Hat hair

via Popbitch: The strangest news story I have EVER read, not only because of the content, but also the way it quotes speech. It seems that the Jamaica Star is a Jamaican version of The Sun. It looks as though it's not a spoof.

"DARAIN HOUSEN HAS not taken off his hat for the last 20 years. He bathes, he sleeps and does everything possible in it. It is a perfect fit.

But unlike other hats, his is not made of cloth but from the very hair on his head which is why it cannot be removed.Housen has been sporting his 'natural hat' hairstyle for the last 20 years. The 40-year-old barber who lives in Somerset, St. Thomas said he came up with the idea after some of his friends decided to wear hats to a party but he could not find one to wear.

"Mi an dem fi go a di party but di three of them had caps an' mi had none so mi get two mirror one behind mi and di other in front of mi an' mi trim mi hair like a cap an' go a di dance," said Housen."

More of the same, and a picture here.

Flu

Well the experts say we're not all going to die of a lethal mutation of bird flu (if only because REALLY lethal virus strains don't spread so much because they kill off their hosts too quickly... small comfort). Nevertheless, us Britons should perhaps be more concerned than most. We've got Defra (or: 'The Government Department formerly known as MAFF') keeping an eye on Britain's birds...
This isn't encouraging. The reason MAFF got rebranded as Defra is because MAFF became a symbol of utter incompetence during the foot-and-mouth shambles.
History may be meaningless in the era of New Labour, but a collective conciousness that would struggle against a goldfish in a memory test is going to find itself up the creek without a paddle if bird flu does hit Britain, and nobody realises that the same berks who slaughtered millions of animals whilst letting foot and mouth spread are on the front line again - but this time with human lives at stake. Let us hope we do not see history repeating itself here, because if it does, it will be a far graver matter than "low farce."

*Hoping my second cold of the year does not descend in to anything flu-like... where's that chicken soup?*

Film season

A string of good films being released in time for Oscar nomination this month.
September's given us:
'Wolf Creek': (chilling, brutal Australian horror film - its extreme violence left the whole audience shaking as they left the cinema when I saw it - certainly not for the faint hearted, but if one is looking for a horror that provides a "transcendental" experience - masochistic, I believe, although many will maintain it is mere sadistic voyeurism - then here it is).
And 'A History of Violence': Finally, a David Kronenberg film non-weirdos can enjoy, to paraphrase Cosmo Landesman in the Sunday Times. Whether the controversy over 'Crash' (1996) was valid or not isn't really relevant - this film is pretty violent from the outset (well the title was a clue...) but no one could call it 'sick'. Landesman is also correct that whether you watch (read?) this as an existential parable, or as a Steven Seagal film for those with a mental age over 13, it's hugely enjoyable. (NB: If you're planning to see this one, it's better to avoid the reviews, which give rather too much of the plot away I think; better to let the story unfold while you're watching the film.)

Greatly anticipating: Oliver Twist (Roman Polanski; out on Friday) and Corpse Bride (Tim Burton; out on Friday Oct 21 ) and hopefully some other Oscar-hopefuls coming up soon.

Glaring across the pond

Chicago-based Briton Rambling Thomas has uncovered another gem in the American media - a New York Times story about Michael Carroll - lottery winner and "a kind of Briton known as a chav" who "recently participated in a charity boxing match with a television gladiator named Rhino."
All the gory details.