Anti human nature.

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has once again been doing its very best to prove what a massive joke it really is. Following just two complaints they were able to ban a TV advert for the video game “Stranglehold”.

As if in an attempt to compete with the anti-liberal BBFC, the ASA stated their reason for the ban was that the advert, “suggested that it was honourable to seek revenge and that violence was an acceptable solution to a situation.” What the ASA failed to realise is that far more graphics adverts for films are regularly shown on TV.  This seems to further emphasise the fact that these associations are not only anti-free speech, but totally bias against video games in any form. Next they’ll be trying to ban Mario because it encourages you to take magic mushrooms!

These claims by the ASA also create a contradiction so huge that it could cause a rift in the time-space continuum. If humanity creates violent entertainment and people go out and buy it, then surely this is what people want. Evidently we see some kind of strange inconsistency here, where humans ban the very things they create. The very fact the ASA exists also seems to suggest that humans are incapable of making decisions for themselves and therefore need someone else to do it.

Censorship just doesn’t work…

The McCanns are gay.

According to the BBC, and probably some other sources, the McCann family have used some of the “Find Madeleine” fund to pay for their mortgage….. the Bastards.

USSR vs England

17th October 2007.

USSR 2-1 England.

England:

Robinson, Richards, Ferdinand, Campbell, Lescott (Lampard 79), Wright-Phillips (Downing 80), Gerrard, Barry, Cole (Crouch 80), Rooney, Owen.
Subs Not Used: James, Shorey, Luke Young, Neville.

USSR:

Gabulov, Alexei Berezutsky, Ignashevich, Vasili Berezutsky (Torbinsky 46), Aniukov, Zurianov, Semshov, Bilyaletdinov, Zhirkov, Arshavin (Kolodin 90), Kerzhakov (Pavluchenko 58).
Subs Not Used: Malafeev, Pogrebniak, Shirokov, Sychev.

How can a world supposedly “world class” England side lose to the Soviet Union. I don’t know about anyone else but i haven’t heard of any of the players in the Russian squad. Fair enough Rooney did score an excellent goal, but that is not excuse to sit back in the second half. We should be pressing forward trying to score a 2nd, 3rd or 4th goal. A team like England should be beating the Russians 3 or 4-nil.

Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t qualify, and based on that performance we really don’t deserve to be in the competition.

I thought we lived in a Liberal society?

I was under the impression that we lived in a Liberal society, but today I was proved wrong by the BBFC [British Board of Film Classifiers], who have taken the decission to ban Manhunt 2 [PS2 and Wii] from sale in the UK. The news was reported both by the BBC and Gamespot UK.

There was little doubt in my mind that this game would get an 18 rating, as no doubt it will contain some pretty graphic images. But people know what this game is about, so if it is going to offend you are not likely to buy it [unless you are an old person, who might buy the game just so they could write a letter of complaint saying how "discusted" they are].

BBFC director David Cooke is quoted as saying “There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed“.

Errrr…. thanks very much Cpt. Fucking Obvious but I do know what the game is about. Anyway, what point is he trying to make? After all you could make the exact same statement about a film like Saw or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but did they get banned… NO THEY DIDN’T! So where the fuck is the consistency here?

You may remember back to 2004, when some kid got murdered in Leicester. The mother of the murdered boy blamed the original Manhunt for her sons death. OK, i’m sorry your son is dead, but get a fucking life, the video game didn’t kill your son, some basket case did. Even the police said that “robbery was the motive” for the attack.

Anyway, back to my original point. The way in which the BBFC opperate is clearly fucked up. How can they possibly be so inconsistant? They need to totally re-think the way in which they opperate and sort out this obvious bias against video games.

Banning this game is only going to cause further problems. Being a Rockstar game, Manhunt 2 had recieved a lot of hype and a lot of people are going to be dissapointed by the ban. Certainly this is going to lead to an increase in illegal copies of the game being sold. And if we are to believe anything we read in the press Piracy funds terrorism.

To conclude…. FUCK YOU BBFC, fuck you and everything you stand for.

Can you have a wrong opinion?

Whilst reading through Ceefax this Tuesday evening, i came across an article which said that “Rolling Stone magazine has voted Crazy by Gnarls Barkley the best song of 2006″. My first though was that this was a joke, and i was struck with horror when i realised they were in fact totally serious.

Crazy is not the worst song i have heard this year, but it is a long way from being the best. Anyone who believes it to be the best of 2006 clearly has no taste in music whatsoever, and should have their opinion taken away from them and destroyed.  In addition to this, they should recieve a heavy fine and be banned from purchasing any music for at least 6 years.

Just the idea that anyone could even think “Crazy” to be the best song of 2006 is actually quite offensive. Sure, its a pretty catchy song, but there is no talent or thought behind it. Everything about the song is far to bland to be good.

So, can you have a wrong opinion? I think i have answered this question already.

a message to Sony

Fuck off!

English “key skills”

As some of you will know already QMC expect us to undertake an English “key skills” exam on the 14th November. This is for the “benefit” of those of us who haven’t taken AS/A2 English. Apparently it gives you 20 UCAS points, but whether or not these points will actually count for anything remains to be seen. It seems to me that “key skills” is very much like general studies, and isn’t accepted by the majority of Universities.

Personally i see no benefit in taking this 90 minute exam. This is precious time wasted. It is time that could be spent doing something worth while in a lesson. A lesson is which i will learn something that will help me in a real exam. On top of this i already have a B grade at GCSE English, so why should i need to take another exam? Surely this proves that my reading and writing skills are up to scratch. As a history and politics student i have a write a fair number of essays. Surely these are further evidence that i can read, analyse and write a constructive answer. Clearly someone in the college thinks that i am stupid.
I spoke to my tutor today about this “exam”. When i asked him the point of the exam, he didn’t really seem to know the answer. I then asked what would happen if i didn’t turn up to this exam. He told me that i would be charged the entrance fee to the exam, which i assume is around £18. As you can imagine this really pissed me off. Why should i pay for an exam that i didn’t even ask to be entered into?

We left the conversation, with my tutor, Tom Copps, saying that he would email the exams office on my behalf so that i could find out more about this joke of an exam.

To sum up. I am not going to take this exam. Primarily because it is a waste of time, but also because i am slightly offended by the suggestion that i have forgotton how to read and write since year 11.

Sony got raped… by themselves… again

Sony announced yesterday that the European release date of the Playstation 3 would be put back to March 2007. They put this down to a problem with the production of the blu-ray lens’ that the PS3 will use. If someone could please tell me an advantage of blu-ray then i would very much like to know.

To make matters worse for themselves Sony have also stated that only around 400,000 PS3 consoles will be available on launch day in America. This figger is even lower for the Japanese launch date, at 100,000. This is even less consoles than were available for the release of the Xbox 360 (if that is at all possible).

It seems to me that Sony have totally buggered up this console even before it goes on sale. The price tag seems to be quite extravagant, some publishers have already dropped the format because they haven’t had enough time to work with the new hardware. Sony themselves also seemed confused as to weather the PS3 is a games console or a small computer.

Give it up Sony, you’ve lost this time!

Turn your damn phone on!

Why do people always seem to have their mobile phones turned off, especially when you need to contact them. Surely having your phone switched off defeats the whole point of owning one in the first place.

My mobile only ever goes off at night or when it needs re-charging…. and i do make an effort to answer my phone when someone calls (although i can’t get a signal downstairs in my house….. blame Virgin Mobile for this not me).

People who never have their mobile phones switched on, should have them taken away and melted down/sent to third world countries, as this would be far more productive and good for everyone envolved. It would also be a good “job creation” scheme, because you would need to employ people to send the phones to the third world countries/melt them down.

Swansea University Open Day

“Sun is shining in the sky there ain’t a cloud in sight” – for those of you who don’t know, that is a line from E.L.O’s song “Mr. Blue Sky”, and it perfectly sums up how great the weather was for the Swansea university open day. The day started early for me, I had to get up at 6am, and make the three hour car journey up to Swansea. The traffic was ok until we actually got into Swansea itself, where It seemed like most of the drivers had fallen asleep at the wheel. The delays resulted it me arriving late and missing an introductory talk.

The next challenge was to find the room where the History talk was being given. Simple enough I though to myself. How wrong was I. Nothing seemed to be clearly signposted and there were no University students giving people directions. Anyway, the talk was fairly interesting and informative. Next I had to find the Politics talk. Again, this was easier said than done. Eventually I found the room, thanks in part to the help of a builder who seemed to be doing something to the stairs. I turned up late to the talk, fortunately I wasn’t the last in, as several other students and their parents had struggled to find the room. The tutor asked surprised “is there any reason why people are turning up late?”The talk was great, and I left the room thinking that I would quite like to take politics at University. The third talk was on Ancient History and Classics. I felt sorry for the tutor who was trying his very best to try and make the subject sound interesting. The room was extremely hot, and you could tell by the rustling of papers and whispering that everyone wanted to get out as soon as possible. After a lunch break and a coffee in the restaurant I went to the “War and Society” talk. There were only about 8 other people in the room (including the tutor), so I was a bit worried that the course might be a load of crap. The tutor was a guy called Stephen McVeigh, and he was one of those great teachers that you come across everyone one in a while. He could talk for hours and still hold your full attention.

The course itself sounded simply brilliant. It was everything I wanted to do; all the best bits from History and Politics cut up, and stuck back together like a fantastic piece of art. Essentially the course looks a war and the effect its has on society (as the title of the course suggests). As part of the course you study modules of work like:

• Roman History

• The West at War

• Televising War

• The Desert Campaign, 1940-42

I could list them all, but I don’t want to. Anyway you get the picture.

After this talk, I went the main hall and spoke to the Students Union about nightlife in Swansea, what work the union does, and most importantly, what bands have played at the University. I was pleased to hear that Snow Patrol and Idlewild have both played gigs at the Uni. Better still Swansea has over 100 different clubs and societies to join, including a “crazy society”.

Next I had a look around some of the on site accommodation. It wasn’t really much different to any other Universities I have visited, but it was nice enough and very modern.

All in all it was an excellent day out, Swansea seems like a great place, its on the beach, the campus is great and the course excellent. I still have a few more Universities that I would like to visit (Cardiff and Nottingham), but I think they are gonna have a hard time beating Swansea.