What have you learnt today?

[pat grimshaw]

^ that's an inane tune with twisted lyrics and ridiculous plot which is more indicative of the Irish peasant settlers than about my country IMO.

Besides, how can a great country and its people be summarised in one song?

 

[PreTTy PeTe]

I learnt(learned) that Robby Benson is all grown up now since he did "ode to billy joe" 36 years ago

now

then

 

[refujiunderground]

that one bottle of water leads to a whole lot of time heading to and from the bathroom. water makes everybody piss a lot right? i know i'm not alone on this one. everybody says the same thing.

and it makes me feel cold too. i would drink tea but tea doesn't like me too much. i'm not trying to do number 2 more than once a day.

 

[belamyi]

^ that's an inane tune with twisted lyrics and ridiculous plot which is more indicative of the Irish peasant settlers than about my country IMO.

Besides, how can a great country and its people be summarised in one song?

It's a song about a bogan,and national anthems are supposed to appeal to the masses (of bogans or whatever) not the "enlightened" few.

 

[pat grimshaw]

^ Those over-emotional, braindead, fantasy-loving, Irish peasants produced too many bogans in my country.

At least the Marseillaise and Rule Britannia have good tunes. I don't know Spain's national anthem.

 

[pat grimshaw]

…she intended to make a statement about the insensitivity of people, passing biscuits around the kitchen table, gossiping about trivial matters, while a major tragedy had just occurred.

that reminds me of Harold Pinter's characters

 

[belamyi]

In recent times, journalists interviewed Bobbie Gentry, who wrote the song, to get her take on the lyrics, and what they meant to her as a songwriter.

She remarked that she never foresaw the controversy that her song caused, and certainly not people's fascination with it after all those years. What I found most intriguing is the fact that she never meant to portray any mystery on the matter of why he jumped off the bridge, or anything concering what was thrown off the bridge.

Rather, she noted,she intended to make a statement about the insensitivity of people, passing biscuits around the kitchen table, gossiping about trivial matters, while a major tragedy had just occurred.

So she intended to make a statement about shallowness, therefore she produced a shallow song hinting at depths to which she was as insensitive and insensible as anybody else.

 

[PreTTy PeTe]

 

[belamyi]

@PrettyPete:

Insiders have revealed that Robbie Benson is and was one of the nicest, gentlest men they have ever met. In a town full of narcissistic bastards, I think it's refreshing to hear that not everybody there is an asshole.

What town is that? Not everybody anywhere is or narcissistic or gentle.

 

[Nishin]

Today I learnt I can't resist straight porn (and that it never fails me...)

... So who knows a good shrink?

 

[BostonPirate]

“[Dona Maria] saw that the people of this world moved about in an armor of egotism, drunk with self-gazing, athirst for compliments, hearing little of what was said to them, unmoved by the accidents that befell their closest friends, in dread of all appeals that might interrupt their long communion with their own desires.”
― Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey

 

[belamyi]

You won't let that Irish thing go, will you?

I'd planned on addressing that issue, but I can't find a way to do it without opening Pandora's Box.

Ireland, Spain, Russia..: the periphery of Europe in the broad sense of the expression, aka where Europe loses her name... her sense/s.

 

[pat grimshaw]

You won't let that Irish thing go, will you?…

It may be diluted in your wealthy country but unfortunately they make up 40% of my inefficiently-run one. They complain the loudest over every trivial issue and have infiltrated the governments so their emotive wailing is now broadcast by the state media.

Thankfully we're about to have a country-wide Royal Commission which may root out the decades of pedophilia and coverups within the Catholic Church. And hopefully it may bring some honesty into this massive organisation with all its propaganda, emotional blackmail and mind-control.

 

[pat grimshaw]

^ I was corresponding with Criostoir about these issues and he acknowledged the dependance on alcohol

There's an excellent Irish gay writer named Colm Toibin. He says his people have been INFANTILISED— first by the English landlords, secondly and most importantly by the Catholic Church, and thirdly by the EEU subsidies

 

[belamyi]

^ I was corresponding with Criostoir about these issues and he acknowledged the dependance on alcohol

There's an excellent Irish gay writer named Colm Toibin. He says his people have been INFANTILISED— first by the English landlords, secondly and most importantly by the Catholic Church, and thirdly by the EEU subsidies

"Infantilised" away from what previous or "natural" state?
With Criost? Is he Celtic-Slavic or something?

 

[belamyi]

^Do you share my discomfort for the EEU?

Even from the date of its inception, I have never felt comfortable with it. An Englishman is not a German, who is not an Italian, who's not an Irishman, etc, and now innocent people have to pay the price for an act of idealism. I think the UK exercised most remarkable prudence when they chose not join the Euro.

To be fair, I can look at this situation from the viewpoint of an American. I only hope the very best for Europe. A big part of my heart lies in it; I care very much about its welfare. Right now, however, the situation looks pretty grim.

Extremely dumbed down Western civilization math for dummies (for those who always say I speak or write too much):

Europe 2012 = Roman Empire 312

USA = "Byzantine" Empire

Great Britain = Ancient Syria

Of course the values and, therefore, the equations, are false, but for lazy, "common" people who want quick impressions ignoring the capital, decisive, differentiating, stressing details, there they have it.

I always said that the EU would end up like this (I was so happy to find it that I commented on the vid back in 2009 or so):



but I still need an iconic representation of Britain laughing at The Continent for falling down from the same ground they all are sharing....

 

[Nishin]

^Do you share my discomfort for the EEU?

Even from the date of its inception, I have never felt comfortable with it. An Englishman is not a German, who is not an Italian, who's not an Irishman, etc, and now innocent people have to pay the price for an act of idealism. I think the UK exercised most remarkable prudence when they chose not join the Euro.

To be fair, I can look at this situation from the viewpoint of an American. I only hope the very best for Europe. A big part of my heart lies in it; I care very much about its welfare. Right now, however, the situation looks pretty grim.

I love the EU
Of course no system is perfect and there's always room for improvement
Yet it's the best thing that happened to Europe in the past 55 years

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6455879.stm

 

[belamyi]

I love the EU
Of course no system is perfect and there's always room for improvement
Yet it's the best thing that happened to Europe in the past 55 years

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6455879.stm

I somehow, somewhat agree: the best thing that can happen to a corpse is a nice embalming, and there is always "room for improvement"... but how long can it last?

http://brianorndorf.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54ee7b6428833017616dbcf1c970c-500wi

 

[Nishin]

^ That movie was so funny !

 

[belamyi]

^ That movie was so funny !

Now, about your BBC link, each point, like the whole package, is like a crappy product that is marketed under a nice appearance or through bait-samples, covering the real nastiness of the whole: like in the cases of the bubble burst, or the euro crisis, and like everything that is yet to come next to the front page of the news, saying all that now is generally considered resentful, grumbling nonsense: until one day the general tone passes from ultimate optimism, despite the perceived "deficiencies", to utter, darkest desenchantment and resentment, and those formerly perceived as prophets of doom will, once Doomsday arrives will then be considered lukewarm, insensitive bystanders.