the end of Autumn

Well people Autumn has come and gone it seems. I have to say that for the short time it was here is was interesting and beautiful. Coming from good ol'Oz I never really got to experience the changing of the leaves and I must say it is pretty. All the more because of the short lived nature of it all. I first got to see large tracts of trees changing colour in Japan and was really impressed. Coming to Indy I got that chance again. As you drive about you see here and there fine specimens of bright red, orange and yellow trees that almost glow they are that brilliant with colour. That's the upside. The downside is dry weather and the knowledge that it's only going to get colder.

Autumn is the time of year for a couple of holidays, very American holidays I haven't really experienced before. I had my first Halloween and I must say I quite enjoyed it. I had a few pre-conceived notions from It's a great pumpkin Charlie Brown and was delighted to see a lot of them come true. Most of them came true except for the great pumpkin rising out of the pumpkin patch. You can rightly assume from that last sentence that I did go to a pumpkin patch. Ana, her parents and myself drove just out of town to a farm and along with a number of people wandered out into the patch and chose our pumpkins to carve. Don't worry we paid for the privilege, in fact the farmer must turn a pretty profit for growing an extra large variety of inedible pumpkin. After buying our pumpkins we went back to Ana's mums place and carved them. I'll post pictures on my photo-site.

After carving your pumpkin, which can take a little time, you stick a candle in it and leave it on the porch to rot; hoping no one will smash it. As you probably well know another tradition of Halloween is Trick or Treating. Now I unfortunately was unable to be at home for Trick or Treat so I missed the ten year old that came to our door and when asked what he was dressed as replied "A pimp!" Our neighbourhood has a lot of dumb. There are dumb shits, dumb arses, dumb bums...you get the idea.

I think one of the reasons I liked Halloween was that it's unlike most holidays. It's commercial but you don't buy expensive toys, you buy cheap, nasty chocolate to give to kids. It's not religious so you don't have all the happy clappers out there trying to make you feel guilty for some dead guys birthday, or the day he laid an egg or something. And it's not taken that seriously so there's no real obligations to anyone or anything.

Now the next holiday coming up is Thanksgiving. This is the day Americans celebrate what they are thankful for. I'm assuming they're thankful that the Native Americans had no resistance to smallpox, had no potent weapons of any kind and were somewhat trusting of new comers.

Sorry if this is coming over a little cynical but I been reading what would be best described as hippy, new age, vegan propaganda. Now I have to admit to having hugged a few trees in my time but I'm no fanatic. the thing is I have been reading a book that has pissed me off and scared me a little. Go to Ana's blog she has explained it a little and is of the same opinion as me. Have fun and I'll tell you all about Thanksgiving next week. Remember hold your head above water and hold your water in public. PEE FREE, PEE FREE.

first of many...

Like I stated in my little welcome part of the reason I started this was to spout off about things that annoy, interest and perplex me. The issue most recently that has caught my attention is the big to-do about Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali. The Mufti that compared women without head dress to uncovered meat. I didn't see a whole lot about this, only what I could read online. I don't know if anyone has mentioned what I'm about to but I sure hope so.

Now I fully understand how people have been so upset. This comparison offends me also. It is degrading to women and dangerous to promote these rather backward chauvinistic views. I though am also offend as a male. This statement says a lot about Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali's opinion of Islamic men and men as a whole.

If we break down what he says it's just plain ridiculous. Women are referred to as meat. From this I can only deduce that women are there to be devoured and nothing more. And what of the cats in the example. This can only be men. I think it's interesting that an animal that survives by instinct and has a limited ability to learn is used to represent men.

Now I'll be the first to admit that men are animals. We are responsible for much of what is wrong with the world, but I hold out hope that we can be better. It is obviously the view of Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali is that men can't get any better, and he is using religion to legitimise their ignorance and arrogance. Blowing a whole lot of wind up their arses at the same time.

I don't think this comparison is meant to really comment on men, but I think it says a lot more about men than we would like to admit. Islamic men who buy into this kind of rhetoric are obvious non-thinkers, because if you look at it its offensive. It implies men are incapable of change. That we can't be expected to control ourselves. Some men may want this justification of their desires. They may want the responsibility to lay elsewhere. They may want to be animals.

I like to think that we all have the ability to better ourselves. That we can be more than just mere animals. The decision is ours to make.

hello and welcome!

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog. I know that blog has become a dirty word, just like bum before it, but they are so much easier. I know they are just as impersonal as mass e-mails but at least you don't have them clogging up your in-box. This also gives me the opportunity to spout crap about whatever subject I like. I'm going to be just like all those other self important wankers, forcing their uneducated opinions on the world. So sit back and get ready for me to vent what's been annoying me lately, as well as the fun stuff I've been doing. Feel free to comment, but keep the language clean ya dickheads. I'm talking to you Fitzy. Have fun, be good, and STAND UP BIG!