"I can't watch this man, it's designed to make you cry" - Mike Scott

Most people have their favourite series on TV to watch. At the moment I have been watching Grey's Anatomy which my little boet reckons is just designed to make you cry. I am not sure if that is not why he does not watch, he digs Heroes though which I think is pretty shabby.
2OCeansvibe will tell you to watch Entourage and Californication which are extremely funny on the Hedonistic side of the coin - for me Entourage is a winner. Then the chicks seem to dig all those Fat Betty and Desperate House's In The City which I am not sure there is too much point to.
I tried Prison Break once, but another brother of mine pointed out that the main actor dude always looks confused and so now that one is ruined as every time you see the human-tattoo on the screen it seems as though he can't remember where he put his key's. West Wing shows re-runs on DSTV CH 13 which is incredibly fast and probably intelligent dialogue to follow. For my slow brain, its like a game show and series in one, just trying to keep track of what topic they are mouthing off about. And I digged the teenage dirt bag vibe of the Friday Night Lights. I think mostly for the unglossed over look into small-town-USA which they made watchable.

I wonder when the the series took over from the sitcoms though. And I wonder what the next generation or two will be watching. I mean we had the Cosby Show, The A-Team, Macgyver and the legendary Magnum PI to entertain us. Now its the series and reality TV formats that dominate ... perhaps in the future it will go to private Television stations funded by those that can afford them and are then not regulated by any boards, but can just put out what ever they feel like. I'm not sure exactly how that would work, I mean you not going to get the masses watching Bill Gates TV, but its interesting trying to work out what the future will be on this. Perhaps it will do a full circle and we will be back at Lassie and 7 Brides for 7 Brothers or Little House on the Prairie. Now that would make me cry - in agony.

"...South Africa was being used as a transit point by al-Qaeda operatives to gain entry to Britain." British Home Office

Below is an article about how South Africans will now need to apply for a Visa to visit the Mud Island. Its a pity back in the 1800's that the locals were not able to impose visa restrictions of their own to stop those that were to become their Colonial Masters popping over and shooting them for sport while setting up their tuck shop for Hungry, survey ridden sailors on their way to India.

South Africans will be required to obtain visas to visit Britain under Government plans to close a route exploited by people smugglers, illegal immigrants and terror suspects.

The move, which will affect almost 420,000 South African nationals who enter Britain every year, is to be announced by the Home Office this week.

Whitehall sources said the changes could be put before the House of Commons today, when Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, and her ministerial team are scheduled to answer MPs' questions. It is likely to be controversial because South Africans form the fifth largest group of visitors to Britain after Americans, Australians, Canadians and Japanese.

The decision to require visas represents a victory for the Home Secretary in a Whitehall battle between the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which opposed the idea.

The Home Secretary has decided to impose the visa regime months after warning the South African Government that it must act to make it harder for non-South African nationals to obtain a South African passport and then travel to Britain without undergoing further checks.

The Home Office threatened to impose the visa regime last July amid fears that South Africa was being used as a transit point by al-Qaeda operatives to gain entry to Britain. The South African government was given six months to introduce a range of improvements, including in the ways that passports are produced, issued and stored.

In December the Home Secretary warned the Cabinet that the cholera outbreak in neighbouring Zimbabwe might cause a huge increase in the number of Zimbabweans attempting to enter Britain, even though they too need a visa.

Law enforcement agencies have been pressing the Home Office for some time to overhaul immigration rules for South Africa amid fears that they were being exploited by people smugglers and terrorists.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency in Britain smashed a ring of people smugglers that brought more than 6,000 illegal immigrants into Britain on forged or stolen South African passports. Operation Coptine, a five-year investigation into people smuggling, resulted in the conviction of more than 40 people.

They were members of a gang operating from Leicester which, over a decade, smuggled people out of villages in India to South Africa, where they were supplied with false or stolen passports.

The migrants, who paid the gang between £5,000 and £8,000 each, were then brought to Britain, where many found work or registered as students. About a quarter of the illegal immigrants acquired British passports under different identities for travel to the United States and Canada.

Intelligence experts are also concerned that al-Qaeda has been using South Africa as a support base for fundraising and training for operations elsewhere.

Almost 420,000 South Africans entered Britain in 2007. They included 168,000 tourists, 46,200 on business, 52,800 in transit, 132,000 returning after absence abroad, 2,890 with work permits plus their 1,190 dependants. A total of 1,190 were refused entry.

Phil Woolas, Immigration Minister, said: “The Government said it would get tough and we meant it. Already our shake-up of border security is delivering results, with three million fingerprints taken from visa applicants and 3,000 people caught trying to hide their identity.”

Brazil was also warned that it faced a visa regime, but has managed to convince the Home Office that it has improved security surrounding the production and issuing of passports.

"Jolene, jolene, jolene, jolene Please dont take him just because you can. " Dolly Parton

You know those songs that define a time and place in your life? It does not have to be exclusive to just one song. This is one that takes me back to my younger years though.
Yesterday it came belting out of my little brothers PC, which was a pretty strange source, as I think it was sandwiched on either side by Kings of Leon and the that Good-Girl-gone-bad - Rihanna. I waited for my boet to push skip before the intro to Jolene had even begun to fire up ... well, the intro passed and Dolly was well into her classic tune with out being bounced - was it possible the old Diva was going to get a chance to finish performing her full rendition before ignominiously being discarded for the younger (but flatter chested) Rihanna? I stopped what ever I was doing (Facebook would just have to wait) and listened to Dolly do her thing.
Its the first time I actually got to listing to the lyrics. Dolly was taking strain when she wrote this one. Clearly her beau was not a breasts kind of guy as surely she would have come out tops in that contest. Look, who knows what the folks in the wild west of the 1980's were into ... what ever it was, Dolly was loosing out to a ginger. Perhaps Kenny Rogers came along to save the day and all ended well ... until big K met up with The Gambler that is, but that's another story and takes me to another time.

Check out how Dolly just gives in to this Jolene dame. She must have been a stunner. Perhaps the Nicole Kidman of her day ... she is a red head right? Good.

Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you, jolene

"You know I love pot, and I love beer, but I am totally sober, just because it completely stopped working for me."

I must have hit the big time. I never knew it would happen with such understated aplomb. At least some kind words of welcome from the Chairmen of the ‘Top Dogs’ society would have been appreciated, but there was nothing of the sort.
You see on Saturday I competed in a race near Worcester and was happy to finish inside the top 20. Now before I was able to even reach for a finisher’s refreshment beverage and to inform the punk in 13th how fortunate he was that I did not catch him, I was ushered off by a Drugs Free Council for Free and Fair Sport Free in South Africa man whose accusing stare would have had OJ Simpson pleading guilty on the spot.
Feeling slightly bewildered, but accepting my dues to the world of the top 20’s, I went along with the chap who handed Worcester’s water quota for February, bottled specially for me and ordered by the accuser to: “drink up, then pee into this cup - no less than 90ml”.
Well 20 min later I was no closer to taking a leak to make sure justice was adhered to in my country. This despite the fact that the tap nearby was being turned ferociously on and off, I can only assume to simulate some kind of serene waterfall type ambiance to help get the required urges underway. I noticed the temporary detention barracks I was in was right next door to a wedding venue – all done of fancy like for the apparent festivities to come. I told my prison warder he could just put me in the grooms’ seat and I would wet my pants stukkend! This eased the tension … his not mine. I was still finding it difficult to part with what little liquid my body had left after a hard race in the sun. I opted for my sixth bottle of water and envisaged further water restrictions for the greater Worcester Metropolis as I gulped down litre after litre.
30minutes now, and while I was wondering if all Olympians could pee on cue and thinking they all deserved medals for that, my minder was settling in for the long wait. Not showing any signs of letting me free just because I couldn’t go he looked to be hauling out a 10 000 piece puzzle of Alan Boesak or fireworks over the Statue of Liberty. I was not going to be roped into this extra excitement and I decided to try another technique. I won’t get too graphic, but let’s just say, with a little help from another toilet bound activity that often goes hand in hand with a pee; I was able to provide the precious 90mil for my country. I emerged with my prize possession only to be met by the next victim who was a buddy Martha. Not having many tips to give the fairer sex in this department I just wished her good luck and raised my cup to show her the results of my labour. I then went through the unprecedented methodical and high tech process of bagging my samples (seriously, they do it the same way the chaps at the Olympics get tested) and asked whether they could let me know my IQ while they were at it and if I was still allergic to Bee’s. Not amused they sent me packing and said I they would be in touch. “Don’t let me read about it in the newspapers first” I cautioned with a wagging finger.
An hour later I saw poor Martha walking towards her car … she was being accompanied by one of the Doping officials as she was still to provide what they required! I hope she has an extra room as home as they are persistent creatures to be sure.