Movement for Voluntary Human Extinction?!

In politics, you often come across some crazy ideas. I remember a guy being arrested in Manchester a few years ago as he campaigned for the "Campaign for Non-Sexual Public Nudity". Essentially, it said you should be able to walk around nude. You can probably guesss what the campaigner got arrested for (he then got charged for contempt of court when he showed up at court, you guessed it, naked).

I think I may have found an organisation which tops them. The Movement for Voluntary Human Extinction says that we should not have kids, and wait for everyone on earth to die off. That is the only way to save the planet. I kept wondering if this was a sick wind up. I searched the website, and kept waiting for the momement the punch line was delivered. Kind of like the moment where Jeremy Beadle used to appear on "Beadle's About", and give the game away that this was all some horrible wind up. Alas, it looks like the VHEM is real.

I think finding a group which tops this for wild ideas may take some doing.

Sex, Tennis and Belgians

Sport is big in Belgium. Alas, the Belgian football team hasn't really done much lately, but when the manager has to give team talks in two languages, its not surprising really. The Belgian womens' relay team won silver medal in the Beijing Olympics, which made headlines for weeks (and you thought the British press got excited about silver and bronze medals). But one sport seems to really excite the Belgians, and that is tennis.

My Belgian ex-girlfriend was no exception, being tennis mad. In fact tennis being the only thing she seemed to get excited about when she was with me (suppose that might explain why she is now my ex). But I digress. She reliably informed me that hundreds of people would gather before big screens to watch Belgian players at Wimbledon. One year, two Belgians faced each other in a later round (Kin Clijsters and Justine Henin), and given one is from Flanders and the other from Walloonia, that one had "grudge match" all over it.

On the topic of tennis, that bastion of liberal journalism, the Daily Mail, had a piece on women's tennis. Purely for research purposes, I clicked on a link of a female tennis player. It has been alleged that the All England Club is putting attractive female tennis players on Centre Court, as it improves ratings to have attractive women on TV. So, male dominated businesses using sex to sell. How original.

I wonder whats the French for "Do bears s**t in the woods?"

Bit about Belgium

One thing that struck me about Belgium when I first got here was the seemingly endless levels of government. The following video is a good summary of how it all works:



One for all the politics buffs! Now you should pass that test on Belgian constitutional law with no worries.

Is the King of pop dead?

Oh Dear. The news is reporting that Michael Jackson "may" have died. I always thought being dead was kind of an open and shut thing. However, it appears there is some scope for doubt here. Maybe I need to bone up on my medical dictionary.

UPDATE

BBC news is reporting that yes, he is dead.

If you had to have 56 tattoos, where would you have them?

Well, the press here in Belgium has been very interested in the story of Kimberley Vlaeminck. Kimberley, 18, went to the tattoo artist in her hometown of Kortrijk, near the French border. She originally claimed that she had asked the tattoo artist for three star tattoos on her face. She claimed that she "fell asleep" as he did them, and awoke to find him finishing off the 56th tattoo. Woopsee. She initially told the press this mix up was due to a language barrier, as she speaks Dutch, whilst her tattoo artist is a Romanian who only speaks English and French. She has finally come clean and admitted she asked for 56 all along, and made up the story about falling asleep when her parents saw her face and, to use the original Dutch, "Hit the f***ing roof".

So, when a confused young girl seriously scars her face for life, what else is there to do for the Belgian press than make fun of her? The Belgian newspaper "Het Laatse Nieuws" has produced a gallery of less than sympathetic photoshopped images for the amusement of the masses. You can see them at the following link, and can cycle through the photos by clicking the word "volgende" in the top right of the gallery.

What is the Dutch word for "sympathy"?

Hi and welcome

Hi everyone,

This is my blog. I hope you enjoy it. I will try my best to keep this blog interesting, with everything from my views on life, to photographs of places I have been in Belgium. Do feel free to comment, and add links to this blog from your own sites and blogs.

Regards


Michael