Throughout my studies, I always perceived Freud as a simple, humble individual; the Godfather of Psychology if you will. Judging by photographs of the man and his advances in the field of psychology, it always seemed to me that he was the exact stereotype of a psychologist: an ageing doctor wearing a brown 3-piece suit or perhaps just a simple tweed jacket sitting cross-legged in a high-backed leather armchair listening to the ailments of his clients whilst stroking his beard and peering understandingly through a pair of round spectacles resting precariously on the edge of his nose, punctuating every answer he hears with a low, acknowledging grunt.
Having only really known the basics of the man and his work, it is like leaping into the abyss reading more and more into his theories. In short, the man either had an awful lot of time on his hands or he is, in fact, completely and utterly bonkers.
The concept of the id and the subconcious is a key idea in trying to understand Freud although I rather get the impression that he has taken this too far. If we literally did what we want and when we want then where would our society be? To suggest that every male would like to kill his father and sleep with his mother (Oedipus complex) is frankly beyond the realms of imagination. For someone who doesn't really approve of women, Freud seems to be really obsessed with sex and sexuality/sexual liberalism.
Modernism of course wouldn't be complete without a touch of Wagner to accompany our Nietzsche and co. I can recall a line from the recent Tom Cruise film "Valkyrie", a motion picture based on the true story of Klaus Von Stauffenberg and his secret plot to kill Hitler and overthrow the Nazis. In his first meeting with Hitler, Von Stauffenberg presents him with a file to sign marked "Valkyrie". Hitler signs then says: "I see you know your Wagner, Colonel. One cannot understand National Socialism if one does not understand Wagner". What a line! The ring cycle is a fantastic arrangement of music, one of course, that must be played tremendously loud in order to feel the full effect. The famous Liebestode scene in Tristan and Isolde is just a fanstastic concept. Imagine the last thing you ever do is have a screaming orgasm: at least when you went you'd go with a smile on your face.
Just a final point, having seen "Abigail's Party" it is one of the most cringeworthy examples of drama that I have ever witnessed. Ok, I can understand that when it was filmed it was a massive break with tradition but purely from an entertainment point of view, I can honestly say that watching something as odd as that is not my cup of tea!
Sunday 25 October 2009
Thursday 22 October 2009
The Day Democracy Nearly Died...
It's funny how one man can cause so much uproar and violence courtesy of a one hour television appearance. I would like to categorically state now that I am not a racist and in no way support the British National Party or any of its associates.
Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time had been building to a climax that errupted in a cataclysmic anti-BNP rant on the BBC's flagship political debate programme. This is a subject that has irked me for some time hence why I am devoting another blog to it. The man may be deluded and may have some atrocious policies but it is his right in a democratic country to air his views in a public forum. Is it going too far to say that the BBC have today saved democracy in Britain?
I sometimes wonder about the severity of the stranglehold that Political Correctness has over every aspect of society in Great Britain when the idiots in our so-called government can wage an illegal war in the Middle East in the name of democracy yet do not want to allow the leader of a party with two elected MEPs to contribute to a political debate. In fact, "debate" is hardly what I would call Thursday's programme. Mr Griffin was invited on the programme in the interest of impartiality however, the so called 'debate' turned into one massive demonisation of the man and his party.
When will these tree-hugging, Sun-reading, ignoramuses learn that his appearance would have done nothing at all to increase BNP support. However, the way he has been hounded and not even allowed to answer questions due to interruptions may work in Mr Griffin's favour. He may be a manipulative man but the points he made about Iraq were spot on in my view. He said: "We should have stayed out of Iraq and we must let the middle eastern countries deal with their own affairs", or words to that effect. I agree with him. Does that make me a racist? Does that mean I automatically support the BNP? No of course not but to the idiots in the "anti-fascist league", I'll bet I'm right up there next to Hitler and Satan himself.
How can Jack Straw talk of the BNP having "no moral compass"? Of course, how silly of me: lying to Parliament and the British public is fine isn't it Mr Straw. All this coming from the man who cowered and "wriggled out" of John Humphries's questioning on the 'sexed-up dossier' whilst appearing on the Today programme. What a joke.
I only hope there is time for the idiots who jump on the bandwagon to realise that there is a democratic right of free speech on this fair and sceptred isle. Listening to a text read out by Jeremy Vine on his lunchtime Radio 2 show today made me realise a great irony in all this. The text went something like this: "A lot of people who are protesting against Nick Griffin's appearance need to remember one crucial point. They protest now but down the pub, they, along with every other working man will be spouting this same sort of BNP material"
He's probably right.
Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time had been building to a climax that errupted in a cataclysmic anti-BNP rant on the BBC's flagship political debate programme. This is a subject that has irked me for some time hence why I am devoting another blog to it. The man may be deluded and may have some atrocious policies but it is his right in a democratic country to air his views in a public forum. Is it going too far to say that the BBC have today saved democracy in Britain?
I sometimes wonder about the severity of the stranglehold that Political Correctness has over every aspect of society in Great Britain when the idiots in our so-called government can wage an illegal war in the Middle East in the name of democracy yet do not want to allow the leader of a party with two elected MEPs to contribute to a political debate. In fact, "debate" is hardly what I would call Thursday's programme. Mr Griffin was invited on the programme in the interest of impartiality however, the so called 'debate' turned into one massive demonisation of the man and his party.
When will these tree-hugging, Sun-reading, ignoramuses learn that his appearance would have done nothing at all to increase BNP support. However, the way he has been hounded and not even allowed to answer questions due to interruptions may work in Mr Griffin's favour. He may be a manipulative man but the points he made about Iraq were spot on in my view. He said: "We should have stayed out of Iraq and we must let the middle eastern countries deal with their own affairs", or words to that effect. I agree with him. Does that make me a racist? Does that mean I automatically support the BNP? No of course not but to the idiots in the "anti-fascist league", I'll bet I'm right up there next to Hitler and Satan himself.
How can Jack Straw talk of the BNP having "no moral compass"? Of course, how silly of me: lying to Parliament and the British public is fine isn't it Mr Straw. All this coming from the man who cowered and "wriggled out" of John Humphries's questioning on the 'sexed-up dossier' whilst appearing on the Today programme. What a joke.
I only hope there is time for the idiots who jump on the bandwagon to realise that there is a democratic right of free speech on this fair and sceptred isle. Listening to a text read out by Jeremy Vine on his lunchtime Radio 2 show today made me realise a great irony in all this. The text went something like this: "A lot of people who are protesting against Nick Griffin's appearance need to remember one crucial point. They protest now but down the pub, they, along with every other working man will be spouting this same sort of BNP material"
He's probably right.
Monday 19 October 2009
Threats from the right?
With a weekend of fantastic, entertaining sporting action behind us, we can always count on Monday mornings to bring us back down to earth with a bump.
Congratulations to Jenson Button for finally securing the World Drivers' Championship with a superb drive at Interlagos yesterday evening. It seems as if the Brawn GP cars have set a standard that every other constructor will be striving for next year, which can only mean another season of mouthwatering Formula 1.
Staying with the sporting thread, you can now read my match report from Saturday's League One encounter between Swindon Town and Hartlepool United.
http:/www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0, ,10341~47765,00.html
In the news, the BBC may face legal action over including the BNP's "man we all love to hate", Nick Griffin on the corporation's flagship debate programme Question Time, due to be broadcast on Thursday. Welsh secretary Peter Hain has written to the BBC warning them that the BNP are, at present, and unlawful body following the recent court decision regarding its membership and has called the decision to include Mr Griffin "unreasonable, irrational and unlawful".
The BBC have responded by saying that "if there was an election tommorow, then the BNP would be allowed to stand as candidates. Our audiences and the electorate will be able to make up their own minds about the different policies offered by elected politicians"
WELL DONE BBC! Who does Mr Hain think he is telling the BBC who they should and should not have on their programmes? Is he one of many people now jumping on the anti-BNP bandwagon who all of a sudden see them as a threat because they won an almighty TWO seats at the recent EU elections? Is he scared that Mr Griffin will cut off Wales from the UK if he came to power? I thought the Welsh wanted independence?
I think I can speak for anyone vaguely interested in news and/or current affairs when I say that I cannot wait for Thursday's Question Time when Mr Griffin is going to get pounded on all sides by everyone from the bearded lefties to lettuce-hugging Greens to the blazered public schoolboys of the Conservative party.
In my eyes, it seems that Mr Hain is unaware (as most of the Labour Party seems to be unaware of everything at the moment) that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a democracy. I'm going to set the record straight now - as a young Briton of Polish extraction why would I want the BNP in power? I'm not a fascist and I'm not a racist but does no-one else find this little tussle between the BNP and everyone else really fascinating? Listening to these guys talk endlessly about their policies and the uproar that it seems to cause in a society so cocooned in beurocracy and red tape that one can't even call a spade, a spade anymore.
Put it this way, at least they have a clear manifesto unlike the three main parties that seem to have taken to the "Tony Blair" way of doing things and just changing the odd policy here and there to make it look like a brand new toy.
James Joyce's Ullyses broke the mould in English literature and brought us into the Modernism era. Are right or left wing parties like the BNP going to break the mould in politics?
Please comment with your thoughts
Congratulations to Jenson Button for finally securing the World Drivers' Championship with a superb drive at Interlagos yesterday evening. It seems as if the Brawn GP cars have set a standard that every other constructor will be striving for next year, which can only mean another season of mouthwatering Formula 1.
Staying with the sporting thread, you can now read my match report from Saturday's League One encounter between Swindon Town and Hartlepool United.
http:/www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0, ,10341~47765,00.html
In the news, the BBC may face legal action over including the BNP's "man we all love to hate", Nick Griffin on the corporation's flagship debate programme Question Time, due to be broadcast on Thursday. Welsh secretary Peter Hain has written to the BBC warning them that the BNP are, at present, and unlawful body following the recent court decision regarding its membership and has called the decision to include Mr Griffin "unreasonable, irrational and unlawful".
The BBC have responded by saying that "if there was an election tommorow, then the BNP would be allowed to stand as candidates. Our audiences and the electorate will be able to make up their own minds about the different policies offered by elected politicians"
WELL DONE BBC! Who does Mr Hain think he is telling the BBC who they should and should not have on their programmes? Is he one of many people now jumping on the anti-BNP bandwagon who all of a sudden see them as a threat because they won an almighty TWO seats at the recent EU elections? Is he scared that Mr Griffin will cut off Wales from the UK if he came to power? I thought the Welsh wanted independence?
I think I can speak for anyone vaguely interested in news and/or current affairs when I say that I cannot wait for Thursday's Question Time when Mr Griffin is going to get pounded on all sides by everyone from the bearded lefties to lettuce-hugging Greens to the blazered public schoolboys of the Conservative party.
In my eyes, it seems that Mr Hain is unaware (as most of the Labour Party seems to be unaware of everything at the moment) that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a democracy. I'm going to set the record straight now - as a young Briton of Polish extraction why would I want the BNP in power? I'm not a fascist and I'm not a racist but does no-one else find this little tussle between the BNP and everyone else really fascinating? Listening to these guys talk endlessly about their policies and the uproar that it seems to cause in a society so cocooned in beurocracy and red tape that one can't even call a spade, a spade anymore.
Put it this way, at least they have a clear manifesto unlike the three main parties that seem to have taken to the "Tony Blair" way of doing things and just changing the odd policy here and there to make it look like a brand new toy.
James Joyce's Ullyses broke the mould in English literature and brought us into the Modernism era. Are right or left wing parties like the BNP going to break the mould in politics?
Please comment with your thoughts
Wednesday 14 October 2009
The end of the world as we know it?
So MPs are fighting back in the "war against expenses" and the world is effectively about to end after Lord Mandelson's claims that the strike by Postal workers will be suicide for Britain and the chief of Tesco's criticisms of young people in this country being "unfit for work". So just another normal day at the office then.
I've found that people are very quick to jump on the bandwagon when it comes to the expenses scandal. Including myself in this, I've realised that most people are terribly mis-informed. Today's Times (14/10) led with the story that MPs will appeal against the retrospective regulations put in place by the man leading the inquiry, Sir Thomas Legg. One of the MPs quoted in the article claimed that she had been asked to provide mortgage payment receipts from the period 04/05, the year before she had been elected. I completely agree that MPs should repay the needless spending of public money but when people like Julia Goldsworthy have to pay back money that they hadn't received then that really is too far.
Last night's ITV evening news said that the shadow cabinet has to collectively pay back £18,000 whereas the figures for the actual Cabinet are unknown but they are expected to be "much lower". Really? Does that not seem a little fishy? The actual Cabinet is going to be expected to pay LESS than the shadow Cabinet? I find that very hard to believe.
So the end of the world is nigh. Our young people cannot read and write and the Post Office strike will cripple this country. The teaching of basic numeracy and literacy skills is severely lacking in schools according to Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy resulting in employers having to fill the gap in knowledge. Is it hardly surprising that this country is going down the pan? British students not wanting to learn and conversely, foreign students coming in with bright eyes and bushy tails just itching to get learning are keeping the educations figures at a normal level. It worries me when people cannot tell the difference between "there" and "their"!
On a lighter note, Glaswegian translators have been advertised for at a translation company. Terrific! Former Lord Provost of Glasgow Alex Mosson laughed at the advertisement claiming that on his travels worldwide no-one failed to understand him. Sorry Alex, couldn't quite understand you there could you repeat that....
Monday 12 October 2009
Journalism Year Two...aaaaaaaand ACTION!
Welcome, welcome, welcome to my new home here at Blogger.com
After a long summer break, it's time to get back into the swing of being a journalist again. New year and a new job! Having worked last year at Hosptial Radio Wey, I have gone up in the world somewhat and am now part of the team that writes match reports and updates live text on the website of League One side Swindon Town. I will be posting these reports up regularly so feel free to explore them. Here is the latest offering from Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Millwall.
http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10341~47721,00.html
So MUCH has happened over the last few months that I would still be here at the start of year three if I mentioned everything. I will, however begin with something that deeply affected me over the last few months; the passing of football great Sir Bobby Robson. It's hard to avoid cliche when talking about the man but it IS true that he was a legend of the game and it IS true that he had a profound effect on everyone he met. Rest in Peace Sir Bobby, you deserve it.
Also in the news over the last month or so have been the party conferences. Oh to be a journalist at one of the party conferences! It was clear that the assembled media were long sharpening their knives before the conference season started but it was terrific to watch as the standard "we shall fight them on the beaches" Churchillian type speeches were rolled out one by one, accompanied by a lot of fist bashing and finger pointing. Then the interviews on Newsnight and Channel Four news (to name but two programmes) were great viewing.
One item which particularly caught my eye was a quick question fired at Peter Mandelson as he left the Labour party conference one evening: the girl asked a seemingly innocuous question about his relationship with the Prime Minister that stopped him dead in his tracks. He turned to the girl and said "uh I'm sorry...wh..who are you with...?" to which the girl replied Channel 4. "oh...you are just the worst...h...ho...how dare you...." came the reply punctuated by a wry smile; The reaction of a rat on a sinking ship.
The Tory conference, however made for pretty grim viewing I thought. Does anyone else find George Osbourne tiresome? Having to watch as his fantastic plans for the economy are hung out to dry by Paxman? No thanks. It seems to me as if electing the Conservatives would be like be like going on holiday to a tacky touristy holiday resort: it looks different and feels different but you still get the same food, same people and the same atmosphere that you would back home.
After The Sun newspaper's decision to withdraw support for Labour it seems as if everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon. The Daily Mail printed a story the day after Gordon Brown's big speech analysing Sarah Brown's fashion sense! It seems as if politics in this country is going the way of that famous quote from the television programme Yes Prime Minister regarding newspapers - "It doesn't matter who runs the country as long as she's got big t**s". Mr Brown said in an interview with John Humphries on Radio 4's Today programme "The Sun doesn't decide who wins elections, the voters do". Well Prime Minister, what do a majority of floating voters read......
After a long summer break, it's time to get back into the swing of being a journalist again. New year and a new job! Having worked last year at Hosptial Radio Wey, I have gone up in the world somewhat and am now part of the team that writes match reports and updates live text on the website of League One side Swindon Town. I will be posting these reports up regularly so feel free to explore them. Here is the latest offering from Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Millwall.
http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10341~47721,00.html
So MUCH has happened over the last few months that I would still be here at the start of year three if I mentioned everything. I will, however begin with something that deeply affected me over the last few months; the passing of football great Sir Bobby Robson. It's hard to avoid cliche when talking about the man but it IS true that he was a legend of the game and it IS true that he had a profound effect on everyone he met. Rest in Peace Sir Bobby, you deserve it.
Also in the news over the last month or so have been the party conferences. Oh to be a journalist at one of the party conferences! It was clear that the assembled media were long sharpening their knives before the conference season started but it was terrific to watch as the standard "we shall fight them on the beaches" Churchillian type speeches were rolled out one by one, accompanied by a lot of fist bashing and finger pointing. Then the interviews on Newsnight and Channel Four news (to name but two programmes) were great viewing.
One item which particularly caught my eye was a quick question fired at Peter Mandelson as he left the Labour party conference one evening: the girl asked a seemingly innocuous question about his relationship with the Prime Minister that stopped him dead in his tracks. He turned to the girl and said "uh I'm sorry...wh..who are you with...?" to which the girl replied Channel 4. "oh...you are just the worst...h...ho...how dare you...." came the reply punctuated by a wry smile; The reaction of a rat on a sinking ship.
The Tory conference, however made for pretty grim viewing I thought. Does anyone else find George Osbourne tiresome? Having to watch as his fantastic plans for the economy are hung out to dry by Paxman? No thanks. It seems to me as if electing the Conservatives would be like be like going on holiday to a tacky touristy holiday resort: it looks different and feels different but you still get the same food, same people and the same atmosphere that you would back home.
After The Sun newspaper's decision to withdraw support for Labour it seems as if everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon. The Daily Mail printed a story the day after Gordon Brown's big speech analysing Sarah Brown's fashion sense! It seems as if politics in this country is going the way of that famous quote from the television programme Yes Prime Minister regarding newspapers - "It doesn't matter who runs the country as long as she's got big t**s". Mr Brown said in an interview with John Humphries on Radio 4's Today programme "The Sun doesn't decide who wins elections, the voters do". Well Prime Minister, what do a majority of floating voters read......
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