to be moving as quickly as I would like it to.

You can read more about E-Prime here and here. Those serve as better 'primers' (pardon the pun) than my little intro.

The E-Prime version of the Bible can be found here.

And finally, a Robert Anton Wilson vid all about E-Prime:



Thanks to Mindy J. for posting the Bible link over at Only Maybe.

Greying Boomers...or my mom is 70!

29 July, 2010 (Julian calendar)

It was my mother's birthday yesterday. I think she's 70 now....I know, how utterly bizarre. She tried to hide her birth year from us, but my older sister and I once found what we thought was a birth certificate. It had '1940' written on it.

I'm reminded of that Simon and Garfunkel lyric: "How very strange, to be seventy." I suppose it's not just my mom, though - it's that whole boomer generation growing old. I like a lot of the 1960s and 70s bands and artists and we're all watching them go grey and leave the planet. In the next ten years, most of them will probably be gone. The rest of that generation will be retiring--it'll be a greying planet. Even us "Gen X-ers" (or whatever we're called now) are aging fast.

The boomers had a chance to really change the planet for better. Did they succeed? Yes and no. Many of them sold out their youthful ideals for the comfy life, making money and carrying on exactly as their parents had - only with much more convenience and better health. Some of them remained faithful, but seem a bit backward-looking by not completely changing with the times. Still, some great things coalesced from the turmoil of the 1960s and early 1970s: the ecology movement, the potential of psychedelics for healing, mis-trust of most authority figures, the women's, civil and gay rights movements...and some amazing music!

One wonders how the world would differ from now, if they had kept striving and didn't give up at the end of the 1970s...when the tide turned against them. Did they 'allow' Reagan and Thatcher to gain power...or would that have happened anyway?

Most of the well-known boomer icons have gone now: Lennon, Jones, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, Harrison, Barrett, Leary (o.k., he wasn't of their generation - but a boomer icon none the less), Hoffman, the Kennedys, Garcia...and on and on. I suppose most of the 'magic' left with them and the centre couldn't hold.

Anyway, here's to them - some of them may be self-induglent and egomaniacal about their contributions to this boondocks planet, but for a time, they didn't march to the tune of monotonous 'society'. Oh..and "Happy Birthday, Mom!"

Maybe Logic Academy Meet-Up Diary, Oxford - July 2010

Pungenday, Confusion 62 - Year Of Our lady Of Discord 3176

Some (but not all) of the European members of the Maybe Logic Academy have been meeting up around the 'dog days' in summertime, for the past six years. The date was set to the 23rd of July because that was the day in 1973 that Robert Anton Wilson had a strange experience and thought he was receiving communication from an intelligence in the Sirius ("The Dog Star") system. He remained agnostic, as always, and later chalked it up to his right brain communicating with his left brain.

Past meet-ups were held in Milton Keynes, Berlin, Bruges, Amsterdam & Dublin. Berlin was an early candidate for the 2010 meet-up. I had been invited to the past few, but couldn't attend, due to not enough 'coin of the realm' in my account. Someone (Fuzzbuddy?) mentioned another UK location, which I was jazzed about, because for one: my passport had expired and I hadn't got round to having it renewed..and two: less kish-kash to spend on travel. The decision to hold number 6 in Oxford totally clinched it for me...I would finally be able to hang out with critters that I had communicated with on-line.

Here's how it went down - from my reality-tunnel..

Day One (Thursday, 22nd July) - Chris M. and Bogus Magus are due in at the train station at 1:15 p.m. I grab a bus to the city centre. When the bus just about reaches town, the sky opens and a downpour drenches the streets. It doesn't last long and soon the sun clears the clouds. I meet Fuzzbuddy at the station and soon Chris and Bogus join us. First stop is the backpacker's hostel where most of the crew will be staying. Chris had booked a room in a hotel down the road and he left to stow his gear there. Once the four of us are ready to hit the streets, it's nearly time for Tons, Borsky and Non-Prophet to arrive in town. They have ridden in via The Oxford Tube and are let off on the High Street. After introductions and greetings--it was back to the hostel. Bogus brought a stash of books for anyone to take. I chose a cool collection of Terry Southern's writings, called Now Dig This! . Fuzz brought copies of the 23 film (the cool German one, in which RAW has a cameo appearance - not the shit Jim Carrey 'thriller'), a DVD of lectures on James Joyce's Ulysses and a CD chock full of RAW audio, for everyone. Borsky also handed out a DVD-R with literally one hundred books on metaphysical, occult and esoteric matters--plus, official meet-up T-shirts. What treats!! I was stunned at their generosity! After a time, it's decided that food and drink are in order. Fly Agaric 23 and Diclonius still haven't arrived, but we all reckon they'll contact us when they do. The rest of us troop down to Broad Street, then on to the famous Turf Tavern. One of the beers on tap is Stonehenge Ale's Eye Opener, whose logo looks very familiar. I had to have a pint, natch! I bought one for Bogus, too. Turns out that the barrel emptied right after ours were poured--cheers to the Pookah for that! Much great conversation followed---on into the early evening. We then had a little reconnoiter around the area--before heading back to the 'Turf. Fly and Diclonius had arrived at this point and met us down there. More pints were downed, then it was almost closing time. Those who had gone without dinner grabbed some...er....food, at a roadside kebab van. I did as well, though I did come to regret that late-night cheeseburger the next morning. I bid my fellow MLA-ers adieu, as they were heading back to the hostel and I was catching the late bus home.

Day Two (Friday, 23rd July) - The time for me to meet the rest was given as 10:30 a.m., so I did my best to be up and ready. Owing to the somewhat late night - I was nearly late...but I managed to get to the others by the appointed time. Our first destination is the Pitt-Rivers Museum, full of interesting anthropological artifacts and even some dinosaur skeletons. N.P. and I were fascinated by the collection of weaponry, remarking on Bucky Fuller's aphorism, "developing ways to cover vaster and vaster distance and kill larger and larger amounts of people"..I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea. Once we left the Pitt-Rivers, it was getting close to the luncheon hour. It was back to the 'Turf, but to our collective chagrin--the pub was full-up, this being optimum tourist season and all. We all squeezed into one of the side chambers of the King's Arms and enjoyed a half-decent lunch, for the money we paid. Oxford can be over-priced and is not immune from a bit of the ol' 'fleece-the-tourists' action. The plan was to head to the Bodleian Library and try and have a look at some of the old manuscripts and books. Not having been there before, I wasn't sure if one were allowed to just walk in. We found out that you need to take a tour, which costs about £3.50. After milling around the lobby for a bit, the B.L. idea was scrapped, in favour of punting. As there were nine of us, or eight at that point, we had to hire two punts. Diclonius, Tons, Fly and I were in one..and Fuzz, Borsky, Chris and Bogus the other. I found punting not as easy as it looks, but I suppose you can pick up the technique after a while. We all had turns in piloting the punt - Tons and Fly were especially good. Along the canal, a scene from the German version of Miss Marple was being filmed--so the camera crew kept stopping punts for a time, then letting them continue on. A joke started about a film-bloke, who had a walkie-talkie and an earpiece, saying "4 to 5 minutes..." to everyone, then remarking about how "some fruity chap has just fallen in the water." We all headed back to the hostel for a chill-out on the open terrace, with more discussion and Diclonius's amusing LSD-party anecdote. Once again, dinner plans were brought up and everyone wanted to stay close to the hostel. We decided to eat at Al Salam, a Lebanese restaurant just down the street. I quite enjoyed the meal and the waitcritter even obliged in taking a group photo of us. Once we finished eating - I thought it a good time to break for the night, so off I went to the bus stop. I heard that Fly, Borsky and Fuzz adjourned to a club, to sip a little absinthe. I am sorry I missed that.

Day Three (Saturday, 24th July) - I stuck to the 10:30 meet-up time and round about 11 a.m., everyone seemed ready to go. Well, mostly everybody - Fly and Diclonius elected to catch us up a bit later. Today, the Botanical Gardens was deemed to be the initial port of call. Again, a fee was required - which put most of us off the idea - so we had a stroll around the Christ Church college grounds and watched the punts go by. The Ashmolean Museum was the next stop. N.P. had some urgent business and headed back to the hostel. The museum had been re-furbished in the past year, so there was plenty to see. We had a good investigation of the ancient Egypt section, as well as the Cretan and Greek displays. Since we didn't have too much time to explore, we headed up to the Chinese and Japanese sections. Borsky, Fuzz, Bogus and I had a look round the gift shop--but walked away with no treasures. A stop at a cafe was in order, caffeine for most of the crew and fruit juice for me. We ambled back to the hostel (after another round at the 'Turf, natch!) for another chill-out sesh...and then it was time for Bill Spectre's Oxford Ghost Trail. Bill himself seems an amiable bloke and he gets points from me for being a King Crimson fan (he noticed my T-shirt when we were purchasing our places on the trail). Bill has a great theatrical style and also makes use of props (a book that bursts into flame, a key that emits electrical sparks, etc.). He led us around various spots in Broad Street and the High Street, detailing strange and often macabre events that happened there. Once Bill's tour ended, I was starving. We couldn't all agree on one place to get food, so Chris and I decamped to the Cafe Coco Restaurant. I had a scrumptious mushroom pizza and Chris ordered a massive canole. We discussed various things and then it was back to the hostel, for an experimental virtual meeting via Skype. N.P. managed to get B. Kane on the video link, all the way from Norway. There were really funny moments, like B.'s game of "Book Bingo" and the misapprehension of a cigarette-holder that once belonged to Errol Flynn. A bit later, Bobby Campbell was on-line and though we couldn't have a split-screen convo with both of them, everyone could still hear each other. Bobby let us know that he's developing new artwork for re-prints of two Tim Leary books that have been long out-of-print. Huzzah! I can't wait to buy those! It was a remarkable ending to a brilliant day. Once the lap-tops were put away, we all trooped down to the street for some air...and I said "good night" to the crew and once again ambled on toward the bus stop. I was given a plague mask by Fuzzbuddy, as he had extras--and I was tempted to wear it back to the bus stop, but I feared it would have been wrecked by one of the drunken revelers spilling out of the pubs.

Day Four (Sunday, 25th July) - Feeling a bit washed-out from the previous three day's adventures, I made the journey into town. I arrived at the hostel as the rest of the crew were preparing to leave--lots of packing and tidying the room. We made our way to George Street, which is dotted with coffee bars and little eateries. We stopped at one, so everyone could get their caffeine fix and some breakfast. Borsky needed to get back to London fairly early, so after a few photos - he and Tons and N.P. headed for the bus station, with the rest of us in tow. Good-byes and well-wishes all around and then the three boarded the coach bound for The Big Smoke. Fly, Fuzz, Bogus and I walked down to Great Clarendon Street and found the Jude The Obscure pub. I hadn't been there in ages and I had forgotten how much I liked it. We had a couple of rounds. Fly mentioned he was going to see Inception at the cinema later in the afternoon. A bit of time passed and it was decided we should move on. I parted from the rest at around 3 p.m., as I had to buy a few gifts for the goodwyf. I finally arrived home at 4:30 p.m. and was quite exhausted.

Such a lovely time - I hope to be able to participate in next year's gathering. All Hail Eris! All Hail Pope Bob!

New Kaleidophonic Stroboscope Episode!

14 Asadha - Year 1932

Hellooooooo critters!

A brand-new K.S. show is now live - er...has been for about a week now. I didn't have time to post about it here until today.

Anyway - check it out here.

The next one will be on the way soon...Enjoy!

Out Of Work

9 Tir - Year 1389

It's my last day at my current wage-slave gig--I'm seemingly the victim of "down-sizing, off-shoring and out-sourcing". The entire staff of the department was summoned back in March for a 'company strategy' meeting. It was announced that six full-time staff members would be made redundant by September. The following couple of weeks, interviews were held about everyone's prospective plans. In mine, I did mention that I was thinking of leaving the department by the end of the year. I had also applied for a couple of in-house roles, which I subsequently wasn't chosen for. I know--probably not the best time to do so--but I didn't want to put my plans on hold.

When the announcements were made in early May, about who was on the chopping block, it wasn't much of a surprise that my name was among them. Each employee was 'rated' by their team manager, as far as following e-mail guidelines and a few other criteria (surprisingly, not productivity, though). My ratings were mysteriously low, considering that only a month or two before - my performance was roundly praised. Hmmmm...

I was told that my last working day would be September 30th - or as they put it, could be. That was probably important to remember, because last week--I had my 'final consultation' meeting with H.R. and the senior manager of the department. In the meeting, I was told that actually, my leaving day was suddenly moved to 30th June, not 30th September. Uh......Okayyyyy. Apparently, my team is 'over-staffed' by 1.9 critters. How they worked that out, I'll never know. I was told that I still get my full severance pay and I get my salary paid through July. As The Dead said once, "Set up, like a bowling pin/Knocked down, it gets to wearing thin.."

I have a feeling that the whole "over-staffed" thing was just a ruse to cover for the fact that the powers-that-be wanted me out before September. Maybe they think that my 'work-standards' have dropped (which they really haven't) or that I may be a 'disruptive presence'. I couldn't really say. That whole corporate/office politics thing bores me to tears, so I'm glad to be moving on now.

As I say, I've wanted to leave for a while now. I've been here for four years now and, as far as the context of the job I have, I've accomplished everything I can. Maybe it's my attention span, but I get really bored of jobs after a couple of years. I remember a statement of Robert Anton Wilson's, which said (I'm paraphrasing): "No matter how much you love your job, you should take a leap and try something different every five years, otherwise you become a zombie." I realise that not all have the luxury of leaving their jobs - but that definitely seems like sound advice to me.

From what I hear on the grapevine - there's more changes coming and more culling of the staff. Even if I had 'passed' this time, I might not have been so lucky next time. Ah well, so it goes in the world of wage-slavery. Perhaps this time, I can secure a gig where there's less of the politics and more enjoyment in 'work'. Heh heh....I can dream, can't I?

Time to get the CV updated and hit the pavment. Wish me luck!

The Boat Trip

31 Jyaistha - Year 1932

Back from our holidays now - as I suspected, they flew by. In fact, I've already been back at work for a week (grumble..grumble..).

Pixie and I hired a narrowboat, in which we planned to head up to Chester and back. The marina we hired the boat from is located in Shropshire. The company is Maestermyn and their prices seem fairly reasonable. The boat we hired is called "Rhonwen" and is a 35-footer...small-ish compared to most of the boats on the canals now.

When we picked Rhonwen up from the marina, we were given a checklist of how to use the cooker, the lights, etc. He asked where we were planning on going...I answered "Chester." He replied with "You won't make to Chester and back in a week...it takes nearly a week to get there." D'oh! So, with a change in plan, we aimed toward Llangollen, in Wales, which was a much shorter distance to traverse. I nearly hit a couple of boats moored up in the marina as we left...such is the sensitivity of the rudder. It took me a couple of hours to really get used to piloting...by which time I had hit the canal bank at least once, along with the sides of bridge through-ways.

We made our way through to Chirk, which seems to be on the border of Wales. Between the over-night mooring spot and the village itself...there's a weird bit of 'no man's land' along the road. The sign stating "Welcome To Wales" is at the end of the road into the village..and at the top of the road is a "Shropshire" sign. I wish I'd taken a photo of it. There's also a huge tunnel to pass through. It felt a bit surreal piloting the boat through there. The light on the front of the boat worked well enough, but unlike the headlights on a car, it looks very dim when you're standing at the back. The ceiling of the tunnel was sliding over my head, but I couldn't really see it. It almost seems like you're not moving at all. We were quite lucky as well because sometimes the canal traffic gets heavy and the tunnel can only accomodate boats travelling in one direction. If that's the case, you have to wait along the canal bank until you are safe to go through...and if it's raining, it becomes a bit of a drag.

The other bit that can be hairy (if you don't like heights) is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, near Llangollen. It has a walkway on one side and the canal bit for the boats on the other. The walkway has a railing--the boat side, however, does not. There's about 12 inches of raised metal to keep the boats from going over the edge..and that's it. The aqueduct is about 120 feet above ground. I mainly just looked ahead of me and tried not to look down over the side...not so easy to do. Luckily, time-wise, it's not too far to go and soon you get into the twisty canal route to the town itself. We moored up and went to have a look around. It's a small, but picturesque place. I found a huge used book-shop and scoured the charity shops for LPs. I ended up buying two Thomas Hardy novels (Tess Of The D'Urbervilles & Return Of The Native) and a Mick Farren sci-fi novel called The Last Stand Of The DNA Cowboys. Looking forward to reading that! We stayed there over-night, which meant getting dinner in town. A pizza restaurant located near the centre of town fit the bill and we enjoyed some yummy grub and a couple of Italian beers, too.

Our plan was to go back toward the marina, then bypass it for a day to trek to Ellesmere. We made decent time back to the aqueduct and Chirk. Past that, though, we underestimated the canal traffic at one of the two locks, which we had passed through so easily just a few days previously. About twelve boats were lined up, waiting to pass through the lock. We held Rhonwen to the side of the canal by mooring ropes, for three hours in the pouring rain. Ugh! Ah well, I suppose that's to be expected. While piloting back from Llangollen, Pixie noticed that the electrics were hardly charging, though we were running the engine constantly. A stop at the marina and a check by an engineer showed that the alternator was kaput. He changed the alternator and chucked a new battery in, in just over an hour.

Ellesmere itself is pleasant enough. The wharf area is under development at the moment and the sight of a massive Tesco, when walking from the mooring spot into the village doesn't make for pleasant scenery. We ambled around for a while, checking out a wooded park area and trying to locate the 'Castle Mound' (possibly the site of a Saxon fortress) among a bunch of small hills. There aren't many shops, so we quickly looked in the more interesting ones. Dinner was at a local pub/restaurant and we shot a couple of games of pool, too.

The next morning marked the end of our journey. We duly dropped Rhonwen back at the marina, loaded up the car and before getting on the road back to Oxford, stopped by Whittington Castle for a bit. The grounds are relatively small and you really only need about an hour to see everything. Pixie suggested we also stop in Shrewsbury for lunch and brief shopping excursion. I found a Manitas De Plata LP in one charity shop and a Gordon Giltrap LP in another. We arrived home in the late afternoon, then picked up the cats from the cattery. For a few days afterward, I still felt as if I were swaying back and forth just a little. I didn't realise you had to get 'land legs' after being on a boat for a week.

Slouching Toward Middle-Age

2 Pepper - Year 43 p.r.S.P.

Jaysus! June already - sorry I only managed a couple of posts in May. So much for my plan to blog more than I did last year. I still blame Facebook and eBay...been spending far too much time at both.

So...what's new, you ask? Not a lot. Still on the chopping block at work and still not really fussed by that fact. I've applied for a couple of gigs, but was turned down. Ah well, still a few months to go before I'm officially unemployed. Plenty of time..plenty of time..

I completed the second anniversary show of the Kaleidophonic Stroboscope podcast. Really weird that it's been two years since I started it up. Thanks to all who've listened and to those who made requests for the anniversary show. I hope to start the new episode when Pixie and I are back from holiday.

Yep - we're away to Shropshire in a few days. We've hired a narrow-boat and will be afloat on the canal for a week. Muggins here gets to do the piloting. It'll be an adventure, anyway--trying not to collide with the banks of the canal or other craft. You can only go about 4 m.p.h., top speed, so I don't foresee any serious accidents.

Monday (7th June) marks the 40th year I've been on this backward, superstitious planet. I honestly don't know how I've survived for so long--I suspect a combination of luck and genetics and sheer will (sometimes). It seems strange to me, becoming "middle-aged", whatever that means these days. Critters are living longer, at least it appears that way to me. I remember when reaching 100 years was a feat of incredible doing. Now, it's almost expected that most humans (at least in 'The West') will live well into their 90s. I do hope I stick around a little while longer, but one never knows. I think it takes a lot of hubris to state how long your life will last...and I've got no idea. Still, I've had a pretty good run so far and I can look back on it and be fairly satisfied on how it's turned out. Maybe in about twenty years (if I'm still here)...I'll jot down my memoirs on some sort of holographic recording machine...or to a robot who will file my memories away on whatever replaces DVDs. Maybe.

Hoffman and Bucky - watch and listen!

29 Jumada I-Ula - Year 1431

I meant to post these a few weeks ago. Thanks to Singing Bear and my pal Fuzzbuddy (whom I met via the Maybe Logic Academy) for sending me these docu clips.

The Albert Hoffman one is titled Hoffman's Potion and is, as you may have guessed, about LSD and the psychedelic experience in the West. You can check it out here.

The Bucky Fuller docu is actually a BBC Radio 4 programme about Bucky. Listen to it here (I'm not sure how long it will be around--so you may want to listen soon).

Enjoy!

Redundant Man Walking

28 April - Year 2010 (Julian calendar)

I haven't had much time for posting, despite my resolution to do so more this year. There hasn't been much going on..well, except one thing. I don't usually discuss my job here, as you never know who's going to read my musings. I suppose I can this time, however.

As of the past couple of weeks, my job is officially "at risk of redundancy"--so I've been notified. The company I work for (not to be named) did the same thing last year, but I made it through the minefield. I wasn't so lucky this time around. I suppose it's to be expected, what with a lot of places "off-shoring" and "out-sourcing". There was a sort-of 'scoring' system for all the drones..and I was marked at the low end. Was there favouritism and deliberate manipulation of the scores involved? I strongly suspect it. I was offered a small period of time to challenge the decision, but, to be honest, I couldn't be bothered. I welcome the change.

I've been where I am for nearly four years...the longest I've stayed at one job. My previous record is 3-1/2 years, at an architecture firm in Conn., right before I moved to the UK. I've no idea why I stayed there so long - probably the money and the fact I could go on-line a lot and chat with friends at the Flaming Lips site.

It feels a bit weird, though. Every other time I've been made redundant (or 'laid off', as us Yanks would say)--I've had a week's notice...a couple of times it was the same day. I've got another 3-1/2 months to go before I'm pitched outta here. During that time, I'm supposed to remain committed to my job. That's a challenge for me, resisting the temptation to super-slack and let things slide a lot. I suppose I need to keep up appearances for the time being, as I'm only at risk, so I can still be sacked. They've still got me yoked for the moment. It's strange, too, getting the sympathetic looks and hushed-tone condolences--but not leaving yet. Definitely all new to me.

Ah well....time to start really perusing the job ads and sites. If I time it right, I get my pay-out and a new gig. See you at the interview room.

Springtime Update

8 Vaisakha - Year 1932

Hey now! The end of April is here. Sorry I haven't posted much - I've been creating a podcast episode, tidying up the house (with the goodwyf) and celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary. I know, I couldn't fathom it either.

You can listen to the new podcast episode here. No theme again - just a collection of freeky tunes to swirl around in your mind. Next month marks the 2nd anniversary of the debut episode of the 'Stroboscope. I'm making it an all-request one. If you're on Facebook, you can submit a request there...or add one in the comments section here. I will try to add as many in the show as I can.

'Election Fever' seems to be everywhere at the moment. It was nice to see Nick Clegg trounce Posh-boy Cameron and dour Brown in the (U.S. stylee, natch) debates, but unfortunately, I don't really see the Lib Dems seizing power from the 'two-party-that's-actually-a single-party' stranglehold. Which probably means that the dreaded Tories may win. To me, it doesn't really matter--as some clever critter said once: "No matter who you vote for, the government always gets in." Amen. Still, if I were allowed to vote, it'd be for The Monster Raving Loony Party, seeing as there's probably no UK equivalent to the Guns And Dope Party. Pragmatically speaking, I suppose I'd vote Lib Dem or Greens. We'll all have to wait and see what happens next week.

The goodwyf and I travelled to Bournemouth over the weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We stayed at the same hotel we'd booked into last year. The weather was excellent--sunny skies and a bit of a breeze. We walked along West Cliff beach, had lunch at Subway and then went for a swim, suana, steam & jacuzzi at the hotel's indoor pool. Dinner was at the local Wagamama, where they serve some delicious food. The next day we got the ferry from Poole to Brownsea Island, most famous for being the starting point for the Boy Scouts, founded by Robert Baden-Powell. I really enjoyed walking around the island. It seemed very peaceful and relaxing--no plane noise and no traffic noise either. We even saw a couple of red squirrels (the island is a sanctuary for them, as they are endangered now).

After we arrived back in Poole, we had a bit of time before heading back home. I scoured a few charity shops for vinyl, but no luck. Right at the end of the high street, I saw a sign for a used record shop. Jackpot! The shop is tiny, but has a decent, though small, LP section. I picked up a pretty good copy of Gryphon's Raindance and a really beat-up (jacket-wise) copy of Focus's Hamburger Concerto. I was tempted by a copy of The Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request (with 3-D cover!)--but I couldn't afford the £40 asking price. Ah well, another time.

UPDATE: Oop..seems as if Gordon Brown's in trouble again over calling an old woman a 'bigot'. I've watched the footage and while she doesn't come across as a raging BNP supporter--her comment about "all these Eastern Europeans" does seem a bit bigoted to me. I'm not a big supporter of Brown or Labour, but I dunno..it seems like he made a pretty good call on that one.