Pippi IS Lisbeth -- Or, At Least, Tami Is.

Quotation of the day ~ William Blake: And throughout eternity, i forgive you and you forgive me.

I've written a lot over the past year about my obsession with the literary character Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the fact that she was partly based on Pippi Longstocking.

I've also written about my tangential interest in Tami Erin, the woman who played Pippi in the 1988 film, including, in my last post, a fact that reinforces my idea of Pippi-As-Lisbeth -- that Tami Erin is releasing a homemade sex tape.

Well, it's out, and parts of it have been leaked already, and i've watched them. Yes, i have, although celebrity homemade sex tapes normally bore me stiff. (Er, probably not the best choice of word there, but, as The Beatles once advised, let it be.)

Here's a censored pic from the film:

From what i've seen so far (and i saw the uncensored version), i'm not going to need a cold shower. I think my interest is about to end.

Here's the latest from my CD collection, btw (haven't added anything in a while):

And of course the playlist:

Paul Rodgers - Muddy Waters Blues
Blodwyn Pig - Ahead Rings Out
Steeleye Span - Time
Blue Oyster Cult - On Flame With Rock And Roll
Buffalo Tom - Big Red Letter Day
Be+Bop Deluxe - Modern Music
Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Scream
Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick - Walnut Creek

Pippi Longstocking IS Lisbeth Salander. Maybe.

Quotation of the day ~ Stieg Larsson: I started to write in 2001. I wrote the books for the fun of it. It was an old idea i had had since the nineties.


Some time ago, i posited the notion that Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -- a literary character with whom i find myself totally obsessed  -- one of the most compelling characters in all fiction, IMHO -- was inspired by Pippi Longstocking. What Pippi might have been like when she grew up, an idea suggested by the author himself (Stieg Larsson) as being a salient undercurrent to the books.

I didn't really see it, except in very general terms (i.e., they're both socially dysfunctional misfits and underestimating their strengths can be disastrous) and to be honest, thought little more about it.

But then, in September, came the news that the actress Tami Erin, who played Pippi in the 1988 film, is about to release a home-made sex tape, and i thought: whoa! Lisbeth did something similar (although for very different reasons), is this yet another instance of life imitating art? Did Pippi (i.e., Tami) become Lisbeth?

With my unquenchable curiosity about all things Lisbethan, i investigated. It seems that back in April Tami was arrested for beating up her boyfriend. I love this! Tami Erin, who really isn't known for any of her other film rôles and primarily works for philanthropic and charitable organisations nowadays, has a violent streak. But hey, that's cool, i know how stressful relationships can be, who knows what was going on.

Then came the news that her boyfriend (the same one? i don't know) was planning to release a sex tape of the two of them doing the deed (or possibly several deeds). But it gets better. Originally, Tami fought the release tooth and claw, and i can see her point: what kind of a sleazeball (to use the technical term) would do such a thing? She must have felt hopeless and betrayed. (Lisbeth again.) But then (Lisbeth again) she decided to fight back: she is planning (as of this writing) to pre-empt the abovementioned sleazeball and release it herself.

Here's some pics of Tami (who's now 39):

Well, i think she looks abfab and if that tape ever really does see the light of day, i will try to find a copy -- purely in the interests of literary research, of course, because at 39 she's far too young for me <wink>

Here's the recent playlist:

Free - Live
Sparks - Kimono My House
Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers
Jan Akkerman -- Live At Alexander's
Siouxsie And The Banshees - The Rapture
Tyrannosaurus Rex - Beard Of Stars
The Lovin' Spoonful - Greatest Hits
Fish - A Feast Of Consequences (twice!)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
Colin James - Take It From The Top
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Mama's Pride - Mama's Pride
Keith Emerson Band - The Three Fates Project
Chickenfoot - Chickenfoot III
Rory Gallagher - Tattoo
The Allman Brothers Band - Eat A Peach
The Oyster Band - Step Outside
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
Bruce Cockburn - Dancing In The Dragon's Jaw

F.R.E.D!

Quotation Of The Day ~ Ian Rankin:  Daytime drinking was special. In a bar, time ceased to exist, and with it the outside world. For as long as you stayed in the pub you felt immortal and ageless.

In case you're unaware, the acronym F.R.E.D. stands for f*ck*ng ridiculous electronic device and, yes, folks, i'm here to tell you about the latest computer problem i've had. For the umpteenth time....

Actually, i blame myself for this one. I don't know if i've complained about it here, but i know that i've been moaning a lot elsewhere about the amount of email spam i've been receiving lately -- "reduce your mortgage" (i live in an apartment), "$25,000 loan, low interest" (only available in the U.S.A., unfortunately), "Hot Girls In Milverton Want To Meet You!" (my ISP is based in Milverton) (how'd that little fact slip past the $25,000 loan people, i wonder?), you know the schtuff.  I normally just delete them, unread, but if i do happen to open one, i certainly never, ever click on any links.

But, last Monday, i received an email with no subject line and no sender's name and i opened it and ... my anti-virus software (Avast, probably the best of the free ones) immediately went nuts. Basically, a great huge boxing glove sprang out of the DVD drive and bopped me on the nose. Avast started a boot-time scan, but that self-aborted after a minute or so, the computer re-started itself and ... nothing worked.

I tried to open Avast, i couldn't. i tried to run HijackThis!, it wouldn't open. So i thought, why not uninstall and then re-install Avast, maybe that'll work. It didn't, i couldn't open the .exe file. So i tried to run System Restore. Oh, guess what? I couldn't.

I booted into Safe Mode to see what i could do there and -- woo hoo! -- to my amazement i was able to run a Malwarebytes scan. It detected, along with a few PUPs (potentially unwanted programs) a trojan -- Agent.V26 to be precise -- so of course i deleted the lot. Rebooted. Still couldn't open the Avast executable, so there i was, my desktop computer unprotected and potentially infected. There was no chance i was going onto the Internet like that, but thank god for my laptop.

I Googled, i Googled, and then i Googled some more. Didn't have a lot of luck, though, finding a solution. (Why is it, he asks rhetorically, that while there are around three billion computer users on this planet, so often i have problems that no one else -- judging by the forums -- has ever had?)

Confession time: my desktop PC runs Windows XP. Yes, yes, i know -- sentenced to death next April. Maybe my predicament would force me to buy a new desktop now rather than later, although it would place a terrible burden on my already-overstrained cash flow situation. But one does what one has to do (is my philosophy). And after all, i still had the laptop (and the smartphone) -- not like i would be completely isolated by any means.

But i tried one last thing. I ran Spybot Search & Destroy. (http://www.safer-networking.org/) Yes, it opened!

Now, at one time, Spybot had an excellent reputation as a malware-remover,  But then they changed their entire user interface, i didn't like them any more and evidently i wasn't the only one: i read quite a few poor reviews. But they've turned themselves around: it cleaned out everything that was stopping me from opening security software, i re-installed Avast! and now all seems well, whew.

Still and all, though, i see a new desktop PC in my very near future -- this old gal is definitely showing signs of age....