Geeks get desperate

I play quite a lot of games, lots of them are bought, but I'm also a bit of a sucker for flash games too. These come with lovely loading adverts however which I usually blissfully ignore...this one caught my eye however
So...you can now have a virtual dream girlfriend online? Isn't that really scoring low on the desperation level?? I'm sure I've seen similar advertised on many many other sites (although those would surely come under the heading of sex lines?) Looking at the girl in the picture it does seem to be aimed at young teens rather than adults - but I don't believe that would deter some adults (you know the ones who pretend to be young teens anyway).

This is definitely heading for Barbies desperation awards for 2010...

Some people just don't know when to give up

Last June I posted about an old acquaintance of mine from my misspent youth who was trying to get in touch. (If you missed it, click here for a reminder) After the email mentioned in that post I got one other from him, also through Friends Reunited, begging me to get in contact with him.

I ignored that one too.

I thought the whole episode was over until a couple of weeks back when I had this pop into my inbox


Surely, If you message someone - twice - and they don't reply is that not a big enough hint that they're not interested? Does it really make you think "I'll add them to my facebook friends list?"

Never before have I hit that block button so fast!

So I'm not a freak then...?

I have an unusual mild phobia of mirrors. I don;t run screaming or anything, in fact sometimes they can be beautiful, BUT mostly they just make me feel very uncomfortable. Apparently it is considered an "official" phobia - it has a fancy name and everything! - known as Catoptrophobia. I also have a love of horror movies, one day I'll get that feeling back from my childhood of actually being scared by one! Often horrors do choose mirrors for a cheap scare though.. as wonderfully portrayed here...



Love them or hate them, you have to agree mirrors just aren't natural!!

Genius provokes more Genuis

A new programme started last week on BBC2 called Genius. I'm not a huge fan of most TV, but the ad looked funny and it is hosted by one of my all time favourite comedians, Dave Gorman. I'm not good at remembering when things are on so I relied on the trusty V+ box to record it and watched it today. If you haven't heard of it the idea is quite simple, people email in with ideas and Dave with another comedian (this episode had Frank Skinner) decide whether or not the ideas are Genius. (Its a new show so could go either way at this stage)

Three of the ideas people presented were actually pretty good though, one was to teach mathematical theories using dance, one was a new law of opposites based on an items function rather than its mass and shape, and one was to make criminals ride a certain number of miles on exercise bikes whilst in prison to provide renewable energy. All pretty crazy, funny, yet almost compelling ideas.

The Bike idea however did set my mind going, and within 2 minutes I had solved the western worlds problems in one fowl swoop...here's the plan....

Hook up all the exercise machines in every gym across the country to the power grid. This will provide free electricity whilst people get fit - Image the juice one spin class could generate!

Due to the reduction in running costs these gyms could then offer discounted membership rates, resulting in even more people joining. This has 2 effects, 1. More energy being created and 2. people who wouldn't normally visit the gym getting fitter

So there you go, in a few easy steps we have solved both the energy crisis and the obesity crisis :) Genius eh?

Barbies bad news

OK. I've not been posting much the last few weeks, my reason? I've had some tough news that took me away from home. My Grandmother died the second week in January which I feel quite justified in describing as a shock to say the least.

I'm not someone who really finds dealing with death difficult, I view it as part of life, and a natural conclusion, but this time I admit did take it quite badly. Its the first bereavement I've suffered since I've lived away from my hometown and the distance from my family when it happened suddenly felt far greater than it normal. The funeral wasn't held until the first week in February, so at least I had some time to get organised.

I was dreading the trip, my Parents were over and a number of the distant family were making the effort to attend too, so it had the opportunity to be difficult. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing...

We hired a car and drove the 370 miles to Norwich, Arnold Clark had kindly given me a free upgrade on my hire car (from a Kia Picanto to a Peugeot 207) which made the trip a huge amount more comfortable. Arriving late afternoon on the Saturday there was some commotion among my friends about going out. It didn't really take much persuading to be honest as the club I used to frequent often was having its 10th anniversary so I felt compelled to go for nostalgia's sake if nothing else. I'm glad we did as I had a fab time, and got to show B-Man what the Norwich alternative scene is like in comparison to Edinburgh. (I think he was impressed, at least with half of it!) I did however mange to slip over on the ice and bang my head! Thankfully, I got a little bruising and swelling but no black eye!

We had a few days to spare, so did the obligatory family visits, and even managed to squeeze in a night round at an old friends before the funeral. (note: when I say old friends, I haven't seen Jerry and Jo for about 5 years now so you can image the look on their faces when I walked into their front room unannounced!)

The funeral itself was actually lovely, my Nan would have been so proud of all the commotion caused in her name - she did love a big show! There was a horse drawn hearse, four funeral cars and a massive trail of followers on the way to the crematorium. It took over an hour to drive just 6 miles! After the ceremony my parents had organised for a white dove to be released which I think possibly made Grandads year as he is a huge bird lover, and he got to hold it before setting it free. Afterwards there was a reception, and it was really nice to catch up with some of the family. Especially my cousin David who moved to Australia 20 years ago (although I could have done without being reminded that at the age of 6 I had a massive crush on him!)

Its so true that it takes a wedding or a funeral to get people together, but it does remind me that I do actually have a big family out there who care.

Comments...

Recently I've been a bit quiet on my posting quota. Its terrible I know, but I've had good reasons (I'll tell you about them later!) One thing that's been happening lately though is that more people stumbling across barbies' strange little world here have been leaving me comments.... and I'm delighted! So please do carry on! :)

I do often wonder whether my strange ideas and odd rants reach people who get the idea and now I'm beginning to find out! WAHAAAYY!!

Now I do promise to get my post quota up a bit...