Friday, May 26, 2006
Fuckwits all around me
Last week it was reported that this town in the US is trying to prevent unmarried couples with children living there and today I read in The Guardian that non-vegetarians are having a hard time trying to move into certain housing estates in Mumbai. If I had control over a town's population I would have just one rule - No Fuckwits. That would clearly rule out the bureaucrats from both of those places...
Thursday, May 25, 2006
The Australian - Knickers in a twist. Again.
Over at The Australian, they are getting more hot under the collar than a viagra-ed up Rex Hunt in a brothel at news that those crazy leftwing lunatics at the Education department in Western Australia have decided to incorporate modern music in their new high school syllabus.
The new co-ordinator for the course has decided to include PCs and turntables into the syllabus in an assumed effort to increase the relevancy of the course for the pupils. Richard Gill, thunders the report, describes the development as 'educational double speak and claptrap...It could just as easily be the curriculum for cooking as music' Eh? Ah yes, it'll be an easy mistake to make. Show the pupils a range of music making devices ranging from Guitairs to Violins to Turntables and whaddya know? The inclusion of those dastardly electronic things will confuse the students so much that they'll start turning up to class with the ingredients to make a Coq Au Vin.
The article bangs on, 'To describe turntables and computers as musical instruments was "totally meaningless" he [Richard Gill] said. " A computer is a computer and a turntable is a turntable. One of the points of education is to make the distinction"'
I mean, how thick does he think kids in Western Australia are? Clearly, if they are told that computers are instruments, they will naturally take this literally and start trying to play the keyboard like a piano. Oh! Just feel the emotion in that # key! Marvel at the sound the @ button makes! It's just like so musical man.
Or do you think, in reality, that the pupils will use a piece of software on their PC (these have been around for a number of years Mr Gill) which will enable them to create music? Just a thought or am I being far too leftwing & post modern for your liking?
The course co-ordinator rightly states that ' if there is a student from India who wants to play the tabla, they can and they wouldn't be able to do that in the old course'. The Australian sneers at this but what's wrong with it? Who is to say that playing the flute is better or worse than playing the tabla? Why is playing the guitar seen as 'better' than creating a tune on a PC?
The headline for the whole article is "Turntable music 'equal' to violins'. Well if I wrote that headline I would remove the quotation marks around equal. It is equal to violin music. Just because the Australian wishes the people of this country be bought up on nothing but Shakespeare and Beethoven doesn't mean that other forms of human creativity should be dismissed by writers who clearly do not know what they are talking about.
Richard Gill states that 'Reaction to music is a personal and subjective thing...' and that is absolutely correct. I'd rather wander around the streets of Baghdad wrapped in an American flag than listen to the flute or violin or fucking trombone for more than 10 mins. I imagine the staff on The Australian would rather french kiss Germaine Greer than listen to any of my doof doof music. That doesn't mean their music is 'better' it simply means that they have different personal taste to me. All opinions on music are subjective. All music has it's place.
Well, apart from Hard House. That's just rubbish.
The new co-ordinator for the course has decided to include PCs and turntables into the syllabus in an assumed effort to increase the relevancy of the course for the pupils. Richard Gill, thunders the report, describes the development as 'educational double speak and claptrap...It could just as easily be the curriculum for cooking as music' Eh? Ah yes, it'll be an easy mistake to make. Show the pupils a range of music making devices ranging from Guitairs to Violins to Turntables and whaddya know? The inclusion of those dastardly electronic things will confuse the students so much that they'll start turning up to class with the ingredients to make a Coq Au Vin.
The article bangs on, 'To describe turntables and computers as musical instruments was "totally meaningless" he [Richard Gill] said. " A computer is a computer and a turntable is a turntable. One of the points of education is to make the distinction"'
I mean, how thick does he think kids in Western Australia are? Clearly, if they are told that computers are instruments, they will naturally take this literally and start trying to play the keyboard like a piano. Oh! Just feel the emotion in that # key! Marvel at the sound the @ button makes! It's just like so musical man.
Or do you think, in reality, that the pupils will use a piece of software on their PC (these have been around for a number of years Mr Gill) which will enable them to create music? Just a thought or am I being far too leftwing & post modern for your liking?
The course co-ordinator rightly states that ' if there is a student from India who wants to play the tabla, they can and they wouldn't be able to do that in the old course'. The Australian sneers at this but what's wrong with it? Who is to say that playing the flute is better or worse than playing the tabla? Why is playing the guitar seen as 'better' than creating a tune on a PC?
The headline for the whole article is "Turntable music 'equal' to violins'. Well if I wrote that headline I would remove the quotation marks around equal. It is equal to violin music. Just because the Australian wishes the people of this country be bought up on nothing but Shakespeare and Beethoven doesn't mean that other forms of human creativity should be dismissed by writers who clearly do not know what they are talking about.
Richard Gill states that 'Reaction to music is a personal and subjective thing...' and that is absolutely correct. I'd rather wander around the streets of Baghdad wrapped in an American flag than listen to the flute or violin or fucking trombone for more than 10 mins. I imagine the staff on The Australian would rather french kiss Germaine Greer than listen to any of my doof doof music. That doesn't mean their music is 'better' it simply means that they have different personal taste to me. All opinions on music are subjective. All music has it's place.
Well, apart from Hard House. That's just rubbish.
Curing Homosexuality
This boggles the mind quite frankly.
And just think, CNN is the 'liberal' media outlet in the US. God help them all!
And just think, CNN is the 'liberal' media outlet in the US. God help them all!
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Socialism comes to football
UEFA has proposed enforcing a salary cap scheme for European clubs as well as a requirement that they field a minimum amount of home born players in European matches.
Although I am against the quasi-communist system of sport economics that exists in AFL / Gridiron etc being applied to football I think these limited proposals are a good thing. And no, I'm not just saying that because Chelsea are now winning everything! Sport is not supposed to be a competition between a few billionaires - it's supposed to be a competition between athletes. Chelsea have Ambramovich and good luck to them but when they pay their star players in the region of
£130,000 a week the script for the season has already been written.
If the current system continues will a team other than Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal ever win the Premier League again? The answer is possibly, but only if that team manages to rope in a billionare who is willing to fund the challenge.
I am against drafts, I am against a closed market where players cannot be bought and sold. But a (reasonable) salary cap seems a sensible proposal to me. Chelsea can still pay Ballack his £130K a week but they would have to cut back in other positions to compensate for it. Let's be clear about this: Chelsea and Blackburn's Premier League titles were bought. Arsenal and Manchester United have a long, proud tradition in the top flight of English football and their wealth has been accumulated on the back of popular support and more importantly: results. If we want to see billionaires prevented from simply buying the title then action has to be taken.
Although I am against the quasi-communist system of sport economics that exists in AFL / Gridiron etc being applied to football I think these limited proposals are a good thing. And no, I'm not just saying that because Chelsea are now winning everything! Sport is not supposed to be a competition between a few billionaires - it's supposed to be a competition between athletes. Chelsea have Ambramovich and good luck to them but when they pay their star players in the region of
£130,000 a week the script for the season has already been written.
If the current system continues will a team other than Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal ever win the Premier League again? The answer is possibly, but only if that team manages to rope in a billionare who is willing to fund the challenge.
I am against drafts, I am against a closed market where players cannot be bought and sold. But a (reasonable) salary cap seems a sensible proposal to me. Chelsea can still pay Ballack his £130K a week but they would have to cut back in other positions to compensate for it. Let's be clear about this: Chelsea and Blackburn's Premier League titles were bought. Arsenal and Manchester United have a long, proud tradition in the top flight of English football and their wealth has been accumulated on the back of popular support and more importantly: results. If we want to see billionaires prevented from simply buying the title then action has to be taken.
Porn is to blame
Of course the reason why remote Aboriginal communities are descending into lawless chaos is not because of their lack of jobs, services, police, adequate housing and extreme poverty. No! Porn is to blame clearly. You can get rid of porn and alcohol from these places but the essential, fundamental problems still remain. It's just a simple solution to what is clearly a very complex problem. If you take away the porn and the booze you'll still have people living in third world conditions. Maybe it's time to examine whether these remote communities are viable anymore - if this lawlessness was occuring in white communities it would be stopped and stopped pretty damn quickly and I'm pretty sure banning porn would not be on the agenda.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Global Warming
Even Fox News now believes that Global Warming is fact. If the propaganda piece of the Right in the US believes it how long is it going to take for Howard & Bush to get it in their thick heads?
Meanwhile, a woman in the UK has been taken to court by Exeter Council for refusing to sort her rubbish and put it in the appropriate recycling bins. I say good on them, we all have a responsibility to do our bit for the environment and if she doesn't like it then tough shit. She doesn't live in a hermetically sealed cave (although she looks like she might) and so she should recognise that there are some things that we should all do, as members of society, in order to make the planet a better place to live on.
Meanwhile, a woman in the UK has been taken to court by Exeter Council for refusing to sort her rubbish and put it in the appropriate recycling bins. I say good on them, we all have a responsibility to do our bit for the environment and if she doesn't like it then tough shit. She doesn't live in a hermetically sealed cave (although she looks like she might) and so she should recognise that there are some things that we should all do, as members of society, in order to make the planet a better place to live on.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Evil Contributors
Polly Toynbee on the Guardian's 'Comment is Free' blog bemoans the rudeness of the contributors in the comments section. Choice quote:
'By the way, if anyone knows someone called Ian Birchall, do please tell me about him. He just sent me this email, all in capital letters, which would have been struck from this site: "You are a loathsome overpaid hypocrite. Nobody would miss you for 5 seconds if you were dead like your despicable shitball husband. I should like to see you in a cancer ward screaming with pain and vomiting blood.' His email is ian@ibirchall.wanadoo.co.uk. No, I didn't reply to that one'
Delightful eh?
'By the way, if anyone knows someone called Ian Birchall, do please tell me about him. He just sent me this email, all in capital letters, which would have been struck from this site: "You are a loathsome overpaid hypocrite. Nobody would miss you for 5 seconds if you were dead like your despicable shitball husband. I should like to see you in a cancer ward screaming with pain and vomiting blood.' His email is ian@ibirchall.wanadoo.co.uk. No, I didn't reply to that one'
Delightful eh?
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