There's something to be said for a fluffy kitten's tummy.
And for smooshing your face into it when trying to avoid the Sunday blues.
Sunday, 8 February 2009
Friday, 12 December 2008
Sad
So the jury have come back in the Jean Charles de Menezes trial with the hardest sentence they had open to them; a watered down guilty verdict against the police.
I don't know why but this story has been one I've been especially interested in as it's gone on. I think it's because I was in London on 7th Jul7 05 when the bombs went off underground; and I was also here the day they announced that someone, a suspected terrorist, had been shot on the tube by the police. I remember that my knee-jerk reaction was 'good' - in that I understood that the police can't stop at injuring or incapacitating a suspected terrorist as they may still detonate their bomb and kill innocent people.
Well, as it turned out, JCdM WAS one of those innocent people himself. Reports that he'd jumped the turnstile proved false, reports that he'd run from police who'd identified themselves were also untrue, and the fact that they shot him in the head 7 times with bullets that explode inside the skull upon impact beggars belief.
Watching the news with my colleagues in our work lounge when it happened, the anchor said the police had described him as 'an asian man in his early 20s'. My colleague said, "Well, that describes me." A few days later it emerged that it could have been my colleague, it could have been anyone fitting that description. Ironically, JCdM was Brazilian.
The fallout was handled horribly; his family were never given the direct apology from the Met that they deserved, the trial exposed the many faults in the tracking and confirmation that he was the terror suspect in question. An apology has been issued, but not directly to the family, and only in the most general of terms.
I think that's what has peaked my interest, and sustained it, in this story. I'm him, in the sense that we're both foreign workers in Britain. I pass through the station where it happened, on the line that it happened, twice a day. I see that shrine when I cycle through Stockwell; and I hate that the Met can't get past it's own arrogance and acknowledge that they messed up.
There are more facts about the case here and here if you're interested.
The glaring, huge, horrible truth is this: the jury found, today, 8 to 2, that the police had LIED about shouting out a warning. All the police officers testified that they did; all the witnesses said they didn't. The police colluded to lie about this. And the verdict has no result; all it does is serve to show how farcical it is that his mother has still not had her apology or had anyone held responsible. Seems a really small thing to give a person in exchange for taking their son.
I don't know why but this story has been one I've been especially interested in as it's gone on. I think it's because I was in London on 7th Jul7 05 when the bombs went off underground; and I was also here the day they announced that someone, a suspected terrorist, had been shot on the tube by the police. I remember that my knee-jerk reaction was 'good' - in that I understood that the police can't stop at injuring or incapacitating a suspected terrorist as they may still detonate their bomb and kill innocent people.
Well, as it turned out, JCdM WAS one of those innocent people himself. Reports that he'd jumped the turnstile proved false, reports that he'd run from police who'd identified themselves were also untrue, and the fact that they shot him in the head 7 times with bullets that explode inside the skull upon impact beggars belief.
Watching the news with my colleagues in our work lounge when it happened, the anchor said the police had described him as 'an asian man in his early 20s'. My colleague said, "Well, that describes me." A few days later it emerged that it could have been my colleague, it could have been anyone fitting that description. Ironically, JCdM was Brazilian.
The fallout was handled horribly; his family were never given the direct apology from the Met that they deserved, the trial exposed the many faults in the tracking and confirmation that he was the terror suspect in question. An apology has been issued, but not directly to the family, and only in the most general of terms.
I think that's what has peaked my interest, and sustained it, in this story. I'm him, in the sense that we're both foreign workers in Britain. I pass through the station where it happened, on the line that it happened, twice a day. I see that shrine when I cycle through Stockwell; and I hate that the Met can't get past it's own arrogance and acknowledge that they messed up.
There are more facts about the case here and here if you're interested.
The glaring, huge, horrible truth is this: the jury found, today, 8 to 2, that the police had LIED about shouting out a warning. All the police officers testified that they did; all the witnesses said they didn't. The police colluded to lie about this. And the verdict has no result; all it does is serve to show how farcical it is that his mother has still not had her apology or had anyone held responsible. Seems a really small thing to give a person in exchange for taking their son.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Too long
It's been a while since I posted - largely because I've been busier in my work than ever before.
It's not been the happiest of times - everything seems to be happening at once - but I'm looking forward to my 2nd trip to Germany this year, to see my sister and my two lil nephews. I've been promised trips to Christmas markets and all manner of German and American food - bring it on I say!
To ease back into the blogging, I look to my friend Benny for inspiration, as this seems the most fun form of blogging - Christmas wishlist time!
Here are the things I am coveting right now:
Sephora Nail Pen - to make good on my expected New Year's resolution to be better presented, every day.
Lancome Photogenic Lumessence foundation - ditto.
Lots and lots of books!
Some South African art for our walls - ok, it doesn't have to be an original Pierneef but hey, a girl can dream.
Linocutting kit - another resolution - to scratch my crafting itch next year.
This is not a cow - it's an in-joke.
Lastly, a cheap, awesome idea for my work Christmas party - the theme is 'Stars in their Eyes/xxxx's Got Talent'. The idea is a popstar/singer - any ideas? One week to go and I'm stumped and could use some good ideas!
It's not been the happiest of times - everything seems to be happening at once - but I'm looking forward to my 2nd trip to Germany this year, to see my sister and my two lil nephews. I've been promised trips to Christmas markets and all manner of German and American food - bring it on I say!
To ease back into the blogging, I look to my friend Benny for inspiration, as this seems the most fun form of blogging - Christmas wishlist time!
Here are the things I am coveting right now:
Sephora Nail Pen - to make good on my expected New Year's resolution to be better presented, every day.
Lancome Photogenic Lumessence foundation - ditto.
Lots and lots of books!
Some South African art for our walls - ok, it doesn't have to be an original Pierneef but hey, a girl can dream.
Linocutting kit - another resolution - to scratch my crafting itch next year.
This is not a cow - it's an in-joke.
Lastly, a cheap, awesome idea for my work Christmas party - the theme is 'Stars in their Eyes/xxxx's Got Talent'. The idea is a popstar/singer - any ideas? One week to go and I'm stumped and could use some good ideas!
Sunday, 19 October 2008
Taking stock
Today, Ian and I have been living in our own flat for a year.
In that time, we've only done about half the work we need to on the place. We've incurred a fair amount of debt. We've seen the housing market drop considerably. We've not slept on a bed for a full year. We've learned to accept that we may face a scary new mortgage deal negotiation this time next year. We've placed ourselves in the worst financial position we've ever been in.
But, we totally did the right thing. We own the place. We probably wouldn't have got a mortgage in the current conditions, not for the figure we wanted. We've argued about paint colours. We've debated about fireplaces, blinds, floors, couches, ferns! And I've learned a lot about Ian, about where our tastes and ideas clash, and where they meet.
Also. We got a cat. We've been to 3 weddings. We both got promotions. I have another baby nephew, and another cousin on the way.
It's a good year to look back on!
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
The Chairman
To show you how cute my kitty is, and to test flickr blogging, here is a picture of the Chairman from last night.
It's getting darker and cooler thesedays, and only recently have we been having evening/weekend fires. We're holding off switching on the central heating until November (that's the plan at least - I had a rather shivery trip to the bedroom after my shower this morning, which is the usual clincher) so we're holeing up in the living room, next to the fire, when we can.
The Chairman (or CHE! MIN! MYOW! as I sometimes call him) hasn't been too keen on the fire - his eyes go a bit wild when he sees it and I don't think he was associating any warmth with this freaking weird orange jumpy light he was seeing. So we got a rug from Ikea (great idea for a rug by the way, it's made of Ikea product fabric offcuts - well, it's totally cooler than it sounds) and popped it on the floor in front of the fireplace.
Since then, he's reduced to meowy, furry mush once the heat starts pumping.
Winter's shaping up to be a cosy one.
It's getting darker and cooler thesedays, and only recently have we been having evening/weekend fires. We're holding off switching on the central heating until November (that's the plan at least - I had a rather shivery trip to the bedroom after my shower this morning, which is the usual clincher) so we're holeing up in the living room, next to the fire, when we can.
The Chairman (or CHE! MIN! MYOW! as I sometimes call him) hasn't been too keen on the fire - his eyes go a bit wild when he sees it and I don't think he was associating any warmth with this freaking weird orange jumpy light he was seeing. So we got a rug from Ikea (great idea for a rug by the way, it's made of Ikea product fabric offcuts - well, it's totally cooler than it sounds) and popped it on the floor in front of the fireplace.
Since then, he's reduced to meowy, furry mush once the heat starts pumping.
Winter's shaping up to be a cosy one.
Monday, 13 October 2008
New things
This is just a placeholder note, really, to say I've moved here now from the old rockitgirl site.
Please bookmark or update your blogroll to refer to http://rockit-girl-za.blogspot.com/ from now on.
It's pretty basic at the moment, but will hopefully improve when I find the time.
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