Bad reaction

For the past three days, a story that has been popular in the news and on social media involves singer Solange Knowles - the younger sister of Beyoncé - attacking producer and rapper Jay-Z in an elevator at a party. Beyoncé, who is also Jay-Z's wife, was in the elevator as was a bodyguard; the latter held back the younger sister from Jay-Z for the duration of the elevator ride, although she was able to break free a couple of times to continue to strike him. At present, it is not known why Knowles attacked Jay-Z; only speculation and wild conspiracies have been presented as explanations.

The actions of Knowles, which are bad enough by themselves, are not the most disturbing part of this incident, in my opinion; rather, I'm more worried by the apparent reaction of the public via social media and comment threads. I wrote the following to a friend who was talking about the incident and the reaction to it:

"What really bothers me is the amount of people who seem to believe that if one person starts hitting another for seemingly no reason, the victim should be asked what they did for someone to hit them rather than the perpetrator be asked why they started hitting."

The narrative has focused on what Jay-Z might have done to provoke Knowles, rather than what Knowles' reasons were for hitting him; this reaction implies that a recipient of violent behaviour should be the individual under scrutiny instead of any aggressor. The extent of this line of thinking can be evidenced by the prevalence of the hashtag #WhatJayZSaidToSolange on Twitter. With a current lack of any evidence to the contrary, Jay-Z is the victim in this incident and it is wrong to assume that he has done something to cause another person to attack him. This is obvious victim-blaming and this mentality needs to stop.

The poor reaction has been exacerbated by all the people who find the incident hilarious (cue the endless "100 problems"/"Solange's first hit" jokes) and the countless Internet memes that have been generated to mock the event. One person attacking another is not funny at all. It is irrelevant that Jay-Z is a larger and stronger person than Knowles and that she might not have managed to harm him even without the intervention from the bodyguard: there is no humour in violence and no one should be laughing about it.

I can only hope that the people who have engaged in victim-blaming, laughed about/mocked what happened or otherwise been dismissive are a minority, albeit a vocal one. Victims of violence - regardless of gender or social status - are often reluctant to speak, usually because they are afraid of not being believed or, worse yet, of being laughed at or outright blamed for any abuse that they have received. When the general public takes a light-hearted approach to incidents such as this, that reluctance intensifies and people continue to suffer.

Distant storm clouds

I photographed these clouds yesterday evening:

These were storm clouds: there were several flashes of lightning but the thunder was far away and any rain these clouds unleashed never reached the neighbourhood.

These pictures turned out surprisingly well: they were taken with my main camera on full optical zoom, but because of the dimming light level combined with window glass in the way of the lens, I expected the clouds to appear blurred, which would have been disappointing.

The perched blackbird

This morning, I photographed this male blackbird perched on a branch:

His job was to warn off predators and other birds from the nearby nest; he is the mate of the female blackbird I posted a picture of a few days ago. Both blackbirds have been feeding chicks and my brother is sure that they have built another nest for another set of chicks. On Sunday, my brother had to chase off a cat who came into our back yard and attacked this blackbird; the blackbird was slightly injured in the attack, as evidenced by his limping whenever he was on the ground.

Both pictures were taken with my main camera using its full optical zoom; however, the first picture was shot through window glass whereas the second was taken with the window open. The blackbird paid no attention to my opening of the window.

Keith Crisco

I have been following the Democratic primary for North Carolina's 2nd congressional district. This primary race is notable because one of the candidates is American Idol season two runner-up Clay Aiken. Since May 7th, he and his main primary opponent, Keith Crisco, have been locked in a tight race, in which Aiken has a slim lead. Sadly, Crisco has died:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/clay-aikens-opponent-keith-crisco-passes/story?id=23686583

Crisco died at a fall in his home; no foul play has been reported, although Crisco's death has set off conspiracy theory lunatics who seem to think that Aiken himself was behind it. Any such conspiracies should be dismissed unless otherwise proved, which is unlikely because they are nonsense.

I wanted Aiken to win the primary, but I didn't want him to win like that and I'm sure that he didn't want to win in this manner, either. I hope that the memory of Crisco won't be insulted by someone using his death as a campaign tool. From what I've read, Crisco was a respected figure in North Carolina, and had a reputation for being a kind man and active in his community.

J. Keith Crisco

April 22, 1943 - May 12, 2014

"I Will Never Let You Down" - Rita Ora

This song reached number one on the chart I listened to this afternoon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50GQjUZ4P3M

It's "I Will Never Let You Down" by British singer Rita Ora and it is the first single from her upcoming second album. Ora came to prominence in early 2012 when she was featured on DJ Fresh's single "Hot Right Now"; later that year, she released her debut studio album, ORA, from which her singles "How We Do (Party)", "R.I.P.", "Shine Ya Light" and "Radioactive" all came.

Ora has also ventured into acting. She will portray the character Mia Grey in the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, which will be released next year.

I received ORA for Christmas in 2012. I think it's a great album and I look forward to Ora's follow-up.

Naming current U.S. governors

In my follow-up to my post about naming current United States Senators, I mentioned that I would name governors next. I was able to recount the following thirty-two governors:

1. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii)

2. Mike Beebe (D-Arkansas)

3. Steve Beshear (D-Kentucky)

4. Jerry Brown (D-California)

5. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas)

6. Lincoln Chafee (D-Rhode Island)

7. Chris Christie (R-New Jersey)

8. Tom Corbett (R-Pennsylvania)

9. Andrew Cuomo (D-New York)

10. Nathan Deal (R-Georgia)

11. Mary Fallin (R-Oklahoma)

12. Bobby Jindal (R-Louisiana)

13. Nikki Haley (R-South Carolina)

14. Bill Haslam (R-Tennessee)

15. Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire)

16. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado)

17. John Kasich (R-Ohio)

18. John Kitzhaber (D-Oregon)

19. Jay Inslee (D-Oregon)

21. Susana Martinez (R-New Mexico)

22. Terry McAuliffe (D-Virginia)

22. Pat McCrory (R-North Carolina) 

23. Jay Nixon (D-Missouri)

24. Martin O'Malley (D-Maryland)

25. Sean Parnell (R-Alaksa)

26. Rick Perry (R-Texas)

27. Mike Pence (R-Indiana)

28. Pat Quinn (D-Illinois)

29. Brian Sandoval (R-Nevada)

30. Rick Scott (R-Florida)

31. Peter Shumlin (D-Vermont)

32. Rick Snyder (R-Michigan)

I was unable to remember the following eighteen governors:

1. Robert J. Bentley (R-Alabama)
 2. Terry Branstad (R-Iowa)

3. Jan Brewer (R-Arizona) 

4. Phil Bryant (R-Mississippi)

 5. Steve Bullock (D-Montana)

 6. Jack Dalrymple (R-North Dakota)

7. Dennis Daugaard (R-South Dakota)

8. Mark Dayton (D-Minnesota)

9. Dave Heineman (R-Nebraska)

10. Gary Herbert (R-Utah)

11. Paul LePage (R-Maine)

12. Dannel Malloy (D-Connecticut)

13. Jack Markell (D-Delaware)

14. Matt Mead (R-Wyoming)

15. Deval Patrick (D-Massachusetts)

16. Butch Otter (R-Idaho)

17. Earl Ray Tomblin (D-West Virginia)

18. Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin)

I groaned when my brother told me that I had forgotten Deval Patrick and Scott Walker, and facepalmed when he told me that I had forgotten Jan Brewer (all three of them should have been easy for me to remember). Credit goes to my brother for writing up the "didn't remember" section of this post.

Out of all of these governors, the only one whom I've lived under is John Kitzhaber, which was from November 2000 to January 2003. He was re-elected to a historic third term as Oregon's governor in 2010 and is running for re-election this year; if he wins, he'll be the second-longest serving governor in United States history.

The splitting chair

The chair for my desk is starting to split.

That's right. The plastic material covering the seat part of my chair has begun to split; left unchecked, it will continue to split, which will cause it to break off in flakes and it will then have to vacuumed off the floor. Fortunately, the problem can be contained by placing a cushion over the seat, which I have done.

This is not the first time that this has happened to me. My previous chair began to split and flake away (the two chairs came from a dinner table set and were not expensive), and had to be replaced with the chair I use now. I didn't bother to use a cushion last time and the chair deteriorated to the point where it became unusable.

Of course, this is not a major problem in the long run. Just a mere annoyance and something to write about.

Female blackbird

I was lucky to take this picture of a female blackbird in our back yard:

This blackbird and her mate have a nest nearby, which contains chicks who should be departing from it any day now. She is calling to another bird, likely her mate or her chicks; she bounced off into the bushes less than a minute after I took this picture. It's amazing how much the female blackbird differs in appearance to the male.

It was taken through a window using my camera's full optical zoom, hence the reflection present in the right half of the image.

"Look Up"

In one of the past few days, my friend and fellow blogger Stephanie shared this elsewhere on the Internet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

I have sometimes wondered what moments and experiences are lost by so many people being glued to their phones. Whenever I go out for walk, I see at least one person who is looking down at their phone while they walk. Sometimes they're walking with another person yet their attention is focused on a device in their hand; they appear to have completely forgotten that a living, breathing human is walking alongside them. I don't it's healthy for society for so many people to go around ignoring each other.

I note that some people in the comments section of the video have criticised the maker for hypocrisy over his use of social media to promote the video. Given that the video is aimed specifically at heavy users of social media, I don't consider it to be hypocritical at all and I think such comments miss the point of the message and are a deliberate distraction.

I should also note that I am not against social media. If I were, I would not have started this blog and there are some great people whom I would not have met. I just think it should be used in moderation and we shouldn't neglect face-to-face contact; even a Skype call with a friend - something I did earlier today - counts as face-to-face contact, despite the people participating not being in the same room together. If I were given the chance to meet my online friends in person, I would happily accept it.

"Who's On Heart" 2014 wrong guesses list

The Heart radio network announced this morning that a list of wrong answers for "Who's On Heart" 2014 has been released:

http://www.heart.co.uk/win/whos-on-heart-2014/2014-wrong-guesses/revealed/

My brother and I were expecting a list to be unveiled: it's almost been four months since Stevie Nicks was identified as one of the three voices. People who phone in to the competition should study this list before giving out any names; we certainly don't need to keep hearing people guess the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Simon Cowell, Colin Firth and Bill Nighy again...all of whom have been guessed several times each!

Love locks

Until today, I had no idea this existed:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27221707

I think that love is beautiful and should never be underrated or undervalued, but there are better ways of expressing love than attaching a padlock with a couple's names engraved onto it to a bridge and then throwing the key into the underlying water. As the article states, left unchecked, the combined weight of all the padlocks can cause structural damage to the bridge and the water can become contaminated from the keys rusting.

I am, of course, pleased that the couple highlighted at the beginning of the article are still married. It would have been disappointing if they had attached a love lock to the Pont des Arts bridge in France only to get divorced a few months or years down the line.

"Holding Onto Heaven" - Foxes

This was officially released as a single today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qklYTlTSeJc

It's "Holding Onto Heaven" by Foxes. Like Foxes' singles "Youth" and "Let Go for Tonight", this song comes from her debut studio album, Glorious, which will be released on 12th May. I am really looking forward to this album: every Foxes song I've heard to date has been awesome.

Over the recent week, the adverts for the music countdown I listen to on Sundays mentioned that this song would debut on the chart today, likely at a high position; however, "Holding Onto Heaven" was nowhere to be found on the chart (nor was "Still" by Katy B, another song that the adverts had mentioned), which was a disappointment. On the bright side, it could chart next week.

I have written about Foxes before twice: here and here.

Chocolate in coffee

I like coffee. I usually have one cup per day but I occasionally have two, and I always have it with milk and a teaspoon of sugar. Occasionally, however, I like to add chocolate powder to the mix: I'm fond of the taste of a chocolate-enhanced coffee. I find that the chocolate brings out the flavour of the coffee and vice versa. It is my favourite drink that isn't pure water.

One of my cousins likes this, too; I discovered this when they asked me if I did it! Does anyone else do this or have another ingredient they like to add to coffee? Maybe even another drink combination?

Bloggers Blog Party - April 2014

My April 2014 contributions to the Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party:

Saturday, 5th April: When my grandfather and I went for a walk on my second day in Nottingham, we walked past this field. Now that it's almost been a month since that walk, I wonder how the field has changed.

Tuesday, 8th April: This is a box of Carr's Table Water crackers, which my grandmother bought. A few weeks ago on the blog of my friend Susie, I mentioned that I had not seen this brand of crackers since I had been back in the United Kingdom. I haven't been particularly observant, as I learnt on the day my grandmother bought these that Carr's are a British company and the crackers are common in stores over here.

Monday, 14th April: These daffodil heads were floating in this dirty water in the bigger pond at the local park. While it's possible that the wind blew them in, the more likely explanation is that some vandal picked the heads off the stems and threw them in.

Tuesday, 22nd April: This was the day when I finished my Easter candy, which consisted of these three bars of chocolate.

Monday, 28th April: Some water lillies in the smaller pond down at the park. They can't be seen clearly in this picture, but several water-dwelling bugs were swimming to and from the lillies.

Wednesday, 30th April: This is a small green beetle that was in the utility room. I liked its colour and photographed it for that reason and because I wanted to see if the camera on my phone could focus up close on a tiny object.

The three dandelions

Yesterday, I photographed these three dandelions, which are located in our back yard. Note the state of the flower on each plant:

The first dandelion lost its entire flower - most likely because of the wind - and is, for lack of a better term, completely bald. Only the stem remains intact.

The second dandelion lost half of its flower. Again, it's most likely because of the wind that its flower is not whole.

The flower of the third dandelion is completely intact. It is located in a shaded area, where it receives protection from the wind, unlike the aforementioned plants. It doesn't appear to be in any danger of being blown to pieces.

I don't know what the age of each plant is. It's possible that the dandelion with the intact flower is the oldest, but looks younger simply because the other two are out in the open and are more vulnerable. I found the different state of each flower to be interesting.