…grayblog…

Author: graybo

  • Zealous idiot

    Pat Robertson tells residents of Dover, PA, that they have forsaken God by forcing a school board out of office because they endorsed so-called "intelligent design".
    I’m not a Christian, but I went to a Christian school. There I learnt that the Christian God is a merciful one. So, let’s take these ridiculous assumptions as being true:

    • God exists.
    • Pat Robertson is right about intelligent design – evolutionary theory is heretical claptrap.
    • Some naturally-occurring disaster befalls Dover.

    What will happen? The all-forgiving God will forgive the people of Dover on judgement day. The American nation will come to their aid (even if the American government is a bit slow off the mark) in their time of need. Robertson will burn in hell for preaching such un-Christian hateful nonsense.
    How does this man get the support (and money) of so many Americans? Are they really that stupid, ignorant and small-minded?

  • Lined paper generator

    Need lined paper but only have a computer and printer to hand? Don’t worry! Use the Lined Paper Generator – how handy! (via linkbunnies).

  • Legs at Hortifair

    Legs at Hortifair. Photo hosted by Flickr.


    Legs at Hortifair.  
    Originally uploaded by graybo.

    Meilland Roses launched their new "Moulin Rouge" variety at last week’s Hortifair in Amsterdam. This scene would have been even funnier if there had been torsoes sticking out of the other side of the wall. Unfortunately, there weren’t.

  • Dave the Double Glazing

    Kennamatic retires or dies a long death. You choose.

  • About

    I’ve updated the graybiography. I need to fix that CSS problem though.
    That’s about as close as you’re going to get to content for the timebeing.

  • Akismet update

    I’m pleased with the Akismet anti-spam plugin for WordPress. So far:

    • 1512 spam comments blocked
    • 1 false negative
    • 0 false positives

    Recommended.

  • A memorable figure

    I’ve just heard that my secondary school English teacher, George Rafferty, has died at the age of 75.
    He was a remarkable figure and an excellent teacher. He engaged with the kids in such a way that being in his lessons was a fun experience. His spittle-strewn, Scottish-accented speech was just the thing for a class studying the Scottish play for O-level (screeching When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning and in rain? He was particularly good at Upon the heath!) and his passion for teaching was evident in every lesson. Plagued by ill-health (his pill-rattling mock death by Sarah’s desk is something that will live in my memory for years) and perhaps mis-treated by the powers-that-be at the school, he always had the interests of his students at the heart of his work – I think that the people that I went through school with are testament to his teaching abilities.
    Definitely someone who I’ll remember for the whole of my life.

  • Two nations divided by a common language

    Handy links (via Cal):
    Words that have different meanings in British and American English.
    British English words not used in American English.

  • Holy poop

    I’ve just installed the new Akismet anti-spam plug-in for WordPress. I’m not sure that I like the way that usage is conditional upon signing up for wordpress.com and downloading and using Flock – but it looks like it works. It’s cleared out nearly 4000 spam messages from the grayblog archives at the time of installation. Since then, I’ve been upstairs and taken a bath. In that time, it has detected and quarantined more than 150 new spam messages. Yikes.
    Admittedly, most of these messages would not have come to my attention previously because my use of the WordPress blacklist feature actually picked out the vast majority of spam that I was receiving, but occasionaly something was getting through, and usually in large quantities at one time. This seems promising and I’ll report if there are any major new developments as I use it.
    (Another thirteen in the time it took to type this – thank goodness for the auto-delete feature, which clears out any comment in the moderation queue that is more than a fortnight old).

  • Goooaaalll!

    Yesss! Prezza approves Seagulls’ stadium plans. At last! The right decision, in my view – and no doubt influenced by the excellent campaigning by the club and fans.
    Also: Seagulls build new nest.
    And: Seagulls official homepage reaction. First match at the new ground in 2008.