Top Gear, top show

Mirthful

It occurs to me that I have probably not really expressed myself on the joy that is Top Gear previously. I will now remedy that by explaining why it is one of the best tv-shows ever. No, this has not been brought on by Richard Hammond’s rather unfortunate work-related accident (though I am, of course, hoping that he’ll be up and about and driving ridiculously fast again – in reasonably controlled conditions – as soon as may be), but by my finally reading I Know You Got Soul, which we purchased in Kingston this summer. I somehow feel I owe you an explanation of how come I enjoy a show about cars when, normally, a conversation about cars could quite possibly be one of the few things that would bore me to tears.

Well, you see, it’s not cars so much. It’s Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. Yes, it involves them talking about cars a lot (in fact for most of the show), but it involves them talking about cars in a way that is witty in that uniquely British way. And of course you know I do love British wit. So.

Does that explain it? Possibly not. I also, on the whole, love watching people do things that they obviously enjoy doing. And the three Top Gear presenters are so frequently the picture of joyful glee when they get their hands on a new car that it is very hard not to be smitten.

Another thing is the competitive spirit. Well, I have it, and they’ve got it in bundles. In an episode I saw recently, Jeremy Clarkson was out in Germany trying to get a car round the world’s longest race-track (at least, I think it was – see, I can’t remember the track or the car, that’s not what I watch Top Gear for) in less than… uhm… I think it was ten minutes, but don’t hold me to that. (I suppose I could google this, but the details are beside the point, really.) He struggled manfully for days and finally just made it. He blamed the car for his failure to do better sooner. Then he let his guide to the track, a local girl about my own age who probably had motor oil instead of mother’s milk, have a go. Her first try at the car, but her ten thousanth something try at the track. Anyway, she beat him, obviously. To Hammond and May’s delight. Oh, and she had blond hair, too.

Whatever. It’s one of the best shows on television (and before you ask, I haven’t even seen the Norwegian version, and I have no intention of ever doing so – it’s that anglophile thing again, you see). And one of the funniest episodes ever can be found on YouTube in three parts. Do yourself the favour: Part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Spam, spam, not-so-wonderful spam

Mirthful

According to the papers, Norway has its first case of sentencing someone for sending out spam. While this is to be applauded, we still have a long way to go. Firstly, while the person in question apparently sent unsolicited emails to 650000 addresses, only 500 of them were “Norwegian” (which I assume means only 500 had the .no suffix), and the law that prohibits spam (or “utsendelse av e-postreklame med mindre det er et etablert kundeforhold mellom avsender og mottaker” – “the sending of advertisements through email unless there is an established customer relationship between sender and recipient” – meaning people you have once shopped with may spam you to their hearts’ content, though I think there is a section dealing with your right to refuse such advertisements as well) is only meant to protect Norwegians, so the guy in question was only charged with breaching the protection of privacy laws.

Also, I find this part interesting:

22-

Aha

Mirthful

I noen dager har det hengt en lapp på sjefens kontordør. “Mæsjmæsjefæra?” står det med store bokstaver. Hver gang jeg har gått forbi har jeg kastet et blikk på den og lurt vagt på hva i alle dager det skulle bety. I dag gikk det plutselig et lys opp for meg. Hahahahaha…

Ah, the power of f***ed up IDs

Mirthful

A comment left this morning had me scratching my head, it obviously refers to the same thing as the previous two comments, but what they refer to has nothing to do with the entry. Then I remembered that in the process of reimporting all the entries a while back I messed up the entry IDs somewhat, and that the first two comments were probably made on a different entry entirely. Turns out the original comments have puzzled me before – and that you can still leave comments on the old parts of the site, except they may end up on entirely the wrong entry. The usual snafu stuff, in other words. I’d still like to know why the first commenter refers to the Wendy Cope poem as a painting, though. And I’m beginning to wish I could hear the piece of music…

But I guess I had better try to do something about that whole ID-not-quite-matching-thing soonish…

In other news

Mirthful

(Yes, it’s an actual post about something. Though, admittedly it’s not about anything terribly important.)

M went to Oslo today for three days of teaching (or is it “training”?) his fellow employees how to drink sweet sickly stuff (i.e. sherry and amaruhla and that sort of thing – not that I don’t occasionally enjoy a spot of sherry myself, though not so much just nowadays, obviously, this not drinking thing can be hard to stick to when tempted by unusual stuff but sherry is not what I miss most). So I’ve got the house to myself for two nights (actually more like three, he’ll only be back in time for bed on Wednesday). I thought I might give reorganizing the broom-cupboard a try, and see if some of the stuff that’s currently making the “nursery” look like a broom-cupboard can’t be fitted in there somehow. Maybe. This certainly needs to be done soonish as the nursery really needs to be painted before it can be used as such. Perhaps it’s just me, but bright blue (3300CC or thereabouts) doesn’t seem like the ideal wall colour for anyone with eyesight. And I do hope the baby has eyesight, after all, though in any case painting the room seems like a good idea as we’re going to have to spend time in there ourselves (at least I’m told newborns can’t actually do such things as go to bed and tidy their room without some help).

So that’s the plan.

I also have to do some scrapbooking, as I signed up to do a “scrapping relay” (more like a team scrap than a relay, but never mind) at scrapping.no to get a bit of a kick start after doing pretty much no scrapping whatsoever since May (which is not the way to get through these piles of photos). So far it’s been good fun, and I even managed some layouts that I’m more than happy with, but it does demand actually sitting down and doing something rather than just thinking about it. Actually, since I bet this is thrilling beyond belief, here are a couple of the pages I’ve completed so far:

Mmmmmmmmmeme

Mirthful

Thanks to Jamelah, I have a meme to do:

The Idea: Leave a comment and I?ll give you a letter. Then you must think of 10 song titles that start with that letter (as well as the artist), without using Google or other cheats.

And I have M.

So.

My Funny Valentine – Frank Sinatra
Milennium – Robbie Williams
Missing You – Chris de Burgh
Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson (or is that “The Man in the Mirror”? I’ll have to google when I’m done here…)
Merry Christmas Everyone – Wings
Maybe I’m Amazed – Paul McCartney
Michelle – The Beatles
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm – Crash Test Dummies (edit: title should be “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”, much the same thing, I suppose)
Mbop – Hansons
Miss Jones – Frank Sinatra
Mrs. Robinson – Simon and Garfunkle
Mr. Bojangles – Robbie Williams
Mac the Knife – Louis Armstrong

Ok. I was suddenly on a roll there and I’m sure some of them will turn out to be “wrong” (like old Jacko there, is there a “The” at the beginning of the title?) once I start googling…

Edit: Hm. Turns out Jacko dropped the “The”. However, the Wings song is called “Wonderful Christmas Time” so I have no idea who sang “Merry Christmas Everyone” (or if that is even a song title). Also, it’s “MMMBop”, apparently. And Hanson. No s at the end. Well, I’m not really disappointed to have gotten that one wrong… And looking at the Wikipedia entry for My Funny Valentine I was beginning to think I’d have to strike that too, on account of artist, but it seems Sinatra did record it (he and half the planet) so that’s ok after all.

Ja, jeg trenger dem desverre…

Mirthful

Ti bud for kvinner med bekkenløsning:

1. Unngå vridninger med kroppen.
2. Unngå å henge på et ben – stå med vekten likt fordelt på begge ben.
3. Unngå å løfte og bære tunge ting.
4. Unngå å sitte med bena over kors eller i skredderstilling. Sitt rett i stolen.
5. Unngå støvsuging og gulvvask.
6. Avpass dine skritt etter smerten. Har du mye vondt, gå med veldig små skritt.
7. Hvis du har vondt, ta ett trinn om gangen i trappen.
8. Inn og ut av bil: Baklengs inn i forsetet, drei rundt mot bilens front.
9. Samleie: Ryggliggende stilling gir ofte smerter over symfysen og korsryggen. Prøv med en fast pute under bekkenet, så skjeden kommer i bedre retning i forhold til penis. Mannen bør støtte på armene. Eksprimenter med alternative samleiestillinger.
10. Hold knærne samlet når du snur deg i sengen.

Also

Mirthful

You may have noticed: I started uploading holiday pictures to Flickr yesterday evening. I also have wonderful pictures still in the camera from the most amazing thunderstorm this weekend. Hailstones the size of marbles (quite clearly the gods lost theirs) and water, lots of it. They will appear. But don’t hold your breath, please.

Oki

Mirthful 2 Comments
You scored as XIX: The Sun. This is the happiest card in the deck. It is full of joy and optimism, everything is right with the world. We are as innocent children playing in the fields without care. The Sun brings success, well-being and happiness in all spheres – material, emotional, spiritual -wherever our desires lay.When this card appears in a Tarot spread it indicates success, joy and happiness. Obstacles will be overcome, goals achieved.When badly aspected, it can indicate a stagnation through over-indulgence, too much of a good thing.

Which Major Arcana Tarot Card Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Via Donna – and I tied with “The Empress” and got the sun when I chose “You are a happy person.” over “You are female.” as being “more true” (I figured it made sense since every time I do one of these tests where a computer is supposed to decide whether you are male or female from your writing or responses I always get “male” as a result).