As predicted

Yes, it’s true, I didn’t go to see Skin. Such is life. Instead I’ve managed to get tickets to see Donna Tartt doing a reading next week from her novel “The Secret Little Friend” (thanks dvd for pointing out that I’m a twat and mixed up the two titles), and Neal Stephenson in a couple of week’s time for a reading from his new novel, “Quicksilver”. That’ll do me.

Current Thoughts

I’ve just added a new piece to the thoughts section – and in fact a new sub-section too – about the start of SAD. It’s something I suspect I’ll be writing more about over the next few months, I can already feel the curls of it’s tendrils (and yes, I do think that part of that is the reason for the post below) so we’ll just have to see where it goes…

Gig Apathy

I’m supposed to be going to see Skin (ex of Skunk Anansie) tonight, and at the moment I’m really not sure that I can be bothered. I’ve slept badly for the last three nights, and feel shit. Hardly the best mood to go to a gig. I’m trying to keep an open mind, see how I feel later, but at the moment I keep coming back to “I really don’t feel like it”. Getting the ticket was a spur-of-the-moment thing, before I’d heard the album. I know if I don’t go it’ll turn out to have been a sensational concert. But will I care?

Responsibility

At the Guardian, there’s a feature about a study that blames TV adverts for a rise in junk-food consumption. Of course, it’s worth bearing in mind that the report was funded by the Food Standards Agency, so it’s hardly a shocking revelation at the best of times. Their own report on it is here, if you’re interested.

The report says that children are influenced by advertising for junk food, and proposes putting health warnings on junk food. <sarcasm>Well, it’s worked SO well on cigarettes, so why not?</sarcasm> Some of this report seems all too willing to lay blame anywhere it can, although I do agree that the manufacturers should take some (but not all) responsibility for producing complete junk food.

I’ve ranted about this before, but surely more “blame” should be allocated to the people who choose to be bone-fucking-idle and not cook, who think a Big Mac qualifies as a well balanced meal, who buy everything pre-prepared, and who think that food only comes in a plastic carton that can be nuked for ten minutes “because they’re too busy to do anything properly”. As with so many things, personal responsibility comes into this – people choose to buy quick easy things, they’re not forced to do so at gunpoint. (Although maybe that’ll be the next advertising “concept”) Perhaps more food and nutrition information should be available in school, in doctor’s surgeries, in supermarkets – and that should be the Food Standards Agency’s next step, to start thinking about how things can be improved not by slapping a health warning on a pack of chips, but by educating people about what’s good and bad for them.

Stop the World, I wanna get off

via Sapientum, a collection of optical illusions. Be warned, if you’re feeling slightly unwell, don’t look at them – some of them are quite disorientating, and appear to move. My eyes are now thinking “what the fuck was that all about?”, and to be honest, I don’t know what to tell them. I dread to imagine how the artist must have felt while drawing them – to be that close to the image must be weird in the extreme.

Memetic Dining

Further to the post below, I spot a bandwagon to jump on. About a year ago, I did the dinner party list of people, rather than bloggers, and now it’s time for the bloggers one. As I haven’t yet knowingly met any bloggers, that part of the equation isn’t a problem, but I will extend it by saying that I wouldn’t re-invite people that I’d already “met” at other dinners. Variety being the spice of life, and all that.

So, the people that would be invited to mine would be :

• Peter from Naked Blog
• The inevitable ScaryDuck
• bsag from But She’s A Girl
• The (happily now back to blogging) Pogo of Dearie Me

and

• Jane from iCandy

Make of that little lot what you will. And yes, I nearly ended up with eight instead of five – apologies to the nameless ones who got dropped at the last moment. I blame the size of the dining table: that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Social Life Explodo

Over at ‘My Boyfriend is a Twat” (note to self – must remember to add that one to the blogroll), Zoe is talking about which bloggers she’d have to a dinner party, and it seems to have struck a chord with other bloggers. Meme-tastic, as Mike would probably say.

Anyway, it looks like yours truly is getting to be popular (or maybe it’s just to see what table manners an ill- trained monkey possesses), as I’m on Gert’s list of guests, and also on Karen’s list of suspects (although Pete doesn’t appear to have had much say in it, and I’m on instructions to be nice to Americans) so I must be doing something right. Hopefully someone will soon tell me what.

At the same time, there’s been initial discussions on Lori’s site about the potential for a Mancunian blog-meet before the Festering Season™ takes hold – which’ll be interesting. So far, Fab Café is looking like a favoured venue, but time will tell…