Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Adopts sinister voice: "I'm Back"

And with a suitably onanistic post to re-start, thanks to Dick via Bella (and the chain in between):

OJ, June 17th, 1994

MSN: As such, the chase became a textbook 'where-were-you?' moment.

S-E: I think I'll stick with Dick's answer - he says it all really:

Where was I? Haven't a fucking clue.


Death of Diana, August 31st, 1997

MSN: It being a Sunday, virtually the entire nation was having a lie-in.

S-E : Ah, yes, this could actually individually identify me (if there is a copy of the Duty Officer list still knocking around.) So let's just settle for "by an Aroflex terminal, having opened the safe, wondering how much trouble being really fucking useless at drill was going to get me in to during the planning of the state funeral". Which, thankfully, never happened.

Challenger disaster, January 28th, 1986

MSN: It being a Tuesday, this meant that the first report of it on British television occurred at 5pm in an edition of the BBC weekday children’s programme Newsround.

S-E: Britannia Royal Naval College. Basic Training. Far, far too busy to worry about anything else.

Resignation of Thatcher, November 22nd, 1990

MSN: Even so, for those at work or school during the day, word of mouth had to make do until a television set could be found.

S-E: On Operation Granby (Desert Shield for any American visitors). Completely TV free. Although we did get very good news through the int people.

England v West Germany, July 4th, 1990

MSN: It was said even Princess Diana, attending a social function in London, was being kept in touch of the score by telephone.

S-E: Professional football? Does anybody seriously give a fuck? Anyway, I thought she was the Princess of Wales?

Queen Elizabeth's Coronation, June 2nd, 1953

MSN: The coronation was the first event in British history to be seen by a mass audience on the small screen.

S-E: Unborn.

Iranian Embassy siege, May 5th, 1980

MSN: Their dramatic rescue attempt took place in full view of the ITN cameras. Footage, however, was not broadcast live.

S-E: I probably did watch this. Can't really remember though.

September 11th, 2001

MSN: It was a weekday afternoon, so most people didn’t see pictures of the attacks until they got home from school or work.

S-E: At a security conference, with a lot of financial and disaster recovery people. Watched it live - having asked the hotel to open the bar 'cause there were a lot of people in serious need of a stiff drink or 15.

Assassination of JFK, November 22nd, 1963

MSN: It wasn’t until 11pm that the BBC was sufficiently organised to broadcast a proper tribute programme.

S-E: Still not born. And he was the American President so you would expect the BBC to have a tribute programme lined up for the event of his assassination? I dunno ...

So, not really 'The whole world turning on the TV' at all. Or is it just me?

Nope, clearly not just you. BTW, in case you are (to my great surprise) interested, the first "famous event" I saw was the Apollo 11 landing - my parents took the infant me to a neighbour's house, that having a TV. It is not recorded whether I dribbled, blew bubbles or just slept through the performance.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Mummy, When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Stasi Informer.

Hat tip to the Green Man for this:

So perhaps the occasional outing is just the level of control that the blogging community needs.

SO where does Murdoch get these stuck in a rut cunts from?

Three summers ago, while on work experience at The Sunday Times, I wrote a story outing a sex blogger, Zoe Margolis, who had just turned her online collection of back-alley exploits into a book titled Girl with a One Track Mind. The writer’s anonymity was used as a marketing gimmick and the piece was the first high-profile “exposé” of an online writer’s anonymity; I promptly became public enemy No 1 in the blogosphere.


Hmm, investigative journalist Google on ...

Nothing much here, just lots of shit about too expensive houses and scummy ex-Soviets. But, here, we have it. What the fuck is wrong with Oxford these days?

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Musings of a late evening

Whilst reading about the unfortunate demise-by-exposure (shortly, possibly and even more unfortunately, maybe a 'doocing') of the blogger Jack Night (covered here, here and strangely here), I was engaged by the furore (in a blog-cup) over his "Evil Poor" post (the blog has gone but see here with yet more linky things in the comments).

Now, that got me thinking - always a dangerous thing.  Happy that the "evil poor" do actually exist, that they are a particular problem and that they are one overwhelmingly burdening on the non-evil (just to note that I am fully aware that the latter are the vast majority) poor.  Happy also that the "evil rich"exist  and the "evil moderately well off" and the evil ...  (Ed notes: stopped that with a brief application of 240V.)

What is the difference?  Might it be that impoverishment makes your search for subsistence the sole or overwhelming focus of your life?  The evil billionaire might be famed for the size of his yacht, the plasticity of wife No5, the vanity purchase of the football club etc, etc.  (Or even, to return to banking, the size of his pension!) The virtuous pauper (just to continue the moralistic fixatedness) is probably going to be considered a cleaner, a call-centre slavey (I can't actually think of a better word for their miserable existence), or a benefit-trapped proto-failure  than for their stunning personality, care for small animals, remarkable impressions of Monty Python actors or spectacular calligraphy.

Of course, I am being simplistic.  But then I'm a libertarian blogger so I'm just pandering to the stereotype.

Friday, June 05, 2009

Voting

Having been effectively disenfranchised for this election, I find myself joining (not of my own free will) the Chris Dillow school of cynics*.  Personally, I am from the "spoil my ballot if I can't vote for anyone I could tolerate" wing, also known as the "none of the above" tendency.  Although I generally express this by voting Tory which, in Central Scotland, has the same impact as supporting Rangers at a Papal mass.

Still, from a distance, congratulations to all of you who had the opportunity and did drag yourself along - the first fruits of victory have already been harvested.

* Although I disagree massively with his implication that Neil Harding is anything other than a badly damaged autonomic propaganda troll.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

BBC: Utter Cunts

Here.  You really shouldn't have to ask why.  But, as you are probably wondering, there is no such institution as the "British Navy".
 
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