Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Joke

George Bush goes to a primary school to talk about the war. After his talk, he offers question time. One little boy puts up his hand and George asked, "What is your name?"
"My name is Bob", says the boy.
"And what is your question, Bob?"
"I have 3 questions. First, why did the USA invade Iraq without the support of the UN? Second, why are you president when al gore got more votes? Third, what happened to Osama bin laden?"
Just then, the bell rings for recess. George bush informs the kiddies that they will continue after recess. When they resume George says, "Ok where were we? Oh, that's right. Question time. Who has a question?"
A different little boy raises his hand. George points him out and asked him "what is your name?"
"My name is Steve" says the boy.
"And what is your question Steve?"
"I have 5 questions. First, why did the USA invade Iraq without the support of UN? Second, why are you president when Al Gore got more votes? Third, what happened to Osama bin laden? Fourth, why did the recess bell go 20 minutes early? Fifth, where is Bob?"

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Lost Friends

I only just found out today that Dan Fogelberg died before Christmas.

Although I was not a massive fan, his album "Souvenirs" was one of the defining albums of my teenage years. Produced on this occasion by hero my Joe Walsh this album was pretty much his breakthrough set, and for me one of the finest albums of the 70's American folk rock era. If you ever get a chance to listen to it, take the opportunity, its a fantastic album.

Sorry and sad news.

Daniel Grayling Fogelberg
(August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007)
Tribute site

Friday, January 25, 2008

Witty...

"What a pity, when Christopher Columbus discovered America, that he ever mentioned it."

Margot Asquith

via

Lenny

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Sami

"Our first relationship is to nature. You are part of nature, not the master of nature. This also gives us a strong sense of solidarity - you are about other people. Money is not important and power is not important. It's more your personality, the human being that is important."

Mari Boine

Mari Boine Persen is a Norwegian Sami musician known for having added jazz and rock to the yoiks of her native people. Boine (born 8 November 1956 in Finnmark, Norway) grew up amid the Laestadian Christian movement as well as amidst discrimination against her people. She was asked to perform at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, but refused because she perceived the invitation as an attempt to bring a token minority to the ceremonies. Gula Gula (1989, Real World) was her breakthrough release, and she continued to record popular albums throughout the 1990s.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Paco

For those of you who found the last post a little distasteful, let me redress the balance with the stunning flamenco guitar playing of the worlds finest guitarist, Paco de Lucia

Hey Toro!

A controversial one...

Bullfighting, I am absolutely engrossed in it, fascinated by this cultural spectacle of wonderful Spain. I have spent the last few months reading many, many books on it, and viewing some excellent documentaries (albeit in Spanish) and I have formed my own opinions, which I think are quite well informed, if you'd like to share yours, feel free in the comments section.


Darwin Awards

Yes, it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honouring the least evolved among us.

A Darwin Award is a tongue-in-cheek honour named after evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin. "Awards" have been given for people who "do a service to Humanity by removing themselves from the Gene pool", i.e., lose the ability to reproduce.
It is for people who kill, or in rare cases, sterilize themselves accidentally by attempting to do stupid feats. As described in the Darwin Award books: The Awards honour people who ensure the long-term survival of the human race by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion.


Here is the glorious winner:

1. When his 38-calibre revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California , would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And now, the honourable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cutting machine and, after a
little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

3. A man who shovelled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in
Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20
mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free
ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an
oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change.
When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the
counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer.... $15.
[If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window.
The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas.
The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran.
The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her.
That's the lady I stole the purse from."

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti Michigan, at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away.
[*A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]


10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle
street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying
to steal gasoline and plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with your friends and family...
unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long-lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost.

*** Remember... They walk among us!!! ***
[absolutely no surprise that the majority of these retards are/were American!!]

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Flamenco

There aren't many forms of music these days as passionate and powerful as this.
Check out Paco de Lucia and CamarĂ³n de la Isla for starters, and if those sparks don't ignite you then you need a new heart and soul....and who can ignore those wonderful dancers!!

Brel

Quotation
...in a man's life, there are two important dates : his birth and his death. Everything we do in between is not very important.
-Jacques Brel

A new angle

Occasionally...just occasionally I think to myself I ought to be a bit more broad in my postings. I've had a few blogs in my time, My "Don't Vote for Bush" one was the last one I spent any real time on...see where that got me???
Ok! so I'm gonna start to add in a few other bits and pieces as and when the urge is there. Not gonna be a constant blogger updating daily but I'll post now and then as and when I see fit or have the energy or am just plain bored. Today I'm the latter.