Random Thoughts 5: The “England Riots” Edition

Pretty saddening and crazy scenes over in England right now. There were widespread riots going on in cities such as London, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Bristol. These riots stem from police shooting and killing a man in Tottenham. A peaceful protest was planned a couple days after the shooting, but it turned violent and the rioting began in Tottenham, and in the days that followed, spread across London, and then England.

First off, I want to say that I do not sympathize with these rioters because their actions are simply inexcusable and that I hope that they are arrested and punished to the full extent of the law. But there have been contributing reasons why these people have started to riot after that police shooting, such as tensions between the youth and law enforcement, poverty, and high unemployment. Many consider the police shooting a breaking point of the relationship between the considered “lower class” and the government, and now these people want to act out against them. Other rioters simply saw this as an opportunity to go get some free stuff. No matter what reason, this rioting needs to stop. This person sums it up best.

I also wasn’t impressed with the lack of police presence in stopping these riots. The initial response from law enforcement should have been a more aggressive one, but in this time and age, even police need to be careful of their actions, or they will be scrutinized by the media. Their response should have been firm, but not excessive. What I mean is, use the force necessary to bring down the rioters and arrest them, but don’t go overboard, such as this. Even with all this said, they are trying their best.

Next thought, this one is pretty random (hence the title). I was once good friends with this girl in elementary school, and we still kept in touch in high school. After that, I didn’t hear from her again. She was an exceptionally bright and intelligent girl, but she does make the odd dumb decision here and there. A while back, I talked with another of my good friends from high school (who is also good friends with her) and he mentioned something about her in one of our conversations. So I asked him how she was doing, and he told me about a party that he went to with her and all their friends. He told me that she had multiple boyfriends since she started going to university and has started to drink heavily. He also informed me that she has often had arguments with her parents regarding her “freedom”.

Mind you, this all happened around a year and a half to two years ago, so this could have all changed, but I’m still shocked that she was drinking heavily and apparently been with more than a few guys. When I was friends with her, she was always this goody-two-shoe, pure girl that wouldn’t think of doing anything wrong, and when I heard about all this from my other good friend, I didn’t realize how a good girl like her could turn so bad. I’m not saying drinking is bad, most of us do it, but the part that shocked me was the guys she apparently has been with. I don’t keep in touch with her (she removed me as her Facebook friend), but I wonder what she is up to now…

Random Thoughts 4: The “Casino Dreams” Edition

I went to Casino Rama yesterday, hoping to pick me up some extra cash. It didn’t work out that way. The casino tables kicked my ass up and down the casino floor and it only enforced a valuable lesson for me, don’t ever go to the casino, because most likely, your money will run away from you.

I’ve had a few of my friends from home and university talk to me briefly about their BlackBerry mobile phone, and I always ask them this question. Why did you get a BlackBerry? And for most of them, the answer is this…”Because it is Canadian”.

That is the dumbest answer anyone can give me. Why the hell would you go out and buy something simply because it was invented in the same country that you live in. It won’t have a noticeable effect on that country’s economy, so why? Personally, I think someone should go out and buy something, mobile phone or whatever, that is going to give them the most benefit and that he/she would be happy with (that’s how I have my Android). If someone wants go get a BlackBerry because it would be have the most benefit to them and make them feel the happiest, then go for it. But I don’t want to hear that “I bought a BlackBerry because it’s Canadian” shit. Those people would be better suited to living as sheep, than actual human beings.

Next thought, I’ll start by saying this, you should be able to listen to any kind of music that puts a smile on your face, even though others might think that the music you listen to is garbage. I was raised on listening to the 90s club jams and Eurodance songs, and I keep noticing a startling difference between that kind of music, and the mainstream music you hear in the clubs today.

The mainstream songs of today are insanely over-sexualized. To be honest, this doesn’t offend me, nor do I have a problem with it, but I find it really annoying that almost every song I hear in the club is mostly about how the male music artist wants to fuck some female, or the other way around. The 90s club jams I listen to are hardly sexual, but rather about love, dreams, and have this sense of fantasy about them. What I mean by “fantasy” is, it is like I am in another world when I listen to these tunes.  These songs take me away from reality and they make me feel good whenever I feel down. It’s a rarity when the clubs play these jams, but I would be extremely happy if I hear them whenever I’m in the club. It takes you back to a time when club jams truly meant something.

The Toronto FC – Sportsnet Fiasco

Yesterday night, I sat down and flipped the channel to Sportsnet One to get ready to watch Toronto FC play Real Esteli in the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round. The only thing preventing me from doing that was that the baseball game was also on the same channel and it was going on. The baseball game had a rain delay, so it was certain that the baseball game would finish later than 10pm, which was the start time of the TFC match.  Sportsnet would air the TFC match on tape delay right after the baseball game ended.

I went on Twitter to see the reaction from TFC fans on what was happening, and the reaction was pretty vitriolic and hateful towards Sportsnet on their decision. I’ve seen “I’m never watching Sportsnet again” as well as “Fuck you Sportsnet” and I thought that was a bit excessive. The reaction of TFC fans was more emotional, rather than logical. My opinion on this whole Sportsnet thing is that I think they made the right decision in airing the baseball game in its entirety, and after the game was finished, they aired the TFC match in its entirety, even though it was on tape delay. My reasoning is this:

TFC fans, believe it or not, baseball has fans too. If I was a Detroit Tigers fan, watching the Tigers game on Sportsnet One and the game I was watching got cut off in the bottom of the 7^th inning to make way for soccer, I would be very angry, and I would be calling Sportsnet to let them know how I feel. If it was the other way around, meaning, a soccer game had to go into extra time and therefore cut into the start time of a baseball game on the same channel, then I’m 99.9% sure that channel would air the soccer game in its entirety. It doesn’t matter that the baseball game was considered “meaningless” by TFC fans and that the TFC match was considered important, or that Sportsnet was apparently being “anti-Canadian” by airing a baseball match featuring two American teams and not the Canadian soccer team. The fact is, there was a compromise, and unfortunately, some TFC fans took the decision the wrong way.

Another argument I want to address is this, “Sportsnet have 5 channels, Sportsnet Ontario, East, West, Pacific, and One. Why couldn’t they simply move the soccer game from Sportsnet One to one of the other Sportsnet channels?” By making this argument, people are making the assumption that everyone in Canada has access to all five of these channels, which simply isn’t true. Not all people in Canada have a digital box, and a majority of people only have access to one Sportsnet channel, depending on where they live in Canada. I don’t think most people from British Colombia who only have access to Sportsnet Pacific would be happy if they were forced to watch a soccer match featuring an Ontario team. An alternative for Sportsnet would be to air the TFC game live on Sportsnet Ontario, but it wouldn’t have been a good idea (or a good look) to replace the programming that was already slated to air on that channel.

For the most part, I was pretty disgusted with the reaction of TFC fans on Twitter, and I thought some people would be a little more understanding of the situation, instead of acting like spoiled children. Sportsnet is a channel for the sports consumer, not just the soccer consumer, and I think Sportsnet was just trying to satisfy both sets of fans. Most people found an online stream of the match, as did I. But if people didn’t have access to an online stream, they could have simply waited 30-45 minutes for the baseball game to end. TFC fans, it could have been much worse, the game could have been aired on Setanta, so be glad that you got to see the match, whether it was on an online stream, or on tape delay on Sportsnet One.

Random Thoughts 3: The “Pray For Norway” Edition

Really shocking what happened in Norway a couple days ago, when a right-wing, Christian fundamentalist bombed a building and then caused a shooting at a Labour-party youth camp leaving more than 75 dead. This obviously was a terrorist act and here’s hoping that this right-winger burns in hell where he belongs. I’m very disappointed that, in my opinion, the North American media decided to focus more on the death of Amy Winehouse than an actual disaster such as the one in Norway. I’m hoping that the whole of Norway recovers from this terrorist act.

Which leads me to this point, why do people think that terrorists are just Islamic extremists? It isn’t true. People who commit violent acts to instill fear in a country for some kind of goal are terrorists, no matter what religion.

This year’s Copa America tournament has been very interesting, to say the least. Uruguay has won this year’s Copa America by beating Paraguay 3-0 in the final. Sorry guys, I guess you won’t be seeing Larissa Riquelme parading down the streets of Paraguay naked. I know, I have been hoping for it too. I think it’s safe to say that Uruguay is the best team in South America now.

In Canada, we are a bit spoiled for choice, where we can watch the Copa America in either English or Spanish commentary. I have listened to both commentaries for a number of games. I like watching the Spanish commentary for the pure passion that the Spanish commentators spew out, such as their exuberant celebrations of a goal, as well as when the player misses by saying “Ce la perdio!” I also liked the English commentary, supplied by The Score, for talking about the tactics of the two teams, and what they need to do tactically to succeed. The English commentators are very intelligent people, and can identify potential problems in a team, which could result in a goal. Overall, I can’t decide between the two, as they both offer different experiences in the same game.

Want to end your drunken night quickly? Try listening to your completely wasted university friend break down and cry about all the issues surrounding him. To be honest, I don’t remember any of his “issues” from that night, and I’m beginning to think that he did this to screw me out of a good night of my own. If somehow this guy is reading this, let me say this to him…

Life isn’t fair. Shit happens and it is up to you to deal with it. You go around and act like you are better than everyone else and that whatever you do is the right thing, like a typical conservative and like a typical wealthy person. You put up this fake tough exterior, but when I saw you break down, I saw a boy that needed help. By knowing you for the past two years, I realized that you are a very pessimistic person, and only see the bad in everything. Maybe you should try to see the good in people and things. Maybe you should stop calling people names, and learn to encourage people in whatever that they plan to do. We are all not as fortunate as you…

That is all I got to say.

Random Thoughts 2: The “Mascot” Edition

Here is part 2 of my “Random Thoughts” series. It’s just more of my thoughts on the world. Hope you enjoy…

All hail the weird looking mascot in the picture. Actually that is the mascot of this year’s Copa America being held in Argentina. At first I thought it was kind of creepy, but the more I saw it, the more innocent and harmless it became to me.

I finally did it. I got rid of my Facebook account. It wasn’t easy, but in one of my previous articles, I described my annoyance with it. Well, I got so annoyed with the amount of bitching and narcissism in Facebook that I finally decided to shut it down.  Getting rid of my Facebook account has made me more of a happier person, probably because I don’t have to compare myself to anyone anymore. I don’t know if I will be coming back, maybe some time next year. Until then, good riddance Facebook!

So I was driving today, windows down, music blasting, until I see a quartet of really attractive girls walking on the sidewalk. Not surprisingly, and because I’m a guy, I look at them. One of them was wearing a sexy looking shirt with some really short jean shorts. Another one was wearing a cute tank top, with a short skirt. You all get the idea right? Well, because I was staring at these fine ladies, I fail to see the car in front of me and I stop just in time to avoid a fender-bender with the car in front of me. See, I’m fairly convinced that guys that are driving and watching attractive girls on the side of the road can cause an accident, simply because the girls are attractive. How can we solve this? Actually I have no idea, maybe not look at the girls next time.

I’ve only just now heard of this whole “planking” thing, and I think it’s really retarded. Why would you want to lay face down, arms on your side on something while someone takes a picture of you? I think this fad is really stupid and it only got stupider when there were pictures of Manchester City players doing it (See the idiot Micah Richards in the picture). Also, apparently planking has its origins in slavery.

Last thought: If the newspaper collection kid wants his collection money, DO NOT tell the kid to “fuck off”, unless you want his angry parents to come to your house…

Later…