[awards] sleepless but smiling

I went into this Blogpower Awards thing thinking it would be fun to do and would expose lots of people to other blogs.

Personally, I'd hoped I'd do respectably in Category 11 but never dreamed I'd get anywhere in Category 3. I wish I wasn't there now because I'm getting a little nervous. My little circle has already nominated me and now I'm watching late nominees surge.

Don't think I don't appreciate Category 18. I'm a bit stunned that it's gone as it has against such powerful blogpowers as Iain and Doughty but it's still early days. But even if I'm swamped here at the end, I'll never forget those nominations.

There are so many really good things happening. There are some bloggers we all love, self-effacing and yet hopeful and now people are putting them in and I hope it gives them a real lift and makes their day.

From the e-mails, I know many people are enjoying it and that is great for the soul. I'm b-gg--ed but happy. Except for Category 3, where I'm biting my nails.

[visits to blogpower site] today should be interesting

[nour-obscur] my blog's feeling neglected

Don't know if I can post here today, given the state of the nominations over at Blogpower and day-job commitments but I'll be back with a vengeance a.s.a.p.

Of course, the sharpest of you will have picked up that I am, in fact, posting now.

I know I'm biased but it's good to see the Blogpowerers doing so well and nominated, not only by our own kind, but by non BPers as well. And a heck of a lot of BPers have nominated heathens ... er ... sorry ... I mean non BPers.

Phew! Have a good Tuesday!

[not long now] posts will be back

Normal service will be resumed after the Blogpower polls are put up on Wednesday evening and there's some breathing space.

There's been comment and some people have been good enough to communicate it to me. What will I do if this or that happens? Wouldn't it be better to ... ? Most of the suggestions and banners and so on have been taken on board and the feedback has been great.

None of which explains why I took the Awards and just ran them. Doesn't seem too democratic. The thing is, I am virtually my own boss over here and I tend to seize opportunities. As the majority of my clients were taking breaks for a few weeks, the opportunity was too good not to seize, particularly as my blog hiatus is coming up soon.

It had to be now.

As for opening it up to the known universe instead of keeping it cozy and clubby, there seemed little point in running some transparent awards if no one was going to be around to experience them. So if the Blogpowerers get shut out of most categories, then this blogger is going down in flames. He'll be hung by his groupmates. The test will be tomorrow.

There's been criticism of two kinds - that expected, for example by the politically opposed blogger who just said "here's my list" and not one Blogpowerer was on that list. Ho hum. But one which did rankle was the fellow Blogpowerer who sent me an e-mail with the header "[SPAM] Blogpower Awards."

That was constructive of him and I'd like to point him to the 237 e-mails, last time I checked - on the whole people who took it seriously and thought through their nominations. There are 24 waiting now.

I think it's all worth it but we'll see tomorrow.

[taking the p--s] smouldering anger

I'm a non-smoker and I'm angry. I'm sick of coughing my lungs out on a train which is why I drive now. However, this is not why I'm angry.

Very angry.

Let me steal from this brilliant piece by Jim Schembri, on public transport, and say:

"not fly-off-the-handle angry. This is focused, laser-guided angry - we are reasonable people pushed to that point of sheer exasperation which only the inefficiencies of our wretched, run-down, asinine, political system can push us."

It's a double-whammy, a double insult. First, the incomparable Reactionary Snob asks the question: "[Is this] The end of the humble fag break?" He goes on to explain:

Now it looks like our friends in Brussels have their overly litigious eyes on our doorways and expect those of us, who at the end of a hard day defending the innocent (or, indeed, the guilty) will have to go even further afield [for a fag].

Soon enough, we will have to stand in the middle of the street with a sign saying 'I will stub this fag out on my face if a non-smoker comes anywhere near me' hung around our necks.

As if that wasn't enough, on cue, RS's Google ads at the top of his sidebar launched into this:

Catch Smokers Lighting Up

Unique accurate method of catching smokers in the act of lighting up

They're seriously advertising technology to help you turn in a work colleague or friend for something he or she dearly needs at that point in time? What the f--k is this world coming to? Honestly!

You know what? I'm going to take up smoking. Yes I am.

I'm going to fly over to Edinburgh and light up a giant, one foot long joint in the middle of Princes Street and stuff them when they come for me. I'll blow smoke in their faces and knock 'em all out.

I'm angry!

UPDATE: Mutleythedog has just inspired me:

SMOKING IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH!

TAKE UP SMOKING - ITS COOL AND MAKES YOU LOOK MANLY*!

I DEMAND MY RIGHT TO COUGH AND SPLUTTER TO AN EARLY GRAVE!

Now come on over and arrest me! Illegal, my a-se, you non-comps!

*Apologies to the ladies for the unreconstructed non-inclusion there.

[wedded bliss] stymied at the 11th hour

More than interested in this because a similar thing happened to us:

A Gloucestershire couple who spent £4000 on a Caribbean wedding are not legally married because of a spelling mistake. Mike Goodhall and Heidi Loader have spent six months trying to correct the misspelling by a clerk.

They returned the marriage certificate asking for it to be amended, but the travel agents had lost it and their booking records.

Our particular situation was in Thailand and we chose that to avoid local difficulties at home. Everything was fine except for one particular document. We were at Pattaya at the time and needed to take a taxi to Bangkok, [a Mercedes], just to get the certificate.

Nothing wrong with Bangkok - some good shopping there but we'd had other plans and had just come from Bangkok anyway. Still, it was a nice ride in the Merc.

[special jmb type quiz] try your luck

1] Vancouver is named after:

a. Captain George Vancouver

b. Captain James Vancouver

c. Captain Joseph Vancouver

2] Vancouver is located between the:

a. Strait of Jacquet and the Coast Mountains

b. Strait of Georgia and the Coast Mountains

c. Strait of Georgia and the Toast Mountains

3] The Port of Vancouver became internationally significant after the completion of the:

a. Suez Canal in the 1950s

b. Toronto Sewers in the 1940s

c. Panama Canal in the 1920s

4] The 2010 Winter Olympics will be centred in:

a. Banff and Calgary

b. Vancouver and Whistler

c. Victoria and Seattle

5] The major park in central Vancouver is known as:

a. Stanley Park

b. Laurel Park

c. Hardy Park

6] 40 years ago, the following happened:

a. John Lennon and Yoko Ono had their "Love In"

b. Apple Records went bankrupt

c. Sgt. Peppers was released in the U.S.

7] The next PM of the UK, barring a terrible accident, will be:

a. Angela Merkel

b. Gordon Brown

c. Nicolas Sarkozy

8] Voltaire's Maxim was actually written by:

a. François-Marie Arouet

b. Evelyn Beatrice Hall

c. Beatrice Evelyn Arouet

9] Tiberius Gracchus was a Roman troublemaker [social reformer]. His brother was:

a. Gaius

b. Marcus

c. Tarkus

10] ELP were a musical group of the 70s. The initials stand for:

a. Electric Light Provider

b. Eno, Loggins and Pitney

c. Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Answers here

[u.s. and china] circling like sharks

So Washington is clearly a little worried about the future:

US Defence Secretary strikes conciliatory tone toward Beijing, saying the US and China have the opportunity to "build trust over time".

China's not interested:

China is the new giant on the block, with enormous resources at its disposal. An exporting powerhouse, China displaced the United States last year as the largest exporter to the European Union.

And you know, of course, that the North Pole is now Chinese:

Chinese scientist Liu Shaochuang planted his national flag at the North Pole on Saturday after successfully completing a 56-day odyssey to become the first Chinese to reach the pole alone on foot.

However, all is not necessarily well:

All major Asian stock markets except Bangkok fell on Wednesday after a slump in China's shares triggered by the tripling of the stamp tax on securities transactions.

But analysts believe the impact of the increase will be limited, causing a correction in the short term as the Chinese government does not want to see a big plunge ahead of the Communist Party's 17th National Congress this autumn.

The thing is, it might have Might, China, but it still lacks Knowhow. The U.S. has more to fear from the CFR at this moment than it does outside the country.

[nominations being accepted] we need you

Nominations are now being accepted, via e-mail, to:

jameshighamatmaildotcom

Are these the first, the original, Transparent and Non-Corrupt Awards? There is a theory which says that the best way to deal with corruption is just to factor it in. In a spirit of goodwill, we urge you to e-mail your nominations for the categories of your choice, always remembering the old adage:

"Vote early and vote often.

[bob woolmer] it's just not cricket

This is the sort of thing which makes one throw up the hands in despair:

According to the Daily Mail, police in Kingston now believe Mr Woolmer died of natural causes, brought on by chronic ill-health and possibly diabetes.

And now they're coming out and saying "told you so":

Former Pakistan player Asif Iqbal told the BBC that Jamaican police carried out a "Bollywood kind of investigation". "Every day there were different stories in the newspaper, every day there was a different way of his being murdered. I think they made a mess of it to be very honest."

All right, if everyone's so wise now, after the event, why did the BBC not report these comments in full at the time? The answer is that if was not the story they were running with at the time so they downplayed it.

Murder is a great headline grabber. Natural causes is not.

What is sickening is the way the BBC acted earlier and is now acting "the sage" on the matter, as if they knew this all along.