Saturday, June 7
Fight Night
Loads of things to say today, so get prepared for a fairly lengthy read...
Firstly, Thursday night I went to Cardiff with my Dad to see Yes. We stopped off in the city centre before the gig to go to a Jessops store to get my new digital camera, which was nice. I finally decided on an Olympus Camedia C-350, which looks like this. It's so cool to have a digital camera again, I haven't taken any pictures in ages. Like I said in an earlier post, expect pictures of random things everywhere from now on!
After that we stopped off at a pub for a couple of beers, then went on to another pub to get something to eat. I only had 2 or 3 drinks, so I was stone cold sober, and my Dad was the same, but it was pretty funny to hear him swear. I very rarely hear my Dad swear, he tends not to, but he was throwing "shit" and "fuck" into nigh-on every sentence. My Mum is much more liberal about that sort of thing, especially in the few years since my little sister started secondary school. It's quite comical the way in which whenever she drops something or does something like that, she just goes "oh shit!" or "fuck!" LOL. The best thing is when you take the mick out of her for a little bit, she gives you the V-sign and mouths the words "fuck off." She can't quite bring herself to say that, for a reason which I can't determine.
Anyway, back to Cardiff. The gig itself was wicked, even if I almost fell asleep during the first couple of songs. I'd barely slept the night before, another one of my random insomnia nights, and I just couldn't keep my eyes open during those first two songs. I was alright after that, and the gig was really good. The bass player to my mind looked as if he was slightly upset not to be in The Rolling Stones or a similar band because of the way he seemed to be rocking out with his bass. And the guitarist, who was brilliant, reminded me so much of the evil teacher for the video to "Another Brick In The Wall" by the mighty Pink Floyd. I'll try to find a couple of pictures to illustrate the point.
The drive back home was cool too, because we found some random Black Sabbath albums in the CD changer in the car, so we were listening to them full blast for the hour and a half back to Melksham. My Dad and me actually have a few things in common, which is weird. Well, it's probably not weird, but I find it odd. I never used to be into the same music as him, but since I got into metal music a few years ago, and the early metal music since being at uni, we've found a common love in music. We both love Beer (that's more of a general guy thing, methinks) and computers as well. Just so long as I don't get into classical music, I'll cope. Can't be doing with any of that crap.
Back to uni yesterday, a 2 hour drive back, singing along to my CDs all of the way. Got to love it. Eventually parked my car. I hate doing parallel parking, but in London, it's that or nothing. After mounting the kerb once, I got it sorted. Nothing too major happened during the day, everyone was too hungover from a (apparently) big night on Thursday. The evening was a good laugh though, up to a point. There was a hawaiian party in the student bar on campus (a god-awful scuzzhole, if truth be told), so I threw on the loudest shirt that I own, a pair of shorts and some sandals, downed a few beers and made my way down there. A whole lot Smirnoff Black Ices later, I was drunk enough to dance. I need a fair few drinks before I dance, but once I start, you can't stop me. As per usual for the entire year, the people on my floor were the centre of the party, up on the tables and chairs dancing, as well as on the pool table. I was up there too, getting my groove on with a few of the lovely ladies. It was all a good laugh, and I was in my element.
Afterwards, we went over to another one of the halls on the campus (Maynard) because we'd been told that the party was continuing there. Well, that wasn't quite true. There was certainly a lot of people there, but the party didn't quite develop. What did develop was a water-fight. Somebody brought out a water pistol, which was followed by pots of water flying all over the place. Somehow I managed to keep my beer and me dry for ages, whereas everybody else was drenched. Eventually Liz covered me with a pot of water, but it was a good laugh. Security then turned up, so the vast majority of us vanished back to our kitchen to drink some more. We were there for a half hour or so when we got word that there was a fight involving a couple of people from our floor. You know what it's like when you get told something like that, you've got to go see what was going on.
When we got outside, Matt and Pete were sitting down, chatting to a security guard and another student, Aadeel. I didn't bother saying anything then, because I had no idea what had happened. Everyone was just trying to convince Matt that it wasn't worth hunting for this other guy, apparently the source of the aggravation, because Matt would get into a shedload of trouble about it. When we went back inside, I got told the full story. After the water-fight, somehow a bit of ill-will kicked off. Pete got karate-kicked in the chest (!), and Matt got hit a few times. What really set it off was that Matt's girlfriend, Marissa, stepped into the middle of things to try and stop whatever was happening, but this guy hit her in the face, sending her through a door and onto her back. Matt just flipped, but somehow Pete held him back whilst the other guy legged it. I'm impressed Pete managed this, because Matt is a big guy. I definitely wouldn't mess. Pete definitely did the right thing, because Matt would have ripped that guy llimb from limb.
Pete was castrating himself about this for a while afterwards, because he was just as angry as Matt at the other guy for doing what he did to Marissa, but I truly feel that he did the right thing. After a time it all calmed down and I hope that's the end of it. Matt, Marissa and Pete are making written statements so that King's College itself can deal with the other guy, which is a better thing to do than to hunt for him themselves. Obviously, my view would be completely different were I in Matt's position, but I am slightly distanced from the whole affair, which makes it a bit easier to comment on.
The last thing that happened was a debate that we were having in the kitchen. Myself, Chris and Rob (Kilner) were sitting around, talking over the big questions concerning religion, existence and the like that you only talk about when you've had a few beers. That was quite good actually, we were making some interesting points, and having some great debating. A few more people joined in, including Pete and Matt, and the subject somehow shifted onto the subject of war. I was arguing that British soldiers had shot Iraqis in the recent war, which they blatantly did, but Chris could not / would not accept the point. He went completely schiz, and started chucking stuff about, including a few mugs out of the window (we live on the second floor...). I've seen Chris drunk a huge amount of times, and whilst he can get a bit loud and a bit aggressive, I've never ever seen him like that. He just went completely red, eyes bulging and everything. There was Coke flying everywhere because a bottle got knocked over, and the kitchen looks a real state this morning. Not what you want to see when you're thoroughly hungover.
I hope all of that wasn't too much to read, but my life turned interesting during the past few days...
Plummet - Damaged
Robbie - Rock DJ
Punjabi MC - Yogi
Thursday, June 5
Yes! No! Maybe!
YES: I'm back at home now, just until tomorrow morning, because I'm going to a gig in Cardiff with my Dad tonight. One of his favourite bands from the late 70s are on tour at the moment (must be tax problems or something), so we're going to see them. We've already been to see them once before, a few years ago, and I was thoroughly impressed, even though they weren't my type of music at the time. Since then, I've got into that genre of music (progressive / art - rock) a bit more, so I should enjoy it even more this time. The name of the band? Yes. Hence the title.
NO: I finished reading Fast Food Nation last night, and I've kind of decided to actively boycott a lot of big corporate names. Not just fast food chains, but also stores like Gap and Nike. I seem to have become an anti-corporate supporter, which suits me fine. I'm currently preparing and writing an anti-corporate rant in my head, when I get some time I'll type it up. But for now, go forth and spread the word against McDonalds. Incidentally, McDonalds owns Pret-A-Manger, so boycott that too.
MAYBE: I think I'm getting my new digital camera today.
Me and my Dad are going to Cardiff a little earlier than necessary, so that we can pop into a Jessops store there and pick it up. An Olympus C-350 is the one I'm after, but we'll see. If I do get it, expect loads of random pictures of London over the next week whilst I play with it and figure out how it works...
Wednesday, June 4
Persecution
Today I went with a couple of mates to the Imperial War Museum, down near Waterloo. I hadn't been there in years, and I didn't appreciate it fully when I went. A day off school, probably... Anyway, we spent a few hours in there, looking at the guns and planes and tanks, but what I found the most interesting were the two exhibits that were fairly temporary. The first one was a short film, and a load of information on a computer, concerning the history of various genocides in the twentieth century. The second was a full-on exhibition about the Holocaust during the Second World War.
To be honest, I knew a little about some of the atrocities that had been committed during the Twentieth Century, but the Genocide Exhibition gave me so much new information it was scary. Such as the conflict in Bosnia at the start of the 90s. I wasn't 100% sure who was fighting who, and for what reason, even getting mixed up with the later Kosovo conflict. The information that was given in the Exhibition was clear, concise and above all unbiased. It stated the commonly held (and reported) view on what happened in the region, then showed how much this had been twisted by the Western media in order to present it as a straight good against evil conflict. Of course, this was nowhere near the truth. For a start, there were 3 different ethnic groups involved, each having a fairly reasonable claim to the disputed territories. This is what annoys me about the media today. They always like to find a simple way to explain the events happening around us, and credit the general public with very little intelligence. I enjoy reading various newspapers to find out how they report a story, in order to try and find a balanced view.
Some of the images contained within both the text and the short film were horrific. One sequence in particular involved a Cambodian woman showing a film crew a house full of bones (mostly skulls) which were the remnants of those persecuted during Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge campaign in Cambodia. It was incredibly disturbing to see all of these bones which used to be human beings, especially since they died purely because they were different from the ideal that the government of the day wanted to pursue.
Which leads me nicely on to the Holocaust in the Second World War. This was a huge exhibition, and was again informative but horrific. Some of the things that these Jews had to go through don't even merit being put into words, because they will simply do no justice to the suffering which they endured. There were no punches pulled in the exhibition, with naked, emaciated prisoners of the concentration camps being shown throughout via film and photo. The pictures of mass graves were the most disturbing, purely because of the sheer scale of them. Bodies everywhere, not even being given the dignity of being buried face up. Another horrific thing was the sheer audacity and nonchalance which the SS soldiers designated to the camps went about their duties. Apparently, a favourite "game" of the SS guards was to send an inmate outside of the electric fences to "pick raspberries," then to shoot the inmate because they were "escaping." How can an individual be that sadistic and inhumane? It shows how much a person can be brainwashed if enough propaganda is forced their way. Which kind of brings me full circle to how the media reports events.
We need an independent media, not one which is at the beck and call of the government, but also not one which is radically opposed to the government. Of course there will always be opinions in the reporting of news. The journalists are only human, after all. However, placing your own opinions into pieces presented as fact is inherently wrong, and should not be accepted... But how do we know if what we read is really 100% true and accurate without experiencing itself? Don't look at me for an answer, I can't provide one. Although I am getting flashbacks to 1984, where the news is constantly altered and the past is changed so there can be no comparison...
Sorry for the pretty negative post, but I just found myself in full flow once I had started writing. Nothing much else happened today, hopefully tomorrow will provide some excitement. A nymphette who is infatuated with me would be nice too. Here's hoping.
Zwan - Of A Broken Heart (I'm very, very tempted to get this album. I was never the biggest fan of Smashing Pumpkins, but Zwan seem to be doing some really cool stuff)
Nas - NY State Of Mind
Orbital - An Fhomhair
Kernal + Rob Data - Hostile
Tuesday, June 3
My Taste In Women
Afraid there hasn't been anything particularly interesting that happened today, so instead I'm going to share with you my taste in women, courtesy of HotOrNot.com. And apologies again to Alanna, this was kind of inspired by her. I hadn't been to HotOrNot for ages until I read a couple of posts in her blog, which made me want to go check it out again...
On with the beauties, in some sort of descending order:
Girl 1 - This is just the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, except possibly Wednesday Morning Girl. There's just some sort of natural beauty about this person, and confidence seems to be everywhere.
Girl 2 - Just a completely natural-looking girl who is stunning.
Girl 3 - Natural beauty, plus black-rimmed glasses do it for me. Secretary-esque, maybe.
Girl 4 - Another brunette, a little chubby around the cheeks maybe (Damn I'm far too critical), but check out those eyes!
Girl 5 - Very cute, and possibly quite coy. Nice eyes.
Girl 6 - Cold, icy blue eyes. So clear and sharp. I like.
Girl 7 - Stereotypical blonde beauty, but it works for me...
Girl 8 - Cute, with a really, really pretty face.
Girl 9 - Sometimes you can find beauty in some fairly random places. Such as this girl. Piercings don't usually appeal to me, but I can make exceptions.
Girl 10 - Reminds me a bit of Danii Minogue and Christina Aguilera, which isn't a bad thing. Very piercing eyes.
Girl 11 - A very beautiful girl overall, even if individual aspects don't stand out.
Girl 12 - A pretty and cute girl. Nice smile. The sort of girl you'd want your parents to meet, if they weren't drunk in Ireland (see below).
Girl 13 - Carrying a nice bit of confidence, as well as a nice smile. And nice eyes.
Girl 14 - Simple, but very attractive girl.
Girl 15 - What can I say, I like black glasses on a pretty girl.
There we go, that's my taste in women. Now, if anybody is a qualified psychiatrist or relationships expert, how do I go about getting me a lady like one of these gorgeous people?
REM - Losing My Religion
Iio - Rapture
Dieselboy - Invid
Herbert - It's Only A Reprise
Sunday, June 1
I Disown My Parents
The following are text messages I have received from my parents in the past 24 hours. They're in Ireland at the moment, visiting a few friends, and by the sound of things drinking a lot!
MUM (31.05.03 19:14) Hi there from sunny dublin well oiled last night you would love it. (Mum doesn't know how to use punctuation when she texts...)
DAD (01.06.03 01:04) im pissed how about you (Dad also doesn't understand punctuation)
DAD (01.06.03 13:04) we are sitting in fitzgeralds bar remember ballykissangel dad has just regained his colour (I can only assume my mum wrote that)
Now hold on just one Goddamn minute. I'm the student-alcoholic type. My parents aren't allowed to send me drunken text messages, only my drinking buddies can do that. To add insult to injury, I wasn't "pissed" last night. In fact, I hadn't even had a single alcoholic drink since 2am Saturday morning. Hopefully they won't remember that message, so I can show them it on Wednesday when I go back home...
Trisco - Muzak
Pras - Ghetto Superstar
Jimpy - Feeling Good
Weekend Players - 21st Century
