The gag reflex ...

An acquaintance [ @Ltjgrice ] had an unfortunate inadvertant tooth swallowing tonight.

It's said that Jackie Kennedy's wealthy second husband [Aristotle Onassis] would humiliate her in company; by slurring her perceived idyllically-mannered history, in regaling his guests with the indiscretion "You see this woman here? She swallows anything I put before her.". This coarseness apparently being swallowed by his wife also.

*first ladies need money-ing too*

Lowest of the low ...

In Haiti, the aid agencies that have been howled at 24hrs/day by news media commentators - for insisting that a secure distribution infrastructure be in place before aid commences, to minimise chaotic criminality - have been proven correct as looters prey on their
fellow afflicted.

This is just one example of why reporters are held in such low esteem. For not only do they chatter at the point of tragedy, when any feeling individual would participate in attempting to ameliorate the situation, but any analysis expressed seems to shift with the sand - yet maintaining an illusionary pontification of being set in stone.

Playing shake, rattle & roll ..

Doubtlessly a comment as unsavoury as it is untimely, but the Haitians must still be quaking in their boots over yesterday's tremors.I wonder though of the general relevance of international disaster & accident presentation at a local audience level.

 Is information weighted as "news" simply because video footage is available to fill television airtime? The medium shapes the media message, in effect.

So you & I see dead people.

Popping something unpleasant in my mouth ...

Bought a packet of Rowntree's Fruit Jellies, expecting something like pastilles; and because "taking time out of an active life to enjoy a sweet treat".

Instead of fruit, I discovered pepper/nettle/spinach/carrot, but the only taste is this kids' sweet other ingredient of PIG FAT. How can pork gelatine be legitimate confectionery?

It's said that Britain has no heavy industry any longer. Yet it's churning out overweight children by the metric tonne. No wonder chavs have no taste, if the nearest they come to fruit is this Rowntree product. Mind you, it may be how they are weaned onto flavoured condoms by Social Services; after popping out a first couple of baby hoodies to get that Council flat.

*innit*

Being scathing: insult to injury ...

BUPA, you shoestring medical services provider!

What's the point of having a specialist Physiotherapy centre, yet being too tight-fisted to shell out some of your fees on clearing paths & carparks of ice & snow. You may as well be tipping people out of their wheelchairs, nicking their crutches, and kicking legs out from under them directly. Caring profession, my (snow-ground) rear.

Not that Bupa are the sole indication of unintelligent life on Earth. My parents' Council; being discontent with allowing the "electorate" to skate around on the pavements for the past three weeks, paid for an actual icerink to be erected in front of their town hall - literally adding insult to injury.

@DanHardaker : on Ebeneezing the Xmas shopping

You ask if the gift hunt ended up at The Pound Shop [where "everything is a pound!" ] in jest, but with me:

a Paddington Bear book for Mother, the Jonathan Ross biography for the sibling, and Shilpa Shetty's S2 perfume for the +1 = total spend of four quid; which left enough for a new ball for the dog, a Pepsi for me, and a few pennies to charity.

Christmas for a fiver - result!

@LucasBlack : [a few] Gremlins ...

Hey, don't knock Gremlins too much - I found myself with a date as a result of this movie. My arm being relentlessy grabbed at every "scary" moment, until even I realised it couldn't be that frightening, and that some subterfuge was occurring.

Lessons learnt: women are sneaky, and the best things happen on the back row of the cinema.

Actually said incident was a formative personal insight: too inobservant to be come hithered by the batting of eyelashes and the fluttering of fans, too refined to be drawn by the display of a push-up bra.

No more @giffgaff guff ...

My initial enthusiasm has been all but extinguished for the new "social community" MVNO giffgaff .

I continue to appreciate their conceptual appropriation of Lebara Mobile & 3-UK's free intra-network calling, Asda-UK's service pricing, and a similar free data offer to that with which O2-UK introduced GPRS [well, actually O2's was twice as long].

However the reality is that a half a month on, not only has original sim not been delivered but nor has its replacement. It's not as if the address is a fishing boat in the North Sea - giffgaff's parent [O2] has been sending phones/sims/bills there for two decades!

Perhaps this new mobile network is not ready to serve urban - as opposed to metropolitan areas - yet. Certainly if their infrastructure cannot support simple physical service delivery, then one cannot have confidence that more complex intangible facilities - such as billing - will be correctly implemented.

Regrettably, I have seen no option but to issue their Support Agency with the following directive:

"Sirs,

Please cancel my purchase order, and reimburse my credit card with the amount you withdrew on 26/11/09.

You have failed to supply both the original sim and its replacement [to an address O2 have been delivering bills/sims/mobiles to for 2 decades].

I have no further time to devote to this issue, nor evidence to recommend your service in its current state.

Regards".

Hopefully others' experience will be better, but I relate mine in warning.

 

Tiger, Tiger, burning bright ...

I realise I'm late to Tiger's immolation, but he's not the first golfer to take his wood & spank a couple of balls into the rough; and Mrs Woods should have known the marriage was astray, when Tiger endorsed his razor - not her - as "the best a man could get".

Hopefully for all concerned, this will be his last close shave - especially as Gillette have pulled their sponsorship.

Whipped into a frenzy ...

Grrr & doh - swapping over an O2 simcard to a different handset, looked away for a moment, and the sim had vanished!

Spent almost an hour searching: under chairs/bags/ in books etc. On giving up, rang for a replacement; then headed for shower. On whipping down longjohns, out fell my ... sim.

How on Earth it got there, I have no idea. Hoping scratching of unsavoury areas weren't involved.