Okay, so maybe attacking the Queen and the Pope on one Christmas Eve is a little churlish, but considering their respective contributions to world affairs, I feel more than justified. Herr Ratzinger has declared that homosexuality is more pernicious and world-threatening than global warming...Hmm, our survey says 'WTF'. Now, obviously his remit as God's voicepiece on Earth does not allow him to say goodwill to all those who take their passions in the Greek fashion, but a certain percentage of the human population removing themselves (without entering the debate as to genetic, social, or other 'causes' of homosexuality) from the business of procreation is surely part of Catholic doctrine, as priests must remain celibate. Not to mention the cliches regarding the proclivities of the wrong sort of priest over the centuries. Unless the Vatican has actually been sanctioning any priestly transgressions in order to build up an evidence based case which proves that homosexual acts are more responsible for global warming than carbon consumption...
In fact, moving away from the inevitably anthropocentrist view that Catholicism must adopt (man made in God's image and all that jazz), the world itself could probably benefit from a few less humans, and the vital difference between the two phenomena (homosexuality and global warming) is that one only effects our own self-destructive species, whilst the other is a product of our unsatiable greed but will adversely effect all species on the planet (whichever ones we don't make extinct first, of course). So in conclusion, Gay is good, the end of the world is not (and they have no logical connection to one another). Hopefully that's a Christmas message we can all agree on.
Wednesday 24 December 2008
'Been a bad year for chickens', says fox.
Just to be suitably festive, I'm gonna rant about the Queen's speech. Typically, in this age of rolling news and constant updates, the content of the speech has been leaked. Tomorrow's caring missive will see the figure of ultimate anachronism sit in her palace (can't remember which one she lurks in at this time of year) and tell the unwashed multitude that 'times is hard' (paraphrase). No doubt there will be a Christmas tree in the background that was not bought in the Woolies clearout and will be festooned with baubles that cost more than many people's redundancy packages.
Now, this isn't just an anti-Royalist rant, this is a Mosca anti-royalist rant, so I'll try to provide some context. It's not the Queen's speech per se that I am am railing against (although obviously I am not a fan) it's the very notion that her Madge commenting on the financial difficulties can make a shred of difference, and not simply come across as condescending, patronising, and downright offensive. Hence the title to this yuletide post. Those of us who are watching the pennies, struggling with juggling multiple responsibilities/jobs/debts surely don't need the very emblem of the worst excesses of inequality to look at us from her Christmas-paradise (filmed ages ago so it doesn't impinge on her family time...) and point out what we already know, because we are living it.
If she broadcasts the actual speech live sheltering under a railway bridge, with only a cardboard box for comfort, whilst Philip shoots up with a bag of junk he had to flog the carriage for, then, and only then might I take it seriously.
Oh, and Merry Christmas to one and all!
Now, this isn't just an anti-Royalist rant, this is a Mosca anti-royalist rant, so I'll try to provide some context. It's not the Queen's speech per se that I am am railing against (although obviously I am not a fan) it's the very notion that her Madge commenting on the financial difficulties can make a shred of difference, and not simply come across as condescending, patronising, and downright offensive. Hence the title to this yuletide post. Those of us who are watching the pennies, struggling with juggling multiple responsibilities/jobs/debts surely don't need the very emblem of the worst excesses of inequality to look at us from her Christmas-paradise (filmed ages ago so it doesn't impinge on her family time...) and point out what we already know, because we are living it.
If she broadcasts the actual speech live sheltering under a railway bridge, with only a cardboard box for comfort, whilst Philip shoots up with a bag of junk he had to flog the carriage for, then, and only then might I take it seriously.
Oh, and Merry Christmas to one and all!
Friday 12 December 2008
The Duck is Broken
After aeons of thinking about beginning a blog, and never quite possessing the enthusiasm to actually go about doing so, I now find myself sat in front of the screen writing a post about writing my first post. This kind of conversation with/to myself is perhaps an inevitable part of the blogging process, but hopefully subsequent posts will have a little more substance.
Although, the writing about writing does lead me to wonder about the nature of filling the blank page. Even without having much to say (sat in the office feeling highly demotivated on the last day of term) the sight of the newly-established blog devoid of content made me anxious to write. This is the absolute opposite of the writing anxieties of Phd research, where the blank page is already always overburdened, or overdetermined for you theorists out there, by the gargantuan reserves of notes and preparatory reading. Why is it that there can be no happy medium between the two dichotomous aspects of research, the reading and the writing? I can never clearly and confidently reach a stage where I feel that the reading has been done, and the writing can begin, meaning that when pragmatic concerns such as deadlines or supervisory pressure rear their head, the writing must be birthed from the overly-fecund store of thoughts and notes.
Perhaps the solution is to redefine the peramaters of the problem (if that isn't too much of a cop-out) and attempt to deconstruct the binary oppositon of reading and writing, working instead towards a progressive view of the eventual written outcome as inevitably encompassing the reading, thinking, note-taking and drafting. The resulting palimpsestic mindset would surely overcome the aforementioned anxieties.
Or I could post a verbose message to myself here, and thus procrastinate further. If only thinking wasn't so damned difficult...but then I guess everyone would do it, and then where would we be?
Although, the writing about writing does lead me to wonder about the nature of filling the blank page. Even without having much to say (sat in the office feeling highly demotivated on the last day of term) the sight of the newly-established blog devoid of content made me anxious to write. This is the absolute opposite of the writing anxieties of Phd research, where the blank page is already always overburdened, or overdetermined for you theorists out there, by the gargantuan reserves of notes and preparatory reading. Why is it that there can be no happy medium between the two dichotomous aspects of research, the reading and the writing? I can never clearly and confidently reach a stage where I feel that the reading has been done, and the writing can begin, meaning that when pragmatic concerns such as deadlines or supervisory pressure rear their head, the writing must be birthed from the overly-fecund store of thoughts and notes.
Perhaps the solution is to redefine the peramaters of the problem (if that isn't too much of a cop-out) and attempt to deconstruct the binary oppositon of reading and writing, working instead towards a progressive view of the eventual written outcome as inevitably encompassing the reading, thinking, note-taking and drafting. The resulting palimpsestic mindset would surely overcome the aforementioned anxieties.
Or I could post a verbose message to myself here, and thus procrastinate further. If only thinking wasn't so damned difficult...but then I guess everyone would do it, and then where would we be?
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