Norman Ralph

I was reading Facebook today and an AHS colleague of mine from Oxford Secular Society had written a note based on a blog post from God Be Gone and the follow up.

It cracked me up. Seriously, how crazy are some people?

For those who can’t be bothered going to the links, here is the the content mercilessly ripped off and reposted…

‘Proof that evolution is wrong’

i saw on your blog that you like to talk about the religion of evolution and trick people by using big words and pretending that science actually proves evolution. I dont know any science or anything and even i know evolution isnt real. for one it isnt in the bible the bible said god made everything in 6 days, not millions of years. second, when we go to the zoo we cant talk to monkies, if we used to be monkies why cant we talk to them? three, how could a monkey become a person over billions of years when they dont live that long? AND why are there still monkies if they turned into people? five, even darwin said he was wrong. on his death bed he converted to christianity and said evolution was a hoax. If there is any science that makes it look like evolution is real then it has to be either a hoax by EVILutionists or put there by god to find out who believes in him.

I hope that after reading my questions you will see that evolution cant be true and people dont come from monkies. i will pray to god asking him to make you think like me.

—

From: GBG
To: kevin

You are joking, right?

—

From: kevin
To: GBG

firstly i didnt give you permission to put my email on your blog. teh email copyright is owned by me and i will talk to my solisitor about making you take it down.

And no im not joking, you know im right thats why you didn’t answer. If we used to be monkies we should be able to talk monkey. its like if a french man becomes american he can still talk french, its called logic. also on tv a scientist says crocodiles havnt changed for million of years. if evolution was true they would be able to fly by now or talk or grow fur or invent things. if evolution happens why didnt it make crocodiles better?

the devil tricked you into believing you are from mud to take you away from god. Why would you want to be from mud and monkies when you have the option to be from gods hand? If you just stop thinking the bible makes sense and you dont have to worry about anything. If you just stop trying to find things out and accept gods word jesus will forgive you.

i thing you should watch expelled by ben stein. It shows how science is from the devil and good christians are being fired from jobs because atheists know they have the truth. evolution believers know its evil and from the devil, and thats why they are frighetened of christianities real sciense

DONT PUT THIS EMAIL ON YOUR BLOG!!! SERIOUSLY! I DONT GIVE PERMISSION!!

A couple of weeks ago Chris, Michelle, George and I went across to Manchester to see Avril Lavigne live on tour. I had a few reservations about the trip when Chris first approached me with the idea. Avril is not everybody’s cup of tea and her target audience is definitely not the twenty-something year old male!

The gig was awesome. She is really good live. Her set was a little predictable, but with five albums now there are not that many variations she can make. The encore epitomised the predictability as she sent out dancers before she appeared, removing any hint of spontaneity. The music was good though and Avril commands the stage like few others. She may only be my age but she definitely is a star.

Having picked up an absolute bargain version of the latest offering from Western Digital’s MyBook range, the MyBook World Edition – a network attached storage version of the ever popular MyBook external hard disc drives, I thought I would offer up a quick review.

It is an excellent piece of kit, I have the 1TB version (2x 500GB drives) in white. It took less than two minutes to set up once I had thrown the MioNet software out the window and just plugged it directly into my switch on the house network. It is a tidy bit of kit, all the wires tuck away nicely and it comes with all the cables you would need – a power cable, a 1m Cat.5e cable and a USB connector to connect further external units to this one. My Windows network picked it up straight away and my linux machine recognises it (as you would expect).

It is a brilliant piece of kit and I would recommend it to anyone that wants any extra network storage!

The latest album from one of the greatest rock/pop bands of the late 20th Century has managed to find itself on my play list recently. Accelerate, the fourteenth studio album by this American behemoth, is somewhat different to their previous offerings of late. Far more upbeat and with what seems to be a reinvigorated sound, it is definitely not what I expected from the band. Having said that it is still very much an REM album, with the great mix of punk and rock – the driving guitar sound along with Stipe’s eponymous (pun intended) vocals. The second track Supernatural Superserious is one of the stand out songs on the album in my opinion. Very much a non-serious song with an incredibly uplifting beat and incredible melody.

There are some standard REM fayre on the album too. Die hard fans will be immediately drawn to the third track, Hollow Man, with its haunting vocal and depressing bass line. Even this track, though, has been touched by the new found joie de vivre of the album in general!

If I was going to give marks out of ten I would be tempted to knock a mark or two off for straying so far from their roots but the album just leaves me far to upbeat to care! I love this album and recommend it to all!

I have eaten a couple of times in Mine now and I am still unsure as to how I would rate the experience as a whole. Mine is Leeds University Union’s ‘upmarket’ eating establishment and bar – offering table service, a la carte menu and at night an intimate, atmospheric venue used mainly for the smaller club nights and live music.

First, my main criticisms. I think that the food menu is too small and lacks any real variety, the food is of so-so atandard and is somewhat overpriced in my honest opinion. Today was a bad experience in terms of drinks – the lager I ordered was flat!

On a positive note, the service and atmosphere are pretty good. Relaxed enough to enjoy a quick bite with friends yet formal enough that you could entertain there too. As usual with the union establishments the staff are friendly and approachable and are very quick to deal with any issues.

I will probably eat there again, but mainly due to the fact there is no viable alternative within walking distance of the university with the decline of the Llama and Eldon. The Library too far away and The Faversham too expensive. I hope that the union is quick to look at the potential of Mine and realises that it could be so much more!

I got eXistenZ from my brother for Christmas. it is a sci-fi thriller set in the near future starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law. It is bizarre. I still am confused afetr watching it and reading about it and talking about it. Totally and utterly confuzzled.

I will recommend it to people purely on the basis that I need people’s opinions about it – so I can form my own!

The Christmas festivities are over, the New Year hangovers have subsided and 2008 is nearly a week old. This seems like the perfect opportunity to take a look back at 2007 and the people, events and ideas that made it.

Christmas and New Year are always a time for reflection and nostalgia and this year was no different. My family was all together for the first time in a while, including some of the new additions. I had an enjoyable time with several highlights – firstly, I caught up with some old friends and relived some of those moments from my youth that I miss. I also had a good time Christmas Day as I actually felt part of the family for the first time in many years. The end of December was also a good time for me, I spent it with Liz and her family and really felt accepted.

Anyway, back to my review of the year.

January
January was an interesting month, fisrt it saw the blossoming of a new friendship, one that would lead to something quite special – although i didn’t know that at the time of course. This month saw the final plans for the new academic year’s housing plans and all the arguments that surrounded that decision. This is probably the time that I cemented my friendship with a number of people whom I now consider my closest allies.

January’s exam period was hard for me, not just for the obvious reasons, but because it saw the dawning in my mind that I had lost my passion in Materials Engineering, that the course was no longer the inspiration I required. I began to toy with the idea of leaving university, or at least changing course.

February
I don’t remember much of February apart from starting at McDonald’s and buying a new car. I also went to Langdale in the Lake District with my mum.

March
March was an interesting month, I saw Barenaked Ladies in concert in Leeds which was amazing, visited Sarann in the Lakes and most importantly I started this blog.

April
Now here is the definition of a rollercoaster ride. I reached some of the lowest points of my life but also touched some of the highest highs. I ran Rationalist Week, spent a week in a self-destructive spiral of drinking, partying and depression, I met a girl and fell in love.

May
May was a busy month. Liz and my relationship went from strength to strength, went to see Soweto Kinch and The Who live in concert and Blackpool won in the League One play-offs and got themselves promoted to the Championship.

June
Festivals were the order of the day/month for June. I went to Sunrise and Farmyard Party to work in a chip van with Sarann. I had a great time but it meant not seeing Liz for a lot of the month – the first real test for our relationship. I think we ended up stronger than ever! Chris ended up in hospital with a serious bout of appendicitis and I spent a lot of time helping Matt sort out his car.

July
July was quite boring compared to the surrounding months.I went to Workhouse in Wales, had minor computing issues and moved in with my new housemates – Sarann, Michelle, B and Chris.

August
Always a quiet month, with uni still a month away and the excitement of breaking up long since faded away. I spent most of the month taking stock and seeing what was what in my life. I did go to Solfest, however, which was definitely a personal highlight of the year!

September
I made only seven blog posts in September, which gives a good indication of how little I did. I did start a new course at university though and turned twenty-three – which also explains the lack of blogging! The combination of Fresher’s week and birthday celebrations will do that to a man.

October
A difficult month for me. A lot of things happened in my private life that left me somewhat adrift. I did get a new computer though, which is always nice!

November
November saw things pick up a bit with the A-Soc London trip, Atheist Week and the discovery of the Lancashire Hotpots! London was worth all the effort that I put into it, it turned out better than anyone had predicted and nothing really bad happened. Liz and I went from strength to strength and I even managed to find time to do some uni work!

December
A month of WoW and family. Not a lot to report on really, except what is already included at the top of this post. It was a good festive period all in all. I think it set me up for 2008 quite nicely.

Today is the final of X-Factor, ITV1′s flagship television programme and mainstay of the lowest-common-denominator era of throwaway tv.

Last year saw over 11 million members of the British public tune in to see Leona Lewis win a recording contract worth an estinated £2million. This year’s prize is a guarenteed £1million recording contract and a shot at the Christmas number one single – an honour that will almost certainly be achieved. Three contestants battle it out on prime time Saturday evening television, three contestants that I wouldn’t book for a pub sing along, in front of four of the most ridiculous judges I have come across. An article on the RadioTimes’ website gives a fantastic insight into what is happeneing to television in this era of low creativity, low expectations and low standards of delivery.

I want quality, entertaining, educational and original programming, not these cheap to make, cheap to air, profit chasing, public mocking shows.

I know I am sounding like an old man, but please will someone somewhere fix this. Or I might just switch over for good.

I am now half way through season 2 of Ally McBeal.

I used to watch it when it was on television in the mid to late nineties, then re-watched it all back to back a couple of years ago and am now in the process of re-watching them all again. I am not sure whether it is a case of me getting old and cynical, or whether I am just not invested enough into this marathon (I am tending to watch the episodes whilst coding) but I don’t seem to be getting as involved in the programme as I used to. I used to have a real affinity with the show. he first time I sat and watched them back to back I couldn’t stop watching, now it’s a case of an hour here and an hour there.

Ah well. It is still good telly!

Last night I had the honour of attending one of the greatest music concerts I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Standing fifteen feet from the stage, braving the pouring rain in hull’s KC Stadium I rocked the night away listening to The Who. Probably the greatest rock band ever.

Singing and dancing to classics like “Who Are You”, “My Generation”, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Pinball Wizard” along with tracks from their new album Endless Wire, Liz and I were part of one of those rare moments you get with ageing bands, we felt transported to the swinging sixties and rocking seventies. We felt part of the Who Generation.

The concert as a whole lived up to my massive expectations. The two support acts were the perfect counterfoil to The Who. Jackson Analogue, an Isle of Wight based indie-rock band, were superb. I had never heard of them before last night but I have been inspired to investigate them further and would definitely buy their album and pay to see them in their own right. Their sound was difficult to pigeon hole. They seemed like a cross of the modern indie sound (like bands such as Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand) and the softer pop-rock of bands like Ash with a pinch of stagemanship like the Killers. Highly recommended!

The second support act were an enigma. They are a band that I resolutely dislike both on the radio and on disc. However, I found that live, they came into their own. Whether it was the atmosphere of a packed stadium, the atrocious weather lowering our expectations or they just perform better live I don’t know. I like them. They got me bobbing up and down, nodding my head to the deep bass rhythms and funky guitar licks. I definitely feel that the band comes from a different era, they would have been at home in Brighton in the late 60s and early 70s, driving Vespas. They had really well put together set list, remarkable energy and just the right sound for the occasion made them a spectacle in their own right. I really enjoyed the forty minutes they were on stage.

After a long delay whilst the stage was put together, we got the main attraction, the raison d’etre…The Who!

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey strolled onto stage, Roger carrying what seems to be the eponymous mug of tea and the concert kicked off. They opened with a barrage of hits – “Can’t Explain”, “Substitute” and then “Behind Blue Eyes”. The crowd was really geting into the set. Hit followed hit followed hit with songs like “Baba O’Riley”, “You Better Bet”, “Relay” and “The Seeker”. The songs from the new album really demonstrated a change for the band, gone are the guitar driven songs of the older albums and enter the vocals of Roger Daltrey who really has developed singing as an instrument to a new level. His rock tones mixed beautifully with the clever musicianship of Townshend and you ahve a recipe for success. I really enjoyed two of the songs, “Fragments” and “Man in a Purple Dress” both masterfully crafted.

By the time that The Who left the stage at about 10.30, we had been standing up for over five hours yet I could have gone all night listening to the entire back catalogue of songs. Amazing as The Who are on disc they really excel live. The presence of the two remaining band members was obvious. They owned the stage and what is more, they owned the audience. It was magical.

If anybody gets the chance to see them live then I recommend it, even if you don’t really follow the band. Liz knew very few of the songs yet she says that she had a great time, the music just carries you away; you can’t help but get caught up in the moment. I am not supposed to mention this but a certain somebody suggested that the gig was better than a certain other band (which she is obsessed about….).

All in all it was an amazing night, I literally cannot enthrall about it enough. There just are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe the elation, joy and awe I felt throughout the concert.

It was an added joy to be able to share this experience with Liz. I have never been to a concert with a girlfriend before as I rarely share musical tastes with them, I tend to enjoy the more obscure and older sections of the musical spectrum. I had a great time at the concert and some of that has to be attributed to Liz.

Sorry to those that went to Cabbage last night, but by the time I had driven to Lincoln to pick liz up then driven to Hull then back to Leeds I was shattered!