OH MY GOD, THAT'S DISGUSTING
Have just heard the most horrible amah story ever. A guy here has just fired his amah because they found out (not sure how!) that she had been putting her menstrual blood into their food because of some voodoo / witchcraft / superstitious belief that it would give her control over him and his family.
That is just revolting.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
LUNCH
Just a quick 4 hours today, in the company of Lawrence Dallaglio, Jsaon Leonard, Will Greenwood and Martin Bayfield - English heroes one and all - another fine englishman, Shaky, will be there also, but sadly standards have clearly slipped and somehow the Proud Aussie (with a British passport) Simon has got in. Still - at least it gives us someone to aim the bread rolls at.
Blogging is likely to be non-existent and/or unintelligible this afternoon.
Just a quick 4 hours today, in the company of Lawrence Dallaglio, Jsaon Leonard, Will Greenwood and Martin Bayfield - English heroes one and all - another fine englishman, Shaky, will be there also, but sadly standards have clearly slipped and somehow the Proud Aussie (with a British passport) Simon has got in. Still - at least it gives us someone to aim the bread rolls at.
Blogging is likely to be non-existent and/or unintelligible this afternoon.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
THE RAINBOW NATION
And so to the hols. Spent most of the team at the in-laws just outside of Johannesburg. The 2 alsations, nightime private security guard, alarmed electric fence topped with razor wire, electric gate, bars on the windows, metal security gates on all the external doors (and a few internal ones too) and my father-in-laws shotgun combined to successfully repel boarders for the duration. In fact I was told by a few people that things were "getting better" crime-wise in S.A. although it shows that all is relative when my sister-in-laws justification for this claim is that “we haven’t been robbed for over a year now”, and while we were there a dispute over taxi / minibus routes in a township resulted in 25 people being shot right in front of the police who promptly arrested no-one. Anyway leaving that aside the high veld winter weather was as superb as it is supposed to be – with clear blue skies and mid 20’s temperatures every day bar one when it peed down and reminded me very much of mid-summer on Mud Island.
We snuck off after a few days for 3 nights at a safari lodge bordering the Kruger National Park. It was a superb set up, safari done properly with lots of very good food, a champagne breakfast in the bush at the end of 1 drive, some superb scenery and views towards the Drakensberg mountains, and most importantly plenty of animals – all the usual were present – zebra, impala, lions, elephants etc etc, plus we spotted 3 rather timid rhino and a cheetah, neither of which I have seen before in the wild.
Otherwise it was fairly uneventful for most of the time with a fair bit of lying around, drifting from one meal to the next, and generally not doing much, until it came to time for the trip back home to the Fragrant Harbour. 4 hours before departure the little charioteer came down with tonsillitis and was given some antibiotics which have a rather unpleasant side effect in terms of filling nappies, and Mrs C and I were struck down with food poisoning. On the plus side we got upgraded to First Class for no obvious reason so we were able to share our misery with several Very Important People (in their own minds at least) for the full 13 hour overnight trip. Bet there’ll be a few complaints to Cathay from them about not being able to get to the loo all flight!
And so here we are again. Not much seems to have changed here apart from the heat being ratcheted up a bit further. At least it gets rid of all the tourists and a lot of the more whingey expats leaving more room in the bar for the rest of us. Roll on summer.
And so to the hols. Spent most of the team at the in-laws just outside of Johannesburg. The 2 alsations, nightime private security guard, alarmed electric fence topped with razor wire, electric gate, bars on the windows, metal security gates on all the external doors (and a few internal ones too) and my father-in-laws shotgun combined to successfully repel boarders for the duration. In fact I was told by a few people that things were "getting better" crime-wise in S.A. although it shows that all is relative when my sister-in-laws justification for this claim is that “we haven’t been robbed for over a year now”, and while we were there a dispute over taxi / minibus routes in a township resulted in 25 people being shot right in front of the police who promptly arrested no-one. Anyway leaving that aside the high veld winter weather was as superb as it is supposed to be – with clear blue skies and mid 20’s temperatures every day bar one when it peed down and reminded me very much of mid-summer on Mud Island.
We snuck off after a few days for 3 nights at a safari lodge bordering the Kruger National Park. It was a superb set up, safari done properly with lots of very good food, a champagne breakfast in the bush at the end of 1 drive, some superb scenery and views towards the Drakensberg mountains, and most importantly plenty of animals – all the usual were present – zebra, impala, lions, elephants etc etc, plus we spotted 3 rather timid rhino and a cheetah, neither of which I have seen before in the wild.
Otherwise it was fairly uneventful for most of the time with a fair bit of lying around, drifting from one meal to the next, and generally not doing much, until it came to time for the trip back home to the Fragrant Harbour. 4 hours before departure the little charioteer came down with tonsillitis and was given some antibiotics which have a rather unpleasant side effect in terms of filling nappies, and Mrs C and I were struck down with food poisoning. On the plus side we got upgraded to First Class for no obvious reason so we were able to share our misery with several Very Important People (in their own minds at least) for the full 13 hour overnight trip. Bet there’ll be a few complaints to Cathay from them about not being able to get to the loo all flight!
And so here we are again. Not much seems to have changed here apart from the heat being ratcheted up a bit further. At least it gets rid of all the tourists and a lot of the more whingey expats leaving more room in the bar for the rest of us. Roll on summer.
SPORT
So as it turns out thank god I didn't go to Portugal, New Zealand or Australia for my hols - the displays of the soccer and rugby teams were pathetic.
Firstly soccer...
I did watch the England v Portugal game. By soccer standards it was a very exciting game, but clearly the english press and fans were watching a different game to me. According to them we were robbed because of a dodgy refereeing call and we should have won. In the game I watched Portugal were by far the better team, with England having to defend deep for most of the game and scoring on the break when they could. Also the most anonymous player on the pitch was Beckham. He did nothing of note all game until he blasted that penalty attempt over the bar. How much failure is required to break the myth that he is one of the greatest players of all time? He fcuked up against France, he fcuked up against Portugal, he got sent off years ago in the infamous 1998 World Cup game vs Argentina, he led a team that was unable to beat 10-man Brazil in the 2002 World Cup. He is a goodish player, but I'm afraid the man does not live up to the myth in any way, shape or form.
And good luck Portugal - you won fair and square and our spoilt little brats are on the early plane home again. Good.
And now Rugby...
It was always going to be a tough tour, and I didn't have high hopes, but oh my word.... We were thumped in the first and last games, and have only ourselves to blame after being reduced to 14 men after 10 minutes of the second. The backs lacked organisation, and the forwards lacked control. Like Australia after John Eales retired, we are missing our talisman - bring back Johnno! As for the missing Wilkinson - both Charlie Hodgson and Ollie Barkley looked good - it was further out it went wrong. Without Greenwood the centres lacked a cutting edge, and without Robinson the back 3 were ineffectual. Also, to be fair, it was a backline that had never played together before so are bound to miss a few tackles and make the odd error. At that level those mean points conceded sadly. Still they will all have learnt from the experience and hopefully once a few big names are back we can bounce back.
Lastly tennis...
This isn't really a sport, bit it's wimbledon so it's traditional if you're english to get hyped up about Tim Henman only to be cruelly deflated in the quarter final stages. I actually think I have worked out what his problem is. It's his name. "Tim" is just to nice a name for a sportsman who is supposed to be aggressive and threatening. His name makes you think of a vicar, not a sportsman cruelly crushing opponents. Also - the best tag they could come up with for him is Tiger Tim - hardly scary, especially when you think how well tigers are doing out there in the wild! Anyway, leaving cynicism aside - good luck Tim, but I won't be backing you with any cash if you don't mind.
So as it turns out thank god I didn't go to Portugal, New Zealand or Australia for my hols - the displays of the soccer and rugby teams were pathetic.
Firstly soccer...
I did watch the England v Portugal game. By soccer standards it was a very exciting game, but clearly the english press and fans were watching a different game to me. According to them we were robbed because of a dodgy refereeing call and we should have won. In the game I watched Portugal were by far the better team, with England having to defend deep for most of the game and scoring on the break when they could. Also the most anonymous player on the pitch was Beckham. He did nothing of note all game until he blasted that penalty attempt over the bar. How much failure is required to break the myth that he is one of the greatest players of all time? He fcuked up against France, he fcuked up against Portugal, he got sent off years ago in the infamous 1998 World Cup game vs Argentina, he led a team that was unable to beat 10-man Brazil in the 2002 World Cup. He is a goodish player, but I'm afraid the man does not live up to the myth in any way, shape or form.
And good luck Portugal - you won fair and square and our spoilt little brats are on the early plane home again. Good.
And now Rugby...
It was always going to be a tough tour, and I didn't have high hopes, but oh my word.... We were thumped in the first and last games, and have only ourselves to blame after being reduced to 14 men after 10 minutes of the second. The backs lacked organisation, and the forwards lacked control. Like Australia after John Eales retired, we are missing our talisman - bring back Johnno! As for the missing Wilkinson - both Charlie Hodgson and Ollie Barkley looked good - it was further out it went wrong. Without Greenwood the centres lacked a cutting edge, and without Robinson the back 3 were ineffectual. Also, to be fair, it was a backline that had never played together before so are bound to miss a few tackles and make the odd error. At that level those mean points conceded sadly. Still they will all have learnt from the experience and hopefully once a few big names are back we can bounce back.
Lastly tennis...
This isn't really a sport, bit it's wimbledon so it's traditional if you're english to get hyped up about Tim Henman only to be cruelly deflated in the quarter final stages. I actually think I have worked out what his problem is. It's his name. "Tim" is just to nice a name for a sportsman who is supposed to be aggressive and threatening. His name makes you think of a vicar, not a sportsman cruelly crushing opponents. Also - the best tag they could come up with for him is Tiger Tim - hardly scary, especially when you think how well tigers are doing out there in the wild! Anyway, leaving cynicism aside - good luck Tim, but I won't be backing you with any cash if you don't mind.
Friday, June 11, 2004
DOH!
RUGBY
England’s tour of the southern hemispehere seems them play New Zealand this weekend in Dunedin at the infamous “House of Pain”. Next weekend they play them again, this time in Auckland. Then they move on to Australia to face the Wallabies the following Saturday.
CRICKET
Summer in England can only mean one thing – false hopes of a revival of English cricket. England are playing New Zealand at the moment. Then next week the Natwest 1 Day series starts between England, New Zealand and the West Indies.
SOCCER
The worlds 3rd biggest sporting event, the European Soccer Championships, kicks off in Lisbon this weekend, with England facing reigning European champions France on Sunday night.
And I’m on holiday for the next 2 weeks…
So which of these great sporting events am I going to?
None
The delights of a Johannesburg winter with the in-laws await – 14deg max, 4deg min. Guard dogs. Razor wire. Electrified fences. Armed security.....
Memo to self - check the ficture lists next time before agreeing to anything.
Back on the 28th (assuming all of the above does its job). Unlike some sad bloggers I will not be setting up delayed messages and postings to create the illusion of non-stop blogging – you know who you are…. And in case you don’t – I’m talking to you Simon.
Altogether now...
I've Never met A Nice South African - sung by Spitting Image
I've travelled this old world of ours from Barnsley to Peru
I've had sunshine in the arctic and a swim in Tinbuktu
I've seen unicorns in Burma and a Yetti in Nepal
And I've danced with ten foot pygmies in a Montezuma hall
I've met the King of China and a working Yorkshire miner
But I've never met a nice South African.
No he's never met a nice South African
And that's not bloody surprising man
'Cause we're a bunch of arrogant b***tards
Who hate black people
I once got served in Woolies aften less than four week's wait
I had lunch with Rowan Atkinson when he paid and wasn't late
I know a public swimming bath where they don't piss in the pool
I know a guy who got a job straight after leaving school
I've met a normal merman and a fairly modest German
But I've never met a nice South African.
No he's never met a nice South African
And that's not bloody surprising man
'Cause we're a bunch of talentless murderers
Who smell like baboons
I've had a close encounter of the twenty-second kind
That's when an alien spaceship disappears up your behind
I got directory enquiries after less than forty rings
I've even heard a decent song by Paul McCartney's Wings
I've seen a flying pig in a quite convincing wig
But I've never met a nice South African.
No he's never met a nice South African
And that's not bloody surprising man
'Cause we're a bunch of ignorant loudmouths
With no sense of humour - ha ha
I've met the Loch Ness monster and he looks like Fred Astaire
At the BBC in London he's the chief commissionaire
I know a place in Glasgow which is rife with daffodillies
I met a man in Katmandu who claimed to have two willies
I've had a nice pot noodle but I've never had a poodle
And I've never met a nice South African.
No he's never met a nice South African
And that's not bloody surprising man
Because we've never met one either
Except for Breyten Breytenbach and he's emigrated to Paris. (farts)
Yes he's quite a nice South African
And he's hardly ever killed anyone
And he's not smelly at all.
That's why they put him prison.
RUGBY
England’s tour of the southern hemispehere seems them play New Zealand this weekend in Dunedin at the infamous “House of Pain”. Next weekend they play them again, this time in Auckland. Then they move on to Australia to face the Wallabies the following Saturday.
CRICKET
Summer in England can only mean one thing – false hopes of a revival of English cricket. England are playing New Zealand at the moment. Then next week the Natwest 1 Day series starts between England, New Zealand and the West Indies.
SOCCER
The worlds 3rd biggest sporting event, the European Soccer Championships, kicks off in Lisbon this weekend, with England facing reigning European champions France on Sunday night.
And I’m on holiday for the next 2 weeks…
So which of these great sporting events am I going to?
None
The delights of a Johannesburg winter with the in-laws await – 14deg max, 4deg min. Guard dogs. Razor wire. Electrified fences. Armed security.....
Memo to self - check the ficture lists next time before agreeing to anything.
Back on the 28th (assuming all of the above does its job). Unlike some sad bloggers I will not be setting up delayed messages and postings to create the illusion of non-stop blogging – you know who you are…. And in case you don’t – I’m talking to you Simon.
Altogether now...
I've Never met A Nice South African - sung by Spitting Image
I've travelled this old world of ours from Barnsley to Peru
I've had sunshine in the arctic and a swim in Tinbuktu
I've seen unicorns in Burma and a Yetti in Nepal
And I've danced with ten foot pygmies in a Montezuma hall
I've met the King of China and a working Yorkshire miner
But I've never met a nice South African.
No he's never met a nice South African
And that's not bloody surprising man
'Cause we're a bunch of arrogant b***tards
Who hate black people
I once got served in Woolies aften less than four week's wait
I had lunch with Rowan Atkinson when he paid and wasn't late
I know a public swimming bath where they don't piss in the pool
I know a guy who got a job straight after leaving school
I've met a normal merman and a fairly modest German
But I've never met a nice South African.
No he's never met a nice South African
And that's not bloody surprising man
'Cause we're a bunch of talentless murderers
Who smell like baboons
I've had a close encounter of the twenty-second kind
That's when an alien spaceship disappears up your behind
I got directory enquiries after less than forty rings
I've even heard a decent song by Paul McCartney's Wings
I've seen a flying pig in a quite convincing wig
But I've never met a nice South African.
No he's never met a nice South African
And that's not bloody surprising man
'Cause we're a bunch of ignorant loudmouths
With no sense of humour - ha ha
I've met the Loch Ness monster and he looks like Fred Astaire
At the BBC in London he's the chief commissionaire
I know a place in Glasgow which is rife with daffodillies
I met a man in Katmandu who claimed to have two willies
I've had a nice pot noodle but I've never had a poodle
And I've never met a nice South African.
No he's never met a nice South African
And that's not bloody surprising man
Because we've never met one either
Except for Breyten Breytenbach and he's emigrated to Paris. (farts)
Yes he's quite a nice South African
And he's hardly ever killed anyone
And he's not smelly at all.
That's why they put him prison.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Ronald Reagan – RIP
There has been a lot of stuff written about Ronald Reagan over the last few days. Some view him as the saviour of America and the man responsible for the end of the cold war, the demise of the Soviet Union and the fall of Eastern Europe’s communist regimes. Some view him as a reckless, deceitful president responsible for huge budget deficits and the Iran-Contra scandal, who merely happened to be in charge at the same time as the Soviet Union was going into a self-made decline owing to its own unsustainable military spending.
But I remember him best as the Spitting Image puppet star of “The Presidents Brain is Missing.”
Now THAT was comedy.
Thanks Ronnie
There has been a lot of stuff written about Ronald Reagan over the last few days. Some view him as the saviour of America and the man responsible for the end of the cold war, the demise of the Soviet Union and the fall of Eastern Europe’s communist regimes. Some view him as a reckless, deceitful president responsible for huge budget deficits and the Iran-Contra scandal, who merely happened to be in charge at the same time as the Soviet Union was going into a self-made decline owing to its own unsustainable military spending.
But I remember him best as the Spitting Image puppet star of “The Presidents Brain is Missing.”
Now THAT was comedy.
Thanks Ronnie
INTERGALACTIC FARCE
For days clever people with wierd hair and glasses have been telling us how astonishing todays Transit of Venus is going to be, and how privileged we are to see it. And then, in a typical scientist twist tell us we can't look at it. This is supposedly to protect our eyes, but I suspect the reason is simply that it is unbelieveably dull! I've seen the clips on CNN and it is just not spectacular. It's like a small mobile zit on the face of the sun.
For those who care there are photos and streaming of the event here
For days clever people with wierd hair and glasses have been telling us how astonishing todays Transit of Venus is going to be, and how privileged we are to see it. And then, in a typical scientist twist tell us we can't look at it. This is supposedly to protect our eyes, but I suspect the reason is simply that it is unbelieveably dull! I've seen the clips on CNN and it is just not spectacular. It's like a small mobile zit on the face of the sun.
For those who care there are photos and streaming of the event here
Monday, June 07, 2004
CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR...strong>
A few spare minutes in the airport so thought I'd point out a few bits and pieces from the greatest sport on earth..
England won the final leg of the IRB World Sevens Series in London, beating New Zealand 22-19 in the final, but the Kiwis won the overall IRB title, just pipping England into second place.
Damn.
And I have deep misgivings about this weekends upcoming test in NZ vs the All Blacks. No Johnson, Back, Leonard, Wilkinson or Robinson. Could be a bit embarrassing, especially as I'll be in South Africa when the game is on and they love a chance to have a pop at English Rugby. Fingers crossed eh.
Meanwhile everyone in Asia seems to be getting excited about groups of overpaid, undereducated spoilt brats from countries they've never visited, with names they can't pronounce, who will be playing some soccer competition in Portugal at about, with games kicking off at 3am HK time but still the locals will get up to watch. Mad. At least I'm confident England will underachieve again and get knocked by some bunch of part-timers and the fever will die down quick. Best for all I think.
A few spare minutes in the airport so thought I'd point out a few bits and pieces from the greatest sport on earth..
England won the final leg of the IRB World Sevens Series in London, beating New Zealand 22-19 in the final, but the Kiwis won the overall IRB title, just pipping England into second place.
Damn.
And I have deep misgivings about this weekends upcoming test in NZ vs the All Blacks. No Johnson, Back, Leonard, Wilkinson or Robinson. Could be a bit embarrassing, especially as I'll be in South Africa when the game is on and they love a chance to have a pop at English Rugby. Fingers crossed eh.
Meanwhile everyone in Asia seems to be getting excited about groups of overpaid, undereducated spoilt brats from countries they've never visited, with names they can't pronounce, who will be playing some soccer competition in Portugal at about, with games kicking off at 3am HK time but still the locals will get up to watch. Mad. At least I'm confident England will underachieve again and get knocked by some bunch of part-timers and the fever will die down quick. Best for all I think.
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
OLYMPICS - THE GREEK FARCE CONTINUES
The stadiums aren't ready, the transport system isn't ready, there are unlikely to be any seats in the main stadium, and most of the athletes will be doped to the eyeballs, but it seems none of it will matter.
There will be no-one there anyway...
Athens Olympics Count on Last-Minute Ticket Sales to Meet Goals
By Maria Petrakis
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Athens Olympic organizers have sold about a third of the tickets available for the games, which begin Aug. 13, and are counting on last-minute sales to help them meet revenue goals.
The Athens Organizing Committee sold 1.8 million tickets through April 16, when sales were suspended so seats could be allocated to the media and other pass holders, the organizers said in an e-mailed statement. Sales totaled 137 million euros ($167 million), or 75 percent of targeted ticket revenue.
Organizers will reach their goal of 183 million euros in ticket revenue if they sell 68 percent of the seats available, the statement said. Sydney sold 2.5 million tickets in the three months before the 2000 Olympics, Athens organizers said. Similar results would push sales in Athens to 77 percent of all seats.
Delays in completing Olympic venues and concerns about terrorism at the first summer games since the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. have slowed ticket sales in Athens. With 3.75 million tickets left to sell through the end of the games on Aug. 29, Marton Simitsek, executive director of the organizing committee, said Athens is targeting full stadiums for all events.
Forty-two percent of all remaining tickets are for team sports, and sales will improve once the final draws for events such as soccer are known, the organizers said.
The lower cost of the remaining tickets will also spur sales, they said. The tickets still on sale have an average price of 35 euros, with 2.25 million costing 20 euros or less.
There are a limited number of tickets remaining for the more expensive opening and closing ceremonies, the most popular events at any Olympics, organizers said. Prices for those tickets range from 100 euros to 950 euros. Tickets for the semifinals and finals in men's basketball are also limited, they said.
The stadiums aren't ready, the transport system isn't ready, there are unlikely to be any seats in the main stadium, and most of the athletes will be doped to the eyeballs, but it seems none of it will matter.
There will be no-one there anyway...
Athens Olympics Count on Last-Minute Ticket Sales to Meet Goals
By Maria Petrakis
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Athens Olympic organizers have sold about a third of the tickets available for the games, which begin Aug. 13, and are counting on last-minute sales to help them meet revenue goals.
The Athens Organizing Committee sold 1.8 million tickets through April 16, when sales were suspended so seats could be allocated to the media and other pass holders, the organizers said in an e-mailed statement. Sales totaled 137 million euros ($167 million), or 75 percent of targeted ticket revenue.
Organizers will reach their goal of 183 million euros in ticket revenue if they sell 68 percent of the seats available, the statement said. Sydney sold 2.5 million tickets in the three months before the 2000 Olympics, Athens organizers said. Similar results would push sales in Athens to 77 percent of all seats.
Delays in completing Olympic venues and concerns about terrorism at the first summer games since the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. have slowed ticket sales in Athens. With 3.75 million tickets left to sell through the end of the games on Aug. 29, Marton Simitsek, executive director of the organizing committee, said Athens is targeting full stadiums for all events.
Forty-two percent of all remaining tickets are for team sports, and sales will improve once the final draws for events such as soccer are known, the organizers said.
The lower cost of the remaining tickets will also spur sales, they said. The tickets still on sale have an average price of 35 euros, with 2.25 million costing 20 euros or less.
There are a limited number of tickets remaining for the more expensive opening and closing ceremonies, the most popular events at any Olympics, organizers said. Prices for those tickets range from 100 euros to 950 euros. Tickets for the semifinals and finals in men's basketball are also limited, they said.
OBESITY
This has nothing to do with the obesity story that Conrad and Chris have been talking about, but caught my eye..
INDIANAPOLIS, May 27 (UPI) -- An Indianapolis women who weighs 650 pounds (that’s 46.5 stone or 294.5Kilos for non-Americans) has said she was humiliated after a cab driver allegedly refused to transport her because of her size.
WRTV-TV, in Indianapolis, reported Thursday that Mararika Parker who has ridden
in taxicabs for the past three years had never been refused until February. "He said 'I can't ride you. You too big for my cab. You'll pop the doors off of my cab,'" Parker said. "I was so mad, I couldn't talk to him."
She has complained to the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, which is investigating Indy Airport Taxi.
Officials with Indy Airport Taxi told the commission that the company had never
discriminated against a client and they claimed that Parker was physically unable to enter the cab.
"He (the cab driver) said he may have to pull me in and out of the cab," Parker said. "That's not true. I'm 28 years old, I'm not a senior citizen. I'm just overweight and can't walk far."
During the investigation, commission officials had Parker telephone for a taxi and observed her getting in and out of the cab without problems.
The case is still under investigation.
I must admit that my first thought on reading it was the usual “god Americans are fat” followed swiftly by “god Americans are stupid”, but then when I thought about it a bit more I wondered about the mentality that lets someone get to that size, and then to merely describe themselves as “overweight” instead of “a huge, stinky, sweaty pile of blubber”.
Somehow fat people all over the world seem to have convinced themselves that they are normal and the rest of the world is against them. There are constant stories of these tubs of lard bleating on about not being able to get into cabs, or airline seats, or cinemas, or some such drivel. And somehow it’s the rest of the worlds fault? There’s even a National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance in the US for gods sake. They claim being fat is a disability. That I agree with. What I don’t agree with is that we should give them any leeway. It IS a disability in as much as it makes it impossible to perform many of the tasks “normal” people can do, but it is SELF-INFLICTED. Why should we have to pay or apologise for the fact that they are so food-obsessed they that they become human Zeppelins. If they find the world is against them because they’re huge, then they should eat less! It’s simple physics – you can’t create or destroy matter, and biology – you take in more energy than your body can use then your body stores it as fat.
Eat less and do more exercise you blimps – stop whining to us.
This has nothing to do with the obesity story that Conrad and Chris have been talking about, but caught my eye..
INDIANAPOLIS, May 27 (UPI) -- An Indianapolis women who weighs 650 pounds (that’s 46.5 stone or 294.5Kilos for non-Americans) has said she was humiliated after a cab driver allegedly refused to transport her because of her size.
WRTV-TV, in Indianapolis, reported Thursday that Mararika Parker who has ridden
in taxicabs for the past three years had never been refused until February. "He said 'I can't ride you. You too big for my cab. You'll pop the doors off of my cab,'" Parker said. "I was so mad, I couldn't talk to him."
She has complained to the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, which is investigating Indy Airport Taxi.
Officials with Indy Airport Taxi told the commission that the company had never
discriminated against a client and they claimed that Parker was physically unable to enter the cab.
"He (the cab driver) said he may have to pull me in and out of the cab," Parker said. "That's not true. I'm 28 years old, I'm not a senior citizen. I'm just overweight and can't walk far."
During the investigation, commission officials had Parker telephone for a taxi and observed her getting in and out of the cab without problems.
The case is still under investigation.
I must admit that my first thought on reading it was the usual “god Americans are fat” followed swiftly by “god Americans are stupid”, but then when I thought about it a bit more I wondered about the mentality that lets someone get to that size, and then to merely describe themselves as “overweight” instead of “a huge, stinky, sweaty pile of blubber”.
Somehow fat people all over the world seem to have convinced themselves that they are normal and the rest of the world is against them. There are constant stories of these tubs of lard bleating on about not being able to get into cabs, or airline seats, or cinemas, or some such drivel. And somehow it’s the rest of the worlds fault? There’s even a National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance in the US for gods sake. They claim being fat is a disability. That I agree with. What I don’t agree with is that we should give them any leeway. It IS a disability in as much as it makes it impossible to perform many of the tasks “normal” people can do, but it is SELF-INFLICTED. Why should we have to pay or apologise for the fact that they are so food-obsessed they that they become human Zeppelins. If they find the world is against them because they’re huge, then they should eat less! It’s simple physics – you can’t create or destroy matter, and biology – you take in more energy than your body can use then your body stores it as fat.
Eat less and do more exercise you blimps – stop whining to us.
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
WOMEN AND CARS
Am just off to test drive a car - just got up to leave and mentioned this. The girl 2 seats down from me turns and asks - "what colour is it?" - not - what make / model / no of seats / body type / engine size / perfomance numbers etc etc but "what colour is it?"
Sums up women and cars perfectly
Am just off to test drive a car - just got up to leave and mentioned this. The girl 2 seats down from me turns and asks - "what colour is it?" - not - what make / model / no of seats / body type / engine size / perfomance numbers etc etc but "what colour is it?"
Sums up women and cars perfectly