As misleading as the title of this post may be to some, letme me get this out of the way early...This is not about deciding whether or not a phallus is or is not a male member nor is this about how one should go about finding out whether someone is unpleasant.
This is a metaphor.
This is about how my amigo known as "Sully" around these parts is my "prick test".
A prick test as you may know is carried out when one wants to donate blood. One is "pricked" by a small needle on the finger and their blood, on the needle, is tested.
Sully is the needle.
My words are the blood.
Sully has made me realise that, while I am much less prolific than I once was, I still have much to donate.
Like the high Iron count in my blood, my words are of value.(Thats right, I'm so metal I have a huge Iron Count)
Sully has made me cry out "What the FUCK?!" just as the needle does as it pierces my flesh.
Thank you Sully, thank you.
Much of the Downturn in regular posting has been down to my busy schedule. My hobbies keep me busy 4 days a week while Socialising takes up my weekends. This leaves me a single day of rest on which I usually like to turn off my brain.
But this long,long break has given me tales-a-plenty to recant. I have travelled and seen many wonders on the mainland.
I have taken up MMA(mixed martial arts) and my rock-climbing is solid as...well, a rock.
So the future looks to be glorious in this time of recession and my writing is leading us there. Look forward in disbelief.
...Also, rumours of my death are greatly exagerrated.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Real World.
Wow.4 Posts in all of 2008,this one is excluded of course, compared to the 11 in the dying months of 2007.Wow.
Although,I haven't had the time.Leaving University really makes a huge difference to the amount of disposable time that one has.Fortunately its made up for in disposable income.That is correct.I have a job,business cards and all and its...Good,I guess.I get paid pretty well for what I do and I do it to a reasonable degree.
In addition to all of this I've graduated and got my degree sharing a day with friends,which, could be for the last time with some...or just the last time for a very long time with others.
I've moved on to another band, singing with a metal band "Full Shred" that some of my best friends had been part of since before I knew them. I've been a fan of their music for quite a while,really enjoyed what they did and now I'm a part of it. I played my first gig with them 2 days ago.It was alot of fun.I gave it loads,they gave it loads,the crowd received us well and good times were had by all. We also got some prospects out of it. It was a properly great time.
So my life is starting to take shape, to a degree. I have this job, but its not wha tI want to do for the rest of my life. I've got bigger plans.
The real world is only as real as we perceive it to be in the situations we find ourselves.
Damn, thought I'd lost all my knowledge of philosophy...
Although,I haven't had the time.Leaving University really makes a huge difference to the amount of disposable time that one has.Fortunately its made up for in disposable income.That is correct.I have a job,business cards and all and its...Good,I guess.I get paid pretty well for what I do and I do it to a reasonable degree.
In addition to all of this I've graduated and got my degree sharing a day with friends,which, could be for the last time with some...or just the last time for a very long time with others.
I've moved on to another band, singing with a metal band "Full Shred" that some of my best friends had been part of since before I knew them. I've been a fan of their music for quite a while,really enjoyed what they did and now I'm a part of it. I played my first gig with them 2 days ago.It was alot of fun.I gave it loads,they gave it loads,the crowd received us well and good times were had by all. We also got some prospects out of it. It was a properly great time.
So my life is starting to take shape, to a degree. I have this job, but its not wha tI want to do for the rest of my life. I've got bigger plans.
The real world is only as real as we perceive it to be in the situations we find ourselves.
Damn, thought I'd lost all my knowledge of philosophy...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
The Reel world
Exam time is never easy.Really,it's not.
I hate studying more than anything I can think of,apart from someone sodomising me repeatedly with a sharp knife,but thats besides the point.At this point, I have oen exam,Law, down and 3 more ahead of me,two of which are in the next two days. The Monday exam being European Cinema.
Now,I love cinema.I love movies.I love taking in the little things that make a movie amazing,like camera angles,Devices used to change scenes etc. What I don't like,however, is answering questions like:
"How important was the French New Wave in the trajectory of contemporary European Cinema and what were its main Characteristics?"
Or:
"Can you seperate the technique of film making in "Triumph of the Will" from the political reality that surrounded it?"
While these are perfectly relevant questions in divining an understanding the movies in relation to the social situation they were made in...I don't think that this is what I signed up for.In short,I feel a little gipped.I wanted to watch movies and look at cool stuff behind them,symbols,unwasted space and relate them to theoretical perspectives.This isn't really done.I mean,yeah,theres the odd question in the papers that suggest we can do this but not entirely.
I've bee finding lately that my entire course isn;t exactly what I signed up for.In the last two semesters or so I've had to study quite a bit of "philosophy" as it were.While I love this,just opening your mind to know what you already know,be more than self-aware Its not what I went to college to do.I went to college to get a degree.So I can get a...y'know,job.
It just doesn't seem fair that they can fuck with our futures like that.
Although,I guess that's what awaites me in the Real world,as a result of the reel world.
I hate studying more than anything I can think of,apart from someone sodomising me repeatedly with a sharp knife,but thats besides the point.At this point, I have oen exam,Law, down and 3 more ahead of me,two of which are in the next two days. The Monday exam being European Cinema.
Now,I love cinema.I love movies.I love taking in the little things that make a movie amazing,like camera angles,Devices used to change scenes etc. What I don't like,however, is answering questions like:
"How important was the French New Wave in the trajectory of contemporary European Cinema and what were its main Characteristics?"
Or:
"Can you seperate the technique of film making in "Triumph of the Will" from the political reality that surrounded it?"
While these are perfectly relevant questions in divining an understanding the movies in relation to the social situation they were made in...I don't think that this is what I signed up for.In short,I feel a little gipped.I wanted to watch movies and look at cool stuff behind them,symbols,unwasted space and relate them to theoretical perspectives.This isn't really done.I mean,yeah,theres the odd question in the papers that suggest we can do this but not entirely.
I've bee finding lately that my entire course isn;t exactly what I signed up for.In the last two semesters or so I've had to study quite a bit of "philosophy" as it were.While I love this,just opening your mind to know what you already know,be more than self-aware Its not what I went to college to do.I went to college to get a degree.So I can get a...y'know,job.
It just doesn't seem fair that they can fuck with our futures like that.
Although,I guess that's what awaites me in the Real world,as a result of the reel world.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Great Friday Theft-ival
Hey!
Look at this, a new post. Who'd have thought it after all this time. Hopefully this'll put me back into a sort of a routine for this. I guess I kinda missed it.
Anyway, this blog is written in honour of my bands first gig together after a number of false starts. And what a first gig it was! A festival,which just happened to be in my hometown. Seriously, I had absolutely no idea where it was going to be on due to the fact that the organisers wanted to keep the location undisclosed. Which is completely understandable because they didn't want people driving there as there was nowhere to park.
Anyway, I was digressing a moment ago... as I was saying we played this festival in my hometown, the set went down really well, there were no mistakes, I got to dance and air-guitar with the crowd as part of being the frontman and we all had a great time. Unfortunately the day had already been marred by the disappearance of our lead-guitarists guitar. Thats right, someone had stolen the guitar from the bus before the baggage compartment had been closed. His pedal board was taken too, the bastards but we can get over that. Its the guitar worth €2,500 we're worried about most.
Everyone at the festival was the best about the whole thing. They did everything they could for us, looking back over the route to the venue repeatedly but there was no hope. For a while there it was looking like we weren't gonna have a maiden gig at all but then the band that was on before us stepped up to the plate and let us use some of their gear. That really was dead on of them. Musicians can be touchy about their gear y'know.
After we got off stage our bassist bailed, having somewhere to be. Our lead guitarist(whose guitar was stolen) and our drummer left soon after. The Rhythm Guitarist and I stuck around for a while checked out some bands, drank some beers and enjoyed some of the atmosphere. After a while the cold got to us and we left. Needless to say, we brought his guitar on the bus with us.
And thats the story of our first gig. Our lead guitarist is laboriously, and possibly feverishly, looking through CCTV tapes of the area to try and catch the culprit but I'm not sure how successful he'll be. He did have the guitar insured but thats not what this is about. He loved that guitar and any time he told the story of the day he got it, he relished every moment. So, for that alone, I hope he gets it back.
In other music-related news...I've been busy working on my own music, collaborating with my housemate/producer to get some tracks down. I currently have 2 finished with a view to do. EP, here I come. Watch this space for more news of my infamy and hopefully by the time I post again we'll be a guitar up.
Look at this, a new post. Who'd have thought it after all this time. Hopefully this'll put me back into a sort of a routine for this. I guess I kinda missed it.
Anyway, this blog is written in honour of my bands first gig together after a number of false starts. And what a first gig it was! A festival,which just happened to be in my hometown. Seriously, I had absolutely no idea where it was going to be on due to the fact that the organisers wanted to keep the location undisclosed. Which is completely understandable because they didn't want people driving there as there was nowhere to park.
Anyway, I was digressing a moment ago... as I was saying we played this festival in my hometown, the set went down really well, there were no mistakes, I got to dance and air-guitar with the crowd as part of being the frontman and we all had a great time. Unfortunately the day had already been marred by the disappearance of our lead-guitarists guitar. Thats right, someone had stolen the guitar from the bus before the baggage compartment had been closed. His pedal board was taken too, the bastards but we can get over that. Its the guitar worth €2,500 we're worried about most.
Everyone at the festival was the best about the whole thing. They did everything they could for us, looking back over the route to the venue repeatedly but there was no hope. For a while there it was looking like we weren't gonna have a maiden gig at all but then the band that was on before us stepped up to the plate and let us use some of their gear. That really was dead on of them. Musicians can be touchy about their gear y'know.
After we got off stage our bassist bailed, having somewhere to be. Our lead guitarist(whose guitar was stolen) and our drummer left soon after. The Rhythm Guitarist and I stuck around for a while checked out some bands, drank some beers and enjoyed some of the atmosphere. After a while the cold got to us and we left. Needless to say, we brought his guitar on the bus with us.
And thats the story of our first gig. Our lead guitarist is laboriously, and possibly feverishly, looking through CCTV tapes of the area to try and catch the culprit but I'm not sure how successful he'll be. He did have the guitar insured but thats not what this is about. He loved that guitar and any time he told the story of the day he got it, he relished every moment. So, for that alone, I hope he gets it back.
In other music-related news...I've been busy working on my own music, collaborating with my housemate/producer to get some tracks down. I currently have 2 finished with a view to do. EP, here I come. Watch this space for more news of my infamy and hopefully by the time I post again we'll be a guitar up.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Best days of our lives,So far anyways
As I write this I am just finishing a cigarette. Nothing strange about that,right?
Wrong, considering I didn't smoke up until a week ago. I'm putting it down to the stress of my FYP or thesis. Whichever you prefer to call it.
And I am stressed. Normally I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of guy but these days I'm feeling less of the Happy and alot less of the lucky. My thesis is due in two and a half weeks and I'm halfway through it.
More than enough time some would say, hell, I'm one of them. I know where I want to go with this thing but on the chapter I'm currently workig on I keep hitting writer's blocks. Strange for a blogger.
Somehow I've managed to convince myself that it's solely down to not having the chapter formatted correctly. Unforunately, this is yet to solve my problem. I must have reformatted the thing three or four times now and I keep hitting blocks. So, what could possibly be my resolution?
I have decided to move away from it for a while. I want to work on my introductory chapter and theoretical perspective chapters over the next few days and come back to the troublesome one at a later date. Hopefully then I'll have a new perspective to work from. Well, maybe not a new perspective. That would insinuate that I was going to start from scratch which I sure as hell am not going to do. I've worked too long and too hard on that thing to just throw it away.
Then after that all that needs to be done is my conclusion. Even at this point I feel as though I know what I'm going to do with that. I think I can get to grips with whats wrong with my research to date and more importantly, whats right with it.
Now, Some might say that this blog post is merely a senseless rambling. I assure you it is not. This is me Venting my frustration, my anxiety, my stress.
huh, I guess the cigarettes are working.
Wrong, considering I didn't smoke up until a week ago. I'm putting it down to the stress of my FYP or thesis. Whichever you prefer to call it.
And I am stressed. Normally I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of guy but these days I'm feeling less of the Happy and alot less of the lucky. My thesis is due in two and a half weeks and I'm halfway through it.
More than enough time some would say, hell, I'm one of them. I know where I want to go with this thing but on the chapter I'm currently workig on I keep hitting writer's blocks. Strange for a blogger.
Somehow I've managed to convince myself that it's solely down to not having the chapter formatted correctly. Unforunately, this is yet to solve my problem. I must have reformatted the thing three or four times now and I keep hitting blocks. So, what could possibly be my resolution?
I have decided to move away from it for a while. I want to work on my introductory chapter and theoretical perspective chapters over the next few days and come back to the troublesome one at a later date. Hopefully then I'll have a new perspective to work from. Well, maybe not a new perspective. That would insinuate that I was going to start from scratch which I sure as hell am not going to do. I've worked too long and too hard on that thing to just throw it away.
Then after that all that needs to be done is my conclusion. Even at this point I feel as though I know what I'm going to do with that. I think I can get to grips with whats wrong with my research to date and more importantly, whats right with it.
Now, Some might say that this blog post is merely a senseless rambling. I assure you it is not. This is me Venting my frustration, my anxiety, my stress.
huh, I guess the cigarettes are working.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Happy New Year!...Well,Kinda...
I haven't posted in a while.
I would like to say that the reason for this has been because nothing interesting has happened to me. But I can't. Alot of interesting things, to me at least, and things of general import, again, to me, have happened. One of these things I really don't want to divulge on my public blog. Strange,I know considering what I've written about in the past.
Heres something I will write about though...
Anyone remember Dónal O'Driscoll? He was the guy that wrote the letter claiming all Christians to be Westboro Baptists. I blogged about it here.
Anyway, It turns out that on January 2nd, as I munched on a turkey Sandwich, I received a message to my Facebook account. Curious, I thought, considering I had been neglecting my Facebook account recently. So I logged on. The message was from None other than Doney-O himself. He had tracked me down on Facebook in order to wag a finger in my direction for challenging my opinion.
So I flamed him.
To be honest,I was thoroughly amused by the whole situation. I mean,you can only watch so much shitty christmas TV before you get bored of the novelty. It was a nice change to have to point out stupidity to the stupid. Repeatedly. Because, y'know, they're stupid.
Dónal responded quite viscerally to my flaming.Which amused me even more.I even got some respect for the "P.R.O",showing passion at something.He exclaimed:
"My letter, from start to finish was CLEARLY about the CU. A blind chimpanzee could see that. So yes, you were talking complete shite."
Oh yeah, I'M Talking shite. Also when I called him on raping my human right to free speech without fear of retribution he claimed:
"I also never questioned your right to freedom of speech. All I did was point out that your reply to my letter attacked me on points I did not make."
Hmmmm. I mean,I questioned him in a public forum so he attacks me in a private message?Doesn;t seem to be cricket.
But yeah, I had gained a little respect for him for allowing himself to feel angry with me. Firstly, it meant I had done all I wanted to and secondly, he wasn't an automaton. Note the past tense.
In the space of an hour he had undone all respect I had for him.He sent another message...apologising! What the Fuck? This is what he had to say:
" I snapped out of frustration with the tone of your response. Suffice to say, your claim that I was referring to all christians, was inaccurate as could be clearlyseen by reading my letter properly. My letter was clearly a tongue in cheek response to the Christian Union's ridiculous scaremongering posters. If I caused any offence I am sorry, but you clearly did not read my letter properly. I will point this out in the next An Focal, but will do so respectfully.I am sorry for getting snappy."
...So I flamed him again, I also goaded him into writing a repsonse to my letter to an Focal. I don't think he'll do it though. Even if he does It'll prbably be typed on a tear-stained keyboard and will consist of "I'm SOOOOO SOOORRRRRRRRRYYYY!!!!!!!".
And then he wrote another response to me. And apologised for offending me. I thought I was the one doing the offending? He then proceeded to give me his life story.For some reason.I'm not entirely sure why.
Anyway, I look forward to making public disgrace of this man. I'll probably call him the enemy of free speech or something.
Its amazing what a little spin and some "off the record" statements can do.
Nothing is ever "off the record".
I would like to say that the reason for this has been because nothing interesting has happened to me. But I can't. Alot of interesting things, to me at least, and things of general import, again, to me, have happened. One of these things I really don't want to divulge on my public blog. Strange,I know considering what I've written about in the past.
Heres something I will write about though...
Anyone remember Dónal O'Driscoll? He was the guy that wrote the letter claiming all Christians to be Westboro Baptists. I blogged about it here.
Anyway, It turns out that on January 2nd, as I munched on a turkey Sandwich, I received a message to my Facebook account. Curious, I thought, considering I had been neglecting my Facebook account recently. So I logged on. The message was from None other than Doney-O himself. He had tracked me down on Facebook in order to wag a finger in my direction for challenging my opinion.
So I flamed him.
To be honest,I was thoroughly amused by the whole situation. I mean,you can only watch so much shitty christmas TV before you get bored of the novelty. It was a nice change to have to point out stupidity to the stupid. Repeatedly. Because, y'know, they're stupid.
Dónal responded quite viscerally to my flaming.Which amused me even more.I even got some respect for the "P.R.O",showing passion at something.He exclaimed:
"My letter, from start to finish was CLEARLY about the CU. A blind chimpanzee could see that. So yes, you were talking complete shite."
Oh yeah, I'M Talking shite. Also when I called him on raping my human right to free speech without fear of retribution he claimed:
"I also never questioned your right to freedom of speech. All I did was point out that your reply to my letter attacked me on points I did not make."
Hmmmm. I mean,I questioned him in a public forum so he attacks me in a private message?Doesn;t seem to be cricket.
But yeah, I had gained a little respect for him for allowing himself to feel angry with me. Firstly, it meant I had done all I wanted to and secondly, he wasn't an automaton. Note the past tense.
In the space of an hour he had undone all respect I had for him.He sent another message...apologising! What the Fuck? This is what he had to say:
" I snapped out of frustration with the tone of your response. Suffice to say, your claim that I was referring to all christians, was inaccurate as could be clearlyseen by reading my letter properly. My letter was clearly a tongue in cheek response to the Christian Union's ridiculous scaremongering posters. If I caused any offence I am sorry, but you clearly did not read my letter properly. I will point this out in the next An Focal, but will do so respectfully.I am sorry for getting snappy."
...So I flamed him again, I also goaded him into writing a repsonse to my letter to an Focal. I don't think he'll do it though. Even if he does It'll prbably be typed on a tear-stained keyboard and will consist of "I'm SOOOOO SOOORRRRRRRRRYYYY!!!!!!!".
And then he wrote another response to me. And apologised for offending me. I thought I was the one doing the offending? He then proceeded to give me his life story.For some reason.I'm not entirely sure why.
Anyway, I look forward to making public disgrace of this man. I'll probably call him the enemy of free speech or something.
Its amazing what a little spin and some "off the record" statements can do.
Nothing is ever "off the record".
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