Chatiryworld

Inventor of Playmobil dies

1. Lunch atop a skyscraper, 2. Wir sind Playmobil, 3. Untitled, 4. Welcome to wherever you are., 5. CRAZY CAT LADY PLAYMOBIL FROM GROC!!, 6. Untitled, 7. they might be giants!, 8. 2/365 Toys: Pink, 9. going for a walk

More at The Guardian.

So, what Playmobil people and sets did you have, and what were your favourites?  I had the pirate rowing boat (bit like this only 80s style) and I think I had some hospital stuff.  My sister Ellen had a playpark that I used to like taking over playing with.  The Playmobil site is ideal for timewasting with games galore and STUFF to look at.  Maybe we should get the wedding set?  I want to play...

Petition

I'm not the world's biggest fan of Royal Mail, but at least they don't charge companies extra money to deliver to the Highlands and Islands.  They are going there anyway, they don't have to.  More and more online and mail order companies are using couriers to delivery goods, and they tend to seriously hike up the charges for the Highlands and Islands.  In some cases they don't even bother to check up some basic geography.  Anywhere with a KW postcode is considered to be in Orkney, even though much of this area is on the mainland.  Because Skye is an island it is assumed you need to take a boat to get there.  Whilst you can do that, there's a very good road bridge that will take you there.

Understandably, people are fed up of this.  When I was a child on Orkney we got a lot of stuff via mail order, at that time, all delivered through Royal Mail, for the same price as someone in London, Leeds or Linlithgow would pay. 

There's a petition at the UK Parliament website, if you're a British citizen and would like to do something to help please consider signing this.  I'm not always convinced how successful these petitions are (although my work got results through the Scottish Parliament petition site) but you've got to try I think. 

Changing times

'and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath'

I think my favourite part of watching the inauguration this afternoon was seeing Malia Obama taking photos of everything with her camera.  She could probably have any photo from any photographer but she took her own.  Sweet.

Least favourite was nutjob bigot Rick Warren but the ad the American Humanist Association took out today might help you forget him.  Possibly.

Phew!

Congratulations to Barack Obama.  Jon wrote a good post about it all at stupid o'clock this morning and the Huffington Post has images of voter reactions. 

No politician is perfect but some are less imperfect than other

I'm off galavanting around middle England for a few days, see you soon.

Hope

I have a lot of it for the USA at the moment.  I think if I lived there I too would be baking.

Jon has some wordy links.

Bletchley Park funding

Enigma wheel, Bletchley Park, Bletchley, UK.JPG, originally uploaded by gruntzooki.

I heard on the radio today, and read at BoingBoing that Bletchley Park has a serious funding crisis, and, to put it crudely, is falling to bits.  The government have been asked to improve their funding of it, given its historical importance.  There is also a petition to Parliament.

I hope that Bletchley keeps going, I have not been but would love to go one day.  My Granny Pip worked there during the war, presumably down to her excellent crossword skills that remained with her throughout her life.  I'd love to get some sort of idea into what she, and others, did there.  By coincidence, many years later in Sheffield, I ended up doing some work for Bletchley Park Trust because they used the solicitors I was temping at.  Nothing more than typing up letters and colouring in plans, but I liked the connection with my granny.

Cory Doctorow (who took the photo above) of BoingBoing visited Bletchley recently and wrote a great post about it. 

Placebo effect?

I don't tend to look at the news as much when I'm away from work (it's not that I spend my time skiving off and reading news, I do actually need to be aware on what's going on in certain topic areas) so I only saw the story that Prozac doesn't work today.

As someone who has taken Prozac for most of the last ten years, I'm obviously more than a little biased, plus I take it for anxiety, not depression.  But if it is like a placebo, why is it the only medication that has taken any effect on my anxiety?  Why does it make a significant difference when I have a relapse and need to go back on it?  Why did Seroxat (a similar anti-depressant, also in the study) not do me any good and in fact made me feel ill, but Prozac didn't? 

I do wonder if they are over-prescribed, and there are issues with people being given medication when they might benefit from therapy more, but it simply isn't available (although I do also believe that medication can give you the strength you need to deal with therapy).  I have some concerns about the government's 'army of therapists' (I don't know if this is in Scotland as well as England, health is a devolved matter) and the idea of cognitive behavioural therapy being the miracle cure we all need.   I'm sure it works really well for many people but mental illness is a tricky thing and what works for one person doesn't always work well for another.  You also have to remember that some people have mental health problems due to a chemical imbalance in the brain (given other cases of anxiety in my family I have reason to believe that I may be one of them) and no amount of therapy will cure this.  It might help, as we all need to talk to people, and CBT can help you deal with problems (I've used some of the principles myself), but it's not necessarily a cure-all.

I'll watch developments with interest.  Remember, if you are on SSRI anti-depressants and you want to stop, do it gradually, don't ever stop suddenly as that way lies nasty side-effects.

Bloody hell

I thought something serious had happened when I walked past this place this afternoon and there were police stationed outside and police vans and cars parked up the road.

I could come out with all the cliches about this being a nice safe area full of families, but these things can happen anywhere, and obviously we don't know any more details.

Things

Lots to notice in the blogging world right now.

First of all, I am LOVING these new earrings by Abigail Percy, and wish it was nearly my birthday!  You can also have a sneak peek at her abode courtesy of Design*Sponge.

A big welcome to the world for baby Lillian, she's lucky enough to have a knitting mum.

Silversprite writes about the new cult of John Smeaton.  Way to go John!

Amanda's book on full of creative fun for the family is now available for pre-order.  Looks like the sort of thing I would have devoured as a child for finding things to do.

I've been reading thimble for a while.  Laural recently got married and I have to say it looked like an absolutely fantastic do, lots of craft, music and keeping things simple.  Read parts 1, 2 and 3.

I'm sure there was more I wanted to tell you but I'm in mourning for Fopp.  I can't believe I waster two years of my life in a city that didn't have a branch.

Work entertains me

Well, not continuously, but I get to be entertained every so often thanks to my job.  Today at an awards ceremony I saw Bruce Airhead, who gets inside a balloon for your entertainment.  It wasn't Prisoner-style, which I was slightly disappointed at but given lots of the people at the event were still at school they probably wouldn't have got that reference.  Anyway, I thought Bruce did a good act, look out for him.

I'm also getting to go to T in the Park thanks to work, although I have to do some work whilst there.  I'm not doing the whole thing, the idea of camping fills me with absolute horror and festivals are a bit hardcore for a delicate flower like me.  I'll be up for a while on the Sunday and hope to see Air, Tori Amos, and Mark Lanegan with Soulsavers, depending on work commitments (I want to see Air at the least, saw them in Sheffield in 2001 and they were great), and maybe a few more acts, I don't know.

It's cold here, it's also cold in Glasgow so it's not just an east coast thing.  Hard to believe we were basking in warm sunshine further north just a week ago.  It's raining badly down at my mum's though.

Finally, I'm now on Ravelry (Web 2.0 for knitters, still invite only), look for chatirygirl if you want to add me as a friend.  I won't cry if you don't though.