Haircut 101
I ran home from work today and then with some prompting from Oisin, i cut the boys' hair. Oh dear... It was a bit of a disaster. I think i shall have to take them to the barber's tomorrow. Sigh.
I spent the morning in Eglantine Gardens, enjoying the sunshine and chatting to friends. It is a community garden and i first went to it about five years ago. It was little better than a dump and there was a fire, some very drunk people (including myself) and lots of chatting and laughing. The anarchists were young then. The anarchists i knew. Although i was told by a Spanish anarchist that there were no real anarchists in Belfast because we did not squat. Even within anarchism there are pecking orders, oh the irony of it all.
It's a bit like when i went to see this conversation between Gerry Ar and Gerry Kelly during some feile, and at one point there was this rather distasteful section when GK was have this weeing contest with Ger Ar about how many people in Ballymurphy got lifers - vs wherever it was that he came from. Amongst Republican circles having prison sentences are seen as sexy - and its a bit of a status symbol. And some women love dating Republican ex provos who have been in jail - it's like dating the captain of the rugby team or something. However for the women, the opposite is true. It's not seen as ladylike to have gone to jail for your beliefs. I did not make this up. I was told this by someone who would call herself Republican. But i can see how that would work - and after witnessing that pissing contest, i could well believe this.
It took me an hour and a bit to run back from work along a rather busy Outer Ring. I would have never gotten away with it in Singapore. It would have been too hot and humid. But here i barely broke a sweat and the only thing that i could show for it was my complete exhaustion when i got home. My knees were banjaxxed and my ankle was sore. It was also the first day of the period and jesus, i just couldn't wait to climb into the shower. But i needed to run. Peter was in Switzerland for the weekend so i never got running... and running does release all the lovely natural chemicals that make me go high... it is an addiction, no mistake. It was also very nice to know that in the future, if i did not have a ride, and i missed running during the day, i could make up for it in the evening. It's such a head clearing thing, isn't it? Running...
So after the elections the endless, tedious, tedious, pointless analysis. Just voices filling the air. I wonder if James Naughtie ever stops to listen to himself sometimes, or if Jeremy Paxman ever goes, what's the point? What difference does it make? Or is it just a job for them? And do they ever wonder if their politicians send all their time answering about this that and the other, where they will have time to actually do their job? I think that Prime Ministers no longer actually govern. They kind of come up with ideas, give a steer on things with their cabinet and then pose and pout for the cameras. The most successful politically people understand this. Tony Blair, Berlousconni, Sarkozy...none of these men really came up with policy. They just performed. And they spent all their time performing. They were actors.
Anyway, the Green vote has collapsed in the Republic. The only country where the Greens lost ground - including NI - because they were so fecking stupid about the deals they made with the ruling party when they went into government. I knew that when they sold Tara down the river that they were done for. But it didn't end there - no... they did other stupid things as well. And of course they presided over the return of debt to the country in big style, which although no fault of theirs, shows what bad timing they have. People had elected them to keep a check on the government and what did they do instead? Get into bed with the enemy big style. It's embarrassing really. And two fingers to the politically ambitious -
Listening to the Reith Lectures this year - a New Citizenship. It's really good - Prof Michael Sandell from Harvard. I heard bits of it in the car on the way to work. The idea that markets and morals must have some bearing on each other. Really... it's difficult to understand how something as obvious as this needs five days to be expounded upon.
Markets always run on self interest...
I spent the morning in Eglantine Gardens, enjoying the sunshine and chatting to friends. It is a community garden and i first went to it about five years ago. It was little better than a dump and there was a fire, some very drunk people (including myself) and lots of chatting and laughing. The anarchists were young then. The anarchists i knew. Although i was told by a Spanish anarchist that there were no real anarchists in Belfast because we did not squat. Even within anarchism there are pecking orders, oh the irony of it all.
It's a bit like when i went to see this conversation between Gerry Ar and Gerry Kelly during some feile, and at one point there was this rather distasteful section when GK was have this weeing contest with Ger Ar about how many people in Ballymurphy got lifers - vs wherever it was that he came from. Amongst Republican circles having prison sentences are seen as sexy - and its a bit of a status symbol. And some women love dating Republican ex provos who have been in jail - it's like dating the captain of the rugby team or something. However for the women, the opposite is true. It's not seen as ladylike to have gone to jail for your beliefs. I did not make this up. I was told this by someone who would call herself Republican. But i can see how that would work - and after witnessing that pissing contest, i could well believe this.
It took me an hour and a bit to run back from work along a rather busy Outer Ring. I would have never gotten away with it in Singapore. It would have been too hot and humid. But here i barely broke a sweat and the only thing that i could show for it was my complete exhaustion when i got home. My knees were banjaxxed and my ankle was sore. It was also the first day of the period and jesus, i just couldn't wait to climb into the shower. But i needed to run. Peter was in Switzerland for the weekend so i never got running... and running does release all the lovely natural chemicals that make me go high... it is an addiction, no mistake. It was also very nice to know that in the future, if i did not have a ride, and i missed running during the day, i could make up for it in the evening. It's such a head clearing thing, isn't it? Running...
So after the elections the endless, tedious, tedious, pointless analysis. Just voices filling the air. I wonder if James Naughtie ever stops to listen to himself sometimes, or if Jeremy Paxman ever goes, what's the point? What difference does it make? Or is it just a job for them? And do they ever wonder if their politicians send all their time answering about this that and the other, where they will have time to actually do their job? I think that Prime Ministers no longer actually govern. They kind of come up with ideas, give a steer on things with their cabinet and then pose and pout for the cameras. The most successful politically people understand this. Tony Blair, Berlousconni, Sarkozy...none of these men really came up with policy. They just performed. And they spent all their time performing. They were actors.
Anyway, the Green vote has collapsed in the Republic. The only country where the Greens lost ground - including NI - because they were so fecking stupid about the deals they made with the ruling party when they went into government. I knew that when they sold Tara down the river that they were done for. But it didn't end there - no... they did other stupid things as well. And of course they presided over the return of debt to the country in big style, which although no fault of theirs, shows what bad timing they have. People had elected them to keep a check on the government and what did they do instead? Get into bed with the enemy big style. It's embarrassing really. And two fingers to the politically ambitious -
Listening to the Reith Lectures this year - a New Citizenship. It's really good - Prof Michael Sandell from Harvard. I heard bits of it in the car on the way to work. The idea that markets and morals must have some bearing on each other. Really... it's difficult to understand how something as obvious as this needs five days to be expounded upon.
Markets always run on self interest...
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