Nefarious

As someone who has never been on the receiving end of racism I can only imagine how hurtful it must be. Judging someone by the colour of their skin or their country of origins is the basest form of ignorance and pointless stupidity.

Being Irish, of course I’m sure not all my compatriots can say they’ve never experienced some from of xenophobia, either in relation to the potato eating leprechaun or the car bomb planting terrorist. We have a tendency to laugh it off now, sure we’re great crack, everyone loves us, that’s all in the past. And if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

Maybe this is the best way to deal with bigotry although I’m sure Irish people who have suffered abuse and segregation would (understandably) disagree. It’s not so easy to be flippant when you or your family have been degraded or had to endure indignities because of where you are from.

So I can completely understand why there is such an abhorrence of a very certain ‘N-Word’ by the people who it has affected. It is a word that has been used with cruelty to degrade, belittle and alienate entire races.



What needs to be remembered however, that a word can only be as hurtful and offensive as the hate behind it. The problem isn’t the combination of letters that form the word, but the memory of murder, rape, oppression and slavery that it has been based on, sadly even to this day.

It’s this point that highlights the ludicrousness of the decision for future editions of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to be published without the ‘N-Word.’ It’s not the fact that the character Jim is referred to as ‘nigger’ that is offensive. It the abuse and intolerance he copes with on a daily basis.

Despite this Jim is possibly the noblest adult character in what is one of the first books to address the subject of an unequal and unjust America. Mark Twain was intelligent and articulate, one of the greatest writers of his generation. A declared liberal and civil rights supporter in a time when such things were not popular in his home state of Missouri, the only group he was attacking in his opus was the ignorant.

One of the main points of this classic work of literature is that the main character, Huck, learns to question the accepted norm, that is racist and exclusionist, and begins to treat people for who they are rather than pigmentation or class.

Censoring a word will not change the fact that racism exists or, that even today, African Americans can probably still consider themselves second class citizens. Nor will its eradication make it easier to forget the past.

Apparently some of the thinking behind it is that people won’t read it because the tome is already assumed to be racist partially due to the 219 times that the offending word is used. But with the word being used in such a way to highlight ignorance of the user, surely explanation and education is better than suppression or restriction.

The only thing that is affected by this is the work of one of the Great American Writers. When the world already suspects that as a nation, America is some what anti intellectual, why perpetuate this by messing with one of their own masterpieces?



Even I can see that it is pointless move with no benefit to anyone. And I’m just a thick Paddy.

Kinda Random

So I feel like I owe you people something. I didn’t get to post anything a couple of weeks ago so I feel as if I’ve short changed you, the reader.

So in order to make it up to you I’ve decided that instead of a full blog, I will just share with you some very random thoughts that I have been having lately. Nothing too heavy or life changing. Just a couple of opinions, reviews and recommendations that you can take or leave as you wish.

1) I love Custard Creams. I had an aunt who used to work in Jacobs when I was a kid. We used to get loads of biscuits. Goldgrain, Chocolate Goldgrain, Fig Rolls, Kimberly to name but a few. And then there was Custard Creams. Custard Creams are a biscuit sandwich with a dollop of vanilla, not custard (I don't actually like custard) flavoured cream-esque substance between them.

As a boy I used to eat them by the dozens.

Then as time went by, they seemed to become passé. I didn’t want bland Custard Creams. I could have colossal chocolate chip cookies or magnificent muffins. My tea time snack had moved on. I was a sophisticated cosmopolitan man about town now. I wanted new and exciting taste sensations.

That was until recently. I was in work and one of my wonderful colleagues had bought a packet of Londis brand Custard Creams. I was having a cup of tea so I thought sure I’d have one. It was amazing. On top of all the biscuit-y goodness that was teasing my palate it tasted like nostalgia. And since then I’ve been hooked. I’m on about a pack a week. I may need to see if I can find a confectionary rehab programme.

2) I really enjoy working in Muji. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere, my colleagues are great people. The customers are usually pretty nice. I haven’t had any bad ones anyway. I know one or two have appeared but I’ve been lucky to not have to deal with them. Instead I get to chat to nice customers who are pretty chilled out, (in fairness, its hard to get stressed out about buying pens,) don’t mind passing the time of day with you and being friendly.

As part time in between jobs go. Its pretty cool.

3) As a symbol of a something that is supposed to be about love for one another and human compassion the Crucifix is pretty fucking severe. In the grounds of Mount Argus church there is full size crucifix with a statue of Jesus nailed to it.

I know I’m not the first person to point out the hypocrisy of Christian (or any) religion to profess a love for mankind and yet to have such a history of massacre and brutality. This is not an original thought. It is however something that continues to this day when we should all have reached a state of enlightenment.

Instead, when we send our children (mankind’s…not mine obviously) to school they are still being emotionally blackmailed into believing that Jesus endured the tortures of having spikes driven through his extremities and died nailed to a cross for their souls. Catholic guilt starts with the Catholic guilt trip.

4) For a more succinct take on why religion is bullshit I suggest you take in the works of George Carlin. When it came to religion or any of humanity’s bullshit and hypocrisy, George was truly one of the great minds of the last 100 years. And he was hilarious. As a comedian his material is unparalleled and his influence is immeasurable. If you’re a fan of any contemporary comedian worth his salt, then you will have felt Carlin’s reach in their work.

A clever and erudite man, George Carlin was as controversial as they come. His disregard for the falseness and hypocrisy of fame led him to seek out an alternative path. He turned his back on a successful career in light entertainment comedy in search for something more fulfilling. He became one of the most challenging and outspoken voice of the 60’s and 70’s. The only thing that could compare to his anti-authoritarian feelings was his love of language and he managed to tie these beautifully together in his piece called ‘7 words you can never say on television.’ If you haven’t heard it, stop reading this bullshit and go find it. Get some use out of the Internet for crying out loud.

5) Spanking. What is that all about? I’ve a pretty liberal outlook when it comes to sexual peccadilloes but honestly. Has anyone ever really taken a sexual pleasure from being on either end of the act of the smacking a bare hand on a bare ass? Don’t get me wrong. I’ve done it. But purely in a ‘sex is fun, lets have a laugh’ kind of way. I’ve gotten no particular pleasure out of it. Is it supposed to be taken seriously?

I only ask because my housemates seem to get an enormous amount of enjoyment from it. I can only assume they are enjoying it because they are always doing it. Seven or eight slaps a time. Judging by the yelps of delight he is the spanker and she the spankee. I might be wrong, I only have what I can hear morning, noon and night to go by. Each to their own I guess.

6) I wanted to a list of ten things but I’ve decided I might try hold off on some of them for proper blogs. So in the mean time, here are some things I recommend you go find and enjoy.

Questionable Content. It’s like a rom-com-indie-pop-techno-babble-sci-fi-sex-triangle web comic. Its been keeping me amused.

George Carlin. I talked about him earlier. He will make you laugh and think. I would suggest albums such as Class Clown, AM/FM, Jammin in New York and Life is worth losing. You can probably see most of his material on You Tube.

Shutter Island. An old fashioned mystery thriller directed by Martin Scorsese and a movie that finally allowed me to take Leonardo DiCaprio seriously as an actor.

Water Music by T.C. Boyle. A bonkers brilliant book that a friend gave be to read. Set at the end of the 18th Century showing a side of London that Dickens never wrote about and the Jungle adventures of an explorer trying to make a name for himself in the world.

House M.D. It can be a little repetitive with its mystery illness/trial and error/ find the cure formula but the characters in this programme are so well crafted that it is much more interesting as a study of people than a medical drama. Hugh Laurie is outstanding and Olivia Wilde is incredibly hot.

He Drinks Tequila by Crystal Swing. Awesome!!!!

So there you go. Just a little to give you some kind of an idea of what’s going on at the moment. Normal blogging service will resume later in the week.