SA, it's -11 F here in IL -- be happy you've got positive numbers.

...okay, you win.

I'm linking to this site for the benefit of any Aussie lurkers. I only just heard about it, and there are some excellent, reasonably priced, overseas DVDs for sale, including Wonderfalls.

I gotta admit, their categorisations leave a lot to be desired. I don't know that I'd put Wonderfalls in the "Family" catagory...especially since it doesn't even appear in the "TV Shows" section. However, that's neither here nor there, since they have some terrific other stuff, including The Five Pennies and The Court Jester ...wooooohoooooo!

All together now:

The Pellet with the Poison's....

Oh dear. Well, hope today is a better day!

...meanwhile, last night I was the victim of domestic violence.

From my cat.

Yes, I have a cut and the beginnings of a (very small) black eye as a result of the cat deciding, at 2.30am, that it would be a great idea to stab me in the face. I mean, okay, maybe I was snoring - but he occasionally craps on rugs, and I still don't stab him in the face.

Another inch and he'd have had my frigging eye.

Needless to say, the cat spent the night in the bathroom. And he clearly realised it was merited, because rather than the customary caterwauling of unfairly imprisoned moggy one expects at such times, there were merely a few sorrowful and plaintive little mews.

I got beaten up by a cat.

I think we just established who is the pussy Chez Jay.

I've got a somewhat random question about the British school system. This article [link] refers to a school as a "state primary," but it's a religious school. What does "state primary" mean?

Well, we do have state schools that are religious schools - my wee sister, for example, went to a Catholic primary school (despite the fact that my family are, if anything, atheists from a vaguely protestant background, and my wee sister hasn't been christened and used to argue with the nuns about doctrine) and iirc it wasn't private, it was a state school. My parents chose it because it was one of the best schools in the area - due in no small part to the whole community-thing that was part and parcel of being a faith school.

...of course, I may be on crack. I've not taught in the UK and my personal experience didn't involve faith schools. But I think that we have state-funded faith schools of several religious flavours. Whether we should have is a whole other question, but I'm fairly sure that not all Faith schools are private. Um.

...I'll double check this over on TES in a bit, if you like. (Got my Drama club coming in in a minute or two.)

'Primary' refers to the level of education-- primary schools run from years 1 to 6, that is, from ages 5 to 11 or thereabouts, while secondary schools run from years 7 to 11 (or 13 if they include A-level students), that is, ages 11 to 16 (or 18).

'State' indicates that it's funded by the state-- usually supplemented by whatever it can get from the community, and religious schools often do better than secular ones in that regard. Although some British religious schools are public schools (that is, private, as in you have to pay), most are state schools. Compare, for example, this article from a couple of years ago on a Roman Catholic state primary.

ETA: British education cross-post!

A British friend of mine was talking about her primary school, which was Jewish and featured lots of instruction in Hebrew, et cetera. Nowadays, the population of the area having changed, the student body is like 50% Moslem.