Gaining visitors

If you're only receiving a very minimal amount of hits per day (ten or under), you should ask yourself why. Why is this, do you think? Do you blog regularly? If so, what about?

Hey every1!! Lol, so I went to the mall 2day with Sarah C. and Anna D. I got some new Levi's, but when I was trying them on Anna D was saying that my ass looked big in them, so me and Sarah C ditched her and went off by ourselves. Oh and lolz we saw Chad there...I'm crushing on him really bad, but I don't know if he saw me. Oh yeah and omg...bitch alert, Jenny from Neon Glitter Sparkle said that I stole my Fall Out Boy vector off Nina at Sugar Pie Honeybunch! BITCH! You're removed from my affies now biarch, and Ima make sure your site is h8ed. Okeii bai bai :)

Yeah, great blog....not. This is Ground Control to Major Tom - you've failed to make the grade. (David Bowie = love!) Chances are, with blogs like this people are going to exit out of your page quicker than you can say "tahoma 6pt fonts for the lose". No one knows who Anna D. and Sarah C. are, and you better believe that no one gives a flying fuck about Chad either. Airheaded valley girl blogs are so passe.

If you must blog about situations like these, at least don't do it all the time. Blog about a mixture of different topics - opinionated blogs are always a winner. Cover a broad range of topics - that way there's more of a chance of having someone coming by and reading it and actually giving a damn.

What kind of content do you have? Do you actually have anything to offer for your visitors? Graphics, although cliche, do seem to be a popular offering, and if they're actually decent, then by rights they should be a worthy asset to your visitors section. Interacting with the visitor is crucial. Write some articles on your opinions - opinions on anything, and invite visitors to leave a comment underneath. Plugboards are also a good idea - nothing like a bit of shameless self promotion.

If you're doing all these things yet you're failing to draw in a decent amount of traffic, then it's time for you to start promoting yourself:

Retain visitors - build rapport

Now that you've got your name out there and you're getting traffic, you need to work on ways to retain these new visitors. Update your site regularly - even if it's just a blog. If you feel that you're too busy to do this and wish to go on hiatus - go on an open hiatus. Write a short message on your blog stating that your site is on hiatus, and leave everything up. Don't close off your entire website just because you're taking some time out.

Visitor feedback is essential. By including a feedback form or even simply providing your contact details in an easy to find location, you are inviting your visitors to contact you regarding your blog or any aspect of your site. Take heed of this feedback, even if you don't necessarily agree. A few weeks ago I had a different layout up at PSGR, and it looked fine on my LCD laptop monitor. However, one person contacted me telling me that it was too bright on their desktop computer. I was a little miffed because I honestly did not see how, but all the same I blogged about this and included a poll on the issue, and as a result I ended up changing my layout. If I had kept up the apparently bright layout, that would have looked bad on my part because I'd have been providing my visitors with an eyesore that I was refusing to change. Not cool.

The size of your font should also be readable. If you have doubts, then conduct a poll. If you invite people to comment about it then they may just tell you what you want to hear...I've had this happen to me in the past and I've hated that. Polls are anonymous, and you never know, the results may surprise you. If you blatantly refuse to change your miniscule font size after an overwhelming number of visitors practically beg you to, then you're going to look the fool. It's not about you - it's about catering to your visitors, and you're driving them away by refusing to make necessary changes.

If your site is relatively popular, chances are you'll be receiving e-mails from your visitors on a constant basis. Although it may take a while due to the sheer amount, it is important to make sure you reply to the ones that are necessary. Don't ignore your visitors - be nice to them, treat them with respect. After all, without them your site would be nothing.

Does validation mean popularity?

Ah, the v-word - a controversial topic if ever there was one. I know for a fact that there are at least a few webmasters out there who validate their sites and display those obtrusive yellow W3C buttons on their sidebars, who think that as a result they're 'elite and popular', joining all the trendy message boards and greasing up at the popular websites. Although validation certainly has its benefits, having a validated website does not necessarily make it a good one. Generally having a validated website indicates that the webmaster cares enough about their site to make sure it is error free, but even so, this still does not necessarily mean that your site is a success. There are even some people who frown down on invalid sites, treating the webmaster like they are scum. I myself have famously been rejected by the popular web directory, Glitter, and I think this is the reason why. Every site and its brother is listed here - good sites, bad sites, you name it - but they've refused to list every single site I've ever made. My fanlisting is listed there, but that is because I do not run it, Corinne does. In the past I have even received e-mails from people saying that it bothers them that my site is not valid, and that I ought to validate it. As I've said, catering to your visitors is important, but sometimes even this has its limitations. If your validation errors are causing the site to malfunction in a major way, then I guess you ought to fix it. But if there's no major problems incurred by non-validating, then surely accessibility should be more important to you. If your site displays correctly in all of the major browsers (and then some) and all resolutions, then for me personally, this should be enough. For these reasons, I do not concentrate on validation. I've come across several review sites that have a shit fit at the reviewee for the numerous validation errors their site contains. You know, "Oh my god! Shock horror!!! Your site has over 200 validation errors at the W3C!!!!! Oh my f*cking god, what the hell is wrong with you!?!?!111". It's fine to make the reviewee aware of this, but it's important that you inform them in the right way. Perhaps the reviewee does not consider validation important, and they've every right to think that way if they want to. Validation isn't the be all and end all for everyone, and although 99.9% of the webmasters who choose to validate do it for the right reasons, there are some who validate to try and get into a particular 'circle', who make a point of being snobby towards webmasters who chose, say, acccessibility over validity. I have a feeling that the credible validators themselves are aware of the fact that some people just do it to suck up to them. Certainly these credible validators have no problem with me as a person, nor do I have a problem with them. Those that do though - you know who you are, just like I know who you are. Validation may well be one ingredient that could lead to the success of a website, but original content and cross browser/resolution compatibility should be first and foremost. To me, validation is secondary. It is possible to have a successful website that just so happens to contain validation errors. If you want to validate your site, do it for the right reasons. If you wish to ignore validation, then also do it for the right reasons. Don't just do it either way to be trendy and try and get in with a particular crowd. Chances are said crowd will see right through you anyway, as the wannabe you evidently are. I have no problem with 99.9% of pro-validation webmasters, although I have run into a few who seem to have a problem with me for failing to share their sentiments. I get the impression that I'm labelled as an anti validation rebel, just because my site is reasonably popular without having valid coding.

If someone calls you out for having invalid coding, it's important to handle it in the right way. If you rebuke this with "Um get a life you nerd, validation sucks!!" you're bound to get a whole host of angry pro-validators commenting on your site about your atittude. You're a nerd too, anyway, because you're on the computer in the first place. We're all nerds, and there's nothing wrong with it!

In turn, pro-validation people shouldn't automatically treat someone like shit if their coding contains errors. Perhaps they have their reasons for going down the non-validation path.

PSGR's story

A year ago, PSGR used to get around sixty hits a day, so I whored every plug board under the sun. I also tried my best to make my site accessible, and tried my best to engage the visitor by offering a variety of content. If I still whored myself out , I'd certainly gain a bunch of new visitors, but as it is now, PSGR is 99.9% made up out of recurring visitors. Just the same 300+ people visiting several times a day. There's obviously something here that they like, although to be honest I have no idea what it is. I guess as the site owner, I see my site differently. I currently have 176 e-mails that need replying to - and I will be. (I do this on Sundays!). I have tried my best with this site - teenagers and adults, validators and non-validators - all sorts of people come by every day, and everyone is welcome because I've tried my best to make it that way. I cannot stress how important your visitors are, and how important it is to gain their respect. Your site is nothing without them, so you ought to treat your visitors like gold and be as accommodating to them as possible.

Don't expect your site to have thousands of visitors a day unless you have something major to offer, specialising in things like graphics, decent tutorials, and scripts etc. For a content based site like mine, I'm fairly happy with the number of hits I receive. There's nothing here at the moment that would justify any kind of increase. While hits are important, recurring hits are even more so. If you have the same people visiting your site over and over again, you know you've done something right. Validation isn't a surefire way of gaining respect. If you're nice to your visitors and try your best to cater to their needs, then to me that automatically guarantees respect. Be yourself - don't try and make out you're someone you're not in your blogs. Be honest but tactful, don't knock peoples' opinions, and if someone starts shit at you then defend yourself in an appropriate manner. This usually includes the use of quotations, with your argument underneath. Don't just flood your own blog with profanity and then a plea for your visitors to go and start drama, because it doesn't work that way.

Don't beg your visitors to click on your crusty voting links either, or don't beg them to comment on your blogs. Your visitors are real people you know - they're not just a number, although I can think of a certain someone who seemingly thinks they are. Quite the bossy girl I must say...although I don't visit this site often because the full page celebrity layout plays havoc with my dialup modem.

To summarise..

There's nothing like the use of bullet points to summarise a long winded (and arguably anal) article about visitors' needs.

Thursday June 28th, 2007

Review 263: Ellie of Last Full Show

Unfortunately, I've ultimately given you a fairly mediocre QIS rating because, to me, the content is the core of a personal site. The layout may be great - but it's the gift inside that needs to be memorable; not the wrapping paper.
Read more?

Review 262: Niki of yop - -

(Many thanks to Katherine for her guest review of this site)

I highlighted all the text on the page to find out my birthday is on 'Use Even If Seal Is Broken Day' - so that means that mean that if the seal is broken on a condom I should still use it?! Hmm...Sounds a bit unsanitary...
Read more?

Wednesday June 27th, 2007

On tipping and winter blues

I spent a good few hours last night on Wikitravel, reading up about various cities and places in South Africa, as I am going there in a few months time. I decided to take a break from this for a while, and typed "New Zealand" into the search bar. If you like, you can read the article here.

There was one paragraph in particular that caught my interest, and I'd like to share it with you:

In lodgings, restaurants and bars the prices charged include the services provided and tips are not expected, though the practice is known of in some establishments that cater for tourists. However, do not be surprised if you receive bemused looks in some situations. Also do not be offended if your tip is initially refused or questioned, as most New Zealanders rarely encounter tipping, except from tourists. New Zealanders' unfamiliarity with tipping makes many of them very ill-at-ease with it when travelling in countries where it is practised. It is viewed very negatively by New Zealanders as an alien vulgarity, being made to 'pay twice', or as a form of bribery. Staff in some establishments may risk their job in accepting a tip. In the major cities, tipping tends to be embraced by workers, especially over the summer when students wait tables for part-time work, but a source of annoyance to older kiwis. Tipjars may be placed on counters, but these are for loose change and you are not expected to place coins in them. It is common practice and polite to donate your spare change from the meal to what ever charity has a collection jar on the counter, and this acts as the standard substitute for tipping.

I only found out that tipping existed a few months ago. Such a practice is absolutely alien here. In Australia I don't remember coming across it either, nor do I remember it occuring when I was in Singapore and Malaysia. I don't agree with tipping - and I share the same sentiments that other kiwis seem to generally have, according to the paragraph above. However, I can see two sides to this.

From the view of the consumer, it's absolute crap and should be abolished. I find it so rude. I go to America and I'm sitting in a restaurant, and my steak arrives. I say thank you, and the waiter remains standing next to the table. Knowing me, I'd say "Um are you okay mate?" and he'd cough or just outright ask for a tip. Why pay twice? Why beg for money? If you're unhappy with your crappy wage then get a better job or get some qualifications behind you to enable you to better your financial situation. On the other hand you could take the view of the employee, who probably earns so little that they would see tips as necessary, and would probably rely on them to a great extent as it would boost what little income they receive. However, this still is not right to me.

I'm sure that if I visited the USA or any other tipping countries, I'd run into numerous problems. How much to give? Why, exactly? I'd have a problem with tipping in the first place because I'd see it as having to pay twice. I shouldn't have to pay for the service on top of everything else - good service should be a given, not an extra that ought to be rewarded with extra money. The food and the service should be paid for all in one, when you pay for your meal at the counter or when you receive your bill at the table. And I suppose I'd get treated like shit for not tipping, too. Do you have to tip before you get your food or something? Oh, and I suppose if your tip is shit they'll fuck up your food or take their time bringing it to you. How pathetic. Why should I have to tip when it is not the norm in my home country? Where I'm from, decent service is a given, not an extra.

In other news, I'm sick. I'm sure it was minus one degrees celcius last night...it's fucking freezing. This is the coldest winter I've ever experienced! I went to the doctors yesterday - yes, I got a new doctor - and boy was she ever a bitch. My mum apparently also went to her yesterday, and came back saying she was nice as pie...

Monday June 25th, 2007

Parp parp!

...went Noddy's horn as he sped past his old friend Big Ears, nearly knocking the goblin right over!

"Hallo Noddy!", shouted Big Ears.
"Watch out next time, you TWAT!" snarled the Noddmeister, as he careened down the hill and into the distance.
"Twat?" mused Big Ears. He did not know the meaning of the word, nor had he ever heard it being mentioned in Toyland before. "Silly Noddy!" he chuckled, and continued his walk to his home on the outskirts of town.

Noddy was in a hurry, and had no time to do what he usually did with Big Ears - pretend to be his friend, that is. His spell book did have its uses from time to time, of course. The reason why Noddy was in a hurry was because he had arranged a private rendevous at the Wainbow Klub. The Wainbow Klub was a private club for the male inhabitants of Toyland, and was a place where they could go to find companionship (and maybe more) with likeminded males. However, dear little Noddy felt he had to keep his desires secret, as he knew his creator, Enid Blyton would surely disapprove! After all, there was only one meaning of the word "gay" in her dictionary - and that particular meaning went out of date in the fifties!

Noddy fumbled for his keys, and let himself in to his Little House For One. He couldn't stop for long, in fact he had only dropped by to reapply his mascara and have a hunt for his glitter eyeshadow. Thank goodness Policeman Plod was on sickness leave - like all Policemen around the globe, Policeman Plod was a corrupt sack of shit, and Noddy feared that he would lock him in jail overnight for being 'different!' Noddy found his eyeshadow and began to apply it to his little wooden eyelids.

"Rat-a-tat-tat!" he heard. "Oh for fucks' sake!" he yelled in exasperation. He stomped down the stairs to see who was at the door. It had better not be Master Tubby Bear coming to cancel their date at the klub!

He opened the door to see Big Ears standing there, with a merry grin plastered on his face.
"Oh, it's you. Look, mofo, I didn't mean to nearly turn you into roadkill when I drove past you before. It was an accident. Deal."
Noddy got ready to shut the door in awful Big Ears' face, this was not the time to converse with sadistic old men, he had a goddamn date at the Wainbow Klub with Master Tubby Bear!

"Oh, I say Noddy! I didn't call round for that, although you are a brick for showing concern," he chuckled. I just came around to show you this new...wait...why, little Noddy, whatever is that you've got on your eyelids?

"Um, dunno. Must be some leftover stardust from the spell we conducted last night. Now if you'll excuse me..."

"Noddy, I need to speak with you. I came around to show you a new spell I've written. It will read anyone's mind, and I'd like to test it on you!"

"Yeah right, dipshit", thought Noddy. No one knew what was on his mind at this very instant! The scene was sweet: He and Master Tubby Bear bopping to the beat of Pet Shop Boys' "Go West", while the strobe lights bounced off their glittery eyelids. The music would eventually wind down, and in mutual agreement, Noddy and Master Tubby Bear would draw closer - the atmosphere would be electric - and then they would...

"Noddy, I'm starting to get rather cross with you!" Big Ears shouted. This snapped Noddy out of his reverie and back into reality. "I SAID, I WANT TO TEST MY LATEST SPELL OUT ON YOU!"

"FINE! DO IT THEN! FUUUUUUCKKKKKKS SAAAAAAKKKE!" screamed Noddy, who always did become highly irritable at a moments' notice.

Big Ears fell silent, his eyes slowly closing. Noddy wondered what it was that this silly old codger was on. Mexican tripping weed? He'd heard it was rather good.

"I have now concluded my mind reading spell", said Big Ears. "And I must admit Noddy, that I am shocked beyond belief!" You heathen being!!

"It's perfectly natural, especially in this area of Toyland", said Noddy. "You're nothing but a silly old goblin who knows nothing of the world today! You just stick to your PlayToy magazine, leave the man-on-man action to the professionals".

"Ah, but Noddy, you are sadly mistaken. Of course I do not have a problem with homosexuality - but I do have a problem with silly little wooden boys who are fantasising about my secret lover!

"You're lying. YOU ARE LYING!" cried Noddy, as he began to shake in anger. "He is with me!!!"

Nobody heard Master Tubby Bear arrive amidst all the commotion. He stood there in the doorframe, head hung. He cleared his throat and spoke. "Um, N-N-Noddy, I've um, come to ask you about that um..."

But Noddy and Big Ears both cut him off at the same time. "OI YOU PLAYA!!!!" they screamed in unison.

....and that's where we leave it folks. Sometimes it's best for people to sort out these things amongst themselves. Seems Master Tubby Bear has been playing both Noddy and Big Ears for fools! Dear dear dear...

So yes. Just thought I'd kick things off a little differently today, ya know whut I'm sayin'? Also there's the fact that all I've got for you is a few updates here and there - and that's all. So without further ado:

I've finally added some samples of my personal artwork. I've had them on various computers for years, but I've never put them up because I'm rather sensitive about my work. I'm not actually sure why I've decided to put them up now, but whatever. There's not much there at the moment, but if you enjoy looking at peoples' artwork (or their shoddy attempts!) then please feel free to take a look: here. This has also been added to the "Further Reading" section of "About Me".

I've also put up some more photographs - mainly abstract colour and abstract black and white. I've also added three new pictures of myself to "Rhiannon", also in the Photo's section. Yee-hawww.

Later skaterz....I'll keep out of trouble if you promise to do the same! See ya next time, which knowing me will be so very soon.

PS - Be sure to Adopt-A-Mouse if you haven't already! See the blog underneath for further details.

Sunday June 24th, 2007

There's a mouse in the house!

I have no life. This is something one realises when they've spent the past two hours colouring in pixellated mice. Good times. I've made an "Adopt-A-Mouse" page, where people can choose a mouse to adopt for their own website. Direct linkable of course, you just have to select the code under the respective mouse and paste it onto your own page. There are bOi mice and GyRL mice (lol?) and are named after...well...you guys. So yeeea---aaaah... Adopt-A-Mouse if you're feeling that way inclined and long for some rodent lovin' in your lives. No takers? Didn't think so, but take a look anyway, I dare you.

I've been making pixels off and on all day. With the risk of sounding cocky, I think that some of them aren't too bad, especially as I only made my first ever pixel less than 24 hours ago. It's something to do anyway, to combat boredom. If I keep practicing I might be able to come up with some worthwhile results. Perhaps it might be easier using a mouse? As in a computer mouse, I mean. I'm on a laptop you see, and I use the touchpad. Here's what I did today - some of them are okay, whereas some are downright disturbing. These are in the order that they were made - crappiest ones first, followed by the crappy but not as crappy. Tap tap tap, look at the crappetty crappetty crap! Moronic behaviour ftw! I mean, come on, why else would I get over 300 hits a day?

The "Mr James" figure is scary, I know this. He started out as two hearts, evolved into a teddy bear, then into a man because I fucked up and didn't know what else to do with the bugger. Not you James, the bear. The pink bear. You see the blue bunny up there? Forgive my...risque candor...but um, ever since I made it a few hours ago I keep looking at it and thinking the blue one has some sort of satisfied, post-sex grin on his face...this is just me, I know.

Saturday June 23rd, 2007

My first attempt at pixelling

You may or may not have picked up that lately I've been lacking the motivation required to complete a review, hence my asking for guest reviewers and having Lil do the review for Revitalise Designs. I'd love to get back into reviewing myself, but my heart hasn't been in it. We'll see what happens in the next few days. I'm really not sure why I'm feeling this way. I used to think to myself that one day I'd grow bored of my website and that would signify my 'growing up'. I can't be one of those older bloggers who go on and on ad nauseum about crappy recipes that no one's even going to follow, who litter their blogs with image heavy pictures of food or boring abstract shite, who go on about their babies and the fact that they love their husbands soooo much. *gag*. No offense at all to anyone who does that - it's just not me, that's all. I've been to dozens of sites owned by people older than myself - and apart from perhaps three or four, the rest are fucking anal. Just because you're an old fart doesn't mean you have to behave like one online. At least add a little spice to your blog, instead of going on about lame-ass recipes for stir fried bullshit with a side of brain dead vegetables.

I can't help thinking I'm getting too old for this thing. It's been memorable, I've met some incredible people, but perhaps...just perhaps...it's time to call it a day? In fact, I've been completely bored with the internet lately in general. Apart from MSN, there's really nothing worthwhile that I felt like doing. I can't find the motivation to do anything at all. I was even supposed to go to the post office to send off some packages but I just sat there staring at the computer screen. Problems alert! Oh well, I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon. Even if I did decide to take some time out, I wouldn't close the site. PSGR will remain open for as long as possible - a good few years yet. Don't ever worry about that.

Sooo, about half an hour ago I thought I'd try my hand at pixel 'art'. I use the term loosely because, well...I came up with a really...umm...interestingly constructed rabbit. He was originally a carrot, but things never turn out the way you planned do they? Well, not with me - and I like it that way! Now, bear in mind, this is my first ever pixel attempt, so don't laugh too hard!

Sorry it's not transparent, I wasn't planning on putting him up to be honest. My second attempt was a mouse, but I'm not counting him because I cheated and used the circle shape tool for his body and ears. I'm new to pixelling, but somehow I imagine using shape tools would be frowned upon! Here he is anyway, "Mr Mouse". (rolls eyes)

Yay for Mr Mousie who is in da housie. Housie being, in this case, the humble grounds of PSGR. Those lawns really need trimming by the way. House lawns I mean - not MY private lawn down..."there"! How rude of you to assume! For your information, I don't actually have a lawn. I'm not a fan of them just personally................how about you...........

I realise my pixels are crap but I can't help but try and justify myself...first attempt blah blah blah...damn, I'm failing to gain any sympathy here....I shall go.

Who knows, I might try again with this pixelling lark sometime. I should look up some tutorials and learn how to do it properly.

PS - Is it true that people with red hair have red lawns? D00d.

Thursday June 21st, 2007

In a west end town, dead end world...

So, a few days ago I cranked called James aka Bay's call centre, got him, and sung the chorus to "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys, and then hung up laughing. No need to be shitty James, your attitude is rather disgusting...if it hadn't been for me and the fake resume I made you, you wouldn't even have a job. Obviously Holy Gihad will ensue as a result of this paragraph, but w/e.

Turns out I'm going to be completing some reviews this week after all, because my 'Myspace business' is going to have to be put on hold for seven days. Pfft. I've been meaning to type up a proper article about my night of terror in the Waitomo Caves Hotel, but every time I think about it I become scared shitless! God, I'd never been so scared in my life. I've always been interested in ghosts and paranormal goings on in general, but always from a sceptics' point of view. I do not want to believe in the paranormal, but after all the bullshit in the hotel I don't know what to think. I hate not being able to justify things and that's probably why I was so scared in the first place - because I had no control over what was going on. I think there's a copy of the relevant blog in the Photos section under "Haunted Hotel", but I'm probably going to type it all up properly later on today so you can wait for that if you want.

Heh, I've just gone through my stats for the morning and Li may be interested to know that Lirae.co.uk and PSGR are featured as favourites on an erotic site! Hehe....funny. Well, good on you. We've all sorts coming through to this site...there's even someone in the United States Armed Forces who stops by most nights. I've no idea who this is - could be someone in the military or a military wife, I don't know, but either way I think it's very cool that you come by.

PS- There's someone on my MSN called Patrick - don't know who he is really - but every time I look at his screen name I laugh. The screen name is Patrick (In Virginia) Haha.....I'll grow up one day. Maybe.

Wednesday June 20th, 2007

Review 261: Issay of Revitalise Designs

Your text is 7PT and is hardly readable in such a light grey colour. I suffer from astigmatism and you are violating my right to view your website. I would be very justified to contact a lawyer to sue you. Why? Let me tell you a little something about access - because you are an ecommerce website of sorts you require accessibility by law. That means having your font at a readable size that will not warp into tiny unreadable text at high resolutions. 12PT and above is what is considered legal I believe. Some fonts are readable in marginally smaller sizes, but obviously you are not professional enough to tell where that line is drawn. Obviously not 7PT, light grey.
Read more?

Note: This review was completed by Lil, who occasionally appears as a guest reviewer here at PSGR. For this week, if YOU would like to be a guest reviewer then please let me know. If you believe that your reviewing skills match / exceed those of mine and/or Lil's, then I'd like to hear from you. Just e-mail me with the site/s you want to review, blah blah blah...for this week only, mind!

As per the policy with the Review Club, all reviews you complete will be copyright to you, and although they will be permanently displayed at PSGR the work will remain your property, not mine.

As for me - I'll be doing some 'myspace work'. I can say no more...

Monday June 18th, 2007

Pops Ultimate Star - review of the contestants

I've been getting a few hits via kiwis searching for "Pops Ultimate Star", so I thought I may as well do potted reviews of each show, blah blah blah. I apologise that this particular content is exclusively suited for other New Zealanders...you can read it if you want but I doubt you'd find it interesting!

My thoughts on the remaining singers:

Joe Cotton

I can't believe she is still in this. I honestly can't. She can't sing to save her life! Her clothes are wack and her facials are downright scary. While all the others are standing there waiting for the verdict you'll spot her pulling all these weird ass "I'm so scared" facials...cut the crap, you're not cool. Props for the weight loss though, but at the end of the day that means nothing when you can't sing.

Matt Saunoa

I'm a big Matt fan, and have been since New Zealand Idol 3. Matt hails from Levin, which is a town about 45 minutes from where I live. I've spent a lot of time in Levin over the years and it's a real tight little community - they're so proud of Matt and his achievements. His talent is amazing - he won New Zealand Idol 3 for good reason and I believe he's a strong contender to take out the title of Pops Ultimate Star.

David Wikaira-Paul

Talk about an all-rounder. David is an actor who wishes to develop a singing talent - and he's definitely going the right way about it. I fully expect to see David in the finals - his dedication shows and he has a lovely voice.

Steve Broad

Ahh, Steve, Southern Boy from Invercargill. He reminds me of Neil Finn in a way. He's got an undeniable talent, but I feel that he needs to work on developing this a little more. He's good but he could be better. I hope he doesn't get booted off on Wednesday's show.

Camillia Temple

Camillia is way too confident. I lost count of the amount of times she stated that "She wants to win so badly" on last nights show. Just once is enough thanks - we get the idea. Going on about it ad nauseam isn't going to do you any favours in the end, and to be brutally honest it serves you right that you were bummed out last night when you were put up for elimination. It's not nice being shown up as a fool on national television, so if you make it through elimination on Wednesday perhaps you could learn from this. Everyone wants to win - you're no different from the other contestants.

Nik Carlson

For starters, the judges need to stop slamming him time and time again. It's almost as if they have an exclusive Anti-Nik campaign going on between them. Of course, the judges have made it clear on several occasions who their favourites are - Emily Williams and, strangely, Joe Cotton, but for God's sake! No wonder everyone moans about you judges, apart from Peter and Graham, the other two are shite. Kim Willoughby is too busy bopping to the music to even consider critiquing, and as for the other guy - he's way too positive. (When it comes to everyone apart from Nik, that is.) Give Nik a break!! No wonder New Zealand voted him safe last Wednesday. No one agrees with you judges. Certainly far from the calibre of Frankie Stevens, Megan Alatini and Stables. You could always rely on them to tell it like it is - constructive criticism helps the singers improve for Gods sake! You can't just sit there gushing over every single performance and going on about how great it was, when in some cases the performance was clearly SHITE!

Emily Williams

What a charming young lady. I'll admit I had no idea who she was before I saw her on Pops Ultimate Star -turns out she's a kiwi living in Australia who placed second in one of their Idols. She deserves to make it to the finals.

Ben Lummis

Finally - an adult who is the same height as me! What a cutie! Ben's great.

Well, I will be back with a proper review of Wednesday nights' show - I will be making notes throughout the duration of the show and will type them up on Wednesday night following the conclusion of the show. Don't forget to tell all your friends - this is the place to come for true, honest and unbiased reviews of Pops Ultimate Star.

Sunday June 17th, 2007

Review 260: Fifi of Indiegirl

Fifi! This is the same layout that I reviewed you with nearly a year ago, you naughty naughty girl! I would give you an e-spank, but e-spankings are wrong and I'm not one for quirky fetishes.
Read more?

Sunday June 17th, 2007

Makemebad.org

When someone is kind enough to blog about you and throw an extremely small handful of hits your way, it's only fair I return the favour isn't it? It's unfortunate that this particular blog at Mimi's hosts' site, Makemebad.org, is over a week old - I only found out about it last night due to the lack of hits it has given me. Oh well, better late than never, right?

The owner of this site has every right to fulfill my attention seeking e-needs, but in turn I also have the right to voice my opinion on what she had to say:

I most certainly don't appreciate her opinion in which she refers to my site.. "if you want a 'weborexic' layout get hosted at makemebad.org" I have no say how people design their sites and there are hundreds of other non-makemebad.org hosted sites which use this tiny sidebar/iframe look.

I'd like to quote a few relevant lines from what Vera had to say on your comments:

As for the comment on getting hosted... there's an alarming number of badly designed sites hosted by you... Basically Rhiannon says that your standards for hosting people should be higher. You Do pay for the space right?

This is exactly what I'm trying to say to you.

To be perfectly honest i really don't like the PSGR site. I think it's rather boring. Am i going to go into indepth reasons as to why i dislike it? No. Why? Because nobody cares. She likes it so i guess that's all that really matters. If everyone has to make a site that every one of their visitors likes then there will be no sites left on the internet.

Criticism comes in many shapes and forms - be it sugarcoated, downright rude, positive, negative...whatever. One would have assumed that at twenty five years of age you would have realised this already; given the fact you've been on this planet for a quarter of a century I am sure you've been slated yourself at least a few times in your life.

If you think that I haven't received criticism about my own site, then you're sadly mistaken. Criticism ten times harsher than anything I've ever said in any of my WBB articles, I assure you. PSGR would not be the site it is today had I not taken heed of this criticism, and that's why I personally think that it's imperative to be honest in giving my opinion on websites. You're obviously choosing to treat Mimi's criticisms as a 'personal bash', and that's fine. I invite you to look through the links listed on my Sweet Sites page (Scribbles >> Visitors Corner). There are a few sites listed there that feature tiny fonts / layouts I don't particularly care for, etc, but this is irrelevant to me - these people are my friends. I know for a fact that these particular friends would not agree with my views on accessibility, but I also know for a fact that these friends are mature enough to realise that it's nothing personal. I most certainly do not outline accessibility issues as a means of gaining personal satisfaction or revenge. You think whatever you like of me, I don't care. I know that I meant well, so that's all that matters. You can bitch and whine about the fact I am entitled to exercise my right of free speech all you want - you won't change anything. You cannot rob me of my opinion that, as a paying user of the internet, I am thoroughly entitled to state whenever and however I like.

Predicted response on the Makemebad.org comments: "WOW...wot a bitch!!!haha lulz omg dat bitch has bloggd about u, what a wh0re! omg i h8 her so much, therez nuffin rong with tiny text ect its what every1 duz!! && i h8 it dat ppl fink they can just say there own opineon, its so rUde!! Gah, she is soooooo stupid, wot an idiot;; omg! wh0re!"

(Just wanting to make sure you all realise the...calibre...of the majority of her commentators.)

Saturday June 16th, 2007

Review 259: Eean of SNAP

It's not fluid, which means that the size of your content area remains the same whatever the resolution. Result = viewing problems for users with a higher resolution. I personally can't understand why people would want an insanely huge monitor, but then again I'm not interested in watching movies, tv shows or playing games on my computer, so I'm not really qualified to comment. The sad truth is that more and more people are getting these ridiculously large monitors, so in turn catering for these users is becoming more of a necessity.
Read more?

Friday June 15th, 2007

Review 258: Sophia of Leah Pipes Online

Doctor, doctor! There's an upwardly scrolling marquee on my screen! Do I need a fly swat? No, but you and I need to have a little talk I think. I think that the scrolling marquee is doing a lot in making your website look very...cheap. This 'cool' little tag given to the web by Internet Explorer (who else) is more obsolete than...hmm...I'm trying to think of things to compare the sheer uncoolness of marquees to. Key words kept in mind whilst divising list include: obsolete, uncool, outdated, and redundant.

Two seconds later...
Read more?

Thursday June 14th, 2007

Review 257: Brandi of Oh-Blondie.org

As it is now, you're using internal stylesheets, which act as yet another hindrance to loading time. Since the full stylesheet is included in every single page, browsers have to parse the CSS info every single time that the page loads. I definitely recommend you start using external stylesheets - these are cached by the browser instead and in turn cuts down the loading time of the page.
Read more?

Wednesday June 13th, 2007

....

If you're here for the latest feature on the Weborexia / small font / Cheap Drugs debarcle, then don't fret - it has been filed away in the Scribbles section, as is the norm for all newly created articles. If you're into the accessibility lark then by all means give it a read - and if you're not, then don't. It's that simple. Contrary to the opinion of certain commentators at Cheap Drugs, I do not expect everyone to agree with me - if everyone in the world agreed with each other then it would surely be a very boring place to live in. You must understand that like you, I am entitled to state my opinion on issues that I care about - in this case being the inaccessibility issues incurred by using a microscopic font size. I acknowledge the fact that e-drama is not suitable for certain types of people, and that's fine - no one is asking you to participate nor is anyone asking you to read any WBB articles. E-drama naturally starts when someone links to a site and expresses their negative opinion on the site involved - if I wanted to avoid e-drama then I wouldn't write the articles in the first place. I would have thought this went without saying, but it seems otherwise. If I couldn't 'handle drama because my feelings get hurt' then I wouldn't write the articles. Seriously. The internet is no place for feelings. I honestly don't care what people think of me - I cannot change your opinion and I'm not trying to, but when people make generalisations about me I am entitled to defend myself. But, apparently, according to a certain someone exercising the right to defend myself means that I am 'troublemaking', because I have 'trouble making eyes'. Oh yes, and I should also add that 'No one likes me on the internet' (fanlisting and a million links back say otherwise, but whatever)...blah blah blah. I'm not even going to go on any further because this person thinks that my fluid, web 2.0 accessible (well, hopefully) layout is inferior to a totally, totally inaccessible layout with a small font and weborexic tables that is in violation of the Disability Discrimination Act. Sorry for going on...just check the comments at Cheap Drugs if you want to read the incredible bullshit for yourself. Tip: if you're going to throw generalisations in someone's face, at least make them valid. Nobody enjoys being bummed out, but I guess that happens a lot when your brain capacity is that of a maggot's.

Anyway...reviews coming soon I promise. It's hard to get the motivation to do one - now I can definitely appreciate why Captious Pedants refuse some of their submissions!

Ah well. Hope everyone is well, take care of yourselves and I'll speak to you again soon! Bye :)

PS - Anyone watch Pop's Ultimate Star tonight? Rosita's performance was awful, although I do feel a little sorry for her - after all, she won NZ Idol 2 yet she's been booted out of PUS so soon. I'm a Nik fan, anyway - although Nellie tells me he's a cunt in real life....the same Nellie who's just IMed me informing me of the fact that she's in the middle of a text sex session. Nellie's naugh-taay.

PPS - New babe on the block - Louise. Sorry babe I forgot to click on the button you sent me over MSN, can I have it again please so I can link yer? Cheers.

PPPS - Louise, Sigrun, Jordan, and Lisa will be added to the Sweet Sites page tomorrow. Wooo! If there's anyone else out there who regularly visits the site and enjoys it, then be sure to drop me a line so you can be linked as well.

Sunday June 10th, 2007

Review 256: Vibeke of VEJC

You are nineteen years of age, yet you are still utilising the 'services' of this network - a network that is dominated by pre-pubescent glitter-obsessed thieves, slaves to chat speak, and oh so oblivious to the world of accessibility and web standards in general. I truly believe these kids do not know of any other way. It saddens me greatly that these people are clearly so reliant on you to provide them with the deprecated, Internet Explorer specific codes that they desperately crave.
Read more?

Sunday June 10th, 2007

A brief interlude with Barry Manilow

I've been busy working on a review so far this afternoon, but I thought I'd take time out to show you the picture that nearly brought on an asthma attack last night, because I couldn't breathe properly from pissing myself with laughter. In truth, urine was not leaked, however tears did spill down my face. I like some of Barry Manilow's music, particularly Copacabana and Mandy, but what is with this pic?

Saturday June 9th, 2007

Review 255: Robmarie of Wordslave.org

Okay, where to begin. Lots of colours - colours here, there and everywhere, but do any of them really match? Unfortunately, no, they don't. I have an appreciation for colourful, vibrant layouts, but you know, sometimes they just don't work out the way you planned. Colour can be your best friend or your worst enemy when it comes to layout design, trust me on that one. I appreciate what you're trying to do here, this is creative, but - and this is a big, obvious but - the colours clash horribly.
Read more?

Friday June 8th, 2007

New article

Online / Offline: Meeting internet friends in real life, and the disastrous consequences that occur as a result. This article has been filed in the "Scribbles" section under "Idle Musings and Innocent Observations." I've also attempted to tidy up the contents somewhat...all Webmasters Behaving Badly articles are all grouped together now, as is the Myspace series and what have you.

Online/Offline is quite a lengthy article, so if you wish to read it I suggest you make sure you have a good half hour to spare! It contains four stories and a gallery:

Hope you like it....

Thursday June 7th, 2007

LSHTICHMOMM

Which translates to "Laughing So Hard That I Can Hear Myself Over Marilyn Manson." I put up my old iPod for sale on Trade Me, scratched and beat up as it is, with no headphones, charger, or accessories...and there's some bidding war going on over it. Dudeness. I even forgot to state that it's not a colour iPod. "Oops".

I'm a meanie.

This puts me in a better mood, as I was previously in a state of dumb-foundedness after reading the unprofessionalism and racial hypocrisy contained in Truck or Truculent Reviews(or whatever the hell it is, like anyone even knows what it means) review of the ever-entertaining Sacred Nights. Seriously, I've become addicted to Trisha's site, she's a real pwnstar. As in, having a knack of pwning. What else did you think I meant? You're dirty.

PS - (And it wouldn't be a genuine PSGR blog without at least one PS!) I blogged earlier too, because I'm sad like that. Poo poo, wee wee, puff puff, and blog blog. I was also thinking about writing an uneducated rambling on Internet Lurve, and NOT as a means of getting back at the person who INSULTED MY LOVE OF PET SHOP BOYS. This was a few years ago, but will never be forgotten I swear to God...basically I blogged at Petshopgirl.TK in a joyous mood, over the acqusition of a set of 6 Pet Shop Boys badges. This person signs my guestbook right, saying something like "Why would you get excited about PET SHOP BOYS badges". I didn't even know this twat, but believe me I have been going back to the blog in question over a period of time, and have, at times, sniggered over their internet lurve circumstances. Dude, don't diss peoples' tastes. They might not be bubblegum and generic like yours mate, but you need to respect the fact that people have different music tastes. I am allowed to get excited over PSB because they are my favourite group. Word up, holler holler, etc. This mini-whine is actually related to the potential Internet Lurve article, I swear...

Thursday June 7th, 2007

Argh!

I did it...I actually changed the layout. God. Unfortunately I have no idea what it looks like on any other browsers bar Safari, and I'm a little paranoid that it may look too bright on desktop monitors. It looks fine on my computer, but then again I'm on a laptop. If you have any feedback whatsoever, please e-mail me. As for the colours - they're not bright as in, blindingly torturous like whoa, are they? It may depend on your monitor, but as I said, if you have any problems whatsoever feel free to contact me, and I will endeavour to make the necessary changes.

Well, I'm off to take photos of some old clothes to sell on Trade Me, a New Zealand auction site. If they don't sell - which they won't, I'm sure - I'll put up all the photos online and if anyone wants anything, you can select one item and you can have it for free.

There'll hopefully be a new review tonight, if not tomorrow. Now that the layout's all sorted I can dedicate more time to getting that damn queue down! Take care everyone, hope all is well. Bye!

PS - To the person who e-mailed me earlier today offering me $50 if I advertised some window cleaning company on my sidebar - sorry, no can do, I don't flow that way and PSGR is a strictly non-profit organisation. Sorry dude, hope you find someone else who is willing, eg Paddy from doingword.com!

PPS - Be sure to check out Trisha's article about Weborexia. . Weborexia is a rampant disease that needs to be recognised. Word up!

I've got da flava, da bad behaviour...

The rhythm, the melody, the juice for you to savour. Reviewing juice, that is. Can't think of anything else this may be, given that this website is kid-friendly.

Anyway! I am SOOOOO EXCITED RIGHT NOW, and I've been waiting to tell you all about this for so long.

You would be forgiven for thinking that such an event would never occur in your lifetime, but tomorrow is your lucky day, because a brand new layout will be unveiled right here at PSGR. I'm virtually shaking with excitement over the prospect of telling you more!

The background will comprise of a colour-rich, leopard print design that I nicked from another site, but I adjusted the hue in Photoshop so I guess that makes it mine. The sidebars will contain an interchanging background - sparkly gold gliltter one second, and sparkly silver the next! I know it seems like this couldn't get any better, but I assure you it can, because I have also installed an embedded midi player that plays a groovy flamenco tune nonstop! Guess what - you don't even have to press play - the sweet sounds will play automatically! HOW COOL IS THAT???? In keeping with the Spanish theme, I've decided to rename PSGR Revisiones Del Bebe Del Leopardo De Bootilicious!

I love catering to my visitors as best as I can, and I truly appreciate the importance of readability. That is why I've carefully selected a Tahoma 7pt font to round off the leopard greatness. I know that Tim Berners Lee would approve! Well, I know you're all chomping at the bit to see this ultra hip design, so I shall get back to work.

Okay, okay, I am sooo joking. I realise this is obvious, it's just that due to teen ignoramae from Webmasters Behaving Badly 2 who may believe it all...yes, I finally read the comments at good old Mimi's site. Every single one was an absolute crack up, especially....well, you all know who you are! The only thing I have a problem with is the fact that some braindead maggot referred to me as a "rascist bastard", just because in one of the site polls I have dedicated an answer to visitors from India. The respective poll question basically asks visitors what aspect of PSGR they enjoy the most, and one of the answers is the pictures. I decided, in jest, to dedicate the answer to a certain group of regular Indian visitors who came to PSGR solely to view the pictures of myself. This does not occur currently, although it did for several months and was in occurance when I conducted Site Poll 1. I know this because I closely follow my statistics. I had no idea that one could be labelled as a racist simply by mentioning a nationality? Seriously, why are some people so simple minded? Remember the time someone came on Ask PSGR and accused me and my visitors of being racist, over objecting to a vector of a scantily clad woman? The woman happened to be black, but this was completely irrelevant. So yes, if you come across a scantily clad vector depicting someone non-white, and you object on the scantily-clad-ness (lol), expect to have the racist card thrown at you.

Now, back to the layout. There actually is a new one in the works, although I'm not sure if it'll ever go live. It all depends on how crappy it looks in IE / FF (browsers I do not have access to) and if I can actually fix the errors incurred with the potential (haha, more like probable) cross browser incompatibility. I tried to come up with something web 2.0-ish but 'gradients' and 'layers' got me down, so I've come up with something else. PSGR 2.0. (j/k) It's not half bad...a bit of a change from what you're used to though.

Anyway - oodles of lubb and all that carry on. Bye Bye!

PS - For the record, the most popular page at PSGR according to my Dreamhost stats is the 2007 review page, followed by pictures of me. Yeah, I already knew my reviews weren't that great :S. The two Myspace experiments come next, followed by the WBB quartet. Great information there, not. Maybe you could look up the most popular pages at your own site and publish the results in your blog, especially if your findings aren't quite what you expected. Ewww, I'm not talking meme styles...eww, memes are ghastly. It's like, eww, don't tag me!

PPS - I was having a look through my files and found this review of PSGR, by Less Lee. Remember Less Lee?

Tuesday June 5th, 2007

Beware of Nag Nan

At precisely two o'clock this afternoon my Nan is coming around to growl me, I just know it.

Nan is great, but she's a shoo-in for a gold medal at the Naglympics. Several times a week my inbox is littered with e-mails similar to the following, which I received yesterday:

Rhiannon, Once again it seems you are back in your old ways. I have tried off and on Sun. and today to get through and can't. I hope you are in the computer room and not sitting cross legged on your bed ruining the mattress and your back. Your Mum and I were going to go out somewhere this weekend even though the weather has been cold. I get very angry when I know you think of no one but yourself. All that money!! Be very carefull. Nan.

Yeah, I'm a lowdown, hapless dial-up whore, and the phone is often engaged. My mother tried to get through to Nan on Sunday night but she was engaged as usual because Uncle Carey clogs up the internet 24/7. How is going online for copious lengths of time thinking about myself? No one else has a problem with it, it's not as if my mum has any friends who need to phone. Oh wait, there was this one time:

Ring ring! Ring ring! Since the only people who call are Nan / Jamiez, I went to answer.

ISJOANNETHERE???!!!?!?!?!?!
Um, what?
IS JOANNNNEEEE THEARRRR PLISSSS!!
No. *hangs up*

And I get into shit because I hung up on her. Um, some people don't say bye on the phone, it's no big deal.

So yes, Nan is coming around at two o'clock. I shall sit there for thirty minutes plus, then she will leave, and then I shall rush outside and partake in the ultimate activity to relieve stress.

Thank God for cigarettes. Really, thank God.

Oh, by the way - I definitely remove my e-mail signature when replying to Nan. If she found out about PSGR I'd surely be disowned. I'm not even exaggerating as much as usual when I say this.

By the way, (oh ma gawd girlz onlee talk!) according to Geri Halliwell of Spice Girl fame, if you sleep in your bra every night your boobays are less likely to sag later on in life. For curious Friends of PSGR, I sleep in bra. Yeah. And James' dads' pyjamas, because I left my pyjama pants in Christchurch. They've got a diddle patch at the front. It makes me cold.

If anyone else has some pyjamas, feel free to send em my way! I can take photos of myself in your pyjamas and you can feel proud as a result, and I too shall feel proud to be wearing your threads.

PS - For spatial reasons, WBB4 is now solely located in its riteful place, under Scribbles.

Sunday June 3rd, 2007

Review 254: Irina of Rooftop.nu

Forgive my audacity; I can't help but include a totally irrelevant addendum to this layout analysis. I'm just wondering why you're directing your visitors to plastic surgery sites and bugatti sites at the end of certain blogs? Do you realise how much Bugatti's cost? What do Bugatti's - one of the fastest marques of automobile - have to do with web resources? Oh that's right - nothing.
Read more?

Plugs: Rebecca, Nellie, Alana, Samantha, Rachael, Sean, Sara, Sarah, DJMiztic, Melissa, Mia, Hillarie, Tom aka Babe, Maz, Ally, Katie, Robmarie, Krystal, Lotte, Megan, Sydney, Nick (ftw!!), Jordan.

Friday June 1st, 2007

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

No, it's a comment link at the end of this blog! Can you believe it? I can't, so I guess that makes two of us.

I just thought I'd add one because all the cool kids seem to have comments, don't they? 'Cool' is not a word that I would personally associate with myself but hey, pretending is free isn't it? Also I'm interested in seeing how many people will comment back! No one's going to go ape shit if you make a comment that contains no relevance to this blog - if you simply want to say hello, then be my guest! All commenters will be plugged on the next blog.

PSGR obsessors will be pleased to know that as of today, I have resumed my no life status and will be online more frequently from now on! w00tenanny! I'll be on constantly for the next few weeks, until I return to Christchurch following a medical appointment I have at the end of the month. I've missed being in LyKe, Xc0Re contact with you all and so, in that respect, I'm glad to be back. Let's see what we can do to get that blasted queue down, huh? Reviews are never done in order, but I shall be giving special preference to those who have been waiting eons. Really sorry for the delays.

Does anyone remember a pop group from the late nineties / early 00's called Five? Or, "5ive", if you'd rather. I can't remember if I've kept this a secret or not, but I used to be a hardcore teenybopper, and I was a massive 5ive fan. I lost interest in them when I was about 15 though, as I had discovered music from some more...credible...genres. I have most of their songs on my iTunes though and enjoy listening to them from time to time, so I was obviously interested when I read that they were regrouping. A few weeks ago I went to their official website and listened to one of their new tracks. The F word was used! I have to admit I was taken aback - being the squeaky clean pop group they were back in the day, I was quite shocked to listen to expletives being used in one of their new songs. Think of it this way - would you be shocked if the Backstreet Boys said "fuck" in one of their songs? I'm not really complaining about all of this - I swear like a sailor - but yeah....I was just surprised is all, and not overly impressed. Anyway, a few days ago I went back to their website and there was a notice up saying that they were no longer regrouping anymore. They had a reality tv series confirmed, tour dates, and an albums' worth of songs, but I don't think they were able to get onto a record label. Maybe boybands are dead in the water, who knows. I wouldn't have a clue! In any case, I enjoy listening to 5ive - the catchy beats to their songs compensate for the admittedly obtuse lyrics.

Hell, I might as well admit it - I'm a closet hardcore boyband aficionado! Squeee! 5ive, obviously. a1 too - a1 were a boyband from the UK and if I remember correctly, they actually wrote their own songs and played their own instruments! Shock horror! a1's Same old brand new you is a regularly played song on my iTunes playlist. Obviously there's N Sync as well - I love them! Male solo singers too - Ricky Martin and Adam Rickitt, namely. It's funny how guys instantly become agitated over the mere mention of Ricky or Adam. In fact, someone who shall remain nameless used to refer to Adam Rickitt as "Adam Pickitt Rollit Flickitt". He actually played Nick Tilsley on Coronation Street, and earlier this year he moved to New Zealand to be in Shortland Street. A bold career move, I'll say that much. Read: WTF??

Um...correct me if I'm wrong but I believe I haven't whined about humanity at all so far in this blog. Argh! Okay...ah yes, what better to round this blog off than a bitchfest about fast food workers? Why are some of them so schtooopid? I was at the Burger King drive thru the other day and I ordered a Hawaiian BK chicken. (Don't you just hate it how they cut the burger in half?!) She gave me a whopper and french fries. Last night I was at the McDonalds drive thru and I ordered a Kiwi Burger. "That's one Chicken Royale, anything else with that?". Refraining with all my might from using expletives, I corrected her on the order. Tip: Never get smart to food workers until you've got the food! They could McWank, McSpit, or even McBoogerise your greasy burger! Cough I bet they use horse meat anyway cough.

If you're in New Zealand and you frequent Macca's drive thrus, then next time count how many times they say the word "there" to you. "Hi there", "Is that all, there?", "Here's your burger there", "Would you like fries there"...wtf? Quit it already. One time a girl even said "Bye there". Yeah. *sighs*

While we're still on the topic of stupidity, I got a new phone number the other day because my sim card broke. My phone now cannot receive or send MMS texts (text messages containing pics/sounds etc). I rung up the Vodafone customer service line and I had to give my name, phone number, and pin number before I even got to tell her what my technical problem was.
Okay Breanna, how can I help you?
My phone cannot send or receive MMS's.
M-M...what? What is MMS?
I said "Oh don't worry about it you stupid bitch" and hung up. I surprised even myself by talking to someone like that on the phone, but come on...it's like asking a McDonalds worker what a french fry is and having them tell you they've never heard of one. I cannot be bothered explaining simple functions to imbeciles. I am truly shocked that a technical support worker at Vodafone New Zealand does not know what an MMS is. Seriously.

Anyway, that's all for now, so take care and hope to hear from you soon!

PS - I've decided that I might as well get some tertiary qualifications under my belt. I'm getting on a bit in age and I need to do something worthwhile with my life. Laws 101 here I come!

PPS - If you've noticed that the queue count has gone down, it's because I did a site check and there were several that no longer existed! Go go gadget deletage!

PPPS - I'd feel too bad if I didn't give you all a forewarning, but I've got something 'planned' for you all very shortly. I've done this kind of thing before - I can't give away too much, but this sort of 'surprise' is a regular feature at PSGR, usually every month. For ordinary people such a surprise only occurs on a certain day of the year when it is customary to...shock people. Sorry to be vague....