Chicka chicka chicka

So here I am, back again at this blogging business. If you're a previous visitor, you'll have notice the changes that have been made notably to the contributors to this blog though Medulla remains to be seen if she wants to continue this project. To our new readers, we welcome you to our humble settings. 

The contents of this blog remain the same..random thoughts, world events, my continuing bag obsession, fluff! I plan to introduce new things along the way provided I can keep up with this along with my other commitments outside the blogosphere! Baby steps...

To mark my return here's a little something to get us through the last remaining hours of the weekend

Fondly remembering...

One of Michael Jackson's earlier works and an all-time favourite

Surviving the outbreak

Unless you've been in hibernation, by now you're probably fully aware of the swine flu currently grappling a number of countries, particularly Mexico and the United States. Although the US has declared the outbreak as a 'public health emergency', the world awaits with abated breath as to the level of severity (of this outbreak) from the WHO. In the meantime, before we all start to panic - which our authorities have assured us not to, yet - here's what we all can do to reduce the effect of transmission:

1. Sanitize -- i.e. Wash Your Hands Frequently. It may sound obvious, but hand-washing with soap and water for around 20 seconds is the single best thing you can do (if you're going to go out into the world and interact with other human beings). The CDC estimates that 80 percent of all infections are spread by hands. If you can't wash your hands regularly, try hand-sanitizers with 60 percent alcohol content.
2. Avoid -- i.e. Engage in "Social Distancing." That's the fancy term for reducing unnecessary social contact, staying away from crowds, and avoiding people if you're sick or if you're concerned that they may be infected. It may not be especially practical when you have to go to, say, work, but experts believe it's worth repeating: Isolation and avoidance reduce your chances of getting infected or infecting others.
(Researchers in the UK - mentioned above and sponsored by a cold remedy company - found that 99 percent of commuters suffer at least one cold per winter. By contrast, 58 percent of people who work from home and 88 per cent of those who walk to work caught a cold last winter).
If you need to go someplace crowded, the CDC says, try to spend as little time as possible and try to stay six feet away from potentially infected people. Wearing a surgical or dental facemask - cleared by the FDA as a medical device - "can help prevent some exposures," the CDC says, but they're not foolproof.
3. Be Alert -- i.e. Recognize the Symptoms and Get Help. Swine flu symptoms are similar to regular flu: Fever, body aches, sore throat, cough, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. If you don't feel well, seek medical attention. So far, it's important to note, this swine flu is treatable (and absolutely survivable). It's resistant to two of four antiviral drugs approved for combating the flu: Symmetrel and Flumadine. But two newer antivirals - Tamiflu and Relenza - appear to work.

Excerpt taken from Ben Sherwood @ Huffington Post

TGIF

Awwwww!

Oh Mama!

As the saying goes, a mother's love for her children knows no boundaries. But when a mother posts a disturbing account of her 19-year-old son's penis problem in a public forum, one has to wonder whether she has taken this whole 'no boundaries' issue a wee bit too far.

Check out an excerpt of her opening post:

My son is 19 and though I have not seen him nude since he was a boy, I had seen him by accident about 6 months ago, when he had somehow ended up falling asleep naked in his room after a shower with his door wide open. He was on his back and erect in his sleep. I noticed his hard-on had a severe curve upward. It was bent very sharply like curling up backwards. I had never seen anything like that on any man. It is about 7″ long approximately and is bent more toward the tip in a definite shape of a letter “j”, or a hook, to attempt to describe it to you.

I was so shocked that I panicked, and woke him up right then and there. Thinking back, it was not very tactful, but I could not wait to try to get at what appeared to be a real problem. It all made sense, how he would not shower at gym class, and didn’t date, despite being a very well built and handsome boy into sports always. I had always wondered if might be gay, though he denied it always. He awoke surprised and shy that he was naked, but I moved his hands from his erect penis, and asked him what was the matter.

We sat and talked after locking his bedroom door. He told me it had started when he was like 12 and got worse, and as I examined it more closely and attempted to straighten it out, it would straighten only very slightly before it would hurt him to force it any further. It being erect, it was very hard and stiff. We allowed it to subside by him putting on his robe a while, and was considerably more normal in the soft state, yet still tending to be curved upwards slightly.

I could straighten it easily while soft, but it would bend back up like rubber. As he became erect again it curled up before my eyes into the “j” hook shape. For more, click here.

Splattt!

Boredom at its best?

R.I.P Jade Goody

Photo by Chris Joseph / Landmark / JPI

Another week has gone by, and now another week to get through. Yes, everyone is still talking about the economic downturn alongside the sudden turn-of-luck (perhaps?) between Manchester United and Liverpool, sudden passing of Natasha Richardson and the not-so-sudden passing of Jade Goody. Who would've thought she'd be mentioned in the same breath as Prez Obama, Meredith Kercher and Steven Gerrard, let alone be described as "a kind of Princess Di from the wrong side of tracks"! Shocking isn't it?

I mean what was she famous for in the first place? Sure I'd heard of her way back when I was still slogging my way through bar school but even then she was relegated to the tabloids and weekly gossip magazines. And just when I thought I'd hear the last of her, out came the whole hoo-ha on Celebrity Big Brother for her racist remarks towards her then housemate and fellow E-list celebrity Shilpa Shetty. And when all that passed by, her celebrity radar hit the jackpot upon discovering that she was battling cervical cancer, and that the cancer had spread, thus paving the way for the never-ending coverage of her day-to-day life as the cancer spreads and her death imminent.

So again I ask what is the legacy of Jade Goody's life, battle with cancer and sad passing (no, I am not that cold-hearted) on popular culture?

"Perhaps this is because Jade Goody filled the role of reality TV star to the extreme: she was "famous for nothing," she once said, a woman who went from obscurity to a national sensation due to the public's desire to create heroines and villains out of their neighbors, their peers, people who look and act quite like they do. Her short life was defined by public opinion; she was loved, then fiercely hated, and then pitied, but all of these things came through a lens, a distanced view; she was simply another character for the public to follow, and she knew and seemingly accepted this, giving her blessing to the tabloids to follow her until the very end. As Jeffries notes, "Like a working-class Princess Diana, Goody became the object of strangers' intense feelings, and she became a sacrifice, a woman whose suffering and death made it possible for people to ritually cry for someone they scarcely knew."

Goody hoped that her public struggle would raise awareness about cervical cancer and inspire young women to be more proactive about their health. But Goody's legacy may be her ability to use the reality tv/tabloid media to her advantage, even in dark times: for example, she recently held an elaborate wedding to her prisoner boyfriend, Jack Tweed, in order to sell the media rights and leave her sons with a substantial amount of money, knowing she'd be leaving them soon. Jade Goody was able to make a living out of living; as long as there was a camera present, and a photographer ready to chase her every move, she was able to capture the minds of millions, for better or worse. She forced the public, however unwittingly, to discuss racism, the challenges of cancer, and ultimately, the boundaries of fame."

Do you agree?

p/s: That comparison between Jade and Princess Di was observed by Stephen Fry, who knew!

Justice done?

The face of evil?

After days of deliberation in court, Josef Fritzl has been sentenced to life in a psychiatric ward for imprisoning his daughter (yes, his very own flesh and blood) for 24 years, fathering her seven children and letting one his sons die whilst in captive. Has justice finally prevailed, particularly for those involved?

Have a good week ahead!

Another week almost gone. Another new week to get through although we'll all have to get past Monday first. What is it about Mondays that has us singing the blues? Log onto Facebook or MSN Messenger tomorrow morning, and almost everyone will be wishing they'd be elsewhere other than work! In any case, just to keep everyone's spirits up for the much dreaded day of the week check this l'il beauty out. You might've seen this before but I thought with the added lyrics, makes it easier to get what he's singing about - or not!!

TGIF

Set Your Piggies Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee everybody!!!