The Indie Handbook Volume Three would read:
'Show girls you fancy them
By getting with their boyfriends
Replace your party-loving mates
With awkward, greasy coy friends
Who like listening to Sonic Youth
You always must appear aloof
Remember no amount of faking
Will make you indie band ground-breaking'
Tom Milsom - Song For The Painfully Indie
Sunday 29 May 2011
WTF - Tumblr Cliches
So I was drifting around on Tumblr and as you find things, I came across this GIF. GIFs don't usually make me uncomfortable, but this does.
The blonde on the left is supposed to be the type of girl who makes brunette over here on the right's life a misery, with her shallow obsession with beauty, fashion, make-up and whatever these girls are obsessed with, and who alienates brunette who is obsessed with such sensible things as Harry Potter, Pokemon, Converse, pizza and Tumblr.
Since most of my posts lately have consisted of lists, I will try to articulate my opinion of this GIF in a list.
Reasons Why I Think Brunette On The Right Is Just As Shallow As She Is Trying To Make Out That Blonde On The Left Is:
~ Brunette believes that just because she likes things that are much different to what Blonde likes, or to put it another way, inhabits a subculture a little different to her peers, that she is better than them. She'll never come out and say that she is better, but instead spout out cliched statements like 'I'd rather be sitting at home on a Friday night reading Harry Potter than get drunk and drop the paw' regularly. She believes that the qualities and characteristics she possesses are rare, rather than being just a less common cliche. She also gives the impression that she is under tremendous pressure (usually from school) to become a 'normal' girl - see Blonde on the left - but she doesn't realise that there aren't any normal girls, and Brunette's image is just as fake as Blonde's. Everyone's got stuff. Brunette shouldn't look down on Blonde, because perhaps if they sat down and talked for a little while they might find that they've got a lot in common.
~ Also, one of the things in the Brunette's thought bubble is Nutella. What? If Brunette just sits around and thinks about Nutella all day, then maybe she is as vapid as she believes Blonde is.
Oh, I didn't need a full list after all. That's good.
Now, to those who read and comment on Apostrophe, I know you are all articulate, intelligent, astonishingly attractive and very nice people.
Sorry, I've forgotten my point. Oh, I know! You're all nice! Just saying.
Eleanor Roscuro
Sunday 22 May 2011
Quote of The Week #56
A Uachtaráin agus a chairde (President and friends). Prince Philip and I are delighted to be here, and to experience at first hand Ireland's world-famous hospitality.
Together we have much to celebrate: the ties between our people, the shared values, and the economic, business and cultural links that make us so much more than just neighbours, that make us firm friends and equal partners.
Madam President, speaking here in Dublin Castle it is impossible to ignore the weight of history, as it was yesterday when you and I laid wreaths at the Garden of Remembrance.
Indeed, so much of this visit reminds us of the complexity of our history, its many layers and traditions, but also the importance of forbearance and conciliation. Of being able to bow to the past, but not be bound by it.
Queen Elizabeth II's speech at the State Dinner in Dublin Castle during her state visit to Ireland
Together we have much to celebrate: the ties between our people, the shared values, and the economic, business and cultural links that make us so much more than just neighbours, that make us firm friends and equal partners.
Madam President, speaking here in Dublin Castle it is impossible to ignore the weight of history, as it was yesterday when you and I laid wreaths at the Garden of Remembrance.
Indeed, so much of this visit reminds us of the complexity of our history, its many layers and traditions, but also the importance of forbearance and conciliation. Of being able to bow to the past, but not be bound by it.
Queen Elizabeth II's speech at the State Dinner in Dublin Castle during her state visit to Ireland
Sunday 15 May 2011
Quote of The Week #55
It's not just a hair, it's a statement. - Gravity's trying to push us down, but it can't, because our hair is standing. It's always flying free.
Jedward at the Irish press conference, the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, Dusseldorf, Germany
Jedward at the Irish press conference, the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, Dusseldorf, Germany
WTF - Finding A Safety Net
A few days in school, we were doing Safety on the Internet. The class was shown a video on the topic by a British company called Athena Entertainment, if I remember correctly, titled 'Safety Net'. At the start they introduced a number of teenage and college age characters who all explained the different ways they used the internet. The last character to be introduced was a young man named 'Will'. He was bespectacled, but not in a God Wan way. He was dressed from the waist up in a beige jacket zipped almost up to the chin. The very first line he uttered was 'I have four computers at home - that makes me a bit of a geek I suppose.' And my mouth dropped open.
FOUR computers? Unattractive glasses? Unfashionable clothing? The name 'Will'? The term 'geek'?
'That makes me a bit of a geek I suppose' Will says! Will, a fictitious character, a caricature of nerddom and geekhood by Athena Entertainment.
How dare they! How very dare they lie to young impressionable teenagers and say that ALL geeks are male, ALL geeks a genius at computers, ALL geeks are visually impaired, ALL geeks don't dress fashionably? Through this unfortunate character and informative video, Athena Entertainment have further cemented hat stereotype and given us a bad name. I say 'us' because I too consider - Actually, I don't, because no one uses the word 'geek' outside of America. Rookie mistake Athena Entertainment! Anyway, I say 'us' becauI se I too identify myself as a nerd, I suppose I'll call it that. But how can I? I'm a girl! I have good vision! I know how to dress! (Well, kind of. I mean... never mind.) I don't even know how to write code! Yet! Well, I'm so, so, SORRY that I'm not geek or nerd or whatever enough for the executives in pinstripe suits of Athena Entertainment!
Rant over.
Eleanor Roscuro
FOUR computers? Unattractive glasses? Unfashionable clothing? The name 'Will'? The term 'geek'?
'That makes me a bit of a geek I suppose' Will says! Will, a fictitious character, a caricature of nerddom and geekhood by Athena Entertainment.
How dare they! How very dare they lie to young impressionable teenagers and say that ALL geeks are male, ALL geeks a genius at computers, ALL geeks are visually impaired, ALL geeks don't dress fashionably? Through this unfortunate character and informative video, Athena Entertainment have further cemented hat stereotype and given us a bad name. I say 'us' because I too consider - Actually, I don't, because no one uses the word 'geek' outside of America. Rookie mistake Athena Entertainment! Anyway, I say 'us' becauI se I too identify myself as a nerd, I suppose I'll call it that. But how can I? I'm a girl! I have good vision! I know how to dress! (Well, kind of. I mean... never mind.) I don't even know how to write code! Yet! Well, I'm so, so, SORRY that I'm not geek or nerd or whatever enough for the executives in pinstripe suits of Athena Entertainment!
Rant over.
Eleanor Roscuro
Sunday 8 May 2011
Quote of the Week #54
Jim: I love my life. Don't you love your life Dan?
Dan: Yes James, I am very fond of my teenage life. We are abundant in pocket money. Splendid.
Jim Vultour and Dan McGrain, Vultures: Attack of the Pinkertons
Dan: Yes James, I am very fond of my teenage life. We are abundant in pocket money. Splendid.
Jim Vultour and Dan McGrain, Vultures: Attack of the Pinkertons
The Wisdom and Philosophies of a Modern Young Lady
Monday
Post-show blues are like when you're in a playground going on the slide. Actually sliding down the slide is amazing, but then all too soon your heels hit the ground and there's a general feeling of 'Is that it?' So you try to climb up again, but you're bigger and taller now (but not from eating vegetables) and you have to squeeze through some small spaces and climb up things that are not meant for you to climb. Then you're sitting at the top of the slide and you're looking down, and it seems awful long and you think it'll last forever, but you know from experience that it won't last that long, not even a few seconds. But you let go anyway.
Then later, when you're at home again, you suddenly think 'Why did I waste all that time on the slide when I could have gone on the swings? There was no one else on the swings. I could have spent ages on the swings.' But then you give yourself a little slap on the wrist (not too hard) and say 'Yeah, I could have gone on the swings. But why would I do that when I could go on the slide?'
Tuesday
One of the best things in life is opening a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate. As you peel off back the glued edge of the purple wrapper, and lift it off to reveal the golden bar. Rubbing the pad of your finger on each individual square, and the Cadbury's loopy signature appears gradually beneath your nails. Then you turn the bar over, and peel back the gold wrapper, which reminds you of Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket, slowly, very, very slowly, until the back of the bar is in front of you. You smell it, and when the scent reaches your brain it makes you want to just get the whole damn thing over with and eat the entire bar in one go, but you stop yourself. You have to do this properly. You are a modern young lady eating a bar of chocolate, not a baboon. So you break off two squares, and put one in your mouth very slowly. God, it's amazing, how it fills your mouth and melts so quickly. In fact, it's down your throat pretty soon, so you eat the second square. But that goes just as quickly, and you're starting to feel really thirsty as your chocolate flavoured saliva starts to harden on your tongue and at the back of your mouth. You keep eating the four remaining squares, but now the smell is gone and it doesn't taste... not that it doesn't taste good, or that it tastes bad, but it doesn't taste of anything. The purple and gold wrapper promised something more, but it didn't deliver. Of course, you don't learn your lesson. Because you forget, so very easily when you're in the shop and the purple regal wrapper winks at you from the shelf.
Wednesday
All of a sudden, I've become really, really optimistic.
Last week Shifting ended, and of course I was devastated, and unwell (my post show poorliness actually started during the final show, just to get it over with), but somehow... At a rehearsal, myself and other cast and crew members were talking about how old we were when certain things happened affected them (eg. 'Being nineteen was shit') and it made me think about me now, being fifteen. And I have to say, for me anyway, being fifteen is brilliant. Only a month or so after my fifteenth birthday in the middle of last November, I'm technically part of the In The Future When All's Well residency, and since the residency lasts from January to the end of June, that's seven months of awesome, which is more than half the year. Then in the middle of June I do my Junior Cert which ends on the 17th of June, so that's two and a half months of summer, which will feature the Red Square Kibosh again and Kilkenny Arts Festival 2011, sun and plenty of blogging, then in September I start Transition Year (more on that later, sweets...) and at the end of October I go for work experience somewhere nice hopefully! And then I turn sixteen. So yeah. Being fifteen is class. Everyone should be fifteen. We could all be fifteen together, and it'd be great.
Thursday
My Junior Cert exams are in fourteen school days, and yes, I'm feeling nervous. Not that I haven't been working, just normal nerves. I am so, so sorry I haven't been blogging as much these past few months. I wish I didn't have to say 'I've just been so, so busy...' again and again and again, but I have! Just a few more weeks, and then I'll be all yours again.
Friday
I'm making a film. I'll tell you more about it another time. (Not to put you in suspense - well, partly that - but when I have more to tell you, I'll tell you more.)
End of post!
Eleanor Roscuro
Post-show blues are like when you're in a playground going on the slide. Actually sliding down the slide is amazing, but then all too soon your heels hit the ground and there's a general feeling of 'Is that it?' So you try to climb up again, but you're bigger and taller now (but not from eating vegetables) and you have to squeeze through some small spaces and climb up things that are not meant for you to climb. Then you're sitting at the top of the slide and you're looking down, and it seems awful long and you think it'll last forever, but you know from experience that it won't last that long, not even a few seconds. But you let go anyway.
Then later, when you're at home again, you suddenly think 'Why did I waste all that time on the slide when I could have gone on the swings? There was no one else on the swings. I could have spent ages on the swings.' But then you give yourself a little slap on the wrist (not too hard) and say 'Yeah, I could have gone on the swings. But why would I do that when I could go on the slide?'
Tuesday
One of the best things in life is opening a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate. As you peel off back the glued edge of the purple wrapper, and lift it off to reveal the golden bar. Rubbing the pad of your finger on each individual square, and the Cadbury's loopy signature appears gradually beneath your nails. Then you turn the bar over, and peel back the gold wrapper, which reminds you of Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket, slowly, very, very slowly, until the back of the bar is in front of you. You smell it, and when the scent reaches your brain it makes you want to just get the whole damn thing over with and eat the entire bar in one go, but you stop yourself. You have to do this properly. You are a modern young lady eating a bar of chocolate, not a baboon. So you break off two squares, and put one in your mouth very slowly. God, it's amazing, how it fills your mouth and melts so quickly. In fact, it's down your throat pretty soon, so you eat the second square. But that goes just as quickly, and you're starting to feel really thirsty as your chocolate flavoured saliva starts to harden on your tongue and at the back of your mouth. You keep eating the four remaining squares, but now the smell is gone and it doesn't taste... not that it doesn't taste good, or that it tastes bad, but it doesn't taste of anything. The purple and gold wrapper promised something more, but it didn't deliver. Of course, you don't learn your lesson. Because you forget, so very easily when you're in the shop and the purple regal wrapper winks at you from the shelf.
Wednesday
All of a sudden, I've become really, really optimistic.
Last week Shifting ended, and of course I was devastated, and unwell (my post show poorliness actually started during the final show, just to get it over with), but somehow... At a rehearsal, myself and other cast and crew members were talking about how old we were when certain things happened affected them (eg. 'Being nineteen was shit') and it made me think about me now, being fifteen. And I have to say, for me anyway, being fifteen is brilliant. Only a month or so after my fifteenth birthday in the middle of last November, I'm technically part of the In The Future When All's Well residency, and since the residency lasts from January to the end of June, that's seven months of awesome, which is more than half the year. Then in the middle of June I do my Junior Cert which ends on the 17th of June, so that's two and a half months of summer, which will feature the Red Square Kibosh again and Kilkenny Arts Festival 2011, sun and plenty of blogging, then in September I start Transition Year (more on that later, sweets...) and at the end of October I go for work experience somewhere nice hopefully! And then I turn sixteen. So yeah. Being fifteen is class. Everyone should be fifteen. We could all be fifteen together, and it'd be great.
Thursday
My Junior Cert exams are in fourteen school days, and yes, I'm feeling nervous. Not that I haven't been working, just normal nerves. I am so, so sorry I haven't been blogging as much these past few months. I wish I didn't have to say 'I've just been so, so busy...' again and again and again, but I have! Just a few more weeks, and then I'll be all yours again.
Friday
I'm making a film. I'll tell you more about it another time. (Not to put you in suspense - well, partly that - but when I have more to tell you, I'll tell you more.)
End of post!
Eleanor Roscuro
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