The Grand Beat-Up
You know, call me cynical if you must, but the ads for “Path to 9/11” are really bugging me.
Yes, I know it truly was a tragedy. However, maybe we could move on a little? Put things a bit in perspective maybe? Stop talking about it so much?
And definitely, can we please not go on about why we didn’t “wipe bin Laden out” (truly, a quote) before it happened? I can’t even begin to express how inappropriate that is.
I wonder…
… whether there would be a mysterious van outside my house if I were to post that sometimes I hate Americans? Probably, if I didn’t clarify it (am I being paranoid? Senselessly overstating any possible importance anyone could attach to my words??) So let me clarify: Not all of them; just some of the decisions they’ve made over the years. This, admittedly from Wikipedia:
“August 21, 1998: The United States employs with cruise missiles to destroy a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant (and with it, half of the country’s medicine supply) based on faulty evidence that the plant is involved in chemical weapons manufacture: and tries to kill bin Laden in a cruise missile attack on his camp in Afghanistan, during a meeting of terrorist leaders (Operation Infinite Reach). Only twenty-four people were killed because of outstanding precision, but the leaders had dispersed by the time the missiles struck, and bin Laden was unharmed. The United States blocks a United Nations investigation into the Sudan attack. Sudan was allowed to import pharmaceuticals from the U.S. to replace the destroyed ones.”
Argh!!
Nice weather for ducks
That was today… it barely stopped raining all day. Which I know is a good thing. During the day, though, when I was going between rooms? Thank goodness for the new rooves on the walkways, is all I can say. Pity about all the free dirt around the place… now dirt no longer.
Deaths
Bit of a morbid title there, I realise… the reaction of people to Steve Irwin’s death has been a bit over the top, I think. Particularly twinned with Colin Thiele’s death on the same day, and the distinct lack of matching grief or accolades from the public or politicians. Beattie’s “oh, we could have a national park or award named after him…” thing is great, but seriously – millions of books sold, Storm Boy for heaven’s sake, and nothing for Thiele??
Political correctness
Baa baa WOOLY sheep, have you any wool?
… One for the JUMPER, one for [something else, not dame], and one for the little girl with holes in her socks…
OK, but as Media Watch (HURRAH for Media Watch), about 30 seconds later they sang the original. Hmm… not sure what I think about it, actually… eh. Whatever.
Poor little Pluto!
‘Little’ being the operative word here, I guess… I will have to go into the classroom and put a stickie over Pluto on the class poster.
Still, it’s quite useful to have a working definition of what a planet actually is. And I guess it’s useful to know what a dwarf planet is, too, for whenever we happen to come across them in other systems….
The Zoo
Went to the zoo today, for the first time in absolutely ages. It was great fun. We saw:
Meerkats. So cute. Enouh said.
Elephants. I love elephants. One of them was throwing dust on itself.
Pygmy hippo. If I believed in reincarnation, I’d come back as one.
No tigers.
Gorillas, asleep.
Froggies. Little dainty froggies!
Giraffes. With a baby.
Fairy – I mean, Little – Penguins. They’re cute too.
Tortoises. Little ones! So cute!
And… some other animals, some of whom were worthwhile, some of whom were boring.
I killed my tiger!
I downloaded a Tigergotchi widget – I’ve quite enjoyed playing with it. I managed to kill it today – had the computer open playing music, while I forgot that I had sped up his lifetime… sigh. I’m not actually sure whether there is some record of how long they stay alive, but this one had managed to stay alive for quite a nice amount of time. have to be more careful next time….
Just… stuff…
I seem to have lost the Warcraft CD. I don’t understand how, and I really don’t know where.
I’m watching “What Lies Beneath” at the moment; that is, it’s on the tv, and I’m deciding whether to watch something that may turn out to be just way, way too scary for me.
My friend A is deciding whether to get a momento mori tattoed on her ankle – a quote from Andrew Marvel – I’m not convinced, although at the same time it seems rather cool and at least it’s for a good reason.
I think the reason why I don’t like scary movies is because I tend to take movies a bit too seriously, at least while in the action o viewing. I guess I’m something of an ideal audience for this reason. But it’s not fun for me.
My plants are going quite well. My winter roses are beautiful – following the Ma’s advice, I’ve trimmed the flowers and put them in a bowl of water, so I can actually see them, since otherwise they’d be outside and out of sight. My daffies, though, have been beaten into the ground by the masses of rain of the last 48 hours or so.
Potentially disastrous
Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. I have just installed Warcraft III…
Randomly Yours, Alex 