Author: Sue

I have been writing in various forms since I was a child. I write about what is going on in my life, what I enjoy, and the struggles of dealing with chronic illness and mental health issues. I love live music, football (Scotland and Dunfermline Athletic), reading, Formula 1, Stock Cars, and eating lots of vegan crap.

Riot! Riot!

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Spending another morning watching the news, feeling greatful that I live in a small town in Scotland. The riots that have gripped various parts of England. These are riots, which don’t have the expected mood of ‘normal’ riots. By this, I mean rather than protesting and shouting at police, they are burning down shops and looting on a level never seen in the UK.

The people doing the looting, are described as being young people (teenagers/ early 20s). People who seem to show a complete disregard for their surroundings. What makes people want to torch their own community, and destroy lives? The protests originally started because a young guy was shot by police in Tottenham in London. The peaceful protest that occured afterwards, was to march to the local police station. As with many peaceful protests, others appear to have hijacked the cause, and started to riot.

I don’t claim to know the ins and outs of this, but I feel the need to show my own thoughts on the situation. First off, no matter what the reasoning is behind the disturbances, they are wrong, and should never, ever be tolerated. People’s lives have been destroyed, and now people are being killed to protect their own property. I feel for the people affected, and is it mindless. The shops being targeted have ‘high value products’, like phone shops or sportswear shops. The shops are being destroyed, and some have been set fire too. With people losing businesses generations old within a matter of hours.
I do think there is a lot of issues obviously needing tackled. Yes, the government do appear to have failed to help certain areas in the UK, but is there really any reason to react in such a way, that people are scared to live in their own home. I think that there is a distinct lack of respect in communities. The problems started in my generation, where kids rights were deemed more important than the law. You couldn’t keep kids after school, because they’d miss their bus. Parents who punished their kids, could be threatened of cruelty. The boundaries that people had became blurred, as no big sense of authority was present. Police are now scared to lose their job, if they act harshly. They are the LAW INFORCERS. If you break the law, the police have every right to smack you with a baton if you act like you are endangering others.

But arresting the people responsible isn’t going to fix what are underlying issues. Over the last 10-15 years, the destruction of Youth Centres to build supermarkets and private housing has destroyed what community was left. It is happening in every city in the UK, hearts of communities teared out so that the big corporations and richer commuters move in. Why should everything representive of the people who have intruded on these communities not be destroyed? When you think about your own community, the towns and cities near you, you know of old factories, apartment blocks, community centres being flattened for new housing and supermarkets. You can understand why people are getting upset and annoyed. The poorer classes are moved out the way so that people with more money can move into their Identi-kit houses.

The housing developers are circling, to build their new estates around my town. It leaves other local things in question, as sport fields, parks and community centres look to be the site for the new developments. I can see the areas I spent my childhood being taken from the people who have lived here for generations. The local people, are being shunned for the council to make money selling of land for houses. That makes my blood boil. And this is happening on a large degree in almost every town in the UK. When you look at this way, you can maybe understand why people feel helpless. Why they want to make those who have money and what they don’t, suffer.

I in no way condone the looting, just saying that they are no different from anyone else. But if people are feeling like they are giving the people who are destroying the communities, grief, maybe it make more join in. These riots have been a long-time coming, and people are shocked at the damage being done, but not too shocked at there are disturbances occuring.

Help the people affected, make the offenders see who they have hurt, make them apologise. But, don’t mark every youth in poorer areas the same. Don’t start a class (race) war of ‘them and us’. Don’t think that this will simply go away in a few nights.

Please look after each other out there.

Rebellion Fest– See You Soon Blackpool

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

So, tonight is ‘get ready’ night, because tomorrow I am away down to Blackpool until Monday night. Which is great, I need some time away.
I am away down to Rebellion Festival, a punk festival held at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens. It is the highlight of my year, and there is always some amazing bands there. Bands going that I want to see include:
*The Exploited
*GBH
*The Restarts
*The Guilty Pleasures
*Middle Finger Salute
*The Creepshow
*Anti-Nowhere League
*Cock Sparrer
*The Business
*Sonic Boom Six
*The Damned
*The Beat
*999
*The Bouncing Souls
*Goldblade
*Pennywse
*The Dickies
*The Vibrators
*The Varukers
*Street Dogs
*Old Firm Casuals (feat Lars from Rancid)
*Infa Riot
*The Meteors
*Slaughter & The Dogs

Just ckecked the timing, and I may have to make a choice between one band and another.
Going to be so good though.

Kopa Real? (The Lion King Controversy )

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So, after another immense and long discussion on the nature of Kopa, I decided I needed to say a few things about it. Kopa is a character who has become connect with Disney’s The Lion King.

Why? Well in November 1994 Grolier Enterprises, Inc. released a series of books which were a spin off from the original Lion King movie, called Six New Adventures. As you can probably gather, they were six picture/ story books which had new stories, taken from the Lion King universe. All sounds very happy. But these books conclude that the cub born at the end of the first movie, was a boy called Kopa. And Kopa is at the centre of many of the stories in the books. However, when the second movie (Simba’s Pride) kicks off, the cub born, Simba and Nala’s ONLY cub is a girl called Kiara.

These inconsistances has lead to some conspiracy theories that Kopa was killed or he went rogue and left the Pride. The inconsistances which occured with the crossover in animation between TLK and SP, has also broken any sense of continuance that was intended. For example, the end of TLK the cub is ‘shown’ at dusk, at the start of SP the cub is ‘shown’ at dawn. These inconsistances, are what have lead people to believe that there was a passing of considerable time between TLK and SP. So another cub could exist.

Why the controversy? Well a lot of Pride Landers (including myself) do not accept Kopa as part of TLK saga. Mostly because these additional characters (Kopa) were created by individual authors and were not actually produced by Walt Disney. Also, the Six New Adventures series WAS NOT sold outside of America. The reasoning behind this, is because the company that made the books were not believed to sell the trademarks outside the USA.

This is where it gets complicated.

The suspected process of the books were this, some stories were outlined by a group of authors. Grolier, the company making the books, contacted Disney to get permission to use a variety of trademarks, including characters, logos, etc. Disney would have green-lighted that Grolier could use so many trademarks. And because of this, and the rules, to get a character they could fully shape, Grolier and the authors decided to create an original character, called Kopa. They had more freedom of the stories including Kopa, and could get the storylines the wanted, whereas there would have been stricter regulations if it was cub Simba the stories where about. One of the rules on allowing a company to use some trademarks is that the agreement would be purely domestic, which means that the books could not be marketed anywhere outside the US.

This means that whilst Disney gave Grolier permission to use a number of trademarks, the actual stories were not authorised by Disney. It sounds strange, and more than a little muddy. But the stories themselves were not created by Disney, and have been denied as part of the saga by the makers of both TLK and SP movies. This leads you to believe that Kopa is not a recognised character, and therefore is non-canon, as he has no direct relation to the original material.

The inconsistency in animation are still there between TLK and SP, but this is more because of the change in budget and the people working on the films. To say that another cub had been born, had all these adventures, and just vanished makes no sense. So sorry. Kopa is a non-starter as far as I’m concerned.

So Much Work…

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If someone looked at all the sites I update, I am pretty sure they would think I do it as a job. Because, I don’t think any sane person would spend this much time online, if they weren’t getting paid for doing so. :S

I think it is one of these things where you do it because you enjoy it. I mean, I have already talked about people who blog for money, realise it isn’t as easy as they thought, and they give up. A big thing on the internet, is that for you to be deemed ‘successful’ you need to have a lot of people following you on various sites. I am one of the ‘old school’ internet users, where to get any access I had to go to my local library, so any time I had online I spent constructively. When I say that, I mean, I was productive on sites, rather than playing follow the leader. Mostly because I didn’t know when I’d next have an internet connection, so I ended up putting in content and that’s it.

The thing is, I started using the internet properly, when I got my own connection (about 4 years ago), and I found myself going on more sites. And I kept up the same ideal as always, and I would spend time on sites updating various things, and trying to communicate to others, who had similar interests to me. The only issue is, that now I have got A LOT of sites which I need to update regular, and if I don’t it takes me a LONG TIME to catch up. The main culprits for stacking up of work are deviantArt and YouTube. I love them both, which is why I spend so much time on them, but sometimes I take a few days away and my inbox is filled to the brim, and I get annoyed with how much I have to catch up on.

I hear you now, with your ‘why do you do it then, it’s not like they pay you’. -.- This is where I say, these sites are my hobbies. I like viewing other people’s creative output, and think that it is THE best thing about the internet. So, although I may moan, I love that I can chat to people, and they respect my opinion. That is the most wonderful feeling in the world, that someone respects what you think.

It’s ok. I know I am strange.

These Days Spent A’Ramblin’.

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Don’t have a lot to say right now.

I have the urge to update though. All my utterances I have online, are pretty much on twitter and tumblr. Mostly because they are not anything substantial, it is just a few sentences or a comment I need to say. Nothing that has enough ‘stuff’ for a blog post. Which is depressing, because I usually have so much to say.

So I have been sitting around, listening to Charlie Parker and chilling out. I find jazz one of the most relaxing kinds of music. The sound just manages to lift what ever mood I am in, and to me, that’s what music is good for. It is something that you can turn to, if you need it, it is there. And depending on the person, different kinds of music can do that. For me, it is always jazz, reggae and ska that cheer me up, regardless as to why I am not happy.

Music is strange, because it is using someone else’s art, to relate to and help express your feelings. That is how I feel about music, it is art. Even if something is not to someone’s taste, they shouldn’t ‘hate’ it. I mean hate, is you dismissing another artist complete, and is a strong word for something that isn’t to your taste. I try to give most kinds of music a go, but I know there are particular artist’s I can’t stand (Justin Beiber, Take That, etc). But, I would never say these are crap artists. Regardless of my view on their music, they are out there making music, music which will effect someone. So kudos for them, for doing something I could only dream of. So you insult an artist, you insult the people who can relate to their music. You insult people you have never met. And if you do that, it says more about you, than the actual person you berate.

Homesick

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

After all the carry on getting the art blog up and running, I have been posting over there and have inadvertently left my internet home (ie- here). I didn’t mean too, it just happened. I wanted to update something, at it was easy to update over there because of this ( http://splittingink.blogspot.com/ ).  And no matter how much I use blogger, I am always a WP lover first.

Almost sounds like a line from a bad romance novel, a really, really bad romance novel. But dammit, I am going to get back on top of things. I am going to be using the internet a lot more over the next week, mostly because I HAVE NO MONEY!! Yes, the typical aspect of internet usage, it peaks as it gets closer to payday. Coincidence, I think not.

Anyway, if you have a sec, click on the link above, to go visit Splitting Ink, a collaborative art blog I am doing with my friend Paul, and his mate Darren. It is something we are trying to do, to try and get ourselves motivated to create new things. I post on a Monday, so I will have to complete a piece of work, and write an accompanying entry, to be posted early every Monday. Should be interesting. As you are well aware, I do try to post at least once a week on here, but I hope it will start to become more frequent again.

Very Boring

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Do I seem interesting?

With the immense time I put in to being an internet addict, probably not. Well, a little lie there, I actually find myself very interesting. I love my patterns of reading, blogging and TV. I say TV, because now my Sky+ is working properly mixed with Sky working on Xbox again, I have started watching a lot of TV. Most of it is The Gilmore Girls, but still, good quality, healthy TV.

The TV shows I like have to have good dialog and well written and developed characters. I like the fact that you can judge a character, because you have come to know their personality. I think it comes from a life a bookworm, where I did nothing but read for days on end. Not much has changed really, accept now, I tend to use writing to express myself more. It seems rather logical putting my loves for reading and writing together, but it didn’t happen that naturally. I liked to do things on my own, and write because I wanted to. When school became about essays and exams, it stopped being about writing for fun. It started to have a purpose. A purpose which was that I was writing for a meaningless grade.

That sounds bad. Grades aren’t meaningless. But I put a lot of love into what I wrote, and I didn’t like that it was graded and treating like a piece of crap, where all the feeling was sucked out of any piece, just so that the flaws (mostly in grammar) could be picked at. It was a bit of a change in things. Writing at school, became less a labour of love, and more a dementor. (5 points for HP reference.) And it made me think, ‘why’. Why did I have to put so much of ‘me’ into things, just for it to be torn to shreds because of my technical ability.

Through writing on my own, on blogs, etc, I have bettered myself in my grammar. I have become a better writer, but that is through reading a lot of novels, and writing a lot of pieces on other sites. Writing blogs has helped me a lot, in being an aide to help me find the words I need to express myself. The fact that I can put my thoughts across, and do it in such a way (I hope) people can pick up on what I am like, and how I feel. And that is a spiritual thing. The fact that you can connect to so many people, where age and country bare no significance.

Some say I am boring, and lead a boring life. I ask them, what do you do that gives you passion? What do you do, that makes you happy to be alive? What do you do to communicate with like-minded individuals? The internet helps me achieve all that and more, people only mock because they don’t know how to do what you do.

At an intersection.

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Now, as an individual blogger, I have always prefered WordPress, because I find it a really easy service to use. But now, due to a collab blog I am taking part in, Blogger was the easiest service to do that task. And I am left with two blogs one here and one on blogger, which I want to keep, but don’t want to have the same things on.

-.-

And because I have posted personal things on them both, I can’t face deleting either. Which leaves me with a dilemma. Or not, I mean I could just run them both, and copy posts across if I can’t be bothered writing two posts one day. I don’t even know why I have two for the same purpose. Actually, it was because the college decided the groups on blogger were great and everyone had to join. So I started up a Riot Graphics blog over there too, and it is still there.

Know what? That blog can be there, but I am still using this as my main one. I love WordPress too much just to stop it. Blogging is my passion, leave me alone. *sulks in corner*

Seriously, maybe

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I have a lack of understanding when it comes to being definate on something. It is not that I am a liar or anything, it is just that when it comes down to it, I hate setting something in stone. Maybe it’s because I am indecisive. I just know I am one for changing plans and ideas, and the thought of not being able to change things, kind of freaks me out.

No kidding. I have seen myself get in a panic about not having enough time to do something, and that something is rather remedial and not so important. I just irrationalise beyond the point of no return. Not something uncommon, I know. But I wish sometimes the dormant sensible side of my brain would actually do something for a change. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being impulsive and crazy sometimes, but when that is all you are, it is tiring.

That makes me sound crazy, I am not crazy. I have restraint, which is a saviour sometimes. Because speaking out of turn is one thing, but when you have such twisted opinions as I do, expressing such opinions ALWAYS ends up in bother. But, people who love me just say ‘Silly Sue, what has she said now to piss off the masses’. Seriously.

Going to change my name so it doesn’t fit with anything condescending.

Free Press?

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So obviously anyone who has any idea about News and the like, would have heard about the News of the World phone hacking scandal. It really is disgusting the levels some people seem to have gone to, so that they can have exclusivity on a story or event. Kinda makes me sick. I mean, hacking into someone’s phone is wrong, something made even worse by the very idea that even death didn’t protect some people’s private information from these ‘reporters’. In a, much delayed, reaction, News Corp International, The News of The World’s owners, have decided to stop the paper. And that Sunday will be it’s last edition. Which, to be honest, is fooling nobody.

This is a level of corruption in the British press, which has been dumped on the News of the World’s door, and to be honest, it runs a lot deeper than this. This is something which has being going on for a generation of at least 30 years. Whilst dumping a 168 year old institution seems like an escape, the fact is still there that the lackies got sent to the dole queue, whilst the people who are in charge will have a job, just somewhere else. This is what happened to the banks, and every other company that has problems. Those at the top are spared, and the people who really are the face of the company get sacked.

The British public have gotten used to seeing sensationalist headlines on their tabloid newspapers, with the various publications screaming like children to get the consumer’s attention. And to stand out from that crowd, a publication must seem more ‘breaking news’ than the rest. And this need to be the loudest, is what has created this problem. It is not about opinions and views, it is about the headlines that belong in an episode of Jeremy Kyle.  Journalism has always been an area I have looked on fondly, admiring the writers who get to write their feelings, and get paid for doing so. But how much of what they write, is what they think. The Newspapers should be something where people can read discussions, and see viewpoints on two sides of the ‘fence’. This way they can make a truly educated judgement on what they believe has happened. It is a forum for opinion, and for a paper to do so, it should be adequately mixed with a variety of opinions and values. Give the reader credit, and don’t make decisions for them and say what is right and wrong.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that the Pro-Labour press are condemning Rupert Murdoch and News Corp as they prepare their take-over of BSkyB. A company which wouldn’t be where it is without Sky Television, a company partially created by Rupert Murdoch. So they lather on the abuse to News Corp, and back it up with why they should be unable to take a 100% stake in BSkyB, and the phone hacking seems to be getting used as an excuse. When, there is not a doubt in my mind, that other publications in the UK, have taken similar methods, to make sure that their paper was the one with the most breaking news.

Which is surprising when you see the volume of jibes coming from other publications in the press. Look past their ‘booing’ and ‘hissing’ for the News of the World villain, it appears to be unsettling over-done. By that I mean, they are acting almost too appalled. Almost as if they are trying to put on a front to say they are against what happened, when secretly they have employed similar illegal tactics. And they think that rejoicing the death of the News of the World puts the situation to rest. No. Every news publication in the country should be investigated, so the public can see how deep this runs. And if a paper is true and honest, they should pay for it themselves, to show that they are innocent and give the money to an independent company to investigate.

British journalism has hit a low, and it is going to take drastic action to fix things. Because, right now, the idea that we have a free press in this country is becoming a running joke.