Context Schmontext
Cailfornian Police have arrested Mitchell Eugene Crooks, the man who videotaped one of their "officers" beating the living crap out of a defenceless (and handcuffed) black youth.

Since his arrest, Crooks has apparently required and received medical treatment.

I wonder what could have happened?

Crooks may be all his name suggests, but LA Police are clearly handling this thing very badly indeed. It certainly seems odd that Crooks, of all people, is the only person currently being held over the matter.

Get the bare facts here, here and here.

Share Dominion's outrage by clicking here.

International Blog Meetup
Is anyone going to the International Blog Meetup? You can sign up for your local meet and greet by clicking here. I think it's a great idea, and I fully support it. I'm plan on attending the London shindig, so with any luck I might see you there.

That's assuming you live in or near London.

And that you're planning to go.

And that you don't see me first.

PS I just have get my own domain. The Blogger lark is getting silly. Either Blogger's down, or Blogspot is playing up, or Yaccs commenting is off playing with the sheep, or Flooble is losing files or Bravenet is down half the day. It's always something! I want the reliability of my own Moveable Type setup. Soon as I get a job -- Promise.

Weezer go all muppety
I don't think I've ever posted a link for a Music Video before, but if you don't click here and take a look at the new Weezer video, Keep Fishin', well then I'll... I'll... stamp my feet! And I mean it too!

This may well be the coolest thing ever.

That Blair's had it coming for a long time, I tells ya
I just found a fantastic web site. It's called Who Would You Kill? and I have to tell you, it's mighty therapeutic.

The premise is deceptively simple, pick a TV show, any TV show. You're then given the mug shots of the main cast members. Which one annoyed you the most? Who would you like to see get a dose of their own medicine? Once you've chosen, you are then invited to provide a suitably detailed (and hopefully violent) account of their end.

I didn't take me long to come up with the first character on my imaginary TV hit list. Step forward one Blair Warner of The Facts of Life fame. Oooow, how I used to hate her. She was so stuck up! Hate hate hate! And yet at the same time there was something so... No, no! That way leads to madness.

Strangely enough, Blair wasn't number one on everyone's Facts of Life hit list. The Top Three were Tootie, Natalie and Jo. Looks like there are some mighty sick people out there. What were they thinking? Poor ickle Tootie wouldn't hurt a fly.

Maybe you knew this, but I was surprised to learn that handyman George was played by George Clooney.

So, Who Would You Kill?

Happy birthday to me
"... and I smell like one too!"

WPC POed re MJ on GMTV
We're having a drugs debate here in the UK. The government is considering downgrading cannabis from a Class B drug to a Class C drug.

Whatever that means.

In Brixton, the Wacky Toe-Backy has effectively been decriminalised for a while. To show viewers how easy it is to acquire, GMTV host John Stapleton sent a reporter out to buy a sample. This morning a beaming Stapleton proudly showed viewers what appeared to be a fridge magnet. All was beer and skittles until, "acting on information received from a member of the public," the Met showed up.

"I thought she was joking at first but a charming lady inspector was waiting on the studio floor and we had a little chat. She wanted to know how it came into my possession and that was it. I have not been cautioned or charged. She's gone away to talk to her superiors."

So watch out kiddies, because the Mary Jane aint cool.

Why I may be messed up
I think it's incumbent upon every well meaning blogger that he or she will, from time to time, write something intending to prove how thoroughly messed up, and deserving of your sympathy, they are. Everyone does it and so I, never one to look a blog meme in the mouth, have decided to examine the possibility. So, am I, Kieran McCabe, a man hitherto considered a veritable paragon of keen-eyed wisdom and emotional stability, thoroughly and irrevocably messed up?

No.

Not a bit of it.

I'm clearly a good egg, straight as an arrow, bright and shiny as a day old coin and sharp as a pin. But you knew that already, didn't you?

OK, so even though I'm not messed up, I don't think it would hurt to consider the evidence. To carefully evaluate the issue from all angles, run the whole mess up a flag pole, mix in a few inappropriate metaphors and see if our souffle will rise.

The Evidence:

• I have a pathological fear of mayonnaise and purple paisley.
• I believe it's only a matter of time until Bring It On! is recognized for the master work it is.
• I believe Winona is innocent.
• I can't stand soaps or reality TV, yet obsess over every detail of Big Brother.
• I haven't been on a date since... Is that the doorbell? Just a sec... Sorry about that. Now, where was I?
• I'm a vegetarian who hates other vegetarians.
• I drink too much.
• I don't get enough exercise.
• I can't figure out why I'm overweight.
• I'm a cynic who hates cynicism.
• I like musicals despite being both straight and male.

On second thoughts I may be pretty messed up after all.

Kittens, giraffes and mean people
Don't go saying I don't love you people. I couldn't love you more if you were real live giraffes. No, it's that Cliff character who has been talking about you behind your back.

Harry up already
Can't wait for the latest installment in the Harry Potter saga? You are not alone. Fans of the bespectacled wizard the world over are having a tough time of it. Except, that is, in China, where the fifth book in the saga of "Ha-li Bo-te" has just been published!

A bargain at just 10 Yuan, the snappily titled Harry Potter And Leopard-Walk-Up-To-Dragon is flying off the shelves of Beijing bookstores. SEE Harry turned into a hairy dwarf! SEE Harry ride a dragon! SEE Harry take a bath!

SEE JK Rowlings copyright laywers sue the pants off the faker!

That's right, the entire 198 page tome is a fake, written in Chinese for a Chinese audience. To read an excerpt from this book, which you won't be seeing at Borders any time soon, click here.

Thanks to Marmalade for the link.

Rain, rain go away - UPDATE: Hewett wins!!!
In Wimbledon, at last, the sun is shining upon the hallowed grass of Centre Court. Hewett has just just taken the second set, giving him a two sets to love lead over Argentine underdog David Nalbandian (6-1, 6-3). Before the rain break it was beginning to look like Nalbandian was going to make a real game of it, but now things are looking decidedly one way.

Of course I want Hewett to win, but I'd like to see things a tad closer than they are now.

Update
It's 5-2 in the third. Hewett serves. It's 15-0. He serves again 30-0. And again, matchpoint.

Fault. Double fault. Damn. It's 40-15. Hewett serves, they rally and... OUT! Ohmyfreakingod!

"Game Set and MATCH!"

Yes! Yes! Yes! -- Hewett climbs up into the crowd to hug his family, just as the last Australian to win here, Pat Cash, did back in 1987.

Hewett wins Wimbledon and I have no beer in the house?!? What was I thinking?

Now, where is that vodka?

Ready, SETI, go!
As I type, my computer is looking for signs of life in space. And it's not even breaking a sweat.

You see, I'm a member of the SETI @ Home program. SETI is the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. The idea being that people all around the world can use spare processing time on their computers to help search for signs of life amongst the stars. Each PC receives a chuck of astronomical data from the Arecibo Radio Observatory. When it has processed the data, it returns the results to SETI and asks for more.

The whole thing is ridiculously simple. All you have to do is download the program and it does the rest. SETI@home can can work in one of two ways: As a screen saver, when your machine is idle, or it can be set to process in the background, all the time. I chose the second option. I find it makes no real difference to the speed of my PC, especially as I'm normally surfing, or writing or programming. If I need to do some heavy-duty processing, I just turn SETI off.

Easy.

Like so many SETI-heads, the dream began when I was young. I remember telling my 2nd class teacher that when I grew up, I was going to marry a Martian. I think I had in mind that singing green woman who beguiled Dr Smith on Lost in Space.

She was hot. And by hot, I mean green.

Ever since I have been old enough to appreciate the enormous unlikelihood of extraterrestrial life ever physically meeting up with humanity, it has seemed to me that we should be doing more to encourage some sort of encounter. I think the SETI program is the most practical embodiment of that desire which currently exists.

I also love the idea that anyone can participate. It's wonderfully democratic. I love that folks like me, for whom a supernova is just another over-priced cocktail, can help out in our own humble way.

Maybe the next packet will make the difference. Maybe my computer will be the one to find the key that unlocks the future. Who knows? That's what keeps me going. A little thing called hope.

To sign up for SETI, and do your bit for the universe, click here.

Why Adele deserved better
I'm about to bore the pants of most of my readers (So what else is new?, you ask)

This piece will only be of interest to BB3 watchers in the UK, if that's not you, feel free to skip.

Up against three other housemates, Adele was evicted from the house on Friday night. I say three, but in reality it was a two horse race: Jade Vs Adele. The battle of the bitches.

As Davina "sigh" McCall escorted Adele through the gauntlet of what I hesitate to dignify by calling a crowd, it began to look like the producers had got it badly wrong. Again. This was the kind of assemblage that gives mobs a bad name.

What Channel 4 didn't tell you was that a large chunk of the baying mob, some 200 or so by some reports, were friends, relatives and neighbours of Jade, bussed in to protect her if she were evicted.

Far from being the good-hearted victim portrayed by her family, it turns out that Jade was a notorious bully at school, even being suspended several times. The Sun quotes a victim of Jade's schoolyard taunting:

“She was the ringleader. She knew I was quiet and thought I was an easy target.

“She’d tell the other girls that I’d said bad things about them when I hadn’t and they would turn on me.

“She’s even worse in real life than she is on the show. People need to know what she’s like.

“Some of her friends are saying she isn’t being portrayed fairly on the show. But Jade is not a nice girl. I was hurt by what she did to me.

“It was verbal bullying. She never hit me.

“It was like the way she treated Sophie on Big Brother."

Showing themselves to posess the kind of class exemplified on TV by Bermondsey's local heroine (is it something in the water?), the boozed up crowd turned on Jade's partner in bitch, Adele.

Adele showed quiet poise and dignity as she ran the gauntlet, holding back the tears until she was reunited with her family.

I think there's no doubt that Adele showed bad judgement in some of the things she said, but really, what is there to do in the Big Brother house but bitch? Anyway you look at it, the punishment far outwayed the crime, and Channel 4 executives need to take a long hard look at these Friday night circuses.