February
2nd 2004
When I'm at home, I always
think of things to put in this diary, but when it comes round to
it, I've usually forgotten what they were... I do remember,
however, that Simon said the other day that he thinks Britney
Spears is better than John Lennon. I leave you to make up your
own minds up about his taste in music. Another thing that I was
thinking about was MSN - you can tell how popular someone is by
how much time they spend on MSN. Now, I don't want to mention
names... certain people might get annoyed... but when certain
acquaintances of mine were less popular, they were on MSN every
night. Now that they've reached the peaks of coolness (and I
exaggerate slightly) they're not to be seen on the interweb at
all. People like me, who think a good Friday night is one in
which they watch more than four episodes of Friends, are still
diligently messaging others, and waiting online for our so-called
friends to talk to us. Well, that's all I've got to say about
that.
February
3rd 2004
Those people who peruse my
archives regularly (and I'm not speaking metaphorically) will
recall that Doug and I saw Return of the King on December 30th,
and on that day he said that he'd lend me a video of the Office.
Yesterday, he did. I've said before now that Doug is The Master,
and I stand by what I said. He is The Master. So go to his
website. It's here.
February
4th 2004
So, I was watching
Newsnight last night (oh yes. I'm smart. You better believe it)
and saw the Japanese Prime Minister. Apparently, in Japan, they
say that their PM only sent troops into Iraq because George Bush
wanted him to. Finally, the Japanese are copying us. Anyways, the
Japanese PM looks uncannily like Richard Gere - well, a Japanese
version of the man. Next time you see him (the Jap, not Gere...
probably on TV rather than in person, but hey, I might have fans
in high places. In Japan. Who speak fluent English) think to
yourself; "which Pretty Woman star does this man remind you
of?" If the answer's Julia Roberts, I'll be very surprised.
Very surprised. Very surprised indeed. As I write this - at
breaktime - there is a meeting for Senior Prefects. And guess
who's not there. Despite the fact I watch Newsnight. Twice, now.
February
5th 2004
As I write this, I have
just come from the scene of battle. Sort of. While in the IT
room, two of my friends - I'm not sure how much of this is going
to get out, so I'll call them James and Thomas (because they're
my middle and last names - they have no relation to the actual
names) - starting fighting over a stupid thing that neither of
them really care about. Now, James and Thomas have had fake-fights
quite a few times, so most of us thought that they were just
having a laugh. Reprehensible, perhaps, but not cause for worry.
However, the sounds that Thomas was making made it clear that he
wasn't enjoying the brawl much, and James looked pretty angry. I
made a feeble effort to get James's arm off Thomas's neck, and a
couple of others told him to stop, and after a few seconds he
did, but there was blood coming from Thomas's head, and he asked
for 'medical assistance'. I don't know how it happened - there
was a shoe involved - but it looked pretty serious. No-one moved,
so I went next door (to the staff room) and (rather foolishly)
said 'we have a head wound in B11... I don't know what it is, but
it looks red.' This last was a rather poor attempt at a joke (in
a kind of bitter, ironic way - I probably need to tone those down).
Fortunately, several members of staff and a first aid kit were
soon at the scene, and James was immediately repentant, even
giving up his prized fleece to stem the blood (a symbolic
gesture, I should imagine). As I say, I don't know how far this
is going to go - I think it unlikely that James will be welcomed
back into B11 any time soon, and a suspension might be on the
cards (sorry - temporary exclusion). But my main emotion
immediately after the incident wasn't anger at James's stupidity,
or even pity for Thomas - it was guilt. Guilt that I hadn't done
more to stop James, or stop the incident before it happened.
Rationally, I know that there was nothing wrong or even foolish
about my actions, but looking back I know that I could
have prevented it. I still don't know the extent of Thomas's
injuries - it looks worse than I originally thought, judging by
both the blood and his pain, and it was dangerously close to the
ear. Hopefully there won't be any lasting damage, and hopefully
this is the last time James does anything that stupid. (Apologies
to Tom Gwilliam and James Scott, if anyone reads this and thinks
they were involved. May I reiterate that James and Thomas my
middle and last names, and chosen only to give anonymity to those
involved. Although I doubt that their anonymity will last for
long).
February
6th 2004
It appears that my diary is
now second only to CNN in getting the news to the people - no
fewer than two people learnt about yesterday's events through
reading this page (and, it seems, worked out who the actual
culprits were). Both have been banned from the IT Room, I
understand. But could return within 45 minutes.
I would like to apologise for any
confusion about the above statement - it was the two culprits who
were banned from the IT Room, not the two people who learnt about
the events. I don't know if that makes any more sense...
And so I'm back to where this diary
originated: my friendly neighbourhood library. Actually, it's the
school library. Well, I spent most of lunch talking to Ben - I'm
surprised that he's not terrified to talk to me, being that most
of what he says later appears where millions can read it. But I
did learn three important things from him today: one, that Roz
and Lou read my diary (which I already knew... I had to explain
to James that it was my online diary, and in fact I had not
caught Lou hiding behind my wardrobe waiting to steal a written
version from my bedside); two, Roz and Lou have written about me
and my diary on their online journal, the web address of which I
forget; and three, that Doug fancies Lou. Of course, we all
realise that this last is a lie... except, does Doug realise it?
I'll leave you to ponder that while I tell the book-lovers (or
librophiles... possibly...) amongst you that I got 'To Kill A
Mockingbird' from the (school) library today, in order to read it
for the first time since year 10. And I'll let you guess who I
was sitting next to.
February
7th 2004
I appear to be having
difficulty in stemming the tide that is caused by posting an
online diary... I also appear to be having difficulty in making
myself clear. First, Ben took my comments about his website the
wrong way (I think I might have mentioned that before...) and now
my February 2nd posting has been misunderstood, this time by (I
think) Roz. I made a lighthearted statement about MSN -
basically, it was self-deprecating, because self-deprecating
jokes always go down well when you're as pathetic as I am. (See?)
However, in some quarters it appeared that I was directing an
insult at all users of MSN, so to read; "I consider myself
to have just as many friends as Colin, its just mine happen to
live in the 21st century and know how to use a PC" was a bit
of a surprise, and not just because of the missing apostrophe. I
agree with the sentiments entirely - she probably does have more
friends than me. And, yes, I expect that they do live in the 21st
century (anything else would actually be more impressive... just
ask H. G. Wells). As to the PC claim; well, that too is
unarguable. I humbly retract my comments. On a brighter note,
this symbolises a whole new legion of readers of this page (and
the good news is, they know how to use a PC), one of whom said
that this page was 'good', before going on to say 'it does look
like he has too much time on his hands though.' Can't argue with
that. Another said that Roz's was better than mine. So, if you'd
like to see hers, click on the underlined text.
Back when I started this, I could write pretty much what I liked,
and no-one (other than Simon) would find out. For instance, I
wrote on here what I'd bought Powly for Christmas: if I did that
now, two things would happen: firstly, he'd find out what it was
within a couple of hours; and secondly, people would wonder why
I'm buying Powly a Christmas present in February. On that note,
I'll sign off, and await the barrage of abuse I'm sure to receive
in every medium known to man. And woman.
February
9th 2004
Being that I've made a website
about Friends, I'm going to write about last Friday's episode. Of Friends.
Y'know, that sitcom thing. It wasn't bad - I long ago resigned
myself to the fact that it's never going to get as good as Series
2 & 3 again - and there were some pretty good jokes. There
were also some not-very-good jokes, but far fewer than in some
episodes. Sadly, Ross, who once symbolised all that was sensible,
the level-headed one in the group, has degenerated into what the
Times called 'pantomime performance.' It was clear at some points
last Friday, and apparently is going to occur even more next week
- this is something that has disappointed me since Series 5, when
Ross's 'rage' gave Schwimmer the chance to over-act. The trouble
is; I don't like him overacting - I want him (and everybody else)
to act like normal people, so his squeaking is not welcome on my
TV screen. Speaking of TVs, did you know that Celeborn (in LotR)
was known as Teleporno by some elves... or something... I've been
reading Unfinished Tales. And discovering that Gandalf wasn't
a man, despite what David Stedman tried to tell me. On a
different note, I have to admit three potentially embarrassing
things. One, I haven't washed my hair since 1998. Two, at the
weekend Harper Lee made me cry. Three, I'm gay. Sadly for those
of you who thought you had a scoop on your hands, only one of
those three statements is true. I'll leave it up to you to work
out which one (and if you get it wrong, I won't be happy). In
order to make it easier for you, I'll write a little bit about To
Kill A Mockingbird. When I first studied this book in Year 10, I
thought it was quite good, but that was all - on re-reading it, I
now realise that it's a great book, and I recommend it. Being
that I couldn't remember much of the storyline, I was genuinely
surprised when Atticus didn't die at the end: authors often like
to kill off the truly great people they write about (eg Dr Iannis
in Captain Corelli's Mandolin), and I for one was glad he didn't
die. Someone else who didn't die is the Terminator... and I saw
Terminator 2 last night for the first time, having seen
Terminator a few months ago. The sequel's probably better than
the first one: the effects are better, the storyline's deeper,
and the fact that Arnie is seen as 'good' in the this one and
'bad' in the other one opens up poignant questions... he is
simply programmed to fulfil a mission, he is certainly not
morally good or bad in either. He just can't understand why it is
wrong to kill people, and only refrains from doing so because the
kid tells him he's not allowed to. In the same way, the other
Terminator in T2 is not evil, he's just trying to complete the
mission he's given. This morning I was trying to tell my friend
why there are severe plotholes in Terminator (and its sequels),
and I think he understood it. But I can't be bothered to write it
out. Not today, anyway.
February
10th 2004
Last night, I decided on
two policy changes. First, the next few books I read are going to
be books I've never read before, starting with either Brave New
World or Animal Farm. In the end I started reading A Guide to
Bachelor Life, but Animal Farm's next on the list (after 9 pages
of Brave New World I decided that it's not for me... I might try
reading it when Simon's not watching Changing Rooms in the same
room). The second thing I decided was that I'm going to stop
writing about other people on this page - at least, not so much.
It just comes back to bite me, when they either write about me on
theirs, on confront me in 'real life'. (May I take this
opportunity to apologise wholeheartedly to Roz, in what is my
last reference to other blogs... possibly) I'm worried about my site, since Powly says that when
he tried to go on it the other day, there were all kinds of time-out
problems. Oh no! Speaking of Powly, my good friend Chris pointed
out yesterday that he's more handsome than I am (what he actually
said was that Powly is a 'pretty-boy.' When I contested this, he
said that Powly is better looking than other people... and
pointed at me). Now, I've long suspected that Powly only goes
around with me in order to seem better-looking, in the same way
that I walk round with him in order to seem shorter. Possibly.
Allegedly.
Simon would like me to point out that,
in the latest episode of Friends, there was a door that was
supposed to enter onto a corridor, but in actual fact couldn't -
it's very evident when you watch it. Also, something about a door
and Rachel... he didn't want me to write what he said about John
Lennon... so I won't.
February
11th 2004
Just finished Animal Farm...
it's kind of depressing, although not too much. 1984 was worse,
since it involved real people and was more scary. Animal Farm was
really compelling (did you know that shanghai means compel? I
learnt that in english today. Looking at a dictionary instead of
doing work) even if it is propoganda.
February
12th 2004
First of all, I apologise
to regular readers of this page who noticed that I messed stuff
up yesterday... and to those of you who don't like the grey
background. Tough, it's staying. So, Powly decided that he didn't
want to see Worcester City. And that's fair enough, they are
rubbish. So I'm going with Ian and James (Scott) instead... go
Worcester! As well as soccer, I've been considering film. The
trouble with Cameron Diaz is that she's started to take herself
seriously as an actress, so she actually wants to act rather than
do what she does best. It's a problem that Julia Roberst
experienced before her... let's be honest, does anyone actually
fancy Julia Roberts any more? And she always seems to have the
same colour hair. In the interests of thespianism, Cameron dyed
her hair dark for Gangs Of New York (I believe) which I haven't
seen, but would like to. So if anyone out there wants to lend me
the video/DVD... that would be much appreciated. (How cheap am I?)
February
13th 2004
Today was a pretty cool day
(despite being Friday 13th...) as Peter came over and we played
some music at church, Pete on guitar, me on piano (and sometimes
singing) and Chris Day on the drums... except when we swapped
round. Not everything went as well as I'd hoped, but Come
Together was beatiful, and a few other pieces went really nicely.
Also, Pete fixed our computer, which is great. Not so great is
the fact that Mum crashed the car at a roundabout, although she's
fine and the car's not too badly messed up, it ruined plans for
Pete to go home... but more importantly, for Dad and I going away
on Sunday. Not sure how we're going to figure that one out, yet.
But tomorrow it's Worcester City Day, so I'm still happy (in case
you were wondering, it's not really Worcester City Day. I made
that up) and it's also St. Valentine's Day. Oh great. Well, it
meant that we got to talk about a poem called Valentine in our
last english lesson (at one point someone said that they didn't
believe in love. How lucky are they?). I only discovered
yesterday that someone I know from Christian Union is an orphan...
and I never knew. Surely I should have known - it's like the fact
that I didn't know Adam's father was dead despite the fact that
I'd been sitting next to him in english for ages, and actually
went to his house... so when I made a casual comment about
cancer, that has to be one of the most embarrassing things I've
ever done in my life. Anyways, no need to dwell on that. Those of
you who were rushing out to buy me copies of Gangs Of New York
will need to get refunds, cos I bought one off eBay today... my
first 'Buy It Now' purchase.
February
16th 2004
Well, well, well. I
certainly have a lot to write about; so much, in fact, that
for the first time I'm writing this entry offline, so that I
can copy it later. Yet another St. Valentine's Day came and
went without me so much as speaking to a female who didn't
give birth to me, but I did get to see Worcester City FC,
something that you don't see on the front of many cards this
time of year. The football wasn't great, what with Worcester
being in the Doc Marten's Premiership, but it was enjoyable
nonetheless, and tickets only cost £8 each. Without James, Ian
and myself, the attendance would only have been a paltry 912, but
we raised the roof with 915. Well, we might have done if there
had been a roof: only a small section of St George's Road is
covered, and for some reason most fans steered clear of that area.
Maybe they were trying to get a tan. Although, given the weather
conditions, that's unlikely. But we won ('we'?)
with a goal from Mark Owen; one of only two players we knew
the name of (the other being Mr. Worcester City, Carl Heeley).
Yes, we had been researching the club; John Barton is the
manager, and Ian learnt something about attendances that I can't
remember. Being so low down in the leagues, Worcester didn't have
names on the back of their shirts, so we did our best to make up
names - James reckoned that number 7 looked like Tom South, so he
was Tom. I reckoned that the number 3 looked like Jamie Victory (my
favourite Cheltenham Town player, who's also number 3), so he was
Jamie. For some reason that I cannot fathom, number 2 was Hamish.
Powly told me yesterday that Hamish is Scottish for James - and
he ought to know, what with his name being James and all.
Although he did think that Felicity Kendal was a Blue Peter
presenter. And today we're going bowling - hopefully Ian's no
good at bowling, since it always takes me a couple of games to
register above zero, and I don't think we're going to have more
than a couple of games. Time to swallow your pride, Colin. I also
have no money, having had to borrow from parents and James in
order to buy the WCFC ticket, a WCFC scarf (£7.50? You can buy
parts of Africa cheaper than that! You can get a knighthood for
50p more) and a cheesburger. Say what you like about Worcester,
but they do make some of the nicest cheeseburgers I've ever
tasted. Speaking of cheeseburgers, the BAFTAs were last night -
LotR got 5, including both Best Film prizes (BAFTA and publically
voted), but astonishingly Pete Jackson didn't get Best Director.
Master and Commander got a few prizes (including director), which
I haven't seen. It looks pretty rubbish, though. Out of 70 new
messages in my inbox today, one wasn't spam. And that one was
telling me that my website has
had a new guestbook entry - but whoever left the entry only
filled in one of the question boxes, so the only clue as to their
identity that I have is that they prefer Lord of the Rings to
Harry Potter. So it could be anyone, really. Except JK Rowling.
Another thing I did since updating this diary was go to a renewal
of vows at Besford church. Now, renewing vows is something I've
always thought was a bit odd - what do I know? Ask me again when
I've been married 25 years - but it was a very nice ceremony,
even if putting down coat and books on a seat is no longer an
obvious enough indication that that seat is taken, apparently. (I
got up to ring the bell - by pulling on a rope - and when I
returned, I had nowhere to sit). I think that's everything...
except to say that my Mum crashed our car on Friday (not too
seriously) so they took it away this morning. And what a
wonderful person Ian is, giving me lifts on Saturday and today (hopefully).
February
21st 2004
For the second time, Im
writing this entry offline, because its again a long time
since I last updated. This is not because Im lazy, or even
because nothings happened to me over the last few days
I have, in fact, been away. Of which, more later. First of
all, I went bowling with Powly and Ian last Monday (Simon was
exceedingly annoyed not to have been invited. He was in Wales at
the time, so I really dont think he has any right to
complain). Now, it always takes me a game or two to warm up when
bowling unfortunately, we only had two games. Also, the
only options for bowling-ball size were 8 or 14 except, I
couldnt get my fingers into the 8. So, 14 it was. So in the
first game, I hit the pins about five or six times. Out of twenty
shots. A score of 25ish wasnt great
I was just happy
to have hit the things at all. Powly got about 120, and Ian got
somewhere between those two scores. My first two shots of the
second game got me a spare. Thats the crazy world of
bowling Powlys total from his first four shots was
six, and I led for the rest of that game (a one point Powly had
30, and I had 61. Sweet), ending up with a winning score of 97 (Ian
came second again, Powly last). Then I lost one and a half games
of air hockey (Powly cheated
he took a shot when I asked
him to wait), and watched as Ian beat Powly at pool. I was glad
to hear that Ian doesnt read this diary (although he knew
of its existence), since it seems that more or less everyone I
speak to (or, more recently, shield my face from) knows all about
this page. Thank-you, Ian. So, on Tuesday I went with Dad up to
Liverpool to stay in a YHA, which was very nice there were
lots of Beatles pictures and records on the walls, and while we
were there we went to the Beatles Story, which was very cool. (While
there, I learnt that Madonna used to be married to Sean Penn
not anything to do with the Fab Four, but interesting nonetheless
)
I bought meself (spelling error intentional) a Beatles poster
that has most of the album covers on, along with a few other
pictures. That has led to a largescale reorganization of the
posters in my bedroom (of which I have too many) and Im
given to thinking about which posters Ill take to brighten
up my Uni room (hopefully atWarwick). I think itll be
Beatles, Robbie Keane, Gollum
but therell be more.
After Liverpool, Dad and I met up with Simon and Mum in Chester,
which doesnt have a Gregs!! Simon and I searched for
a while, but got rather lost, finding ourselves looking down at
the road we wanted to be on at one, traumatic, point. The hire
car we got had a CD player something that our normal car
doesnt have. So it was something of a luxury to be able to
sing along to Please Please Me (among other albums) on our way up
to Merseyside (she was just seventeen, and you know what I mean!).
Whilst in Chester, I
bought myself 'Previously on Friends', a book that Simon once bought for a friend of
his, so I had already read, but hadnt seen most of the
episodes it was written about. The book is about series 2 & 3
to my mind, the best series by a country mile. Think about
it: this is classic Friends; Chandler lives with Joey, Rachel
lives with Monica, Ross & Rachel are making the most
emotional TV seen on Friends. I was surprised to see several
errors in the book except, they were mostly not really
errors: only one or two quotes were given per episode, but loads
of them were different from the quotes that actually made the
programme. Some were just worded differently that could be
an error but many just didnt exist. I guess that
Penny Stallings must have written the book before the episodes
were aired, or at least without having seen them: I cant
think of any other explanation. I also bought the Rembrandts
single Ill Be There For You for 69p, adding to my Friends
merchandise (of which there is surprisingly little). Watch out
for Crazy Merchandise Man, coming soon to Crazy Snake Man. Indeed, I plan to make
Crazy Janice Man and Crazy Googlewhack Man when I get back to
school so watch this space. On the subject of another TV
programme with a cheery title, I missed three episodes of
Neighbours three! whilst away. And not just any
episodes, but Max & Steph episodes the best
where their storyline was excitingly advanced, with Steph
recovering from cancer, Max proposing, and the question of
children being raised. I cannot believe that I missed it. In
other news, I e-mailed a couple of people on eBay complaining
that I hadnt received items from them, and within minutes
of me sending the e-mails, it turned out that theyd arrived
at the wrong place, because Id missed out Eckington
in my address. I thought that the first thing they used was post
code, which I had put on. Ah well. Since I can tell that youre
busting to know what I bought (and devotees of this page might
already know), I got Gangs Of New York and Sgt Peppers
Lonely Hearts Club Band. The latter has the best cover of any
album. Ever (did you know that John wanted Hitler and Jesus on
the cover?). And the songs arent bad. The former isnt
bad either unfortunately, Mr. Scorcese wanted it to be one
of the all-time greats, which it is not. DDL put in a good
performance did he win an Oscar for it? but we didnt
see enough of Cameron Diaz (I need to stop going on about her
).
Although some of the critics disagree, I think that LDC put in a
good performance, but the film just didnt have that special
something that would make it truly great, being that it kind of
petered out plotwise. I apologise for the abbreviations
you know who was in it. Hopefully. Another film I saw in the last
couple of days was To Kill A Mockingbird, with the late Gregory
Peck as Atticus, who was voted the greatest movie hero of all
time by the AFI. In many parts the film was remarkably close to
the book, quoting extensively from it and not missing out many
events. However, Aunt Alexandria was left out (which I cant
say Im sorry about), and Scouts schooling was only
briefly touched upon, so it wasnt completely accurate. I
feel that the trial (the whole black prejudice thing) isnt
as important to the book as some try to make it sure, its
important, but only one important thing among many. Now, that is
a great film, although not as good as the book although
Scout is well-played, you cant get a kid or any
actor, most likely to be as good as written narrative. And
I think that Atticus was probably too young at the time,
there were worries that he was too good-looking, although putting
some glasses on him soon cured him of that. In fact, he reminded
me of Kit Reeve in the Superman films. Im sorry, I like to
call people Kit, even if no-one else does. Fridays episode
of Friends was pretty good David Schwimmer did overplay
his part (as usual, nowadays), but it was still pretty funny, and
although Amanda was unrealistic, Chandler had some very funny
jokes, and my family who didnt know what was going
to happen, as I did laughed out loud a lot. Perhaps I
should stop reading the scripts, as it can ruin some of the jokes.
But perhaps not. On the subject of colours (I realize I was not),
Chandler when untanned looked more tanned than Monica when she
was supposed to be very well tanned. Another thing I noticed
about the episode was that many of the jokes had already been
made on Friends on four or five occasions, we were
reminded of previous episodes, ranging from series two to series
seven. And at one point Chandler said that hed never cut
anyone out of his life
er, what about Kip? Or, more
obviously, Eddie? The book I bought had a quote from (I think)
Kevin Crane, saying that Eddie would be back. With a gun. But he
hasnt come back, and I dont see him returning any
time soon Im surprised that Friends didnt get
in more trouble for the fact that Eddie was a lunatic and that
this was a source of amusement to the gang, who exploited his
insanity rather than help him in any way (and there was actually
a factual error about Eddie in the book I bought,
since it said that Chandler claimed Eddie moved out a year ago,
whereas in fact he claimed that Eddie had never moved in). Well,
this has been the longest entry yet by some margin. Its a
good job I didnt write it straight online, or our phoneline
would be tied up for what has been approximately (to the nearest
minute) four years worth of typing time. School again in two days
time. And I better work out what in the hell Im supposed to
be doing for my chemistry coursework.
What? There's more? Yes, I just
discovered that Sanity in Evesham has closed (see, other people's
blogs can be useful)... I already thought that it would, since
last time I was there large portions of it were sealed off. But
they were selling CDs and DVDs for practically nothing... and I
missed it. Darn. Although, last time there was a situation like
that (Andy's Records in Worcester) there was a mad rush and
nothing worth buying, even if it was only 10p or so. Well, that's
it. Honest. Bye.
February
23rd 2004
Today, children, I hope to
cover the subjects of homosexuality, love and The Darkness. And,
before I hear the rustling sound of lawsuits being filed, I'd
like to make it clear that the three are not in connection with
each other. Firstly, The Darkness. I saw at the Brits the other
day they won various different prizes, including Best British
Rock Band. Which led me thinking: The Darkness occasionally
pretend to be a rock band. More often, they pretend to be
pretending to be a rock band. However, they are not a rock band:
they are a one-trick pony and clearly released a Christmas single
so early in their career because they know they're a one-trick
pony, and want to make as much money as possible. Quick. It's not
their arrogance that annoys me so much as their overwhelming
smugness: everything about them oozes an odious smugness that I
haven't come across in music since Frankie Goes To Hollywood:
even Robbie Williams isn't as bad. Now, I've been holding off
writing about East of Eden (the book I'm currently reading)
because I didn't really know what to make of it. I couldn't feel
any empathy for the characters whatsoever, and I thought that
that was probably because of a deliberate ploy by Steinbeck (the
author), since he jumps around between characters in completely
different places and situations, not resting on any set of people
long enough for you to care about them. And in Cathy he has
created a monster in the mould of Heathcliff, someone who has no
qualms or even sentiments; yet it is more disturbing than
Wuthering Heights. Today I decided to stop reading the book after
being seriously disturbed by what was written about the nastiest
side of prostitution - I'll protect my more sensitive readers by
saying nothing more - but I decided to carry on reading, and miss
out those bits. The way the book is written, it'll probably be
another 200 pages before I'm at any disadvantage. Also in the
book today was mention of love, and the way that it can easily
turn into hate: many people who've never been in love cannot
understand that the two emotions are so close together, but it
makes sense really. When you fall out of love, you see this
person, who has dictated you emotions for however long, unveiled,
and it makes you angry that you've been such a fool. I've never
hated with an all-consuming passion, and I hope never to. Woah,
that was a bit deep. If you thought that was bad, I'm now coming
onto the issue of homosexuality, something that I've been
thinking over recently (not as a career choice...) since it's
been a bone of contention in the Church recently. I know it's
very fashionable - and has been for a while - to be wholly
accepting of homosexuality, with homophobics put in the same
category as racists, but that's really terribly unfair. The word
homophobic suggests a fear of homosexuality, which is also unfair:
maybe some people do have a fear of it(?) but most so-called
homophobics are morally against it. Obviously, it says in the
Bible that homosexual relationships are wrong, so for me that's a
very clear pointer as to what to believe in. Also, to me, the
idea of kissing a man or having sex with a man is repulsive -
before people get cross about me being judgemental or prejudiced,
I'm only saying what I feel, not voicing an opinion. And I was
also wondering whether you are born homosexual, or whether it is
something that you become (and, indeed, the same with
heterosexuality. Certainly we are not born with sexual urges: are
they impressed upon us by society?). Obviously, homosexuality
cannot easily be inherited. Think about it. For a long time I
argued that it was unnatural - and, of course, in the interests
of reproduction, it is. However, I read a while ago about some
form of life that is dying out because the female of the species
has become largely homosexual: if that is true, it has to change
the way a lot of people think. Well, I hope I haven't offended
people - I almost certainly have - but I just wanted to voice
what I've been thinking. When you meet a gay man,
you can't very well tell him that he's not really gay, he just
didn't have the love of his father (the conventional approach by
therapists, I understand. Well, it was in Captain Corelli's
Mandolin). I just wish that so-called homophobes would be given
the time of day, rather than viewed as inferior human beings: I
remember reading that someone had been charged for making
'homophobic' comments, and that a gay-rights activist (I don't
think it was Peter Tatchill) pointed out that this man should
also have the right to freedom of speech. I hope that I am
allowed that right. And I also hope that I manage to fix my
computer, because the CD drive's broken again.
February
24th 2004
Isn't coolmint toothpaste
great? I mean, it's so much better than spearmint, peppermint, or
freshmint (what the hell's that?). It makes going to bed fun (I
should write slogans), cos you finish the day with a burst of
coolness in your mouth. One thing that isn't great is McDonalds.
I've got no problem with their food, hygeine etc. - it's their
slogan that annoys me. i'm lovin' it. My word. Not only will
thousands of foreigners be encouraged in their usage of the
present participle in everyday speech, but McDonalds can't even
be bothered to capitalise the 'i'. More than that, they've gone
out of their way to make it lower case, to get in with the
texting generation. Well here's one guy who would still write 'I
love it' rather than 'I'm lovin' it.' Although that is a bit
close to the Sun's slogan. And McDonalds have recently been
advertising their food by pointing out that, for the price of a
cheeseburger, you can get a flight to Sweden. Why this suggests
that we should buy cheeseburgers is a mystery to me - the best
McDoogals could come up with is that Swedish rock music isn't
very good. If we based our holidays on rock music, we'd all go to
Liverpool for the Summer. For a lot more than it costs to go to
Sweden.
February
25th 2004
I discovered the other day
that Sir Cliff has the highest record sales (for singles) in the
UK. Ever. Beating the Beatles into second place, and Elvis into
third. I also discovered, to my horror, that Westlife came above
U2. Of the chart, I have bought singles by Boyzone, Westlife,
Celine Dion, Cliff Richard... I think that's it. Don't judge me:
they weren't all for me. And I was young once. Speaking of the
Beatles, isn't amazing how you hear a song, think it's great, and
then suddenly you discover it's by the Beatles. Well, it happens
to me... the latest time was Money (That's What I Want). Doug's
just complained that my diary doesn't have paragraphs... as I
explained to him, every time I sit down to type is a paragraph;
when I come back again, I start a new paragraph. I hope that
makes more sense than it did when I said it in my head. Now,
let's turn our minds to my bedroom door (an exciting image for
most of you, I should imagine. Well, those of you with an
interest in bland 1970s doors). On it, I have stuck the covers to
most of the albums I own, in paper cases with transparent fronts.
I think it looks very artistic (actually, I stuck them up ages
ago. I've just thought about it now), but the problem is that
whenever I change it round a bit (when I buy a new album), loads
of them fall off because I used rubbish blue tack. But don't let
this put you off - go ahead and do it yourself. For a handy hint,
try putting the albums in alphabetical order by title, like I did.
Or, if you like to live wild, alphabetical order by artist. Try
it yourself. Beats taking drugs. Unless they happen to be
prescription drugs that you need in order to live.
February
26th 2004
Today is my first leading
of Christian Union (last time I was supposed ot do it I was ill
that day) so that's an open invitation to anyone who is legally
allowed to be in E4 at 1:20 this afternoon. Although, since this
is going up at around ten to twelve, I'm reaching a limited
audience with this. It's going to be about (among other things)
St Paul. Who is a Dude. In other news, Neighbours last night was a
bit rip-roaring... all kinds of exciting things happening (although
I can't recollect some of them...) including Harold collapsing.
He did it in a very Neighbours-way (ie rubbish) - they always
seem to like filming the ground where someone is about to fall,
as they fall on it. This looks terrible, and always has done.
Also, Lou married Trixie (ugh), which might mean she goes away
for a while... and might mean she gets killed. Hopefully. I
really don't like Trixie. And I'm also doing an english
presentation last thing today, which I could really do with
making some time soon.
Well, I just did my Christian Union
thing (and none of you turned up)... it wasn't an unmitigated
disaster, although at one point I called Jesus the last Jew, and
there were large periods of silence while people thought what an
idiot I was. But then people got talking, so it wasn't too bad -
and I had something prepared in case people didn't talk at once.
Which did the job.
I have to make an apology here. Money (That's
What I Want) wasn't written by the Beatles, as I claimed the
other day, but was covered by them on the album With The Beatles.
Sorry!
February
27th 2004
Today in assembly Our
Revered Leader talked about racism. Quite controversially, he
declared himself against it. He also said that he hears racist
chants at Wolves - something I've never heard. In fact, off the
top of my head, black players in recent years have included
Sturridge, Blake, M. Camara, H. Camara, Ince, Newton... I think
that's enough to be going on with. It's likely you'll get more
stick for being white.
I've realised that
I love Neighbours, and I've been wondering why. Certainly not
because it's good - it's terrible, and I know it. But I don't
care. Perhaps it's because it's lighthearted (unlike rubbish like
EastEnders). But I think (and maybe I'm analysing too much) that
it's because in the thirty minutes or so that Neighbours is on, I
know that there's nothing else I should be doing - I can relax.
When I watch other programmes, later in the evening, I think
there's usually a subconcious feeling that I should be doing work.
When I'm at school, I'm either doing work or thinking that
there's some due in pretty soon. But when I'm watching
Neighbours, I can put all thought of chemistry coursework out of
my mind... and that's why I like it. Or it could just be that I
fancy Carla Bonner.
February
28th 2004
I wouldn't say that the
votes have been flooding in, but there've been enough on such a
boring subject to make me consider making Crazy Diary Poll Man a
permanent feature, about more interesting subjects, with more
clearly worded choices. As of yet, the results of the current
poll (chronology of diary entries) is 50/50, so I haven't come to
a decision. Remember, people, only you can affect the outcome.
Well, you or anyone else in the civilised world. Today I've spent
a long time doing chemistry coursework, but all I've actually
managed to get done is make the colours, titles etc. on several
graphs uniform. This coursework is not fun. And I'd like to
apologise to those voters who clicked on the 'back to website'
link and found themselves staring at a blank white screen. That
has now been redeemed. And on to Friends last Friday (I still
live in hope that a Friends fan will come across Crazy Snake Man...
some have already). It wasn't a great episode; some of the lines
were okay, but Matthew didn't deliver his line about the dog very
well, and a few of his lines seemed the most basic sarcasm. I
like sarcasm to be a little more advanced. Although his bit with
Monica for the camera was pretty good.
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