The Ranting Room

Do you want to know what REALLY burns my ass?

Edited by darren - May 17 2006 at 07:29

I really do not understand how people are so materialistic. I am not saying materialism is inherently bad, it's just the children and young adults who have to consistently buy the same clothes, look the same as each other, all because of marketing and advertising. The "scene" kids always seem to whinge about wanting to look different, but they are not. There are 4 or 5 different styles at the moment, going around most of the New World I'd imagine. There's Emo, Straight Edge (or sXe), Goth (plus all the different types of Goth), Sk8er, ska/punk, rockabilly and the metallers. There is always going to be your Burberry wearing Chav types, but you will also have the types, like my brother, who are just normal people, who go to work in shirt and tie, just wear reasonably bog standard t-shirts and trousers (chords, jeans, slacks) and normal, black shoes. They're hair is reasonably short and just normal. They aren't Chav, they aren't in a "scene", they are just getting on with their lives.

I have long hair and a beard, true, but I'm not modelling myself on any 1980s look, I'm more modelling myself on the late 1960s/early 1970s look, if anything. I'm hardly original myself, but then I also don't buy band t-shirts, or Converse or New Rock footwear.

Then there are the people who have to buy something new, straight away, because somebody else has it and said it was good. Often they waste their money on something they don't like, or they do like at first, but they grow bored of. The amount of people I know who own an album they have since grown too hate. Most of my CD collection gets listened too still, because I genuinly do like it and hopefully will always like as well. I don't buy stuff on recommendation, I read reviews, both good and bad and then if it's a CD, I will probably try and download a few MP3s off the web and if I like what I hear, then I will buy the album. Nobody has prompted me to buy it, I haven't bought it, because my friend has it, or because it's the latest album by some band that only have ever realised 1 or 2 great tunes.

Materialism is here to stay and I can see the situation growing worse.

And elaborating on an earlier point:

You find that on the "school run" that you will see off-road jeeps and suchlike, always driven by some 30 something female with 2 or 3 children in the back. It's an off-road vehicle for a reason! Why do the school run in them? Silly people. Buy a hatchback, they are plenty sufficient for the purpose, are better on the environment (well, sort of, still bad for the environment nevertheless) and are probably easier to drive too. They then park the aforesaid vehicle on a double-yellow line (double-yellow lines are not supposed to parked on officially) and sit there for ages, causing no end of problems for other drivers, also in their off-road vehicles, who want to do the same thing. Also, you will find the drivers of off-road vehicles only live within walking distance of the school anyhow and so, should be walking their children to school, but no, they'd rather ruin the environment and cause traffic jams. Thanks ladies.

Blacksword wrote: Sean I couldn't agree more about girls who try to be football louts. Our local pubs are full of these ghastly creatures, who think the best way to be equal to men is to act like them, in the worst possible way. It ties in with ever increasing thuggish behavior among women, girl gangs etc. Do I blame parents? Partly, but they are not really responsible for the huge cultural changes. I blame the Spice Girls..oh and Phil Collins..well, why not..?

To all the people who want me to do stuff or need something from me:

It's a familiar moan, but after having used a whole fleet of taxis over the last week, I feel I should re-kindle the old gripe about cabbies.

I fail to understand why they assume you want a conversation with them. Now, I'm not completely anti social, an interesting conversation is ok for me at any time of the day, but nine times out of ten they open up with something ridiculous like 'Did you see the fight?' or 'You down the pub for the match?' What fight? What match?? What are you talking about??? They assume that because you are male you are going to be obsessed with the same brainless sh!te that they are. If it's not sports talk, then it's 'What they should do with this country' Cab drivers political solutions for our society range from sending one ethnic group or another back to where they came from, to lining them up and having them shot, followed by all the 'bleedin' &rsehole politicians who let 'em in in the first place'.

This phenomenon is the same the world over. A cab took me from Greenwich Village to Times Square once. The Brazillian driver immediately started ranting about what a sh!thole NY was, and how it was all the filthy foreigners who made it the sh!thole he believed it to be!! Of course, he to had his own solutions for these dreadful problems, most involved flame throwers, firing squads and low yield nuclear weapons. While I was obviously tempted to shout 'Belt up!'I thought better of it..

The other side of the coin, of course is the rare occassion when I'm in a good mood, and I start the conversation with something equally pathetic like 'You been busy?' or 'What time you on 'till?' I mean honestly, what do I care what f***ing time he's on to?? It's like a reflex action, I just cant help myself. So now whenever I'm in a good mood and need to take a cab, I staple my tounge to my gums and sew my lips together so I'm unable to speak.
    

Edited by Blacksword - May 17 2006 at 03:32

Another one:

Bravo guys and girl, very well said!

Football generally annoys me, I used to be a fan, but now, I cannot be bothered with it, it's pointless (well, pointless at professional level anyhow).

Oh, I know what annoys me and maybe this just happens to me...

Two of my mates (but one in particular), both being female, when getting in my car in the passenger seat, immediately have to start playing with my 6-CD player, to try and find something they like.  I've had to put in their own CDs before now, because my prog music is just too much for them!  Having said that, one of them did borrow my Coheed and Cambria CD.  She's welcome to it, because I really do not like it all that much!

They're the same with Sky/Cable.  All they do is endlessly flick channels finding music they like (normally Blink 182 or Green Day - don't get me started on them!) and when they do find something they like (like what I mention above), they get so far in and get bored of it and then... yes, they start flicking through again.  The thing is, myself and my male friend don't want to listen to that kind of music, but we cannot get our say.  It annoys me having to listen to Hip-hop or Rap on occasions.

I think, quite possibly, women have the worst music taste in the world (not all of them of course).

*that feels better*


Edited by Geck0 - May 16 2006 at 19:33

Fire Alarms.

Or to be specific the fire alarms here in my hall of residence, there stupidly  sensetive. They will be set off by steam, smoke from weed and Lynx (I kid you not). Whats more it seems that some of the students staying here took more than 3 months to get the hang of closeing their shower doors when in use, I dont want to stand around outside in the middle of winter becasue someone cant close their shower door.

Over the last four weeks however the alarms seem to have decided that they are going to go off at 3 in the bloody morning, and its happened once every week so far since I returned from Easter.

Worst of all an alarm interupted my viewing of Top Gear this Sunday gone, that time they went to far.

Jim Garten wrote: Blacksword wrote: .. While, I'm at it, I'd like to talk about the effect football has on peoples intelligence. I've nothing against the great game, but whenever the world cup or a Euopean tournament looms, the average Englishmen turns into a retarded, knuckle dragging idiot, whose voice suddenly takes on the characteristics of your average thug; not a persona they would normally be proud of. It's the only time in their fat, track suit wearing, chavvy little lives, they ever show any emotion. They celebrate victory by getting drunk and causing a public nuisance, and they commiserate loss by crying into their Lager...and then getting drunk and causing a public nuisance. They cover their houses in England flags, not to show their support for our boys, as they claim..oh no, but to show a) how 'mad' and 'up for it' they are. and b) to draw attention to themselves, hoping that passers by will think 'Wow, look at that house. That guy must really love his footy. I bet he's a real 'salt of the Earth' type who does abit of this and abit of that, but basically loves his old mam!'     and dont you just hate the way you are made to feel bad about having this view? My mates tell me it's just a bit of fun, and I shouldn't be such a snob. Fun, my arse! That's if you're allowed to get a word in edgeways the day after a soccer match ; I like the people I work with a great deal but there are times (usually on a Monday or Thursday) where I may as well come into work naked with a llama strapped to my head for all the notice a recognised "non-football-person" is given... ...that is until they've finished talking about the latest exploits of a bunch of overpaid, undereducated, narcissistic, underworked, celebrity-obsessed morons, whose idea of a fashion statement (to be taken seriously by the knuckle dragging hordes, of course) is to change their haircut again, thereby ensuring coverage by those pathetic lowest common denominator feeding magazines who follow their every insignificant step and word as if they were reporting the second coming of Christ! ...sorry, what was the question again?

Jim Garten wrote: Blacksword wrote: ..and dont you just hate the way you are made to feel bad about having this view? My mates tell me it's just a bit of fun, and I shouldn't be such a snob. Fun, my arse! That's if you're allowed to get a word in edgeways the day after a soccer match ; I like the people I work with a great deal but there are times (usually on a Monday or Thursday) where I may as well come into work naked with a llama strapped to my head for all the notice a recognised "non-football-person" is given... ...that is until they've finished talking about the latest exploits of a bunch of overpaid, undereducated, narcissistic, underworked, celebrity-obsessed morons, whose idea of a fashion statement (to be taken seriously by the knuckle dragging hordes, of course) is to change their haircut again, thereby ensuring coverage by those pathetic lowest common denominator feeding magazines who follow their every insignificant step and word as if they were reporting the second coming of Christ! ...sorry, what was the question again?

You're on form today, Jim!

I think it's the armchair post match analysis that amuses me the most, or rather the barside post mortems of a match. Now, I've been to many football matches, I'm no fanatic, but I've no problem with football. I just cant stand all the manly bullsh!t that goes with it. I'm reminded of the Fast Show sketch with the group of three men standing in a pub, and there's one who agrees with both of the others opposing views becasue he has nothing of his own to add, and wants to fit in. That could easily have been me! Thankfully it wasn't.

TV coverage of any match irritates me to hell! It's the inane tunnel interviews with the sweaty players, along the lines of:

"Yeah, thats right, what can I say. We had a good first half, but you know, it's like, at the end of the day, when all is said and done it's about scoring goals, it's about putting balls in the back of the net, you know what I mean. If you cant do that you may as well stay at home"

No sh!t Sherlock. That £200,000 you earn a week is well deserved is it not!