30.06.2003 - Just how equal am I..?
...Not very: gay and lesbian couples do not enjoy the same rights that heterosexual couples do over pensions, inheritance tax, property, social security and benefits.
Many pension schemes deny same sex partners "survivor benefits" and many hospitals deny same sex partners visiting rights as they are no recognised as next of kin. Even when registering a partners death, difficulties arise because same sex partners are not recognised as next of kin.
This government now has the chance to change this. Don't botch it, Tony.
link | so... tell me
29.06.2003 - I insist to be buried in my Turbo-Browner 3000...
Kathrin Mueller from Sangerhausen in Germany wants to buried in her sunbed. Local laws permit burial in a coffin but Kathrin is determined.
Aged 20 and with six years solarium experience behind her already, if she continues her tanning programme at this rate she'll have cremated herself by the time she's 30 anyway.
link | so... tell me
28.06.2003 - How did they not see that..?
Did you hear the one about the UK electricity company, Powergen, who recently bought out an Italian electricity company? They have registered the domain name of powergenitalia.com.
Powergen have denied the story. But then wouldn't you..?
Others who've made the same unfortunate mistake include, antiquesexchange.com and whorepresents.com.
link | so... tell me
27.06.2003 - Marie McDonald McLaughlin...
Better known as Lulu.
link | so... tell me
26.06.2003 - I've got a little list...
Following the weekend's royal security breach, the Metropolitan Police have announced that they are to keep files on people obsessed with the Royal Family.
So watch out, Jennie Bond...
link | so... tell me
25.06.2003 - That'll be £55 million please...
Now I think that this is cheap for a national debating chamber. But there's some who think that is too high a price to pay. Nick Bourne, leader of the Conservatives at the Assembly said, "It's not what the assembly looks like that matters, it's what the assembly does for Wales that is the real issue here."
Yeah, I know we're strapped for cash but it really ain't that much in the greater scheme of things. The focus and prestige a building of this quality will add far outstrips the thin smear of spreading £55 million across all the public services in Wales.
link | so... tell me
24.06.2003 - Just when you think you're getting close to working things out...
An ice-cream van was hijacked at knifepoint by a gang of robbers after the driver pulled over thinking they were customers.
I think I grew out of such fantasies when I was thirteen.
link | so... tell me
23.06.2003 - Royal pedigrees...
Today's papers are dominated, it seems, with the royal gatecrasher story. In gatecrashing the party and snatching the microphone from Williams hand, Aaron Barschak has drummed up more publicity than he could've dreamt of for his Edinburgh Festival show. He now joins an elite that has a pedigree almost as distinguished as the Royals themselves.
In 1990 there were two separate break-ins at Buckingham Palace, one intruder claimed Queen was his 'mum'.
1994 saw the naked American paraglider who landed on Buckingham Palace roof. He was fined £200 and deported.
In 2002 there was the drunken intruder who knocked on Princess Anne's door at St James's Palace, asking for directions to Victoria Station.
But my personal favorite has to be Michael Fagan's intrusion in 1982. The Queen woke to find Fagan, 30, sitting on her bed, and the pair reportedly chatted for half an hour before Fagan was apprehended.
link | so... tell me
22.06.2003 - Who dunnit..?
The evidence that named the MP George Galloway as a recipient of substantial sums of money from Saddam Hussein's regime have been deemed a forgery.
Galloway has, quite rightly, rejected apologies from The Christian Science Monitor after the campaign they ran against him. The paper's editor has said, "At the time we published these documents, we felt they were newsworthy and appeared credible, although we did explicitly state in our article that we could not guarantee their authenticity." Surely checks on authenticity should be carried out before you run such articles?
Why were we not a little more suspicious about these documents given that they came from such a discredited regime? A regime, let me remind you, which we'd refused to believe when they said they didn't possess weapons of mass destruction.
So, who is responsible for these forgeries? If it was Saddam and his cronies, why did they do it? And if it wasn't them, then who was it?
No apologies as yet have been forthcoming regarding similar allegations against the MP made by The Daily Telegraph, who still insist that their source documents are genuine.
link | so... tell me
21.06.2003 - This week...
Despite my good intentions I've done very little in the way of redecorating the flat this week. I've wandered about with a trowel and some Polyfilla in the mornings, dabbing a bit here and dabbing a bit there. I've bought some bathroom sealant and some paint remover but they've remained unopened. I did manage to fit a new light above the bathroom mirror where there was none before. That was exhausting as it involved crawling around in the attic.
The bf and I are off to Swansea today to see my brother. He's recently had a major operation and now he's being kept in for observation. It can't be much fun in the good weather we've had lately. Whilst I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing him, the thought of trekking all the way there and back does not thrill me and Swansea is one of those places that I find a little depressing. I think I'd rather be doing something useful such as redecorating the flat.
link | so... tell me
20.06.2003 - Would you Adam and Steve it..?
If God was queer... Reclining on his pink fluffy cloud, sipping his G & T with a slice and ice and listening to Kylie; I'm sure he'd be having a bit of a giggle at the fuss being made over the appointment of a gay priest as the new Bishop of Reading.
If God was queer...
link | so... tell me
19.06.2003 - Admiration...
During the spare hour or so that I get to myself in the afternoons this week because I'm not in work I've been reading Nigel Hawthorne's autobiography, Straight Face.
He wrote it shortly before he died from cancer at the end of 2001 and despite having been completed when he must have been at his most ill, it oozes style and dignity. I know, you've all probably read it months ago, each and every one of you; but for anyone out there who has not and fancies a book that is open, honest, playful and moving... give it a try.
link | so... tell me
18.06.2003 - Local attractions...
It's called The Waterguard and it's my local. Well, I have to pass 2 other pubs on the way but it's well worth it.
It says here, "The building is extremely legible, and, within its setting, displays a high degree of elegant, dynamic, sculptural, sophistication, with an air of timeless presence and architectural integrity."
Yeah, yeah, yeah... make mine a double.
And to add to its attractions, earlier this week HMS Guernsey docked not 100 yards away. For those who are interested, HMS Guernsey is a Royal Navy Island Class Patrol Vessel.
For those who couldn't care less, let's all sing...
All the nice boysLove a sailor,
All the nice boys
Love a tar;
For there's something
About a sailor
Well, you know
What sailors are... link | so... tell me
17.06.2003 - What to do..?
It's bike week this week and we're being encouraged to cycle to work rather than take the car. The weather couldn't be better for it but I don't think I'll be cycling to work because... I've got the entire week off - I'm not back in the office until June 24th. Bliss...
So what should I do with my week? Well, the plan was to get the flat redecorated. But the weather is so nice at the moment, it'd be criminal to stay indoors.
So what to do with the rest of the week when the weather looks quite good. Perhaps I should buckle down to that redecoration I keep promising myself I'll start. Perhaps I should cycle to one of the nearby beaches to soak up the sun. Perhaps I should take a flight to Toronto or New York and meet up with a few bloogers across the pond, perhaps I should cycle across town and shake hands with Rainbow Villa - the new blogger on our block. Who knows - I'll take each day as it comes.
link | so... tell me
16.06.2003 - O Lordy...
I'm puzzled by this man. This is his blog and this is an interview in today's Guardian.
I think I like him but I'm still puzzled...
link | so... tell me
15.06.2003 - DIY...
Are you already fed up with your Matrix screensaver or your Buffy wallpaper?
With the position of Lord Chancellor gone, grab your share of British history by taking a square of that £59,000 wallpaper in the style of Pugin.
link | so... tell me
14.06.2003 - The great and the good...
Today Helen Mirren, Simon Russell Beale, Richard Briers, Billy Connolly, Gerry Marsden, Dave Gilmour, David Hemery, Colin Jackson, Anish Kapoor, Sting, Jamie Oliver, Roger Moore, David Beckham, Jools Holland, Errol Brown and Anita Roddick will be celebrating getting their new gongs.
The bf and I are celebrating 6 years together.
link | so... tell me
13.06.2003 - A touch of class...
Oooo, what shall we talk about? There's so much going on. Shall we talk about Tony's reshuffle or Harry leaving Eton or what about poor old Gregory Peck's passing? No, let's talk about something that's gonna set tongues wagging and nets twitching; let's poke our noses into other people's private lives.
Yes, let's talk about a minor welsh politician who died in a massage parlour.
link | so... tell me
12.06.2003 - Bring me to life...
It's a long way from chunky home knit sweaters, guitars and tambourines.
link | so... tell me
11.06.2003 - Milk and honey...
What in God's name did they hope to achieve by this?
link | so... tell me
10.06.2003 - I dunno...
...Perhaps he's a crossdresser..?
link | so... tell me
09.06.2003 - Moving again...
I linked to Stuart Hughes' blog some time ago under the headline Moving... Well now he really is moving... to a new home at www.stuhughes.co.uk/
Read it, it really is moving.
link | so... tell me
08.06.2003 - Yes...
...meaning... No...
link | so... tell me
07.06.2003 - Herbie, son of Adolf...
Hitler's legacy of an affordable car for the masses will come to an end this summer when production of the love bug ceases at the Volkswagen factory in Mexico.
link | so... tell me
06.06.2003 - QEII...
In work yesterday I got an e-mail from the bf, "I've just seen the Queen in Cardiff Bay." She was opening the Welsh Assembly which is opposite his work place.
She wasn't wearing the gas mask.
link | so... tell me
05.06.2003 - It's Dame Thora I blame...
I still have flashbacks about flying through the air.
link | so... tell me
04.06.2003 - Cardiff deserves to win because...
We've got culture right up to our arseholes...
link | so... tell me
03.06.2003 - Wales misses the boat...
...Well, misses the plane then...
link | so... tell me
02.06.2003 - Sticky stuff...
Nothing sticks like the new tape that mimics the adhesive techniques used by gecko lizards...
...Nothing, that is, except the scandal that Mr Blair duped us over the weapons of mass destruction Saddam is supposed to have been able to deploy within 45 minutes.
link | so... tell me
01.06.2003 - It's all there in black and white...
Damali Ayo offers herself as a conversation partner to answer all questions about her blackness, and as the ultimate chic accessory to take along to gatherings of would-be trendies who wished they weren't so unrelentingly white.
Demeaning to blacks or hilarious exposé of white liberalism..?
link | so... tell me