More evidence in Toryland

Seriously - I am worried now. My mind is closing every day - just more evidence I am turning into a Tory.
Took a trip into Oxford today to have a Sunday stroll around Christchurch Meadow with the family (very middle class and very pleasant) and a visit to the vastly underrated Modern Art Oxford.
But there was a problem. The exhibition by Karla Black wasn't my cup of tea.
No problem with that you might think. But it's not just that it wasn't my cup of tea it was the righteous indignation it stirred within my soul.
As I looked at the pile of pink chalk dust on the floor and the scraps of torn and scribbled paper hanging from the ceiling I had a burst of anger. Then a thought seeped into my brain: "How does anyone make money from this crap?"

Why bring it back to money? I've never felt like that before. If I've not liked something before I've thought 'horses for courses' and trudged away thinking about those sad teenage years when I would fail to see the sailing boat in the magic eye pictures.
Suddenly it's all about the bottom line.
I'm frightened to take my pants off at night in case my pubic hair is turning blue.

Am I coming out as a Tory?

I like telly - it's been the subject of previous blogs. I particularly like sci-fi/fantasy style TV shows in the ilk of BSG, Lost, Harper's Island etc etc. I also have no objection to TV programmes showing the seedier side of life and people making the beast with two backs.
So it seemed only natural to get into True Blood - a series about vampires starring the extremely attractive young lady who played Rogue in the X-Men.

But when I watch it I feel a curious sensation. Is this just too seedy for me?
There is a huge quantity of nooky - most of it rough - but that's ok.
But then there's the misogyny. Women seem to be little more than objects. Not objects of desire even, or even a mark on the bedpost, just something to do - literally most of the time.
I am watching it with unease and sense of moral outrage and it hits me. I am old. I have two children and it has changed my view on life completely.
That the women gain some vengeance by the end and assert their independence meant little to me - I was on a moral crusade by the end.
I am worried I might be coming a Conservative (yes that's right - with a capital C)Worst feeling ever.

Blog Action Day

I have just registered my support for Blog Action Day.
The power of the net and its potential to do good never ceases to amaze me and the more digging I do the more I am convinced that it could become a great tool for positive change.
Of course, it needs a wee bit of tidying up and snagging but the potential is massive.
Anyway, don't just take my word for it, check this out:



and the follow this link wwww.blogactionday.org

Freedom of speech

It's such an important concept in the modern world. It protects the have-nots from those who wish to take advantage of a position of authority, be it celebrity, politics and finance.

That a major company (Trafigura) tried to twist our laws to prevent a question asked in the Houses of Parliament sickens me. That they succeeded for almost 24 hours makes it even worse.

Thank god for the power of Twitter http://tiny.cc/ptiOC

One of the foremost Tweeters on this subject was Stephen Fry - yes that Fry. The one from Fry and Laurie, QI, Jeeves and Wooster and Wilde. He has more than 800,000 people following him on Twitter and that is a lot of exposure.

It is a triumph of social networking that a comedian - albeit an extremely erudite and well educated comedian - has the power to overthrow a terrible decision taken to protect a firm that should be open to public scutiny.

Oh Dear George

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/09/george-osborne-budget-deficit

Let me get this right. We're in a recession, you're planning our way out and yet think that a £3bn error in a £13bn prediction is "presentational". My maths may not be amazing - similar to yours - but I would say that you were about 23 per cent out there.

I'm not confident. Come on Green Party make a bloody effort.

I love YouTube

It has to be one of the greatest inventions ever.
I had a shabby day at work today - problems with my hangover management meant it was hard to concentrate on the easiest of tasks and and the moment I don't have any easy tasks anyway.
So onto the world's biggest video-sharing site for a teeny tickle of the humour bones.

A few clips later and the world seemed a much brighter place. Take this for example:



Does it get any better than people who think their 'ard being silly-billies for all to see?

Or how about this?



The genius that is Eddie Izzard combined with lego animation.

Or last but not least, an amazingly gifted editor posted this



Web 2.0 might have given morons and show-offs a stage but there is a wealth of top material out there too.

It was The Sun wot won it...

..for Labour in 1997. Or at least so they claimed. If I remember rightly the famously Tory paper switched sides just as the election propaganda was drawing to a close and claimed to have been the deciding factor when Blair stormed to Downing Street.

Now they claim to be doing it again for Cameron. But of course, anyone with any brains were putting their money on Labour in '97 - the Tories were tired and on the ropes long before The Sun changed colours. It was a miracle that Major had managed to see off Kinnock four years earlier (apparantly The Sun won that one too) and after four bad years the '97 election was a formality.

The Sun isn't a political leader as it claims, it's a follower but is shameless in its self-promotion. Are the editor deluded or calculated? Difficult to say but I have little doubt that top dog Rebekah Wade is a sharp operator having learned the trade under Piers Morgan and learned from his mistakes.

All I can say is get stuffed Sun. Labour may well not win the next election but that will not be down to your shameless editorials.