Just 20 minutes ago I was about to get off the bus at my bus stop when a guy in his 40s looked at me and smiled at me as if he knew me. I glanced at him briefly then looked away. He grabbed my arm, and I wrenched my hand out of his grip.

He got off the bus after me and walked alongside me, trying to grab my arm again. “Come with me,” he said in an Eastern-European accent.

“No,” I said firmly, and tried to ignore him. He continued to smile at me. I was desperate to cross the road to get away from him and looked at some people who had gotten off the bus at the same time, but they were just watching from a distance.

Finally there was a gap in the traffic and I was able to dash across the road. I checked that he wasn’t following me and walked home, telling the story to my friend who had just called me.

I hope that I don’t see him again. I’m worried that he lives somewhere around here.

My friend said that I should tell the police about the encounter. The guy didn’t hurt me at all, but technically it could be called an assault. And he might try it again with someone else.

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.

–

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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I have not watched a single minute of this year’s Big Brother UK, but I could not avoid seeing the news coverage of the white girl who was evicted for using the “N-word”… Apparently she was using it in a street-slang context, but I feel that there was absolutely no need for it.

I know that some black people use that word in reference to themselves and other black people, but I personally abhor the word and everything it stands for. I don’t see the point in trying to “reclaim” a word which has been used as an insult for hundreds of years, using it to refer to oneself as if that could somehow change the meaning of the word. I’m not saying that the meaning of words don’t change over time, but I cannot imagine that this particular word could never become a positive adjective.

I’m glad that Big Brother/Channel 4 evicted the girl from the house straight away (though they didn’t have much choice after the Celebrity BB race-row), but I’m ambivalent about the decision to show the incident on the show. I guess that BB wanted to be seen as being honest and transparent with the public, but no-one really needed to see the incident. I assume that C4′s need for ratings (especially without the weekly eviction this week) won out over its sense of decorum.

Or does anyone else think that this ad that I found looks a bit dodgy?

The headline overleaf states:

Make someone’s day.

It’s supposed to be an advert for volunteers to take out housebound or unwell people for a bit of fresh air or a change of scene but I just see an eldery lady with her hot gigolo…

Have the best legs in the world.

On Friday morning on my way to work I spotted an old lady on the train. She must have been at least 65 years old, but her legs seemed to belong to another woman. They were tanned a deep brown, and toned. She was wearing a floral skirt and had her legs crossed, which only added to the fascinating spectacle.