Ooooh, Warrarush

...As Hawk might have said, had he been Scouse.

It's been a bit of a mixed 4 weeks for me. I was recalled into hospital and had to have another blood transfusion, followed by a week of "observation." I entertained myself by pretending to be a nurse and telling the other inmates (patients; a recurring Freudian slip) they were allowed to smoke and assissting an elderly alcoholic in his zimmer-permitting escape attempts. As a result of my unreliable jalopy of a body, I've had to temporarily suspend my yoga, vegetarianism, sporting activities and... well, walking anywhere further than from one side of campus to the other. I'm also being investigated by the university for my absences.

Saw Kathryn Hunter's Othello at the Playhouse (i.e. with Patrice Naiambana, not Lenny Henry) which was enjoyable, if a bit overzealous and unrevealing. Also managed to catch Gran Torino, probably the funniest and most racist film I've seen in a while. Ah, and the new Watchmen film, about which I have little to add. As usual, Alan Moore is right: it shouldn't have been made.

Speaking of Moore, once again the media spotlight has fallen on him, and once again he's suffered from it somewhat. I've read some quite borderline-libellous stuff about his personal beliefs, alongside the assertion or implication he is insane. See, to me, anyone unwilling to compromise on his artistic integrity for money, or able to see a connection between fiction and mythology that goes beyond the boring rationalist level, is okay in my book. But maybe I, a practicing magician, am crazy in everyone else's book, too.

A while ago here I expressed envy for the polarisation American politics benefits from. I have no such fetishes about the embarrassing nature of them in general. Someone once said to me that pro wrestling was the American version of pantomime: they were right in one respect, but a more direct equivalent would be the ongoing war of ludicrous claims between the US's right-wing and everyone else. Recently Rush Limbaugh, second-grade radio entertainer, has stepped back into the arena as "the de facto leader of the Republican party." This sounds a lot like the death knell of the American conservative.

To give it credit, the Far-Right has done a great job of A) getting everyone to believe 'conservatism' and 'liberalism' are opposites, and B) passing themselves off as conservatives. True conservatives have a noble tradition of defending liberalism from itself, trying to ensure progress has a moral compass. Oppression of women and minority rights? Motions towards theocracy? These are not conservative values. Fortunately, the Tory Party in the UK, for all its faults, has not quite fallen prey to this sickening intrusion rebranding. But something is very rotten in the States of America.

Otherwise, I'm house-hunting, reading a lot, and wasting a fair bit of time on the computer. Same old, same old.