Claire Weaver

Time has passed, we're into 2007 now, and I can say with certainty that the urge to LJ has not returned since my last post announcing I probably wouldn't be blogging here anymore.

While the intricate details of my purchasing milk may well be a fascinating insight into my life, I don't really have the time to recount whether I got full fat or skimmed* and nor do I think you'll particularly care.

But all is not lost - remember there's still my Flickr account for photos, and the much-less-frequent Blogger for writing-related hi-jinks.

It's been fun; take care y'all, and goodnight.



*It was neither - I bought semi-skimmed.

Blogs are soooo 2004.

As you've probably noticed, I don't get time to update my LJ much and it's become more of a chore than a pleasure. As such the ongoing saga of my life will now continue pictorially via my Flickr account, with little to no commentary.

Or I might get bored, and come back here at any time. You never can predict these things.

This week at work I've had a weird and wonderful mix of celebs to interview - Bill Pertwee, Caprice, The Cheeky Girls, Antony Costa from Blue, Toyah Willcox, Rula Lenska and "Nasty" Nick Bateman. Trust me, this is a step up from the usual - they're spending more money on celebrities this month for the X'mas specials (although, according to my sources, The Cheeky Girls didn't put in an invoice or agree a fee so they don't get paid)!

Outside it's cold but not snowing. And it's only cold because we've got used to thinking the uncustomary warm weather is typical for October - it's probably still mild for November but it just doesn't feel like it! The trees have barely lost their leaves. I like hard frosty autumns - bring on the snow!

A lot of people are im/exploding this week - there's lots of stress flying about. I remain immune (through sheer force of will, you understand).

Ok, finally got a bit of "spare" time in front of the old compy for some blog-stuff.

I'm coming to the end of my first week at the new job, which sees me acting as liaison/coordinator for a television company and their associated website and magazine. To say I wasn't even considering taking the job in the first place it is going very well, although I do feel horrendously lost by all the technical tv speak, the speed of production and all the multiple channels of communication running simultaneously (people yelling instructions, calling shots, talking on radios and on phones, chatting to the presenters and instructing the guests)... I'm so glad I didn't get a job as a runner before seeing what it's like, I'm sure I would have died of confusion pretty much straight away. This way I can ease myself in (well, I say "ease", it's still like being thrown in at the deep end of a vast pool of ice water) and have a perfectly acceptable reason for not knowing what the hell people are saying to me all the time.

I was in the studio today while they were filming (shooting? recording?) and my *god* the stress of having to stay quiet, follow what's happening, know when you can speak, move, get up, leave, enter, take pictures, when to pay attention and when you can drift off... It doesn't sound that hard, I know, but trust me, it is!

***

This is old news now but I'm not sure I blogged about it - Tom got a promotion in his job! He's now Account Manager for London Calling. Yay Tom!

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I can't wait to see The Grudge 2 and The Prestige - both out this weekend. From what I gather, The Grudge 2 has expanded a lot on the first movie and is supposed to be really good. I haven't read The Prestige but I'm sure with the cast and crew it's got it'll be an ace adaptation of an already ace book.

In brief: got new job - early starts, long days. Very Tired. Owe lots of people emails - sorry. Promise to send soon.

I must say I completely agree with UK Cabinet minister Jack Straw on his opinion that Muslim women wearing a full veil is "a visible statement of separation and of difference" between cultures.

I live in an area with a high Muslim population (not to mention many other ethnic and religious groups) and I see women in full veils every day. On one hand I can understand why they choose to wear a veil, and it is my opinion that people can wear whatever the hell they want to wear (so yes, I know I am contradicting myself here). BUT...

I don't agree with concept behind the niqab's purpose: to cover a woman's 'attractions' and remain modest in eyes of men.

The veil puts an intense focus on the cultural differences between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain. For many decades (going back to times before there was a recognisable Muslim community in the UK) women have fought hard for equality, and part of that equality is the right to not be sexually harassed.

Juxtaposed to this fact the veil seems to pander to a backwards mentality: that men have the right to judge and harass women unless they take the 'necessary precautions'. It's one small step behind blaming women for being raped, and it makes me very angry because I feel it demeans the freedom we have long fought for in this country.

It is my opinion that women should not have to hide from men - in fact I believe that hiding only encourages gross and lurid behaviour towards women who are not fully covered. Men should learn to stop leching over women.

Some days I am tempted to wear a veil myself. The last time I walked to the mail depot (only a mile away) I got 'commented on' four times in the fifteen minute walk - from mutterings of "very niiiicceee" as I pass to open come-ons and requests for my phone number. I wasn't even dressed provocatively - but even if I was wearing a fricking bikini, I still feel that men should shut the hell up and keep their opinions to themselves. I might be a quivering bundle of lust if Johny Depp walked past me in Tesco but I would certainly be able to prevent myself from shouting "nice arse!" across the frozen pies.

In a community where a lot of women cover themselves up to avoid this sort of attention it only serves to shift and intensify the focus elsewhere and allows the lecherous behaviour of men to continue. It's not always Muslim men - white men can be just as bad (see my previous post on those scaffolders). There are many different causes and many different solutions to this behaviour across the different cultures. But in relation to the lecherous Muslim men and their opinion of uncovered women, I believe the niqab is one of the causes and not one of the solutions.

"Allah says to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them." Isn't it time we saw that in practice?

In the latest BSG series, what's the number written on President Roslin's board signifying the number of humans left alive after the cylon attack?

Answers on a postcard...

Is there anyone out there who is wise and knowledgeable in the art of website building, particularly au fait with ASP sites, who would be willing to help untangle a website problem??? It's rather straightforward and would probably not take much time, but it requires a certain level of knowledge that I do not posses!

Please please please can someone help me?! You can email me on lostlittlefox [at] gmail [dot] com for the exact details (I won't post them here because it's sensitive information). Thank you!!!

Australian naturalist and television personality Steve Irwin has been killed by a stingray during a diving expedition off the Australian coast.

Mr Irwin, 44, died after being struck in the chest by the stingray's barb while he was filming a documentary in Queensland's Great Barrier Reef. Paramedics from Cairns rushed to the scene but were unable to save him. Mr Irwin was known for his television show The Crocodile Hunter and his work with native Australian wildlife.

Teaser trailer (Windows Media player)

It's not out til December 2007. I can wait.

What a fortuitous time this has been for me on the social front - I have had the pleasure of so much good company this week! On Tuesday Tom organised drinks with Prof, Colbie and Bella; on Wednesday I spent the afternoon with my dad and the folk at G-sus; Thursday saw lunch with JCG and an evening with a group (grove? coven?) of witches; and tonight I am out to scout for Rabbit on an adventure at the National Theatre.

Random picture:

Or: The Blog Entry with the Most Misleading Title

Having one of those hard-drive clear out moments, ditching old emails, messages, etc I no longer find funny or sentimental, and found a couple of links to interesting web-places:

http://www.10eastern.com/foundphotos/

http://www.militiadesign.com/b3ta/Cursor.html

Despite being in the flat, awake, quiet and expecting a parcel (thereby actively listening for the doorbell), the postman has somehow failed to deliver said parcel and instead stuffed a 'sorry, you were out' card through the letterbox. I am tempted to go to the sorting office and stick a card through their letterbox saying, 'no, I wasn't'.

Suggested re-brands/taglines for RM:

Royal Mail: Bane of Your Existence

Royal Mal

Anytime, Anywhere - We Don't Deliver!

Making Small Inconveniences Bigger

Honestly, We Don't Give a Shit About Your Post!

Royal Pain-In-The-Ass

Come Work for Royal Mail - it's an easy life because we're never open!

***

UPDATE:

Take one 'Sorry, you were out' card. Add two quarts of customer services and simmer for ten minutes. Hold for fifteen. When no solution or apology is offered, bring to the boil and demand to speak to a manager. Whisk through telephone system until you end up speaking to the assistant to the board of directors. Explain problem again, and don't forget to add previous problems into the mix. Hang up and wait for call back. By now, your mixture should have no faith left in the country's postal service. Type rant in blog; answer phone; run to sorting office before it closes where parcel should now be waiting. Wait for twenty minutes while parcel is located. Return home hot, bothered, but happily with parcel. Serve.

I've not been doing much lj-ing recently - it's a matter of too much to tell, too little time to tell it in. So, in brief:

Had a FABULOUS birthday - Tom arranged a veritable cornucopia of fun and entertainment

Met Juliette Lewis (well, I say met, it was more 'please will you sign this... thanks')

Been reading lots for the Clarke Award

Been working lots on the Art Idea, the Sit-Com and Novel: The First (the one with the red cover)

Saw A Scanner Darkly last night, it's fantastic but destined to disappear from the mainstream mind pretty quickly (I reckon)

Had trouble watching Renaissance - nice movie, too many flaws, and the black-and-white-with-not-an-inch-of-grey really messed with my eyes. Some really beautiful shots though

Saw Superman Returns a while back, thought it was a really fun action romp (and I'm no fan of He Who Wears His Underpants on the Outside). It was a bit of a no-brainer, but isn't that the point?

Entirely disagree with the Christian allegory accusations surrounding Superman Returns

Had a good interview with the BBC on Friday, despite being completely shattered because a mouse decided to wake me up, make me try to catch it and then run circles around me for two hours in the night. The traps arrive on Tuesday and I find out about the job on Wednesday.

Watched Night Watch on Saturday with the proper subtitles, and my god it makes all the difference. I love the movie anyway but now I know what it's about!

And like the pig said the rabbit, that's all, folks...

Myself, Tom and Prof went to Colbie's birthday shindig (or was it more of a hoot'nanny?) last night on the Queen Mary. The whole pub-on-a-boat thing was verrrry strange - like being in a regular bar except the floor leans at a slight angle and the swaying is subtle enough that you're never quite sure if it's the boat or you (except I was on diet coke all night, so unless someone spiked it I'm guessing it wasn't me). It was a very good night all round. Happy birthday Colbie!

Today is work, work, work and trying to book work, work, work. The big job I had ends this week - and eek! I need to sort out more jobs or I'll be broke!!! I'm also doing a big CV mail-out hoping to hook some production work - third or runner or whatever I can get. Fingers crossed.

The job at Tower Bridge didn't go as well as I'd hoped so I'm now doing something else - which is just as well because the day before I left, my boss (the managing director and co-founder) was suspended and, I went on to learn, replaced. Seeing as I was his PA, that would have left me either having to work for someone totally random and potentially not all that likeable, or jobless.

I'm still shop-keep to the Bias online store, and in fact I need to scarper because I'm due at a meeting in just under an hour.

More later.

Tom and I spent last night running up and down and up and around the National Theatre following clues scrawled on the walls, giving passwords to staff to acquire secret files, being 'discrete' to avoid detection and nearly falling off a VERY high stairwell to get a picture of a shadow... It's all part of the Rabbit Adventure. I can say no more - Rabbit's friend is in danger and I can't risk the mission.

Some pictures of our escapades are up on my Flickr account.

I've uploaded some of my holiday snaps of Kefalonia; my faves are below.

A few weeks ago I posted this about how GMail adwords occasionally reads my emails out of context and displays irrelevant (yet amusing) adverts.

This past week I don't think I've had one GMail ad that's actually correct. The latest was a message from Tom, the usual 'how's your day going' thing, and he says "it might be nice to talk a bit about what we could do on that week off". Ok, so two out of the four adverts show cheap flights to Nice. Why Nice? Who knows. But fair enough. But the other two adverts are for Bon Jovi, including: Want to meet Bon Jovi? We can make it happen!

Gah, blah and argh! Bon Jovi? I mean, as if!!! Where has it got that from? There is no mention of music, let alone BJ! Unless, does he have an album called "cook the sardine thing I was going to do the other night"???

The only exception to this new found rule of incorrect ads are the few that are scarily accurate, referring to things I like but that aren't mentioned in the email AT ALL. Is Google Adwords actually AI? Has it achieved sentience? Is it watching me?

I got an email from a friend which has the word "writer" in it, but nothing else alluding to writing, fiction writing, or SF. Yet lo and behold, the sponsored ads were thus:

Novel: we need writers
Write, be read, and get paid. Start publishing your novel now!

New Science Fiction Book
"The Empire Of Texas", Exciting New Post Apocalyptic science fiction.

Science Fiction Writers
Visualize, Organize, Outline, Write Download Free Trial Software!

The funny thing is, the email mentions lots of other things that could have been advertised. What made it pick up on this? Does it remember what I've said in other emails and builds a picture of what I like? Isn't that a little advanced?

Is GMail really watching me?