Category: Uncategorised

I got a spam from Barclaycard about a week or so ago. I don’t know why, though I do have a Barclaycard. It’s completely interest free for purchasing Premiership season tickets – the only reason I got one. I’m always careful to tick the “no I don’t not want a lack of no junk mail not sent to my house or email account” box on the forms.

Anyway, spam arrives. It has a little bit at the bottom to “click here if you don’t want any more of this ****”. So I duly clicked. A web page appears with my email address next to a button telling me to “click here to confirm”. I click.

“There has been an error. Please contact our customer support…” and so forth. OK, I’m tenacious. So I emailed them. Nice and politely to be taken off the list, thank you very much.

An automated reply followed. Then three days later another response from a human being asking for my full name and address so they could action my issue. Obviously, I queried this. After all, why would they need my home address to delete an email address they already have from the system? I told them so and refused to give them my details.

Another day goes by, another reply (from the same person) again requesting my details. There’s no answer to my question as to why they need to know where I live. So I reply again, this time mentioning the fact that they’re legally obliged to remove me from any and all junk mail and spamming lists should I so request. Also, again asking why on earth they needed my address anyway.

Two days later and another reply. This time, thankfully, I’ll be removed from the mailing list. There are some catches though…

“Your email has been forwarded on to the relevant department who should be arranging for no future mailings to be sent to you.

However, please note that as our marketing campaigns are usually prepared up to three months in advance, it is possible that you may still receive some e-mails from us during the next weeks.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and kindly ask you to allow 60 Days for your details to be completely removed from all of our marketing lists.”

Sixty days. To be removed from an email spam list. If it takes them that long to do a simple search / delete from a computer database, no wonder I don’t bank with them.

And still no explanation as to why it took three emails, a broken web page and two inane requests for my name and address before they got off their lazy arses and did something about it.

From Earache.com:

“Deicide have abruptly ended their ‘Scars Of The Crucifix’ European tour before even playing one date.

After a performance at the Dynamo festival on June 5, the band entered the UK but declined to play the London show on Jun 8th- opting instead to fly home to Florida, citing their anger and frustration at the transportation and financial arrangements provided by the tour agent. It does not affect any other shows Deicide have booked in the USA.”

I only just found out now when I got an email through from the people I bought my tickets from. So I lose out on the extortinate postage charges and the booking fee, as well as a night out I was really looking forward to.

Well, they can get bent if they think I’m buying the two albums I don’t have by them now. Lazy feckers. What was the matter? Not enough ten pound notes stuffed in the tour bus mattress?

Just a quickie, courtesy of a link from Scaryduck‘s blog. It’s a thread from a bulletin board all about being caught *******. And it’s abso-*******-lutely hilarious.

Anyway, the discussion thread is closed but I have a doozy they could have added to it.

A friend of mine was in hospital around the end of last year with heart problems. He was in the coronary ward at Leeds GI, separated from home and girlfriend for about a week by this stage.

Late one night, he wakes up, cock like a bike stand stopping him from rolling over. Well, it’s late and there are no lights on. Grabs some tissues and proceeds to polish his Herman Gelmet.

Thing is, he’s on a heart monitor and the watch nurse saw his pulse begin to get fairly eratic and came bounding in at *just* the wrong moment (as if there was a right one).

Very much a (white of) egg on face incident. The best bit was, it’s his girlfriend who told me about this. She also told her mum, his mum and everyone we hang around with.

He’s a Bradford City fan, so I bought him a cuddly bantam as a get-well present – so he could choke that chicken instead.

One of the guys from work is going to an Eighties Night do this weekend and they’ve requested fancy dress. He was pondering over how to get his short hair to mimic a Flock of Seagulls cut and where to get a frilly shirt when I suggested another possibility.

“How about a leather jacket with studs in the shoulders? Or a denim jacket with patches on? And ripped jeans? And an old Iron Maiden t-shirt? Get a long wig, some chains… sorted.”

Ray thought that was a decent idea, and cheaper than going to the fancy dress shop. Nice of me, eh?

The sad part is the stuff I loaned him for the weekend is pretty much what I still wear when I go out. I wear t-shirts I’ve had since I was 16. And they’re in better condition than I am.

I went to the Bradford City Pro-Celeb fundraising match on Sunday, and took a fair few pics. They’re all up at Fotopic for your perusal.

Apologies as I don’t know the names of most of the people playing, although they included Chris Waddle, Stuart McCall, someone from Smokie, the taxi driver from Corrie and some guy who plays for Bradford Bulls.

At the end of the day, it was a fun few hours and the mascots and fit dancing girls really made it for me. The guy from Sheffield United definitely had the best costume! There’ll be a panorama view around the ground posted once Adam’s finished working his digital wizardry on the separate images.