So here it is, the festive season. So why is it that all I want to do is sleep? I'm unsure what this blog is about, but I realized I haven't updated this in a while. Christmas came and went since the last time, and of the things on my wish list, I got the Ian Rankin novel 'The Complaints', which I did want, and 'Exit Music' which I already had, unfortunately. And since I'm such a history nerd, I asked for a couple of books on any subject pre-WWI (pretty broad category); which resulted in a book on the twilight of the medieval Cathars in Languedoc (a fascinating subject which I admittedly know little about) and a book on Napoleon's march to Moscow. can't wait to get stuck into those, but first I'm trying to finish 'Papillon' which I had long heard of, but had no idea what it was about. exciting stuff. I also recently acquired the TV mini-series version of the 'Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follett. haven't started watching it yet, but I'm slightly worried since I really enjoyed the novel, how are they going to skew it? More on that anon. tv/movie adaptations are not usually known for being faithful to the original, and I have long since reconciled myself to the fact. anyway, my other Christmas gift was a bag of socks. this pleases me immensely, since my current quota of socks had been dwindling for some time prior to this. add to that they are extremely comfortable and you have a winning formula.
Christmas dinner is normally a meal handled by my mum and older sister, with the odd help from the rest of us, peeling spuds and such. This year was largely a combined effort, with myself and the brother acting as sous-chefs and salad-makers as well as potato mashers and peelers. The brother loves that stuff, he's into his cooking. as for me, I'm so lazy, I'd rather eat shit food that takes 10 minutes preparation than spend an hour preparing something that might actually be palatable to anyone other than myself. apart from mashed potatoes. I could eat them with every meal. sister the elder made some with Mustard and Creme Fraiche earlier. they were pretty good. I'd still prefer the ones I made for Thanksgiving though.
Christmas turkeys are deceptively large. we thought the one we got was about the size of a chicken, (we named him Verne, after the guy who played mini-me, in order to accentuate him diminutive stature) yet we haven't even finished the meat after 2 days... see what I mean? deceptive.
I haven't drunk any mulled wine over Christmas, to be honest, haven't drank much at all.
all in all; this Christmas has been fairly odd, yet somehow more normal than ever.
I'm going back to find out what happens to Papillon.
until next time.
Peace and yuletide Hugs
Derm
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The Week Before Christmas
this is a poem inspired by my daily rambles around the streets, movement being the only thing that keeps my feet warm in this blasted cold weather (in conjunction with a few pairs of warm socks).
Receiving a gift is all about you
buying the gift makes you feel like poo
Charity and selfishness coexist now each year
Consumer and activist consumed by good cheer
Shoppers lunch in cafes burdened with loads
Filled up with trinkets of copper and gold
Rosy cheeked children rush hither and yon
while charity choirs attempt to part you from your hard earned and much needed cash by guilt tripping you while singing a lovely song.
I do like all the twinkly lights though. makes the dark evenings less depressing. roll on food-filled Christmas party season. shopping sucks.
peace out. D.
Receiving a gift is all about you
buying the gift makes you feel like poo
Charity and selfishness coexist now each year
Consumer and activist consumed by good cheer
Shoppers lunch in cafes burdened with loads
Filled up with trinkets of copper and gold
Rosy cheeked children rush hither and yon
while charity choirs attempt to part you from your hard earned and much needed cash by guilt tripping you while singing a lovely song.
I do like all the twinkly lights though. makes the dark evenings less depressing. roll on food-filled Christmas party season. shopping sucks.
peace out. D.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Darklight
Ahhh.
I'm sitting in a cafe beside a canal, with large windows letting in the remains of the grey light of the winter's afternoon. scattered raindrops scud across the surface of the canal, and turn one's mind to the upcoming season, my favourite time of year. That's right, I'm talking about New Year's Resolutions.
I suppose the normal thing to be thinking of at this time of year is the impending gluttony of the season of Christmas, the Christian epitome of the Westernized, globalist society. Even now, when people are in the throes of doom and gloom, they will spill their near-empty sparáns for a decent tree and toys for the young 'uns.
I might blog about Christmas when the time comes closer, but for now the festive fever has not grasped me. I prefer to look ahead, knowing that what happens in between is probably little different to last year or the years preceding it. New Year's Resolutions, however, should not be spur-of-the-moment decisions made in the throes of a comedown from too much merriment. I try to think about these decisions at least once a week in the month or so leading up to and around January 1st. I started trying to do this about two years ago, and can honestly say that having thought about them more, the term 'resolution' becomes much more apt, having achieved over half of the goals I set out for myself last year, being 'resolute'.
I won't deny that many admirable goals are thought of after too much wine on New Year's Eve, but how many of those admirable goals are even remembered by January 31st?
I will probably post some of my resolutions here after the 1st of January, but until then, I will continue to blather about other, less intense things.
peace and love my homies.
Dermo
I'm sitting in a cafe beside a canal, with large windows letting in the remains of the grey light of the winter's afternoon. scattered raindrops scud across the surface of the canal, and turn one's mind to the upcoming season, my favourite time of year. That's right, I'm talking about New Year's Resolutions.
I suppose the normal thing to be thinking of at this time of year is the impending gluttony of the season of Christmas, the Christian epitome of the Westernized, globalist society. Even now, when people are in the throes of doom and gloom, they will spill their near-empty sparáns for a decent tree and toys for the young 'uns.
I might blog about Christmas when the time comes closer, but for now the festive fever has not grasped me. I prefer to look ahead, knowing that what happens in between is probably little different to last year or the years preceding it. New Year's Resolutions, however, should not be spur-of-the-moment decisions made in the throes of a comedown from too much merriment. I try to think about these decisions at least once a week in the month or so leading up to and around January 1st. I started trying to do this about two years ago, and can honestly say that having thought about them more, the term 'resolution' becomes much more apt, having achieved over half of the goals I set out for myself last year, being 'resolute'.
I won't deny that many admirable goals are thought of after too much wine on New Year's Eve, but how many of those admirable goals are even remembered by January 31st?
I will probably post some of my resolutions here after the 1st of January, but until then, I will continue to blather about other, less intense things.
peace and love my homies.
Dermo
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Euro-centrism
I've been thinking and reading a lot lately, hence the lack of blogging, since I can't really do too much at once. I suppose since the current trend of world and domestic news is all about Ireland's relations with Europe; and American diplomatic ties with the world, I have been thinking about history, as I suppose I do quite a lot. It has become a source of some contention for me the way our 'modern' 'Western' civilization, is so Anglophile, and at least in Ireland, has become Euro-centric. history at least gives us reason as to the rise of English as an international language, but it is a cause of embarrassment to me when travelling, that I can barely speak another language (apart from Irish of course, which is close to pointless anywhere other than the west of Ireland).
my second point is the one which I have long held to be a cause of worry in our country. despite my last few posts, in which I lauded certain aspects of European influence on our society, I have always had a healthy mistrust for the overt political power that the EU exerts on us, and most especially, the common currency. I was very young when the Euro was introduced, and while I saw its benefits, I also bemoaned a certain loss of identity, even then. my scepticism of the EU has recently been proved to be fairly well-founded, although I cannot place all the blame, since the corruption in power has also sprung from the narrow-minded government policies that are all too Irish.
my current reading is based on the conflict between Islam and Christianity in medieval times, ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sea-Faith-Christianity-Medieval-Mediterranean/dp/0802715176/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291737789&sr=1-5 if anybody's interested..) which doesn't solely deal with the Crusades, but gives them a fair mention. this invasion of a relatively peaceful country by the barbarian hordes of Franks was no better than the incursions of the Vikings on Christian sites in Europe, which is much deplored in many popular histories. the uniting of Europe as 'Christendom' under Pope Gregory VII and Urban II is often seen as the foundation of modern Europe.
Islamic Spain in this period was under attack from the Christian north, barbarians in their own right, and this is now known as the 'reconquista' in Spanish history, rather than as a war of conquest over others who had just as much a right to be on the Iberian peninsula.
Contemporaneously, Mali and Ghana in West Africa had flourishing empires which were hugely successful culturally, under both pagan and Islamic rule.
I have also been reading sources ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gateway-Atlantis-Search-Source-Civilisation/dp/0747261377/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291738484&sr=1-1) which prove, to me at least, that there was much pre-historic contact between the Mediterranean seafaring cultures and the cultures of today's Latin America.
Overall, most of these thoughts are just snippets of interesting facts that have been circling in my mind and come up in conversation since I last blogged, and I think that, rather than being the most important cultural/religious affiliation in the world, Europe is historically a backwater, peopled with bullies and closed-minded conquerors. It sometimes makes me embarrassed to think this about my own people, but I will finish with this thought:
If you can see the stain on your cheek, would you not do your best to wash it off before going out to make new friends?
peace and love.
Dermo
my second point is the one which I have long held to be a cause of worry in our country. despite my last few posts, in which I lauded certain aspects of European influence on our society, I have always had a healthy mistrust for the overt political power that the EU exerts on us, and most especially, the common currency. I was very young when the Euro was introduced, and while I saw its benefits, I also bemoaned a certain loss of identity, even then. my scepticism of the EU has recently been proved to be fairly well-founded, although I cannot place all the blame, since the corruption in power has also sprung from the narrow-minded government policies that are all too Irish.
my current reading is based on the conflict between Islam and Christianity in medieval times, ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sea-Faith-Christianity-Medieval-Mediterranean/dp/0802715176/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291737789&sr=1-5 if anybody's interested..) which doesn't solely deal with the Crusades, but gives them a fair mention. this invasion of a relatively peaceful country by the barbarian hordes of Franks was no better than the incursions of the Vikings on Christian sites in Europe, which is much deplored in many popular histories. the uniting of Europe as 'Christendom' under Pope Gregory VII and Urban II is often seen as the foundation of modern Europe.
Islamic Spain in this period was under attack from the Christian north, barbarians in their own right, and this is now known as the 'reconquista' in Spanish history, rather than as a war of conquest over others who had just as much a right to be on the Iberian peninsula.
Contemporaneously, Mali and Ghana in West Africa had flourishing empires which were hugely successful culturally, under both pagan and Islamic rule.
I have also been reading sources ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gateway-Atlantis-Search-Source-Civilisation/dp/0747261377/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291738484&sr=1-1) which prove, to me at least, that there was much pre-historic contact between the Mediterranean seafaring cultures and the cultures of today's Latin America.
Overall, most of these thoughts are just snippets of interesting facts that have been circling in my mind and come up in conversation since I last blogged, and I think that, rather than being the most important cultural/religious affiliation in the world, Europe is historically a backwater, peopled with bullies and closed-minded conquerors. It sometimes makes me embarrassed to think this about my own people, but I will finish with this thought:
If you can see the stain on your cheek, would you not do your best to wash it off before going out to make new friends?
peace and love.
Dermo
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