Travels in town

Let's play a game

2009-01-11T13:07:17Z

"Here's how this one works: You answer these questions in an anonymous comment, and then I figure out who you are.

1. What's your favourite candy?
2. What's your favourite holiday?
3. World peace is...
4. I'd like to buy the world...
5. I'll kill you if you dress me...
6. What music would drive you insane if it was played continuously over a long car trip?
7. What music would *not* drive you insane if it was played continuously over a long car trip?
8. Don't tell anyone, but...
9. The world is about to end and you CAN'T have sex. What are you doing?
10. Same sex couples are...
11. Guns are...
12. And the winner for sexiest person in the world is...
14. What would you be doing if you weren't on livejournal?

Don't forget to post anonymously!
NOTE: If you do this then you need to post as a public post i.e. not Friends only or else noone can comment anonymously! Have just discovered this!

Music (of sorts) meme

2008-11-16T13:37:18Z

A music meme robbed from er... I forget who...

Answer the questions using only song titles from one artist.
I chose Oasis!

1. Are you male or female?
She's Electric

2. Describe yourself:
Headshrinker

3. Describe your day:
Cigarettes & Alcohol

4. Describe where you currently live:
Hung in a bad place

5. If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
Columbia or All Around the World

6. Your best friend is:
Force of Nature

7. Your favorite color is:
The Shock of Lighning

8. You know that:
Some Might Say

9. What's the weather like?
Cast No Shadow

10. If your life was a television movie, what would it be called?
The Girl in The Dirty Shirt

11. What is life to you?
Up in The Sky

12. What is the best advice you have to give?
Don't Look Back In Anger

13. Describe your ex?
I can see a Liar or Going Nowhere

14. Your current love interest is?
Married with Children (joke!)
Better Man

15. What's your favorite hobby?
Fuckin' in the Bushes (joke #2!)
The Importance of Being Idle

16. When you think of your friends, you think:
Stand By me

17. What do your friends think of you?
My Big Mouth

18. What does your current love interest think of you?
She is Love (I wish), maybe Wonderwall though

19. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Rock N Roll Star

20. The best way to end a long day?
Underneath the Sky

God, I loved this meme- want to do it for lots of artists now!

Letter meme

2008-09-08T13:38:29Z

Robbed from _ishtahar_ who gave me the letter T.

Comment and I'll give you a letter. Then you have to list ten things you LOVE that begin with that letter. Afterward, post this in your journal and give out some letters of your own.

1. Tigers
2. Trains (whizzing through the countryside, not spotting or being squashed on one in the rush hour)
3. To Kill a Mockingbird (the book)
4. Tit wanks (giving)
5. Theatre going
6. Tides (this is me trying to get the seaside to begin with the letter T!)
7. Trees (far cooler than flowers)
8. Time after Time (Cyndi Lauper)
9. Texting (what did I do with my time before mobile phones?)
10. (my) Team, especially Tom!

3 things

2008-06-14T10:14:31Z

Some quick thoughts about 3 things I have seen. We all know, I'm not very good at reviews so I won't call them reviews- just my random thoughts.

1. The Vortex.
Went to see this last Friday. Noel Coward play starring Felicity Kendal as Florence Lancaster and Dan Stevens as her son Nicky and set in the early 1920's. This is the story of the relationship between a vain, bitchy mother, terrified of losing her youth and her son who is a closeted homosexual witha drug problem. Florence, in an attempt to keep her youth has taken to, well... youths and is involved in an affair with a man her son's age. I don't have the enrgy to explain the entire plot now but it was fairly entertaining, I found the play dragged a little in the first half, but picked up in the second if a bit hysterical towards the end. I think this says more about Coward's writing than the actors who did a fine job; all of them actually. Interesting to see Kendal in a role so far removed from her Good Life and Rosemary and Thyme roles! the costumes were fabulous, the woman all looked amazing.

2. Sex and The City. The Movie
Unless you were a fan of the show this probably won't whet your appetite at all. If you were a fan it's a must see! It's just like the series, one gloriously great big episode! I must admit I sniffled a few times, but I'm just a bit sad.

3. Gone with the Wind. The Musical!
Went to see this last night as I am a biot of a Gone With the Wind fan and due to lousy reviews and poor ticket sales is closing early today.

So, I know the reviews were bad, but then 'serious' critics often pan less than high brow musicals so I chose to ignore them. Even if it was bad, I really wanted to see how they had pulled off a 4 hour film and a 1000 page book. Well, here's the thing. Either the writer cut half of the story or they cram it all in. They chose the latter. This makes for a very very fast moving show! At one point poor Scarlett married, had a baby and lost her husband in the space of 40 seconds! Because I know the story inside out I was OK following what was going on, but suspect someone who hadn't read the book/seen the film would have been a bit lost and bewildered! I think considering, they did a pretty good job. Characters narrated parts to explain what was happening and I thought this worked really well and didn't seem odd. The songs really let it down though. I think people attend musicals to enjoy the music- either old favourites like Oliver, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music and Grease etc or hear music they know Mama Mia (ABBA), We will Rock you (Queen) but brand new songs need to be good to be enjoyed on a first hearing. These songs were not good. Mediocre and I suspect chopped in length in an attempt to cut the running time down. The singers were fabulous, Darius Danesh (who plays Rhett) has a beautiful voice, as does Jill Paice (Scarlett) and well, all of the cast. The only stand out tune was one by the black slaves and without meaning to racially stereotype their voices were deep, soulful and truly beautiful. This was the only in song in the whole thing that received a really raptuous applause.

I think it's s shame such fine performers were saddled with such bad songs and a script that had them dashing around without pause for breath. Darius pulls off Rhett very well. I love Rhett as a character and Darius (who I initially thought way too young to play Rhett) is dashing, masculine, arrogant and cynical- exactly how Rhett should be(and hot too I must add!).

The second half seemed to slow down and almost lingered too long on the deaths of Scarlett's father (who had a very dodgy Irish accent and was forced to sing a hidiously mawkish 'Irish' ditty in the first half) as well as the demises of Melanie and Bonnie making it for depressing viewing. Of course the end doesn't get any more cheerful with Scarlett suddently realising she really does love Rhett and Rhett, well...not giving a damn and leaving her. I like that the book ends like this, but as a musical it's hardly uplifting and I think a happy ending is what most people want from a musical.

So overall- great acting and singing but lousy songs and too much happening. Cutting out great swathes of plot or characters would have ruined a masterpiece story but clearly cramming the lot in 3 and a half hours didn't quite work either. So, I think, an impossible task that probably shouldn't have been attempted in the first place and certainly not without some seriously strong songs. I actually did really like it not just because Darius in britches was probably a key factor in holding my interest, but because it was true to the book and the cast were fabulous. It must be horrible performing something half the country has slagged off and knowing your last night is tomorrow because you've been deemed as shit must be demoralising. A couple of the cast were looking tearful as they took their bows last night.

London Underground Song

2008-02-01T00:00:33Z

This has been around for some time I gather, but it amused me.

It's under a cut and please don't play it if you or anyone around you is offended by bad language (I mean the F and C words!)

And while we're at it here's the oringinal tune this was robbed from...

And this is possibly my favourite Jam tune. Possibly the worst video albeit hilariously 'acted' and Paul- what were you thinking with that red patterned jumper?!

Reading

2008-01-12T14:01:06Z

Books are massively important to the majority of my LJ readers. I wonder if there is a correlation between people who keep journals and how much reading they do compared to non journal keepers.

I found the below article interesting, or at least worth further discussion:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7178598.stm

So,
Who has read something because they thought they 'should'?

Who has their intelligent looking/ classics at the front on their bookshelf and keeps the Jilly Coopers etc hidden?

Is it worse to read nothing than only read trashy books such as Vicky Beckham's Autobiography? Is any sort of book reading better than none at all?

Apparently- "If you try and sell your house, estate agents will tell you to get rid of the books, they are viewed as tired and middle aged," personally I would be enthusiastic about a house if it had lots of book lined shelves, wouldn't you?

There are lots of reasons why I couldn't do something like Big Brother, but not being able to read would be very very high up on the list. If I forget a book to read on the way to work I get jittery and ridiculously bored on the 10-20 minute journey. What are your book 'things'?

Hello.

2007-12-22T16:24:14Z

I am posting from my mobile. Have never done this before. Am on train and some annoying bastard keeps whistling. It is driving me potty. Ok so let's see if this works.

yuck!

2007-12-15T10:00:36Z

Ewwww.
There was a condom outside my front door. I trod on it and brought it into my hall on my foot. Then had to kick it out of front door onto busy path. Can you imagine the passers-by wanting to know why there was a girl kicking a condom out of her front door!
I know I probably should have donned rubber gloves and picked it up and thrown it away but my immediate reaction was eww! be gone condom kick kick kick.

This just annoys me.

2007-12-12T13:52:01Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7139893.stm

This has pissed me off no end.
I'll let you comment with why this would piss people off!

Silliness

2007-12-10T11:42:15Z

Robbed from </a></font></b></a>scarbaby
I got this meme from the lead singer and primary songwriter of the band Lac Unique!! (Scarbaby) she added fascinating explanations to her song titles i will try also to uncover the genius of my songwriting!!

1. Go to the Wikipedia home page and click random article. That is your band's name.
2. Click random article again; that is your album name.
3. Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.

My Band Name is:
Howard Miller after the minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. Howard V. Miller was born in Brooktodlae, New York, and joined the Church of the Nazarene in 1922. He was an inspiring man and needed to have a band named after him.

My Album is called:

List of 3rd Party Leaders (Quebec) I wanted the title to have the word list in it, essentially an album is a list of songs. I also wanted the word party in the title because we all like a good party. I also wanted the word leaders in the title because afterall ,we are the leaders in the music world. Quebec just semed like a nice place.

The tracks on my album are:

1. Bin Laden Family- Contraversial track about the Bin Ladens, of couse it's really an attack on the US Military, but most people are too stupid to notice this and accuse me of being pro Bin Laden. Besides, just because Osama was a twat some of the Bin Laden family might be quite sweet.

2. System 9 A Mac operating system, the song is about unrequited love and the hours wasted scribbling his name on your pencil case. I couldn't think of a title that didn't sound mawkish and my geeky bassist came up with the title. After the success of this first single I was touched to learn that System 9 has become a oft- used phase with teenagers to refer to unrequited love as in 'She's got a real system 9 over him'. It's heartwarming to help form the nation's colloquialisms.

3. High Atlas. The mountain range in Morocco where I shoved my husband off the top. The song was originally called Fuck off you waste of space but I had to conceed with my band memebers that High Atlas sounded cooler and could be announced on Saturday morning telly without censorship.

4. Henrick Brenkman. He is best known for his work on the textual history of the Corpus iuris civilis. His main work, the Historia Pandectarum, concerned with the Florentine Manuscript, remains of significance today and after a debauch gig in Florence I wanted a way of saying sorry to the Florentine people. They know what this song really means.

5. Sergio Chiani. Real name of actor Alan Steel, who paved a career playing mythologocal he- men. I wanted to write a song about my love of manly chests Sergio really personified this. I thought Sergio was a sexier name than Alan.

6. WMIO. Puerto Rico Radio station. Our one and only forray into Latin American music inspired by Strictly Come Dancing. It didn't work for us as a band.

7. Indian Institute of Technoloy Kanpur. I am particulary proud of the use of the recorder in this song. I think its good to go back to one's childhood talents once in a while.

8. Ratangarh, Bijnor. The follow up to the previous song.

9. USS Caron (DD-970) US navy boat. An epic song about the futility of war and also Navy Boys in cute uniforms.

10. The Blueprint: The Gift and The Curse. Also the title of Jay-Z's 7th album. Lawyers are currently battling this out. I can assure you I thought up this title first. He stole it off me. The song is of course about my genius songwriting talent.

11. Combat 786. Combat 786 is a violent gang of Islamic fundermentalists operating in the North of England.
Guitar heavy tune, made poignant by my haunting melodies, the lyrics "Show me your beard/Circumcision ain't wierd" has ensured me a warm place in the hearts of British Muslims.

12. Adoption Proceedings of Emma Rose. Emma Rose was a kid at the centre of a huge adoption row. It was something to do with lesbians. My song is about lesbians. The drummer asked me to write about them so I did. I have no idea why the video was banned, afterall TaTu got away with it...

13. Oudheusden. Tribute to Dutch soft metal.

14. Aqueduct-North Conduit Avenue. New York Subway station. I think this song sums up life in a city. The song was originally called Charring Cross but the record company wanted a title the US audience would understand, bollocks to the fact noone in the UK has a clue what I'm singing about and the lyrics don't rhyme properly anymore.

15. Faamatai. Named after the traditional indigenous form of local governance in the islands of Samoa in the South Pacific. We start all our gigs with this one, It gets people up and dancing. *sings to self "Faa-ma-tai- Get up and parrrr-tay!!"*

travelsintown @ 2007-12-07T22:28:00

2007-12-07T22:30:50Z

Just because...
be sure you watch it all the way through! The salsa guarentees to make you smile! (Or that might just be me)

Runny Nose.

2007-12-04T10:02:24Z

IF MY NOSE DOES NOT STOP RUNNING SOMETIME SOON I AM GOING TO CUT IT OFF AND JUMP ON IT.

Oh heck, I'm a goody goody.

2007-12-03T21:39:30Z

Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Harry Potter

You are Harry Potter. You are daring, and have quite a lot of nerve. You rely on your instincts to make decisions. You're a natural leader. You are highly concerned with justice and actively fight for what you feel is right.

Harry Potter

72%

Albus Dumbledore

69%

Sirius Black

63%

Luna Lovegood

56%

Oliver Wood

53%

Bellatrix Lestrange

50%

Remus Lupin

44%

Neville Longbottom

44%

Draco Malfoy

44%

Ron Weasley

44%

Percy Weasley

41%

Severus Snape

38%

Hermione Granger

38%

Lord Voldemort

34%

Pressies please!

2007-12-03T21:29:46Z

travelsintown @ 2007-12-01T22:36:00

2007-12-01T22:37:11Z

</div>
No naughty comments please!

Origins of Nursery Rhymes

2007-11-26T20:34:57Z

Copied and pasted from various websites. I thought it was interesting anyway!

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

In the Middle Ages, a hard-working peasant was required to give one third of his income to the King, "my master," and one third to the fat nobility, "my dame," leaving only a final third for himself, "the little boy." Payment was made in sacks of wool. In other words it was a tax. Another point about this is that wool from a black sheep was worth quite a lot less than ordinary wool. The term "black sheep" of the family derives from this too.

I had a little nut tree, nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg and a golden pear;
The King of Spain's daughter came to visit me,
And all was because of my little nut tree.
I skipped over water, I danced over sea,
And all the birds in the air couldn't catch me.

It is almost certain that this rhyme refers to the visit of Juana of Castile to Henry VII's court in 1506.
Juana and Henry had both been widowed and it was hoped that they may marry each other, however Juana was clearly not in her right mind at the time and the relationship came to nothing.
Juana was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain but after her marriage to 'Philip the Hamdsome' her sanity began to leave her, it was said, due to her husband's regular infidelities. Her name in Spanish was 'Juana la Loca' or Mad Juana.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

The Mary in this rhyme is commonly supposed to be Mary Queen of Scots. She was considered frivolous by some of the people of the time as she was young, pretty, Roman Catholic and had arrived from France with 'French ways.' She was waited on by four ladies in waiting; Mary Beaton, Mary Seaton, Mary Fleming and Mary Livingstone, it's possible that they may be the 'pretty maids all in a row.' Some versions of this rhyme start with the words 'Mistress Mary.'

OR

The origins are steeped in history... Bloody Mary!
The Mary alluded to in this traditional English nursery rhyme is reputed to be Mary Tudor, or Bloody Mary, who was the daughter of King Henry VIII. Queen Mary was a staunch Catholic and the garden referred to is an allusion to graveyards which were increasing in size with those who dared to continue to adhere to the Protestant faith - Protestant martyrs.

The silver bells and cockle shells referred to in the Nursery Rhyme were colloquialisms for instruments of torture. The 'silver bells' were thumbscrews which crushed the thumb between two hard surfaces by the tightening of a screw. The 'cockleshells' were believed to be instruments of torture which were attached to the genitals!

The 'maids' were a device to behead people called the Maiden. Beheading a victim was fraught with problems. It could take up to 11 blows to actually sever the head, the victim often resisted and had to be chased around the scaffold. Margaret Pole (1473 - 1541), Countess of Salisbury did not go willingly to her death and had to be chased and hacked at by the Executioner. These problems led to the invention of a mechanical instrument (now known as the guillotine) called the Maiden - shortened to Maids in the Mary Mary Nursery Rhyme.

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey,
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away

Little Miss Muffet was a small girl whose name was Patience Muffet. Her stepfather, Dr. Muffet (1553-1604) was a famous entomologist who wrote the first scientific catalogue of British Insects. Whilst eating her breakfast of curds and whey Little Miss Muffet was frightened by one of his spiders and ran away! This particular Nursery Rhyme of Little Miss Muffet reputedly dates back to the late 16th century as indicated by the birth date of Dr Muffet!

Cycle sex

2007-11-22T11:14:46Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7095134.stm

Can some one explain to me why this is illegal. A cycle wasn't saying no was it?

Is conducting yourself in a disordely manner (behind your locked bedroom door) illegal?
Is simulating sex illegal?

Personally ,I would be hacked off with the cleaners letting themselves in my room whilst I was getting off, but to get arrested on top of that!!!!

I don't get it. I thought maybe he was making a lot of noise doing it??

Oooh I have $1.5million coming my way!

2007-11-21T22:06:06Z

This dropped into my inbox today. Remember my previous post about these emails? Do people still believe that they are genuine?

My Friend,Greetings!

This is to show my appreciation for your passed efforts/commitments.I realized your hands were tied up then.I have succeeded in transferring the Fund in a new Bank Account provided by newly found friend of mine in Iraq.I dropped an International Certified Bank Draft worth ($1.5M.USD) in your favor in care of Mrs.Mary Clark in Benin-Republic as compensation for your passed efforts.

So contact through her email address: (marycark200@yahoo.it)
) or forward my mail to her,and ask her to mail the Bank Draft to you immediately.I am presently in Iraq,trying to set up some businesses,buy shares,stocks,and other profitable businesses in Iraq.

Send her your full details as stated below;

1. Your full name.
2. Your delivery address.
3. Your mobile & house phones.

Take good care of yourself.

Best wishes,
Mr.Pet Anikwe JOY MIKE

Questions:
1. Why Iraq?
2. Why does Mary Clark spell her surname in her email address cark?
3. So I 'couldn't' help before- hell I didn't even respond and you are still giving me $1.5 million US dollars?
4. durrrrrrrr

travelsintown @ 2007-11-19T13:13:00

2007-11-19T13:13:53Z

Lets101 - Free Online Dating

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

The Cats Whiskers.

2007-11-16T17:29:07Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7098219.stm

I thought this was cute. I have no news.

Merry F***ing Christmas

2007-11-15T21:01:49Z

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20071115/tod-lifestyle-australia-christmas-offbea-37b0eca_1.html

travelsintown @ 2007-11-15T14:48:00

2007-11-15T14:49:51Z

Here is a story I gave to some staff attending a 'Being a buddy' training session to highlight the need for thorough training with clear communication.

The Tickle Me Elmo story

This allegedly took place in a factory in the USA which manufactured the 'Tickle Me Elmo' toys, (a children's plush cuddly toy which laughs when tickled under the arm). The legend has is it that a new employee was hired at the Tickle Me Elmo factory and she duly reported for her first day's induction training, prior to being allocated a job on the production line. At 08:45 the next day the personnel manager received a visit from an excited assembly line foreman who was not best pleased about the performance of the new recruit. The foreman explained that she was far too slow, and that she was causing the entire line to back-up, delaying the whole production schedule. The personnel manager asked to see what was happening, so both men proceeded to the factory floor. On arrival they saw that the line was indeed badly backed-up - there were hundreds of Tickle Me Elmos strewn all over the factory floor, and they were still piling up. Virtually buried in a mountain of toys sat the new employee earnestly focused on her work. She had a roll of red plush fabric and a bag of marbles. The two men watched amazed as she cut a little piece of fabric, wrapped it around a pair of marbles and carefully began sewing the little package between Elmo's legs. The personnel manager began to laugh, and it was some while before he could compose himself, at which he approached the trainee. "I'm sorry," he said to her, not able to disguise his amusement, "but I think you misunderstood the instructions I gave you yesterday.... Your job is to give Elmo two test tickles."

Strictly Come Dancing

2007-11-10T23:47:08Z

Am addicted to Strictly Come Dancing. I love it. Have to keep sneaking home early to watch It Takes Two on BBC2 at 6.30 each weeknight to get my daily fix. Have a new crush on lovely Gethin who presents Blue Peter. I'm sure there's a filthy side to him that needs unleashing. I really should get out more.

Anyway, was looking for a nice Gethin picture to turn into an icon and found an interview where he said he was looking for a new girlfrined. Then I found the Blue Peter website. He has a blog where you can make a comment (after asking for a parent or guardians permission!) here is what I wrote:

I have just read that you are looking for a girlfriend. Can I volunteer? I am 32 so it wouldn't be illegal or anything.

The comments are pre-moderated so it might not make it, but hopefully he'll read it.

As I say, I must get out more. Can not find a picture I want to use....

Poorly me

2007-11-06T14:38:31Z

I've stayed home today due to dodgy tummy- Will spare you the details.

Anyway I found a new userpic whilst trawling t'net. It amused me.

My Halloween

2007-11-01T13:25:28Z