the telegraphs ugliest buildings

Aldar headquarters building in Abu Dhab

Grand Lisboa Hotel in Macau

The National Library in Pristina, Kosovo

The National Library of Belarus in Minsk

I know l shouldn't be annoyed or exasperated by anything that is in The Telegraph (the right wing, Tory loving rag that it is), but their list of 'the ugliest buildings in the world' got to me, as there are plenty on the list that l actually like, such as the ones above. I also understand they are probably printing the list to get a reaction from the likes of me and some free publicity for the paper, but what the heck, they are still wrong.
Plus they're a bunch of narrow minded arses with no taste.

toodle pip

kathy burke / helena bonham carter and class

As people who know me might say, l do sometimes mention (in passing) the class system, and have been known (on the odd occasion) to utter the odd profanity.
I therefore agree wholeheartedly with this piece that l tore out of The Observer newspaper.
As is obvious, Helena Bonham Carter had been moaning about her hard deal in life, and the great Kathy Burke (the only funny woman) answered back in her own distinct (and thoroughly working class) way.
Top marks to her and Viva la Revolucion brothers and sisters!

toodle pip

the mid sussex times are strapped for a story

At the Mid Sussex Times, this is the sort of thing that passes for a story.


“War Horse” tribute mystery disappearance shock


Published on Monday 20 February 2012 01:01

 A tribute inspired by the film “War Horse” has been stolen. Former nurse Cynthia O’Neil from Burgess Hill put the pot plant by the Burgess Hill War Memorial. She told the Mid sussex Times: “I was impressed by the beautiful unusual film. Having researched the plight of the innocent horses I placed a pot plant together with a placard. “Some person’s removed all evidence. Who did it, and please tell me why?”

On the other hand, it's not as dire as this scoop.

toodle pip

jimmy carter self improvement - the observer

There was a really good piece on Jimmy Carter in The Observer at the weekend, which can be found here. He was one of the better USA presidents, sadly bought down by (amongst other things) The Iran Hostage situation . Operation Eagle Claw, commanded by Charlie Beckwith, failed in it's mission to bring back the hostages, and Beckwith has a book (Delta Force) about the operation, in which he praises Carter for taking the blame and not trying to hide behind his decisions, or appropriate blame elsewhere. Ronald Reagan followed Carter as president in 1981, and the day after, the hostages were released. Bastards.

The main bit in the article that got to me though, was he and his wife read the bible to each other at night time. No..... hold on....that's not the whole story....they read it to each other in Spanish, as they are trying to self improve.

Jimmy Carter is 86.

toodle pip

the daily mail and the frail old woman who wants to overstay her visa

Somebody had The Daily Mail with them at work this week, so naturally, l had a glance through after they had finished with it. Once l got past the pages (and pages) about the riots, this article caught my eye. A 96 year old woman from the UK has gone to Australia to visit family on a 12 month visa. She now wants to stay longer, so she can be with her family as her health deteriorates, which means using the Australian Health Service. Because she will be classed as a burden to the state, she is to be deported back to the UK. The Mail is supporting her and saying how unjust this verdict is.

Now...........

Imagine if somebody came to the UK on a visa to visit their family, let's say a 96 year old woman from somewhere in Africa. They then wanted to overstay and use the NHS for treatment, as they were also frail and wanted to be with their family. The Mail would be in uproar, ranting about how the system is being abused and can't afford to treat all the foreigners coming over (deliberately, as l'm sure they would say) for treatment, so send them back.

Sometimes it's too easy to take the piss out of the Mail, racist and right wing bastards they are.

toodle pip

the news of the world closing

I was amazed when l found out that the paper was to close after this Sundays copy, but l am also a bit pissed off about it. The people at the top are the ones that need to go first, but most of the News Of The World workers would have done bugger all wrong and are just trying to make a living. Andy Coulson (the former editor) has been arrested and bailed, but David Cameron must have known he was dodgy when he employed him as his communications officer. Coulson either knew what was going on at the paper and sanctioned it, or he was incompetent if he did not know. The same goes for Rebekah Wade / Brook. This was also (whether you like it or not) a great British institution, over 160 years old (it started in 1843 as a cheap working class paper), which has been bought, taken down market and then finished off by a rich Australian. Let's face it, Rupert Murdoch (or someone on his behalf working for the News Corporation) will just start another Sunday paper with a lot of the old staff, and then carry on regardless. The way to hit him hardest is not just by boycotting his wares or advertisers pulling out, it's to prevent him having a monopoly on broadcasting. He should be deemed not a 'fit and proper person', but there is no way that is going to happen with everyone toadying up to him and cosying up to each other. Ed Miliband is no better. He should reject the Murdoch get togethers, stop trying to be mates with the powerful newspaper owners, get stuck in with some hard hitting policies, and give the opposition a good kicking while it is down, but that is also not going to happen. Ed Milliband will not win an election for the Labour Party (hows that for a forecast?), whereas l think his brother would have done. Oh for the glory days of Tony Blair sweeping into power first time around...

Now where is my Euro millions win so l can bugger off?

toodle pip

ricky gervais on distorted headlines

I was looking at Ricky Gervais' blog (yes, it has been confirmed before and it is still true, l am a sad git), and he was on about how the papers distort things. Talking about the Golden Globes, he said he chatted afterwards with a lot of the people he supposedly offended (Tim Allen, Paul McCartney etc) and they took the jokes in good humour (no matter what the papers or TV say). He also points out in an earlier article how things can be distorted. Take the following example where he writes:

This is an article in today's Evening Standard...

The 49-year-old comedian denied he had been pressurised by Hollywood into losing weight.

He said: "I got fit after Christmas, running around Hampstead. I've got a gym in my house - well, it's more like a spa. But it was nothing to do with Hollywood. I just thought enough is enough - I'm nearly 50'.

"It's not for a role or anything, my next two movies are animations so it doesn't matter what I look like. This is for my health. I lost 20lb in three months and it's stayed off. I've not stopped eating anything - it's just exercise."

The comedian was speaking at the launch of Sky 1 comedy documentary An Idiot Abroad, in which his podcast co-star Karl Pinkington is sent to the seven wonders of the world after he claimed they were "a bit s***".

Glad they managed to mention the show that we were meant to be talking about at the end.

Anyway the facts are sound.

All this is entirely true. The quotes are accurate.

This is the Headline they went with though...

toodle pip

john lennon playboy interview

It was 30 years ago this month (8th or 9th, depending on your time zone).

Here's an interesting interview John and Yoko did for playboy just before.

http://www.john-lennon.com/playboyinterviewwithjohnlennonandyokoono.htm

toodle pip

stewart lee and his shelves

Some of my CD's

Stewart Lee with his stuff

In todays Observer magazine there was an article by Stewart Lee, about his need for shelves to store all his records, books and comics. It involved other stuff as well, but the main thing l was thinking was "It looks great, and l wish l had loads more possessions to put on my shelves". I know l can easily go either way. I really love records, comics, films and books, so I will either end up with too much stuff all over the place (like Stewart Lee), or cut down and get minimalistic in the future, once l have purchased a top of the range computer of the space age, with ultra fast broadband and everything available on the net (mainly for free). The only trouble with the minimalistic approach, is it is so fulfilling to actually touch the objects and know they belong to a certain part of pop culture history (or history in general). That's why l want an original copy of Amazing fantasy no 15, rather than a brand new and ultra glossy reprint. I do know that if l became super rich l would have a large house full of junk l would have collected and accumulated on my travels, but living in the real world (sadly), l may flog off all my tat before l die (if l time it right), so l can fund something along the lines of a trip to Japan (with all the trimmings). It's about time the bleeding lottery selected me as a winner. I blame the new government. Rich bastards.

toodle pip

preston rapist

There is a news story at the moment that someone has walked away free from court after raping a 12 year old girl. The lads name is all over the articles (Junaid Bhuta) and it all sounds really bad.

The trouble is, he was done for statutory rape (which means the girl was under 16, therefore unable to consent).

The Judge (Timothy Mort) accepts that the girl was pretending to be 16, looked and acted 16, and agreed to sex (although she regretted it later).

Bhuta met her on Facebook through a friends request, met up with her, had sex, then went to the pictures with her and accompanied her part of her way home. It was only because she was late home that she got in trouble and then confessed all to her mum.

Bhuta was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and was placed on the sex offenders register for seven years, although the Judge admits he was not a predator, did not groom her, and if he had known about her true age, would probably not have had sex with her.

Sounds to me like he has got a raw deal, and he will always have the stigma of being a rapist.

Obviously there has to be a lot of care and protection towards young girls, but the inflammatory headlines (calling him 'Preston rapist') just make it look as though he has walked away scot free after raping a child, and it's another case of a Judge being too lenient, which is not the case at all.

Bloody papers

More news here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-10781281

toodle pip

friends are portly

I was on a website earlier on (the Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1290061/Portly-Matt-LeBlanc-gets-helping-hand-leaves-Bungalow-8-looking-little-worse-wear.html?ito=feeds-newsxml) where there was this picture of one of them from friends (Matt LeBlanc), with a story about him being on the lash in London (picture evidence above - fair enough), but also saying that he looked 'portly'. now don't get me wrong, I do boast about having 20/20 vision (although I have not had my eyes tested), I do recognise a fellow pisshead when he is on the lash (evidence above), and I do recognise another portly fellow. The trouble is, there is no evidence above to support the 'portly' jibe. If anything, he looks gaunt. No wonder stars get insecure and fucked up (and pissed). Poor souls, but they are meant to be human like the rest of us/you lot.

toodle pip

lord triesman

With Becks and the 2018 World Cup Bid

Lord Triesman is 66 and a rich idiot

The posh educated tottie/slapper is 37

So, what a surprise. Someone else in a position of power decides to have an affair with someone younger. This time it's Lord Triesman, (the head of the FA) who has been caught playing away from home. The Mail and his old flame Melissa Jacobs (37) have stitched him up like a kipper. She was dating him (why?? money by any chance??) and then secretly taped him at a meal so the Mail could use the recording as evidence (you can also listen to the recordings on the Mail's website). The Mail have been keen to stress that Melissa is posh and educated ("A privately educated economics and biology graduate") and not just a money grabber, but it is all very seedy as far as I am concerned. If she cared about him, she would not have stitched him up, knowing his family would find out and he would lose his job. Also, there is no way she would have gone for him if he was not rich and powerful. There is also the fact that he has probably been hounded by the Mail as he is a Labour peer, even if he is an idiot for falling to temptation and then sending texts and slagging off other countries World Cup bids. Another sad old bastard gets done, another trollop shags and sells her story, another scoop for the Mail to wet its pants over, and a chance that Englands World Cup bid may be scuppered due to the accusations made over dinner. Never mind eh. At least the Mail got their story and the trollop got her money.

On a related note, the World Cup bid that Becks is handing over runs to 1,752 pages.

That will not be read.

Let's hope there are lots of nice photos for the committees to look at.

toodle pip