An End that Was Not
 
Coming full circle to this day added
grey to her hair, stripped the youth from her eyes,
and brought her closer to herself. The prayers,
pleadings, silent promises find their voice
in written words, in poetry she needs
to release, plastering emotion on
virtual billboards so she can see it.
 
Moving from room to room, she imagines
possibilities – remembers what was.
Warmth infused walls, changes in hue and tone,
make the space more livable. Less haunting
than it was a year ago when it was
emptied of passion without a whisper
of goodbye; an end that was not an end.
 
 
Siobhan
12/31/09

Is everyone enjoying their holidays so far?
Now the time has come to reveal my Top 10 album of the decade (2000-2009) which I called it MW2K (check out the FULL 100 albums there).
In the top 10, I had to put in a tie which makes this a Top 11.
We have four Canadians, three British and four Americans.
So here it is.
Also a footnote, this listing is based on the CD that I have owned so if I didn’t add someone like The Killers (who should have been in the list) its because I don’t have the CD.

1. Funeral – Arcade Fire (2004)


I would say this album defined this decade. It was different with the instrumentation and what I hear is from their live shows. The themes in this album is all about death and sadness. Hearing this album it doesn’t sound Canadian but you know it is Canadian and props to them by giving the world the attention in the Canadian indie music scene.
Best tracks are Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighborhood #2 (Laïka), Crown Of Love, Wake Up and Rebellion (Lies).




2. Set Yourself On Fire – Stars (2004)


First time knowing about this band was their song “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead”. What it a song it was.
This band just amazes me with their music and live presences at show. But this album was the beginning of their popularity due with the song just mentioned. Mix of ballad dreamy indie pop with new wave alternative pop sound.
My take on this album is about a couple’s up and down relationship.
Best tracks are Your Ex-Lover Is Dead, Set Yourself On Fire, Ageless Beauty, Sleep Tonight, He Lied About Death, Soft Revolution and Calendar Girl.







3. Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not – Arctic Monkeys (2006)


They were one of the bands that tapped into the Myspace era of that year to get their music around. Call it the DIY approach.
It caught wildfires in the UK and parts of the world with their blend of British indie rock and post punk revival.
It was a breath of fresh air with rock making sort of a comeback during the times of rap/hip-hop.
Best tracks are I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, Fake Tales Of San Francisco, Dancing Shoes, When The Sun Goes Down and A Certain Romance




4. Kid A – Radiohead (2000)


Might be surprised why this album is not #1 mostly because its been on everyone’s list. But its still a perfect and significant album of this decade.
Significant because they didn’t do any promotion on this album. No music video and radioplay which made a surprising debut at #1.
In that year with Napster running, people were downloading this album to get a feel of the new material.
Its such a dark album they have produced which the theme is when the world goes horribly wrong. Lots of electronic bleeps and dark empty spaces of sound.
Best tracks are Everything In Its Right Place and Idioteque.



Sorry about showing Idioteque, its my favorite song in the album.


5. (TIE) Stripped – Christina Aguilera (2002) / Oops!… I Did It Again – Britney Spears (2000)

While compiling this list, I wanted to put both in the top 10 and when I left one. I needed to a do instead.

2002 was a shocker when Xtina (as she was called) showed her “Dirrty” side when she released that song and the accompanying music video. Boy did she cause a riot.
Dirrty was a big hit outside the USA where it was a big hit in the UK, Europe and Asia. But in America not everyone was liking the “Dirrty” side. So the label decided to release “Beautiful” stateside and it changed everything. Without Beautiful, she wouldn’t have the talent and longevity in the music buisness.
Stripped does shoe her talents but its an album where she got creative control and sing about what is personal to her.
Best tracks are Can’t Hold Us Down, Loving Me 4 Me, Beautiful, Dirrty and I’m OK.


2000 saw the release of Britney’s second album “Oops!… I Did It Again”. Which is so far the highest selling album for a female artist.
After the success of Baby One More Time she wanted to step it up a notch with the second album and it wasn’t a sophomore curse.
Anyways I would say this is the last album which Britney does the bubblegum pop route and going into slick/edgier pop route.
Don’t take face value and just enjoy the album as it is.
Best tracks are Oops!… I Did It Again, Lucky and Stronger.




6. You Forget It In People – Broken Social Scene (2002)


Call me a late bloomer in the Broken Social Scene musiciverse. I got this album in 2008 and was blown away with the production value on it.
In that year it was the beginning of what was to come with the musicians who were in Broken Social Scene like Feist, Apostle Of Hustle, Stars and Metric.
Surprised to who was involved in this album
It is Canadian indie rock at its best.
Best tracks are KC Accidental, Stars and Sons, Almost Crimes, Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl, Cause=Time and Lover’s Spit.




7. Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? – Metric (2003)


Metric was at its best with this album.
Full of great indie new wave and indie rock tracks. It capitulated their popularity all over Canada.
Best tracks are Succexy, Combat Baby, Dead Disco and Love Is A Place.




8. Sea Change – Beck (2002)


What a sad album, who knew Beck would write such an amazing album.
Dealing with a breakup you can hear his pain and sorrow.
Best tracks are The Golden Age, Guess I’m Doing Fine, Lost Cause,



9. In Rainbow – Radiohead (2007)


Who knew you can pay what you can for this album.
This is the Radiohead album which they are happy to write whatever they want to write about.
Best tracks are Nude, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, Reckoner and Jigsaw Falling Into Place.



10. FutureSex/LoveSounds – Justin Timberlake (2006)


In this second album, there was a change in sound and let’s say he brought Sexyback and electro-trance-pop.
The album sounds like a step into the future.
My Love is the one track you need to listen to before you die or when the world will end.
Best tracks are FutureSex/LoveSounds, Sexyback, My Love, Lovestoned, What Goes Around Comes Around, and Summer Love.

Minimalism is coming back in vogue!

You know what I hate? When a realty company gets addresses mixed up and forecloses on your condominium by mistake, changes the locks then removes everything inside. I really, really hate that. Nilly Mauckwas was doing quite nicely when the Brenkus Team of Keller and Williams Realty accidentally mistook her place for the next door neighbors. Ms Mauckwas popped home during the day to find a note on her door saying they had accidentally re-keyed the wrong door. She thought nothing of it until she returned home later to discover her condo had been totally emptied. Her clothes, wedding dress, wedding photos, baby photos, dishes, towels, clothes , jewelery everything, you name it, gone. Even worse, neither the Realtor nor the company that removed her possessions know where her stuff is. Bummer. I sense a lawsuit coming on!

Hey guys, I know it has been forever since I posted on my favorite team and the trials and tribulations of the NFL, but unfortunately I’ve been too busy graduating and trying to make sense of this new world known as adulthood. Oh well!!! Graduation is over and my team managed to give me the best graduation present in the world. They beat an undefeated team! The same team a well-respected coach said the Cowboys had no chance of beating (yeah Tony Dungy, I’m looking at you). 

Dallas was able to dominate early on in the game by scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions, and then going up 24-3 on a short touchdown run by Barber in the third quarter. However, it was not all was fun and games when the Saints were able to score two touchdown runs in the fourth quarter. Prior to the two minute warning Folk missed a 24-yard field goal that would have put the Saints two possessions behind the Cowboys… it looked like the high powered Saints were about to once again pull an improbable win. I have to say I was bleeding silver and blue at this point. I could not believe what I had seen… the same Folk that once kicked back-to-back 52 yard field goals in 2007 now leads the league with 10 misses, going 18-of-28 and missing 7 of his past 11 (Update: Folk is out and Suisham is in). I thought the game was over….

But Demarcus Ware apparently did not get the memo. With less than 20-something seconds on the clock and the Saints marching all the way to midfield, Ware was able to strip Brees for the second time in the game and lineman Jay Ratliff recovered. The Superdome was silenced and the dreams of a perfect season were over!!!!!

The Cowboys outgained the Saints 439 to 336 yards, holding them 90 yards and nearly 19 points below their averages in these categories. New Orleans, who came in coverting nearly 48% of third downs this season, converted only one of seven. The Saint were torn down and lost!!! Hehehe…

Playoff Picture: Unfortunately, the damn Eagles clinched a playoff spot with there win over the 49ers, but that does not mean the Cowboys are out of the running for the top spot. If Dallas wins one more of their next two games and the Giants lose just one, then Dallas clinches a wildcard spot. If Dallas and New York have tied records in the end, which would be 10-6, then Dallas would be out due to the sweep by the Giants during the regular season. If Dallas is able to win their next two, which are Washington and Philly, then they win the NFC East division.  It will literally come down to the final game.

But as my ‘Boys were able to prove on Saturday, anything can happen in the crazy world of football. So lets keep watching and have our fingers crossed that both Eli Manning and Donovan McNabb get hit by buses sometime before next week!

Ciao for now! XOXO

Hello and welcome to my blog.  My blog will detail my activities on the betting exchange Betfair and trying to profit from sports gambling and trading.  I have about 3 years experience with betfair but have been unable to make it pay consisently mainly due to indiscipline and having one big loss which wipes out two to three weeks good work.  Also I never seem to ever have a strategy and just pile head first into as many markets as I can.

So this is my plan going forward as 2009 draws to a close.  I will have targets but they are only guides where I would like to be at a particular time or after a certain amount of bets.  My plan is to try average 3% per day but if I don’t happen to hit that target then there will be no chasing.  If I can average 3% a day that means the bank will be doubling every 24 days which would keep me more than happy.

The way I am looking to put this plan into action is by choosing my best 7 bets of the week , thay may mean one every day or 3 on a particular day, whatever way they happen to fall.  I want to get away from betting on every match or event just because its on the telly etc.   I will also do very small trades for small gains ( hopefully ) to try limit the damage of having markets wildly swinging against me.  Another reason for this is so as I don’t leave myself over exposed and end up panicking and before you know it , I am looking at an ugly all red screen.  This has been a big problem for me recently and if I want to progress it has to be eradicated pure and simple.

The primary reason for the blog is to start to learn some patience and discipline because I believe there is money to made on the exchanges if you can keep your composure.  I am under no pressure time wise so it really is a case of being patient.  I will update the blog with screenshots and content about how my day has went when I have any activity on the exchanges as well as some snippets of my other passion – music.  My start bank will be 1,263.79 euro and maximum exposure will be 10%.

The title of the blog has actually come from a stripped version of an Alicia Keys song which I think is amazing.  She is an amazing talent not only at singing with that sultry soulful voice but at the piano , an instrument I love.  Here is the link to the song.

Bye

Alejandra Maria Torres, a young woman from Guatemala who was caught stealing in a bus along with three accomplices, was exemplary punished by those who she tried to harm. The woman was stripped, badly beaten, then she was set on fire. Only the rapid intervention of the police made Alejandra escape from certain death. Once extinguished the flames, police arrested the woman who, at present, is waiting to be punished for the act committed. Meanwhile, law enforcement began a massive search operation of Alejandra’s three accomplices, who managed to escape in the general hubbub.

What if God allowed you to be stripped? What if…

• …God all0wed your sense of relevance to be taken away or questioned?
• …God allowed your “name” to be diminished among your peers & community?
• …God allowed your sense of purpose to be questioned?
• …God allowed you to be in a position to question your faith & trust in Him in what was happening?
• …God allowed you to be abused and mistreated and abandoned by those who you trusted the most?
• …God allowed you to be stripped of all dignity, all position, all sense of value?
• …God allowed you to cry out to Him, only to answer in silence, prolonging the pain and fear and uncertainty?

What if God allowed you to be stripped?

I guess that would put us in the same shoes as Jesus, wouldn’t it, for we are about to celebrate the birth of God become man…where God the Father allowed all this in the life of His Son on earth. Why? So that I can know Him and be stripped in order to become more like Jesus. 

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun. Romans 8:29-30 (The Message)

Thankful He came.  Thankful He allowed Himself to be stripped.  Thankful He modeled how to be stripped.

Somebody took it upon themselves to “memorialize” John’s facebook account.  This basically stripped his account.  I can’t believe that somebody would have the audacity to do it without consulting me– you know– his wife.  I LOVED how John wrote… I LOVED to go back and read his words and smile.  So… to whomever did it… THANKS for ruining it.  THANKS for stealing what I wanted to share with Nathaniel– you know– John’s son.

I don’t understand why facebook allows anyone to go in and do this.  You would think that they’d reserve the right for spouse if the person has one, parents if the child is a minor or if the person has no spouse, etc… and not merely some “internet friend.”

“Memorializing” basically strips the account… none of John’s status updates remain, his info tab (which lists his employment, his groups, his pages), his bike log, his blog, his games, and several goofy pass it along surveys are gone.  In other words by “memorializing” his page “John” was stripped from his page… raped… eradicated… dead…

So, to whomever killed John’s facebook page… Thanks…

I wanted to be able to share with Nathaniel, what his father felt and shared in his fight against cancer.  I never got a chance to save it because I didn’t think somebody would “memorialize” his page.  Never in my wildest dreams-  or should I say worst nightmares- did I think somebody would go behind my back without asking me.  Now it’s gone… Thanks…

Oh… and those, “silly goofy survey’s.”  I wanted so much to save them.  One  was one of those what do you enjoy, which would you choose sort of surveys.  John answered them with his personal touch- in the way that was uniquely John.   It was so him.  I wish so badly that I had it back   I wanted to share it with Nathaniel.  It was on his front page and would have remained there for years… Now it’s gone… Thanks…

What is wrong with people?  Do they just not think?  Wouldn’t you think somebody would ask me,  “Hey, Mary, did you know you could memorialize John’s facebook page?  Do you want to do it?”

At which time I could have explained that no, I did not and my reasons why.  I had been alerted to the “dangers” of “memorializing.“

So… what’s left of “John” on his facebook page… very little.  It reminds me of a headstone.  Does a headstone tell you about a person- how they lived their life-   what type of person they were?  Not usually… pretty much just name… date of birth… date of death…

The only comments of John’s that are left are the ones that John made in response to what somebody posted on his wall.  John’s FB page goes back to October 13, 2008… that’s before stage IV… shortly after his stage III diagnosis.  Back to when he was trying to decide about enrolling in the clinical vaccination trial.  So much is gone… it’s terrible.

Here’s what’s left of John on his FB page…

To set the stage- this was after a friend was fixing our stopped up sink and broke a pipe…

Keith- Just cause Matt has an occasional case of plumbers crack does not make him a plumber! May 5, 2009

Oh, God. Yes, God. He’s such an easy target.

And topical, obviously.

He’s pretty central to Eddie Izzard’s much-toured show Stripped, which uses the modest concepts of evolution and civilisation as hooks from which to hang squirming multicoloured neuroworms that burrow through your brain, seeding itchy little ideaeggs deep into the tissue. Jazz chickens. Speeding raptors. Ninja sheep. These were images as unforgettable and original as bees or jam or cake-or-death. This was the Definite Article Eddie of the pre-Sexie days, and it was wonderful to have him back.

His divine theme seemed particularly apt in the hanger-like vastness of the O2; Eddie strode the stage like a scruffy-haired kid in coattails, dwarfed by the echoing atmosphere. His God snorted coke; fed badgers crème brûlée; begat an alphabet of Sons (Besus, Tesus, Mesus); and, above all, simply failed to show up. He failed to show up for Hitler. He failed to show up when we landed on the moon. He was the lamest sort of absentee Father, and this was a hilarious up-yours from a Gloriously errant child.

He also failed to show up for the performance of ENO’s Messiah I attended the following night, and if He can resist such a lush, spinetingling lovesong, He’s not worthy of the name. Deborah Warner’s production has taken controversial risks, using modern dress, dramatic staging, video and dance to bring a fresh perspective to the hallowed oratorio, but I found the work easily strong enough to absorb and accommodate the playful layers. In previous years I’ve stuck to The Sixteen at the Sheldonian and nothing can beat them for rich, ancient, puddingy goodness, but some touches – the micro Nativity play full of precocious stars; the moving Man of Sorrows sung with total sincerity by Catherine Wyn-Rogers on a sacrificial wasteland of black cloth; the golden tree of renewal – were welcome sweetspots.

And yes, I stood up during the Hallelujah, and was quietly sad to see only a handful in the whole Coliseum do the same. What a bunch of sheep. And I don’t mean ninja sheep.

Next up in our rundown of gift ideas for the wundercyclist on your list is DVDs. I love giving DVDs for Christmas, for two reasons:

1. They’re cheap. They tend to run in the $25 range. You can also, especially this time of year, pick up discount DVDs at $10 to $20. They may not be the latest releases, but chances are they’re still pretty current (i.e., released within the past year). You can find DVDs online, but as always I recommend getting them from your local bike shop. They’re a great way to strike up a conversation and get to know your shop monkeyz.

2. I can watch them before I give them away. So it’s like a present for me too. Hey, what can I say? My wife gives books for the same reason.

I should say that when it comes to DVDs, I have a decidedly mountain biking bias. (Guess what: Same thing when it comes to riding.) The last non-MTB DVD I enjoyed was MASH, a dynamite bikeumentary on the fixie scene in San Francisco. There’s a similar and much newer DVD focusing on Seattle out, called “X-TREME FAST FRIDAY,” that I haven’t seen yet. But a DVD about Seattle has to be good.

On the MTB side, here’s my recommendations:

For fun and entertainment: BARRED FOR LIFE. I’m not sure why the title here, since nobody goes to jail or even comes close to violating any law. I guess it’s supposed to be just edgy, which is fine. Since the first iteration (actually VHS) back in the day, called “Tread,” MTB DVDs have tended to possess nonsensical titles. The titles of two of my favorites, “Stripped” and “Latitudes,” (neither still available) had nothing to do with the content.

I like “Barred for Life” for a couple of reasons: the soundtrack and the cinematography. Soundtracks have thankfully progressed beyond 1) the tonsilitic punk of early days and 2) the monotonic rap of post-early days to, in “Barred’s” case, really good music. And veteran Bjorn Aunet is the gold standard for MTB producers.

For instruction: FLUIDRIDE LIKE A PRO. This is hands down the best instruction DVD out there, which admittedly isn’t saying much because there just aren’t any comparable titles. Fluidride creator Simon Lawton and freerider Lars Sternberg talk, walk and ride you through the steps of jumps, drops, cornering, braking and — most important — body position in the panoply of trail-riding techniques.

Fluidride has been out for awhile, and I’m hoping an updated version or a 2.0 sequel is on its way, but even experienced riders can learn something from this DVD. Simon recently sold his shop to focus full-time on his instruction classes, which are booked weeks in advance for the very reason that the guy really knows what he’s doing. (Disclosure: I know the Fluidride folks.)

For culture and history: KLUNKERZ. Billy Savage’s mtb documentary about the early days of Marin’s downhill scene came out more than a year ago but is the essence of timelessness. Mountain bikers of all ages and proclivities will get a big kick out of the hippie days of mtb’s font, the Repack grade above Fairfax CA.

For racing: TIPPING POINT, by Clay Porter. Porter annually documents the World Cup season, and “Tipping Point” focuses on 2008, so it’s a bit worn around the edges. But for understanding the racing scene and getting to know its leading personalities, the DVD can’t be beat. The whole world eagerly awaits a 2009 edition, which will surely build around Steve Peat’s amazing season, where he not only set the record for most World Cup wins but took home the rainbow jersey for World Champion for the first time in his storied career. Dang I wish the DVD were out. Until it appears, “Tipping Point” provides a great teaser because its primary theme is how Peaty has had to endure near-miss after near-miss year after year in the Worlds.

(Another DVD to watch for, but which isn’t available yet, is “Women of Dirt.” Finally there’s a counterpart for the women’s circuit to all the male-only DVDs over the years. Unfortunately it’ll have to fill next year’s stockings above the fireplace.)

Finally, for advocacy: FREEDOM RIDERS. We’ve reviewed and talked about this video a lot, so suffice it to say that it’s the best available for understanding tensions surrounding the freeride culture, and for providing a marvelous case study in bringing people together for mountain biking in a Wyoming community. Highly recommended.

Other titles to consider include REVOLVE, which we reviewed earlier, and DUST & BONES, the latest and supposedly last “New World Disorder” film which we haven’t seen but know enough about from the previous nine versions to figure on lots of tricks in brief cameos from famous slopestylists.

With any of these, you can’t go wrong. We leave you with BARRED FOR LIFE’s slogan, in tiny print on its case: “Buy this instead of that other DVD. Thank you.”

Now that’s what you call direct marketing!

[Note: In accordance with our expressed review policy, we purchased over the counter all above videos discussed except of course the ones we (as cited) have not yet seen.]

Izzard on God

Eddie Izzard, Stripped, Wembley Arena.

James Mason did not make an appearance, nor did a man punching a baboon, but Eddie Izzard was on fine form once again. Anyone that can sustain a mime for five minutes containing a speechless speeding velociraptor (doing 45 in 30mph zone), even if they can’t believe they are getting away with it, I’ll pay to see.

Izzard is fantastically post-modernly self aware. Fine. Though it can be frustrating – half way through a gag that is going no-where, he’ll dig out a joke from his previous shows. His biggest laugh came from the old pathos of pretending to write on his hand: “don’t rehearse scenes at Wembley”.

He chose easy victims for the jokes. God, who even after being asked, failed to make an appearance to defend himself. Darwin got a good endorsement, but Izzard doesn’t think the Noah story holds much water.

The energy seemed down. Tired from too much running?

It was a safe, funny act but it did seem that a little short of classic quotable lines. I would love to see it again, perhaps on DVD and give it a second chance.

After all this is a man who can mime a surprised giraffe and a cat singing scat.

Martin Rouse has lost his job at Sudbury Upper School in Suffolk and banned from working in 357 schools by the Suffolk County Council. His crime? Stripping to his waist in front of 30, 14 years old students in an attempt “to be cool”. Hmm, by the look of the video on YouTube, I don’t think anyone is going to be scarred for life. Though one pupil said of the incident ‘It was quite funny but his big man boobs made him look a bit sad.’

Transvestite comedian Eddie Izzard has jumped from comedy to theatre, to Hollywood and back again. And now he is back, again!

Eddie Izzard - Stripped

His religious, historical and philosophical ramblings of previous tours continue in Stripped despite any West End or Hollywood influences over the past five years. His opening line was “Let’s talk about everything that’s ever happened.” So he did: dinosaurs, Darwin, Noah’s Ark, Latin, bees, the Bible and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Although random, his tangents ironically appear to have structure. He includes a lot of old material but simultaneously brings something new. He makes you feel like he’s talking to you one-on-one, except there just so happens to be a few thousand other people listening in on your conversation. 

If he goes too far into his stroies and the crowd don’t follow Izzard whips out his trusty hand and writes a mental note that the joke isn’t working, which has the crowd in stitches.

Izzard doesn’t really tell ‘jokes’ he tells stories which just happen to be funny. Not to discredit his natural talent as a performer, he embodies the ‘joke’ rather than tells it.

Stripped, is his first stand-up show since Sexie five years ago is a refreshing reminder of Izzard’s charisma.

After starring in movies such as The Cat’s Meow, My Super Ex-Girlfriend and in TV series The Riches, Izzard hasn’t lost his touch, even if he has lost the women’s clothes and make-up.

Malak El Ezzawy, one of our favorite local evening wear designers, tributes the “Little Black Dress” this fall with her limited edition collection.  What I love, is that it is a perfect addition to my LBD post (posted a couple of weeks ealier, click here).  As mentioned before, the LBD transcends time and trends and is the perfect “throw it on and still look chic” dress.  A staple in every woman’s wardrobe, just like a man’s white chemise.  Below is a sample preview of her limited edition collection, more on this Facebook link, and in store at the Melodies Atelier at 24 Tharwa St., Mohandeseen, ground floor.

Malak’s LBD collection is full of lace, as we call it in Egypt, dentelle.  The dress below worn by Menna Shalaby is a dentelle top with a chiffon and tulle skirt and a sexy low back.

Menna Shalaby wearing Malak's LBD

This LBD is the perfectly structured tube dress, which I believe, will be flattering to many.  The dress is very futuristic (which I don’t usually like, but this is cool).  I also love how the designer utilized both polka dot and stripped prints on one canvas.

Polka Dot & Stripped Structured LBD

This matte paillette, aka sequined, one shoulder LBD is IT! The fall season is all about embellishment & sequins, in addition to asymmetric dresses.  I guess this LBD is an ALL-IN-ONE must have!

Matte Paillette One Shoulder LBD

I decided to end this post on the perfectly simple, yet sexy, LBD.  The uniqueness of this dress comes not only from its simplicity but its texture.  Velvet is a material that faded away for a while, but is back it style and feels very rich.

Perfect Velvet LBD

Soul Kitchen – Unoundici

Photographs that transcend but do not deny their literal situation appeal to me.

~ Sam Abell, Stay This Moment; The photographs of Sam Abell

~*~

The picture does not consider
the white stains on the sheets
your side
of our bed.

I am not alarmed, or disgusted
by the obvious sign
of your need,
bled upon
our bed.

But.

The picture does not consider
I lie next to you
with my heart open
dissected for your pleasure
upon our bed.

So.

I make offerings of your lust
to the washing machine
drying, dying
spinning inside.

Our bed is bare,
barren,
stripped.

The picture does not consider
this.

]]> http://eitherorbored.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/insomnia-and-eddie-izzard/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:13:10 +0000 eitherorbored http://eitherorbored.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/insomnia-and-eddie-izzard/

As I lay in bed last night, supposedly on my way to sleep, things kept pushing their way my thoughts. This happens quite often.  It’s all the lying down and doing nothing. My brain demands amusement. It demands thoughts to amuse itself with. It doesn’t really care what the thoughts are as long as they are plenty. I can do some really great thinking when I’m trying to get to sleep. Ideas for blogposts, stories, bits of novel; they pop up like virilant plukes throbbing red and demanding to be harassed.  Unfortunately, thinking is not conducive to sleep.  Sometimes, to counteract the thinking I recite a mantra in my head over and over, trying to focus on that instead of everything else. It can be a quite useful technique for calming the brain down but it demands a certain dedication i.e. You gotta keep repeating that thing and not let your mind wander.

One of the things that was plaguing me last night was me imagining myself doing stand up comedy. I’ve done this before, quite literaly coming up with a routine in my head whilst i’m trying to sleep. Last night I came up with a quite ingenious way for dealing with a heckler wherein you make out that you’ve seen him (or her) before at your previous shows, creeping about outside your bedroom window, going through your rubbish bins etc., and that the heckler in question is in fact stalking you. I thought it would be quite amusing if delivered right.  I might not ever have a go at stand up but I doubt that fact would stop my brain from turning to it from time to time.

The reason I had stand up on my mind was because I’d just seen the new Eddie Izzard dvd.

Eddie Izzard is probably one of my favourite comics. His free-wheeling, surreal and erudite performance style that veers on the random but is obviously quite carefully thought out just really hits my spot. He has so many routines that just pop up in my head and make me smile. Like this one, and this one, and this one. Truely he is an amusing genius.

Eddie has been out of the standup game for a while now, It’s been 6 years since the release of Sexie, due quite probably to the awful lot of film & tv work he’s been doing. I had some inkling that he was touring this year, that a dvd would follow, and here it is;  Live from Wembly. Oh the joy!

It isn’t his best. I mean, you go back and watch dressed to kill or glorious and you think to yourself  “who is this hilarious maniac in a dress?” for Izzard is a transvestite.  In live from wembly he is wearing jeans. My guess is that with all the film work he has a certain duty now towards a more mainstream audience that might freak the fuck out if they saw a guy in a dress  so he has gently pushed his persona away from the fringes.  There are other difference from his earlier material too that can be hard to put your finger on.

6 years is a long time not to do something. If you stopped driving for 6 years the chances are you might be a bit rusty and this is something that comes across. All the ingredients are there but his timing seems slightly off. Where before he could veer from subject to subject with surreal ease things seem a little forced here. There are several points where he references gags from his previous shows which the audience laps up eagerly like crack puppies at their mothers teat. Two of the jokes seem like they’ve been lifted from Billy Connolly shows (the opera bit and the gazelle bit, although it’s giraffes here) and there is a point in the show where Eddie jokingly tells the audience “These shows are just for me, you know” and maybe this is the case. tv and film probably pay better than standup and it could be that he went on tour again because he missed doing what he used to do.

Even if it is it doesn’t really matter. He’s still really fucking funny. I probably would of found the show even funnier if I wasn’t such a fan and noticed all these things. My only hope is that he goes on tour again in 2010 and releases another dvd, to further re-sharpen the blade of his wit, so that I may worship with abandon at the altar of his very excellent comedy.

If you’ve never seen Eddie Izzard in action I recommend starting with his earlier shows. Or maybe start here and work backwards. You won’t be disappointed. Unless you just don’t like him in which case to each his own. Innit.

update: I just spend a age of monkeys looking for decent videos on youtube for the new dvd and they’re all handheld shakily audience deals with bad audio. Sorry.

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The following guide will show you how to make Mozilla Firefox extremely streamlined without there being any loss of functionality.

If you follow this guide through, you're Firefox will end up looking similar to this (the only difference might be the theme you decide to use):

1. Right-click on the menu-bar in Firefox and un-check 'Bookmarks Toolbar'. Underneath 'Bookmarks Toolbar' it says 'Customize…'; click on this. When the box shows up, put a check-mark beside where it says 'Use Small Icons'. When you're finished putting a check-mark beside 'Use Small Icons', drag and drop Firefox's search-box into the 'Customize Toolbar' box, which will remove the search-box from Firefox (don't worry, later on in this guide I'll show you how to perform Google searches directly from the address bar). Once you're finished, click on 'Done'.

2. Right-click on the menu-bar, and click on 'View'; under the context-menu, make sure that 'Status Bar' is un-checked.

3. Download and install the following Mozilla Firefox extensions:

Hide Caption Titlebar Plus (this will hide the caption titlebar at the very top of your web-browser. Don't worry, the minimize, restore and close buttons will still show up.)
Hide Menubar (this will obviously hide the menu-bar. Simply press the Alt key to make the menu-bar come up when you have to use it.)
Smart Stop/Reload (this will combine the Stop and Reload buttons, making them one; this is what it's like in Google Chrome.)

4. Since you removed the search-box in Firefox, you'll want to have Firefox still be able to perform Google searches without leaving the page you're on, right? To be able to perform Google searches using the address-bar in Firefox, you simply have to do the following:

Type 'about:config' in the address-bar. You'll get a warning message; ignore it and click on 'I'll be careful, I promise'. In the filter box, type 'keyword.URL'. Modify the string to http://www.google.com/search?btnG=Google+Search&q=

After doing this, you'll be able to perform Google searches directly from your address-bar without having to use the search-box. This is similar to how Google Chrome functions.

5. Install a good compact theme of your choice from addons.mozilla.org

You're done! I hope you enjoy your new streamlined Firefox setup.

PS. I understand that some people out there may find this setup to be overly minimalistic; you're free to change/not change whatever you wish/don't wish to change.

Posted via email from HikiCulture – A Forum For Reclusive People (and Hikikomori) {HikiCulture.Com Site Blog}

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