So it seems that foreign students are to be required to understand & speak English at least at GCSE level before they get a university place.
Bloody good job they don't apply that to British students, loads would have trouble meeting that criteria!
Monday, 8 February 2010
Deja Vu
Watched GI Joe the Rise of Cobra on Saturday; and Team America World Police on Sunday. And to be honest, has anyone else noticed how similar the plots are?
Seems from looking here I'm not the only one who noticed. The most salient points that the AMC movie blog lists are
"The New Generation
G.I. Joe: Army officers Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are recruited into the secret GI Joe organization by the older General Hawk (Dennis Quaid). Ripcord promptly falls in love with weapons expert and super-genius Scarlett (Rachel Nichols)
Team America: Acclaimed Broadway actor and language expert Gary Johnston is recruited into the Team America counter-terrorism organization by the older agent Spottswoode. Gary prompty falls in love with psych expert Sarah.
The Fall of Paris
G.I. Joe: Attempting to keep supervillains The Baroness (Sienna Miller) and Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) from detonating a nanotech-fueled warhead, G.I. Joe's Team Alpha levels half of Paris -- culminating in the Eiffel Tower collapsing into the Seine.
Team America: Attempting to keep terrorists from detonating a WMD in the City of Light, Team America levels half of Paris -- culminating in the Eiffel Tower collapsing into the Arc de Triomphe. Sound familiar?
"We're Gonna Need a Montage!!"
G.I. Joe: As hip-hop plays on the soundtrack, Duke and Ripcord are trained in the uses of various Joe machinery.
Team America: As a rock song extolling the virtues of montages plays on the soundtrack, Gary preps to save his fellow team members from the clutches of Kim Jong Il.
The Traumatic Flashbacks
G.I. Joe: Duke recalls the time years ago when he was engaged to The Baroness, while good guy commando Snake Eyes recalls his childhood rivalry with bad guy Ninja Storm Shadow.
Team America: Gary recalls the time when his acting skills resulted in gorillas killing his brother, while martial arts expert Chris recalls the time when, as an impressionable young teenager, he was raped by the cast of Cats.
Our Team's Secret Lair, Destroyed
G.I. Joe: The Joes' secret HQ, hidden deep under the Sahara Desert in the shadow of the Pyramids, is trashed by The Baroness and Storm Shadow after its location is leaked.
Team America: Team America's secret HQ, hidden deep in the recesses of Mt. Rushmore, is blown up in a burst of anti-American rage by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore"
Seems from looking here I'm not the only one who noticed. The most salient points that the AMC movie blog lists are
"The New Generation
G.I. Joe: Army officers Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are recruited into the secret GI Joe organization by the older General Hawk (Dennis Quaid). Ripcord promptly falls in love with weapons expert and super-genius Scarlett (Rachel Nichols)
Team America: Acclaimed Broadway actor and language expert Gary Johnston is recruited into the Team America counter-terrorism organization by the older agent Spottswoode. Gary prompty falls in love with psych expert Sarah.
The Fall of Paris
G.I. Joe: Attempting to keep supervillains The Baroness (Sienna Miller) and Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) from detonating a nanotech-fueled warhead, G.I. Joe's Team Alpha levels half of Paris -- culminating in the Eiffel Tower collapsing into the Seine.
Team America: Attempting to keep terrorists from detonating a WMD in the City of Light, Team America levels half of Paris -- culminating in the Eiffel Tower collapsing into the Arc de Triomphe. Sound familiar?
"We're Gonna Need a Montage!!"
G.I. Joe: As hip-hop plays on the soundtrack, Duke and Ripcord are trained in the uses of various Joe machinery.
Team America: As a rock song extolling the virtues of montages plays on the soundtrack, Gary preps to save his fellow team members from the clutches of Kim Jong Il.
The Traumatic Flashbacks
G.I. Joe: Duke recalls the time years ago when he was engaged to The Baroness, while good guy commando Snake Eyes recalls his childhood rivalry with bad guy Ninja Storm Shadow.
Team America: Gary recalls the time when his acting skills resulted in gorillas killing his brother, while martial arts expert Chris recalls the time when, as an impressionable young teenager, he was raped by the cast of Cats.
Our Team's Secret Lair, Destroyed
G.I. Joe: The Joes' secret HQ, hidden deep under the Sahara Desert in the shadow of the Pyramids, is trashed by The Baroness and Storm Shadow after its location is leaked.
Team America: Team America's secret HQ, hidden deep in the recesses of Mt. Rushmore, is blown up in a burst of anti-American rage by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore"
Windows 2010
Linda Falselaugh was holding forth about her new windows on the bus this morning. She has a way of talking that is loud enough for the whole bus to hear but not so loud as to make it obvious that she wants the whole bus to hear.
Her theme was how wonderful they are, white UPVC & double glazed... but for some reason she took exception when I asked her what flavour she had picked.
Can't see why.
Her theme was how wonderful they are, white UPVC & double glazed... but for some reason she took exception when I asked her what flavour she had picked.
Can't see why.
Up his own arse or what?
Ricky Gervais was being interviewed on Classic FM last night & they raised the subject of his comments on Twitter. It seems Ricky beleives Twitter is undignified & celebrities just show off on it.
"What would I talk about" he said "Doing the Golden Globes?"
I personally think Twitter is pointless as well. You don't have friends on Twitter, you have stalkers, but I can see how some celebs use it as a way to promote what they are doing.
And it's a little arrogant of Gervais to look down on those who do use it to connect to their fans. Incidentally, he was banging on about presenting "the Globes" all through the interview.
It's Steve Martin syndrome all right, no longer funny & taking himself far too seriously!
"What would I talk about" he said "Doing the Golden Globes?"
I personally think Twitter is pointless as well. You don't have friends on Twitter, you have stalkers, but I can see how some celebs use it as a way to promote what they are doing.
And it's a little arrogant of Gervais to look down on those who do use it to connect to their fans. Incidentally, he was banging on about presenting "the Globes" all through the interview.
It's Steve Martin syndrome all right, no longer funny & taking himself far too seriously!
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Knickers in a twist again!
Poor old Iain Dale must have been on the grumpy juice last night.It seems that the solicitor used by the Labour party is advising the three Labour MPs facing criminal charges over their expenses.
Fine, but are the Labour party paying for it or have they consulted the solicitor as private individuals? There's no law that says a solicitor cannot give advice to a private client if he advises a political party that they belong to; and surely it would be a natural progression to use a solicitor you are already familiar with?
The trouble with Iain Dale is that he is always climbing on his high horse when he should stick to his rocking horse. Perhaps this is a good example of why the Tory party want to check any blogs by MPs or candidates before they post them in the run up to election.
But lets also hope that the people looking at DAle as a possible election candidate can see the man for what he is.
A bloody fool.
Fine, but are the Labour party paying for it or have they consulted the solicitor as private individuals? There's no law that says a solicitor cannot give advice to a private client if he advises a political party that they belong to; and surely it would be a natural progression to use a solicitor you are already familiar with?
The trouble with Iain Dale is that he is always climbing on his high horse when he should stick to his rocking horse. Perhaps this is a good example of why the Tory party want to check any blogs by MPs or candidates before they post them in the run up to election.
But lets also hope that the people looking at DAle as a possible election candidate can see the man for what he is.
A bloody fool.
Sunday sunday
Up very early again for a weekend, 530 am; lunch prepared, westie walked, papers fetched& now typing this.
Had confirmation today that my neighbours middle chav son, who was sent down for sexual offences, is out. He raped a woman on the next street, the wife of a small time drug seller, but the circumstances of the whole thing are very murky. It essentially came to her word against his and due to a combination of him pleading guilty & her own rather dubious reputation (she's only recently completed a sentence herself)his own sentence was surprisingly lenient.
On the news this morning they announced the death or Sir John Dankworth, the jazz saxophonist.
And we have a breeding pair of robins in the garden!
Had confirmation today that my neighbours middle chav son, who was sent down for sexual offences, is out. He raped a woman on the next street, the wife of a small time drug seller, but the circumstances of the whole thing are very murky. It essentially came to her word against his and due to a combination of him pleading guilty & her own rather dubious reputation (she's only recently completed a sentence herself)his own sentence was surprisingly lenient.
On the news this morning they announced the death or Sir John Dankworth, the jazz saxophonist.
And we have a breeding pair of robins in the garden!
Iain Dale, once more a hypocrite
It's reported that Gordon Brown broke down when discussing the death of his daughter during a TV interview. And of course the ever classy Iain Dale automatically assumes it's a stunt before the election.
Maybe it was genuine Iain, had it been Cameron weeping for his son no doubt you'd have taken a better view. But for Iain, who fought an absolutely disastrous stunt ridden campaign for North Norfolk in 2005 , to criticise ANYONE for cheap publicity stunts is a little bit much. Remove the beam from your own eye Iain before you look for the speck in anothers.
Maybe it was genuine Iain, had it been Cameron weeping for his son no doubt you'd have taken a better view. But for Iain, who fought an absolutely disastrous stunt ridden campaign for North Norfolk in 2005 , to criticise ANYONE for cheap publicity stunts is a little bit much. Remove the beam from your own eye Iain before you look for the speck in anothers.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Ian Carmichael
One of the sad downsides to getting older is that those stars of stage & screen that you enjoyed pass away. I've mentioned several on this blog.
Another has gone, the great actor Ian Carmichael.
He was the first actor I can remember playing Bertie Wooster when I was a kid & it was those performances which inspired my ongoing love of the Jeeves stories & the work of P.G Wodehouse as a whole. Strange to think how much one small bit of enjoyment can open up so much more.
RIP Ian.
Two prawns
Two prawns were swimming around in the sea
One called Justin and the other called Kristian.
The prawns were constantly being harassed and threatened by sharks that inhabited the area.
Finally one day Justin said to Kristian, 'I'm fed up with being a prawn;
I wish I was a shark, and then I wouldn't have any worries about being eaten.'
A large mysterious cod appeared and said, 'Your wish is granted'
Lo and behold, Justin turned into a shark.
Horrified, Kristian immediately swam away, afraid of being eaten by his old mate.
Time passed (as it does) and Justin found life as a shark boring and lonely.
All his old mates simply swam away whenever he came close to them.
Justin didn't realize that his new menacing appearance was the cause of his sad plight.
While swimming alone one day he saw the mysterious cod again and he thought perhaps the mysterious fish could change him back into a prawn.
He approached the cod and begged to be changed back, and, lo and behold,
He found himself turned back into a prawn.
With tears of joy in his tiny little eyes Justin swam back to his friends and bought them all a cocktail.
(The punch line does not involve a prawn cocktail - it's much worse).
Looking around the gathering at the reef he realized he couldn't see his old pal.
'Where's Kristian?' he asked.
'He's at home, still distraught that his best friend changed sides to the enemy & became a shark',
came the reply.
Eager to put things right again and end the mutual pain and torture, he set off to Kristian's abode.
As he opened the coral gate, memories came flooding back.
He banged on the door and shouted, 'It's me, Justin, your old friend, come out and see me again.'
Kristian replied, 'No way man, you'll eat me. You're now a shark, the enemy,
And I'll not be tricked into being your dinner.'
Justin cried back 'No, I'm not. That was the old me. I've changed.'.........
......>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
.
.
'I've found Cod. I'm a
Prawn again Kristian'
One called Justin and the other called Kristian.
The prawns were constantly being harassed and threatened by sharks that inhabited the area.
Finally one day Justin said to Kristian, 'I'm fed up with being a prawn;
I wish I was a shark, and then I wouldn't have any worries about being eaten.'
A large mysterious cod appeared and said, 'Your wish is granted'
Lo and behold, Justin turned into a shark.
Horrified, Kristian immediately swam away, afraid of being eaten by his old mate.
Time passed (as it does) and Justin found life as a shark boring and lonely.
All his old mates simply swam away whenever he came close to them.
Justin didn't realize that his new menacing appearance was the cause of his sad plight.
While swimming alone one day he saw the mysterious cod again and he thought perhaps the mysterious fish could change him back into a prawn.
He approached the cod and begged to be changed back, and, lo and behold,
He found himself turned back into a prawn.
With tears of joy in his tiny little eyes Justin swam back to his friends and bought them all a cocktail.
(The punch line does not involve a prawn cocktail - it's much worse).
Looking around the gathering at the reef he realized he couldn't see his old pal.
'Where's Kristian?' he asked.
'He's at home, still distraught that his best friend changed sides to the enemy & became a shark',
came the reply.
Eager to put things right again and end the mutual pain and torture, he set off to Kristian's abode.
As he opened the coral gate, memories came flooding back.
He banged on the door and shouted, 'It's me, Justin, your old friend, come out and see me again.'
Kristian replied, 'No way man, you'll eat me. You're now a shark, the enemy,
And I'll not be tricked into being your dinner.'
Justin cried back 'No, I'm not. That was the old me. I've changed.'.........
......>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
.
.
'I've found Cod. I'm a
Prawn again Kristian'
Friday, 5 February 2010
So
We finished early at the office today after a stellar week, & not a bad one for me personally. I just missed my bus so I walked through to Tombland, where I used to get the bus when I worked for White DM, which still left me a ten minute wait.
After five minutes or so a rather grumpy lady comes along, complaining about people cycling on the pavement. I know I'm a grouch myself but this was a real sourpuss.Now anyone with any sense knows that two or three different routes pick up from the stops on Tombland, so I make a habit, if at the front of the queue, of moving to one side.As a bus for Horsford approached I did this & the grumpy lady, who had been reading a book, suddenly noticed that this was her bus, leapt up & as it drove past signalled for it to stop.
Needless to say it didn't.
"If you hadn't been in my way" she said "It would have stopped".
Bad move. Ihadn't had a good row at a bus stop in ages. I explained to her that I was perfectly in my rights to stand at that bus stop as my bus went from there too, that if anyone was to blame for her missing her bus then it was her, due to her inattention, rather than I, to my legitimate queueing,and that I expected an apology from her.
"You were in my way" she insisted whereupon I enquired as to what grounds she beleived she had for sole right & lien to use a public bus stop & that perhaps if she was to remove her own head from her own backside then perhaps she would have caught her bus.
"If my husband were here you wouldn't talk to me that way!" at which point I expressed surprise that anyone would put up with her & pointed out that he would doubtless tell her not to be so bloody stupid. She walked off to another stop further down the road. I quite enjoyed it really!
After five minutes or so a rather grumpy lady comes along, complaining about people cycling on the pavement. I know I'm a grouch myself but this was a real sourpuss.Now anyone with any sense knows that two or three different routes pick up from the stops on Tombland, so I make a habit, if at the front of the queue, of moving to one side.As a bus for Horsford approached I did this & the grumpy lady, who had been reading a book, suddenly noticed that this was her bus, leapt up & as it drove past signalled for it to stop.
Needless to say it didn't.
"If you hadn't been in my way" she said "It would have stopped".
Bad move. Ihadn't had a good row at a bus stop in ages. I explained to her that I was perfectly in my rights to stand at that bus stop as my bus went from there too, that if anyone was to blame for her missing her bus then it was her, due to her inattention, rather than I, to my legitimate queueing,and that I expected an apology from her.
"You were in my way" she insisted whereupon I enquired as to what grounds she beleived she had for sole right & lien to use a public bus stop & that perhaps if she was to remove her own head from her own backside then perhaps she would have caught her bus.
"If my husband were here you wouldn't talk to me that way!" at which point I expressed surprise that anyone would put up with her & pointed out that he would doubtless tell her not to be so bloody stupid. She walked off to another stop further down the road. I quite enjoyed it really!
Thursday, 4 February 2010
330 am
Awoken this morning by an incredibly bright light at 330. I wondered what the hell it was.
Turns out it was an ambulance, using it's spotlight to find a house for a call out. They took my neighbour at no 24 away; but why did they have to use the spotlight to find the house?
Turns out it was an ambulance, using it's spotlight to find a house for a call out. They took my neighbour at no 24 away; but why did they have to use the spotlight to find the house?
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Can it be true?
I'm absolutely amazed at reports that kids are cheating on their GCSEs. To be honest you only have to turn up & you pass these days, where is the need to cheat?
Another wedding
Jordan married Alex Reid in Las Vegas.
The dress was vulgar & extremely tacky.
Jordan didn't look much better.
The dress was vulgar & extremely tacky.
Jordan didn't look much better.
Clare Short is a hypcrite.
Clare Short proved at the Iraq Enquiry yesterday that her hindsight is 20/20. Although she stayed in the cabinet after the Iraq War had begun , unlike Robin Cook, who resigned immediately, she now claims to have been hooted & barracked when she questioned the legality of the war.
So her colleagues were fooled, but she wasn't & she resigned, on principle, later than Cook, who resigned on principle earlier, because he wasn't fooled either.
I didn't support the Iraq invasion, but I also don't support hypocrites like Clare Short who go along with one line of thinking & then claim they didn't later.
Apart from the fact thatr I beleive the war was as much about oil as removing a threat to world peace (initially put there by the US, incidentally) I don't beleive that the Americans have too good a record at being succesful in any war they'e initiated, unless of course they are fighting their own citizens. The last big one they won alone was the War of Independance. They claim victory in the war of 1812 although they won one battle which they initiated after a truce, the were late for both World Wars, turning up when most of the work had been done, & their record since is hardly stellar;Korea, Vietnam, countless small conflicts.
So her colleagues were fooled, but she wasn't & she resigned, on principle, later than Cook, who resigned on principle earlier, because he wasn't fooled either.
I didn't support the Iraq invasion, but I also don't support hypocrites like Clare Short who go along with one line of thinking & then claim they didn't later.
Apart from the fact thatr I beleive the war was as much about oil as removing a threat to world peace (initially put there by the US, incidentally) I don't beleive that the Americans have too good a record at being succesful in any war they'e initiated, unless of course they are fighting their own citizens. The last big one they won alone was the War of Independance. They claim victory in the war of 1812 although they won one battle which they initiated after a truce, the were late for both World Wars, turning up when most of the work had been done, & their record since is hardly stellar;Korea, Vietnam, countless small conflicts.
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
So
The Chinese Govt is arguing with the US President about whether he should meet the exiled Tibetan leader.
I suppose you could call it an Obama Lama Ding Dong.
I suppose you could call it an Obama Lama Ding Dong.
Sieg Heil
I see the Pope is objecting to proposed laws in the UK against discrimination,saying the legislation "violates natural law" and could end the right of the Catholic Church to ban gay people from senior positions.
Two points. Perhaps the old Nazi would prefer to see gays wearing a pink triangle & Jews with a yellow star again? To be honest, what with recent paedophile scandals in the Catholic church & a certain proportion of opriests being homosexual, he would do better to sort his own house out.
And second, he should mind his own damned business.
Two points. Perhaps the old Nazi would prefer to see gays wearing a pink triangle & Jews with a yellow star again? To be honest, what with recent paedophile scandals in the Catholic church & a certain proportion of opriests being homosexual, he would do better to sort his own house out.
And second, he should mind his own damned business.
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