Mum, YOU ROCK!

I love my mum for a multitude of reasons, not least because she birthed me, clothed me and fed me for a good 20 years and had to endure the rather hideous teenage years [I was a teenage goth, enough said] but I also have great respect for her as a woman, as she instilled all my feminist values in me from a very young age and lived them as best she could herself. She also has my utmost respect for being a compassionate human being that works tirelessly with the elderly mentally infirm as a nurse. Every day I marvel at the patience, love and understanding she has for the elderly and I am dumbfounded at how well she deals with the suffering and loss. She is a bloody great woman and I love her a great deal. With this in mind, for the few of you that do read this blog, please go here. It's a campaign run by the Fawcett Society, to get every premiership footballer [including the SPL] to donate a day's wages to a fund to help support the UK's nurses.

I think it is a damn fine idea and besides, the WAG's could do without a designer handbag in the name of supporting women that actually work for a living, cant they?

Gotta love this woman

The artwork for Bjork's new album Volta [due out May 7th]. She said this about the album:

The album cover is meant to evoke pagan femininity and, to some degree, feminism, which is a running theme throughout the music of Volta. "It's not necessarily about me as a woman, but just women," Björk told Stosuy. "Kind of that long leap of 10,000 years back, when they [were] in harmony with nature, and just little things like the fact that there are 13 full moons in a year and most women have certain things happening to them 13 times a year, but Christianity wanted to have 12 months, just to try to put that off." "It's sort of trying to put out some good vibes for the little princesses out there. There are actually other things than losing a glass slipper. I mean, part of it was having a little daughter and realizing, what are we telling girls? All these books out there about finding your prince. All these little girls, all they want to do is be pretty and find their prince, and I'm like, what happened to feminism here?"

Can hardly wait.

excerpt from pitchfork

another reason to despise China

Today, the news from China, a country that still thinks it is OK to breed tigers for their traditional 'medicines' and have bears perform like circus clowns, there comes some rather worrying news. China is preparing to call for a lift of the ban in tiger products. Xiongsen is the world's largest battery farm of tigers, bred not only for their 'entertainment' value to visitors but for their ultimate use in traditional 'medicines'. This treatment of endangered animals as a disposable commodity makes me sick to my stomach and despair of human beings. In addition to their atrocious record of human rights violations, they seem unperturbed at their abuse of endangered species as well.

China, you should be ashamed of yourself.

more on this story here

EDIT:

more shockingly disgusting behaviour from China

Things I love about London #0001

This will be a series of things I love about London.

#0001 - the fact that my bike ride to and from work features both Abbey rd and Wimpole St.

just when you think....

that we, as women, are advancing in this old patriarchy, something like this comes along and makes you wanna rant, loudly.

I mean sure, football is a sport predominantly played by men, supported by men and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

See? that's what happens when football is mentioned, loud snoring from sheer boredom.

I really could not care less about the sport itself but really, having a cunt does not disqualify you from commentating on football. Particularly as this woman played the sport herself and is as well qualified if not more so than any arm chair pundit out there who shouts at the telly on a Sat afternoon.

Time to play nice boys.

Anti-feminist Bingo!

brought to you via feministe and by hoyden about town

If I had a quid for every time I had read or heard most of those statements/opinions I would be a very rich lady or a winner at Bingo.

cutest kid and future feminist

I know this has done the rounds already but it is seriously cute.

amusing take on life, love & the music industry

Ethical is like so cool, so chic, dontcha know?

Observer Woman Monthly, yet again manages to make me [and others] seethe.

This month, 'Ethical is Chic', allegedly. Does ethical living really need to be 'sold' to us in a fashion package in order for us to take it seriously? Will wearing Stella McCartney** heels, an Edun dress and swinging an Anya Hindmarch handbag really make me sleep better at night? Well the Vogue girls say yes, so I guess that's it settled. As if the bloody fashionistas out there dont make us 'normal' [ for normal read, not a size zero, prone to picking up a bargain in Primark and never likely to spend £1000 on a designer handbag] women feel bloody worthless enough, now we are not even fashionable enough to be green. Well screw you OWM [ I channel Cartman every now and then] my ethical status is just fine thank you, I can live without fashion facism invading yet another sphere of my life, so bugger off.

And as if all that ethical is chic guff was not enough to incite my wrath, they had to go and print this utter shite

an excerpt:

Introducing then, the Cadogram Agency, a collection of seducers, rakes and immoral (yet highly handsome) men, available for hire. Promising an antidote to 'dreary dates' with 'boorish dullards', Piper and his pals (collective girlfriend count: 'several thousand') offer 'a zest- filled lightning encounter with a masterly raconteur, a rakish man of the world ... Someone,' they say, 'who will hold doors open for you, take command of the situation', and 'pay you undivided attention in the most stylish manner'. Quite a boast. They will also compliment your eyes, look at your arse and flirt with your mate. You can put money on it. Money which, it's fair to say, you'll be splashing around like dirty water - an evening with one of the eight cads available costs £500, and dinner's on you. 'Yes, you'll go somewhere swanky and nobby,' David says, 'perhaps the Wolseley, or Claridge's, and he'll turn up 45 minutes late, drunk.' So far, so fine. 'Then he'll proceed to charm you thoroughly, and get you excited about your future, talking about holidays you could go on, and trips you could take together. It'll never happen.' Sweet. 'He'll keep the intensity rising, while constantly cutting away at it by flirting with the waitress, and returning from the toilet with lipstick traces on his collar. And all night he'll be secretly stealing taxi money.'

OH right, so that's what's been missing from my life! An opportunity to spend £500 + for an evening with an utter bastard. Think I'll decline thanks, I've over spent on bastards already this month.

FOR. THE. LOVE. OF. JEBUS.

*takes myself off to count to ten, to stop shaking and to clean my keyboard from all the spit that was the result of my vitriolic outburst

**for the record I really like Stella McCartney, she shares the same values as me [vegan, PETA member] but I still aint gonna spend nearly £500 on your shoes love.

another sad loss

And so time to say goodbye to one of my favourite authors and indeed favourite humans. I didn't think I would warm to his war stories and quirky sci-fi tales but he really did engage me and had just about the best attitude to life. You will be missed Mr Vonnegut but your fabulous books will remain. May you rest in peace.

Mourning Miles

It is with great sadness that I post this today.

My good friend Jill Mingo's little grey gentleman died in the early hours of this morning, in his owners arms. He got ill quite suddenly and was diagnosed with a tumour in his belly and not long to live. This was little over a week ago.

He lived a great life with the gregarious, loyal and outrageous Jill Mingo. He came to her approx 14 years ago, from a cat rescue home and soon enough settled down as Jill's little grey husband. Through all Jill trials and tribulations, he has been a constant friend and companion and shared his hosting/entertaining skills with Jill, in a laid back, perfectly feline way.

I loved the little fella, much like I love all the great cats I have ever known, he was gorgeous and sweet and if he were human, would have been a silver haired fox of a man.

May you rest in peace little man, I have a feeling that somewhere, somehow you may well be keeping some of Jill's other favourite people company, miss Anna Nicole Smith & mr James Brown.