Rant And Rave Against The World

Rant #1: I hate telephones. I wouldn’t have one if it weren’t a necessity (I have a DSL connection). The only telephone calls I ever receive come at inconvenient moments and they’re usually people trying to sell me magazines or insurance or trying to save my soul. My dinner last night was ruined because a certain delicate cooking process kept being FUCKING interrupted by calls.

Rant #2: The power just went out. Just for a couple of seconds but long enough that it meant that I have had to reset all of my digital equipment. THE FUCKING POWER GOES OUT APPROX. ONCE A DAY!!!! Why? What is wrong? Why am I having to reset every fucking digital clock, the digital radio, the VCR and don’t even talk to me about my fucking digital telephone answering machine, whose battery backup hasn’t worked since day one and whose re-programming process is so counter-intuitive I just don’t bother any more….

On a happier note, i just bought the new Tori Amos CD and i like it a lot

I Just Wasn't Meant For These Times

It's bad. I find myself increasingly wanting to whap anyone over the head who says "i seen ya" or "i done it" or "yo, dude."

Buncha bloody mouth-breathers!

Angel Heart

I've been watching this DVD for the past three days -- i've had it on VHS for years, it's one of my all-time faves -- but i just bought thee DVD last week and the bonus features on the little silvery disc are fascinating.

Green Day

Bought the CD on Friday -- and it's definitely going to be a contender for "album of the year."

Mataglap

Mataglap -- an Indonesian word meaning "dark eye" or, probably, "dilated eye." It is an indication that someone is about to go berserk and start killing people at random. Used in Walter Jon Williams' novel Aristoi as the name of a berserk form of nanotechnology that devoured the planet, but also used by my favourite writer (Nicolas Freeling) to describe people going doolally. Language is such fun….

And I’ve just started on a project: the re-reading of all of my Nicolas Freelings. The language is so rich, though: I overdose on words.

And here are the films i've been watching

Sickness & Diseases

No, this isn't about the H1N1 virus -- or swine flu as it was called until recently.

I am just getting over a miserable cold -- and i think i've given it to Watson, he's been coughing all day. I may also have passed it on to Jill, although i assure you we have never had really close contact in any way. I'm sure she caught her cold elsewhere.

So, you do know, don't you, why swine flu is now H1N1?

It's because people are stupid. They hear "swine flu"and think they can get it from eating pork products, which results in huge losses for the pig farmers.

Someone give me a hot dog!

Hawkwind

I've heard so much good about the group Hawkwind that i -- entirely unfamiliar as i am -- downloaded a couple of albums.

The vocals are terribly weak, the melodies are non-existent.

They are (apparently) "space-rock" -- give me Pink Floyd or VdGG any day. I wanted to love them but, alas, they bore me stiff.....