18-24march

THIS WEEK - ST. PATRICK'S DAY

OK, St. Patrick's Day has been something that has baffled me for endless periods of time and still remains something I have absolutely no idea why people celebrate the damn occasion in the first place. If you're Irish and are reading this, don't, because my quarrel is not with you. What I have objections with is the brainless way people hop onto the fucking bandwagon regarding this Irish tradition, and see it as just another excuse to go and get hammered for no apparent reason other than "because it's St. Patrick's Day". If you went out on the night of this supposed day celebrating the patron saint of Ireland, a very hefty percentage would not know why it's celebrated, or be able to tell you a single God damn thing about the day and it's tradition. It's people like this who really annoy me, and I cannot see why they are bothering to go out and get pissed just because it's St. Patrick's Day. If you have something to do with it, then fine, go out and celebrate, but don't go and drink yourselves to sleep just because you feel some distant, unclear connection to the day.
I'd like to use the example of religious festivals, and even though St. Patrick's Day is not religious, apparently just an excuse to get wasted, I think I can get my message across better by using it.
If we take a religion, say, Judaism, you don't run off at first glimpse of a festival and get associated with it do you? My belief is that if you don't agree with something, you should not have to partake in the sodding thing. Everyone has different religions, and naturally only believe the philosophies and foundations laid down by that religion. Although the matter of patron saints is a different kettle of fish, I still don't see the connection between your average, pub dwelling c*** and celebrating something they know absolutely nothing about.

Take this poor child, doubtless dressed up by his parents who probably spent too much time in the boozer to notice what day it is, unless its a "celebration" of something they can't quite figure out through the haze of alcohol, except that it's a chance for them to chuck more intoxicating beverages down their fat, oversized gullets. I guess you could say this child on the left IS Irish, and that by my earlier disclaimer, is perfectly OK for him to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. However, this photo is from a rally/parade/march whatever in Birmingham, so chances are he's not. And he's still too young to drink anyway. Another gripe I have with St. Patrick's Day, apart from people celebrating it without knowing why, is the commercialisation of the whole thing. Now I'm all for people having a good time, but it seems to me the emphasis on alcohol consumption is something that overshadows the entire day. OK, its a social outlet that allows people to come together and celebrate as one. Doesn't mean you have to get

blind pissed to have fun. It's a lot like Christmas and our good friend Santa Claus on the right here. What must he be thinking about all the shit that happens at Xmas time? Parents literally beating each other up to get to that last toy because if they don't, their children will be all upset...if those parents had raised their kids so they believed in the proper meaning of Christmas, they wouldn't be so upset would they? I'm not an avid fan of religion, but I know about the real meaning of the day. Besides, as you get older you start to care less and less about what presents you recieve for Christmas and treat it like any other day.

It's very hard trying to talk about subjects like this to people who are so blinkered they believe their point of view is correct, and if you are not Irish and believe in celebrating it, then you're more than likely the kind of person who goes to nightclubs and dances like somebody's father.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that my view, and its one that is not widely accepted by hey, this is my webpage and I'll say whatever I damn well like. I used to think England was a nation of freedom of speech, where you could speak out your own ideas and feelings, without fear of reprisal from others. Apparently not. My views on patriotism, having fun and institutions such as night clubs and universities have only been met with derison and unfriendliness. It seems if you don't support England in any kind of sporting or political action, you're branded as unpatriotic. I don't really give a rat's ass about being patriotic, but I'm not exactly into this "bring down the Government" shit either. For the record, I don't believe this country requires a monarchy, in my view it's an outmoded, outdated concept that serves only to hold us back in the Dark Ages of society. But I'm veering off the point here. In conclusion then, I believe that festivals, events, times of year and such that are aimed at being celebrated by those people connected or involved in it should be celebrated by those people alone. England has it's own patron saint in case you forgot - so use that day for hanging your prissy little England flags in your window and putting your God save the Queen banners up. Oh, and another thing - I certainly won't be joining in the Queen's Golden Jubillee celebrations this year...just in case you were wondering.

I feel that celebratory occasions such as this are also becoming more and more commercialised, the demon of advertising and marketing slowly sucking the soul from the occasion until it resembles some chewed up, mangled parody of what the whole event is supposed to be about, with only the ringing of cash registers there to keep those participating in them warm at night. Drinks companies are obviously bitches for this, alcohol being a social glue that binds people together at these times. As with Christmas, its all about greed, and another way for the corporate firms to line their pockets while people celebrate something they dont' really know what for. Some people call this good sense and business acumen. Others call it draining the life blood and real purpose of the day, week, or however long these festivals last. I used to believe in the ideology of marketing, it being a dog eat dog world full of firms ready to do themselves in to get at the consumers' pockets, but now I just have an ugly, dispairing vision of the whole subject. I've changed my point of view, and see marketing and advertising as the immoral, unethical activity it really is.