30.6.09

Wikipedia authority

I'm confused about this article in the New York Times.
Keeping News of Kidnapping Off Wikipedia

Did I miss anything? A couple of questions leap to mind:
-Didn't they factor in the possibility they might have known who they were kidnapping in the first place?
-It might be possible they didn't turn to Wikipedia for their information in the first place.
-So you ask fellow newscasters to keep the news of the kidnapping out of their publications. But what about bloggers?
You can place them on the same reliability level as Wikipedia. It is all user-generated content. Bar all the user chats and peer checking going on, it is still some utopian reverie to think everyone who contributes to an article on wiki is truthfull and exact.
But there has been loads of stuff typed up about that already, I'm not going there. Go here for instance.

How come all of a sudden Wikipedia is taken so seriously? Is it because a lot of hacks just look up stuff on it and, frequently to their own embarrasment, copy and print up the exact same faulty details? Maybe they just assume the kidnappers will do the same?

29.6.09

UFO spotted indoors!

Spotted in Dr Livingstone's hotel room in Manchester: a UFO!
And I have proof! Luckily I took a screen shot of the thing before it was gone.
Look at eeet!
It was hovering in the background all the time we were having a video chat.
Dr Livingstone couldn't see it when he turned round, he said there was only a little reading spot above the bed, but no UFO.
It looks exactly like all the other flying saucer's that are found on the internet!
Strangely it mysteriously disappeared when he turned off the lights in the room...



*sniggers

28.6.09

Brand New Donkey

Badly Shorn Sheep™'s owner has gotten yet another mouth to feed. A new sweet, fluffy, adorable donkey was born today.
It's already frolicking about and straying a good while away from its mother.
The donkeys all look like they've finally been brushed clear of all that old hair that had been clinging to them for ages.
Some of them even glitter in the sun.
It's very hot and sticky today, poor beasts are all panting like crazy to cool themselves.
And Badly Shorn Sheep™ is burping all the time. I've never heard it do that before. It sounds like some air escapes a blocked drain now and then.
Or maybe it's scared of The Beast.

27.6.09

Michael balls - part I

Looks like CTV Calgary really got the scoop on this one:

Lawyer Brian Oxman, a sometime-spokesperson for the Jackson family, alleged that prescription medications may have contributed to the death.
"For the last many months, and almost more than a year, this family has been talking about the use of medications by Michael and warning he was
going to wake up dead," Oxman, his voice wavering, told CTV News Channel.

Oh noes! Run! Zombie alert!

You tend to read over these things, don't you?

26.6.09

The King of Pop has popped it

I thought I'd woken up two decades ago this morning. I haven't heard so much Michael Jackson songs playing on the radio since the eighties.

I can still remember when the Thriller video directed by John Landis aired for the very first time on the telly. I think it was on a British network, MTV was not available in Europe at the time. Don't recall if it was on ITV, Channel 4 or the Beeb. Announcements went out and everyone anticipated the full length version. I got to stay up late to watch it, and it subsequently gave me a fascination for all things concerning undertaking, interment and funerary architecture.
The thing that impressed me most was the spoken word act by a long time favourite of mine Vincent Price.
That and the dancing zombie with the green tights.

I wonder how long it will take before the nutjobs come a-crawling out of the woodwork saying he faked his own death.
And reports twenty years from now still spotting him alive, just like Elvis.

I hope he will be cremated. I'm sure everyone will not refrain from pointing out he'll resemble himself as he did in the Thriller vid very soon. Or we will probably end up with a neverending stream of reports of postmortem excursions of the body; just like Mr Chaplin. Or parts of it showing up on auction somewhere.

So is the King of Pop going to have a funeral befitting his status?
I mean,the venue has already been booked, a King should lie in state.
As the man said himself: "I just want to say that these will be my final shows in London. When I say this is it, this really means this is it. This is the final curtain call. I'll see you in July and I love you."

AEG Live could make a killing on this one.

Meh, I hate it when Icons die. Let's hope they give him a good send off.

25.6.09

I'm back!

I'm back in the land of the living. Completed my last exam yesterday. All went swimmingly, now still waiting for the uni results.
I got a first (again) on my other Art History course, I was quite chuffed to hear last Saturday. Yay for me!

On an entirely different note: I got rung up this morning at a quarter to eight (not a good time to speak to me on the phone). I had made an appointment for a technician to service our heating system.
But no, I get told the guy hasn't shown up for work today and is probably not going to come in at all. Would another time suit me better?
The guy on the other end of the line got a good bollocking (I'm not very nice in the mornings, Dr Livingstone can vouch for that). I asked him what the point was of making an appointment and then not showing up. I asked for a discount (of course) and invented some excuse I had to take off time from work to be home. He'd pass it on to the people in the office (yeah right).
Anyway, they're coming round tomorrow after lunch.
If they're not hung over or something.

2.6.09

Literal Video Versions

Literal Video Versions: new internet hit?
Gave me a good laugh.



Also check out Billy Idol's literal 'White Wedding' and a literal Rick Roll.

1.6.09

Shoes full of fail

I have a thing about shoes. When I can do without them, I go about bare foot as much as I can. It's healthy and I'm not wearing the heels down either. Anyway, I don't have the need for shoes inside the house.
I used to wear high heels once in a while, but a bad back makes sure I can't wear them as often as I'd like too.
But I'm very particular about my shoes. They need to be top quality leather, no seams at inconvenient places.

These days I go for comfort, but that does not mean I don't care for style.
There are a lot of comfy shoes out there and some are a good alternative to high heels. Take the ballerina for instance. I don't own a pair, but some can be pretty, if they're the right quality. You don't want to have a pair that makes you look like you've just come from your weekly jazz dance lesson or a pair you'd give your kids and say 'You'll grow into them'. So steer clear from the scrunched ones and avoid square tipped ones too.

But there is rather a big segment of the shoe market I find repulsive to the bitter end, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Just to make sure you won't be in them if the worst comes to the worst, be prepared. So to help you stay out of mischief; here's my top ten of fail shoes.
If you own a pair of these, I wouldn't like to be in your shoes when the fashion police come calling! The cells would be crammed to the ceiling.

Mrs B's Top 10 fugly shoe list:

10) boxer type shoes (boots & shoes): It's not fashion sweety, it's made in China and a cheep look. Those ultra flat soles do not help to get a grip. On reality.



9) Hard wedge sandals: They keep crawling from under the woodwork somehow. Style less.


8) Cowgirl boots: no, no, no. Unless you've got the complete kit you wear to your Saturday evening line dance get together. And it's not cool to wear them under a frilly dress either.


7) Boots under frocks: It didn't even look cool in the eighties you know. Don't ever wear ankle boots or even knee high boots with skirts. It's just silly. It really looks as if you're wearing your winter shoes because you've only got one pair and saving up for some new ones. I couldn't even bring myself to googling for an image.

6) Moon boots: Because you had to wear them as a kid doesn't make it ok now you're fully grown up.


5) 80's shoes: You know what kind. The smooth pumps, the ankle boots with the folds. They've been out of fashion for two decades. If you really want to stick to them: get the matching perm and polka dot dress and leg warmers that go with it.


4) Eskimo boots: Seriously, even elephants have a more elegant straddle wearing those.


3) Gladiator sandals: don't go there. It's not because it's called fashion they actually look nice. No matter how much you shell out for a pair, they still look cheap.


2) Flip flops: I'd like to see you catch a metro in rush hour on those and get back to me how many times someone stepped on your toes. Flip flops are something for tourists to wear when they stroll from their hotel room to the beach and back. Something you actually wouldn't get upset by once you've gone for a swim and on your return found out someone nicked them.


1) Crocks: Ah yes. The shoes I love to hate. You do know you look like a dork going around in those? Even though everyone else is wearing them too. Not even winter crocks (with the woolly inlay) or even crock boots (oh yes, they exist!) are even remotely acceptable. If you've got a pair to walk around the house or in your garden, fine. Pass them off as very practical slip ons if you must. But honestly, someone wearing those, especially morbidly obese people, in public have a very low self esteem. They're, come to think of it, a new version of those white orthopedic slippers and wooden shoes the old folk wear. And nurses. And truckers. And Germans and Dutch on holiday.
Like Birckenstocks. It's not even casual. It's uncasual, if there is such a thing.