Monthly Archive for September, 2008

Answers

People often wonder just why it is that I harbour so much animosity towards my fellow man, why the wellspring of my cynicism never runs dry, and where much of the naive liberalism of my youth went to.

I shall explain.

Once upon a time, I held to the belief that no one is beyond redemption, that deep down we’re all innately good and caring, and that above all we validate our own existence as human beings by being, well, humane. Then, regrettably, I emerged from the quiet confines of my home village and engaged with the wider world, a world where I was horrified to discover that some people are simply a waste of meat and blood and bone.

Initially I was forgiving, I conceded that I’ve been lucky to have parents that love me and, despite their divorce, have had the opportunity to be my own person, to learn, develop, and set my own boundaries within a reasonably comfortable setting. It hasn’t been all roses, but it has been infinitely more bearable than an abusive father and alcoholic mother which, unfortunately, is what some people have to cope with.

However, this forgiveness has, over the last decade, largely evaporated and coalesced into the belief that with the best will in the world, some people have absolutely no value whatsoever.

Now, that sounds somewhat… dangerous, as a means of reasoning, but bear with me, I’m not espousing some horrific genocidal future, simply setting out my thoughts. You see, I’ve worked for everything that I have, everything – I imagine you have too – and I’m sick to the eye-teeth of feckless shits ruining what would otherwise be a blemish free existence for me. As much as it runs contrary to my general belief that everyone’s entitled to life, I genuinely wouldn’t mind it if some had theirs snuffed out by the hand of fate, or maybe just a bus. I’m not picky.

For example, I went out at the weekend; I had sushi with friends, a few beers and a generally lovely time. When I woke up on Sunday morning to find that some arsewit had walked the length of my street kicking the wing mirrors clean off all the cars, mine included, it kind of took the shine off things. The idea that someone’s weekend culminated in destruction for destruction’s sake, something they doubtless found hilarious, infuriates me. The near certainty that, considering the area I’m living in, they don’t have a job, spend their days watching TV, and are to all intents and purposes, a leech, fills me with rage. Not only am I probably supporting their fucking lifestyle already, I now have to shell-out money to fix my car. In effect, I’m paying for this twat twice.

I used to accept that these people were simply different, less fortunate perhaps, but that all they needed was a bit of help to sort their shit out. Now I hope that they die out. It makes me feel wretched to admit it, but I genuinely cannot see any point in their continued existence, I don’t know what they’re for beyond taking up space. They sit on their collective arses, content to be carried like some sportswear clad albatross about our necks, forever taking, helping no one, suckling like some obscene vampire at the nation’s veins, and it enrages me. The very suspicion that they feel not the slightest pang of remorse, that they think we owe it to them, makes me think dreadful things.

What’s worse, what truly grates more than anything else, is that I now believe that there is genuinely nothing redeeming about these people, no glimmer of hope that they might be something more than they are, because that would require effort, and education, and a fucking job. Suggest that maybe they’d like to crawl from their pits and do something useful with their empty lives and you might as well begin talking in riddles for all the enthusiasm you’ll engender. Suggest that maybe they’d like to get shit-faced on cheap booze at someone else’s expense, stab each other, join a gang, and damage property for the sake of it, well, you might as well be feeding pigs cherries.

It is horrible to know that one of your ideals has been destroyed, and I hope you’ll excuse the rant, but fuck me am I angry that these guttersnipe bastards exist only to make the world a little more shit for the rest of us.

Emily Brontë - My Lady’s Grave

The linnet in the rocky dells,
The moor-lark in the air,
The bee among the heather bells
That hide my lady fair:

The wild deer browse above her breast;
The wild birds raise their brood;
And they, her smiles of love caress’d,
Have left her solitude!

I ween that when the grave’s dark wall
Did first her form retain,
They thought their hearts could ne’er recall
The light of joy again.

They thought the tide of grief would flow
Uncheck’d through future years;
But where is all their anguish now,
And where are all their tears?

Well, let them fight for honour’s breath,
Or pleasure’s shade pursue—
The dweller in the land of death
Is changed and careless too.

And if their eyes should watch and weep
Till sorrow’s source were dry,
She would not, in her tranquil sleep,
Return a single sigh!

Blow, west wind, by the lonely mound:
And murmur, summer streams!
There is no need of other sound
To soothe my lady’s dreams.

There and back again

There are many things to do in Yorkshire, it’s a county with a long and vivid history, possessed of paralleled beauty*, and filled with loads of people convinced of its innate superiority over all other counties; if nothing else, you could wander around arguing that Lancashire is where it’s at. I chose not to – I like my face the way it is – and instead set off on my bicycle for parts unknown and adventures unimagined.

Riding by my side were Sir Moos-a-lot, Lord Gruntlesby and Rupert the Tractor, I’m sure you must’ve heard of them.

Sir Moos-a-lotLord GruntlesbyRupert the Tractor

Anyway, having wandered around the fabled Honeysuckle Farm in search of opportunities to pat farm animals on the head and imitate ducks for our own amusement, we headed on to Hornsea and the marvel that is… uh, a seaside town in decline. Granted, we were there in the off-season, but there’s just something about the place that smacks of glories past and people who eat too many chips. Ennui ensued.

Hornsea MereHornsea SeafrontHornsea Seafront

Leaving Hornsea behind, Lord Gruntlesby demanded adventures beyond mere meres and fried foods, he called for glory and cake and vociferous oinking. It is his way. So it was that we broke the cover of houses, gift shops and flaking paint, and made for the rolling green of high hills and wild moors. Heading cross-country we stumbled upon Sigglesthorne’s ancient church and, because for a devoutly unreligious man I have interest in such things, pottered about looking for zombies. Sadly, there were none to be found, just an impressive organ to be tooted on, such is life.

Sigglesthorne ChurchSigglesthorne Church interiorA Mighty Organ

Beyond Sigglesthorn and its silly name lies the edge of the world, vast moorlands crisscrossed with tracks and roads and beastmen called Charles. Here, beyond the tracts of reason, Hull Bridge and Swine Moor guard the approaches to Beverly as jealous fathers cosset their curiously pastoral daughters from wandering hands. I, for my part, became increasingly unhinged and started writing ever more complicated and nonsensical prose.

Hull BridgeHull BridgeSwine Moor and accoutrements

Passing within the boundary of sanctuary stones we arrived in Beverley itself, marvelling at its Minster and wondering at just how heavy the discharge could really be. Seriously, what?

Beverley MinsterBeverley MinsterBeverley Minster

Following Sir Moos-a-lot through the winding streets in search of sandwiches, Rupert declared himself tired of civilisation, and demanded we depart before the chocolate shop made us soft and portly. As disagreement stirred he departed for the moors once more, forcing our hand as we dutifully followed.

Boris the SpiderSwine Moor2001, a Bike Odyssey

Dragged out in the wilds once more, the darkness closed in as we skirted Wassand Hall, beyond that there is nothing but my hairy feet and recollections of rain.

The impending gloomDarkness fallsThe Hidden Way

Quite a nice day out really.

Gallery: Hornsea to Beverley

*Because otherwise I’d be saying that Yorkshire is unsurpassed in its aesthetic charms, which isn’t the case at all.

 

Rage

Woman burnt to death after setting her own car alight in road-rage incident

It was the ultimate expression of road rage. A furious woman driver died after ramming another vehicle and spinning her wheels so fast that her own car burst into flames.

Serena Sutton-Smith, 54, burnt to death after refusing to get out of her Vauxhall Nova as she sat with her foot flat on the accelerator.

She spun the wheels so fast that her tyres disintegrated and the metal rims sent a shower of sparks into the engine, igniting the brake fluid and setting the car on fire.

Appalled onlookers urged her to get out of the car as the flames licked around her but she told them to “F*** off”, an inquest in Gloucester was told.

The road-rage attack took place on a quiet country road in the Cotswolds between Weston sub Edge and Mickleton in Gloucestershire.

The inquest heard that Paula Small was driving her Fiat Punto when Ms Sutton-Smith emerged from a side road without stopping, causing her to swerve to avoid a collision. Mrs Small was forced on the grass verge and she flashed her lights as Ms Sutton-Smith passed her.

Ms Sutton-Smith then pulled over and Mrs Small stopped a short way in front of her. She was getting out when the Vauxhall Nova rammed her car.

Mrs Small said: “I opened my door and put my foot out but as I was getting out there was a bang and I hit my head on the door frame. I was frozen with terror.” As neighbours came to investigate they saw Ms Sutton-Smith sitting with a furious expression, revving her engine and spinning her wheels.

Nicholas Willmore told the inquest that he was in his workshop at Cottage Farm Antiques when his mother alerted him to what was happening outside. As he walked across the road to the two cars he saw smoke coming from the engine of the Nova.

He said: “There was a deafening sound of an engine running as though someone had a foot stuck on the accelerator.

“The car’s front wheels were spinning and there was loads of revving. I could see a biggish person at the wheel and there was movement in the car. Flames were coming from underneath the car and I thought the person might be trapped inside although I couldn’t hear any shouting.

“I opened the driver’s door wide. It opened easily. The person looked at me, it was a big built woman. I said ’You’ve got to get out of the car. It’s going to burst into flames’.

“The person replied ’F*** off, just f*** off’ and she raised her right fist towards me in a threatening manner before slamming the door shut.

“I was a bit bewildered and moved 3-4 yards back. I could see her gesturing towards me. She seemed to be in quite a rage. Both fists were raised and being shaken and the person was looking right at me.

“This was definitely done in a manner to tell me to stay away from her car.” Mr Willmore grabbed a fire extinguisher from his workshop but it failed to put out the flames. Another motorist also tried to extinguish the flames.

Mr Willmore added: “The heat was getting more and more intense and the flames were growing. I could no longer see inside. There was nothing that could be done to help the person inside.

“There was no attempt by the person to get out. In my opinion it was against all human instincts for someone to stay inside that car.” Ms Sutton-Smith was dead by the time fire fighters arrived to put out the blaze.

Fire officer Andrew Clayton said: “The circumstances indicate that this was a deliberate act. She remained in the vehicle after ramming a car and then sat with the front wheels spinning until fire developed.

“The front nearside passenger wheel gouged into the road surface by 50mm and the tyre was totally destroyed by the friction. This would have produced sparks igniting fluid, most probably brake fluid.” The inquest heard that Ms Sutton-Smith, who had previously worked behind the bar at a working men’s club in Ashton sub Edge, had a history of erratic behaviour and suffered from bipolar disorder.

Alan Crickmore, the Gloucestershire coroner, said that her mental condition meant that she failed to appreciate the danger she was in.

He said “At no time, prior to becoming incapicitated, was Serena trapped in her vehicle. She was certainly able to get out of it when Mr Willmore opened the door and invited her to do so.

“I am driven to the conclusion that if at any time she had wanted to do so before becoming incapacitated she could have got out of the car and would not have died as a result of the fire.

“I am satisfied the fire was started because of her deliberate actions. But I am far from satisfied that at that point in time it was her clear intention that death would ensue.

“I think it is more likely than not that she failed to understand the peril she was in and the consequences of her actions.” He recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Source: Times Online

Quite a few spelling mistakes for a Times article, still, what a way to go eh?

A gulf in understanding

Welcome to the world of memes, a place where unicorns frolic, porn proliferates, and cats want cheeseburgers. Here, the in-joke reigns supreme, here, knowing really is half the difference. Welcome to the internet.

Now, I’m not saying that the internet isn’t serious business – and I promise I’ll stop dropping references soon – but there is a gulf in understanding out here, and it’s one that I’m not about to attempt bridging. Suffice to say, for every person to crawl the series of tubes that comprise the internet and grasp hold, firmly, to the reality of it, for every one of us that understands the parallels between the real world and the online, there are those who simply don’t, can’t or won’t.

Thus, is a gulf formed in understanding. Some overcome this obstacle, seize hold of the opportunity and embrace the experience of dancing hamsters and forum trolls; they whittle away at the dark and try to create something noble, something worthy, I wish them well.

Sadly, many simply melt into the crowd, content to be a part of the great morass of mewling voices spouting neologisms and quoting Latin in the stead of reason*. A great grey army of nothing, treading and re-treading its own tracks forever, cosseted in the assertion of its own rectitude.

Yet others and others still. Some become dark and twisted; they slink away into the shadows and contemplate the abominable, organise the unforgivable – the bank manager and his hidden fetishes, the bus driver and his morbid fascinations; they’re all out there, everything you’ve ever imagined and everything you never have. But then you know this, you’re here already, you’ve seen.

Then there are the Luddites and outsiders, the uninitiated who don’t care for the internet, who have no use for it despite the nature of its ubiquity. There is no harm in this of course, different strokes for different folks, that they neither understand it nor care to understand is entirely their own business. After all, there’s no shame in being ignorant of 2 girls and 1 cup, God knows I wish I were.

And finally there are those who pretend, who claim know the nature of the beast and shriek for our protection, demand that we should be shielded from it, that it should be locked away. These are the book-burners of latter years, those who seek to protect you from yourself; the ignorant, the petty and the stupid. Let them judge for you because you cannot be trusted, listen as they declaim their virtues in place of your own, follow because they lead. Nowhere is the gulf wider than here.

Want an example?

Opra Winfrey wants to save your children from paedophiles, a truly noble endeavour. She wants you to be aware of what’s out there, equip your for the horrors that lurk in the dark. However, she overlooked over 9000 opportunities to do some research, which rather hobbles your chances. Still, don’t forget to be afraid of what you don’t understand and do as you’re told, I just hope she enjoys her Roman Holiday.

The glee resultant in seeing such a recognisable face take a tumble over a fairly basic troll has been considerable. Out here, nothing is sacred.

Of course the question is, was that whole post just an excuse to post to nonsensical videos, or do I really mean it? ^_^

*Like Me, for example.

Boredom

Boredom, I has it.

What?

Gallery: The Everyday

 

Belatedly

Long ago, in a time of Myths and/or Legends, I went to the Sealife Centre at Birmingham with three trusted companions to investigate reports that fish are awesome and octopi slightly unsettling. Later, we ate our own bodyweights in cod and chips; delicious was not the word.*

OMNOMNOM

Sadly, because of the nature of our quest, people were left out, left behind and… uh, not invited. This wasn’t as a result of some subconscious desire to exclude people, rather the inevitable chaos involved in any activity organised by Ian, Stephen and myself. This, however, was simply not good enough for my peers and certain among them insisted on even greater revelries to atone for dual sins of forgetfulness and having fun without them.

IMG_1487.JPGIMG_1485.JPGIMG_1489.JPGIMG_1443.JPG

Fair enough really.

So, at Lindsay’s behest, we tootled down to Warwick for the day and besieged the castle. There’s a proud history of castle sieges attached to our group, Shrewsbury, Riber, Edinburgh, they’ve all fallen by our hand. Granted, no one really expects a group of usually sensible people to clamber over fences, wander down paths through thick undergrowth and ford streams just to see what’s there, but there you go, four castles, four-nil.

IMG_1439.JPGIMG_1450.JPGIMG_1440.JPG

Warwick itself was no exception; the defences were easily overcome by the combined might of our wallets and two-for-one vouchers, the fools! They may as well have left the gates open. I laugh at them, ha-ha!

IMG_1446.JPGIMG_1459.JPGIMG_1478.JPG

Quite besides that, the castle is a bit rubbish to wander ’round, it’s like a theme castle and therefore disappointing to anyone interested in, say, history. Still, the jousting was fun and Shakespeare’s house is just down the road.

IMG_1490.JPGIMG_1491.JPG

Gallery: Warwick and Stratford

*Apparently, it’s Grease.

 

Confessions

…I have of late—but wherefore
I know not—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of
exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my
disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to
me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy,
the air, look you, this brave o’erhanging firmament,
this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why,
it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent
congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man!
How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties,
in form and moving how express and admirable,
in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!
And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man
delights not me: no, nor woman neither, though by
your smiling you seem to say so.

Hamlet: Act II, Scene II

And, indeed, their smiling would be correct. Much as I love Shakespeare – especially the line here about a ‘majestical roof fretted with golden fire – I am currently a very happy man and not at all preoccupied with mortality and death as was poor Hamlet. Those who know me well will appreciate how novel this situation is; I’ve never been a man of highs and lows, rather one of perpetual troughs sparsely seeded with occasional weals of joy, yet currently I sit atop a mountain of cheeriness that soon, I fear, will see me become insufferable.

There is, as you may well have observed in entrails and read in portents both subtle and sly, a reason for this change in demeanour. Nothing grand you understand, far from it, it was as simple as being reminded of just how lucky I am.

Schmaltzy, huh?

Regardless, having had a surprisingly lovely family holiday over the past week – I spent the days journeying across Yorkshire on my bicycle, discovering hidden gems and biding my time in secret places – the weekend was spent in the company of friends. Three friends actually, a sizeable portion of those I consider to be close and, you know what, I’ve seldom been happier.

It is perhaps a trite observation that I make, that day to day people aren’t aware of how fortunate they are to have the things that they do, little things really, but sitting in a café on Scarborough seafront, happily munching my way through a portion of fish and chips, I was suddenly aware of how happy chance and providence have lumbered me with people who are, to be frank, wonderful.

There, I’ve said it. And may I turn blue if it isn’t so.

How work becomes bearable

Hmm. I wonder, if you can de-update something, could it be that the down escalator is really a de-escalator?
nunoncastors, 13:05, Thursday 18th Sep

You just reminded me of the dream I had last night. Dreamt I was running up the down escalator and it kept on speeding up. Then some random attractive girl started coming down it and I crashed right into her, apologised and then started running up the up escalator which was much more successful.
amblin, 13:15, Thursday 18th Sep

Why do dreams never make any sense at all? I keep having a reoccurring one where I’m fighting at Rourkes Drift dressed in a clown outfit.
nunoncastors, 13:27, Thursday 18th Sep

That makes perfect sense, you feel like you’re fighting a hopeless battle against overwhelming odds and stand out, but you do know that ultimately the fight can be won, provided there’s enough custard.
amblin, 13:37, Thursday 18th Sep

Hurrah for 5punk

The comeback kid

How you’ve been?
It’s just the usual here
And days are feeling like years
And every day’s without you.

I am return’ed from the Kingdom of Jórvík with news of feats beyond imagination or, at the very least, near the edge of imagination. You know the place, it’s just past the point of expectation and not far from that funny lumpy thing that no one knows what to do with. It’s all been very gratifying.

Photos and tedious minutiae to follow once I’ve unpacked, showered, stopped being super excited about how awesome my friends are and generally calmed down.