Eurovision Update

For all the fans here in the UK remember that this Saturday is the UK selection show "Eurovision: Your Decision". As you can see it's changed it's name again!!

Michelle Gayle is in it! That brings back some nineties memories!!

Be sure to catch it and vote.

Work is a bit poxy at the moment, which means I've not been in a blogging mood. Never fear I shall update the Eurovision page this weekend with all the latest videos and some extra bits.

10 Years Ago

10 Years, and 5 minutes, ago I first encountered "The Sixth Former", the singularly most beautiful man I feel I have ever had the fortune to lay eyes upon (up to and not including Jim).

Somewhere out there is a man wandering around unaware of the major part he played in my life. Even though I send him my thanks. Cheers for just looking so darn lovely with your long black hair and piecing brown eyes.

Ben Affleck Is Fucking Matt Damon

Fun but still not as good as Sarah Silverman's song "I'm Fucking Matt Damon". I mean... Ben Affleck is lovely but Matt Damon is just... RAR!

Now what I'm hoping for is a new song... Ben Affleck Is Fucking Matt Damon. That would be sweet! My dreams in music... ;)



Over halfway through The God Delusion at the moment (yeah I'm a little behind the times). It's not only interesting to read but brought back high school memories when it mentions the Ontological Argument for the existence of God. Oh how useless that argument is.

Tomorrow marks ten years since I came out to myself (and denounced Christianity after spending the evening reading the Old Testament and deciding it was a little crazy). Happy Birthday Gay Jae!

Home Sweet Home

Jim and I headed down to Lympne yesterday, picking up Nan on the way. We had a nice relaxing weekend, the cats were soppy, Noodles the dog was crazy and everything was nice.

Nan was very excited to report that Snodland scandal has hit the national newspapers. To think, that vicar oversaw my Grandads funeral. Shocking! ;)

Sadly she did not report the big cat sighting from this week.

I can't believe it's work again tomorrow already. :(

I Love The BBC iPlayer

Yoinked from Sexy Muscle Dudes

Blessed are the Brits for we have the BBC who bring us such wonderful things as the BBC iPlayer. Isn't wonderful to know you don't need to do anything to still be able to watch a show after it's been shown. No need to record, no need to add a series link to your digibox, no need to download. Simply click and watch ala youtube. Simply amazing. Almost as good as David Attenborough... and even he is a BBC man.

Went down the pub last night and had a nice meal, chatted with the barman and saw the depths to which Jim has gone in his stalking quest. It's so silly, you wouldn't find me doing that...

This weekend is the tenth anniversary of my discovery of my sexuality. Yes. TEN YEARS! Jesus, time flies when you're having fun. I'll be sure to drink one for The Sixth Former when I get some money.

It's my brother and sisters twelve birthday today. Jim and I will be heading down to see them tomorrow. I remember the day they were born in Maidstone Hospital like it was yesterday. Now they are as old as I was when they were born!! That's it... no more milestones please... it's making me feel old.

Did The Earth Move For You?

Religious people say the craziest things. Yes that's right... God caused the earthquakes and he did it because of the gay people living freely in Israel.

In my book, people who say things like that in public are in need of serious medical assistance. But because they are "religious" they are allowed to continue to deal with children, operate heavy machine and run for high office.

Insanity.

The Hidden Tentacles Of Cults

Here's something interesting: a few weeks ago I was standing on an underground platform, listening to my iPod when I saw a post advertising "Philosophy" course. It was only £70 odd pound a week and I thought it might be interesting but after a quick look on the net I lost interest in the idea... too much effort. Well I'm glad I did now!

The courses are run by the "School of Economic Science" who, according to some, have very cult like tendencies.

It's amazing what you can learn on t'internet.

In sad, and somewhat related news, Shawn Lonsdale has been found dead. Mr Lonsdale is a well known critic of Scientology and I first saw him during the Panorama documentary "Scientology and Me" where he was attacked by Anne Archers son Tommy Davis because of his sexuality and related sexual offenses (soliciting sex with adult men... hey that used to be a hobby of mine!) in order to make him out to be an unreliable source for the documentary. Of course he is better known in the anti-Scientology community for his Cult Watch videos and for the physical attack he experienced at the hands of a Scientologist.

May he rest in peace.

OK... honestly... I'll get bored of the whole Scientology thing once I've finished the book I'm reading (Jon Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky). It's absorbing reading, but I can never last on just the one obsession for very long and I'm sure by the end of the month I'll be on to my next fad.

Operation Reconnect

Welcome Kosovo!

Well today, after years of uncertainty, Kosovo has declared independence of Serbia. I just hope the Albanian majority don't restart their own attempts at ethnic cleansing and learn to live peacefully with the Kosovan Serbs.

Sometimes I read this page and cry tears of laughter. Fundamentalists can be awesomely, hilariously stupid sometimes.

My Legs Hurt, And Now My Arms Do Too...

So... after a nice relaxing morning I headed up to London town via Charing Cross. I waited around for a little while before meeting Vy and JP on Regent Street outside the Apple store.

We headed to Le Pain, a nice cafe where we had carrot cake (ok... that was just me) and delicious coffee. We caught up, we commiserated over work and I explained my current obsession with Scientology.

After this we went for a walk... a very, very long walk... up through the back streets to Camden Lock where JP was mistaken for that bloke off The Real Hustle, then we wandered along the canal, past Regents Park, the zoo (where we saw plenty of wild life in the Aviary) and through dark tunnels reminiscent of the canal from IT.

We finally reached Little Venice and then headed to JPs flat in Bayswater for a tea. And it was there that I finally came face to face with JPs infamous cat. She is one bossy cat!!

I headed home via a rather extended tube journey thanks to engineering works on the DLR. Grr...

I arrived home and sat in the living room for about 20 minutes. Jim then informed me that I was a right bloke and didn't pay much attention to things around me. I checked him over for a new haircut or new clothes. Nope, same Jim as when I left. I looked around the room. Nothing out of the ordinary. I begged him to tell me what was different... and that's when he pointed at the blue slot of light down the side of the telly... a Wii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY! Love to the Jim!

So even though my legs ached I played some tennis, bowling and boxing before I collapsed here to write my post. Sheesh.. what a busy day.

Youtube Rocks...

Yoinked from Ex-Gay Watch

Speaking of which... they have a really disturbing article on sexual abuse within the Ex-Gay therapy community. Hopefully a warning to any questioning teens to avoid Ex-Gay "therapists" and work their sexuality out for themselves.

Europe

I received an email from the Lib Dems today about the debate in the Commons over the possibility of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The Lib Dems position is that as it is just an amending treaty of the EU, just like many other such treaties, there is no reason for a referendum on it. Instead Nick Clegg is calling for some honesty from the two larger parties and asking for a referendum on Britains continuing relationship with the EU.

It is true that the Tories and Labour have not only torn themselves into shreds over their positions on our continued membership, they have also poisoned the publics attitude and played party politics with an important constitutional issue. I agree with Mr Clegg that it is time for us to make a choice... either we are in it or out of it... then everybody can just shut up about it.

In saying that I'm a pro-European. I believe in a reformed European Union based on democratically elected institutions and a constitution limiting Governmental power and stating clearly where powers lie. And a referendum would almost certainly mean that we would have to secede from the EU, which I would be fairly unhappy about. But if that's the price of democracy and of allowing this country to move forward from two decades of Eurosceptic moaning then it's a price that might need to be paid.

See the Lib Dems website and sign the petition.

Just Keep Swimming

I love Jensen Ackles.

Best question from a customer today (to one of my colleagues):

"What is the difference between a magnetic and a non-magnetic drywipe board?"

Worst customer:

One guy/girl (I couldn't make a firm decision on their sex) spent the entire call interspersing their query with the campest "OH MY GOD" I've ever heard. They did this at the end of pretty much every sentence. Annoying doesn't begin to describe it.

Best Google search to my blog of the week:

"hot gay teenage boys only having sex in back of the ambulance"

Only having sex in the back of an ambulance? That's a bit precise!

Some Blog Posts Of Note

Here's a really good post on the protests yesterday in Hollywood against Scientology.

Ex-Gay Watch has a good post on a new book from fundamentalist (calling them evangelical is a bit iffy if we are going to hardcore Muslims "fundamentalist") Anglicans. These are the people who want Archbishop Williams sacked. They mustn't succeed.

Oranges And A Sour Apple

I hate to say this. It makes me feel very arrogant, and I don't like arrogance. But I often experience feelings of superiority here at work. I don't like these feelings, but the customers and a lot of the staff here seem determined to make me feel arrogantly intelligent. "What is Windows Vista?" was a question I was asked 2 times today by colleagues. Today I sent out 6 (different!) meeting requests through Outlook with the date clearly marked and obviously a note saved in the recipients calendar. 4 recipients asked me what date and time their meeting was for. 3 of those recepients are people who I regard as intelligent, sensible beings. Why on Earth would you ask this question when the answer is readily available without needing to bother another? It does not make sense.

I am starting to slowly be driven mad by the illogical questions I am asked. "What toner fits this machine?" is my current favourite... why would you bother someone else to ask this when you have the internet in front of you? And these aren't customers asking this question... I give them the benefit of the doubt. These are people in the same room as me. I know I never asked these kind of questions even when I first started here (and I got no training unlike these mummy coodled types!!!)... I found the answers out myself. I just can't understand people who don't do that themselves. :( I don't consider myself amazingly intelligent, I'm a university drop out for Christs sake. But just like at TVW I feel like a frigging genius when I'm at work.

In other news... Thursday evening Jim and I embarked upon a dietary experiment. We were to live on nothing but oranges for as long as we could as part of an "orange detox". Now I'd say we failed at this experiment, having given it up yesterday evening. But that is still three full days of just eating oranges. Which is actually quite impressive in my opinion. Trust me yesterday was the best day of the year when finally we began our cave in and ordered pizza. I almost kissed the pizza delivery guy but he was wearing a motorbike helmet.

However we have promised to be good from now on... just eating a range of foods rather than just one particular kind *shudder*. I don't think I will be able to eat another orange for quite some time.

And finally... I love this article. I think it might be a real fun experiment if I were to live my life for a week making all my decisions based on equations. What do you think?

Roy Scheider Dies At 75

I was very sad to hear that Roy Scheider has died. Jaws and Jaws 2 are in my top twenty favourite movies of all time, with Jaws somewhere in the ever changing top three. Roy Scheider MADE those movies. Without him they would have been soulless pap.

Not only that but he also starred in one of my favourite series back when I was small... Seaquest DSV.



He shall be missed!

AC/DC Who Made Who (Maximum Overdrive Version)

I love the song, and I love that movie.

Heart-Shaped Box

After a week of reading three pages of Heart-Shaped Box and then not being able to go on out of fear, I took the plunge this morning and read the thing all the way through.

I'm glad I did. It's Joe Hill's first novel and he certainly seems to have picked up some of his fathers (Stephen King, you know, that guy I think is one of the greatest writers alive) genius.

The story is quite well paced, terrifying and moving. And the ending is my kind of ending!! Highly recommended.

Religion: You Couldn't Make It Up

Should the Archbishop of Canterbury resign? No. The people calling for his resignation seek only to replace him with someone less tolerant and more fundamentalist than he is. That can only be a bad thing. Until the Anglican Church is disestablished we all have a reason to ensure we have the most liberal Archbishop of Canterbury possible.

He has the right to speak freely, even if his opinions are silly.

Tomorrow there will be protests around the world outside of Scientologist establishments. I'll be watching these with interest to see how they turn out. Whilst I sympathise with critics of Scientology, I can't help thinking they are missing the bigger picture. Believing in Thetans, Xenu and hating psychiatrists is not much ich are and will continue to be abused to further goals set outside of the normal Govdifferent to believing in a soul, Satan and hating homosexuals (etc., etc). Everyone has a right to these beliefs, no matter how weird some find them and I hope the protesters remember that it's the Church of Scientology that needs destroying and not the Scientologists themselves.



CCTV cameras, phone tapping, bugging of elected representatives etc. are not signs that Britain is on it's way to being a police state. They are the foundation stones of future problems laid down in good faith (if idiotically) by the current Government whernmental processes (such as by individual police officers). One day this will come back to bite us all in the arse when they are used for even more nefarious purposes.

It's Still One Law For All!!!

As readers may know, I dislike the concept of a two tier law system. I'm also not the worlds biggest fan of the religious interfering in our legal institutions.

So I find the Archbishops of Canterburys suggestion of Islamic law being allowed as an alternative to English and Welsh civil law (and I'm assuming also Scottish and Northern Irish civil law, why stop in one legal system!) to be quite offensive.

Dr Rowan Williams said the UK had to "face up to the fact" some citizens do not relate to the British legal system.

Then they should elect some representatives to Parliament to make laws they can relate to.

He said adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law could help social cohesion.

For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.

Well what if only one party wanted that and the other was "forced" by their family to go that route against their wishes? No... better we have one legal system for everyone (except special institutions such as the armed forces for obvious reasons) rather than a "choice" which might allow some to use their preferred legal system to their advantage over vulnerable counter claimants.

One law for all, no matter their religion, race or creed. If Sharia law gets it's own system then why on Earth shouldn't homosexuals be able to have their own system? Where would it end??

The Shell Game - Steve Alten

The Shell Game is a new book by Steve Alten, author of one of my favourite novels; Meg, He seems to be having a hard time of it of late... I'll leave it to him to explain:

Over the last 30 days I have been threatened. My name and address have been put on bloggs. Photos of my home, my private phone numbers, even personal e-mails have been made public! Phone calls at 4 AM! All because a faction of very nasty people fear what could happen if The SHELL GAME succeeds.

THE SHELL GAME is the most important book I will ever write. It gave me trepidation and nightmares over two and a half years of writing and research. It accelerated my Parkinsons. To get it published, I had to abandon the big publishing houses, and, in doing so, have risked my career. The novel deals with the next 9/11 a false flag event designed to create another rush to war - this time in Iran. Should the book be a big best seller, it will scare quite a few people in Washington. It should scare YOU! At the same time, everyone needs to read it.

So I'm more than happy to offer him a little support here on my humble piece of the net.

P.S. I apologise for the auto play video. I promise it'll be just this one time, these things annoy me just as much as they do you.

Jim Says...

Go to Google. Type in "Find Chuck Norris". Click "I'm Feeling Lucky". Laugh.



If that guy doesn't just scream sex at you then you are a better person than I am.

Come On Hillary!

Why write a blog post when I could just link to an already written one! Much easier.

Hillary also has set out her LGBT politics. Not perfect but with Kucinich out of the race what can you do?

Phags For Phelps

I was listening to a very interesting Feast of Fools episode the other day all about the Westboro Baptist Church, the group behind God Hates Fags. Basically the reason for the show was the website created by Josh Kilmer-Purcell entitled Phags For Phelps.

He has formed a pen pal relationship with Shirley Phelps-Roper (default spokesperson for the church now that her father is so aged), who appeared on the show with him. She came across as a very intelligent, rather witty individual and she offered a very interesting perspective on how the church began it's picketing activities.

Josh set up his site after writing an article, in which he called for a group to support the Phelps campaign on the bizarre, but fairly spot on, assertion that they are helping gay rights by exposing both the craziness of their own position and the hypocrisy of other homophobes who give lip service to separate but equal laws.

I also appreciated Phelps-Roper's attitude towards public prayer (I have always wondered if I had read the scriptures wrongly, but no... I was right in remembering public prayer was very much frowned upon) and her attitude towards the hypocrites that seem to find a home in Christianity.

All this is very good but I cannot agree with his idea of offering tongue in cheek "support" for these crazy peoples beliefs. I believe in religious freedom. If you want to believe in the story of Xenu, the concept of the Garden of Eden being in Jackson County, Missouri or homosexuality as one of the greatest evils known to man, I'm not going to care.

However if you cause harm to others by following through on these beliefs than I believe you have crossed a very fine line into the territory of totalitarianism. It is quite clear that the Westboro Baptist Church have crossed that line. It's not the fact that they protest at funerals that is wrong, I believe in the right to protest, it is the fact that laws had to be passed in various states just to keep them at a reasonable distance from bereaved people, something any decent person would have done without the need of any legislation. It is almost inhuman for them to think they have the right to involve themselves in the personal lives of others in such a private place as a church or cemetery. It is an act of violence against those peaceable people paying respect to their lost loved ones. It is unacceptable and I find any hint of support for them to be disgusting.

It's made worse by making this support more tongue in cheek than actual, just for the laughs as it were, and in so doing they are almost trying to make light of a worrying cult whose activities are disturbing, disgusting and unacceptable in a civilised society.

By all means have a dialogue with them, learn about them, but don't treat them like loveable crazy people. That demeans them and their victims. They should be opposed with reasoned debate and peaceful action in order to ensure their group is never any more than an oddity.

Check out Louis Theroux's (I LOVE LOUIS!) documentary on what he calls America's Most Hated Family for a very intimate, and disturbing, look at this church and it's activities.

Separate But Equal

I sometimes wonder to myself how it came to be that the gays and lesbians of this country could so easily be mollified by Government offers of "marriage-lite". I can't really blame them... the situation was becoming desperate with people losing their homes after their partner died, and facing the awful experience of being denied access to their loved one in hospital. The Government used this desperation to be treated with dignity to push through a compromise that allowed Christian bigots to save face whilst denying gay people full rights.

I pay the same taxes as a straight person so I expect the same fucking rights. Jim wants to get married and I keep having to tell him I would feel like a hypocrite to "marry" him currently. This isn't some feeble excuse... I truly love Jim and nothing would give me greater happiness than to declare my love loud and clear. But I'm not prepared to subjugate my rights to equality just to fulfill my own selfish wants. He also would not want to marry in a foreign country (there go my dreams of a polar bear themed wedding in Canada!).

The media continue to acquiesce in this injustice erroneously referring to Civil Partnerships as "gay weddings" and "gay marriage". Just see this latest article in the Observer.

This is not gay marriage in anyway shape or form. Until homosexual partnerships are recognised under the same law as heterosexual civil marriages then we are but second class citizens in this great country. I believe this to be a lost cause... no one seems to mind it other than me. I have not met a single person who cares. But I shall not allow that to stop me opposing it. However I already feel the force of familial wants and my need to formalise my relationship to Jim for the sake of our future security, one day soon I may find myself without a choice but to take a Civil Partnership.

I pray that somehow the Government will see the error in it's way and bring in gay marriage. If South Africa can bring it in then I think we can too!!

Eurovision 2008 - Belgrade

**This post is a work in progress**



The Official Site: Eurovision
Eurovision News: Esctoday, Oikotimes
Eurovision Blogs:
The Wiki Page: Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Less than 9 years ago the RAF, and our NATO allies, were bombing the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade relentlessly in order to "free" the Albanian people of Kosovo. Now the capital of Serbia is to hold a Eurovision Song Contest for the first time (Zagreb held the Yugoslav contest in 1990). It's amazing how quickly things can change...

Format

This year the voting has been changed dramatically to try to avoid too much "tribal" voting in the semi final stages... See the Wikipedia article here which explains the voting.

Presenters



Jovana Janković



Željko Joksimović

Jae's Favourite Entires

Hottest Totty



Dima Bilan - Russia

Complete Songs and Contestants

Albania "Zemrën lamë peng" - Olta Boka
Andorra "Casanova" - Gisela
Armenia "Qele Qele" - Sirusho
Azerbaijan "Day After Day" - Elnur Hüseynov & Samir Javadzadeh
Belarus "Hasta La Vista" - Ruslan Alekhno
Belgium "O Julissi Na Jalini" - Ishtar
Bosnia and Herzegovina "Pokušaj" - Elvir Laković Laka
Bulgaria "DJ, Take Me Away" - Deep Zone and Balthazar
Croatia "Romanca" - Kraljevi Ulice and 75 cents
Cyprus "Femme Fatale" - Evdokia Kadi
Czech Republic "Have Some Fun" - Tereza Kerndlová
Denmark "All Night Long" - Simon Mathew
Estonia "Leto svet" - Kreisiraadio
Finland "Missä miehet ratsastaa" - Teräsbetoni
France "Divine" - Sébastien Tellier
FYR Macedonia "Vo Ime Na Ljubovta" - Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian Gaxha
Georgia "Peace Will Come" - Diana Gurtskaya
Germany "Disappear" - No Angels
Greece "Secret Combination" - Kalomoira
Hungary "Szívverés" - Csézy
Iceland "This Is My Life" - Eurobandið
Ireland "Irelande Douze Pointe" - Dustin The Turkey
Israel "Ke'ilo kan" - Bo'az Ma'uda
Latvia "Wolves of the Sea" - Pirates of the Sea
Lithuania "Nomads In The Night" - Jeronimas Milius
Malta "Vodka" - Morena
Moldova "A Century of Love" - Geta Burlacu
Montenegro "Zauvijek volim te" - Stefan Filipović
The Netherlands "Your Heart Belongs To Me" - Hind
Norway "Hold On Be Strong" - Maria Haukaas Storeng
Poland "For Life" - Isis Gee
Portugal "Senhora do Mar" - Vânia Fernandes
Romania "Pe-o margine de lume" - Nico & Vlad Miriţă
Russia "Believe" - Dima Bilan
San Marino "Complice" - Miodio
Serbia "Oro" - Jelena Tomašević and Bora Dugić
Slovenia "Vrag naj vzame" - Rebeka Dremelj
Spain "Baila el Chiki-chiki" - Rodolfo Chikilicuatre
Switzerland "Era stupendo" - Paolo Meneguzzi
Sweden "Hero" - Charlotte Perrelli
Turkey "Deli" - Mor ve Ötesi
Ukraine "Shady Lady" - Ani Lorak
United Kingdom "Even If" - Andy Abraham

She's Living A Dream...

Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd was such a disappointment. I saw it last night and was left feeling pretty pissed off after watching the thing. It's just a whole lot of nothing!! I love musicals... but really the songs were pretty shite, and were sung with little joy by the actors. The gorgeous Johnny Depp seemed to be acting by numbers. The gore wasn't gory enough, and the horror was... well not horrific at all. This film had no soul... no comedy, no fear, no real pace.

I finished watching the movie feeling robbed... I'd sat through it thinking the thing would somehow start to get going... but it never did.

What a waste. The set design was at least amazing. I'll give it that.

Now for a song that's been stuck in my head all day...



The Pretender - Foo Fighters. Awesome.

Just A Quickie

Later I'll be giving my review on Sweeney Todd and tomorrow I'll be doing my first in depth post on the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest... but for now I must relate a story that one of the girls at work, Olivia, has just told me...

A friend of her old flatmates was babysitting a dog whilst it's owners were on holiday. Sadly, and quite embarrassingly, the dog died. Thinking, for some bizarre reason, she'd need to take it to the vets she put the dog in a suitcase for transportation. Bizarre but hey... it takes allsorts!

So she lugged this heavy suitcase on to the Tube and just to make her load even worse she had to change trains and carry the suitcase between them. On the way a kind gentlemen offered to help her and casually asked what was in the suitcase. Obviously she wasn't going to admit it's real contents so just said a vague "Oh some books, my laptop etc".

The kindly gentlemen was ahead of her on the escalators and when they reached the top he made a run for it... with her suitcase. She never saw it again...

I have never laughed so hard... firstly that poor girl had to explain to the owners that their dog had not only passed away but that there was no body to show for it... then secondly there's the look on that thiefs face when he opened the suitcase and found the body... he he... too good to keep to one's self.