Busy Day Today

Right, well here's today's itinerary.

A bit later on this afternoon, I'm off into town. I've got to look for a chain for Sam's little crucifix - yes, I know, he's got one of those plus signs, and the chain's broken, and he's no idea (yet) that this has got to mean something, so it's up to me to get a replacement chain for him. I also need to go and look for some new material for the pouch for my talisman. The one I'm wearing is made of leather, but it's now going dry and inflexible, and it's actually cracking, which suggests that it was a poorly treated leather in the first place.

Either that, or my perspiration contains leather-dissolving enzymes ...

A bit later it'll also be off to Grosvenor Road, to have another little chat with the Government. And then it's back home, to supper and NCIS later in the evening.

And that's the order of the day today.

Oh, an update. I sent off the three entries to the competition. Both short stories, and the Villanelle poem. The closing date is next Monday, so there is plenty of time.

And there you have it. Busy day today.

Writer's Block: Miss Manners

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DRM.

CCTVs.

The DNA database.

None of these technologies are in the hands of the public, and yet their presence is an ever-increasing intrusion into the lives of the innocent. By maintaining that the government is using these tools to protect society, they are in fact seeking to control and dominate is, by using propaganda such as the mantra "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" (yes, but what have you in the government got to hide and why do you fear us wanting to look at your dark secrets?) and the promulgation of the hardline attitude that opponents of these privacy-busting technologies must by definition be criminals who don't want to get caught (not true, unless you decide that all crime is committed by the living, and therefore life itself is a crime).

These technologies' malign and deleterious influence upon society stems from the misperception that (a) the technologies themselves are infallible, and that (b) those who wield them are infallible beings who have nothing but the well being of society in mind.

(a) The technologies are far from infallible, because most are still being prototyped;

(b) those who use them are a long way from being infallible. The levels of corruption in the police may no longer be at the height of the corruption once found in the Metropolitan Police, the West Yorkshire Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force and the North Wales coppers who all but openly boasted about their Masonic connections - but nonetheless, corruption is still there.

And even in those few places in the UK where we can trust the police, we can certainly place no trust in the politicians whom they serve - or in the bankers and moguls whom our politicians seem to serve in turn.

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" is a question nobody understands these days, even in the English translation "Who watches the movie adaptation of that Alan Moore graphic novel?"

One last thing, a cure for the ills of this obsession with surveillance: an old anarchist saying, which states "When surveillance becomes universal, do everything out in the open."

A lesson everyone ought to take to their hearts, alongside "People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people." - V

And they are, my friends. They truly are.

The Day's Business

Wellm the materials I am after can be found in town, but they're expensive. So I'm going to have to wait until next Wednesday to sort that out.

There's a job vacancy in town I'd like to apply for - as was kindly pointed out to me earlier today. I'm going to have to apply for it online, and not with my CV.

I've started up a conversation with someone who lives in the US, and who has seen my profile online. There could be interest there.

And I'm currently watching Pan's Labyrinth on DVD. I recall some reviewers who watched the show, and were turned off by the violence. Clearly, they hadn't actually read the movie's blurb before seeing it. Poor dears thought they were in for a fairy story.

And they got one. Only, nothing like what Disney calls a "fairy story."

I am looking forward to crying like a bay at the end of this film. I would not have put the damned thing on in the first place otherwise.

Oh, and some glad tidings: Being Human has been commissioned for a second season, and the DVD of the show's first season is set for release on April 20th.

So today has been a very good day.

Encountering A New Level Of Speechlessness...

John Oakes kindly pointed me to the link on YouTube.

Also, I spotted this link on the blog of cdave.

Some Failage

The following fail videos are highly amusing ...

And finally, this one is ... well, you just have to listen to it for yourself:-