My attention was drawn to the Bebo page of The Roaring Twenties Co-Creator Ray Sullivan. Apparently I am, among other things, a Jizz Jammer.
I think its wonderful that my work is being recognised by the artisitic community. He doesn’t take criticism too well does he?
The Catholic Church in Ireland sent out two strong reminders this week of how out of touch it is with the modern world. First was the condemnation of the government’s long overdue reduction of “Value Added Tax” (VAT) on condoms. Let me say first of all that I believe that taxing condoms in the first place is wrong. In fact I believe that all contraceptives should be free. However reducing the tax on them is a step, albeit a small one, in the right direction.
Not so says the church. A catholic spokesperson is reported in today’s Irish Times as saying that the church “utterly rejects the use and promotion of condomns”. It is no surprise – its clergy sermonise against them even in Africa where Aids is an epidemic. I suppose its symptomatic of the “kill them all, god will know his own” mentality.
The spokesperson goes on to say “The Church’s teaching is clear: within the sacrament of marriage, the use of condoms as contraceptives is wrong, though there may be mitigating circumstances.” He doesn’t point out what those circumstances may be though.
“Outside of marriage, the use of condoms encourages sexual
activity, which is always gravely sinful. This decision sends
the wrong signal to our young people as the promotion of condoms
promotes promiscuity.”
Really? People will have sex if they want to. The unavailability or unafordability of condoms simply increases the chances of unprotected sex which increases the chances of pregnancy and STD’s. Of course in the church’s view STD’s are god’s punishment for sinning. Makes you wonder why we have these urges in the first place!
Strangely enough there are no diseases associated with paedophelia. Maybe that is god’s official seal of approval. This of course brings me right up to the second reminder of the church’s backwardness. Cardinal Desmond Connell, former archbishop of Dublin, attempted to legally block the archdiocese from handing over documents pertaining to paedophilia among the Dublin clergy during his tenure. This is a stunning example of the gross hypocricy that is rampant in an organisation that still controls most of our schools.
The Catholic church is a sick and twisted organisation and anyone with a shred of moral fibre should disassociate themselves from it. Stop going to mass. Stop giving them money. This is what you support when you do.
Vampire Weekend have resurrected my ability to get excited about a new band at the ripe old age of 32. For a while now I’d been wondering what direction progressive pop/indie music could take. I thought if there was anything new to be done it wold involve African rhythms and last week while listening to the Guardian music weekly podcast, I came across Vampire Weekend and their single Mansard Roof. What a breath of fresh air.
Their debut album is out next week!
Listen to more at their Myspace Page.
Last night I watched all three hour long episodes of Pop Britannia on BBC 4. Now those of you who know me and those of you who have read my blog know the importance of British pop music to me. You’ll have heard me wax lyrical about The Who’s My Generation album, The Beatles’ Revolver, The Kinks, The Small Faces, The Creation, The Jam etc. so it was with great anticipation that I sat down to watch Pop Britannia.
The show started out with the origins of British pop and the “Tin Pan Alley” factory system where professional songwriters wrote novelty tunes and Big band numbers. When Rock N’ Roll broke out in the USA the British industry jumped on the bandwagon as Tin Pan Alley turned its attention to sanitised British versions of the American stars like Cliff Richard.
Next up we were given an insight into the skiffle origins of the Beatles which led on to the introduction of episode 2. The second installment began with Merseybeat before moving onto the R&B influenced southern bands like The Who and The Rolling Stones. Mods were mentioned as if they had sprung up from nowhere in 1963 with the sole reason for fighting Rockers. It was almost as if they had been invented by The Who. There was no mention of the movement’s origins in the Jazz, Soul, Blues and Ska clubs of London. Indeed there was little or no mention of the black origins of British R&B.
After dealing briefly with The Kinks and the Small faces, suddenly pyschedelia was upon us. We got a brief glimpse of The Pink Floyd performing Astronomy Domine at the UFO club before it was suggested that The Beatles and Procul Harum had invented the whole thing. No mention of the influence of American bands like the 13th Floor Elevators, The Electric Prunes, or the British underground scene spearheaded by the likes of the Floyd (Who John Lennon was watching when he experienced his first trip) and Soft Machine. I put down some of these omissions to time constraints though felt that if they wanted to do it properly they shows makers should have done it over five parts or more, not three.
It was part three however that really annoyed me. It began with the fanfare heralding punk as the antidote to silly old glam rock and stuffy old prog-rock. Great. The Sex Pistols were shown performing Anarchy in the UK and they spoke briefly to Malcolm McClaren. Just then the kettle boiled. I ran down to te kitchen and poured myself a cuppa but when I got back into the sitting room 30 seconds after leaving, Adam Ant was on the screen. What??? Where were The Jam? Where were The Clash? The Jam had nineteen top fourty hits including four number ones, were the first band to have import singles that charted in the UK, sold millions of albums and influenced a whole generation of bands. Why were one of the greatest bands of all time omitted. The Clash had sixteen top fourty hits including a number one and also influenced many bands. Then it hit me. 2-Tone was also left out. When 80’s pop was in the spotlight there was no Style Council. Was it that all these bands opposed Thatcher? Was there no room for political music in the BBC’s “history”? No one that was involved in Red Wedge was mentioned.
After this an inordinate amount of time was spent on Stock Aitken and Waterman and then Take That and even Boyzone, who are unfortunately Irish and not British. There was no mention of The Smiths or Joy Division. No New Order, No Primal Scream, no Stone Roses, no Happy mondays. In fact it was as if there had been no guitar music in the British charts from The Sex Pistols all the way up until 1992 when Blur released the Popscene EP. And even now when the Britpop revival was getting a mention through Blur and Oasis, Weller, who was cited by both as an influence was still not mentioned! He also enjoyed over sixty top fourty hits between, The Jam, The Style Council and his solo career. The show was a crime against British pop culture.
The BBC should hang their heads in shame.
According to the Urban Dictionary, A “No Mark” is:
“1. no mark
This definition would suggest someone who gets nowhere in life. However today, in the age of the No Mark, you can be worshiped where before you would have been reviled.
Some notable No Marks of our day include, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Victoria Beckham, Peter Andre, anyone in a boy band; You get the idea.
Here in Ireland we have our own particularly revolting clique of Z-List No Marks. Most of them are Models. We’re talking Glenda Gilsenan, Aoife Cogan, Rosanna whats her name the former Miss World, and of course the Princess Di of Irish Z-Listers, the late Katy French, who’s death was the catalyst for even more stomach churning media output than her life.
These people contribute nothing to society. Al they do is prance around, drinking champagne and getting their photos taken. Magazines and “News”papers are overflowing with accounts of their vacuous existences. People on trains and work canteens sit around discussing their lives, loves and fcuk-ups as if they mattered. I even heard a heated debate on radio the week before last on whether Dr. Phil could help Britney or if he’d do more harm than good. Who cares about this rubbish and why? These people are parasites, attaching themselves to any possible source of income or free booze like a nasty rash. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
We should be talking and reading about people who have made real achievements. Great sports people, innovative scientists and people who have changed the world or are at least striving to do so. Stop worrying about who’s life Brad is ruining this week and start worrying about climate change, the economy, the fact that a lot of rich people in positions of power are taking us for fools and ripping us off left right and centre. By worshiping these freaks you devalue yourself. Your potential is infinitely greater than these parasites. Stop wasting your time and start living your own life.
Start now. Here are ten ways to SAY NO TO NO MARKS!
1. DO NOT read celebrity gossip magazines, even if you are in the hairdressers or in a doctors waiting room and there is nothing else to do.
2. DO NOT engage in celebrity gossip at work or with friends. If someone attempts to draw you into a conversation about Paris Hilton, look at them with scorn and tell them you aren’t interested in celebrities. There are plenty of people who give in and join in the conversations just to be part of the group, your action will encourage them.
3. DO NOT watch “reality” TV shows like Big Brother or I’m a Celebrity. Even the ones where the people involved aren’t celebrities lead to the creation of new celebrity NO MARKS like Jade Goodie.
4. If a serious news programme or paper carries a story about celebrity NO MARKS, write in, phone in, email and complain.
5. Write letters to newspapers about the proliferation of dumb stories about celebrity NO MARKS.
6. If you have kids or know kids, teach them that these people are to be reviled not worshiped.
7. If you know a celebrity NO MARK tell them to get a proper job.
8. Have conversations about people with real achievements.
9. Talk about current affairs.
10. Copy this list and email it to people and post it on social networking sites. Make it your business to spread the word.
SAY NO TO NO MARKS!
Apparently a survey has revealed that kids are scared of clowns.
Does anyone find this surprising? I mean clowns are freaks right? Guys with big frowny faces and painted on smiles. Oh yeah I get the cultural reference and all that but why would you want to expose a kid to the harsh reality that life is a sequence of moments of misery, interspersed with the occasional bit of respite. The painted on smiles represent people “getting on with it”. There’ll be plenty of time for Existentialism when they’re seventeen.
Then you have the other type of clown, the archetypal evil one. You have Stephen King’s IT and of course The Joker is a clown of sorts. Then there’s Krusty. Is there anything good to be said for clowns?
This video of Tom Cruise talking crap for the Scientology cause was removed from youtube but the Et Cetera blog saved it for the world so you can see it in all its glory!
Yes, in the war on Terror, a war that is supposedly against “freedom hating” Islamic militants, the surest way to victory is of course to sell “Saudi Arabia bomb-guidance kits as part of a multibillion-dollar package of advanced arms to Gulf Arab states that U.S. officials see as helping counter growing Iranian military clout.” (Reuters)
Yes you’ve heard it right. The Bush administration has notified congress of its plans to give the most fundamentalist Islamic state in the world the ability to train its missiles on long range targets. This of course is part of an initiative to secure peace in the Middle-East!
I wonder what Chris Hitchens thinks he was stil right about the “War on Terror”?
I read on Yahoo today that there could be “rogue” black holes roaming the galaxy gobbling up all matter unfortunate enough to cross their path. Immediately I pictured these objects of infinite darkness sporting black twirly mustaches. Believe me they are there. They’re just very hard to see when set against such blackness.
On further reading I noted that these threatening objects (is a hole an object?) have a danger zone of “hundreds of kilometers”. On a galactic scal, thats not very much is it? I wouldn’t be too worried.
Say its getting pretty dark in here. What’s th…a…u…oooooooooooooooooy.
Fish.
Mustache.
Orange.
Remember the “Speed 3″ Episode of Fr. Ted? The one where Dougle is driving the Milk cart with a bomb on board and he can’t go under four miles per hour. Well Ted and two of his priest chums were trying to come up with a solution to the problem for some time and their answer was…MASS!
Recently in a similar turn of events Pope Palpatine, sorry, Benedict, has come up with a similar solution to the problem of paedophiles in the priesthood. PRAYER! Yes Herr Ratzinberger contests that if all the Catholics in the world do a prayer rota to ensure that someone is always praying then paedophile priests may stop sexually abusing children! Now why didn’t the last guy think of this.
Its all here in this article from Times Online.
Obviously this is a far better solution than if the church stopped covering up for these priests.
Bohs Feed
