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Thursday 20 November 2008
And Of Course: Spain
Good on the Spanish parliament.
Travelling/Returning/Big Brother
Just back from a trip to Germany made thoroughly annoying by the flight back being cancelled and having to come via a ninety minute taxi ride, a different departure airport and a different arrival airport. Not, truthfully, in the greatest frame of mind just at the moment.
En route out there on Tuesday, I spotted a small item in The Independent (can't find a link now) discussing the fact that this year's Big Brother house has divided quite clearly along racial lines, and noting that it all kicked off big time in a row about cider on Sunday night. We saw the highlights of that row on Monday, and at the time I was astonished at some of the stuff which was being said. The most glaring comment of what I heard came from the vile Saskia (white), speaking to Makosi (black), when she said "You're just like the rest of your sort - you've all got a chip on your shoulder." (I paraphrase a little, but not much.)
Unreal.
An Early "Happy Canada Day"
Canada Day is actually on Friday, but I feel like celebrating The Joy of Canada, as that fine nation, in which I've spent so much good time, has now become the third in the world to make gay marriage legal.
Ladies and gentlemen, please now be upstanding for the National Anthem:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Heh
David and I caught a bit of Big Brother last night, and I felt his comment at the outset was bloggable.
Before the programme started, they did a Channel 4 standard "This programme contains nudity and strong language" warning.
David's response was "Really? With this crowd? What a shock. It would be more noteworthy if they ever had to issue an 'Adult Conversation and modesty' notice."
The Face Of Channel Four
I daresay that these days others could legitimately be given the title. The Divine Davina is an obvious candidate, and maybe Jon Snow would be an option.
But basically, the first face on screen on day one of Channel 4, the man whose slightly disturbing banter with Carol Vorderman made an entire generation of viewers cringe, and the owner of a wider collection of chromatically-challenged blazers than an entire end-of-pier variety show must clearly be It.
Or I should say "must clearly have been It".
Party Party Party
More or less this time last year, I posted under this same title, having been to a 'house party' for the first time in living memory. I've now been to one for the second time in living memory, and it was the same party. That is, it was this year's version of the same people's party - same location, many of the same faces, and a similarly jolly good time had.
Last year I had 48 hours notice for the event, which was themed Cowboys and Indians. This year I had rather more notice, but still ended up running around on Saturday making last minute costume choices. Theme this year: Emergency Services. Over lunch with Dave and Barnaby a few weeks ago we touched on Mountain Rescue, and suddenly from someone, the idea of putting a barrel round my neck and going as a St Bernard was suggested. I loved the idea, but in typical style haven't had any time to source a suitable barrel and floppy ears.
So it was last minute surgeon's scrubs from a joke shop in Covent Garden for me. The medical parts of the emergency services outnumbered the others by about five to one in the final representation.
David put on white feathery wings and a halo, and introduced himself to anyone who asked with the line "Well Jon suggested we go as characters from that TV series Angels and I got the wrong idea".
Schism Is A Great Word
Seriously, it's one of those words that always sounds so dramatic.
It's been in my mind today as a result of having heard the news about 'liberal' US and Canadian churches being excluded from the Anglican Consultative Council. Regular readers will be aware that I've followed the situation in the Anglican Church with some interest and a small amount of glee. Watching any religious institution tearing itself apart over anything is always going to trigger mirth, but watching the C of E at war with itself is just getting better and better.
I heard one guy on the radio this morning saying that the 'choice of a gay lifestyle' was incompatible with God's love. Funny, I always thought that choices were things that you, well, chose. The guy absolutely rejected the idea that God made gay people gay, but it's a fantastically nonsensical argument. "God wouldn't make gay people, so they have to make a choice to be so, and my evidence for that is that I don't think God would make gay people."
If I accepted the existence of a god as creator I'd have to ascribe my gayness to it, because it's catagorically nothing I chose, and nor was I forced into it by the vast array of positive gay role models and influences that worked upon me during my formative years. And I'm certainly not the only one in that position. But apparently the conviction that it's a choice and can be overcome remains rooted in certain branches of Christian thinking.
Witness for instance the delightful organisation 'Love in Action' (no, I'm not linking to the fuckers - you want to find them, go look). This is one of those groups that claims to offer ministry for "the prevention or treatment of unhealthy and destructive behaviors facing families, adults, and adolescents", including of course the dreaded curse of homosexuality. This lot will take kids (under their parents' instruction) and attempt to 'cure' them.
The depth of Christian Love represented by this delightful organisation is perhaps best exemplified by its Director, the Reverend John Smid, who is quoted thusly:
"I would rather you commit suicide than have you leave Love In Action wanting to return to the gay lifestyle. In a physical death you could still have a spiritual resurrection; whereas, returning to homosexuality you are yielding yourself to a spiritual death from which there is no recovery."
Yes, he's actually advocating suicide over being gay. Lovely man.
And of course the CofE's latest ruck comes less than a week after the new Archbishop of York said that he wanted to banish homophobia from the church.
Best of luck with that, Bish.
Not My Type
Courtesy of John at Sore Eyes, I found a link to Me(ish), in which some extensions to the limited range of personality types allowed by the standard Myers-Briggs psychometric test are provided.
My own favourites are:
SPQR
Thinks in straight lines. Tendency to invade and occupy projects. Looks good in sandals.
IMHO
Opinionated about everything. Shares opinion even when unwelcome. Writes a lot of emails.
For myself, every single time I've done a Myers-Brigg I've come out a a very consistent ENTP, which means, for those who are interested:
"Creative, resourceful, and intellectually quick. Good at a broad range of things. Enjoy debating issues, and may be into "one-up-manship". They get very excited about new ideas and projects, but may neglect the more routine aspects of life. Generally outspoken and assertive. They enjoy people and are stimulating company. Excellent ability to understand concepts and apply logic to find solutions."
Wimbledon Watch
Here we go again I guess. How typical is it that at 6am this morning with yet another gorgeous day in prospect the BBC radio people were chatting about how great it was that this year's championship is going to have such a brilliant start, weather-wise, and by 10am the rain was lashing down and a thunderstorm was in progress?
Brighter now, and the Evening Standard seems to think that the heatwave is on track for another ten days, so you never know it might be that the thing isn't totally washed out until the Finals.
As usual the Wimbledon site's on-demand scoreboard will be taking up residence on my machine.
And as usual I shall be holding out no great hope for any of the British talent.... Though you never know, I guess.
Warm, Isn't It?
So what better day is there likely to be to walk ten kilometres with a couple of thousand other people along a central London route that offered shade for perhaps a quarter of the distance than the hottest, sunniest day of the year so far?
I've sweated what feels like *gallons* today.
Still, we did the walk - raised the money - feel a bit virtous.
And a bit red.
EDIT - Turns out that today was the warmest June day in London since the long hot summer of 1976. I can believe that.
The Parting Of The Ways
So that's it. It's all over, and didn't it go out with a bang?
No more Doctor Who until Christmas, but at least there's another twenty seven episodes, minimum, to come after that.
That was a very solid episode, with some truly great moments. Christopher Eccleston was at his absolute best, and gave The Doctor some real Doctorish highlights, especially his 'rather be a coward than a killer' moment, and the spine-tingling moment when his recording turned and looked directly at Rose for the end of his message.
I could nit-pick details, but it would be churlish in light of the absolutely staggering achievement of the whole series. The recreation of family viewing, a concept that every 'expert' thought was long-dead by itself is worth applauding, but to do so in such a way as to have created one of the most-watched TV series on British TV and still stayed true to a format originally conceived in the 1960s?
Who on earth could have thought it?
The Verdict
"Best episode of Doctor Who ever" said both the rather hard-to-please (dare I say jaded) Doctor Who fans who rolled up at home late last night.
Roll on Saturday.
Advance Screening
See, tonight I'm going to be torn.
David's going to the press screening of The Parting Of The Ways, the last episode of this series of Doctor Who, this evening.
So will I force all the spoilers out of him, or will I save myself for the broadcast on Saturday?
It's a tricky one - really seriously tricky. I'm *very* excited about the episode - last Saturday's was my favourite of the series so far, and so it's set up a huge expectation. But will I enjoy it as much going into it blind sitting alongside the man who's already seen it?
Once the finale's been broadcast, by the way, I'll do a full overview of the series.
"A Triumph Of Good Over Evil"
At least, that's how one of the lunatics outside the courthouse referred to the Michael Jackson verdict. I can't decide who's freakier, Jackson or the nutters who worship him.
In A Good Cause
At virtually no notice, as I didn't know if I was going to be in the country for it or not, I've registered for Crusaid's annual Walk For Life this coming Sunday.
I've set myself the slightly ambitious goal of raising £400 in a week, so any and all support will obviously be appreciated.
If you're feeling generous you can donate here, or if you feel like doing the Walk yourself (with even less time to fundraise), you can do so at the Walk For Life site.
Thanks.
Oh my lord.....
Big, big, BIG night out with a crowd from work tonight. Several bars, many drinks, no food to speak of until after midnight, and just as we were arriving at a Karaoke bar, my better sense kicked in and a little voice in my head says "You really need to eat". So I veered off and headed down the road, ate a huge amount of junk food, and then the voice said "Now go home". So I'm back at the hotel, leaving most of the others to their all-singing, all-dancing fate. I'm too old to be doing this kind of thing too often.
I Left My Heart....
.... in the place I was before San Francisco.
I miss my man. And my cat.
In-Flight Entertainment
Gotta love Virgin's video on demand system. During my flight today I (re)watched the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who, saw two episodes of The Catherine Tate Show, the first two episodes of Lost, and the Robert DeNiro film Hide and Seek.
Kind of exciting that Doctor Who has been picked up for this kind of thing - given that other TV on there includes Friends, Little Britain and the like, it feels like it's all gone a bit mainstream.
The guy sitting next to me saw the Doctor Who title sequence and went "Doctor Who? How come they're showing that? Oh my god, is that *new* Doctor Who?"
So he ended up watching it too and thoroughly enjoying it. He's going
to buy the DVDs when he gets back to the UK.
Lost, by the way, and with pun intended, looks like a bit of a find. I'm looking forward to seeing it on Channel 4 when it starts.
"High... Choreography.... Praise!"
I haven't mentioned it during its run, but following the final last night I thought I'd pay tribute to Strictly Dance Fever.
Seriously, how on earth does a series like that work at all, let alone as well as it did? A mix of Fame-school wannabes, slightly past their prime amateur hoofers and people who work in chip vans, all held together with spandex and sequins and Graham Norton should have been a disaster. But it wasn't. I'd go so far as to call it a triumph.
And honestly, I think a lot of the credit goes to Norton, who pitched it exactly right at every point, and clearly got emotionally involved in the whole thing. He placed himself very much on the side of the contestants against the capricious whims of the judges, but always managed to pull it back from the brink when one of the contestants took exception to a comment and looked like they were going to get carried away.
And a few words on the judges, who were lined up like a row of stereotypes more than human beings: There was Vile Plastic-Looking Australian Man, Vivacious Black Woman, Italian Smoothy, and Arlene Philipps, who fulfils no role except being the Arlene Philipps character. The whole way through, they veered from love to loathe regarding the same dancers within individual programmes, and each clearly had favourites from very early on.
It was a programme which made it easy to root for the underdogs, all the while recognising that the people who had to win had to be capable of being professional dancers. So by the final, James and Claire were clearly the couple you wanted to win, while Joseph and Sadie were the couple you knew should.
Classic TV, and worth every minute I spent watching it.
I'm *NOT* Getting Sucked Into Big Brother
Really and truly, I don't intend to get involved in the horror that is those thirteen people, but David clearly does, so I'm equally clearly going to be aware of it. This whole 'Makosi has to make herself unpopular' thing had a very definite shelf life, and I'm glad that the producers seem to have recognised the fact.
Giving her the option to nominate the two people who will definitely be up for eviction was, I'll admit, an interesting twist, but her selection, at least in part, was an odd one.
And while we're on the subject, did anyone see High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman on BBC 3 recently? Because we realised almost as soon as we saw him that Craig from BB *is* Shirley Ghostman...