Ladies, ladies, ladies! (And also WSJ.) (8/5/09)

Dudes. Doctor Who and He Knew He Was Right are totally interfering with my ability to blog. And with my life in general. Because they are both TOTALLY RAD and obsessive-making.

But the Internet never stops, and neither do I! On we go:

1. Anglotastic scoops the Wall Street Journal! That's right. On Sunday, I told y'all that the Tea-Drinkers are tightening their immigration laws to keep me out. Well, yesterday, the Wall Street Journal told you the same thing.
   
   I am awesome.
   
   
   Just say no to the Journal.


2. Harriet Harman, deputy Prime Minister during Gordon Brown's vacay, is standing up for women's rights and demanding tougher rape laws. This is both awesome and hilarious. (Can you imagine an American political stand-in actually taking charge during their week holding the reins?) Of course, The Daily Mail has a bit of a different take on this, and feels that the "already stretched Health Service" shouldn't have to conduct studies on how to reduce the risk of violence to women, and anyway, some unnamed statistics show that men are actually the chief victims of violence, so down with feminism! I don't know much about British politics, but I'm pretty sure that violence against women is a human rights issues. Not a women's rights issue. 'Kay thanks bye.


Harriet Harman takes the reins.


3. In the understatement of the year, Sienna Miller acknowledges that having an affair with a father of four (and showing up topless in pics with said father) means that she "probably [doesn't] seem very nice." She also denies being a "sh*****." Can anyone tell me what word has been bleeped out there? Chances are good that I would like to add it to my vocabulary.



Sienna Miller is not a "sh*****." Except that she kind of is.


4. Billie Piper plays the fabulous Rose in Doctor Who. She was also a '90s pop star. Pure, high-fructose-corn-syrup-sweet '90s music. Dig it. And now we reminisce with "Day and Night."

Billie Piper is poptastic.

Oh, hell yes. Dance party like it's 1999!

This, that, and the other (7/30/09)

Three things you need to know about:

1) Cross-Atlantic civil rights FAIL.
I'll admit it: I felt a smidgen of relief when I saw that the UK's mother branch of the Episcopalian church was mad at the US branch (or part of it) for supporting civil unions/gay marriages (rather than the other way around, as I would have expected). Whew! I thought. At last, the US has the moral upper hand on gay rights over someone in Europe!

Right. So...pride goeth before a fall, doesn't it? This week, I saw that the British military has a non-Neanderthalic position on gays in the military. Basically, their position is: Do ask. Do tell. Now let's go kick some ass.

Probably NOT what's it's like to be gay in the military.

Meanwhile, gay American soldiers WHO KNOW ARABIC keep getting thrown out of the Army of One on account of no one here seems to remember that the Spartan militia were a bunch of flaming badasses. Exhibit A: Dan Choi.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Dan Choi Is Gay
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Joke of the Day

2) British GQ best men's mag ever?
I'm totally digging British GQ! It costs about one million US dollars, but it is jam-packed with lots of clever information (and tipped me off about both the ejaculating cake and the Invisibility Cloak). It is a magazine for magazine-lovers. And also language- and information- and cool design–lovers.

Simon Pegg goes Trekkie in British GQ. Oh, yes.

Also, fun culture twist:

• Ladies with bared nipples: 3 (one of whom was basically a bikini-bottom–wearing centerfold)


• Curse words: censored...because Brits don't want to f**k with using words like c**k in their magazines?

Honestly, I think I've probably seen the word "fuck" in Foreign Policy. No nipples, though.

And if you're interested in one Londoner's sex-and-dating escapades, check Jezebel's diary over at the GQ site. It's written with conversative usage of the personal pronoun, making it sound very urgent and diary-like, much like our girl Bridget Jones's diary is.

3) My Mac's thesaurus is devilishly old-fashioned.
Check this list of synonyms for the word "extremely." It's very 1850s. On both sides of the pond. (Click on the image for a full-size view!)