Very Funny Banned Commercial

Bad weather again

Yes, I'm getting sick of writing about it. We have the crappiest weather at the moment, I haven't done any gardening of significance since I don't know when. Stuck inside all day with two bratty cats and a load of ironing, not a fun day. I'd almost rather be at work, at least I'd be achieving something. I did find this nice advert on youTube though.

Indian advertising at its best

Rain, rain

I was going to go on a walk this afternoon, along the Avon River, with a group looking at where the new river park might be. This is the area which received some of the worst shaking/liquefaction during the quake, and where many houses have been or will be demolished. The group, Avon-Otakaro Network, are pushing for this area to be made into a public park, as a way of preserving the many heritage trees and gardens there.  But it's not very good weather-wise; a southwesterly front has just blown in. Typical spring weather, raining one minute, brilliant sunshine the next, "tears and smiles" weather, like a toddler having a tantrum then forgetting about it five minutes later. I've taken the day off to do the walk (normally this would be a work day), but it's too cold for me; I'm such a wimp. But fear not, no doubt I'll spend the rest of the day lacerating myself with guilt for being such a milquetoast-pantywaist-poor spirit. I'll have to find a particularly obnoxious chore to expiate the guilt. I must have been a Catholic nun in another life.

O Brother Where Art Though - The Soggy Bottom Boys - I Am A

Posted this before but deleted it by mistake. Love the blind guy, don't know who the actor is, he's just damn good. "Whooee, that was a mighty fine a-picking and a-singin'!". And the Pappy O'Dannel Flour Hour - I'm too young to remember those company-sponsored programmes on the radio, but that ol'timey stuff sure was good. Songs of salvation to soothe the soul.

Nigella Lawson: Chocolate Pear Pudding: Express

This is probably delicious. I know a lot of people adore Nigella, but I find her terribly smug and just a little patronizing, as in; "I know this is really simple but even you should be able to do it".

Pin it!

Been wasting time on Pinterest. Lots of people pinning stuff that turns out to be commercials touting for business, most notably in the weight-loss field. Pictures of buffed and muscly women in scanty clothing showing before and after pictures, with the same captioning on each pin. Click on to these and you'll get some commercial rubbish about a particular weight-loss programme or food, which then won't let you close the screen without shouting at you to keep reading. Pinterest needs to crack down on this or their whole thing will become totally commercial and totally worthless.
    The odd aspect is that these "personal testimonies" are often pinned cheek-by-flabby-jowl with recipes for fattening food, usually cakes or desserts. It's the same with women's magazines - a weight-loss article will be followed with a cooking special on chocolate cakes! Are we getting mixed messages, or is this some fiendish manipulation of our psyches? We'll get guilty about how much weight we're putting on, so we'll join some cockamamy 'programme', (and pay bucks for it - that's the important bit) but the cake recipes will keep us craving bad food so we can continue to feel guilty about our lack of self-control, our "badness". Never were so many manipulated by so few, so effectively.