Red Pill /Blue Pill
It’s a gentle existence these weeks in Monaghan’s 4
th largest workwear store. It’s busy-ish, but in a controlled fashion, no one is too stressed, not even Darth.
We discovered a ton of Caterpillar polos that we hadn’t realized we had in our stock take, so everyone who answers this weeks competition will get one for entering. Make sure you include your size with your answer.
Also listen out for a new show , featuring lil’ ol’ me, tomorrow morning on BBC Radio Ulster at 10.30am, called
Tell Tales…..
It’s hard to believe but this is the 20
th anniversary of The Matrix, one of the best movies of all time. I went to the cinema to watch it when it first came out, bought the video , then the DVD and have enjoyed watching it with each of my kids as they discovered it for the first time.
One of the most iconic scenes is the Red Pill/Blue Pill one in which Morpheus informs Anderson that he has been living a lie in The Matrix, nothing is as it seems. He is offered a choice of two pills, the red pill will show him the cold , dark truth, the blue one will allow him to return to the comfortable lie.
He chooses the red pill.
Somedays I think Anderson is an idiot. He had the choice of accepting a life of relative luxury, and relative freedom, but chose instead to battle with the cold harsh realities of life.
But I think , although sometimes the blue pill is indeed very attractive, God knows the amount of times I’d have happily munched down blue pills as if they were M&Ms, I would also choose the red pill.
A number of times in life I’ve felt as if I’ve been lied to and then suddenly see the truth , as if I’ve just swallowed the red pill.
I remember as a child being glued to Top Of The Pops on BBC 1 every Thursday night to see the new pop chart and performances by Slade, The Bay City Rollers, Abba, and at that time , my favourites , Mudd. I loved their hit ‘Tiger Feet’ especially, and loved when they played live on Top Of The Pops and the lead guitarist, Rob Davis would at some point play his guitar while holding it behind his head !
“He must be the best guitarist in the whole world !” I thought, until my Dad told me that they were miming to a recording of the single. I refused to believe it. Dad made me pay closer attention when the next band, The Wombles, played their ‘Remember You’re A Womble’, and even as a 7 year old I could tell that Uncle Bulgaria wasn’t really playing that bass guitar. I was devastated.
The next shock to be revealed was something to do with Santa….but I can’t talk about that…it’s still too raw.
I was next alarmed to discover that Skittles all have the same flavor, no matter what the colour !
You think then , as you get older, that life no longer has any more shocks for you, but no, they are still lurking. Only 5 years ago I was completely taken aback to discover that Jools Holland’s Hootenany, which we watch religiously every New Year’s Eve and ring in the New Year as he counts down to midnight….is recorded two weeks BEFORE Christmas !
After that I became a cynic about everything!
But as I look around me and see that people who look and appear sensible, seriously consider that having someone whom Maura from Love Island would refer to, in her gloriously delicious Longford accent, as "... a fukkin' eejit !", as the next prime minister of the UK is a great idea, well I can only assume that they opted for the blue pill.
So , to get yourself a CAT polo shirt, just tell us about something you were shocked to discover wasn’t what you thought.
Toodles,
Paul
