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The Alternative Feminist/ Men and football

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Thursday, 1 Sept 2022, 12:38

There are guy things like football and Nick Hornby novels and, you know, all those mass slaughter computer games where it takes three thousand rounds to kill one person. It positively encourages psychotic behaviour in the general population, as if they’re weren’t enough nut jobs running around already, and it seems to me, looking at what passes for men around here, that evolution seems to have stopped, not just stopped, if anything it seems to have gone into reverse and there’s another thing, it’s not just about football with guys is it?   

I mean what is that about, all that anally retentive stuff about who scored, who passed it to them, at what point in the game and from what position, what the weather was like and if the goalie was distracted by that slight touch of diarrhoea his cat had that morning, and what should the left back have ordered in the restaurant last weekend when his mother in law came to stay (steak not prawns, since you ask). You know all that kind of stuff that men seem get off on. Yes, I know women like football too, I do myself, but my interest runs to did they win or lose, it’s that simple. 

‘How did they do today?’ you ask someone.

‘They won two nil’

‘Great’ you think, ‘they won'. Nothing more to know, but no…men are never satisfied with just knowing the score, it’s all in depth analysis of the game, who did what, who didn’t do what, who should have done this, why wasn’t he taken off at half time, that free kick was a joke, that asshole couldn’t score in a whorehouse, that referee’s a prick…you know all that macho stuff. I mean, what are they trying to prove, what does it all mean, I’ll tell you what it means, it means nothing at all, just a load of empty vacuous claptrap that no-one really gives a damn about and, in the great scheme of things, has about as much significance as a pimple on an ant’s ass in sub-Saharan Africa on a wet Wednesday in April!!

           

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Weddin

10

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Thursday, 1 Sept 2022, 12:32

This is another one from the creative writing course. It came from memories of 1980/81 and contains some very personal references along with some of the political events of the time. It was the year I turned 18 and it was a pretty miserable year for me all round.

 10

 10, Maggie’s Den.

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!

OUT! OUT! OUT!

 

10, happy birthday,

Eighteen now, no child here.

What do we want?

 

10 Men Dead,

Black flags and funerals.

Political Status!

 

10 Gold medals,

Games without false tears.

When do we want it?

 

10 years gone,

Wondering where you are,

Now!

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Weddin

Belief

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Thursday, 1 Sept 2022, 12:36

This is another poem I wrote which I use it to remind myself to challenge my own thinking. I have often found that very few people ever challenge their own thinking and when you question them on it, it often turns out that their beliefs are not their own but what they have been told, or brought up to believe.  I'm often told I think too much but I think we don't really think enough about everything.

Belief

Ask yourself a question;

What do I believe?

Think about it for a while,

Then ask yourself - Why?

Then write it all down.

Turn it into a poem

Or even a play,

Set it to music  

Make it a song and sing it out, 

loud and long.

Then ask yourself another question;

What if it’s all wrong?

Then think about that.

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Weddin

War Horse - A review

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Thursday, 1 Sept 2022, 11:59

I went to see War Horse last week with high expectations of seeing a Spielberg classic and having read several reviews which all gave it high praise. 

Well, what a disappointment!  This film was so bad I wondered if maybe there were two versions of this movie out and I was watching the wrong one. This was overblown, mawkish, sentimental tripe. It was full of sad old stereotypes and clichés, bad dialogue and worse acting. 

After a very boring start, the story was galloped through, giving no time to build up interest in anything that was going on. 

The lead character Albert, while supposedly appearing young and naïve just came across as moronic. Taking nothing away from the horrors of WW1, I actually felt relieved when him and his friend were gassed, hoping it would put an end to the misery but, unfortunately, Albert survived. It got so bad in the trenches that I actually couldn't stop from laughing and half expected Dougal to appear and give us a verse or two from My Lovely Horse.

There are only two characters who come away with any credit from this film and that was the horse and Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch. 

I think Spielberg has been in Hollywood too long.  This is a film for children only.  Not recommended at all.

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A little bit of politics

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Edited by Aideen Devine, Friday, 13 Nov 2015, 13:34

I wrote this poem last year on my creative writing course but it was much shorter and didn't seem finished, so now I have finally finished it, I hope you enjoy it.  Comments are welcome

Austerity

The stated precedent of the Condem Government is:

To implement cuts to pay off the deficit.

When greedy bankers and free market Capitalism

Dramatically failed, they were saved by Socialism

And still they demand no tighter regulation

To control their gambling and reckless speculation

Even when it leads to third-world starvation,

Because profit is their only consideration.

And their biggest worry is double-dip recession,

Which if it lasts longer, will be a depression.

‘There is no alternative’ says Thatcher’s next generation.

‘Someone has to pay for this economic devastation’

As they roll out the old policy of privatization,

(Which also demonstrates their complete lack of imagination),

To sell off to the few, what belongs to the nation

And the cost will be yours and your children’s education.

Along with your health and your old age pension

While blaming the poor for the whole situation

Not to mention that other old chestnut- immigration

Because every government failure needs a scapegoat to aim for

And tomorrow the finger might be pointed at your door.

So, the next time there is a general election

Think carefully before you make your selection

And vote in the best interests of the entire population

Not for Oxbridge boys and their corporate connections

Who deceive us with rhetoric and tabloid machinations

In their lust for power and without any consideration

For the debt, they’ve dumped on future generations.

Because this legacy of poverty has been laid down for posterity

But not for the millionaires who’ve Condemned us to austerity

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