[UPDATE: I managed to sort out the majority of my current spam... I found from my logs that the malicious comments were all coming from the same (work-registered) IP address, and it was someone I know who was impersonating other people who've commented here before (which is why it got past the filter). Yes indeedy, quite pathetic. I've banned the IP and informed their management of the inappropriate use, hopefully it should now stop - for their own good. I have the IP tracked so any more hits will result in a) blockage of comments, b) a blockage of traffic from their IP to any address, and c) a potential police visit. From my logs it tells me they were hitting the site an average of 50 times a day - that's MANUALLY, not a spambot - I wonder when they actually get the time to do any WORK?! I feel sorry for their boss... ]
Managed to install the latest version of MT Blacklist, which should stop some of the pesky spam comments I seem to get. The new version seems to get rid of spam a lot quicker than my old installation, and as spam breeds spam, that's always a good thing.. Spammers are getting cleverer these days, with seemingly-sensical text and spoofed email addresses, but this still manages to get 90% of it. Before this site got "broken" I had a deluge of nonsense which really pissed me off (I get an alert for each item), but this seems to have killed 'the bug'. Highly recommended for anyone on MT.
(for those of you who use register-only comment features, I'm not dissing that direction but as I seem to get some comments from new people quite often, I am loath to put people off commenting full stop).
Tragic news today, as I found out this morning that Paul Hester (the drummer from Crowded House), died in Melbourne yesterday. I didn't want to post this until I knew the news was in the public domain, but now I can say how gutted I am. My mum gave me a Crowded House CD for Christmas many years ago, and from that my love of music and eclectic record collection has blossomed. Paul was an extremely talented musician, and he will be sorely missed by a lot of people.
*UPDATE* - I attended the Finn Brothers gig last night at the Royal Albert Hall. Nick Seymour flew over from Dublin to be with the boys, and they played a fitting tribute to Paul. Not just the first few songs with a lone drum topped by Paulo's trilby, but every song had a resonance and aptness for Paul's passing. Not a dry eye in the house, and a nice way to say 'goodbye'.
Some interesting articles that I've uncovered in the last week or so. Although they're American-biased, this could apply to any 'Westernised' families around the world. Firstly regarding over-parenting, and secondly on a similar tack, over-scheduling of children's time. Both very interesting and thought provoking articles.
I look back to my childhood of unstructured free time, summers spent out in the back woods of Canada roaming free (along with bears, porcupines and yellow-jackets) from age 6. We were made to learn to swim, then given the freedom of a canoe and a lake and a bell rung at dinner time. I was very lucky, and as much as I would like to give my children the same sort of freedom, I wonder if I would be allowed, without being hauled up by social services for neglect??
Well, I'm currently firmly esconsed in week 21 of my 40+ week "confinement". I turned 20 weeks last friday, and that makes it approximately half way... a scary thought.
It hasn't been plain sailing by any means, and every time I think I can "enjoy" being pregnant, I seem to stumble over yet another hurdle. Wednesday afternoon found me @ St Thomas's (part of Guys' Hospital in Waterloo), having various needles poked and prodded into my arms and legs (needles in arteries HURT, dammit), with a suspected P.E. (I only went in to get checked out on advice from the midwife) - luckily it didn't materialise, I am still here and nothing seems to have gone wrong, though it was pretty scary at the time (the not-being-able-to-breathe-thinking-i-am-having-a-heart-attack bit especially).
The care I got at St Thomas's maternity unit was second to none and the doctor was excellent, which helped calm my nerves, despite being told I would be admitted overnight for an Xray and second shot of anti-coagulants. My seemingly 'sensible' idea at the time to move to my booked hospital (St Peters, Chertsey) so that I could fetch my notes backfired, and found me on the labour ward until 3am, only to be told to go home... a totally different picture to that in St Thomas's. Still, I was pleased to be in my own bed.
It was certainly an education - being on the labour ward surrounded by very-soon-to-be-mums was quite a new experience for D, and he took it pretty much in his stride (apart from leaving the room for the blood tests). There was a lot of yelling and screaming at certain points, and I felt a bit of a woos for swearing very loudly when they came at me with a syringe (the St Peters doc was hopeless with a needle).
The good thing to come out of all of that was getting to see Beanlet again, as the midwife at St Thomas's panicked when she couldn't find a heartbeat (SHE panicked?!!!). She packed me off to see the obstetrician, who popped me on a table, and said "I am not very good at this". She lied, as I got the best scan of the 5 so far (Beanlet is definitely destined to be an actor/actress if this penchant for being on screen carries on!). She showed me the teeth, eye sockets, skull, heart beating away, a little hand waving at us, and then the freakiest moment as I watched a hefty kick to my stomach as I simultaneously felt this prod from the inside of my belly - very odd! It's not so much like goldish any more, probably getting on for large carp or trout....
I didn't get a pic from this recent scan, as it was just an emergency look-see... my proper scan is in 2 weeks. But here's a sneak view from back in January.
It's like goldfish swimming in your tummy...... blind goldfish that bump into the side of the bowl, except the bowl is your stomach and they are on the inside. Yes, Beanlet has started making his/her presence known, and boy is it freaky!
The first wriggles were felt last Wednesday in the car, but I dismissed it as a dodgy tummy. Then on Friday I was lying down with Cosmo, and Beanlet decided to tell Cosmo to GET THE HELL OFF MY TUMMY. Nothing more until I was sitting in the car driving south, and those goldfish went a bit mad. And again on the bus home tonight. Perhaps some fetish with transport?
It will be interesting to see the reaction to the gig I'm going to at Easter.... second row seats should give Beanlet a top view(?!!)... I know that when Deb went to see the Finns last August (two days before she popped), the twins were really giving her stomach a good pounding along with the bass.
A consultant's appointment on Wednesday to check the latest blood results and check all is ok. I might see if I can get my 22week scan brought forward, as it seems to be at 23 weeks which I feel is a bit late...