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Team Elyse: The true meaning of Deluze Mixed Nuts

Hey there internet!
How be you?

I be fleeing the country in about 5 days now and a result of my fleeing the country I'm missing my birthday, Christmas and New Years' Eve as well as a month without my people so last night I held a function! An excellent function with lots of bier and schnitzel! Delicious!

But what did Adam and Davey decide to do?
Yes, they issue me with a photo challenge. Oh, not just them, they put the piece of paper around the table and everyone added some things. All before I got to look at it.
On behalf of that list.
Here is the list!

Enjoy!
I'm pondering how many I can get into the one photo.
 Now with photos... After the jump. 

Read more »

Here is the post you've all been waiting for!

Really?

No.
Though, true to my word, I promised I would write about the book I just finished reading. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.
I use the word "just" loosely, because I actually finished yesterday on the train at around Harris Park, which I meant I had half an hour of train trip left as well as the waiting time since I was going out for Ness' birthday and got there early and had to wait 20 minutes for the train afterwards.
Not that any of that information is important, in fact it is really quite useless but that is half the fun.

So! A Clockwork Orange. It is interesting because until I saw that book in the bookshop last week I didn't even know it was a book, I just knew it was a movie. Quite an infamous one at that made in the '70s by Stanley Kubrick.
It isn't a long book, one could hardly call it a novel. The word used is Novella which is just a cool word. 150 pages. I could have read it in the one day but I have started using my morning train trips for sleep. Sweet, sweet sleep.

There was an introduction, that was nice of them. It was interesting, it spoke a fair bit about Anthony Burgess' thoughts on the book which as it seems to go had to be with that he would be remembered mainly for this book (Which in reality was more of being remembered as the dude that gave Kubrick the source material) as opposed to his other better written books. I believe it is George Orwell who thought the same about Nineteen Eighty Four, or was it just a book that he felt should have never been published. I don't remember the details. Perhaps I should before I start my rambling, oh well ,suck it up.

It isn't an easy read, so while it is a short book I didn't fly through it as I sometimes do.
It is big on the slang and really big on the slang. It is in the first person and told through the eyes of the Protagonist, Alex, and it's basically the inner monologue, which is always cool but difficult to understand because EVERYTHING is in slang based partly on rhyming slang and Slavic words, I'm not all that familiar with Russian either.
Eventually, I caught on to what everything meant, sometimes it was a bit confusing.

I'm quite fond of my book vs movie comparisons, which is hard to say because I've never seen the movie but has quite the reputation.
The book is split into three parts, each part has 7 chapters. Which is significant in itself because my mad maths skillz says that is 21, the legal age in England for a long time or maybe just for the time it is set. Each part also starts with the same line. Just to create that symmetry.
The 7th Chapter of the third part is not published with the American version, the movie is based on the American version, thus the last chapter is not in the film. The last chapter is an interesting one.

Oh, I guess I should move onto some joyful commentary, why? Because it is my blog and I'll write what I want to.
The joys of conditioning!
Which is what it is about. The human body and mind is a wonderful thing, the whole concept of tolerance and building up tolerances. I honestly believe the human body could adjust to being hit by a bus, if one were to survive the first hit.
Now, Pavlov's Bell. That's what it is about! That is the prime example of condition. Actually, it might be called Pavlov's Dog and Pavlov's Bell is a song. Either way, it is the same thing.
Pavlov was a dude who condition his dog because each time he rang a bell, he would feed his dog. Eventually, he would take away the food but when he rang the bell all the reactions were there to get ready for the food.
That is such a poor man's explanation, but people, this is what wikipedia is for!

Alex is basically an arsehole. He is the antihero of the piece. Even though he is the youngest in the gang, a fact you don't find out til towards the end, he is the leader and tends to initiate many of the plots and one of the more disturbing things is the gang rape of a woman, while her husband was held back. You find out later in the book that she died not long after that. Disturbing. Very, very disturbing and that scene is pretty why I wouldn't be able to watch the movie.

So yeah, eventually he is put in gaol and in the process is involved for killing one of his cell mates. He is then reprogrammed so that he can't do anything violent at all and just the thought of it makes him sick, that is the conditioning and it is done with violent films with some music underscoring it which ruins his favourite music for him.
It comes down to the by removing choice, how does that remove the humanity.
It is a lot like a conversation we were having at Antioch the other day, but not doing bad, you aren't necessarily doing good. They are not mutually exclusive things.
You can also do good and bad. Sometimes with the same action!
Good and bad can coexist.
But by removing the bad, what else does it remove?
What are the consequences?

In the end, all Alex wants to do is kill himself and he is driven to it by people that understand how the conditioning worked. Ultimately, Alex is a pawn in the political game and because he is an arsehole to everyone, he has no consequence for anyone and so his life really is just to further various government schemes.
At the end of the 20th chapter, he has the ability to commit violence again. That is where the movie ends.
It is in the 21st chapter where he realises that he doesn't get his thrills from that anymore and that it would be time for him to grow up.
The biggest thing for me in that chapter is his name, all through out the book he is called "Young Alex" because well, he is young. He is 15 at the beginning of the book. In the last chapter he is referred to "Old Alex". It's a small thing really, but the significance is huge, especially since the first and last chapter are quite similar in the tone. They are book ends.

But it doesn't end on a happy note, the basic thing is, that is what growing up is, you fuck up and you keep fucking up and regardless of what you are told that won't change anything.
Eventually, you'll reach the tipping point on which growing up begins.
Not really a happy note if you look at all that had happened for that to occur.

Hmm...
It's interesting.
It's all about the nature of society. I find it fascinating.

On a side note: I think my spelling is getting better.

It's still November.

Advent starts on the 30th of November this year.

Upon that date, I will stop whinging.

'til then I will suffer the stabbing pains into my heart every time I see those overly decorated locations every morning in Parramatta.

And now, for my favourite thing to write about:
The views of my dictionary.

This week we have whinging vs whining.
Whining is what my dictionary states to be the correct.

So, do I whine about how delicious my bag smells? Would I like some whine with my cheese?

Or do I whinge about how Chris is stealing my friends and then making fun of me about said friends?
Hmmm... Shout out. Hi Chris!
According to my dictionary, I should be whining, not whinging.
Let's see what Urban Dictionary says. It tends to agree with me.

This was my favourite response for whinge:
A British/Australian/New Zealand (possibly South African and other commonwealth) English word which describes incessant complaining. A behaviour commonly associated with poms/pommes/pohms/pommies (people from England).

And whine:
1. Usless complaining to others that dont care.
2. Making oneself feel important through the use of usless complaining
3. Using complaining as propaganda to make someone or something look bad
4. plain oll' bein a fag

So, they do mean the same thing, which I knew.
But the question remains: Is whinge a real word?

Urban Dictionary is the worst source ever, but I think it is hilarious and well, it agrees with me so what's not to love?

And my Google search agrees with me.

I think the internet is destroying the English language.
Ok, I think I am destroying the English Language, but the internet is helping me do it!

Stay tuned for my next post:
My thoughts on a Clockwork Orange. The book, not the movie.
I'm not sure I could watch the movie, amazingly I can read all about graphic violence, I don't think I could watch it.
So a Clockwork Orange.
Another book about society and trying to change it.
Clearly, it's my genre of choice.

The most annoying thing ever

As a prelude to my lovely rant I want to make a few comments.
Currently, I am at work, which means my Internet Explorer doesn't come with the dictionary to check my spelling as I go. Thus, this time there shall be no commentary on my lack of understanding of the English language (Ha! Take THAT, Tokyo!).
For the record, I have been working and shall be working otherwise but sometimes when I feel a rant coming on it is like an explosion of random words that need to be said otherwise I shall spontaneously combust!

So here it is.
IT IS FUCKING NOVEMBER!
Yes, my office is covered in calenders, I know the date. As I sit and use my spinny chair and do a revolution I can see 4 calenders on various walls. Ok, two are on the white board. That is without using the calender on my computer, my phone or the calenders I know that everyone in my office has on their walls of their cubbys. I can't see them from the angle I looked.
So that is the date. It IS FUCKING NOVEMBER.

Now those who are calender challenged know.
Christmas, or Advent starts on the 1st of December. The first of December as we all should know is NOT November! Ok, granted sometimes the first Sunday of Advent does fall around the 30th of November, but still it is the 13th!

Last week, I had to put up the Christmas decorations in my office. Forced to! I tried to decline and said I was morally against it, which wasn't me being lazy, it was me being actually morally against it. I was told I was a Grinch (Dr Seuss Grinch, not a How I Met Your Mother Grinch) and then basically told to suck it up. We aren't here for December so everything in December is moved to November, so my Pseudo Birthday is on Friday. We are having cake. It will say "Happy Pseudo Birthday Elyse", if anyone is curious I had to spell check pseudo to make sure it was spelt correctly on the cake because that would have never ended if I hadn't. It is what happens when you work with editors.
I put up the decorations. I even went out and bought a Christmas tree, it was $8 for a 4ft Christmas Tree! How awesome is that! That's $2 a foot. People made fun of me due to how excited I was about said price. Not people I work with, people I told the story to.
My friends are evil.
That's quite possibly why they are my friends, but that's a tangent.

I could deal with a very Weekender Christmas. Only just but I'd carry on.

Then today! TODAY!
I was on my way to getting the bus from the train and since I was hungry I went to go hunt down some breakfast, using my lovely trivia winnings to pay for it. Woo trivia winnings. And there I saw it.
Christmas decorations in Westfields. I shook my head in disgust and went "Dude, what the hell?" and then it got even worse Gloria Jeans, already bad because it is coffee and coffee is the devil, had a sign covered in tinsel advertising some Christmas promotion.

IT IS NOVEMBER! NOVEMBER! MID-NOVEMBER at that! What the hell?
The commercialisation of Christmas is something that really annoys me. It brings out my hardcore Catholicism.
NOVEMBER!

Apparently in the States anything remotely Christmas related is held off until after Thanksgiving, so the end of November but the shops have the end of Halloween and Thanksgiving to get their commercialisation . So they can corrupt several traditions!

Communism isn't bad in theory. It really isn't, it's just that Communism can't work in practise but that loyal readers (Hi Rob!) is a rant for another day.

I must be off to the mail room, otherwise people shall be annoyed!
'til next time!
*tips hat*
*rides off into sunset*

The update from my dictionary

What does my dictionary say on the results of my previous ramble?

Swarmy- Not a word.
Smarm- Also not a word.
Smarmy- A word.
Soph- Not a word.

Poor Soph. She's not a word.
For the record, Elyse is.
That's new.

Sophie also a word. Maybe it's the dictionary versus the shortening of names.

This post was brought to you by the letter S.

Another one of "those things"

For anyone that has regularly crossed by path know that every now and then I get a revelation, a revelation that will rock my world view to the very core! Of course, the revelations are generally of the most obvious things that once I have realised, I start wording just how stupid I was to think otherwise.

Currently, I can't think of one of my own examples of these so I will just give you one of Caitlin. Oh, Caitlin, poor, poor Caitlin. One of the most intelligent people I know, this intelligence keeps in balance the scale and thus has no common sense. One day I was on the phone to her and she declares to me her musings on the subject of the phrase "digging to China".
She had spent a while pondering the saying because to actually dig to China, from Australia, it would require to go down and then across and not through the centre of the Earth like the saying suggests, then out of no where she made the realisation the "duh moment" that the saying originated in Europe which makes it much more likely to happen.
Thus the achievement of one of "Those moments".

I will even ignore the fact that China and Europe aren't actually antipodes. For those who are curious, if one was to drill a hole through the centre of the Earth starting in Sydney, you'd end up somewhere near Portugal. Ok, you'd end up dead because of the lava but this is the world of hypotheticals! (Interesting note: My dictionary doesn't accept Hypotheticals as a word. A word with no plural, I blame society for making it an acceptable word)

And eventually, I will get to the reason why I am writing about this!
So, I was just talking to Soph (of Elyse and Soph presents fame) about Dawson's Creek. I am continuing my epic journey and have now gotten to Charlie trying to seduce Joey. I hated Charlie BEFORE he cheated on Jen and well, now he cheated on Jen and is going after Joey! AND JOEY HAS NO PROBLEM WITH THIS! In the same episode Audrey says "Bros before hos" and Joey needs to listen man, she needs to listen.
I hate Charlie! Even more than I hate Charlie I hate Chad Michael Murray, I hated him in Gilmore Girls, I hate him in Dawson's Creek, I hated him in the most recent remake of Freaky Friday and I could never bring myself to watch One Tree Hill even though I love angsty teen dramas ( a little late for my tastes, but each to their own) so yeah, Chad Michael Murray, I hate him! I HATE HIM! I particularly hate his hair and attempt at facial hair, but that is a different issue.

As I continued talking to Soph, I established the mean reason I didn't like him. I find him to be a swarmy bastard. In previous conversations it has been stated that Soph kind of enjoys the swarm. Which brings me to the main point of this entire blog! The entire reason of this blog.
Swarm. Apparently not a word. In fact, Soph didn't know what I was talking about! That kind of hurt, so I moved on. I dried my tears and put down my guitar after composing a heart wrenching ballad about how I don't understand the English language and then composed a less heart wrenching blog about how I don't understand the English language.
It came down to this, Swarm vs Smarm.
I looked it up on Urban Dictionary, which when Davey isn't online it is what I use to keep up to date with the hip new slang and these are the hits I got back:
1.
a sleazy, sneaky, sweaty, unscrupulous person.
(Just as I presumed)

2.
Person who is ignorant of the English language misspelling of word SMARMY, which means highly self-satisfied.

Apparently, I meant smarmy, which is also the word that Soph suggested I actually meant. My dictionary didn't pull it up as a mistake (then again update, my dictionary is currently on the fritz because suggestion is a word that I can never spell right. Envelope is my other word that I always spell wrong. Ha. I say that like I'm a good speller. I'm not but I have lots of trouble with those two words).

So yeah, swarmy vs smarmy.
What's the deal?
I have been using swarmy for a while now and really, the smarmy looks like a made up word.
That just could be the influence of the Simpsons (Lousy Smarch weather).

It's one for the ages.
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