 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Various things...
Dancing Stage: I actually tried this again two days ago, mostly on a whim; I ended up playing about 20 songs, which was quite a bit more exhausting than I'd assumed given that I'm generally in better shape now, and did another 6 yesterday, just for fun. I suck at it quite a bit, too - I don't recall the step patterns anymore, which doesn't help, and I'm also finding it difficult to move my at any higher speed - 1/8th notes at 140 bpm are about the maximum I can comfortably and reliably do now, which sucks.
Speaking of reliability, it's also become entirely obvious again that the cheap plastic pad I've got is really utter crap and that if I actually *want* to get into this game again, I'll have to invest into a metal pad sooner or later. There is no other way - all sliding and folding and buttons that don't properly register when you step on them takes the fun out of the whole thing.
Bike: I've still been thinking about my bike's name, but it's became increasingly obvious that the last one I came up with is indeed the one. So, just to make it all entirely official: my bike is a girl, and her name is Skinfaxa ("shining mane" or "Leuchtmähne").
(And she's a beauty, too - every time I see her waiting for me when I come back to her from somewhere, from a store, the gym or whatever, I can't help but think that yes, she's a bike to be proud of.)
Photos/Iceland: I've finally started to upload pictures from my trip to Iceland to Flickr - you can see the ones that are already up here. It'll take a while to upload them all since it's about 500 keepers all in all - and I don't want to dump them in there all at once, especially since I know that if I did, nobody would look at them at all.
That being said, here's a sneak peek, too - one of the two videos I took of the foxes at the Húsdýragarðurinn in Reykjavík, Leifur and Dísa:
I'd upload the second one I took of them as well, but unfortunately, AviDemux crashes when trying to open that one, so I can't actually rotate it, as I did with this one. can anyone recommend another program to do that sort of thing, perhaps?
Tags: bike, dancing stage, exercise, iceland, photos i took, travel, videos, youtube
Hugarástand:  full
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A random observation concerning furry fandom: it's very tightly-knit. Or at the very least, this is true on LJ; when I check out any random fur's journal profile, for example, chances are we have at least some friends in common, or - barring that - that there's at least a few people on their friends/fans lists that I recognize (because they used to be my LJ-friends, for example, or because I otherwise know them). It's my gut feeling that this leads to a greater degree of social cohesion as well and that furries, generally speaking, care more about each other than people on average, or perhaps even people in other, comparable "subcultures". Of course, I can't actually point to any specific evidence to back this up, though. Perhaps this kind of thing is expected, too; the furry fandom is ultimately still not THAT large, and furries generally are a communicative and social bunch, so if you'd create a graph of social interactions and relationships, chances are that a) it'd be comparatively small and b) each node would have a comparatively high number of edges joining it, leading to a relatively dense graph overall where the average minimum path length between any two nodes will be relatively small. But I still think it's interesting, especially the evidence noted above - that I can actually look at a random fur's LJ profile and have a pretty good chance of seeing that we have common acquaintances or (LJ-)friends. Tags: furry, livejournal, six degrees of separation, thoughts
Hugarástand: full
Tónlist: Mike Oldfield - Hergest Ridge - Part one
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I went to a restaurant with my parents and sister yesterday - the same one we went to in April again. I had some scampis en croûte on a guacamole dip as an entrée, fried turbot (on the bone, as they say - an der Gräte, not just the filets) with shrimps, salt potatoes, cucumber and some interesting sprouts I couldn't identify, and finally the dessert selection (where the panna cotta had been replaced by mousse au chocolat now), along with a big cup of hot chocolate with mint syrup and cream again. ^^
Quite lovely, and the atmosphere and weather was very nice as well; that being said, I feel a bit bad about having eaten for a total amount that I could, in theory, have bought food and drinks for about two weeks from otherwise. c.c Of course, my parents invited me and my sister, so it's not a financial problem for me (and it certainly isn't one for my parents, either), but still...
But then, this sort of doubt is nothing new for me, and I've learned to deal with it by simply ignoring it and focussing on the food at hand. After all, it's precisely when you could never afford this sort of restaurant and food on your own that you should be happy to be able to get it. :)
Later on in the evening, we had a little uniform show at the Black Gazza, too, which was also very nice, if a little late and chaotic (at least in the beginning). *s* But it all worked out, and I enjoyed it, despite having a little bit of a sugar crash from my dessert earlier; thanks a lot to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) timberwuf for organizing this, too. *smiles*
moth_wingthane and kyroraz also were kind enough to get me some pony gear later on. ^.^ I haven't taken any screenshots yet that I could show, but I'm properly ponied up now - and locked, so I'll stay that way until I learn how to properly walk in my new pony boots. And given that my training level was set to "very hard", that is going to take a while indeed. *s*
What I'd probably still need is a proper headdress, bit gag and blinders; I've got a freebie headdress/bit gag now, and it actually works reasonably well, but it's really intended for human heads. And it could also be a bit stricter still, I think. ^.~
Other than that, I had a relatively weird experience at the Black Gazza recently where another player - a human player - not just tried to seduce me and get me to become intimate with her but also immediately dropped me like a hot potato and completely ignored me once I said I wasn't actually interested in having sex.
I don't mind people wanting to have sex with me - even if I'm not interested, there's nothing wrong with it, and it IS somewhat flattering, too -, but this whole thing made me feel that I wasn't being appreciated as a person and rather seen as a sex toy; not me, but rather just "a furry", as I also learned that this person was known for having what one might call a "furry fetish" - a sexual interest in furries even though she herself wasn't one.
I've also been thinking of her as a "fur hag" (in analogy to the more well-known "fag hag") in private ever since this happened last week, but it's probably particularly apt here; my own perception of the term "fag hag" at least is that its connotations are positive or at least neutral, and "fur hag" would also mostly be a neutral term for me. But then, on the other hand, so would "furry fetishist".
(On a side note, a positive term for someone who's into furries but not furry themselves that I just heard from earlyadopter_j on The Mediastorm Workshops: A Tail of Identity would be "meta-furry". I rather like that one; another possible choice that just came to my own mind would be "furry friend", which also fits in rather nicely with "furry fan" and "furry lifestyler".)
Tags: black gazza, family, food, furry, ponyplay, restaurants, second life, thoughts, uniforms
Hugarástand:  restless
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The weather's still very good, so I've been biking quite a bit more recently. Or, well, I went on a tour on Wednesday and another one yesterday, at least; on Wednesday, I covered about 62.85 km, while yesterday, I did 49 km. In both cases, there were also a few short, unrelated trips on the same day, bringing the daily totals to 67.85 and 58.4 km, respectively. Today, I did less; I just went to the gym and back, and later on went to my parents to sit in their garden and read for a bit, afterwards also taking a detour to check my PO box before going back home, so today's daily total was just 18.4 km. Still, my weekly total's already at 232.6 km, even though it's only been 5 days so far. o.o In less positive news, my bike's saddle has been rubbing off on my jeans; just the bike jeans, of course, so it's not a big deal, but the saddle itself looks a bit more worn now as well. It's probably inevitable, but I'm still surprised given that it's a decent model (a Selle Italia Flite) instead of some cheapo no-name crap. Also, strangely enough, it seems that my nipples have gotten rather sensitive now. I initially thought it was sunburn, but that would've been rather strange considering I've always worn a t-shirt; I'm not sure WHAT has caused them to feel the way they do now, but they do seem to be a bit raw. Of course, that hasn't kept certain people from suggesting that what they really need now is some toothed clamps on them. *smiles* I can't argue with that... Tags: bdsm, being active, being sore, bike, exercise, health problems
Hugarástand: hot
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oh yeah, the whole "the university has an email address I've never seen before on file for me" thing was worked out; I called them, and they told me that MANY of the slips they sent out were misprinted with wrong email addresses but that it would've been too expensive to print them again, so they didn't bother.
Apparently, it was also too expensive to send an email about this to the university's general announcement mailing list that, as far as I know, most or at least many students are subscribed to. Or put a notice up on the university's web page. Or put up a dead-tree announcement somewhere. Or... well, anything. Oh well.
Other than that, my gas boiler/flow heater/whatever the proper term is (Kesseltherme, anyone?) that provides heating and hot water started misbehaving again yesterday; heating is not an issue at the moment, of course (temperatures reached 28°C today), but being without hot or even warm water is less nice.
However, this I actually managed to call the service company right away; the technician got back to me half an hour later to make an appointment and said he could squeeze me in today around noon, which he did. (Compare this to the last time, when it took me about two months to get the problem fixed.)
That being said, the problem isn't TOTALLY fixed yet because some nozzles will have to be replaced - and since this model of Kesseltherme is about 20 to 25 years old at least, they didn't have them in stock, so they'll have to be ordered from the manufacturer, which will take about 3 to 4 days or so. If it hadn't been for that, the technician would've gone and fetched these and put them in right away, but this way, he wasn't able to.
But that's no problem; with a bit of tender loving care, the damn thing's working again for now. Chances are it won't be for long, but since the nozzles will be replaced early next week, anyway, it won't have to, either.
In any case, I'm quite glad I managed to take care of this quickly now. It's definitely a sign that my social skills and my resistance to and ability to deal with stress have improved compared to last year.
Tags: my place, social happenings, social phobia, university
Hugarástand: hot
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Two things...
First of all, you *really* should read this article by David Wong. It's somewhat on the longish side, but it's stunningly insightful - it'll give you a new perspective on and insight into human society and interaction. At the very least, it certainly did for me, and even though I was at least vaguely aware of many of the points it covers, it took them all, presented them in a fresh form and worked out the connection and put it all into one coherent piece of text.
It's a pity it doesn't really touch upon ethics, though, and that's probably its only weak point; it'd have been interesting to discuss philosophical systems of ethics in the light of the monkeysphere and try to work out both what an ethical system would have to look like to make the world a genuinely better place and how it actually could be implemented in a fashion that would ensure that people abided by it (that is, that they learnt that it was important and why - that they were *convinced*, in other words, rather than forced to accept it).
Speaking of ethics and forcing people to accept things, BTW, an interesting thought occurred to me earlier today at the gym, too. I've thought for a while that generally speaking, you can discuss most things and debate most decisions (past or future) on two distinct levels, namely the ethical level and the practical level; the ethical level considers, well, ethics, whereas the practical level is really concerned about getting things done (in other words, the different questions asked are, respectively, "is it right to do this?" and "will this work - i.e., have the desired effect?").
I think that a lot of the misunderstandings between people, especially in political discussions etc., stem from the fact that they're arguing on different levels; if one person approaches a problem from an ethical perspective, on the ethical level, and another approaches the same problem on the practical level, and if these people then come to different conclusions, they will not be able to have a fruitful and constructive discussion about them unless and until they realize they are arguing on different levels.
With this brief introduction of the most salient points of this concept, today's thought that occurred to me was that laws - that is, "the law" - is really a way to translate concepts from the ethical level to the practical level. Even though it may seem misanthropic of me to say so, I think it's true there are a significant number of people who simply lack the ability (or willingness) to really argue and think on an ethical level, and for these, this sort of translation seems essential: instead of "I do X because X is right" (an argument on the ethical level), the argument can then be "I do X because X is the law" (an argument on the practical level), and this works because of the hidden translation of "X is (i.e., was made) the law because X is right".
Interestingly enough, this also ties into questions such as "would you obey a law if you thought it was unjust?" (which always seems to be a favorite in personality type tests and the like). I consider myself someone who usually thinks/argues on the ethical level (or at least *also* on the ethical level), and I always answer "no" there. I know that there are some who might feel uncomfortable about that, but the key there is that, as noted above, the law is defined by ethics rather than vice versa: so for me to answer "yes" there would be putting the metaphorical cart before the horse.
Anyhow, this is just something I wanted to talk about, even though I doubt most people will even read this entry.
(And regarding the monkeysphere again... it really does make you wonder whether it wouldn't ultimately be nice to just buy some land in rural Montana or so and live there in your own house, away from most of society, wouldn't it? I know if I won the lottery, I'd do that, although I also confess I'm probably lazy (not to mention dependant on civilization) enough to still want things like air conditioning, broadband Internet access, a car to buy groceries etc. from a supermarket in the nearest town, and so on. *s*)
Tags: ethics, thoughts
Hugarástand:  thoughtful
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I originally wanted to actually go and make a post about my trip to Iceland now - finally! -, but I'm just too shot. I not only went to the gym today, but also went out on my bike, not once but twice; once in the early afternoon to go shopping and do a few other things, which ultimately led to a ~16.15 km ride, and once in the early evening, for a longer trip that took almost 2:30 hours in which I covered a total distance of an estimated 57.4 km, first doing a big 25 km round through the city and then going to the Bülk lighthouse as well afterwards, just because. Including the ride to the gym and back, this means I went almost 80 km on my bike today (78.55, to be precise, but that's just an estimate, of course, so maybe I shouldn't say "precise"). Coupled with working out at the gym, I think I've expended almost as much energy today as I did on the 100 km ride back home from Hamburg with my new bike. x.x I usually assume about 37 kcal per km covered on my bike, so the total "extra" expense for today would be 2906.35 kcal for biking, plus 766 kcal at the gym on the ergometer, for a total of 3672.35; my base metabolic rate is about 2160, so if you assume a factor of ~1.35 for the rest of the day - which seems fair, given that a typical office job will already give you 1.45 -, that's another 2916, for a total of about 6588.35 kcal burnt today. Did I ever mention that the typical "2000 kcal diet" that is usually assumed for the nutritional information on food packaging always makes me laugh? :) Anyhow, it's probably understandable I'm shot, so my Iceland post (the first, likely; I doubt I'll be able to post everything at once) will have to wait until tomorrow. But I got my notes, so that's fine. Tags: bike, exercise, work-out
Hugarástand:  exhausted
Tónlist: Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
And you're in love with all the wonder it brings
And every muscle in your body sings
As the highway ignites
I went on my first bike tour again today - I spent about 1:40 hours riding through town, sometimes exploring side streets, sometimes going on routes I already know pretty well. All in all, I appear to have covered about 39.55 km, judging from my reconstruction of the route in Google Earth (I really need a GPS unit!), so I had an average speed of somewhat more than 23 kph - which is about what I usually seem to get, too, and which I'm therefore happy with. *smiles*
Things are still working fine, too - I tightened the hex wrench on the handlebar stem (I think that's what it's called) a few days ago since it had come loose over the past few weeks of inactivity, and today, I also noticed that the chain had stretched and was therefore hanging somewhat loosely, so I pulled the rear wheel back a bit to make sure it'd be stretched tighter again, but outside of that, everything's still in perfect working order.
Of course, I'll still have to go back to the store soon to have the bike looked at again and to have everything checked, something they recommended I'd do after the first couple of hundred kilometers.
'til you're out on a midnight run
Losing your heart to a beautiful one
The only thing I'm still not sure about is my bike's name. I already decided to abandon Hrímfaxi (rime mane) in favor of Stálfaxi (steel mane) a while ago; Hrímfaxi is a beautiful name, but it didn't seem quite fitting in the end after all, but I wasn't actually 100% happy with Stálfaxi, either. And I think today, I realized why - my bike's actually female, and therefore, she needs a female name, too. I could just take the female version of Stálfaxi, which would be Stálfaxa, but that just doesn't sound right, either.
Right now, I'm leaning towards - or at least pondering - Skinfaxa, the female form of Skinfaxi; it means shining mane, which is a rather beautiful name (although the German "Leuchtmähne" sounds even more beautiful, I think), even if it may not be entirely fitting for a mostly black bike. But I'm not 100% sure about this one, either.
In any case, it's good to know she's a she now at least. *smiles* My girl.
And she's so pretty that you're lost in the stars
As you jockey your way through the cars
And sit at the light
As it changes to green
With your faith in your machine
Off you scream into the night
Tags: bike, exercise
Hugarástand:  accomplished
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A friend of mine just asked me earlier why ponyplay actually appeals to me. Now, I should say it's not one of my biggest fetishes really, but I do find it interesting, and I wanted to preserve my thoughts on it, too, so here's a pretty raw dump of them:
Hard to say [what the appeal is]. I think it's the general being able to be more carefree - you're an animal, at least on a certain level, and aren't expected to participate in normal human social interactions.
For example (and it's a stupid example, admittedly), if you want to run somewhere, you just do. You don't need to justify it - it's just what ponies do when they feel like. Nobody's going to give you any strange looks over it. More generally, noone's going to give you any strange looks or think any worse of you for failing to adhere to any social norms. If you're a pony, there really aren't any.
It's similar with puppy/dog play, too, but it seems dogs are typically (?) expected to be on their fours (although I'm not really sure if this is really true). But our bodies *are* two-legged, of course, so no matter what, walking upright is going to be more comfortable, natural and relaxing. And ponies, it seems, are generally allowed or even expected to walk upright (probably because ponies are expected to pull carts and so on :)).
Just something I wanted to preserve for my own reference, mostly. Tags: bdsm, my sexuality, ponyplay, thoughts
Hugarástand: full
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
My weight's really been going down quite a bit recently, it seems. o.o This trend started after I went to Hamburg to pick up my new bike a few weeks ago; that Saturday, after having hovered slightly above 95 kg for a while, my weight was 95.0 kg exactly, but after I rode my bike back home, it went down to 94.4 kg on Monday, 93.8 kg on Tuesday and 92.9 kg on Wednesday. Wednesday, of course, was the day I left for Iceland, too. After I came back now, I initially expected my weight to have gone up from not having watched what I ate (and, in particular, from having eaten a lot, including a lot of sugar and quite a bit of fat as well) and from not exercising all that much, but no, it actually went down - it was 92.2 kg yesterday. I again expected it to go up today, especially due to rehydration, but no, it went down again, to 91.6 kg. (The body fat-measuring scales also claimed that I've now got 15.0% body fat, which is a little less still.) I'm quite amazed - I probably shouldn't let it drop below 90, but I'm honestly a bit unsure how to actually keep it up, either. The only options would seem to be eating more (or differently) or exercising less. Speaking of exercising, the two-week break certainly took its toll again, too, but I'm not letting that get to me. Calorie counts really aren't that important anymore these days per se, and I've actually been thinking today that it might be an idea to just stop doing cardio workout entirely for now (save for a few minutes to warm up) and get in touch with the trainers to actually start strength training (again) instead. It's just a thought for now, but... well, depending on how my weight will continue to develop, it might be a good idea. We'll see. Tags: exercise, good stuff happening, weight loss, work-out
Hugarástand: sore
Tónlist: Bill Ramsey - Ohne Krimi geht die Mimi nie ins Bett
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Urgh. The university sent me the semi-annual "you-need-to-turn-this-in-to-remain-a-st udent" slip, and for some reason, in the "here's your info we've got on file, correct it if it's wrong" section, they're listing an email address for me that I've never even so much as HEARD of. As far as I can tell from googling the local part (which gets 93 hits), it appears it might belong to a French-Moroccan student who, for all I know, might've been an exchange student here at some point. How his email address ended up being associated with MY data I don't know, but I certainly don't like it, and I'll call the university on Monday to ask them to remove this. Tags: annoyances, university
Hugarástand:  annoyed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's always a strange feeling when someone unfriends you. This is even true when it's someone that friended you a long time ago but that you never added back and that never really interacted with you, either - there is still a realization that there's an actual person there, someone who interacting with or getting to know better would've been interesting, and I at least defnitely feel a bit wistful knowing that chances are I won't get to know that person after all then. Of course, I can't get to know everyone, and if I don't add people back, that's because my friends page is already overloaded as it is (seriously, just take a look at the number of posts mentioned in my last post - I average well over a 100 entries on my friends page every day, which is Way Too Much™ even though many of them are in communities and even though I don't read many of them, as opposed to just glancing them over). But still - I know huskypupp isn't going to read this, but it would've been interesting to get to know him, and it feels a bit sad I didn't get a chance to - that, and I feel a bit guilty for what feels like rejecting a paw reaching out in an offer of (LJ-)friendship. Anyhow. What's even stranger, perhaps, is the feeling when somebody asks if you want to be LJ-friends and you say yes and go ahead - and when that person then unfriends you, totally out of the blue and without any kind of comment, or for any apparent or even not-quite-so-apparent reason at all. And when that person's journal is friends-only, so that you're unable to even see if they made a post about you now where they might talk about their reasons for dropping you... that's definitely a rather confusing feeling. Not that I should care much, of course, and I really don't - this particular LJ-friendship, during its short time, felt quite one-sided, anyway (it often seemed that I was reading a lot of their entries and posting a lot of comments, this wasn't returned for the most part), but it's still a bit confusing, and an explanation - anything - WOULD have been nice. Ah well. (EDITED TO ADD: I just noticed when trying to unfriend the second person that they already aren't on my friends list anymore. That's very strange, given that I don't recall unfriending them; at the same time, though, if it was before they unfriended me, it makes the above somewhat of a moot point. But I don't recall - it may also just as well have been that I unfriended them as a reaction while I was in Iceland already.) Tags: livejournal friends
Hugarástand: thoughtful
Tónlist: Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble - O salutaris hostia
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today consisted mostly of the following - sleeping for 14 hours (good thing I went to bed early so I still got up around my normal time in the end), catching up on my LJ friends page, going to the gym in between (I'm rather out of shape again after two weeks of inactivity, needless to say), reading more of my friends page, being on SL for a while and catching up even more on my friends page. I would've gone out and ridden my bike more than I did now (just to the gym and back), but it was pouring, and I really didn't feel like it. It's a good thing you can view your friends page by date now, too (if you've got a paid or permanent account). All in all, I probably must've checked... I don't know, something on the order of 1300 to 1500 posts or so. Apparently, I posted a total of 138 LJ comments today, too, judging by the number of "comment you posted" notification emails I got. That's got to be some sort of record. For now, though, I'll just go to bed, as I should've done hours ago already. More on Iceland later on. Tags: bike, livejournal, livejournal comments, weather
Hugarástand: exhausted
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I just realized earlier that I haven't actually posted the pictures of my new bike yet, so... meet Hrímfaxi:
There's been a few changes still since these were taken - mudguards were added, as well as various reflectors (spokes, front and back) and attachment points for my lamps. But other than that, this is what Hrímfaxi looks like. :)
Speaking of which, I'm actually considering changing the name again and going back to the original idea of Stálfaxi ("steel mane") - not so much because there's already a number of bikes called Hrímfaxi, but because... well, it just seems more fitting, actually. I absolutely love the name Hrímfaxi, but is it the right name? I'm not sure after all now.
We'll see.
Tags: bike, photos i took
Hugarástand: busy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The following was a comment I posted in reply to sammythesamoyed's pointing out this BBC article on the leader of the British Nazi Party (BNP), Nick Griffin, getting pelted with eggs at a press conference. It sums up - in rough form - some thoughts of mine on extreme parties, and is probably equally applicable to others, such as Germany's own nazi party (the NPD).
As usual, this was written as a stream of consciousness and not edited for this post, either, or even proofread (I'm too lazy for that :)).
He probably deserved it, in a way, but I'm not convinced this is really a good form of protest. (A well-placed cream pie, on the other hand, would've had a lot of comedic value - go for quality, not quantity, folks.)
That being said, much as I likely[1] disagree with and oppose the BNP, I can't help but find statements such as "[Griffin's election was] condemned by parties across the political spectrum" to be rather worrisome, too. It's perfectly understandable that parties don't like each other and will not be happy if an opposing party's candidate gets elected, but how can you condemn the outcome of a legitimate, democratic election?
Ultimately, I suppose you have to ask whether the BNP is an a priori unacceptable political party (e.g. one that should be outlawed) or not. If the latter, then by all means it should be exposed for what it is, but it should also be recognised - by politicians, at the very least - that it is a valid choice.
If the former, then, well, it SHOULD be outlawed and the problem dealt with that way. Of course, deciding just what is and isn't an "acceptable" opinion in a democracy is an extremely difficult task at best, and designing a framework that allows "unacceptable" opinions to be stamped out while not affecting "acceptable" ones is also not going to be easy. (I'm not sure if it can be done at all, and I'm not advocating the outlawing of parties that haven't actually done things that go beyond merely (re)presenting "unacceptable" opinions.)
Anyhow, it seems that the media, as well as politicians etc. have found a happy medium where a party or a political opinion, even though it cannot quite be outlawed entirely (since we ostensibly do live in democracies and don't want to become like, say, Iran, where there's elections but where candidates are pre-screened for their suitability etc.), is nevertheless considered a persona non grata: not just a political opponent, but someone to whom things like "I don't agree with what you say but will defend your right to say it" don't apply.
And I think that's a big problem. You can't have your cake and eat it, too; either the BNP and their ilk are parties that a priori valid political opinions and that therefore have to be accepted as part of the political landscape... or they're not and should be treated accordingly.
-
"Likely" as in "I haven't read their programme or anything, but based on what I've heard about them, they appear to stand for pretty much everything I don't, and vice versa".
Just something I wanted to preserve.
Tags: comments posted elsewhere, politics, thoughts
Hugarástand:  meh
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, today was a good day, overall. I actually felt pretty crappy last night (probably due to the sudden drop of my blood sugar level after I came home; I ate the remaining cereal bars I had to get some more energy back, but going out with a bang (so to speak) like that may have been a bad idea), and I didn't sleep well, either, and still felt crappy this morning, but things started looking better around noon. In the end, I got a couple of things done that needed to be done, from picking up a new prescription for more physical therapy to making some initial appointments for that to buying food, cleaning the kitchen, putting various things in the laundry so they'd be ready for the trip and more; I also went to the gym again, but I was still quite exhausted from yesterday. Otherwise, though, I'm not really feeling much of that. My rear's not really sore anymore, and neither are my shoulders - the lingering exhaustion is really the only thing that still reminds me of the tour. *s* Speaking of tours, it's also hard to believe that in less than 48 hours, I'll be in Iceland. As for today, I wrapped up the day by taking a nice hot bath again and then spent some time at the Black Gazza - not that much happened, but I checked out timberwuf's new prisoner tags and wrote up some thoughts etc. on them for him. (And in case you're wondering - no, I haven't ridden Hrímfaxi today, mostly since I still have a car borrowed from my parents at the moment. I may do so tomorrow, but chances are it won't be for very long; I still have quite a number of things to take care of.) Tags: bike, black gazza, feeling crappy, getting things done, hot baths, travel
Hugarástand:  tired
Tónlist: Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn - Part one
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I'm back home, and I made it all the way on my new bike. Covering pretty much exactly 100 km (62 1/7 miles) took a gross time of 4:40 hours, including four breaks; each break probably lasted about 5 minutes, for a total of 20, so I'd say I spent about 4:20 actually going anywhere (not counting red traffic lights, naturally), which gives me an average speed of slightly more than 23 kph. (And I already know from experience that that's about the average speed I tend to get over longer distances, so it all fits and works out nicely.) Hrímfaxi (my new bike) is still working fine, too; the front mudguard's chaffing against the wheel occasionally, but I know that these mudguards (SKS Raceblades) have a tendency to do that and need to be adjusted every now and then to prevent it. Other than that, it seems that even so much as leaning the bike against a rough stone wall is bad, even if it doesn't move; I did so once or twice, and there's already a few tiny little nicks in the frame's finish. Not something you can avoid in the end, anyway, but still, meh. First of all, though, I'll take a nice hot bath now. *smiles* I'm less exhausted than I thought I'd be after a trip this long, but I'm feeling a little sore, mostly in the shoulders. (Outside of that, kalogrenant suggested I get some bike pants yesterday, and I'm starting to think that that really might be a good idea. Having some extra padding under your rear would be nice, at the very least - and I know that porsupah at least would love to see me in a bit of spandex, too. ^_~ Similarly, some bike gloves, ideally a model with gel cushions, would be nice. But all that's for later, after my trip.) Photos of the bike etc. will follow later, too. Tags: being sore, bike, exercise, hot baths, spandex
Hugarástand: tired
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
kalogrenant and I picked up my bike today. ^^ I'm really happy with it so far, too - it looks great, it works perfectly, and the freewheel (one part where I went with the expensive option, even though it cost quite a bit) is purring like a kitten. :) We gave it a try already, too - we took the S-Bahn back to his place, of course, since riding through Hamburg likely wouldn't have been fun, but we went from the last S-Bahn stop to his place by bike (although at only ~1.5 km, that almost doesn't count) and then later on went on a longer bike tour in the early evening where (according to Google Earth) we covered about 34,45 km (in 90 minutes). (In reality, it probably was a little bit more even, since I didn't map out the route in absolutely perfect detail.) I also took quite a number of photos already, of course, but since kalogrenant's computer doesn't have an SD card reader from what I can tell, those will have to wait until I'm back home tomorrow. (I really hope it won't rain, BTW; the forecast is mixed, giving a 40 to 50% chance of precipitation. If it doesn't, or if the rain's not too heavy, I should be able to make it and actually cover the entire distance of ~100 km, though.) Tags: bike, good stuff happening, purchases
Hugarástand:  good
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Previous
