A quick trip
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Health warning The following has been brought to you by a person who has touched peanuts and eaten Pad Thai food within the last 24 hours. Ed also exceeded the speed limit in 2002, emits environmentally unfriendly methane and has contributed to landfill. You have been warned.
I was sent a great video of a German approach to carpentry. The ultimate "How to". Don't try this at home without a helmet.
The cell phone is the way ahead and I took a look at three mobile angles that you may or may not be familiar with. I expect in a few years time we will look back and think, "Did we pay that much to use the internet from our cells?" rather like we laugh at the cell phones of the 80's, but hey, we have to start somewhere.
Dog the bounty hunter is one of my favorite characters on TV and I had a little delve into his website and story. Don't jump bail in Hawaii, boys and girls, he WILL catch you.
I was sent a great video of a German approach to carpentry. The ultimate "How to". Don't try this at home without a helmet.
The cell phone is the way ahead and I took a look at three mobile angles that you may or may not be familiar with. I expect in a few years time we will look back and think, "Did we pay that much to use the internet from our cells?" rather like we laugh at the cell phones of the 80's, but hey, we have to start somewhere.
Dog the bounty hunter is one of my favorite characters on TV and I had a little delve into his website and story. Don't jump bail in Hawaii, boys and girls, he WILL catch you.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
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Pisstakers hit Youtube
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Pictures are worth a thousand words - and there are words too, dedicated to MyBlogLog Sunday 30 and all who are involved with her. Enjoy, and let your peeps know about the hottest (only?) weekly feature related to the MyBlogLog community.
Share, blog, embed, Digg, Stumble, fall over yourselves to spread the word...
Many thanks guys.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
China Industrial revolution is a riot
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
There are reports of tens of thousands of riots every year in China. It is easy to jump on the bandwagon and decry the social system there, saying it is full of injustices peculiar to commie regimes, and it is terrible that rioting discontented citizens are shipped off to jail for expressing their unhappiness, blah, blah blah... I recall my English Industrial revolution history lessons (Luddites, deportation to Australia, mob rule) and perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to judge.
The Chinese are in the early stages of an Industrial Revolution, and with over 1 billion participants, it is no wonder there are such violent rifts in a huge society in flux. Uneven progress, disproportionate distribution of wealth yadda yadda are part of a fairly common pattern in the history of industrial revolution. Admittedly, the behavior of the authorities isn't acceptable from our cotton wool-wrapped perspective, but the only difference between the English and the Chinese experience is timing. This time, it is repeating before our very eyes in 2007 in glorious technicolor. Nasty, isn't it!
In 2005, the Peking Duck reported a riot in their local town, where people revolted against corrupt officials and the practices of a pharmaceutical plant. It is like a repeat performance of English farmers burning down looms. Just no cameras to capture the moment.
A report from The India Daily, a paper writing out of a country that never has riots, relates,
Again, a similar story, different time - women protesting about nuclear pollution in rural England in the 1980's had quite a bad time of it too. As did coal miners....Funny how we can move past periodic violent undemocratic behavior in the West, but somehow, unpleasant behavior elsewhere is really really bad and no good comes of it whatsoever!
The last time I looked, civil unrest is part and parcel of revolution. On the plus side, though, apart from rioting, positive progress is happening in China. 300 million fairly well off people now. Not bad. I have no idea if or when China will become tinsel town, but, if trade brings empowerment, the average Chinese worker will be better off, eventually.
Anyway, nothing is simple. We who buy trainers and cheap furniture are part of the process that drives people who work for pennies to rebel. And you can bet your bottom dollar that foreign CEOs turn a blind eye when rioting workers get a good hiding for revolting undemocratically against rich paymaster companies and powerful officials.
Industrial Revolution on TV
The Chinese are in the early stages of an Industrial Revolution, and with over 1 billion participants, it is no wonder there are such violent rifts in a huge society in flux. Uneven progress, disproportionate distribution of wealth yadda yadda are part of a fairly common pattern in the history of industrial revolution. Admittedly, the behavior of the authorities isn't acceptable from our cotton wool-wrapped perspective, but the only difference between the English and the Chinese experience is timing. This time, it is repeating before our very eyes in 2007 in glorious technicolor. Nasty, isn't it!
History repeats
In 2005, the Peking Duck reported a riot in their local town, where people revolted against corrupt officials and the practices of a pharmaceutical plant. It is like a repeat performance of English farmers burning down looms. Just no cameras to capture the moment.
A report from The India Daily, a paper writing out of a country that never has riots, relates,
Tens of thousands of villagers in China’s Zhejiang province rioted against police and security forces April 10, leaving some 50 police officers hospitalized, according to April 11th reports. The clash started after police tried to dislodge 200 elderly women from a camp they had established to protest pollution at an industrial site in Huankantou village, Dongyang city.
Again, a similar story, different time - women protesting about nuclear pollution in rural England in the 1980's had quite a bad time of it too. As did coal miners....Funny how we can move past periodic violent undemocratic behavior in the West, but somehow, unpleasant behavior elsewhere is really really bad and no good comes of it whatsoever!
Overall
The last time I looked, civil unrest is part and parcel of revolution. On the plus side, though, apart from rioting, positive progress is happening in China. 300 million fairly well off people now. Not bad. I have no idea if or when China will become tinsel town, but, if trade brings empowerment, the average Chinese worker will be better off, eventually.
Anyway, nothing is simple. We who buy trainers and cheap furniture are part of the process that drives people who work for pennies to rebel. And you can bet your bottom dollar that foreign CEOs turn a blind eye when rioting workers get a good hiding for revolting undemocratically against rich paymaster companies and powerful officials.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
MyBlogLog Sunday 30
Filed in: MBL sunday
OK - MyBlogLog Sunday is over for another day. I will be stumbling and admin-ing later because partying ghosties and ghoulies are taking over the house for a few hours!
As you may have gathered, this episode of MyBlogLog Sunday is also being video-ed by Breaking News. A round of applause to the team and a rocket up the featured bloggers to spread the word!
On Wednesday, the video will be available from Breaking News / and for embedding in your blog, hint, hint.
On Wednesday, the video will be available from Breaking News / and for embedding in your blog, hint, hint.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Hospital hiccup and collapsing sea horses
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
I was talking to a lady with a broken leg in plaster who related a queer tale.
She was going to be taken to hospital by ambulance for a check-up. When they arrived to pick her up she was told, "Sorry, you can't bring your Zimmer frame, it is a Health and Safety hazard." No joke!
Another lady was telling me how she went with a bunch of friends to the beach to ride their horses. She said she felt a bit dizzy after riding through the waves for an hour and had to hold on tight as she lost her balance and nearly fell out her saddle. (It seems that the mix of horizon and breakers and bouncing up and down does that to you.)
It never occurred to her that a horse might get giddy too, but the next thing, she sees a friend's Clydesdale stop in its tracks before toppling sideways into the sea. At 18 hands and over a ton, it made quite a splash and quite an impression on the sand and the riders.
She was going to be taken to hospital by ambulance for a check-up. When they arrived to pick her up she was told, "Sorry, you can't bring your Zimmer frame, it is a Health and Safety hazard." No joke!
Sea horse
Another lady was telling me how she went with a bunch of friends to the beach to ride their horses. She said she felt a bit dizzy after riding through the waves for an hour and had to hold on tight as she lost her balance and nearly fell out her saddle. (It seems that the mix of horizon and breakers and bouncing up and down does that to you.)
It never occurred to her that a horse might get giddy too, but the next thing, she sees a friend's Clydesdale stop in its tracks before toppling sideways into the sea. At 18 hands and over a ton, it made quite a splash and quite an impression on the sand and the riders.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
MyBlogLog Sunday week 30
Filed in: MBL sunday
Look out for the finished vid later in the week and enjoy the moment (BN cameras are heading for pastures new to study other blogs, so this will be the last movie action here for some time.)
As usual, the 10 bloggers in the screenshot will get a mini review, a juicy PR5 backlink, plus a link to your MyBlogLog community... and for grins, I will stumble any posts from bloggers who leave a link to their own favorite post of the week.
MyBlogLog Sunday info links
All hot mini reviews on MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Be back later. And this is last week's review from Breaking News.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Sleepy Saturday slug
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
(If it makes you feel any better, the red eye flight back to the East coast totally wiped me out and I was practically punch drunk by the time MyBlogLog Sunday came around! The only advantage about flying into Newark at 6 am is that the controllers are still half asleep and haven't had a chance to create air traffic issues yet, so you do arrive on time.)
This Saturday, there is nothing quite so glamorous and jet-setty to occupy me and Mrs Ed. I am dodging torrential rain running to and from the wood pile feeding the fire, and Mrs Ed is curled up on the couch with a runny nose watching TV and surfing the internet. Domestic bliss takes some beating.
MBL Sunday and videos
You may have heard about the MBL Sunday 29 video broadcast carried out by the Breaking News team. It is a videographic study of the 10 mini reviews I did last Sunday.
Ideally, if you are one of the featured bloggers, it would be cool if you could embed the video on your own blog, (there is a sample on Blogumps video and part 1 and 2 are on Revver as well ) or write a post and link like mad to anything relevant that moves. Digg it, Stumble it, pack it up and post it to grandma, do whatever it takes to let the outside world catch a glimpse of your moments of glory. Yay, network, people, it is the lifeblood of blogging!!!!!
MyBlogLog Sunday 30
It would take a small book to outline the humungus efforts expended first by the the Breaking News team ,and then by the video hosters at Blogdumps Video. I thought the heat was off for a while, but it seems there will be a video finale this week! A more modest and focussed MyBlogLog Sunday 30 video is on the way.
Circle the wagons, set the alarms and make sure you either try to take part by calling by Sunday between 10 and 11am, or call by for a look at the results later in the week.
After that, who knows, a cameraman may come knocking on your blog door. Such is the price of fame!
Enjoy the weekend. Only a few more more till Christmas, freezing weather and flu' grip the nation.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Get revenge on your ex
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
In the humor/entertainment section of Affiliate Scout, I couldn't help but notice Get Revenge On Your Ex.
Let's just say, if you have a grudge against an ex but lack imagination, you are in luck, and if your ex holds a grudge against you, you better sit down and study this site hard!
To get you in the swing of what may become an intrinsic part of your dysfunctional life, they offer 4 quickies.
Send An Anonymous SMS Text Message
Put Their Photograph On The Internet
Send Them A Recorded Message In The Post
Send Your Ex An Email "From" Someone Else
I admit I have had a lot of fun looking through the "menu", but to think people actually employ these services is all a bit disturbing. Of course I speak as someone who has only been married a year, so I am still in la-la land. Hopefully, the conditions that might motivate me to go down this route are still a long way in the future, but your mileage may vary!
Out of interest, would you consider these packages suitable for Christmas presents?!!
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Breaking News video of MyBlogLog Sunday 29 - an epic
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
According to the Breaking News story, I took my first tentative step into the world of MyBlogLog Sunday, back in March, on the 19th to be precise. 290 mini-reviews later, movie man, OS9user, investigates the nitty gritty details behind the whole sorry show with a video broadcast / video essay of MBL Sunday 29.
Before you see it, here is a little background to the vid from the Breaking news perspective. And from my point of view, when the video review idea was first floated, I admit I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of being captured on film. Then I shat myself thinking I would have to appear live. (I have a voice fit for print, and a face that looks great from the back, peering into a trash can.) Needless to say, I am soooo thankful that it was the blog under the spotlight, not me.
After working through the night, liaising with a raft of advisors, the News room finally uploaded the finished movie review this afternoon, in two 50-something-MB chunks,
parts 1 and 2.
They are high resolution videos suitable for download to your desktop, but too big for me to embed on this blog in their full glory. Luckily, a real star in the video hosting world, BlogDumps Video, was prepared to go out on a limb and this is a sample of the whole embedded video coming this way veeeerrrrry shortly.
After following the production battles at the Breaking News film department, I am glad I gave video-making a wide berth at birth. Judging by the emails, the work required to produce this epic video dwarfs the totality of time and effort invested by me in MyBlogLog Sunday 1 through 29. Very intense.
Initially the hardest thing was to keep visitors with coughs out the recording studio. And then it was coping with door slammers. I believe that what you see here is take number 57.
Apparently they needed 50GB of Hard Drive space to produce the raw video, which came in at a mere 18GB! Having re-configured his computer to cope with the memory requirements, he then melted his processor in 2-hour bursts, trying to compress the 18 gigs into a file under 100MB. It has been a recurring technological nightmare for OS9user, but the end result is a testament to OS9User's patience and Intel's processors and the resolution is really sharp. Would it be as hard on a Mac, I wonder, tritely?
If you find yourself in a hosting pickle, unable to easily share a high resolution video with the world, there are a few options to embed those videos in a slightly lower quality to the original.
Youtube (or Google's love child) have a 100MB or 10 minutes limit on video uploads. Unfortunately, the 36-minute 2-parter was not welcome there.
My personal favorite in terms of classy video presentation are Revver who also have a 100MB file limit, but no time restrictions. And they have a revenue sharing deal too, albeit a matter of pennies per year! Unfortunately their delivery is a bit staccato..
Without doubt, BlogDumps Video.are the pick of the bunch. In response to the hard work of the Breaking News team, the latest Youtube-Google killers, and friends of the Pisstakers, have kindly reconfigured their site and before too long they will host the whole 122MB file in one shot. Proof indeed that they can do all that Youtube can, and then some. Cheers to the Wolf.
If nothing else, the video proves definitively that at least one real person has taken the time to check out my site in infinite detail. Joking aside, I am chuffed to hear the MyBlogLog Sunday and Pisstakers phenomenon praised up so much. It sounds so much better coming from someone else. The featured blogs had a good rap too. Win, win.
I think the Breaking News team learnt the hard way that shooting a movie is no mean feat, but I thank them for breaking their teeth on MyBlogLog Sunday, and they did it, despite everything thrown at them. Cheers mate.
Hopefully they will build on this experience and carve a niche for their own brand of video review and take the blog world by storm. You heard it here first!
If you have any comments, ideas or tips related to this video, please let OS9user know.
Before you see it, here is a little background to the vid from the Breaking news perspective. And from my point of view, when the video review idea was first floated, I admit I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of being captured on film. Then I shat myself thinking I would have to appear live. (I have a voice fit for print, and a face that looks great from the back, peering into a trash can.) Needless to say, I am soooo thankful that it was the blog under the spotlight, not me.
Without further ado
After working through the night, liaising with a raft of advisors, the News room finally uploaded the finished movie review this afternoon, in two 50-something-MB chunks,
parts 1 and 2.
They are high resolution videos suitable for download to your desktop, but too big for me to embed on this blog in their full glory. Luckily, a real star in the video hosting world, BlogDumps Video, was prepared to go out on a limb and this is a sample of the whole embedded video coming this way veeeerrrrry shortly.
A marathon project
After following the production battles at the Breaking News film department, I am glad I gave video-making a wide berth at birth. Judging by the emails, the work required to produce this epic video dwarfs the totality of time and effort invested by me in MyBlogLog Sunday 1 through 29. Very intense.
Initially the hardest thing was to keep visitors with coughs out the recording studio. And then it was coping with door slammers. I believe that what you see here is take number 57.
Apparently they needed 50GB of Hard Drive space to produce the raw video, which came in at a mere 18GB! Having re-configured his computer to cope with the memory requirements, he then melted his processor in 2-hour bursts, trying to compress the 18 gigs into a file under 100MB. It has been a recurring technological nightmare for OS9user, but the end result is a testament to OS9User's patience and Intel's processors and the resolution is really sharp. Would it be as hard on a Mac, I wonder, tritely?
Hosting big vid files
If you find yourself in a hosting pickle, unable to easily share a high resolution video with the world, there are a few options to embed those videos in a slightly lower quality to the original.
Conclusion
If nothing else, the video proves definitively that at least one real person has taken the time to check out my site in infinite detail. Joking aside, I am chuffed to hear the MyBlogLog Sunday and Pisstakers phenomenon praised up so much. It sounds so much better coming from someone else. The featured blogs had a good rap too. Win, win.
I think the Breaking News team learnt the hard way that shooting a movie is no mean feat, but I thank them for breaking their teeth on MyBlogLog Sunday, and they did it, despite everything thrown at them. Cheers mate.
Hopefully they will build on this experience and carve a niche for their own brand of video review and take the blog world by storm. You heard it here first!
If you have any comments, ideas or tips related to this video, please let OS9user know.
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
A few goose observations
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
TV however is far safer. I stepped backwards to get a better look and crowned myself on the side of the porch.
Geese, the ultimate consumer pathfinders?
Settling down to my coffee and toast, I recalled a snippet about how birds navigate - they use landmarks, even roads. My little brainbox kicked into entrepreneur mode and I got to thinking outside the box. Is there a market for GPS geese? Tie a goose off of the car ariel, whisper an address in their ear and let them lead you to your destination. Guaranteed for at least 3 years, and unlike a Garmin product, you can eat it when it breaks. The only downside is, you have to head south every time. But then again, UPS only make right turns and they are quite successful. I wonder.
Goose on the menu
I started to further ponder geese. I wondered what they taste like. I have never had the pleasure of gobbling down a juicy goose breast. Is it similar to a meaty swan, or condor, or...? I jest, I have never eaten any bird beyond a hormonal chicken, turkey or fatty duck, but I bet a Canada goose at the beginning of its journey would be up there with the best in the culinary world. Goose a l'orange, stuffed gander jerky, tender gosling over a bed of fries...
After an hour of goose convoys passing overhead, making an annoyong racket, this whole nature thing is getting a bit old. But I am still peckish and still debating goose food options. Will folks ever tire of Kentucky Fried Goose. Big MacGaggle? There has to be some money there somewhere!
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Global warming our fault? Nah!
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Who here believes AGW (man-made global warming) is a fluffy mix of marketing spin, human stupidity and capitalist greed? I do.
I am no different to the greenies banging on about global warming. I see fires in California and go Ouch; I go Aaah at footage of polar bears sinking without trace; I gulp at scenes of Europe flooding like never before; and I roll up my sleeves during this Indian summer in the US.
However, unlike the spinners, what I see is evidence that Mother Nature is just as unpredictable as ever, and Man is as stupid and greedy and self-absorbed as ever. Only Man would revel in extrapolating his own local pollution capabilities onto a global scale.
Bottom line, the global environment is behaving normally, folks, get over it!
Fire is a fact of life in the forest. It clears out the deadwood and makes for healthy trees. But, after years of human meddling, allowing brushwood to accumulate, surprise, surprise, we see exaggerated forest fires launching from vast twiggy tinderboxes.
Mother Nature isn't biting back, she is just igniting brush that should't be there in such abundance, and is fanning flames as she has done since time immemorial.
And Man is making those fires appear worse than they really are. Standing in the smoke, Arnie does his best to skirt around the fact that forestry and building practice in California have been an utter joke for years. How many times do people have to bounce back before they learn not to encroach into badly managed forest land and stop plonking big homes right in the path of millennia-old natural fires. Sensational, doh!
It is sad to see a big bear drowning in the warming oceans of the Arctic. But man-made global warming is to blame? I think not.
People like to say slushy ice-floes are Man's fault, and "they" (ie manufacturers) tell us to dump CFC fridges for spanky new ones. But how many fridges came anywhere close to that part of the polar world?
If the polar bear death isn't fridge related, what is Man doing to create the sort of localised pollution that can stop heat escaping from the North Pole and melt bears' habitats? Planes may to be blame, but how many fly that way? Sadly for airline share prices, not enough to cause that sort of localised enviro heating, I am sure.
Heat is more likely coming from outside the earth. From Geography 101, only the sun can punch holes in the ozone layer and warm the Arctic earth significantly. Instead of buying green white goods, or hounding governments to ban non-CFC deodorant, go lobby the Solar Gods and tell them to stop those pesky sun spot activities.
The greenies try to say that nature is dumping more rain than ever on Britain, creating flooding like never before. Ergo, the world is getting warmer. Beaux locks.
If the Brits tore up the 5 million homes on flood plains; if the farmers stopped compacting the soil with their tractors, and carparks and roads were ripped out, perhaps the rains would percolate into the soil and we could live happily ever after in the dry. As it is, rain will continue to careen in torrents down high streets that should never be there in the first place, and global warming bull will be alive and well for years to come.
They say 7 of the top 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the last, I don't know, 50 years. Does that sound scary enough?
I say that for political effect, because I heard that 1934 (73 years ago) was way hotter than anything we have experienced in recent years. Just enjoy Indian Summers, I say.
You can't have it both ways in these matters, and there are serious oversights in the global warming story. In terms of oil consumption, for instance, extended summers seem to be good for the environment.
Sunny Octobers mean less demand for heating oil, the terrible localised pollutant of our times. There is less need for Northern old folks to travel South for the winter in gas-guzzling cars and airplanes. There is no need to shop specially for warm clothes.
Warmer temperatures are good for the local environment too because there is less bitching and moaning (fewer sufferers of SAD and pneumonia and achey joints. ) Warmth is good for our peace of mind.
Relax. As usual, life and nature and weather are going on around us and entrepreneurs are looking for ways to leverage new info, develop new trends.
We shouldn't consume for the sake of it, and should make every effort not to shit on our own doorsteps, so to speak, polluting our air, and waterways and surroundings. But at the end of the day, the global weather that we have to deal with comes from the sun, and the last time I looked, none of us have much control over that.
The doomy gloomy brigade will say that the damage is already done because warming oceans, a huge heat sink covering 70% of the earth's surface, aren't cooling any time soon. They say warm sea-related weather will wreak havoc world-wide. Really??!! Not wishing to rock the boat, but where were all the hurricanes this season?
Anyway, I am not a meteorologist, (I look out the window to confirm the weather those guys get wrong), so I will stop blowing poorly informed holes in the global storm escalation theory.
Time to go save the environment and buy a trendy green house, car and clothing made from recycled materials that gave off more green house gases than is wise to mention.
I am no different to the greenies banging on about global warming. I see fires in California and go Ouch; I go Aaah at footage of polar bears sinking without trace; I gulp at scenes of Europe flooding like never before; and I roll up my sleeves during this Indian summer in the US.
However, unlike the spinners, what I see is evidence that Mother Nature is just as unpredictable as ever, and Man is as stupid and greedy and self-absorbed as ever. Only Man would revel in extrapolating his own local pollution capabilities onto a global scale.
Bottom line, the global environment is behaving normally, folks, get over it!
Forest fires
Fire is a fact of life in the forest. It clears out the deadwood and makes for healthy trees. But, after years of human meddling, allowing brushwood to accumulate, surprise, surprise, we see exaggerated forest fires launching from vast twiggy tinderboxes.
Mother Nature isn't biting back, she is just igniting brush that should't be there in such abundance, and is fanning flames as she has done since time immemorial.
And Man is making those fires appear worse than they really are. Standing in the smoke, Arnie does his best to skirt around the fact that forestry and building practice in California have been an utter joke for years. How many times do people have to bounce back before they learn not to encroach into badly managed forest land and stop plonking big homes right in the path of millennia-old natural fires. Sensational, doh!
Polar bears
It is sad to see a big bear drowning in the warming oceans of the Arctic. But man-made global warming is to blame? I think not.
People like to say slushy ice-floes are Man's fault, and "they" (ie manufacturers) tell us to dump CFC fridges for spanky new ones. But how many fridges came anywhere close to that part of the polar world?
If the polar bear death isn't fridge related, what is Man doing to create the sort of localised pollution that can stop heat escaping from the North Pole and melt bears' habitats? Planes may to be blame, but how many fly that way? Sadly for airline share prices, not enough to cause that sort of localised enviro heating, I am sure.
Heat is more likely coming from outside the earth. From Geography 101, only the sun can punch holes in the ozone layer and warm the Arctic earth significantly. Instead of buying green white goods, or hounding governments to ban non-CFC deodorant, go lobby the Solar Gods and tell them to stop those pesky sun spot activities.
Flooding
The greenies try to say that nature is dumping more rain than ever on Britain, creating flooding like never before. Ergo, the world is getting warmer. Beaux locks.
If the Brits tore up the 5 million homes on flood plains; if the farmers stopped compacting the soil with their tractors, and carparks and roads were ripped out, perhaps the rains would percolate into the soil and we could live happily ever after in the dry. As it is, rain will continue to careen in torrents down high streets that should never be there in the first place, and global warming bull will be alive and well for years to come.
Indian summers
They say 7 of the top 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the last, I don't know, 50 years. Does that sound scary enough?
I say that for political effect, because I heard that 1934 (73 years ago) was way hotter than anything we have experienced in recent years. Just enjoy Indian Summers, I say.
Gaping holes in AGW
You can't have it both ways in these matters, and there are serious oversights in the global warming story. In terms of oil consumption, for instance, extended summers seem to be good for the environment.
Sunny Octobers mean less demand for heating oil, the terrible localised pollutant of our times. There is less need for Northern old folks to travel South for the winter in gas-guzzling cars and airplanes. There is no need to shop specially for warm clothes.
Warmer temperatures are good for the local environment too because there is less bitching and moaning (fewer sufferers of SAD and pneumonia and achey joints. ) Warmth is good for our peace of mind.
Conclusion
Relax. As usual, life and nature and weather are going on around us and entrepreneurs are looking for ways to leverage new info, develop new trends.
We shouldn't consume for the sake of it, and should make every effort not to shit on our own doorsteps, so to speak, polluting our air, and waterways and surroundings. But at the end of the day, the global weather that we have to deal with comes from the sun, and the last time I looked, none of us have much control over that.
The doomy gloomy brigade will say that the damage is already done because warming oceans, a huge heat sink covering 70% of the earth's surface, aren't cooling any time soon. They say warm sea-related weather will wreak havoc world-wide. Really??!! Not wishing to rock the boat, but where were all the hurricanes this season?
Anyway, I am not a meteorologist, (I look out the window to confirm the weather those guys get wrong), so I will stop blowing poorly informed holes in the global storm escalation theory.
Time to go save the environment and buy a trendy green house, car and clothing made from recycled materials that gave off more green house gases than is wise to mention.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Pisstaker news
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
The video version of MyBlogLog Sunday 29 is on its way. It is an epic movie, and its production has spawned a story of blood, sweat and success. All the good stuff will be revealed here exclusively, some time soon.
Today I pit Technorati against Swicki. Not a fair fight? Let the world decide.
Blog Rush got it in the neck from moneymaker bloggers, saying it was crap. The BR boys have responded to the BS with a version 2 in the works. It is promoted as the answer to all blog traffic generating problems.
To celebrate the technical wizardry that lies in the pipeline, I changed the livery of my squished up cut-off Blog Rush sidebar widget. Soon I will be able to resize the widget to fit too. Schweet.
The Breaking News video broadcast version of MyBlogLog Sunday is in the pipeline too. It seems a little blocked right now, but like Mr Invincible, it should suddenly pop through the tubes without a hitch, later this week.
I had an urgent shout from a housemate saying some people had called by and needed to speak to me urgently. I rushed down to deal with them, thinking it was important, only to be faced by two jovial Jehovah's Witnesses.
Luckily, Mrs Ed was going to work, so I told them I had plenty of hope for the future but had to ask them to leave. They looked a bit disappointed, but smiled and left when I said my wife would spoil everything and kill me if I didn't help her get ready.
I am probably spiritually dead, but needless to say, my housemate will be physically dead, if she pulls that stunt again!
Blog Rush got it in the neck from moneymaker bloggers, saying it was crap. The BR boys have responded to the BS with a version 2 in the works. It is promoted as the answer to all blog traffic generating problems.
To celebrate the technical wizardry that lies in the pipeline, I changed the livery of my squished up cut-off Blog Rush sidebar widget. Soon I will be able to resize the widget to fit too. Schweet.
Luckily, Mrs Ed was going to work, so I told them I had plenty of hope for the future but had to ask them to leave. They looked a bit disappointed, but smiled and left when I said my wife would spoil everything and kill me if I didn't help her get ready.
I am probably spiritually dead, but needless to say, my housemate will be physically dead, if she pulls that stunt again!
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
First CNN, now the WSJ?
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Hey ho, I mentioned that an article I wrote on Chinese housewives coming to America was picked up by CNN. Well, the next thing I see is a bunch of links from the Wall Street Journal online.
I am as
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
MyBlogLog Sunday 29
Filed in: MBL sunday
Special soon-to-be-broadcast version!
2 Dolphins stick 2 fingers to SUVs and safety, two terms that don't mix. Logically, bigger is better, but not when bigger means taller and easier to flip. For off-roading, I prefer a mountain bike, but I'm weird.
53% bumblebee, 47% bookworm, 100% blogger, Nessa generates a lot of buzz on her site, mumbling about multifarious daily thots. (Maybe alter the stats a little to allow for 2% bad speller?)
Debbie continues to brighten up the world with info on New England lighthouses. Ironically, I missed the NJ challenge, because I went West this weekend looking at boats. If we move, we'll need her sister blog.
Save Our Forest packs a big punch blogging about global climate change. It isn't all doom 'n gloom, however. If Australia dries up, their cricket team will emigrate and sign up for England. Fair result.
Compliments are flying aplenty at Larry's site. Talking of flying, he recently returned from Europe and relates how his stomach turned to spaghetti with someone else behind the wheel of a sporty Italian number.
Steamy Marvalus One opines on a variety of random topics close to her big heart. Sounds like she has a writing addiction, but is on the mend, down to 3 blogs! She must have had a reinforced keyboard.
With a death on the cards for adventuring Lord Likely, it is time for a lighter look at life through the goggle eyes of Andy Fanton's blockbuster Carotty Kid. Eat your greens, folks, they're good for your humor.
If you can write, why not write something before midnight for the John C believes in Me contest. You may win yourself a gift in a plain brown wrapper. The mind boggles, but it will be worth it.
Primarily a successful blog directory, Blog Dumps is taking on Youtube with its pimped out BlogDumps Video service. The first MBL Sunday Video broadcast will therefore break all the rules & premier on 2 sites.
OK - MyBlogLog Sunday is over for another day.
OK - MyBlogLog Sunday is over for another day.
As you may have gathered, this episode of MyBlogLog Sunday is being video-ed by Breaking News, no expense and no featured bloggers spared. If you had a mini review, mention your appearance here ASAP and your coverage in the video will increase significantly.
On Wednesday, technology permitting, the video will be available, (all rights completely disregarded), on Youtube and BlogDumps Video and anyone else who will have us.
On Wednesday, technology permitting, the video will be available, (all rights completely disregarded), on Youtube and BlogDumps Video and anyone else who will have us.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Observations on LA life
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
It has been a while since I visited Californ-i-a and I had a few interesting fruit cake moments this weekend hanging out in south LA county.
For the second time in living memory we went to a MacDonalds and for the first time ever, we heard the words, "Sorry, ma'am, we've run out of soda." Blimey, what is the world coming to? It was almost as surreal as being told they had run out of Big Macs.
On the plus side, we had to drink that stuff called water. You may have heard of it. Apparently it is soda minus the sugar and radiation poisoning. It was quite delicious and I think I will try it again.
Mrs Ed likes her Starbucks and as luck would have it, we found one in Los Angeles. It was in a unique neighborhood where they had wall-to-wall ritzy boutiques and family-owned businesses like Taco Bell, Burger King, Rite Aid and similar cutesy outlets. This Starbucks we found was brand new and had its own little patio seating area looking out onto the main smoggy drag. Very appealing.
We were sat down drinking coffee through a special filter that you put over the top of your cup to prevent lead particles from spoiling the taste. Out of nowhere, a skinny pale faced woman in third-hand clothes ghosted in and sat down across from us. Without a care in the world, she started sipping on her 99 cents coffee from 7-11. Too funny. She was looking around like she owned the place. Maybe she did and was seeing how long before the staff politely asked her to leave?
After watching a few episodes around the place, I reasoned that if I ever need to hustle folks for money to pay for my next hit of heroine, LA is the place to settle. What a hunting ground.
Also, as a tip, in case you wonder where your shower head disappeared to, it is nestling in the pocket or apartment of a crack addict. They are quite the trendy accessory for Cali junkies, by all accounts.
So, there you have it, a stranger's view of LA. I can't wait to relocate there, mainly because this blog will catch fire with all the stories waiting to be told.
Wot no soda?
For the second time in living memory we went to a MacDonalds and for the first time ever, we heard the words, "Sorry, ma'am, we've run out of soda." Blimey, what is the world coming to? It was almost as surreal as being told they had run out of Big Macs.
On the plus side, we had to drink that stuff called water. You may have heard of it. Apparently it is soda minus the sugar and radiation poisoning. It was quite delicious and I think I will try it again.
7-11 at Starbucks
Mrs Ed likes her Starbucks and as luck would have it, we found one in Los Angeles. It was in a unique neighborhood where they had wall-to-wall ritzy boutiques and family-owned businesses like Taco Bell, Burger King, Rite Aid and similar cutesy outlets. This Starbucks we found was brand new and had its own little patio seating area looking out onto the main smoggy drag. Very appealing.
We were sat down drinking coffee through a special filter that you put over the top of your cup to prevent lead particles from spoiling the taste. Out of nowhere, a skinny pale faced woman in third-hand clothes ghosted in and sat down across from us. Without a care in the world, she started sipping on her 99 cents coffee from 7-11. Too funny. She was looking around like she owned the place. Maybe she did and was seeing how long before the staff politely asked her to leave?
No drugs please, we're Californian
After watching a few episodes around the place, I reasoned that if I ever need to hustle folks for money to pay for my next hit of heroine, LA is the place to settle. What a hunting ground.
Also, as a tip, in case you wonder where your shower head disappeared to, it is nestling in the pocket or apartment of a crack addict. They are quite the trendy accessory for Cali junkies, by all accounts.
So, there you have it, a stranger's view of LA. I can't wait to relocate there, mainly because this blog will catch fire with all the stories waiting to be told.
MyBlogLog Sunday week 29
Filed in: Mini reviews
So, top 10 bloggers, you need to wash, brush up, dress well, smile all day, and refrain from normal depraved behavior in order to be seen in your best light. By all means ignore that advice and we look forward to some embarrassing revelations on Wednesday!
As usual you will get a juicy PR5 backlink, plus a link to your MyBlogLog community... and as it is Sunday, I will be stumbling posts from the bloggers who leave a link to their own favorite post of the week.
MyBlogLog Sunday info links
All hot mini reviews on MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Be back later.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Just 2 more news flashes
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
I am about to head off on a 48-hour trip to California, which means sunshine for me and no blog post for you on Saturday. Sorry about that.
But don't despair, because on Sunday, as the Californian governor is rumored to have said in an earlier life, I'll be back. And with a vengeance too, thanks to a great idea by OS9 user.
In a nutshell, OS9 User is going to create some breaking news and video the whole MyBlogLog Sunday 29 event, and upload the production to Youtube!
He will be starting by video-ing the first post I make Sunday morning (the one where I show a screenshot and announce the 10 MyBlogLog blogs to be mini-reviewed). Then he will return on Monday to film himself surfing MBL Sunday, reading the mini reviews and taking a look around each of the featured sites.
If the featured blogs post something about their appearance in MBL Sunday, he will spend a little longer perusing their site, with the cameras rolling. By Wednesday, it will all be edited and playing live on Youtube.
How cool is that for the 10 participants, The Pisstakers and the modest OS9 User, who doesn't want his name splattered all across this event!!?
Hasta la vista, babys, and make sure you all dressed up for the only place to go on Sundays. And OS9 User, thanks very much, mate, for trying out such a cool promo idea on this site. I will try to focus like never before and if I get filmed uncrossing my legs I will make sure I have my undies on.
But don't despair, because on Sunday, as the Californian governor is rumored to have said in an earlier life, I'll be back. And with a vengeance too, thanks to a great idea by OS9 user.
Ed's on film
He will be starting by video-ing the first post I make Sunday morning (the one where I show a screenshot and announce the 10 MyBlogLog blogs to be mini-reviewed). Then he will return on Monday to film himself surfing MBL Sunday, reading the mini reviews and taking a look around each of the featured sites.
If the featured blogs post something about their appearance in MBL Sunday, he will spend a little longer perusing their site, with the cameras rolling. By Wednesday, it will all be edited and playing live on Youtube.
How cool is that for the 10 participants, The Pisstakers and the modest OS9 User, who doesn't want his name splattered all across this event!!?
Hasta la vista, babys, and make sure you all dressed up for the only place to go on Sundays. And OS9 User, thanks very much, mate, for trying out such a cool promo idea on this site. I will try to focus like never before and if I get filmed uncrossing my legs I will make sure I have my undies on.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
CNN business picks up a Pisstakers article on China!!
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
If you got it, flaunt it, as they say. Yesterday, CNN's world business site carried a story about the China bank preparing to buy a US bank as part of its international expansion plans. To add some weight to the story, CNN offer a handful of relevant blog posts from around the internet, and lo and behold, Chinese Housewives coming to America from Ed was one of them!
I don't know that I should claim to be a world authority on this particular topic, never having been to China or interviewed a Shanghai housewife, but in my more lucid moments, I have been trotting out a thesis about Chinese economic domination for sometime now.
With this touch of recognition from CNN, I may be prompted to take this subject to new lows and research a few more angles. Whatever happens in the future, though, I know I will live in the past for some time to come, ogling this post, emailing it to friends, highlighting it on my CV, changing my theme to a red-based CNN style color scheme.
Happy days, comrades.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
No pain no laughs
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Sit back and grimace, and don't dare laugh. Laughing is not good for you when it comes at the expense of others in pain - not.
To add something to the pain conversation, I once made a few builders laugh uncontrollably when I stepped backwards onto a section of new roof where some bright spark had laid a sheet of tar paper (not plywood) straight over a section of exposed beams.
I still wince as I remember dropping like a stone and landing with all my weight, nuts first, onto a beam. I don't mind admitting I was not happy, suspended on my crotch with a look of total surprise, then horror on my face. It took all the wind out me, and to say my eyes were watering and stomach was churning would be an understatement.
It would also be understating the truth to say that my colleagues were laughing politely. They were laughing till they were almost sick.
It must be a bloke thing, laughing not in glee, but in relief that it isn't you with your balls in your throat?
Needless to say, I hobbled down the ladder and spent half an hour sitting in a van feeling very sorry for myself. My boss, a true clown, stopped by to see how I was doing, handed me a business card and quipped. "Sadie will check you out and make sure it's all still working properly."
I'm sure Madam would have done a thorough inspection, but that is pure conjecture on my part. I wasn't being paid enough to afford that sort of private health care.
To add something to the pain conversation, I once made a few builders laugh uncontrollably when I stepped backwards onto a section of new roof where some bright spark had laid a sheet of tar paper (not plywood) straight over a section of exposed beams.
I still wince as I remember dropping like a stone and landing with all my weight, nuts first, onto a beam. I don't mind admitting I was not happy, suspended on my crotch with a look of total surprise, then horror on my face. It took all the wind out me, and to say my eyes were watering and stomach was churning would be an understatement.
It would also be understating the truth to say that my colleagues were laughing politely. They were laughing till they were almost sick.
It must be a bloke thing, laughing not in glee, but in relief that it isn't you with your balls in your throat?
Needless to say, I hobbled down the ladder and spent half an hour sitting in a van feeling very sorry for myself. My boss, a true clown, stopped by to see how I was doing, handed me a business card and quipped. "Sadie will check you out and make sure it's all still working properly."
I'm sure Madam would have done a thorough inspection, but that is pure conjecture on my part. I wasn't being paid enough to afford that sort of private health care.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Pisstakers RSS contest winner
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Three cheers to the three entrants, Rob, OS9 User and Link and Earn, an almighty Thank you to the extra RSS feed readers
and a round of applause to those who didn't take part - you have convinced me that I need to try a lot harder to encourage / remind / cajole bloggers to participate in contests at The Pisstakers.
I think that more visitors view content via the RSS fed than via the homepage, so I should probably have paid more attention to the needs of the RSS format ie banged on about the contest on a daily basis so it constantly appeared as new material - and offered a new glitzy camera instead of a memory card. Just a thought.
Anyway, it all worked out.
The three finalists in no particular order were:
He has also suggested I prepare an MBL Sunday promo banner for him to put on his site. This is a great idea, and almost single-handedly won him the memory card outright - but not quite. This request has put me under a great deal of self-imposed pressure, because I want to oblige, but it comes at a time when my creative juices are running dry - (no sympathy, please just throw money) - I lay awake at night stressing, but just can't think of a worthy design. I feel so inadequate. So, until the juices return, and until I have also reviewed entrant number 3, I will have to hold fire in crowning OS9 User as runaway victor...
I admit that a memory card isn't exactly a scintillating prize, but better than a kick in the privates. And if you desperately need one, (which L&E clearly do) there is enough incentive in this contest to go beyond the call of duty (and the RSS feed) and dive into the archives. On their trip down my memory lane, they came up with a true story about my flight with Air india. Kudos. The final decision is still up in the air, but their insatiable diligence and determination may not go unrewarded.
The winner
Therefore, after much deliberation, double negatives and head-banging:
Comiserations to the losers who didn't participate
Well done to the participants who didn't win
I can proudly, loudly, gladly announce the winner as.... Link and Earn. Yeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!! Send me a postal address and the memory card will be on its way shortly.
Till next time.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
MyBlogLog Sunday 28
Filed in: MBL sunday
OK - MyBlogLog Sunday is over for another day.
I have had to make some space here to announce a very sad day in the recent history of The Pisstakers. Our great friend, inspiration and belly laugh generator, His Right Honorable lord Likely, failed to get up in time for MyBlogLog Sunday. Consequently, he has missed a chance to plug another episode in his brilliant adventure in America. If you will please join me in silence and pray that he gets his ass in gear for next week. Thank you for your time.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Delicate piercing situation
The lady center stage had a new nose stud, which attracted a few comments of "Oooh, isn't it lovely." "Oooh, do you have to stick your finger up your nose to get it out?" "Oooh, did it hurt?" She answered negatory to all of them.
I was dying to say that I thought it looked gash, and a ring would have been more suitable for a nose like hers, but who am I to criticize?
Then she was asked if she had had her tongue pierced. "Yes, but I took it out and it healed over in a few hours." When asked why she'd had it removed she said, "It damaged my teeth." That response caught everyone by surprise, but apparently it is very tempting to clunk your studded tongue over your teeth and it chips the enamel.
I was dying to ask if she'd had another sensory body part pierced, and if so, had that damaged her boyfriend's teeth too, but who am I?
Mulling over these questions in my head, I was starting to smile. But then I started to squirm when asked why I was smiling.
Erm. Women can be so cruel sometimes, and they all three stared at me. Judging by the laughter, I didn't need to spell out the first question on my mind, but I wasn't going red about that one. All I could think of was a third question buzzing round my head, and I sure as hell was not going to ask a stranger without a sense of humor, "So how long does it take for holes in that department to heal over?"
I was dying to say that I thought it looked gash, and a ring would have been more suitable for a nose like hers, but who am I to criticize?
Then she was asked if she had had her tongue pierced. "Yes, but I took it out and it healed over in a few hours." When asked why she'd had it removed she said, "It damaged my teeth." That response caught everyone by surprise, but apparently it is very tempting to clunk your studded tongue over your teeth and it chips the enamel.
I was dying to ask if she'd had another sensory body part pierced, and if so, had that damaged her boyfriend's teeth too, but who am I?
Mulling over these questions in my head, I was starting to smile. But then I started to squirm when asked why I was smiling.
Erm. Women can be so cruel sometimes, and they all three stared at me. Judging by the laughter, I didn't need to spell out the first question on my mind, but I wasn't going red about that one. All I could think of was a third question buzzing round my head, and I sure as hell was not going to ask a stranger without a sense of humor, "So how long does it take for holes in that department to heal over?"
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Not suitable for families? wtf!
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
When they first lay eyes on the word PISStakers, many people seem to get the wrong idea about this site. And out of a misplaced belief that my niche is urine-oriented grows the concern that this is not a family-oriented site. Gulp.
I write for everybody with an interest in a humorous view of the world beyond their 4 walls, so I get mortally (well, slightly) offended when it is intimated that I run a filthy adult haven of iniquity. (mock horror.)
If some people did a bit more research into what a pisstaker actually is, life would be less fraught for all concerned. And if PG-obsessed people were less quick to label vaguely challenging material written in a slightly rough-round-the-edges way, as not suitable for the family, I wouldn't need to take this post down a non-PG route to defend my territory!
I have had a few amusing reminders that people don't understand the word Pisstaker. One guy would only refer to the site as Ptakers; someone else has renamed me completely to save their PG readers from a fate worse than death, and another blogger even left a blank where my name should have gone... I don't mind, it is funny to me, and who am I to make fun of people who feel uncomfortable yet still support a site they enjoy reading. Much better than PG-ists writing a site off on behalf of those they are supposed to introduce to a big wide world of different and non-sugar-coated ideas.
If I were an adult X-rated blogger who delighted in humiliating individuals rather than highlighting issues in general terms, I would say that XY and Z bloggers who deem the Pisstakers as unsuitable for families, are examples of people with a poor grasp of English and / or minds far more twisted than mine. To take offense, they must see Pisstakers and instantly imagine that this is a site promoting buckets of pee and golden showers. Disappointment must be the reason why hundreds of visitors unfamiliar with the term, but au fait with all the nuances of urine, only hang around for less than 30 seconds. Huh, no real piss here, best get off at the next Stumble site for my dose of wee.
To counter the concerns of many English-speaking folk with an (ungrounded) fear of the word, pisstaker, but the presence of mind to at least do a little research before heading off, I have placed a permalink to wikipedia in the first dialog box on the homepage, explaining the meaning of this disgusting foreign English word.
Pisstaker is a foul term used regularly by such despotic family-disoriented folks such as my butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth mother. Millions of other English-speaking people outside America with a sense of humor also enjoy taking the piss, (michael, mickey or rise) out of inconsistencies in people. Nobody bats an eye if you are the butt of a joke and you ask, "Are you taking the piss?"
As you can see from my use of foul term, I am taking the piss out of people who are offended by my site's name, because it is about as offensive a term as shit, in the US English expression, This is the shit. Not too rude to Americans, but shocking to some Brits with a self righteous pole up their ass, and a disinterest in finding out what a nuance of language really means before writing it off as rude. Yes, hysterical isn't it that they may think that a site called the shit is written by people with a pile of steaming faeces in their grubby paw.
This talk about taking offense at an inoffensive word leads on nicely to my bemusement at a mini fixation about whether this site is PG family oriented. Officially, no! I didn't think I was writing for 12-13 year-olds, I think I am too arcane for most youngsters, but I find it offensive to the 14+ population at large that, according to the PG brigade, all people of thinking age, living in a family environment, may be precluded from reading my blog because... because what?
Because I don't write nice things about church? or give tips on washing your car on Sunday, or mowing lawns or going on picnics with the dog into the idyllic countryside? Or is it because I occasionally use irreligious language that I know religious men and women use from time to time, and occasionally I mention S-E-X and genocide and topics that are somehow outside the scope of families? Funny ideas some people have a) on what constitutes a family and b)what a family should be exposed to.
If I am not suitable for family viewing, then my posts are not suitable for anyone living with their kids or anyone living with their parents. How limiting. But wait, families are breaking up and morphing out of all recognition compared to the type of family unit I grew up in. Hey maybe I am suitable for families who past generations would have deemed dysfunctional, even heretic. Now we're talking, I like the sound of that sort of free open-minded spirit.
And what material on The Pisstakers is unsuitable for 14 to 114 year-old family members in this day and age of Halloween, The Simpsons and video games like Doom? Is there anything here that would cause a child to go and shoot their teacher? Can't see it myself. And how you leap from the innocuous word Pisstaker to depraved material, only the censors will know.
As you can tell, I find the whole idea of "family-oriented sites" classifications to be a bit of a joke. I have seen films with a PG rating and thought they were well out of order and I wouldnt have any kid of mine watching them with my blessing.
And anyway, assuming I am not a PG site, how is labelling my site, "Not suitable for families" going to stop kids reading it? I think folks are living in cloud cuckoo land if they think that highlighting a site as out of bounds to kids, (because a grown-up they never met says so), will stop them going there. Prohibition anyone? In fact, telling the kids that The Pisstakers is for adults only, is a great way to attract kids!
At the end of the day, I don't think that everyone who reads the Pisstakers necessarily "gets" everything I write anyway, (I am not the world's greatest communicator) but if any youngsters out there want to sit down with mom and dad and read about the China crisis or 6 legged horses or tech stuff, be my guest. I know that whatever I write won't be as shocking as Silence of the Lambs, the school course book given to my 15 year old cousin to study!
The short answer:
I write for everybody with an interest in a humorous view of the world beyond their 4 walls, so I get mortally (well, slightly) offended when it is intimated that I run a filthy adult haven of iniquity. (mock horror.)
If some people did a bit more research into what a pisstaker actually is, life would be less fraught for all concerned. And if PG-obsessed people were less quick to label vaguely challenging material written in a slightly rough-round-the-edges way, as not suitable for the family, I wouldn't need to take this post down a non-PG route to defend my territory!
Long answer:
I have had a few amusing reminders that people don't understand the word Pisstaker. One guy would only refer to the site as Ptakers; someone else has renamed me completely to save their PG readers from a fate worse than death, and another blogger even left a blank where my name should have gone... I don't mind, it is funny to me, and who am I to make fun of people who feel uncomfortable yet still support a site they enjoy reading. Much better than PG-ists writing a site off on behalf of those they are supposed to introduce to a big wide world of different and non-sugar-coated ideas.
If I were an adult X-rated blogger who delighted in humiliating individuals rather than highlighting issues in general terms, I would say that XY and Z bloggers who deem the Pisstakers as unsuitable for families, are examples of people with a poor grasp of English and / or minds far more twisted than mine. To take offense, they must see Pisstakers and instantly imagine that this is a site promoting buckets of pee and golden showers. Disappointment must be the reason why hundreds of visitors unfamiliar with the term, but au fait with all the nuances of urine, only hang around for less than 30 seconds. Huh, no real piss here, best get off at the next Stumble site for my dose of wee.
To counter the concerns of many English-speaking folk with an (ungrounded) fear of the word, pisstaker, but the presence of mind to at least do a little research before heading off, I have placed a permalink to wikipedia in the first dialog box on the homepage, explaining the meaning of this disgusting foreign English word.
Pisstaker is a foul term used regularly by such despotic family-disoriented folks such as my butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth mother. Millions of other English-speaking people outside America with a sense of humor also enjoy taking the piss, (michael, mickey or rise) out of inconsistencies in people. Nobody bats an eye if you are the butt of a joke and you ask, "Are you taking the piss?"
As you can see from my use of foul term, I am taking the piss out of people who are offended by my site's name, because it is about as offensive a term as shit, in the US English expression, This is the shit. Not too rude to Americans, but shocking to some Brits with a self righteous pole up their ass, and a disinterest in finding out what a nuance of language really means before writing it off as rude. Yes, hysterical isn't it that they may think that a site called the shit is written by people with a pile of steaming faeces in their grubby paw.
Is the Pisstakers family-oriented?
This talk about taking offense at an inoffensive word leads on nicely to my bemusement at a mini fixation about whether this site is PG family oriented. Officially, no! I didn't think I was writing for 12-13 year-olds, I think I am too arcane for most youngsters, but I find it offensive to the 14+ population at large that, according to the PG brigade, all people of thinking age, living in a family environment, may be precluded from reading my blog because... because what?
Because I don't write nice things about church? or give tips on washing your car on Sunday, or mowing lawns or going on picnics with the dog into the idyllic countryside? Or is it because I occasionally use irreligious language that I know religious men and women use from time to time, and occasionally I mention S-E-X and genocide and topics that are somehow outside the scope of families? Funny ideas some people have a) on what constitutes a family and b)what a family should be exposed to.
If I am not suitable for family viewing, then my posts are not suitable for anyone living with their kids or anyone living with their parents. How limiting. But wait, families are breaking up and morphing out of all recognition compared to the type of family unit I grew up in. Hey maybe I am suitable for families who past generations would have deemed dysfunctional, even heretic. Now we're talking, I like the sound of that sort of free open-minded spirit.
PG Parental grumpiness
And what material on The Pisstakers is unsuitable for 14 to 114 year-old family members in this day and age of Halloween, The Simpsons and video games like Doom? Is there anything here that would cause a child to go and shoot their teacher? Can't see it myself. And how you leap from the innocuous word Pisstaker to depraved material, only the censors will know.
As you can tell, I find the whole idea of "family-oriented sites" classifications to be a bit of a joke. I have seen films with a PG rating and thought they were well out of order and I wouldnt have any kid of mine watching them with my blessing.
And anyway, assuming I am not a PG site, how is labelling my site, "Not suitable for families" going to stop kids reading it? I think folks are living in cloud cuckoo land if they think that highlighting a site as out of bounds to kids, (because a grown-up they never met says so), will stop them going there. Prohibition anyone? In fact, telling the kids that The Pisstakers is for adults only, is a great way to attract kids!
Conconclusion
At the end of the day, I don't think that everyone who reads the Pisstakers necessarily "gets" everything I write anyway, (I am not the world's greatest communicator) but if any youngsters out there want to sit down with mom and dad and read about the China crisis or 6 legged horses or tech stuff, be my guest. I know that whatever I write won't be as shocking as Silence of the Lambs, the school course book given to my 15 year old cousin to study!
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
MyBloglog Sunday Week 28
Filed in: MBL sunday
Just to remind you if you didn't know, the 10 blogs that have been digitally captured in the screenshot when I eventually get up on a Sunday morning each get a mini review later on today. They also get a juicy PR5 backlink, plus a link to their MyBlogLog community... and as it is Sunday, and we are supposed to play nice at least one day a week, I will even stumble posts from the bloggers who leave a link to their own favorite post of the week.
This is a sort of link love feature, but ironically, since last week, my Technorati ranking has fallen down the toilet. Apparently I am not alone, and Linda has even removed her technorati authority widgety thing in disgust. Down with technorati, come the revolution... yadda yadda yadda.
Contest
Permalink is permanent
Today's mini review will stay on the homepage (PR5) all week and is instantly added to the archives for a permanent PR4 back link.
MyBlogLog Sunday info links
All hot mini reviews on MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Be back later.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Yahoo, MyBlogLog, Sunday, Ed, Merger
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
To be honest, I don't know much about the current component parts of Yahoo! except one division is so far behind the Google search engine, it is almost embarrassing. Yahoo! Search should be called O ho!
What else do Yahoo! have going for them?
Yahoo! and MyBlogLog
Judging by the steady triple figure flow of visitors to my Yahoo-owned MyBlogLog community, it is fair to say that Yahoo haven't killed off that idea - yet. I say "yet", because they did kill my avatar when I last logged in, and they haven't innovated much recently. Still a way to go to maximise that $10m acquisition, Ding Dongs!
MyBlogLog Sunday
It is a simple deal for bloggers. If you are a MBL member and visit my site Saturday night / Sunday morning, your avatar will appear in my side bar. When I start blogging on Sunday morning, the 10 most recent visiting bloggers are captured in the widget screenshot and they each get a cool mini-review with a couple of back links. And those who leave a comment about their best post of the week (with a link) get an eBay-owned Stumble too. Get in on it tomorrow.
Next Yahoo! acquisition
If Yahoo! are looking to invest in a sharp, humorous and very positive blog-spinning feature, they should headhunt the brains behind MyBlogLog Sunday and make a move before they are dissembled. (Yahoo, not my brains.) Any offers over $2.2m will be considered, and rest assured, when the deal goes through, all 270 reviewees will get a prize.
Please lobby Yahoo! before they split up and disappear up their own Ah O!
Not pleasing Technorati
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Last week I had a bit of a rant about pleasing Technorati, and how I don't seem to be able to break out of the current 41000 rank, despite continually blogging and linking. It raised a bit of a hackle for Technorati high-flyer, RT at Untwisted Vortex, and he asked his fans to add fairness to the system by linking, in some way shape or form, to The (well-written) Pisstakers.
Hari came straight out and added me to his blog roll, thanks. He is a funny guy as well as a tech head, so it is all good, relevant linking. Could it be time to hang on, as I shoot up, up and away through Technorati?
Unfortunately, I think Technorati were watching and my ranking has dropped again!
According to Technorati rules, the more links to your site from other websites, the more authoritative and valuable the blog. And if the blogs linking in to you are authoritative, whoa, you are heading for gold. Maybe that applies if you are a Technorati believer and not a skeptic?
I am a skeptic. Remember, Technorati is not about traffic, but what other bloggers think of the relevancy and authority of sites. How ironic that blog value and relevancy is based on the reactions of bloggers, a mere 20% of internet users
It is a bollocks undemocratic system, not what the internet is supposed to be about. Whatever happened to democracy where the opinions of 80% of internet surfers should dictate what is and isn't worthwhile?
If Technorati want to be taken seriously, and not become a political blog Oscar / A-lister love-in / blogger backscratching / gamed award, they need to open up their parameters to embrace the whole internet user base.
For now, I am a technorati pariah, but I will stick to my instincts and do what I think is the right way to build the value of a blog. Therefore, in the course of my writing I will continue to link to blogs that have something to add to a story, regardless of whether they are a friend, a day old, A-listers or the antithesis of the Pisstakers blog niche.
This tactic may not generate zillions of Technorati brownie points from other bloggers "focused" on their niche to the exclusion of all others, or from bloggers loathe to backlink to The Pisstakers, (yuk what a horrible name!) but that is OK.
In the long run, I predict that one day, a new world view of blog values will develop, and I don't think the current Technorati algorithm will have much of a say as to whether The Pisstakers brand is worth diddly or squat to advertisers and peers!!
And of course, until the world becomes a more egalitarian ranking place, I will still call by Technorati to see how I am faring, or not!
Hari came straight out and added me to his blog roll, thanks. He is a funny guy as well as a tech head, so it is all good, relevant linking. Could it be time to hang on, as I shoot up, up and away through Technorati?
Unfortunately, I think Technorati were watching and my ranking has dropped again!
Is it essential for bloggers to play the Technorati game?
According to Technorati rules, the more links to your site from other websites, the more authoritative and valuable the blog. And if the blogs linking in to you are authoritative, whoa, you are heading for gold. Maybe that applies if you are a Technorati believer and not a skeptic?
I am a skeptic. Remember, Technorati is not about traffic, but what other bloggers think of the relevancy and authority of sites. How ironic that blog value and relevancy is based on the reactions of bloggers, a mere 20% of internet users
It is a bollocks undemocratic system, not what the internet is supposed to be about. Whatever happened to democracy where the opinions of 80% of internet surfers should dictate what is and isn't worthwhile?
If Technorati want to be taken seriously, and not become a political blog Oscar / A-lister love-in / blogger backscratching / gamed award, they need to open up their parameters to embrace the whole internet user base.
Technorati teetering.
For now, I am a technorati pariah, but I will stick to my instincts and do what I think is the right way to build the value of a blog. Therefore, in the course of my writing I will continue to link to blogs that have something to add to a story, regardless of whether they are a friend, a day old, A-listers or the antithesis of the Pisstakers blog niche.
This tactic may not generate zillions of Technorati brownie points from other bloggers "focused" on their niche to the exclusion of all others, or from bloggers loathe to backlink to The Pisstakers, (yuk what a horrible name!) but that is OK.
In the long run, I predict that one day, a new world view of blog values will develop, and I don't think the current Technorati algorithm will have much of a say as to whether The Pisstakers brand is worth diddly or squat to advertisers and peers!!
And of course, until the world becomes a more egalitarian ranking place, I will still call by Technorati to see how I am faring, or not!
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
How to splatter an apprentice
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Ed the Editor's personal blog corner
I used to work in construction and the best times were had at the expense of apprentices. (For all those under the age of 40, an apprentice is a person who gives up all their human rights to be abused and exploited while their bosses teach them the intricacies of a trade.)
One teenage lad was getting a bit mouthy and had to be put in his place by his two bosses, a pair of jovial plasterers. They had a contract on a dis-used airforce base and as a "treat" one of the boss men said the apprentice could sit in the back of the pick-up while they sped down the runway. The kid was really up for it and jumped onto the flat bed.
The driver winked at his mate, and as he got faster and faster, they started whelping and cheering and banging on the back of the cab and generally stirring it up. The apprentice was really hyped and started posing like a surfer. The plasterers decided that was enough fun for him, and at 80mph, the driver announced to his passenger, "Hold on tight!" 2 seconds later, he stood on the brakes.
They were belly laughing for hours, reliving the scream and the thud as the apprentice splattered against the back of the cab.
It didn't do the lad too much harm, and he went on to become a real tradesman, no doubt inspired to share a few of his gruesome experiences with the next generation of wannabe plasterer.
Got any similar stories? Let us know.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Chinese housewives coming to America
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Until now, the average China housewife had two choices as to what to do with her sweat shop-derived savings. Either stick money into a local bank account, (which paid negative interest!) or, put her hard-earned lead-coated cash into a Chinese stock market.
With about 100 new billionaires created in the stock market this year alone, it is not hard to figure what they would do. Astute housewives are the primary reason why the Shanghai Stock Market bubble has been building beyond belief.
In order to get some heat out of the Chinese investment kitchen and more importantly, give themselves a stepping stone into Wall Street, the Shanghai powers-that-be opened a safety valve for "investors". In August, the supposed mothers of all control freaks, allowed the housewives (and their husbands too), to invest in Hong Kong.
In a world where money talks and housewives pick winners with monotonous regularity, the $200bn "experiment" currently being conducted in Hong Kong has taken off since August. It has given a big hint at the stellar results that come when a money-grabbing China government throws itself full tilt behind housewives with an eye for a money-making fad.
Unfortunately, for the rest of the non-Chinese world, you can bet the bank that the Chinese Governent will gain confidence from this experiment. Not only will the Shanghai masters exercise their Hong Kong Fuey stranglehold on successful investors by charging some sneaky Communist wealth tax, but they will exploit their subjects in order to implement some bigger ideas en route to Wall St-beating season.
Simple. Fired up and ultra-confident in their investors' performance in Hong Kong, plus a trillion bucks of their own spare cash still in the bank, the Chinese government should be itching to launch the next tidal wave of investors into a couple of other Stock Exchanges, en route to Wall Street and US main street.
China housewives, aka the baby-stepping Hong Kong investing pioneers, will probably be allowed to take a day trip into Singapore with the kids, pick a few stocks and inflate that stock market with their own money, plus some of the trillion dollar pocket change from the Shanghai war chest. See, everyone shares in China!
That job done, it will be time for stage 3 of the world investment program. Sorry, ladies, this will be a man's job! A batallion of highly trained Western-savvy investors will don "Made in Chinese Hong Kong" turbo jet packs and head to Wall Street. Ka-ching.
It will be great for the US for a while as hard-assed Chinamen flood the trading floor with cash. $1000 for a share in Google, or name your price and double it for Bidu (the Chinese Google)...and after hours, Chinese restaurants will be over-flowing with real Chinese investors. Sweet. But that will be the tip of the iceberg.
One day, a few thousand new Chinese billionaires with complementary Green cards living it up in Manhattan will get a call from party HQ. Comrades, take off those profits you just made and reinvest it back in China! That will be the signal for the Chinese housewife to come back on the scene and surreptitiously smother America under a blanket of inflation. Here's how.
Women, rich from investments in HK and Singapore, but still obliged to stay grounded and continue working at the sweat shop, will demand more money at work. Low wages in China will creep up. Ikea and Walfart won't be able to absorb those prices. Oops imports to America just got more expensive.
The prices at Walmart will start to rise and no one in the US will be pleased to hear that exploited millionaire lady peasants are benefiting from global growth and can even afford to send their kids to hospital when they are sick . Bugger that. All the chatter will be negative as it dawns on everyone that the cost of living in America has skyrocketed. The US will no longer be China-subsidised, but China-fueled.
Next, with Wall Street in the Chinese' pocket; peasants' and prisoners' wages back home rising; prices of everyday products in the US going through the roof, and US jobs disappearing, it will get even worse for the West. The next wave of housewife millionaire Chinese entrepreneurs will come to to America to set to work buying up real estate.
The sea of Chinese faces at foreclosure sales around America will be washing through the senses of shocked bystanders. The names on home ownership contracts in US cities coast to coast will be more Chan than Smith, and Chinese landlords will be so numerous that US neighborhoods will make Vancouver look like a redneck city by comparison.
Consumption patterns will change. Bamboo curtains and panda rugs will be all the rage at Ikea, and no Chinese entrepreneuses will waste their time emailing home with sluggish Comcast, it will be China Digital all the way.
Aaah. Global wealth creation is on an inexorable rise, just as long as you are a Chinese housewife! Meanwhile, stagflation works its way very slowly but surely into the West under the wing of cheap China-owned dollars. Didn't see that coming, did we!!
With about 100 new billionaires created in the stock market this year alone, it is not hard to figure what they would do. Astute housewives are the primary reason why the Shanghai Stock Market bubble has been building beyond belief.
Charge of the Chinese housewives
In order to get some heat out of the Chinese investment kitchen and more importantly, give themselves a stepping stone into Wall Street, the Shanghai powers-that-be opened a safety valve for "investors". In August, the supposed mothers of all control freaks, allowed the housewives (and their husbands too), to invest in Hong Kong.
In a world where money talks and housewives pick winners with monotonous regularity, the $200bn "experiment" currently being conducted in Hong Kong has taken off since August. It has given a big hint at the stellar results that come when a money-grabbing China government throws itself full tilt behind housewives with an eye for a money-making fad.
Unfortunately, for the rest of the non-Chinese world, you can bet the bank that the Chinese Governent will gain confidence from this experiment. Not only will the Shanghai masters exercise their Hong Kong Fuey stranglehold on successful investors by charging some sneaky Communist wealth tax, but they will exploit their subjects in order to implement some bigger ideas en route to Wall St-beating season.
How does the Hong Kong deal get China to Wall St?
Simple. Fired up and ultra-confident in their investors' performance in Hong Kong, plus a trillion bucks of their own spare cash still in the bank, the Chinese government should be itching to launch the next tidal wave of investors into a couple of other Stock Exchanges, en route to Wall Street and US main street.
China housewives, aka the baby-stepping Hong Kong investing pioneers, will probably be allowed to take a day trip into Singapore with the kids, pick a few stocks and inflate that stock market with their own money, plus some of the trillion dollar pocket change from the Shanghai war chest. See, everyone shares in China!
That job done, it will be time for stage 3 of the world investment program. Sorry, ladies, this will be a man's job! A batallion of highly trained Western-savvy investors will don "Made in Chinese Hong Kong" turbo jet packs and head to Wall Street. Ka-ching.
Instant China crisis in the US? I think not.
It will be great for the US for a while as hard-assed Chinamen flood the trading floor with cash. $1000 for a share in Google, or name your price and double it for Bidu (the Chinese Google)...and after hours, Chinese restaurants will be over-flowing with real Chinese investors. Sweet. But that will be the tip of the iceberg.
Phone home to Shanghai
One day, a few thousand new Chinese billionaires with complementary Green cards living it up in Manhattan will get a call from party HQ. Comrades, take off those profits you just made and reinvest it back in China! That will be the signal for the Chinese housewife to come back on the scene and surreptitiously smother America under a blanket of inflation. Here's how.
Women, rich from investments in HK and Singapore, but still obliged to stay grounded and continue working at the sweat shop, will demand more money at work. Low wages in China will creep up. Ikea and Walfart won't be able to absorb those prices. Oops imports to America just got more expensive.
The prices at Walmart will start to rise and no one in the US will be pleased to hear that exploited millionaire lady peasants are benefiting from global growth and can even afford to send their kids to hospital when they are sick . Bugger that. All the chatter will be negative as it dawns on everyone that the cost of living in America has skyrocketed. The US will no longer be China-subsidised, but China-fueled.
From Wall Street to Easy Street
Next, with Wall Street in the Chinese' pocket; peasants' and prisoners' wages back home rising; prices of everyday products in the US going through the roof, and US jobs disappearing, it will get even worse for the West. The next wave of housewife millionaire Chinese entrepreneurs will come to to America to set to work buying up real estate.
The sea of Chinese faces at foreclosure sales around America will be washing through the senses of shocked bystanders. The names on home ownership contracts in US cities coast to coast will be more Chan than Smith, and Chinese landlords will be so numerous that US neighborhoods will make Vancouver look like a redneck city by comparison.
Consumption patterns will change. Bamboo curtains and panda rugs will be all the rage at Ikea, and no Chinese entrepreneuses will waste their time emailing home with sluggish Comcast, it will be China Digital all the way.
Aaah. Global wealth creation is on an inexorable rise, just as long as you are a Chinese housewife! Meanwhile, stagflation works its way very slowly but surely into the West under the wing of cheap China-owned dollars. Didn't see that coming, did we!!
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Contest to win $39 worth of memory card
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
xFruits RSS feed contest
Check out the current Pisstakers mega feed.
Write 50 words about an Ed article that curls your toes, and publish it on your blog.
Send me the URL.
If you take part you will get a link back from my PR5 homepage.
Ed will award the memory card to the most amusing or engaging post.
Deadline: October 14th 2007
Write 50 words about an Ed article that curls your toes, and publish it on your blog.
Send me the URL.
If you take part you will get a link back from my PR5 homepage.
Ed will award the memory card to the most amusing or engaging post.
Deadline: October 14th 2007
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
MyBlogLog Sunday 27
Filed in: MBL sunday
OK - MyBlogLog Sunday is over for another day.
Before I head off, I thought this video clip from Blue Beaver Beer would make you smile. And here's a joke I heard from a TV preacher man.
A Hindu, a Jew and a TV evangelist are traveling together. They have nowhere to stay, so they knock on a farmhouse door. The farmer says two can stay in the house, but one has to sleep in the barn.
The Hindu volunteers, but 10 minutes later there is a knock on the door. He says there is a cow in the barn, it is sacred and he can't sleep there.
"No problem," says the Jew, "I'll sleep in the barn." 10 minutes later there is a knock on the door. He says there is a pig in the barn, it isn't kosher and he can't sleep there.
"No problem," says the TV evangelist, "I'll sleep in the barn." 10 minutes later there is a knock on the door. The farmer opens the door and there is a pig and a cow.
A Hindu, a Jew and a TV evangelist are traveling together. They have nowhere to stay, so they knock on a farmhouse door. The farmer says two can stay in the house, but one has to sleep in the barn.
The Hindu volunteers, but 10 minutes later there is a knock on the door. He says there is a cow in the barn, it is sacred and he can't sleep there.
"No problem," says the Jew, "I'll sleep in the barn." 10 minutes later there is a knock on the door. He says there is a pig in the barn, it isn't kosher and he can't sleep there.
"No problem," says the TV evangelist, "I'll sleep in the barn." 10 minutes later there is a knock on the door. The farmer opens the door and there is a pig and a cow.
Bloggers: if you call by next Sunday, feel free to leave a link to your best post of the week in the comments. That way, even if you don't end up being captured in the widget when I start blogging, at least you get to spread the word about your own blog.
So endeth the MyBlogLog Sunday posts for this week.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Past post updates
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Rather than print and forget, I thought I would post some updates of past articles.
You will be pleased to hear that the 6-legged stallion has recovered from his trip to the cutting room floor. Where once hung 2 mind-bending hormone-generating horse nuts, there is a now a clean scar. Three cheers for the vet and if anyone wants a fantastic former Arab stallion with a weird look in his eye, let me know. (And no, I am not joking, he really is for sale now!)
Talking of sale, I mentioned the weird world of classic wooden boats and how owners tend to go all gooey and irrational when they are selling their rot-infested pride and joy tub. Mr and Mrs Ed have been inspired by these folks and will be giving up their attic room next Spring so they can join this interesting fraternity. They are planning to break out of the confines of a 20 x 20 room and spread themselves all over a palatial 35 x 11 feet wooden boat of their own. Rest assured, they have made a pact not to refer to the boat as "She" and they won't be giving names to the dinghy or the radio or whatever other inorganic appliances may take their fancy.
The disappearing hyphen is still disappearing, but not as quickly as different elements of Kate's side bar. There is of course Net Disaster, the proper way to destroy a blog, and leave cow dung all over the screen.
In Tech this week, I caught Comcast engineers being incredibly anal about Health and Safety. If only they were as particular with their service as they were with their cones. Unless they work out how to provide us with a far better time in front of the TV or surfing the web, they may need to dispense with cones and erect an electric fence to protect themselves from irate customers.
Blog Rush has been slaughtered by the Money Makers, because it doesn't seem to make them money. For the rest of the blogs online, I think it is probably doing just fine, offering looping links to related posts. Or have I missed the point completely?
To celebrate 392 readers of my RSS feed, I am offering a $39 prize for the best 50-word review of any article in my RSS feed.
And tomorrow, Sunday, is MyBlogLog Sunday 27. I am getting quite a few interesting new bloggers calling by, so I am having fun discovering new places to visit, new people to read and review. If you have a blog, try and be in the last 10 to call by before I take a screenshot of the MyBlogLog widget in my sidebar tomorrow morning. If you have no blog, call by in the week, and check out 10 sharp mini reviews.
Have a good Saturday, it could be your last!
You will be pleased to hear that the 6-legged stallion has recovered from his trip to the cutting room floor. Where once hung 2 mind-bending hormone-generating horse nuts, there is a now a clean scar. Three cheers for the vet and if anyone wants a fantastic former Arab stallion with a weird look in his eye, let me know. (And no, I am not joking, he really is for sale now!)
Talking of sale, I mentioned the weird world of classic wooden boats and how owners tend to go all gooey and irrational when they are selling their rot-infested pride and joy tub. Mr and Mrs Ed have been inspired by these folks and will be giving up their attic room next Spring so they can join this interesting fraternity. They are planning to break out of the confines of a 20 x 20 room and spread themselves all over a palatial 35 x 11 feet wooden boat of their own. Rest assured, they have made a pact not to refer to the boat as "She" and they won't be giving names to the dinghy or the radio or whatever other inorganic appliances may take their fancy.
The disappearing hyphen is still disappearing, but not as quickly as different elements of Kate's side bar. There is of course Net Disaster, the proper way to destroy a blog, and leave cow dung all over the screen.
In Tech this week, I caught Comcast engineers being incredibly anal about Health and Safety. If only they were as particular with their service as they were with their cones. Unless they work out how to provide us with a far better time in front of the TV or surfing the web, they may need to dispense with cones and erect an electric fence to protect themselves from irate customers.
Blog Rush has been slaughtered by the Money Makers, because it doesn't seem to make them money. For the rest of the blogs online, I think it is probably doing just fine, offering looping links to related posts. Or have I missed the point completely?
And finally, 2 things!
To celebrate 392 readers of my RSS feed, I am offering a $39 prize for the best 50-word review of any article in my RSS feed.
And tomorrow, Sunday, is MyBlogLog Sunday 27. I am getting quite a few interesting new bloggers calling by, so I am having fun discovering new places to visit, new people to read and review. If you have a blog, try and be in the last 10 to call by before I take a screenshot of the MyBlogLog widget in my sidebar tomorrow morning. If you have no blog, call by in the week, and check out 10 sharp mini reviews.
Have a good Saturday, it could be your last!
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
MyBlogLog Sunday week 27
Filed in: MBL sunday
More frightening than Ms Hawn was the darkness of the dead of night outside. I haven't seen 5.30 in months and I don't wish to see it again, thanks very much. On the plus side I felt remarkably awake, so I thought I would do some blogging.
The 10 MyBlogLog bloggers who last visited this site are in the screenshot and for their troubles, they will each get a mini review later on today. The wit and juicy PR5 backlink prevail, plus a link to each MyBlogLog community and a stumble for the bloggers who leave a link to their own fave post of the week.
Contest
The 25th MBL Sunday birthday contest was a bit a flop, but I have come back with a new one that has nothing directly to do with MyBlogLog Sunday!!! Blog about any article in my super x-fruits mega RSS feed, (50 words will do), send me a link to the post, and the most amusing or engaging one will win a $39 memory card for their troubles. Ends October 14th, 2 entries already. Hurry, hurry..
Permalink is permanent
Today's mini review will stay on the homepage (PR5) all week and is instantly added to the archives for a permanent PR4 back link.
MyBlogLog Sunday info links
All hot mini reviews on MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Be back later.
PS Since last week's first anniversary, I would like to announce that our second year of marriage has been going really well, thanks.
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| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Contest to win $39 worth of memory card!
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
xFruits RSS feed contest
Thanks.
Check out the current Pisstakers mega feed.
Write 50 words about an Ed article that curls your toes, and publish it on your blog.
Send me the URL.
If you take part you will get a link back from my PR5 homepage.
Ed will award the memory card to the most amusing or engaging post.
Deadline: October 14th 2007
Write 50 words about an Ed article that curls your toes, and publish it on your blog.
Send me the URL.
If you take part you will get a link back from my PR5 homepage.
Ed will award the memory card to the most amusing or engaging post.
Deadline: October 14th 2007
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Pleasing technorati
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
I regularly check how Technorati is treating The Pisstakers. It used to be a fun experience, but these days, the visit is more like a needle in my eye.
The deal is, that every day, a 6-month old link will drop off your technorati account and to maintain the rating, a new link has to step in. Since I stalled at 41000th in the world! Technorati has become a reminder that any blog will fade away and die unless you keep blogging and reaching out to new folks.
Peering into Technorati last night, I saw a new link back. Yeehah, I must be going up in the world. Oh! On closer inspection, I must have lost another link off the other end. Back on earth I am still ranking at 41000!
Technorati recognises bloggers who link out. I haven't stopped blogging, and I continue linking. Blog-and-link should be a good enough strategy to generate back-links and please Technorati. There is more to it than that, however. You have to be totally into Technorati, and you have to believe in their ways, brothers and sisters, else it won't work for you.
I broke a promise to myself and joined a meme thing a couple of weeks ago. In all honesty, I did enjoy showing my desktop off, and I felt like I was contributing something worthwhile to the internet beyond posting a long list of links to meme doers. I imagined that by joining the link train game I would see hundreds of back-links appear. That is what they tell you. The ratings of many meme, linktrain fans seem to back the theory up too. Not with me. Still 41000!
I can only think that my effort to please Technorati fell on stony ground because I am not a real fan! I didn't truly deeply madly believe.
Do you believe in Technorati?
I say I am doomed at Technorati, but maybe all is not lost. First, I ended up writing this post and adding a morsel of vaguely engaging 20-second material to the Stumble-o-sphere.
And second, if technorati works, hopefully Kate will see this link on her account and can read about her theme glitch from there. (From technorati I saw that Kate had linked to me and, playing by the internet rules, as I see them, I decided to comment on her blog site, thanking her for mentioning my disappearing hyphen post. No such luck.
No matter where I went on her sidebar, my cursor made her site disappear, piece by piece! I couldn't comment to say thanks, and neither could I click on the contact button to tell her that her theme doesn't work in Safari!
So, fingers crossed, maybe this time it will be Technorati to someone's rescue.
I updated this article following Untwisted Vortex' killer Technorati-related post, and I will add a follow-up to it too. (Don't tell anyone, because I am supposed to be a bit of an emotional stone, but his words brought a momentary lump to my throat - only for a very brief moment, you understand. Like for 0.03 seconds, the time it takes for Technorati to find my stalling account details.)
The deal is, that every day, a 6-month old link will drop off your technorati account and to maintain the rating, a new link has to step in. Since I stalled at 41000th in the world! Technorati has become a reminder that any blog will fade away and die unless you keep blogging and reaching out to new folks.
Peering into Technorati last night, I saw a new link back. Yeehah, I must be going up in the world. Oh! On closer inspection, I must have lost another link off the other end. Back on earth I am still ranking at 41000!
Improving Technorati rank, aka Mission Impossible
Technorati recognises bloggers who link out. I haven't stopped blogging, and I continue linking. Blog-and-link should be a good enough strategy to generate back-links and please Technorati. There is more to it than that, however. You have to be totally into Technorati, and you have to believe in their ways, brothers and sisters, else it won't work for you.
I broke a promise to myself and joined a meme thing a couple of weeks ago. In all honesty, I did enjoy showing my desktop off, and I felt like I was contributing something worthwhile to the internet beyond posting a long list of links to meme doers. I imagined that by joining the link train game I would see hundreds of back-links appear. That is what they tell you. The ratings of many meme, linktrain fans seem to back the theory up too. Not with me. Still 41000!
I can only think that my effort to please Technorati fell on stony ground because I am not a real fan! I didn't truly deeply madly believe.
Do you believe in Technorati?
Can't win for losing
I say I am doomed at Technorati, but maybe all is not lost. First, I ended up writing this post and adding a morsel of vaguely engaging 20-second material to the Stumble-o-sphere.
And second, if technorati works, hopefully Kate will see this link on her account and can read about her theme glitch from there. (From technorati I saw that Kate had linked to me and, playing by the internet rules, as I see them, I decided to comment on her blog site, thanking her for mentioning my disappearing hyphen post. No such luck.
No matter where I went on her sidebar, my cursor made her site disappear, piece by piece! I couldn't comment to say thanks, and neither could I click on the contact button to tell her that her theme doesn't work in Safari!
So, fingers crossed, maybe this time it will be Technorati to someone's rescue.
I updated this article following Untwisted Vortex' killer Technorati-related post, and I will add a follow-up to it too. (Don't tell anyone, because I am supposed to be a bit of an emotional stone, but his words brought a momentary lump to my throat - only for a very brief moment, you understand. Like for 0.03 seconds, the time it takes for Technorati to find my stalling account details.)
Wot, I have to work, speak English and be polite?
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Ed the Editor's personal blog corner
Imagine being sat in a Government office waiting for some paperwork to be processed by a jaded worker who won't stop yakking (speaking) about her weekend and recent job application and boyfriend. She wasn't addressing me, of course, but a co-worker sat across the office - and she was conversing in Spanish.
I thought it was quite ironic, considering the decal that a Brazilian guy, Rodrigo, noticed.
Time and Motion?
I also wonder if any supervisors in Government offices have ever studied Time and Motion! You go into a huge room filed with patiently waiting, processed humans, and sometimes the rent-a-cop at the welcoming desk is in front of you, good, or set off to the side, bad. So when you walk into the latter for the first time, you are bound to be hollered at by the desk person you ignored in your ignorance.
The welcomer's main job seems to be giving you a ticket with a number on it. To make it easy for everyone, there is a predominantly displayed sign showing the number of the next person to be called, but for some unknown reason, the desk person insists on hollering out the numbers in garbled, the language of choice of disgruntled employees. And it is even more ridiculous when that desk person is the only one in the room who cannot see the damned sign without getting out their seat every single bloody time. I never figured how such a physically active person could balloon so much?
Hunting for service
And talking of ballooning, a friend was telling me how he went to an office for a hunting license. This time there was no ticket number, there was no one in the room, except him and an employee sat at the desk reading a newspaper. He stood patiently awaiting a call to arms, and stood, and stood. Unlike the woman he was polite! The woman eventually looked up at him and asked what he wanted! He said the worst thing he could have said,
"I was wondering if I could have the form for a license, please."
Apparently she threw the paper down on the desk and told him to go sit down and wait! Still polite, he did as he was asked, and sat. She ruffled through a desk and walked over to him like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. At 900lbs (his words, not mine) she could barely walk. And then she thrust the form in his face and sneered,
"This isn't my job, you know." She then flabbergasted him with her closing remark. "I can't handle the stress, I am going to put in for some vacation time!"
Amazing innit. There is something very wrong when that sort of person has to do a job she isn't suited for! Or maybe she was worried that she might be shot by a hunter licensed to shoot big game? Mad!
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Video games save family life!
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
The digital age has been kind to kids with addictive personalities but life has become more complicated for millions of over-worked, stressed-out and substance-addicted parents funding the material needs of their kids.
Shoot 'em up video games in particular seem to have marked the end of home life as we know it, but I predict that video game companies will actually save the family! Thanks to more sporty interactive games, they will single-handedly put the family back on track and leave a warm fuzzy feeling in the home - just like before the rat race took a grip.
Back in the day, kids were given a card board box or a doll and told to go play in the garden for 5 hours while "mommy did some housework." The kids with an addictive mindset drew every ounce of entertainment value from their basic toys and had to be prised back into the house kicking and screaming when it got dark. Despite the concerns that little Johnnies and Janes were displaying weird behavioral patterns, (cardboard swords?) mommies were happy to have so much kid-free time. A few even celebrated their peace and quiet with a martini or 3.
As the economy grew, moms convinced themselves that the family unit could have a better life with more "things" to play with. Going to work for the good of the kids was in fact a sneaky way to get more money to spend on home decor, washing machines and martini, but that is a minor detail.
This social change heralded a good time for all, with parents coming in from work exuberant, bearing gifts, and kids greedily accepting the next generation of playthings. Rag dolls became action men and barbies, cardboard boxes morphed into dirty great forts and castles and real swords. The kids were permanently high on real toys, moms could escape next door to sip a few more drinks with friends, and fathers would breeze around, proud to be able to afford to pay for babysitters so he could take mom out more, to party. Everyone was happy.
People soon got caught up in the more is better syndrome that comes with material wealth, and overlooked the side effect of working all hours, ie absence from the home. Never short of ideas to keep working, parents invented latch-key kids. Addictive kids were left alone for way too long, and in that time they worked out that neglection was good and they could have a lot of fun burning forts and dropping barbies out of windows.
Once it was realised that toys were getting too dangerous, parents demanded more pacifying toys. This was preferable to staying home, supervising their kids. Along came 24-hour TV, and videos. Unfortunately, the wide-eyed and enchanted looks on kids' faces rapidly declined into a glazed look. Conversation dropped, especially when pre-packed dinner was served, and cobwebs developed rapidly on charred forts and abandoned Action Men.
Desperate for the latest greatest entertainment for kids, parents sought alternatives to harmless Baloos and chuckles that had been looping through VCRs for hours on end. Digital video games started to appear and Mario nudged harmless videos to the side lines.
To ride the wave of addiction and keep kids quiet, Dads played straight into the hands of the devil and came in from work with bags of whacky "fun" video games for the kids. Oooh, the kids could hardly contain their enthusiasm until it waned three days and 72 hours of play time later.
Play Station, the true Devil's Toy, took the world by storm and the inter-child fighting got worse. Parents couldn't stand the noise and bickering, so they took loans to finance extra meals out. They even partook of the occasional coke party, anything but be at home with that racket going on. Unfortunately they had to work harder to pay the burgeoning baby-sitting bills, so eventually they had to trim the excesses. First they cut out the babysitters and left kids to take care of themselves. When that didn't work, due to social services prosecuting negligent parents, they decided to throw in the glove and stayed home with the children they had brought into the world.
Family life was no fun, however, and demands at work grew by the day. Dads would return home at 10pm with bags under their eyes, peck their methylated and equally exhausted wife on the cheek and then slump into the sofa next to the demented screaming kids. Surprisingly, that screwy behavior was the beginning of the end of the decline!
Video games makers picked up on the "dad likes video games" dynamic and targeted games at parents too. Harmless bloodless glorified puzzles and insipid Indiana Jones-inspired videos took on an ever more adult theme. Although Mom had a hard time getting traumatised kids to sleep, on the upside, Dads were happy with the blood and gore all over the screen. Fixated on video games, dads were no longer interested in going out with tired and disenchanted wifey. This drop in expenditure helped the family budget improve somewhat. Financially at least, life was slightly on the up.
Unfortunately, the rest of the future of family life looked dire on so many levels. Fatness without fitnness gripped the home. Addictive ritlin-popping children screeched and elbowed each other with a console in their sweaty grip. During the 40 minutes or so per night that parents could spend together, they too fell into similar video-game addictive traits and lost their way, shooting zombies together, pumping themselves with any substance that would shield than from the non-reality of home life.
Finally sense returned to the world, and video games single-handedly brought families back together in a healthy, healthily addictive way. Virtual tennis! Players had to stand up and swing, and communicate and laugh and actually enjoy themselves in a constructive way. Unlike forts and barbies, there was nothing to hurt or burn, and tennis could be played indoors when it rained or after dark. What's not to like.
When kids slept, flabby parents started to play tennis too, and felt physically and mentally better for it. Instead of slugging back booze and pills, they slugged it out in front of a giant screen till they fell into bed exhausted but with a smile on their sweaty faces. Eventually they even played with the kids and talked, albeit out of breath.
The exercise created healthier appetites, and pre-packed processed food was no longer nutritious enough to sustain the video athletes. Demand for home caterers and cookery classes rose. Sadly, there was no work for babysitters, but hey, video games can't solve everything.
Shoot 'em up video games in particular seem to have marked the end of home life as we know it, but I predict that video game companies will actually save the family! Thanks to more sporty interactive games, they will single-handedly put the family back on track and leave a warm fuzzy feeling in the home - just like before the rat race took a grip.
History of play in the family!
Back in the day, kids were given a card board box or a doll and told to go play in the garden for 5 hours while "mommy did some housework." The kids with an addictive mindset drew every ounce of entertainment value from their basic toys and had to be prised back into the house kicking and screaming when it got dark. Despite the concerns that little Johnnies and Janes were displaying weird behavioral patterns, (cardboard swords?) mommies were happy to have so much kid-free time. A few even celebrated their peace and quiet with a martini or 3.
As the economy grew, moms convinced themselves that the family unit could have a better life with more "things" to play with. Going to work for the good of the kids was in fact a sneaky way to get more money to spend on home decor, washing machines and martini, but that is a minor detail.
This social change heralded a good time for all, with parents coming in from work exuberant, bearing gifts, and kids greedily accepting the next generation of playthings. Rag dolls became action men and barbies, cardboard boxes morphed into dirty great forts and castles and real swords. The kids were permanently high on real toys, moms could escape next door to sip a few more drinks with friends, and fathers would breeze around, proud to be able to afford to pay for babysitters so he could take mom out more, to party. Everyone was happy.
People soon got caught up in the more is better syndrome that comes with material wealth, and overlooked the side effect of working all hours, ie absence from the home. Never short of ideas to keep working, parents invented latch-key kids. Addictive kids were left alone for way too long, and in that time they worked out that neglection was good and they could have a lot of fun burning forts and dropping barbies out of windows.
Once it was realised that toys were getting too dangerous, parents demanded more pacifying toys. This was preferable to staying home, supervising their kids. Along came 24-hour TV, and videos. Unfortunately, the wide-eyed and enchanted looks on kids' faces rapidly declined into a glazed look. Conversation dropped, especially when pre-packed dinner was served, and cobwebs developed rapidly on charred forts and abandoned Action Men.
Video sea change
Desperate for the latest greatest entertainment for kids, parents sought alternatives to harmless Baloos and chuckles that had been looping through VCRs for hours on end. Digital video games started to appear and Mario nudged harmless videos to the side lines.
To ride the wave of addiction and keep kids quiet, Dads played straight into the hands of the devil and came in from work with bags of whacky "fun" video games for the kids. Oooh, the kids could hardly contain their enthusiasm until it waned three days and 72 hours of play time later.
Play Station, the true Devil's Toy, took the world by storm and the inter-child fighting got worse. Parents couldn't stand the noise and bickering, so they took loans to finance extra meals out. They even partook of the occasional coke party, anything but be at home with that racket going on. Unfortunately they had to work harder to pay the burgeoning baby-sitting bills, so eventually they had to trim the excesses. First they cut out the babysitters and left kids to take care of themselves. When that didn't work, due to social services prosecuting negligent parents, they decided to throw in the glove and stayed home with the children they had brought into the world.
Family life was no fun, however, and demands at work grew by the day. Dads would return home at 10pm with bags under their eyes, peck their methylated and equally exhausted wife on the cheek and then slump into the sofa next to the demented screaming kids. Surprisingly, that screwy behavior was the beginning of the end of the decline!
Video life on the up
Video games makers picked up on the "dad likes video games" dynamic and targeted games at parents too. Harmless bloodless glorified puzzles and insipid Indiana Jones-inspired videos took on an ever more adult theme. Although Mom had a hard time getting traumatised kids to sleep, on the upside, Dads were happy with the blood and gore all over the screen. Fixated on video games, dads were no longer interested in going out with tired and disenchanted wifey. This drop in expenditure helped the family budget improve somewhat. Financially at least, life was slightly on the up.
Unfortunately, the rest of the future of family life looked dire on so many levels. Fatness without fitnness gripped the home. Addictive ritlin-popping children screeched and elbowed each other with a console in their sweaty grip. During the 40 minutes or so per night that parents could spend together, they too fell into similar video-game addictive traits and lost their way, shooting zombies together, pumping themselves with any substance that would shield than from the non-reality of home life.
Virtual tennis
Finally sense returned to the world, and video games single-handedly brought families back together in a healthy, healthily addictive way. Virtual tennis! Players had to stand up and swing, and communicate and laugh and actually enjoy themselves in a constructive way. Unlike forts and barbies, there was nothing to hurt or burn, and tennis could be played indoors when it rained or after dark. What's not to like.
When kids slept, flabby parents started to play tennis too, and felt physically and mentally better for it. Instead of slugging back booze and pills, they slugged it out in front of a giant screen till they fell into bed exhausted but with a smile on their sweaty faces. Eventually they even played with the kids and talked, albeit out of breath.
The exercise created healthier appetites, and pre-packed processed food was no longer nutritious enough to sustain the video athletes. Demand for home caterers and cookery classes rose. Sadly, there was no work for babysitters, but hey, video games can't solve everything.
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Forgetfulness is a man thing
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Ed the Editor's personal blog corner
I could tell you the registration number of a car my mother owned in 1974, but I would be completely stumped if I had to tell you what is on the plate of the car we drive now. I have tried to commit it to memory but it just won't stick.
I could tell you that Shirley Ellis sung the Clapping Song, and Lieber and Stoller wrote Elvis songs, because my mother played them when I was 5. Sadly, I don't know the title of a single Britney Spears song. So much for the power of marketing today!
I know that David Gower and Ian Botham, two cricketing legends, both started playing for England in 197-something. How do I know? I was delivering newspapers before school and remember reading the headlines on the back sports pages. Most disturbing, for all the highlights and news programs I have sat through in recent months, I couldn't tell you the name of a single rooky footballer.
So what is that all about then? Long term memory is firing on all cylinders, short term memory is shot? Possibly all that drinking as a younger man has taken its toll and parts of my head are neuronless? Maybe, but I prefer the idea that my inability to recall recent trivia could be a man thing.
Apparently we men only recall what is important to us. Rooky sportsmen destined for jail hold no interest for me any more. Fattening pop stars have no appeal any more. Boxy Japanese cars aren't worth remembering in detail? That all sounds about right. As long as I overlook the fact that I don't know my own telephone number, despite writing it down numerous times, I think this selective memory theory applies to me - and sounds much sexier than early senility.
Now, where is the Save button?
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MyBlogLog Sunday 26
OK - MyBlogLog Sunday is over for another day.
As a tip to bloggers: if you call by next Sunday, feel free to leave a link to your best post of the week in the comments. That way, even if you don't end up being captured in the widget when I start blogging, at least you get to spread the word about your blog.
So endeth the MyBlogLog Sunday posts for this week .
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