Age:- 34
Sex:- Male
What is your degree subject (both if joint):- Creative and Professional Writing, and Philosophy
Does ‘Being Bad’ relate well to the other modules you are taking?
Yes. I have done my weblog with a hint of the ‘Humour Writing’ module.
If so, how? And if not, why not?
Have you found ‘Being Bad’ too demanding, too easy, or at an appropriate level?
I have found this a lot less demanding than my other two modules this semester. I think this has the right balance.
Do you think the list of topics covered on the module was appropriate?
I think a wrap up session would be useful for the entire room to discuss other forms of ‘Being Bad’ that did not have a lecture.
Are there any topics not included in the module that you would like to see included?
Do you think that the format for classes has worked well?
Students who persitently talk throught the lecture should be asked to leave. I know its called ‘being bad’ but some students actually want to listen to the lecturer and even participate in the lecture.
What did you think of the module team?
I enjoyed the module. This type of module should be compulsary in the first year.
Do you think it would have been better to have had more:
Small group discussions?
Discussion and debate among the class as a whole?
Information and talk from lecturers?
All of the above.
The approach taken in the module is interdisciplinary (drawing on perspectives from English Literature, Film Studies, Creative Writing, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies and Politics): do you think this a useful way of approaching the topics covered in the module?
Yes. I have never studied media studies, film studies or Politics and I enjoyed that angle and even used youtube videos for my weblog (quite a lot actually).
Do you think that interdisciplinary modules are a good idea?
Yes.
Do you think you have benefited from the interdisciplinary approach taken in the module?
Yes.
Would you like to see more modules that cover this kind of subject matter?
Yes.
Are you planning to take the follow-up module PH2004 ‘It Shouldn’t Be Allowed’ at level 2?
Yes.
Would you recommend ‘Being Bad’ to a friend?
Certainly.
Do you think that the blogs (web logs) were a good idea?
Yes. I am not the most computer literate and I really enjoyed learning how to do a weblog. I do think there should be modules available to help with I.T. skills. Computers were only introduced at school in my last few years and it was only compulsary for Years 1 to 3. Therefore, I think some mature students have a lot of cathing up in this area (I know that sound a little judgmental but I include myself in that catergory).
What did you think of the other assessments (e.g. would it be better to have one longer assessment rather than two shorter ones?)?
I would have prefered two longer assignments (1,000 to 1,200 words). I feel that 600 words is not enough to fully explore the topics, especially for a creative piece of writing and a rational.
What have you learned from the module?
I am astonished by how much bad behaviour is considered cool and how many people particpiate in bad behaviour (e.g. shoplifting).
What parts of the module have you found most useful and why?
I have found the whole module interesting.
What parts do you think were a waste of time and why?
I enjoyed all the module.
Are there any other comments you wish to make regarding ‘Being Bad’?
Lectures in this module often asked information from students on Being Bad Bahaviour but never divulged any of their own. Too Bad. That would have been interesting.
Wednesday 9 May 2007
Other Forms of Bad Behaviour
As the time nears the end for these blog entries here are some other forms of bad behaviour which I never got round to dicuss and some are really bad where as others maybe its debatable as to whether it is bad behaviour.
Really Being Bad Behaviours
Acts of Terrorism
Murder
Abuse (sexual, physical, mental, and neglect on other humans both adults and children, and on animals)
Rape
Drug Pushers and dealers
Money Laundering
Tax Evasion
Discrimination (race, age, disability, sex, sexuality, religious belief etc)
Police refusing to do their job just because it's too much paperwork
Being arrogant and dismisive towards people
Allowing third world poverty
Drink Driving
Driving recklessly (without due care and attention)
Stealth taxes
Committing fraud
Spreading lies
Other Being Bad Behaviours
Glue sniffing
Politics and Politicians
Orgies
Swingers
Speeding
Gossiping
Mooning
Acceptable Behaviours
Peaceful demonstrations
The list could go on and on. It is quite easy to reach over 100 types of being bad behaviours and a debate could easily ensue on each one as to whether it is bad behaviour.
Being Bad Influences
I have mentioned in the last two entries the influence of religion and the internet on what is bad bahaviour. However, there is also peer pressure, genetics and the media. I am dedicating this entry to the media and the missing three year old girl in Portugal. I realise what I am about to say may well be considered controversial. The girl was left at the hotel room without adequate supervision whilst the parents went for a meal. Obviously, the abductors have done a bad thing - no question. However, the attention regarding the parents not making suitable arrangements for the girl to be looked after has not been treated as bad behaviour. Instead programmes like G.M.T.V. have insisted that all parents do things like that and perhaps the hotel are partly to blame for not having adequate provisions. Naturally the parents are going to be distressed and they may well be blaming themselves and the last thing they need is more blame and distress to be put on them but the media are shaping whose behaviour is bad on so many issues. When a celebrity couple break up the media decide whose behaviour is bad and who is the innocent party. In the breakup of Prince Charles and Princess Diana it was Charles and Carmella who were to blame and Diana was totally innocent even though Prince Harry's looks and manerisms are identical to James Hewitt (law suit - bad behaviour warning!). When Brad and Angelina broke up, Brad was considered as behaving badly where as Jennifer was considered innocent.
Monday 7 May 2007
Being Bad On the Internet
The internet is very good for obtaining information and communicating with other people but unfortunatley there is a lot of bad behaviour that is occurring on the internet. Many of the topics I have discussed and other bad behaviour topics have found market audiences on the internet - gambling, fraud, Pornography, Child abuse, and even how to build bombs according to the newspapers. Is the internet a good thing or a bad thing. Well its certainly progressed society in the speed that things can be acheived and has certainly encouraged bad behaviour.
I will now explain why I decided to do this blog entry and why I say the internet is helping to promote bad behaviour. A few minutes ago I received a spam e-mail for gambling. Then I thought about all the other spam/junk e-mail I have received over the years such as you need to confirm your bank details, sign up for a penis enlargement, you have won a prize and you need to complete your details to collect, pornography, and so much more. Yes the internet is certainly encouraging bad behaviour.
Last years there was a new DVD of a film called 'Feed' which was about women being fed more and more whilst people on the internet bet as to which obese woman would die next.
Even when someone manages to to avoid bad behaviour on the internet it could be said that using the internet can become addictive. I know people who have said that shpping on ebay has become addictive for them. Yet because the internet has speeded things up I do not think we could ever go back to not using the internet.
Being too Religious - part 2
Many of the topics covered in the 'Being Bad' lectures have their foundations for being bad from religious writings such as the Bible - thout shalt not steal (the Ten Commandments). Some other topics such as Murder are also considered wrong and again are present in Religious writings. A few months ago I was discussing religion with a Student who is studying Religion at the University of Wolverhampton and was astounded to learn that in the Bible it states that is is worse to masturbate than commit Rape because at least with Rape there is the chance of procreation were as with a man masturbating he is just spilling his seed and their is no possibility of procreation. Surely this is wrong. The act of rape causes physical and psychological trauma to the victim and if the victim does become pregnant the child may well be unwanted and given up for adoption or an abortion may occur which causes further wrongs in the eyes of many religions. Masturbation on the other hand (parden the pun) is not actually causing harm to another individual. Also stating that the act of Rape could result in procreation assumes it is a man raping a woman where as it could be a man raping a man, a woman raping a woman, a woman raping a man, and of course it could be a child that is being raped.
Religious teachings assume man to woman relationships because other forms of relationships are considered sinful and therefore gay and lesbian acts would be considered being bad behaviour where as in the Western World such relationships are accepted compared to many other countries where this is still considered extremely bad and wrong behaviour.
Therefore, in conclusion there is legislation which protects the rights of individuals such as gay couples which contradicts religious teachings. Rape is considered very wrong in terms of the law whereas in religion it is considered wrong but is more acceptable than the act of masturbation. Perhaps certain religious techings needs to be updated. Recently on the news it showed how adoption by normal adoption agencies and councils accept hetrosexual couples and gay couples and single people where as some Church adoption procedures only accept hetrosexual couples to adopt. Therefore, religion can be very discriminatory in their techings and practice.
My Response to Stacy Ann's response to this blog entry
Hello StaceyAnn,
I understand what you are saying and I too have read http://www.new-life.net/mastrbte.htm
However, there are passages in the Bible that suggest Masturbation is evil and one passage is believed by some to indicate that Onan was killed by God for masturbating http://www.religioustolerance.org/masturba3.htm Although many now consider that Onan was killed for his crime regarding birth control. Although the word Onanism (which comes from Onan) is rarely used it was once used in an episode of the League of Gentlemen "We don't allow onanism here".
Sunday 6 May 2007
Gambling - part 2
When does gambling occasional become an addiction or a problem. The reason I ask is because of the following few examples that I am going to give of people that I know.
The first person was well into her eighties and used to go to the Bingo regularly for decades. Her grandchildren used to call the Bingo Hall her second home. She loved going to Bingo. When she became ill and could no longer get on the step on the bus to go her daughter-in-law said to me "it kills her not being able to go to the Bingo." I never considered this person a gambler and Bingo and this person seemed like a 'social' thing to me but perhaps it was an addiction. This person is now deceased. Many of her children and grandchildren are addicted to gambling in Casinos and online gambling.
Another person who was in his sixties used to be a volunteer in a place where I used to work. Occasionally due to life events he would ask the Charity that I worked at for financial assistance. One day as I was walking to work I noticed this person and his grandson who was about eight to ten years old in the Betting Shop. I wonder if this grandson wil also develop an addictive gambling habit.
Saturday 5 May 2007
Beastiality
I am making a blog entry on this subject as it was briefy mentioned in the Bad Comedians lecture. I really do not understand how people can be attracted to animals and even worse commit sexual acts with animals. This surely is animal abuse particularly as on the most basic level the animal cannot give consent. Anyway here are some websites on the subject:-
Of the blog entries I have done so far this has to be the most Being Bad behaviour of all.
My Response To StacyAnn Welsh repsonse to my blog - does that make sense?
StacyAnn, you have certainly done your homework. It just goes to show that there is a market for just about everything. I agree with Stacy Ann that beastiality or animal abuse by humans is just disturbed behaviour - there is something seriously wrong with them.
Friday 4 May 2007
An Apology
This is an apology for 'behaving badly' during the Bad Comedians lecture. For those that were present I started to laugh at an inapproriate time. I will explain. The row I was sitting in all saw something funny occur. I did not laugh at that point. I then turned around and saw the facial reaction of one of those in the row I was sitting - her face was in shock over what she had just seen. Then she turned around and pulled a face to me regarding what she had just seen. That is what set me off and I just could not stop laughing. What did our row see? I cannot say as that would upset the person concerned.
Later in the lecture when Paul, the lecturer, mentioned beastiality the person to my left looked at the person who had set me off laughing and due to her facial expression he started laughing which then set me off laughing.
I feel slightly hypocritical regarding laughing as I have complained on this blog about other people talking during the lecture. So here goes - I am sincerely sorry for laughing inapproriately during the Bad Comedians lecture.
And here is a clue as to what we all saw:-
However, it was much further down and lasted much longer.
Thursday 3 May 2007
Bad Comedians
In the past I have never minded bad comedians because I felt that the offensive joke was also a statement on the character of the comedian and perhaps those that took offence were too senstive. However, my opinion has since changed over time and I will try to explain why. Some one I know at work caused various colleagues at this place of work and at other places of work to leave because of either comments he made to them or because of the way he addressed them (his tone of voice if you like being either extremely partonizing or very aggresive). At some of the incidents I was present and at other incidents I was not present. When ever anyone left the organizations and quoted this person as the reason for their departure his comments were usually "I thought he/she had a sense of humour" or "they should have had the guts to come and face me." Many of those who left the organisation were disabled. An example of a comment is "and don't bother blaming this on your dyslexia, you're just plain stupid." A few years ago this person then started making 'jokes' me infront of other people such as "what do you expect, it's because you're Greek". At some point these 'jokes' started becoming more frequent and were no longer made infront of other people and were made with a nasty tone and I frequently told him that his comments or 'jokes' were offensive and racist. His response would be to laugh at me or just walk away smiling. The comments became worse and worse such as 2there are too many Greeks in Stourbridge" to which I said "there are hardly any Greek-Cypriots in Stourbridge and besides I am the only Greek-Cypriot you know." His response was "like I said there are too many Greeks in Stourbridge". Once when I returned from holiday I brought some chocolates back for all the staff. When I offered him a chocolate I was told "he would not accept gifts from Greeks baring gifts." I explained to him where that phrase originated - from 3000 years ago when the Greek army gave the Trojans the wooden horse at the end of the Trojan War to which he replied "and Greeks are even more devious now then ever before" and then started laughing at me. Another example was when I introduced myself to a new member of staff in 2004 Hhe interupted and said to her "don't mind him, he's Greek." He likes Fawlty Towers, as do I and millions of other people, but I do not appreciate him trying to turn me into a 'Manuel' sterotype character. When I have challenged his behaviour he would occasionally say that he was not racist and I ought to meet his sister, brother-in-law or mother if I wanted to hear real racist comments. One colleague once said when she was the focus of his attention "I know why he treats people in that way. He gets perverse pleasure out of it."
I know I have gone on a bit with my personal experience but I will now try to come to the point of what I am trying to explain. Those who have heard his comments and know that I am offended by his comments say that I must be too sensitive and they are only jokes. Others have made their own jokes such as one member saying she does not do the washing up, she has a Greek-Cypriot under the sink who comes out to do the washing up. Therefore, despite the 'jokes' that are said being offensive to the specific people who are the aim of the joke, other people enjoy the joke as it perhaps makes them feel superior, or perhaps they are just happy that they are not the focus. For the record these are not jokes they are offensive comments that are at the expense of minority groups, whether it be racist, sexist, disablist (yes that a new word in the dictionary), homophobic, ageist or some other group. And yet I have laughed myself at Alf Garnet jokes. But then again I was not the focus then. Does that make me a hypocrite? Well I watched Alf Garnet 20 plus years ago. Whether I would find the same jokes funny now that I have experienced race discrimination myself I don't know. Perhaps it is not until we are on the receiving end that we can fully appreciate the full extent of the harm and offense that Bad Comedians cause.
As I have mentioned Fawlty Towers and Alf Garnet here are some Youtube clips. The first one is regarding Manuel and the famous catchphrase is mentioned "I'm sorry. He's from Barcelona."
And now for probably the most famous of the offensive comedians:-
Finally I would like to explain why I have included images of Borat on this weblog entry by asking one question. Is this character who has thousands of fans really just another example of a Bad Comedian whose character is creating a stereotypical view of people from Kazakhstan.
P.S. I have only refered to the person from my past (and present) as 'Him', and not mentioned any the organisations worked at for anonymity.
My Response to Staceyann's repsonse to this blog entry
I agree with what Staceyann is saying. No one is better than someone else just because of their race. There are good and bad people in every nationality and race and you should treat people how you want to be treated. Therefore, I try to treat everyone with respect.
Transgender and body modification
I attended yesterdays lecture on Transgender and body modification. I never considered transgender as a form of body modification until this lecture. The term 'subculture' was only used once. The fact that transgendered and transsexual people live in subcultured societies would suggest that they are not made to feel welcome in the general society and therefore are still considered as 'bad' or 'deviant' in many societies. High profile cases such as Nadia from Big Brother and that little antiques boy who grew up and had the operation to become a woman in the Western World has made transgender more open and transparent. In other societies the fact that transgender is not made available to the general public suggests that there is an intolerance of transgendered people.
Also what I never considered as a form of body modification until this lecture was when babies are born and they have both male and female sex organs and the parents and doctors decide on surgery and therefore decide whether the child will grow up as a boy or girl.
Apologies if the following video clip is offensive but I have included it on the blog to show that sometimes the person who has had the operation and is now regarded as a transexual person regrets their decision and wants to revert to their original gender:-
Tuesday 1 May 2007
Hooligans
Hooliganism is bad behaviour. Innocent people get hurt and lives are forever ruined. The most famous example of hooliganism is in regards to football hooliganism. Violence over a football match? What sad lives hooligans must have. Yes that is judgemental. Perhaps because I only become a football fan during World Cup games.
At work there are quite a few people obssessed with football and they have season tickets and travel up and down the country every week. One of those work colleagues (who is aged in his 70's) last year as he came out of a match asked the guard where a specific car park was in order for him to go back to the coach. He was given the wrong directions and ended up having to pay train fare to get back home. The following week his fellow coach friends ceremoneously gave him a ball of string so that he could find his way back to the coach.
The following site gives an explanation of Hooliganism:-
The following site discusses football hooliganism in particular:-
And here is a suggestion as to what should happen to football hooligans:-
Nudity, Pornography, Strippers and Mens Clubs
The reason for this entry is that whilst I was driving to the University earlier today I was listening to the local radio station, Beacon Radio, and they were explaining that the words 'David Beckham' have broken all records for internet searches due to some nude photos that are on the internet. Is nudity being bad? Surely nudity in photography can be done tastefully. However, there are people who are offended by such material. In short there is a mass market for nudity and associated products such as pornographic magazines for hetrosexual and homosexual men, and women.
The reason that I mention strippers and Mens Clubs is because someone that I know mentioned that she was walking down the High Street and noticed that there was a sign for exclusive membership to the Mens Only Club where men can enjoy strippers and pole dancers etc. And why did my friend mention this to me? Because she found the sign hilarious. The exclusive membership was for £10.00 per member. Wow, that's exclusive.
And this internet site is suitable for this topic and the future topic of Bad Comedians:-
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