Vote For Pedro

April 28th, 2015 madnad

Annie_Kenney_and_Christabel_PankhurstVoter apathy seems to get worse every election. So many people feel that either all the parties are practically the same, or that their vote makes little or no difference. The thing is, it does make a difference. Even if you live in an area considered a ‘safe seat’, if everyone who said “what’s the point in voting because XXX is going to get in anyway”, the safe party may not be unseated, but they would be forced to sit up and work harder. Plus, it could encourage other parties to field candidates.

Less than a hundred years ago, women were not allowed to vote. The suffrage movement started in 1866, when a group of women organised a petition that demanded women should have the same political rights as men. By 1872, the movement had grown in numbers, with women all over the UK forming suffrage societies.

Men had it a little easier, but there were still battles fought. Until The Great Reform Act of 1832 led by the Prime Minister Charles Grey, only aristocrat men were allowed to vote. After the act, the vote was also given to middle class men. A second Reform Act in 1867 extended the vote further, but still excluded working class men and, of course, all women.

Despite many improvements in the rights of women, the campaign to allow women to vote was consistently knocked back other reform. Even Queen Victoria, an icon of British history, actually opposed the campaign claiming women’s role was to support men.

There was significant change in 1918. After the Great War, the Representation of the People Act gave the vote to all men of all classes over 21 (previously it was only around 60%), but only a small portion of women. Only women over the age of 30, and who were householders or University graduates, were allowed to vote.

The struggle continued, and with a campaign of peaceful protests and militant tactics, women finally achieved voting equality with men in 1928.

When you think of the suffrage movement, or the Suffragettes, I expect you imagine Edwardian ladies chained to railings or waving placards. It all sounds very genteel and British, but blood was spilled, and many died. The campaigners were regularly arrested and mistreated in prison. The suffragettes often used hunger strikes as a means of protest against their arrest, but were then force fed by invasive methods. Many died, or were scarred mentally following this treatment, and many suffered fatal cases of pleurisy. The infamous Emmeline Pankhurst’s own sister, Mary Clarke, died following an incident involving force feeding. Add to this the likelihood that many were brutally beaten by their husband’s, and you can start to see how this right was hard won.

One famous death was that of Emily Davidson who died under the hooves of George V’s horse during the Epson Derby in June 1913. It is believed she was trying to pin a “Votes for Women” ribbon on the horse. Opponents to the movement tried to spread the rumour that she was attempting to pull the jockey from his horse, but film footage taken at the time and recently analysed has proven that was not the case. Davidson suffered fatal injuries and died in hospital 4 days later.

I wonder how women like Emily Davidson, or Emmeline Pankhurst and the other suffragettes, or men like Charles Grey would feel if they knew that today so many women, and men, throw away that right.

So please, use your vote in honour of those that fought and died to get it for you. Vote for Green, vote for Labour, vote for Pedro. Hell… vote for the Conservatives if you have to (though I would rather you didn’t), but please do vote.

The story of Thanksgiving for non-Americans

November 27th, 2014 madnad

It is Thanksgiving in the USA today. Regarding my thoughts following, I want to quote Moonaum James, the organiser of the National Day Of Mourning ceremony in Plymouth,  and say that like him I am

“not against Thanksgiving, but rather want to correct the history of the holiday that suggests that the Pilgrims and Native Americans coexisted peacefully. We’re not there to condemn, and not there to do anything other than point out some truths.”

Most people get the next two days off work, and it is traditional to have a big turkey dinner with the family and over eat. For children, there are often school plays where some of the kids get to play Pilgrims, whereas others have to darken their faces, and wear brown paper bags to play the ‘indians’. It’s all very sanitised, and not even remotely accurate. While the true bloody history may be too much to land on a young kid, I think that these plays reinforce the idea that everything was amicable. It wouldn’t so bad if they later taught the truth, but they don’t. The comments you can see on media posts on this topic highlight just how entrenched the ignorance is. Comments of “the liberals are trying to ruin our holiday”, and “send the indians back to where they came from” are indicative of the refusal to acknowledge the past, a lack of empathy, and incredibly levels of ignorance.

Elsewhere in the country, there are families of Native Americans that are seeing this holiday from a completely different perspective.

Before you cry that these children’s plays are harmless, think on how Indians are portrayed, and the fact that these actions and images affect the American children’s view of Indian culture for the rest of their lives. The costumes worn in the school plays trivialise and degrade the descendants of the proud Wampanoags, whose ancestors attended the first Thanksgiving. These cultural misunderstandings and stereotypical images perpetuate historical inaccuracy. Americans are very adept at rearranging history so that it reflects upon them as a just people, a caring people.  They tend to sweep under the rug anything their ancestors did that the current more enlightened generation feels puts the nation under a bad light.

Around 1614, the Spanish destroyed a Patuxet village and kidnapped many of its inhabitants. In November, 1620, the Mayflower dropped anchor in present-day Provincetown Harbor. After exploring the coast for a few weeks, the Pilgrims landed and began building a permanent settlement on the ruins of the Patuxet village, now renamed New Plymouth. Within the first year, half of the 102 Pilgrims had perished. In desperation the Pilgrims initially survived by eating corn from abandoned fields, raiding villages for stored food and seed, and robbing graves.

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One of the natives captured by the Spanish, Squanto, had been sold to slavery in England, where he worked for a ship building company and learned English. He joined an expedition to explore the New England coast and so made his way back to his homeland. Squanto was introduced to the struggling pilgrims, where he taught them how to hunt and fish, how to plant corn and squash, aiding their survival. Wampanoag is the collective name of the indigenous people of southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island. The name has been translated as ‘People of the Dawn’. The Wampanoag leader, Massasoit, had also given food to the colonists during the first winter when supplies brought from England were insufficient.

The native tribes of New England already had a harvest festival where they gave thanks to the Great Spirit for the bounty long before the settlers arrived. In 1621, after their first successful harvest, the pilgrims of Plymouth, Massachusetts, decided to pick up this tradition and had a three day feast. Ninety warriors of the Wampanoag joined the pilgrims and brought with them venison, lobster, fish, wild fowl, clams, oysters, eel, corn, squash and maple syrup – very different to the foods seen on a modern Thanksgiving table.

On May 26 1637, near the present-day Mystic River in Connecticut, while their warriors were away, an estimated 400 to 700 Pequot women, children, and old men were massacred and burned by combined colonist forces. A mere 16 years after they gave thanks the Wampanoag for their survival, aid that without which all those that had landed with the Mayflower would have died, they betrayed their new world friends. The reason for this betrayal was greed. They wanted the land. Colonial authorities found justification to kill most of the Pequot men and enslave the captured women and their children. Pequot slaves were sent to Bermuda and the West Indies. In 1975 the official number of Pequot people living in Connecticut was 21. Similar declines in Native population took place as an estimated 300’000 Indians died by violence, and even more were displaced, in New England alone over the next few decades.

In the following wars, the natives put up a good fight, but were no match for the white man’s superior firearms. As surely as scissors cuts paper, and rock smashes scissors, gun beats arrow. While there is no denying that European settlers took the land by force, weapons alone can’t account for the breathtaking speed with which the indigenous population of the new world were almost completely wiped out. A little known fact is that in the decades between Columbus’ ‘discovery’ of America and the Mayflower landing at Plymouth Rock, the most devastating plague in human history raced up the East Coast of America. By the time the pilgrims started New England’s written history, the plague had wiped out about 96% of the Indians in Massachusetts. Academics estimate that approximately 20 million people may have died in the years following the European invasion – up to 95% of the population of the Americas, killed by and epidemic of Smallpox, brought over by the Spanish.

I like to think that a full population of Native Americans would have effectively called a halt to the proposed invasion of the ‘pale faces’. They had done it before. We know now that the Spanish were not the first Europeans to land in the Americas, that honour goes to the vikings. This fearsome warrior race however, had their butts handed to them on a plate by the Native Americans. The vikings made a go of settling North America in 1005. After landing there with livestock, supplies and between 100 and 300 settlers, they set up the first successful European American colony … for two years. And then the Native Americans kicked their ass out of the country, shooting the head viking in the heart with an arrow.

The eradication of the indigenous people continued for many years. Conservative estimates are that around 12 million Native Americans have been killed since Columbus landed in 1462.  The current population has been reduced to approximately 5 million that claim full or partial native heritage. And this is after numbers have increased significantly. To put it in perspective, it makes up less than 2% of the total population of the USA.

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The United American Indians of New England meet each year at Plymouth Rock on Cole’s Hill for a Day of Mourning. They gather at the feet of a statue of Grand Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoag to remember and reflect in the hope that America will never forget. I fear it already has.

The reason I titled this post as for non-Americans is because I’m sure Americans reading this will think I am pissing on their holiday, but that’s not true. I believe that you should be thankful everyday for what you have.
 
Also, I just want people to consider what was taken from others in order for you to have your holiday – not to make light of it. To acknowledge the mistakes of the past, and look to ensuring they do not happen again. That while you are gorging on the food mountain that is your Thanksgiving dinner, remember the Native American population, who are one of the poorest members of American society, are mourning the death of their ancestors, their culture, and their way of life.
Yes, I am British, and many of the early settlers were British, and while I feel some remorse for what happened, I feel no guilt. My ancestors did not go to America, my ancestors did not partake in the genocide.

 

 

A Tale of Two States Pt 1: Tennessee

November 20th, 2014 madnad

On October 2013, I got invited to visit my longtime friend, Brandie, in Tennessee. I accepted, and contacted my cousin Martin, who lives in Texas, about whether I could add on a trip to see him too. He said yes, so I bought air tickets. This was a solo trip, as Mr Madnad not only detests flying, but also doesn’t know Brandie. He doesn’t really know my cousin much either, as Martin has been living in Houston for a good while now. My dearest friend offered a room in her home, and my cousin said I could stay with him, so everything was set.

There was a mad scramble for an appropriate suitcase at the last minute (who knew that you can’t buy luggage in October), but finally the day arrived and I was off. It was a bitter sweet parting as my coach to Heathrow left my husband in Nottingham. I was sad at leaving, but also excited about my trip.

My flight was leaving Heathrow at 7:30am, and so check-in commenced at 4:30. Unsurprisingly, the airport is dead at this time. Check-in is all automated now, so once I had handed in my checked luggage and passed through security, I was free to roam the departure area until my flight left. First things first, I got an over-priced bacon roll, and an over-priced orange juice to stave off the hunger pangs and then bought a cup of tea in a failed attempt to wake me up.

I finally boarded the plane, which seemed huge. The seats were in a row of 3 and 3. I had already requested a window seat and seated in an exit row, which I didnt realise at the time was a good thing, as this gave me way more leg room. An exit row is really only a burden should the plane suffer any difficulties, which fortunately it didn’t, as you have an obligation to help fellow passengers off the plane. I wasn’t as freaked out by the take off as I thought I would be. I don’t particularly enjoy flying either, but it’s more of a claustrophobic thing, so the roomy cabin actually helped enormously. Before I knew it, I was watching a movie, and enjoying (I use that term loosely) an inflight breakfast of rubber egg, rubber bacon, and a limp waffle. I watched Chef, which was a funny little movie. Having worked with chefs, I could relate to some of the inflated egos the movie featured. I started to feel sleepy then, so attempted to sleep but no joy. I gave up and watched a second movie, Robocop. It wasn’t great, but not as truly awful as I had been led to believe.

I was too tired to concentrate on another movie, so I switched the small screen over to flight plan, and tracked the plane through the rest of my journey to Washington. I was pleased to note that the first part of the US that I flew over was Maine. Sadly, we were at over 30,000+ feet, so all I could see below was cloud. Booooo.

Eventually, my plane landed in Washington, and the part of the journey that I was most nervous about commenced – US Customs. As it was still fairly early in the US, it wasn’t busy, and I actually sailed through, glowered at by the grumpy faces of the TSA, with relative ease. All done in 30 minutes. I had another 5½ hours to wait for my connection to Knoxville. Oh joy.

Washington airport is vast. I mean, hugely vast, and I was tempted to explore but I was so tired I had a headache, and first thing I bought on US soil was some Tylenol. I was however, able to connect to their free wifi so was able to let Mr Madnad know I had landed ok. I passed the time by watching Netflix or reading on my Nexus. After a few hours, the exhaustion was really getting to me. I had been awake for almost 24 hours after a poor nights sleep. My eyelids felt like rough grade sandpaper. I needed a coffee.

The problem here was I don’t drink coffee. I have tried on a handful of occasions to develop a taste for the rich dark liquid that so many seem to be unable to live without, but have always found it way to bitter for my delicate palate. I really love the aroma, so I have always felt that I should like it. I decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. I went to the nearest coffee stand and asked what was the sweetest coffee they served. “That would be a white chocolate mocha, ma’am”. After getting over the horror at being called ma’am like I was 73, I ordered said beverage. I added two sugars. It was not only drinkable, but I actually enjoyed it. I am still not sure if it was the exhaustion that helped or if the vast quantities of sugar and chocolate syrup helped, but the medicine went down and I briefly felt better. Twenty minutes later, I ordered another.

There was a mad dash across an airport the size of Luxembourg just prior to boarding due to a late gate change, but finally I sat in my Fred Flintstone-esque plane to Knoxville. Compared to the last bad boy I was on, this plane looked like I may have to peddle it. Touch down in Knoxville brought a sense of relief that my flights were over for a week, but I then got suddenly nervous about meeting Brandie.

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Beautiful Brandie

I met Brandie through the Michael Sheen website I created back in 2009. She was one of the first people to participate in the short lived forum I had on there, and a big supporter of the site as it has grown. We became Facebook friends, and I have never looked back. For many years, we have communicated on an almost daily basis. I tell her things I can’t tell anyone else and, other than my husband, she probably knows me better than anyone in the world. She has a mad sense of humour, much like my own. We laugh like drains at the silliest things. She is beautiful, strong, smart and super caring. I love her to pieces. Over the years we have laughed together, cried together, and now we were finally going to meet. I had a panic that I would be a disappointment to her. I need not have worried. Brandie came to the airport with her mother and father, Shea and Randy, who I also know on Facebook, and you couldn’t meet two lovelier people. Within minutes, I felt completely relaxed in their company. These were old friends, even if we had only met mere moments earlier.

I spent the week hanging out with Brandie and her family. They have become my family and I adore them all. They are wonderful, honest, hilarious, down-to-earth, generous people. I honestly could not have asked for anything more. They made me feel at home, relaxed and part of their weird and wonderful family.

During my week with Brandie, we spent a lot of time in the small town of Middlesboro, which despite being less than 30 minutes away, is actually over the state border into Kentucky, and is the town where Shea and Randy live. I ate my first biscuits and gravy in Cracker Barrell there.

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Shea and Randy

I went shopping at the mall one day with Shea & Brandie, in the hope of catching a glimpse of a Jason Momoa look-a-like. I personally feel the similarity to Mr Momoa was exaggerated, but he was still very handsome. I was delighted to pick up some Halloween moulds in the Dollar Store. Shea is the sweetest and kindest woman I have ever met. Randy is an avid amateur geologist, and generously gave me some delightful fossils and stones. He also gave me something called sorghum syrup. It’s a rich dark syrup, not dissimilar to maple syrup but made from a grass. It is not as bitter as molasses, but not as sweet as maple syrup. Its rich taste falls somewhere in between. I am considering making some toffee with it. He also made me drink moonshine, so I can cross that off the bucket list! It wasn’t quite as bad as I expected, but not something I would be inclined to drink often. Maybe clean paint brushes with, perhaps.

As for the rest of her family, there was an all too brief visit from Brandie’s brother, Blake. He is a tall, handsome and very softly spoken man, with a wicked sense of humour that I would have liked to have gotten to know more. Brooke, Brandie’s eldest daughter, and also a mother herself, was just as delightful and fun as I had thought she would be. Her beautiful baby son, Ethan, was one of the best natured babies I have ever held. I am grateful to Brandie’s son, Nicholas, for loaning me his bedroom. He is super smart and has a great sense of humour. I admired him enormously as unusually for a young man, he had considered the options and looked at the facts and chose to be an atheist, which when you consider he is living smack in the middle of the bible belt, I applaud him. His life could potentially be made more difficult for the very fact he found reason. Nick’s twin sister, Bryanna, is a quiet, creative, funny and sassy girl, who is already a beautiful young woman. The two youngest children of Brandie’s, baby Shea and Everly, are lively and spirited girls, and are going to give their family a real run for their money as they grow. I sadly didn’t get to meet her eldest child, Bradon, as he lives with his father in Georgia. Maybe next time.

A cute B&B in Cumberland Gap Town

A cute B&B in Cumberland Gap Town

Brandie lives in an extremely beautiful part of the world near the Cumberland Gap.  The town of Cumberland Gap itself is quite possibly one of the cutest little places I have ever seen. It was the film set of Sleepy Hollow come to life. I half expected a headless horseman or something to come riding through any second. It didn’t seem real at all. The houses were so cute, and all decorated for fall and Halloween. If I was ever to move to that part of the world, I want to live in that town.

We also visited Cumberland Gap National Park. The Cumberland Gap is at the beginning of the Appalachians, and has a certain point where you can stand in the three states of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia all at once. The scenery was jaw-dropping. Soaring mountains covered in trees, all wearing their autumn finery. The range of colours rivalled that of New England.

 

 

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Cumberland Gap National Park

Historically this area had a large native population, and I was kinda hoping that I would be able to absorb some of the culture of the first people. Frustratingly, a Native American story teller was due to appear at the national park the day I was due to leave *sigh*

Leaving Knoxville to fly to Houston was again a bitter sweet moment. I was looking forward to seeing my cousin, but it was heart-breaking to leave my dearest friend and the family who had made me so very welcome. I miss them all so much, and wish daily that they were not so very far away.

 

 

 

The Vikings Are Coming!

May 26th, 2014 madnad

I have an abiding interest in Vikings that actually started long ago, thanks – in a weird way – to Ray Harryhausen.

When I was young, my father took me to the cinema to see Clash Of The Titans. I was blown away. Not just by the special effects, or Harry Hamlin’s hair, but by the stories and characters that feature in this epic fantasy. This little movie birthed an interest in mythology and ancient pantheons that has stayed with me.

Back then, I managed to get my hands on a few books on Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. Their stories, and how the gods walked the earth, dealing directly with humans under their care in a favourable or unfavourable way.

saint-exminSeveral years later, I watched a movie on TV that I hadn’t seen at the cinema called Battle Beyond The Stars. There was a character in it called Saint Exmin played by Sybil Danning. The character was a Valkyrie, and she spoke of the glory of battle, and the honour of a good death. There was something about this character, and it wasn’t the porn-star outfit, that appealed to me. She was strong, feisty, and brave. She fought along side the men in the movie as an equal. I was vaguely aware of Valkyries but it wasn’t until after this movie I decided they warranted more research.

I will admit, my initial interest in Vikings was with the mythology, the stories involving their gods and goddesses. It wasn’t until much later that I started to look into their history and culture. The more I learned about them, the more I admired their ingenuity, their bravery, and their spirit.

Vikings_500 Over the years, I have watched loads of  movies (even some really terrible ones), read books, collected a fair amount of non-fiction and even got a tattoo. The latest manifestation in this obsession is I went to the Viking exhibition currently on display at The British Museum until June.

I have to say, the collection was impressive, and I actually even learned a few things I wasn’t already familiar with. The centre piece of the display was the remains of a large viking warship. There were scant pieces of the original wooden hull remaining, but the conservationists had cleverly used what was left to replicate the remainder in a very simple metal frame so that you really get an impression of the size.

I wouldn’t say the visit was entirely problem free however. The entry of visitors was meant to be staggered. I was booked on a 12:30 slot, but ahead of me they were allowing in people who had a 12:40 slot, making a mockery of the whole system. The result was large swathes of people milling about with no clear direction and an obvious inability to understand the concept of queues. It was difficult to get anywhere near any of the exhibits. The description and information regarding the contents of each case was quite low down causing many people to have to bend over, or it was frequently used as a head rest for bored children.

Don’t mind me. I am just a bit grumpy. I have been looking forward to this day for a little while, and there is part of me that feels I couldn’t get as much out of the exhibits as I would have liked. To top it off, I had ensured my camera was fully charged, the memory card empty and the instruction manual to hand (it’s still fairly new). Despite looking up on the British Museum website that they allow private photography, this particular exhibition had ‘no photography’ signs everywhere. No flash photography I could have understood, to protect the valuable relics, however most cameras these days can handle low light no flash situations quite well, particularly DSLRs, so I was annoyed at this.

The popularity of vikings is undeniable. I do think there has been some kind of resurgence of interest in them. The History Channel’s show The Vikings is a perfect example of this. The historical drama has opened up the world of vikings to people previously uninterested. The exhibition I went to today was the first in about 30 years. Going by its popularity, it has been a success.

Over a thousand years after their first raids, it seems the vikings are invading once again.

 

It’s Not Your Penis

April 1st, 2014 madnad

bananaThere is a lot of media attention at the moment on the topic of circumcision. This is largely due to protests in the States recently from ‘intactivists’ as they call themselves, looking for legislation to ban the practice of circumcision. I am not entirely comfortable with legislation governing medical procedures on either view point, but I am against circumcision as a routine and unnecessary procedure.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking all those things that you have been taught to think; that’s its safe, that it’s cleaner, more attractive, prevents STDs. Well, I am sorry to say to you that you are wrong on all counts. These are all clichés repeated ad nauseum to the point where people have heard them so often, they believe them to be fact, but they are not. There is no scientific basis to support ANY of these excuses for mutilating a child. Some practitioners argue a small benefit, but the overall cost is not born by them or the parents, but the poor boy who has had his penis snipped. Let’s address these fallacies one at a time.

It’s safe

In the USA alone (one of the biggest perpetrators of this circumcision for non-medical or religious reasons), well over a 100 babies die every year due, directly or indirectly, to circumcision, the most common causes being haemorrhaging or infection. On average, 117 neonatal deaths are attributed to the circumcision procedure. Compare this to 115 that die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a terrible occurrence, the prospect of which petrifies most new parents, yet they happily submit their perfectly healthy child to the horror of circumcision. The fear is that the number is actually higher, as many neonatal deaths will be recorded under the indirect cause, so the true scale of the problem remains unrecognised.

It has further been proved that the pain management medication given is completely inadequate in most cases. Usually this procedure is performed within 24 hours of birth, so they are limited to what meds can be prescribed. Brain patterns measured during the procedure have shown that the pain is so severe, for most children, they do not return to normal. While the child may not suffer any physical problems, it can lead to attachment issues and other behavioural changes in later life.

It’s cleaner

At birth, a child’s foreskin is fused to the head of the penis. Cleaning a baby boy’s genitalia is no more complicated than cleaning a girls. You just wipe, and it’s done. As the child matures, the foreskin loosens from the head and becomes more mobile. Your child should be able to pull it back himself at this point and clean it if necessary. Until that stage, it is self-cleaning. The foreskin protects the sensitive glans. The only ‘dirt’ likely to be present is smegma, a build-up of epithelial cells and oils, and a little of this is necessary to keep the glans moist and lubricated.

As they reach puberty, a gentle retraction and wash with water or a mild soap is more than enough.

It’s more attractive

Let’s just forget that you are willing to mutilate a child for aesthetic reasons for a minute and be honest here. Genitals are part of our bodies for functional reasons. Neither intact or cut penises would win any beauty competitions, nor would vaginas for that matter. It is not meant to be beautiful, it is meant to be entirely functional.

One of the long term side-effects of circumcision is that it can cause severe deformities as the child matures. The lack of cover and moisture on the glans causes it to harden (keratinise). Other side-effects include buried penis, meatal stenosis, skin bridges, chordee and poor cosmetic appearance. So, how is this more attractive again?

Other aesthetic excuses are that the child will not look like the father if left intact. Would you advocate rhinoplasty if his nose didn’t look the same? I have also heard that they may be mocked by their peers. In what situation do you imagine your child’s penis ever to become the topic of public humiliation? How would anyone even see it?

It prevents AIDS , STDs and penile cancer

STD are really only a concern once your child is sexually active in which case, buy him some condoms if you are worried, and teach him to be responsible. You should be doing this anyway!

Penile cancer is an extremely rare form of cancer, and smoking is the biggest contributory factor. There has been studies that suggest there are slightly less cases among circumcised men. However, the average age of penile cancer sufferers is 64. Let a grown man make the decision to fractional lower his chances of penile cancer, if he wants to. Don’t do it to a baby “on the chance” he may get it in 60+ years. Breast cancer is a major killer of woman. By this logic, we should be cutting off the breast buds of newborn girls.

What is involved in circumcision?

At less than 24 hours old, your son’s foreskin is fused to the head of his penis. Using surgical tools, the doctor inserts them under the foreskin, bluntly separating the inner lining of the foreskin from the penis head. A cut is made along the dorsal slit and clamps are used until the bleeding subsides, then the loosened skin is amputated, leaving a raw open wound.

When did it become routine?

Our puritanical ancestors were so prudish, they hated everything about sex. It’s a wonder we didn’t die out as a race, really. They tried to remove the pleasure from sex, and make it all about procreation. Nature has evolved humans and other mammals to enjoy sex because you are likely to do something more often if you enjoy it, thus aiding procreation. Part of the process of our developing sexuality often includes masturbation. The puritans believe that if you masturbated then you would be possessed by demons. You all know that’s bullshit though, right?

In an effort to prevent masturbation, circumcision was performed. While masturbation is entirely possible with a circumcised penis, it is not nearly as pleasurable an experience. We all know how sensitive the clitoris is, and this contains 8’000 nerve endings. The foreskin contains 20’000. When you cut off the tip of your baby boy’s penis, you are essentially ruining his sex life. Sure, he can still have sex (as long as he uses lube), but that moment of exquisite pleasure would be vastly greater if you had only allowed him to keep all his nerve endings.

Why do Doctors offer this procedure if there is no medical reason for it?

Money. Religious reasons aside, the most common motivator is money. Isn’t it always? Not only does the Doctor receive money from your medical insurance, but also the foreskin of your previously perfect little boy is sold to companies where it is turned into high-end skin creams. The skin products contain fibroblasts grown on the foreskin and harvested from it. One foreskin can be used for decades to produce fancy face cream like the SkinMedica products hawked on Oprah. All those cruelty-free cosmetics you buy? Some of them are tested on foreskins. This apparently yields better results, since it is human skin.

Still need convincing?
  • Only 20% of the world routinely circumcises (not a third like the outdated figures Wikipedia uses), and while I cannot speak for all of them, I am fairly confident the other 80% of penises are just fine and healthy.
  • Most sensible people, religious fervents aside, would agree that female circumcision is abhorrent, and it is, so I have a hard time understanding why male circumcision is not viewed in the same light. The reason is societal conditioning. I am sure you agree that slavery is wrong, but if you spoke to some white folk back in the 17th century, they would probably think there was nothing wrong with it.
  • No major medical organisation recommends routine circumcision.
  • Your baby is born perfect.

Ultimately, the reason for not cutting off the end of your son’s penis is it’s ethically questionable for parents to make a decision for a child that precludes the child from making a different decision for himself in later life. Pro-circumcision people will always argue about choice. Yes, but as a parent, it is not yours to make. In other words, IT’S NOT YOUR PENIS.

For more information, please visit www.thewholenetwork.org

 

Post Script: May I just add that I am fortunate enough to live in a country that no longer routinely circumcises babies, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t feel passionate educating people on a topic that they are largely ignorant of.

Will Daryl Dixon survive series 4 of The Walking Dead?

March 14th, 2014 madnad

*WARNING* If you are not up to date with this series 4 of the TV series, this post contains MASSIVE spoilers.

Those that know me well, know that one of my favourite TV series running at the moment is The Walking Dead. I remember when I saw the trailer prior to the first series, I knew I would love it, and I do. I have heard one or two people claim it is boring, but I don’t find it so at all. I wonder if these people are even watching the same show as me. They obviously just don’t get it.  The overall story arc has had its lows and highs, like any TV series that has lasted longer than one series, but even the lows are more interesting than 90% of the TV out there.

I have also heard people  say they won’t watch it because they don’t like shows about zombies. Saying The Walking Dead is about zombies is like saying The West Wing is about politics. A zombie apocalypse is the backdrop for this drama, and sure, they put in enough zombie action to keep the gore fans happy, but they really just serve as an ever present spanner in our protagonists’ works. My interpretation of TWD is that it is a character study. Rick and his small group are a microcosm of society. We watch as they navigate the collapse of civilisation, while trying to reconcile this new world order and retain their humanity. What that humanity is, varies from character to character.

If_Daryl_dies_we_riotWhen he was introduced in series one, Daryl Dixon was meant to be a temporary character. By the second series, it was clear that he was a fan favourite, and the writers chose to keep him in. He was not just a fangirl favourite because he is played by the delightfully dorky Norman Reedus, either. Daryl is appealing to men because he is a total bad-ass, he can take care of himself, and he doesn’t need anyone in the group. Women respond to Daryl because he is a total bad-ass, he can take care of you, and he needs everyone in the group even if he won’t admit it.

The down side of loving a show like TWD is that there is a good chance that a character you have grown to love or hate will invariably get killed off. Usually, in a rather spectacular fashion. There have been several memes from fans over the last couple of series that joke that if Daryl dies, we riot.

Well, guys. Get your riot gear ready. I may be (and I hope I am) guilty of over analysing things here, but I have an increasing fear that Daryl will die at the end of series 4. This may just be my fear of losing my favourite character, but looking back at the deaths of other main characters, with the benefit of hindsight’s 20/20 vision, the signs were as clear as day. There were clues to their demise and each one has followed a subtle pattern. I put forward my hypothesis on why I think that Daryl Dixon will die by the end of series 4.

  1. There has been a general softening of his acerbic character over this series. He has, over recent episodes, started to reveal something about his past. The very first episode of this series had him being questioned by another survivor about what he did before the shit hit the fan. It was something he was reluctant to reveal, which was inline with Daryl’s mysterious character. Revealing his humble origins only serves to make us empathise with the character even more, thus feeling the inevitable loss all that more keenly.
  2. Robert Kirkman is well aware of the fact that Daryl is a big draw. He is also very aware that if he intends to continue to loosely follow the plot of the original comics, then having a pivotal character that does not exist in the source material, could prove a problem. However, there are already huge differences in the fates of characters that appear in both the TV and comic version, so you could argue a skilled writer such as Kirkman would be able to work around this.
  3. Kirkman is also extremely aware of the fans threats to riot. His response was, ‘Oh, really? You’re going to riot? We’ll see. No one is safe.’ It is as if he is taking the fan’s threat to riot as a challenge. He is a scamp.
  4. A main character death usually occurs shortly after their centric episode – episodes 12 (Still) and 13 (Alone) were very Daryl-centric.
  5. In ‘Still’, Beth said to Daryl ‘you will be the last man standing’, relating to the fact that his old way of life of fending for himself, hunting, tracking etc means he is perfectly suited to the world as it is now. Daryl was clearly not happy with this. I think that he has gotten used to not being alone, and being the last man standing is actually what he is most afraid of. The revelation that he was nothing but a piece of shit redneck prior to the apocalypse shows that he still does not see himself as valuable or worthy as some of the others. I fear this will cause him to do something futile and heroic.
  6. In the developing older brother/little sister relationship between Daryl and Beth, he has been teaching her how to hunt and how to track, how to fend for herself and essentially do what he does. Almost as if he was setting her up as his protege.
  7. Also in ‘Still’, there was the implication that you can’t go back to what you were because it will kill you. At the end of ‘Alone’, Daryl is found by an unsavoury group led by a man called Joe. While the initial contact was hostile, lots of male posturing, by the end Daryl lowers his guard and introduces himself. Is this him returning to his scumbag ways, therefore signalling his demise, or is it a bluff to get them to allow him to live long enough to find who captured Beth. In someways, this is similar to Merle’s storyline when he joined up with the Governor and his henchmen. Ultimately, Merle did the right thing, but at the cost of his own life. Is Daryl destined to follow the same path?
  8. Many jokes and memes have been made about Daryl and his endless supply of arrows – or technically, crossbow bolts – but in recent episodes, we have seen the bow broken and the bolts crumble. Is each bolt lost a subtle countdown to his death?
  9. When Norman Reedus first took on the role of Daryl, he was a little known actor, famous only for a few cult and indy movies. Now, everyone knows his name. He must be getting job offers thrown at him left right and centre. While I think the actor has an unusual level of integrity, compared to a lot of his colleagues in showbiz, no actor can continue to refuse such offers for ever. It is his craft after all. It has already been announced that he is involved in a new Kirkman scifi movie project called Air.  TWD famously has a punishing shooting schedule that pretty much takes up half of the year. Can he really commit to TWD and a block buster movie?

does_dary_dixon_dieReedus is credited for appearing in the final three episodes of season four, but that could be a misdirection. A fifth season of the show has been ordered by AMC and filming is expected to begin outside Atlanta in May. However, no cast members have been confirmed as returning and most likely won’t be until after the season four finale airs at the end of March.

On the flip side to all this, in recent interviews, Reedus has said ‘Maybe I die in these back eight, we don’t know.’ I like to think that if his character was to die, then he would not so flippantly reveal such a massive plot point.  Unless, of course, this is a double bluff!!

This is all just one fan’s supposition. Of course, I dearly want to see Daryl go on. A personal wish is that if he does have to leave the show for other commitments or pastures new, then I hope that he rides off into the sunset, filthy poncho flapping in the wind, with the hope that he may return one day.

 

Skyrim: The Movie

December 18th, 2013 madnad

Back at the end of 2012, I picked up the next instalment in the Elderscrolls series of video games from Bethesda, called Skyrim. The main selling point for me, along with the great reputation set by the previous games in this series, was that you could become a werewolf. I can tell you now, there is no greater joy than being able to fight a dragon as a werewolf.

I prefer my RPGs in a fantasy faux-medieval setting, and Skyrim is probably the most beautiful game I have ever seen. When I first played the game, wandering around the vast landscapes, I found I would regularly turn a corner to be greeted with a breathtaking view. Throw in the fact that Skyrim, a land in the fictional continent of Tamriel, is riddled with Nords (read Norsemen) makes it even more appealing. I have a weakness for all that Viking stuff.

I played the game all the way through, exhausting every quest and so started to drift and lose interest. The release of some DLCs got my interest, but annoyingly when I tried to play the new content my game would crash. I gave up. The solution I read was to have a completely new install. I intended to do this, but didn’t get around to it until recently.

I am now wondering why I ever left the game. I have found myself falling in love with it all over again.

Since there has been talk recently about a project in development for a feature movie of Assassin’s Creed, I started to wonder if there was a movie in Skyrim? I think there is. The most interesting quest chains, for me anyway, are the Companions, the main quest chain, and of course, the civil war. This would make for a spectacular movie, with a bit of a love interest thrown in.

With thoughts of a movie in hand, I started to think of a dream casting. Here are my suggestions.

liam-mcintyre-spartacus Male Dragonborn – Liam McIntyreLiam proved he can handle a sword in his part as the lead in Spartacus. He is young and fit, but mature enough to look battleworn, and world weary.
tumblr_static_mira Female Dragonborn – Ellen HollmanAnother cast member from Spartacus, and that is Ellen Hollman who played Saxa, a fierce warrior in Spartacus’ slave army. She has a grace and strength to her, that would be perfect for a female nord dragonborn.
2012-02-15-9440-2743_Gina_Carano_IMG_x900 Lydia – Gina CaranoGina is beautiful and strong. She even looks like Lydia I reckon. I can’t see her happy to be just a housecarl though. Lydia would be a great follower/love interest for a male dragonborn.
seanbeanasnedstark Jarl Balgruff – Sean Bean
I am always happy to see Sean on screen, and there is something about him that suits the faux medieval look.
220px-Dennis_Quaid_TIFF_2,_2012 Kodlak, leader of the Companions – Dennis Quaid
Almost 60 years old and still in fantastic shape, Dennis Quaid has the required gravitas and physique to play the role of Kodlak
23662932-black-and-white-portrait-of-a-hot-muscular-male-model-on-rooftop Farkas – mystery male modelI have no idea who this model is (if you do, then please tell me) but as soon as I saw a picture of him on the cover of a book, I was struck by how much he looked like Farkas. The dark hair and pale eyes, muscular form and strong jaw were very reminiscent of my favourite Nord.
JENNIFER MORRISON at The Prism Awards in Beverly Hills Aela – Jennifer Morrison
Jennifer Morrison is more familiar as a blonde, but as you can see from this picture, she makes a very fetching red head. I think she has the beginnings of reasonable muscle tone, so with a little work she could do a very good representation of the bad ass huntress
146840271JK101_8th_Annual_A Vilkas – Wes Bentley
Wes Bentley is a fine actor who does not get nearly enough screen time. He would be perfect for the part of Vilkas, the slighter and grumpier brother of Farkas
draco Ulfric Stormcloak – Mads Mikkelsen
This character is actually voiced by Vladimir Kulich, but I always think that Mads would be great in this role. He has that whole Viking thing going on, and would be believable as the leader of the rebels
Callum-Keith-Rennie General Tullius – Callum Keith Rennie
Callum first came to my attention in BSG. He is an actor that will be able to pull off the serious but effective general of the Imperial forces.
christopher-plummer-image-4 Arngeir – Christopher PlummerChristopher actually voices the character of Arngeir, and I don’t if its because of this, or that the developers made a concious effort, I think Arngeir does actually look a bit like him.

 

 

The Magic of Gravity

November 27th, 2013 madnad

I find that for me, there are few bonuses working in Computer Science. Today however, was one of those rare occasions. I attended a talk this afternoon from two University of Nottingham alumni (one was from Computer Science!) who work for a company called Framestore, a special effects company who notably worked on Alfonso Cuaron’s amazing block buster, Gravity.

Richard Graham (Visual Effects Producer on Gravity) and Mark Hills (Framestore’s Head of System Development) gave a unique and fascinating insight into how they overcame the obstacles of creating 3D graphics.

I won’t give away the secrets. We were actually asked not to photograph or video the presentation, as one of the conditions of the talk being able to take place was on the understanding that the techniques described were not made public. This might sound silly, but a lot of ground breaking techniques were developed especially for this film and it is a competitive business.

I will say that the amount of work involved in the 3 year long production was immense. It apparently takes one 8 processor computer 24 hours to render a single frame. The film was shot in  24fps. It would have taken a single computer 7000 years to render the whole movie.

The effort they went to to create realistic lighting alone was mammoth, and deserves an Oscar.

The highlight for me was when one particular pedant (the token physicist apparently) mentioned how there were some inaccuracies in the movie. I have seen know-it-alls puffing their pigeon chests out over this time and time again on social media, and laying claims of ineptitude at the door of the effects company. The two guys answered his question with far more grace and patience than I could have mustered.

gravity_movie_stillGravity is a movie. A drama. Drama being short for dramatisation. It is not meant to be 100% scientifically accurate. First and foremost, the film is a representation of the director’s vision. The remit of the effects team is to supply what the Director demands. They expended countless hours and expense trying to achieve unprecedented levels of reality, but sometimes, reality just isn’t enough.

For instance, they had to ensure that there was always interesting land mass on view when the earth’s surface was in shot because no one wants a scene over the Pacific. Flames were added to some of the explosions. In an environment containing no oxygen, this is pure fantasy. Sometimes, poetic license is entirely appropriate.

There is a scene where the protagonist, played by the beautiful and talented Sandra Bullock, disengages an escape pod from the International Space Station. This scene took less than five minutes. A NASA consultant said this procedure takes approximately 45 minutes. Not really appropriate in a 1hr 30 movie, when you are trying to maintain levels of tension.

If you haven’t seen Gravity yet, I urge you to do so while it is still on in theatres. It is a truly breathtaking movie and needs a large screen to do these guy’s work justice.

If you need more convincing, please see the lovely Ren Warom’s review (may contain spoilers)

 

brace yourself

Bah Humbug

November 14th, 2013 madnad

brace yourselfIt’s November. The nights are longer and people’s spirits are dropping quicker than the temperatures. What do we do to cheer ourselves up? We cover everything in gaudy tinsel and retina-blowing lights, every shop speaker vibrates to the strains of some inanely repetitive  song, and the already financially strapped populace falls for the marketing campaigns and buries themselves in even more debt by going on a conscience salving shopping spree.

Don’t get me wrong, there are aspects of Christmas I like. The time off work, the excuse to over indulge in food and drink, the celebratory atmosphere, and of course mince pies.

What I don’t like is the overtly commercial aspects; the fact that stores fill their shelves with seasonal goodies in September, and that you can’t turn on the TV without being bombarded with advice on how to show your loved ones you do indeed love them by buying their product. You don’t need to buy them anything to show you care! Try just telling them, or better still, showing them.

For the past few years I have taken to making gifts for my family. I make confectionery and cookies, and everyone seems to really enjoy them. There is a lot of thought put into compiling my themed little hampers. A lot of effort goes into making them, and despite what some may think, a fair amount of expense. I don’t do this to save money. I do this because I would rather give someone a gift they can truly enjoy for a few moments than buy them something unwanted that sits in a cupboard until February (or until they have forgotten who gave it to them) then taken to a charity shop.

I am making a plea now. Instead of buying something your family don’t really want or need, why not consider making gifts this year? If you are looking for edible gift ideas, I don’t pimp my alter-ego quite enough so check out Mutherfudger for lots of ideas. It doesn’t have to be edible – you could knit something, write something, paint something, record something, build something, teach them something… the possibilities are endless. Your time and consideration are priceless, and worth more than anything Debenhams, John Lewis or Marks and Spencers could ever offer.

That being said – if you MUST buy something, then buy them a book. Buy someone a story, a far off land, another world, an adventure, a romance, new friends. Give the gift of words.

 

 

Stop pissing on my parade

October 23rd, 2013 madnad

I used to be fairly active on Twitter but have found I have taken a bit of a step back recently. I realise the thought of Twitter may make some people shudder in horror, but I used to think it was like hanging with a bunch of mates in a bar. You get to listen to all the different conversations going on, partake in some, ignore others – just like it is when you are in a bar with a large crowd. Of late, it has lost some of its attraction, and for two main reasons.

The first reason is that there seems to be some people that just talk AT twitter. I have ‘friends’ (followers to use the correct parlance) on Twitter that have NEVER tweeted me. Not once. Why the fuck did you follow me in the first place? Is it some weird voyeurism, or is it just that you want an audience for your self-important witterings? I fear that it is largely the latter. I think I am long overdue a cull of followers.

I try to talk to others, to join in on conversations, and I have a core of followers that do reciprocate, that will engage if I leave a tweet. It is because of this core bunch that I haven’t completely left twitter altogether.

The other reason that it has lost some of its shine, and sadly my core followers can be guilty of this, is that some seem to take a delight on pissing allover things I enjoy. It seems to be that there is this thing about twitter (and Facebook to a degree) that people feel inclined to crap all over something, to be overly negative about something. Sometimes it feels as if something is popular then its not cool enough for them, so they feel driven to be snooty about it. I’ve seen comments made about a show even before they have watched it! Even constructive criticism turns into a flame-fest on twitter, everyone jumping on the band wagon because someone else didn’t like it, and I’m so sick of it.

I fully support the right to make comment even if I don’t personally agree with the content of that comment. Free speech was a hard won right, and I will defend it until my last breath. What I mean is when I go onto twitter (or any social media for that matter) saying how much I like a thing, or am looking forward to a thing – be it a film, a book, a song or whatever – don’t respond negatively. It’s the negativity that is driving me away. It makes feel bad for liking the thing, and you take away my enjoyment of it. I feel like twitter is telling me nothing should be enjoyed. Why would you want to do that to someone? I am not saying everyone should like the same things as me but if you don’t, don’t feel that gives you the right to piss on my parade, to take away my glee, my joy.

I have unfollowed two people already this week because my patience for this kind of disparagement has all but gone.

So what am I asking you to do? Move along. Allow me my moment of joy.

I do it all the time. I have friends that watch Strictly or Big Brother or The Apprentice. I would rather have my pubes pulled out one at a time than watch any of those shows, but do I pass comment or judgement on their gushings? No, because I respect their right to have an opinion different to mine and to find joy in whatever corner of the universe they wish to look for it.

In the words of Bill and Ted – be excellent to each other.

Be_excellent_to_each_other

 

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    Welcome to my blog. Intermittently I put down my thoughts on various topics, films, books etc. I don't do this regularly, just post when the muse takes me or someone pisses me off. These are my views, and if they are not to your liking, then I suggest you fuck off to some other corner of the internet. It’s not like there isn’t a whole load of it, so you don’t need to stay here getting all angsty. Don’t worry, I won’t be offended. I am not putting up my thoughts to start a dialogue with anyone. I have already made my mind up and so I don’t need you trying to convince me otherwise. Therefore, I have turned off comments. Nx

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