Flashing!

Just watched this amazing programme on Channel 4 all about exhibitionists and flashers.

Cant say I'd ever given a single moment's thought to what makes these people do it. I can comfortably say I'd never imagined what goes through their heads.

For this reason alone, the show was rivetting from the moment I turned over. We had the posh old bloke who'd actually got laid right there in the park, the Australian family man who ran a website (I'll link to it when I've found it!) for flashers, and most disturbingly and unbelievably the american teenager who'd been caught flashing, convicted and sentenced to intensive therapy for what they consistently refered to his "Deviant sexual behaviour".

This therapy consisted of showing this poor lad a sequence of horriffic pictures - diseased genitals, suppurating pores, stuff like that, whilst sniffing a bottle of eau-de-corpse, whilst listening to a self-recorded tape of his flashing fantasies.

I'll admit, I didn't watch it and haven't read it, but while I was at work, Charlie watched Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" when it was on TV a few months ago and she reliably informs me this is exactly the type of therapy used on Malcolm McDowell's character in order to make him less violent.

I simply couldn't believe any society could condone the blatant, disgusting, unbelievable mind-control brainwashing I was watching. And it got worse, the guy was then shown into a room full of rapists and paedophiles to discuss his thoughts and feelings with them - and they called this therapy!!

And it got worse! He has to pay PAY for this to happen to him! The man's paying to be brainwashed and demeaned in the worst way possible. And what for? For sitting in his car and waving his dick at people!

I'm in shock! With all the atrocities in the world, splashed all over our tabloids and news reports, this is easily the most shocking thing I've seen in weeks!

Deep breath, let's put the radio on, dear...

Bittorrent Downloads Section

An experiment really.

I'm going to start providing links to the Torrents I download.

Right click on the link and select "Save as", then when the file's downloaded click "open" and it should automatically open in your chosen Bittorrent client.

I'm planning on putting Angel, 24, Dead Like Me, Deadwood and of course Enterprise there so far.

You could always let me know what Torrents you want to see in this section using the Shoutbox.

LOL

Just a quick "Sorry" to the guy or gal who googled for "Cutting it torrent download" and who got a result which looked like 4000 people downloaded the show every week!

I'm surprised 4000 people can sit through it on the telly, let alone give it hard drive space.

Think I'll link to the torrents next time I mention one!

I've been Googled!

Waddya know, I'm fifth in the list of results when you search Google for "Hedgewitch". AND I'm 24th on the list of results from Yahoo!

That'll do me!

I've got a google searchbox hiding around here somewhere...

Is this what it feels like?

I've tried about five times to write a little post about how I feel like I want to be living somewhere less bricks-and-mortar. You might say I'm feeling the call of a more natural life, closer to nature.

But the words just haven't been coming the way I want them to.

I'm a very instinctive creature as a rule, but today I feel like I've had to force it.

Don't know if stress is playing a part in it or what, but I'm finding it very hard to concentrate long enough to finish a post.

Doesn't help that manic children keep deleting what I've written by randomly falling on the keyboard. WAAH!

OK, moan over. Carry on.

It's Enterprise night again

And it seems the good chaps at UPN have permanently changed the time of their wildfeed. Also it appears that the distributors are sitting on it until it actually airs, which means I probably won't get to watch it until LATE tomorrow morning.

Not to worry, got the new episde of 24 to watch, and five episodes of Deadwood...

Hell, there's even a couple of Firefly eps I've not seen yet.

Who needs telly?

Google Ads

Mark Reed, one of the Bloggers I keep an eye on, posted this article on how he's noticed the Google ads changing to suit the topics of his posts.

Now what have I done to deserve Ads for Dating Sites??

Better day today

Got a decent amount of sleep and did some tidying up. Might be getting a bigger fridge today, too.

I might start doing the "Friday Five".

Aarghh!!

NOT a good day!

For some reason I've been in a foul mood all day - wonder if it's linked to the fact that the weather's been lousy too.

The Hairdressing drama "Cutting it" is on TV now. OK I know, I can tell it's well made and well written and such, but I really can't be done with it. The way I see it, there's enough angst, backbiting and other crap in the world.

I can get more than my fill of all that by phoning the in-laws.

Webrings

Blogging Brits added me to their ring yesterday. Welcome to any fellow ring members!

I've just applied to the "Euro Blogs" ring, as well as putting the Popdex blog-search box at the bottom of the page.

Slowly trying to get some people in here.

* * * UPDATE * * *

Euro Blogs accepted my application this afternoon, so welcome to all my Euro readers too!

Yawn

I was about to post something on how it's suddenly gone all cold and rainy, but I came to two conclusions:

1 - I'm looking like I'm obsessed by weather

2 - "Changing Rooms" really isn't holding my interest

* * * UPDATE * * *

OOH! A thunderstorm! I love thunderstorms! I love standing out in the garden and watching nature's pyrotechnics, followed by the rumbling power and majesty of the thunder. There's a music to it I can never get enough of, the rolling, hammering crash of rended sky, broken air.

Magical stuff!

OK, maybe I'm a little obsessed!

Behaving Badly!

In the same week that his "Men Behaving Badly" co-star and onscreen object of desire hits the headlines, Neil Morrissey's been living up to his character's image too.



He was arrested this morning at Los Angeles airport for being - yes - Drunk and Disorderly!

Summerwitch

My new template for the Sunny months!

For new visitors, you can see the old template, for now, on my testing blog.

Let me know what you think of the changes. I like it, but then I designed it.

That's why I've been quiet today too - been busy HTMLing.

Spring cleaning

This is all a bit dark for the summer months. May is not even a week away!

I think an update is necessary.

Something tropical: sandy yellows, greens & blues perhaps? I'm getting inspired by that wonderful description. Bamboo and shells might be an idea, with that passage as a well-placed "description" pane.

Hmmm...

Paradise

Just found my idea of paradise in Pamela Stephenson's "Bravemouth":

The guests slid off their shoes and bathed their jet-swollen feet in giant clam-shell baths before entering the thatched-palm bedrooms. Inside, lofty gecko-decked ceilings held ceiling-fans supported by rope-lashed cross-beams. Intricately woven wall-coverings contrasted with simple cotton-covered beds adjacent to bamboo furniture laden with striking tropical flowers and fruit. We all soaked ourselves in warm water and coconut soap, before passing out to the soothing timpani of gentle, steamy rain.

Oh my...

Another Balmy Day

Pizza, Beach Boys, and lots of water.

It's going to rain tomorrow apparently, so I really want to make the most of it. Sunday dinner may well be chicken fried rice at the patio table.

Lovely.

Adding to history

I first opened the blog in August last year, but closed it cos basically I couldn't be bothered, and my job was getting a bit too much.

I'm just rebuilding the archives, which means hunting down months old links and stuff. Don't expect too much for a bit cos we're in the garden again.

Check it out in the Archives section.

Great day

This is the paddling pool. Nice isn't it?
(this pic's from the Early Learning Centre website. Click on it to go to the product page)


I like it when days go like this.

We all had a lovely, tiring time. Even managed to get Charlie into the sunshine!

Got some great pics of them all playing in the garden. They're all on old-fashioned film though, but I'll post some when the film's developed.

Bethan almost fell asleep on Charlie's lap after they came in for a break at midday, with burgers for lunch.

I love seeing the kids playing together in the garden like they have today. Allison takes care of her little sister and at one point they were both playing splashing games, lying back and kicking their feet just as hard as they could. Took Allison a while to realise Bethan was actually trying to splash her!

Not surprisingly, Bethan quite quickly learned the word "Splash" today. The poor thing's been shivering violently every time she's got into the shade though, and at half four, we had to call it a day as she was coming to me for a big-towel-cuddle every five minutes, so Charlie went out to keep them company, and act as splashing target while I knocked out some toasted sarnies for tea, then everyone came in (moderate tears from Allison).

Emptying the pool was fun: I created a two inch deep river on our patio!

The forecast says it's going to be nice again tomorrow, so we've got a mad dash of washing to put on to ensure the cossies and towels are all servicable for a good early start in the morning. Thank god for washer/dryers...

I'm soaking wet!

It's a lovely day and we're all in the garden breaking in Bethan's new water slide/hoopla thingy!

Summer's here, 16 hours till autumn!

Blogging Brits

A webring I've been meaning to apply to for a while.

If you look down left, by the Visitor Counter, you'll see the links you need to navigate the ring.

* * * * UPDATE * * * *

It's at the top now...

"Somebody call me an Ambulance!"

Leslie Ash breaks rib having sex! If she hadn't had that lip op, she'd still be quite fit.

News Gator

I've finally added the News Gator website to the Links section.

If you want to subscribe to my ATOM feed, look for the ATOM button under the Yahoo Groups signup box down on the right. Right click it and save the shortcut, then add that shortcut to your subscriptions in whichever RSS aggregator software you're using.

I've only just discovered this stuff myself, so I'll leave the explanations to the experts at XML.com

I saw David Blunkett today

First thing this morning, while waiting for the bus to go shopping. Perfectly normal chap. Surrounded by tooled up Secret Servicemen. Closest I ever want to come to an armed man.

Actually they weren't the most heavily armed people I've seen or the closest they've been to my home. A few years ago, the ICC in Birmingham City Centre paid host to the G8 conference of the world's 8 wealthiest countries. You may remember Bill Clinton having a pint in a Birmingham Pub:

I lived a mile from the ICC.

There were machine gun toting, body armoured police at the end of my street for the week. made me slightly uncomfortable. British Bobbies really shouldn't look like that. And machine guns are MUCH scarier in the flesh.

Off the scale on the Wrong-o-meter

This article about a mother who put her three-week-old baby in the oven.

WARNING This isn't the worst bit. If you don't want to know, seriously don't click the link.

I'm horrified. What goes through a woman's head to do this? I'mnot sure I ever want to know.

* * * UPDATE * * *

Although this makes it no less evil a crime, apparently the police are denying the baby was discovered in the oven.

See this article at BBCi.

Goutwatch: The Docs

Perversely enough my foot feels fine today.

Not the first time it's happened either: For weeks when I was at school I had a big verucca on the ball of my foot. The day I was due to go to the Docs to get it burn or frozen or cut or something, it fell off. No shit. There I was, getting my sock on and it fell into the palm of my hand!

Anyway, I walked down to the Docs with Bethan in tow (OK in her chair) and explained the situation. He set me up with another set of Dexketoprofen tabs, which work bloody well, and sent me on my way. He said that if I noticed I was running low, I should come in and get some more. Result!

So, that's me sorted. Thank god for that.

Reading Matters

I just finished reading this:


A decent enough book, but as I much prefer the interaction of Hannibal and Clarice Starling, the first half of the book goes very slowly for me. For Hannibal the Cannibal fans, a recommended read for sure. I won't be reading "Red Dragon" in a hurry.

I needed some lighter reading after ploughing through that, so I've plumped for this:



I'm only a few pages in, but I've found it very funny and insightful. I'll be able to say more when I've read more. My favourite part at the moment, Billy's habit of laughing at people falling over on Ice Rinks! Excellent stuff! Couldn't be much more of a difference.

DVD decoder card

A word of praise for the Hollywood Plus DVD decoder card. Nothing I've seen, including commercal DVD players has come close to this card's ability to make the most crappy MPG file look great.

I don't know anything technical about the chipsets or capabilities of the card. All I do know is that for a legacy, unnecessary piece of old kit, it performs incredibly well.

Every time I watch a DVD or MPEG video I'm glad I've got it.

What a day!

Star Trek: Enterprise returns today after a six week hiatus. Why they do this no-one seems to know, but there you go.

Now usually, Enterprise episodes are available for download 24 hours before they're shown on TV because a nice crew of people intercept the satellite broadcast UPN sends to its affiliate stations in the States and Canada. Usually this is at 4:30EST. Only yesterday they didn't send it on time. Instead they sent it at 0800EST Wednesday. This threw a lot of people out. From watching the figures previously I know that about 4,000 people download each episode via Bittorrent. So come midnight GMT when the torrent usually becomes available, there were 4,000 impatient people thoroughly pissing off the Ops of four different IRC channels that I frequent.

Through the course of the next 24 hours we learned that the 0800 feed had been captured and the MPEG encoded rip was on its way "soon". It was actually released at 2030EST, the time when Enterprise airs on UPN. There was a slight rush.

My copy just finished, so I'm off to watch it now.

The thing we do for decent telly huh?

Goutwatch: The return

Damn thing got worse today, but I still had to take Allison to Nursery for her first day back after the Easter Hols. Almost crippled me.

Got an appointment tomorrow at the Docs to get some more pills. I swear it feels like I've broken a bone down there.

Walking down to the corner shop on Sunday, with a walking stick, I had to stop for a break, attracting the attention of a kindly pensioner, who felt sorry for me - she'd had a hip replacement op last year...

This is the level a new pair of boots has left me at. Pensioners feel sorry for me. Not happy about that.

"Babyblogs"

This article on the phenomenon of parents sticking their new baby's pics online to show distant relatives raises some interesting points, but I couldn't work out the problem.

At one point the author seems to be suggesting the problem comes from future embarrasment from having your baby pictures online to be discovered by potential boy/girlfriends (I agree with this one - take them off the net, it's the parent's jobs to embarrass kids with these pics!). But in the next paragraph they are suggesting the remote possibility of paedophiles getting hold of the images. Much more worrying, granted, but far less likely.

I've put a few galleries of pics online now & again - of special outings or holidays or somesuch - and never really seen a problem, but then I've not exactly been rolling in visitors - and only took them down for maintenance and to redesign the site.

I'm working on an "active desktop" type site, where the front page works as a 1024x768 desktop wallpaper, with links to news, weather and other things, like those galleries. It's very much a work in progress, so don't expect any revelations any time soon.

This is also

Just wrong.

This is...

Just wrong.

I knew it!

BBCi Is carrying an article on research done on students in Belfast on how online relationships are interpreted by people's real-life partners:

Online affairs 'are infidelity'

Having an affair over the internet is perceived as actual cheating by most people, a survey suggests.
The affairs, even if not physical, are damaging to relationships, the British Psychological Society's annual conference was told.

More than half of 245 students who took part in a survey carried out by Belfast's Queens University said anyone flirting online was being unfaithful.

Experts said they were often a symptom of a relationship in trouble.

Dr Monica Whitty, of Queen's University asked students to complete stories in which one partner in a couple had developed a relationship over the internet.

The stories were then studied to see if the online affair was interpreted as infidelity.
In 51% of cases it was, while 84% of the students thought the other partner would feel betrayed.

Women were more likely than men to see the internet affair as damaging to the real life relationship.

However, some people argued that the interaction was just a friendship or could not be infidelity because no sex was taking place.

Dr Whitty said: "The results of this study show that couples need to be clear what the rules are when it comes to online cheating.

"Emotional involvement, even without physical consummation, can be just as damaging to a relationship.

"It might be easier for people to justify an online affair to themselves, but the consequences, like loss of trust or hurt, can be just as damaging as an offline affair."

Christine Northam, a senior counsellor at relationship guidance experts Relate, agreed there was a danger in internet relationships.

She said they were often a reaction to dissatisfaction in a relationship with one member of the couple thinking they could solve it by having a "fantasy" connection online.

She said: "Up to a point it is OK, but past the boundary is where it is not.

"Where the boundary is depends on the individual relationship."

Rather than resort to internet affairs, people should face up to problems in their relationships by talking to their partner.

If they felt unable to do that alone, they should go to a counsellor, she said.

She added: "Just to bury your head in the sand is not going to solve anything.

"The best thing to do is take your courage in your hands, sit down and have a chat about what you are feeling and what bugs you."

Goutwatch, the final chapter...

I hope, anyway.

Much better today. Still hobbling but my foot's a lot better. Thank god for that. Six months till the next attack then...

Trek Tech becomes reality

I've heard tales that the military uses the Enterprise bridge designs in it's command centres, and rumours that medical researchers are trying to come up with a tricorder-type device, but no-one's as close to bringing trek-tech to life than these two:

The Bioject "hypospray" has been in use, delivering vaccinations, since 1993! Who knew! I've certainly never seen one!

And Vocera's Communicator is a big hit in Hospitals over in the States.

The Future is here it seems. Gotta get me some of them communicators!

Goutwatch II

Fucking agony!

Worse than yesterday, comparable with the first time I got it. And with the added fun of kids that won't step around it.

We've got these incredibly strong painkillers: half codeine, half paracetamol. So strong, you can't take more than six a day. Everyone who's had them has raved about how effective they are. I took two at 6:30, three hours later, the pain had reverted from "deeply painful" back to "screaming agony"

And I'm supposed to look for jobs this week!

Goutwatch

A couple of days ago Scientists finally confirmed the old wive's tale that alcohol aggravates Gout.

Gout is an incredibly painful buildup of acid crystals around the joints, mostly in the feet, or big toe. There are a few causes, including alcohol overindulgence and being overweight. I got mine from wearing in a new pair of boots. They cut me right across the toes, did something nasty and I woke up in screaming agony one morning after work. After half a day I built up the bravery to walk the 100 yards to the Doctors'. It took me half an hour and I nearly passed out.

It's not really been that bad since, as they gave me anti-inflammatory pills to counteract it, but the last couple of days it's been really really bad, culminating yesterday when I spent most of the day near to tears as my foot seems to be a magnet for the kids. Put a bit of a dampener on Bethan's birthday, but it was still a pretty good day, despite being filthy miserable weather.

Wonder if I can find a "moods" type script I can alter...

Hokay

KIDS!

Bethan my youngest had her second birthday yesterday and right now she and her sister are going NUTS!

Despite that, I've had half a chance to browse a few other Blogs and now I've seen what kind of strange, trivial and personal stuff they use their blog for, I'm getting more of an idea what to write in this one.

Question Answered

The Question being: How long till 9/11 is made into a movie

The Answer: Three Years

The best-selling book which became the focus of the commission into the US's readiness for the 11 September attacks could be heading for the silver screen.

Sony Pictures has gained the film rights to Richard Clarke's Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror, said Hollywood Reporter. The project will be produced by veteran Hollywood executive John Calley.

Mr Clarke testified at the commission in March, saying the US did not address terror threats before 11 September. The White House has launched a counter-offensive to Clarke's charges, with US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice the latest member of the Bush administration to appear before the commission.

Mr Clarke served for 30 years as head of counter-terrorism under four consecutive US presidents. He apologised to the families of the 3,000 victims of the 11 September attacks for the failings that allowed them to take place.

Hollywood veteran Calley worked on the 1976 film All The President's Men, a dramatisation of the events surrounding the Watergate scandal.

Read article on BBCi here

Testing Testing!

OK, just installed NewsGator into my copy of Outlook, along with the Blogspot posting plugin, so I’m posting this to test it out.

Masses of feeds to choose from, quite impressed. I’ll post some links later, as this is simply a quick test message which may even get deleted later. I’m also testing a feed I’ve set up that goes into the yahoo group too.

It’s all good experimental stuff!