Hot Fuzz-tastic

If you liked Shaun of the Dead you will love Hot Fuzz. It is really quite the funniest thing I’ve seen for ages.

Having a bad day

I know everyone is probably sick to death of hearing about Beloved/Loathed and his never ending reign of cruelty. Suffice to say he is currently making me endure something so hideous I’m not entirely sure how I’m getting up in the morning, getting to work, sitting at my desk (obviously not doing much work as evidenced by inordinate amount of blogging), getting home etc. Vast quantities of vodka and very long, very hot baths are helping.

The thing is I don’t think he has a clue about what he’s doing. I’m trying not to believe he is fundamentally a bad person even though all evidence suggests he might be, so if he’s not then why can’t he show me something resembling human consideration and compassion? If he does know what he’s doing then what sort of monster has he turned into?

Excuse me whilst I crawl back in my hole of despair (only 2 and a bit hours before I can crack open the Smirnoff).

What shiny people

Who are these terrifying people?

These ones look a little less scarey.

London life

I love living in London. I’ve been here 14 years and think it is just the best place. However, I hate the West End on a Saturday night. I should know better: you go out in town during the week but at the weekend stay in your own patch. There are various reasons for this, but by far the main reason is the hideous debacle that is getting home. Let me explain.

Tubes end ridiculously early. Why the hell they can’t stay open later on a Saturday night I do not know. Surely one night with shorter engineering time would be okay (let’s face it the engineering work rarely seems to work anyway).

Night buses are patchy and you have to schlep down to Trafalgar Square to find one. They’re also a bit dodgy. You can guarantee that the nutter will sit next to or behind me. Plus the prospect of an overcrowded bus stop when it is pissing down with really cold rain…well need I say more?

So – having reached a certain age and enjoying relative financial security – a cab seems a good option. We are all told under no circumstances do you get in an unlicensed cab, so you soldier on past the dodgy men plying their trade (no not that sort of trade even though I was in Soho), all the while keeping an eagle eye out for that welcome orange glow. You walk, you walk, you stop at a likely junction, you walk a bit further and head for a mainline station in the hope that at least there will be some other people with whom to share your excruciating wait, you’ll be in shelter and there is bound to be an endless stream of nice shiny black cabs. Invariably you end up at Charing Cross.

The problem with Charing Cross is that cabbies always want to go south east or east. I know why this is, I know these guys want to go home but it REALLY annoys me when they drive by slowly with their light off trying to get their journey home paid for. So you wait and you wait…and you carry on waiting. At some point you even consider going to find a mini cab, you are so desperate to get home that you actually weigh up the risk of rape vs. ever getting anywhere near your front door. I shudder to think how much that thought can take hold if you’ve had one too many shandies.

So back to Charing Cross. There were may be 15 people in front of us in the queue, some singles but mostly couples or groups and how long did it take for the required eight cabs to turn up? Over an hour! It’s ridiculous. When they put the fares up a couple of years ago, we were promised that there would be more black cabs on the streets – where the hell have they gone? Why isn’t the West End swarming with those lovely orange lights at 2am on a cold, wet Saturday night?

I know the score, I know it’s an inevitable risk of a rare Saturday night out in the West End but what signal does it give out to visitors? Rather like Terminal 2 at Heathrow, it just makes London look shoddy and crap.

Rant over but I’m not happy and will be staying in sunny south west London for the foreseeable weekends ahead.

Kareem Amer jailed

If the blogosphere is the final frontier for freedom of speech, then a battle has been lost.

BBC article here

Online petition here

Equal opportunity racism

An excerpt from an interesting article by Todd Defren

Here’s what I noticed: these well-off kids, all of whom appear to be raised by conscientious, highly educated, liberal-minded parents, are not blind to race (as they were raised); rather, they make a BIG deal of it; they completely wrap their arms around racial stereotypes to the point where they are rendered ridiculously ineffective.  Not only that, they drill down beyond the “macro” identities (say, “latino”) and get specific (not “latino” but “Chilean”).

Full article here

Sadly I suspect that whilst “well-off kids” may be at ease with the concept of multi-culturism and celebration of differences, that less “well-off” or rather well-educated/well brought up (insert your Daily Mail phrase of the week) kids/adults will remain threatened by the concept of difference. We can educate and preach all we like but it seems that tolerance does not come naturally to human beings and the sad fact is that the luxury of acceptance remains the preserve of middle class liberals.

TV tastic

I am in danger of becoming a couch potato because there is just rather a lot of good television on at the moment.

Rather excitingly I have learned how to use the video so I can have a life away from the sofa. I know the line “I have learned to use the video” might be a bit shocking and give people to believe I have Luddite tendencies but there is a very good reason I never really bothered with learning about it before. I was the victim of male remote control abuse.

Okay, potentially being a touch over-dramatic there, but I have never enjoyed unfettered access to remote controls before and the power is quite dizzying.

Apparently I should do away with the video altogether and Sky Plus everything but that would require donating even more money to Mr Murdoch. I’ve recently scaled back my commitment to him and intend to keep my monthly contribution to his quest for world domination to a minimum. Ideally of course that would be 0p but I do need Lost!

So back to the good TV…

Sunday: 24 and Lost. I am actually crap at watching 24 but I like to know it’s there “just in case” and I love Chloe.

Monday: TV desert so time to watch Lost which I video (mainly so I can concentrate and also because I am a saddo and a sap and record it for Beloved/Loathed)

Tuesday: Life on Mars. Fab programme and I’m really looking forward to seeing how it ends. I know that sounds mad but it takes a brave programme maker not to drag out a winning formula so I hope they do the ending justice.

Wednesday: Relocation Relocation and Desperate Housewives. Kirsty Allsop, I have such a girlie crush on her!

Thursday: Mostly we return to desert territory although I am really trying to like Skins. It started off so well but hasn’t really lived up to the first episode. I know I am entirely the wrong demographic so may be that is hampering my ability to get into it fully.

Friday, Saturday: Okay I’ve realised that my statement “rather a lot of good television on at the moment” might have been overstating the point somewhat and there are still huge chasms of TV crapness (which is why UK Style was invented) but there does seem to be more good stuff on than usual.

Lost the plot

Has Lost lost it?

Settled down last night to catch up with Lost and the writers did one of those REALLY ANNOYING THINGS they do far too often ie jump from one story line which you’ve got really into and is all a bit “will they/won’t they make it?” to a completely different story line.

It’s just frustrating.

That’s not to say this week’s episode wasn’t good, Desmond is always a bit of a mystery and it’s nice to see Jim Robinson pop up again (Alan Dale’s having a bit of a rennaissance) but couldn’t we have had some clue as to how Kate and Sawyer were getting on in their boat and what had become of Jack – presumably Ben’s going to be none too thrilled that he almost killed him twice?

I do enjoy Lost but every week seems to ask more questions, there are rarely any answers and it gets exhausting.