Yearly Archives: 2007
Rave: Ezio Gig
Photo Credit: © 2007 Gavin Ireland .
Last night, Gavin and I went over to the Halfmoon in Putney to see Ezio live.
The Halfmoon is a unique music venue. With a history of nearly 50 years of live music, it has a proud history of promoting new talent and bands. This is where Kate Bush made her debut, where Elvis Costello was resident before signing a record deal and where U2 had their first sold-out British gig.
+20Hay Bubba! Get Yer Gurn Boy!
In recent times, I’ve seen quite a few “Your taking the piss” stories in the news, but today’s item about a baby in Illinois being granted a gun permit takes some beating.
Bubba Ludwig (how perfect is that!) obtained a license thanks to the efforts of his father, Howard, who purchased the license online for a mere $5. According to the news article the license even includes a picture of a toothless Bubba and a squiggle that represents his best attempt at a signature!
Jeezuz…only in America.
+11Falwell Kicks The Bucket
Todays news item about the death of Jerry Falwell has left me in a somewhat ambivalent frame of mind.
On one hand Falwell was an ignorant, fake, bible-thumping, god-bothering, Olympic-class, racist bigot of the first order and frankly, in my view the world is better off without his form of medieval morality.
On the other hand, Falwell’s views made him such a ludicrously comic figure that he was a fantastic target for a long history of satire, culminating with the world-famous Hustler Campari Ad parody, for which he (unsuccessfully) tried to sue … for this at least, he will be missed.
If there is a God, I genuinely hope (s)he manifests herself to ol’ Jerry as a Black Jewish Lesbian Democrat – just to see the look on his face.
RiH Jerry…
+13Rant: Jail Paris Hilton!
It seems that an e-petition to keep the the rich slapper Paris Hilton out of jail has been started.
The petition itself states that: “Paris Hilton did not hurt, injure, or kill anyone or anything, and yet she must do jail time.”
It also claims “She provides hope for young people all over the U.S. and the world. She provides beauty and excitement to our otherwise mundane lives.”
What the…?!
+21Polling Day
Today is local elections polling day throughout the UK.
Traditionally, this is a day where some 70% of us can’t be arsed getting down to our local polling stations to vote.
As someone who makes a point of voting in local, national and European MEP elections, it does strike me as odd that more people don’t turn out for local elections. Even euro elections get a bigger turnout. And yet the local Councillors that are elected in today’s polls certainly have more of a direct effect on our everyday lives than either our MP’s or our MEP’s.
If I was only allowed to vote in ONE election, then the local elections would be my first choice without question; not only are they more relevant to me but of all the elections they are also the least partisan election in terms of party affiliations.
So c’mon folks – it’s a beautiful day. Take a walk to your polling station after dinner. Do your duty and vote – and then stop off at a pub for a well-deserved pint!
You’ll feel better…trust me!
+15Rave: Spain unveils new green power station design
PS10 (Planta Solar 10) is a highly innovative new power station prototype which is being trialled near Seville in Southern Spain.
The futuristic-looking tower that is surrounded by over 600 giant mirrors is able to convert solar energy to geothermal energy, which in turn drives electrical turbines to produce electricity. The Beeb has a video tour of the tower which is well worth a look.
+21UK Bomb Plot
Today’s news that 5 men have been convicted of a bomb plot in the UK is a real result for the work done by the security services, who in the past haven’t always got it right.
Amid a seemingly endless list of political and operational gaffs by some segments of the Home office in recent times, today’s convictions show what can be achieved with the right combination of accurate intelligence, inter-agency cooperation and assistance from a vigilant public.
+13