Be Excellent To Each Other

I have that on DVD, and United 93. I promised myself I'd watch them around once a year. Just to remind myself that within the monkeysphere (ta for the article link it was fab) Americans are by and large lovely people, no matter how enraged I get at their government and society.

The Naudet documentary is an amazing if shocking film. Really worth seeing. I'm also obsessed with the idea of apocalypse in the technical sense - ie: the moment when things change.

I found out about 9/11 from the asian newsagents in Batley after coming back from the Dolescum Sign Up Centre, who gave me a garbled report that sounded as if a plane had flown into a towerblock in Pittsburgh. As I walked back home this strange feeling came over me that it was something far bigger, but nothing prepared me for when I turned on the TV. I had that same helpless stupid grin all day too. Grandma seemed to be mainly worried that the Queen could have been in the tower. If she had chosen to visit. On that day. Erm.

Funnily enough another really strange night was the ten hours before Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, and the twelve hours after. I know a fair bit about hurricanes and pay a lot of attention to the season. If Katriana had been thirty miles west the roofs wouldn't have been there for people to retreat to, the lake would have spilled over and the levees would have failed faster and the toll in New Orleans would have been between 45,000 and 100,000 instead of the 1,800 dead, and there wouldn't be a city there anymore. People forget that New Orleans actually MISSED the bullet again that night.

It was strange in the preceding day going to work and no one seemed to be paying any attention to the fact that there was every possibility of the worst disaster in North American history occuring the following day.

I didn't know you worked for FEMA.

You are Walton Simons AICMFP.

I was on IRC when I found out, I turned on the TV, and a few minutes later the 2nd plane crashed into the towers. I watched bbc news 24 all day, apart from picking up my eldest from nursery (that was a surreal walk!) I was pretty sure that America was gonna nuke someone and that it was the end of days.

Shudder at the memory.

Malc

Some utterly useless, horrible nobody wishes some other utterly useleess, vile nobody well for no fucking reason. Why the fuck are the BBC wasting our time on this?

Ho ho! I actually found it a bit scary that I was cleared better informed than FEMA's Michael Brown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Brown

Idiot.

Made so much money miming along to a load of vacuous pop records and starring in Iceland adverts, lest we forget.

Not the best of adverts for Iceland that is it? Shop with us and you'll go bankrupt!

How did it go?

"I used to think you had to be posh and rich to afford Black Forest Gateau but thanks to Iceland I can have some whenever I like!"

In other words, our Black Forest Gateau is for poor scum.

I like this - it brings to mind a sort of Kerry Katona "Run Lola Run" scenario where she legs it about robbing banks and supermarkets to get the cash.

Katona is one of those people that I'd like to smash clear across the face with a sledgehammer.

No, seriously, don't take the comment casually. Imagine her annoying, ugly-as-fuck-picked-by-alcohol face, and then imagine picking up a sledge hammer. Feel the weight. The weight feels good doesn't it? Heft it a little. Yes. Weighty.

Now, swing it back and use the very essense of your being to put your full strength, weight, and will behind the blow. Imagine the head smashing her in the face. Ahahahaha, I am actually chuckling at the very thought. Awesome.

She would have made next to no money for singing in Atomic Kitten. It's quite a wide-spread belief that anyone in the charts must be raking it in, but unless you're a singer/songwriter (Gary) or very, very popular (Robbie), you don't earn much at all (Mark, Jason, Howard).

I am Mr Fear.

I picture her going on some sort of frantic Supermarket Sweep around her local Iceland, tears streaking her face as Dale Winton stands next to a rapidly emptying egg timer.

Yeah, for instance after the first 2 albums, Noel had earnt 7 times as much as Liam...

I remember reading that David Bowie was unusual in that he managed to retain all the rights to most of his early stuff. Most artists don't, apparently, so they make very little cash off it.

And Gary Glitters due back as well, which should be enough to clear the streets of kids during the remaining few weeks of the holiday.

A few months before he went to PC World, Glitter sold the UK rights to his back catalogue to a record company for a pretty penny. Heads rolled when he was locked up as the planned greatest hits album went down the shitter.

Oddly though he still rakes it in from Rock and Roll part 2 being played at American sporting events. Although the sponsors and owners are just starting to get wise to him not being family friendly so he may not be getting the money for much longer.

Mr Gad, earlier today:

I forwarded it to most of the people I know.

Until you go on a massive, massive tour or two.

Jason, Howard and Mark are doing just fine now.

I read that 19 countries have said they won't allow him in - it'd be interesting if every country said the same. "Sorry Mr Glitter.. no-one will have you so you're going to have to live out at sea somewhere. Here's a canoe".

Sadly we have to take him back.

Can't we pretend to be out?

I've met her. Since then I won't have a good word said about her

They'll just leave him on top of our blue bin.

Come on, give me more reason to hate her...

Actually, Bowie didn't make an enormous pile of dosh until the 90s as he signed one of those stupid management contracts in his youth which effectively gave the bulk of his income from his back catalogue over to his shilling manager. This was why from about 87-92 you couldn't get hold of his back catalogue at all because he'd eventually lawyered up and took years to break the contract, but in that time all his back catalogue was off the market. I know all this as I have several friends who work in the record industry and I was moaning to them at the time that I couldn't get hold of any of his early stuff. When the embargo and contract were sorted one kind friend at EMI gave me his entire back catalogue on CD which I still have. That was about 16 or so albums up to Scary Monsters.

He's since sold all future income off his catalogue for some obscene amount in some kind of leveraged Wall St deal making him about 300mUSD

She's thick, horrible, fat, loud mouthed and practices massive self entitlement. All of which are high on my list of despicable characteristics.

I think we covered all of those things quite easily at the Nottingham meet.

Nah, they'll slip a card under the door, then leave him at the depot.

Now that you mention it, that does sound like a workable solution for almost anything that you want to get rid of, up to and including high grade nuclear waste.

The Post Office won't accept "filth". I sometimes wonder what constitutes filth.

Some cack in an envelope. I only wanted to send it to the Queen.

She has earned nearly 3 million quid since leaving the Big Brother house. Most poor illiterate white trash settle for a pissed up Saturday night pregnancy and a free council house.

So credit to her, she's raised the bar.

Well-publicised update:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7578307.stm

I think if I was 'fighting for my life' against cancer, I probably wouldn't publicise the fact in such a clichéd statement.

He floated himself on the stock market. 'Bowie Bonds' I believe they are called.

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowie_Bonds

That's the one. He's just appeared on shuffle in the background as I read that

Is there any news on his health issues - he cancelled that tour about 4 years ago due to imminent death from heart failure - it was downplayed as some shoulder strain or something, but he disappeared completely for about 18 months and only resurfaced in a couple of bit parts in movies and on Extras - looking a lot 'healthier'[1] that he's ever done.

[1] i.e. not superhumanly thin.

I think he thought it was a shoulder strain but it turned out to be blocked heart arteries that needed immediate 'cleaning'. He's always been a bit of a smoker.

I imagine his slightly 'pudgier' looks now come from the medication he must be taking and his age.