Revolutionary Rants

October tomorrow. That “autumnal” kind of weather is setting in now. “Shall I rain? Shall I let the sun shine?” say the clouds as they float over the sky.

First of all, I want to say Hardeep was robbed! In Celebrity Masterchef that is. There is no way Matt “one trick pony” Dawson should have won. With his burnt pastry for the Roux brothers, for goodness sake! Bad, bad final result!

Good series though… Excitingly, Cracker returns for a one-off tomorrow night. This is a current trend with the Beeb and ITV producing so much rubbish they both seem desperate to return to well-loved favourites. Mind you, I cannot wait for the “Ten years on” special of This Life. I am less excited by the “final” Prime Suspect as the last couple of episodes have really gone down hill. Especially the god-awful one about Eastern European cleaner/prostitutes/organ-donors. Whatever they ended up being it was cliched and boring. The ads for the new one seem to suggest that Tennison will finally come a cropper for her hard-drinking job-motivated living. Of course, she should have settled down with a nice man a produced babies. What was she thinking?

Another weekend has arrived. The week seems to go so much quicker now we are down here! It is surprising, as Chicken works longer than at Oracle, but I suppose we are happier in our new setting than we were there or whatever. Plans are currently sketchy: a trip to Staples; a Sunday roast (organic Dad-bred lamb, of course); a visit to my Nan’s; the DVD of The Naked Civil Servant to view. Sometimes the best thing to do is very little!

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There was a big section on BBC News this morning about BBC One’s £1.2 million “i-dents”. These, in case you do not know, are the little video thingies played as the voice-over person informs you of the programme you are about to watch: the dancing wheelchair basket-ball players; the dancing skinny freaks in netting, really dangerous looking shoes and peddle-pusher trousers; the skate-boarders who are skating happily away in a large dock area.

In the past there was a globe in their place. A plan old globe with a “1″ in the middle, a hot air balloon globe floating across English countryside. Anyway, there is a big row that the new “i-dents” cost so much and about whether or not they are good. One features hippos ‘practicing synchronised swimming. Like they do… Obviously. Apparently they all feature the “common theme” of the circle, which is “people coming together”.

First off, the only reason they are coming together at BBC One is because ITV is so bloody sh*t these days, Secondly, even if they do “prove great value for money as they are played over 43,000 times” why the hell do they cost so much?!?! Call me old fashioned, but I preferred the globes in general but, even if we do need to progress to all new and exciting “i-dents” why the extreme cost and why the bizarre nature? Very strange. Especially when you consider that air ambulances (charity ventures) cost the same amount to run each year as these mini-films. But, hey, if I get in to that it’ll be how many starving kids could be fed, houses built, wells dug, drugs and medical supplies… You’d go mad, eventually.

Still, I would rather seen another adaption or something rather than lots of footballers kicking round in a circle…

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We are back. It is done and handed in. My MA is over, but I have a temporary Christmas job in Barnstaple starting this coming Monday.

I was a general nervous wreak on hand-in day so I was very glad Chicken had come up with me. Everything went smoothly, however, and thus ended that chapter of my life.

We enjoyed our return visit to Huddersfield and our trip to York, which included a gorgeous meal in Wilde’s Wine Bar and the celebratory buying of my new winter coat (a shorter lengh duffle in, of course, black). On Friday night Sandra and I enjoyed a few beers/ciders and danced wildly in the ghastly local scream pub, like in the olde days of yore.

Not sure what I make of the new Beeb adaption of Jane Eyre, I think that i don’t like Jane much, that is hasn’t grabbed me totally and that Toby Stephen’s hair dye job is awful. Much more involving is Stephen Fry’s current programme, which concludes tonight.

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Well, I just had my first job interview for a while. Only a p/t job, but still, it’s always good to get a call back.

I will not, however, be getting a job  at Thornton’s, as the woman in the Green Lane’s store was extremely rude and only offering five hours. Which, she said, had to be your only job, because “if you have loads of other jobs I don’t want you”. Needless to say that application form went in the nearest bin…

Tomorrow, Chicken has a little holiday. We’ll be spending it up in our old haunts in Yorkshire. Staying with the lovely Sandra and Neil in Huddersfield and heading up to York on Friday to hand in the dissertation almighty. We are looking forward to having a proper break and seeing our old pas, not only Sandra and Neil, but all my York mates and Chris’ course mate Dan and his wife Becca and others no doubt. Should be good.

So, you probably won’t hear from me until after the weekend.

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Another Monday. Mr C has peddled off to work - complete with coronation chicken sandwiches - for the first day of his two-day week. Wednesday we head up to Huddersfield/York to hand-in my dissertation.

The surfing proved to be a success, although rather tiring as well. Chicken headed off to Northam Burrows in the blazing mornign sunshine, whilst I did our weekly shop in Tesco. Joy of joys. On return I decided to tidy (why?) before my sis-in-law picked me up so that my nephew could go surfing and we could go to the beach. Chicken had had a great morning, mastering the basics and the instuctors seemed impressed. Once Bernie was suited up as well we (us plus two surfing classes!) all went down to the beach, with me carrying Bernie’s board! Both he and Mr C seemed to do really well, C even stood up a couple of times on the board - very impressive. They were both shattered afterwards, however! I had had a long walk on the beach - in between playing ‘horsies’ with my neice - as we had failed to note the tiolet at Northam Burrows so I walked all the way down to Westward Ho! to go!!!
We headed back to Barnie for baths and then the kids and mum and dad went to the carnival. After they had headed home to Swimbridge, Mr C (limping along) and I stood by the river for the excellent but very short (10-15 mins) carnival firework display.

Yesterday we just chilled. A quick trip to town was all we could be bothered with. I watched a childhood favourite, The Box of Delights, which as so many of such things are now, was quite disappointing. Well, not everything can be Willo-the-Wisp.

Oh, and the Gooners finally won a game. Up your’s Fergie.

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Oh dear, I am so, so sad… I am actually sat watching the horror that is The Sharon Osbourne Show on the evil ITV because JDB is appearing on it at some point. Sharon - or Mrs O as she is currently calling herself - seems to be doing some sort of impression of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. Scary.

It has turned out to be a beautiful day, blazing sun and strong breeze. Apparently, according to the Beeb, the surf is very high, so hopefully my little surfer dude will be able to take to the waves! He has just has a hair-cut and been scalped as usual. Ah well, he looks lovely whatever. Just like JDB…

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And one more thing… Why is Al Gore all over the place suddenly? He’s not planning to lose the Democrates another Presidential election is he??? Let Hillary go for it, Al!

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It is my very, very great pleasure to inform you all that it is finished. It currently totals (to my surprise) 20,026 words so I might have to go through taking off the States and Utopias still, but that is only a small problem.

Oh, how fantastic to be done with it! Now all that remains to see is if it passes!!!

Last night we took Alex out ot our favourite Chinese in Barnstaple, the Honeymoon. It was as lovely as usual and a nice way to see him off for his final year.

Now the dissertation is done, I can get back to ranting. One close to my own heart today…

As usual the Guardian Unlimited has a fine article. My sis-in-law works for the DSS; long hours, often facing angry people who don’t want to pay taxes. Most of them not rich, I might add. I hate tax avoidence, the sad thing is most people that avoid paying them probably pay as much as they would taxes to Trusts or lawyers instead. Great, just the sort of people who need the money. Meanwhile, local councils can’t afford housing, drug or alcohol or domestic violence after care, to train enough social workers or probation officers and so on. A large number of hospitals in the South West are currently being shut down or having staff laid off in their hundreds because of budget problems…

I’ll always remember one day in Nottingham - always a city of two-halves financially - watching a woman in a huge Mercedes getting her child to throw all their domestic whaste in a public bin so they could avoid paying council tax, no doubt. That about sums it all up…

But the point is the government will let the rich get away with it all because ‘that’s the way it is’ and because they are rich themselves, most likely…

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I know one of my friends has now boycotted the Arsenal because of Cole leaving, but I can’t help but feel Marina Hyde has hit the nail on the head with her Guardian Ulimited ariticle today. I particularly like the bit about the taking away of the charcters chrisma and you’re left with Cole.

Mind you, apparently Arsenal ae missing him. Or the new stadium is cursed. I perfer the latter, myself!

The end is so close I can almost reach out and touch it! I had forgotten my introduction, until yesterday, but now it is written, as is my abstract. Two edits on Chapter three and the return of Chapter Four await. But, it is nearly there.

It is a gloomy day, here in North Devon. Hopefully the weather will cheer up for the surfing and Barnstaple carnival on Saturday. The fireworks would be spolit by rain. There is a large - and noisy - fair across the river from us at the moment. The kids are looking forward to a trip there on Saturday, if we have time.

Tonight we are taking Alex for a meal as he is off back to Bristol UWE tomorrow for his final year.

Excitingly, my wedding dress arrived yesterday. It had come all the way from Oxford Street. Chicken loves it. All good!

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Well, it is done. Bar the editing, which I am expecting back from my supervisor soon (hopefully!), the dissertation is - at long f**king last - finished. Hooray! I am now a little worried it will go over word lengh and I’ll have to cut down. How annoying. I’ll have to go trugh the whol thing and call the book Anarchy rather than Anarchy, State, and Utopia. You can probably tell that I’ve done this before…

I wish my edits would arrive, as I don’t feel anything liek I’ve finished. I guess that ill come the minute I hand the complete, printed, bound tomb over to our graduate secretary…

An e-mail just arrived… I got excited, but it was from Tesco… Thanks, but I can do without a mixed case of Merlot today.

Chicken and I saw yet another awful film last night L’Encor (or Hell). It was a highly disconnected and uninteresting film fronted by three bad actresses and another made up to look old by putting a bit of talc in her hair and seating her in a wheel-chair. A few nice shots of Paris, but not worth watching for those. Three Colours: Blue is on its way now, so hopefully that will be better.

Still no e-mail…

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