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[Jul. 4th, 2008|09:56 am]

rougeforever
[Current Mood | busy]

Things:

1) My PC is currently...stuffed. I think I know what's wrong with it, but that's not helping currently.

2) PC being stuffed means that I can't synch my iPod, as it's synched to *my* PC, not Matt's PC or the MacBook Pro. This is irritating.

3) I'm listening to This American Life. I'd never heard of it before this morning. It's good.

4) It's my 6 weekly maintenance appointment this morning. This afternoon I'm at work.

5) Time to dash. Am very glad it's the weekend. It being near to the 4th of July, and the husband working for an american company means that we have his company pic-nic this weekend. I think there will also be a film (Matt wants to see the Mist because he loves Stephen King...almost as much as he loves me).

6) I'm mainly hoping for sleep at the weekend. Well, sleep and coffee. Maybe some wine.
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Georg Trakl, "The Evening" [Jul. 4th, 2008|05:54 pm]

greatpoets
[the_grynne]
THE EVENING

With the ghostly shapes of dead heroes
Moon, you fill
The growing silence of the forest,
Sickle moon -
With the gentle embraces
Of lovers,
And with ghosts of famous ages
All around the crumbling rocks;
The moon shines with such blue light
Upon the city,
Where a decaying generation
Lives, cold and evil -
A dark future prepared
For the pale grandchild.
Your shadows swallowed by the moon
Sighing upward in the empty goblet
Of the mountain lake.


GEORG TRAKL

Translated by Robert Bly and James Wright
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Iraq "change"; "refine" [Jul. 4th, 2008|08:11 am]

keith_london
[Current Mood | apathetic]

"I’ve always said that the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability. That assessment has not changed. And when I go to Iraq and have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I’m sure I’ll have more information and will continue to refine my policies." ---- Obama

"During his presidential campaign, Obama has gone from the hard-edged, vocal opposition to Iraq that defined his early candidacy to more nuanced rhetoric that calls for the phased-out drawdown of all combat brigades that, at a rate of one or two a month, could take 16 months." [AP]

"Obama made the point plain two months ago: the President sets the strategic goals, and the generals carry out his orders. Period, full stop, as Obama himself said in a speech this week. Now suddenly Obama has decided that he should listen to the generals before setting the strategic goals, which is not just a flip-flop, but really an opening for a full-fledged abandonment of the position that won him the support of the netroots and the nomination. ........ By emphasizing stability and moving away from even the 16-month plan he had cited as “responsible”, he has all but adopted the John McCain position of no withdrawal without victory." [Source: Hot Air - O’Hanlon: Obama’s Iraq policy now “ambiguous”]

*sigh* this must be the the so-called "change we can believe in". Someone commented on that story: "I am getting a migraine just reading this." I must admit I haven't digested this properly yet, and I don't need migraine. I'll probably re-visit this issue in a future post. I've always had a sense that Obama's position on Iraq has at best been ambiguous anyway. He would just sanctimoniously bang on about how he had always opposed the Iraq war (unlike HRC who had voted for the Iraq war) - this was his USP, and it worked to some extent in creating the image that he was somehow untainted. (In truth, he wasn't even in the Senate when the vote on Iraq was held).
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[Jul. 3rd, 2008|05:53 pm]

greatpoets
[lly]
[Current Mood | chipper]

because property crimes are not defined as acts of violence
daphne gottlieb

it's not what he did, it's how
he did it so when I say he stole my heart
I mean he stole
my heart as if he sidled up
to my car at night
smashed the window with a crowbar
jerked the door open
threw the newspaper, the ice scraper into the street
decapitated the bobblehead cat
that was nodding sweetly on the dash
and then ripped out the stereo--he
didn't just grab the faceplate--
he tore the whole box out
bent and scraped the area around it
didn't clip the end of the wires
just yanked them until they gave
and then ran away, black box, jaw set, breathing
heavy

( so there's my car in the morning )
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I am the best! [Jul. 3rd, 2008|11:17 pm]

perfectlyvague
I just played MarioKart. I own a mountain bike.

Did I miss a memo?

Am I twelve?

Yes. Cool. I intend to be twelve for quite some time.

I meant to do a big meaningful post about my careers interview. It was surprisingly good. I AM HAPPY. ISH. Scared, excited, but - yes.

What I loved about tonight was that thanks to a little white box and a little silver gizmo, suddenly I felt quite - I dunno - at home.
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debunking WoD [Jul. 3rd, 2008|10:43 pm]

silly_narziss
Some of the most striking numbers are from the Netherlands, where adults are permitted to possess a small of marijuana and purchase it from regulated businesses. Some U.S. officials have claimed that these Dutch policies have created some sort of decadent cesspool of drug abuse, but the new study demolishes such assertions: In the Netherlands, only 19.8 percent have used marijuana, less than half the U.S. figure.
[source]
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See I lost my sense of direction, but I'm alright now [Jul. 3rd, 2008|08:24 pm]

rougeforever
[Current Mood | cheerful]

One of those days.

One of those Thursday evenings. Met husband for coffee after work with a couple of nice people from work. The four of us hung out and coffeeed and chatted, and stuff.

From there the wander back to the car took us past shops. Shops!

There was a small purchase for me ...this book, and a little perfumey thing (because it was very cheap). Oh and a magazine.

There is now some sitting on the sofa, some flight pricing on expedia (there's always flight pricing on expedia) and some thinking about dinner. Not actually cooking of dinner, but maybe there's some of that in a moment.
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Jay Wright: Journey to the Place of Ghosts [Jul. 3rd, 2008|02:08 pm]

greatpoets
[winkout]
"Death knocks all night at my door.
The soul answers,
and runs from the water in my throat.
Water will sustain me when I climb
the steep hill
that leads to a now familiar place..."

( Journey to the Place of Ghosts )
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[Jul. 3rd, 2008|08:58 pm]

silly_narziss
Before reporting on a lovely day to the lunapark with two of my maths classes, first a word of thanks to lawmaker Murphy for making it a cold wet one during a week of sunshine.

Then, the challenge. A day not spent writing your obituary, is a day not properly lived.



There we went: up, and down (repeat some times and hold your stomach). A beautiful wooden roller coaster aka the lunch catapult.

Thanks to the amazing progress of photo technology we were all captured on pictures presented through lcd screens at the exit. For 2 euro you could mail it to someone (to impress) or yourself (for therapy). Every screen showed these cheering people with their arms high in the air, smiling into the camera recording their minutes of infinite joy. Great contrast with the image of that one guy holding his hands so tight to the rail of his cart, his face showing nothing but death fear and despair. The picture of me.
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75 Bands [Jul. 3rd, 2008|06:41 pm]

nikkyb
[Tags|]

Knowing my reputation for being current with all things cool, this is probably pretty old. There are 75 bands represented in this picture, how many can you identify? I've found 46 so far, and I haven't yet resorted to cheating... the answers are pretty easy to find in various fora.

How many can you find?

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[Jul. 3rd, 2008|04:06 pm]

chiller
[Current Mood | pleased]

OMG, I just got a massive - I mean the size of a large Malteser - orange Revel.

WIN.
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Evening in Taormina. [Jul. 3rd, 2008|03:44 pm]

frumiousb
[Tags|, , ]

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H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) - "Sea Gods" [Jul. 3rd, 2008|08:17 am]

greatpoets
[hensfourth]
I

THEY say there is no hope—
sand—drift—rocks—rubble of the sea—
the broken hulk of a ship,
hung with shreds of rope,
pallid under the cracked pitch.
they say there is no hope
to conjure you—
no whip of the tongue to anger you—
no hate of words
you must rise to refute.
They say you are twisted by the sea,
you are cut apart
by wave-break upon wave-break,
that you are misshapen by the sharp rocks,
broken by the rasp and after-rasp.
That you are cut, torn, mangled,
torn by the stress and beat,
no stronger than the strips of sand
along your ragged beach.


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[Jul. 3rd, 2008|12:12 pm]

chiller
[Current Mood | sore]

I lost count of the number of times my ex-husband saved me from toppling down staircases by dint of hauling me upright by one hand like a three-year-old.

It's not simply that I would like someone to hold my hand. I am in dire need, for the sake of my health.

It's not simply that I would like them to be big and strong enough to pick me up. They need to be.

Sore knees
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Double Murder Inquiry [Jul. 3rd, 2008|12:02 pm]

keith_london
[Current Mood | working]

We now know that the murdered French students, Laurent Bonomo 23, and Gabriel Ferez, 23 were bio-engineering students, researching DNA and "cleansing of protein within DNA". They have been here since early May and were due to return to France this month. One tabloid has already called it a 'Tarantino-style' murder (mind you, based on how the police have described it): "Scotland Yard detectives described the double murder as the worst they had dealt with in recent years. One said: "The scale of the violence is extraordinary. This was like a scene from a Tarantino gangster film but these men were not criminals. These were two talented and innocent young men who had no history of criminality." American director Quentin Tarantino is known for his extremely brutal scenes in movies such as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction."

The crime scene is 12 Sterling Gardens, SE14. At a press conference, DCI Mick Duthie said, "I need to build up a picture of these two young men. What they were doing in the hours leading up to the murder. Shortly after the explosion a white male was seen to run from that block. Who is that man? I appeal to residents and visitors who were in and around Sterling Close on Sunday. Did you see or hear anything suspicious? Did you see any vehicle that was out of place? I also appeal to those people who worked with, and knew Laurent and Gabriel at Imperial College - what were they like? where did they go? who did they meet? where did they socialise? Finally I’ll ask, do you know of anybody who since Sunday has returned home and is now acting out of character? This attacker was horrific. I ask everybody - please wrack your brains. Try and recall what you were doing on Sunday evening. If you can think of anything, no matter how insignificant, I urge you to call the incident room. Your small piece of information could help us solve this crime."

  • Incident Number for police 0208 721 4155 or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111

    ( police statement )
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    [Jul. 3rd, 2008|01:13 pm]

    paula_abroad
    enough with the muggy heat already!!
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    [Jul. 3rd, 2008|09:00 am]

    perfectlyvague
    [Current Location |paternoster square by the pineapple]
    [Current Mood | bemused and busy]
    [Current Music |diminished - rem]

    Just dropping in to say thank you for the lovely comments.

    Being an adult sucks...chiefly because you don't have as many water fights.
    Link1 comment|Leave a comment

    More crime [Jul. 3rd, 2008|09:40 am]

    keith_london
    [Current Mood | uncomfortable]

    "Dudes are not supposed to be smacking other guys' bum bums" ------ Darnell (BB9)

    Sky News says "Murray minced". I like it. As the commentators might say, Nadal is "too good!". I'm not going to miss Murray showing off his arm muscle nor his ridiculous triumphant grimaces.

    News of a double murder of French exchange students, named as Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, in South East London emerged this morning. Sadly, these two young French men have joined the ever growing numbers of victims of violent knife-related crimes. Initially thought to be victims of a fire, a post-mortem reveleaed that they had stab wounds to the head, neck and chest. The bodies were found in a ground floor flat in Sterling Gardens, New Cross, south-east London, on Sunday night. Le Figaro reported that the two men studied in Clermont-Ferrand, in central France. French minister Valerie Pecresse (Minister For Higher Education And Research) expressed her compassion and immense sadness at news of the deaths. Detectives believe the men were murdered first and the fire was started in an effort to destroy evidence. One theory is that the killer threw a petrol bomb. There is also speculation that the men may have been tortured before being murdered. Witnesses reported hearing what sounded like a bomb detonating and seeing a man running from the scene. [Sources: BBC, Evening Standard]

    ( Read more... )
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    Trouble Every Day [Jul. 2nd, 2008|09:43 pm]

    felisdemens
    ( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )
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    Sleepy [Jul. 2nd, 2008|11:48 pm]

    keith_london
    [Current Mood | sleepy]

    The woman at the bus stop spoke loudly, "Am I exaggerating? Or do you think I have a point? I did the right thing ... do you see my point?" Her friend agreed. "You did the right thing," she interjected, in a reassuring, calm voice. As the car (with me in it) moved away from the bus stop, I managed to hear a bit more of the conversation that suggested it was something to do with a man and money.

    I'm so pleased Nadal beat Murray. He "had no answer" to Nadal.

    I'm so sleepy now, I'll have a nap, and maybe continue at the PC later. Or maybe I'll just drift off to sleep.
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