Stuart Rose is an idiot

"What more do you women WANT?" exclaims Stuart Rose today. He thinks we have everything, you see. Complete equality in the workplace and yet still we complain and whine, like the bitches we are. So why ARE we whining? What DO we want?

1. How about EQUAL FUCKING PAY, Stuart? Here's just ONE report I could have pulled out of many that proves we don't have it. Here's an explanation of the pay gap and why it is not getting better.

2. How about not losing our jobs if we become pregnant? Yes, this happens. Yes, still.

3. How about not being judged on our looks, in terms of getting a job in the first place, or getting promoted once we have it.

4. How about NOT ignoring that fact that so many workplaces are institutionally sexist, and actually trying to change THAT, not US.

5. How about not being sexually harrassed in the workplace? And no, a workplace where it is acceptable to look at porn in the office, or take clients out to lap-dancing clubs is NOT a safe or pleasant environment for women to work in.

Just a few things for you to think about over your cornflakes, Stuart. Which are probably being poured into your bowl for you by a woman who doesn't dare tell you what a cock you are.

I'm so tired of Prop 8

Ducklings

Tell me, is it my hormones, or does everyone get a bit teary at this?!

Way more exciting news

Forget the baby! I just got commissioned to write a piece on Tori Amos for DIVA magazine. Hurrah!

Official news with semi-helpful visual aids

Yes, it's official. Well, it's been official for some time, but now it's all general-public-official, and I for one cannot wait until the grey area of 'has she eaten a few too many pies?' is over...

No idea of gender, so feel free to take a guess or place your bets, so for now, we'll just call it Little Fucker Who Makes Me Sick All The Time. Not the catchiest acronym - I'll work on that. But seriously, do go back through the last month or two of posts and mentally add the line 'and then I threw up' at the end of them.

Original due date thought to be 28 November, then 30 November, now today they say 1st December. If it keeps going this way, it'll hit Christmas and suffer the 'one present for both' pitfall... Either that, or it's a sign of lateness to come.

Feel free to suggest names, sickness cures and other helpful things. See if you can beat Dan Edwardes' suggestion of 'Warchild, Lord of Battle'. 

Wimbledon fun

So, we went off to see the Centre Court Celebration today, which was great fun. Can't say I care too much about the ceremonial closing of a roof (really, how interesting is it possible to make it?), and the 'entertainment' (Katherine Jenkins, Blake and Faryl Smith) could definitely be used on me were I to be incarcerated in Guantanamo (ok, maybe an old reference), BUT getting to see the tennis we did was definitely worth it. 

Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are my favourite players of all time and it was such a joy to see them play on Centre Court. I'd seen Agassi once before, against Becker, which he lost, so it was great to see him winning the match against Henman. The biggest pleasure of the day for me though was seeing Steffi Graf play as beautifully as ever and prove why she is probably the best female player there's ever been. Would love it if she was serious about taking a wildcard for Wimbledon - it was so much more enjoyable watching her and Clijsters than say, an Ivanovic/Jankovic match. And seeing Andre and Steffi so happy together was just an added bonus.

Excellent week

So... Monday was the day of my PhD review, and also the Tori Amos show. PhD review was surprisingly fine (and short). The gist was: 'good work. finish it up, there's a dear'. Fair enough.

I took my supervisor along to the Tori show, as well as a friend who is a big fan and her girlfriend. The setlist for the show was not great, by regulars' standards, however, the performance was pretty good, all in all. Loved her outfit too :) Highlights for me were Crucify (obviously), Barons of Suburbia and Putting The Damage On. 

I had extremely low expectations for the show, based on the new album and how much I don't like it. And none of the new songs performed live did anything to change my mind (though I did quite like 'Curtain Call'). 'Mary Jane' was the low point of the evening, completely embarrassing (Tori, we get it, you know about pot), and I think must be a discard from her musical. And it wasn't a particularly long show, so I was surprised that she did 2 covers (3 if you count the Smooth Operator improv). Though I will never get sick of Famous Blue Raincoat, I thought it was an odd choice to open with. Over The Rainbow was a waste of a song in only a 2 song encore, and I don't really like her version that much.

Having said all that, Ros (my supervisor), who had never seen Tori before, or even heard more than a couple of her songs, absolutely LOVED it. And I tried to see it as though I was seeing her for the first time too. So I did enjoy all the LE stuff, and Cool On Your Island. Taxi Ride was lovely. Barons of Surburbia was really really good. And she did perform very well. More intense and less 'floaty' than I've seen her for a while.

So, no, it wasn't a great setlist, but it was a pretty good show, and I'm glad I went. It's been a really long time since I saw her do a solo show and I forgot how good they can be if you're in the mood for them - which I was. If I'd been to see her three times already this week, I'm sure I would have thought it was lame... but I think my lesson is to not see more than a couple of shows and that way I can enjoy her more.

Tuesday night brought Placebo at Shepherds Bush Empire. They pulled out a tight, excellent show, as always, and most of the stuff from the new album sounds really good. Highlights were Special K and The Bitter End, though anything from 'Black Market Music' or 'Meds' gets a giant thumbs up from me. The less said about Brian's hair, the better. I'll try and find a picture so you can see what I mean - bear in mind the last time I saw them live, it was obvious he was thinning on top...

On Wednesday, we got up early and headed to the Eurostar for our day in Paris. It only took 2 hours 20 minutes to get there, much quicker than last time I went, and less time than it takes to get to Newcastle! Ridiculous we don't do things like that more often really, especially since it only cost us £50 each. It was a hazy hot day. We walked by the river, had a long lunch near the Sorbonne, then hung out in the giant park I forget the name of and played backgammon. Four French kids were extremely interested in our game, and so we let them throw the dice for us with each turn. Not entirely sure all our pieces were where they were supposed to be, due to some rather vigorous throwing (and despite the older girl's reproach of 'doucement!'), but I think fun was had by all. We then took a trip on the Batobus, and lay out on the deck watching Notre Dame, the Champs Elyses and various other things float by us. We got off at the Eiffel Tower, fully intending to go to the top, however at that moment a giant thunderstorm hit with torrential rain. James thought I was ridiculous for not wanting to go to the top of a GIANT METAL POINTING DEVICE while the lightning was striking nearby, but I held firm and we did not! Next time... Instead, we headed back to Notre Dame, and had crepes and hot chocolate in a very cute cafe-bar, where the guy working there insisted on changing the music on his ipod to suit our mood (we went for the chilled jazz covers by some woman I thought I recognised, but not sure). A nice way to end before heading back to the station and getting back into London for 10.30pm.

Tired now!

rainy old friday

Next Monday (not this one coming), I will start blogging more often. It's decided. This coming week looks pretty good:

Monday: rescheduled Tori show at the Savoy (and a PhD review...less fun)

Tuesday: Placebo at SBE (YAY!!!)

Wednesday: day trip to Paris - and why not?

Can't even think any further ahead than all that activity.

Am currently hiding/working at Alice's house to avoid the random people coming to view our house to rent. We're moving out in a few weeks (only a few streets away), so I know they have to have viewings, but I HATE IT. The cat, on the other hand, loves it. She follows them around the house and generally gets in the way by lying down on just the spot of carpet they were about to step on. Good work Yoko...until someone steps on your tail.