Ceridwenscauldron

I got a very charming letter from David Cameron this morning about my proposal for a peerage for Lemmy.

In it he says

"This is certainly an interesting proposal, and I am sure Lemmy would liven things up quite a bit in the House of Lords. the odd live performance of Ace of Spades would certainly blow the cobwebs away"

A handwritten PS says "I'd love to meet him..."

I'm sure he would, Lemmy is a very interesting person to talk to. Perhaps if Cameron is lucky Samantha will put a copy of Lemmy's biography, White Line Fever, in his Christmas stocking.

I very much enjoyed Cameron's letter it shows he's taken some time and thought about what to say, which is far more than Boredom Groan did.

A lot of people round our way are whingeing about the local council having given us wheelie bins for food and garden waste.

Personally I think they are much better than the bags because you can do this

Yep plant the sod on its side and just sweep the leaves into it, takes about ten minutes to fill it then its done for the week. No trouble with bloody foxes pulling the bags open looking for bits of crust or fruit and it all gets recycled.

Fat Munkey putz I in a box an takz I to the vetz thiz mornin.

Vetman pokes me about an puts a cold fing on me chest then he sez I is much better, no mor flaky skin, so I'z can haz me trumpet off so whenz we getz home off it comz.

So now I canz get bak to givin me self that Brazilian.

My thanks to a Canadian friend for this

Four Great Religious Truths

During these serious and trying times, people of all faiths should
remember these four great religious truths:

1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.

2. Jews do not recognize Christ as the Messiah.

3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the
Christian world.

4. Mennonites do not recognize each other at Hooters or the Liquor Store.

Hardly a day goes by without Boredom Groan digging himself deeper into this drugs nonsense. His latest offering on sacking Prof Nutt is that its dangerous to be sending out mixed messages about drugs.

OK Gordon we will stick to the government's approved approach (the one that has worked so well since the 1970s) of spouting a load of hysterical scare mongering drivel that most people don't believe because its so blatantly nonsense - just to keep the Daily Mail off your back.

Only a few but still bloody annoying

customer-don't-care-a-bit-thanks | peter-cushing-must-have-needed-the-money | let-the-train-cause-the-strain

I have to admit I have been enjoying seeing that class traitor Alan Johnson being exposed as the megalomaniac idiot that he is over his sacking of drugs advisor, Professor Nutt, for daring to disagree with him about drug classification and their relative dangers. After all how could a scientist possibly be better informed than a former postman.

Now Boredom Groan has weighed in saying "It's right to say that drugs can cause such damage, particularly when dealers are pushing drugs on young people and making them victims of a cruel trade"

So its right to spread hysterical nonsense that will make youngsters think that everything the government says about drugs is rubbish to stop them buying drugs from criminals? Sorry that is just daft, when I was a teenager I was told all kinds of bollocks about how smoking a bit of dope would inevitably lead to heroin and death in the gutter. It didn't stop me trying things at the time or thinking that most adults were idiots who just reiterated nonsense they could not back up from personal experience. If anything the idea that "responsible grown ups" like parents, teachers and politicians didn't approve just made us want to do it all the more, just the same as their attitudes to loud music, sex, smoking and drinking made those things cool too.

So Gordon Brown is talking out of his arse to suggest that by sending out a strong message young people will be put off using drugs. Politicians just don't get it that people can tell when they are being peddled half truths and lies.

As to making youngsters victims of a cruel trade all I can say is present government policy is driving them into the arms of criminals who do not discriminate on the grounds of age and have a vested interest in encouraging the use of more dangerous addictive drugs. Government policy clearly isn't working anyway, as despite the millions of pounds worth of seizures their PR people blurt on about there are still dealers out there doing very well from the trade. Millions of people across all classes are still using drugs for leisure purposes despite the government's hardline policy so why not bring it out in the open and decriminalise soft drugs so supply can be licensed, regulated and taken out of the hands of organised criminals.

I went to the opening night of the Hammer Festival at the Idea Generation Gallery in Shoreditch. It was brilliant as there were lots of photographs and posters from the Hammer Horror films that I grew up watching. And some great new in that the company is now back in production and their first new film The Resident will be out next year starring Christopher Lee who received his long overdue knighthood today.

The exhibition is divided up into Hammer Horrors (Dracula, Frankenstein etc) Sci-Fi (Quatermass), Thrillers and Glamour (Maddy Smith, Barbara Shelley and Raquel Welch in that fur bikini from One Million Years BC) and it brought back many fond memories tinged with a little sadness when I read that the lovely Julie Ege (star of Creatures the World Forgot and The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires) had died last year at the age of 64. I used to have a poster of her in Creatures the World Forgot on my bedroom wall when I was about 13.

Here is Lee as Dracula from the restored original 1958 version

The Idea Generation Gallery is a pig to find though, so print out the map from their website, closest tubes are Liverpool Street and Old Street

More details here

http://mediacentre.ideageneration.co.uk/2009/10/14/hammer-festival/

Big thanks to Mark for putting me on the guest list.

Well fuck me if the Christmas lights are not up in Oxford Street

Its really just a puff for for that new film version of A Christmas Carol with the world's least funny Canadian playing all the ghosts so no wonder they look a bit shit!

I see Home Secretary Alan Johnson has sacked his Drugs Advisor Professor Stephen Nutt over his recent statements about the reclassification of cannabis and the harmful effects of booze and fags compared to Ecstasy and LSD. The former Postman's union boss said:

"It is important that the Government's messages on drugs are clear and as an adviser you do nothing to undermine the public understanding of them. As my lead adviser on drugs harms I am afraid the manner in which you have acted runs contrary to your responsibilities."

So what Johnson is in effect saying is that we paid you for advice, but it wasn't what we wanted to hear so clear your desk. Seems about right for Nu Labour "We know better than you even if we are not scientists"

I read some interesting stuff today about how young people grow up to distrust the government when they are subjected to the general hysteria about drugs that millions of people use for recreational purposes with little negative side effect compared to the damage caused by smoking and drinking. Now I'm not saying that's the whole reason young people distrust the government, many politicians have not exactly covered themselves with glory with their recent expense claims for example.

I'm also not saying that all drugs are harmless, but to put things in proportion there are many things that people do that are potentially injurious to health including contact sports, flying, rock climbing, riding motorbikes etc but these are not forced underground. It is my contention that criminalising drug use makes the problem worse, lets bring it out in the open where people who want drugs can by them from licensed premises where they are not cut with harmful chemicals and they can get advice from the pharmacist on how to use them in a (more) responsible manner. Illegal drug dealers don't care who they sell stuff to so lets take them out of the equation altogether.