Is it just me, or is it quite funny that a study about guessing people's personality from their shoes was carried out in Kansas?
Ok, it's maybe a bit left field, but come on? Dorothy? Toto? Ruby red slippers?
Anyway, here's the science bit. Researchers at the University if Kansas found out that judging a stranger's personality by their shoes is 90% accurate. In fact, it even goes so far as to say that you can work out their gender, age, income, emotional stability and politics from someone's footwear.
Jeez, who needs astrology when all you need to do is check out their clogs?
I was going to call on my science degree for the whole 'Aim, Method, Apparatus, Results, Conclusion' thing, but let's be honest, science is only cool on TV when you're a character on Criminal Minds or CSI.
So the guinea pigs were asked to put on the shoes that they wore most often and complete a personality survey.
It wasn't rocket science to work out that those with the expensive shoes earned more cash or that extroverts tend to have fancier shoes.
Anyway the researchers who viewed 208 photos of shoes noted that agreeable people wore practical shoes, calm people had uncomfortable shoes. Liberals had cheaper and shabbier shoes, whereas the people who liked to take care of their footwear may suffer from attachment anxiety. Ankle boots tend to be worn by those who people who have a more aggressive personality.
So that leaves Dorothy as an extroverted calm person who likes to wear the shoes of a dead witch?
Oh well, who said 'you can't judge an Indian till you walk 10 miles in his moccasins?'
I try really hard to blog about different subjects, you know, the ones that attract your attention, make you laugh, grimace, scowl, cringe, give you the 'dry boak' (I know it's a Scottish word, but it'll do y'all no harm to learn some words in another language) or a combination of all of the above.
Unfortunately, I'm finding myself writing about zombies and cannibalism again. So, yeah if that means I'm a sick depraved individual who is starting to appear on some real dodgy lists out there in the stratosphere then so be it.
It should be no real surprise that I've unearthed some more cannibalism/zombie stories from the worlds news recently. It's actually quite gross that there are more and more stories of people getting bits of themselves eaten, in fact bizarrely enough the recording of 'Criminal Minds' was about a cannibalistic killer who fed everyone searching the woods for the victim a very filling stew..... Oh yeah, the meat was the missing girl.
Bleurgh!
So then, what stories do we have so far?
Well, Canadian bisexual porn actor Luka Rocco Magnotta being arrested for the suspected torture, killing and eating of someone.
In Japan, Mao Sugiyama had his male genitalia removed then offered them online to diners as a ¥100,000 or about £800. Just for your information, 5 people coughed up the money and ate his 'bits'.
The Miami man who was shot dead because he was in the process of eating someone's face, incidentally the victim is STILL alive
The Maryland student who was charged with killing and eating his flat mate.
The Swedish man who cut off and ate his wife's lips, by the way, she is still alive.
The Texan woman who ate her infant son.
The man from Louisiana who argued and bit a chunk out of his ex-wife's new husband.
So then, is the beginning of a zombie apocalypse or is cannibalism gradually becoming socially acceptable?
Im actually laughing at that sentence, but it is certainly doing the trending thing on the likes of twitter, yahoo, google blah blah.
Perhaps when Stephen King had said that there was something comforting about the end of the world, he was actually making sense.
He said, 'Everyone assumes they’ll survive; all of their current problems, which seem so daunting today, are suddenly, conveniently irrelevant; and all you ever wanted is just lying around waiting for you to pick it up, including everything you need to fight off the Army of Darkness.'
Much as I would like to think if there was some apocalypse on the horizon that encourages us to eat one another, I would become an amazing shot with a cross bow, I would probably be the unfortunate vegetarian trying to eat your face.
What am I talking about? Well Sunday 5th of February is when the new series of 'True Blood' starts in the UK on FX.
Now, it's not news that there are differences between the Charlaine Harris, 'The Southern Vampire Mysteries' books and the tv series.
In my opinion the 4th book, 'Dead to The World' was the best out of the Sookie Stackhouse novels to date. It provided me with stacks of entertainment much to the aggravation of my husband who was subjected to me laughing out loudly at some parts. Then, perhaps more annoyingly, reading the part out to him.......
I am fully aware of just how much of a pain in the arse this makes me, but I can't help it, sometimes the jokes and clever quips from Sookie combined with the smart answers from Eric's sidekick Pam and excellent storyline led me to want to share the book with the world, or certainly anyone that had no choice but to hear me.
So, what can we expect from Alan Ball as opposed to Charlaine Harris apart from some serious eye-candy for both sexes?
More witches will be making an appearance and fairies too in the shape of the Sherlock Holme's very own fr-enemy Irene Adler from the episode entitled 'A Scandal in Belgravia'. Though you may not recognise Lara Pulver with her clothes on! It goes without saying that obviously there will be more werewolves, were-panthers, shapeshifters and vampires all looking extremely overly gorgeous.
We left Season 4 with Bill Compton in a fight with the queen of Louisiana over Sookie. Jason had 'inherited' the town of Hotshot from Calvin Norris. Eric was so severley pissed off at having been buried in concrete by Bill, that he spilled the beans to Sookie about Bill being told to seduce Sookie for the Queen of Louisiana who basically wanted her fairy blood so she could become a daywalker.
Tara is confused as hell and to be honest who can really blame her? Being kidnapped by Franklin the mentally insane and psychopathic vampire (thankfully due to my other love Criminal Minds I know he wasn't a sociopath), then finding out your fuck-buddy can turn himself into any creature he wants would certainly mess with my head.
The fabulous character of Lafayette had just discovered his boyfriend Jesus is a witch. I'm not sure whether typing that one sentence I may end up with a religious organisation wanting to burn me at the stake! Anyway, at the same time, Lafayette is starting to 'see things' ooooooh spooky!
So, what will happen now that Sookie has been taken the hand of Claudine the fairy? Who will win the battle of the vampires and will Eric get his mobile phone back from Bill? Who knows?
A word to the wise, don't DARE disturb me on a Sunday night when True Blood is on, I may have to get Alcide to come over and sort you out!
It will soon be Christmas and although we are probably all very familiar with Dickens’s story ‘A Christmas Carol’ or any of its variants, in this economy it is very easy to think more about yourself than others that are perhaps less well off.
But isn’t that what Christmas is about? The time of year where your really should think of others, give up on your own ignorance and greed to help those in need. You see sometimes the cruelty of humans amazes me; I just fail to see what they get out of it.
Bearing all this in mind, when I came across the story of Boycie I felt the need to do what I can to help him out.
Like or hate dogs, you can’t condone cruelty towards them or any animal. So whether you consider our canine friends to be smelly, messy or taking up too much time I would loath to think that you would actually do them harm?
This brings me back to the story of Boycie.
You see I watch a lot of Criminal Minds on television and one theme that appears to run through it is how your past affects your future.
But its strange because that doesn’t always happen with dogs, take Michael Vick’s Pit Bulls from Bad Newz Kennels for example, out of the 70 dogs that were found at his kennels 48 dogs survived and have been re-homed after being used in dog fights, as bait dogs for dog fighting, neglected or abused.
These dogs, like Boycie aren’t the bad guys here; they are the victims who are willing to trust us humans again. They want to be loved, cuddled and wait patiently at the front door for you to come back home again complete with a wagging tail and smiley face for you.
Boycie’s rubbish beginning wasn’t his fault; he didn’t ask to be abused, neglected and live in a crack den. Would you fancy that idea? Or would every day you cower in the corner wishing to be invisible and hope that this life wasn’t as good as it gets?
Luckily Boycie was rescued from that situation and given medical treatment, love, care and attention and thanks to these people he is no longer afraid, skinny or malnourished. Boycie is a survivor.
Boycie is still very young and at about 2yr old still has many years of life left in him. You wouldn’t need to take Boycie with you every where you go, though you could if you wanted, because he is perfectly happy being left alone for a few hours.
Like many rescue dogs, Boycie desperately wants to make you happy, whether it is being all cuddly or running about daft, chasing a ball in a field. Boycie is really clever too; after all, he managed to survive a horrible situation so any type of training will be a breeze.
To me, Boycie sounds perfect, good fun, willing to learn, likes a cuddle, doesn’t mind other dogs (unless they are really scary) and really appreciates the fact that he has come out of hell alive and well.
If you are thinking about doing the right thing, Boycie is in the Home Counties, but don’t let that put you off him if you are at the other end of the country. How far would you go for the love of you life? Many say to hell and back, Boycie has been there and can make sure that you don’t have to.
This blog is about giving, giving Boycie a chance at life, in my mind he has already proved he is a winner. Perhaps Boycie could bring out the winner in you too? Do something powerful, make a statement to the world that you have done something positive in 2011. You are someone’s hero.
If you want to chat about Boycie, ask some questions, meet him, take him for a walk or give him a cuddle and chew stick Email Boycie_needs_a_home@hotmail.co.uk or https://www.facebook.com/BoycieNeedsahome want to see how Michael Vicks dogs survived? http://badrapor.www65.a2hosting.com/home
There is one point to remember though; yeah it’s the season of goodwill and thinking about others and their welfare so that goes two ways. Don’t think that if you take Boycie or any other rescue dog home you are on your own, every decent rescue organisation will give you a follow up call to make sure that all is well and answer any questions you may have. They will also give you any help or advice you need at any point…..
So, I got the Iphone 4S a week ago now and I will admit that I am still finding my feet a bit with all the technology it has.
I love it; don’t get me wrong I think it’s an awesome bit of kit, although I am very incredibly paranoid about harming it. Not as in considering taking a hammer to it or anything, more along the lines of my normal mobile phone mishaps, you know the sort, the ones that involve spillages, being dropped and being left in pockets along with receipts, sweet wrappers and snotty hankies.
What is confusing me is Siri, Apple’s idea of Jarvis in Iron Man so to speak.
What an amazingly superb idea! Some gadget thing that you tell what to do and it does it. Until you go to use it and you don’t know what to say. In fancy language that will be some voice activation system that can look up stuff on the internet, take notes, set up reminders and calendar dates for you. Siri is like having a mini Dr Reid from Criminal Minds in your pocket, which I think is very cool indeed.
Seriously, though I have sat for 20 minutes not knowing what to say to a mobile phone. Ridiculous isn’t it?
What did freak me out was when I was reading stuff about Siri being a sassy sounding female……. Eh no! My Siri is a guy. So the story goes in the US and Australia Siri is a girly and the UK has a dude.
I am so not sexist at all and quite honestly don’t mind who takes notes, reminders etc as long as they get them right. Jon Briggs who has done all kinds of voice over work from ‘The Weakest Link’ to Porsche’s Sat Nav system is the voice our Siri.
The bad thing is that Siri in the UK sometimes doesn’t quite understand what you’re asking, and gives the response ‘Sorry Lynn, I can only look for businesses in the United States, and when you’re using US English’
The good news is that this is an early form of voice activation and Apple is continuing to develop it.
Personally I can’t wait for one that sounds like Melanie Sykes. Id love her to tell me that I should ‘put a scarf on ‘cause it’ll be cold out’
Today I read a story of a woman from Karachi in Pakistan. Strangely enough depending on which version of events you read, she is either 32 or 42 years old, though when you kill and cook your husband i'm not convinced that it matters how old you are.
Yeah, so that’s what Zainab Bibi did, allegedly that is. Police in Karachi had arrested the lady after neighbours complained that there was a particularly nasty smell coming from the house.
The story according to the police is that Zainab Bibi and her 22yr old nephew Zaheer Ahmed killed her husband by (again depending on what news source you read) either by stabbing him to death or by poisoning him then strangling him.
Both news sources say that Zainab and Zaheer cut Ahmad Abbas into pieces and hard started to boil him up for cooking.
Of course, like most people they have a reason for murder (in their own heads at least) Zainab’s excuse was that Ahmad wanted to begin a physical relationship with his daughter who may or may not be 17 year old.
The only pieces of information that are the same between the various news sources is that is that Zainab Bibi did not regret her actions.
When I decided to write about this I didn’t realise the different variations of the same and to be quite honest I’m not sure which one is right and which one is wrong, so I’ve given you both stories so you can make up your own mind.
Seriously though, I don’t really approve of murder as way a stop someone doing something, it’s a bit of overkill really, especially if it’s over a parking space or something like that. But this murder happened because a woman was trying to protect another one from incestuous rape.
It’s a lot more of a valid reason than some I’ve read or heard about and you get many lesser reasons for manslaughter on ‘Criminal Minds’ and more horrible murders on ‘American Horror Story’. Not sure how Derek Morgan or Dr Reid would profile Zainab though, I suppose it depends on what she has been through herself.
But still if I ever find out the correct story, ill let you all know.
I vaguely remember when I was young, a story about an actress who had drowned while drinking on a yacht. It only sticks in my mind because she was as stunningly beautiful as my mum with her dark hair and classic looks.
As a 10yr old my mind was fixed on horses, dogs and riding my bike so it is a bit strange that I can recall the death of Natalie Wood.
Yup, Natalie was petite, gorgeous and talented. She had been a child star and survived into adulthood, starred in some of the most celebrated movies ever including ‘Rebel Without a Cause’, ‘Miracle on 34th Street’, ‘West side Story’ and ‘From Here to Eternity’ and had dated some of the most sought after men too.
Then on 29th November 1981 Natalie drowned. The cause of death is without a doubt, but the grey area appears to be whether husband Robert Wagner (Hart to Hart fame), co-star Christopher Walken (scary actor from Fatboy Slim’s video ‘Weapon of Choice’) or Dennis Davern the Captain of the yacht had anything to do with the drowning.
I’m not suggesting for one moment that any/all/some of the guys mentioned knocked her about a bit then shoved Natalie overboard.
But, come one, I’m no one special and I sure as hell wouldn’t go ashore wearing a long nightgown, socks and a down jacket?
What puzzles me is why has extra information from Captain Davern appeared now? He co-wrote a book ‘Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour’ in 2009 where he said that he thought Natalie had died as a result of her argument with her husband. So this piece of tasty gossip isn’t new.
Then in 2010, Davern said to CNN that he believed the whole investigation was ‘incompetent’ and ‘regrets misleading investigators by keeping quiet at Wagner's request.’
It’s all a bit bizarre really as far as I’m concerned, but the case is being re-opened and Robert Wagner is not a suspect according to LA County Sheriff’s Department. However the LA Times says that ‘A law enforcement source added that the department recently received a letter from an unidentified "third party" who said the captain had "new recollections" about the case. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing.’
Wonder if it is Marilyn Wayne who reported hearing a woman call for help on that fateful night? Ok she also said that she could hear others shouting ‘we’re coming to get you’. But what disturbs me is that Wayne and her unidentified friend didn’t attempt to rescue the troubled voice, they just listened to it for 25 minutes. Surely if a rescue attempt hasn’t worked in that space of time someone somewhere possibly needs back-up, support a coast guard maybe?
I’ve watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds to know that people don’t just surrender information because 30 years later they have suddenly remembered it. It is usually for a reason.
There are only a few series that I actually follow, namely True Blood, Criminal Minds (though not in any order at all, which sometimes leaves me confused) and The Walking Dead.
Tonight I’m going to give another TV show a try. It’s called ‘American Horror Story’ and begins on FX: UK tonight at 10pm.
Now, its not just Dylan McDermott who attracted me to the idea of ‘American Horror Story’, honestly, but every so often a good creepy drama appears that is worth its weight in gold. I’m thinking along the lines of ‘Millennium’ with Lance Henriksen as an FBI profiler or indeed ‘American Gothic’ with the very scary Gary Cole as Sheriff Lucas Black. All completely brilliant thrillers that if you haven’t seen or heard of, I recommend that you watch.
Bear in mind that the creators of this drama are none other than Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk who are better known as being the writer/producer team behind Nip/Tuck and Glee. Interested a bit more now?
American Horror Story appears to feature the ubiquitous haunted house, you know the sort, old, dusty, in need of repair but very gorgeous to look at. So much so, that even if I hadn’t spilt the proverbial beans you would still just know that it was creepy as hell and even Yvette Fielding wouldn’t want to spend the night there.
Queue family suffering from lots of tension, emotional problems and trying to work them all out. Now you can see this is a recipe for disaster……
We have betrayal, Ben Harmon (husband) has had an affair, death and grief comes in the shape of Vivien Harmon (wife) who has had a still-birth then as if there isn’t anything to feel remotely positive about, Murphy and Falchuk throw a depressive daughter, Violet, into the mix.
To have all the cheesy traditional horror ingredients thrown into the mix and still be given a second series ‘American Horror Story’ must be doing something right.
So, Ill be tuning in tonight, even if it’s just to shout at the TV ‘Oh no!! Don’t go in there!’
