Because It's Important

Because it's important

Most of the short life of this blog has been consisted of me doing two things: ranting and being a smart-arse. Which is good. It's what I do. This post is different. Suck it up.

While doing a google search for more info on prostate cancer I stumbled upon a blog about one NZ man's journey as he deals with prostate cancer. It is honest, clear, simple, thorough and informative. Above all, it's incredibly, almost brutally, personal. I couldn't stop reading it.

The whole website is wonderfully informative - filled with links, news stories, survivor stories, treatment and dietary advice, ethnic issues and a load of other information. Prostate cancer claims the lives of so many NZ men and it's important to have blogs like that which inform people in such a simple way. The author exposes so much. It's kinda breathtaking.

Why am I telling you this? While reading it I was shocked to find that I knew the author of this blog. His name is Jim Tucker and he taught me how to write. His voice still haunts me whenever I type out a badly worded sentence (this is alarmingly often). I will be forever grateful to him for accepting me in his Journalism course while I was still a wildly arrogant, unconfident, shit-for-brains kid and giving me the foundation to achieve my childhood dream of becoming a storyteller. He's currently the journalism tutor at Whitireia. So, here's to you, Mr Tucker. My small shout-out to the man who taught me how to "fill in the spaces between the ads" in newspapers.

Now, back to the regularly scheduled snark and rant.

(via 2010fifaworldcup, pime)

I know we’ll get sick of vuvuzuela jokes one day, but today is not that day.

Swear to god, this will be the only vuvuzela post. Unless something even more hilarious comes along.

She's just not that into you

So, there's this guy...

Those words are enough to set off a bit of excitement amongst my friends (that, and "free!") or at least make them listen really closely. But it's not like that this time.

So, there's this guy and he's really annoying.

His lack of social skills is a driving me nuts hard to deal with. And by that, I mean the following:

Talking down to people

Clicking your fingers at me - this is punishable by death! You've been warned. If it happens one more time imma fill your world with pain.

Calling a girl fat - I still can't believe you did this. Don't ever do this. Even if she calls herself fat, don't agree with her and especially don't laugh about it. Pretend the comment didn't happen. Christ, what is wrong with you?

Don't call me a boozehag. You aren't my friend. You haven't gotten me drunk and/or put up with my crap while I'm drunk and/or nursed me through the awful day after, so you aren't entitled to say this.

I know you're smart. We all know you're smart. Did you think you were the only smart person here?

Um...he's boring?

Anyways, I can put up with all of this as long as I can rant to my friends about occasionally and cringe behind his back. But now he's hitting on my non-single, non-interested friend. Watching this play out is one of my daily pieces of entertainment: his excitement at seeing her, the nervous OMG-it's-him-again-why-won't-he-take-the-damn-hint tone to her voice - it's all gold.

But now I'm starting to feel sorry for him. Poor dude ain't got game, and it's embarrassing to watch. I pity the poor fool. I wanna help him, even though my track record ain't nothing to boast about. Although there was this one period where everything was just gravy. Good times, (damn) good memories, good boasting stories. Ahh. Where was I? Oh yeah, tips for this poor boy.

So, you ain't got game but you still wanna get laid? A few pointers:

Note: These are just my tips. I don't speak on behalf of all girls. Take it with a grain, or a massive truck load, of salt.

Figure out if she's actually interested. This is key. If she gives you tips to ask out other girls, she probably isn't interested. This doesn't apply to everyone, but it's a good general rule.

Aim low. Women can smell desperation. Get a track record, know your stuff, then come back for what you really want.

She may not always do what her friends say, but she will listen. So be nice and don't call one of them fat. Jeez...

Confidence. Everyone responds to it, not just women. I would give you more advice on this, but I have a mad tendency to go beyond confidence and become egotistical and arrogant.

Ask that friend. Everyone knows someone who gets mad amounts of ass. Talk to the guy and get some pointers. He won't be mad at you, but he will laugh. Then afterwards, he'll give you the advice you need.

That should be enough. Hopefully it helps. Oh, and I feel I have to say this one more time:

Dude, she's not into you.

I agree with Simon Sweetman

Yeah, I know. I'm just as surprised as you are.

The man in question (I'm not gonna say his name again. It already appears in the title and that's more of him than I can take) called out people who ventured their opinion about hip hop being a passing fad (see comments here) and bitch slapped them.

That wasn't a wholly accurate summary. The opinions on hip hop ranged from one guy saying that the genre had "talentless morons with gold teeth wearing their hats on sideways endlessly telling us how much 'bling' they have" to another saying that hip hop had "morons going on about how bad they think they are and how good they think they are with the opposite gender" to others talking about how hip hop promotes mindless violence. Seriously, bitch? Your beef with hip hop stems from that? Well shit, if that's going to be the deciding factor then yeah, let's play.

Firstly, I'm not going to call them racist. I don't play the race card unless it's blatantly obvious. This isn't blatant enough for me. I will call them ignorant for judging a whole genre of music on a few dickheads (Lil John, T-Pain, 50 Cent etc I'm looking at you) who plaster themselves with grills, long chains and an inability to speak English properly. This is not the entirety of hip hop. It's a few people who hog the cameras. There are artists such as P.O.S, Nas, Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae (big ups to Mr Sweetman for naming her), The Roots, Lupe Fiasco, Talib Kweli, Raekwon and RZA to name a few who are producing quality work that is both thought provoking and has an awesome beat. This is music that resonates with people because it's raw and gritty with powerful lyrics. You think hip hop is violent and demeaning to women? Go listen to Video or Brown Skin by Erykah Badu. You think there's nothing intelligent in hip hop lyrics? Go listen to anything by Lupe Fiasco or P.O.S. You think people in hip hop are morons? Go play chess against the GZA. He's one of the founders of the Hip Hop Chess Federation. Get out there and know your shit before you spout off and look like an idiot.

Hip hop isn't just morons - it's a whole spectre of people and music. Some of it's good, some of it's bad. Just like everywhere else. But don't go judging something on a few badly put-together tracks that play on C4 or the local radio station 25 times a day. Explore some other sounds. If you want to remain ignorant to the genre then fine. That's all good. But don't make a blanket judgement until you're actually well-informed.Anyone who knows me knows that I'm passionate about pop culture. I could wank on about it for hours and hours (and I have). If you're gonna have a stupid opinion about pop culture and you're gonna defend it then you better bring your A game. You can be damn sure I'll be coming in with both guns firing. I agree that opinions are just opinions. People are allowed to have them. I'm letting you know that I have an opinion too - if you stand on your soapbox and talk about your an opinion on something and you don't know your shit, then you deserve the burns that will follow.

Man, this is a long rant. I should stop.

Oh, one more thing before I sign off - my favourite music genre isn't hip hop. It's electronica.

GOAL!

Holy shit! New Zealand scored a goal!

I'm sure I'm not the only person in NZ who's surprised.

WELL DONE BOYS!

I'm loving the fact that football is finally getting an audience in NZ. I'm not a rugby fan, so this pleases me greatly.

Yeah, NZ isn't the best team at the Fifa World Cup. However, the All Blacks aren't looking too shit-hot are they?

How would you go about suggesting and then initiating a threesome? i have a girlfriend that’s told me she wants to party one night and “have a lesbian moment.” also, her boyfriend is sexy and has stated in the past that he finds me desirable as well, and has made comments about how hot it would...

Truth!