kirsten

Because I posted on here, the PET HATES thread about something I hate and rather than going "Oh, fair enough, that's a really shitty thing to have happened. Some people are dicks." or even just not saying anything, you said "Why does it matter that it was a woman? It shouldn't be happening to anyone." and I answered (and agreed!), but you replied and continued the direction of discourse with reference to "things being better than they were for women" which has in turn led me to feel like I'm justifying the existence of sexism. I don't think you're so naive as to believe that everything is sorted nowadays and that women are absolutely treated as equal to men, but you asked and I answered. Things aren't easy these days. How can you be sure of that if so many went unreported in the past? I genuinely haven't said that anywhere. Go back and read what I said. You were vague and I asked you to clarify, which you still haven't really done. If men or women want to dress in a certain way in order to attract someone, fair enough. If men or women want to dress in a certain way to make themselves feel more confident or whatever, also fair enough. What crosses the line is when the way someone is dressed is interpreted as them being "fair game" (both sexes) and they are treated as an object for someone else to do what they like with. Within two sentences here you've said "I didn't intend you to make you feel like you were being reactionary" and also "your posts were over-the-top". So, which are you going to go with? You are completely against feminism. I can't believe I'm having to resort to dictionary definitions here, but feminism is "the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes." That is what you're completely against. From what I can gather from previous posts you've made on here, you have a wife and I think a young daughter, yet you're "against" feminism? I object to 'feminism' being thought of as a dirty word. Feminism does not mean 'hatred of men' or 'making a fuss out of nothing'. It exists for a reason. Your sentence "it implies there is more of a natural divide than there is" goes back to your first point and is why I am having to justify the existence of sexism. You're implying that it is a smaller problem than it is.

Locke (2013) One of those films that you watch and think "why didn't I have this idea?" Basically, it's Tom Hardy in a car making and taking phonecalls for an hour and a half. As the film goes on, we learn all about his character, as you'd hope to, and find out where he's going and why. It flew by, was intriguing and weirdly gripping (for a film about a man in a car making and taking phonecalls for an hour and a half). The ending seemed a bit rushed, but I find myself thinking that a lot about books and films these days. Also I'm not sure I would have enjoyed Tom Hardy in a car making and taking phonecalls for three hours.

I think mental health is always going to play its part when shootings like these occur, and it is vital that more information and help needs to be available to anyone who needs it to prevent things like this from happening. The thing I find troubling about this incident is the reaction there has been from a large number who are holding up this man as a martyr for "men's rights". The attitude of many commenters is what has led people to become vocal about this being a gender issue. The guy shot a bunch of people and then killed himself. No matter what the motives, you'd think that everyone would agree that this is a horrible thing to have happened, but as well as that, we've got this to contend with... These people themselves might not necessarily own guns or have mental health concerns, but the fact that what they're saying is "these women should have just fucked this poor guy and this never would have happened" and by them saying that, it is breeding other people to think it's okay to say the same. Same with the fact that anyone can play the "lols I was only joking online when I said that!" thing, but it perpetuates this fucking ridiculous way of thinking.

I don't think anyone would argue against that (except those who are committing assault). You're right that it shouldn't happen to anyone, but in this instance, I genuinely believe it wouldn't have happened to a man. These occurrences are depressingly common for women and I'm not trying to say they don't happen to men at all, but they are less prevalent and also there's genuinely no history of men's oppression under women. I don't want to discredit any stories men might have about being sexually assaulted and it is important that these are also heard, but it is undeniable that women face greater harrassment and abuse on a daily basis. We are currently living in a world where there are literally women being killed for having the audacity to refuse to sleep with men (while being labelled "sluts" if they do). That is terrifying. The recent shootings in America were met by people expressing sympathy for the gunman because his motive was that he had been rejected too many times. We are now living in a world where you're no longer thinking "How can I say that I don't want to sleep with this man without hurting his feelings?", but "How can I say that I don't want to sleep with this man without him shooting me in the face?" For the time being, as far as I can make out, it's not really a problem that men are going to be facing. Obviously it shouldn't be happening to anyone of any gender, but it is predominately happening to one of them and nobody can ignore that. That is where we're at. That is fucked up.

No, that isn't okay, but I also didn't see that on my way home today so I didn't post about it, and obviously my last comment was pretty flippant. I can't help but feel you've missed the point of the rest of my post somewhat. The women who did that had no right to touch you without your permission and I hope you called them up on it, but I really doubt that that situation (and please correct me if I'm wrong) has since made you wary of women you don't know in day-to-day life or intimidated by being on your own. This is a real problem that 50% of the population face. Is this going to become a "international women's day? What about international men's day?" type conversation, because if it is, I want to bail before it begins.

I wonder this on a daily basis. Everything is making me despair and really fucking angry. Today, we were walking in the west end of Edinburgh near Haymarket Station when we saw a group of around eight kids on bikes heading towards us, but they were on the road. They were going pretty fast, so I jokingly said, "Uh oh, here come the Hell's Angels..." Just as I was finishing my devastatingly witty sentence, I noticed that one of the kids had cycled onto the pavement and sped past a woman on the phone who was walking towards us. She let out a noise of shock and I thought that the kid had maybe accidentally gotten too close and clipped her with his handlebar or something. She had carried on walking as we had, so we heard her say to whoever she was on the phone to, "He just slapped my ass!" Hell's Angels sped off the we'd just come from and they were already pretty far away by the time I registered what had happened and turned around to see which way they'd headed. They were too fast to attempt to chase after, but I really wish I'd realised what had gone on before they cycled past as I would have happily flung my bag off my shoulder and into the wheels of the little cunt that touched her. A flight over his handlebars at high-speed might have knocked some sense into him and taught him that women don't exist for his amusement and he has no right to touch anyone just because he wants to. I was fucking furious. I still am but have calmed down a bit. Why is this allowed to happen? Why is nobody teaching people that this isn't okay? Government-sanctioned tasers for all women.

Maybe at another venue, but the sound was awful last time they played the Music Hall. Wonder if it'd be better at HMT or somewhere.

Jan was telling me about this and I'd forgotten to look it up. Wow. My favourite part is 2.34 where he looks genuinely giddy to be bricking someone's face after selling blow.

Sheeeat, that's a helluva discount. Hmm... Although, I could always go outside and get a sewer-drain stored "beer? cerveza?" from one of the shady guys at the entrance.

Ooh, how big a discount? I thought all you got was access to nice toilets and the viewing areas.

Tickets for next year's Primavera go onsale next wee http://www.primaverasound.com/noticiaSingle?origen=ps&id=1293〈=en

Ugh...

Are tickets for next year onsale yet? As soon as one of those 'Primavera is fifteen' trailers played, I almost threw my money at the screen. Best festival ever.

Fucking Superchunk.

That sounds about right, think I'm still better off with the trams in that case. Gah 5am. Good luck with work, Pandroid. You are a dedicated man to hard pairtying

We saw Real Estate (dull), Girl Band (good), St Vincent (phenomenal), QOTSA (awright), Shellac (yas), Arcade Fire (fine rare) and Metronomy (affa good). I can't do this staying up til 5am thing though. I dunno how I managed last time. I spent most of Metronomy's set wondering how people were able to stand. Does anyone know anything about the shuttle buses? Where they stop, etc?

AFF WORK FOR TWO WEEKS! Barcelona tomorrow. Preparation for Superchunk on Thursday and Friday.

A great bunch of lads.

Oh, that's bigger than expected. That is literally what she said. My sister was watching episodes of the Mortified Sessions online and recommended them to me as there's a Megan Mullally/Nick Offerman episode and a Cranston one. So I went off in search of it, thinking that they were on Netflix and ended up watching the above instead. I think the TV show came before the documentary that I ended up watching but they're by the same people. Basically, about ten years ago, a couple of guys put on these comedy nights where people would get onstage and read out their childhood diaries. I think it started as just some friends, but the more times they did it, the bigger the nights became and eventually it snowballed and different people all over America started putting on these 'Mortified' nights. Each of the performers had to audition so it wasn't any old boring Joe reading out things they thought were funny and there was actually some quality control. The documentary is made up of live footage and interviews with the performers and people behind the Mortified nights. There are bits that are hilarious, but mostly it's just really sweet and life-affirming. It's on Netflix, well worth a watch for a chuckle.

In other news. Really boring girl has been on a roll recently, but I'll just post my favourite: "Controlling canine diabetes is so difficult."

Someone I know and used to like has just posted: "#?ChampionsLeague2014? ?#?ClashoftheMadrids? ?#?RealVAtletico?" What is the point in this post? To tell people he is watching it? To tell people it is happening? To tell people who is playing? Why does he think we don't know this? I now hate him and anyone who 'likes' that status.

Some good bands. Birdhead are ace.

We saw the Physics House Band support LITE recently and they blew my face right off. I finally managed to re-attach it then made the mistake of thinking about them again and had to go back to the doctor.