RIP


Reefer Madness

Oh no! Someone has finally died from cannabis poisoning! And it only took him 11 years of smoking six blunts a day! This means that cannabis is nearly almost a tiny fraction as dangerous as alcohol or tobacco! Ban it! Ban it now! None of this hippy re-classification nonsense! It’s evil! I mean, we don’t even collect tax on it!

PS Can someone send around samples of the experimental stronger strains so we can test them please?

PPS I’m probably so square that no-one has ever referred to them as blunts in the whole history of toking have they.


I Went Down, Down, Down And The Flames Went Higher

It’s not a good day for well known Johns. John Ritter has died. He was one of those American comedy actors who I sort of knew about but never really saw- I remember him most for one episode of Buffy.

John II is Johnny Cash, who was discharged from hospital on Wednesday only to pass away this morning. As I write this, the news is just breaking and hasn’t made it onto any websites I’ve looked at.

Update: It didn’t take long for the BBC to put the story up.

Johnny Cash, Ring of Fire (And before anyone gets offended that I’m suggesting either John is headed to hell, just ask yourself- what was the first Johnny Cash song you thought of?)


Curiouser and Curiouser

It’s a bad week to be a pizza delivery dude in Erie, Pennsylvania. Last Thursday one with a bomb strapped to his chest robbed a bank only to have the bomb detonate and kill him. Then one of his co-workers died on Sunday night. It’s probably just coincidence, but it does look more and more like a lost-the-plot eighties cop show episode.


And the harmonica played on

Last night I watched ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’, probably the greatest western ever made (the only movies I’d put near it are the second and third of the dollars trilogy, I’ve never really rated The Magnificent Seven). This morning I heard the news that Charles Bronson died. AICN have l charted his full career from The House of Wax onwards. It’s worth reading as most reports will only mention The Magnificent Seven and the Death Wish series.


A man named Jed

Buddy Ebsen died on Sunday morning. His best known film role was as Audrey Hepburn’s husband in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. If he hadn’t been allergic to the aluminium makeup used he would have been The Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz but he had to drop out after 10 days of shooting. However most will remember him as Jed Clampett from The Beverley Hillbillies.


What a great day!

Ok. It’s true one of the most annoying and dangerous US politicians has died in America. Aside from saying “THANK GOD!!!” and dancing on the tables with joy, one must look at the life Strom Thurmond led and what he meant to the Republican party, The South and to a way of life not since replicated. On the left, The New York Times front page leads with Stroms years of denying blacks civil rights. The Washington Times on the otherhand, calls him one of most “influential politicians of all time”. Hmmm….

Now back to more important matters. I found an interesting commercial this morning, brought to us by those great folks at the Center for Consumer Freedom. Why is this important? Well, over in America lawyers are gearing up to take fatty foods to court and seek damages because people don’t know when/how to stop shoveling food in their pieholes.

Now the interesting part. The Center for Consumer Freedom is paid for by fast food companies and a host of others. Watch the commercial and see how they portray lawyers as just out for money and how the companies are victims because “they made something taste good”…..


Strange Day

Almost simultaneously (I was downloading my mail when I got the call) my mum called to tell me my old primary school headmaster has died and I got an email from my ex-girlfriend. Two gut punches in quick succession.

The phone call- He only taught me for a few months, but mum worked for him for a few years. He was an interesting guy, a fellow cyclist and a bit of a radical.

The email- she found my book on amazon and went looking for my email. (I’ve just noticed that they spelt my surname wrong, which is annoying. I’m sure it used to be spelt properly on there.) What do you say to someone who broke your heart 8+ years ago? Beyond the obvious, which I’m just too nice to consider. Mum had things to say on the matter, but decided not to in case I quoted her in the blog. We’re going to have to work out some sort of copyright agreement on our conversations- decide which bits are public domain and which are restricted.

On the subject of Another Education, one of the major plot points, students making money as escorts, has become a reality as they try to find any way to stay afloat as they study. (Download the story here)