OK so I just had to comment on this news story coming out of Spingfield, Virginia. Eric Williamson made coffee in his kitchen naked at 5.30am on Monday morning. No one was home (he shares the house with several work colleagues) so he just got up and had a cup of joe without getting a robe or getting dressed. But hey, it was his home afterall!
A woman had cut through his front lawn and was passing by the kitchen window at the time with a 7 year-old boy. She then called the police and Mr Williamson was arrested for indecent exposure. Meaning the police believe he wanted to be seen naked.
I'm not kidding. Do the authorities in Springfield, Virginia honestly have nothing better to do with their time than take a crazy woman's complaint seriously? Based on the details, it sounds like she cut through his yard!! And then noticed him naked at 5.30am and rather than turn her head or pick up the pace, she called the cops? Really?
How sad has America become in turning on our own neighbors who are just in their own home not disrupting anyone? It's like anything can set people off to complain, call the police or sue just to feel better about themselves.
Does anyone not realise it was 5.30am!!! What in the hell was that woman doing with a 7 year-old at 5.30 in the morning cutting through his yard anyways? Surely school doesn't start for an elementary student at 6am. Let the poor kid sleep! And if the guy really wanted to be seen naked, who would do it at 5.30 in the morning? It's not like that many people in the suburbs are out walking the streets at that time anyways.
I just can't get over how sensitive people have become. Especially in the states. Having moved away and lived in England for the past three years, I have finally noticed how much entitlement Americans feel they have. I know it's not like that for every American, but it's certainly something that is taught to us inadvertently when we are enlightened on the American dream.
Thankfully Mr Williamson is fighting the charge and may even seek damages caused by the Fairfax County Police. If he is found guilty he could spend up to a year in jail and face a maximum fine of $2,000.
In a response to the charge, Mr Williamson told Fox News, "I am a loving dad. Any of my friends and anyone knows that and there is not a chance on this planet I would ever, ever, ever do anything like that to a kid." He has a five year-old daughter.
Obviously I wasn't there and don't know if his side of the story truly happened, but based on him going public with the story, it sounds very credible that he was just making a cup of coffee. I'm hoping this case will be dropped and the woman who called the police will apologise. And hopefully she's learned a lesson as well, as this probably is harming Mr Williamson more than the 7 year-old's eyes.
Thursday 22 October 2009
Monday 19 October 2009
Deeply powerful film
I watched Hunger last night for the first time. In hindsight, it was probably not a Sunday night film. But then, I'm not sure what night of the week it would fit into.
Unfortunately I had no previous knowledge of the 1981 IRA prison hunger strike and have very little general knowledge of the plight in Northern Ireland during the time. So getting into the film was a bit difficult in that aspect.
Also, the film is more about art and cinematography than exciting script and history. With long shots and very little dialogue, it's extremely difficult to get into. However, if you make it past the 30 minute mark you should be proud of yourself and in for a real treat.
The film is heartbreaking and moving. It's difficult not to feel empathy for both the inmates and the prison guards - which is interesting as most story-lines will show the viewer a good guy and a bad guy. This movie is about human strength and belief, and the extreme situations people can be placed in and how they cope.
After the no-wash protest at Maze Prison has lasted for four years with no avail (the inmates want to wear civilian clothes rather than prison uniforms and end up naked with blankets) Bobby Sands leads the inmates in a hunger strike. The actor, Michael Fassbender, actually starved himself to portray the character in a real light. Now that's dedication.
The director of this film is the young British artist, Steve McQueen. He has done a beautiful, albeit slow, job with this film. It truly is art and he has a great eye for detail and poignant shots.
I would probably never get myself to watch this film again (the imagery can really burn into your brain) however I've now discovered a keen interest in the IRA in the 70s/80s and want to follow-up with a book about the subject. If a movie can do that for you, it's got to mean something good. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in film noire.
Unfortunately I had no previous knowledge of the 1981 IRA prison hunger strike and have very little general knowledge of the plight in Northern Ireland during the time. So getting into the film was a bit difficult in that aspect.
Also, the film is more about art and cinematography than exciting script and history. With long shots and very little dialogue, it's extremely difficult to get into. However, if you make it past the 30 minute mark you should be proud of yourself and in for a real treat.
The film is heartbreaking and moving. It's difficult not to feel empathy for both the inmates and the prison guards - which is interesting as most story-lines will show the viewer a good guy and a bad guy. This movie is about human strength and belief, and the extreme situations people can be placed in and how they cope.
After the no-wash protest at Maze Prison has lasted for four years with no avail (the inmates want to wear civilian clothes rather than prison uniforms and end up naked with blankets) Bobby Sands leads the inmates in a hunger strike. The actor, Michael Fassbender, actually starved himself to portray the character in a real light. Now that's dedication.
The director of this film is the young British artist, Steve McQueen. He has done a beautiful, albeit slow, job with this film. It truly is art and he has a great eye for detail and poignant shots.
I would probably never get myself to watch this film again (the imagery can really burn into your brain) however I've now discovered a keen interest in the IRA in the 70s/80s and want to follow-up with a book about the subject. If a movie can do that for you, it's got to mean something good. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in film noire.
Friday 18 September 2009
A delicious soup
The other night I made this cauliflower and cheddar soup from Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food recipe book. It turned out very delicious, which was exciting as it was my first time making it and there were a few hiccups along the way.
Turns out making soup for a serving size of 6-8 does not fit into one pot (when that pot is meant to hold a max of 7 litres). So I did my best to divide the chopped carrots, celery, shallots, and cauliflower (which I had already combined in a mixing bowl) into 2 ‘large’ pots. Apparently I need a bigger pot!
As I was heating the veg in the pots, the newer pot that’s supposedly non-stick ended up burning part of the vegetables on the bottom of the pan. And when I poured in the chicken broth it turned the colour of the soup in this particular pot a very dark amber. Not so much a Guinness colour, but maybe a dark beer colour. The other – cheaper- pot fared much better!
When it came to adding the Dijon mustard, cheese and then blending them, I realised I did not have a hand blender. But I had a full blender and poured one pot in at a time and it did the job stunningly!
The only issue was the blender was VERY full and I feared that it might start bubbling over. Thankfully, with my quick thinking, I held the top of the blender with a rag and kept it from spilling over. Although taking off the top was tricky as the soup was to the tipity top and did splash when it was cocked to one side to get a good grip to pull it off.
I cozied up on the couch with Fatty, after topping my soup with some recently cooked bacon bits and throwing together a quick baby spinach salad, and turned on the TV to the new season of Project Runway.
The soup was creamy and thick, and tasted of fresh vegetables. The cauliflower wasn’t overpowering, but was definitely a great compliment to the carrots and celery. Very filling as well, this was good since I was having it for my dinner! I’m not sure what the fat/calories were in this, but seeing as I made it from scratch and it included fresh veg and chicken stock, I imagine it was relatively healthy – despite the cheese.
I would highly recommend this soup as a starter, lunch or even a main any day!
Turns out making soup for a serving size of 6-8 does not fit into one pot (when that pot is meant to hold a max of 7 litres). So I did my best to divide the chopped carrots, celery, shallots, and cauliflower (which I had already combined in a mixing bowl) into 2 ‘large’ pots. Apparently I need a bigger pot!
As I was heating the veg in the pots, the newer pot that’s supposedly non-stick ended up burning part of the vegetables on the bottom of the pan. And when I poured in the chicken broth it turned the colour of the soup in this particular pot a very dark amber. Not so much a Guinness colour, but maybe a dark beer colour. The other – cheaper- pot fared much better!
When it came to adding the Dijon mustard, cheese and then blending them, I realised I did not have a hand blender. But I had a full blender and poured one pot in at a time and it did the job stunningly!
The only issue was the blender was VERY full and I feared that it might start bubbling over. Thankfully, with my quick thinking, I held the top of the blender with a rag and kept it from spilling over. Although taking off the top was tricky as the soup was to the tipity top and did splash when it was cocked to one side to get a good grip to pull it off.
I cozied up on the couch with Fatty, after topping my soup with some recently cooked bacon bits and throwing together a quick baby spinach salad, and turned on the TV to the new season of Project Runway.
The soup was creamy and thick, and tasted of fresh vegetables. The cauliflower wasn’t overpowering, but was definitely a great compliment to the carrots and celery. Very filling as well, this was good since I was having it for my dinner! I’m not sure what the fat/calories were in this, but seeing as I made it from scratch and it included fresh veg and chicken stock, I imagine it was relatively healthy – despite the cheese.
I would highly recommend this soup as a starter, lunch or even a main any day!
Wednesday 16 September 2009
The Twitter debate
The infamous Kanye incident at the VMA’s on Sunday now seems like old news. The fact that it’s still in the news (and that I’m writing about it) has got to be annoying to more people than just me, right?
But I just read on Boston.com that President Obama called Kanye West a ‘jackass’ during chatter before a CNBC and ABC interview in Wall Street on Monday, which was then reported on Twitter by three ABC journalists as they listened in.
The fact that this is even in the news, despite the face most can agree Kanye is a jackass, is because it brings up the debate between journalistic ethics and the new media such as Twitter. The digital age has speed up so quickly and has become all-encompassing; there are no rules for journalists to be governed by.
Twitter is perfect for this sort of information. It’s interesting, it needs no explanation, and it’s about someone everyone knows. The perfect tweet. And yet, it came from a professional journalist who should have known the President was speaking off the record…
I imagine that we’ll be seeing more and more of these as Twitter grows in popularity. Although many might see this as the end of journalism as we know it (no rules, no boundaries), this is the perfect opportunity to create new ethics. Journalism needs to expand and grow as Web 2.0 (3.0?) take over.
Who doesn’t want to hear Obama calling Kanye a jackass? Of course, this isn’t really news either. Journalists know the difference between off-the-record and on. And this should be no different for tweeting. Presidents, public officials, and businesses alike have for years felt protected behind the ‘off-the-record’ comments, and just because we have access to post a comment for all the world to read seconds later, this does not mean we as journalists should – or can for that matter.
The fact is ABC had to apologize to the White House and CNBC and the tweets were deleted from Twitter after about an hour of being posted. But the damage has been done and the debate will continue.
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Restless
The sky in London today looks like it's late November, not mid-September. It's very Dickensian; dark grey clouds, fog, rain, wind. Very depressing indeed.
It makes me think how quickly the 'summer' came and went. Actually, it seems like ages ago that I was planning the summer ahead with a number of trips home to the states and weekends of wine drinking and picnicking in the park. Now suddenly the staunch realisation that those lovely bright summer nights are long gone until 2010.
Soon it will be cold and dark by 5pm. 4pm. 3.30. Sigh... I have to get ahold of myself before I fall into a deep depression!!
But with this I've been trying to plan little trips that Mark and I can take to keep our spirits bright (of course, not by natural light I'm sure). I don't think it helps that I'm still unsure of my career's future past 30th September. So I need to plan further ahead. With visions of train trips up north, perhaps to Edinburgh? If it's going to be dark sooner, might as well take advantage of the evenings, right?! And in Scotland it will surely get dark quicker than London... so where can we enjoy a tipple and nibbles in a lovely city on a hill? That's my next investigative plan.
The objective is to stay positive with the turn of the seasons. It's all about the little things, isn't it? Like decking out the house in Halloween decorations or planning a Thanksgiving soiree. And since I won't be making it back to Boston for the holidays, I must prepare for a lovely English Christmas in Shropshire! And how will we celebrate New Years 2010? Magically, I'm sure.
The next months may be in the future now, but as sure as this rain will past it will fast approach. And I need to set my spirits high (although always prepare for a hard landing)! If nothing else, but to get through it all until the suns warmth grazes my skin again. :)
It makes me think how quickly the 'summer' came and went. Actually, it seems like ages ago that I was planning the summer ahead with a number of trips home to the states and weekends of wine drinking and picnicking in the park. Now suddenly the staunch realisation that those lovely bright summer nights are long gone until 2010.
Soon it will be cold and dark by 5pm. 4pm. 3.30. Sigh... I have to get ahold of myself before I fall into a deep depression!!
But with this I've been trying to plan little trips that Mark and I can take to keep our spirits bright (of course, not by natural light I'm sure). I don't think it helps that I'm still unsure of my career's future past 30th September. So I need to plan further ahead. With visions of train trips up north, perhaps to Edinburgh? If it's going to be dark sooner, might as well take advantage of the evenings, right?! And in Scotland it will surely get dark quicker than London... so where can we enjoy a tipple and nibbles in a lovely city on a hill? That's my next investigative plan.
The objective is to stay positive with the turn of the seasons. It's all about the little things, isn't it? Like decking out the house in Halloween decorations or planning a Thanksgiving soiree. And since I won't be making it back to Boston for the holidays, I must prepare for a lovely English Christmas in Shropshire! And how will we celebrate New Years 2010? Magically, I'm sure.
The next months may be in the future now, but as sure as this rain will past it will fast approach. And I need to set my spirits high (although always prepare for a hard landing)! If nothing else, but to get through it all until the suns warmth grazes my skin again. :)
Monday 15 June 2009
To barbecue or not to barbeque
For someone, like myself, who finds spelling and grammatical errors such a pet peeve, it’s shocking that until this weekend I only just noticed the difference in spellings of the word ‘barbeque’.
I have always been a speller of the word with the ‘que’. I’m not sure if it’s how we were taught to spell it at J.W. Killiam Elementary School or if I have picked it up along the way. I’m not sure if it’s just something I developed, seeing as the abbreviated word is BBQ or bar-b-q. It would seem only natural to add in the ‘q’.
Then I had to wonder if the reason why I noticed the spelling difference was because I was in England. Perhaps in English it’s spelled ‘barbecue’ and in American English it’s spelled ‘barbeque’. But after a bit of research in Google, Websters, and Oxford Dictionary, it seems to be a bit of a palava.
Where more often than not the dictionary will show the spelling of ‘barbecue’ and then in parentheses (barbeque common variant) – I’m not sure if this means there’s a correct spelling or not?
Then there’s the argument that the spelling of ‘barbeque’ would actually be phonetically spoken as ‘barbeck’ – like the word ‘discoteque’. This would surely rule out the spelling of barbeque. But unfortunately English is a funny one because where certainly words follow a rule, there are always the few that don’t (cow is not spoken like mow, but like row – in English anyways – but then in American English row is like mow and not like cow – how annoying!!).
But I may have to concede my spelling of barbeque as it seems it’s more often spelled with a c and not a q. The Guardian style guide only has the spelling of it with a c. Same with The Times/Sunday Times and Times Online style guide. And the AP Stylebook spells it as barbecue as well.
Seems I’m going to need to make the switch immediately! Although, it’s still OK to abbreviate to BBQ – and that is fine with me.
Thursday 16 April 2009
I have a sunburn in April
I’m on lunch, where I seem to always be whenever I blog. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. I was meant to go to the gym, but I’ve got a meeting at 2 and wouldn’t have been able to work out and shower in time to be back. I could always NOT shower, but then, that just makes me gross, doesn’t it?
Last night we had a games night at our flat. It was only myself, Mark, Krystin and Alex, but it was a great time. We played Rumikub and then Boogle, which I forgot how much I enjoy! Although we have the Master Boogle version – meaning it flashes red constantly and could possibly give me an epileptic fit. Regardless, I still enjoyed it. I even found the word ‘chav’ in one of the turns (of course, the two Englishmen in the group didn’t, but Krystin did which cancelled that would-have-been-awesome point out!).
I’ll write a more detailed blog next time with pictures, but Mark and I went to his parents’ place in Shropshire for the Easter holiday break. We got the best weather in the whole of the UK – and I managed to even get a sunburn (in April? IN ENGLAND?!). I didn’t know that was possible… But we had a really great time, in short, drank a lot of wine, relaxed outdoors, had some hikes throughout the fields and hills, harassed a LOT of baby lambs, and ate a lot of great food.
Oh and last week I got an iPhone. This can either be perceived as ‘awesome’ or ‘I'm a sell-out’ to most people. However, I’ve been dying to get it since Apple first released it in the States in June 2007 (I was actually home in July so I made sure to go to an Apple store to play with it. Love at first sight.). I’ve named it iLoveIt. I think that’s appropriate. It’s also got me out of being lost twice now – which is impressive considering I’ve had it for a week now and 4 of those days I was out of service (not the phone’s fault, Shropshire’s fault). Or maybe that's not impressive and I have a poor sense of direction?
Anyways, I have to get back to work. I’ll be sure to upload pictures from Shropshire, if you’ve not seen them on Facebook yet.
Last night we had a games night at our flat. It was only myself, Mark, Krystin and Alex, but it was a great time. We played Rumikub and then Boogle, which I forgot how much I enjoy! Although we have the Master Boogle version – meaning it flashes red constantly and could possibly give me an epileptic fit. Regardless, I still enjoyed it. I even found the word ‘chav’ in one of the turns (of course, the two Englishmen in the group didn’t, but Krystin did which cancelled that would-have-been-awesome point out!).
I’ll write a more detailed blog next time with pictures, but Mark and I went to his parents’ place in Shropshire for the Easter holiday break. We got the best weather in the whole of the UK – and I managed to even get a sunburn (in April? IN ENGLAND?!). I didn’t know that was possible… But we had a really great time, in short, drank a lot of wine, relaxed outdoors, had some hikes throughout the fields and hills, harassed a LOT of baby lambs, and ate a lot of great food.
Oh and last week I got an iPhone. This can either be perceived as ‘awesome’ or ‘I'm a sell-out’ to most people. However, I’ve been dying to get it since Apple first released it in the States in June 2007 (I was actually home in July so I made sure to go to an Apple store to play with it. Love at first sight.). I’ve named it iLoveIt. I think that’s appropriate. It’s also got me out of being lost twice now – which is impressive considering I’ve had it for a week now and 4 of those days I was out of service (not the phone’s fault, Shropshire’s fault). Or maybe that's not impressive and I have a poor sense of direction?
Anyways, I have to get back to work. I’ll be sure to upload pictures from Shropshire, if you’ve not seen them on Facebook yet.
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