UK-based weblog on technology, queerness, language and fitness

Monthly archive: August 2005

links for 2005-08-31

Wednesday 31 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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links for 2005-08-30

Tuesday 30 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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links for 2005-08-25

Thursday 25 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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links for 2005-08-24

Wednesday 24 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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Taking sides

Tuesday 23 August 2005 / uncategorized / 1 comment

Image of a boxer blowing a left hookThe slightest of gym injuries (pulled ligament, left forearm) has been forcing me to do some stuff with my right hand for the first time. Which is weird since I am right-handed.

I already knew that the left leads when I am lifting weights, hammering, screwing (as in DIY), or anything that very obviously requires physical strength.

However, I had no idea that I also left-handedly hoovered, scrubbed the bathtub, put things away in cupbodards, carried bags, wrought dishcloths (can you tell I cleaned the apartment over the weekend?).

I also wear 'it' on the left, I wonder if that is related?

My sides seem to have shared jobs according to inclination: the left bangs away while the right does precision tasks.

Like, if I were to be in a punch-up I'd have a deadly left hook – that lands somewhere in the air between your shoulder and your right ear.

links for 2005-08-23

Tuesday 23 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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Toiletiquette

Monday 22 August 2005 / uncategorized / Comments Off

What the sign in the toilets at work says:

Please could we remind all users of these toilets to be considerate and remember that they are a unisex facility and should be left in a clean and tidy state for everyone to use. Thank you.

What the sign in the toilets at work means:

Instructions for men:

  1. lift seat
  2. aim carefully
  3. wipe splashed drops
  4. put seat back down
  5. wash hands

Ta.

The women.

links for 2005-08-21

Sunday 21 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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links for 2005-08-20

Saturday 20 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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I'm a bummer, not a bomber

Friday 19 August 2005 / uncategorized / Comments Off

This is what Dr B. tells me in the morning when he sees me getting dressed to go to work. Why?

Well, on 22 July 2005 Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was mistaken for a suicide bomber in Stockwell tube station here in London, and killed with eight shots.

We were led to believe that he had hurdled a barrier, was wearing a padded jacket and refused to stop when questioned by a surveillance officer.

Leaked documents from the enquiry now suggest that Mr de Menezes walked into the station, picked up a newspaper, went through ticket barriers and then started to run when he saw a train arriving. He was wearing a light jeans jacket.

Now, I shall respect everyone's religion as long as they respect my choice not to have one. And everybody has got as much right to choose to live in the United Kingdom as I have, if not more – I was not even born here! – as long as they behave.

However, now that a few individuals are giving all of us 'ethnics' a bad name, I have resolved to take some action in order to avoid being killed on my way to work:

  1. swap my backpack for my old messenger bag, less bomb-friendly. Slam it on the floor once in the carriage to dismiss any fears from fellow passengers;
  2. get rid of my habit of near-running all the time along corridors, platforms and escalators on the London Underground network. It's fun, it gets me from A to B in less time than you can say 'mind the gap', but I noticed it is not particularly appreciated these days;
  3. wear the loudest, campest, most blatantly homosexual clothes I own (that can still grant me access to my office at HM Government). As far as I know, there is no such thing as a Gay Nation of Islam. Is there?
  4. accessorise, accessorise, accessorise! Rings, scarves, hats, chains – especially the glow-in-the-dark rosary beads from my catholic upbringing. Befriend the security guard at work so that I won't have to take off my beloved Britney belt (white leather with massive steel studs throughout) every single morning before going through the metal detector;
  5. do something about the patchy facial hair. I tried the goatee but got more stares than ever before, so went back to the scraggy beard. Can't shave completely because I look like a knob (and would find myself out of a boyfriend in no time);
  6. sing loudly along to the music in my earphones, and dance on the spot when waiting for a train, or travelling while not seated. Oh wait – I already do that all the time anyway;
  7. swap my current read (Letters from Iceland, W.H. Auden and Louis MacNiece – its gayness is much too veiled to make a proper statement) with the free weekly gay press. Linger on Boyz' Backroom Boy more than it would be polite to;
  8. stay away from the sunbed, embrace the paleness of my skin and save my life in the process. And I'm not just talking about skin cancer here.

East London Olympics

Thursday 18 August 2005 / uncategorized / Comments Off

The dilapidated wasteland stretching from my doorstep will host the 2012 Olympics. Apparently some of the disciplines are going to be especiallyl altered for the occasion. A leaked copy of the proposed changes has been circulating, and is reproduced below.

But first, you might want to check the failed Olympic bids for the following cities and areas:

Olympic Games 2012 – Stratford

Opening ceremony

The flame will be ignited by a petrol bomb thrown by a native of the area, in the traditional dress of balaclava and shell suit. The flame will be contained in a large overturned police van situated on the roof
of the stadium.

The events

In previous Olympic Games, East London's competitors have not been particularly successful. In order to redress the balance, some of the events have been altered slightly to the advantage of local athletes.

100 metres sprint

Competitors will have to hold a video recorder and microwave oven (one in each arm) and on the sound of the starting pistol, a police dog will be released from a cage 10 yards behind the athletes.

110 metres hurdles

As above but with added obstacles (i.e. car bonnets, hedges, garden fences, walls etc)

Hammer

Competitors in this event may choose the type of hammer they wish to use (claw, sledge etc) the winner will be the one who can cause the most physical damage within three attempts.

Fencing

Entrants will be asked to dispose of as many stolen goods as possible in 5 minutes.

Shooting

A strong challenge is expected from local men in this event. The first target will be a moving police van. In the second round, competitors will aim at a post office clerk bank teller or securicor style wages
delivery man. The traditional .22 rifle has been replaced in this event by a choice of either a Browning automatic handgun or Sawn-off 12-bore shotgun.

Boxing

Entry to the boxing will be restricted to husband and wife teams, and will take place on a Friday night. The husband will be given 15 pints of lager while the wife will be told not to make him any tea when he
gets home. The bout will then commence.

Cycling time trials

Competitors will be asked to break into the University bike shed and take an expensive mountain bike owned by some mummy's boy on his first trip away from home. All against the clock.

Cycling pursuit

As above, but the bike will be owned by a visiting member of the Australian rugby team, who will witness the theft.

Modern pentathlon

Amended to include mugging, breaking and entering, flashing, joyriding and arson.

Swimming events

All waterways are currently being tested for toxicity levels, once one is found that can support human life, swimming events will be organised, please note that the Synchronised Swimming even for this
year will comprise of dropping acid and watching all the funky ripples on the pool, the specific musical support to this event will be provided by "The Verve".

The marathon

A safe route has yet to be decided.

Men's 50km walk

Unfortunately this will have to be cancelled as the police cannot guarantee the safety of anyone walking the streets of East London, especially anyone that appears to be mincing …

The closing ceremony

Entertainment will include formation rave dancing by members of the Stratford Health in the Community anti-drug campaigners, synchronised rock throwing, and music by the Ilford community choir. The flame will
be extinguished by police riot water cannon following inevitable pitch invasion by a confused West Ham organised hooliganism club. The stadium itself will then be boarded up before the local athletes break into it and remove all the copper piping and the central heating boiler.

Late News: Apparently Liverpool were set to put in a bid very similar to the above but with the Pentathlon modified to include: Killing a spouse, digging a hole, burying the body, laying a patio and the strangely named 'Calm Down' contest.

To guarantee the entry of any Mancunian athletes at all, Drugs testing has been waived this year.

links for 2005-08-18

Thursday 18 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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Spontaneous combustion

Wednesday 17 August 2005 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Chris Evans shirtlessOn Monday night Dr B. and I went to the cinema. I had suggested a handful of movies I wanted to see, and threw in Fantastic Four.

Well aware of my disinterest in anything science-fiction or super-hero related (unless styled by a camp designer), Dr B. considered suspiciously my last choice but took up the opportunity very gladly.

A few minutes into the movie, the screen literally lit up with the first of Chris Evans / The Human Torch's many shirtless appearances, which are of course completely non-gratuitous, as the guy's on fire, and until he puts on his special suit clothes just keep falling off him.

That, a large coffee and two half-litre bottles of Pepsi Max meant that for once I did not fall asleep during a fantasy action movie.

Scarlett island

Tuesday 16 August 2005 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Exhibit A – a picture of Scarlett Johansson (left).

Exhibit B – a picture of Scarlett Johansson from The Island movie poster (centre).

Exhibit C – a picture of Desperate Housewives' Nicolette Sheridan (right).

A picture of Scarlett Johanssen A picture of Scarlett Johanssen (from The Island movie poster) where she looks like Nicolette Sheridan A picture of Nicolette Sheridan


See also: sitting through the whole Fantastic Four movie last night thinking that Jessica Alba was Scarlett Johansson.

links for 2005-08-16

Tuesday 16 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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How to wean yourself off coffee in five easy steps

Monday 15 August 2005 / uncategorized / Comments Off
  1. Start a survey of high-street designer brews and present the results on your website. Stand back in astonishment at how much you drink and how much it costs you.
  2. Decide that Benjy's is the best value for money (read: the cheapest) and stick to it for your early morning and mid-day fixes. Get aquainted with the briskly efficient Latvian staff in the process.
  3. After one too many near-exploded Italian coffee-machines forgotten on the stove, clean up the splatter from the tiles in a three-feet radius, throw away the remaining beans and hide your addiction's paraphernalia in an out-of-reach place. Switch to the cheapest instant brand you can find, currently the garishly blue-and-white-stripe decorated Tesco Value: 31p (granules) or 29p (powder) for 100g.
  4. When Benjy's puts up the price from 75 to an outrageous 79 pence, stop going there, cold turkey. The timing is perfect, as it coincides with Superdrug round the corner doing two-for-ones on half-litre bottles of diet Pepsi for 89p. Drink four throughout your working day, every day. Tell yourself that the aim is to give up coffee, not caffeine and see if you buy it.
  5. Ditch the cola in favour of free water from the fountain at work.

That's it. You are free. You are confident. You smugly celebrate with a white americano from Pret. To your surprise, you are served by a former Latvian Benjy's employee who has moved up the coffee ladder. She winks at you and makes your coffee before you even ask. She knows how you like it. She'd give you the first cup for free if she could. You try and ignore the buzz the mother of all coffees is giving you and swear never to go there again.

links for 2005-08-13

Saturday 13 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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…let's call the whole thing off.

Thursday 11 August 2005 / uncategorized / Comments Off

A scanned receipt from Tescos, showing a cancelled item (doughnuts - British spelling) and a new item entered (donuts - American spelling)

See also: Diamond Geezer's Do(ugh)nuts Survey

One million Brummies can't be wrong

Thursday 11 August 2005 / uncategorized / 1 comment

[Continued from day one: Alton Towers]

On Saturday we took the train into Birmingham. As we approached the city, Dr B jumped out of his seat when he saw that Aston University's Chemistry Department had been pulled down. That's where he worked towards the Ph.D. that put the 'Dr' into 'Dr B.'. It turned out to be just a trick of the perspective from the tracks, and the building was still there in all its glory. Phew. I feared I was going to face a whole day with a very upset doctor.

The first stop of my guided visit to the city where he studied was indeed to be a pilgrimage underneath the very window of the room where most of his research had taken place. Surprisingly enough, the building had not exploded due to some carelessly mixed chemicals – but I am told this is just my idea of a chemistry doctorate.

We left the campus and walked towards the canals, via the Sacks of Potatoes, where I understand Dr. B used to down pint after pint of lager and blackcurrant. A purple hangover eventually put an end to his favourite tipple. The Sacks of Potatoes stands next to what used to be the Gosta Green cinema, the first in the UK to feature Dolby Stereo. This is only one of the many firsts/inventions/world records held by Birmingham, among which:

  • lawn Tennis, invented in Birmingham and played in Edgbaston from 1865. Birmingham's National Indoor Arena now plays host to the annual Davis Cup;
  • Birmingham was the first to be awarded 'European City of Sport';
  • Birmingham is known as the capital of the Balti, a spicy dish served in a wok-like metal dish (balti means 'bucket') introduced to the city by its large Kashmiri population. There are over 150 Balti restaurants in Birmingham, most of which are located within the Balti triangle;
  • Birmingham has more canals than Venice (by mileage, 35 miles versus 26);
  • F.W Lanchester built the first four-wheeled petrol driven car in Birmingham;
  • the first (and so far only) Eurovision Song Contest won by a male-to-female transgender took place at the National Indoor Arena in – you guessed it – Birmingham.

(Birmingham trivia mostly from Fascinating Facts about Birmingham.)

On the other hand, Birmingham's accent regularly comes last in British surveys of favourite regional accents.

I was shown the spot where Dr B. swam across the canal in a dinner jacket after a ball because he was too pissed to walk to the near-by bridge – very James Bond. The walk along the canals took us from dilapidated warehouses to regenerated des res. The area area where the canal flows underneath the BT building is stunning, with concrete meeting moss in an extraordinary effect of reflections that give you the impression to be at the edge of a precipice.

From the canal to the city centre and the Wheel of Birmingham. Sadly, the temporary Ferris wheel that had been shipped over from Paris has now been replaced by a brand new bespoke one, and the French audio commentary pointing at nowhere-to-be-seen Parisian monuments is no more.

Back to the city centre, and more regenerated areas. A lot of money has obviously been thrown into doing Birmingham up, and the results are striking. Coloured transparent blocks with water flowing around them (I suppose you may call them fountains, they are opposite St Martin's church and look stunning at night when lit up). The new Selfridges store at the Bullring, where we quickly slipped into retail mode: Dr B. wanking over technology, me ogling keyboards – and walking into a set of drums. The Mailbox, an exquisite container of dull shop after dull shop.

We rushed through Birmingham gay village. Gay area. Alright, gay street. Hopefully slightly more lively in the evenings. There is bound to be more Brummie gayness elsewhere. And then we took the train back.

That night, I made my first encounter with what had been heralded as The Best Chinese Take-away In The World. Being on my best behaviour and trying to impress the in-laws, I yum-yummed through an obscene quantity of grub. Sadly, to me everything still only tasted of COOH(CH2)2CH(NH2)COONa (monosodium glutamate, for the uninitiated to the joys of advanced chemistry.

links for 2005-08-05

Friday 5 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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  • Movie by the Neistat Brothers documenting the stencilling of the phrase 'iPod's unreplaceable battery lasts only 18 months' on top of iPod ads. Apple now offers a battery replacement programme and an extended warranty for the iPod.

links for 2005-08-03

Wednesday 3 August 2005 / links / Comments Off

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