Miss England is Angry

As everyone who's ever used Myspace knows, some people create fake profiles, pretending to be celebrities. I have no idea why anyone would want to be bothered doing that, but they do. Well, it seems that fakers have struck Miss England. The real Miss England, Georgia Horsley, is angry that there is a fake Myspace profile of her. She is outraged that the fake profile makes her seem stupid and "tarty." Her mood is described as "horny," she's listed as single, and has drinking as a hobby. Metro Newspaper quotes Horsley, a Miss World contestant, as complaining, "they have made me come across as a bit thick and a bit of a tart." Honey, you're a model and a beauty pageant contestant. Why on Earth would anyone think you were a thick tart?

Go West Young Man

Over the weekend, I won two tickets to a special, invitation only, concert by Kanye West. The concert was tonight, in London. The only problem with all this was finding someone to use the other ticket. There were difficulties with the usual suspects. A close, personal friend isn't currently interacting with me, so no invite for that person. Hey, if you don't return my calls, how can I invite you anywhere? Besides, that individual doesn't like rap music. Tom was unenthusiastic. He's not particularly fond of rap, either. Plus, he was due to leave for France today. Nando wasn't interested. Jan remains out of the country, in Italy. Tina, is away, visiting her family. Mucky Sarah is getting over being ill. Finally, I tried calling Chef Anthony, Sunday evening. He didn't answer his mobile, but I left a message. He loves Kanye West.
Not having heard back from Anthony, I put the call out, further afield. I posted a notice on Facebook saying I was looking for someone to go. I sent a bulletin on Myspace, to all of my 3,071 "friends." I even set up a chatroom, on the internet, inviting anyone to use the other free ticket. Okay, I probably set up the chatroom too late. I wish I had thought of that earlier. How could it be, in 2007, that I could have a free ticket for a private Kanye West gig and not be able to find anyone to use it?
When I arrived at work, this morning, I went looking for Anthony. It took me moments to run into him. He said he'd seen that he had a missed call from me. I asked him if he'd listened to the message. "No," he said.
"Why didn't you listen to it?" I asked, full of frustration.
"I thought it was you calling to tell me you were on TV, or something," he replied. "I looked on the TV, but I didn't see you."
"Anthony," I said in exasperation, "I won two free tickets to see Kanye West, tonight, in London. I was calling to ask you if you want to go."
"What?" Anthony hadn't seen that coming. "Kanye West? Hell yeah, I want to go." So, it seemed that the problem was solved. Or was it? Chef Anthony has a history of saying he'll do things, sounding very enthusiastic, but later backing out. Sure enough, as the day wore on, he stated coming up with objections. "I left my wallet at home," was his first one.
"Can't you have someone bring it here, to work?" I suggested. I used to be a car salesman, so overcoming objections is my forte. He agreed that would be a solution, but as hours passed, he seemed unable to make that happen. "Why don't you borrow some money from Russell," I said, offering yet another possible solution. "You can pay him back, tomorrow."
"That's not a bad idea," Anthony replied. But when I checked with him, several times, during the remainder of the workday, he hadn't done it. He left work forty-five minutes before me. I told him that if he wants to come, to meet me at Farnborough Main train station before the 4:58 train for London Waterloo leaves. When the train pulled away from the station, there was no sign of him. No one else bothered to call me and take advantage of the other ticket. I walked into the venue, tonight, alone. The concert was recorded for television. I love being in front of cameras. When opportunity knocks, you need to grab hold of it.

The Real Iain Lee?

It appears that London Radio presenter, Iain Lee, is so bothered by my comments about him that he's deleted me from his Myspace "friends." This resulted in his profile disappearing from my "top friends," where it's been for the past eight and a half months, in the number one spot. In our recent interchanges, Iain put forth the incredible hypothesis that my having him in my "top friends" was intended to be more to my benefit than to his. Most other people in the Myspace world seem to operate under an alternative point of view, that being in the "top friends" benefits the person so honored, rather than the person who placed him there. Other people who would benefit from publicity on Myspace, radio presenters, bands, and musical artists, for example, so desire to be in a person's top friends, that they often offer incentives to motivate people to put them there. It would seem that Mr. Lee has cut off his nose to spite his face.
Recently, Mr. Lee has gone to lengths to explain that the person he is on the radio is different than the person he is in real life. This latest action seems to prove that point. On air, he comes across as a light-hearted, funny man, with a quick wit and a glorious sense of humor. He has often said to callers, after they disagreed, "let's not fall out over this." Now that I have had a taste of him off the air, I would conclude that he does, indeed, seem very different. After misreading a recent blog article I wrote about him ("London Radio Presenter Reverses Claim," 3 February, 2007), he seems to have taken offence at what he took to be a criticism of him. Instead of doing the clever thing and ignoring me, he broke an eight month silence to rebut my points and make some unflattering comments about me in the process. In the process, he tried to refute something which I never said. After his second and most hostile posted comment, I wrote another article bringing this to people's attention. In his second comment, Iain had claimed that it was "the last time I shall ever look at your page." However, given that he's taken this latest step after my subsequent article, suspicion is aroused that he's found some way to find out what I have written after his vow.
In my last article about him, "Has Iain Lee Lost His Sense of Humor" (8 February, 2007) I explained that his original bother seemed to be based on a misreading of what I wrote, since Iain accused me of saying something which I never said. I offered him a face saving way out of the whole episode, by suggesting that his comments, which seemed hostile on the surface, were actually his way of benefitting me. Instead of taking the out, or simply letting the whole matter fade away, it seems that he's deliberately attempted to do something he thinks will bother me. Deleting me from his "friends" and losing out on being permanently in my "top friends," seems like a petulant and vindictive act. He must really believe the absurd notion that I had him in my top friends more for my benefit than to honor him. He seems to have forgotten the old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity. If that's the way he wants it, so be it. I already have a number of other radio presenters who are quite happy to be listed in my "top friends" and to have blog articles written about them. They are also nice enough to return the favor, following the strategy of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." If Iain wants to be ignored, I can ignore with the best of them. So, dear readers, this shall be my last article about Iain Lee, unless there is a further reaction from him. Onward and upward, dear friends.