Television For The Blind

Originally uploaded by TSHolen

First of I'm a bit angry. If you guys really had to revive skins, then do it properly for fucks sake. Shallow and unrealistically stereotypical characters does not do it by far. Check out episode three of series two and that scene in the club where the Crystal Castles performs Alice Practice while Sid finally realizes what's happened. Dude, you guys aren't even grasping anything remotely near that authenticity in the new series. No need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that that Cooke guy is a migh suicidal and that it has something to do with his mother. Unless there's something impressive hidden behind it, I am ready to stop spending any more time on this series.

Speaking of television series; ever since I downloaded Smallville when it first came I have been aware of all the bad that comes with downloading series. Television series are in general made with the intention to get you rather addicted to them, - make you tune in your tv next week and all that. You know how this works, after the episode is finished pretty much all you can think of is how it continues in the next episode. The problem is that when you download several episodes and see them in a row this addictive element gets rather amplified. Obviously your own life seems disappointingly uneventful compared to that of the protagonist in the tv show. And you get super-addicted to watching the show. The worst is if the show mainly follows one character because then your life seems to follow his/hers in a way. If things go to shit with him/her you feel bad and the opposite. And when you sit there with a happy feeling after watching, in the end you realize that it doesn't really matter at all. It is not real (a lot like what I know accomplishments in computer games also makes you feel), it feels kind of shit, doesn't it? Of course if you end up feeling bad because something went to hell in the show then it really isn't as easy to shake it off. In essence the series makes your life seem pretty uninteresting. In this light it is funny that it is a well known fact that the Norwegian prime minister is a big fan of Sopranos and that he watches a lot tv-series. I can't help but wonder if he feels the same way after watching a show.

The other day my mom tipped me of this study saying that a lot of young people are suffering hearing losses because of playing music too loud in iPods and other mp3-players. I guess this is not really that unbelievable. My brother once said that he thought that this decade would be the one when everyone started experiencing the world around them with a soundtrack. Music in your ears. Constantly. I really think he was onto something, and another thing that strikes me is that in order to actually have contact with someone you meet on the streets of a big city (I only really have experience with London but I'm guessing it's the same everywhere) you have to have them take out a plug playing music in their ears. And that will only happen after you've taken out yours to start the conversation. Real world sound is second to that of your iPod and you are not really meant to have anyone talk to you, unless of course it's through your phone which incidentally is connected to, again, earphones. To top it all, today I was sitting on the bus next to an old fella. It seemed he had some difficulties breathing as his throat seemed to give of some kind of ticking noise once and again. After a while I realized how impossibly rhythmic his breathing was and to be honest I thought it sounded rather like a snare drum of some sort. I looked at him to check if the ancient guy could really be wearing headphones, and no it didn't seem so. The only ear I could properly see was filled with hair and wax, but no earphone. So I went back to listening, and I really couldn't help but making out a kick drum and some synths to go with the snare, and I even felt I knew the rhythm from somewhere. And then suddenly he gets up to leave and I notice that his other ear is indeed not quite as empty and a white little apple plug is anchored in between the hair and all that other stuff. And would you believe it, the old man sitting next to me was listening to Let It Rock by Kevin Rudolf and Lil Wayne! Not only is it a rather hip-hoppy track, it is actually pretty new too. Made my morning that one.

The other day we were out clubbin' at local Oceana (really ought to try some of the others soonish..?). Pretty allright night, didn't get too drunk but all in all good fun. In the queue I started becoming aware of the excessive number of guys wearing hats. I didn't really give it much thought seeing as, well, English guys like to wear hats sometimes. Anyways, inside we noticed a girl wearing a corset and hot pants dancing up on a platformy thing in the spotlight. In my understanding corset and hot pants are categorized as underwear. Not so much like that for her, for her it was more like: proper party wear. I know I'll get in trouble for this, but I have to say that I get a bit nauseous thinking about how she in every probability would complain to her equally dressed friends how the boys were coming on to her like she'd invited them to it or something. Now, let's say we skip that part where all the girls get f-ing angry saying that they should be allowed to wear whatever they want without having to become a rape offer. 'Even if the fruit is peeled it isn't yours to take' and all of that. I do by no means say that the guys have any right to take whatever they like because you wear, well, underwear or something other rather sexually inviting. But do you not see the POSSIBILITY that _maybe_ it gives some sort of signal when you yourself seemingly try to rape the railing on the platform your dancing on in the spotlight in a club. No? Anyways, this is more of a general frustration and not solely based on this happening, because it seems that very night was a themed one, namely 'Pimps and Pornstars', fair enough I guess. I have to say though, that when the spotlight was moved from one platform to the other, we noticed that our trusty underwear-clad friend had moved along with the light. Conveniently.

Another memorable thing happened in the club. We were dancing to some awesome-ish british drum and bass, and the Dj and the song agreed that everyone ought to have their hands in the air and jump. The kind of thing you hate when you hear the song the first time on the radio or whatever, but do rather shamelessly in the club. Anyways, when you do this there's the rather frequent situation where someone's head comes beneath your elbow on your way down from a jump and it all results in a heavy thump in that someone's head. I was wary of this happening, and therefore kept my eyes looking out for people. It just so happened that a guy standing not far from me went and smashed his elbow into some girls head, - rather hard I'd say. He seemed very sorry and apologized to the girl. Her (rather enormous) boyfriend was not impressed by the apology, and seemed to think it appropriate to trust violence to solve it. The other guy, foresighted enough to realize what the biggie was about to do was already moving away when mr tough guy launched his punch. Now here's the brilliant part: in doing so, running away that is, the guy accidentally pushed the girl into the trajectory of the punch making the big guy punch his girlfriend right in the head, making it her second head trauma for the night. It was a pretty awesome sight, and I really hope that guy got away in time because the brute seemed rather ill-content with him punching his own girlfriend being the final act of the exchange.

I'll try to write more often here, but I'm not sure that I will be able to. I'm more of a 'one f-ing big post now and then' than 'a small post every other day'-type i guess. Anyways, have a good one!