By the way...

"If she wins, I'm leaving Earth"

by Benjaminbrum @ Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008 – 12:42:29 am

Tina Fey is possibly my favourite woman on earth. Aside from a couple of national treasures and my mother.

Tina Fey told TVGuide she'll be "done" if John McCain and Sarah Palin win the election next month.

The SNL veteran who has come back to play the Republican Vice Presidential candidate said, "We're gonna take it week by week. If she wins, I'm done. I can't do that for four years. And by 'I'm done,' I mean I'm leaving Earth."

Maybe I should promise to leave Earth if Mrs Alden becomes MP for Edgbaston. Not sure she's needs to be more desperate to become MP. She's got that lean and hungry look as it is.

Thanks to the Huffington Post for pointing me to that story!
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Alden doesn't know her art from her elbow.

by Benjaminbrum @ Monday, Oct. 13, 2008 – 03:34:35 pm

Deirdre Alden has got herself in a twist again.

She's questioning if an exhibition by Turner Prize winner Martin Creed should be staged at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham.

She's said (quote) "I don’t know how people think that is entertainment"

Well, art isn't always about being entertaining. Sometimes it's challenging. Sometimes it's offensive. Sometimes it leaves you cold. Using the word entertainment as a criterion for understanding is a bad place to start... but Deirdre doesn't leave it there. Oh no, she's going to push on further, she going to give us a piece of her mind.

"When I go to look at art I want to see something and think that’s really clever, I couldn’t have done that."

Which is lovely. Given the kind of "art" she's been involved in is writing Bunty style stories of girls at Boarding Schools and riding horses Mrs Alden shouldn't be attacking art. And this is a typical response by the Tory Party to the arts. Don't understand it, cut the funding.

I've not seen the exhibition yet. But I'm going to allow the works to speak for themselves rather than allowing Mrs Alden's judgement to frame mine.
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Homophobic Attack in the town I grew up in.

by Benjaminbrum @ Monday, Oct. 13, 2008 – 02:31:12 pm

I grew up in Calne in Wiltshire. I was a victim of homophobic attacks and I'm sad to say that these sorts of things are still going on. A lesbian couple have installed CCTV after a string of homophobic attacks at their Wiltshire home.

In the latest in a series of events, Mandy Roper and Karen Lawrence had to call the police after a 15-year-old girl was arrested outside the couple’s home.

The teenager caused £3,000 worth of damage to disabled Lawrence’s new sports car by jumping on the bonnet and smashing the windows.

Thankfully the police have said "We will investigate all homophobic incidents and this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated in Calne."

It horrid to think that there are people in the town trying to force them from the school.

I've written to the local papers expressing my disgust about this situation and also contacted my old school, John Bentley School, about this. I've offered to go and speak to students about the impact of homophobic bullying on the people being bullied and, weirdly, they've said I can go.

Which is awesome. But also bloody scary. I've been back to Chippenham, my grandad and granny live there, but not properly back to Calne. I've driven through but not stopped anywhere. So looks like I'll be making a pilgrimage back.

Any advice?
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Birmingham Overrun with Zombies.

by Benjaminbrum @ Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008 – 10:25:22 pm

Birmingham has been overrun for weeks with the walking dead. People are too stupid or unwilling to see what's going on around them.

I've linked up with other survivors across the world to work on a user generated documentary to follow the events. For more information watch this video: http://www.lostzombies.com/video/video/show?id=2035037%3AVideo%3A3139

or check out this website.

http://www.lostzombies.com/

I've created a group within the site for other survivors in Birmingham to post their proof about the situation in Birmingham. Join me and post yours.
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Finctional Country...

by Benjaminbrum @ Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008 – 08:25:59 pm

Worrying quiz answer from Facebook.

There's an "addicted to the West Wing" quiz on facebook and here's one of the questions.

Kuhndu and Qumar appear in a whole bunch of episodes.

Kuhndu & Qumar. Which is a real country?

Answer Choices
Kuhndu (46%)
Qumar (11%)
Both (1%)
Neither (42%)

Obviously, the correct answer is- Neither.

But that's a worry 46% who think that Kuhndu exists.
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Random word of the day

by Benjaminbrum @ Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008 – 07:55:54 pm

Rubati- having certain notes arbitrarily lengthened while others are correspondingly shortened, or vice versa.
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Who is Barack Obama?

by Benjaminbrum @ Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008 – 12:42:36 am

Who is Barack Obama? John McCain and Sarah Palin keep asking that question. This video is a strong answer.
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The Work Mobile went Beep Beep.

by Benjaminbrum @ Friday, Oct. 10, 2008 – 11:48:20 am

My work mobile finally went "beep beep" this morning.

It was a text saying "Can you let Harrysmuir know why your child is absent from school this morning".

I looked up Harrysmuir. Turns out it's a primary school in West Lothian, Scotland. Over 300 miles away.

I rang them up to say that this was my work mobile number and I live and work in Birmingham and don't have any kids.

The lady was lovely, terribly embarrassed and said she must have mixed up a digit here or there.

Made me smile.
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A few good activists wanted....

by Benjaminbrum @ Thursday, Oct. 09, 2008 – 11:51:09 am

The BBC is Looking For a "Few Good Activists". BBC 3 is looking for people to feature in a series of six films about brave people who are changing their world in some way. If you live in the UK, and you have an inspirational story, email Jessica (jessica.gomez-mckeever@bbc.co.uk).
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Bill Hicks..Still spot on...

by Benjaminbrum @ Wednesday, Oct. 08, 2008 – 12:53:23 pm

Bill Hicks was a comic genius and I adore his work. His full tilt, open throated rants are beautiful, biting and still resonating today.

His words still bite with relevance today. His rants about Bush Sr still work with Bush Jr. His rants about Tiffany (so good she's playing a gay club in Birmingham) and Debbie Gibson (where'd she go?) killing music still work if you insert Britney Spears name.

I often wonder what he'd make of a post-9/11 world. What direction would his comedy have taken?

Here's what he said about money:

'Well, your leaders misspent your hard-earned tax dollars, so you the people, now have to tighten your belts ... because we, your leaders, misspent your money.' You know what would make tightening my belt a little easier? If I could tighten it around Jesse Helms's scrawny little chicken-neck. ... I'd tighten my belt if that were the case. I'd eat bologna for a week. ... I'd sacrifice."

I love it and know that Bill is somewhere out there enjoying the ride.
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Art unseen

by Benjaminbrum @ Tuesday, Oct. 07, 2008 – 09:03:18 am

I need your help. I need to select a piece of artwork. Study the art for however long I like. Then reproduce the art while wearing a blindfold. I also need to publicly display my work.

So I need your suggestions as to:

What art work I need to reproduce.

and

How to publically display my work.
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Beautiful word of the day...

by Benjaminbrum @ Monday, Oct. 06, 2008 – 02:49:03 pm

And by tomorrow, I actually meant today.

Expedite is from the late medieval based on latin: expedītus

And part of that meaning was to set the feet free.

I like that image. Setting the feet free.

Too often we allow ourselves to be tied into our frames of thinking. Setting the feet free forces us into encounters unexpected and locations unconsidered.

It enables us to think in new ways, consider the epic, the monumental but also pause and focus on the particular and the individual.
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It's lazy to post videos...

by Benjaminbrum @ Monday, Oct. 06, 2008 – 12:12:13 am

I know this.

But this looks gorgeous. Normal service resumed from tomorrow.
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The truth about John McCain...

by Benjaminbrum @ Sunday, Oct. 05, 2008 – 07:54:37 pm
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Bloggers Unite!

by Benjaminbrum @ Friday, Oct. 03, 2008 – 10:56:21 pm

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.
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