somethings+nothings

Photo

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:29:09 +0100

Black Tambourine - Throw Aggi Off The Bridge

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:10:42 +0100

Black Tambourine - Throw Aggi Off The Bridge

Crystal Stilts - Still As The Night

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:53:39 +0100

Crystal Stilts - Still As The Night

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside - Cage. They’re...

Sun, 12 May 2013 17:35:00 +0100

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside - Cage.

They’re fucking good.

visceralpoison: Star Trek Into Darkness- Dr. Carol Marcus Just...

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:29:04 +0100

visceralpoison:

Star Trek Into Darkness- Dr. Carol Marcus

Just got back from seeing the new Star Trek film, which was pretty good although not as good as the first in my opinion. Having said that, seeing Alice Eve in her underwear, that was definitely a plus. Many plusses in fact.

I’m all too aware that we men are too attached to cars,...

Sat, 11 May 2013 21:42:00 +0100

I’m all too aware that we men are too attached to cars, but this is a thing of beauty. When cars have a matte finish too, makes me weak at the knees.

The Cryin’ Shames - Please Stay

Fri, 10 May 2013 20:46:04 +0100

The Cryin’ Shames - Please Stay

luzfosca: René Burri Escaliers dans les rues de Leonforte,...

Mon, 06 May 2013 23:26:27 +0100

luzfosca:

René Burri

Escaliers dans les rues de Leonforte, Sicile, 1956

Thanks to fantomas-en-cavale

New Vampire Weekend, and I like it.

Sat, 04 May 2013 13:08:30 +0100

New Vampire Weekend, and I like it.

State of play: an opinion on (very) contemporary politics

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:49:15 +0100

Politics would appear to be the subject that can be discussed the most by people who know the least, and I am no exception. With the results of the Sheffield by-elections still coming in, it seems that the slightest (and I mean slightest) of shifts is taking place within the infrastructure of UK politics. As I found out through overhearing the people at my desk, UKIP has taken a foothold in these by-elections and this, as is always the case when anyone mentions a party outside the main three, will prompt conversations and opinions ranging from mild disregard to restrained hysteria. As such, here is my ill-formed and questionable contribution.

For as long as I have been aware of UKIP, they have been synonymous with “closet racists” and xenophobia – whenever they seem to make the news, it’s as if people remember this generalised opinion and renew those cries. Consider, and here comes the point that makes most people uncomfortable, that the general opinion is wrong. This notion should be challenged, not for the purposes of promoting UKIP, but for the purpose of gaining a better understanding of who you can vote for. It is easily expected that a party which in title alone proclaims itself to be a United Kingdom Independence Party might align itself with nationalistic or, dare I say it, extremist opinions. However the party’s roots are in opposition to the UK joining the EU, a protest party of sorts.

If the subject of politics is something that gets people’s juices going, then the EU is their proverbial lubrication. In my group of peers (mainly working & middle class students) the opinion, where there is one, is certainly split. I fall under the opposition bandwagon for reasons that I will spare you on this occasion, and naturally there are those who are pro-EU. A discussion on this subject can be healthy, thought-provoking and well-received, but as soon as you mention the acronym, UKIP, then people get more withdrawn. Similarly, when Labour or the Conservatives debate our involvement in Europe there are no notions that our representatives are being narrow-minded, no more so than what one would expect given the parties’ historical tendencies. Yet when you bring in a party which is openly anti-EU, those same cries of bigoted opinions come out of the shadows.

The fact that UKIP have developed from EU party poopers to what is by all definitions a fully-functioning political party is proof enough that they should be considered more than a nuisance to those who rule our shores. Granted, there are examples of some members who do not help the general opinion (see VICE’s recent article on Phillip Collins), but if only to see that the “big three” are given a scare every now and again I think it is a good thing that UKIP are establishing themselves.

I should reiterate that I don’t hold myself to be a UKIP supporter; in fact, I am pretty disillusioned with all political parties in this country. After the last national election, it has become apparent that most parties these days are just similar voices throwing petty and undermining arguments at each other whilst wearing different colours. There is certainly a danger in that while the parties seem more pre-occupied in proving to you that their government is less of a fuck up than the current one, it serves to open the door to the more extremist opinions. Impatience with those who are in control might well lead, as history has proven on repeated occasions (pre-war Germany, post-recession Greece), to a more extremist party seizing control. That said, I can’t see that UKIP should be viewed in that sense.

Yes, they are still rough around the edges. Yes, they do occasionally show themselves up to be inexperienced in the orchestrated war of words that is contemporary politics. Yes, they are generalised to be of a certain inclination, but then again isn’t every party? Labour is still viewed, somehow, as the party of the workers; Conservatives, understandably, are still viewed as the party of the British bourgeoisie; Lib Dems, by their own hand, are still to be considered the good-to-do whipping boys of the bigger two.

It could be argued that by being so forthright in their views, and centralising their existence around what could be considered a generally unfavourable opinion, UKIP tar themselves with their own brush, but the same objective view could applied to all parties. The point is that instead of dismissing these outsiders to be, as our dear PM so delicately worded it in 2006, “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists” at least allow yourself to be swayed either way by what they have to say.

Although reading has been semi-present during what you could call my formative years, it is only in...

Thu, 02 May 2013 22:20:46 +0100

Although reading has been semi-present during what you could call my formative years, it is only in the past 6-12 months that I’m finding my interest has revived to the level it was at when I was younger. As a child, reading was quite probably my favourite thing to do and the 13 year old version of myself would proudly confess to having read the whole of Lord of the Rings in the space of two weeks.

Admittedly there was a loss of interest because, as with most things I enjoy, it got to the point where I was so aware of literature being so saturated it lost its appeal - quite probably a weak opinion to have, but it is fact and something that happens regularly (i.e. music can lose its appeal to the point where nothing satisfies for weeks).

Since having left university and subsequently generating the cloud over my head that appears whenever I’m in conversation with friends who are still studying, or students in general, I feel that I should be embarking on a self-education of sorts. The result is that, although only in its tentative and early status, I am starting to expand my literary horizons (forgive that cliché) and attempt to challenge what I like in a book.

For example, recently completed books include A Clockwork Orange, Down and Out in Paris & London, Tender is the Night and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (after tomorrow morning’s train ride into work, you can add Homage to Catalonia to that list). Purists out there are probably scoffing to themselves as these are relatively well known books to anyone who digs a little deeper by well known authors, but the truth is that everyone has to start somewhere. There is always going to be a list of books that according to some anonymous authority “everyone should read”, and I would counter-argue to you scoffers that this is as good a place to start as any.

Aside from developing an appreciation for George Orwell that far exceeds what I originally got out of Nineteen Eighty-Four, I am matching the challenge that I set myself. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night was a book that I set upon after seeing it referenced by Renton (character from Irvine Welsh’s series, beginning with Trainspotting but in this case referring to Skagboys); honestly, it was one of the toughest reads I have ever put myself through. Not because it is a wordy book written by, undoubtedly, one of the best descriptive writers I have encountered, but because the plot was a struggle.

Now that I can reflect on the whole story, I can appreciate the book’s quality - it has left me with an impassable sadness which I originally interpreted as my not enjoying the book at the time of reading. It is precisely for this kind of thing that is the reason I would recommend people take up reading again if you haven’t done for a while; even a book that I begrudged myself to pick up and force my way through eventually manifested itself in a rewarding way. Sure, I didn’t enjoy the book at the time (I remember thinking, more than once, that I hated it), but I know I’m the better off for having finished it.

Where this will develop to is something that can only be answered in ambiguity, and is probably better left unanswered. The immediate future points to starting Game of Thrones, but there are a few that I want to get under my belt before I start looking for more drastic changes (namely, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush).

bassdrumofdeath: NEW MUSIC // “Shattered Me” from the Bass Drum...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:53:32 +0100

bassdrumofdeath:

NEW MUSIC // “Shattered Me” from the Bass Drum of Death LP // Out June 25th

New sounds, and it’s satisfying.

Audio

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:05:57 +0100

I’m a fan. Of both her & the show.

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 17:04:07 +0100

I’m a fan. Of both her & the show.

Was suggested this guy’s music by a friend. It was one...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:54:33 +0100

Was suggested this guy’s music by a friend. It was one good suggestion.

Her character on Dexter is pretty hot, but in real life she is...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:27:43 +0100

Her character on Dexter is pretty hot, but in real life she is banging.

What is this place & how do I get there?

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 02:28:20 +0000

What is this place & how do I get there?

Bit of Wilson Pickett when you wake up, good way to start the...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:34:45 +0000

Bit of Wilson Pickett when you wake up, good way to start the day.

luzfosca: B. Landisch Charles Bridge, Prague, 1960s Thanks...

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 21:52:45 +0000

luzfosca:

B. Landisch

Charles Bridge, Prague, 1960s

Thanks to lostandfoundinprague

#whitehinterland #kairos #vinyl

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:48:53 +0000

#whitehinterland #kairos #vinyl