1) I signed up for Hotmail’s new Beta LiveMail account. It’s not really good, lacks loads of functionality I’d expect. And my inbox was empty today, which I naturally put down to some F-up on their part. So I chose to revert back to Hotmail, upon which they FORCED me to answer a survey about LiveMail! So I gave them wrong, contradictory and confusing answers that are going to be of no use to the idiots. 

Hotmail, don’t you fuckers know the first thing about surveys???

2) I watched ‘Mystic River’ yesterday. So obviously the song ‘Mystic Rhythms’ by Rush was going through my head all through the movie. In order to make a good whodunit and keep us guessing, Clint Eastwood the director had to come up with a really implausible killer in the end.

Apparently, natural oils in shampoos and lotions like tea tree or lavender oil have caused the growth of breasts on three young boys. Unfortunately there are no piccies. But I wonder how this “research” came about being. The boys were aged 4, 7 and 10. I’m guessing boys from one family were brought to a doctor after repeated use of a product made them “popular with the other boys”. I’m visualising a scene from Family Guy where the son grows breasts and suddenly all the cool guys want to hang out with him!

And a study due to be released in the U.S has found that lighter skin equates to bigger pay packets. The researcher divided skin tones into 11 shades ranging from darkest to lightest, and found that skin lighter by one part on this scale was equivalent in earnings to an extra year in education.

So stop studying and get your self lighter skin!! (In colourist America, of course) 

Apparently Manchester’s “won” the bid to build a Supercasino. Without first going into the social ills this is promoting, I’m wondering about the word “bid“.

Why should the cities be bidding? Does this mean that the councils of several cities were pitted against each other to win over the favour of a conglomerate/consortium?

If so, what were the councils offering the profit-making organisation? “Come build here, we’ve got a large target population of losers that you can make a quick buck off”? If I was a profit-making organisation I’d surely be demanding a guarantee of certain minimum numbers coming through my doors!

The BBC website says:- Manchester had been chosen because of its “very thorough consultation” with the local community and “the way it dealt with questions of problem gambling”.

But surely the way not to deal with problem gambling is introducing a Jerusalem for gamblers! I have seen government “efforts” in this area. Leaflets in betting shops with a telephone number. “Call us if you think you have a problem!” Practically every gambler thinks he/she is beating the odds, can quit when he/she wants and doesn’t have a problem.

Should I consider the revenue this is bringing in, perhaps? But what if I was a rich person and offered to pay the council say £10,000 for every person I shot because I like a bit of game hunting? How much revenue will justify this? You can fiddle with the details; more money per person, or perhaps I only shoot people who are using up valuable NHS resources. Will the council decide that for certain values in the equation, I should be allowed to do so?
Note to Rach:- Words like “gambling” and “prostitution” in a comment put it in the moderation queue.

It was a really nice weekend, a Saturday spent in the company of old friends playing badminton, having Dim sum, watching Manchester United win, and having a few drinks and takeaway food. And then there was comfortable vegetating on Sunday with Sha.

Thanks to all, it was great to see you all and I had a wonderful time!!

The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.

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I was pleasantly surprised to see a Sikh at the head of Newsnight the other day. He was a tre jolie and intelligent fella and managed to finely tread the line between self-aggrandisement and self-deprecation. Then I saw him crop up again last night on Channel 4 with a program about gambling. He proved to be a very funny guy, cracking jokes and puns with a straight face while gamely trying everything.

I’ve since learned he wrote, directed and starred in “Meet the Magoons”, a comedy show.

And as Google informs me, Shasha was right. Hardeep Singh Kohli grew up in Scotland so traces of that accent were noticeable. He also produced a documenmtary called “In search of the tartan turban”.

In India, Sikhs were a regular sight on television; but Hardeep is the only one on British telly I can remember.

And New Scientist informs us that there is indeed a fine line between being British and African, atleast for some people. The title says it all:- Genes reveal West African heritage of white Brits. Yes, you didn’t know what mama dear was upto, did you?