Death by nano and Christmas retail

Hmm just realized I only have tonight and Sunday night to finish the remaining 10 000 words. How veddy interesting. Meanwhile I have a million things to do for work. I've take ONE home with me, and am allowing a small amount of time for it. But it's 2 AM so I'd better get to it. It really is coming down to ...

Job vs Writing

Meanwhile I ate the last of the old pita bread I found in the freezer. I've finished the soy milk, but still lots of rice milk. Realized I had icing sugar so I could make one dessert--shortbread cookies. But now the margarine is gone so I can't make anything else.

But there's pasta, 2 tomatoes, canned beans, lemon juice, and spices left. I think I can make it.

I forgot to show you the wedding alligator cake

So... the story is getting there. The guy who runs nano sent out an email saying that at this point nano divides into three groups. The people who wrote their daily requirement all month and are finishing up now. The people who are too far behind and have pulled the plug. And the "comeback kids" who are in the 20 30 000 range and will be posting at the last minute. That's where he's at, and that's always where I am. Previous years I wasn't quite THIS behind, not that I recall. But it'll happen... despite the fact that the next few days at work will be ridiculously busy... I will Gloria Gaynor survive.

Daily Mail addiction!

Well reading the Daily Mail hasn't become an addiction yet, but... here are the stories that got me today.

* I once wrote (on some blog or another) how the advice to live each day like it's your last is Very Bad Advice. And here's proof! "A breast cancer sufferer who thought she was going to die lavished £50,000 on her family - only to be given the all-clear." (read here) The weird thing is she spent it after all her treatments, before finding out whether they had worked. And that's all debt money. How did she think her husband would pay for it after she died??

* Dude strikes it rich by finding buried Saxon hoard with metal detector. "Mr Herbert, 55, a former factory worker on disability benefit, discovered the hoard while searching the field between Lichfield and Tamworth on July 5. Armed with an 18-year-old metal detector, he unearthed beautiful gold sword hilts, jewels from Sri Lanka, exquisitely carved helmet decorations and early Christian crosses. Within days he had filled 244 bags, including gold objects alone weighing more than 11lb (5kg). Archaeologists believe the loot was buried at the site by a king or warlord who was most likely killed before being able to retrieve it.(here)

*Alligator wedding cake.

* Crazy deep sea animals. "This is a female Pacific giant octopus who guards her eggs in a den for six months. Gradually she starves, and her last act of devotion is blowing water over her eggs to help them hatch. And then she dies."

* Homeless kid falls asleep in a garbage skip and dies when the truck emptied it! Eeep!! Sad.

* "

A football-mad benefits scrounger refereed more than 40 soccer matches - despite claiming he could barely walk.

Stephen Southern, 50, pocketed more than £11,000 in disability handouts after telling benefits officials that severe back pain meant he could barely hobble 30 yards.

He claimed he suffered 'chest pain and dizziness', could not dress himself, needed help to sit and stand, and wasn't able to lift his arms above his head.

But the Department for Work and Pensions secretly filmed him sprinting, twisting and turning as he officiated in a string of football matches." (here)

* Hey they're filming the new A-Team in Vancouver! It's so exciting.

* Poor Susan Boyle isn't having a very good time.

And with that... I'm finally feeling sleepy again. Back to bed for a bit, and then on to nanowrimo.

Fromage anyone?

There is a fine fine line between Artistic Kitsch and good old Fromage. Beyoncé definitely crossed it on this one. No worries about Kanye interrupting the next award show. "Imma... Imma stay in my seat because Beyoncé had one of the worst videos of all time!"

"Is that Clash yet?"

Yay! Clash of the Titans! But I'm a little uncertain about the description of the plot--Hades trying to take over the world. I mean... Hades wasn't really a bad guy in the Greek tales, was he? Not that I remember. He was just the god who ruled the underworld.

What's wrong with the good old fashioned love story, hero journey, and bickering between jealous gods? I don't seem to be alone--the comments on youtube are all "hope they didn't change the plot, just updated the effects." But to be fair, it looks like a lot of key scenes and creatures are in it.

And really, it will be hard to ruin this. It looks awesome. :-)

Sun City

The article my friend posted on facebook (a phony news story about African artists uniting to save U2 - really funny) gave me an idea for my story. Yippy! Which got me thinking again about those 80s protest band-aid type songs.

My favourite one is still the Sun City project led by Little Steven. Musically & lyrically I think it's the best song (love Miles' trumpet at the beginning), its critique is directed at the artists' own government, it's political, and it not only tried to raise awareness of apartheid, but had a more specific and art-related goal to get artists not to play at the resort. (There are some other good songs on the album too.)

Reading on wiki it's even more interesting. Little Steven had traveled in S.A. and was "distressed" by this resort, and wanted to write a song paralleling it with the state of Native Americans ("relocation to phony homelands"); but his journalist friend "suggested turning the song into a different kind of "We Are the World", or as Schechter explains, "a song about change not charity, freedom not famine."

And you must be on to something when many of the radio stations in the US ban you. (I'd never realized it because it played all the time in Canada.)

Our government tells us we're doing all we can
Constructive Engagement is Ronald Reagan's plan
Meanwhile people are dying and giving up hope
This quiet diplomacy ain't nothing but a joke

And in the end the money apparently went to Oliver Tambo and the exiled ANC. (Though I wonder who gets the royalties now?) And finally... everyone in this video is just so much cooler than the We Are the World crowd. It all degenerates into a big dance party!

We're rockers and rappers united an strong (Run DMC)
We're here to talk about South Africa we don't like what's
going on (Grandmaster Melle Mel & Duke Bootee)
It's time for some justice it's time for the truth
(Afrika Bambaataa & Kurtis Blow)
We've realized there's only one thing we can do
(Big Youth & All Rappers)

I ain't gonna play Sun City

Relocation to phoney homelands (David Ruffin)
Separation of families I can't understand (Pat Benatar)
23 million can't vote because they're black (Eddie Kendrick)
We're stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back
(Bruce Springsteen)

I ain't gonna play Sun City



Our government tells us we're doing all we can (George Clinton)
Constructive Engagement is Ronald Reagan's plan (Joey Ramone)
Meanwhile people are dying and giving up hope
(Jimmy Cliff & Daryl Hall)
This quiet diplomacy ain't nothing but a joke (Darlene Love)

I ain't gonna play Sun City

Bopusthuswana is far away (Run DMC)
But we know it's in South Africa on matter what they say
(Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, Afrika Bombaataa)
You can't buy me I don't care what you pay
(Duke Bootee, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Afrika Bombaataa)
Do'nt ask me Sun City because I ain't gonna play
(Linton Kwesi Johnson & All Rappers)

I ain't gonna play Sun City



It's time to accept our responsibility (Bonnie Raitt)
Freedom is a privilege nobody rides for free
(Ruben Blades & John Oates)
Look around the world baby it can't be denied (Lou Reed)
Why are we always on the wrong side (Bobby Womack)

I ain't gonna play Sun City


Relocation to phoney homelands (Jackson Browne & Bob Dylan)
Separation of families I can't understand (Peter Garrett)
23 million can't vote because they're black (Nona Hendryx & Kashif)
We're stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back (Bono)