So I live about a 15-minute walk south of King’s Cross/St. Pancras. The map I use of London does not go farther north than King’s Cross, so my question is, what the heck is up there? Here is the image I have in my head:
Surely this can’t be right?
A recent Real Men Are Not post on pornography contained some great links. One is to Jackson Katz’s latest book, The Macho Paradox. I was lucky enough to work on projects with Jackson at two of my previous jobs. He is one of America’s leading anti-sexist male activists.
There is also a link to a supercool website called One Angry Girl, which has lots of anti-porn links and a “girlcott” section that I adore. Check out some of the t-shirts for sale:
A few scary statistics from the website:
From the AP:
“LONDON - Prince Charles’ stepdaughter Laura Parker Bowles, an art gallery manager, has married a former underwear model.”
What a proud moment. Charles, hands off.
I’m trying videoblogging for the first time. I visited Postman’s Park yesterday (see previous post) and did a little commentary. YouTube isn’t ideal, because the picture is a second or two ahead of the sound and it cuts me off right at the end. The picture also isn’t as clear as in a Quicktime video, but Quicktime takes too long for the viewer to download. So anyway, I hope you enjoy this little experiment!
[gv data=" http://www.youtube.com/v/DNUr60UeIWw" width="425" height="350"][/gv]
Like many people, I first became aware of Postman’s Park from the movie Closer, which is based upon the play by Patrick Marber. The park, near St. Paul’s Cathedral, features plaques (some designed by Royal Doulton) that memorialize citizens who died saving the lives of other people. The 19th-century artist G.F. Watts created the memorial. He originally proposed such a project in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. He felt there were plenty of memorials marking major tragedies and famous heroes, but there were none devoted to regular people with extraordinary courage. No one took him up on the idea so he financed it himself.
I wanted to visit the park because I had seen it in the movie. I wasn’t expecting it to be such a moving experience. As Marber wrote in an essay on the park, the plaques are “strangely poignant in their verbal formality.” He adds: “There’s nothing else quite like it in London.” If you live in London or plan to visit, I highly recommend a trip to see the memorial. Here are a few photos, which given their size I have posted here as thumbnails. Click to make big and read. You can also watch my video.
Rain-soaked tulips in the garden of St. Andrew’s Church, Holborn.
[click image to make big]
Yes, I went to see this. Shut up! I think they should change the title to Mission Impossible III: Blowing Stuff Up.
I went to see this movie because I was in the mood for Hollywood fluff and it didn’t disappoint. I know Tom Cruise is completely batshit in real life, but he’s still good at his day job – movie starrin’. And now he has another mouth to feed (a mouth that may or may not belong to a human being), so cut the guy some slack.
The movie is typical high-budget action movie fare. There were a lot of car chases and explosions and scenes where Tom single-handedly took on mobs of men with machine guns yet escaped with nary a scratch on him. Oh, and that creepy-cute Irish guy from Match Point is in it, plus Truman Capote himself, Philip Seymour Hoffman, is the baddie.
As for Tom, he’s in his forties now yet he looks pretty much the same as he did 20 years ago. I’m sure he’s had some work done, but it doesn’t show. While the 40+ women in Hollywood are paralyzed with Botox, Tom looks perfect. I don’t know how he does it. I’m guessing there’s some sort of Scientology/Picture of Dorian Gray thing happening. Whatever it is, he still looks mighty fine in super tight jeans.
Tags: M:I:III, Mission Impossible III, Tom Cruise
From WaPo:
Patrick Kennedy Crashes Car, Media Allege Special Treatment
[Resist the urge to make Ted Kennedy joke. Like father like son. Resist the urge to make Ted Kennedy joke.]
I am such a political junkie that even in a country where I can’t vote and don’t understand the political system I stay up late watching the election results. I need help. The election coverage here reminded me a lot of what we see stateside, with speculation run amok and reporters trying to shape the story in a heavy-handed way. I fully expected a U-Haul to be parked in front of Downing Street this morning.
Alas, although Labour received an ass whooping in the local elections, Tony isn’t going anywhere but he is doing the shuffle. Charles Clarke has been “sacked” (as the Brits say) and philandering pig John Prescott remains in his job but – much like his dignity – it has been severely diminished.
Tags: Labour, Tony Blair, John Prescott
Not according to the Guardian:
All year round, it is the European capital with the worst cuisine, worst traffic, highest prices and most unwelcoming natives, as well as being burdened with a service industry that has only the most tenuous connection with the concept of service or, indeed, industry. Don’t go there. If you hanker after the London experience, sit in a bathful of your own sweat in a room full of exhaust fumes and pale sneering people in shorts, and burn twenties with a lighter.
This is my third fertility post in as many days. Good grief!
The biggest news story of the day here concerns 62-year-old Dr. Patricia Rashbrook, who is seven months pregnant. She became pregnant via IVF treatment, carried out by a controversial Italian doctor (who had to perform the procedure in a former Soviet republic). This story is on the front page of the Evening Standard and all the television newscasts are leading with it. Obviously, a sixtysomething pregnant woman is newsworthy, but not surprisingly, the media angle on this story is completely sexist.
To me, the interest in this story is how a post-menopausal woman can become pregnant, even with a donor egg, and carry a baby to term. What are the risks? How on earth is this even possible? But most of the media is focused almost entirely on the selfishness of this woman, who given her age may not live to see her child into adulthood. The ethics of older parenthood are a valid concern. But why is it only the mother’s age that people care about?
For the record, the woman’s husband is also in his sixties. I think the age of both parents is worrying. This child will be running around the playground while its 70+ parents attempt to chase after it. Very likely, the child will be young when it watches both of its parents become ill and die. Life is unpredictable enough without deliberately bringing a child into a situation that you know will be extremely hard. Dr. Rashbrook is a psychiatrist but she clearly needs her head examined.
I have started buying flowers. I’ve always fantasized about having a vase of flowers on my writing desk, but it seemed so extravagant. After all, fresh cut flowers are an indulgence. No one needs them. But this week I thought, well, I spend hours sitting at my desk each day, I work damn hard and I’m over 30. I deserve flowers! This city is full of stalls selling every kind of flower imaginable and I just can’t resist any longer. Why should I? I don’t have to buy a whole bouquet. A few well-chosen blooms will do nicely.
One could argue that sensory delights are highly underrated in the Anglo-American world. Ephemeral objects such as flowers are deemed a waste of money. But it’s important to cultivate our sensuality – a word that to most of us denotes sexuality, when in fact its primary meaning is a “gratification of the senses.” So here’s to sensuality and the embrace of simple pleasures that serve no purpose beyond adding beauty to our lives.
Tags: flowers
A new study shows that despite spending twice as much on healthcare, Americans are twice as sick as the English and trail most industrialized nations in terms of life expectancy. You can read the article for all the details and analysis. But as I’ve previously written on this blog, Americans work too much and don’t consider quality-of-life. I think that’s a big factor in the health disparity.
There’s an article in the Guardian today about the male biological clock. I did a blog posting on this back in March because I was annoyed at the complete lack of coverage on this issue in the mainstream media. Today’s Guardian article is very similar to my previous post. Very, very similar. Eerily so. While in some ways it’s nice to know that sometimes – okay, not often, but sometimes – I have a knack for spotting important feminist issues and trends before the media does (see also this post), it’s also kind of annoying. Those of us in the blogosphere toil away in obscurity, discussing and debating issues of real importance. Eventually the media catches on and then takes all the credit for it.
But anyway, as for today’s article, it’s regarding a new French study on male fertility, which sharply decreases after age 40. The study shows that women have less of a chance conceiving with a male partner over age 40. I found this excerpt particularly interesting.
It has long been known to medical professionals, says Richard Kennedy, spokesman for the British Fertility Society, that across all relevant age groups, “the man is the leading cause of fertility problems. Yet still there is an attitude from men that, ‘It can’t be me that’s the problem.’”
And this excerpt is essentially what I wrote months ago!
The French findings feel boldly counter-intuitive, in the light of decades of newspaper articles warning women, often in the most finger-pointing and sensationalist terms, about the perils of delaying having children. Few women in their 30s can be unaware of the notions that if they are too busy building a career, or too materialistic or selfish or preoccupied to get pregnant before the biological deadline of their early 40s, then they’ll have no family. Midlife infertility, essentially, is seen as a female problem.
In fact, over the past five years similar investigations in Britain and the United States have anticipated the French findings, and have also found late fatherhood to be riskier than traditionally assumed. One study found would-be fathers over 40 half as likely to make their partners pregnant as men under 25; another found fathers over 50 quadrupling the likelihood of having a child with Down’s Syndrome.
I’m glad the media is finally paying attention to this issue. It’s about time.
There’s a fascinating article on the front page of the Guardian today about Britain’s declining fertility rate, which mirrors what’s happening in most Western countries. Such articles usually make me angry because they’re sexist and focus only on women’s behavoir and attitudes, as if men have nothing to do with human reproduction. See my previous post on this subject.
The Guardian article, however, offers a more balanced picture:
Both men and women, according to the poll, believe it is more important for women to enjoy themselves than to have children - with 64% of men and 51% of women agreeing. A majority also thinks that doing well at work and earning money count for more than bringing up children. Just 36% of women believe that people put children ahead of their career.
In a sign of the way male attitudes have changed after feminism, only 32% of men think women should put children before work. Both men and women say it is more important to live comfortably than to have children. Of those surveyed, 61% thought this against just 32% who said bringing up children came ahead of material success.
I must admit I’m pretty surprised by these results. It would be interesting to see similar poll results from the US. While in the major urban centers, this kind of attitude towards children prevails, there are many parts of the US that are much more traditional and I imagine this would skew the overall results. The vast majority of people I went to high school with have children, even upwards of 4 or 5 kids (now you can see why I had to leave that place the first chance I got). One of my friends from high school has a 15-year-old daughter! Can you imagine me with a 15-year-old? That is unthinkable.
I’ve certainly put work and adventure before having children. It’s not like my life has been one big swinging party – far from it. But I treasure the freedom I have to move around the globe as I please. It would be very hard to give that up. And it doesn’t help that many people I know with children complain about their lifestyle all the time. This must be why conservatives and religious leaders urge people to have children young — it’s best to settle down and reproduce before you realize what you’re missing out on!
Last week I wrote about the scandal surrounding Tony Blair’s deputy, John Prescott, whose affair with a secretary is the toast of the tabloids. Over the weekend, Prescott’s former lover Tracey Temple went public with all sorts of lurid allegations about their two-year affair. She claims she’s been the victim of lies and wanted to tell her side of the story. Memo to Tracey: If you want to salvage your reputation, try talking to a legitimate journalist, not selling your story to the tabs for over £100,000.
I find this story to be fascinating because people always make fun of Americans for acting so Puritanical when it comes to adultery, yet I see no difference in the way the people here are reacting to Prescott’s affair. Much of the outrage and criticism is dressed up as concern that he may have violated the ministerial code by having sex with an employee and chauffeuring her around town on the taxpayers’ dime…er, pence. But I’m not buying it. The French may shrug off bed-hopping politicians, but it seems to me that in the UK, just as in the US, people tend to believe that adultery is a moral failing and should not be treated strictly as a “private matter.” This really isn’t surprising. The Puritanical nuts who settled in America were English, after all.
I don’t know much about Prescott, but I can understand the glee surrounding his fall from grace. Apparently, he’s known for chastising others for their “sleazy” personal conduct. When a man like this is exposed as a hypocrite, it’s a priceless moment to be treasured by all. (Hold on a sec, I’m having a flashback to Newt Gingrich…ahhhh…just another sec….ahhhh….happy memories.) People say politicians are worthless, but it’s times like these that they earn their keep.
Tags: John Prescott
Snooker! Here’s a photo from my TV set to prove it:
And coming up next on the BBC — seven hours of paint drying. Stay tuned!
Tonight Johnny Damon visits Boston for the first time in a Yankees uniform (ACK!). About his return to Boston, Damon said: “I made a lot of great friends there, a lot of lifelong friends. It’s going to be special.” Special? Well, that’s one way of looking at it. I expect the booing to be so loud that I’ll hear it over here.
Today is May Day, a national holiday here. Actually, I’m not sure if May Day is a holiday in theory. It could be that the first Monday in May is one of those generic let’s-celebrate-nothing bank holidays they have here and it just happened to fall on May Day this year. Who knows. The important message here is that because I do a lot of work for U.S. companies, I’m slaving away as usual. Not fair! Damn Americans, always working.
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