Alonline » people

How to speak hip

Al — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:46:57 +0000

If you were struggling to mingle with the “in-crowd” in the sixties then you might have needed the useful resources available on this record. Although, as mentioned in the first few seconds of the record, trying to be hip by buying a record teaching you to be hip is possibly the most un-hip thing anyone could do. However, it is rather funny and I enjoyed listening to it – see what you think

Michael Madsen – busiest man in showbiz?

Al — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:21:04 +0000

The advantage to taking on the smaller roles? Lots and lots of roles available for you to take on. I doubt there are many other well known actors with a resume as long as Michael Madsen’s. 162 films to date, and a further 47 where he appeared as himself – that’s quite a lot of films. Have a look here to see how many you remember.

Guido Beach – please let me never have to go there

Al — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:29:36 +0000

I live in Swansea, which has beaches and idiots in good measure, this I cannot deny. I was about to claim that they were nowhere near as bad as the idiots in this clip, but then I realised that a lot of them probably were. I like Swansea, as long as I stay away from the idiots and if I visit a beach I will go to one that requires a bit of effort to reach, as this way I will avoid most of the idiots. I never want to visit Guido Beach as it would appear that life is one long frat party and it would be very hard to avoid the idiots.

I cringed when I watched the clip I found here.

ps – if you are planning on visiting Swansea and you find this clip as horrible as I did – please don’t visit Caswell Bay on a sunny day.

Housing downturn could cost 250,000 jobs

Al — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:24:35 +0000

It’s been obvious for a while that the housing market is in a bad way, and it’s equally obvious that such a downturn will mean less jobs for tradespeople associated with the building trade. I can see that where I live as there are a lot of brickies, scaffolders, chippies and sparkies in my neighbourhood, and they’re all reporting a huge drop in the amount of work available. These guys are the contractors who wouldn’t be included in the headline figures given by building companies as they are not directly employed by them – so if a building firm announces it is cutting 500 jobs then another 1,000 tradesmen have probably lost another chunk of their living beforehand. Things are looking grim at the moment.

Having kids makes you feel worse, not better

Al — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:50:39 +0000

This appears to be counter-intuitive, but I can understand where it’s coming from. Research has shown that having kids actually makes the parents feel worse rather than better. Speaking as someone in a childless relationship I think I can agree with this finding, as I sometimes have small arguments with Winnie, but rarely do we have any major fallings-out, or any long term time when we have to give up our free time for any reason at all. Overall I think we’re happy as we are.

The Turtle Man

Al — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:40:31 +0000

Reasons for living in America – you get the chance to meet people like this every so often:

What Chinese people think about Tibet protests

Al — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:59:19 +0000

We, in the West, are unhappy that China has effectively invaded Tibet and taken control through military force. We’re so unhappy that lots of people are boycotting the Olympic games and staging protests when the Olympic flame passes through their area, but how do the common people of China view these protests? To them hosting the Olympic games is a major event, which shows that they have matured and become part of the world, rather than being sequestered as they were under the old Communist regime. So to have the UK, France and other European countries assault that Olympic flame, literally in some cases, is an assault against China itself.

Furthermore, the Western states are engaging in hypocrisy of the greatest extreme, when they protest against China’s annexation of Tibet. Firstly there is substantial claim for Tibet having been part of China for more than half of its existence – almost 1,000 years of Chinese rule in the past 2,00 years. Secondly the US and its allies are still occupying Iraq and Afghanistan without any protests, and this despite these countries not neighbouring any of the occupying countries, and also there is no prior claim to this occupation. Yes, we mean to do well in both situations, but then so does China with Tibet. In the eyes of many Chinese, Tibetans would be better off under Chinese rule – better jobs, education and better social care, which wouldn’t be hard to provide as Tibet didn’t have the highest standard of living before China invaded.

Currently the UK, US and Europe risk alienating the rest of the world: we are currently winding up the majority of the Muslim world by continuing to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, support Israel and with our threats to invade Iran; we are helping to maintain the problems in Africa; South America is a mess due to the US support of anti-communist force; and now we are picking on China and ruining its hosting of the Olympic games which Chinese people see as proof of their acceptance in the world today.If we alienate the Far East as well then it is possible that we may see new alliances and power balances over the next few years that will see Europe and the US seriously regret not embracing China – warts and all.

Bill Gates – more than just Microsoft

Al — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:05:11 +0000

Bill Gates steps down, officially, as head of Microsoft, ending 30 years of computing history. I’m sure that Steve Balmer and co will keep the company running as well as ever, and I’m equally sure that Microsoft’s market share will remain pretty much constant over the next 5 years. What is amazing though, and still far too few people realise this, is how much work and money Bill Gates does for his charitable foundation. Nobody else in the world gives as much money to charity as the gates family, although Warren Buffet is getting close with his donations to the Gates Foundation.

Very few millionaires, and even less billionaires, are willing to invest the same time and effort into giving away their money as they put into making it. Some, for example Ingvar Kamprad, the owner of Ikea, spend very little of their money and concentrate solely on making more money, or on driving their business forward. These people are obsessed with success and so have no time for anything else. What I like about Bill Gates is that he has spent his fortune on himself – he has an absolutely amazing house – and also on helping others. He has always split his money this way, and when he had all that he could possibly want then he, along with his wife, has invested a lot of effort and time into putting his money to good use.

What Bill Gates has done through Microsoft is remarkable – he has created a world where computers are commonplace and very usable – but what his gates Foundation will achieve, with its massive fortune, has yet to be seen. It is possible that his charity work will be more memorable than his 30 years at Microsoft. As described here, Bill Gates has effectively taxed every PC user in order to fund his philanthropy. I salute Bill Gates for having realised his dream and then having the strength to do some good around the world.

Where the hell is Matt?

Al — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:33:08 +0000

Dancing around the world, is where. This video made me smile, it’s nice to see so many people enjoying themselves. I wish I’d been to as many places as Matt and had made as many people smile as well.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

A man, a woman, and back to a man – which is best?

Al — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:20:58 +0000

It’s not often that anyone has been through 2 transexual operations, but Charles Kane has done just that: born a man, he became a woman after his marriage fell apart, but didn’t enjoy the female side of his life so had to endure more operations to become a man again. Unfortunately, things were removed during the first operation which could not be easily replaced, and so now he lives as genetically and physically a man, but physiologically he is neither man nor woman.

What is really interesting is his take on the differences between the two sexes, and his personal experience of being a woman. I would not have expected him to have failed to enjoy womanhood as much as he did – citing women as being totally appearance oriented and hooked on shopping and gossip as well. Whether this is an inditement of modern society, or a true reflection of the differences between the two sexes, is difficult to say. However, it is interesting to read the opinions of someone who is uniquely qualified to comment on both sides of the discussion.