In Memoriam, Margaret Thatcher - EP

In Memoriam, Margaret Thatcher - EP

I would really like this for Christmas (I have it on order, btw). For Halloween would be good too.  As soon as you like, really. Chop chop.

Meta-blogging

Not Always Right | Funny & Stupid Customer Quotes � Circle Of Strife

Meerkats? Meh..

Of course, myself and a fellow Shakespearean scholar came up with our own Eastenders inspired version: "Simon of Affens"( back in the depths of my past when I was ensconced in all things Stratfordian and, in Ophelia-esque fits of madness, even used to chat to Buzz Goodbody's memorial tree in Theatre Gardens behind the Swan Theatre - its a Silver Birch, I think ... ah, the pretentious bilge I used to spout! I say used to...)

I reckon it'd work. BBC4 commission, please.

Ships that pass in the night...

Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

...or indeed during the day.

I've been amusing myself with this over lunchtime - it is strangely compelling and addictive. Have I any particular need to know where a ship is at any given minute? Not really... but it's interesting... No, really. It is...Wait... Don't go... Oh.

Betrayed by a loved one....

Custard Creams can kill: Official • The Register

Killer biscuits? KILLER biscuits? The world is a terrifying place, I tell you - but biscuits becoming homicidal? I don't like it one little bit...

However, reading further I find that there may be grounds for exonerating the humble biscuit, for indeed it would appear that it isn't the biscuit's fault (what with it being inanimate and totally lacking in volition) No, it is the fault of stupid people....

...seven per cent of Britons have dropped a biscuit tin on their foot, three per cent have fallen off a chair reaching for vital nourishment, and an equal percentage have poked themselves in the eye with a biscuit.

Seven per cent admitted to have been bitten while feeding a tasty biscuit morsel to a pet or “other wild animal”. The most extreme example of biscuit-related mishap, however, was the case of the man who got stuck in wet concrete after wading in to retrieve a stray biccy.

Falling off a chair or poking oneself in the eye? Wading into concrete? These people do not deserve to eat biscuits. They malign the good name of biscuits. They make me fearful of the day when we will see official safety instructions and health warnings printed on the wrappers of biscuits. What other injuries can people sustain eating foodstuffs? Impaled by a baguette? Blinded by a prune? Garotted by a liquorice shoelace? I am fearful for the future of humanity, truly.

(I think I may have to have a cup of tea and ginger nut, I'm so upset. I'll eat it carefully, though, don't worry...)

Strange Meeting

"It seemed that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined..."

(My apologies to Wilfred Owen)

Today, my boss and the chair of the board will be meeting with some faceless civil servant in a vain attempt to reverse a decision regarding the ending of funding of my project. I'm not going to be at the meeting, instead I've been looking at statistical evidence to justify the continuing need for my work and will be briefing the high heid yins before they jolly off to Victoria Quay. (The statistical evidence is compelling, incidentally: essentially youth homeless figures in Scotland have remained more or less static for the past 5 years - in spite of an overall drop in the total number of young people, meaning that there is an increase in percentage of young people in Scotland becoming homeless even if the total number has dropped slightly.)

The funny thing is, one of the reasons I took this job was that I had been assured at least 3 years funding (there's not a great deal more longer-term than that in the voluntary sector, so three years is a fair whack...) and where I was working previously couldn't really assure me of more than a year. Within three years, you can make lasting changes and actually put project work into action: within one? You can't even get the paste ready to paper over the cracks.

And so, once again I am entrenched, fighting for funding, having been misguided and misdirected by management, having had meaningless promises made - and not being able to completely focus on the real work that might just make a difference because I am having to beg for pennies.

- Spare any change? Because as far as I can tell change is long overdue.