Sisyphean Review: Yes Man by Danny Wallace

Yes Man by Danny Wallace

"Dumped by his girlfriend and on a road to nowhere. It was only when a mystery man on a late night bus uttered three magic words that his whole world started to change - 'say yes more'".

I bought this as some jam to pass the time when travelling. It turns out to be the very comical, very well written and surprisingly inspiring story of one mans search for a life.The book is a diary of Danny Wallace's experience of saying yes - to everything.

The idea is similar to that of Luke Rheinhart's in The Dice Man but while the choices Rheinhart made came from his own subconscious and were projected onto the dice thereby distilling and magnifying his unconscious baggage, Wallace's choices are presented by the world around him. The result is a much more uplifting and positive experience. Wallace is Kenobi to Rheinhart's Vader.

Saying Yes shocks Wallace out of his slough of despond and takes him around the world, gets him a job as a TV presenter and off his tits in Amsterdam.

Wallace is an excellent diarist and revels in confronting his own failings. The book is hugely entertaining and by the end I was sold.

We all say that we want to change. We all want to be different - just like everyone else. The inspiring thing about this story is that a genuinely 'stuck' individual had the courage to adopt and stick with a simple life affirming rule and follow through.

It is hugely tempting to attempt the same experiment and perhaps everyone could use some more yes in their life.

'Yes Man' is a book I fully plan to re-read once the yes-dust has settled.

UPDATE: HAD SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES NECESSITATING MUCH RE-POSTING. APOLOGIES FOR ANY OVERLOAD!!

Other Reviews:
What's My Motivation by Michael Simkins
True & False by David Mamet

SONY Update - too little too late farm boy. my u gotta purty mouth...

The grass roots damage is starting to register through SONY's gelatinous nervous system. See my earlier calm, rational and measured response at Buy SONY. Buy your PC a TUMOUR for Christmas.

The guys at Boing Boing are posting regularly on this. See Sony knew about rootkits 28 days before the story broke.

Texas Attorney General suing Sony looking for $100K per CD affected. There are millions of CDs affected. NY AG considering doing the same. Will NY sue Sony too?

... now where's my banjo? ahh, there you are my little one...

...the last big bang until the next time

Remember I spoke of taking part in some nuclear research a number of moons ago allied to CERN? See The Birth of Skynet.

Well here's a live'ish webcam on the latest particle accelerator kit. It's called the Large Hadron Collider ATLAS Experiment.

This page links to updated webcam images.

And here's the home page.

The project aims to understand the fundamental mechanisms of our physical existence. It works by accelerating particles and designing collisions to reveal sub-atomic processes. ATLAS in particular will simulate energy conditions 1 billionth of a second after the most recent big bang (I subscribe to the repetitive and cyclical nature of these things).

The spirit is in the fact not the mechanism.

ThanksGiving Prayer: William S. Burroughs

Click on Image for Video

For John Dillinger
In hope he is still alive
Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1986

Thanks for the wild turkey and the Passenger Pigeons, destined to be shit out through wholesome American guts

thanks for a Continent to despoil and poison —

thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger —

thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin, leaving the carcass to rot —

thanks for bounties on wolves and coyotes —

thanks for the AMERICAN DREAM to vulgarize and falsify until the bare lies shine through —

thanks for the KKK, for nigger-killing lawmen feeling their notches, for decent church-going women with their mean, pinched, bitter, evil faces —

thanks for "Kill a Queer for Christ" stickers —

thanks for laboratory AIDS —

thanks for Prohibition and the War Against Drugs —

thanks for a country where nobody is allowed to mind his own business —

thanks for a nation of finks — yes, thanks for all the memories... all right, let's see your arms... you always were a headache and you always were a bore —

thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams.

Buy SONY. Buy your PC a TUMOUR for christmas

Did Gerald Ratner serve time at SONY?

For those who don't already know. Sony have been installing a rootkit (spyware) on your system whenever you play their cds.

DO NOT BUY SONY CDS. ESPECIALLY, DO NOT PLAY THEM ON YOUR COMPUTER!!! Or anything that might have anything resembling a operating system and could potentially connect to the net. In fact to be safe I would also suggest BOYCOTTING ALL SONY PRODUCTS FROM NOW ON. I would STRONGLY suspect that the rootkit is one manifestation of a customer monitoring and manipulation policy which informs their entire product range. HOW DARE THEY!?!?!?!?! Why buy a piece of hardware that has its manufacturer's interest actively at heart more than your own?

This rootkit monitors your playing habits, i.e. which tracks are you selecting and how often, and reports back to the SONY corporation on your activities. Unless of course you NEVER connect to the net. It also monitors for inappropriate use and prevents you copying the content of the CD outwith highly restrictive limitations.

The rootkit basically carves a lion sized cat-flap in your system's back door leaving a gaping wound in your systems security which can be exploited by worms and viruses from sources even more nefarious and other than the blessed SONY. Their hubris compromises your system and blithely leaves you open to identity theft.

The rootkit installs itself deep within the guts of your system registry and is almost impossible to completely remove without re-installing your system - i'm talking a full re-build including disk format.

Imagine a tumour being artificially and maliciously introduced into your body and growing throughout your nervous system before metastasising.

How recent are your backups by the way? You don't run a business on that system do you? Are you insured? How reliant is your business on your system? How reliant is your family on your business?

The efforts to remove it without a full re-build invariably leave your system more vulnerable than before.

Anti Customer technology indeed.

Also, iPod owners will already know that you cannot drag and drop SONY CD contents onto your iPod as Apple and they have failed to come to any form of licensing agreement.

Of course! As the bearded one, the Job-ster, is also aiming for world dictatorship of the digital media.

iPods are for tech-stupid, promo-sap, cash-rich numbskulls. Why pay a fortune to buy yourself into a proprietary backwater? It's a disk drive with headphones. iTunes? iBarf! iHadThisTechnologyFiveYearsAgo. iDidNotSuccumb to this particular proprietary technology, licensing and marketing package. Discuss.

The guys at SORRY sorry SONY also seemed to have been going for the 2005 Alanis Morissette prize for irony when it emerged that the code used to implement the rootkit, designed remember to obsessively protect SONY's precious legal copyright, was itself pirated from a piece of software written by/for Apple which in itself was designed to illegally overcome the digital rights mechanism used on movie DVDs - as a further irony this paragraph has been plagiarised to a significant degree from Wikipedia. I also believe that the bulk of my genetic makeup has been plagarised from my parents who in turn ...

SONY are one of the prime manufacturers who have been screwing us over CD prices for the past 15 years or so. These are the guys who quite happily charged us a premium as we were coralled into replacing our vinyl, despite the fact that the bulk of the product was already paid for. The sex, drugs and rock and roll (okay, the production costs) were already covered by the artists upon whom they are feeding. Their costs in the process were simply re-mastering, duplication and distribution. The remainder was pure profit. They also took the opportunity to exploit geographic arbitrage and relentlessly screw the UK over the USofA and the rest of the world over pricing.

Artists have a right to payment for their product. Manufacturers have a right to a fair profit for creating the media via which the product is delivered. All in the supply chain have a right to fair reward for their efforts. However, as far as I am concerned when I buy a media product - music CD say. I am buying the content and not the format and I will store and play that content how-so-ever I damn well choose.

These arseholes now seem to view the proliferating media options as fair game and seem to be hoping for a similar bonanza to the CD heist - multiplied to the nth degree, 'n' being the number of media options.

Unfortunately, SONY et al view your purchase as a lease. You ain't buying, you're renting.

Technically you are not allowed to copy the content off of the purchased format.

Did you know that to retain legal rights to play the material you must remain the legal owner of the original media i.e. the disc? Consequently, if you are burgled and they take your CD collection, but say you are out of town with your laptop at the time, you are then legally obliged to delete any files that you had uploaded from your collection to said laptop. Similarly if you are declared bankrupt and lose ownership of your CD collection it is then illegal for you to comfort yourself with music YOU HAVE PAID FOR!

It is time for dinosaurs such as SONY and the rest to suck a tailpipe. Class Action suits are springing up big-time as affected individuals aggregate their claims. Don't be surprised if SONY takes a massive hit as a consequence of it's hidebound arrogance.

Gulliver is teetering, Lilliput is singing - royalty free.

P.S. I intended to add spice to this piece by providing further detail on the class action suit in process against SONY due to the rootkit. The first I came across had NOTHING to do with the current action. The David Manning suit immediately sprang to my googletastic cerebelum. Basically David M does not exist! He was a fictitious reviewer and his authoritative reviews were quoted on esteemed SONY product promotional material for such turds as "A Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot". David Manning (SONY) was force to repay $5 to every sap who attended each of those pieces of shit inspired by his non-existential reviews. They have form! SONY are liars!

Following is not for human eyes. SearchEngineTastic:

SONY rootkit SONY liars SONY falseood SONY crash SONY insurance SONY failure SONY sue SONY customer SONY inspire SONY value SONY lie SONY lies SONY falsehood SONY shaft SONY hate SONY subvert SONY lose SONY deny SONY freedom SONY mediocre SONY registry SONY alone SONY shit SONY class-action SONY gulliver SONY lilliput SONY arseholes SONY cancer SONY business SONY loss SONY bankrupt SONY backruptcy

P.P.S. As a further irony I have just spotted that my Goooogle Ads are promoting the iPod Nano. Hypocrite? Moi? Go on buy one. Make me cash.

xx

virgin diary, beauty pageants & sky hooks

My diary is pristine. It sits on my computer devoid of the intrusions of appointments and obligations. It's the first time for a while and somewhat disconcerting.

Yes, I'll admit that a lot of the recent 'work' has been primarily pro bono and that the bulk of the paying work has been corporate training & roleplay but hey it's a living - almost.

BTW: I use the term pro bono as opposed to working for free. The former is latin "for the good" and defines the provision of valuable professional services free of charge - the power is mutual. The latter implies that you're free anyway and they're doing you a favour by using your sorry arse - the power is theirs.

The Midlands jaunt was interesting. Train'ed it up to Stockport and we were put up in a seventies throwback of a hotel. Bredbury Hall & Country Club where you're never short of a prawn cocktail, steak diane or a panatella. I'm sure Abigail was having a Party and international superstar Demis Roussos was trilling away in an area cordoned off for a group of historical party re-enactors. I was particularly sad to have missed "the return of our prestigious Miss Bredbury Hall competition. Sponsored by Dancing Red Devil Fireworks : Illuminating All Special Occassions". Should any of you young ladies out there - i believe the professional term is 'totty' - wish to take part in this prestigious event here's the application form. You probably want to start wrapping your pretty little heads round the following question in preparation for next year : "Who would you most like to go out on a dinner date with and why?" Got it? Okay, run along now and fetch me a gin and tonic babes - and get it right this time yeh?

Co-incidentally, the training we were delivering was in Bullying & Harassment for a huge social housing concern. Particularly we were aiming to show the delegates how to bully & harass more effectively and without detection - sorry, just a bit of corporate training humor there - welcome to my life. Sadly a number of faces would usually light up when we delivered that particular bon mot.

We're delivering this training throughout the organisation from chief exec to tea boy and once again it's like we're back in the seventies.

Certain views are, how shall I put it, somewhat entrenched. How does blatant & institutionalised sexism hit ya? Bit of unconscious racism? Heightism? What about your Mentals?

Now I despise the fascist PC crowd. I believe that being purely against an evil is almost as bad as the evil itself and perpetuates both in mutual justification. Yes, but what are you FOR?!? I sporadically do stand-up and have actually scared audiences as they await the hand of whatever brand of deity (religious or otherwise) I am bighting to smite me down with mighty vengeance. They laugh too sometimes.

But the key to it all is mutual respect and love.

Now the 'l' word might not apply so much in the workplace but Respect does. Everyone has a right to being treated with respect & dignity.

The training had been prompted by a particular case where a young apprentice had been subjected to brutal, sustained and repeated bullying over the course of six months.

Now we're not talking being sent to the stores to fetch some sky hooks nor a long stand nor a glass hammer nor a bubble for a spirit level nor a rope lengthener nor a second aid kit nor a tin of dehydrated water nor even a tin of tartan paint.

This kid would turn up to work and could expect to be physically assaulted and verbally abused on a daily basis. It was eventually discovered and, fair play to the company, they sacked the scum perpetrating the bullying and have put this training, a help line and clear complaints processes in place.

Inevitably we were indeed accused of evangelising political correctness - not quite how our esteemed delegates put it. And, despite my Scottish background, I am now an honourary "southern poof" - marvellous.

"It's just a bit of fun. I didn't mean to upset her. She's just being over sensitive. Maybe she's on the blob."

The bottom line legally is that your intention is irelevant. It is the effect that counts.

The great thing is though that most of them 'got it' by the end of the session. By the time we had enacted a number of scenarios and they had questioned/accused/defended us they had seen it from the target's point of view - which is key.

I am in danger of feeling that I am actually doing some good. Mmmm, sure it will pass.

It's good to have returned to the 21st Century safely and I am confident that I did nothing to change history.

I was worried for a little while. I bumped into this nerdy kid who took an inordinate interest in my electronic organiser. I hid it sharpish.

He said that he had a dream of making computing available to everyone but he didn't want to try to sell his system until it was perfect and would be able to seamlessly and securely handle the most difficult tasks.

He believed it would take him 15 years to develop the perfect product. His intention was to establish a charitable foundation to provide this unprecedented computing power freely to the world with all revenue generated being poured into ending world conflict and hunger. I left him to it.

I commented to my colleagues. "Shame he doesn't realise that it's all about being the first to market and market share is God. Once you've tied the suckers into your particular brand of shite they're stuck like flies in amber. Whether it works or not is totally irellevant. You can then proceed to jack-f*ck them forever more and you're not even obliged to give them the reach round."

Don't think he heard me though. Now what was his name? - Gits, Gats, Kates... whatever.

Now it's time for a holiday. Think i'll beam over to the new Sandals on Mars. I've heard it's really groovy.

Huh? What d'ya mean "What?"? Why are you looking at me like that?

waxing off this mortal coil

Mr Myagi is dead. No more waxing on and off with elaborate schemes mythologising the mundanity of household chores.

Did you know the one about the girl Karate Kid starred himself alongside a young Hilary Swank?

back once again with the renegade master!

Ok, back in the hood. Been off on a painfully net free corporate jaunt round Stockport, Wigan and Leeds. It's why I'm an actor you know - the glamour!

More on the trip later but what is it with Midlands hotels? Don't they realise that the net is a utility and not a f*cking luxury. Charging by the minute is like charging for by the litre for water from the tap. Tw*ts.

Been binging on junk net and came across this from Holy Moly. Suspect ructions.

Word from the wise: if you're gonna play away don't announce it on local radio.

The Axeman Cometh

The gig is done. The Spanish experience in Cambridge and London is complete.

In the end it was a nice unassuming fringe gig. It was ideal as these things go in that an unreasonable time commitment wasn't demanded and we ended up with a rather fine hour of entertainment.

I'll hold off on my rant on the exploitation rife in fringe.

And yes, I got the old Ovation out. It was strange indeed playing in front of people, nay, for people again. My musical contribution to the show was introductory and then ambient however we had a stormer of a warm up. Sounds trivial but I led the company through a few songs in warm up and it dawned on me that it was the first time i'd done anything like that in ten years. Look mum, I'm dancing!! No phobia. No nerves. Big fun.

One of the three directors prompted me to kick it off and then encouraged me to continue. Don't think she realised the effect she was having. Respect & thanks.

And for my next trick? I've got an impending stand-up gig in early december. Have been procrastinating somewhat and indeed part of me is kinda hoping it'll simply go away. But hey Sisyphus ain't one to run away from a challenge and will humbly accept this one - even if he has taken to referring to himself in the third person and capitalising his name no less!

Vin Diesel: Top Gun Actor

Some Vin Deisel facts I certainly never knew before...

so, what's the hamden?

Hamden Roar - Score. Cor blimey Mary Poppins, yer cockneys don't have a monopoly on this rhyming slang malarky.

Rehearsals on the Catalan thing are underway. It's a satisfying feeling leaving the house with my guitar in hand. Other than when shifting flats my lovely Ovation hasn't got out much over the past 12 years since my band went all Brian Jones on me. His name was Keith actually. A great friend, amazing player and I miss him.

Mixed bag of performers. Touch of the United Nations which is fine although I'm a little concerned that some of the accents are unintelligible - hypocrite! moi?

My main concern has been the lack of focus in rehearsals. A few of my colleagues seem perfectly happy to dilute the concentration by jabbering away when it isn't their 'turn' to speak or to use the rehearsal as a platform to entertain - I suspect that they don't get out much and confuse Playing with playing - bless.

My initial professional experience was strongly Brechtian. There was never any denial that we were actors on a stage but TOTAL focus on what was happening was demanded from EVERYONE involved at ALL times. Not tension - Focus.

I find rehearsals and stand-up gigs are very much like inflating a balloon - all it takes is one little prick...!

Suspect the problem is just me being an up tight prick. It's only a reading after all.

That's one of the main differences I've found between acting in Scotland and down south. Down here there's an obsession with becoming the character and with dogma and with embodying the truth of the piece, in short, with the self - hence the misplaced reverence for Stanislavki's Mythod. In Scotland the obsession is more with the audience and communicating the truth of the piece regardless of the verity of the actor's internal experience - and if in doubt go for the gag! He's behind you!! Neither approach is absolutely right or wrong of course. The Method is just a tool. A hammer is useful - but not for every job.

Anyway, rehearsals are almost done now and I am enjoying playing guitar in public again. Great confidence boost.

I turned S.W.A.T. actor on Sunday! I received a call from a director chum desperate for "a handsome, executive type" at very short notice and I "was perfect for the part" and was I "available in 1 hour?". If I'm perfect why didn't you call me in advance you c*nt? "Go on mate, there's a chinese buffet in it...". Done.

So, it was off down to Angel pausing only in a phone booth to don the external underwear.

Like a trooper I delivered my lines imaculately and emerged from the burning building baby in hand earning my director chum's eternal gratitude - "cheers mate. Rachel! Where's the f*ckin hoi sin...!?"

Coincidentally, I also renewed an aquaintance with a writer on one of our biggest long running TV shows on the shoot. She asked me to send her my CV and headshot! - well, she asked me after I asked her if I could send her my CV and headshot and if she could possibly see her way clear to perhaps dropping it on the casting director's desk, if you'd be so kind, please, thanks a lot. Very good of you. Ta. Would you like another coffee? Tea? Me?

Obviously, my number has come up at fate's deli counter and a huge luxury tub of complementary casting coleslaw is coming my way.

So, now I'm preparing for my forthcoming leading role in the aforementioned drama.

See you at the BAFTAs - losers!

Grating Expectations

Why are actors so f*cking miserable?

On paper it's an amazingly fulfilling profession. What could be more satisfying than exhibiting your insight, skill and artistry to a multitude of adoring, awe-struck admirers? What better way to spend you working days exploring the sub-strata of human existence and devising ever more innovative ways of revealing these psychological artefacts to a grateful audience? What could be more fulfilling than a life dedicted 100% to the pursuit of your art?

And there we have it. Expectations.

I would suggest that very few actors get into the profession because of a passion for teaching or because of an irresistable need to busk, or wait tables, or pull pints, or to drag unsuspecting marks out of the shower to discuss double-glazing.

That however is the reality. It is VERY rare for actors to make a full-time living from their profession. The reality is that Acting is not a profession at all. Acting is a vocation. The difference being that a profession is what you do to live while a vocation is what you live to do.

The problem is that we are sold the lie by the Ironmongers. We are told that if we only believe in ourselves enough they can make it happen for us. If we have faith then we will be given the break. Wealth, trophy partners, rehab and the cover of Heat are all within our grasp.

The delusion of 'success' is the delusion of celebrity. It is the delusion of the lottery punter. Note that all of these are external measures. They all assume that validation comes from the outside. They are reflections in a fairground mirror and they are all within the gift of the industry's inumerable GateKeepers and parasites.

Re-adjusting our perspectives to viewing acting as a vocation significantly corrects this celebrity astigmatism.

Yes, of course, excelling at the job can have the side-effect of celebrity with all the pros and cons that implies. Yes, of course, you can taylor your approach and choices to increase the likelihood of achieving celebrity but in that case you are using acting as a means and not an end.

Celebrity, fame and fortune are NOT inevitable consequences of success as an actor. Personal challenge, evolution and fulfillment are.

The job is an end in itself.

Consequently, the Actor will always have to find ways to support himself. Frustratingly, we have to spend a significant amount of time, energy and spirit on survival in order to pursue our vocation. Whether you are an established actor using whatever celebrity you've achieved to generate cash or whether you're a neophyte stuffing envelopes as piece-work the vocation always implies some external means of supporting the craft.

Accept that Acting is a vocation and not a profession. Yes, it can be financially and egotistically lucrative but these are side-effects, and even obstacles, thrown up by the job. They are coincidental not consequential.

Acting is an end in itself. An acting career does not automagically fill the void left by parental indifference. An acting career does not automagically splint your fractured ego. An acting career does not automagically guarantee you wealth and status. These are separate issues. Deal with them separately.

Does that depress you? Good. Depression is a signal that something is wrong. It is a wake up call.

Trash your delusions, clarify your choices and then make them. Take responsibility. You chose to become an actor and therefore you chose all of the consequences of being an actor. Your choice. Your responsibility.

You would probably have little sympathy for someone who became a monk because he thought he'd look good in Pope's vestements and spent the rest of his life craving the ways of the flesh. Why should you expect sympathy if you've chosen the vocation of an actor and yet expect the status, stability and material benefits of a Profession?

If you don't want to be here don't be here.

bring on the dancing girls

A week without posting. What was i thinking?

I would rate this week as average with a particularly bitter after taste of cash-flow hell.

I realised last saturday that a payment I had been promised hadn't materialised on schedule. This propogated a seismic shudder through the already shaky foundations of my finances prompting drastic remediation (why don't I speak proper?).

So, for the past week I have been obsessively dealing with finances. Consequently, all creative and aspirational shoots have been crushed under the iron boot of survival. Deep joy!

I've found myself becoming increasingly obsessed with money over the past few years.

My previous life held the implicit assumption of plenty. I was earning stupid amounts in The City but not valuing it or my life. Consequently I blew the lot somewhat spectacularly and in oh so cliched a manner. Note to self: "It's called shit for a reason...'

Now I am making a 'living' as an actor and hugely value the little I have while deeply regretting having so blithely blown so much in my previous life. To date 'acting' has cost me my pension, my savings, my house and I am in substantial debt. My pursuit of freedom and independence has so far reduced my options and tightened the ties that bind.

Why the hell am I doing this?

Ok, I could be giving it the Pheonix vibe. Now while I have successfully reduced myself and life to ashes I am sure there was a bit about rising from them.

Truth be told I think there is an element of asshole tax on demolishing my old life. I think I subconsciously felt that I needed to pay my dues and earn the right to succeed as an actor. What bullshit!

All that said: the dues are being paid; the direct debit is in place; so bring on the dancing girls...

have you ever just not thought something through?

Yesterday was interesting.

My partner had a modelling gig in Oxford which involved her meeting an artist in a hotel room so he could try out some body-painting techniques in preparation for his work on the forthcoming Erotica 2005 exhibition in london. (the picture is of another model from last years show)

In addition to her fee the deal included the option on the hotel room for the night.

So, I agreed to drive her up to Oxford with the intention of having a night out there. I worked nearby many years ago (see The Birth of SkyNet) and toured there recently with Sheffield Theatres and so have a certain fond familiarity for the place.

The journey was uneventful but on arrival I had the rather dubious pleasure of:

• delivering my girlfriend to a strange hotel room located in services just off the M40
• sussing out the artist and confirming the hourly rate
  
• shaking hands and leaving them in the hotel room together
• sitting in the neighbouring 'Harvester' writing while she stripped and he got busy
• meeting up with them afterwards
• receiving my cut - for petrol

While waiting there the reality of my situation kept washing over me. How could I even consider myself a man? Think of the indignity! Think of the shame! What if I was spotted - in a HARVESTER!

It's a funny old game indeed. Of course, I have since invested in a mink overcoat, flared trousers, much bling and you can now consider my ride to be seriously pimped.

hot licks & lighter fuel

My Catalonian project's getting more interesting.

There's been a re-casting and I was given the option of taking on the role of a musician. Wasn't sure at first. I haven't played guitar in public for a long time. I quickly realised that the only objections I was coming up with were down to self-doubt bollocks and gladly accepted.

I used to gig in various bands in the early 90s until it went all rock'n'roll. Amongst other things I had a particularly damascene moment while blasting through Teenage Kicks and realising I was past 30 - twat.

So, it looks like I'll be breaking out the old axe in Cambridge - hot licks & lighter fuel indeed. Now where can I find an amp that goes up to 11? My previous one caught fire - no joke!!

ride me big boy, ride me

In keeping with my high-brow editorial policy here in Sisypharama check out my preferred Finnish transportation provider.

Reid Wins, Frist Loses, and the American People Get Closer To Their Promised Answers

Reid Wins, Frist Loses, and the American People Get Closer To Their Promised Answers

The excellent Hunter at The Daily Kos on the train wreck politics unfolding in Washington.

True to form the hypocrites and criminals invoke justice and the law when the tide turns against their worthless hides. May fate bring them and their families all that they have earned.

"they don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring..."

pee pee. who? me?

Can you go pee-pee under the microscope? Check out the exhibitionist urinals at Urban Legends: Measure for Measure

Perhaps they could also integrate some shoot-em-up video games to supercede chasing the cigarette butt around the bowl.

It's crying out for some fire-fighting games if you ask me. Not so sure about the multi-player options though and do be careful if someone offers to join you in some water sports.

Gorgeous George goes to Washington

Listen & marvel as George Galloway dismembers the senate committee on 17th May: Galloway takes on US Oil accusers

And here's the 17th Sep debate between George and Christopher Hitchens: IRAQ: The Galloway - Hitchens Debate

More to come as George defends himself against his accusers in the Iraq: Oil for food scandal