Concerts (and link-fest)

I don’t know what hit me yesterday (other than the nagging feeling that I really hadn’t sorted out much stuff to do over the next few months) but a quick trip to the ticket office soon had me sorted out again. So I now have tickets to see (in no particular order) :

• Skin (ex-singer from Skunk Anansie)
• Kosheen
• Michael Franti & Spearhead
• Linkin Park

and

• The Levellers

I’m sure there will be others that get bought as the year goes on, but it’s already looking like another fairly busy few months.

BBC

Over at The Register, there’s a piece about BBC Online, and the recent media hype about whether the Tories want to shut down the BBC News site. It makes for interesting reading – and has some facts I didn’t know at all, both regarding the way the BBC works and is financed, and also some statistics about the news site. 660 million page impressions per month – now that’s what I call a success story.

And they’re off (again)

Amazingly, the infamous Naked Rambler has been arrested again – and this time he’s going to court.

I’m sure there are other people who’ll know far more on the subject, but doesn’t Scotland have some wonderful laws? Naked Rambler is being accused of “being obsessive and self-indulgent” in his pursuit of the right to walk bollock-naked from Land’s End to John O’ Groats. In a different (and far nastier) story of a mother who simply dumped her murdered daughter’s body in a canal, the charge is “attempting to defeat the ends of justice“.

The latter story, I must admit, leaves me cold – she’d seen her partner kill her daughter, having beaten her up and thrown her down the stairs. She then helped her partner put the body in a weighted suitcase, and thrown it in the canal. She’s already pleased guilty to her charge, and the story is in relation to the reports on her before sentencing.

Missed Appointment

In the news today, it’s been saying that GP’s support ‘fines’ for people who miss appointments. Personally, I can’t believe it’s taken this long to happen – there are so many people who seem to book appointments then just not bother turning up because they feel better or whatever, and it’s just a complete waste of time for all involved.

I’ve never understood the attitude though – so far as I’m concerned, if I’m going to the doctors, it’s for something important. Otherwise I tend to avoid them at all costs. But I wouldn’t make appointments then simply not turn up. I hope that the fines do get introduced – but at the same time I wonder how many surgery receptionists will end up taking more flak from stroppy arseholes who miss appointments and don’t see why they should pay for the privilege of missing them.

UPDATED : Following Gert’s point in the comments box, I realise I did miss a point – as she says, there are people who make appointments for whom chaos and unpredictability are part of the issues which they’re seeking medical help for. I should have said that the fines should be introduced for either persistent missers of appointments, or perhaps if there’s no valid excuse. Yes, if someone’s suffering from depression, addiction, or similar, then appointments would be understandably missed. And then there’d be the accusations of “two-tier systems” and so on. Hmmm…

Postcodes

Finally, I get to do all the stuff with signing tenancy agreements and so on tomorrow. It’s taken long enough to happen, and I’ve gone through more hoops than the average circus pony, but it’s finally getting confirmed and signed for. I need to go to the head office for the letting agents in order to sign everything and hand over a wad of cash – so I try finding their postcode in order to look on MultiMap or wherever in order to know where the feck I’m going.

“And what’s your postcode, so I can find you on an online map?“
(mumbled) “*blah* 2DF“
“That’s 2 D-for-Dog F-for-Foxtrot, yeah?“
“Yeah“

But of course it’s not – it’s 2DS, as I found out after looking at four other sites in order to get the right postcode. Oh, and Royal Mail, your postcode finder’s shit.

It just goes on and on

Following on from the *cough* cheating case regarding “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, the BBC’s today reporting that Tecwen *cough* Whittock has patented his name in order to stop a company using Tecwen as a brand for cough-medicine. Maybe I’m wrong, but I didn’t think you could patent a name – surely it’s a trademark?

Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time our Tecwen has got his basic facts wrong – the Patent Office’s “newcomer’s guide” might help him out here. Assuming I’ve answered the questions correctly, it certainly looks like it’s a Trade Mark™ that he should have got. Pillock.

Filing

As stated below, I wanted to get the album by Martina Topley-Bird today, an album by the name of Quixotic. Now, note Martina’s double-barrelled name.

Into HMV to look for the album. Look under “T” for Topley-Bird. Nothing. Realise that HMV are cretins, and look under “M” for Martina. Nothing. Decide that maybe it’s not listed under “Pop” (christ only knows why), look in “Urban” (which appears to be the new name for “Rap”) under “T” and “M”. Nothing. Look in “Dance” – again, nothing under “T” or “M”. Inspiration (and cynicism about the intelligence of HMV Staff) strikes – ah, here it is : under “B” for Bird. *Sigh*