GingerFool In reply to ynasaurus [2012-08-28 17:28:28 +0000 UTC]

Hahaha, you're welcome!

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GingerFool In reply to devildogart53 [2012-07-28 18:42:55 +0000 UTC]

It is like just one thing after another is happening over here. Normally I'm not much of a sports fan, I like rugby and that's about it, and even then, only really international games, but I'm actually really following these Olympics... the opening ceremony was fantastic, and some of the sports today have been really great to watch too, so I'm probably going to be keeping track of it throughout the games to some extent.

The Jubilee I kind of missed because I'd got an exam pretty much right after our extra long weekend ended, but that one interested me less anyway.

As far as Mitt Romney goes, pretty much everyone I know in this country hates him, and it's not just the papers that are criticising him. Comedians are saying some pretty hilarious things too about how bad a politician he is, and there is so much flying round in the social media that it's unreal. For the sake of your country, and even the rest of the world, I genuinely hope he doesn't get in. Sure, my understanding of politics isn't spot on, and Obama's not perfect, but swapping him out for Romney would be an awful, awful mistake to make. Hopefully the American general public has enough sense to keep Obama in power.

But yes, feeling very patriotic recently, go team GB!

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devildogart53 In reply to GingerFool [2012-07-30 16:00:45 +0000 UTC]

Good Morning, Ginger Fool...I too am not into a lot of sports. I think it is sad that here in the States they will spend tons of money when it comes to sports and less on the arts and education. That is why we should be more like Europe--it seems that there is more of a balance between the two. Over here most Americans think you're a sissy and not masculine if you do not watch or play.

The only two sports I watch are American football (the Green Bay Packers, that is the city where I was born), and I watch the professional surfing competing for the World Title.

It is refreshing to hear that your country and yourself do not support Romney. My friends and I are huge Obama fans. I believe that he is truly a visionary president and knows what has to be done to move the country forward. But there is a movement here in the U.S.--the Tea Party, which wants us to go backward instead of forward with a lot of issues (back to the failed Bush policies), and they control Romney or any Republican running for higher office. It will be a close race!

You take care of yourself, and we will keep in touch...

Reed

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GingerFool In reply to devildogart53 [2012-07-31 16:01:55 +0000 UTC]

I had always noticed that about what I know about America, because certain sports (American Football, Baseball, Basketball) are a really huge deal and it seems like the majority love them, and to be truly "manly", you have to play or at least watch them, which just seems strange to me, because you can be perfectly manly and not be remotely interested in any of those sports. Here sports are still seen as a pretty manly thing to do (although there's a pile of banter as to what the manliest sport over here is), but you can still be into sports, and be a sissy, or not be into sports, and be really masculine.

I do know a little about the Tea Party (wouldn't call myself an expert though), and they almost seem to me like they're not being serious. Then again, the Tory party over here (our more conservative major party) make some decisions that completely baffle me too, and I don't think they're anywhere near as bad as the Republicans.

I do think Obama's pretty awesome too, as politicians go, but I guess a lot of people don't see it that way, otherwise Romney wouldn't have a chance. I do see him as having an idea of how to progress, but then I suppose a lot of people don't really want progression, or don't feel like they could cope with the changes it'd bring.

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devildogart53 In reply to GingerFool [2012-08-02 18:19:10 +0000 UTC]

Hello, GingerFool. Hope you are enjoying the Olymipic games. There sure are a lot of thrills and spills...congratulations on winning your first two gold medals!

Just want to reiterate on two matters...

The first is on our politics. To me, the Tea Party is a fascist organization that wants to cut taxes, eliminate the Department of Education, cut aid to the poor and the needy, and stop evolution from being taught in schools (creationism instead). They support the idea and want laws to give everyone the right to own as many guns of any kind, including assault rifles and submachine guns. If you are black, gay, liberal-thinking, and or any minority, you are not wanted! Oh, yes, you have to be Chisrtian too!!!

The Tea Party movement devoleped right after Obama became President. Him being a black man brought out every rasist bigot there is, but they cover it up in innuendos. This group has split the Republican Party in two, and because of this, there is nothing being done in Congress. Their main goal for the past 4 years is to stop all Obama's legislation and to do everything in their power to see that Obama is not elected to a second term. I have never seen our country this bad!

The second matter, is sports and masculity...

A large portion of American men are taught to believe that to be a ''man" you have to either play, watch, or do both in sports. If you do not and prefer any of the arts, such as dance, ballet, or theatre, and to watch or participate, you are considered to be a geek or gay. Our society spends so much on sports, but when it comes to funding the arts, they either cut funding or strip them to the bare essentials. There is not a balance between the two here as it is over there in Europe. What I find refreshing by traveling to your country and the rest of Europe is that men there are more in tune and comfortable with their feminine side.

We think we are so open-minded, but we are Puritanical when it comes to change or accepting different cultures. Maybe it it because our country is separated by two oceans.

I just thought you might be interested in how I feel about these subjects. I really enjoy talking to you about this stuff.

I hope you are enjoying being on holiday...

Reed

PS... what is your real name...if I might ask?

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GingerFool In reply to devildogart53 [2012-08-03 01:07:13 +0000 UTC]

I'm enjoying what I've seen... some of the things I'm seeing are surprisingly intense and exciting!

See there's so much wrong with that. I mean, why can't people appreciate that other people have needs too? Sure, it's pretty natural to want for yourself, but there's a limit within reason - I mean, the poor can't afford as much as the people setting the policies for them, and if you cut what you're spending on education then the amount of poor is logically going to increase as people kind of need education to get into higher paid jobs, and so, apart from improving the general quality of life within the country, boost the amount of money around as well, and tax is necessary to accomplish that. Again, I'm no expert, but that seems pretty simple and logical to me, so how a party like this can gather so much support is beyond me.

As for the evolution thing - that's something that really gets me angry. It's absolutely fine to believe or not believe in God - I'm not going to judge on that, but in science, the word "theory" does not mean "idea" or "belief" - it means "we've got a whole pile of evidence supporting this, and there is nothing that disproves it". Okay, you can't say it definitely does exist because of how science as an entity is, but being a scientific theory puts it on par with gravity and the structure of the atom as something generally accepted to be true by scientists. You can't call it a fact, but by the same scientific logic, you can't say it's a fact that the sky is blue, so people denying the existence of evolution are literally just people who don't understand the way scientists work, and refuse to understand their language, and instead just reject it in an incredibly closed-minded way. Believe in God by all means - personally I don't, but I have no problem at all with people who do - but the existence of evolution is not an insult to God. If anything, creating the system by which species such as ourselves have evolved, is far more intelligent than creating each species individually - especially as so much would be essentially genetic "copy and paste".

...I'll cut that rant short, I could go on for hours. But then, out of the issues you mentioned, that's the one I know most about, because I AM a scientist. If I had as strong an understanding of any of the other issues, I could probably construct similar rants about them, but they all seem like such blatant bad ideas. I mean, I would have thought we could leave issues like racism and sexism (and more recently, homophobia) behind by now, but it just seems like there are some old fashioned thinkers out there who believe that just because their father's father's father's father's father thought a certain way, that that's exactly the way they should think too, and so should their children, and their children, and so on. Progression is not a dirty word, if anything it's something that should be encouraged, and it's bigots like those in the Tea Party that seem to be holding it back.

The sports thing I suppose is a related point - as an outsider looking in, it seems like you HAVE to think, reason and behave the "American way" - and anyone who doesn't is punished somehow by society, in this case by being labelled a geek or gay or whatever else, in the previous issue, by being labelled as (from what I've heard from those who DO know a little more about politics) "socialists", just for being a little more liberal. And don't get me wrong, sports ARE important. Aside from the health benefits associated with playing sports, they can often bring people together - I mean, look at the Olympics (admittedly they can often drive people apart as well and you hear about that more often, but on the whole I think they're good at bringing people together), and they can provide hope for those who otherwise wouldn't have it, and sportsmen can often be good role models etc etc etc. BUT you shouldn't be punished just for not liking sport in the same way that you shouldn't be punished for not liking a certain type of music. I'd argue that certain art forms can have as big an impact socially as sport, and so it's worth putting significant amounts of funding there too, but it seems like the "higher-ups" disagree. Then again, I personally would argue that maybe both sport AND art are less deserving of the funding than more essential stuff - like education, or healthcare, or aid for the poor, or aid for those hit by natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina, or emergency services. I don't know what the figures look like, but I'd hope all of the above would receive more than either sports OR arts, but I imagine they don't.

I've spoken to my fair share of Americans, mostly through the internet, most of which have seemed like genuine, down to Earth, good people - but there seems to be a real issue with the American mindset in general to me. Every country has its issues, true, but for such an advanced nation in terms of wealth and power, it seems like maybe the attitude is lagging behind, and I imagine it will eventually prove very costly to America.

I do enjoy conversations like this, but I always feel like my knowledge is lacking when it comes to my turn to speak... and then I never remember what it is I wanted to look up and learn about so that I could speak about that the NEXT time.

On a lighter note, the holiday's not too bad, but I think maybe I'm ready to go back to university already. There doesn't seem to be a balance, there's too much work when I'm there, so I don't have much time for anything else, and not enough to do when I get back, so I'm always really bored... people must think I just constantly complain about everything!

Aaand my real name is Calum... so I suppose I'd better sign the message like that too.

Calum

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devildogart53 In reply to GingerFool [2012-08-04 19:41:31 +0000 UTC]

Good Afternoon, Calum...

Thanks for the lengthy and insightful reply. Much appreciated! It appears to me that we agree on a lot of issues. Give me a couple of days to response to your last letter, and we will carry on our conversation.

I just wanted to send a quick note from an article that I read in the newspaper today that got me a little perturbed. Justin Bieber stated that he does not know why Prince William does not get the product Propecia, so he can use it for his hair loss. He stated, "Don't you have it in your country?"

I think this is very rude, and who is HE to make this remark. It is not his business. I am NOT into his music...too bubble gum. And what's wrong with being bald? It's a natural process for many men, who are genetically predisposed and can't help it.

Take care, and you will be hearing from me soon.

Reed

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GingerFool In reply to devildogart53 [2012-08-05 12:43:24 +0000 UTC]

I can't even say I'm surprised, it's not the first time Bieber's said something so.... stupid. I mean, I've not heard of Propecia, but we do have products over here that can be used to treat hair loss, but why should he care? If he's going bald, I'm sure he'll survive, it's not the end of the world. If he wants to use treatments, fair enough, but he shouldn't have to because someone else that he'll probably never even meet thinks he should.

I read somewhere as well that he was once asked about Kurt Cobain, the frontman of the band Nirvana (who, even if I'm not a huge fan of their music, I'll admit, were very influential, and a lot of the music that influences me, for example, would not have existed without them, and neither would a lot of modern rock), he made a comment along the lines of "Kurt Cobain... isn't that the guy who copied me?". And there's so much wrong with that statement (not to mention he killed himself the same year Bieber was born) that it's unbelievable... but then, Bieber is an idiot. It's not even like I'm jumping on the "let's all hate on Bieber because he's a prepubescent girl!" bandwagon, I genuinely dislike everything about him. His attitude, his music (if you can call it his, I doubt he writes more than the lyrics), the way he seems to be everywhere...

But then, Bieber's another thing I could rant about for ages, so I'll cut that rant short. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Calum

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GingerFool In reply to Rachhhh566 [2012-07-11 22:19:59 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

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Rachhhh566 In reply to GingerFool [2012-07-12 09:47:05 +0000 UTC]

xD

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GingerFool In reply to devildogart53 [2012-05-21 17:13:06 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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GingerFool In reply to Purple-Freak9 [2012-05-01 18:12:12 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome! Very good piece, I enjoyed critiquing it!

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GingerFool In reply to FootballHockeyPilot [2012-04-25 21:07:33 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome, great piece of work! At first I didn't even know it was a drawing, I thought you'd actually made it!

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FootballHockeyPilot In reply to GingerFool [2012-04-25 21:30:00 +0000 UTC]

Haha thank you so much!

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GingerFool In reply to Jo-Vix [2012-03-02 16:46:26 +0000 UTC]

Ah, thank you!
Voted for you too

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Jo-Vix In reply to GingerFool [2012-03-02 17:11:00 +0000 UTC]

thank you soo much for the kind vote! I'm really happy!! \o/

Visit my others arts too! You're absolutely welcome!!

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GingerFool In reply to devildogart53 [2012-03-02 16:45:43 +0000 UTC]

Ah, thanks, nice to meet you!
Glad you like my lyrics - most of what I've posted on here are acoustic songs... if I was any good at singing, I'd have youtube links alongside them, but there we go

I'm not on here THAT that often - but I've seen some of your stuff over Cupcake's shoulder, and vaguely remember liking what I'd seen. I'll follow you too, just might take a while to see everything

Ginger because I've got red hair, fool because I can do pretty stupid things, and ginger fool because I saw it on a dessert menu once and was told I was on the menu... so why not?

Oh, and thanks for the fave!

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devildogart53 In reply to GingerFool [2012-03-03 13:53:12 +0000 UTC]

Good Morning, GingerFool...I hope this note finds you well and happy.

What classes are you taking at your University? and are any in music? or are you self taught in this field? Who are some of your favorite musicians and bands?

Are you sure you can not sing...some of the artists singing today are much to be desired... HA!HA! You should give it a try.

Sorry for all of the questions, just trying to know you better.

Say hi to Cupcakex for me and you take care...DevilDog.

P.S....THE FOOL ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT IS GOING ON!

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GingerFool In reply to devildogart53 [2012-03-10 14:39:00 +0000 UTC]

My degree's in "Medical Physiology", which is essentially just a subcategory of human biology, and then I've got modules in stuff like biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, membranes and receptors.. I like (most of) it, I mean, I'm pretty logical, and a lot of it plays nicely off that.

Musicwise I am pretty much self-taught. I had a few guitar lessons aged 10ish, but they barely taught me anything other than how to hold the guitar and where certain notes are (which is quite often irrelevant to me because I move tunings all the time anyway). Drums I am completely self-taught, maybe with a little help from the internet, but that's it. Favourite musicians/bands is quite a tough question, but I'm into a lot of relatively modern punk rock bands, Rise Against/Bad Religion/Strung Out/etc, metalcore-type stuff like 36 Crazyfists/All That Remains/Architects/etc, some Melodic Death Metal like In Flames/Soilwork/Children of Bodom, and then various bands that fall around and in between, like Comeback Kid/Protest The Hero/Sylosis/Silverstein and so on... and then there are some hard rock bands like Alter Bridge which I think are pretty awesome too, but I don't really have one specific favourite, and I listen to insane amounts of music, and loads of different influences come out in anything I write.... sorry, long answer to a relatively simple question, haha

Eh, I could go off on a huge autotune rant here, because a lot of mainstream music now DOESN'T require talent at all, but I'm still not a singer... backing vocals I could kind of get away with, but I tend to be quite out of tune unless I've got something to aim at and time to adjust to it, so lead vocals go straight out of the window for me unless I'm in a black metal band... which I could do vocals for, but am not really a fan of the music

Sorry for the enormous answers, but I guess that gives you a bit of a better idea about me xD how about you? Tell me a bit about yourself

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GingerFool In reply to GingerFool [2012-03-24 22:13:51 +0000 UTC]

Bachelor of science in art sounds like a fantastic title! I'm still a first year, on a three year course, so I'm due to graduate in 2014, but I'm looking at taking a year out in industry, just to get a bit more of a feel for the world of science, which would push my graduation back to 2015. Degrees over there sound very different to what they are over here in England though... I literally only have biology within my degree, we don't really have the option for more unless we study it separately or have it as part of the degree title, which doesn't really happen within sciences as far as I know.

Doing what you feel and enjoy I think is a much better approach than trying to work towards a particular audience - I mean, I assume with art there are parallels with music, in that certain people will like certain types and dislike others. I mean, with music, I don't aim for a particular genre, and so a lot of what I write is probably difficult to classify too. I agree with the sponge thing though - the more you take in, the more you can express, and the more your art can progress.

And don't worry about long gaps in between messages, I hardly ever log in myself either

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devildogart53 In reply to GingerFool [2012-03-21 21:19:31 +0000 UTC]

Good Afternoon, GingerFool....You must have a very analytic mind for studying medical physiology. (What year are you in, and how long until you graduate?) When I was in collage at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I too took some human biology courses, which I enjoyed, towards my degree. Since I took science studies over foreign languages towards my degree, I graduated with a bachelor of science in art.

Even though I studied art, I must say that I pretty much taught myself. That is why in some art shows, I have been called a primitive artist. I do not follow any particular school of art. I just paint what I feel and enjoy. My favorite materials are oils, oil stick, graphite, pen and ink, and collage work. I love painting and putting the human body in my art, especially the male body, since I believe it is one of the most beautiful things on this earth...if it is in good physical shape. (HERE IN THE USA, THAT IS NOT THE CASE! MOST PEOPLE HERE ARE FAT!!!)

I believe that to be a true artist, you have to be like a sponge, to soak in and observe different experiences, so you can communicate with the viewer using the art that you create. But to do that, you have to know yourself inside and out and approach things with an open mind.

Anyway, I have to run, but I will be sending another note your way, because we have to talk about books, movies, and comic books (I must have at least 5000) and the music I like.

Take care, live in the moment. DevilDog.

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GingerFool In reply to catine27 [2011-12-21 15:36:41 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome

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GingerFool In reply to craneHARDCORE [2011-12-18 15:27:19 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome

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GingerFool In reply to Riarku [2011-10-09 14:33:10 +0000 UTC]

TECHNICALLY... it's not original work
Also, it's a joke

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Riarku In reply to GingerFool [2011-10-10 16:17:06 +0000 UTC]

doesn't matter. it'll be covered by parody.

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GingerFool In reply to Riarku [2011-10-10 20:39:43 +0000 UTC]

Meh

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Riarku In reply to GingerFool [2011-10-10 22:13:28 +0000 UTC]

i better see it soon

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GingerFool In reply to iheartmusic22 [2011-09-30 07:01:56 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

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iheartmusic22 In reply to GingerFool [2011-10-02 02:17:21 +0000 UTC]

I shall watch...

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GingerFool In reply to iheartmusic22 [2011-10-08 09:54:30 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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iheartmusic22 In reply to GingerFool [2011-10-08 10:08:55 +0000 UTC]

you're welcome!!

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GingerFool In reply to RatofSpring [2011-09-28 22:36:32 +0000 UTC]

Thanks

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