Monthly Archive for October, 2006
On the one hand we are being told that freedom of speech and expression is really important in this country and that muslims are somehow stifling that. And then on the other hand, telling Muslim women that they can’t wear what they want. Isn’t that stifling their right to freedom of speech and expression? It just seems like very confused thinking to me?
Should Jack Straw or any politician actually have any right to tell us what not to wear? Isn’t that Trinny and Susannah’s job?
But If they are intent on banning hijabs and niqabs, could we also have a political debate about banning builders’ butt crack jeans and forcing mingers like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton et al to wear pants?
It’s what it says on the tin. Tony Blair sings “Should I stay or should I go?”
The interviews recorded by Robin Hamman from the BBC at last week’s Manchester Blog Awards 2006 are going to be broadcast tonight on BBC Radio 5 Live (technically it will be Tuesday morning) between 2-3am. Don’t worry about missing it though, through the magic of t’interweb, you’ll be able to listen to it at Pods and Blogs.
Robin recorded the entire awards ceremony, which featured readings from The 43, who went on to win Blog of the Year, and The Airport Exile. He also managed to spend a few minutes speaking to the winner of the Personal Blog category, A Free Man in Preston, Kate “Manchizzle” Feld who organised the event, Craig McGinty and a handful of others.
Keris just posted an article about scary music on her blog, I think the following video probably qualifies. I have no idea what he’s singing about though.
Is it actually possible to buy a broadsheet newspaper these days like The Guardian or The Independent without getting a sodding free wallchart with it? I’m running out of walls to put the damn things up on and given their ever increasing number, I’ll probably need a wallchart of wallcharts to keep track of them all soon. GAH!
This reminds me of a joke. This guy, he comes into a bar, walks up to the Bartender and says, “Bartender, I got me a bet for you. I’m gonna bet you three hundred dollars that I can piss into that glass over there and not spill a single solitary drop.” The Bartender says.. Now one more time this glass is like a good ten feet away.. he says, “Now wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You’re trying to tell me you’re gonna bet me three hundred dollars that you can piss standing over here way over there, into that glass, and not spill a single drop?” The guy looks up smiling and says, “That’s right.” The Bartender says, “Young man you got a bet!” The guy says, “O.K. here we go, here we go.” He pulls out his thing. He’s looking at the glass, man he’s thinking about the glass, he’s thinking about the glass, he thinks glass, he’s thinking of the glass, think glass, thinking about his dick. D*ck, glass. D*ck, glass. D*ck, glass. Be the glass. D*ck, glass. D*ck, glass. D*ck, glass. And then woosh! He let’s it rip! And he’s… he’s pissin all over the place, man! He’s pissin on the bar… he’s pissin on the stools, on the floor, on the phone.. on the Bartender.. He’s pissing Everywhere EXCEPT the f*cking glass!! Right. Ok, so, Bartender, He’s laughing his f*cking ass off, he’s three hundred dollars richer. He’s like, “Ha Ha Ha.” Piss dripping off his face. “Ha Ha Ha Ha” He says, “You f*ckin’ idiot, man. You pissed everywhere except the glass!! You owe me three hundred dollars punta.” And he goes, “Excuse me, just one, one second.” Goes in the back of the bar, and in the back there’s a couple of guys playing pool. He walks over to them… (whispers) Comes back to the bar and goes, “Here you go Mr. Bartender, three.” And the Bartender’s like, “What the f*ck are you so happy about, you just lost three hundred dollars you idiot?!” The guy says, “Well, you see those guys over there. I just bet them five hundred dollars a PIECE, that I could piss on your bar, piss on your floor, piss on your phone, and piss on YOU, and not only would you be not mad about it.. you’d be happy…” (Laughs) That’s some funny sh*t huh! (Laughs) You’d be happy! [Pick-up Guy (played by Quentin Tarantino) in the film Desperado]
So I went down to Urbis for the Manchester Blog Awards. Sadly, there was no red carpet nor any chauffer driven limos outside although there were a few skateboarders and goths loitering with intent to… skateboard and use heavy black eyeliner. I arrived at about half past seven which was just in time to hear some poetry readings, part of the Manchester Literary festival. Oh Joy! One poem contained a line about being covered in shit and another about yanking out tampons which was very deep and meaningful, probably. Another poem was about a cat, I think. The cat, in question, may or may not have been a symbol for the futility of human existance or something. Mind you, I write about crap on the telly so what do I know.
There was a good sized audience including quite a few bloggers; Spinneyhead, Bitter and Blue, Skipper, Mancubist, Craig McGinty, Robin Hamman, Kitchentable, The Art of Fiction, The Tart of Fiction and, of course, the bloggers who had been nominated.
Anyway, the Blog Awards started out with 43 and The Airport Diaries reading selections from their blogs which were rather good. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? On the bus or surrounded by people that look like Anthony Hopkins. In the future, everybody will ride the bus for fifteen minutes whilst being Anthony Hopkins.
And the winners were announced:
- 43 (Blog of the Year)
- A Free Man in Preston (Best Personal Blog)
- Normblog (Best Political Blog)
- Yer Mam! (Best Arts and Culture Blog)
Yer Mam! gave what was probably the best acceptance speech of all time, “Uhm, cheers”. Gwyneth Paltrow take note.
I’ve lived in Levenshulme for ages and hadn’t realised there was an Art Gallery just round the corner. It’s called Bankley Studios’ Gallery just off Chapel Street. They’re presenting selected work by studio members this week (14th to 22nd October) to celebrate their tenth anniversary. It’s worth a visit. More details here. The photo below is one of the pieces I liked, Morph contemplates the futility of human existence! Of course, it probably wasn’t called that but it should have been.
