And your eyes go clickity click

Sorry about missing yesterday's blog. I was at a friend's sleepover just watching Sci-Fi films. The movies on offer were: 2001 A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, I Robot and Event Horizon. 'Twasn't bad really. The fun with these kinds of things is in the food and the company, of which we had plenty (I still feel slightly nauseous)!

Didn't really sleep due to the insomnia and cause I had two freakin' drills going off near my head (IE two guys snoring freakishly loud).

Are you liking the new layout? I love it, I almost freaked out when I loaded the page after the change was made. I thought someone had hi-jacked it or something but everything is all good.

I'm rather happy! My bro in-law gave me his computer sound system. It's bloody evil I tells you, they look like a cross between an old school ghost and a UFO. But these tiny ass speakers and small sub-woofer pack a mean punch and put my previous gigantic looking system to shame. It's like a bloody nightclub in here! I can make my whole house shake with the new system, I'm loving it!

Quick side note, if you are Australian and do not know who the Baby Animals are, you must be shot. They're a band from the early - mid 90's who focused on rock. Their singer and rhythm guitarist was Suzi DeMarchi (who, if you follow your trivia, is married to Nuno Bettencourt - guitarist for Extreme *he's AWESOME*). Anyway, I think they are the epitome of what Australian gritty rock was all about. Sweet melodies, the band is tight, damn nice licks all over the place in their songs. Unfortunately they broke up and she went solo, but that stuff wasn't bad either. The songs lost their edge in terms of musical attack, but the lyrics became really good. Check it out!


I read the other's blog on marriage, which I found very interesting. But I think there are some differences to be made. If I'm allowed to split the world along cultural lines, the West has a divorce rate of 1 out of every 2 marriages (that's for newlyweds, the long term married couple ratio is slightly lower of course). In the East the figures are nowhere near as high as this. Why is this? Arranged marriages - the expectations are low. BUT, it is true, the divorce rate figures in the East are rising exponentially. Now why is that? I'm going to have a gander at this one.

The kids of today have been labelled Gen X-ers (the generation before ours), while we are the MTV and Computer Generation. We're used to living fast and wanting the quick fixes. The other was right, the general attitude towards marriage is waning, and this is a damn shame because it really is a sacred bond between two people. In this quick fix world, we think everything can be done without fully committing yourself. If in the back of you're mind thinking "oh if it doesn't work out, we can always get divorced", then what hope do you have of ever fully giving yourself over to a person in order to make it work in the first place?

On a second side note, were you aware that the guy Alanis Morrisette was singing about in her song "You Oughta Know" is comedian Dave Coulier? You'll remember him as the non cool uncle in Full House. What's demented is that she dated him when she was 16 and he was in his late 30's. If you heard the lyrics to the song you'd realise how SEVERELY fucked up that is. Why is this guy not in jail? Ahhh, damn you Good Charlotte, they were right in Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous, you can get out of anything if you're rich and "famous".

Back to my main point. I think another huge problem with marriage in the 21st century in the East (at least..hehe love the rhyme) is the conundrum of love AND the factor of the parents. I'm willing to tell you now, 9 times out of 10, parents will NEVER approve of who you picked if marriage was totally left to us. This is regardless of whether you make a good couple or not. Love is also irrelevant here. They tend to think more of the practical, and dare I say shallow end of the spectrum. Attractive, money and family history. That's it. They don't care whether the two of you get along either.

With the recent cultural explosion in the East of the West taking infiltrating every facet of their lives, children want to fall in love. So of course, when the parents arrange a marriage, they are too shitscared to say no, get married, have a kid or two, realise they want it all (with no sacrifice...hehe damn you Sum 41) then just leave and mess everyone up.

I think if we left this paradigm of love behind, arranged marriages could be flawless. HOWEVER, I do agree with the other that love in an arranged marriage is impossible. It is definitely a settling, and I refuse utterly to do that.

Maybe that's why love marriages fail. Love is (as I think it is) a permanent thing, which is so strong, that nothing can diminish it. So when people THINK they fall in love, all may be lost. You have to know for sure. It's a big gamble, but then again aren't all matters of the heart a gamble?

That's it for tonight folks. Yes, I am updating the Joaquin rate list, head down to it for a fairly decent update!