Race For The Prize

“Theirs is to win

If it kills them

They're just humans

With wives and children”

(The Flaming Lips )

Odd thoughts and feelings this week prompted by the approaching competitive pitch to judges for a module on our course at college. On the one hand its simply a learning exercise that won’t really determine anything at all, but on the other it is everything we’ve ever wanted in life, we will not sleep, we will invade Azerbaijan, we will become the pirates of the Ideas Workspace, no quarter will be given, none will be taken. This is the rock we will perish on. We have cried “Havoc!” and let slip the Diamond Dogs of war, their names are Anne, Seamus, Noelle, Aoife, Lynda and Atilla ,sorry, I mean Paul.

Sorry, got carried away there.

Our class of 40 has been divided into 6 groups of 6 or 7 groups who have to complete a project and pitch it by Monday week. Simple. We’re all adults. The initial premise was that among the 40 of us there are writers, producers, poets, artists, graphic creators, and wizards, so everything we need is already there in our network. However last Wednesday , as we arrived to our first class where the project work was due to begin in earnest we arrived to find that some groups had arrived early and barricaded themselves into a corner, hogging all of the whiteboards and post-its.

This is no longer the group project for module 1 of our part time post grad. Oh, no, this is war !

Fellow classmates are no longer fellow classmates.

They are cannon fodder…. especially Denis.

Arguments are had, spying raids are undertaken, we no longer have coffee breaks at the same time, one team member is always left behind, willing to lay down their life for the cause.

Or is it just me ?

Turned out it was just me.

I strode out the main gates of Trinity at 9pm on Wednesday more Gekko than Gordon. This feeling lasted for 200 metres until I crossed Westmoreland St. and saw the good guys handing out food and clothes to the homeless.

That’s important.

I drove safely home, arriving when everyone was asleep, apart from Tuna, our nice cat, and Pasta, the other one. Everyone was safe and warm.

That’s important.

The next day my Soulmate gave me a lie in and took the kids to school. Sauntered into work, did a bit, thought a bit, went for a run in Rossmore Park with Gareth.

That’s important.

I have everything I’ve ever wanted. Actually, that’s wrong, I’ve more than I ever dreamed of.

So , that competition, will I still take part ?

Feck yeah !

And We’ll crush all before us !

Freedom for Tooting !

Toodles,

Paul

P.S. I read Rory Sutherland’s excellent Alchemy : The Surprising Power Of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense, and threw away the whingey Scott Adams ‘How to fail at almost everything…something, something, something….

P.P.S And of course Race For The Prize by The Flaming Lips….