My Little World10

hmm well i just wrote 500 words of an assignment, it's pure drivel but it's the module i hate so it's justified so i feel happy that ive done some work today - i have til the 16th to do a collective total of...hang on...7500 words! 500 words a day is...15 days! thats perfect and to be honest it can be 6500 if i want, and i have two which are 1000 and 1500 so i'll probably try to do them in one go, it's the two essays that are stupid and i don't want to do, so if i just get the bullshit over with in small manageable chunks i may scrape a pass (this is very bad for my degree i know)

i promise ill work hard on my other 2 modules though!

anyway, i am feeling a surprising amount better, i can just read or something if i want/play games!! - that is a slight problem, i have read very little for all this work and that's not very academic of me and will probably lead to bad marks..bugger

oh well

what else should i talk about - i was thinking the other day how the rest of the world got screwed up by the stuff us westerners developed - think about it, i was watching a thing on yemen or somewhere and they were going on about tribal territory and stuff

so i was thinking that the whole nation state thing shouldn't apply to everywhere, the thought processes that developed in europe and it's subsequent failures (yankland) shouldnt have been applied to asia and africa primarily

africa is an obvious one - the british and french (mainly) came in and drew lines everywhere with no respect for tribal traditions and what have you, this works fine when the europeans are running the show and slave trading and such but when those 'countries' become independent it results in civil war, genocide etc etc because those countries have little logical boundaries

im being very general here but im not about to write a dissertation on this, if you look at iraq with various different types of muslim fighting for dominance because they are in the same country, under the same government when in fact they should probably have their own governments

the problem is (apart from just religion in general) that geography defines a nation, not the people within it, it is a model devised by western europeans which does not work outside of the region (barring colonies such as america and australia)

i am in no way suggesting that we should let people in this country get their own laws for their beliefs, the whole nation state and central government thing is very much british and works (fairly well) because the whole ideas of democracy and nation state gradually grew up and developed here, the problem arises when us westerners decide to create other nations in the rest of the world

i don't know if democracy is good or bad, i live in a free society which i like so therefore im probably a fan of it but it took hundreds of years for the form of democracy we see today to develop in europe, the people came around to the idea slowly and eventually demaded it - then these countries decide that democracy is right and everyone should have it - placing it in countries where the concept is foreign

the same is true of technology and weapons, europe and america got lucky in the sense that it led the way in developing engines, machines, trains, nuclear weapons etc etc now if you are a primitive society with out the slow process of developing these new contraptions and just get given them - its the whole sci-fi thing, in stargate when some aliens gave a society at the same development as us a load of light speed space technology and therefore powerful bombs they made war that destroyed themselves

these arent very articulate thoughts and are my ramblings, i just see a lot of problems in the world and as a historian i place the blame there (who doesnt?) i dont condone violence and genocide because someones development got screwed up but i do see where it stems from, and maybe it was unavoidable anyway 

good evening

newest ep of lost is out, woopdedoo and i do always enjoy a sawyer ep

well this ep mainly involved sawyer getting a pacemaker, which would explode his heart if he got too excited and jack failing to save the woman who sun shot

can't be arsed to go through the whole plot right now but basically the back story is sawyer's time in prison, he befriends this weak fat guy who nicked 10 mil and tries to stop the evil warden getting the money until he trusts sawyer which of course is when sawyer does him over by telling the fbi (or summat) where the cash is, getting early release and a cut at the same time

the more interesting part is what sawyer does with the money (presumably a few hundred thou) - he sticks it in an account for his daughter who we are told of earlier - clementine, she's one of his cons kids and basically sawyer won't see her due to his whole conning game and rules but we get to his "human" side when he puts the money away for her

the pacemaker thing is the others' way of subduing sawyer, which it does, mainly out of fear for kate than himself but in the end henry takes him up a cliff to show him that he's on an island (alcatraz size) next to the original island...intriguing

this is strange on a few levels

this new island is quite small and appears to be some sort of dharma research lab, i don't think the others live on it, because in the first ep of this series the village was definitely on the proper island and we haven't seen many others about and why havent we seen it before?? true a huge amount of the beach hasn't been explored but you would t, due think someone wudve spotted a large island before - is it hidden??

oh and jack saw an xray with a brain tumour on - presumably the reason why theyve left him on his tod, he is a spinal surgeon handily enough - i reckon its juliette (blondie) as she was crying in the first episode and jack is there to take it out...no idea what sawyer and kate are for though

meanwhile desmond is pissing about with golf clubs and predicting the future..but otherwise everythings normal 

well ive finally caught some form of freshers flu, nothing major, just one of my nostrils is blocked and its bloody annoying

so ill be staying in my dressing gown all day me thinks, however i have realised i have a considerable amount of work to do and only about 2 weeks to do it - bugger

does anyone out there on the world wide web know how to do a primary source analysis of a debate - i can do speeches and pictures and stuff but i dunno how to do a debate because theres about 20 diff people involved

also i want a rant about one of my flatmates - he is a bloody lazy inconsiderate slob, it is more the inconsiderate side i hate more, im lazy but i dont leave all the jam jars and milk cartons open all day in the kitchen, or barge in and stick my stuff in the oven instead of someone elses, or pinch the frying pan i was preparing to use...grrr

it's just the little things like that, he also picks up on if i leave a light or my radio on when im not using them, and yet he leaves the oven on every time he uses it so we have to turn it off and never turns his computer off, and he leaves the telly on standby (which i despise)

i dont want to confront him and get all anal about stuff, coz he's a good bloke and actually does work harder than me in terms of academics but he's just so bloody inconsiderate and its annoying, one of my other flatmates thinks pretty much the same way as me, we were getting butchy last night as he never does the washing up - we dont have a rota per se but when one of us washes up they don't expect to do it the next 2 days running, because while we expect him to do it, it's not nice to have stuff sat on the side festering for a day and we need to reuse the pans and plates, so we end up doing it

when my other flatmate was away we basically didn't do it because i was feeling like a dogsbody doing it all the time and decided to wait for him to do it but oh no

so anyway, that's my rant over 

well first off lets get the she-devils out of the way, basically i didnt eat much today and went kind of psychotic before dinner, my head full of mad thoughts and blaming it all on lack of women in my life...it was a lot more interesting than that but now ive had considerable amounts of food im fine

more anxious about the work i havent done...bugger 

anyway...onto to tonight's fun debate which ive said so many times there really isnt much point any more - muslims (the nutty ones)

channel 4 attempted to do something decent tonight by addressing the issue, unfortunately they screwed it up royally but what the hey

the debate was about free speech and islam, goodo, so how did channel 4 cock up?? well, i wasn't actually counting the amount of speakers but the pro-oppressive islamic regime appeared to have far more speakers, and there were no white, english-as-a-first-language speakers which kind of makes a mockery on an english show

our speakers (who were french, dutch and liberal - but not in the good sense) put across the fairly standard arguments that i would but the nazis..sorry...evil right wing foreigners produced loud and obnoxious people who just shouted down the poor guy (mallik or something? i dunno, maybe it was the other name, but he's the good guy) who was trying to be civilised

oh and we started with a vote on the cartoons - the audience clearly showed (70-30) that they thought that the cartoons should be shown on tv - however channel 4 stated that they wouldnt show them, presumably on fear of death and so therefore demonstrated the whole problem with islam and free speech etc etc and showed they are spineless cowards

the muslims' argument was basically that in a civilised society we shouldn't offend each other - agreed to a point, but i wil quite happily criticise, and offend if i see fit anything which i believe is wrong, maybe people should be more considerate... actually what the hell am i saying?? we didn't run into the streets chanting for blood and burning flags!

i agree to an extent that people should be tolerant and considerate but you cannot deny them the right to be inconsiderate bastards if they so wish - questioning of authority is what modern britain/europe was built on, on the whole we are tolerant of what a small minority does, we put up with what many of us find offensive to our culture - the veil

that debate was not on freedom of speech, it was on the right of us to criticise a small minority...or anyone else we want, it just so happens only one minority has a problem with freedom

the "cartoons" you know the ones, were constantly referenced and ok so they might not be in brilliant taste, but they are satire and demonstrating several points about islam - everybody is satirised, the catholics have been putting up with it for generations, they make a fuss occasionally but we dont care - why? because we dont fear them blowing up innocents!

that is the problem with them - they claim that they are oppressed and yet we fear them because they are volatile and can't handle criticism of their beliefs

the main argument that they gave was that why can't you say "the nazis are great and the jews deserved it" and "children should be molested" or more importantly "death to the infidel"

firstly, i believe you can say whatever you want about the those first two phrases - you won't be popular but it is your right to say that if you believe it, some aspects of speech are restricted to protect children and prevent mass genocide, as well as respecting atrocities (not sure if that came out right)

a death threat is also restricted under law because it is wrong - that is not freedom of speech, it's intimidation

i know several countries have a thing about denying the holocaust (britain doesnt - and i agree with them, it may be distasteful, but we all have to put with opinions we despise) and to an extent i feel that is a restriction of freedom of speech - but in context it's understandable as it relates to belittling mass genocide, whereas criticising someones beliefs is your "god-given" right

anyway, before i go round in circles..im off

o yeah - channel 4's question at the end of that debate was bizarre - cant quite remember it but something about freedom of speech being bad for islam or something - anyway it was completely screwed up and poorly worded - as i am sure not all muslims feel the same way about freedom, and i know in this as usual i have grouped muslims together but i do acknowledge that there are normal, moderate muslims out there who respect freedom of speech and tolerance

rule brittania! 

the simpsons really has gone downhill in recent years, i just watched the 'im spelling as fast as i can' ep...and it just wasn't funny (much)

my main reason was to question why they deliberately showed a new school year starting when bart and lisa, or anyone else will ever move up a year - admittedly it wasn't pointed out in the episode but still, they couldve been more humourous about it

actually i just feel the simpsons is old and tired, 20 odd years of production will do that..maybe it's time to put it to rest

saying that - the earlier episodes are still very funny and haven't got old, although some i dislike rewatching but for the most part theyre pretty decent, but on the counter i am very used to older eps and they are pretty much part of my brain, i have had very little access to new episodes until channel 4 and the net showed them to me so maybe my brain only likes the ones i originally saw (over and over again on bbc 2)

well, episode number 3 of the new series of lost is out and it's back to the whole spiritual aspect with locke and eko again

i was quite enjoying the more factual side with the others but this was good too

basically locke wakes up in the jungle and cant speak, while desmond runs around in the nuddy

locke erects a sweat room which is a little tent with a fire and water etc where locke learns to do all this shit is actually explained by the flashbacks later on, i thought the island had just turned him nuts   

but anyway, boone (yes the dead guy) appears to him and in bizarre fashion tells him to save eko, and to clear up his mess (presumably because he blew up the hatch), he can now speak - miraculous!

so locke and charlie for some reason head off to find eko because a polar bear has taken him, why the bear doesnt eat him is beyond me but anyway

they find eko and drag him back to camp (this is a very short, brief summary), where hurley has returned and breaks the bad news to the other plebs, so there's no doctor to look after eko

also desmond appears to know the future, he mentions locke's rousing speech to hurley a while before he makes it, this obviously screws hurley in the head when locke does actually make his speech

so what am i actually getting from this ep?? well basically the whole faith and island thing has become a lot stronger, the island is definitely leading locke, it speaks through boone, eko and tells him to rescue the 3 others - meaning locke's faith is now pretty strong, so none of that crap we had to endure in the second series

this obviously raises a lot of questions rather than answering any - the island appears to be some sort of entity, and is it opposed to the 'others'?? i kept wondering about walt and if he and locke were some sort of chosen people

just when i thought we were beginning to be shown the "true" others the writers go and throw another idea into the mix, we now know where they live etc but their motives and origins remain as clear as mud - and the island just gets more confusing

also in the blurb before i saw the ep it said something about paulo and nikki (if thats right - who??) having a shag in jacks tent, i never saw that - those two were mentioned very briefly in passing but thats it 

but anyway, it ended with locke giving a speech and going on about saving jack, kate and sawyer, so essentially locke has become a leader of sorts and possibly the rescue may be a key theme in the near future, but i think theyll leave the 3 with the others for at least half a series 

well internet is all better now...bloody thing, i really need to do some form of work one of these days

on the plus side - lost is back! and as i wasnt that impressed with the second series im not sure what i was going into with the third series

but so far i have been pleasantly surprised, ill throw in some (lots) of spoilers for the first 2 eps so be warned imaginary people!! 

it starts out with a blonde woman, who we've never seen before in a bit of a state and hosting a book club meeting (and i swear i just saw ethan!), when an earthquake starts, this at first made me think of when the plane crashed but obviously they were in san francisco or something - but no, they are on the island and the plane crashes as they run outside, and then henry sends goodwin and ethan off to die

turns out the 'others' live in a quaint little village in the middle of a crater in an island

back to the present (nov 2004 apparently) and jack is in a cell with the blonde woman for company and sawyer is in a cage, kate gets a bit of odd treatment then ends up in a cage with sawyer and theyre put to work

several facts are revealed, the others have access to the outside world, and plenty of it it seems, they show jack the red sox winning the "world" series (are the yanks really that up their own arse that they have to call them world champions? its not even a continent involved) 

henrys real name is ben and apparently hes been there all his life, but his convo with juliette (blondie) says otherwise

sawyer thinks the others are all front, pretending to be tough with guns but theyve probably never seen any action (ie. stage punches) and henry watches as he plots with kate

danielles daughter appears and speaks to kate, clearly the younger members arent quite fully functioning members

jack is apparently under an aquarium, more dharma labs apparently but why dont i believe anything im told

and meanwhile sayid, jin and sun get ambushed and lose the boat, sun doesnt get shot so hopefully she wont lose the baby but she shoots one of the others so that may not help the situation 

so all in all im impressed, and possibly thinking maybe the writers do have an idea as to where the hell they are taking this show...give it a few weeks and maybe i wont 

next ep is later today for me, we get to see locke, desmond and eko and hurley returns to the beach...goodo 

this is going to be short

i am fed up of women, they can all sod off...night 

hmm, i just decided to have a look at my oldest blogs, i don't seem to have changed much, i thought i might have but admittedly they weren't even a year ago

i was a whiney bastard tho, i think i was hungry, also a bit insecure i think, mainly concerned about women whereas now ive given up on them

god this is going to be long...

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dum de dum..........

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ah yes, i didn't review the footie game the other day, (which we lost!) what a joke - and again i can blame gary neville....sort of

the main reason i didn't review it was because i couldn't see it, it was away so it was on sky only and i couldnt be arsed to go to the pub at 6

basically i blame mclaren for not playing 4 at the back which wouldve led to us not conceding (if gary neville wasnt a prat) and getting at least a point, to be honest im not that pissed, we shouldve won the macedonia game (as previously ranted) which was gary neville's fault - therefore all future mistakes shall be attributed to him

i don't blame robbo - that second goal was pretty meaningless considering we were already a goal down, he was unlucky (not as unlucky as petr cech - ouch) but he shouldve taken a touch, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and hes not quite on david james level yet

it also wouldve helped to have a real midfield out, lamps was the only first team midfielder out there, and lets face it stevie gerrard is the best player in england and is required to save our arses, we need gerrard and cole back, and then carrick or hargreaves behind them, hargreaves is better but he is more defensive and carricks damn good anyway, he was just being screwed over by lamps pissing about, we need a replacement for lamps i feel, he's been shit lately

rooneys still not on form and crouch wasn't getting any balls, he isnt as good as the legend would suggest but he's a decent finisher, we still need owen, im reckoning andy johnson will be making an appearance one of these days (holland friendly)

thats football over with - now onto radio quizzes

there's a late night quiz show which is one of those cheapo guess the blank things and basically you have to guess the name of a movie star beginning with J (its different each week, last week was films with s)

and so far the wrong answers have been jack nicholson, johnny depp, jennifer aniston, julia roberts, jennifer lopez, jackie chan, jet li, jim carey etc etc there have been several more and none of them have been right

there has been one - jean claude van damm, fairly big name but look at all those other names?? these are supposedly given by random people of a certain profession, and yet theyre not obvious at all

also they always seem to get one right about 10 mins in, then get another one soonish after, then for ages without a right one, i reckon they have a list of umpteen stars or whatever and wait until they only have 4 left and then just wait til those last few which are really obscure and pay out, maximising the amount the station makes - a bloke just got jack black btw...hmm

tis friday the 13th 

i recently had a look at the top sites in the world/britain (same thing :P) and i found that blogger.com was the most popular blogging site, i briefly thought about moving but then i thought why?? this wasn't designed to be read by millions, it's me letting off steam with a chance of getting advice or making me feel better from anonymous people, i dont care if people don't read this, and blogspirit have always been good, i have over 200 posts on here and i can access them all and laugh

anyway, life still same old - i went out last couple of nights, had some really good nights so that's good, still nothing on the women front but im best off without probably

house life is still good, a few strains but nothing major, one of my housemates is being screwed over by a woman, we think she's stringing him along because she has said she just wants to be friends but he gets his hopes up when they go for dinner together and whatever and then he gets dejected eventually, fair enough she doesnt want to get in a relationship especially when they like different lifestyles (she came out with me and one of my other housemates and some mates on a bar crawl, this guy doesnt like our degenerate activities, he prefers books - i could do with a bit of that cause i have shit loads of reading to do) and anyway i just think she keeps giving him false hope

anyway, work is now rearing its ugly head, so to avoid it ive been making timetables, exercising, cleaning and blogging, and now its 3pm but i have the rest of the weekend to keep avoiding

i really need to get better, i have no discipline when it comes to reading but i have a fair bit to do, it's hard organising reading for each lecture/tutorial when im also trying to sort out assignments - meep

i also have about 20 presentations to do before xmas, maybe ill get better at public speaking after all that - think ill write some emails