Today's news... US troops going to Turkey,

Indiekid Seventysix

Here we go again!

U.S. Troops Are Headed to Turkey to Defend It Against Syria

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/12/us-troops-are-headed-turkey-defend-it-against-syria/59986/

In other news, remember that kid I complained about last week, the one I wanted to say to her mother, 'Your kid's a fucking brat.'?  Actually got some high praise!:

Hoy Sofía recibió su nota en Inglés y fué muy buena, de hecho, la mejor nota de prueba del año, un 6.0. Me llamó muy feliz desde el colegio por su resultado y recobró su confianza y su ánimo. Te debo agradecer el apoyo que le brindaste y la paciencia que le tuviste... eso hizo la diferencia. Ella no se dió cuenta de que estaba aprendiendo, pero si lo hacía en cada clase un poco mas.

'Today Sofia received her mark in English and it was very good; in fact, the best mark in the exam in the whole year, a 6.0.  She phoned me very happily from her school with her result and she's recovered [got back] her confidence and her [...? I understand it in Spanish, not sure how to translate it!  'Animation' doesn't work!] motivation.  I need to thank you for the support that you gave and the patience you had... it made all the difference.  She [Sofia] didn't realise that she was learning [?? what the hell else was I doing with her?], but she was doing it every lesson a little bit more.'

.....

And for light relief, some jokes!:

"Take me back to your place and fuck me up the arse!" Some fat girl demanded last night. "I would but I don't have any lubricant," I said. "Oh you won't need any, I'm very loose," she winked. "Maybe so," I replied, "but my door frame is very narrow." TOO AWFUL TO PUT ON FACEBOOK!!: What's the difference between a practical joke and a temperature? Nurses can take a temperature. Some bloke walked up to the counter and said, "Burger and chips, please." "Certainly, Sir," I replied. "Are you eating in or taking out?" "Fuck off you cunt," he snapped, before walking off with his food. I love working in the prison canteen. Lady: Do you smoke? Man: Yes Lady: How many packs a day? Man: 3 packs Lady: How much per pack Man: £10.00 Lady: And how long have you been smoking? Man: 15 years Lady: So if 1 pack costs £10.00 and you have 3 packs a day which puts your spending each month at £900. In one year, it would be £10,800 correct? Man: Correct Lady: If in 1 year you spend £10,800 not accounting for inflation, the past 15 years puts your spending at £162,000 correct? Man: Correct Lady: Do you know that if you hadn't smoked, that money could have been put in a step-up interest savings account and after accounting for compound interest for the past 15 years, you could have now bought a Ferrari? Man: Do you smoke? Lady: No Man: Where's your fucking Ferrari then? My Jimmy Savile advent calendar is shit. The flaps only open from 1-16. So Tulisa's new album has flopped... She must have tried to suck it off. "Children in Need" is on the BBC today. Given their history of employing paedophiles, I don't think the BBC are the best judges of what children need. (jokes from sickipedia.com)

In today's news....

Not good that Facebook seems to have become a source of news (this appeared as a 'trending article' in my newsfeed).

Even worse that this actually happened:  David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions responds to a question from Ed Miliband with 'We [his government] are raising money for the rich'.



http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/cameron-at-the-pmqs-we-are-raising-money-for-the-rich-8411915.html


Also, 'Bieber Murder Plot Foiled by Police'?  Damned police, they're only ever around when you DON'T want them to be!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/dec/14/justin-bieber-murder-kidnap-plot

Love the cynicism! -music

This seems like the first song in Spanish that I can listen to ALL the words and understand them all.

And what a sentiment, too; I agree, Andrés!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw0PmuX8HSk

(The teacher in me says this is a great song for students/people who are learning Spanish!)

Eleven days old, I know... and purposeless 'gossip'...

I was OBSESSED as of Tuesday with this Gabriel Aubry/psycho Halle Berry/hired thug Olivier Martínez case... Gabriel's hotness came second to me feeling for him for what was an obviously undeserved beating, even if he did swing first (which I don't believe, but I'm biased, Team Aubry!)... sadly I know what it's like to be kicked and punched in the face.  I spent hours and hours reading people's comments on it and looking for updates on Tuesday, Weds, Thurs... damp squib Friday, case settled with no juicy details , but Gabriel Aubry's got access to his daughter again, and let's hope that a) most importantly, the out-of-court-settlement means that goon (Olivier Martínez) who has no right to see HIS (GA's) daughter anyway is allowed anywhere near her and b) that Gabriel Aubry has got all his medical and court costs paid, as well as free access to his OWN daughter whom he clearly wants to fight for!

I need to update this blog more regularly!

(http://winsomeaunt.blogspot.com/2011/10/exploding-head-syndrome.html)

I need to get back into the swing of this blog more regularly!  Between dodgy (drunken) Facebook posts (... way too many times recently I have woken up on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon thinking 'WHAT did I write?'  And not even being able to remember.... Sometimes filled with shame when I've seen what I've written...), being filled with guilt for not getting around to writing to my non-Facebook friends, and just sometimes feeling stressed, with loads of thoughts running through my head, but never getting them out of my system.  Sometimes I think I think things that are quite interesting and/or worth recording, but I never get round to it, and thus those thoughts are lost forever!  And it's good (and probably healthy) to be able to vent!!

So, I can't catch up on everything, but one of yesterday's thoughts that was reiterated today: how do you tell a parent 'your kid's a fucking brat'?  This has to do with a 10-year-old girl I've been teaching English to.  Her mum is my student as well, and the mum's great.  I don't think this girl is a spoilt brat so much as a 'loose-boundaried' only child.  Her parents do teach her right from wrong and do try to tell her the appropriate way to behave; from what I've seen they're not strict enough or maybe they don't reinforce what they say.  I almost walked out of there yesterday, ready to forego whatever pay I may have earned.  You can't teach a child who doesn't want to put the effort in, and I'm not willing to play games (pretending she doesn't understand, avoiding answering direct questions by raising some stupid tangential point that even at ten years old she must realise is not the issue at all).

So on to more interesting things....  I made it to both these events in Santiago de Chile, one Saturday after the other:

             

I certainly do still love live music!  La Cumbre was certainly chileno: ran out of food before 9pm; overran by more than two hours; low on any entertainment outside the two stages that were directly next to each other (I still can't mathematically figure out how they got 39 bands on in 12 - I mean 14.5 hours - as each band seemed to play for well over 25 minutes (except for Astro).  But the sound quality was great, the stage set-up (with video screens) was good and it truly was the best opportunity all year to catch Chilean bands in one place.  I was too tired and too cold to see Los Bunkers (whom I love and pretty much bought the ticket for; they finished at 1.40am) and Francisca Valenzuela (caught her at Primavera Fauna), but I saw some of the bands I wanted to see: Dënver, Astro and Camila Moreno.  Missed Pedro Piedra, found Javiera Mena overrated, but enjoyed De Saloon, Ases Falsos, and Sinergía were certainly daytime crowd-pleasers!

Primavera Fauna was great, totally an 'international' event, but in addition to Francisca I saw The Walkmen (LOVE 'The Rat'), Dinosaur Jr (has it really been 22 years since I owned Green Mind on cassette tape? ... Weird to see J Mascis grey now!) and Pulp!  Jarvis is the (show)man!  I was a bit surprised to find out he's 49 rather than 46.  I also had a conversation with the drummer from Little Boots, Ben Chetwood.  A REALLY nice guy!  Extremely nice!  (Ben, Chile and Santiago, Chile isn't quite the paradise that it may have appeared, but it's really great you enjoyed your time here!)  I also had a good day out with friends.  And it's the ONLY festival I've been to in Chile (haha, I've only been to three) where they sell alcohol.  Win-win!  We wound up chilling next to the dance tent until 4am.  (What a shame about Chile's drug problem.  The problem is that drugs are too damn difficult to find here!)

Well, I've more to say, but not enough time!  I must remember to come back here regularly!

Until next time!  ¡Hasta luego!

Futuristic 'killer robots' that attack people, my arse....

Haven't the Americans been using 'drones' for years?  I'm accusing solely the Americans, maybe other countries launch drone attacks too, it's just that the U.S. is the only country I've ever heard of actively and repeatedly launching this type of attack.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/nov/19/killer-robots-banned-human-rights 

Such weapons do not yet exist, and major powers, including the US, have not decided to deploy them. But precursors are already being developed. The US, China, Germany, Israel, South Korea, Russia and Britain are engaged in researching and developing such weapons. Many experts predict that full autonomy for weapons could be achieved in 20-30 years or sooner, according to the report.

Confronting the music loss....

I'm finally, after about nine weeks confronting the music loss and have started to download stuff again and decide on a dedicated drive to download it to.

Had my first smoke in about three weeks!

Right now listening to The Twilight Sad; before that The Vaccines, and also downloading music by Crocodiles.... I've got to keep pushing this... when I've got the time.