So today Osama Binladen has been found and killed, it's been on every news bulletin on every channel almost exclusively all day. Now I agree that this is an important day and that he has paid for the many things done in his name, but... In the afformentioned news bulletins there is coverage of a giant party in New York where people are celebrating, saying how proud they are and that it's finally over and that's where my problem is.
Lets deal with these things in reverse order shall we. Firstly it's most definitely not over, Osama was a figure head for a movement which is based on small autonomous cells. This isn't a case of cut of the head and the body dies, it's more of a whack a mole kind of affair, yes he was a pretty big scalp to be taken down but there's still plenty of nut jobs left to fight and most of them are going to be pretty irrate about now. So the British and American governments are expecting retaliatory strikes.
Next is the out pouring of pride. Ok this one is a little more appropriate, after all, the soldiers were asked to go in to a hostile base and pacify it. They did what had to be done and put themselves in harms way to achieve it, to give them anything less than our support and recognition for their bravery would be an insult. However there was a long campaign using mountainous quantities of ordinance, intelligence agencies and basically the full might of the American army to find and kill one guy and his bodyguards. This was rather like using a tactical nuke to crack a nut and taking a good few years to succeed. Yes we can honour the soldiers but the result was fairly inevitable.
So now we come to the last one, the celebration itself. Thousands upon thousands of people are currently rejoicing that a man has been hunted down and killed, we are revelling in the successful murder of a human being, I'm certainly not excusing his actions or those of his followers, they are terrible atrocities for which even his death isn't justice enough and there is a lot of high emotion to be released. But aren't we supposed to be better than them? What I saw on television was one step short of burning an Osama shaped effigy while waving guns around. If it had included those two things it would have looked exactly like the sort of displays you often see coming from the middle east.
A bad man has been killed, this is a good thing, but this isn't over yet and I certainly don't believe we should be celebrating that we were required to stoop to his level to get what we want.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Horse health
So both of our horses have fallen ill in the last few months, Indy has apparently got Equine metabolic syndrome which is a kind of laminitis, at one stage the vet offered to put Indy down, while last month Swiftnick had a bout of colic. The colic was a fairly short term thing and after an injection from the vet he was back to normal. Indy meanwhile is always going to have his issue and we're constantly going to have to measure what he eats and how much exercise he has to try and keep a large fat deposit from building up on his neck and pumping toxins in to his body. Not the best start to the year but it's not going to stop us doing the best we can for them.
Now as I've mentioned before I'm a fairly easy going kind of guy, I'll try and get along with pretty much anybody. But there is one particular woman at the yard who always sticks her nose in whether you want her there or not, she also thinks quite highly of herself and constantly comes up with advice and comments which in itself is mildly annoying, but especially as they're almost always wrong. She's renowned for turning up when someones horse is ill and thinking up even more unpleasant things that could be wrong than: a) you're thinking of and b) are actually the problem. Any small symptom is the first sign of a major disaster on the horizon, every issue is life threatening and every one of her proclaimations is 100% wrong.
The trouble is the last thing you really need when your upset is for someone to come along and suggest that the problem is actually worse than it is, even more annoying is that because she's dressing it up as sage advice, people don't tell her to bugger off for fear of upsetting her! Then to top it all of when your horse is feeling better and you've weathered the worst of the storm she's no where to be seen, presumably off spreading more misery for someone else with an issue.
I'm a reasonable, peace loving, mild kind of guy, but I really do wish that she'd just FUCK OFF!
Now as I've mentioned before I'm a fairly easy going kind of guy, I'll try and get along with pretty much anybody. But there is one particular woman at the yard who always sticks her nose in whether you want her there or not, she also thinks quite highly of herself and constantly comes up with advice and comments which in itself is mildly annoying, but especially as they're almost always wrong. She's renowned for turning up when someones horse is ill and thinking up even more unpleasant things that could be wrong than: a) you're thinking of and b) are actually the problem. Any small symptom is the first sign of a major disaster on the horizon, every issue is life threatening and every one of her proclaimations is 100% wrong.
The trouble is the last thing you really need when your upset is for someone to come along and suggest that the problem is actually worse than it is, even more annoying is that because she's dressing it up as sage advice, people don't tell her to bugger off for fear of upsetting her! Then to top it all of when your horse is feeling better and you've weathered the worst of the storm she's no where to be seen, presumably off spreading more misery for someone else with an issue.
I'm a reasonable, peace loving, mild kind of guy, but I really do wish that she'd just FUCK OFF!
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Do unto others...
Most people that know me will most likely atest to the fact that I'm quite a polite guy, maybe a bit of a cheeky sod but a fair minded kind of chap who minds his P's and Q's. Unless you're whining constantly on comms or chat in MW2 in which case you will be the target of some imaginative ridicule on my part.
The thing is, when it comes to forum and blog posts, the vast majority of people will not know me, nor I them. So it constantly astounds and depresses me that there are so many idiots out there that feel the anonymity of the internet gives them permission to be unpleasant to other people who have a differing opinion. Disagreeing and discussing issues is fine, healthy even and if that's all they were doing then that'd be fine. But no, not only do they seem to automatically oppose what people say but they then seem to want to verbally attack the other person which is just not on.
As we all know, the medium of the internet has a tendency to allow intent to be miss-interpreted which can cause conflict. So with the knowledge that what you read on screen isn't necessarily what was meant and that the person on the other end of the wires doesn't know me, I try particularly hard to conduct myself like a true English gentleman, ask for clarification if I'm dubious and never (well rarely) belittle people on forums. All I ask is that they extend me the same courtesy.
Mind you, I also lurk on a number of forums that declare they take a dim view of such things and yet seem to completely ignore it, even when blatant trolling is occuring, it does make it rather hard not to follow suit and flame the trolls because it can be damn good fun.
We're all only human, but frankly that's just an excuse. Yes we're only human, but we should be trying to be more than we are, raise the bar and both expect and demand better!
The thing is, when it comes to forum and blog posts, the vast majority of people will not know me, nor I them. So it constantly astounds and depresses me that there are so many idiots out there that feel the anonymity of the internet gives them permission to be unpleasant to other people who have a differing opinion. Disagreeing and discussing issues is fine, healthy even and if that's all they were doing then that'd be fine. But no, not only do they seem to automatically oppose what people say but they then seem to want to verbally attack the other person which is just not on.
As we all know, the medium of the internet has a tendency to allow intent to be miss-interpreted which can cause conflict. So with the knowledge that what you read on screen isn't necessarily what was meant and that the person on the other end of the wires doesn't know me, I try particularly hard to conduct myself like a true English gentleman, ask for clarification if I'm dubious and never (well rarely) belittle people on forums. All I ask is that they extend me the same courtesy.
Mind you, I also lurk on a number of forums that declare they take a dim view of such things and yet seem to completely ignore it, even when blatant trolling is occuring, it does make it rather hard not to follow suit and flame the trolls because it can be damn good fun.
We're all only human, but frankly that's just an excuse. Yes we're only human, but we should be trying to be more than we are, raise the bar and both expect and demand better!
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Pigeon holing
We all like to label things, now come on don't be shy, you do too just admit it and lets face it, why not? It's a useful system for quickly identifying things so we can decide whether we will or will not like stuff. Perfectly reasonable. I mean I for one like cars, I like car racing, I like games with cars in so on the whole I'm a car kind of guy. But there it is, right there, did you see it? I'll write it again just in case, "on the whole I'm a car kind of guy". How about that time? Just because I'm in to my auto-mobiles doesn't mean I like EVERYTHING about ALL of them and there's where the pigeon holing thing stops working, because there's just no getting around the fact that there are things we just don't like and vice versa.
The real problem is that because of our need to speed up figuring out what we are going to enjoy we have a tendency to become blinkered about things and this can make us miss out on some real gems, even going so far as to choose things we don't like because they fit our generic brackets of taste.
So what am I saying? Simply put, keep an open mind. Maybe you dislike dance music, that's fine but don't automatically assume that you hate ALL dance music, judge everything on its on merit.
The real problem is that because of our need to speed up figuring out what we are going to enjoy we have a tendency to become blinkered about things and this can make us miss out on some real gems, even going so far as to choose things we don't like because they fit our generic brackets of taste.
So what am I saying? Simply put, keep an open mind. Maybe you dislike dance music, that's fine but don't automatically assume that you hate ALL dance music, judge everything on its on merit.
Friday, 12 November 2010
The countdown begins again
So the new release date for Gran Turismo 5 has been announced and I can start looking forward to 24th November. I've been following the series since the first one and that one was the deciding factor for purchasing the original Playstation. As a fan of racing games I can honestly say the only thing that comes close is Forza for the Xbox.
One of the insults I often throw at games like FIFA soccer, Madden football, Tiger Woods golf and their ilk is that they're exactly the same game but with another unit added to the end of the name. While the same statement can be made for GT somehow it doesn't seem to bother me as much and I can't help but feed my addiction for faced paced racing simulation.
The only trouble I have with the GT games is that Polyphony Digital seem to be perfectionists and the release dates for these things keep getting further and further away with each iteration. I preordered GT4 when it was announced and in the end there was over a year between my initial pre-order and the eventual release date, had I done the same this time round GT5 would have blown that record out of the water.
With each announced delay has come the statement that they're working on trying to make the game perfect for release day. While this does nothing to help my withdrawal symptoms I can at least take heart in the knowledge that unlike other games which have been released with entire colonies of bugs, GT5 should be the gilt coated platinum that I'm hoping it will be. The thing is though, with them giving it the Goldilocks treatment if there's even a small problem on release day they'll look very foolish indeed given all the time they've spent on it and lets face it, in the gaming world, nothing is ever perfect from day one.
On the whole though, I'd rather spend extra time waiting for a highly polished game than suffer through the faults while they rush out a patch to fix the big problems and then end up introducing more.
One of the insults I often throw at games like FIFA soccer, Madden football, Tiger Woods golf and their ilk is that they're exactly the same game but with another unit added to the end of the name. While the same statement can be made for GT somehow it doesn't seem to bother me as much and I can't help but feed my addiction for faced paced racing simulation.
The only trouble I have with the GT games is that Polyphony Digital seem to be perfectionists and the release dates for these things keep getting further and further away with each iteration. I preordered GT4 when it was announced and in the end there was over a year between my initial pre-order and the eventual release date, had I done the same this time round GT5 would have blown that record out of the water.
With each announced delay has come the statement that they're working on trying to make the game perfect for release day. While this does nothing to help my withdrawal symptoms I can at least take heart in the knowledge that unlike other games which have been released with entire colonies of bugs, GT5 should be the gilt coated platinum that I'm hoping it will be. The thing is though, with them giving it the Goldilocks treatment if there's even a small problem on release day they'll look very foolish indeed given all the time they've spent on it and lets face it, in the gaming world, nothing is ever perfect from day one.
On the whole though, I'd rather spend extra time waiting for a highly polished game than suffer through the faults while they rush out a patch to fix the big problems and then end up introducing more.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Why weigh?
Like most people with a desk job in IT and a love of gaming/movies/music I have a fairly sedentary life and rather more weight than I'd like. Well ok, I have to walk in to the server halls on a regular basis and out to the shops to buy my lunch but on the whole I sit around a lot. Because of this in the last couple of months I've once again tried to get back in to doing exercise. This time it's Zumba, an exercise regime based on Latin dance movements.
I've tried a few things in the past and quickly learned that a gym membership is just not for me, but this dancing thing seems to be good fun.
This time however it's lead me to consider, why do we use weighing scales to define whether our training program is working? When I think about it, I'm not actually trying to lose weight as such, what I really want is a more pleasing figure. Ok so weight is definitely involved I agree, but if the result can be corrupted by having eaten recently, water retention, wearing or not wearing clothes, recent salt intake and even going to the toilet it becomes easy to see why people can get so disheartened but those fluctuating numbers on the bathroom scales, not to mention the never ending concern of if your scales are properly calibrated.
So stuff weighing yourself, it can't be trusted and if we're perfectly honest, what I really care about are do I like the way I look in the mirror, can I touch my toes and can I run up the stairs without being out of breath and sweating like a pig.
I've tried a few things in the past and quickly learned that a gym membership is just not for me, but this dancing thing seems to be good fun.
This time however it's lead me to consider, why do we use weighing scales to define whether our training program is working? When I think about it, I'm not actually trying to lose weight as such, what I really want is a more pleasing figure. Ok so weight is definitely involved I agree, but if the result can be corrupted by having eaten recently, water retention, wearing or not wearing clothes, recent salt intake and even going to the toilet it becomes easy to see why people can get so disheartened but those fluctuating numbers on the bathroom scales, not to mention the never ending concern of if your scales are properly calibrated.
So stuff weighing yourself, it can't be trusted and if we're perfectly honest, what I really care about are do I like the way I look in the mirror, can I touch my toes and can I run up the stairs without being out of breath and sweating like a pig.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Ceremonial visit
I've spent the last few days cleaning the house, granted I do this most weeks but this weekend my parents are coming to visit so naturally I need to step my game up. As much as I hate having to clean (hey it'll all only get dirty again) I almost appreciate it when we get visitors because otherwise this place would turn in to a pig sty. Admittedly it's normally a horses tack room seeing as my wife Elizabeth and I own two horses but it's still possible for it to go down hill.
Now back when I was a kid, my mum would occasionally ask me (usually when I left the house in a mess) what a prospective girlfriend would think about my untidiness, little did she realise that the answer was so simple, marry someone more messy than me! You can tell where Elizabeth spends most of her time because there are little nests of stuff around where she regularly frequents. Most of the time I really don't care, right up until a weekend when my mum is visiting and I'm left in charge of clearing up, because I know some of the stuff in these piles has been there since the last time they came.
Anyone who has met her will know that my mother is a formidable woman, I'm 6'4" tall and she's only 5" shorter than I am, not only that but I think she may have been a drill sergeant in a former life, if there's one person on this planet you don't mess with it's my mum, well ok I do, but I'm her son and have spent many years finding the line between smart arsed witty banter and getting smacked for being glib. So it's not normally just her coming to see her youngest son, it also turns in to a formal inspection. This means anything that's not up to muster will get commented on which makes an untidy house a big deal. I already know my hair will come under scrutiny as I didn't get round to getting it cut this week and the garden will be brought up as we've barely touched it in the 10 years we've lived here so getting called on something that's not really my fault gets me worked up a bit.
Reading this you may be thinking that I'm not especially enamoured with my family and you know something, you'd be dead wrong. I love both my wife and my mother dearly, not to mention my dad, brother, cousins, aunties & uncles. I actually consider myself to be lucky to have such a nice happy family free from divorces and other issues that other people seem to have. As far as I'm concerned nobody is perfect, we all have faults and foibles in our character that could be improved. I could probably have an argument with my wife about tidying up, or tell my mum where she can go if she doesn't like how I live but it would only cause more problems than it would solve. And so I clean.
Now back when I was a kid, my mum would occasionally ask me (usually when I left the house in a mess) what a prospective girlfriend would think about my untidiness, little did she realise that the answer was so simple, marry someone more messy than me! You can tell where Elizabeth spends most of her time because there are little nests of stuff around where she regularly frequents. Most of the time I really don't care, right up until a weekend when my mum is visiting and I'm left in charge of clearing up, because I know some of the stuff in these piles has been there since the last time they came.
Anyone who has met her will know that my mother is a formidable woman, I'm 6'4" tall and she's only 5" shorter than I am, not only that but I think she may have been a drill sergeant in a former life, if there's one person on this planet you don't mess with it's my mum, well ok I do, but I'm her son and have spent many years finding the line between smart arsed witty banter and getting smacked for being glib. So it's not normally just her coming to see her youngest son, it also turns in to a formal inspection. This means anything that's not up to muster will get commented on which makes an untidy house a big deal. I already know my hair will come under scrutiny as I didn't get round to getting it cut this week and the garden will be brought up as we've barely touched it in the 10 years we've lived here so getting called on something that's not really my fault gets me worked up a bit.
Reading this you may be thinking that I'm not especially enamoured with my family and you know something, you'd be dead wrong. I love both my wife and my mother dearly, not to mention my dad, brother, cousins, aunties & uncles. I actually consider myself to be lucky to have such a nice happy family free from divorces and other issues that other people seem to have. As far as I'm concerned nobody is perfect, we all have faults and foibles in our character that could be improved. I could probably have an argument with my wife about tidying up, or tell my mum where she can go if she doesn't like how I live but it would only cause more problems than it would solve. And so I clean.
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