9/11 - 10 years on.

This blog post, as you can guess from the title, centres around 9/11 - and it's impact to come on the world, it's inhabitants, and humanity as a result.

(I am aware that the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Centre disaster isn't until Sunday, but I felt compelled to blog about it today, seeing as my daily blogs are more based around my observations on that particular day).

As such, my need to centre the blog around the subject arose from a video I saw posted on someone's Facebook wall. The video in question is below: 

Watching the video today, out of curiosity, I shocked myself. I had an actual breakdown of tears by the end. I couldn't recall a time when I'd felt so emotionally empathic towards a stranger, providing a mere voice to a cartoon as he recalls his version of events surrounding a truly tragic day. In actuality, I couldn't recall a time over the last 10 years that I'd been so affected by the events of that day. In fact, I found myself brought back to the day that it happened (because I'm sure everyone remembers where they were when it happened), and was appalled at my completely juvenile response to the news.

Coming home from school at about 3:30pm (GMT) (more or less an hour after the disaster occurred in New York), I had set up a routine for after school: come in, sit down in front of the TV and watch cartoons. (the cartoon in question was Cardcaptors - don't laugh; It's my belief to this very day that every young boy dreams of becoming a Cardcaptor one day... :| Plus, I was like... 10). When I turned on the TV, I was met with the same image on every channel - and quite likely one that still haunts many peoples minds as it is burned into their memories - the smoke billowing from the sky high buildings as people struggled to come up with the explanation behind the attack. My 10-year old self, not knowing any better, was furious at the lack of cartoons on TV. I immediately was unconcerned for whatever supposedly "worldwide event" had just occurred, and was more preoccupied with whether they were going to repeat my favourite shows.

How short-sighted and misguided my 10-year old self was; and indeed, if some crazy time-paradox were to occur where I could go back and be my own father, I would have given myself an invaluable "education" on that day. 


My point of today's blog is not to rant at how terrible a youth was, for it's obvious to anyone how ignorant a 10-year old can/could be. I guess the point is to not let that same ignorance pass over to further generations. And indeed, come Sunday, I'm sure there will be plenty of parents our there who aren't willing to expose their children (regardless of their age - but more specifically those who were born post-9/11) to the horrors of what happened 10 years ago. But I think they would be wrong - and they would be doing their children an injustice. 


People should remember. People should be taught. The memories of those lost that day should be honoured, and not pushed aside because it might be easier to deal with. It is after all a modern-day disaster, and one that should never be forgotten. 

The perfect housewife - Not me.

My notice board at uni. I couldn't even fit it all in the picture, but you get the idea. 

This blog post centres around the ideas and ideals of the "Perfect Housewife," and my inability to relate to said ideals.

Blogging from my newly moved in uni room, looking around the bare walls and back-to-basic living conditions, I ask myself: "Am I content to sit here with substandard curtains, and mismatching furniture?" The answer, quite frankly, is yes.

I have no desire to improve my living conditions to any drastic length... I am, after all, a uni student. I'm meant to be living somewhat akin to the downtrodden heroes of classic literature - think Oliver (from Oliver) or erm... Well to be honest, I'm not a big reader, but I'm sure there are more suiting examples... -_-

It's not like I'm living in squalor... far from it. I just have no intentions to equip myself with soft furnishings and fancy throws... I have a notice board currently consisting of my NHS medical card, and a post-it found in a package from my dad. I have a feeling even those might not last long up there. I may stretch to a calender, for practical purposes... but aesthetically, they serve no function. Indeed, it has been the subject of a few conversations last year at my severe lack of "homely" touches to my room at halls. 

This isn't me, but I want to know how he gets his hair so shiny... :')

If I had been born a more proactive/artistic person, I'd say "Sure. My room could do with a art Deco desk lamp. Why not? Yes, I could turn that wall into a fancy-schmancy 'feature wall...' It would be a great 'focal point' for the eyes." (is it obvious that I spent most of my gap-year watching 60-Minute Makeover...? :| ) Unfortunately, I wasn't born that person. Instead, I was born not to care. And it is this lack of care that I pride myself on. For it leaves me more time to focus on the more important aspects on life (reading great works of literature, apparently isn't one of those...).


My lack of home-making ability stretches to my limited skills in the kitchen. Example: My housemate Laura made BREAD today... :O (breadmaking machine, but still required far more effort than walking a minute to the local corner shop for the pre-sliced variety). Was it delicious? Yes. Was it a very thoughtful gesture? Yes. Would I likely be following in her footsteps any time soon...? Highly unlikely. I survive on two meals a day - MAX. (Soup being a staple of my supremely unbalanced diet - COSTCO SOUP TRAYS FTW!!!).

This is how I imagine I'd be if ever I were to (God forbid) redecorate.
As you can clearly see, it can only end in disaster. 

What is my point exactly...? That what I lack in homemaking skills or desire for soft-furnishings, I make up for in satirical wit, and laziness. I only see myself hanging ONE thing on my wall this year: A piece of artwork given to me by my best friends mother, in an explicit way of sparing her daughters feelings by not throwing it away... I can imagine she was pretty offended anyway, given that it was more or less described as an eyesore, that didn't match the decor of the newly refurbished entrance hall... However, I find that one can NEVER have too many artworks of a guide dog eating what I can only guess as a variety of biscuit from a table. They're the modern day equivalent of that really famous bowl of fruit... or something. I think I forgot my original point, but I really like the picture - honest :) 

Judge for yourself...? Would you have this on your wall? No question. 

Work ethic I have none: Part II - Second Year edition.

This blog update is a bit of a cop-out, given that I'm more or less continuing from a previous post from May, entitled: "Work ethic. I have none." However, it seems relevant to me, given that today I have been on a somewhat lacklustre "job hunt," (the quotation marks are completely necessary).

As previously mentioned, my attitude to work is a rather... lazy one (which goes to show how lazy I was just then, for I would've preferred to find a better synonym for "lazy..."). 

However, I've realised one thing over the course of my employment history - I actually don't mind paid work. 

I realise that seems a fairly broad and, to be frank, non-conclusive statement (what kind of person doesn't mind paid work...?!) but hear me out. I could quite happily spend several hours at a time in an undisclosed supermarket chain, doing the ultimately mundane job of... 
SHELF STACKING :O, regardless of the social stigma that seems wrongly attached to peskily cheery customer service assistants... and indeed, the customers who shop there (mental retardation being the numero uno). However, when it comes to certain "work" of the uni variety, I find myself looking for practically ANY excuse to get out of it. "Killing bad gaiz on COD" has worked wonders thus far...

Curse you scart adaptor hell... 

What is my point exactly? Why can I find myself happily trundling into that aforementioned undisclosed nondescript soul-sucking supermarket chain... yet working towards a degree I'm supposed to have a (here come the quotation marks again...) "passion" for is comparable to spending an eternity in hell with a TV, Xbox, an unlimited number of Xbox games...

 and NO scart adaptor... :|

(OK, well I guess it wouldn't be quite so bad... I'm just a sucker for hyperbole.)

The answer, is quite simply: money. The root of all evil, and apparently can't buy you happiness. Yet I seem to prefer earning a regular wage than being the stereotypically poor student bum. However, my inferior powers of foresight mean I can't see the most obvious solution, which I have summed up in a rather wordy equation:
Working hard at uni = better job prospects = more money in the long run. 

A picture that actually combines and demonstrates both my points... however, it is 
copyrighted,  so I'll expect to hear from The Sun's lawyers soon enough... 
(This isn't actually me in the picture this time ... though he does seem mysteriously happy) 

I'll be more inclined to make this a reality, having written it down, but I digress... I - and I'm sure many students have repeated the following immortal words - have said many a time that I would "work harder this year," or "not leave things to the last minute..." But it means nothing unless it's put into practice. To be honest, I've never revised for an exam, and seem to get by on the absolute bare minimum or effort... How I ever got into uni I'll never know. But, things need to change... It's getting silly now... :')

So... here's to my coming year two at uni... my new (academic) years resolution: quite simply to actually be a 

student this time... 

Just... no one buy me Modern Warfare 3... D: 

This is how I envisage I'll be spending my THIRD year at uni...
If all goes to plan... :| 

"A NEW blog post you say?! WHAAAAA -" Autumn edition.

Yes, I have a new blog post. It's been a long time coming, as I'm sure many of my die-hard blog-fans were eagerly awaiting what wonders I have been up to during my Summer months off from uni (all two of you). 
In fact, it's been so long my laptop has forgotten what my default text style and size is for my blogger account... (and ergo, so did I). BUT YES! Here goes: a new chapter in my blogging "career".
To start with, a picture of a cat: 

Now that that's out of the way, I'll update you on how I spent the majority of my summer - (If you'll refer back to my earlier blog post entitled: "Summer - Not all sugar and rainbows..." you'll know I endeavoured to accomplish an exhaustive list of non-stop summer activities - three in total...).

So, appropriately, I realised three things:

This is how I imagine I'd look in my superhero costume - 
saving lesser beings from campers. 

1) I am awesome at COD: Not even in a way that most teenage boys can show off to uninterested girlfriends - not least of all because I'm neither a teenager, nor do I have a girlfriend - but in a way that means I fight with a degree of honour and righteousness (like a modern day superhero, trolling Xbox Live... THAT'S what I am...). My good friend Sebalicious can attest to my superiority on COD - I have no need to prove my point via a one-sided blogpost. 

This is how I felt when it happened...
I also tried growing my hair out for the summer. 

2) Pianos break. I don't know how it happened, either through overuse or intense use - but two of my keys are broken; namely the G# and A an octave above middle C. Weirdly enough, it started with the F# and G a tone below, but mysteriously "spread" to the aforementioned keys. Like some weird... piano breaking virus. On the subject, the neighbours decided to launch an official complaint regarding my "excessive" piano playing. I didn't realise 8:00 on  a Saturday morning would be a problem, but these neighbours are in a league of their own. The word on the street (literally; from our curtain-twitching busy-bodied neighbour Karen) is that they do drugs and all have ASBO's... so I'm guessing they were hungover and/or high on that particular Saturday morning (or planning their role in the London riots) Ahhh good ole' St. Albans... :') 

This is how I was. 100% accurate, even down
to the bloodshot eyes and blue-tinted skin tone. 

3) Blogging over summer is surprisingly difficult. Not because I didn't have a particularly uneventful one, but it quickly became tiresome and contrived. Moreover, it feels like the stuff that happens to me when I get back to uni is more blogworthy than telling strangers on the internet how I just owned several other strangers on the internet, via the medium of COD. There's only so many times you can brag about your incomparable K/D ratio, or that you've just covered that new Rihanna song on piano. 

BUT - with a new year at uni ahead of me, I'm more than confident that I'll devote myself more fully to blogging. After all - It is my duty to keep strangers on the internet informed of the happenings in my life. FOR THAT IS MY TRUE PURPOSE! XboxMan - AWAY! 

Cats.

This has gone on long enough; it's time to explain the incessant pictures of cats on my blog. There is indeed a reason, and - in the style of Lost (my new-found summer obsession) - I've had it present throughout the series of blog posts without any explanation. So... the moment of truth has come...

I am not obsessed with cats... nor do I believe myself to be a reincarnated "cat-man," - Halle Berry style (which, is ridiculous, because Halle Berry is, and always will be, Storm in my eyes ["CARRY US TO JEANNN"]*) - she can't crossover from one franchise to another and think she can get away with it...! :@).

This cat is the Juggernaut BITCH. 

No. The real reason for the cat pictures, is simply due to one of my best friends. A simple comment of: "Hmm, needs more cats," and voilà - cats cats cats. (I should probably not do what people say so willingly... -_-) But yes, he is cat-MAD. A guy who could quite happily stand for up to ten MINUTES on a driveway laughing at a cat rolling about on the ground (I know this from experience... - not assumption). In fact, I've recently discovered the embodiment of his love for cats in a Youtube video:

This is my friend - eHarmony version. And female. Even though she's clearly putting this on, my friend could quite easily make a similar video, where his genuine love for cats can shine through.  

I, however, am indifferent towards cats. I feel neither excess love nor hate towards them - a balance that is hard for some people to find... This picture however, should give him some comfort... 

You're not alone... 

*I guess I'll have to explain what THIS is tomorrow... 

"Things are better in the future..." (Or so I'm told...)

Ok, so I was watching Lost (that's right - I'm only now catching up with the final series. So please don't comment with spoilers... D: bah!). That, combined with a (brief) conversation about time-zones, inspired me to write a blog. That's why, in "homage" to Lost, this blog is to do with time-travel :D 

She's from... THE FUTURE! 

My friends know, much to their detestation, that I have a "thing" about time-travel. It's not so much that I'm super into sci-fi, or any related pseudo-scientific paranormal technology, but... I think there's no feeling that can really compare to the feeling of getting your head-fucked... :') I love thinking about the idea of interacting with people from the future... or indeed, travelling to the future and interacting with people from the past...

Hmm... I suppose I could relate this to my "Superpowers. I want one" blog - in the sense that I have a lingering desire to achieve impossible feats. I mean... time-travel isn't possible. I know this. I'm not delusional. 

I strive for the moments when I make this face --------> :O (I call them "Lost" moments - when something time-travel related has happened... like a character meeting their younger self... or... something...). They are cool. 

This is Jack from Lost dressed as a chicken...
No... I don't understand it either...  - credit:
http://www.odoe.net/jackfaces/index.html

I know what you might be thinking at this point - that I'm going to relate it to the idea of going back and fixing moments of your past - but my feelings on that subject aren't that deep in the slightest. Also, if I know anything at all about time-travel - which I don't - altering the past can and will always have drastic consequences on the space-time continuum. And I'm not about to go messing around with that... It's more a selfish desire to achieve the aforementioned "Lost" moments 8-) 

But what about my future? I guess... in a way, I've decided one thing for the moment. I kind of moved away from the idea of becoming an office manager (as passionate as I was for that career... D':). I'm much more likely now to become a teacher - as I originally planned. 

I can't pinpoint exactly what caused this sudden revelation... Could my future really lie in the public education sector? Maybe, to inspire misguided youths with my unwavering passion for music is my destiny... but...

As shallow as it sounds... it may just be because I really like the idea of wearing different combinations of shirts and ties everyday... (which, ironically, I could do in an office... fuck the kids... in a non-perverse way.. o.O) yayyy for materialism... D: 

Because it's my DESTINY to feature a cat picture on every blog...
but I don't know whether to believe in destiny :) 

The COD effect. I hate it.

Sadly, this is NOT the type of camping I'm talking about... 

Preach. 

This blog update features a very specific topic in mind. Whilst I have previously mentioned my adoration (bordering "obsession" some would say...) for video game, I must reference my fondness for one such particular brand of game:

CoD... *dun dun dun* o.O

It's prevalence amongst gamers today is second-to-none. Mentioning "CoD" to most people over the age of say... 30,  they would probably expect you to be talking about a species of fish. However, to many people under 30 (if we're talking about the key demographic of 18-30 year-old males), their reaction may vary from: mouth-frothing, increased heart-rate, profuse sweating and indeed... an urge to "eliminate the opposition." 


In fact, as previously mentioned in my "Summer - not all sugar and rainbows..." blog, I myself am a CoD fan. Black Ops was the game in question that I looked forward to as being an unashamedly enormous time-sink for my Summer holidays. However, the excitement soon wore off. The thrill of killing anonymous online Xbox Live users was short-lived. I realised that COD, as a franchise, manages to both encapsulate and frustrate it's audience - including myself - in equal measures.

I'm not an angry person, by nature... Playing CoD has given me a chance at self-reflection. I'm a much more terrible person than I thought... D: 

This is me in Hulk-Cat Hybrid form. 

I find myself having to take breaks from CoD (or rather... play it in intermittent bursts... the first one made it seem like my entire summer was devoted to CoD - which would only be half right...), for fear of developing some adverse side-effects - like turning green and feeling unexplained urges to "smash." (for the astute comic book fans, I was likening myself to the Hulk... :| but... whatever...) 


A "game" should be fun... it shouldn't have the ability to elicit any negativity. But maybe that's what make me more... bloodthirsty?! 

This makes me sick... It requires no skill...! D:

... bastard. 

When a game harbours elements that frustrate me, such as so-called "camping", (whereby a player sits in a corner of a room, using equipment such as a motion sensor, or claymore to defend themselves...), I feel like it's such an injustice. Like the whole ethos of CoD multiplayer has been made of mockery of.  Is there any justice in "camping?" (I talk about "justice" as if there's a higher power of CoD police who could deal with such players... sadly - there is not). 


I then realise something else... these campers don't care how annoyed I get. And indeed, if we were in real modern warfare, you would use whatever so-called "dirty" tactics you could to survive... 


Still... It doesn't annoy me any less. 

Youtube - Uploads.

Hi everyone. Just informing you that I'll be taking a bit of a break from blogging. If I can think of any "serious" thought-provoking issues, I'll DEFO blog about them (yes - I'm bringing "defo" back... D:), but for now, I'm using this to advertise my recently updated youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnathanPianoMan

Please check it out - rate, subscribe, comment, or request a song for me to cover ;)

Have a good summer guys! :D 

Youtube :D

Hi everyone. This is just a short blog post to tell you about my Youtube channel - 

http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnathanPianoMan

I cover mostly pop songs on piano, but take requests. I can do pretty much anything of any genre, as long as I can put it on an iPod... (ha, I'm so modest too... o.O). 


But yeah, my first update of the summer, I'm hoping will be next week and is going to be E.T. by Katy Perry - an awesome song if I do say so myself.

I also take requests, and would happily help out anyone wishing to learn the covers of my songs by providing the chords for them - as worked out by me...

So yeah, look forward to it...? I guess :D

(I even managed to embed my most popular video in my blog... How's that for technical wizardry?! Also, I'm an ashamedly good self-promoter it seems... ¬¬) Thumbs up for outstanding production values. The new stuff won't look like this... :|

Summer - Not all sugar and rainbows...

This blog post centres around my plans and ideals of my forthcoming summer vacation.

I'll be honest - I likely have a somewhat "different" view of what most people would consider "fun." My interests span to:-

1. Playing video games... 8)
2. Playing piano. 
3. Blogging now, apparently.

All of these activities require me to not leave the house (unless there's some outdoor piano somewhere... or I took my laptop outside and blogged from there - but those are technicalities... -_- ) and also, coincidentally, can all be executed alone. Does this therefore mean that I'm "wasting" my summer holidays? Can you call me a "geek" for staying indoors and owning the masses on COD, or working on piano covers for my youtube account? You could... I suppose. But where others feel the need to be outside, "making the most" of our paltry British summer, I find myself more inclined to cut out the middle man. It's more in my nature to act like a hermit all year round, regardless of the weather. 

What exactly are the benefits of being outside? "Fresh air" you say? Fresh air is overrated... 

This cat is a metaphorical representation
of how I intend to spend the majority of my
summer... I can't wait... :'D

I should point out, when I say "hermit," I'm not exactly an unsociable person. In fact, quite the opposite. I like spending time with my friends, and undoubtedly have more fun playing co-op RPG's with them for days at a time... ahhh TOV... you will have been missed... :') It also means I won't be seeing my friends any less than I normally would... but most of the entertainment that can be had with them can be achieved inside - going outside is, more or less, superfluous when it comes to attaining optimum levels of... FUN. 

But I'm not going to go out of my way to do something I don't particularly enjoy with my free time, to do something more "socially acceptable..." Like... having WILD house parties, or crazy road trips to completely arbitrary seaside destinations... those things would only appeal to me if they were "Xbox House Parties..." or if the seaside destination in question had some form of arcade...(wow, I can sense the geekiness in my words just seeping out into the interweb... :| ) 

This is NOT my ideal summer... these kids may have learnt to defy gravity, but can they do a 
Britney Spears mash-up on piano, or get a flawless FFA match on COD? ... Point proven.
(also, the ones on the left and right look in pain...) 

I guess what I'm trying to say is - if you hear about my plans for summer and start judging how "lame" they may seem in comparison to yours... you needn't bother. If your "warped" view on summer involves frolicking through fields of flowers, with overhanging rainbows, and picnics under a tree with friends, (or, seemingly more appropriate for people of my age-band, messy nights out getting drunk...) then all the more power to you. 

I'm as excited for my summer holidays as you are, and they can't come quick enough... :D 

The real social network: Stalking - We all do it.

The ability to use the internet to find out information is an astounding thing. It has no doubt settled many a debate, query or concern for everyday internet-users. But is there harm in using the internet to find out information on people...? Be they your peers, potential colleagues, or possible love interests, the internet can be an invaluable tool for gathering personal information on individuals. 

This cat takes the internet seriously... should I?

And it seems to be something that is harder to admit, while in turn, becoming ever more prominent.

This sense of "cyber-stalking" can seem to carry a social stigma - in that, admitting to knowing information about a specific person (most commonly, via their Facebook page) requires you, successively, to admitting to having looked on their Facebook page - removing the anonymity the internet provides.

I, however, suffer no ill-effects of stalking, nor of being "stalked"... I have no problem in confessing how I know things about people from their Facebook page - it's on their Facebook (in a sense, it's their fault that I'm looking on their facebook page in the first place... :P). On estimate, I would say I source around 85% of my pre-existing knowledge of an individual from Facebook. Would I call myself creepy (most people would), or just an astute internet-user?

I also have no problem in people knowing semi-intimate details about my life. In fact, recently (without wanting to come across too big-headed) I seem to have acquired a few "stalkers..." That is to say, people who have - either knowingly, or unwittingly - found one of my online profiles and started "talking" to me as a result. As I previously mentioned in my trust post, I can only trust these people. What reason would I have to suspect any "foul-play?" (although, if they were to ever ask for my credit card details, alarm bells might start ringing... D:)

Moving on, if I were to think back to the days before Facebook, or even Myspace... (well, to be honest, my memory is SHOCKING, so I actually can't remember back to those days... :| and I never even used Myspace...), it's strange to think of a time when our personal lives weren't on display to the world... and our main method of finding out about people was good ole' fashioned conversation. Is this new-found "social-networking" just making us more... anti-social? 

I find talking to new people in person a challenge. Talking to someone over Facebook, when I don't have to worry about making awkward facial expressions, or over-exaggerated hand gestures (or, more appropriately, over-exaggerated facial expressions and/or awkward hand gestures... =/ ), is far easier to handle. But does that make me... lazy? And if that's the case, when would it stop? Would people stop showering if they knew they were able to avoid social interaction for a day?! (well... I would hope not...)

Are we all destined to turn into... THIS?! 

Personal hygiene = win. 

Ginger: It affects us all.

Hi, this blog post was suggested by my best friend - Ashleigh, who (tragically) suffers from having...


...Ginger hair. 

Now, I'm not making light of this condition. She's had to suffer from a lot of during her life. The taunts of abuse from passers-by, the indication that she must remain indoors for fear of rapid skin burning... and most horrifically... the assumption that she HAS NO SOUL.

This is offensive... 

In fact, according to this website, even the term "ginger" is offensive. I, myself, find ginger people... AWESOME. Hence why I've allowed my best friend to tag along with me all these years... :P In fact, I remember in primary school, wanting to be ginger - they interest me.

Claims that she is "strawberry blonde," (made by her herself of course...), date back to year 7 of secondary school (and were met with looks of confusion... and disbelief). In fact, I'm almost certain she started the Strawberry Blonde vs. Ginger debate... 

How can we expect red-heads to be strong,
when they have Li-Lo for a role model...?!

Ever since then, her life has been plagued by fear... but is she really to blame? Of course not. She was Born This Way.. o.O (That's strange... I can't help but feel like I've heard that expression before...). In fact, I love her despite her hair colour. That's how good a friend I am. 

OK, in all seriousness, I do think the near-constant abuse she receives is a bit much. And this blog post's tone is mostly mocking her. But gingerism is very much alive in our society, and it seems to be one of the few remaining semi-accepted prejudices (i.e. ones that people still think they can get away with, because they're not being "seriously" prejudice... I'm sure they view racism in a completely different manner).

I mean, there was that story about a ginger family who had been "driven out of their home..." Is it all just harmless fun? Is it really right to mock someone for something they can't control, and if you were in the same position, would you want it to happen to you?

Despite this, my best friend takes the abuse with a smile on her face (probably because she knows she'd end up crying if she didn't...). And, in case you didn't realise, I myself am one of the perpetrators of the aforementioned taunting. It's a case of my own ignorance more than anything...  


Rounding up, I'd like to pay a tribute to my best friend for being so awesome. This post is more about highlighting how strong my friend is, as opposed to highlighting her hair colour (if you'll pardon the pun...) Putting up with half the stuff she does would bring most people down to an emotional wreck.

She is solid, and I aspire to be her... (sans the ginger hair though... I'm happy being brunette :D) I love her.

"Born this way yeahhhh..."

"Stop pimping our kids?" Shut up.

Today's entry was suggested by a recent fan of my blog :)

This post centres around the topic of the youth of today, something I comment on alot... it's just me showing my age... really, (20 - in case you were wondering...). More specifically, their ever-increasing perceived "sexualization" that faces them.

She is annoying.
(Anna Richardson... the girl I'm indifferent towards...)

I believe however, that this is simply media scaremongering. It's parental discretion that should govern what their kids wear, how they act, and where they are. Like this silly the "The Sex Education" show... hosted by the homicidal-inducing Anna Richardson. Her claims that the youth of today are being over-exposed (literally and figuratively) to the horrors of SEX.

I'm not gonna lie, (and in doing so, I'm about to be very frank), but kids today seem to know far more about sex than they should. It may not be completely accurate knowledge, but they are more aware about sex than I was at their age (geez... now I really feel old...).

One of Anna Richardson's arguments is that clothes shops are selling/marketing inappropriate clothes to children; one specific example being padded bras for 6-year olds. Now... I don't know about you... but I don't know of any 6-year olds (granted I actually don't know any 6-year olds...) who are going clothes shopping alone... that's a bad enough example of parenting as it is. But which parents are buying these children padded bras?! (regardless if they're on sale in the first place or not...) I think these parents are the ones who should be scolded... but Anna Richardson has other ideas - instead targeting these chain shops with her own specific brand of vigilante "for the people" justice. I assumed that most things that go on sale to the general public get panel-tested and market-researched thoroughly... so someone, somewhere thought these bras were a good idea. Our beloved host clearly knows more than them though.

"THIS is an apple... and I am a bitch."

I didn't know Anna Richardson was a shrewd business woman, as well as an annoying TV presenter... 

Pop music - I love it.

My taste in music has been called into question on a number of occasions. So for all the "haters" out there... this one's for you.

(Pah! I don't really use the word "haters..." I just figured I'd act all independent and sassy for a change... ¬¬) *clicks fingers*

This is me.

This is completely irrelevant... I just thought it was funny. 

People often assume that, because of my degree choice (Music - in case you didn't already know from my previous two music-related blog posts...- three if you count when I briefly mentioned it in this post) that either a) I have somewhat "superior" opinion of music and will only like eclectic music of "artistic integrity," - which translates to generally mean anything that hasn't appeared in the top 40. Or b) that my taste is limited to classical music.

I can safely assure you, my musical tastes fall into neither category. I like pop music. The cheesier the better. But... having said that, my musical taste isn't limited to pop music specifically. I judge music, not just by genre, but by it's playability (i.e. how easy it would be to cover on piano - check out my Youtube channel - or not... whatever), and by how "interesting" I find the chords. If a song uses the same four chords throughout... it begins to bore me. In fact, it's fair to say that I'd appreciate the musical ingenuity of a Cascada song as much as a Killers song, provided they both have an interesting musical basis. It's not a case of: "oh wow... you listen to *insert token "pop artist" here* ?! How lame!" I'm not thinking about the artists in terms of their perceived cultural standing. I'm not concerned either with whether you deem them to be any less an "artist," than "real musicians" (i.e. those "band" bands that feature live instruments... :O), when both their music, ultimately, consists of the same chords, repeated ad infinitum. 


Regrettably, there are very few artists these days that are doing anything in terms of "forward-thinking" music. No one artist in the current charts are doing anything more "musically intriguing" to me than another (not, at least, in terms of their musical structure). 

LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!
She may be bald... but her musics not bad. 

I think people nowadays are too quick to make assumptions on artists by what they read about concerning their personal lives. Why should Britney Spears shaving her head make her any less of an artist? (bald people are artists too y'know...)



So the next time you might shudder in fear at the thought of me listening to a Britney Spears song - just remember - It's not a case of whether or not I like Britney Spears... for whatever reason (I personally think she's a danger to herself and everyone around her...[ I kid, of course... ] ), it's more a case of liking her music than anything else. 


(by the way, if you happened to have stumbled upon my Youtube channel, be wary of the fact I WILL be uploading new videos in the summer... You have been warned... o.O)

"Blame it on the alcohol..."

Hi kids! I'm here today to tell you of the absolute HORRORS of alcohol, and it's effect on the youth of today. 

First off - some statistics. Did you know that drinking alcohol on a regular basis lowers your IQ by a rate of about 5% per unit of alcohol? Or that it increases the likelihood of getting pregnant by a THIRD...?! Or that a person can have fun at a factor of x60% when heavily intoxicated...?



Of course you didn't know that. Because it's a complete farce. And it demonstrates my point. People are too quick to blame alcohol for... well a multitude of things - be they sins or otherwise. Time for a little roleplay now class - how many times have you heard (first hand, or from a second or third party) something along these lines:

Case #1        
"Ahhh... Last night was just... sooooo MESSY. Pretty sure I almost died, or *insert suggestive themes here*. Was a good night though."
"Were you drunk?" 

This is me, sans the beer. I'm SUCH a mess... 

"Bah! Of course! Do you think I'd do anything like that sober?!" 

Now what was wrong with that scenario? (aside from the fact that no one really says "bah" in real life...) Alcohol is used as the primary scapegoat for peoples actions, granting them a certain level of "drunken immunity," glorifying the acts that would usually be vilified if performed during the day. 

I know this is starting to sound "preacher-ish," but I can assure you - I do drink. On occasion, I do get "messy," (as my friends jest at me for...), and yes, I'd probably end up doing the same thing as the perpetrator from Case #1. But I would never solely blame my actions on alcoholic influence. Alcohol doesn't make someone do something. Nor do I believe that a persons true personality can only "shine" when they're drunk. Surely it's a case of them just being a really boring sober person? 

This baby is both hungover and adorable.
 Tut tut, underage drinking at an all-time high

I'm not saying either that alcohol is to blame for the downward spiral of society. Of course, people have to be of a certain maturity to be able to drink nowadays (and I'm not naive enough to assume that under-age drinking doesn't happen... I've seen the news!). I just don't think it's particularly mature of people to blame acts of complete stupidity on alcohol. Ironically, those people are... stupid.

This lady is stupid. Or drunk...? Hmm...
hard to tell, she might be a combination of the two. 

(OK, can someone please confirm if I actually used "irony" in the correct way...? I've never known... D: )