Fightclub

Today we start to find out the true scale of the shit we are in, Anglo the golden albatross reveals its true legacy making sure our kids pay for the dealings and wheelings of Irelands landed gentry. This from a bank that paid former chief executive David Drumm a deferred bonus payment of €659,000 on December 12th 2008, only a week before details of loans taken out by the bank’s former chairman Sean FitzPatrick came to light.

I suggest a new approach..perhaps its the hankering for Democracy, of which we have little, or the desperate need for a hero in these dark times, but we need blood. Arresting Seanie for a session with fraud officers will no longer do. 12.7 BILLION....12.7...12....
I think its easy get confused when we talk in notation, about a cool billion or two. In modern English a billion means 1,000,000,000 - a thousand million. I think that's how the media should be framing this

€ 12,700, 000,000 ; LOSS

That number scares the shit outta me...how bout you?

So I think we need to make it worth that, if all you get for winning the X factor is a record deal and a million for a few weeks worth of public judgement. The the leading figures of Irish banking should give us our pound of flesh, give us a spectacle, give us BLOOD

The newly built Landsdown road would be a suitable Dublin venue but at the risk of this turning into a 'for profit' venture I suggest the car parks of numerous empty shopping centres, business parks and Lidls throughout the country.

MMA style cage fights, the cages are for the protection of the 'talent' as we don't want the crowd ripping them to shreds before we have had our entertainment. Local bankers (and possibly estate agents, solicitors and property developers) will fight it out, barenuckle style, no holds barred, groin shots allowed, until there emerges a champion we can get behind, the man with the most teeth left on the bloodied carpark will live to fight another day, the looser will be thrown to the crowd or used to placate the pro hunting lobby by using them to blood hounds.

Give the mob blood....give them spectacle....the fucking eurovision isint going to cut it this year.

Why KickAss kicks ass

Q: Who are the voiceless in modern society?
A: Kids
....and I can add teenagers to that unhappy lot, I remember the old addage that the government dosent give a shit about them because they cant vote.

The Daily Mail leads the brigade of brow beaters lamenting the demise of morality with the awarding of a 16's certificate to KickAss, apparently it gives the wrong example to teenagers. This from a paper happy to carry daily diatribes on the Katie Price circus.

Ill tell you why Id be happy if my teen was watching this, this film makes mincemeat of the last ten years of big budget superhero propaganda, that always left the audience impressed but no nearer feeling better about themselves. Kickass slaps them about the face, with an open palm....

This film succeeds on a number of levels, it has heart, the big blue eyes and awkward advances of Aaron Johnson are known to most if not all of us, that longing we all have to make things better, but our flawed selves rarely do. Any of us that have stepped up and stepped in know the heady rush and the blind panic that can engulf when you become the target of aggression. Unlike the self loathing skulking and moody teen angst that pollute films now (sparkly vampires and moody Bronte readers) Johnson is human, is hopefull and despite knockbacks is actually interested in something other than himself.

As with all heroes we will him on, but this film shows none of the stock changes that usually accompany hero's in the making stories, he will never make it to the top of the steps with Rocky, but neither will we...remember those New Years resolutions...how're they lookin now?

Hit girl on the other hand is a Tarantinoesque 11 year old death in pigtails...I'm sure there are conservatives frothing at the mouth over her stabbing, slashing and slicing antics. It is for those very reasons she is a triumph, a kid that kicks ass, an 11 year old heroine that wants a glock not a puppy for her birthday. I was reminded of the stellar hallway battle in Oldboy watching this little mini mamba get all ultravoilent in the penultimate battle. When KickAss turns up to help her I felt like jumping to my feet and applauding, I haven't felt that way since Ralph Macchio kicked ass at the end of the Karate Kid (OK so I was like 8, but that's how I felt!)

A film that can reach out and drag you in, without having to beat you over the head with the good guy versus bad guy nonsense, we are all both, we're capable of great things, but too often we sit back and let things happen, the only thing it takes for evil to triumph is for a good man to do nothing. This is the best two hours Ive paid for in years, a film that every big studio refused to make, and in brilliant little red hen style they made it themselves, I can only hope more films get made without the dirty fingers of studio executives meddling.

Civil Partnership... in a civil society

I don't buy the indo, far too fearful of coming out the other end of it hating the civil service, but had a chance to cast a critical eye (if fact its the only eye I have) over it yesterday.
After reading David Quinns piece on the 'price' we will have to pay if we allow same sex unions I had to recheck to see if somebody had inserted a copy of the catholic voice between the covers...
I fall in and out of love with the idea of marriage, in one way we are relentlessly pressured into it by society and succumb to the charms (especially as women) of a dress that everyone will love and an excuse for a party before we are past the party stage of life.
Then I put my sensible hat on and realise I'm with him because I want to be with him, not because I want a ring (not least because the ones I want cost more than our yearly spend), or a day out as people like to term it, a day out so steeped in manic spending I wonder how anyone affords it. A cursory glance through the for sale ads in Done Deal will reassure me that girls are still spending more than they can afford on dresses but still cannot like this fine example -spell....
So if two guys want to do it, or two girls, I fail to see how it cheapens the 'sanctity' of any one elses.
Lets look at what Marriage started out as... In 1600, marriage for almost all Europeans and Europeans in America was primarily an economic arrangement negotiated between families in which family considerations of status, future economic stability, and prosperity were the most important considerations in selecting a potential spouse. As Stephanie Coontz reveals in her new book, Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage, human unions have gone through a number of evolutions. We would be remiss to think that it was ever a stable institution. Instead, it has always been in flux. It has only been based on the concept of love for 200 years; before that, it was a way of ensuring economic and political stability. Wow, what a sanctified institution!

Lets also note that marriage is not sought by same sex couples in all countries, it depends to an extent on the notion of 'legitimacy' in a society, indeed its what I occasionally lapse into when I think that I or my relationship would be better for having a ring and a day out. Its about norms, and the norm in Ireland to declare 'commitment' is a wedding, whatever your religious affiliation. Quinn's piece for the indo is just declaring what many people fear, that somehow if you loosen norms the world as you know it will come crashing down around your ears.
This fear of movement from traditionalism and indeed the secularisation of society is worrying in a number of ways.
1:We are a nation in crisis, calls for a return to the days of yore has never produced solutions and only perpetrates a vicious cycle of repeated failures.
2: We are a changing nation, demographically and spiritually, our legislation should reflect inclusion not exclusion.
3: Our past is not a happy place that we should return to, immigration, oppression and poverty are never ideals, our ability to distance ourselves from past failures and over exaggerate good memories is a well documented psychological phenomenon.