Clever Entertainment.

Today's fun thing to watch is The Incredible Machine. If you like it when people line up lots of dominos on a course and knock the first one over, then you will love this. It seems to use household objects and masses of ingenuity to create 14 minutes of video that just doesn't feel like it lasts that long. Watch it here.

I have lots and lots of animations, songs, videos and cleverness listed on the one page, initially for my benefit but it is now shared and enjoyed by many! You can find it here, at Animations to Watch. Suggestions for additions welcome, too.

This water balloon explosion photo is bloody incredible.

And last night's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue was great, not least for Jeremy's singing.

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Technorati tags: video; photo; incurable_hippie; clever; radio 4 comedy.

Apologies.

100_0110
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Apologies for my recent quietness. I've been here in spirit, but I guess you don't know that.

I am still alive. Thought I should let you know.

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Technorati tags: hot air balloon; photography; incurable_hippie; sorry.

Newest ATCs.

Some artist trading cards I recently created.

Firstly, a 'butterfly swap':


Secondly, a 'travel swap':

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Technorati tags: ATCs; artist trading cards; incurable_hippie; creative.

Technological Turmoil

I was all excited a week or so ago, because after being slightly cheeky and ringing my ISP to see if they could improve on my current contract, they offered me 4x the speed for a fiver less a month. Sounds marvellous!

I was all excited, until the speed actually went up. I connected, went WOW new speed, and then nothing worked. 24 hours, 5 calls and 7 tech support operators later, I am finally connected.

There's nothing quite like the stress of a not-working computer. I don't know why it winds me up so immensely, but it really does and I hate it.

hippie blog was also having problems loading, and a consistent problem in the page loading was to do with pings.ws. I have now removed every trace of that site from my html coding and, lo and behold, hippie blog works again.

I wish my body was so easy to resolve (remove a bit of bad coding or a link to a site that doesn't work), but I am at the (hopefully) end phase of The Cough which currently everyone who's everyone in Sheffield is suffering with. I have had a course of antibiotics and a course of oral steroids and, though I am still coughing, I am, I think, on the up. As it were.

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Technorati tags: tech support; html; incurable_hippie; pings.ws; cough.

Labour Labours.

Thank you for all the comments and votes on my post about the local elections. I found it an interesting consultative study!!

The results are now in. Quite surprisingly, given the political atmosphere lately, the Liberal Democrats (who had a possible chance of re-taking the nearly-always Labour council, as they did in 1999) lost two seats, one of which went to Labour (who held control of the council) and the other to the Green Party (who now have two seats).

Overall Sheffield Local Election Results 2006
Labour 44 seats (no change)
Liberal Democrats 35 seats (-1)
Conservatives 2 seats (no change)
Green Party 2 seats (+1)
Independent 1 seat (no change)

I've been looking at the more specific, ward by ward results and the BNP bastards got many hundreds of votes, even coming second in one area. I hear they are even the official opposition now in Barking.

So where do we go from here? I want everyone who has been privileged enough to be elected to use their power and influence well, to make changes for the better for people and the world, and to be generally all-round groovy kinda folks. I guess that's what that whole incurable hippie thing is about. I know, I know, it will all go on before, with a few new faces. But for a chronic depressive, I have a surprising level of optimism going on a lot of the time.

But not enough to actually believe that what I hope for will come true. *SiGH*

[Edited to add - I realise I have contradicted myself with what I said about Labour gaining one Lib Dem seat and Greens another, when the table I copied and pasted said Lib Dem only lost one seat, to the Greens, but that is the different info I have got from the BBC website and the Sheffield City Council site. Time will tell, I guess, which is correct!]

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Technorati tags: local election results; Sheffield; incurable_hippie; UK Politics.

I'd say Oy, Carol, No!

This appeal is to ask the respected TV presenter, Carol Vorderman, famed for her mathematical nous, to, after nine years, stop doing secured loan adverts.

Please sign the petition (Please forward/tell friends and family about this)

The "Carol Vorderman: Secured Loan Ads Don't Add Up" Appeal

Supported by debt counselling charity The CCCS and money education charity Credit Action

The British public now collectively owe a massive £1,100,000,000,000. The secured loan market has increased five times over the last five years and the growing normalization of these loans is a danger to our society. Sold as a 'cure all' where people place all their debts together, secured loans are often actually potentially expensive debts, which trap people in for long periods, and if you can't repay, they can take your home.

For nine years Carol Vorderman's advertised these loans. Advertising works, that's why companies pay for it, and over time her powerful advertisements will have contributed to the growing normalization of this form of borrowing. I believe this is truly worrying, as secured loans should only ever be seen as loans of last resort. I would like her to stop and I'd urge all who agree to sign the petition to let her know.

Read/sign the online petition: www.moneysavingexpert.com/carol

Please forward/tell friends, colleagues and family about the petition.
The more supporters, the more impact it will have.

The appeal also calls for secured debt firms to develop a charter of responsible advertising that only targets the limited number of niche individuals who could possibly benefit from the product.

Read more about the appeal, how secured loans work, and why Carol?

This appeal is supported by the UK's largest debt charity the Consumer Credit Counselling Service and the money education charity Credit Action.

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Technorati tags: credit cards; debt; incurable_hippie; carol vordermann; petition.

Think Global, Act Local.

The local elections are tomorrow. I was unenthusiastic, to say the least, about my voting options but as I got a postal ballot, I have already (after much deliberation) filled in my ballot paper and decided who, if anyone, gets my X.

But for the sake of interest, what would you have done?



Labour currently runs the Council in Sheffield. There are some good things being done - lots of regeneration and positive stuff around the city centre. There are also some very unsatisfactory aspects - doorstep recycling provision is appalling, council housing is being demolished at an alarming rate, and the buses are becoming a disaster.

I've had two leaflets and letters from the Liberal Democrats. They spent a lot of time telling me that a vote for anyone other than them is a vote for Labour and I really don't believe in tactical voting (with the occasional exception when the BNP is involved). They also gave over a lot of space to ranting about the evils of Park Hill, when they are being not only snobby, but also strictly speaking it has little to do with my ward which is quite a distance away from there.

The Conservatives are not an option I'd consider voting for under any circumstances, so I won't even merit them with any pros and cons.

And Green - often an attractive option for me - have been, well, underwhelming in their approach. I have not heard a single thing from them. I don't know what they are standing for in this election, I don't know anything about the local candidate, whether they have a chance of getting in, or what they want to do, even!

That is just looking at the very local issues. I am entirely unimpressed with any of the main parties nationally, and while I do want to bear the national parties' issues in mind (e.g. not voting Tory), I do also want to think about Sheffield, and my area within Sheffield.

I have filled in my ballot paper, as I said, but reluctantly. What would you have done? Vote in my poll, above.

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Technorati tags: local elections; Sheffield; incurable_hippie; UK politics; local government.

Blogging Against Disablism.

Some time ago, BBC Ouch, the BBC's disability webpages, ran a survey of its readers' Worst Words relating to disability. The results were as follows:

Total votes cast: 2053
1. Retard 19.6% (404 votes)
2. Spastic 18% (373 votes)
3. Window-licker 17% (350 votes)
4. Mong 13.4% (276 votes)
5. Special 10.2% (210 votes)
6. Brave 7.9% (163 votes)
7. Cripple 5.5% (113 votes)
8. Psycho 2.9% (60 votes)
9. Handicapped 2.5% (52 votes)
10. Wheelchair-bound 2% (42 votes)

Interestingly, they also have a chart of the different results as divided by disabled and non-disabled respondents to the survey.
I have mostly unpleasant gut responses to many of those words, but one of my own worst words in terms of offensive terms used against disabled people is nutter.

I hate this word. It hits me like a punch in the stomach, it makes me sad, scared and angry. Its implications are, in my experience, ones of violence and aggression, as well as mental illness. Those links are all too prevalent in much of the widespread opinions and thoughts about mental illness, and people who experience it.

Many of us work incredibly hard to break the links constantly. We have statistics! We have facts!

Did you know that people with mental illness are much more likely to hurt themselves than anyone else?
Did you know that people who have mental illnesses are victims of crime more often than those who don't?
Did you know that the most dangerous group in society, those most liable to commit violent crimes, are young men who drink?

The media really doesn't help. You may remember the 'Bonkers Bruno' headline in the sun, or Osama bin Laden being described as 'psychotic'. 'Schizo', 'Psycho', 'Maniac', 'Mad' are all words which are used prolifically in headlines and stories designed to alarm and rouse people's fears and opinions.

The media has so much power to spread correct information and to break stigmatic associations with mental illness, but instead it grabs the Mad, Bad, Dangerous headlines and exploits and glorifies them.

Mental illness and violence are different things. Using the same words to describe both, or borrowing a word from one to use to discuss the other all do an incredible disservice to the 1 in 4 people in Britain who will experience mental distress at some point in their life.

There is more than enough stigma already, it is hard enough already to ask for and receive support and help for anxiety, depression, hearing voices, paranoia, or whatever may strike. The proposed changes to the Mental Health Bill don't help, the media don't help, and the rantings of uninformed people who are happy to blame all the world's (street's, town's, room's) ills on the poor sods who are easily available to target because they may talk to themselves, or hide away, or cry a lot.

Using stigmatising language, and constantly making connections between mental illness and violence - connections which don't exist in any objective study! - creates fear and hate, and does nobody any good.

As someone witty said at the time shortly after September 11th 2001, "If Osama bin Laden is being described at psychotic, it must be because of his mistaken belief that large numbers of people are out to get him".

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Technorati tags: Blogging against Disablism Day; disability; incurable_hippie; mental illness; mental health; stigma.

Click-click.

The final of the Snooker World Championship has started. I'm disappointed that I don't feel especially positive about either Ebden or Dott, but I will still watch the match (or at least some of it - these things last a long time!) with joy.

Firstly, it is taking place in Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, which is not far from me in the city centre. The BBC tents and 'snooker courtesy cars' and big screen have been more than conspicuous these last two weeks. Secondly, I just love snooker - it's exciting yet calming, it's vicious yet entirely polite, and it's totally absorbing, and totally relaxing.

I never understood snooker until one year when the championships were on and I was in hospital. I was incredibly depressed and basically lay in bed all day. One day BBC two was on on the TV in front of me, and as I was too miserable to move and do anything about it, I resigned myself to watching the snooker which was on there. After doing this for a day I understood the rules, understood what all the fuss was about, and was hooked. It probably helped that I saw a 147 that day, and *got* the whole thing.

There are plants of each of the colours of all the snooker balls in the game outside where the matches are being played too. Hence the pictures.

I dunno who I'll be supporting this evening - often if a match starts and I have no favourite, I do find myself warming to one or the other as it goes on, so we will see.

Anyway, I had better go and listen to a few hours of that click-click noise, which can only ever mean one thing.

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Technorati tags: snooker; snooker world championship; incurable_hippie; Crucible Theatre; Sheffield; plants.

Spotted...

outside Sheffield station yesterday.

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Technorati tags: language; funny; incurable_hippie; signs.

Illustration Friday: Under the Sea.

100_1163
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

This is an Artist Trading Card I made entitled Under the Sea. I am posting it here for this week's Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: ATCs; artist trading cards; incurable_hippie; Under the Sea; Illustration Friday.

Pink Rebellion.

When I was a kid, I really wanted one of these pink toy knitting machines, but was never fortunate enough to get one. So when I spotted this one in a WRVS charity shop yesterday, for a measly 4 quid, I had no choice but to purchase it! It has so far been fun and works surprisingly well. I am, though, a bit stuck now until I get hold of the one item which should have been in the box and wasn't - a darning needle - but otherwise it's just marvellous. And so very pink!

I heard on Woman's Hour this morning, a piece on the Playboy bunny logo being used on products being marketed and sold to children. I wrote about this here, last September and mentioned it here, too.

The new-ish group, Sheffield Fems, have been running a campaign against WHSmith, John Lewis and Claire's Accessories, to try and persuade them to stop selling porn advertising to children. Apparently John Lewis and Claire's Accessories are actually going to do so - which is an amazing achievement and such a brilliantly positive step forward. Neither of them credit Sheffield Fems for having influenced their decision, but I'm sure that this articulate, passionate group of women played a part.

So when it was on Woman's Hour this morning, I was interested to listen to the discussion. There was clear objection to pre-teen and early teen kids advertising a huge porn brand on their stationery and clothes at school. There was a feeling that young girls did not know what the brand represented - because it's essentially a cute bunny, if you don't know otherwise. There was not a discussion about how such widespread exposure to pornographic logo promotion also leads to a total desensitisation of (girl and boy) children, so that when they become conscious of what / who Playboy are, and what they do, it already has other connotations for you and is entirely normalised.

One of the most disturbing contributions to the discussion was from some older teenage girls, who said that maybe a few years ago they'd have used Playboy stationery, but really it was a bit childish and they had outgrown it. Stunned? Yep, I was.

In the spirit of googlebomb, all mentions of the p1ay80y company name are linked to radical feminist websites.

In the spirit of all girly things pink - get a knitting machine, not a not-so-cute-when-you-know-what-it-means bunny t-shirt. Seriously.

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Technorati tags: feminism; evil playboy; incurable_hippie; campaigning; pink.

You Belong To Me.

This is so fucked up. 11 year old girls stating to their fathers that, I pledge to remain sexually pure...until the day I give myself as a wedding gift to my husband. ... I know that God requires this of me.. that he loves me. and that he will reward me for my faithfulness.

Girls promising to remain a virgin until the father passes the ownership of the girl's body to the new fucking owner, the husband.

The Father states, I, (daughter’s name)’s father, choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity. I will be pure in my own life as a man, husband and father. I will be a man of integrity and accountability as I lead, guide and pray over my daughter and as the high priest in my home. This covering will be used by God to influence generations to come. (my bold)

I recommend popping over to Pandragon's response to it, which articulately and angrily discusses what this is really about.

Needing niceness to follow that, (ok that was a crap link but this entry is a bit of a conglomeration of randomness), all I can say is, oooohhhhhh aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. Bless!

And I liked this ending to an email I received from someone I had just bought something off on ebay:

As long as there is no earthquake, nuclear explosion, broken legs, hurricanes,
floods, post office strikes, sick children (in my house), sudden huge increase
in postal prices, desert storms, giant hailstones dropping from the skies
or other similar catastrophies your item will be posted within 72 hours of
cleared payment.

I know how she feels!

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Technorati tags: patriarchy; baby hedgehogs; incurable_hippie; humour.

Happy Easter!

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Technorati tags: Easter; Easter bunnies; incurable_hippie; chocolate.

Bastard.

Is it possible to be kind of flashed at? Because I was kind of flashed at.

He said he was far from home and desperate for a wee. But he had been able to see me approaching for several seconds, he deliberately drew my attention to his penis, and he made no attempt to hide or cover it or move himself.

Was he having a piss, or was he waiting round a corner for a woman on her own, to flash at?

Does the answer to that question affect how I am supposed to feel about it? Are we supposed to be traumatised by the deliberate flashing, and not by the accidental? What if we just don't know if it was deliberate or accidental? What if we feel threatened by his presence there, and his ability to do what he did, regardless of whether he was needing the toilet or needing a power trip?

If you think he is having a piss and are not traumatised but then later you find out he was flashing deliberately, do you become traumatised?

If you think he was flashing deliberately and are traumatised, then later find out he was actually having a piss, do you then stop being upset??

I guess I'm wondering if it is the experience of seeing an unexpected penis when you walk round a corner that is frightening or offensive, or whether it is his motivation in having the penis on display that makes it scary.

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Technorati tags: flashing; indecent exposure; incurable_hippie; trauma; Jacky Fleming.

Flowery Metallic Rain.

I had a day out yesterday, with Z, my Mum, my sister and her hubby. Amongst other places, we went to the Millennium Galleries and the Winter Gardens.

Winter Gardens:



(more pics here).

Millennium Galleries:


(more pics here).

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Technorati tags: Sheffield; photography; incurable_hippie; plants; Sheffield steel.

Quietness

I'm aware I've been really quiet here lately. I'm in a fairly dark pit of depression, and am mostly hiding. I don't really want to fill hippie blog with the moaning ramblings of a, well, moaning rambler, so I've mainly been staying away. Also, coming online would involve doing things other than curling into a ball or going to bed, so hasn't been top of my list.

Moan, moan, moan.

I hope to be functioning again soon - and not, I admit, purely so that I can blog profusely again. It is mainly because feeling better would really be rather nice. But blogging profusely is an appealing part of the whole plan.

Hope to be back properly very soon.

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Technorati tags: depression; incurable_hippie.

National Inquiry into Self-Harm report (also from my email)

Apologies for two entries in quick succession, but have just this second received the following email too.

I will read the report and come back with what I make of it. This may take some time, as my brain is currently made out of stew.

Truth Hurts - the Report of the National Inquiry into Self-harm among Young People

Self-harm among young people is a significant and growing public health challenge. Despite this, there is almost universal misunderstanding about self-harm even amongst those in closest contact with young people. In response to this, the Camelot Foundation and the Mental Health Foundation launched the National Inquiry into Self-harm among Young People in 2004. The Inquiry Panel has been meeting for two years, hearing evidence from a wide range of interested parties, but most significantly it listened to the voices of young people who have experience of self-harm. Their contributions have been vital to this work.

Truth Hurts sets out an agenda for change, making recommendations about what needs to be done in order to fully understand the prevalence of self-harm; the importance of commissioning services where young people feel listened to and respected; gathering evidence of what works in preventing self-harm and intervening once the behaviour is underway; and building a better understanding of why young people self-harm. Ultimately the aim must be that those closest to young people who self-harm are better equipped to hear their disclosures without panic, revulsion or condemnation.

It is our intention that the report will serve as a turning point in understanding self-harm and be a launch pad for changes in the prevention of, and response to, self-harm among young people throughout the UK. We hope the report is interesting and useful to you. Copies of the report can also be downloaded at www.selfharmuk.org.

As part of the ongoing work of the National Inquiry, there will be two major UK conferences in London on 6 July and Scotland in September 2006. If you would like to receive information about these events, please call us on 0207 8031161 or email gmcewan@mhf.org.uk

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Technorati tags: self-harm; self-injury; incurable_hippie; mental health.

Stop Detaining Children Now! (from my email)

No Place for a Child:

Dear Charles Clarke,

I call on you to stop locking up more than 2,000 babies and children in immigration detention centres every year.

The Home Office currently allows children to be held for long periods of time in immigration detention - children have been held from seven up to 268 days according to evidence gathered by members of the No Place for a Child coalition.

Detaining children is wrong - regardless of the merits of a family's asylum case - and has a damaging effect on their education, health and well-being. It is also contrary to international human rights standards and serious concerns about the detention of children have already been raised by all four Children's Commissioners, Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons and the European Commissioner for Human Rights.
[...]

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Last year the UK government locked up over 2000 children - not for committing any crime, but simply for bureaucratic convenience as a part of the asylum process. The decision is taken by an immigration official and without any judicial intervention.

These children aren't told how long they will be detained - it could be weeks or even many months. One third are detained for at least seven days.

Detention is traumatic for any child they feel they are being punished and they don't know why. Many of them have come to the UK to escape terror from state officials in their own country. There's plenty of evidence that the effects of detention are extremely damaging.

The Refugee Council has joined with Save The Children and Bail for Immigration Detainees to fight to stop children being detained. As we launch the campaign today, we need you to take 2 simple and quick steps now - log onto our special campaign website: noplaceforachild.org.uk

Our message to the Government is simple: it's wrong to lock up children. As the campaign develops, we will be talking to them about better ways to manage families going through the asylum process - but right now they need to hear loud and clear from you that it's time to stop detaining children.

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Technorati tags: asylum rights; children's rights; incurable_hippie; UK Politics; campaigning.

Illustration Friday: Monster.

This is the monster that lived in my old fridge.

Illustration Friday.

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Technorati tags: illustration friday; pencil drawing; incurable_hippie; monster; fridge monster.