Zorac's LiveJournal

Well, I've been busy delivering flyers and the like on and off for the last few weeks, and now that election day is here, I can finally take a rest. Which is nice. UK folks, you still have a couple of hours of voting time left, so don't forget to go to the polling booth if you haven't already. Just remember, don't vote Labour, Conservative, UKIP, BNP, Veritas, Natinal Front, etc. If all else fails, spoil your ballot paper, preferably with an amusing slogan. And then look forward to finding out tomorrow just how much Tony Blair's majority has been reduced by (because, let's face it, any result other than a Labout victory is depressingly unlikely).

In other news, I went to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at the weekend. Good fun, and certainly seemed to bear some passing resemblance to the book (which, admittedly, I haven't read in ages), although far from being the most hilarious film ever made - although particularly loved the opening song.

So, part one of yesterday's exploits was a trip to the cinema to see Farenheit 9/11. There wasn't quite the record audience the film has been getting in the States, but still a respectable number of viewers - and a standing ovation at the end (OK, the standing part was probably just people getting up to leave, but the applause alone is something I haven't seen after a movie for a long time). I was already anti-Bush and anti-war, so there really wasn't much persuasion needed there, but even ignoring the inevitable bias, the Facts as presented are more than a little damning. Go. See. Now.

Icon from today's User Friendly.

Just a quick reminder to all you British folk (and possibly some Continental Europeans too) to go out and vote tomorrow (Thursday). I'm not going to tell you who to vote for (feel free to ignore the subliminal advertising), although if you're leaning towards the BNP, please go ahead and defriend me.

In related news, I've just done another stint of spamming delivering targeted election communications to a chunk of Kidlington. I was rather distressed to find that two of my addressees have passed on - 2 out of 200+, but also 2 out of 3 times I actually talked to someone. Not so good.

Random thoughts:

1. On the subject of my political aspirations (or, more correctly, somebody else's political aspirations for me), I decided after due consideration not to have any. Thanks to everyone who commented - if you're interested in the whys and wherefores, you might find them in the update and comments on the original post.
2. I've been busily sorting and clearing out the junk in my attic (most of which has been there since before I moved in). Alas, no lost Rembrandts or the like - mostly old paint tins and curtains. One missed opportunity was a T-shirt draped over one of the joists - I am now resolved that when I move on, I shall leave in the attic a garment emblazoned with the slogan "I cleared out the junk in my new attic and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt", and I encourage all of you to do likewise. One day, the new occupant will find this Item and think "Wow, whoever used to live here thought he was a real funny guy!".
3. The incentive for the above is so I can get more plumbing work done to resolve my ongoing issues with hot water pressure (or lack thereof). This may be of interest to some of you as it means that there should be shower facilities available to future visitors to the t00blerone. Oh, and I really ought to get that window fixed...
4. Van Helsing - somebody really needs to tell Stephen Sommers that while you can do just about anything with special effects these days, just because you can doesn't mean that you should. Plus, if he was trying to get in a pissing contest with Peter Jackson, he lost badly. It's not just that they were horribly overdone (ooh! entirely CG environment! I can do really insane camera moves!), but in some places (mostly when doing a CG stunt double) looked downright fake. Way more over-the-top than The Mummy Returns, but without the redeeming features that allowed that to still somehow be a great movie. On the plus side, new PoA trailer.
5. WTF happened to the weather? It was a real scorcher today. Apparently this is the same bizarre weather that hermorrine has been reporting in Chicago.

I'm sure I had more to say, but it can wait until ... er ... I remember what it is...

Yay! The Two Towers arrived today - there goes a large chunk of my evening. Also, new flat-panel display that I got on special offer to replace my aging monitor which has been showing all sorts of peculiarities over the last month and has developed some really bad ghosting.

On, then, to politics: an excellent post/discussion on malachan's journal coming out of the gay marriage debate. And then, a couple of issues arising from this BBC news article. Firstly, the government's desperation in dragging a minister home from Australia to take part in a vote (and then flying out a replacement) - I do hope they're not using public money to help them win the vote. Secondly, a comment from an MP who was previously opposing the government on the issue - one of the reasons he changed his mind was because "I refuse to help Michael Howard get off to a winning start just 18 months before a general election". I'm glad to see that principles go out of the window when one's job is on the line...

...well, according to The Political Compass, I am. I landed in about the same spot on the analysis graph as Nelson Mandela. That's about where I would expect on the Authoritarian/Libertarian axis, but I wouldn't have but myself anywhere near that far left on the economic scale. Who knew. Looking at this plot of the UK parties, I'm probably closest to the Greens (uh... no.), but of the 3 main parties, the Lib Dems are easily the best match - and that is indeed who I support.

Oh, and UK folk with satellite/cable: Tonight, 9pm, Living TV. Queer Eye.