mittfh

Interesting error...

This week I received a letter from my local council containing a rather dry consultation on how to negotiate a cut imposed on them from on high.

However, there was a rather interesting error (corrected in another letter the following day) on their equality questionnaire...

First version

(Helpful hint: look at the first question)

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Neil Armstrong dies

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Alas Neil will be taking no more small steps anywhere. He died earlier today at the age of 82, apparently from complications following heart surgery three weeks ago.

Source: NBC News.

Obituary (BBC News)

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EOF's whereabouts

Just in case anyone's wondering where EnemyofFun has disappeared to... he's got caught up in events that took place a long time in a galaxy far away :)

Courtesy of a post he made to Google+ this morning:

Sorry for being absent for so long in my writing...I assure you nothing bad has happened. I've actually kinda got sucked into Star Wars The Old Republic. I did writing almost 5 pages of my latest chapter for Season...here's hoping I can take some time off TOR to actually finish off the chapter :)

So now you know :)

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Doesn't time fly...

...when you're having fun!

I've now been entertaining you all with my mixture of witty, inane, sometimes over-analytical and occasionally pertinant / well thought-out comments for just over three years now, believe it or not...

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Wiggo Wins!

Just got back from a nice walk around the local area, checked the news to see if the TdF had finished...

...and yup, it had and there were no unforseen calamities, so we ended up with the perfect result as predicted for the past few days: Cav won the stage, Wiggo won the race, and Froome was second.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/18946960

Congratulations to all three!

Next stop: a certain quadrennial sporting event... which starts on Friday evening for most, but Wednesday afternoon for the footballers (!)

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23 million hits!

I've just noticed on the hit counter at the bottom of the page that we've now exceeded 23 million hits (plus an extra 9,000) since 16th June 2005. Yay us! :D

That works out at about 3 ¼ million hits per year, nearly 9,000 hits per day, 370 hits per hour or 6 hits per minute (have I ever mentioned I like playing around in spreadsheets?)

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Another sporting gender controversy

This has to count as one of the most bizzare stories ever to come out of the world of sport:

A female Indian athlete who won a gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games appeared in court on Friday charged with raping her former lover who has alleged that she is actually a man.

Pinki Pramanik was remanded in custody for 14 days to await trial on allegations that she repeatedly raped her female live-in partner.

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Armstrong accused of doping (again!)

It appears as though the US Anti Doping Agency can't leave Lance Armstrong alone - they've written a fifteen page letter to him littered with yet more allegations dating as far back as 1996, claiming a "pervasive pattern of doping" over many years.

Unsurprisingly, Armstrong has hit back: "I have never doped ... These charges are baseless [and] motivated by spite ... These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation."

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Denmark allows gay marriages... in church!

Spotted on Google+, shared by a prominent Googler (Kristoffer Sorensen):

The Danish Folketing has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a full ecclesiastical marriage service in the national Evangelical-Lutheran church for homosexual couples, to be instituted as a full, official marriage equal to that of heterosexual couples.

After a lengthy and sometimes heated debate, which ran some three hours over its expected time, 85 members voted in favour of the law, 24 against and with two abstentions.

Source: Politiken.dk

Apparently, the reason the Folketing can rule in this way is that the Protestant Church in Denmark is a State Church.

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The Indy: "...let's forget gender altogether."

There's an interesting comment piece in today's Indy. It mainly deals with gender roles in the workplace (so arguing from the WISE / MICE point of view1), but could be applied more widely:

Instead of fighting for gender equality, let’s forget gender altogether

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Happy Birthday To Me

Yes, well, erm, I've notched up another milestone on my journey through life. In years gone by, I'd be exactly half way through my allotted three score and ten, but with the way both longetivity and statutory minimum retirement ages keep rising, I might still be as fit as a fiddle and in work by then. I can but hope :)

So... thirty five years I've been on this planet (well, I will have been as of about 5:45pm tonight, as mum will frequently remind me at this time of year!) - here's to many more.

Cheers! :)

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ZW politician blames women for HIV

You might want to move your keyboard out of the way so you can bang your head against your desk in desperation at this...

It's about what you'd expect from many African politicians - effectively putting the onus of the blame for the spread of HIV onto women (presumably under the impression that it's completely impossible for their menfolk to control their philandering ways).

The synopsis of what this latest politican to make a completely bonkers statement on the issue can be neatly summed up in this tweet:

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Any musicians around?

You may remember several weeks ago, one of Bailey Summers' original songs from Jem got a very positive reception. At the time, only the lyrics existed.

When I read it, I started to get the inklings of a tune, and with Bailey's permission, have attempted writing some music for it (my first attempt at composing since GCSE Music in 1993-95!). Bailey approves, so now the next stage is to publish it here, in the hope we've got some arrangers / musicians / singers who can take Bailey's words and my melody / chords, and work some magic with them.

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MP spouts nonsense on gay marriage

Just in case those of you in the US thought your politicians had cornered the market in spouting nonsense in their campaigning against gay marriage, one of ours has apparently decided that it opens the door to bigamy and child marriage...

Ho hum.

The story's featured in the Huffington Post.

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Underwear fetish?

A recently arrested chap in Thailand gives a whole new meaning to the term "Panty thief". How about a collection of 10,000 pairs of women's underwear?!
He's been convicted of breaking and entering but not theft, as (perhaps unsurprisingly) nobody's reported their undies disappearing...

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2012/02/14/thai-man-10000-pairs...

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For the rest of us...

As an antidote to all the soppy romantic songs that will be filling the airwaves today, here's a few for the benefit of the happy singletons among us:

Females (pretty unambiguous!)

Males (yes, it's as cheesy as heck, but there aren't many from a male POV!)

In general (miles better than the original soundtrack!)

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Washington State to allow same-sex marriage

Breaking News on Google+ originally shared this post:

Washington becomes 7th US state to allow same-sex marriage, as Gov. Gregoire signs bill into law Olympia, Wash., USA

+KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reports that Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed Washington State's gay marriage bill into law. The measure takes effect June 7.

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New DarkRealms Resource

Back in the early days of The DarkRealms Universe (when we'd only been introduced to a couple of vampires), I sensed that it had the potential to expand and introduce us to Lots of Characters. So, rather than attempting to write a story (which knowing my writing speed you'd probably see sometime never!), I decided to create a Wiki to hold information on the people, places and events connected with Ravencrest.

So here it is: The DarkRealms Universe Wiki.

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Avatars (comment / message pictures)

OK, the feature only appeared yesterday, but since I've already had one person asking me how to do it, I thought it might turn out to be a FAQ in time.

So, you may have noticed since the upgrade that some people have small images sitting in the top right corner of their comments:

Example

If you think that's a cool feature, and would like to know how to do it yourself, read on...

Forums: 

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Happy New Year!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.


Happy New Year Everyone!

May 2012 bring you increased peace, happiness and joy.

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Lulu - 12 days of coupons

As ever with Lulu, any excuse to put on an offer... :)

This time, there'll be a different offer each day for the next eight days (it's day four today, they didn't send an email for the previous days). As this set of offers started on 14th, which was also when the previous offer ended, it's likely there'll be a new year sale when this one ends...

http://www.lulu.com/holiday_coupons

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EAFOAB summaries - volunteers?

If you've followed my occasional ramblings over the past couple of years, you may remember I once embarked on the foolish quest to compose a spreadsheet containing summaries of all the "Bike" episodes, together with some other relevant background information.

PS and I worked together to get the first 1,000 done, then I largely took over until the 1280s whereby my life got busier and I fell behind.

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Seasonal humour...

Posted on Facebook by someone from one of my other networks...

Dear Santa,

This year can I please have a big fat bank account and a slim body?
Please don't mix 'em up, like you did last year!!!!

Thanks,

__________
 
 
 
 
P.S. I have tried really hard to be good this year.
 
 
 
 
P.P.S. The incident with the greasy pig wasn't proved.

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Interesting dance video...

YouTube themselves are helping this interesting dance sequence (titled Miracle on 42nd Street) go viral, and it is getting a lot of attention.

I wonder if any of the males on "Strictly Come Dancing" or "Dancing with the Stars" would be brave enough to follow in the footsteps of Zac Hammer here... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZqz94ODz18

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The perils of women drivers...

Apparently allowing women to drive would increase prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce.

Yes, we're talking Saudi Arabia, and one particularly loopy academic (Kamal Subhi) who's submitted that description as part of a report to the country's legislative assembly, the Shura, in an attempt to get it to drop plans to reconsider the ban on women drivers.

You can read more about this rather strange report over at BBC News. Further evidence it's a mad world out there.

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Man claims ex-girlfriend stole his sperm(!)

This has to be one of the most bizarre cases I've ever read. Boyfriend didn't want children so used condoms. Girlfriend did so saved the sperm they contained, cryogenically preserved them, then at a later date defrosted the little wrigglers and had twins via IVF. Unsurprisingly, when the ex-boyfriend found out, he wasn't exactly pleased...

Ex-girlfriend hid sperm and used for in-vitro pregnancy: suit

Oh, and look at the page filename for the tabloid version of the headline...

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New Statesman review of "My Transsexual Summer"

This popped up in my Twitter feed today: Juliet Jacques in the New Statesman examines My Transsexual Summer, while also taking an opportunity to comment on media coverage in general of those on the transgender spectrum. The article also links to several other reviews of the series so far.

New Statesman - My Transsexual Summer: The trouble with television

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Keeping up the theme of recent comments...

Those of you who've been here a few years may remember a devilishly difficult Christmas tune acronym quiz I've run over the past few years.

As it's still November, I thought I'd share with you the answer sheet - so allowing you plenty of opportunities to download it, abridge it and save a copy with the answers removed to try out on your friends / family / neighbours / colleagues etc.

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Product Placement (image)

Seen on Richard Wiseman's blog. If you have had a sense of humour bypass or hate carefully arranged images with a passion, don't read any further.

For those of you remaining, this might tickle the cyclists among you. The photographer was presumably commissioned to produce a photograph featuring a (fully clothed!) couple posing in front of a bicycle.

Then the photographer got inspired - while the models were probably completely unaware of the rather 'interesting' framing...

http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/a-tad-rude/

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Lulu offer

Lulu seem to like having regular offers - they've just launched another one for UK readers, which is valid until 11:59pm Friday.

20% off site-wide, up to a maximum discount of  £100.

The code is: EARLYSHOPPERUK305

So if you've been procrastinating over the possibility of buying one of Maddy's books... :)

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Story help

I'm currently writing a story consisting of a mash-up of several fairy tales, with the obligatory TG twist. Courtesy of death threats made shortly after birth, the protagonist (currently about 6 years old) is prohibited from leaving the (small) castle where (s)he lives. However, at some point before the teenage years start, she will need to leave the castle so various assassination attempts (all of which will, of course, be unsuccessful) can take place.

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Dual Controls (Original version)

Dual Controls
by mittfh
 
Copyright © 2011 Ben Norwood.
Creative Commons License  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.

On the way to a Halloween Ball, a boy meets a girl.... and a genie. What could possibly go wrong?!


Flash 365

Something interesting mentioned on BBC Radio 4 the other day - a chap who's set himself the unenviable task of publishing a new piece of flash fiction (very short story written in a single 'burst', usually inspired by a 'prompt') every day for a year. He started on 1st May, and each month uses a new theme for his prompts. September is based on poetry, October will be Barbara Cartland book titles.

I've set the audience rating to mature after reading the current (as of now) entry - a recipe with a difference...

http://flash365.blogspot.com/

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Another GabyCon review

Here's an alternative bit of waffle about the GabyCon - this time from my perspective :)

Having attended my first GabyCon last year and enjoyed it so much, I readily signed up to this year's. Despite not having ridden (rode?) a bicycle for the best part of 16 years (since going to uni), I was brave / foolish enough to volunteer to take part in this year's bicycle ride. But more on that later.

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What will they think of next?!

On the one hand, it's a 16 GB USB flash drive.

On the other, it can also be used in a completely different 'port'.

I'm not entirely sure who'd want to pay $140 for this, and would you really want to use it for one purpose after using it for the other purpose?

Needless to say, there's plenty of joking in the "Best Rated" comments.

Read more to find out what I'm wittering on about: Here's the article (in the Daily Wail, of all places!)

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Salut d'Amour

Salut d'Amour
Lyrics by mittfh, tune by Edward Elgar
 
Lyrics copyright © 2011 Ben Norwood.

Creative Commons License  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.

Listening to Elgar's piece this morning, I thought it sounded very lyrical. Unable to find any sung versions other than this cute K-pop version, I hit upon the idea of writing a TG-themed set of lyrics to the tune. The first lyric came pretty quickly - I apologise for the second - there aren't many words that rhyme with "am"! Verse 2 was written during a quiet helpdesk session this afternoon, and the bridge this evening.

I've tried to keep as close to the tune as possible, although it does get a little tenuous at times (the tune's bridge deviates from uniformity towards the end, as does the final verse). Anyway, enough waffling, on with the lyrics...

Gender stereotypes (YT videos)

A couple of interesting videos that YouTube decided to recommend to me.

First up, a witty animation (in the style of BUPA adverts) looking at gender stereotypes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIwWS2atEmc

I would advise you stay away from the comments though - there's some troll feeding going on (one commenter equating feminism and lesbianism with satanism. Oh dear...)

Second up, "What's wrong with Gender Roles?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swcXk-uqqLk

Oh, and Lizzie appears to have attracted a much nicer bunch of commentators :)

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Gender Bent Justice League (Cosplay)

Spotted in a comment by edinjapan to Chicago Water Torture 2 - a story about a group of cosplayers who portray gender-reversed Justice League members.

"One night, we were all hanging out and I said how funny it would be if we had a whole Justice League with swapped sexes."
(one member of the group: Tallest Silver)

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Member for: 2 years 1 day

Doesn't time fly? I apparently first signed up to BCTS on 24th July 2009.

Looking back through "Track", my first 66 comments (including several on the first day!) were all in response to a single story (albeit different chapters!).

1 year 48 weeks ago I posted my first blog entries and found some other stories to comment on.
1 year 33 weeks ago saw me inflicting you with my Christmas Tunes Acronym Quiz (did I ever give out the answers link?)
1 year 26 weeks ago saw my first two stories arrive.

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Chicago Water Torture 2

Chicago Water Torture 2

(The training / torture continues)   (AquaGirl 3)

by mittfh

Copyright © Ben Norwood 2010-2011

Creative Commons License

(Comments competition - devise a suitably witty teaser for this space...)

With thanks to Lilith, Lynceus and EnemyOfFun - you know your roles in producing this!
Just remembered! Thanks also to the BCTS Google+ users who beta'd this last night :)

AquaGirl

Image credits:
  Original: DC Comics
(found @ ComicVine)
  Modified: mittfh

Another birthday!

(Yup - it really seems to be the season for birthdays and anniversaries!)

I have it on good authority that the person responsible for these characters (and many more)...

Montage of ten EOF characters

...has a birthday today.

And not just any birthday... it's one of the milestone ones. (No, this person has definitely not arrived at their End Of File!)

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Trope:Play - The Challenge

Following an idea from Lilith in response to my (very) short story Trope: Averted...

Take a trope (but preferably one that tends to be associated with TG fiction, such as this list I compiled earlier [i.e. about 18 months ago])...

...and either avert it, subvert, invert it or otherwise play with it (the link contains brief examples of each).

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