|
was reading the paper, the Observer, today and came across several things which just rile me:
1. page 1 - fox hunting
what pleasure could there possibly be in seeing an animal mauled and gutted? pomp and ceremony my arse. it's merely the sense of power of life and death which gives this tradition continued life. killing foxes is one thing, harrying them to death is another. culling can be carried out with guns and not dogs. would be done in greater numbers with much less pain and madness. perservation of this 'sport' is merely carrying the darker side of human nature like a bloody rag in the hands of a murderer. i'm no animal rights activist but this is cruelty plain and simple. only problem is that the fox hunters are the ones who can afford it, i.e. the ones who have money and thus the means to influence policy.arguments about preservation of traditions are bollocks. wife beating was a tradition a century ago, should it still be one? do we want to go back to times when arguments were settled by duels and death? it was, after all, tradition. let me make use of Rawls' theory on justice in this argument. if we were yet to be born and not knowing whether or not we would be born as man or fox (i.e. behind the veil of ignorance) would we want this to be made illegal or not? answer me that. humanity should be humane. kill them quick or not at all.
---
2. page 15 - a tiny little comment about how couples feel that marriage shouldn't be about 'me, me, me'
here i question the view about how marriage should not be about 'me, me, me'. why not? why should 'the big day' not be about yourself. after all, it *is about you. most girls dream of finding the 'one' and marrying him in the perfect ceremony. why should you have to feel guilty about marrying someone in all the pomp and splendour you can afford? excuse me but i take ayn rand's objectivist view on most things (okay, so i was a bit of a hypocrite in quoting rawls above). if you earned it, you deserved it. why worry about 'giving something back'. i know that my wedding will probably be one of the biggest days of my life (if i ever do get married with a proper ceremony... i'm currently against going the whole hog cause the thing i'd want to remember is that special someone on that special day rather than a whirl of faces, parades and endless handshakes. i'd spend the money on a bloody expensive honeymoon, so much more fun, no? *wink*). if the couple wants to make in an 'ethical marriage' then by all means. whatever floats your boat. but it SHOULD be all about 'me, me, me'... and MORE me. it's my day after all.
---
3. page 17 - vanessa thorpe finding out the opinions of 'ordinary women' on Tony Blair. The passage that gets under my skin follows:
'He is a product of the age, more than anything else,' she said. 'He is very clever, rather than intelligent, and he is perhaps too interested in celebrity, money and status. He has great belief in himself which comes, I think, from the fact that he is a Christian and supported by an adoring wife, who is also clever. I also think he is quite sexy. He has a good smile and holds his own, which women like.'
okaaay... first off everyone is a product of the 'age'. the 'age' involves everything from political developments to changes in societal values to differences in wage expectations. growing up your environment shapes you and your environment is created by prevailing social influences, parental income (or not) and a whole host of things. most of which are generated by dominant conditions within society which would also be used to describe the 'age', e.g. family-oriented, capitalist, hippy. 'a product of societal obsession with appearances/wealth/power/status' i can deal with. but 'product of the age' is a cliche that ought to be buried and bid good riddance to. this is akin to saying 'sugar is sweet, more than anything else'. no shit sherlock, would you like a gold plated fart for a revelation of this nature? but that's not what drew my ire in the first place. now i have no objection to religion on general grounds, but a claim that self confidence comes from being christian is a statement i cannot just sit back and listen to with equanimity. would he be any less confident if he was not christian? i am an agnostic of the first degree and yet i do not suffer from a lack of self belief. some of the christians i know are the most unstable, irrational and generally insecure people in the world. they turned to christianity as an anchor in their lives, to validate their existence and try to help them believe that they exist not merely as oxygen robbers. but that doesn't give them any more security or self confidence. they still rely on other people to make decisions for them, except that the people have changed from exasperated friends to church cell groups. wherein the self belief i ask, when you cannot even decide where to study without first consulting a cell group? when you need a decision validated by a number of people? self confidence comes from within, not without. christianity may guide someone on their way to finding it but those who lack it will never gain it merely from the adoption of the christian creed. off that, we come to the 'he is quite sexy' section. in what way does sexiness affect his ability to do his job? what relevance does it have on the future of the UK? for goodness sake, the question was on his ability to function as a leader not on whether he's got a tight bum or not. overall, this quote is rubbish which is nothing more than a statement of a most general kind expressing nothing but a keen lack of insight. most disturbing of all, this comes from a 67 year old woman psychotherapist
---
i obviously have issues. *shrug* it's been one of those weeks. can't get anything going and i'm just frustrated. and sick. oh well. fuck it. off to bed. and tomorrow will find me bright, sunny and chirpy... yes it will.Mood:  annoyed Music: norah jones - what am i to you |
|
 | You scored as Aquamarine. Clever and alert, you know you can look after yourself and maybe others. You are quite confident in your own stability and you know you are capable of doing what you need. Somebody like you are valuable to have around as sharp-minds these days, may be considered a rarity.
See All Results/Comment
Aquamarine | | 97% | Garnet | | 73% | Emerald | | 70% | Ruby | | 70% | Topaz | | 67% | Athemyst | | 67% | Peridot | | 36% | Celestite | | 33% | </td>
Which Mystic Gem Stone Relates To You?
created with QuizFarm.com |
Mood:  quixotic Music: camilo siesto - amor mio que me has hecho |
|
"There are only two worlds - your world, which is the real world,
and other worlds, the fantasy. Worlds like this are worlds of the human
imagination: their reality, or lack of reality, is not important. What
is important is that they are there. these worlds provide an
alternative. Provide an escape. Provide a threat. Provide a dream, and
power; provide refuge, and pain. They give your world meaning. They do
not exist; and thus they are all that matters" - Titania, Books of Magic
revisiting an old entry. my non-existent worlds are all that matter. the fantasy is what keeps me going. the stories i make up in my head. the futures i see, the alternatives which could but never will be. take away my stories, take away my lies and i'm left before you. a quivering quailing wreck of skin, bone, meat. nothing more. leave me my drinks, leave me my lies, leave me my dreams, leave me my pride. leave me. just leave me be.Mood: on edge Music: eminem - lose yourself |
|
|
Feb. 14th, 2005 @ 04:27 pm
|
|---|
|
went for sheffield and did okay
won't go into details but bristol finished 3rd again. beat out imperial again. wasn't as fun as last year when we actually beat out cambridge cause they underestimated us. but it's good
the chinsoc clubbing night has just drained me. i'm tired. and it's valentine's day. i could just scream. god, maybe i should just scream.
too much of too many people. i'm going into that withdrawn phase again. withdrawn, unmotivated, depressed. *shrug* WoW is always a refuge. Asandir is a proud warlock at 42 going on 43. i feel turned inside out and wrung out to dry. i want to danceMood: on edge Music: papa roach - last resort |
|
|
Feb. 8th, 2005 @ 04:07 pm
|
|---|
|
it's amazing how some songs associate themselves with certain emotions
my heart skipped a couple of beats when the random setting on my itunes jumped me to 'just another' by pete yorn. i couldn't possibly explain why... but i just felt... sad all of a sudden.
now running through my music library and trying to fill out at least 5 tracks for each of the dances we know. cha, jive, waltz, quickstep, rumba, paso doble and samba. well, we don't really know the paso but we're going to learn it before the end of this year! *grin* hopefully beverly's feet get better so we can dance some tonight
but there's still a little corner of my black heart that's crying for no good reason right nowMood:  sad Music: pete yorn - just another |
|
"We were waltzin' together to a dreamy melody
When they called out "change partners"
And you waltzed away from me
Now my arms feel so empty as I gaze around the floor
And I'll keep on changing partners
Till I hold you once more
Though we danced for one moment and too soon we had to part
In that wonderful moment something happened to my heart
So I'll keep changing partners till you're in my arms and then
Oh, my darlin' I will never change partners again
[Instrumental Interlude]
Though we danced for one moment and too soon we had to part
In that wonderful moment something happened to my heart
So I'll keep changing partners till you're in my arms and then
Oh, my darlin' I will never change partners again"
brings back memories of a waltz at the christmas ball...
competition at southampton yesterday. we totally mucked up the waltz cause beverly, my partner, froze. just like thebe did last year. ditto for quickstep. we were screwed anyway cause it was a two-dance with both being judged at the same time. semi finals for cha and jive and did well for rumba. and i danced the last waltz with beverly... dunno if she should've danced it with marc or not but what the heck. we spent the day competing together i figure it was the right thing to do. competition at sheffield this saturday. haven't played WoW for about a week now, rested xp should be amazing. but i don't see myself playing it for another couple of weeks. sad but necessary.Mood: discontent Music: patti page - changing partners |
|
|
Jan. 11th, 2005 @ 11:48 pm
|
|---|
|
*walks out and puts a sign up. walks back in and bolts the door*
"Currently addicted to World of Warcraft. In the interests of balancing a real life and WoW life I have had to let some things slip. This journal is just one amongst the casualties. Updates will come sporadically or maybe not at all. Keep reading if you have faith or just stop. I won't know anyway. And as long as I'm hooked on WoW i probably won't care much. I know you won't miss my rubbish much, so have a good life while i retreat back into my refuge of pixels and power! *grin*" |
|
|
Dec. 29th, 2004 @ 01:35 am
|
|---|
|
and here we are again, near the point of going back to the uk...
it wasn't much time but it was time well spent i'd say. caught up with a whole lot of people. had madam janus go silent on me after newton, now i wonder where she is?! *hint hint* you still owe me a picture of you!
got some things to look forward to back in the uk though all in all i think another couple of weeks in singapore wouldn't hurt me. *laugh* but it's comfort that i can't avail myself to unfortunately. back to the grind and studying. but first of all, back to a new year's party! *bounce*
good things have happened... cat has gotten better and kitten's happier cause of it. better friends with my stylist in singapore. gotten along well with my parents despite one minor hiccup with my mum. have put on a teeny bit of colour to cover the deathly pallor of my skin. gotten hooked onto WoW (though whether that's a good thing or not is... debatable). found out that latin trousers aren't easy to get in singapore where all you get is overly shiny salsa getups. have managed to AVOID the chinese society people mainly. gotten my back twisted and rubbed back into some semblence of comfort. realised that holland village is a good place to sit and hang out whether you're looking for cheap tiger, better weisbiers or dinner with a bottle of wine. really!
i'll miss it all yet there's so much in the uk that i can't wait to get back to. broadband access being the greatest lure! *grin* but who can blame me, having to camp out at dave's every night just to be able to game... but most of all... i've realised that i actually do miss my family a lot when they're not around. something to think about right there.Mood:  nostalgic Music: engelbert humperdinck - can't take my eyes off of you |
|
|
Dec. 22nd, 2004 @ 03:08 am
|
|---|
|
two simple words sum up my past week.
laptop crash
it has been fucked. totally and utterly so. on the bright side, it's now up and running again at powerhouse speeds... but i lost all the photos from australia... which... well... sucks. *sigh* oh well, teaches me a lesson about backing up stuff i guess.
more updates after i finish updating my laptop. |
|
another night out, another night watching people interact in their own special ways. watching moments pass in freeze frame flashes of strobe lighting. blackness to piercing clarity back to blackness. sweating bodies grinding, gyrating to pulsing rhythm. so close, so intimate in so many ways yet it is still missing something... mere physical connection between mindless automatons pumping to pounding beats. somehow it all lacks the attraction it used to hold, it's no longer magical, no longer an animal release akin to the adrenal rush in combat. perhaps i've just been too worried about juris. perhaps i think too much. or want too much.
"and i'll sit and wonder// of every love that could've been// if i'd only thought of something charming to say"Mood: sad Music: death cab for cutie - the sound of settling |
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
invisibleogre's journal