I’ve finally settled on a new theme for NOTSL. I like this one because I see the man-in-suit cartoons above as myself. Why not, eh?
If you don’t like it, don’t worry; I’ll probably change it again soon anyway.
If you’re interested, it’s the corporateid theme from TopWPThemes.
I am fully aware that most people do not like Céline Dion. Indeed, at the mention of her name, most people pull a face and/or go “eeew!”.
However, I am a self-confessed fan of Céline, and have been so since 1996, which is when she released the single Think Twice, her first million-selling single in the UK.
Rachel and I went to see Céline in concert at the O2 Arena, a 20,000 capacity venue in the heart of the Docklands, London, and is located inside the infamous Millennium Dome (that Labour turkey at the turn of the millennium). Céline is currently on a world tour to accompany her recent album: Taking Chances, and landed at the O2 Arena for two dates: 6 and 8 May 2008. Rachel and I saw her on 8 May 2008.
Here are a few pictures:
The venue was full - imagine, 20,000 Céline fans in one place!
I preferred the O2 Arena to the Wembley Stadium in 1999, which was the first time I saw Céline live. It was smaller compared to Wembley Stadium’s 60,000 (it was full then too!), and we had a really good view of the screens and the stage, so we were actually able to see Céline without relying on the screens.
The highlight for me was All By Myself, which earned Céline a standing ovation.
All in all, a great night, and definitely worth the £95 ticket price!
I’m fuming after reading this piece of crap. So, the RNId purports to represent the 8.7 million D/deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK, huh? If the RNId’s latest campaign is anything to go by, it’s plain for all to see that they do NOT represent us at all.
How dare they come up with a slogan like: Imagine A World Without Sound. I don’t need to imagine it thank you, and guess what - shock horror - I actually like it! But the RNId being the RNId, they just have to go the whole hog and do that whole “poor deaf people” thing, with this introduction that makes me want to vomit:
Take a moment to imagine if you couldn’t hear birdsong at dawn or danger signals in the street, enjoy wonderful sounds like a baby giggling or listen to your favourite music. This site celebrates the value of sound. By joining in we hope you’ll appreciate the importance of sound too and will make a donation to help us continue our work. We want to campaign for issues faced by deaf and hard of hearing people, provide services to individuals and organisations and carry out vital research into deafness and hearing loss.
Oh puh-lease!
And:
Help us change the world for deaf and hard of hearing people
Well, the RNId hasn’t done anything for me up to now, so what makes them think they’re going to achieve this? I don’t want to be fucking cured, I want a BSL Act and equal rights and access for Deaf people.
That video clip, with a little girl running into a road to fetch her ball, and hey presto! she’s got an hearing aid so she could hear that huge lorry hurtling its way towards her and get out of its bloody way! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
What the fuck is the RNId thinking? Do all the people who work for the RNId actually know what they’re doing? Do they consult with the Deaf community at all (I seriously doubt it, given their holier-than-thou and we-know-better-than-you attitude)?
The thing that makes my blood really boil though, is that the RNId are asking for more money to “cure” deafness. Piss off! And another thing; they actually rely on public funds to run ridiculous campaigns like this. What exactly do they hope to achieve?
Oh yes, they want hearing people to feel sorry for Deaf people, so they’ll give the RNId more money to pay even higher salaries to their stupid hearing staff.
Let’s start a campaign to close down the RNId. I’m sick of them.
I am currently being exposed to the fervour of the Valleys that is Joe Calzaghe and his big fight against Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas, USA.
On the orders of my missus and the in-laws, I have subscribed to Setanta Sports for one month so that they can watch the big fight tonight on Setanta 1 at about 3am in the bloody morning! Yes, the in-laws, and possibly even Kirsty and Sam, are popping over in the middle of the night to watch a boxing match!
I ain’t even that bothered about the match; would rather be in cuckoo land! But, needs must!
For your information, Calzaghe grew up in Pentwynmawr, where the in-laws live, and Joe’s family are quite well known in these parts. In fact, Rachel’s great-grandmother used to live a few doors down from Calzaghe’s family, and used to go “Hello Joe!” occasionally when he walked past as a child on his bicycle or whatever, to which Calzaghe would reply “Hello Mrs Davies!”.
Hence the local obsession!
Rachel and I are currently ploughing our way through all five series of Ally McBeal. We’re currently on series 3, disc 4, if you really wanted to know.
The point of this post is to talk about Cage & Fish, the law firm in which the series is set and where Ally works. The gist is this: I want to work in a law firm like Cage & Fish.
Why?
I very much doubt there are many law firms out there like this. Oh well, I’ll just have to set one up myself, won’t I?
For those of you who are overwhelmed by the amount of media attention and debate surrounding the topic of eugenics and Clause 14 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, here’s a very errudite summary of the issue: “Should we stamp out ‘designer deafness’?” by Sandy Starr
Thanks to A for bringing this article to our attention.
You will have noticed that North of the Stupid Line was hacked by Russians while I was away. I’m pleased to announce that North of the Stupid Line is back up as normal, and that I’ve managed not to lose any posts (not that there have been many recently!).
I’ve also upgraded the Wordpress installation to version 2.5, which is a marked improvement on previous versions. It’s also more secure. So hopefully, hackers will be kept at bay from now on.
I’ll try and post a bit more regularly from now on. Bear with me while I re-insert all the features that were available previously.
Rachel and I have spent the last 3.5 weeks travelling around the world, visiting Hong Kong, New Zealand, Hawaii and Los Angeles, with around 54 hours flying time.
Needless to say, we are bloody knackered. However, it was definitely worth it, and some of the things we’ve seen beggar belief. Here is a sample of photos for your viewing pleasure.
They say silence is golden. But when its for the following reasons:
somehow, I don’t think silence is that golden after all.
Had an EEG today, and thought you would all find this picture rather amusing.
Category: 
11 May 2008