Santa is a fascist and there is nothing wrong with sleeping naked

[luckycanuck]

Rowing continues.  Nearly 10km yesterday and over 12km today.  I'll make 200km by Friday easily and apparently this will entitle me to a 200km Holiday Challenge pin.  Oh yes.  I WILL have that pin.

I have found myself getting annoyed at some people I encounter during my rowing.  Yesterday there was a guy who was maybe 20 who sat down at the machine next to me, changed the resistance level down to three (yes, three, not ten like I do and even the old arthritic blind guy does) and rowed for less than a minute before getting back up and letting the handlebar retract all the way up to the machine rather than replacing it in its catch and leaving the gym.  Prick.  Today there were two gym babes (the girls who do their hair and makeup before a workout) who set the resistance very low and went at a pace slow enough that it wouldn't impair their ability to gossip through their workout.  I was right between them for the duration of their pathetic 500m row and was subjected to the full gossip experience as they chattered back and forth over my head.

It's the longest day of the year.  I wonder why it can't be like this all the time.  Long sunny days and mean good moods.

I never really liked the story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  Even as a young child something didn't sit right with me.  This is why.  Apparently Santa is a fascist dictator.

A news story broke today sparked by a girl who has claimed she was sexually involved with some AFL players and is not satisfied with the way the league treated her complaints.  Now she has posted a naked photo of an AFL player on Facebook.  This player was not one of the ones named in her complaint as far as I've heard.  He just plays in the same league as other players who were.  Some of the reaction was centred on how the naked player has behaved badly and is now having to defend his actions.

This reaction bothered me, to the extent that I actually commented on the linked article.

I'm happy for footy players who act as though the rules don't apply to them get their comeuppance, but as far as I can tell, the player who is now defending himself deserves no comeuppance.  He's not a rapist or a sexual predator, he's just a guy who likes to sleep naked and whose friend once snapped a photo of him just afer he got out of bed.  This may be odd, but so what?  It's nothing he should have to defend in public, and his bedroom habits are really nobody's business.  I kind of wish he had said so.

If nothing else, I feel as though anyone who wants to criticise sportsmen for acting like asshats has plenty of better things on which to base their criticisms.

Comments

[yurusumaji.livejournal.com]

The Rudolph article made me laugh, though there were some errors in there and they totally forgot about the Misfit toys.

Professional sports are more like a long-term publicity stunt than anything, particularly here in the U.S. where everyday has a highlight reel of who is being fined for no good reason. Here's hoping he comes out of this mess partially intact.

[luckycanuck.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if the misfit toys is canonical but ot certainly doesn't detract from the thousand year reich theme that Santa has set up.

[minxyminou.livejournal.com]

Mmmhmm yep. SO much more bad behavior to focus on. If sleeping naked is a crime call me GUILTY AS SIN :D

[luckycanuck.livejournal.com]

I usually sleep naked too, and sometimes I walk around like that. In the age of digital cameras, there are even naked photos of me. If someone were to post them on the net and I was pressed for comment, I would say "it's none of your damn business." That response should be adequate for Nick Riewoldt too.

[bakerypenguin.livejournal.com]

I feel for the guy - he's done nothing wrong. And the media should have something to answer for here; why beat up such a benign incident?

[luckycanuck.livejournal.com]

It's a particularly bad days for the media that they have even covered this. To their credit they haven't shown the photo, but the fact that they have even run the story is a shame. There is news value in the story of the sexual assault complaint, but not in the naked photo of a guy who as nothing to do with it.