This requires celebration, say, a nice hot cup of coffee. While in there, I hear that the Gap store is having a large sale, so that they don't have to transfer much stock when they move stores on Friday. Being the kind, generous soul I am, I relieve them of some items. A thin grey sweater. A light shirt for work. Another shirt that will be *so* good to go out in Tucson. And some of the obligatory jeans. All this, and change from 50 squid.

So to Tower Records, where I had intended to purchase Alicia Keys' single. It's out today, and it really is a jolly good record. The only thing that stopped me was that the album was included in a Buy 2 For 18 Quid promotion. Hmm. There's three decent tracks on the album, and I've wanted one of the others in the offer for months, so that's the purchase. Bad news for the singles sales, but that's what happens when they're such poor value.

Let's get married Jaeda:
So we had the whole "traditional wedding or no" conversation today...see, I've been planning my wedding since I was 12. I've had a subscription to Bride's Magazine since then. I have a friggin file of dresses, cakes, flowers, all sorts of stuff.
Monica was right. To Ross, his wedding to Emily was something to enjoy. To Emily, it's the fulfilment of a lifetime's dreaming.

It's impossible to do what I want and have 5 people at the wedding.
It does seem a little - er, extravagant.

Family won't come because while they are all tolerant, if not completely accepting, we seriously don't think any of them could open their mind enough to witness a "wedding" with no groom.
Seeing as how they kinda missed the last wedding, when there *was* a groom, I think I might have to invite them to mine. There'll be no shortage of grooms there (;

We've both always wanted to go to Ireland. It's been my dream as long as i can remember. So....we have decided to wait a couple of years, save money, and take a trip to Ireland (with a layover in London to visit all the listees out that way) and maybe shorrt out to Paris, just for kicks.
Another thing I looked up while in the city was Lonely Planet Ireland. They recommend planning a trip USA-London (there's a direct flight from DFW to Gatwick...) then taking the plentiful flights on to Dublin. Or you could open jaw DFW-Paris; Dublin / London-DFW and take the Eurostar to London. There are *plenty* of options. The travel is trivial.

in lieu of a "wedding" we would hold our own ceremony...officiated or not, doesn't much matter, as we don't require a christian or catholic officiant....so the first thing I need to know, so I can begin planning, is where would be a good area to stay at in Ireland. We want access to the larger cities and tourist areas, without being smack in the middle of the city.
I'll ask those who have been there to stop me if I'm barking up the wrong tree, but you won't find an American-style city in Ireland. Dublin is big, but not huge. The whole island is within 200 miles of Dublin.

Second, what is Irish law on lesbian marriages?
Hollow laughter! Lonely Planet reports that Ireland's gay scene is Dublin, Belfast, a bit in Cork, and a few bars in the larger cities.

Right now we're thinking October of 2003, but that depends on the weather in Ireland around that time...we want warm, not hot.
Hot, in Ireland? (more hollow laughter.) Avoid two weeks either side of August 1 and you'll have no trouble with heat. You will expect rain, and your best weather will be May and early June, or late September into the third week of October.

Advice? Opinions?
Bally well go for it! It sounds a great plan, and whatever we can do to help, we'll do.

---

Vic
Just because you want a fancy dress and stuff doesn't mean Heather has to be a 'groom', she can be the other bride...or you can do without labels at all as you have always done.
Doing without labels is good. Jaeda is pledging commitment to, and celebrating her love for, Heather. Heather is pledging her commitment to, and celebrating her love for, Jaeda. The words "bride," "groom," "wedding," and "staircase" do not enter into the planning.

most of the marriages over there are Catholic and so they don't recognize anything but church weddings (Mrs. M Sr still wonders if Brendan and I are legally married),
Hint to Mrs M Sr: yes.

On a personal note, I agree that you deserve to have the wedding that you want, as many weddings as you want. I still hope that someday Brendan and I can have a proper ceremony. I'm not into big weddings at all, but I would at least like to have some friends there and not be wearing jeans.
Well, you could always have a commitment ceremony yourselves. They tend to be cheap and easy to organise, unless you want all the bells and trimmings.

Oh, and are listees invited to this wedding? We have Irish connections if that helps. :)
Just try and keep me away.

And I would gladly get a minister license if you want some crazy chick to perform your ceremony!
The Right Reverend Victoria... it has a ring to it (;

Or Iain and I can be your best men...you know what I mean!
Well, you can be a best man, I'll just be a halfway decent man.

As for beautiful places in Ireland...my dream place for a wedding (or living!) is Glendalough. I'll send you some pics if you want. It's a long bus trip from Dublin, but it's the most beautiful place I've ever been. Any of the surrounding cities of Dublin have buses or trains that go into the main city.
Trains are good. Especially ones that go all the way into Fort Worth *and* Dallas *and* stop within a mile of your house.

And Dublin itself is divided into these sort of ring sections as it goes out, so the outer parts aren't as crowded as the centre of the city.
This is useful information, muchly thanked.

We are planning a listee gathering in Dublin next spring (some time between St Patricks Day and the end of May). I know it's tough to afford an international trip, but we would so love it if you and Heather could come.
This would be good. As for those of you living within a flight of Dublin, no excuses. Be there or miss out.

But yes, major [hugs] to Jae and Heather. This *will* happen, and we'll do what we can to ensure it happens smoothly.

Do the shopping, decide against cutting the grass as there's a frost coming soon and I don't want to kill the grass off. Cut the trees - they're leylandii, they'll survive anything short of being chopped down. Give the place a good vacuum.

The WP speaks, and we snigger World President Tony Blair tries to shore up public opinion for the ongoing War Against Buildings In Afghanistan. "Every part of this is difficult. Every part requires courage, conviction, hard work. In every part, there may be setbacks from time to time." He claimed that those responsible were the al Qaeda reared by Bin Laden. The initial intelligence evidence - which wouldn't stand up in court at the beginning of the month - "is now a flood, confirming guilt".
Blair went on to suggest: "If we do not act, al Qaeda will have perpetrated this atrocity, the Taliban will have sheltered them, and we will have done nothing." The blatant obviousness of this - if we do nothing, we do nothing - was lost on his audience.
The WP was but warming to his central theme: "They can't be negotiated with. They refuse to yield to justice. And they have one hope: that we lack the moral fibre or will or courage to take them on." Blair failed to explain how taking on this group is compatible with almost completely stopping humanitarian aid to the region, or creating the conditions that will fan the flames of Islamic literalists.
Then Blair drops a clanger. "Never forget how we felt watching the planes fly into the trade towers. Never forget those answerphone messages, never forget how we felt imagining how mothers told children they were about to die. Never forget the guts of the firefighters and police who died trying to save others, never forget the gloating menace of Osama bin Laden in his propaganda videos." This is a crude and vulgar appeal, clearly aimed at the Oprah market. No-one is going to forget that day seven weeks ago. No-one can forget the images, or the deep depression into which the world sank. But this is no excuse not to have a grown up debate about the long-term aims and short-term tactics of the WABIA. This should not be a military operation, but an intelligence job. Anything else is playing to the macho end of the US market, the end that expects to see results by the end of Friends.

Another cause celebre staggers towards a conclusion of sorts. Tony Martin, a Norfolk farmer who shot dead a burglar, has his conviction reduced from murder to manslaughter. Taking into account time served, he'll be out by the end of next year.

On current events Elizabeth Wrigley-Field:
> If one has to have a favourite CNN anchor, mine is Jonathan
> "Blink!!!" Mann.
I actually don't recall him.
About 40, square jaw, light hair. He may only do the International feed, I don't recall seeing him on the domestic channel.

(For those who are Paulo: Mann was the anchor who distracted me on New Year's Eve, with his tendencies from Betelgeuse.)

I'd be interested in knowing, for example, whether post office hazardous materials policies for protecting workers apply to anthrax, whether it's possible to create additional protections for the workers and if so what the cost to post office consumers will be, and assorted other issues related mostly to public policy.
Er, um, ah.
(does a quick search of Slate)
Good question. Some answers would be better.

Yeah, but it's still important. I want to know how difficult it is to do that kind of treatment. Does it take a kids' chemistry set? A research lab?
The latter. Complex and fairly volatile chemicals, along with expensive and finely balanced centrifuges.

If they can treat anthrax to make it more easily inhaled, could treatments with no more sophisticated facilities make it more dangerous, or treat other infectious diseases?
Good question. Answers were lacking, until I remembered Gareth, a biochemist. He doesn't know all the answers, so put me in touch with other staff at Birmingham Uni.

He tells me that anthrax is very unusual, in that it's stable for long periods of time. Most of the commonly named biological diseases - smallpox, plague, the common cold - need to be kept in carefully controlled environments otherwise they go impotent very quickly. There may be techniques to increase their potency, but a quick whip-round of the brains didn't recall any.

Another interesting question would be how this fits in the context of other homegrown terrorist acts
It's not like the Unabomber, he had low-tech devices and high-tech targets. Not really the style of abortion protesters, this is too subtle. Suspicion from the UK is pointing to far-right anti-government groups. But this is another Frequently Unanswered Question.

Is that typical? Does it mean anything about what sort of individual or group might be sending the stuff out, or what sort might copy them if they get the chance? Finally, I'd like to know if this has any significance for abortion providers, who are often the target of anthrax hoaxes.
That I did not know. The above comments stand.

Oh, and this stuff really does affect people in the US right now, or at least certain parts of it.
Certain parts, sure. This is arguably the lead *local* story in the north east of the US. It's probably not the lead national story - that's the amazing massacre looming in Afghanistan.

as long as people *are* panicking about the situation, the facts seem newsworthy on that basis alone.
United Stations Panic As Hat Drops, reports The Onion. (Or it should do.)

Did you catch Bush offering to unconstitutionally legislate the budget while Congress is closed due to anthrax fears? (My ASS!)
What's a former Texas governor got to do with Congress?

Besides, as long as no one is actually hurt, it's always nice to see Pataki's office close down for a bit. Hee. Hee.
If I knew who Pataki was, I'd be laughing along.

I feel so strange and conflicted reading so little news these days...it's bizarre!
Six channels pumping out twenty four hours of news a day and you're still less informed at night than in the morning.

Speaking of control freaks of the Blairite kind, the WP is in Damascus and Riyadah today. I have a map showing Blair's Travels (right.) Where's the World President This Week?

Though the response in Damascus is frosty - Syrian President Assad gives a public declaration of support for Hamas, an extreme Palestinian group - the day is notable when WP Blair spells out the War Aims In One Soundbite. They're mixed with Things They Didn't Know On Tonight's Weakest Link. See if you can spot the difference:

• Right Said Fred didn't record "You Sexy Thing."
• The West aims to close down al-Qaida.
• The name for a group of 13 witches is not a broom.
• 56 divided by 4. Or 11 times 12. This from a bank teller.
• Blair wants to bring Bin Laden to justice.
• Someone who assesses insurance risk is not an undergraduate.
• Anything of the life story of Solomon Grundy.
• The US would love to remove the Taliban.
• Daniel Day Lewis did not write "Robinson Crusoe."

Tuesday night, the start of the new year cycle, was a night for remembering all the good things that the last year brought, and consigning some of the worse memories to paper, and ritually burning them. Tonight is the closest to the full moon, and it was clear for once. I get to light a new candle from the moon light, and gaze deeply into the embers of last month's flame. Afterwards, my underlying thought was "to learn by educating," which feels like a life statement. Whether it's for the month, or the year, or some indeterminate period (longer or shorter) I don't know.

Also a good deal wiser to the name by which the Goddess knows me. The Weaver bit I've known for years; last night I got the first name, and a strong clue about the second name. Until I'm sure about it, I'd best keep my counsel.

The Great Blair Hunt: Speaking in Gaza City, WP Blair warmly welcomes Yasser Arafat, and reiterated the two "fixed points" he had earlier confronted the Isreali leader with - that Israel would continue to exist, but "needed security", and that Palestine "must have its own state". "Those facts will remain when all the violence is over. When all the bloodshed stops, people are going to have to talk again."

paulo, quoting the Lixzardine, quoting me:
>>United Stations Panic As Hat Drops, reports The Onion. (Or it should do.)
> Along the same lines, their recent Cedar Rapids Library security article was
> completely fabulous.
And as someone from Spain, this week's "Restaurant turns out to be spanish, not mexican" cracked me up:
Right, here's two more silly stories in brief.

OUR LAST ALBUM WAS "CRAP," ADMITS BOY BAND

Irish band Westlife have sensationally admitted their last album was "full of crap." Poseur Kian told Smish Hats that "We just threw any old trash onto our last album. There were a few good songs, but most of it was total filler." Westlife releases its third studio album next month. A Greatest Hits set will follow next year.

BOY BAND FLIES THE MAPLE LEAF

Irish band Westlife has sensationally announced plans for an album of Canadian songs. After hitting #1 in 1999 with a cover of Terry Jacks' "Seasons In The Sun," Westlife hopes to follow up this Christmas with a remake of Sarah MacLachlan's "Angel." The group will put these two tracks onto an album along with other great Canadian-originated hits, like "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)," "Because You Loved Me," "Life Is A Highway" and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet." The lead single off the project, scheduled for release next August, is a cover of Alanis Emmychum's "You Oughta Know."

Alarmingly, at least one of these stories is true.

Ulster: Two steps forward, one step back Anti-Good Friday unionists scored an unexpected success today by defeating the Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble, in his bid to be relected as first minister in the Stormont assembly. Mr Trimble, whose July resignation from the executive was a gamble to push the IRA into disarming, failed to receive enough votes from fellow unionists to resume his post. That leaves Northern Ireland secretary John Reid with the choice of calling new elections, reimposing direct rule from London or playing a waiting game to see if a new vote in the assembly could see Mr Trimble squeeze back in.
A clearly angry Trimble condemned the two members of his own party - Pauline Armitage and Peter Weir - as "behaving dishonourably". He accused Weir of "running away from his commitments", but told reporters the vote "was not in any way final, and the peace process is not ended by it".
The UUP leader needed the votes of all his own party, plus other pro-Good Friday unionists to take up the post of first minister, but Armitage and Weir have doubts over IRA decommissioning and cannot support him. Despite last-minute maneouvring from two members of the women's coalition - who had its designations reassigned in a bid to prop up Mr Trimble - and the support of the hardline PUP, Trimble's gamble failed.

Watched ... this week

As If... repeats of season 1 have been on this week. Six teenagers tell their story through quick-cut action and flashbacks. This is more of an ensemble show than "My So-Called Life," but is the first teen show to come close to the gold standard. [E4, repeats from February]

Lost! Three teams are dropped in the middle of nowhere (this week: Azerbaijan) and told to get to the UK (this week: via Iran. The first game show ever to visit Iran, surely.) This was the fifth and final week, and it's one of the best of the year. [Windfall Films for C4, new]

Buffy An out-of-sequence season 2 Hallowe'en rerun shows just how far Willow's character has advanced. An in-sequence season 5 show reveals Riley's duplicity, and an in-sequence season 4 rerun shows Buffy and Riley at it. [Sky 1/ BBC2, the S5 terrestrial debut]

Friends Late in season 7, and there's a bridal shower. There are only so many plot twists for an event like this - guest of honour misses it, event doesn't happen, no-one comes. All of these were hinted at. Joey looks for a prosthetic, and Ross's cousin comes to stay. Unusually, this is an A/B/A+C setup, where plot C depends on A, but A lives without C. [C4, terrestrial debut]

The Tories: The Curse Of The Mummy Recalling the way the opposition party fell apart throughout the last parliament. The documentary attempts to be impartial, but fails to secure an interview with former leaders William Hague, John Major or Margaret Thatcher (the eponymous Mummy.) This means that no one's going to come to the defence of Amanda Platell, fingered by many shadow cabinet ministers as the source of most of the leaks that caused embarrassment. Peter "Dead Silly" Lilley comes out well, as does Michael Portfolio. [BBC News on BBC2]

So it was for me this week. Friday saw myself meet a few colleagues from work for a meal out. We wound up as a group of five; myself, the lady who handles some other enquiries and her bloke; our in-house web designer; and the lady who inspired a dream I mentioned some weeks ago. We could have had an Italian meal, but a couple of people demurred. We could have had an Indian, but that's not *my* style. Everyone was happy for a Chinese, so that's what we did.

Then Saturday saw the sister pop round to deliver her prezzie, and do lunch. She *does* like pizza, so Italian it was. Yum. I had some shopping to do while out, and bumped into Sionnain (pronounced SHIN-an) from my witchy group. This caused a little embarrassment: while my sister's cool about having a gay brother, she's not overjoyed that I'm not a christian of any description any more. Thankfully, the phrase "an acquaintance" covers all bases.

Another year older, another year wiser... allegedly.

There's a car bomb that failed to explode in Birmingham city centre last night. Police blame the I Can't Believe It's Not The IRA. Inhabitants of the city say "Why didn't you get it to go off last year, and give us a head start tearing down the Bull Ring."

Over in Ulster, the avowedly non-denominational Alliance Party will become Unionists, just for one week, to assure David Trimble gets re-elected as First Minister. Only in Ireland...