Okay, I just made reservations for Karri and I (and 2 other lucky people) to have dinner at London celeb-haunt and gastronomical paradise the Ivy. Anyone want to give me a loan?
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Speaking of Ralph, you can nab tickets to see him in the old Gainsborough Hitchcock Studios' (at Shoreditch Road, Poole Street & New North Road, London N1) new theatrical production of Richard II for only £4.50 per person, from lastminute.com. And I might do just that at the end of this month, when Karri gets here.
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I was reading this news item about Ian Dury's funeral, and I realised that the Golders Green Crematorium that I walk past almost every time I'm in north London is the same crematorium where his funeral was held, and where Sarah in Graham Greene's The End of the Affair is cremated. I don't know why, but that didn't dawn on me when I was reading The End of the Affair, which -- by the way -- is an excellent book. I guess now I'm ready to see the reputedly crap film, but Ralph Fiennes should at least make it tolerable (as he did The English Patient).
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Okay, I finally broke down and used up (most of) the rest of the Sephora gift certificate I won. Here's what I bought:
For me: concealer ($16), foundation ($34) and hair stuff ($11)
For Karri: face stuff ($12.50) and caramel fragrance (a mere $2!)
For Jen: shimmery stuff ($24)
You do the math: I have 50¢ left over, and nothing on Sephora is that cheap. Oh well, at least my priorities are still intact; I spent more on myself than on anybody else!
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Oh, man. Some guy from my town is in the hot seat on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? tonight. And, yes, we have that show in England -- it originated here, and the rights sold to the US and something like 44 other countries. Anyway, if this guy wins even £1000, we'll never hear the bleedin' end of it, rest assured.
5 April, 2000
Time to get serious, people: Whoever is looking at my website from Parallax needs to just. go. away. Unless you're one of the legion of Parallax employees who've been making fun of Phill Evans behind his back for years, in which case, welcome!
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I seriously don't think the preceding post constitutes an overreaction on my part at all.
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As a die-hard Eastenders fan, I am totally disgusted and baffled at this report that Emmerdale finally beat Eastenders in the ratings. Seriously, if you watch Emmerdale, do yourself and the world a favour and just off yourself. That show is so lame! Stupid Mandy Dingle and Butch Dingle and his girlfriend with the jacked teeth and nose. Makes me want to punch Lisa Riley (aka Mandy Dingle) in her belly. Argh!
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Yet another Barrymore who can't handle their sauce. I don't have strong feelings about him one way or another, but Ian hates -- and I mean HATES -- the man. I will say, though, his new show's pretty shite; it was desribed as Larry Sanders-esque, but I found it to be more crap-esque.
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Leeroy Thornhill (fiancé of the lovely Sara Cox) has quit the Prodigy. I think he's a decent bloke and all, but he was only the dancer, so I doubt it'll affect their music.
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Every day, I cross my fingers and look at Sephora's website to see if they have my coveted product in a shade which even remotely resembles my skin colour. Every day, I am disappointed. Damn them to hell.
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Thanks to Beth, I know how much of a geek I am. Go take the quiz. And, in case you were wondering, I scored 31, making me a 'Standard Issue Geek'. Yay.
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Maybe his recent columns haven't lived up to his past wondrousness, but it's nice to see Dan Savage back on form.
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Perhaps the author of this piece of pap could explain to the nation why taxpayers are footing the bill for a royal protection officer to accompany Camilla Parker Bowles on holiday. If these people were reporting Watergate, one fears they'd approach it from the 'Doesn't Tricia Nixon have lovely hair?' angle.
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Between Whitney Houston's 'throat problems' and Mariah Carey's 'food poisoning,' the faux-divas of the world best be watching they backz.
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Ian has listened to Paid in Full by Eric B & Rakim a grand total of six times in the past half-hour. I'm thinking he needs to take his azz to bed...
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4 April, 2000
Thanks to Demian for this hilarious little cartoon.
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Cisco Systems advises that victims of spam retaliate thusly:
"Spam is usually harmless, but it can be a nuisance, taking up time and storage space. The solution is to flame the perpetrators by sending them abusive messages, or to reply by dumping a very large and useless file on their Web server."
I usually just report spam via the very useful Spamcop, but it's an idea...
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Hey, Sega is giving away free Dreamcasts.
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I've tried to deny it, but I can't live without at least one bowl of Special K per day (usually two, though, since it makes a good dinner). Aside from the fact that it's the only vice in my Zone Perfect diet, there's this totally funny, right-on piece by Wing Chun, which makes me feel extra guilty. So go read the thing WC wrote, and maybe I won't feel so bad.
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Um, in case you noticed the havoc that was wreaked on this page yesterday, I should tell you that Pitas was kind of... completely knackered. Until today, so now everything should be normal. If you didn't notice it, that's even better.
3 April, 2000
All hail Air Canada! My bestest friend, Karri, just got her ticket from Columbus, Ohio to London, England -- via Toronto -- to come to my wedding, and Air Canada gave her a cheap, cheap, cheap ticket. I love them, now. Amongst other good things I've heard about them, Carly says that they do bargain round-trip tickets from San Francisco to Toronto, as well.
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Some of the Queen's top servants have started their own website called It's the Dog's Bollocks. Says a Buckingham Palace insider: "'The dog's bollocks' is a favourite phrase used by Palace servants to describe something that is really good. At the moment it is just a bit of fun. But the website could become a big money-spinner if if takes off." Um, I don't think that'll be happening, somehow.
2 April, 2000
Oh, my. I didn't think I could possibly love A A Gill any more than I have for the past couple of years, but he's gone and made me love him even more, with this.
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D'oh!
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It was only a matter of time...
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I know it's sick, but I have a thing for him.
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You know, I should really freaking know better than to read the British tabloids, even if I'm only doing so online. Do you think anything like this would ever pass an editor's desk in the US without hitting the circular file? Not unless it was something like the Dr Laura newsletter. Send carefully worded expressions of disgust to Frank Walker, Managing Director of Mirror Syndication.
1 April, 2000
Trivia from Ian: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was written by Kirsty MacColl's father.
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Well, I went shopping today (nightmare -- I swear there were twice as many people at Merry Hill than there were at Christmas), and a few things disturbed me:
Merry Hill now has a Starbucks. I don't think I need to say any more than that, really.
I had to wait 45 minutes for a bus. That didn't so much disturb me as, you know, piss me off.
A lot of 12-year-olds are running around in miniskirts and thigh-high go-go boots, topped off with belly shirts. Classy!
But that's okay, because I hit a book sale! My purchases include: Cowboys Are My Weakness by Pam Houston, Rainey's Lament by Elizabeth Ridley, Where You Find It by Janice Galloway, and The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker.
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I just faxed my MP. Here's what I wrote. I had to put on my serious pants for this one...
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If you're in the UK, go here and fax your MP to lobby against the latest Internet regulations bill (RIP) that's fast-tracking it through Parliament. To read a quick synopsis of what the bill lays out, go here -- Big Brother, much? A quote from the site: 'Do not assume that your MP has read or understands what RIP is about.' Too right.
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I hate to say this, but serves them right. It's not often that I see a political situation have an outcome that I could not have orchestrated better in my wildest dreams, so I'm relishing this one.
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I might actually listen to the Radio1 Breakfast Show now that old Coxy has replaced Zoe Ball. I always thought she seemed really down-to-earth and funny, but I like her even more for going in front of the cameras all the time -- even at the Brit awards -- with no makeup and her hair all jacked.
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Not that I indulge in schadenfreude or anything (yeah, right), but I just thought I'd note here that Bryant Gumbel is as big a loser on TV as he is in his personal life.
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Oh, Lord.
