Posts by Rich Lock
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Oh, and the best thing about torque wrenches is that they usually have an enormously long shaft.....
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Jack - yes, that's what I was getting at - being competent enough to do basic stuff for yourself if you need to (doesn't matter if you're male or female).
Of course, three things are always manly:
1) Beards
2) Scars
3) Tattoos4) Laughing at pain. Your own or that of a friend.
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I always enjoyed the subtext to Rambo I
The Rambo 1 (or 'First Blood' for the pub quiz pedants out there) stuff is very interesting.
The original book on which the story is based is apparently much more explicit about the father/son-type relationship between Rambo and Trautman, and the training which Rambo is subjected to by Trautman in order to burn his humanity out of him, and turn him into a ruthless killing machine.
The conclusion to the story is that the 'son' has been comprehensively betrayed by the 'father' explicitly because in teaching him to become a remorseless killer, the 'father' has taught him the exact opposite of what he needs to survive as a man in the modern world, and has in fact forced him to 'unlearn' what he would need (humanity). The contrast with that point and the fact that Rambo has become almost the pinnacle of the traditional view of 'Manhood' probably doesn't need to be pointed out....
Of course, by the time the story transitioned on to the silver screen, most of that was lost.
Personally I've found memorising the XVIII Sonnet, The Sun Rising and other bits and bobs of classic love poetry then deploying them strategically and at the right moment very *ahem* *cough* handy. If you've never tried it, give it a shot.
Heh. The old 'pretend to be sensitive in order to get laid' trick, eh?
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I love how, at about 10pm, everyone started singing to each other.
On-line virtual karaoke is going to be The Next Big Thing. Get in quick so you can say you were first.
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The modern man in crisis thing is quite interesting. I'm not sure we can or should be reduced to lists of mundane stuff.
I do tend to think that most of these lists are compiled by the sort of people who'd have trouble holding down a job at FHM.
Things to do before you're 30!!!! Get caught cheating on your girlfriend!!!! With her best friend!!!!
Ya rly.
And most of these list seem to boild down to 'how to be a competently functioning adult (non-gender specific)'. For city folk, that means a greater emphasis on stuff like choosing the correct wine. For country folk, that means a greater emphasis on stuff like backing a trailer.
WRT the 'modern man in crisis' stuff, I recommend Susan Faludi's 'Stiffed'
The common theme that runs through the book is that men have attempted to live up to the expectations of masculinity established in post-World War II America, only to find society not living up to its end of the bargain as globalization, downsizing and other economic pressures have made it difficult for men to live up to their expected roles as providers.
I don't fully agree with all her conclusions, but she certainly provides a lot of evidence to back herself.
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Laid here with the advertising sliding past my eyes like cartoons from other peoples lives,
I start to wonder what it takes to be a man.Well I learned to drink & I learned to smoke & I learned to tell a dirty joke.
If that's all there is then there's no point for me.
So please can I ask just why we're alive?
'Cos all that you do seems such a waste of time
& if you hang around too long you'll be a man.Tell me 'bout it.
Your car can get up to a hundred and ten -
you've nowhere to go but you'll go there again
and nothing ever makes no difference to a man.So you stumble into town & hold your stomach in.
Show them what you've got tho' they 've seen everything.
Yeah you're a beauty but they've seen your type before.
You've got no need but still you want,
so go and book that restaurant.
The wine will flow & then you'll just
fly away.A man.
That's what I am.(with many apologies to Jarvis Cocker)
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Don, as happy as I would normally be to discuss this in depth, I don't have time at the moment, but please don't take my quote, put it next to someone else's and then suggest that we said the same thing.
You're putting words in my mouth that I never said.
I wouldn't give a shit if Brown, or Blair for that matter 'didn't believe in something'. I never said that, so don't suggest I did.
I care about results. In the UK, to achive, or even go some way towards starting to achive those results would, in my opinion, have taken massively more effort than NuLab put in. Hence, what I actually did say, which was:
Too little, too late
So
Maybe you could do some research before trotting out those platittudes.
And maybe you could actually read what I said and respond to that, rather than what you think I said, mmmkay?
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I think the long period of investment in health, education, children and much of the public sector belies that statement. Nice for the left to have reasons to not vote Labour but don't pretend it is because of some sort of false betrayal of values. That in itself is a betrayal.
I think you and me have disagreed on this before, and I don't intend to get into a discussion about the specifics of it again.
But in summary:
Too little, too late, too shallow.
And as for your comment about 'betrayal of values: when Cherie Blair can sit down and say in all seriousness - 'but you don't understand, we are socialists', well....
I guffawed when I read that.
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The difference between Michael Savage and Nick Griffin is that the latter leads an actual political party in a position to do real harm to real people.
Well, maybe. The fact they'll be getting a lot more money than they probably know whhat to do with is deeply disturbing. But the far-right wingnuts in america don't seem to be doing too badly in terms of gaining support, either.
I'm aware that that article talks about a specific pair of wingnuts whose expectations were somewhat divorced from reality, so please don't point that out. The reason I'm linking is because it briefly discusses the rise in support for KKK-type organisations, which is extremely troubling.
WRT the BNP - As has been pointed out, they didn't signficantly increase their share of the vote. It's just that a lot of people didn't bother voting - I would reasonably guess out of disgust.
I don't fully agree with everything Tom has said, but I think he is right in flagging up:
a complacent, out of touch and self-entitled political class in Westminster
But that applies to both left and right. I doubt people have forgotten the perception of sleaze that lead to the 1997 landslide.
It may not be on the scale of something like the Saudi arms bribes, but the point is that the expenses scandal is easy for people to understand, unlike most policitcal scandals (sex notwithstanding). It's also the last straw on the camels back.
The reason parties like the BNP are doing well is two-fold:
1) No-one trusts either of the two mainstream parties - they are sick of them both (with good reason) and so don't vote.
2) Those people that do vote don't vote for the mainstream (see point 1)).
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LOL, as I believe teh kidz say.