Hi Blog fans!
I got an email this week telling me that I suck as I don't update this often enough. This is very true. Sorry.
This will also be a short one - with more to follow.
Brief news Summary.
1. Got a job as a marketing consultant
2. Started two weeks ago
3. Therefore had a week where I was at work from 8-5pm, then straight into car to get to theatre for call, then back to spend time with Clarissa (who was visiting from London). Crazy.
4. This was every night except Tuesday, when I went for a 2 hour final round interview to be the artistic director of a theatre here instead.
5. After thoroughly exhausting myself, Kira insisted that we go to Hawaii - so we did.
6. Spent 7 days in turtle bay resort in Northern Oahu (main island in Hawaii).
7. Back now working very hard in marketing job here - www.projectlineinc.com
So it is an uphill struggle at the moment - quite literally! The job is based in downtown Seattle, at about Sea Level, and I conservatively estimate that our apartment is about 500 feet above Sea Level. Nice on the way there, not so nice on the way back!
Right, I'm spent and have to deal with Mother's Day.
More soon - including Hawaii pics!
DD
P.S. People in Hawaii were selling Tsunami Survivor T-Shirts. That has to be the height of bad taste doesn't it?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
SOS
No! Not a cry for help (not yet anyway), but an acronym for the subject of my latest missive. To be revealed below...
Evenin' All!
I find myself in two minds over the invasion at the moment - largely because the Yanks seem to like me!
If you haven't seen them yet, I've been getting great reviews for my portrayl of CS Lewis. Words like "Superb" have been bandied around! How can I maintain ire against such a friendly people?
Well... they seem loathe to give me a job that will actually involve a notable sum of money - and that is starting to get irksome.
Hence the feeling that my life is currently a victory of Style Over Substance. No, Caps-lock isn't stuck, that was to let you know that that is what SOS stands for - in this instance at least... any air traffic controllers reading this... probably shouldn't be.
Yes, Style Over Substance. That's me all over. The toast of the town, on both the internet and the TV - check out Taproot Theatre's site for all the links - but slumming it on Craigslist during the day deciding whether to be a dog fluffer or a wet chugger.
It got me thinking about other examples - helpfully linked to things people (i.e. Ifo) have asked me to write about on my blog.
First, Obama's fall from grace. Total victory of style over substance. Not in the sense that he is, but that those who wish to portray him as such are winning the day. For example, today there was an article in the Guardian about Obama selling out by visiting a prayer group, whose leader apparently admires Hitler. Sounds terrible doesn't it. Until you read that previous speakers have included Bono.
Basically, what the journos have done is search hard enough to find some oddball members of the organisation and then link them incredibly spuriously to Obama. You would expect this sort of thing from the right-wing - but from the Grauniad? It is just more evidence of how every section of the media has bought into the metanarrative (you know how much I love those!) that Obama's presidential win was a victory of style over substance and he is now failing to deliver.
In doing so, they are actually succumbing to style-over-substance themselves - but only for a while. The insidiousness of this particular beast is that it effects how people vote, so now Obama has less of a mandate (after the Dems lost the Massachusetts senate seat), and will find it harder to get substantive work done.
So, why has Obama fallen from grace so spectacularly? Because the media needed him to.
What else were they going to report? Good news? Not likely. The only newspaper to concentrate on good news closed down after 16 months (though that was itself an SOS victory, as it couldn't print a story about its own demise!).
Ifo is also interested in food stamps - the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The title here sounds totally SOS. You can just hear the cogs turning in the spin-sters minds - "let's call it SNAP, it sounds so cool". They forgot that no-one cares about being cool when their kids are starving. So everyone calls them Food Stamps - for that is what they were. Stamps that could be redeemed for different values toward food. They now use electronic benefit transfer cards but the idea is the same.
You have to be very near the poverty line to have access to food stamps. Currently, around 40m Americans are on the program (i.e about a sixth of the country as a whole), with an average monthly benefit of $133. Most shockingly, 1 in 4 of America's children is linked to the food stamp program.
I'm not a public policy specialist by any stretch of the imagination, but it actually seems like a program of substance to me - with evidence to suggest that it helps families stay out of welfare, in work, and above the poverty-line.
However, the system it supports is SOS - with the desire for America to be seen as the best country in the world far outweighing the desire for it to actually be the best country in the world.
The Food Stamp program was originally brought in during the great depression, to help farmers sell their crops to starving city-dwellers. It was brought back when JFK witnessed appalling poverty in the Appalachian region during his presidential campaign.
It was never intended to assuage the guilt of unscrupulous employers who pay their workers a pittance so that they can afford the cars and houses for which this country is famed.
Grotesque income disparity = SOS. In both senses.
Well, that's enough of me! Looking forward to lots of comments!
DD out
P.S. Kira is actually living both style and substance at the moment. Her hypnotherapy is going amazingly, she has just landed the biggest agent in town (totally by chance!), and has a ton of other v/o and theatre auditions. She puts me to shame...
Evenin' All!
I find myself in two minds over the invasion at the moment - largely because the Yanks seem to like me!
If you haven't seen them yet, I've been getting great reviews for my portrayl of CS Lewis. Words like "Superb" have been bandied around! How can I maintain ire against such a friendly people?
Well... they seem loathe to give me a job that will actually involve a notable sum of money - and that is starting to get irksome.
Hence the feeling that my life is currently a victory of Style Over Substance. No, Caps-lock isn't stuck, that was to let you know that that is what SOS stands for - in this instance at least... any air traffic controllers reading this... probably shouldn't be.
Yes, Style Over Substance. That's me all over. The toast of the town, on both the internet and the TV - check out Taproot Theatre's site for all the links - but slumming it on Craigslist during the day deciding whether to be a dog fluffer or a wet chugger.
It got me thinking about other examples - helpfully linked to things people (i.e. Ifo) have asked me to write about on my blog.
First, Obama's fall from grace. Total victory of style over substance. Not in the sense that he is, but that those who wish to portray him as such are winning the day. For example, today there was an article in the Guardian about Obama selling out by visiting a prayer group, whose leader apparently admires Hitler. Sounds terrible doesn't it. Until you read that previous speakers have included Bono.
Basically, what the journos have done is search hard enough to find some oddball members of the organisation and then link them incredibly spuriously to Obama. You would expect this sort of thing from the right-wing - but from the Grauniad? It is just more evidence of how every section of the media has bought into the metanarrative (you know how much I love those!) that Obama's presidential win was a victory of style over substance and he is now failing to deliver.
In doing so, they are actually succumbing to style-over-substance themselves - but only for a while. The insidiousness of this particular beast is that it effects how people vote, so now Obama has less of a mandate (after the Dems lost the Massachusetts senate seat), and will find it harder to get substantive work done.
So, why has Obama fallen from grace so spectacularly? Because the media needed him to.
What else were they going to report? Good news? Not likely. The only newspaper to concentrate on good news closed down after 16 months (though that was itself an SOS victory, as it couldn't print a story about its own demise!).
Ifo is also interested in food stamps - the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The title here sounds totally SOS. You can just hear the cogs turning in the spin-sters minds - "let's call it SNAP, it sounds so cool". They forgot that no-one cares about being cool when their kids are starving. So everyone calls them Food Stamps - for that is what they were. Stamps that could be redeemed for different values toward food. They now use electronic benefit transfer cards but the idea is the same.
You have to be very near the poverty line to have access to food stamps. Currently, around 40m Americans are on the program (i.e about a sixth of the country as a whole), with an average monthly benefit of $133. Most shockingly, 1 in 4 of America's children is linked to the food stamp program.
I'm not a public policy specialist by any stretch of the imagination, but it actually seems like a program of substance to me - with evidence to suggest that it helps families stay out of welfare, in work, and above the poverty-line.
However, the system it supports is SOS - with the desire for America to be seen as the best country in the world far outweighing the desire for it to actually be the best country in the world.
The Food Stamp program was originally brought in during the great depression, to help farmers sell their crops to starving city-dwellers. It was brought back when JFK witnessed appalling poverty in the Appalachian region during his presidential campaign.
It was never intended to assuage the guilt of unscrupulous employers who pay their workers a pittance so that they can afford the cars and houses for which this country is famed.
Grotesque income disparity = SOS. In both senses.
Well, that's enough of me! Looking forward to lots of comments!
DD out
P.S. Kira is actually living both style and substance at the moment. Her hypnotherapy is going amazingly, she has just landed the biggest agent in town (totally by chance!), and has a ton of other v/o and theatre auditions. She puts me to shame...
Friday, January 15, 2010
(Anglo) Saxon the City
Bonjour Mes Amis,
After a sizeable hiatus I am returning to the blogosphere - so rumours of my Major Tom like departure are greatly exaggerated.
However, we weren't far off there, as I was in bed for a week after landing back in Seattle (I'm skipping over London as this is, after all, called Dor'n in the USA!). I don't think it was the Schvine Flu, as I didn't have a temperature, but I was virtually unconscious for 4 days straight - fun!
I'm back up and running now though - almost literally. Have been working during the day (thanks Fresh Minds!) and rehearsing every evening from 7 -10.30pm. Got the day off today though, so am relaxing - after taking Kira to the airport at 5am...
Since returning to Seattle, rising from my sick bed, and being forced to watch Sex and the City many times over, I have been struck by the fact that I am pretty much the anti-Carrie. For a start, we live on opposite coasts (yes I am aware she's not real...), then there is the fact that she likes buying shoes, whereas I own 4 pairs - two with holes in. She drinks cosmo's; I drink beer. She spent most of her twenties and thirties single; I married young. She is incredibly fashionable; I am not. She is a talented writer...
Anyway, after thinking through all this, I couldn't help but wonder; while I wouldn't fit in in New York, with all those fabulous people catwalking through life, will Seattle let me be a Saxon in the City?
The evidence so far is pretty good - plenty of pretty down-to-earth bars and restaurants, the Northwest's penchant for ale, football (association and rugby) available on the TV - but we need to go deeper than that. What defines the Anglo-saxon more than anything else? If aliens were to look at Britain from outer space, how would they define our psyche (or blargenhaaaat in their language)?
Well, if the defining French characteristic is Ennui - a deep-set boredom which results in them treating everyone and everything with disdain (Eurodisney - poof!), then the defining British characteristic is surely Enn-wee: a torpid notion that we will piss everything up the wall, which generally results in us actually doing so (for many this is literal as well as metaphorical, as they get drunk after said disaster and urinate in public).
Witness British sport. Despite many a half-hearted rallying cry, we still approach most, if not all, national sporting events with the enthusiasm of a Captain going down with his ship - we know it won't be pleasant, but it is our duty to stay the course to the bitter end.
This is not the case in most of the US - as fanatical devotion to the national cause (and local causes) is rampant. Not so in Seattle! Though there are some die-hards, I have found the same attitude toward the local teams - the certainty that they will be crap but the dutiful subjection to their crapness. So the Saxon in me feels at home.
Another joint cause is the weather. It is terrible here at the moment. So Seattlites moan about it. Who else do we know who does that??
Finally, self-deprecation - the necessary companion of Enn-wee: stave off disappointing others by not making them expect much in the first place. Here we reach a bit of a stumbling block - there is still the American desire to push one's own agenda. However, it seems to be much less prevalent than in other parts of the US - so I'll give it a half mark.
2.5 out of 3. Not bad. But there is a difference. Somehow, the denizens of Seattle seem able to hold onto this attitude without either a) self-destructively binging on alcohol; or b) turning grumpy. So there is something not quite Saxon about this city...
Perhaps it is the Viking sensibility (Seattle has strong Scandinavian connections) which overrides - the pioneer spirit allowing fatalism to morph into pragmatism. This has it's downside too (Seattle is starting to feel a little like the Wild West with a number of tragic police officer murders continuing), but the upside is quite appealing.
So, using the Carrie Bradshaw past tense, although a Saxon I was starting to see things from a different angle.
DD out
After a sizeable hiatus I am returning to the blogosphere - so rumours of my Major Tom like departure are greatly exaggerated.
However, we weren't far off there, as I was in bed for a week after landing back in Seattle (I'm skipping over London as this is, after all, called Dor'n in the USA!). I don't think it was the Schvine Flu, as I didn't have a temperature, but I was virtually unconscious for 4 days straight - fun!
I'm back up and running now though - almost literally. Have been working during the day (thanks Fresh Minds!) and rehearsing every evening from 7 -10.30pm. Got the day off today though, so am relaxing - after taking Kira to the airport at 5am...
Since returning to Seattle, rising from my sick bed, and being forced to watch Sex and the City many times over, I have been struck by the fact that I am pretty much the anti-Carrie. For a start, we live on opposite coasts (yes I am aware she's not real...), then there is the fact that she likes buying shoes, whereas I own 4 pairs - two with holes in. She drinks cosmo's; I drink beer. She spent most of her twenties and thirties single; I married young. She is incredibly fashionable; I am not. She is a talented writer...
Anyway, after thinking through all this, I couldn't help but wonder; while I wouldn't fit in in New York, with all those fabulous people catwalking through life, will Seattle let me be a Saxon in the City?
The evidence so far is pretty good - plenty of pretty down-to-earth bars and restaurants, the Northwest's penchant for ale, football (association and rugby) available on the TV - but we need to go deeper than that. What defines the Anglo-saxon more than anything else? If aliens were to look at Britain from outer space, how would they define our psyche (or blargenhaaaat in their language)?
Well, if the defining French characteristic is Ennui - a deep-set boredom which results in them treating everyone and everything with disdain (Eurodisney - poof!), then the defining British characteristic is surely Enn-wee: a torpid notion that we will piss everything up the wall, which generally results in us actually doing so (for many this is literal as well as metaphorical, as they get drunk after said disaster and urinate in public).
Witness British sport. Despite many a half-hearted rallying cry, we still approach most, if not all, national sporting events with the enthusiasm of a Captain going down with his ship - we know it won't be pleasant, but it is our duty to stay the course to the bitter end.
This is not the case in most of the US - as fanatical devotion to the national cause (and local causes) is rampant. Not so in Seattle! Though there are some die-hards, I have found the same attitude toward the local teams - the certainty that they will be crap but the dutiful subjection to their crapness. So the Saxon in me feels at home.
Another joint cause is the weather. It is terrible here at the moment. So Seattlites moan about it. Who else do we know who does that??
Finally, self-deprecation - the necessary companion of Enn-wee: stave off disappointing others by not making them expect much in the first place. Here we reach a bit of a stumbling block - there is still the American desire to push one's own agenda. However, it seems to be much less prevalent than in other parts of the US - so I'll give it a half mark.
2.5 out of 3. Not bad. But there is a difference. Somehow, the denizens of Seattle seem able to hold onto this attitude without either a) self-destructively binging on alcohol; or b) turning grumpy. So there is something not quite Saxon about this city...
Perhaps it is the Viking sensibility (Seattle has strong Scandinavian connections) which overrides - the pioneer spirit allowing fatalism to morph into pragmatism. This has it's downside too (Seattle is starting to feel a little like the Wild West with a number of tragic police officer murders continuing), but the upside is quite appealing.
So, using the Carrie Bradshaw past tense, although a Saxon I was starting to see things from a different angle.
DD out
Friday, November 20, 2009
Palin into insignificance
Hello All!
For those of you who still haven't heard here's what has happened recently.
1. The theatre in which I was going to be performing over Christmas suffered fire damage in an arson attack by a serial arsonist (who it now seems has been caught).
2. They are working round the clock to repair the damage, but won't be ready for Christmas, so the show had to be cancelled.
3. Therefore, Kira and I are now coming back to the UK for Christmas - and will hopefully see many of you soon!
4. I got my driving licence, so have been experiencing the joys of the internal combustion engine.
In all this, blogging has been far from my mind - and I'm about to go out and learn how to Lindy Hop, then get up at 5am to watch England get trounced by the All Blacks, then watch Arsenal annihilate Sunderland, then watch more devastation in UFC 106, before catching a SeaHawks game and going to Vegas (Oh yeah!) - so this will be quick.
My main thought is about Sarah Palin. Oddly, I find myself feeling sorry for her. Yes, she is uber right wing. Yes, she is playing on the petty, selfish fears of swathes of American's who have adopted her as the photogenic archetype of their own victimhood. Yes, hunting wolves with AK47s and clubbing baby seals to death is loathsome, BUT ultimately, what has she done except have the temerity to accept an invitation from an aged war hero and then follow that invitation through?
At times it seems like she is being vilified for daring to exist, a dinosaur (therefore put there by God?) to liberals, a hero to the far right, she didn't so much seek the limelight as have it thrust upon her - and when she is there who can blame her (certainly not an actor!) for wishing to stay in it as long as possible.
Yet again, we have a cautionary tale from our own recent history that has relevance for the American media's treatment of Mrs Palin.
Jade Goody
At first laughed at for her lack of intelligence, then demonised for her intolerance, Jade faced the same plight as Palin - hated by the media that created her for overstaying her welcome. Her journey from victim to villain and back could and should be studied by Palin's team; for Palin has much more in common with Jade than she does with any politician. She is the epitome of a modern celebrity - loved and loathed in equal measure as she symbiotically loves and loathes the media that sustains her.
Who will be the eventual victor? There can be only one. As with Jade before her, if the media strike down Palin, she will become more powerful than we can ever imagine - she will be a media martyr; beneficiary of collective guilt at complicity in her destruction.
With a good team in place she could easily take advantage of this at just the right time. Why work hard at projecting strength in a presidential race when you can win by projecting weakness - casting yourself as a 'victim', as your country is a 'victim'.
We've had Bush as Commander in Thief, get ready for the potential Commander in Grief - Sarah Palin: Field Marshall of the Hard Done By.
And the liberal media will have nobody to blame for it but themselves, as they create sympathy in the minds of American's as a heartless prosecutor does by going after a 'pretty but not too bright' defendent. Who cares if she's guilty - they are being mean to her!
If we want Sarah to start Palin into insignificance we need to start ignoring her - not continuing to write her own mythology. That way 2012 lies - and the Mayan's may well turn out to be right.
DD Out
For those of you who still haven't heard here's what has happened recently.
1. The theatre in which I was going to be performing over Christmas suffered fire damage in an arson attack by a serial arsonist (who it now seems has been caught).
2. They are working round the clock to repair the damage, but won't be ready for Christmas, so the show had to be cancelled.
3. Therefore, Kira and I are now coming back to the UK for Christmas - and will hopefully see many of you soon!
4. I got my driving licence, so have been experiencing the joys of the internal combustion engine.
In all this, blogging has been far from my mind - and I'm about to go out and learn how to Lindy Hop, then get up at 5am to watch England get trounced by the All Blacks, then watch Arsenal annihilate Sunderland, then watch more devastation in UFC 106, before catching a SeaHawks game and going to Vegas (Oh yeah!) - so this will be quick.
My main thought is about Sarah Palin. Oddly, I find myself feeling sorry for her. Yes, she is uber right wing. Yes, she is playing on the petty, selfish fears of swathes of American's who have adopted her as the photogenic archetype of their own victimhood. Yes, hunting wolves with AK47s and clubbing baby seals to death is loathsome, BUT ultimately, what has she done except have the temerity to accept an invitation from an aged war hero and then follow that invitation through?
At times it seems like she is being vilified for daring to exist, a dinosaur (therefore put there by God?) to liberals, a hero to the far right, she didn't so much seek the limelight as have it thrust upon her - and when she is there who can blame her (certainly not an actor!) for wishing to stay in it as long as possible.
Yet again, we have a cautionary tale from our own recent history that has relevance for the American media's treatment of Mrs Palin.
Jade Goody
At first laughed at for her lack of intelligence, then demonised for her intolerance, Jade faced the same plight as Palin - hated by the media that created her for overstaying her welcome. Her journey from victim to villain and back could and should be studied by Palin's team; for Palin has much more in common with Jade than she does with any politician. She is the epitome of a modern celebrity - loved and loathed in equal measure as she symbiotically loves and loathes the media that sustains her.
Who will be the eventual victor? There can be only one. As with Jade before her, if the media strike down Palin, she will become more powerful than we can ever imagine - she will be a media martyr; beneficiary of collective guilt at complicity in her destruction.
With a good team in place she could easily take advantage of this at just the right time. Why work hard at projecting strength in a presidential race when you can win by projecting weakness - casting yourself as a 'victim', as your country is a 'victim'.
We've had Bush as Commander in Thief, get ready for the potential Commander in Grief - Sarah Palin: Field Marshall of the Hard Done By.
And the liberal media will have nobody to blame for it but themselves, as they create sympathy in the minds of American's as a heartless prosecutor does by going after a 'pretty but not too bright' defendent. Who cares if she's guilty - they are being mean to her!
If we want Sarah to start Palin into insignificance we need to start ignoring her - not continuing to write her own mythology. That way 2012 lies - and the Mayan's may well turn out to be right.
DD Out
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sleepless in Seattle (oh yes I did!!)
I'm having trouble sleeping, so thought I'd fire off a quick blog post - a lot of material this week!
First and foremost - the invasion is back on... for so many reasons!
Number one: the people here are crying out for democracy, but they are being denied it by the ruling class. Last year's election was indeed free and fair, with UN observers praising advances since the fiasco of 2000, but it turns out the idea that the previous regime would share power was simply too optimistic. They are prepared to go to any lengths to hold onto it - including subverting the democratic process.
Take, for example, the case of Senator Joe Lieberman. Polls show that most of the country want a public option in healthcare, most of the senate and house are prepared to vote for a bill with a public option in it - and that portion of the senate should include good ol' Joe. However, Joe has decided that he will side with the Republicans in a filibuster.
For those of you who didn't take Politics 101, a filibuster is the action of continuously debating a bill so that it never comes to vote. It is a practice started by Cato the Younger in the Roman Senate. Cato would hide under the bed and wait for Julius Caesar to return before attempting to attack him... no, wait, that's a different Cato... THIS Cato would talk and talk until nightfall so the Senate could not complete its business.
The practice hasn't changed much in 2000 years - it still involves pompous assholes enjoying the sound of their own voices as they seek their own ends rather than the furtherance of the democratic process. After all, what can be more undemocratic than denying a vote?
Answer - Joe Lieberman. As Joe should have guaranteed that the Senate be of a complexion where filibusters can't occur (i.e. Democrats have too much of a majority). However, despite the fact that most of his constituents support a public option, and that his state already has a public option, Joe is siding with the Republicans. Why? His state is also home to most of the big insurance companies - so it seems some constituents are more equal than others...
And I'm not even going to get into the fact that Health Insurance companies have largely decided to base themselves in a State that has a public option for them and their employees...
So, regime change is desparately needed to bring back democracy to this region. Not least because they have stockpiled large numbers of weapons of mass destruction.
Number Two: They are desperate for British culture here, but can't quite get it right. Evidence for this is found in my trip to the 'local' pub last night. First, it's not local. It took me an hour to get there on the bus (which is not red nor double-decker). Then, when I got there it was more like a shack than a proper pub building - and clearly used to have saloon doors, which they'd replaced with full-sized ones. The game was streamed via the internet (dodgy satellite anyone?), so kept slowing down when the download speed dropped. even the team was wrong - it was Arsenal but in a parallel universe where Bendtner and Senderos start; though the Liverpool team did seem normal. On the plus side the score was right (2-1 to the gunners) and they serve the first decent on-tap lager I've had here, but the chants...
One wannabe gooner chanted "We are the Arsenal, We are from WEST London", and the main chant of the evening was "Who likes Arsenal? We do". I mean, do they not know that you are supposed to watch Arsenal in total silence?! In fairness, even the local teams have trouble with chants (at the sounders they flash them up on a screen bouncing ball style) - but that is something an invasion could remedy!
The final insult came in the gents at the end of the night - where a whole wall was plastered with Man U posters. I have been to pubs all over the UK, including many in Manchester, and I have never seen a single Man U poster that wasn't posted ironically as a dart board. We can't let this stand...
Number Three: You guys need somewhere to send Nick Griffin before this BNP thing gets out of hand. Luckily he'll find lots of like-minded people over here in the 'real' America.
For example, the Pope extended his invitation to Anglicans to come and join the Catholic Church this week - specifically Anglicans who are angry at the elevating of female and gay clergy to Bishophood.
It is much too easy to say that this is just misogyny and homophobia as a whole - there are theological issues that aren't being effectively addressed, so anger occurs at the feeling that belief is being eroded.
However, if Anglicans are prepared to change to the Catholic Church, because of these issues, then they are homophobic and misogynist - as it clearly isn't about belief anymore. And the Pope must think he has an audience here...
He's probably right. This attack ad against legal protection for gay partnerships (i.e. allowing things like hospital visits with a partner) ran recently in Washington State;
"Did you know that in 2004 Scandinavia passed a law legalising same sex marriage. In the same year suicides rose by 25% and illegal drug use rose by 19%"
Wow. How do you counter that? Another argument about subsequence and consequence?
Nothing so subtle. As Stephen Colbert (a very funny pundit over here) pointed out - the ad is flawed because; 1) There is no such country as Scandinavia; 2) None of the countries in Scandinavia passed a same-sex marriage law in 2004; 3) The statistics about suicide and drug use are completely made up.
So, intolerance supported by false information - sounds like the perfect busman's holiday for Griffin. Maybe it won't even take an invasion - we could call him out in the same way that the Pope is calling out intolerant anglicans! "Dear Nick, Please feel free to come to 'real america' if you get sick of acceptance and multiculturalism in the UK. We're WASPs too! You would have to pledge allegiance to our flag... but on the plus side it is red white and blue..."
Number Four: They are trying to invade us! Time for a pre-emptive strike!
Evidence of this is seen in the recent NFL London game - 85,000 Yanks in Wembley! It's not right I tell you! And now they want two games a year!!
You can also see it in Pop Culture. They are just about to release The Boat That Rocked over here (did ANYONE watch it in the UK??) and have rebranded it Pirate Radio, with the tag-line "When the British Government banned Rock n Roll, One American DJ took them on". What?!? So Radio Luxembourg was made up of one American DJ was it?!? What is this, a Mel Gibson movie? Bravecast? "You can take our stones, but you'll never take our Beatles!"???
They are clearly readying an advance party and we need to strike first.
Rant over
DD out
First and foremost - the invasion is back on... for so many reasons!
Number one: the people here are crying out for democracy, but they are being denied it by the ruling class. Last year's election was indeed free and fair, with UN observers praising advances since the fiasco of 2000, but it turns out the idea that the previous regime would share power was simply too optimistic. They are prepared to go to any lengths to hold onto it - including subverting the democratic process.
Take, for example, the case of Senator Joe Lieberman. Polls show that most of the country want a public option in healthcare, most of the senate and house are prepared to vote for a bill with a public option in it - and that portion of the senate should include good ol' Joe. However, Joe has decided that he will side with the Republicans in a filibuster.
For those of you who didn't take Politics 101, a filibuster is the action of continuously debating a bill so that it never comes to vote. It is a practice started by Cato the Younger in the Roman Senate. Cato would hide under the bed and wait for Julius Caesar to return before attempting to attack him... no, wait, that's a different Cato... THIS Cato would talk and talk until nightfall so the Senate could not complete its business.
The practice hasn't changed much in 2000 years - it still involves pompous assholes enjoying the sound of their own voices as they seek their own ends rather than the furtherance of the democratic process. After all, what can be more undemocratic than denying a vote?
Answer - Joe Lieberman. As Joe should have guaranteed that the Senate be of a complexion where filibusters can't occur (i.e. Democrats have too much of a majority). However, despite the fact that most of his constituents support a public option, and that his state already has a public option, Joe is siding with the Republicans. Why? His state is also home to most of the big insurance companies - so it seems some constituents are more equal than others...
And I'm not even going to get into the fact that Health Insurance companies have largely decided to base themselves in a State that has a public option for them and their employees...
So, regime change is desparately needed to bring back democracy to this region. Not least because they have stockpiled large numbers of weapons of mass destruction.
Number Two: They are desperate for British culture here, but can't quite get it right. Evidence for this is found in my trip to the 'local' pub last night. First, it's not local. It took me an hour to get there on the bus (which is not red nor double-decker). Then, when I got there it was more like a shack than a proper pub building - and clearly used to have saloon doors, which they'd replaced with full-sized ones. The game was streamed via the internet (dodgy satellite anyone?), so kept slowing down when the download speed dropped. even the team was wrong - it was Arsenal but in a parallel universe where Bendtner and Senderos start; though the Liverpool team did seem normal. On the plus side the score was right (2-1 to the gunners) and they serve the first decent on-tap lager I've had here, but the chants...
One wannabe gooner chanted "We are the Arsenal, We are from WEST London", and the main chant of the evening was "Who likes Arsenal? We do". I mean, do they not know that you are supposed to watch Arsenal in total silence?! In fairness, even the local teams have trouble with chants (at the sounders they flash them up on a screen bouncing ball style) - but that is something an invasion could remedy!
The final insult came in the gents at the end of the night - where a whole wall was plastered with Man U posters. I have been to pubs all over the UK, including many in Manchester, and I have never seen a single Man U poster that wasn't posted ironically as a dart board. We can't let this stand...
Number Three: You guys need somewhere to send Nick Griffin before this BNP thing gets out of hand. Luckily he'll find lots of like-minded people over here in the 'real' America.
For example, the Pope extended his invitation to Anglicans to come and join the Catholic Church this week - specifically Anglicans who are angry at the elevating of female and gay clergy to Bishophood.
It is much too easy to say that this is just misogyny and homophobia as a whole - there are theological issues that aren't being effectively addressed, so anger occurs at the feeling that belief is being eroded.
However, if Anglicans are prepared to change to the Catholic Church, because of these issues, then they are homophobic and misogynist - as it clearly isn't about belief anymore. And the Pope must think he has an audience here...
He's probably right. This attack ad against legal protection for gay partnerships (i.e. allowing things like hospital visits with a partner) ran recently in Washington State;
"Did you know that in 2004 Scandinavia passed a law legalising same sex marriage. In the same year suicides rose by 25% and illegal drug use rose by 19%"
Wow. How do you counter that? Another argument about subsequence and consequence?
Nothing so subtle. As Stephen Colbert (a very funny pundit over here) pointed out - the ad is flawed because; 1) There is no such country as Scandinavia; 2) None of the countries in Scandinavia passed a same-sex marriage law in 2004; 3) The statistics about suicide and drug use are completely made up.
So, intolerance supported by false information - sounds like the perfect busman's holiday for Griffin. Maybe it won't even take an invasion - we could call him out in the same way that the Pope is calling out intolerant anglicans! "Dear Nick, Please feel free to come to 'real america' if you get sick of acceptance and multiculturalism in the UK. We're WASPs too! You would have to pledge allegiance to our flag... but on the plus side it is red white and blue..."
Number Four: They are trying to invade us! Time for a pre-emptive strike!
Evidence of this is seen in the recent NFL London game - 85,000 Yanks in Wembley! It's not right I tell you! And now they want two games a year!!
You can also see it in Pop Culture. They are just about to release The Boat That Rocked over here (did ANYONE watch it in the UK??) and have rebranded it Pirate Radio, with the tag-line "When the British Government banned Rock n Roll, One American DJ took them on". What?!? So Radio Luxembourg was made up of one American DJ was it?!? What is this, a Mel Gibson movie? Bravecast? "You can take our stones, but you'll never take our Beatles!"???
They are clearly readying an advance party and we need to strike first.
Rant over
DD out
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Internationally Lampooned Cascade Adventure
Evening all, - or rather morning for Japanese blog followers, and sorry to wake you English Blog readers!
Or rather should I say British Followers! As we have just been joined by our Scottish friend, Simon Masterton.
Sadly, Simon was no help at all in my quest for weight loss. Yes, yes, he did force me to go on hikes with him through the beautiful North Cascades (more on that later), but he also forced me to make a vat load of pumpkin pie and sugary pumpkin sweets. And once those things are made, they kind of have to be eaten... don't they? Aren't they the same as love??
The North Cascades are a beautiful range of Mountains about 3 hours drive away from Seattle. Sounds fairly accessible, but actually the weather and terrain mean they can only be reached from Spring to Autumn - they only managed to get a road to go through the range in 1970.
We travelled to a place fairly close to the start of the North Cascades Highway (voted one of the most scenic drives in the US) called Diablo Lake. There is an overlook where people who have gorged on pumpkin treats can get the views without leaving their cars (ah America!) but Simon was rather more keen to hike through the "two foot wide right next to the edge of a cliff!" (as Kira termed them) trails.
These were immediately made more interesting by the BEWARE COUGARS sign posted at the start of the trail (actual wild cats rather than predatory older women... raooooww!). Apparently, to ward them off you have to make yourself larger than life by putting your arms above your head. Knowing Kira and I you will be aware that putting our arms above our heads would barely qualify as making us life-size, so we were concerned.
Simon is also a little vertically challenged, but he assured us that his childhood in Scotland had prepared him for any misadventures, as he had walked to school barefoot in 10 inches of snow and fought off wild scottish lions. This sounded feasible to us (they do say Edinburgh is a completely different place outside of the festival...), so we continued.
We were rewarded with majestic views, which hopefully will appear in this part of the blog at some point - though from previous blogs you will be aware that I have not yet worked out how to position photos and the like... darned new fangled technology!! I'm also rather dependent on Si sending photos as I didn't take any (doh!). (Photo's arrived - thanks Si!)
Having conquered the natural world, we decided to rest up at a little place called the Queen of the Valley - which is an awesome B&B; well worth checking out if you are ever in this part of the world (which we hope you will be). Each room themed on a different part of the world. And a working piano with lots of sheet music in the living room, which we made extensive use of - no doubt scaring many Turkeys, which roam wild in the streets of LaConner (the town to which the Queen belongs).
We were able to do so because we were the only guests at the Queen on our evening - so we sang late into the night. Bearing that in mind I was very glad to receive information the next morning, rather than the night before, that apparently the house is haunted. My girlish disposition would have kept me up all night, but as it was I slept like a baby.
The next day we decided to follow up one visit to a scenic spot with a visit to an even more scenic spot - Deception Pass. Sounds like something out of an NFL playbook (oh, see how I assimilate Ben!) or a Dan Brown 'novel', but is in fact a bridge between the mainland and Whidbey Island (named after that sailor who led an expedition into the channel that his captain decided had been 'deceptive'... ). Hopefully some photos will appear below...
After hiking through some trails around Deception Pass, we went to a small town on Whidbey called Coupeville - which I think is where the film Practical Magic was shot. I'll let Si tell you about that himself.
Then on to home via the Mukilteo ferry. Quite an adventure!
So the next day we settled in for a bit and cooked lots of pumpkiny treats with a pumpkin we had bought back in LaConner - hence my weight gain...
On Thursday, Simon and I decided to walk around Seattle - from Downtown to Ballard (about 7 miles along the shore and across a huge set of locks that Salmon swim up). This turned out to be a bad idea, as the weather was biblical (i.e. we should have built an ark). We were both drenched, so felt justified in eating two lunches, and drinking a platter of beer... how did I gain weight again? And yes, you read right, a platter of beer. They, love their ales in the Northwest, and they are served in a manner akin to fine wine, with regional differences and minutiae of taste explained at various microbreweries.
No political comment in this blog as I am both a) bored by the terrible quality of news in the US and b) shocked at the events in politics in the UK (you seem to have a system much like the US now, where there is a 'real' UK anywhere outside of London... scary...). Just stay safe you guys.
More soon! Much sooner this time I promise!!
DD out
Or rather should I say British Followers! As we have just been joined by our Scottish friend, Simon Masterton.
Sadly, Simon was no help at all in my quest for weight loss. Yes, yes, he did force me to go on hikes with him through the beautiful North Cascades (more on that later), but he also forced me to make a vat load of pumpkin pie and sugary pumpkin sweets. And once those things are made, they kind of have to be eaten... don't they? Aren't they the same as love??
The North Cascades are a beautiful range of Mountains about 3 hours drive away from Seattle. Sounds fairly accessible, but actually the weather and terrain mean they can only be reached from Spring to Autumn - they only managed to get a road to go through the range in 1970.
We travelled to a place fairly close to the start of the North Cascades Highway (voted one of the most scenic drives in the US) called Diablo Lake. There is an overlook where people who have gorged on pumpkin treats can get the views without leaving their cars (ah America!) but Simon was rather more keen to hike through the "two foot wide right next to the edge of a cliff!" (as Kira termed them) trails.
These were immediately made more interesting by the BEWARE COUGARS sign posted at the start of the trail (actual wild cats rather than predatory older women... raooooww!). Apparently, to ward them off you have to make yourself larger than life by putting your arms above your head. Knowing Kira and I you will be aware that putting our arms above our heads would barely qualify as making us life-size, so we were concerned.
Simon is also a little vertically challenged, but he assured us that his childhood in Scotland had prepared him for any misadventures, as he had walked to school barefoot in 10 inches of snow and fought off wild scottish lions. This sounded feasible to us (they do say Edinburgh is a completely different place outside of the festival...), so we continued.
We were rewarded with majestic views, which hopefully will appear in this part of the blog at some point - though from previous blogs you will be aware that I have not yet worked out how to position photos and the like... darned new fangled technology!! I'm also rather dependent on Si sending photos as I didn't take any (doh!). (Photo's arrived - thanks Si!)
Having conquered the natural world, we decided to rest up at a little place called the Queen of the Valley - which is an awesome B&B; well worth checking out if you are ever in this part of the world (which we hope you will be). Each room themed on a different part of the world. And a working piano with lots of sheet music in the living room, which we made extensive use of - no doubt scaring many Turkeys, which roam wild in the streets of LaConner (the town to which the Queen belongs).
We were able to do so because we were the only guests at the Queen on our evening - so we sang late into the night. Bearing that in mind I was very glad to receive information the next morning, rather than the night before, that apparently the house is haunted. My girlish disposition would have kept me up all night, but as it was I slept like a baby.
The next day we decided to follow up one visit to a scenic spot with a visit to an even more scenic spot - Deception Pass. Sounds like something out of an NFL playbook (oh, see how I assimilate Ben!) or a Dan Brown 'novel', but is in fact a bridge between the mainland and Whidbey Island (named after that sailor who led an expedition into the channel that his captain decided had been 'deceptive'... ). Hopefully some photos will appear below...
After hiking through some trails around Deception Pass, we went to a small town on Whidbey called Coupeville - which I think is where the film Practical Magic was shot. I'll let Si tell you about that himself.
Then on to home via the Mukilteo ferry. Quite an adventure!
So the next day we settled in for a bit and cooked lots of pumpkiny treats with a pumpkin we had bought back in LaConner - hence my weight gain...
On Thursday, Simon and I decided to walk around Seattle - from Downtown to Ballard (about 7 miles along the shore and across a huge set of locks that Salmon swim up). This turned out to be a bad idea, as the weather was biblical (i.e. we should have built an ark). We were both drenched, so felt justified in eating two lunches, and drinking a platter of beer... how did I gain weight again? And yes, you read right, a platter of beer. They, love their ales in the Northwest, and they are served in a manner akin to fine wine, with regional differences and minutiae of taste explained at various microbreweries.
No political comment in this blog as I am both a) bored by the terrible quality of news in the US and b) shocked at the events in politics in the UK (you seem to have a system much like the US now, where there is a 'real' UK anywhere outside of London... scary...). Just stay safe you guys.
More soon! Much sooner this time I promise!!
DD out
Friday, October 2, 2009
Bananas Republics 2 - this time it's intelligible!
Hi All,
Have found some much more intelligent comment than mine on the election; LRB article entitled "Will We Notice When The Tories Have Won?"
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n18/mcki01_.html
Rob (not saying which one in case that is subject to official secrets!!) you might not like the sentence "defence procurement is notoriously profligate and much of what is bought is useless", but apart from that it's pretty balanced and very well argued.
I particularly like the statement that "Much of the energy of recent governments has been expended on trying to create markets where markets cannot operate – particularly in education and health". Pretty much sums up my position...
Sadly, didn't make it under 170lbs - two pints of sponsored beer and ridiculous amounts of coffee put paid to that by half a pound.
Perhaps Si Masterton will help me keep the pounds off when he arrives on Monday? Lots of adventures planned. Going to try and get him on board with the invasion, and perhaps pick up some mercenaries from the commonwealth (we're going to Vancouver).
DD Out
Have found some much more intelligent comment than mine on the election; LRB article entitled "Will We Notice When The Tories Have Won?"
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n18/mcki01_.html
Rob (not saying which one in case that is subject to official secrets!!) you might not like the sentence "defence procurement is notoriously profligate and much of what is bought is useless", but apart from that it's pretty balanced and very well argued.
I particularly like the statement that "Much of the energy of recent governments has been expended on trying to create markets where markets cannot operate – particularly in education and health". Pretty much sums up my position...
Sadly, didn't make it under 170lbs - two pints of sponsored beer and ridiculous amounts of coffee put paid to that by half a pound.
Perhaps Si Masterton will help me keep the pounds off when he arrives on Monday? Lots of adventures planned. Going to try and get him on board with the invasion, and perhaps pick up some mercenaries from the commonwealth (we're going to Vancouver).
DD Out
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