Today is blog for choice day.
And I think I should probably add something here because I have a blog and I am ardently pro-choice.
I think that woman have the right to determine what happens to their bodies. They are capable of making informed decisions for themselves. They should need the patriarchy to 'allow' them to make reproductive decisions that are right for themselves.
I am pro-choice because I trust women.
I am pro-choice because abortion will happen whether it is legal or not. When it isn't legal, it is the poor and disenfranchised that suffer. When abortion is not easily accessible, women die or are seriously harmed, whether it be emotionally or physically.
I am pro-choice because I think women are in the best position to judge whether an abortion is the right choice for them.
I am pro-choice because we've had teh alternative and it didn't work.
I am pro-choice because I believe doctors and politicians should respect that women are entitled to bodily integrity and should not be judged for the reproductive decisions that they make.
I am pro-choice because this rings true: http://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/Phil160,Fall02/thomson.htm
If anyone is interested in this discussion, you should check out feministing.com - one of my favourite blogs. Jessica Valenti is my hero. One of my heroes. It shows you exactly what a woman's right to shoose means and how easily it can be taken for granted.
Happy blog for choice day.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Hug My Soul.
Hello. Hope everyone had a good weekend. I gave out free hugs in Trafalger Square which was really, really fun and put me in an exceptionally buoyant mood. No real surprises there. Hugs on masse were cool. We also met some really interesting people. Like the boy who thought that those blue pens that have four colours in them were specific to France and insisted that I must have go tmine from there. Or the hot Venezeaulan (not spelt at all correctly) guy who got us enthused abotu free hugging in the first place.
Saturday night, we went out to club in Holborn. Which was awful. We'd lined up for ages, only to get downstairs after paying £16 and realise that we'd rather just hide in the ladies loos than participate in the surrounding idiocy. Plus, I'd forgotten my glow sticks so action had to be taken. So we made Suza ask for a refund on the grounds that she was the most sober.
Abridged exchange between Suza and club manager:
Suza: Hello. We'd like to get our £16 back because we got separated from our friends and they can't get in...
Club Manager: Yeah, right. No way..
Suza:...and because we've only been here 5 minutes and someone has already offerred to sell us drugs.
[cue fake disapproving looks from all of us behind Suza]
Club Manager: Sure. No problem. I'll just go get it.
Obviously there was a bit more rigmarole to it than that, but I think it is the one and only time I haev ever attempted to get a refund from an appalling club. But for £16 cover charge I either had to:
A) Buy a tent and move there permanently;
B) Get drunk and pretend I was having a good time while secretly wishing pain upon my fellow club patrons; or
C) Get a refund by suggesting that we were the type of people who were at all surprised by the fact that there are drug dealers at clubs in London. And that we might also be the type of people who would write a letter to the authorities.
Feeling newly wealthy, we ended up heading to a cool soul bar and danced what was left of the night away. Tip to any guys reading this, if you are are going to go for the always tenuous 'smell compliment' stick to something within the flower range. For example 'you smell like tulips'. Do not suggest that a girl smells like:
- pillows (wtf?) or
- like you should already be in the shower together (eek!)
I am sure for most of you this was an unnecessary lesson. But apparently not all men have learnt it.
The evening ended, as all good evenings do, standing near Tottenham Court Road with a massive cone of frites covered in garlic sauce.
At least I was sober enough not to order a kebab.
Saturday night, we went out to club in Holborn. Which was awful. We'd lined up for ages, only to get downstairs after paying £16 and realise that we'd rather just hide in the ladies loos than participate in the surrounding idiocy. Plus, I'd forgotten my glow sticks so action had to be taken. So we made Suza ask for a refund on the grounds that she was the most sober.
Abridged exchange between Suza and club manager:
Suza: Hello. We'd like to get our £16 back because we got separated from our friends and they can't get in...
Club Manager: Yeah, right. No way..
Suza:...and because we've only been here 5 minutes and someone has already offerred to sell us drugs.
[cue fake disapproving looks from all of us behind Suza]
Club Manager: Sure. No problem. I'll just go get it.
Obviously there was a bit more rigmarole to it than that, but I think it is the one and only time I haev ever attempted to get a refund from an appalling club. But for £16 cover charge I either had to:
A) Buy a tent and move there permanently;
B) Get drunk and pretend I was having a good time while secretly wishing pain upon my fellow club patrons; or
C) Get a refund by suggesting that we were the type of people who were at all surprised by the fact that there are drug dealers at clubs in London. And that we might also be the type of people who would write a letter to the authorities.
Feeling newly wealthy, we ended up heading to a cool soul bar and danced what was left of the night away. Tip to any guys reading this, if you are are going to go for the always tenuous 'smell compliment' stick to something within the flower range. For example 'you smell like tulips'. Do not suggest that a girl smells like:
- pillows (wtf?) or
- like you should already be in the shower together (eek!)
I am sure for most of you this was an unnecessary lesson. But apparently not all men have learnt it.
The evening ended, as all good evenings do, standing near Tottenham Court Road with a massive cone of frites covered in garlic sauce.
At least I was sober enough not to order a kebab.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Almost Famous
If anyone would like to see photos of me at NY, currently appearing in TNT magazine, you may look here:
http://www.tntmagazine.com/spotted/?ID=imageView&Image=12&CatNo=10553&pageNo=1
http://www.tntmagazine.com/spotted/?ID=imageView&Image=55&CatNo=10553&pageNo=1
I think it is nice to observe how the evening deteriorated. Hanging out with the photographer is great from a free drinks perspective. Not so much from a hiding your drunken moments perspective. *sigh*
http://www.tntmagazine.com/spotted/?ID=imageView&Image=12&CatNo=10553&pageNo=1
http://www.tntmagazine.com/spotted/?ID=imageView&Image=55&CatNo=10553&pageNo=1
I think it is nice to observe how the evening deteriorated. Hanging out with the photographer is great from a free drinks perspective. Not so much from a hiding your drunken moments perspective. *sigh*
Saturday, January 5, 2008
My Cute Fiend Sweet Princess
Despite the better, feminist part of myself, I really enjoyed the new Disney film Enchanted. In the way that you enjoy Grease when you are older - you get all the 'dirty' bits. Or at least the slightly dodgy bits. And then you laugh inappropriately in a cinema full of children who prefer the part of the movie that involves a temporarily mute chipmunk. Ah well.
Also interesting to note is the way that Disney Princesses have become emaciated over the years. From Snow White:
To this, in Enchanted
Just saying. I've also just noticed while searching for these photos that Snow White has got a lot thinner recently. More shiny as well. I'm all for digitally remastering, it's the not so subtle nip and tuck that seems unhealthy.
With respect to Disney Princess, it's also worth noting that they have recently had issues with 'non-traditional' female characters such as Mulan and Pocahontas not being included as part of the Princess range because they don't sell that well. Wow. Racist and sexist. Nice work Disney. I particularly like that the two most empowered Disney females that I've seen (and really, it isn't saying much that they are the most empowered of a particularly weak willed lot) are not continuing to be marketed to young girls.
Apparently the better, feminist part of me was not entirely subsumed in the happy sing along aspects of the film. Ah well.
Also interesting to note is the way that Disney Princesses have become emaciated over the years. From Snow White:
To this, in Enchanted
Just saying. I've also just noticed while searching for these photos that Snow White has got a lot thinner recently. More shiny as well. I'm all for digitally remastering, it's the not so subtle nip and tuck that seems unhealthy.
With respect to Disney Princess, it's also worth noting that they have recently had issues with 'non-traditional' female characters such as Mulan and Pocahontas not being included as part of the Princess range because they don't sell that well. Wow. Racist and sexist. Nice work Disney. I particularly like that the two most empowered Disney females that I've seen (and really, it isn't saying much that they are the most empowered of a particularly weak willed lot) are not continuing to be marketed to young girls.
Apparently the better, feminist part of me was not entirely subsumed in the happy sing along aspects of the film. Ah well.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
So this is the New Year
And I am not even hungover.
And we didn't get stuck Borough.
And we hung out with Australians. And Kiwis. And South Africans.
And it was stinking hot. At least in the pub.
And I am down one beautiful, brand new, teal silk dress. Lost to the world of kebab sauce.
That is all.
And we didn't get stuck Borough.
And we hung out with Australians. And Kiwis. And South Africans.
And it was stinking hot. At least in the pub.
And I am down one beautiful, brand new, teal silk dress. Lost to the world of kebab sauce.
That is all.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Drug-Stabbing Time
I've said to heaps of people that I don't live in the safest part of London, but it isn't the worst part either. Tonight I picked Netta up from the new St Pancras and took her to Suza's house. On the way home, discovered that I had wandered into what looked like a set from The Bill. Police tape, a huge amount of 'bobbies' and those little white tents they put up to preserve blood stains. This is what had happened, for anyone who is interested: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/27/nstabbing127.xml
Of course, because they'd blocked a big chunk of Upper Street off, there were no buses heading down Essex Road and no cabs in the area either. So of course I am left with no other option but to walk home through hoodie central. Which to me only increases the likelihood of someone else (ie. me) getting mugged/stabbed/accosted by drunks. Oh look, I live in Islington/Stoke Newington where there have been numerous other stabbings of late. I think I'll just take a late night stroll home.
Anyway, I'm now watching comic relief. Stabbings and Take That performing for charity. Tomorrow I am heading out to buy a Kevlar jacket.
Welcome to England Netta.
Of course, because they'd blocked a big chunk of Upper Street off, there were no buses heading down Essex Road and no cabs in the area either. So of course I am left with no other option but to walk home through hoodie central. Which to me only increases the likelihood of someone else (ie. me) getting mugged/stabbed/accosted by drunks. Oh look, I live in Islington/Stoke Newington where there have been numerous other stabbings of late. I think I'll just take a late night stroll home.
Anyway, I'm now watching comic relief. Stabbings and Take That performing for charity. Tomorrow I am heading out to buy a Kevlar jacket.
Welcome to England Netta.
Belgian Things
Christmas in Belgium was fantastic. In the sense that any time you can go to a country where you can eat cones of frites and drink super strong beer with impunity, you are inevitably going to have a good time.
The Christmas markets were nice. The heavy food was great. The weather was crisp and sunny. And at 3€ for a glass of Leffe, any potential possible homesickness was washed away in an alcoholic fog. (This is a joke, mum and dad. I wasn't spending Christmas singing carols to myself in a drunken stupor. No - I was eating a chicken club sandwich and having a nice afternoon nap while reading the presents I was given by my 'orphan family').
So yes, I had a good time, not much homesickness and the enduring feeling that Christmas in Europe at least feels like Christmas and that maybe we in the southern hemisphere should just celebrate something different altogether. Something that doesn't require us to put an aging man with a white beard into board shorts on the beach in order to make it at all appropriate to our environment.
Having said all this, I have come to the conclusion that Belgium is perhaps the MOST boring country in Europe. I mean, it's pretty and people are friendly and I will grant that it was Christmas, but it just didn't feel that interesting to me. Mayeb it was my mood. Maybe it's because it wasn't the ideal time of year to do all the 'war stuff'.
But I don't think anything illustrates that innate boredom that is Belgium than the fact that one of Brussels' most popular tourist attractions is 'mini Europe'. Which cost €12 to get into. Or 4 glasses of Leffe. And there you have the Belgian view of Europe. In which 'Europe' is really only the countries in the EU. Ooooooo...political.
The Netherlands will be 'New in 2008.
The awesome work of 20th Century engineering, the Channel Tunnel, is represented by a piece of PVC pipe and some pond water. With a small mechanical train for good measure.
The Ireland display came complete with barnyard noises.
Slovenia didn't even crack a monument. Just a patch of grass. Same for Estonia and some of the other 'lesser' EU Nations.
Belgium seemed to have twice as many objects of interest as France, and I am telling you, it just isn't so.
The collapse of the Berlin wall was shown with a Tonka truck pulling down a small piece of plastic with some truly bizarre sound effects.
The most amazing thing about this was that some of these displays cost €350 000 to make. Those must have been some expensive Tonka toys.
So that was Belgium. And Christmas. Thanks to Wayne, Katie and Deaks for sharing my Christmas with me and preventing me from just sitting around, eating chocolate and watching TV. Oh, wait....
I will post pictures of mini Europe when I feel like I can loko at them without cracking up.
The Christmas markets were nice. The heavy food was great. The weather was crisp and sunny. And at 3€ for a glass of Leffe, any potential possible homesickness was washed away in an alcoholic fog. (This is a joke, mum and dad. I wasn't spending Christmas singing carols to myself in a drunken stupor. No - I was eating a chicken club sandwich and having a nice afternoon nap while reading the presents I was given by my 'orphan family').
So yes, I had a good time, not much homesickness and the enduring feeling that Christmas in Europe at least feels like Christmas and that maybe we in the southern hemisphere should just celebrate something different altogether. Something that doesn't require us to put an aging man with a white beard into board shorts on the beach in order to make it at all appropriate to our environment.
Having said all this, I have come to the conclusion that Belgium is perhaps the MOST boring country in Europe. I mean, it's pretty and people are friendly and I will grant that it was Christmas, but it just didn't feel that interesting to me. Mayeb it was my mood. Maybe it's because it wasn't the ideal time of year to do all the 'war stuff'.
But I don't think anything illustrates that innate boredom that is Belgium than the fact that one of Brussels' most popular tourist attractions is 'mini Europe'. Which cost €12 to get into. Or 4 glasses of Leffe. And there you have the Belgian view of Europe. In which 'Europe' is really only the countries in the EU. Ooooooo...political.
The Netherlands will be 'New in 2008.
The awesome work of 20th Century engineering, the Channel Tunnel, is represented by a piece of PVC pipe and some pond water. With a small mechanical train for good measure.
The Ireland display came complete with barnyard noises.
Slovenia didn't even crack a monument. Just a patch of grass. Same for Estonia and some of the other 'lesser' EU Nations.
Belgium seemed to have twice as many objects of interest as France, and I am telling you, it just isn't so.
The collapse of the Berlin wall was shown with a Tonka truck pulling down a small piece of plastic with some truly bizarre sound effects.
The most amazing thing about this was that some of these displays cost €350 000 to make. Those must have been some expensive Tonka toys.
So that was Belgium. And Christmas. Thanks to Wayne, Katie and Deaks for sharing my Christmas with me and preventing me from just sitting around, eating chocolate and watching TV. Oh, wait....
I will post pictures of mini Europe when I feel like I can loko at them without cracking up.
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