A recent conversation has started me thinking.

Two things:
1. Why do brunettes get let off the hook when it comes to attributing negative traits to hair colour?
2. Are there ANY cool ginger people in the world?

Let's take the two questions in turn.
1. Blondes - stereotypically promiscuous and lacking in intelligence. Redheads - fiery or worth nothing more than being put down at birth. Brunettes? erm...erm...nothing. So I think it is about time those of us blessed with less mundaine hair colours got our own back. Most blondes are treated with humour or derision, redheads with fear or ridicule. So from now on if you see an afflicted brunette, ignore them I say. From now on their hair colour determines that they have no personality, nothing to make them exceptional at all. Boring browns :) Take the power back ;)

2. Thinking about redheads. Are there any that are cool? Who springs to mind first? This one? or perhaps this one? See. It isnt easy to think of one is it? We have been trying to compile a list. So far the obvious candidates of Evans and Ronald McDonald have been ruled out. The first for obvious reasons, the second as his is fake - no it is true it is a wig really! ;)

So far my list consists of:
Gene Wilder - Just for a great Willy Wonka and 'The Producers'
Thom Yorke - A tinge of ginger in there and a genuis

That's it so far. Any ideas on a top five gingers?

Posted by kary at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

With the news that the Devil has once again decided to place his spawn on the Earth, I have been inspired to look at the names people give their children. Being a teacher, I often come across amusing or unusual names... I once had a Grant Mitchell for example, who did wear a leather jacket and had the idea he ruled the Manor (or playground as we call it). There has also been a Lilly and Daisy Bunch. That's just unkind don't you think? John Thomas is another.

Celebrities however think it OK to give their children stupid names. As if the poor Beckham children are not going to have their heads shoved down the toilet just for having HIM for a father and HER for a mother... as if that wasnt enough they tell the world where one was conceived, (I am not sure 'Chadwell Heath' would be such a good name. *sigh. ), issue the second with a pathetic attempt to look cultured and give the last one a girl's name. Perhaps they know their kids will be visiting the blue goldfish anyway so what they are called will make no difference.

Then there is Apple, Moon Unit, Bamboo, Calico, Dixie-Dot, Dweezil, Fifi Trixibelle, Frances Bean, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, Horse, Phoenix Chi, Zowie, Shith'ead (yes that's real)...

So many more but I am losing the will to live.

Posted by kary at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It amazes me how many words there are in the English language.

'Beige' for example: Dictionary.com lists...
'biscuit, buff, camel, caramel, cinnamon, coffee, cream, ecru, fawn, khaki, mushroom, neutral, oatmeal, sand, tan'

Or for an alternative connotation:
'anemic, arid, banal, beige, blah, bland, characterless, colorless, commonplace, dead, drab, driveling, dry, dullsville, feeble, flat, ho hum, inane, innocuous, jejune, lifeless, limp, loser, mild, milk-and-water, mundane, namby-pamby, nebbish, nothing, nowhere, ordinary, plain, pointless, prosaic, prosy, slight, soft, spiritless, stale, stupid, subdued, tame, tedious, tenuous, thin, tired, trite, unimaginative, vapid, watery, weak, weariful, wearisome, wiped out, wishy-washy, yawn'

Posted by kary at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh dear me. No sooner do I discover that someone decided to return Fuzzy Felt to its original glory than I read this!

*sigh

The tube is great! The alphabet on the lids, the excitement of finding the first letter of your name, propelling them across the room. Their additional uses in Blue Peter projects was a huge bonus too! That tube was the keeper of all the answers, the home of the ghastly Blue Meanies and how I was taught how to make bar graphs as a child.

What are they thinking? Hexagonal ones? If I ate Nestle chocolate I would boycott them.

It's wrong I tell you. Plain wrong.

Posted by kary at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Aaah Fuzzy Felt.

I used to love Fuzzy Felt. The farm set was my favourite, with prancing horses, bearded goats, randomly coloured fences... it was as close to a real farm set as I got :) Then they ruined it didn't they. The original stuff was just coloured felt shaped like animals. The rabbits leapt, the cockeral sat proudly on the fence made of purple ice-lolly stick shapes. My imagination could create all sorts of wonderful pictures.

Then they decided to add printed pictures. It all went downhill from there. My romance with the fantastic furry foolery, sadly faded away. Now it seems they are restoring Fuzzy Felt to its original splendour. Back to the frolicking puppies and sleeping kittens...no more the printed commercialised 'Disney's latest film' Felt. Just good old brightly coloured, oddly shaped bits of felt offcuts on a sticky board.

About time too.

Posted by kary at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My most sincere apologies to the lovely Nik, for failing to mention his pancakes.

The kitchen stayed reasonably clean and no cats were stuck to the ceiling.

They were lovely. Thank you :)

Posted by kary at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ryan will read this entry and smile to himself I should imagine. Does the thought of me disappearing off up to the Arsenal on Valentines Day ring any bells? :) It was worth the trip this time, as we saw off a 'brave' Palace in good style. Shame there wasn't an Englishman in the team though :( Football is a business these days though isn't it. Until they put a limit on the number of overseas players, as in cricket, then it will happen. From a spectators perspective though, last night's team made for excellent viewing. It is a tough one to call.

Small things had changed at Highbury last night. The trains were all on time. Irritating bloke managed to control his language - a hefty challenge on Pires only extracted a 'flippin heck' from him rather than the usual tirade of expletives. Wurzel has cut his hair, no longer is there a blackbird hidden amongst it. Fat Bloke was exceptionally chatty and even made a positive comment about Cygan! The floodlights had been cleaned and The Worlds End appears to have had a facelift. We put on a marvellous performance - perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel - let's hope so with Munich on the horizon.

Aside from the football, things have been quiet but busy. Half term is upon us and a list of work as long as your arm to do, in fact it feels like as long as one of Mr Tickle's arms. Anthony very kindly spent the day with a group of teachers dressed as schoolgirls and installed new stuff on the file server at school - thanks for that :) There have been evenings in and evenings out. Days shopping, cleaning and reading.

The weather is cold but the sun is out. Blue skies peppered with wispy clouds. Spring is just around the corner :)

Posted by kary at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another week passes, taking us out of the morass that is January. The sun was out and the sky was blue again today. One of those beautiful days where you can cosy up in your coat and scarf without minding the cold as the sun sets orange over the rooftops. The effulgence of the day encouraging an extra skip in your step.

The past week has once again been busy. The lovely Matt turned 26 (closer to 50 than to birth as Mary pointed out) Happy Birthday Matt! A very fine evening was shared, with dinner, wine and friends old and new. Thanks to all involved :)

Football on Tuesday. We had no midfield. We deserved to lose. It is interesting however to see how the behaviour of the players was reported. It was bad tempered and petty...but mainly from the opposition. Rooney should not have been on the field of play. If Utd fans can be proud of their team winning through foul play and intimidation then so be it. I would be ashamed had we behaved in that way. Also, there was a full on punch up at Chelski/Blackburn that night - but the media chose to focus on the Arsenal/Utd game. Because Chelski are whiter than white arent they? It all spoils the game. Lineker had it right for once when he said he wouldn't want his kids watching Utd. The media should leave well alone and stop winding up players, managers and supporters alike. Concentrate on the game in hand not incite more dislike and venom which to the majority of football followers is an invitation for hatred and violence if you ask me.

*nods

There is my two pennies worth :)

Most of the rest of the week has pretty much been spent watching paint dry. Very interesting it has been too. I love to watch people doing things they enjoy and so thanks to Nik for putting up with my ramblings and untrained eye :)

A quote that rang true for me... 'As for Cygan - what's he still doing at Arsenal?! He must have secret skills that we know nothing about. Maybe he's a good masseur or perhaps he's good at directions without using multimap. Just ask Cygan, he'll know how to get to the ground.
There's no other excuse for him being in that squad. ' (Robbo, BBC Sport)

Posted by kary at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)