Month: June 2006

Pants on fire

I lie.

I have lied.

I do lie.

I will lie again in the future.

Lying is, of course, a terrible thing to do. Awful. Lowest of the low.

And I always feel bad when I do it.

Heh. I just did it again. I don’t always feel bad when I do it, but I rarely feel good when I do it, but that’s not my fault. That’s the fault of guilt, and that’s not the topic of discussion today.

I don’t feel bad when I lie to telephone sales people — Sorry, we’ve JUST had a new kitchen put in… — I don’t feel bad when I lie to tin-rattling charity people — Sorry, just been to the bank, no change.. — and I have good reasons not to feel bad about those lies.

Then there is lying by omission. Good or bad? Black or white? Or perhaps it’s just an odd shade of grey?

But the lies that annoy me the most aren’t the cold and calculating, pre-meditated and hurtful ones. Those lies don’t annoy me, they haunt me. Those lies burrow deep into my soul and rip me apart slowly, day by day, piece by piece, and one day they may surface. But this isn’t the place (or time) for those lies. Not yet.

No, the lies that annoy me the most are the quick and easy ones, the ones that slip from your lips without pause. They are the instant, swift and merciful little lies that we all utter from time to time. You know the type, they are usually short and are accompanied by a little half smile:

“that’s ok”
“yes, everything’s fine”
“it’s no problem really”

Lies, lies, lies. No sex, no videotape just small murmurings and the inability to tell the truth.

“that’s ok” becomes “you should be sorry, and please watch where you dump your heavy bag in future”

“yes, everything’s fine” becomes “the pasta was overcooked slightly, and the sauce far too salty”

“it’s no problem really” becomes “I do mind. Could you get your manager to sort it out please”

But no. We lie our lives away, seething and boiling under the surface, day after day after day.

Oh yes, lies are awful things, for many and varied reasons.

Except those nice white lies, they’re OK.

June 6, 2006

Six

The only reason I’m posting this is because it’s six minutes past six in the morning, on the sixth of June, in the year 2006.

That’ll be 06:06 06/06/06.

How sad is that?

June 6, 2006

Weekender

Met up with some people I used to work with on Friday night, had a good time reminiscing about trips to Barcelona and Dublin, drunken nonsense in hotel rooms, free porn and Guinness for breakfast. Them were the days… I even managed to get the second to last train home.

It was quite nice wandering through Glasgow as the sun was finishing it’s long slow set. The sky was a deep blue, the weather balmy and people were wandering about chatting. Much better than the last orders throwing out time which is a stramash of drunken louts, this was an almost civilised stroll through a bustling night in the city. So VERY cosmopolitian, dahlings.

Thankfully, despite several alcoholic shandies, my hangover wasn’t too great on Saturday morning which was just as well as we had two nieces and a nephew staying with us on Saturday night. This included meeting them in Glasgow for Louise to take the girls shopping, and for Mark and I to hit the cinema to watch X-Men 3. Not a bad movie for what it is, and Mark loved it.

It was fun spending an afternoon with my nephew. He’s rapidly growing up and, all of a sudden, has stopped being the shy little boy who liked nothing better than sitting quietly, sketching or doodling on a pad, and now seems quite grown-up for an 11 year old.

Sunday morning I dropped them at the station – Joanne is 16 going on 21 – and headed back home to drag the lawnmower out. Louise was out at a first communion and I spent most of the afternoon in the garden.

And today? Today I have a new co-worker starting. So I’d better get my skates on and get everything setup for him…

June 5, 2006

X-Men 3

Movie info from IMDB
Movie reviews from Metacritic

I’m a big fan of Bryan Singer. He may not be the best director ever but there is a certain style and realism he brings to his movies that I like. He’s very adept and camera sleight of hand and seems to have the right ‘image’ in his head.

Just a pity that, after the first two X-Men movies, he didn’t do this one.

I think the main problem with X-Men 3 was that it was just too formulaic. Too calculating, and ultimately too damn insulting.

Without giving any plot away, there is a shot right after the death of one of the characters. It’s a poignant moment but it’s just so very clumsily handled. We get some gentle classical music, as the camera slows pans back out of the, now, empty room.

The annoying thing is that this SHOULD have been the best of the 3 movies. It was all nicely setup in X-Men 2, the closing scene of the phoenix swooping under the lake setting the scene. Unfortunately it was all a bit flat and there was a distinct lack of surprise or suspense. Even in the action scenes you knew what was going to happen, there were no surprises, it was all to familiar.

So, now matter how good the special effects were (and they were good), and no matter how climatic the storyline was (and it was VERY climatic) it never really gripped you, sucked you and pulled you along. Instead you are left thinking, “Well, *I* could’ve directed that…”.

Shame.

June 5, 2006

Ban the outcasts

George Bush has recently called for a ban on gay marriages. He said:

Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and a wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society.

So what of the husband and wife who love each other but don’t have children? Are they not qualified to get married? Do children make a marriage? Will this legislation include a clause that states that married people must promote the welfare of children? And what the hell does that mean anyway?

You could easily write this off as just another way to win votes but the sentiment behind this last statement sickens me to the core. Apparently it’s no longer acceptable to say that, if re-elected, you’ll cut taxes, increase spending on schools or anything that may have an actually, positive, change to everyday life of everyday people. No, these days it seems to be fashionable to attack various groups of people, ostracizing and vilifying are the methods of choice.

What kind of way is that to run a country? What is the benefit to the great good?

Ohhh but of course that’s just naive little me, forgetting that politicians aren’t there to serve the people that elected them (or, perhaps DIDN’T elect them in this case). And “they” wonder why so many people can’t be bothered to vote. What’s the point? What say do we really have?

Now, I’m not suggesting for a minute that we all stop voting… ohh wait, maybe that’s the answer!! If everybody doesn’t vote, and I mean not one single vote, what happens?

Anyway as a heterosexual male, who is happily married and who is in a relationship that is BY CHOICE without children, where do we fit in? We aren’t… what was it… “promoting the welfare of children and the stability of society” so are we to be classed as outcasts as well?

Or is it ok for us because, you know, we’re not “one of them”.

And people wonder why we don’t have children, what kind of world is this to bring a child into?

June 3, 2006

Seven Years

1999 – where it all began.
2000 ish
2001 ish
2002 ish
2003
2004
2005

Blimey, that’s an epic amount of rubbish I’ve posted, and a hugely huge waste of time (mine and yours) that I’ve managed to perpetuate.

Actually that’s not true.

Personally I’ve come a long way in seven years, far from the reason that made me start this silly site in the first place that’s for sure. If, seven years ago, you’d asked me where I was heading I’d have given you several blank looks and mumbled something approximating what I thought you wanted to hear.

But now, seven years on I can look to the future and have some knowledge of where I’m heading, or at the very least where I wanted to be and more importantly WHO I want to be. That’s a big thing. It’s taken me a long time to get to this point.

As for this website, well, it’ll continue to evolve with me but I have absolutely no idea what form it’ll take over the next seven years. And of course I’ve met some fascinatingly wonderful people thanks to this blogging hobby, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

So, here’s to the next seven years, or at the very least to the next year when I write up another “gosh haven’t I been doing this for ages” style post…

June 2, 2006