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Saturday 11 March 2017

You Suggest, I Digress

So with only a smattering of ideas in terms of what to write this week I turned to the smartest bunch of people I know to suggest topics for the blog.

Last time I suggested I might only do one but ended up doing them all. Frankly there's not even gonna be a shadow of a doubt this time, I'm just straight up doing all of them.

So with some names removed to protect the innocent (HAH)...

Mighty Max playsets - Mighty Max was AWESOME. I had a bunch of the playsets, a lot of the smaller ones, one or two of the bigger ones. The cartoon was the absolute bomb, too. Just check out this intro. It should tell you everything you need to know. It's METAL AS FUCK.

Boobs - Yes, they're very lovely.

Kittens - Yes, they too are very lovely. BUT - controversial opinion - having had more elderly cats as pets, I prefer them, honestly. Especially the big sloppy ones that don't really care about going outside, they just want to sit on your lap. Love them.

Roses - I get hayfever. Overpriced sex organs that die very quickly. Not a big fan of flowers. Succulents, however - cacti - that's my shit. If only I was actually good with plants, I'd keep some.

A gadget you don't have but want - Oh lord there are so many. See I love gadgets, I love little bits of technowizardry. If I lived by myself I'd love one of those speaker systems that you can stream to anywhere in the house - a 3D printer would be kick-ass - one of those super-expensive but very stable drones with really high definition cameras - a set of those exoskeleton legs so that walking around wouldn't fuck my knees and ruin my joints - god, the list is endless.

Boobies - They are very lovely. (Okay are you folks noticing a pattern here?)

Tory Manifesto Promises - Said it time and again. What a politician says and what a politician does are two different things. You can always trust the Conservatives to make cuts and to help big business. That's not just an opinion. Look at history, and look at the voting records of those in parliament right now and previously. If anyone took their manifesto promises as being at all believable - The Party Of The NHS, don't make me laugh - then it shows a general lack of political acumen. This isn't limited to Tories I will bear mention. Manifesto promises are all well and good, but before you put any stock in them, see if the MPs of that party have actually ever voted for or supported those promises previously. You CAN do that. They DO keep records. No matter how non-connected a politician will tell you they are with the fracking industry, there is a record on how they have voted in connection to it - and that, they can't make up. (If anyone DOESN'T know how to check voting records, TheyWorkForYou and The Public Whip are two great places to start.)

The Art Of War - I read this fairly regularly. It's not such a great guide as people think it is, but it does contain several little nuggets of wisdom, which can be applied to a wide spread of daily experience and general life. I play a lot of games, many of them involving strategy or conflict, and so I perhaps get more out of it than most would. One of my favourite sayings originates from the Art of War: "If you know your enemy and you know yourself, you will not be defeated in a hundred battles."

Staffs/Staves in a fight - The problem is room to work with. The same as two-handed swords, which I actually have a little training in. If you've got empty space, like at least twelve feet, then they will do the job. They give you reach and are a flexible way to do damage to someone and stop yourself from being stabbed to death. The way they are presented in movies, though, well. People spin them around like they weigh nothing, yet they hit like they're made of lead. Most weapon fight scenes in films don't do justice to the techniques and items in question. Don't get me wrong, I love watching it happen - the Neo vs Agent Smiths fight in the park in Matrix: Reloaded is a great staff fight scene for all of its ridiculousness - but it just doesn't reflect the usability in the real world. Again, same is said with swords. If you're still fighting with a sword after like three minutes, you've done it wrong.

The trans bathroom debate - In my eyes there isn't a debate. There's just people that want to use the bathroom, and other people making ridiculous demands of them. I don't mean to attack the person that suggested this as a topic, it's one that needs talking about. It's just that calling it a debate implies that both sides approach with equanimity - and I don't think that's true.

Trumpton - My views summed up here. (Content Warning: Dank Rave Music.)

Thoughts on narratives told using multiple mediums (Transmedia storytelling) - So in terms of a franchise I like this idea. Like, playing Halo tells you a lot about the story, and is a self-contained story in and of itself; but the expanded media, novels and such, present a far more textured and interesting world for the games to exist in. However...if I am playing a video game but need to pause it and watch a movie to get the whole story, like the narrative has a hole in it if I don't do this thing, then - well I dislike that. I dislike that quite keenly. "It makes more sense if you've read the book", that I can be slightly more forgiving about - hell, I like some films that are kind of incomprehensible compared to their books. (And films whose books are almost incomprehensible, too.) It just...you know. If you can't tell the story, try a different story, and don't make me go out and buy something new to fill in the holes.

The weird subtext of Kong: Skull Island - I haven't seen it yet. I want to. When I am mobile I will. But to me, from just the trailers and such, it looks a lot like a Vietnam war film with big monsters in it, which suits me just fine. Like down to the colour choices of shots and the way people talk, the way it is written. Again - just from the trailers, this may change when I watch the movie. Now I like movies about Vietnam, and I like monster movies, but do the two great flavours taste great together? Remains to be seen. By the way. Why isn't this film called Viet Kong?

Boobs - Okay see that's the third person on my Facebook friends list to suggest I write about boobs. All ladies, no less. I have no idea why. I will make no secret of the fact that I am a big fan! But like...that's kind of problematic, 'cos that's a very short step away from objectification. So suffice to say this: however much I love boobs, people that may or may not have them are more important to me. Just please lord don't test that statement. My spirit is strong, my flesh is very, very weak.

Insomnia seems appropriate - I asked for these suggestions at 00:30, I was still checking them at 04:00. Insomnia used to rule my life, now it is more of a background character trait than a primary thing - it's often primarily driven by pain anyhow. But yes. Sleep is not easy for me. Until I fall asleep, and then, half the time it is very very easy indeed. The other half of the time it just doesn't last anywhere near long enough. I've kind of learned to cope without the standard 6-8 hours, though if I do look wild around the eyes any time before noon, that's why.

Go all meta and blog about your blogging - Hah, well. I've been doing this blog for a while now. The first entry was on the 8th of July 2012, and talked about me dropping my previous blog. There weren't even any labels that far back. I should fix that really. Spend an afternoon tagging up all my old entries. I've found it a great way to get things out of my skull and into a more legible format; it's helped me deal with things I am thinking and feeling in a way that feels constructive. Also I sometimes get audience participation which is really entertaining in its own way. I used to worry about viewership, but then I stopped. I shouldn't care how many people read this. I'm writing it for my benefit primarily, even if other people reading it may get something from it (and I hope they do!). So honestly, it's a great thing to have in my life. I enjoy my little slice of the blogverse.

Though, that said - if any of you think that anything I've said would be of interest to other folks you know? Do feel free to distribute. Even if they just want a snide laugh at my overly-optimistic Leftie principles or how I feel about Transformers.

So there you have it. Another job lot of suggested topics done. I always enjoy this - I can never guarantee what I will get asked about...

...though perhaps I can guarantee one politics post and one post about boobs?

Thanks for tuning in, folks. Have a better one.

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