Wednesday 14 September 2011

Controversial Opinions - You've been warned, don't hate

I don't know if it's just because I'm Australian, and wholly unaffected (directly) by it, but while I feel that September 11 2001 was a terribly sad thing that happened, I don't really understand it.
It seems to me that most of the reasons it gets so much publicity every single year is for reasons that don't really have a great deal to do with the actual event of people dying. Primarily, it was what started the war on terror (during which, I feel obliged to point out, tens of thousands of Afghan people have died, and over a million Iraqis have estimates to have died, most of them completely innocent of anything), and secondarily, it happened to Americans.

This is something that was said to me at Black Stump one year:
If you had known before the attacks on the Twin Towers, what was going to happen, what would you have done? It's obvious. You would have done everything you could to let as many people know, in an attempt to stop it. Come on, you'd be saving the lives of nearly 3000 people. You would have done whatever it took.
Do you what this web site says? And this one? Or even this (that one has a game - play!)?
They all give approximate figures of how many people die every day from poverty all over the world. And that number is estimated to be over 10 times as many as died on September 11 2001. Every day.

I'm not saying that you should feel bad about the fact that this is happening (though you probably should feel something) - I'm just trying to illustrate the point that all of us would have gone to huge efforts to save this group of people, who received so much media attention after their death, and who were American, and lived in a country that could afford to go to war. A war that has since resulted in the deaths of many, many more people. Americans, Australians, Germans, Somalians, Pakistanis, Iraqis, Afghan people, as well as many more. And of those, who are the ones you hear about? Do you hear about the innocent people who die in the countries that are the enemies of America? Yes, but do you hear about it on the scale that you hear about the people 'on our side'? Not even close.

I just don't understand. I'm not offering another solution, and I'm not offering my opinions on war in general. Just all the hype about September 11 always reminds me of those questions I got asked that Black Stump, and wonder why I never see any "R.I.P. people who died from hunger today."

I'd also just like to say that I have a million more issues with this whole thing, such as people's validations for the war, and the fact that a 'War on Terror' is not a thing (watch me!) as well as a bunch of other things, but I'm trying to present this in a inoffensively as I can, and only deal with a part of it, because once I start thinking of things like this, I think of more and it all ends up in a blur.

I really just feel like this is something that is predominant mostly because it happened to Americans, Americans had the ability and tenacity to carry out retaliation, and the retaliation has since caused so much to change in the world.

I'll finish with this. Yesterday in the newspaper I read a short section, where someone was simply asking how the world would be different, if America hadn't reacted with war. Not speculating on whether it would be better or worse. Just thinking about it.
Think about it.

tl;dr I say things some people will agree with, some people won't, and will cause some people to hate on me.

Friday 2 September 2011

Anger and updates.

Aw, shit. No. No no no no NO.
NO!
This is horrible ...
I actually feel like crying, and honestly for no reason.
It's just, I finally thought of something to write about, finally finally FINALLY, and literally all that happened between me having the thought, starting to plan out the blog, and now, is that I opened blogspot, opened a new post, read two posts from another blog AND THAT'S ALL. Why can't I remember?
I know I was watching the news, and my idea came from a combination of the news and talking to someone, but that's all.
Oh! But they found Ned Kelly's bones! That's a bit exciting.
But this is so terrible. I want so much to write more on this, but there is so much going on that I have nothing to say. That sounds strange, but all of my experiences happen so quickly, and are over so quickly, that I end up not having enough detail or whatever interesting enough to write about.

So here's a list of movies I'm desperate to watch:
Crazy Stupid Love

Friends With Benefits
Inbetweeners
HP 7.2 (again)
Green Lantern
Cowboys and Aliens
Captain America

I think that's all.

There, that should sate you.


But actually no I'll write something.
I've now been in the Europe side of the world for nearly a month, and I've done perhaps less than I'd have liked, but I'm still having a fabulous time. I arrived with Alex in to Manchester, and left her to wait around for a few hours for her train (but she got there ok!) and took mine to Wigan Wallgate station. I don't know if you've ever been to Wigan (actually, yes, I do; you haven't) but it wouldn't be the first place I'd recommend for a happenin' tourist destination, if you do head England way. Kind of reminds me of Queanbizzle, in the ... mature young ladies kind of way. So there's that. But I was there to see family, which was lovely and boy did I get to see the family. Staying in a house with two parents, three kids and a nanny was pretty ... full on? Nah, not nearly as terrible as it sounds, despite the fact that everyone (including me ...) was sick. But it was really great seeing them, and I went to rugby games (rugby! me! I know!) which were a lot of fun, and I got to see my rugby coach uncle (future coach of the Rabbitohs, if you're wondering) be all famous. Wiganers were literally waiting around for over an hour after the game for his autograph. Surreal.

Anyway, while I was in Wigan I went on a couple of overnight trips; one to Liverpool where I got to see my mum and grandmother, and one to Edinburgh. Liverpool was very pretty, and good fun, though to be honest I did run out of things to do a little bit, and ended up just lying in the sun for a while, watching some guys skateboard and snoozing, which was very nice. In case you didn't pick it up from my facebook status, Edinburgh was fantastic and please go there go there go there it's amazing. Fringe, man!

From Wigan I left to Oxford, where I saw the Midnight Beast (I've since had dreams about that night and I am kidding you not) and met these two fantastic girls who invited me to party with them at Mahiki when I'm in London (I am a social butterfly), and also Oxford is terribly lovely. Despite all the touristy Oxford Uni shops, but even THOSE are classier than normal tourist shops. The second day I went to Christ Church College, and walked on the steps leading into the Great Hall they used in Harry Potter, and walked in the Great Hall that was the inspiration for the Great Hall in Harry Potter* which was great and the whole college was beautiful, and possibly one of the most beautiful places I've been this whole trip (tied with the sculpture garden in New Orleans), BUT having uploaded photos to facebook the previous night, I'd left my SD card in my computer, twat, and could only take 8 photos. Brilliant.

Then it was away to London, where I got to see my mum and granny again, and we had a few pretty nice and casual days because Eurostarring to Paris. Our hotel was average, but only a few minutes walk from the Eiffel Tower, so you won't hear me complaining (too loudly :P) and in Paris we did Parisian things, like dinner in amazing little restaurants and eating the BEST creme brulee ever and AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS BEANS. Oh my god, those beans. Have Parisian beans. Also I got 2 dresses from Galeries Lafayette. Winner!
And then we did Notre Dame and Versailles, and Moulin Rouge and a cruise on the Seine and the Louvre (kind of) and saw a whole bunch of things from Anna and the French Kiss, which I'm now rereading with a fond sense of nostalgia.
Anyway, so Paris was stellar.

Now I'm back in London with other family, and that's nice, and I'm about to head out do some serious David Tennant stalking, and then going to Dublin tomorrow and Belfast after and back here before Norway, then off on my big tour!

I hoped while writing this I might think of what it was I wanted to write, but I haven't, but I do hope to write more. I want to. I love it. I find it ... cathartic.
So that's me for now. I'll try and write more travel updates, even if it's just for me to look back on in 20 years, but also for any curious observers. :)

Plenty of loves, oddlings. I think you're all spectacular.

P.S. Wish me luck with David Tennant. :D



*It originally going to BE the Great Hall, and they started filming in there, but the production team obviously didn't factor in the fact that it is still a school, and in fact, the people have to come in there to eat three times a day, which wasn't exactly conducive to filming. So they took measurements, tweaked them a bit, and spent $4 million or pounds or something building a replica.