TV Dreams

Anyone see Casualty last night? If not I’ll set the scene…

Ian (aka Eena) tells wife he’s going to football match with an old mate (who she doesn’t know). He’s really going round to “mate’s” house to dress as Eena and go out for a drive together - first time, big event for him.

They get dressed up, go out, have a RTA. Mate is uninjured and goes home to change. Eena/Ian needs medical attention. Paramedics totally cool and professional about Eena and assure him his make-up etc can be removed at the hospital.

Wife turns up at Holby and at first is suspicious about the accident, asks where mate is, mate walks in in male mode and wife begins to believe their story.

Then Nadia brings in the wife’s handbag that Eena/Ian took with him/her and wife demands to know how it has ended up at the hospital. Ian tells her he’s a transvestite. She asks all the usual questions. He assures her he’s hetro, loves her and the children, she storms off, cools down and comes back - they agree they have a lot to talk about.

I felt BBC had done their research and portrayed a very plausible scenario, seriously and sympathically. OK, they could have used young, attractive and convincing blokes in modern club wear, with totally out attitudes (which would have been plausible too) but using a 30/40 and 50 something pair of guys, both of whom were married, I felt worked very well.

It’s what we need, education, education, education.

I thought it was a result, what do you think?

BTW, I went to the Casualty website, but there was no mention of it in the under last night’s episode - shame. Mind you, you can leave a comment about the episode if you wish.

Julie left a comment on a previous post that got me thinking about the perrenial question of whether to stick up a gallery on my web site. Yup, I probably think about it once a year.

TBH, I’m not the most feminine-looking transvestite on the planet and feel I’m probably doing my visitors a favour by not having one. Mind you, because I reached a certain age last year I sort of promised myself a professional photoshoot. Reasoning was that if anyone could make a decent job of the raw materials it would be a competent photographer.

In the meantime, I’ve had another idea. Simply display the photos from my flickr account. must get round to it…

A week ago Becky, of Becky’s Web, published what I thought was an amusing take on Trannie one-upmanship via her T&TV cartoon. This upset someone called Pia, and she left some comments that Becky didn’t like.

In fact, Becky was quite upset about it. As a result, Becky wrote a further post asking her audience to comment on whether her cartoon had over-stepped the mark or not. All this is fine. It shows Becky is “man enough” to ask for views that may not necessarily coincide with her own.

But what concerns me is her decision to remove Pia’s comments from the blog. Surely, in the interests of openness & transparency leaving those comments in would have allowed others to judge for themselves their relative merits or otherwise.

Also, although I can understand a certain nervousness about doing it, leaving Pia’s comments in would almost certainly have lead to the rest of the audience counter-balancing them thus providing a naturally balanced outcome of views on the subject.

I would like to have read Pia’s comments and made up my own mind - unfortunately, that was not to be the case, and I can’t help feeling somewhat deprived of the opportunity to do so.

In support of my point, it is well documented within the wider blogging community that Bob Lutz, vice chairman, of GM Motors came in for some severe criticism on his FastLane blog, and subsequently received 43 comments supporting him, and providing a much more balanced view - the original adverse comment remained, but the record was there for everyone to read.

In handling the matter this way, Lutz was seen to be being open and transparent. His credibility was enhanced and he didn’t even have to respond to the original adverse comment himself. Now I call that a result.

Speaking generally now, my advice (for what it’s worth) would be to trust one’s self and one’s audience - they will support you… unless of course you drop a bollock. :)

Yes, it’s me Dave

Originally uploaded by rachelw80.

Dizzy bitch that I can be, I left my camera on a table in Pink Punters last Friday.

A call the following day put my mind at rest. Some kind soul handed it in.

So on my way down to London Sunday night I called in at PP to collect it. The guy at the desk called the manager, I assume, Dave, who asked me to show him the pictures on the camera. I guess to see if I knew how to operate it thereby indicating I might not be a fraudster.

Next, he asked me to show him a picture of myself. To be fair on the guy I told him I was wearing a frock. So scrolling through pics of my friends first I eventually got to some of mine. No honest there were very few of me. Anyway, I have to show him a few coz he doesn’t look convinced, he keeps looking at the photos and back at me.

We got to this one and he said, “That’s a heck of a transformation.”

What chuffed me was that it sounded like neither a compliment nor an insult. More like a statement of fact.

I’ve always felt people could see straight through me and see who the guy behind was, but that and V’s family not recognising me in the pictures of her wedding are starting to give me hope. :)

Now don’t get all confused and think I’m saying I pass coz I don’t. Well, I can if folk have their minds on other things like when they’re out shopping, but any second glance isn’t going to fool them.

No, what I’m chuffed about is that this guy didn’t associate what he saw on the camera with me in male mode. YIPPEE!

Silly, I know. :)