WillWybrow.com

The one on the left is me with death-ray eyes.

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Nothing much is happening, that’s a real shame. I’m not writing anything and it’s annoying, because then I throw up these pieces of rubbish, posting about how I haven’t posted, making content out of having no content and then people realise just what a worthless piece of crap this place is. Never mind.

Living Without God

Oh yeah, there was this one thing, actually. A bunch of Warwick Atheists gave a smashing series of talks on Wednesday night. It was pretty awesome, we had discussions about all sorts of ideas and the expression of lots of opinions. There was a wide variety in skill of both speaking and creating presentations, but that’s only to be expected; some people are good, others aren’t so. Got to lend people credit though. Once upon a time it was difficult to talk in front of people. I’d get nervous and I’m sure it would have impacted performance. But not these days - apathy takes care of that. Not the bad kind of apathy, though, from existential nihilistic “nothing we do matters” kind of viewpoint, but the good kind of apathy, where it’s obvious that everything will always work out in the end, so screw-ups don’t really matter. There’s enough there that’s under control to make the things we can’t stop from going badly not matter so much. This optimism isn’t mindless, it’s come from experience. So don’t come over and lay down your wasted opinions saying how foolish it is to assume that everything will go right. Firstly because you’d be wrong, secondly because it’s nothing to do with you anyway; you do things your way and I’ll do mine mine. Good.

The Great Knights

A friend from the old days once wrote a list of all the people he considered “greater than” him. I like to do things a little less directly (and leave lots of bits open for interpretation by the reader - it helps remove the people who are not empathetic enough from the loop of understanding), but I realise that it has been a long time since I’ve done anything about praising the people I know for their successes. Quick enough to condemn, I also stop and think “wow, that’s a really awesome thing/point/person for reason X” if there’s something that has been done that’s really noticeably positive.

It’s long overdue, like I said, but there are difficulties with such things. Actually, the current draft of the tribute to the Greatest of all the Great Knights is sounding a little disturbingly obsessive/adoring/lustful, which is unmistakeably a bad thing since it’s a) a misrepresentation and b) distracting from the objective points that this person (whoever he or she is) has in his or her favour. I guess I’m just not good at giving compliments.

Bi-What?

Last bit. Just wanted to raise a little point that was under discussion at Varsity pub on Wednesday afternoon. I was talking with Fran and Olivia about all manner of things, but the subject of homosexuality came about, and the outrageous claim was put forward that “everyone’s at least a bit bisexual.” Well, ladies, you’re absolutely wrong, ok? It was supported by an anecdote about homophobic people and penis electrodes, but we won’t go into that. The fact is that there are some people, both homosexual and heterosexual, who are 100% committed to their alignment. It’s far from impossible, and I’d be as bold as to suggest that it’s far from uncommon. Maybe it’s less common at university, where everyone’s newfound independence induces a desire to exploit their freedom, but if you’re going to tell me that all our comfortably middle-aged people who have settled down… our parents… grandparents… everyone has even minor bisexual inclinations? I’m not buying that for one second. Thanks for trying though, girls. I look forward to the next time you’re wrong.

Lots of love,

TC

I was really pleased with myself last night.

I went to bed early - a really bad habit that I’ve picked up just recently, but it has its uses. I couldn’t get to sleep, however, despite being really tired (due, in part, to a busy weekend playing host), so I turned on the PC and did some mental strain-less things with it, one of which was have a random browse through the files on my second hard drive. Occasionally I’ll come across things I’ve forgotten about for a long time, and that’s what happened last night. I discovered a back-up copy of a ongoing project that I was working on for a laugh. I thought I’d lost it when my pendrive decided to stop working for no reason. The outcome of that was that I was distinctly happy. I read through the document and got inspired to do more (still pending), and then I went to sleep, but not before I’d scribbled down a non-exhaustive list of monosyllabic words that rhyme with ‘Y’.

I was reading something (a book) this afternoon and got really annoyed by it. There was a specific image in it, and the voice of the whole piece really grated on me. It also reminded me of the somewhat precarious social situation that’s happening about now (but I’m not going to specify which friendship circle it’s happening in, so that people who know me can speculate and assume it is/isn’t them (whichever makes them happiest) and so that those who are speculating are just as pissed off by it as I am). It turns out that I morally oppose something (go figure), and it appears only I can see that it is in the pipeline, which is infuriating as well because I’m fairly certain I could rally support for my cause, if only other people would break into the conclusion with me and wake up. But the unworldly people that I know are going to be really ignorant of what’s going on.

Never mind, eh? That really wasn’t the point of the post anyway; that came in the first paragraph. I’m just throwing ideas down and seeing what grows out of them. It’s my site, I can experiment if I want to.

• Aye
• Buy
• By
• Bye
• Cry
• Die
• Dry
• Dye
• Eye
• Fly
• Fry
• Guy
• Hi
• High
• I
• Lie
• My
• Nigh
• Pi
• Pie
• Ply
• Pry
• Shy
• Sigh
• Sly
• Spy
• Sty
• Thai
• Thigh
• Tie
• Try
• Vie
• Why
• Wry

Ten points if you can come up with a convincing-sounding reason for this post. Points awarded by mail and may take 5-10 working days for processing.

If you were dishonest when you said those words, “you can do better,” then I think she should know that you said them.

If you were telling the truth, at least you know that I am better than you.

I am fighting you.

Lately I’ve been having some unusually violent dreams. Last week, I was in someone’s upper-storey bedroom when Costas Mandylor pulled a water-pistol on me (I thought it was a real gun at the time), so I threw him through a window, went to my wardrobe to get a rifle, went outside to where he was propped up against the wall, covered in broken glass and blood but somehow still alive after the drop and I put a bullet between his eyes.

Last night, I was armed with a big knife, but someone I was with (unnamed for now) pulled a massive long kitchen knife on me. Fortunately I moved towards him to take him by surprise, grabbed his wrist and put the knife into his throat. That was a nice, satisfying piece of fantasy, as I’d quite like to do that in real life.

I don’t know what caused them, but I’m sure there must be some good reason… perhaps it’s to do with what I eat…

Electric City

Last night was Electric City night… “dance-able indie” music, they tag it as. Well, that’s fine, I went with friends and I’m happy to know when to call it a night when the dancing begins. I had a good time there.

It occurs to me that nothing triggers the creation of these pretty green entries better than loud, mediocre music, slightly drunk, dancing kids surrounding me on all sides and ample opportunity to look around and watch and judge people. This time, I was looking for couples. I definitely spotted a pair who were already a couple, and I compared their actions to those of the kids who were clinging to each other with a tenacity that was bordering on furious, so very frightened that they would lose each other in the transient swirl of moving bodies that they were wrapped up in. Why were they clinging on so very tightly? Had they just found each other, or were they just pissed? Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether they come as pairs or whether they hook up when they get there. The sheer volume of pairings would suggest that they must arrive together (since surely not that many people are going to find random people to tongue-wrestle with), but the distinct body language of “I’ve just found you, I’m pretty hammered, this is so thrilling” tells the opposite story.

Oh well, whatever their reasons, everyone was having a good time, so best just to leave them to it.

Since a really key element of the response to the question “If God is real, why does He not just come right out and show Himself?” is “Because He wants us to have faith without proof,” why is it then acceptable in the eyes of god for religious parents to indoctrinate their children? Surely the children are just going along with it because they think it’s the only option they have? Surely to be able to choose to have faith in a god, one must actually be given the choice?

I’m here to post a massive response to posted comments. Whether they’re lies or just wrong, they need to be addressed and dealt with.

I forgot how damned sexy you look with that thumb over your head, TC.

Pyrhus, Pseudo-Comics and Anti-Rants

This is just unnecessary. The things I post here have nothing to do with what you’re talking about; it’s tactical, political and (ultimately and most importantly) my choice, Pyr. It also shows that you didn’t understand the post, but I’ve long given up hope that everyone will understand the things I write.

You mustn’t ever just appreciate a piece of cinema in terms of whether it ‘ticked the boxes’ for you. [...] you must appreciate the context of the film.

The Tyrant, Stardust

Good context doesn’t make a good film. The Tyrant’s film taste is invalid anyway, since he’s a fan of Million Dollar Baby (ooh, secret’s out now… nobody will take you seriously anymore).

You’re just sat in that moral position for a couple of poor reasons. Firstly, you’re sat in it because it looks like it should be easily defensible. Secondly, you’re sticking to it because it excuses you for getting angsty when someone judges you.

Ben, Unseen Factors [revised]

Firstly, nope. Secondly, nope. In more detail: I’m here because people often believe they know everything that influences another person’s decision, when actually they’re overlooking key elusive points that have indirect effects on someone’s choices. The point was in the lower part of the paragraph, it went something like “if [people] tell you there’s more to the decision than just what you’ve assumed, don’t then ignore that.” That’s very important, because when I tell someone they’ve got it wrong and they’re missing something, they should think “oh, maybe I am,” instead of thinking “no, I know everything that could possibly be influencing them so I’ll ignore this respectful plea for a cease of the incessant persuasion attempts I keep delivering to this person.”

And as far as getting angsty goes, I don’t need a justifiable reason.

Use paragraphs more

Tim, Unseen Factors (post removed and revised)

No.

Some things are really infuriating, but to rant about them has become a little bit of a cliché. So liking them is becoming less and less of an acceptable viewpoint, and that’s when the Chronicler has to take a step back and re-evaluate his position. For example, it is his belief that the population, as a single unit, is becoming less intelligent with time. So, when your average moron starts saying things like “Valentine’s Day is too commercialised,” it’s time to re-think how an opinion on this well-marketed day might get noticed.

It’s not often seen cast in a positive light by people who aren’t moonstruck teenagers with their hearts fluttering with the adrenaline of a first crush. What it needs is a few good arguments in its favour to bring it back into its position of honour among the hearts and minds of the common, and then next year we can give it a good slating.

St. Valentine’s Day

A misinterpretation of a named date mentioned in a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer, February the 14th was suddenly no longer the middle of the month of fertility, it was a beacon of romance, illuminating a dreary world with its love-filled radiance. It was a chance for the courting men of the world to bestow upon their ladies of choice special affections and attention. In modern times, handwritten “valentines” were given to lucky young ladies and young men from lovers or potential partners.

These days, such a practice has become routine. Certain (non-elected) representatives show the day as dutiful and demanding for couples as they are forced to declare and publicise their love. The greeting card industry has never seen better times.

But why, I ask you, should such acts and perspectives represent every couple? Can any non-complete sample truly represent the whole of a population? The answer to this is an unmistakeable ‘no,’ since it is the choice of the couple in question whether or not the celebration is practised. Why would you not choose to show your affection on the day that has been accepted as the right time to do so? I hate to point out the obvious, but the question and answer exchange of, “So, what did you and your partner do this Valentine’s Day?” “Oh, we don’t do Valentine’s Day,” is hardly a great conversation for either party.

What gets me riled the most, though, is when people choose to do things the week after, or the week before. Fair enough if you have unavoidable arrangements on the 14th itself and are just doing the best you can on another, close, day, but V-Day deniers will have their “own” special occasion on, for example, the 21st or the 7th. What’s the point in having a day set aside if you’re just going to hold your own? That’s like saying “I’m not doing presents for Christmas this year, it’s become too commercialised,” and then going out a week later and buying everyone you know a gift for no reason. The only cause of it is sheer pretention. People want to be different, and to most of their peers, they appear it. But they’re covering up their intentions with lies, and observers with acute perceptions can easily spot this.

Sure, couples should express their love every day, and if it’s a good couple, the participants will. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing if either or both want to splash out a little or do something different on one day of the year. It’s a while until the Easter break comes and it’s been a long time since Christmas; people need an excuse to take time off and enjoy themselves, and what better way to spend that free time than with a loved one?

To sum it all up, sure there are people who ruin the idea of the day for us. They buy petrol station bouquets of half-dead Chrysanthemums on their way home from work and quickly scribble in a Clinton’s card. There are those who will do a lovely romantic gesture and have it frowned upon, just because it happened on Valentine’s Day (because clearly any activity on the 14th “feeds the card and chocolate companies,” regardless of whether greeting cards or chocolates have been bought). It would be nice if people were left to do things their way without the worry of conforming or judgement being passed, because I’m pretty sure that without all this negative attention wasted on it, the natural inclination would be to celebrate Singles Awareness Day with one’s partner, purely as it’s a nice way to spend a day, and it shows you care.

I just want to make the small point that, if you are going to deliver your opinion on someone’s life choice, don’t do it unless you presume to know every single fact about that person’s life. And if they tell you there’s more to the decision than just what you’ve assumed, don’t then ignore that and let your misjudgements continue. You’re only worsening the situation.