Lethal Injection
Posted: Sun 17 November, 2013 Filed under: Creativity, Cynicism, Legal, News, Politics, Thoughts, Weirdness 2 Comments »Apparently, a lot of American states are having serious problems with their methods when it comes to the death penalty. Lethal Injection in particular (used by the majority of the states that have a sentence of death) is facing problems, because the manufacturers of the drugs that are used are trying to block their use.
As a result, several of those states are using what are known as “compounding pharmacies” – effectively, places that can make small quantities of required drugs on-demand, a sort of grey-market DIY area instead of buying the necessary drugs/items from the manufacturers. This process is being done in secret, so no-one really knows what’s being used.
It amused me (I’m in that kind of mood) to see this quote though :
“There is no way to verify that what comes from a compounding pharmacy is what it purports to be, and that it is safe and effective.”
Sorry, but these drugs are being used to kill people. While I get that ‘effective’ is important, I’m less certain that ‘safe’ should be a concern.
Mind you, what I don’t understand is why they don’t just use significant quantities of seized illegal drugs. After all, a massive overdose of heroin (for example) or crystal meth is going to be just as effective when it comes to killing people…
End Credits
Posted: Fri 8 November, 2013 Filed under: 1BEM, Domestic, People, Seeing Films, Weirdness Leave a comment »Last night I went to see Thor2 with a friend.
It’s crap, but watchable crap – I’ve never been a massive Thor fan (well, not the comic-book version anyway) but it’s OK.
However.
It’s a Marvel film, and (to my recall) all Marvel films are known to have at least one ‘during-the-credits’ extra scene, which is usually worth hanging around for. Thor2 actually has two – one mid-credits, and one right at the end. Which is fine – it’s (I thought) a known thing, or at least should be to regular cinema-goers, and fans of Marvel films. I know a lot of people on Twitter have mentioned them, so I figured they were well-known.
But it amazed me how many people started leaving as soon as the credits started. I reckon a good 60% of the audience had gone by the time the first ‘during-the-credits’ scene appeared, and probably 95% had gone by the time of the final one. OK, the scenes aren’t essential to the main film or anything like that, but they’re fun additions – I’m just surprised by how many people apparently still don’t know that these things happen.
Premature Celebration
Posted: Sat 26 October, 2013 Filed under: Domestic, People, Weirdness 2 Comments »I don’t know why, but as a nation we seem to be making a real habit of celebrating things earlier than their assigned dates – and not just the Festering Season.
Tonight – October 26th – I’ve had about four sets of people knocking on the door for Hallowe’en / “Trick or Treat” shenanigans, and I know lots of places are doing Hallowe’en parties. Don’t forget, Hallowe’en isn’t even until Thursday – so we’re not even on the nearest weekend to the poxy thing.
And then we’ve also had the village fireworks display – and that’s still two weeks away!
Widow
Posted: Thu 24 October, 2013 Filed under: 1BEM, Cynicism, Daily Mail, Health, Media, News, People, Stupidity, Weirdness Leave a comment »This year’s symptom of the media Silly Season appears to be the “False Widow” spider, which is the UK’s most venomous spider, but is also nowhere near as poisonous/bad/evil as it’s been portrayed, along with the resultant hysteria.
For whatever reason though, it’s been all over the news, with hysterical coverage about people who’ve been bitten “and nearly died“. Of course, it’s hard to gauge how near-to-death anyone was when they actually survived – I could say I “nearly died” anytime I cough, sneeze, or have a particularly strenuous dump.
The latest ridiculously hysterical reaction was the closure of a school in the Forest of Dean because of ‘an infestation’ of false widows (for fuck’s sake)
Now yes, I’m quite sure the bite hurts – and that there are a tiny minority of people who react badly to said bites, in the same way that there’s a small selection of people who react badly to wasp stings, peanuts etc. But it’s a tiny minority who get bitten at all (most just introduce spider to literature anyway) and an even tinier minority therein who react in such a way. But if you read the media, they’re everywhere, and everyone’s being bitten.
I know, I know, it’s always been thus with the media – compare any hysterical theme story with people you actually know, and you’ll find that most of them are stories that only happen to a tiny minority. Supposedly it’s that fact that makes the stories “news”, but that hype then blows it all out of proportion/sanity, leaving idiots people with the impression it’s happening everywhere.
Sometimes I wish the media would just shut the fuck up about stupid hype-ridden hyperbolic stories, and (in an ideal world) allow people to get on with their lives without this hysterical bullshit constantly going on.
Non-scents
Posted: Mon 21 October, 2013 Filed under: Domestic, Thoughts, Weirdness 12 Comments »Over the last few months, I’ve noticed a growing dislike (and reaction to) a variety of the current range of room-scenting thingies.I don’t know why there seems to have been such a resurgence of them over the last year or two – or maybe I’m just noticing them more – but it’s really bloody annoying.
In some ways I’ve always been sensitive to these aerosolised scents – lemon scent as an aerosol always used to make my nose bleed, although that’s eased off somewhat. I assume they’ve changed the chemical composition, or something.
But now there’s these automated squirts of aerosol scents from machines by Airwick and Glade, and they always seem to spray directly at me. Why they’re aimed like that, I don’t know – but it always seems to happen. And when it does, cue a nose-bleed, more often than not. Again, I don’t know why it happens, but it does.
The last couple of workplaces have had them in place, particularly in the bathrooms, so there’s no way I can even safely turn the poxy things off.
Even better, in a fit of dire irony, I don’t actually have a great sense of smell. It’s a hereditary thing – my paternal grandmother has no sense of smell (or professed not to, I’ve no idea of the truth of it) and my dad’s sense of smell is pretty dire, so it runs on that side of the family. So it’s pretty ironic that aerosol scents affect me so badly when most of the time I can’t even smell the bastards. (Although on the occasions when I can smell them, I’m more prone to thinking it’s a benefit to not be able to most of the time) As such, it must be some reaction to the chemicals in the scents, rather than the scents themselves.
Either way, it’s a pain in the arse. (Well, a pain in the nose, to be accurate)
Crashtastic
Posted: Mon 14 October, 2013 Filed under: Commuting, Domestic, Driving, Travel, Weirdness Leave a comment »I don’t know why, but today already seems to be populated by car accidents
- In the village, a van has gone straight over/through one of the traffic-calming pieces of road furniture, ripping it apart and also tearing off the front axle. (I’d love to see the insurance claim on that one!)
- On the way to work, two roundabouts had vehicles pulled over into inside lanes, with people exchanging details
- A slide of my own on another roundabout while being followed by a police car – fortunately small and controllable, but enough to think “Oh shit!”. (I know I was going slightly too fast, but trying to get out the way of aforementioned police car while I had nowhere to go due to fuck-knuckle bastards not moving in the other lane)
- I did manage to destroy a low-flying slow-moving pigeon with my windscreen. Hell of a thump, no damage, and no way to avoid it, due to a Mercedes very close behind me.
So far I’m fine, and it’s just been stuff around me, but it’s still weird.
[Updated : with regard to #3 above, another colleague comes the same way and also saw someone slide slightly at the same place, so I’m now thinking more that there was something on the road at that point than that I was being a dick]
A few years back this little set would’ve convinced me that the world was out to kill me today. I’m a bit less paranoid about that kind of thing now, and more believe in “shit happens”, but all the same, I think I’m going to be driving quite carefully on the way home…