Just been having a bit of an ole think about LJ. Not really sure what I'm using it for these days. I've never been much of a diarist (as this blog clearly shows) and even if I was I don't have a overly interesting life. Or if I am doing something interesting I generally don't have time to write about it.

That's never really been a massive issue for me. I mostly come here to read stuff. I've just done a bit of FList trimming and I was wondering... there must be something on LJ worth reading except RSS feeds of comics I like and blogs of the people who write them.

SO! can people suggest me good journals to follow or groups to join?

(not that it will matter much come March since LJ is banned in China...)

Whew. Thank god thats over. Spent all last week working on a television advertisment (or "commercial" if you are so inclined) so still haven't met my new nephew- THATS RIGHT BITCHES I'M AN UNCLE NOW - FEAR!!- but on the other hand am now £500 richer.

Had my weekend TEFL course last weekend (while said nephew was being born) and that was interesting/ terrifying.

Quit my job in the bookshop and now may have to consider going on the brew (or unemployment benefits if you are also so inclined).

Anything else? Oh yes, new Frank Turner album is just fucking great and the gig with Frank + beans on toast + oppenheimer was EXTREMELY fucking great and and and... oh my.

Oh yeah and thanks, Pepsi - what fucking cola am I supposed to drink now, you fucks?

And now for another grand entry in the long list of potentially disasterous, poorly thought out life decisions that chronicles much of my existence:

That's right folks, I'm going to china.

[Pinochet] called for the arrest of every man, woman and child on the streets the morning of 11 September. Of these approximately 40,000 to 50,000 perfunctory arrests, several hundred individuals would later be detained, questioned, tortured, and in some cases murdered. While these deaths did not occur before the surrender of Allende's forces, they occurred as a direct result of arrests and round-ups during the coup's military action.

Who let ‘em overthrow Jacobo Arbenz
Who let ‘em overthrow Mohammad Mosaddeq
Who let ‘em assassinate Salvador Allende
I didn't let ‘em but they did it anyway!

Who let ‘em overthrow Kwame Nkrumah
Who let ‘em overthrow Aristide
Who let ‘em assassinate Oscar Romero
I didn't let ‘em but they did indeed!

Don't let them assassinate Hugo Chavez
Don't let them assassinate Evo Morales
And bring back Martin, Malcolm, Medgar,
Hampton, Schwerner, Goodman, Chaney

Regular transmission to resume shortly.

Being 23:

Survived 5 years of legal alcohol consumption.

Gone 6 years without learning to drive.

Same age as Scott Pilgrim circa volumes 1-4.

Only voted once.

Lived in 4 (soon 5) different houses.

Visited more than 10 countries

Spent 17 years in full time education

Had more than 10 jobs

Been on LJ for four years

Should be old enough to know better

Still too young to care.

I should be doing some French or working out or something but blah. Meme.

( also )

So today Jack Jones died, and the news is full of this kind of shit:



Hilarious. Somehow I don't recall Hitler burning too many American white anglo-saxon protestants, you ignorant pricks.

Here's what the always awesome Kris Kristofferson has to say to the likes of you:

Up from the basement came one of country music's brightest stars (who shall remain nameless). At that moment in time, the Star had a monster radio hit about bombing America's enemies back into the Stone Age.

"Happy birthday," the Star said to Willie, breezing by us. As he passed Kristofferson in one long, confident stride, out of the corner of his mouth came "None of that lefty shit out there tonight, Kris."

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" Kris growled, stepping forward.

"Oh, no," groaned Willie under his breath. "Don't get Kris all riled up."

"You heard me," the Star said, walking away in the darkness.

"Don't turn your back to me, boy," Kristofferson shouted, not giving a shit that basically the entire music industry seemed to be flanking him.

The Star turned around: "I don't want any problems, Kris — I just want you to tone it down."

"You ever worn your country's uniform?" Kris asked rhetorically.

"What?"

"Don't 'What?' me, boy! You heard the question. You just don't like the answer." He paused just long enough to get a full chest of air. "I asked, 'Have you ever served your country?' The answer is, no, you have not. Have you ever killed another man? Huh? Have you ever taken another man's life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not. So shut the fuck up!" I could feel his body pulsing with anger next to me. "You don't know what the hell you are talking about!"

- The Last Outlaw Poet by Ethan Hawke, Rolling Stone magazine 1076

(also - holiday pay next month, woo!)

Tributes to union stalwart (and Spanish Civil War vet) Jones

Sometimes people make me physically fucking ill.

The last outlaw poet

It's time to wallow in nerdery, since my better half returns to the country in under a month and I'll probably have to rein that sort of thing in a bit after that.

here's what I think about... (spoilers ensue)

( New Red Dwarf )

Sorry Andy.

Then there's...

( Caprica )

Everyone fighting the fight in London this week; forget the filth, forget Russel Brand and the poser brigade, forget the propaganda of the tabloid headlines, just remember...

The Streets Are Ours

We stood in front of tanks at Tiananmen Square,

From Berlin to Chiapas we are everywhere,

And over the sirens of the police cars,

You can hear us shout “The streets are ours!”


'69 Chicago ushered in a new age,

We brought the war home with the days of rage,

And over the sirens of the police cars,

You can hear us shout “The streets are ours!”


In Seattle we chased out the World Trade Organisation,

On Mayday we gave Winston Churchill a mohican,

Kept the water for the people in Cochabamba,

Demanded autonomy on the dawn of NAFTA,

So send in the clowns, someone send in the clowns,

The black bloc, the antiFA and the undergrounds,

A big, pink, marching samba band,

And we'll take our own route that ain't pre-planned,


From the social centres and the Brighton Schnews,

From Indymedia reporting our own news,

Over the sirens of the police cars,

You can hear us shout “The streets are ours!”


We threw the bomb at Haymarket Square,

We fly the black flag everywhere,

And over the sirens of the police cars,

You can hear us shout “The streets are ours!”

Friday night: Frank Turner - Fucking amazing.
Saturday night: Roddy Doyle - Fucking amazing.
Sunday Night: Watchmen - Very good indeed.

After all that, I think I'm going to go back to Queens and do an MA. This real life shit doesn't seem to be working out all that well for me. Here's a meme from spookysaint121

( Yes I should be working on my application of course )

The reason why my country has been so plagued with terrorism for the past 40 years has now become clear. We do not ask the same sensible questions that the U.S Department of Homeland Security asks holiday-makers when they visit the country:

Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in terrorist activities; or genocide; or between 1933 and 1945 were you involved , in any way, in persecutions associated with Nazi Germany or its allies?

Some thoughts:

It may seem silly to you or I - but a lot of people visit America. maybe once in a while this catches a guy out -
"Well after I left the SS I worked for the Stasi for a number of years as part of the espionage and sabotage department and - wait. Shit. I mean... I'm visiting my Aunt Muriel in Topeka. Seriously this time."

What if you say "yes, I was the minister of Propoganda for the German National Socialist Party from 1933 until my death in 1945."
Answer: The next days Daily Mail headline reads "GOEBBELS CAUGHT AT O'HARE INTL. AIRPORT MASQUERADING AS 22 YEAR OLD IRISHMAN."

Sadly, I can actually see why they have to ask. Lets say they do let a genocidal Nazi super-spy terrorist sabateur in to the country, s/he will just be like, "well no one asked me if that's what I did. I just assumed you guys were cool with it."

Note to any DHS staff reading this: I am not a genocidal Nazi super-spy terrorist sabateur. Honestly.

The discovery of http://www.dasouth.com and http://www.p4cm.com has pretty much ruined my day.

It's not that I get overly upset about these kinds of things... it's just that I'm having kind of a slow day.

Seriously though - what the fuck is wrong with you people? Why can't you just live your life with some degree of moderation without having to paint the world in black and white?

This is all warren Ellis' fault for linking this:


Which is at least somewhat funny to look at, if somewhat disturbing.

Oh yeah and Thather's daughter called someone a Golliwog and then refused to apologise. My word.


Anyway. That's enough of that nonsense. New music for today!

The King Blues - Save The World, Get The Girl.
This is a fun album. I literally just finished listening to it for the first time. It's kind of like... Gogol Bordello via The Streets and Billy Bragg. Weird. But good weird. I think.

Rolo Tomassi - Hysterics
Hysterics is an excellent title for this album. I'm only four tracks in at the moment and oh my god it is insane. Rolo are another one of these hardcoresque bands that seem to be hip right now that I just can't seem to get in to at all. Maybe I'm getting old or something. Maybe it'll grow on me. Gallows grew on me, after all.

Important announcement:

I am officially gay for Frank Turner. Officially.

That is all.

I don't know why this just annoyed me all of a sudden, but I just saw a thing on someones blog and it pisses me off when people pretend that all the old classic landmark films like Birth of a Nation or Battleship Ptempkin are as good or actually better than most modern cinema.

Yes I have a film degree - yes I stand by this.

These films were revolutionary for their time; that's true. The idea of feature length narrative film, the use of visual montage, recreating history on screen - these things were all giant leaps forward in cinema, but we've leapt so much further since then!

Lets look at it this way - The Ford Model-T was a revolutionary car design. It was cheap, reliable (for its time) and easy to produce. The Bugatti race cars of the 1930s were technical marvels compared to anything else available at the time.

The model-T is so much shittier than the shittiest car that is made anywhere in the world, by anyone, today. There's 18 wheel trucks that go faster than any Bugatti.

God damnit people, you don't actually go driving around in these cars these days and try to tell people it's better than driving a Ford Focus, do you?

One film I think is an exception to this rule is Citizen Kane. You know why? Because Citizen Kane actually tells a good fucking story. The problem with all these early classics is that they might have been miles ahead of the competition in form or technique but they couldn't tell a story for dick.

I find it very difficult to give a shit about any of the characters in Nation or Ptempkin - and that's why they're boring to watch. Come on - it's okay - lets just admit it - they're boring to watch.

Look, fair enough - that bit with the pram falling down the stairs is groundbreaking - but I liked it better in The Untouchables when I actually cared about what else was going on in the film.

These films are interesting but they're not very entertaining. It's not that i'm even down on silent films - The General and Gold Rush are both awesome. I'm just down on films that are too long, have poor pacing, poor narrative structure, poor character development and yet are still supposedly better than say, Ghostbusters II.

Yes, they were revolutionary for their day, but their day was nearly a hundred years ago and I swear to god I'd rather watch the spongebob movie.


Sorry - I don't know where all that came from!

Hey kids! You just know it's going to be a good day when you send your girlfriend packing back to the other side of the planet and then hurry home just in time to cough up some blood and discover that there's a right wing tv station named after you! Good times!


Actually, i feel a lot better after coughing up all that gack, and I'm going to Chicago and Madison in like 4 weeks anyway so I guess things aren't all that bad.

That remidns me, does anyone on my flist live in Illinois or Wisconsin? And if not, why not? Except for the obvious fact that it seems to be ball-freezing like... all the time.

In other news...food!

( Food meme from spookysaint121 )

It's time for my musical rundown of 2008! It wont be as detailed as last years, as I have to go back to work soon.

( Ani Difranco - Red Letter Year )

( Flogging Molly - Float )

( Machinae Supremacy - Overworld )

( Immortal Technique - The 3rd World )

( Dan Le Sac vs Scroopius Pip - Angles )

( Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart )

( Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer? )

( Snow Patrol - A Hundred Thousand Suns )

( Rise Against - Appeal To Reason )

Hmm. Spose that was about as detailed as last years. And yes, before you ask, I should be writing. Shutup shutup shutup shutup!

Well it's christmas eve, and I have to go back to my dads house in an hour and make a cheesecake. Wish me luck!

Here's the christmas meme:

( Christmas stuff )

Dear Santa... Dear Santa, This year I've been busy! Last Friday I broke warren_ellis's X-Box (-12 points). In February I bought porn for brianwood (-10 points). Last Wednesday I committed genocide... Sorry about that, hey_friend (-5000 points). In January I ruled Canada as a cruel and heartless dictator (-700 points). In August I ate my brussel sprouts (1 points). Overall, I've been naughty (-5721 points). For Christmas I deserve a lump of coal! Sincerely, outboundlight

Write your letter to Santa! Enter your LJ username:

In my defence, Warren Ellis definetely had it coming. Also, if I had to buy porn for anyone - it would be Mr Wood. Randomly this app has chosen only comics related people from my flist and now I look like a huge nerd.

For a change.