*Cry me a river. Politicians who grew up in low income families and then when they get to the top do all they can to make life hell for low income families are simply being cruel to be kind, they protest, without a hint of shame.
*Being close to an alcoholic teaches you – eventually – the value of being dispassionate. Whether it’s an individual or a nation or a civilisation, you can’t help people if they won’t help themselves.
*I’m writing an international anthem. The title hasn’t been settled yet but the frontrunners are:
Bugger you Jack, I’m alright
Dog eat dog
The quick and the dead
Looking after no.1
Every man for himself
Money is God
Treat others how you don’t wish to be treated
Kindness is for losers
Tell someone who cares
Stop whining
There are winners and there are losers
I can’t spare a dime because all my money is in a Swiss bank account
*Writers, painters, musicians – all struggling artists – will keep dreaming but will also be mindful that dear Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting, just before he died in 1890. For 400 francs.
*We sometimes hear the term “punching above our weight” in small countries. It’s an unfortunate, offensive expression. Domestic violence is a shocking, widespread problem.
*How many others find it harder and harder to connect with mainstream anything? It’s getting so shallow and shrill out there. We could form a new movement called The Estrangers.
*The people who run governments presumably aren’t simpletons, yet they seem to think a strong economy and a strong society are mutually exclusive – that governments have to be Robin Hood in reverse, and take from the poor to give to the rich. One result is roads polluted with rapidly depreciating new luxury cars. That’s a stupid economy. If money wasn’t being childishly wasted we could have strong economies AND strong societies.
*Countries will become more and more right-wing because of the growing proportion of Greyhaired Greedies.
*Each of us has to figure out – on our own – how to maximise our enjoyment of life because no-one else will, or can. One idea is to rule out what we don’t enjoy.
*Voters around the world have had the chance to seriously tackle Global Warming for decades but have preferred politicians who’ve saved them a few pennies. These politicians have been deceitfully negligent (what’s new?) but voters have absolutely no-one to blame but themselves when things go catastrophically wrong.
*Chip on the shoulder. A peculiar mental disorder where individuals – even nations – feel the need to overcompensate an inferiority complex with an absurdly superficial superiority complex. Often incited by puerile media.
*Perverted irony. Preachers on a Christian television channel spewing hatred.
*Demonic irony. Millions of people persecuted by churches – even imprisoned, tortured, or murdered – despite believing in God.
*I like to guess which politicians (past and present) Machiavelli would’ve had in mind. It’s a long list.
*New technology is being announced all the time but I’m still waiting for the one gadget that I really want – self-cleaning crockery and cutlery.
*We’ve been told that one of God’s Ten Commandments is “not kill”. But a Christian TV channel has decided to rewrite God and changed it to “not murder”. Phew, that lets us off the hook!
*Just in case. I don’t have a publisher for my book yet, but at least I have some possible titles!
Seriously, there are too many dimwits
Seriously?
Chewing the fatuous
Morons rule, not OK
Goodness gracious me!
Negative nitpicking knockers
The war on dickheads
*Many people say politics doesn’t interest them. Perhaps it’s because they are too busy checking their calorie count on their “smart watch”, or taking selfies on their “smart phone” and seeing what their friends had for breakfast?
Whatever the reason it’s curious stupidity. Politics controls the world we live in, and I don’t want my children and grandchildren to suffer because warmongering and eco-abusive corporations were allowed to run governments.
*Looking back through history and seeing the many individuals and institutions toppled from their pedestals after being revealed as flawed, it’s probably wise not to put mere mortals on a pedestal in the first place.
*Evil: human life decided by cliches! Cliches such as “The end justifies the means” and “Survival of the fittest”. Only psychopaths think like that. They have manipulated good but weak people throughout history.
*Things sometimes don’t go right. I have two sentences on permanent stand-by for these occasions. I might instruct my brain “I am not disappointed”. Or if I’m feeling bolshie I might use the vulgar sentence, which has the acronym I D G A F.
*If authorities want to build statues using public money, give us statues that have some use. I want statues of idiots – so we can throw eggs (not free range) at them. Insert your own examples here, but top of my list are the buffoons who introduced Satan’s weed gorse and those shrieking peacocks into New Zealand.
*”What good am I?”. That is the title of the perfect song for the ages on my favourite Bob Dylan album, 1989’s “Oh mercy”. The song has the phrases “if I’m like all the rest”, and “if I shut myself off”, and “if I know and don’t do”, and “if I look right through you”, and “if I turn a deaf ear”, and “if I say foolish things”. Bob has much more famous songs but this one resonates with me like no other. The album also has “Most of the time” which is the greatest song I’ve ever heard about a broken-hearted man trying to put on a brave face.
*If I was president of the world I’d require everyone to have a kind heart. That might necessitate a lot of heart transplants.
*Vincent’s 2nd Law of Greedivity. The more money most people have, the more they move to the right on the political spectrum, in the hope of stopping their money going to others.
*Just what we need, another war movie, to keep us entertained until there’s more real military conflict.
*In 1722 – when 44 year old Vivaldi was a rock star in Europe – a dear little 15 year old, Anna Giro bravely travelled to Vivaldi’s hometown Venice, determined to sing in his operas. Her dream eventually came true, and she and Vivaldi did concerts all over Europe for years. Imagine how gleeful Rupert Murdoch’s drooling tabloid hyenas would’ve been!
*Vincent’s 3rd Law of Greedivity. Keep it simple. Stay focussed. Extreme greedies have been successful for centuries because they have a one-track mind. Nothing else matters, nothing can get in the way. The end totally justifies the means. When you look in the mirror give yourself a smile and a wink. The aim is to stockpile as much wealth as possible, any way you can, even if it means “tweaking” the political process. If you don’t do it someone else will. Get what you can before the whole system collapses, which history shows it always does, eventually. Of course, only sociopaths devoid of any silly moral barriers can behave like this.
*Why do we keep getting hot and bothered with people who have always behaved like dickheads? And always will. Don’t we have more important things to focus on?
*People moan about lying, dishonest, cynical politicians. But politicians have simply adapted to us. They’ve learnt how to maximise their electoral support by exploiting the ignorance and self-interest of most voters. Voters get what they deserve.
*How governments can pig-headedly stick with policies grossly inflating house prices that help the wealthy get wealthier while giving the two fingers to younger people is perversely unbelievabubble.
*Still no publisher but I’ve thought of another possible title for my book: Dickheads ‘r’ Us
*Dickheads ‘r’ Us. The West spends billions of dollars a year to protect itself from China, Russia, and terrorists. China and Russia spend billions of dollars a year to protect themselves from each other, the West, and terrorists. But who’s protecting us from an increasingly grumpy Mother Nature?
*I wonder if people like Bill Gates and Donald Trump ever give gifts that don’t have a hefty price tag, such as a handwritten letter full of love, or a poem, or a hand-made card.
*I’m eternally grateful to the Poms for their sense of humour. Their wit, satire, and self-mocking are gifts to the world. I was just a kid when I saw a life-changer on black and white TV in the 1960s – Peter Cook and Dudley Moore’s lampooning “Not Only… But Also”. My tears of laughter were proof that taking the piss out of dickheads is more effective – and enjoyable – than getting mad.
*Politicians in a handful of Commonwealth countries are still able to blow their own trumpet by shamelessly awarding themselves a knighthood, but narcissistic sugar-coating won’t prevent history from recording they were failures in office and let down most ordinary people.
*Media owners like Rupert Murdoch clearly have a low opinion of the average person. Perhaps they have a right to, mostly.
*We used to call tabloid newspapers “the gutter press”. We thought journalism standards couldn’t go any lower. We were wrong. The internet – and the explosion of online “news” sellers – has seen standards go lower than gutters! Subterranean Newssick Blues.
*I don’t speak Italian or French or German but I love listening to operas in those languages. They have a mysterious grandeur. Lyrics can spoil a song if they are, um, banal.
*Here’s a scary thought. Imagine if a mentally disturbed person was in charge of the world’s most powerful country.
*Journalists used to have a Code of Ethics. Isn’t that gorgeous! How quaint! Pay attention everyone. Let’s get real. Don’t be obsessed with facts, we can sort that out later. Just make sure you are the first to get the story out there. We gotta have scoops. Our advertisers – who pay your wages – are only worried about the number of clicks per story on the internet, not the number of errors.
*Chalk and cheese. We see so many mediocre people these days, when we come across beautiful souls the contrast is so dazzling we almost need sunglasses!
*It sounds melodramatic and many people will scoff but angry words can be like a knife wound, leaving a scar that stays with a person until the day they die.
*Sick irony. Only the Aussies could name a capital city after an Englishman who inspired ignorant, racist, and genocidal government policies against Australia’s many indigenous nations after the English invasion.
*Sweet irony. Darwin’s Theory that only people best suited to their environment survive, while those less suited will die could see aborigines – who’ve survived in Australia for 60,000 years – outlast whitefellas who seized Australia 200 years ago.
*Holier-than-thou hypocrisy. Those journalists who pick out negative or positive angles in stories that clearly reveal their own prejudices, but who are adamant they are impartial professionals. Many of the public can spot the deceit, and their trust in the news media is further eroded.
*Inflated self-importance. One of the greatest money making education scams was introducing university degrees in journalism. The basic job of a journalist is to ask questions, most commonly “What happened?”. You don’t need a 4 year degree for that! Journalism is a trade.
*The last laugh. Because I was in a “brainy” class at high school I got to do Latin. The kids in the “dumb” classes did typing and woodwork. Even at the age of 13 I knew who got the better deal. All my working life I was a lousy two fingers typist.
*Tick tock tick tock. The Aussies have been warned their average city summer temperature could be 50C by 2040. The story was in the news for a day – in one ear and straight out the other, hitting absolutely nothing on the way through. The word “lemmings” comes to mind. Despite the media’s continued SDBS (spin doctor bullshit) it’s not Climate Change, it’s Global Warming.
*The good news about Global Warming: we’ll save a fortune on clothes. It’ll be too hot for anything but shorts and tee shirts.
*I loved school, learning lots of interesting stuff, and having a quick Uncle Merv on girls, and at lunchtime kicking torpedo punts and taking speccy marks, but damn that teacher who claimed “It’s i before e except after c”. I used to scratch my head so much I thought I’d get splinters.
*Vincent’s You Scratch My Back And I’ll Scratch Your Back Theory on Politics. I’ve observed and worked in politics for decades and democracy is a myth, a cruel joke, a figment of our well-meaning but gullible imagination (bless us). Left-wing or right-wing, governments do favours for the rich and powerful. Spin doctors gave Global Warming the anaemic term Climate Change, and they’ve renamed Plutocracy the feel-good but phoney Democracy. A smoke and mirrors voting circus is staged every 3 or 4 years to entertain and fool and placate we plebs, and then the elite class resume the real work of government – ka ching.
*It’s easy, relaxing, and quite enjoyable to stagnate. Zzzzzzz. But, if we choose to keep evolving, trying new things, (whistle) we can open door after door to undreamed of wonder after wonder.
*Skyrocketing property prices in a gold rush by overseas billionaires, and manic rich people gorging themselves on luxury properties, cars, boats and jewellery. A booming economy or booming cronyism?
*Hilarious acting. TV presenters on million-dollar salaries feigning concern (or even outrage if we are lucky) at cost-of-living issues on behalf of ordinary battlers.
*Vincent’s Theory on Unhappiness. Toxins are released into our soul by unkind acts.
*Social workers express concern for old people living on their own, but lots of oldies are loners who treasure the gifts that only solitude can offer.
*Statistics show married men live longer than single men, although there’s an old joke that husbands die before their wives because they want to! But seriously, even if you are married there’s a 1 in 2 chance you’ll die alone.
*Pride – like patriotism – sounds good but is also the cause of much stupidity and misery.
*It’s breathtaking – even amusing – when politicians insinuate we shouldn’t ask what the government can do for us, but what we can do for our country. Let’s compromise, give and take. If politicians stop giving rich people tax cuts, ignore warmongers, and show Mother Nature genuine respect, then I’ll stop calling politicians shallow-as-a-birdbath sociopaths.
*Can people think with their head AND their heart? Some of us think so. Some of us think these are the only people who can save the human race. Goodness gracious me, let’s hope there are lots of them!
*Brainspotting. Observing which political and business leaders think with their head AND their heart.
*How the hell do they do it? I’m in awe of the advertising industry. People are up to their pursed lips in debt but can still be persuaded to keep buying stuff they don’t really need and obviously can’t afford. Imagine if ingenuity like this could be put to good use.
*Every minute of our lives – the decisions, big and small – is a roll of the dice.
*Chain reaction. My grandson asked if I’d done any new paintings. No, I haven’t seen a Mother Nature image lately that sparked another “abstract impressionist” idea. But his inquiry had planted a seed. Several days later an idea popped in my head from the cosmos, and now I’ve pasted dozens of my junk emails onto a large particle board and called it “Recycled junk”. I love it! The amazing mystery of creativity.
*Heart of gold. I don’t have one. If I think someone is a dickhead (even if it’s only 1 or 2 out of 10) I know I can’t connect with them and disengage as quickly and politely as possible. People with a heart of gold are too kind to do that. They make me sick (bless them).
*It’s an interesting dilemma for people with a good heart. When does kindness to someone become stupidity? It has nothing to do with being made a fool of, it’s about being sensible.
*Many people think political and business leaders couldn’t possible be petty and vindictive, that they are above that sort of thing. Er, they aren’t. Being ethical is useless when you have to scramble over others to get to the top.
*Emotional constipation. The inability of loved ones to connect and communicate (not lecture) is sad.
*The magic of television – TV ads that turn one syllable words like store, more, and tour into two syllables: store-a, more-a, and too-a. Human devolution right before our eyes (and ears).
*The great thing about most TV ads is they are unwatchable.
*The person who invented the TV remote control should have been awarded the Nobel Science Prize. Or perhaps the Medicine Prize, considering the number of people who have been saved from going insane.
*What is he going on about? A member of the British royal family whines about the media constantly hassling him, but is constantly in front of TV cameras showing what a “lovely” person he is. Meanwhile, children of all ages are being sold for sex at this very moment all around the world.
*People with a superiority complex get to call themselves Sir and Dame, but those with an inferiority complex get absolutely nothing from the British royal family. Seems like discrimination to me!
*I’ve decided to name my book THE WAR ON DICKHEADS. I may have to get the promotional TV ad voiced overseas, otherwise people outside of New Zealand may think it’s DUCK HEADS. And if I do the voiceover, Kiwis may think it’s DEEK HEADS.
*Goodness gracious me, I’ve become so disconnected from mainstream most things (especially the news media) I’m thinking of changing my name to Mike Vincent Unplugged.
*As you get older – and if you are observant and increasingly understand how “the system” works – it’s helpful if you are not easily disillusioned. In fact, we need many more people to have fire in the belly.