[stats] eternal delight or bane of our existence

Don’t know about you but sitemeter country stats are fascinating. Typical for this site is UK 35% US 25% Rus/Unkn [same thing] 15% Rest 25%.

Homeland UK wildly fluctuates and that can become frustrating – they’re very choosy people on the whole and on a day they decide to dump you, stats slump. I remember one Sunday I had 2 Brits for the day – 2! One Tuesday, there were 120 Brits alone in three hours. The US is far more consistent and almost never varies from 25% to 35%. They usually come in hard after I’ve gone to sleep but are scattered throughout the day. The Americans are important.

I try to weight UK friendly material in the morning and US material for their morning. I’ve tried to get a line on the other 25% from the other countries, the three most consistent being Russia, Canada and Australia, but there are regulars from about a dozen other countries and I don’t know what they see in the site. Perhaps they’re expats but who knows, as they don’t usually comment. Sicily is a very sweet recent country.

On overall visitors, my best days are usually but not always, Mon – Wed and then there’s a decline with Fri/Sat usually my worst. My order of quick viewing, at the beginning and end of the day, is Unique Visitors [almost never look at hits], Location [love the little flags], Country Share pie graph mainly to see which exotic countries might have visited and then I do tend to study the Entry Page Order to see the type of article which is popular with people.

Very surprised at some of the older articles still bringing in visitors but I suppose the Blogfocus is the main one and a lot of non-Brits come in for that as well. Regular and speculative visitors are hard to estimate and I don’t have time to check out individuals but I’d guess maybe it runs at 50-50. So I don’t know how all that compares to you.

One last thing – this time recently has been rewarding because there’s been communication and I’ve come to realize that though I do have a point of view to push [it comes through, doesn’t it] it’s far more important to have interaction on vital and other interesting issues – most opting for the e-mail and my e-mail provider has just increased my quota x10 to cope.

I think this is what blogging is about for me. How anyone can just post his wisdom with a 'here it is - take it or leave it' attitude is beyond me. Also beyond me is the mad scramble for hits and trumpeting it to the world. True - the Blogpower initiative [and please feel free to upload the banner] is designed to boost us all but the rest of it there's no time for. So, off to work now.

[bloody vikings] no spam for these boys

Iceland Review has rushed us this news from their front page:

Members of Viking club Rimmugýgur fought with swords under the supervision of fencing trainer Phil Burtham in Hafnafjördur, near Reykjavík, last weekend. “We had great fun and there were no accidents except for one bruised finger,” club member Úlfar Daníelsson told icelandreview.com.

Rimmugýgur is dedicated to Viking culture and Viking sword fighting. The club’s goal is to recreate ancient battles, Viking paraphernalia and historical events. “We have made copies of swords, shields and helmets that have been put on display in museums around Iceland and used in movies,” Daníelsson says.

The club was founded at Thingvellir in 1997 at a special ceremony led by Jörmundur Ingi Hansen, former high chieftain of the Pagan Society in Iceland, and now has about 40 members. “Despite having cooperated with the Pagan Society, most members of Rimmugýgur are Christian,” Daníelsson explains.

“We recently returned from Hastings in the UK where over 2,000 Vikings from around the world fought to remember the greatest Viking battle in history which took place at that location,” Daníelsson explains. The Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066 between Duke William of Normandy and Harold II, King of England. It turned out as the most decisive Norman victory in the Norman conquest of England. For further information, visit www.rimmugygur.is.

[N.B. There are no Icelandic ducks today for those who were waiting. Also, there’s a prize of one Icelandic cod for anyone who can pronounce all names correctly in this post.]

[worst movie ever] 6th nomination – rocky balboa

Tim Almond asks: “Can we nominate on a "precrime" basis, the new Rocky movie? Stallone is going back in the ring, aged 60, to fight the heavyweight champ. Anyone like to think this is going to be good?”

Firstly, we have to get a few things agreed upon. This genre and this actor are not for everyone, so we can’t add it on those grounds alone. It must be an appalling example of the genre by the actor’s own standards. To chart the course of this series so far, follow these links:

Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Rocky V (1990)

Now for Rocky Balboa [not called Rocky 6 for fear of linking it to the atrocious Rocky 5]:

Director: Sylvester Stallone; Writer screenplay: Sylvester Stallone; Producers: Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff, Sylvester Stallone. Cast: Sylvester Stallone: Rocky Balboa; Burt Young: Paulie; Milo Ventimiglia: Rocky Balboa Jr; Antonio Tarver: Mason "The Line" Dixon; Mike Tyson: Himself. Talia Shire is in there too.

Tagline: It ain't over 'til it's over. Plot Outline: Rocky comes out of retirement to go in the ring once again.

Already the director/writer/producer bit and the inclusion of Tyson [remember the Rock?] seem to make it a worthy nominee.

Imdb comment [1]: Any Stallone or Rocky fan will love this film. And I'm sure a lot of people who had doubts about this film 30 years later or even Stallone being 60 years old will be very surprised and pleased. And it does not hurt that Sylvester Stallone is in better shape at 60 then half of Hollywood under 30.

Imdb comment [2]: I had the opportunity to see a screening of this movie. Having been thoroughly disappointed with Rocky Five, I didn't have high hopes for this movie. I am very happy to say this movie brings the Rocky series to the rightful close that the fifth left so empty.

This is not looking so good for Tim’s nomination – five reviews, all positive for the same reason. Well, we'll put it in but what do you, the reader, think?

Other nominations so far include: 1] Manos 2] Tom & Vera 3] Arthur's Dyke 4] Starship Troopers , 5] St Elmo’s Fire

[diana] accident or execution

Diana. On the accident side:

# MI 5 categorically denied anything untoward and they should know;
# The driver was drunk;
# The car was speeding;
# The one with the motivation was Di, rather than Charles – he was the cheater;
# Mohamed Medjahdi, 29, driver, had no doubts that the crash was an accident;
# Sir John Stevens is expected to announce on Thursday that the investigation has ruled out foul play.

On the murder side:

# The couple's relationship was embarrassing the royal household;
# The enquiry is the necessary whitewash demanded from on high;
# It was the 13th pillar of the same bridge connected with the Merovingian Kings of occult fame, where sacrifices to Diana the moon goddess took place;
# Diana was pregnant at the time and she planning to marry al Fayed;
# Paul was dazzled by a blinding light;
# The white Fiat Uno car which Paul swerved to avoid went missing;
# Diana’s delivery to hospital was painfully slow and her chest was opened – also an occult punishment;
# Royal family members are Grigori whisperers;
# Mohamed Al Fayed was always convinced it was a murder;
# Diana’s letter to Paul Burrell said she suspected Charles was trying to kill her:

"This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. My husband is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury."

She'd had a tragic life with Charles and it’s not hard to feel the anguish along with her. Plus there really are some very real questions about ‘The Firm’. On the other hand, I’m afraid I never liked Diana - even at the start, when the craziness for her was in full swing, I said to a girlfriend she had shifty eyes and I didn’t like the way she walked ahead of Charles. Of course I was shot down in flames over that remark. This is far more how people want to remember her. The Will Carling biz merely confirmed the misgivings but this one was the clincher.

Still, none of that matters any more, really, does it?

[history quiz] ten questions to test your memory

Via Appia, Roma

1] What was Operation Sea Lion in the Second World War? ... and Operation Dynamo?

2] What was the name of Haile Selassie before he was crowned in 1930?

3] Which American City is named after a British Prime Minister?

4] Which Republic exists in France since 1958?

5] Which two other countries joined the EEC at the same time as Ireland?

6] Who succeeded Charles de Gaulle as president of France?

7] Who was the last British Prime Minister not to have a wife?

8] The Roman Appian Way went from Rome to where?

9] Enola Gay was the name of the bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, but what was the name of the bomber that dropped it on Nagasaki?

10] Eboracum is the roman name for which city?

Answers here …

[change] it's all part of a very black joke

It’s been suggested that many movies are studded with references to real life situations, to planned scenarios for the future and even to psychological triggers for certain purposes. The Bond film DAD is an example of the former – there seems a likelihood that a project did partly take place in Iceland or at least there was a research station there.

And what of MAD? Why would a strategic policy be given such a cynically tactless title? What about the euphemism “peaceful purposes”? There is indeed a callous cynicism running through all of this, a sense of the inconsequence of human suffering, shrouded in black jokes and where does this emanate from? People aren’t born like this.

Closer to home, Councillor Gavin Ayling alerts us to another act of quietly cynical anti-humanity in high places: Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act; Section 22. Look at clauses [g] and [h] in particular. Does this read like carte blanch to you? As Gavin says, "it gives me the willys, so to speak."

Just as with ordinary individuals, so it is with the leaders. They are most assuredly in control and pursuing their insane agenda into a new dark age.