Crash Magazine

I have just realised that I have never linked to "Crash Magazine", a new online arts magazine edited by Cambridge Grads, and my personal friends, Vicky and Reece. They say what it's all about much better than me:

"‘Crash’ is an aesthetic quality in opposition to the formulaic, the sterile and the life lived automatically.

Captured by an artistic production, it is the point at which forces converge to produce a moment of clarity which challenges the way we see the world.

Instances of ‘crash’ are not limited to a single artistic movement, but found in great art of all ages and all places. "

It's going to comprise of reviews, reports, snippets of creative writing, drama and visual art, and already includes some interesting material (including one of my photographs). Have a look at www.crashmagazine.co.uk.

Image courtesy of www.crashmagazine.co.uk

I donned my summer clothes today (summer trousers, no coat and sunglasses). This was, however, a bad idea as I tempted the English weather into a comeback that rivalled Elvis Presley's post-humus number one back in 2005.

• It rained, a fair bit
• My sunroof was still open (though luckily somehow the rain stayed out, and my kindly neighbour put a note through the door to warn me)
• An old man threw a packet of salt at me in the coffee shop near the vet school. He just lobbed it over a small partition wall and it landed with a slap in my lap. I think it was probably accidental, but that's one hell of a twitch.

Fail

Have recently been enjoying failblog and have added my own - vote for it if you want to see it on the site!

Angry at TV

I read an article today about an ITV program called vets uncovered, and it has enraged me somewhat. The major factor that has angered me is the fact that they took in undercover people with healthy animals, and gave false histories (e.g. my dog's been being sick), and then complained that at many vets there had been £100 bills run up. On numerous occasions I have seen owners come in, clearly distressed about the fact that their dog has been vomiting, but the dog has shown no obvious clinical signs with normal temperature, hydration status, alertness etc., and never have I seen a dog vomit in the consult room. Are we to be expected to turn these people away on the assumption that the owner must have made up, or imagined the problem? A veterinary consultation is a two-way process - the animals can't give their own history, and so a vet is entirely reliant on the owner's perceived history and then their own clinical exam. If we are to battle with mystery owners making up history, many animals in need of simple but effective treatment will go without.

Rant over.