incurable hippie\\\'s musings and rantsincurable hippie\\\'s musings and rantsAbout me? Mad, in debt, feminist, radical, angry, pacifist, warrior, radio 4 listener, geek, flower-power chick... About Hippie blog? Ramblings, photos, fury, giggles and musings about love, peace, friendship, madness, happiness, the state of the wor Articles
Smokers Welcome!
2007-07-02 20:53:00 So, we can no longer smoke in pubs, cafes, *phone boxes* (?!), and numerous other places.If you want to know those places where we *can* still smoke, check this rather handy site out: www.smokerswelcome.co.uk. That's my tip of the day. More About: Smokers
Blair Charge Sheet
2007-06-30 18:08:00 BLAIR CHARGE SHEET from SchNEWS Name of accused: BLAIR, ANTHONY CHARLES LYNTOND.O.B: 06/05/1953Address: 10 Downing St, London N.F.AOccupation: Professional LiarReligion: Church Of England CatholicEthnic Grouping: X1 Lizard The above named person is hereby charged with the following offence/s: DATE OF OFFENCE/S: From 2nd May 1997 to 26th June 2007 MURDER: On MARCH 21st 2003 You did conspire with others to murder civilians of Iraq contrary to the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. KIDNAPPING: From September 11th 2001 you participated in a scheme of abduction and torture known as 'extraordinary rendition' contrary to Common Law. TERRORISM: (i) It is charged that you were an active member of proscribed terrorist group, namely THE COALITION (ii) that you created fear or 'terror' for ideological goals, attempting to force political change with violence, or the threat of violence, and deliberately targetting non-combatants, contrary to the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000. FALSE IMP... More About: Charge , Sheet , Blair , Char , Shee
Sheffield Floods
2007-06-26 17:05:00 I'm ok. I'm dry, I have electricity (at the moment) and a mobile phone signal (sometimes), and I live on top of a hill.Many weren't so lucky. RAF Rescue helicopters came from Scotland (a long way away, for non-Brits) and Suffolk (also a long way away) and were lifting people from buildings. Many roads became fast-flowing rivers and two people died. Z has had no power for over 24 hours, C lives in a building which had 3 feet of water outside, trapping her and others in. People in a housing estate in Middlewood have been evacuated and their homes are completely wrecked.We are under an Environment Agency 'Severe Flood Warning' and homes up the hill from me had no power, while my local supermarket had to keep staff and customers overnight as noone could get in or out of the flooded carpark.'They' are waiting for a dam to burst between Sheffield and Rotherham, and have closed the motorway because if it does burst, it would not only flood the motorway but would clash with 270,000 v... More About: Floods , Field
BBC Britain in Pictures
2007-06-13 11:38:00 The following of my photos are on the BBC Britain in Pictures website. How excited am I?! (I can't view that page with firefox btw).Park Hill flats, Sheffield.Jessop Hospital for Women, SheffieldClaywood Flats, Sheffield - Demolition by NibblerWeston Park Museum, SheffieldFirth Court, University of SheffieldSheffield Town HallWinter Gardens, SheffieldAlso on PhilippaPhotography blog.
' havng t d a s-eang -st becse a 've bren y cter-
2007-06-02 11:51:00 Gabcast! incurable hippie's musings and rants #5
Gosh, it's been a while. I've been to two weddings...
2007-05-31 17:05:00 Gosh, it's been a while. I've been to two weddings, the pigeons have progressed hugely, and can now fly! Briefly...And today I ventured out to do some charity shopping and everyone was talking about a car randomly exploding in the street. However, that didn't prepare me... it was a shocking sight. Thankfully noone was in it.It was on Ecclesall Road, for any Sheffielders wondering...The main charity shop excitement was that I bought a barometer. I have wanted one for years and only once saw one on sale, also in a charity shop, which I have always bitterly regretted not buying. I was extra pleased that this one was only Ł2.50. It made me daftly happy!There is so much to update, and so little energy to do it. I'll get there. More About: Weddings , While , Been
AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals...
2007-05-19 23:09:00 Thanks to Positive Atheism, I can bring you this pile of shite touching homage to the recently deceased Jerry Falwell. If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being.-- Rev Jerry Falwell (attributed: source unknown)This is probably as bad a day as the court has had on social issues since "Roe v Wade."-- Rev Jerry Falwell, reacting to the Supreme Court's ruling in the Texas sodomy case, "Lawrence v. Texas," wherein the high court upheld an individual's (or a couple's) right to privacy; "It is a promise of the Constitution that there is a realm of personal liberty which the government may not enter," said Justice Anthony M Kennedy, for the majority in an opinion "as broad in its constitutional vision as any ever issued by the court," wrote Charles Lane for The Washington Post; in his dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia, an extremist Evangelical Christian, complained that the justices voting to uphold the right to privacy were creating a new constitutional rig... More About: Sexual , Punishment , Aids , Unis , Nish
IDAHOmophobia
2007-05-18 19:00:00 Yesterday I went to the Sheffield event for the International Day Against Homophobia - IDAHO. There were speakers, a one-minute noise, and an LGB choir. It was good actually, with a reasonable turnout.The speakers consisted of Jan Wilson, leader of Sheffield Council; Steve Slack, Director of the Centre for HIV and Sexual Health; Paul Broadbent, Assistant Chief Constable, South Yorkshire Police; Clive Skelton, Liberal Democrat Councillor; Alan Jones, Chair of the Area Child Protection Committee; Jackie Drayton, the former Lord Mayor of Sheffield; Graham Jones, Amnesty International; and the fantastically fabulous Claire Donnelly, of the Sheffield City Council LGBT Council Officer Group.My photographs of the demo are available to view here, and the Sheffield Star's report on it is here.Now, we just need to end homophobia! Let's all get on the case. More About: Idaho , Phobia
Eurovision and Pigeon-vision.
2007-05-12 23:17:00 So, it's that single night of the year when Terry Wogan is actually funny. I usually get really annoyed at the point of the results when I can't remember which act was which, so for the first time, this year I actually made notes... Tragic, I know.I suspect I am the only person in Europe to have actually liked the French entry...In terms of pigeons, they are getting notably bigger, and the feathers are beginning to look like proper feathers. Enjoy!Day 7:Day 8:Day 9:Day 10: More About: Eurovision , Pigeon , Sion , Visi , Vision
Pigeon Progress.
2007-05-07 19:29:00 The squabs are growing at quite a rapid rate. They are also getting more spiky grey hairs (beginnings of their feathers, I think) and the yellow hairy stuff is reducing. Intriguing process!!Day 4:Day5:Day 6:See: Pigeon Progress set on flickr.Now, when's the snooker back on?
Rapist For Sale.
2007-05-05 22:50:00 Oh - where is your sense of humour - it's only a toy!Amazon is selling a rapist.Rapist Number One is a character from Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse. The toy demonstrates the extent to which rape is taken seriously in our society. Sexual violence is a subject of play and entertainment. Amazon is obviously on the quest for rape-profits through this surrender to male porn culture. No doubt they will accrue much male approval, particularly from the little tikes who want to play at rape with their Barbies on the lounge carpet, giving them the enormous relief of being to act out in play, the vulgar and brutal little fantasies that roam around their peanut-sized brains.Of course the arguments will be that it is just a toy and that even graphical depictions of rape and violence do not lead to actual violence. We don't accept the premise of such 'WeirdWorld' justifications because EVEN if that were true, it still ignores the fact that rape and sexual violence are being used as someth... More About: For Sale , Sale
Pigeon Chicks Day 2.
2007-05-03 23:43:00 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } 100_3755, originally uploaded by incurable_hippie. People keep telling me they're cute...I still think they're really ugly. I do, however, wish them no harm and am quite interested to witness their growing-up progress. More About: Pigeon , Chicks , S Day
Pigeon Chicks.
2007-05-02 21:53:00 Baby pigeons are really, really ugly.And there are two on my balcony.The eggs were small and white and perfect, and I was kinda hoping for cute little things. But no. REALLY ugly.Ah well, you live and learn. More About: Pigeon , Chicks
Blog Against Disablism Day 2007.
2007-05-01 23:16:00 This post is mainly a republishing of an earlier post, to mark Blog ging Again st Disablism Day. Unfortunately, things haven't changed since February 2006 when I posted it originally, and some areas seem to be getting worse.I wish this post could be celebrating the reduction in disablism when it comes to mental health treatment, stigma and support, but with the Incapacity Benefit fiasco, and mental health care services being slashed (no pun intended, maybe) this government's so called 'priority' of mental health care is clearly either a huge lie, or they have really fuckin weird ways of prioritising things. Self-Harm and Medical TreatmentThe National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), in 2004 issued some guidelines on The short-term physical and psychological management and secondary prevention of self-harm in primary and secondary careThese include instructions such as, People who have self-harmed should be treated with the same care, respect and privacy as any pa...
Funerals and Words.
2007-04-24 22:37:00 Where's my banner gone?!Z and I went to Helen's funeral this morning. It was pretty harrowing, and the minister talking of new hope in God, and of Helen's demons was really not, NOT, appropriate for me. I actually wanted to shout at him several times, but of course didn't. It wasn't just him, of course, that made it awful. The fact that we were at the funeral of such a good friend was the worst thing. She was too young, too kind, too funny, too... And she's gone. There's nothing like a coffin to bring that home with a punch to the stomach.A few cans of Stella, too many cigarettes and a film have helped me through the evening. I just want the day to end now really.In other news, according to Gender Genie, my Le Pen blog entry is female, my entry about Helen is female, my entry about Charliegrrl and bullying is male, and my sexual violence is terrorism entry is male. My entry about the Park Hill murder is male, my letter to John O is male, Sheffield women, avoid this man! is fe... More About: Words , Funeral
Dieu Merci!
2007-04-22 21:15:00 Le Pen came in fourth. There were worries he'd be in the top two, but Sarkozy got 30%, Segolene Royal 25%, and Le Pen dragging with 11.5%. While it is horrifying that 11% of French people voted for him (and on the news earlier this week, it was said that 8% of Muslims were going to vote for him! Argh!), it is very very good that he's nowhere near the top two who will be going to the next stage.Incredibly high turnout too, which I hope was because people realised Le Pen might have a chance if they didn't turn out.I do see that voting sometimes doesn't result in a hugely democratic process, but I do think that with evil bastards like him standing, sometimes it's vital to be tactical. More About: Merc
You Know It's Not Good When...
2007-04-18 21:56:00 your GP gives you antibiotics for sinusitis, and the instructions say,Take two on the first day, then OD. More About: When , Know , Good
One of my best friends has died. She was found o...
2007-04-13 18:52:00 One of my best friends has died. She was found on Monday and probably killed herself some time last week or at the weekend.I am devastated and stunned. Don't know what to do with myself.I found out on Wednesday, after much detective work by me and others, when we were really worried at not having been able to contact her for a while.Rest in peace, Helen. I hope where you are now is better than where you were then. More About: Friends , Friend , Best , Died , Best friends
Bullies Defending the Patriarchy.
2007-04-07 23:30:00 Charliegrrl has been getting a lot of abuse online after voicing her opposition to a workshop at the upcoming Ladyfest Leeds, which is to be based around criticising the recent legislation to criminalise the possession of extreme violent porn, and considering if this contributes towards women’s liberation or women’s repression..?A thread at a pro-BDSM forum has been set up to 'encourage' people to respond to Charliegrrl's views and actions, and I read most of the posts on this thread. It's nothing new, it's nothing we haven't heard a million times before, and it made my eyes glaze over.I *know* the pro-BDSM arguments and they are very loaded, and are packaged in a way to make it look really bad to oppose them. If you oppose them you are censoring people, or oppressing valid alternative sexualities, or anti-sex (that good old!), or anti-free will! There is also lots of talk about allowing women to choose to work in the empowering sex industry.This informed consent message b... More About: Patriarchy , Fendi , Bull , Ending , Tria
Sexual Violence is Terrorism.
2007-04-06 00:33:00 2 women a week are murdered in Britain by their male partner, or ex-partner. The most dangerous time for a woman who has experienced domestic violence is when she leaves, or tries to leave.The police in Britain receive 500,000 calls a year from women who suffer domestic violence.Domestic violence is the major cause of death for women under the age of 44 - more than cancer.Women are assaulted an average of 35 times by their partner before calling the police, according to the Home Office.On average, the police in Britain receive a call every minute of every day regarding domestic violence.And what are we doing with this information? This is a national crisis! An international crisis indeed, because it's not like this doesn't happen outside the UK.You want to talk about terrorism? THIS is terrorism. The terror that millions of women are facing in their homes, from men they live with who control and bully and batter and rape and kill them.Being raped in your home by the man who will d... More About: Terrorism , Terror , Violence , Sexual , Error
Gabcast - Hairy Women
2007-03-30 17:27:00 Gabcast! incurable hippie's musings and rants #4 (previous post I refer to). More About: Women , Men , Hair , Cast , Hairy
Image Mosaic - Self Portrait Challenge
2007-03-24 20:14:00 made using image mosaic generator.Week 3, online tools or cool tools.More hippie photos. More About: Port , Self , Mosaic , Challenge , Image
Justice, For Once.
2007-03-21 23:12:00 I used to live on Park Hill flats, a somewhat notorious council estate by Sheffield city centre.There is always a lot to say about Park Hill, but for now I won't be going into that. I just need to talk about one incident, and today's long-awaited update on it.In June 2002, I was woken by the smell of smoke. I leapt out of bed and went all the way round my flat, trying to find its source. When I couldn't find anything, I looked out of a window and saw the very clear cause. One of the flats opposite was very much on fire.There was a huge amount of smoke, and I watched as one of the windows shattered with the heat, letting yet more smoke out. I saw that there were people around the flat door, and for some reason I presumed that the flat belonged to one of the women standing there. I grabbed my phone to call 999, when I saw firefighters arrive.I was very frightened and disturbed by what I could see, and did not want to be part of that weird voyeuristic thing which happens to the best... More About: Justice , Just , Once
Self-Portrait Challenge - Online Tools 2.
2007-03-14 23:35:00 Following my first of the online tools self-portrait challenges, here is my second.It was created using the warholizer from fd's flickr toys.My flickr page is here, and visit also the self-portrait challenge homepage.---Technorati tags: self-portrait challenge; andy warhol; incurable_hippie; self-portrait; digital imagery. More About: Tools , Port , Self , Tool , Online
The Difference between Self-Harm and Suicide.
2007-03-12 16:36:00 Dear John O,Thank you for your emails, which I always read with interest and concern, and usually respond as best I can to calls for action.I had to respond to this one, though, because of the way you are classing self-harm and attempted suicide as one and the same thing. This is just factually incorrect and very misleading.There are many reasons why people self-harm, but it is most frequently a coping mechanism, indeed something which people can use in an attempt to *prevent* themselves getting to the point where they may end up attempting or committing suicide.Some info:There are probably as many reasons for self-harming as there are self-harmers.Some people find that when they self-harm they experience a "release" which they cannot achieve in any other way. This can be a huge relief if feelings of depression, anger, self-hatred, fear or anxiety are becoming overwhelming.Others find that when emotional pain becomes unbearable, if they hurt themselves in some way it transfers the p... More About: Self , Suicide , Between , Difference , Harm
Sheffield Women: Avoid This Man!
2007-03-10 19:13:00 Z and I were enjoying a pub lunch this afternoon when I began to be stared at and leered at by a random male stranger. He was mouthing words to me, and stared constantly at me. This made me feel upset and intimidated, but I tried to continue as if nothing was happening, and I avoided catching his gaze as far as I could.But no amount of ignoring seemed to discourage him and I began to get angry. Why should *I* feel upset and uncomfortable, when it's *him* being rude, arrogant, intimidating and a complete idiot. How dare he?!I started plotting and, inspired by sites like the fantastic Holla Back NYC - If you can't slap 'em, Snap 'em I got out my phone and took a photo of him with it. (The guy in question is the one sitting down, I've pixellated the entirely innocent guy walking behind him).He realised what I was doing and looked duly horrified, and from then until we left the pub, he didn't even glance at me. I hope I scared him, like he had scared me.And the photo is above. It... More About: Women , Men , Field , Avoid
International Women's Day
2007-03-08 20:49:00 Happy day, grrls.And in the spirit of vengeing the copper in this news story in my good city, here's another great image.---Technorati tags: IWD; Inter national Women 's Day; incurable_hippie; feminism; police brutality; misogyny; violence against women; feminist art. More About: National , Men
Self-Portrait Challenge
2007-03-07 20:13:00 texturised mini me Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie. Using the very clever textorizer tool, I created this self-portrait of me long ago.Cool tools they suggest:Queeky - drawing tool.offtype - drawing toolartpad - painting toolscribblerflashface - make a face using many variablestypedrawing - draw an image with letterswebsketch Mr Picasso Head - fun make a face tooltextorizer - turn your photo into a text imageface transformerpolaroid-o-nizer - turn your photos into polaroidstyporganism - turn your photo into typepikipimp - change your photosmovie poster - flickr toolshockney-izer - flickr toolsmillion masterpiece - image community.---Technorati tags: self-portrait; self-portrait challenge; incurable_hippie; textorizer. More About: Port , Self , Challenge , Hall , Portrait
Cars, Crap Arrests, Charges, Crossing Books and Cashback!
More articles from this author:2007-03-03 22:27:01 People in the UK would have struggled to miss the news stories about the petition against increasing the costs of driving here. Even people who are supposed to know me quite well were forwarding me the link to sign. As if!So, I was joyous to receive a link to a road pricing counter-petition, from FoE via Yorkshire CND...*Subject:* Counter petition in favour of road pricing>>Dear All,>>Friends of the Earth have created a counter petition which says:>>We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Don't Scrap the>planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy. *More details*>http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/TRACK -CARS/?signed=a395b2a.ff1944#detail#detai l>>Submitted by Tim Lewis ? **Deadline to sign up by: **11 March 2007 ?>**Signatures:** 4,686>>Please sign up ? link below. Please forward to friends>>Denise, T2000>>---------------------------------- -------------------------------------->>D ear Friends of the Earth>>I'm emailing you about the road pricing controversy that's in the new... More About: Cars , Books , Arrest , Book , Cross 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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