President Obama's Inauguration speech

I doubt there's a person interested anywhere now who hasn't yet read about or heard this.

But I've just spent the last 20 minutes listening to this. And I have to say I'm impressed, no mindless crowd pleasing rhetoric, maybe not the most poetic and fiery speech ever written - but well put together and well delivered.

I think he's really a man for the times, I think America and the world tires of pointless rhetoric, we've heard it before and seen it collapse. Obama has reminded America and the world that there's some hard times ahead, but expresses massive confidence in his people to rise to those challenges.

I also think people have mistaken the quiet of the crowd, I sat and listened to this in quiet and calm taking in the words and thinking about their possible impact. This is not a rock star getting a crowd going, this is the leader of a Nation - speaking to his people and giving a statement of his intention as their leader. No rabble rousing rhetoric is needed for that, we've heard it all before.

All he can do now is work his arse off, and encourage others to do so also to make his hopes and dreams for his nation (and the world) come to fruition. Nice to see an intelligent well informed man up on that podium instead of a bumbling nitwit the world loves to laugh at.

this could be an interesting 4 years

Relief

Well that last post was a cheery affair wasn't it.

Well now for a bit of a cheer up - my fears were unfounded and America made what I see to be the right decision, I'm looking forward to seeing how well Barack Obama can do, let's be honest he's inheriting a bit of a mess.

The speeches after the election impressed me - Obama's was great, and paid great tribute to McCain - but mention has to go to John McCain, who was in my opinion a model of grace in defeat. He had to calm down the crowd and stop them booing whenever he mentioned Obama's name (something that really irritated me, but hey it's to be expected). I have a lot of respect for the man, but Palin (or the Deomcrats secret weapon as I think of her lol) I think killed it for him.

interesting times ahead :)

Been a while... but I can't keep quiet for long :)

Hello hello,

yes been a while, and there's reasons.

I've not been seeing any less things that irritate me (lets be honest, much of this blog was full of my venting about such things) but just lately, I'd start typing a reply, or a post about things like that and then think.

Why.. F**king.. Bother. Can I really be bothered to be Flamed by ignorant trolls.... No I can't (I am here of course referring to forum trolls, I'm in no way referring to any of the three people who might bother to read this crap).

and I then get completely demoralised and return to grumbling sullenly in the corner.

But lately I've found a subject I've been very vocal on, and have been arguing with folks about.

Jonathan Ross and Russel Brand

Can we please get this issue in perspective. Ross and Brand are not the root of all evil. They are two entertainers who went a little too far. that is all. End of story. I agree the recording shouldn't have been broadcast, the messages should not have been left. But they were, Ross has since made a personal apology to Sachs, Brand has resigned from the BBC, as has the controller of Radio 2. And Ross is also suspended under contract for 3 months.

I'm sorry if this pisses people off, but I really do not see why such a massive over-reaction has come from this. The mail on Sunday (a paper I wouldn't wipe my arse with let alone read) starts shit stirring and all of a sudden, two entertainers who pull in a lot of ratings for the BBC and are bloody good at what they do, are the scum of the earth. Please people, there's worse people out there, and more important things to be thinking about. Listening to the Bugle (brilliant Times Online satire podcast) on Monday morning - I've heard the best description of what's annoyed me about this whole sad sorry affair - Aside from the two complaints, many of the other complaints seem to be people who are offended that a lot of people heard it, and weren't offended.

I find the rampant calls to sack Ross more offensive than anything else. I appreciate the messages left were not in the best taste. But this has happened because of one tabloid rag - one not known for it's measured responses to ANYTHING. The girl Brand made his comment about is now represented by Max Clifford - that says to me that she's not happy to have a public apology - she wants blood, she wants people to lose their fucking livelihood over a bloody phone call.

GROW THE FUCK UP accept the apologies that have been given and get on with your life. It's really not that big a deal. And yeah I'd still think that if I was on the recieving end.

Right, that's one thing out of the way...

next up - Sarah Palin

This woman, or rather the thought of this woman having any kind of authority, frightens the living crap out of me. How in god's name can anyone think giving this woman any power beyond control of the TV remote is a good idea? I can't really say much more than that, the idea of her having the ability to make Laws is utterly abhorrent.

that is all - there might be some happy blogging at some point lol - I hope so. I've not been motivated to write in a long time, but I kind of miss it. So I might be back soon.

yours Grumpily

James :|

further chucklsome findings - dog diary vs cat diary

The Dog's Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

--------------------------------------------

The Cat's Diary

Day 983 of my captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now ...

todays xkcd strip

this just made me absolutely piss myself laughing, I'm getting funny looks from the other office folk lol.

I had to share this

This was forwarded to me by my dad, really made me chuckle :) enjoy

And these people have jobs!!! Scary!!!

I walked into a Subway's with a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for a sandwich. I handed it to the girl and she looked over at a little chalkboard that said 'buy one-get one free'. 'They're already buy-one-get-one-free', she said, 'so I guess they're both free'. She handed me my free sandwiches and I walked out the door.
They walk among us and many work retail!

A friend of mine bought a new fridge for his house. To get rid of his old fridge, he put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying: 'Free to good home. You want it, you take it.' For three days the fridge sat there without even one person looking twice at it. My friend decided that people were too untrusting of this deal. It looked too good to be true, so he changed the sign to read: 'Fridge for sale $50.'
The next day someone stole it.
They walk among us!

One day I was walking down the beach with some friends wh en one of them shouted, 'Look at that dead bird!' Someone looked up at the sky and said, 'Where?'
They walk among us!

While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent wh ich direction was north because, he explained, he didn't want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, 'Does the sun rise in the north?' When my brother explained that the sun rises in the east, and has for sometime, she shook her head and said, 'Oh, I don't keep up with that stuff.' They walk among us!

I used to work in technical support for a 24/7 call center. One day I got a call from an individual wh o asked wh at hours the call center was open. I told him, 'The number you dialed is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.' He responded, 'Is that Eastern or Pacific time?' Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, 'Uh, Pacific.'
They walk among us!

My colleague and I were eating lunch in our cafeteria, wh en we overheard one of the administrative assistants talking about the sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the shore. She drove down in a convertible, but 'didn't think she'd get sunburned because the car was moving.'
They walk among us!

My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car designed to cut through a seat belt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the trunk.
They walk among us!

My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the cases were discounted 10%. Since it was a big party, we bought 2 cases. The cashier multiplied 2 times 10% and gave us a 20% discount.
They walk among us!

I was hanging out with a friend wh en we saw a woman with a nose ring attached to an earring by a chain. My friend said, 'Wouldn't the chain rip out every time she turned her head?' I explained that a person's nose and ear remain the same distance apart no matter wh ich way the head is turned.
They walk among us!

I couldn't find my luggage at the airport baggage area, so I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional and I was in good hands. 'Now,' she asked me, 'has your plane arrived yet?'
They walk among us!

While working at a pizza parlour I observed a man ordering a small pizza to go. He appeared to be alone and the cook asked him if he would like it cut into 4 pieces or 6. He thought about it for some time before responding.'Just cut it into 4 pieces; I don't think I'm hungry enough to eat 6 pieces.'
Yep, they walk among us!

The 5 phase procrastination pattern

This came about from an email to a friend today. My whole day today seems to have been an exercise in procrastination (including this post) here's the 5 phase procrastination cycle as regards putting off work.

• phase 1 - check emails, forums and web comics for updates
• phase 2 - reply to emails / forum posts, check and organise work
• phase 3 - look for people I've not emailed in a while and email them, hit stumbleupon for a few minutes
• phase 4 - wait for / reply to emails from person(s) emailed in step 3
• phase 4 (supplementary) - quantify and classify stages of procrastination in normal working day, tell phase 3 email contacts about said process
• phase 5 - realise there is too little time left to do anything, spend rest of day slyly reading comics while giving the (fragile) illusion that some sort of worthwhile pursuit is in progress.

Sound familiar??

Shewsbury folk festival

A few weeks ago I spent a most enjoyable weekend at my first ever festival. And boy what an initiation. It was a whole family affair, 13 of us in total (Me, My sister, Her Fiancée and their Son, My Mum and Stepdad and two stepsisters, My Uncle and Aunt, their two daughters and their son). Between us we took up 3 large tents and a motorhome, in an arrangement we affectionately called base camp :).

the festival itself was great, just big enough to give everyone space, but small enough to feel homely and intimate - a perfect balance. Very nice food stands as well, so nice I didn't mind paying event prices for it :) but all this is getting away from the reason why i was there - the music.

Friday evening
the first gig we saw was Rod Picott - a brilliant American artist very reminiscent of Tom Waits or Bruce Springsteen, but with a feel of his own. A very cool laid back induction to the weekend, This was one of a fair few artists whose cd's we bought while there.

Second gig I saw on friday was a band called the Peatbog Faeries and was a far more raucous affair, the Faeries are a fairly large band, playing traditional folk Jigs and Reels, but with an almost rock feel to it - ably assisted in this gig by Fiddle player Peter Tickell, the faeries had me jumping, and I was clapping so much along with the beat that by the end of the gig, the only thing I could feel from my hands was a heat that would have boiled a kettle. Definitely one of the highlights of the weekend for me, equalled only by the wonderful Wailin' Jenny's (but more about them later)

Saturday
the First gig on Saturday, was my equal favourite of the whole weekend - the aforementioned and absolutely brilliant Wailin' Jennys. to sum up this gig, I can only say that some of the songs they sang moved me to tears (go to their myspace page and listen to Begin to hear one of them), the vocal harmonies were utterly wonderful and the entire set had shivers running through me. So much so that I went back in the evening to watch them a second time :) and sing along with the songs I remembered from the first time around. I really hope to see the Jennys back in the UK again, because I'd love to see them live again.

The second gig on Saturday (after the Jennys' repeat performance) was an apparently renowned group called Show of Hands - being new to the folk scene I'd not heard of them, but after this gig - it's not hard to understand why so many people packed into the main marquee (over 3000 people) to see the show. Wonderful songs, brilliant vocals and great instrumental skill - this description cannot give an adequate description of this gig - wonderful feeling.

To my shame I can't remember where in the running order this next band were, but they were superb - Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies. A great set, some really really good song writing, and the playing and vocals were very very good :)

Sunday
First gig on Sunday was the fantastic Kathryn Tickell Band - this was the only act I'd heard of prior to coming to the festival, and was one of the number one reasons for going. Kathryn Tickell is a brilliant player of the Northumbrian pipes, and the rest of her band are equally cool. This was a brilliant gig with a great mix of fast paced dancing tunes, and beautiful lilting slow pieces.

Sunday was quite a light day for me, I saw Kathryn Tickell's set and spent much of the rest of the day wandering and relaxing, including in the evening while most of the rest of the clan were watching Kate Rusby and Bellowhead. I headed back to base camp with my Sister Jessica and her fiancée Dan, and my Nephew Christian. We had a very pleasant evening sat drinking tea and talking about all sorts of stuff, I sat and played around on the guitar for much of the evening too.

Monday
Much of Monday was spent (once we'd packed up base camp) killing time waiting for one of the most fun gigs of the entire weekend, a brilliant bluegrass band called Crooked Still. Absolutely brilliant, foot stomping, hand clapping brilliant :) and I've never seen or heard a Cello played quite how their Cello player did. Stunning gig, and a marvellous end to a brilliant weekend.

Can't wait till next year :)

Joke

I don't post Jokes very often, but this one I loved - probably because of the idea of the building of the second Ark being blighted by red tape and political correctness.
**************************************************************

In 2007, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in England and said, "Once again, the Earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save two of every living thing, along with a few good humans." He gave the CAD drawings, saying, "You have six months to build the Ark before I start the unending rain
of forty days and forty nights."

Six months later, the Lord returned unto Noah and found him weeping in his yard, but of the Ark, there was no sign. "Noah!" the Lord roared,"I am about to start the rain, Where is the Ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed Building Regulations approval because the Ark was to be over 50 metres. I've been arguing with the Fire Brigade who insist that it is fitted with a sprinkler system and fireproof doors and my neighbours claim that I should have obtained planning permission prior to building the Ark in my garden because it is a development of the site - even though in my view it is a temporary structure, but the roof is too high. I had to appeal to the Secretary of State for a decision.

"The Local Area Access Group complained that my ramp was going to be too steep and the inside of the Ark was not fully accessible to the disabled, that there were not disabled toilets and the gangways were too narrow for wheelchairs. Then the Department of Transport demanded a bond to be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and overhead obstructions, to
clear the passage for the Ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they wouldn't listen to me.

"Getting the wood was another problem.. All of the decent trees have Tree Preservation Orders upon them and we live in an area of Special Scientific Interest, set up in order to preserve the spotted owl that lives around here. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but again, they wouldn't listen. "When I started to gather the animals, the RSPCA threatened me with prosecution. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued that the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

"The gay rights activists threatened to hold a demo in my garden as they learned that I was planning on only taking on a female and male of each species - they said that was homophobic and was against the Civil Liberties Act. Then the County Council, The Environment Agency and The Rivers Authority ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they had conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.

"I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission on how many ethnic minorities I'm supposed to hire for the building team. The Trade Unions say that I cannot use my sons as they insist that I have to hire only CSCS accredited workers with Ark-building
experience. To make matters worse. Customs & Excise have seized all of my assets, claiming that I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.

"So forgive me, my Lord, but it would take me at least another ten years to finish this Ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky.

Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean you are not about to destroy the world, Lord?"
"No, Noah" said the Lord. "The Government has already beaten me to it."

I give up *swearing warning*

This has been a long time coming, but hell I can't take it anymore.

I'm a stalwart supporter of freedom of speech and expression, but i am getting increasingly fucked off with reading the opinions of narrow minded fuckwits on message boards.

I love the internet, it's a fantastic tool for communication, but why are people so unable to express their opinions maturely, instead of belittling everyone else's opinions. I'm sure these fuckwits get off on being so narrow minded, and seeing just how much they can piss people off.

This has been brought to a head by something I just read on the Linkin Park forums - I've been a LP fan since Hybrid Theory, they're an excellent band, brilliant lyricists, and the combo of the two singers (Chester singing and at times screaming, and mike rapping) is great, and works well. They recently released a new album, and I have to admit - on first listen I didn't think much to it, i thought it was a bit inert and lacking in that passion i've come to love from them - now however - 2 weeks after getting it - I can't get enough - not a single track I skip. Lyrics are as good as ever, but it is a very different album to their others, it has a different feel.

as you can imagine, change = bad album in the eyes of so many. I got tired of reading the same shit when Metallica released Load - because it was a different kind of album, now I'm of the opinion that it's about the best album they've ever released - I love it, yet I appreciate it's not really a heavy metal album, so genre purists are not going to enjoy it so much. But people just don't get the fact that bands that don't evolve, don't change a little, mix things up tend to die out. Unless they have something so very very good, a formula that embraces change and variation from the start.

I'm tired of defending maturity in a sea of fucking morons - am I the same as them for my zealous pleadings and preachings for balanced expression? I think about this - I have very extreme opinions regarding HOW you can express things without inflaming, and yet still encourage something approaching intelligent discussion. So many threads that discuss something even vaguely divisive just end up as flame war's and bitching matches - i just find it so depressing and frustrating.

please tell me i'm not alone