Personal Blogs

Everyone today, is very clued up on their human rights, they demand that life live up to their expectations and when it doesn't, they start shouting about 'violations' of their 'human rights' and can quote verbatim from the section, sub-section, paragraph and line of the Human Rights Act.

We’ve come a long way from the days of Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft when ‘rights’ were nothing more than a middle-class aspiration, and while there is much that I agree with in their writings, overall, I don't actually believe in human rights. I don't believe that there are natural rights or God given rights, as a matter of fact, I don't believe we have the right to anything. The only rights we have are those we have awarded ourselves and when we award ourselves rights then, we are morally obligated to award those same rights to everyone, equally. We consider the Human Rights Act a sign of our evolution into a more civilised society and a demonstration of our moral and intellectual superiority. And like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, the more we get, the more we want.  

We are quick to demand our rights, however, we are not as vocal when it comes to our responsibilities and are often quite happy to run away from or ignore them. The concentration on rights without the same consideration of responsibility leads to a skewed perspective and causes an imbalance within society.

Within the Human Rights Act, we have the Right to Life, the Right to Respect for Private and Family Life and the Right to Freedom of Religion and Belief but no responsibility to provide a counter-balance to them.

I do not believe in a ‘right to life’, life is not a right, it is a gift which we are very lucky to have, so alongside a 'Right to Life', I would put a responsibility - the responsibility to take care of and respect that life.

Alongside the Right to Respect for Private and Family Life - I would add the responsibility to ensure that a private and family life does not compel any member of that family to share in your belief system, if they choose not to, and also, that your behaviour as a family does not impact negatively on the community outside your family.

On the Right to Freedom of Religion and Belief - I would add the responsibility to ensure you do not force or impose your religion or beliefs on anyone else. Religion should be a private matter between the individual and whatever God they believe in.

Why do we believe that we have more rights than any other living organism on this planet? The demand for rights comes from the belief that we are 'special', more special than everything else on earth because we sit at the top of the food chain. This idea originally came from the book of Genesis, where God gave man dominion over the earth (which of course was written by man and has more than a bit of self-serving bias in it) and was adopted by religious institutions. From that, we were led to believe that the universe was created for us and we were, literally, the centre of that universe with everything revolving around us. 

In the psychological development of a human being, this is known as the egocentric stage, or egocentrism, and was first identified by the psychologist, Jean Piaget. This stage of development, usually occurs between the ages of 4 - 7, although, it can persist into adulthood for some (believe me; I deal with them all the time!).  It is characterised by a lack of awareness of different points of view - something which was very evident in the Brexit debate and which you can see any day in Parliament (and is actually the modus operandi in Stormont!!). It is a stage of development where a child/person is self-absorbed and still has to learn that things are not always from their point of view or perspective. When it persists into adulthood, it can be identified in people through their 'egocentric shortcomings' which include:

'The False-Consensus Effect - where people overestimate the extent to which their preferences are shared by others; (as evidenced by the ‘remain’ side in Brexit)

The Curse-of-Knowledge Effect - where experts in a particular domain fail to take into account the level of knowledge of laypeople with whom they are communicating; (or egosplaining, as I call it)

The Illusion of Transparency - where people exaggerate the degree to which their internal emotional states (such as anxiety during public speaking) are evident to others; 

The Spotlight Effect - where people overestimate the degree to, which aspects of their appearance and actions are noticed by others.' 

Or, in other words, it's all me, me, me, me, ME!!!

The universe is approximately 14 billion years old, earth is approximately 4.5 billion, man or a man-like creature is estimated to have been around from somewhere between 2 - 7 million years and your life, if you are lucky, will average 70 years. The life of a human being, in proportion to the life of the universe, is nothing more than the blink of an eye. You are a dust mote sitting on a quite beautiful rock which revolves around a glowing hot rock, in a universe whose size is beyond our knowledge and comprehension and, of which, we know very little. We don't even really know the basics - we know that there is a gravitational force in the universe but we have no idea what it is, or how it works, all we know is how it behaves.

Our tendency to egocentrism, often means that we lose our perspective on life and our place in the world. Our egos delude us into overestimating our importance and our knowledge and it can be a shock to the system to confront this reality and realise that, at the end of the day, we still don’t really know that much, we really don't matter very much either and if we disappeared tomorrow, the world will still keep turning and life will still go on.

Within the 'climate' hysteria that has gripped most of the mainstream media; the delusions of the ego are predominant.  Like Brexit, no real debate is allowed and the stream of propaganda continues, as those who are still in their egocentric phase refuse to consider any opinion but theirs, or consider that they could be deceived. 

I can understand and sympathise, if people only get their information from the mainstream media and believe that they are being told the truth.  There is a generation who were brought up to believe in the integrity of institutions like the BBC and NASA, to name but a few, and find it hard to comprehend that they are being lied to on such a grand scale, and believe me that scale is huge. I mean, I believed in it too until someone pointed out the truth to me, and it isn’t nice to have to admit that you were taken for a fool. I was a real ‘greenie’ and was quite happy to pay £3 for a light bulb, I used to pay 60p for. But, that’s life, it wasn’t the first time I’ve been fooled but it will most certainly be the last, I hope!

A few months ago, I tried to debate with a couple of people I know on 'climate change', both have quite large egos and one of them was flying to the US to protest with Extinction Rebellion (ironic or what?). But they completely refused to even consider any alternative viewpoint or read any of the literature I recommended. They chose wilful ignorance over scientific truth because it fed into their egos. 

Coincidentally, I took my mother to mass on Sunday and one of the readings was from Genesis, it was the passage where Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent into eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is one of my favourite  passages from the Bible because there is so much you can take from it and is probably one of the earliest writings on humans and consciousness.  So, I spent most of mass reading and re-reading this passage. There were several interesting things I took from it. One of the things I noticed about it was that, in this passage, God lied. Now, in all the years of being taught religion at school, no one ever pointed that out or questioned it.  The serpent asks Eve if God has told them not to eat from any of the trees, and Eve tells him yes, that God has said 'you must not eat it....under pain of death'. This is the lie which the serpent reveals. He tells her she won't die and that if she eats from it, her 'eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil'. So, with consciousness, we become the god of our own lives, we have the knowledge of good and evil and can then make a choice. 

The lack of curiosity and desire for truth and knowledge from the ‘climate change believers’, because it is about ‘belief’ and not scientific truth, shows that some of us prefer to live in ignorance, which is doubly disappointing in an age when so much knowledge is, literally, at our fingertips. Carl Sagan once remarked, 'knowledge is preferable to ignorance, better by far to embrace the hard truth than a reassuring fable' and was a great advocate for scientific truth over superstition and myth.

I wonder what he would say now or how he would fare in the present day when science is being destroyed by lies and propaganda; when even the Nobel Institute has lost their integrity and real scientists are dismissed and silenced, in favour of an uneducated teenager, who is being cruelly set-up by her parents and paymasters. Would he too be side-lined and silenced?  Where lies the responsibility for truth now, is it with us to demand it as a right?

In searching for truth, I can only be grateful for the internet, for providing a gateway to truth and a different perspective. I dread to think how we would fare without it at the present time and the only advice I can leave you with are the words of another advocate for scientific truth, Benjamin Franklin:

"Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see"

By the way, if you still believe you are the centre of the universe, or even if you don’t, because Carl Sagan is always worth listening to, follow the link and enjoy –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIANk7zQ05w)

https://www.britannica.com/science/egocentrism

Nothing can spoil my mood today, I'm walking around with a smile like Bonnie Langford on a high - granddaughter number 2 arrived in the early hours of this morning, weighing in at a healthy 7lb 5oz and I am over the moon! She's a little beauty!

Following from yesterday, I was trying to think what to do for Lent. Much has changed for me in the last year, not so much a visible external change but more internal and I'm probably in the best place I've ever been in my life. So much so that I decided I would go back and finish the last year of study to bump my degree up to honours. Unfortunately, the course I want to do doesn't start until October so I've a bit of time to work up to it. I'm going to do A326 Empire - 1492 to 1975.  I've ordered a couple of the recommended books to read prior to starting and registration doesn't open until next month. 

The blog has been a bit neglected too recently. I had a bit of a, I wouldn't say crisis, but it was a sort of personal concern. There is a lot of noise in the world today, and a lot of 'noise' online (and most of it meaningless too) and I questioned if there was any point in carrying on with it. Does anything I say matter, have I convinced anyone to re-consider their thoughts on Brexit or helped to assuage their fears over 'global warming' or to even question what they believe and why? Maybe, maybe not (but then again old number one fan might miss me if I stopped but then again, maybe not...).

However, I do like to write, well, like, is not necessarily the right word either because sometimes it's a pain, but it's more that I feel compelled to write. When I don't for a while, that still small voice from within starts to irritate and won't quieten until I've done something to shut it up. So, I decided for Lent, I would try and write something on the blog every day, more to create a writing habit than anything else but I have a couple of bigger projects in mind and I feel this is what I need to do, to get them going. 

I also decided that instead of lying brain dead in front of the telly most nights, I would try and expand my learning and do a bit more reading and studying.  My Tuesday night art class has been suspended for a while but my Thursday night class is still going which works out well as me, and one of the girls from work, play badminton on a Tuesday and it was a bit of a rush to get back home for the art class afterwards.

By the way, one of the men from the Thursday art group has an exhibition of his work showing in the Garden of Remembrance Gallery at Bishop Street in Derry. His name is Dermot Anderson and he specialises in portraits. If you're in the area, pop in for a look.  We were all down for the opening on Valentines night and a couple of people from the Letterkenny acting group happened to come in and we got chatting about a few possible projects we would like to try so maybe I'll be getting back on stage again too. Busy times!!!

This was my Christmas re-do of one of my flower arrangements. I didn't put up a tree this year, just did my usual holly, ivy and assorted flowers etc. garland around the fireplace.  I really liked how this turned out and will keep it for next year, I think.

As the vegan propaganda ramps up hard and heavy across the media for 'veganuary', a UK court awards 'ethical veganism' the same status as a religion, it's now considered a 'philosophical belief'.  So, if your dietary choice can now become a religion, what's next - the Holy Roman Church of Fruitarianism or the Blessed Sisters of the Saturday morning fry-up? Although, McDonalds might have been ahead of the game on this one with their 'Golden Arches' and their message of 'love'!

Veganism is one of two things - a necessity in a time of poverty or an indulgence in a time of plenty - because to have the choice of not eating meat, really is an indulgence, considering how many people in the world don't have that choice. (Although a lot less than there were, with figures showing global poverty has declined by a massive 85% since the 1980's and deaths from natural disasters are down a massive 95% in the last 100 years too, just to reassure anyone still worrying that we're all about to die in a climate apocalypse).

And along with all the save the world/climate change/vegan propaganda, we have George Monbiot, IPCC mouthpiece and climate change fraud, terrorising the population again with 'Apocalypse Cow - How meat killed the planet'.  

Did you realise that the earth was dead?  I've looked out the window several times today and it looks fine to me, it's a bit wet and windy but apart from that, it all looks ok.  Maybe George is so thick, he doesn't realise it's winter when everything is supposed to look 'dead'.  But then George does seems to be a bit stupid about things in general. Apparently, he killed a deer and then ate a venison burger during the programme, and he is supposed to be a vegan, funny sort of veganism that!  But to his credit, he blubbered like a girl when he killed it. (God, where are the men these days???) Personally, I blame Disney for a lot of this, making all those cartoons with cute animals that talk. Maybe someone should explain to George that they're not real, just like 'global -warming' and most religions too.

So, they don't want you to drive cars, or go on holiday, or use fossil fuels and now they don't want you to eat meat either. So, it will be back to the caves and without even the luxury of an animal skin or a fire for comfort!  

Again, we are being preached at by the Neo-liberal Fascists, people who have never known poverty or discomfort, and from the arrogance of their self-righteous, unchallenged lives, they pontificate to the rest of us. I wonder how long they would remain vegan if they were starving and hungry, crashed in the Andes or in a refugee camp? Maybe George should try that for his next 'reality' show. I'd definitely watch that one!

I was there, back in 1977, at the Commodore Cinema in Strabane, to witness the beginning of new era in cinematic, cultural and commercial history when Star Wars arrived, transporting us through space and time to a galaxy far, far away and 'May the Force be with you' entered our language and even got its own day (May 4th for those who don't know). I fell in love with Luke, lusted after Han and wanted to be Princess Leia.  I followed my heroes as Luke confronted the dark reality of his origins in the Empire Strikes Back (still the best movie in the entire franchise) and cheered when Luke, Leia and Han won the day, in Return of the Jedi and the evil Empire was finally beaten. Hurrah!

Then, the balance in the force was lost and a darker side took over (commercial interests) but out of loyalty, I stayed the course, suffered through the prequels, almost crying in despair when Jar Jar Binks arrived on screen (What was George Lucas thinking, what was he thinking????). But cheered again when good sense won out, as the back-lash from the fans saw him sidelined in episodes 2 and 3, even if the balance still wasn't quite right and there were huge plot holes.  Then Lucas sold the franchise to Disney and I looked forward in anticipation to see what JJ Abrams would do with it, especially when he had done so well with the reboot of the Star Trek movies.  How naive was I...

I watched The Force Awakens with some trepidation but thought there were some good things in it that could be developed only to have my hopes shattered by The Last Jedi and I felt so let down that I did not even go and see Solo, A Star Wars Story (there is only so much disappointment you can take in a certain time-frame although, I am assured it is a fairly decent film) but still haven't seen it.  

Then, with the announcement that The Rise of Skywalker would be the final film in the series, and since I was there at the start, how could I not be there at the end, I decided to put all negative feelings aside and go see it. I had watched Rogue One again over Christmas (one of the better off-shoots from the Star Wars story) and The Force Awakens. So to fully prepare, I watched The Last Jedi again (just to see if it was as bad as I remembered - it was!) got bored before the end and went to bed. 

So, with the end now in sight,  Sunday evenings being what they are and with no better offers on the table, I decided to go to the cinema and watch The Rise of Skywalker.  It was getting better reviews than The Last Jedi  (which isn't really much of a recommendation) but gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, they had upped their game a bit and since it was the end of the story, hoped that they might have pushed the boat out and made a film in keeping with the spirit of the original trilogy - going out with a bang and not a whimper!

Unfortunately, they didn't!  The Rise of Skywalker, or as I will now refer to it, the Lazarus Episode, (because the dead were being resurrected left, right and centre, although no one could resurrect a good script!) failed for the same reasons that most of the newer films in the franchise have failed. They are not character led, they are led by economics with an over- emphasis on special effects and cute characters, in a puerile attempt to flog us Star War's fans more tat, in thanks for our loyalty over the decades.

My biggest gripe apart from the hole-riven story(?) is with the main character (and I use that term in its lightest sense) Rey, this generation's new 'Luke' (because in the age of gender equality, the lead has to be female this time around).  She has the acting/emotional range of a door, all jolly hockey sticks earnestness or jolly hockey sticks earnestness with tears which really starts to grate after a while. She is so bad, she actually makes Hayden Christensen look good.

John Boyega who played Finn was one of the good characters in this new series and I had an expectation/hope that his character would be developed into something more than he initially appeared. He could at least have had some Jedi training. However, he was badly under used again in this film and can only lead me to conclude that he was there as a 'token' character to check that 'all-inclusive' box that is so important in the world of political correctness today.  

The script/story (if you could even call it that?!) revolves around the 'mysterious' return of the old emperor, Palpatine.  However, this didn't really turn out to be much of a mystery at all, and it quickly became obvious that it was merely a plot device to cover up for the complete lack of originality and ideas by the scriptwriters on how to develop a story or make a decent film. 

In the original Star Wars Trilogy, we had several great individual characters who bounced off each other and gave the film a sense of realism (even if it was set in a galaxy far, far way) and depth. There was no big convoluted plot, just goodies versus baddies in space, add a little sexual tension, some sharp humour and it worked!  

In the new films, even the great characters from the original movies have been lobotomised into blandness.  Leia, who was the feisty heroine leading the rebellion even before Luke and Han got on board, has been reduced into a benign, toothless granny. Same thing with Luke and Han, everyone now appears like a refugee from a Channel 5 Christmas movie, all bland sweetness and cloying com-patriotism.  

I had such hopes but this poor excuse for a movie is just a mess of nothingness with neither rhyme nor reason, a sorry end to a cinematic era.  If there was any reasoning behind it (which I seriously doubt it!) I think it went something like this - Well, we've made a total balls-up of the whole franchise so lets just bring whole sorry mess to an end asap and start over with something else. The fans will still come and see it because it is Star Wars so we'll at least make our money back, then hopefully, we can all forget about it and move on - or words to that effect. I will certainly be doing my best to forget it.

As a long time Star Wars fan, I cannot fully capture the depth of my disappointment. For me, there are really only 3 Star Wars films and those are the 3 originals. And I mean the originals, not the updated version Lucas did a few years ago with more special effects and 'cute characters'. Rogue One is the best of the others and Fan Boys is the fan's, Star Wars film - all worth a look. I will see Solo at some point in the not too distant future but if you are a fan and haven't seen The Rise of Skywalker yet, save yourself some time and money and give it a miss but I know if you're a Star Wars fan, you will still go and see it. 

Ah, Obi Wan, the balance in the Force has been lost. I'm only glad they didn't resurrect you and Yoda to witness the trashing of your legacy. But, as bad as it feels at the moment, word has reached me from a distant galaxy (Ok, from number 3 son) that we are not entirely without hope. Apparently, The Mandalorian, another Star Wars offshoot set after episode 6, is getting very good reviews so for fans mourning the passing of our old friend Star Wars, it may not be RIP just yet. So, as we prepare to jet off again to a galaxy far, far away maybe the lesson to be learned here is that, if you can't do it better, especially when it comes to film classics, then leave it alone.

May the force be with you!

And God sent his only Son that mankind might be saved ....NO IT WASN'T! It was to punish us for all our misbegotten deeds so that every year as a 'celebration' of his arrival, we would have to endure the special purgatory that is Christmas Shopping!  As if shopping at any time of the year wasn't it's own special kind of hell, now you can do it with bigger crowds who are more stressed while Noddy Holder screams 'IT'S CHRISTMAS!' for the four hundredth thousand time as you trudge around, on the verge of a mass extinction of brain cells, spending your hard earned (that could be better spent or saved for a decent holiday somewhere warm!) buying meaningless tat for those who spent their hard earned buying you the same meaningless tat because you 'have to' because its 'Christmas'. 

I wouldn't even mind if they actually bought me something I could use, I mean I have hobbies, I read, I write, I paint, I knit, I crochet, I garden and I've even gone back to playing badminton. But would they ever buy some paint or a canvas or two? NEVER!  Just the same bloody old body lotions and potions which I NEVER use!

And as if all that wasn't bad enough, now we have a general election in the middle of it all???  So, we're going to have to trudge out in the midst of the ice and snow (and the next one who mentions 'global warming' to me is going to get punched several times over!) to see if we can finally get a functioning government in place who will carry out the democratic will of the people and get us the f*ck out of the EU and start running the bloody country again! 

Merry Christmas everyone, God bless us one an' all!

This is the second arrangement from the flower-arranging class.  I'll have to do something about my backgrounds!

I started a flower arranging class a few weeks ago and these are my first efforts. This one is in a basket and was to be viewed from above.  

I can hardly speak for the rage I feel over that shower of NLF's in Parliament today and i personally don't give a crap how many were on the People's Vote march, even if it was a million it is still 16.4 million less than voted to leave!

Roll on the general election so we can be rid of these parasitic fascists!

Since I was out every night this week, and both the weather and the telly were crap on Saturday, I went out to see Joker as I didn't want to have to wait at least another week before I could get to the cinema and also, to see if it lived up to the hype, which it does.

Joaquin Phoenix delivers a stunning performance as Arthur Fleck, a man clinging to the bottom rung of life, in desperate need of a break or maybe just a genuine act of human kindness.  (Don’t we all Arthur, I feel your pain…)

This Joker is no comic book cartoon character, in the mould of a Jim Carrey or Jack Nicholson Joker, and while Heath Ledger brought a new dimension to the character in the Dark Knight Trilogy, this Joker has a much darker edge.  This is not an action hero movie and Joker is not the nemesis for some do-gooding boy wonder to flex his virtue-signalling heroics.  It is much more and he is more than that too; he is Joe Ordinary pushed over the edge of sanity, scraping together a miserable existence, in a miserable world, the demented product of a sick and demented society. 

Considering the attention this movie is getting, there is more to this than just a brilliant acting performance, it is hitting nerves in all the wrong/right(?) places.

I can understand why the NLF's are nervously fiddling with their self-righteous indignation, worried that Joker might inspire copycat acts of violence, for if ever a movie encapsulated the disconnection between those at the top and those who are not, Joker depressingly does.  He is the bogeyman who, by his actions, inspires a violent revolution against society and the rich, and (spoiler alert) who publicly executes smug talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro) when he is invited on to his show after Murray has used a tape of his comedy routine to mock and scoff him (shades of X Factor auditions?) but when it goes viral, sees it as an opportunity to be exploited. 

There is also some controversy around the use of one of Gary Glitter’s song and one of the reviews I read, accused the director (Todd Philips) of trying to be ‘edgy’ by using the track.  I have to say, I found the music appropriate and suited to the scene (and it is a good song regardless of what you may think of Glitter) and maybe the director was not being edgy but merely using the music of Glitter to highlight the hypocrisy of the elite who would condemn Gary Glitter but cover up and excuse the equally deplorable actions of the ‘right’ people (Epstein/Prince Andrew/Weinstein/Saville/Catholic Church).

One of Arthur Fleck’s grievances with the world is that no-one listens anymore, that people are nasty and cruel and have no compassion for their fellow human beings.  He is the on screen manifestation of the injustice and inequality that has been eating into the heart of those on the bottom rung of society for years and who have been ignored and dismissed by those on the top.  He is one of the ‘deplorables’ like those coal-miners who Hilary Clinton vowed to put out of work and, who kept her out of the White House, when they gave their vote to Trump.  

When Arthur first hits back against the bankers, he feels powerful, the little guy has fought back against those who would look down their nose at him and I certainly felt a sense of satisfaction in his actions. 

Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Arthur Fleck has created a character that repels and appeals in equal measure but he is also a character that many will identify and sympathise with, and Joker is, in my opinion, the perfect movie for this time. It captures the zeitgeist and demonstrably highlights the disconnection between the top and bottom of society.  De Niro perfectly encapsulates all those self-righteous media types who sneer and scoff at the outsiders (Trump supporters/Brexiteers) and those who don’t quite fit in with the ‘right’ people or have the ‘right’ opinion.  And there was, again, a certain satisfaction when Arthur dispatched him to meet his maker.  There are other violent scenes and there is one scene where the character attacks a former work colleague which is pretty gruesome and one that I couldn’t watch but which demonstrates the twisted morality of the world of Arthur.

I felt the film had a strong political message or maybe my own political outlook has led me to see more in it than the director was aiming for, but Joker hits a nerve, and I fully expect to see Joker masks on the front line of political protests. 

Overall, I would highly recommend seeing the film, it is a fair construction of a character from the Batman series but this is not a film for children.  This is a bleak and disturbing portrayal of what could happen to any one of us, if our lives got off to a bad start and turned the wrong way.  I will, in all probability, go and see it again, it is definitely worth a second viewing.

The ending is ambiguous and I will leave you to make up your own mind about it but at the end Arthur is laughing and is asked what he is laughing at.  He replies ‘you wouldn’t get it’ and with Trump up for re-election next year and Brexit looming on the horizon maybe that final message should give the Neo-liberal Fascists something to think about because I still don’t think they are…you have been warned!

I ventured out yesterday to see Ad Astra, the new Brad Pitt movie.  It had gotten mixed reviews but I liked the sound of it so decided to try it for myself.  This is a film for serious sci-fi fans and if you like your sci-fi flavoured by Sagan and Kubrick (and I do) then this is one for you.  

The plot is fairly straight-forward, son ventures out into deep space to try and find the father (Tommy Lee Jones) he thought was dead and that is as much as I'm giving away. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn't mind seeing it again. It's a mostly quiet movie and there isn't a lot of action but I liked the pace of it and it was a refreshing experience not to have all that over the top nerve-shredding drama and tension.  At around 2 hours, I hardly noticed the time passing and who would when you have Brad Pitt larger than life and in glorious technicolour! There are worse ways to spend a Sunday evening and as if that wasn't enough, there were only 4 of us in the cinema which meant I had peace to see it too.  

I would recommend it, if you liked Arrival, you will probably like this and Brad has redeemed himself again after the Tarantino tripe.