Underground Makeup

I wish today to pay tribute to that intrepid band of women who take the opportunity to adjust or apply their makeup whilst on public transport.

The thought came to me on the way into work this morning as I observed a young woman who was probably within 18 months of her 23rd birthday (in either direction), cheerfully sitting in a crowded carriage making invisible adjustments to her make up.

So long as this was expressed by the smoothing down of eyebrows and the faint massaging of whatever she was massaging below her eyes, it was all pretty standard stuff and the only person who could see the difference was the woman herself.

Now I speak as one who is leery about drinking hot coffee on the Tube. Actually the temperature is immaterial; drinking anything that is not in a bottle with a sport cap is an event of fearsome endeavour and one to be avoided, especially if the liquid is stain-worthy. Anyone who is willing to hold little brushes to their eyes and risk an inadvertent gouge or an unintended Ziggy Stardust lightning bolt gets my admiration. Similarly the application of lipstick; given that the carriages are bouncing all over the place and the other passengers are rocking around too, it is a mystery to me how any woman can apply lipstick without ending up with a jokerish smile or grimace.

Ladies we salute you who risk life and limb in the pursuit of beauty!

But a little bit of me is waiting anxiously for the cries of woe and the gnashing of the teeth when the odds reassert themselves and the laws of relative motion are kicked into gear by the Karma Pixies. Just as long as I am not drinking coffee at the time, please.

Underground Makeup

I wish today to pay tribute to that intrepid band of women who take the opportunity to adjust or apply their makeup whilst on public transport.

The thought came to me on the way into work this morning as I observed a young woman who was probably within 18 months of her 23rd birthday (in either direction), cheerfully sitting in a crowded carriage making invisible adjustments to her make up.

So long as this was expressed by the smoothing down of eyebrows and the faint massaging of whatever she was massaging below her eyes, it was all pretty standard stuff and the only person who could see the difference was the woman herself.

Now I speak as one who is leery about drinking hot coffee on the Tube. Actually the temperature is immaterial; drinking anything that is not in a bottle with a sport cap is an event of fearsome endeavour and one to be avoided, especially if the liquid is stain-worthy. Anyone who is willing to hold little brushes to their eyes and risk an inadvertent gouge or an unintended Ziggy Stardust lightning bolt gets my admiration. Similarly the application of lipstick; given that the carriages are bouncing all over the place and the other passengers are rocking around too, it is a mystery to me how any woman can apply lipstick without ending up with a jokerish smile or grimace.

Ladies we salute you who risk life and limb in the pursuit of beauty!

But a little bit of me is waiting anxiously for the cries of woe and the gnashing of the teeth when the odds reassert themselves and the laws of relative motion are kicked into gear by the Karma Pixies. Just as long as I am not drinking coffee at the time, please.

The Riff

There is an article in today’s Times about the importance of the guitar riff in rock music. They call it the cornerstone of rock. For those as is interested, the article can be found online here.

The online version of the article does not include the top ten riffs of all time as decided by, er… probably the Times. There is a link you can follow to listen and vote for your favourite, but I don’t think there’s a list as such. Here I have included the top ten list as it appears in the printed version (without the commentary), starting with number one and working down to ten:

1 Smoke on the Water: Deep Purple
2 Whole Lotta Love: Led Zeppelin
3 Satisfaction: Rolling Stones
4 There She Goes: The La’s
5 Come On Everybody: Eddie Cochran
6 Smells Like Teen Spirit: Nirvana
7 Seven Nation Army: White Stripes
8 I Love Rock’n’Roll: Joan Jett
9 Sweet Child O’Mine: Guns N’ Roses
10 I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor: Arctic Monkeys

So the question is, what’s on that list that shouldn’t be, and what’s missing that should?

The Riff

There is an article in today’s Times about the importance of the guitar riff in rock music. They call it the cornerstone of rock. For those as is interested, the article can be found online here.

The online version of the article does not include the top ten riffs of all time as decided by, er… probably the Times. There is a link you can follow to listen and vote for your favourite, but I don’t think there’s a list as such. Here I have included the top ten list as it appears in the printed version (without the commentary), starting with number one and working down to ten:

1 Smoke on the Water: Deep Purple
2 Whole Lotta Love: Led Zeppelin
3 Satisfaction: Rolling Stones
4 There She Goes: The La’s
5 Come On Everybody: Eddie Cochran
6 Smells Like Teen Spirit: Nirvana
7 Seven Nation Army: White Stripes
8 I Love Rock’n’Roll: Joan Jett
9 Sweet Child O’Mine: Guns N’ Roses
10 I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor: Arctic Monkeys

So the question is, what’s on that list that shouldn’t be, and what’s missing that should?

(no subject)

It seems that we are only allowed 1,000 tags on Live Journal, a limit that I have now reached.

I have looked at my tags page amnd most of them are only used once and some have not bneen used at all since I rationalised a bunch of variant texts. It seems that once there, the tags become immortal and cannot be removed. Or can they and it's just not obvious?

Anyone know?

(no subject)

It seems that we are only allowed 1,000 tags on Live Journal, a limit that I have now reached.

I have looked at my tags page amnd most of them are only used once and some have not bneen used at all since I rationalised a bunch of variant texts. It seems that once there, the tags become immortal and cannot be removed. Or can they and it's just not obvious?

Anyone know?

(no subject)

In the past 45 minutes my nose has started running, got blocked and I have been sneezing. I think my bloody antihistamine has worn off.

bugrit.

(no subject)

In the past 45 minutes my nose has started running, got blocked and I have been sneezing. I think my bloody antihistamine has worn off.

bugrit.