| APRIL 2003 |
| Dull? Self-obsessed? Pretentious? Moi? |
| If you access my guestbook, you'll find that one of my early reviewers was kind enough to say that this personal website was neither of the first two of the adjectives above......well that was a little while ago now, and I am going to have to curb any megalomaniac self-aggrandising tendencies that I may be developing. I shall have to compare this site regularly to the official site of North Korea just to see how firmly rooted in reality I continue to be. Any contributions on this matter will be received gratefully, read carefully, and then politely ignored. I must admit that I am enjoying finding out about and using some of the features available to the user of this geocities.com website. You might have noticed that I have now signed up for a slightly enhanced version, which means that these pages will be free of crass commercial advertising. This does mean that I am going to have to now ask for a licence fee of �0.50 per view in order that I can make ends meet. Just leave your credit card details on the guestbook, and I'll do the rest. You know it makes sense. The page effects are kind of groovy too. I had always wondered how pages dissolving into each other worked, and how one did them. Well, now I know that the whole thing barely consists of a couple of mouse clicks and that's it. Some poor bloke in Silicon Valley has already done all the hard work for me, and if I had realised that this computing lark was really little more than clicking a few buttons, I might not have done a politics degree and spent a quarter of my lifetime processing Direct Debit for the good Council Tax payers of the former People''s Republic of Islington. I guess that people can be frightened of all this technology- a good friend asked me the other day how I had managed to get the bouncing Mikes onto my front page.Now, I ought to have said that it took me 3 weeks of careful programming in C++ Oracle googlepicturetransmogrifier,, but it's really so prosaic it's beyond belief. Sooner or later we'll all be doing this kind of nonsense, and take it for granted. After all, no-one ever says "you must be really clever to be able to drive that car." |
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| Well, you may have noticed that I have decided to take part in a 24-hour charity karaoke marathon in aid of the excellent Healthprom. I have become involved with this charity on an ad hoc basis as Catherine, one of my ex-flatmates (one that I still have diplomatic relations with- see the flatshares page) works for it, and I have a habit of being cajoled into things-Local government finance included). This event is being held specifically to help rais funds for Healthprom's Child Mental Health Programme. From Healthprom comes the following information as Russia undergoes its transition to a market economy. "The Russian health system struggles to cope with reductions of up to 50% in its regional budgets over the past decade and is unable to meet demands for modernisation. Without reform, too often children receive inappropriate treatment, become institutionalised , isolated and lost to society. Healthprom's Child Mental Health Programme reflects the philosphy of WHO and UNICEF to treat, listen to and respect each child, ensuring they have the best possible start in life. HealthProm recently completed a 6-year project in Child Mental Health with the Sverdlosk Regional Health Administration. The project revolutionised the way young people in the region are cared for and the way mental health is viewed. HealthProm's work resulted in: * 5 community based child mental health centres, caring for and treating thousands of children every year. * Enthusiastic support at federal level for the shift toward community-based models of care. * 30% reduction in the need for psychiatric beds as children are cared for in the community. * For those children still admitted to hospital, average stays reduced from 57 to 33 days. *The number of children requiring drug treatment has dropped dramatically. * Strong Commitmentfrom heelath professionals who now feel liberated, empowered and enriched by work. * 98% support amongst parents reflecting an overall increase in the trust of service users towards psychiatiric services and professionals in the region. The Future Conditions are ripe to develop the Child Mental Health Programme throughout Russia, Healthprom needs your support for Russia's children... * Thousands of children and young people will receive the treatment they deserve. * Hundreds of mental health professionals will be trained across Russia * New community-based centres, equipment, toys for use in therapy * Local parent groups ensuring continued support to families." I think it's obvious how a successfullproject in one part of Russia can have beneficial effects across the whole of the country. PLEASE SPONSOR ME NOW! Go to WWW.JUSTGIVING.COM/MIKESINGS for online donations, or contact me at [email protected]. For an interesting BBC news item click here |
| Mike, the 24-hour karaoke party animal Send us your #$%*ing Money NOW! |
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| In the internet you can be anything you want: A cautionary tale. I frequently spend the odd spare fortnight here and there playing pool on yahoo.com. Great fun, and I am trying to persuade my grandmother to join me for a game. One time an opponent typed the letters "asl" on the chat bar.To the uninitiated, this stands for "age, sex, location?" . So I told my invisible opponent "102, hermaphrodite, Mongolia" S/he didn't believe me and said I seemed to have excellent cue-ball control for one of such advanced years. I also had to explain what a hermaphrodite is. I then typed " I have set up www.mongolianhermaphroditecentenarians.com to highlight the issues affecting me". There was a little pause, and my opponent came back to me, saying "that link isn't working". I apologised "well, I'm having teething problems with it" "OK" s /he typed . I hope my opponent wasn't too young. I don't think they have irony, do they, the young. I await the impounding of my computer by the police for the mental damage I have obviously caused............. |