NiallOK’s Blog

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Yes… well I mean “shot” in the photographic sense.

Today, a large number of local Gardaí were on hand for photo-shoots and interiviews and to give out a few hundred leaflets in the streets of Swords in Co. Dublin. The reason behind it is their ongoing investigation into the attack which took place in the early hours of last Sunday morning in Jacko Park in the town, during which a 17-year-old girl was sexually assaulted leaving her with serious head and facial injuries. Crimestoppers are offering a €10,000 reward to track down the culprit - who is aged between 18 and 25 years of age, is 5ft 5ins to 5ft 8ins in height, has dark hair and sallow skin, and was wearing a black baseball cap and a black zipped hoodie at the time. Plenty of media people were present, with newspaper photographers, TV3 reporters and an interviewer from FM104 (the girl in black with the red mic) all there when I was passing.

More info from the Irish times, here. Hopefully something good will come from this and Gardaí will get some solid leads and find the asshole in question. Swords Gardaí can be contacted at 01-666 4700 or via the free Garda Confidential Number 1-800-666-111.

A friend of mine and a newspaper journalist (two separate people) recently emailed me - one to announce her housewarming party, the other to apologise in case she’d spammed me. Nothing unusual there, no - until I looked at the “To:” lines of the emails. The first person had emailed me along with about sixty other people, the second one had about twenty other recipients - all of them in the “To:” line - so all of them now know all the email addresses of all the others.

I’ve replied to both of them, pointing them at the BCC Please web site. Whether they’ll pay attention or not, I dunno. It’s not a case of email etiquette as such (well, okay, it kinda IS really) but it’s always seemed like common sense to me. If you’re sending something out to many people, don’t do it in such a way that all the email addresses are visible to everyone receiving the message. That’s just silly. I mean - I certainly don’t want my personal email address publicised to all your friends and aquaintances and I’m sure most of them will feel the same.

Anyway… rant over…

A new blog from an anonymous Dubliner has been causing quite a stir as the author, known only as “me”, goes into detail about his sexual encounters and reveals his innermost thoughts about his girlfriend, who he simply refers to as “lover”, the Evening Herald reports today.

Psychotherapist, couples counsellor and relationship expert David Kavanagh (also known as the Date Doctor from dating site MaybeFriends.com) says that “this is not a healthy thing to do”, “it’s like writing a diary and having it read by everybody in the country.”

I’m not really sure if this is an echo of the awful bile that John Waters recently spouted, when he essentially said that there was no journalistic merit or value in blogs and that writing a blog was basically a waste of time - or if Mr. Kavanagh simply has a problem with the amount of intimate detail that the blogger goes into, but I’d have to disagree either way, because I wouldn’t call it “unhealthy”. I’d imagine it could be the very opposite, in fact - quite therapeutic. It’s not quite getting up on a soapbox and yelling the secret thoughts to the world - it’s a step down from that as there is the safety net of anonymity… but hell, what do I know, I’m no psychotherapist, myself…

There is certainly a case to be said for the therapeutic value of anonymously getting something off your chest in a very public way - take RTÉ 2fm DJ Rick O’Shea’s Text Secrets blog for example - plenty of people send in their secret and most innermost thoughts anonymously for all to see because, in some way, it helps them mentally, knowing that other people get to see them without knowing who they are. Sometimes, as well, it helps knowing that there’s other people in the same boat as you. Always, it provides interesting reading and good fodder for a radio show.

As regards the Dear Lover blog itself, while it makes for interesting reading, it’s just another outlet - another place to anonymously let out those feelings of yours that may otherwise be too embarrassing, revealing or possibly hurtful - a half-way step between the unhealthiness of bottling it up and the often terrifying step of telling the whole world… so yes, it serves a purpose, - a possibly therapeutic purpose - but, as blogs go - a very honed in and specific purpose too;- so while I’m impressed by it and think it’s a good idea, I’m skeptical about its potential lasting ability.

According to the sensationalist over-the-top bullshit merchant hype machine that is the Sunday Mirror, Jeremy Clarkson (the tall, arrogant speed-loving petrol-head off of Top Gear) went ballistic and let loose with a “four letter rant” when 12-year-old Tom Dickman took his picture while he was asleep on a beach in Barbados.

He confronted the kid and yelled:
“Are you the little fucker that took my picture? If you do that again or it goes on the internet I will hunt you down and rip your fucking head off.”

The kids father, Chris Dickman, demanded an apology from Clarkson, which, of course, wasn’t forthcoming. He also complained to the BBC and vowed never to watch Top Gear again. For more details, read the full article.

The way I see it, Clarkson was perfectly within his right to be annoyed at some 12-year-old little shit taking his photo. Hell, I would be too! A 12-year-old is NOT an innocent little kid, as the Mirror’s article makes out. You can be sure he knew full-well that he should have asked for permission before taking the photo.

Granted, Clarkson could have reacted in a more calm and mature way, but honestly I think that sometimes people should be less afraid to just let loose and say what’s on their minds in the way they want to say it and forget about political bloody correctness! He’s human. Give him a break.

Oh, and smart move there, “Dickman” (nice name…), complaining to the BBC! Seriously - what kind of a moron does that, expecting to get any response other than the one he got? (Basically - “he was on a private holiday, it’s nothing to do with us. Sod off.”). … And as for vowing to never watch Top Gear again, it’s their loss. I’m sure Clarkson could care less about losing 1 out of their over 350 million weekly viewers. Some people even want Gordon Brown to step down and make Clarkson Prime Minister!

The show is back in the summer … and as far as I’m concerned, it can’t come too soon!