Monday, November 4, 2013

Good news



Good News



I don’t have a telly, but I visited my mum yesterday and watched News at 10 on hers. Top stories – school girl murderer convicted; one of the conjoined twins die; Queen’s speech marred by Damian Green affair; home repossessions on the up; Ford, Chrysler and GM under threat of bankruptcy; mother dies being dragged under her own car. Isn’t there any good news in the world? Surely someone must have done something good yesterday: someone made money, someone contributed to society in a positive way, invented something really cool or saved someone’s life.

Terrorism, murder, scandal, loss. It’s no surprise that people are afraid. The news is where people get a lot of their information from and it’s no surprise that they think that our government is in a state of collapse, a terrorist or some stranger or the NHS is going to kill you and you could well lose your job and your house tomorrow.

I really believe that recessions would be far more shallow if the news media didn’t talk them up. For them the greater the tragedy, the better. You can hear the disappointment when a tragedy (e.g. plane crash) doesn’t turn out so tragic after all (no fatalities). As a consolation, however, they can still speculate on how bad it might’ve been (‘could have led to death on an unprecedented scale’). Scum. If you turn off the TV, shut the newspaper and actually look around you, the reality is that life is mostly quite uneventful.



Yesterday I left my mortgaged house for my job, didn’t get killed or stabbed and didn’t get blown up. The trains ran fine. During the day I didn’t see any obvious signs of the government fiddling my balls and I worked, got paid and went back to my mortgaged house (curiously, it hadn’t been repossessed), where I didn’t murder my family. In fact, they weren’t dead – my wife was doing some work and my kids were asleep.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

The Theme of My Song Is...



I’m a little frustrated that Top 40 songs these days all have, more or less, the same themes – love and sex. Some popular song themes:

1)    I love her / him
2)    He / she loves me
3)    He / she left me
4)    I hate him
5)    Let’s party
6)    Let’s have sex


But what’s happened to all the ‘social commentary’ or ‘political’ type songs that used to be mainstream? What about songs that aren’t based on the above love themes? Some examples:

1)    Sunday Bloody Sunday
2)    Bitter Sweet Symphony
3)    Gangster’s Paradise
4)    Sowing the Seeds of Love
5)    Manic Monday
6)    Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
7)    Zombie
8)    Sign ‘O’ The Times

Or songs that approach the subject of love in an original, more profound or more poetic way?

1)    With or Without You
2)    True Colours
3)    November Rain
4)    Romeo and Juliet
5)    Head Over Feet
6)    Purple Rain
7)    Sledgehammer
8)    My Favourite Game


I’m sure there are even better examples than these; but they question is, where is this type of music today? The first thing to ask is why did these songs come about? There was probably a profound cause, a mood or a feeling that produced these songs. There also needed to be people with an intellect, a passion or a certain sensitivity to create these songs. Also, the public had to be receptive to these songs for them to become popular. So why not today?

It must either be (1) the public don’t want them, (2) songwriters don’t want to create them, (3) songwriters don’t have the ability or sensibilities to create them, (4) songwriters are prevented or deterred from creating them or (5) there are no issues or stimulus for the creation of such songs. I am tempted to conclude, however, that it’s a reflection of the superficial and vacuous nature of our society today.

Friday, February 8, 2013

How to get your girlfriend back


Image result for distressed people

The key is to let them go. Think about it from their perspective. What do you think they’d feel if you phoned them up 100 times a day and begged them to come back? They’d either get even more fed up of you, or take you back out of weakness or pity. And that’s no good, is it?

It’s hard, but what you've got to do is:


1.     Abruptly break off all contact

2.     Do not stalk them

3.     Enjoy yourself


Point 2 also includes asking friends for info about what that person is up to, who they’re going out with etc. But point 3 is the real key. You have to put yourself in a frame of mind where you are determined to enjoy yourself, but genuinely enjoy yourself. How can I best explain this…


I broke up with my girlfriend at university, but we still had to go to the same lectures. I was sitting with my mate Illy from Newcastle a few rows ahead of where she was sitting. Before the lecture started we always had a good laugh (he was a funny guy); but I was laughing peculiarly hard – just so she could hear and could see that I wasn't in any way hurt by the break up and was in no way sad, depressed or suicidal and was having an amazingly good time being single away from that stupid bitch (oops)… yeah right!


So you see, not that kind of bogus “I’m really enjoying myself” – it’s embarrassing, can easily be seen through and just doesn't work. What I should’ve been doing was studying, then going down to the Sugarhouse student club and having a bloody good time with my mates (and not pulling for the purpose of getting back at that silly bitch…oops there I go again).


Do the things that really interest you; the things you've always wanted to do but never got round to. Those little projects; those lost ambitions. Get the point?


Oh – one more thing – do not bore your mates with talk about what happened and what she’s doing now etc. Shut up and mind your own business – you’re boring!


What should you do if you see your ex? Well, do not go out of your way to avoid them and do not go out of your way to meet them. It depends on how you broke up. At the one extreme you say nothing and act normally; at the other extreme you'll be your normal pleasant self, say “hi” and keep any conversation brief and superficial. Don’t hang around.


The effect of the above is:

1)    It can shock the other person into realizing what they’re missing

2)    They will realize that you don’t need them to survive

3)    When you’re content and genuinely enjoying life you become attractive to others


…which often has the effect of making the other person want to come back. Problem is, you’re having such a good time genuinely enjoying yourself, enjoying your own company and the company of others that you’re not sure you want them back any more. If taking them back presents itself as an option some time down the road, you’ll know instinctively if and when (if you haven’t already found someone else)!