So, I have pleurisy. Not really sure what it is, something to do with the outer lining of the lungs rubbing on the inner because of faulty/infected fluid between the two? Now I know that;s probably wrong and someone will put me straight - I hope they do.
I'd been telling my Mrs something was wrong but I didn't know what. It didn't just feel like 'man-flu' this time but she still thought I was 'swinging the lead' (where does that come from?).
It reminded me about the old joke about the hypochondriac who had etched onto his grave stone 'There you go, I told you I was ill' - well he was bound to be right one day eh?
This made me think about my mortality - I know, I know, not a particularly cheerful subject. Somebody, somewhere died today completely unexpectedly. Well actually several I suspect did that. You never know when it's your last day, but despite how the saying goes, you can't live each day as thought it's your last - some days you're just not in the bloody mood for that, and wish it was your last day anyway.
A friend of mine used to say when he was fed up (usually after hitting yet another golf ball into a lake) that 'it will be a blessing when the good lord takes me' - and I always knew, and still do, what he meant.
Furthermore, if we all 'lived each day as tho...' there would be humans rutting on the streets like bloody dogs, and whilst it would be funny for a while, we'd soon get fed up of it, especially when we realised it actually wasn't our last day today and how stupid that would make us feel, together with the stranger we had coupled with - and anyway, what would we all do for the other 23 hours and 45 minutes of our last day? Suggestions please, because I've no idea!
These seem strange thoughts with so much killing going on as I write, around the globe - it makes my heart ache, it truly does. Simple question, why does mankind make weapons anyway? shouldn't we have stopped at really sharp swords (man cuts finger on sword "ouch... hey blacksmith, you wanna stop making these dangerous sharp things, somebody is gonna get hurt"). So where do we all think it went so wrong that we want to kill each other? nationalism? greed? vested interest? racism? I think the list could go on and on... oh religion, how could I forget religion ffs?. I know, it makes it all sound so bloody stupid, but even I cannot become a complete pacifist, because sometimes you just have to hit the other guy (Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein et al).
We are all gonna die, and trust me because I know, there is nothing after that split second it takes to stop breathing - nothing! No matter what anyone says, ignore them because have absolutely no proof whatsoever of it, or God, or anything - not one shred of evidence anywhere from anytime.
This makes you realise how 'small' we are as individuals, inconsequential little specks - and we'll all be dead in around 5 billion years when our sun expires, so why does any of it matter? Once I realised this fact I found it easier to cope without the constructed god/religion that most of us use as a crutch in life. You don't need it honestly.
What we should focus on, don't you think, is being nice to each other, helping each other, in other words doing/being good.
'Goodness' has got naff all to do with God.
See ya on the other side y'all.
(why have I gone all deep south?... worrying to say the least)
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Thursday, 11 August 2011
scum??
I wish I had a tenner for everytime I've heard or read the word 'scum' over the last few days. Of course it will mean different things to different people, especially when put in context of the current 'riots'. It seems the people using the word as a descriptive exclamation think that the word is enough to describe or even explain the 'troubles' (yes, that is what they are). What they are doing is to use the strategy of "they're just scum"
"why?"
"because they are..."
(one can persevere here if you have the patience)
"what do you mean?"
"they're just scum"
- and there we go in ever decreasing frustrating circles.
To ask these questions against these banal comments is not condoning anything that has happened, but that certainly, is what is happening, as those with intelligence and a voice in the puclic sphere face unprecedented attacks for being 'sympathetic' with the rioters. Of course, this is ridiculous.
This society, and this is not party political as the Labour government of Blair is just as responsible as the Tories, has bread, through rampant consumerism and the ideology of greed (thank you Mrs Thatcher) a specific 'underclass'. By that I mean a class that is 'beneath' the working class, and by definition, has less hope than 'no hope'. We all know it's there, laughingly called the 'chav' class, and sneered at by the rest of us, lucky enough to not be a member. A friend recently commented that 'there has to be shit at the bottom, so leave it there and batter it to control it' (paraphrased I'm afraid). Not only is this view narrow minded and stupid, it is also deeply uncaring, and furthermore, very dangerous.
These troubles are not happening accidentally, they are not spontaneous. What has shocked me is the scale and the numbers involved... how big is this 'underclass' that we have created? At this moment in the 'eye of the storm' it seems massive, and incredibly powerful, so that those dismissing them as 'scum... 'cause they are' had better be aware that to dismiss these troubles as opportunistic looting is to fuel the fires of discontent and expect more of the same.
The governement are now on the front foot (eventually after their jollies) to demonstrate that they are the party of 'law and order' because they see the 'opportunity' for vote catching after listening to the knee-jerk rhetoric of the masses. This is a 'heads in the sand' position, of course, and as Seumas Milne states in yesterdays Gaurdian, this is:
"a nonsensical position. If this week's eruption is an expression of pure criminality and has nothing to do with police harassment or youth unemployment or rampant inequality or deepening economic crisis, why is it happening now and not a decade ago? The criminal classes, as the Victorians branded those at the margins of society, are always with us, after all. And if it has no connection with Britain's savage social divide and ghettoes of deprivation, why did it kick off in Haringey and not Henley?... To refuse to recognise the causes of the unrest is to make it more likely to recur - and ministers won't be making that mistake behind closed doors if they care about their own political futures."
There has been many warnings that these troubles are imminent - from the police, Nick Clegg no less, and, more importantly, the youths themselves - as the cuts and economic disparity bites deep. The bankers have legally looted our society and got away with it - there is a paralell analogy here that is so very obvious, that it doesn't need explaining!
In my lifetime I have seen (and this only occured to me recently after the expenses and hacking scandals) the professions (doctors, clergy, lawyers, ect.), and organs of the state (police, military, politicians etc.), which were automatically revered and respected by all and sundry, decline in this aspect - our society is slowly (but quicker now due to the technological revolution) being discovered as corrupt and immoral, through individual greed, celebrity, ambition, envy, and status (social climbing). I hear all too often, indignantly said, 'I'm not working class now, I'm middle class because I own my own house, have two cars, and holiday abroad' - a delusion and misconception allowed and fostered by our rulers through the concept of hegemony.
I hope our society wakes up and recognises these very dangerous times (all deep recessions have ended in major wars - fact!), and these troubles in particular, as an opportunity (buzz word here me thinks) to take stock, re-evaluate, and change course towards a fairer and more equal society.
"why?"
"because they are..."
(one can persevere here if you have the patience)
"what do you mean?"
"they're just scum"
- and there we go in ever decreasing frustrating circles.
To ask these questions against these banal comments is not condoning anything that has happened, but that certainly, is what is happening, as those with intelligence and a voice in the puclic sphere face unprecedented attacks for being 'sympathetic' with the rioters. Of course, this is ridiculous.
This society, and this is not party political as the Labour government of Blair is just as responsible as the Tories, has bread, through rampant consumerism and the ideology of greed (thank you Mrs Thatcher) a specific 'underclass'. By that I mean a class that is 'beneath' the working class, and by definition, has less hope than 'no hope'. We all know it's there, laughingly called the 'chav' class, and sneered at by the rest of us, lucky enough to not be a member. A friend recently commented that 'there has to be shit at the bottom, so leave it there and batter it to control it' (paraphrased I'm afraid). Not only is this view narrow minded and stupid, it is also deeply uncaring, and furthermore, very dangerous.
These troubles are not happening accidentally, they are not spontaneous. What has shocked me is the scale and the numbers involved... how big is this 'underclass' that we have created? At this moment in the 'eye of the storm' it seems massive, and incredibly powerful, so that those dismissing them as 'scum... 'cause they are' had better be aware that to dismiss these troubles as opportunistic looting is to fuel the fires of discontent and expect more of the same.
The governement are now on the front foot (eventually after their jollies) to demonstrate that they are the party of 'law and order' because they see the 'opportunity' for vote catching after listening to the knee-jerk rhetoric of the masses. This is a 'heads in the sand' position, of course, and as Seumas Milne states in yesterdays Gaurdian, this is:
"a nonsensical position. If this week's eruption is an expression of pure criminality and has nothing to do with police harassment or youth unemployment or rampant inequality or deepening economic crisis, why is it happening now and not a decade ago? The criminal classes, as the Victorians branded those at the margins of society, are always with us, after all. And if it has no connection with Britain's savage social divide and ghettoes of deprivation, why did it kick off in Haringey and not Henley?... To refuse to recognise the causes of the unrest is to make it more likely to recur - and ministers won't be making that mistake behind closed doors if they care about their own political futures."
There has been many warnings that these troubles are imminent - from the police, Nick Clegg no less, and, more importantly, the youths themselves - as the cuts and economic disparity bites deep. The bankers have legally looted our society and got away with it - there is a paralell analogy here that is so very obvious, that it doesn't need explaining!
In my lifetime I have seen (and this only occured to me recently after the expenses and hacking scandals) the professions (doctors, clergy, lawyers, ect.), and organs of the state (police, military, politicians etc.), which were automatically revered and respected by all and sundry, decline in this aspect - our society is slowly (but quicker now due to the technological revolution) being discovered as corrupt and immoral, through individual greed, celebrity, ambition, envy, and status (social climbing). I hear all too often, indignantly said, 'I'm not working class now, I'm middle class because I own my own house, have two cars, and holiday abroad' - a delusion and misconception allowed and fostered by our rulers through the concept of hegemony.
I hope our society wakes up and recognises these very dangerous times (all deep recessions have ended in major wars - fact!), and these troubles in particular, as an opportunity (buzz word here me thinks) to take stock, re-evaluate, and change course towards a fairer and more equal society.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Someone I Met in Manchester
Someone I Met in Manchester
His nose is running too,
but he doesn’t seem to know.
I wonder where he’s from.
What’s his name?
How did he get to this?
He looks very hard.
I wonder who he is.
How long has he been there?
He must be very cold.
Where does he get his clothes?
I wonder about his dog.
It must have a name.
How does he feed it?
Does he know I don’t know?
I wonder how much he gets.
Should I give him something?
Will he speak to me
apart from begging?
You hope he doesn’t.
But you know he will.
They always do, they have to.
“Any change mate?”
“Errr...no...errr sorry”
And you really are.
But you have some really.
You think he’s got a cheek.
You pass him by
with a sideways look,
and the niggling doubt
that he knows you have.
On Oxford Road in Manchester.
My nose is running when I see him
squatting in Oxford Road.His nose is running too,
but he doesn’t seem to know.
What’s his name?
How did he get to this?
He looks very hard.
How long has he been there?
He must be very cold.
Where does he get his clothes?
It must have a name.
How does he feed it?
Does he know I don’t know?
Should I give him something?
Will he speak to me
apart from begging?
But you know he will.
They always do, they have to.
“Any change mate?”
And you really are.
But you have some really.
You think he’s got a cheek.
with a sideways look,
and the niggling doubt
that he knows you have.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
viva la difference?????
Sometimes I recognise, only occasionally mind you, that someone says something better than I can (in academic circles it's called 'quoting', but really it's an underhand and lazy way of getting to wordcount and still 'sound good'), so with that in mind I would like you all (12 followers now - hitting the bigtime, but I need help with this so please share and spread the word) to read the following as I believe it affects us all and it's something that we, as adults, should be very aware of. It comes from a column written by Erica Wagner in The Times Saturday Review on 16 July 2011:
On the one side it's impossible for little girls to escape the sexualised images of womanhood that are presented to them day and night; on the other, boys lag behind girls in reading skills and age and are equally limited by the macho culture that's meant to define them... So here's a little poem, for your summer entertainment. I learnt it decades ago when I heard Dick Cavett recite it, in his wry, dry tones, on a wonderful album, 'Free To Be You And Me'. Look it up-and in the meantine here goes:
My dog is a plumber. He must be a boy;
although I must tell you his favourite toy
is a little play stove with pans and with pots;
he really must like it, he plays with it lots.
So perhaps he's a girl, which kind of makes sense,
since he can't throw a ball and he can't climb a fence.
But neither can Dad, and I know he's a man:
and Mom is a woman, and she drives a van.
perhaps the problem is in trying to tell
just what someone is by what he does well.
You see, well I hope you do, this makes sense to me. I've got five kids, six grandchildren and another on the way, and I've been as guilty as the next person. These types of issues are much more important in the long run than the credit crunch, or wars, or anything else; because if we address these types of problems, we will make the world a much better, much more tolerant, and much wiser place - so then, just maybe, all the other shit may not happen quite as much! Worth a try I think.
Well off to seaside with my two beautiful grandaughters (Morecambe would you believe?) to play with their dollies in the sand whilst the women get the picnic ready, and us men look all macho diggind holes and building sandcastles! 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.........
On the one side it's impossible for little girls to escape the sexualised images of womanhood that are presented to them day and night; on the other, boys lag behind girls in reading skills and age and are equally limited by the macho culture that's meant to define them... So here's a little poem, for your summer entertainment. I learnt it decades ago when I heard Dick Cavett recite it, in his wry, dry tones, on a wonderful album, 'Free To Be You And Me'. Look it up-and in the meantine here goes:
My dog is a plumber. He must be a boy;
although I must tell you his favourite toy
is a little play stove with pans and with pots;
he really must like it, he plays with it lots.
So perhaps he's a girl, which kind of makes sense,
since he can't throw a ball and he can't climb a fence.
But neither can Dad, and I know he's a man:
and Mom is a woman, and she drives a van.
perhaps the problem is in trying to tell
just what someone is by what he does well.
You see, well I hope you do, this makes sense to me. I've got five kids, six grandchildren and another on the way, and I've been as guilty as the next person. These types of issues are much more important in the long run than the credit crunch, or wars, or anything else; because if we address these types of problems, we will make the world a much better, much more tolerant, and much wiser place - so then, just maybe, all the other shit may not happen quite as much! Worth a try I think.
Well off to seaside with my two beautiful grandaughters (Morecambe would you believe?) to play with their dollies in the sand whilst the women get the picnic ready, and us men look all macho diggind holes and building sandcastles! 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.........
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
a poem 'Simply Manchester' by Ray Eckersley
SIMPLY MANCHESTER
You’ve gotta be born here
to know the difference.
Some come and stay and get it
then they show some deference.
They are very welcome.
But please don’t come and not try
cos it don’t work like that.
The place’ll just make you cry.
The shit’ll get in your eye
and you’ll just wonder why.
But you’re welcome to fuck off.
It’s changed since Fred and Karl,
no more street urchins.
Just drunks beggin on the street
And multi coloured fuckin bins!
What’s all that about?
Like anywhere really.
But that’s not the point.
It all started here
and we know it and wear it like a badge.
Shame and pride – that’s clear.
And we know we’re up our own,
before you tell us.
So don’t bother.
Just get on a bus
cos you’re welcome to fuck off
We’ve got it all really.
Socialism, tribalism, egotism.
Some good stuff to look at,
some very clever sods.
Even a man who drew a matchstalk cat
and made a mint – cool that.
We’ve got lots of proletariat.
But not much bourgeoisie,
that’s all in London that.
But I don’t care, me.
Two cities within a city.
Someone told me once
I’d lost my perspicacity.
But I love this place
with all its severe duplicity.
I never want leave
so I’ll join its complicity,
contest its veracity.
We’ll make you feel shitty
with a bit of nitty-gritty,
living in this inner-city.
And if it’s not for you
take the Inter-City.
And you’re welcome to fuck off.
We built some docks
and a big fuck off canal.
A big fuck off airport
and we sang L’Internationale
which Unites the human race
We tried to get Paine back to our city
and give him is due space.
They told us to fuck off.
They didn’t like it up the East Lancs Road.
Them with their slavery,
their elemental spivvery,
habitual thievery and skullduggary.
But we get their big รก la mode.
Just a different postcode
We’d be welcome to fuck off.
Congestion charge my arse.
Don’t copy London Town.
Let’s get really radical,
stop acting the fuckin clown.
Let’s get a Mayor – I’ll do it
Put up the tax
and stop the axe.
Declare unilateral independence,
create some discordance,
some disturbance,
some dissidence.
Revel in our arrogance.
You’re welcome to fuck off.
Our Cities are organic:
we’ll grow and get better.
You can come with us if you want
be an aid and abetter.
Fuck the Magna Carta
and the godbotherers’Stigmata.
Cos united we’ll stand,
divided we’re fucked.
Give me your hand
in this promised land
So you’re welcome to fuck off.
But you really are very very welcome to stay.
on a roll
WOW - eight members now - this thing is rolling baby - today, eight... tomorrow a million?More feckin DIY today but I won't bore you with it except to say I'm just waiting to hear the crash of the newly glued mirrors to our wardrobe doors - silence so far is feckin golden.
Just been struck by a Facebook post wishing it was Thursday and how we all wish large parts of our life away - just let me say there is some poor sod lying on a slab somewhere that wishes it was just Tuesday for her/him - get a grip and enjoy everyday, the best you can, because one day it will be your feckin last.
Sorry for lapsing into the venacular occasionally - believe me I am trying to calm it down, but it's feckin hard (the Irish version, 'feckin', doesn't feel like swearing so I feel better - cool eh?) because I do like to swear as an expression of myself - and besides, unlike bullets, swear words never killed anyone.
Great joke came to me about Robert Murdoch being touched by messages left on Amy Winehouse phone - I know it's sad but I do like 'sick' jokes - and that's a cracker!
I am currently reading Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, and it's brilliant - not too easy to read, but not bad - she mixes forms and switches narrative voice without the reader noticing sometimes - very special - and her messages are wonderful and timeless, with depth and consciousness. James Frey's The Final Testament of the Holy Bible is a must read for eveybody - just finished it and I think it's one of the best books I've ever read.
Please share/spread/prompt the word about my blog because I need to get on the 'monetising' bandwagon (if they advertise on your blog they pay you but I need a few more than 'eight') - I know, I know, it's against my socialist priciples to engage in this corruption, but hey, don't blame the player, blame the feckin game!!
Just been struck by a Facebook post wishing it was Thursday and how we all wish large parts of our life away - just let me say there is some poor sod lying on a slab somewhere that wishes it was just Tuesday for her/him - get a grip and enjoy everyday, the best you can, because one day it will be your feckin last.
Sorry for lapsing into the venacular occasionally - believe me I am trying to calm it down, but it's feckin hard (the Irish version, 'feckin', doesn't feel like swearing so I feel better - cool eh?) because I do like to swear as an expression of myself - and besides, unlike bullets, swear words never killed anyone.
Great joke came to me about Robert Murdoch being touched by messages left on Amy Winehouse phone - I know it's sad but I do like 'sick' jokes - and that's a cracker!
I am currently reading Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, and it's brilliant - not too easy to read, but not bad - she mixes forms and switches narrative voice without the reader noticing sometimes - very special - and her messages are wonderful and timeless, with depth and consciousness. James Frey's The Final Testament of the Holy Bible is a must read for eveybody - just finished it and I think it's one of the best books I've ever read.
Please share/spread/prompt the word about my blog because I need to get on the 'monetising' bandwagon (if they advertise on your blog they pay you but I need a few more than 'eight') - I know, I know, it's against my socialist priciples to engage in this corruption, but hey, don't blame the player, blame the feckin game!!
DIY
Now don't go away!
I've been DIYing today and there is something therapeutic about it - it takes ones mind off things that are shit but I'm sure they happen to everybody. I've been putting up shelves whilst watching/listening to the test match and enjoyed it.Tomorrow, well today actually, I'm going to glue some mirrors to some doors (hopefully) and, probably, blow my f**king head off whilst trying to put up and connect a ceiling fan/light fitting, so this might be my last blog - someones gotta do it.
Just seen the leader of English Defence League (EDL) on Newsnight - if, and it's a big if I grant you, he is representative of mainstream thought (AKA bigotry) in this country, or even wider afield, then we are all in it up to our necks. Multi-culturalism is a fact of life and one that enriches us all - end of! Gordon Brown was right, that woman WAS a bigot, and sadly it seems, there are quite a few.
I met a married couple recently at my daughters wedding in Felixstowe (a great and proud occasion for me, but more of that another time) whilst queuing for the buffet. They couldn't wait to tell me (why, I have no idea, but it was worrying to me that maybe I looked like a racist sympathiser - does anyone know what 'they' look like?) how everything wrong with this country was down to immigrants - this happened within seconds of our first words together - amazing. However, I told them they were wrong and immigrants to this country enriched us, and as far as I was concerned, they were all welcome, because we have lots of room still, and loads of money. Needless to say, they were shocked by my response, and before they could retort I told them that they should stay in the south because their sort wouldn't be welcome in the enlightened north. That did the trick, they shut the f**k up with an embarrassed look on their faces. They clearly were deluded enough to think that everyone, including perfect strangers, thought the way they did - racist arrogance or what?
The point is that, whenever we are faced with racism of any sort (and for that matter, sexism, ageism, or any other bloody 'ism' - oh and homophobia too) we should try to challenge it the best we can - and I know that's not easy because confrontation is not nice - and as we all know it's nice to be nice!! But please do your best.
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