I could almost imagine that the Bonfire Night fireworks going off outside are in celebration of this historic event. Better days are ahead for us all now.
Commiserations to Dr Monkey, alas the world is not ready for you yet.
Artwork by Shepard Fairey
Video via SwissMiss
From midnight tonight Boris Johnson will become the 2nd Mayor of London, and I really don’t know how he pulled it off. The only ‘advantages’ that he had coming into the mayoral race was his notoriety from certain ill-advised comments that he had made in the past, his wild hair and bumbling persona.
Were Londoners simply voting for Conservative candidate Boris in order to stick two fingers up at Gordon Brown’s Labour government? I’m sure that was a big factor too.
For months the newspapers had been heralding the mayoral elections as a two-man race between the current mayor, Ken Livingston, and Boris Johnson. There was little reporting about any of the other candidates, including the former senior police officer Brian Paddick, who I would have liked to take over the reins.
So will Boris prove himself to be more than a wild-haired buffoon? I really hope so, for the sake of London. As Hammer says, £11 million pounds is a lot of money to control, and four years is a long time.
A difficult situation worsens. People were queuing up outside branches of Northern Rock at 7am this morning. Branches were opened for two extra hours today to deal with the demand.
Though all the experts told people not to panic, Northern Rock’s customers are showing their feelings of insecurity. I can’t blame them; how many people have lost their pensions or had their endowment mortgages undervalued in the past decade? The chance that they could lose their hard-earned savings would make anyone worry.
In this case, the adage is true: actions speak louder than words. They cost more too: £2 million has been withdrawn from Northern Rock’s coffers so far.
My advice to those people who having been queuing up over the past couple of days to withdraw their life savings from Northern Rock is to be careful. Someone might try to mug you on your way home. I’m not kidding either.
Get a cashier’s cheque or something similar; don’t get your thousands in bundles of £50 notes carried in semi-transparent Tesco bags. I’m sure nobody is that silly anyway, right?
A bomb was found in the Haymarket area of central London at about 2am this morning. Fortunately the device was discovered and made safe before anyone could be hurt.
I will never understand how people could decide to commit mass murder in order to achieve an aim or to further a cause, but these terrorists will not stop me from living my life.
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Blair’s farewell kiss to the nation.
Will Gordon Brown replace Blair as Bush’s gimp? Time will tell. Does anyone remember that Blair’s original New Labour anthem was that cheesy dance tune, “Things can only get better”? Unfortunately that sentiment still applies after 10 years of his government. I’m not a political animal so I won’t go into details here. Where’s Dr Monkey when you need him?
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So I’ve decided to create a bionic woman out of cheap fake leather bags. It’s not such a strange idea, is it? I’ve already got the torso sorted out:
I just need to get the proportions right, then find her a suitable head, neck, and limbs and we’re all set. I’ll plug her into the electrical supply to animate her, then I’ll use her super strength to put an end to world conflict. My bag lady will rule the world…
Today is World Book Day, an event to promote reading. According to the event’s website, the 10 books which the UK cannot do without are:
1) Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 20%
2) Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkein 17%
3) Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 14%
4) Harry Potter books – J K Rowling 12%
5) To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee 9.5%
6) The Bible 9%
7) Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8.5%
1984 – George Orwell 6% (tied with) His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 6%
10) Great Expectations – Charles Dickens .55%
No surprises there really, though I would have expected the Bible to have been a bit higher up the list.
To update you on my reading activity, I’m reading my 20th book of 2007 (43 left in my original TBR pile, plus another 5 I bought last week), Bulletproof Princess, a Silhouette Bombshell action romance featuring a princess who goes undercover to infiltrate a sex slave ring…(!)
Maybe it’s not so implausible. Perhaps Britney Spears is actually in cahoots with the US government, distracting the public from the real news about the government’s schemes. Maybe Paris Hilton is also a weapon of mass distraction?
So Saddam Hussein is dead. Some people are gladdened by this news, but I would have preferred to have him rot in jail for the rest of his life. Surrounded by the people he victimized, he might not have lasted a long time anyway.
Perhaps his death marks the beginning of a positive future for Iraq. I hope so.
