Thursday 1 January 2009

A (PSYCHO)-ANALYITICAL ABC OF MY FAVOURITE BLOGGERS AND DOGGERS - and a Happy New Year to ye all….



ALL SHOOK UP: Though a brilliant logician and an enviable blogger whose writing is clear and lucid, ASU clearly cannot see the forest for the rubber trees. I suspect it relates to his fundamental inability to embrace the fact that he does not exist. The human mind is perversely immune to such logic, and ASU cannot be sure he is ruthless enough to believe in a philosophy informed by mind-bending quantum equations and distorted by relativistic insights. For some, quantum physics is still a religion, and the knowledge and mastery of science the centre of its mysteries. Astrologers such as Mystic Meg, of course, will tell you that they've known this all along, but the experience has done nothing to change ASU’s mind. Indeed, he has difficulties restraining his annoyance at the complacent arrogance of Selena’s tone, and I am fully conscious that such censure is well and truly judged. Trust me to mock someone whose only crime has been to be a agreeable and generous conversationalist. Shame on you, Miss Dreamy.

APPLEYARD: A regular domestic Messiah, see BRYAN

BLOGGERS: Everyone, it seems, is at it, except the paedophiles and the
Brownies. Rabble-rousers, liberals, bigots, zealots, pornographers, the
pro-lifers, homophobics, psychopaths, and even the Sioux. A constant flow of
hard drive addicts who rant to get their latest fix. In terms of subject matter,
it's open season. Frankly, if someone's going to have an vacuous, pointless
hobby, I'd rather it was sex. I only read bloggers who adore fornication and are
enthusiastic about the death penalty. In any case, I have never been at ease
with this world of digits, where you can't tell whether anyone is who they say
they are, and that obviously excludes myself. But you know what scares me most
of all? Bloggers are like the bubonic pest, the black death, the plague of
locusts - you can never kill them off!

BOB: The Dutch like to lecture other countries about the evils of too
much legislation, and Bob is a man who can detect flaws down to the atomic level
of intellectual resolution. But whereas I believe that reality is an illusion
that can only exist in the mind, his point indubitably is, that the world turns
on mutually exclusive delusions, and that it is never as simple as black and
white.

BRYAN: Never trust a man who uses self-deprecation, it is impossible to
provoke him. Afflicted with an inner restlessness that is compounded by a
chronic inability to sleep, Bryan’s psychological profile fits the contours of a
high-functioning intellectual suffering from emotional deprivation. There is
little doubt that Bryan desires to be loved. Or that this tenderness towards
himself may cost others dearly. Though I did all I could to be provocative, he
stubbornly refuses to be engaged. Understandably! At stake is his whole design for living, the
dream of a liberal intellectual who has built his career entirely on academic
ephemerals. Bryan has lived on the edge of great ideas, and his shoptalk abounds
in tantalizingly loose ends. But does his clean, unchallenged reputation stand
up to scrutiny? Or has the Messiah lost his call? The buzzards are circling.
Beware the Ides of March.

DICK MADELEY: A pseudonymous identity is not the same as a phoney
identity. Is your identity defined by law, or by what you believe you are, in
your own mind? Handsome, shrewd and disarmingly affable, Dick’s first discovery
of himself was of a man as far as possible removed from Richard in origins and
fortune. But behind every great man, it is said, there is a great valet. And as
such he has become confidante and counsellor of numerous television
personalities and society ladies, including his charming spouse Judy, to whom he
preaches an admirable if outdated nineteenth-century morality. See RICHARD
MADELEY APPRECIATION SOCIETY

DREAMY: As a blogger I am not worth much but I have the advantage that
others are worse. As a leggy blonde in hotpants and stilettos I really am a
cliché, a woman driven by oestrogen, rather than expertise - but inevitably I
have a lot more admirers then (see) SELENA

CRUSHED BY INSOC: Crushed needs no attempts at cheerleading from
myself, idolised as he is by his numerous readers. Everyone agrees that he is
clever and charming but in truth, as yet, I don’t really know him. Evidently, he
is an operator who beguiles his audience. And an affable participant in the
genteel, informal debates on uncontroversial subjects, such as sex and cocaine. May he blog happily ever after…

ELBERRY: Elberry is the laureate of
the loner. Witches and sorcerers are still proscribed, but Elberry is spreading.
Born of bitterness and cynicism he has the whiff of the serial killer about him
( – which, I sense, is l’eau du morgue). In certain ways he’s representative of
what's wrong with all of us. Because we owe our identity largely to psychotic
forces and have no wish to appear a failure to ourselves, we feel bound to pour
scorn on the rest of world. These experiences are indeed consistent; they are
nothing but the ever-present grievance of the humbled man. Elberry’s problem is
not original in this respect. But rather than plunge into a deep depression or
suffer invisible blows to his psyche, he reacts with the same obduracy: (alternatively: see ÜBERMENSCH). Also see THE LUMBER ROOM

HAVERS of HAVERING ON: The last of his kind, writer and musicologist
Richard Havers can be found, fortuitously but appropriately, in the heartland of
northern politics where the principal source of all moral wealth is England
still. And the unreserved aversion which he shares with almost everyone for the
Scottish author of our economic discontent is more than matched by his total
contempt for the devious turncoat Mandelson. It takes a remarkable investment to
dislike as keenly as he does, though, in truth, I’ve often thought of shooting
Mandelson myself.

HELEN's FIRST LANGUAGE: Why are there so few women at the highest level of science…?

JONATHAN: A man whose comments reveal a high level of irritability, and
whose leitmotif is a never-ending: "I don't understand…” He believes that the
heart's creative wisdom has a more important message than the logic of the mind
and needs his Saviour like a father. His anxiety is like that of a child fearing
abandonment. I shook him to the core, because he suddenly saw the fundamental
dilemma besetting his personal destiny when reproduced on a higher,
anthropomorphic plane. No doubt his crucial hesitation is whether our idea of
God can be purely spiritual or must be in part at least, be an anthropic one.
Nor is there any reason to doubt the sincerity of Jonathan’s investment. In
fact, I don't know any seeker after the truth of whom I am disposed to think
more highly.

THE LUMBER ROOM: Glum bulletins proliferate, but
spurred on perhaps by simultaneous perusal of the tractates of those very
elusive thinkers Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein, Elberry’s public transformation
from college pariah to exiled intellectual is now almost complete. The LUMBER
ROOM’s true purpose - despite some rather odd personal statements - makes one
feel that he is sustained and animated by the whole notion of literature, and it
is that which seems to have prevented him from turning himself into nothing but
a self-lacerating outcast. The Lumber Room is a remarkable mixture of insider's
knowledge, philosophical speculation and literary assimilation. Highly recommended.

McCABE: Gordon acts the part of the theoretical
physicist brilliantly, but philosophy, you feel, has never really been his first
love. Prompted by nonhuman emotions and perceptions, the logical, unemotional
part of his blog is performed excellently. But always remember that he will
employ scrupulously formal syntax, and that there is no conspicuous
demonstration of wit. Mathematical reasoning is the only way to grasp the
fundamentals that lie behind what Gordon observes. Where others have a vision,
Gordon has a balance sheet. But thank you, nevertheless, Dr McCabe. I always
profit from your blog. As a specialist in data processing, you have, at all
events, provided us with the certified statistician’s view of philosophy.

RICHARD MADELEY APPRECIATION SOCIETY. Many bloggers are tremendous
for a few instalments and then become dull, embarrassing self-parodists for the
rest of their time. Nor do I wish to suggest anything of the kind. On the
contrary. I know Richard Madeley is an intellectually most alert and very
complicated individual, and I think it would be presumptuous and wrong on my
part if I were, in any way, to second-guess his motives. The Richard Madeley
Appreciation Society
is one of the great classics in blogging history. But the
tragedy of Dick’s talent is the missed opportunities it represents. If you want
to drive a man to become a radical destroyer of his proper genius, just give him
half a dozen blogs…

MUTLEYTHEDOG: Lovable, cuddly, in the most promiscuous sense. A canine
who said nothing that could not be found on the walls of a public convenience
and whom I’ve previously nominated as my choice for comedian of the year. Fact
is, I seriously intend to retrain as a counsellor for people who have been
exposed to Mutley’s website, or been contaminated by his wit. Which, roughly,
amounts to 15% of the UK population.

NIGE: The little Little Englander. Sublimely believes in the divine origins of Shakespeare. A gracious blogger. Tasteful. Exemplary. Nige writes carefully, elaborate when necessary, but in that proper English tradition which includes humour and élan and just a trifle recklessness whenever so appropriate.

THE OVERMAN: The Who? A signed copy of my best-selling autobiography
plus gratuitous sex (where applicable) for the first correct answer!

PERCY: No one can ever say you lack candour, Sir Percy - a
conclusion entirely uncompromised by his rough, untrimmed beard. Veteran biker
and a man of strong will, fixed opinions and mercurial temperament, he seems
ideal for the type of woman who says “let there be war.” Still ponders the
amount of sperm he dispensed since first he worshipped at Selena’s fountain.
He’s disappointed when people agree with him, so he dissents just for the hell
of it. What happens next is anyone's guess -
see PERVERTS

PERVERTS: see Percy

SELENA: Polemic backed up by a considerable body of research, and genius is an
amplifier often used when promoting herself. In fact, she has a tendency not to
engage in conversations, but to descend into them, often from an elusive height.
She is dogmatic, overbearing, deceptively articulate, with a sort of despotic
predominance and a tendency to overrule everyone. Irritating at best, obnoxious
at her worst - your continued patience is appreciated. See ÜBERMENSCH

SUSAN B: one of Bryan’s favourite groupies, Susan is an uplifting
discovery. Refreshingly of her own mind. Independent, highly literate, though
given to daydreams and flights of adulation. Like her a lot.

THE SPINE: This weblog is well grounded, brilliant, perceptive,
sublimely satirical!

TRADITIO ET VIRTUS: So much about blogs is down to atmosphere and
conception. This has a stillness, suggesting an almost serene engagement. The
fascination of a poet's soul for the power of the infinite. Reach for the stars
but eschew the gutter - behold, we can make thoughts come
true…

ÜBERMENSCH: “The noble type of man feels himself to
be the determiner of values, he does not need to be approved of, he judges ’what
harms me is harmful in itself
.’ He knows himself to be that which in general
first accords honour to things, he creates values.“ (Nietzsche, Zarathustra).





DREAMY








19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Dreamy,
Me thinks you may have an aversion to cheese and that this has prejudiced your opinion of Percy...
you have read me all wrong....I trimmed my beard only last year.
I will try harder to impress on you that it is not the erotic nature of your site but the narcotic nature of your wicked words that gives me a stiffy and keeps me coming back for more.
Hope your year is new

Addictively Yours
Sir Percy Stilton.

Selena Dreamy said...

Anyway you slice it, wowza!

You have a way with words, Sir Percy. Not that I have much faith in your love for me, but you make it hard for a girl to say no - or as the French will have it - couvrez moi de sperme, Cherie…

David said...

I should thank you a dozen times, Selena. And forgive my absence. You know you only had to whistle and I'd come running to see what you thought of me. Such kind words will keep me going for a few more months, or, at least, half a dozen more blogs.

Selena Dreamy said...

"...or, at least, half a dozen more blogs.

...and I wouldn't put it past you :)

All Shook Up said...

I'm from practical stock, Dreamy. My Dad and Grandad were plumbers - and I can confidently state that their contributions to humanity dwarf those of the confused loonies such as Schopenhauer, Wittgenstein and Nietzsche whom you admire so much but whose efforts have ultimately come to nought and rightly been discarded. It's been my duty and pleasure to disabuse you of their fallacious theories, even though I sense a residual admiration for them in your (plainly daft) assertion of my non-existence.

Dismal miseries with questionable opinions and failed personal lives, the lot of them. My advice would be to forget all about them and look at the world as it is.

Oh and I'd ditch Wagner, too, if I were you. He's another.

I agree with the complimentary bits though!

Anonymous said...

ASU, i'd quite agree with you that a good plumber probably does more good than the whole of Philosophy, Wittgenstein's included.

Selena Dreamy said...

And how right you are, gentlemen!

My heating system just collapsed. And that on one of the coldest nights in British thermal history. Where am I to get a plumber on a Saturday evening?. The weekend stretches before me like the Arctic vista of the Southern Continent. What good art thou, oh Arthur Schopenhauer...?

A kingdom for a plumber!

Anonymous said...

I am touched to be included in this list and a teeny bit over-excited! I must find my asthma 'puffer'!! I have included a review of your friend Max's book in my books of the year - 'one hand washes the other' as they say in Germany!!

Selena Dreamy said...

I'm so gratified, I, too, need a minute to collect myself. George W Bush said he wept when he read it. Hollywood agents are fighting for the serial rights. And it has since earned McDowell a film contract with Paramount, a book deal with a best-selling publisher, and a personal agent at the William Morris agency in New York.

That's all ye can ask for...

Bob said...

And a happy new year to you as well.

What you seem to need is a man around the house. One who can fix your plumbing and your computer. How is it that this is not the case? Did you scare him off?

Selena Dreamy said...

"...you seem to need a man around the house."

Let's start with you, Bob. How's your plumbing...?

McMax only said...

... and I just want to ask if you're a secret agent in real life?

Bob said...

My plumbing isn't very good. The watertap I installed leaked for a week untill I fixed it. I did fix it in the end though.

My electricity is better. I installed a lamp with a fan last week where the colours of the wires didn't match those of the house, because the lamp is quite old, but it works nevertheless on 2 separate switches!

Also I am known to induce sparks when appropriate.

Selena Dreamy said...

"Also I am known to induce sparks when appropriate."

...that's all a woman can ask for!

Selena Dreamy said...

"I just want to ask if you're a secret agent in real life?"

Well, of course, in my position, I cannot comment on such matters, Strombombolino. But feel free to think of me as Mata Hari reincarnate...

Anonymous said...

On the book deal with William Morris thing.. do you know him personally at all?

Anonymous said...

I agree, but more importantly I’m sending Richard Madeley to hell on Wed 12th Jan. For your chance to play God and save him: http://www.playgod.com/stories/Richard-Madeley

Jonathan said...

Golly Selena, thanks for the attention....

now here's me being egocentric and inquisitive...

Er.... 'I shook him to the core, because he suddenly saw the fundamental dilemma besetting his personal destiny when reproduced on a higher, anthropomorphic plane.'

When did that happen:)?

Was it regarding that whole debate about whether God is only to be identified with humanity, which I think you believe, or is also more than humanity, which is what I believe? In both cases anthropic matters are involved. I was always aware of our commone ground as well as divergence.

Interesting that the notion of a 'child in need of a father' sounds weak and dependent. Should it? Anyway, I don't feel I want that kind of overlordship over my life. I just feel that without the spiritual dimension we are crippled and only half, or less than half, real. Besides, I feel no desire to be independent in the cosmos given that I am not alone in the cosmos.

Interesting...er, Im not aware of constantly not understanding, just wondering, asking questions. Maybe Im just trying to get you to think about what you're saying, sometimes.

Irritable..?.Fascinating, Id never conceived that might be how i could come across in my comments, but perhaps the perceiver knows the externals of me better than I, trapped as I am in here.

...anyway, its difficuclt to guess at how I come across! As a rule people dont tell me, just as generally we dont each other this kind of stuff, do we?

Keep happy S and thanks again x

Selena Dreamy said...

I was always aware of our commone ground as well as divergence.

...my feelings entirely, Jonathan!