Only men can do feminism

If you’re looking for some giggles today (and Lord knows I am), and know anything at all about feminism/ the feminist movement, read this Onion piece.

After decades spent battling gender discrimination and inequality in the workplace, the feminist movement underwent a high-level shake-up last month, when 53-year-old management consultant Peter “Buck” McGowan took over as new chief of the worldwide initiative for women’s rights.

…

“You can’t waste time pussyfooting around with protests and getting all emotional about a bunch of irrelevant details,” McGowan said. “If you want to enjoy equal rights, you have to have a real man-to-man chat with the people in charge until you can hammer out some more equitable custody laws.”

Sometimes satire doesn’t get it right, but this time it’s just bang on.

A Brief History of Corporate Whining

Via Alas, a blog.

It’s funny ’cause it’s true.

Another worthy cause post

Like the title says: returntoromance.

From the journal’s userinfo:

I am undertaking a sponsored walk starting at the end of January 2008, from Gosport to Rome, a total of 1,200 miles in memory of my late wife Anne. The aim is to raise monies for 4 charities that Anne supported and the project is called “Return to ROMANCE”, which stands for Return to ROMe for ANne and CharitiEs.

The route takes me from Gosport to Portsmouth, across the channel to Caen and onward through France and Italy, arriving in Rome in mid May 2008. In addition to the walk there will also be a charity golf event at the end of June 2008 which will include an auction to raise further monies for the charities.

The beneficiaries of my walk will be Action Aid, two local charities; Harbour Cancer Support Centre based in Gosport and the Friends of Oncology and Radiotherapy Cancer Charity (FORT) based at St Mary’s Hospital Portsmouth who support sufferers and their families across Southern and Eastern Hampshire and West Sussex. The fourth is organised by the Catholic Church in Gosport, which is twinned with the parish of Mbetta in Cameroon and raises funds for education, health as well as pastoral projects in the area.

Each charity will receive an equal share of all monies raised.

About Anne:

Anne was born in Easington in 1957, grew up in Seaham Harbour and was educated in Seaham and Sunderland before joining the Royal Navy as a nurse in 1975.

Anne was first diagnosed with cancer in August 2001 and over the next four years, suffered from three different types: Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bowel cancer and liver cancer (twice). During that period, Anne underwent chemotherapy via peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines) for over 20 months and had three major operations until she was in remission from the Hodgkin’s, clear of bowel cancer, had recovered from her latest liver surgery and had been given the all clear by her surgeon, much to mine and her family’s relief.

Having fully recovered, she commenced a precautionary course of chemotherapy in early November 2005 to eradicate any rogue cells that may have remained. Unfortunately, on 23 November Anne developed what appeared to be flu, hospital tests did not reveal anything suspicious and she appeared to be recovering. Her sudden and unexpected death on the 26 November 2005 aged 48 turned out to be due to a rapidly developed infection in her heart.

Anne was a qualified midwife and nurse and from day one she never complained or wanted to hide away and was determined to win her battles. Whenever able, she carried on working as a midwife in Southampton and Portsmouth and later as a nurse in the radiology department at the Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport. Her experience as a nurse and cancer sufferer enabled her to support others who were starting treatment by giving advice when having intravenous lines fitted in the radiology department and also on the oncology ward when starting their chemotherapy, often while she was having her own treatment.

Anne and I were due to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in Rome in March 2006 and she would have celebrated her 50th birthday in June 2007. This sponsored walk is to honour that plan and to celebrate a life taken suddenly but also importantly to acknowledge many of the people / charities that Anne supported or which supported us through Anne’s time of need.

If you would like to join me in walking some of the route and are happy to obtain sponsorship, require information about the golf event, want to provide non-financial support or just want general information about the walk etc, please e mail me at Ret2rom@aol.com

You can sponsor me through my ‘Just Giving’ site. http://www.justgiving.com/nigelhearnden Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to donate: FORT Cancer Charity will receive your money electronically and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in Gift Aid will be added to your donation at no cost to you.

Once all monies have been collected, FORT will ensure that each of the four charities included in this fundraising project receive 25% of the monies.

Please donate generously.

Many thanks for your support.

What a fantastic person. Give, if you want and can.

Reprieve and Agent Provocateur

This is from a recent email circulated around our department.

Reprieve and Agent Provocateur [possibly NSFW] recently unveiled a new line of Guantánamo-orange underpants emblazoned with the slogan Fair Trial My Arse. We currently have a limited number of these knickers, which were featured in Vivienne Westwood’s London fashion week show, being auctioned on eBay. 100% of the final bidding price will go to Reprieve.

As all this is quite a diversion from our usual work (legal briefs), I wanted to tell you more about them and the issues that we hope that the knickers will highlight.

The Fair Trial My Arse lingerie initiative came about when US military authorities bizarrely and falsely accused Reprieve lawyers of smuggling Under Armour underpants and Speedo swimming trunks to a Guantánamo prisoner, Shaker Aamer. Shaker is a British resident who has endured six years of imprisonment in Guantánamo Bay, without charge or trial. Almost 280 men remain in Guantánamo Bay, yet only 14 of them stand charged with any crime.

Prompted by this strange story, and the fact that the small number of Guantánamo prisoners being put before a military court can be convicted based on secret evidence and evidence gained from torture, Agent Provocateur developed handcuff-accessorized bikini-briefs in Guantánamo orange, emblazoned with the slogan Fair Trial My Arse across the rear. They are being sold in Agent Provocateur stores in aid of Reprieve as well as on our eBay site. Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith presented the first pair of pants to Gordon Brown on February 14th as a special Valentine’s Day gift, with a letter asking him to intervene in the plight of British residents Shaker Aamer and Binyam Mohamed in Guantánamo Bay.

It is hoped that the limited-edition bikini-briefs will highlight the inhumane and illegal treatment of prisoners held without trial in Guantánamo Bay and in countless other secret prisons round the world.

Please do check out the knickers and make a bid at ebay.

Thanks for your support,
Reprieve

Unfortunately the knickers are a little pricey but I wanted to draw your attention to the initiative anyway.

There are lots of stories about this around the web. Combine some or all of these search terms: reprieve, agent provocateur, knickers, clive stafford smith, gordon brown, london fashion week, vivienne westwood.

The Boy from Space

Oh sweet baby Jesus and the orphans, I never actually thought I would be thanking Russell Brand for anything but today I am. He’s only just gone and helped me answer a question I’ve been asking for years!

See, every so often, I think about a programme we watched in primary school when I was probably about seven or eight. It was the first sci-fi programme I’d ever seen, and it was on the BBC. I’ve only ever remembered two things about it: (1) it involved two men (spacemen) who had blond hair and who wore blue spacesuits; and (2) it was absolutely terrifying! I’ve never been able to think of the programme’s name, and I’ve never had enough to go on to ask the Internet. Until now.

The other week, I saw an advertisement for an upcoming show of Brand’s, and in the ad, he had a clip of the very show I’m talking about. I recognised it instantly (and screamed a little at the television, I do believe!) and have been searching Google for the programme’s title ever since. I was drawing many blanks – Google can be so vague – until today when I gathered all my googling resources and finally got my answer.

The Boy from Space.

The Boy from Fucking Space, people! Of course! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. Dear reader(s), this finding has delighted me in ways I can’t describe to you! I’ve lost many hours of sleep trying to think of this programme’s name and trying to remember more about it than I do, and now I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I feel like I’ve just split the frickin’ atom!

The Boy from Space!

And look: there’s a whole pile of clips and episodes on YouTube.

Imma gonna watch ‘em all!

Cheers Russell. May I never be scathing about you ever again. Or at least until next week.

Supplementary

The thing with vitamin and mineral supplements is this: I’m frickin-well obsessed with them. I blame the mammy! She takes a fair share herself and every so often sends me a text about the benefits of a new one she’s found that she thinks I should try. It’s all based on the notion that, while we’re not actually sure if they do us any good, we’re pretty certain that they don’t do us any harm. And we both have good, robust diets that keep us largely on the right path.

So, with lunch I take the following:
Multi-vitamins, minerals and iron
Vitamin B complex
Evening primrose oil
Omega 3 fish oils
Siberian ginseng

In the evenings, I take another batch:
Evening primrose oil (again)
Omega 3 fish oils (again)
Garlic
Peppermint oil
Echinacea (for three weeks at a time)
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Cod liver oil

And before bed, I’ll normally knock bad three of four valerian to help me sleep.

Now, I know that this will seem madness to some, but it’s all part of a reassurance culture I’ve built up for myself. I’m fairly sure that I get all of what I need from my diet, but in taking these supplements, I reassure myself that I’m probably the healthiest person in the whole world. And I figure that even if supplements are over-rated for their physiological benefits, that psychological benefit is worth it alone. It’s all about the aggregate effect, in my book. And they don’t cost the earth – particularly not now that Tesco and Superdrug have them.

So, futile pursuit or worthwhile endeavour, do you think? (Also, if there’s anything you think I should have that I’ve missed off the list, do let me know! What’s another to add to the list! )

Some music recommendations

There have been some fantastic releases recently, music-wise, and I want to tell you about them. Actually, some of these were released some time ago, come to think of it, but anyway.

Right then.

One of my favourite recent discoveries (way behind everyone else) is the Guillemots, who are a catchy almost-poppy little outfit. They’re the perfect compliment to dancing around one’s bedroom, although I don’t suppose I’ve been doing nearly enough of that lately.

My other favourite find has been one Neko Case who has the voice of a little angel. Allmusic.com speak of her smoky, sophisticated vocals and I suppose that describes her as well as anything else. She’s wonderful. A mention should also go to Emily Haines, who’s the lead with Metric and doing some of her own stuff at the moment; and Jenny Lewis, the lead with Rilo Kiley, who’s also doing some of her own stuff. Oh, add Sia to this list of Gorgeous Sounding Women too. She’s done a lot of stuff with other bands, but is possibly best known for her contribution to Zero 7’s Simple Things. I could still listen to that album all day and all night.

The Gossip have been taking the world by storm and it’s a very well-deserved acclaim. If you’re interested, seek out their latest release, Standing In The Way Of Control, and I’m sure you won’t be sorry.

Similarly, the Long Blondes are receiving the adoration and respect they deserve for their marvellous Someone to Drive you Home.

Who else? The Noisettes are due to get a lot of attention in 2007, I believe, and while I don’t dislike their latest release, I’m not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. It is growing on me, though. And seeing that most people seem to disagree with me about this, my first impressions are perhaps wrong.

Oh, and how could I forget Jarvis! This is Cocker’s first album since his days with Pulp, and it proves, once more, that the man is nothing sort of genius. Nuff said. Shame he got married before he met me.

Others worth a mention are Razorlight’s Razorlight, which is head and shoulders above their début album; The Killers’ Sam’s Town which continues to thrill me to pieces; and Fratellis’ Costello Music which is having much the same effect.

Oh, and if you’re an unashamed Girls Aloud fan like me (I love ‘em and that’s all there is to it!) then you should buy yourself their greatest hits for Christmas. I have indeed downloaded it.

I shall be giving Tom Waits’ Orphans a proper listen one of these days, although he didn’t sound quite right when I saw his performance on the Daily Show recently, but praise the Gods that there is always Stuart Staples (of Tindersticks) Leaving Songs to fall back on. His voice will live forever.

That’s all for now. More perhaps when I get some time.

Some television discussion – somewhat after the fact

I’ve found the most wonderful detective series. It’s set in a monastery in 12th century Shrewsbury (England) and sees Brother Cadfael hopping about the place solving what ever mystery happens upon him. It’s fantastic! What more do you want in a detective show, huh? It also has a rather sinister edge to it, at times, and I just love me a bit of the old sinister-ment. It comes in book form as well, I’ve been told, so perhaps that would suit some of you better.

What I’ve found very disappointing, though, is the BBC’s newest adaptation of Robin Hood. I know it’s Robin Hood for this generation because this generation wouldn’t have seen the Robin Hood we grew up with, but it’s so wooden and contrived. I thought it would be a lot more… something. It does have the odd sexy cast member, though, Robin Hood included, which sort of makes up for it but it’s not enough. I watched three or four episodes out of the corner of my eye and then forgot about it completely.

What’s been equally disappointing, sadly, is Torchwood (the Doctor Who spin off). I was filled with glee before the first episode and pretty much all the way through it; but come the second one, I realised just how awful it was. Captain Jack is a tortured soul, which he just shouldn’t be; Gwen is the most irritating woman ever to have graced the screens of Britain; and the other three are so nondescript I have nothing to say about them. I think one might be called Owen. I’ve missed the last few episodes although I’m told that the one coming this Sunday (the 17th) will be worth watching. I’ll probably still pass, though.

In non-TV-related news, I’ve recently started listening to The Archers again, and I’m loving it. No longer are they running around the place in wellies doing welly-related things (or at least that’s how I remember it); they’re all sexed up and dirty these days. Affairs and everything! Seriously, it’s marvellous! And you can stream it from Radio 4 online whenever you want! Do it!