Archive for May, 2008
May 26th, 2008 | 
Author: I haven’t really weighed in on the upcoming US presidential elections yet and I thought it was about time I did.
I think I was waiting for the field to narrow to the final two candidates and like most of the world and media (of which I play a small role), thought it would have been resolved by now. It just goes to show you what the media knows…sweet FA.
Except me, of course with my crystal balls and amazing predictive powers of foresight.
I’ve always joked that newsrooms should replace their forward planning desks with psychics anyway. Just imagine if someone could tell you where to put a TV camera for the next big plane crash or political assassination. Talk about a world exclusive!
And speaking of political assassinations, why are people so obsessed with someone bumping off Barak Obama. You know, some wacko doesn’t have to kill the black candidate. It’s not a rule, or even a suggested guideline. It’s actually reprehensible to suggest it, but the suggestion is out there, far more than you might expect.
My friends over at ANORAK NEWS, have been charting the OBAMA DEATH CULT, thanks to public comments by former Republican candidate Mike Huckabee and now HILLARY CLINTON.
These are just the two most recent and high profile examples, but there are more.
Why is everyone so afraid of an Obama presidency?
I think the answer to that is quite complex and anyone who says its just down to racism, is missing the point. I’m not going to deny there is a racist element to it, because it is certainly a component and for some, the only reason, but there’s more to it than that.
Obama represents change and a break from the past. He is, if nothing else, creating an illusion, that he will take America in a different and more progressive and dare I say, liberal direction. Whether or not that is true, remains to be seen, but he is certainly marketing himself that way.
So many people wouldn’t be talking about some nut killing Obama, if they weren’t afraid of him.
I have a silly theory that he might be the anti-christ, but of course I don’t believe in that nonsense any more than I believe in the real one. It always gets a laugh though, except from committed Christians (and shouldn’t they all be?), who give me knowing glances and a couple of leaflets from their church.
Whenever I listen to Obama speak, I actually like what I hear. I realise that’s a politician’s job, but he does do it well. When he says he would talk directly with his enemies, I applaud him, when he says he’ll pull all the troops out of Iraq as quickly and safely as possible, I commend him and when he says he’ll allow the use of medical marijuana, I’d kiss him.
But would I vote for him? If he ends up being the democratic candidate, of course I would, but it doesn’t matter, because I am not a voter. Anything is better than another four years of McBush.
But back to the “kill Obama” sideshow…I found this clip from Fox News especially disturbing. Actually it really fucked me off. See what you think…
I took delivery of a Playstation 3 this week, along with a copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA 4). I’ve abandoned north London and am now a resident of Liberty City. Just call me the libertycityhippy from now on.
I’ve never been much of a gamer, the last console I owned was a Nintendo NES, back in the early 80s. I haven’t really played any computer games since then.
I debated buying a PS3 for a while as I think having one is the equivalent of giving up on reality, though technically I gave up on it a couple of decades ago. I’ve got friends who have been telling me how cool they are for a while and with the release of GTA 4, I thought it was time to take the plunge.
I very nearly bought a PS2 and GTA San Andreas, but convinced myself my free time would be better spent pursuing random acts of creativity. I’m feeling far less creative at the moment and rather than trying to extract blood from a stone, I’ve elected to spend my leisure time in a virtual world where I can steal cars, shag whores and kill people. That’s better than exploring the same activities in reality around north London, I guess.
Video games are time bandits and they will eat up your free time quite effectively and if you’re as crap at playing them as I am, they will take up even more of your time.
I thought long and hard about this purchase, seeing it as a mini-surrender to having a life. In some ways, this is me giving up, just a little. Not forever, not even until I finish GTA 4 (which at the rate I am going will take years), but just enough to clear some of the cobwebs out of my skull. It was either this or some LSD and finding quality acid these days seems like too much of a struggle, so I am now a gamer.
Setting up the PS3 was a breeze, I’ve connected it directly to my Bravia’s only HDMI input and I have the output set to 1080i, which is the best resolution my tv can deliver. The audio also goes via the TV and is then fed back to my amplifier via a stereo cable – not ideal, but serviceable. I only have 2.1 audio, so its not like I am missing out on the 5.1 surround sound – I don’t have enough speakers to benefit from it.
I was also able to get the PS3 straight onto my home wi-fi network, which means online game play and updates are already within my grasp. I’ve actually run some updates already and my operating system is bang up to date.
I bought 2 games with the console, the afformentioned GTA 4 and Gran Tursimo 5 – The Prologue, on the recommendation of a mate.
Gran Turismo is positively stunning, especially the backgrounds. I’ve been doing laps around a track in London and it is pin sharp and photo-realistic. If you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I mean, it is positively jaw-droppingly good! I’m still crap at controlling the car, though and I definitely need lots of practise.
GT5 is a taster of the full version of the game, which is due to be released next year and only cost me 17 quid, which I thought was a real bargain.
GTA 4 is unbelievably involved and has a scope and scale which is mind boggling. The gameplay takes place in an expansive and extremely realistic realm, which is massive and has a level of detail which would thrill most feature film makers. I can’t get over how good it all looks.
The main reason I really bought all this is I’ve felt for a while that I was missing out on a significant part of home entertainment by not having a games console. Video games are big business, making as much or more annually than most feature films. I think I read GTA 4 took over 50 million dollars in its first week of release, making it the best selling game of all time.
GTA 4 cost nearly 40 quid, which may sound expensive, but if you factor in the number of hours I’ll be playing it and the shear size of the playing field, you can see why they are that expensive. The amount of time and man-hours that go into developing such a game is immense and they have to make it back somehow.
I also think there’s probably work to be had in the world of gaming, for a middle-aged, make-believe hippy from north London. Someone has to write the storylines and create the characters – I could do that! I would love to do that! Games probably reach more people than films, so it’s a big audience to satisfy and satisfy them, I would!
So who out there has any contacts with the major gaming developers? Wanna hook me up with a highly paid, emotionally satisfying position coming up with concepts and stories for future games? I promise you that given the chance, I could come up with the most compelling games imaginable!
Like how about this…a northlondonhippy videogame! You would get to be me, in an RPG sort of way. You could hang out in my virtual lair, roll and smoke virtual spliffs, watch TV and play PS3 games, as me. And then their would be missions, like scoring weed on a Friday night, but still having time to get home and order a nice Japanese take-away, before the restaurant closes.
You’d pay 40 quid for that, wouldn’t you?
I’ve been digging the Canna Zine for a while now and I thought its about time I gave it some proper attention.
Canna Zine is “the only Pro-Reform (of cannabis laws) news agency in Europe” and an excellent resource for information on my beloved weed. They stay up to date with the latest news on weed, plus they give a lot of time and attention to other pro-reform groups.
I should mention that I am now listed as a cannabis resource in the UK in the Canna Zine directory, but that is more a statement of support from me to them, than any sort of endorsement of whatever it is I do here. I’m pleased they accepted my submission and I’m proud to be associated with a website that is striving to further a sensible, science and fact-based approach to cannabis.
This is especially important now as it looks very likely that Gordon (GGG!) Brown and his merry band of glee-thieves will be reclassifying weed early next year. I say “likely” because the move has yet to be rubber stamped by parliament. Yes, I know its a formality, but I still hold a small glimmer of hope that common sense, logic and decency will prevail and my beloved weed will remain in Class C…until it is first decriminalised, then full legalised, regulated, and taxed.
A hippy can dream. And I do. Still way too much.
(The bubbler contest is still open. Don’t you want to win a really cool bubbler? Of course you do!)
Sometimes, political discourse can be furthered by the most unlikely of sources. And they can make me laugh.
Famed London tourist attraction, Madame Tussauds, announced today that the would NOT be making a wax figure of current British Prime Minister (and national embarrassment) Gordon Brown following a survey of their visitors.
It seems 84% of respondents to their survey do not think Gordo B belongs in their waxwork museum. “Overwhelmingly” against is how the result is described IN THIS BBC REPORT on the results of the survey. This would make GB the first prime minister in 150 years to not be cast in wax.
Isn’t it time the Labour Party got its collective act together and ousted this idiot out of Downing Street. The sooner he is replaced, the better for not just the party, but the nation as a whole! I might nickname him Nargus, because he is a natural disaster too!
Is anyone surprised that this awkward, un-elected, un-likeable, unbelievably obtuse, abortion of a politician is unwanted by tourists? He’s not wanted by his party or the electorate either, but they haven’t been given the chance to vote on his premiership.
It’s good to know that democracy is alive and well, somewhere, even if its only available at an overpriced tourist trap. Trust me, its better than nothing!
(GGG! = Gordon’s Gotta Go!)
You can still win my bubbler. Go on, take a chance, its not like it costs you anything!
I’ve just finished a mammoth run of work. I collapsed in a heap yesterday and stayed that way for around 12 hours until one of my kittens woke me up around 4:30am this morning. Hey ho.
My kittens are now 10 months old and the little boy is already huge. He is going to be a giant, monster cat when he is fully grown. He was the one who woke me this morning, by sitting on my chest and staring me awake. His little sister was laying on my legs at the same time, sort of rolling around, also trying to get my attention.
And that’s really all they wanted; attention. There was plenty of food and water for them, they didn’t need me for that. They simply required me to pay them attention. That didn’t take very long.
Once up, I had to feed the older cats, a 3 year old and a 16 year old. The 3 year just needed me to pretend to feed her, so that she would think it was time for her to eat. Yes, she is slightly neurotic, but that’s OK.
The 16 year old, our oldest cat needs tinned food these days, as the dry stuff is a bit too hard for her to chew. She’s nearly completely blind from cataracts, but still gets around the house very well. That’s not true outside though and as of a couple of days ago, I can no longer let her go out. She went under the fence into my neighbour’s yard and couldn’t find her way back – I had to go and rescue her and she was carried home in my arms. She’s still quite feisty and is doing quite well considering her age.
After sorting out the cats, I parked myself in front of my iMac and did some surfing. Between my RSS feeds and sites I visit regularly, I probably visited at least 30 of them before 6am.
I also downloaded the latest episode of Lost. Yes, I know I could wait a few days and catch it on Sky One, but why would I do that? Then I would miss out on all the cool stuff on the internet that follows, which is released at the American ABC pace.
I’m really into Lost, I think it is easily one of the best programmes on the box. It’s so complex and layered and mostly it does my head in, but I know they are taking it somewhere. I am really looking forward to watching the last 2 seasons play out, especially as there are only 3 more hours of it left this series, before another agonising 10 month wait for more.
I’ve also been watching Mad Men, which I missed when it first aired and was easily downloadable, but thanks to BBC4, I’ve been able to see the entire series. Wow, its good and Don Draper has got to be the ultimate in capitalist anti-heroes. I’ve always liked anti-heroes and secretly like to think I’m one myself. You’re all rooting for me, even though you know you shouldn’t.
After hanging out with the Losties, I made myself my first proper coffee of the day with my Vivi. I haven’t used it over a week, because of my erratic work schedule and sleep pattern, but I haven’t gone without excellent coffee.
My secondary method of brewing fresh coffee is now a device called an AeroPress.
It’s quick and easy to use and it cleans up in seconds. What’s not to love?
The cool thing for me about my AeroPress is that I can use the exact same coffee I use in the Vivi, ground the exact same way, so no messing around with the setting my grinder. The AeroPress makes what I would describe as something similar to espresso, in strength and volume, but not in texture or complexity. That’s ok, because the AeroPress costs significantly less than a proper pro-sumer espresso machine.
You can pick up an AeroPress for as little as under 20 quid (email me if you want the site selling them that low, they also sell the best freshly roasted beans in the UK) and it will make amazing coffee for you too.
By far, the most important thing you need for making great coffee is freshly roasted, freshly ground beans. When I first started looking into coffee, this was the most difficult thing to get my head around, mainly because of the cost of a decent grinder capable of producing the quality you need for a good espresso machine. Some people even say the espresso machine is an accessory for the grinder and that didn’t really make sense to me until I used my set-up for a while.
An espresso machine basically has an on/off switch; you turn the pump on to force water through the ground coffee (at the right pressure and temperature) and then you switch it off when you’ve reached the required volume or level of extraction. That’s all the control you really have, on and off. The grinder is what actually gives you any say in how your coffee is produced, the coarser the grinder, the faster the pour, the finer the grind, the slower the pour. You aim to produce a double espresso in around 30 seconds, with the colour of the coffee stream going tan around that time as well.
Ok, this is tedious to you if you have no interest in coffee, but as you can probably tell, I’ve really got into this in a big way. I’m drinking my 2nd coffee of the day right now and its every bit as good as my first. Consistency is what you aim for in making good coffee and I can pretty much reproduce the same result over and over. That job in Starbucks is looking more and more likely!
It’s just gone 8am, here in north London, the sun is shining and its expected to be another warm day. I’ve been awake for 3 and 1/2 hours and I’ve pretty much told you everything I’ve already done. I’ve replied to a few emails and now I’ve written this post. You are fully and completely up to date.
All that’s left to do now, is post this on my website and you’ll know that’s happened because you’re reading it. I’ve got nothing left to share with you for now.
I’m starting a new campaign today and I’m going to need help from all of you. It is my desire to see Gordon Brown removed from Number 10. Brown’s been Prime Minister long enough. Too long!
Gordon’s gotta go!
GGG!
Gordon’s
Gotta
Go!
Gordon Brown is by far the worst Prime Minister the United Kingdom has ever had, bar none. Even war-monger Blair had a bit of charm and charisma; Brown is a charisma-free zone.
I could actually cope with Gordon Brown’s stiff and unpleasant demeanour, if it weren’t for his total lack of vision and pointless policies and you know where this is going…
Reclassification…
Yep, I’m a one-issue kinda guy.
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is the independent body which advises the government on drugs policy. No government has ever ignored their recommendations since the board was formed. Ol’ Gordo is preparing to ignore their advice and reclassify cannabis to Class B from its current status of Class C.
The ACMD have reviewed cannabis policy three times in the last several years; the first time Tony Blair and David Blunkett followed their advice and put weed into Class C. See, Blair wasn’t all bad. There was this and Northern Ireland, the rest, well that was all pretty bad.
The second time the ACMD recently reviewed cannabis, they again reached the same conclusion. This was done in the heat of the political firestorm that followed the original declassification decision and it only reaffirmed the move and the government left it alone.
The third review of cannabis was requested by Brown, in light of the “new evidence” of the dangers of cannabis.
The truth is, there is no new evidence, there are just conflicting studies which don’t come to any real conclusions regarding links between mental health problems and cannabis use. That hasn’t stopped the media from trying to whip up a Downing Street inspired shit storm of hysterical spin, painting cannabis as the devil’s weed. It was reefer madness mark II, only these days, most of us know much better.
The ACMD reached the same conclusion on their third review, that cannabis should remain in Class C – the report was delivered to Gordon this week. The contents of the report were leaked to the press several weeks ago though they have yet to be made officially public. Their decision, along with Gordon’s overruling of it is expected to come sometime after yesterday’s local elections.
Now, here’s the cool bit. If Gordon Brown ignores the advice of the ACMD, the members of the ACMD are prepared to publicly resign in disgust. That’s how serious this is.
On top of that, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) are reportedly prepared to reassert the current guidance on cannabis possession, if Gordon does reclassify to Class B. In other words, they will continue to operate as if it was Class C.
Just a quick explanation on the differences between the Class B and Class C – the penalties are exactly the same for production and distribution under both. The end user ends up worse off under B.
Where they differ is when it comes to personal possession – under Class C, you should be cautioned and have the weed confiscated. Under Class C, you can still do time, up to 2 years in prison. Under Class B, there is technically no confiscate and caution option, the penalty for possession is 5 years in the big house.
Anyone with a brain knows that the classification of a drug has little to do with how people view it. Cocaine is Class A, carrying the stiffest penalties for possession, but people still take it. A lot of people, actually.
Since cannabis was declassified, usage has gone down. Since cannabis was declassified, far fewer people are unnecessarily imprisoned for a victimless crime. Since cannabis was declassified, we’ve had a drug policy in this country that was on the verge of sensible (with sensible being completely decriminalised or even better legalised, taxed and sold like liquor).
Gordon’s reason for all of this is the same reason he uses for everything he does. Gordon knows best.
Like fuck he does!
To say that Gordon’s drug policy is creating a complete muddle would be an understatement, like saying an ocean is slightly damp. It’s becoming an unmitigated disaster full of lies, hysteria, missteps, misinformation and decided lack of consistency or honesty.
In other words, for fuck’s sake, what a twat!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a politician so out of step with his country. He hasn’t a clue what genuine people are like. He can’t relate to any of us, because he is a complete social outsider.
Imagine, if you can, meeting Gordon in your local for a drink. He’d order a pint of whatever you’re having, but then hardly touch it. He’d try to talk to you about fiscal responsibility and moral authority, when you would rather talk about the football or how cool that new Iron Man movie looks. He would stand uncomfortably in the crowd, makings others feel uneasy, yet you would definitely get the sense he thought he was better than you, though you wouldn’t in a month of Sundays ever guess how he justifies it in his head.
Yes, Gordon, you are socially awkward and that was fine when you were the Chancellor and everyone thought you were doing a good job. No one thinks that now! The economy is up the spout, it’s screwed, its fucked and Gordon is to blame.
I’m paying £1.10 a litre for petrol. That’s really bad! (And for my American readers, I reckon that’s about 8 bucks a gallon and you didn’t read that wrong!)
The cost of food is skyrocketing too. But that’s not what is upsetting people at the moment, its the decline in house prices.
The economy here in Blighty has been falsely inflated due to the housing market. House prices were making wild gains, but that’s stopped now. People can’t trade up every year or two because their homes aren’t increasing any more. In some cases, they are decreasing and a term from a long time ago is creeping back:
Negative equity.
That’s a fancy pants way of saying your home is worth less than the amount you owe on your mortgage. It’s wank speak, really and it only matters if you are selling your house. If your house is not on the market, then it doesn’t really matter, but it might be the reason you can’t put your house for sale.
What would you do if you had a 100K loan and your house was only worth 75K. Where would you come up with that extra 25K to pay off the bank, plus interest? You wouldn’t, you’d just keep paying your mortgage and thanking god you have a roof over your head.
No one I know is getting rich or even getting ahead just by working. The people I know who have serious money in the bank, or have leap-frogged the rest of us on the property ladder have done so by making vastly inflated profits on property trading. That’s what has really been driving the economy.
Guess what? The economy is running out of steam and is grinding to a halt, thanks in a large part to the current housing market crash (or should I say crunch so I don’t panic anyone?).
And Gordon is to blame!
As I write this, the local election results are dribbling slowly out of my television. The topline is a simple one, it’s the Labour party’s worst showing in 40 years. They’ve come in third, after the Tories and the Lib Dems.
And Gordon is to blame.
Brown is a political liability.
Oh who am I kidding, he is a liability in every conceivable way.
I don’t think I’ve ever disliked a politician as much as I dislike Gordon Brown.
I have this fantasy that this afternoon, after all the election results are tabulated, certified and released and the true picture of the Labour massacre is confirmed, that a small group of very senior Labour types swing by Number 10 for a private chat with Brown.
In this chat, they ask him to resign asap, right then and there. When he refuses, they tell him if he doesn’t resign his position as Prime Minister, they will invoke a special extraordinary session of Parliament and call for a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
In other words, Gordon can do this the easy way or he can do it the hard way and its his choice.
Gordon is confronted with this difficult decision and he chooses to resign to make it seem like it was his idea. He returns to the back bench where we hardly ever hear from him again.
Or I’ve got another scenario, which I just thought of, just now. He could return to Number 11 and be the Chancellor of the Exchequer again, because of the dire economic outlook, the department needs his expertise again!
Basically, anything that ends his premiership before he can fuck up anything else is good with me.
I’ve even got a catch phrase for you. You can use it as a greeting, when you meet people. Better yet, you can use it to sign off letters and emails. Maybe I should get tee-shirts printed. How can we lose when we have my winning slogan? Go on, chant along with me!
GGG!
Gordon’s gotta go!
GGG!
GORDON’S GOTTA GO!
GGG!
GORDON’S
GOTTA
GO!
Three G’s means Gordon’s not for me!
GGG!
Gordon’s gotta go!
GGG!
Are you all with me?
(While we’re on the subject of weed, check out the northlondonhippy’s cannabis truth series.)
